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CNN Live Event/Special

Thanksgiving in America. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 28, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Live look here at the city of Chicago as the parade is making its way through the city streets there. Also, a lot of great performances that we've seen. Our friend Whitney Wild bringing us all of that coverage from Chicago. I think we also have some live pictures from Detroit where we find our Nick Valencia. Oh, no, we're going to Houston. I lied. See? We're everywhere today. So, sometimes it's hard to keep track.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Pick a city, any city, we're there all over America because it is Thanksgiving in America. You can see there the folks in Houston wearing the, I don't know, like the reindeer?

HILL: I think it's a reindeer thing, sort of has a lobster vibe.

BERMAN: Oh, there we go. "Santa for Someone." Back to Detroit now. Houston, Detroit, Houston. Houston, Detroit, Chicago, Thanksgiving whiplash now. Super fun to see all the different places in the country celebrating. It's interesting, here in New York City we saw Santa go by a little while ago from where we're sitting. That is the tail end of the parade. So, the Thanksgiving Parade here in New York City has moved past us and down toward Times Square, even as elsewhere around the country, it's just heating up, just getting started.

HILL: Just getting started. Yes. Here, they're literally starting to clean up. Over two hours left. They are ready to go to get the streets back. Let's see though -- wow. Nick Valencia found a friend in Detroit. Nick, who do you have with you?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I did, I have one of the 200 clowns that actually paid $1,000 to be in this parade every year. You're a VIP clown though, tell me about what this is all about here.

BONNIE JOB (PH): OK. What happens, the first five years you're half white, the next five years you're half silver, and then the five years after that you're half gold.

VALENCIA: But now you get this fancy cape.

JOB (PH): -- you're VIP because you have the red velvet cape with the gold lame.

VALENCIA: I know there are so many people at home that are wondering, you pay a thousand dollars to dress like this. What is the inspiration? Why do this? Why dress up other than it being so much fun?

JOB (PH): It's just a thrill. And it's so wonderful to see so many people smiling at you, happy, giving him beads. Everyone can come to the parade. It's free. It's just the most wonderful thing that happens here every year.

VALENCIA: And I have to, ask Insane Clown Posse is from Detroit. There's no intersection, right, between this and them, right?

JOB (PH): That's right. That's right.

VALENCIA: OK. Well, everyone is smiling except for these two security guards in the parade company because they're trying to lasso you out and get you out of here. Thank you so much for taking the time on this.

JOB (PH): Do you want a name?

VALENCIA: Yes, we would love your name.

JOB (PH): Bonnie Job.

VALENCIA: Bonnie Job. 15th year as a clown here in Detroit. Thank you so much.

JOB (PH): I retire my outfit this year. I get a new one next year.

VALENCIA: We love the hair. We love the makeup. We see these floats coming by here. Rocket companies. There's about 30 floats here and all and they take about two to three months to create. I want to talk to some other guests here. Some of the young fans here who come and watch the parade. What brought you guys out here today?

[10:35:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We come every year to watch it. It's a family tradition.

VALENCIA: So, tell me about it. Because this is like really like a generational thing. This is people -- families have been coming to this for years and years and years. Why? What's so special about it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my first year coming here.

VALENCIA: Oh, it's your first year coming here. OK. Well tell me about it. You guys come year after year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just because it's fun and we like to see the floats in the morning and then we go to my grandma's. So --

VALENCIA: What's been your favorite float so far this year?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably the Captain Underpants one.

VALENCIA: The Captain Underpants. What about you? You got a stack of beads here. What's been your favorite float so far? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably the Captain Underpants, probably, yes.

VALENCIA: I like your turkey hat. Can I borrow that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

VALENCIA: OK. I'll put it on later. I don't want to mess up my hair, man. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're all good.

VALENCIA: All right. Guys, we'll have a lot more from Detroit throughout the morning here. Check out these floats. I'm telling you. They're like 180-foot. Some of them are about 180-foot long. They're about 30 feet tall. They take about two to three months to make. You know, 20 full-time -- or seven full-time artists. There's 20 freelancers, 3,000 volunteers. It's a really, really special day here in Detroit, as it is all across the country. We're having a great Thanksgiving here in Detroit. I hope you guys are, too.

HILL: You know, Nick, I don't know that you can see us, but I actually just put on one of those turkey hats because you may be worried about messing up your hair. I've been sitting in the rain all day. My hair is a lost cause. So, bring on the turkey hats. Yes. I'll send this to you.

VALENCIA: I love you guys.

BERMAN: Nick Valencia said, turkey hat? Erica's like, did somebody say turkey hat?

HILL: I've got a turkey hat.

BERMAN: You can watch America's Thanksgiving Parade sponsored by Gardner White streaming live right now on click on Detroit.com and local four plus.

HILL: There you go. OK. So, people talk a lot about Thanksgiving sides. Berman, do you have a favorite Thanksgiving pie?

BERMAN: I think pumpkin pie.

HILL: I love a pumpkin pie.

BERMAN: I do like a pumpkin pie. There was one in the refrigerator at CNN at the Commissary for the last five days and I've been taking a slice out of it every day.

HILL: You know what that may be from, Kaitlan Collins show "The Source." I sit with them. They had a big team potluck on Monday. May have been a leftover. I don't think they'd mind.

BERMAN: Thank you. Thank you, Source.

HILL: Well, I'm sure one of the 40 Martha Stewart whipped up during her pie-a-thon may have been a pumpkin pie. She managed to take a little break to share a few tips with us on how you can bake the perfect dessert for your Thanksgiving table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTHA STEWART, BUSINESSWOMAN AND TV HOST: Hi, America. It's Martha Stewart. And I'm here in my own kitchen up in Katona, New York. I live on a farm and I am getting ready for my annual pie baking marathon. I have about 40 pies to make between today, tomorrow and Wednesday morning. I leave Wednesday afternoon. So, I'm going out of the country with my family, and I'm not having turkey, I'm not having pie, but I want to make sure that the people who work with me get their delicious pies.

And some of them come from my original "Pies & Tarts" book. Some of them come from My new 100th book, which is number one this week on The New York Times bestseller list. I'm so excited. And this one, oh, this is the pumpkin pie in a phyllo crust. It's delicious and unusual and absolutely says Thanksgiving.

And some of the ingredients, the pie dishes, I love using glass. This is a really nice old glass Pyrex. I put a little more of name on the bottom, say, please return to Martha. If you want pie next year, you have to return the pie dishes. The pumpkin pie and filo is made in a springform pan. The best nuts. I bought 20 pounds of whole halves of pecans, or pecans, whichever way you say it, for chocolate pecan pie, as well as regular pecan pie. And I'm also making an apple crumb pie. The recipe's in this book. Delicious. And I'm also making the pumpkin filo pie, and I'm also making the cranberry tart in a nut crust for some people who love cranberries. And here's the cranberries right here, ready to cook up for the delicious gelatinous filling for the cranberry tart.

This is what I do. This is a nice way to celebrate one of my very favorite holidays. It's time to give thanks. It's time to hope for peace and wellbeing for everybody in this whole world and I certainly hope that each and every one of you has a lovely day.

And my big Tom Turkey, he's a bourbon bred and his name is Tom Bourbon and he is pregnant this year. He's going to stay right down there in the turkey coop and this is what he looks like. Isn't he a beauty? Happy Thanksgiving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Our big thanks to Martha Stewart for that. To get those pie recipes be sure to check out Martha's 100th book. "Martha The Cookbook."

[10:40:00]

BERMAN: All right. Let's get back to Chicago. CNN's Whitney Wild is on the parade route where things are still going strong. What do you see, Whitney?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, we are seeing performance after performance. They're all different. They're all amazing. And then, we have one of those performers right now. This is Claudia Gutierrez. She is from Ballet Folk Rico Sonis Mexicanos. They were one of the first performers today. You got out here at 4:00 in the morning. Tell us a little bit about your performance today. What did you guys perform and what does it mean?

CLAUDIA GUTIERREZ, BALLET FOLK RICO SONIS MEXICANOS: So, our region was performed from the State of Veracruz. We wanted to showcase a little bit of the Mexico's culture, with the vibrancy of the costumes, the tradition, and the footwork that entails it. And we wanted to portray a familiar performance with a very well-known song, which is "La Bamba." And it's something that encompasses the whole world. It's a very world recognized song. And we wanted to portray it here today to share with all the other cultures.

WILD: How long did it take you guys to perform that dance, learn that dance, and to be prepared for today's parade?

GUTIERREZ: So, we usually prepare about six months in advance for the Thanksgiving Parade. And so, our performance today was prepared about six, seven months in advance. We have a teacher who helped us and collaborated with us from the State of Veracruz. She's actually from Xalapa, Veracruz, and she was able to collaborate with us to perform today's event.

WILD: What makes the Chicago Parade so special is all of the different cultures that are represented today. What does it mean for you to be able to be here and represent that vibrant Mexican culture this morning?

GUTIERREZ: For me, it's a very proud moment. I grew up in Chicago in the Hermosa neighborhood and Logan Square. And to be able to be a part of this tradition just makes it even better. And not only that, I'm able to share the culture with everybody that's here.

We see a lot of Latino, Hispanic participants now and also a lot of visitors and a lot of people from out of state. And we want to share our culture that has been embedded and has been a big part of Chicago's life as well.

WILD: So -- and yes, you had how many dancers today? Yes, and walk me through again. Just your organization, how many dancers you guys had out here?

GUTIERREZ: We had 28 dancers performing today. Yes.

WILD: And they're from all backgrounds, all different experience levels, right?

GUTIERREZ: Yes, they're all from different backgrounds. Most of them are residents from Chicago and the surrounding suburbs and all of them are students. So, we wanted to showcase this and give the opportunity to all of our students. We have middle aged high school and college age students here.

WILD: For people who are not from Chicago, what do you want them to know about the vibrant Mexican culture here in the city? GUTIERREZ: Chicago is a pot of cultures, and I think the vibrancy is demonstrated even more with all the culture that we have, not only in our food, but our traditions, and the folklore that we're able to show here, and Chicago encompasses all of that with not only Hispanic traditions, but also, all of the other cultures that reside here. We have a lot of neighborhoods. We have Little Village. We have Chinatown. We have the Ukrainian Village and we have a lot of that represented -- a lot of that culture represented in Chicago. And I think it's what makes up Chicago and the beautiful culture that surrounds all of it.

WILD: Claudia Gutierrez, thank you so much. It is such a pleasure to meet you. Thank you so much.

GUTIERREZ: Thank you for having us.

WILD: OK. All right. Thank you. You, too. You guys, again, that is just one of the many amazing performers. We're bringing you more of those performers later today. But for now, John and Erica back to you in New York.

HILL: All right. Whitney, appreciate it. Great to hear from her and to hear a little bit more too about the diversity in the parade. And it's nice to see how each of the parades are a little bit different in all of the cities that we're highlighting around the country today.

BERMAN: It really is. You know, right now, we're getting in the New York, the cleanup part of the parade. We see the utility floats practically going by here. You can't see it right now, but they're actually like breaking down all around us right now. You can see people spreading out here. The parade's still going strong as you get closer down to Macy's.

But I do think, Erica, as you said, one of the things that is really cool is see the similarities but the differences around the country.

HILL: Absolutely. Chicago native Jennifer Hudson told us earlier a little bit about what her family's Thanksgiving traditions are. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER HUDSON, SINGER AND ACTRESS: I like to instill gratitude in my child doing Thanksgiving and sitting the children around the table and going around things, having them each say something that they are grateful for, which teaches them gratitude and to be grateful.

What am I thankful for this Thanksgiving? Is to make it to another Thanksgiving, to be surrounded by my loved ones, and just celebrating great times together and being at home. I'm thankful to have a home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Jennifer Hudson there. Her new Christmas album called "Gift of Love" is available now. And she's also hosting a special series of performances through December. Stay with us. You are watching Thanksgiving in America. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: I am thankful for the simplest thing, life itself. With each breath that I'm able to draw, I can love more, I can be more grateful, I can be more kind and I can enjoy this life if I so choose. Frankly, sometimes I fail at that, but I'm trying. And the other thing is, I can enjoy more by joking around and having fun. So, in that vein, I'm thankful for the bird. Not just that Thanksgiving turkey, but this bird here in New York. The one pigeon that cannot poop on your head.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:50:00]

BERMAN: Oh, she's tempting fate right there.

HILL: She is. She is. But then it's going to be good luck for her, so it's fine.

BERMAN: That was my Morning Show co-anchor, Sara Sidner, who is wonderful and who has had a heck of a year and it's only going to keep on getting better. So, Happy Thanksgiving to you, Sara. So, nice to hear.

All right. Many of the brave men and women who serve our country will be spending Thanksgiving away from their loved ones. Salma Abdelaziz joins us live from the USO Deployment Center in Germany, where some are keeping that holiday tradition alive. Hey, Salma.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello. So, as you mentioned, I am at a deployment processing center and they have Thanksgiving dinner very much underway. Go ahead. Everybody's grabbing their meal. Everybody's worked really hard to put this together for them. And this is sort of a half way point, John and Erica, where soldiers might stop on their way to a further deployment or they might stay here longer. So, this is intended to be home very much for these soldiers here.

And I actually want to introduce you to one of them. This is Michael. Thank you first of all for talking to us. I know we were chatting about your family back home in North Carolina.

SPEC. MICHAEL GARRIS, NORTH CAROLINA: Yes, ma'am.

ABDELAZIZ: What does it mean to still be able to have this nice warm turkey meal today?

GARRIS: For me --

ABDELAZIZ: Don't worry about (INAUDIBLE). GARRIS: For me, it's a blessing. It's a blessing just being here, blessing to still be able to eat a Thanksgiving meal. Whether I'm with my family or not with my family, it's a bunch of great people here. Great friends. I met a lot of outstanding individuals. So, it's a blessing.

ABDELAZIZ: And I know you had a message for your family. You have a young son back home. Tell us about him. Tatum, right? Three years old.

GARRIS: Yes, ma'am. Yes. So, I have a son back home. He's three years old. And so far, just like my second Thanksgiving without him. So, you know, hopefully, he see it -- he'll be able to see this and he'll be smiling, but I just want to say I love him. And -- yes.

ABDELAZIZ: And I know you -- your whole family is watching TV right now in North Carolina listening to you. What do you want to tell your son while you're away on Thanksgiving?

GARRIS: I want to tell my son Happy Thanksgiving to him, to all my family. And I want to say I'm still here holding it down and continue to look over me and keep me your blessings and your thoughts.

ABDELAZIZ: Thank so much.

GARRIS: Thank you.

ABDELAZIZ: That's been really, really kind. John and Erica, we're going to let these guys get their Thanksgiving meal. I also want my Thanksgiving meal, but I know, John, that you've been in the spirit of things with that really great hat. So, here is mine for you.

BERMAN: Oh, it's international turkey hat day, Erica.

HILL: Salma, I'm putting mine on. It's just like yours. So, we're sort of twinning across the miles. I always knew we had a connection, Salma.

ABDELAZIZ: You have to live the spirit.

HILL: Absolutely.

BERMAN: Whenever anyone says turkey hat over this entire special, Erica has to put her turkey hat back on. It's like better than a drinking game.

HILL: I still have one more.

BERMAN: We cannot wait to see that. All right. Salma Abdelaziz, overseas, thank you very much. It really has been extraordinary watching this evolve throughout the morning, not just here in New York, where we were here for the beginning of the parade, we saw all the floats go by, and now, we're seeing the people stream past us on their way home from watching. And then across the country, we're seeing each parade start up. First, it was Philadelphia, the oldest parade, Detroit and then Houston and Central time. You're looking at live pictures right now. That is Houston. Roller. See, it's like the Starlight Express version of the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Starlight, a little Broadway reference.

HILL: I love it. I love a Broadway reference. This has been a great time. Look at that. You're a transfix. John Berman is transfix watching right now.

BERMAN: Well, we have these monitors like, oh, my gosh trampolines.

HILL: Trampolines. Wow. Houston is no joke. Oh, this is Detroit. This is Detroit.

BERMAN: Now, if that were in someone's lawn, someone would be bound to get injured, but these people are well trained.

HILL: They're professionals. They have -- they've got insurance. Don't worry. They've got it covered.

BERMAN: Every parade is insured, I hope. So, it was nice to see. That was the first thing I thought, too. If you're going to let your kids' friends play on the trampoline, you better have insurance.

HILL: That's right.

BERMAN: Certainly, in a parade, they have to be insured as well.

HILL: Just sign this waiver the next time you come over to the backyard. No biggie.

BERMAN: Exactly. All right. There is Detroit. These parades, they keep on going. Some of us might be skipping out in a second to make our Thanksgiving dinner. So, let me just say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who's been with us the last few hours. But you know what? It's not over yet. Not nearly over yet.

HILL: It is not nearly over yet. We still have an hour of fun and merriment to go. So, lots more to come. Our coverage continues from New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Houston, and Chicago. Stay with us as we continue to celebrate Thanksgiving Day in America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

HILL: Well, good morning, everyone. Welcome back. This is our first ever Thanksgiving in America special right here --

[11:00:00]