dplit glittering event though. >> cnn newsroom starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> right now, a travel nightmare for millions of americans trying to get home for thanksgiving. we've got planes, trains and automobiles facing off against snow, ice and heavy rains. also right now, a thanksgiving tradition about to play out. president obama pardons the thanksgiving turkey live this hour. the question is, are will caramel or popcorn get the official pardon? >> hello, i'm jim sciutto in washington. wolf blitzer is off today. we're going to start with the weather. its impossible to avoid it, seemingly everywhere you look, it is either raining, sleeting or snowing.

and all that is making travel home for thanksgiving difficult. thousands of flights have been delayed or canceled because of that weather. and for those of you deciding to drive, well, that's no picnic either. we're keeping an eye on all of it for you. shannon travis is in pittsburgh. alina machado at the airport in atlanta, margaret connly at laguardia airport in new york and jennifer grey at the weather center in new york, as well. let's go now to shannon travis in pittsburgh. i've been looking at pictures from there seeing a lot of snow. what's it like in western pennsylvania? >> that's right, jim. the snow is coming down, but take a look at the road that we're on right now. it's a side road not far from the airport. this road is as clear as ever. as we've been driving around today, this is about what the roads have been looking like. the problem is as i just mentioned the snow. how much will it come down? how long will it come down? and how much will it add to the already accumulated snow that is on the ground.

we've got a few inches in this region. of course, the other question is, how much will this and what's happening now affect what's happening out there? we've been on this road for most of the day, watching the traffic jam. it's been sparse was cars. the cars seem to be going slower, but it has been moving fairly steadily across the region. we've been talking with transportation officials here in allegheny county about how the road conditions are. they tell me they have over 60 trucks out there salting the roads. putting removing the snow or what have you to make sure all those holiday travelers get to where they need to go. but the problem again, of course, they say they are watching what will accumulate today and how that will affect the travelers obviously 39 million an estimated are going to be traveling all across the country. a lot of them right here in the northeast in pennsylvania. jim? >> looks like those salters and plows doing a pretty good job there in western pennsylvania. thanks very much to shannon.

we'll go to margaret connly at laguardia airport in the new york where the weather conditions are getting worse. i've been in there during bad weather. what's it like there today? >> jim, there are scattered delays and cancellations here. you can see the flight board behind me. most flights are on time. the port authority says if there are delays, expect at jfk and lagardia, 50 minute delays and at newark 30-minute delays. check those flights before you get to the parent. not everybody's been doing that that we've talked to. they've had to wait around here for hours. the ts oo is the expecting another surge of travelers this afternoon and the airport here, they're also preparing for the worst. jim, they've stocked up on pillows and blankets in case people have to spend the night. >> not the place you'd want to spend the night during the holidays. 15, 30-minute delays not too bad. could be worse. alina machado is at atlanta's

hartsfield-jackson airport. how it hamming the volume today? >> it's actually not looking too bad. this is the main security checkpoint here. there's a 10 to 208-minute delay, how long it it will take to get through the checkpoint. lines are building here though. you can see more people are showing up trying to catch their flights. that's to be expected. this is the busiest travel day of the year. the good news though here is that we've only seen a happenedful of delays so far. mainly to flights to pennsylvania and also to new jersey. overall, though, no widespread delays or cancellations to report on from this airport. jim? >> that's great to hear. the country's busiest has a big carry on effect around the country, as well. we're going to go for the latest weather to meteorologist jennifer grey can traing the storm for our new york weather center. where is being hardest hit? i get the sense it's in the northeastern area of pennsylvania going north from there? >> you're right. most of it is rain.

we are still seeing snow, about you a lot of the snow is tapering off. we could see an additional maybe 2 to 4 inches, maybe isolated higher amounts say in upstate new york and interior locations. if you look right along the coast, new york, washington, boston, that's where we're seeing basically rain. we could see 2 to 4 additional inches before it's all said and done. but this low is going to continue to move on out of here. tonight at 8:00, you can see new york looking much drier as well as dc. still a little bit of rain in boston. that's going to move on out. it looks like thanksgiving will be nice for the majority of the east coast. sunshine will come back out. temperatures though will be be very, very cold. it's also going to be windy. the winds is what we'll be talking about tomorrow. around 2:00 this afternoon, wind gusts in the low to upper 30s. and then as we go into the wee hours of tomorrow morning, 36 mile. er hour wind gusts in new york

city. then the winds should start to taper off. of course, all eyes on the macy's thanksgiving day parade. if the wind gusts top 34 miles per hour, those balloons won't be able to fly. the forecast right now has it at possible 36-mile-per-hour wind gusts. it looks like a last-minute decision tomorrow whether the balloons will fly or not. 32 degrees your forecasted high when you factor the windchill in, it's going to feel like the low 20s tomorrow. >> let's hope the balloons get up. the parade's not the same without it. thanks to all of you, shannon, morgan, alina, jennifer grey across the northeastern seaboard. back here in washington, the obama administration says it is on track with improvements to the healthcare.gov website. insurers are worried there may be bigger problems coming ahead. the worst case scenario, people thinking they have insurance when they really don't. details when we come back.

new poll numbers out today suggest americans have an open mind about obama care. despite all of its problems. in the cnn/orc poll, 40% are in favor of the health care law, 58% opposed. but those numbers don't tell the whole story. 14% of those opposed to the law says it's not liberal enough and doesn't go far enough. when asked whether the problems facing obama care will

eventually be solved, 54% say yes. and that includes 7 out of 10 younger american who's think the problems will be fixed. kathleen sebelius says improvements to the healthcare.gov website are the definitely on track to meet this saturday's deadline. the health and human services secretary promises the site will work much better but a white house official says there are concerns. too sudden a spike in web traffic. the site will be able to handle 50,000 users at once as it was originally supposed to do, but the official says they want to wait a week to gauge web traffic before encouraging too many people to visit the site. now, while the administration, would to improve the obama care website on the front end, insurers are worried about problems on the back end. our investigative be correspondent chris frates is digging into that story. explain that difference between how it's working on the front end or may work on the front end but not on the back end. >> what insurers are worried about is this idea once the

website's working and people can go on and sign up, that their personal data won't get transmitted correctly to insurance companies. insurance companies need that data to enroll people and when i talked to officials in the insurance industry, they're telling me that that information is coming across. it's inaccurate, it's duplicative and in some cases they're not getting it at all. >> okay. that sounds like a major problem to me. does that mean people who thought they were insured when they signed up actually don't have coverage? >> well, that's the concern. the insurers need this information. they need good data to make hur that people get enrolled. they need to know where people live, where their dependents are. without the information, there's big trouble brewing. inshears are worried the worst case scenario is somebody goes to the web site, click sign up, they think they have insurance but the insurers never got the information so when they go to the doctor, they're not actually enrolled in a plan. and it's a little bit like going

to amazon, hitting the buy button and then not having amazon send the information to the warehouse and you never receive your product. >> that's a big problem to say the least. so how do insurance insurers know they aren't getting the information? have they been testing it out. >> i asked that same question. how do you prove a negative. they tell me two ways. one, they're receiving calls from people who think they signed up and are asking, where's my insurance card or i haven't received my policy number yet and realizing they in fact have no information for that person who is trying to get sherns through them. " other way is that insurance companies are testing the system. they're sending john dole records through the system and trying to track if they come out in the back end. and some folks aren't receiving those records and that's how they know they still have a problem here. >> that's incredible. when you go to the white house with this, how are they responding? are they acknowledging it, saying they're going to fix it? >> they are ac-ndonging it and

want to reiterate of who signs up about ideis 23rd and pays the premium by december 1st will have coverage. they emphasize when you get to the end of the process, you'll see a big orange screen that says you still need to pay for your insurance in order to be enrolled. and once they see that orange screen, they should be contacted by an insurer they chose for their coverage. if they're not can the caed by that insurer, officials are telling me the customers and the consumers need to call their insurers and get in touch with insurance companies to make sure their information was transmitted and they'll be able to pay and get covered by january 1st. >> so for obama care, one big test this weekend, another to follow on the back end. thanks to chris frates in washington digging into this. the merger of american airlines and us airways gets the green light. a short time ago, a federal bankruptcy judge dismissed a suit brought by a group of passengers that could have blocked the deal.

the company will be the world's largest airline. mencher becomes official december 9th. switching gears here, something foul is going on the an the white house today. we're not talking scandal. we're talking turkey. president obama continues a white house tradition, the pardoning of the thanksgiving turkey, coming up next. [ paper rustles, outdoor sounds ] ♪ [ male announcer ] laura's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today her doctor has her on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor on the table by not choosing the right medicare d plan.

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the triple choice sale ends sunday, thanksgiving weekend. ♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ welcome back on this day before thanksgiving. so will it be caramel or popcorn? president obama is expected to reveal the official national

thanksgiving turkey in just a few minutes. these pictures live from the white house now. but even the runner-up is likely to get a reprieve from ending up on someone's table tomorrow. jeanne moos looks at the pomp and circumstance of presidential pardons that keeps some turkeys from getting gobbled up. >> what will did one clumsy turkey say to the other at a washington photo opportunity? pardon me. there they were in the ballroom of the posh willard hotel amid dang length chandeliers, their. >>s dangled as the press tried to get them to talk. it's caramel versus popcorn. the white house is running a contest asking people to vote on which should be the navl thanksgiving turkey. some are comparing it to the hunger games". >> there's 24 of us. only one comes out. >> in this case, both come out alive though only one gets the presidential pardon publicly.

>> you are hereby pardoned. >> the other is an alternative. our money is on popcorn. plumper are a more robust but the gobble. caramel and popcorn join other duos. >> biscuits and graeb. >> cobbler. >> caramel and popcorn come from a minnesota farm where 20 fimists were trained in this cottage. john burkle practiced lifting them on to this table so they wouldn't do this when their big day came. but popcorn and caramel seemed more relaxed than their human owners. the kids taught the photographers to whistle andtarily to get the turkeys to gobble. >> i think you know how to speak turkey. >> the turkeys made the 1500 mile drive to washington in 27 hours. they've already outlived most of their compatriots. >> truth is on my farm, i've never raised them past 14 weeks because we eat them.

>> occasionally a pardoned bird gets peckish. the partner in chief expresses am bib lens. >> thanks to the interventions of malia and sasha. >> then there was the turkey that didn't get pardoned that met his demise behind sarah palin's back. it happened as she was giving an interview at a turkey farm shortly after she and john mccain were defeated. we'll share you the gruesome part. >> foo. >> the people will decide whether popcorn or caramel gets the glory this year. at least this government website is working. it's no turkey. jeanne moos, cnn. new york. >> well, that ceremony is supposed to get under way any minute now at the white house. as soon as it begins, we're going to bring it to you live. meanwhile, back to the holiday travel jumble. we've got tips to get you through the airport mess, plus a look ahead what to expect when you're trying to get back from thanksgiving at grandma's house. hey kevin...still eating chalk for heartburn?

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liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? back to the weather now and the mess that is getting home for thanksgiving this year. the worst of it is along the eastern seaboard and into the northeast. snow, ice and heavy rains are making for a rough trek for millions of you. the good us? s? some airports are getting back on schedule, but not all of them, which means delays and cancellations for some of you. if you are driving, be careful. roads can be a dangerous mix of flooding and ice. meteorologist jennifer grey is tracking the storm from our new york weather center. we talked earlier about how it was getting a bit better over the next 24 hours. how is it looking now? >> about the same. it will continue to improve over the next 12 to 24 hours. by tomorrow morning, all of this should be out of here.

we will be looking much, much better. as for the ice and snow, most of it as you can see has tapered off looking as the mainly just a rain event across the east coast into the northeast. boston still getting very heavy rain. new york still getting heavy rain. as well as d.c. it should be pushing out over the next couple of hours. we'll steadily improve throughout the late evening hours into the overnight. this low will continue to track up to the north. this is tonight at 8:00 in new york city. should be looking much, much better. still be dealing with some rain in boston. but by tomorrow morning, we'll see the sunshine come back out. so thanksgiving should actually be really nice across the northeast. it is just going to be very cold and windy. but at least there won't be any rain or snow to deal with. so wind gusts will be one of the issues we'll be dealing with as we head into thanksgiving. right now, 37-mile-per-hour wind gusts in washington, d.c. new york about the same. and then we'll be peeking out by the wee hours of the morning,

37-mile-per-hour wind gusts in the city. by tomorrow, those wind gusts will be steadily dying down throughout the day. of course, the big question, when is that going to happen? will it happen in time for the macy's day parade to fly those balloons? the threshold is 34-mile-per-hour gusts. forecasting possible 36-mile-per-hour gusts. it's going to be a last-minute decision. >> let's hope we see snoopy and woodstock and their friends up over new york tomorrow morning. hang in there. the next 24 hours will be much better. ted rowlands is at the united airline operation center in chicago. this is where they're directing a lot of this traffic around the country. ted, major wrench in holiday air travel. i imagine it's busy where you are today. >> slew, jim. as you can imagine, all hands on deck. this is a fascinating facility. you don't think about it when you're just traveling 1300 people work here.

we're in the sears tower, the willis tower on the 27th floor. it's a 24/7 operation. of course, all hands on deck on a day like today, one of the busiest travel days of the year. they're tracking every united flight in the air. there's a map up here. all the planes obviously are planes in the air, most of the action, most of the concentration has been on the eastern seaboard because of the weather issues. but so far so good. only about 30 flights were canceled today. and by and large, most passengers, there have been delays but most passengers have been able to get where they are going whether it's grandma's house or someone else. this is jim deyoung, operations manager. good news. >> ted, actually the system's running better than we anticipated. weather on the east coast, while still sloppy, windy and rainey, not as bad as we thought. delays are less. we're seeing snow starting to move into the d.c. area. we'll watch that closely. >> they have their open weather

department, maybe not as nice as the cnn weather center. their own weather forecasters and they're monitoring the weather in detail, jim, as you were saying there's potential for ice. planes coming in with ice on the wings that had to be de-iced. >> just minor de-icing at this point, not large scale that you would see in i an large snowstorm. it does lead to some delays but we'll manage through it. >> on this map over here, it's called a taxi monitor. there are no planes up there. which is a good thing. that means you're sitting on the tarmac waiting to take off. and you know, you're sitting on the tarmac and think nobody cares, they do care here, doing everything they can to get you up in the air. it is fascinating all the behind the scenes work that goes on whether it's crew scheduling, desizing, getting planes to where they want to be. the headline i guess, jim, is that so far so good today. the weather was not as bad as they predicted.

all flights are getting it in on time. >> that's good to larry. any of us in that position, you always feel like you're on your own. no one cares when you're delayed or stuck on your plane. that's nice to hear. >> they forgot about us. >> i wondered, they see a plane delayed, do they will have the ability to send another plane? how do they make it better? >> well, they're jackying different resources from place to place. you know, when they have a cancellation, they'll put planes in areas where they can get them in. they added a few routes today because they were figuring there was going to be problems on the east coast. they put planes in place to accommodate those passengers. i mean, they're literally doing everything. when something comes up, they know about it. if somebody gets sick on an airplane, they know about it. they have doctors on stand by. any problem you can think of you

have as a passenger, they know about it. if you're dealing with it, they're dealing with it here. >> that's great. that's ted rowlands at the united airline operation center in chicago. mission control for thanksgiving holidays. thanks very much, ted. so what about though those flyer who's do get stuck because of the canceled and delayed flights? actually, we were going to go to courtney scott. we'll go to the president at the white house right now. >> but the white house turkey pardon is a great tradition, and i know malia loves it. as does sasha. generally speaking, thanksgiving is a bad day to be a turkey. especially at a house with two dogs. so i salute our two guests of honor, caramel and popcorn for their bravery. they came all the way from outside understand badger, minnesota, to be with us. they, like my chief of staff, are vikings fans. i'm not sure that they know

that -- uh-oh. yeah. see? i'm not sure they know my bears are ledding to minnesota on sunday, but in the spirit of thanksgiving, i'm going to good-bye them a break. we are also excited to have students from badger high school here. where are you guys? there they are right there. and finally let me say thank to john burkle, chairman of the national turkey federation. give him a beg round of applause. now, 80 turkeys on john's farm competed for the chance to make it to the white house. and stay off the thanksgiving table. it was quite literally "the hunger games." and then after weeks of vocal practice and prepping for the cameras, the two tributes caramel and popcorn went head to head together for america's vote as top gobbler. the competition was stiff but we can officially declare that popcorn is the winner.

proving, there you go, proving that even a turkey with a funny name can find a place in politics. as for caramel, he's sticking around and he's already busy raising money for his next campaign. yeah. on a more serious note, later today, michele, malia, sasha and i will be bring a couple less fortunate turkeys to a great organization that, would to help out neighbors here in washington, d.c. who need it most. i want to thank the farm in pennsylvania for donating the dress birds for the fifth year in a row. this is a reminder that this is a season not only to be thankful for the incredible blessings we have but also to remember the needest and generously serve those who are not as fortunate. you know, this is quintessentially an american holiday. during this time we give thanks

to friends and family for citizens who show compassion to those in need. and for neighbors who help straengers they've never met. we give thanks for the blessings of freedom and opportunity that previous generations worked so hard to secure for and we give thanks for the service and sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform who serve our nation around the world. for those of you who are watching, you keep us safe. you make us proud and yyou remid us to leave something better for our own kids. on behalf of the obama family, i want to wish everybody a very happy thanksgiving. tomorrow as we gather with our friends and family, we'll count ourselves there's more to be thankful for than we can ever say and pore to be hopeful for than we can imagine. now with the power vested in me, i want to grant popcorn a full reprieve. come on.

i want popcorn, you have a full reprieve from can berry sauce and stuffing. we wish you well. and we're going to give caramel a break, as well. so -- congratulations. good job. all right. happy thanksgiving, everybody. see you, popcorn. >> there is the president continuing' great white house tradition of pardoning the thanksgiving turkey. a photo finish, popcorn edging out caramel for that honor although we learned today that both of those turkeys get to survive. no one ends up on the dinner table. they get to live out a nice retirement at mt. vernon. the president also thanking the soldiers and thoughts for those today who don't have enough eat. a great thanksgiving tradition there at the white house. stay with us. we'll have travel tips for those

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this just in to cnn. small businesses will see a year long delay of online enrollment in obama care. jim acosta joins with us details. what exactly does this mean? they can't use healthcare.gov, small businesses? >> that's right. yeah. and it's important to note, jim, that small businesses with fewer than 50 employees are not required to provide coverage for employees but they can use obama care essentially to buy that insurance for their employees. but what is happening now, what officials over at hhs just announced in the last few moments is that essentially, those employers are going to have to do this through offline outlets. they can go to insurers directly. they can use insurance brokers that sort of thing but can't use

healthcare.gov. this is not the first delay for this category of consumers out there for small businesses. this it is something that was announced also in late september that this feature on healthcare.gov love delayed till mid-november. now it's late november apartment federal government is saying this thing is not ready for another year. small businesses will have to enroll for coverage knk offline. they can't do it online for the moment. but yes, this is yet another problem for this white house. another problem for the administration when it comes to obama care, just this weekend, as you know, jim, is the target date, november 30th is the target date for healthcare.gov to be working for the vast majority, that's the phrasing they've been using, the vast majority of users this weekend. all eyes will be on that website to see whether or not that experience is as the administration has been saying it will be. coming up on november 30th and in fact, we learned earlier this

morning that the administration has been reaping out to allied groups to encourage them to suggest to them hey, don't drive traffic to the web site had weekend. we want to make sure we don't get that traffic up too high because they don't want consumers going to the web site once again and getting frustrated. so a lot of setting of expectations, are but also acknowledging that they're not out of the woods yet when it comes to that website, jim. >> not exactly a vote of confidence if you're not encouraging people to drive traffic to the web site. to be clear, you said small businesses are not required to buy such insurance. what's their option for them? how would they will do it if they can't go to the web site? >> if they can't get to the web site, they can directly enroll through insurers. go through insurance brokers. they're not going to have that will feature that was originally envisioned on the site where you can go on a shop around for plans, look at the best prices. that sort of kayak amazon.com experience is not going to be available to those consumers, those small businesses, but

conceivably, if they go to an insurance broker, they should be able to have that experience, that broker can lay out here's your array of options and oh forth. but it is not the feature they imagined being available for these small businesses. it is another problem with the rollout, the implementation of the president's signature legislative achievement. it is just not going the way they hoped. >> another big deadline up on saturday. >> thanks very much to jim acosta at the white house. we'll turn now back to the weather making thanksgiving travel such a vug. what should flyers do if they do get stuck because of cap selled and delayed flight? courtney scott, senior editor for travel velocity, an experienced traveler herself. what can you do? you're struck in the airport now, don't know when your plane's going to take off. >> hopefully you checked on your flight status before leaving your home. if you are stuck at the airport, there are three things you

should do. get on the phone with the carrier. get -- go to the ticket counter simultaneously and find out the latest information of what's happening with your flight and go online to the carrier's website. you know, all three of those things should be happening at the same time. maximize the information flow of what kind of information you're getting. go on twitter, find out what other people are doing. you have the right to the next available flight or a refund. those are your options. >> so you're on your phone, you're standing in line. you're checking your smartphone for the website. do it all at once. let's say you're a last-minute flyer. you were going to drive but the roads are too icy. is it too late to think about flying, any open seats to grab out there? >> it's dicey. of course, we want safety to be number one. if you feel like your safety is threatened by taking to the roads, i would consider all options. amtrak is running mass transit. check flights. i might try to check tomorrow's flights.

the weather's really shaping up to be nice tomorrow morning. perhaps you can take the first flight 0 out tomorrow and get there in time for your turkey dinner a lot of people forget the busiest travel day is actually sunday when people are coming home. what should they be expecting then? is it even worse? i guess a lot depends on the weather. >> if you've been taking travellosity's advice, you will have booked your return for monday or tuesday. cheaper fares. if you are flying home on sunday, leave lots of extra time, two hours for dose mess tick, three hours for international. do in the bring any checked luggage. you want to breeze through security with just your carry-on and check inning 24 hours before so that you don't run the risk of getting bumped off your flight. that is the worst case scenario. have that digital boarding pass on your smartphone ready to go. >> smart advice. now, it's less then a month to christmas. we're getting close. advice as we get closer to the christmas holiday travel season? >> you know, we're going to see

a similar story, high traffic at the airports. i recommend you know, flying on off peak days. it's the key. flying on the holiday itself is an insider's secret. fly on christmas. get there just in time for your celebration and avoid these crazy days like you know, like what we're seeing today. >> great advice from courtney scott, including the idea of traveling on the holiday. thanks very much for being with us. coming up next, we'll go back to the airport in atlanta. this time for something a little different. a behind the scenes look at what goes on at the world's busiest airport overnight. stay with us.

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we've been talking a lot today about holiday travel problems. but even when things are running smoothly, we only see a fraction of what goes on at the airport. so we decided to go behind the scenes at the world's busiest airport in atlanta to meet some of the people who make it tick. that includes officer jeannette franklin who, would the overnightshift. >> i'm en route to 58. >> uh-huh. >> blue jeans. >> you've been here for three to four days now. okay? if you don't have airport business here, there's no reason why you should be here. >> okay. >> we're going to go ahead and get you a criminal trespass warning. >> typical night. well, that's the thing about policing. we can never say there's a typical anything. i come in to work at 10:30 at night, and my shift ends at 6:30 in the morning.

our security patrol starts at 12 midnight and it will continue until we get off at 6:30 in the morning. >> i've been known to say we are probably the second largest homeless shelter in the city at one point. we finally kind of decided we needed to try to find a way to come up with an equitable solution to the problem. >> take that paper with you. there is no real way for us to tell who's here on airport business and who's not. flying in and flying out. >> okay. >> all right. have a good night. >> i thought you were going to arrest me. >> what you -- you look guilty. guilty. oh, tonight was a great night. beat had a total of two people we had to bring if and actually give criminal trespass warnings to. one we got a call on him because the caller stated that he exposed himself. we had another guy that we had to come in and give him a criminal trespass warning because he's been seen here at

the airport for three to four days. we still have to be aware and keep our guard up because like i said, those full moon nights, we can get some issues. i don't have to park it on the calendar. after we get so many crazy things going on, you look be outside and say, yeah, it's a full moon. >> the airport never sleeps. more much more nn's unique look at the world's busiest airport, check out cnn.com/interactive. >> these small islands in the south china sea are causing a big dispute in the region. that story ahead. ♪ [ male announcer ] this december, experience the gift of exacting precision and some of the best offers of the year [ ding! ] at the lexus december to remember sales event. this is the pursuit of perfection.

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the landmark nuclear deal

with iran is giving the family of a missing american hope that he may soon be free. robert levinson's wife calls him the longest held american hostage. his family says on tuesday, he surpassed journalist terry anderson held for 2,254 days. on new day, levinson's wife talked about when he went missing. >> he went on a business trip to kish island, part of iran. and it was supposed to be a 24-hour trip. and he never left there. unfortunately, that was march 9th, 2007 and we have never heard anything about his whereabouts since then. his passport has not been seen. we have not received any recent information about him although i do believe he is safe and will come home to us soon. >> the white house has asked

iran to help free him. the u.s. respectfully asked iran to help secure his return. now to asia, a challenge in the skies over the east china sea as the u.s. flies two bombers through china's newly declared air defense zone. the u.s. and japan criticized the move saying they won't recognize china's claim shown here on the map. this latest declaration comes during a territorial dispute with japan over a set of small islands in the east china sea. we have the view from both sides in this report from karl penhaul and david mckenzie. >> the message from beijing, we're watching you. >> defense officials a that he monitored the entire course of the american b-52 bombers as they tested china's new and highly controversial air defense zone claiming they have the capabilities to control the air space. it's the latest round of rhetoric since china announce

announced the zone just days ago. stretching from china's coast and pushing east by secting what china calls the islands claimed by both china and japan. both the u.s. and japan have called the unilateral move a dangerous escalation that could lead to a military trash point. dhooin says the zone allows it to monitor aircraft that could threaten their national security. >> it's indeed the right of every country to defend its air space and also to make sure that its territorial integrity are safegua safeguarded. >> analysts say it's a way tore china to flex its military muscle and counter act the u.s.'s so-called pivot to asia. china is now sending their so aircraft carrier to the south china sear for what they call a routine training sail. all of this could be saber

rattling because no one believes beijing wants to start a fight with the u.s. or japan. >> the real issue here in tokyo may be less about what's going on in the air and more about what's going on on the ground. the japanese government aid it fears this is part of a new push by china to assert its claims over what japan calls the senkaku islands. >> japanese government is ready to respond to this kind of provocative acts of chinese fight in a resolute yet calm manner. >> the eight uninhabited islands and rocks are about twice the size of fork's central park. experts say they may harbor oil and gas deposits. tension in that corner of the sea has long been running high. in 2010, japanese coast guard cutters sparked a diplomatic spat. japan says it already scrambles fighter jets to intercept

chinese aircraft over the islands. caroline kennedy is calling for level heads. >> in dangerous times, the united states has always stood for the principle that disputes should be be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue and we are ready to assist this process in every way we canning >> japan's commercial airliners say they won't comply with orders to identify themselves. the. the airlines insist passenger safety is not at risk. i'm karl penhaul in tokyo. >> i'm david mckenzie in beijinging >> tense situation in the south china sea. we'll continue to watch that. a tragic accident today at one of the upcoming world cup venues in brazil. three people were killed when a falling crane struck a stadium still under construction. here are pictures from sao paulo. authorities say the crane caused part of the roof to lapse. this is the arena corinthians scheduled to host the opener of

the 2014 order cup soccer games next summer. that's all the news from me now. i'll be back at 5:00 eastern on the situation room". news reply" continues right now with brooke baldwin. >> jim sciutto, demonstrate to be with you. i'm brooke baldwin. got to talk about cold and snow and ice and arena and wind. combine all these farcs with one of the busiest travel days of this entire year and you might imagine chaos on the highways and airports this thanksgiving holiday. guess what, at least for now, most places are in much better shape than anticipated. airports are reporting relatively few delays or cancellations. that's great news for you today. millions of air travelers are getting in, getting out, getting on with their lives. and of course, there are plenty of challenges out there. just take a look at some of these pictures, this is akron, ohio, drivers in this neck of the country