too far? pilots and flight attendants are taking on the new security standards and one group is planning a protest that could affect your thanksgiving travel plans. and if you've tried everything to motivate your teens, but their school work is still suffering and grades are slipping, maybe you let them sleep in. it's working like a charm at one cutting-edge high school. >> you let them sleep in, but they still have to go to school. >> just a little later. kept in the dark while drifting at sea, we're finding out passengers were never told about the engine-room fire that left them stranded for four days. listen to this. it's the crew's public address announcement on home video that was shot moments after the fire broke out on monday. >> we have a smoke situation. lots of smoke in the engine control areas. you are all smelling that smoke if you're on deck, one, two, possibly deck six, as well, and you're on the back of the ship. >> a smoke situation.

that's all passengers say they were told. they also say they didn't find out just how serious the fire really was until they got off of the ship yesterday in southern california. >> just now they actually told us there was a fire on the boat. >> you did not know there was a fire on the boat until now? >> yes. >> so what did they tell you why the boat suddenly stopped on your excursion? >> they never told us what the issue was. all they told us was there was smoke. there's lots of smoke. >> what they told us on the ship was it was a flameless fire, and i don't understand what that means because wherever there's smoke, there's fire. they say the aft motor had caught a fire, i guess, said it was electrical wires that went out. and eventually that got into the forward engine which then cut all the power to the entire ship. that's what they told us was a flameless fire is what they told us. >> in a few minutes we'll be joined live by two passengers onboard that cruise ship. one of them was staying in a

cabin directly above that engine room where that fireless fire started. >> flameless fire. >> whatever it was. >> that's a little strange. well, the ordeal at sea was no laughing matter for the 3,300 passengers and 1,200 crew members who had to endure it, but it was perfect fodder for late night television. >> everyone knows this story by now because it's been covered exhaustively in the news. adrift for three days, surviving on pop tarts and spam. >> which is a delicious sandwich. >> yeah. that's what i did in college. i don't know what the big problem is. the ship was towed to san diego, safely docked, i'm told it's now ready and i think it's already going back out back to sea. >> really? >> yeah. it's on the way. there it is! it's back. >> oh, wow! >> oh, hey. look at it. good luck, you guys.

the president of carnival cruise line spoke to the press today. he says he's got everything under control. but show the press conference today. >> first, the safety of our guests and crew -- second, we want to get them home as quickly as possible trying to make it as comfortable as possible. >> now, that was not a flameless fire. >> merciless. >> i know, well, some of the passengers also said you kind of had to laugh or you would have cried because it was very uncomfortable to say the least. cnn's coverage of the cruise won't be complete without the spamgate controversy. suggesting that the stranded passengers were forced to eat spam while waiting to be rescued, but they shot down those reports via twitter. writing despite media reports to the contrary, carnival splendor guests were never served spam. apparently it was delivered to the ship but it wasn't served.

that was the difference. >> putting to rest those rumors. now on to president obama's trip to asia. he's going to arrive in yokohama, japan today. he'll attend the summit. earlier the president wrapped up the g-20 talks in seoul, south korea where he addressed extending the bush tax cuts and his own standing on the world stage. ed henry has been traveling with the president. he's live in seoul. and some question as to whether or not the white house is prepared to compromise with republicans and allow the current tax rates to stay in place. >> reporter: that's right, john. and the president in this news conference pushed back really hard on the notion that he's about to cave in to republicans and allow them to extend the tax cuts for the rich. the president basically saying his number one priority is focus on extending the tax cuts for the middle class, making sure they extend beyond the end of this year. and he'll sit down and negotiate

next week with democrats and republicans. but contrary to this report in the "huffington post" that he's ready to give it up because the only way is to cave on the rich. he said that's not the case. take a listen. >> that is the wrong interpretation. because i haven't had a conversation with republican/democratic leaders. here's the right interpretation. i want to make sure that taxes don't go up for middle class families starting on january 1st. that's my number one priority. for those families and for our economy. i also believe that it would be fiscally irresponsible for us to permanently extend the high-income tax cuts. i think that would be a mistake, particularly when we've got our republican friends saying that their number one priority is making sure that we deal with our debt and our deficit. >> reporter: but the fact of the

matter is that the president really has very little leverage heading into these tax cut negotiations in addition to republicans insisting that the tax cuts for the rich continue. he also has some conservatives in the senate who want to do that. he doesn't have the vote to stop them. he's very likely going to have to compromise. what seems more likely going on right now is he's trying to stake out a firm position, not show all of his cards. but in the end, he's very likely going to have to give in on that. >> when the president gets back to washington, one of the people he'll be sitting down with is nancy pelosi. is he voicing support for her as the minority leader? >> he all but is. it was sort of an endorsement. the white house insisted they were going to stay out of the leadership race. nancy pelosi now wanting to be the minority leader in the new house. and there are conservative democrats saying, wait, not so fast. maybe there needs to be new faces and what not. the president got some questions

about what about new blood in your party on capitol hill? he says there'll be a lot of voices, but nancy pelosi has been an outstanding partner in pushing my agenda. >> ed henry live in seoul, south korea, thanks. also new this morning, subway rage caught on tape. a commuter says he was left scratched, bruised after a transit worker in boston slapped him around. stewart wilkerson said the woman gave him the wrong train directions to providence so he asked for her name and when she refused, he tried to take her picture and that's when she lost it. that worker has been fired. but a transit spokesman said the victim didn't handle it right either. >> looked as though he may have been a bit aggressive putting the cell phone camera, as i understand it, almost in the employee's face. the reaction of the employee was far too aggressive. and, again, nothing that we will tolerate at the nbta.

>> union rep for the worker says the tape doesn't tell the whole story and she was just trying to defend herself. heads up, if you drive a nissan, the company is is recalling frontiers. the recall also includes about 18,000 nissan sentras. well, you can't even sit down to eat anymore. must shop another store. toys r us says it will be open on thanksgiving joining a lot of other retailers who cannot wait for black friday anymore. this is the earliest that toys r us has kicked off the door-buster deals. newsweek joining forces with the daily beast to form the newsweek daily beast company. the current editor in chief is going to be in charge of both staffs. and from upstate new york to 30 rock, the rockefeller center christmas tree is on the way to

new york city this morning. the it's a 74-foot norway spruce, donated by the family of a 9/11 first responder. the tree lighting this year is scheduled for november 30th. >> everybody's into the season a little earlier. i guess when the economy's bad, you've got to give people a little more time to get out there and do all the things they need to do. coming up on nine minutes after the hour, let's get a quick check of the weather headlines. reynolds wolf for us this morning. >> looks good on the east coast and out towards the west, but smack dab in the middle of the nation, it's hard to miss the big trouble later on today. let's go to the maps. you're going to see a line of storms that extends nearly 1,000 miles to the west of chicago. you see some of the heaviest rainfall moving across the central plains. kansas city, no rain for you just yet, that's on its way and southward to oklahoma city, we're seeing scattered showers and storms. possibly a little bit of flash flooding. and then on the far left-hand side of your screen, something

else altogether, a little bit of light snow developing at this hour. that's where the big problem is going to be, it will be the central plains into the afternoon. any travel plans going through dallas, perhaps will rogers airport in oklahoma city, you might have some problems. pure bliss in boston and new york, highs in the upper 50s. 74 in phoenix, and portland, imagine that, pacific northwest with sunshine and 52. your complete forecast is coming up, plus another look at your travel weather and a sneak peek at what you can expect into the weekend. back to you. >> reynolds, thanks so much. looking spiffy today, by the way, i like the vest. >> thank you. well, the pushback against new security screenings at airports is growing this morning. pilots are now urging members to avoid, to opt out of those full-body scanners at airports. they say the screenings are both a health risk and intrusive. travel industry executives are going to take on the topic today in a meeting with

secretary janet napolitano. those business leaders say those statements are hurting their bottom lines. you can't talk on the the one hand about creating jobs in this country and getting the economy back on track and on the other discourage millions of americans from flying, which is the gateway to commerce. and you better pack your patience if you're flying on one of the the busiest travel days of the year. a group of flight attendants are now calling on travelers, as well, to opt out of these body scans wednesday, november 24th. does that ring a bell? well, it's the day before thanksgiving. and the protest would force security workers to give the protesters pat downs. >> i wonder if the people involved in the protest are going to be traveling that day. that'll be interesting to know. >> exactly. coming up in our 7:00 hour, we'll talk with the executive director. he is suing the tsa to try to get all of those body scanners

pulled out of the airports across the country. so murkowski, coming up spelling may not be the only factor in play as the ballot counting continues on who ultimately will get that senate seat in alaska. and in three minute's time, we'll be joined by two passengers who just returned from vacation hell. they were onboard that carnival cruise liner, and one of them had a cabin directly over the engine room that caught fire, but there were no flames. 12 minutes after the hour. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] in the event of a collision, the smartest thing you could do is cut the fuel supply, unlock the doors, and turn on the hazards. or get a car that does it for you. ♪

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♪ 15 minutes after the hour now. mayonnaise sandwiches, backed up toilets, not the stuff that dream vacations are made of. but that's exactly what 3,300 passengers had to deal with this week on what you could call the cruise from hell. and while transportation officials investigate the fire that crippled the carnival cruise ship splendor on monday, we're going to find out what it was like to be onboard. our next guests were passengers. live from san diego this morning and from st. louis. you were on a girls' trip with your mom and five other ladies and you happened to have a room

right above the engine room, what i guess the cruise ship is calling a flameless fire took place. what was it like? >> it was -- well, when it happened, it was loud. the rest of the days were just i wouldn't say chaotic, just a little not organized at first. as the time went on, it got a little better. situations weren't great as far as not having toilets and power. but most people made it through and survived all right obviously. >> what was it like in the first few moments? what did you hear? what did you see? did you smell anything? >> i don't know, it was truly interesting. at 6:00 a.m., i felt the ship vibrate, and i was a little concerned. and i had awakened my husband. i said, honey, wake up, something is going on. and a few minutes later, john, i heard an alert that went over the loud speaker. and the alert said alpha team alpha team. and it was at that moment i

realized something must be going on. and so it was very interesting. we did -- there was a smell and odor. it didn't smell like fire. it had a, i guess, you could say an odor like maybe something that was melting. >> gotcha. >> as it were. >> you had that announcement saying alpha team alpha team, get to the engine room. and another announcement caught by one of our i-reporters. let's listen to that. >> we have a smoke situation, lots of smoke in the engine control area. so at this time, we believe that it is safe for the guests to not inhale any of this smoke. >> they kept saying smoke situation, smoke situation. everybody needs to get to the upper decks. had you had any idea there was a fire in the engine room at that point? >> at that point i did not. i just thought there was smoke. i mean, it's possible that there

could be smoke with no fire. but once we got out there and actually saw that it was black smoke, it was not realistic that there was no fire with black smoke that was that bad. >> right. what was the worst part of the experience for you? we talk about people being left with mayonnaise sandwiches because passenger in two-hour lines ahead of them were taking all of the meat out of the sandwiches. backed up toilets, cold showers in the dark, what was the worst for you? >> you know, i was disappoint disappointed -- i was planning this trip with a group from church. it was a church event. and it was -- i don't wish this experience on anyone, john, but i was disappointed, oh, my goodness, why is this happening? why now? but i'm so thankful that we're all alive. i give god praise that we made it out okay, because it could have been so much worse. and the fact that we were all able to walk away and this is

not an interview regarding search and rescue. i was very pleased that the uss reagan was there. we were accompanied by submarines, the coast guard was there, the mexican navy was there. so that made us feel very special for lack of a better choice of words. but we were just very pleased with the outcome. the crew was phenomenal. carnival did an excellent job taking care of the passengers. and again, i'm just thankful to be alive. so regardless of what we did eat or did not eat, we're here. >> which brings me to my next question, of course, carnival cruise lines has refunded the cost of the cruise that y'all were on and also offered you another free cruise. is that something you take them up on? >> i will absolutely take them up on it. i definitely feel i deserve it after everything we went through this last week. >> so this hasn't soured you on the experience? >> well, this was my first cruise. it definitely wasn't ideal. but i would definitely give it

another go and hopefully get the experience that i should have had this time. >> and would you go back out there? >> absolutely. everyone agrees that this was totally out of the norm. and we cannot base our entire lives on one experience, we just have to learn from it and find out what happened, what was the cause? and again, it could have been so much worse. but i'm thankful for everyone who prayed for us. and again, we will continue to cruise. my husband and i, my dad was with me, lots of friends from church. there was dr. price, onboard with us. so it wasn't a wonderful event, obviously, it was definitely an experience, one that we would never forget. we're happy we can laugh about it in hindsight. >> yeah. well, we're glad that you're all back on dry land. and if you do go out on the cruise, be sure to give us a call and we'll check in with you when you're back to see how it is.

ladies, really appreciate it. >> thank you for having us. >> thank you. >> well, at least they had good attitudes about it, because it doesn't seem the least bit relaxing. still ahead, could christine o'donnell follow in the footsteps of sarah palin? she reveals whether or not she's going to star in a reality show. and if your teens are struggling in school, they can't get motivated, would letting them sleep in actually be much better for their studies? it's working in one high school. we'll show you how. 21 minutes past the hour. [ woman ] you know, as a mom, i worry about my son playing football. which is why i'm really excited. because toyota developed this software that can simulate head injuries and helps make people safer. then they shared this technology with researchers at wake forest to help reduce head injuries on the football field. so, you know, i can feel a bit better about my son playing football. [ male announcer ] how would you use toyota technology to make a better world?

learn how to share your ideas at toyota.com/ideasforgood. [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

just wanted to see how you boys are doing. >> doing about 60-mile-an-hour, connie. >> sorry? frank, i don't understand. >> we're going after your train. >> 1206, i'm not hearing you. >> morning talker time, denzel washington tries to stop a run away train part of the new film "unstoppable," which opens today. will it be unstoppable at the box office? also opening this weekend "skyline," and "morning glory" which is about the hilarious world of morning television, although the reviews have been less than enthusiastic. whoever wins the weekend, it will be shortly lived on top because harry potter and the deathly hallows arrives next week. >> the beginning of the big wrap-up for harry potter. it's already being called the longest campaign ad ever. sarah palin's alaska.

it premieres sunday night on tlc, takes you fishing, bear-watching, ice trekking, mushing with the former governor and maybe 2012 presidential candidate. trailer for the show says she even says jokingly, you can see russia from here. well, almost. >> well, there you go. making moe, larry, and curly proud. the attempt to break a world record, 650 new jersey prep students, 1,400 chocolate pies, and a fundraiser to benefit a local soup kitchen. more than enough people and pies, but guinness still has to make it official. well, when you watch this, you want to stop laughing. you really do, but it's really kind of hard watching this clip of high school girls' hurdles going viral on the web right now. they just can't stay up. have a look at this. some of them go down. and they keep going down.

but everyone turns out to be okay. someone's put some training montage music to it. and the remix is coming in, as well. >> it's a lot harder than it looks, hurdling. well, throw them away with the phone booth, phone companies -- >> like i said, you want to stop laughing. >> oh, man, quit while you're ahead. after your lose your rhythm, you can't get over the next one, you may, as well stop there. poor thing. phone companies are fighting to stop mass-producing the white pages. they say most people go to google now anyway. they say it'll help environment and their bottom lines by saving that paper and ink. in the past month alone, new york, florida, and pennsylvania told verizon it's okay to stop delivering the white pages. well, she dresses the turkey for dinner and also sauces them up before she offs them. martha stewart told stephen colbert saying she treats her birds to one last drink before they become the feast.

>> how many turkeys are you responsible for killing? >> this year six. >> have you ever killed one with your bare hands? >> oh, yeah. >> literally the light drains out of their eyes? >> i give them -- you know those little bottles of cognac and bourbon on the arirplanes? >> mini bottles. >> well, before the bird is slaughtered -- >> you get the bird drunk? do you have your way with the bird? >> no. no. just pour it down -- >> interesting. >> it also, you know, obviously the bourbon too would get into the meat and make it a little more juicy. walmart says it will offer free shipping for online purchases through december 20th no matter how cheap your order is. it comes a day after it was leaked that target is offering appliances as low as $3 on black friday. i think they're doing toasters and other things for $3.

also talking about a flat panel, maybe a 48-inch for $298. yeah. their circular got leaked. >> where is this? >> target. >> oh, on our way. still to come, a mystery to be solved. this week has launched another round of conspiracy theorys. jeannie most gets reactios gets the ground. we know why we're here.

♪ to connect our forces to what they need, when they need it. ♪ to help troops see danger, before it sees them.

♪ to answer the call of the brave and bring them safely home. [ female announcer ] around the globe, the people of boeing are working together, to support and protect all who serve. that's why we're here. ♪ ♪

that's just about the perfect song to start off your friday, isn't it? >> oh, yeah, and zac brown band won best new artist at the cma. >> they're very good. but it feels like you're getting into a weekend when you play that music. crossing the half hour now. time for our top stories. president obama is in japan, he arrived a short time ago attending the asia/pacific economic cooperation summit this weekend. after wrapping up the g-20 talks in seoul, he said leaders reached a broad consensus on moving the global economy forward. one big setback, he failed to reach a free trade agreement with south korea. group of flight attendants joining the pilots' unions in protesting new security screenings. pilots are urging members to avoid full-body scanners. they say the screeners are a health risk and intrusive. meantime, flight attendants are calling on travelers to opt out of the body scans on the day before thanksgiving. and today, san francisco mayor gavin newsom is expected to veto a ban on mcdonald's

happy meals. an ordnance that requires fast food happy meals to meet certain nutritional standards. well, the race for a senate seat in alaska looked like it might turn into a spelling bee and then a handwriting contest. it's not only the spelling of murkowski's name at issue because of her write-in candidacy, but how her name is written. she is facing joe miller as a write-in candidate. and the latest poll has her with a lead with about 90% of the vote counted. shannon travis joins us with more on this counting. and i guess a lot of -- i guess a lot of analyzing about spelling and in some cases how the name was written. what's going on, shannon? >> that's right, kiran. i did pretty well in spelling bees in grade school, but this has been a real test of my spelling ability. let me tell you the the latest.

right now, things are looking up for senator murkowski. she's holding about 90% of the write-in ballots. clear, unambiguous votes for her. so right now joe miller is still behind in the official vote tally. he needs to make up a lot of ground. also, late last night, a representative for joe miller, his name is floyd brown says, hey, we still believe joe miller has a chance because of the absentee ballots that are still remaining that need to be counted. they think he can win with that. but he's also concerned about what they say is voter fraud. they've been getting lots of reports of people saying hey, i was disenfranchised. and they put out a number saying, call this number, they want to investigate that and launch a lawsuit over that, as well. >> meanwhile, there is a whole problem over the spelling of the name correctly. murkowski.

it talked about this before this happened. what qualifies as being allowed to count. >> that's a central question of this fight here. the division of elections is saying, hey, if you misspelled murkowski, it is a bit of a difficult name to spell. if you misspelled it here or there, then it'll count. some of those ballots have been ruled in favor of the senate. but a real interesting point, we have been seeing -- i've personally being witnessing some that were perfectly spelled for lisa murkowski, those ballots being challenged, as well, by the miller campaign. when i pressed the campaign. hey, why are you challenging perfectly-spelled ballots? they have told me and others of the media, maybe it was illegible, maybe there were smudges on it, maybe there was some other imperfection that made us question it. now you're moving into the area of perfectly spelled ballots still being challenged. so it could go either way.

>> but they are allowing all of those spellings you showed to count. if the intent was lisa murkowski, it doesn't have to be spelled properly? >> not all of them. the vast majority of them, we've witnessed a lot of them being cleared for murkowski. some of them they've said, people have combined different candidates' names. so it has to be -- there is no formula that i've seen applied. it's very subjective. some of them are being applied for her, but some are not. >> we should know soon. lisa murkowski spelled many different ways this morning from alaska. >> i like that's got her a member of the clan macowski. david axelrod says the white house is willing to negotiate ending tax cuts for the wealthy. he says that statement is the same thing the president has been saying since election day.

axelrod says the president is willing to talk compromise with congressional leaders. so what's next for former senate candidate christine o'donnell. the delaware republican says she's not sure yet, but she's getting plenty of offers. on tonight show last night, the tea party favorite said she's been offered a book deal and a reality show. she says she'd prefer to work on a watchdog type of show. go to the cnn.com/ticker page for the latest political headlines. if you can't get your teen motivated and their grades are slipping and you feel you've tried everything, maybe let them sleep in. they're trying it out at one high school in england and it appears to be working. do the body scans go too far? the pushback could affect holiday travel. we'll lay it out for you. it's 37 minutes after the hour. during its first year, the humpback calf and its mother

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♪ 41 minutes past the hour. if your teenager's having a tough time in school and you can't seem to motivate them, you might try letting them sleep in. at one school in northern england, it's working like a charm. >> instead of waking up with and even before the sun, the kids are allowed to sleep in because -- listen to this, classes don't start until 10:00 in the morning. our phil black is live in london this morning. and he spent some time just outside of new castle. and i'll tell you, the idea of school not starting until 10:00 in the morning, it's like a dream, phil. >> yeah. the students certainly think so.

john, kiran, good morning. if you visit the high school in northern england at around 8:00, you'll find the place completely empty. that's the time in a lot of schools are just kicking off for the day. but that's the time when those students' alarms are just going off. and it's because you say the school has bumped back its start time until 10:00. and done this based upon what it says is compelling scientific evidence which proves -- here's a surprise, that teenagers can be in the morning grumpy and difficult. scientists say that because of the wiring of their brains, the chemicals, the hormones flooding through their bodies, they are essentially programmed to sleep just that little bit longer than everybody else. the driving force behind this change is the head teacher paul kelley and an oxford professor named russell foster. take a listen to both of their thoughts on this. >> it's a big change in the way that we think about students looking at their health and

their mental health before we decide how the school system's going to work. >> there's a remarkable body of evidence now which suggests that teenagers genuinely have a biological predisposition to go to bed late and get up late. >> teachers reporting better attendance, happier students, and hope with time they're going to be able to report back results, as well. >> and what are the parents saying, phil? >> well, as a mix divide there, the teachers love it, the students love it, there is a body of parents, though, who believe this isn't the best way to prepare kids for the real world because that generally starts much earlier than 10:00. and they also think it's a big inconvenience because they're used to getting the kids off to school, going to their jobs, which, again, generally start earlier than 10:00. but this 10:00 start time is, n., a compromise because the scientists believe the ideal start time for a teenager is 11:00. >> having been the parent of

two, i might extend that to 11:30 or perhaps noon, but it's an intriguing idea, phil. and i know it's being looked at in this country. maybe not 10:00, maybe that's a little too late. phil, thanks so much. coming up, it was the missile that wasn't a missile but managed to launch huge conspiracy theorys. our jeannie moos offers her take on the mysterious vapor trail just ahead. finally it's friday. reynolds wolf will have the morning's weekend forecast coming up for you after the break. 44 minutes past the hour. [ male announcer ] welcome to that one time of year when we all become doers. when our mittens double as work gloves. and we turn every room into a project. but this year, let's trim the budget. get some help from martha stewart that we can't get anywhere else. and spread our money as far as our cheer. ♪ more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot.

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♪ 47 minutes past the hour right now. we get a check of this morning's weather headlines, including storms hitting the midwest right now. we have reynolds wolf in the extreme weather center. >> hey, guys, you're not going to need an alarm clock if you're tuning in from parts of the midwest. it's hard to miss right now. you can see this line of storms extending from madison and back over towards milwaukee. chicago, no rain for you yet, but trust me, that's on its way. oklahoma city, we've got scattered showers, wichita, thunderstorms, but back in amarillo, take a look at this. first couple of frames, rain drops moving through, then a little bit of cold air gets

mixed in, and then boom, snowfall. something else you're going to be seeing later on today, not just these showers and storms, but there will be the possibility of getting, well, plenty of sunshine. and the west coast and also the east coast. highs mainly in the 50s. and portland and seattle, sunshine, 52 degrees the expected high, beautiful in the cascades as we make our way down into central and southern california, 74 degrees with sunshine. that means the weather's going to be perfect with the exception of what's happening in the center of the u.s., right? no, we're going to have wind in the eastern sea board. with that, a few delays for all of you travelers, especially in boston at logan, all your new york metros could be anywhere from a 30-minute wait to a 60-minute wait all due to the wind. but minneapolis, the top half of that frontal boundary that's going to bring you a few showers and storms and a few delays. let's send it back to you. >> thanks so much. we'll see you again very shortly. passengers onboard that carnival cruiseship are speaking

out. they're saying the crew kept them all in the dark. and this went way beyond just the electricity being out. you'll hear from them at the top of the hour. and another major car recall. more than half million cars in the u.s., a warning about steering problems. we'll tell you what they are and what models may be affected. 49 minutes past the hour. affect wheat output in the u.s., the shipping industry in norway, and the rubber industry in south america? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex global economy. it's just one reason os beat their10-year lipp. t. rowe price.invest . request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment objectives, risks, fees, expenses, and other information to read and consider carefully before investing. may not be getting the nutrition they need to keep their bodies strong. carnation instant breakfast essentials supplies the nutrients of a balanced breakfast to help build strong muscles and healthy bones. carnation instant breakfast essentials.

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one month, five years after you do retire? ♪ client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize i better start doing something. we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think, "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. that was a throwback. >> 52 1/2 minutes after the hour. it's time for moos news in the morning. was it a bird, a plane, a

missile, a mysterious vapor trail in the sky over los angeles and then over new york city had everyone talking this week. >> yeah, maybe the biggest mystery was how long it took the pentagon to reach its contrail conclusion. here's jeannie moos. >> reporter: three, two, one, we have liftoff of a story john stewart dubbed missile impossible. >> it looks like it could be a launch from a submarine. >> from a navy ship. >> could it be a secret test? >> a russian sub. >> maybe a ballistic missile. >> reporter: we're surprised someone didn't guess the wicked witch of the west. >> surrender dorothy. >> reporter: from the pentagon to the website contrailscience.com, experts agree the plume off the california coast was just a jet contrail. >> contrail is a condensation trail. >> water coming out of a jet seen here from the cockpit of

another plane. sort of like your breath on a cold day. the west coast contrail got a phallic makeover. some say they know exactly what did that. >> it was u.s. airways flight 808. >> reporter: actually, he is an aviation photography buff who focused on airline flight paths and schedules, then found a web cam that captured a similar contrail in the same place 24 hours after the now famous one. >> the same daily flight from honolulu to phoenix was in the same position, as well. so that was kind of the smoking gun for me. >> the smoking contrail. >> reporter: two nights after the west coast missile, there was another strange sighting here on the east coast. wcbs in new york had the video. >> moving briskly behind the manhattan skyline. >> reporter: contrail enthusiasts think this is also

one from a jet, similar in situation to which the plane is visible. >> the trail had been lit by the setting sun. some suggest it was iron man. jay leno suggested we follow the trail of the mystery contrail. >> let's play it backwards and trace where the the contrail came from. see, okay. go all the way back. oh, there it had! there it is right there. >> contrail controversies have happened before and they'll happen again. so -- ♪ happy trails to you >> reporter: make that contrails. ♪ until we meet again >> reporter: jeannie moos, cnn, new york. >> you have to admit, though, that one looks a little unusual the way the plane is climbing out. looked kind of like it was going out. >> i don't know if the conspiracy theorists were convinced it was really just a contrail. >> yeah, those folks who think

we were visited by ufos are probably going to say, what's going on? top stories after the break. don't go away. public reaction led to international bans, and whale populations began to recover. at pacific life, the whale symbolizes what is possible when people stop and think about the future. help protect your future, with pacific life. the power to help you succeed.

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good morning on this friday the 12th of november, and thanks for joining us on "american morning," i'm john roberts. >> and i'm kiran chetry. the tsa's new body scans causing quite an uproar. one group is, in fact, planning a protest that could disrupt thanksgiving travel. and they're not the only ones complaining about the new security standards at airports. another big car recall to tell you about, more than 500,000 nissan cars and trucks. the separate issue that could leave some cars on the side of the road without a battery. new video of acwe transit worker attack in boston. the woman taking wild swings at a commuter landing a few. she's out of a job, but there's another side of the story.

kept adrift at sea, we're learning that carnival cruise passengers were not told about the engine-room fire that left them stranded for four days. just listen to this home video. you'll hear the crew's announcement on the ship's pa system shortly before the fire broke out on monday. >> we have a smoke situation, lots of smoke in the engine-control areas. you are all smelling that smoke if you're on deck, one, two, possibly deck six, as well, if you're on the back of the ship. >> the smoke situation, that's what passengers were told. they didn't find out how serious the fire was until they got off the ship yesterday in southern california. >> just now, they actually told us there was a fire on the boat. >> you did not know there was a fire on the boat until now? >> yes. >> so what did they tell you why that the boat suddenly stopped, you know, on your excursion? >> they never told us what the issue was.

all they told us was there was smoke. there's lots of smoke. >> what they told us on the ship was it was a flameless fire and i don't understand what that means because wherever there's smoke, there's fire. they said the motor had caught afire, i guess, or the electrical wires that went out. and eventually that got into the forward engine, which then cut all the power to the entire ship. that's what they told us was a flameless fire is what they told us. >> in a few minutes, we'll be joined by natalie martinez and angela evans, two passengers onboard that cruise ship. they'll tell us the five things they wish they'd had in their survival kit. >> they said they'll bring them next time just in case. this ordeal at sea was certainly not funny for the 3,300 passengers and 1,200 crew members who had to endure it. but it was perfect fodder for late-night tv. >> everyone knows this story by now. adrift for three days, no electricity, surviving on

poptarts and spam. that's what they airlifted to these people. >> which is a delicious sandwich. >> that's what i did in college. i don't know what the big problem is. the ship was towed to san diego, safely docked. i'm told it's now ready and i think it's going back to sea. >> really? >> yes, on the way. there it is! it's back. >> oh, wow. >> hey, look at it. good luck, you guys! >> the president of carnival cruise line spoke to the press today. he says he has everything under control. show the press conference today. >> first, the safety of our guest and crew. second, we want to get them home as quickly as possible. and third, we're trying to make it comfortable. >> and we can also finally close

the door on this spamgate controversy. the media report suggesting that the stranded passengers were forced to dine on the meat substance while waiting to be rescued. well, the folks at carnival then tweeted despite media reports to the contrary, guests were never served spam. apparently the spam was delivered to the ship, but never actually consumed. new this morning, subway rage caught on tape. a commuter says he was left scratched and bruised after a boston transit worker slapped him around. stewart wilkerson says the woman gave him the wrong train directions to providence. he asked for her name and when she refused, he tried to take her picture with a cell phone. a spokesman said the victim didn't exactly handle it the right way either. >> looked as though he may have been that bit aggressive putting the cell phone camera, as i understand it, almost in the employee's face.

the reaction the employee was far too aggressive. and, again, nothing that we will tolerate at the nbta. >> a union rep for the worker says the tape does not tell the whole story that she was just trying to defend herself. well, if you drive a nissan, the company's saying it's recalling more than 500,000 frontiers and exteras. the recall also includes about 18,000 nissan sentras to replace a battery. the president arriving in japan just over an hour ago. a couple of hours before that, he wrapped up the g-20 summit in south korea and made news saying he does plan to meet with leaders of both parties next week to discuss extending the bush tax cuts. but he is against extending permanent tax cuts to the wealthy. well, it's a beast of a merger in the media world. news week joining forces with the daily beast.

the daily beast announcing it by saying we're getting hitched. the current editor in chief tina brown will be in charge of both staff. and the rockefeller christmas tree is on the way to new york city this morning. the 74-foot tall norway spruce donated by a family of a 9/11 first responder. the tree lighting scheduled for november 30th this year. >> we get a check of this morning's weather headlines. reynolds wolf is in the extreme weather center. when are you coming up here? >> if they can find skates in a size 16 that will fit these big things, i'm your guy. absolutely. >> do you have trouble finding ice skates, really? >> when you say i have trouble, that opens the door to so many things. >> if there's anybody from ccm or bauer listening this morning, we need a pair of what size? >> size 16. that's right, surf boards for feet. we've got snow this morning in parts of texas. let's go right to the weather maps.

you can see the shower activity indicated by the greens and blues in the map behind me. but in amarillo, it's all snow biz. we could see 1 to 3 inches of snowfall on the ground. other stories, what to expect across the nation. looks like some sunshine up and down much of the eastern sea board. highs anywhere from the 50s, 57 in boston, back over to phoenix valley, the sun very high today. 74 degrees the high for you. and portland, 52 degrees and plenty of sunshine. still some storms in kansas city, back into seattle, even the twin cities where you might see delays later on in the afternoon."wñ and speaking of delays, we have more of those travel troubles you may see. >> reynolds, good news, i just googled it. bigshoes.com, they have ice skate in size 16 medium, they're on sale.

now we know what to get you for christmas. >> there you go. well, the criticism about the full-body scans at airport security checks is getting louder this morning. pilots unions already urging members to avoid the full body scanning at airports. they represent more than 16,000 pilots. and they say the screenings are both an invasion of privacy and a health risk. and travel industry executives will take on the topic today in a meeting with janet napolitano. and in a statement it says you can't talk on one hand about creating jobs in this country and getting this economy back on track, and on the other hand, discourage millions of americans from flying. get ready for long security lines. the group of flight attendants opposed to the procedures are calling on passengers to opt out of the body scans on wednesday, november 24th, one of the busiest travel days of the year.

the protest would force security workers to give travelers a pat down instead of going through the body scan. the idea is to cause long delays and send a message to the feds. yeah, that one's going to work. coming up at 7:30, we're going to talk to the executive director of the privacy information center. his group is suing the tsa in attempt to end the use of those body scans. if you're wondering what it was like onboard the stranded carnival cruise ship, stay tuned for our guests who survived it. they tell why they may never go swimming or eat a hotdog again. the 10 carat diamonds, and how many things could one person possibly monogram? a look at how the biggest con man in history spent everyone else's money. ♪

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♪ ten minutes past the hour. if they'd only brought along peanut butter. two passengers who spent four days stranded on a carnival cruise ship, no showers, meals in some cases consisting of bread, lettuce, and beans. natalie martinez and angela evans say after what they went through, they'll never take running water for granted again. thanks for being with us this morning. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> well, you guys look great. you don't look like you went through the ordeal that you did. let me start with natalie. tell us a little bit what it was like. i know you had a late fun night sunday night, you were trying to get shut-eye and you noticed something unusual. what was going on? >> well, i did get to bed late, probably like 4:00 a.m. and so around 6:00 before the announcement, i felt a shudder.

and i thought it was just like some waves or something like that. but shortly thereafter, we got the alpha alarm and the cruise director made the announcement that there's been smoke down in the engine room and he encouraged all of us to evacuate our cabins. and to go to the upper deck. >> and angela, were you guys scared? were you guys scared at this point? >> more like confused. it was kind of surreal, we were just waking up. so i would say scared just more confused than anything i think at that point. >> and some of the other passengers were saying they weren't notified that this was, indeed, as serious as it was. in terms of the fire. do you guys feel they were straight with you about what was going on? >> well, apparently now i guess they weren't. they said it was a flameless fire. and it was just smoke. so now we're hearing that there

was an actual fire. so i suppose they did keep some information from us. >> angela, you also say that on monday, not only were you without electricity, but there were plumbing koissues, as well. how bad did things get >> it was pretty bad. i had to use the public restroom on the main deck there. and when i went, it -- to use it, it was pretty bad. i've seen port-a-potties better than that. and it was still closed down for a while after that. >> and natalie, you also have pictures of what the food situation was like. you talk about waiting in line for 2 1/2 hours and some of the unusual combinations you had to come up with. tell us more about that. >> they definitely tried to be creative with what they had available. but most of our meals consisted of vegetables, beans, strange combinations with sandwiches.

and like surprise dishes. at one point, i saw chocolate ice cream so i definitely was happy to see it, but there was like bagel pieces in there and some of the different sandwiches had i don't even know what it was. maybe hot dogs. they tried to be creative. but it was definitely an interesting experience. >> and overall, angela, just tell me overall, how did people react? i mean, was it pretty calm? people making the best of the situation? or did things get ugly? >> no, actually, we all made the best of the situation. it was pretty calm considering, you know, that our vacation was pretty much ruined. but everybody came together and made the most of it, you know. they gathered around a piano at night and with the crew and the people and sang songs. and everybody's attitude was pretty good considering.

>> and natalie, we're joking that they waited two days to break out the booze. they had warm beer and wine. what was that like when they finally said, free booze for everyone? >> well, i think before then, everyone broke into their mini bars and cleared that out first. us included. but when they started to, you know, have the beer and wine, i think that lightened up the mood a little bit more. and made for, you know, the remainder of our vacation a little more tolerable. >> so the bottom line, would you guys ever do this again? i know they're offering a full refund and then a free cruise. are you going to take them up on it? >> well, we have two years to decide, but i think, you know, we would just not any time in the -- >> we'll wait. >> yeah, we'll wait at least a year maybe. >> and if you do decide. you came up with a checklist, angela, this is pretty cute. the angela and natalie cruise

survivor kit. this is what you wish you'd brought with you. flash flight -- because your rooms were dark, right? you had than interior cabin so it was pitch black in there? >> yes. >> that doesn't seem fun. >> absolutely, definitely. our night vision has improved at this point. >> you also would bring peanut butter and chocolate. so fabreeze and wipes, handy wipes. >> yes, and we just came up with a battery-operated clock, as well. >> that's another good one, right? probably a little strange to not have electricity and not know what time it was. well, you guys certainly kept a good attitude about it. and i know it wasn't easy, but you made it through. natalie martinez and angela evans, thanks so much for joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> john? >> one of those wind-up radios is always a good thing too. can you really see russia from your house? sarah palin kind of answers that question in her new reality show

episode one on tlc this weekend. taking you on the ice and inside her home. some are calling it a long and expensive campaign ad. a sneak peek for you just ahead. and another store raising the stakes in the holiday retail war. shop online and pay no shipping fees. bring on cyber monday. 1 moneys after the hour. [ woman ] you know, as a mom,

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20 minutes after the hour. and here's some of the stories that have us talking this morning in the newsroom. it's already being called the longest campaign ad ever. sarah palin's alaska. it premieres sunday evening on tlc. takes you fishing, bear-watching, ice-trekking, and mushing with the former governor and maybe 2012 presidential candidate. in the trailer for the show, she even says jokingly, you can see russia from here. almost. well, making larry, moe, and curly proud, a pie fight for the ages and an attempt to break the world record. 1,400 chocolate pies, there they are going at it. it was part of a fundraiser to benefit a local soup kitchen. had more than enough people and

pies, but guinness has to make it official. when you look at this next video, you're going to want to stop laughing, you really are. but it's kind of difficult watching this clip of high school girls hurdles. it's going viral on the web right now. all the young ladies trying to make it over the the hurdles, but getting the toes caught there, and right there, it's really having a lot of difficulty. >> once they start falling, you know, you lose your -- >> look at this. almost got over this one, let's try one more. here she comes. they were all okay. and, of course, as always happens on the web, people are putting this to music and the remixes are coming in, as well. >> it's a lot harder than it looks. throw them away with the phone books. phone companies fighting to stop producing the white pages saying most go to google anyway and it'll help the environment and their bottom lines by saving on the paper and ink. in the past month alone, new york, pennsylvania, and arizona

told verizon it's okay to stop delivering white pages to residential areas. >> so many things are changing with the internet. well, she dresses the turkey after they're dead and sauces them up before she offs them. martha stewart told stephen colbert she treats her birds to one last drink before they become dinner. >> how many turkeys are you responsible for killing? >> this year six. >> have you ever killed one with your bare hands? >> yeah. >> have you watched the life drain out of their eyes? >> well, i give them those little bottles of cognac and bourbon? >> mini bottles. >> well, before the bird is slaughtered -- >> you get the bird drunk? do you have your way with the bird? >> no. >> she didn't like that. she didn't like him asking that. >> marinating from the inside, i think. >> yeah, letting them have one last drink before they become dinner. upping the ante in the

holiday retail war. walmart says it will offer free shipping through december 20th no matter how cheap your order is. and this comes a day after it was leaked that target is offering appliances as low as $3 on black friday. how did bernie madoff sleep at night? now you can find out. want to buy his bed? one of several personal items up for auction. in homes the biggest con man left behind. a look at how he spent other people's money just ahead. and he's suing the tsa over body scanners. why our next guest believes airport security has gone too far this time. it's 23 minutes past the hour. [ advisor 1 ] what do you see yourself doing one week,

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well, to the highest bidder go the spoils of bernie madoff's lavish lifestyle. some of the personal items go on the auction block tomorrow. >> christine romans is here minding your business. she's got a preview. >> well, they've raised about $900,000 so far, i think i'm going to bid on the piano. anybody who hasn't been crushed by the recession get some money in your pocket, you can have some of bernie madoff's things that really didn't belong to bernie madoff. actually they belong to the people he stole from. here's what's on the chopping block, on the auction block this weekend. bernie madoff, of course, the

architect of one the biggest cons in history. the big-ticket item is a 10 1/2 carat diamond ring vf-2 in clarity, f in color for those of you experts. $350,000 for this one. how about play it again, bernie? this is a stein way and sons grand piano. it takes about a year to create one of these hand-made beauties. the bench we're told is included, $16,000 is what they're expected to fetch. this one. perhaps in the priceless category. this is just because you want to walk a mile in bernie's shoes, perhaps, bernie's shoes. a bunch of belgian shoes, 18 pairs of them. mr. casual style, in case you're wondering size, 9 wide. maybe you want to slip into these velvitine slippers.

red-kwelted lining, this would obviously be for someone who is a wall street buff or a history buff, someone who wants to have bernie's slippers. >> who would want all of his shoes? >> i saw a picture yesterday of them holding up a picture of his boxers. i don't want his boxers. and i know that many of the victims just want bernie's money, they want their money back. i don't think they're ever going to recover close to what he told people that he had and what people thought they had. >> how much did they raise so far? >> they've raised about 900,000 from the auction so far. they've sold some boats. there's million dollar property and stuff, but the personal items they've raised about $900. >> so they've got a few billion to go, huh? >> they made a couple million on the mansion, they sold the penthouse on park avenue, actually lexington avenue, but the park avenue penthouse, i

think $66 million. so you can have it at the new york sheraton. >> i like the 10-carat ring. >> wow, that's a lot of diamond. that's a lot of diamond. >> yeah. thanks, christine. >> sure. >> imagine what that diamond could buy if you were to give it to charity. there you go. >> that would be a good thing. well, we're crossing the half hour right now. president obama arriving in japan this morning on the final leg of his ten-day trip to asia. earlier in seoul after wrapping the g-20 talks, he says his top priority is preserving middle class tax cuts and denied comments by david axelrod suggesting he's caving in to republicans who also want tax cuts extended for the wealthy. yahoo is dismissing are report it plans to cut 20% of its workforce. the company calls the quote "misleading and inaccurate." the statement says it's always evaluating expenses.

and 3,300 passengers back on land this morning. some of them angry because they were told there was never a f-- >> they actually just told us there was a fire on the boat. >> you did not know there was a fire on the boat until now? >> yes. >> what did they tell you why the boat suddenly stopped on your excursion? >> they never told us the issue was. all they told us was there was smoke. there's lots of smoke. >> carnival cruise officials are not commenting about the flames, but they are fighting the report they fed passengers spam during the ordeal. they safe it was shipped but never served. >> too bad, because you can whip up so many dishes with spam. the debate over those full-body scanners at airports. pilots unions are warning all pilots to opt out. and now a group of flight attendants is promoting an online movement to get everybody opt out.

mark is the executive director of the electronic privacy information center, e.p.i.c. as it's called. he's in washington this morning. what's your beef with these scanners? >> well, john, i think the basic problem is that the agency doesn't have the legal authority to put these devices in the airports. we understand the need for airport security, but it was a very big step they took when they decided to make the body scanners the primary screening technique, and that's what we're objecting to. >> you're saying that they didn't follow appropriate procedure in putting them in. but here's what the tsa said in response to a letter you sent them. this comes from their chief counsel saying "tsa is not required to initiate apa rule making procedures each time the agency develops and implements new procedures." what do you say to that? >> we think they're wrong, as a matter of law we think they're

wrong, which is the reason we've gone to federal court to get the program suspended. there are a lot of objections here. health concerns, privacy conference, working with religious groups, and i think the public has become increasingly frustrated. we can't let the tsa decide what is legal. >> you're talking about these health concerns. and we know that the airline pilots association representing a couple of airlines have voiced their concern about the radiation risk. are you concerned yourself about the risk? or are you only concerned that other people are voicing that? >> no, i think those are legitimate concerns. our expertise is not in the health field. we know more about the technology and the privacy issues, and those are the issues that we focused on in our lawsuit. but we have spoken with a lot of medical experts. and i think these questions need to be looked at more closely. right now, it's just the tsa telling the american public not to be concerned. i don't think that's adequate. and i think the responses of the

pilots groups and others is very important. >> the tsa is suggesting you're going after the wrong people by filing the lawsuit against them that they have a mandate from congress to deploy equipment like this. >> well, that's -- i saw that. i almost couldn't believe that they wrote that. >> let me put it up on the screen if i could, marc. just so the folks at home know what we're following here. they wrote, "the secretary of homeland security should give a high priority to testing and deploying at screening check points that detects chemical, biological, radiological weapons and explosives in all forms in their personal property." that was a mandate they say was given by congress. >> they have authority to develop new technologies, they have authorities to use machines, for example, or look closely at baggage. but when the congress considered the question of whether they could make the body scanners a primary screening technique,

they passed legislation. i think there are over 300 members of congress that voted against exactly what tsa was trying to do. now, the bill never went to the senate. but to the extent that congress has considered this issue, i think they flatly rejected the tsa's position. >> now, there's some question too, marc, as to how effective these machines are and could they have detected the kind of explosive that abdulmutallab tried to deploy last year? >> i think that's a critical condition. i think it's one of the reasons we feel strongly about the need to suspend the program. if we thought it was effective, that it really would guarantee the safety of travelers, we'd have a different view. before we filed this lawsuit, we filed another lawsuit under the freedom of information act. and we actually obtained the technical specifications for the devices. and we looked at those specifications, talked to the experts and reached the same conclusion. these devices are not designed to detect the type of powder

explosive, the petn that was used by abdulmutallab and others. in other words, they're not even the right technology to deal with the current threats. and that, i think, is one of the most important points about this program. >> and on that point, the tsa was a little less clear than some of the other points it was making saying that the typical metal detector won't detect that type of explosive and these advanced imaging technology machines are the best tool for detecting these. so they left at least a little ambiguity there. i wondered, though, in the court of public opinion. i know that's not the one that matters to you. but in the court of public opinion, i'm wondering if you're swimming upstream a little bit because regular air travelers when asked in a usa today gallup poll, 78% of them approved of the use of these body scanners, only 20% disapproved. >> well, i saw that poll it came up some time ago.

and i think it was a poll that the tsa helped put together because when we went back to the agency and asked for the traveler complaints, you know, we found hundreds of complaints, we've now received thousands. and if you ask the question today, not back when that poll was taken, i think you'll get a very different response. i think you see this increasingly now in the growing opposition to the use of the body scanners in u.s. airports. >> well, we'll keep watching this and see where it goes because certainly there's a lot of opposition being raised to these machines. good to talk to you this morning, thanks for stopping by. >> nice speaking with you. half man, half robot. future soldiers may be wearing a metal iron man suit designed to give them super strength like lifting 200-pound weights without breaking a sweat and punching through 3-inch wood blan planks. how does it work?

♪ that was the song i couldn't guess, right? when i was the -- "who wants to be a millionaire" celebrity ask an expert. you made fun of me. >> i did? >> yeah, because you said -- this is black sabbath, right? >> yeah, i think ozzie did a celebration of it, as well. >> she looked so thrilled to hear it this morning. outfitting soldiers like

superheroes. it's one of "time" magazine's 50 best inventions of 2010. >> it could revolutionize the field of battle. have a look at this. >> reporter: rick jameson, it's got a tony stark is iron man sort of ring to it. stark runs a defense contracting country, jameson just works for one. but test engineer is no playboy billionaire. >> i've successfully privatized world peace. >> married, three kids, but just maybe wearing the prototype for future soldiers. >> it doesn't fly. that seems to be the big thing that iron man does. >> if you're tony stark, where's the sports cars? where's the scandally clad women? >> i roll in in a minivan, man.

>> the xos-2 is deadweight until it's juiced by outside power, then the hydraulic fluid starts pumping. steel and aluminum arms make everything lighter. >> so to use this 200 pounds feels less than -- >> 20 pounds. the weight of my arms does most of the the work. >> you don't have the immense feeling of strength, it's when you go to do something you couldn't do without it. >> this is probably 3 inches of pine, thick enough to hold up the second story of a house. >> i'm not even going to tell you how much that hurt. show off. >> reporter: but here's where fictional meets functional. iron man can fly and shoot rays out of his hands. this suit is still tethered to its power source. mobile batteries like lithium ion either don't last long enough or can't be strapped to a soldier's body. >> they get breached, they

aren't gentle in the way they explode. >> so for safety, liability reasons, they can't power up the suit with me in it, but i've got to at least feel what it's like inside. the first thing you notice is how heavy this is. it's tough to take a step forward. but i still feel like i've got my dexterity, the range of motion. that's important to supply units where being tethered to a supply source wouldn't matter. >> the logistics personnel typically move 16,000 pounds a day, which is an awful lot of load. >> and can keep lifting for hours. >> things that would just destroy your back, this thing picks it up no problem. >> today's troops are carrying up to 150 pounds in afghanistan. but the suit can make armor and equipment feel 17 times lighter. >> that means that you exert one pound and it exerts 17. that's a major amplification of strength. and that's all load the person doesn't have to carry themselves.

>> chris lawrence, cnn, salt lake city, utah. >> see, that's the part i think is most amazing, the dexterity. you think you'd have to make these robotic movements, but -- >> very fluid. and chris moving around with it not powered up, looks like it's not that heavy. but you say a great way to use it would be in a moving company. >> yeah. carry the piano right in. >> no, not over there, over here. >> but it could, as you were saying. because everyone here was pointing out all the flaws and you were saying this is the first it ration. >> what is with you guys? >> they weren't that impressed. >> the only problem i can see is you have to plug it in. >> but the batteries are going to get thinner, last longer. this thing's going to slim down. >> and one of these days they'll make it fly. we'll be all right. warm temperatures in the east plus tracking storms in the midwest that could bring some flash flooding and, of course, the travel delays.

reynolds wolf has got it all coming up. 44 1/2 minutes after the hour. [ male announcer ] it's a rule of nature. you don't decide when vegetables reach the peak of perfection. the vegetables do. at green giant, we pick vegetables only when they're perfect. then freeze them fast so they're are as nutritious as fresh. [ green giant ] ho ho ho. ♪ green giant we helped keep your skin clear. now we have a solution for wrinkles. neutrogena anti wrinkle with retinol sa smoothes even deep wrinkles. it works...beautifully. neutrogena.

♪ well, if you're in a georgia state of mind, you've got a beautiful day for it today. right now in atlanta, sunny and 44. later on, sunny with a high of 72 degrees. fabulous there.

>> looks nice and sunny. 47 minutes past the hour, let's check in with reynolds wolf right now. he's taking a look at -- there's one big middle part of the country that's dealing with that system. everyone else is pretty dry. >> yeah, pretty much the case. out east and out west, we don't have major issues. but the problem is right in the middle of the country, we've got a big, ugly mess. mostly showers and storms, but we have snow flakes mixing in as we speak. from madison, wisconsin, out near the campus of university of wisconsin, clear over to omaha, a rain event. see a little bit of a touch of some snowfall developing across parts of the corn belt and back into northern wisconsin. what we're going to see later on today and over into tomorrow, even into sunday is possibly more of that. we have winter storm watches in effect in near lake superior along the short line. 2 to 8 inches possible from, i'd say again later tonight into sunday. so we get a long stretch here. slow the snow event and near sioux falls and west of minneapolis.

let's talk again what's happening in terms of snow. you see a little bit of the western half of amarillo. and you can see the transformation that has taken place in the last couple of hours. people waking up to rain drops and now it's all switching over to snow. possibly 1 to 3 inches of snow before all is said and done. well, before your day is done, those temperatures are going to warm up in the 50s for boston. about 55 to 58 degrees possible. 57 in boston, 77 for orlando. in places like orlando, same deal. back into phoenix, 74 degrees, seattle also pretty nice day. and when you head out towards the san francisco southward into l.a., a little bit of the marine layer. that should burn off giving way to plenty of sunshine. toward the east, we are going to have that wind picking up in boston also in new york metros. and that wind might leave you

stranded near from 30 minutes to a full hour. in minneapolis, the rain, right now a 15 to 30-minute wait. we have a little bit of snow mixed in. that delay may be a little bit optimistic. may stretch out. and into saturday and sunday. if that snow picks up in earnest, well, you know how those winter delays can be. yeah. could see them stretch in possibly an an hour or 90 minutes or maybe longer. it is this time of year. hard to believe. back to you guys. >> all right. reynolds, thanks so much. >> you bet. meanwhile, top stories minutes away. back from the cruise from hell. smelly toilets. cold showers instead of midnight buffet, mayonnaise sandwiches. after the break, wake-up call for daydreamers. why a wandering mind may belong to an unhappy person. ten minutes to the top of the hour. ♪ [ female announcer ] the newest seasonal flavors are here. ♪ express yourself ♪

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for the dreams of generations to come. that's why we're here. ♪ ♪ we are showing a picture of phil and now talking about a wandering mind. your at a.m. house call." >> do they go together? >> daydreaming, if you do that allot, means it's not happy for you and you may be unhappy. a harvard study says people that daydream even about pleasant thoughts are unhappy about something. and if your daydreams have unpleasant thoughts, they can make you unhappy than you already were. >> wow. serious stuff. like the constant feedback loop. if your teenager has a tough

time in school and can't motivate them, you might try letting them sleep in. at one school in northern england, that appears to be working. instead of waking up with the sun or before the sun as children do here, classes don't start until, get this, 10:00 in the morning. >> phil black's live in london this morning. you spent sometime at the high school outside of newcastle. how's it working out? >> reporter: well, good morning. if you visit that school around 8:00, you'll find it completely empty apart from a few teachers because the alarms going off at that time. they don't need to show up to class for another two hours after that until 10:00. the school says it is doing this, bumping back the whole timetable based upon what it describes as compelling scientific evidence which it says proves that teenagers can be grumpy, moody, difficult even lazy in the morning and crucially proves it is not their fault. scientists say that teenagers'

brains are wired differently. add that to the chemicals and hormones and the end result is they need a little more sleep than the rest of us so the school says it makes perfect sense to bump the learning back to a time of day when students are most receptive to it. the people behind the change that are real he driving, it a teacher and oxford professor, a neuro scientist. take a listen to their thoughts and why they believe this is a good thing. >> it's a big change in the way that we think about students looking at their health and their mental health before we decide how the school system's going to work. >> there's a remarkable body of evidence now which suggests that teenagers genuinely have a biological predisposition to go to bed late and get up late. >> reporter: the teachers are reporting happier students and better attendance and hope with a bit more time to report back on better academic results, as well. john, kiran? >> i'm sure that the students at

least and probably the teachers are happy with this. what about the parents? what's their reaction been? >> reporter: you're right. the whole community voted on this. 70% in favor. 30% against and the majority of that no vote were parents and there is a bulk or a group of parents up there that believe that firstly this is inconvenient for them. they need to get the teenagers off to school, get on with their working day and largely starts before 10:00. and they also believe that this is just simply indulging teenagers and won't prepare them for the real world but that 10:00 start time is a promise because the scientists believe that 11:00 is, in fact, the ideal time for teenagers to start their learning for the day. >> and the kids probably think that 12:30 is probably the ideal time to end it. phil black, thanks so much. we'll take a quick break. your top stories coming up. or get a car that does it for you. ♪

welcome. glad you're with us.

i'm kiran chetry. >> hei'm john roberts. passengers, pilots, flight attendants slamming the new very transparent security at airports. many are urged to opt out and create a monumental backup on the busiest travel day of them all, day before thanksgiving. we'll hear from the man trying to get them out of airports just ahead. markets in shanghai plunging, ireland may need a bailout. are we about to feel the pain here in the states, a was el? 3,300 carnival cruise line passengers back on land today saying they were never told about the fire that crippled their ship and left them stranded at sea for four days. >> they told us on the ship it was a flameless fire and i don't understand what that means because wherever there's smoke there's fire. they said that the aft motor caught afire i guess a. flameless fire. an electrical wires that went out and eventually got into the

forward engine which then cut all of the power to the entire ship. that's what they told us with a flameless fire is what they told us. >> i wonder what that fellow in the background is yelling about. they haven't commented about the flameless fire at this point but it's sure raised intrigue. president obama on the final leg of the ten-day trip to asia arrived in japan this morning for the asia pacific summit. >> the agenda similar to the g-20 talks of seoul. cnn's paula hancocks live for us in seoul. so far, things haven't been going exactly well for the president. >> reporter: well, john, for the whole meeting, really, expectations were pretty low and there was a case to be made if you don't expect too much you can't be that disappointed but i think that the u.s. president would be theirly disappointed over the past couple of days. he didn't manage to secure that deal with south korea that was widely expected and there's been

some criticism of the final communique that came out this friday. now, what mr. obama did say is there was a hard-won consensus he called when it came to global decisions on the economic recovery. also, the leaders did agree to not intentionally devalue their own currencies. this is going back to the u.s. criticism of china with an artificially low currency and helps their exports, hurts other countries. so at this point, experts are saying, the principles are good but will they take the actual steps that they need to over the next six months or so so that will work in practice? >> paula, british prime minister david cameron overheard cracking jokes at the g-20. tell us about that. >> reporter: that's right, yes. this is my prime minister, in fact. very -- when he got here was, quote, everyone else has come to korea for a summit or business

meeting. i've come just for a good night's sleep. now, of course, he has a 3-month-old daughter and just a second prime minister in britain to actually have a child during his office. this is the one we're talking about. this is the part that made head leans. >> and, you know, because everyone's been there. you kind of get where he's coming from. paula hancocks for us this morning, thanks. serious headlines coming into us just now. markets in shanghai plunged overnight. a lot of jitters this morning. ireland's economy might need a bailout and the euro dropping like a rock at $1.36 american. >> christine romans is here minding this for us. dow futures down. what's going on? >> not down as much as they were. they were looking for a triple-digit decline on the dow. we'll keep watching. next hour and a half will be critical for how the dow will

open here but what we're talking about is in china, many people expecting china to raise interest rates, trying to stave off inflation, a bubble there. many people feeling lots of different bubbles in the chinese market and worried about china putting the brakes on. the global driver of growth. if they put the brakes on, what does it mean for everyone else and ireland and the ability to pay back the debt and lingering concerns of the u.s. economy and how well quantitative easing, the fed's stimulus, working to get the economy going. a lot of those same concerns kind of bubbling again this morning even as the president is in the region. >> incredible how much things change over the course of a couple of days because earlier this week, wall street was all happy about the fed stimulus. >> they were happy seeing the money come -- they expect the money rushing into the system and think it goes into the stock market. today taking a bigger look. this is the way it works, right? there's concerns and jitters watching china. china's the driver today. shanghai stocks down 5%.

>> thank you. >> you will notice, too, wearing sunny yellow on the outside and underneath is a black dress. two shades of christine romans this morning. well, the rebellion that could mess up your holiday travel plans. backlash against the tsa's new body scanners growing this morning. pilots' unions urging members to avoid the full body scanners at airport calling it a health risk and intrusive. now a group of flight attendants is planning a day of protest. it comes a the a time when it could have maximum impact before thanksgiving to create a travel nightmare that the feds cannot ignore. >> what's your beef with these scanners? >> well, john, i think the basic problem is the agency doesn't have the legal authority to put these devices in the airports. we understand the need for airport security but it was a very big step they took when they decided to make the body scanner it is primary screening

technique and what we're objecting to. >> there's some question, too, marc, just how effective the machines are and could they have detected the type of explosive that was tried to employ christmas day last year. >> that's actually a critical question, john. i think it is one of the reasons we feel most strongly about the need to suspend the program. if we thought it was effective to guarantee the safety of travelers, we would have a very different view but you see before we filed this lawsuit we filed another lawsuit under the freedom of information act and we actually obtained the technical specifications for the devices and we looked at the specifications, talked to the experts and we all reached the same conclusion. these devices are not designed to detect the type of powder explosive, pten that was used. >> so we'll see where it goes. but this day of protest, if people actually did that, can you imagine the nightmare of the

travel at airports will become? >> yeah. it will be interesting to see. also as a group of business people to sit down with the homeland security secretary, as well. they're facing a lot of pressure and a lot of pushback on this scanning which is interesting because a year ago most people seemed for it. perhaps when it was just an idea. >> idea and practical application can be two different things. time for us to get a check of the weather just in time for the weekend. reynolds wolf joins us. hey, reynolds. >> hey, guys. driving across the midwest, western great lakes, tough going into the weekend. first real snowfall of the season coming in two to eight inches of snowfall and the west of minneapolis, then back into iowa, where the snow really begins to pile up. if you got to go get the ice scraper out of the closet or the snow blower out, maybe this is the weekend you will use it. that's later on this weekend.

right now, what we have got are some scattered showers and a little bit of snow mixed in. not further to the north but out towards the west. say amarillo. rain drops and boom of thunder. maybe by noon and then fizzle out. one to three inches of snow fall possible on the ground before all is said and done. we have again a few delay that is are expected in boston due to the wind and new york, same situation. anywhere from a 30 minute to a possibly full hour wait. minneapolis, right now we have got a 15 to 30-minute delay and might see that really begin to mount up as the rain continues and possibly the snow into the weekend to see those delays extend quite a bit. so sure enough. people are getting ready to travel and as it always happens, the weather starts to become a little more tumultuous for travelers. be patient. be safe. let's send it back to you. >> wait for the first blizzard. >> always a good time, yeah. >> thanks so much. remember when you were happy just to get one across the

classroom? check this out. three british amateur science gusts launch a paper plane into space. it was up on a balloon 17 miles and then the balloon burst and a camera taking incredible pictures and then the paper plane landed in one piece in spain. >> wow. >> that's pretty amazing. looking that the video, you are going to want to laugh or at the very least chuckle. you are. you feel like it's a little mean to laugh at the misfortune of others. when you look at the young lay, the high school girls trying to do the hurdles, you can't really help. this is going viral on the web, of course. as they try to leap over the hurdles. nobody was hurt here except maybe their pride and put to music. >> that looks like it hurt. >> nobody was seriously hurt. >> too, all of the -- whoops!

youtube remixes are coming up on this, as well. >> once you trip over the first couple, it is just -- you can't really -- >> you lose your rhythm and you are done. >> wow. mayo sandwiches, cold showers in the dark. finally, the passengers off of that stranded cruise ship and telling their stories. up next, a couple whose luggage ended up in the water, ruining their clothes and soaking the medications before the engine fire. ten minutes past the hour. [ j. weissman ] it was 1975.

my professor at berkeley asked me if i wanted to change the world.

i said "sure." "well, let's grow some algae." and that's what started it. exxonmobil and synthetic genomics have built a new facility to identify the most productive strains of algae. algae are amazing little critters. they secrete oil, which we could turn into biofuels. they also absorb co2. we're hoping to supplement the fuels that we use in our vehicles, and to do this at a large enough scale to someday help meet the world's energy demands.

13 minutes after the hour. passengers on that carnival cruise ship stranded at sea for four days say they were kept in the dark by the crew. now that everyone's back on terra firma, we're finding out passengers were never told about the engine room fire that left them stranded for four days. listen to this public address announcement after the fire on monday. >> we have a smoke situation. lots of smoke in the engine control areas. you are all smelling that smoke if you're on deck, one, two possibly near six, as well. the back of the ship. >> well, the smoke situation, that's all passengers were told.

they did say that they didn't find out just how serious the fire was until they actually got off the ship yesterday. >> just now they actually told us there was a fire on the boat. >> you did not know there was a fire on the boat until now? >> yes. >> so what did they tell you why that the boat suddenly stopped on your excursion? >> never told us what the issue was but there was smoke. there's lots of smoke. >> what they told us on the ship is it was a flameless fire and i don't understand what that means because wherever there's smoke there's fire. they said that the aft motor has caught a fire i guess. they said a flameless wire, electrical wires that went out and eventually got into the forward engine which then cut all of the power to the entire ship. that's what they told us was a flameless fire is what they told us. >> well so this certainly wasn't the luxury cruise they signed up for. transportation experts

investigate, we'll find out what it was like to be on board. our next guests, cynthia and harold join us this morning from san diego. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. thank you. >> maurice, you planned this for over a year. cynthia's 60th birthday. you had it rough from the very beginning. they somehow dropped your luggage in the water? what happened at the beginning? >> yes. we really didn't realize that it was our luggage until late evening. >> yeah. >> some of our friends, some of the people we were traveling with, they told us that they had seen luggage overboard and one of the ladies that was with us, i said, all of a sudden i felt like i had lost something. and i did. i lost all of my clothes. and by the time we did get the

rest -- the three packages -- i mean, the three suitcases we did get were soaked. i mean, they were literally soaked. >> that's unbelievable. >> it was very traumatic, yeah, yes. >> for you, too, cynthia, you had medication for your heart and for blood pressure issues and you need an oxygen machine for sleep apnea and no electricity. this for you was a health scare, as well. how did you manage? >> it really did because i haven't really slept since i left virginia beach. that has been the biggest issue because that anxiety of not being able to sleep because i stop breathing. it was pretty scary. pretty traumatic for me to not be able to sleep. not be able to use my machine. as soon as i got to san diego, oh, like, okay. i'm going to have some good sleep. so that was pretty scary for me. >> what about the medication

issue? >> well, i know that i should not be taking the medication after it's gone in the sea. but it's for, as i was concerned, it was much better for me to have some type of medication with the danger of it being polluted or contaminated after being in the ocean but for me it was better to have the medication than not have my medication so i have taken what i could retrieve some of it i couldn't. most important ones like for my heart and blood pressure, those were the ones that i actually kept. because they were most important to me to keep, you know, that -- keep my anxiety down, to keep any kind of rhythm problem, you know, i wanted to keep all of that at bay as much as i could. i took the risk of taking the medication. >> maurice -- >> i know next time not to pack it. >> i know. carry it with you, right, if you can. maurice -- >> exactly, exactly.

>> did they help you get clothes? did they try to help you out with your situation? >> well, to be honest with you, they wanted to but the little store that they have on the ship just -- they're for little people. >> for little people an it's beach wear. >> yeah. they tried to. they just didn't have, you know, anything to really pick me up, say. >> yeah. >> they gave me a few little things to wear around for a day or so but i wasn't pleased with it but that's all i had. >> i understand. i mean, if you guys -- i feel bad. you're celebrating a birthday, a big anniversary. you think you'll do something fun and it does not seem like it was pleasant at all for you

guys. of course, we know that carnival claims -- they say they'll reimburse all of the passengers for the cost of this one plus offer a free replacement trip. would you ever do that again? would you get back on a cruise ship? >> i would hope so. but right now, i would say no. but i would hope so. i hope that i will feel okay about going out again. it really was -- it was very traumatic. i mean, it was scary. not having your own stuff. and it was scary not knowing exactly what was going on. for those days. >> right. >> and being, you know, so -- as americans being so addicted to power that not having that electricity. it was pretty traumatic. it was a scary situation. >> understandable. >> and then not knowing -- yeah. the severity of all of that. >> maurice, your daughter -- >> hopefully i will go. >> maurice, she says you guys are not going to be taking a

cruise. she doesn't want you on another cruise and said she's possibly thinking about suing carnival. would you guys take legal action? >> i don't know. i have a daughter that really -- does her best to take care of us and protect us, so i'm sure that is her way of protecting us. and i'm not sure, you know, how we will handle this. it has a lot to do with how carnival attempting to compensate us for the trauma we experienced. >> right. >> because it really was traumatic, yeah. it really was. >> you seem to have a -- >> i would like to say -- >> go ahead. >> yeah. i would like to say, you know, thinking about this, the people on the "titanic" would have loved for this to be the only problem. >> true, true. >> so -- >> so you have a good attitude about it. >> look at it, you know -- yeah, yeah.

we're trying. you know? trying to enjoy ourself at the same time. we planned this. we have a lot to celebrate and we think we'll stay in san diego for a couple of days to celebrate whatever, you know, time we have left. >> you guys -- >> we have to smile about it. god's been good. >> yeah. you're a really great couple. congratulations on making it 35 years and happy birth day to you. i hope you have some fun out of this. cynthia and maurice harold, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> john? >> if they're interested, i know a fabulous restaurant in downtown san diego with an amazing spam sandwich. betty white achieved a lifelong dream. it's nothing to do with the acting awards. she is a forest ranger. details coming up next.

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♪ 24 minutes past the hour. here's the stories got us talking this morning. the merger of the beast. and "newsweek." joining forces with the beast to form the "newsweek" daily beast

company. they said we're getting hitched and also the current editor in chief of "the beast" tina brown in charge of both staffs. throw them away with the phone booths. phone companies are fighting to stop mass producing the white pages. they say most people go to google now anyways and it will help the environment, all the trees cut down the produce the books and bottom line is by saving on the paper and ink. pass month alone, new york, pennsylvania and florida said it's okay to stop delivering the white pages to residential areas. michael jackson, the first single since his death will be released monday morning. it was leaked on the web in 2008. epic records said that akon went back into the studio to finish it. the entire new album named "michael" will be released on december 14th. she sauces them up before she offs them? martha stewart told stephen

colbert she treats the birds to one last drink before they're the feast. >> how many turkeys are you responsible for killing? >> this year, six. >> have you ever killed one with your bare hands? >> oh, yeah. >> really? have you watched -- literally the light drain out of the eyes? >> you know the bottles of bourbon on the airplanes? >> mini bottles we call them. >> mini bottles. the bird is slaughtered -- >> you get the bird drunk? do you have your way with the bird? >> no. >> no? >> no. >> just a way to stuff it. >> so i guess they were saying to be humane. to let them have one last drink and -- be a little drunk before they -- >> only fair that you allow the turkey a drink. probably the first it's ever had. first and last. >> unless they're martha's turkeys. sauced up every night. america's favorite golden girl living the dream. she is an honorary u.s. forest ranger. she's wanted to be a ranger

since she was little girl back then no girls allowed. >> oh. she's going to do it all and going to live to be 120, as well. you want to feel like a tycoon? bernie madoff's boxers, intimate treasures, boxer shorts, bling, all for sale. christine romans joining us coming up next. ♪ it's true.

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viagra. talk to your doctor. see if america's most prescribed ed treatment is right for you. we are crossing the half hour right now. president obama arriving in japan this morning, it's the final leg of the ten-day asia trip. earlier in seoul he wrapped up the g-20 talks saying that the

top priority preserving middle class taxes and deneeded comments that senior adviser axelrod said he's caving in to criticism. yahoo! cutting 20% of the work force and called inaccurate. yahoo! statement says it's always evaluating expenses to align with the financial goals. 3,300 carnival cruise passengers back on ground this morning. some angry, most of them taken it in stride and never told about the engine room fire that left them stranded at sea for four days. >> just now they told us there was a fire on the boat. >> you did not know there was a fire on the boat until now? >> yes. >> so what did they tell you why that the boat suddenly stopped, you know, on your excursion? >> they never told us the issue. they said there was smoke there's lots of smoke.

>> carnival cruise officials have not commented about how forthcoming the crew was with the passengers. highest bidder goes the spoils of bernie madoff. some of the personal items going on the auction block tomorrow. >> christine romans is here minding your business with a preview. >> two years ago next month that we learned who madoff was, a household name. biggest upponzupoponzi schemer history. you can have a piece of the madoff fraud if you would like. take a look at the auction block in new york this weekend. biggest fraud in history. and he's serving 150 years in prison for ripping off people to the tune of some $5.5 billion. if you would like a piece of his rock, it is a humongous 10.5-carat ring and it is the big ticket item. f in color. extremely fine proportions we're

told. $350 thousand dollars is what they're expecting to get from this. play it again, bernie, on a steinway and sons piano. this includes the bench, some $16,000 expecting to frech this. each handcrafted. takes up to a year to make. from 1917. i don't know if bernie personally played it. he surrounded himself by very fine things that other people paid for. here's something i think goes in the priceless category. this is bernie madoff's shoes. 18 pairs of men's belgian shoes. mr. casual is the style. size 9 wide and after a long day of stealing billions, you want to sit back, kick off the belgian shoes an put on a nice pair of velvet slippers that says blm in red velvet. size 8 1/2. not told how much to get for the slippers, you guys. slippers, i mean, somebody to buy the slippers, boxer shorts, maybe a pair of the shoes he's

walked in that may or may not have his sweat in them -- >> thank you. >> just saying -- >> the visual. >> you know? you clearly want a piece of history and i don't know if you're willing to pay up for something like that but there you go. >> the piano. >> the ring. maybe something like this. >> that ring is really huge. they got about. >> little large. >> $900,000 from the first auction of his stuff. but we also know they sold the penthouse and they sold his house at montauk and the boats and he liked the bull motif and a lot of things of a bull. bull for the markets or for what he was full of. >> selling. >> i'm not sure. but yeah. a lot of bulls sold. a lot of bull tied to bernie madoff. there you go. can you believe it's two years? december 11th, 2008. middle of a financial crisis a. good old american scam comes up. there you go. >> thanks so much. >> you're welcome. half man, half robot. future soldiers with a metal iron man suit for super

strength. lift 200-pounds weights lover and over again and not break a sweat. punch but three-inch wood planks. how does it work? we'll show you coming up next.

song will haunt my dreams. >> she was getting into it? >> lexi? usually wears the black sabbath t-shirt under the sweaters. >> give us one of these --

>> outfitting soldiers like super heroes. thank you, she's very sweet and a little shy. now she's -- now the world's seen her. >> embarrassed on national television. >> i hear the giggling. "time" magazine's 50 best innovations of 2010. it is an iron man suit. pretty cool. >> if you've seen the movie "aliens" or avatar. where else? used somewhere else, too. >> transformers? >> not really. they were machines. iron man suit. like a skeleton you put on that's super strong. a suit to revolutionize the field of battle or the very least the loading dock. cnn's chris lawrence got a chance to test out this high-tech armor. have a look at this. ♪ >> reporter: rick jameson. it's got a tony hawk is iron man kind of ring to it. it's a contracting company. jameson works for one.

raytheon's test ennear is not a billion dlar. married, three kids, just maybe wearing the prototype for future soldiers. >> it doesn't fly. that seems to be the big thing that iron man's does. >> reporter: if you're tony stark, i mean, where's the sports cars, the women, the penthouse, all that? >> i roll in a minivan, man. it reacts to the force of the feet. react immediately. >> reporter: granted it's dead weight. until it's juiced by outside power. and then the hydraulic fluid starts pumping. steel and aluminum arms makes everything lighter to you, this 200 pounds feels like -- >> less than 20 pounds. the weight of my arms does most of the work. you don't have an immense feeling of strength. you couldn't do it without it and then that's when you notice it. >> reporter: this is probably three inches of pine. thick enough to hold up a second

story of a house. i'm not even going to tell you how much that hurt. show off. but here's where fictional meets functional. iron man can fly and shoot out of his hands. this suit is still tethered to the power source. mobile batteries don't last long enough or can't be strapped to a soldier's body. >> they get breached, not gentle in the way they explode. >> reporter: for safety, liability reasons, they can't power up the suit with me in it but i've got to feel what it's like inside. without the hydraulics, how heavy this is. i mean, it's tough to take a step forward but i still feel like i've got my dexterity, the range of motion. that's important to supply units where being tethered to a power source wouldn't matter. >> the logistic personnel move 16,000 pounds a day which is an

awful lot of load. >> reporter: the suit can keep lifting for hours. >> things that would just destroy your back, this thing picks it up so problem. >> reporter: today's troops carry up to 150 pounds in afghanistan. but the suit can make armor and equipment feel 17 times lighter. >> that means that you exert one pound and it exerts 17. that's a major amplification of strength. and that's all load that the person doesn't have to carry themselves. >> reporter: chris lawrence, cnn, salt lake city, utah. >> coolest part is when you put it on, the music automatically plays. iron man the entire time. >> it is nothing short of incredible. >> really neat. >> if they could find a way to get it untethered, wow, the possibilities are endless. >> the batteries. >> put a mini gun on that thing. >> fly. >> matrix. other movie i was thinking about. when they put on the weapon suits. >> i didn't see that one. >> fighting the sentinels.

that's a little too much information, right? >> all right. if you like that kind of stuff, you love it. warm temps in the east and a storm in the midwest for flash flooding. reynolds wolf has your weekend forecast coming up. ( woman ) even with an overactive bladder,

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waking up the president with the kid this morning in washington where right now it's fair an 42 degrees. later on today, warmer than it has been for most of the week. sunny and 62. >> nice weather out there except it's in the country's mid section dealing with a line of storms. reynolds wolf is breaking it down for us. >> hey, guys. right now, what's going to happen later on today and then the week. first and foremost, rain and a touch of snow. zooming in, especially back to the western great lakes, clear down to kansas city, rain for the time being and amarillo, texas, showers first and then snow developing as the cold air mixes in. we make our way through the midday hours. temperatures, 57 degrees the high expected for new england and orlando. mid-70s. portland and phoenix also very nice. temperatures rain mainly 50s to the 70s. san francisco mainly into the

low 60s. 51 for wichita. same story down to, say, oklahoma city. a lot of rain expected there for today. now, you have an idea of what is happening, what may happen later on today and may happen into the weekend is this. this area of low pressure is going to tap into a couple of things. plenty of moisture from the great lakes and the gulf of mexico and then the backside of that, cold air. that combination of the cold air at the surface, overrunning moisture gives you a couple of things. big thing to give you is possibly heavy snowfall. up to a foot possible for the twin cities, further up to the north, thunder bay, possibly two to eight inches of snow. in terms of what it means for you today, right now, not much. no delays. however, as we make our way into the midday hours, may see wind kick up in the northeast. boston, new york metros may have delays. possibly 30 minutes or an hour. in minneapolis, the rain keeps you grounded 15 to 30 minutes. however, tomorrow, it's going to be a different story in minneapolis. potential of snowfall. may see maybe an hour, maybe

two-hour delays by tomorrow afternoon. back to you. >> so it agains. reynolds, thanks. >> yes, it does. >> thanks. >> take care. conspiracy theorists maybe argued in the past that cats are aliens and may have more proof. there's a study in the journal of "science" that set to find out how cats drink because they don't make a big mess of themselves and lap up like dogs do. there's a dog. look at that, poor, messy dog. he's cute but not exactly great and graceful with the water drinking. four-member team spent hours on this and found unlike dogs with a mess cats actually don't slurp. what happens is that the tip of their tongue curls back ward. they basically are able to suck up the water faster than gravity and swallow it before it falls down. four laps a second and chin and whiskers aren't affected. they say that it's a mastery of

physical forces, balance, gravity and inertia to drink. >> and still go -- to you after it leaves the drinking bowl. >> you thought that the tongue is interesting -- it's rough. they can clean the fur with it. >> i thought that was the most interesting thing about a cat. little did i know, little did i know. >> that they don't slurp. >> i like dogs when it comes out of the mouth like that. walk across the floor -- >> shake their head and all over you. >> exactly. >> so precious. first you had to take off your shoes at the airport. then you couldn't bring in bottles of water. are full body scanners the last straw for travelers in the growing rebellion against the virtual strip search coming right up. vent of a collision, the smartest thing you could do is cut the fuel supply... ♪ ...unlock the doors, and turn on the hazard lights. ♪ or better yet, get a car that automatically does it for you. ♪

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♪ you should see the way phil drinks water. some days you know that you will learn about -- you'll learn a lot about something and today i learned a lot about how dogs and cats drink water because we just watched it in slow motion. dogs curl backwards, as well. >> would you like to -- trying to demonstrate.

>> really, the desk is all wet and the bottom line is -- >> that's the difference between kiran and the cat. she, like a dog, gets the whole place messy when she drinks. >> go, cats. we are talking about the backlash of the tsa body scanners. you may get caught up in an annoying, long, drawn-out wait because it will be part of a fight. pilots' unions at two of the largest airports urging members to avoid full body scanning at airports and calling the screenings both a health risk and invasive. a group of flight attendants a preparing a standoff on the day before thanksgiving. what they want is people to not go through the body scans and instead opt for the pat downs which are lot more labor intensive. we spoke to the man suing the tsa trying to get the body scanners pulled out of all airports across the nation. >> what's your beef with these scanners? >> well, john, i think the basic

problem is that the agency doesn't have the legal authority to put these devices in the airports. we understand the need for airport security, but it was a very big step they took when they decided to make the body scanners the primary screening techniq technique. >> court of public opinion, that is not really one that matters to you, the actually courts are the ones that matter to you, but i wonder if you're swimming upstream. travelers said in a poll, 78% of them approved of the use of the body scanners. only 20% disapproved. >> i saw that poll sometime ago and it was a poll that, you know, i think that the tsa might have helped put together because when we went back to the agency and asked for the traveler complaints, you know, we found hundreds of complaints. we have now received thousands and if you ask the question today, not back when that poll was taken of the american traveling public, i think you'll gate very different response. i think you see this

increasingly now in the growing opposition to the use of the body scanners in u.s. airports. >> keep watching this and see where it goes. certainly, there's a lot -- >> there you go. so we'll see what happens now. you have the pilots' unions. group of flight attendants calling for the protest. business leaders wanting to talk to homeland security secretary about how it's perhaps impeding commerce so -- >> my beef with the body scan is that you have to take off everything, the belt and everything off of you and probably still five times out of ten they want to pat you down anyways so why not just do the pat down and avoid the whole thing? >> yeah. a lot of food for thought. we'll see what happens. 65 different airports across the country now. people dealing with this more and more. >> increasingly. you'll notice them showing up in an airport and all the security lines will have them soon. >> yep. >> you made a real mess here. >> i know. still water -- cats. cats do it better. well, was ate missile, a plane or just jay leno solving

the mystery of the vapor trail over california? the odd sight that's a butt of late-night jokes and an east coast sight, as well. jeanne moos coming up. ♪ [ man ] i thought our family business would always be boots. until one day, my daughter showed me a designer handbag. and like that, we had a new side to our business. [ male announcer ] when businesses see an opportunity, the hartford is there. protecting their employees and property and helping them prepare for the future. nice boots. nice bag. [ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses at achievewhatsahead.com. [ male announcer ] ever have morning pain slow you down? introducing bayer am, an extra strength pain reliever

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♪ well, was it a bird, a plane, a missile? mysterious vapor trail over the skies of los angeles and then new york city had everyone talking this week. >> some day the biggest mystery is how long it took the pentagon to reach the conclusion it was just contrails from a jet. here's jeanne moos. >> reporter: three, two, one. we have liftoff of a story jon stewart dubbed missile impossible. >> it looks like it could be a launch of a missile. >> from a navy ship. >> could it be a secret test? >> russian sub. >> a u.s. intercontinental ballistic missile. >> reporter: wicked witch of the west. >> dorothy. >> reporter: but now the missile theory surrendered from the pentagon to the website contrail

science.com. experts agree, the plume off the california coast was just a jet contrail. >> contrail is a condensation trail. >> reporter: water out of a jet from the cockpit of another plane. like a breath on a cold day. the west coast contrail got a phallic makeover. >> what else could do that? >> some say they know exactly what did that. >> it was u.s. airways flight 808. >> reporter: are you a contrail connoisseur? actually, he's an aviation photography buff that focused on airline flight paths and schedules. then found a web cam that captured a similar contrail in the same place 24 hours after the now famous one. >> same daily flight from hong lu to phoenix in the same position, as well. that was the smoking gun for me. >> reporter: smoking contrail. after the west coast missile, there was anothe