can't do it all ♪ ♪ need a little help y'all come on come on ♪ ♪ need a little help y'all ♪ need a little help y'all [ applause ] >> bon jovi just a couple of the big names featured at the fourth annual "cnn heroes: all-star tribute." if you missed any of it, see it this weekend. two more chances to watch saturday and sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern time. cnn "newsroom" continues right now with deb in for allie. have a great show. great to see you. you, to, thanks. i'm with you for the next two hours. here's what's on the rundown. it's time for the mad dash to the mall for those extreme black friday deals. hear from one guy preaching the gospel against what he calls a commercial fossil fueled

christmas. and a pentagon workers order hundreds of thousands of pentagon documents to be reviewed after wikileaks and published some of them. and lost and found at sea. three boys survive 50 days adrift in the south pacific. we begin with the latest bombshells in the koreas. i don't just mean verbal. three days aftera north korea bombarded a disputed a seaboarder, we get a firsthandly -- first hand look at the damage. this time a drill confined to its territory. supposedly sergeant walter sharp neither saw nor heard the blasts. two civilians and two south korean marines were killed in tuesday's attack. the vast majority of the island's civilian population has since fled to the mainland. it's about 1,300 men, women, and children evacuated. the south korea troops stationed there are getting company. and their boss is being replaced.

south korea's defense minister either quit or was feared or maybe both. the president named a former chairman of south korea's joint chiefs to succeed him. all the while the carrier "george washington" is leading a strike group that will hold exercises in these waters starting on sunday. north korea says, "the situation on the korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war." and for two at the top, we go to the south korean capital and stan grant who has been following the tense situation closely. stan? >> reporter: tensions are rising on the korean peninsula, and all eyes on these joint military exercises between the united states and south korea due to begin on sunday. the "u.s.s. george washington" heading toward the yellow sea for these exercises. there had been sometegin the planning. they were meant to be -- sometime in the planning. they were meant to be defensive.

now north korea saying that these exercises are going to take the korean peninsula too close to the brink of war. now south korea announcing a new defense minister at the same time after the former defense minister resigned. and tension is rising on the streets of seoul, as well. we're seeing former veterans of the korean war almost 60 years ago out on the streets protesting against kim jong-il, the leader of north korea saying they want him dead. and younger people we spoke to on the streets say "they are tired of being swept around by south korea." people who closely watch north korea are looking at possible motives for this rise in tension and say it all comes down to leadership. kim jong-il's been unwell for some time and planning the succession to his 27-year-old son, kim jong-un. many observers say what we're seeing here is an attempt by him to establish his leadership credentials as someone who can

stand up to south korea and the united states. debra? >> thank you, stan. we've moved into a new phase of bp's program ghost claims. tuesday was the last -- gulf coast claims. tuesday was the last day folks could file lawsuits for damage from the oil spill. we sum it up in today's "sound effect." >> it's unprecedented. in 90 days i've received 450,000 claims. we've already paid out about $2.2 billion to eligible claims, individuals and businesses. and we will continue to process these claims. we're around for three years. the goal is to try and make everybody whole in the gulf who was injured by the spill. >> now the process has shifted to longer term concerns. people can accept lump sum payouts, but give up their right to sue bp over the deepwater horizon spill. there's also a new plan that will pay out quarterly and doesn't affect any future legal

action. now some of the other stories we're following for you today. it's a shopaholic's dream and a claustrophobic's nightmare. black friday is well underway with stores luring folks in with discounted and other dealings. a lot of the places turned it into a two-day affair, opening their doors yesterday. turnout's been healthy, especially compared to the last two years. with veteran shoppers raring to go and newbees strug low to keep up -- struggling to keep up. >> woke up, didn't do make-up hair, go to the mall, go home. >> these are my plans. this seasonal one. i'm going to walmart. i'll be somewhere before the night's over. >> already got a digital camera. bought it, purchased it. got to move quick. >> reporter: show me your deals are. they worth it? >> for $14, yeah, i think it's worth it. >> this is crazy. we're from kansas. this is not anything like i expected. >> got up at 4:30, and we were the only ones out basically. >> 3:30.

you know, they're supposed to have sales. but there's no sales. > . >> and while those people might be the only ones in the country who could not find a sale overnight. and a california home filled with explosives has been deemed too dangerous even for the bomb squad. they've halted search and cleanup operations until experts can plan the safest way to remove the volatile stuff. chemicals, grenade, three types of explosives including petn, the stuff used by the shoe and underwear bombers. the man who lives there is a naturalized citizen from serbia. he's being held on a $5 million bail. he has pleaded not guilty to more than two dozen explosives charges and two counts also of bank robbery. and speaking of dangerous to life and limb, a study has come up with staggering numbers on the toll of secondhand smoke. researchers calculate it kills 600,000 people around the world every year. that's one out of every 100 people on the planet. that's on top of more than five

million smoker deaths annually. finally, it survived eight years and merciless mockery. now the department of homeland security's color-coded terror alert system is on the way out. the associate ed press first reporting that the dhs has a proposal for a new system. no word on a time frame or what colors they might add. how would you feel if your closest friends and relatives and enemies sudden low had access to all the -- suddenly had access to all the things you said when they weren't around? that could be about to happen to the united states as wikileaks says it is ready to release millions of pages of secret diplomatic kaebls between the u.s. and other countries. ♪ [ male announcer ] you like who you are...

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well, imagine your darkest secrets being revealed to the world. your friends and enemies all get to hear what you said about them when their backs were turned. that could be about to happen to the united states any day as the web site wikileaks recently hented it would release millions of pages of documents, many containing secret diplomatic cables from the united states. the envoy to iraq called it "absolutely awful." this is just the latest for the

web site which has released everything from guantanamo bay papers to sarah palin's emails to a massive release of iraq-related documents. how much damage can diplomatic cables do? joe daughtery is cnn's foreign correspondent in washington. jill, they're talking about a massive release, seven times the iraq war logs. >> reporter: yeah, although that's being interpreted in different ways. it could be the impact would be seven times bigger. but whatever it is, it is expected to be a very large number of what are called diplomatic cables. and that is how the state department communicates both from washington to the embassies, consulates, and missions around the world. and there are some 297 of them. and then back again from the field back to washington, d.c. and some of these can be very highly sensitive. they could be u.s. negotiating positions. u.s. policy, foreign policy. what is the u.s. trying to do in that country? it could be skutsd butt or could be -- skutcuttlebutts or

information about a political leader. that is the way the state department communicates. so there's a lot of concern, and what they've been doing, the state department months ago knowing that something was going to be coming out was instructing all of those posts around the world look through their e-mail, cable traffic, analyze what was sensitive, and then after they flagged that, the u.s. government, the state department, has been contacting other countries and saying, look, something is going to be coming. >> they've been sending out u.s. ambassadors to touch base. is this information classified technically, is it confidential, is it embarrassing? what's the scope and the damage ultimately? >> it's an extremely broad range. we don't know exactly what's in there. but cables in general range from highly sensitive classified, say, directions from the state -- from the secretary of state to an ambassador to do something. or some type of very highly, you

know, secret information that they do not want divulged. it could also be, as i said, just collection of information about what is happening in that country. it might be people in the country who give information to a diplomat. and that could -- as some people from the state department have been saying, it could put the lives of those people in jeopardy. another thing, deb, that it could to is it could make it extreme low difficult for the diplomats who are in the field to deal with the people on the other side. their colleagues from the host country. because after all, if you've been saying some things about the country's leader and then all of a sudden it's on the front pages of the paper on, cnn, it's on web sites, it's going to be very embarrassing. >> sure. things nobody expects to be published. jill daugherty, thank you very much. appreciate that report today. black friday frenzies now are scoring you deals all day. so what are people buying? and is it helping the markets? we're looking at the news

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♪ if i had a million dollars ♪ i would buy you a house ♪ i would buy you a house

the annual black friday friendsy is here. more than -- frenzy is here. more than four in ten of you taking advantage of the sales. did it help the markets? they closed early today. the dow is down less than 1% at just over 1,091 points. poppy harlow joins me from new york where she has been looking and talking to shoppers.

what about these seasonal hirings? a lot of companies doing that. it's good for the economy, huh-uh? >> reporter: yes, that is very, very good news. we'll get to the numbers in a minute this. is my inaugural black friday experience. and i can say that i would actually go in the shop of my own volition. it's been wild to see people here. to give you a sense, we're at macy's near times square, this is their flag isship store. at 4:00 a.m. when it was pitch black they had 4,000 shoppers. a good indicator that sales are getting better. the national retail federation says sales will be up for the holiday season, 2.3% this year. to more than $447 billion. that is great for this economy. 2/3 of our economic growth comes from consumer spending. we talked to shoppers outside the store, inside the store, all day long. take a listen to what they said. >> we usually pay with debit so

we can pay as we go. and then we watch the deals and sales and watch what we can. if we want it we'll buy it. >> i'm really finding great values. that may be because it's black friday, but i am having an extremely wonderful experience. >> just wanted to give the kids a good experience this year. work had been good so i've been able to spend a little extra this year. >> reporter: all right. so the sentiment people certainly are spending more here. we're seeing some people still putting things on credit cards. a lot more people spending and cash debit. you brought up a good point. had is hiring. what -- that is hiring. what we learned by speaking to the ceos of macy's is they've hire 65,000 seasonal workers. they're trying to keep on 2,000 to 3,000 of those full time if they have strong sales. best buy, another big retail chain, hired 20,000 regional and seasonal workers. they're going to keep on about a quarter of those if they have strong sales. so as you mentioned, that is a huge, huge boon for this

economy. but let's remember this is the first day of sort of mission critical shopping season for these retailers. it goes until december 27. and the deals are not just today. i spent a lot of time inside. the deals are pretty good. but they're going continue as the holiday season progresses. if retailers are not selling as much they want to, these deals are going to get better and better. of course, monday, as you know, deb, it is cyber-monday. you have even better deals on monday. >> you always have a choice of where to shop. do you find that people are being lured into stores because of the sales but, in fact, they're really buying full price? that was my experience. i was surprised at how little was on sale and the things i wanted were full price. >> reporter: that is a great point. and i was thinking the exact same thing. when you go into any store, especially in new york, things are on saleal the time. there were -- sale all the time. things were on sale from 4:00 to 1:00, but they lure people in with buy one, gets one free or buy two, get one free.

or they have music playing in stores, scents that they say attract people and keep them in stores. i would say that half of the people i spoke with today, it's all about the novelty of it more than the actual buying of things. they want to experience it. people from northern ireland, from asia, flying in from california, all here just to experience black friday. what doesn't matter is how many shoppers come in the door. what matters is how much they leave with. we'll get the final number on sunday. we'll have the final bloack friday sales number. it has to be pretty big to help these retailers turn around what had been an abysmal few years. >> thank you very much. i think there are many other places they would rather be than in a store at christmas time. any store, i'm not going there. our black friday coverage continues on line. check out cnnmoney.com. take a look and listen to this -- >> this holiday season. >> give us some power! stop shopping! >> a gospel choir spreading a

message about shopping. their question, what would jesus buy? coming up on a special edition of "your money," examining the new normal when it comes to your money. learn how to become debt free in three years. find out if you should buy, sell, or rent your home. why you shouldn't pay for your child's college education. and how to make marriage and money work together. christine romans is also the author of a great book "smart is the new rich." you can get it on book shelves now. checking top stories. south korea named a new defense minister today. the last one resigned earlier this week under heavy criticism in the wake of the attack by north korea. north korea's also threatening more attacks in retaliation for this weekend's upcoming joint military drills with the u.s. and south korea. a doctor is now taking a

closer look at three teenage boys who, listen to this -- were rescued after 50 days at sea. they were suffering from dehydration, exhaustion, and sunburn when a passing fishing boat first spotted them. the father of one of the teens called this rescue unbelievable. and in vermont, a 23-year-old man is in jail for accidently killing his friend while trying to wake him up. police say nicholas bell was trying to pull a prank on his sleeping friend by waking hem up with the loud sound of an air rifle, but it turned out to be a real rifle. bell now faces a manslaughter charge. and the term black friday means one thing to shopkeepers and something else entirely to reverend billy. after a break, he and the life after shopping gospel choir will sing the praises of noncommercial holidays. oh, my gosh! ♪ [ male announcer ] you know her. we know diamonds.

together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you'll get an extra 10% off storewide now thru sunday. i graduated from west point, then i did a tour of duty in iraq. when i was transitioning from active duty, i went to a military officer hiring conference. it was kind of like speed dating. there were 12 companies that i was pre-matched with, but walmart turned out to be the best for me. sam walton was in the military, and he understood the importance of developing your people. it's an honor to be in a position of leadership at walmart. i'm captain tracey lloyd, and i work at walmart. ♪ hallelujah, stop it!

amen! ♪ >> throw down your consuming -- yea! amen. patient: and that's why yellow makes me sad. i tnk. sarge: that's interesting. you know what makes me sad? you do! maybe we should chug on over to mambie pambie land sawhere maybe can find some yoself-confidence for you.? ya jackwagon! tissue? crybaby. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. ♪ ♪ [ crowd groans ] ♪ [ crowd cheering ] [ male announcer ] at&t, the nation's fastest mobile broadband network. period.

today of it all days, this may sound like hair see but you don't have to spend a nickel to celebrate. some think that's what you should do. consumer spending may account for 2/3 of the u.s. economy, but the church of life after shopping as it's called thinks that shopping is the root of all evil. listen to this -- ♪ >> got to have the christmas

spirit with some brand new rims. you know, i want to cruise around, flashing my rims. >> you think you have too many toys? >> yes. >> well how you did that happen? >> because you and mommy gave them to me and christmas. this has nothing in it. >> i've had my life threatened. i've had people try to beat me up. i had a whom who was 60 cuss me out and spitting for not having a ps3 for her 6-year-old grandson. >> that's a new movie called "what would jesus buy." the guy in the puffy share reverend billy, aka bill talent. they're at the time-warner center in manhattan. joining me now. reverend billy, what is this all about? why not shop? why not buy? why not make yourself feel good? >> oh, sister, debra. we can feel better by buying local. you know, going to the super malls, one of these chain stores, that's the new faith right now. we're getting back to that.

but there's a quiet revolution in this country. there are lots of folks who are just buying local. they're spending money where they can see the money come become to them. you give a money to a super mall you don't know where it's going. now the newspapers, folks are saying that this is the economy. the supermalls and chain stores are the economy. now there's another economy all over this country. >> you're talking shopping -- >> we're rolling up our sleeves and taking care of each other. >> you're talking shopping, but you're talking community shopping. you're talking about, what, green grocers, local, what are you talking about? it's been not spending money then. >> we're talking local. local-lujah. praise to you, hallelujah. we need build our own economies now. the top 500 economies, ceos average $700 million a year now, and we have 9% unemployment. don't give your money to those companies. start your own businesses. you know, be local. start your gift economy. walk to your gift there's year.

take a bicycle to -- on don't get in your suv and get in a traffic jam and wait to get to a big box store. amen, hallelujah. >> aren't the malls -- >> why do you do your shopping? >> i -- i try ton do my shopping -- not to do my shopping until i have to and everything's on sale. that's another issue. >> amen. >> the big malls, big centers, the big centers, that's what's driving the economy right now. shouldn't shoppers -- it's good for the economy. shouldn't be spending a little bit there? >> there's an economy that we need to go to that is sustainable with the earth. we have to start living with the earth now. the supermall economy is not green, cannot be grown. big retail is hard on the earth. it's damaging. we've got to control our own economies now. the big banks are still investing if rapping, mountaintop removal, coal power. this is bad for the earth. this -- swiss bank ubs is still investing in mountaintop removal at this late date. we've got to take control of what our money is doing.

that's why we're encouraging people to have an alternative christmas this year. to control your own money. you don't have to buy a gift to give a gift. and if you're going to buy a gift, buy local. local-lujah. amen. >> what you're talking about is entrepreneurship and socially responsible spending. you also have a song for us. you're going to -- >> you said, it hallelujah. >> part of the movie. go ahead. >> we're going to sending a song, this is the life after shopping gospel choir. we've got a question we want to ask -- what would jesus buy? amen. >> amen. >> hallelujah. oh, yes. ♪ what would jesus what would jesus ♪ >> what would jesus buy? amen, praise be. hallelujah. ♪ it's almost christmas let us stop shopping ♪ >> stop it! ♪ yes our confidence is dropping ♪ ♪ yet get to heaven what's in the window ♪

♪ back away from the sale ♪ find a way to give do we shop until we die ♪ ♪ what would jesus buy what would jesus buy ♪ >> what would jesus buy? amen, hallelujah. ce 1) traffic's off the chart... (voice 2) they're pinging more targets... (voice 3) isolate... prevent damage... (voice 2) got 'em. (voice 3) great exercise guys. let's run it again. daddy, i'm bored. almost. it converts the car's braking force into electricity, so it's more efficient. so i thought... what if we put that same system onto one of these? [ people screaming ] who knows? we might be able to create the world's first self-sustaining amusement park.

[ male announcer ] how would you use toyota technology to make a better world? learn how to share your ideas at toyota.com/ideasforgood. i was living on welfare and supporting a family of four. after i got the job at walmart, things started changing immediately. then i wrote a letter to the food stamp office. "thank you very much, i don't need your help any more." you know now, i can actually say i bought my home. i knew that the more i dedicated... the harder i worked, the more it was going to benefit my family. this my son, mario and he now works at walmart. i believe mario is following in my footsteps. my name is noemi, and i work at walmart. ♪ my name is noemi, and i work at walmart.

if you live for performance, upgrade to castrol edge advanced synthetic oil. with eight times better wear protection than mobil 1. castrol edge. it's more than just oil. half past the hour. here are your headlines. a u.s. carrier group is steaming toward the yellowy is for this weekend's joint military exercises with south korea. they come days after north korea shelled a southern island killing four people. pyongyang calls the preplanned military drills a provocation. and the web site wikileaks

has governments around the world buzzing again, henting it may release -- hintsing it may release sensitive diplomatic documents. the state department is reviewing several years worth of international papers and cables. they're warningingal liss about potential leaks. -- warning allies about potential leaks. and half of the country is out shopping now, giving dollars and retailers a black friday boost. sales are expected ed ted to j 234r2% this year. chad, weather, storms? >> you were flying? >> it was a little grisly. had my african-americans cros d -- my fingers crossed i would make it on top. >> on the map, typically on friday, well over 5,000. some flights are canceled especially out of the northeast although they're not reporting delays because canceled flights aren't really delayed, are they? they're canceled and leave you sitting there waiting for the next one. palmdale, california. talk about weather. 21 yesterday morning. santa maria, 30.

santa barbara, 33. l.a., 40. i have a couple of friends in the phoenix area, they're whining about 60 for the morning low temperature. wow. it is cold out there. it is raining in the east. and the clouds are anywhere from new york city to raleigh and to atlanta. airports are going to be slower this afternoon than they were earlier today. winds are also picking up in new york. kind of a blustery day, but i guess that's why people shop. 22, 21, 22 miles per hour there for a wind gust right downtown in new york city. if you get some winds to go through the buildings, you can get a windchill. and you can get kind of a wind tunnel going on, too. couple spots across the country that will pick up snow. we get up in the peninsula. also to the south towns of buffalo toward watertown. those are the typical spots that get lake-effect snow this time of year when the winds coming that direction. we'll see. i don't think it's going to be a major event for anybody. the south towns of buffalo are picking up snow today. snow, the heaviest stuff, back out to the west. it's been six to ten inches already on the ground today in tahoe. on top of six to ten feet that

they had last week. if you could just get to the slopes, you're having a good time. the problem is, some of the roads and passes are closed. so call ahead or at least look ahead on your web sites. >> thanks so much, chad. okay, well president obama's keeping a close eye on the situation between north and south korea. it also means keeping a close eye on china. cnn's senior white house correspondent ed henry joins us from washington. ed, what is going on? are these two countries playing a game of chicken here? >> reporter: you know, what's interesting is the white house is trying to now reach tout china. they feel that china may be the only country that has a window into north korea. such a closed society. given their economic ties and trade and whatnot, they think maybe china is the only one that can reach out. we're expecting the president as early assed to ed ttoday to re try and defuse the situation. the president's been on the phone, a couple days back reaching out to the south korean

president. somebody he's worked with to say, lock, let's turn the temperature down. the south korean president has talked about retaliation. and really firing back at north korea. north korea now talking about being possibly on the brink of war. this is a tense situation. and a real test for this commander in chief, no doubt about it, deb. >> do you think with china so close to north korea, north korea's on the border, do you think that they're going to side with the united states? do you think they're going to be able to mediate this? or is this a stab? >> reporter: that's the big question. and the bottom line is so far, china has been very sort of detached. and not wanting to get too involved. you've had people like admiral mike mullen, the chairman at the joint chiefs of staff at the pentagon, they interviewed an interview a couple days back. he said, look, it's early in this crisis, but every hour counts here because when you have north korea saying we may be on the brink of war, obviously everybody's got to move on this situation pretty

quickly. so i think to answer your question directly, china hasn't done enough so far to the u.s.' liking. they're not going to say that in public because they're hoping to bring china along. >> okay. all right. well clearly -- with the new successor waiting in the wings, that's an issue, too. whether this is, in fact, loud sabre rattling with all this. >> reporter: no doubt about it. with kim jong-il's son making taking over, he's got a military position. he may be trying to show his mettle and show this he wasn't just handed this job in the military. and by, you know, as you say, rattling the sabre. >> clearly at the white house this is dominating the agenda. what about yesterday? how did the president and his family spend thanksgiving? did hen right is you, more importantly -- he invite you, more important three is. >> reporter: he didn't invite me, but family and friends had a good time near the white house. the president must have slipped one past the first lady. they had turkey, ham, all the normal trimmings. but then they had no less than six pies. we checked this out. apple, sweet potato, pumpkin, banana cream, cherry, and i'm not making this up, huckleberry

pie, as well. six pies. the first lady has the anti-obesity initiative. and in fairness to the president, while they might have had a lot of dessert, he was right out on the basketball court today. he might have busted his lip. might have gotten a little bit of aerobic workout in there, playing tough basketball. and i think that's probably the lesson from the president and first lady, which is, look, if you're going to eat, make sure you get in the gym the next day. it's probably a lesson for all of us. >> especially the huckleberrys. i hear they're high in antioxidants. i could be making that up. is there anything special on top at the white house? -- on tap at the white house? >> normally there's a marine out there. the marine is out there when the president is in the west wing. obviously the president is not in the west wing, there's no marine. there are two christmas trees as you see. these are small versions. we're going to get a big one in a few minutes. 18.5 douglas fir that is going to be officially delivered from pennsylvania. the first lady is going to be welcoming that at about 2:00 p.m. eastern time.

and it's going to wind up hanging out in the blue room. part of -- they're going to do a series of holiday parties and have the official one, 18.5 foot christmas tree, douglas fir, in the blue room. we're getting that in a few minutes. >> great. something to look forward to. make sure you try to get me the recipe for the huckleberry pie. >> reporter: i am going to. i wasn't calling you a huckleberry, to be clear. >> i'm good with that entire. just the pie recipe, ed. just the pie recipe. >> reporter: happy thanksgiving. >> you, too. an incredible story. three survive at sea long after there was no hope. [ male announcer ] if you've had a heart attack caused by a completely blocked artery,

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protection that helps save lives. certain genetic factors and some medicines, such as prilosec, reduce the effect of plavix leaving you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. your doctor may use genetic tests to determine treatment. don't stop taking plavix without talking to your doctor as your risk of heart attack or stroke may increase. people with stomach ulcers or conditions that cause bleeding should not use plavix. taking plavix alone or with some other medicines, including aspirin, may increase bleeding risk, so tell your doctor when planning surgery. tell your doctor all medicines you take, including aspirin, especially if you've had a stroke. if fever, unexplained weakness or confusion develops, tell your doctor promptly. these may be signs of ttp, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition, reported sometimes less than 2 weeks after starting plavix. other rare but serious side effects may occur.

♪ just sit right back and you'll hear a tale ♪ ♪ a tale of a fateful trip that started from this respect toic port ♪ ♪ aboard this tiny ship ♪ the mate was a mighty sailing man ♪ ♪ the skipper brave and sure ♪ five passenger set sail that day for a three hour tour ♪ ♪ a three hour tour >> sit down and you'll hear a tale of a fateful trip. one that doesn't end on an island but somewhere else. an amazing story of survival for three teenage boys. they were plucked out of the waters near fiji by a tuna boat two weeks after -- listen to this -- a memorial service was held in their honor. the three had been missing for 50 days. their families say they really hadn't given up hope that the

boys were alive even after searches by new zealand's air force turned up no trace. officials said there was no way they could survive. but look at that -- they did. they drank rainwater and ate raw fish and a seagull that they caught. in all, the boys drifted around 750 miles in their small aluminum boat. there's been a third explosion in a coal mine in new zealand. recovery crews are working at the pike river mine to reach 29 miners believed dead. the first explosion at the mine happened one week ago. rescue crews were trying to reach the men when a second blast rocked the mine just a few days ago. at that time, officials said they believed none of the miners had survived. it could take months to recover the body. no one was injured in today's blast. a plaster -- they've plastered port-au-prince and spent millions hiring planes, band to advertise their campaigns. despite the fact that ten months

after the earthquake much of the city still lies in ruins. >> ivan watson there. haitians head to the polls to pick a new president. not only are they going to vote with all the rubble that you saw, there's the looming death of the cholera break. there are 19 candidates including a earninsinger who is for performing in drag. for u.s. troops in afghanistan, it's an auspicious anniversary. today marks nine years and 50 days sense the war began. why is that snifth because it's the same -- significant? because you -- because it's the same amount of troops that left afghanistan. they left in february of 1989. coming up next, we're going to tell you about a company trying to make underwater kites. yes, that's right. underwater kites. the future of renew youable energy.

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♪ i don't want a lot for christmas there is just one thing i need ♪ ♪ and i don't care about the presents underneath the christmas tree ♪ ♪ i don't

♪ ♪ celebrate good times of. in today's "big i," we're looking at a company thinking deep when it comes to renewable energy. weekend turbines account for green energy, ewhat, men m-- ewhat and minnesota generate

power from the sky. a couple will test deep green underwater turbines that generate power while they swoop and dive in ocean currents. the technology includes a tur bean attached to a wing and rudder tethered by a couple. the company says a bigits relat. three feet for the turbine. because sea water is 800 keeps as dense as air and snenergy is more predictsable, tell enrita more energy than if it were in the sky. the downside, the technology is expected to be more expensive than traditional weekend tur bean bynes and they are part -- turbines and they are part of the energy mix. to learn more about the big green, log to cnn.com/ale. a look at top stories now. north korea, pyongyang, warns of south korea and the u.s., if they go through a military drill

on sunday it could push the region into conflict. this comes after tuesday's deadly attack on a south korean island. and it's black friday, in case you haven't heard. folks are braving the weather in places, and long lines just about everywhere to get the best deals. stores are offering new types of discounts. for example, checking location-based services like facebook. hot items electronics, clothes and of course toys. bear with us on this one. a northeast georgia newspaper reports that a man robbed an adult novelty store wednesday. he apparently got away with a male enhancement system worth about $105. it happened a day after someone walked out of there with three replacement parts for the same enhancement system. overcoming a life threatening obstacle. one teen is now an inspiration to others on and off the field. hi. we love your weight watchers endorsed soups

but my husband looks the way he did 20 years ago. well that's great. you haven't seen him... my other can is ringing. progresso. hey can you tell my wife to relax and enjoy the view? (announcer) progresso. you gotta taste this soup. but i knew that i was going to need a day job. we actually have a lot of scientists that play music. the creativity, the innovation, there's definitely a tie there. one thing our scientists are working on is carbon capture and storage, which could prevent co2 from entering the atmosphere. we've just built a new plant to demonstrate how we can safely freeze out the co2 from natural gas. it looks like snow. it's one way that we're helping provide energy with fewer emissions.

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introducing precise pain relieving heat patch. it blocks pain signals for deep relief precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol. well, living life to the fullest. it's a lesson not lost on one teenager who overcame cancer to live out his dream on the football field. cnn chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta has our "human factor." >> go, go, go! >> reporter: 17-year-old sack is a football player in maryland. he's loved sports for years but he's no ordinary player.

he was just 11 years old when his entire world came crashing down. >> i started experiencing terrible, terrible headaches like nothing i've ever feld. i had had headaches before but these were unreal. >> reporter: migraines his parents assumed but the mri found a tumor the size of a walnut. the diagnosis was devastating. >> that our son was not going to make it, that he had a short time and he was going to take a big turn for the worst probably that night. >> reporter: but he hung on and overcame incredible odds. he had four brain operations in one week, put in a medically induced coma and had radiation therapy to shrink the tumor and spent three month hospitalized and in rehab. >> here i am 11 years old wearing diapers and relearning how to walk. >> reporter: a small piece of the tumor is still there. doctors think it's dead and slowly disintegrating but zach never let any of this stop him

from pursuing his dream of playing high school football. after three years as teen manager the coach talked about getting him in for one play but zach now a senior wanted to play on a regular basis. he's a running back. >> i want to prove that any obstacle is able to be overcome, even something as big as a brain tumor. >> reporter: his parents agreed to let him play and he wears a special het met with 18 shock absorbers. his parents' main concern is damaging the shouldn't still inside his brain but he refuses to live in a bubble. >> it's not about not ever getting knocked down. it's about getting back up. so the fact that i did get back up and have become what i am and done everything that i would dream of doing, i think i'm better because of it. >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta, cnn reporting. >> remarkable. be sure to tune in this weekend for a very special sanjay gupta m.d. former

super bowl kurt warner talks about his injuries injured his career in "head games, the truth about concussions." another nfl star talks about how concussions almost led him to suicide. 7 p:30 eastern saturday and sunday. demi moore, john legend, just a couple of the big names featured at the cnn "heroes" all-star tribute last night. o. and for the next hundred years, we set about doing them. we did the breakthrough thing. ♪ the beautiful thing. ♪ the fast thing. ♪ the smart thing. ♪ the hybrid thing. ♪ the next thing. and now, once again, we're going to do the right thing. starting today, when you buy a chevrolet,

we'll invest in renewable-energy, energy-efficiency, and tree-planting programs across america. over the next few years, these initiatives will reduce carbon emissions by up to eight million metric tons. that's like planting a forest the size of yellowstone. what do we call this program? we call it a start. and just one more way chevy runs deep. ♪ 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. don't want to deal with a lot of flibbity-flab or mumbo-jumbo. sounds like you need to name your price.

no gobbledy-gook? never. do i still get all the dagnabbit coverage i need? sure. we give you a quote and you can adjust your price up and down to find something that works for you. ♪ this thing is okey-mcsmokey skiddly-doo. great! i think. diggity. oh! still not sure. the "name your price" tool. only from progressive. call or click today. well, last night cnn aired its fourth annual all-star

tribute to heroes in los angeles. the evening included an appearance by the 33 chilean miners and celebrities from bon jovi to demi moore. over 10,000 people were nominated this year and the top ten were honored at the event each receiving $25,000 for their causes. after almost 2 million votes were cast online, anuradha koirlala was named hero of the year for her work rescuing 20,000 women from sex slavery. >> 2010 cnn hero of the year is anuradha koirala. >> please try to respect the youth and do something for the youth. they are the ones who are going to build our next generation. thank you. thank you so much. >> now, cnn also did something that we've never done before for last night. a social suite was set up backstage in which the heroes

and celebrities were using social media to spread the word about their heroes and their causes. learn more about this and all the 2010 heroes at cnn heroes.com. if you have missed "heroes" or were too busy crying through parts of it like some of my producers you have two more chances to watch. saturday and sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. i'm deborah feyerick in for ali velshi. as hordes of shoppers head to the mall we'll hear from one guy who says keep the money in your pocket. saudi arabia says almost 150 suspected members of al qaeda have been arrested. 124 are saudis. they can't build houses fast enough in one north dakota town. we'll tell you what's driving this boom town's economic comeback. we begin with the latest news in the koreas. three days after north korea bombarded a disputed island near a disputed sea border the commander of u.s. forces in south korea got a firsthand look

at the damage. while he was there, the north fired again, this time apparently a drill confined to its own territory. supposedly general walter sharpe neither heard or saw the blast but the few civilians on the island did hear it. two civilians and two south korean marines were killed in tuesday's attack. the vast majority of the island's civilian population has now fled to the mainland. that's about 1300 men, women and children. but south korean troops stationed there are getting company and their boss is being replaced. south korea's defense minister either quit or was fired or perhaps a little of bokt. the president named a former chairman of south korea's joint chiefs of staff to succeed him. all the while the u.s. aircraft carrier squoi george washington" is leading a strike group that will hold exercises on sunday. and we go to the south

korean capital and cnn's stan grant. he's been monitoring the situation following it very closely. stan. >> reporter: deborah, tensions are driving on the korean peninsula and all eyes on these joint military exercises between the united states and south korea to begin on sunday. the "uss george washington" heading to the yellow sea for the exercises. they had been some time in the planning. they were meant to be dench but of course taking on a whole new meaning after the clashes between north and the south. south korea announcing a new defense minister at the same time after the former defense minister resigned. and tension is rising on the streets of seoul as well. we've seen former veterans of the korean war almost 60 years ago out on the streets protesting against kim jong-il, the leader of north korea, saying they want him dead.

and other people we spoke to on the groups said, quote, they're tired of being slapped around by north korea and would rather see all-out war until someone loses. now, people who closely watch north korea are looking at possible motives for this rise in tension and say it all comes down to leadership. kim jong-il has been unwell for some time and planning the success to his 27-year-old some kim jong un. many say what we're seeing is an attempt by him to establish leadership credentials to stand up to the u.s. and south korea. we've moved into a new phase of bp's program gulf coast claims. tuesday was the last day folks could file for emergency damages from this year's disastrous oil spill. the man in charge of all the compensations sums things up in today's sounds effect. >> it's unprecedented. in 90 days, i've received

450,000 claims. we've already paid out about $2.2 billion to eligible claims, individuals and businesses. and we will continue to process these claims. we're around for three years. the goal is to try and make everybody whole in the gulf who was injured by the spill. >> the process has now shifted to longer-term concerns. people can accept lump sum payouts but give up the rise to sue bp over the deepwater horizon spill and there's a new plan that pays out quarter early and doesn't affect future legal remedy. a california home crammed with explosives is deemed too dangerous even for the bomb squad. they halted operations until experts can plan the safest way to remove all the volatile stuffin side. chemicals, grenades and three types of explosives including pedn. that's the stuff used by both the shoe and underwear bombers.

the man who lives there a naturalized citizen from serbia. he's held on $500 million bail. he's pleaded not guilty to two dozen explosives charges and two counts of bank robbery. a new study with at that r. staggering numbers on the toll of secondhand spoke that it kills 600,000 people around the world. that's one out of every 100 people on the planet. people in europe and asia are most expected to -- or most exposed to secondhand smoke. afric . finally it survived eight years and merciless mockery but now the department of homeland security's color coded on the way out. drafting a proposal for a new system. no word on a time frame or a color change for all of it.

and black friday frenzies. are you scoring your deals today? so what are people buying? and is it really helping the markets? we're looking at all the news that affects your money. as we go to the break -- ring ring ring ring progresso. hi. we love your weight watchers endorsed soups but my husband looks the way he did 20 years ago. well that's great. you haven't seen him... my other can is ringing. progresso. hey can you tell my wife to relax and enjoy the view? (announcer) progresso. you gotta taste this soup. [ male announcer ] you know her. we know diamonds. together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you'll get an extra 10% off storewide now thru sunday. rheumatoid arthritis going? they're discovering simponi®, the first self-injectable r.a. medicine you take just once a month. taken with methotrexate, simponi® helps relieve the pain, stiffness and swelling of r.a.

with one dose once a month. visit 4simponi.com to see if you qualify for a full year of cost support. simponi® can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious and sometimes fatal events can occur, such as infections, cancer in children and adults, heart failure, nervous system disorders, liver or blood problems, and allergic reactions. before starting simponi®, your doctor should test you for t.b. and assess your risk of infections, including fungal infections and hepatitis b. ask your doctor if you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, or develop symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough or sores. you should not start simponi® if you have an infection. [ woman ] ask your rheumatologist about simponi®. just one dose, once a month. oh, yeah. ♪ throwing down our consuming,

yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ hallelujah

♪ she is ♪ the annual black friday frenzy is here. more than 4 in 10 taking advantage of the sales. did it help the markets? the dow closed down less than 1 pr at just over 1,o 9 1 points. poppy harlow joins me from new york. what's going on out there? >> reporter: it is getting crazier by the hour. when the doors opened at macy's in new york city at 4:00 a.m., there were 7,000 shoppers outside. that is an increase. that's better than the 5,000 that we saw last year. what's interesting is that a lot of people are here just sort of for the novelty of it rather than buying a lot. a lot of people want to see what it's like. i want to bring in shoppers live from wales. we have lynn and leeann. you were just telling me the discounts are great but you thought there would be even bigger crowds, is that true? >> definitely. i thought it was going to be really, really crowded today. it was just -- it was actually not too bad.

>> we got around. but it was a fantastic experience. we loved every minute of it. it's been great. >> reporter: is this a truly american thing? >> it's very american. we would have nothing like this back home, nothing on this scale. we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. >> reporter: it's a little loud because as you can see, deb, there's an anti-fur protest around us. can we also see some of the things you bought? >> i bought like a little ceramic newsstands obviously because it's my first time to new york and america. it's just something that i think i take back and remind me of my trip which i've loved completely. that's my favorite. >> reporter: i have to ask you guys, are you shopping more or is this it for you guys? >> no, we're shopping more. we will be doing more shop. >> reporter: okay. have a very good time. enjoy. have a good time your first time in new york. >> just wish everybody happy holidays. >> reporter: thank you so much,

guys. deb, i will send it back to you as it has become pretty wild here behind me. >> absolutely. certainly first time to new york and a lot of protesters at the same time. the tree is arriving at the white house right now. you can see the obama girls are there, mrs. obama, sasha, mallia, greeting the christmas tree that will be there. there is the president. you can see all of them weighing in on whether it will be silver bells or tinsel. the tree came from pennsylvania. you can see it in its wagon. of course, i don't know how far that horse came but the tree certainty looks like it's in good form. and this is from pennsylvania where the tree arrived from. a lot of people are going to be celebrating a rebound in holiday spending but one person who is not going to let them get away with it reverend billy. he is an activist that heads the church of life after shopping in new york. not exactly preaching to the

choir. you need a big movie about what's going on in this country. what do you find? why shouldn't people be buying? >> our film what would jesus buy is also a song we'll sing later. the news today, all the buying going on, all the consuming but there's another thing that should be in the news which is a lot of local economies are very active right now. people with the ma and pa stores, the artisans, the farmers markets are booming. we have a secret revelation going on right now. people know record profits, 9% unemployment, people know that corporations are not helping them and are starting their own alternative christmas celebrations. we're here to celebrate that. local lujah. >> are the local stores you're talking about, are they offering the same kind of sales or something more that you have to support the community people in order to kind of support the community itself? >> well, they are doing more because local economies are

sustainable economies. they are economies that have a friendlier relationship to the earth. the super malls and chain stores, thousands of miles of shipping and trucks, sweatshops, everything is wrapped in plastic. you have personal debt and credit cards. this is not helping the earth. earth-alujah? amen, we want to spend or money where we see the money coming right back into the community. won't going to have that happening with walmart. you'll see your money disappear. it becomes mystery money. >> what is the local message about what it is people are spending? is it people are thinking about the recession? how all that plays into how people should re-evaluate how they spend their dollars and how they sort of see what gives them wealth? >> at the church of life after shopping we're getting communications by the scores every day. people are living differently

now. they're consuming less. americans just shop too much. we're just wrapped in fossil fuels. climate change is real. the earth is speaking to us. every couple of days there's another freak storm right out of the bible. we have to listen to that and change how we live. amen, hallelujah? and we're doing that. but you have to make it the news at cin. you have to pick up on it. amen. we're grateful that you're paying attention to us, amen, hallelujah. >> you have a song for us? you're going to serenade us with a little gospel. >> we're going to serenade you with the song "what would jesus buy"? would he be in a super mall? i don't think so. what would jesus buy? ♪ what would jesus buy ♪ and so it's christmas >> it's christmastime. ♪ consumer confidence >> it's the holidays.

♪ get to heaven ♪ >> amen, hallelujah. amen. oh, yeah. ♪ and we've got cars like that. even trucks. but we can do more. starting today, when you buy a chevrolet, we'll invest in renewable-energy, energy-efficiency, and tree-planting programs across america -- reducing carbon emissions by up to eight million metric tons over the next few years. and just one more way we can proudly say: "chevy runs deep." ♪

♪ i want candy ♪ i want candy ♪ go to see when the sun goes down ♪ ♪ ain't no finer boy in town ♪

well, last night cnn aired

its fourth annual all-star tribute to "heroes" at the shrine auditorium in los angeles. anuradha koirala was named hero of the year. cnn's anderson cooper sat down with anuradha, nicknamed terminator, to talk about her great work. >> you've been named 2010 cnn hero of the year. how are you feeling? >> well, i feel that there are more responsibilities now on me. >> you feel more people are now looking at you, more people know of you? >> yes, of course. now i feel that they will not be not only looking at me but they will know the issue -- more issue -- the issue which we have taken up, the sex trafficking. >> you seem like such a quiet lady but i know your nickname is

the terminator. why do they call you the terminator? >> if your daughter or my, it doesn't make whose daughter. everybody's daughter was trafficked and you catch hold of a trafficker, do you think you'll go, oh, how sweet you are, you did such a nice job, you took my daughter or will you have start giving him blows? if i have to confront a trafficker, then i can really hit hard. >> when your children see you winning this award tonight, what do you think they will think? >> i've already sent a message and they're all crying. i know they will be very happy about it and i know they will be very happy. >> this award comes with $100,000, in total $125,000. what will that money mean to your work, your mission? >> there is only one woman's hospital in all of nepal. that's in the capital. but what about the other parts of the country where there is poverty, poverty, poverty? so i'm thinking i will double up woman and children's hospital with this. >> have you ever thought about giving up?

have there been days where you thought, i'm going to stop this? >> never. never. never. >> congratulations. it's such an honor to meet you. >> thank you. >> well, really inspiring stuff. if you missed the cnn "heroes" broadcast you have two more chances to watch saturday and sunday at 8:00 eastern and 5:00 p.m. pacific. checking the top stories. south korea named a new defense minister today. the last one resigned under heavy criticism in the wake of attack by north korea. north korea is stletening more attacks in retaliation for the upcoming military drills with the u.s. and south korea. a doctor is taking a closer look to three teenage boys rescued after 50 days at sea. they were suffering from dehydration, exhaustion and sunburn when a passing fishing boat spotted them. the father of one of the teens called the rescue unbelievable and that it is indeed. in vermont a 23-year-old man is in jail for accidentally

killing his friend while trying to wake him up. police say nicholas bell was trying to pull a prank on his sleeping friend by waking him up with the loud sound of an air rifle but turned out it was real. he now faces a manslaughter charge. practically everyone is eating turkey leftovers and shopping the sales. but what about astronauts up in space? how do they get some holiday cheer? we're going to take you way "off the radar." [ william ] three years ago, i started my first real job as a part time sales associate with walmart. when william came in i knew he had everything he needed to be a leader in this company. [ william ] after a couple of months,

i was promoted to department manager. like, wow, really? me? a year later, i was promoted again. walmart even gave me a grant for my education. recently, he told me he turned down a job at one of the biggest banks in the country. this is where i want to be. i fully expect william will be my boss one day. my name is william and i work at walmart. ♪ ♪ i saw mommy kissing santa claus ♪ ♪ underneath the mistletoe last night ♪ ♪ she didn't see me creep down the stairs to have a ♪

♪ ain't nobody here but us chickens ♪ chad myer joining us here. it's chilly here, almost as chilly as it was in new york when i came here this morning. >> welcome to coldlanta. oakland, california, was 35 this morning. >> my goodness! >> so the whole cold air mass has come down a little bit soon. feels a little more like christmas especially down here. out west the morning low temperature in lake tahoe was 7 below zero. i love to ski. i used to before i got old. now skiing is just cold. but at 7 below it's colder. here the rain you flew through today. you flew down this morning. i'm surprised you didn't run into trouble because we have airplanes delayed this morning and this afternoon from new york down to d.c. and philadelphia. we have wind, cold weather.

and it feels like about 20 degrees in new york. that's good because as soon as you go outside when you're shopping you want to go back inside and buy some more and hope it warms up before you get back out again. so maybe the shoppers will do well. don't like it when it rains and snows but don't mind it when it's cold. two or three inches of snow per hour watertown, buffalo, up north into michigan seeing snow there. the biggest and heaviest snow still out to the west. this one storm keeps going and going, one after another. seattle down through portland. the passes here seeing snow. lake tahoe has picked up feet and feet of snow, like ten feet in the past ten days. >> they have to be so happy. >> they're loving it. the problem was getting to the slopes for a while. now it's dried up enough to get to it. there's another storm coming so if you're planning on getting there for the weekend, go now. don't wait until 10:00 tonight when you need chains to go back up the hill again. so it feels more like christmas. >> and this isn't typical. it's definitely much colder.

even yesterday around the parade and new york walking outside, there was a crispness like a real chill -- >> retailers like it. we've heard a little bit about that. that typically if it's warm people will go and buy tvs and not really think about buying a winter coat or boots. when it's cold, they think about that and then they go buy their tv because they wanted that in the first place so you almost get a little double dip. >> not just the luxury items. down in florida they seem to be getting the rain front too. the place to be seems to be in the middle of the country. >> or middle of russia. >> i'd rather go to tahoe. >> why do we go there? >> because? >> because we're going to go "off the radar." roll the music. boom boom boom boom. what do astronauts eat for thanksgiving if they're in the space shuttle or on the space station. >> i would say dried turkey but probably wrong. >> no, that's right. their freeze dried turkey was probably a lot like mine

yesterday because by the time i picked up my turkey out of oven it was already 200 degrees and if it's above 160, don't eat it. we made a lot of gravy to cover it up. freeze-dried turkey. some astronauts came down yesterday and actually had some chances in russia to find some turkey but i think they just found vodka. just kidding. obviously they're astronauts. here's the landing, a beautiful landing coming down from yesterday. they lanted. it was called the bull's eye -- what we're seeing is the turkey. they're coming down and came down yesterday. a couple of them came down from the space station. when you get out of that space station you haven't had gravity so long you lay down -- >> you have space legs. get earth legs back. >> if you'd like to send the astronauts up at the space station christmas gifts and christmas cards, you can. you can tweet them. and you can send electronic postcards. here's the website. take a look at it.

nasa.gov. find out how to do it. tweet them and pick four different fronts of literal postcards if you like and tweet them and send them and wish bes. they're lonely. you don't realize they're up there doing our work to send the world better. >> i wonder if the view gets routine after the first 100 days. >> i wouldn't say 100 days. before that, no. >> chad, thank you so much. >> welcome to atlanta. >> thank you so much. >> stay warm. the president apparently we heard that he had busted his lip. he did get 12 stitches out of a basketball game. now also, we are looking at a story, it would appear, about several kids who were rescued. their parents were told they were dead. three teens refused to give up. the amazing story next in "globetrekking." st potatoes come from. the best potatoes? idaho. idaho!

idaho. and how do you know you're getting idaho potatoes? well...uh... uhm... heh.. (sighs) not all potatoes come from idaho. so if you want the best, you have to do one important thing. always look for the grown in idaho seal. i knew that. i knew that. look for the grown in idaho seal.

half past the hour and here are your headlines. a u.s. carrier group is steaming toward the yellow sea for this weekend's joint military exercises with south korea. they come days after north korea shelled a southern island killing four people. pyongyang calls the preplanned military drills a provocation. the website wikileaks has governments around the world buzzing again hinting it may release sensitive diplomatic documents. the state department is reviewing several years of international cables and papers and alerting u.s. allies about the potential leaks. and giving thanks is, well,

so yesterday. a chunk of the country is shopping giving retailers a black friday boost. holiday sales are expected to jump more than 2% this year. time to take you to the "globetrekking" now. up first the amazing story of survival for three teenaged boys plucked out of the waters near fiji by a tuna boat two weeks after a memorial service was held in their honor. the three had been missing for 50 days. their families say they really hadn't given up hope the boys were alive even after searches by new zealand's air force turned up no trace. officials said there was no way they could survive but survive they did. they drank rainwater and ate rawfish and a seagull that they caught. in all they drifted around 750 miles in their small aluminum boat. there's been a third explosion at a coal mine in new zealand. recovery crews are working at the pike river mine to reach 29 miners believed dead. rescue crews were trying to

reach the men when a second blast rocked the mine just a few days ago. at that time officials said they believed none of the miners had survived. it could take months to recover their bodies. no one was injured in today's blast. plastered port-au-prince with campaign posters and spending millions of dollars hiring planes, hiring bands to advertise their campaigns. despite the fact that ten months after the earthquake, much of the city still lies in ruins. >> ivan watson there who returned to haiti. haitians head to the polls this weekend to pick a new president. not only are they going to vote with all that rubble that you see but there's also the looming death of the cholera outbreak. they have plenty of choices to lead them out of the desperation. there are 19 candidates for president including a singer best known for performing in drag and the wife a former president who was overthrown in a coup. and for u.s. troops in

afghanistan, it's a somewhat inauspicious anniversary. today marks nine years and 50 days since the war began. that's significant because it's the same amount of time soviet troops spent in afghanistan. the final soviet troops left more than 20 years ago in february of 1989. and there's a jobs crisis in williston, north dakota. unlike the rest of america it doesn't have enough workers. the town's mayor is telling job seekers to stay away. ♪ [ male announcer ] they've been tested, built and driven like no other. and now they're being offered like no other. come to the winter event and get an exceptional offer on the mercedes-benz of your dreams. it's our way of showing a little holiday spirit. but hurry -- the offer ends soon. ♪

but i knew that i was going to need a day job. we actually have a lot of scientists that play music. the creativity, the innovation, there's definitely a tie there. one thing our scientists are working on is carbon capture and storage, which could prevent co2 from entering the atmosphere. we've just built a new plant to demonstrate how we can safely freeze out the co2 from natural gas. it looks like snow. it's one way that we're helping provide energy with fewer emissions. progresso. hi. we love your weight watchers endorsed soups but my husband looks the way he did 20 years ago. well that's great. you haven't seen him... my other can is ringing. progresso. hey can you tell my wife to relax and enjoy the view? (announcer) progresso. you gotta taste this soup. ♪ everybody was kung fu fighting ♪ ♪ those cats were fast as lightning ♪

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♪ williston, north dakota. have you heard of it? it's a place that seems to have the exact on sit the problems the rest of the country has with jobs and housing. too many of one, not enough of the other. cnn's kate boldian explains. >> reporter: they have a unique problem. many wouldn't call it a problem, more jobs than they know what to do with. that's created a crisis you wouldn't expect. welcome to boomtown usa. population 17,500. help wanted signs 2,000 to

3,000. >> williston is in a unique situation where we have less than 2% unemployment. >> reporter: that's amazing. >> i know it is. >> reporter: great news, right? well, there is this. the town now faces a serious housing crisis. hotels, houses, apartments, all full forcing many like galen booth to live in campers. >> it's not like you've ever seen before when you come on the drive out here, on the drive home there's places like this all over. the whole town, all the streets, it's crazy. >> reporter: booth has been living here six weeks with three other men while working on one of the new hotels going up in williston. >> it's not as bad as a person would think. it takes a little adjusting to get used to but not horrible. >> i have my sleeping bag, my pillow. >> reporter: we found kenneth sleeping in his car outside a big box retail store. from rapid city, south dakota, he's in search of a better job than he had back home. how much more rough going to

possibly make than at home? >> $10. big difference. offsets the fuel. offsets the extra effort. i think it's well worth it. >> reporter: williston mayor says they can't build housing fast enough. >> they come here and find a job usually within a day. it's not a problem to find a job but then they have a problem finding a place to live. so that's what we find happening here is we have builders coming in building homes and apartments and places for people to live. >> reporter: all thanks to oil. new technologies have led to huge oil discoveries in western north dakota and oil companies say they're just getting started. >> this is the one unique oil find in the united states that we've had in for a long, long time. we've just scratched the surface. that's not just for us. that's for the entire industry. >> reporter: with no other option, companies like halliburton are now building their own man camps to offer

their employees somewhere to stay. this one is made of shipping containers. >> we'll put this building up to house 15 people in 90 days so it's quick construction. >> reporter: and that's the point. although a long term solution may still be a couple of years away, the mayor knows he's facing a crisis other small town officials only wish they had. do you like the idea of being called boomtown usa? >> there's good and bad. it sounds exciting. those who have ever been in one know there are challenges that come with it and we're dealing with those. but i'd rather be in a boom than a bust. >> reporter: city officials fear with the rest of the country in dire straits, people will do anything for work and the weather here is about to shift from cold to deadly. the mayor knows the housing crisis isn't going to be solved any time soon. so he says come but wait until spring. kate bolduan, williston, north

dakota. our black friday coverage continues online. check out cnnmoney.com. a lack at the top stories happening right now. north korea warns if south korea and the u.s. go through with a military drill planned for sunday it could push the region into conflict. this comes after tuesday's deadly attack on a south korean island. it's black friday. a lot of folks are braving the weather in some places and long lines just about everywhere to get the best deals. and stores are offering new types of discounts. for example, checking in on location-based services like four square and facebook. hot items electronics, clothes and toys. bear with us on this one. a northeast georgia newspaper reports that a man robbed an adult novelty store wednesday. he apparently got away with a male enhancement system worth about $105. it happened a day after someone walked out with three replacement parts for the same enhancement system. imagine the lineup. and fedex says that they have not been able to find a

package containing radioactive material that went missing yesterday. it's radioactive rods used in ct scans. it's safe if people don't tamper with the package. it was a black and bluff friday for the saturday. the president was inadvertently hit while playing basketball today. apparently an opposing player elbowed him in the lip. he was playing basketball with friends and family. he received 12 stitches by the white house medical unit. given in the doctor's office on the ground floor of the white house. he'll be sore a little bit on that. following news of a major roundup of terror suspects. a major disruption of alleged plots in the heart of the middle east. and for the next hundred years, we set about doing them. we did the breakthrough thing. ♪ the beautiful thing. ♪

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government officials, security forces, oil refineries, the media, all of them allegedly targets of a network of terror cells in saudi arabia. today those cells are exposed. 149 suspects arrested. we have details from dubai.

this sounds massive. what are the key tails? what are the details? >> reporter: well, deb, these members were spread over 19 cells and the investigations and the arrests took around eight months in saudi arabia. the majority of the members of these cells were saudi nationals. 124 men were saudi but 25 members were from other arab countries and africans and they were south asians. and the saudi security forces confiscated around $600,000 with these cells. and the ministry of interior in saudi arabia expects more arrests in the coming days and also expects that some dormant cells to surrender. >> was this part of a

coordinated plot? were they acting independently? and how close were they to carrying out these alleged attacks? >> reporter: as the ministry of interior, they say these attacks were imminent. at least ten plan why imminent. the targets were to assassinate government officials, media figures and also security officials. about the intentions of these cells, this is what the spokesman of the ministry of interior said trrnls their general motive are spreading an ideology of hate by calling others disbelievers, collecting money to finance the deviant al qaeda group inside and outside the kingdom. executing criminal plots to spread chaos and insecurity. >> reporter: the plans too were to target oil refineries and

installations. and as you know, deb, saudi arabia is the biggest oil supplier to the world and to target government buildings in saudi arabia, deb. >> you say a number were from within the country. there were some from outside as well. does it look like they were getting any help from within the saudi government? or were they solely sort of operating independently as part of a terror organization? >> reporter: well, the ministry of interior ensures that these cells inside saudi arabia were linked to cells in yemen, in afghanistan and somalia. but after one question from a journalist to the spokesman of the ministry of interior who had a press conference today in saudi arabia, there was no confirmation or even denial on whether intelligence agencies of other countries supporting these al qaeda cells. deb? >> thank you so much from dubai.

we'll check in later. keep us updated. thank you so much. and the president, moving on, was pigging out this thanksgiving or at least he had the option to. he had no less than six pies on the table. how did he work it off? set it in motion... and it goes out into the world like fuel for the economy. one opportunity leading to another... and another. we all have a hand in it. because opportunity can start anywhere, and go everywhere. let's keep it moving. ♪ i worry about my son playing football. which is why i'm really excited. because toyota developed this software that can simulate head injuries in an accident and helps make people safer. then they shared this technology with researchers at wake forest to help reduce head injuries on the football field.

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[ male announcer ] print from any mobile device so your ideas can be there even when you're not. introducing the new web-connected printers with eprint from hp. time now for a cnn political update. a little down time for the president. senior white house correspondent ed henry in washington. boy, 12 stitches in his lip, that must have been some basketball game. >> reporter: really painful. you're right. no good deed goes unpunished. trying to make sure he doesn't get a flabby belly and ends up

with a fat lip. looks like lower lip. some of the photos holding gauze to the lower lip. playing with family members and others. we're trying to find out which elbow went flying into the president's lip. we're told it was not reggie love, the president's personal assistant who you remember played basketball at duke university. they frequently play basketball together. bottom line is robert gibbs says the president got 12 stitches. we're told he was administered these stitches here in the basement of the white house by the white house doctors, a medical unit and they used a local anesthetic so it was not some sort of serious, serious surgery and that also they used kind of a different kind of filament that makes sure that it increases the number of stitches you need but it decreases the size of the scar. so that's what they tried to do there. i asked a top white house aide whether or not the person who hit the president with the elbow will get a presidential pardon

and this aide just laughed. secondly on a lighter note, the president was actually watching from a second floor window a little bit earlier when the first lady and his daughters welcomed the official white house christmas tree, about 18 1/2 foot douglas fir from pennsylvania. that's going to be sitting -- you see it there, a pretty large tree. it will sit in the blue room for all the official holiday events they have at the white house in the days ahead. one of our photojournalist got some pictures of the president looking down on that ceremony from a second story window from the white house residence and again he had that gauze on his lower lip. so here we are sometime after this morning basketball game, the president still suffering a little bit from that fat lower lip. and so this is going to be something that he's going to have to deal with for a few days. finally things he has to get ready for next week as he recovers here is that big slurpee summit put off last week. it will now happen tuesday.

democrat and republican congressional leaders. top of the agenda the fate of the bush tax cuts. they expire at the end of the year and the president has been saying, look, let's make sure we extend the tax cuts for the middle class. republicans pushing also to extend the tax cuts for the rich. so they're trying to work out a compromise but i think this coming week for the first time we may get an idea whose taxes may go up or not. >> any idea when the president will get those stitches out or do they dissolve? >> reporter: no. 12 is a significant amount of stitches. i remember i got 20 as a kid. on my chin. i fell off my bike i'm embarrassed to say. i can't say it was in a manly basketball game. i fell off the bike. it was a one-bike accident, not even somebody knocking me over. >> always good to make up a story in that kind of situation. >> there were three guys trying to beat me up and i pushed back. it was just me falling down by myself. >> ed henry from the white house. thank you so much.

a missing package containing a radioactive rod was found. fedex said it was misplaced in a shipping station in knoxville, tennessee. it says employees were never exposed to the radiation according to a spokeswoman. where does intent begin? that's what prosecutors are wrangling with in the case of the so-called honeymoon killer. a closer look next. by thorough preparation for events to come. well somewhere along the way, emily went right on living. but you see, with the help of her raymond james financial advisor, she had planned for every eventuality. which meant she continued to have the means to live on... even at the ripe old age of 187. life well planned. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you.

well, the case of the so-called honeymoon killer has taken a turn. released from prison in australia he's now facing charges in his home state of alabama. >> reporter: tried convicted and imprisoned for killing his newlywed wife in 2003, gabe watson was released from prison in australia early thursday and flown to los angeles. now he sits behind bars again on charges in the u.s. that he killed his wife. watson coined the honeymoon killer by australian media served 18 months in prison after

pleading guilty to a charge of manslaughter stemming from the death of his wife tina. the couple, wed in alabama, was married for only 11 days when tina died while scuba diving off the great barrier reef on her honeymoon with watson. now seven years later authorities in alabama say they have their man. assistant attorney general don valeska say a grand jury returned an indictment against him in october for murder and kidnapping. the indictment was unsealed thursday. alabama authorities believe watson hatched the plot to kill his wife while the couple was living in alabama because he wanted to cash in on his wife's insurance policy. tina's father tommy thomas speaking to reporters in alabama is hopeful justice will be served. >> the one thing that we're focused on is seeing justice done by her and for her. until that day comes, until he actually face s. the evidence for the first time in a criminal trial before a jury, there c