this is the "cbs overnight news." >> happy thanksgiving. and welcome to the "overnight news." i'm elaine quijano. 47 million americans have been on the move this week, traveling to today's holiday feasts. a turkey meal with all of the fixings is an age-old tradition, along with football games and thanksgiving parades. the biggest parade wil march down new york city this morning. floats and balloons, upwards of a million spectators. security will beight on the route. some undercover police you would never notice and others you can't miss. michelle miller reports. >> reporter: on its busiest days, nearly 500,000 people walk through the streets of times square. so if anything should happen, the nypd says mounted officers like this will be on the front line of defense. less than two weeks after the paris attacks, new york city remains on high alert. and with up to 3 million people expected to gather for

thursday's thanksgiving day parade, officials aren't taking any chances. >> we estimate we might have record breaking crowds because of the weather situation and we're prepared for that. we're encouraging people to come on down. >> reporter: while many security measures go unnoticed, officers on horseback almost never do. but these men and women also known as ten-foot cops, do much more than act as a photo-op for tourists. sergeant, what do you see? >> lots of people. >> this facility is a start of the art system. >> reporter: deputy inspector barry geldman is the commanding officer. how important are these horses to the force? >> having that capability at a moment's notice where you don't have resources there, but you can start to evacuate people or give direction is invaluable. >> reporter: geldman says the mobility of a horse gives police an added advantage when dealing with an emergency that's what

the mounted unit evacuated times square just minutes after a bomb was discovered in a parked vehicle. >> people were taking direction from the mounted officers to move themselves from the location and it was clear communication. >> reporter: l lt week, they unveiled a $30 mlion elite facility to house the squad. just a quit trot away from times square, penn station, and central park. the new location gives officers easy access to the city's busiest sites. >> a lot of people have never seen a horse before.e. they want to pet them, know his name. >> sounds like they're good at community policing. >> one of the greatest tools we have. >> reporter: new york city is one of the last cities to have horses on active duty. talking to these two officers, they say their non-human partners are second to none.

attacks in paris, mali and elsewhere, president obama says u.s. intelligence has no credible evidence that any strikes are planned for the thanksgiving holiday. he addressed the nation from the white house. >> so as americans travel this weekend to be with their loved ones, i want them to know that our counterterrorism, intelligence, homeland security, and law enforcement professionals atatvery level are working overtime. they are ctinually monitoring threats at home and abroad. continually evaluating our security posture. they did so before paris, and they do so now. without fanfare or credit and without a break for the holidays. so the bottom line is this, i want the american people to know entering the holidays that the combined resources of our military, our intelligence, and our homeland security agencies are on the case. they're vigilant, relentless, and effective. in the event of a specific,

be informed. we d dthink it's useful for people, as they're going about their business, to be vigilant. if you see something suspicious, say something. that's always helpful. but otherwise, americans should go about their usual thanksgiving activities. spending time with family and friends and celebrating our blessings. ile the threat of terrorism is a troubling reality of our age, we are both equipped to prevent attacks and we are resilient in the face of those that would try to do us harm. that's something we can all be thankful for. happy thanksgiving, everybody. >> when the thanksgiving dinner is done and the turkey leftovers are packed i io the fridge, a lot of people will be e ading home. aaa estimates 3.6 million americans will travel by air. in addition to the long lines at the security gates, many air traveler also be confronted with

a crowding problem when they get to their seats. kris van cleave has the story from reagan national airport. >> reporter: the tsa checkpoints at airports across the country are busysy but when peoeoe get on board, they might feel a a ttle more crowded. and it's not your imagination. airlines have worked to squeeze in extra rows of seats. that means over time the average space between those rows has fallen from about 35 inches here, on average, down about four inches and in some instances, six inches. gives you about this much space when you fly. this engine fire on a british airways 777 caused an emergency evacuation. the faa requires it happens in 90 seconds or less even if half the exits are blocked. beyond that, the agency does not set limbs on how close rows of seats can be, but much of its own research is done with seats 31 incncs apart. that's'she spacing for several of the country's biggest carriers. while jet blue, southwest and

virgin off the most space, frontier and spirit offer the least, with as little as 28 inches of space and seats that don't recline. the amount of room you have to sit on may have shrunk down to 16 inches wide on some a alines. >> if you crowd morerend more people together, bad things happen. >> reporter: in august, the group flyers right sent a petition to the faa, asking the agency to stop seats from minimum standards. >> it's a safety concern, particularly with evacuation. it hasn't rerely been tested for all spaces. it's a health concern, with blood clots. it's a security concern when people are having disagreements and even fights over space. >> reporter: hank scott got frustrated with cramped flights, tiny seats a mdz the time it took to board. >> i simply slide the seat into a locked position. >> reporter: so he helped invent a different kind of f rline

seat currently being certified for use. he's named them side slip seats, because the middle seat is set back just enough for the aisle seat to slide over it, making more room in the aisle. it also allows the seats to be bigger while not taking up additional space. >> you're not jockeying for elbow space. you're back here. you have an extra two inches dth here. thatat still a standard seat, that's still a standard seat. but both those passengers have more space, as well. because they're not elbow to elbow, arm to arm, thigh to thigh. >> reporter: and the trade association that represents the airlines says the seats are safe and the faa should leave it up to the market to determine how much space customers want. it's worth pointing out that those super discount carriers that offer the least space are among the most profitable in the business.

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for some people, wild turkey is on the thanksgiving menu today. years ago, it's what you did, hunt for your own food. nowadays, it's a trend called game-to-table. jeff glor spoke to a chef from texas who turned the trend into a restaurant. >> reporter: jessie griffith has an unusual office. a couple of them actually. when he's not here, he's usually here. preparing the game and fish that he insists on collecting, cutting, and cooking. >> i'm glad to see that hunting is becoming a little more normalized. >> reporter: wild boar, duck wings s d venn sevecci. his restaurant and butcher shop is a modern hot spot and old school throwback. you say hunting is sort of thought of as the gun culture and you think it should be thought of as part of the food culture. >> absolutely. people confuse that.

i do have guns because i hunt, but it's dirececsourcing. if you're going to kill it, you should utilize it. >> reporter: his favorite target, and taste, is an animal that's become an enormous problem in texas. the wild boar. >> they're a huge agricultural nuisance. they cause millions in damage. but the thing is, they're highly edible. and they're delicious. so not a lot of problems in life that you can eat. as far as problems go, it's kind of a good one. the mustard and bread is made in house. everything is made in house. >> reporter: we sampled his wild boar brautburst and venison. and egg topped tomales. the meat may be wild, but it's all approved by the state department of health. state inspectors join the hunts where the game is sourced. it's a process of full disclosure.

and it continues at his restaurant. i want to ask you about the kitchen. you see everything there. there's nothing in the background. >> right. reporter: why is thth? >> we wanted a good deal of transparency in this restaurant. when you walk in, we want you to see the whole process of everything we're doing. very likely you're going to e butchering an animal. right next to that they'll be making pie. i wanted people to see the kitchen and it also keeps us honest. we don't have a cacaopener back there, because we bring in everything fresh. >> reporter: in his restaurants, there's almost no waste. in the kitchen, and as we saw, on people's plates. if you don't have the means or the land or the will to hunt, but you want to eat meat and game, what is the recommendation? i i uld say make friendsdsith a hunter.. it's old fashioned. being able to ask questions and make connections with people that are producing food is the

key element. >> let's say you want that fresh pork but you don't want to go hunting to get it. susan spencer found what she thinks is the best cuban sandwich north of f vana. >> repororr: just two words mama explain why tampa's venerable colombia restaurant has lasted more than a century, cuban sandwich. >> so we got our ham on there. next important thing would be our pork, salami, four slices. not three, not five, but four. >> reporter: it's a a ndwich built according to exact specifications. >> two pickles. >> reporter: only two? >> only two. >> reporter: made from an age-old family recipe. >> cuban sandwich should be nine inches long. period. end of story. >> reporter: not a lot of room for creativity here. and what about mayonnaise, tomatoes, lettucuc >> you wililnot do that.

it, go ahead. assembled in a very precise order. >> does it matter? yeah, it matters. it's the difference between being great and good. >> reporter: it's amazing to me that both of you were kids in this place. richararand his daughter arerehe fourth and fifth generations to own and run the colombia. >> we're the oldt hispanic restaurant in the united states. >> reporter: they gave the sandwich a lot of the credit. they say they serve as many as 600 a day. this is a heavy sandwich. >> it's like a aurger. you go and because you know you want to eat it. >> reporter: it comes with a complementary triple bypass. of course, that didn't stop me. >> you're eating it upside down. [ laughter ] >> reporter: do you consider this a regional food? >> it's an original. >> reporter: just don't try telling that to the good folks

in miami. >> i love whwh miami says they have the real cuban sandwich. >> reporter: what is wrong with the one that they serve in miami? >> they don't put salami on it. that's the big argument. >> reporter: with or without salami, the cuban finds itself on roughly three times as many restaurant menus today as it did a decade ago. a dry spray? that's fun. it's already dry! no wait time. this is great. it's very soft. can i keep it? (laughs) all the care of dove... ...now in a dry antiperspirant spray. hi, anne. how are you doing? hi, evelyn. i know it's been a difficult time since your mom passed away. yeye. i miss her a lot,,but i'm okay. wow. t tt was fast. this is the check i've been waiting for. mom had a guaranteed acceptance life insurance policy through the colonial penn program, and this will really help with the cost of her final expenses.

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ever take a bite of something that looks delicious but tastes just like plastic? turns out plastic food is big business overseas. seth doane reports from osaka, japan. >> reporter: call it a japanese kitchen magic. green goop is transformed into a head of lettuce. a tempting tray of sushi won't lose its appeal for years. and this mackerel has never seen a grill. where do you see fake food in japan? >> i see it in department stores, shopping malls, in underground shopping areas, in touristy places such as this. you see it everywhere. >> reporter: ohio native justice hannas showed us around his adopted city osaka. known as japan's food capital, fake or sample food abounds here. fake food overcomes a language barrier?

>> exactly. >> reporter: you point to it and say this is what i want. >> exactly. that's how it's been in this country for 78 years. >> reporter: across japan, realistic looking food displays are used by restaurants to demonstrate portion size, and are laid out to try to lure customers. >> it's really an advertising tool. >> reporter: he sells plastic food via his website and claims if you can cook it, they can make a replica that looks good enough to eat, thanks to his manufacturer, 60-year-d artisan fumio marino. why has this fake food taken root here in japan? "western style dishes were introduced to japan and customers were unfamiliar with them so they didn't sell well," he explained. "today, i think it's as usefuls a ever." at his workshop, we found a spread of treats, all completely inedible, of course. it is remarkable craftsmanship, though, which marino first learned from his dad.

wow. "my father always said before you eat something, observe it," he remembered. "study its color, patterns, then you can dig in." making it look just right takes a lot of trial and error. it turns out coating for shrimp looks best if it's made from poly vinyl chloride. or soba soup broth from urethane. and getting beef to the perfect temperature is more airbrush than oven. marino told us it can take ten years to master this. it just blows all off. that made me feel a bit better with my attempt at shrimp tempura. my tempura looks a little sad. each piece is hand crafted. it seems machines just can't

he says souvenirs from key chains to magnets make up most of his business. but buying fake food is not just for the casual collector. sushi, rice. meet akiko. she showed us the room her husband won't enter. i sit here relaxing, she told us. i add new items and just look at my collection. it's really quite something. she's decorated the walls with pizza and drawers are filled with creme brulee. seated on a burger and piece of cake, we chatted about her hobby. why did you start collecting food, plastic food of all things? "i always thought plastic food samples were only available for people in the food industry, but when i found out they were available for a housewife like me, i started buying them." she has no idea how much she has spent, though doesn't dispute

estimates of more than $80,000. do people think you're crazy? "i'm not aware of that," she chuckled. well, it landed her a place in the book of world records. for having more thaha 8,000 pieces of plastic prepared food items. who knew there was such a category? while she may have taken to another level, we found this fake food is undoubtedly appealing. there's something almost enchanting about these hand made, delicious looking morsels you would never dare to o t. >> after thanksgivivg dinner, you might want to relax with a cup of coffee. anna warner found an artist who would rather paint with his cup of coffee. >> reporter: something is always brewing in gerard's studio. >> well, i thought it might be fun to push the limits a little bit. >> reporter: literally. he paints with coffee and tea. this graphic designer used to paint the old fashioned way. until the day he became

fascinated by his cup of green tea. >> and i thought, i wonder if i can make this into a painting medium, what that would be like? >> reporter: browns and greens were easy enough. but keeping other clears stable, not so much. at is the hardest cocor to make stiti? >> hardest color to make stick is probably the reds. >> reporter: are you still working on mastering the reds? >> i recently have just got it. >> reporter: you just got it after how many years? >> the whole process has been about ten years. so now i have a full color spectrum, so i can get flesh tones, purples, silvers, grays, blacks, whites, the whole wowos. >> reporter: getting all those colors requires him to buy coffee and tea from around the world. shipped to his home outside pittsburgh. so this essentially is your blue. there is no other tea that gives you this color that you need?

>> no. >eporter: the actual l inting requires a bit of a juggling act in his basement studio, which doubles as sort of chemistry lab. >> i'll work on a piece, i have several going at the same time, but i'm brewing and making paint as i'm working. >> reporter: it's like you're cooking and painting at the same time. >> right. >> reporter: look closely.y. thth textured surface is actually coffee grounds. and it's a good guess that with all that caffeine around, his art will keep percolating. anybody ever say, why do you do that? >> sure, all the time. >> reporter: how do you answer that? >> for me, it's all about t e challenge. it's been about the process and ng pc-17 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test !!! maint. testing pc-17 f1

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i didn't know how to help him. when he ultimately shot himself, he left our family devastated. don't let this happen to you. if you or a loved one is suicidal, call the n nional suicide prprention lifeline. no matter how hopeless or helpless you feel, with the right help, you can get well. (franklin d. roosevelt) the inherent right to work is one of the elemental privileges of a free people. endowed, as our nation is, with abundant physical resources... ...and inspired as it should be to make those resources and opportunitieieavailable for ththenjoyment of all... ...we approach reemployment with real hope of finding a better answer than we have now. narrator: donate to goodwill where your donations help fund job placement and training for people in your community. president obama took part in another thanksgiving tradition,

pardoning a pair of turkeys who might otherwise have ended up on someone's dinner table. here's what he had to say. >> as you may have heard, for months there has been a fierce competition between a bunch of turkeys trying to win their win to the white house. [ laughter ] some of you caught that. well, today, i can announce that the american people have spoken and we have two winners. their names are honest and abe. i confess that honest looks like good eating, but this is a democracy. abe is now a free bird. he is totus, the turkey of the united states. [ laughter ] yes. is he atatcking you? are you u ay?

my political dirirtor is getting pecked by totus. america is after all a country of second chances and this turkey has earned out a second chance to live out his life on 1,000 acres of open land complete with a barn called the white house on turkey hill. laughter ] >> okay. that's funny. >> by the way, i am going to publicly thank malia and sasha for once again standing here with me during the turkey pardon. [ applause ]

makes me feel good.