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VIDEO: How airlines prepare for a busy Thanksgiving travel week – Sandra Endo reports
More than 24 million travelers are expected to fly this Thanksgiving week, and airlines are making their preps to ensure a smooth ride. This morning on "Early Start," CNN’s Sandra Endo goes behind the scenes at Houston Intercontinental Airport to see how United Airlines is preparing for the travel rush.
The science behind punkin chunkin – Discovery's Kari Byron explains
Who doesn't want to fling a pumpkin in to the sky at an absurd speed? The Science Channel, well aware of this past-time, is ringing in Thanksgiving with a two-hour special called "Punkin Chunkin" based on the annual competition where over 100 engineering teams work to hurl a pumpkin as far as possible.
Kari Byron, co-host of the Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters," will host the pumpkins special and explains on “Early Start” precisely what our fascination is with punkin chunkin.
The rules are simple, Byron explains.
"You need to throw a pumpkin as far as you can with purely mechanical means,” Byron says. “But when you give a challenge like this to backyard engineers and crazy, guerilla scientists, they’re gonna come up with some wild means of throwing a pumpkin.”
“This is not child’s play, this is not just a hobby, this is a lifestyle,” for pumpkin chunkin competitors who invest major time, money and energy preparing, she says. “They really, really go for broke.”
"Punkin Chunkin" airs Thanksgiving night, Nov. 22nd at 8pm Eastern and Pacific on Discovery's Science Channel.
Wilson Center's Jane Harman 'optimistic' a cease-fire in Israel-Gaza conflict could be announced soon
Tensions are rising in the Middle East as a deadly conflict threatens to become an all out war along the border of Gaza and Israel. The international community watches on in hopes of a truce between Israel and Hamas. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is visiting the region today to help negotiate a cease-fire.
The lines are drawn: Hamas is demanding an end to Israel’s blockade on Gaza, while Israel says the airstrikes will not end until Hamas quits sending missiles. Egypt is a major negotiating partner between the two.
Wilson Center director Jane Harman. fmr. ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, has traveled to Cairo, Egypt regularly to address the crisis and talks with CNN's Alina Cho about the likelihood of a cease fire.
Some doubt that Egypt is a neutral negotiator and is an ally of Hamas, but Harman disagrees and is hopeful Egypt will help foster a truce between Hamas and Israel.
“There is reason for optimism that a cease-fire could be announced as early as this afternoon,” Harman says. “And the role that the Egyptians have played in helping broker that is very positive. They could only do that if they had a special relationship both with Hamas and with Israel.”
Car, tow truck scams rampant in NYC area after Sandy – Susan Candiotti reports
Superstorm Sandy has left a massive clean up operation in its wake, but residents are now facing a new threat: scams.
The biggest one at the moment involves towing companies which may be taking advantage of the disaster, ripping off cars and leaving owners caught off guard.
CNN National Correspondent Susan Candiotti joins the New York Police Department in pursuit of con artists looking to profit off of a disaster.
House For. Affairs Comm. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) thinks Patraeus knew 'instantaneously' Benghazi attack was 'linked to al Qaeda'
Ex-CIA Director David Petraeus will be testifying on Capitol Hill this morning about what he knew regarding the terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Bengazi. The House and Senate intelligence hearings will take place behind closed doors. This will be the first time Patraeus will speak to government officials since he resigned last week over an extra-marital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell. Sources told CNN’s Barbara Starr that Petraeus wants to clear up "a lot of misrepresentations of what he told congress initially," and that he saw two streams of intelligence about the attack.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee also held a hearing on Thursday over Benghazi. California Republican Congressman Ed Royce is a ranking member of that committee and Chairman of the Terrorism Subcommittee. He joins John Berman on "Early Start" to discuss today's hearing.
Some Republicans have questioned whether Patraeus’ resignation was linked to what he knew about the attack on the diplomatic mission in Libya that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Rep. Royce thinks his testimony today will be to clarify what he knew about it and clear the record of the CIA.
“I think the reason General Patraeus wants to testify,” Royce says, “is because he knew almost instantaneously that this was an attack linked to al Qaeda.” Royce says its important to questions why Patraeus and the White House would maintain the “line of argument” that a video was responsible for the attack in “the face of the facts.”
Israel on the brink of war: Violence escalating with Palestinian militants in Gaza
Israel engaging in ground warfare with Hamas in Gaza overnight. Israeli militants shelling more than 300 terror targets overnight. Sr. International Correspondent Ben Wedeman joins Zoraida on the phone from Jerusalem.
While officials spoke with Egypt Prime Minister, agreeing on a brief three hour ceasefire, Palestinian militants launched hundreds of rockets into Israeli territory for the second day. Two have hit Tel Aviv.
Wedeman says that a limited number of protests against Israeli police have sprung up around Jerusalem and the West Bank. Though there are several hundred protestors, he says it is relatively calm compared to protests in the past.
Whether war is in the near future between the countries, he says, “Certainly they have called up 16,000 reservists and there are apparently tanks on the move. Other equipment and heavy armor heading for Gaza, very similar to what we say in 1008-1009 last time…it does appear that they are preparing. ”
Best Advice: Elizabeth Reaser
Twilight actress Elizabeth Reaser shares some of the best advice she's ever received.
Sr. Med.Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen surveys the damage from Sandy to NYU Langone Medical Center, 'ruined by more than 10 million gallons of flood water'
NYU Langone Medical Center caught media attention during Superstorm Sandy when the hospital was forced to evacuate hundreds of patients, including infant babies, while the storm raged on. The center suffered extensive flood damage, and now a massive cleanup operation is underway. CNN was the first network to be allowed to have cameras inside to see the damage. Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen surveyed the damage.
The hospital was “ruined by more than 10 million gallons of flood water,” Cohen reports. It's been pumped out, but Cohen and her guide Richard Cohen, the Vice President of Facilities Operations, wear a mask because of the smell left behind. In the cellar, the water destroyed several million dollars worth of equipment in an MRI suite. On the first floor, the water was so high people could have almost been under water. A lecture hall “became a swimming pool.”
“NYU Langone has brought in hundreds of clean up workers,” Cohen reports, “some with specialized skills from around the country.” “Clean up is 24/7, expected to cost around $700 million.”
NYU Langone's Chairman of the Board, Ken Langone, was a patient at the hospital the night of the storm. He was recovering from pneumonia and walked out the building during the evacuation. “They woke me up and said we're evacuating,” Langone says. “And I said ‘fine.’ So I got up and brushed my teeth, put my clothes on and I said ‘let's go.’”
Now many rooms throughout the medical center are idle. Langone says he hopes they will be up and running again in about four weeks.
What’s trending on November 16, 2012?
John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin tell you what’s trending on the web now on “Early Start”.
First: lie to win? The annual World’s Largest Liar Competition is underway in England. Each contestant is given up to five minutes to invent the best lie in the contest, which was founded in honor of a 19th-century inn landlord who was reportedly legendary for slinging the bull. But get this, lawyers and politicians are banned from the contest for having an “unfair advantage.”
And The Onion has declared its sexiest man alive. It’s none other than 29-year-old Kim Jong Un. Of course it is. The Onion says North Korean heartthrob is every woman's dream come true. He’s strong and sturdy and has a cuddly side.
MYB: Christine Romans on a strike against Hostess and record low mortgage rates
Christine Romans is minding your business this morning. Hostess is dealing with a strike of 18,000 workers. With a deadline of 5PM yesterday for the bakers' union to get back to work not met, we are waiting on Hostess to put out a statement on whether they will liquidate all 33 plants or not.
But good news for consumers, the one thing you need to know about your money, is that mortgage rates have hit record lows. "Rates are falling because investors are worried about the economy, so they're throwing money into the bond market and out of the stock market," Romans says. "But those rates are so low...you might have to go and see if it's time to refinance again."
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