point being in talking about the economy that the entertainment industry itself is really one of the bright spots in bringing our economy up here in this country. you can keep watching the president. go to cnn.com/live. welcome back to "the lead." great to be with you today. in world news, the pope is see you tomorrow. meantime, john berman in for declaring war on what he calls jake tapper. the idolatry of money. "the lead" starts now. in the first major written work of his papacy, pope francis is it's not really that bad out there if you're one of the guys attacking the disparities of from "the deadliest catch." capitalism as a quote, new i'm john berman. this is "the lead." tyranny, writing how can it be the national lead. the timing, it could not be that it is not a news item when worse. the killer storm, one that's an elderly person dies of already claimed the lives of a dozen people, rumbling up the exposure but it is when the stock market loses two points. east coast as tens of millions he's further taking on everything from who should of people are traveling for receive communion to how much power the vatican should hold black friday eve which used to over the church. be called thanksgiving. the world lead. there's a lot in this document. go ahead and seize a bigger air i want to bring in the rome defense zone if you want, china, bureau chief for the daily but that doesn't mean the u.s. is going to respect it. beast. barbie, almost since the moment a pair of american b-52 bombers that francis became pope, he's flies through china's newly positioned himself as something of a maverick. some of the words he used today claimed air space and tests whether china means what it says today. in this document are startling but how shocking are the ideas and the buried lead. themselves?

green bean casserole. >> reporter: well, you know, we sure, cranberry sauce, have been seeing pope francis obviously, but you won't find any turkey on the plate of one hint at a lot of different types of our former vice presidents. of reform since last march when he was elected. is al gore taking diet tips from his former boss? shocking is probably a bit of an overstatement but these are harsh words. this is the first time we have seen these words in writing. welcome to "the lead." it's the first time we really i'm john berman filling in for have something to study. jake tapper today. have you made a list of things it's 224 pages long, this you're thankful for this year? document is the most important you might want to keep them in thing he's put on paper yet. mind over the next 30 hours or it's going to give a lot of so, because if you are traveling, your thoughts may people in the hierarchy of the need that happy place to go. church something to think about and it will give them a little 43 million people are expected bit of a guideline to go forward to travel by roads, rail and sky and to create the church pope this thanksgiving, but a killer francis is trying to promise storm is on the move and it catholics around the world. could ruin the holiday in ways >> one of the sentences that jumped out at me, he wrote this. that your uncle with halitosis he said i prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty never could. most of you if you're traveling because it has been out on the are driving, and this is what you'll run into in the southeast streets rather than a church which is unhealthy from being right now. it is mostly rain in cities like confined and from clinging to atlanta, but the sun is about to its own security. go down on the east coast and first of all, he's a wonderful that means the roads could start writer. let's say that right out. to ice. but what do you think this means as you get farther north, the for the future, for the direction of the church? weather is changing into snow.

look at that in pennsylvania. >> reporter: well, i think these many major cities like are words that many catholics philadelphia, new york and really want to hear right now. boston not expected to get hit people that have left the church, people that are too hard but we have already considering leaving the church, seen major travel snarls that people that don't want to join the priesthood or join a will likely only get worse. vocation within the church, are now, we know how aggravating really looking and searching for this kind of holiday weather is, so here's a list of phrases you a greater meaning and pope will not hear over the next francis seems to be working from the top down. hour. we will not refer to snow as the he's trying to clean up the house, as it were, and by sort white stuff at any point. of moving various people into there will be no mention of jack different positions, by coming frost or his fixation with your out with this very broad and nose. at no point will we use the important statement today, he's phrase winter wonderland. showing to the people, to the it's not even winter. catholics and believers that under no circumstances will we while he may not be changing any tell travelers to pack your doctrine, he's certainly going to be changing the church, turning it into something that patience because the overhead people want to believe in, a bins are already full. church people want to be part with that in mind, we have of. you know, by starting at the meteorologist chad myers in the cnn severe weather center. top, it's going to trickle down we are outside in pittsburgh in to the many catholics around the the snow. world who are disillusioned and and martin savidge inside the have been for the last several years with the way the catholic busiest airport in the world in church has been run. atlanta. chad, i want to start with you. >> one of the issues he takes on a lot of people are reading the fairly directly is the issue of fine print on their airline the so-called wafer wars in refund policies right now. we have a full disclosure policy

which catholic politicians who so please disclose how bad is it support abortion rights are out there really? >> you know, we first saw some denied communion. senator ted kennedy was often delays about 30 minutes ago at criticized for his stance as a catholic. how big is this political statement in the document? laguardia, maybe a 30-minute delay on every flight. >> reporter: well, i think he's this is what it looks like in atlanta right now. saying no to hypocrisy. if you are going to be a although not an official number catholic, you need to be a like 15, 30, 45 minutes, at catholic, whether you are president of a country or have a least half the planes have some small delay on them. high ranking position within in so there's your visibility the politics of your own issue. country. of course, the pope is the snow is all the way from new york down into pennsylvania and addressing the world with this statement, not just addressing west virginia. south of there, it's all rain. certain countries. this is going to stay rain. it's not going to be a snow he's definitely creating a maker for i-95. church that he promised he would so it's going to stay at least create. these are baby steps in a church semi-good. the deal is we have this low with a huge number of problems that are going to take more than that's going to drive up the a couple documents to really east coast, keep the east coast change. wet for the next at least 24 he really has to get the people who are running the church for hours, and then very windy and him to follow suit and to prove cold. the snow stays out to the west, to the catholics and to prove to pittsburgh, buffalo, dubois, him that they're following his lead. >> there's an image a lot of altoona and even parts of people are talking about this kentucky. there goes the low. week, a strikingage of pope as the low goes close to new francis embracing a man with a york, there goes the wind and genetic skin condition. there goes airport delays. he is being called by a lot of they are going to go up

tomorrow, many more airport people, the people's pope. i was talking to john allen delays tomorrow than today awhile ago. because of wind delays. he said pope francis is putting when you get laguardia, you get the cool back in catholic. jfk and newark with all the i guess the question i'm little runways, you need to line wondering is if you're pope those planes up when the wind's benedict who is still very much going so fast. the planes have to land and take alive watching this, what do you think he's thinking? off in the same direction due to that excessive wind and you >> reporter: you know, there's no reason to think that pope can't get as many planes on or off the ground as you would benedict is completely pleased by this. like. so therefore, the planes stack this really is his doing. up. he felt that he was no longer in we're still watching to see if the wind's going to be too bad a position but with his health and his age to run the catholic to get the balloons, the floats in the thanksgiving day parade church the way it needed to be run. because it's not really a parade he stepped aside of his own free will and made way for the to me without snoopy and election of someone like pope francis. so there's no reason to think spongebob, i guess. >> meteorologist chad myers, you that he's in any way saying wow, i wish i would have done a have a way of making wet, windy better job. in fact, he's probably taking a and cold sound less unpleasant. little credit right now for as we mentioned, 43 million making the decision and allowing someone else to take his place. people are expected to travel he said himself that he wasn't up to the job anymore. this thanksgiving and an overwhelming number of them, nearly 39 million, will be and you know, a lot of people think he did the right thing and driving. if your path takes you through did something that was probably pennsylvania, you better have difficult for him, but snow tires. it will be a very long night for ultimately obviously very good for the catholic church. road crews there. >> thank you so much. shannon travis is standing by love getting your perspective on live outside pittsburgh right this. really appreciate it. now. shannon, you have been watching

the snow fall there all day, more world news now. haven't you? she's afraid to return to italy and for good reason. >> reporter: yeah, all day, amanda knox still could be john. we are off of interstate 76 convicted of murder. her retrial for the 2007 right now, the pennsylvania stabbing death of her british turnpike. we're safe, we're okay, but i roommate is winding down in wish we could say we're safe and dry. you have been talking about the florence. italian prosecutors hoping the 40 million, estimated 40 million guilty verdict sticks this time. drivers who are going to be they are demanding a 30 year taking to the road and chad has prison sentence. defense attorneys will give been talking about a lot of the their closing arguments in december. a ruling not expected until roads in pennsylvania alone that january. knox has been living in the will be full of drivers and united states since her original conviction was overturned in snow. we have been seeing all of it right here, snow, rain, steady 2011 and said she would not mix of it. return to italy. earlier today, it was a steady a family attorney has said there's a chance the italian downpour of snow. right now we are seeing rain. government could request her i want to show you the difference between those two. extradition. when we come back, maybe it if you just look down here, we have been watching the snow was the food on the campaign trail. another former white house accumulate on this side and regular becomes a vegan. other grassy parts of the area what does president clinton's white house chef think of al where we're standing but gore's new diet? stay with us. literally at my feet, you see ♪ almost a mini river of water. what we're seeing is some of this rain that's been falling since the snow kind of stopped melt away some of this snow, causing some of this water to

run off. obviously a lot of the people in this area are hoping that continues. i'm sure they can probably deal with the rain or the snow. we are about 20 miles outside of pittsburgh and have been seeing this. pittsburgh, obviously, snow as well. i spoke with a pennsylvania department of transportation official earlier. they said tonight they are going to have a full force, all of their crews, about 80 plus [ engine revs ] trucks, out in full force. ♪ about 135 people, mechanics, plowers, salt trucks working in ♪ 12-hour shifts, well into tomorrow. obviously safety is of a prime [ male announcer ] the mercedes-benz winter event is back, concern. they tell me that not only should you be careful on the with the perfect vehicle that's just right for you, roads tonight if you're out here driving but also, please let the no matter which list you're on. salt trucks, give them room to do their work. [ santa ] ho, ho, ho, ho! [ male announcer ] get the all-new 2014 cla250 >> public service announcements from shannon travis. starting at just $29,900. hope you brought a change of socks. thank you so much, outside pittsburgh right now. so if you have ever been on a flight in the u.s., there's a good chance you have been ♪ through atlanta. it has the world's busiest airport, hartsfield-jackson [ male announcer ] the parking lot helps by letting us know who's coming.

where many layovers have become the carts keep everyone on the right track. reluctant stay-overs in years past. the power tools introduce themselves. martin savidge has been watching the arrival and departure board all day. what's the cancellation all the bits and bulbs keep themselves stocked. situation, martin? and the doors even handle the checkout >> reporter: john, it's starting so we can work on that thing that's stuck in the thing. to look not as nice as it did earlier in the day. [ female announcer ] today, cisco is connecting the internet of everything. we've got about 1.8 million so everyone goes home happy. people that are going to go through this airport over this holiday period. >> we just lost martin. we've lost martin savidge in atlanta right now. what he's about to tell you is the air situation in that airport, not great. starting to see some cancellations there. certainly delays before he was saying he has seen delays of 30 to 40 minutes which seemed to be getting longer as the days go on. we will get an update from all these people over the next few hours, the travel situation not at all good right now. yep. got all the cozies. turning now to the world [ grandma ] with new fedex one rate, i could fill a box and ship it for one flat rate. lead. china has tried to claim almost a million square miles of the so i knit until it was full. you'd be crazy not to.

pacific ocean known as the east is that nana? china sea and over the weekend, [ male announcer ] fedex one rate. it declared much of that is simple, flat rate shipping with the reliability of fedex. inside its air defense zone. here's how much the u.s. military respects that, apparently. earlier, it flew two b-52 bombers right through that new you're history. selsun blue itchy dry scalp. air zone without complying with chinese demands for a heads-up. gets to the root of dandruff and hydrates the scalp. i want to bring in our pentagon selsun blue itchy dry scalp. correspondent, barbara starr. explain what's going on here. >> reporter: well, john, basically, this is a dispute between china and japan about who owns some islands in the east china sea, but china stepped up the tensions over the weekend when it declared this new air zone and said any military aircraft flying through it had to declare their flight plan, their transponder, give we still run into problems. all kinds of information basically to report in to that's why liberty mutual insurance offers accident forgiveness if you qualify, beijing. the u.s. military made clear thank you very much, we won't be and new car replacement, doing that. standard with our auto policies. so take a look at this map. this is a vast area and what the so call liberty mutual at... today. u.s. did last night is it flew two b-52 aircraft from guam and if you switch, you could save up to $423.

which is further to the east, of course, all the way over to the liberty mutual insurance. east china sea, flew through responsibility. what's your policy? this zone for about an hour, turned around and flew back and did not report in to beijing because the pentagon doesn't recognize this and isn't about to start reporting to china about its movements in international air space. no incidents were reported, nothing happened, but you know, look, the chinese have basically been put on notice by the u.s. that this is raising tensions in the region at a time when it's not needed. the asia pacific, an economic powerhouse. this is not the part of the world that anybody wants to see any kind of uncertainty or destabilization when it comes to aircraft operating in international air space. so the u.s. making clear it's just not going to obey beijing's welcome back to "the lead." rules. >> is this a crucial area for i'm john berman in for jake tapper today. u.s. jets to fly through? is this an exercise that's so al gore, a carnivore no more. likely to be repeated or did the u.s. really just want to make a point here? >> reporter: well, a little bit the former vice president's of both. you're touching on something eating habits are today's buried very crucial here.

the u.s. military routinely lead. there is one thing that can flies through this region on never get enough attention, it's these training missions and what al gore eats. that's what this was, a training mission that the pentagon says had been on the books for some bill clinton, al gore. time. the 1992 democratic ticket. be that as it may, this is crucial air space out in the pacific. it's a very heavily trafficked but 21 years later, you might say the clinton/gore theme song area between japan's air has gone from fleetwood mac's "don't stop thinking about traffic, taiwan's and mainland tomorrow" to don't stop thinking china so this is an area that's very busy with both commercial about tofurkey. flights and military flights and nobody wants to see any they have gone from southern problems, nobody wants to play fried to southern fennel, from chicken, if you will, at 30,000 feet. >> no. good idea. serving up political red meat to barbara starr at the pentagon, serving up no meat, no fish, no thank you so much. i want to go back right now to dairy. according to forbes magazine, al one of the least soothing and relaxing places on earth, gore has joined his running mate becoming a vegan a couple months hartsfield-jackson airport in atlanta, where we find martin ago. >> it's like playing the piano savidge. we were talking about delays and and deciding one day i'm only going to use the white keys. does take a little time to get cancellations. what is the situation there? used to it. >> reporter: the good news is we >> walter scheib served as white have no cancellations. house chef for 11 years, cooking at least nothing due to weather. if you want delays, up meals for president clinton back when he and his v.p. had unfortunately, we do have some of those.

broader dietary ranges. about half the flights here are >> president clinton, more diverse in his diet. going off with some kind of sort of a euphemism saying he delay, not major. ate pretty much everything. some are ten minutes, some are his diet probably not the best. 15 minutes, some are longer. we are getting up to 30 and 45 >> president clinton described his updated diet to dr. sanjay minute delays. some even longer than that. gupta in 2011. >> i like the stuff i eat. but it's started off very good i like the vegetables, the this morning, just the fruits, the beans, the stuff i combination of volume, weather eat now, i like. and the impact of people coming from other airports, their >> but the vegan lifestyle isn't planes delayed moving through as new to the clinton/gore atlanta to their next destination. it's all starting to dare i say ticket as you might think. >> chelsea clinton became a snowball. i hope that wasn't one of the vegan or very close, she will words that was banned. tell you she didn't but i was but that's the situation. there with her and she was the good news is, the 5:50 to actually a vegan by the time she reached her senior year of high school. cancun still on time if you're she came down and worked in our headed that way. >> yeah, i'm sure. kitchens at the white house the this is your last hit with cnn summer of her senior year for a for the day, i am sure. couple weeks. good luck making the 5:50 to >> it is a far cry from the fast cancun. food and short shorts that were martin savidge reporting from the busiest airport in the world. such an indelible presence on cnn has a fascinating look her father's campaign in 1992. inside hartsfield-jackson actually, maybe it makes the international atlanta. we spent more than a dozen, short shorts thing a little better now. three dozen journalists inside but we digress. in this week of gleeful national for 24 hours. check this out at cnn.com/atl24. gluttony, it is important to note that our high level leadership has, for the most coming up for us on "the

part, adopted high level lead" an award-winning war correspondent forced to take a nutrition. >> they say diplomacy is a matter of carrots and sticks and leave of absence after a since mrs. obama got to the discredited "60 minutes" report. white house, so is dinner. ahead, more on the internal investigation that led to lara logan's suspension. >> food at the white house didn't delineate along political first, one craft store lines but along gender lines. taking on president obama for >> he might sneak into five guys religious reasons. for a burger every once in now the supreme court is getting awhile but it does seem involved. stay with us. president obama is mostly toeing the line. george w. bush with all his working out always seemed fit. the only food that gave him trouble, the pretzel that he choked on. >> when you're eating pretzels, chew before you swallow. >> the menu in the white house has always been a bit fickle. george h.w. bush hated broccoli. ronald reagan loved his jelly beans. jimmy carter was a peanut farmer. >> we try to keep them on the straight and narrow in terms of a healthy diet but he is the president and eats what he chooses to eat. >> as president obama gets deeper into his second term with sagging approval ratings, maybe he should consider the clinton path. it might not help with human

voters but other constituencies will love it. >> you have my blessing. >> sohe "wainon pos says al gore has been a vegan for the last two months or so. not clear what motivated his diet change. some other news to tell you about. hollywood hot shot aaron milchin has produced a ton of awesome discover card. hey! so i'm looking at my bill, and my fico® credit score's on here. movies. on and on the list goes. yeah, you've got our discover it card, but there is other news he's so you get your fico® score involved in. on your monthly statements now, for free! he didn't produce any james bond that's nice of you! films. he didn't have to. it's a great way to stay on top of your credit, and make sure things look the way they should. he lived them. awesomesauce! he told a news program in israel huh! my twin sister always says that. that he was a spy for the jewish state before he got into films. wait...lisa? julie?! you sound really different on the phone. he said his secret missions included negotiating arms deals do i sound pleasant? for once in your life you sound very pleasant. and helping israel build its at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. nuclear program. the guardian reports that free fico® credit score. get the it card at discover.com. israeli's president peres recruited him in the 1960s. i started part-time, now i'm a manager.n. at some point he left the spy business for show biz. my employer matches my charitable giving. really. i'm sure "pretty woman" helped him become a spy or vice versa.

i get bonuses even working part-time. i'm john berman. where i work, over 400 people are promoted every day. check out our show page at healthcare starting under $40 a month. cnn.com/thelead for video, blogs and extras. i got education benefits. that's all for "the lead." i work at walmart. i'm john berman sitting in for i'm a pharmacist. jake tapper today. sales associate. i turn you over to jim acosta in i manage produce. "the situation room." i work in logistics. there's more to walmart than you think. vo: opportunity. that's the real walmart. happening now, holiday hell. life with crohn's disease ois a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps end our night torrential rains, wet snow, even before it even starts? what if i eat the wrong thing? tornado warnings. what if? one-third of americans facing what if i suddenly have to go? delays and disappointment what if? heading into some of the busiest but what if the most important question travel days of the year. is the one you're not asking? will the way to grandmother's what if the underlying cause of your symptoms house be spent in bumper to is damaging inflammation? bumper traffic? we are tracking a fast-moving for help getting the answers you need, storm. missed signals. the newtown shooter had an talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisadvocates.com arsenal in his bedroom, trash bags taped over his windows and to connect with a patient advocate from abbvie an obsession with school for one-to-one support and education. shootings. yet he never got the mental health care he so desperately needed. how did our system fail him and ♪ why hasn't anything changed? time-out. 60 minutes temporarily benches

lara logan for a flawed report on cbs while msnbc and (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities.

welcome back to "the lead." the politics lead. remember after the government shutdown, when everyone was talking about the dire consequences republicans would face come the midterm elections? well, what a difference a flubbed obama care rollout makes. cnn's latest poll numbers show a dramatic turnaround since just last month. take a look at this. gone is the democrats' lead among registered voters' choice for congress in 2014 and now it's the republicans who are showing a slight lead going into the critical midterms. so let's bring in our panel to talk about this.

cnn political commentator, maria cardona, ross douthat and sheera senner. i want to start with you. this is really your bread and butter. a month ago we were talking about do the democrats really have a chance to take over the house and now today, sorry about the peter brady thing, now today we're sitting here thinking do republicans have a chance of taking over the senate. how big of a shift are we dealing with here? >> yeah, there has certainly been a large shift but let's remember, there is still almost a year to go until the election and if poll numbers can flip this quickly in a month, they can flip even more quickly many times between now and november 2014. that said, yes, there certainly has been a shift, especially in the senate, where republicans need to pick up a net of six seats to gain control of that chamber, and seven senators very vulnerable democratic senators are up for re-election in states that obama lost in 2012. that is not good math, especially if the national landscape is shifting towards republicans. >> maria, you run in these

democratic circles. if this does cost the democrats six seats in the senate, will democrats look at this and say it was worth it? >> oh, john, that's a huge "if" so i'm not going to concede that for you right now a year before the election. but i will say this. there's no question that the flubbed rollout has been a huge political cost for the democrats. the president said himself, said that himself a couple weeks ago during his press conference. but here's what democrats need to do. it's a year out from the elections. democrats need to make this about a choice, a choice between two parties. one party that wants to continue to make this law work for 40 million americans who don't have health care coverage, for middle class families whose health care coverage is too expensive, and a party who is willing to shut down the government, hurt our economy and frankly, has not taken shutting down the government again off the table. that is a big contrast that i think when you make it about that choice, protecting middle class families versus doing whatever they can to make obama fail and therefore, this

government and the economy hurt, i think that is an argument that the democrats can win. >> ross, you want to indulge me more on this subject? >> obviously, the republicans are going to pick up 17 seats. it's a mathematical certainty. i think that, look, obviously we're a long way out. i think the big danger for the democrats is less the specific political landscape right at this moment and more the possibility that every month or every couple of months, you're going to have a new wave of stories, of controversy and so on, about some aspect of the health care law that americans hadn't been aware of that maybe didn't receive the coverage it should have had when the law was being debated, so you know, over the past couple months, we've had people realizing that actually, a lot of people's insurance plans are going to be canceled because of the health care law. over the next few months you'll have more people buying new coverage and realizing that their medical networks have constricted, they don't have access to the same doctors and so on, then you will probably start to have the law have more

of an impact on the employer market, too, as various provisions kick in. i think the big danger for the democrats, obviously they need to get the website fixed and running and so on, but even beyond that, there's just a scenario where you just have a sort of rolling kind of disaster of coverage that continues to the point where it actually will start to make a real difference in political outcomes. >> or you can have a scenario where you continue to focus on the good news which frankly cnn has been doing more and more, where those people who couldn't afford coverage before are actually getting it. >> you know, you are in the difficult middle of this debate, shira. >> thank you. >> the objective middle. the tiny little space that's about this big. i'm wondering at roll call if you see obama care being an issue that lasts all the way to november 2014. >> yes. and unfortunately for my reporters, too, who are so sick about writing about this story line, because we have done it for the last three cycle, i do see it as being the primary

issue for elections in 2014, no doubt about it. especially given what ross detailed about how the deadlines, new parts of the law are going to come to light every few months or so, we are going to be talking about this and seeing it on campaign ads between now and november. >> i want you guys to weigh in quickly on the other big story of the day, the supreme court telling us that it will take up the issue of obama care again, at least one part of it. the justices agreed to take up the issue of the law that requires employers of a certain size to offer insurance coverage for birth control and other reproductive health services without a co-pay. maria, how big of a deal do you think this is? >> i think this is actually a huge opportunity again, john, for democrats to make this choice that i was talking about earlier. the focus on obama care when it comes to women's health, i think is huge, because democrats have clearly won on that issue in the past, and a lot of republicans and we'll see if it happens this year, a lot of republican candidates can't help themselves when they put their feet in

their mouth talking about this issue. it's another opportunity for democrats to talk about the choice about a party who wants to make being a woman a pre-existing condition, who wants to take away the health care coverage and security of seniors with the doughnut hole, again with the focus on republicans want to repeal obama care when right now, the majority of americans actually want to see it work. >> ross, we were surprised, some people were surprised by john roberts in the first big obama care decision likely to be a surprise this time? >> well, i think as so often with these cases, it's more likely to come down to anthony kennedy's vote. what's interesting with kennedy is that he's swung increasingly over time in a kind of libertarian direction on a range of issues which explains why he's simultaneously been the most pro-gay rights justice but also the justice who actually agreed that obama care was unconstitutional because of the individual mandate. in this case, you have a collision of liberties. you have the free exercise of religion which a lot of religious institutions and in

this case, a corporation owned by and founded on -- by a very religious family see as intention and then obviously, the argument that maria was making about reproductive rights and so on. i think the tension in the heart of anthony kennedy will be put to the test. >> all right, guys. thank you so much for being with me today. really appreciate it. coming up for us next on "the lead," the blurred line between thanksgiving and black friday. more americans are fighting to keep stores closed on thursday but are any retailers listening? plus, i think it's safe to say the pope will not be doing any thanksgiving shopping after his latest remarks and what he calls the new tyramny of unbridled capitalism. stay with us. my asthma's under control. i don't miss out... you sat out most of our game yesterday! asthma doesn't affect my job... you were out sick last week. my asthma doesn't bother my family...

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abandonment of tspiritual meanig of the holiday for the earthly delights of presents stacked tall under the tree. for my next guest there's a new holiday war being waged on thanksgiving. and are american families the casualties? dean obidalla joins me now along with jim tankersley from the "washington post." a lot of what you write is comedy. you're a funny guy. let's acknowledge that. but you have this piece in the daily beast which is very serious and sincere titled "the war on thanksgiving" and you say you want to put the thanks back in thanksgiving. >> absolutely. everyone talks about the war on christmas. people write books about the war on christmas, they make money off christmas. this is actually a holiday, this war on a holiday has an impact on people's lives. on thanksgiving, when people are enjoying their dinner, about a million workers will have to report to work at retail chains this year, it's a record opening of chain stores, walmart, k-mart, target. i guess people desperately need

the plain pocket khaki pants. it's unfair, inconsiderate and the vice president of costco, a chain that's not opening, said our employees work especially hard during the holiday season as we simply believe they deserve the opportunity to spend thanksgiving with their families. that's what it's about, letting people spend this great quintessential american holiday with your family. >> more and more stores do seem to be opening between the macy's of the world and walmart. jim, i guess my question to you is, he mentioned costco, but can big chains really resist opening on thanksgiving, if there's money to be had out there, aren't these stores going to get in on the game eventually? >> it's a rational decision in a market economy where so much of what these chains depend on for sales, like up to 20% a year, 19% last year, come from holidays. so they're looking for any advantage to capture more of that finite holiday spending pot. so they are going to be open when they think they can get customers.

pretty easy way for people like dean who want to strike back, don't be customers. >> i have to confess, i have never gone shopping on thanksgiving. but i have worked many a thanksgiving and there are a lot of people in this business, in other businesses, who actually want to work on thanksgiving because you can make a little extra money. >> i think the stars were stacked, if walmart had all their employees saying i want to work, i want that free corndog thanksgiving meal they're offering, that's fine but it's not. you see reports in the media, people complaining, alabama, nebraska, new york city, saying i don't want to work. there was a petition from target employees saying i don't want to work on thanksgiving. it takes people who are watching this not to shop on thanksgiving. you don't need that greatly reduced ugly christmas sweater on thanksgiving. there are 27, 28 other days. shop with your family around the computer if you really feel that urge, i got to shop on thanksgiving. >> more football, less shopping. jim, let me ask you, is there

any actual evidence that by opening on thanksgiving, stores increase their overall holiday sales? >> i don't think there's any evidence that they are generating more holiday shopping overall. they are in, as dean mentioned, a battle with online retailers, so they are trying to capture some of what might have been spent from home on thanksgiving money but i want to go back to one thing just said about workers. in this economy, they don't have a lot of leverage to say no if they are being asked to come in. there are 11 million unemployed people in this country and enormous anxiety among the working poor or people making minimum wage about possibly losing their job. so it's just a really hard situation for someone who is working minimum wage at a retailer to say no, i'm going to stay home and risk not coming back next time. >> great point. people work when they can in this economy. >> you have no choice. >> all right. great talking to you. i appreciate it. happy thanksgiving to both of you. i hope neither of you set foot in a store. coming up, she risked her

life to cover some of the most dangerous war zones. now lara logan has been pulled off the air. the question many people are asking, is this suspension enough? plus, an italian prosecutor makes his final appeal to put amanda knox back in prison. but will she be forced back to italy if she's convicted again? ♪ [ laughter ] ♪ [ female announcer ] each one of us is our own boss. ♪ and no matter where you are in life, ask your financial professional how lincoln financial can help you take charge of your future. ♪

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get $100 off any tablet. plus trade in your old tablet for up to $150 or more. that's powerful. verizon. can you move your beverage away from the keyboard? it's making me anxious. sure thing. welcome back to "the lead." in national news, there is a word to which most news people are almost pathologically averse. i'm not talking about allegedly. news would grind to a halt without that one. the word is sorry. both lara logan of cbs and alec baldwin formerly of msnbc have recently used the word. cbs announcing logan will be taking live of absence along with a producer from a story on october 27th, featuring a security contractor whose account of the benghazi attacks was later discredited. then there's the calm, cool and collected alec baldwin. >> stay away from my wife and baby with the camera!

>> msnbc has announced his friday night talk show "up late" is canceled following the host's apology after he was accused of slinging an anti-gay slur at a paparazzi photographer. i want to bring in cnn's newest all-star, for his inaugural appearance on "the lead." so happy to share it with you. brian is cnn's senior media correspondent. let's start with lara logan and cbs. why did cbs make the decision to suspend and why the delay? it feels like it's been a long time since the story first aired. >> it's been 30 days since the story first aired and 29 days since questions were raised about the story. she did come on and apologize a couple weeks ago, then cbs did an internal investigation. this seems to be part of the results of that investigation. the head of the news division asked her to take a leave. she agreed. but there are questions about what that means. is it really just a suspension in sheep's clothing, so to speak and for how long will she be away. i think until she actually personally addresses what

happened and explains where she went wrong, people are still going to be skeptical of her and of "60 minutes." >> this seems like something sort of a soul-baring explanation here. >> they have acknowledged several mistakes, for example, "60 minutes" which is in a different building than the rest of cbs news, didn't really talk to the rest of cbs news before they aired this report. they didn't call people in d.c., for example, who could help them figure out was this guy they were interviewing credible or not. if they had used their colleagues at cbs news they might not have aired this report at all. they might have known better. they might have figured out there were lots of holes in his story but they didn't. that was one of the faults identified in the report. >> everyone makes mistakes, including journalists, but part of the problem for cbs was their reaction, immediately, while this was all a hot topic -- >> very defensive, right away. that's right. they fell into that defensive crouch. people understandably sometimes fall into it but that's not the right call for any journalist when confronted by potentially correctible information.

it's impressive now they have released the results of their report but still haven't said what they will do differently next time. that's what media watch dogs will ask now. what are they going to do in the future to avoid this. >> they have been around a long time and have been through a lot before. does this leave any lasting marks? >> i don't know if it leaves lasting marks on "60 minutes" but it could on lara logan if she doesn't fully explain what happened. maybe that's why she's having this leave of absence. maybe cbs thinks she should take a vacation for awhile, paid or unpaid, we don't know, then come back in the new year when people may have forgotten about this. >> let's talk about alec baldwin now. i think the first question a lot of people are asking is, was he fired, did he quit, or was it a you can't fire me because i quit? >> i think it might have been one of those things where he was standing on the railing and jumped before they could kick him off. might have been one of those situations where he would have been fired if he didn't decide to quit first. we'll never really know, because these networks like to come out and say it was a mutual decision. i think it probably was in some ways but he knew what was coming.

this was a bad fit to begin with. i have a feeling some people at msnbc are wishing they had never started this. >> is there a lesson to be learned here? we both work for news organizations. we both work for a few here. should news organizations be more careful in their hiring, go after journalists, not actors? >> well, listen, there are 24 hours to fill. on the other hand, there's a lot of news to cover and i'm not sure why they felt the need to reach out to alec baldwin in the first place. there are lots of other people that are actually being suggested as replacements already. if you look at twitter today, people mentioning other talk show hosts that might be a better fit to begin with. he had a long, checkered history and it doesn't mean he should not be considered for a job like this, but it does mean that they should have seen this coming. >> does this make him more difficult to hire for a tv show or a movie in the future? >> i don't think it does. i don't think it does. the next "30 rock" comes along, people will be banging on his door to come on and star in that

show. but i don't think he will get a job at another cable news channel. >> great having you here at cnn. welcome aboard, my friend. coming up for us, maybe you have noticed that while many hollywood liberals decry gun violence, they have no problem whatsoever with putting it up on the screen. today, nearly a year after the newtown massacre and several months after democrats failed in their new push for gun control laws, president obama appeared at dreamworks studios in california and told hollywood it has to do better. >> when it comes to issues like gun violence, we've got to make sure that we're not glorifying it because the stories you tell shape our children's outlook and their lives. >> we'll see how that goes over during the president's next fund-raiser. when we come back, the pope takes on the status quo by offering up some pretty big changes to the catholic church. how is his new vision being received at the vatican? plus, the hollywood hot shot

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