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Mixed Bag Of Indicators For Shopping And The U.S. Economy; Female First For College Football; Animal Highway; Electoral Coin Flip. Aired 4- 4:10a ET
Aired November 30, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello everyone. I`m Carl Azuz. And you`ve landed on CNN 10 on this last day of November 2020. We are kicking off the first
of three weeks we have left on air this year. And it starts with an overview of what we know about the holiday season so far with Thanksgiving
behind us and Hanukkah and Christmas on the way.
Sunday was expected to be the busiest travel day in America since the coronavirus pandemic sank in early this year. We don`t have final numbers
for it yet, but we can report that roughly 1 million and 71 thousand people passed through U.S. airport checkpoints on the Wednesday before
Thanksgiving. That was the most since March.
It was less than half the number of airline travelers on the same day last year but travel officials expected that more Americans would be driving
this time around. So overall, fewer people were expected to travel during the pandemic but not by a lot as compared with last year. And that reflects
a significant part of the population that said the pandemic would not affect their Thanksgiving plans though it did for many other Americans.
Observers say the pandemic is part of the reason why an estimated 50 million Americans won`t have enough to eat this year. "Feeding America", a
hunger relief group, says that estimate of 50 million is 6 million short of where it was during the "Great Recession" who`s effect sank in in 2008. The
U.S. Department of Agriculture says it set aside $850 million to help food banks with their running costs and food purchases. It says it has an
additional $873 million available to buy farm products for food banks.
The money came from the $2.2 trillion COVID Relief Bill that President Donald Trump signed in March. As far as economic indicators go, an analyst
with the National Retail Federation says overall stocks are up, home values are growing and wages are rising. So his organization expects that shopping
sales will be higher this year than they were in 2019.
Experts say that some Americans are willing to spend a little more on Christmas gifts to psychologically make up for some of the challenges
they`ve faced throughout the year. But others don`t have as much money to spend this time around, so predictions like this are a mixed bag and the
way people shop have clearly been affected in 2020.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the Hilldale Shopping Center in Madison, Wisconsin only a few shoppers were seen heading into Macys early on Black Friday. As
for Santa, kids had to see him virtually. At this cavernous mall in West Nyack, New York, some shoppers turned up because it was such a ghost town.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel good. I feel safe. I feel comfortable. There`s nobody out here. It`s perfect. Perfect for a shopper like me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After a Thanksgiving like no other, retail experts say America headed into a Black Friday and a holiday shopping season like no
other.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`ve seen retailers take extraordinary steps to protect their teams, their associates, their partners and of course their
customers and the communities in which they live in and work. And we`re going to continue to see that and consumers are altering their behavior as
well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stores are reinventing the shopping experience to guard against coronavirus spikes. Chains like Best Buy and Home Depot offered
online sales early. Wal-Mart, one of Americas largest retailer, is spreading Black Friday sales over three weekends. The general manager of a
California mall discussed new measures to protect those who come in person.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have free masks for anyone that just forgot one in the car. We installed hospital grade filters on the property. We will have
occupancy limits pursuant to the health department guidelines. We have free hand sanitizer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But experts say we can count on reduced physical traffic at malls and shopping centers this year as consumers are scared away from
possible contact at brick-and-mortar stores.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is going to be a surge online. And that means you will have to be particularly careful and also not wait until the last
minute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s because experts say this year there have been problems in the supply chains of some retailers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve had a whole stoppage in the inventory system and it`s just not that much product out there. So you have this duality of you
can`t have a lot of people. You don`t have a lot of product and unfortunately for the shoppers what it means you`re not going to have a lot
of discounts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As for the overall economic ramifications, the signals are mixed. The president of the National Retail Federation says he expects
to see strong consumer spending this holiday season. But a Gallop Poll last month found that 28 percent of Americans plan on spending less on holiday
gifts this year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are still millions of people who are out of work or don`t have the same kind of hours a day had in the past. And also
remember, this time of year lots of people get second jobs at retailer stores. That`s not happening because not as many people are in the stores.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these U.S. universities has the oldest football team? Rutgers, Yale, Notre Dame, or Vanderbilt. Rutgers has the
oldest football program dating back to 1869. Vanderbilt is from 1890 and the youngest on this list.
Sarah Fuller is a Senior at Vanderbilt University. She`s a goal keeper for the women`s soccer team. She`s also a kicker on Vanderbilt`s football team
and that`s why she just made news on Saturday. In the second half of Vanderbilt`s game against Missouri, Fuller delivered a 30-yard kick-off.
It was down to Missouri`s 35-yard line but that kick made her the third woman ever to play in this level of NCAA Division I football and she`s the
first to play in the Power 5 conference. That`s the five biggest athletic conferences in America. Vanderbilt said it offered the chance to Fuller
because some of its specialist kickers are in quarantine due to coronavirus.
The team lost the game 41 to 0 but Vandy`s head coach says he`d love to have Fuller continue if she`s available and she says she`d love that
especially if she could score a field goal or an extra point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: A bridge is also been built in the town of White Bluff, Tennessee between two competing council candidates. The problem they face could have
been solved by the municipal government or a run-off election, but they opted for an approach that dates back to simpler time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something`s happened in White Bluff you just don`t see very often.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, the odds have to be a million.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re going to make history, I guess.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This may never happen again for another 100 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are they talking about? Well, Eric Mason and Bryan Hill just ran for White Bluff council. White Bluff voted but when the
tallies were done, Eric had 893 votes and Bryan had 893 votes. Yes, really.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was amazed. I tell you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 893 to 893, it was just -- it was unbelievable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what do you do with an exact tie vote? Well Eric and Bryan talked about the options and agreed. Coin toss.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody has an advantage. It`s 50-50. There it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now the guys could have started back (ph). Campaigning again for a special election but they felt that would just cost White Bluff
money. It would make people get out during COVID. So they figured, end it. Eric and Bryan wait at the civic center for 6 o`clock, the coin toss.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have respect for him. He has it for me. We didn`t want it to be like everything else is in politics a battle. We`d just rather
bring the community together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The time is here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m pretty comfortable whichever way this goes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heads.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bryan, over to the right wins. A handshake ends an election. You just don`t see very often.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: For 10 out of 10, whatever you do don`t look down, or look down. That`s why most people come here. This is the world`s tallest outdoor
elevator according to Guinness Book of World Records. It towers 1,070 feet above a national forest in southeastern China and it carried up to 18,000
tourists a day before the coronavirus pandemic.
Some believe the forest inspired the movie "Avatar". You could say the elevator inspired the movie "Gravity" or maybe "Days of Heaven", "Made in
Heaven", "Just Like Heaven", "Miracles from Heaven", "Kingdom of Heaven", "Heaven Can Wait", "Heaven Is for Real", "All That Heaven Allows", "All
Dogs Go to Heaven". "Heaven knows, Mr. Allison" that some of those movies like that elevator can really give you a lift.
Hey, you know what gives us a lift? Announcing the schools that subscribe and leave a comment at YouTube.com/CNN10. And today that school that gets
the shout out is Wadena-Deer Creek High School. It is located in Wadena, Minnesota. You guys are awesome. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN.
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