good evening. again, john berman sitting in for anderson tonight. it's 9:00 p.m. here in new york, 8:00 p.m. in ferguson, where it is tense, but calm. the national guard remains out in force. it is cold, a little snow is falling. people seem to be staying inside so far. protesters, though, out in the streets of los angeles. you can see this video here from our station kabc, looking down.

right now, what you see is the police out in force. obviously, the cars there, earlier, we were looking at photos, live pictures of hundreds of people out demonstrating, moving through the streets, and now we see the police there to meet them. we will keep our eye on this over the next several minutes and hours. in the meantime, the parents of michael brown spoke out today, just a day after we heard from officer darren wilson, two days after a grand jury declined to invite him and then parts of ferguson erupted in rioting. michael brown sr. and lesley mcspadden say they simply do not buy officer wilson account of their son attacking him. they tell sunny hostin it simply isn't the child they knew. you'll hear more from them shortly. but right now, we'll check in with our jason carroll who is in ferguson for us this evening. and we know, jason, as the evening gets later, the concern does grow, at least based on what we saw the last few nights. but what's it like there on the

ground? >> reporter: well, tonight is nothing like the past nights that we've seen out here, john. i know you've taken a look at what we've been looking out at here in front of the ferguson police department. you can see the national guard out here. and in terms of the number of protesters, if you take a look right over here, we've counted maybe two dozen. but when you're looking at right here is protesters and also members of the media. so definitely a very small crowd tonight. what err woo thinking is, it's the weather you talked about, this freezing rain and this snow keeping a lot of people at home. one of the organizers out here telling me that he believes tonight will be a small crowd and peaceful. he said it might be one of the first nights in a long time residents of ferguson might actually be able to get some rest. >> that would be a welcome thing, i think, for many people there. who's in charge on the ground there tonight in terms of the tactical situation? is it the national guard? we see them out there. what are the local and state authorities doing? >> reporter: well, you've got the national guard out here on the front line, which is different from what we saw out here last night, when it was st.

louis county police who were out here. what we're being told is, if anything does happen, st. louis county police who are not present now, at least not visually, will move in as the front line. the national guard will be support, they will act in the same way they did last night, when we saw so much unrest, actually not far from here, just up the street on south florissant. but right now, people are hoping things remain just as they are right now. calm. >> quickly, i do want to ask you about a report we're getting, of the church that michael brown senior's father and michael brown senior attended, burned down there. there's now an investigation going on about this fire. what can you tell us? >> reporter: that's the flood christian church. and that's on west florissant, not far from where the looting took place. bureau of alcohol, tobacco, and firearm has taken over that investigation. that church was burned on monday. federal authorities looking at that very closely, because if you look at that area, john, it

was the only establishment there that was burned. authorities want to know if it was targeted, simply because michael brown's father attended that church. >> right, jason carroll for us on the ground in ferguson. we're all hoping you have a quiet night tonight, jason. thanks for being us. officer darren wilson's account of the brief confrontation that ended michael brown's life is drawing sharp reaction tonight from michael brown's parents. michael brown sr. and lesley mcspadden sat down today with cnn legal analyst, sunny hostin, who asked them about officer wilson's description of the mortal threat that he says he felt from their son. >> now, when you got to the crime scene and you found this out, what were your immediate thoughts? >> why? why you do that? anybody that knew him, that was their thought. why? no. mike mike, no.

we don't believe that. he's too sweet. >> well, let's talk about that, because so many people in america have seen this surveillance video in the convenience store, and people are saying your son was a punk, your son was a thug, your son was aggressive. your son was violent. so he must have been aggressive with officer wilson. what do you say to that? >> i say that you cannot judge him off of an 18-second video. and we knew, and we've known him for 18 years. we know better. i say, no, you wrong. and you cannot look at one image of a person and perceive who they are in the whole. because if that's the case, then

that's what the offense with darren wilson. >> so do you believe that when officer wilson first approached your and on told him to move out of the roadway, that your son's first response was, "f what you say"? >> no. >> do you think that's even possible? >> no. >> do you think it's even possible that officer wilson is saying that your son reached into the car and tried to grab his gun? >> no. >> do you think it's possible that your son told him, you are too much of a p-word to shoot me? >> i don't believe those -- any of those words were exchanged at all. >> officer wilson said that he had a clear conscience about what happened that day. if he had to do it again, he would. what's your response to that? >> he's a murderer. that's what that tells me.

>> what does that tell you, lesley? >> i hope the lord have mercy on his soul. >> has sybrina fulton reached out to you? >> mm-hmm. mm-hmm. >> what advice did she give you? >> she gave me some very encouraging words. she wrote me a letter and every day or every other day, she'll send me a nice text. just letting me know that i have her support and to be strong and, as weak as i feel, and as helpless as i feel, she sees something else there. and every time i see her, she give me a hug, you know. and a good conversation. like, she keeps me grounded on this situation. and i do take her advice, because she's been through it. >> and mr. brown, tell me, you know, in the wake of trayvon martin's murder, death, have you

heard from tracy martin? have you heard from other fathers who have lost their sons? >> yes, i have heard from tracy. it's been a few weeks, but i heard from ryan davis every other day. >> jordan davis' father? >> yes. >> and uncle bobby. >> oscar grant's father? uncle. and what advice have they given you, other men that have lost their sons or nephews. >> they told me it's going to be all right. anytime i feel like i need to talk, it doesn't matter what time of morning it is, i feel like i'm about to explode, just pick up the phone and call. just stay positive, keep my head, keep my chin up high. stay grounded, ten toes down, you know? and just fight for what we believe is right.

>> joining us now is tracy martin, the father of trayvon martin, along with his ex-wife, sybrina fulton, co-founded the trayvon martin foundation. tracy, thanks so much for being with us. i do appreciate it. we keep on saying, none of us can understand what it must be like to go through what michael brown's parents are going through right thousand. you are someone who, i think, understands it all too well. it's got to be so difficult to have to grieve in such a public way. >> i think it's tough. first of all, i just would like to take my hat off to the brown family for standing up for their son and continuing to keep his name in the forefront and keep his name focused. it's tough to grieve in public, especially as men. it's very tough for us to grieve in public. and one thing i've tried to

relate to mr. brown is that there's no certain way to grieve and there's no time period on your grieving process. all of us grieve differently. but it's painful and it's going to be a long process. >> we also, lewis, had the stepfather of michael brown react the other night when the decision from the grand jury became public, and he was shouting, "burn this down, burn the down, burn this down." you say everyone reacts in different ways and grieves in different ways, and i wonder what you made of that reaction? >> that's just a natural reaction. that's emotions, that's raw emotions. and for his reaction to be that, he's hurt. he's hurting. he's a hurting part of that family. and you, at times we expect emotions to run high. and i just pray for their family, i pray for him, i pray for the family, and i hope that

we can help them get through this. >> when you heard the grand jury decision the other night, what went through your mind? >> it was disbelief. i'm a firm believer in, you know, that we -- anytime you're dealing with the death of a young man, young woman, whether it be black or white, i think that the justice system should have a chance to, i think, it should have been taken to court and it should have been -- they should have been given the chance -- these parents should have been given the chance to at least have a jury of their peers hear all the evidence and let them decide. i just think that once it went to the grand jury, i just had a feeling, i had a feeling deep down in my heart that they were going to come back with no indictment. >> you spoke so eloquently after the death of your son, about

turning something horrible into something positive. you worked very hard about that, not to make the verdict and the jurors in the case sum up who your son was. so wihat can be done now to tur the death of michael brown, whether or not you think the grand jury decision was right or not, what can be done to turn this whole event into something positive? >> i think the first thing we can do, we can start by continuing to get signatures, to get any law enforcement official to wear these body cameras, where their story can't be contradicted. those cameras don't lie. i think this is the time for us to start pushing for it. it's a lot of positive things can come out of this. >> tracy martin, we appreciate your time. we always appreciate you talking to us and helping us understand a lot of the emotions that are

at play. thanks so much. >> thank you, john. just ahead, we're going to bring you up to speed on the weather that is slowing down, and that's to put it lightly, a lot of travel for a lot of holiday drivers. stay with us. it's more than the driver. it's more than the car. for lotus f1 team, the competitive edge is the cloud. powered by microsoft dynamics, azure, and office 365, the team can gain real time insights and instantly share information around the globe. when every millisecond counts, staying competitive begins with the cloud. this is the microsoft cloud. zapped it, right to our house. and that's how they got it here. so, santa has a transporter? for the big stuff ...

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live pictures right now of a snowy eastern pennsylvania in the pocono mountains. it all looks so nice, it all looks so peaceful, but that house isn't trying to go anywhere. the problem for thousands and thousands of drivers is that the roads are a mess with this storm affecting so many. hundreds of flights have been canceled, thousands delayed. big, big problems. let's go straight to chad myers at the cnn weather center to see what is happening right now. chad? >> still snowing in a couple of areas. look at the numbers from west virginia, from twanda, pennsylvania, from binghamton, new york. and shickshinny has 8 inches. i like saying shickshinny. snow in maine, snow in vermont, new hampshire, and a little bit of snow in new york. the snow is going an inch or so probably in central park and then it's over. maybe a dusting for the parade

tomorrow morning. it will look prettier than anything else. not much in the way of any significant accumulation now. this is really winding down for the airports, for the drivers. now, because it's dark, the roads are freezing up. it's been lush a lot of the day. watch out for that slushy bridge that's going to really freeze up here in the next hour or so, if it already hasn't. we've seen a lot of snow up and down the appalachians, all the way from the catskills, even up into the poconos, that you saw. the only new snow still to come will be up into maine, vermont, new hampshire, 3 to 5 more inches here. forecast radar for right now, new york city, almost off it by 10:00, it's completely gone. it's the cold behind it, very cold, but at least dry and cold. you'll be able to get home on sunday. >> and particularly good news for the people of shickshinny. thank you so much, chad myers. appreciate it. all right, the storm creating some problems at the airport. jennifer gray joins us now from laguardia. jennifer, what do we think? flight delays, is the worst

over? >> reporter: well, hopefully they'll be over in the next couple of hours. we have seen about 300 delays, 150 cancellations here at laguardia alone. look at the board behind me. it looks like flights are starting to catch up a little bit. we have seen all reds and all yellows at certain points on that board, but now we're seeing three and four-hour delays. but it looks like folks are now starting to get in. nationwide, 4,000 delays today. 700 cancellations. the biggest airports affected, of course, the ones around new york city, d.c., philly, and boston. of course, they are going to probably play catch-up, as we get into the morning hours tomorrow, but the good news is, john, it looks like they are still operating flights very late, wee into the morning hours. some of those flights don't even get here until well after midnight. >> that's after the bars close in the airports too, which could

be a real problem. coming up, he assisted in one of the autopsies on michael brown. now there are questions about his qualifications. what sean parcells has to say about the accusations against him. that's coming up next. ♪ ben! well, that was close! you ain't lying! let quicken loans help you save your money.

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a man who assisted in the autopsy of michael brown gave a news conference and many interviews about his findings, but he is now the subject of scrutiny himself. as questions have emerged about his qualifications. elizabeth cohen has the story. >> reporter: out of the death and violence in ferguson, missouri, this summer, a turn to the media star for a man named

sean parcells. >> first of all, i'm professor sean parcells. >> reporter: he dazzled with details on the private autopsy of michael brown. >> two gunshots to the head indicating that mr. brown was bending over as they were coming down. >> we're back with shawn parcells, who assisted in the autopsy of michael brown. >> reporter: even here on "a.c. 360." >> thank you very much. >> reporter: he's appeared in the media time and again as a forensic pathology expert. we know he assisted dr. michael baden in the private autopsy commissioned by michael brown's family. baden said he was a good assistant. parcells is not a doctor. we know he calls himself a forensics medical consultant, a medical investigator, and a professor. but is he what he says he is? >> so you call yourself a professor? >> yes. >> where are you a professor? >> i'm an adjunct professor at washburn university in topeka, kansas. >> reporter: but that, as far as we could tell, isn't accurate. we contacted washburn

university. they say while he has spoken to nursing students, he's not now and never been an adjunct professor there. >> washburn university says that's not true. >> okay, i have a contract that states that it is true. >> can you show us the that contract? >> i can. >> but he never sent us that contract showing he was an adjunct professor. he later said it was proprietary. >> i see him as a fraud. that's the best word i would say to describe shawn parcells to me. >> and you? >> manipulator. >> very good con artist, is the way i'd put it. >> in missouri, deputy sheriff's grant gillett and dustin jefrs says shawn parcells performed an autopsy in a criminal case without a doctor present. >> so he introduced himself as a pathologist, as a medical doctor? >> that is correct. >> and he seemed believable? >> very much so, yes. >> i mean, you too are both experienced law enforcement officers, and even you were duped. >> that's right.

>> reporter: the deputies say without a medical doctor's signature on robert forrester's autopsy report, it's not valid. >> it's been more than two years since the crime. can you move forward with the prosecution? >> we cannot move forward at this time with that case at all. >> why not? >> because the autopsy was not performed legally, so we cannot use any evidence found from the autopsy in a court of law, to be used, to prosecute any suspects on the case. >> reporter: that means according to the deputies, bobby forrester, suspected of killing his grandfather, was set free, and he went on to beat up his grandmother. shawn parcells says he never told the deputies he was a doctor. >> if they want to think i'm a doctor, that's their issue. people assume stuff all the time and they may never ask. it's bad that they're assuming and that they never ask. >> reporter: parcells, who says he has a bachelor's degree, says he's supervised by medical doctors, but sometimes they're

not present when he performs an autopsy procedure. >> you do autopsies when there's not a pathologist or md anywhere in the room? >> at times. sometimes a pathologist is there and sometimes they're not. >> you're not an m.d.? >> i'm not. >> but it's legal for you to be cutting up bodies, taking or begorgans out, making observations? >> yes. >> reporter: the, even after a letter says during each and every forensic autopsy conducted, the attending pathologist is present at all times. we always have the attending pathologist present and directing the autopsy examination. and if you think that's shocking, the owner of this funeral home says parcells promised to arrange for an autopsy on the remains of an unidentified body, but department show up for more than a week. maggots appeared. and where's that body now? the deputy corner, lenox jones, would love to know. he says he's not heard from parcells in more than a year. when we asked parcells where's

the body, we got a barrage of obscenities. >> lenox jones says that he's never heard back from you. >> he has. holy [ bleep ]. excuse my language, but i've got [ bleep ] e-mails to prove, him and i going back and forth, and the fact that he ignores me. he's a [ bleep ]. you want to be truthful, he is a [ bleep ]. and i'm sorry to cuss like this on your cameras, but this particular case piss piss es me. >> reporter: parcells added that they can pick up the body from his morgue in topeka anytime. so with coroners and morgues so angry, why haven't they gone after him? dr. mary chase says prosecutors might be worried. they say some of them may have used his autopsy reports to get convictions. convictions they don't want overturned. >> it could be a problem for that prosecuting attorney if that prosecutor has prosecuted somebody based upon shawn's findings. of course, that's a problem. >> for the prosecutor. >> for the prosecutor. >> so no one wants to go after

him? >> no one has. no one has, to this point. >> all right, elizabeth cohen joins me now live. elizabeth, if there are so many questions, so many alleged issues, why do counties keep using this guy's services? >> you know, john, we asked that question, and officials in kansas and missouri say, look, he charges less than his competitors. and these are small counties, they're financially strapped. even just saving a few hundred dollars here and there, they say is a big deal. >> comes down to money. has any of the counties he's worked for taken any action against him? >> john, we know of one county in missouri that did. they went to the state licensing board and they said, we thought we were getting a pathologist and shawn parcells performed the autopsy without a pathologist present. now, the board investigated and they closed the case without doing anything. they didn't tell us why. but, john, i'll tell you that officials that we talked to there say, look, licensing boards are not necessarily going to be able to do anything, because shawn parcells, by his own admission, doesn't have a license to do anything, so they can't take that license away.

>> all right. liz elizabeth cohen, thanks so . a quick note about some programming earlier in the day. while reporting on witness testimony from the st. louis county grand jury on cnn's 4:00 p.m. program, "the lead," cnn inadvertently displayed a photo of a police official with the philadelphia police department instead of officer darren wilson. the ferguson, missouri, police officer, of course, we've been talking about. we apologized to the philadelphia police official and sincerely regret the error. and with that, "cnn tonight with don lemmon" starts now. this is cnn tonight. i'm don lemmon. thanksgiving eve. two big stories making headlines right now. a hellish thanksgiving holiday travel night with thousands of flights canceled and more delayed. and anger and fear in ferguson. but does america have a race problem or is it a police problem? we'll talk about that. joining me now to discuss this is "new york times" columnist nick kristof, nicholas kristof.

thank you very much. happy thanksgiving to you, by the way. >> and to you. >> i want to get your reaction, nick, to everything that has happened just over the past few days. i've been really wanting to talk to you about this. the rioting in ferguson, the protests that have been going on coast to coast. why has this struck such a nerve in america? >> well, you know, we have a fundamental problem with race in america. it has been 50 years since the civil rights act of 1964, and this is a reminder of how raw those divisions are, in the way we perceive events. you know, whites have one -- obviously, there are huge differences, but many whites have one narrative of what happened, and many african-americans have another. and, you know, if you're, you know, my interactions with police have mostly been pretty respectful and professional and i tend to trust the police. if you're a young african-american man, your interactions with officers have not been professional and you

have a deep distrust. and we bring to the table those kinds of experiences. and that's why we have this gulf of reactions to what happened. >> and it's interesting that you bring that up, because you have now written, i believe, this year, four columns on race. am i correct? >> there was one original column about our implicit biases, and that led to this wave of response from indignant whites. so then i wrote one column, when whites just don't get it. and then that led to more indignant white response. >> so you're saying that many of your white readers aren't happy with what you wrote. why not? what are they saying to you? >> well, i think that they think that the -- that it's time to move beyond race. look, we've elected an african-american president, it's time to look forward, not backward. and if there are ongoing divisions, that's because blacks aren't focusing enough on

education, on family. you know, this is their problem. and i think this is fundamentally wrong. i think that it is very easy for whites to be just kind of blissfully unaware of the impediments that so many young black men in particular face, and the degree to which past subjugation still informs present injustice. you know, we are all the inheritors of past injustice, whether we are white or black. and i think it is a profound mistake, for those of us that are white and the beneficiaries of this system, to ignore that. i think we have to face up to it. and i would hope that an event like ferguson could be an occasion to do that. and to do a little bit of soul searching. >> so, nick -- >> this is hard stuff. >> how do you respond, then. when people say, by saying that, you're speaking to whites, but if you are -- if blacks are hearing that, you're perpetuating a victim mentality, and you are ignoring the role of personal responsibility.

that's a question on the other side. >> sure. and you know, there's no doubt that there are real issues of personal responsibility, and, indeed, polls show that african-americans themselves recognize about 90% of african-americans say that black men should be more emphasizing education and family. but, as long as we're talking about personal responsibility, we, as whites, also have some personal responsibility for a system that we have inherited, that still discriminates in law enforcement system, you know, propublica did a study finding that young black men were 21 as times as likely to be killed by policemen as young white men. we have drug use among african-americans and whites that seems to be roughly -- >> and what about the controversial comments, what former mayor of new york, rudy giuliani, said.

that, listen, you know, police officers wouldn't be in black neighborhoods if they -- i think his quote, and i'm paraphrasing here, if you weren't killing each other, is what he said. and that blacks kill blacks. and that crime in those neighborhoods, in african-american neighborhoods, not all african-american neighborhoods, but many african-american neighborhoods, are higher and thus, you get more interactions with police officers, and bad interactions. >> you know, there is an element here that is real. i mean, there is no doubt, and giuliani was pointing this out. that most young black men are killed by other young black men. but as long as we're talking about personal responsibility, and insisting that each person, each party take care of what they can adjust, and stop complaining about other things, then we, as whites, it's time for us to not just complain about black irresponsibility, but also point to white irresponsibility. and we have tool boxes that can

address some of these issues. i mean, we look at schools and how can we act weessquiesce in m where black kids today go to the worst public schools than white kids. that is profoundly unfair. and i don't think that it's that whites around the country are, that the problem is white racist, but i do think that we blithely accept a system that perpetuates -- >> it's a -- >> -- in many -- >> it's a certain ambivalence, maybe a willful lack of history or knowledge? >> i think it's obliviousness. and i don't think -- i think the basic problem is that it's very easy to just scoot along unaware of this, especially if you don't have close black friends. >> those are tough words for everyone to hear. you're saying that blacks need to be more responsible, whites need to be more responsible. yet, somehow, we all need to meet in the middle. i want to move on, because i read your columns, but i want to

move on, because i want to get your take on this, okay? are you done -- are you cool with -- >> yeah, absolutely. >> let's talk about darren wilson's interview with abc news, and dealing specifically with race. here it is. >> we are absolutely convinced, when you look through your heart and your mind, that in michael brown were white, this would have gone down in exactly the same way. >> yes. >> no question. >> no question. >> what do you think, nick? do you believe that? >> well, i mean, look, i'm not darren wilson, and i can't second-guess him, but what we do know is that even people who think that they are unbiased, that they, indeed, make decisions that are deeply biased. there was a shooter game, a video game that university of chicago came up, where you were confronted with sudden images of people emerging either with a gun or a cell phone. you were supposed to shoot

quickly and i played that, other people did that, we were all much more quick to shoot african-americans who popped up and we were more likely to make mistakes with an african-american who had a wallet rather than a gun. so the problem is not, you know, it's not conscious racism. it's not people who believe in inequality. it's people who deeply believe in equality, it's people who believe in moving on, and yet who unconsciously act in ways that are biased. >> it's tougher to convince someone who, how do i say this? it's tougher to convince someone who think that they're lisberal and progressive that they have certain biases. they say, i'm not biased, i'm not racist, i have black friends. sometimes it's really tough to do that. >> that's right. and i think that people think that they're acting in equal ways, and yet we see schools that expel black kids at much, much higher rates for the same

behaviors. we see employers who are much more likely to call back for resumes that have a traditionally white name than a traditionally black name. >> but these are people who say, i am bigoted, i am racist, i know it. but then there are those who say, i am not. and if you consciously say this, with i'm not saying about this with darren wilson. i am not racist, i am not biased. but if you never examine it, how do you actually figure that out? >> yeah, and you know, i really don't think, that in 2014, the problem is the all-out bigots. i think the larger problem is those of us who kind of march on, oblivious, and don't sufficiently closely examine our own situation, our own attitudes, and above all, our own behaviors. >> and i think above all, everyone has an implicit bias. it's sad that the implicit bias for black men is one of a criminal. and we have implicit bias for every person, for women, for white men, for hispanic men. but the sad thing, when it comes

to african-american men, it is a criminal implicit bias and one can lose their life because of that bias. >> that's right. and the -- if you look at robbery, a majority of people and fbi statistics arrested for robbery are, indeed, african-american. but 99% of african-americans are not arrested for robbery. and so this comparison, this invidious bias is profoundly unfair to african-americans today. >> nicholas kristof, a heavy conversation for thanksgiving. but it would be great if we could all sit around the thanksgiving table and at least discuss this for a moment, right? >> this is a conversation that we have to have. and it's a difficult one and it's a painful one. so what better way to go through a turkey and stuffing than talking about some of these really difficult issues. >> enjoy your family. happy thanksgiving again. thank you. >> and to you. >> thank you. >> we're watching the situation in ferguson tonight and we're going to brick you the very latest as it happens. when we come right back, the early winter storm pounding the

east coast tonight. if you're one of the 46 million americans hitting the roads this weekend, you had better watch out.

back, everyone. travelers on the east coast don't have a lot to be thankful for this holiday weekend. an early winter storm spoiling a lot of thanksgiving plans. so how bad will it get and when

will all of this be over? chad myers knows all of that. he's in the cnn severe weather center. jennifer gray is at new york's laguardia airport. rosa flores in the thick of it along the massachusetts turnpike, or mass turnpike, as we say. let's begin with rosa flores. rosa, wintry mix of snow, freezing rain, making driving dangerous. and according to aaa, over 41 million people will travel by car this holiday, and in many areas, you know, what have been been seeing? >> reporter: you know, don, it's been quite the mess. here's the good news. in massachusetts, more than a thousand pieces of equipment like these are out and about on the roadways and highways, plowing, treating the roadways and highways, because it's been so treacherous. now, the day started at a toasty 39 degrees. but as the day went by, the conditions worsened. right now we're at about 31. so it's below freezing. i want you to take a look at the highway behind me. this is the mass turnpike, like

you just mentioned. these are the westbound lanes. traffic has been a little low. let me tell you something, we just talked to state police. they tell us more than 100 spin-offs, dozens of accidents. now, the good news is, they have not been fatal so far, which is great, but they are emphasizing that the conditions are very treacherous, low visibility, the highways right now, most of them in massachusetts, the temperature on the road is below freezing. and so it makes it very, very difficult, because of potential black ice situations. so, don, overall, state police saying people should be very careful. and if you can stay at home, stay at home. don? >> rosa, let me ask you this. you've been out there covering this for a while. are you seeing traffic pick up? is it steady? what's going on? is it slowing down as it gets darker? >> you know, it has been steady all day long, but let me tell you something. we were on this road from new

york last night. and it was bumper to bumper for miles. so i think that people heeded the warning, and they left earlier, which is what experts were recommending. and that's why we're seeing the conditions you're seeing right now, and traffic just steady, lulls here and there, but i think people heeded the warning and they traveled earlier to make sure that they skipped all the mess. >> all right. i'm glad you're a ways off that road and you're wearing a big, red jacket. be careful out there, rosa flores. now we're going to go to the airports. busiest travel day of the year. jennifer gray is with us now. and you're at laguardia. airlines have canceled more than 730 flights and delayed nearly 4,700, jennifer. some delays, as long as six hours. so what's -- i want to know what it's like at laguardia. i flew into laguardia today. we sat there on the runway for almost an hour, because we couldn't get a gate. is it that bad now, or has it gotten better? >> reporter: well, don, things are starting to get a little bit better. here in laguardia, actually

about 500 were delayed. 150 were canceled. and so, it has created a ripple effect. those huge numbers that you said, about 4,000 delays. that was into, out of, and within the u.s. so it has just been a ripple effect all day. and we have low clouds this morning at laguardia. and so that kept planes from arri arriving. so that combined with the snow and the mess all across the east coast, it kept planes from going anywhere. look on the boards behind me. we do have a couple of planes still yet to arrive. things are starting to play catch-up a little bit. but one good thing that did happen was a lot of the airlines actually allowed people to change their flights with no change fee if they had flexible plans. they could have gotten in early yesterday or even waited until tomorrow. i think things could have been much worse if they didn't add that. but folks have just been very patient. they've actually taken it in stride. things haven't been so bad here at laguardia and folks have made the best of it. don? >> it's such a cliche, jennifer,

we always say, pack your patience, but pack your patience. >> reporter: they had to pack their patience today. >> i think we'll be getting back to you. jennifer, stand by. thank you very much for that. let's get to chad myers now at the cnn severe weather center. where are the hardest hit places right now, chad? >> still getting hit hard schenectady, into albany, new york, on into catskills, and just from the alleghenies eastward, to picking up a lot of snow still. probably 10 inches will be the big number. not from new york city. 1 from new york city. it's just about over there, but it really is just still winding up for portland into maine, and also into upstate new york and vermont, new hampshire. it still has a ways to go yet. probably another 4 to 5 more hours. here's where all the snow has fallen, from west virginia up to maine. some spots over a foot of snow. and still a few more inches to go. up into maine, nova scotia, you'll pick up another foot. >> okay. i will ask you my personal

question after this. so, it is keeping people from getting to see their loved ones. and eat their pumpkin pie. so, how much longer really, is this horrible weather going to be around. its everyone out -- is everyone in the clear tomorrow? can they get back this weekend? >> yeah, i think we are done probably by 3:00 a.m., for new york. most of new england. not yet for maine. that probably won't stop until 7:00. by the time you wake up to go watch the, macy's day parade. it will be 37 degrees with a dugs dusting of snow. all done. >> so, i have a personal meteorologist here at cnn. take advantage of that. la guardia to new orleans tomorrow morning. am i cool? >> of the problem with it is if the plane gets there. there were so many cancellations, not that things will be stopped tomorrow morning. things will be clear. does the plane, say your plane came from minneapolis. did it come, did it come, did it land, at the gate right now, where it all starts to go

downhill? you will go to new orleans. an hour, two late. you'll get there. >> mom, i am trying. if you are watching. happy thanksgiving, my friend. >> to you too. see you tomorrow. >> to jennifer and rosa as well. we'll be right back, everyone.

>> as we have been showing you all week here on cnn. protests happening coast to coast. want to got you to one now.

in los angeles. and we are joined now from los angeles, by phone. paul, we are looking at people and gathering and walking down a street. what are we seeing here? >> what you are seeing is the contin yags continuation of a protest at the federal building, in los angeles, federal courthouse. protesters at one point. talked about going to the l.a. downtown jail. that would have possibly been like last night. where we saw protesters and police. squared off. in some instances. nose to nose. the officers with their visors down. that was lost during the demonstration. you heard some protesters say, perhaps they should go towards, staples center. people should not be out celebrating or enjoying themselves with what is going on in ferguson. what we have is a protest, taken several turns.

far different from last night. a right angle. left the kren sthcrenshaw distr. that was an 8-mile trek. and the protests are much smaller. and now, by last account. the protest is going to head towards staples center. >> paul, what has been the reaction there? we were showing the 101 freeway. shut down. last night. and of course you know, everybody travels by car in los angeles. what's been the general reaction to the protests there? people on the busiest travel day of the year. and what we saw tonight. an extreme show of force from the police. we saw, my goodness, a lot of, motorcycle police. we saw federal police. and many others -- getting, getting very involved in blocking off -- don, did you lose me for a second? >> we are great. paul, thank you. get back to you and our other correspondents around the country and show you more protests that are happening coast to coast.

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hello, everyone. you are looking at new york's upper west side. where a thanksgiving eve tradition taking place right noea