Consumers look for values at a department store earlier this year.

Chuck Hadad
CNN Producer

Turkey isn’t the only thing to look forward to this week … if you’re hearty enough to brave the stores this holiday weekend, experts we spoke to said there are some huge deals to be had.

A majority of Black Friday shoppers are going to be looking for electronics and folks at Consumer Reports tell us that this is the season for HD televisions. With the country still bogged down by an economic crisis, HD TV makers are betting that people will still be lured into buying one if the price is right.

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Editor's Note: Tune in tonight for Gary Tuchman's report from the Tea Party Express. Tonight AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Chuck Hadad
AC360° Producer

The Tea Party Express hit the road on Sunday, kicking off a nationwide tour with plans to hold rallies in 38 cities in 19 days.

The Tea Party Express departed from San Diego yesterday and will traverse the nation, coast-to-cast, before ending up in Orlando, Florida on Veteran’s day.

The Tea Party Express calls for less government spending, and opposes increased government involvement in health care, corporate bailouts and deficit spending.

Gary Tuchman reports tonight on 360° on the people who are taking part in the protests and looks into why they're frustrated, worried and angry. He'll be live from a protest in Fresno, Calif. tonight.

These images were taken at a protest in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Gary interviews Tea Party protesters.

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Producer Chuck Hadad sits with Rev. Al Sharpton in the office of Sharpton's Harlem headquarters.

Al Sharpton on his way to the Apollo Theater.

Al Sharpton and company host his daily radio show inside the Apollo Theater.

Al Sharpton and Spike Lee do some glad-handing outside the Apollo Theater.
Editor's Note: AC360° Producer Chuck Hadad tagged along with Rev. Al Sharpton as he planned and attended Tuesday's memorial honoring Michael Jackson at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem. Here are some snapshots from the day.

Chuck Hadad
AC360° Producer

Right now, I'm riding shotgun with the ringmaster of the Michael Jackson media circus... Actually, to be more exact, I'm riding in the backseat.

We're on our way to the Apollo Theater in Reverend Al Sharpton's SUV and "the Rev," as his staff and others call him, has allowed 360° virtually unfettered access to every behind the scenes meeting, every phone call, every Facebook message, every text message and even every tweet.

With a story as fast-moving as the mystery and drama over Michael Jackson's death, managing this circus is a full-time job.

We started with Sharpton at dawn after he'd landed on a red-eye flight back from LA. He was on his way to do a segment with "Good Morning America," the first of 7 interviews before noon.

Sharpton has fielded calls from Jackson family attorney L. Londell McMillan on how to handle media questions about the custody of Jackson's kids and texted Spike Lee about today's tribute at the Apollo Theater.

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Producer Chuck Hadad sits with Rev. Al Sharpton in the office of Sharpton's Harlem headquarters.

Editor's Note: AC360° Producer Chuck Hadad tagged along with Rev. Al Sharpton as he planned and attended today's memorial honoring Michael Jackson at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem. Here are some snapshots from the day.

Chuck Hadad
AC360° Producer

Right now, I'm riding shotgun with the ringmaster of the Michael Jackson media circus... Actually, to be more exact, I'm riding in the backseat.

We're on our way to the Apollo Theater in Reverend Al Sharpton's SUV and "the Rev," as his staff and others call him, has allowed 360° virtually unfettered access to every behind the scenes meeting, every phone call, every Facebook message, every text message and even every tweet.

With a story as fast-moving as the mystery and drama over Michael Jackson's death, managing this circus is a full-time job.

We started with Sharpton at dawn after he'd landed on a red-eye flight back from LA. He was on his way to do a segment with "Good Morning America," the first of 7 interviews before noon.

Sharpton has fielded calls from Jackson family attorney L. Londell McMillan on how to handle media questions about the custody of Jackson's kids and texted Spike Lee about today's tribute at the Apollo Theater.

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Gov. Mark Sanford told The State newspaper he was surprised the story was attracting such attention.

Chuck Hadad

AC360° Producer

I'm sitting in the South Carolina Statehouse just outside of Governor Sanford's office. At this moment, we're hearing reports that the Governor is back in the city after he landed in Atlanta from Buenos Aires this morning.

We just spoke to one of his spokespeople and he is back in Columbia, S.C.

As late as last night, the Governor's aides were telling us he was hiking on the Appalachian trail and it's unclear who knew what and when. Hopefully very soon we'll get some answers. His communications director is coming out to talk to me in a few minutes and the Governor is set to hold a media availability today at 2pm.

We're following every twist and turn on this story and the Governor certainly is keeping us on our toes.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division vehicle believed to have been driven by Gov. Sanford to the airport.

Chuck Hadad
AC360° Producer

Our search for South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has led us to the airport in Columbia, South Carolina and to this vehicle, a black Suburban.

Reports of where the Governor has been have varied widely since he went missing last Thursday. Finally, on Monday, his office issued a statement saying he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

Wherever he disappeared to, state officials acknowledge that he borrowed a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) vehicle to get there.

CNN now believes that he drove to this airport and boarded a flight and this Suburban is the vehicle that got him here.

I'm standing next to the Suburban, and inside it, I'm seeing shorts, a sleeping bag, sunblock, sneakers and a canvas bag..

Which is puzzling... If you're on a camping trip, why would you leave items like that behind in the car?

Scott Roeder, 51, is being held on a first-degree murder charge and two counts of aggravated assault.

Chuck Hadad
AC360° Producer

Anti-government militias are gaining momentum in America and the reason might surprise you: the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States.

The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Director of Research, Heidi Beirich, says Obama’s election and the country’s subsequent move to the left in politics has “started putting air in the balloon of the anti-government movement.”

She says the anti-government movement hit its height in 1996 after Waco and the Oklahoma City bombing but that movement started to collapse in the late 1990’s, in part as a result of intense government scrutiny and prosecution.

The number of anti-government groups operating in the U.S. reached all the way up to about 800 back then. The number was still about 149 as of last year 2008, the Center estimates.

Now the concern is that number will grow again. Beirich cites recent examples including Scott Roeder, the alleged killer of Dr. George Tiller, who belonged to an anti-government group called “The Freeman.”

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Brock Husted was stabbed with his wife, Davina, who was four months pregnant.

Chuck Hadad
AC360° Producer

Brock Husted was stabbed to death along with his wife and unborn child in their Ventura, California home on May 20th. His 9-year-old son saw the killer enter the home and discovered his parents’ bodies afterward. Now, more than two weeks later, the suspect and the motive seem to be a complete mystery. I spoke to Scott Husted, brother of victim Brock Husted, today in preparation for his interview on tonight’s AC360° Interview. These are not exact quotes but notes on our conversation that are given to Anderson to prepare for the interview.

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- The case is as wide open as today as it was the day it happened. A lot of police work has been put into it so I don't want to say we're no closer but we have no idea as far as motive. The police as recently as this morning continue to conduct interviews and they have not given us any indication that they're getting close on the case at this point. We’re in contact with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office daily.

- The kids are doing ok. How well can a kid do when their parents are taken from them and their living arrangements are disrupted? I don't want to say that they're doing well but they're doing as well as can be expected. They ask for their parents every day and express how much they miss them every day.

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Rock star Bono interviews George Clooney for a Time 100/Anderson Cooper 360 special airing May 1 at 11:00 p.m. ET.

Chuck Hadad
AC360° Producer

My days are never boring as a producer at AC 360’ but my latest assignment definitely goes down in the annals of producer history: shoot Bono interviewing George Clooney. Clooney is being honored by Time magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential people and Time asked Bono to write the profile. As Time’s partner, we shot the interview and other famous pairings for an upcoming Time 100/Anderson Cooper 360’ Special aptly titled “The World’s Most Influential People.”

While Bono and Clooney are acutely aware of their own fame, it seems to be inversely proportional to the fanfare surrounding both of them. Clooney showed up to the interview solo: no security, no entourage, just a guy in combat boots and a leather jacket. I met him on the street in New York outside of our interview location and joked with him as I lead him to a green room that Bono was looking forward to getting him in the hot seat. I didn’t know it at the time but that was truer than I could have ever imagined.

Bono trailed him by a few minutes in a separate car and while I tried to keep things professional on the outside, on the inside I felt like the 10 year old kid who wore out his tape of U2’s “The Joshua Tree.”
The two stars are good friends and when I showed Bono to the same green room, he began to belt out the Beatles “Hey Jude” on a piano but changed the lyrics to butter up Clooney for the interview: “Hey George, don’t make it bad …”

I left them to catch up and ran out to be sure our crew was ready. As far as productions go, for this one we went all out and were shooting the interview at Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Ten minutes later, Bono and Clooney walked into the theater, introduced themselves to the entire crew and Bono had the closest he came to a diva moment during the entire afternoon. “Could I get a clipboard so we can make this interview official?!” he said with a smile and a wink.

With clipboard in hand, he sat down, I called for quiet on the set and Bono began.

“You recently slept with someone that I have a crush on … tell me about that?” was one of his first questions to George Clooney and it set the tone of their nearly 40 minute interview: although they’re good friends, Bono would leave no stone unturned.

The special airs next Friday at 11 pm ET. Check out the video above for a sneak peak.

Why is this election important? AC360° producer Chuck Hadad took a cross-country road trip to find out.

Chuck Hadad
AC360° Producer

My boss pulled me into his office one afternoon in late May and dropped a bombshell: “We want you to do a short documentary about the election. Come back to us with an idea and as long as we’re on board, we want you to go for it.” It would be my first shot at being on-air and I was thrilled.

I came back a week later with an idea that was as ambitious as perhaps it was foolish. This was my official pitch:

Although I’m not a veteran political pundit, I’ve voted in 3 elections and been a part of covering as many in my career here at CNN. I grew up in a family highly attuned to politics which lead to our own lively round table discussions at dinner growing up (especially the last election when my Mom voted for Bush, my Dad for Kerry).

I’m old enough to remember Reagan’s reelection, the Iran-Contra scandal, the end of the Cold War, Bush 1, the recession, the surprise victory of the Governor from Arkansas, the triumphs, defeats and controversies of the entire Clinton presidency and everything in between.

With that knowledge both on the job and leading up to it, this Presidential election just seems bigger, the stakes higher, the difference between one man or the other massive and the emotion for the entire country at a fevered pitch. For lack of a better word, this election just feels more important than any one in my lifetime. While the candidates go into general election mode, they no doubt have their talking points on why they’re the best to lead. But I’m not interested in their rhetoric which gets blasted around the world on many platforms on a daily basis.

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