agriculturechristof putzel >> this is al jazeera america live in new york city. i'm del walters with a look at the top stories. a town devastated by a tornado. today a celebration of thanksgiving. bargain hunters busy themselves with a recent thanksgiving day tradition - shopping. >> concern about the fate of 17 peaceful protesters, some of them children, sentenced to years in gaol. >> watching from millions of miles away did comet ison survive its journey around the sun?

>> families across the u.s. gaving thanks, and the holiday has many meanings. for some fighting 30 degrees temperatures to watch the annual macy's parade. the parade wrapped up without incident. the wind died down, the balloons flew. others decided to take advantage of store hours. kmart opened their doors early at 6am. but nowhere were they more grateful than in washington illinois, it is in what we call the nation's heartland. some that live there lost everything in the tornado. today the community came together to help and feel. andy roesgen is there. this is why they call it the heartland. >> in fact, a lot of people here are thankful for their lives. we look at the damage behind me, you can see why. not much has changed since the last two sundays when the huge storm hit, 24 were killed.

around washington a number of churches and schools got together to hold thanksgiving day feasts, free meals. all the volunteers working to fix the meals, food donated. we stopped by a church with a large gathering, the crossroads meth difficulty church. they had about 1200 pounds of turkey donated. no shortage of food. they had so much they had to turn some away. for the victims, we talk to a number of people that lofter everything. the tornado that tested their strength strengthed their faith in what happened. >> these people are amazing. it's like soldiers on earth, they are angels for me. they give us food, a place to sleep and i adopt them, all of them, as a family.

they are so wonderful. >> in fact, that tornado missed the church by 50 yards, so the church has reason to be thankful. 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. there is help on the way. president obama pledged federal disaster aid for 13 counties in south or central illinois. they are not being forgotten. aid includes low-cost loans for housing renovation to get them on their feet and going here in washington. andy roesgen live from washington illinois. thank you very much. >> we'll have more on the holidays in a moment. first we want to look at the day's other top stories, we begin in egypt where these are the images leaving some speechless. 14 women and girls in white in a cage in a cairo courtroom. they have been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison. among them seven minors going to

gaol. they were convicted under a law banning demonstrations without government permission. hoda abdel-hamid has more. >> there was an uproar across the board. people were angered seeing this 14 girls standing in that gaming in the court, and being treated as if they were high criminals. now, these girls do belong to a group called the 7am movement. that's a movement that does support the ain't coup alliance and former president mohamed morsi. before going to school or university they stood in the street for half an hour, sometimes carrying balloons with the sign of the anti-coup alliance on it. other times, like the day they were detained, they were forming a human chain. they were sentenced for thuggery, for destruction of public property among other charges.

something that the lawyer says they will appeal. but certainly it raises a lot of questions for many people, specially that they were detained before the protest law, and they were charged in the middle of the uproar that exists in this country because of that protest law. cairo university and another have been in turmoil for a while. now, the anti-coup alliance has been holding a lot of the demonstration in there and students that support them are holding the demonstrations. they do turn violent once in a while, and that is what happened. according to the interior ministry, the students spilt outside of the campus. the interior ministry say the security forces use the protocol spelt out by the protest law, which is verbally warning the students to go back inside the campus much the students remained outside. then they used a water canon,

and then they fired tear gas. we heard that one student has died. it is an ex-callation that -- escalation that keeps on going on. with the protest, it's difficult to carry out any protest because the students have to go through the dean of the university, they have to ask the interior ministry permission for the student to protest. there's a feeling that the government is all out trying to stifle any voices of dissent at the time when the country is heading towards a constitutional referendum. that promises to be a debate. we are joined by tamara alrifai from the human rights watch joining us via skype. this seems to be a harsh sentence. what does it say about democracy

in egypt? >> it says a lot about people organizing, mobilising, peaceful protests, and comes after a new law was adopted with restrictions on the ability to organise anything in protest of government stations, before the country is going through a referendum in a few month, and perimeterry elections. it raises the question about people's ability to organise anything in the upcoming election under the restrictions. >> these are women, what does it say about women's rights, not to mention the fact some were girls as young as 15. the problem is that. it's the age of the girls considered children under law. this is not about women per se,

it's about any demonstration that is against a decision taken by the government. this group happens to be a group of the girls. yesterday other girls, young ladies were arrested and young men. a famous activist that is demonstrating against a military trial of civilians was taken from his house, this isn't targetting women as much as it's targetting anyone that dares to approach. >> these laws were supposed to stop people taking to the street. it seems the outrage over the sentences is having the opposite effect. is that what you hear? >> this is a country where the government won't have public protest. it's a country where citizens exercised their right through demonstrations. it's difficult to impose people now to go back home. >> based on what you see from

human rights watch, does it appear is that egypt is moving backwards. >> it appears to us that things are not looking goods on the human rights front. they are not looking good on the continuation of military trials on civilians and laws that it is studying, restricting the work of nongovernmental organizations. there is a line itself with the official idea. things are not looking good for a country in 2011. a country acting with impunity and moving to a right's-based system. >> thank you tamara alrifai, joining us via skype. >> vice president joe biden heading to china. china declared an air defense zone extending over a disputed area in the east china sea. the zone including ireland,

china and japan. the u.s. became involved when it flew bombers through an an airspace. >> it may take a tiny miscalculation or misunderstanding, and these islands could become a center of a large international conflict. to the japanese, they are the s sending , to the chinese the diaoyu island. they are the most talked about island in asia. politics at home have a lot to do with it. >> china, japan and korea are facing domestic issues. they want to divert people's attention. the countries want to find another issue to quarrel about. >> china's decision to impose control over the airspace upset

neighbours. it is argued that the u.s. is most annoyed. >> translation: the adiz was introduced by the united states after japan's defeat in the second world war to secure japan's safety. it's the u.s.'s invention. china is trying to introduce a new order. that's why the chinese are more sensitive than japan. >> on the streets of tokyo there is concern. >> translation: i can't understand why anyone would do this. if you don't know what your neighbour is thinking, it's a reason to be afraid. >> translation: my feelings of mistrust, anxiety and nervousness increased. >> the islands were never more than a footnote until a u.n. survey more than 40 years ago. that suggested there could be large oil deposits beneath the

seabed around them. that got taiwan and china originally interested. now, with so many countries involved, a small misstep could have consequences for peace in the region. >> it's that miscalculation that america's vice president joe biden hopes can be avoided when he visits the region next week. with oil deposits yet to be proven, the islands hold little real value, and it could be a high-stakes confro tags over nothing. >> coming up an al jazeera america - the traditional holiday shopping season gets started a little earlier this year. >> i'm jennifer glasse in new york square, macy's will be open on thanksgiving for the first time in its history. shoppers are lining up in times square at toys r up

>> and tradition sailing high over the streets of new york. >> i'm from wyoming, wishing a hol di wishes and merry christmas from afghanistan. love to my husband film and son joseph.

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>> some americans are getting a head start on the thanksgiving shopping season. several major retailers opened up ahead of black friday allowing consumers to get a jump on holiday shopping. macy's extended their hour to today for the first time ever. >> jennifer glasse is at the flagship store. macy's set to open in a few hours. what do you crowds look like? >> there aren't crowds. they are cleaning up from the parade. a lot of shoppers have gone up

to the store to see what time they are opening. it was 8:00 pm. it opened to let some of the macy's employers out. there was a rush to get in. employees said, "no, we don't open until 8", a lot of excitement that the store will open tonight at 8 o'clock for the first time in its 111-year history >> is it worth it getting out there today or should we wait? will there be better deals today than there will tomorrow on black friday. ? >> at macy's, shoppers here tonight before 1:00 pm will get better deals. it's not just for the deals, it's for the retailers. thanksgiving falls on the latest on the calendar. retailers have one less week of shopping, and they are retailers like macy's are competing with online competition, internet, so they have to do what they can to

get shoppers in. that's a large part of what this is about >> macy's was not alone. how many other nation-wide chains jumped on board the early shopping bandwagon? >> quite a few. kmart opened at 6 o'clock this morning. at times square toys r up are expected to open at 5:00 pm. shoppers are lining up. people do want to get a jump on holiday shopping, especially if they are out and about. thousands came to manhattan to see the thanksgiving parade. if they are out they may as well get started. as i walk through the streets of manuel zelaya -- manhattan, many are open. >> save a spat no line for me. jennifer glasse out and about. >> thanksgiving - some think it's a celebration between the pilgrims and its native american neighbou

neighbours. the history is political. it was claimed in 1777 to celebrate a war over the british. in 1789 george washington declared a day of thanksgiving and prayer in honour of the constitution. in 1863 abraham lincoln askeded the nation to celebrate triumph and battle. it didn't become an official holiday until 1971, franklin roosevelt signing it into law to lengthen the shopping season. macy's stealing a cue - the show must go on. despite high windows things went off without a hitch. john terrett was there for every step. >> macey's staff called them the gentle giants. 16 huge character balloons flying through the canyons of new york, narrowly making it through the skyscraper - as traditional as having the whole family for a thanksgiving sk

dinner. >> it almost didn't happen, a storm passed over leaving blustery weather in its wake. winds, higher than 23 miles per hour or gusting above 24 miles per hour would have kept the boys on the ground. stiff breezes did not stop the balloons taking off. at times they tested the strength of their handlers. macy's estimates 3.5 million braved freezing temperatures to watch the parade. 50 million would have seen it on tv. >> thanksgiving day parade. why wouldn't i want to be out here. >> the statistics are staggering. >> 16 gentle giant balloons, more than 30 smaller ones, 11 marching bands, 900 clowns and 1600 drum majors, mainlier et cetera and cheer leaders. it's over for another year.

listen closely as the parade windows down. you can almost hear a sigh of relief. definitely something worth giving thanks for. >> well the front that produced the rain and brought in the wind pushed off sure. we are looking at a nicer day across the majority of the country across the north central plains to the north-west. you can see the front pushed offshore. the winds are pushing in out of the north and west, gusting earlier this morning. that's why the parade was threatened. the winds did not gust more than 23 miles per hour. the parade was able to go on. i want to mention the north-west, the fact that there's a lot of dense fog across i-90. there's an advisory in effect

until 4:00 pm pacific time. if you travel, keep that in mind. back to the north-east. snow showers along the new york state freeway, through the serra cues area. that's my home town in pennsylvania. if you are in manhattan - sunshine through the day. chilly. philadelphia 36. cleveland 31. again, the winds - this is an isobar map. the closer the lines, the gustier the windows. gusty winds are pushing across new england. tomorrow comfortable. as we track across the region winds gusting 25 miles per hour. they'll diminish. philadelphia 15 miles. boston at 21. take a look at the textures in new york city. we are in the 30s, back in the 40s next week. >> thank you. good news for those that are skye watchers. comet ison may be in one piece.

it circled closely around the sun, moving at almost 217 miles per hour to temperatures approaching 5,000 degrees farenheit. mike hankey is an amateur photographer following ison. he joins us via skype. ison survived. what should we expect next? >> it's hard to say. we are looking at images 15 minutes old. part of the comment is there. the nucleus is not as bright as it was. it's too early to tell. i doubt we'll see a super bright comet like they predicted earlier. >> this was kind of dicey because we didn't find out until a short while ago that it survived. >> as it 20 minutes ago reports said it had died. then it was already expected to show up in this camera.

it didn't show up. it was dim before it went in or dimmed a lot before it went in. i got several emails from the top avt ron omers saying it's over, ison is dead and so on. 15 minutes ago images of a tail showed up. clearly something is left. >> what is it about the comets that cause us to be curious. >> well, they are transient, exciting. they were exciting. they are different every day, we don't know what to expect. people want to predict and see if they come through. people and societies have been fascinating by comments for thousands of years. there's ancient drawings. they are neat. to look up at the sky and see

something stretching a quarter of the sky. >> we saw co-tech in the sky for some time. with ison, what will we see. >> the best predictions is that we could potentially see a comment as bright as the moon, which would have meant it was a naked eye comment, half an hour before dawn you would you see it in the sky and a long tail stretching 20-30 degrees in the sky, maybe longer. we want to look over the next 3-4 days. we want to wake up and look to the eastern sky. you might see something. >> in case my loved ones are listening. what times of things do i need to put on my christmas wish list in order to see ison. >> a dslr cameron is the easiest

thing to use. point the slr at the sky and expose for 5-10 seconds. if it's there it will show up. the cameras can catch more light than our eyes. anything else. >> binoculars would be a useful tool. anything else on the horizon before you go. there's billions of commets out there, several in the sky now. not as chiting as this. >> mike hankey joining us live via skype. >> ross shimabuku joins us with sports. good news for the broncos fansism. >> yes, head coach john fox heading back to work on monday. he had open heart surgery earlier, recovering in charlotte. he's been in denver for

thanksgiving. the plan is to have him in the coach's box or on the sideline. airing it out against the green bay packers and an annual game. matt stafford had a monster game. 300 yards, three touchdowns. a megatron. spasming the packers for the first thanksgiving day victory since 2003. the good news, aaron rodgers spected to be badge from a broken collar bop. the packers have not won a game since rogers was injured. coincidence. >> not good at all. thank you. still ahead on al jazeera america. it's black friday shopping, if it doesn't float your both, maybe the deals on cyber monday will. >> i'm kaelyn forde in new york. turkeys are running while. >> i wish my wife a merry

christmas and happy holidays in denver, colorado.

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>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. this is a look at the top stories. >> a thanksgiving tradition - taking to the streets. the balloons flying in the macy's parade. 1,100 workers held them tethered along the route. >> it's looking like black friday. shoppers that finished early will have chances for a bargain. they opened their doors to kick off the shopping season early. >> vice president joe biden heading to china amaid tension between china and japan - both claiming ownership of islands in the china sea. >> major delays from the affordable care act. small businesses will have to wait another year before signing up employees. >> spending by shoppers on the day after thanksgiving is a barometer of how retailers will

fair during the holidays. with each passing year, new factors important the lessling of black friday. >> gerald explains why. >> americans are expected to spend $602 billion this holiday season. a good chunk, 11% or $65 billion, is expected to change hands on black friday. these two are magicians. they know the value of a dollar and what it's worth. >> it's a nice experience. >> for retailers the day after thanksgiving is a strong indicator for holiday sales. conventional wisdom has it in order to have a good season black friday sales have to be strong. trends suggest that thinking may no longer hold true. >> black friday as a point of significance is important. becoming a little less

important. take walmart. the megaretailer started its holiday rome oceans or november 1st. retailers are making up for weak demand by cautious shoppers who may be worried about their job. a poll shows consumers are planning to spend less money. shoppertrak predicts fewer people will visit stores in november and december than in 2012. technologiry is forcing retailers to change market and sales strategies, spreading the gains across more days. if we look at the christmas cycle we have essentially black friday. we are having celebration thursday, which is everyone opening on thursday. >> the list of storms open on thanksgiving includes comfortable or target, bess buy, toys r up, j.c. penneys and others trying to lure people

from thanksgiving dinner with deeply discounted goods. >> the sales on thursday are at the ex-spents of black friday and the subsequent saturday and sunday. >> online sales are weakening black friday power. shop.org expects sales to rise between 13-15% to as much as 82 billion. >> a lot of deals online. i shop online. >> a better predictor is the week of thanksgiving , not just black friday. retailers know it. that means you are likely to get deals on gifts without staying up all night and waiting in long lines. if you are thinking about heading out for the sales. you may want to man ahead because it's going to be chilly. >> it's going to be chilly across the north-east, south-east. central plains and down into portions of texas.

we'll see late effect showers along i-35. it will be cold across minnesota, where the model of america is located. some of may favourite malls are there. if you get in line, get in early. although we don't have precip coming down, it's chilly. if you are headed to dallas, to the north park center, 37 and cloudy. it's a bit chilly. take a look at lowes. across the north-east pittsburg down to 22. 27 in our nation's cap tam. the cold air is pushing all the way down to the south-east savannah, back to birming ham and atlanta. as i said, the model of america, 12 degrees tonight, so it's chilly. if you head out again make sure you have your hat, gloves, goat. oklahoma city all the way to dallas, temperatures in the upper 20s, lower 30s.

across the north-west we are talking about 20s. warmer. in the south-west - comfortable overall across la and san francisco. back into salt lake city it is going to be chilly. make sure you have all your necessary gear. >> 37 degrees in dallas. >> for a lot of shoppers, those that are hard core the real action is days away on cyber monday. patricia sabga reports. >> black friday gets the attention. for many retailers, cyber monday is just as important. >> my guess is we'll go short of $3 billion on cyber monday. >> this year brick and mortar retailers are offering big door buster specials. analysts are not expecting consumers to bust down doors. americans spent nearly $2 billion on cyber monday seeing

double digit sales. >> retailers are recognising that consumers have a great deal of technology. they can shop, whether they are at work, through the internet and at home. >> it's not just happening on desktop computers. on the go computers are harnessing mobile devices. retails are spending money on apps. >> because of instant gratification and technology, they are offering text messaging, coupons when the client is in the store and getting a coupon. >> the last few months are brutal for retailers. walmart, target, seers and coals are expecting leaner sales as cautious consumers hold tightly to their money. >> retailers are offering shipping as a lure. >> a lot of the strength in holiday sales comes from the online channels. especially with mobile-toting consumers walking around stores,

figuring out the best deals online and in stores. >> nearly half of consumers expect to do some shopping online. it's up from 30% last year. analysts say a challenge for retailers now is to keep the clicking customers happy, by making sure their orders ship in time for the big day. >> yesterday i talked to andrea woroch, a consumer analyst and asked her to describe the black friday shopping experience. >> it will be an overwhelming experience. there'll be sales signs, door-busting deals, a lot of people around and there is a frenzy happening. before you head to the stores, look at black friday deals online. review and make a shopping route based on the stores offering the best deals you want to buy. >> you maintain sometimes price does not necessarily mean

quality? >> right. when you research prices look at the bottom line. sometimes sellers will inflate the regular price to make the discount claim look better than it is. it's important to get an idea and feel for prices and compare them across multiple retailers. exactly your point, the cheapest goods are not necessarily going to be the best buy. they could be lesser quality. you may need to replace it sooner than you would than if you spent a little more money. look at the features and make sure what you are buying has the qualityies you want. >> if i'm looking for a product should i wait until after christmas and haggle. >> if you don't need something now, you can find mark downs after christmas. if you are looking for gifts or something for the home, no doubt black friday will have great details. there's cyber monday, free shipping on december 18th.

there'll be a lot of sales in the season so you don't have to go out and jump on the deals. wait and see what other sales come out. there's coupons and free shipping. >> what about all the offers we get on the web. social media, do they work or work against you. >> following brands and retailers on social media will alert you during the day of manager mark downs. like walmart - they'll prom ate 8am to 2:00 pm local specials. you may find coupon codes and foursquare which is an app. they'll be an fbi. they'll offer you coupons to use from your phone. >> black friday, cyber monday - which is best. >> there are certainly items to take advantage of. retailers will offer door busters on each of those days. i recommend, again, look at the black friday offers. when you go into store on black friday, take advantage of the

appliance deals. monday, believe it or not, clothing and shoes historically had the best discounts on cyber monday. take advantage of those deals. >> i buy the item, i bring it back and i don't have a receipt. they say there's a restocking fee. >> it's important to read the fine print before you make a purchase. understand how the return policy is going to work. hold on to your receipt. use an app like one receipt turning it into a digital file so you have access to it. it's important to know the return policies so if you are gifting it or returning it or getting a credit. you know how it will be issued. >> there's always a gift card. >> there is always a gift card. what is nice is a lot of retailers are offering you free gift cards. target is offering a free $100 gift card with an ipad purchase which is on sale for black friday. walmart is giving away a free

$100 gift card with ipad mini purchases. there's a lot of other discounts veil. if you are considering giving a gift card and you want to save money, go to gift card granny.cox. selling others unwanted gift cards at an average of 12%. >> thank you andrea woroch for being with us. >> and the topic of the day and the focus of many of you in the kitchen is the turkey. it is a staple on the holiday. it's not the only time of year it is eaten. americans consume more than 219 million turkeys each year. 46 million of them are on the thanksgiving day tables each and every year. the average weight 16 pounds. benjamin franklin wrote that the turkey was a bird of courage. he was referring to wild turkeys. the wild turkey was almost

extinction. they have made a comeback, in all place, new york city. >> they vice-president known as the birds america can't live without or with in the case of this town. turkeys, wild ones are roaming free in staten island. >> they are flying in front of your windshield, a decent bird. it can hit ut wind shield and that creates a problem. >> they poop all over the place, and a lot of people are afraid of them too. especially kids. >> but some people are more concerned about what will happen to their feathered friends. >> i'm an animal lover. i think they should be able to go somewhere and they can run around and be free. >> the u.s. department of agriculture and new york environmental officials relocated or killed the majority. leaving about 25 on the streets.

a proposal to donate the turkeys to the homeless shelters is on hold until the meat can be tested. wild turkeys are pests. it was not always this way. wild turkeys almost become extinct in the "30s due to over hunting and loss of habitat. researchers say the birds rebounded. there are more than 7 million nationwide. >> this flock called this area home for a decade. >> there was one woman who kept a turkey. one day, for unknown reasons, left them. then the 10 turkeys grew to about 100 over a 10-year period and made this area their home. >> heather, and other activists, came together to find a solution, creating a first turkey national park. >> we built a fake park on staten island around the area where the turkeys are. the idea was my colleagues and i were a group of artists, and

activists and we decided to see if we could design a project that would act as an intervention in the community to mediate the relationship between the community members. >> it's a relationship some residents can't see ending soon. >> for the turkeys not to be here, something is missing. this is a part of the staten island. it's like a puzzle. it's part of a puzzle for birds. >> the fate of the remaining turkeys is far from clear. some hope they'll stick around long after thanksgiving. >> coming up in sports. we tell you the story of an olympian getting another shot at the games. ross shimabuku has the story of her comeback. >> i'm sergeant short, i'd like to wish my mum, dad, baby sister

brooklyn and wife jennifer merry christmas. i'll be home to see you soon.

. the u.s. is proposing a unique solution to a thorny problem, how to dispose of syria's chemical weapons. the stockpiles could be disproid on board a ship in the mediterranean, sidestepping land based provisional problems. iran gave inspectors of the green light to tour a plant. the atomic energy agency to look at a water reactor on december 8th. work at the plant it to be stopped. >> in bangkok protesters cutting off pour to the police headquarters. they accuse the prime minister

of corruption. young yingluck shinawatra won a no confidence vote in parliament. hundreds of thousands demonstrated against her. tens of thousands demonstrate in ukraine. they protest the suspension of talks with the european union. they have been chanting pro-european slogans. >> ross shimabuku here with sport. thanksgiving must be the detroit lines. >> turkey, football. the lions have not done well on thanksgiving. you see the last time the lions won on gobble gobble day the movie "chicago' won on oscar for best picture. the term nator was elected governor of california. the lions strapping it up.

green bay has not won a game since aaron rodgers broke his collarbo collarbone. busting a move. packers dumped out for 10-3. the lions get their boogie on. general assembly ross - love the name ross. detroit tying it up at 10. matt stafford with his favourite target, calvin johnson, megatron takes it 20 yards to the happy place. megatron says, "thank you very much." lions in control. as for the packers matt flynn got abused. busting through saxon. the good news for the paks aaron rodgers expected back next week. lions sitting pretty in first with a 7-5 record. remember when the pittsburg steelers dropped the first four

games. everyone was like there's no way they'll make the playoffs. way. the steelers are in the play-offs at 5-6. they have a man at baltimore. they are surveying the ravens, shareen williams has a preview. >> both teams are 5 and 6. this game will go a long way to determining who is really a contender. the steelers beat the ravens in baltimore last year, with charlie at quarterback. the difference is nfl did the steelers no favours. this is a back to back road games in a short week, while the ravens are in the midst of a 3-game home stretch. the ravens slightly have the advantage because they are playing at home. >> all right. can you believe we are 70 days away until the winter olympics in socchi russia. we are hitting the slopes of a great. buckle up.

>> with all tricks and aerial displays snow boarding is a popular winter sport. the united states snow boarding team is considered the greatest on planet earth. it hampers the u.s. team's chances. gretchen bleiler is ranked third and is shooting for a third olympic experience. >> this is a fourth qualifying, and a third olympics. i had the best and worst case scenarios. then i have the younger girls pushing me and hopefully i'm an example for them. we are all big competitors. there's four spots and there's seven plus girls who should be on the team and representing the u.s. in the olympics. >> in the 2006 winter olympics she hit the pinnacle of a career by winning a silver medal. in june, practicing a double back flim, overrotated, kneeing

herself in the face, making the 32-year-old's journey back to this spot almost impossible. >> i shattered an eye socket. broke my nose and gave myself a severe concussion. the things that we learn, ups and downs and the obstacling, it's amazing, you learn a lot. so just keeping that in perspective. >> gretchen bleiler persevered and has a chance to get on the podium in socchi, rush a. >> i worked hard. if something doesn't work, i work harder. this was not the case. i had to take a step back and accept where i was, and not compare myself to where i was the year before. it was kind of a different version of myself. i had to just start over again. >> after winning four golds and a silver medal at the winter x games and the olympic medal. gretchen bleiler is considered the face of women's snow boarding. she has a different view of her

standing in sport. >> so many women made the sport. that's a cool part of it. everyone has their strength and brought snow boarding into a different light to the public and to the audience that you wouldn't normally watch the olympics. there's so many different characters. that's what is appealing about snow boarding. >> we wish gretchen bleiler the best. unbelievable. i can't snow board. to see here... >> i got scared on the trampoline. >> thanksgiving , coinciding with hanukah for the first time in a century, it's a cause for an extra feest. in israel they celebrate with a special doug nut. more from jerusalem. >> on this thanksgiving israelis are thankful for dough uts. they have been made the same way in this bakery for 60 years. round the dough, throw it in the

fire, and that squirts in the filling. they are sold on hanukah, a jewish holiday celebrating a 2500-year-old victory. they are the kind of dough nut that gets soldier escorts. they walk away with bags of them. it's a source of sweetness. >> the oil last for eight days. it has a lot of oil. >> and sugar doesn't hurt. >> best doughnuts. >> times are changing. a simply sugar top is upgraded. welcome to the english bakery shop and its 18 varieties. these used to be simply. look at the flavours, chocolate with jelie, custody ard with caramel outside. white chocolate with custody ard, and my favourabled ferre

roche chocolate. the favour explosion is a sign of a changing israel. >> israel became a lot more cosmopolitan. >> maybe it's because of its closest country. >> another country of the united states. >> israelis eye the american holiday, the first time hanukah and thanksgiving coincided. it led to mash-ups. someone patented a term thanks-g. >> -- thanks-giveka. no matter which holiday we celebrate, we are thankful for the same things. what are you thankful for? >> it goes to show to give

thanks we don't need a turkey, sometimes we just need a doug nut. >> well, whether you plan on sleeping or shopping. jalelah ahmed has a frigid friday forecast next on al jazeera america. >> i'm staff sergeant, location in afghanistan. i wanted to wish my family and friends back home a happy holidays. and i want to give a shout out to my students at sherwood middleland high school.

>> i'm happy to report most areas across the country will be nice and dry as we head into tonight. we have a few late effect snow showers to talk about around portions of upper michigan. all the way back into eastern portions of minnesota. if you are travelling take it easy on the roadways. tonight, over all, quiet across much of the country. the east coast clear behind a

front pushing through bringing rain, wind, ice across portions of texas. it took its sweet time clearing the country. on the backside of it looking like a nice night for most in the north-east. the wind and chill pushing down to portions of the south-east. that's the reason southern portions of georgia to northern florida have to deal with freeze warnings. here from 11 o'clock into 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. keep that in mind. it will be bitterly cold. take a look - temperatures across the south-east 15 to 25. below normal. that's the case down to jacksonville. to tampa. two days temperatures failed to rise above 60-70 degrees. it's a chilly day across the south-east in general. we'll reach lows in the 20s, memphis at 27. 36 in houston.

you are looking at an isobar map. you can see across the north-east the windows dying down. the closer the lines the windier it is. the winds of high pressure built across the coast. if you travel across the new york state through way around serra cues down i-80 to pennsylvania, you may run into snow. keep that in mind. be careful if you are travelling. it will be chilly tonight into tomorrow. travelling across the north, dens fog right now across seattle, along i-90. take it easy. stay tuned.

>> this is al jazeera america live in new york city. i'm del walters with a look at today's top stories. vice president biden heading to china next week in the midst of the territorial tension between china and japan. both nations claiming islands in the east china sea. 14 women in egypt have been arrested and charged in part of protest there. they were sentenced to more than 11 years in prison on wednesday. seven were minors who will go to a juvenile jail who were convicted under that new law banning demonstrations in egypt without permission. malsmall business also haveo wait another year before