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hi, i'm alex marquardt. welcome to a special edition of "cnn newsroom." thank you so much for joining me on this thanksgiving. and as so many sit down with family today, others not as lucky. the country trying to come to terms with the on going epidemic of gun violence. 11 people ripped from their loved ones after this holiday, after two of the most recent mass shootings in less than a week. one, of course, in virginia. the other in colorado. once again, prompting americans to seek answers on how to stop these killings. president joe biden says that he plans to use the weeks left with both a democratic house of representatives and senate to get an assault weapons ban passed before republicans take control of the house in january. take a listen. >> i'm going to try to get rid of assault weapons. >> during the lame duck. >> i have to make that assessment as i get in and start counting the votes. >> we now know all of the names

of the five adults gunned down on tuesday in a walmart in chesapeake, virginia. police did not reveal the name of the sixth victim, a 16-year-old because that victim is a minor. investigators are saying that all were co-workers of the gunman. a walmart team lead who turned the gun on himself. now, one survivor described how close she was to getting shot on just her fifth day on the job. >> slid out from out underneath of the table. i'm shaking. and i probably looked like a chihuahua at that point. and he had the gun up to my forehead. and -- it's just really hard. he told me to go home. and he took the gun away from my forehead and he was aiming it at the ceiling. he said, jessie, go home.

>> cnn national correspondent dianne gallagher is in chesapeake, virginia. as we heard there, more survivors are telling their stories. the mother of one worker who was shot multiple times says that she has so much to be thankful for today. >> reporter: that's true, alex. i can tell you that actually one of the hospitals here who had five patients from this shooting just told us this afternoon that one of those patients has been discharged. so, that's a little bit of hope for those who are in this walmart when that shooting happened on tuesday night. just about an hour before the store was supposed to close. more than 50 people inside when police say that 31-year-old andre bing began shooting when he arrived here. they said they got the call about 10:12 p.m. within four minutes they were inside the building. that's where they say they did find the body of the shooter as well as the victims there, many inside that break room where some of the survivors have told

us that he came in, didn't say anything, blank look on his fae and just started shooting. again, one of those survivors who was shot, his mother spoke with one of our cnn affiliates here about his experience in those moments. take a listen. >> he then noticed his manager was looking kind of different. he just didn't understand what was going on. everybody kind of thought maybe he was just in a mood or something, but suddenly it changed. it transitioned from the look to now actually seeing a gun. he had a gunshot wound grazed his ear. he knew he was being shot. he made it to the front of the store. and then when he made it to the front of the store, he was shot again by the same person. and at that moment, that's when he received help from another co-worker that took him outside her vehicle until the medic showed up. >> allen: i do want to recognize those victims those who did not make it out of this walmart.

lorenzo gamble, brian pendleton, kelly pile, that 16-year-old police are not releasing his name because he is a minor. now, look, we have talked to the survivors, we talked to employees, former employees about the shooter. alex, they say that, look, he exhibited odd and sometimes threatening behaviors. they said he could be condescending, mean. some people said he was just a loner and a bit odd, a bit strange and aloof. but everyone we have spoken to said in no way did they think that this was going to happen, that he was going to ever do anything like this. we have reached out to walmart to ask them if there were ever any plaints that were registered against bing and what we can learn from that. but alex, they have not answered our specific questions. i do want to talk about a tweet that was sent out. you mentioned the president addressing this. the governor of virginia, glenn youngkin, sent a tweet out asking people for thanksgiving to lift up the victim's families

in prayer. not just from the mass shooting here in chesapeake, but also the one in charlottesville, from not even two weeks ago here. this state reeling from so much violence in such a short amount of time. >> yeah, that charlottesville shooting at the university of virginia so tragic. thank you for all of your reporting. now the other mass shooting at an lbgtq nightclub in colorado springs, colorado. the severe beating the gunman took from several heroes on the scene. the people who were targeted the colorado springs police posted their logo next to a rainbow ribbon. we're thankful for an amazing community who has come together to love and compassion to so many who are hurting right now, to all of the victims, their families and their friends. we will continue to stand with you today and into the future. cnn national correspondent nick watt joins us from colorado

springs. nick, club q as this club is known, that community that went there so often that saw this as a safe space, they are determined to share this holiday thanksgiving together. >> reporter: that's right, alex. club q would have a thanksgiving dinner every year. of course, this year they can't have it in their club because it's a crime scene. but they do have a table in town to gather around. they will be missing two key members of their family daniel aston and derek rump who were bartenders in the club and described by people here as the glue that held the small lgbtq community here together. you know, how many nightclubs do you know that host a thanksgiving lunch? not many. club q did and that, i think, speaks to the place that that club had in this community here. it was the hub, and it was attacked and violated, the safe space invaded by this person

with a gun. now, the suspect is in the jailhouse behind me. appeared in court yesterday for the first time. and you know, prosecutors here and investigators are still really trying to gather enough evidence for a motive. it looks very much like hate if you walk into the only gay club in town and open fire, but prosecutors need to prove that. so they are gathering evidence. now, the lawyers for the suspect say that the suspect identifies as nonbinary. it was interesting in the court appearance that the judge did not use they/them pronouns. we spoke with a neighbor and a close friend of the suspect. they lived across the hall, played video games together, and that young man xavier cross, we asked about the nonbinary status and he said the suspect had never once brought that up in all the time that they had spent together, but did have some outbursts of anger coming from a place of rage as krauss told us

some of them directed at the gay community, used slurs to describe gay people, but also more often than not he said that those outbursts of anger were directed at other races. they want to narrow down, get enough evidence so they can charge december 6th with five counts of first degree murder and bias crimes. alex? >> still so many questions and of course we hope that that community can find some level of comfort as they manage to gather today for thanksgiving. nick watt in colorado springs, thank you so much for all of your reporting. now in the wake of the shootings president joe biden vowed this morning to take action against assault weapons. cnn white house correspondent arlette saenz is in nantucket, massachusetts, president met with firefighters. strong words from the president. >> reporter: yeah, alex. president biden spoke with reporters as he was delivering some pumpkin pies to firefighters at a local fire station. and he once again repeated his commitment and desire to try to ban assault weapons in this

country. he said it's a possibility he could try to approach that during this lame duck session, if you also look at the reality of the situation, the votes have not been there in the past and it's unlikely they will be there headed into a divided congress next year. but if the president once again voiced his frustration with the purchasing of semiautomatic weapons. take a listen. >> the idea, the idea we still allow semiautomatic weapons to be purchased is sick, just sick. it has no, no value, zero, none. not a single rational for it. >> reporter: so those are marking the president's first comments on camera since that shooting at that walmart in chesapeake, virginia. a bit earlier today, the president also called the two owners of club q, that lgbtq nightclub where the deadly massacre occurred just last

weekend out in colorado springs. of course, that follows that phone call that the president made to governor glenn youngkin down in virginia as he has noted that once again heading into this thanksgiving there will be families who have empty seats at their table due to gun violence. >> arlette saenz with the president in nantucket. thank you so much. people are celebrating thanksgiving all across the country today. in new york at the macy's thanksgiving day parade, tom the turkey kicking things off as he's done since 1973. and a new -- new fan favorite baby yoda delighted the crowds. and if there's one sport that defines thanksgiving, it is, of course, football. but this year, american football is not the only option. the world cup is in full swing in qatar. and the story lines have not been disappointing.

portugal's cristiano ronaldo now the first men's player in history to score in five fifa world cups. now back here in the u.s., elton john is also getting in the holiday spirit. he just wrapped up his final north american concert earlier this week, but he came back one more time for a surprise performance on fifth avenue in new york. take a listen. ♪ ♪ i hope you don't mind, i hope you don't mind, that i put down in words ♪ ♪ how wonderful life is while you're in the world ♪ >> meanwhile, travelers are with friends and family. the tsa says that it screened about 2.5 million passengers just yesterday. that's nearly pre-pandemic levels. pete muntean, cnn's aviation correspondent is at washington reagan national airport. pete, great to see you on solid

ground, not in traffic as you were all day yesterday. seems like so far so good. how are the airlines doing? >> reporter: so far so good indeed, alex. you know, things are in a bit of a lull that we an tis paided after a really busy start to the thanksgiving travel rush. 2.46 million people screened at airports nationwide ju yesterday by the tsa. what is so interesting about that number is it is just tvel record. in fact, only 6% off of the same day back in 2019 back before the pandemic. things have been relatively smooth for travelers and for the airlines. mostly aided by good weather after these major meltdowns the airlines had in terms of cancellations over the summertime, 50,000 cancellations in total. look at the cancellations of just yesterday. we only had 60 cancellations yesterday, 50 so far today. in fact, on tuesday, united airlines says network wide that means main line and smaller regional united express flights, they cancelled zero flights.

let that sink in for a second, zero flights. 99.9% of all flights operated by american airlines, it says it operated the biggest schedule of any airline in the u.s. want you to listen now to the industry's top lobbyist who says that airlines have been on this hiring blitz to try to stem up off those meltdowns of the summer that were due in part to staffing shortages. >> we're feeling good. it's a great thing. it's been three years. everybody wants to get with their family and friends. and we've -- the airlines have gone above and beyond to try to get ready for that. they've adjusted their schedules. they've been on hiring binges, on putting people in the right places that we hope will be at the right time. >> reporter: right people in the right places not only at the airlines but also at the federal government, the faa has hired more air traffic controllers. we'll see the numbers go back up on sunday when everybody comes

back home at once. we could see 2.5 million people screened at airports nationwide. maybe besting the high number that we saw back on july 1st, alex. >> yeah, hopefully just as smooth as everyone heads home over the weekend. pete muntean at national airport here in washington, d.c. thank you so much. now millions are facing a very cool and possibly rainy holiday forecast. cnn meteorologist tom saider is here. tom, the south getting ready for soggy weather? >> yes. i think, alex, it will get wetter. this is just the beginning. can we first just give thanks for the weather for the millions that took planes, trains and automobiles to get to their destination. it was nearly perfect. we have seen so many thanksgiving and november weather just horrible. even right now these numbers 55 in chicago, nearly perfect in new york for macy's day thanksgiving parade. 51 st. louis, denver 43. but let's talk about where things are going to go downhill. now for several days you heard reporters say pack your patience. i want to tell you don't unpack them because depending on when you're going to leave your destination to get back home, we

got problems. thunderstorms, dallas, san antonio, austin over toward houston, up to little rock, up towards paducah, this is just the beginning. we have snow that's starting to develop from southern colorado, new mexico and west texas. it will get a little heavier because already we have warnings in place for 6 to 8 inches in some places. bridges and overpasses will be slick. here is the problem. it's not a one-storm system, it's a one-two punch. so the rain moves in later today into the southeast. as it stretches, you'll see friday afternoon first wave if you got a flight friday afternoon, we have some delays in the major cities in the east. the snow kicks you have, but here comes the second system. another round, severe weather possible, maybe an isolated tornado. again, dallas, metroplex, up towards memphis and nashville. but the system that drops a heavy amounts of rain in the south is going to be moving toward the tennessee valley, toward the ohio valley and here is what we're looking at, alex. this is why i say don't unpack your patience. we have the possibilities of delays from chicago, cincinnati,

detroit, cleveland, boston, new york, this is sunday evening and even slight delays possible to the south. a secondary system comes into the pacific northwest. so, what was a beautiful first beginning to the thanksgiving time of travel looks like it could get a little hectic on sunday. >> after pete got our hopes up, you bring them crashing down. >> i know. i'm sorry. can't be perfect everyday. >> well, you're just telling us the facts. appreciate it. happy thanksgiving to you, too. tom satyr in the cnn weather center. ukraine says their power grid is back online after russian strikes targeted the country's infrastructure all across ukraine, but many individual homes still without electricity. we're live in ukraine next. and foxconn, one of the world's biggest iphone suppliers is offering to pay workers to leave after violent protests erupted at one of their factories. we'll have those details next as well. stay with us. subaru retailers have supported over seventeen hundred hometown charities.

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today marks exactly nine months since russia launched its invasion of ukraine back in february. some households in ukraine gradually getting their lights back on just one day after russia yet again sent a wave of missiles all across the country, crippling the ukrainian power grid. now blackouts hit every part of the country. for the first time in four decades, all, all of ukraine's nuclear power plants have shut down. in kyiv, ukrainian doctors used flashlight and head lamps to perform heart surgery on a child after the power went out the middle of the operation. we find our sam kylie in zaporizhzhia, ukraine. sam, russia's targeting seems extremely intentional here.

>> reporter: there's no question at all both in terms of independent analysis and the ukrainian government analysis is that this is the seventh wave of cruise missiles which are very substantial, very expensive, very sophisticated weapons for russia to be using en masse, attacks on the critical national infrastructure of ukraine, particularly and overwhelmingly on the electrical system because, of course, if you break the electrical system, you can prevent water being pumped. you can cripple the health services, and of course, ultimately undermine the war effort more widely. so, that is very clearly been the russian campaign. they've not been doing so well on the ground, having lost kherson city and much of the rest of kherson province. and they're being pushed back, of course, northeast of kharkiv as well. so, in that context, this has been a successful campaign really by the russians. although, they are losing the vast majority of their cruise

missiles are being shot down, alex. the ukrainians, meanwhile, of course, saying they desperately, desperately need more modern equipment to bring these missiles down. because when it's not the cruise missiles, it's those more primitive iranian 136s which are essentially drones that fly very high and slow and zoom in on a target and destroy themselves. those are sent in even higher numbers. essentially trying to swarm through the ukrainian surface defense systems, alex. >> by several accounts russia now running low on those precision guided missiles. sam kylie in zaporizhzhia, ukraine. thank you very much. the united nations human rights council passed highlights iran's human rights violations. 25 countries voting in favor of it during a special session in geneva today. iran's representative says that

the draft is completely biased and does not reflect the facts and realities of the situation. the u.n.'s high commissioner for human rights called it a full fledged human rights crisis. now anti-government protests, largely led by women, have consumed iran since the september death of mahsa amini. amini was a 22-year-old. she died in custody of the so-called morality police who stopped her for not wearing her mandatory hijab. now to china where apple supplier foxconn is apologizing after newly-recruited workers a the largest iphone factory in the world say that they were not paid as promised. it has led to mass protests and violent clashes. the company blamed the whole situation on what they call a technical error. cnn's selina wang has more on how it all turned violent. >> reporter: the world's largest iphone factory located in china has offered to pay new workers $1,400 to quit and leave their

jobs. this is after violent protests broke out at the foxconn plant this week. video shows some workers taking the package, lining up to leave. while this may temporarily calm the situation, it puts even more pressure on apple. this is where analysts estimate more than half of the world's iphones are produced. we've obtained new footage showing how these protests turned violent. these workers, they're angry about wages, dirty living conditions, chaotic covid rules. video shows qsquadrons of riot police arriving. a group of police in white hazmat suits beating workers with batons and metal rods. other video show workers protesting and tearing down covid barrier. masses of them throwing metal parts towards police. another video shows a group of workers pushing over a police car, cheering and chanting. a worker at the scene said the protests turned into a river of blood with police ruthlessly hitting workers. this chaos at foxconn has been on going for weeks. several weeks ago a mass exodus

of workers after a covid outbreak. people literally working miles across highways to escape what workers said were sub par living conditions and covid restrictions. to get more workers, foxconn went on a mass recruitment drive promising higher pay and bonuses. but this worker said when the new workers arrived at the plant, the pay packages they were given were worse than what was advertised. and they felt cheated. foxconn for its part is blaming the payments issue on a, quote, technical error. apple also told cnn that its employees were on the ground at the facility. and in a statement said, quote, we are reviewing the situation and working closely with foxconn to ensure their employee's concerns are addressed. selina wang, cnn, beijing. >> incredible scenes. thanks to selina wang for that report. now seven michigan state football players have now been charged after a fight broke out in a stadium tunnel. we'll have those details next. stay with us.

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as you know, several michigan state football players had already been suspended because of what had happened. many may remember the vid yoet of the fight that broke out involving michigan state and michigan. you showed some of it there. at one point it shows an msu player swinging his helmet apparently striking one of the players from michigan. now come the consequences. six msu players are facing misdemeanor charges of aggravated assault. a seventh player curry crump who goes by kj is facing felony assault charges. his attorney went to twitter to defend him. >> this was a gut punch to kj, being charged the day before thanksgiving but he's going to get through it. while you're getting up, having your turkey, whatever, watching football, just think about seven young men whose lives have been up ended by these criminal charges. in kj's case a felony charge, which is felonious assault, because he allegedly used his helmet as a weapon to strike at

the other player. >> reporter: alex, as you can imagine, the investigation into the matter took weeks and included the university of michigan police, michigan state police, and representatives from the big ten. the university of michigan division of public safety, which also took part in the investigation released a statement saying at the conclusion of its investigation, it submitted to the prosecutor's office a request for criminal charges against several individuals, all student athletes on the michigan state football team. meanwhile, the interim president of michigan state saying in a statement, while we do not condone the actions taken by some football players on october 29th, we will support our student athletes through this process, adding consequences are part of a learning environment. it should also be noted that none of the players from michigan have been charged. cnn did reach out to the msu players for reaction to the charges, but alex, we did not

hear back from them. >> jason carroll, thank you so much for that report. now as families and friends gather for the holiday weekend, health experts are warning that the reunions may be breeding ground for new covid sub variants to spread. we'll have more on that next. stay with us. lily! welcome to our third bark-ery. oh, i can tell business is going through the “woof”. but seriously we need a reliable way to help keep everyone connted fromherever we go. well at at&t we'll help you find e right wireless plan for you. so, yocan stay connected to all your drivers and stores on america's most reliable 5g network. that sounds just paw-fect. terrier-iffic i labra-dore you round of a-paws at&t 5g is fast, reliable and secure for your business. i grew up an athlete,

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i see an amazing place. feels like a dream. a place of many wonders - and full of life. i open my eyes: earth is our pandora. - [announcer] do you have an invention idea but don't know what to do next? call invent help today. they can help you get started with your idea. call now 800-710-0020. health experts are warning that family gatherings today may fuel the spread of covid-19 as well as other respiratory

illnesses. new covid sub varnts are already circulating and some groups are seeing higher positivity test rates. dr. jonathan reiner, a professor of medicine and surgery at george washington university. thank you so much for joining us on this thanksgiving day, dr. reiner. i want to ask you first, these subvariants, how do they compare to what we have seen so far over the past two years? >> hi, alex. happy thanksgiving. well, the new variants appear to be even more immune evasive than the original omicron variants. whether or not they cause more severe disease is yet -- has yet to be determined, but they are starting to spread in greater numbers in the united states and now comprise the majority of new infections. >> how are the latest boosters that have been developed to fight several of these new variants, how are they fairing?

>> our most recent data on the biva lant booster which incorporates elements of the original vaccine to the original so-called wuhan strain as well as omicron now appear to be relatively effective in terms of preventing symptomatic infection. a recent study published showed the bivalent booster was 40 to 60% effective in terms of preventing symptomatic infection which is about as good or even a little better some years than the annual flu vaccine. and about as good as the original astrazeneca vaccine for covid. so the booster is effective at preventing infection in significant numbers of people. the problem is only about 11% of the united states has actually gotten the bivalent booster. >> only 11%. doctor, i think you agree this is arguably the most normal

thanksgiving since 2019 in three years. so many people stayed home in 2020 to prevent the spread and prevent some of their older relatives from getting sick, things were kind of getting back to more normal in 2021. what is different about families gathering this year, young relatives, older relatives than in the past two years? >> well, i think what's different is that almost everyone has had covid in the last two and a half years. almost three years now. so, there's been a lot of covid transmission, a lot of covid infection. and there's a bit -- little bit less fear. the problem is there's still a tremendous amount of virus circulating in our communities. if you look at the cdc's covid transmission map, about 70% of counties in the united states have either substantial or high levels of covid transmission. and when you combine high levels

of holiday travel like we're seeing this weekend and family gatherings, we're going to see more people get infected. the good news is that if you are vaccinated and particularly if you're up to date on your vaccines, including the bivalent booster, you are greatly protected against a serious illness. i think there's less concern about the consequences of infection. but there will be plenty of people who will become infected in the aftermath of the holiday weekend. i agree, there is much less angst this year. that's not up to us. it's up to the virus. >> we always appreciate your expertise. i agree on you with that. if there is a surge that comes out of this holiday season, of course, lots of families getting together over the course of the next month, what are the dangers of people getting reinfected? you just said that most now have

already been infected at least once. >> so if you think about why our vaccines are less effective than they were when we first started vaccinating people in december of 2020, there are a couple of reasons. number one, the efficacy of the vaccine wanes over time. so the longer it's been since you received a vaccination, the less potent it remains in your system. and the other major problem is that the virus continues to mutate. our vaccines are less effective because the virus has a different structure. and the more people who are infected and the longer covid stays in our community and on this planet in such high numbers, the more likely it is to mutate. and the more likely it is to stay as a substantial, you know, threat. so, the best defense against

that would be to put this virus down finally. and that would include sometimes reinstitutes mitigating measures. there just isn't a lot of political will to do that. >> jonathan reiner, we certainly appreciate your time on this thanksgiving. wishing you a very happy thanksgiving. thank you for joining us. >> same to you, alex. >> thank you. now cnn projects democratic congresswoman mary potolo will keep her house seat fending off republican sara h palin. details on her failed comeback and what that means for the gop next. does it worry me? absolutely. sensodyne sensitivity & gumm gives s us the dual action effect that really takes care of both our teeth sensitivity as well as our gum issues. there's no question it's something that i would recommendnd. dude, what're you doing? i'm protecting my car. that's too much work. weathertech is so much easier.. laser-measured floorliners up here,

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this weekend in georgia will be full of family, food, and now voting. the georgia supreme court has denied a bid by republicans to stop early voting on saturday in

the senate runoff election. this, of course, is a high-stakes race between the incumbent democrat raphael warnock and herschel walker. if warnock wins re-election, democrats will hold 51 out of the 100 seats in the senate. that means they'll no longer have to rely on vice president kamala harris to break tie votes. let's go right to cnn's maeve reston. even though republicans know they can't win control of the senate, they're fighting pretty hard for herschel walker. >> reporter: they really are, and, you know, this was a big smerconish and start decision was a big deal for democrats because they're operating on a compressed time frame and they're trying to boost turnout as much as they possibly can, and so getting this additional saturday of early voting will really allow a lot of those voters whose schedules are constrained during the week to get out there and vote, and of course, the big question here is what that pool of voters is

going to look like. we're expecting, of course, a huge dropoff from general election day, but the more voters that warnock can get out there, the better it's going to be for him. >> maeve, let's go from one side of the country to the opposite. alaska, there's a house race. there was a house race. cnn now projecting that democratic congresswoman has defeated sarah palin. does this mean do you think that this is the end of palin's political career? >> reporter: i don't -- having watched palin over many years, i don't think that we can ever say that just because she certainly has such a big following, particularly among social conservatives and religious conservatives, but this was yet another example of the fact that palin's party now has kind of eclipsed her. there are -- she was among the first of this sort of republican celebrity candidate when she stepped out with john mccain as

his running mate in that 2008 race, but really her brand of politics was something that turned off a lot of alaska voters whereas petola was running on her independent streak, her ability to work across the aisle. a lot of people remembered palin abruptly stepped down as governor in 2009. some lingering resentments about that, and so this is sort of just a time when palin was not able to pull off the kind of robust campaign and raise the money that she needed to, alex. >> you can't tie so much of what we see back to the rise of sarah palin in 2008, but maeve, the victory really is quite significant, isn't it? >> reporter: it is, actually because last night as we were waiting for alaska to finish up their rank choice voting, we actually crossed the threshold where there will be a record number of women serving in

congress next year. 149. that's only two more women than are in the current congress which set the current record, but it is a milestone, albeit a sort of milestone of inches. there will also be a very diverse freshman class. there will be more latinas serving in congress than ever before, and one more black female member than before. so some records being broken there, though not by the margins that we saw, you know, back in 2018 for example, alex. >> she will be the first alaskan native serving in congress as well. lots of barriers being broken. maeve reston, thanks very much. >> thanks. black friday deals arrived even before the turkey got to the table this year, but the question, of course, is will americans squeezed by inflation still shell out for holiday shopping? we'll ask that question next.

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in just a few hours, americans will go from filling their stomachs to filling their shopping bags and despite record high inflation, retailers are expecting some big turnout for black friday. cnn's alison kosik joins us. what can we expect, and how is inflation playing into it? >> reporter: black friday begins tomorrow, the unofficial start

to the holiday shopping season, and very quickly if you are looking to get out and, you know, take a walk after eating that big thanksgiving meal tonight, i would think again because a lot of the stores that used to be open at midnight on thanksgiving, they're just not anymo anymore. you're not going to find that. you have to wait until black friday itself when stores open around 5:00 or 6:00 a.m., a more respectable hour. what we're going to find this year are the discounts. i think this year's buzzword really is value, as, you know, consumers are trying to contend with higher prices for just about everything. inflation, so you're really going to see consumers really try to find, you know, they're going to be more conservative about what they buy, but they're also going to find those deep discounts. they're trying to stretch their dollars more and still trying to capture the magic of the holiday season even though their dollars can certainly buy less. retailers are looking to bring in as many sales as possible, not just to offload the excess inventory they had since the

covid surge, but since there is so much uncertainty about where the economy is going to be next year, and they want to bring in those sales as early as possible. despite inflation, we are seeing consumers continue to have a strong appetite to go ahead and buy this holiday shopping season. we've got some data, the national retail federation said just this weekend rather from friday to monday, we're going to see 166 million people get out there and shop both online and in store, and you're looking at figures there. sales could reach up to $942 billion before november and december, the shopping season actually ends. alex? >> yeah. stores opening at dawn. a much more respectable hour. alison kosik in new york. happy thanksgiving to you. >> thank you. hi there. welcome to a special thanksgiving edition of "cnn newsroom." happy thanksgiving to all of you out there. we are thankful that you are with us today on thi