>> you just made me cool. so for that reason alone, seth macfarlane, thank you for coming on. >> pleasure. good saturday morning. we have breaking news from the nba. a tentative deal is in place. that could end the lockout and save the season. it's 6:00 a.m. in atlanta right now, 5:00 a.m. in fayetteville, arkansas, 3:00 a.m. in los angeles where the lakers could be playing by christmas day. from cnn's world headquarters, from news from across the nation and around the globe. live from studio 7, this is "cnn saturday morning" with t.j.

holmes. >> just got that breaking news from the nba. just a matter of hours ago. they were working overnight. we've got a live report on that coming your way literally in seconds. i do want to get you caught up on other morning headlines, including out of pakistan. where pakistan is saying nato helicopters opened fire killing 20 soldiers. this happened near the border with afghanistan. pakistan and military officials say another 12 soldiers injured in this attack. nato is saying they are aware of the incident but have yet to release any details. we have a live report from afghanistan coming up just a little later in the show. also, three american students arrested during protests in egypt are all expected to be headed home this weekend. they're accused of taking part in the sometimes violent protests in tahrir square. but parents of at least two of the teenagers say they didn't do anything wrong. tens of thousands of egyptians have been gathering in cairo to protest the government ahead of monday's scheduled elections. also, police searched the

home of a syracuse university assistant basketball coach who has been accused of molesting two ball boys. they didn't say what they were looking for, however, bernie fein is the coach's name. he is on leave from the team right now. two former ball boys say fine molested them between the 1970s and 1990s. fine has denied those claims. also, fears over car fires are leading to a formal safety investigation into the chevy volt. the national highway traffic safety administration says it could catch fire in a crash. they did admit this has only happened in simulations. chevy is working with the federal government on this investigation. also, nasa, we've got a big morning. we're keeping an eye on this. happening in a matter of hours. nasa launching a mission to mars. it's the curiosity rover. it's on the launch pad this morning ready to go at 10:02

a.m. eastern launch scheduled today. the new mission is supposed to look for evidence of water and life on mars. we'll be talking to a number of people from the space center this morning, including the administrator for nasa, also will.i.am. he's there for the launch trying to get kids excited about things like this. we'll be talking to all of them, but a big morning for nasa. also a big morning for you nba fans. it seems it's possible, the nba, the players will be playing by christmas day, just a matter of hours ago, they announced a handshake deal. joe carter with me here this morning. a handshake deal, still not done, but this is encouraging. >> very encouraging considering it's been five months we've been waiting for them to say some deal is in place. tentative deal, handshake, that's because they're going to take about the next ten days to put it on paper. a lot has to happen, but right now they're looking at starting the season on christmas day. it's going to be a shortened season, 66 games long, but as i

said, a lot has to happen between now and then. they're looking at basically rewriting this deal over the next ten days, then both sides will vote on it, they'll have to recertify as a union, a mad dash toward free agency, open up training camps, and as i said, december 25th, looking at a triple header starting the new nba season. this is david stern the commissioner moments ago. >> we've reached a tentative understanding. that is subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations. but we're optimistic that will all come to pass and that the nba season will begin on december 25th christmas day. >> the most important key thing here is that, you know, our fans

in the support from the people and the patience through the large part of this process, you know, that's who a lot of this credit goes to. you know, the efforts that have been made have been largely with them in mind. >> you know, they're really feeling that pressure, i think, from fans and from anybody related to the nba business wise, sponsor wise, because they worked for 17 hours today and into this morning to get this deal tentatively done. >> were they trying to keep this hush-hush and quiet? people weren't paying attention, we've got college football, and holidays going on, and people gave up on them. >> they had a secret meeting earlier in the week and they took a break for the holiday and got back to work yesterday. internally they knew, we've got to create some sort of excitement. it really gives fans an opportunity to forget all that happened the last five months and say we've got basketball back on christmas day, we can get excited.

>> they've got marquee match-ups for that day. thanks for coming up. thanks so much. we're about six minutes past the hour. we'll turn to politics and the race for the presidential nomination. paul steinhauser picks up the report here. there's a main focus for these candidates and you guessed it, it's in iowa. >> hey, good morning, t.j. while many americans have holiday shopping on their minds, for some of us it's all about the race for the presidential nomination. the gop presidential candidates are back on the campaign trail with 5 1/2 weeks go until the first votes in the nomination battle. >> and iowa has the first and in some respects one of the most powerful voices. >> i want to thank iowa for taking this process so seriously. >> reporter: and expect to see most of the major candidates to spend a lot of time in iowa from now until the january 3rd caucuses, which kick off the caucus calendar. a poll of people this week likely to take part in the

contest there. it indicates that newt gingrich is on top of the field with former massachusetts governor mitt romney second and congressman ron paul third. everyone else in single digits. the survey was conducted almost entirely before our tuesday night debate in washington. coming up in over two weeks, the next two debates in iowa, of course. t.j.? >> all right. thanks as always to our paul steinhauser. still on the political front, newt gingrich, defending what he said at tuesday's republican debate. his rivals came out blasting him for being what they say was soft on illegal workers. at a town hall event in nepals, florida, this was yesterday, gingrich says he does not support amnesty. >> i think the vast majority of them, they should go home, we should be very clear. if you're here without any great ties to the united states and you came here illegally, you need to work and the guest worker program from back home,

period. i do think if somebody in your neighborhood who has been here for 25 years and belong to your church and they have three kids and two grand kids and they're paying taxes and working hard, it's going to be very, very hard to get the american people to tear up those families. >> so will speaker gingrich continue to have to stay on defense on this issue? coming up at the bottom of the hour, conversation with a former gingrich campaign adviser. stick around for that. also this morning, the weather? bonnie schneider keeping an eye on it for us this weekend. >> you don't seem happy about the weather. >> it's killing christmas trees. people can probably figure out, we're talking about drought conditions. that's unfortunate, i hated to hear that. >> i do too. but there's positive. thanksgiving and black friday have been nice across the country, so travel, no troubles there. as we go into the weekend, though, we are going to face some challenges. i'll tell you all about the travel trouble spots and the

forecast ahead because big changes are on the way across the country. it's going to feel a whole lot colder. that and more is coming up on "cnn saturday morning." and makes you look younger. can your anti-aging makeup do that? simply ageless from olay and easy, breezy beautiful, covergirl.

♪ we're about ten minutes past the hour. good morning, atlanta, georgia. good morning, atlanta, home of the hawks who might actually get to play this season. you might have heard the news this morning, that, yeah, nba has reached a tentative deal. looks like they might have basketball by christmas day this year. but something else to tell you about here. christmas, got a little shortage of christmas trees possibly here. had a devastating drought in the southwest. we've been reporting about it for the past several months here. and now it appears it's been killing off thousands of christmas trees in texas as well as oklahoma. they are essentially dying of thirst here, bonnie, and that's unfortunate to hear.

so some of those lots and a lot of people who wanted to go -- and the family tradition of chopping down their own family christmas tree, not going to be able to do that. >> that's a shame. >> it is a shame. but you said this holiday weekend, good stuff, weather cooperated. >> a lot of people saying it didn't feel like thanksgiving because of a lot of locations. don't worry, if you want the colder weather, it's all changing. >> how soon? immediately? >> well, we're going to feel it on monday. >> on monday. >> everyone was like, actually, i didn't want it to be colder. it's going to get a lot colder. good weather for thanksgiving, but travel trouble spots are popping up. plenty of rain working across kansas at this hour. we're also looking at some rain in the midwest. this is a very powerful cold front that's going to bring about some changes. it's already triggering thunderstorms through the dallas area. if you're catching a flight this morning, so far, no delays. that's one of the places i'm anticipating possible airport delays later on. again, this is the beginning of colder air coming through. it's a cold front that will work

across the country and that's going to make for some changes as we go through much of the day today. we'll be watching for that. here's a look at our service map. you can see low pressure right over arkansas, and that's going to cause some storms there. it's also going to do two other important things. we're seeing it tap into gulf moisture that will bring about the potential for severe storms in cities like biloxi and new orleans and baton rouge later on this afternoon. and then to the north, this front will pull down so much colder air so it'llick up the winds behind it and that brisk wind will make the temperatures feel even colder than it actually is. wind gusts today will be soaring up to 60 miles per hour. and that's particularly true through the plain states. we saw that yesterday. so it's been windy in nebraska all weekend. that will continue. and the winds will also get strong through oklahoma like oklahoma city, down through amarillo, texas. and even towards the houston area, i'm expecting those winds to pick up. this is a powerful storm system that will bring about changes in the weather. highs today in minneapolis, 45, but the temperature will

actually be falling throughout the day, and the wind will make it feel even colder. it was in the 50s yesterday there. this is a big change. your forecast calls for colder conditions, 67 in atlanta, but what a difference a day makes, notice the temperature in minneapolis drops down to 38 for the high. chicago's high today in the mid-50s. by the time we get to sunday, 41 is the high temperature. it's not quite december, but feels like things are changing. t.j., florida will stay nice and mild, a lot of people there for the holiday weekend. in the 80s for tampa and miami. >> all right. bonnie, thank you. good to have you with us as always this weekend. were you one of those folks who went out, did that black friday shopping? well, it got, frankly, a little dangerous. we have reports pepper spray, tasers, shootings, this is not supposed to be the stuff we're talking about on this shopping day. we'll tell you what happened around the country. also, got a question we want

you to chime in on. also, another developing story. egypt frees three american college students, but we're not sure if their ordeal, necessarily, is over. what's this? it's progresso's new loaded potato with bacon. it's good. honey, i love you... oh my gosh, oh my gosh.. look at these big pieces of potato. ♪ what's that? big piece of potato. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. what's thwhoa. big piece of potato. whoa. how do you top great vacations?

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this weekend. we got that word just a short time ago. kind of some back and forth earlier this week on whether or not they would be released. they were actually accused of not just taking part in protests, but some authorities there in egypt said they actually had molotov cocktails. the students, through their parents, at least, denied that. but after being held for several day it appears they have been released and will be making their way home this weekend. meanwhile, let me turn to ivan watson in cairo for us. and we've been watching these protests for the past several days getting ready for these elections just a couple of days away. have things calmed down? >> reporter: well, there have been intermittent problems, t.j. one protester killed this morning, outside the headquarters of the egyptian government, and several others wounded. there appeared to be a clash there. a group of demonstrators gathered outside the entrance to try to block the newly appointed prime minister, from being able

to get into that building. the people here in tahrir square still arguing they do not want this man who was just appointed by the army generals who have been ruling this country since former president hosni mubarak was overthrown. the demonstrators have proposed -- some of them have proposed a liberal politician who used to run the international atomic energy agency as well as a moderate islamist who broke off from the very well-organized muslim brotherhood. but, we also saw on friday a very interesting gathering of thousands, if not tens of thousands of demonstrators who wanted to show that not all egyptians support the tahrir square demonstrations behind me. these people gathered to show their support for the ruling military council and to say that tahrir does not represent all egyptians. take a listen to what one university professor had to say to our own cnn's ben wedeman.

listen. >> our police is the last remaining institution along with the army. if these two institutions fall, anarchy is going to prevail in egypt. the only way to say whether the people in tahrir or the people here represent egypt is through elections. >> so t.j., expect a battle over the next government and the formation of that even as egyptians are preparing to go to the polls on monday. t.j.? >> ivan watson there for us in cairo. we'll continue to check in with you. thanks so much. we're at 18 minutes past the hour now. and i know what you're thinking, congress isn't getting anything done and certainly not getting anything done for you. how about this for a change? they might be working to eliminate those checked bag fees when you fly. yeah, folks, it's possible. the story next. stay with me. pro-gresso they fit!

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21 minutes past the hour on this "cnn saturday morning," give you a check at some of the news making headlines across the country.

in san francisco, demonstrators in the streets causing traffic jams. >> new york! >> the police ready in riot gear. it's all part of the occupy san francisco movement going on now for more than 60 days. also, washington may be getting rid of some airline baggage fees. a proposed bill would require every u.s. airline to accept one checked bag and one carry-on bag for free. right now, some airlines charge up to $35 for the first bag and one airline wants you to pay up to $45 for a carry-on. and this alabama man is sky diving 100 times in a day. he's going to do about 12 jumps an hour. he's doing it to remember the first american killed in combat in afghanistan. >> put himself in harm's way for our country. >> johnny mike span died in december of 2001.

well, were you out there with all of those black friday shoppers? well, it wasn't all fun and games, was it? it turned ugly in a number of places across the country. violent incidents reported in at least nine states. this is the scene out of a walmart in pine bluff, arkansas. shoppers in the near riot to get a shot at what? $2 waffle irons. also, in florida, two men got into a fistfight over some jewelry. one man then resisted arrest. police had to wrestle him to the ground. also in los angeles, this may be the incident you heard a lot about. the woman pulled out a can of pepper spray and used it on other shoppers. she and the others were grabbing for some xboxes that were on sale. several people injured in the stampede that followed.

>> i didn't see her personally, but i sure got the scent of the mace. i got it in my throat. it was burning. i saw people around me got it really bad. i tried to get away from it as quickly as possible. i didn't think those were worth it. no deal's worth that. >> so why are we seeing all of this go on? have we always seen these? more of them? and what's behind it? that's the question we have for you today. maybe the economic hard times playing a role in it. so that's our question. we want to ask you -- we want you to chime in this morning. send your comments to us. you know where to find me on twitter@t.j.holmes. also cnn.com/tj and a facebook page, as well. what do you think is behind the violence we are seeing? and has black friday gone a little too far? well, 25 minutes past the hour now. pakistan says nato helicopters opened fire near the afghanistan

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as we approach the bottom of the hour on this "cnn saturday morning." welcome back to you all. thank you for spending parts of your holiday weekend here with us. and an important and breaking story we're getting out of pakistan where at least 26 pakistani soldiers were killed at a check point near the afghan borders. let me bring in our nick peyton walsh live from kabul, afghanistan. and we hear that 26 have been killed, but a lot of people are disturbed including pakistan in hearing who is responsible for this. >> reporter: that's correct. they blame isaf nato helicopters. pakistan military officials saying they crossed o eed over border inside pakistan killing 26 and injuring many others. outrage across pakistan, the prime minister already calling for his foreign ministry to take this up at the highest levels with nato and american officials, as well. i should point out that nato

have not released their version of events as yet. they've waited a couple of hours and put out a statement. putting out a statement in which they said this would have the highest attention of the top official. let's have a look at what they said. >> we're seeing this on the screen. says it has the highest personal attention. this is the isaf commander, we have up on the screen from general john allen saying the incident has his highest attention and commitment to thoroughly investigate it to determine the facts. most sincere and heart felt condolences go out to the families and loved ones of any members of the pakistani security forces who may have been killed or injured. help us understand or our viewers understand this region a little better. there is no answer yet as to why -- why in the world would isaf nato have attacked this check point? a pakistani check point?

>> reporter: well, you should point out, general allen's statement is more illuminating in what it doesn't say. doesn't accept it was an attack or casualties from it. this part of the world, enormously complicated. an operation happening on the afghan side of the border to flush out the taliban and this occurs on the pakistani side. not sure why they crossed over if they did as the officials say, but the border itself poorly delineated. many american troops are not quite sure where pakistan begins and afghanistan ends. and certainly great violence in kunar on the afghan side there's a large american presence and also huge concerns on the pakista pakistani sides that it's at times used for a sanctuary. and assist the insurgency in hiding out there. an enormously confused area as you say, t.j. and this incident going right to the heart of a tense relationship right now since the

killing of osama bin laden in pakistan recently. >> thank you so much, we'll check back in with you. we'll give you a look now as we approach the bottom of the hour at some other stories making headlines. including three american students are expected back in the united states this weekend. they were accused of being involved in the recent violent clashes in tahrir square. all three have been attending american university in cairo on a semester long study abroad program. also, maybe nba basketball by christmas? the owners and players have reportedly agreed on a tentative deal that could end the lockout. it's been going on for 149 days now. according to espn, the league is playing a 66-game season with training camps opening somewhere around december 9th. the handshake deal has to be ratified by both players and owners. also, a formal safety investigation has been launched into general motors chevy volt. the national highway traffic safety administration says the

car's lithium ion battery could catch fire in a crash. so far it's only happened in simulations, however. chevy is working with the federal government on this investigation. also, texas congressman charlie gonzalez has decided he will not seek reelection. he's also one of the texas lawmakers who sued the state over a controversial redistricting map. he'll hold a news conference later today. well, former house speaker newt gingrich was the latest republican to rise in the polls. but will he also be the next to fall? in america's most in demand careers. we provide you with instructors who are professionals working in the fields they teach. it's an education designed for today, from a university that holds the same level of institutional accreditation as america's top schools. experience the university of phoenix difference

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might not survive this. facing criticism from his republican rivals over this debate answer that he gave on immigration. >> if you've come here recently, you have no ties to this country, you ought to go home period. if you've been here 25 years and you've got three kids, two kids, grand kids, you belong to a local church, i don't think we're going to separate you from your family, uproot you forcefully, and kick you out. >> matt tower, former campaign adviser to newt gingrich. you used to work for this guy. were you surprised by this answer? >> he actually worked for me. no, i did work for him as his debate coach. i was a little surprised in the language he used. let me put it in context i think no one else has explained. newt gingrich ten or so years ago converted to catholicism, i converted, as well. in the catholic church, you have a very high hispanic population.

many times they're admissions, many time part of the church. you see families coming with their bibles and children, that's what newt was talking about. i haven't asked him, but i know that's what he was talking about. he wasn't talking about every illegal immigrant in the uncan, he was talking about families that have been here for a long period of time and were part of the community and church and alike. and he clarified it yesterday. i don't think this is going to be the death of his campaign -- >> it sounds like from you he gave an honest, a sincere answer that was shaped by his personal surroundings. >> yeah, what's so funny is -- he's always being called the grinch and mean guy, and he used the word humane. and apparently in this year you're not allowed to use the word humane. >> as you sit back as a democrat and watch this and a guy, a lot of people would say he said something humane, that wasn't extreme to the right, and now he's getting criticized for it. where are we when you can't give that kind of answer? >> well, his approach is a bit risky for the republican

primary. but newt is the big thinker in the room. in his republican debate. and what he's done is he's put a big idea on the table. and i think it's genius because he takes the debate off of his baggage, off of his previous marriages, off of all of that and moves forward on this policy issue. it positions him well for the general election, but also it takes the scrutiny off of his personal life. >> you think he can survive it? you sound like you think he can. we had bauchmann to rise and fall, cain did the rise and fall, gingrich did the rise and -- >> 38 days till the iowa caucus. >> can he hold on? >> he has the opportunity to continue the conversation. he put out a -- what he's calling a ten-step plan to a legal nation. and it reminds me of the contract with america. and it's just laying out his immigrant stance on policies. so he's trying to communicate what he's really saying in his stance, as well. >> are republicans looking at

this -- and i believe -- i can't remember who wrote it in the "washington post." republicans are trying to decide between steady romney or risky gingrich. does that appear to be the shape or the fight that's shaping up? >> well, the polling that we see shows that there's sort of an anybody but romney crowd, and it's pretty big. gingrich may go down a little bit in the polls right now. iowa's not going to be the litmus test, by the way. i would not be surprised if ron paul won the iowa caucus he's doing so well. that thing's sort of a fruit basket turnover. new hampshire's not going to be the litmus test. it'll be south carolina and florida that will decide the nomination. those are the first states you have that are totally reflective of the national republican party. >> who has a chance then? >> gingrich in south carolina, romney's strong in florida. they'll have to battle it out in those two states. >> what does it mean for democrats sitting back watching the republicans fight it out? it could be a good and bad

thing. >> democrats are thinking these republicans can't make up their mind. and they just have to make up their mind. they can't determine what they want to do on the deficit, they can't determine who they want for their republican nominee, they're all over the place. and until they make up their mind, they're going to be in shambles and the democrats are going to sit back and just continue grinning. >> at the same time, if there is that interest, like there was the interest with obama and clinton, you know, stretching that thing out. people thought it might hurt them, but still, they were battered and bruised, sure, but it kept a national attention and interest in those candidates. >> there was just two. but now you're talking about a litany of people and it keeps going -- it's just a test dance for each candidate. >> a lot of those -- >> i love when you say that -- >> yeah. we know each other. we know politics. >> and we sit back and are thinking if everyone can go back and forth like we do. >> less trouble. >> exactly. >> give me an honest answer that i don't get out of too many

democrats, but i'll try you. be honest, who would you love for president obama to go up against, who would you fear? >> i would fear mitt romney, and i would love rick perry. >> rick perry. i won't ask you that question, actually. >> i think he pretty much nailed it. good to see you guys as always. thank you so much for coming in. we're 40 minutes past the hour. and we're just a couple of hours away from blast off. yes, we have a mission to mars taking off this morning, a new rover is going to be heading to the red planet. so what can we expect to get out of this mini cooper-sized rover? we'll explain, stay with us.

♪ good morning, everybody. good morning port canaveral, and good morning, nasa. nasa tv, it's live, it happens. we'll be watching nasa tv a lot this morning because we've got a mission going and we're going to figure out if there's life on mars. yes, well, maybe. nasa's sending up a new rover this morning to find out what's happening on the surface of the red planet. this is the curiosity rover. it's sitting atop the atlas five rocket. and somebody who will be watching very closely this morning is a nasa administrator.

what is on the line for nasa today? >> t.j., this is a huge day for us. this is a very exciting day. this is the precursor for human flight to mars. curiosity is about as you mentioned earlier, a mini cooper-sized vehicle. the largest rover we've ever sent to the red planet. it represents quite a challenge because it's got about 8 1/2-month coast journey to get there. and when it gets there in august, august 5th is our target landing date, we're going to put it on the surface, relatively precise landing in the crater where we most likely think we -- if there is life or has been life, we'll find it there. >> and when i asked what was on the line? and i know you don't like to think about the possibility of something not going well, but given that we just retired the shuttle program and we don't have that many things in line, if you will, to inspire, to do these live events, and blastoffs

and landings, what is on the line for nasa if this thing doesn't go so well? >> well, we're always positive thinkers. and so it's going to go well. and it -- and there are a number of things that are coming right behind it. we have a number of launches coming up throughout this year and the next year. this is going to be the busiest two years for us with about 40 launches in which we're participating. not to mention the continued launches of our crew members to the international space station. because that will happen every six months as it always has. we are constantly rotating the crews. in three-month centers, but with six-month increments on the international space station. but curiosity is the thing of the day. and we're going to launch it out of here, 10:02 on the eight-month journey. and this will be hard. you hit the nail on the head, we make it look easy, but it's going to be difficult. >> yeah.

you do make it look easy. but the fact it's going to be traveling all of these millions of miles for the next eight plus months and then you have to land this sucker on the red planet, yeah, that's pretty impressive. tell me, what is the ultimate payoff here for this mission? what would be, i guess, the ultimate goal and you would say this is an ultimate success for this mission? >> oh, i'll tell you, t.j. it boggles the imagination. the ultimate payoff would be to go have its robotic arm and drill and take some samples from the soil there and find not only that there are signs that life once existed on the planet, that there are actually living microbes right now. that would be the ultimate pay off. and we wouldn't be able to march fast enough to start to get humans ready to go to mars. so for us, there is no question. the ultimate payoff would be to find signs of life on the red planet. >> and remind people -- because people -- and i know there was a

lot of talk about this particular mission because it was -- it was a little behind schedule and certainly overbudget you'll admit. so remind people who do have those questions, and people will have those criticisms, at least. why is this still important for us to do? and this is an important $2.5 billion investment for us to find out about microbial life. >> like everything we do at nasa, we do spend lots of money, but it's all spent right here on earth. we couldn't have a better day than today, which is small business day in the united states. a day in which we focus on the heart and soul of what is the economic engine of our nation? it's small businesses. i've visited with one yesterday down in -- near here that actually has a role to play. they're using their sounders to determine weather profile -- the wind profile for the launch. this is important for america to

maintain its leadership in exploration. it's critical for us. and you know, we have hundreds of people here who are here for a -- hopefully we'll find if there is or was life on mars so we can send humans there in 2030s as president obama has asked us. >> we're excited to see it. and we're certainly going to bring it to our viewers live. thank you so much. good luck, all right? >> well, t.j., thank you very much. we're looking for a great show this morning. >> all right. we will have more on this mission and how nasa's trying to get kids excited about science. we'll be talking in just about 30 minutes to a astronaut leyland melvin who will be joined by will.i.am of the black eyed peas encouraging kids to study math, science, as well as engineering. we're about 12 of the top of the hour now. and you hear about people sleep

walking, even people who actually eat in their sleep. now a doctor in australia says some of his patients are sending text messages in their sleep. >> she told me how she text somebody, close the door. >> and i was like? are you really joking? i sent that to you at 3:00 in the morning? he was like, yeah, you did. >> that's coming up in your morning fast board on this "cnn saturday morning." your husband put this all together when emma was born. he was an amazing man. this is for you. it's all paid off. ♪ and this is for emma. so where do you think she'll go? anywhere she wants. [ male announcer ] we're making people a more secure tomorrow. what can we make with you? transamerica. transform tomorrow.

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all right. about ten of the top of the hour on this "cnn saturday morning." it's time for morning passport with nadia bilcheck. can you really sleep text? >> well, according to dr. kunnington, he is seeing cases. now, i will say they are rare cases. but seeing people who are very active during the day and the mind doesn't stand still and what's happening is not during rem sleep, which is rapid eye movement sleep, he is finding cases of people who are texting and in the morning have absolutely no recollection of having texted. >> now, are they sending coherent texts? >> no. things like shut the door, keep it open, things that are fairly incoherent. but what's interesting about this, is around 2008, there was a study about e-mailing and sleep e-mailing and one woman saying something like 44 e-mails

during her sleep. but think about it, your pc is away from the bedroom. where is your cell phone at night? where is your smartphone. it becomes dangerous. but really the point of both the ohio study and the one in melbour melbourne, australia. is they are saying to people, you need to shut down. you need to take a moment and completely shut off either your phone or put it away. because what's happening is, think about this, sometimes at night, you have a moment -- and what do you do? you check your phone. so there's a greater point to all of this, which is, are people going to be sleep texting, so never mind sleep walking or sleep talking, doing things during the sleep they regret in the morning, and they are finding increased cases. and is this going to be the new phenomenon? we don't know. >> are they sure. sometimes you can't remember what you did. are we re people didn't just wake up at 2:00 in the morning and out of it and did a little something. he's saying they're actually

asleep while they're doing this? >> well, the particular he looked at was sleep texting because she was a very conservative woman. and what she did was take pictures of herself, rather compromising pictures he said and then text them. so with absolutely no recollection the next morning. but it's one of these things that's unexplored. but again, the greater point is you need a moment to shut down. and what these doctors are saying is either switch off your phone completely, which appar t apparently only 1 in 10 people and 4 out of 5 people have their phone next to their bed. >> do you? >> absolutely. >> i do too. >> that's why i was getting e-mails all hours of the morning. exactly. and you feel an urge to respond. so what they're saying is remember other people's urgency isn't necessarily yours. and because other people are e-mailing you, you do not need to respond, so take a moment. >> you know what? that was the best line, best advice i'll get for a while. other people's urgency is not necessarily yours. nadia bilchik.

and for your nba fans out there, there's still some of you left, i'll assume. the owners and players have reached a tentative deal to finally end the lockouts. a tentative deal. just a handshake deal right now. still a few more steps to go. we'll have the very latest in a few moments. also, we've been asking you your thoughts on black friday violence. one of you wrote, "hard times makes people crazy. imagine if there was a food shortage. people act this way over a $2 waffle iron?" we'll have more of your responses right after the break. stay with us. this new at&t 4g le is fast. did you hear sam... ...got promoted to director? so 12 seconds ago. we should get him a present. thanks for the gift basket. you're welcome. you're welcome. did you see hr just sent out new... ...office rules? cause you're currently in violation of 6 of them. oh yeah, baby? ...and 7. did you guys hear that fred is leaving? so 30 seconds ago. [ noisemakers blow ] [ both ] we'll miss you! oh, facecake! there's some leftover cake. [ male announcer ] the new htc vivid. stay a step ahead with at&t 4g lte,

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thank you for sharing your comments on what we saw on black friday. and yes, we saw a lot of deals, shopping, and crowds. and we saw a lot of violence, as well. nine states reported some kind of violent incident. and what do you think is behind some of what we have been seeing? well, a lot of you wrote in. here are a couple of them. one person writing, violence has always been there with smartphones, youtube, twitter, and 24/7 news cycles, it seems endless. another saying obviously retailers created a situation that practically begs for these incidents to occur. people need to reevaluate their priorities. also another one from jack saying what do you think? greed and selfishness have overtaken the holiday season. shame on the greedy retailers and consumers. and then one other we can share with you saying extreme responses to everyday life have become the new norm for us bringing mace to normal activities like shopping defies logic.

thank you, we'll keep that conversation going with you this morning. you know where to find -- been talking to some of you on twitter already this morning. please keep it going. well, as we get close to the top of the hour, we know the thanksgiving holiday bonnie schneider is over now, or the day is. it's still the holiday weekend. a lot of people trying to travel -- trying to get back home? >> this weekend, i think a lot of people will be traveling. and unfortunately, there are issues that will come up today that weren't present for thanksgiving or black friday. i want to show you this storm system. it's triggering showers and thunderstorms from parts of minneapolis, getting rain and snow in northern minnesota, and further to the south, some very heavy rain. this is going to be a problem for those of you that are up early this morning in dallas, texas, for example. driving northward into tulsa, oklahoma, lots of rain causing some visibility problems. those of you flying, we are anticipating some airport delays across the country. due to the same storm system, and you'll really see this kind of exists from north to south. chicago may see the worst of it. possibly delays an hour or

longer due to wind, low clouds, and rain. i mentioned texas, so dallas and houston facing the threat for airport delays. memphis and st. louis, wind, low clouds, and rain, you've seen foggy weather in the mid south, and minneapolis and even miami may see delays. but in miami, the consolation is the high is 81 degrees. t.j.? >> thank you. and we're at the top of the hour. let's reset here and get you caught up on everything going on around the world and the country, as well, including a breaking story from the nba. this happened overnight a matter of hours ago, they announced a tentative deal is in place that could end the lockout and save the season. the season would possibly begin on christmas day. so you've still got a little waiting to do. we'll have the latest on that. coming up, we're keeping a close eye on nasa this morning. they have the launch of their new mars mission. i'll be talking to will.i.am shortly. why is he there? what's his connection? i'll let him explain it to you

himself. also, if you're heading out to do holiday shopping this morning, those credit card companies are out there and they're offering rewards. they sound good. have you necessarily read the fine print? clyde anderson will be around to help you understand this. some other stories making headlines, including overseas where pakistan says it's got a problem with nato right now because they say nato helicopters opened fire on a military checkpoint killing at least 26 soldiers, this happened near the border with afghanistan. pakistan and military officials say 14 soldiers were injured in the attack. nato says they are now investigating but have yet to release any official details. also this morning, we're expecting three american students arrested during those protests in egypt. they are now out of jail and expected home some time this weekend. they're accused of taking part in the sometimes violent protests in tahrir square. but parents of at least two of the teenagers say they didn't do anything wrong.

tens of thousands of egyptians have been gathering in cairo to protest the government ahead of monday's scheduled elections. also, police searched the home of a syracuse university assistant basketball coach who has been accused of molesting two ball boys. they didn't say, the authorities, what they were looking for in the home of bernie fine. he is right now on leave from the team. two former ball boys say fine molested them between the 1970s and 1990s. fine has denied those claims. also, you don't want your car to catch on fire, do you? well, fears of car fires are leading into a formal investigation into the chevy volt. the volt's batteries could catch fire in a crash. they say, however, this has not happened in a real accident yet, only in simulations. chevy says they're working with the federal government in this investigation. also, we've been telling you just a couple of hours from now, it's going to happen. you will see it here live. that thing is going to blast

off. nasa's latest mission to mars is the "curiosity" rover. this is sitting on the launch pad. we have a 10:02 eastern time scheduled launch. this is a new mission supposed to look for evidence of water and life on mars. we'll have more live from there coming up in just a moment. but again, while you were sleeping, the nba and its players reached agreement. on some kind of a deal to end the lockout. it means we could see nba basketball on christmas day. this is still a tentative deal. they call it a handshake deal, still needs to be approved by the players and the nba's board of governors. that could take around a week to ten days. still, listen to the encouraging news from the nba commissioner david stern. >> we've reached a tentative understanding. that is subject to a variety of approvals and very complex

machinations. but we're optimistic that will all come to pass and that the nba season will begin on december 25th, christmas day. >> so we could have a triple-header to tip off the season, the nba season on christmas day. and then they're expected to play a 66-game season. we're four minutes past the hour now. let's turn to some politics, shall we, in the race for the republican presidential nomination. most of these candidates have their eyes on one place and one place alone right now, iowa. >> hey, good morning, t.j. while many americans have holiday shopping on their minds this weekend, for some of us, it's all about the race for the republican presidential nomination. with thanksgiving over, the gop presidential candidates are backback on the campaign trail with 5 1/2 weeks to go until the first votes in the nomination battle. >> iowa has one of the most

powerful voices as to who our nominee will be. >> i want to thank iowa for taking this process so seriously. >> and expect to see most of the major candidates spend lots of time in iowa from now until the january 3rd caucuses, which kick off the primary and caucus calendar. a poll out this week of people likely to take part in the republican contest there. it indicates that house speaker newt gingrich is on top of the field with former massachusetts governor mitt romney second and congressman ron paul third, everyone else in single digits. the survey was conducted almost entirely before our tuesday night debate right here in washington. now, coming up in just over two weeks, the next two debates in iowa, of course. t.j.? >> thanks to our paul steinhauser. newt gingrich is still defending what he said at tuesday's republican debate. his rivals, republican rivals are already blasting him for being soft on illegal workers after the former house speaker said families who had been in the u.s. for a long time should not be torn apart.

meanwhile, at a town hall event in naples, florida, he says he does not support amnesty. >> i think the vast majority of them, they should go home and we should be very clear about this. if you're here without any ties to the united states and you came here illegally, you need to leave for back home, period. i do think if somebody in your neighborhood who has been here 25 years and they belong to your church and they have three kids and two grand kids and they've been paying taxes and working hard, it's going to be very, very hard to get the american people to agree to tear up those families. >> gingrich is still campaigning in florida today with a book signing stop. we're at six minutes past the hour now, and around the holidays, credit card companies give you those offers that are too good to pass up. but clyde anderson is here to just put a damper on your parade and tell us to pass them up.

clyde schooling me once again after the break. [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less.

clyde anderson, we're talking about these credit card companies who pull out all the stops here. around the holidays because you're looking out there, you need a good deal. these sound pretty good. >> yeah. >> give me an example of this type of stuff. >> american express may say we'll give you 15% back if you use your card during the holidays. amazon is doing a thing right now if you use your card online from the 15th till the end of the year, they'll give you money back. they'll give you money back for swiping a card or buying something online. >> that sounds legit. i'm going to spend this money anyway, right? >> you're going to spend it. but sometimes it's an incentive to spend. sometimes you've been using your credit card throughout the year, that's fine. during regular things, but sometimes they'll say if you spend $200, we'll give you 25% off. you weren't going to spend $200 anyway, if you weren't going to

spend the money, so it's not a true reward. >> but if you were going to spend the $200, then some of these things can pay off. >> some of the things can pay off. you've got to remember, though, you've got to pay it off on time. if you don't pay it off on time because all the rewards have gone out the window because you've accumulated the interest. you've got to be strategic about how you use it, as well. >> what about the rewards points? >> yeah. >> i hear this all the time. i don't get it really. can these be beneficial? >> well, they reward you for using the card. the more you swipe, the more we're going to reward you. if you're not solely in it for the rewards. some are using the card to get the rewards, which doesn't make sense if you weren't going to use the card. sometimes it's 10%, 20%. we see it often in the department stores where they're offering you these cards or get our card from the department store or the box store. >> all the time. >> a lot of times they're higher interest rate and can have a bigger ding on the credit report. so you've got to be careful about that, as well. >> okay.

you always put it -- just rain on my parade. i want to think -- and they come after us aggressively during the holiday. >> definitely. this is their time. >> they know we're about to spend. >> they know this is when people are spending money. we talk about the average person spends about $725 on christmas gifts alone. so now they can get some of that interest, they're not doing it just for the goodness of their hearts, they're doing it to get interest. so they're assuming and knowing most people aren't going to pay that off on time and they're going to pay interest. and they're financing their christmas. >> you're killing me here. what else do we need to keep an eye out for? and my question was going to be, and it sounds like there could be an upside if you're going to spend that much. but what they're doing is playing on us and they're forcing -- not forcing us, but they're getting us, playing with our heads in such a way, they're making us spend more than we were going to. >> seems wonderful, makes it easier to spend. they're saying go ahead and spend now. again, if you're going to shop throughout the year or you know stores you're going to frequent often, it may be a good idea to

get the card from the store. >> you always make sense and that kills me. clyde anderson with us as always. you going to stick around for the launch? this is a pretty ambitious mission here by nasa. but there's a live look. kennedy space center, down in florida, looks like they will be able to take off. but "curiosity," the rover sitting on top of that atlas 5 rocket, and it is heading to mars today. it's happening within three hours. the launch, you will see it here live. we're going to take you back there here in a moment to talk to some folks also keeping a close eye on this launch. stay with me. for convertibles, press star one. i didn't catch that. to speak to a representative, please say representative now. representative. goodbye! you don't like automated customer service, and neither do we. that's why, unlike other cards, no matter when you call chase sapphire preferred, you immediately get a person not a prompt. chase sapphire preferred. a card of a different color.

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a quarter past the hour, we are just a few hours away from that thing over my shoulder taking off. you know where it's heading? to mars. nasa is about to send up the "curiosity" rover set for 10:02 a.m. eastern time launch.

joining me now to talk about this is our guy john zarrella who covers all things space related. so give us perspective here. just how ambitious of a mission is this nasa's about to embark on? >> reporter: this is about as bold and ambitious as it gets, t.j. getting off the ground is the easy part. then they travel until august 6th until they get to mars on august 6th. if you and i were sitting on mars looking up, it would be about 3:00 in the martian afternoon when it would get there. and then they're going to use this whole sky crane system to land on mars, dropping the vehicle down, then it goes and takes off all on its own and starts searching for evidence that life might have existed or still does on mars. so tremendously ambitious. $2.5 billion mission. >> let's go back to what they're

looking for. signs that life could've existed. when you say that, a lot of people are going to have in their heads, we're thinking about little green men sometimes. that's not necessarily what they're up there looking for. >> reporter: no, no, actually they're bigger guys up there now, they're not little ones, they're smaller. what they're looking for is organic -- what they'd like to find is organic matter. and they're down playing it saying the chances of finding organic matter are really, really slim. but in order for life to exist as we know it, you've got to have organic matter. if they find that, that's like the holy grail of mars exploration. but what they're looking to do is to really sort of examine if they don't find that, is there still enough evidence there of past water perhaps? is there evidence in the rock formations that mars might have been wetter at one point, might have been able to sustain life? at least they want to be able to

find out that much. >> okay. again, a lot of ifs there. and remind our viewers, this thing is not expected to land. we're not going to get answers for a little while. >> no. no, it's going to be august 6th before it lands on the martian surface. but pretty much, and that'll be eastern time after midnight like 1:00 a.m. but very quickly it's going to be ready to go, you'll get the first images off the martian surface, and, you know, see exactly what this crater location looks like. and as far as the weather goes today, a lot of clouds moving in, but they're saying that may be the only obstacle. the winds are not a problem. and they think because they have an hour and 40 minute launch window they'll have enough break in these clouds to get off the ground. >> john zarrella, we'll be talking to him plenty throughout the day. we're not done with this story yet. coming up next, this nasa launch is bringing all kinds of folks together including a nasa

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well, a live look. nasa's space launch complex. the rocket you see right there is about to take nasa's latest and greatest toy up to space, particularly to mars. "curiosity" rover is aboard 54 million miles it will travel to the red planet. hoping today's mission doesn't start the next chapter, they also hope it sparks the imaginations of kids all across the country and jump starts their desire to learn more about

space and science. and joining me to talk about that part of the story, leland melvin as well as will.i.am from the black eyed peas. thank you both for being here. leyland, let me start with you. no matter how much we tell kids to get into math and science, sometimes what you really need is to see a rocket blast off, and you need will.i.am to be involved. is that sometimes what it boils down to? >> well, that's what it takes. you know, we're all about trying to inspire that next generation of explorers. and whatever means we can use. whether it's music, math, whatever that means is, whether it's a rocket behind us taking off to take up this rover "curiosity." we'll take that and use that to get these kids motivated to do stem education. >> you tell us, and we've talked about before about your interest in getting kids involved with stuff. would you classify yourself as a space geek? >> i'm a tech geek, a space geek -- just curious like this rover here. so, yep.

i'm a space geek. >> so you say just curious. and i just mentioned this to leland, what have you seen? have you been disappointed? have you been surprised at how much it takes sometimes to get kids into those fields? >> i'm blown away and inspired by these kids, especially the kids that work in the robotics program. and there's like 200,000 plus kids who are building robots, doing amazing things with their skill set. and it's not like kids aren't -- it's just that we haven't shined the light on those who are getting involved, as well. so i'm really inspired by these kids. >> leland, you pick up that point for me there. translate this for us. how do we get to launch to today?

how does that translate into getting a kid involved in a field of math and science and maybe even a career? >> well, when i think about a kid seeing curiosity this rover going around the surface of mars taking samples, doing things, i was a chemistry major, i mixed these two chemicals together and blew up this creative explosion in my mom's living room, and that got me fueled and energized. so maybe there's going to be a kid watching "curiosity" going around the surface of mars and they may think, well, how do i become a scientist or engineer? how do i become a musician? because music and mathews both the right and left side of the brain. if you know music, you know math. there's science and engineering in the arts too. >> uh-oh. whose phone? you want to answer that? >> no, no, i got that. i'm sorry. >> no, i'm kidding, my man. that's quite all right. one other thing to you here, will. what got you into it in the first place? what triggered your curiosity

about these types of fields? about nasa, about science, about robotics? >> well, i went to the science school, my education early on got me into science. but through my career in music, i realized -- i realized that our industry, the music industry relies on engineering and science also, you know. it's about solutions. how do we change america's inner cities? and getting kids excited about stem education to take careers and become young entrepreneurs and innovators. that's what's going to change our country around. so i'm about solutions and stems -- >> about the system, right? >> yeah, the system. so i came up with this concept called the system which stands for stimulating youth around science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. and so i'm -- that's my mission

now now is to change the neighborhood i come from. >> well, gentlemen, i know the work you're doing, i know the challenge ahead for this whole country. i'm making sure we get more kids into those fields. congratulation on the work you're doing, good luck, enjoy the launch today, gentlemen, thank you so much. >> thank you. and on another note as we talk about will.i.am there, he's actually helping us out here, as well, at cnn with our tribute. he's one of the co-hosts of the special show on december 11th. you can see it right here live at 8:00 eastern time. we unveil the cnn hero of the year. and you still have some time to vote right now. you can do that at cnnheroes.com. meanwhile this morning, the chevy volt, the plug-in hybrid, possible fire risk. federal investigators looking into it. we'll tell you what's happening there as we get close to the bottom of the hour. not white collar or blue collar or no collars. we are business in america. and every day we awake to the same challenges.

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did you guys hear that fred is leaving? so 30 seconds ago. [ noisemakers blow ] [ both ] we'll miss you! oh, facecake! there's some leftover cake. [ male announcer ] the new htc vivid. stay a step ahead with at&t 4g lte, with speeds up to 10x faster than 3g. ♪ stories making headlines now. pakistan says nato helicopters opened fire killing 26 soldiers. this happened near the border near afghanistan. another 14 soldiers were injured in that attack. nato says they are aware of an incident but have yet to release details. nba fans, if you still care, the nba could be playing by christmas. the owners and players have reportedly agreed on a tentative deal that could end the lockout. and it could mean a season would start on christmas day. it would be a 66-game season. also, a formal