thanks justin, many of you are about to sit down togethth with friends and family for your thanksgiving day feast. feast.i've seen lots of thoughts from you on facebooktoday about what you're thankful for.today as we remember how much we have to be thankful for and treasure tho around us, we also got to enjoy the annual macy's thanksgiving day parade. one of the biggest thanksgiving traditions.some of you are also gearing up for another tradition...black friday shopping! tech gadgege are always at the top of the wish list.cbs 2 news reporter matt hammill checked in with best buy to see what the guys in the blue polos expect to be the hottest item this holiday season. season. " technology was the number one category that people want to give and receive - one of those new items will be the i pad pro so obviously you can see this is alot bigger size screen than it has been previously - -go ahead and pick iiup for me so you can see e w light weight it is as well - so for such a large tablet it's extremely light weight what they've done with this too is a faster processor so it is the fastest one to date for i pad. pad.the other great technology

that's going to be going on this year i think is the 4-k tvs - :04 :04the resolution is beyond anything i've ever seen in my 14 years i've beenorking with best buy .. alot of it is still confusing because its still kind of new technology, but they are blown away with the actual picture quality :05 :05netflix has been kind of i would say the pioneer .. they have quite a few shows now broadcast in 4-k for streaming and so it's already ready and right now through things like netflix :09 :09- so one of the awesome things we're going to have this yeaeafor black fridas is a samsmsg 4-k tv for as lolo as 800 dollars .. a 60 inch tv. which is going to be a great item i think for this holiday season drone technology is one of those technologies that is really tangff. no -3d asra varooooom can fly at a very high rate and you want to make sure you're doing it safely - so there is rules and guidelines that you can actually go to as a consumer to see wheryou can and can't fly the dronon tchlhla y e guabt thisbial &heayp to ti3 e :1- enddiffer - 7:24:04 nieen k f wldayheioer .. att is that he & :- with a technology like this which is why i like that we've been partnering with the right people to make sure we're

according to according to the american according to the american express, shoppers will spend about 584-dollars on black friday. more than a thousand runners laced up on this thanksgiving morning for the first cedar rapids turkey trot. annual turkey trots are held in cities across the country but this was the first time it came to cedar rapids. about 15- hundred iowans registered for the race, and even though it tas a riany morning, they still came out to have some healthy fun. "great turnout for this weather, i mean, i think they had fifteen hundred people registered, and you know, it looked like a lot of those people actually ran too in this weather." weather."all money made fromom today's turkey trot goes to help the american heart

there were record crowds today in manhattan for the 89th macy's thanksgiving day parade. emergency responders and a new counter terrorism unit were especially vigilant with security after recent attacks. though a world-wide travel advisory was sent out earlier this week, president obama urged d ericans to continue with their holiday plans. he said it's a way we all can push back on attacks that are meant to intimidate us. before events even kicked off, protesters filled the macy's store where the parare ends each year. demonstrarars went into the store as part of a black lives matter rally. the rally was aimed at police shootings involving black men who were killed in chicago and minnnnpolis.several people were arrested on potential disorderly conduct charges. protests continued in chicago where there is now more police video of that deadly shooting from last year. demonstrtrors blocked off ststets and disrupted traffic. last october,officer jason van

dyke shot 17-year-old laquan mcdonald 16 times.some of the video you're about to see may be difficult to tch. the first tape released earlier this week shows mcdonald running down the street before falling to the ground. the new video is from four other police cars that responded to the scene - including offifir van dyke's. authorities say it shows his car jumping a curb to chase mcdonald through a lawn.an attorney for mcdonald's family says the teen is shown walking away from police cars, not toward officers.fficer van dyke's'sawyer says the video doesn't paint a clear picture of what happened and that the officer feared for his life. van dyke is now facing first degree murder charges. in minneapolis, the m m shot d killed by police e s been laid to rest. hundreds attended the funeral last night for 24-year-old jamar clark. there have been daily protests since clark was shot and killed by an fficer more than a week ago. pe francis is in africa this afternoon, spreading a message of peace. this morning, he held his

the pontiff says he wants to bring healing and reconciliation to a region that has suffered greatly in the recent past. in ticipation of the trip, the tech-savy holy father tweeted "may my visit to africa be a sign of the church's esteem for all religions and strengthen our bonds of friendship." back at home - we have an date now to the governor's highly-debated medicaid plan. earlier this year, the governor announced the medicaid program that has been run by the state, will soon be run by four private companies. yesterday, the des moines register reported a judge recommended the state throw out one of four of those contracts. the ruling calls for the state to reverse the contract for well-care. in addition to paying millions in fines fofraud or mismanagemenen, three wewe-care executives were recently sentenced to prison for fraud convictions. the ruling is just a proposed decision and the gornor's office is expected to appoint someone to review the recomendion and consider next steps. still, governor branstad says the plan to privitize medicaid

coming up on the cbs 2 news at noon,as you're busy making g d eating yummy thanksgiving food, be careful of what you give your pets. the foods that could cut your dinner short for a visit to the vet. plus, the holidays can be stressful f a number of reasons, but there's ne you might nototxpect. how retail therapy can backfire this time of year.

you're eating a more traditional thanksgiving dinner, remember, what may seem like harmless table scraps could actually make your dog sick. onions, garlic, and even fat trimmings can cause stomach problems for your pet.local experts say it's important for all guests

in theouse to e on the same page on what's allowed for pets to eat. still a little soggy out there, justin checks in now with your

main weather - your planner trending online today, adam sandler has updated his famous hanukkah song! song!he first sang it on saturaday night live in 1994 and it quickly became a favorite.this is the first time he's updated it in 13 years! this is the fourth version of the song, in t ts version a few of the celebs he name drops are joseph gordon levitt, scarlett johansson, jake gyllenhaal and even harry

if you're doing everything right but find it harder and harder to get by, you're not alone. while our people work longer hours for lower wages, almost all new income goes to the top 1%. my plan -- make wall street banks and the ultrarich pay their fair s sre of taxes, provide living wages for working people, ensure equal pay for women. i'm bernie sanders. i approve this message because together, we can make a political revolution

and not just the powerful few. most iconic images this time of year are those giant characters floating through the new york skyline - the macy's thanksgiving dd parade baloons. but it's also a lot of work to rangle the larger than life faces.

"everybody in the net crew, you ready?""one, two, three, four!" four!"scrat and his acorn from the movie ice age lead all 17 balloons along the parade route.there's also red from angry birds.his distinctive ebrows measure seven feet wide!and the dyno, the sinclair oil dinsoaur, is making a comeback.it hasn't flown in the parade since 1976. one corridor student was there to see it all happen. she was handpicked to participate in the annual tradition. cbs 2 news reporter marissa scott shows us how a linn-mar senior was selected to march in the macy's thanksgiving ay parade. parade. melanie sullivan, like a lot of us, grew up watching the macy's thanksgiving day parade. parade. "every thanksgiving i'm like turn on the tv! i want to watch the parade!"but little did she know, one day she would get the opportunity to play in the parade and be on national television. television.

and said 'i'm going to do this."she submitted an audio clip of her playing the flute on youtube and in april, found out she would be one of 200 nd members in this year's macy's great american marching band. "i was really surprised. i wasn't expecting it at all. i just got a letter in the mail and oh, you know i opened it and i was in shock. my mom couldn't believe it."susuivan says she's s en playing the flute for eight years, but never in a million years did she think she'd get to walk and play in one of the most watched holiday parades. parades. "are you a little nervous?" yeah, i am, mean it's a big group so it should be ok."melanie will be playing the piccolo-a smaller version of the flute.but she is *not* the first linn-marr student to be in the parade. "we had a turba player about ten years agoher former band teacher says students will

find band opportunites on their own and ply.but being a part of this parade has more meaning. meaning. "i'm looking forward to watching the parade, i usually do every year, but i'll look and see if i can find her."." her." it's great that we have students who does so many things and thiis special to have her repsent our program on a national leveland it's a opportunity of a lifetime, lanie says, she'll t te in and cherish, because of course, since she was a little girl, she grew up watching the bands and balloons, balloons, "i think i'm most excited to see the snoopy balloon because i really like the ballowns. they look really big, i can only imagine what they look like in person." next on the cbs 2 news at noon, there are high hopes for black friday spending this year. if you're joining in on the consumer chaos, don't change the channel, upupnnt - experts have three things that will

it's been her fight for twenty years. something is wrong with our healthcare system and it needs to be fixed. then, it was about health reform and getting eight million kids covered. now, it't'about stopping republicans from repealing obamacare, and taking on insurance companies to bring down drug prices. i'm not going to let any family be deprived of healthcare. i'm not going to let the republicans rip up obamacare and throw ititway.

retailers across the country have high hopes for this black friday - but it turns out, americans are saving money faster than they're spending it. it's a k k shift spending habits that started during the recession.the commerce department says americans put aside 40-billion dollars more last month than they did in september. and experts say that trend of keeping money y a a safe place will continue into the shopping season. still, companies expect this years' black friday spending to be higher than last.so what's the takeaway? it seems it good news for the economy. americans are still spending monene but doing it carefully. however, if you're in the mood to go a little shopping crazy, you'll have plenty of options. j-c penny, old navy, best buy, target, kohls, and k-mart all opened today. other stores will be bursting with customers in the early morning hours. so how do you survive the chaos? experts say plan ahead: use apps that can help

and senencoupons. know what gifts you want and where you need to go to get them - check to see if the store offers a floor plan. and if you're really hopinto avoid throngs of people, shop from home. a lot of stores are offering the same sales in store and online. holiday gift giving comes with more than just shopping stress. a new survey from a cdit repoing agency found 60-percent of americnas say holiday giving strains their finances.and 4 in 10 say they feel pressured to spend more than they can afford. experts say that's why is important to make a budget before ecking off those wish-lists. the wage gap between married couples is shrinking. new figures from the census bureau show 35-percent of husbands earn at least 30- thousand dollars more than their wives. it was 38 percent in 1999. the percentage of couples who make within 5-thousand dollars of each other also increased. adele's new album "25" is

it's sold nearly 2-anana-half copies in just four days, according to nielsen music. its already broken the all time record for most sales in a week - previvisly held by n- sync.final sales figures for the week will be revealed on sunday. justin has your weather to go, when we come back. right now, here's a live look in new york city where the macy's thanksgiving day parade

that does it for us s re on the cbs 2 news at noon.our next newscast is tonight at ten. and you can see us right back here tomorrow morning at 5 a-m.happy thanksgiving!