"jimmy fallon" happening right this morning on "early today", ready, set, shop! deal seekers are scooping up their black friday merchandise earlier than ever. giving thanks. not just about the turkey. many americans spent their holiday giving back. and more to love. a sheep farmer in china welcomes the birth of one very special lamb. the birth of one very special lamb. captions paid for by captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning, welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with bargain hunters. serious shoppers are out in force this morning snapping up

black friday deals at some of the nation's biggest retailers. and this year the official holiday shopping season kicked off even earlier with some stores offering deep discounts thursday night. nbc's janell klein is live for us in new york city. janelle, how does it look out there now? >> reporter: it's busy, lynn. in fact, many shoppers went right from thanksgiving dinner straight to the mall this year. for the first time, dozens of stores opened last night. one sign that the competition to lure black friday shoppers is more intense than ever. the bargains are on, and so is the bedlam. one in four americans are shopping today, with high stakes and low prices. >> black friday is the beginning of the season. it's a huge day across the country. and for many retailers, they are the best deals that consumers are going to get. >> reporter: and some of the deals are starting earlier than ever. many big chains opened today at midnight.

>> people don't have to go to sleep and get up early. they can stay up all night long and shop. >> reporter: but the sales aren't just in stores, a third of americans will buy online this season. and smartphones are the new buying battle ground. some companies like amazon and walgreen's have special deals targeting shoppers on their phones even as they wait in checkout lines. >> it used to be you camp out in front of the store. now you camp out in front of your phone. >> reporter: yet some say holiday shopping has gone too far and black friday has some buyers in a dark mood. >> christmas stuff was out before halloween. it's getting really early. >> do you like that or no? >> no. >> reporter: neither do many employees, anthony hardwick works part-time at a nebraska target store and got 200,000 signatures on a petition to keep stores closed on thanksgiving day. target this week responded. >> our guests have expressed they would prefer to kick off their holiday shopping experience right after the

holiday celebrations rather than getting up in the middle of the night. >> reporter: whatever their strategy, for retailers this remains the biggest and busiest shopping day all year. one millions of americans can't help but buy into. well, with the big crowds, sometimes comes security issues. and we saw it early near los angeles, where about 20 people were pepper-sprayed near a walmart store. authorities say no one was hospitalized, but the 20 were treated for injuries from the pepper spray. just another sign that shopping on black friday can get very intense. >> janell, thanks so much. whether you spent the day cooking, eating or on the couch watching football, a little bit of everything from coast to coast and overseas many folks spent yesterday giving thanks and reaching out to help those in need. nbc's brian mooar has that story. >> reporter: while some of us

spent thanksgiving watching parades, on the run, or revving up for sales, our troops in afghanistan were enjoying a feast. president obama called to thank 10 members of the armed services and sent a taped message to the nation. >> michelle, malia, sasha and i will spend the day eating great food, watching football, and reflecting on how truly lucky we are. congresswoman gabrielle giffords helped serve meals. at an air force base in tucson, it was her first constituent event since being shot back in january. >> ma'am, you're an inspiration to the community, to the base, and to the nation. >> reporter: tough times offering opportunity to help. in atlanta, the joy of giving was not lost on this 12-year-old. >> to see people happy and on thanksgiving. >> reporter: in brooklyn, actor steve buscemi was playing the role of good guy. >> we will be serving over 200 meals.

>> this mission served 4,000 meals with a family touch. >> just trying to make it to mom's house. >> reporter: this ikea in charlotte was closed but employees opened their arms to residents in a nearby shelter and gave away toys to children whose parents fell on hard times. >> giving yourself is what this holiday is all about. you can sell every single day but there's one or two days a year that is really about family and togetherness. that's really what we're doing today. >> reporter: brian mooar, nbc news, washington. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in pennsylvania, one wild turkey couldn't make it through thanksgiving without winding up in a dining room. the bird died after crashing through a plate glass window. no one was inside when he made his final flight. occupy wall street protesters returned to zucotti park for a peaceful thanksgiving celebration. turkey, vegetarian and vegan dinners were handed out to keep

the group in accordance with the newly enforced rules. police were called in, but that was only to respond to noise complaints. finally, a crying kitten has at least eight more lives after being rescued by california firefighters. the animal was trapped in an underground pipe for nearly eight hours before the rescue crew pulled him out using a makeshift pole. the kitten will be put up for adoption if unclaimed. that's a look at the national and regional weather. let's check in with nbc meteorologist bill karins. your turkey hangover wore off? >> i'm ready for leftovers. >> let's go. >> bring it on. >> a little cranberry, i love it. >> open-face turkey sandwich? >> uh-huh. >> nice touch. good morning, everyone, we are watching outside quiet weather pattern, at least quieter than yesterday when the rain and winds blew through in the high-ep vags snows. we just about done with this, a

cold front moved through and some instability showers, hit-and-miss, notice that most of the showers are north of interstate 90. we still have a couple of showers to go through, especially early in portland. but we'll clear it out through the day. and the winter storm warnings and advisories will be dropped as we get the storm system out of here. as far as idaho has concerned, the storm has weakened, but we've still got showers on interstate 84 and up in the high country, a little snow. overall a chance for snow in areas like twin cities, and twin falls. further south, we're watching high pressure building in. this is the story of the weekend. the in ex-big storm is going to head further north, really only affecting washington state as we go throughout the weekend. south of there, in oregon, the storm is going to be mostly a miss for you. high pressure will dominate much of the west this weekend, giving you a little bit of a break. today, showers ending early. temperatures about 51. l.a., no bad, a little hint of warmth that's to come.

81 and people will be skiing in the cascades with the new snow. >> weekend forecast, just washington state, not the best. coming up, the street watches europe, at&t signals problems with t-mobil and the turkey disaster four years in the making. your early morning business headlines straight ahead. plus, will kermit be seeing green at the box office this weekend? or will vampires continue to take a bite out of the profits? a nail-biter between the cowboys and the dolphins. the packers roll and it was a family affair in baltimore as the harbaugh brothers meet for the first time. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. >> a judicial source in cairo tells nbc news three students held because of their involvement in egypt have been released. at least 38 people have been killed in this week's violent uprising. this morning, the country's military council has asked the prime minister who served under ousted leader, hosni mubarak, to host the next government. syria has until the end of the day to sign a deal filing allowing arab league monitors into the country, or it could face deep sanctions. arab foreign ministers want to assess progress on a plan to end the eight-month violent crackdown on protests in the country. chicago is mourning the loss of its long-time first lady maggie daley. the wife of former mayor had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002.

a rare occurrence in china where a sheep farm has welcomed its first five-legged lamb. that's right. the extra limb is smaller and shorter than the other four and sure to help this little lamb stand out from the rest of the herd. that may be an understatement. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. after being closed for thanksgiving. the dow opens at 11,257 after dropping 236 on wednesday. s&p slid 26 points. nasdaq lost 61. taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo, the nikkei was down five points, while in hong kong, the hang seng tumbled 245. well, some investors will be back to work today. but with a shortened trading session and no economic data untapped all eyes. will be on europe, where yesterday, german chancellor, angela merkel disproved rumors she has softened on issuing euro bonds as an issue to the debt crisis. as a result, the continued lack of a clear plan to solve

europe's debt crisis weighed on asian trading today with the nikkei spending most of the day near a two and a half year low. however, japan's olympus shot up as much as 25%, on speculation that a recent accounting scandal may not cause the company to be listed. elsewhere overseas, australia's government approved miller's $11 billion takeover of foster's group as long as they keep brewing operations for the aussie beer brand in australia. it doesn't look good for at&t on a roadblock to its merger with t-mobile. at&t said it has set aside $4 billion to cover its costs if the deals fall apart. if you're short of things to be thankful for yesterday, here's one. you can be thankful you weren't one nashua woman who got a frozen turkey home and it had an expiration date of november 23rd, 2007.

your turkey disaster was not so bad. coming up, tony romo rallies the cowboys for a last second win. and one lion turns out to be a beast of burden, and not in a good way. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. today's a day of traveling home, whether from shopping or your thanksgiving destination, your forecast is coming up. your watching "early today." good morning.

if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports, it was a thanksgiving family affair. for brothers who squared off in the ravens/49ers matchup. here's nbc's bill seward with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the harbaughs spent the holidays together and cooked up a good old-fashioned grudge match. to baltimore we go. the brothers sharing a hug before the game. john, of course, the head coach of the ravens. jim with the niners. this one a slug fest through three-quarters. no touchdowns, just a pair of field goals for both teams. someone finally got in the end zone. in the fourth, joe flacco to dennis pitta. 15-yard strike. ravens up 13-6. that's the difference. john earning family bragging rights. ravens beat the niners, 16-6. cowboys and dolphins. everyone needs a date for thanksgiving dinner. jason witten grabbing a cheerleader.

pushed out of bounds, took out the young lady on the sidelines. she was okay but i don't think whitten will get the call for a second date. tony romo hooking up with robinson. all game. connected from five yards out in the second. in the fourth, romo scrambling. and robinson streaking across the back of the end zone. hello! cowboys, up 17-16. this one came down to a field goal. dallas down one. dan bailey for the win. down the middle as time expires. romo remains unbeaten on thanksgiving with a 20-19 win. to detroit where the lions and suh not in the giving mood got tangled up with evan dietrich-smith, near ly twisted his head off. as he's getting up, suh stomping on the arm. just another reason why people are calling suh the dirtiest player in the league. he gets ejected and the commissioner may have something to say about that. with detroit's best player on the defensive side out, the packers go to work. rodgers, two touchdowns. at one point, green bay up 24-0. they win 27-15.

a perfect 11-0 for the first time in franchise history. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm bill seward. well, will vampires once again be able to scare away the competition at the box office this weekend? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, meet the couple this year who were thankful for eight decades of marital bliss. you're watching "early today."

welcome back, i hope you had a fantastic day yesterday with family and friends. today we're watching a storm system moving through the northern portion of the rockies. the next one is on its way. this one will be a little different. we get a little break today, many areas are seeing decent weather. especially down in southern california and interior california should be great even into saturday. seattle, rain in your forecast saturday. north of you will get drenched, eventually the moisture will come down south. it looks like a rainy sunday, especially in the pacific northwest. if you're watching us in washington. the artistry of quilts, at the harbor history museum in gig harbor, washington. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. this holiday weekend is seeing three major movie newcomers all fighting for the same audience.

the muppetts return. tole sill silver screen after a 12-year hiatus. kermit could be seeing a lot of green. thanks to publicity and stunning reviews, it is expected to pull in $45 million for the five-day weekend. arthur christmas is an adventure from the creators of "chicken run." it's also getting great reviews and should hit the $19 million mark. martin scorsese branches out into the family genre with his first 3-d family feature, "hugo." it won't bring in the eye-popping return that the muppetts but it is expected to make $10 million. the honeymoon is not over for edward and bella. and the latest "twilight" film, "breaking dawn part 1." last week it scored the fifth-best opening weekend of all time. this weekend is expected a second number one with around

$14 million. >> i think i want to go again just to see if there was anything i missed. >> it's amazing how connected they are. >> you started reading all the books, too, right. >> there's books? >> good recovery. this comes from knbc l.a. in los angeles, where thanksgiving was the perfect day for one couple to show how thank they are for each other. harold and edna put their own personal touch on yesterday's holiday dinner. along with giving thanks they celebrated, get this, 80 years of marriage. the 100-year-old first won over his 99-year-old in fifth grade with a candy bar. over three-quarters of a century, what's the secret to their storybook life? never let an argument last overnight. good to know. i'm lynn berry, and this is your first stop on your nbc station.

it seems santa's trusty reindeer have made some unlikely friend at their new home in a london zoo. good old st. nick and his herd of arctic reindeer arrived for the opening of the brand-new reindeer lodge, but not before making a pit stop at the penguin bench. they looked to be intrigued. they paused to say hello there to their friends. for one man in cuba, one record is not long and good enough. he likes to do it over and over again. guinness has given a famed cigarmaker his fifth certificate for rolling the longest cigar. using many assistants to move

the cigar in unison, he was able to double his last record. his latest masterpiece measures 266 feet and uses 200 pounds of tobacco. finally, forget about turkey hunting. police are on the hunt for an escaped wallaby. the 4-year-old belongs to a nearby family and managed to get away after word spread an employee at a nursing home spotted the critter. now he is being taken care of in a zoo while city officials decide whether he will be allowed back home. the question really is whether or not it's legal for them to have a wallaby. missouri is really not where you find them. >> i'm sure there's no law that says you can't have a wallaby. >> it could be, they are suppose to be in a zoo. and you can't have wild animals. >> led the wallaby be. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. as we mentioned earlier, today is black friday. one of the retail's biggest days of the year and the traditional

kickoff of the holiday season. many stores opened at midnight for the first time this year, while a handful of chains opened a few hours earlier. first lady michelle obama will be presented with the official white house christmas tree harvested in wisconsin that will be on display in the blue room. and big milestone for christina applegate. from the nbc comedy, "up all night." today she turns 40. all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. from surprising freebies to top tech discounts. learn how to make the most of those black friday bargains. nine-time grammy winning mary blige performs live in studio. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.

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