and they are off! move over turkey. black friday shoppers hit the stores in the dark of the night to go bargain hunting. waiting game. three american students being held in egypt have been ordered released so what is taking so long? congresswoman gabby giffords pitches in on thanksgiving. this is the "cbs morning news" for friday, november 25th, 2011. good morning, everybody. good to be with you. appreciate you joining us. i'm terrell brown. millions of americans are out the door looking for deals. it is black friday and shoppers are racing through stores with their wallets wide open and

merchants could not be happier. retailers hope to rake in 466 billion dollars in holiday sales this year, up nearly 3% over 2010. cbs news correspondent drew levinson gets us started in new york this morning. >> reporter: contrary to popular belief, black friday is usually not the busiest shopping day of the year, but it is definitely the start of the mark of the season. analysts say the best deals aren't usually available until later but that does not seem to be stopping anyone. >> finally! >> reporter: and they are off. black friday shoppers poured into shops and stores. after days of waiting, everyone had a game plan. >> we are going to split it up so each of us have an aisle to go to. >> we look at the ads and figure out what we need on the team and we get our job done. >> reporter: that's music to retailers' ears. the average consumer is expected to spend just over $704 on holiday shopping this year. with the season accounting for

25% to 40% of annual retail sales. many stores opened even earlier than usual this year to get a head-start and leaned heavily on social media to build buzz for the big day. >> they finally recognize that they have to get in competition with the online retailers, so look for retailers to get very aggressive when it comes to offering deals all different hours of the day. >> reporter: online shopping is expected to reach almost $38 billion this year. a 15% jump over last year. still, for many, there's nothing like the hunt. even if it means spending days and nights in a tent. >> we kind of all suffer together and we also celebrate together. >> thanksgiving for the wife? >> yeah, escaping from the wife. she can't see that. >> reporter: besides the door-busting deals there are also safety concerns. workers at this best buy in puerto rico could barely hang on as frenzy shoppers stormed in.

some hired extra security to avoid injury. but its their own physical health that has retailers concerned. while sales are expected to jump 2.8% this year. that is smaller than last year's 5.2% boost. and if you're hitting the stores today, big brother will be watching. big malls are increasingly tracking shoppers using their mobile devices. the system hones in on cell phone signals so analysts can tell where you're going, how long you're staying, and where you're headed next. the goal is to study shopping habits but privacy advocates are concerned. and if thinking big, terrell, the website truecar says their calculations show today it is actually the best day all year to buy a car with discounts up to 20%. who knew? >> buy a car? yeah. drew levinson in new york, thanks for that. there is report of things getting ugly between shoppers.

a walmart in los angeles, shoppers were allowed inside the store, police don't know why but a woman pulled out pepper spray and hit at least ten others and causing minor injuries. they are looking for that shopper. members of occupy wall street tried to send a message at shoppers in macy's flagship store earlier this morning. it didn't quite work out, though. . some rallied last night to send home their message. shoppers streamed into macy's nen way after midnight. >> personally, i do find it objectionable that big bulk stores are, you know, having employees come in at like midnight. >> she went on to say that retailers have no right to deprive employees time with their family. said it was a magnitude 3.7. it hit yesterday afternoon near preying, east of oklahoma city. no reports of damage or injuries. a series of quakes have hit central oklahoma recently, the

strongest a magnitude 5.6 earlier this month. sunday could be the day three american students under arrest in egypt are finally set free. however, sources tell cbs news a delay in completing paper work is likely to detain the students for a few more days. we go to tara mergener in washington with more. tara, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, terrell. they are said to get through all of that bureaucracy in order to get home. in the meantime, the families have been told they could be home by the end of the weekend. it's still unclear exactly when gregory porter, luke gates and derrik sweeney will be heading home. an egyptian court ordered their release thursday, but the three american college students remain in custody. they are accused of throwing fire bombs during this week's demonstrations but the students alledly shown here in a crowd insist they didn't do anything wrong. >> i wouldn't wish this roller coaster ride on my worst enemy. >> reporter: derrik sweeney's

mother was elated to hear of their release. >> we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's coming to a resolution that we are truly looking forward to. >> reporter: derrik's father say the young men are sleeping in a tile room in a room without furniture. >> we wouldn't do that to ax murderers in our country and i think it's appalling to make kids sleep on the floor. >> reporter: u.s. officials are also urging all americans to avoid the demonstrations. this morning, protesters in cairo are calling for a million man march, demanding egypt's military rural step down. military leaders are refusing to immediately transfer power to civilians, instead, promising to speed up presidential elections. for now, a truce between police and protesters appears to be holding,

new prime minister yesterday, hoping to bring some stability to the country. terre terrell, back to you. >> tara mergener in washington for us, thank you. egyptian american journalist claims she was personally beaten and sexual abused in egypt. she said she was detained at the interior ministry for 12 hours and that her left arm and right hand were broken by her attackers. in iraq this morning, another round of deadly violence. three bombs exploded last night in an open-air market in the southern city of basra. 19 people were killed and dozens more were injured. most of the fatalities were police officers and soldiers. we now know the identities of the victims on board the small plane that crashed high in the mountains east of phoenix. six people were killed, including 39-year-old pilot shawn perry and his three young children. they live with their mother but were spending thanksgiving with their father. the plane slammed into the side of a mountain on wednesday evening. two other men were also killed. in chicago, police are looking for a man who shot a

woman around 11:30 last night in a hospital. no word on her condition this morning. the university of illinois had warned students and posted an alert on its website. officials say the violence could be the result of a domestic situation. chicago's former first lady maggie daley died last night after a long battle breast cancer. during richard m. daley's 22 years as mayor, mrs. daley was diagnosed with cancer in 2002. her husband and children were with her when she died. maggie daley was 68 years old. take a break. coming up on this friday, the fcc hangs up on a huge cell phone murder. find out how you're affected. plus, gabby giffords makes a surprise holiday appearance. this is the "cbs morning news." however we want... and have them ready for pick up in 5 minutes, guaranteed. and if the gift we want isn't in store, it's shipped to us, free.

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time now for a check on the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows clear skies across the northeast and southwest. a new storm is heading into the southwest and southern plains. later today, scattered rain showers in the southwest and southern plains. it will be beautiful in the east with spring-like temperatures. and showers will linger along the northwest. in sports great turkey day football. a coaching first as the harbaugh brothers battle it out on the sidelines. the ravens swarm the 49ers. alex smith all day. sacked him a franchise record nine times. baltimore all over san francisco in this one 16-6. in texas, the dolphins have a chance to take the lead and possibly the game in the fourth against dallas but matt moore misses a wide open brian harline in the end zone. cowboys dan bailey puts it through the uprights. dallas squeaks by miami by one

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on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather. rain and snow showers will develop across the northwest. here is another look at this morning's top stories. black friday under way with mobs of shoppers storming into stores as soon as they open. retailers hope to rake in nearly $500 billion this holiday season. and three americans detained in egypt may not be set free until sunday. an jepgs court has ordered their release, but sources tell cbs news that getting all of the

paper work necessary in order to make that happen may take a few days. make sure you mark your calendar for december 2012. it looks like it could be the apocalyp apocalypse. a second reference to that date at a ruin in southern mexico. until now, only one ancient site has been linked to the end of the world. if that does happen, get ready to move to titan. scientists have come up with a planetary habitability index and rate saturn. it's 123 billion miles away so you may want to leave soon. nasa is scheduled to launch a new mars recovery mission to the red planet. the new, more sophisticated like

it. >> reporter: this is the other one. so this is pretty much your baby? >> yeah. this is the only other rover that exists. >> reporter: the chief engineer rob manny gave us a behind the scenes look at nasa's $2.5 billion dream machine. looking for evidence the planet could have harbored life. so this is sort of the business end? >> this is the business end. >> but this is the lab part of it? >> this is the lab. the lab is inside the main body of the rover. >> reporter: weighing almost a ton powered by a small nuclear reactor, curiosity will be the largest, most complex piece of equipment that nasa has landed on any planetary soil since the days of apollo. designed to last two earth years and expected to travel the length of two football fields per day. >> it has the capability that other rovers didn't have. >> reporter: but landing it on a

complex surface is a complex and risky maneuver. curiosity is too heavy to bounce to the surface inside air bags. instead, a rocket-powered sky crane will lower the rover down on cables. manning's hope? >> this will be the gentlest landing of all time. >> reporter: who admits it will be a nail-biter. so you got $3 billion worth of equipment hanging from three cables? nerve wracking? >> it is nerve wracking but we have tested it. >> reporter: years and years of testing, in fact, for one reason. >> it's simply got to work. >> reporter: bill har wood says a lot is riding on the six minutes from entry to touchdown. >> if there is a failure anywhere down the line, it would be a huge setback to the mars program but if it succeeds, the payoff is equally huge. >> reporter: we will find out in august after curiosity finishes its 354 million mile journey all by itself. lee cowan, cbs news, pasadena

this morning, on "the early show," the latest on black friday, where the deals are and are they worth it? i'm terrell brown. and this is the "cbs morning news." over the south pacific in 1943. vietnam, 1967. i got mine in iraq, 2003. u.s.a.a. auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation, because it offers a superior level of protection and because u.s.a.a.'s commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. u.s.a.a. we know what it means to serve.