ready, set, shop! deal-seekers are scooping up their black friday merchandise earlier than ever. giving thanks. it's not just about the turkey. many americans spent their holiday giving back. and more to love. look closely. a sheep farmer in china welcomes the birth of one very speal lamb. good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. well, we begin this morning with bargain hunters.

that's right, 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 actually kicked off even earlier with some stores offering deep discounts thursday night. nbc's janel klein is in new york city for us this morning. janel, these people are like late to the game, at 5:00 in the morning. it's like, you know, people have been out there for hours. >> reporter: they're pretty serious about this, lynn, and like you said, a lot of stores opening last night, so many people went straight from thanksgiving dinner right to the shopping mall. many stores doing this for the very first time, and that is just one sign that the rush to lure black friday shoppers is more intense than ever. 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 those deals are starting earlier than ever. many big chains opened today at midnight. >> people don't have to go to sleep and wake up early. they can just 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 battleground. some companies like amazon and walgreens have special mobile-only deals targeting shoppers on their phones even as they wait in check-out lines. >> it used to be what, you'd camp out in front of the store? now you've got to camp out in front of your phone. >> reporter: yet, some say holiday shopping has simply gone too far, and black friday has some buyers in a dark mood. >> christmas stuff was out before halloween. i mean, 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 nearly 200,000 signatures on a petition to keep stores closed thanksgiving day. target this week responded.

>> our guests have expressed that they would prefer to have their holiday shopping experience right after the holiday celebrations rather than getting up in the middle of the night. >> reporter: whatever the strategy for retailers, this remains the busiest shopping day of the year. one millions of americans can't help but buy into. well, some shoppers in california got more than they bargained for. at a walmart, 15 people were sprayed with pepper spray as they rushed to take advantage of a bargain there. nobody in custody yet and nobody hospitalized in that, but one sign, lynn, that there is some black friday backlash here in the united states. >> yeah, just wild there. all right, janel, thank you so much. well, across the country tomorrow, small business owners are hoping to draw in local customers who typically avoid black friday crowds and they prefer a more hands-on experience than cyber monday has to offer. nbc's chris clackum has more on

small business saturday. >> reporter: it's been said main street's where you find the backbone of american business, the small business. >> they're able to walk you through purchases that you might not be able to get at a major retailer, or especially online. >> more often than not, they really know their customers. they can be relevant to their customers, and that matters a lot to consumers in today's day in age. >> reporter: but again this year, small stores are at a disadvantage against big retailers who have big marketing budgets to attract christmas shoppers. >> small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities. >> reporter: that's why for the second straight year, american express has launched its small business ad campaign. >> one purchase is all it takes. >> so, pick your favorite local business -- >> and join the movement. >> reporter: to steer holiday shoppers starting this saturday toward local, independently owned businesses instead of bigger stores on black friday or online on cyber monday.

this as new research shows small businesses raise the value of property that surrounds them. >> due to this increased popularity of these small business districts, that has led to an increase in real estate values over the past 15 years. >> reporter: for obvious reasons, american express is hoping small business saturday becomes as successful as black friday. chris clackum, nbc news. >> well, whether you spent the day cooking, eating or on the couch watching some football, 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 this thanksgiving watching parades, on the run or revving up for sales, our troops winding down the war in afghanistan were enjoying a feast. president obama called to thank ten 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 ahow truly lucky we are. >> congresswoman gabby giffords served at an air force base in tucson, her first constituent event since being shot back in february. >> ma'am, you're an inspiration to the community, to the base, and to the nation. >> reporter: tough times offer an opportunity to help. and in atlanta, the joy of giving was not lost on this 12-year-old. >> it feels good to see people happy and eating on thanksgiving. >> reporter: in brooklyn, actor steve bueau shemie was playing good guy. >> we'll be serving meals. >> reporter: today this mission served 4,000 meals with a family touch. >> just like at mom's house. >> reporter: this kia store was closed, but residents opened to a nearby shelter and to kids whose parents have fallen on hard times. >> to give of yourself is probably what this holiday is all about. you can sell every single day,

but there's one or two days a year that it's really about family and togetherness, and that's what we're doing here today. >> brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >> thats truth. well, here is your first look at other news going on around america today. in pennsylvania, one wild turkey couldn't make it through thanksgiving without winding up in a dining room. the bird died after crashing into a restaurant's plate glass window. no one was inside when he made his final flight. occupy wall street protesters returned to new york city's zuccotti park for a peaceful thanksgiving celebration. turkey, vegetarian and vegan dinners were handed out to hundreds outside the park to keep the group in accordance with the newly enforced rules. police were called in, but that was only to respond to noise complaints. and 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 rescue crews were able to pull him out with a

makeshift catch pole. the kitten's going to be put up for adoption. now let's get a check of your national weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins, fresh from the streets, doing a little shopping? did you get something? >> i was with them on my way to work, but i did not go. i was tempted. it's just, i don't have it in my dna. >> we've discussed it. we can't do it. >> you're one of those people or you're not. >> it's true. >> did you have a good dinner? >> oh, yeah. oh, yeah. still full. >> it's amazing. i ate 12 hours ago. not even remotely hungry. >> i know. it keeps on giving. >> fpack it in. yesterday was a beautiful weather day. a lot of people enjoyed thanksgiving outdoors. i mean, these temperatures, they just continue to astound me. we've been waiting for all the cold air. it's going to come and probably in a hurry, but i mean, we were almost 70 in denver yesterday. we were 74 in san antonio. we had some mild air all the way through kansas city. and after a cold start, it was very warm on the eastern seaboard. d.c. made it up to 61 and it was

sunny as could be, the southeast was great. a little chilly in new england, but even there, at least it was sunny. we're continuing with this just awesome weather pattern, and it doesn't look like it's going to change any time soon, especially as we go throughout, i'd say the next couple days. we'll slowly see things changing, but as far as temperatures go right now, we're 47 in new york, we're 41 in washington, d.c. there's not many clouds out there. high pressure's in control, and there's not much of a storm even heading our way. the storm system that's going to move through the country will have just a little light rain with it, maybe a few downpours. it's not really a big weather event today or tomorrow. so, just enjoy this. hopefully, you can be outside. maybe you got lucky and had the day off today from work and school. so, that storm, this green on the map is futurecast. this tells us where the storm's going to head and where the rain's going to be. this is 6:00 today. east coast, no rain at all. rain moving up through west texas. by the time saturday arrives, the storm system getting a little bit of moisture as it comes near the gulf. so dallas, you could deal with some rain early saturday morning, up around kansas city, approaching st. louis.

then by the time we get to saturday evening, that's when we watch this storm system head into the middle of the country from the ohio country and the southeast. so saturday's going to be a little more active and rainy, but today is a fantastic day. as far as the forecast goes, enjoy it. 61 in new york city, philly, baltimore, d.c. all of the suburbs of all the big cities, boston looks great, cleveland, chicago looks nice, atlanta. these showers and storms later in the day from kansas city southwards, lynn, that will be later towards the overnight hours. this is about an a-plus friday for whatever you want to do. >> that is an understatement. bill, thank you. coming up, the street watches europe, at&t signals problems with t-mobile, and the turkey disaster four years in the making. your first look at business headlines is straight ahead. a nail-biter between the cowboys and dolphins, the packers roll, and it was a family affair in baltimore as the harbaugh brothers meet for the first time. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. ♪ ♪ i don't need anyone else in my arms ♪

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hi, there. welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry and here's some of the top stories making news this morning. a judicial source in cairo tells nbc news that three american students held since monday for their involvement in protests against egypt's acting military government have been released. the country's military council says monday's planned elections will go forward, despite this week's violent protests calling for an immediate handover of power to a civilian government. at least 38 people have been killed in the uprising. syria has until the end of the day to sign a deal allowing arab league monitors into the country, or it could face steep sanctions. arab foreign ministers want to assess progress on a plan to end syria's eight-month violent crackdown on protests in the country. back here in the u.s., chicago is mourning the loss of its longtime first lady maggie daley. the 68-year-old wife of former chicago mayor richard daley had been diagnosed with breast

cancer back in 2002. and talk about a rare occurrence in china, where a sheep farm has welcomed its first five-legged lamb. the extra limb is smaller and shorter than the other four, which will surely help this little lamb stand out from the rest of the herd. i had bill karins write that line. special just for you! and now here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day after being closed for thanksgiving. the dow opens at 11,257 after dropping 236 points wednesday. the s&p slipped 26 points. the nasdaq lost 61. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, 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 on tap, all eyes lob europe, where yesterday, german chancellor angela merkel

disproved rumors that she has softened on issuing eurobonds as a solution to europe's debt crisis. as a result, the continued lack of a clear problem to solve europe's debt crisis weighed on asian markets today, with japan's nikkei spending most of the day near a 2 1/2-year low. however, japan's olympus shot up as much as 25% on speculation that a recent accounting scandal that led to the ouster of its ceo may not cause the company to be delisted. elsewhere overseas, australia's government approved sab miller's $11 billion takeover of foster's brew, provided the london-based company keeps brewing operations for the iconic aussie beer brand in australia. it does not look good for at&t. on the heels of a new s.e.c. roadblock to its proposed merger with t-mobile, at&t says it has set aside $4 billion to cover its costs, if that deal falls apart. and finally, if you were

short on things to be thankful for yesterday, here's one for you -- you can be thankful you weren't one nashville woman who got her frozen turkey home and realized it had an expiration date of november 23rd, 2007. yes, that did actually happen. well, and elsewhere, as more men and women return home from wars in iraq and afghanistan, many of them are having a tough time finding work in this job market, particularly single moms. nbc's thanh truong has more. >> you're going to have the van. >> reporter: like many moms, ruth donaldson's day starts at the bus stop. waiting, she reads to her 6-year-old son, dante. >> he rubbed his wings together. rub, rub your wings together. >> reporter: after seeing them off, the 29-year-old heads inside in search of jobs in fayetteville, north carolina. >> is that full time or part time? >> reporter: joining her is another single mother. they are veterans and homeless, now living in a shelter. >> i fought for my country and i've come back to nothing. >> reporter: both women were

honorably discharged from the army after they split from the children's father and failed to have adequate family care plans. >> about as bad as you can get. >> reporter: divorced, pregnant and broke, donaldson had to sleep in her pontiac grand am. >> you kind of lose confidence, your sense of identity. it's like you're not human anymore. people just look past you. they don't really care. >> reporter: the number of women veterans has doubled in the last decade. a by-product of that, they're also the fastest growing segment among the homeless. >> who thinks of a female veteran homeless? nobody. >> reporter: the department of veterans affairs estimates that on any given night in this country, there are more than 4,500 homeless female vets on the street, and that number is expected to grow as more return from deployments and are finding few job opportunities. >> we do make sure that when we have a female veteran, that we try our hardest to make sure that we can provide some type of housing. >> reporter: the va offers housing, medical and job assistance, but it says more places like jubilee house are

needed. the local charity gives homeless female vets and their kids a temporary place to stay. >> they want jobs, they want their own houses. these women want their own keys and their own kitchen. >> reporter: donaldson is searching for stability. six years of bouncing around is taking a toll. >> that's the worst, being a mom and knowing you can't give your kids what every kid should have. >> reporter: the va has set a goal of wiping out veteran homelessness by 2015, but for these women warriors, they're just trying to make it through the week. thanh truong, nbc news, fayetteville, north carolina. >> that is a difficult reality. well, let's switch gears and check in on sports. it was a thanksgiving family affair for brothers who squared off in the ravens/49ers matchup. here's nbc's bill seward. >> a very good morning to you. like many families on thanksgiving, the harbaughs spent the holiday 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, head coach of the ravens, jim with the niners.

this one a slugfest 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 and jason witten grabbing a dallas cheerleader. pushed out of bounds, took out the young lady on the sidelines. she was okay, but i don't think witten will get the call for a second date. tony romo hooking up with laurent robinson, ball game. connected from five yards out in the second. then 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 and rookie 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'

ndamukong suh got twisted all with smith, and as he was 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 commish may have something to say about that. with detroit's best player on the defense out, packers go to work. aaron rodgers, two touchdowns. at one point, green bay up 24-0. they go on to win 27-15, a perfect 11-0 for the first time in franchise history. that's your "first look" at sports. i'm bill seward. well, coming up, three new family films vie for the box office top spot. will kermit be seeing green this holiday weekend, or will vampires continue to take a bite out of the profits? your "first look" at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. looking good! you lost some weight.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry, and let's check on your entertainment news. this holiday weekend's going to see three major newcomers at the box office, fighting for the same audience. "the muppets" returned to the silver screen after a 12-year hiatus. kermit could be seeing a lot of green this weekend, thanks to curious parents, heavy publicity and stunning reviews. it is expected to pull in around $45 million for the five-day weekend. "arthur christmas" is a 3d animated holiday adventure from the creators of "chicken run." it's also getting rave reviews and it should hit the $19

million mark. oscar winning filmmaker martin scorsese branches out into the family genre with his first 3d feature "hugo." because of its limited release it won't bring in the eye-popping returns of "the muppets," expecteded to make maybe $10 million. but the honeymoon isn't over yet for ed ward and bella. in the latest "twilight" film, "breaking dawn part 1." bill's going to be there. it scored the biggest opening weekend of all time and this week is expected to be number one for a second week with around $55 million. don't hate on it, bill. >> this is how most women must have felt about the "lord of the rings" trilogy. >> rolling their eyes? >> it's in reverse. >> way to draw a huge stereotype. what if there's a woman who hates "twilight" but loves "lord of the rings"? >> then i'd go to the movies with her! >> there you go. >> it's date night. >> i'm sure your wife would love that. how's the weather, bill? >> we're doing okay. i saw christmas trees on the way

to work. we're just a month away from christmas. >> isn't that ironic? >> a big tree going to be lit up soon. good morning, everyone. it's a beautiful start to your day out there and it's going to be a nice finish, too. if you're joining us from any of the big cities along i-95, today is a busy travel day, too, but without, you know, the kids going to school and people going to work, hoping the highways won't be too bad, but temperatures are seasonable for this time of year and it's just going to be a beautiful, beautiful afternoon. i mean, you've just got to bottle these up. there can't be that many of these left. i keep saying that. but 60-degree temperatures this time of year, it's pretty rare. in washington, d.c., your saturday looks great, too. you're going to be about 62. now, this sunday around d.c., and this goes for everyone on the east coast, the rain showers and the rain should move in late in the day. it's only going to last a couple hours, but i think sunday during the day, you're fine. and there is some cooler air behind that storm system. but even upper 40s, low 50s isn't bad. we're getting close to december now. as far as the rest of the country goes, rain in the middle of the nation, that's late

today. your morning and afternoon is dry from kansas city to san antonio. and lynn, who knows how long it's going to continue, but i know we'll enjoy it. >> yes, we will, every minute of it. all right, bill, thanks so much. well, i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching. this is "first look" on msnbc. but stick around. "morning joe" is coming up at the top of the hour. "hey wrinkle face!" that's what people could say if you're still using a liquid foundation that can settle into your lines and wrinkles and make you look older. covergirl and olay floats above lines and makes you look younger. can your anti-aging makeup do that? simply ageless from olay and easy, breezy beautiful, covergirl. ♪ ♪ ♪ when your chain of supply ♪ goes from here to shanghai, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there ♪ ♪ track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that ♪ hurry up no time flat that's logistics. ♪ ♪ all new technology ups brings to me, ♪

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