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? and a holiday surprise. wounded 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. thanksgiving dinner isn't even cold and 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. more than 150 million people are

expected to shop this weekend. 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. drew, good morning to you. >> good morning to you, terrell. >> reporter: contrary to popular belief, black friday is usually not the busiest shopping day of the year, but it is definitely the mark of the start 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 as retails opened early to cash in. after days of waiting, everyone had a game plan. >> we are going to split it up so that 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. >> escaping from the wife? >> yeah, escaping from the wife. no, 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 frenzied shoppers burst in. some stores have a no running

policy and 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. good to see you. it happens every year. you knew this was coming. there is report of things getting ugly between shoppers.

a walmart in los angeles, shortly after 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 in new york earlier this morning. it didn't quite work out, though. they want shoppers to avoid big retails and shop in mom and pop stores. some rallied last night to send home their message. shoppers streamed into macy's anyway after midnight. still one oip member occupy wall street member chastised the big stores. >> 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 their employees time with their family. a small earthquake striked central oak. 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 being a magnitude 5.6 earlier this month. sunday could be the day three american students under arrest in egypt are finally set free. egyptian officials said yesterday a court ordered their release. 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 be trying 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 allegedly 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 news of their release and hope

the three will be freed by sunday. >> we can all 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 says 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: the state department is working closely with the egyptian authorities to bring the students home. 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 ruler 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, but some fear monday's parliamentary elections could spark more violence. and the white house says the

u.s. will continue with the egyptian people as they build a democracy worthy of egypt's great history. terrell? >> tara mergener in washington for us, thank you. egyptian american journalist clams claims she was beaten and sexually assaulted by police force 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. at least 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 with breast cancer. during richard m. daley's 22 years as mayor, mrs. daley was promoting chicago's cultural and education@programs. she 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 merger. find out how you're affected. plus, gabby giffords makes a surprise holiday appearance. this is the "cbs morning news." . 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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look at those guys. got to love it. music and giant balloons at the annual thanksgiving day parade in new york yesterday. more than 3 million people turned out in person to watch the passing show. i've been coming to this parade for five years every single year at this spot. >> yeah, it's the first time. i'm so excited! >> i never stood under something that big in the air! >> i'm excited for spongebob. >> i think we all are. the parade featured more than 40 balloon creations and more than 40 million floats. giffords and her husband retired astronaut captain mark kelly helped serve thanksgiving dinner to airmen at a military base in her hometown of tucson. it was her first visit with constituents since she was shot in the head january 8th. >> ma'am, you're an inspiration to the community, to the base, and to the nation. >> thank you. >> so thank you for your strength and your courage.

it's something that a lot of our airmen down range can relate to, so thank you so much for coming out. >> giffords is expected to return to houston after the holiday weekend to continue her rehab. lawmakers in arizona are planning to build a fence along the state's border with mexico. a state senator has come up with the idea of collecting donations to pay for the project. since a fund-raising project was set up in july, more than $250,000 has already been contributed. on the cbs "moneywatch." asian markets finished mostly lower today. hong kong's hang seng was down more than 1%. tokyo's nikkei lost a fraction. wall street opens today for a shortened session after staying closed for thanksgiving. wednesday, the dow lost 236 points and the nasdaq tell 61. looks like the planned merger between at&t and t-mobile is over. the company withdrawn their fcc application. both say they will give it another go. if that merger goes through, it would affect 135 million cell phone customers. we will take a quick break on this friday morning. coming up, we will have your

weather forecast. in sports, the lions get seriously dirty battling the undefeated packers. we will be right back. >> starting at the 35. wait for me! there it is. ah! hurry up. you're heavy. are you sure these letters will get to santa? yes, of course. hold still. almost there. a little bit higher. i can't hold you up much longer. ah! whoa! [ all giggle ] ♪ hi, fellas. hi, virginia. why are you on the floor? [ female announcer ] bring your letter to santa into macy's and we'll donate to the make-a-wish® foundation. together, we'll collect a million reasons to believe. i can't breathe... so i can't sleep... and the next day i pay for it. i tried decongestants... i tossed & turned... i even vaporized! and then i fought back: with drug-free breathe right advanced. these nasal strips instantly opened my nose,

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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 this morning, some 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. big brother john gets the bragging rights over his little bro jim. 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. then with the clock running out, cowboys dan bailey puts it through the uprights. dallas squeaks by miami by one 20-19. in detroit it was an ugly

game from the start. the defending champion packers took on the lions. ♪ what so proudly we hailed through the twi -- ♪ >> oh, god. poor thing. yeah, she stopped. that was twice. "american idol" lauren alaina forgetting the words. picking this up in the third. ndamukong suh gets tossed for slamming evan dietrich-smith's head and stomping on his arm. still green bay's aaron rodgers had another great game. he threw for over 300 yards and two tds. packers roll over the lions 27-15. they remain undefeated at 11-0. one of college football's oldest and fiercest rivalries ends with a thrilling game. in the fourth against texas, aggies take a one-point lead over texas but texas nails a 40-yard field goal at the buzzer and inch past texas a&m 27-25.

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on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather. sunny skies and might temperatures will continue for much of the northeast and southeast. a new storm system brings skourted scattered showers to the southwest and southern plains. 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 egyptian 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 apocalypse. mexico's archaeology institute says they have found a second reference date to that ruin. 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. they say don't worry, it's a misinterpretation of the calendar. if that does happen, get ready to move to titan. scientists have come up with a planetary habitability index and rate saturn's moon to the most rateable system in our solar system. it's 123 billion miles away so you may want to leave soon. the search for life on other planets gets a boost tomorrow that's is when nasa is scheduled to launch a new mars rover mission to the red planet. lee cowan reports.

>> reporter: there is only two rovers like it. one is waiting for a liftoff to mars. and 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. dubbed curiosity, it will analyze 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. it's designed to last one martian year or 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

red planet surface is a complex and risky maneuver. unlike it's predecessors, 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 slowest, more gentle 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, yeah, but we have tested it. >> reporter: years and years of testing, in fact, for one reason. >> it's simply got to work. >> reporter: cbs news space consultant bill harwood 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." 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.

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possessing child pornography. a disposable bag tax being processed in prince george's county. shopping bags are already taxed in montgomery county. leaving for india, the governor steps out on a trade mission today with more than 100 business leaders and state officials with him. already happening black friday in full effect and how your smart phone could help usave time and money at the stores. new information released about this plane crash in arizona, superstition mountain, who investigators say was on board. and the har bowl on turkey day. it comes down to this. post game reactions just ahead for you this morning as well as more news, first warning weather and your first traffic report of this morning, in a couple of minutes. ,,,,,,,,,,,,

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