we'll give you the very latest here in just a moment. also, line baggage fees. some could be a thing of the past. are you kidding me? yes. congress is doing folks something that could actually help you out this time. a new bill that could save us all some money. also, i know. you don't want to go out to the mall right now. it's too crowded. you've got a computer, don't you? well, cyber monday is right around the corner. we'll tell you what you need to know and where you need to be to get those deals online. let's start right now with that other big deal. you nba fans, if there are still some of you left. the nba could have a season. let me bring in hln sports joe carter. good friend of our show here. tell us, first of all, people wonder when they might see a game, first of all. >> looks like december 25th, christmas day, a triple header, national block busting game there. the tentative agreement was reached early this morning around 3:00 a.m. eastern time. gives you any idea how much pressure they were feeling internally. these guys met 17 hours, hammered it out. got the deal done. looks like a 66-game season, only 16 games less than they would normally have. all things considered, they got the job done. it's a ten-year deal. each side can opt out of the deal after six years. remember, one week ago, david stern called this time as a league and the owners were heading into a nuclear winter, totally different tone this morning. >> we've reached a tentative understanding that is subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations but we're confident that will come to pass and the season will begin on december 25th, christmas day. >> that's the owners' take on the deal. the players say they felt the pressure both from the players' side and for any person, any business making a living off the nba. >> the most important key thing here is that, you know, our fans, and the support from the people and the patience through a large part of this process. you know, that's where a lot of this credit goes to. you know, the efforts that have been made have been largely with them in mind. >> all right. we're looking at about 30 days before the basketball season gets up and running and a lot has to happen between now and christmas day. first of all, players have to recertify as a union. secondly get this tentative deal official. that means, "write the deal." then a fast free agency. a lot of trades and moves in about a week's worth of time. open training camp around december 9th and the tip-off of the season tentatively planned for december 25th, christmas day, like i said, with a triple header. at this point, matchups we already knew about. expect big teams like the heat, lakers, mavericks, those team, going out christmas day. >> this works out. nobody was paying attention to the nba, christmas day anyway, but, still, good news. a tune of understanding. whatever that means. a handshake deal. appreciate you as always. thanks so much. see you a little later. about four minutes part the hour. start with international news now in an incident that could strain u.s. relations with pakistan to even further. at least 26 pakistani soldiers killed in a national security force in afghanistan now investigating this. we have a couple reporters on this for you. reza sayah live in islamabad and nick paton walsh live in kabul. reza, start with you. what is pakistan saying? the only folks giving us really any official word about this incident, but who are they saying is responsible for this attack? >> reporter: yeah, t.j. pakistan is not happy at all with this incident. let's pass along some new information just in to cnn. the pakistani military now telling us that it was just one military check post hit with these nato helicopters, but it was two pakistani check posts that were hit killing a total of 24 pakistani soldiers earlier. a government official told us that 26 pakistani soldiers were killed. now the military is saying 24. pakistan, outraged with this incident. we're already seeing the fallout from this. pakistan's prime minister issues a blistering condemnation saying he's going to take this matter up with nato officials and u.s. officials. he's already cut short a trip. he's coming back to islamabad tonight calling an emergency meeting with government officials. he is also calling on the military to investigation this matter. so details that we've confirmed, this was a military check post, according to pakistani officials, in a district that sits right next to the afghan border. there's a lot of militant activity here. one way nato troops have addressed the militant activity is by holding operations, but they're supposed to stay on afghan soil. in this case, according to pakistani military officials, for some reason these nato helicopters allegedly crossed into pakistani airspace and hit these two pakistani check posts. a statement by the u.s. ambassador today, i regret the loss of life of any pakistani servicemen. said the u.s. ambassador to pakistan and pledged that the united states will work closely with pakistan to investigate this incident, but this is an incident that's surely going to raise tensions between islamabad and washington, t.j. >> let me bring in nick paton walsh. what word are you getting from officials, at least what pakistan said is this nato-led assault and even though this was maybe a nato-led assault, why could this still strain relations between the u.s. and pakistan? >> reporter: well, i mean most people construe nato's presence, certainly in pakistan, as being american led. clearly most of the force here is u.s. much of the assets and helicopters in that area, if there was a helicopter strike, would be american, from my experience of being there. also what was said in the past hours or so, here the nato commander and american general john allen coming forward with a statement which in many ways recognized enormity of this instance but was very cautious to not actually corroborate the pakistani version. you see it here now. he said, this instance has my highest personal attention and my commitment to thoroughly investigate to determine the facts. my most sincere and personal heartfelt condolences go out to the families and loved ones of any pakistani security forces who may have been injured or killed. nothing clear that they want to stand up what pakistan is saying but clearly a recognition. a huge potential strain in an already fragile relations. but i should also point out, t.j., this part of the world, this border, enormously hard to delineate. nato american troops on the afghan side, never quite sure whether they're being attacked from pakistan when they take incoming shell fire or where pakistan begins and afghanistan ends. the afghan side of the border is where this began. there was an operation going on there at that time we heard, to root out insurgents that could, perhaps have been linked to this. not entirely clear. at this point certainly, concern for the enormity and damage this could do to caution in terms of standing up the pakistani version of events. >> nick paton walsh in kabul and also thanks to reza sayah standing by in islamabad. fast-moving developments, we'll stay on top of it. three american students arrested during protests in egypt all expected to be headed home this weekend. they were accused of taking part in the violent protests in tahrir square. the students threw molotov cocktails during the demonstrations, it is said. parents of at least two of the teenagers say they didn't do anything wrong. also, one protester in tahrir square was killed this morning when he was hit by a police vehicle. the interior ministry says the truck was trying to get away from the chaos there in cairo when it hit the man. tens of thousands of egyptians have been gathering to protest the government ahead of monday's scheduled elections. [ chanting ] now, they're chanting "the military wants to overthrow the regime." these are some of the defectors from syria's government taking part in a march. protests continue despite the government's bloody crackdown there. meanwhile, arab league ministers are meeting in cairo to discuss sanctions against damascus for failing to meet friday's deadline to allow observers into syria turning back to politics in this country. newt gingrich is firing back at rivals who say he supports amnesty for illegal immigrants. gingrich expressed support at tuesday's republican presidential debate for process to allow some undocumented immigrants who had been in the u.s. for years to remain legally. in naples, florida, he says his opponents twisted his words. >> i am not -- amnesty for anyone, i'm not prepared for granting citizen but i am for modality to those who have been deeply in america that it would truly be tragic to try to rip their family apart and so they couldn't become a citizen unless they went back home and applied from back home, wherever that is. >> gingrich also said controlling the border and making english the country's official language would be among his first tasks as president. fear the osier car fire, leading to a formal safety investigation into the chevy volt. the national highway traffic sachty administration says the volt's batteries could catch fire in a crash but admit this has not happened in a real accident just yet. it's only happened in simulations. chevy says they are working with the federal government on this investigation. and we are just under two hours away from that thing lifting off and where's it going? mars. the curiosity rover is attached to the top of that rocket you see right there. we have a 10:02 eastern time scheduled liftoff. a new mission looking for evidence of water and life on the red planet. am ambitious, very bold mission that they are undertaking now. you're seeing animation s of ths thing. it's about the size of a mini cooper, weighs about a ton. it will take about eight months to get to the red planet. nasa will then let the mobile laboratory get to work investigating one of the craters on mars, and these are always cool as i bring in bonnie schneider here keeping an eye on weather for us today. weather going to cooperate down in florida today? >> i think so. you know, a lot of times we've talked about these missions in the summer, we're watching the skies for thunderstorms. this time of year the weather is pretty nice in florida. what's going on in the maps. high pressure bringing about fair conditions to much of the southeast including florida. that means more stable conditions. as we zoom into the forecast, 77 degrees, winds fairly light out of the east-southeast. if they were a little stronger, in may be concern. overall the weather's in good shape. as john zarrella's been reporting a longer extended window for the weather. it looks like they'll have enough good weather to make a successful mission, but i think it's pretty nice down in florida. >> looks like it. bonnie will be along shortly. a lot of people trying to get back home after the holiday. see how the weather cooperates. we'll see you shortly. and troops leaving iraq, december 31st. before they make the trip home many have a stop jover in kuwait. they've got to turn some stuff in. we're tail you to virginia to see how the big move is coming along. it's 13 minutes past the hour on this "cnn saturday morning." who ate my cookies and milk? oh, brother. hey, guys. ni-i-i-ck. oh... i thought those were put out for me. i did it again. no worries, nick. [ sighs ] say, nick, you must be busy this holiday. oh, yeah, with all the great savings we got going on, it's been crazy. ooh, i got to dash away. customers lining up. ♪ [ male announcer ] this holiday, chevy's giving more. ♪ 14 past the hour. all u.s. troops out of iraq by the end of the year, a little more than a month from now. many making a stopover in kuwait before they head back home dropping off equipment. our martin savidge spoke with one who is part of the convoy. >> reporter: getting to be very busy days in virginia. the transient points where the soldiers come in from iraq, where the equipment is processed and some of the people. think convoy left about 2:00 in the morning and captain carpenter was on the convoy. how did it go, first of all? >> it went very well. very uneventful convoy. >> reporter: that's the way you'd like it to be. >> yes. >> reporter: you come across the border there, into kuwait. i'm wondering, is there any sense of, okay, that's it. it's done? >> most definitely. it was a short deployment for us this time, but there's a lot of guys that have been there multiple times. >> reporter: you've been there a couple of times. >> this is my third trip and to be here when it's over, it's kind of relieving and fulfilling in a way. so it bring as clocs a closure. >> reporter: and going into potentially a war zone in kuwait. does the stress seem to guest to you, things seem to change? >> yeah, it does. iraq's not at dangerous but still a little dangerous and when you come across the border, the fence is a defining moment now that, you know, things are a little bit better. >> reporter: so what lies ahead for you? >> well, we finish unloading our equipment, and get on a plane and fly home. for me personally, i'll go back and transition back to my family and i'm going to get out of the army here shortly, and go home. find some kind of work. >> reporter: good talking to you. take care of yourself. good luck to you. >> thank you. >> reporter: pretty much the way it's going to end for a lot of soldiers. ship will go home. some will re-deploy. for a lot of them, camp virginia is the end of the line and the end of the war. martin savidge, cnn, camp virginia, kuwait. 16 minutes past the hour. let's get a check of stories across the country. we start with the protest in california. in san francisco, demonstrators in the streets causing traffic jams. the police, ready in riot gear as part of the occupy san francisco movement going on now more than 60 days. also, washington may be getting rid of some airline baggage fees. a proposed bill will require every u.s. airline to accept one checked bag and one carry-on bag for free. right now some airlines charge up to $35 for the first bag, and what airline wants to you pay up to $45 for a carry-on? and this alabama man is skydiving 100 times in a day. he's going to do about 12 jumps an hour. he's doing it to remember the first american killed in combat in afghanistan. >> put himself in harm's way for our country. >> johnny wayne spain died in september of 2001. 17 minutes past hour. you didn't even have your turkey digested yet and already they were bombarding you with christmas commercials. weren't they? yes, the new tradition out. this black friday, but have you heard what some people did on the unofficial kickoff to the holiday season? they were not behaving well. how do you know which ones to follow? the equity summary score consolidates the ratings of up to 10 independent research providers into a single score that's weighted based on how accurate they've been in the past. i'm howard spielberg of fidelity investments. the equity summary score is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. get 200 free trades today and explore your next investing idea. 19 minutes past the hour. black friday, supposed to be fun. getting into the holiday christmas spirit. this isn't christmas spirit. violence breaking out. at least nine states where there were reported violent incidents connected to black friday shopping. >> oh, my god! >> yeah. that looks like holiday cheer. doesn't it? this is actually at a walmart in pine bluff, arkansas. shoppers -- got a riot going on. do you know what they were after, folks? they were after a waffle iron. now, granted, the waffle iron only cost $2. it's a good deal, but a $2 waffle iron is the off this melee. also in kissimmee, florida, two men got in a fight at a jewelry counter. i like to think they were fighting because they wanted to get something nice for their we've, but not really. one man ended up resisting arrest as he's wrestled to the ground. and this is los angeles. a woman pulled out a can of pepper spray and she started using it on other customers. now, what were they after? xboxes that were on sale. a number of people were injured from this stampede. >> i didn't see her personally but sure got the scent of the mace. i got it in my throat. it was burning. i saw people around me, they got it really bad. i tried to get away from it as quickly as possible, because i didn't think it was worth it. no deal's worth that. >> no deal's worth that. earlier we asking you, what do you think is behind awful this violence? is this a new phenomena necessarily? here's what some of you said to us. the recession is what's behind the violence. if people didn't feel so desperate in this economy, things would be more peaceful. another saying violence is nerve are the answer, but it is stores that create these problems. offering great prices by providing ten -- but providing only ten of those items per store. another one saying retailers need to organize better on black friday, have better control of how many people they let in at one time. also, one more saying, opening stores the night before is wrong. different crowds, different motive. it become as huge game to get a $2 waffle maker. that is just unreal. let me bring in bonnie schneider. bonnie, i don't know how you feel about the holiday shopping season. are you one of those who like to be out in the black friday stuff? >> i love discount shopping. i do it year-round. so i'm very into it. i can tell you all the places to shop for discounts. i agree bp 20 get that excited about it and that crazy especially were with the stores open sometimes all night, there's a lot of opportunity for shopping, and there will be plenty nmore. a little bit of travel trouble spots out there today. more so today than the past couple of days. take a look at this radar and you'll see rain and snow working its way into minneapolis. we've seen that yesterday. we're going to see some snow possibly tonight as colder air comes in behind this cold front. to the south we're also looking at heavy rain in kansas and nebraska and winds, too, throughout the plains states. notice the heavy thunderstorms working their way across northeast texas. so, dallas, your temperatures will be falling today behind this cold front. this powerful cold front will make a big difference in the weather today. it's also going to unfortunately ignite delays at the airports. in chicago, major delays. potential delays in dallas and houston. memphis, you've seen a lot of fog over the past few mornings. more expected. st. louis, look for delay, minneapolis, wind, showers. the weather getting worse there. miami, breezy, but temperatures will be mild. so that's very good news. i want to show you these wind gust, because they will be intense throughout the plain states from north dakota down through the south and central plains, into texas and oklahoma. areas in the brighter yellow indicate the more intense ones meaning winds could gust to 60 miles per hour. batten down the hatches if you have anything outdoors in your backyard that can blow about and maybe damage something. this would be a good time to secure it early this morning. windy weather, cold temperatures and big changes are on the way as we start off this week, and a lot of folk, heading back to work after an extended holiday. t.j., i'll talk more about the temperature changes in just a bit. it's going to get colder. >> always good to have you with us. we'll see her again shortly. did you try to go out and try to fight for a deal on black friday? a wait of time. we've got cyber monday coming up around the corner. we'll tell you where you need to be on monday morning to get that deal. stayy wus. say with us. to find you a great deal, even if it's not with us. [ ding ] oh, that's helpful! well, our company does that, too. actually, we invented that. it's like a sauna in here. helping you save, even if it's not with us -- now, that's progressive! call or click today. no mas pantalones! all right. getting close to bottom of the hour now, and you may have been out in the melee for black friday, but a lot of people sat it out because they knew something else was around the corner. that cyber monday, when the retailers want to you take advantage of online shopping deals, but, tech expert katie linendoll who joins me now, are they messing with our minds? are they really giving us the best deals on this day or another made-up holiday, if will you? >> t.j., i have to tell you i'm still recovering from the waffle iron. that was a debacle. >> a mess. wasn't it? >> yeah, let's talk about cyber plond to give you back history on it. the phrase cyber monday was actually coined in about 2005 and since then there's only been an annual increase in spending year after year. so much in fact last year over $1 billion was spent on the holiday shopping day and according to shop.org eight out of ten retailers will offer special deals on monday. you can bet all retailers online will be ramping up. the best part over half the people shopping will be doing it naturally from their work computers. >> of course they will. yep. will you miss something? if you don't jump on it on monday, are you actually going to be missing out on an opportunity? >> yeah. i think there's a lot of opportunities out in. top give you the sites i'm keeping my eye on. go to cyber monday.com. a great site to aggregate a number ever the ads and deals. it's a subsidiary of shop.org pap great site to make sure you're staying in touch with everything on sale. if you're into a big brand, what i recommend doing is going on to their facebook page and hitting that like button. now more than ever, they're using social media sites to make sure they are rewarding loyal fans and two sites i use year-round, t.j., retailmenot and savings.com. a promotion code at the least for free shipping. sometimes you get 10%, 20% off. definitely a day to stay tuned. again, big bonus. you don't have to be fighting with people in the store over a $2 waffle iron. >> yes. okay. but if everybody knows that we're going to be online on monday, you know, you've got criminals out there who are pretty smart and getting ready for monday as well. >> yes. absolutely. some things to take precautions on monday. first and foremost, phishing schemes. luring you with big ticket prices too good to be true. amazes me how realisticed ads look like. make sure you know what you're clicking on before you click on it. also, make sure you're using credit cards instead of debit cards. better protected from fraud and faceless liability in the event your credit card number is stolen. also, when you are shopping online, look for that https up in the address bar. that's going to mean you're in a secure site before putting in your info. not so much as scamming but something i like to say, heads up. look for restocking fees. people see a couple hundred dollars off on the big electronic products and impulse by. can you get hit with a restocking fee, especially tvs, laptops, computers. make sure you absolutely do want the product and not making any purchases on public wi-fi. last, not least, protect your cell phone. a lot of shoppers are planning to shop. download and app that will protect nor smartphone and protect your data should you happen to lose it. >> i didn't think about that. don't do it on wi-fi. an important tip there. good stuff. haven't seen you in a while. good to see you. hope had you a good thanksgiving and i'm sure we'll talk to you again during this holiday. thanks. >> thank you. just past the bottom of the hour now, and we are just about 90 minutes away from launch. nasa is heading to the stars once again. in particular, though, they're heading to mars. our john zarrella is standing by for us to tell you why this is such a big deal today, and, john, you've got me on board now. this is a big deal. >> reporter: absolutely, t.j. as you mentioned, about 90 minutes to go before liftoff of nasa's most ambitious mars mission ever. i'll have that story coming up. when you have tough pain, do you want fast relief? 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[ male announcer ] medicare open enrollment ends soon. call 1-800-medicare or visit medicare.gov to learn more. just past the bottom of the hour on this "cnn saturday morning." hello to you all. thank for spending part of your weekend with us. the stories making headlines today -- the nba could be back. a tentative deal reached. they could have them playing by christmas day. owners and players have reached an understanding. it's a handshake deal right now that could end the lockout going on now for 149 days. the league is planning a 66-game season with training camp opens december 9th. the deal has to be ratified by both players and owners. this is the word we're getting a few hours ago. overnight, 3:00 a.m. eastern time, they announced they have reached a tentative deal. and pakistan saying helicopters opened fire on two military checkpoints killing 24 soldiers happened neared border with pakistan. 24 soldiers injured in the attack. nato commanders are committed to a thorough investigation. also three american students arrested and detained during protests in egypt are expected backs in the united states this weekend. they were accused of being involved in the recent violent clashes in tahrir square. all three had been attending an american university in cairo on a semester long study abroad program. 36 past the hour now. just about an hour and a half away from a mission to mars. the curiosity rover is going to take off here in just a bit. it will arrive on the red planet of mars, in eight months or so. john zarrella is keeping an eye on all things space related to us, he's at kennedy space center. i asked you this question last time we talked. it's important for our perspective of the viewers. just how big of a deal is this and ambitious of a project is this for nasa? >> reporter: well, it's ambitious, t.j., on a lot of fronts. ambitious from the standpoint the landing system they're going to use, they've never done before. it's the first time they'll ever have landed with what they call a sky crane system. low aring it on tethers to the surface, then the tethers break and fly off. that's ambitious. it's ambitious from the standpoint that for the first time in history, they actually are going to be able to sample rock, sample dirt on the martian surface, put those samples into detectors and if they're really really lucky, that's important to stress, they might be able to find organic material, and that is a key to the building blocks of life as we know it. so for nasa, this mission has high expectations. mars. does life exist there? did it ever. naez is poised to take its boldest step towards answering questions that could change forever our view of humanity's place in the universe. >> i think the best way of saying why we're so excited about this mission that it sets us up for the future of finally answering that really age-old question of, does life exist on our planets? >> reporter: the mission is called "the mars science laboratory" or msl. the most sophisticated vehicle ever sent to mars, it has the capability to detect signs of life. if it works, come next august after traveling 350 million miles, a 2,000-pound six-wheeled rover called "curiosity" will arrive at the red planet. using a tether system never tried before -- it will be lowered down to a place called the gale crater. the size of a small car, "curiosity" is the cadillac of rovers. >> two things make the rovers bigger and bigger, because we want to cover more ground. we want to be able to put an arm out and drill a rock. >> reporter: drill a rock? w why? >> on mars, if life exists as single cell organisms or if it ever existed we believe it will be under the ground or inside rocks. >> reporter: inside gale craters sits what scientists believe is a layered mountain. in essence, the history of mars told in the layers, and if water ever flowed on mars it might have been in that crater. curiosity's arm will collect samples and place them in its onboard laboratory with the ability to detect organic material. >> now, if we discover organic materials on mars then it gets very exciting. the chances of it may be low, but the payoff is huge. organic materials are required for life as we know it. >> reporter: but it won't mean life exists, just the building blocks. >> if you go aish isish to the desert on earth, can you find life on samples if you do a year of robotics study? probably not. it's actually quite difficult. life has to stick up and make itself seen. >> reporter: finding life itself would be left to the next wave of explorers, robotic and perhaps even human. you know, t.j., the weather looks pretty good here this morning as well. some onshore clouds moving in. it's a little windy but well with the limits for the atlas 5 rocket. good chance it will get off the ground this morning. >> and when they get off ground, just after 10:00 eastern time. but we have questions from nor viewers who are curious about the countdown clock which can actually confuse people. frankly, when you see the time. explain how this is going down. >> reporter: yeah. they always have a built-in hold even in the shuttle launch, as we saw that over the years. a built-in hold to check the system. make sure everything is okay. make sure they're on track. then they'll sync up the times and pick up the countdown. that's what that's for. just a built-in hold. >> john zarrella is with us throughout the morning. we're less than an hour and a half away. we'll be talking plenty. there it is, a live picture. that rocket taking off just under an hour and a half away. looks like the weather will commentan ambitious mission to mars about to get under way here in a bit. we'll have that for you live. also coming up at 41 past the hour, "rolling stone" has a new list for you. this one, the greatest guitarists of all-time. there's a good chance you can guess who's going to be at the top of that list. stay with me on this "cnn saturday morning." ♪ okay. we're just enjoying that for a second there. 43 minutes pacht howard. what you're hearing there, "foxy lady" jimi hendrix named number one guitarist of all-time. "rollingstone" put that list today. and behind that, duaen a achldu allman brothers. >> and this is king, the swazi king. constitutional monarchs one of the few left in the entire world. complete control. all political parties in swaziland are banned. there he is. actual name of swaziland comes from the 19th century king. his wife, number 12, known as ladube apparently had illicit relations with his just it minister and they literally found him underneath the bed. there are photographs. we can't find that but they exist and i have seen them. the photographs are taken and he is literally hidden underneath the bed. >> can't deny this. he has been imprisoned. they were good friends. great friends and shared a lot of memories and secrets and all kinds of things. but ms. dube was under house arrest from around august 10th of last year when the incident happened, but it all came to a head recently because she wanted to leave the compound and the story goes she had a child that was bleeding, schae two or three children with the king, she wanted to leave and the guard wouldn't let her. she sprayed him with pepper spray. the whole story has come to a head and the newspaper are saying she has been banished. and human rights groups are not happy about this, of course. but court is saying she hasn't been banished, just gone visiting. there you see, with kim dubai and the prince of thailand. that photograph taken in 2006. that is the king of thailand. there they are. >> oh, yeah. >> and that was 2006 when she was still in favor. she is no longer in favor and not allowed to see the king, in fact. what is going to be her fate? >> it's going 20 to be. swaziland is not only ruled by the king but also his mother's known as she elephant. so apparently the mother was very much guarding her, but what happens next, now here you're seeing what is known at the reid dance. once a year the young virgins from around swaziland wa raid himself in front of the king and he chooses his next virgin bride paying homage to the she mother. >> how many does he have? >> 42. escaped to london because they were also caught having illicit relations. you know, can he possibly meet the needs of all 14? he's 43. one would think he might be able to, man, but it's tough enough to keep up with one. >> all right. so what is going to happen to her remains to be seen but the world's spotlight is on her. one hopes she's at least allowed to see her children, because at this point she's not allowed to see her children, not allowed to see the king. >> keep up updated on this. i'd like to follow-up on this later. thank you so much. a quarter before the top of the hour now and the salvation army needs you to be a bell ringer. you don't need to go outside, though. stand in the cold and ring that bell. you can actually be a virtual bell ringer this holiday season. yep. they're going high-tech. stay with us. ah, that time of year for the bell and the red kettles across america. for more than a century. now the salvation army is finding new ways for to you give. using social media to get the message out. i talked with major george hood, secretary for the salvation army and asked him about the new efforts to go high-tech. >> it's important, as technology is introduced, they are at a point where we can communicate with consumers and donors who want to make contributions and more and more we're finding people don't want to be carrying money in their pocket when they're out shopping. so we've created some online opportunities not only to make contributions but also to select angels to provide christmas presents for needy children. so we've really gone to the online environment, the digital age, and we're finding that many people, particularly the emerging generations, love these options as they want to become loyal donors. >> so is it a matter of, say i was a virtual bell ringer, if you will. am i actively seeking people out online? >> it's a viral relationship where you volunteer to be an online bell ringer, and you send e-mail blasts to all of your friends, people you work with, your neighbors, your relatives, and you ask them to donate to your red kettle, and there's a thermometer there, and in the software package, it allows you to set a goal and then track how much contributions you're receiving, and see if you can reach your goal before christmas day. >> oh. that's pretty cool. now, tell me about the traditional bell ringers? do you find that that still works? you mentioned a lot of people are not carrying a lot of cash these days. does that still work and you still are able to pull in a number of contributions during the holiday season? >> i'll tell you, about eight years ago i forecasted we looking at the end of the red kettle. how much did i know? last year we raised $142 million in those red kegttles across america. >> so that still is going to be what gets it done for you. can you match an day, though, when online the online, the virtual red kettles will be pulling in more than those out in the streets? >> well, we think that that may happen over a period of time. it's not going to happen in the next couple of years, but the -- the idea is, let's be accessible where the donor wants to find us, and that's what the technical world and the digital word is all about. >> so maybe you want some more information. maybe you'd like to sign up to be a virtual bell ringer. check out the salvation army's website at salvationarmyusa.org. you've booked the hotel online, booked the one with the scenic view of the city. then you get to that hotel room and you look out the window, just at an empty alley or brick wall. after the break, we'll tell you where, though. the state that will give you glorious views of new york, san francisco, even hong kong. you stay with us. was fascinated by balsa wood airplanes ever since i was a kid. [ man #2 ] i always wondered how did an airplane get in the air. to design and create the next greatest thing, takes a lot of imagination and a lot of courage. [ man #3 ] i always wanted to be one of those gu ever since i was a kid i wondered how does an airplane get in the air? to create this takes a lot of imagination and courage. i always wanteded to have that kind of technical expertise.. [ man #3 ] i definitely feel responsible to these customers. can't pull over on the side of the road and see what's going on underneath the hood. these have to be perfect every time. we make jet engines and i think the inner nerd in me is really excited about that. [ man #4 ] you build one up, and out the door it goes. and you know that out there somewhere it's serving an even bigger purpose. [ man #2 ] genx is the latest and greatest, it's the edge of technology. it's gonna fly people around the world, better than it's ever done before. 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[ cheering ] i wanna see that again. ♪ we build jet engines. ♪ before the break we said we'd tell you which hotels to stay in to get the best views at major tourist defendant i isist. well, the hotel americano. also, in hong kong, the grand hyatt, angled windows give you views of the hong kong harbor. and fairmont hotel. we're just about five minutes until the top of hour. always good to have bonnie schneider with us. reynolds wolf is probably doing something auburn tiger related. this weekend, people trying to get home today and tomorrow. what's the mess on the screen? >> unfortunately, a lot of wind behind it. a powerful system bringing snow to northern minnesota. to the south, though, it's all rain and strong wind too. dallas got hit with strong thunderstorms at this hour. a lot of that is working its way towards northern louisiana and arkansas for today. and behind it, a lot of wind. that means we have a lot of wind advisories poefrlted pretty much from the north to south. you see low pressure up to the north. the midsouth. and then behind it, not far away, high pressure. anytime you have high and low pressure close together you get a strong pressure gradient. that's really what's going to kick up the winds across the plain states from north to south. severe storms may ignite as well in advance of this system, particularly in louisiana. as we advance the map to show you what's ahead for tomorrow, more people are traveling on saturday than sunday. a lot of wane into detroit. all wait down through lexington, kentucky, and nashville, tennessee. a lot of it will work its way to the southeast and impact cities like atlanta and charlotte sunday night. big changes in the weather. a beautiful thanksgiving, a pretty night black friday and now the weekend, keep an eye on it. potential delays throughouted weekend. >> bonnie schneider, talk to you plenty throughout the morning. a lot of you shopping this weekend, out in malls and whatnot. you need to stick around. you need to watch where you put your hands. we're going to tell you about the germiest places in the mall, and there are places that you actually touch and put your hands all the time. that you need ♪ ♪ come at just the right speed, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ medicine that can't wait legal briefs there by eight, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ ♪ freight for you, box for me box that keeps you healthy, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ ♪ saving time, cutting stress, when you use ups ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ okay. we're all kind of grossed out by the next story. at the mall, picking out that gift. thinking about all kinds of thing, not germs, bacteria and viruses you're actually picking up. health.com has a list of the germiest places you should try to avoid, and look at this. the restroom sink. where you wash your hands. they say it's actually disgusting. worse than the doorknobs and even the toilet handles. number two on the list, the foodcourt tables. you do not want to sit down. nasty stuff on that table. number three, also, the handrails on the escalator. you could make sense of that one. the fourth germiest place, the atm keypad. that makes sense. everybody's going through, typing on those things. rounding out the top eight in general, toy stores, avoid them. fitting rooms are nasty. gadget shops and also makeup samples. happy shopping. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we're at the top of the morning on this saturday morning. hem oh. i'm t.j. holmes. we're going to watch something together in the next hour. nat launching an ambitious mission. where are they going? they're going to mars. sending up a rover, blasting off in just over an hour looking for signs of life on mars. curiosity. it's not going to land on mars until next august and then the real work can begin. a 354 million mile trip to mars to get there. a scheduled launch, we'll have it for you live. also, from oversea, still a developing story. new violence to report in syria. security forces killed at least 11 civilians across the country today. meanwhile, arab league ministers are immediating in cairo to discuss sanctions against damascus for failing to meet friday's deadline to allow observers into syria. just past the top of the hour. let's say good morning to our friend here, joe carter, hln sports. you're up here and you're talking to us because this is a big deal. big day. we could have a deal. >> looks like a tentative deal on the table between players and owners. spent 17 hours yesterday hammering out the deal. the lockout after 149 days is going to end on christmas day, when the season is supposed to tip off. david stern, he spoke earlier this morning. remember, last week he said we were heading into a nuclear winter. his tone, much, much different earlier this morning. here's mr. stern. >> we've reach add tentative understanding that is subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations, but we're optimistic that that will all come to pass, and that the nba season will begin on december 25th christmas day. >> all right. we're looking at, he said, christmas day being tip-off. a lot's got to happen between now and then. a shortened season by about 16 game. training camp add free agency begins december 9th. a ten-year deal tentatively on the table. both sides can opt out after six years but if you're keeping score, some are saying early the owners won big time but also said that in 1999 in the last collective bargaining agreement and it wasn't in the owners' favor, they fought hard to get the basketball related income down to 50/50, all that other jazz. details who won on either side are trickling in. we do know the next 30 days is going to be a mad dash to get the season off and running, free agency, writing the actual deal and obviously with tip-off being december 25th. >> good news at least. joe carter, appreciate it as always. four minutes past the hour. turning overseas to another developing story and we're keeping a close eye on today. at least 24 pakistani soldiers killed after their checkpoints were hit. at least two checkpoints hit and pakistan says nato is responsible. we have two correspondents we're going to check in with this. one in islamabad, reza, start with you. strong words from pakistan coming right now. >> reporter: yeah, t.j. the way things stand right now, an ugly incident that can damage u.s./pakistani relations. the pakistani army now telling us two check posts hit by nate other air strikes on pakistani soil killing 24 pakistani soldiers and pakistani government not happy with this incident. we're already seeing the fallout. the prime minister here gilani issues a blistering condemnation. he cut short a trip earlier today heading back to islamabad, calling an emergency meeting with government officials. the government also shut down two nato supply routes going from pakistan to afghanistan. so right now about 40% of nato supplies are sitting in parking lots. not clear when that equipment is going to start moving again. again, these check posts according to the pakistani military, in a district right inside the pakistani border, right along the afghan border. there's militant activity there. nato troops often launch operations there, but they're supposed to stay on the afghan side. again, according to the pakistani military, they crossed over and hit these two check posts on pakistani soil. i just got off the phone with the top spokesperson for the pakistani military and he told me there is no justification for these hits. they say these check posts are clearly marked, and nato officials know exactly where they are. the u.s. ambassador to pakistan, a couple hours ago, released this statement saying, i regret the loss of any pakistani servicemen and pledge that the united states will work closely with pakistan to investigate this incident. t.j.? >> let me bring in nick paton walsh keeping an eye on things in kabul and what we're getting from nato. nick, are they acknowledging yet not just an incident, but it happened the way that pakistan is saying it happened? >> reporter: well, let's start what they're sayinging on the record. the general, american head here expressing condolences to the families of any pakistani security forces who may have been killed in this instance, but also saying he will personally oversee a lengthy investigation. we're getting a bit more detail from a senior nato official here. he acknowledges in was a strike of some description in that area, but does not specify at this point, they can't confirm, whether nato personnel crossed the border at all, pointing out it cannot confirm also there were helicopters involved, the use of something called close air support. that could be in my opinion, an air strike, or maybe a drone used in that area. also he points out going after insurgence on the afghan side of the border at that time when this incident occurred. some things we're hearing privately suggesting they may be slightly at odds with the pakistani description, certainly stressing at this point the investigation is early and they don't have all the facts yet. t.j.? >> nick, and reza, thank you both. we're about seven minutes past the hour now and three american students arrested during protests in egypt are all expected to be headed home this weekend. they were accused of taking part in the sometimes violent protest in tahrir square. officials say the students threw molotov cocktails during the demonstrations, but the parents of at least two of the teenagers say the kids didn't do anything wrong. meanwhile, one protesters in tahrir square was killed this morning. he was hit by a police vehicle. the interior ministry says the truck was trying to get away from the chaos there in cairo when it hit the man. tens of thousands of egyptians have been gathered to protest the government ahead of monday's scheduled elections. and turning to politics here in this country, newt gingrich is responding to his rivals who say he supports amnesty for illegal immigrants. gingrich expressed support this week for a process to allow some undocumented immigrants who had been in the u.s. for years to remain legally. in naples, florida, yesterday, gingrich said his opponents had twisted his words. >> i am not -- i'm not saying amnesty for anyone. i'm not for citizenship for -- but i am for legality to those people who started here roots deeply in america it would be truly tragic to try to rip their family apart. so couldn't become a citizen unless they went back home and applied from back home wherever that is and -- >> gingrich also said controlling the border and making english the official language would be among this first tasks as president. and new fears over car fires now leading to a formal safety investigation into the chevy volt. the national highway safety traffic administration says the volts could catch fire in a crash, but they say this has not happened in a real accident yet. it's only happened in simulations. chevy says they're working with the federal government on this investigation. and we are less than an hour away from that liftoff of the mars rover. it's said to take off on a mission to mars. so is it going to uncover some brand new clues about life out there? 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[ male announcer ] medicare open enrollment ends soon. call 1-800-medicare or visit medicare.gov to learn more. we're 13 minutes past the hour and just minutes away from a launch. nasa is taking off the day. no, it's not some nameded mission, but still, a big deal none the less. curiosity the rover it's about to head to mars. let me bring in our john zarrella live at kennedy space center and john, launches are always exciting. but this one's a big special for a number of reasons. you give me the top two. >> reporter: well, top two, of course, you're going to mars. >> yeah. >> reporter: number one. it's very difficult to get there to begin with. number two, when you get there, you're going to be looking for evidence that life may exist or has existed on mars. those are pretty good top two. >> those are a very good top two. always putting you on the spot and you always deliver. no worries at all. all right. so when might we start, and we know it's not going to get there for a while, but even after it gets there, how long before we start getting some answers? >> reporter: it will be pretty quick, because the way this landing system works, as soon as it comes down on the martian surface, its wheels are going to be out, it's going to be ready to go. it will start taking pictures almost immediately after the systems are checked out. in the past, you know, they used and air bag system, where these rovers which were smaller, literally bounced on the surface encased in these air bags, and so then they would -- the air bags would, you know, deflate, the rovers would come out. it would take a little bit longer, but this rover is so big, they had to engineer a whole new landing system. and, t.j., for our viewers, i've got a prop that will show everybody just how big the rover is. look at this. this is one of the six wheels. this is a wheel -- now, i didn't take it off of curiosity. >> thank you. >> reporter: i mean, it's -- same thing. identical size, shape of one of the wheels on curiosity. now, the rovers in the past, like sojourner, the first one that landed on mars, was about the size across of this wheel. >> wow. >> reporter: that's how big that rover was. so now you get an idea of the size and scope and dimension how big this rover is. >> great perspective. i'll ask you off-air where you got that thing, but john zarrella will be with us throughout the morning, this launch is only about 45 minutes away. you will see it here live, and john zarrella will be back with more perspective and walk and talk us through this whole launch when it starts happening. john, always good to have you. see you again here shortly and also our bonnie schneider is here. she's going to check in in a second to let us know about the weather going on there, and if launch will go off without a hitch. she's next. as we keep an eye on what's happening with nasa, i also want to remind you about our good friend, dr. sanjay gupta. he's got a new show on cnn. yes, another one. called "the next list" profiling exceptional individuals, and this week he's talking to a molecular gas tron mer obsessed with experiment. >> we serve an edible menu. we have almost since day one, because serving edible menus makes a lot of sense. every month about 20 tons of paper are wasted in restaurants alone. by that rationale, if you ate your menu made from global products, you could eliminate the paper waste. it looks like a sushi roll, tastes like a sushi roll, but it's your menu. one more gift... 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[ both ] ♪ emma, emma bo-bemma ♪ banana-fana-fo-femma ♪ fee-fi-fo-femma ♪ em-ma very good sweety, how do you feel? good. yeah? you did a really good job, okay? let's go back to drawing. okay... uhh. the bad news, it's probably totaled. the good news is, you don't have to pay your deductible. with vanishing deductible from nationwide insurance, you got $100 off for every year of safe driving, so now your deductible is zero. the other good news ? i held on to your coffee. wow. ♪ nationwide is on your side ( laughing ) it's actually a pretty good day when you consider. that's great. ah. just about 40 minutes away. bonnie schneider. i just love these things. any nasa launch sparks the imagination. doesn't it? getting ready for the mars rover taking off. atop that rocket. going to be lifting off. a few clouds in there, bonnie. they didn't necessarily say it was going to be a problem. a lot of clouds. could this be about issue? >> could be, depending how long they stick around. a longer window in terms ever launching. overall, expecting sunshine. the later it gets, the more chance of sun popping into the forecast. the forecast calls for a mix of sun and clouds. winds fairly light out of the east-southeast at 12 miles per hour. temperatures very mild. this time of year the weather's a lot better in florida than a lot of the launches we covered during the summer where thunder and lightning is san issue. that's not the issue as cross the country. looking at cold weather. snow in the forecast, two to four inches and may see snow mixed with sleep and freezing rain further south of route 2 into michigan. keep that in mind. a little treacherous in the late-night period. heavy rain through the plains states, a cold rain. the weather is definitely changing. also looking at thunderstorms rumbling through texas at this hour. what's important to note, wind advisories and even a breeze watch further south as far south as odessa, texas, because temperatures will get down to the freeze be mark possibly if not tonight, tomorrow night. a lot of colder air behind the system. high pressure to the west. a deep rooted area of low pressure to the east. the two coming close enough it will really kick up the winds. in advance of that, mild temperatures and comfortable conditions on the eastern seaboard. record highs in places. as we go through sunday, t.j., we're monitoring because sunday is the busiest travel day of the year. watching for potential airport delays due to nasty weather ruling through. >> bonnie schneider, thank you so much. 22 minutes past the hour and i'm looking at the nasa countdown clock here and we now have less than 39 minutes before liftoff. tell you about the mars rover. curiosity is taking off in just 39 mithts. headed to mars. going to take long trip, take about eight months to get to mars. all eyes on the launch pad and a couple other folks are there. a pop star. one of the lead guys from the black eyed peas is there nor lun for lunch with a specific mission today as well. 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[ female announcer ] we all age differently. roc® multi-correxion 4 zone moisturizer with roc®retinol and antioxidants. lines, wrinkles, and sun damage will fade. roc multi-correxion. correct what ages you. as we get to close to the bottom of the hour we're getting closer and closer to liftoff. trying to get kids excited about science. everybody's excited about science today anytime you see one of these launches, but, yes, nasa blasting off today sending the rover to mars. what better way can you really get kids excited h d than to pu rocket up in space? that is what they are doing this morning with this mars rover. again, liftoff is about 10:02 eastern time this morning. just about 30 minutes away. we'll have it for you live. is all this really enough to get kids excited about science and technology and to really spark the imagination? earlier i posed that question to will.i.am. of the black eyed peas. >> whatever means we can use, whether it's music, whether it's math, whatever that means is, whether it's a rocket behind us taking off, taking up curiosity, we'll take that and use that to get the kids motivated to do education. >> will, tell us, we've been kind of familiar, you've talked to cnn before about your interest in trying to get kids involved in stuff. would you classify yourself as a space geek? >> tech geek, space geek. just curious like this rover here. so, yeah. i'm a space geek. >> you're curious. i just mentioned this. what have you seen as you've tried to get kids more involved? have you been disappointed, surprised, at how much it takes sometimes to get kids into those fields? >> i'm blown away and inspired bier these kids, especially the kids that work with the robotics program, and there's like 200,000-plus kids who are writing code, building robots, doing amazing things with their skill set, and it's not like kids aren't. it's just that we haven't shined the light on the kids that are to inspire other kids to get involved as well. i'm, like, really, really inspired by these kids. >> leyland, pick up that point for me there. i guess, translate this for us. how do we get from launch today, and how does that translate into getting some kid in a classroom somewhere in this country involved in a field of math and science and maybe even a career? >> well, when i think about a kid seeing curiosity, this rover, going around the surface of mars, taking samples, doing things. i was a chemistry major. mixing chemicals together and blew up a creative explosion in my mom's living room. that got me fueled and energized. maybe there's a kid watching kurtty going around the surface of mars and they may think, well, how do i become a scientist or engineer? how do i become a musician? music and math uses both the left and right-hand sides of the brain. if you know music, you know math. >> again, we are about 30 minutes away from this. this is going to be happening right at the top of the hour. you're seeing live pictures from nasa tv. they're giving us these pictures. there's the shot of it. that is the atlas rocket and on top of it, right in the middle of your screen, that white rocket in the middle, it's carrying the rover on