three students jailed in cairo accused of throwing firebombs off a rooftop onto egyptian security forces. they are home, a judge ordering them released. we'll talk live with one of the students in a moment. plus, breaking news this morning on the presidential front. as the new hampshire union leader has announced their endorsement for the republican nomination. always a crucial boost in the nation's first primary state. who earned their nod, and what impact will it have on the race? an update on something you and i decided to tackle a couple years ago. we wanted to decide to learn a new skill or hobby. something many americans do. >> i was never very mussicaly inclined. my office is right next to lester's and he plays bass guitar all day long, and throw osmos osmosis, picked up some skills. >> someone tweeted back to me, maybe i should sing italian while you accompany me on the guitar. >> i should do that. you should do that. are your skills up to bapar? >> i can't sing. >> other than that a great idea. >> coming up a lot later in the broadcast. we want to begin with the homecoming for the three american students detained in cairo this week. arrested last sunday. accused of throwing molotov cocktails off the roof during a protest near ta rear square. after a week of uncertainty in jail, they were released, back in the u.s. joining us now is derrik sweeney and his mother joy. thank you for joining us. >> good morning. >> good morning, lester. >> what's is like to be home? >> it's really wonderful. the world is beautiful. >> we mentioned, you have some stories to tell. there was a picture sent out. you are tallest on the right. one of the pictures has a bag of supplies of molotov cocktails you were accused of using. what was going through your mind at the time? >> perhaps the scariest moment of my life. i wasn't sure if i would get to see america, my family, or loved ones again. i actually fainted right after that the only time i recall fainting in my life. i was very, very scared. >> as we noted, there were materials for bomb making or molotov cocktails. you were accused along with two other students of throwing these off the roof. were you on the rooftop at the time? >> no, that was one of the strangest things. i didn't know where that came from. we were never on a rooftop and never handled or dealt or threw molotov cocktails. >> were you participating in the protests? >> we were at the protests. we were there, we didn't even chant the slogans. we were there, but didn't understand most of it. we were there, but not really participating. >> at one point you end up in jail. before that, held in captivity somewhere else. and i understand those are the most harrowing hours. tell us about the first several hours in captivity. >> the first hours, they -- well, they threatened to force feed us gasoline. they put our shirts up over our heads so we couldn't see where we were at all. they hit us in the face and the back of the neck a lot. we spent about seven hours in the fetal position with hands behind our backhand cuffed in the dark, and they were behind us with guns, saying if we moved at all they would shoot us and at that point, i -- i sort of -- i just recall that existence is love and everything is beautiful. it was very scary. >> are you telling that story, watching your mom joy. the look of worry comes across your face again. what was it like for those days, trying to find out the latest on derrik, his whereabouts, whether or not he would get out? >> oh, my goodness. such an emotional roller coaster and to find out the story behind it, i mean i knew that the entire time i was praying, everybody i knew was praying. i got prayer messages from people, total strangers would stop me in the grocery store, i have been praying for your son's safe return. our prayers were answered and we're so grateful. >> derrik, have to assume you did some praying yourself. was there a point where you didn't think that things could go sideways in a hurry? >> there was a point that possibility seemed quite logically likely, though i never really allowed it to enter my thinking too much. >> listen, we're glad you are back together. a delayed thanksgiving meal. thank you for taking time to spend with us this morning. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> derrik and joy sweeney. now here is jen jenna. >> what a great spirit he has. today, an estimated 42.5 million people traveled away from home for thanks giving are getting back to where they came from, which will make for a busy travel day on the roads and airports. mark potter live at miami international airport. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to up jenna. pretty quiet here today, but it's a it's expected to build here at miami international airport. today and tomorrow, expected to be heavy. good news, so far no delays have been reported around the country. at this airport specifically, 117,000 people are expected to travel today, a spokesman says that's about the same it was this time last year, the air transport association had predicted a 2% decline in air travel this year, but at a couple of airports we called last night in san francisco and atlanta, we were hearing about slight increases. throughout the country, planes said to be very full. jammed. people are urged to get to the airports early today so they can get through the check in and screening, along with everyone else, jenna. >> mark, tens of millions traveling on the roads. what can we expect from roadways? >> reporter: a busy travel day. 90% of travelers are heading home by car. aaa predicts 38 million people will be on the roads, traveling 50 miles or more. up 4% over last year. we don't actually know if that happened. won't know that for several months. after more surveys are done, but what -- what we do know is that as the day progresses, the traffic on the roads is expected to build. a lot of people out there. a lot of troopers. everyone urged to be careful out there. >> mark potter, thank you very much. once again, here is lester. >> a busy weekend in politics with unrest overseas in pakistan and egypt. announcement of a key endorsement in the race for president. here to take us through all, david gregory, moderator of "meet the press." good morning. >> good morning. >> chief among the president's concerns. 24 f 44 pakistanis killed by an errant nato attack. this is a big deal, given osama bin laden was killed on pakistani soil without their permission or knowledge. what's this mean for the white house right now? >> it's very difficult right now. because as you say, the relationship is already strained. some repercussion to the relationship. talk about closing various bases forb drones that fly over the tribal areas that target terrorists by the united states, terrorists that come into afghanistan, target american troops. not just a question of it being tense. there are likely to be further raids by the united states, by nato troops, into pakistan to deal with these safe havens that are operating there. again, where they target u.s. troops by coming over the border. so this is just going to underline that difficulty. >> second big foreign policy challenge, the arab spring. a challenge all along to measure this fine line between dealing with the uprisings and democracy and freedom. if egypt right now, where the u.s. had really supported the uprising against mubarak, what happens now? as that agreement seems to be falling apart? >> well, again, the key to the u.s./egyptian relationship is the strong military-to-military ties. that becomes so important because of the institutional relationship that exists between the u.s. military and egyptian military to sort of keep order. but the political question is a separate matter and operating on a separate track. we as the united states want to encourage democratic reform. but this means institution building. it means trying to deal with a -- a new administration that may not necessarily be friendly to all u.s. interests and this is going to be a very much take it one step at a time kind of approach. much more difficult to manage as i think everybody understood, even after those first images in ta re tahir square. >> a new hampshire newspaper is announcing it is endorsing newt gingrich. how important is this? >> it is important. in 2008, john mccain. a conservative newspaper, carries a lot of weight in new hampshire. this is very important for newt gingrich, trying to emerge as the alternative to mitt romney, the more conservative alternative. that is the problem for romney. his conservative credentials, and this his most important state. up in the polls in new hampshire, is romney, the governor of massachusetts, of course, this is his proving ground to really show he's on a march to win the nomination. >> david gregory, thank you very much. >> thank you, lester. time for a check of other headlines. for that we turn to wnbc's darlene rodriguez. good morning, everybody. we begin with the child sex abuse scandal that shocked the nation. nbc's jay gray live at penn state with the latest. good morning, jay. >> reporter: good morning, darlene. another rough week at penn state. let's start with the details of students coming back. thousands will make their way back to state college today, coming back from thanksgiving break. a break for the students, but not necessarily for the controversy here. we also know that during that thanksgiving break, jerry sandusky seen on thursday, thanksgiving day, at one point with his wife dottie, a day after new accusations surfaced. two young boys currently under 18 years old, one of the accusers, according to sandusky's attorney, joe amendola, a member of sandusky's own family. he calls the allegations ridiculous and unfounded. and there are continued questions as the attorney general and a member of the penn state board of trustees, he didn't suggest that that group take a closer look at sandusky. and penn state played its final game. fans althou ss at a local sport a lot to cheer about. they lost. they are eligible for a postseason bowl game. but some of the cities that host the bowls may not deliver ab invitation because of the scandal here. >> nbc's jay gray, thank you. police are trying to talk to the woman accused of attacking other shoppers with pepper spray. she surrendered friday night, but refusing to talk about the incident. at least 20 customers suffered minor injuries. and nasa's mission to mars is rocketing toward the red planet. the biggest and betty kwiptebes robot will look for signs of life on mars. despite a midnight deadline, few occupy l.a. protesters taking down hundreds of tents they put up in a park next to city hall so it can be cleaned. most don't intend to comply with the order, setting up a possible confrontation with police. vladimmir putin running for president again. he stepped down in 2008 after two presidential terms. today's nomination marks the official start of putin's campaign to seek re-election next march. a look ahead of "today," a quick roundup of stories to watch this week. a record crowd is expected to watch justin beeber and other celebrities light the rockefeller christmas tree on wednesday it will be shown right here on nbc. capital christmas tree arrives at the west front of the capitol grounds it will be lit on december 6th. slaup toured black dress worn by lady gaga expected to sell more than $10,000 at a rock and roll auction thursday in los angeles. that's the news. now back to lester, jenna, and scott. i see that dress on you, jenna. >> what is the big deal? my blazer is going for $14.99 at t.j. max. i don't know what the big deal is about that dress when clearly you could have this for next to nothing. scott williams is here with a first check of the weather. a lot of folks headed back home after t and a good sunday morning. i'm storm 4 meteorologist chuck bell. it is a bright and mild start to our sunday in the washington area. a beautiful day to be outside today. temperature already 52 in washington. 45 in montgomery. 39 in fairfax. 37 in manassas, leesburg. increasing mid and high-level cloudiness. south winds 10 to 20 miles per hour. clouds with rain chances back tomorrow. and that's your sunday forecast. lester. >> scott, thanks. up next, black friday is on the books. now on to cyber monday. everything you need to know to find the best deals online. after this. - i'll be home soon. until then, i have my wingman helping me out. tommy? - i helped dad pick it out. - it's beautiful. - behind every open heart is a story. tell yours with my open heart collection at kay jewelers, the number one jewelry store in america. there are millions of reasons to give one, but the message is always the same: keep your heart open, and love will always find its way in. - i love you. - i love you too. 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[ aj ] and after warmth, that's the first thing i look for. my name is aj curran. i'm the director of outerwear and accessories, and the holidays are made here at l.l.bean. retailers were seeing green on friday as consumers spent 11.4 billion, that's up over 6.6% over last year. deals keep coming as we head to cyber monday. here on getting the best of the web has to offer is tech contributor mario original strong. >> good morning. thank you for having me. >> based on the craziness, it's no surprise that sales up 6% from last year. are you surprised by that? >> not surprised by that. we'll continue to see the up tick go up for cyber monday. a lot of people shopping online. and many people avoided all of the crowds and pepper spray and everything else, hey, i can do this in my pajamas today and tomorrow. >> everybody is jumping on line. where do we go? >> go to cybermonday.com. the reason? they have a whole assortment of different objects and items you can pick up. everything from electronics to jewelry to accessories. >> in one consolidated place. >> in one consolidated place. 40% off home depot. technology like e-box and gaming consoles. jewelry, right there on the one site. >> called cyber monday. is it technically begin right on monday or can we get online before that? >> i guess it's cyber monday somewhere else already and american retailers said let's go ahead and start it on sunday. it's already started. if you are home thinking now, start shopping now. take advantage of the inventory available. >> besides that website, give us tips for shopping online. >> a couple things to be aware of. number one, look for the best deals. to do that, be prepared. don't just fall into the trap of shopping for shopping's sake. look for things important to you. do comparison shopping online. understand what i'm looking for, and be aware of deals that look too good. see a tablet under 199, don't buy it run. >> some retailers like to bundle items and it makes it seemsavin and don't get fooled by that. >> in some instances you are only saving 10 bucks. don't get fooled. >> and scam artists, the moment is ripe to get you. what should you do. >> a very important point you are bringing up. make sure are you shopping at trustworthy websiteses. number two, use your credit card, not debit card. people are still using the debit card. you don't have the same protections and limitations. last but not least, make sure you are aware of whether search and buy https needs to be in the address bar and be wary of deals that look too good. don't click on anything in the e-mails. >> mario armstrong, thank you so much. we appreciate your insight. we're back, right after this. stay with us. are not for decorating. dad. did you know it's 22 days, 11 hours and 2 minutes to christmas? 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[ female announcer ] exercise your right to breathe right... get two free strips at breatheright.com. hey, it's your right to breathe right! still to come, the mystery of d.b. cooper, four decades since he literally vanished into thin air. we'll take a look at new leads. lester impresses in italy. i rock on stage. an update on the new hobbies we have taken up. first, these messages. sunny and clear look at the white house this morning. this sunday, november 27th, 2011 rather. it's 8:26. topping our news today, fire crews are investigating a deadly house fire in prince george's county, griffin street near chilham, maryland. we'll have a live report coming up at 9:00 on news 4 today. all three american students are back in the states days after being arrested in egypt. they're accused of throwing fire bombs at security forces during the country's riots. georgetown student sweeney arrived in st. louis late last night. and gregory porter was reunited with his family as well. another student, luke gates returned to indiana where he goes to school. chuck bell has a look at your sunday forecast afte let's check with with chuck bell. >> plenty of sunshine on a sunday morning. a beautiful day to get outside and enjoy it. if you're out traveling around the area for today or flying back home or expecting people from other places, quiet weather for our three airports here in the washington area. may still want to call ahead to make sure your flights are on time. temperatures in the upper 40s and low 50s. so a nice, mild start. plenty of sunshine streaming through a thin beck of clouds outside this morning. mid and high level clouds on the increase. we will stay dry, breezy and mild. temperatures in the mid-6 0s at least for today. 60s again tomorrow. tomorrow, clouds will lead to a chance for rain showers late in the day. tuesday, looking like an ugly, rainy ♪ oh, i won't ask for much for christmas, i won't even wish for snow ♪ >> a sneak peek of a brand new music video from justin bieber. perhaps have you heard of the gentleman. if that gets you in the spirit, tune in wednesday night for the rest of it, when our own al roquer and savannah guthrie host the lighting of the rockefeller christmas tree, christmas in rockefeller center, right here at 8:00 p.m. on nbc. >> tree looks great. lights not even on. we have a great crowd come out pretree lighting. sunday morning, november 27, 2011. lester holt and jenna wolfe. a lot to talk about new details in the disappearance much michelle parker. >> she's the young mother who went missing just hours after she appeared on "the people's court." exclusive new footage from her family. the last video ever taken