santa made his appearance at the end. thanks for joining us. on "world news" this thanksgiving, opening night. hundreds of thousands already shopping this evening. forget black friday. now it starts on thanksgiving. and why it offers a glimmer of home in this economy, as our correspondent is on the hunt for the three best deals. the mountain mystery. the fire ball in the nighttime sky. all caught on tape. the tragic plane crash in the superstition mountains. what investigators out west have found. hunger at home. the every day americans in need you met right here this year and what you did to change their thanksgiving. "world news" goes back. taking aim. the harry potter author with some very angry words today. the real life drama now playing out. and sibling rivalry. two brothers coaching opposite teams. it's an nfl first. but which team are mom and dad rooting for?

good evening and happy thanksgiving. and if you're watching this broadcast, and we're thankful for that, here's another reason to give thanks tonight. you're obviously not one of the hundreds of thousands of americans already in line tonight to start their holiday shopping. many stores opening this evening, the earliest start ever to black friday. up to 152 million people plan to shop over black friday weekend, expected to spend an estimated $465 billion. the good news? that's up nearly 3% over last year. so much is on the line, with retail making up one-fifth of the american economy. who is in line tonight? that's what we asked abc's linsey davis to find out. she's in new york, outside the famed macy's. happy thanksgiving, linsey. >> reporter: happy thanksgiving, david. black friday receipts represent

10% of what american retailers are banking on in november. and now, thanksgiving is trying to get a piece of the action. and all across the country today, we saw people willing to put off meals for deals. while some were stuffing turkeys -- >> i purchased four televisions. i saved around $500. >> reporter: the early birds were stuffing shopping carts. was it worth it? >> yes, it was. i don't have to come out tomorrow. >> reporter: given that unemployment is high and consumer confidence is low, retailers are in a cut throat competition for your holiday dollars. and that's why they're opening even earlier than in years past. >> they believe that there's a limited amount of money in everybody's wallet. and if they can tap that money sooner, they're going to win. >> reporter: thanksgiving day is now the savvy shopper's black friday. >> you don't have to worry about the crowds pushing and shoving. >> reporter: we went looking for some of the best deals out there this holiday weekend.

best buy, which opens at midnight, has one of the best doorbusters around. a 40-inch sharp flat screen tv, which would typically sell for as much as $600, now marked down to $200. at the electronic store fry's, a mr. coffee coffeemaker costs normally $20, costs about as much as a cup of coffee at starbucks. and 40% off everything at express until noon. and how an online only deal at consumerist.com? 30% off your clothing order, plus free shipping with coupon code gobble for eddie bauer and drumstick for lands' end. more people are expected to do just that -- point and click their way through the shopping season. online sales are projected to surpass $50 billion for the first time. we are expecting a crush of people here in just a few hours. macy's opens up nationwide at midnight. toys "r" us opens up at 9:00 p.m. and walmart at 10:00 p.m.

david, let me know what you like, i can pick it up for you. >> i'm going to e-mail you the list right now. linsey dav linsey davis tonight, thanks for the offer. we move onto that investigation out west tonight after that fire ball seen for miles outside of phoenix, when a plane carrying six people crashed into the superstition mountains, killing everyone on board, including a father and his three children. rescuers have been on the mountainside all day long, and here's our aviation correspondent, abc's lisa stark tonight. >> reporter: what was to have been a thanksgiving weekend together for a father and his three children, ended in tragedy, when their plane flew into a 5,000-foot mountain peak just east of phoenix. the massive fire ball caught by a web camera, a full seven miles away. >> i at first, i was like, oh, god, no, please no. not the day before thanksgiving. >> reporter: the father, shawn perry, had flown from his home in southeast arizona to pick up his children, 9-year-old morgan, 8-year-old logan, 6-year-old luke, from his ex-wife, for

thanksgiving. with him, coworkers russell hardy, who leaves a 3-year-old son. and joseph hardwick, who was to be married next month. >> all of these families are just obviously heartbroken, traumatized over the loss of their loved ones so suddenly and on thanksgiving. >> reporter: the point of the impact, near the top of this steep mountain cliff. deputies and investigators have to be airlifted in. >> it appears to be almost like a cliff where the aircraft crashed and everything was not only strewn to the base and because of the explosion, some distance, but even behind where this cliff area is. >> reporter: it will now be the job of the ntsb to figure out what went so wrong on a clear arizona night. lisa stark, abc news, washington. >> our thanks to lisa. and overseas tonight, and to those three americans waiting to be released, after being arre arrested during new violence there. also, a rare apology by the

generals now ruling egypt, for the deaths of anti-government protesters during the clashes this week in cairo. abc's lama hasan is in tahrir square. lama? >> reporter: good evening, david. the three american college students are still being held at a police station not far from this square, to finish up what a friend calls, quote, excessive paperwork. news that derrik sweeney, luke gates and gregory porter were going to be freed couldn't come soon enough for their worried parents back home. we spoke with derrik sweeney's mother in jefferson city, missouri, who told us they were making arrangements to bring him back as soon as possible. >> it's been a roller coaster ride for me as a parent. >> reporter: the three students were arrested on sunday, accused of throwing molotov cocktails from a roof top at security forces during anti-government protests in tahrir square. something they deny. >> all he said was, we didn't do anything wrong. >> reporter: at the american university campus, where the men

were studying, we talked to a friend who had been in contact with them. >> the boys are fine. they're just anxious to be back home, obviously, with their friends and -- >> reporter: in good spirits? >> yeah. in good spirits. >> reporter: they are expected to be released over the weekend. and abc news has learned that while in police custody today, the three students received a thanksgiving dinner, courtesy of the u.s. embassy. david? >> lama hasan, thank you. in london, harry potter author j.k. rowling telling a different story today, a true one. rowling testifying about how aggressive the tabloids have become, leaving her own children to feel threatened. she is the latest star witness in a sweeping investigation of britain's infamous tabloids. abc's kelly cobiella was there. >> high on a hill, in an enchanted garden -- >> reporter: j.k. rowling made a fortune dreaming up the wizarding world of harry potter, yet, today, the author told a government panel investigating mediaette irks, -- media ethics,

that the dark arts of the tabloids left her baffled and on edge. >> it's difficult to explain to people who haven't experienced it what that feels like. it's incredibly threatening. >> reporter: paparazzi made rowling feel trapped in her own home, illegally snapping photos of her children. newspapers ran pictures of where she lived and her home security system. one reporter somehow slipped a note into her daughter's book bag. >> it's very difficult to say how angry and how -- how angry i felt that my 5-year-old daughter's school was no longer a place of security. >> reporter: the government's investigation grew out of "the news of the world" phone hacking scandal. more than a dozen people have been arrested. media titan rupert murdoch shut down his popular tabloid, but the scandal is still growing. the string of witnesses speaking out now say the problem goes far beyond phone hacking. when actress siena miller began dating fellow actor jude law, the paparazzi chased her. >> and the fact that they had cameras in their hands meant

that was legal. but if you take away the cameras, what you have got? a pack of men chasing a woman. >> reporter: the panel will make recommendations on whether to curb the tabloid media early next year. and the criminal investigation is still open. in fact, today, scotland yard made its first arrest for hacking a computer in search of a scope. david? >> kelly, thank you. back in this country tonight, and to a welcome sight this thanksgiving, a milestone in the recovery of gabby giffords. the congresswoman and her husband, former astronaut mark kelly, serving thanksgiving meals at an air force base in tucson. this is her first public event with her constituents since that tragic shooting nearly a year ago. meantime, across this country tonight, so many moments of gratitude this holiday. some for veterans of war, others for workers fighting to get back on the job. abc's bazi kanani with three extraordinary stories of american spirit tonight. >> reporter: three lives, three reasons to be thankful. >> oh, it's gorgeous. >> reporter: for diana and wade, it's a free, new home, given to them by a bank.

>> i'd like to present you with the keys. >> reporter: wade is back from war, wounded. he earned a purple heart and a bronze star. >> thank you. >> the ultimate thanks. this is amazing. >> reporter: after being laid off for the fourth time, christi landed a new teaching job, just in time for the holiday. >> i've had to go on food stamps to supplement the unemployment. >> reporter: for her family, counting blessings includes being able to count on a paycheck. >> i can breathe. i can relax and not feel so anxious. >> we try hard and we try to do the best with what we have. >> reporter: 19-year-old specialist max robinson was a pizza delivery man in oklahoma. today -- >> heard all about you before i even got here. >> reporter: he was thanked and honored for braving enemy fire in afghanistan to save two fellow soldiers. >> you represent all of oklahoma here and you can be proud of

your service to your country. >> reporter: soldier, injured veteran and a teacher. three individuals who are served our nation in some important ways and, david, on this thanksgiving, we certainly are thankful for people like them. >> we are. and thankful to have you on the team. >> reporter: thank you. we're going to turn now to our series "hunger at home." we have been reporting here on "world news" about the numbers. so many fall lir families in need. this thanksgiving, what you've done. it was this past summer here on "world news" we met the mckimmon sisters who pray before every meal. their parents both working and yet there are times when they still don't know where the next meal will come from. there was 10-year-old jazeer from philadelphia. who at 10 years old showed us the family refrigerator. >> as you can see, we're missing food. >> reporter: and pastor bob in arkansas, who runs a food drive once a month, calling it miracle saturday. >> i pray for all these people that's in line today. >> reporter: the line of families so long he was unsure he'd be able to keep helping

everyone in need. 1 in 7 americans now rely on food stamps. 1 in 4 children in families unsure where the next meal is coming from. so, this thanksgiving, we went back to check on all of them. pastor bob, who was down to his last $250 to help the hungry, said after that report, $23,000 in doe narnations. he bought five more freezers. >> it just came from all over the united states, even had one person just send $1, but i thank god for that dollar. >> reporter: this month, he helped feed 4,000 people, bringing them a thanksgiving. janice, a mother of four. >> i without it, i don't know if we'd make it. >> reporter: we also went back to the mckimmons in arkansas, those little girls praying. it was back then their mother told us this -- >> i hear my kids ask me, mommy, what's for dinner? kind of pacing around, thinking to myself, oh, my gosh, what is for dinner? >> reporter: well, now, dad is still looking for a job, but mom just got a raise. still struggling, but no longer asking that question. >> at least now we get to come home from work or school and we know what's going to be for dinner that night.

>> reporter: they will have a thanksgiving meal. and jazeer in philadelphia? turns out, a family was watching "world news" when he told me this -- when you grow up -- >> i would like to be a senator. >> reporter: to fight hunger, he told us. and this family heard him. >> jazeer was just unbelievable on tv when he stated he wanted to become a senator. >> reporter: when they buy groceries, they buy a little extra and take it to jazeer and his mother. >> turkey. >> is it heavy? >> oh, yes. >> how much does it weigh? >> i would say about -- at least 98 pounds. >> reporter: and this week we learned they brought them a thanksgiving meal. >> i felt thankful and greatful because they really didn't have to do that. >> reporter: across this country, americans in large ways and small reaching out with a hand, a gift, a thanksgiving meal. love that, that 98-pound turkey. and since we first started reporting on hunger at home across abc news, you've donated

enough money to help 1.6 million americans get the meals they need. if you would like to help, you still can. abcnews.com/help. and as we head into this holiday season, one more number that caught our eye here. the average american spends $700 on christmas gifts. $700. which got us wondering here, how little of that would you need to spend on gifts made here in america to actually help create a job here? so next week here, the made in america team is back, where it all began, with that first family we met nearly a year ago. and a simple equation. not all of your gifts, but how about just one, made in america? are you in? so, you're in? >> we're in. >> reporter: are you in? >> we're in. >> i'm in! >> i'm in! >> i'm in! >> we couldn't believe how quickly this is already taking off. so next week here, that holiday ride begins as we ask, are you in? made in america for your ideas for the holiday. that starts monday night on "world news with diane sawyer." and one viewer just tweeted me, my turkey was made in america. good to hear. still ahead here on "world

news," this thanksgiving night, could one item from your holiday dinner this evening save someone's eyesight? the dinner item helping thousands around the world. later here, britain's prince harry, taking a gamble, celebrating an american thanksgiving. we'll tell you where. and later tonight, two football teams, two sons and two parents caught in the middle. they've got to root for someone tonight, who will it be? i'm your gps. turn right up ahead. you never update me. so, now i just have to wing it. i meant turn left up ahead. recalculating. turn right now! [ horn honks, tires screech ] [ laughs ] [ crash! ] and your fifteen-minute insurance might not pay for all this. so get allstate. you could save money and be better protected from mayhem like me. recalculating. [ dennis ] dollar for dollar nobody protects you from mayhem like allstate.

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news tonight about a staple of our thanksgiving meal, the sweet potato. it turns out the orange flesh on the inside of that potato is being credited with preventing blindness and actually saving thousands of lives. abc's dr. richard besser in west africa. >> reporter: for these mothers in rural west africa, good reason to give thanks. not turkeys or cranberries, but a new crop in their village's farm. an orange sweet potato. these two sweet poe day taupes look the same. this native one, when you cut it open, is white inside. this in one that was introduced is orange. that color makes all the difference. that's because the orange means it has beta carotene, which your body turns into vitamin a. without enough vitamin a, babies can go blind, even die. pregnant women suffer night blindness. orange versus white. how did you all figure this out? >> i came across these white sweet potatoes.

i was like, oh what is this? for an american, you wouldn't even know it was a sweet potato. it would be a great way, by just changing the vitamin a content, to really get a lot more vitamin a in people's diets. >> reporter: so, scientists from helen keller international gave african women a new hybrid sweet potato. african, but orange. the result? mmm. you like this? good? i can feel my vitamin a level rising. she says, "it gives us the vitamins we need to fight off disease." her three children have no complaints. wow. thankfully, it's her main crop. that's quite a garden. a little bit of a health revolution, with nothing other than a vegetable, with a different color. really good. dr. richard besser, abc news, burkina faso, west africa. >> great hope, rich, thank you. and when we come back tonight, why prince harry's thanksgiving in america was a huge gamble. óó

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well, if you missed them, some new balloons today at the macy's thanksgiving parade, including a 41-foot tall monkey. and a new balloon on wheels, the aflac duck. possibly the strangest balloon named b. boy, that's an entry from movie director tim burton, and it was put together right here with rejects from old birthday party balloons. i think it's kind of cute. and a brit celebrating thanksgiving, prince harry renting a motorcycle and heading to the vegas strip. he took in a performance of cirque du soleil. harry is in this country, of course, for helicopter training before he heads back to afghanistan. when we come back tonight -- ♪ the nfl game that's turned personal for one mom and dad. we just wanted to play the music. i've been in your shoes. one day i'm on p of the world... the next i'm saying... i have this thing called psoriatic arthritis. i had some intense pain. it progressively got worse.

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>> i really, really, really want to beat him. >> reporter: now imagine their proud father, a former college coach who taught them both the game. >> both teams are going to play tremendous games. play emotional, play with enthusiasm. >> reporter: but which son do you root for? >> well, when he talks to me, he says me. and when he talks to john, i know he says john. >> i have no idea. we're going to try to get as far away from the stadium as we possibly can. >> reporter: jack harbaugh isn't the first sports dad to face divided loyalties. in the '84 olympics, the twins, phil and steve marr. in tennis, the williams sisters. and on the gridiron, eli and peyton manning. so, the harbaughs are in good company. the last time the two brothers competed against each other directly was in high school, when they faced off in an american legion baseball game. they grew up sharing a bedroom, less than a year and a half apart. tonight, the parents are in baltimore but too nervous to

watch in the stadium. >> we'd like to get a picture and once we get the picture, we're going to probably head to john's house. >> reporter: win or lose -- >> it's going to be a moment. >> reporter: a thanksgiving this family will treasure. david wright, abc news, los angeles. >> proud parents either way. for diane and all of us here, happy thanksgiving. good night. good evening, everyone. >> i'm cheryl jennings. we begin with a thanksgiving tragedy a. fatal officer involved shooting. >> authorities have just confirmed that a suspect was killed this afternoon by a

sebastopol police officer on a domestic disturbance call. >> this happened around noon today on sellers lane off highway 116 in sebastopol where abc 7's nick smith is for us tonight. >> reporter: good evening. i'm sure if you look over my shoulder, you can still see crime scene investigators working the scene. this is what we know. information is a bit limited. police told us that just before noon today, sebastopol police responded to a 911 call at the redwood globe apartment complex on fellers lane. the female said she was alone at home and that her ex-boyfriend was pounding on the back door of her apartment. sebastopol police dispatched an officer e. arrived within two minutes and came into contact with an armed male. the officer fired an undetermined number of shots examine hit the suspect who was later pronounce dead at the scene. officers are calling this a domestic incident and highlight the unpredictable nature of these types of 911 calls. >> a domestic violence is a real unknown. you don't know all the emotion