welcome to "world news" on this thanksgiving, the mall of madness, it is here and earlier than ever. the strategy revealed tonight, why the stores are racing to rack up sales and how you can win. our team on the hunt tonight, the best deals they could find. home free, after driving through the storm to get there, what do you face on your way ho home. neighborhood nightmare, the 9 hour sandoff. the modern american mishap, tonight the thanksgiving videos and the butter ball operators on the line with "world news." the crazy questions they heard today. from panicked cooks. >> they have been in closets

where they're whispering. >> hold on. "world news" starts now. good evening on this thanksgiving. diane is with our family tonight and it's great to have you with us here. despite the storm millions had to travel through, you made it. spectators getting into the spirit, dressed as turkeys to watch the macy's day parade, joy on the faces of the children watching the balloons go by. we cannot forget who we need to thank on this holiday, the soldier in afghanistan. as many of you try to enjoy your dinner, just look at the long lines already forming at the mall this thanksgiving. so many shoppers who cut dinner short. more stores open this thanksgiving than ever before and if anyone needs reminding take a look at this.

this is what's coming tomorrow. black friday and we have team coverage from the shopping centers to the weather center. we begin with abc's chief business correspondent rebecca jarvis at toys r us in times square. happy thanksgiving, rebecca. >> reporter: happy thanksgiving. more stores than ever this year has opened today. here at toys r us people lined up since this morning to get inside. once they opened the doors, the cash registers started ringing within five minutes. they came, they saw, they shopped. >> is this your first time shopping on thanksgiving? >> it is. >> you look like you've got a game plan. >> i'm getting xbox. >> an xbox? >> hopefully. that's the game plan. >> reporter: in for the lauder dale, florida, an early thanksgiving feast so tammy rodriguez and her family could hit the sales. as a kmart in tennessee an earlier start, doors opening

before sunrise. >> the reality is shopping on thanksgiving is becoming a tradition. >> reporter: in los angeles people camping out for days. americans by the millions rushing to stores with turkey in their bellies hoping to score the deal of the year. retailers scrambling to keep up. >> last year in the first hour we did 10 million just in the first hour. >> reporter: more stores opening earlier than before. alex perez in chicago. >> this macy's store will be breaking a 155 year tradition opening up right after thanksgiving dinner. it's not just macy's, kohl's and jcpenney will be open on thanksgiving day to get the shoppers inside. >> reporter: the best news for shoppers this year, the deals are better than ever. average discount 35 percent off, up from 25 percent. bargains to fill every room in the house. for the kitchen, kohl's selling this mixer before $229.

now $101. or how about a new tv for the family room? this 39 incher usually $330, now $170 at best buy. for your laundry room this new washer drier at kmart, first $6 $670, now $500. the deals as sweet as peek canopy. >> reporter: there are six fewer shopping days between thanksgiving and christmas but keep this in mind while you're shopping. the best deals are 30 percent off or more. that's what the experts tell us. >> our thax to you both. what a crowd behind you. now to the weather tonight. even this morning that wind threatening the balloons in new york city. the crowd favorite snoopy waiting on the sidelines tethered by ropes just waiting for a decision and then the all clear, snoopy and everyone else there high above the crowds gathered along the route. tonight something else, after the storm more than a third of the country now covered in snow,

the most snow this early in a decade. abc's ginger zee tonight with the pictures and the forecast now for the trip home. >> reporter: a thanksgiving mess in michigan. dozens of accidents reported on i-75 near flint. lake effect snow making it all the way to the detroit parade. kermit happily floating through the flurries. on the west side all that snow adding up, more than half a foot. on the road it was worrying drivers. >> i'm always nervous. i went into a ditch before and i sure do not want to do it again. >> reporter: after wednesday's travel mess in the northeast, a bright and sunny macy's thanksgiving parade. the winds relaxing just in time. we just got great news, the balloons will fly. we are getting this parade going. peaceful and frozen in new england. a perfect day for playing.

and in wisconsin a little help on the sled and a greeting for all. >> happy thanksgiving, everyone! >> ginger back with us live on columbus avenue on manhattan's upper west side. you were along the parade route. the weather did cooperate. how does the weekend look when we have to travel back home? >> i have great news. it is looking a lot better, especially for the northeast. look at this map, the only area of concern really in the pacific northeast, places like seattle. really overall such a better picture than we had yesterday going in. >> happy thanksgiving, ginger. >> the first family spending a quiet thanksgiving at the white house celebrating with a traditional turkey dinner. president obama did sneak away for a little while phoning service men and women, the whole family marking the holiday overnight, giving out bags of food to families in need at the capital. an exclusive tonight t the president and first lady telling

barbara walters who they're thinking of on this thanksgiving. >> mr. president, do you have a thanksgiving message? >> there are a lot of people out there who work hard every day, do right by their family, but are still working through some of their ravages of that big recession that we had. my message to them is know that every day i'm going to be working as hard as i can on your behalf. >> i want americans to remember that even as we draw down our troops we still have men and women serving abroad. i just want america to keep those people close to their hearts and to serve them as well as they have served us. >> the president and first lady on this thanksgiving and tomorrow night here on a special edition of "20/20," barbara walters asking the president about the rough rollout of obama care and when he thinks america will elect the first female president. tomorrow in the 10:00 eastern right here. overseas tonight and to iran making good on a prose it made about its nuclear program.

secretary of state kerry shaking hands with iran's foreign minister last weekend. tonight iran is officially inviting united nations inspectors to visit an unfinish reactor. china raising the stakes in its latest campaign to demonstrate its military might. china's move has drawn the u.s. to respond tonight. gloria arrive aria reporting from beijing. >> david, the tension here is only growing, china has flexed its muscle to the world and is refusing to back down. >> reporter: the message was delivered by america's new ambassador caroline kennedy, a warning to china, after it insisted it has the right to police the sky over a series of islands. what might seem small, experts say is a big, bold move by china. an act of defiance, and control, from the superpower. but the u.s. was quick to respond, flying two b-52 bombers unannounced into the zone, and now japan and south korea have

tested china too with their own flights. today china responded by sending fighters jets into the zone. raising the stakes, vice-president joe biden will be in china in the coming days. we are told he will ask china to explain what's behind the aggression. david? >> tonight in beijing. back here at home and to los angeles and a standoff that kept neighbors hiding in their homes. it's all caught on tape. cecilia vega on the hostage situation that unfolded and the officer lucky to be alive. >> reporter: it was a prethanksgiving day shoot-out caught on camera, a barrage of gunfire that sent families preparing for their holiday dinners running for cover. as soon as officers responding to a domestic disturbance approached the front door, police say the man inside opened

fire. >> it sounded like an army or some type of automatic weapon. >> reporter: police fired back. inside the house, investigators say the suspect barricaded himself, holding his girlfriend and her 14-year-old daughter hostage. >> officer down. >> reporter: one officer was hit. this video shows fellow officers rushing him out of the line of fire. he survived, thanks to a bulletproof vest. >> we would like everybody to remain in their residents. >> reporter: officers evacuated residents, police and little children carrying babies to safety until the suspect finally surrendered. david, so many people in that neighborhood today thankful no one was seriously hurt. >> cecilia vega, thank you. now to a courtroom tonight where celebrity chef nigella lawson is confronting claims made by her employees.

lama hasan from london. >> reporter: it's all about the taste and nothing but the taste. >> reporter: nigella lawson is the beloved cook known for her dishes. but allegations paint a different picture. lawson and her husband, charles saatchi it's claimed embezzled more than $1 million. the two claim they had an understanding with the chef, allowing them to use their credit card as long as they kept quiet about allegations of cocaine, marijuana and drugs. she is due to host "the taste" in january. nigella's former husband takes the stand to once and for all tell his side of the story. david? >> lama hasan from london, thank you.

look over my shoulder here this evening. this is the comet so many were watching, the so called comet of the century. thousands in fact tweeting about it on this thanksgiving. >> reporter: all eyes were on that comet called ison. traveling on its way to the sun. 1:37 eastern time. that was expected to pass fewer than 737,000 miles from the sun's surface, sling shot around around head back again. scientists had been tracking it and hoping that by studying it would give them a snapshot of the atmosphere billions of years ago. >> we're going to find out about what the solar system was like. >> reporter: was it approached the sun today, temperatures up to 5,000 degrees fahrenheit, it seemed to disappear. scientists are examining the data but they believe it most likely did not survive that journey. there were more than 11,000 tweets about the comet in one hour this afternoon.

one star gazer tweeting rip come met ison. we'll never forget. much more ahead on "world news." the basketball fan that took the challenge, watch this. he makes the shot but why did he learn after ward he didn't get the money. later here preparing the perfect thanksgiving dinner is nearly impossible. tonight on the line with the operators. what they were asked today, panicked cooks from all over america, some hiding in the closets of their home to make the call. back in two minutes. ♪ as your life and career change, fidelity is there for your personal economy, helping you readjust your retirement plan along the way, rethink how you're invested, and refocus

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operators answering the butter ball hotline. we were a little glad to hear we weren't the only ones working today, those dedicated operators, we asked them what were they asked about those cooks. >> reporter: from all over the country, american families and their dinner drama. in this kitchen the thanksgiving turkey still not done. >> the turkey is not done. we cooked it for nine and a half hours. >> reporter: the size of the turkey, the average size now 30 pounds, just 16 pounds back in 1960. there is a classic video from this family and their deep fried plans. it happens more than you think. >> we're having a problem on this thanksgiving day. >> reporter: you can always count on the kids to be positive. listen to the little girl in the background. >> daddy turkey ready. >> reporter: butter ball operators, carol, stan, nicole and mary all checking in with "world news" this thanksgiving. >> happy thanksgiving, "world news." >> reporter: all working 8 hour

shifts today. >> they're in a panic. they want to be talked off the ledge. >> reporter: mary answering the phone for 28 years, calls from everywhere, every corner of the house. >> absolutely. they have been in closets where they are whispering because they don't want anybody to know that they're calling because there is an argument going on. >> reporter: 80 percent of men now helping to make the thanksgiving meal but how much help? >> a gentleman called and was given a to do list by his wife. he was told that he needed to thaw the turkey and bathe the twins so he was going to knock it all out and bathe the twins and have the turkey alongside in the bathtub and do it all in one shot. >> he put the turkey in with the kid? >> yes, he did. >> reporter: operators have heard it all? >> we hear electric blankets, use a jacuzzi to thaw their turkey. >> someone used to know electric blanket? >> yes, they did.

>> or the woman whose oven kept shutting off. >> the dog had his paws on the oven. >> reporter: nicole started the year she got married. >> i had to postpone not the wedding but the honeymoon. >> to take turkey calls? >> i did, i sure did. >> reporter: honeymoon is over because her husband is the one home cooking today. >> still married and we actually have four butter balls of our own now. >> still married and four butter balls. still ahead, he shoots, he scores, the prize $20,000. timeout. why doesn't he get the money tonight? [ male announcer ] coughequence #10. speechless.

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second night of hanukkah and a powerful story, a psychiatrist from long island, reunited for the first time in 69 years with the polish man whose family saved him. both were boys at the time, the polish family hiding them in their house. the 79-year-old has nine great grandchildren. both were remembering what one family did for the other when they were boys. to that outrage over what appeared to be a winning moment. look at this. a college student took the challenge, makes the shot from half-court, $20,000 prize on the line. then he learning he's not getting the 20 grand. the college is forcing him because he's on athletic scholarship which prohibits him from taking the money. let me know what you think about this on twitter. when we come back, two families who never met brought

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600 turkeys for families in need. finally here on this thanksgiving, two families and one gift unlike any other. here's "nightline" anchor, sijts ya mcfatden. >> reporter: two years ago this girl struggled for every breath she took. at age two she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. >> my lung capacity by the time i was 18, 19 years old was to the point where they were telling me that i was going to need a lung transplant in two years. >> reporter: her mother knew without the transplant lindsey wouldn't see another birthday. >> i would walk to work crying, knowing that my daughter was dying before my eyes and there wasn't a thing i could do about it. >> reporter: then on the morning of april 4, 2011 -- >> they called. they said they have a potential match. hopefully it's for real. >> we're a go, yep.

>> we love you. >> love you, too. i'll be fine. >> reporter: tense moments, but in the end -- >> all good, all good. >> reporter: whose death allowed her to live? >> all i know is he was 18 and a male. >> adrian rodriguez was a charmer, a high school senior, a beloved only son. >> adrian was running to school and he slipped on the subway platform. >> reporter: as the train pulled in, he fell. one mother's loss would save another mother's child. >> all i could think of that day was how lucky we were and how unfortunate she was. we were just so grateful. >> hi, how are you? >> reporter: on the day before thanksgiving, the two families,

tied forever, decided to meet. >> i think about him every day. >> there is a funny kind of bond i would think. i mean, adan is a part of you. >> he's definitely part of me. he is why i'm here. >> reporter: cynthia mcfadden, abc's, new york. happy thanksgiving, good night.

from sony pictures studios, it's america's game. wheel... of... fortune! ladies and g gentlemen, here are the stars of our show, pat sajak and vanna white. hey, hi, everybody.