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"cnn newsroom" starts right now. >> happy black friday. one in four americans says that he or she plans to shop on this busy shopping day and the crowds are coming out. at times, however, things do get out of hand like at this walmart near los angeles. authorities say a woman waiting in line pepper sprayed other customers, apparently, so she could get a better place in line. ten people were hurt when the crowd scattered. no serious injuries reported. the woman paid for her items and ran out of the store and detectives are hoping that a security camera will help identify her. and there was another wild morning at a walmart near orlando and police say two men started fighting at the jewelry counter. one of them allegedly resisted arrest and officers ended up wrestling him to the ground. okay, hopefully these are just exceptions and it's an important day in the united states, as well. as far as the economy is concerned. so much of this economy relies on consumer spending. we're talking, of course, about black friday with cnn's chris in new york and george in atlanta. chris is at macy's in manhattan and how are things looking now? it's 9:00 a.m. are the crowds out? >> you know what, hala, good morning to you from new york. the world's largest macy's. typically a busy time on a black friday but this time retailers tried something early. some as early as 9:00 last night here in new york city and other cities across america. this scene here at macy's, huge crowds lining up around the block for those good deals. for the very first time ever, they opened up at midnight. four hours earlier than they've ever done in the past. and we spoke with the ceo of macy's just a few moments ago. >> we tested 12 stores at the request of those stores last year and it was a big success right from the gun at midnight. clearly a big success here at herald's square with over 10,000 people standing outside waiting to get in. >> this is going to be a huge test for retailers this holiday season. the retail association of this country expecting 152 million shoppers. that's the estimate on black friday and, of course, coming up on monday, we have cybermonday where you go to the internet to find some of these same deals. hala? >> thanks very much. now, black friday fright be a misnomer these days. some stores actually open on thanksgiving day, not everyone loved that idea. george howell is covering that for us in atlanta. some stores, george, open at 9:00 p.m. you have the midnight open, but that's been going on for a while. but then others are saying, look, if you open in the evening of thanksgiving, you're basically opening on thanksgiving. >> well, hala, here in the news business and i'm sure you can attest to this. i don't know the last time i didn't work a holiday. it's what you do in this business and you're finding many retailers. retail employees now doing the same. many of the employees who work at this best buy started at 10:00 p.m. last night. thanksgiving day. they will get off here in the next couple of hours around 11:00. so, 12-hour work day, a long day many of them clearly happy to be part of the black friday frenzy. but some of them, at least one employee that started a petition in tampa has a problem with it. take a listen. >> i understand that there's money to be made and we need to make that money, but families should always come above any form of money. >> now, that petition has gotten at least 14,000 signatures and another petition started by anthony hardwick, a target employees in omaha, nebraska, got some 200,000 signatures. so, some people definitely agree with this. both companies, both target and best buy responded by saying this is what their customers wanted. they wanted these stores to open early so that they could get these good deals. both employees also add that while they certainly disagree with the policy, they are happy that they can at least share their opinions with no problems. >> so, the question is, is this going to work for retailers? they need the sales. this economy needs consumer spending. are they finding that this is working for them in terms of increasing customer turnout? >> well, according to the national retail federation, this is the busiest shopping day of the year. so, many of these stores trying to capitalize on that to open early and the way it's described, it's a competitive environment. the earlier you open, the better chance you will have customers buying your items. so, clearly, that's what best buy is doing and so far it seems a lot of customers are getting some good deals. >> thanks very much, george. thanks to our team on the ground reporting on black friday. a very important day for retailers and we'll continue to follow developments and see whether or not these 150 million plus customers actually show up with thanksgiving over, the white house candidates are heading back on the campaign trail. our deputy political director paul steinhauser joins us with a look at the state of the race. hi, paul. >> good morning, hala. you're right, the holiday is over and back to business for these candidates. a bunch on the campaign trail, including newt gingrich. he'll be on the campaign trail in florida we're now just 5 1/2 weeks away. that will be in iowa. the iowa caucuses on january 3rd and they kick off the primary and caucus calendar. where does the race stand right now with just 5 1/2 weeks left. take a look at this. this is our most recent cnn/orc poll. these are republicans nationwide and the preference for the nominee. you can see now newt gingrich. that was first time newt gingrich on top and mitt romney in second place, the former massachusetts governor, but that four-point margin for gingrich all tied up when you take into account the sampling error. you have seen his numbers fade over the last few weeks and surged earlier this fall and allegations of sexual harassment from the 1990s. rick perry, the texas governor, remember he was the frontrunner at one point back in september. everybody else in single digits. what about iowa? the first state, take a look, this is a poll by american research group. this came out a couple days ago, as well. gingrich number one and romney second and you can see right there ron paul the congressman from texas at 16% in third place. remember, both these polls, hala, conducted before our debate on tuesday. maybe that debate had an impact and a lot of these debates had impacts on the polls and one reason newt gingrich has surged. >> made comments on amnesty for some illegal immigrants and that could have an impact on his popularity that has surged over the last few polls, i should say. is that something we need to look out for? >> it could be. it could be a concern for newt gingrich, no doubt about it. if you're running in the general election what he said, he did call for some kind of amnesty for some long-term illegal immigrants. some would say a compassionate take or stance and that could help in the general election. but when you're running for the republican primaries among hard-core conservatives, it's basically amnesty is considered a four-letter word especially in states like iowa and south carolina. it could be troublesome for him. a very influential congressman in iowa said after hearing those comments from newt gingrich, he would be less inclined to support gingrich in iowa. so, listen, 5 1/2 weeks left and we've seen these candidates go up and down. will gingrich go down after going up? stay tuned. this race changes by day. >> one thing to appeal to national voters and another one entirely to appeal to primary voters. and we still have a year left. >> we do. >> until the presidential election. but several months until a nominee is determined. >> exactly. no, no, you're right, it is a long road. a long road to the white house once we get through the primaries and caucuses, you're right, all the way until next november for the general election. this ride is far from over. >> paul steinhauser, thanks very much. we'll veyour next political update in one hour. for all the latest political news go to our website, cnnpolitics.com. coming up, tens of thousands of protesters have flooded cairo's tahrir square. they call it their last chance rally. we'll go there live. plus, nasa gets ready to launch its biggest mars mission ever. more on the super bowl of space exploration, next. beauty, huh? it's dependable. long-lasting, too. yeah, i could really use this silverado. i'm a big hunter. oh, what do you hunt? 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here's a man, he's 78 years old. he was a prime minister under hosni mubarak, the dickatorial leader that these protesters overthrew. and there he is now heading the new government. >> that's right. and, so, a lot of criticism has already been heaped on him from some of the people in tahrir square saying he is yet another symbol of the former regime that they're battling against that he's not in touch with the youth that have been so instrumental in driving this protest movement. however, it is important to note, hala, that tahrir square is not all egypt is a country of 70 million people and simultaneously, there is a rival protest under way in another part of cairo where tens of thousands of people have gathered in support of the egyptian military. in support of marshal mohammed, the much reviled general who leads the military council. so, you have a battle of people power here of people trying to show their support for different institutions here. and, fortunately, thus far, the day has gone peacefully. that is a positive thing i can report the two sides have not gotten involved in any types of clashes that we have heard about thus far. >> all right, ivan watson live there in tahrir square. of course, a reminder to our viewers that three days from now is when important elections will take place and everybody will be looking for potential violence there. speaking of violence, while observing events in tahrir square, egyptian american blogger mona eltahawy said she was captured and tortured. >> had this confrontation with the security forces and all of a sudden some riot police crossed over to our side and some of the people standing around me managed to get away, but i was cornered by four or five riot police and they beat me with their sticks and that's how i got the break on my left arm and my right hand and they dragged me beyond what was basically this confront line into this no man's land all the way to the interior ministry, which was close by. as they were taking me there, i experienced a terrible sexual assault. i mean, it was just basically hands everywhere, groping my breasts, hands between my legs. i lost count of the number of hands that tried to get into my trousers that i was trying to push off. they were calling me all kind of terrible names. i fell to the ground at one point and dragging me by my hair. i want to emphasize what happened to me is not just unique to me. this is the kind of brutality that was one of the main catalysts. as an egyptian, i came back to tahrir square because i wanted to be here with fellow egyptians to basically say this revolution will continue and i will not be hijacked by the supreme council of the supreme forces and the security forces that beat me and so many other egyptians. >> mona eltahawy and a reporter was sexually assaulted in tahrir square. according to the head of the moral department, eltahawy was detained because she didn't have an egyptian press pass. what did she expect? she could be a spy for all we knew. when she told me she was sexually assaulted, i encouraged her to take the proper action. why regulators may disconnect a tie up between a tt and t and t-mobile. nasa gets ready to launch the biggest mars mission ever. more on the super bowl of space exploration. the johnsons, right? yeah. which house is yours? the one with the silverado out front. so, what do you do? well, ahhh... nice! 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[ male announcer ] for those who live life for a living. the chevy silverado. from worksite to home front. chevy runs deep. it's a big week for nasa and the space agency is celebrating half a billion dollars in its hubble telescope. john zarrella reports. >> reporter: mars. does life exist there? did it ever? nasa 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 is that it sets us up for the mission of finally answering that age-old question of does life exist on other planets? >> the mission is called the mars mission laboratory the most sophisticated vehicle sent to mars, it has the ability to detect signs of life. if it works, come next august, after traveling 350 million miles, a 2,000-pound, six-wheel 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. >> we're choosing to 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? why? >> on mars if life exists as single cell organisms or it ever existed, we believe it will be under the ground or inside rocks. >> reporter: inside gale crater sits inside 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. you know, 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 to the driest desert on earth, can you find life on your samples if you do a robotic study? probably not. it's actually quite difficult. life has to stick up and make itself seen. >> reporter: finding life itself would be next to the next wave of explorers. robotic and perhaps even human. >> and john zarrella joins me live. now, john, of course, nasa had actually hoped to launch this mars shins lab two years ago. at the time there were technical issues. the question is, are they confident this time around? >> yeah, they really are. they say the extra two years that they ended up having to take really gave them an opportunity to work out the issues they had. of course, they're way over budget. $900 million over budget on this rover project. but for the engineering team at the jet propulsion laboratory in california which built the curiosity rover, this is a big, big deal, hala, this is the last of the planetary missions on tap for nasa. there are no more. and they really hope that they will be able to find at least evidence on mars of past life. you see that behind me there, we're in the vehicle assembly building in nasa. with the shuttle not flying any more, that's "endeavour" there being ready for its trip to california to the museum that is going to take delivery of it in a year and a half. >> that's fascinating, you're right there in front of it. let's talk about tomorrow's launch. what is the forecast like for that? are we expecting it to be a smooth one? >> weather looks pretty good. yeah, weather looks pretty good. right now it's a little bit windy out there. they've been saying about a 70% chance of good weather. little bit of overcast clouds moving by, but, chances of launch look very, very good from about 10:02 a.m. eastern time and the launch window actually extends out over an hour and a half. plenty of opportunities to get off the ground tomorrow. >> all right, thanks very much. john zarrella reporting live there on that anticipated launch tomorrow. we'll talk to you a bit later. a bid to create the world's biggest mobile phone carrier may get derailed. we're talking about the $39 billion tie up between at&t and tmobile. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. i'm sure trading volume is light, but before we talk about that, the deal. is it going to fall through? >> yes. and that is really the question then, hala, the signal is really no