The last few minutes, new details coming into us tonight on which hostages could be freed by Hamas in the next round of releases soon as part of this breakthrough deal between that terror group and Israel as we're seeing some history making moments of the first group being let out of gossip. What comes next and what's been a successful but fragile deal so far? We're live on the ground. We'll take you there in a minute. Plus, stores hoping to draw in a bunch of people and money this holiday season. In this economy, my experts say you are in the driver's seat this Black Friday and how TikTok may be reshaping how some of us shop. Then, Diddy hit with two more sex assault lawsuits, part of a flood of new suits as a key legal window closes today in New York. We'll explain that and what other famous men are featured in some of these lawsuits. And might it be a new tradition for your Black Friday football game for the first time ever? The NFL is streaming it. What that could mean for the future of traditional TV? Hey there, I'm Halley. In just the last few minutes, Israel is saying it now has the list of the next round of hostages who are set to be released in the next 24 hours.

As already, the four other people who have been held hostage by Hamas now for 49 days are free. They are free in the biggest diplomatic breakthrough in the Israel- Hamas war so far. That pause in the intense fighting we've seen inside Gaza for weeks, still holding at least for now. Take a look here. There's already historic moments. Some of the now freed hostages arriving at the Rafe border crossing into Egypt in Red Cross vans. You see them here. They're on their way out of Gaza. Look at that. Thirteen Israelis, some as young as just two years old, have just been released in this true steal. You see their names, their faces, their ages here. They are now back in Israel. They're getting evaluated, the IDF says, by doctors there. 10 Thai hostages and one Filipino hostage, newly freed as well. Thirty-nine Palestinian women and children have just been released from Israeli prisons as part of this deal, according to both Qatar and Israel. The big question now, what comes next? What comes next for these now former hostages, for their families, for the families of other abductees who are waiting in agony to reunite with the people they love?

Remember, this deal took weeks of what Qatar has called excruciating negotiations. It means that at least 50 hostages, this is the expectation, that 50 hostages and all will be freed from Gaza, 150 Palestinians freed from Israel, and at least a four-day ceasefire. To be clear, no American hostages were released today. That includes a little girl, Abigail, who's turning four today with President Biden tonight saying he only trusts Hamas to respond to pressure. Watch. I've been engaged with my team as we began the first difficult days of implementing this deal. It's only a start, but so far it's gone well. All that's coming is our team is getting some exclusive access inside the Qatari hostage rescue room with that country so key in getting this deal done. We're going to have more on that in just a second. We're also seeing trucks carrying fuel and gas and some other humanitarian help into Gaza today as part of this new deal, bringing at least a glimmer of hope to the innocent people, the civilians there in Gaza who have been suffering with not enough food or water or electricity. We've got team coverage from every angle tonight.

Nbc's Kiera Simmons in Doha, Qatar. Kelly O'Donnell is traveling with the President in Nintucket. But I want to start with David Noriega, who is live for us tonight in Jerusalem. David, talk to us about what we're learning late tonight in just the last couple of minutes about the next set of hostages to be released, plus what we know about the folks who were freed today. Yeah, Halle, what we know from the Israeli Prime Minister's office is that they have officially received the list of names for the group of hostages that will be released tomorrow. They also said that they are now in communication with the families of those hostages. That is about all we know. However, I will point out that it's significant that that is the same pattern that we saw play out yesterday. Around this time yesterday, that's what we knew, that the Prime Minister's office had the names and that they were in communications with the families, and that was it. Not to read too much into it, but that suggests to me that tomorrow might follow more or less the same pattern as today. As far as the people who were released today, we saw three family units, between them, including four children.

The youngest of them was a two-year-old toddler, also children nine, five, and four years old. Other hostages were in their 70s. One was 85 years old. They have been transferred to Israeli hospitals. What we're hearing about their condition, there's still more details to come on that. But we have heard from one of those hospitals saying that their condition is good. For the families who, as you said, have been waiting in agony, so far the news is limited, but good. Halley? Let me go to Kier Cements, who is live for us now in Qatar because Kier, you have some exclusive reporting there. I mean, this deal could not have happened, it seems, without being involved in it here. What is going down in this hostage rescue room, particularly as we now appear to be, as David says, we can't draw too many inferences from what we know so far, but this pattern now does seem to be repeating for a second night in a row. Talk us through it. Yeah, I mean, they talked today to me after the day that they had that they described as intense, that they say that, Halley, it really was a challenge again after weeks of the most complex host of negotiations in modern history.

Just to give you an example, we're hearing tonight that one of the hostages who was released, the Israelis, didn't know was still alive. Things are shifting. You mentioned the fact that no Americans were released today. There does seem to be confidence that they will be in the days ahead. Take a listen to Qatar's chief negotiator talking to me tonight. If today we didn't see Americans from the left, I'd have been hopeful that the upcoming days we will see the release of all citizens under the women and children category. The administration has been very keen to see the American hostages released, including, of course, a little girl, Abigail Maudan, who's four today. Of course, it matters to us to get all of the US citizens out. It matters to us to get all of the US citizens out. You can imagine the pressure that there is from over there in the US, Halley, but the reality is, as I understand it, that each day is a new day where a new list appears and different governments around the world find out whether their citizens are on that list. It is excruciating for the people watching, for the families involved here and David, the backbone of it, the backbone of this deal, as we're looking here at some of the extraordinary video that we've seen today of this hostage release, the backbone is the ceasefire, this temporary pause in fighting with Israel, making very clear today that this pause is just that.

It is temporary. They're dropping new leaflets around God's a warning, in their words, that this war is not over yet. The question is, is this next 72 hours of a pause going to hold on both sides? Holly, I wish a lot of people wish they had an answer to that question. This is not just day by day. It's hour by hour, minute by minute. You're right, the IDF did drop leaflets in Gaza today, warning specifically people who had moved to the southern part of Gaza not to move back to the north. A number of people tried to do that. There's been a lot of anxiety among residents of Gaza that they're going to be permanently displaced from their homes when the fighting paused. Many of them wanted to go back to their homes or what's left of them. The IDF is making very clear to them that they cannot do that without putting themselves and their families in danger. Everyone that I've spoken to about this, both on the Israeli and the Palestinian side, is operating under the assumption that this is all very, very fragile and that we can't assume or predict or count on anything.

That said, what is expected is that this ceasefire will hold for an additional three days, and importantly, it could be extended beyond that if there are additional releases of hostages and additional releases of Palestinian prisoners as well. So what could have started as a four-day ceasefire might go even longer than that. Halley? Kieran, you think about the re-entry for these hostages that have already been freed, the ones presumably on this list who are set to get out after that Hamas terror attack on October seventh. October seventh was a month and a half ago, right? The re-entry process we've been hearing from some of the doctors treating some of these people as they're coming in. So far it seems like at least we know from one of the hospitals, eight people who returned to Israel that came to this particular location are in good physical condition. But there is such a recovery process that is only very clearly just beginning. You're so right. You find yourself, don't you, looking at those images of them emerging from Gaza and just studying, looking closely to try to figure out how they are, how they must be feeling. They do look pretty well, actually, from the pictures that we've seen, Halley, and that is a relief.

But we know, of course, from people who have been through this ordeal that it can be months, even years into the future when people really begin to come to terms with what's happened. And then, of course, you think about the little ones, the children who maybe don't even really understand what's just happened, there's been a journey, an unbelievable journey for everyone involved, including the mediators here in Qatar and governments around the world, particularly, of course, for the hostage families in the weeks gone by. But I think in the months ahead for those families and those hostages who are released, there is going to be more of a journey. Kierre Simmons, David Noriega, our thanks to both of you, Live Forest, in the region tonight on such a significant evening. You can catch more of Kierre's exclusive reporting tonight, by the way, from that Qatari hostage rescue room tonight on BBC Nightly News 6:30 Eastern with Lester, wherever you watch your local BBC station. I want to get to Kelly O'Donnell now who's traveling with President Biden in Nantucket, where he is spending his Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Kelly, you just heard it from David there. This situation in the region is not just day by day.

It is hour by hour, if not minute by minute. As the President is making very clear his hope is that this is simply the beginning. Talk us through what you're hearing tonight and the role of the Biden administration moving forward. Well, certainly the President very much attached himself to this process today in the way that he talked about his own personal diplomacy with the phone calls he's been making with the request of his team to get direct updates to him, not just going through the channels, but directly to the President. And so he is embracing this process for all of its fragility and all of the tenuous aspects of it. He is saying that there is optimism, there is more work to do, and the President is confident that Americans will be included in that. He was also, in a way, confronted by the larger realities that he is dealing with here, because after he made his remarks today, updating the public in many ways, sending signals to the parties that have been involved in this, he's here with his family on Nanteca, a long-time Biden family tradition, and they were attending the community tree lighting.

There were protesters that were shouting about Palestine and genocide during that event. The person who described himself as the local town crier was saying, This is a community event, not a political event. Just another vivid example of the emotions, the passions, the political views that are surrounding these circumstances. The President, according to the officials we were talking with today, had multiple briefings from his team. We expect that will continue tomorrow as this new list that he alluded to himself, even before it became public through the Israeli channels of the next group of hostages to be released. So expect that a tempo. The President engaged, taking credit for some of the positives that have taken place, and also acknowledging that there is so much more work to do and so much risk that is still very much a part of this. Halley. Kelly O'Donnell, live for us there in Kentucky. Kelly, thank you so much. We're going to have continuing coverage, of course, of all of these developments here throughout the night here on BBC News Now. Let's bring you back home now because a cross country storm might make things real messy for a whole lot of people, maybe even you as folks try to get home from wherever they're spending their Thanksgiving holiday.

The timing, of course, right, is a record number of people are set to fly home in just a couple of days with millions of others on the road. This is a storm that's pushing through the Rockies and the plains. And then it's going to be heading east, bringing with it a lot of snow in some spots, a lot of wind, bitter cold. You can see where some of those weather alerts are, the winter alerts through Sunday morning on the screen here. I want to bring in meteorologist Bill Karens. People got to where they were going okay, mostly, right? Unless it was the thick of the rain on Tuesday night. But that may not be the case coming home. Yeah, especially in the middle of the country and then a little sneaky Sunday night in the Northeast. So obviously the big story is the snowstorm and the first of the season too. So a lot of people aren't used to driving in the snow conditions yet. But winter storm warnings are up for the first time this season for much of central Kansas. We're ending the snow in Southern Wyoming and also in Colorado. Some areas picked up six to 12 inches.

So if you're in any of the higher elevations of the Rockies, you know it, you've been shoveling it. So snow right now is in Nebraska. We're okay in Kansas currently, but the storm will push out your way later tonight and then tomorrow morning is when we'll start to see it heading in your general direction. So let's fast forward. This is at 8:00 AM Saturday morning. Blue and white shows you where the snow is. The pink shows you where a little ice could be and the green would be just plain old rain. So Oklahoma City, you're warming up, just rain for you. A little bit of ice to the north of you. The cutoff line is really about Wichita. Wichita and northwards has the best chance for accumulating snow. Kansas City, I think that you will see snow, but because it's during the day, the ground is still pretty warm and the sun does shine through the clouds a little bit. I think the roads will primarily just be wet around Kansas City. Be careful on any of those bridges and overpasses. And then by the time we get Sunday morning, Chicago, southern Wisconsin to Illinois, and that will be a little snowy and it's cold enough at night.

You should have some minor accumulations. And then here we go Sunday night. This storm transfers to the Coast and all of a sudden the rain breaks out from Washington, D. C. To New York, right around 4:00 to 6:00 PM, it's going to start raining. It's not going to be snow or ice, but just keep that in mind for your travel plans. So how much snow will fall? The blue here is up to about four inches from Garden City to Wichita. Some areas in the mountains here, Durango to Aspen, could pick up a little additional 4:00 to eight, and then just a coating of snow from Kansas City, Chicago, mostly on grassy surfaces. So here's how the travel breakdown goes. We're fantastic. Rest of the weekend, West Coast, congratulations. Easy as could be. Tomorrow, obviously, Kansas is the problem area. Then by the time we get to Sunday, we watch that storm heading east. There's the snowy, possibly slick conditions in the Great Lakes. Rain breaks out from Nashville, Southwest to Atlanta late in the afternoon, and then New York. So how will this affect airports? I do not think this is a big enough storm for a lot of cancelations, but we will have possible delays.

New York airports, this is Sunday evening only, same for DC and Philly. And then as we go through the Great Lakes, this could be on and off right during the day. Halley, today about half of the flights leaving Denver had delays. That was by far the worst airport out there. That's where our storm has been over the last two days. Bill, Karen, a lot of people crossing their fingers and hoping that they are going to have luck this weekend for sure. Thank you, Frank, appreciate it. It's a Black Friday now because if you're not done shopping yet, the big message tonight, you and your money are in the driver's seat here. It makes sense, right? Because a lot of people have been starting to pull back spending because of inflation. Maybe they don't have as much money in their savings account as they used to. They have more credit card debt, et cetera, et cetera. The list goes on. Now, stores are trying to win those people back with some good deals. Analysts expect three to four % more people to shop today as compared to last year or this holiday season as compared to last.

Brian Chans at the Roosevelt Field Mall in Long Island, New York. Julia Borsten has taken a look at what the holiday shopping scene looks like online. So, Brian, let me start with you here. Black Friday is not what it used to be. I remember the days you probably do too of lining up outside the Best Buy or whatever just to get that midnight deal. It's different now with online shopping, with these deals extended further into the holiday season. Are you seeing that where you are? Yeah, well, I mean, it used to have to be from 5:00 to 6:00 AM. There were certain deals on 6:00 to 7:00 AM. There were other deals. That doesn't exist anymore. You can see behind me here at the Mall in Garden City, New York, that people are still out and about. But it seems like there's a mix of people. Yes, they're trying to capitalize off of some good deals for things that they do want on their list, but then other people are just here to soak in the atmosphere. One big reason for that is because people are having to make compromises with inflation still remaining part of this economic story.

Surveys bear out that people are having to make compromises here when you consider 40%. That's how many people are saying that they're cutting back on expenses just to be able to make sure that they can get the things that they need for the holidays. Again, two and three are saying sales and are even more important to them this holiday season than the last one. So people trying to figure out are the discounts good enough? But at least they can come to the mall and find out themselves, Allie. Can we read in anything bigger picture or longer term as to how the economy is doing based on what we see for this holiday shopping season? Yeah, well, there were some interesting statistics from the likes of Best Buy which said they saw a decline in same-source sales in the lead up to Black Friday. So on the retailer side, they're already experiencing some pullback in consumer behavior. For what it's worth, we had a conversation with Lee Sterling, who is the Chief Marketing Officer here at Simon Property Group, and she says she's still seeing foot traffic and sales looking pretty good so far this year.

Take a listen. I would say the retailers that have offers, deals, and deals are doing exceptionally well, as would be expected. You say it's stronger compared to last year or compared to specifically what? I mean, so far we're seeing at least comparable, if not better, than last year. Wow, okay. That's on foot traffic? Correct, foot traffic and sales. This is the counteracting balance here, right? I mean, just because the discounts are good doesn't mean that people are going to get in the store, but the retailers will only discount higher if they fear that people won't come into the store. It's a little bit of a game of chicken here. We'll see whether or not the market can clear on those things to put it in economic terms. It just feels like there's a lot that's been changing over the last couple of years, obviously, given what we all experienced in 2020, 2021 with the pandemic recession, et cetera. It's not just the sales that are changing right now, it's also hiring. A lot of times stores will bring in a bunch of people for the season, et cetera. That's looking a little different too. Yeah, absolutely.

Again, this is a time of this season where a lot of retailers usually balloon up in terms of their staffing to accommodate all of these shopping activity. But actually what we're seeing this year, at least according to Challenger, is that there could be less expectations for how many people are going to be coming into the stores because people have been hiring as much. The statistic from Challinger shows it's 573,000 seasonal workers. That's down, get this, 60% from 2021. Challinger said it's the lowest year for seasonal hiring announcements since 2013. Interestingly, Halley, the one exception is Amazon, which has been hiring way more people to the tune of almost 100,000 this year. It seems like maybe the bigger types of companies are the ones that are really getting bigger. The smaller ones, not so much. Brian Chng, spending Black Friday at a mall. It's the dream. Thank you. Hope you got a mall pretzel. Appreciate you being with us. The holiday shopping season, you know, will be a big test. Not just at the mall, not just in stores, but also online, and especially for TikTok shop. It's the first one, first holiday season they've had.

For some folks who are shopping on there, it's a mixed bag. On the one hand, it's super easy. You can buy the stuff that you see right then and there. There's sometimes a sale during the holidays. On the other hand, the company is getting some backlash over ethics. Some TikTokers say they're worried about how this whole thing could change content creation or or how it could fuel fast fashion and over consumption. Thing is, tech companies see this as a huge opportunity, considering that eight, nine in 10 Gen Zers, 86 % of Gen Zers say that social media, what they see online affects their shopping habits. Julia Borsten from CNBC has more on the online shopping landscape right now. Social media advertising is projected to drive 10 times more online shopping business this holiday season than traditional marketing, according to insider intelligence. That's thanks not just to influencers and AI-targeted ads, but also to Amazon. Amazon is now partnered with Pinterest, Meta, and Snap, so shoppers can buy directly from Amazon ads within those apps by logging in to their Amazon accounts. City writing that the Amazon partnership will help Meta to, quote, better analyze which products, creative and ad units generate the most clicks, creating more personalized ad experiences.

Meta is also offering other advertisers its new AI tools to optimize ad buying as well as targeting, while it's also testing some new generative AI tools to roll out next year. Meanwhile, TikTok is taking a totally different approach with its own TikTok shop, which launched in September with 200,000 merchants selling directly on the TikTok platform. While Meta is focused on building up its ad business and using Amazon as a partner, TikTok wants its own e-commerce shop in competition with Amazon. Back over to you. Our thanks to Julia Borston for that reporting. To politics now because we're learning late tonight that Minnesota congressman, Dean Phillips, who's on this long shot campaign to try to be President Biden in a primary, well, he will not run for re-election, the congressman, no matter how this primary shakes out. Phillips is announcing his decision in a statement today, saying it's time to pass the torch, going on to say that no party has a monopoly on solutions. Bbc news, Capitol Hill correspondent, Allie Vitali, is covering this late-breaking story she's joining us now. We said long shot, Ali, and we said it because that's what the numbers show. We look at our latest polling, shows support for him among primary voters on the Dem side, just four %, right?

Marion Williamson outpaces him in the polls, at least right now. Talk to me about how you see the political landscape here, and importantly, how the White House, how the Biden campaign, sees it. Look, this was going to be a long shot. We knew that when Phillips first toyed with the idea of challenging Biden, and now it remains that way, even as he's made his candidacy official. In terms of his leaving Congress, though, not entirely surprising. When he first announced his presidential bid, I had lawmakers literally texting me the shruggy emoji, Halle, because they just didn't quite understand why Phillips thought he should be the one to take on a sitting and incumbent President, especially not from his own party. But for Phillips, he feels that this is a moment where a new generation at least needs to challenge what he sees as the status quo. It's why I can't read his retirement statement about passing the torch without thinking about how he might mean it to apply to what he is doing right now. That's also a phrase, passing the torch and passing the baton, that in 2020, we used to talk about a lot with then-candidate, now President Biden.

Would he be someone who ushers in the next generation of Democratic leaders? Clearly, in his retirement, Philip's trying to hit on all of these different angles. But in terms of his retirement, not entirely shocking. Frankly, he joins a slew of other lawmakers who are doing it on the Democratic and Republican side, a real drain of people leaving Congress lately. You look at independent voters who are important in a place like New Hampshire, which, as we know, is going to hold its primary mid to end of January here. What do you hear from context you're talking to about any Phillips factor, maybe specifically in that state? To the extent that there can be a Phillips factor, you look at it in a place like New Hampshire because of the way that independent voters can function within that electorate. You can watch people tip scales either way. But again, when he's polling at 4%, this is a real long shot. I don't think there's going to be any significant dent. I think the more interesting thing is the ways that the Biden White House, along with the Democratic National Committee, have sought to actually change the calendar and push New Hampshire out of its early position.

That's the thing that could be more awkward here for Biden in his quest for the nomination than it is for Phillips running in this long-shot space that he's in. I think the thing that's important for us to remember as we chart not just Phillips, but people like Marianne Williamson, and then you even extend your lens or broaden out your lens and start thinking about the way that third-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr, potentially someone else, maybe Joe Manchin, these are names that we hear floated around, though Manchin certainly has not made anything official. It doesn't necessarily matter in the primaries, but when you're playing a game of margins and tight inches in all of these states like Michigan and all the ones that we stay up late on election night watching, that's when it becomes important. Phillips could be someone that lends to the idea that Biden is not up to the task, and that could hurt down the road if not immediately in the primaries. Ali Vitali, watching all of it for us tonight. Thank you very much. Coming up here on the show, a lot more to get to, including how a knife attack outside of school in Dublin ended in a violent riot and who Ireland's Prime Minister is blaming.

Plus, we're learning more about the victims and that deadly car crash at the Canadian border this week, the latest on that investigation in just a minute. The FDA says more kids have gotten sick. Apparently, from fruit pouches tainted with lead. We'll tell you what they're doing to try to keep kids safe in just a minute. But first, the Irish Prime Minister tonight, condemning riots in Dublin. Dozens of people arrested, but those riots erupting after the stabbing of five people, including three children yesterday. Police blaming far-right agitators for the violence in a crowd that grew to roughly 300 people. You can see some of this here. The riots right in the city center, totally chaotic here. Burned out busses, trains, looted stores. Sadia Chaudhary from our partners at Skye News is in Dublin. It is very nervey here in the city tonight. As it has been throughout the day, we're on the streets where some of that violence took place behind me is the school where that first attack took place. And of course, there was then that street violence that ensued in the aftermath. And there is this real feeling that anything can happen at any time.

And I think that is, there's a sense that when a bunch of young lads walk past, people tend to get a bit nervous. But we have to remind ourselves it is just a Friday night. People are out and about. Some people have been drinking. It is perhaps typical behavior. But I think in the context of what happened yesterday, a lot of people see what happened yesterday as having come out of nowhere. And so they don't know if tonight is safe. There isn't that bobby on the beat police presence that you might expect. But certainly there are cars. I can see one now, a guard of vehicle, which has its blue lights on and we've had them pass through. But the tea shock has insisted that it is safe. He's urged people to come into the city. Remember, it is a Black Friday today, so it should have been a lot busier than it is. But many of the shops are closed. Some have boarded up their windows, whether that's from damage or in anticipation, perhaps, that there could be another night of unrest. But he has called on people to come into the city insisting it is safe, saying that the violence that took place last night took part in a very small part of Dublin and that it was controlled very quickly.

Many people, of course, disagree with him. But this isn't a typical Friday night. This, I'm told, is a night when Irish families typically watch this television program at 09:00 PM and they turn on Christmas lights together. It is meant to be a very festive time for the city and for the country, but it has become a very somber mood, of course, all of this while that five year old child remains in hospital in a critical condition. Tonight, a visual taking place for her and other victims of yesterday's attack and a support service has been set up to help anyone affected. Our thanks to Sadia for that reporting. Let's get you over to the five things our team thinks you should know about tonight. Number one, a married couple from Western New York now identified as the two people killed in that fiery crash at the Canadian border. Kurt and were both 53 years old, according to police. On Wednesday, remember, their car hit a median and went flying. It caught on fire. It exploded right at the Rainbow Bridge. Police are not giving out any other details at this point, but they are reiterating that there does not appear to be any connection to terrorism.

Number two, transportation secretary Pete Budajudge is responding to the video of an American Airlines employee sending a wheelchair. Look at this, crashing down that ramp right onto the tarmac. You can see the luggage handler just drop it down to shoot right there. Budajudges calls that totally unacceptable. He says he's investigating. American Airlines calls the video deeply disturbing. Number three, Kentucky officials are starting to clean up the site of a freight train derailment that led to a chemical fire. They've been looking for anything toxic in the air around Livingston, but so far they haven't found anything. People in that area, it's a pretty small town, they were told to evacuate after this accident Wednesday, but everybody now is allowed to go back home. Number four, comedian and actress Tiffany Haddis, reportedly was arrested early this morning in Beverly Hills and is to be charged with driving under the influence. Multiple outlets say Haddis was found asleep behind the wheel of her car. She was arrested in a similar incident last year in Georgia. She has yet to comment on this new reporting, these new allegations. Number five, a Thanksgiving surprise from Paris Hilton, who just welcomed her second baby via surrogate.

It's a girl. Can you guess her name? Paris's daughter, London. Hilton says she's had that name picked out for more than a decade. Congratulations to her and her family. We are learning now from the FDA, proposing limits on lead in food that more kids are reporting higher levels of lead in their system. They're possibly getting sick from tainted applesauce purée pouches made by Wena Bana. The FDA says it has 52 reports now. You can see that's up from 34 cases in basically half the states in this country last week. It's affecting mostly kids under the age of four. No amount of lead is safe for kids, but it's actually in a lot of stuff, from dry cereal to yogurt, even some veggies. The FDA is now suggesting putting those limits on lead in food. In a statement, a spokesperson tells us the agency should be able to finalize the new guidelines by early 2025, but any rules may not take effect until after that. Dr. Akshae Sal is joining us now. Okay, so what is the thing that parents need to know to calibrate their level of concern here about the possibility of lead in these pouches specifically and lead in food more broadly?

Hey, Halle, good evening. Yes, so there's three brands right now that we're concerned about in terms of lead exposure. One of them and the most prominent here being wena bena. So I would say for your parents out there and your viewers out there who have children who may have been exposed to these things, it's really, really important you bring these up with your doctor because, Halle, lead is something that is very easy to test for. We can do blood tests. It actually shows up fairly quickly after exposure in a blood test. But, Halle, this is something that can hang around in the body for a while. The half-life for lead and blood is about a month in bone. It can be years and years. So this is something that if you were exposed or you think you may have been exposed, you absolutely want to bring this up because it is something we can test for. It is something that we can even treat. There are things you can do to reduce lead in the body. But, Halle, definitely very concerning and we're waiting more from the FDA right now. Does it affect kids more than adults?

The idea of lead in the system just because they have smaller bodies, they're a smaller mass? Yeah, it's partly that and Halley, it's also because kids are still developing. Lead has a way to get into the bones to get into the blood. It can harm our central nervous system, our brain. As we know that our brain doesn't really fully develop until we're in our mid 20s. So the reason we're so concerned about kids, Halle, is because they are still developing. And on a separate note, Halle, the FDA recently put out an advisory saying they're going to be recommending really strict precautions on food going forward in children. That guidance is supposed to take effect sometime in 2025. And for some context, Halle, this applesauce, this Wana Ban a cinnamon applesauce, it's about 200 times above the level that's recommended by the FDA in that guidance. So definitely something you want to be concerned about, especially if you're exposed. Is it typical for a new FDA regulation like this to have such a long lead time? Here we are, end of 2023. We're looking at maybe 2025 later into the year before it actually goes into effect.

Yeah, it is typical. And Halley, the goal really outlined here by the FDA is about a 20 to 24 % reduction in levels of lead found in kids. And it's really targeted those under the age of six, as you mentioned, because those are really where we see the most profound effects of lead on the body. Doctor Akshay, thank you so much. Let me come back. Lots more to get to, including a disgraced Paralympian getting parole after more than a decade after the conviction for murdering his girlfriend. What the victim's family is saying about it, plus why one of the biggest zoos in the country just moved all of its birds inside. A New York law that has launched thousands of sex abuse lawsuits, some against celebrities, is expiring today. We're looking at the bigger push to make that law permanent in just a couple of minutes. But first, BBC News covers hundreds of stories every day, and because it can be tough to read or watch or listen to them all, our bureau teams have done it for you. This is what they tell us is going down in their regions in a segment we call The Local.

Out of our northeast bureau, some panicked moments at New Jersey's biggest mall on Black Friday. American Dream, which is just across the river from New York City, was cleared out early today after a bomb threat, according to officials. Shoppers and employees had to be evacuated for about an hour while police checked it out. Fortunately, they didn't anything. No threat. The mall quickly got back to things as usual on this Black Friday. Out of our southern bureau, nearly every bird at the Dallas Zoo has now been moved indoors. Why? A deadly strain of bird flu and concerns over what it could mean for the birds. No animals there have actually gotten sick yet, but a confirmed case within 50 miles has the zoo at what they call their highest level of alert. They've never actually done something like this before. They're just really worried that this very contagious bird flu could spread from wild birds to the birds at the zoo. It could be weeks before the birds get back to their habitats. Out of our Western Bureau, researchers at the University of Utah have detected a rare phenomena they claim may not even be known to science.

They intercepted a really powerful cosmic ray. They call it one of the highest energy levels ever observed. The researchers say the energy is like dropping a brick on your toe. These rays are basically particles that travel through space and rain down on earth. We don't know about their origins yet, but hey, space geek, science nerds, that's for you. Very interesting. Take it overseas now because a major new development today is happening in a murder case that made headlines all over the world involving a Paralympian convicted of killing his girlfriend a decade ago. We're talking about Oscar Pistorius. Remember him? He's now being granted parole in South Africa, where he's serving a more than 13-year sentence. Officials say he'll be released early next year. Tonight, the mother of the woman who was killed says she doesn't believe Pistorius has been rehabilitated, but says she's satisfied with the conditions of the parole. This was an incredibly high-profile trial that sent shockwaves around the world about a decade ago when Pestoria said he shot his girlfriend four times through a locked bathroom door because he thought she was a burglar. At one point, Pestorius literally vomiting in court just from seeing graphic images of her body.

At the time, Pestorius was one of the world's most high profile disabled athletes. They called him the Blade Runner. He made history as the first double amputee to compete at the Olympics. I want to bring in Megan Fitzgerald for more on this. It was a bombshell trial, a bombshell conviction, and now his parole, the fact that he's been granted it, is also making headlines specifically from the victim's family here, Reva Steenkamp. Tell us more. Yeah, you're absolutely right. I mean, this has been an incredibly difficult journey for Reva's family, especially her mother, June, who lost Reva's father in September. In a statement, she said she didn't have the energy to be there today to face Pistorius. She also doubts, as you mentioned, that he has, in fact, been rehabilitated. In fact, I want to read for you part of the statement that she released today. It says, At this time, I am not convinced that Oscar has been rehabilitated. Rehabilitation requires someone to engage honestly with the full truth of his crime and the consequences thereof. Nobody can claim to have remorse if they are not able to engage fully with the truth. The statement goes on to say, June is satisfied with the conditions imposed by the parole board as it sends a clear message that gender-based violence will not be tolerated.

Today is a victory for victim participation in parole proceedings, as it is evident that the parole board considered June's victim impact statement. I spoke with Reva's family attorney today. I asked if they thought that Prestorius deserved to be released. She told me that the family has always known that this day would come and that, in fact, they were prepared for it, and they respect the South African justice system. Halley? For Oscar Pistorius himself, Megan, what does his life look like come next spring, next summer, even when he is getting this parole and gets out, what happens next? What we know, at least for this moment, he's going to remain in prison until he's released January fifth. As part of the conditions of his parole, he will then undergo an anger management course that he has to do. He's going to do some community service. He's not going to be able to leave his community that he's meant to live in without asking for permission. I also want you to listen to a little bit of what the Department of Correction, spokesperson had to say earlier today. Parole placement does not mean the end of a sentence, but it merely says that you will complete your sentence outside of a correctional facility, which is part and parcel of rehabilitation efforts.

Pistorius is able to be released because of the South African law that allows for parole after half of the sentence has been served. Again, he will likely be walking out shortly after the new year. Halley? Megan Fitzgerald. Lots of people watching that obviously from South Africa and well beyond. Thank you. Tonight, some high profile sex assault lawsuits being filed at the last minute because of the end of a New York law affecting statutes of limitation. Take Sean Combs, for example. Diddy, he's been hit now with two more accusations of sexually assaulting women back in the early 90s. A spokesperson for Combs denies the allegations. Just last week, remember, he settled a different lawsuit filed by his former girlfriend, the singer Cassie, accusing him of rape and physical abuse. Another new lawsuit accuses the New York City mayor, Eric Adams, of sexually assaulting a woman who worked with him in 1993. A City Hall spokesperson is rejecting those allegations. They're just the latest of some of the 2,500 sex abuse cases filed because of this law, including against former President Trump, actor Russell Brand, actor Jamie Fox, who all deny wrongdoing. I want to bring in our senior legal correspondent, Laura Jarrett.

Laura, the reason for that is because this law essentially extended a statute of limitations, a law that is set to go away, which is why some advocates are saying, Hey, extend this law, make it permanent. What are the chances that happens? Yeah, these are claims that under normal circumstances, Halley, would have been long ago time bar. These are things that often happened decades ago, but because of the law, they had a one year window to do it. The issue is, as you can imagine, is there's a lot of pushback because the claims are so old, people are saying, No, we're not going to extend it even more. This was your one chance to do it. And if you don't bring them here now, then that's it. You have no more chance. But as you well know, Halley, obviously, survivor advocates say there are a lot of reasons that people don't come forward, and that often can take them a while. There's a balancing act there, I think, for many places. But obviously, New York saw, as you mentioned, over 2,500 cases. We're covering the high-profile ones, as you can imagine, but there are plenty of run-of-the-mill cases we've never heard of before, and that's obviously the vast majority of them.

A spokesperson for Combs for one of the lawsuits says, and I want to quote here that this last-minute lawsuit is an example of how a well-intentioned law can be turned on its head. Can you help us understand perhaps the mind of a defense attorney here, Laura? I know that you are not one, but I wonder from the expert perspective here, is there a potential that this could essentially backfire against some of the victims making these claims? Yeah, that was my old life as a defense attorney. But I think the bottom line here is that people should understand just because the suit is filed doesn't necessarily mean that it will be successful. These people are still going to have to have their day in court. They're still going to have to put forward evidence. That evidence is still going to be vetted just like any case. You can understand his defense perspective there, but these cases are not just you file it and then you win and you go home. Having said that, in this particular case, in his we know he already settled one case. We don't know what will happen with the other ones, but they all will have their day in court if they even get that far, Halleigh.

Laura, Jared, thank you very much for that. Good to see you. Appreciate it. Coming up here on the show, kicking off a new Thanksgiving weekend tradition, how the NFL's first ever Black Friday game is changing the way fans watch the sport and what executives hope will become a yearly thing. We're going to explain what it means for linear TV in just a minute. Right now, for the first time ever, the NFL is playing a game on Black Friday, but it's not on any of the usual networks. It's not on any of the usual cable sports networks. Instead, it is on a streaming service. The jets and the dolphins facing off on Amazon Prime Video. If you're like, Okay, well, what does that mean? Do I see the usual commercials? Well, instead, viewers will be getting a broadcast that features nods to Amazon's Black Friday deals and an exclusive performance by Garth Brooks. This is a deal, like a big deal beyond just the sports world. It is a big deal in the business community because the NFL is trying to create this new holiday tradition, just not on regular TV, not on your typical broadcast TV, which may mean more trouble for the traditional networks that already don't have a bunch of ad revenue coming in and are already seeing a lot of people cutting the cord.

I want to bring in who is joining us now. Obviously, folks watching us know how to stream. We know how to stream. The NFL is hoping that its millions and millions of fans will get on the streaming bandwagon as well to expand its footprint here. This is a big move from a business perspective for them. Yeah, hey there, Halley. It's a huge move, especially in this rapidly changing industry, rapidly changing environment of the TV world. It's a big move for a couple of reasons. One, you mentioned there are millions of eyes on this. Millions of people. We're talking about the behavior of millions of people. There are just a lot of people involved. Secondly, it's a first. The NFL is hoping that the tradition of watching football on Thanksgiving Day extends into another day on Black Friday. And then there are some unique aspects with Amazon being at play here. One, it is a retail giant, and now it's also a giant in the world of football. And so that unique overlap you can see play out on the streaming service today. When you see the ads, there are QR codes that it's trying to pull people who are tuning in, sitting on their couch watching the game, to also then go shopping and take advantage of the ads on its shopping service, Amazon.

Com. Then also you see it's a little bit of a mutually beneficial relationship between football, the world of football, and streaming services as we continue to see them expand. Take a look at some of the numbers here. There's a 25 % increase in Amazon's ratings on Thursday Night Football. There's a 50 % increase of YouTube TV subscribers since they added the Sunday ticket recently. There's also a huge boost to NFL+ subscribers, nearly doubling the NFL also standing to benefit as well. Halley, I'll point out they've seen a six % increase in viewers from last year. It's such an interesting graphic, Emily, what we just showed on the screen because it is also live sports that is driving a lot of the big watches on traditional broadcast, network TV. People are drawn to. We know things that are live sports is like the top of that pyramid there. Yeah, absolutely. Football continues to be a major player, especially at a time when so many people are cutting the so-called cable cord. Nielsen actually just reported earlier this summer in July, less than half of traditional TV, rather, made up less than half of overall TV usage.

And then we saw it bump up in August and September, Nielsen crediting that to the return of college football and professional football. So football is playing a huge role, a major influential factor in the world of TV as it changes. Emily, Aketa, thank you very much. That does it for us for this hour. We've got a lot more coverage picking up right now. The last few minutes, new details coming into us tonight on which hostages could be freed by Hamas in the next round of releases soon as part of this breakthrough deal between that terror group and Israel. As we're seeing some history making moments of the first group being let out of gossip. What comes next and what's been a successful but fragile deal so far? We're live on the ground. We'll take you there in a minute. Plus, stores hoping to draw in a bunch of people and money this holiday season. In this economy, my experts say you are in the driver's seat this Black Friday and how TikTok may be reshaping how some of us shop. Then, Diddy hit with two more sex assault lawsuits, part of a flood of new suits as a key legal window closes today in New York.

We'll explain that and what other famous men are featured in some of these lawsuits. And might it be a new tradition for your Black Friday football game for the first time ever? The NFL is streaming it. What that could mean for the future of traditional TV. Hey there, I'm Halley. And in just the last few minutes, Israel is saying it now has the list of the next round of hostages who are set to be released in the next 24 hours. As already, 24 other people who have been held hostage by Hamas now for 49 days are free. They are free in the biggest diplomatic breakthrough in the Israel- Hamas war so far. That pause in the intense fighting we've seen inside Gaza for weeks, still holding at least for now. Take a look here. There's already historic moments. Some of the now freed hostages arriving at the Rafe border crossing into Egypt in Red Cross vans. You see them here. They're on their way out of Gaza. Look at that. Thirteen Israelis, some as young as just two years old, have just been released in this true steal. You see their names, their faces, their ages here.

They are now back in Israel. They're getting evaluated, the IDF says, by doctors there. 10 Thai hostages and one Filipino hostage newly freed as well, and 39 Palestinian women and children have just been released from Israeli prisons as part of this deal, according to both Qatar and Israel. The big question now, what comes next? What comes next for these now former hostages, for their families, for the families of other abductees who are waiting in agony to reunite with the people they love. Remember, this deal took weeks of what Qatar has called excruciating negotiations. It means that at least 50 hostages, this is the expectation, that 50 hostages and all will be freed from Gaza, 150 Palestinians will be freed from Israel, and at least a four-day ceasefire. To be clear, no American hostages were released today. That includes a little girl, Abigail, who's turning four today with President Biden tonight saying he only trusts Hamas to respond to pressure. Watch. I've been engaged with my team as we began the first difficult days of implementing this deal. It's only a start, but so far it's gone well. All that's coming is our team is getting some exclusive access inside the Qatari hostage rescue room with that country so key in getting this deal done.

We're going to have more on that in just a second. We're also seeing trucks carrying fuel and gas and some other humanitarian help into Gaza today as part of this new deal bringing at least a glimmer of hope to the innocent people, the civilians there in Gaza who have been suffering with not enough food or water or electricity. We've got team coverage from every angle tonight. Bbc's Kier Cements in Doha, Qatar. Kelly O'Donnell is traveling with the President in the but I want to start with David Noriega, who is live for us tonight in Jerusalem. David, talk to us about what we're learning late tonight in just the last couple of minutes about the next set of hostages to be released, plus what we know about the folks who were freed today. Yeah, Halley, what we know from the Israeli Prime Minister's office is that they have officially received the list of names for the group of hostages that will be released tomorrow. They also said that they are now in communication with the families of those hostages. That is about all we know. However, I will point out that it's significant that that is the same pattern that we saw play out yesterday.

Around this time yesterday, that's what we knew, that the Prime Minister's office had the names and that they were in communications with the families, and that was it. Not to read too much into it, but that suggests to me that tomorrow might follow more or less the same pattern as today. As far as the people who were released today, we saw three family units, between them, including four children. The youngest of them was a two-year-old toddler, also children nine, five, and four years old. Other hostages were in their 70s. One was 85 years old. They have been transferred to Israeli hospitals. What we're hearing about their condition, there's still more details to come on that, but we have heard from one of those hospitals saying that their condition is good. For the families who, as you said, have been waiting in agony, so far the news is limited, but good. Halleigh? Let me go to Kier Cements, who is live for us now in Qatar because Kier, you have some exclusive reporting there. This deal could not have happened, it seems, without the Qataris being involved in it here. What is going down in this hostage rescue room, particularly as we now appear to be, as David says, we can't draw too many inferences from what we know so far, but this pattern now does seem to be repeating for a second night in a row.

Talk us through it. Yeah, they talked today to me after the day that they had, that they described as intense, that they say that, Halley, it really was a challenge again after weeks of the most complex host of negotiations in modern history. Just to give you an example, we're hearing tonight that one of the hostages who was released, the Israelis, didn't know was still alive. Things are shifting. You mentioned the fact that no Americans were released today. There does seem to be confidence that they will be in the days ahead. Take a listen to Qatar's chief negotiator talking to me tonight. If today we didn't see Americans from the left, I'd have been hopeful that the upcoming days we will see the release of all citizens under the women and children category. The administration has been very keen to see the American hostages released, including, of course, a little girl, Abigail Maurydain, who's for today. Of course, it matters to us to get all of the US citizens out. It matters to us to get all of the US citizens out. You can imagine the pressure that there is from over there in the US in that hally.

But the reality is, I understand it, that each day is a new day where a new list appears and different governments around the world find out whether their citizens are on that list. It is excruciating for the people watching, for the families involved here, and David, the backbone of it, the backbone of this deal, as we're looking here at some of the extraordinary video that we've seen today of this hostage release, the backbone is the ceasefire, this temporary pause in fighting with Israel, making very clear today that this pause is just that. It is temporary. They're dropping new leaflets around gas a warning, in their words, that this war is not over yet. The question is, is this next 72 hours of a pause going to hold on both sides? Holly, Is that a lot of people wish they had an answer to that question. This is not just day by day, it's hour by hour, minute by minute. You're right, the IDF did drop leaflets in Gaza today, warning specifically people who had moved to the southern part of Gaza not to move back to the north. A number of people tried to do that.

There's been a lot of anxiety among residents of Gaza that they're going to be permanently displaced from their homes when the fighting paused. Many of them wanted to go back to their homes or what's left of them. The IDF is making very clear to them that they cannot do that without putting themselves and their families in danger. Everyone that I've spoken to about this, both on the Israeli and the Palestinian side, is operating under the assumption that this is all very, very fragile and that we can't assume or predict or count on anything. That said, what is expected is that this ceasefire will hold for an additional three days, and importantly, it could be extended beyond that if there are additional releases of hostages and additional releases of Palestinian prisoners as well. So what could have started as a four-day ceasefire might go even longer than that. Halley? Kierre, you think about the re-entry for these hostages that have already been freed, the ones presumably on this list who are set to get out after that Hamas terror attack on October seventh. October seventh was a month and a half ago, right? The re-entry-process, we've been hearing from some of the doctors treating some of these people as they're coming in.

So far it seems like, at least we know from one of the hospitals, eight people who returned to Israel that came to this particular location are in good physical condition. But there is such a recovery process that is only very clearly just beginning. You're so right. You find yourself, don't you, looking at those images of them emerging from Gaza and just studying, looking closely to try to figure out how they are, how they must be feeling. They do look pretty well, actually, from the pictures that we've seen, Halley. That is a relief. But we know, of course, from people who have been through this ordeal that it can be months, even years into the future when people really begin to come to terms with what's happened. Then, of course, you think about the little ones, the children who maybe don't even really understand what's just happened. There's been a journey, an unbelievable journey for everyone involved in including the mediators here in Qatar and governments around the world, particularly, of course, for the hostage families in the weeks gone by. But I think in the months ahead for those families and those hostages who are released, there is going to be more of a journey.

Kierre Simmons, David Noriega, our thanks to both of you, LiveForce, in the region tonight on such a significant evening. You can catch more of Kierre's exclusive reporting tonight, by the way, from that Qatari hostage rescue room tonight on NBC Nightly News 6:30 Eastern with Lester, wherever you watch your local BBC station. I want to get to Kelly O'Donnell now who's traveling with President Biden in Nantucket, where he is spending his Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Kelly, you just heard it from David there. This situation in the region is not just day by day. It is hour by hour, if not minute by minute. As the President is making very clear his hope is that this is simply the beginning. Talk us through what you're hearing tonight and the role of the Biden administration moving forward. Well, certainly the President very much attached himself to this process today in the way that he talked about his own personal diplomacy with the phone calls he's been making with the request of his team to get direct updates to him, not just going through the channels, but directly to the President. And so he is embracing this process for all of its fragility and all of the tenuous aspects of it.

He is saying that there is optimism, there is more work to do, and the President is confident that Americans will be included in that. He was also, in a way, confronted by the larger realities that he is dealing with here, because after he made his remarks today, updating the public in many ways, sending signals to the parties that have been involved in this, he's here with his family on Nanteca, a long-time Biden family tradition, and they were attending the community tree lighting and the were protesters that were shouting about Palestine and genocide during that event. The person who described himself as the local town crier was saying, This is a community event, not a political event. Just another vivid example of the emotions, the passions, the political views that are surrounding these circumstances. The President, according to the officials we were talking with today, had multiple briefings from his team. We expect that will continue tomorrow as this new list that he alluded to himself even before it became public through the Israeli channels of the next group of hostages to be released. So expect that a tempo. The President engaged, taking credit for some of the positives that have taken place, and also acknowledging that there is so much more work to do and so much risk that is still very much a part of this.

Halley. Kelly O'Donnell, live for us there in Kentucky. Kelly, thank you so much. We're going to have continuing coverage, of course, of all of these developments here throughout the night here on BBC News Now. Let's bring you back home now because a cross country storm might make things real messy for a whole lot of people, maybe even you as folks try to get home from wherever they're spending their Thanksgiving holiday. The timing, of course, right, is a record number of people are set to fly home in just a couple of days with millions of others on the road. This is a storm that's pushing through the Rockies and the plains, and then it's going to be heading east, bringing with it a lot of snow in some spots, a lot of wind, bitter cold. You can see where some of those weather alerts are, the winter alerts through Sunday morning on the screen here. I want to bring in meteorologist Bill Karenz. People got to where they were going okay, mostly, right? Unless it was the thick of the rain on Tuesday night. But that may not be the case coming home. Yeah, especially the middle of the country and then a little sneaky Sunday night in the Northeast.

So obviously the big story is the snowstorm and the first of the season too. So a lot of people are used to driving in the snow conditions yet. But winter storm mornings are up for the first time this season for much of central Kansas. We're ending the snow in Southern Wyoming and also in Colorado. Some areas picked up six to twelve inches. So if you're in any of the higher elevations of the Rockies, you know it. You've been shoveling it. So snow right now is in Nebraska. We're okay in Kansas currently, but the storm will push out your way later tonight and then tomorrow morning is when we'll start to see it heading in your general direction. So let's fast forward. This is at 8:00 a. M. Saturday morning. Blue and white shows you where the snow is. The pink shows you where a little ice could be, and the green would be just plain old rain. So Oklahoma City, you're warm enough, just rain for you. A little bit of ice to the north of you. The cutoff line is really about Wichita. Wichita northwards has the best chance for accumulating snow. Kansas City, I think that you will see snow, but because it's during the day, the ground is still pretty warm and the sun does shine through the clouds a little bit.

I think the roads will primarily just be wet around Kansas City. Be careful on any of those bridges and overpasses. And then by the time we get to Sunday morning, Chicago, Southern Wisconsin to Illinois, and that will be a little snowy and it's cold enough at night. You should have some minor accumulations. And then here we go Sunday night. This storm transfers to the Coast and all of a sudden the rain breaks out from Washington, D. C. To New York, right around 4:00 to 6:00 PM, it's going to start raining. It's not going to be snow or ice, but just keep that in mind for your travel plans. So how much snow will fall? The blue here is up to about four inches from Garden City to Wichita. Some areas in the mountains here, Durango to Aspen, could pick up a little additional four to eight, and then just a coating of snow from Kansas City, Chicago, mostly on grassy surfaces. So here's how the travel breakdown goes. We're fantastic. Rest of the weekend, West Coast, congratulations. Easy as could be. Tomorrow, obviously, Kansas is the problem area. Then by the time we get to Sunday, we watch that storm heading east.

There's the snowy, possibly slick conditions in the Great Lakes. Rain breaks out from Nashville, Southwest to Atlanta late in the afternoon, and then New York. So how will this affect airports? I do not think this is a big enough storm for a lot of cancelations, but we will have possible delays. New York airports, this is Sunday evening only, same for DC and Philly. And then as we go through the Great Lakes, this could be on and off right during the day. Halley, today about half of the flights leaving Denver had delays. That was by far the worst airport out there. That's where our storm has been over the last two days. Bill, Karen, a lot of people crossing their fingers and hoping that they are going to have luck this weekend for sure. Thank you, Frank, appreciate it. It's a Black Friday now because if you're not done shopping yet, the big message tonight, you and your money are in the driver's seat here. It makes sense, right? Because a lot of people have been starting to pull back spending because of inflation. Maybe they don't have as much money in their savings account as they used to.

They have more credit card debt, et cetera, et cetera. The list goes on. Now stores are trying to win those people back with some good deals. Analysts expect 3-4% more people to shop today as compared to last year or this holiday season as compared to last. Brian Chng is at the Roosevelt Field Mall in Long Island, New York. Julia Borsten is taking a look at the holiday shopping scene looks like online. So, Brian, let me start with you here. Black Friday is not what it used to be. I remember the days you probably do too of lining up outside the Best Buy or whatever just to get that midnight deal. It's different now with online shopping, with these deals extended further into the holiday season. Are you seeing that where you are? Yeah, well, I mean, it used to have to be from 5:00 to 6:00 a. M. There were certain deals on 6:00 to 7:00 a. M. There were other deals that doesn't exist anymore. You can see behind me here at the Mall in Garden City, New York, that people are still out and about, but it seems like there's a mix of people, yes, they're trying to capitalize off of some good deals for things that they do want on their list, but then other people are just here to soak in the atmosphere.

One big reason for that is because people are having to make compromises with inflation still remaining part of this economic story. Surveys bear out that people are having to make compromises here when you consider 40%. That's how many people are saying that they're cutting back on expenses just to be able to make sure that they can get the things that they need for the holidays. Yet, two and three are saying sales and promotions are even more important to them this holiday season than the last one. So people trying to figure out are the discounts good enough? But at least they can come to the mall and find out themselves, Allie. Can we read in anything bigger picture or longer term as to how the economy is doing based on what we see for this holiday shopping season? Yeah, well, there were some interesting statistics from the likes of Best Buy which said they saw a decline in same-source sales in the lead up to Black Friday. So on the retailer side, they're already experiencing some pullback in consumer behavior. For what it's worth, we had a conversation with Lee Sterling, who is the Chief Marketing Officer here at Simon Property Group, and she says she's still seen foot traffic and sales looking pretty good so far this year.

Take a listen. The retailers that have offers, deals, and deals are doing exceptionally well, as would be expected. You say it's stronger compared to last year or compared to specifically what? I mean, so far we're seeing at least comparable, if not better, than last year. Wow. Okay. That's on foot traffic? Correct. Foot traffic and sales. This is the counteracting balance here, right? I mean, just because the discounts are good doesn't mean that people are going to get in the store, but the retailers will only discount higher if they fear that people won't come into the store. It's a little bit of a game of chicken here. We'll see whether or not the market can clear on those things to put it in economic terms. It just feels like there's a lot that's been changing over the last couple of years, obviously, given what we all experienced in 2020, 2021 with the pandemic recession, et cetera, it's not just the sales that are changing right now, it's also hiring. A lot of times stores will bring in a bunch of people for the season, et cetera. That's looking a little different too. Yeah, absolutely. Again, this is a time this season where a lot of retailers usually balloon up in terms of their staffing to accommodate all of these shopping activity.

But actually, what we're seeing this year, at least according to Challenger, is that there could be less expectations for how many people are going to be coming into the stores because people have been hiring as much. The statistic from Challenger shows it's 573,000 seasonal workers. That's down, get this 60 % from 2021. And Challenger said it's the lowest year for seasonal hiring announcements since 2013. But interestingly, Halley, the one exception is Amazon, which has been hiring way more people to the tune of almost 100,000 this year. So it seems like maybe the bigger types of companies are the ones that are really getting bigger. The smaller ones, not so much. Brian Chong, spending Black Friday at a mall. It's the dream. Thank you. Hope you've got a mall pretzel. Appreciate you being with us. The holiday shopping season, you know, will be a big test. Not just at the mall, not just in stores, but also online, and especially for TikTok shop. It's the first one, first holiday season they've had. And for some folks who are shopping on there, it's a mixed bet. On the one hand, it's super easy. You can buy the stuff that you see right then and there.

There's sometimes a sale during the holidays. On the other hand, the company is getting some backlash over ethics. Some TikTokers say they're worried about how this whole thing could change content creation or how it could fuel fast fashion and over consumption. Thing is tech companies see this as a huge opportunity, considering that eight, nine in 10 Gen Zers, 86 % of Gen Zers say that social media, what they see online affects their shopping habits. Julia Borsten from CNBC has more on the online shopping landscape right now. Social media advertising is projected to drive 10 times more online shopping business this holiday season than traditional marketing, according to Insider Intelligence. That's thanks not just to influencers and AI-targeted ads, but also to Amazon. Amazon is now partnered with Pinterest, Meta, and Snap, so shoppers can buy directly from Amazon ads within those apps by logging into their Amazon accounts. City writing that the Amazon partnership will help Meta to, quote, better analyze which products, creative and ad units generate the most clicks, creating more personalized ad experiences. Meta is also offering other advertisers its new AI tools to optimize ad buying as well as targeting, while it's also testing some new generative AI tools to roll out next year.

Meanwhile, TikTok is taking a totally different approach with his own TikTok shop, which launched in September with 200,000 merchants selling directly on the TikTok platform. While Meta is focused on building up its ad business and using Amazon as a partner, TikTok wants its own e-commerce shop in competition with Amazon. Back over to you. Our thanks to Julia Borston for that reporting to politics now because we're learning late tonight that Minnesota congressman, Dean Phillips, who's on this long shot campaign to try to be President Biden in a primary, well, he will not run for re-election the congressman no matter how this primary shakes out. Phillips is announcing his decision in a statement today saying it's time to pass the torch, going on to say that no party has a monopoly on solutions. Bbc News, Capitol Hill correspondent, Ali Vitali is covering this late breaking story. She's joining us now. We said long shot, Ali, and we said it because that's what the numbers show. We look at our latest polling, shows support for him among primary voters on the Dem side. It's just four %, right? Marion Williamson outpaces him in the polls, at least right now.

Talk to me about how you see the political landscape here, and importantly, how the White House, how the Biden campaign, sees it. Look, this was going to be a long shot. We knew that when Phillips first toyed with the idea of challenging Biden, and now it remains that way, even as he's made his candidacy official. In terms of his leaving Congress, though, not entirely surprising. When he first announced his presidential bid, I had lawmakers literally texting me the shruggy emoji, Halley, because they just didn't quite understand why Phillips thought he should be the one to take on a sitting and incumbent President, especially not from his own party. But for Phillips, he feels that this is a moment where a new generation at least needs to challenge what he sees as the status quo. It's why I can't read his retirement statement about passing the torch without thinking about how he might mean it to apply to what he is doing right now. That's also a phrase, passing the torch and passing the baton, that in 2020, we used to talk about a lot with then-candidate, now President Biden, would he be someone who ushers in the next generation of Democratic leaders?

Clearly, in his retirement, Philip's trying to hit on all of these different angles. But in terms of his retirement, not entirely shocking. Frankly, he joins a slew of other lawmakers who are doing it on the Democratic and Republican side, a real drain of people leaving Congress lately. You look at independent voters who are important in a place like New Hampshire, which, as we know, is going to hold its primary mid to end of January here. What do you hear from context are you talking to about any, any Phillips factor, maybe specifically in that state? To the extent that there can be a Phillips factor, you look at it in a place like New Hampshire because of the way that independent voters can function within that electorate. You can watch people tip scales either way. But again, when he's polling at four %, this is a real long shot. I don't think there's going to be any significant dent. I think the more interesting thing is the ways that the Biden White House in along with the Democratic National Committee, have sought to actually change the calendar and push New Hampshire out of its early position.

That's the thing that could be more awkward here for Biden in his quest for the nomination than it is for Phillips running in this long-shot space that he's in. I think the thing that's important for us to remember as we chart not just Phillips, but people like Marianne Williamson, and then you even extend your lens or broaden out your lens and start thinking about the way that third-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr, potentially someone else, maybe Joe Manchin, these are names that we hear floated around, though Manchin certainly has not made anything official. It doesn't necessarily matter in the primaries, but when you're playing a game of margins and tight inches in all of these states like Michigan and Wisconsin, all the ones that we stay up late on election night watching, that's when it becomes important. Phillips could be someone that lends to the idea that Biden is not up to the task, and that could hurt down the road if not immediately in the primaries. Ali Vitali, watching all of it for us tonight, thank you very much. Coming up here on the show, a lot more to get to, including how a knife attack outside a school in Dublin ended in a violent riot and who Ireland's Prime Minister is blaming.

Plus, we're learning more about the victims in that deadly car crash at the Canadian border this week. The latest on that investigation in just a minute. The FDA says more kids have gotten sick, apparently from fruit pouches tainted with lead. We'll tell you what they're doing to try to keep kids safe in just a minute. But first, the Irish Prime Minister tonight, condemning riots in Dublin. Dozens of people arrested, but those riots erupting after the stabbing of five people, including three children yesterday. Police blaming far-right agitators for the violence in a crowd that grew to roughly 300 people. You can see some of this here. The riots right in the city center, totally chaotic here. Burned out busses, trains, looted stores. Sadia Chaudhary from our partners at Skye News is in Dublin. It is very nerve-y here in the city tonight. As it has been throughout the day, we're on the street where some of that violence took place behind me is the school where that first attack took place. And of course, there was then that street violence that ensued in the aftermath. And there is this real feeling that anything can happen at any time.

And I think that is, there's a sense that when a bunch of young lads walk past, people tend to get a bit nervous. But we have to remind ourselves it is just a Friday night. People are out and about. Some people have been drinking. It is perhaps typical behavior. But I think in the context of what happened yesterday, a lot of people see what happened yesterday as having come out of nowhere. And so they don't know if tonight is safe. There isn't that bobby on the beat police presence that you might expect. But certainly there are cars. I can see one now, a guard of vehicle, which has its blue lights on and we've had them pass through. But the tea shark has insisted that it is safe. He's urged people to come into the city. Remember, it is a Black Friday today, so it should have been a lot busier than it is. But many of the shops are closed. Some have boarded up their windows, whether that's from the damage or in anticipation, perhaps, that there could be another night of unrest. But he has called on people to come into the city insisting it is safe, saying that the violence that took place last night took part in a very small part of Dublin and that it was controlled very quickly.

Many people, of course, disagree with him. But this isn't a typical Friday night. This, I'm told, is a night when Irish families typically watch this television program at 09:00 PM and they turn on Christmas lights together. It is meant to be a very festive time for the city and for the country, but it has become a very somber mood, of course, all of this while that five year old child remains in hospital in a critical condition. Tonight, a visual taking place for her and other victims of yesterday's attack and support service has been set up to help anyone affected. Our thanks to Sadia for that reporting. Let's get you over to the five things our team thinks you should know about tonight. Number one, a married couple from Western New York now identified as the two people killed in that fiery crash at the Canadian border. Kurt and Monica Vlani were both 53 years old, according to police. On Wednesday, remember, their car hit a median and went flying. It caught on fire. It exploded right at the Rainbow Bridge. Police are not giving out any other details at this point, but they are reiterating that there does not appear to be any connection to terrorism.

Number two, transportation secretary Pete Buddajud, is responding to the video of an American Airlines employee sending a wheelchair. Look at this, crashing down that ramp right onto the tarmac. You can see the luggage handle or just drop it down to shoot right there. Buda Judge calls that totally unacceptable. He says he's investigating. American Airlines calls the video deeply disturbing. Number three, Kentucky officials are starting to clean up the site of a freight train derailment that led to a chemical fire. They've been looking for anything toxic in the air around Livingston, but so far they haven't found anything. People in that area, it's a pretty small town, they were told to evacuate after this accident Wednesday, but everybody now is allowed to go back home. Number four, comedian and actress Tiffany Haddish, reportedly was arrested early this morning in Beverly Hills in is expected to be charged with driving under the influence. Multiple outlets say Haddis was found asleep behind the wheel of her car. She was arrested in a similar incident last year in Georgia. She has yet to comment on this new reporting, these new allegations. Number five, a Thanksgiving surprise from Paris Hilton, who just welcomed her second baby via surrogate.

It's a girl. Can you guess her name? Paris's daughter, London. Hilton says she's had that name picked out for more than a decade. Congratulations to her and her family. We are learning now from the FDA, proposing limits on lead in food that more kids are reporting higher levels of lead in their system. They're possibly getting sick from tainted applesauce purée pouches made by Wana-Bana. The FDA says it has 52 reports now. You can see that's up from 34 cases in basically half the states in this country last week. It's affecting mostly kids under the age of four. No amount of lead is safe for kids, but it's actually in a lot of stuff, from dry cereal to yogurt, even some veggies. The FDA is now suggesting putting those limits on lead in food. In a statement, a spokesperson tells us the agency should be able to finalize the new guidelines by early 2025, but any rules may not take effect until after that. Dr. Akshael is joining us now. Okay, so what is the thing that parents need to know to calibrate their level of concern here about the possibility of lead in these pouches specifically and lead in food more broadly?

Hey, Halley, good evening. Yes, so there's three brands right now that we're concerned about in terms of lead exposure, one of them and the most prominent here being wana-bana. So I would say for your parents out there and your viewers out there who have children who may have been exposed to these things, it's really, really important you bring these up with your doctor because, Halle, lead is something that is very easy to test for. We can do blood tests. It actually shows up fairly quickly after exposure in a blood test. Halley, this is something that can hang around in the body for a while. The half-life for lead and blood is about a month in bone. It can be years and years. So this is something that if you were exposed or you think you may have been exposed, you absolutely want to bring this up because it is something we can test for. It is something that we can even treat. There are things you can do to reduce lead in the body. But, Halley, definitely very concerning and we're waiting more from the FDA right now. Does it affect kids more than adults?

The idea of lead in the system just because they have smaller bodies, they're a smaller mass? Yeah, it's partly that and Halleigh, it's also because kids are still developing. Lead has a way to get into the bones to get into the blood. It can harm our central nervous system, our brain. As we know that our brain doesn't really fully develop until we're in our mid 20s. So the reason we're so concerned about kids, Halle, is because they are still developing. And on a separate note, Halle, the FDA recently put out an advisory saying they're going to be recommending really strict precautions on food going forward in children. That guidance is supposed to take effect sometime in 2025. And for some context, Halle, this applesauce, this Wana Ban a cinnamon applesauce, it's about 200 times above the level that's recommended by the FDA in that guidance. So definitely something you want to be concerned about, especially if you're exposed. Is it typical for a new FDA regulation like this to have such a long lead time? Here we are, end of 2023. We're looking at maybe 2025 later into the year before it actually goes into effect.

Yeah, it is typical. And, Haley, the goal really outlined here by the FDA is about a 20-24 % reduction in levels of lead found in kids, and it's really targeted those under the age of six, as you mentioned, because those are really where we see the most profound effects of lead on the body. Doctor Akshay, Syal, thank you so much. Anytime. Let me come back. Lots more to get to, including a disgraced Paralympian getting parole after more than a decade after the conviction for murdering his girlfriend. What the victim's family is saying about it, plus why one of the biggest zoos in the country just moved all of its birds inside. A New York law that has launched thousands of sex abuse lawsuits, some against celebrities, is expiring today. We're looking at the bigger push to make that law permanent in just a couple of minutes. But first, BBC News covers hundreds of stories every day, and because it can be tough to read or watch or listen to them all, our bureau teams have done it for you. This is what they tell us is going down in their regions in a segment we call The Local.

Out of our northeast bureau, some panicked moments at New Jersey's biggest mall on Black Friday. American Dream, which is just across the river from New York City, was cleared out early today after a bomb threat, according to officials. Shoppers and employees had to be evacuated for about an hour while police checked it out. Fortunately, they didn't see anything. No threat. The mall quickly got back to things as usual on this Black Friday. Out of our southern period, nearly every bird at the Dallas Zoo has now been moved indoors. Why? A deadly strain of bird flu and concerns over what it could mean for the birds. No animals there have actually gotten sick yet, but a confirmed case within 50 miles has the zoo at what they call their highest level of alert. They've never actually done something like this before. They're just really worried that this very contagious bird flu could spread from wild birds to the birds at the zoo. It could be weeks before the birds get back to their habitats. Out of our Western Bureau, researchers at the University of Utah have detected a rare phenomena they claim may not even be known to science.

They intercepted a really powerful cosmic ray. They call it one of the highest energy levels ever observed. The researchers say the energy is like dropping a brick on your toe. These rays are basically particles that travel through space and rain down on earth. We don't know about their origins yet. But hey, space geek, science nerd, that's for you. Very interesting. Let's take you overseas now because a major new development today is happening in a murder case that made headlines all over the world involving a Paralympian convicted of killing his girlfriend a decade ago. We're talking about Oscar Pistorius. Remember him? He's now being granted parole in South Africa, where he's serving a more than 13-year sentence. Officials say he'll be released early next year. Tonight, the mother of the woman who was killed says she doesn't believe Pistorius has been rehabilitated, but says she's satisfied with the conditions of the parole. This was an incredibly high profile trial that sent shockwaves around the world about a decade ago when Pestoria said he shot his girlfriend four times through a locked bathroom door because he thought she was a burglar. At one point, Pestorius literally vomiting in court just from seeing graphics and images of her body.

At the time, Pestorius was one of the world's most high profile disabled athletes. They called him the Blade Runner. He made history as the first double amputee to compete at the Olympics. I want to bring in Megan Fitzgerald for more on this. It was a bombshell trial, a bombshell conviction, and now his parole, the fact that he's been granted it, is also making headlines specifically from the victim's family here, Reva Steenkamp. Tell us more. Yeah, you're absolutely right. I mean, this has been an incredibly difficult journey for Reva's family, especially her mother, June, who lost Reva's father in September. In a statement, she said she didn't have the energy to be there today to face Pistorius. She also doubts, as you mentioned, that he has, in fact, been rehabilitated. In fact, I want to read for you part of the statement that she released today. It says, At this time, I am not convinced that Oscar has been rehabilitated. Rehabilitation requires someone to engage honestly with the full truth of his crime and the consequences thereof. Nobody can claim to have remorse if they are not able to engage fully with the truth. The statement goes on to say, June is satisfied with the conditions imposed by the parole board as it sends a clear message that gender-based violence will not be tolerated.

Today is a victory for victim participation in parole proceedings, as it is evident that the parole board considered June's victim impact statement. I spoke with Reva's family attorney today. I asked if they thought that Prestorius deserved to be released. She told me that the family has always known that this day would come and that, in fact, they were prepared for it and they respect the South African justice system. Halley? For Oscar Pistorius himself, Megan, what does his life look like come next spring, next summer, even when he is getting this parole and gets out? What happens next? What we know, at least for this moment, he's going to remain in prison until he's released January fifth. As part of the conditions of his parole, he will then undergo an anger management course that he has to do. He's going to do some community service. He's not going to be able to leave his community that he's meant to live in without asking for permission. I also want you to listen to a little bit of what the Department of Corrections spokesperson had to say earlier today. Parole placement does not mean the end of a sentence, but it merely says that you will complete your sentence outside of a correctional facility, which is part and parcel of rehabilitation efforts.

Pistorius is able to be released because of the South African law that allows for parole after half of the sentence has been served. Again, he will likely be walking out shortly after the new year. Halley? Megan Fitzgerald. Lots of people watching that, obviously from South Africa and well beyond. Thank you. Tonight, some high profile sex assault lawsuits being filed at the last minute because of the end of a New York law affecting statutes of limitation. Take Sean Combs, for example. Diddy, he's been hit now with two more accusations of sexually assaulting women back in the early 90s. A spokesperson for Combs denies the allegations. Just last week, remember, he settled a different lawsuit filed by his former girlfriend, the singer Cassie, accusing him of rape and physical abuse. Another new lawsuit accuses the New York City mayor, Eric Adams, of sexually assaulting a woman who worked with them in 1993. A City Hall spokesperson is rejecting those allegations. They're just the latest of some of the 2,500 sex abuse cases filed because of this law, including against former President Trump, actor Russell Brand, actor Jamie Fox, who all deny wrongdoing. I want to bring in our senior legal correspondent, Laura Jarrett.

Laura, the reason for that is because this law essentially extended a statute of limitations, a law that is set to go away, which is why some advocates are saying, Hey, extend this law, make it permanent. What are the chances that happens? Yeah, these are claims that under normal circumstances, Halley, would have been long ago time bar. These are things that often happened decades ago, but because of the law, they had a one year window to do it. The issue is, as you can imagine, is there's a lot of pushback because the claims are so old. People are saying, no, we're not going to extend it even more. This was your one chance to do it, and if you don't bring them here now, then that's it. You have no more chance. But as you well know, Halley, obviously, survivor advocates say there are a lot of reasons that people don't come forward and often can take them a while. There's a balancing act there, I think, for many places. But obviously, New York saw, as you mentioned, over 2,500 cases. We're covering the high-profile ones, as you can imagine, but there are plenty of the mill cases we've never heard of before, and that's obviously the vast majority of them.

A spokesperson for Combs for one of the lawsuits says, and I want to quote here that this last-minute lawsuit is an example of how a well-intentioned law can be turned on its head. Can you help us understand perhaps the mind of a defense attorney here, Laura? I know that you are not one, but I wonder from the expert perspective here, is there a potential that this could essentially backfire against some of the victims making these claims? Yeah, that was my old life as a defense attorney. But I think the bottom line here is that people should understand just because the suit is filed doesn't necessarily mean that it will be successful. These people are still going to have to have their day in court. They're still going to have to put forward evidence. That evidence is still going to be vetted just like any case. So you can understand his defense perspective there. But these cases are not just you file it and then you win and you go home. Having said that, in this particular case, in his we know he already settled one case. We don't know what will happen with the other ones, but they all will have their day in court if they even get that far, Halleigh.

Laura, Jared, thank you very much for that. Good to see you. Appreciate it. Coming up here on the show, kicking off a new Thanksgiving weekend tradition, how the NFL's first ever Black Friday game is changing the way fans watch the sport and what executives hope will become a yearly thing. We're going to explain what it means for linear TV in just a minute. Right now, for the first time ever, the NFL is playing a game on Black Friday, but it's not on any of the usual networks. It's not on any of the usual cable sports networks. Instead, it is on a streaming service. The jets and the dolphins facing off on Amazon Prime Video. If you're like, Okay, well, what does that mean? Do I see the usual commercials? Well, instead, viewers will be getting a broadcast that features nods to Amazon's Black Friday deals and an exclusive performance by Garth Brooks. This is a deal, a big deal beyond just the sports world. It is a big deal in the business community because the NFL is trying to create this new holiday tradition just not on regular TV, not on your typical broadcast TV, which may mean more trouble for the traditional networks that already don't have a bunch of ad revenue coming in and are already seeing a lot of people cutting the cord.

I want to bring in Emily who is joining us now. Obviously, folks watching us know how to stream, we know how to stream. The NFL is hoping that its millions and millions of fans will get on the streaming bandwagon as well to expand its footprint here. This is a big move from a business perspective for them. Yeah, I hate it, Halley. It's a huge move, especially in this rapidly changing industry, rapidly changing environment of the TV world. It's a big move for a couple of reasons. One, you mentioned there are millions of eyes on this, millions of people. We're talking about the behavior of millions of people. There are just a lot of people involved. Secondly, it's a first. The NFL is hoping that the tradition of watching football on Thanksgiving Day extends into another day on Black Friday. And then there are some unique aspects with Amazon being at play here. One, it is a retail giant, and now it's also a giant in the world of football. And so that unique overlap you can see play out on the streaming service today. When you see the ads, there are QR codes that are trying to pool people who are tuning in, sitting on their couch, watching the game, to also then go shopping and take advantage of the ads on its shopping service, Amazon.

Com. And then also you see it's a little bit of a mutually beneficial relationship between football, the world of football, and streaming services as we continue to see them expand. Take a look at some of the numbers here. There's a 25 % increase in Amazon's ratings on Thursday Night Football. There's a 50 % increase of YouTube TV subscribers since they added the Sunday ticket recently. There's also a huge boost to NFL+ subscribers, nearly doubling the NFL also standing to benefit as well. Halley, I'll point out they've seen a six % increase in viewers from last year. It's such an interesting graphic, Emily, what we just showed on the screen because it is also live sports that is driving a lot of the big watches on traditional broadcast, network TV. People are drawn to, we know, things that are live sports is like the top of that pyramid there. Yeah, absolutely. Football continues to be a major player, especially at a time when so many people are cutting the so-called cable cord. Nielsen actually just reported earlier this summer in July, less than half of traditional TV, rather, made up less than half of overall TV usage.

Then we saw it bump up in August and September, Nielsen crediting that to the return of college football and professional football. Football just played a huge role, a major influential factor in the world of TV as it changes. Emily, Aketa, thank you very much. That does it for us for this hour. We've got a lot more coverage picking up right now. Thanks for watching Stay updated about breaking news and top stories on the BBC News app or follow us on social media.