Travel bag guide, dress-up deception, great pie debate: Check out the day’s stories

By Sarah Hutter, CNN

👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! Americans, frustrated with years of rising prices, are going into the 2025 holiday shopping season prepared for battle. But this year’s rush to the aisles might look a lot stronger than you’d expect — on paper, anyway.

Here’s what else you might have missed during your busy day.

5 things

1️⃣ Travel tips

Flight delays and cancellations aren’t the only stressors. Lost or damaged luggage can derail your trip. Take these steps before and after arriving at the airport to protect your bags.

2️⃣ An unlikely doppelgänger

When an elderly woman showed up to renew her ID, authorities noticed a few unusual details — like dark hair on her neck and chin. What they discovered next led to a bizarre arrest.

3️⃣ ‘She wants to die there’

A growing number of women are trafficked to work in Asia’s notorious scam industry, lured in with the promise of a stable, well-paying job. Horrifying conditions unfold inside heavily guarded compounds, while families fight for their release.

4️⃣ The beautiful game

As women’s soccer grows increasingly popular — setting new attendance records and breaking previous viewership figures on TV broadcasts — it’s serving a bigger community than ever before. CNN’s Hannah Ryan explains why the game is especially important to queer people.

5️⃣ A cry for pie

There can never be too many pies at the Thanksgiving table. Be it apple, boysenberry, pecan or rhubarb, the only bad option is no option. But two in particular — both rooted in American history — have created a hotly contested debate.

Watch this

🦭 Welcome aboard: When killer whales closed in, one quick-thinking seal found the ultimate lifeboat: a photographer’s boat off the coast of Seattle. The dramatic moment was caught on camera.

Top headlines

• Trump directs special envoy to meet Putin to push peace talks forward
• FBI wants to talk to Democratic lawmakers involved in controversial video
• Missing Virginia football coach is wanted on child pornography and other charges, police say

Check this out

👚 Renaissance to runway: Bold silhouettes aren’t just a fashion statement —they’re a symbol of power and presence. Long before shoulder pads entered the fashion lexicon, oversized sleeves signaled status in early modern European courts. Today, they’re making a bold comeback.

For CNN subscribers

• Everyone agrees drunk airline passengers are a problem. Nobody agrees on how to fix it
• Facing a lack of Russian recruits, Moscow turns to deception, blackmail and bribery to sign up foreigners for its war in Ukraine
• Pinterest is leaning hard into AI. The strategy appears to be backfiring

Quiz time

🦃 Which state did this year’s pardoned turkeys, Gobble and Waddle, come from?
A. South Dakota
B. New Hampshire
C. North Carolina
D. Montana
⬇️ Scroll down for the answer.

Thanks for reading

✅ Most popular in yesterday’s newsletter: Does JD Vance have a Palantir problem?

🧠 Quiz answer: C. The turkeys participating in the 78th annual National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation hatched last July in North Carolina.

👋 We’ll see you tomorrow.

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Today’s edition of 5 Things PM was edited and produced by CNN’s Kimberly Richardson and Meghan Pryce.