>> you know, i've been out on tour a lot this year and to just get to turn off and just be around family is is really, really great. actually, i married into a family of louisiana musicians, so a lot of times it's like a jam session at my house around thanksgiving, which is great. >> that sounds that sounds fantastic. we might we might push for an invite next year so i know family is really important to you. you also, as i understand it, giving back is also really important, especially around the holidays. and i think there's a little bit of that on deck for you and your family yeah, you know my daughter came home from her dance recital with, uh, with like dan uh uh getting a bunch of clothes together to give to people that are suffering from homelessness and to see her so excited about that was really, really awesome. >> we've also done stuff where we give, you know go to different, like soup kitchens and stuff like that. but it really connects you back to what the whole thing is about. friends and family is really it

on in life, in general. this is like, you know, we get caught up in other stuff, but this is really what it's all about. >> i know you're actually you're home right now, but you're actually gearing up for another tour in the new year. you have a new album monster. yeah. what are you excited about coming up on the tour man it's it's a really fun new sound for me. >> i got a mandolin uh, before i wrote this album which i had never played before. so a lot of songs are like mandolin based, kind of like up tempo anthems. and to get to go out with my band, i just got off of a tour that was a one man show. it was like a lot of spoken word poetry and kind of deep, beautiful themes of grief. and now i'm ready to go party with the full band and rock out and jump around and have a blast. >> all right. good. well, i'm looking forward to it. come 2025. andy grammer really appreciate you taking some time to join us on your holiday. happy thanksgiving to you and your family. have a great tour and happy thanksgiving thank you so, so much.

>> we'll see you soon all right. >> and stay with us. cnn this morning continues right now thursday, november 28th. right now on cnn this morning. happy thanksgiving. that is the headline. we're getting you ready for the big thanksgiving holiday. we will be live at parades across the country. also ahead. >> well, i think we can do at least 2 trillion. >> yeah fears among federal workers are growing as elon musk has pledged to slash federal spending. >> takes a personal turn and under threat. the trump transition team says several of the president elect's top picks are dealing with threats to their safety during this holiday week all right, it's 7 a.m. here on the east coast. here's a live look at new york city, a rainy

morning there ahead of today's big parade. good morning everyone. i'm jim acosta in for kasie hunt. thank you for joining us. this thanksgiving morning. in less than two hours, the macy's thanksgiving day parade gets underway. visitors from all over the country and around the world ready to welcome in thanksgiving and you get a front row seat to the biggest parades across the country right here on cnn with our inaugural thanksgiving in america coverage starting one hour from now. meanwhile, travelers this thanksgiving week are expected to shatter records with an estimated 80 million americans expected to either fly or drive, and in some cases dealing with some very bad weather. we've got it all covered for you. cnn's brynn gingras in new york and meteorologist allison chinchar standing by in atlanta. uh brynn, we hate to rain on your parade. as the saying goes but it's raining on your parade. how are things going out there yeah, like allison said last hour, it's sort of sometimes it's, you know, raining hard and sometimes it's a little light. >> and right now it's a little light and everyone is taking

advantage of the fact that there's a little bit of relief. let me get out of the way so you can see where we are at the top of the parade route. this is you know, this is the big opener, and they're rehearsing it right now. just a minute ago, we were seeing them. this is where billy porter will start and kick off that giant parade. that, of course, is iconic to new york city and the whole entire country on this thanksgiving day and you know what i got to tell you? we walk about ten blocks to get up here. the entire avenue is full of people, so people don't mind that it's raining out. i actually met these two lovely people who just moved here from mississippi. so guys already checking off a bucket list item big time. yes, exactly. bucket list item, for sure. tell me the rain didn't stop you at all. no, of course not. >> take advantage. >> there's a little less people here. that is true. what are you guys most excited to see? why is this a bucket list item? >> oh, just growing up watching it every morning, you know, waking up early, i don't know. the balloons, the floats, everything. honestly, everything. the performers just really excited and just being in the atmosphere is really

cool. we're just excited to be here. yeah. >> and you just moved to new york city and this you know, were you just this was already on your plans. like were you just like, oh, let's just try it was this spur of the moment. what was behind this? >> always on the plan i hope so. i didn't mean to take the mic. >> there but yeah, we love the holidays so we really wanted to get here before thanksgiving and christmas and really enjoy it. >> that's kind of like the magic of new york city always has. it but kind of the special events of it. yeah. >> and you get to see santa claus. hello. oh, my gosh, that is actually what i'm most excited for let me change my answer. >> most excited for santa claus amazing. >> happy thanksgiving you guys and you know not not too long. it's going to kick off and you're already catching all this action. this is so exciting. and you guys of course. whoa you guys know that we kick off our celebration beginning at 8:00 with erica hill and john berman. we can't wait to join your living rooms for this thanksgiving celebration but guys, got to tell you, it's getting pretty exciting out here. >> we can feel it. alison. thank you. and brant, thank you for hanging in there for us. alison. let me go to you.

how's the weather impacting things out there? we know it's raining in new york i think it's raining in washington. it was raining when i was on my way in but how are how are things going where you are yeah, it was definitely raining earlier when we were here but now the rain has finally ended and it could not be a better time for the rain to end because the race behind us is about to begin. >> it's set to start maybe just about 30 minutes from now, and there's going to be a half marathon, then a five mile or a5k, then a one mile, and then a little cute 50 yard dash for the little ones to be able to participate. everybody trying to burn off some calories before they go and eat a giant meal later on today. but yes, the weather cooperating here in atlanta, not so much in other places. we're still seeing that huge line of rain showers extend essentially from maine all the way back to mississippi. that includes places like philadelphia, washington, dc pittsburgh, and yes, even new york and yes, we mentioned last hour. it's going to come in waves. so it's going to start to pick up and get a little heavier. then it will

get a little bit lighter right now we've got some of the heaviest rain we've seen so far set to push into new york. that's not exactly ideal conditions for the parade today, but you know what? most of those folks that are out there, they don't care. as bryn mentioned, this is a bucket list item. they just want to be there to experience it. now, interior northeast. this is where it's going to get tricky. you're actually going to see some snow showers here. several inches of snow accumulating on the ground. and then you start getting up into the higher elevations. could see as much as a foot of snow as for the rest of the country, you're going to start to see those temperatures, maybe get a little bit on the cool side, even for some of the other parades that we have going on today, cities like chicago and detroit, you're looking at highs in the 30s, maybe creeping out at 40 at absolute best. the rest of the country, though, we're looking at much better conditions, especially the central us and out into the western portion of the country. much nicer conditions they're not really having to deal with any rain jim, but this we could not have asked for the rain timing to be any better here.

this is the largest half marathon race in the country to happen on thanksgiving day. they've got nearly 12,000 people set to run this morning all right alison and bryn, thanks for hanging in there. >> really appreciate it so much. happy thanksgiving to both of you in the meantime, elon musk and vivek ramaswamy have made it no secret that they have plans to slash government spending. the two men tapped by president elect donald trump to head the so-called department of government efficiency, or doge. federal employees understood that their jobs could be at risk. but now musk has also begun to draw attention to at least a few relatively obscure government employees and their jobs in posts on social media, musk, quoting one post that read, i don't think the u.s. taxpayer should pay for the employment of a director of climate diversification. she her at the u.s. international development finance corporation with a partial screen grab of an employee and her location, and musk adding, so many fake jobs, obviously going after that employee there, the

president of the american federation of government employees telling cnn, quote, these tactics are aimed at sowing terror and fear at federal employees, adding it's intended to make them fearful that they will be afraid to speak up. and joining me now is democratic congresswoman of michigan debbie dingell. congresswoman, first of all, happy thanksgiving. thank you so much for being with us early this morning. really appreciate it. but what is your reaction to this? i mean, nobody elected elon musk. he's been tapped to do this. department of government efficiency, which is really sort of a misnomer because apparently it's not going to be a part of the federal government. and yet he's going after federal employees on social media. what's your reaction? >> so i have several. first of all, happy thanksgiving. happy i love watching all the parades. >> you're going to be covering detroit as part of your coverage today. and that's a ritual tradition. since i was a child. and i'll be watching the cnn. i chaired that parade for many years, and i'm still on the executive committee. and the lions game is a tradition

in today's big. so let's start on a positive note. sounds good and the lions will do. i want to say that, um, look we all have to be careful. i don't care who you are, what side of the government you're on to try not to go after in the way that he has done, let alone in a thanksgiving week. after a very specific, targeted employee. i don't think people understand. i don't like the fact that some of donald trump's cabinet were received bomb threats and other threats yesterday. i don't like the fact that my colleagues on either side of the aisle are getting so many threats and leaders in the government, he, whether he's paid or not, paid but part of donald trump's inner circle, the one thing i'm asking everybody dial it down. just stop it. just stop targeting people this bullying, this violence this division of each other is what i am praying that in this next year that we can stop. are there discussions that you want to have? let's

have them. let's have them in a civil respectful way. not this way. >> well, i guess that leads to this question. does it make you worry about what's coming when donald trump comes into office, that this climate of just people going after one another and, you know going for the jugular all the time, no matter what the political discussion might be, is just getting out of hand. >> it is out of hand. it's been out of hand and i am i've been very clear, jim. i will work across the aisle i have a record of working across the aisle. i have many close friends who are republicans, and the problems that the american people want to see solved but i've been begging for a long time. this isn't anything new for me. i have spent my life trying to bring people together to try to respect each other we have two ears and one mouth for a reason, to listen more and talk less. but the violence that we are seeing out there, the bullying up in an object of some of it. myself, i quite frankly, i'll use me so they don't go after somebody else.

i don't know when someone's going to come up and attack me publicly, start screaming at me creating a scene. i'm very lucky i live in a in a community where people know me. so the vendors at the farmer's market come up immediately and we try to de-escalate. the mayor has been my bodyguard. you know, it's just it's not right. can't we talk to each other? can't we disagree? can't we have real conversations about maybe we do need changes without intimidation and hate and violence and bullying? >> yeah and maybe we can start some of that on thanksgiving. you know we're going to have a lot of relatives over who we might not agree with. let's let's get the more civil dialog going there, no question about it. and congresswoman i do want to ask you about trump's proposed tariffs on canada and mexico and how things might be affected in your state, which voted for donald trump for president. the new york times reports that trump's tariffs threat to impose 25% tariffs on goods from mexico and canada sent shivers through the auto industry, which depends heavily

on both countries for parts and manufacturing. the prospect of tariffs is a two alarm fire for the auto industry, said patrick anderson, chief executive of anderson economic group a consulting firm in michigan. there's probably not a single assembly plant in michigan, ohio, illinois and texas that would not immediately be affected by a 25% tariff. you know congresswoman, i don't have to remind you. i mean, you were saying this before the election that you were deeply worried that kamala harris might lose michigan. she did do a lot of folks in michigan realize that they may have by voting for donald trump, voted for tariffs that might negatively impact the auto industry there in your state. >> so i think that we've got to like rebrand the way we talk about all of this now, quite frankly, too soon. people don't understand it. but i also want to say tariffs are a tool in the toolbox to get level playing field for trade. i have said i will work with donald trump on trade. i said

he got elected in 2016. and jim, you remember back then everybody thought it was 1,000% crazy when i said he was going to win and i said he was going to win because of the trade issue now i will work with him we i worked with him. nafta was the worst trade bill we had ever seen. we worked. we got the usmca needs to be improved. china should not be able to build plants in mexico and then bring them into the united states. and label them as a north american vehicle they're not. we've got to improve that but we are intertwined. the auto industry is totally intertwined in north america, and quite frankly, at this point in my life, i treat mexico and canada differently i think there's got to you got to take time to understand what a day one implication would mean and i don't think that it is intent. i hope it is not an intent to either hurt the domestic auto industry or the consumer. so i hope he'll take time to understand the impact. i'll work with them on trade

let's do it right. >> all right. congresswoman debbie dingell, thank you so much. i won't say go lions because i'm a commanders fan, but i know detroit has been hoping for a winner to come along for for many, many years. and you've got one there in detroit so i hope that you're happy at the at the end of this thanksgiving, after watching that football game. thanks a lot, congresswoman. really appreciate it. >> thank you. have a good thanksgiving. all right. >> thank you. coming up here on cnn this morning current and former trump nominees targeted as the congresswoman was saying just a few moments ago. the trump transition team says several top picks for his second term in the white house involved in bomb threats and swatting incidents. we'll talk about that. plus, how a breakthrough cease fire deal between israel and hezbollah is giving renewed hope for the families of october 7th hostages and a turkey day mix up. how an accidental text message to a stranger sparked a nearly decade long friendship and thanksgiving day tradition that is still going strong. >> hi, i'm pamela brown, anchor at 11 a.m. eastern weekdays on cnn, and i am so

grateful for so much, especially when you look at everything going on around the world. it is always a reminder to me of just how grateful i am to have three healthy kids. i had a baby this year who's very healthy and i have a loving family and wonderful friends who keep me grounded and a wonderful job where i have the privilege of having a show every day on cnn, talking to the american public and helping them um, inform their daily lives. it really is a privilege watch cnn's coverage of thanksgiving parades around the country, with special appearances by chef bobby flay, t.i. >> andy grammer, and more john berman and erica hill host cnn: thanksgiving in america live coverage starts at 8:00 on cnn after home aglow cleaned our place for $19, we fired our old housekeeper home aglow, tackled everything from our kitchen to our bathroom, all our laundry you just pick a date, pick a cleaner and enjoy a spotless house for $19. >> give the omaha steaks

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ever leaving your home don't miss hydrow's biggest sale of the year show me what you're made of i got to go wipe out the tbs original wipeout all new sunday at nine on tbs this morning the fbi is investigating a rash of threats against donald trump picks to lead his incoming administration. >> cnn has now confirmed eight people chosen for cabinet roles have been the targets of bomb threats or swatting incidents in recent days. meanwhile, after president biden was briefed on the incidents, the

white house said the administration, quote unequivocally condemns threats of political violence. joining me now to talk about these incidents, cnn national security analyst juliette kayyem. juliette what did you make of these threats when you saw this happening? >> so the threats are actually quite scary because in those instances, the cabinet nominee is sort of sitting at home. >> the police get information that maybe they're being, you know taken hostage or something bad is happening and sort of come into a home where everyone is unprepared for some sort of interaction between the police and the nominee. those tend to be quite scary because something very bad can happen and we have seen that before. so these are real. they have to be condemned. they have to be investigated. they are clearly targeted against the trump administration and they come at a time when the nominee is not quite yet the cabinet official, so that their secret service detail and the kind of

protections that they would get is not quite, you know, sort of is not the equivalent of if they actually get confirmed. so they're in a vulnerable stage and whatever you think about their politics or whether they should be the nominee, the biden administration was right to condemn this and to get the fbi on it yeah, absolutely. >> it's unacceptable. i mean, no matter who the target is, it's just absolutely unacceptable. and juliette, i do want to ask you about the dangers of doxxing online and you know, we were just talking about this with the congresswoman elon musk going after federal workers, putting their names on his x page, which obviously has billions and millions of followers cnn reports that cnn reached out to multiple experts, academics who specialize in cyber harassment, doxing, online abuse. several declined to comment on the record to cnn for fear of themselves being musk's targets. this this does not sound like a good sign of things to come, as this administration is coming into

office. and elon musk having a very important perch in that new administration. yeah yeah. >> i mean, he's essentially i mean, you know, he's essentially sort of a vice presidential sort of foil. we don't even see vance much anymore. we see elon musk a lot more. he's very close with the president. you know i know people are nervous to take take this on, but it really does have to be taken on. so so i mean, elon musk just needs to honestly grow up just grow up. i mean, this is silly behavior. and he may view it as a as a as funny. i mean he sort of has an odd sense of humor. you know, there's you know, he's you know, he's just very excitable and, and so what. but what happens is people see that and they take it as a license to do something very unfunny. and so anyone who's an expert in these fields on whether online or or incitement or have has seen the wave of incitement to violence over the last four,

eight, 12 years, really understands that that kind of language, whether a joke, whether he just thinks he's powerful, it's that punching down that he does is not only scary for the recipient of it, the the the unnamed person. right but also, um is also just it's so easy to punch down. right. and i think we have to just grow up at this stage. >> yeah. i mean, he is a man in his 50s. so i mean, by now you know, one would think he would he would be able to grasp that. but, you know, but juliet, i mean, the thing that is concerning about all of this and you touched on it is that, you know, the folks who dish this stuff out people like the incoming president and so on. they don't maybe they don't realize or perhaps they do realize. and that's the point that people absorb this information people absorb this, this this cyber bullying that they see on these social media platforms. and then they direct it at the targets that elon musk is going after or donald

trump is going after. and that's what can make it very dangerous. quite frankly. yeah yeah. >> and it can make people nervous. it can make in the academy where i am others, it can make people very nervous about speaking the truth. i think the one counter to that and what has to be understood is the crassness and the and the ugliness that has been unleashed that is sort of part of the philosophy i think of, of, of, of, of how the president elect is now president. i mean, it's just this that's, that's amplified online it turns against them. i mean this president elect has been the focus or the target of two assassination attempts. the idea that he can control it. i mean, in other words, that he can unleash this or that. elon musk and unleash it, and it's not going to turn back around. that's the scary part. and that's why they have to understand that no one is is as high of leadership as they are. you know, people online, people on podcasts, people on cnn. we don't amplify like they do and that they can really begin to set a tone that won't turn

against them. i mean, when you think about the assassination attempts as well as of course, this doxing against the cabinet nominees, they can't once unleashed, they can't control it. >> yeah, well, maybe we can start something on thanksgiving here. and try to tone things down. we start at the dinner table with all of our family and relatives. we might not agree with all of them, but let's try to get to a more civil dialog. that would be great. juliette kayyem, thank you so much. always great to talk to you really appreciate it. still coming up on cnn this morning, from celebrity appearances to live views of parades across the nation. stick around for thanksgiving in america this morning at 8 a.m. eastern on cnn and streaming on max. >> i forgot to wash my work shirt. >> just wear it again, i added unstoppables now with odor blocker, and it keeps our clothes fresh all day. >> ooh, i'm gonna be feeling it at work today she smells so good. >> i'm actually paying attention. smell unstoppable. >> if you're looking for the one, find the home with a short

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0-269-9522. that's one 802 69952 2 to 30 years. >> i've been saying publicly what people are saying to themselves i have enough money. i could just shut up. >> you know i just, i can't carp now streaming on max welcome back. >> this week's cease fire agreement between israel and hezbollah is renewing hope for some hostage families that a deal between israel and hamas is possible that goal, among the highest priorities for the biden administration. cnn's arlette saenz joins us now. arlette, what do you think will the israel hezbollah truce open

up an opportunity for a ceasefire with hamas? what are you picking up on well, president biden has made clear that he wants to spend his final weeks in office really drilling in on this issue, trying to secure the release of these hostages, returning them back to their loved ones, and also find an end to this war in gaza. >> but there are very real questions about whether that could actually become a reality. but for the families of the american hostages who are still believed to be held in gaza, they are really viewing this lebanon cease fire as a potential opportunity, a hope that they could potentially have their loved ones return sometime soon. we have heard from senior administration officials that they feel that the lebanon cease fire really could potentially push hamas back to the negotiating table. i know that we've both spoken with the parents of omer neutra, an israeli american who is still in hamas. his parents, ronen and orna neutra, told me yesterday that they really want to see president biden and president elect trump work

together to try to secure some type of deal. we know that president biden and trump spoke about the middle east conflict and specifically the need to get those hostages out when they met in the oval office about two weeks ago and the white house team has kept the trump transition team fully abreast of the developments, including on that lebanon cease fire. what remains unclear at this moment is whether there is any actual strategizing for how the two men could work together. they obviously have their own relationships, have their own leverage in the region that is something that the family, the neutra family, really wants to see. both of them tap into. they told me yesterday that the hostages don't have until inauguration day to wait, that it's time for president biden and president elect trump to work together on this. the white house team has said that they anticipate trying to keep the trump team fully abreast of their moves relating to this middle east conflict, as they are hoping that somehow they can find an end to this war. before biden leaves office.

>> yeah, we hope for all of those families that there is some kind of breakthrough. arlette saenz. thank you very much. we appreciate it. still ahead on cnn this morning, an unlikely bond. the story of how a mistaken text message has led to nine years worth of tradition and friendship. that's a great story. more on that coming up. plus, the public back and forth between president-elect donald trump and mexico's president over the future of the border between the two countries. >> they're owned and built by china and mexico. i'm telling you right now, i'm putting a 200% tariff on, which means they're unsellable why do nfl players choose a sleep number? >> smart bed. >> i like to sleep cool, to sleep cool, and i like to sleep even cooler. and i really like it when we both get what we want. >> introducing the new sleep number climate. cool. smart bed. sleep up to 15 degrees cooler on each side. visit a sleep number store near you. >> bye bye. >> cough or chest congestion. >> hello 12 hours of relief. 12 hours. >> not coughing. >> hashtag still not coughing. >> mucinex dm gives you 12

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president elect wrote about a recent discussion that he had with mexico's president claudia sheinbaum, saying she, quote agreed to stop migration through mexico and into the united states, effectively closing our border. but mexico's president does not seem to be agreeing with that characterization sort of throwing some cold water on her own statement about the call she said in part, quote, we reiterate that mexico's position is not to close borders, but to build bridges between governments and between peoples. joining me now to talk about this is cnn's maria cardona, political commentator and democratic strategist, and joe walsh former republican congressman from illinois great to see both of you. happy thanksgiving. maria, i'll start with you first. what do we what should we make of this exchange between trump and mexico's president yeah, i think that you're going to see or we're seeing something that we're probably going to see moving forward, which is donald trump taking credit for things that he has never done. >> and what i mean by that is that, you know, today jim, border crossings are less than

they were when donald trump was in office four years ago. and that is because of the diplomacy of the biden-harris administration, because of the negotiations that they have put in place, because of the two executive orders that they did over the summer, one of which was strengthening asylum requirements and the sacramento was expanding legal pathways. we all know that is the path forward for fixing our immigration system. and president sheinbaum, la presidenta sheinbaum is no pushover, and we are seeing that now. she understands that the negotiations that have taken place are what has minimized and diminished the crossings at the border. she's going to continue to work with this administration and with the incoming administration. she is not going to suffer any fools. and i think that that's a great thing. and donald trump is going to see that. >> yeah. joe, what do you think? i mean, it sounds as though trump is trying to say problem solved. you know, he's already solved the border crisis before he's come into

office. what do you make of that hey jim. >> happy thanksgiving. maria. >> happy thanksgiving. he's lying. i mean, let's just say it. this is what he does, and he's lying and i don't want to go through four years of this. i america still has to grasp with the fact that we just reelected somebody who lies every time he opens his mouth. i mean, period, this is the game. maria is right. this is the game he plays. he threatens to do something unless he gets his way. he doesn't get his way but he lies and says he got his way and now looky here, mexico is going to do something brand new. bull crap. this thanksgiving. i caught my tongue. jimmy's lying plain and simple. >> well, i appreciate that that caution that you're showing there, joe. it is thanksgiving, you know, and we haven't welcomed everybody to the dinner table just yet. but i suspect a lot of the

conversations happening today will be along these lines. and, maria, i do want to ask you about something else, because elon musk, you know, he's taken on an outsized role in this transition. he's been going after federal employees on x. basically, you know, calling them out by name. just individual federal workers and making life difficult for them. he's now going after alexander vindman. colonel vindman, who testified in the first trump impeachment during his first administration. and and elon musk is saying this. take a look at this. vindman is on the payroll of ukrainian oligarchs and has committed treason against the united states, for which he will pay the appropriate penalty. vindman responded, saying in part, that's the kind of response one would expect from a conspiracy theorist. what oligarch what treason um, maria, i mean, this is i mean, this is i think this is disturbing that elon musk is doing this obviously, alexander vindman has not committed treason. that is i mean just that's just not even in the

realm of reality. but, i mean, this is a sign of things to come. it seems yes jim, this is one of the most grotesque things that we have seen from somebody who is very close to donald trump, not officially part of the administration, but is going to have a lot of power and is going to be whispering into donald trump's ear. >> and it's terrifying because he is the richest man in the world. he is very powerful and clearly he was the victim of somebody or some people who bullied him when he was a child because now he's acting out and look, alexander vindman can take care of himself. i'm glad he responded. he was not cowed. but what we have seen is when elon musk goes after civil servants goes after people who are not in the in the spotlight, goes after people who are deathly afraid and terrified of losing their job or even losing their livelihoods. people who you have even reported have not even wanted to talk to people on cnn, reporters on cnn for

fear of, uh elon musk's wrath. that's disgusting. that is not something that should happen in the united states of america. and frankly, there has got to be something that keeps elon musk from doing this. i mean, i would think at some point that's illegal. yeah. and certainly people should look into it. that should not be allowed in the united states of america. but sadly in the trump era for and for four more years, we're going to see things like this. we put a stop to it. >> yeah. i mean, joe, what do you think about elon musk's role in this new administration? i mean, he says he's going to be part of this doge this department of government efficiency going after government waste. but he seems to be just acting like a cyber bully and going after trump's perceived enemies. that's different jim. >> it's different. he's the wealthiest man on the planet. he has the biggest platform on the planet, and he's the greatest purveyor of disinformation on the planet. enjoy your thanksgiving,

america. but, jim, we all got to buckle up. this is going to be four years of disinformation cruelty and lies all right maria and joe, i wish we could have ended on a more hopeful note, but i want to wish both of you a happy thanksgiving. >> always enjoy talking to both of you. thankful for the friendship and thanks for coming. >> thanks, jim thankful. i am thankful for you. i'm thankful for joe. i'm thankful for everyone who's willing to speak out for these next four years. >> yeah, and let's keep things civil at the dinner table. i've been saying that all morning. please make it civil. as best as you can. guys thanks so much. maybe the tryptophan will put everybody to sleep in the afternoon or something. all right just ahead on cnn, all the football you can eat. speaking of which, thanksgiving day, kicking off with the high flying ten and one detroit lions. why can't my commanders be in this place right now? darn it! the bleacher report is next. plus a story of perseverance on this thanksgiving day an unlikely and unbreakable friendship in the face of difficulty. and thanksgiving day is here. which we've been saying. which to

some means the kickoff to the holiday shopping season. cnn's erica hill is getting the breakdown on all the deals. you don't want to miss with black friday upon us, it's the perfect time to highlight some of the year's best products, as recommended by our team of experts at cnn underscored the underscored team works independently from the cnn newsroom. >> they test and review thousands of products to make recommendations, and for you, it's really a great first stop before you start your shopping. this way, you make sure you're not just falling for the excitement of that deep discount on black friday or the online hype. mike bruno is the vice president of cnn commerce, also one of the founders of cnn underscored it's important to note when you make a purchase from an underscored link, cnn may earn a commission. so, mike, you have some options for the homebodies in our lives. starting off with all of us who deeply love our caffeine in the morning. >> a great way to get us started here with the caffeine. it's the breville bambino plus espresso machine. this is our pick for best espresso machine. it's good for beginners, it's good for novice it's a simple

automated machine, a couple of buttons, easy to do, only takes about three seconds to heat up. some of the more advanced machines will take up to ten minutes. you have to manually adjust the pressure. there's a lot to go on and you'll get good pulls. we were getting really good consistent pulls on this three seconds. i'd say even if you have one of those fancy machines, this thing is still good. if you're in a hurry in the morning, three seconds versus ten minutes is a big difference. >> i especially like that in the morning. what are we talking in terms of pricing? >> we're talking about $500 for this, which isn't bad for a really high quality machine like this okay, so moving on from coffee to ice cream, ice cream and everything else i would say a frozen dish dessert machine. okay. this is the ninja creamy from our friends at ninja. the ninja creamy makes about 11 different desserts. so it's ice cream, yogurt slushies, something called a cappuccino. wow. the desserts were all really delicious. it takes about 24 hours to freeze your base so you make your base. you put it in the freezer for about 24 hours, which is standard with a

lot of ice cream machines. but then once you take it out of the freezer, you pop it in there, you put on the lid and you go, and it's a couple of buttons and you go, the instructions. we found to be a little tricky, but what's cool about this thing? it's gone viral. it's all over the social media. it's all you could go to recipe sites, you could go to forums. you could get good recipes. you could get really creative and join the community of people kind of playing with this. there's a lot of fun. >> i also read that it's dishwasher safe i think i may like that the best. >> it's dishwasher safe. very easy cleanup. absolutely just throw it all in. all that stuff will go right through the dishwasher. that's great. and this is how much? this is about $160 right now. >> okay. all right. so we've got that, um this this is the bissell. what is it? the pet, the little green pet pro? >> yes. >> this kind of does a little bit of everything. >> this does do a little bit of everything. if you have a lot of carpets in your house, you might want to get an upright a big upright shampooer for your carpets, but for spot cleaning, for if you spill coffee on the carpet, if you spill a little wine on the sofa, or of course, if you have pets making

accidents around the house. this is perfect. it's portable, it comes out, it has strong suction. it does a great job i have one of these myself. you can use it to touch up a little upholstery somewhere. comes in and out real easy. cleans up real easy. this is the pet pro model, which has a little bit bigger tank, has some attachments and things to kind of get in crevices and a slightly stronger suction and this thing is about $120. >> wow okay. and portable. i'm just going to try to pick it up because all right you take that on the stairs. not too bad. not so bad so we've got this for cleaning some of the stains smaller items. you also have a dyson vacuum for us. >> we do. we have the dyson v 11. if budget allows. you got to get a dyson. the performance the build quality, the longevity of this machine. it's just outstanding. we've tested this thing on carpets, both tall and short. we tested it on all different types of hardwood floors from tile to

vinyl to woods it just cleans up everything in a flash. it's got a really big canister and you can get about 30 minutes on this thing before you have to charge it again, which is a pretty long time to be able to get around your house. we love the dyson's, and this is a nice one. >> that sounds pretty good. so 30 minutes on a charge. my kids would have no excuse if it was their turn to vacuum. it would definitely last long enough for any teenager. >> yes, and it's a must for pets. i mean we have one of these at our house and you walk around the house with the pet, and you can't believe there's like a baby chihuahua inside that thing by the time you're done with it. >> yeah. and this sets us back how much? >> this one is about $350, which for a dyson for the big v 11. >> that's a steal. all right. i do love a steal. all right, mike, thank you. so we've got all of these items for you if you want to learn more about any of them, just head to underscore. com. you'll find the full reviews for each one of these products, as well as real time coverage of all those black friday deals that we're seeing on these items, and lots of other great products recommended by our friends at underscored emergency crystals pop and fizz

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world's news network all right. >> now, for a lot of us it's not thanksgiving without football. that goes for me right here. andy scholes joins me now with more on today's games. andy, great to see you. and i mean most thanksgivings we the lions. come on and we're like, oh man, the poor lions. not this year. not anymore. >> yeah not yeah. that is definitely not the case this time around. you know, there aren't many traditions better than food and football especially on thanksgiving. and, you know like, every year the lions are going to get things started. but as you just mentioned, you know these aren't your uncle larry's lions. this is the first time ever on thanksgiving, jim, that the lions are the favorites to win the super bowl. detroit ten and one on the season. they're tied with the chiefs for the best record in the league, right now. and they've been outscoring their opponents by an average of more than 16 points a game. they're huge ten point favorites today against a bears team that's lost five straight. but recent history kind of working against the

lions. they have not won on thanksgiving since 2016. and quarterback jared goff, he's been a part of the last three losses. and he says well he really wants to get the win for the fans, but also for his family. >> yeah, it sucks when we lose. certainly affects my mood and i don't i don't like being grumpy around family, you know, no one does. but you want to get this w you want to win this game and be able to enjoy your thanksgiving dinner with your family. and it'll be my first time experiencing that here. and i want to do that. >> all right. so after lions bears we're going to head to texas for the cowboys. giants. it's been rough going for both of these teams this season. but it's been especially bad for cowboys fans at home games. dallas has not won at at&t stadium this season. they've been blown out a number of times. the two and nine giants, though, you know they're unlikely to deliver a blowout there in texas. they've been so bad they released quarterback daniel jones turned to tommy devito. but he's questionable with a forearm injury. so we may be watching drew lock under center for the g-men today. this may be the best time to take a nap this

afternoon during that game, but last game of the day by far the most compelling as the suddenly suddenly red hot dolphins. they're riding a three game winning streak heading into the frozen tundra to play the eight and three packers weather likely going to be a huge factor. dolphins quarterback tua tagovailoa he's zero and seven all time in games where the temperature is 40 degrees and under in the forecast in green bay at kickoff for this one is going to be in the 20s. slight chance of snow. we talk about it every year jim. the dolphins you know they love their florida weather. they like practicing 75 and sunny can't play in cold weather. at some point though, they're going to have to win in cold weather if they hope to be successful in the playoffs. we'll see if they can buck that trend. finally today. >> yeah, the fish in the frozen tundra. all right andy thanks a lot. really appreciate it. we'll be watching this morning. we want to share with you a special story of friendship in 2016 wanda dench accidentally invited jamaal hinton to her thanksgiving dinner. she thought she was texting one of her grandchildren. the text went instead to jamaal, and he jokingly asked if he could come

over anyway, wanda invited him in and the two have celebrated every thanksgiving together since. and this year, wanda has shared she has been diagnosed with breast cancer and is receiving chemotherapy. but she says she won't let that stop her and hinton's annual tradition. wanda dench and jamaal hinton join us now. um first of all, wanda, i you know, my heart goes out to you and everything that you're going through right now, but this is such a special story. and when i heard about this, i just thought, there's just no way this can be true. but it is true. >> yes it is. >> um, came to a surprise to me especially at my age. i'm 67 now, and breast cancer doesn't run in my family so i didn't think that this was ever going to be an issue in my life. but it's here and i'm dealing with it and it's been a journey and an awakening and jamal, tell me about this friendship and this thanksgiving tradition that you both have had over the years

and how much it means to you and and i guess now that what wanda is going through, i know your heart must go out to her as well. >> yes yes. >> um, the friendship. it's not really a friendship. we're more a family now um, it means the world we. we talked about anything. we we go through everything together. i mean, i went with her for for her first tattoo. um, she was actually there the day after i got my first tattoo. so it's kind of tattoos. we jump through everything. yeah, yeah, her first tattoo is a little bit smaller than my first one, but we jumped through everything together, and i think that's what really makes us family that we're not just together on thanksgiving. we kind of, we kind of try to hang out anytime we can. um, and then we talk all the time. so our friendship is, is more than just a friendship for sure that is wonderful. >> i mean, and it just goes to show you, you just don't know what life is going to bring you. and wanda. what about your thanksgiving plans? have they

changed at all this year? what can you tell us? >> well, yes, this year is a little bit different. >> i just recently finished up with chemotherapy, so i'm not 100% yet. and i live about two hours away from where jamal lives. and so we decided that this year would be best for my health if i stayed at home. and we will facetime with each other i was looking so forward to meeting his family and having turkey with everybody but you know, things just we have to accept things the way they are and and i'm sure next year is going to be so much better absolutely. >> and you get to be together virtually, you know through our program here, which we appreciate very much. and jamal uh, talk about this friendship and why it's so important and what it tells us about, you know, having friends that you just don't expect in life and what it means to you. >> um personally, i've always

wanted to, um, make friends with everyone. i always felt like any and everyone could bring any type of joy into your life, and i'm glad that i actually reached out to wanda when i did, even though i was joking that it turned out to be something amazing um, this friendship is is friendship changed my life? obviously uh, in the best way possible, but not just because of the social media or anything like that wanda is a truly amazing person and i'm happy to call her my family. >> well, we're happy that you both shared that story with us. we appreciate it so much. happy thanksgiving jamal. happy thanksgiving wanda. all the best to you. we're rooting for you, wanda, as you battle cancer. but thank you so much. please keep us posted. we want to see you next year. >> all right. thank you. >> so much. >> all right. thanks to both of you and thanks for joining us this morning on this thanksgiving. happy thanksgiving everybody. i'm jim acosta, cnn special coverage thanksgiving in america with john berman and erica hill begins right now. happy

thanksgiving.