good morning and happy thanks giving. coming up on "early today" will they fly? high winds could ground the macy's parade and shoppers get warmed up to battle for bar gaps. find out why police officers are using stun guns on themselves. today is the day for that icy comet to com in contact with the sun, and own a piece of rock 'n' roll history. bruce springsteen's "born to run." "early today" starts right now. 7500 bitcoins into a landfill where that 7.5 million will lay >> good morning, everybody and happy thanksgiving to you. i'm betty nguyen. after days of treacherous travel

for so many, the holiday is finally here. we'll have more on that in a moment. but first, all eyes are on the stars this thanksgiving morning. of course those 16 balloons flying in the macy's thanksgiving day parade. but the weather system that snarled holiday travel is not over. and it has many wondering if snoopy and others will even get off the ground. nbc's jay gray is live along the parade route in new york city. good morning, happy thanksgiving. will it be happy for those looking to see those balloons in the air? >> reporter: hey there, good morning. so far, so good, betty, and a happy thanksgiving to you. let's look at the balloons you're talking about, snoopy in the background, one of the bigger balloons, 16 of those are in jeopardy are not flying if the wind is sustained at 23 miles an hour, if it gusts to 34 but right now it's looking good, seven wind monitors are watching things closely. the decision won't come until right before parade time, right before things start to roll. even if the big balloons don't fly and we don't think that's the case, looks like they'll go,

even if they don't plenty of balloons and floats. the floats will line the parade route as well and tom turkey is ready to lead things off as he should on thanksgiving day. christian chenoworth will be one of the stars, and robertson family from "duck dynasty" carrie underwood part of the nbc broadcast, and kelly pickler, some of the musical acts. should be a great morning, the excitement, the energy building and i hope it's a start to what is a wonderful and happy thanksgiving for everyone, including you, betty. >> thank you. you know it will be no matter what but a game time decision so they'll call an audible. we'll wait and see what it is. thank you very much. a reminder, only place to see macy's thanksgiving day parade is here on nbc. matt lauer, savannah guthrie and al roker will have full coverage from the first float all the way

to sap nta claus, starts right here 9:00 eastern on nbc. rn a collective sigh of relief from travelers hitting the road for the holiday. messy weather system caused hundreds of flight cancellations. thousands of flight delays and a whole lot of frustration. but, it didn't cause the total meltdown many were expecting. forecasters expect things to be a whole lot quieter today, now that worst of those travel fears are behind them. nationwide, at least 600 flights were cancelled as of yesterday evening. with more than 5,000 flights delayed. but, things are expected to run a lot smoother today. not much to be thankful for on the 405 freeway in los angeles yesterday. check this out. traffic was backed up for miles on l.a.'s west side. looks luke christmas lights there. if you thought the 405 was packed, this is a map of what it looked like from the air last night. that map is from buzzfeed and

courtesy of planefundeplanefind. it's not hard to find things on that map. it has become a holiday tradition at the obama's. they were at the capital food bank, distributing food to the needy in washington. president obama, first lady michelle, and daughters sash a and malia, helping pack bags of food and hand them to seepors and children in need. before that, the presidential pardon for the national thanksgiving turkey. this year's lucky bird, popcorn, was selected by a vote on the white house web suit. popcorn went waddle to waddle as they say, against another bird, caramel. by the way, both birds were spared. also, in washington, officials kick off the first ever thanksgiving cup. it started with the lighting of the world's largest menorah on the national mall. joining the jewish community were the u.s. air force band and grammy winning vilist mir

miri benari. it was a celebration that will hopefully last until the next convergence of thanksgiving and hanukkah, with i is only 79,000 years from now. good luck witnessing that. a pizza hut manager in indiana decided to close shop for the thanksgiving holiday and it cost him his job. tony rohr, a pizza hut employee for ten years, was fired after refusing to open his restaurant on thanksgiving. more and more businesses as you know decided to stay open today. this is the first year roer was asked to keep his pizza hut open on thanksgiving. the story has a happy ending. words of rohr's firing spread across the internet causing pizza hut to respond on facebook saying he has been rehired by the store owner. >> cleanup efforts have uncovered more incredible video of this month's deadly tornadoes. in indiana, surveillance video shows the tornado's destructive power as it tore through a

middle school, smashing windows and even causing part of a roof to collapse. damage is substantial. school officials are not even sure if the school will even be rebullet. >> for a look at the weather outside, nbc meteorologist bill karins is here. >> great weather today, perfect, ideal. >> really? >> you want to throw the football a little bit in the backyard. >> you're a bearer of good news. >> just bundle up. it is cold. let's talk about the wind forecast in new york city because again the threshold, 34 miles per hour. here are the winds over the last six hours, we've got the winds just below that 34-mile-per-hour threshold, even the last hour, only 18 in central park so it's looking good for the balloons, maybe they'll be lower than normal but it's looking great. there is the 18 in the last hour and most of the wupd guind gust in that region. the big storm is exiting the northeast, that's fantastic. we do have a little storm, really the only storm on the map spinning off the california

coastline, it is going to bring clouds and onshore coolish flow to southern cal, and it is chilly in the pacific northwest but considering you could be dealing with rain or snow or something like that, this is not bad. here is the radar, it's looking okay. there are some showers that are trying to work their way towards the southern california coastline but so far, so good. owe fushlly we'll call it mostly cloudy skies from san diego to l.a. temperatures cooler with those clouds but overall, a pretty decent thanksgiving day forecast. 74 and sunny in phoenix, one of the warmer forecasts 41, a little bit of fog this morning and be okay this afternoon. now that we've taken care of the nice thanksgiving forecast how about the shopping forecast

coming up? >> let's eat first. the most important part of the day, thank you. four people busted using a drone to sneak stuff into a jail. plus stun guns for police cars. and a father/son team talking turkey in south alabama. kenneth weiss sr. and kenneth weiss jr., talk a listen to them. [ turkey call ]

welcome back, everybody. two people were killed in brazil after a crane collapsed at the site of a stadium that will host next year's world cup. an investigation is under way to determine the cause. four people have been arrested in georgia for attempting to use a remote controlled helicopter to deliver contraband over prison walls. a guard at the prison noticed

the small helicopter flying over the gate and immediately ordered a search. it led authorities to a vehicle containing the chopper and two pounds of tobacco. a small victory for residents in irwincall, california. they complained of irritated eyes and throats due to the local sriracha factory. on wednesday a judge ordered the condiment maker to partially shut down while they figure out how to reduce the tear-inducing fumes coming from the factory in its crushed chili peppers. >> electronic cigarettes are gaining in popularity but apaur apparently they are still not welcome in public places. new york and chicago are both considering banning e-cigarettes from workplaces, bars and restaurants. the city join the likes of new jersey, north dakota and utah. beijing wants it cut down on air pollution so naturally, all barbecues must be destroyed? yes, the chinese capital has already taken out 500 grills in an effort to clean the air. no word on how much that alone

will help a city known for its smog. and a mayor has been arrested on drug charges. and no, it's not rob ford. the mayor of hampton, florida, was busted to are trying to acquire and sell oxycodone, prompting the local sheriff to declare, this isn't toronto. stock markets are closed on this holiday but money never stops. the noougtsknightstown, under end police department is going the extra mile to raise $9,000 for a new squad car. watch this. >> i got a cramp in my leg. >> yes, he may have several in fact. even police chief danny baker is willing to be shot by a stun gun. all in an effort to raise money for the depleted squad cars. i'd say that's going above and beyond the call of duty.

for those traveling by car this thanksgiving, there is some good news. gas prices are down about 50 cents from its peak this year. aaa reports the average is about $3.29. a handwritten manuscript of bruce sprung steen's signature hit "born to run" will be auctioned off in new york next month. only one of two known to exist and includes many unpublished and unrecorded lines from the 1974 version. sotheby's expects it could fetch around $100,000. but if you are short on cash, kmart is aurg a offering a rent-to-own finance program on items over $150. finally that digital currency known as the bitcoin has reached $1,000 for the first time. great news if you own them. but maddening for one british i.t. specialist who managed to toss his hard drive along with 7500 bitcoins into a landfill where that 7.5 million will lay in waste.

i tell you, i think i might still be searching that landfill. just ahead a full serk of serving of sports to kick off your thanksgiving. including katherine webb's most difficult decision yet. details, next.

time for your turkey day helping of sports. thanksgiving means family, food and of course a full day of

football. so plan your meals accordingly. the first course begins at 12:30 eastern with an nfc north battle between green bay and detroit. your second course begins at 4:30 with the oakland raiders taking on the dallas cowboys. cowboys are hungry for the win. as they are tied for first in the nfc east with the eagles. and for your final course, served up right here on nbc at 8:30, afc north fight to the end between the steelers and ravens. both are 5-6 and two wins away from the division leading bengals. home sweet home in ohio for lebron james. cleveland cavaliers fans started a move to lure the king back to ohio for good, by giving out come home lebron t-shirts before the heat/cavs game. in the game lebron swoops in for a loose ball and charges the net for, oh, yeah, a slam dunk. he ran circles around his old team finishing with 28 points. heat win 95-84.

next up, turkey and fixings for the heat team for of course when lebron's akron home. katherine webb, remember her, she is feel a little uneasy for the iron ball this saturday. the auburn graduate is also very well known as the girlfriend of alabama's quarterback aj mccarron. this is webb's first time attending the iron bowl and she said she will be rooting for her man, of course, and alabama. ahead of the much-anticipated michigan/ohio state game this saturday a honda dealership in mush mish put michigan put out quite the offer. a car purchased between november 22nd and game day, november 30th, will be free if michigan shuts out their rivals. sounds great, right? could be a dream. but number three buckeyes are favored to win by 14 1/2 points. in minor league hockey, darren archibald of the comets has a hard hitting check right there, ouch, totally flipping his opponent over.

had to check it out one more time. that's wild. in college hoops, duke beats alabama 4- 4 in the mit tip-off semifinals. duke faces off against arizona in the finals on friday. and check this out. huntington university, one second left. trailing by one point. nails the shot from 75 feet away to win the incredible buzzer-beater. that, my friends, does not happen very often. now for some fun turkey day facts that make you sound very smart today. it's not your eyes playing tricks on you. turkeys are getting bigger. much bigger, in fact. the weight of the average free processed turkey has gone up year after year from a respectable 13 pounds in 1929 all the way to a whopping 29.77 pounds last year. but don't worry about that big bird burning a hole in your pocket. statistics show the price per pound of processed turkey drops 9.5 cents every october and november. we'll be right back.

food good thanksgiving morning. maybe you're still traveling, ideal weather conditions, a little cold in a few spots but nice afternoon, more clouds than we'd like in southern california but we can deal with that, shouldn't be too wet. as we go throughout your friday forecast a busy day of people shopping out there we are going to watch the northwest. any spot with less than ideal weather it will be in seattle,

notice it will be cloud yu and rainy and a little cooler, rumors of snow next week in the pacific northwest. >> get your shopping done early if you can. could the queen of twerk be "time" magazine's person of the year? mile yu cyrus is leading a time.com poll to ask readers choose 2013's person of the year. if she is chosen miley would be the first one since corazon aqui aquino. goldilocks has pulled a parody version of the beastie boys song "girls." which are the biggest box office flops of 2013? we will tell you. topping forbes list is the flick "the fifth estate" which cost $28 million to make and only made 6 million. sly stallone stinker "bullet to

the head" -- >> when it's this bad i kind of want to see them. >> how bad it is. prince harry left op. his trek across antarctica. before he did, he talked about his atecht tempt to get rut of trip and why prince william is jealous of him. >> i think he's quite jealous i mappinged to get away from screaming charles. >> do you think there's some jealousy within the family? they seem to get along. >> the little baby boy did dutch him down the list of who is going to be king. >> he's still going to be the prince. i'm betty nguyen. happy thanksgiving, enjoy it, be safe.

leading the news on this thanksgiving in the "new york times" online health law signup is delays for small business, another set back for owe pa ma care impacting businesses with under 50 employees. thanksgiving shopping, not in the states that ban it. even though over 1 million walmart employees will have to report to the job today around the nation those living in rhode island, maine and massachusetts have the day off. blue laws rule where shopping is prohibited today. time for stories you may have missed, the holiday travel for most people is other or nearing the end. that massive holiday storm that grounded planes and delayed trains is moving off the east coast. forecasters say it will be gone today leaving behind strong

winds. two people were killed in brazil after a crane collapsed at the site of a stadium that will host next year's world cup. an investigation is under way. pizza hut decided to rehire a manager after he was fired for refusing to work thanks gufg. tony rohr was asked to keep his franchise open. once message spread on facebook the company backtracked. you can call him iron man. in japan kimio nakagawa was recognized by the japan government for excellent ironing. each year the labor ministry pecks out the nation's finest craftsman, usually a chef or craftsman. he irons by hand not a presser. he says the best iron never leaves a trace. >> look at that fold. >> so masterful he gets orders from people hundreds of miles away. i could use him in my house indeed. time for a look back the icy

comet is still speeding toward the sun. ison is its name and expected to skim 1 million miles from the solar surface this afternoon. nasa is unsure if it will survive. one year ago today the largest powerball jacket in history, $379.9 million, the massive wings split by two people, one in arizona, the other in missouri. happy birthday to jon stewart, he's 51, ed harris 63 and berry gordy jr. is 84. here's what's come up later op. the "today" show, the newest addition to the butterball hotline will be live on the "today" show and you can watch today's macy's thanksgiving day parade here on nbc at 9:00 a.m. eastern. now keep it right here for more news, weather and sports. i'm betty nguyen. thanks for watching "early today." have a great day and a wonderful thanksgivi thanksgiving. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

thanksgiving thursday becomes the new black friday. hundreds camp out to get their hands on bargains that won't be there in the morning. lace up the sneakers and get ready to trot. a look at downtown san jose. we're going to be live at one of the largest fund-raisers that's become a thanksgiving tradition for thousands. and will the balloons get off the ground? the floats, the bands and something different at this year's macy's thanksgiving parade. in the meantime, closer to home a beautiful live look outside. the bay bridge illuminated on this thanksgiving morning, november 28th. you're watching "today in the bay."