it's thanksgiving day, november 26th. coming up on "early today," almost 50 million of us are traveling for this holiday and president obama ensures security is at the forefront of his agenda were and meanwhile, the french president is securing up isis. new revelations surrounding the death of nfl legend of frank gifford. and it looks like jason kidd is going to get slapped with a hefty fine. warning for those paying with a credit card. and get ready for the biggest thanksgiving day parade anywhere. "early today" starts right now. good morning, and happy thanksgiving. i'm debra brown. with the terror attacks fresh on

people's minds, are americans safe? with 50 million people traveling away from home, president obama is doing his best to reassure the person people. >> i want the american people to know that we are taking every possible step to keep our homeland safe. >> reporter: the message in effect, we'll do the worrying, you do the celebrating with a reminder for everyone to stay alert. >> if you see something suspicious, say something. but otherwise, americans should go about their usual thanksgiving weekend activities. >> reporter: a new government advisory offers little detailed information but warns what police already know. that attackers could capitalize on the thanksgiving holiday to promote their agenda. it's top concern, homegrown extremists, with soft targets impossible to protect. >> we have a number of tourist destinations and certainly we're always vigilant to anything happening there. >> reporter: and preparing for a

nightmare scenario. simulating hostage-takers. >> this is an elite, dedicated force, trained in kous eed in counterterrorism. the threat for today's threat picture. >> reporter: even with the parade with 3 million expected, police are employs extra security. >> i believe we can't live in fear. >> of course, it's on our minds, and they want us to live in fear, and we feel we can't. >> reporter: paris brought the terror threat closers to home, security officials are working relentlessly to be prevent any attack here. >> that was peter alexander reporting. coalition building continues for french president francois hollande. meeting with russian president vladimir putin to fight isis. this comes on the heels of a meeting with angela merkel yesterday of germany and at the white house on tuesday. moments ago in london, the british house of commons debated

their role and whether to expand it. nbc's reporter joins from belgium with the latest. good morning to you, claudio. >> reporter: good morning, debra. yes, french president francois hollande met with the president of italy and will meet with president putin now. the last step of a diplomatic marathon attempting to force some kind of global military coalition against isis in syria and the most sensitive stop for a number of reasons. first of all, russia is engaged in a war of words with nato member turkey over the downing of a russian plane inside turkey's airspace by a turkish warplane and also there are very different views how to solve the situation politically in syria. well, the 65-country strong coalition which france belongs to, of course, believes that there should be some kind of peace solution, a unified

government, to be put in place in syria that excludes the current president bashar al assad wall russia still supports assad. >> a busy day. we look forward to another report. thank you for that. and pope francis is in africa for the first visit ever. they welcomed him upon his arrival and large crowds lined streets to catch a glimpse of the pope. he's scheduled to go to uganda, devastated by fighting between christians and muslims. this marks the first time a pope visited an active conflict area. francis is looking to bring a message of peace and doesn't seem concerned about his safety. saying he is more afraid of mosquitoes. a whirlwind election and lots to talk about. a bit of a political cliffhanger with major action waiting on the

other side of the holiday. nbc's hallie jackson reports. >> reporter: from candidates, a kind of presidential pardon. >> i'm pardoning it for being ugly. >> reporter: giving turkeys a break while they take one. most off the campaign trail for the holiday. >> the holiday presents an opportunity to maximize your exposure to voters, whether it's at thanksgiving day parades. >> reporter: still a slower holiday week makes momentum key. whether you have it, or you don't. like ben carson. slipping double digits in the latest iowa poll, at the same time, ted cruz surging there to within striking distance of donald trump who issued this warning last week. >> if he catches on then i guess we'll have to go to war. >> reporter: the two, their political bromance cooling, potentially on a collision course. >> nobody in his right mind will predict what donald trump will say next. from kruse's point of view, play it very cool.

>> reporter: watch for cruz to draw the distinction on policy, trumpet spent the wee week with family and a rare appearance by his wife. >> good evening. he will be the best president ever. [ cheers ] >> reporter: another pre-holiday family outing, the rubios after the florida senator, now in the top tier, sat down with neil mag magny -- natalie morales. >> an unpredictable year. we've never had an election like this. we're very pleased where we are in this campaign jarngsd we've learned frank gifford, the legendary nfl hall of fame broadcaster and husband of kathie lee gifford suffered from the brain seize known at cte when he passed away. chronic traumatic encephalopathy. they're sharing the news so others might be aware of the

disease and his family a small part of rule changes to make the game as safe as possible. for its part, the nfl said the safety of its players remains its highest priority. and 11 injured when a gust blew through a flea market tossing tents right into the air. look at that. in the san diego area, a coastal flood advisory through today and tomorrow because of this. king tides, where waves can reach 7 1/2 feet. now for your thanksgiving weather report, here's meteorologist boyne bonnie schneider. >> good morning. quite a mixed bag of weather. dealing with a blizzard in wyoming. the blizzard warning continues for at least another couple of hours and still dealing with snow as well. winter weather alerts across denver, well into omaha. watching for ice. i mean, this is going to be a wintry mess going through as we

watch ourselves through the rest of this holiday. so looking for windy conditions, wet and certainly very cold. watching for very cold weather as well. temperatures behind the system are going to drop down intohe 20s and teens. so look for lots of cold air coming in behind the system. tough driving on interstate 80 as well as difficult driving through omaha and kansas city. where the setup is for the ice storm working our way into the afternoon and even into tomorrow. travel troubles for thursday. yesterday a better day and tomorrow more of a rain threat, and that's going to be further south towards texas. so a lot to keep track of for this busy thanksgiving. that's a look at your into the 50s along the coast. >> so nice weather out west for

people traveling. unfortunately, the midsection, travel troubles. >> hope everyone has safe travels on this thanksgiving. thank you so much, bonnie. >> sure. drivers, beware if you're getting gas today because scammers are looking for you. and the military rules on a west point tradition that took a terrible turn over the summer. plus, a dicey situation at one pizza joint. details are up next. you're watching "early today." now, viagra helps guys wh erectile dysfunction get and keep an erection. talk to your doctor about viagra. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension. your blood pressure could drop to an unsafe level. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. ask your doctor about viagra.

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california and slamming into a couple eating dinner. according to investigators, the drive her a seizure and accidentally hit the gas pedal. luckily, no one sustained serious injuries. and in colorado, another car crashed into a warehouse almost hitting an employee. the driver inadvertently stepped on the gas when trying to park. no one was injured. if you're traveling today or even just running out for a minute, ard would of warning when filling up on gas. scammers are out to get you. nbc's gabe gutierrez has our report. >> reporter: in michigan, authorities on the hunt for a device secretly planted in gas pumps stealing credit card information from thousands of consumers. >> how big of a problem is this? >> this is a huge problem. >> reporter: they're kaucalled scrimmers. criminals breaking into the pump with master keys they bought online. this man secretly attaching a skimmer in less than a minute. >> transaction goes through at normal and at the same time captures all of your credit card

information. >> reporter: criminals so brazen in this video they know to point headlights at the security camera to evade detection. in texas, this woman lost nearly $3,000. >> a tremendous nightmare. it puts your life on hold. you can't pay bills. you can't buy groceries. >> reporter: last year the device cost consumers $2 billion and not just gas stations are vulnerable. major retailers are also on alert. >> you have employee, usually low-level employees, maybegang affiliated or coerced by gangs to bring the skimmers into places of employment. >> watch this video of a cashier swiping a credit card on a register and on a skimmer out of sight as she grabs the receipt. >> smaller than you think. >> and find it online? >> correct. >> reporter: to protect yourself avoid gas pumps furthest from the attendant's view, pay inside or use cash and monitor your

bank account often. >> blown our mind how many there are. >> reporter: a fraud spreading with credit cards in high demand this holiday season. gabe gutierrez, nbc news, michigan. just ahead, thanksgiving means three things -- family, food and -- football. we've got today's full slate. plus an nba coach's tantrum costs his big time. sports is up next. daddy gator couldn't push the throttle on his little boat any harder if he tried. he's beached here, gazing out on an unforgiving landscape. for while the people who come in here use quilted northern, a toilet paper that works so well they completely forget their experience... daddy gator sees all and forgets nothing. "i've got to motor out of here," he thinks. "this is no place to raise a child." quilted northern. designed to be forgotten. wopen up a lot of dawn. tough on grease...yet gentle. dawn helps open...

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this morning on "today," it's one of the highlights of the holiday. the macy's thanksgiving day parade. matt, savannah, al and the gang have you covered for all of today's festivities. now to sports. the biggest turkey in the nba so far this season, philadelphia 76ers. they lost to the celtics 84-80. the team hasn't won a game since march of last season on a 26-game losing streak and the team had a 26-game losing streak just two seasons ago. now to milwaukee. bucks head coach jason kidd likely just cost himself tens of thousands in fines. the ball slap got kidd a technical and ejection from the game. the coach was frustrated by the ref's calls, but watch for the nba to come down hard on kidd. kings win 121-113. speaking of kidd, our intrepid producer mark katz, two years to the day of kids' infamous soda spill incident. a player bumps into kidd

mouthing hit me and happens to drop his soda on the floor allowing him the time he needed to draw up a last-second play. his team still lost. a full helping of football on this thanksgiving. it starts with the eagles of detroit, followed by undefeated panthers and dallas and capped off here on nbc with da bears descending on lambeau field and at green bay packers. enjoy. just ahead, find out hour snoop dogg is making a big difference this thanksgiving. plus, want adorable puppies delivered to you for the holidays? we'll show you how. that's up next's

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. we're looking at especially across areas of i-35, unfortunately you'll find an icy mix to snow. low visibility at times. heavy rain into texas with localized flash flooding. travel on i-35 treacherous depending where you are. but for sunday, one. busiest travel days of the year, all of this pushes to the east. watching for a threat to work its way across the south, including memphis and nashville. be careful if you have a flight in this area and also along i-70. the part of the country we're looking at unfortunately soggy travel ahead. bonnie, thank you so much. security is expected to be tight in new york city for the 89th annual macy's thanksgiving day parade with more than 2,500 police officers lining the parade route, a record for the event. jay gray joins us live from the

parade route in new york city. good morning to you. how's it going out there? >> reporter: hey, good morning, dara. the sun is up. the crowds building, excitement as well. yeah, stepped up presence of security here. you can see that. a lot of people we talked to say they are feeling very safe here, and that's the good news. i want to show you what's going on here right now. take a look behind me. you can see one of the first floats here, the turkey which is probably a good way to start the parade here. sandra lee, the television chef will be on. maybe by the time it's over, maybe it will just be a wishbone. maybe she's preparing something. and you can see giant balloons. scratch is one of the new giant balloons. there are four new this year. 17 in all 27 floats that will be a part of this parade. 1,100 cheerleaders or dancers. 12 bands. more than 1,000 clowns. what more could you ask for to start your holiday morning? the weather is going to be

perfect. close to 60 degrees. it's going to be a lot of fun out here and, perhaps, a record crowd of 3 million or more lining the route. that's the latest live out here along the parade route. dara, back to you now. >> jay gray, thank you so much. it's a great day for a parade. have a happy thanksgiving. >> reporter: thanks. now time for entertainment news. paul walker's father is suing porsche for wrongful death and negligence. the suit is almost two years after the actor's tragic death in soun california. the actor daughter filed a suit with similar claims saying walker knowingly and voluntarily assumed all risk in respect to the gt. not everyone can afford turkeys but snoop dogg made a difference for many families near l.a. gave away over 1,500 turkeys to those in need this week, his second year handing out turkeys and plans give out even more next year.

president obama played the funny guy with his daughters by his side ahead of the thanksgiving holiday. >> it is hard to believe this is my seventh year of pardoning a turkey. time flies. even if turkeys don't. >> that's good. that was good. >> i thought it was pretty good. >> now, do you think they'd call that joke a turkey? >> i think his daughters might. more laughing at dad. >> exactly. what parents do. get to embarrass our kids all the time. it is a good joke, though. i'm dara brown, and this is "early today." coughing...sniffling... and wishing you could stay in bed all day. when your cold is this bad...

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welcome back. leading the news on gofundme.com, dwayne needs your help. a 4-month-old puppy named dwayne "the rock" johnson abandoned. the pup has a severe heart issue. a local rescue group took him in and start add crowd-funding site to help the pooch. the puppy's name sake tweeted his support, i'll help. stay strong, pup. after the rock's support donations poured in, the donation goal reached and extra funds will go towards helping their other dogs and puppies. here's one more thing to make you smile on this thanksgiving thursday. we live in a time when we can get almost anything with a push of a button, that includes now a

potential new best friend delivered right to you. nbc's janet shamlian reports. >> reporter: it's a different kind of happy hour. >> so cute! >> reporter: at an austin advertising agency, the tonic for a rough day. does it get any bet jer puppies delivered to the office. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: all the love, none of the house-breaking. >> does it relieve the stress of the work day? >> absolutely it does. >> reporter: welcome to uber puppies. >> there you go, girls. going to go for a ride. >> reporter: the ride-sharing app's latest charm offensive. >> calling to confirm you requested uber puppies. >> reporter: $30 buys 15 minutes of cuddle time, if you can get them. >> demand for uber in general is very high. for puppies, it pretty much breaks the internet. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: one request from a college photography class. >> signed off on this? >> i did, yes. i mean, it's fun.

you know, they all wanted to do it. that's fine. i like puppies. >> reporter: a different pair of pups visit a high-tech firm. the calls come in nonstop. >> we have uber puppies. >> reporter: partnering with shelters in a dozen cities it started as a campaign to increase dog adoptions. >> this is like delivering christmas. isn't it? >> reporter: it's become much more. >> ah! >> reporter: with holidays looming and work beckoning, the stress-busting effect of puppy play dates, a prescription for whatever ails. >> such a sweet girl. yes, you are. >> reporter: janet shamlian, nbc news, austin. >> ah, too cute. we want to wish happy birthdays to fleetwood mac bass player and tina turner and comedian rich little. keep it right here for the macy's thanksgiving day parade. i'm dara brown.

thanks for watching "early today." have a happy and safe a high speed chase with a

one-of-a kind ending. how the suspects tried to escape by stripping off a high-pede chase with a one of a kind ending. how the suspects tried to escape by slipping off their clothes. workers caught tossing luggage. what the airline wants you to know about this game they're playing. and thanksgiving day means food, family and lines. as people across the bay area start lining up at is stores for black friday. "today in the bay" starts right now. and a very good morning to u, happy thanksgiving. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm scott mcgrew. let's get right to your thanksgiving forecast and anthony, good morning. >> good morning to both of you. we're looking at chilly temperatures. no big surprise if you made it into work this morning. if you're just joining us and you haven't stepped outside,