>> take a look at this beautiful sunrise. make your day as great as this shot right here. it's a beautiful way to start the day. enjoy your friday. thanks so much for spending time with us this morning. have a good weekend. celebraciones tradicionales >> and while this is tough, of course this whole year has been tough, we must tell you, you must cancel the normal thanksgiving plans. >> with cases soaring and testing sites overflowing, the pre-holiday race against time to stop the spread. most secure election in u.s. history.

the department of homeland security declares there is no evidence voting was compromised, as pressure mounts on president trump to acknowledge joe biden's victory with a key republican governor saying this. >> we need to consider the former vice president as the president-elect. joe biden is the president-elect. >> while overnight nbc news calls the battleground of arizona for biden, increasing his electoral lead. eta's wrath. flooding from the storm sweeps part of the south, washing out roads and bridges. >> it looks like lake ontario, and this is very bad. >> a dramatic collapse in north carolina captured live on air. >> a final countdown. >> we are ready. >> nasa and spacex joining together for the biggest launch ever. and just ahead, what they are saying to us before the historic

mission. all that and plus, roker is back home. al is sharing good news on his recovery from prostate cancer surgery as he is thanking the family, friends and fans for their thoughts and prayers, today, friday, november 13th, 2020. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with savannah guthrie and hoda kotb, from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> hey, guys, welcome to "today." so happy that you're joining us on a friday morning. doesn't it make you so happy looking at roker's face knowing that he's back home, he's safe. >> that's all i heard in that open. the man is a machine. he gets home from the hospital, out walking around like five miles around central park yesterday. >> yeah, he did. we're so happy about that. we'll talk about that in just a bit. so happy willie geist is here. savannah is enjoying a much deserved day off this morning. >> it is indeed. we have a lot to get to, including new numbers overnight from the presidential election.

nbc news now projects joe biden as the winner of arizona and the state's 11 electoral votes, pushing his lead to 290 votes to 217 for president trump. it could add further pressure on the president to concede. we'll have more on that in a moment. >> as we mentioned, nasa and spacex are gearing up for another milestone mission tomorrow. now, take a look at this. the crew dragon is stopped in atop that rocket at the kennedy space center. just ahead, tom costello will chat with the astronauts who will ride that into space. >> we'll look forward to that. but our top story, the country's worsening coronavirus crisis. yesterday saw yet another daily case record fall. nearly 160,000 new infections. and just look at the staggering toll in the last nine days. a total of 1.1 million cases, more than 10,000 deaths. >> as the cases rise, more cities are taking drastic measures, including chicago where a new stay-at-home advisory was just issued.

the mayor is urging the cancellation of traditional thanksgiving celebrations. nbc's gabe gutierrez is in chicago for us this morning. hey, gabe, good morning. >> reporter: hoda, good morning. chicago's mayor says the situation is dire. covid cases here are skyrocketing with deaths tripling over the last month. and now across the midwest, officials are pleading with the public's health to get this virus under control. this morning chicago is in crisis. the city reporting more than 15,000 new covid cases this week. that's more than arizona, massachusetts, georgia or virginia. now chicago's mayor is taking dramatic action, issuing a 30-day stay-at-home advisory starting this monday. lori lightfoot is pleading with residents to remain at home except for essential activities and urging people not to host any gatherings at all, including over thanksgiving. >> and while this is tough, of course this whole year has been

tough, we must tell you, you must cancel the normal thanksgiving plans. we could see a thousand more chicagoans die from this virus by the end of the year. >> reporter: across the midwest, infections and hospitalizations are breaking records. illinois, wisconsin and indiana are now reporting a new coronavirus case every four seconds on average. a growing number of conservative governors from utah to iowa are issuing mask mandates for the first time. >> the virus is present in all of our communities and all of us can help stop its spread. >> reporter: this wave of new infections is striking the coast too. california becoming the second state after texas to hit the 1 million mark for covid cases. testing lines in connecticut stretching for blocks. schools in new york city and philadelphia are weighing whether to cancel in-person classes and go back to all virtual. schools in detroit are already taking that step. >> this is kind of like standing on the beach and watching the

hurricane slowly roll towards you. >> reporter: a beaumont hospital in michigan, which treats more covid patients than any place in the state, staff members are overwhelmed. >> how can i help you today? >> reporter: she has the heart-breaking task of telling families of covid patients they're not allowed to visit. now she's personally facing that same agony. her dad contracted the virus. like so many, the only way they can see each other is over video chat. >> we just need to worry about your breathing right now. >> i haven't seen him in almost two weeks. my family is very close, so it's tough. >> it's tough for so many families. gabe, there is some good news on the vaccine front, especially when we talk about how they plan to distribute it. so what do you know? >> reporter: yeah, hoda. federal health officials have reached an agreement with major pharmacy chains and drug stores to distribute free coronavirus vaccines once they're approved and made available to the public. right now this agreement includes about three out of every five pharmacies across the

u.s. the goal is to eventually make getting a coronavirus vaccine like getting a flu shot. hoda. >> all right, gabe gutierrez for us. gabe, thank you. we turn now to politics. in a rebuke of claims made by president trump, the department of homeland security is calling the election the most secure in american history. and overnight as we mentioned, president-elect joe biden added to his lead in the electoral college. chuck todd will be here in a moment to break things down for us. first, nbc's kristen welker has the latest. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: hi, willie, good morning to you. president-elect joe biden is expanding his delegate lead with that win in arizona. the trump administration continues to deprive him of key resources and also intelligence briefings, and president trump is yet again online spreading false information about voter fraud and now that stunning rebuke from his own administration. overnight nbc news projecting that president-elect joe biden has won arizona.

it's a big shift for the state, which has not voted for a democrat since 1996. mr. biden is forging ahead with his transition, even as president trump still refuses to concede the election. and the president's own cybersecurity officials with an unprecedented rebuke, calling the election the most secure in american history, adding there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised. it comes as president trump is spreading falsehoods about the integrity of the vote. on twitter the president amplifying a far right conspiracy theory alleging without evidence that millions of votes were manipulated in biden's favor. twitter flagged the information as disputed. meanwhile former president barack obama is speaking out for the first time since the election on his successor's ongoing unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in an interview with "60 minutes." >> they appear to be motivated in part because the president doesn't like to lose and never

admits loss. >> reporter: president obama also expressing his deep concerns that republicans are endangering the country by not making the president face facts. >> it is one more step in delegitimatizing not just the incoming biden administration but democracy generally. that's a dangerous path. >> reporter: while most republicans still won't publicly acknowledge biden is the president-elect, a growing number of them are breaking with mr. trump, at least a dozen now saying mr. biden should receive classified intelligence briefings, which are being blocked by the white house. >> i do think that both the president and his -- and his competition here, vice president biden, should have access to those classified reports. >> reporter: a key republican governor saying this. >> i think that we need to consider the former vice president as the president-elect. joe biden is the president-elect.

>> reporter: overnight the president-elect's newly minted chief of staff, ron klain, weighing in on the delay. >> the president-elect is the president-elect. he is entitled under the statute to get those kinds of briefings. >> reporter: now, overnight china weighing in on president-elect biden's victory. the foreign minister saying, quote, china respects the choice of the american people. for his part biden will huddle with advisers here in delaware yet again as he continues to build out his team. president trump at the white house, he's going to get a briefing on covid today. he has not spoken out publicly in seven days now. willie? >> kristen welker in wilmington, delaware. kristen, thanks so much. let's dive a little deeper with nbc's chuck todd. he is moderator of "meet the press." chuck, good morning, good to see you. chuck, finally after ten days or so nbc news has called arizona for joe biden bumping him to 290 electoral votes. georgia is still under a recount. most people think that will go in his category and get him up to 306. as you look at that map we have

up right now, chuck, what's the story of this election? >> well, look, i think this is the first -- this is a picture of your first battleground map of where we're headed over the next couple of election cycles. you know, we had the rust belt versus the sun belt and what was going to decide this election. right now it's pretty clear while technically, technically joe biden could still win this without winning those sun belt states, you see that is the future battleground of american politics, georgia and arizona. and in fact what's interesting, the three closest states four years ago were wisconsin, michigan and pennsylvania. the three closest states this time are arizona, georgia and pennsylvania, right? you throw those in there. and so i think when you look at that in the future, we'll probably see that the decisive 270 electoral votes are now going to come from the sun belt. it didn't this time, but you see what our future holds. >> democrats will have their

eyes on texas down the road as well, coming closer than they have in years. chuck, so the department of homeland security just came out with a statement yesterday calling this the most secure election in american history. the president and his team continue to fight in court without much success. he's tweeting out conspiracy theories yesterday. what does he have to hang on to at this point? do you see anything getting traction for him as he fights what is the inevitable, that joe biden is president-elect? >> right now there is nothing tangible that he has. there's nothing tangible that his campaign or legal team has put forward. all he has left are some sort of asks, technical asks he can make because the margins are close enough. so he can get a recount in georgia. he can get a recount in wisconsin. he can likely get a recount in arizona. he can do those things, but the problem he's got is one of the states he has to find a way to win in this is pennsylvania, and that's where he's got the

largest deficit of what he's trying to overcome, number one, and number two, he just -- there's just no there, there. when his own homeland security department rebukes these conspiracy theories as thoroughly as they did yesterday and as forcefully as they did, i think it's pretty clear that the president himself, they have yet to produce an ounce of evidence to support any of their baseless claims. >> our nbc news white house correspondents say the president is talking about another run in 2024. do you see that happening? >> look, i think the president is going to make it clear that he is likely to be a candidate in 2024. i think this is his way of trying to be the president in exile, if you will, is how he'll probably try to formulate this. that doesn't mean he's going to run. what it would do is freeze the party.

i think what we've all learned already in this first ten days after the election, this is still donald trump's party and the best way for him to keep a grip on this party is to essentially be the nominee in waiting. and so by being a former president announcing his intention to run again, he will be and it would freeze the field for at least a while and continue to make him the de facto leader of the operation. >> we will see. chuck todd, thank you very much. we'll of course see you sunday on "meet the press." also this morning, nasa and spacex are preparing for the biggest launch in spacex history tomorrow evening. four astronauts set to blast off from florida headed toward the international space station. nbc's tom costello covers nasa for us. tom, this is only the second spacex mission to actually carry astronauts. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. you may recall over the summer we had a test mission with two astronauts. so now we have four astronauts, three men and a woman, riding not a nasa rocket, a spacex rocket as nasa hands over this job to the private sector.

this is the most astronauts to lift off from u.s. soil in nine years. on the runway at the kennedy space center, the astronauts of crew one, nasa's first fully operational mission with elon musk's spacex providing the lift. the falcon 9 rocket now sitting on the same pad that launched apollo and shuttle missions. the four crew members quarantined to keep them safe from covid. commander mike hopkins, pilot victor glover, mission specialist shannon walker and japanese astronaut. in a nod to a very challenging year, the crew dubbing their spaceship "resilience." >> if the name of our vehicle could give a little hope, a little inspiration, put a smile on people's face, then that is definitely what we wanted to do. we felt like resilience was the name that did that. >> go, nasa. go spacex.

god speed. >> reporter: it was on may 30th that astronauts flew on the first spacex test flight. that mission lasting two months before splashdown in the gulf of mexico. >> welcome back to planet earth and thanks for flying spacex. >> reporter: now a six-month mission on the space station, arriving at 4:20 a.m. eastern time sunday. >> how do you prepare mentally for a mission that could be 200 days up in orbit? >> i prepare by being a planner. but it's getting through the holiday season, getting through tax season, making sure that everything on the ground progresses the way it should when i'm not here is the tough part. so i plan. >> reporter: spacex and boeing are taking over the job of carrying astronauts into space from the russians, who filled the void when the space shuttle retired in 2011. now after a bruising election season, a mission for all americans. >> i hope that we can remember that we have so many things in common. when we look at how we overcome these challenges, we have to

remember we have to do it together. there's no other way. >> reporter: pilot victor glover has four daughters. he says he hopes to help them with their homework while he's floating however many miles above the earth on the space station. imagine telling your teacher, yeah, my dad helped me with my homework last night. he dialed in from the space station. >> that is so crazy. tom, you did mention that test flight over the summer. did they learn certain things from that mission? >> reporter: yeah, a couple of things. they made a couple of adjustments. first of all, a few heat shield tiles on the bottom of the spaceship when it came back down to splash down, a couple of those had burned more than they liked so they reinforced those areas. but really -- what really also bothered them was this flotilla of private boats that surrounded the spaceship when it landed in the gulf of mexico getting there before the coast guard got there. now the coast guard will really cordon off about a ten-mile zone in the gulf of mexico to keep people away from that ship when it comes down in the gulf of

mexico. but that's not until next may, you guys. >> all right, thank you, tom. by the way, tom, in the third hour one of the astronauts who made history on that first spacex launch will be joining us live. meantime rescue crews are searching for more victims this morning after deadly flash flooding across the carolinas on thursday. at least two people are missing, four others were killed in alexander county after a day of torrential rain from tropical storm eta. more than 30 people were rescued from a campground. at times the floodwaters were as high as rooftops of buildings and vehicles were fully submerged in waters. >> this is the most unfortunate thing to happen in alexander county that has happened in many, many years for a storm to come through this quick and gave us this much water at one time.

>> alexander county was soaked with 7 to 10 inches of rain thursday and more than 50 roadways across the county have been compromised with four or more bridges or roads to be washed out. >> that brings us nicely to dylan who has the latest. >> yes, you could see that with the rainfall there from eta, we can see that it is moving back out over the water and we are having spotty rain there and it is tropical water and less and less of the issue there, and it will affect us back through saturday and we could see stronger storms heading eastward and heavy rain from michigan to pennsylvania and then sunday evening the heavier rain from new jersey to delaware and maryland as well.

the cold front is also going to usher in some cold temperatures and that is more like 40s to 50s like we have now. and we are seeing the 40s for the high, and the plains and the upper midwest and stormy weather in the pacific midwest. that is the weather for now and we will get to the rest of the weather in the next 30 seconds. good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. let's take a live look outside in san jose. a beautiful sunrise. we know that later today we will see some rain moving in. it's moving from north to south

and for the north bay seeing some spotty, light showers and most of us will see light rain today. it moves out by tomorrow. we're in for more sunshine and temperatures reaching into the upper 60s up to 70 degrees on monday. >> and that's your latest forecast >> thank you, dylan. coming up, restaurant and bar owners speaking out about their struggle to survive with covid cases surging, temperatures dropping, and those new restrictions going into effect. then an nbc news investigation. cynthia mcfadden with a closer look at the ballot count and the president's fraud allegations through the eyes of election officials from both parties. but rst, this is "today" ofin ♪

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♪ keep it together 'til this work call wraps ♪ ♪ sip that smooth roast and try your best not to snap ♪ ♪ the best part of wakin' up is folgers in your cup ♪ good morning. it's 7:26. i'm laura garcia. here's a look at today's top stories. >> reporter: i'm thom jensen in concord. businesses here in contra costa county and across the bay area facing new rollbacks and shutdowns altogether as health officials try to control a new surge in the coronavirus. there are a lot of restrictions, a lot of rules going into place at areas across the bay area. we have a full list on our website at nbcbayarea.com. >> reporter: i'm cierra johnson, leaders at the golden gate district have a tough decision

ahead as they waive several options that can make up for the $48 million shortfalls that include eliminating positions and layoffs, a $2 toll hike, and a combination of the two with workers being furloughed and a $1.25 toll hike. all right, kari hall has been tracking this week's weather with some rain in the works as well, kari. tell us about it. we're seeing the rain now to the north of us. we'll be tracking it with storm ranger, our mobile dom letter radar, showing the showers very light moving in from north to south, but here we are at 1:00 in the afternoon still seeing the rain in the north bay. a lot of the bay area for areas south of the golden gate bridge won't see it until this afternoon and into the evening commute. and it will move through fairly quickly as the rain continues to weaken turning out to be light showers. clearing out for saturday and sunday as we are looking at some milder weather in the forecast. we'll be tracking that

throughout the morning with more updates to come. laura? all right, sounds good. we'll keep checking with you. thank you for joining us. another local news update in half an hour. have a great friday morning. come experience floor and decor's grand opening in san leandro! safely shop our wide aisles and be amazed with our even wider selection. discover the perfect floor at the perfect price in whatever way is perfect for you. floor and decor's newest location is now open. also open in milpitas and burlingame.

♪ >> ♪ >> we are back at 7:30 with an eruption the greatness of the late eddie van halen, the man who changed guitar playing forever next week we'll have the very special morning show exclusive tied to his remarkable life. >> carson is sitting down with eddie's son, wolfgang who is using his debut single to pay tribute to his beloved dad

it's a really personal song. folks haven't seen before so we're looking forward to sharing that conversation. look forward to that. >> i always like when carson is talking music with somebody anyway it's going to be really good. first let's get started with our 7:30 headlines u.s. supreme court justice samuel alito is raising concerns about restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic alito says the outbreak had led to, quote, previously unimaginable restrictions on individual liberty the remarks came during an online address to the conservative federalist society. alito says the covid crisis has served as a sort of constitutional stress test and that restrictions should not become a recurring feature after the pandemic is past. a small plane crashed into a neighborhood in los angeles thursday it was captured by a surveillance camera. take a look at the left of your screen here. you can see the plane banking to its right, slamming into the ground and bursting into flames. the pilot of the single engine cessna was killed in that crash. no one on the ground was injured. the cause of the accident now

under investigation. this one will get you. a golf pro in naples, florida, said he had to do a double take when you first saw this. that's a massive alligator strolling across a tee box at a local country club tyler stolting said he had never seen a gator that huge so he got out his camera and started rolling. apparently the gator is a regular there and the neighbors nickname that gator al. >> there is a fine line between alligator and dinosaur he is right on it. now to more tough news for the restaurant and bar industry. already one of the hardest hit by this pandemic. >> yes, indeed let's see if i can get some scripts up. >> this morning we got some new fears, hoda, about a second wave, new restrictions, what they could mean for businesses already struggling to survive. nbc's stephanie gosk joins us now with a closer look steph, good morning.

>> reporter: hey, good morning, willie and hoda. you know, for a moment over the summer restaurants and bars had a chance to recover, but with winter bearing down and this virus only getting worse, restaurant and bar owners worry they won't be able to survive these new restrictions or, even worse, another shutdown. for restaurant and bar owners nationwide, a familiar dread is growing. coronavirus is on the rise and their businesses are on the line. >> we're probably looking at some days of no income, no revenue. >> reporter: after surviving lockdowns last spring, they're now facing new restrictions. starting tonight in new york, bars and restaurants will have to close dining areas by 10:00 p.m. the restrictions announced after new reported covid cases in new york and new jersey nearly doubled in just the last week. new jersey's curfew went into effect last night. amanda cohen pivoted her new york city restaurant away from fine dining when she reopened in july she fears more restrictions are to come. >> we've tried to keep sort of the logistics as simple as possible, knowing that going forward that we might actually end up having another lockdown

and being forced to close. >> reporter: in minnesota, a similar curfew starts tonight. it's another blow for bars fighting to stay afloat. >> late night is one of our major pillars of business. >> reporter: a pause on indoor dining in san francisco forced at least one restaurant owner to lay off employees again. >> we rehired about two-thirds of the employees and now we have to let them go, and that hurts. >> reporter: in south dakota where hospitalization rates are the highest in the country, michael hoskins says he has still seen a drop in business despite having no restrictions. >> i'm confident that i'll make it to spring, but i'm not 100% confident i can make it to spring. >> reporter: since the start of the pandemic, at least one in six restaurants has closed in the u.s. even with restaurants reopen, there are still 2 million fewer industry jobs than there were before covid-19 hit. and with temperatures dropping, an effort to keep outdoor dining going this winter may hurt more

than help. experts warn enclosed structures, even outside, could present the same risk as eating indoors since there is limited air flow a better option, byob, bring your own blanket, and sit in a more open setting. >> there is this tension between saving jobs and public health concerns a new study show the role restaurants play in spreading the virus. what does it tell us >> reporter: yeah, it is a tough struggle, willie this study comes out of stanford university and it showed in the early days of this pandemic in big cities like new york, atlanta, chicago, 8 out of 10 of the people who contracted the virus did so in places like restaurants, bars and gyms but they don't advocate closing the doors. instead they say they should limit the numbers of people in these places so they're at one-fifth of the capacity. that could bring down infections by 80% guys, back to you. >> a reminder that the public health crisis is a painful economic crisis for so many people in our country. steph, thanks so much. coming up next, a reality check on the results of the

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earlier today, the president tweeting yesterday, and i'm quoting, that the dominion voting system deleted 2.7 million trump votes nationwide, which prompted his own homeland security department and the republicans and democrats on the national association of secretaries of state to say in part, and i'm quoting them, there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised. so with one recount under way, another recount expected, ten or so lawsuits pending, where are we this morning? we do the math nbc news has spoken to more than a dozen state election chiefs across the country, republicans and democrats alike, who say there is simply no evidence backing up the president's claims in michigan, three lawsuits focus on wayne county, alleging fraud in the counting of votes in detroit >> any amount of scrutiny is

going to reveal this, that the process actually worked extraordinarily well. >> reporter: we spoke to michigan secretary of state jocelyn benson, who points out biden is leading in her state by about 150,000 votes. >> i've really seen this more as a press release masquerading as legal claims. >> at this point are you angry at the president >> i am deeply concerned about the misinformation that he's tried to sow seeds of doubt throughout this election season. it is very damaging to our democracy. >> reporter: so the question, is the outcome of the election really still in limbo? here's what a deep dive into the lawsuits, recounts and numbers tell us. first, the recounts. in georgia where joe biden is about 14,000 votes ahead, a hand recount begins today to be followed by an expected machine recount according to the republican secretary of state. neither is likely to change the

result according to director of elections john lipinski who oversees the nbc news decision desk. >> in the 21 statewide recounts that we've seen over the last 50 years, we've never seen the margin move more than 2,500 votes. so it's almost a mathematical impossibility. >> reporter: he says the same applies to the expected wisconsin recount, where biden leads by at least 20,000 votes so what about the lawsuits >> the legal claims are outlandish and not supported by the facts on the ground as we know them. judges have been remarkably good so far across the board, no matter who appointed them, at recognizing nonsense for what it is. >> reporter: law professor justin leavitt is an election law expert who works for the u.s. department of justice two other nonpartisan legal experts we talked to agreed with his assessment. >> can any of these lawsuits make up the difference for the president? >> in a word, no

there has been no legal claim whatsoever that would justify invalidating or otherwise overturning 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 ballots. it is simply not going to happen. >> reporter: john and his team of ph.d.s do both historical and statistical analysis of results and show us why. arizona, called by nbc news last night for vice president biden, who is ahead by about 12,000 votes. in court yesterday the trump team arguing that a procedural mistake, not fraud, had been made in maricopa county involving under 200 ballots. >> it certainly wouldn't have any impact on the final result. >> reporter: what about pennsylvania, where biden leads by about 50,000 votes. a pennsylvania appeals court ruled yesterday some absentee ballots should not be counted. but they have been kept out of the total, so no gain there. is there evidence of fraud >> we've been scrubbing through

the state and we don't think so. president trump would have to sort of have everything go his way and even if it does go his way, there's just not enough votes. >> reporter: finally, michigan >> i think the possibility of a recount in michigan is almost zero the vote margin is far, far, far too high and i don't see any of these lawsuits changing that math. >> reporter: the bottom line -- >> even if all the stars aligned for president trump and he were to win some of these lawsuits, the math doesn't add up. i just don't see any path for these results to be overturned >> that does not mean there won't be a lot of noise. now, there is an important deadline coming up by federal law, all the states have to tell the certified results of their states to congress along with the names of their electors by december 14th. that law was passed in 1877. never has a state missed a deadline and all the officials we talked to across the country said they don't expect to miss that deadline this year either

back to you guys. >> cynthia, if the lawsuits aren't going to change the outcome of the election, why file them in the first place what was the point >> well, there are a lot of reasons, of course, hoda one reason that the experts pointed to is that it does give the president these lawsuits a vibrant way of raising more money. the money raised during this period doesn't have to go to defend lawsuits or bring them, it can go to any number of things, including his leadership pac or to set aside any debt that he developed during the campaign season. so that's one reason. >> cynthia, thank you for breaking that down state by state. thank you. >> that was fascinating look at every state. let's turn and get a look at the weather with dylan. >> hey, good morning, guys taking a look at the states out here, we do have mostly clear skies right through the middle of the country, although it's getting unsettled in the pacific northwest with rain and snow also a little unsettled in the northeast too. spotty showers and lots of clouds this morning.

as we head into the weekend, we'll see a line of rain develop right through the middle of the country. it's windy behind that system. if you're watching the masters this weekend, it looks real nice in augusta, lots of sunshine, temperatures in the 70s. on sunday that rain won't move in until later but in the northeast we'll see late day rain it moves in by afternoon and we aren't just looking for the rain but winds are gusty as well. it will certainly feel like fall with temperatures only in the 30s and 40s. good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. as we take a look at the incoming rain and the time line, we're mostly seeing the rain in the north bay through at least the early afternoon. here we are taking it to 6:00 and some light showers starting to spread across the bay area, to the east bay as well as the peninsula and then tapering off as it approaches the south bay after subset this evening. we are going to see some drier weather through the weekend. by saturday into sunday we're only looking at high temperatures reaching into the

upper 60s. >> and that's your latest forecast back to you guys. >> all right, dylan, thank you. coming up next, a lot of you are sending well wishes to al. you're asking how is he doing, my mom included, how's he doing? we've got some good news to share coming up right after this that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis, 75% clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight

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is now even more powerful. the stronger, lasts-longer energizer max. you know what it's time for? it's time for good news. craig and carson have joined us. we have an update on our dear al roker. >> that's right. as many of you know, uncle al recently announced that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this week he had surgery to treat what appeared to be a more aggressive form of the cancer >> well, as hoda mentioned, some good news to report this

morning. al is at home and al being al, he shared a new message on social media along with some photos with his wife, deborah, and his son, nick. our buddy wrote in part relieved to let you all know that my prostate cancer surgery is done and back home. a big shoutout to everyone at the josie robinson surgery center and so appreciative of all the thoughts and wishes from our viewers and the wonderful care packages from our many co-workers hope to see you soon and also pleased to report was able to communicate with him a couple of times this week and he's back to his old self. still cracking jokes had the audacity to actually call and check on me a couple of days ago al is in good shape, guys. we're very happy about that. >> we know that dylan sent over some delicious hot soup and willie and i had a chance to facetime with him this morning

he was in rare form. cooking for nick. he is busy. >> he's up making breakfast, can't talk he's unbelievable. coming up, move over black friday, this year it is cyber november an entire month of deals with vicky nguyen, next this year, walmart turned black friday into deals for days. starting saturday, 11/14 score deals like $139 shark stick vacuum in-store and online. let's end the year saving bigger. ♪ when panhe doesn't justs mmake a pizza. he uses fresh, clean ingredients to make a masterpiece.

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a very good morning to you. it is 7:56. i'm laura garcia. here is a look at what's happening now. good morning, everyone. i'm scott mcgrew. nbc news has called arizona for joe biden, the first democrat to win in that state in decades. that adds to biden's total but does not change the math on the overall presidential election in the sense biden was already above 270 and will be the next president of the united states. >> reporter: i'm kris sanchez with what folks say they're doing with thanksgiving. about half a million californians say they will fly. about 6 million californians say they will drive according to aaa, fewer than last year. seven out of ten americans say they plan to stay home according to the american hotel and lodging association. bay area public health leaders are recommending quarantine for anyone who travels or gathers

with people outside their household. in southern california and chicago mayors are issuing stay-at-home advisories. i want to check in with meteorologist kari hall. she has a look at our forecast that includes some rain. >> yeah, we'll see that rain moving into the south bay. for the north bay it's starting to creep in and we've seen those light showers. we'll be tracking it on storm ranger throughout the day. as we get a look at our hour-by-hour look, the rain at 1:00 in the afternoon. once again making its way south at about 4:00 to 5:00 later this evening. laura? all right. another local news update in half an hour. hope to see you then. [ whispering ]

what's this? oh, are we kicking karly out? we live with at&t. it was a lapse in judgment. at&t, we called this house meeting because you advertise gig-speed internet, but we can't sign up for that here. yeah, but i'm just like warming up to those speeds. you've lived here two years. the personal attacks aren't helping, karly. don't you have like a hot pilates class to get to or something? [ muffled scream ] stop living with at&t. xfinity can deliver gig to the most homes.

it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, guess who's not coming to dinner the mayor of chicago makes a big announcement. >> you must cancel the normal thanksgiving plans >> new restrictions in place as coronavirus cases surge from coast to coast this morning, where we stand on a vaccine as officials work to stop the spread. plus, move over black friday, here comes cyber november a look at how some of the best holiday bargains are already under way. >> we are seeing a lot of fantastic deals this early in the season. >> just ahead, we'll show you

how to save big right now. and this is mandy, the one and only mandy moore will join us live to talk about her new music, season five of "this is us" and her next big role, becoming a mom today, friday, november 13th, 2020 >> from newbury, massachusetts -- >> celebrating kennedy's fifth birthday. >> with the "today" show >> on "today," we wish john. >> kelly. >> don, happy birthday anniversary. >> hey, "today" show, it's our 44th anniversary here in haines, alaska woo-hoo! >> yay >> a lot of love that's blake and gwen singing to us this morning. thank you for starting your day with us this friday. willie in for savannah taking some much-needed time off. we can't wait to visit with those families at the end of the show.

>> it's snowing up in haines, alaska celebrating their anniversary and it is a good friday. >> it does make you feel good. let's get right to your news at 8:00, the nationwide explosion of new covid cases has the mayor of one major city urging people to crack down once again. nbc's gabe gutierrez is in chicago with the very latest hey, gabe, good morning. >> reporter: hoda, good morning. chicago's mayor says the situation here in dire the city is reporting more than 15,000 new cases this week deaths here have tripled over the last month, so now the mayor is issuing a 30-day stay-at-home advisory starting monday lori lightfoot is pleading with residents to remain at home except for essential activities and urging people not to host any gatherings at all, including over thanksgiving. cases are rising across the midwest and california has now become the second state after texas to hit the 1 million mark for covid cases. some schools in the northeast are also considering whether to cancel class and go back to all virtual, but there is some positive news.

federal health officials have now reached an agreement with major pharmacy chains to provide and distribute free coronavirus vaccines once they're approved and made available to the public, likely next year hoda. >> gabe gutierrez for us, gabe, thank you. this morning another state has been added to the win column for president-elect joe biden. and the election process itself has won an important vote of confidence nbc white house correspondent kristen welker joins us from wilmington, delaware kristen, good morning again. >> reporter: hi, willie, good morning again to you president-elect joe biden is forging ahead with his transition and that win in arizona allowing him to expand his delegate lead. it does come as president trump is continuing to spread falsehoods about the vote online, including on twitter, amplifying a conspiracy theory that's being pushed by the far right that is alleging that some

votes were manipulated in favor of biden this stunning rebuke now from his own cybersecurity officials who have said, quote, the election was the most secure in american history, adding there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised. now, the trump administration is still withholding resources and intelligence briefings from biden, and now a growing number of republicans say that's not right. take a listen. >> i do think that both the president and his -- and his competition here, vice president biden, should have access to those classified reports. >> reporter: also overnight, china now congratulating president-elect biden on his victory saying, quote, china respects the choice of the american people. biden will continue to huddle here with advisers in delaware president trump remains at the white house and he has not spoken publicly in seven days now. willie. >> kristen welker, thank you very much. the countdown is set for

tomorrow's historic launch of a manned spacex mission from the kennedy space center the privately built falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to carry three astronauts and a japanese colleague to the international space station. this will be the first operational launch as part of nasa's commercial crew program in partnership with outside contractors. officials in florida are expecting as many as a quarter of a million spectators to watch the nighttime launch in person. electric scooters seem to be everywhere these days, but one model seems to cast a spell on everyone who sees it two harry potter fans in brazil conjured up these broomstick scooters they attract a lot of attention. the broom handle helps steer the scooter, it goes up to 35 miles an hour. these mechanical wizards hope to market that invention. they want to sell it for about $740. >> look at the slow mo shot there. do you have to be a harry potter fan to get one of those?

>> probably. we've covered the news how about a morning boost. >> i've got a little boost for you. we have a follow-up to the story of chris nickich he was the first athlete with down syndrome to complete an iron man triathlon he endured swimming, a 112-mile bike ride and a full 26-mile marathon his mom was too sick to attend and so this week, chris took along his medal and he paid her a visit. >> congratulations >> hey >> oh, i'm so proud of you oh, i'm so proud look at that you're putting it on me? ahh, i love you. >> so chris had always promised his mom that the first medal he won would be hers. so now he has his sight set on his next iron man triathlon championship in hawaii.

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♪ since pioneering the suv in 1935, the chevy suburban has carried many things. nothing more important than family. introducing the most versatile and advanced chevy suburban and tahoe ever. carson, as we turn to today's holiday consumer. >> well, today marks two weeks to the traditional black friday, but just like everything else in 2020, even that shopping bonanza has changed a little. >> nbc correspondent vicky nguyen has your inside look at what to expect and we can be scoring deals as we speak. >> good morning, everyone. consumers in the past, we've always been able to find great deals on black friday. but this year because of the pandemic and concerns about crowded stores, many retailers are offering those deals right now.

so say good-bye to one black friday and hello to cyber november it's a sight we see every black friday shoppers camping out overnight for sales, bargain hunters scrambling over each other reaching for rock bottom deals this year seven in ten consumers surveyed say they're shopping early, making scenes like this less likely this season. and this year retailers are offering deals earlier and making it easier to shop from your home. in fact 80% of consumers say they do plan to shop online this year trey is a retail expert who says black friday is becoming cyber november. >> should we be shopping early >> we are seeing a lot of fantastic deals this early in the season target, walmart, amazon, best buy, home depot and many others are already rolling deals throughout the month of november. >> reporter: amazon kicked off the season with a later than usual prime day and is rolling out daily deals at

amazon.com/holidaydash bed, bath and beyond is offering an online only deep discounting on a single product. every day now through december 24th. it is easy to spot. just look for the big red tab at the top of the screen. lowe's is offering a daily discount at lowes.com/cybersteel they are offering $5 off just for signing up both lowe's and home depot's deals go until december 2nd. looking for that high-tech gadget best buy is debuting a month of daily deals. >> just go to bestbuy.com and click on this yellow shop now tab. consider joining their free loyalty program so you can get early access to the best deals that start on november 16th. walmart is rolling out what they're calling deals for days online and in-store deals are announced at midnight and 7:00 p.m. eastern time on specific days target has week-long deals at

weekly ad@target.com check for updates on thursdays which then go live sunday for the whole week. pace yourself. even with all the sales, some of the best deals still might come later. >> there are certain categories that i would maybe wait on for black friday, cyber monday, and that would be the electronics category at large. things like tvs, appliances, laptops, tablets i think that fall apparel deals will deepen at black friday and i expect to see a lot of beauty deals over that cyber week as well >> and if you are going to shop right now, our expert says she's been seeing great deals in kitchen accessories and smartphones because apple's competitors dropped their prices after the announcement of that iphone 12. >> there is so much to keep track of there's a lot out there. so how do you like stay on top of it? >> yes one thing that you can really do is if you have a favorite store, you should sign up for their emails, their loyalty program, it's free. you can always cancel right after the holiday season and unsubscribe. also if you have a specific

product in mind, slickdeals.net monitor a bunch of different vendors and will send you an alert once the price drops on what you want. >> so if we're googling around trying to keep track of the best deals online, what's the best way to make sure you're getting the best one. >> something i've been using is this honey browser extension so that is basically just working in the background of your computer looking for coupons and then you'll get a notification in your shopping cart and they're monitoring all kinds of retailers, including amazon and the ones we featured in this story. so it's just one little extra thing that takes you over the top and helps you save when you're ready to check out. >> you'll be back every day next week to guide us through a holiday like we've never seen before, everything from navigating a zoom thanksgiving to hosting a small and safe thanksgiving meal and of course more shopping strategies and how to get those packages on time. eat your wheaties, girl. >> i've got to go. i've got work to do. >> thanks so much. we'll see you next week. right now let's head over to dylan for a look at the weather. >> good morning.

it's still hard to believe we are focusing on the tropics after a record-breaking season we have this tropical disturbance here, invest 98-l. there's a 90% chance it will become a named storm in the next two days if it does so, it will become iota, that is the next letter in the greek alphabet still being with warm waters for this to likely develop into a tropical storm or at least a tropical depression. across the rest of the country, we do have just really chilly temperatures 30s and 40s and some 50s in there, so it certainly feels more like november that cold front that brought a lot of that really heavy rain to the southeast yesterday, it's still trying to clear the east coast. once it does, we'll see increasing sunshine. although temperatures are chilly on the back side of it we are also dealing with a pacific storm that's bringing a lot of rain, several inches along lower elevations and higher elevations could see mo >> good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. we are track something incoming

rain on storm ranger. we'll be seeing this moving from north to south as we go into today. but not a whole lot of rain. so it's kind of falling apart as it approaches the bay area. but we're expecting some of the heaviest rain in the north bay and then some light showers for the rest of the bay area as we go into this evening. it's all out of here by tomorrow. we're in for some clear weather for the rest of the weekend. as we go through the forecast, we are looking at some drier weather coming up. >> all right this is the point in the show you really start missing al. because i am doing football. the ravens are headed up to foxborough to take on my patriots they're doing all right, right >> eh. >> we're going to see some rain move in in the second half of the game very, very windy temperatures about 50 degrees. so not the best weatherwise. either way, you can catch it at sunday night football sunday night starting at 7:00 eastern >> there it is. >> that was an awesome attempt, dylan. >> it's a baby raven flying in

the air. ka-qaa. >> that's all i could do. >> let's go to carson and check with popstart. >> that is good stuff. all right, we've got a lot to get to, happy friday, everybody. we'll start with harry styles. he is gracing the cover of december's "vogue" issue harry, the first male to ever be on the cover solo. he's sporting a gucci jacket and dress for the cover shoot. always trying something new when it comes to fashion, we know that about harry we have a few more images inside that december issue. a family portrait, harry and his sister, gemma, inside harry talking about his fashion clothes and wearing clothes meant for both men and women any time you're putting barriers up in your own life, you're just limiting yourself. there's so much joy to be had playing with clothes i've never thought about it. what it means becomes this extended part of creating something. we've always loved harry around here the last concert we had before the pandemic was harry styles, monster crowd out on the plaza and i remember the one

passionate harry styles fan we gave tickets to to an upcoming harry show well, here, watch. >> harry noticed that you were crying he's going on tour this summer and he'd like to give you vip tickets. don't hurt yourself, don't hurt yourself are you okay no, i'm not kidding you. that's from mr. styles. >> i love you! >> harry, too bad you don't have any enthusiastic fans here today, i'm sorry >> wow that was awesome >> good stuff. down goes frazier. good stuff. i can't wait to get back to those days. next up, fresh prince of bel air is getting a reunion will smith is posting this new trailer just minutes ago showing the whole cast back together there's a tease of the original aunt making an appearance. >> nobody ever asks me if i

could act. >> and you couldn't. >> i had no aspirations to act. >> just turned down the show literally ten times. >> will is very good at talking me into things >> there's a new sitcom with a rapper pass >> i couldn't celebrate 30 years of fresh prince without janet. >> wow >> oh. >> nobody wanted to do that show and it ended up being one of the most successful, fun shows to watch. the trailer also showing -- that's james avery who played uncle phil on the show it looks fun that special debuts on hbomax tk november 19th. not too long to wait for that one. and also, the weekend has been booked as probably one of the biggest things that you can get around these days.

weeknd the singer will be headlining next super bowl's halftime show writing performing on the iconic stage, see you february 7th, 2021 he was topping billboard charts. there's no word on anybody else who can be joining him on stage or what the super bowl will look like then but it's going to be a great show he has so many features on his songs. if you think about his halftime show, you could see drake being there, you could see beyonce being there, travis scott being there. >> wow >> it should be good. finally, we've talked about dolly parton in popstart like every day this week multiple times. >> rightfully so. >> willie was joined by dolly. you'll see it this weekend when you're watching your sunday sitdown show we'll all be watching and you guys covered a lot of topics the christmas album and the records, featured duet with another music legend >> "pretty paper" which is your

duet with willie nelson, and i didn't realize that he wrote that song. >> well, he did write that song. it's been one of my favorite songs for so many years. i said, willie, would you sing "on pretty paper" with me because i love the song. he said are you crazy? of course i'll sing it not only that, he played that guitar. >> a national treasure, as we said truly, truly i'm talking about you, willie. >> does she have a little crush on you >> dolly parton? that would be news to me >> i thought that was the rumor i heard. >> by the way, a duet with dolly parton and willie nelson, that's a lot of american icon in one place. >> that's sunday sitdown with willie geist please check it out. >> it's going to be great. straight ahead, mandy moore is joining us to talk about her new music and shooting "this is us" with a growing baby bump >> hey, mandy. plus, we are serving up a terrific tailgating at home menu on "today" food loves football first, your local news

good morning. i'm marcus washington. a decision late last flight from fremont schools voted to narrownarrow ly sever a sponsorship program with the police. the partnership had been in place for 20 years. over the summer a task force started looking into the idea of redirecting that money. fremont's mayor hopes the city council and school board can meet to perhaps work out a way to save the program. let's get a look at the forecast for you on this friday. meteorologist kari hall has been track something rain. >> we're so excited to see that rain on a friday.

it's going to move in here and out fairly quickly. let's go through the timeline. we're going to see some of the rain approaching from the north, and a lot of it getting lighter as we go into this afternoon and to the evening. but it's going to clear out in time for our saturday and then we'll see temperatures reaching into the upper 60s. even low 70s as we head through early next week while san francisco has some upper 50s over the next couple of days. and once again, the rain, mostly moving in through much of the bay area later on this afternoon. marcus? >> thanks, kari. we'll have another local news update coming up in 30 minutes. i'll see you back here then.

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guys, it's friday the 13th don't worry, nothing scary about our my today plaza crowd we see smiles, we see anniversaries and birthdays, a lot of love. the weekend is almost here we'll visit with those fine folks in just a bit. >> can't wait to talk to them in a minute. just ahead, another ray of sunshine, mandy moore. she is keeping very busy these days she's got new music, a baby on the way, of course still shooting "this is us." we are very excited to catch up with mandy in just a minute. plus we brought in a barbecue master for today food loves football

rodney scott has terrific recipes for tailgating at home, including sliders and wings. can't wait for him to show us how it's done. he's getting ready there and we're also working on a busy third hour of "today" including more of that interview carson shared yesterday. keir simmons sat down with "the crown" cast. they're talking about the new season and the possibility that the real royal family may be watching. plus we are packed with stars next week on "today," just a small tease here matthew mcconaughey, melissa mccarthy and can't get enough of dolly parton. right now why don't we check the weather with dylan. >> a big, big storm in the pacific northwest. we're going to see all that moisture make its way onshore. it's coming in the form of rain from seattle right down into portland we are going to see some mountain snow, especially in the higher elevations where we could see up to a foot of snow that cold front will move in, bring that snow to the northern rockies, the cascades, and that continues to move to the east before a second one brings another round of heavy rain as

early as saturday afternoon. so we're going to see a lot of rain going into the weekend and some of that mountain snow elsewhere across the country it is chilly back through the middle of the country where temperatures are only in the lower 40s. in the northeast we'll clear things out through the day and finally drying out in the southeast after a very, very wet day yesterday with up to 10 inches in parts of north carolina >> good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall as we take a look at our seven-day forecast. we're going to have some upper 50s today and rain moving from north to south as we go into this afternoon. and by trges itomorrow, it's cl. mostly sunny skies and we'll warm up into the low 60s and 70s by next week. we'll be watching out for another chance of rain moving in tuesday into wednesday. san francisco will see temperatures in the upper 50s today. it will get milder by early next week. >> announcer: this portion of "today" is created with our

sponsor, citi. citi is proud to support transgender awareness week and today is the start of transgender awareness week we want to mention our sponsor, citi's, efforts in support of equality head to today.com to learn about all their ongoing efforts. tune in monday on the third hour as we continue to mark the week with a story about the story ab transgender transgender singer/songwriter behind some of the biggest chart-topping hits. >> look forward to that. coming up, guys, the one, the only mandy moore on "this is us" writing a christmas song with her hubby and another big project in the works those two are becoming parents

by harnessing california's abundant wind and solar energy, we have the power to take on climate change. use less from 4 to 9 pm to keep california golden. you can take a day off fromy worrying about your packages. (scanner beeping) (garage door opening) ♪ ohhh yeahhh! (scanner beeping) ♪ ohhh yeahhh! ♪ bow! bow! ♪ chicka-chickahh! (car horn beeping) ♪ chicka-chickahh! just connect your myq® app to key. ♪ ohhh yeahhh! get free in-garage delivery with myq® and key by amazon. ♪ bow! bow! ♪ chicka-chickahh! welcome back our next guest is known for playing a loving mom on nbc's hit show "this is us" and now she is stepping into that role in real life

she's getting ready to welcome her first baby mandy moore is live with us. mandy, good morning. >> good morning, hoda. >> okay. so i did the math a little bit you were with us in july and we were talking and you had a secret you were pregnant. how has pregnancy been for you >> i was i was harboring a secret i was so sick. it didn't help getting ready at 4:00 in the morning and i remember that morning i was sitting on the ground in my bathroom because i was so nauseous, putting on makeup going i wish people knew that i didn't feel well but i'm feeling much better now. i'm well -- almost in my third trimester so i'm good. >> we're so excited for you. a little baby boy on the way when you take a minute and you stop and close your eyes and daydream about what your life will be with that little boy of yours, what do you see >> it's hard to imagine.

you know, my husband is a musician and so the idea of being able to have music be this true line in his life is really exciting, to be able to bring him on the road with us is an exciting prospect, and the holidays we're sort of like at the beginning of the best season of the year i think about traditions and the way we're sort of going to be a family together is so exciting. >> are people giving you mothering advice what are you hearing from your friends or family members? what are they telling you? >> everyone wants to give you unsolicited advice i'm all for it i will welcome anything, because i know nothing i'm like a sponge, i want to soak it all up but it's funny having played a sort of matriarch of a family for the last five years and getting to sort of see children at various different chapters and stages, i feel like i'm as pseudoprepared as i can be. i have babies and toddlers and

adult children so i've gotten a pretty good taste and lay of the land. >> maria shriver actually gave me some advice when i adopted haley. i was bouncing her up and down she said what are you doing? i'm playing with her she said no, children need what you need, to be looked at, to be talked to, to be made secure i was like oh. everything was so crystal clear. but that's good stuff. well, you're still shooting "this is us" obviously, so how are you making things work with the baby bump? >> good question thankfully that's not my job to have to worry about, i guess very conspicuous costumes, i guess, to hide stuff i'm sure you'll see rebecca carrying a lot of laundry baskets and oversize purses and god knows what to the next couple of months

i've also heard that they can go in and digitally change things if need be but i'm guessing it will be a lot more shots -- less full body, probably just like what we're seeing today, chest up. >> i was looking at your husband's instagram page and he changed his bio. what it says there is future dad. i thought that was, first of all, so beautiful. you guys are working on music together >> yes. >> you've written christmas songs. what is that like working with him in the music world >> i mean i wrote my whole record "silver landings" with my husband. he's in my band. it only felt fitting thinking about the fact our tour was cancelled because of covid obviously, we wanted to like incorporate new music and kind of find someplace to funnel this creative energy. so i mean we've been spending every waking hour for the last eight months together so it just felt very fitting to be able to celebrate the holidays and incorporate a little bit of what we're all feeling about how

different this particular holiday season is going to be. it's so special to be able to share that connection of music together. >> by the way, i have to confess i dug a little bit into our vault because i was listening to an interview with you and they were saying that you got recognized for your acting skills when you were hosting trl with carson. >> yes. >> i was like, wait, what? so i just looked through, i founding these old pictures. i was looking for video. i'm looking at that little girl right there who was a music star at the time, didn't know she was going to be an actress, didn't know that she was going to ending up being on the hit shows, didn't know she was going to be pregnant what do you think when you look back at that young girl and just where you are today? >> i mean she had so much confidence she just didn't -- it's like when you're that age you don't know what you don't know and the idea now of being, you know, in front of like millions

of people on mtv and being in the middle of times square like with carson, it was a girl's dream but i can't believe this is my life there. >> and your cat is there. >> he always wants to be on camera he was on the last interview with us too. he's the life and he knows. >> i like a fig photo bomb any day. mandy, thank you so much thanks for getting up this morning and we can't wait to talk to you when your little baby is born. >> nice to see you of course. >> again, mandy's christmas song is available now of course and you can catch "this is us" tuesday nights right here on nbc. thank you, mandy. >> thank you. coming up next, we'll get you ready for the weekend watching football at home with new spins on two classics, sliders and wings. california phones offers free specialized phones... like cordless phones, - (phone ringing) - big button, and volume-enhanced phones. get details on this state program. call or visit

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if you can't afford your medicine, and accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. - ( phone ringing ) - get details on this state program call or visit we are back at 8:43 with "today" food loves football. we are whole hog to tailgate. >> nothing goes better with

football than barbecue this morning we've got a pit master ready to show us how its done rodney scott is the man. his whole hog barbecue in birmingham rodney, it's good to see you this morning, your restaurant is looking great. let's talk some food for sunday football what do you want to start with >> good morning, everybody how y'all doing? >> we're doing good now that you're here. >> great, great, great coming to you live from birmingham location, rodney scott whole hog. we're going to talk about sliders, okay? >> okay. >> our sliders, we did it with the rib eye. you want to undercook your beef a little bit so you can heat it up in the skillet.okay. >> are you going to tell us anything about what's in your rub for the ribeye >> a whole lot of love is in there, bro

a lot of stuff we've caught some horseradish mayo, again, representing baltimore. yeah then we have rod's other sauce >> what is that? >> he won't tell you >> this is our apple cider/ketchup base slider. >> did you see the level of that >> that looks real good. >> oh, you should taste it >> you should taste it >> you should. so next we've got wings representing the new england patriots we've got some wings here. we smoked our wings, we cook our wings for about 30 minutes at 250. you want to flash fly them be careful going in.

you want to go in slow and you only need about three minutes on these, maybe four and you take them and you're going to toss them in the buffalo sauce. so this is representing the new england patriots and the sliders will represent the baltimore ravens if i had to choose, i would say -- i'm going to say the ravens tonight don't be mad at me. >> sorry, dylan. >> rodney, you do the wings on the pit first for 30 minutes at 250 and then you fry them quickly after that >> you let them cool down. let them cool off a little bit and just flash fry for about three minutes. when you're putting them on the pit, you don't want to stack them, you don't want to overlay them like wood, you want to spread them out and let the heat go around them. >> when you're frying chicken wings, how do you know when they're done just when they're nice and golden brown on the outside? >> you want to always make sure that they're cooked internally

as well. when you're frying wings, we're using jumbo wings, and we go three minutes after they have been smoked at 250 for 30 and you want to make sure that the internal temperature is well above the safety point you don't want to just fry them until they're golden brown. >> after you fry them up, what goes next? >> after you fry them up, you take them and dip them in this buffalo sauce here. >> that's it >> yes you just toss them here you go. there's those wings right there. that's the finished product. >> that's beautiful. >> what's the dipping -- people go bleu cheese or ranch? that can start a whole war >> i'm personally -- i'm personally a bleu cheese kinda guy. yeah >> rodney, that was great, huh, hon. >> thank you >> no wonder it's called whole hog.

rodney, thank you so much. great dishes there ribeye representing baltimore and the wings for new england. who's going to win that game i think it will be new england so anyway, rodney, thank you all those recipes, today.com/food and don't forget to catch the ravens and patriots, it's anybody's game, sunday night right here on nbc would you like to make the sound of a small dying raven, dylan? 7:00 p.m. eastern. we love you, uncle al, we miss you. we're back in a moment, guys we'll go to our big board and meet some "today" show fans and friends. (garage door opening) it is my father's love... it is his passion- it is his fault he didn't lock the garage. don't even think about it! been there, done that. with liftmaster® powered by myq®, know what's happening in your garage- from anywhere.

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you can take a day off fromy worrying about your packages. ♪ ohhh yeahhh! just connect your myq® app to key. ♪ ohhh yeahhh! get free in-garage delivery with myq® and key by amazon. it is time for my today plaza. let's put up the beautiful big board. we are going to head in to -- where's jersey city, and where is leslie and her daughter, erica? >> hi, hoda! >> hold on, this is very, very important.

erica, what was your mom's 50th birthday wish? >> so she asked for two things she asked for a willie mug, which got here, and then to be on the virtual plaza but i had to be with her so thank you so much for making this happen for her and making her 50th birthday so special. >> can you believe, guys, this is timing. willie just happened to be filling in today, and you guys only wanted big willie. >> it worked out erica, that's a good-looking mug. happy birthday we also have sunday today slippers so stay on the line and we'll send you a pair of slippers giving stuff away now. >> we should point out, leslie is an essential worker she's been working through the pandemic hats off to you. keep that willie head close. >> thank you, leslie happy birthday >> love it >> let's put the big board back up and, you know, we've got

another birthday where's kennedy? kennedy is turning 5 today >> kennedy >> kennedy is from massachusetts. kennedy, what did you want most for your 5th birthday? >> what did you want most? >> i wanted -- >> okay. we got you a willie geist mug. incredibly disappointing birthday. >> happy birthday, kennedy. >> let's sees diehls they from kingsville, texas. >> wait, where are the diehls? oh, yeah, there you are. looking good, guys. >> also, alice. she is turning 8 today. >> where are you, alice? >> happy birthday, alice. >> alice, you're looking beautiful. >> we go to ontario where the

dejuan family is and then we'll go 3700 miles from where we are standing right now to alaska, to craig and sherri, who are shouting out uncle steve and aunt jane and aunt jane is in astoria and all sorts of people there. happy anniversary to you two. >> thank you >> what are you guys going to do today? >> we're doing it. >> we're going to plow snow. >> happy anniversary, guys >> thank you >> you're welcome. today.com/mytodayplaza. >> it's a great crew. dylan, now you've got more birthdays to celebrate. >> we love celebrating on a friday so let's spin around those smuckers jars and get started. first up, happy 100th birthday to john everhart, a fisherman from york springs, pennsylvania. he loves to tell stories get this, he wrote a self-published book about his hometown i'll have to get a copy of that.

mike awebinof bristol, connecticut is 100, and we salute you for your service. happy, happy birthday. happy 100th birthday to miss boots benson she said the secret to longevity is staying connected to family harry kass especially is also 100 and he and his wife just celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary. happy birthday and congratulations! nice job mary jo shamas of altoona, pennsylvania is also 100. her secret to longevity, she says and i quote, dress classy and act sassy. and happy 104th birthday to vivian mclaughlin, a photographer from detroit, michigan she once photographed eleanor roosevelt in studio. >> all right, dylan. >> my gosh. >> we have our third and fourth hours coming up. willie, i think it would be important if you got a picture with leslie and erica. will you put leslie and erica up on the big board hold on, hold on, where are you. smile. >> happy birthday! >> y'all, we're going to figure out how to get you that picture because y'all are going to frame

it and put it up all right, coming up on the third and fourth hours, we'll have a conversation with dancing icon debbie allen. >> that's cool fun to be with you this morning. everybody have a good weekend. stay tuned for the third and the fourth hour. sunday today mugs for everybody. first, your local news and weather and slippers bye, everybody >> bye-bye >> have a good weekend

good morning. it's 8:56. i'm marcus washington. businesses across contra costa county are scaling back as the county regresses into the red tier of restrictions. as of midnight, many will downsize indoor capacity from 50% to 25% or 100 people, whichever is fewer. also, gyms will have to return

to 10% maximum indoor capacity. some indoor entertainment will also close all together. we're talking about movie theaters. they can operate at 25% capacity. starting at midnight in san francisco, no more indoor dining. that decision made by mayor london breed earlier this week due to the spike in cases there. happening now for us, our tom jenson is speaking with business owners already struggling economically about what kinds of hits they could take during the holidays. come experience the grand opening

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about the covid-19 virus.

it's real. it's dangerous. and we do know how to keep you and your loved ones safe. wear a mask. wash your hands. stay six feet apart. we can do this. if we do it together. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza, this is the third hour of "today." >> and a good friday morning, everyone. welcome to the third hour of "today." craig melvin working from home, sheinelle and dylan back in studio 1a on this friday the 13th. we are -- by the way, we're really happy to report that our dear friend, al roker, back at home, ladies. you saw these posts. this is a post of him and his wife, deborah. he posted with his son, nick, as well. and here's part o