it just kind of exploded in the sense that when you look in south africa, you are having a low level of infection all of a sudden there was this big spike. >> dr. anthony fauci describing the origins of the new covid varnts called omicron. this morning, nations are closing their worders and joe biden has scheduled a speech on the u.s. response. another weekend of violent smash and grab heists. plus, one security guard is killed two major high profile cases are about to take off, including

the sex trafficking case of gill lain maxwell and outpouring from around the world is pouring in over the death of designer virgil ablow plus, the story of a bride determined the complete the walk of a lifetime. it's monday, november 29th "early today" starts right now good morning i'm frances rivera >> and i'm philip mena we begin with the latest on the newest coronavirus variant known as omicron starting today, the u.s. will restrict travel for non-u.s. citizens from south africa and seven other countries where the new variant was discovered also happening today, joe biden will hold a press conference regarding the white house's response to the new strain nbc's gabe gutierrez has more. >> reporter: good morning. here in new york, the governor has declared a state of emergency, taking effect later this week, to increase hospital

capacity all this as countries around the world are now scrambling to contain this new variant with the holiday travel season already underway, the u.s. is bracing for the new variant. new cases just confirmed in ontario, canada. joe biden meeting with members of his covid-19 response team and chief medical adviser dr. fauci. >> clearly, it has the capability of transmitting rapidly. that's the thing that is causing us now to be concerned, but also to put the pressure on ourselves now to do something about our preparation for this >> reporter: new u.s. travel restrictions for foreign visitors from south africa and seven surrounding countries take effect american citizens and lawful permanent residents are xemp officials trying to contain not just the variant but fear. >> there's no reason to panic, but a great reason to get boosted. >> reporter: u.s. officials spoke with south african

colleagues >> currently, there is no reason for panicking, as we don't see severely ill patients. so it started with the younger generation, and the most predominant clinical complaint is severe fatigue for one or two days, headache, body aches and pain >> reporter: authorities say it's too early to know whether the u.s. will need to impose new mandates to fight omicron. air travel can continue to be safe with covid cases rising in the u.s., demand for tests spiked last week ahead of thanksgiving. one of the nation's largest labs says it should be ready for the holidays the pcr test does detect the new variant. >> at least on the diagnostic testing side, we should be well prepared to handle it. >> reporter: in that white house meeting, dr. fauci told joe biden it will be another two weeks or so before we get new data on the severity and

transmisability of the new variant. but he added existing vaccine will probably provide at least some protection against the more severe cases >> gabe, thank you from the u.s. to the global stage, the omicron variant has the world on edge, and countries are already taking measures to stop the spread. israel has banned the entry of all foreigners, and other nations have restricted travel from south africa. this comes as cases have been found in several companies i including the uk, germany, italy and canada for the latest, we turn to our correspondent in moscow. matt, good morning >> reporter: good morning. the list of countries where this has been detected is growing each day just to run through a few of them, canada, china, south africa, several nations in europe, including the uk and germany. it definitely gives the impression that omicron is

already global and it's just a matter of time before most nations detect cases so of course, we are seeing countries around the world scramble to try to stay ahead of this one israel, as you mentioned, implemented a two-week travel ban on all foreigners. japan today is moving to do the same thing they are implementing a border closure at midnight tonight. of course, complete border closures are just the most drastic option on the table for most countries the more common response we are seeing are targeted travel bans, essentially focusing on southern africa we saw the president of south africa lash out saying it's scientifically not justified of course, the w.h.o. continues to study the new variants. there's a lot of data that needs to be collected, but they have saying they are worried the mutations they are seeing in this variant allow for a high probability of immune escape so

everyone very much on edge >> certainly the concern as we go into the holidays matt, thank you. a security guard has been killed in oakland, california amid a string of robberies a local news team with kron 4 was covered a smash and grab, when an assailant tried to steal a camera he died saturday a $32,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest investigators released this image of a car they believe is connected to the shooting. the los angeles sheriff's department says four people have been arrested after a home depot was looted about eight suspects were seen carrying out hammers and other tools friday night other cities saw lar crimes on black friday. in chicago, three stores were burglarized within an hour and two best buys in minnesota

hit by smash and grab robberiro. opening arguments in the trial of gilane maxwell starts today. several victims are expected to testify. here is more on what we can expect >> reporter: in just hours, opening statements set to begin in the trial steps from where convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein died. >> i think epstein's death makes the only opportunity to hold them accountable >> reporter: maxwell faces sex trafficking charges that could land her in prison the rest of her life the prosecutor painting her as a key figure in bringing a stream of girls as young as 14 to jeffrey epstein's estate for sexual abuse

>> in my opinion, she might have been just equally as bad as he was. >> reporter: jennifer told nbc news she was 15 when jeffrey epstein raped her, though she won't be one of the women to testify with allegations mostly from the '90s. will we see her testify? >> i don't know. there's a risk of testifying but i think they'll make it a game-day decision based on how they believe the government's case has gone in >> reporter: maxwell insists she's innocent, awaiting her trial from behind bars she described it as a living hell, saying i am weak, i am frail. her siblings pleading with the united nations for help to get her out, calling this unprec unprecedented treatment. >> they are treating her as guilty and they're hoping the authorities will put her away for 20, 30, 40, 50, 80 years well, let justice decide how that's going to be

>> reporter: the trial is expected to span six weeks but will leave a lot of unanswered questions around her and jeffrey epstein's relationships with big names, such as britain's prince andrew, and bill clinton it was the alleged hate crime hoax that sparked national attention. today, jury selection will begin in the trial of jussie smollett. he's accused of lying to chicago place when he claimed that he was the victim of a racist anti-gay attack back in 2019 investigators later discovered jussie smollett paid two brothers $3500 to fake the attack those brothers were also actors. they will take the stand, but it's unclear if smollett will. prosecutors claim smollett staged the entire thing to save his acting career. it was a showdown in sunday

night football a low scoring game in the first half, until this ridiculous catch in traffic to put the ravens in scoring position the ravens hold on to that lead and win 16-10. and to green bay, between the rams and packers >> the league's leading receiver, stafford going downfield for jefferson. he's got him jefferson, able to stay upright, and he is gone touchdown! >> los angeles was looking for some revenge after losing in lambeau in last season's playoffs but the packers never took their foot off the gas capitalizing on a 16-0 run in the third, putting the game out of reach for a comeback. green bay beat the rams 36-28. it was a wild finish in indianapolis, where the colts tied things up with under 4:00 to play. only for the bucs to sail down

the field in the final moments as leonard fournette finds the end zone for the fourth time of the day. the giants retired michael strahan's number 92. daniel jones here in the third, give the giants the 13-7 win over the eagles. and the patriots are winners of six in a row new england's defense shut the titans out in the second half, winning 36-13. mac jones stood tall sunday. and mixon's two scores helped the bengals beat the steelers by 31 points! and usc making waves on sunday by hiring lincoln riley for their head coach he was 55-10 as coach of the university of oklahoma now to today's weather with bill karins who is in for

janessa today. >> good morning. raet to see you guys most people had fantastic weather for their travel let's look at what we'll have to deal with. still tranquil weather, and a warm weather pattern for much of the country. the exception being the great lakes in the northeast still cool in those areas. so we start off today with record highs from the rockies possible all the way to the southern plains. it's going to be 60s in the dakotas today which is ridiculous even into wednesday, we're still very dry and warm through the middle of the country. not until the end of the week that we see snow coming down this is a very quiet transition from novembee lakes.

look at texas through oklahoma gorgeous, temperatures in the low 70s. i don't know about you guys, i don't like being the only area that's cold. >> we don't like it either, but not much we can do about it. but we're not haters we're happy for those who are in better weather >> 'tis the season >> thanks, bill. boston celtics big man enos kanter became a u.s. citizen today, changing his name to enos kanter freedom he's been outspoken about human rights issues in china and his native turkey. up next, tributes for a titan of the fashion world and matthew mcconaughey makes a big announcement about the race for texas's next governor cuum.. . is such a hass.

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jewish families kicked off their celebrations across the job. doug emhoff, the first jewish spouse of a u.s. president or vice president, spoke in washington, d.c. and in new york city, the world's largest menorah was lit next to central park the massive steel structure stands at 32 feet high and was built in 1973. in 2006, it gained a ftitle in the book of world records. >> virgil abloh died on sunday at the age of 41 after battling cancer his death was announced by the parent company of louist vuiton. he was a long-time director for kanye west, now known as ye. west dedicated his sunday service to abloh they had been working on

projects together since 2002 many people are praising abloh as a creative genius, including the ban bts, who wore his designs at the music awards just last week. matthew mcconaughey says he's not quite ready to try out for the role of governor just yet. >> as a simple kid born in a little town in texas, it never occurred to me i would be considered for political leadership it's a humbling and inspiring path to ponder it is also a path that i'm choosing not to take at this moment >> he announced yesterday on instagram that he will not run for governor of texas, despite polls showing he would have a serious shot he plans to focus on serving the people of his home state in other areas through foundations and nonprofits still to come, the cyber monday sales are kicking off this morning we'll have some of the hottest

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the power of love on full display at a wedding the bride stunned everyone with her unforgettable walk down the aisle. nbc's kate snow has the story. good morning, kate >> frances, this is a story about breaking barriers, and the love that gave one woman the power she needed to do what a lot of people once thought impossible this is what love looks like for 29-year-old bride chelsea hill, it meant finding the strength to walk down the aisle during her southern california wedding in september

>> why was it important for you to walk this one time? >> i wanted to stand eye to eye with him and confess my love and i wanted to be there heart to heart. >> these steps a surprise for jay bloomfield, one that moved him to tears >> you blow me away every single day. every single day >> jay, when you saw her, can you go back to that for me >> i just had this weird flood of emotions when she walked up to him i said something like, you blow me away every single day >> you are absolutely stunning look at you. >> reporter: the emotional moment a milestone for chelsea, who was paralyzed from the waist down following a car crash in 2010 when did you think i'm going to walk down the aisle? >> i promised myself, i started figuring out how to do this. i found these leg braces that

make my knees lock out so i started training with them. i thought i can do this. >> reporter: her can-do attitude extending to the couple's reception. where she surprised everyone again, creating an epic first dance with her dad her life-long dream of becoming a dancer on display with another routine she had been rehearsing for months >> dance has given me back so much more than i could have ever imagined ♪ ♪ >> reporter: she's giving back, too, as the founder of the rollettes, a wheelchair dance troupe, dedicated to empowering women with disabilities. breaking barriers in life -- >> you may now kiss your bride >> reporter: and now love. >> what do you want people to take away from that? >> as far as people with disabilities, don't look at us with limitations, because there's so much more that we can

do >> their next big project, guess what they would like to start a family of their own. >> at this point, they're going to do it kate, thank you so much. how amazing to remember that one day. >> you can see why jay fell in love with her. >> thas for startingnk

the mutation strongly suggests that it's going to have an advantage in transmisability and that it might evade immune protection >> and the world is take thing new omicron covid variant seriously. joe biden plans to address the nation later this morning with how the u.s. is responding in light of that growing global concern. millions on the move as the post thanksgiving travel surge heats up today after a lackluster black friday with in-store sales down 28%, we've got a preview of cyber monday with the deals you need to know about