>> the confirmation fight brewing over the cabinet. wipe the pick for attorney general and national intelligence could face an uphill battle, even with the gop control the senate. the investigation into a deadly explosion in a factory in louisville. wyatt had a history of safety issues. the wildfire threat explodes with high wind and dry conditions triggering new fire warnings across the northeast. our team is tracking the danger. the feds fight against inflation. still far from over. we will go live to cnbc with new data to see if there is any hope on the horizon for lower prices. he's got friends in get low places. why mark zuckerberg is teaming up with t-pain to serenade his wife. a moving show in sportsmanship. how high school runner showed the true meaning of competition in a viral moment it's

thursday, november 14th. "early today" starts right now. glad you are up early with me. i'm frances rivera. we begin with a meeting between presidents in the oval office. resident biden welcoming resident elects trump back to the white house. the two putting the bitterness of the campaign season behind them and focusing on a peaceful transfer of power. >> thank you very much. politics is tough. in many cases it's not a very nice world. but it is a nice world today and i appreciate it very much. a transition that so smooth, it will be as smooth as it can get. >> the president-elect announced he picked matt gaetz for attorney general. and tulsa gabbard as director of national intelligence. both choices seen as major surprises. brie jackson joins me now with reaction in d.c.. pre-, good

morning. people didn't hold back to the reactions. what are we hearing from the department of justice? he make it morning, francis. this twice has sent shockwaves through the justice department. current employees spoke anonymously to nbc news. one official called a selection, truly stunning. another labeled it, insane. one employee said, i'm struggling to find words. if confirmed gaetz would be tom -- become the top cop at the agency that elicited him for sex trafficking. the case was closed last year without charges and gaetz denies any wrongdoing. he was being investigated by the health ethics committee before resigning in congress yesterday. mr. trump described gaetz as one of his strongest defenders and a tenacious attorney. this could be one of the most difficult confirmations. some republicans are backing the choice while others have concerns. >> met gaetz and i, no question that there has been

differences. i completely trust president trump's decision-making on this one. at the same time, he's got to come to congress picks >> i just think it's silly. i believe that the president is probably rewarding them for being such a loyal soldier to the president. but the president is smart enough, and his team is smart enough to know that mr. gaetz will never get confirmed by the senate. mr. gaetz breaks things to break things. once he breaks it, he breaks it even more. that is somebody who should not be the attorney general of the united states. >> reporter: special counsel jack smith is expected to leave the justice department before the inauguration. a source familiar with the matter tells nbc news that smith simply ran out of time. the casey has been overseeing are nowhere close to trial and the doj has a long-standing position that it cannot charge a sitting president. question now is whether the final report detailing smith's findings will be publicly released. >> brie jackson forest, thank

you. let's get to the fallout over trumps nomination for national intelligence. the former house democrat turned trump supporter, tulsa gabbard, has long criticized u.s. foreign policy and has even been accused of echoing russian propaganda. meanwhile, ukraine said they are prioritizing security instead of territory for now let's go to matt farmer. good morning, matt. >> reporter: good morning. tulsa gabbard is a picture will be celebrated by the russian state media. for years now she has been accused of parenting lines that can be taken off of any russian broadcast over the past decade. for example, in 2022 she claims that the u.s. was funding the bio labs in ukraine. this is a well-known russian propaganda narrative, for for which there is no evidence. this drew criticism from both sides of the aisle, with republicans such as adam kinsinger and mitt romney accusing her of parenting russian propaganda. she has denied these claims consistently and even said

romney a cease and desist letter as a response. she claimed that her biolab comments were not the same as russian propaganda narratives because they talk about bio weapons labs. the united states has in fact supported civilian biological research labs in ukraine, but not weapons labs. russian media regularly tells their audience that the u.s. is funding ukrainian research into biological weapons that specifically target ethnic russians. her viewpoints are likely to put her at odds with a majority of the u.s. intelligence community. her position would oversee 18 agencies with a combined budget of $70 billion annually. also, -- reviews will likely conflict with other trump pics, such as marco rubio, who has been tapped as the incoming administration choice for secretary of state. meanwhile, in kyiv, officials are preparing for the arrival of the trump administration. ukrainian official speaking to the new york times yesterday saying they are tweaking their pick to prioritize western

security guarantees over territory. >> thank you. these cabinet nominees will need senate confirmation. and now we know who will be overseeing the process. publicans have elected south dakota senator john thing to be their new majority leader. nbc news has projected that republicans will take control of the chamber. and now nbc news has also confirmed that republicans will maintain control of the house as well, holding onto a narrow majority. house speaker mike johnson won the republican nomination on wednesday. putting him on track to hang on to his role. a full house vote will be held in the new year. this morning the fbi searched the home of the founder of a betting site, poly market. that's according to the new york times, citing three people with knowledge of the matter. the feds are investigating whether poly market broke the law when it allowed americans to bet on the results of the presidential election. a spokesman for the company told the times that the raid was, quote, obvious political retribution by the outgoing administration.

the u.s. attorney's office declined to comment. federal investigator's confirming this morning the chinese hackers reach several u.s. telecom providers. the fbi and -- say hackers stole wiretap data and access to private conversations of people who are primarily involved in government or political activity. nbc news has previously reported the hack allowed the chinese to target phones, connected to the trump and harris campaign. investigators in kentucky are trying to find the cause of a deadly explosion in louisville. it happened in a factory that makes natural food coloring. two employees were killed in the blast. another 11 were injured. a reconstruction team from the atf is in louisville to assist with the investigation. >> the most important part is going to be going through the % debris that's on site, trying to pinpoint exactly where the explosion came from. >> according to a government report and explosion of the same plant killed a worker back

in 2003. an investigation found that the accident was preventable. the plant has since come under new ownership. the current owner say they are cooperating with the pro. the northeast is still battling multiple raging wildfires and some may have been started intentionally. according to police, 20-year- old johnson coil, a volunteer firefighter on long island, was charged with arson and reckless endangerment for setting a fire. court records show he played -- pleaded not guilty. we are told he is a play -- polite and peaceful young man. firefighters are battling another brushfire in northern manhattan in a. heavily wooded park. the prolonged drought is feeling the blazes across the region. in new jersey officials issued a drought warning, urging residents to reduce water use.'s let's see if there's any rain on the horizon that could help. michelle is here with your

forecast. good morning, michelle. great to see you. unfortunately, it's not going to help everyone. it will help the mid-atlantic and carolinas. high pressure control will push the rain down to the south. we have rain on both coasts today. we have some valley rain once again along the west coast. some mountain snow once again. look at this cold front stretching from the great lakes into the tennessee valley, to the southeast. you can see heavy rain alongt this cold front where you see brighter colors. this is going to move off to the east. again, the high pressure is going to push that rain away from the northeast. this is what it looks like as we go throughout time today. the beneficial rain for parts of the midwest and mid-atlantic is going to move off to the east. the highest amounts of rain will fall in the carolinas. we have an area of low pressure that will develop and that will enhance the rainfall with that cold front we could see over two inches the 40s.

lots of sunshine there before some snow moves into northern maine tomorrow. then we are warm in the south central. you need some sunglasses there. 71 in dallas. that's your thursday forecast. >> thanks so much. the famous girl that was taken wasn't with rabies after all. the social sensation named peanut, saying -- illegally held wildlife. the official say the scroll it a state worker, prompting a need for the rabies test. thousands online are now demanding accountability. "early today" is back with the major fight against inflation and the deal to move grub onto a . new parent compan

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wall street is bracing for another key inflation reported after new data shows the fight is far from over. october consumer prices rose 2.6% from last year. markets were mixed on the news. the dow jumped about 50 points while the nasdaq fell about the same. karen is here with what to expect today. karen, good morning. >> good morning. that's right. we saw inflation pick up again in october, rising month on month at around 2.6% on the year. both of these readings were in line with expectations. but they did point to some stubbornness in texas, including shelter costs, which % account for a third of the reading. he continued to climb in october. now all investors will be looking today at the producer price index, which provides further reads on inflation. they're expecting a rise similarly on the month in october and that's from a flat reading in september. all this is going to feed into

how the fed is looking at interest rates going forward, particularly as they incorporate the new fiscal plans under the incoming trump administration. they will be taking a close look at how that is moving forward. elsewhere, we have seen european fast food delivery giant just eats take away the u.s. platform, grub hub, for $650 million. this comes just after a few years ago when the platform -- billions of dollars during the height of the covid pandemic when we saw the food delivery giant. a u.s.-based fast food fine dining platform is to take over the reins at grub hub and they say they've been looking for this for a while now. -- around 1% on the news at thursday morning in europe. >> as long as the food gets was hot and on time. now to new troubles for 23 and me. this is what is happening there . they are laying off some people. here is more on that report.

>> reporter: 123 and me launched years ago the promise was enticing. >> idna journey started here. >> millions of customers eager to upload their dna. but earlier this week the ceo warned investors that were there was substantial doubt that the company could keep operating. announcing it was cutting 40% of its workforce, 200 jobs, and it will stop development of its therapeutic division. this stock-price cratering 75% this year. while the company says it is looking to private and isn't looking to sell, some customers may be concerned about their very personal data. for people that want to erase their account, is that possible? >> yes. in the privacy policy it does say that individuals can request for their account to be closed. if that happens, they delete

the sample and delete the account. >> reporter: the financial update comes two months after % they filed a class-action lawsuit stemming from a 2023 cyber attack. data for 6.9 million customers was posted on the dark when. 23 and me agreeing to pay $30 million and give those customers three years of security monitoring. in a statement this week 23 and me says, we are committed to protecting customer data and are consistently focused on maintaining the privacy of our customers. that will not change. the future of their business may depend on it. nbc news. still to come, mark zuckerberg got low with t-pain for an anniversary gift for his wife. airbnb is giving away a chance to live like an ancient gladiator. gladiator. at least for a night.

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♪ >> mark zuckerberg serenaded his wife, priscilla, with . backup from t-pain. he wanted to honor the dating anniversary with the song that % was playing when they first met in college. so they teamed up under the stage name -- to create a masterpiece. you can stream it on spotify with proceeds going to the save the music foundation. mark zuckerberg, nonstop, spoils his wife. just last month he threw her this big disco party for her birthday. then he commissioned this wing sculpture of her. nonstop. every year he won up himself. >> i would appreciate this one. those words are hilarious. he had that swagger. i didn't know that. if you ever wondered what it's like to be a gladiator airbnb is giving you a chance. the company is hosting a once- in-a-lifetime experience inside

of the roman coliseum to celebrate gladiator to. the girls will get to suit up and historically accurate armor to put their skills to the quest -- test. from november 27th on airbnb's website. reservations will be made. this is something i never thought about. it would be fun. >> we've got all these fans waiting for and a competition. gladiator, coming out the same day. we will see who wins that. up next, the new study reveals how some weight loss drugs can curb alcoholism. starbucks is ringing in the holiday with the annual holiday with the annual reusable cup giveaway. austedo xr significantly reduced kate's td movements. some people saw a response as early as 2 weeks.

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finally this morning, a heartwarming story showing sportsmanship and strength. a high school cross country runner, carrying her competitor to the finish line in a viral moment. >> reporter: the girls cross country team at this high school knows how to finish strong. for keeley montgomery, the final ranks of the high school career, that looks a little different. the senior, approaching the finish line at the state championships. notice her competitor doubled over just short of the finish line after her legs gave out in the final stretch. >> she was on the ground. i just saw her and my first instinct and my first thought that came to my mind as i have to help her. i can't leave her. >> reporter: kaylee, exhausted from pushing through a 3.1 mile course at race pace, had been chasing down her pr from the year before. her dad, recording this video

and expecting his daughter's typical big finish to the end. but instead of picking up her pace she decided to pick up her competitor julia. she says her strength in that moment income from her training. >> if i was down and crawling jesus wouldn't pass me by. that's what was going through % my head, that i could leave her and passerby. >> reporter: kaylee and julia had never met but in a powerful moment the two created a team of their own. >> she started praying over me and it really did give me strength to finish and get up. every now and then i would look back up and see the finish line getting closer and she would say, we are almost there, we are almost there, which was really encouraging. >> the video of the finish getting over 3 million views. he's proud that his little girl is making strides to uplift others one step at a time. >> it's great for people to see that good things are happening in the world. there's still kindness, there's still love. they're still caring for one

another. >> reporter: others agree a few collegiate coaches reaching out to kaylee about scholarships. >> they were impressed with my time but t was also more of my sportsmanship and just carrying that i have for others around me. >> for julia it wasn't the finish she and her coach envisioned. >> she worked so hard. to get to a certain level. >> but what she won instead maybe even sweeter. >> this is an experience you can form a friendship on. by your actions alone, i can tell that she can be a great person and i definitely want to be friends with her. >> to top it off, she still scored a personal best. nbc news. >> kindness alwaysomes back ar cou news.

>> stay right there. more news on t