another day, another controversial pick. president-elect donald trump tapping robert f. kennedy jr. to serve as the secretary of health and human services. a case that sent shockwaves through the nation oes to court. an age-old debate over parenting reigniting after a mother is arrested and charged for allowing her preteen son to walk into town alone. the onion wins the infowars. it is taking over alex jones' infamous website, the plan to spin conspiracy into comedy gold. and the fastest growing sport in the nation became a breakout sport for prisons around the county. it's friday, november 15th.

"early today" starts right now. good morning. glad you're with me this friday. i'm frances rivera. we begin with the latest picks for donald trump's new administration. the president-elect says he has chosen north dakota governor doug burgum for interior secretary, and robert f. kennedy jr. to lead the department of health and human services. >> reporter: with president-elect trump back home in florida, washington is reeling from some of his controversial picks to liedtke government agencies. the latest, robert f. kennedy jr., tapped to run the department of health and human services. the vaccine skeptic known to promote unorthodox health concepts dropped his own presidential bid to support donald trump. he selected matt gaetz for attorney general. he quickly resigned from the house.

that move halting a bipartisan house ethics committee review, though lawmakers in both parties want to see the results. gaetz also faced a lengthy federal criminal investigation for alleged sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl. prosecutors ultimately closed the case without charges, and he's consistently denied wrongdoing, while railing against the justice department he's now tapped to lead. >> the law fair we've seen against trump will do great damage. >> reporter: the president-elect saying gaetz will root out the systemic corruption at doj, while some argue mr. trump has a mandate, others joining democrats in raising deep concerns about both gaetz and the pick for national intelligence, tulsi gabbard. >> they live in this world of conspiracy theories. >> reporter: gabbard would advise the government's most

closely-guarded secrets and has been a vocal critic and has shared russian claims about ukraine that has been discredited by lawmakers. all eyes now on the senate, as a new majority leader navigates controversial recommendations. alice barr, nbc news. >> some of the cabinet picks face a very difficult path to confirmation. for more on the fallout on capitol hill, here's peter alexander. >> reporter: president-elect trump with more critical choices to come, including naming his economic team. as his set of picks are still sending shockwaves across washington. especially the selection of firebrand and now former congressman matt gaetz for attorney general. >> he's an accomplished attorney. he's very concerned about the law fare that has been occurring under the biden administration. >> reporter: gaetz has been

placing calls to senate republicans to get their read on his chances to get confirmed. one republican saying there's already enough opposition to sink his nomination. >> he's got a really steep hill to climb to get lots of votes, including mine. a lot of people will spend a lot of political capital. >> reporter: gaetz resigned his house seat, upending the house investigation into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, allegations he denies. >> i think there should not be any limitation on the senate judiciary committee's investigation. >> reporter: trump has repeatedly slammed the doj for what he says were political prosecution designed to derail his presidency and campaign, praising gaetz, who he says will end the quote, partisan weaponization of our justice system. >> law fare we've seen against

donald trump will do grave damage. >> reporter: some insist trump's entitled to the selections he wants. >> elections have consequences. >> as of today we've recaptured the house. >> reporter: also facing a battle, pete hegseth for defense secretary, a fox news host and decorated combat veteran. but democrats are questioning his readiness to lead the pentagon. >> he has no managerial experience. >> reporter: some republicans are defending the pick. >> the department of defense has been enormously mismanaged under the current regime. they need to stop working on pronouns.

>> reporter: then there's trump's pick for director of national intelligence, tulsi gabbard, who's also a military veteran. but some lawmakers have slammed her past meeting with syria's leader and accuse her of being too sympathetic to russia. >> someone who has aligned herself previously with russia, with syria, should not be in a position to have any of the information that is america's greatest secrets. >> reporter: gabbard speaking out. >> of course there's going to be resistance to change from the swamp in washington. i think that's kind of the point. the american people saying, hey, stop looking at yourselves, stop focussing on your own power, your own position, your own bank account. >> and our thanks to peter for that report. the trial of jose ibarra is set to begin today. he is charged of killing laken riley. she was found near running

trails at the university of georgia campus. her murder has added fuel to the debate over border security. ibarra entered the country unlawfully in 2022. he has pleaded not guilty and has requested a bench trial where a judge will decide his fate instead of a jury. he is facing life in prison without parole if convicted. now on to haiti. residents are fleeing their homes as gangs expand their control in port-au-prince. but it comes as the faa bans flights to the country for 30 days. now threatening civilians who rely on non-profit aid from abroad. marissa parra has more. >> reporter: masses of haitians are fleeing to safety, seen frantically packing their lives into cars. non-profits like agape haiti are unable to fly aid in. >> there's a massive concern. we've got 20,000 pounds of

supplies sitting on the floor that need to move. >> reporter: it was days ago whether a spirit airlines plane was struck by bullets seven time as it was preparing to land in port-au-prince monday, instead, diverting to the dominican republic, leaving one flight attendant hurt and dozens others terrified. the airlines halting all flights to haiti for a month. it's been three years since haitian president was assassinated and seven months since the prime minister resigned, leaving behind a vacuum of power. gangs have been violently fighting for control ever since. the transitional council fired the interim prime minister sunday. and on monday, as the new prime minister was being sworn in, the state department said gang-led efforts that erupted that day

led to violent disruptions to airports, seaports and roads. >> everyone is very concerned. and i think everyone is tired of the situation. >> reporter: doctors without borders says an ambulance was ambushed. vigilantes violently attacked the plan the ambulance as three young people were being rushed to the hospital. >> they are traumatized. shocked. it's really the first time, like the staff is directly assault or aggressed by anyone in i.t. and this is very shocking for us. >> reporter: the aftermath of the violence left port-au-prince paralyzed. offices, schools closed, and one in two haitians facing acute hunger. >> if we really have to stop or to stand by or activity, it will be a huge disaster for the

civilians here. >> reporter: haiti hasn't seen a presidential election in years. the embattled transitional council created this year, but trust is razor thin as violence wears on. close to 2700 people have been killed from the violence. time to look at the fire danger as we head into the weekend. good morning, angie. >> unfortunately, we're still dealing with prime conditions for fires to start and spread across the same region. we've got 42 million people under these red flag warnings and fire weather watches. drought conditions and elevated winds are something we deal with through the day today. you see the areas of concern do include boston, new york, stretching down into new jersey. these winds will be elevated through the day today. 25-30 mile-per-hour wind gusts. into portions of new york and pennsylvania as we get through

the day today. meanwhile, we've got tropical storm sara, moving west, sitting off the coast of honduras. we have tropical storm warnings in effect. the system is going to hug the coast there in central america over the next couple days and interact likely with the yucatan peninsula by monday. we are expecting it to dissipate by the time we get into early and oklahoma city. upper 70s for houston and san antonio. 71 degrees and mostly sunny in jacksonville today. and that's a look at your forecast, frances. >> we'll be ready for the weekend. thank you. coming up, a diamond necklace possibly linked to marie-antoinette has sold for nearly $5 million. but first, one georgia mom

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we are back with a georgia mother who is facing charges and potential jail time for not realizing her 10-year-old son walked into town alone. that raising questions over how much parenting is too little or too much. jasmine vossoughian has more. >> reporter: brittany patterson never thought taking her son for a medical appointment would result in a mugshot. >> what am i under arrest for? >> for reckless endangerment. >> reporter: the mother of four arrested in front of her children. >> the police are here and taking me to jail. i need you to come stay with the kids. it was anger and frustration of course, because my children were having to witness that. >> they're taking me to jail. >> i love you. >> love you too. >> reporter: while she was out with one child, brittany wasn't sure where her 10-year-old son was but figured he was around the house. instead, he had decided to take

a walk in mineral bluff, georgia to the dollar general, less than a mile from the house. >> it's really not even a town hardly. >> reporter: a rural rea, population around 370. >> it's not even dangerous stretch of road. >> reporter: but the catch, she didn't know her son had done that in a sheriff's deputy had called. >> when you got that phone call, hey, did you know your kid is in town, what did you think? >> i said no, i didn't know he was in town. i was not expecting them to say that. >> do you know a phone number for your mom? >> reporter: the sheriff's incident report says when the deputy called brittany, she recalled when it was time to leach that morning she quote, couldn't find him anywhere, but she feltleaving, given that this grandmother lives less than a mile away. she now faces jail time and a

thousand dollars fine. brittany was, at she put it, at her wit's end. her lawyer was asked to sign a safety plan for her son, including a gps tracker before prosecutors would dropping the charges. >> this is not right. i did nothing wrong. and i'm going to fight for that. >> reporter: jasmine vossoughian, nbc news. still to come, a tough sell for alex jones. how the onion is eating up infowars. and snl's next guest is getting bratty ahead of the weekend. keep it here. f the weekend. keep it here.

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>> hi, i'm charli xcx, and i'll be the musical guest on snl. >> what's your real name? >> i never tell anyone this, it's charleston 10 110. >> my real name is actually

marcelonian dingellhammer. >> her hosting debut comes on the heels of her brat summer that set the internet on fire. t was all brat when it came to everything, especially the election. we'll see what their take is going to be on that. but no, no doubt when it comes to just the performance and hosting, she'll kill it. >> you know she has a eat sense of humor. the onion has officially won the bank ruptcy auction for ale jones' infowars. he till owes $1 billion for calling the sandy hook shooting a hoax. the onion now plans to relaunch the site in january with satire

aimed at conspiracy theorists, this of course turning it on its head but more importantly going to get the money to those families that are so deserving of it. >> and on the side, i guess when it comes to the onion, people that are fans will still be living with this kind of content. when we come back, a major fine for a recall. and amazon is dropping new tvs in time for the holidays. ew tvs in time for the holidays. old spice gentleman's super hydration body wash. (whispered) vanilla and shea. 24/7 moisturization with vitamin b3. (knock on the door)

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the fastest-growing sport in the country is also breaking out in prison. pickleball is helping incarcerated people find hope at dozens of prisons across the country, including san quentin and california. kathy park has the story. >> reporter: san quentin state prison built its reputation housing criminals considered the worst of the worst and once had the largest death row in the country. convicted murderers, drug dealers and rapists are still serving lengthy sentences. >> i'm in here for 20 years for three counts of attempted murder. >> reporter: as the incarcerated attempt to make amends for their crimes, san quentin is on a new path toward overhauling correctional culture one whack at a time. >> we love the sport so much. we love it. >> a place in my heart. >> yeah. everybody's getting so addicted to it. >> reporter: pickleball, the fastest-growing sport in the u.s. is also breaking out in

prison. >> my whole incarceration, i avoided sports, because that's a potential point of conflict that could lead to violence. >> reporter: but pickleball appears to be a positive force, bringing rival gang members, even the warden, together for an unlikely matchup. >> now i get a chance to break the barrier. >> reporter: do you see the inmates differently because of the game? >> i try to see them as a human being. >> reporter: recent data show at least 95% of state prisoners will eventually be released. and more than 65% rearrested. in california, officials have identified the importance of rehabilitation inside prisons to help break the cycle. that approach includes cultivating unique programs from film making to podcasting. and now, accessible activities like pickleball are catching on. >> eventually, these guys are going to be your neighbor. do you want us to lock them up for those ten years and treat them poorly and then one day let

them out? and, you know, they were burglars and murderers and rapists when they came in, what are they going to do after ten years of just being stuck in their cell. >> reporter: is pickleball the solution you think? >> i think it's a solution, . it's fun. >> reporter: roger bel-air has been introducing it to prisons. expanding the game to 40 prisons across 11 states plus the nation's capital. serving up second chances in the unlikeliest of places. kathy park, nbc news, san quinton, california. we thank you so much for ending the workweek with "early today." i'm frances rivera. have a great friday and an even better weekend. see you back here next week. bac.