breaking overnight. president biden pardons his son hunter in a stunning reversal. the move clearing years of legal

trouble. including a guilty verdict in his gun case. we're live with why he changed course after repeatedly saying he would not use the executive action. more turbulence for a trump cabinet pick. the blistering e-mail about the president-elect's choice for pete hegseth, penned by his own mother. a record-breaking weekend for holiday travel. michelle grossman is t tracking the conditions for anyone heading home today. tis the season for a crime spree. the rise in shipping warehouse break-ins, and why authorities say this could be the biggest days of the year for burglaries. and the bills go dashing through the snow to seize their fifth straight afc east title. as we kick off this monday, december 2nd. "early today" starts right now. good morning. glad you're with me. i'm frances rivera. we begin with breaking news.

a shock announcement from the white house. president biden pardoning his son hunter. hunter biden was set to be sentenced later this month on federal gun and tax evasion charges. the president had previously assured the public that he would not offer clemency. let's go to brie jackson. this is quite the reversal from the president. >> reporter: that's right, good morning, frances. ever since behind was convicted in june, the president has promised to not interfere in the case. let's take a listen to what he said back then. >> i am satisfied that i'm not going to do anything, i said i'd abide by the jury decision. i will do that, and i will not pardon him. >> reporter: but last night, president biden gave his son a full and unconditional pardon anyway. defending his decision in a statement, he said, quote, i believe in the justice system, but, as i have wrestled with this, i also believe raw politics has infected this process, and it led to a miscarriage of justice.

i hope americans will understand why a father and a president would come to th decision. a spokesman for president-elect trumsaid, quote, the justice system must be fixed and due process must be restored for all americans, which is exactly what president trump will do as he returns to the white house. mr. trump himself reacted online, posting on truth social platform, quote, does the pardon given by joe to hunter include the j-6 hostages who have now been in prison for years? such an abuse and miscarriage of justice. now that is a reference to rioters who stormed the u.s. capitol on january 6 nearly four years ago. many have been convicted of violent assault. hunter biden faced up to 17 years in prison. in a statement, he said in part, i will never take the clemency i've been given today for granted and will devote the life i have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering

from addiction. a representative for special counsel david weiss did not respond to request for comment. meanwhile, president-elect trump has made another controversial pick. this time it's kash patel for fbi director. democrats are deriding what they call his lack of experience and promise an uphill confirmation hearing. there's more trouble brewing for another one of mr. trump's cabinet picks. he is tapped fox news host pete hegseth for defense secretary. e-mails have surfaced with accusations by hegseth's mother that her son mistreated women. we have the story. >> reporter: growing controversy surrounding donald trump's pick to lead the defense departme. pete hegseth, accused of

routinely mistreating women for years by his own mother. in a 2018 e-mail to her son, obtained by the "new york times," penelope hegseth wrote, on behalf of all the women, and i know it's many, you have abused in some way, i say, get some help and take an honest look at yourself. penelope told the "new york times" on friday that her statements in the e-mail were not true, and she sent it out of anger and emotion when hegseth and his wife were going through a divorce. the trump transition team slamming the reporting as an exercise to malign mr. hegseth. they added, ms. hegseth quickly regretted her emotional statement. families argue and say regrettable things all the time. it comes after he was chosen by trump as the next secretary of defense. ahead of a lengthy confirmation process in the senate, hegseth

faces scrutiny over comments he made earlier about women in the military, saying they should not serve in combat roles. >> it hasn't made us more effective. hasn't made us more lethal. has made fighting more complicated. >> reporter: and over a 2017 sexual assault complaint, which he denies. no charges were ever filed, and authorities did not give a reason as to why. >> the matter was fully investigated, and i was completely cleared. and that's where i'm going to leave it. >> our thanks to julia sir kin for that report. the syrian government has lost control of aleppo for the first time since the start of the country's 13-year-old war after rebel fighters captured most of the city over the weekend. let's turn to claudio lavanga for more. good morning, claudio. >> reporter: >> reporter: good morning, frances, that's right. they quickly moved through vast amounts of territories in different provinces in the north and northwest of the country.

now even the city of aleppo, which is syria's second-largest city. the gains continued on sunday, according to the syrian human rights organization, they also managed to take control of the international airport in aleppo and also the city's military academy, two very strategic targets, of course. in the meantime, government troops, therare loyal to bashar bashar al assad, they tried to repel the troops and carried out airstrikes on the territories conquered by the rebels, including in aleppo, which reportedly led to several dozens of civilians. at least according to the war monitor, those airstrikes are also carried out by russian fighter jets, meaning that once again, syria has, as it's done since the beginning since the

civil war broke in 2011 has asked russia for help in trying to take back control of its territory. now russia seems to be concerned to the point that dmitry peskov urged the government to take back control quickly and restore order, frances. >> claudio lavanga for us, thank you. new this morning, a, an update to a story we first told you about last week. a stow away somehow boarded a flight from new york to paris. now a source telling nbc news that same woman was detained again on her return flight. the source says the woman created a disturbance on a delta flight headed to new york. shshe was removed and is in freh custody. delta confirmed this saturday night flight from paris to new york was delayed due to an unruly passenger but released no other information. holiday travel hit its peak yesterday as millions congested the roads and skies in their quest to get home after the thanksgiving holiday. but, despite the influx, it

seemed airlines managed to avoid a travel meltdown like we've seen in previous years. >> we start planning for the holiday peak even during the height of the summer. our teams were training on deicing even in the midst of record summer heat. >> training put to good use in the middle of the arctic blast. the historic rush colliding with an early winter storm dump. let's check in with michelle grossman to see what's ahead for the week. >> we're going to see more snow across the great lakes. could add additional feet of snow, especially downwind of lake erie over the next several days. and the eastern half of the nation remains very cold for this time of year. we're below average in many spots. winter alerts, 5 million people impacted across the great lakes. winter storm warnings, also winter weather advisories. we're going to keep this in place over the next several days. as we go throughout time, scattered showers, snowshowers, some of them will be heavy. where we see the banding, we're

going to see maybe one to two inches per hour. that's going to reduce visibilities a lot in some spots. this is what satellite radar looks like right now. where you see the lighter blue bands, that's where we see the heaviest snow falling. where you see the pinks and purples, that's where we will see the most amount of snow accumulating over the next several days. we mentioned the cold as well. we have chilly start in the southeast, freeze warnings, freeze, sorry, frost advisories in the southeast. we are looking at temperatures very chilly this evening. central states, the southwest, but we do have the chance for showers, even gusty thunderstorms in southern texas. that's your monday forecast. >> thanks so much, michelle. the mega millions jackpot

keeps reaching new heights. it has soared to a whopping $541 million. the increase comes after no one matched the winning numbers from friday's drawing. the next mega millions drawing is set for tomorrow at 11:00 p.m. eastern. if there is a lucky winner, it would be the 12th largest prize in the game's history. coming up a snowy showdown. and we are back in a minute with the brazen burglaries targeting shipping warehouses. keep it here on "early today" on a monday morning. did you know... 80% of women are struggling with hair damage? just like i was. dryness and frizz could be damaged hair that can't retain moisture. new pantene miracle rescue deep conditioner, with first-of-its-kind melting pro-v pearls... locks in moisture to repair 6 months of damage in one wash, without weigh down. guaranteed or your money back! for resilient, healthy-looking hair...

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priscilla thompson has more. >> reporter: at first glance, it looks like business as usual. a pallet of goods pulled to a dock for loading. but look a bit closer. that garage door has a hole cut in i it. the men unloading the goods are thieves who walked away with half a million dollars in stolen electronics just outside dallas, police say. amid the holiday shopping crush, burglars are now targeting warehouses, semi trucks and trains, with monday expected to be the peak day for criminal activity. >> we have about a four-day period where the freight terminals, the ports are thinly staffed and very quiet. and that's when the criminals like to strike. >> reporter: this video appears to show thieves crawling on the floor during a break-in at a computer warehouse in north carolina, just weeks after dozens of criminals were seemingly caught on camera raiding this freight train in chicago. >> it's very lucrative for them. it's low risk for a lot of prison time. in their eyes. and high, very high reward.

a truck load of liquor could be worth a half million dollars. >> reporter: last quarter, cargo net reported a 14% increase in thefts, totaling nearly $39 million. the highest-value goods? electronics and alcohol. fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated, even hacking into e-mail accounts to coordinate fake shipment pickups. who pays the price for these crimes? >> in the end we all do, all the citizens do, because it costs the cargo and freight companies more money for security, cameras, gps tracking. that's passed on to consumers. >> reporter: in dallas, seven people were arrested in connection with that heist. busts like that can take months, experts say. until then, shoppers may be the ones left holding the bag this

holiday season. priscilla thompson, nbc news. still to come on "early today." he may have just given hailee steinfeld a ring, but josh allen's got his eye on one for himself. the super bowl title as they ice the 49ers on a snow-covered field. a little bit of tide goes a long way, so you can save your shirt and maybe even a little money. moat the... library.s right... for a better clean with less... it's got to be tide. if advanced lung cancer has you searching for possibilities, discover opdivo plus yervoy, the first combination of 2 immunotherapies for adults newly diagnosed with non-small-cell lung cancer that has spread, tests positive for pd-l1, and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. opdivo plus yervoy helps your immune system fight cancer in 2 ways. opdivo and yervoy can cause your immune system to harm healthy parts of your body during and after treatment. these problems can be severe and lead to death. see your doctor right away if you have a cough, chest pain, shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, diarrhea, constipation,

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came in at 85% of the taets shakir completed. this is behind cooper, who brought it in. pitched it back to allen, who's going to go to the goal line and get in! >> josh allen had snow problem making history on sunday night football thanks to that heads-up playetween him and cooper. he became the first qb to run, pass and catch for a touchdown. they stifled the 49ers on a snow-covered night in orchard park. the blowout went from bad to

worse for san fran. kyle shanahan revealed running back christian mccaffrey suffered a pcl injury and may be done for the season. but wow, what a victory for the bills and also, you know, josh allen, who also got engaged to hailee steinfeld, too. >> so exciting. some teams got lucky on week 13. others not so much. the colts had a win over the patriots, and the pats came a few away from making nfl record 68-yard field goal. facing his old team, leonard williams picked off aaron rodgers and ran back 92 yards for his first-ever touchdown. he and geno smith get their revenge, 26-21. bryce young looked for redemption with an overtime win. the bucs kicked the walkoff

field goal, 26-23. save the best for last here, and was a battle of the birds in baltimore. the ravens squandered an early lead. and justin tucker missed the fold goal. and saquon barkley ran up the store as philly got its win. he missed seven points. you look at that final score, they could have won. >> a tough one there. turning to college football where the dust has settled after a tense rivalry week. the big ten fined michigan and ohio state $100,000 each after a post-game brawl erupted saturday. look at this. the fighting broke out between the two squads after the wolverines planted their flag at midfield of ohio stadium, following their 13-10 win over the buckeyes. police had to use pepper spray to disperse the players. the big ten says the teams violated the sportsmanship policy. one officer had to go to the hospital. what a mess, what a mess, and

all for that flag. >> and they weren't expected to win. just take the win and graciously move off the field. when we come back, oxford has a new word of the year, but what does it actually mean? and be cautious this holiday season. the fbi warns shoppers to watch out for scams. incoming dishes. —ahhh! —duck! dawn powerwash flies through 99% of grease and grime in half the time. yeah, it absorbs grease five times faster. even replaces multiple cleaning products. ooh, those suds got game. dawn powerwash. the better grease getter. i'm not a doctor. i'm not even in a doctor's office.

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millions in franchise earnings should be taxed as income and not capital assets. this is grint's second tax-related legal defeat. here's one for all of us who can't stop scrolling online. the oxford word of the year for 2024 is brain rot. yeah, you know what that means? the decline of mental or intellectual capacity caused by consuming trivial content or kemething characterized as lily believed as such a decline. just like that. scrolling on social media non-stop. start to break away from uc with tremfya... with rapidid relief 4 weeks. tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation. at one year, many people experienced remission... and some saw 100% visible healing of their intestinal lining. serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections may occur. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb.

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>> hear ye, hear ye, everyone n. get on your feet. >> today we're baking up something sweeter than cookies. forever families. >> we're here with the connor family today. this is frankie connor, and this is yolanda connor, and this is brayden. >> and the adoption is granted and yay! [ applause ] ♪ ♪ >> it's been a long journey. they're ours, and there's no more back and forth. we love them so much. >> ho, ho, ho! >> ho, ho, ho! >> ho, ho, ho! >> ho, ho, ho! [ laughter ] >> are you asking the court to grant their adoption? >> yes. >> the court will find that all the requirements have been met,

and this is a lovely family, and the adoption is granted and rendered. yay! ho, ho, ho! >> ho, ho, ho! [ laughter ] >> my family means to me everything. today our family is official. >> it's the best day of the year, because we've got all these families and all these children, and we're making the homes final and permanent, and it's just a day to celebrate. >> well, bakerson is very happy. this is a sweet family. i find all the requirements have been met and the adoption is granted. >> yay! [ applause ] ♪ ♪ >> today my family is loved. >> today my family is complete. >> laleh, would you like to be adopted today? >> well, y'all are a very sweet family, and i'm happy to grant

the adoption, and we'll make it official, yay! [ applause ] >> i just hope that she always feels loved and wanted, because i've always loved and wanted her. >> cheers! >> family means to me everything. without family, there's nothing. >> now i'm mama. i'm glad that we've finally made it to today, and it's official. >> my family means to me joy. >> that's what i live for. my family. >> a big congratulations to all those families. what a joyful holiday it's going to be an early christmas for them. thanks so much for being with me and watching "early today." i'm frances rivera. hope you join me again early tomorrow morning '6 .

breaking overnight. a bombshell reversal by president biden, issuing