laying low. embattled senate candidate roy moore virtually invisible. cringe worthy injury. msnbc live starts right now. good morning on this day after thanksgiving. i'm yasmin vossoughian. new development in the russia probe.

lawyers report michael flynn formerly cut ties with president trump's personal legal team saying they could no longer discuss the investigation. the news was first reported by the "new york times." legal experts tell nbc news it's not unusual to share information for separate clients until either party is unwilling or able to do so under the law. said the change came as no surprise. what was not entirely unexpected is that flynn may be assisting special counsel. no one should draw the conclusion this means anything about general flynn cooperating. white house special counsel had no comment on the matter. it involves private defense of

the president. leaves behind a wife and three kids. texas department of public safety said we ask for your prayers for the entire family and many friends and colleagues during the critical days ahead. the black friday shopping frenzy is in full swing. of course. several leading retailers opened their doors on thanksgiving d c start. jay gray is live at the mall in new jersey.

>> right now, a little bit, but just trickles at this point. look, there are some big bargains to be had on big-ticket items for shoppers. biggest holiday gift for this holiday season may be for the retailers. >> reporter: a wave of bargain hunters flooding malls and stores across the country. turkey and stuffing apparently not enough for shoppers hungry for savings. >> i'm always out. always out especially on thanksgiving night and black friday. >> there are some big deals today. top american retailers slash their prices 37% on average.

analysts say the best buys will be on electronics, appliances, and jewelry. the national retail federation predicts shoppers will take advantage of the markdown. spending on average $970 on gift this holiday season. total spending for november and december, could climb to over $680 billion. >> there's a lot of demand. consumer confidence is at high point. stock market is at high point. we're seeing a lot of spend go on in the market overall. >> which would make it the happiest holiday season for retailers in years. these brick and mortar stores are expected to do really well. >> i've got so ai commend the people who make it out the get the deals. i do not have it in me. because of course i have to come to work. i was thinking maybe after i leave here i'll stop by a store or two and see if i can pick

some christmas gifts up. under high security many americans celebrating thanksgiving. the president took time to thank u.s. troops overseas and u.s. coast guard near his vacation home in florida. some of the biggest feasts were areas hard hit by recent storms. where people are especially thankful to have loved ones around them. nbc has more. >> reporter: from across the country, and around the world, millions gathered under clear skies for the country's biggest thanksgiving celebration. >> what's the best part about the parade. >> everyone coming together. >> four new balloons joined the lineup this year. behind the scenes and along the route. new york was well prepared to keep the crowd safe. >> officials say there was no credible threat against the city or the parade. still they added extra levels of

security on the ground and in the air. elsewhere, in the nation. >> i just want to thank you on behalf of the whole country. >> president trump spending his holiday in florida. he and the first lady made a stop by a coast guard station in riviera beach. also sending a message of thanks to military serving overseas. in puerto rico, bright spot for an area still reeling from hurricane maria. volunteers spent all week dishing up what they're calling the biggest thanksgiving dinner the island has ever seen. >> gravy for how many people? 40,000 people. >> similar efforts underway in houston. hit hard three months ago by harvey. in southern california, they got a roaster of a different time. >> it's a nice day. >> record breaking heat this week, mid 90s meant some spent the holiday along the boardwalk or at the beach. this day for blessings brought a

new face to tampa's bush garden zoo. baby graph. born 6 feet tall. 150 pounds. while millions made the trek to spend thanksgiving with loved ones at home. many americanss are thousands of miles away and in harms away as well. troops in afghanistan still got a taste of holiday tradition. nbc has more on this. the in addition starts before dawn. >> we got a mission today. going out. >> last weeks two members of his force were injured by a suicide car bomb nearby. >> it was a loud muffled blast and everything was dark. >> thankful toll be alive on his first thanksgiving outside of the u.s. today he reenlisted. a reminder, even on holidays, troops here are on guard. >> we don't have any point locations. he's referring to the taliban.

>> they're firing mortars about five miles away. got about 30 secondary time. the goal is deterring. you have taliban rights up there. >> the roads and villages are too risky. delivered meals to an operating base. how are you doing? back in the -- he tells nbc news the war is still a stalemate, but will turn against the taliban in a few months. >> the new authorities i've been given allow me to go after the enemy in new ways. now, working with the afghan government and complimentary actions, we can go after all of the facets of the enemy operation. >> reporter: for some soldier, they could mean more deployments. more holidays away from family. north korean soldier now recovering from injuries at south korean hospital.

video of harrows escape captured the world with a man fleeing as fellow soldiers shot at him to try to stop him. surgeon in charge of his care now giving new insight. >> >> nbc joining us now from london. good to talk to you this morning. talk to us more about the motive here. why it is we think he may have been trying to flee north korea. and, also, i read a report this morning all the guards that were chasing him have now been replaced. >> i mean, i think it would be fleeing north korea for obvious reasons, it's just such harsh

circumstances there. he had hepatitis b along with a whole range of conditions. a foot long worm taken out of intesten. all the guard who allowed him to escape have been replaced. it's unclear what's going to happen to them. they take these things pretty seriously in north korea. also, if he has any family members in north korea, they're going to be in a whole world of trouble. we've heard that generations of family are arrested and punished if somebody tries to make a break for the dmz. his medical condition was also terrible. i mean, we've learned that medical teams in south korea worked for days to remove shards

of four bullets. stitched up organs. cheated preexisting conditions. doctors are showing him movies and tv shows to give him a sense of comfort and normality. apparently he's been having nightmares about being kidnapped and taken back to north korea. which is a little bit of concern. people outside of north korea doesn't mean they're out of their regime's reach. most famously this year. kim jong-un's own half brother was assassinated in an airport. a lot to be nervous about if you escape north korea. >> thinking about his medical condition, you can't help, but remember otto warmbier and thankfully this man did not meet the same fate of him. now less than three weeks since closely watched special election in alabama. republican roy moore is largely staying out of public eye. amid allegations of sexual misconduct with teen girls even after president trump defended him. >> reporter: embattled alabama senate candidate roy moore virtually invisible on his own campaign trail. his last public appearance a

week ago. since then, his communications director quit. leaving just six staffering on the team. last thursday, moore spoke out refusing to take questions about the nine women accusing him of sexual misconduct. many claim when they were teenagers. >> on tuesday, moore appeared on an alabama cable channel. interviewed by a supporters of his campaign. >> did you ever date or go out with under age women. turning up the heat with a new attack ad. meanwhile, jones making campaign stops across the state this week. even seen on thanksgiving. we're told moore will have another public event before monday. asked the campaign about his recent absence, but couldn't get a direct answer. their response, we are up in the polls. money is flowing in. we continue to add support every

day and we are confident in victory. polls so far showing mixed results. matched by mixed feelings from voters. >> now, i'm having difficulty deciding what to do because i don't know what is real and what's not. >> alabama will be forced to decide december 12. birmingham, alabama. . now let's go to annual thanksgiving tradition. national dog show. this year, newton, won best in show. was a big hit on social media. for obvious reasons. a lot of people pointing out, there you go. certain celebrity look alike. chewbacca from star wars. bill karins, what do you think?

we'll talk about the storm on the west coast. this huge storm off british columbia is going to give us wet weather, unsettled weather. yesterday we had a little bit of rain and sunshine. there's a little bit of shower activity this morning. especially if you're south of jacksonville, st. augustine. that will clear up during the the day. that's about it. that will clear out through the day. here's how we're looking for the day. unseasonably warm. cold front heading through. if we have any travel concerns, airports, maybe minor showers. daytona beach southward on some of the roads. just showers. i'm searching for anything bad. it's really nice out there. as far as sports yesterday, if

you missed this, maybe you're better off. if you're squeamish, this is mississippi state. this will is would end up with bulldog a losing quarterback to incredibly gruesome injury. runs to the left. gets hit high. gets hit low. that causes the leg to go in a weird direction. >> no, no. no. >> i did warn you. he was positive. probably in shock. yeah. that was just one of those. he's back on the field. back on the field. oh, okay. he wasn't.

>> no. he wasn't. clarifying on crutches. okay. thank bill. just ahead. actress unloads harvey weinstein and is not pleasant. why is president trump tweeting late at night about these two women. coming up next. [ keyboard clacking ] [ click ] [ keyboard clacking ] [ clacking continues ]

good questions lead to good answers. our advisors can help you find both. talk to one today and see why we're bullish on the future. yours. talk to one today and see why we're bullish on the future. nahelps protect eyesin blue from damaging blue light, filtering it out to help you continue enjoying your screens. or... you could just put your phones down and talk to each other. [laughing] nature's bounty lutein blue. because you're better off healthy.

(hard exhalation) honey? can we do this tomorrow? (grunts of effort) can we do this tomorrow? if you have heart failure symptoms, your risk of hospitalization could increase, making tomorrow uncertain. but entresto is a medicine that was proven, in the largest heart failure study ever, to help more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine. women who are pregnant must not take entresto. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems,

or high potassium in your blood. ♪ tomorrow, tomorrow... ♪ when can we do this again, grandpa? well, how about tomorrow? ask your doctor about entresto and help make tomorrow possible. tell you all for the sake of these people as soon as they and now somebody to bring us home. so. what i go to do is tell you all what for is sake of these people as soon as they're going to jump off. you better come back. he's your president. he's your president. oh, let them know he's the president of the united states. last year. >> what is that blue drink that she's holding? that's what i want to know.

the pair obviously known for supporting president trump. got a retweet from potus himself. saying the women were two great people. actress uma thurman has broken her silence. uma thurma hurt silence against disgraced producer harvey weinstein, she pointedly called out weinstein saying except you, harvey, i'm glad it's going slowly, you don't deserve a bullet. he worked with her in several movies including "pulp fiction." when asked about the stream of actresses, she chose her words to feel less angry before speaking out. she ended saying stay tupd. a weinstein spokesperson says weinstein unequivocally denies any allegations of

non-consensual sex. al franken is making another apology. the latest allegations dprom two women who anonymously told the "huffington post" franken inappropriately touched them on their back sides while posing for a photo. franking said -- all right. just ahead, everybody, miley cyrus takes on the pregnancy rumors head on. we will go live as shoppers take those deals. we'll be right back.

we're on a mission to show drip coffee drinkers, it's time to wake up to keurig. wakey! wakey! rise and shine! oh my gosh! how are you? well watch this. i pop that in there. press brew. that's it. so rich. i love it. that's why you should be a keurig man! full-bodied. are you sure you're describing the coffee and not me?

welcome back, everybody, the shopping frenzy on black friday sales are expected to hit 682 billion. it may not be effective for burning calories from your thanksgiving dinners. americans have already spent over 1.5 billion on thanksgiving day, 46% are shopping on their smartphones. scott. what kind of crowds are you seeing out there so far? >> reporter: well, we're sort of

the calm in between the storms, let's call it, yasmin. the store is closed now. it will reopen in the next few hours with door busters, 5:00 thanksgiving day people got up from their thanksgiving dinner came down to best buy. they were snapping up things like flat screen tv. there was a 65-inch 4k going for 750 at this best buy. there will be another round of that when they reopen. now plaque friday not just one day. it's considered five days. this is the way they're marketing it and people are shopping. starting on thanksgiving, back on plaque friday, which is the big day, going through cyber monday and saturday before that, in that five-day period, according to national retail federation about 70% of us will do some sort of shopping about 164 million americans, this

really is, of course the big kickoff for the holiday shopping season. the retail federation is expecting sales to be up about 4% this year, which would be healthy as the retailers adjust to all of this shopping online, coming out to the stores for that plaque friday experience. >> i can't wait toee the next flood of people. that's for sure. miley cyrus turning 25 on thanksgiving, started celebrating a day earlier. the singer posted a photo with balloons. fans were wondering if she was also debuting a baby bump in the photos. cyrus was quick to squash the rum rumor, eating a lots of tofu turkey. they continued to post her celebration and gifts like the earrings and necklace she got from her boyfriend liam hemsworth. much more ahead, stay with us.

we're on a mission to show drip coffee drinkers, it's time to wake up to keurig. wakey! wakey! rise and shine! oh my gosh! how are you? well watch this. i pop that in there. press brew. that's it. so rich. i love it. that's why you should be a keurig man! full-bodied. are you sure you're describing the coffee and not me?

( ♪ ) more people shop online for the holidays than ever before. (clapping) and the united states postal service delivers more of those purchases to homes

than anyone else in the country. ( ♪ ) because we know, even the smallest things are sometimes the biggest. tonight, let's listen to trump in his own words, let's play "hard ball." . >> good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington a. year after donald trump's election shocked the world, he remains unpredictable. tonight, we look at president trump if his own words, we'll examine the way he's conducted himself in the goldfish bowl of the oval office, he's delivered on the promises he's made and delivered his setbacks. they have a charitably mixed results. it has