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trump's new picks get ready for a potentially bruising battle in the senate. can his choices make it through the political gauntlet? plus, trump's incoming border czar giving a preview of trump's mass deportation plan. with 4 million families now planning for the worst. ahead, the holiday week kicking off with some of the lowest gas prices in years, but brutal weather threatening to make you late for the thanksgiving turkey. the menendez brothers set to appear together today for the first time in years. the new twist that could threaten their bid for freedom after three decades. good morning. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. a full slate of cabinet picks lined up for president-elect trump. over the weekend trump announced ten more planned hires for his incoming administration.

including some controversial health care picks, a surprisingly pro union choice or labor secretary and a project 2025 veteran who is angling to reshape executive powers in line to take a hatchet to the budget. the president-elect has selected his picks for all 15 executive departments. but the senate bat to get them confirmed for those powerful roles is just beginning. our nbc news correspondent vaughn hill lard and ken dilanian have the latest on the trump transition. eugene daniels and medically is here. vaughn, starting with you. we have this flurry of picks over the weekend by trump's team. he has picked all 15 cabinet secretaries. fill us in. >> it was draft night. friday night i was actually on a plane back from florida to new york and all of a sudden on that plane ride pick after pick after pick are coming in. he filled up the cabinet friday

night. you see scott bessent, who will be his treasury secretary nominee. the biggest of that list. russ vought is another name. he is nominated to return as his offers of management and budget director. he is the one who was juan of those key co-authors as part of the project 2025est. stephen miller, incoming deputy chief of staff touted vought will be able to go in through the departments and agencies and help on appropriations and make sure there is a gutting of the staffing reductions and helping towards the cut of regulations currently in place. you look at the likes of the lorie chavez, she just lost her re-election bid for congress in the pacific northwest but she is now tapped to lead the labor department. it's notable because she is pro union and has been defensive of unions. somebody that is, you know, i think probably going to get quite a few tem democratic

votes. you have sebastian gorka, a maga provocateur, somebody in donald trump's first white house, he is going to be returning to the fold. gabe weldon served in congress in the 2000s, ally to robert f. kennedy jr., suggesting that there is a preservative that was linked to autism. there is no science backing up that case that he and those two men have made, but he has been tapped to lead the cdc. marty makary has been tapped to lead the fda. somebody who said the federal government was the problem behind misinformation during covid here. so we could spend hours going through each of these picks. this was a big last week for donald trump. now all of this is becoming crystal who will be around him in the white house. >> ken, you have more on trump's national security picks. what is the picture coming into focus as he fills out those specific roles? >> yeah, this national security team is shaping up to be a combustible mix of conservative mainstream voices and maga

loyalists with fringe ideas. the choices of another marco rubio for secretary of state and congressman mike walls for national secured advisor greeted with a sigh of relief because they have long experience in government and fairly normal trump era republican foreign policy views. tulsi gabbard for director of national intelligence is causing a lot of concern because of her history of distrust at the agency she would oversee and support for leakers, julian assange, edward snowden. and two appointments reflect this divide. alex wong for deputy national security advisor is an experienced foreign policy thinker, mainstream. sebastian gorka really controversial figure who served a few months in the first trump administration before being forced out. a far right commentator on news max. 2017 he drew criticism for wearing a medal associated a

hungarian group with historic links to nazi germany and taking a gun through a tsa checkpoint at the d.c. airport. i will say one thing all these people have in common is skepticism about continued u.s. support for ukraine and its war against russia and a desire to cut some kind of a deal. >> ken, what do we know about the vetting taking place with all of these potential hires? >> so the transition has not signed a memorandum of understanding which is normally what is done. so there are no fib background checks taking place right now. and take a listen to some disparate views about that over the weekend from some lawmakers. >> as you know there hasn't been fbi background checks for any of these nominees. do you agree with her though that this should happen before we get to confirmation votes? >> i don't think the american public cares who does the background checks. >> we require background checks of dying d.e.a. agents. we require it of first time

prosecutors for the federal government. why wouldn't we get these background checks for the most important job in the united states government? >> just to be clear, private investigators don't have access to is the same kind of information that fbi agents do. it will be interesting to see if senators among those who are going to be confirmed will actually be satisfied with a lack of fbi background checks. >> ken, thanks for your reporting. melanie, how big is that background check issue or lack thereof with lawmakers who will vote to confirm? >> it is a big issue, even from republicans. you hear them saying we can't have this traditional process skipped. if it doesn't come out on the front end when the trump administration is doing the vetting of these nominees, it is going to come out on the back end. it also is going to delay the confirmation hearing process. technically, they could occur concurrently. these senators are going to want to know all of this information before they make a critical decision about whether or not to approve these nominees.

not just democrats. that does include republicans. so this is going to be a point of contention as the hearings get underway. they are going to want to ask for fbi files. we heard from republican senators who want to particularly see the tulsi gabbard fbi files. she is the nominee to lead, you know, the dni -- have access to the intelligence -- critical intelligence secrets and so this is going to be something that is a fight on capitol hill. >> and again these picks have come kind of fast and furious. the cabinet that's forming is a little all over the place. you have the hard right project 2025 contingent. then you have an abortion right advocate in rfk jr. up for the hhs job. former democrat in tulsi gabbard. a pro union moderate rit at labor. former soros advisor at treasury. a team of randos is how politico puts it. is there a unifying threat in this cabinet to be. >> one is loyalty to donald trump.

we have been saying that the last couple of weeks as these things and names have come into view. also in a lot of these places, skepticism of the -- and disdain sometimes for the very organizations and departments that they are going to be interacting with or leading when you think about someone like tulsi gabbard, like mel was talking about. when you think about hhs secretary rfk jr., even pam bondi who is going to be his if confirmed his attorney general after matt gaetz nomination burned down. like, all -- a lot of these people have in the past said something is wrong with the agencies that they are in charge of. it also gives us a lot of insight into -- and a reminder for those of us who may have forgotten that for donald trump he doesn't have consistent policy views, right. and so the fact that you have kind of random ideas and thoughts thrown together is a reminder when he thinks about these kinds of things he is not thinking we

need to have a consistent policy view across the board. these folks are kind of all over the police. >> republicans have a decent margin now in the senate, at least in the incoming senate. what are the biggest concerns you are hearing from lawmakers over these cabinet picks? do you suspect any of them are in jeopardy? >> as of now, republican senators will not publicly say whether they are against someone or for someone. there is no reason they need to do that. we are months away from this process. the strategy for some of these republicans has been privately telegraphing their concerns. that's what happened with matt gaetz, the attorney general nominee who dropped out after eight days. there was as many as ten republicans behind closed doors signaling opposition. so he is out of the way. i think the scrutiny is going to ramp up on some of these other picks. tulsi gabbard as i mentioned, that's a huge concern, even from republicans on the senate intelligence committee which will be tasked with processing her nomination have come out and said they have a lot of concerns, a lot of questions. then i think pete hegseth will be very problem it's.

he has sexual assault allegations he will have to answer for he said publicly he committed no wrongdoing. charges were never brought. this will be something that republicans have a lot of questions about. it's a huge important agency. he was a former fox news host. there are questions about his qualifications, whether he is tasked, qualified to lead such a complex agency which has a massive budget and is in charge of millions of civilians, servants. so i just think that republicans are going to be very choosy about how they use their political capital. they are not going to be able to stand up to, you know, a bunch of these nominees, but i think there is an appetite to sort of vet these candidates and really put a microscope on some of them before they make these critical decisions. >> vaughn, we saw what happened with gaetz and the kind of pressure campaign from behind the scenes that took place that ultimately led to him withdrawing. what is the latest from inside trump world when it comes to hegseth for defense secretary? >> right. i think when it comes to pete hegseth here it's not only making sure that over the next

two months you court each of these senators one with by one and alleviate their concerns. i think for pete hegseth, right, of course there is a sexual assault allegation. but this is where you are talking about somebody who in donald trump for four years, right, put pressure on his pentagon. we know that because james mattis, former pentagon secretary, told the american public so and wanted to use the tilt against u.s. citizens domestically. he talked about sending the military into the heart of major american cities. donald trump, couple of weeks before the election, suggested the military may need to be used on election days against the enemies from within. and so i think that this is for pete hegseth also going to be a moment in which he faces intense questions from people like joni ernst from people like bill cassidy and lisa murkowski, susan collins if he were to get such orders or request from

donald trump, how would he respond. those are very difficult questions that he is going to have to answer for, and attest to, and that could be a hindrance to him not only getting confirmed, but meeting donald trump's standards of what donald trump wants out of his next pentagon secretary. >> eugene, "the new york times" writes that the picks slot into three different sort of categories, if you will. those who dole out revenge, those who will calm wall street and those who will downsize the federal government. which of those missions will he have easiest time carrying out without grease? >> that's a good question. i think largely probably the retribution, right. when you think about, you know, republicans have for a long time wanted to get rid of the education department, for example. that's a department that was created by congress. you can't just do that with the swift -- swish of a pen that we know of in any legal way, right. and so those aspects of it, the striking down of the work force

is going to be really tough. i talked to some folks within the doj who were, obviously, looking at this in a lot of different ways, and the sense within there is that there is going to be a lot of -- a long legal process of this, right. even when you think about the doge with elon musk and vivek ramaswamy, some of these string bureaucracy will be caught up in lawsuits for a long time. lot of these threats and the movement might happen, but the end result may take much longer than folks actually think it's going to take. >> everybody, thank you so much. eugene, vaughn, mel, i appreciate your reporting. we will dig deeper into trump's proposed mass deportations and impact they could have on 4 million mixed status families in the u.s. the menendez brothers set to appear together before a judge

for the first time in years. what could sink their bid for re-sentencing? are you making your list and checking it twice? some shopping tips and tricks ahead of black friday. first, millions set to hit the road for thanksgiving with the lowest gas prices in years. but a stormy forecast could snarl those travel plans. what you need to know. we're back in 90 seconds. ♪ rinse it out ♪ ♪ every now and then ♪ ♪ i get a little bit tired of the stinks ♪ ♪ that just will never come out ♪ ♪ pour downy in the rinse, jade ♪ ♪ every now and then i rinse it out! ♪ fights odor in just one wash. ♪ ♪ every now alike a relentless weed, ♪ moderate to severe ulcerative can keep coming back. start to break away from uc with tremfya...

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way again and make things complicated for a record number of americans planning to travel this thanksgiving weekend. coast-to-coast storms setting the stage for a cold and soggy turkey day with snow and rain expected in much of the country. the tsa gearing up for the busiest holiday travel period on record. expecting to screen more than 18 million flyers between tomorrow and next monday. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman has more on which parts of the country could be impacted most. first, emilie ikeda is joining us from new jersey this morning. what should travelers know as they get ready to head on out? >> reporter: good to be with you. expect even more cars on the road here tomorrow as the lowest gas prices in years drive millions of americans to get behind the wheel to reach their thanksgiving destination. and the stormy forecast could further complicate the mad rush, both on the roads and in the skies.

this morning the thanksgiving travel crush is officially underway. >> just coming to the airport, it took us half an hour to get through. >> reporter: with the holiday now just three days away, americans are packing up and heading out in record numbers. >> these will likely be some of the busiest travel days in u.s. history. >> reporter: aaa estimates some 80 million people will travel this holiday week with 90% of them expected to drive to their thanksgiving destination. >> we recommend tuesday and wednesday try to leave early in the morning. the afternoon hours on tuesday and wednesday are the worst. >> reporter: many grateful for cheaper gas prices, down from a summer high. prices falling below $3 a gallon in more than half of the states nationwide. and at america's airports the tsa expect to go screen a record number of travelers. the faa is also dealing with another problem. warning, some airports will see slowdowns from shortages of air traffic controllers, and adding

to potential headaches for those flying in and out of charlotte, airports service workers there announcing overnight they are set to strike today to protest low wages. for all of those looking forward to spending time around the holiday table with family and friends, mother nature may have other plans. >> check the weather because i had no clue i was going to take 12 hours to get to atlanta. >> reporter: more than 17,000 flights have been canceled or delayed since friday. snow and rain hammered the west. more bad weather is on the way this week. with two storms expected to bring as much as 5 inches of snow to the midwest and rain and cold weather expected along the east coast. >> just be patient and enjoy the moment. you will get to your destination safely. >> reporter: and airport officials are reminding travelers to know what you can and perhaps, more importantly, not bring through airport security. a good rule of thumb, if you spread it, spill it, pour it,

pump it it's not a solid and you can't break it in your carry-on. there are other modes of transportation that are seeing a surge in popularity. cruise bookings according to aaa up 20% compared to last thanksgiving. i guess sure beats sitting in traffic on the new jersey turnpike, which is what i will be doing tomorrow. >> good luck. drive safe. thank you for the heads up on all of that. let's bring in michelle grossman with more details on the weather. what are you watching? >> a big impact on thanksgiving day. we have two systems we are talking about. we have this first system, it's weaker, off the coast in the next couple of days. it will bring rain along this cold front. it's a long stretching cold front from texas to the great lakes. could see snow, too. michigan, northern great lakes, the upper midwest, coast-to-coast storm moving on to the west coast today. once again unsettled in the west coast. that will cross the country as we head throughout the next couple of days and that's where

we are going to see the impactful weather by thursday. time-wise, monday to tomorrow, a storm targeting the rockies. we will see accumulating snow in the cascades, the rockies, also the sierra nevada mountains. that's going to create difficult mountain travel. it will be gusty as well. we will see lower elevation rain once again, in the green. the pink, that is sort of your mixed precipitation. the blue is the snow. you could see it's widespread. look what happens as it crosses the country. by wednesday kind of expands in size. we are talking about anywhere from the great lakes to the tennessee valley into the southeast portions of the ohio valley, the interior parts of the northeast lots of green hear, that's indicating where we're expecting rain. you know that rain slows us down. that's going to be tough on the roadways, in the air on wednesday. we will see some snow falling where you see the blue on the great lakes and also that mixed precipitation. that will be sleet and also some ice accumulation with freezing

rain. this is thanksgiving day. that coast-to-coast storm that started today moving to the east on thursday. now we are talking all along the east coast here from new england all the way down to the southeast with rain, some snow, some freezing precipitation. so we are going to see some windy conditions as well. that will certainly slow us down in the air. the major airports in new york city, d.c., philadelphia, down to portions of the southeast, parts of the nation, and we will see some slowdowns on the roadways of course because we are looking at i-70, i-95, so many interstates that could see some wet weather there. >> okay. looks like everybody gets a turn at some point. thank you, michelle. keep us posted. up next here on "ana cabrera reports," the menendez brothers set to appear in court for the first time in years. as they fight for freedom, could a new district attorney about to take office sink their re-sentencing bid? and this isn't a joke. the key hearing today involving the potential sale of alex

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their first court appearance it in years. erik and lyle menendez set to appear virtually in a los angeles courtroom today. the latest step in their bid to be re-sentenced and released. they were sentenced to life in prison almost 30 years ago for murdering their parent. now they are both in their 50s.

nbc news correspondent liz krauts has nor from california. >> reporter: hey there. the status hearing today is happening at the same time court where erik and lyle were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole 28 years ago. their attorney says they are expected to appear via zoom from their prison in san diego. it is a new judge and the brothers are hoping a new era in criminal justice as they continue to make their case they should be set free. deck decades after convicted of killing their parents jose and kitty for the first time and years erik and lyle will be back in front of a judge joining virtually in court as they make their case for re-sentencing and release. >> no one believes us. >> reporter: interest in the story skyrocketing after the release of multiple series and documentaries about the 1989 murders. erik and lyle's attorneys now arguing new evidence proves their claims they acted in self defense after years of sexual abuse by their father. something they testified about

during the first trial in 1993. >> did you cry? >> yes. >> were you scared? >> very. >> reporter: to this day the original prosecutor telling "dateline" their alleged abuse doesn't justify murder. >> the law doesn't allow them to kill their father even if he was a child abuser. and certainly doesn't allow them to kill their mother. >> reporter: the outgoing d.a. says they are rehabilitated men, citing their volunteer work in prison and personal lives as husbands. although last week lyle's wife of 20 years announced they have been separated and shut down rumors of an affair on facebook writing, this is not a cheating scandal and she is forever committed to the enduring fight for their freedom. while erik's stepdaughter posting the brothers are two separate individuals and she'd appreciate it if people consider my dad for who he is and not based on the actions of someone else. how much do you think these stories about who they are behind bars? >> what a could matter for the

court when it comes down to erik and lyle's credibility. >> reporter: is it possible one of the brothers could get a re-sentence, not the other? >> it is possible. >> reporter: an attorney for the menendez brothers has acknowledged that possibility. today's procedural hearing will set the stage for the brothers' key hearing next month scheduled nine days after los angeles' incoming district attorney takes office and begins reviewing whether whether to recommend re-sentencing. >> you need to do that extensive review of the facts and the law. menendezes get no special treatment. they will get eke result treatment. >> reporter: and the california governor said he plans to hold on off on making a clemency decision until that attorney makes his recommends. true crime fans hoping goat a glimpse of the brothers, they may have a tough time. no cameras are allowed in the courtroom and only 16 seats are open to the public which they are going to be giving out via lottery. back to you thanks. from stop the steal to stop the sale, today a federal

bankruptcy judge will hold a hearing to decide if the sale of infowars to the onion can proceed. the sale called into question by a company tied to alex jones which argued that the bankruptcy trustee improperly colluded with sandy hook families. you will recall the families of the 2012 sandy hook school shooting, won nearly $1.5 billion in legal judgments against jones after jones repeatedly called the shooting a hoax. nbc's priscilla tamp son is in houston with more. what's the judge considering exactly? >> reporter: yeah, this is evidentiary hearing to better understand how exactly the onion was chosen as the winning bidder. now, to be clear, we don't know how much any of these companies bid for this company that is not something that has been made public. the trustee who oversaw the auction said that the onion was not the highest bidder on its face, but the sandy hook

families that were backing this had agreed to forego some of the sale's proceeds in order to pay alex jones' other creditors so by his analysis that was in fact the better deal. but attorneys for that other company that's affiliated with alex jones that placed the competing bid said they should have been given an opportunity to outbid and this this wasn't fair. alex jones calling the process, quote, rigged. the trustee who oversaw it is standing by his analysis saying in a statement, having failed in the prior efforts to bully the trustee and his advisors into accepting its inferior bid, this company now alleges, without evidence, collusion and bad faith in an attempt to mislead the court and disqualify its only competition in the auction. but the bankruptcy judge who is in charge of all of this has said no one should feel comfortable with the results of this auction. so his goal today is to get to the bottom of those numbers and how exactly the onion was chosen as the winning bidder here.

>> interesting. thank you. and up next on "ana cabrera reports," new violence and new questions about if there will be a pause in fighting between israel and hezbollah. plus, ukraine losing more ground that it gained russian territory. the message to trump from kyiv. , help make trading feel effortless. and its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market. e*trade from morgan stanley with powerful, easy-to-use tools, power e*trade makes complex trading easier. react to fast-moving markets with dynamic charting and a futures ladder that lets you place, flatten, or reverse orders so you won't miss an opportunity. e*trade from morgan stanley

. now to the conflict in middle east. three senior biden administration officials tell nbc news a ceasefire deal to end

the conflict between israel and hezbollah in lebanon is close but not finished. as those talks are underway, hezbollah's ramping up attacks firing off hundreds of missiles at israel and causing severe damage in tel aviv. israel responding by striking beirut's southern suburbs. the latest in a string of intensified attacks on lebanon and hezbollah. israel's attack targeting beirut on saturday was one of the deadliest and most powerful strikes to date. let's get the latest from nbc in jerusalem. one official says there are still a few issues left to be resolved. what more can you tell us about the ceasefire talks? >> reporter: yeah, these officials speaking to nbc news, one said essentially it could take a couple of days. it is not finish. we have been here before, ana. we have to be very careful. we have had reports over the last 13 months or so of not only ceasefire talks being close to

fruition in gaza, but also over the last several months of potentially ceasefire between israel and hezbollah, and they have not come to pass. this time, however, it does appear on the israeli side officials are talking to news agencies and local news networks here saying that there will be in the coming days, today or tomorrow, a cabinet meeting to approve potentially a ceasefire deal between the two sides. that being said, the number of strikes that the israeli military is conducting in lebanon has increased, and those strikes are hitting central beirut more and more often. yesterday, in fact, almost 30 people were killed and hezbollah is firing hundreds of rockets into israel. they have gone as far south as the outskirts of tel aviv. we understand several people wounded, but most of the strikes intercepted by the iron dome in israel. now, the israeli ambassador to the u.n. has been speaking out

about the potential for a ceasefire deal between israel and hezbollah. this is exactly what he said. i am looking down so i quote him accurately. we haven't finalized it, but we are moving forward. also, adding, i assume that the cabinet will meet today or tomorrow. and, ana, the big question is going to be what could a deal look look like? one would presume it would involve withdrawal. the big question, of course, who patrols the area that is left vacant by those troops and what happens if there is any kind of, you know, sort of violation of the terms of this ceasefire, ana. >> thank you for bringing us that. also this morning, russia ramping up attacks in northeastern ukraine injuring nearly two dozen people in shelling according to local officials in kharkiv. russia continues to regain ground in the fight.

a senior ukrainian military source confirming ukraine has lost more than 40% of the territory it had won in russia's kursk region. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel has the latest from kyiv. >> reporter: with more attacks overnight in ukraine and in russia, this war is escalating rapidly. but is this all a race to the finish? ukrainian intelligence are now examining the wreckage of a new type of high speed nuclear capable missile that vladimir putin launched last week. ukrainian officials confirmed it flew 11 times the speed of sound. too fast for ukraine to shoot down. putin called the launch a test and a response after president biden authorized ukraine to fire american weapons deeper into russia for the first time. putin, zelenskyy, and biden are all escalating. it seems to secure stronger positions before president-elect

trump takes office. >> if i'm president, i will have that war settled in one day. 24 hours. >> reporter: this weekend trump's pick for national security advisor mike waltz signaled a new policy is coming. >> we need to bring this to a responsible end, need to restore deterrence, restore peace. >> reporter: many ukrainians want the war to stop, but they don't believe putin would ever honor a deal. we joined a group of soldiers who call themselves the witches of bucha now taking up arms. in a forest outside kyiv, they are training in close combat, fully expecting one day russian troops will make another push for kyiv. 90% of this unit are women. many of their sons and husbands are out fighting on the front lines, so they have stepped up, volunteering to defend the capital. valentine valentine is a grandmother. her son and son-in-law are on the front lines.

president-elect trump says he is going to wrap up this war in a day. do you have confidence in that? i don't believe this war can be stopped with a negotiation, she says. putin can't be trusted. in three to five years, he will come back. >> joining us from kyiv, richard, what is the feeling there in ukraine about where this conflict stands right now? >> reporter: so, there is a lot of exhaustion here. people want the war to sort of not continue, they want to see a ceasefire, a resolution. many ukrainians are even prepared, although it's difficult to say in public, that they could lose territory, that they may have to give up some terrain for a ceasefire deal. but what they are mostly concerned about is that even if they give up terrain, even if they give up up to 20% of this country, which is currently held by russia, in which ukraine has

been struggling to take back militarily. if they gave it up that 20%, it wouldn't be the end of it, that vladimir putin would just wait until he is rearmed, wait until he builds his military back up, and then try and take over this country again. so, they are worried. they see a deal is coming. they heard president trump talk about a deal. now they are hearing his cabinet talking about a deal, talking about ending the war, and they worry they are going to get unfavorable terms. unfavorable terms that will not leave this country defended and leave it vulnerable to a future attack. >> as you showed us, it sure looks like the ukrainians are not willing to give up in this fight. really interesting to hear how the ladies are participating as well. thank you, richard engel, for your reporting. next on "ana cabrera reports," new insights on trump's mass deportations plan and what it could mean for around 4 million mixed status families in the u.s. also ahead, breaking down

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welcome back. and this weekend president-elect trump's incoming border czar thomas homan gave a preview of what the new administration's unprecedented deportation efforts might look like. >> at the end of that you get ready to move, you are going home. if you choose while you are here to give birth to a u.s. citizen child, guess what? when you get removed, you leave the child here or take him with you. law enforcement separates families across this country every day where they can't a different set of rules of illegal aliens and there can't be. >> a recent study estimated up to 4 million mixed status families could be separated under trump's plan. and nbc news has exclusive new reporting about how some of those families are trying to get ready. nbc's julia ainsley joins us

now. we are talking about families with some members who are u.s. citizens or green card holders and some who don't have legal status. so what are they doing now? >> you know, i spoke to a family like that just before the election. they talked about how they were going to have to decide how to move forward with their life whether or not they are father could be out and around in their community as they were before because he would be reeid about deportation. we spoke to a family in pennsylvania after the election. they are trying to get power of attorney getting passports for their u.s. citizen children so they can visit their father if he is deported to mexico a a lot of families are working on these things, especially when you look at families where potato parents are undocumented and the children are citizens. they could be coming home from school to an empty house. they are putting together information and tell the children what to do and what adults they can safely contact in the event that happens. an estimated 4 million families are in that situation, ana.

>> are there any legal avenues for these families to try to fight these policies? >> certainly their best avenue could be through a class-action lawsuit. that would likely come from the aclu. we have seen them sue i.c.e. in the new administration to get information they will use to fly charter planes. they want more information. they also want to look at the way that incoming trump administration goes about deportations. if they invoke the law that trump says he will use in order to use the military, basically it would class undocumented immigrants invasion from a foreign government, they would challenge that. they could represent these families who have been deported or had some members of their families be deported and say that trump should not be able to use the pathways he did to justify these mass deportations. >> julia ainsley, great reporting on this. thank you for bringing us that update. next on "ana cabrera reports," we are going to help you save a buck. breaking down the deals and the price you will pay ahead of

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right now we are keeping our eyes on the white house where two turkeys will get to enjoy thanksgiving in peace without crying fowl. president biden is set to pardon peach and blossom. you see

and while their feathered friends face the line this week, they have gotten to gobble around the hotel in d.c., part of a thanksgiving tradition that has its roots during the civil war. though it only really became a regular practice the last few o if you are counting shopping days, today is one month until christmas if you can believe it. black friday just around the corner. you probably have seen the ads and sales popping up just about everywhere. nbc has been keeping an eye on some of the most popular items on santa's list to try to help you find the best deals. brian cheung has been tracking the prices, is here now to break it down. what caught your eye so far? >> by the way, this is a shorter shopping season than most years because of the fact that thanksgiving falls so late this year. look, we are already seeing the deals at a number of stores. amazon dedrops, 50% off the

first amazon -- this is their new vertical that has products under $20. target has a price match guarantee, one day deals up to 50%. lastly, walmart, they have their black friday deals beginning today. so you can already do a lot of shopping out there. >> so some of the big places, obviously, where people are looking for deals. talk about timing though. we are seeing the black friday ads. is now the right time to buy? >> that's the question. especially because there are deal dales in the summer. as you mentioned, we have been tracking a number of things here on the business team. broadly speaking, these are the categories to look at. we were asked about televisions. the best time to get those is black friday. electronics and apparel you might want to wait to cyber monday. some of these specific items, even we are not at black friday yet, airpods pro 2 at the lowest level we have seen since we began tracking some of these prices the summer, $159, went back up $10. maybe slips back down at best buy going into the weekend.

coffee makers at $60, the cheapest through the discounting early in the summer. it's not necessarily the case for every item. look at sneakers where the best prices were actually earlier in the summer around those amazon deal days in july. these hot toys, lowest prices we saw in about september. we haven't seen essentially any discounting since then. tvs basically binge heat throughout the year. some portions of the year retailers raising prices on a 65 inch. the kbrd is idea is use price t tools and do comparisons to make sure you are truly getting the best deal on the holiday. >> thank you for the tidbits there, those tips. brian, thank you. and finally, a bit of movie magic. this weekend was a box office blockbuster with the opening of "wicked" earning more than $114 million and "gladiator ii" bringing in more than 55 million. the glicked buzz has been

everywhere online with fake movie posters between the witches in ancient rome. even though it was a draw, it didn't match bashar al assad when, you know, "barbie" and "oppenheimer" pulled in more than $300 million that their debate weekend. that does it for us today. thank you so much for joining me. we are moments away from seeing president biden pardon these two turkeys ahead of thanksgiving. peach and blossom. we will take you there live when it happens. see you back here tomorrow same time, same place. and catch our show online around the clock on youtube and other platforms. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart picks up the coverage right now. verage rightw good morning. 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart and we are minutes away from a thanksgiving tradition at