tens of millions are headed for trains, planes and automobiles on what's one of the busiest travel days. year. we'll tell you what's ahead. >> the candidate and president-elect appear to have almost two completely different platt norms when it comes to key issues that won the election. >> new details about that school bus innings dent that killed five youngsters and about the man behind the wheel. >> stocks soared. a new high for the dow and s&p. >> and president obama honors 21 extraordinary americans. we've got the behind-the-scenes details. "early today" starts right now. >> good wednesday morning. >> great to be with you. this morning donald trump is waking up at his mar-a-lago resort in florida arriving last night with his family for the thanksgiving holiday. and it comes as he reverses

course on key campaign promises while continuing to fill his cabinet. this morning the "post-and courier" reports south carolina governor nikki haley has been picked to become the u.n. ambassador and ben carson, the 2016 candidate has been offered the secretary of housing and urban development post. "the wall street journal" reports mitt romney has emerged as a top contender for secretary of state, but it's the big news coming out of trump's sit-down with the "new york times" that's turning heads after he backed off major campaign pledges in an on the record discussion with the paper and key among them prosecuting hill hi. here's what he said back on the campaign trail. >> hillary clinton should have been prosecuted, and she should right now be in jail. >> lock her up! lock her up! lock her up! >> that was then. well, now trump says going after clinton is, quote, just not something that i feel strongly

about, saying that he doesn't want to hurt the clintons, adding she went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways. trump's campaign manager kellyanne conway backed up trump's position saying this to msnbc's chris matthews. >> he said that it was a vicious primary, vicious campaign. he thinks that she and the clintons have suffered enough and he just wants to unite the country and move forward, not backward. >> breitbart, the conservative site that backed trump throughout the campaign, is blaring the title broken promise while the conservative group judicial watch said back off clinton would be a, quote, betravel of the promise of the american to drain the swamp of out-of-control corruption in washington, d.c., and that wane the only reversal to come from the president-elect. during the campaign trump attacked the paris accord which was a major climate deal signed by every nation in the world. >> we will cancel this deal so

that our companies can compete. >> now trump says he has a, quote, open mind about the deal adding that when it comes to global warming i think there is some connectivity between human activity and climate change and the president-elect condemned and disavowed the recent gathering in washington of alt-right members when the conservative extremist movements with ties to white nationalism brought shock to many of this video with several making the nazi salute. trump tells "the times" it's not at group i want to energize, and if they are energied i want to look into it and find out why and we're learning the trump foundation admits to violating irs rules, but when it comes to trump's businesses and possible conflicts of interest the president-elect remains steadfast telling "the times" quote the law is totally on my side. the president can't have a conflict of interest. >> residents in chattanooga, tennessee, are waking up with heavy hearts after monday's school bus crash that killed

five young children. 12 are still hospitalized and six critical and six in stable condition. a community gathered for a churnlg v church vigil release memories of lives lost. nbc's kerry sanders has details on the driver >> reporter: driver of that bus, 24-year-old johnthony walker, has been charged with five counts of vehicular homicide, reckless driving and reckless endangerment. according to the affidavit walker was driving well over the 30-mile-per-hour speed limit on a narrow winding road when he lost control of the bus. walker had his license suspended in 2014 for 25 days for failing to show insurance and the he was involved in another minor school bus accident just two months ago. no one was injured. among the five children killed in monday's accident, 9-year-old zoe nash. her younger brothers, 8-year-old zachia was also in the bus. he survived but is in intensive care. >> so tragic for so many family,

especially when you seat images. that bus carrying 37 students was not equipped with seat belts. the ntsb says it expects their on-seen investigation to last between seven and ten days. they have one key witness who was driving in a car behind the burks and they are asking for any other witnesses to come forward. and there's good news in the fight against terror this morning. a u.s. air strike in syria killed a senior al qaeda leader last week. according to a new pentagon announcement. >> the removal from the battlefield represents another blow to al qaeda in syria and demonstrates continued u.s. determination to target al qaeda leaders wherever they pose a threat to the u.s., our allies and interests. the egyptian al mussry originally joined damage in afghanistan and had ties to the terrorist groups throughout southwest asia, including those that had attacked forces in afghanistan. we're all getting ready for a big day tomorrow, the day before tomorrow. i bet your car is packed, the

menu is set and now it's time to face one of the busiest travel days of the year. let's check in with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> it's a storm but not a horrible storm. no crazy delays out there, and the this is what the radar looks like this afternoon. as far as airports go, the areas of red, concerned with minneapolis and o'hare and near detroit and possibly even seattle and portland a little later on today. chicago airport, lies visibility and some improvement late in the day. as far as the highways go, instate 94 and interstate 80 across the ohio valuey will have the issues. in the west most of this will be later today into this evening and as far as the interstates go driving-wise, rain, low visibility and not icy as we go from chicago to nashville. we're finding areas of the northeast, too, and a look tomorrow if you're going to be traveling early on thanksgiving day. some of the light showers will be moving here to the northeast. we won't see horrible delays. maybe pittsburgh some minor delays and in the west we'll be dealing with more rain on

thanksgiving day so i think traveling thanksgiving day looks a little easier than even what we'll deal with today. that's a look at the big weather story today. a look at the weather ahead. careful driving in minnesota and northern wisconsin today and still a little coating of ice and snow on the ground and there's the showers and thunderstorms. no tornadoes yesterday or overnight. thunderstorms today into louisiana. and, of course, we've got the macy's parade forecast coming up, and the black friday shopping forecast. some people look forward to that, too. >> oh, yeah, there's that, to look past thanksgiving. bill, thank you very much. 21 of the country's leading artists and animators were celebrated by president obama in his final medal of freedom ceremony awarding them with the nation's highest civilian honor. from kareem abdul-jabbar to ellen degeneres and michael jordan and bruce springsteen, it really was a star-studded class of honorees that even the president admitted maybe best ever. nbc's lester holt brings us

more. >> reporter: president obama hosting and celebrating the 21 distinguished americans who each has left an indelible mark on nation's fabric. >> extraordinary americans who have lifted our spirits, strengthened our union, pushed us towards progress. >> reporter: receiving the prestigious presidential medal of freedom honor, giants of sports including kareem abdul-jabbar and michael jordan. >> renowned character actors, like the guy from "space jam,". >> legends of the screen, redford, hanks and de niro. >> sicilian father turned new york mobster and a mobster who runs a casino, a mobster who needs therapy. >> actress sicily tyson. >> once she got her education and broke into the business she made a conscious decision not to save lives but to speak out. >> reporter: and for those left

wondering by this tweet ellen degeneres did make it inside the white house forgotten i.d. notwithstanding where the president praised her as a trailblazer. >> just how much was courage for ellen to come out on the almost public of stages almost 20 years ago. >> reporter: there were musical icons, diana ross and bruce springsteen. >> i am the president. he is the boss. >> vin scully, that little old baseball announcer and dodgers legend joined an exclusive club. >> i think as human beings we each looked at each other and thought we've really been fortunate. i know i did for sure. >> just astounding to see all that star power and really knowing this is marking the president's last couple of months in office. >> and very flitting before the holidays, again before the end of the year with the elections in the divisions the country had. these are people we can all get behind and celebrate so congratulations to all of them. just ahead, from olympic gold to the mirror ball trophy

laurie hernandez is still rights at 16 and the fbi weighs in with a decision involving an investigation with brad pitt and his children. that's next. brad pitt and his children. that next. and his children. that next. s how it feels to see your numbers go up, despite your best efforts. but what if you could turn things around? what if you could... love your numbers? discover once-daily invokana®. it's the #1 prescribed sglt2 inhibitor that works to lower a1c. a pill taken just once in the morning, invokana® is used along with diet and exercise to significantly lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. in fact, it's been proven to be more effective at lowering a1c than januvia. invokana® works around the clock by reducing the amount of sugar allowed back into the body, and sending some sugar out through the process of urination. and while it's not for lowering systolic blood pressure or weight loss, it may help you with both. invokana® can cause important side effects,

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there's only one invokana®. ask your doctor about it by name. the winners and new champions of "dancing with the stars" are laurie and val. >> a huge title for just a 16-year-old. that's u.s. olympic gymnast laurie hernandez becoming the youngest winner ever on "dancing with the stars." hernandez can now add the mirror ball trove toe her collection of medals that also include a gold and a silver just recently from the summer games in ryo. >> a gold medal to the summer games and now the mirror ball. she actually has the style so obviously she's got the technique. >> 16 years old, so a long way to go. a lot more successes and medals and trophies to come. leading the news on newsnews.com the fbi closes its inquiry into the brad pitt child abuse allegations that came 11

days after the actor was cleared of allegations of physical abuse against his children. now the l.a. county department of children and family services says the investigations stem from a september incident aboard a private jet carrying pitt, his now estranged wife angelina jolie and their children. pitt and jolie filed for divorce back in september. the most expensive destroyer in navy history broke down after being active for only one month. it is a first official voyage from baltimore to san diego. the uss "dunwalt" all of a sudden lost propulsion. the $4.4 billion warship has engineering problems with its motors and now has to be towed into port. >> not a good way to spend u.s. taxpayer money. a suspect was arrested in the shooting of a detroit university police officer bringing the city's mavis manhunt to anent and. colin rose, a wayne state officer was investigating car theft on tuesday when he was shot in the head. the 29-year-old called for

backup and was later found wounded on the ground. the five-year veteran is the university's first officer shot on duty. he's now out of surgery after arriving at the hospital in critical condition. the suspect d'angelo davis is now in custody. taking a bit of a turn here, and i want you to check this out. it's from nbc sports. say hello to the vegas golden knights. five months after las vegas was awarded with an nhl expansion team, the team's name was announced last night. as you can imagine it's vegas so it's always go big or go home. >> yeah. >> the knights are the 31st franchise in the national hockey league and the first new team since 2000 so they will begin playing next fall. a reminder to catch all the nhl action on nbc sports and right here on nbc. just in case you kneed one more attraction when you go to vegas, now you'll have a professional sports team. the dow and s&p soared to a record level but does that mean we're heed for a pullback? market guru steve sedgwick is

next and stephen colbert manned the butterball hotline. >> this is steve. how can i help you? >> i hope you can. this is really a question about stuffing, if i -- >> do you call it stuffing or dressing? >> i call it stuffing. >> okay. wrong answer, bye-bye. stuffing. >> okay. ong answer, bye-bye.

in today's quick hits, police dashcam video captured a

massive fireball flying over central florida. the bright flash is believed to have been a meteor. there were no reports of any damage. a fresno, california, cat was rescued here after being stranded atop a power pole for nine entire days without any food or water at all. the brave feline was lowered to the ground by a power company worker reunited by the worker. look at that, starving and able to enjoy his favorite meal. >> adorable. >> it's a yearly tradition. today president obama will pardon his final thanksgiving turkeys as "the to the show" jimmy fallon points out. after eight years the president might be over it. >> today i have the awesome responsibility of granting a presidential pardon to a pair of turkeys. >> we can't wait to pardon these turkeys. >> wand that i think we are going to bestow the official pardon. >> the most powerful position in the world brings with it many awesome and solemn

responsibilities. this is not one of them. >> it is a little puzzling that i do this every year. >> oh, boy. >> the best smart washing sasha and malia, too. if anybody is over it's like right. >> when you're a teenager and being dragged to a thing and when you get a sense that you're kind of over it. >> the turkey pardon thing. like a turkey with extra stuffings millions of americans' retirement funds just got a little fatter and not all workers were celebrating. cnbc's steve sedgwick is here on why some may not be so thankful about that. >> good morning. u.s. markets continue to rally. we've got the dow above 19000. we've got the s&p breaching 2,200 on the back of what? well, i'm not entirely sure. have we got a few overpriced turkeys, quite possibly but

consumer discretionary 1% higher and they are all waiting for the big long holiday bank weekend and spending, of course, which kicks off tomorrow when you've had enough turkey and start spending on the straightaway and black friday. elsewhere the reason, why as you say, many americans may not be celebrating is because a federal judge brought millions more americans eligible for extra time in terms of overtime pay. time and a half over 40 hours a week and now there's a bit of a caveat until the judge made its deliberations. elsewhere the twitter account of jack-doers, 3.1 million followers, it was suspended. i'm look at his account here. he said i'm setting up my twitter again and the account suspension was an internal mistake. interesting, frances, he's got the same number of followers, as ayman 3.1 and ayman has 146,000. that's very impressive. >> and i wonder if mine is going to be shut off one day probably, steve. >> i'll take your residual

followers. one thing i'm thankful for this thanksgiving, steve sedgwick, love the energy. you're invited to my thanksgiving table. >> the rest team is already gone. >> you've got it, steve. thank, great to see you. >> just a preview of the weekend thanksgiving block bifrts and a talent overload in the latest white house mannequin challenge. you're watching "early today." challenge. you are watching "early today." you are watching "early today." ( ♪ ) come on, dad. ( ♪ ) ♪ they tell me i'm wrong ♪ ♪ to want to stand alongside my, my love ♪ ♪ whoa, talkin' 'bout my love ♪ ♪ talkin' 'bout my, my love ♪ you ready, dad? ♪ whoa-ooh ♪ ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh ♪ the new olay eyesrise. fultimate eye cream. ♪ whoa-ooh for instant results of the number one prestige eye cream, without paying twice the price. show your amazement, not your age.

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right now on "nbc 10 news today." getaway day is here. about 50 million people will be flying, taking the train or hitting the roads for thanksgiving, the most in nearly a decade. >> bullish commute. traffic across philadelphia is often wild and drivers on i-95 and other roads had to grab their camera when a bull dodged cars and was running between tax. and tax agreement. trying to get home, to work, a deal allowing you to pay only where you live will stay in place. >> just about 4:30. good wednesday morning. this is "nbc 10 news today. i'm tracy davidson. >> and i'm vai sikahema. 25 degrees and let's get right for a first look at the forecast

with bill. >> colder anywhere you live. temperatures have come down. that 35 you mentioned that's at philadelphia international. most area is at freezing or below freezing this morning. 31 degrees right now in the lehigh valley, and look at delaware. 29 degrees. a live view of 95 in delaware, and we'll be watching the cars go by and the temperatures fall. 29 degrees. 27 degrees at 6:00. and then we'll get bright sunshine and warm to 36 degrees at 9:00 so it's going to be a cold morning but this afternoon a pretty nice one with much less wind. it's finally died down. mostly sunny skies in philadelphia, 53 and plenty of sunshine for the suburbs in new jersey and 52 degrees the high temperature in new jersey and the nice turnaround for the lehigh vale and delaware, near 50 in the lehigh valley and up to 52 degrees with sunshine in delaware. i'll break these forecasts down hour by hour to show you how quickly the temperatures move up when i come back in ten minutes. >> yes, francisca is coming up.

we have team coverage coming up as people hit the roads and rails and skies and let's beginning with our first alert traffic reporter and a look at the current travel conditions. a look at how is looks. >> very light this morning, typical morning construction. the vine street camera right around broad street. you see cars veering off towards exit for broad street and doing pretty good and fairly light and over in deptford, new jersey, right on route 41. very light traffic once again. i would recommend that car heater. it's very cold out there, folks. let's take a look at the rest of the new jersey major. shall we. i-295 and the new jersey turnpike. 42 freeway and all in the clear at this time of morning. when i come back in the next several minutes a look at 95 and we'll see how that morning travel will continue. vai, back for you. >> whether you're flying out of town or welcoming friends to your home philadelphia international airport will be packedto