we could end up with over two inches of rain. thanks. we're about 30 minutes good morning. breaking overnight. the death of fidel castro. the former cuban dictator dead at the age of 90. celebrations on the streets of miami's world leaders quick to act. he ruled with an iron fist for nearly 50 years. leaving many in fear and fleeing for safety. the dictaor had a relationship with 11 u.s. presidents and brought the nations to the brink of nuclear war. now as the relations are starting to thaw, what will happen? we are live with it all today,

>> good morning. welcome back to "today" on saturday morning. i'm sheinelle jones with hallie jackson in for craig and dylan dreyer. >> we begin with the breaking news. the death of fidel castro. the dictator hadn't been seen the last few years. he died at the age of 90 last night. we have nbc's andrea mitchell with a look back at his life. >> reporter: he was commander or just dictator. one of the world's last communists. the firebrand started life simply. illegitimate son of a land owner. he graduated with a law degree and doctorate. tried running for the national assembly in 1952 until batista seized power. and in 1953, castro led a group

years until amnesty and he went into exile. in mexico, he regrouped with his brother raul and ernesto. the three led a force back to cuba in 1956 waging guerlla war in 1959. at first the young leader telling the u.s. he was not a communist. "meet the press" in april of 1959. >> i am not communist. >> reporter: he confiscated the property of the wealthy and silenced newspapers and signed a pact with the soviet union. in 1961, president kennedy ordered the cia to invade cuba

of anti-castro exiles. the results debacle helped castro consolidate power. by then, declared socialist, he improved health care and literacy. also accepted soviet missiles bringing the super powers to the brink of nuclear war. >> requiring a full retaliatory response upon the soviet union. >> reporter: until kennedy's hard line got pull back. for 25 years, moscow helped castro throughout latin america. but with the end of the soviet union, cuba's economy imploded. on makeshift boats, thousands fled the regime. >> the legacy is a complicated one. there's no for getting how many cubans left the island under duress. >> reporter: in the 1990s, the aging ruler courted u.s.

he showed a new tolerance for religion welcoming john paul ii. and most travel to the island was cut off. castro arrested hundreds. in the final years, the economy was propped up by another ally. venezuela. in the summer of 2006 after going through intestinal surgery, castro turned over to raul. he stepped down two years later. he wrote columns and emerging publicly for the pope's visit in 2012. and for vladimir putin and president xi jinping in 2014. to the end, castro insisted the revolution would out live him. >> if i die tomorrow morning, there will be no problem here of any sort because the remains a

the people. >> reporter: still his real legacy may be holding power for half a century. longer than any other modern leader. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >> cuba will hold nine days of national mourning with his funeral are december 4th. >> what happens with the two countries up to donald trump. he has been critical of the we have kristen welker with more on that for us this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. so far no reaction from the president-elect. he is on a working vacation here in palm beach. i expected we will get a response by the end of the day. the question is what does this mean for relations between the united states and cuba? as a candidate, donald trump vowed to reverse the actions that president obama took to

countries. lifting restrictions on imports for example. listen to candidate trump back in september. >> but all of the concessions that barack obama has granted the castro regime were done through executive order which means the next president can reverse them and that i will do unless the castro regime meets our demands. those demands will include religious and political freedom for the freeing of political prisoners. >> reporter: as you heard mr. trump say the actions that president obama took are executive action. that means a new incoming president can reverse them essentially with a stroke of a pen. the reality to it is trade has opened up between the two countries. flights resumed. it is hard to unwind all of that. this comes against the back drop

will be deeply involved with u.s. and cuban relations. the top two contenders is hard liner rudy giuliani and former antagonist and moderate republican mitt romney. very in line with mr. trump with cuba. sheinelle. >> kristen, thank you. turning to other news. black friday is now over. a lot of the sales will go on throughout the weekend. tens of thousands woke up early to be the first ticket items at a reduced price. how did they make out? nbc's jacob rascon is in texas' biggest mall in houston. good morning, jacob. >> reporter: good morning. we are in the houston mall. most of the retailers were in the middle of black friday weekend. some 137 million americans expected to hit the stores. that's more people than voted in the general election. overall, through the holiday,

that's thanks in part to a surge in online sales. for many, it has become its own holiday. >> like to keep it local and go to the big malls in minnesota. have fun. >> every year, year after year, doing stuff like 27 hours last year. so far, 16 or 17 this year. >> reporter: six in ten americans plan to shop black friday weekend. many camping overnight. wait usually. to score some of the best deals of the year. target selling 3200 tvs per minute in the first hour. amazon with 100,000 toys in the first few hours. and at walmart, this woman head over heels for its deal of the day. towels. the retail giant would go to sell 2.8 million of them. the busiest holiday shopping season ever the national retail federation predicts.

billion. more than last year thanks to online sales and all of this, the federation says, thanks to a generally strong economy. >> for the first time ever, we have seen 25% of people say they plan to spend more this year than last year. >> reporter: it is no longer just a one-day event. >> we got some deals yesterday. we got some deals this morning. we got online this morning and did all of our online shopping. that's out of the way. >> reporter: several shootings at malls in shopping plans. the holiday tradition which for most americans has become as indispensable as the turkey. and in a sign of the times, 70% of sales on walmart's web site were done within mobile devices. online records broken. we still have cyber monday ahead and small business saturday. hallie and sheinelle. >> that is today.

now she is back and surrounded by those she loves. for the first time, sherri papini's sister describing the mother of two after released by kidnappers on the side of the california road. >> this has been a traumatic event for all of us. >> reporter: on thanksgiving morning, dispatch tapes paint a terrifying discovery.

>> reporter: when police arrived, they found her beaten. >> be advised, she is heavily battered. >> reporter: investigators confirmed they don't know why she was released after being held for three weeks or why she was abducted in the first place. papini disappeared on a morning jog 150 miles away near redding, california. a find my phone app led her investigators ruling her husband out as a suspect after passing a lie detector test. the family still trying to process the horror of what happened. >> it has been a range of emotions. sadness and anger. right now it is joy. lots of joy she is here. >> reporter: meanwhile, sheriff's office are spanning across northern california following up on any lead that may crack this case.

>> oh, no. we're elated that she's safe and reunited with her husband. this is a new chapter to the investigation. now it switches from a missing person to an abduction case looking for the suspects. >> reporter: investigators say so far they have seen no evidence that would lead them to believe this was anything but a kidnapping. right now, the only description of the kidnappers they are two hispanic women leaving in a dark suv. sheinelle. >> thank you, gadi. dylan is out on the plaza with another check of the forecast. >> good morning, guys. we have a big thanksgiving crowd on the plaza this morning. everybody hanging out through the weekend. let's look at the weather. we can expect this on saturday and sunday. if you do have to travel back somewhere, seattle and san francisco, we could see delays. los angeles, too because of rain and wind. on sunday, same thing. a west coast storm that could

good morning. just a few clouds coming over on this saturday morning and a chill in the air, but it's above freezing. later today hitting the mid winds up to 20, 25 miles an hour. lighter winds tonight and sunday sunshine with highs in the low 50s and on monday with some needed rain and that's your latest forecast. sheinelle and hallie. >> dylan, thank you. >> still to come, this might be one of the best mannequin challenges ever.

perfectly still? perfectly still? >> that is creepy. my goal was to finally get in shape. not to be focusing on my moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis. so i made a decision to talk to my dermatologist about humira. humira works inside my body to target and help block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to my symptoms. in clinical trials, most adults taking humira were clear or almost clear, and many saw 75% and even 90% clearance in just 4 months. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. ask about humira, the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists.

get to kohl's and seize these saturday only deals. for her $17.99 tops $21.99 sleep-sets and $11.99 slippers. for the kids girls' sweaters for just $13.99. and for your home $19.99 sheets e big one bath towel is just $3.99. plus take an extra 20% off these already low prices. and - only once a year everyone gets $15 kohl's cash for every $50 spent. this saturday only

?? happy thanks for giving! thanks for giving lien the strength to outrun her brother. thanks for giving victor the energy to be the rowdiest fan. and joseph, the ability to see monsters. when you choose walgreens, you choose to make a difference... like how every vitamin and flu shot you get at walgreens helps give life-changing vitamins and vaccines... to children in need. so, really... happy thanks for giving! walgreens. at the corner of happy and healthy. we're back on a saturday morning. it's time to trend. are you ready to trend? >> lead me through. >> first up, we can agree braving the malls is a headache. it looks like the neighbors up north found a way to make black friday a pleasant scene. this is the scene at best buy in

hear the applause? they clap for one another. they brought doughnuts. this is in south africa. one that looks like more what happens here in the u.s. it is not electronics or toys they want. here, they are excited to get hands on toilet paper. >> what did they have for thanksgiving dinner? >> it's a deal. >> that scene is what i'm used to. we have the mannequin challenge sweeping the a video shows a different and let's say unexpected take on it. check it out. look at this. ?? >> that is an australian cattle dog. nailing the mannequin challenge. are we sure that's a dog and not a stuffed animal? no word on how the owner got him to freeze. baking dog treats and loading the dishwasher and even doing laundry and even going to the

is that a real dog? it's funny. >> we cannot stop staring. >> look at it. >> i like it and i'm a little creeped out. i love dogs, but that was weird. >> i'm not over the mannequin challenge. it's still fun to watch. >> "popstart?" >> yes. let's look at how the celebrities celebrated thanksgiving. here is sofia husband in silly hats. and then check out this picture of her in the kitchen. and mark wahlberg with a huge bottle of wine. and oprah with the thanksgiving table with girls from her

and you may binge watch now "gilmore girls" is on netflix. it is a year in the life. the original series ended in 2007. we finally get to see what happened to lorelai and her daughter rory. actress lauren graham tweeted out a message. we are back tomorrow because of you. i could not be more thankful. enjoy. >> no oi 90 minutes per episode. >> we won't spoil it for you. >> thank you very much. we will be back in a moment. this is "today" on nbc. ??

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all right. that does it for us this saturday morning. tomorrow on "today," willie goes

andy cohen. and before we go, we want to take a moment to say thank you to stephanie ruhle who is leaving the anchor desk to devote time for her msnbc show. she will be a contributor on "today." we wish her nothing but the best. this show went by quickly today. >> thank you. >> a good crowd. enjoy the weekend, everybody.

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breaking news this saturday morning, the death of fidel castro. good morning. >> we are covering all angles of this breaking story. >> we look at the impact his revolution ha m coming out of cuba this morning. >> celebrations have been flooding the streets all through the night and into the morning. we are going to hear those praising the death of the former cuban dictator. >> reporter: local reaction to the death of fidel castro. i'll tell you what's going on outside the cuban embassy coming up. welcomed sunshine returns

rain coming up. >> thanks. we'll be live on facebook. so if you have your tablet or

breaking news spreading across the world this morning. fidel castrode capital as many in havana are awakening to that news. you can see an american flag being held up. >> to the right of your screen this was the scene in little havana in miami. cuban-americans have been up celebrating word of castro's death. for many it's a painful reminder of a difficult past.

midnight so a lot of you waking up to this. current cuban president raul castro took to state run tv announcing the death of the man who ruled the island nation for 49 years and reaction to that broadcast quickly came from cuban-americans in the u.s. saying that raul castro, right there you can see the cuban embassy, they were the ones announcing that. the cuban embassy in d.c. saying on 10:29 on friday, the 25th of november, they say that fidel castro died. >> we also are learning more details about the funeral for fidel castro. we know that right now today as of 6:00 this morning nine days of national mourning began. castro's funeral is scheduled

at the life of a man who built a communist state 90 miles from the u.s. >> reporter: for more than four decades fidel castro was anti-american jump per son fieed. he delighted being a constant thorn in the side of u.s. presidents. fidel castro's revolution was born in the remote mountains of his forces swept into havana and ousted the u.s. backed dictator. >> havana and her people went wild. they surrounded him. fidel, our liberator, our savior. >> reporter: the revolutionary soon proclaimed his beliefs and forged a close aliance with the soviet union that would endure for the remainder of the cold

the 1961 invasion at the bay of pigs. castro led the resistance and the american invasion failed miserably. less than a year later castro and the soviets orchestrated the greatest nuclear crisis the world has known. after a tense standoff the soviets relented pulling their missiles from cuba. during the 70s and 80s cast the soviets to promote leftists throughout central america and africa. as conditions worsened at home thousands began to flee the island risking their lives to the united states. as the soviet union collapsed, so did cuba's economy. fidel had to ask businesses to invest their western currency in cuba.

show the effects of age. he broke his knee and arm in a stumble in 2004 and then two years later he underwent intestinal surgery. as his health declined he turned over power to his brother raul. but with fidel castro's death, cuba now faces an uncertain future. bruce hall, nbc news. the president-elect is also reacting to morning. a short time ago donald trump tweeted out simply, quote, fidel castro is dead, end quote. president obama has not released a statement on social media yet this morning, but we are hearing from sources that the white house does plan to respond later today. 330 nautical miles northwest of cuba is miami, florida with a booming cuban population. a lot of cuban-americans flocked there.

cuban-american. according to the research center cubans wanting to live in the u.s. only need to show up at a port of entry and pass an inspection, but if they have found at sea they are returned. last year alone the u.s. coast guard caught 3,505 cubans trying to make that dangerous trip. the florida keys are just 90 miles from cuba. this is what little cuban-americans out in the streets celebrating. it's emotional, it's joyous for many of them there. they were chanting freedom. many were forced to flee to miami during castro's 49 year rule. our station in miami is there this morning. >> reporter: it was around midnight when the south florida

castro's debts. as you would imagine they were suspect at first because there have been many false alarms, but in this case it turned out to be true and eighth street in little havana was crowded and packed like a street party. the cuban-american community out here celebrating the death of fidel castro at 90 years old. for this them death is a vind occasion of astrasties he committed. people have been sharing their stories of what it was like to live in that country during castro's rule and his lack of human rights and undercutting everybody's due rights in that country. here we are now. i want you to meet somebody here that we've met earlier today. this man here to your right, he was imprisoned for nine years. >> that's correct. the best prison here in the

compared to prisons in cuba. cuba prisons are real prisons. they do tortured. he said to the government i want to stay in jail and that's how they let him free. >> reporter: what does this mean now that fidel castro is dead? >> you have to remember he's the head of the snake. the head of the snake is gone. there's going to be changes definitely and i have faith that the country as a whole will change for the better. see it in cuba. >> reporter: thank you very much. so again here the cuban-american community celebrating the death of fidel castro. to give you an idea of how monumental they believe this is, one person compared castro's death to a man walking on the moon. while throngs of people rejoice over the death, there are others who are mourning it.

havana homes, some people with tears in their eyes. one supporter said that even though he's dead he'll always be our commander. we're working to get reaction in our backyard. derrick ward is live at the recently reopened embassy of cuba in northwest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. as you can see the flags here are flying at half staff and it's sort of a fidel castro served longer than any living leader than the queen of england. it was 1959 when he took power to become cuba's leader and i instituted a policy of social progress and totalenism.

>> now that he's finally died, thank you. we have much to celebrate about. >> reporter: now i asked that women earlier what she thought was next for cuba. she says that she thinks that the marketplace and forces of the market will be the biggest engine for change there. she felt that fidel castro stood in the way of that happening. she said that his brother raul

havana on tuesday in one of the main squares there and a burial ceremony will be held on december 4th. in 2005 the cia revealed that castro suffered from parkinson's disease. he was also 90 years old. he did lead cuba for nearly five decades going through the span of >> outliving ten of their terms, which is quite incredible and remarkable. this is a man that as we just saw from these stories you saw both sides of it. it was kind of black and white, hated and beloved. definitely a mixed legacy. >> i posted a picture of my grandmother's cuban passport and along with it they included the children, including my mom. i posted that on social media.

rediscovering cuba with us. i've been answering questions. people wondering what's next. cubans are wondering this too. i was down there in october. it was the fifth visit in a year and a half we've made talking to cubans and they're optimistic of the changes between the two countries, but also wondering where do we go from here and it's still not clear. >> images and video of your visit is on our home page. if you go to the nbc washington app you david did. let's get you outside for a check of that forecast. tom kierein standing by on small business saturday. >> sunshine has returned on this saturday morning. the clouds have cleared out. right now we have a beautiful blue sky, live view from the tower camera. on the horizon is frederick

temperatures are generally in the low to mid 40s. reagan international around 45 degrees. the winds are picking up a little bit. they're gusting around 20 miles an hour and getting a little bit of rain and wet snow upstate new york that will move into new england. for us we have a drying trend here and the clouds clearing out. rain is in the forecast as we get into the week ahead. i'll look at our heaviest rain days, that's coming this half then. take you back for a live picture of havana, cuba. you can see the gathering there. there was is a trump/pence sign. you see an american flag. a lot of different emotions happening in that island nation right now. it's something we are continuing to monitor. we'll have more on this reaction on the death of fidel castro

d.c.'s mayor says she's sickened by the city's latest shooting that took the life of a 16-year-old girl. this happened yesterday morning in southeast. news 4 spoke with the girl's grieving family. >> she was young, pretty, educated. liked to go to school. >> reporter: brianna was only 16 years old, but her family says

about bri. >> everybody knows her. >> reporter: her cousin says brianna was loving, driven and always kind to everyone, which is why her family was so excited when she returned home for the holidays from boarding school in iowa. just before noon several rounds of gun fire rang out in the courtyard of her mother's apartment. police arrived on scene taping off the area and investigating for ho family and friends to learn that brianna was gone. >> i went to school with her. i grew up with her. she was cool. >> reporter: her cousin said she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. >> i mean, i couldn't do nothing but cry and then i went in the house. everybody was just crying and hurt. it was like, no, not bri. >> reporter: tears and pain for a life taken too soon. family members say all they can do now is pray that the shooter

>> d.c. police still searching for a suspect in this case. the family is raising money for funeral expenses. if you would like to contribute search funeral fund. there's a search in fairfax this morning after a thanksgiving homicide in falls apartment. this man is 21 years old and wanted for burglary. yesterday police two others accused of stealing from the victim. that victim was found dead inside of an apartment on thursday. black friday is under our belt. now we move on to small business

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good morning. body exercise by raking leaves. a bit of a blustery wind, but a good day for this. temperatures into the mid 50s by mid afternoon with lots of sunshine. a look at our next chances for rain that's coming in just a couple of minutes. >> thank you. 8:49 right now. it is small business saturday

when it comes to competing with online retailers. >> reporter: the lucky knot is owned by three local sisters. the clothes and accessories reflect their personal style. tomorrow the shop will take part in small business saturday. >> we wanted to be in old town and we decided to do it so it's awesome to be here and when people come in and shop in the small businesses they're giving back to the community because we have over 20 >> reporter: patricia washington heads the tourism agency. they've created a special canvass tote bag for this year's event. >> 80% of our shops and restaurants are small businesses and we're very proud of that fact. so this year everyone's working together to take things to another level. >> reporter: just down i-95 springfield town center is winding down from its third and busiest black friday so far.

number of businesses here that will be taking part in tomorrow's event. >> we have over two dozen small business operators, men and women, that are growing their businesses here in the mall. saturday is small business saturday for them and this is a great place to come see them. you have plenty of time to get plenty of holiday deals even if you missed black friday. you know what's coming up, cyber monday a couple ofay online deals and will keep the deals going all week long. when you're talking about cyber monday, i find it can be confusing for people because not only are you dealing with sales that actually start over the weekend, but then there's the timed deals as well. you have to be on the ball when it comes to it. >> a lot of folks that want to take part in small business saturday are going to be out and going from store to store.

them? >> we've got excellent weather on this saturday morning. there is the tollway there. a few clouds are passing over. they're rolling in off the mountains as the upper levels are very windy. we have winds gusting over 30 miles an hour at the mountains and here at the lower elevations the winds are not as strong. rain and wet snow m new york state that will move into northern new england. here we are drying out. won't have any rain through the rest of the weekend. temperatures are in the low to mid 40s everywhere. reagan international at 45 degrees. by 10:00 much of the region will be in the upper 40s and winds gusting 25 miles an hour during the afternoon and back to 50 by

under a clear sky and by dawn sunday highs low 50s and lots of sun. a great day for outdoor exercise. afternoon highs mid 50s with increasing clouds ahead of the rain. it looks like pretty good rain showers here moderate to heavy on tuesday into wednesday ending on thursday morning. over two inches possible and then dry after that. mild too on tuesday, wednesday mmmmm.....oohhhh... yeah....

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while some people may be doing a little binge shopping this weekend, there are others who are binge watching on the return of the gilmore girls. this weekend twitter exploded with reaction to the rival. netflix released gilmore girls a year in the life. a lot of people are excited 8:56 is your time right now. let's get you four things to know. we'll start with the breaking news out of cuba. fidel castro is dead at the age of 90. he was the leader who took charge for more than 49 years. his funeral is set for december 4th. that's going to be his burial. it will be in the eastern part of that country. he's being cremated today according to his will. remember to shop small

saturday. president-elect trump has announced his picks for deputy national security adviser and white house counsel. >> k.t. mcfarland and mcgahn are among those. paris officials have stopped four a good day to get out and get exercise and work off your thanksgiving overindulgence.

time has come for the redskins coach's show with jay gruden. coming up, the redskins fall to dallas on thanksgiving. bottom line is, the skins win two out of three in 11-day span, remaining right in playoff contention. the coach is here ready to answer the questions with larry michael and chris cooley. coach, we're going to touch on both games since the last coach's show. thanksgiving, 31-26, redskins on the short end of that one. you've seen the tape. what were some of the differences in that game? >> well, there was a lot. when you lose a football game, there's a lot of things you could have maybe executed better, called better, but it's