here's george solis. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: wicked and gladiator two, making magic at the box office. ♪ ♪ > the good gladiator to celebrate both movies. >> if there are no further questions, i'm gonna go. >> reporter: now the highest-opening broadway film. universal pictures wracking in $114 million. the sequel, gladiator two, 25 years in the making, conquering 55 million. >> i put you in the ring. you fight or you die. >> reporter: the doubleheader not enough to recreate last year's barbenheimer which hit $311 million in its opening weekend. >> i think right now there's so much learning for all the major film studios who are trying to get audiences off their couches. these two films, there are signs that folks want to come out and have experiences. they want to get decked out in pink and green. >> reporter: generating plenty on social media. >> two tickets, please? >> for what movie? >> reporter: a dazzling duo. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: hollywood hopes to defy expectations. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: george solis, nbc news. >> and already planning seeing wicked again. wow, incredible. >>> this morning, we r

nbc's george solis tracked down some of the win others this money. >> reporter: the clear pattern is emerging about the winners of elon musk's million giveaways. nbc news finding at least nine of the 15 winners are either registered republicans or are republican-leaning. >> $1 million. >> reporter: and at least one former democrat. >> we've just over the years seen the party change, and really kind of do a 180. >> reporter: all of the winners live in one of the seven battleground states and appear in photos or videos. ron conwell telling nbc news he found out he won when members of musk's super pac came to his door with an oversized check. joshua mayo emotional over the life 46 changing albeit scrutinized cash. >> a million dollars shows up at my door. >> it's just unheard of. >> reporter: musk under growing legal scrutiny himself accused of interfering with the federal lukz since he announced he award money to voters. >> if you already believe in the constitution, you're just signing something you already believe and you can win a million dollars. >> reporter: the super pac not resp

george solis has details. >> reporter: tonight a clear pattern is emerging about the winners of elonmillion dollar giveaways. nbc news finding at least nine of the 15 winners are either registered republicans or are republican leaning. $1 million. >> reporter: and at least one former democrat. >> we've just over the years seen the party change and really kind of do a 180. >> reporter: all of the winners live in one of the seven battleground states and appear in photos or videos. michigan winner ron conwell telling nbc news he found out he won when members of musk's pro-trump super pac came to his door with an oversized check. >> i am a veteran, four years at west point. >> reporter: father of three north carolina winner joshua mayo emotional with the well scrutinized cash. >> $1 million shows up at my door. >> unheard of. >> reporter: musk accused of interfering with the federal election since announcing he would randomly announce prize money for standing up for rights. >> you can win $1 million. >> reporter: how winners are chosen remains unclear. the super pac not responding to nbc

we begin tonight with george solis on the fire lines in reading, pennsylvania. >> reporter: tonight raging wildfires throughout the northeast have transformed vibrant fall scenery into hellish landscapes. >> trees and brush burning going up the hill rapidly. >> reporter: in reading, pennsylvania, an overnight inferno of 170 acres in these mountains prompted the temporary evacuation of about 100 homes. >> we had to leave because it's for our safety. it's getting to close to our house. >> reporter: with the winds dying down, hot spots are still a major concern. firefighters heavily dousing these areas with plenty of water. fire officials now hoping to catch a break from mother nature. >> you know mother nature, it doesn't -- doesn't always cooperate, she doesn't always cooperate with what we need at the time. >> reporter: in new jersey, crews responding to around 40 fire calls in the last two days including this one. >> we're putting a lot of labor into putting these fires out. takes a lot of water. >> reporter: overnight in brooklyn, new york, firefighters rushing to contain a brush fire ca

here is george solis. >> reporter: "wicked" and "gladiator ii" making magic at the box office. ♪♪ thefeature dub glicked dominating screens this weekend. >> empire falls. >> i came as a glenda the good gladiator to celebrate both movies. >> if there are no further questions, i'm going. >> reporter: "wicked" popular and now the highest opening broadway adaptation in cinematic history. ♪ something changed ♪♪ >> reporter: the film which comes from our sister company universal pictures racking in 114 million. the sequel, "gladiator ii," nearly 25 years in the making, conquering 55 million. still the doubleheader not enough to re-create barbenheimer. it hit 311 million in the opening weekend. >> there is so much learning for the major film studios struggling to get audiences off the coaches. it feels like these two films and more specifically "wicked" are signs that folks want to have experiences, want to get decked out. >> reporter: sparing no expense in marketing and generating plenty on social media. >> two tickets, please. >> reporter: a dazzling duo as hollywood hopes to defy expectat

nbc's george solis is in redding, pennsylvania. george, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, willie. firefighters here expect this to be a days long battle but they're confident their efforts on the ground will keep these fires in the mountains. meanwhile, there are other fires burning, and the concern here is this dry condition out here could mean that next wildfire is right around the corner. this morning raging wildfires throughout the northeast have transformed scenic fall scenery into hellish land skates. in redding, pennsylvania, an inferno of 170 acres in these mountains led to the temporary evacuation of about 100 homes. >> three doors down is our house and there's the fire. too close for comfort. >> reporter: even with the winds dying down, hot spots are still a major concern. firefighters heavily dousing these areas with plenty of water. today fire officials hoping to catch a break with some rain in the forecast. >> mother nature doesn't always cooperate with what we need all the time. >> reporter: in new jersey crews

joining us now, nbc's george solis from ringwood, new jersey, and david griffin from camarillo, californians there where you are? >> reporter: jose, conditions still very dry out here. you can hear it in the leaves that are out here. the good news is that rain did fall in this region, about a quarter inch, according to fire officials, which has been a tremendous help in getting these crews a break as officials have said here, her running ragged. since october 1st, there have been more than 500 wildfires they have responded to. that is 500 more in the same period this time last year. remarkable when you think about it. and again, that rain, while very much helpful, really doesn't move the needle a whole lot. the dryness out here is so apparent that they really didn't count on this really making too much of a difference. they expect the cleanup here to still take about a week, as they try to contain the jennings creek wildfire, at this point, is burning about 3,000 acres. it's about 10% contained. that fire resulting in a fatality here, in new york's parks ranger dying while trying to clear

george solis is in hard-hit green lake, new york. >> reporter: firefighters in new york and new jersey intensifying efforts to manage the jennings creek wildfire. strong winds saturday night caused the fire to breach the containment line. this is what the inferno looked like early sunday morning. >> the top of the hill's getting brighter. >> higher up. >> reporter: the temporary setback sparking a fast mobilization of first responders and evacuation orders for more than 150 homes in the fire zone. >> they said you got to go. >> reporter: jim johnson and jim howard among the evacuees, watching from across the lake, hoping their homes are spared. >> and you're watching it, inch by inch, and it's coming toward our houses. what are we going to do? and we can't do anything. >> reporter: the firefight continues from the ground and in the air. the crucial water drops keep the fire under control. residents in the area also worry about the ongoing dry conditions and severe drought. >> we're all on pins and needles, i mean, i could have a fire around my house, too. >> reporter: the battle raging

here is george solis. >> reporter: raging firefighters throughout the northeast have transformed vibrant fall scenery into hellish land scapes. >> trees an brush burning going up the hild rapidly. >> reporter: burning about 170 acres in these mountains prompting the temporary evacuation of about 100 homes. >> it's for our safety. it's getting too close to our house. >> reporter: even with the winds dying down, hot spots like these are still a major concern. firefighters heavily dousing the areas with plenty of water. fire officials now hoping to catch a break from mother nature. >> you know mother nature. it doesn't always cooperate, or she doesn't always cooperate with what we need all the time. >> reporter: in new jersey, crews responding to around 40 fire calls in the last two days, including this one. >> we're putting a lot of labors into putting the fires out. it takes a lot of water. >> reporter: while in brooklyn, new york, firefighters rushing to contain a brush caused by heavy winds and dry vegetation from prospect part. this video showing firefighters spending more than three h

>> george solis near buffalo, new york, thank you. >>> and now to politics and a high-stakes meetingween president-elect trump and canadian prime minister justin trudeau. the leaders met at mr. trump's mar-a-lago home as the president-elect threatens to impose massive tariffs on canada and mexico. allie rafah is with the president-elect. >> reporter: jose, prime minister trudeau is back in canada tonight after this brief trip, making his case to the president-elect to drop his threat to charge a 25% tariff on goods imported from canada and mexico unless they stop the flow of undocumented migrants and drugs across their borders into the u.s. the prime minister describing their conversation as excellent, while mr. trump called it a very productive meeting. but it's still unclear whether the two reached an agreement that would prevent mr. trump from imposing the tariffs on day one of his new term. a promise that could charge americans more for critical goods from canada like crude oil, gas, produce, and car parts. jose? >> allie raffa, thank you. >>> also tonight, the mother of mr. trum

george solis is about an hour north of the city in green wood lake, new york.nder firefighters' progress at the jennings creek fire burning between the new york and new jersey border. it is mostly contained at this point but still 5,000 acres have burned. unfortunately the fire threat is not over. about 42 million are under some type of fire alert. it is not just the winds but the bone dry conditions out here. look at the brush. it is so dry. the northeast experiencing its driest condition in some 20 plus years. officials also concerned about the resvoyeur levels, making sure the water levels are high enough for the choppers flying around collecting water to perform crucial water drops to put out the fires. firefighters themselves also admittedly exhausted. they have been fighting some of the fires in the region for the last weeks if not months. fortunately, they are getting some help from the federal government. fema is pledging much needed federal dollars. some are headed out west for the fires to keep them going. the thing they look for the most is any kind

george solis in orchard park tonight. this morning. er could impact the big travel rush this weekend with everyone heading home after thanksgiving. and nbc's maggie vespa is at chicago's o'hare airport with more on that. >> reporter: you can see the travel rush is already on and everyone making the trip home after turkey and thankfully air travel thus far has been pretty smooth. faa saying they actually had a record number of flights this thanksgiving week but it's the roads that are already a mess. check out the video out of detroit. you can see that lake effect snow that george lanksure just just talking about creating whiteout conditions for black friday. there it is. michigan state police issuing warnings amid that snowfall asking drivers to take it slow and drive carefully and it's good advice for everyone traveling home this weekend. as tomorrow is expected to be the peak travel day with 80 million people having made the trip and now making the trip home. according to aaa for the thanksgiving holiday. the vast majority of them dri

we're going to begin with nbc's george solis, who's at the home of the buffalo bills to learn the planad of tomorrow's game. george? >> reporter: welcome to buffalo. we're inside highmark stadium right now and we're starting to see the impacts of the lake effect snow. it's coming down at a good clip, maybe 2 to 3 inches an hour. when we first got here this morning you can still see some of the green of the grass here. you can see now completely covered by the snow, and it's only going to intensify throughout the day today and into tomorrow. the bills themselves asking the legendary bills mafia to help them dig out here because they expect these stands, these seats here to be covered in snow. and so, of course, many of fans already with shovels in hand. we actually saw some already getting ready for the tailgate for tomorrow's big game against the 49ers. so they are certainly going to help this stadium clear out for the game. now, we were actually in some of the south towns here where this lake effect snow has really taken ahold. and we're starting to see some good accumulations there.

with me now, nbc's george solis in ringwood, new jersey. dana griffin is in camarillo, california, and nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with me in studio. george, i understand there was some rain in that area last night. did it help at all with these fires? >> reporter: to answer that question, take a listen to the leaves here. they are still bone dry out here. so while that rain did help give firefighters a little bit of a reprieve, not nearly enough to make an impact with the fire as we know mentioned, 2,500 acres on the new york side, 25 acres on the new jersey side. it's 20% contained. they are looking forward to shifting winds to help them with the fire fright. as you look around here, it's a mountainous terrain. it is rocky. it's difficult for the machinery to get in there and build the containment lines. officials confident that they were able to save about 170 structures on the new york side. given that they were able to get some of those people to evacuate momentarily. nothing mandatory, and right now, the outlook is very good.

george solis is outside philadelphia. what are we expecting today there?a, jose, it's a little bit of deja vu and it's a continuation of what was supposed to happen last week and musk himself again a no show, but again, during the arguments that we're hearing rid now again, the lawyers for the d.a. in philadelphia hoping to stop this lottery which, by the way, is expected to stop tomorrow. there have been 16 winners so far and nbc analyzing winners and voters and finding that most of these winners, if not all are either republican or republican leaning and multiple requests to this pac to how this works and how the winners are selected have gone unanswered. this violates the state lottery laws as well as consumer protection laws and when you look at this petition that musk is basically asking these registered voters to sign supporting first and second amendment rights and it doesn't explain how the winners are selected and what the odds are when running a lottery in the state. musk and his team trying to put a quash on this to get this moved to federal cou

let's get to george solis in buffalo part. he spent some time today at high mark stadium. back to you, and welcome. it looked like a winter wonderland on the field when you were there, but you are being told this game is happening. >> yeah, it is happening, and the bills mafia will surely make it happen as they prepare to come with shovels to dig high mark stadium out of that potential six feet of snow. we are currently just outside of orchard park right now, this whole area to give you a sense, it is sort of like a snow globe when you have this lake effect snow. you have one area that is getting coated with feet and feet of snow, and another area just outside that is completely dry right now. it is kind of ridiculous, you have blue skies ahead, but if you look behind me, that dark gray cloud, that ominous looking thing, that is where all the snow is falling. that is slowly creeping up into this region, into the northern parts of town, but we might see flurries that have not started to stick on the ground. it is coming. that is really the danger in all of this as the snow