with trusty dog max perched on his back. >> as the big day approaches, john piper marshals the troopspes at the ready handlers hang on. one for deer life. >> am i going to blow away. >> of course not. we're going to have fun. he may be green and mean, but this grinch isn't going to steel anyone, except children's hearts. >>> also in the spirit of thanksgiving, vice president pence and his wife visited doctors and military members to give their thanks. pence and wife karen met privately with five wounded army members. later spoke with more service members of the usso warrior at walter reed medical center in bethesda maryland. may be thousands of miles away, but marking this thanksgiving holiday with a traditional dinner including turkey, mashed potatoes and fixings. we thank them for service and sacrifice. i'm yasmin. you've watching msnbc live. happy thanksgiving, everybody. [ keyboard clacking ] [ click ] [ keyboard clacking ] [ clacking continues ] good questions lead to good answers. our advisors can help you find both. talk to one today and see why we're bullish on the future. you

and as the big day approaches, john piper marshals the troops. handlers hang on, one for dear life. am i going to blow away? >> of course not! you're going to have fun. >> reporter: he may be green and he may be mean, but this grinch isn't going to steal anything except children's hearts. kevin tibbles, nbc news, meadowlands, new jersey. >>> and that's nbc "nightly news" for this wednesday. be sure to watch coverage of that macy's thanksgiving day parade tomorrow morning right here on nbc. i'm kate snow. for all of us here at nbc news, have a great night. right now at 6: we exposed allegationof >>> the administration knew this man was a problem. and they did not do anything about it. >> right now at 6:00, we expose allegations of sexual misconduct at a prestigious south bay high school. tonight we go one on one with the former student who says she couldn't stay quiet anymore. >>> the news at 6:00 starts right now. good evening and thanks for being with us, i'm raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguiraguirre. two former students of the all girls catho

as the big day emerges, john piper marshals the troops.n, one for dear life. >> am i go him to proceed away? >> of course not. we're going to have fun. >> oh, yeah, fun! >> he may be green and he may be mean, but this grinch isn't going to steal anything, except children's hearts, kevin tibbles, nbc news, meadow lands, new jersey. >> also in the spirit of thanksgiving, vice president pence and doctors visited military members to give thanks, pence and his wife met alongside service members of the uss warrior and family center at washington reed medical center in bethesda, maryland. they may be thousands of miles away, they mark a traditional turkey dinner and we thank them for their service, of course, and sacrifice, you are watching msnbc live. happy thanksgiving, everybody. ( ♪ ) more people shop online for the holidays than ever before. (clapping) and the united states postal service delivers more of those purchases to homes than anyone else in the country. ( ♪ ) because we know, even the smallest things are sometimes the biggest. even

and as the big day approaches, john piper marshals the troops.s hang on, one for dear life. am i going to blow away? >> of course not! you're going to have fun. >> reporter: he may be green and he may be mean, but this fringrinch isn't going to steal anything except children's hearts. kevin tibbles, nbc news, meadowlands, new jersey. >>> and that's nbc "nightly news" for this wednesday. be sure to watch coverage of that macy's thanksgiving day parade tomorrow morning right here on nbc. i'm kate snow. for all of us here at nbc news, have a gre at charlie rose out. s: step in to replace rose on cbs thisñr komorching. >>> plus this morningsxdçó exple new story aboutt(u russell sim. >> new details on jennifer lawrence split and is katy perry moving in on the weeknd. >>> david cassidy's interview. from partridge family teen sens,9 to three marriages. the upsok and the downs. the years. >> for allf you watching "extra"c -- >> announcer: then -- >>lp jordant( and dance champs jordan and lindsay. mark'sxd diaries at the big finale. >>> plus sophia and

and as the big day approaches, john piper marshals the troops.hang on. one for dear life. >> am i going to blow away? >> of course not. you're going to have fun. >> oh, yeah, fun. >> reporter: he may be green and he may be mean, but this grinch isn't going to steal anything, except children's hearts. kevin tibbles, nbc news, meadowlands, new jersey. ♪ he's a mean one >> mr. grinch. that's just one. olaf is going to be out there. so many floats. >> so much fun. >> still ahead, a good reason to have that extra cup of coffee or two in the morning. you're watching "early today." ♪ silent night ♪ holy night ♪ sleep in heavenly peace (cough) it's just a cough. if you could see your cough, you'd see just how far it can spread. robitussin soothes in seconds and delivers fast, powerful cough relief for hours. (giggling) robitussin dm max. because it's never just a cough. ito become dangerous.d for an everyday item new tide pods child guard pack. helps keep your laundry pacs safe and you

and as the big day approaches, john piper marshals the troops.s hang on, one for dear life. am i going to blow away? >> of course not! you're going to have fun. >> reporter: he may be green and he may be mean, but this grinch isn't going to steal anything except children's hearts. kevin tibbles, nbc news, meadowlands, new jersey. >>> and that's nbc "nightly news" for this wednesday. be sure to watch coverage of that macy's thanksgiving day parade tomorrow morning right here on nbc. i'm kate snow. for all of us here at nbc news, have a great night. nbc. i'm kate snow. for all of us here at c bnews, have a great >>> mirror ball champ jordan is best ever and next season it's all athletes, oh, we've got quite the wish list. charlie's out, oprah in.

let's turn up hello to john piper.with everybody's favorite for the holidays. be it pies, muffins or cakes, minimuffins or cookies. >> it was easier to dress up for this float than the jolly green giant for the next float. >> he's a big guy with a big task. he's bringing in the bountiful harvest. we see him towering over the corn and the beans and the squash and all those vegetables we need for our thanksgiving, as well. in let's turn up the color more. what's this one? >> nickelodeon has given us more. shimmer and shine. it's so much fun. >> we have one float that's designed as a playground. >> it's free to have fun. free to grow, with our friends from sprout. the entire float, as you said, is a playground. it has jingle gyms and slides and bouncy balls so that kids can be growing physically and mentally and having fun. >> let's add some mischief. >> the folks from sour patch have brought in your sour patch kids. all about a little naughty and a little nice. they are trying to throw a pin. but we have a surprise for t

. >> the people who make the magic happen, the vice president of macy's thanksgiving day and john piperousness right now with two and a half days to go? >> it is hard. we're hanging in. >> john, rodeo, not even your fifth rodeo? what do you have this year and what are you excited about. >> we have so much beautiful. this beautiful band from mississippi. we have 12 bands from all across the country, as far away as alaska and we have 17 balloons, five of which are brand-new. 26 floats. we have so much happening this year. >> the thing that -- before we get started, you just met with the mayor and the police commissioner. what can you tell us about that? >> we're going to be meeting with them in a few hours to talk about everything that we've been working on. all year long we work very closely with nypd and federal law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety of the parade. so all year long it is a whole process and we build up to today. >> are you promising good weather? mr. roker? >> yes, i am. dress warmly. it is going to be great. >> thank you. >> >> congratulations. >> happy thanksgi

and john piper, we see him every year, as well. hi, folks. good to see you.n, this is not your first rodeo. not even your fifth rodeo. what are you excited about? >> we have so much. this beautiful band from mississippi. we have 12 bands from all across the country. as far away as alaska. we have clowns. we have 17 balloons, 5 are brand-new. 26 floats. we have so much happening this year. >> the thing -- >> you have met -- before you get started, you met with the mayor and the police commissioner. what can you tell us about that? >> we're going to be meeting with them in a few hours to talk about everything that we've been working on. all year long, we work very closely with nypd and different federal law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety of this parade. all year long, it's a whole process. and we're building up to today. >> are you promising good weather, mr. roker? >> yes, i am. dress warmly. it's going to be great. >> thank you. we look forward to it. congratulations. >> happy thanksgiving in advance. >> that's right. you can catch the 91st macy's

we're with john piper. he's the vp of macy's parade studio.'s the big cahoona in charge of this whole thing. two questions for you. what's new and why are we testing these four new balloons today? >> new is this one guy who's a little mean. everybody else is happy today. but the grinch from illuminations brand new movie coming out next year, we're inflating him. he's one of our new balloons along with jet from super wings, chase from "paw patrol" and of course olaf from "frozen." >> so why are you testing? what is the purpose of what we're doing today so many weeks before the parade? >> just like kitty hawk. this is the final test for all of these guys to take their first flight before we take them to the parade so we can see how they maneuver. >> how much work is it to get all of this done from, let's say ideation to creation to inflation. >> only about six or nine months t. goes from a sketch to mod wills to computers to patterning to hand painting all of this to inflating. you want to inflate one of these chambers? >> all right. again, it's

we are with john piper, he's the big guy who's in charge of this whole thing. here. what's new and why are we testing those new balloons today? >> new is this one guy who's a little mean, the grinch from the brand new movie that's coming out next year. we are inflating him. he's one of our new balloons along with jet from "super wing" and chase from "paw patrol" and oo l.a. f from "frozen." >> how much work is it to get all of this done from creation to putting it together and a little inflation? >> it is all about six or nine months and it goes from sketch to models and computers and hahn painting these and inflating. >> you want to inflate one of these? >> it takes about 90 minutes to do the balloon and literally about 90 seconds once you open the zipper, you will let everything out, right? is this like inflating a tire? >> no, tait is a little bit mor sophisticated to that but you are up to it. >> lets hold the host while keith gets ready to give us some helium. all right, about half way and a little more and cut, well done. >> what have we done here? >> thi

>> yeah, i mean, it's sort of adding to john heilman's very eloquent sort of voice of doom from earlier about the paying of the piper or the coming home of the chickens to roost or what you have. i wouldn't use rocket science today, that's a bad man. >> rocket man, bad one. >> brain surgery, it is not brain surgery. i would say roy moore in that alabama senate race is another chicken coming home to roost, potentially if he winds up in the u.s. senate. this is the worst sort of fear and caricature realized of republicans who still have a shred of loyalty to what republicanism stands for and i think when you ask them privately, that would comprise much of the u.s. senate. donald trump, i think this is the periodic time to show that this is not a devoted republican, this is not a historic republican, he sees roy moore as another vote for him, another democratic vote that can help him get things passed. it's also, i think the biggest fear, you sort of get a number of different answers when you talk to people on the hill, but privately, you get a really, really high number of republicans who would say that the biggest fe