tonig -- ron allen. a remark by cindy hyde-smith at a campaign stop has gone viral. the crowd laughed but the apparent joke about watching a hanging was called sick. in a history with racial violence and with a candidate running against hyde-smith, mike espy, is african-american. >> those comments we heard are disappointing, they're hurtful and harmful. >> i put out a statement yesterday. >> reporter: hyde-smith said, i referred to accepting an invitation to a speaking statement. i used an exaggerated expression of regard. any attempt to turn this into a negative connotation is ridiculous. >> i can tell you there was no ill will in her heart. we just should not have this. >> reporter: the race heating up, the runoff election now 15 days away. ron allen, nbc news. >>> there is late word tonight from melania trump, a rare statement from the first lady over something former first lady michelle obama revealed in her book.thin as ss an eyebrow raise after michelle obama debebcews what happened when she told melania trump she's just a phone call away, when they met in 2016

ron allen, nbc news. >>> we turn now to an explosion that rocked a neighborhood in st. paul, minnesota this morning. surveillance video on the street captured the moment a house exploded, sending flames and debris into the air. the house was destroyed and nearby homes were damaged. officials say the cause appears to be a gas leak. one person was injured. >>> now to the black friday bonanza. tens of millions packing stores or deals from the comfort of their couch. you know which one as nbc's jo ling kent reports, the bargain hunters are just getting started. >> reporter: black friday rushed in from california to chile, new york. >> i'm wearing everything in three layers. undled up to kick off the holiday shopping season. >> pretty good deals, i really like them this year. >> i have saved more than what i expected. >> reporter: but experts and shoppers say on the ground, black friday felt quieter this year. >> i thought it would be packed, lines everywhere. it's not. >> reporter: but thanks to soaring consumer confidence, this black friday is on track to be one of the str

nbc's ron allen has the latest. >> reporter: a million-dollar mansion on fire, a family of four found dead. father keith caneiro shot dead. inside, the bodies of his wife jennifer and their children, jesse and sophia. investigators say they were killed before the blaze erupted. >> this is one of the most heinous cases that we have ever seen. >> reporter: authorities arrested keith caneiro's brother paul for allegedly torching his own home that morning with his wife and daughter inside. they escaped. then the deadly blaze at keith caneiro's home. the brothers had been in business together. investigators won't say whether paul is a suspect in the murder of his younger brother's family. >> the question is why. >> we're working on that. this happened less than 24 hours ago. >> for this to happen the way it happened, it's so sad. it puts you on edge. >> reporter: the caneiro home is still not safe enough for investigators to gather evidence. >> there's no answers. >> reporter: an outpouring of grief for a family investigators say was targeted and murdered in their own home. ron allen, colt

nbc's ron allen as the latest. >> reporter: a million dollar mansion on fire, a family of four found dead. the father shot twice, his body outside. inside, wife jennife and authorities believe their 11-year-old son jessie of and daughter, just 8. investigators say they were killed before the blaze erupted. >> this is one of the most heinous cases ore've seen. >> rr: authorities arrested his brother paul for torching his own home that morning with his wife and daughters inside. they escaped. seven hours later 12 miles away, the deadly blaze at keith's home. the brothers had been in business together. investigators weren't say whether paul is a suspect in the murder ofis younger brother's fami. >> the question is why? >> we're working on that. this happened less than 24 hours ago. >> for t happen and the way for it to happen is so sad and puts you on edge. >> reporter: the home is still not safe enough for investigators to th evidence. >> there is no answers. an outpouring of grief for a family police say was targeted and murdered in their own home. ron allen, nbc news, new jersey. >>>

nbc's ron allen has those details. >> reporter: on this frigid thanksgiving, the show still went on. >> the best parade in the world. we don't feel co it's so much fun. >> reporter: more than a million ndled up braving the record cold. >> how is it? >> fantastic. i'm so excited to lead santa. this is my tenth year in the parade. ten years, double digits. ♪ >> reporter: but pop star rita was pannedcu d of poorly lip syncing her hit and john legend defending aher, fun fact we have to lip sync, ma 's apologizing and smaller parades across the country in vermont, a turkey trot in the snow. in the season of giving, door to door deliveries in houston. >> you'r12-pounder turkey. >> reporter: turkey talk in chicago more than 30 years butter ball helping prepare the bird just phone call away. two cars separated bound for new york n laight, no ries but a long delay. here in new york, despite e blustery wind and bitter cold, another successful celebration ringing in the holiday season ron allen, nbc news, new york. >>> let's turn to dylan eyer tracking the holiday weather for us tonight. good e

ron allen explai where things stand now. >> reporter: the nation's midterm elections incomplete with a laser focus on florida's first-ever statewide trecount. withhe governor's office and ato senas seat up for grabs, passions are running high. >> we are u standing for our rights to have every vote counted, wch i think nobody on either side should ever oppose. >> reporter: democrats and florida law demand a recount as republicans claim there's been fraud. >> you folks have sat in here and heard repeatedly h people voted twice, people voted in chicago and they voted here. okay? we heard that. >> boo! >> reporter: today florida officials ordered a recount of more than 8 miion ballots. rick scott leads bill nelson by less than 13,000 votes. in the governor's ra, congressman ron desantis leads by 33,000 votes over tallahassee mayor andrew gillum, his cession now ht c withdrawn. >> i am replacing my words of ncession with an uncompromised and unapologeticall that we count every single vote. >> reporter: why a recount? nbc'sli vitavital. >> as ballots came in, candidates sow their leads cut

>> ron allen, thank you. >>> tonight, we're getting our first inside look at the military buildup along the southern border. just this week the trump administration made it harder for undocumented immigrants to seek asylum in the u.s., but that doesn't seem to have deterred the caravan of migrants stilt -- still heading north from mexico. gabe gutierrez reports. >> reporter: it only took a few days but on nearly 40 acres in donna, texas, a military base is up and running. any idea how long you'll be here? >> no. >> reporter: as some soldiers there are more than 5,600 active duty troops spread across the southern border, most in texas, the others in arizona and be l apprehend any undocumented immigrants, but the military says the mission is mostly logistical support for customs and border protection. a day after the midterm elections the pentagon said it was no longer calling the mission operation faithful patriot but rebranding it as simply border support, no reason given. >> barbed wire used properly can be a beautiful sight. >> reporter: that's provided fuel to skeptics who say the ex

ron allen, nbc news, new jersey. >>> the trial began today for the man accused of killing a woman when he drove into a crowd protesting against a white nationalist rally in charlottesville in 2017. with more on that, here is catie beck. >> reporter: unforgettable, horrific images from charlottesville, virginia in august 2017. white nationalist and counter protesters clashing as a car plows into the crowd killing a woman and ri inng dozens more. tae washington was one of them. >> all i remember was the noise and people sliding down my window. >> reporter: a jury will dece the fate of the driver, james alex fields junior charged with first-degree murder. in opening statements, edboth sides ackno fields was behind the wheel, the prosecution told jurors, fields an admirer of hitler posted images of protesters being hit by a car months before. he said this is about his decision to act on the anger. fields' defense says he was calm that day and fear drove him to speed off. you'll hear james tell the officer that he feared for his safety that was scared to death. on the staoday, marcus martin

ron allen, nbc news, new york. >>> the cold really didn't keep the crowds away. >> it doesn't.ot the folks that want to microwave their turkey. did do you that? >> i didn't do that, no. not at all. >>> well, your holiday week forecast is just ahead. plus, using humor on the highway to get drivers to slow down. you're watching "early today." are you taking the tissue test? yep, and my teeth are yellow. time for whitestrips. crest glamorous white whitestrips are the only ada-accepted whitening strips proven to be safe and effective. and they whiten 25x better than a leading whitening toothpaste. crest. healthy, beautiful smiles for life. black friday your first stop!... with incredible black friday doorbusters! stores open thursday at 5pm... plus - get $15 kohl's cash for every $50 spent! get $17.99 toys... and a nest doorbell or thermostat - just $179.99! kohl's. is your floor's best friend. only roomba uses 2 multi-surface rubber brushes to grab and remove pet hair. and the roomba filter captures 99% of dog and cat allergens. if it's not from irobot, it's not a roomba. from the

here's nbc's ron allen. >> reporter: tonight calls to shut down a new jersey care center from families who have lost children to adeno virus outbreak. like the flu or a cold, it is proving fatal for medically fragile children like this one. her ther christine distraught. v>> there's ad in my heart. >> reporter: 28 cases and tenth deaths sineptember at the care center. a recent state inspection found problems with ha hygiene and infection control. are you surised it hasn't shut down? >> i am surprised itok them to get to this point to say hey we need to do something. he >> reporter: center is no longer accepting new patients. in a statement tonighttl ing extra procautionary measures like isolating patients and giving protective equipment to staffre s who lost children still worrying. >> children that are still sick, what's going on? are they to be okay? >> reporter: as investigators try to stop the deadly outbreak. ron allen, nbc news, new york. >>> it was chaotic in today as alec baldwin was rested following a street fight. nbc's ann thompson has details on baldwin's >> reporter: alec

we have nbc news's r ron allen, phoning in from lauderhill, florida. those pictures we're showing on the screen are from lauderhill, clearly there are protests under way. ron, tell us what's happening there? >> reporter: it feels like nobody is happy. the election process is continuing on and there are protesters on both sides. a number of people supporting gillum, a number of people supporting desantis, rick scott and bill nelson as well. they're yelling fraud, a passionate group of people out here all morning, waiting for this process to continue. broward county did, as we understand it, send their unofficial vote totals to tallahassee as everyone in the state was instructed to do by the noon deadline. i'm not sure where the process goes from there. there's every indication there's going to be at least a machine recount and perhaps a hand recount of the senate race and perhaps a machine recount of the governor's race. but the bottom line is that out here, the passion is just incredible. people are really not happy with the way this whole thing is goin

joining me now is nbc's ron allen who is along the parade route braving the cold. us understand what went into the calculus. this was very much up in the air until a few moments ago. >> reporter: we're talking about the balloons and floats. 16 all together. if the winds exceed 23 miles per hour, gusts over 34, they won't fly. that's, of course, what everybody is looking for. they are out here already. we have crowds already, a few people deep. they will get to as many as 15, 20 people deep. the parade kicks off at 9:00. right now it's about 20 degrees which is somewhere near record territory but, of course, who cares about record. we're out here to have a good time. the route is blocked off. if you're trying to get here from manhattan, police are not letting backpacks in. i want you to meets some folks who are here from nashville and atlanta,a. it's warm down there. >> yes, it is. >> this is your first time here. why dew point to be here? >> always watched the parade when i was a kid. just excited. it's one of those bucket list things i want to check it out. you kn

ron allen, stay warm out there.balloons flew after wall. >>> meanwhile, new outrage over the fd a's approval of an opioid 1,000 times more potent than morphine. will this only make the nation's staggering opioid epidemic worse? >>> and retailers anticipating a record breaking holiday shopping season. our insiders guide of where to find the best deals. our insiders guide of where to findhe t best deals. with my hepatitis c, i felt i couldn't be at my best for my family. in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured and left those doubts behind. i faced reminders of my hep c every day. but in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured. even hanging with friends i worried about my hep c. but in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured. mavyret is the only 8-week cure for all common types of hep c. before starting mavyret your doctor will test if you've had hepatitis b which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after treatment. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b, a liver or kidney transplant, other liv

ron allen is in morris town, new jersey, about 45 minutes outside of new york.t's the biggest race in the state, the senate race between incumbent senator bob menendez and newcomer bob hugin. it's a lot timer than democrats hoped for, ron. >> indeed, ali. menendez is, of course, tainted by the corruption scandal and trial that he endured. there was a mistrial, but he was reprimanded by the senate, basically accused of accepting gifts from a big-thyme time donor. that is still hanging over him. and he's running as an independent republican to distance himself on issues generally from president trump. here we are in a democratic state for the most part, so the expectations that menendez may be able to be pulled over the finish line. we're in a very republican-leaning part of the state, and we're here because this is one of four districts in the state that the democrats hope to be able to flip. here in morristown, we've been hearing from a lot of voters, a lot of democrats in this part of the state and district, they normally in a midterm year say they have as few

ron allen is following it this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, sheinelle.he officials here in broward county shortly and across the state of florida are scrambling to meet a noon deadline to come up with vote totals. may be thousands of votes not counted and more in dispute. that is the problem here. it is still unclear how many people went to the polls. late into the night, angry free speech about voting in florida. election officials overwhelmed by uncounted ballots. some partially filled out. >> this is invalid. this is invalid. >> reporter: signatures under scrutiny. in broward and palm beach counties which held the nation in suspense in 2000. in bush v gore. now rick scott watching his senate seat slip away. the lead down to less than 15,000 votes. >> i will not sit idly by will unethical liberals try to steal this election from the great people of florida. >> reporter: the governor race tightening. ron desantis declared victory on election night. president trump without evidence alleging voter fraud. >> you notice the votes never go the other way? the

. >>> in this country, a harrowing and deadly gunfire erupted.s nbc's ron allen has details. >> reporter: terried shoppers running for their lives. >> there has been shots fired. r >>eporter: multiple gunshots ringing out a labama's biggest mall packed after thanksgiving dinner. >> a mob of people running through sears. >> reporter: a fight had broken out between two youn one pulled a gun and wounded the other. nearby police extra holiday security r ncountered the shood shot him dead. >> we were fortunate that officer was there where he needed to be. >> reporte but also wounded by the suspect police say, a 12-year-old girl named molly with aullet lodged close to her spin, medics raced molly to surgery and found none of her organs were damaged and there was no inteal bleeding molly's mom wrote on facebook. she may be able to head home soon. m so thankful to everyone that helped us. a holiy miracle amid of another senseless shooting. >>> an explosion that rocked a neighborhood in st. paul minnesota this moing. e moment a house exploded sending flames and debris into the air. a house was de

n ron allen, ns. >>> there is late word tonight from melania statement from the first lady over something michelle obama revealed in her new book. hallie jackson is the white house. what is she saying? >> reporter: lester, it started as subtle as an eyebrow raise as michelle obama told melania trump she's just a phone call away when they met in 2016. >> you wrote about how and extended that same courtesy to melania trump. has she reached out to you and ask for the help? >> no, she hasn't. >> reporter: melania tr p's spokesperson saying mrs. trump is a strong and independent woman who has been navigating her role as first lady in her own way, adding when she needs advice on any issues, he seeks it from herssional team within the white house. the current first lady's message to the former one, lester. >> thank you. >>> now to north kore korea's massive deception exposed. kim jong-un apparently tries to fool the world, tonit his hidden nuclear bases have been revealed. andrea mitchell has late details. >> reporter: tonight, u.s. officials confirm north korea is ill proving the ballistic miss

here is ron allen. >> on the frigid thanks giving the show still went on. >> the best parade in the worldbest parade in the world. you don't even feel cold it's so much fun. >> more than a million bundled up along the route, braving th record cold. how is it going? >> fantastic. i'm so excited to be going down the parade route. this is my tenth year. ten years! ♪ i think i run away rmetimes orter: she was accused of poorly lip sinking her hit. john legend defending r, we all have to lip sink. the floats don't have the capacity to stage a live performance. macy's apologizing on twitter. smaller parades across the urcountry. in blington, vermont, a turkey trot in the snow. in the season of giving, door to door deliveries in houston. >> your turkey. >> tury talk this chicago. for more than 30 years, help from butterball preparg the big bird just a phone call away. hundreds of holiday travelers just happy to be home aftetwo cars separated from an amtrak train bound for new york. no injuries but a long delay. while here in new york, despite the blustery wind and bitter cold, another successful

ron allen joins us from new york's central park.ry in the park. hovering around 17, 18 degrees. the temperature dipped into the single digits in many areas. and the wind chill feels worse. this of course follows thanksgiving day which was one of the coldest in 1090 years or so here. records set cross the northeast. the macy's thanksgiving day parade, 92 year strong, it was the coldest single parade day ever in new york. but still more than a million people out there as spectators bundled up. the huge balloons and characters. they had to hold on tightly but they still flew and everybody had a great time. i was there myself. a good time. be careful on the ds roads in washington state there was a bus accident involving a marching band on a college team there. they were off to perform at a game. the bus flipped upon the side. there were injures. no serious injures. but the bottom line it's a good day if you can to stay in or o out shopping. and that's what i'm going to do right now. >> and you're bundled appropriately thank you, ron. >>

nbc's ron allen is outside the broward county election's office where protests have been taking place. ron, what's happening there and what happens next in these elections? >> reporter: well, the news of the moment here is the secretary of state in florida has just ordered a recount for the top three races in the state, agricultural commissioner, which we haven't talked a lot about, but also the governor's race and senate race, which you just pointed out are razor thin. that news just broke a moment ago. the recount will be done by machines, by scanning ballots filled out by hand. these are hundreds of thousands, millions of votes that are going to be counted. the deadline to complete that process will be sometime thursday, so a few more days of this. if the results are still within another certain narrow margin, there will be a hand recount of these votes again. so this process is going to go on for some time. outside of the proud county election office, which has been ground zero for election controversy over the years here in florida, there's been a huge crowd that's gathered since

nbc's ron allen along the route in new york city for the coldest parade in history. it started moving from the upper west side. those balloons bonnie was talking about, you can't see him yet but it looks like we're going to have balloons. >> definitely, we will have balloons, yes. happy to be here at the coldest parade here ever in history. it doesn't feel that bad. the wind is not gusting. the trees are not moving. we've seen where they've removed all the stop signals. a lot of the traffic lights are out of the way so the balloons can pass through. but it's not that bad out here. here's some folks who have been here since early in the morning. they look warm, right? so we know this is now official a the coldest parade ever. >> we're from dallas. >> why did you want to here? >> to start a new generation. we've got three generations here. >> sounds great. what you looking forward to? >> garfield. >> what about you? >> i'm looking forward to see charlie brown. >> and maybe snoopy. i wanted to talk to you a little bit. we'll look for the parade, should be here about 9:3

our colleague ron allen has been doing a great job of covering all of the protests down there. that's one of the counties under scrutiny because rick scott has really singled her out. democrats aren't all that necessarily that pleased with the job she's been doing either. in a conference call yesterday, we asked if we expected the governor would basically take her down from that position. they said that's not really the plan as of right now. certainly all of those canvasses were able to get to the secretary of state's office by today's deadline. that's a pretty good sign of moving it along on the timeline we've been expecting. >> and andrew gillum going to speak to the media about this recount. talk a little bit about the process knowing what has to happen between now and that deadline on thursday for the secretary of state there in florida in getting this recount going. >> reporter: this is actually pretty straight forward in terms of the fact that the 67 counties are going to begin the machinery counts. that has to be done by thursday at i believe it's 3:00. that's kind of th

. >> ron allen is in morristown, new jersey, where there has already been a huge turnout. ron, you've talked to a lot of voters who are angry. they're angry about what and what's their message? >> reporter: they're angry about donald trump, to no surprise. this is a part of the country that knows him very well. and we've heard a lot of that. a lot of people are upset about the tone, about the wrrhetoric. this 11th district is significant because it's one of four in the state of new jersey that the democrats hope to flip. it was a long-time republican incumbent here who retired. jersey hasn't gotten a lot of attention, but it's really key in the effort for the democrats to try and take over the house in d.c. this district is very significant. there's a candidate named mikey sherrill who's a mom of four and she's the kind of candidate democrats have been putting up to try to win seats like this. she's taking on a state legislator, jay weber, who was a former state party leader in new jersey. and there are three other seats like this here. let me bring in a couple of moms, a c

ron allen is stationed along the parade route. we are about what?s out from the start of this thing. what are you seeing there? are the crowds getting deeper than they were an hour ago? we are having trouble getting to ron. let me go to bonnie schneider first, of course, weather has been a huge issue leading up to this parade. there was some question, bonnie, about whether throws balloons would be able to fly because of the winds and the temperatures here in new york. >> well, it looks like the temperatures are holding steady, if not getting colder. they've dropped down to a current temperature of 19 degrees. this is officially the coldest day ever for the macy's thanksgiving day parade ever on record. now the winds, that's something else, very closely watching it. we can measure the wednesday along the parade route to see if there is any fluctuation. the main thing is those gusts stay below 35 miles per hour. that's the forecast. we anticipate them to stay sustained as well. it will be cold and wendy, but i think the balloons right now look good to

ron allen, thank you. >> phil rucker is the bureau chief and political analyst for nbc news. phil, good morning. >> good morning. >> out of the gates in the he midterms, sense was the democrats did not have the rebuke for president trump they were looking but as the week rounds out, we are getting a better sense of what happened. the democrats gained more than 30 seats in the house. they won seven governorships. picked up 100 plus seats in states legislature. theit president calle victo victory. >> the blue wave has taken the come.to these are victories for the democratic party. the joke in washington is it is not christmas, but hanukkah, where you get a new gift every day. there may be more gifts with the florida and arizona votes. >> let's talk about the president. he fired attorney general jeff sessions andce repwith matthew whitaker. telld kelly talbout this earlier. he towed the line under cutting the russia instigation. i guess the question on everybo's mind is does the president put whitaker in to ein in robert mueller. >> he did, webelieve. he had been briefedly whita

ron allen is out in the cold in central putk. tough it's a cold one out there. how does it feel? >> reporter: it's november and it's cold, andak that it worse. we are in record territory in central park. the winds are calm. it feels like below zer it's not going to get much better. it was the coldest thanksgiving here in about y 1rs or so and the temperatures plunged more overnight. b sodle up before you head out shopping or before you head home from grandma's house. the lines of black friday shoppers started after thanksgiving dinner and across the northeast thegi fd weekend means braving some of the most bone chilling temperatures in recent memory. >> it is one of the coldest thanksgivings i have haev >> we have been this cold before. >> reporter: in washington state icy roads causing ts charter bus to flip on its side. 45 members of they univers washington's marching band were heading to a game, at local hospitals for minor injuries. erre record lows expected across the northeast a thanksgiving day's bitter blast pulled temperatures down to the single digits. theyte pthis fros

ron allen is outside of the queens courthouse with the story. >> reporter: this case was shocking andomen who jog alone. for months, investigators could not find a suspect, even though they had dna evidence, found under the victim's fingernail. she struggled and fought back. then, finally, an arrest, a trial months later. investigators at that point thought they had a solid confession on videotape. late last night, after some 13 hours of deliberation, the jury could not reach a verdict. overnight, a stunning ending in the murder trial of a jogger from queens, new york. a jundge declaring a mistrial b hung jury. following 13 hours of deliberation, the jury deadlocked in the case with dna evidence and a confession tape. the jurors, seven women and five men, sending a note to the judge, telling him they could not agree if sheinelle lewis was guilty of killing katrina vetra vetrano. we feel we have exhausted all of our options. vetrano vanished during her dially evening job along a park trial. when she did not return hours later, her father reported her missing. >> the father went into th

we just heard from our colleague ron allen who's down in broward county who tells us that they've transmittedsults to the secretary of state's office. broward county has seemed to have met that deadline. that's important because that's one of those places that's really in heavy contention right now for both republicans and democrats. democrats hoping all the votes can be counted including those provisional ballots and things like that so they can continue to tighten the margins. by counting more of those they'll see more votes swinging their way. rick scott actually sued that county and its election supervisor brenda snipes so they could see what the final vote tally was and how many votes were left to be counted. we're not sure about that vote total right now. that number still hasn't come our way. the fact that they did meet that noon deadline is important. what we're expecting next is to hear from the secretary of state that we are officially in recount mode. >> steve, just explain to me if this is how it works. you pass your paper ballot into an optical scanner, it takes a picture of it a

allen welcome to live from our headquarters in doha ron and also ahead. down details of peace talks planned for the. government deploys the military to the streets of the capital stopped protests by the opposition and. levels of heat trapping gases reach new heights and eye atmosphere while the window of opportunity to fix it is closing. saudi arabia's crown prince muhammad been in the united arab emirates to begin his first trip abroad since the murder of journalist. the saudi official news agency says the crown prince is on the top of a number of arab countries he's also expected to attend a g twenty meeting in his next week with other world leaders well. once again contradicted the reported findings of his own and teligent agency about . the us president says the cia has concluded that muhammad been ordered the killing but a turkish news website says the cia has a foreign recording and the saudi crown prince gives instructions to quote silence jamal khashoggi. as soon as possible meanwhile katherine is calling for a far reaching justice foreign ministe