tonight the major Coast to Coast storm on the move just as Thanksgiving travel is set to break records millions of Americans hitting the roads and the skies but the storm sweeping across the country causing travel problems hundreds of flights delayed across the country snow in the Rockies rain pushing into the Midwest then headed to the east coast for a Thanksgiving Day wash out Al Roker is here with the latest also tonight the scare for several of president-elect Trump's cabinet picks targeted with bomb and swatting threats what the FBI is saying after being detained for years the three Americans freed in a prisoner swap with China and who the US traded in return the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah taking effect and appearing to hold for now our NBC News exclusive with sunny Williams one of two astronauts delayed in space for months we asked about the concern back home for her health you have heard some of the social media some of the the conversations worrying about your health and weight is there any message to those folks how she answered as the astronauts prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving 250 Mi above the Earth and in the aftermath of hurricane Helen the chef who's preparing to cook a Thanksgiving meal 4000s this is NBC Nightly News with Lester H good evening and welcome in a perfect world most of us are already at our holiday destinations especially with the storm that brought snow to the Rockies racing to the east tonight where Macy's Parade Marchers in New York may be stepping to the beat of raindrops a winry mix likely in store up the I95 Corridor tomorrow bringing travel delays from Richmond all the way to Boston here's the view tonight of some of the nation's busiest highways some folks perhaps trying to time their escapes to beat the worst of the traffic air Travelers also trying to get ahead of the storm's impact today they were already more than 3,000 flight delays Nationwide in Newark air traffic controller Staffing shortages have led to hour and a half long delays we'll get a weather update on a coming cold snap from Al Roker in just a moment but first here's Tom Castello on the Travel picture moving through the Rockies and taking aim at the Midwest this evening heavy rain and snow we encountered a massive thunderstorm so you couldn't even see 5 ft in front of you both Salt Lake City and Denver airports di seen departing flights Denver leading the country with nearly 600 flight delays heavy fog in Tampa this morning and while many airports started with long TSA lines but few disruptions on the Flight Aware misery map that changed as the weather moved in get here early there are lines please get here early at nework airport a critical hump for United 95-minute departure delays amid the ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers 300 plus delays at Newark United says 28,000 of its passengers are impacted every dayway while the FAA is training new controllers at its Academy in Oklahoma City trying to keep up with attrition and retirements how long will it take you to get to full Staffing our goal is is five to 7 years to be fully staffed and comfortable in the meantime the rush is on today I wanted to see if I could take 740 off the gate instead NBC's Adrian brought us at the American Airlines op Center at Chicago O'Hare American Airlines expects nearly 31,000 passengers to pass through O'Hare alone today and this is where they monitor every single flight trying to mitigate delays and cancellations meanwhile a yearly ritual on the nation's roads a record 71 million Americans hoping to beat the weather and slide into a Thanksgiving dinner trying to get it out early cuz we're actually we came from Georgia from Atlanta so we left about probably about 1 this morning and Tom the nature of the Thanksgiving holiday the biggest test may actually come this Sunday when everybody wants to go home no that's right everybody right kids back in school on Monday kiding back to work so we're talking 3 million plus going through TSA checkpoints on Sunday worst times to drive 12: to 6:00 p. m. on Sunday Monday 9:00 a.
m. to to 6 p. m.
Lester we'll take a note of it Tom thanks Al roer is tracking the storm hitting the Midwest and moving East Al a cold wet Thanksgiving for a lot of folks that's right the good news is Sunday big travel day looks like it'll be okay we're watching this system from Dodge City all the way into the Ohio River Valley it's going to bring wet weather some wet snow up into New England strong storms in the Southeast very cold through the Plains and we've got winter weather watches advisories and warnings from ashula all the way to Augusta main anywhere from 2 to 3 feet of snow Ong some of the lewood side of the Great Lakes and then we're talking about some of the coldest air of the season from Siberia temperatures 30° below zero 5,000 mile Tre luster coming in wrapping around that low pressure and that's going to mean temperatures 10 to 20 degrees below zero I should say below average with mid-30s to low to Upper 20s Lester all right B thank you we turn now to the alarming series of bomb threats and swatting hoaxes aimed at Several of president-elect Trump's cabinet picks and appoint Kelly O'Donnell has late details for us tonight the Trump team rocked by an alarming news scare aimed at cabinet picks and top figures for the coming Administration transition officials announced violent unamerican threats that range from bomb threats to swatting the White House said President Biden was briefed and he and his administration unequivocally condemn threats of political violence the FBI said it is working with local law enforcement and noted we take all potential threats seriously three law enforcement sources said no actual explosives were found and these appear to be hoax attacks delivered through email and social media a few of those targeted identified themselves publicly Matt Gates who withdrew for attorney general said a bomb squad responded to a Florida home where a threat was made Lee zeldon picked to had the Environmental Protection Agency rights a pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro Palestinian themed message and Elise stonic selected as ambassador to the United Nations praised the response to her Upstate New York home after a threat this morning thanking the extraordinary dedication of law enforcement this wave of new threats a disturbing reminder of attempts on MrTrump's life this summer today a transition spokeswoman declared dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us and Kelly in the meantime president-elect Trump also making more key appointments today that's right MrTrump has put forward retired General Keith Kellogg who served in the first Administration as part of the National Security team for a new role as special Envoy to Ukraine and Russia MrTrump has said he'd like that war over quickly even claiming he could end it within 24 hours Lester all right Kelly odonnell thanks three Americans held for years in Chinese prisons have been released as part of an unusual prisoner exchange Janice Macky fryer has the latest for us from Beijing after years in Chinese prisons three Americans are heading home tonight Mark swedan KY Lee and John long now safely in US custody according to the White House the rare prisoner swap in the works for months we spoke to the US ambassador here last month they were prosecuted and convicted of crimes which they did not commit there was no reason to put them in the jail Mark swedan was on death row since 2012 on drug charges Kylie accused of spying and jailed after a closed door trial the state department calling them wrongfully detained China says their cases were handled according to law leaving families to Lobby Congress to do more what about my dad when will it be his turn China had jailed the third American John Long accusing him of being an FBI informant getting detained Americans released here even to facilities back home is complicated because there's no treaty or agreement between the countries to transfer prisoners according to a Us official the US handing back two Chinese Nationals in return including xuan Jun a convicted spy prosecutors linked to China State security and China released the Americans just hours after president-elect Trump's new threat promising an additional 10% tariff unless China does more to stop the flow of fenel into the US Lester Janice mcky fryer thanks and the ceasefire in Lebanon that went into effect between Israel and Hezbollah appears to be holding tonight as some of those displays return to their homes Matt Bradley is there 24 hours after the ceasefire deal there's still Bullets Over Beirut but this is celebratory gunfire marking the end of nearly 14 months of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel that killed thousands of Lebanese citizens and according to Lebanese officials displaced more than a million going back home is the nicest feeling said this woman from the Eastern MAA Valley we're returning with our dignity back to our homes but for others home appears to have all but vanished mmud Ali says his destroyed house is the only place he has to live the deal ends a conflict that started after the October 7th Hamas Terror attacks when Irani in back Hezbollah started firing Rockets into Northern Israel killing dozens and displacing tens of thousands during months of fighting Israel killed hb's leader and top deputies a top us negotiator speaking to NBC's Andrea Mitchell look the Lebanese people actually never wanted this conflict they didn't ask for itala forced it on them but some Hezbollah supporters insisting peace means Victory I asked him what he thought about the ceasefire he said said what ceasefire this is a victory he says that Hezbollah definitely was Victorious against the Israelis a big part of this deal is that both sides reserve the right to respond in self-defense and Israel's prime minister has made it clear that Israel will consider military action if the terms of the deal are violated Lester all right Matt Bradley thank you 250 mil above the earth a crew of the International Space Station is getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving including two astronauts whose days long visit has turned into months today I spoke to one of those crew members Sunny Williams to see how they're fairing first of all I want to give a hearty Happy Thanksgiving to you and your entire crew do you guys have plans will you do something akin to a traditional Thanksgiving meal oh yeah uh it's really awesome uh our mission control flight control teams gave us tomorrow off so uh our plans are as usual get up and work out do the turkey tribe and then uh watch a little Macy's day parade and we have a bunch of food that we've packed away that is Thanksgiving is Thanksgiving will be day 176 of Sunny Williams mission to the International Space Station Williams and fellow American Butch Wilmore were supposed to spend just over a week there after completing the first crude test flight of Boeing Starliner capsule but after problems with the spacecraft NASA determined it wasn't safe enough to bring the astronaut's home how are you in Butch holding up in general does it take a toll on your body being in space that long you can see you know part of being in space is working out we work out a a couple times you know two hours a day aerobic an anerobic exercise you can see Butch right here and Nick right over here our bodies change a little bit while we're up here and that's why we have to work out so much some people call it space buff uh some people call it uh you know fluid shift in your body I think with look pretty good I know of course you have heard some of the social media some of the the conversations worrying about your health and weight is there any message to those folks hey we're feeling good working out eating right this it's just awesome you know and we have a lot of fun up here too so you know people are worried about us really don't worry about us the plan is now for Williams and Wilmore to return to Earth in a SpaceX dragon in February and of course the capsule you came up on was sent back without a crew did a part of you wish you could be on it as it made its return to Earth uh you beta you know it's pretty unique opportunity to land a spacecraft for the first time and part of our testing was to see how that all of that undocking deorbit burn entry and Landing would have been do you still have confidence in the technology that brought you there and would you get on a Starliner again you know tomorrow if you were asked you know tomorrow might be a little bit too early we have we learned a lot of lessons from our flight but the spacecraft is really a solid spacecraft it has so many capabilities so maybe not tomorrow because we have to incorporate some of the Lessons Learned but as soon as we see that we're on the right path and we've made some of the fixes to some of the issues that we had absolutely Commander as you know well astronauts sometimes can wait years for a slot to get back into space do you look at this in some ways as a bit of a bonus that's an interesting question I I do because I just love living up here it's awesome and we're doing some amazing Cutting Edge science and it's really great to be part of that just part of our virtual visit to space earlier today in 60 seconds the spike in respiratory illnesses as many of us travel and gather for the holidays what's making people so sick we'll take a look right after this we are back now with a health alert with many of us preparing to gather tomorrow for Thanksgiving the CDC warning that certain types of respiratory illnesses are surging Stephanie gos on the symptoms to watch for as the winter approaches it's a sound everyone braces for this year the CDC says two serious respiratory illnesses are on the rise whooping cough cases are up five-fold compared to a year ago walking pneumonia up 450% since the spring my daughter actually got sick in September DrAnita Main's daughter recovered from walking pneumonia but then her mom got sick I took a course of two antibiotics actually and steroids um and initially improved but then got worse again and that was kind of for you the red flag that it was time to go to the hospital right exactly at Virginia's Innova Hospital there has been a noticeable increase we're seeing more cases and and more severe cases where folks are actually coming into the hospital they're coming into our Clinic with more wheezing more shortness and breath as for whooping cough multiple states have seen spikes according to the CDC I'm just wondering why we had this whooping cough patients start with normal cold-like symptoms and then often develop violent coughing which can last for weeks and lead to hospitalization doctors say people should be vigilant when they develop a persistent cough handwashing uh and staying home when you're sick are are always important but certainly this year um it's something to to really think about familiar but still important advice to stay healthy this holiday season Stephanie gos NBC News up next for us here tonight with Black Friday coming up we're going to show you how to know if you're really getting the best deals right after this the busiest shopping days of the year are almost here but as retailers advertise all kinds of savings how do you know you're getting the best deal Brian Chung now with our holiday shopping deal tracker with the days of doorbusters long gone the calendar creep of Black Friday has now made its way earlier in the week Amazon Target and Walmart are already offering discounts to Consumers the 25th of November that's less than a fortnite putting the onus on the Shopper to see if the prices are truly perfect now Shoppers are skeptical oh it says it's 20% off but that's actually the price that's been all year Black Friday does Remain the best time of year for the deepest discounts according to Adobe analytics which tracks prices online because consumers perceive the best absolute discounts to fall between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday they really make sure they're offering some of their best priced items during that period we wanted to see for ourselves tracking the price tags on some gifts you might be eyeing for the holidays take the newest airpods Pros which have been discounted on and off through the last few months but the best deal we saw was this weekend 30 bucks off and the same Trend with this coffee maker which is the cheapest it's been in months but other items we tracked like these sneakers these toys or this TV haven't been significantly discounted in recent weeks I think that some Brands may say it's on sale however it's like the same price but they may just like fake the price as like higher and say oh it's on sale experts advice use price checking tools and take advantage of price matching in store to truly get the best deals a little homework going a long way this holiday season Brian Chung NBC News and some Americans could be in for a spectacular holiday light show in the sky on Thanksgiving a solar storm may make the Northern Lights visible across many of the northern states in the US tomorrow and possibly on Friday too experts say the best chances are from Washington State to the Upper Midwest and in Maine coming up the cook who organized a Thanksgiving feast for thousands still recovering from Hurricane Helen good news is next coming in this after finally there's good news tonight about a chef and his team getting ready to cook Thanksgiving dinner for thousands who are still recovering from Hurricane Helen here's Kathy Park here in eastern North Carolina the small town of Seaboard is on a big mission for Thanksgiving I can't sleep because I'm just excited about what we're doing spearheaded by Native Son and longtime cook David Burke who felt a higher calling to help his fellow Carolinians still recovering from Helen we really are at about 55 5600 meals that we are going to prepare to distribute out in the western part of the state the recipe called for love and grace this is what I can do for them then I'm going to cut an onion for him you know cry a little bit more for them and the committed through social media and Word of Mouth I'm just glad I can help people out operation Thanksgiving blessings took off we have people sending us money from all over the country strangers eager to help families still struggling this holiday season she was the absolute best teacher mother wife sister friend Kathy Brown's sister Kim was Swept Away in the flood waters and never found today they're finding comfort and healing in the generosity of Seaboard I think if more people were like David and others I think our world would be a better place what do you hope people take away from what you're doing there not many days in the world that are are like this a lot of people never get the opportunity to serve the Lord and what I hope is because of what we're doing here today it changes their heart if it does that I think we did what we were supposed to do Kathy Park NBC News just keep it moving seabo North Carolina some very special people be sure to watch coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade here on NBC starting at 8:30 a. m.
