good morning. we hope you had a great thanksgiving. right now on "first look," the black friday frenzy is in full swing and clearly from the looks of things not for the faint of heart. bargain hunting strategies you will want to hear. the giant balloons took flight and so did giant hearts to reach out to show what being thankful is all about. an update on what would be the world's largest floating city. a mile long with school, parks, airport, and room for 50,000 residents. plus, space x scrubs its mission at the last possible moment. a soda spilling time-out cost jason kid 50 grand and a nasty weather day. good morning, everyone.

hope you had a great thanksgiving. i'm betty nguyen. many enjoys fun with family and friends, millions went to the madness. macy's at atlanta. this from a mall near houston. black friday started more than 12 hours ago, and the day is just a few hours old. nbc's jay gray is with the hearty shoppers at the mall of america outside minneapolis. jay, i wonder how many have been there all night long? >> reporter: i can tell you, they have, betty. good to talk to you this morning, and they plan to be here all along. it's finally here. shopping's big day. as you talked about, it's kind of merged with thanksgiving this year and not everybody's buying that. the dash for deals -- the push for presents -- the rush for a little retail therapy actually began just after all the turkey was gone. >> i live for this day, and i

take this day off of work every year. dinner's cooked, my belly is full and now i'm ready to shop. >> reporter: shoppers shopping for the same thing -- savings. >> trying to save money. trying to get as much ras as we for the kids. >> reporter: and even stretching past the weekend. >> i actually think black friday is gaining relevance because it's becoming more of a season than one day in particular. >> reporter: not everyone is sold on this. >> they should all be closed op thanksgiving. it's thanksgiving. >> reporter: if there's a debate on what to do on thursday. >> football, beer and pretzels and food. right? that's what it's about. >> reporter: friday's focus is clear -- finding that perfect gift at a great price. now a live look. you'll see most of the shoppers have bags. that means they are spending money here. so black friday, not a bad deal

for retailers either. when you consider that on average this year, shoppers expected to spend nearly $650 over this weekend. that's up 11%, betty, from black friday last year. what can i get for you? >> i was going to say, you're already there. i'm going to send you a list. thank you, jay. for smart shopping strate strategies to share with your loved one. >> reporter: small business saturday, then cyber monday. this is the week american shoppers will be inundated like never before. >> at this point, the consumer could be facing a little bit of deal overload, and it's hard to kind of figure out where to start and where to end. >> reporter: that's by retail spurts like trey suggest you adopt a strategy that starts

with staying connected. >> sometimes we use the target app to download coupons and scan the coupons. >> reporter: and includes social media. >> i've seen this on facebook. >> reporter: they say, make a list of what you're buying for whom. sign up for e-mail alerts and research before you shop. >> because there are so many deals out there, and they're coming from all of these different sources it is hard to take advantage of them as they come. >> reporter: if your plans for holiday shopping mean venturing no further than the keyboard, here's another tip. >> the majority of deals that are available in the store are available online. stores start online early thanksgiving morning. so can you do both. >> reporter: and trying to fulfill santa fulfill a child's wish list, know that the best deals on toys happen right before christmas. chris clackum, nbc news. in florida, a thanksgiving miracle of sorts. the mother who put the state's

controversial stand your ground law back in the national spotlight is free on bail. marissa alexandr fired for what she says was a warning sign shot at her husband. a jury convicted her or multiple accounts with a firearm despite no one being injured. that appeal was overturned. she ras eleased wednesday. her new trial is scheduled for march 31st. the first family enjoyed a hearty feast at the white house, but president obama did manage to sneak away, just for a little while. the commander in chief called service members from every branch of the military and thanked for for their service to america. and tens of thousands of troops celebrated thanksgiving overseas and of those some 43,000 remain in afghanistan. thanksgiving is behind us, but some good deeds and random

acts of kindness added an extra touch of class to the holiday. ohio governor john kasich spent the day with families forced out of they are homes. the homes were evacuated early wednesday after a train derail caused a chemical spill. the railroad provided families with a free thanksgiving dinner. in sacramento, a record 33,000 laced up for the annual run to feed hungry people. the race hopes to raise $9,000 for chari for charity. and outgoing mayor, turkey and fixings for all those in need of a warm meal and a warm reception. the mayor has been doing it the past two decades. and now sports from t.j. holmes. great to see you. >> good to see you. strange to hear you talk about sports, but, yeah. no. we had some newsworthy topics actually in sports.

of course, thanksgiving day, everybody's talking about football, and the first game here really was an odd game. it was an ugly game. talking about baltimore and pittsburgh. we start here. you see this clip. this happened every once in a while. a little snafu, the kicker trying to be a running back. usually doesn't work well. didn't work well for him. an odd play. and this is a little fun. a touchdown here. eim eemmanuel sanders banks his head on the turf. pittsburgh ends up winning the game. no worthy moments there. we turn to your boys. >> oh, yeah. america's team, baby. >> oh, good lord. >> dallas cowboys. >> you see the uniforms. they're a big deal. first time in about 40 years that they played in the blue

jerseys. >> you know why that is? >> why, betty? >> it's a bit of bad luck. they haven't been doing it all these year, but -- not this time. oh, did i give away the story? >> yes and no. did what they always did. look terrible for a while and had to come back and win it. down early but pulled off the win. the cowboys, you know it better than anybody. >> that's what they do. >> they do it. even when they're supposed to look good, they look bad. and folks in detroit, talking for years. people complained, actually, that this tradition needed to stop. detroit playing every thanksgiving, because they were so bad for so long. well, they broke their ten-year thanksgiving day losing streak yesterday. >> all right. about time. >> yeah. beat green bay pretty handedly, and the head coach for the denver broncos, he'll be back. he had an aortic valve

replacement november 4th. good to see him up and about. going to be back on the sidelines. this is cool. lebron james, pretty good tweeter, pretty good out there on social media. >> and photographer as well. >> yeah. he put this thing together, but this is his team, the miami heat, at his house. a shoeless team. some people have these rules at their homes. you take your shoes off in king james' house. >> make the complete sets. you don't want your dirty shoes walking around the house. i get it. >> last thing here. this is sochi, the torch, the weather torchbearer's flame. catches on fire. put him out. he's okay. still, that's not supposed to happen. a major sports story. $50 fine for spilling a drink. >> you have to see the video. it's great. thank you, t.j. great to see you. see you soon. and detroit, a dicey weather day. snow blanketing the region led

to accidents throughout the city. conditions so bad, even interstate 75 was temporarily shut down. a look at the weather outside this morning. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here. a big shopping day, and -- >> had a good thanksgiving? >> yes. did a lot of eating. and shopping -- you've got to hold my bags. good morning, everyone. not a lot of snow or bad weather. a lot of good coming out of this black friday. temperatures, though, typically chilly. it was a cold thanksgiving. continues that way. the map is about as blank and clear as it gets. no big storms out there. a little rain for southern cal and also lake-effect snow showers. over the next five days our weather computers are pinpointing a new winter storm. this one stays primarily in the northern rockies and spills into the northern plains. especially montana and north dakota. that's about it. looking really nice. traveling back from your

thanksgiving destination, today a lot of sunshine, major airports just fine. no issues. saturday, the storm affects the pacific northwest and continuing into sunday. notice, everyone in the eastern seaboard, betty, we start to warm up finally. >> oh, i like the sound of that. thank you, bill. leading headlines for msnbc.com, last-minute glitch aborts the space launch. set to launch when a last-second order to abort the mission was issued. the reason? of course, was due to a slower than expected thrust ramp. we all know what that is. according to space x billionaire -- you can borrow one? yeah. well, the north koreans are at it again with nukes. dames, next. plus, best in show. meet the winner of the national dog show, and the floating city for 50,000 people. would you want to live here? th . my boyfriend has a lot of can't-miss moments. i checked out the windows phones and saw the lumia 1020 has 41 megapixels.

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all right. stories making news, less than 24 hours before president obama

self-imposed deadline for fixing healthcare.gov. as problems continue, government workers are trying to fix the system and officials say the vast majority of people will have a better experience. as people try to enroll for health care, the technology team is scrambling to build a new part of the website. the easy app would peshgt people eligible for aid to sign up for coverage without calculating an exact subsidy amount, a stumbling block so far. and jewel stole the show. check her out. she's pretty. best in show at national dog show beating contestants from seven canine group. and the united nations nuclear agency has seen steam and water at a nuclear plant in north korea indicating they may try to restart the reactor meaning it may be capable of making plutonium for atomic

bons. they're aware this and is monitoring the situation. and the comet speeding towards the sun may have just fizzled out. scientists say they are seeing what may be remnants of the comet continuing to journey past the sun. we'll see. and stocks enter the final day in november in record territory as markets closed early today, 1:00 eastern. cnbc reports when the s&p 500 and dow are positive for the month, 80% of the time, december is also a positive month for investors. and japan is et issing new standards with a luxury bullet train that will travel at speeds of, get this, over 160 miles per hour. now it's time for your friday edition of "scrambled politics." media tycoon, producer of the teenage ninja turtles and a major donor announced backing former secretary of state hillary clinton, that is, if she runs for president in 2016. and writing that the mystery

of white house chief of staff dennis mcdunham is also the mystery why president obama's second term is going so badly. he runs operations well and gets along with other key white house staffers and even sends out thank you cards, but this year has been a terrible one for the president. and mike huckabees radio show is coming to an end. huckabee was heard on 200 stations. his final show airs december 12th. and the first family spent thanksgiving at the white house enjoying turkey and cornbread stuffing, and for dessert, nine kinds of pie. oh, my. from apple to three types of cream pies, plus huckleberry, peach, pecan and sweet potato pie. no word if any of it made it to leftovers. i think i just got a cavity reading all of those pies.

and joe arpaio serves an economical meal at his jail. featuring a vegetarian turkey soy vegetable that cost a whopping 24 cents per inmate. the whole menu from mashed potatoes to dinner rolls cost only 56 cents per inmate. the white house christmas tree is arriving today, and as in past years, first lady michelle obama will be part of the welcome wagon, displayed in the blue room next month. and it looks like toronto mayor rob ford may have his show after all. what? the mayor's brother doug told a radio station that he and rob will host an online series called "ford nation" which was their show on sun-tv that was cancelled after only one episode. you can expect the first episode before christmas. fa talk about reality tv. that is your morning dish of scrambled politics. as bargain hunters prepared to scoop up friday deals many are wondering how are they going

to afford it all? a push to raise the minimum wage might help. a move gaining momentum. joining me, politicos kevin surreally. good morning, kevin. >> good morning. yes, happy friday. >> happy black friday. this week a city in washington actually raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour. are you seeing more local governments take up this issue? >> absolutely, betty. there are more than 20 states plus the district of columbia that have increased minimum wage level. washington has stalled on this. 20 states, more than congress. a lot of this is coming at the grass roots level pushed by democrats. i don't think question expect to see much traction in congress. >> i wanted to ask you that. why has it stalled in congress? >> a great question, and, in fact, president obama mentioned this in his state of the union address, that he would like to see this, the minimum wage

increased, but, you know, unemployment is still at 7.3%, and republicans say if you raise the cost of employment and how much it costs to hire workers, that it would end up lowering -- i'm sorry -- raising unemployment because of that, because it would be an additional burden's not much time left until the end of the year. i don't expect lawmakers to get much done between now and the end of the year. i don't think this contentious battle, with obama care, will see much traction. >> where is traction? and we are seeing some at the local level. are democrats seeing it here, an advantage with this issue? >> a great issue, right? i think the blue collar workers, places where i'm from, suburban philadelphia, this is an issue that hits close to home, and i think that when you've got, you're only making a couple more than $7 an hour and you have

folks saying, hey, maybe it's time to raise this thing, i think there's an appeal here, and it's a really tough argument if you're a republican, and you're saying that you don't want to raise the minimum wage, and i think there are a lot of compelling stories that we could start to hear about folks who can't make ends meet. particularly around the holidays. >> right. >> about minimum wage. >> on the other hand, republicans are going to say that it's going to stall job growth and going to hurt employers. a lot to debate. thanks for your insight and coming in on black friday. >> i'm still emerging from my turkey coma. my mom made turkey last night. >> all right. take care. bill karins and t.j. holmes will be back for "first buzz" including what did knicks coach jason kidd say that got him slapped with a $50,000 fine? that's next. you're watching msnbc. heart healthy, huh?!

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she got her safe driving bonus check from allstate last week. and it's her treat. what about a tip? oh, here's one... get an allstate agent. nice! [ female announcer ] switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. only from allstate. call an allstate agent and get a quote now. just another way allstate is changing car insurance for good. all right. it's that time of the morning, time for "first buzz." joined by my buddy, bill karins, and t.j. holmes. >> this is a fantastic story. everybody look at the video if you haven't seen this and tell me what this guy says. the head coach of the brooklyn nets. jason kidd. used to be a dallas mavericks player. >> look at him. first year as a head coach, brooklyn. you see him spim the drink there. as plain as day. "hit me." you do not need to hire a

professional actor here. a lot's people called it clever, bill. a lot of coaches look at it as clever. >> what did he do? >> didn't have time-outs. tried to get a time-out by spilling a drink. the nba came down on thanksgiving day, 50 grand. >> a lot of money. >> trying to make a point. >> how much money would you pay for a win if it ended up working? >> they lost. >> i know, they did. it didn't work. >> speaking of money. check this out. this could cost upwards of $10 billion but could be worth every penny. essentially a floating island. going to be a mile long. called a free ship. you can actually live here. it will house 50,000 residents. it's just like a city. it's got, you know, shopping. it has places where you can go out to an aquarium. it has an airport. this is one that would actually be floating around the world. it takes two years to actually circle the world. i want to do it. i think it's fantastic. 25 stories high. it's beautiful. but it hasn't been built yet.

they still need $10 billion. >> avoid any hurricanes. >> but you can get off of it with a plane. because planes land there. right? >> a runway? >> yeah. i promise you. that's what they say. anyway -- already talking about christmas. it's barely past thanksgiving. >> road trip. going to be cleveland. >> for -- >> no offense, cleveland. >> this is the 30th anniversary of a christmas story. this, you've seen this a million times. right? 24-hour loop the last week before christmas. actually having a celebration for the anniversary. the actual house from the movie is from cleveland. a guy bought the house, re did it to look exactly like this, even has the light lamp in the window. probably walk in the door and go, oh -- fudge -- >> the bb gun and all that? >> you know that scene? you're not into this? >> no. >> you don't like the movie? >> i like it enough, but it's not my favorite. >> ever tried to stick your tongue to a flagpole in the

middle of winter? >> that i have not done. i'll have to try that. i missed out. my childhood was just boring, apparently. guys, thanks for joining me. this is "first look" right here on msnbc. have a great day.

good morning. we hope had you a great thanksgiving. right now on "first look," the black friday shopping season is in full swing and not for the faint of heart. we have bargain hunter strategies you will want to hear. the giant balloons took flight. so did giant hearts who reached out to show what being thankful is all about. an update on what would be the world's largest floating city, a mile long with school, parks and an airport and room for 50,000 residents. plus -- space x scrubs its expensive mission at the last possible moment. a soda spilling time-out cost nets coach 50 grand, and the motor city wins a big one on a nasty weather day.