0 thanksgiving. >> it's like a thanksgiving present. >> you brought the pie. >> we are all better off without my cooking, believe me. >> well, today, of course, is the big parade. we along with millions of americans are waiting to see if the real stars in the annual macy's day thanksgiving parade will take part. the giant balloons that soar above the parade route. here's the deal, gusty winds here in new york this morning are threatening to perhaps ground the likes of snoopy, sponge bob and spidey. jason carroll is live along the parade route. good morning. when i came in this morning, it wasn't too windy. how are conditions out there? >> reporter: it's feeling pretty good, we've had mild gusts, but nothing major to speak of. if you take a look behind me, you have snoopy, the macy's stars, the sandbags are holding them down for now. in terms of what's happening with the parade and whether or not they are going to fly or not, we won't know until the parade gets underway at 9:00 a.m. 16 giant balloons are filled and ready for liftoff. thousands showing up wednesday night to get a look at the helium-filled stars of the 87th annual macy's thanksgiving day parade hoping they soar high above new york city later this morning. >> it's the first time we've seen them blowing up, and that's like the best part to see the beginning. and then tomorrow we'll see the end result. >> reporter: whether it will be safe enough for snoopy and woodstock to take flight will depend on the wind and this man's decision. new york city police incident commander james hall. he will make the final call. how is it looking so far for tomorrow? >> it looks good, it looks very good. and there are, you know, gust numbers and wind numbers that we have locked into our head that allows us to fly or not to fly. >> reporter: that's a lot of pressure, is it not, to be riding on your shoulders to make the decision, fly or not fly? >> i'm used to it. >> reporter: parade director amy cole will be waiting for the incident commander's call for the balloons to get the go-ahead. >> i'm depending on him to make the decision. i've been through so many parades with inclement weather on wednesday and thursday, and it's been magnificent and i have a feeling it will be just like that again. >> reporter: safety is key. sustained winds could exceed 23 miles per hour or gusts at 34 miles per hour, then the balloons may have to be grounded. that will be the first time since 1971, but again, officials are optimistic and so are the fans. >> well, seeing the balloons liable will be incredible. i'm hoping they will be up in the air. >> i'm disappointed by the fact that they might not have the balloons up in the air tomorrow. >> me too. >> reporter: well, she shouldn't be too disappointed, at least not yet. tom the turkey is in position. he did not end up on someone's dinner table this year. he's in position, and it's our hope the other balloons, once again, they are ready to go. and what we're hearing, at least so far, it is a go. so we're just going to have to keep waiting and keep checking in each hour to see if anything changes. but for now, makayla, it's a go. >> all right, i like that. word from the street so far, it's a go. thank you so much for that, jason carroll. we'll go to meteorologist jennifer grey for a look at what to expect becaus this is a concern, 23 miles an hour, sustained winds is when they ground them, right? >> with gusts up to 34. right now the forecast is gusts up to 30. hopefully it will stay under that criteria. winds are about 18 miles an hour. we are just under what is called for for them not to call off the balloons. 32 degrees is the forecasted high, so it's going to be very cold. with the windchill, it's going to feel like the 20s. and guys, whoever is holding those balloons, they are going to have to hold on really tight if they fly because it will be breezy. >> that's a whole bunch of people for the balloons, strong, sturdy people. >> thank you for gravity. good have you with us, jennifer. rain and snow still linger from the wintry storm that complicated travel for millions and millions of americans. we don't have the radar here, but take my word for it. it has made a mess of the roads, especially with lake-effect snow in michigan. there were a lot of delays, some cancellations, but most people were able to make it home for the holiday. our margaret connolly is joining us from new york city this morning with more. good morning, margaret. >> reporter: good morning, join. it could have been a lot worse. over 40 million americans are traveling for the holiday. i was at laguardia yesterday. they were prepared for rain and crowds, but overall things went better than expected. you can call it the collective sigh of relief heard up and down the east coast as millions of americans raced through crowds, rain and snow to get to their loved ones in time for the holidays. there were some inconveniences, but no major delays across the country. airports like laguardia, new york city pulled out all the stops to help keep travelers' spirits high and relieve stress. >> i just missed my connection to albany and i'm hyper ventilating. >> reporter: some people who traveled by train were held up by the winter storm. >> weather caused delays and cancellations at airports along the east coast. >> reporter: while others were more lucky. >> here at atlanta's hartsfield/jackson airport, the busiest airport in the world, the holiday commute has been going well. >> reporter: for those who made the journey by car, there was heavy snow in states like michigan and ohio. and train travelers on the east coast were momentarily stalled right at rush hour. >> a disabled train in a tunnel had every train running late. >> reporter: yes, the busiest travel day of the year drew to a close and many families may have been delayed, but they were reunited. >> we expected to be delayed, so we weren't too disappointed. we have made it here on time. we're ready to go home and eat. >> reporter: so we made it through wednesday. people have a few days now to enjoy the holiday, makayla, before we have to do it all over again on sunday. >> let's not think about that yet. let's enjoy the fact that we may or may not be at our destinations, right? and then don't worry about sunday. >> start stressing about it now. >> margaret, thank you so much. stay bundled up out there, it is chilly. it's true, sunday will be a bit of a bear. pamela brown is also here with us on this thanksgiving day with a look at the other stories. >> wonderful to be here on this thanksgiving. and making news today, another accusation against the nsa about spying on world leaders. cvc news say canada allows the nsa to spy on ontario back in 2010 signing documents by edward snowden. they say the operation was closely operated with canada. and another military contractor is in trouble. the navy suspending a shipping services company called inch kate for what it calls questionable business integrity. it bans all federal agencies from entering into new contracts with inch kate. they are investigating a number of officers in an overbilling scheme by another maritime services contractor. bye-bye to the italian prime minister who is serving a year of community service and has been banned from holding public office for two years for tax fraud. he could be vulnerable to charges and other fraud corruption and sex cases. illinois has now held its first same sex marriage six months before the law goes into effect. a chicago woman with terminal cancer was granted an emergency marriage license to wed her partner on wednesday. 64-year-old vernita gray and 65-year-old patricia york have sued to get the license in advance arguing the law discriminating them from preventing the couple to marry before gray's death. well, if there's no pecan pie at your thanksgiving dinner today, blame it on china, pigs and the rain. okay? record rainfall hurt production in the south. industry experts say it could drop by as much as 35%. those heavy rains made harvesting difficult as well, and the pigs went wild on the nuts that fell from the trees. this is a true story. i'm getting weird looks over here. and this is -- don't blame it on me. >> monster pigs are keeping the pecan pie from our table. >> this is in china. the pigs have a love affair with pecans and it continues to grow. a third of the pecans are exported there. >> i feel strongly that pumpkin pie belongs at thanksgiving so i'm okay with this story. >> so you let loose the monster pigs to eat the falling pecans that created this problem. >> you're a pecan guy, aren't you? i didn't know there was a crisis, let alone started by monster pigs. >> we are here to bring that information to you. >> that's what we do. weather is the issue we're watching closely. meteorologist jennifer gray is here with our forecast. are we thinking this storm was worse than its bite or are we seeing residual effects from it? >> maybe we expected it to be worse, but we definitely saw the rain. we had up to five inches of rain in some areas. we had up to a foot of snow in other areas. but it is cold. this front has moved out. the system has pushed off to the northeast, and we are left with really cold temperatures, below freezing across most of the northeast. then you factor in the winds, new york city right now, 8-mile-per-hour winds with gusts near 23. seeing 16-mile-per-hour winds in philly with gusts up to 22. when you combine the temperatures and the wind, you get the windchill. right now, windchill of 23 degrees. in new york city, that's what it feels like outside, feels like 20 waking up in boston on this thanksgiving morning. d.c., you're feeling like 21. so it is going to be cold. not only the northeast, but the south experiencing very cold temperatures. freeze watches and warnings across all of the gulf coast. the i-10 corridor from lake charles all the way to jacksonville experiencing very, very chilly temperatures. and current temperatures in the south, 26 in shreveport. 26 in mobile. 30 degrees in jacksonville. guys, when the south, the i-10 corridor has freeze warnings, you know the rest of the country is cold. >> big problems. thank you so much. next up on "new day," marking thanksgiving far, far from home. thousands of our u.s. troops are marking the holiday in afghanistan. there's no sign that a security deal controversy could keep them there longer is closer to be resolved. and are you ready for some shopping? 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[ male announcer ] in stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and more, swanson makes holiday dishes delicious. gra♪y and more, (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. welcome back. more than 50,000 u.s. troops will spend the day in afghanistan, and many americans will be thinking of their family and friends to the and perhaps wondering if a security deal with the afghan government will ever get deal. here's cnn's barbara starr. >> reporter: it's the 12th thanksgiving in afghanistan for u.s. troops. >> this is the first time with the 151st company and i'm stationed in northern afghanistan, i'm brian shenk. i would like to give a shout-out to my three children and my wife. >> reporter: once more thinking at home. >> i'm specialist caleb charron. i want to wish my family in missouri happy holidays. >> reporter: this holiday season commanders were looking forward to a new agreement with afghan president hamid karzai that would have kept just a few thousand u.s. troops in afghanistan after 2014. but after a meeting with national security adviser susan rice, karzai is now refusing to sign the very deal he helped negotiate. in an afghan news channel interview, rice made clear u.s. patience may be at a breaking point. >> if the agreement isn't signed properly, what i said to the president is we would have no choice, we would be compelled by necessity, not by preference, to have to begin to plan for the prospect that we will not be able to keep our troops here. >> reporter: after 12 years of war with afghan corruption still rampant, billions of dollars in u.s. aid, more than 2,000 troops killed and more than 19,000 wounded, why shouldn't all the american troops just come home? >> americans are very right to be frustrated with karzai, but frustration is not national security policy. frustration is not foreign policy. >> reporter: some of the administration believe without a u.s. presence, al qaeda will return, iran's influence may grow, and afghanistan will become a radical haven. >> if things fall apart in afghanistan, then much of what we've gained can unravel. we may find ourselves having to go back in again. >> reporter: for now, however, u.s. troops are thinking about coming home. >> hi, i'm sergeant tyler backton. this is my father. >> chief sergeant richard baxter. >> we just wanted to wish our family in missouri a happy holiday. >> reporter: barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> we can't say it enough, our thanks to men and women serving overseas and back in the u.s. as well. happy thanksgiving to you and your families. back here in the u.s., it does seem that the new holiday tradition is, in fact, shopping. more retailers are opening their doors this year, that's right, more of them are, and they say they are slashing prices a day in advance of black friday. not everyone, folks, is happy about this. cnn's nick havalencia is at a store in georgia. nick, wow, it's open, people are shopping. it's 6:17! >> reporter: it is open. happy thanksgiving, john and makayla. it's below freezing out there. below 30 degrees. feels more like 18 factoring in the wind, but that was not enough to keep 30 people from lining up outside a kmart this morning. why are they doing it? quite simply it's for the deals. black friday has warped into black thursday. kmart, one of a handful of retailers, opened for business on thanksgiving. are you guys ready for it? >> i think so. we are excited about it. >> reporter: for those who think it's something new, kmart has been doing this for over 20 years. more retailers have followed suit, and that's no coincidence. according to the national retail federation. >> shoppers still want to shop on black friday to get the amazing deals. so we don't expect black friday to ever lose its luster, but there's a new player in town, and thanksgiving is certainly giving black friday a run for its money. >> reporter: of the nearly 140 million people expected to shop this holiday weekend, nearly a quarter will hit the stores thanksgiving day. >> i'm out here to get some great deals, man. >> reporter: outside of best buy in florida, tents were in place more than a week in advance of the sales. just how serious are they? this man brought a generator to run his many electronics. >> they do it every year and every year i say the exact same thing, it's just crazy. >> reporter: crazy is one word for it. angry is another. on change.org more than 100,000 people petitioned target to stay closed for the holiday writing, quote, family should be more important than corporate greed or materialism. and because it's the right thing to do. back in kmart in mapleton, georgia, store manager bill vansor says working on thanks giving is no bother. for him, it's about meeting the customer demand. >> one thing you have to understand this year is we have one less week for shopping between thanksgiving and christmas than we did last year. >> reporter: and the mad dash here in mapleton, georgia, was towards the electronic section. kmart as i mentioned in that piece has been doing this for 20 years, but this year, john and makayla, it's going to be different. before they would shut down for a couple years. this year they are going to blow through. it's about meeting customer demand, they say. a lot of people here are pretty happy the stores are open on a thursday. happy thanksgiving, guys. >> i'm surprised they are shopping on thanksgiving but can't believe they are there at 6:20. that, to me, is astounding. >> caller: i was out here at 11:00 p.m. last night, john. so cold, spent overnight hours, incredible. >> i applaud the level of commitment. we should all be so committed to something in life. i guess i want to know what people out there think about this. do you think it's a good idea to have the stores open on thanks giving? let us know what you think. tweet us with the #newday. >> i feel like there's going to be people to tweet you from in line. >> go for it. great. >> i think they will. >> i hope they have cnn playing inside kmart to see my dismay they are there at 6:20 and tweet us back. >> we are here. this is dedication. next up, the obama care rollout hitting a small bump. small businesses being told they have to wait before they can sign up for coverage. the deadline for a fix is only two days away. can the administration turn things around? we have our political gut check next. and will they fly? we are live on the macy's parade route with the very latest minute by minute coverage of whether those giant balloons will take to the sky. we will talk to the parade director in just a moment. i'm sergeant jack story. i would like to say happy thanksgiving to my wife and my family. love you guys. as a business owner, i'm constantly putting out fires.