Performance, today, wednesday, november 25th, 2015. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live froro udio 1a in rockefelelr plaza. R. And good morning, everyone. Welcome to today on a wednesday morning. Have you seen whats going on behind us . One of the biggest crowds i think weve seen outside on our plaza because adele is here and if you can just step outside and let them know shes notinging the plaza, shes s sging inside our studio. We made it clea we said its an indoor concert but that doesnt stop thousands of people for showing up. The guy behind us here, this man over on the side here has a sign up ive been here since 6 00 yesterday, first one here, just so he could be the guy closest to the window to watch her perform inside. Maybe we can persuade her to take a walk outside and say hello to all her adoring fans in a few moments. Were so excited to have her here. First, let get right to the news. Our top story this morning, demonstrations in chicago overnight after the release of a chilling video that shows an officer fatally shooting yearold laquan monald. Now,w, this happened more than a year ago. The video was just released. The officer was just charged. He i3 waking up behind bars this morning. Nbc estephanie gosk is covering the story and is in chicago for us. Steph, good morning. Reporter good morning, savannah. The family of the victim say they did not want this video released. In fact the victims mother told her attorney s s didnt want to watch it at all, but now that its out there the city is bracing for the reaction. Overnight there are demonstrations and an anticipation that there will be more to come today. Overnight hundreds of protesters scuffled with police in the center of chicago. One officer injured in the fray and a handful of arrests. Triggered by the public release of dramatic dashcam video recorded from a Police Shooting the video begins with a patrol car ration through the streets of the citys southwest side, responding to a report of a man with a knife trying to break into cars. The video shows 17yearold Laquan Mcdonald walking in the middle of the road, a knife in hand. The Prosecutor Says he took the drug pcp that night. Officer Jason Van Dyke and his partner approach him with their weapons drawn. Within seconds van dyke starts shooting. Mcdonald stumbles. A total of 16 rounds were fired and the suspect lays on the ground. More than a year later van dyke is accused of firstdegree murder. His lawyer says he shot mcdonald because he was worried for his safety. He was brought intntthe situation by the actions of Laquan Mcdonald, and he reacted. Six months ago city agreed to give the victims family a 5 million settlement. The city did not admit to any wrongdoing. Last week a judge order the the Chicago Police to release the dashcam video after journalists sued for access. The indictment came just hours before the videos release. While city leaders including mayor rahm emanuel made a plea for peaceful demonstrations. I understand that the people will be upset and will want to protest when they see this video. But i would like to echo the comments of the mcdonald family. They have asked for calal and foror those who choose to speak out to do it peacefully. Reporter among the places where there will be possible protests in the coming days, chicagos magnificent mile. Some groups have threatened that they will try to disrupt black friday shopping hoping that if neve an Economic Impact their voicesill be hurt. Matt and savannah, back to you. Steanie gosk in chicago, thank you. Today is one of the busiest travel days of the year, and to go along with the typical concerns over traffic and the imagine, security is also on a lot of minds. We have the thanksgiving rush covered from all angles, starting with nbc national corresesndent Peter Alexander. Hi, peter, good morning. Reporter matt, good morning. In the wake of the paris attacks theres a high state of alert nationwide but officials at the white house is making it very clear theres no credible or specific intelligence indicating a similar plot on the u. S. Bring it on, thats the message from the latatt propaganda video from isis taunting the u. S. And mocking the american military. You attack us wh 250,000 missiles, the narrator says while we send your proxies to hell with 50cent bullets. With terror on top of mind this u. S. Thisks and warplanes launching new strikes against isis president obaba is trying to calmer inves here insisting the u. S. Is doing in its power to keep americans safe. We cannot and will in the succumb to fear nor can we alou fear to divide us. Thats how terrorists win. Reporter a new fbi and homeland securitit bulletin is urging Law Enforcement stay vigilant. Despite fears of another parisstyle attack overseas here in the u. S. The top concern remoans homegrown extreatmentists and copycats with soft targets from coast to coast almost impossible to protect. Across the country, a show of force, from los angeles. We have a numumr ofifferent toururt destinationss thats a big part of our economy. Certainly were always vigilant to anything happening there. Beg for your life, beg reporter to new york city where our station wnbc got an exclusive look at the nypds new Critical Response command. Hundreds of any officers trained in counterterror measures. Police Holding Drills battling both active shooters and hostagetakers. This is going to be an elite dedicated force trained in counterterrorism, briefed on intelligence every day and over time they will have a context behind that intelligence. Reporter in boston beefed up security from faneuil hall to fenway park prepared to host a thanksgiving day tradition, high school football. Any family setting we make sure that people are safe going to those venues. Reporter back here at the white house president obama is among those trying to balance tradition and security. Later this morning hell meet with his National Security advisers. They will review the security situation here in the u. S. , and thth this afternoon the president will Part National thanksgiving turkey with a littleeremony in the rose garden. Matt and savannah. Peter alexander at the white house, peter, thank you. What are you going to face if youre driving to your holiday destination . For starter, cheap gas. Its the cheapest for thanksgiving since 2008. The average price 2. 15 a gallon, 65 cents less than last year. Nbcs tom costello is along busy i959 in maryland. Good morning, tom, how is it looking . Yeah, good morning. In fact, because of that cheap gas we have record numbers of people on the roads. Here we are, i95 headed north out of washington, headed towards baltimore, and if you havent left already, this is the time you should leave right about now, according to the experts. The best time to start driving for thanksgiving right now and also were told this evening, but avoid the midafternoon. Avoid 12 00 to 4 00. Youll be joined by a lot of people. Smooth sailing though were told on thanksgiving, both in thee morning and in the evening. The biggest internet choke points interstate choke point in the country, chicago, a 12mile stretch of the kennedy expressway there, 16 million hours wasted every year right there stuck in traffic, i95 in los angeles, multiple stretches of i405, the i10, i110 and u. S. 101 and in new york city i59 and the lincoln tunnel. By the way, austin, texas, ranks as having one of the biggest choke points in the country. Its i35 between East Riverside drive and also east dean keaton street. 1. 5 million gallons of fuel wasted ere. Best time to head home,ere told, its goi to be saturday after thing and monday before 10 00 a. M. , but avoid sunday. Avoid 1 00 to 6 00 p. M. Youll be joining millions of roads. So here we are right now. Its not that bad. Were doing about what, ed, 60 in. 60 isnt bad, but things are going to pick up in the coming hours. Again, northbound on one of the busiest interstates in the country. Guys, back to you. Supply. Tom costello, thank you so much. With heightened security and nearly 1 million americans to fly for the thanksgiving holiday, you can expect some very long lines at airports coast to coast. Nbcs Kerry Sanders is att busy dallasfort worth international. Hi, rry, good morning. Happy holiday. Reporter well, happy holidays. You know, traveling by air today will be a little bit like weaking barefoot over broken glass, but at least right now things are moving slowly at most airport across the country. Me in security, a 15minute wait to get through heree at dfw but as we look at whats called the misery map provided by flight aware, we can already see theres some delays. There are delays in boston, a little bit further south in new york, and then we come down to washington and, again, all the way down to miami there are some delays. Now, if youre traveling today, this may sound like the obvious report, but if yououe not a a regular flyer, just think about these little tips. First of all, check in online. If you have a phone or computer check in online, and if youre taking luggage and your airline charges, can you prepay. That will speed everything up, and it might even save you a few dollars because some airlines charge less than paying online thth paying at counter. Arrive at the airport t t hours early. You hear this all the time and a lot of people ignore it. I travel a lot and i ignore it, but today is the one day that it really does matter. Get to the airport early, especially if youre driving to the airport to park. A lot of parking lots will fill up so you have to remember slower and finally you must have a valid i. D. , like a drivers license or passport. Now the one thing you do not want t bring to the airport, and, again,his may surprise a lot of people, dont bring your gun, and what surprises people is that the tsa confiscates six guns a day across the country, anan with more pats j jts traveling today,y, its likelyy they w wl get more guns. So, matt, some tvel tipk and really hopefully everything works out smoothly today because, remember, a lot of people are looking at each other. I think if you treat people as if they are a federal air marshal and youre c crteous to those people thinking they are a federal airir marshal, everything will go smoothly and youll make it to dinner at grandmothers. Or treat people curiously because they are human beings. That said. And we should. This all turns on als forecast right here, because the travel could be affected in certain areas of the country. In fact, i hope kerry gets out of there today, cause if he doesnt, he m be stuck there through thanksgiving. Yeah. Meantime, let show you what were looking. A for today, as savannah mentioned, not much of a problem. The only real trouble spot will be out west. Salt lake city, airport delays, accumulating snowfall. Snow will continue into wednesday night. If youre traveling say right now on i15 from salt lake to great falls, heavy snow across the mountains, slick visibility problems. Thursday, here we go. This is where the trouble starts denver airport, snow. Dallas and houston, thunderstorms developing and heavy rain and strong wind. Airport delays most likely. Also on i35 from kansas city to minneapolis, icy mix with snow and low visibility, kansas city to dallas and storms with locke flooding rains and localized flooding. Traveling from st. Louis to baltimore, soggy travel on the roads and some delays at the airport, but the big travel problem will be tomorrow, what used to be a dead day for travel and everybody is traveling almost every day so tomorrow is going to be a big problem with a lot of hubs. All right. Mr. Roker, thank you very much. Meantimel there are new calls for restraint this morning after turkey shot down a russian plane right near the syrian border. This incident escalating tension in a region that does not need more of that. Nbcs chief Foreign CorrespondentRichard Engel in istanbul, ain, for us. Richard, good morning. Reporter good morning, savannah. Moscow is still fuming over this, the Russian Foreign minister today accusing turkey of a, quote, planned provocation in which one russian pilot was killed, also a crew member of a russian rescue helicopterer russia s ss one of its pilots was murdered in cold blood after turkey downed a russian jet yesterday. The two pilots bailed out of their s. U. 24 pommer alive, russia says, but floated down into hostile territory. Ground held by the very fighters they were allegedly bombing. The socalled moderate Syrian Rebels say a battle was under way between them and the syrian regime. Their commander claims the russian plane was assisting Syrian Government forces. Did that russian plane fire on your fighters before it was shot down . Yes, after it ran out of amamnition. It went towards turkey. Several times he said. One of the russian pilots fell near this front line and russia says the rebels brutally executed him. The navigator was later recovered by Syrian Forces and today arrived safely at a russian base. President Vladimir Putin who yesterday accucud turkey of being in league with terrorists today warned russians they might not be safe in turkey. Turkeys Prime Minister in his first Public Comment since the incident said he doesnt want to further escalate. The same message from president obama. I think its very important right now for us too make sure turks are talking to each other, find out exactly what happened and take measures to discourage any kind of escalation. Reporter but at this stage it seems unlikely that we are going t thave any p pductive conversations between russia and turkey. The russians said today they are reexamining their relations with turkey. Back to you. Thank you. Turn to the investigation into the paris terror attacks this morning. We are learning more about the apparent masterminds movements on that illfated night. As police in belgium issue an alert for man who helped a key suspec get to paris. Keir simmons is in brussels. Keir, good morning to you. Reporter good morning. Were learning that the french officials believe that that master mind who you will remember was ultimately killed in a police raid returned to the scenes of the massacre in the hours after the attacks. Were learning thatust ashe french and Belgium Police issue a call to tby to find another suspect, an International Arrest warrant issued for a 30yearold man Mohamed Abrini who was seen in a car with Salah Abdeslam who again you will remember they have been hunting for for more than a week now. The two of them were seen in thth vehicle on their way to paris two days before the attack. Reports like that are raising questions again about whether the massacre could have been prevented. A local mayor saying that she was given a list of extremists before the attacks, her office didnt know what to do with it. Meanwhile, people here are returning to work, the schools are opening, the subway behind me has opened again. The simple act of taking your children to school or the morning commute has turned into an act of dieefiance against the terrorists. They believe though they havent apprehended every suspect they have managed to disrupt the terror cell by carryingut so ny arrests and raids. Something new in the race for the exhaust now, Donald Trumps wife made her first appearance on the Campaign Trial last niem. Melania trump was flanked by his parents and three of the republican candidates children during a rally in myrtle beach, south carolina. Trumps wife has until now chosen to stay largely behind the scenes. He will be the best president ever. We love you. Trumps family left the stage before he launched into more than an h hr of criticism of both his republican rivals and administration. He called a trump im percent nar on to the stage, complemented his blond wig and called it a big beautiful head of hair. We have a warning from the cdc for people who recently bought rotisserie Chicken Saladad from costco 19 people in seven states are sick with an e. Coli infection cranked to that salad. Five of those people have been hospitalized. Ri salad salad on or before november 20th are being advised to throw it away and costco has pulled the p pduct from its shelves. A newborn baby with the umbilical baby still attached. Cord still attached in the manger of a Church Nativity scene here in new york city. A custodian was returning to, work monday afternoon and heard the baby crying. The baby is said t tbe in good health at aocal hospital. State law says a baby can be turned over to a church, hospital, local Police Station or Fire Department but authorities must be called right away. Officials are now looking for a home for the baby but severalal calls are being received for people wanting to become parents. Eastern third of the country spectacular and plenty of sunshine. Temperatures into the 60s as you get into the southwest. But were also looking at a lot of snow back through the Pacific Northwest, the rockies and cascades. Od news. Well seeing snow in the sierra, and that will help with the snow pack and hopefully help with the drought out there a little bit. This is more than just a town. This is our home. And Small Business saturday. Is more than just a day. Its our day. To shop small at the places we love. With the people we love. For stuff we cant get anywhere else. And food that tastesesike home. Bebeuse the money wepend here. Can help keep our town growing. This saturday is Small Business saturday, lets all shop small. For the neighborhood, the town, the home we love. Shop small this saturday. Winter storm watch in effect thanksgiving day for parts of southern and eastern siouxland so