Moment an e cigarette explodes in one mans pocket bursting into flames while he was working. So what was behind the blast . And cold turkey. President obamas last thanksgiving at the white house. Malia and sasha, by the way, are thankful that this is my final president ial turkey pardon. A tradition he loved that may stay in the family. What i havent told them yet is that we are going to do this every year from now on. No cameras, just us. Every year. Today, thursday, november 24th, 2016. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and savannah guthrie, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Welcome to today on this thanksgiving thursday morning. Im willie geist. Im tamron hall. Happy thanksgiving. Matt, savannah and al are already in place for the 90th macys thanksgiving day parade. That is our top story this morning. It is time for the festivities to get under way with 16 giant character balloons, 26 floats, 1,100 cheerleaders, and 16 marching bands and performance groups. Matt and s savannah have the hosting hats on in Herald Square. Good morning happy thpanksgiving. Heres standing here on 34th street in front of macys. Behind us you may get a glimpse of the show waitress performing on broadway. Im wondering if the preparation of the latte will be up to your standards. This is the 90th year of the parade so it is all about tradition today. Theyre bringing back some old traditions. Theres always something new and exciting. Were going to have a lot more about the parade just ahead. The weather is cooperating. Of course, security is a big concern every year, especially this year because of what seem to be a pointed threat against this parade. Stephanie rule is along the parade route where millions will have fun today but where the nypd will be hard at work. Steph, lets go to you. Reporter a few of those Police Officers were just walking along this parade route earlier and the crowd gave them a big round of applause. Paradegoers who come here every year are certainly used to seeing security but not quite like this. The nypd is taking measures theyve never taken before. A show of force like never before. A record 3,000 officers on duty thanksgiving day. A Critical Response command force trained in long guns and counterterrorism. 83 sanitation trucks filled with 16 tons of sand blocking cross streets to thwart an attack like the one in nice, france. Nypds chief of counterterrorism. Given the current climate around the world, the sense of uncertainty in some countries, propaganda thats out there, we wanted to make certain. What specifically can a sand truck do that just a patrol car cant do . You are a he not going to move a sand truck. Reporter on monday a new York City Taxi driver was charged with trying to join isis and expressing support for vehicle attack in times square. Earlier this month the isis propaganda magazine called on its supporters to target the parade itself. But concerns this Holiday Season are not limited to the u. S. The state department issued an alert monday to u. S. Tourists traveling in europe warning that terror groups continue to plan attacks. The main point that we were trying to convey to potential travelers is to be vigilant. Reporter in france, seven men were arrested for planning to strike the famous Christmas Market in straussburg, according to French Security officials. At home, new York Police Say they dont believe parade crowds will be deterred. We are always new york. We remain true to our values. New yorkers are strong and resilient. Reporter a nearly centuryold tradition is not so easily rattled. Another measure they are taking on the streets this year for the first time is they are closing down every single cross street. Thats roughly 40 blocks. But one complication the nypd does not need to deal with this year president elect trump and his family are not in the city. Theyve gone down to florida. Back to you guys. Nbcs stephanie gosk. Stephanie, sorry about that. My bad. Thank you so much. Lets turn to new york citys police commissioner. Weve got james oneal here, sir. Good morning. So good to have you sir. Good morning. It is great to be back. I know you probably dont do most of your conversations with the cast of waitress behind you. But obviously security is always a concern. This is a massive undertaking to secure a parade like this. Is it heightened this year because of some of specific threats youve received . It is not specific or Credible Threats against the he picture of the macys day parade. We have to expand our resources to increase security this year and we did. Lets talk about the resource and the effort. It is a 2 1 2 mile parade route which presents a unique challenge. There are a lot of challenges. But the nypd does so many largescale events. This is something that we do all the time. We do new years, we do fourth of july. This year we have blocker trucks. We have 83 sand trucks. We have 114 blocker vehicles to prevent any vehicles from coming on the route. Theres no cross town traffic at 57th street. 42nd street and 34th street. Obviously a huge show of force that we can see. Theres also so much going on behind the scenes that the public doesnt see but i know will give a lot of reassurance. Theres obviously a lot of uniformed cops. More than last year. Froms a lot of things that people arent going to see. A lot of people in plain clothes. We have aviation up. We have people with radiation detectors. We have the vapor wave dogs. Come on down. Weather is a little chilly but im sure it is going to warm up. It is going to be a great day and a safe day. You want people to have a good time but be aware of their surroundings as we always suggest in the city. Your first year as commissioner but youve been in this city a long time. Whats this parade mean to you . It means a lot. It is such a great family event. Last year i did it as chief of the department. I got this job about two months ago. Im really proud of the great men and women of this police department. They do such a great job each and every day keeping this city safe. Someone in particular you want to introduce us to . Kevin oconnors got 35 years on the job. This is his 26th thanksgiving day parade. He doesnt get down to 34th street a lot. Is he a manhattan north guy but hes been doing this job a long time keeping the people safe. This is his last parade. What are you going to do when you wake up on thanksgiving and you can sleep in if you want . Yes, im planning to do that after 26 years. Thank you so much for your service. Thank you so much. It is great to work at this kind of parade. Thanks for the efforts of the nypd, commissioner. Nice to see you. Happy thanksgiving. Mentioned a little while ago, the weather is cooperating, although the commissioner says maybe a little chilly. Lets go to al and find out what the forecast holds. Hey, guys, it is going to be fantastic. Some clouds but i think well see some breaks in the clouds. The parade is getting ready just down the block here. Weve got charlie brown, weve got thomas, tank engine. Winds are very light so the balloons will be able to fly at their full capacity. It is going to be spectacular. Look for temperatures right now it is about 39. By the time we see the parade kick off, it will be about 42 degrees and away well go with those calm winds. It will stay just cloudy. I think well start to see some sunshine by the time san today makes it to Herald Square. Weather, not going to be a problem, guys. Well, my two favorite events of the parade santa making it to Herald Square, and about an hour and a half before that, you making it to our broadcast position. We look forward to that. Cant wait to see you. Look forward to seeing you guys. All right, al, thank you so much. I think the starbucks has arrived and the omelet bar you requested. Tamron and willie, we are in great shape. Send over some omelets, while youre at it. Well get back to you in just a minute. Switching gears now. To politics. President elect donald trump will enjoy thanksgiving with his family at his maralago estate in florida. Thats where we find nbcs kristen welker. Good morning, happy thanksgiving. Reporter willie, happy thanksgiving and good morning to you. Thats right, president elect donald trump will actually relax today with family. The brief break comes as he gets increased scrutiny over his cabinet picks and how hes handling a critical part of his transition Intelligence Briefings. Intelligence officials tell nbc news president elect donald trump has received only two Intelligence Briefings since winning the white house, far fewer than the near daily briefings that are expected. The revelation first reported by the Washington Post which noted Vice President electric m pence has gotten briefings almost every year. Eight years ago when president obama was transitioning he asked f for extra briefings. Some say the novice is missing a golden opportunity to get up to speed. One Senior Intelligence official cautions it is too early to draw broad conclusions. Late wednesday the president elect sending a thanksgiving message to the public in a video produced by his transition team. Its my prayer that on this thanksgiving, we begin to heal our divisions and move forward as one country. Reporter mr. Trump also adding to his administration. After tapping a succession of loyalists, president elect trump is now aiming for diversity aiming South Carolina governor nikki haley as his choice for ambassador to the united nations. Haley, a rising star in the gop, was a fierce trump critic during the campaign. Quickly changing her tone. While i wont pretend to have always been president elects biggest cheerleader [ laughter ] i did vote for him, and i was absolutely thrilled to see him win. Reporter trump praising haley as a deal maker. But critics say she lax serious Foreign Policy experience. His other pick betsy devos for education secretary, another rival turned supporter. She is a billionaire gop donor and advocate for school bus. Her selection was hailed by jeb bush but the Largest NationalTeachers Union called her an ideological antipublic teacher nominee. Growing group of democrats are demanding a recount after several computer scientists found selfvoting irregular lathes in three states. Third Party Candidate jill stein has raised millions of dollars for the effort. The Clinton Campaign isnt weighing in but secretary clintons lead in the popular vote has now grown to more than 2 million. Willie . Tamron . Kristen welker. With thanksgivings move the beautiful backdrop, among other things. Thanks so much. Indeed. Cnbcs chief washington correspondent john harwood is keeping an eye on all of this this morning. John, happy thanksgiving. Good morning. Happy thanksgiving to you guys. Start off with the Intelligence Briefings. New information reported by chrkristien welker that donald p has chosen to attend two. These are daily. Mike pence has attended them. Whats this tell you . Like the intelligence officials kristen just quoted, i think it is a little too early to draw too many sweeping conclusions. However, it underscores concerns about donald trump on two grounds. One, the lack of experience that he brings to the job, especially with Foreign Policy and intelligence issues. And second, questions about his attention span. Donald trump is not somebody who is honed in on topics in the dee deepdive way that kristen referred to like president obama did when he was transitioning to the job. I think people are going to expect that unless he turns over National Security and Foreign Policy to his Vice President , hes going to need to have a storehouse of knowledge and he needs to begin acquiring that now. Look at some of these cabinet picks. Nikki haley of South Carolina, to be the ambassador to the u. N. Betty devos, the Teachers Union coming out strongly against her yesterday. What do you make of those two picks put together . First of all, nikki haley adds diversity, both in terms of the fact that shes a woman, shes also an i understand indi. That in some ways softens the face that Donald Trumps administration will present to the world. She doesnt have Foreign Policy experience but thats an advocacy job as opposed to a policy making job at the u. N. I think that pick is getting significant amount of praise across the board. Betsy devos is more controversial because shoe he is so ideological. She represents outreach to the Republican Party establishment. Shes been a longtime republican official. But her zealous advocacy of School Choice is something that obvious will i is offensive to Teachers Union. They are going to fight her. Again we dont know with trump how much he is going to put the weight of his presidency behind the agenda. Because donald trump doesnt have a lot of experience we dont know what he values most. He has positions but as we saw if that New York Times interview the other day, those positions can change very quickly when he is confronted with new information. Thank you, john harwood. While many are ready to celebrate thanksgiving with friends and family, thousands of u. S. Troops are spending the holiday far from home. Nbcs Lucy Cavanaugh is at ft. Swift. Reporter willie, good morning. Its always tough to be away from home and especially from family, especially when you are on a dusty base just a few miles from the fight. Weve had the honor of spending the day with these brave men and women who are finally getting a much deserved break and a little taste of home. Inside this tiny kitchen on a remote base far from home, its time to chop, stir, and roast. 120 pounds of turkey for 150 hungry mouths. It is a big day at camp swift. Roughly 50 miles south of mosul, nearly 6,000 miles from home. Its private jordan whites first deployment. Are you just missing thanksgiving with the family . Definitely miss my family. Sacrifice so others can be with their families. Reporter for lieutenant peter chun from baltimore, down time before the big meal meant sprucing up. I cant wait to face time my family back home. Reporter others worked out to work up an appetite. But the business of war doesnt stop for thanksgiving. Because we are the front line of defense here on camp swift and were what everyone relies on. Reporter Operation Inherent resolve is the fight against isis. Battle captain katrina fedd has been here for eight months. Her 10yearold back home is counting down the days. He sent me a message this morning. He said happy thanksgiving, mom. I love you and i miss you. Cant wait for you to come home. Then he had a ha hashtag with 4 days on it. Reporter it is his sixth thanksgiving away but it doesnt make it any easier. 400,000 brothers and sisters, then i have my family at home. Im in a pretty good spot. Reporter tamron, willie, in just a few hours, it will be back to the mission, back to the fight. But i think they might have a little message for folks back home. Guys . Happy thanksgiving back to you. And back to them. Lucy, thanks so much at camp swift. Send us our very best. Happy thanksgiving as well. Now to chattanooga, tennessee, a sixth child has died in that Horrific School bus accident. Police say the bus was speeding when it veered off the road and crashed into a tree on monday. This morning five children remain in the hospital. Authorities say toxicology tests show the driver, 24yearold jonathanny walker had no trace of drugs or alcohol in his body. He remains in custody charged with multiple counts of vehicular homicide. An ecigarette sparked a big scare at new york centrals grand terminal. The incident was captured on wednesday when the batteryoperated videotaaporize inside a mans pants exploded. One person said it looks like fireworks going off in his pants. The man suffered severe burns to his hand and leg. It is not known what caused the ecigarette to catch fire. People wonder why these are banned, like on planes. Thats horrifying. Lets get the rest of the forecast, as i rub my arms, youre cold outside but bundled up, l a. How are things going out there . Reporter feels pretty nice. Not so bad. Lets look at your travel weather for folks who are going to be heading home as we move forward in the thanksgiving day forecast for today. It is looking good with mountain rain and snows in the pacific northwest. Early snows in new england. Rest of the country pretty good. Then youve got to hit the road on saturday. You expect to see maybe a few scattered showers and thunderstorms as you get into the pacific northwest. All in all, not a bad day. Thats whats going on. Were going to g shes the reason the good times are great. And the reason the tough times are easier. Because shes your best friend. And your true love. Presenting the ever us twostone diamond collection. New rings, necklaces, earrings and bracelets. One diamond for your best friend. One diamond for your true love. For the one woman. Whos both. Ever us. Available at kay, jared and zales. Good morning. A very happy thanksgiving. Heres a look at your neighborhood forecast today. Were going to see isolated showers potential for your morning and early afternoon. But were not talking heavy rain. This will be light rain, very spotty. 52, your temperature in center city. Making it to the 50s in philadelphia. Upper 40s in the suburbs same for Lehigh Valley. And 53 at voorhees, ocean city up to 57. 55, the forecast high in smyrna. Latest weather. Guys . All right, al, thank you very much, sir. Al always looks so good on the parade route. He looks good on everything. Come on. Coming up, thaup, thanksgiv the trumps. Donald trumps winter white house. The mar