A Guide to the 98th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Meet Ukraine’s “Witches of Bucha” – the all-female fire squads that protect the skies from Russian drones. And what is causing a stir so far at the Oscars 2025?

This is what you should know today.

 What you should know about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Happy Thanksgiving! Today you’ll spend time with loved ones, eat good food – and watch a lot of TV, starting with the 98th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

NBC’s “TODAY” show stars Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker will host this year’s show, which features 22 large balloons, 34 amazing floats, seven rideable “balloon uncles” and more. Expect dozens of artists in between, including Jennifer Hudson, T-Pain, Idina Menzel, The Temptations and more. And don’t forget the 11 brass bands and 28 clown troupes.

The parade will be broadcast on NBC and simulcast on Peacock from 8:30 a.m. to noon ET and repeats at 2 p.m. We’ll also be following the action and sharing big moments and photos along the way.

Follow our live blog for the latest. (CHECK LINK – NOT YET PLANNED)

Once the parade is over, there won’t be many “paws” in the action. The 23rd Annual National Dog Show presented by Purina will feature over 205 different breeds competing for the prestigious title of Best in Show. Here’s how to watch the showwhich is scheduled for midday.

And don’t forget all the sports. The Chicago Bears take on the Detroit Lions at 12:30 p.m. as Bears quarterback Caleb Williams looks to continue his winning streak. The New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys meet at 4:30 p.m. in a game our sports reporter calls “the kind of matchup only a mother could love.” And in prime time The Miami Dolphins face a big test against the Green Bay Packers.

Read more about the holiday matchups.

More on Thanksgiving:

• A round of winter weather is expected over the holidays, which will likely impact flights and crowded roads. Here’s what you should know.
• In an interview with Lester Holt, NASA astronaut Suni Williams shared her Thanksgiving plans in space – and said she was not “stranded.”
• Didn’t you catch the Northern Lights? Parts of the US could get a taste of Thanksgiving on Friday. Here’s where to discover them.
• Looking for last minute cooking ideas? Swap in these Korean side dishes for your typical Thanksgiving sides.
• Five Latino families share how they prepare for Thanksgiving with a twist.

RFK Jr. compared vaccinating children to sexual abuse by the Catholic Church

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has a bleak view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reports to HHS. In 2019, he called the federal agency’s vaccine division a fascist corporation and accused it of knowingly hurting children. He also compared what he saw as a widespread conspiracy to cover up the harm caused by the child vaccination program to the cover-up of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Kennedy made these and other statements – most of which have gone unreported – during his years-long appearances at AutismOne, a parent-organized autism conference. The 2013 comments claimed, among other things, that the CDC was a “corruption pit” full of profiteers that harmed children in ways he also compared to “Nazi death camps.”

Brandy Zadrozny reports on the extreme language and metaphors Kennedy used when talking about vaccines. which offers new insight into what Kennedy might do with the CDC if the Senate confirms him, from dismantling panels dealing with vaccine safety to misrepresenting government data in a way that undermines the trust of the weakens the public or causes manufacturers to withdraw vaccines from the market.

Read more:

• Several Trump administration appointees have been indicted to bomb threats and “swatting” attacks.
• Once Trump takes the oath of office next month, US-China relations will be stable be one of the biggest foreign policy challenges for the new government.
• John Phelan, a businessman with no military experience, was appointed Secretary of the Navy by Trump.
• Trump chose retired General Keith Kellogg to be his assistant to the president Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

The Ukrainian “Witches of Bucha” volunteer to shoot down Russian drones

A volunteer civil defense force in Ukraine made up of 90% women has been tasked with helping protect the country from the constant bombardment of Russian missiles and drones. They call themselves the “Witches of Bucha”.

The group is already on patrol but, like so many others in Ukraine, assumes that the fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces could soon be put on hold, although not yet finally over.

Many of the women come from the city of Bucha, a suburb of Kiev where some of the worst atrocities took place in the early days of the war, including the street executions of civilians. A woman in the volunteer group told NBC News that her husband and brother were both killed in the war and the group offers her an outlet to vent her anger.

As Ukraine’s military struggles with battlefield setbacks and dwindling morale, the specter of a peace deal promised by President-elect Donald Trump looms large has added another layer of uncertainty.

Do you hear that? It’s the buzz of the early Oscars

The presidential election may be over, but Hollywood campaign season has just begun. The 97th annual Academy Awards are scheduled for March 2, meaning a number of publicists and film industry executives will mobilize to win the support of the nearly 10,000 members who vote on the Oscars. (Look out for the “For Your Consideration” ads all over Los Angeles).

This year, the Best Picture race lacks a clear front-runner – unlike in the previous two Oscar cycles, when “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Oppenheimer” gained clear advantages early on. A handful of films are in discussion for the 2025 Oscars, leaving a “wide field” for change in the coming months, according to an awards prediction expert. Maybe “Anora,” the Sean Baker-directed film about a Brooklyn stripper who marries the spoiled heir of a Russian oligarch, will do the trick. Or the science fiction blockbuster “Dune: Part Two” could build on the success of the first part of the series, which took home six awards in 2022.

Take a look about some of the top candidates and why they are causing such a stir even before the first vote is cast.

NBC Select: Online shopping, simplified

Tomorrow is Black Friday, but there are already plenty of sales at your favorite retailers. NBC Select editors have rounded up the best early Black Friday deals:

 Sign up for The Selection Newsletter with practical product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales every week.

read all about it

• Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attempt to get out on bail before the holidays was rejected by a New York judge.
• Wendy Williams is “permanently unable to work” as a result of early onset dementia, said her court-appointed guardian.
• The US Federal Trade Commission has opened a comprehensive antitrust investigation against Microsoft.
• Democratically controlled cities are in the process of finalizing plans to combat mass deportations.

Personnel selection: A $6 million apology

Palm Springs is one of Los Angeles’ weekend playgrounds, a desert oasis filled with mid-century architecture, golf courses, quirky shops and hip restaurants. But to make room for these attractions, over a period of several years in the late 1950s, the city government ordered the only neighborhood where blacks were allowed to live to be bulldozed and burned. Lucille McFarland, now 101, lived in the area called Section 14. She had moved west from Mississippi, believing that the racial terror that characterized her childhood would be less of a constant threat. Her son recalls the “traumatizing” moment when her family was told they had the weekend to pack up and move out.

That is the remarkable story of a California city’s attack on its black residents and how it tried to make amends earlier this month.

— Michelle Garcia, Editorial Director of NBC BLK

Thank you for reading the Morning Rundown. Today’s newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Both.