Winter Arrives: The first major winter storm of the year stretches all the way from Kansas City to Chicago and Detroit this morning. As much as a foot of snow is expected in some areas. Heavy rain and some flooding are expected in the East.

Air and road travel were a mess yesterday and promise to be bad today. Already more than 1,200 flights have been cancelled and more than 6,000 are delayed.

Run for the Border: Hundreds of immigrants tried to dash across the border at San Diego yesterday, causing the closure of the San Ysidro port of entry in both directions. Witnesses said about 500 migrants overwhelmed police and the military on the Mexican side and attempted to crash into the US. The Customs and Border Protection agency fired tear gas to repel the migrants.

The border was reopened after five hours.

The act of mass desperation played into President Trump’s claim that the caravans of migrants coming from South America are really an invasion.

President Trump tweeted this morning, “Mexico should move the flag waving Migrants, many of whom are stone cold criminals, back to their countries. Do it by plane, do it by bus, do it anyway you want, but they are NOT coming into the U.S.A. We will close the Border permanently if need be. Congress, fund the WALL!”

The Trump administration has demanded that Mexico host the migrants while their asylum cases are ending in US courts. That can take years and despite some conflicting reports, Mexico has not agreed.

The Trumpster Fire: Former Trump campaign aideGeorge Papadopoulos is scheduled to start a two-week prison sentence today for lying to the FBI in the Special Counsel investigation. Papadopoulos had tried to get the sentence delayed while his lawyers challenge the legal authority of the Special Counsel, but the judge turned him down.

President Trump wrapped up his Thanksgiving weekend in Florida and flew back to Washington. Josh Dawsey was down there covering for The Washington Postand tweeted about the minimal access the press has to the president when he’s at Mar-a-Lago: “You have not truly lived until you’ve sat five days straight in a van on the shoulder of a highway outside a golf course in Florida, staring into hedges and pondering the existential meaning of life.”

On Second Thought:President Trump is scheduled to campaign today for Mississippi’s Republican Senate candidate Cindy Hyde-Smith in Tuesday’s election, even though America’s game wants its money back. Major League Baseball gave Hyde-Smith $5,000 and wants her to return it. MLB must have realized it has black and Hispanic players.

She’s running against Democrat Mike Espy, who is black. At a recent campaign event Hyde-Smith stood next to a supporter and said, “I would fight a circle saw for him. If he invited me to a public hanging, I would be on the front row.”  Her audience laughed, but in a state with a history of lynching black people, that comment didn’t do her any favors. “Hanging” in Mississippi means hanging black people.

Hyde-Smith is staunchly pro-gun and anti-abortion. Her parents sent her to an all-white “segregation academy” in high school. She is reported to have once praised a Confederate soldier for “defending his homeland.”

Live Fire:Russia opened fire on three Ukrainian naval ships yesterday, wounding a half-dozen sailors before capturing their ships. It appears to be the first live fire incident in an undeclared war between Crimea and Russia that’s been going on for five years.

A Ukrainian naval statement said, “Fighter jets used weapons against the naval ships of the armed forces of Ukraine.”

The incident involved navigation rights in and around the Kerch Strait, a narrow neck of water that separates the Black and Azov Seas. The Crimean peninsula is on one side and mainland Russia on the other. Ukraine is to the north on the Sea of Azov.

The UN Security Council is expected to meet about the incident today.

The Social Pages:  MSNBC’s“Morning Joe” co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough married Saturday  in a private ceremony at the National Archives. Their romance was rumored until they announced their engagement last spring. Mika and Joe gave their vows just a few steps away from the Constitution and Bill of Rights. — Singer Justin Bieber confirmed over the weekend that he’s married to Hailey Baldwin of the acting Baldwin clan, and that she may have made a Christian out of him. Bieber posted, “Relationships are hard and love isn’t always easy but thank you Jesus for showing me how!” Hailey Baldwin is the daughter of Stephen, a Christian fundamentalist and the lesser-known of the Baldwin brothers. Jesus gave no opinion about Justin’s tattoos.

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