Millions attend Macy's Thanksgiving parade

Macy's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade began its trip through New York City on Thursday morning, with marching bands, floats, and, of course, giant balloon figures. The parade was scheduled to start in Central Park and run down Sixth Avenue, one block from Fifth Avenue where Trump Tower is located, and end near the Macy's department store on 34th Street.

Security was tight through the route. New York police said they would have sand-filled trucks, radiation detectors, bomb-sniffing dogs and heavily armed officers out to protect the crowd and the parade, which Islamic State has encouraged its followers to attack.

Officials were expecting 3.5 million people to converge on the 2.5-mile parade route in Manhattan for the annual, nationally televised ritual that initiates the holiday shopping season with giant balloons shaped like cartoon characters.