Amid the ongoing hand recount for Florida's U.S. Senate and commissioner of agriculture contests, Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes said her office has misplaced more than 2,000 ballots.

Snipes said the 2,040 ballots "are in the building" – referring to the Broward County Supervisor of Elections Office in Lauderhill.

The ballots were discovered missing after there was a discrepancy between the recount returns and the original unofficial returns. Snipes said some members of her team did not have as much training as others and possibly misplaced the ballots in the wrong tray during the machine recount.

Snipes added that the vote totals and the number of people who participated in the election matched with the original unofficial returns.

Snipes has been under heavy scrutiny over the way her office has handled the 2018 election and subsequent recount. Broward County's machine recount results were not used in a final tally because they were turned in two minutes after the 3 p.m. Thursday deadline.

A hand recount is ongoing for the U.S. Senate and Florida commissioner of agriculture contests. More than eight million voters cast ballots in Florida.

Outgoing Florida Gov. Rick Scott is leading incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson by about 12,600 votes.

Florida's 67 counties have until noon on Sunday to turn in the results for the hand recount to the Florida Department of State.

LifeStar is responding after a person fell 15 feet in Tolland on Saturday afternoon.

Police said the fall happened on Merrow Road.

Officers did not release information about what the person was doing when they fell or where they fell from.

There is no word on the extent of the person's injuries.

This is a developing story. 

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum on Saturday conceded in the Florida gubernatorial election to Ron DeSantis.

Gillum, the Democratic candidate, made the statement in a post on Twitter that comes two days after the machine recount results showed Republican DeSantis maintained his lead and the margin between both candidates was not enough to trigger a manual recount.

"I want to congratulate @RonDeSantisFL on becoming the next Governor of the great state of Florida. My wife R. Jai and I could not be prouder of the way we ran this race. We could not be more thankful to my running mate, @ChrisKingFL and his wife Kristen," Gillum wrote.

"Most importantly, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for being part of this campaign. I wouldn’t be here without the support that was shown by millions of Floridians. I encourage y’all to keep fighting for what we believe in," Gillum added.

During a Facebook live video, Gillum said that he will remain politically active and that his followers should "stay tuned."

DeSantis replied to Gillum's Twitter post: "This was a hard-fought campaign. Now it’s time to bring Florida together.

President Donald Trump earlier on Saturday congratulated Gillum on the hard-fought campaign in Florida.

"Congratulations to Andrew Gillum on having run a really tough and competitive race for Governor of the Great State of Florida. He will be a strong Democrat warrior long into the future - a force to reckon with!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

A manual recount was ordered in Florida's election for the U.S. Senate race between outgoing Florida Gov. Rick Scott and incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, as well as the Florida commissioner of agriculture race between Democrat Nikki Fried and Republican Matt Caldwell.

Part of Route 44 in Putnam is closed after a serious crash on Saturday afternoon.

State Police said Route 44 near Tucker Road is closed due to a 2-car crash with a life-threatening injury.

Detours are in place near the crash.

Police said the road will be closed for an extended period of time.

The deadline is looming once again for county election officials to submit recount results to the state of Florida to determine the results of two races in Florida.

The deadline for all 67 counties to submit their unofficial results to the Secretary of State is noon on Sunday.

The remaining races that are being recounted manually are for the U.S. Senate seat between outgoing Florida Gov. Rick Scott and incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, as well as the Florida commissioner of agriculture race between Democrat Nikki Fried and Republican Matt Caldwell.

Scott is leading Nelson by about 12,600 votes.

Miami-Dade submitted their results on Friday, but Broward County faced more trouble once again.

On Saturday, the Broward elections office announced that they misplaced more than 2,000 ballots, causing a discrepancy between the initial unofficial returns reported to the state and the subsequent machine recount.

The canvassing board reportedly decided to send the state the initial unofficial machine counted results for Sunday’s noon deadline.

Dr. Brenda Snipes, the supervisor of elections, made the announcement about the missing ballots on Saturday, and made it clear that they were in the building.

“When we assigned baskets of ballots to individuals who worked at the machines, they worked on the page ones, they scanned the page ones, and if there was an error message in the system, they may have taken those ballots and put them in the wrong tray,” said Snipes. “I really want to go on record that the votes are in the building.”

Snipes has been under heavy scrutiny over the way her office has handled the 2018 election and subsequent recount. Broward County’s machine recount results were not used in a final tally because they were turned in two minutes after the 3 p.m. Thursday deadline.

The county attorney has said they are going to try to reach out to the state division of elections for guidance.

Florida’s gubernatorial race was not subject to the manual recount. But on Saturday, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum conceded in the election to Republican Ron DeSantis.

Gillum, the Democratic candidate, made the statement in a post on Twitter that comes two days after the machine recount results showed DeSantis maintained his lead and the margin between both candidates was not enough to trigger a manual recount.

According to the Miami Herald, Sunday’s recount results will include overseas and military votes submitted since Election Day, the results of the manual recount, ballots from anyone who fixed a signature mismatch by the Saturday deadline, and a base count of votes.

The 2018 midterms remade Congress for the next two years, but they also hinted at a changing electoral map for the next presidential race. Broad gaps in exit poll numbers combined with the results for Nov. 6 suggest that the battleground states of 2020 may look a bit different than they did in the 2016 campaign, NBC News reported.

Three numbers jump out of the national House exit poll data: The Republican edge with white voters, the growing Democratic advantage with voters who hold a bachelor's degree and the consistent Democratic lean among Hispanics.

Ohio had two Republican-held competitive House seats in 2018 - one "tossup" and one "lean Republican" according to the Cook Political Report - and both wound up going for the Republican candidate fairly comfortably. And in the state's gubernatorial race, an open seat to replace Republican John Kasich, the GOP's Mike DeWine won in a race that, again, was forecasted as a tossup.

With a population that is 79 percent white, non-Hispanic, Ohio stands far above the national average of about 61 percent. The percentage of people with a bachelor's degree, about 27 percent, is three points below the national average. And the Hispanic population, about 4 percent, is 14 points below the national figure. In short, on the factors that mattered in the exit polls, Ohio looks Republican. So much so, that the perpetual battleground seems less and less likely to be in play in 2020.

As wildfires continue raging through California, volunteers from Connecticut face mounting challenges to help evacuees.

Joe Apicelli of Groton is more than a week into a three-week deployment with the American Red Cross, and is stationed in Chico, CA about fifteen miles from Paradise, the town practically obliterated by the Camp Fire.

“The mood is grim,” Apicelli said. “It’s smoke filled air 24/7. You’re breathing this toxic air and people are downright frustrated,” he said.

The death toll reached 76 and the number of people reported missing hit more than 1,300 by Saturday night.

Photos taken by Apicelli and provided to NBC Connecticut show large white boards where evacuees post names and numbers of people they’re searching for in the hopes of making a connection. Morale amongst the evacuees is low, as people wait for daily updates from officials, he said.

“Every day they hear the same thing. ‘We know how you’re feeling, we’re trying to get you that name, that person,’ but they don’t want to hear that,” he said.

Apicelli said what the evacuees from Paradise do want to hear is the all clear to go home, although home will never be the same.

“What I’ve heard from countless persons is that all they want to do is just go back and see it one last time before it’s bulldozed away,” he said.

In the meantime, volunteers from numerous organizations are working together to offer evacuees food, shelter, and medicine.

The Camp Fire has so far blazed through nearly 150,000 acres and was 55 percent contained as of Saturday night.

During an interview with Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday," President Donald Trump seemed to reject the idea of soon sitting with special counsel Robert Mueller for an interview, among multiple other subjects, NBC News reported.

On Mueller, Trump all but shut down the idea that he would sit for an interview with the special counsel, adding that he will soon turn over his answers to written questions to the special counsel "at some point very soon."

Asked if there would be "no interview" with Mueller, Trump said he thought "we've wasted enough time on this witch hunt and the answer is probably, we're finished" after he submits the written answers.

Trump also said acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker is "right" about his criticism of Mueller's investigation and defended his appointment of Whitaker after forcing out Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this month. 

NBC Connecticut First Alert meteorologists are tracking several rounds of wintry changes through the week ahead.

The first round of precipitation comes in Sunday with some light rain and snow showers. There could be just enough cold air along and north of the I-84 corridor for some slick spots toward the Monday morning commute. This will not be widespread, but is something to keep in mind if you live in a normally colder location and have a morning commute. Allow for some extra time.

A bigger issue to watch is the possibility of accumulating snow on Tuesday. An area of low pressure looks to form along a front nearby and will bring us another round of rain and snow. It is possible we see a plowable snow accumulation away from the shoreline. The 95 corridor (at this time) looks to warm up enough to change to rain. Details are still being worked out on exact timing and amounts. Stay with the NBC Connecticut forecast team as new information comes in.

Following Tuesday’s system, there will be an arctic front blowing through on Wednesday. Snow showers are possible with the front. A very cold air mass moves in for Thursday (Thanksgiving Day). Highs will struggle out of the teens in the hills and 20s elsewhere. There will be wind to accompany the cold (wind chill values in the single digits and teens). This is very cold for this time of year. The coldest it has ever been on Thanksgiving Day was a 27 degree high temperature set back in 1978. Currently, we are forecasting highs in the low to mid 20s. It will be coldest in the hills and warmest at the shore.

The cold will not stick around. Moderating temperatures through the 40s for Saturday and Sunday. A chance for showers develops to close out the weekend on Sunday.

Stay with the NBC Connecticut First Alert forecast team for the latest on the holiday week changes.

Hartford Police have arrested a man for the second time in three weeks after he was found illegally carrying a gun on Saturday.

Police said they learned that Jose Rivera-Cruz was near Bond Street, armed with a gun shortly before 5 p.m. When officers tried to initiate a motor vehicle stop for motor vehicle violations, police said Rivera-Cruz engaged them in a short vehicle and foot pursuit that ended on Columbus Boulevard.

Rivera-Cruz was found in possession of a RAC .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun at the time of his arrest, according to police.

He was arrested and is facing multiple charges including reckless driving, evading responsibility, criminal mischief, misuse of plates, criminal trespass, interfering with police, weapons in a motor vehicle, criminal possession of a pistol/revolver, carrying pistol without permit and engaging police in pursuit.

Rivera-Cruz was held on a $1.2 million bond.

Officers said Rivera-Cruz was also arrested on Bond Street less than three weeks ago. Police said he was found in possession of a Colt M-15 rifle, a stolen 9mm Glock handgun, 366 bags of heroin/fentanyl, 6 grams of crack cocaine, 4 suboxone films and 37 rounds of live ammunition. He had been released on bond.

The smell of apples and cinnamon pierces through B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill in Old Mystic and on a weekend, people usually have to wait their turn in line for a treat.

It’s something that makes the Miner family proud. Clyde’s has been a family business since it originated in 1881.

Since then, six generations have continued the tradition of making hard ciders, apple wines and sweet apple cider with a steam powered cider mill dating back to 1898.

Clyde’s is the last steam powered cider mill in the nation.

“I get to do the same job my great, great grandfather did and in the same way, basically,” said Amy Miner, the fifth generation at the family business.

“They all grew up here in a playpen, and sitting right here in the corner, and it’s nice to see them want to carry it on,” Harold Miner said. He co-owns the business with his wife Annette, the fourth generation in the Clyde family.

Since they took over, the Miners have added baked goods to the menu.

“I think that if each generation doesn’t contribute something, you don’t have anything,” Annette Miner said.

To many customers, the must-have is the apple cider donut. During the height of the fall season, Miner comes in as early as 4:30 a.m. on weekend to start her donut bakes. Her twin sister comes into town for that handful of weeks to assist.

“Long lines. Oh my goodness long lines,” Miner said, appreciating the community support.

But along with being family business, Clyde’s has become a family tradition for customers.

“My father’s been coming here for years,” said Patricia Wagner of Colchester. Even when her parents lived in Las Vegas, Wagner said she would bring Clyde’s during her visits.

“I’m bringing this to Boston for Thanksgiving. Even people in Boston want Clyde’s,” Debi McGrath of Waterford said.

Brenda Snipes has submitted her resignation as the Broward County supervisor of elections.

A representative of Snipes confirmed the news to NBC 6 on Sunday, adding that Snipes will likely cede her post in January.

Snipes became the Broward County supervisor of elections in 2003 after the calamitous issues in the 2000 election.

Snipes faced heavy scrutiny over Broward's election and recount process in the recent 2018 midterm contest.

Snipes was appointed to serve out a term in the role by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and she has won re-elections ever since. She was re-elected despite some controversies along the way. 

In 2004, Snipes said 58,000 absentee ballots in heavily Democratic Broward County were lost – a detriment to the campaign of John Kerry's campaign.

The history is mixed as the 2008 and 2010 elections had no issues.

In 2016, however, her office illegally destroyed 6,000 ballots after they were counted but a judge ordered them to be preserved.

In 2018, her office sent out a sample ballot that did not resemble the real ballot used on Election Day. The ballot arguably made it difficult to locate the U.S. Senate race on the ballot to cast a vote.

Lastly, Snipes' office submitted the results of a machine recount two minutes past the deadline and also lost over 2,000 ballots for the 2018 midterm.

Swift Beef Company is recalling approximately 99,260 pounds of raw ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli, the U.S Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Saturday.

The problem was discovered on Nov. 15, 2018, when the FSIS visited Swift Beef Company in response to a sample collected at a further processing establishment that was later confirmed positive for E. coli O157:H7.

The affected products that were recalled on Nov.16 were shipped to retail distributors for further processing and for use in locations in California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. They also bear the establishment number "EST. 628" inside the USDA mark of inspection. 

The ground beef products were produced on Oct. 24, 2018. The following items are on the recall list: 

• 2,000 lb. - bulk pallets of Swift Ground Beef 81/19 (81% lean) Fine Grind Combo bearing product code 42982. 

• 8-10 lb. - plastic wrapped chubs of "blue ribbon BEEF" Ground Beef 81/19 (81% lean) Coarse Grind bearing product code 42410.

• 8-10 lb. - plastic wrapped chubs of blue ribbon BEEF" Ground Beef 93/07 (93% lean) Coarse Grind bearing product code 42413. 

• 8-10 lb. - plastic wrapped chubs of "blue ribbon BEEF" Ground Beef 85/15 (85% lean) Coarse Grind bearing product code 42415.

• 8-10 lb. - plastic wrapped chubs of "blue ribbon BEEF" Ground Beef 73/27 (73% lean) Coarse Grind bearing product code 42510. 

Although there were no immediate reports of reactions related to these products, anyone concerned should contact a healthcare provider. 

FSIS advised all consumers to safely prepare their raw meat products, including fresh and frozen. 

Below is a list of contact information consumers can access to ask any questions:

• JBS USA Consumer Hotline at (800) 727-2333

• Ask questions to "Ask Karen," the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov

• The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHotline

(1-888-674-6854) 

• The Consumer Complaint Monitoring System

A Silver Alert has been issued for an 89-year-old woman who has been missing from Bloomfield since Sunday.

Police said 89-year-old Mabel Perry-Pounds was last seen wearing a grey house coat, carrying a purse and a walking cane.

She is described as a woman who is 5'7" and weighs 140 pounds with grey hair and brown eyes.

Officers did not provide a photo of Perry-Pounds.

If you have any information on her whereabouts, you're urged to contact Bloomfield Police at (860) 242-5501.

Recreational marijuana sales are starting in Massachusetts in less than 36 hours. For Connecticut residents, you don't have to go far. All you have to do is drive up Interstate 91 North for about 30 minutes to get to one shop.

Gabe Nunez isn't looking to buy recreational marijuana, but he does support others who will be able to legally buy it in Massachusetts starting Tuesday morning at 8 a.m.

“Especially for those who are looking for medical uses. They don’t have to struggle with officers stopping them and pulling them over," Nunez said.

Now two years after receiving the green light, two stores will start selling recreational pot: “Cultivate” in Leicester and “NETA” in Northampton.

"The goal has been to get there. We're all here now," said Kim Napoli, the Director of Diversity Programs at NETA.

On Friday, the Cannabis Control Commission gave the go-ahead to the two retailers.

NETA hired more than 100 extra workers to be ready for Tuesday’s crowds.

You have to be at least 21 to buy products there.

Connecticut State Police remind people recreational marijuana is still illegal here and can’t be brought over the state line.

Though there is growing support to legalize it here too.

“Yeah, I guess so. I don’t see why not,” said Mark Dellarocco, of Enfield.

Even during the campaign, now Governor-elect Ned Lamont indicated he was in favor, including potentially regulating and taxing it.

Monday kicks off what is expected to be one of the busiest travel weeks in over a decade.

A record 3.6 million people are flying this week including more than 275,000 New Englanders.

Anyone who is flying out of Bradley International Airport should allow extra time to get there, extra time to get through security and should expect delays, officials said.

There's a chance not everyone's travel plans will go smoothly, but it's important to know there are new passenger protections in these cases.

Senator Blumenthal is expected to highlight those protections on Monday.

Some of those protections include being reimbursed if an airline damages or loses your bags, removing some rebooking penalties and being reimbursed in certain instances of being bumped off of a flight.

While airports are packed, most travelers are driving to their destinations. AAA predicts more than 2 million people will be driving this Thanksgiving holiday.

It helps that since last month, there's been an average 20 cent drop at the pump.

More than 54 million Americans are expected to travel this week.

A woman who was killed after they were struck by a holiday-themed train filled with more than 300 passengers has been identified, according to a report.

The Boston Globe reports 33-year-old Melissa Gaudette was killed after she and a 36-year-old man were fatally hit by the Cape Cod Central Railroad on Saturday in Wareham, Massachusetts. The two were parents of three children, according to Gaudette's father.

The Saturday night fatality was reported just before 7:30 p.m. after the two were trespassing, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.

Passengers aboard the Polar Express-themed train ride were back in Buzzards Bay after it departed about 30 minutes before. The vehicle was carrying 355 people, including 100 children. No injuries were reported on the train.

"We were like, 'Oh, this is really serious,'" said Jordan McCoy, who lives near the train tracks. "We just saw the train right here and then there was police cars over there."

The train's conductor activated the emergency braking system in an attempt to stop the vehicle from hitting the two pedestrians, but it was too late.

Cape Cod Rail issued a statement on the incident early Sunday morning, saying the passengers on board were first responders and their families.

"Sadly, tragedies such as this could be avoided if people would not trespass on train tracks. No passengers were injured in this incident and the staff did their best to distract the children from the sad reality which was occurring outside," the company's statement read.

State police and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority are assisting the Wareham Police Department with the ongoing investigation.

Police in East Hartford are investigating a homicide after finding a 30-year-old man dead Sunday evening.

Police responded to Suffolk Drive at 5 p.m. Sunday after receiving reports of a unresponsive man and found 30-year-old Dominic Marino dead. Police said Marino was a resident of the home they responded to and he was the victim of a gunshot.

East Hartford Police Detectives, the Connecticut State’s Attorney’s Office and the Connecticut State Medical Examiner are investigating and said it appears to be an isolated incident.

They said there does not appear to be any danger to area residents or the public. Anyone with information should call East Hartford Police Detective Frank Napolitano at 860-291-7640, or call the East Hartford Police Anonymous Tip line at 860-289-9134.

Police are investigating the death of a 49-year-old Hartford man who was found with two gunshot wounds early Monday morning.

The investigation is in the area of Pope Park, at Park and Laurel streets, and Park Street is closed between Laurel Street and Pope Park Highway.

Police said they received a call around 2 a.m. after someone who was passing by found the man in a bus shelter.

Police have not released the victim’s name because they are notifying family.

Police are investigating the case as a homicide and said this is the 19th homicide in Hartford this year.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection temporarily shut down northbound traffic into the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in California to install new security barriers to prepare for the arrival of a caravan of migrants from Central America.

The agency said the closure at the nation's busiest border crossing was needed to install "additional port hardening materials" in preparation for the migrant caravan "and the potential safety and security risk that it could cause."

About 10 lanes were reopened several hours after the closure was instated.

Pedestrian lanes into the U.S. at the San Ysidro Pedestrian East facility were also closed for several hours Monday before reopening for northbound traveler processing. However, lanes for foot traffic at the Pedestrian West facility crossing remained open throughout the closures, CBP said.

Southbound lanes were not affected.

San Ysidro is the border’s busiest crossing, with about 110,000 people entering the U.S. every day. That traffic includes some 40,000 vehicles, 34,000 pedestrians and 150 to 200 buses.

The move comes as hundreds of migrants traveling in the caravan arrived in towns along the U.S.-Mexico border after weeks on the road. 

More than 1,100 Marines have been deployed to assist CBP with Operation Secure Line, a "border hardening" mission meant to prepare the area’s infrastructure for the arrival of thousands of migrants hoping to seek asylum in the United States.

CBP said the Marines' specific duties include installing barbed wire to make walls less scalable, and reinforcing construction areas so that people could not cross into them.

Pieces of barbed wire, concrete roadblocks and rebar are being used to create movable barriers that can be used to block lanes at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry. 

Thousands more troops from other branches have also deployed to the border to assist in other ways. For example, Army Military Police are there to protect the Marines who are not armed and are prohibited from enforcing the law. The Department of Defense insisted last week that the troops were sent there to help CBP and nothing else.

Analysts and the Pentagon estimate that the entire deployment operation could cost $200 million.

"My place is not to think about fiscal restraint, that’s for Congress. We’ve been asked to do a job and that’s what we’re here to do," Army Captain Guster Cunningham said.

In October, President Donald Trump threatened to close the southern border to address the caravan if the situation worsened. Since the arrival of the first troops at the border, CBP has acknowledged that option is still on the table.

Meanwhile, tensions on the Mexican side of the border have built as nearly 3,000 migrants from the caravan poured into Tijuana in recent days, The Associated Press reported. And with U.S. border inspectors processing only about 100 asylum claims a day at Tijuana's main crossing to San Diego, they will likely be there for months while they seek asylum in the U.S.

Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum has called the migrants' arrival an "avalanche" that the city is ill-prepared to handle, calculating that they will be in Tijuana for at least six months as they wait to file asylum claims. Gastelum has appealed to the federal government for more assistance to cope with the influx.

Some Tijuana residents supported the migrants, but others accused the migrants of being messy, ungrateful and a danger to Tijuana. On Sunday, about 400 Tijuana residents took to the streets in protest, waving Mexican flags and chanting "Out! Out!" 

They also complained about how the caravan forced its way into Mexico, calling it an "invasion." And they voiced worries that their taxes might be spent to care for the group.

"We don't want them in Tijuana," protesters shouted.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.