20% off sitewide. we have a great scarf, there is no limitation on the number of family members that can go there at the same time and by maxim. >> happy thanksgiving to you all. i'm so thankful for everyone here and at home. >> fox news alert, a big win for houses of worship. the supreme court siding with religious groups who sued new york governor andrew cuomo for his coronavirus restrictions. good morning, everyone. happy thanksgiving, and julie banderas. >> happy thanksgiving to you and yours, i'm leland vittert. this could have big invocations not only for religious institutions but business, as as well paid governor cuomo tried to limit the number of people who can attend religious services, but the supreme court in a 5-4 rulings that it violated constitutional protections for freedom of religion, with the new associate justice amy coney barrett and the majority. chief justice john roberts, in

his dissenting opinion, said it was not the courts place to override determinations by public health officials concerning what is necessary for public safety. >> julie: is this the beginning of the new era of the court with justice barrett now at the bench? >> good morning. it really could become a julie. happy thanksgiving to you, and lee lynn, happy thanksgiving to you. justice amy coney barrett could be sitting on the high court for another 40 plus years, and those first few decisions people look at, especially this issue of religious freedom. he mentioned a 5-4 ruling. justice barrett siding with the conservatives on this matter. wild chief justice john roberts is a devout catholic, he sided with the liberal wing on this decision to allow these gatherings to go forward. the ruling came down just before midnight. the decision is in favor of

those who want to exercise religious freedom by gathering together during the middle of the deadly pandemic. new york governor andrew cuomo announced various restrictions on gatherings several months ago as a way to halt the pandemic, or at least stop for the spread. a jewish group and a christian group sued. the majority contended that his rulings violated the freedom of religion because of the first moment of the constitution. governor cuomo, another devout catholic, has kept the same message for month he says it's ifor health and safety. >> i don't mean little violations. you're only supposed to have 50, they had 55. i am talking about you are only supposed to have 50 outdoors, they had 1,000. >> the ruling is also significant in that it is a 180 from earlier supreme court rulings over the summer that allowed governors in nevada and california to restrict

attendance at different religious institutions. the difference there during those decisions, does this ruth bader ginsburg was still living. she passed away in september, but she was still on the court at the time, meaning she rude rd for those governors make those decisions, but not justice barrett on the court clearly is a win for religious freedom today. back to you. >> julie: david, thank you. leland? >> leland: more on the applications of that ruling a little later. the denver mayor is apologizing to flying to mississippi for the holidays. he left just hours after urging his residents to stay home for thanksgiving, as covid-19 cases surged. mayor michael hancock was caught heading out of town to join his wife and daughter yesterday. this was his tweet just hours earlier. "half the potatoes not covid. stay home as much as you can come especially if you're sick. host virtual gathering instead of in person dinners. avoid travel if you can.

order your holiday meal from a local eatery, shop online for a small business for black friday." the mayor is the latest public official accused of hypocrisy. earlier this week, a county commissioner in oregon was called out for taking a 2-week vacation to hawaii with her family as covid cases surged at home. more on that throughout the show. president trump last night pardon his former national security advisor, michael flynn after long legal battle in court. it drew sharp criticism on capitol hill. kristin fisher now on the north lot of the white house as the president is waking up for his thanksgiving here in washington. hi, kristin. >> hey, leland. good morning. we had a pretty good idea president trump was planning to do this, we didn't know exactly when. he finally made it official last night, as he often does come on twitter. the president said, "it is my great honor to announce that general michael flynn has been granted a full pardon. congratulations to general flynn and his wonderful family. i know you will have a truly

fantastic thanksgiving." you may remember he pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the fbi about his contacts with then russian ambassador sergey kislyak. it was one of the first major courtroom victories for special counsel robert mueller. about a year ago, flynn tried to withdraw that guilty plea and they argued he had been entrapped. then attorney general bill barr tried to have the case against flynn dismissed. that request was still pending when president trump granted his full pardon. democrats, as you might imagine, are furious. congress and adam schiff said, "donald trump has repeatedly abused the pardon power to reward friends and protect those who covered up for him. this time he pardons michael flynn who lied about his dealings with the russians. it's no surprise that trump would go out as he came in, crooked to the end." yesterday's pardon really brings to the end this years-long legal battle for the retired lieutenant general. he was one of the people identified as a potential threat way back in the summer of 2016,

when the fbi first opened that operation, crossfire hurricane, the counterintelligence investigation into the trump campaign. another one of those people identified way back then, paul manafort. he is now being talked about potentially receiving a pardon from president trump, and so is roger stone, who was granted clemency over the summer, but not a full pardon. leland, in what will almost certainly be president trump's final few weeks in office, there is an increasing feeling that president trump may be considering pardoning those two, as well. maybe more. leland? >> leland: stay tuned on that front a little bit later. we will get to that. we will get back to you if we hear from the president. thank you. julie? >> julie: for more on all of this, let's bring in the associate editor for "the wall street journal" and fox news contributor. john, always great to see you. happy thanksgiving. >> good to see you, julie. >> julie: i want to talk about a pardon, and we are not talking

about the turkey pardon. general flynn. democrats are claiming his pardon was an abuse of power by the president. in fact, congressman adam schiff even making some very strong accusations of the president. i want you to watch and get your reaction. listen. >> the message of srs president trump is concerned, if you lie on his behalf, if you cover up for him, he will reward you. it reflects so ill on our democracy, on the united states. imagine what people around the world think when we have a president who is acting like an organized crime figure. >> julie: your reaction? >> well, pardons are always -- not always, but very often -- controversial. we see in that with presidents in the past. president clinton pardoned marc rich, a commodities trader. his ex-wife was a big donor to the democratic party and to the clinton library. president obama pardoned

chelsea manning, who had private secure data from the u.s. government, it got onto wikileaks. pardons are controversial. the problem for the president politically, to some extent -- i mean, he's about to leave office -- but the problem is these cases, the case we just heard with michael flynn, and granting clemency to roger stone, they are close to him. it involves a case of possible russian interference, therefore the president is seen as kind of rewarding those people who stayed loyal to him and stayed clammed up. i think these things are going to pass, because the controversy around pardons has always existed. this is going to just be part of the president's legacy, and i'm not sure -- he certainly isn't going to reverse it. >> julie: to further your

point, president trump is hardly the first president to issue a controversial pardon, there are many that preceded him. as you mention, clinton, obama, chelsea manning. ford pardoned nixon. the list goes on. the question, though, is it hypocritical for democrats to then call out the president for pardoning flynn when many presidents in the past -- i mean, bill clinton pardoned his half-brother after serving a year in prison on cocaine distribution charges. now democrats are saying -- they are calling him an organized crime criminal. >> i'm not sure you will find that hypocrisy is kind of the sole dominion of one political party or the other. again, this is really just problematic for the president, because these pardons are so close to him around a very controversial element of his presidency that is russian involvement in the 2016 election. you could argue that presidents

shouldn't do that. that anything sort of close to the president himself should be sort of off-limits. as you point out, we have seen this happen in the past, where cases do get close to the president, perhaps. not in a criminal case, but from personal desire, from personal standing, donors, et cetera. >> julie: right. it goes without saying, a lot of it is personal. many have said democrats have been after the president since before he was elected president. k.t. mcfarland says that the flynn criminal case was never actually about him, it was always about getting donald trump. i want you to listen to this. >> it wasn't about general flynn, it was always about getting donald trump. the officials in the obama administration, in the west wing, the justice department, the fbi, the intelligence community, they knew mike flynn didn't commit any crime in talking to the

russian ambassador. but how does a country get those three years back? >> julie: i think the issue here, first of all, general flynn pled guilty and admitted twice to lying to the fbi about russia. russia was obviously the bone of contention for the trump administration, if you will. for over the last four years i would say that was probably the biggest stick in his side. i think it is just a personal vendetta for many democrats, but nonetheless, there is a 2-cited story here. >> well, k.t. mcfarland was appointed by general flynn to be his deputy at the national security -- o on the national security counsel as deputy nsa. general flynn pled guilty to lying to the fbi about his discussions with the russian ambassador. they have him on tape, he said that he never discussed sanctions with the ambassador. in fact, he did discuss sanctions with the ambassador.

roger stone was convicted of lying, of also witness-tampering. these are cases that went through the judicial system, and the individuals were found to be guilty. >> julie: right. >> or admitted it. i'm not sure this is a vendetta in that regard. if, in fact, the individuals were found to have broken the law. >> julie: all right. i'm going to switch gears here now. i want to go to new york. governor andrew cuomo, as you know, tried to shut down churches with more than 50 in attendance. the supreme court has come back, 4-5 ruling, saying no. he rejected that. my question to you, does wednesday's supreme court ruling usher in a potential onslaught of appeals from other businesses and organizations who not only feel they've been unjustly targeted over the restrictions due to covid, but maybe they are now going to be standing up? religion obviously is a different category, but do different businesses have the

same right to appeal these covid restrictions? >> you might see that. this is really quite interesting. this stemmed from problems that new york was having with religious gatherings that exceeded not ten or 15 or 20 but got into the hundreds of hundreds of people that were gathering. orthodox communities in brooklyn and queens, the catholic church also joined this case before the supreme court. with the supreme court decided was, "look, we are not health experts, we don't want to get into that realm, but we noticed there aren't restrictions on other aspects of business." they mentioned acupuncture and campgrounds. this particular activity, religious activity, is specifically protected in the constitution. first amendment. "congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." of the court came down and said, "look, we are here to protect the constitution. sorry, you can't do this to religious organizations."

>> julie: all right. john bussey, thank you very much. we appreciate you talking to us. >> pleasure. >> julie: leland? >> leland: by now we've heard all the warnings. still abrading holidays with friends and family will make the pandemic crisis even worse, say the experts. with so many people not heeding that recommendation this thanksgiving, what will happen when we have christmas and new year's back-to-back? doctors sounding a new alarm ahead, and president-elect joe biden hinting that we will not be seeing secretary sanders or warren and his administration, despite his pledge to work with the party's hard left. why he leaned against putting a progressive and his cabinet, and what it means for the growing split in the democratic party. ♪ research shows people remember commercials with nostalgia.

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>> julie: "time" magazine releasing its nominees for 2020% of the year. the list includes president trump, joe biden, kamala harris, and new york governor andrew cuomo. congresswoman

alexandria ocasio-cortez, new zealand prime minister jacinda ardern, and dr. fauci also in the running. the distinction goes to the individual or group deemed to have "the greatest influence on the events of the year, for better or worse." the person of the year will be announced on december 10th. ♪ >> taking someone out of the senate, taking someone out of the house, particularly a person of consequence, is really a difficult decision that has to be made. i have a very ambitious, very progressive agenda, and it is going to take really strong leaders in the house and senate to get it done. >> president-elect joe biden is into can a reluctance, if you will come to stuff his cabinet with democratic lawmakers currently serving on capitol hill, including senator sanders or elizabeth wa. this, as progressive democrats are taking issue with some of his recent picts. with that we bring in our panel,

vice president of hd creative, and lauren, a former deputy assistant for secretary and strategic communications, public affairs. i think i butchered your title but will put it up on the bottom of the screen so we get it right. happy thanksgiving to you and yours. we appreciate you both joining us. boy, kevin, it didn't take long for progressives to get mad at joe biden. >> leland, you will always see this process play out before any kind of cabinet is made. i've been talking to a lot of progressives that are cheering on the nomination. for example, a secretary secretary designate al hunter mallorca scum of the first immigrant, the first latino to lead that department. janet yellen, who is beloved by burgers and moderates within the party, across the spectrum. there is a lot to celebrate -- >> leland: is janet yellen really beloved, or is she just sort of acceptable to everybody?

it seems like sort of a simple mashed potatoes pick. >> sure, i think it's a commission of both. she is both acceptable and, in many circles, beloved for her focus on the unemployed and underemployed in this country. >> leland: fair enough. >> she's had a wrec record as te federal board head chair, as well. >> leland: lauren, rule number one in politics, when the other side fights amongst themselves, get out of the way. is that the best thing for republican city right now? >> absolutely. i think joe biden is walking a fine line of trying to deal with the political realities of a divided congress. a very tight, very slim majority in the house, and that also possibly republican-controlled senate. he's not going to be able to pass much in terms of progressive agendas if he

doesn't have the majority. this is something we haven't seen with an incoming president in a while. most of the time they have at least two years to push through everything they want on their massive wish list. >> leland: would not conceivably make the pick for the agency even more important? whatever progressive policies you want to put in place, you'd have to put in with executive orders. this is important when it comes to the issue discussed, the omb chair, office of management and budget. the former chief of staff to vp joe biden, served on the simpson-bowles commission on deficit reduction, which got the attention of the justice democrats. a petition to keep bruce reed out of the biden administration reads like this. "putting someone who will prioritize paying down the deficit ahead of other concerns in charge for our earned benefits in turning the covid recession into a depression, rejecting him will be a major test for the soul of the biden presidency." put aside for a fact that you don't pay down the deficit, you

pay down the debt and reduce the deficit. semantics, perhaps, but important ones when it comes to policy. either way, really? you going to go after bruce reed, like he's a republican trojan horse? >> it would be a dereliction of duties for these justice democrats if they weren't pushing as hard as they could to get progressives in the cabinet. the president-elect has said he wants a cabinet that looks like america, not just in terms of gender, ethnicity, what have you, but different ideological spectrums across the board in terms of who is going to be at the table. that omb director has not been named, so i think you are seeing that politics-anti-taking place in terms of progressives pushing for someone who will represent them at the table. that's what's always going to happen when a new cabinet is named. >> leland: in the perverse way for republican's -- maybe not perverse, but an ironic way -- would it be better for

republicans to have joe biden with big progressive picks in terms of looking at the georgia senate races? would it motivate republican voters in georgia more if we were going to talk about elizabeth warren for treasury secretary, bernie sanders for labor secretary? >> i do think that is the case. with joe biden, there's a lot of split tickets, people who voted republican all the way down the ticket and then voted for joe biden at the top. i think reminding people that there is still a danger of some of these more liberal policies becoming law, or taking place, would definitely motivate the base. in particular, with joe biden, with a lot of these cabinet picks, i don't know that it's actually going to happen. he knows he has to get them through a republican senate regardless, and he's not going to be able to get these nominations through. >> leland: a good friend of mine referred to it as

joe biden's attempt to pick a goldilocks cabinet. not too progressive and not too conservative, just right. our best to you and yours for a happy thanksgiving, enjoy the rest of the day. thank you. >> happy thanksgiving, leland. thank you. >> thank you. >> leland: julie? >> julie: frustrated parents want to know when in-person classes can resume in the nation's largest school district. now it turns out new york's mayor doesn't know, either. a stunning admission from bill de blasio. plus, with millions of americans traveling this holiday, new warnings of a super-spreader event, worse than our country has ever seen. dr. marty makary on what you need to know to keep your family safe. >> we are both currently deployed in iraq. quick shout out to my hometown in rockland california. >> and my hometown in torrance, california. we want to wish our family and friends happy thanksgiving. >> we love and miss you guys.

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>> leland: top stories now at the bottom of the hour. the supremes court has blocked andrew cuomo's order about who can attend religious services. a 5-4 restriction that it violates the first amendment. >> the cdc issuing a new warning that covid-19 cases may the eight times higher than previously reported, as new cases top 170,000 each day here

in the u.s. millions of americans are traveling for thanksgiving. >> leland: down in texas, powerful tornadoes tore through the dallas area yesterday. one trust or touched down near arlington and had maximum winds of 115 miles an hour. thankfully, no fatalities have been reported. >> julie: to millions of people are traveling for thanksgiving, despite government officials urging them to stay home amid fears with cases skyrocketing nationwide. the health care system could be overwhelmed in the next two weeks, experts say. dr. marty makary is a physician and professor of public health at johns hopkins and fox news contributor. drdoctor, great to see it infectious researcher at the medical university of south carolina says, and i'm quoting, "i'm a little bit concerned we might start seeing things on the scale of what we saw earlier this year in places like china and spain and italy." could things get that bad

following thanksgiving, do you believe? >> i think we will see a series of rolling increases. the trend is not a good trend. i don't think we have to worry about a mass spike with rationing of the doorsteps of our hospitals like we were concerned about back during the days of new york, march and april. people need to take this very seriously. 90,000 americans right now, today, julie, are in a hospital because they are having trouble breathing or are in very serious condition because of covid. we are adding, as you said, about 170,000 new cases a day. but we are only diagnosing about one in five to one in ten. that's about a million new infections per day. people do you need to precautions. >> julie: the lines at test sites also increasingly long, and it takes longer now for lab results to come back. the tests people use to get back in about 2-3 days are now taking up to five. that is going to complicate

things as we see rates of cases skyrocket. the delays in getting those results back is also an issue. how much should people heed this warning then to stay home, considering, if you are exposed, your test results are now delayed the same way they were back in the spring of 2020? >> everyone needs to assess their own personal risk. we knew this infection had its death or mortality skewed toward comorbidity but we didn't realize just how skewed it was. in fact, when we talk about those with advanced age being at increased risk, it's because advanced age is linear or collinear with comorbidity. testing is strained, but we don't want to be requiring every basketball player to have two tests in order to play. those are the lifestyle testing things that are clogging up the system right now. >> julie: there are a lot of companies testing employees

three times a week. i know several others in the production business that are having mess. my question, might we be seeing the same holiday-driven spikes in december and into january? this may be just the beginning. coming up we are going to be celebrating christmas, hanukkah, kwanzaa, new year's, and that vaccine, by the way, the president has said the warp speed vaccine is supposed to be coming out sometime possibly by the new year, and some experts have said this could be wiped out by may. does any of this seem realistic to you? >> first of all, i think it's important not to have one single blanket recommendation for thanksgiving or christmas. our concern is when people are not taking precautions, and they are high risk. when we were telling people at the medical community to wash their hands like crazy, we probably should have been telling them to wear masks. when we told people to stay at home, we probably should have

said to avoid indoor congregant settings. our strategy needs to evolve. we are likely to see increases in people who are sort of in denial, maybe because of the mixed messaging and the delayed clinical science, but i think people need to assess their own individual risk. the vaccine is very good news. we were told it is 95% effective in preventing the infection, but what people don't realize is so far the vaccine trials are showing they are 100% effective in preventing deaths from covid. that's good news. i think we are on track for march, april, and made to be the months of mass vaccination in the united states. speed let's hope so. dr. marty makary, thank you very much. leland? >> leland: bumps on the reporting from our colleagues at axios that israel is getting ready for a possible american attack on iran. it follows earlier fox reporting that president trump could make a major move before leaving office.

what we know about those military plans. plus, president-elect biden signaling that foreign policy is over. how american enemies are looking at this, when we come back. >> multilateralism for the sake of hanging out with your buddies at a cocktail party is not in the best interest of the united states america. good morning, mr. sun. good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. i'm gonna grow big and strong.

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>> leland: axios reports that the israeli defense forces are preparing for the possibility of a u.s. military strike on iran before president trump leaves office. fox news national security foreign affairs analyst with us. we appreciate you joining us, as always, sarah. militaries prepare for all sorts of things all the time. you think about all the different contingencies that the pentagon has. is this real, do you think you? or just the israelis being extra careful? >> first and foremost, as you know, israelis are always careful, always prepared to have multiple scenarios that they are ready for. really, this decision is in washington, not in jerusalem or tel aviv, in this case. that would be an impressive decision to be made, but very delicate. if a strike is prepared against iran, just a few weeks before a change of administration, knowing that the next presumptive administration would want to return to the iran deal, that would get complicated.

>> leland: interestingly enough that the ap reported just a couple days ago that iran had told its allies, essentially mercenary forces, whether it is has the law in iraq or in lebanon , to kind of cool it and make sure they don't poke the bear, so to speak, in the last few weeks of the trumpet administration. >> that is correct. actually , it makes sense, because the iranian regime know exactly that a trump administration, even in its last weeks, will respond very heavily. and they've got a taste of this last year, in january. at the same time, they do project that a biden administration would want to go back to the iran deal, and therefore potentially with time remove many of the sanctions. that's a big relief to the iran regime. they are trying to act smartly by telling their militia, "do not attack american forces or

interests, we only have a few weeks to get to the other side." >> leland: it shows the power of deterrence when the iranians have seen, as you pointed out, that president trump is willing to act as he did with qassem soleimani after the attack on the u.s. bases in iraq and the u.s. embassy in iraq. you bring up the iran nuclear deal, which certainly has israel's attention and saudi arabia's attention. joe biden talking about trying to reenter some form of it certainly is not that well with either of those allies. take a listen to the saudi ambassador to the u.n. just last week. >> the iran nuclear deal has proven its failure to the entire world. i don't think that anybody is going to be naive enough to go back to the same deal. if there is a new deal in which saudi arabia is involved in the discussion, and which covers the shortcomings of the previous, such as behavior in the region,

the issue of missiles, the supply of rules, so forth, we will be all for it. >> leland: this probably brings up a larger issue. like it or not, agree with it or not, president trump really remade american foreign policy in the middle east and blew up, so to speak, so many of the precept of norms that president obama believed in and put in place. not casting judgment either way, good thing or bad thing. those are the facts. how much of that can be undone quickly by a biden administration? how much of it has president trump remade in a way that can change? >> excellent question. i would say it's the biggest question of next year, 2021. obviously on paper a president biden can, with executive orders, change everything. the middle east has changed. as change for the better, and therefore any next of administration will have to take notice of the following.

number one, that is an arab-muslim coalition of more than 50 liters, 50 countries. remember when president trump went to riyadh and address them, and asked them to drive the terrorists and extremists out and to contain the iranian expansion in the region. that is a reality that has to be looked at. >> leland: you also have the reality of now three more arab countries with peace deals with the israelis, including the emirates, bu bahrain. now we only have 44 seconds a cover for the world come up we are confident you have the ability. he seen it happen before. joe biden talked about changing america first, moving back to the obama foreign policy. you pointed out he can change things as commander in chief, but how much has the world changed in a way that perhaps what the policies

president obama talked about and put in place during his eight years just won't be possible anymore? >> look, the slogan, "america first," his semantics in terms of the battle of ideas. what comes after "america first" is america is not alone. the trump administration established three huge coalitions, more than anything that was done before by the obama administration. the arab coalition, the venezuela coalition, and the iran coalition. i think the next administration will have to learn the lessons of the last four years. >> leland: walid phares will be there to break it down for us. thank you, happy thanksgiving to you and yours, sir. >> thank you. you, too. >> leland: julie? >> julie: you may remember back during the primaries that joe biden's campaign was just about dead. one of his biggest backers made a move that all but handed him the nomination. why is the commerce menu helped

make biden president now expressing disappointment? that's ahead. >> hi it, m i'm a veterinarian deployed in southwest asia in support of off recent spartan shield. i want to give a holiday shout out to my family and friends. my husband, scott, and my boys, jacob and cardi. mommy misses you and i'll be home soon. happy holidays. bye-bye.

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♪ >> julie: rhode island is one place grappling with a big surge in coronavirus cases. on monday, for example, the state will be beginning a 2-week paws on reopening. stores and restaurants can remain open, by the way, but bars engines will have to close. here to talk about is the owner of one of those businesses, core

fitness and pilates owner. thank you very much. let me ask you, first of all, how these restrictions have affected your business. >> well, we began with the closure in march, our first closure. at that time, it was going to be a pause back then, which turned into a 3-month closure. we have been now reopened since mid-june, and since then we have put multiple protocols into place for my particular business, for what i thought was going to be safe for my customers and clients and staff to come back to. >> julie: so, you are on a 2-week pause due to state restrictions. does it seem hypocritical to you that gyms, bars, and casinos will be closed for the next two weeks while salons, retail

stores, and restaurants can stay open? >> yes, it has been a little difficult to wrap my head around at the moment. only because we had put so much into the studio when we did reopen in june to put every safety precaution we could possibly put into my particular place. i did go above and beyond here to make sure that i could feel good about my clients coming into my studio. we have also taken so much outside. we have full mask compliance here, and i have been in complete contact with our commerce department here in rhode island. they have seen every step we have taken, and have approved everything we have done. this 2-week pause, nothing seems to be set in stone or clear as to why this is happening, or any specific data in rhode island that this should happen while

other places can remain open that are much closer contact than what we actually do here at the moment. we have a very strict policy here, and we haven't had one case. >> julie: we have to go. best of luck to you, denise. thank you for talking to us today. >> thank you. >> julie: leland? >> leland: covid-19 cases skyrocketing, but millions of americans are hitting the road for thanksgiving. live to one of america's busiest airports at the top of the hour, and the baltimore ravens and pittsburgh steelers have been forced to postpone their prime time game tonight. take a look through the nfl and some of the favorite thanksgiving rivalries when we come back. mi me lots of money. this game's boring. only pay for what you need. liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.

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>> julie: comedian tracy morgan giving back to his community this holiday. the new york native handing out over 1200 turkeys to folks in the brooklyn neighborhood where he grew up. he also gave out food at a community center in the bronx this week. morgan said his son and daughter helped him and out the turkeys to families in need. good for him. >> leland: nice to see there. covid-19 has disrupted, of course, a lot of thanksgiving plans, including the nfl's. the in between the pittsburgh steelers and baltimore ravens has been postponed with as many as seven ravens players tested positive for covid-19. the game is going to be

rescheduled to sunday. christina coleman live in los angeles, as the ravens are not isolated in this situation. >> the covid up it got worse for the baltimore ravens yesterday. the three more players were added to the reserve covid-19 list, so the nfl postponed its thanksgiving prime time game. the nfl released a statement saying, "this decision was made out of an abundance of caution to ensure that health and safety of players, coaches, and md personnel, and in consultation with medical experts." yesterday they announced that a staff member has been disciplined for conduct surrounding the recent covid-19 cases, according to the nfl network. a strength and conditioning coach did not report symptoms and didn't consistently wear a mask or tracking device. as for the steelers, this is the second time this schedule has been impacted by covid. do not break in the tennessee titans organization forced them to wreak schedule their game against the steelers from week four two-week seven. some of them took to twitter with their frustration yesterday,

wide receiver said, "first they take away our bye week because another team can get the situation together, no they take away the prime time game for the same reason. shaking my head." and the wide receiver tweeted, "what a joke." even though the game has been moved to sunday, keep in mind the nfl's doing more contact tracing in testing this week. more players could possibly test positive in the next 24-48 hours, and this will impact the schedule. hopefully it does not, but we have to wait and see. leland? >> leland: christina, thanks. ♪ >> julie: the pandemic upending many holiday tradition this year, but millions of americans are still traveling to see their families on thanksgiving. get this, an estimated 5 million people flying yesterday alone with millions more hitting the road. meanwhile, in new york city, the macy's thanksgiving day parade will march on without the crowd

that usually lines the manhattan parade route. welcome to a brand-new hour of ""america's newsroom,"" abbey thinks of him to you i'm julie banderas >> leland: i'm leland vittert. millions of americans have pressed ahead with their holiday plans despite skyrocketing coronavirus cases. public health officials are also ignoring cdc advice to stay home. denver mayor michael hancock is being accused of hypocrisy after traveling to spend time with his family. the mayor posted his tweet asking people to avoid travel and host virtual gatherings, just moments before his flight yesterday. here's colorado governor jared polis' reacting to news of mayor hancock's trip. >> i have not discussed personal thanksgiving plans with the mayor or others. i was not aware of his plans. i just want colorado to make the best informed decision they have with the data they have. we have one in 41 people.

>> julie: alex hogan is live with more. hi it, alex. >> hi, happy thanksgiving. this holiday will look very different with calls to either scale back celebrations or stay home. as you mentioned, the denver mayor michael hancock has controversy after doing what he told his residence not to do. the mayor tweeting, telling people to stay home and passed the turkey, not to pass covid. then he went on a plane, traveling to mississippi to spend the holiday with his wife and his daughter. the mayor adding, "i apologize for the residents of the denver who see my decision is conflicting with the guidance to stay home for all but essential travel." more than 50 million americans are also expected to travel this holiday, despite the cdc urging people to stay home as hospitalizations for covid-19 reached an all-time high. the country fighting down to shut down businesses once again,

after a difficult year some restaurant owners say they depended on october, november, and december sales to stay afloat. >> we know the dangers, we want be cautious. who better than us as responsible business owners to be the ones? let us operate, let us do what we have to do to put food on the table for our families. >> usually these streets would be packed with millions of people to watch the macy's thanksgiving day parade roll down fifth avenue. of course, because of the pandemic, there is a much shorter route just on the street behind me. people are asked to stay home and watch from now until noon. leland? a >> julie: i think the weather will help in that case. thank you very much. leland? >> leland: a little bit more on the controversy in denver and across the country. we bring in christopher bedford, senior editor for "the federalist." to quote a good friend of both

yours and mine, tucker carlson, on the case of lockdown for thee and not for me. >> exactly. happy thanksgiving to you. at least you are here at work, it's good to see you. the mayor of denver is joining a long list of politicians who have done exactly this. we saw new york's governor cuomo planning to spend thanksgiving with his elderly mother, as anyone in america should be able to do, except he had told people in new york did not do the same. we saw the same thing in california with governor newsom going out and dining indoors without masks, no social distancing. he told californians they couldn't do that. so the governor of illinois making plans to leave town to join his family in florida after telling everyone not to leave town for thanksgiving. it is truly sad to see. this is the 400 thanksgiving we have celebrated in this country. >> leland: let's put it in a different way. is 2020. does hypocrisy matter anymore? does what people said 15 minutes before matter anymore? >> it doesn't seem to.

people are not being held accountable by their own actions, and that's what hypocrisy is. public moralizing and showing how great you are while at the same time not following it yourself. all of us don't live to the exact standards we would like to live up to, but these politicians telling everyone else they can't be with her family, the grandma needs to be alone, they can't be with their neighbors, it is selfish for them to do that. to break that law shows you exactly how little they regard these rules and how arbitrary they are. >> leland: i guess that's the question. does it show that the rules are wrong and therefore those should change, or that the guidance is wrong? and therefore none of us should bother following all this. or does it say that you've just got a lot of people who think they are a little too good for their own medicine? >> the rules are wrong and a lot of this. americans generally have self-governance. 400 years. we know how to take care of ourselves and we are better at coming up with how to keep ourselves safe. why can't we go to church but we

can go to walmart? why is there somebody spending time wiping down the wooden seats on one side in an hour ago as if i'm going to get covid from that wooden seat? the rules arbitrary. they are brought to you by the bringers of the summative ban in new york city. all these different things, they just put forward to create systems that makes themselves feel better. >> leland: it's hard to think the guidance has changed so much since covid began. at one point it was wash her hands, don't bother with masks. now it is where masks because washing your hands may not be the best defense. you brought up the issue of church. this is something "the federalist" has been at the tip of the spear in the fight for religious freedom and liberty for folks to worship as they choose. this is "the federalist" headline. "will the supreme court finally defend religious liberty from pandemic tyrants?" at least till four in a 5-4 decision from last night, they have. here's the quote. all across america, governors and mayors drunk with power they

were either given or seized because of the fear of the vir virus, denying rights specifically guaranteed by the constitution. big victory in the supreme court last night against governor cuomo for religious services. how does this broaden out, or does it, in terms of going for freedom of businesses to operate? freedom of travel, and not adhering to the new york travel restrictions and others? >> this is a great victory. if you want to get pumped up this thanksgiving, you can read the opinions where they directly or indirectly criticized the chief justice roberts and said that in a time of crisis it is not the time for the constitution to be put by the wayside. this is massive, because it actually -- new york try to get out of this at the last moment. this is a classic strategy where governor cuomo was going to keep the church is closed, keep the synagogues closed, and drop the case when it got to the supreme court. he knew he would lose.

he waited until the bigger bullet came around and said no. this time the supreme court said, "we are not letting you drop us, we are making a decision to reach out across the entire country, letting the governor so they can drop the case there's some technicality and get out of a ruling here. they're going to hold you accountable, and the constitution is important." it's amazing that you have to go through this, but churches should be held to a higher standard than strip clubs and walmarts and liquor stores and all the others. marijuana dispensaries. these states have put them before. >> leland: this brings up an interesting point, because over the past few months, especially the beginning of the pandemic, the trump justice department intervened in different ways on some of these issues of religious freedom. do you worry that is going to change with a biden justice department, and suddenly so many of these institutions and religious groups are going to be on their own in these issues, perhaps even fighting against the justice department? >> unfortunately, yes, i do.

welcoming joe biden with open arms, he's already declared his antagonism toward the poor and basically the church supremacy, their ability to talk to these government leaders at the same time. he will say "my way, or the highway. you have to accept my moral ground." the continuation of what we saw under barack obama with churches and charities pushed, where orphanages are no longer to operate if they are operating with christian standards. christians and jewish minorities and other religious minorities are in for some trouble over the next four years. >> leland: there is a piece up on "the federalist" right now. "grover cleveland knew how thanksgiving could lift up our hurting nation from his proclamation in 1888." some of it is pressing today, as you point out. it's good to see you, mr. bedard. happy thanksgiving to you and yours, sir. >> happy thanksgiving, leland. >> leland: julie? >> julie: one of joe biden's biggest backers taking aim at

the man he helped become president. house majority whip james clyburn, who essentially sealed the nomination by endorsing him in south carolina, expressing dismay over biden's cabinet picks so far. telling juan williams that biden is falling short on naming african-americans to top posts. kevin corke's life in rehoboth beach, delaware, with the very latest on this. >> happy thanksgiving, julie. when you break this out and realize that, for joe biden, this relationship is crucial. without clyburn, as he pointed out, there is no way he earns the democratic nomination. that said, it's not as if the biden team is currently constructed complete devoid of diversity. as i show you, the cabinet, he has a vice president, u.n. ambassador, and even a secretary of homeland security all coming from communities of color. however, it is the relative paucity compared to the overall team that is what is concerning

to congressman james clyburn. he said this in a conversation with juan williams. "from all the hair, black people have been given fair consideration, but there's onlye black woman so far." he goes on to say, "i want to see what the process leads to, what produces. so far, it is not good." he adds, "people ask why democrats don't do well in rural communities, and this is one of the reasons." clyburn for his part is purportinpromoting marcia fudgeo to be the new agriculture secretary. she's been a fierce advocate for food stamps and similar programs. he's also advocating for alton brown to lead the deponent of housing and urban development, and promoting california attorney general xavier becerra to assume that very same post at the federal level. the biden-harris transition team points out that they have been very aggressive when it comes to being a diverse team. they note that 46% of the team,

the behind-the-scenes staff, includes people of color and some 52% of the team right now is comprised of women. as for the day here in delaware, we expect a relatively quiet one. the biden-harris transition team called a lid at 9:04. back to you. >> julie: kevin corke, thank you so much. leland? >> leland: the press pool at the white house is holding on the south line waiting to see where the president might go. families in one state are facing a potential thanksgiving disaster. cold turkey. ahead, wipe our company is wearing it may have to cut electricity to tens of thousands of homes right around everyone stand up giving. presently like biden's plan to forgive student loans could backfire and hel at the very pee it is supposed to help. one expert has an alternative when we come back. ♪

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>> leland: we are learning a little bit more about how the

coronavirus is affecting people in nursing homes. a total of 100,000 people who lived in nursing homes are now dead from the virus. that's almost half of all the deaths in the nation. this comes from a report in "the wall street journal" this morning. meanwhile, those on the front lines in the fight against the viruses there hasn't been any improvement in long-term care facilities since the pandemic began. another shocking report from the cdc says that 53 million in the united cases by the end of september, which would have been nearly eight times the amount of cases that were reported at that time. ♪ >> julie: president-elect joe biden is planning to forgive some student loan debt once in office, but he has not submitted to widespread cancellation of student debt. my next guest said his plan could backfire in a "wall street journal" op-ed. she argues biden should forgive student loans, but only a little. the most distressed borrowers

didn't get degrees and who owe less than $5,000. joining me now is a senior fellow a at the manhattan institute. beth, thank you for talking to us. you saved that his plan to forgive student loans could enrich the privilege? can you explain? what do you mean by that? >> sure. we read a lot in the newspaper about these victims of student loan debt who have six-figure balances, and what we often forget with the prevailing narrative is that people who have a lot of debt also have a lot of education, which means that they can have very high earnings. we are talking about doctors and lawyers and mbas and things like that. not only are very large balance is pretty rare, they tend to go along with very high earnings. if we are going to do any sort of widespread student loan jubilee, we are going to end up giving a lot of money away to people who probably don't need it. that is the biggest concern i have with that cancellation. the other thing i want to point out is that we already have a

student loan forgiveness plan in place and that's gotten lost in a lot of these conversations. >> julie: i want to pull a quote from your article that says workers with a college degree are the highest paid in the economy, and the last to get laid off during a downturn. sure, having debt is worse than not having debt, but because of the large financial return to postsecondary education, folks with debt and a degree are often better off than those who have neither. i do want to point out that, while there are many loans that were under $10,000, there are also plenty, well over $100,000. that's for undergrad alone, that doesn't include grad school, medical school loans, future doctors of this country that we so heavily rely on right now, especially during a pandemic. how can you see the rich would benefit when the students couldn't afford schooling, if not for these loans? >> right, so, we need to remember that investments in

education tend to pay really large dividends. i say that someone is better off with a degree and with that because they tend to come out of undergraduate programs with about $30,000, and all the research estimates that a bachelor's degree is worth about a million dollars over the course of a lifetime. $30,000 is an ugly number, and no one wants to start out their life with that sort of burden, but if we think about it in economic sense, it makes sense for these people to borrow. >> julie: okay, i want to take a look at president-elect biden earlier this month talking about the choices for these students, and the kind of decisions they need to make, what he wants to offer them, and have you react. >> they are having to make choices between paying the student loan and paying their rent. those kinds of decisions. it should be done immediately. in addition to that, i think everything from community college straight through to doubling pell grants to make

sure we have access to free education for anyone making under $125,000 for four years of college. >> joe biden plans to forgive student at his first hundred days of office, as you know. you suggest a more moderate proposal. explain to us what that would be. >> sure. what i propose, if we want to do something with forgiveness, is to limit that amount to $5,000. what that does is it makes sure that the people have the small balances, because they started college but didn't finish, they get their debts wiped away. it is surprising, but these are people who are most likely to default on their student loans. get those people out of trouble, and then do a smaller transfer to the people who don't necessarily need the help, or to some that do, but then also buy us some time to make our repayment system work better. because we have protections in place that ensure that nobody's having to choose between paying their rent and paying their student loans. anybody who has a low income

relative to a much they owe in their student debt, in any point in time, can apply to have their monthly payments reduced based on what their income is. people don't know that exists, in part because it doesn't really work that well. we've got to get that system working better, we got to make sure people know about it, and once that is done, i think you can stop having these conversations about these one-off loan forgiveness programs. >> julie: thank you very much. happy thanksgiving. >> thank you, saying to you. >> leland: a new report says israel is gearing up for a possible u.s. strike on iran. why tel aviv may be on high alert, and when that strike could happen. also, joe biden's choice for climate czar says rejoining the paris come to court is just the beginning. as we hear from our troops. >> hi, i'm from the maryland national guard. my home counties in maryland, and i want to say happy thanksgiving to my husband, family, and friends back home. zr car insurance so you only pay for what you need?

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shut off electricity to more than 88,000 customers. southern california edison is considering, to curb the risk of fire sparked by wind damage, and power lines, forecasters expect santa ana winds to develop across southern california today. >> leland: and clifford the big red dog is sparking some controversy and maybe a few nightmares ahead of his big-screen debut. expressing alarm on twitter over the children's book character, noting that his furry looked like it was tinted red. it will be relieved to learn it's all a computer effect, and no animals were harmed while making the movie, "clifford the big red dog." it does not have a release date yet, but it is expected to hit theaters sometime in 2021. >> julie: a new report saying the israelis are preparing for a possible u.s. strike on iran. according to axios, there is no evidence of an actual plan for

the u.s. to attack, but israeli officials are anticipating a "very sensitive period" during the remainder of president trump's term. live in london watching the story very closely for us, benjamin, what are the chances the u.s. will attack iran before president-elect biden's inauguration? >> i would say that a preemptive strike against iran less than two months before a new administration came in would appear highly unlikely. and unorthodox. two weeks ago, it was reported that the trump administration, president trump asked to look at strike options against iran. those reports are flatly rejected by president trump, as well as secretary pompeo. nevertheless, we are seeing a flurry of activity in the region that has people on high alert. just last weekend, the u.s. sent b-52 bombers to the region. u.s. central commencing they were only there to deter aggression and reassure u.s. allies. yesterday it was reported that acting to acting defense secretary could take as miller is also now in the middle east. this comes on the back of a

region-wide tour by secretary pompeo, including an intriguing secret meeting with saudi crown prince be and benjamin netanyahu. that would be a groundbreaking meeting between traditional enemies. what israel and saudi arabia haven't come in right now as they are greatly concerned that president-elect biden is going to rejoin the iran deal and reverse that maximum pressure campaigns of the trump administration has imposed. they are furiously against that. not least because the international atomic energy agency now says that iran has 12 times the amount of enriched uranium allowed him to the 2015 nuclear deal, meaning it is just a few months away from being able to develop a bomb. there are reports that suggest israel's preparing for u.s. strikes also make it clear they have no specific intelligence of a strike. they say they believe they would have a heads up from the u.s., but it might not give them enough time to prepare for what would surely be harsh retaliation from the iranians. the iranians meanwhile don't want to strike, they want to keep their heads down because they want a smooth transition to

the biting administration. they want to rejoin the jcpoa. julie? >> julie: benjamin hall, thank you. leland? >> leland: president-elect of joe biden is proposing a bold plan to fight climate change, starting with rejoining the paris climate accord on day one of his presidency. his newly named climate czar, john kerry, says that's just the beginning, working with other countries around the world to lower greenhouse gas emissions. joining us now, former spokesperson for president obama's 2008 campaign, zach friend. from out in california, good to see you as always. happy thanksgiving to you and yours. does rejoining the paris climate accord really matter at all if you got a republican-controlled senate? it's not really going to work out so well, is it? were mean so much, i should say. >> i think the first step is having a president that believes in climate change, so i think that will be a pretty significant difference just having president-elect biden as

president of the united states. you raise a fair point, a lot of the climate change policies are going to need to go through congress. not having a democratic controlled senate will greatly reduce, i think, the ability for the administration to have the ambitious plan they put forward. which, as you know, it's about a $2 trillion plan during the campaign. the most ambitious of any campaign in american history. >> leland: will get to that plan in a minute in terms of what it might be legislatively and what it might mean in terms of giving republican some firepower down in georgia, in their senate races. first, take a listen to the newly named climate czar. >> no country alone can solve this challenge. even the united states, for all of our industrial strength, is responsible for only 13% of global conditions. to end this crisis, the whole world must come together. you arwe have right to rejoin pn

day one, and you are right to recognize that paris alone is nt enough. >> leland: given all this, is john kerry really the right man for it? his secretary of state record, perhaps, is not all that exalted in terms of getting things done. the iran nuclear deal was much panned and already the united states has pulled out of it, and then you've got the failures in the middle east peace process with israel and the palestinians that he put so much of his reputation and so much energy into, and he was a failure there. >> well, leland, i do think that secretary carey has a lot of international relationships. i think he can hit the ground running on day one for this. i've got to say, this is a priority of the new incoming administration to incorporate climate change, not just in domestic policy but in foreign policy as well as trade. i do think he is the right person to start it. i will say, overall, while you

will always have some disagreement within the different wings of the party, overall, having biden name a czar, having him name john kerry, has gone well overall in the democratic party. i think it does send a strong message internationally. we can't deny that. former secretary -- i'm sorry? >> leland: he ran for president in 2004, he had a lot of the middle-of-the-road, more centrist democrat money behind him when he made that run versus howard dean and the primary. some important things they are. you talked a little bit about this to trillion dollar plan that now the president-elect is proposing. i want to get into that. he is the headline from bloomberg. "bolstering by declaring crisis." the biden proposal, $2 trillion, admissions free electric grid in 13 years. the coal miners in pennsylvania and ohio and west virginia are just going to love that thing. a target of net zero emissions across the country by 2050.

real quick, your communications, is this the plan you want to be front and center on people's minds in georgia coming to the special election for two senate seats? >> with democratic voters, it's one of the top issues as far as pulling goes. i think the cost of inaction is much greater than the cost of action. the united states needs to lead on this. president-elect biden was very clear this would be a front and center issue, so he's going to try and deliver on it. it should be a surprise to anybody that this will be a major issue for him and the administration moving forward. >> leland: fair point in terms that he has been front and center that it something he has talked about for a long time throughout his presidential run. zach, happy thanksgiving. go enjoy the rest of the day. >> same to you and your family, leland. >> leland: julie? >> julie: former president obama heaping praise on reverend jeremiah wright, known for making controversial comments despite obama distancing himself from the

reverend in the past. what the former president had to say in a recent interview. plus, michael flynn's pardon not sitting well with some democrats, but is it fair to criticize president trump for something most presidents do for leaving office? it has been happening for decades. the political panel joins us next. ♪ another bundle in the books. got to hand it to you, jamie. your knowledge of victorian architecture really paid off this time. nah, just got lucky. so did the thompsons. that faulty wiring could've cost them a lot more than the mudroom. thankfully they bundled their motorcycle

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sermon. he also said and 11 was the nation's chickens coming home to roost for that because former president obama to distance himself, where their connection became an issue in the 2008 campaign. yesterday, now former president obama defended him during an appearance on the breakfast club radio show, saying some of his remarks have been taken out of context. >> reverend wright is an example of someone who supremely gifted preacher, he wasn't promoting the notion that god was damning america. he was making a point that, if you look at slavery and discrimination, you could see the conclusion of people feeling that there was not an alignment with christian values and america. >> leland: mr. obama also weighed in on one of the two georgia senate races. democratic candidate raphael warnock faced criticism for his own ties to reverend wright.

>> it is a losing game at this stage to just go chasing crazy. if i am him, i'm going to be emphasizing what i'm positively going to do on behalf of the people. >> leland: his opponent, kelly loeffler, has repeatedly attacked him online about us connection. she recently tweeted the relationship makes warnock too extreme to serve in the u.s. senate. >> julie: to some democrats slamming president trump for pardoning michael flynn. his former national security advisor. the move bringing flynn's drawn out legal drama to an end. let's bring in the political panel, pat griffin, a g.o.p. campaign strategist and ceo of merrimack potomac and charles, and jose aristimuno is a former dnc deputy press secretary. thank you, gentlemen, happy thanksgiving to you both. slamming the president for parting general michael flynn, who admitted his guilt in court

twice, but pardons like this just before a president leaves office are nothing unusual. as the president being treated unfairly, or is this just regular outrage we should expect every 4-8 years? >> julie, first of all, happy thanksgiving. great to be here. i think this is not unexpected. we have seen presidents go through this ritual, pardoning people. it is their constitutional right as president. we all remember bill clinton pardoning marc rich, for example, highly controversial. i think general flynn is an interesting example, because he is such a totem to the trump base. at the end of the day, we have roughly more than a tie. president-elect biden has won this election, but pardoning flynn is very much part of the trump political strategy. this is not a leader who is going to go quietly into that good, good night, and pardoning flynn for what the president believes what's the rush hoax,

his participation in that, it's the same sort of thing that he e election, or has been so far. this is exactly the narrative donald trump wants. i think it's exactly why he is going to continue to be relevant one way or another. the base loves this. this is not about now, it's about the next step for donald trump in 2024. >> julie: jose, here is a flynn family statement. "for four long years, our family and minds of american patriots stood arm in arm together with our brother, general michael flynn, fighting the vicious deep-routed corruption of government institutions and vengeful individuals intent on destroying general flynn and our country in shame with defiance of justice and the rule of law. those individuals have disgraced the united states of america." will michael flynn, do you believe come again any sympathy this statement? >> quite frankly, i don't think so. i'm not surprised this is happening, and this has been

done by president trump. this is who president trump is, this is who he has been. this is a disgrace, julie. president trump thinks he is above the law. michael flynn lied to the american people, lied to the fbi. for trump to do this, two months before he ends his presidency, it is truly unfortunate for what democracy is about. i understand pardoning is a constitutional right, but not this sort of individual. trump is more interested in pardoning his friends, his loyalists, to save himself. i agree that part of all this is to plead to his base, "i'm with you, i stand by you." that's what he's thinking about. but is that the right thing to do? absolutely not. >> julie: i want to actually bring up nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house. her statement on the president's pardoning of michael flynn, and then pat, i will let you react. "president trump's pardoning of michael flynn, who twice pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi about

his dealings with a foreign adversary, is an act of great corruption and a breeze and abuse of power. trump is again using the pardon power to protect those who lied to cover up his wrongdoing." pat, the president is hardly the first president to issue a controversial pardon. ford pardoned nixon in 1974, clinton pardoned his half-brother after serving a year in prison on cocaine distribution charges. as you know, obama commuted the remainder of chelsea manning's 35-year sentence after being convicted of violating the espionage act. is it hypocritical then for the dems to be going out the president when they have pardoned people who have actually been convicted of crimes? >> of course it is hypocritical. we can talk about the individual pardons if we want to. the fact of the matter is this is nothing new. i do believe that what is important here is that the president is making clear that he believes the system is what caused the russian hoax, as he

call is that, to turn on him. and that flynn was embroiled in that. i think you're going to see more pardons. this is one way donald trump goes out of office remaining relevant to the people who will most likely be important to him as he goes forward, and he is. he is not going away, as i said before. this is a very, very big deal to his base, and will help propel them forward. we are not at the end of donald trump, not by a long shot, even though he has lost reelection. >> julie: pat griffin, jose aristimuno, that is all the time we have. happy thanksgiving to you both. >> leland: we may not see the black friday crowd lining up here in 2020 for door busters, but retailers will be to learn shoppers with this year's gadgets. our tech guru, brett larson, is on deck to tell us about some of the exciting gift ideas and deals that are still out there. back in a minute, brett. >> i would like to shout out to

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>> leland: black friday will be a mostly virtual event this year amid the pandemic. we bring in fox news headlines 24/7 anchor, brett larson, with some of the best deals you can now get online. hi, brett. >> hey, leland. good to see you. happy thanksgiving. it is the most wonderful time of the year for online shopping, which a lot of us are going to be doing this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. amazon is slashing prices across the board on all of their alexa devices. i have one sitting behind me so i have to be careful how loud i say that. you can save anywhere between

about $100 -- $40 to $100. you have the fire stick that lets you add amazon to television sets, you can access amazon prime video, and the echo show is on discount. tvs are always discounted this time of year. best buy has a massive slew of discounted tvs. big, giant tvs like a 70-inch samsung that's like $200 off, they've also got an insignia fighter tv-capable smart tv that's about $180, leland. >> leland: it's amazing, because we have seen such an increase in the purchase of technology, because of so many people now re-outfitting home offices and redoing home theaters. even headphones and that kind of stuff now this year is on sale in a way we haven't really seen before, right? >> absolutely. target and walmart also getting in on the deep discounts on electronic devices. target and walmart not necessarily places you think to go shop for electronic devices, but they are on sale.

target has noise-canceling headphones, some nice gbl and bose headphones and speakers, anywhere from 60 to $100 off. if you work from home still and you are there with your kids who aren't in school, the noise-canceling headphones might come in handy this time of year. or you can give them a speaker so when they are doing the same cast as they can hear the teachers better. walmart also getting in on the wearable devices. they've got discounted apple watches, fit bits, and discounted samsung wearable devices, as well. really, the best thing to do, price-compare everywhere you go and don't fall for those, "this deal is only going to last for 12 more minutes!" don't feel the need to buy it right away, because there is 10 minutes left to make the savings. >> leland: good point, especially now when you can prepare these different retailers. happy thanksgiving. >> thanks for having me. good to see you.

>> julie: an inspiring story of a young nurse who left his home in senegal as a teenager now doing everything he can to treat patients stricken with coronavirus in spain. we will have his story next i was covered from head to toe with it. it really hurt. then i started cosentyx. okay, thanks... that was four years ago. how are you? see me. cosentyx works fast to give you clear skin that can last. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. i look and feel better. ask your dermatologist if cosentyx could help you move past the pain of psoriasis.

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treating covid-19 patients and one of the hardest-head to countries in europe. amy kellogg is live in florence, italy, with his inspiring story. hi, amy. >> hi, julie. as europe struggles with its refugee policy, we seem to see picture after picture of boats crossing the mediterranean with, sadly, lots of people not making it. we do have this one very nice story of gratitude to share today of a migrant who came to spain from africa. yes, he is thankful, actually, that he is able to help people with covid. he is working as a nurse in the bospain page of a harrowing boat trip across the sea, washed dis, paid back smugglers, ended up being adopted by family in spaih gave him the final push, and it is all good now. speak of the satisfaction i feel first about the fact that i have

made my dream come true of beina nurse, and then doing my daily work, doing the work that i like and then seeing that also, through our hands, past people who have been able to recover, this gives me a lot of strength. >> and he has now put some of the funds he is making into a program to help people in senegal get better education so they can stay in their country and not have to take a perilous trip to europe. julie? >> julie: amy kellogg, thank you so much. fox news alert, fallout from major supreme court ruling on coronavirus restrictions. the justices striking down attendance limits on houses of worship in new york. welcome back to "america's newsroom," everyone. i am julie banderas in for sandra smith, and we are on ou our 2 on this thanksgiving. good to see you all. >> leland: 11:00 a.m. eastern,

put the turkey and, based it in a few minutes. i am leland vittert. this marks where amy coney barrett played a decisive role. she sided with court conservatives saying that governor cuomo's actions violated the protection of freedom of religion. it bars cuomo for me imposing the strict capacity limits on houses of worship in areas that have been hit hard by the coronavirus. >> julie: we are in our 3, i correct myself. not 2. we are having so much fun, time just flies. >> exactly, julie. happy thanksgiving to you. this decision came down just before midnight last night, and it has implications that will go long after covid-19 is in the history books. it deals specifically with religious freedom and justice. justice amy coney barrett has been on the bench for just about a month. as leave and told our viewers, this is shaping what her legacy

could be on the court. as leland mentioned, she cited with the conservatives in a 5-4 decision. meanwhile, chief justice john roberts, a devout catholic known for his catholic faith, he sided with the liberal wing. the four. the majority wrote in part -- and this is part of it -- the conservatives wrote, "not only is there no evidence that the applicants have contributed to the spread of covid-19, but there are many less restrictive rules that could be adopted to minimize the risk of those attending religious services, even in a pandemic the constitution cannot be put away and forgotten." new york governor andrew cuomo announced various restrictions since the beginning of this pandemic, as a way to halt the pandemic or at least stop further spread. to cope religious groups, a jewish group and a christian group, sued. the majority contended that cuomo's ruling violated specifically the freedom of religion clause in the first amendment to the constitution. governor cuomo, another devout catholic, has kept the same

message for months. he insists this is all in the name of health and safety. >> we know religious institutions have been a probl problem. we know mass gatherings are of the super-spreader events. >> the ruling is also significant in that it is a 180 from an earlier supreme court ruling over the summer that allowed governors in nevada and california to restrict attendance at different religious institutions. the difference, that is when justice ruth bader ginsburg, who passed away in september, was still leaving dominic living. also, new statement and from the aclu, i wanted to read it in part. "the freedom to worship is one of our most cherished fundamental rights, but it does not include a license to harm others or endanger public health." the debate continues on this one. julie? >> julie: all right, david, thank you. leland? >> leland: president trump has granted a pardon for his former

national security advisor, michael flynn. this ends a long legal battle in federal court. the move drawing fire from democrats who have called it an abuse of power. kristin fisher, north lawn of the white house for more on this. hi. >> hey, leland. michael flynn's family says they are very grateful this thanksgiving for president trump's pardon. they say the president has lifted the heavy burden of injustice from his shoulders. white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany put out a statement late last night saying, "this full pardon achieves that objective, finally bringing to an end the relentless partisan pursuit of an innocent man. even the fbi agents who interviewed general flynn did not think he was lying. multiple investigations have produced evidence establishing that flynn was a victim of partisan government officials engaged in a coordinated attempt to subvert the election of 2016." michael flynn, twice, pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi about his contacts with russians. he was one of the first major victories for special counsel robert mueller. about a year ago, flynn tried to

withdraw his guilty plea. his attorneys argued that fired fbi agent peter strzok had set up a perjury trap, and this spring attorney general bill barr try to have the case dismissed. that request was still pending one president trump granted the full pardon yesterday afternoon, now democrats like house speaker nancy pelosi are calling it an act of grave corruption and a brazen abuse of power. sadly, this pardon is further proof that trump plants use his final days in office to undermine the rule of law in the wake of his failed presidency." there is a lot of speculation that president trump may also try to pardon paul manafort and roger stone. leland, you may remember, this time last thanksgiving, president trump had just returned home from a surprise trip to afghanistan to spend thanksgiving with u.s. troops at bagram airfield. this year, like so many americans, he is spending it a lot closer to home. he'll be here at the white house for the first time in his presidency. he did just arrive at his golf club in virginia moments ago.

turned out to be a pretty beautiful day for some golf. leland? >> leland: beautiful in d.c., little warmer than it was in afghanistan when you were there with the president last thanksgiving for really an incredible trip and an incredible surprise. thanks. >> julie: for more on this, let's bring in jeff mason, white house correspondent for reuters. jeff, thank you for talking to us. your camera, i understand, is inside a pools and for the press. you are following the president. that is why he's wearing a seat belt. i'm glad, i like to see that. >> i've got a seat belt mask on. sorry, go ahead. >> julie: and you are en rout route, literally. i want your response on the president pardoning michael flynn. >> it was certainly a big story that he did that, not unexpected. the president has been signaling that he thinks or believes that general flynn was treated unfairly, so the fact that he

ended up making that decision yesterday wasn't a big surprise. the timing perhaps was, but the fact that he had done it was not. it drew mixed reactions, republicans who are supporters of the president believe that general flynn was innocent and should never have been prosecuted in the first place. and democrats including speaker pelosi believe that it was a miscarriage of justice that the pardon was given. >> julie: a staunch ally of the president, congress and matt gaetz, putting out this controversial tweet. i'll read it for you and we'll put it up on the screen for our viewers. "president trump should pardon flynn, the thanksgiving turkey, and everyone from himself to his administration, to joe exotic if he has to. the left has a blood lust that only be quenched if they come for those who fought with donald trump to deliver for the american people." i should also make mention that the president later retreated matt gaetz's tweet. what is the underlying message here, do you think? >> i think the underlying message is -- and i've heard

this from a couple sources i spoke to, former white house official yesterday who said this president is planning more pardons. clearly this is a president who is on his way out from the white house, and he has god to just a little less than two months to continue to make his mark. there are other officials and friends and colleagues who are likely on that list, in addition to general flynn. >> the president cannot pardon himself, though, can he? >> [laughs] there's been a lot of question marks and speculation about that. my understanding is the answer to that is no, but i suspect that it's something we will continue to see debated in the weeks to come before president-elect joe biden is inaugurated on january 20th. >> julie: all right. i want to move onto the trump administration showing signs they are beginning to draw the curtain on his presidency this week, allowing the transition for president-elect biden's

administration to formally begin. however, president trump once again, on wednesday, showing he's not giving up the fight, taking part in a conference call on what he says is "widespread voter fraud" through mail-in ballots, specifically in pennsylvania. he was the president on the conference call yesterday. >> we have hundreds and hundreds of affidavits, stories even worse than the stories i'm hearing. why wouldn't they overturn an election? certainly overturned in your state, because we have other states that are just as bad. >> julie: we know the president will not be conceding. he is considering handing over. he is handing over the flag, if you will, but his fight is not over yet in the courts. at least not according to rudy giuliani. >> yes, and according to the president himself. it's been sort of a split screen moment for the president and for the country in the last few

weeks. the couple split screens, when reaching a president and president-elect, and another one specifically of the white house this week. because you had president trump giving a green light to the transition, and allowing it to start to abide in administration, while also continuing to say joh, in the meeting you said yesterday in pennsylvania, following up the white house last night with rudy giuliani. >> julie: jeff mason, thank you very much, safe travels. thank you. happy thanksgiving. leland? >> leland: new reporting requires us to ask this question. is president trump planning and military strike on iran before he leaves office in january? we will show you how the middle east is reacting to that report. plus, coronavirus cases are surging across the country, and there are growing fears that holiday and big family gatherings could make them even

worse. we are going to ask if the tougher restrictions in some states will actually help. >> please, only celebrate thanksgiving with those in your immediate household or remotely over the internet. it is the best way for us to protect each other and celebrate future thanksgivings together. u. dreya! hey! how are you so good at this? relax. get into it! aw, yeah! i've got it! rated everyone.

♪ >> julie: despite warnings from the cdc and public health officials, millions of americans are traveling this holiday week. according to johns hopkins university, wednesday was the 33rd consecutive day the country set a new record and its 7-2 average paid over 2,000 people died yesterday alone, with over 181,000 new cases and nearly 2300 deaths. now there are concerns growing in california where new restrictions are in place to ban outdoor dining. christina coleman is live in los angeles with this. hi, christina. >> hi, julie. this is definitely a health and economic crisis this holiday season has thousands of employees in the food industry worry they could lose their jobs in los angeles county because of all the covid restrictions and changes. the california restaurant association filed a lawsuit to challenge the new ban on outdoor

dining. they argue that health officials needed to prove scientific evidence to support this move, but an l.a. superior court judge declined to block the ban and said the restaurant association did not show "solid evidence" that it was inappropriate. however, the judge is still open to hearing any new evidence the association can provide. meantime, restaurant owners struggle to stay in business, and the chair of l.a. county's board of supervisors, catherine barker, openly opposes the outdoor dining ban. she cited the los angeles economic development corporation's figures. it predicts that approximately 700,000 jobs in the food industry will be lost in this shutdown, and that approximately 75% of all projected job losses would be those earning $50,000 or less. >> right now the closure is for three weeks, but we know that it will extend to new year's. and it will probably put me out of business.

forever. >> meantime, covid cases continue to soar here in california. yesterday this states that another single day record for an new cases, logging 18,350 new infections. julie? >> julie: christina coleman, thank you. ♪ >> leland: more on these restrictions and the concern of the covid spread over the holidays. we bring in the founder of -- nice to see you as always, we appreciate it. the indoor dining restrictions, they obviously are much easier to put in place then travel restrictions and the like. do they really do that much out in california? >> well, i think outdoor dining is safer than indoor dining, so

that would be one of my recommendations for people who are celebrating thanksgiving at home, especially if they are having other people over. i think it is difficult, and especially frustrating, when we have these new rules that are conflicting between states, or lawmakers not necessarily following their own laws, and then executive orders that have a ton of exceptions. but i think, at the end of the day, what's important to most people's we want to have a safe and happy thanksgiving, all of us. >> leland: we got the denver mayor flying to be with his family after telling everybody to stay put and do it virtually, you have gavin newsom having dinner at the french laundry with all his friends indoors, not wearing masks, and telling everybody to cancel thanksgiving. as a make a little bit harder on doctors when you are telling your patients, "you are at high risk, don't go see the grandkids?" >> of course. for doctors and health care professionals, we are trying to save lives.

you want to avoid the hospital as much as you can, you want to avoid seeing the doctor. there are steps people can take to protect themselves. i think the message, if we can separate it from the politicians end of other people, we know how the virus spreads. we have learned that over the past ten months. it seems to spread through these respiratory droplets, which are basically like these little bubbles that we blow out whenever we breathe or we talk. the things people can do to protect themselves, putting aside our lawmakers and stuff, masks can be helpful because they are a physical barrier against these droplets. you might think, "what's the difference if i wear a mask outside versus -- >> leland: i've got interview for one second, have to get in this sound bite from a couple of governors of what might happen if people don't follow the very things he talked about. take a listen. >> i have a stark warning for north carolinians today. we are in danger.

this is a pivotal moment in our fight against the coronavirus. our actions now will determine the fate of many. if we don't so this thing down, if people don't pull back from normal thanksgiving, we could have a real disaster in here by the middle of december. >> leland: just so we're clear, we won't even know if people did or did not heed all these warnings for a couple of weeks. that's when the case counts would explode, correct? >> exactly. the counts are already rising significantly, especially the hospitalizations. if he think about it, let's say you are exposed to this weekend, usually it takes about 3-5 days to even develop symptoms, sometimes longer. even up to 14 days or a little longer. then, if you develop -- think of the people he might've come into contact with in that time. it can take a few weeks to see the effects. things we can do today to

protect ourselves, whether it is masks or social distance, i actually like the term "physical distancing" more than social distancing. we want to have social activities with other people, want to be together. just not physically. >> leland: all new terms for 2020, we never thought about a virtual thanksgiving. happy thanksgiving to you and yours. we appreciate it, hopefully you get some time today to celebra celebrate. >> thank you. you, too, leland. >> leland: julie? >> julie: the supreme court issued a major ruling praise as a big win for religious rights in the age of coronavirus. what about other americans that critics are saying are being trampled by new restrictions? coming up, what we can expect. here's a shot out from a u.s. troop who could not be home this thanksgiving because she is serving our nation overseas. >> hi, i am with task force med. i am the patient admin specialist here, from miami,

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proven to significantly reduce hallucinations and delusions related to parkinson's. don't take nuplazid if you are allergic to its ingredients. nuplazid can increase the risk of death in elderly people with dementia-related psychosis and is not for treating symptoms unrelated to parkinson's disease. nuplazid can cause changes in heart rhythm and should not be taken if you have certain abnormal heart rhythms or take other drugs that are known to cause changes in heart rhythm. tell your doctor about any changes in medicines you're taking. the most common side effects are swelling of the arms and legs and confusion. we spoke up and it made all the difference. ask your parkinson's specialist about nuplazid. >> julie: here's some headlines we are following for you. president trump pardoning his former national security advisor, michael flynn. flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi about his contacts with the russian ambassador before president trump's inauguration in 2017. trump tweeting, "it was a great

honor to pardon general flynn." >> leland: fedex and ups are facing a shortage of delivery bands. "bloomberg news" reports the pandemic is shut down vehicle production as people are shopping online in record numbers. >> julie: and a first at harvard, the undergraduate student body electing a black man as president for the first time in the school's 384-year history. noah harris posting on instagram, "together let's build tomorrow at harvard." the school has faced criticism for years for a lack of diversity. >> leland: the supreme court blocking new york's governor from limiting attendance at houses of worship in areas with high covid cases. justice amy coney barrett joined a conservative majority in a 5-4 decision which comes as more americans are pushing back against covid restrictions, good to see you, sir. chris bedford made it a point about this earlier in the 10:00 a.m. hour.

i'm hoping that you sharpen the pencil and put a little bit better understanding on it. he was saying that the new york governor and the new york ag were trying to drop the case of the supreme court and they wouldn't allow them in some way. what is the significance of th that? >> what the significance of that is, shortly before the supreme court made this ruling, the governor of new york basically recategorized the churches and synagogues that were at issue. the governor has developed this scheme, you've got red zones and orange zones. what he did, basically, on the eve of the court decision, was to say "i'm moving these churches and synagogues to a different color zone." maybe because there are no less restrictive category, they needed t to decide. >> leland: what do you take

from that strategy? did you think they were going to lose i didn't want the embarrassment or does not the president? >> it could be a little bit of both. i think the governor is obviously dealing with a fluid situation, and he said, "given the facts on the ground, i'm going to make this change to the color scheme or the categorization." but what the supreme court said is "not so fast. just because you moved the category today doesn't mean that you won't change it up again tomorrow." the vote said we are going to decide this case and prevent the governor from enforcing these attendance restrictions on churches and synagogues going forward. see seven they were happy that she was a tie-breaking vote in this situation, sort of, helps the argument that it was an important though to have. i want to zoom out. not just religious organizations

now that i've begun to question and challenge some of these government-imposed lock downs, restrictions, and the like. loveland, colorado, outside of denver, this is from our cbs friends in denver. dozens of loveland businesses made a pact to stay open despite level red restrictions. here is one of business owners. >> you can't just shut down businesses and assume it's going to blanket fix everything. we have employees that are in dire need of jobs. >> leland: does the court ruling yesterday give all of these businesses new hope, new arguments? how does that affect them? >> i think it gives them hope, and indicates the supreme court, and presumably the other lower federal courts, will take a hard look at these covid restrictions in the future.

at the same time, yesterday's decision did concern one of the most secret freedoms we hold, freedom of religion, protected by our constitution under the first amendment. i wouldn't be so quick as to say, "well, because the court was willing to strike down these limits, it would basically take the same approach to any limits." what was clearly driving the court in this case was the fact the restrictions, so significantly impinged on americans freedom of religion. c7 tom dupree with an important distinction in perspective there. good to see you, sir. happy thanksgiving to you and yours. thank you for taking the time today. >> thank you, >> leland: . >> julie: as americans, thanksgiving is an especially important day of the year to give our thanks to the men and women serving our country it way right now from their families. there are 2.1 million active-duty guard and reserve troops putting their families on the line keeping us at home safe. jennifer griffin is live at the

pentagon. where are the troops right now? >> from togo to timbuk2, on any different, given day you can find 300,000 u.s. deployed troops overseas. thanksgiving dinner with some of the 4,000 troops in bahrain, home to the u.s. navy fleet. the u.s. is reducing its presence in afghanistan by half, but 2500 american troops will remain after january 15th. down from a high since 9/11 of 100,000. the u.s. still has 800 military bases in more than 70 countries. britain, france, and russia by contrast have about 30 foreign bases combined. a growing phalanx of places like djibouti and the horn of africa, and in ramps and germany, 60,000 american troops are serving at bases in the middle east. 1,000 in brussels at nato headquarters, nearly 1,000 troops in cuba to guard just 40

prisoners at guantanamo bay. 34,000 u.s. troops currently serving germany, down from a high of 200,000 during the cold war. more than 50,000 american troops are based in japan, along with 28,500 in south korea. the outgoing top republican on the house armed services committee explains what would happen if the u.s. closed those bases and return home. >> it has been the best 70 years pretty much, you could argue, and human existence. it's partly because the united states of america has been engaged in the world and we have been the strongest country in the world. if we step back, others fill the void. they will not share values. the world will suffer. >> what does this cost the u.s. taxpayer? according to the rand corporation, it costs the taxpayer an average of $10,000 to $40,000 per year to station

abroad instead of the united states pay but that's not the real cost, julie. today we give it express thanks for those troops overseas and their families while they sacrifice. julie? >> julie: well said. thank you so much. leland? >> leland: florida's governor has made a big announcement on masks. plus, nervous democrats are coming to their house majority as republicans might gain seats. could the house flatbread in 2022? our panel tells us the issues at hand when we come back. ♪

♪ i'll be home for christmas ♪ you can count on me ♪ i'll be home for christmas

♪ if only in my dreams ♪

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got any room in your eye? talk to an eye doctor about twice-daily xiidra. i prefer you didn't! xiidra. not today, dry eye. >> leland: florida's governor has extended a ban on towns and cities enforcing mass chthonic mask mandates. the order began in september and prevent cities or counties from closing restaurants without justifying the reason, whether it's due to virus, the economy. >> julie: despite the big win for democrats in the white house, the election is giving republicans momentum in congress, potentially maintaining senate control in january with eyes on flipping the house red in 2022, as the g.o.p. is on the verge of

flipping four seats in california, more than in any other states. wow, let's bring in our panel. form a national surgery get jenny let me ask you for us, if you take at look at what's happening in california, the g.o.p., is flipping for house seats, more than any other state. what do you think? do you think california will pave the way for the g.o.p. and other states? >> it could win a couple seats here and there, and potentially a senate seat, but the reality is we know the makeup statewide is with democrats and republicans, in an overwhelming a democratic state. what's important to note here is the seats the democrats lost to republicans, especially the swing districts, the california seats in particular are more swingy, they are socially more progressive, they are not socially conservative. it seems the democrats weren't really running on a message that was different than the

republicans. these were centrist democrats. if you look at the seats were democrats did pick up and swing districts, it was democrats that came forward with a very strong message. medicare for all, eliminating student debt, acknowledging climate change, wanting to do something about it. when the democrats show up and don't say anything, of course the other side is going to win. it's politics 101. i really hope that, after this election, the democratic party has learned its lesson after shellacking and losing thousands over ten years. >> julie: california republican chairwoman jessica malan patterson issued this statement yesterday. i will read it for you. "people are fed up and sick and tired of every single new regulation, and just out of touch policy that they tried to push forward in these communities." and we talked about what their failures where, and what california republican solutions are. it's just hard to believe that california could potentially pave the way for the g.o.p.

moving forward. i want to ask you, what say you when it comes to the g.o.p. and maybe democratic states of california sort of setting this example? >> if you look statewide, the ballot initiative results were very encouraging, not just for a centrist republican but really for conservative ideology. at least the results were discouraging for a progressive kind of identity politics worldview. to my mind, very close proxy battle for the sort of cultural social far left progressivism that many progressive democrats want to run on. that lost massively. it lost by an even bigger margin than it did when it was first on the ballot some decades ago. also, uber, ridesharing, that defeat for restricted labor policies, that went down to

defeat. these are some encouraging results. not just for specific swing republican districts, but for the ideology of the republican party. if you are looking outside of donald trump's narrow loss, there's a lot of hope they're moving forward. >> julie: the results have shown a significant reversal from the 2018 midterms. that was marked by rabid anti-trump fuehrer that helped democrats slip seven house seats back then. quite a change now. what messages do you believe resonated with voters this year? safer republicans in particular. what do you think democrats need to do to turn that momentum around, if you will, to avoid losing control of the house into years? >> i think your question was spot on. what messages? great question, what messages to the centrist democrats run on? i didn't hear it. no message. it was "we are not trumped." that didn't work, because people did vote against trump voted with their party line for there was a record turnout for

republicans and democrats, but higher than was estimated. i think that the campaign committees on the democratic side overplayed their hand, as usual. it is relied on turnout rather than investing in candidates who believe in their communities, have something to stand for, believe in medicare for all, which it has overwhelming national support. republicans, independents, and democrats. believing in a leading student debt. solutions to the economic problems people are facing. as people are facing massive eviction, small businesses are facing massive evictions. this is what people want to hear. you are not talking about it, the other side, just one more point on that top 22, there are hundreds of millions of dollars pouring in from those industries. of course, the folks that raise hundreds of millions of dollars are going to win. >> julie: got to go. all right, we are out of time. i'm sorry. thank you, and a happy thanksgiving you both. >> thank you. >> julie: leland? >> leland: this could really

remake the middle east. where that president trump may order a military strike against iran before leaving office. what our close ally might be doing about it. learning is hard work. hard work requires character. learning begins in faith. it must move upwards toward the highest thing, unseen at the beginning - god. and freedom is essential to learning. its principles must be studied and defended. learning, character, faith, and freedom: these are the inseparable purposes of hillsdale college.

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>> julie: fox news alert, just coming in, questions about whether some of the vaccine news was too good to be true. "bloomberg news" reporting one of the companies moving forward with the vaccine, astrazeneca, is likely going back to the trial phase. the ceo says the company has to do new testing after there was an error when they reported the vaccine was 90% effective. the company reports the problem stems from a pretty simple mixup involving different dosages. but with zero room for error,

the numbers need to be confirmed. the ceo predicts it won't hold up approval in europe, but bloomberg is indicating it could mean delays here in the u.s. because of the fda's strict standards. there are two other vaccines moving forward, from pfizer and moderna, but health officials were rooting for astrazeneca to succeed because it's a lot easier to store and to ship. the other vaccines have to stay frozen at temperatures pushing -100 degrees. >> leland: the israeli military is planning for a possible u.s. strike on iran before the president leaves office. that comes from the new site, axios. meantime, the associated press reports that iran has ordered its allies to hold off on provocative actions, at least to give the united states a reason to strike. former advisor to the late premise tha diaper minister margaret thatcher and from the heritage foundation, good to see you, as

always. if the reporting is right that iran has told her allies to hold off, perhaps the saber-rattling is working. >> happy thanksgiving, leland. thanks for having me on the show today. without a doubt, there are very significant tensions between the united states and iran. the u.s. has put the iranian regime on notice. let's bear in mind that iran has been hit extremely hard by u.s. sanctions over the course of the last four years. the maximum pressure campaign implemented by president trump has been very successful. this is a greatly weakened regime in tehran at this time, so the united states certainly, i think, has had the right approach toward the iranian regime. a complete reversal of the former appeasement approach of the obama-biden -- >> leland: which one should the iranian sphere? president trump looking to have a strike that then puts the new

biden administration in the position of having to finish the job, if you will, or should the iranians fear israel and saudi arabia, worried themselves that they're not going to have the same kind of lockstep backup in the u.s. president biden then in president trump, and they might strike? >> i think the united states under president trump has always said that all options are on the table, with regard to any kind of action against iran. that doesn't mean that an attack on is imminent. of course, the u.s. already has plans in place as a last resort. with regard to israel, they have deep-seated concerns, of course, about iran's nuclear program, as does the united states. the iranians israelis reserve the rightto str facilities. let's not forget that iran has

stockpiled uranium at 12 times the accepted limit. iran is in complete violation of all previous agreements. this is a regime that -- >> leland: i spent years in the middle east waiting for the iran strike that never happened. canceled so many vacations when the war drums were beating. just real quick, and i want to get back to this issue of saudi arabia and israel being so more closely aligned than they were four years ago. this, from "business insider," quoting a nato official. "i'm afraid the saudis are israelis might be so pathetic, leaving the white house and also on arriving, this will make a confrontation inevitable." it is the proposed biden plan of going back to the iran deal, to make the middle east more dangerous, or less? >> if they return to the disastrous iran nuclear deal,

the jcpoa, will have a far more dangerous world and a far more dangerous middle east. it will embolden the iranian regime. >> leland: you agree with that, the israelis agree with that, and the saudi ambassador of the u.n. didn't think anyone would be naive enough to go back to it. thank you. julie? >> julie: all right. on thanksgiving, it is important we thank the men and women serving our country at home and overseas. here is another special shout out. >> my name is specialist j johnson. i am from miami, florida, and i would like to say happy thanksgiving to my wife, lamar, and my two brothers, and my unborn son. love you guys.

♪ >> so far it is mostly quiet whether across the country. the meteorologist joins us now with the holiday forecast. happy thanksgiving. >> happy thanksgiving to you. it's looking mostly clear across the country. mild temperatures, 40s, 50s, and 60s. there's a cold front that's been working across the eastern half of the united states. any time you see that you usually get some rain. it's going to linger in new england probably across the afternoon. the only spot we are paying attention to, otherwise a little shower activity along the gulf coast, the central gold coast, the western gulf coast, otherwise the country is completely dry.

one more spot to pay attention to. we are seeing it across southern california, getting up and to the colorado river basin. those are spots to pay attention to. another thing to be thankful for as we look to this forecast across the country, temperatures are mild and mostly dry. these are your highs on the day, a lot of 50s and 60s. pretty much from the rocky mountains to the east, temperatures are well above season average. it's looking like a beautiful thanksgiving. as i said, another thing to be thankful for here on this thanksgiving day. back to you. >> adam, thank you so much. what are your plans for thanksgiving, anything fun? >> not anything worth reporting. i do not have a turkey that's been cooking all night, waiting for me after i get on-air. >> this has been cooking behind me, since last night.

>> i have to say, you are professional in every way, i could not do three hours of television with that smell wafting through the house. enjoy it. a happy thanksgiving to you and your mom. ♪ >> happy thanksgiving, everybody everybody. i'm harris faulkner, you are watching "outnumbered." two months away from the most important senate elections. the georgia runoff on januar january 5th. it will decide the balance of power on capitol hill and the fate of president-elect to joe biden and his agenda. early voting begins more than two weeks from today with democrats challenging republican david perdue.