right now on "america this morning," fires raging. >> it was so hot and the flames being around me. >> the new evacuations as more fires erupt across the west. the race to stop the spread as flames creep into neighborhoods. and now the warning from firefighters with record heat moving in. post office funding fight. the escalating battle over mail-in ballots for november's election. new details overnight about delays already being reported and a deadline that could be missed when it comes to sending out ballots. bison attack. the terrifying moment a bison charged a woman taking pictures in a state park. plus, some of the most popular restaurant chains in america now at risk. the financial troubles they're facing.

it's one of the most popular video games in the world, but see why apple and google are banning fortnite. caught in the act, the clever dogs teaming up for dinner. good friday morning, everyone. we begin with those raging fires in the west. >> several fires are burning right now. more homes are threatened and more families fleeing amid growing concern about the extreme heat moving into the region. >> as they race to save people and property, this poignant moment firefighters stopped to save an american flag that was still flies outside a burning home. the weather conditions will only get worse as we head into the weekend. this morning, firefighters spread thin as multiple wildfires scorch southern california. thousands of crews are battling at these three major fires. more than 21 square miles devoured since wednesday. >> i got in the car, it was so hot from the flames being around me i thought i was going to blow

tires. >> reporter: the so-called lake fire is burning outside los angeles tearing through more than 11,000 acres already. officials warn that thousands of homes and businesses are now threatened. others have already been destroyed. >> the neighbor's house was already engulfed when i left. >> reporter: firefighters in the heart of the battle surrounded by a deep red and daunting landscrape while the areas the fire already passed through are nothing but ash and the remnants of burned out buildings. in corona a fire sparked outside this neighborhood, at least 275 firefighters racing to stop the flames as it burns right next to homes. just 30 miles north the ranch fire exploded 3,000 acres thursday afternoon. evacuations in effect right now. >> it's going to be a hot, dry summer, and it's going to be a very, very hot, dry weekend. >> temperatures in the area dipped thursday night but now officials say triple digit heat and low humidity will create dangerous and erratic conditions throughout the region. >> we have a lull in the fire because of the cloud cover but we're concerned that once this

cloud cover goes away that we're going to see a lot of active fire activity. >> reporter: the conditions perfect to form so-called firenados like this one seen thursday. and we'll take a closer look at today's weather forecast in a few moments. now to the coronavirus and a new forecast from the cdc. it's predicting up to 200,000 deaths in the u.s. by labor day. this comes as parents and teachers get new guidance on how to best keep kids safe. eye private school in florida is the latest to force students into quarantine because of a child testing positive. abc's andrea fujii has the latest. >> reporter: this morning a grim trend in america. more than 1,000 people dying from coronavirus every day in the past two weeks. although fewer states are reporting increasing cases, 17 states are seeing an increase in hospitalizations, and 21 states plus d.c. and puerto rico are seeing more daily deaths, this as many schools are still struggling with the task of bringing students back. dr. anthony fauci advising on the best way to re-open.

>> if you're in a red zone, i think you really better be careful and try to get your county, your city, your state down to a yellow or green. >> reporter: fauci also interviewed by actor matthew mcconaughey thursday. >> you want to open the bars or you want to open the schools. >> reporter: in florida tampa area schools now forced by the state to open or risk losing millions in federal funds, but for some schools that have already re-opened, swift setbacks. at least 2,400 students and staff quarantined across at least six states. in mesa, arizona, personal protective equipment now being stored in a warehouse for schools throughout the district. >> we've been ordering all summer in anticipation of return in person. >> reporter: the american academy of pediatrics now recommending all children older than 2 wear masks saying face coverings should be part of that new normal like seat belts or bike helmets. researchers at children's

hospital of philadelphia say with fall approaching, the virus could spread fast in chicago, boston and baltimore. >> they only have weeks left before the nights get colder and the transmission dynamics may actually worsen. >> reporter: boston teachers rallied outside city hall for remote only learning. their school re-opening now delayed until september 21st. in new york city, pressure mounting to delay in person learning until the end of september. in fresno, california, one private school reportedly enrolling hundreds of new students for classes, but county health officials threatening to close the school if students come on campus. later today a hearing in florida on the lawsuit brought by teachers hoping to overturn the state's order forcing schools to re-open. the hearing done on zoom because of health concerns. penn state university is revising a compact students must sign to attend classes. in the original document students assumed all virus-related risk. now the document saying even with mitigation, penn state

can't prevent exposure risks. coronavirus also forcing school sports to make big adjustments. the ncaa president announcing there won't be any fall championships this year because there aren't enough schools participating. kenneth, mona. >> andrea, thank you. to washington now. republicans and democrats are blaming each other after lawmakers left d.c. for the august recess without reaching a deal on a coronavirus relief package. the stalemate could drag on for weeks leaving the second round of $1,200 stimulus checks and other economic aid up in the air. the battle over voting by mail is taking center stage in the race for 2020 with new details overnight about possible delays in sending out ballots. meanwhile, amid the post office funding fight, president trump is hitting back at the biden campaign for suggesting that governors require people to wear a mask to stop the spread of the coronavirus. abc's ines de la cuetara has more. >> reporter: as the debate over how to hold a safe election

during the pandemic continues, president trump now telling fox news he wants to block billions of dollars from the u.s. post office to try and prevent democrats from expanding mail-in voting during the pandemic. >> they need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. now, if we don't make a deal that means they don't get the money. that means they can't have universal viting. >> reporter: he claimed it would lead to widespread voter fraud. >> the president is afraid of the american people, so he wants to put obstacles of participation. >> reporter: president's 2020 opponent calling the move an assault on our democracy. >> pure trump. >> okay, guy, let's go. let's go. come on. >> he doesn't want an election. >> reporter: in pennsylvania the u.s. postal service has already warned the state that mail-in ballots may not be delivered on time because of the state's current election deadlines. this as the pandemic takes center stage on the campaign trail. >> the vice president has been saying since the beginning of this pandemic it should be the public health professionals that are leading policy in our

country to address this lethal pandemic. >> reporter: biden now calling on all governors to impose an immediate mask mandate. >> every single american should be wearing a mask when they're outside for the next three months at a minimum. every governor should mandate, every governor should mandate mandatory mask wearing. >> reporter: the president slamming the proposal. >> biden's approach is regressive. it's anti-scientific. while joe biden has been playing politics from the sidelines, he has no clue. >> reporter: meanwhile, as the department of justice continues its investigation into the origins of the 2016 trump russia probe, attorney general bill barr announcing he may reveal some of those findings today. democrats worry it could be an attempt to sway voters between now and the november election with any last-minute announcements. kenneth and mona. >> ines, thank you.

and new reaction this morning after that breakthrough in the middle east peace process. israel and the united arab emirates have agreed to establish diplomatic relations. the uae is oy thiew oratlations l. other arab nations to follow suit. israel has agreed to suspend at least temporarily the annexation of occupied west bank territory. president trump praised the deal as historic. palestinians say they feel betrayed by the deal. time now for a look at your friday morning weather. the storm that tore through iowa this week has left nearly 200,000 power outages in its wake. it could be another week before power is fully restored. the radar shows severe weather moving into the upper midwest and damaging wind and hail are possible today. and storms with possible flooding will stretch from arkansas to the carolinas and north to new jersey.

checking today's highs, scorching in the west and southwest where temperatures in some areas could hit 117. the gulf coast will also see triple digits. coming up, a drone interrupts a major league baseball game sending players off the field. also ahead, a bison goes on the attack at a state park leaving a woman in serious condition. witnesses describe what happened moments earlier. and why one of the most popular video games in the world, fortnite, has been banned by

how will 2020 census data where there are more people, there are more needs for public services. that's why the census is used by the government to inform funding decision but that's not all. it's also used by nonprofits to inform services, by businesses to create jobs, and even by students for school projects. understanding how the population changes helps us shape communities across the country for the better. shape your future. start here. visit 2020census.gov. back now with an unusual delay at a major league baseball game. a drone delay, that is. a drone appeared over fenway

park during the red sox game. the umpires stopped the dame and pulled players off the field. about four minutes later the drone flew away, and the game resumed. frightening video from a state park in south dakota where a bison knocked a woman unconscious. she was taking pictures near a calf when the adult bison charged her tossing her in the air. she is expected to make a full recovery. park officials say people must keep their distance. >> they can turn on a dime, and they can pick up their speed in just the flick of your fingers, you know, so i mean so they're not like cattle. they're a lot more aggressive and a lot quicker on their feet. >> to be safe officials say visitors should stay at least 100 yards away from bison. the justice department is accusing yale university of discriminating against student applicants. a two-year investigation found yale rejected asian-american and white applicants based on their race. the doj is ordering yale to stop using race or national origin in the admissions possess for at least one year. the university calls the claims meritless and says it will fight the order.

prosecutors in new york say 30 women have come forward with groping accusations against cuba gooding jr. in court thursday lawyers argued over how much they'll be allowed to question the personal lives of the accusers at trial. gooding is accused of groping three women at bars in 2018 and 2019. he denies any wrongdoing. the popular video game fortnite has been removed from the app store and now its developer is firing shots at apple in court. the software giant pulled the game in response to epic games installing its own in-app payment system. the move gets around apple's 30% fee. epic responded by filing antitrust charges against apple. the suit claims the app store is a monopoly. fortnite has also been kicked off the google play store. coming up, the popular restaurant chain at risk of going bankrupt because of the pandemic. but first a man attacked by a 16-foot great white shark describes how he fought off the shark to survive.

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back now with a dolphin stampede off the coast of california. hundreds of dolphins racing along the side of a whale watching boat. it's unclear if they were escaping a predator or just chasing some food. a surfer who fought off a great white with his bare hands is sharing his story. phil murmert said a shark up to 16 feet long bit through his board and knocked him into the water off the coast of australia. he fought back using his surfboard as a weapon. >> massive, massive shark sitting there right in front of me like one foot awastjuy i just grabbed that board with both hands and was just shoving it into his mouth trying to haul it in there. it was biting on that board and it wasn't biting on me. >> another surfer helped him paddle back to shore where people on the beach helped stop the bleeding. he needed emergency surgery to

stitch up his leg and arm. >> just incredible. some popular restaurant chains could be in financial trouble because of the coronavirus pandemic. "usa today" reports the owners of chains like outback steak house, denny's, the cheesecake factory and applebee's are on a list of restaurants facing the highest likelihood of not paying back debts which could lead to bankruptcy. new questions raised about how to screen people for the virus. dr. anthony fauci is now saying temperature checks are not effective. earlier i spoke with dr. alok patel about this but we began by discussing mental health during the pandemic. a new cdc survey looked at people struggling with mental health issues stemming from the pandemic. it found that 31% experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression. 26% had trauma-related symptoms. 13% started or increased substance use, and 11% seriously considered suicide. what are your thoughts about hearing about the mental health issues tied to covid right now? >> it's sobering, and one thing to note about the study, which

has these alarming results, is it was just looking at the last week of june, and so think about what's happened after that as we lost our summer. more deaths have happened. more jobs have been lost and there's more anxiety. it has to be treated and viewed as a whole other silent epidemic. >> and dr. anthony fauci says temperature checks are unreliable for covid screening saying it's much better just to question people because temperature checks are, quote, notoriously inaccurate. what's your take on that, and what's the best way for schools and businesses to then screen people? >> temperature checks are not a bad thing. you can have them but in addition to that we need to have more screening questionnaires. if you think about the incubation period, about 2 days to 14 days when you could have the virus and not have symptoms so you could still be contagious and not have a fever and right there the temperature detectors and what dr. fauci was talking about sometimes you can have a false reading because of how hot it is outside. >> and lastly there is a new report warning the vaccine we eventually get for covid will be less effective in obese

people. what role can a person's health play? >> a person's health can play a huge role in how sick they'll get from coronavirus. there's a couple theories about the effectiveness of vaccine and people who are obese. one issue is that it might have to do with their underlying immune system. there can be chronic inflammation that prevents the vaccine from being effective. another one is they could need a bigger dose or it could be harder to hit the muscle if they're obese. >> our thanks to dr. patel. despite the pandemic tennis is back. serena williams won a fierce battle against her sister venus at the top seed open in kentucky. it's the 31st time the williams sisters have faced off as pros. coming up, how john legend and chrissy teigen just made a big announcement. also ahead, a first of its kind plan to open up the roads for self-driving cars. , bacteria is left behind. now, consider how many times your family touches the surfaces in your home in 24 hours. try new microban 24. spray on hard surfaces to kill 99.9% of viruses

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♪ because we got a big love time to check "the pulse" on this friday. we begin with some legendary news for chrissy teigen and john legend. >> so teigen is known for raising eyebrows on social media but it was her husband who was dropping jaws after this surprise announcement at the end of his new music video. take a look. ♪ yeah, i want to drive you wild, wild, wild ♪ >> that's right. teigen is expecting baby number three. she later posted this video on twitter. so we know it's official. >> it's not official until you post it on twitter. well, next we're hittinghe the fit lf-drivi car lane comi. >> it's now in the works for a stretch of road from detroit to ann arbor. state officials are working with ford and other companies to develop what will be called the michigan connective corridor. >> the plan is to eventually

expand from cars to freight vehicles and people moving vans. next amc is re-opening theaters in 100 locations next week. >> and as a little enticement to get you there, tickets will only cost 15 cents. kenneth, you heard me. 15 cents. the offer is only for next thursday. the chain is celebrating its 100th year. it's calling the promotion movies in 2020 at 1920 prices. >> but don't expect to see current blockbusters. the available shows include "ghostbusters," "black panther," "back to the future" and "grease!" all good. popcorn is still going to cost you a lot. finally three dogs teaming up to pull off a tasty heist. >> check out these pooches. they're trying to get their trainers' leftovers which are sitting right there on the stove. >> the plate is too high until the corgi gets on to the backs of the other dogs but that corgi isn't sharing in the end. the others did not get a bite. >> that is not the queen's dogs.

>> pinkies up with them. >> we'll check the top headlines next. here's to the duers. to all the people who realize they can du more with less asthma thanks to dupixent, the add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. dupixent isn't for sudden breathing problems. it can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as 2 weeks and help prevent severe asthma attacks. it's not a steroid but can help reduceweeks or eliminate oral steroids. dupixent can cause serious allergic reactions including anaphylaxis. get help right away if you have rash, shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection and don't change or stop your asthma treatments, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. are you ready to du more with less asthma? talk to your asthma specialist about dupixent. if your financial situation has changed,

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with stressballs right now at 4:27, even with fewer increases in cases, new guidelines from the cdc. the american pediatrics new recommend dag recommendations. and uber and lyft one step closer to going offline in california. the email one company just sly h iis warming uss tayarea. good morning, everybody. it is friday, august 14th. we are happy about that, but mike nicco is letting us know we need to be really careful because it will be really hot

this friday. we're talking record high lows this morning. and look at this, we're up to 13 degrees warmer than this time yesterday. so where does that put us? look at all those 60s and 70s. only a 59 in santa rosa. same thing around half moon bay. this afternoon, look for the asterisk, that is where record highs are possible. 86 in san francisco is a record tying high day. you can see 107 in concord, 91 in oakland, 97 in redwood city and 98 in san jose. i'll have the rest of the weekend forecast coming up. so you know this heat mike talked about, it will be another challenge for a lot of us because we're already pretty much stuck at the house because of the pandemic. so on top of working with home and dealing with your kids, now

you have to look for ways to stay cool. amy hollyfield is live in walnut creek with more on this. >> reporter: and a street sweeper is going by, so i apologize for the audio. but we wanted to keep monitoring this temperature gauge snowing that we are already in the 70s at 4:30 in the morning. that is an indication that it will be a hot one. yesterday out here it was pretty hot, but they are saying that today will be worse. it will be even hotter. the forecast says today the heat could peak, so that is good news that today could be the worst, but it could get up to 110 in some areas with even marinting degrees. so stay inside and avoid any outdoor activities that could cause you to overheat. and there is a spare the air warning in effect because of the lack of a breeze. some people are not only worried about the discomfort, but also their loved one's health.

>> i worry about my husband because he had a heart attack a few year anewfew years ago so t dangerous for him. >> reporter: cooling centers will be open, but social distancing is in effect. so they can only take so many people. and the one bit of possible good news in this forecast is there isn't any wind predicted. so they are saying the fire risk is low. but the temperatures will be hot, so drink a lot of water today and just take it easy. in walnut creek, amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. and the state's power grid operator has issued a flex alert for today, the first one we've seen during the pandemic. it asks you to conserve energy as much as possible between 3:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. pg&e is preparing for a public safety power shutdown off.