right now on "america this morning," a new prediction about the coronavirus with more states seeing a record number of hospitalizations. dr. anthony fauci warning all americans what not to do on thanksgiving and overseas a major european city under curfew but this morning a new call from president trump to re-open schools. what's behind his new push. the race for the white house takes a new turn with dueling town halls tonight on prime-time tv. this morning the surprising new poll results from red state georgia and the biden campaign reveals how much money it raised last month. it's happened again. another person flying with a jetpack high above one of the nation's busiest airports posing a danger to passenger jets. the urgent new plea from the

fbi. plus, caught on camera, two paragliders getting a visit from a vulture. emergency on the ice when the zamboni catches fire. and music's big night, the billboard music awards. ♪ the big stars, the big winners and one very powerful performance. good thursday morning, everyone. i'm mona kosar abdi. >> i'm will reeve. kenneth is off. we begin with a new prediction about the coronavirus. >> researchers are predicting a significant increase in new cases over the next four weeks. we're already averaging more than 50,000 cases per day. >> we're also learning more about president trump's son barron who tested positive. the president speaking in iowa last night cited his son's case as more evidence that schools should re-open.

>> it all comes as six states report a record number of hospitalizations with none of the 50 states trending in the right direction when it comes to new infections. this morning, president trump revealing new details about his teenage son's covid diagnosis. >> he had it for such a short period of time. i don't even think he knew he had it because they're young and their immune systems are strong. >> reporter: at a rally in iowa where thousands packed into an airport hangar, the president cited his son barron's case for re-opening schools. >> people have it and it goes -- get the kids back to school. we've got to get the kids back to school. >> reporter: earlier first lady melania trump revealed 14-year-old son barron tested positive not long after she and the president did. the first lady writing, quote, luckily he is a strong teenager and exhibited no symptoms saying he has since tested negative. this morning cases of the virus are surging in 35 states. in ohio more than 2,000 new

cases yesterday, the biggest spike in that state since the pandemic began. in kansas, officials now reporting the largest seven-day increase in deaths and cases. and in wisconsin, hospitalizations hitting an all-time high. >> we have to get this virus under control and help flatten the curve. >> reporter: new research shows infections are also on track to rise significantly in the southeast and the southwest, and it's not just the u.s. where concern is growing. in paris a new 9:00 p.m. curfew will be imposed in an effort to control the virus. italy just reported a record increase in cases. and these images from liverpool, england, show a large street party the night before new lockdowns went into place. back in the u.s. dr. anthony fauci is sounding the alarm about holiday plans. >> you may have to bite the bullet and sacrifice that social gathering. >> reporter: dr. fauci says his grown children won't be coming home for thanksgiving for fear of spreading the virus. >> but my children are in three separate states throughout the country, and in order for them to get here, they would all have to go to an airport, get on a

plane, travel with public transportation. they themselves because of their concern for me and my age have decided they're not going to come home for thanksgiving. >> reporter: meanwhile, another high-profile positive test. >> i feel fine. i felt fine. i was very surprised, you know, by this. >> reporter: alabama football coach nick saban now working from home via zoom. >> i can do absolutely everything here that i would do. i'll have the same exact routine. >> reporter: and this morning, a disturbing story from idaho where officials say some college students deliberately tried to get infected so they could sell their blood plasma. a new round of coronavirus relief money is not expected any time soon. treasury secretary steve mnuchin now says a deal on a stimulus package is unlikely before election day but promised to continue negotiations with house speaker nancy pelosi who has rejected a $1.8 trillion package. now to the race for the

white house, president trump and joe biden holding separate town halls tonight at the same time. meanwhile, we have a surprising new poll from the red state of georgia and overnight the biden campaign sharing new fund-raising numbers. abc's elizabeth schulze has the latest. good morning, elizabeth. >> reporter: hey, good morning, mona. with 19 days until the election early voting moving at a record pace, people waiting in line for ten hours in some places. it comes as the candidates prepare for dueling prime-time tv events tonight. in iowa, this billboard greeted the president's supporters heading to his rally last night. the superspreader sign paid for anti-trump political group pointing toward the airport. >> if you can wear the hat, i can wear the hat. >> reporter: where president trump spoke to a crowd of thousands. >> get the hell out to vote because if i don't get iowa, i won't believe that one. i may never have to come back here again if i don't get iowa. i'll never be back. >> reporter: polls show a dead heat, a state he won in 2016 by

ten points. >> first time i'm voting early, but i didn't want to leave to it chance. >> reporter: this morning, voter enthusiasm is smashing records across the country with early voting under way in nearly every state. in georgia where one new poll claims biden is now leading trump by seven points, election officials are adding voting machines at some locations to help ease long lines. >> georgia voters are excited and setting records every hour and this is all during a pandemic, lest we forget. >> reporter: and now the biden campaign revealing it raised $383 million in september, a record breaking one-month sum. >> i just want to thank you, thank you, thank you for all you've done for me. >> reporter: later today trump and biden will take questions from voters in dueling prime-time tv events. a debate initially scheduled for tonight was canceled after the president's covid-19 diagnosis and his refusal to take part in a virtual debate, so nbc wednesday announced a town hall with the president tonight at the same time as abc's previously scheduled town hall

with joe biden. >> are you as mad as everybody else is that nbc is doing a town hall with president trump tomorrow instead of the debate at the same time that vice president biden is going to be on abc? >> i'm not touching that. >> reporter: in the meantime, president trump's supreme court nominee is one step closer to being confirmed before the election following two days of questioning. >> you will be confirmed, god willing. you will have my full support. >> reporter: barrett is not expected to appear in front of the senate judiciary committee again. today witnesses will testify arguing for and against her. the senate committee is expected to vote on barrett's confirmation next week with the full senate vote following soon after that. mona. >> elizabeth, thank you. the postal service has agreed to reverse all changes blamed for slowing down mail across the country. the settlement requires the post office to prioritize election mail. collection boxes and mail sorting machines will be returned, and restrictions on overtime will be dropped. the judge who temporarily

blocked the changes last month labeled them a politically motivated attack. new details about a racially charged incident in new york's central park back in may, a bird watcher who is black asked a white woman to put her dog on a leash. that set off an altercation that went viral. >> an african-american man. i am in central park. he is recording me and threatening myself and my dog. i am being threatened by a man in the ramble. please send the cops immediately. >> reporter: now prosecutors say that woman, amy cooper, made a second 911 call falsely claiming the man tried to assault her. she's charged with filing a false report and is now negotiating a plea deal. police near houston are looking into why an apartment complex under construction exploded in flames. windows cracked under the intense heat. the fire and smoke were visible ten miles away. thankfully no major injuries were reported. time now for a look at your thursday weather.

rain is expected today from texas all the way to new england, but no severe storms forecasted. colorado's largest ever wildfire has forced new evacuations near ft. collins. heavy wind pushed the cameron peak fire to nearly 160,000 acres. in southern california, new video overnight shows a brush fire threatening homes near the city of redlands. california remains warmer than normal today. extreme fire danger. cooler in the northern rockies and plains, and it's 70s in the northeast. coming up, america's growing problem with rats. the city with the worst problem and, no, it's not new york. >> really? but first another alarming report of someone wearing a jetpack in the skies near a major airport. what we are learning now about that investigation. and later, one girl's tragic death after jumping on a

but that's tough to do on a fixed income. i'd be hit with a tax penalty for moving to another county, so i'm voting 'yes' on prop 19. it limits property taxes and lets seniors transfer their home's current tax base to another home that's closer to family or medical care. being closer to family is important to me. how about you? voting 'yes' on prop 19.

we're back with a blazing zamboni at this ice rink in western new york. managers say the fire was caused by flammable liquid dripping onto the motor. the driver wasn't hurt and the flames were quickly extinguished. the fbi is investigating a mystery in the sky over one of the nation's busiest airports. a person flying in a jetpack has been seen again posing a serious risk to planes. here's abc's andrea fujii. >> reporter: this morning, authorities investigating again if someone is flying high over l.a.x. in a jetpack. >> flying object? was it a uav or was it a jetpack? >> reporter: pilots and the control tower confused by the dangerous stunt wednesday afternoon. >> idaho-30, and there was a

jetpack reported about seven miles away. there's no way you can go and check that out, can you? >> reporter: the fbi now investigating. the faa saying, a china airlines crew reported seeing what appeared to be someone in a jetpack at an approximate altitude of 6,000 feet about seven miles northwest of los angeles international airport. the faa alerted local law enforcement and will look into the report. this is the second time something like this has happened near l.a.x. in august an american airlines pilot reported a man flying in a jetpack at 3,000 feet and just 300 yards from the plane. a jetblue pilot seeing the same thing. >> person on a jetpack reported 300 yards south of the l.a. final at about 3,000 feet. >> reporter: the controller concluded with -- >> only in l.a. >> reporter: no injuries were reported in any of the incidents. the faa says it is illegal for anyone to fly with a jetpack in commercial airline space or alongside a plane. mona, will. >> andrea, thank you. rodents have become a bigger

problem than ever because the pandemic has shut down restaurants forcing them to find other food sources. and when it comes to rats, a new survey finds chicago has the biggest problem followed by l.a., new york, d.c. and san francisco. police in san francisco are investigating a possible break-in and theft at the city zoo. a highly endangered ring-tailed lemur named maki is missing. officials say the 21-year-old has exceeded his life expectancy and needs special care. anyone with information is asked to call the police. coming up, the biggest drug bust of its kind in u.s. history. also ahead, two paragliders getting a visit from a vulture. yikes. these are real people, not actors, who've got their eczema under control. with less eczema, you can show more skin. so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind

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largest domestic seizure of crystal meth in u.s. history. 2,200 pounds. agents say the drugs were found in a stash house near los angeles packed in duffel bags with nearly 900 pounds of cocaine. they say anyone responsible for that much drugs must be connected to the cartels. returning to the coronavirus, we're learning more about the risk of getting infected on a plane. also this morning, a report that your blood type could influence your risk. earlier i spoke with dr. laleh gharahbaghian about these latest headlines. with the holidays approaching, there's a new study on the risk of getting covid-19 while flying. what are the takeaways? >> they did a study where they used a man begin. they put a surgical mask on the mannequin and they tested whether the area around the mannequin can transmit particles when the mannequin has the surgical mask on. there's a few limitations. first it's a mannequin and it's not a real human being

who may act differently with a cough or when they laugh. so what it means is masks work. screening before boarding a plane also works and there's still risk. whether it may not be the airplane as much as it is standing in line for security or for checking in your luggage or for simply waiting to board the airplane, so there's still risk. it's probably a little more than going to the grocery store. >> there's also a new study that looked at whether your blood type can influence your risk of getting covid. what do we need to know about that study? >> there is definitely no such thing as a blood type making you immune or equaling zero risk to contracting covid because every single blood type has gotten covid. but we really won't know whether blood type is truly correlated to covid infectivity for probably a year or two. we already know that genetics

play a role as to how a body responds to infection but may be blood type is correlated but too soon to tell. >> a british man reportedly lost his hearing in one ear after getting the coronavirus. has a case like that been documented before? >> i haven't heard a case of that have being documented before but what it says is this is a brand-new virus. we have no idea what the long-term impacts or effects of this virus is going to be. we're not going to know for several years. >> our thanks to dr. gharahbaghian. in sports the dodgers set a record by scoring 11 runs in the first inning in their game against the braves. they later added four more. the final score, 15-3. meanwhile, a little bit closer in the a.l., the astros beat the rays, 4-3. coming up, the new kind of face covering everyone will want. first the highlights and powerful performances at the billboard music awards. ♪ before voltaren arthritis pain gel, my husband would have been on the sidelines. but not anymore!

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♪ seasons change and our love went cold ♪ time to check "the pulse" and we begin with rapper post malone the big winner at the billboard music awards. >> it was a night of celebrating music's biggest hits. kelly clarkson hosted the event inside an empty dolby theatre. >> post malone led the night taking home nine awards. after the show the rapper said he's blown away by the support. he beat out billie eilish for the night's biggest prize top artist but she still won top female artist. john legend returning to stage for the first time since he and his wife chrissy teigen suffered a pregnancy loss. he performed his new song "never break," and he dedicated it to teigen. ♪ next if you notice something different about your dog lately, it might be his personality. >> so researchers have found the dog's personality changes over time. a new study found a dog's

novelty seeking character declines after age 3. active and curious dogs will become less active as they age just like humans but if they're obedient, they tend to stay that way. >> the researchers found dogs also retain their ability to handle frustration. next a mask that any bacon lover must have. >> it's from hormel. the meat company says its breathable bacon mask features the latest in pork scented technology. >> yum. the mask is two-ply cloth decorated with bacon slices. they're free, but you have to enter a drawing online. >> i already put in your email dress. it was mona.abdi.kosar at -- >> as long as it's kosher. finally an especially hot treat for halloween. dunkin' is out with a limited edition sweet and spicy doughnut. that's more my style sprinkled with a blend of cayenne and ghost peppers. >> whoa. what a turn at the end there. the ghost pepper is 400 times

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now at 5:00, red flag

warning and heat and wind advisories. mike is tracking the high fire danger and these summer-like temperatures. a lot of people think we're shut down. it's not good. pg&e is not helping. >> lights off. pg&e has cut the power to thousands because of the high fire danger. we'll tell you about the resources available if you're in the dark this morning. and a brand-new interview with dr. fauci this morning. his warning about the pandemic as we head into winter. it's thursday, october 15th. >> a lot to cover including the high fire danger and hot temperatures across the bay area. i want to check in with meteorologist mike nicco. >> yeah. definitely want to seek air conditioning if you can. you guys in the studio there, some of you don't have air conditioning, maybe stay at work longer today. i'm here, just to give you a reference where i am, air conditioner is now. wind advisory for the