right now on "america this morning," holiday rush. millions hitting the roads or heading to the airport despite warnings to stay home. coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths all hitting new records overnight. the new trends, the new restrictions and the restaurant owners fighting back refusing to close. plus, the safety tips. what you need to know if you do plan to travel today. the next step. joe biden's presidency taking shape. what he plans to do in the first 100 days. criticism already pouring in for his cabinet nominees, and breaking overnight, president trump reportedly hitting the road joining rudy giuliani. six months later today marking a milestone after the death of george floyd in minneapolis. will the police really be defunded? we catch up with one man leading

the fight. plus, the popular pressure cooker being recalled because of safety concerns. the growing backlash over the grammy nominations, the big snubs and why one singer claims the awards are corrupt. and a big update on the little owl named rocky found hiding in the rockefeller christmas tree. good wednesday morning, everyone. we begin with a new number overnight, 2,000. >> that's how many deaths we saw yesterday in this country from the coronavirus. that's the highest number since early may, and for the 15th consecutive day, the number of people in the hospital with covid has set a record. >> we're seeing even longer lines for testing. people are waiting longer than five hours in their cars or on the street. many of them are hoping to see family for thanksgiving tomorrow. this morning, the holiday travel rush in full swing despite doctors pleading with americans to stay home as covid infections soar.

>> we are going to see the health care system overwhelmed. >> reporter: 47 million americans are expected to hit the road for thanksgiving. and today is expected to be the busiest day of the year so far at airports. >> you know, between 900 and a million passengers on the wednesday before thanksgiving and then probably the busiest day of the entire weekend is going to be sunday, the return day. >> they don't take temperatures. they don't do anything. they don't clean. nothing. >> reporter: scenes like this people packing onto flights raising more worry. >> we don't care about people. >> reporter: rural areas are a major concern with small hospitals now reporting a shortage of personal protective equipment. >> we're at a critical and very dangerous point in this pandemic where cases are rising in nearly every jurisdiction, and our hospital capacity is getting -- it's really getting challenged by this. >> reporter: the cdc director warns most infections are now spreading from private parties like thanksgiving dinner.

>> when we come home to the safety of our own setting not wearing masks, this is where the interhousehold transmissions are occurring. >> reporter: this morning, some glimmers of hope. some of the states hardest hit are now seeing cases plateau while seven others are now seeing a drop in positivity. but new york once the epicenter of the crisis is seeing an uptick in cases. this re-opened field hospital is seeing a steady stream of patients. >> we'll actually be making sure that we get this filled up, at least our first floor over the next several days. >> reporter: new york's governor now changing his holiday plans after being criticized for inviting his 89-year-old mother to dinner. >> i didn't want to disappoint my mother but sometimes hard is smart. >> reporter: more cities are closing restaurants. a judge tuesday refused to block the ban on outdoor dining in los angeles, which takes effect tonight. >> and how does l.a. expect us to survive when they've taken away our ability to make money after we've invested so much money also playing the game how they want it played?

they change the rules constantly. >> reporter: in new york one restaurant owner refuses to follow orders. he's declared his pub a, quote, autonomous zone and vows to stay open. >> this was a dream for me and my partner, and for it to be stripped away is very tough, and it's a very scary time we're in. >> and more sporting events are being postponed or canceled due to covid concerns. the wisconsin/minnesota football game this weekend will be canceled for the first time in 113 years. hospitals are warning about the extreme shortage of blood donations. they say blood supplies are alarmingly low. many collection centers have been closed because of covid. we turn now to the transition of power in washington. president-elect joe biden is explaining what he wants to do in his first 100 days in office and he's also explaining what will be different compared to when president obama was in office. abc's elizabeth schulze has the details from washington. elizabeth, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, kenneth.

the biden administration is taking shape and the president-elect is unveiling which issues he'll tackle first. this morning, president-elect joe biden revealing his priorities for the first months of his administration saying this won't be another term of the obama white house. >> we face a totally different world than we faced in the obama/biden administration. >> reporter: as early as today, biden will receive his first presidential daily briefing after a federal agency formally began the transition of power finally allowing the biden team access to the government's coronavirus response data. >> we're already working on meeting with the covid team in the white house and how to not only distribute but get vaccinated, so i think we're going to be not so far behind the curve as we thought in the past. >> reporter: in his first post-election interview biden looked ahead to his first 100 days in office promising to roll back president trump's executive orders on the environment. >> i think very damaging

executive orders that have significantly impacted on making the climate worse and making us less healthy. >> reporter: biden also committed to getting immigration reform through congress. >> the first 100 days i will send an immigration bill to the united states senate with a pathway to citizenship for over 11 million undocumented people in america. >> reporter: but passing an immigration bill will likely depend on which party controls the senate, and that won't be decided until january after runoffs in georgia. inside the white house president trump has yet to concede and held a 64-second briefing tuesday taking credit for the rally on wall street despite previously warning that the market would crash if biden were elected. >> the stock market has just broken 30,000. never been broken, that number. that's a sacred number, 30,000. >> reporter: in the meantime, biden's cabinet nominees are already facing criticisms just hours after they were announced. senator marco rubio suggesting he'll vote against their confirmations tweeting the group

went to ivy league school, have strong resumes, attend all the right conferences and will be polite and orderly caretakers of america's decline. some of those nominees making history. avril haines as the first female director of national intelligence. alejandro mayorkas, the first latino and first immigrant up for homeland security secretary. and longtime aide, tony blinken nominated for secretary of state spoke about his stepfather, only 1 of 900 children at his school in poland to survive the holocaust. >> at the end of the war he made a break from the death march into the woods in bavaria. from his hiding place he heard a deep rumbling sound, it was a tank. the hatch opened. an african-american g.i. looked down at him. he got down on his knees and said the only three words he knew in english that his mother taught him before the war, god bless america. >> biden's transition team says later today the president-elect will deliver a thanksgiving address to america.

kenneth. >> elizabeth schulze there in washington. thank you. president trump is expected to travel to pennsylvania today joining his attorney rudy giuliani. it comes as state republicans hold a hearing on election fraud allegations. it's at a hotel in gettysburg not at the state capitol because it's not a formal legislative hearing. six months ago today george floyd a death under the knee of a minneapolis police officer sparked a national movement. the killing prompted calls to defund the police. the minneapolis city council approved a plan to dismantle the police force. it was later rejected by the city's charter commission. but one lawmaker says change is still possible. >> i think i'm not surprised about where we are. there is a significant conversation that's been generated about public safety, not just in minneapolis, but i think across the country. >> meanwhile, there's been a major increase in crime. the number of murders in minneapolis has nearly doubled last year's number. time now for a look at your wednesday weather.

at least seven buildings have reportedly collapsed after severe storms moved through. a family suffered minor injuries when the roof of a drive-through restaurant fell on their car. that storm is moving north and east and will bring rain to the midwest and snow to parts of new england. the rain hits the east coast tomorrow morning making for a wet thanksgiving. today's temperatures, 50s from d.c. to boston. mild from texas across the southeast. chilly in the pacific northwest. 72 in phoenix. 54 in albuquerque. coming up, prisoners getting unemployment benefits behind bars. how it happened. also ahead, caught on camera, the swimmer who got way too close to this shark. and the growing backlash hours after the grammy nominations were announced. the snubs and even reports of an ultimatum. what we're learning next. ♪ ooh i'm blinded by the light ♪

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back now with a close call for this swimmer in miami. a dwroen captured a ten-foot hammerhead shark swimming just underneath the man who had no clue what was lurking below the surface. fortunately for him the shark swam off eventually. >> lucky man. a massive fraud investigation in california. prosecutors say the state paid unemployment benefits to at least 20,000 prisoners including some on death row. they say the state approved more than $140 million for the inmates since the start of the pandemic. scott peterson, who was convicted of killing his pregnant wife, was on that list. the claims were filed under real and fake names. now to the growing backlash over the grammy nominations out this morning including reports of an ultimatum given to one top artist who is now accusing the

grammys of corruption because of how the nominations are made. abc's megan tevrizian has more. >> reporter: this morning the biggest story about the grammy nominations is who didn't get one. the weeknd shut out after releasing one of the most praised albums of the year. ♪ i said, ooh, i'm blinded by the light ♪ >> reporter: "blinding lights," the longest running top ten hit in billboard history overlooked. the canadian artist now calling the grammys corrupt on twitter. tmz reporting he was snubbed after he chose to perform at the super bowl over the grammys. >> the song "blinding lights" is the sound of 2020. to have a song like that that is not recognized by music's biggest night is really shocking. >> reporter: other snubs include bob dylan, the chicks, luke coombs, halsey, selena gomez and the killerz. ♪ yeah you got that yummy yum >> reporter: justin bieber was

nominated but he's still crying foul taking to social media. he expected his "changes" album to be recognized in r&b, not pop. writing in part, from the chords to the melodies to the vocal style it is undeniably an unmistably an r&b album. i absolutely love pop music. it just wasn't what i set out to make this time around. ♪ >> reporter: it's another good year for female artists, beyonce leading the field with a record-breaking nine nominations. ♪ who needs to go to sleep when i got you next to me ♪ >> reporter: dua lipa and taylor swift both picking up six nods. swift is up to win her third album of the year for "folklore." if taylor swift does win for "folklore," she'll be the first female to win album of the year three times. kenneth, mona. >> thank you, megan. coming up, the world series star who is now in custody south

of the border. also ahead, just in time for thanksgiving, a popular crock pot being recalled because of safety concerns. hey les! her thick red stew's scrumptious scent wafted out of the window. hmm, be right back. ...mmm...

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family conflict. espn reports tampa bay's randy arozarena was detained after allegedly trying to take his daughter from her mom and assaulting the woman's father. he has not been formally charged. major league baseball investigating. with thanksgiving nearly here, a popular cooker in kitchens is being recalled. sunbeam says its six-quart express multicooker can be has orderous recalling nearly 1 million of them and says the pot's lid can detach while the pots are in use. about 100 injuries have been reported. our website has more information. despite the pandemic millions of americans are traveling. so doctors are sharing important safety tips, also this morning the cdc could be changing its guidelines on when to quarantine. earlier i spoke with dr. alok patel. the cdc is considering whether to shorten the quarantine period recommended for people who are exposed to the coronavirus. what's your take on this potential change? >> this is assuming people can get a negative test after about three days from that initial

exposure and so with average symptoms usually popping up after an exposure from around five to seven days, if you were to have a negative test and then quarantine for four to five more days it seems likely you can end early but i hope everyone pays attention to getting a negative test. that's crucial. >> people are ignoring cdc guidance and they're traveling. we've seen some packed airports. how can people that fly protect themselves beyond just wearing a mask? >> people are definitely ignoring the travel advisories. it really comes down to trying to do your best to stay away. try your best to try to limit the amount of times you go to the bathroom, touch an armrest and do all things that could get you in contact with the virus. >> we know the demand for testing has skyrocketed because of the holiday. what are your biggest concerns and should asymptomatic people even bother to get tested at this point? >> we're now seeing about a million and a half tests a day throughout the month of november. that's not increasing wait times to get a test. that's putting a lot of strain

on labs themselves, so that's causing a delay in how soon people are getting the results back. if you've been exposed or you're high risk, it is probably a good idea to get tested but i would recommend people don't just get tested because they want to or want to travel. we should have good reasons to get tested. >> dr. patel, president-elect joe biden says he wants to re-open schools as quickly as possible but he says it's expensive to get new ventilation systems. what do you think are the biggest hurdles to re-opening schools? >> i think one hurdle is the lack of a unified prioritization, that schools should be re-opened in the first bunch of businesses or institutions re-opened. i mean above bars, restaurants and gyms, schools are crucial for children's development, education. there's a lot of food insecure children out there, children in unsafe homes and we should do our best to make sure they're opened safely. >> big thanks to dr. patel. coming up, why hot sauce is red hot right now. a big update on rocky the owl who was found hiding in that

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♪ time to check "the pulse" on this day before thanksgiving. we begin with rocky flying off into the sunset. >> no, not that rocky. rockefeller, the tiny owl found in the rockefeller center christmas tree last week. he -- she is now a free bird. >> get it right. rocky was released into the wild last night after a few days of treatment before flying off. handlers discovered that rocky is a female. >> she was expected to start migrating south overnight. >> look at that graphic behind us. i love our graphics department. next people are trying to pay their way out of coronavirus testing lines. >> they're going online to find people to hold their spot for them, and it's a lucrative business. people in new york are using

taskrabbit to hire people to stand in line for them saving them hours and get notified when the person is almost at the front of the line. >> some are getting $80 an hour. next, america is turning up the heat. hot sauce is red hot. >> here's the proof. the spicemaker mccormick just bought the hot sauce cholula for $800 million. the brand has skyrocketed in value as americans' tastes get spicier. >> since the pandemic began and more people started cooking at home, sales of spices and hot sauces are burning up. >> you have it in your bag? >> no, i do not. swag. finally, a picture that's worth a thousand laughs. it's all thanks to a hilarious mom fail. brittany wanted to skip the name engraving on her 5-year-old son's kindergarten photo, so she typed in the words, i don't want this, and that's exactly what was printed on mason's photo. >> mom says it will make a great 2020 memory because really a lot of things this year, i don't want that. >> hey.

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checking the top stories, president-elect joe biden expects to receive his first presidential briefing as early as today. after introducing six cabinet picks, biden said his first 100 days in office will include rolling back president trump's environmental policies and pushing a bill that provides a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants. president trump has reportedly held talks about pardoning former national security adviser michael flynn who pleaded guilty three years ago to lying to the fbi about his russian contacts. since then flynn has tried to withdraw his plea citing misconduct by prosecutors. the number of daily deaths in the u.s. from the coronavirus has surpassed 2,000 for the first time since early may, and now crowds are packing into airports to fly home despite doctors warning people not to travel. more than 4 million people have taken flight since friday. today's weather, rain and snow in the pacific northwest. sunny in the rockies.

tough traveling with severe storms in the southeast and rain all the way to the great lakes and northeast. and finally, a curious sight in the utah desert right out of a sci-fi movie. >> our clayton sandell has the latest on a growing mystery. >> reporter: it starts like a good sci-fi movie in an area of utah people actually call mars of the earth. >> the intrepid explorers go down to investigate the alien life form. >> reporter: wildlife officials minding their own business counting big horn sheep from a helicopter last week looked down and spotted this. >> what the heck is that? >> reporter: the crew landed the chopper and began to investigate finding a shiny, triangular monolith standing about two earthlings high solidly mounted to the rock. >> cut in. >> that is just wild. >> reporter: there are many questions, is it a rogue art installation, a practical joke, and, most importantly, how did they get it here? of course, it didn't take long for social media to conjure up theories of alien invastions. >> even going down there, they

were nervous, were they going to get teleported to another dimension? upon closer inspection this is definitely a human made object and placed there by their fellow human beings, and it's not anything other than somebody's attempt at maybe an art installation or something like that. >> okay. who does this kind of stuff? >> reporter: for now officials say they won't pinpoint the exact location saying they're worried inexperienced trekkers might get lost or stranded. >> it might be one of the most remote areas in the lower 48 states. there's a lot of country out there. it's canyon country. >> reporter: since this monolith is on federal public land, the u.s. government will now have to decide whether to tear it down or to let it stay and, of course, the biggest mystery is who put it there and how? that is all still under investigation, and as they used to say on "the x-files," the truth is out there. ♪ >> did clayton just get abducted? >> i think so. but i thought we sent the men in black to investig

right now on "america this morning," holiday rush. millions hitting the roads or heading to the airport despite warnings to stay home. coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths all hitting new records overnight. the new trends, the new restrictions and the restaurant owners fighting back refusing to close. plus, the safety tips. what you need to know if you do plan to travel today. the next step. joe biden's presidency taking shape. what he plans to do in the first 100 days. criticism already pouring in for his cabinet nominees, and breaking overnight, president trump reportedly hitting the road joining rudy giuliani. six months later today marking a milestone after the death of george floyd in minneapolis. will the police really be defunded? we cat