have a great friday. right now on "america this morning," zero capacity. hospitals in california with no room left in their icus. covid cases surging to alarming levels. patients dying while waiting for a bed. breaking overnight, new hope for a third vaccine just hours after the second candidate moved one step closer to emergency approval. plus, the new stimulus package on capitol hill and word that president trump wanted $2,000 stimulus checks. grave threat. new details about that massive cyberattack targeting u.s. government agencies blamed on russian hackers, even breaching the nuclear security agency. what the experts are saying, plus the new security alert about a popular tv made in china. digging out. the destruction after that historic storm dumped nearly

four feet of snow. the big concern this weekend. new overnight, incoming first lady dr. jill biden hits back after critics question the doctor in her title. plot twist, the new plan for an "all my children" reboot. and from the member of congress who cracked open a beer on the house floor to tropicana apologizing for suggesting you add something to your oj to get you through the day, all the trending stories to kick off your morning. good friday morning, everyone. we have several new developments in the coronavirus emergency including news about a potential third vaccine. >> but first new details on the scope of the crisis inside hospitals right now. the cdc predicts the u.s. could see 391,000 deaths from covid by january 9th. that's about 80,000 more deaths in the next three weeks. >> also overnight we learned that the wife of health and human services secretary alex

azar has tested positive. azar says he plans to keep working while following cdc guidelines. this morning, vice president mike pence will receive his covid vaccine as he looks to assure americans that it's safe and members of congress will soon follow. in the meantime, the so-called winter surge is accelerating. isorng, california is bracing for its darkest days yet. >> this, my fellow angelinos, is an emergency. >> emergency rooms across los angeles are looking more like war zones. >> combat. this is combat. >> reporter: doctors and nurses overwhelmed. >> this morning we had three code blues at the same time. >> reporter: icus in southern california are now full. patients are lining er hallways, some dying while waiting for a bed. >> you have to pick which one of your patients has the best chances of making it. >> reporter: the state now the nation's epicenter with cases, hospitalizations and deaths all on the rise. the positivity rate nearing 20% in some areas. l.a.'s mayor revealing that

despite following safety measures, he's now in quarantine after his 9-year-old tested positive. >> we haven't mixed households. we haven't -- there's no behavior that she has engaged in. >> reporter: and california is not alone. a new forecast shows the southeast faces an especially high risk for a surge in cases including atlanta, south carolina, north carolina and tennessee. experts are urging governors to take a stand against holiday events because the ongoing surge is the worst yet. >> you don't have to cancel things. you can still spend time with your family. i'm just asking people to be careful. >> reporter: but on thursday an fda committee set the stage for the approval of a second covid vaccine. the advisory panel voting 20-0 to recommend emergency use authorization for moderna's vaccine. nearly 6 million doses could ship early next week without the need for special freezers. the strict protocols for shipping pfizer's vaccine have already created complications. at least one hospital was forced to throw away nearly 1,000 doses compromised during shipping. >> the shipment may have been

shipped too cold and that we should not use it. >> reporter: some states now claim they're seeing 30% to 40% fewer vaccine doses being delivered than they expected but federal officials insist between pfizer and moderna's vaccines they'll still meet their goal of delivering 20 million vaccine doses by year's end. meanwhile overnight we learned johnson & johnson is ready to begin stage 3 if its vaccine trial. the company says it could apply for authorization by february. congress is hoping to strike a deal on a relief package this weekend. president trump reportedly wanted to include stimulus checks of $2,000, but "the washington post" reports his aides convinced him that the checks in that amount would derail negotiations. lawmakers appeared to be settled on $600 payment and $300 per week for unemployment. claims continue to rise. now at their highest level since early september. we're learning more about a cyberattack that targeted the federal government being called

a grave risk. the energy department's nuclear security agency was among those targeted. we're also learning about a security risk involving a popular tv made in china. abc's andrew dymburt has the latest for thus morning. good morning, andrew. >> reporter: and good morning, mona. experts say that this cyberattack that targeted u.s. government agencies may be far more pervasive than originally thought, and experts are scrambling to determine how much damage has been done. this morning, the number of government agencies impacted by a russian cyberattack is growing. a new analysis by microsoft shows the breach is international with at least seven countries affected including canada and israel. but 80% of the accounts affected were in the u.s. >> what's so scary about it is we could wait to see any decision from the hackers, appear to be the russians, on what they choose to do with those networks. >> reporter: treasury, homeland security and state, even the national institutes of health have been compromised. and now abc news confirms the

energy department's nuclear security agency, which oversees the nuclear weapons stockpile, has been breached. according to the department, the hack impacted nonclassified systems and not those involving national security functions but intelligence officials acknowledge the hack, quote, poses a grave risk to federal and local governments, as well as critical infrastructure. >> what i'm really worried about is what they might do beyond spying to mess with our public and its trust of its institutions. >> reporter: sources say the breach allowed russians to view emails of u.s. officials apparently going undetected for nearly six months. the white house has not issued a response to the attack. senator mitt romney calls that silence stunning. >> a cyberhack of this nature is really the modern equivalent of almost russian bombers reportedly flying undetected over the entire country, and they didn't drop bombs, but they had the capacity to show that our defense is extraordinarily inadequate. >> reporter: in the meantime, a

troubling new message from homeland security about a popular chinese made tv. the department telling abc news the tcl television is made with a back door that can be accessed remotely without the owner's permission allowing a hacker to download the owner's personal information. tcl has not commented on the allegations. and as for that russian cyberattack, investigators say it could take weeks, maybe even months, to determine its overall impact, mona. >> andrew, thank you. nearly 350 students kidnapped from a boys school in nigeria have been set free. they were taken one week ago. the extremist group boko haram which is affiliated with al qaeda claimed responsibility. it's unclear if any ransom was paid. back in this country agents busted a drug trafficking ring operated by college fraternities in north carolina. prosecutors have charged 21 people they describe as hardened drug dealers and say the drunk ring funneled $1.5 million in marijuana, cocaine and other

drugs onto campuses including duke university and unc. now the aftermath of that nasty nor'easter. 42 inches was too much for this inflatable sports complex in binghampton, new york. no one was inside when it collapsed. as many as 44 inches of snow fell in parts of upstate new york and new england. look at that. meanwhile, we're hearing from a survivor of this deadly 66-vehicle chain reaction crash on interstate 80 in central pennsylvania. two people were killed as the cars and trucks piled up. >> the trucks that were behind me with the way the snow was falling was almost whiteout. they couldn't see us stop in time and they were unable to stop kind of hitting the back of my car and pushing me probably about 50 to 100 yards into the back of a truck that was in front of me that was stopped. >> that man waited five hours before he was taken to the hospital. let's take a look now at your friday forecast. a blast of bitter cold air has

followed the storm into the northeast creating icy roads. windchills this morning will be in the single digits across much of new england. it will be only slightly warmer in boston, new york and philadelphia. the high temperature in washington, d.c. today will be only 40 degrees, elsewhere, 30s around the great lakes. readings into the 50s from the plains to the gulf coast, 72 in miami and the southwest and southern california will be in the 60s. 69, los angeles. coming up, why home depot is facing a big fine. also ahead, a man with links to sex offender jeffrey epstein is arrested. what we're learning. plus, incoming first lady, dr. jill biden fires back after being urged to drop the doctor title. and a moose on the loose on

back now with a moose that nearly collided with people skiing in park city, utah. the moose ran right onto the slopes. one surprised skier yelled crikey. no word if he was australian. the moose didn't seem interested in bothering anyone. it wandered into the woods. a former associate of sex offender jeffrey epstein has been detained in paris. jean-luc brunel was a top agent at a french modeling agency accused of raping and drugging women and underage gurriels and human trafficking. brunel has been under investigation since epstein died by suicide. incoming first lady dr. jill biden is speaking for the first time about calls for her to drop other doctor title because she's not a medical doctor and says the criticism was a surprise. here's abc's andrea fujii. >> reporter: this morning, dr. jill biden, defending her title after an op-ed urged her to drop it. >> that was such a surprise. >> reporter: earlier this week

"the wall street journal" published the op-ed in which the author, joseph epstein, said biden should not be called doctor because her degree is in education, not medicine. >> it was really the tone of it that i think that -- you know, he called me kiddo. >> reporter: fox news host tucker carlson also chimed in calling biden borderline illiterate while referencing her dissertation. in response at least one advertiser has now apparently pulled out of carlson's show. speaking with stephen colbert dr. biden explained how she felt when so many people came to her defense, many calling the op-ed sexist and misogynistic. >> i was just overwhelmed by how gracious people were. >> her husband admitting it was hard to bite his tongue. >> i've been suppressing my irishness for a long time. >> reporter: president-elect biden also addressed the federal tax investigation focusing on his son hunter and his business dealings with china. >> we have great confidence in

our son. i am not concerned about any accusations that have been made against him. it's used to get to me. i think it's kind of foul play but, look, it is what it is and it doesn't mean i wasn't angry and doesn't mean if i wasn't back in the days of high school i wouldn't say come here and go around. >> reporter: biden says he thinks the investigation is a personal attack but promised to continue to reach across the aisle after he takes office. now back to dr. jill biden, she's been an english professor at northern virginia community college since 2009 and she says she plans to continue working while at the white house making her the first first lady to hold a paying job during her husband's presidency. kenneth, mona. >> andrea, thank you. home depot will pay a record fine over lead paint violations. the epa investigated home renovations completed by the company. it found contractors in five states were not following regulations. the company will pay $20 million and says it is committed to safety.

all right, coming up, the woman who found a critter in her christmas tree. also ahead, why tropicana is apologizing after suggesting you add something to your orange juice to get through the day. ...this one's for you. you inspired us to make your humira experience even better... with humira citrate-free. it has the same effectiveness you know and trust, but we removed the citrate buffers, there's less liquid, and a thinner needle... with less pain immediately following injection. ask your doctor about humira citrate-free. and you can use your co-pay card to pay as little as $5 a month. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections,... ...including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened,... ...as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems,... ...serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common... and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections,... or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. ask your doctor about humira citrate-free.

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her dining room chandelier and shooed it outside one hour later with a broom. two members of the family who own purdue pharma, makers of oxycontin, were called evil during a congressional hearing. democrats accuse david sackler and his cousin kathy of getting rich while thousands overdozed and said it played a role in the opioid epidemic but admitted no personal wrongdoing. >> i want to express my family's deep sadness at the opioid crisis. oxycontin is a medicine that purdue intended to help people, and it has helped and continues to help millions of americans. >> watching you testify makes my blood boil. i'm not sure that i'm aware of any family in america that's more evil than yours. >> purdue has already pleaded guilty for improperly marketing as part of an $8 billion settlement. turning back to the coronavirus there's some confusion about vaccine shipments being delayed. some states claim they're

getting fewer doses than expected. earlier i spoke with dr. imran ali. "operation warp speed" as you know is currently under way, but a new headline that's causing some concern in the health industry. several state officials were told by the federal government they say to expect fewer covid doses than initially promised. can you further explain this confusion? >> every state will get their original allotment but we'll have fewer doses in each shipment. they're staggering these shipments because it's just such a logistical challenge. "operation warp speed" is making changes to make sure everybody gets the right amount of vax vaccine. >> as expected an approved could come today. when can the general public expect to get their dose? >> well, the pfizer vaccine as we know has already been rolled out as part of phase 1a, so we're focussing on health care workers and nursing home residents. this could potentially be stored in a regular freezer at a regular pharmacy, which makes it much more available to the broader public.

but we will still follow a phased approach where we will prioritize those highest at risk. >> dr. ali, we recently reported on a new at home covid test available next month. it's about $30 and no prescription is needed. you have used it. what are your thoughts? and what should we know? >> it is a rapid antigen test, so it tells you if the virus is shedding and it tells you if you're contagious. now, if you do test negative on it, it's a pretty good indication that you're not contagious, but if you are positive, you may have to follow it up with a pcr test, which is much more sensitive. but nevertheless this is another tool kit in our box to really help people understand if they're infectious or not and to really help control the spread of the virus. >> our thanks to dr. ali. tropicana is apologizing for an ad campaign that claimed drinking mimosas is a good way to relax during the pandemic. the ads featured celebrities with the slogan, take a mimoment. critics call the ads

irresponsible. in sports a heartbreak are for the raiders. they lost to the chargers 30-27 in overtime last night and quarterback derek carr suffered a groin injury. coming up, tiger woods like we've never seen him before. but first why a member of congress cracked open a beer on the house floor. we'll be back in a mimoment. hi susan! test test test test test test test sin honey severe. the real honey you love... plus, the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash?

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so in the spirit of bipartisanship and cooperation, i raise this glass to my colleagues, both democrats and republicans. >> that beer aptly named joint resolution. he did not drink it on the house floor. >> because it was warm. >> uh-huh. next like father, like son even in golf. >> take a look at 11-year-old charlie woods and his father tiger woods. they got together on the course to prepare for a special tournament in florida. >> team woods got in some practice. observers couldn't believe the similarities of their swings. >> wow. next "all my children" may be coming back. >> the former stars kelly ripa and mark consuelos are working on a prime time revival. it's reportedly in early stages of development and would be called "pine value," the town where the show took place. >> matt and haley. there's another reboot in the works, "little house on the prairie." "entertainment weekly" says they're making a drama based on the show. >> ma and pa. finally cocoa cola. >> coming out next year, cocoa cola. >> it's hard to say, cocoa cola.

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