...at ross. yes for less! good morning, america. vaccine rollout. moderna's version shipping out bringing new hope to americans in the battle against covid-19. we're on site as it's on the move and the cdc issues new guidance addressing those reports of allergic reactions. emergency lockdown. travels scrambling to get out of london ahead of strict new measures being taken following word of a potentially highly infectious new strain of covid-19. dr. jha is here answering questions. breaking overnight, congress comes close to the finish line over a stimulus deal with a vote possible today. what's in this nearly trillion dollar package? how much money americans could see. >> we're quickly approaching an all or nothing situation. as washington also deals with the fallout from that

massive cyberattack. the president's pushback on who may be responsible. holiday rush and crush. the crowds at the airports packing planes and the fears during one flight as the cdc warns of possible exposure to covid-19. plus, the final shopping days till christmas. are there ways to stay safe as you pick up those presents? and dynamic duo, tiger woods' son showing dad how it's done. >> great shot. >> it's within about four feet for eagle. >> young charlie following in his father's footsteps, and dad couldn't be prouder. >> your first eagle! >> good morning to you. the moderna vaccine, the latest authorized for use here in the u.s., started moving just moments ago.

it will go from freezers to boxes and into trucks. then it's on to airports for the trip to dozens of sites across the u.s. 5.9 million doses to start. this after a week that saw about 272,000 americans roll up their sleeves for the pfizer vaccine. however, new cases are far outpacing vaccinations. here in the u.s. they're moving towards 18 million. deaths, meanwhile, have surpassed 316,000. in california, which seems to be getting the worst of it now, dr. anthony fauci says some areas of the state are on the cusp of becoming overrun. >> and according to a health and human services memo obtained by abc news, in nearly a third of the country icu beds are now more than 80% full. but we start with the encouraging news on the vaccine rollout. abc's gio benitez is at the distribution facility in olive branch, mississippi, just outside memphis. gio, another critical day. >> reporter: oh, absolutely, whit, critical, indeed. take a look behind me

because you can see those fedex trucks pulled up to the loading docks. they are getting ready to ship those vaccines as the nation desperately awaits them. this morning pharmaceutical distributor mckesson is preparing the moderna vaccine for cross-country shipping. these images just in from inside the mckesson distribution center. the gear room, where teams suit up with cold weather gear, going into those freezers where the vaccines are kept at negative 4 degrees. they're packed and then loaded onto these trucks. fedex headquartered just over the border in memphis picks them up here in mississippi. u.p.s. picking the vaccines up in louisville before getting them on planes for those critical cargo flights. >> this week in total between pfizer and moderna, we have allocated 7.9 million doses of vaccine, and we are ready for that distribution. >> reporter: still this morning, some states are concerned over allocation of the vaccine. general perna of "operation warp speed" taking full

responsibility. >> i want to make sure that we're 100% committed to fair and equitable distribution to everybody in the united states of america. >> reporter: perna saying the country is on track to shipping 20 million doses by the end of the month. saturday afternoon a cdc advisory committee voting 11-0 to recommend the moderna vaccine for people 18 and up. still, a small number of health care workers in alaska and illinois have reported allergic reactions after getting the pfizer vaccine. the illinois hospital temporarily pausing vaccinations friday and saturday, but will resume today. the cdc, which is monitoring the reports, issuing guidance for how people with histories of allergies should move forward, saying anyone who had a severe reaction to a covid-19 vaccine should not get the second dose. >> i think it's important for the public to understand that these still are very rare events, that we are following them.

we know how to deal with the events, and we're taking measures to monitor for them both at the time of injection and around that period of time and long term. >> reporter: and let's take you back inside that facility. you can see that right there. so many people working so hard. they're using a massive 15,000-square-foot freezer, 35 packing stations inside that freezer, just a monumental effort under way in mississippi. whit? >> that's for sure. need all the hope we can get. gio benitez for us, thank you so much. now to the coronavirus emergency across the country. more than 100,000 americans are in hospitals with covid-19 and icus are filling up. with 19 states hitting weekly records for hospitalizations, abc's trevor ault joins us from a hospital here in new york city with the very latest. trevor, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, whit. we've already lost 45,000 americans to the virus just this month, and officials fear the

worst is still coming. to paraphrase one doctor with the vaccine, there's a light at the end of the tunnel, but this is still a long dark tunnel ahead. this morning america enduring an onslaught of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths. health care workers dreading the months ahead before the vaccine can take hold. >> i think everyone is tired at this point and people are bracing for the coming winter. >> reporter: right now, 32% of the nation's icus are at least 80% full at least as a record 114,000 americans battle covid in the hospital. tennessee teacher susanne craver is on a ventilator. her husband craig terrified she's slipping away. >> it kills me because the only thing i ever cared about is in that room, and i can't put my hands on her. and it kills me. >> reporter: with 1.5 million new infections reported this past week, testing sites and labs are becoming overwhelmed. in arizona, embry health warning

thousands of patients they may need to be retested because of a substantial lab backup and inundated hospitals in yuma county's border communities say they're seeing wait times as long as ten hours. the u.s. is now losing more than 2,600 americans every day. while there may be a light at the end of the tunnel, so many families warning of the bitter reality we still face. nebraska nurse james oxford received the vaccine just hours after learning the virus had taken his brother. the nurse writing "for joe" on james' bandage. >> he really wanted people to get the vaccine. so i thought, what a way to go forth and get that vaccine. >> reporter: and the midair scare on board this united airlines flight to los angeles from orlando. the cdc now warning passengers they may have been exposed to someone with covid-19 who collapsed during the flight and later died. and the pandemic is still very much a nationwide problem, but

some areas are especially in deep trouble. tennessee is processing so many test they're having to combine yesterday's numbers with today's for one massive update and los angeles county has one of the highest infection rates in the entire world. eva? >> trevor ault, something we are dealing with everywhere. thank you for that report. overseas now to england where 20 million people are facing a severe christmas lockdown because of a new strain of the disease. abc's julia macfarlane is in london with more. good morning to you, julia. >> reporter: good morning, eva. well, as far as political epitaphs go, the last thing boris johnson wants is to be remembered as the prime minister who canceled christmas, but that's how it looks this morning. in an emergency broadcast to the nation last night, johnson said a potentially highly infectious new variation of the virus is spreading rapidly. while he described it as possibly 70% more tranceable than the original virus that

causes covid-19, so far no evidence to suggest that this new variant is more lethal or that the authorized vaccines are not effective against it. however, it does mean that for london and parts of england and wales, restrictions are now back and that a planned five-day amnesty for household mixing over christmas is now being scrapped. just days before christmas week. that triggering a stampede to get out of the capital. shops and businesses that had been able to re-open a couple of weeks ago for this, the busiest week of the year for retail, they must now all close. it's not just johnson who had to make this difficult call. italy, which has the highest death toll from covid-19 in europe, this week announced it's going back under a nationwide lockdown starting christmas eve joining other european nations including germany, france and the netherlands. all of them imposing christmas restrictions. this morning belgium, italy and the netherlands banning all flights from the uk. other countries potentially following suit in the coming days. dan? >> julia, thank you very much.

let's bring in dr. ashish jha, dean of brown university's school of public health. doctor, good morning, and thanks for coming on. this new variation of the virus sounds really concerning. what do we know about it? >> good morning, dan. thanks for having me on. you know, what we know is that there is this new variation that's spreading much more rapidly in the uk. we think it's more infectious. that's what data seems to suggest. we're not 100% sure. but all of the data so far says that it's not any more lethal and it's not likely to be any less sort of protective against the vaccine, so i feel reasonably confident that this is not some major game changer. but if it's more infectious, obviously that's an important issue to track. >> but there's no evidence that it's resistant to the vaccine or that it's more lethal. but no evidence yet. i mean, how do we really foe? it's pretty new. >> it is very new. and this is going to happen. i mean, part of the problem is there's so much virus spreading that you're going to start seeing

some of these kinds of variations pop up, some of these strains pop up. we don't know for sure. and that's why we're going to have to track it very closely. i expect that it won't be any more lethal, but we don't know and we have to wait for data. >> let's talk about the vaccine for a second. overnight, as you know, the cdc issued new guidelines saying anybody who's had a severe reaction to the covid-19 vaccine should not get the second dose. how are we defining severe here? >> yeah, so the way to think about it is if you're somebody that had the kind of reaction that required the use of an epipen or you've been hospitalized, those are severe reactions, and if you had that kind of reaction to obviously this vaccine or other vaccines, you should definitely talk to your doctor before getting vaccinated. >> in the u.s. we now have two vaccines, as we've been reporting, both pfizer and moderna. is there a sense that one may be better than the other, and should we keep that in mind as we go about trying to get vaccinated? >> yeah, i wouldn't right now.

i'd feel totally comfortable getting either one myself. there are obviously important differences in shipping and cold storage. but for the person at the receiving end, they look very, very clinically similar. so i don't think there's much of a difference. i certainly wouldn't choose one over another. >> dr. ashish jha, really appreciate you coming on on a sunday morning. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> whit, over to you. dan, to politics now and the breaking news overnight. lawmakers appearing to reach a compromise on one of the final hurdles to a stimulus deal, a nearly $1 trillion package for pandemic relief up against a deadline tonight. abc's rachel scott joins us from washington, d.c. with the very latest. rachel, good morning to you. >> reporter: whit, good morning. and it's been more than six months since congress passed a stimulus package, but lawmakers say they are finally close to getting that deal across the finish line. with just hours to spare until a government shutdown, congress finally reaching a compromise on a stimulus package clearing the

way for a vote in the house and senate as early as today. >> if things continue on this path and nothing gets in the way, we'll be able to vote tomorrow. >> reporter: at stake relief for millions of americans out of work and fearing eviction. >> the american people cannot feed their families or pay their bills with congress good faith discussions. they need us to act. >> reporter: ricardo ramirez says he's barely getting by, now at risk of possibly losing everything if those unemployment benefits expire in less than two weeks. >> it's about time for them to do something for the community. >> reporter: lawmakers working through the weekend were at odds over the role of the federal reserve. both sides warning they were running out of time. >> we're quickly approaching an all or nothing situation. >> reporter: but just before midnight, democratic leader chuck schumer signaled significant progress. aides saying lawmakers pushed past that major hurdle agreeing to a roughly $900 billion relief package that would include $300 in weekly federal unemployment benefits and $600 in direct payments for millions of

americans. president trump, who has been silent on the rise in coronavirus cases, calling on congress to increase the amount of those stimulus checks tweeting in all caps, get it done and give them more money in direct payments. democrats were pushing for those one-time payments to be $1,200. but republicans wanted to keep the overall price tag of that bill down, which is why you're seeing those smaller amounts of $600 in direct payments to americans. whit? >> and, rachel, turning to a different subject here, president trump still focused on fighting the results of the election. abc news is learning there was a meeting in the oval office on friday. the conversation centered on appointing a special counsel to look into the election. what are we learning about that? >> reporter: yeah, whit, and sources tell us that this was a very heated meeting. discussion on having sidney powell, who is known for pushing conspiracy theories, to lead that special counsel. advisers talking the president out of the move. but also in the room, michael

flynn, the president's first national security adviser who he recently pardoned. flynn has been publicly urging the president to take the unprecedented steps to overturn the results of the election including declaring martial law and bringing in the military to set up new elections in battleground states the president lost. but the bottom line here is that the electoral college has already cemented joe biden's victory. the president's legal team tried fighting that in state and federal courts, and he lost. eva? >> rachel scott for us this morning, thank you. moving now to that massive government data hack, president trump now suggesting china could be behind it as he downplays the gravity of the breach. let's get the latest from abc's pierre thomas. good morning to you, pierre. >> reporter: eva, good morning. the president is at odds with his own secretary of state who this weekend said the evidence is clearly pointing towards russia, and here's how the senate intelligence committee acting chairman, marco rubio, a republican, described the situation.

he said, and i quote, it's increasingly clear the russian intelligence service conducted the gravest cyber security intrusion in our history. the russians are denying involvement. democrats and republicans are calling the situation beyond disturbing, damn near outrageous, eva. >> so, pierre, we're getting a better sense of just how devastating the breach may be. what are you hearing? >> reporter: the hack appears to be enormous. we're talking about a significant chunk of the federal government, the departments of commerce, treasury, homeland security, even the national institutes of health impacted. and there are potentially thousands of private companies that may be compromised as well. authorities believe the russians u used the breach to spy with the russians possibly retaining u.s. computer networks and possibly damage them with a trojan horse-style malware, eva. >> pierre, so many people are wondering this morning how could this happen, how did this happen. >> reporter: the primary gateway

to the breach appears to be a company called solar winds. it makes a software product that monitors traffic on computer networks looking for problems and anomalies. the russians allegedly compromised that software, which is used across government agencies, infrastructure and private industry. according to the solar winds website, it has more than 300,000 customers worldwide including government agencies, the military and the nation's fortune 500 companies. the company said each of the nation's top ten telecommunications companies use its products. eva? >> pierre thomas for us. this is something we will be talking about this week, and tune into "this week" later this morning. george stephanopoulos speaks with mark warner, the top democrat on the senate intelligence committee about that massive cyberattack, and he'll go one-on-one with admiral brett giroir to discuss the moderna vaccine as it rolls out for distribution across the nation. dan? time for the weather. greg dutra from wls, our station in chicago, is with us. rob is out.

it's nice to have a clean shaven weatherman this morning. greg, we're hearing about a christmas week storm. just when the nor'easter was over we're ramping up for yet another storm system that starts in the pacific northwest on monday, makes its way into the central portion of the u.s. here. the midwest by wednesday evening. looks like rain switches over to snow in chicago. look down to the south. one to two inches of rain, rather, with strong storms too. this moves on to the east coast as mainly rainfall. that's the big difference between this storm and the last storm. there could be damaging winds too along with localized flooding. really damaging potential there when rain falls on fresh snow and everything melts with the ground being wet, not being able to soak it up goes right into rivers and streams. snowfall across the northeast. then we will see a blast of cold air behind it with below zero windchills in the midwest. the cold ever air that we have seen for the better part of an entire year and even makes its way to the east coast with

good sunday morning. i'm lisa argen from walnut creek. it's clear here but we have some fog in the east bay valleys and north bay. certainly a chilly start. sunny skies this afternoon. upper 50s to low 60s and winter arrives tomorrow at 2:00 in the morning, just after 2:00. low 60s today arriving in oakland, as well as fremont, and san jose. another cold night with some fog on the way, and then looking at possibly a few sprinkles mondada the good news about this, it looks more wet than white, not nearly as much snow as you saw during the last nor'easter. guys. >> my back is still hurting from all the shoveling. >> dan didn't do any. >> he's good at hiding from various threats that exist. >> yes, exactly. >> greg, great to see you. >> like i said, great to have a

clean shaven weatherman. we can smell the aqua velva from here. >> and he called rob a pirate too. we appreciate that. greg, talk to you soon. still to come here, too often when we talk about the holiday season, we forget about the importance of giving. here's a reminder for all of us. this is from a very special 11-year-old girl. abc's faith abubey has her story. >> reporter: in a pandemic that's brought so much darkness, 11-year-old sienna wants to be a bright spot and spread some holiday cheer. >> i know that other people that can't get gifts because their parents are losing their jobs in this hard time, they can't get a lot of things. so i just want to make zhuzh everyone in this time can get gifts. >> reporter: for the better part of the year she has been on a mission saving her birthday money, cooking up bake sales, setting up lemonade stands, saving up $200, shopping for the

perfect gift for strangers. >> you can make their christmas better. >> reporter: it turns out it's not sienna's first time playing santa. >> it started last year. she got extra birthday money and asked if she could buy clothing and a little bit of toys. she did everything on her own. she paid for it and she helped find homes for them. then this year she said she wanted to do it again. >> reporter: more than doubling her $70 total from last year, sienna is giving more to neighbors in need. >> her friends have heard about it. her friends are excited. and her friends' parents were reaching out saying what a cool idea. thank you so much for inspiring my child. >> reporter: sienna said she loves waking up christmas morning and finding gifts under her tree, now helping others light up with the same feeling. >> i want them to feel happy knowing that they're going to get gifts. >> reporter: talk about the spirit of the holiday, right?

sienna is now encouraging other kids fortunate enough to have a lot of gifts to consider giving away just one. it could mean the world to someone else. dan? >> faith, thank you very much. coming up, as christmas gets closer, you can expect a lot of people traveling. what will that mean for the pandemic and how to avoid crowds yourself. keep it here. "good morning america" is sponsored by progressive insurance. save when you bundle auto, home or motorcycle insurance. respon sponsored by progressive insurance. ridiculous. [ chuckles ] no one looks ridiculous, bob. progressive is always here for you with round-the-clock service. just so you know, next time, you can submit a claim with our mobile app. good. thanks again for -- for rushing over. are you kidding? this is what 24/7 protection looks like. okay. -you smell like fish. -sorry. i was talking to jamie.

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let's get a check of the weather with meteorologist lisa argen. >> hey, liz. gorgeous shot this morning from mt. tam, where it's nice and clear, but it's not clear everywhere. 34 mountain view. 37 in san jose and from emeryville beautiful view here. we have fog though in our valleys. 34 santa rosa. it is freezing by the delta and very foggy there also looking at visibility down to an eighth of a mile for fairfield, quarter of a mile in santa rosa. upper 50

yes! whoo-hoo! welcome back to "gma" on a sunday morning. the excitement is building. we're just days away from "soul," the new movie from pixar animation studios streaming on disney plus. "soul" follows a middle school band teacher voiced by jamie foxx on a journey to find out where we come from and what we are doing here. again, it starts streaming on christmas day, december 25th on disney plus. and, guys, a lot of critical buzz building for this one. >> i'm hearing good things about this one. >> looking forward to it. >> we need all the positive energy. good christmas day watching. let's take a look at some of the other stories we're following this morning. happening right now on the move, moderna's version of the covid vaccine is shipping out and bringing new hope. this as new cases of coronavirus are far outpacing vaccinations at this point. this morning 32% of the nation's

icus are at least 80% full. a record 114,000 americans are now battling covid in a hospital. the u.s. now losing more than 2,600 americans every day. also right now, apple announcing it is temporarily shutting down all of its stores in california because of the increase in covid-19 cases throughout the state. the company says customers will be able to pick up exist online orders, and some of those genius bars will honor appointments through tuesday. i guess the producers of the show are doing this on purpose. i got another sports story. speaking of apple, this one proves the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. 11-year-old charlie woods wowing the crowd at the pnc championship where father and son are competing this weekend. young charlie making the first eagle of the day. we're told proud papa tiger was overheard saying, awesome shot, and, guys, they call it an eagle

because the ball soars like an eagle. >> that's not true. that's not true. >> i would flap my wings but the bursitis would act up. >> that's right. this is why we give dan all the sports stories. pretty cool father/son moment. dan, thank you for that. we do start this half hour though with a stark look at the fight on the front lines of covid-19. the numbers in parts of california all but out of control. another 43,000 cases in 24 hours. a abc's shaw zohreen shah joins us with a firsthand look of how hospitals are handling the overflow of patients. zohreen, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, whit. california hit a record for hospitalizations yesterday. we're standing underneath a medical tent right now. so many hospitals in the area have them. instead of turning people away, they're turning to another strategy. california's medical system pushed to the limit. more than 43,000 new cases just yesterday. that sound of stretchers now nearly every hour at santa monica providence medical center. >> we're at a breaking point. >> reporter: southern california

hospitals now at near 0% icu capacity. providence's hallways lined with doctors and nurses suiting up in a battle against the virus. >> when you get up to the icu, you feel like you're almost getting into a war zone. you see tons of nurses and runners. >> reporter: bursting at the seams as they rely on overflow tents. >> so right now we are over capacity, and we are spilling over into some of the other units. >> reporter: and hospitalization numbers following infection rates. right now, testing cannot happen fast enough. we're outside dodger stadium. this line goes on as far as the eye can see. right now you could not get an appointment here if you tried. this site and many others in los angeles are booked for days. carolina murphy says her partner was exposed to someone who tested positive. they are finally getting tested. >> we're days before we got in to actually find a location where we could get tested. >> reporter: the slow wait itself often taking a serious toll. julian hoping for a negative

result after previously testing positive. he tells us he's praying for his father who is still critically ill. >> my dad is in the icu for like three weeks already. >> reporter: and many expecting the situation to get worse with christmas five days away. >> the only thing to do is just pray, man, pray. >> reporter: to give you an idea of just how bad it is here, if california were a country and you're looking at just cases from the last day, we would rank third in the world behind only the u.s. and brazil. eva? >> zohreen shah, thank you. time now for a check of the weather and greg dutra from our chicago station wls. my question for you this morning, are you pulling the rob going live from in front of your house? >> it's a pleasure to be here. seriously, thank you for getting me out of the house. i'm potty training a toddler, and that's going -- well, it's going. you imagine how that is. sometimes not in the right place. you guys are going to be seeing

some snowfall here through the next couple of days through the midwest and also into the northeast. here's some snowfall video from earlier this morning on top of already freshly fallen snow. look how big these snowflakes are after you see 10 to 14 inches around pittsburgh. let's take a look at the next couple of systems here, there's that early morning snow moves up through the adirondacks in new york, the green mountains of vermont, white mountains of new hampshire and maine. doesn't really do much there then this will bring some snow before christmastime through the midwest. really light stuff from this clipper system as it moves on through late on monday then early on tuesday morning. could bring some morning commute troubles for chicago early on monday, then we turn to wind warnings that you see over on the right-hand side. they could see some downsloping winds in denver, almost up to 70 miles per hour. meanwhile, flood alerts through the pacific northwest as they get yet another system, two to eight inche good sunday morning. here's a look at santa cruz, it will be cool today with temperatures near 60.

elsewhere the fog lifts by 10:00/11:00 this morning. upper 50s around to low 60s, >> this weather sponsored by u.p.s. frontline people at this point delivering the vaccine and all of dan's cat toys. [ laughter ] >> we've got stacks on stacks of cat toys at my house. greg, great to have you with us. thank you so much. and here's what's coming up on "gma," holiday travelers on the move. what you need to know before you set off to see family and friends if you're planning to do so. and crunch time for holiday shoppers, the items that are flying off the shelves and how to avoid those crowds still ahead. to avoid those crowds still ahead. the shelves and how to avoid those crowds still ahead.

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welcome back to "gma." the pull of family can be irresistible at this time of year. many people are choosing to travel this holiday season despite the raging pandemic. and abc's elwyn lopez is in atlanta with much more on that. elwyn, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, dan. that holiday rush in the middle of the covid-19 pandemic, tsa already screening more than 1 million people on friday alone.

and aaa is predicting as many as 84.5 million people could travel between december 23rd and january 3rd, down just about 29% from this time last year. all of this, despite cdc's warnings to americans saying the best way to protect yourselves and others from covid-19 is to stay home. and now the public health agency is working with united airlines trying to get in touch with passengers on a flight forced to make an emergency landing last monday. a man on board that orlando to l.a.x. flight suffered a heart attack and died. his wife overheard telling the emt that her husband had covid-19 symptoms, such as loss of taste and smell. whether he had the virus has not been confirmed. major airlines say they're doing everything they can to keep their passengers safe including disinfecting their flights with electrostatic sprayers. now, if you are planning to travel, check to see whether your destination has any new added restrictions. san francisco now mandating a ten-day quarantine for those coming or returning to the city. dan?

>> elwyn, thank you. let's move now from travel to last-minute shopping. procrastinators are hitting the stores and taking advantage of other options offered by retailers to avoid crowds. abc's stephanie ramos is here in new york city with more on that. stephanie, good morning. >> reporter: hey, dan, good morning. black friday and cyber monday usually get a lot of attention. but millions of americans have waited till this weekend to do their holiday shopping. it is the last weekend before christmas. and 150 million americans are expected to shop. that's according to the national retail federation. americans have spread out their holiday shopping online during this pandemic, but there is so much shipping taking place, it's causing delays. carriers like fedex and u.p.s. earlier this month even temporarily restricted some packages from big retailers, and the snowstorm that hit the northeast this week added another layer to delivery concerns. this means, with just a few days until christmas, consumers may have no other choice than

returning to the stores that they stayed away from this year. many physical stores taking extra precaution by limiting the amount of people they let inside and also offering curbside pickup, which may see some extended wait times this weekend. but here's the bright spot in all of this, the toys. retail purchases on toys have been up 30% since august. i still have a few more toys to get for my kiddos, so i'll be contributing to that stat. eva? >> and that means kids are going to have a good christmas. >> yes, they are. >> and that's what matters, right? stephanie ramos for us, thank you so much. well, coming up on "good morning america," pandemic insomnia. it is a thing. a lot of us talking about it. we've got some advice to help you ahead in our "weekend download." vice to help you ahead in our weekend download.

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♪ in today's "weekend download," getting you a good night sleep. the pandemic is taking its toll with almost a quarter of those affected by covid-19, survivors, family members and health care workers, almost everyone is complaining of insomnia. so here with some advice is dr. nicholas nissen, clinical fellow at harvard medical school and a member of our abc news medical unit. thanks so much for waking up with us this morning. >> of course. thanks for having me, eva. >> so this is such a thing for so many people. we've all been talking about it here at "gma." what can we actually do to help ourselves? is there something we should be doing at night to get us into the appropriate sleepy mindset? >> yeah, well, that sleepy mindset is so important. but in the modern era when we're in front of screens all day and in front of bright lights until we go to bed, it's sending

signals to our body that it's daytime, and so what we want to do is follow the sun. as the sun is setting, bring down the lights in the house. try to have a dim lamp or work by candlelight. and then the second thing is to be careful about alcohol consumption. alcohol, for a long time people have thought about it as a sleep aidm but it actually can decrease the quality of sleep. and the last thing i suggest is that to people is create a sleep sanctuary in their bedroom. you want your bedroom to be free from screens, free from bright lights. you want to block out outside lights and noises so you can sleep well. >> you actually say our morning rituals play a part in all of this. what should we be doing? >> that's right. a good morning creates a good night. and so what you want to do is get exposed to bright light first thing in the morning. like i said, these environmental cues are really important to us to know for our bodies to put into place the digestive system, the hormone release all on its

circadian rhythm. so get bright light exposure early in the day and try to get up at the same time every day, be it on the weekdays and the weekends. that's something that's not very popular with my patients, but it's something that can help you get into the consistent rhythm so you can sleep better. >> sleep is so important. and we know it, especially when we don't get it. dr. nissen, thank you for being with us this morning. and we'll be right back with "pop news." "pop news." th us this morning. we'll right back with "pop news." colitis or crohn's disease? are you ok? i did. but even when i was there, i never knew when my symptoms would keep us apart. so, i talked to my doctor and learned humira is for people who still have uc or crohn's symptoms after trying other medications. and humira helps people achieve remission that can last, so you can experience few or no symptoms. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers,

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back now ♪ back now with "pop news." janai norman is here. what's popping? >> i am here. it's time for "pop news." dan's favorite time of the day apparently. we're starting off with viola davis ready to take on her next project. the actress who transformed herself for the title role in "ma rainey's black bottom" said she felt sexy with all that padding in her costume, liberated with more ownership of her body in that film, which also stars the late great chadwick boseman.

well, now she's sharing this toned up look with this posting on instagram for her next role as michelle obama. the former first lady. joking with the uk's graham norton about the challenge playing the former first lady who has such devoted fans. >> they don't want anything that's negative to touch her. now, as an actor you're like, okay, where's the nasty? where's the complexity? how am i going to do that with michelle obama? >> davis' role is for showtime's anthology series "first ladies." looking forward to that one. the good old-fashioned singing telegram has gone virtual. i thought about just trying to sing that but you don't want that. a group of broadway actors, singers and musicians out of work because of the pandemic teaming up to bring you the broadway gram to help you celebrate all your special occasions providing us with a sample. ♪ you're looking swell, "gma" ♪ i can tell viewers ♪ you're special people who deserve a song or two ♪

>> i think the broadway gram is for everybody. i think it's for major broadway fans. i think it's for future broadway fans and i think it's for everyone who enjoys live music. >> we're here for it. certainly a great way to get some broadway back into our lives. and pink is having a year we can all relate to and trying to find the humor in it. the singer revealing earlier this year she and her son caught covid. now she shares this post on instagram, i got myy stitches out from drying that wine glass then i recovered from my very first staph infection and i thought i would fracture my ankle. she's had a tough year. one thing that can make it better, guys, this christmas card from a few weeks ago. do you guys remember this? come on. >> i believe i do. >> it's the weekend "gma" holiday card. >> the one where they inflated dan's pecs. >> yes, uh-huh. dan did this. >> that's right. >> the grinch is actually injecting me with hgh.

>> it's performance enhancing, and he won the sweater competition yesterday. >> i know! >> i know. >> he's got a lot going on. >> we're never going to live it down. >> that's right. >> great "pop news," janai. thank you. and we're wishing all of you a great sunday and a gun show, yeah. . building a better bay area for a safe and secure future, this is abc 7 news. good morning everyone. i'm liz kreutz. coronavirus cases are continuing to surge in california, with really devastating effect. for the tenth day in a row, california set a record for covid hospitalizations with nearly 16,500. that's more than double the previous peak reached in july. the bay area icu capacity has dropped again, it is now at

12.2%, that has to be at 15% or higher for many safety restrictions to be removed. the entire bay area is in its first weekend under the state's strict lockdown. happening in the south bay, martha's kitchen will hold the second of three christmas toy gi giveaways. yesterday volunteers handed out thousands of toys to kids in san jose, they'll be back today and tomorrow from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. there's no need to sign up but have to bring your child with you to receive a gift. martha's kitchen operates a meal program for the homeless and the south bay. by the end of the year, it will have served more than 1 million meals, double that from last year. it is the last day of fall, let's get over to meteorologist lisa argen with a check of the winter forecast coming up. >> hey, liz, it is awfully nippy out there. there's a view from tam and coldest numbers with fog in the north bay. 46 in san francisco. 39 oakland. 36 in san jose and we're looking at 43 on the coast. just a little bit of fog from

our east bay hills camera. 34 santa rosa, freezing in fairfield and concord is at 34. livermore just one degree above freezing. a quarter-mile visibility by the dale ta, where you have the dense fog advisory. the strong radiational cooling, zero visibility through santa rosa and novato. be careful out there. give yourself a little bit of extra time, we're looking at low 60s today in oakland. 61 palo alto, and the look ahead, will stay dry until maybe some rain on christma if there's anything that this year has taught us, it's the things that matter: family. health. that's it. we found help at covered california. now we have a plan we can afford. enroll now at coveredca.com

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>> announcer: "this week" with george stephanopoulos starts right now. second shot of hope. >> today is another landmark day for our nation. >> the moderna vaccine shipping out right now. >> trucks will roll this weekend. >> it's all bittersweet because at the same time as we're moving ahead we're living through very difficult times. >> as america endures the pandemic's worst week yet. >> we can have a party next year at this time. we are so close. >> more than 315,000 dead. more than 20 million out of work. >> framework for a major rescue package is very close at hand. >> we need to deliver an outcome and deliver it quickly. plus massive cyber attack. >> this was a significant effort. we can say pretty clearly it was the russians that engaged in this. >> topov