right now on "america this morning," christmas lockdown. a new mutation of the coronavirus triggers more countries including canada to stop flights from london where the new mutation is out of control. should the u.s. halt travel to the uk as well? we talk to the experts. plus, the second covid vaccine set to arrive in hospitals today. what the cdc is now saying about who should get it and when. stimulus checks on the way. congress finally reaching a deal on a covid relief plan. when the money will be in the mail and what's not included. it's not over yet. attorney and conspiracy theorist sidney powell returns to the white house. the new executive order being floated as president trump tries to overturn the election.

snake and eggs? the new proposal to put python on the menu in restaurants. like father and exactly like son. what tiger woods is saying about his special weekend teeing off with his boy. and it's not too late. the last-minute gift ideas for christmas and why shopping online and on time deliveries are still a possibility. good monday morning, everyone. i'm mona kosar abdi. >> i'm will reeve. kenneth is off. we begin with the mutation of the coronavirus, a new variant causing chaos in europe. >> london has been thrown into lockdown, and more than a dozen countries have suspended travel to the uk because of this new variant of the virus. >> here at home the second vaccine will begin arriving in hospitals today, but infections and hospitalizations continue to explode. >> overnight we learned california's governor is now in quarantine after a staff member tested positive, but we begin

our coverage with a mutation of the virus. >> reporter: this morning, canada now added to the list of countries halting passenger flights from the united kingdom as a new variant of covid-19 puts much of britain on virtual lockdown for christmas. >> as prime minister it is my duty to take difficult decisions to do what is right to protect the people of this country. >> reporter: france, belgium, italy and the netherlands among the other countries banning travel from the uk. the french shutting down the euro tunnel and the uk's main port threatening british food supplies. announcement of the lockdown triggered this rush at train stations in london. people fleeing before the new rules took effect. now others are calling for similar action here in the u.s. including the governor of new york where an average of six flights come from london each day. >> right now this variant in the uk is getting on a plane and

flying to jfk. how many times in life do you have to make the same mistake before you learn? it's grossly negligent just like the spring. >> reporter: scientists say the new variant spreads 70% faster than the original virus, but health experts say mutations of any virus are expected, and they insist there's nothing to suggest this mutation is more deadly. in the meantime, the cdc is now working to track down passengers on a united flight where a man died last week. tmz obtaining images on board flight 591 from orlando to los angeles where a man died from a heart attack. but this passenger says she heard his wife say he had covid-like symptoms. >> it was just a female nurse. she was the first one to get over there and talk to them. that's when i heard and other people had heard he was having symptoms like trouble breathing. he had loss of taste and smell. >> reporter: it comes as

the u.s. adds more to its arsenal. nearly 8 more million doses will be distributed. 2 million from pfizer and nearly 6 million from moderna, which received authorization this weekend. >> there is light at the end of the tunnel. there are now two vaccines that are approved. they are incredibly effective and efficacious. >> reporter: but covid is racing ahead of the vaccines with nearly 250,000 new cases each day in the u.s. and a record number of covid patients in the hospital. in california, 1 in every 80 residents of los angeles county is infected. >> it's a shame that it has to come to this. you know, the holidays are coming. everybody is missing their family members, and it's just a shame. >> reporter: and in tennessee, the governor is tightening restrictions on social gatherings. >> tennessee is ground zero for a surge in sickness. we now have around 10,000 tennesseans getting sick every day. to put that in perspective, that's three times where we were around halloween. >> president-elect joe biden will get vaccinated today, and vice president-elect kamala

harris gets her dose next week. a cdc advisory panel is now spelling out who should be next in line for the covid vaccine. after health care workers will be people over age 75 and frontline essential workers such as police, firefighters, teachers and grocery workers, but this is only advice from a panel of experts because each individual state gets the final say. let's get to the latest now on the big deal in washington. lawmakers finally reaching an agreement on a $900 billion covid relief plan, which includes stimulus checks and more unemployment benefits. abc's andrew dymburt is here with the latest. good morning, andrew. >> reporter: good morning, mona. you know, more than 20 million americans are on unemployment and now for the first time since april, congress is taking steps to help the economy. this morning, lawmakers reaching a deal on a stimulus package just hours before a potential government shutdown. >> we can finally report what our nation has needed to hear

for a very long time, more help is on the way. >> reporter: the roughly $900 billion package will include $300 billion in aid to businesses, $300 in weekly federal unemployment benefits through march and $600 in direct payments for millions of americans, half of what the government sent back in march. >> make no mistake about it, this agreement is far from perfect, but it will deliver emergency relief to a nation in the throes of a genuine emergency. >> reporter: democrats were pushing for much more, initially demanding about three times the total amount. they call this package a down payment. >> we consider this a first step and that, again, more needs to be done. >> reporter: the earliest people could see that $600 stimulus check, in january. many americans already say it's not enough. >> $600 is nothing. it's like a slap in our face. you know, i'm behind about $6,000 in bills. it's not our fault that we can't work.

>> reporter: but single mom renee decarlo, who was forced to close her business, says any help is welcome. >> every dollar matters to me. the more they give me, the more ability i'll have to get my life back in order a little bit at a time because right now there isn't enough to support myself or my kids. >> reporter: and here's what happens next, the house is expected to vote on this bill today before it goes to the senate for a vote in that chamber. president donald trump is expected to sign this into law and president-elect joe biden calls the deal a, quote, good start. mona. >> andrew, thank you. a new twist in president trump's effort to overturn the election. sources say controversial attorney sidney powell was back at the white house last night pushing for an executive order that would seize voting machines to search for evidence of fraud. that follows an oval office meeting friday where the president reportedly floated the idea of naming powell as a special counsel to investigate the election. meanwhile, the trump campaign has filed a new petition with the supreme court.

this time it's seeking to reverse three pennsylvania court rulings on mail-in ballots. president trump is downplaying the massive cyberattack on federal agencies. his own cybersecurity experts and secretary of state mike pompeo have said russia is behind the breach. but the president is suggesting china may be to blame. a claim drawing criticism from both parties. >> i think we've come to recognize that the president has a blind spot when it comes to russia. this is an extraordinarily damaging invasion, and it went on for a long, long time. >> president-elect joe biden's incoming chief of staff says biden will respond to the cyberattack with sanctions. an army private is accused of murder in the death of a fellow soldier. the body of corporal hayden harris was found in new jersey hours after he was reported missing at fort drum in new york. prosecutors believe he was kidnapped after meeting private jamal mellish for a vehicle exchange. no further details on a motive. mellish faces murder and weapons charges. turning now to the weather,

a storm system could make a mess of holiday travel plans. let's take a closer look at your forecast. that storm system brings rain to the pacific northwest today. then it moves through the middle of the country tomorrow and wednesday bringing heavy rain and snow. and by christmas eve, it's hitting the east coast. behind the system is very cold air. windchills early on christmas eve will drop below zero in the upper midwest. denver will feel like 10 degrees. 26 for dallas. looking at today's high temperatures, 70 in dallas, even warmer across the southwest and the northeast will be warming up for some melting snow. coming up, the best movie of 2020 according to film critics groups. also ahead, hear from the teenagers who formed a human chain to rescue children who fell through ice on a pond. but first a developing

story, a man described as a pedophile advocate is accused of flying across the country to kidnap a girl.

we mustn't be victims but protagonists of our stories. >> "small acts" has won best picture of the year at the l.a. film critics awards. director steve mcqueen looked at london's west indian community from 1969 through 1982. meanwhile, the late chadwick boseman was named best actor for his role in "ma rainey's black bottom." a virginia man is accused of flying across the country to kidnap a 12-year-old girl in california. authorities say nathan larson is a white supremacist and a self-proclaimed advocate for pedophilia. he allegedly met the girl on social media, flew to fresno and convinced her to sneak out of

her house. he was arrested during a layover in denver. the girl has been reunited with her family. we turn now to the five teenagers who jumped into action to save two children who had fallen through the ice on a pond. the teens quickly formed a human chain to pull the kids to safety. abc's megan tevrizian has their remarkable story. >> reporter: this morning, a group of teenage boys being hailed as heroes after rescuing two kids from an icy pond. >> really just took over. didn't really care about the cold. >> reporter: 8-year-old olivia hyde and her 4-year-old brother r.j. were sledding at a new jersey country club when they accidentally flew over a ridge and into ice cold water. >> he was screaming jump off, jump off. i was just screaming, somebody get them. the boys were on the other side of the pond, and they had said that they heard us screaming. >> reporter: their fall prompting the five boys to swiftly create a human chain so they could pull the two kids to safety.

>> he was in the water handing the kids off. tyler was slipping in. i was grabbing on to tyler while he grabbed the girl. >> reporter: a dramatic rescue straight out of the christmas classic, "it's a wonderful life." >> help. >> i took r.j., brought him back to shore to the mother's hands and then we actually just started comforting them. >> reporter: and while the details of this rescue are different from the movie, the life lessons are similar. when asked about losing some earpods and a phone during the rescue, the teens responded by saying this -- >> life is much more valuable than a phone, so i say it was a good choice to just get in there and get them out. >> we had life. life at stake we're talking about here, and these things can be replaced. >> yeah. >> not lives. >> in a world where everyone is just videotaping and not helping, they didn't hesitate. they didn't hesitate to jump in. >> reporter: the teenagers credit their boy scout training for knowing what to do. will, mona.

>> happy everyone is safe. thanks, megan. coming up, why pythons could soon be on the menu in florida. but first one of the leading doctors in the fight against the coronavirus is under fire for traveling to see her family. dr. deborah birx responds next. don't settle for silver #1 for diabetic dry skin* #1 for psoriasis symptom relief* hd 8. pampers,

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celebrations should be limited to immediate households, but the associated press reports birx traveled to her vacation home in delaware along with three generations of her family from two separate households. birx says she was not celebrating thanksgiving but was winterizing her vacation home. we have more now on that covid-19 mutation causing so much concern. earlier i spoke with dr. darien sutton about what we know and what we don't know about this new variant of the virus. i'm going to get right to the big headline this morning. there is news that there is a new variant of the coronavirus that is spreading out of control in england and said to be 70% more contagious, but experts insist it's likely not more lethal. but how can we be sure of that and will our vaccine still be effective? >> well, mona, what we know is that this is actually quite common. as viruses transfer from person to person, there are subtle changes that can occur, and we call those changes mutations. now in the uk a group of people

have a similar mutation so we have to prove if it can cause more harm and takes additional time and data. but i always want to advise everyone to remember that there have been different strains of this covid-19 virus throughout this pandemic and none have proved to be more lethal or deadly. >> because of this several countries including canada have implemented a travel ban to the uk. do you believe the u.s. should follow suit? >> well, i like to leave that question to our political leadership, but i want to remind everyone that currently the united states is going through surges in many different states, especially here in california. so i want to remind everyone to make sure that you should be postponing or stopping any nonessential travel, especially you should be deferring travel to any location that has increased rates or outbreaks including the uk. >> dr. sutton, let's turn now to the vaccine. moderna's vaccine begins arriving at hospitals today. now, you personally have received pfizer's vaccine. let us know, what was your experience, how do you feel currently, and were there any concerns? >> well, i feel actually great currently now. i got my first dose on friday. the vaccine itself wasn't painful. the next day i had some fatigue and arm soreness, but today i feel back to normal and doing

and working everything that i did before. right now the main concern seems to be around these few cases of allergic reactions, but safety protocols are being put in place to make sure that we monitor patients after their vaccination. >> our thanks to dr. sutton. the big story is the nets winning their first game of the season upsetting the rams, but their fans are not celebrating because now the jaguars, not the jets, are the favorites for the top pick in the draft. the jets can't even lose right. well, coming up, the best deals for the last-minute holiday shopper. but first tiger woods and his special father/son moments on the green this weekend. his special father/son moments on the green this weekend. ♪ still warm. ♪ thanks, maggie. oh, alice says hi. for some of us, our daily journey is a short one.

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♪ it's the eye of the tiger it's the thrill of the fight ♪ time to check "the pulse," and we begin with tiger woods' son showing some of dad's fire. >> tiger and his 11-year-old son charlie played together during the final round of the pnc championship. we got to see the younger woods do his own version of his dad's trademark fist pump when he sank a putt there. tiger later talked about the special father/son moment. >> you're not going to appreciate this at 11 years old. i mean i didn't when i was with my dad. as the years go by, you start appreciating it more, and i'm sure that we'll have a lot of banter over the holidays and years to come. >> tiger and charlie finished in seventh place. next forget steak and eggs. how about snake and eggs. >> what? florida wants people to eat burmese pythons. that's because pythons are an invasive species and they pose a risk to native wildlife.

officials are studying whether mercury levels in them are safe to eat. >> if so restaurants will be allowed to put them on menus. >> pass the salt, please. next some tips for last-minute shoppers with only four days left till christmas. >> online shopping and delivery still possible, people. walmart offering free next day delivery until 2:00 p.m. today on select items. amazon says the last day for prime members to get free one-day delivery is the 23rd. elsewhere you may have to buy online and then pick up curbside. as for deals on popular items, best buy is offering the apple watch 3 for $30 off and costco is offering a $100 xbox gift card for $89. and finally, dr. anthony fauci facing his toughest question yet. >> kids got the chance to ask fauci about the vaccine and santa claus. >> will santa still be able to visit me in coronavirus season? >> what i did a little while ago, i took a trip up to the north pole. i went there, and i vaccinated santa claus myself. >> there you have it, kids. santa is vaccinated by dr. fauci

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now at 5:00, governor newsom is in qu