it's monday, november 30th as millions travel home from the thanksgiving holidays, fresh concerns over new coronavirus spread over the coming weeks. president-elect joe biden fractures his foot over the weekend. we'll tell you how. plus, the first for a whit house communication office is also announced. big news ahead this weekon vaccine front as the cdc will vote on who should be the first in line to receive a new coronavirus vaccine. the dangerous weekend for multiple formula one drivers sparks were flying ahead of a fiery crash. we've got the details. cyber monday has begun

where to find the best deals online and the new way that companies plan to ship their products to you. "early today" starts right now good morning i'm phillip mena. >> and i'm frances rivera. as millions of americans make their way back home from thanksgiving getaways, health officials are warning about a surge on top of a surge. the national outbreak has been devastating this month with the number of cases surpassing 4 million. more than double october's count. and there are now over 13.4 million americans infected and grim news also bearing down on the empire state as new york reports its highest covid-19 positive test rate since may this as new cases surpass 6,000. and on the west coast, california breaking a record with more than 7,400 hospitalizations yesterday but what health officials are worried about now is a post-thanksgiving day surge. here's dan sheneman. >> reporter: travellers heading home after the thanksgiving holiday.

>> right now, yeah, i feel great. i hope i stay that way >> reporter: the tsa processed more than 7 million passengers in the past week now, that's half of last year's figure, but still the busiest days for travel since the pandemic began experts worried holiday travel could add to the case load a case load that is already surging. >> i don't want to frighten people, but except to say it is not too late at all for us to do something about this because as we travel back to be careful. >> reporter: but there are signs americans are growing tired of restrictions new york police broke up a massive weekend party that violated state orders. >> i think covid fatigue has a lot to do with it, and i think we got a false sense of security during the summer months when a lot of people were outdoors. >> reporter: health officials still stressing the importance of social distancing and using a mask >> the mask is a simple, cheap

and virtually nontoxic way -- there's no side effect to wearing a mask. >> reporter: a familiar plea as health workers struggle to contain an outbreak that is accelerating dan sheneman, nbc news just over three weeks after he was declared the victor, president-elect joe biden will receive his first presidential briefing today it comes after mr. biden fractured his foot while playing with his dog over the weekend. nbc's kelly o'donnell has the latest >> reporter: an unexpected detour for president-elect joe biden, his motorcade took him to a delaware doctor's office for an apparent ankle injury that happened saturday. aides refused to let journalists see mr. biden enter or leave, but told reporters, president-elect biden slipped while playing with his dog major and twisted his ankle. out of an abundance of caution, he will be examined this afternoon by an orthopedist. while biden was being examined,

the transition rolled out a big staff announcement women to fill all top seven communications rules, including former obama aide jen psaki named white house press secretary and deputy campaign manager kate bettingfield as communications director. >> and i said this from day one that these numbers were not going to change much at all. >> reporter: wisconsin completed a recount of two of its largest counties that confirmed biden win with a small boost, adding 87 votes another blow for the trump campaign that paid the $3 million recount cost president trump returned from camp david joined by three of his grandchildren. just after he lamented the flailing legal fight to overturn the election >> the problem is it's hard to get into the supreme court. >> reporter: another hurdle, the president's understanding of how election litigation works. he told advisers he wanted to personally file one catch-all election lawsuit >> and they say, sir, you don't have standing.

i say, i don't have standing you mean as president of the united states, i don't have standing what kind of a court system is this >> reporter: his anger and grievance turned on the republican governor of georgia where biden scored an upset. but republicans still need unity to win two senate run-off races. >> this character in georgia, who is a disaster, and the governor's done nothing. >> our thanks to kelly for that report. a critical vote is set to take place this week in the race for a covid vaccine. on tuesday cdc advisers are expected to meet and vote on who should be the first to get the covid-19 vaccine and whether it should include nursing home residents. the critical vote comes just days after pfizer applied for emergency use authorization from the fda for its coronavirus vaccine. nbc's gabe gutierrez reports >> reporter: frances, good morning. on tuesday, advisers to the cdc plan to meet to discuss who should get the vaccine first a major question, whether it will be residents of long-term care facilities.

with skyrocketing deaths and national guard troops deployed to help, nursing homes have been at the center of the covid crisis now they may be at the forefront of the solution. >> we likely almost certainly are going to be vaccinating a portion of the individuals in the first priority before the end of december. >> reporter: a major question, who should be in that first priority group cdc advisers are meeting tuesday to vote. likely health care workers, but there's debate about reds dents of long-term care facilities >> when we move a new drug into the general population and look at how it acts in the real world, it's so critical that we do so before we move into a frail population so that is why even though long-term care residents are at greatest risk for covid, there is some consideration that perhaps the vaccine should be delayed for them >> reporter: experts have a range of concerns, including possible side effects of the

vaccine and that many nursing home residents can't travel to a hospital or outpatient clinic. major pharmacy chains such as walgreens are planning to bring the vaccine to nursing homes by setting up a central facility within the facilities or going room to room according to analysis of federal data earlier this month, more than 1,300 nursing homes across the u.s. reported having three or more covid cases. >> do you think that residents of long-term care facilities should be in that first priority group? >> barring no other choice, yes, they should. >> reporter: vivian's mother died from covid in a nursing home on new york's long island she started an advocacy group, voices for seniors >> i know it's a dangerous virus, but the reality is that it cannot continue a treatment of isolation >> reporter: about 40% of the nation's covid deaths have been in nursing homes there are mounting questions about how to get the vaccine to them safely. and so, frances, yeah, major concern is how those residents of long-term care facilities,

many of whom can't go to a hospital, a clinic or a pharmacy like this one, how will they get that vaccine delivered to them frances? >> what a dilemma. all right, gabe, thank you. the coronavirus is blitzing the nfl season the san francisco 49ers are searching for a temporary home after santa clara county ordered a three-week ban on all contact sports the team is working with the league they were scheduled to host their next two games. and all four of the denver broncos starting quarterbacks were ruled out of sunday's game after jeff driscoll tested positive for the virus the other three, including starter drew luck, were in close contact. they had to sign a wide receiver from their practice squad to play quarterback against the new orleans saints on sunday that is rookie kendall hinton, and he completed just one pass he threw two interceptions in denver's 31-3 loss against new orleans. the week's night caps saw the packers and the bears reignite their longstanding

rivalry. aaron rodgers was white-hot in the first half, finding lewis to extend green bay's lead in the second their momentum continued when rodgers finds him off his back leg for another score. the packers' defense got in on it preston smith picking up the scraps of a mitch trubisky fumble and taking it to the house. green bay held a 27-3 lead at the half and didn't look back. they win on sunday night, 44-25. patrick mahomes had a day. he threw 462 yards on the bucs' defense. that flip there was from tyreek hill he had 269 of those yards. also got three touchdowns. tom brady could not complete the comeback chiefs get the win, 27-24. and what better time to score your first career touchdown? the vikings' chad beebe caught his late in the fourth and that would push the vikings past the panthers 28-27. now to a fiery wreck that

blasted the formula one circuit in bahrain in the first lap of the race, watch this, exploded in flames after clipping another driver's car and smashed into a wall. despite the massive cloud of fire, he escaped the wreck the spokesman for the team said he only suffered minor cuts and burns and went to the hospital for further evaluation team officials expect him to be okay. college football now buffalo's jared patterson ran into the record books on saturday he had an incredible eight-touchdown performance. eight of them against kent state. that tied the fbs record four touchdowns by one player in a single game. his 409 yards on the ground were just 18 shy of the single game record nothing new for patterson. he ran for over 300 yards in his last game, too the last time anyone in division i did that, ricky williams for texas back in 1998 he won the heisman that year.

lionel messi paid tribute to a fellow barcelona soccer star to show off a number 10 diego maradona uniform they played in the red and black in argentina he died of a heart attack last week at age 60 all right. we are ending november and kicking off monday with a very extremely active weather week ahead. let's bring in nbc meteorologist janes janessa webb to fill us in good morning, janessa. >> good morning. good morning, everyone we have a swift-moving system that is going to head across the east coast and it's going to be a triple threat. severe weather, wind and also a snow element with this storm system today across the carolinas all the way into new york city, we do have storm hazard with gusts picking up to at least 60 miles per hour there is going to be potential of power outages throughout the afternoon into the evening on the northern side of this storm across the ohio valley, right now we're forecasting a potential of 5 to 8 inches where

squalls persist across this area, we could see major travel delays all the way from new york to boston. that's look aat for chicago, 35. lots of sunshine this is a very large storm system we'll dcontinue to watch it, bu also hurricane season ends today. i'll give you a recap coming up. >> oh, man about time what a season. thank you, janessa. we're watching a volcano that erupted in indonesia saturday, forcing hundreds of residents to seek shelter. look at this thing that's the eruption from the volcano. it displaced more than 2,700 people from 26 villages. and while there were no reports

of deaths or injuries, the volcano's status remains as an increasing threat. when we come back, a newly anointed cardinal makes history in the catholic church. and the rock presents ice 'lha t sopndksoc wel veheco a the bad newsy treat from the hollywood superstar. osec otc uses a unique delayed-release formula that works to turn down acid production, blocking heartburn at the source. with just one pill a day, you get 24-hour heartburn protection. take the prilosec otc two-week challenge. and see the difference for yourself. prilosec otc, 1 pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. ♪ just one look at you. ♪ and i know it's gonna be... a lovely day. ♪ ♪ lovely day, lovely day. lovely day. ♪ ♪ lovely day. ♪ lovely day, lovely day.

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days and test negative for coronavirus several times before the ceremony the pope also installed the first cardinals from brunei and rwanda. dwayne "the rock" johnson wants to get you lit this holiday season this is how. the wwe star turned actor released his second collection of spiked holiday ice cream in connection with salt and straw five flavors three custom ice cream flavors created by the rock, and the names are pretty clever. like i saw mommy kissing dwantaclaus. and spiked egg nog ice cream all made with the actor's own tequila. the 2020 pack is available online for $65 and a portion of the boozy ice cream will benefit world central kitchen. i would never think that tequila and ice cream go together, but here's a way that the rock has made it happen >> have you ever had any sort of spiked ice cream before? >> no. now is the time to try it. >> i haven't either. now we know where to get it.

coming up, the kick that broke down barriers on the football field. ki> and long live the ng how the marvel universe is honoring chadwick boseman's birthday i recommend nature made vitamins, because i trust their quality. they were the first to be verified by usp, an independent organization that sets strict quality and purity standards. nature made. the #1 pharmacist-recommended vitamin and supplement brand.

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chadwi chadwick boseman's 44th birthday this new tribute was added to "black panther" on disney plus marvel studios sheaed the video online with the message "long live the king. the beloved actor died of cancer on august 28th. making history on the college football field, sarah furl beca fuller became the first woman to play in a major football game over the weekend molly hunter has more on fuller inc'sdible moment and where she goes from here. >> history is on the field in columbia, missouri, as sarah fuller is about to put her right foot into a football, speaking volumes to women around the world. >> reporter: and she's done it the 21-year-old soccer star making history with this kick to the 35 yard line starting off the second half. with that, she became the first woman ever to play in the game in any of the top five college football conferences >> i just want to tell, like, all the girls out there that you can do anything you set your

mind to. like, you really can if you have that mentality all the way through,like, you can do big things. >> reporter: on the back of her helmet, play like a girl. >> sarah, huge congrats. this is so exciting. would you do it again now that you've got a taste of it >> yeah, i would love to get out there and score a field goal. >> reporter: fuller was tapped to suit up after members were benched due to possible exposure to covid the texas native and the member of the women's vanderbilt soccer team stepped in, inspiring even her coach, the dad of four daughters. >> he was like they're watching. i've had girl dads come up to me and say you are inspire mike little girls. >> reporter: little girls and rest of us molly hunter, nbc news. >> all kinds of barriers being broken this year. >> it's a great story. next on "early today," janessa marks the end of a wild hurricane season. and americans are keeping it real this year when it comes to rimas trees. what's making the firs fly

the small ones you've been dreaming about. the ones you couldn't be more ready for, and even the ones that take you by surprise. these are the moments you'll remember, the ones that are impossible to forget. to new memories. hilton and our family of hotels. ♪ just one look at you. ♪ and i know it's gonna be... a lovely day. ♪ ♪ lovely day, lovely day. lovely day. ♪ ♪ lovely day. ♪ lovely day, lovely day. ♪ no matter how you celebrate this year, make this holiday extra special with a gift from pandora jewelry.

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aim... ...to be there more. until i found out what itust? it actually was.d me. dust mite droppings? ewww. dead skin cells? gross! so now, i grab my swiffer heavy duty sweeper and dusters. dusters extends to 6 feet to reach way up high... to grab, trap and lock away gross dust. nice! for dust on my floors, i switch to sweeper. the heavy duty cloths reach deep in grooves to grab, trap and lock dust bunnies... no matter where they hide. no more heebie jeebies. phhhhew. glad i stopped cleaning and started swiffering. good morning, everyone today we say good-bye to hurricane season 2020 it has definitely been record-breaking with 30 named storms, 13 hurricanes and 6 of those were major now, for the last seven months, we've been tracking a tropical system every month so even though this is the end potentially, we could see another one, but we're finally seeing the end of this guys >> good riddance thanks, janessa. ilcayi owi tead, germany is

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germany's famed traditional christmas markets are banned and restaurants are closed under the region's second partial lockdown, but a restaurant owner is turning things around with this drive-through markets where customers place orders at the entrance and then pick up takeout cups of wine, hot crepes and other christmas treats while there are normally millions of people who visit germany's christmas markets each year, country recently extended the second lockdown until at least december 20th. this holiday season so many are seeking comfort like never before, and that's playing out in skyrocketing sales of real christmas trees. not the artificial ones. steve patterson now on the rush

for the real deal. >> reporter: with thanksgiving now in the holiday rear view mirror, the countdown to santa is on. time to put up the mistletoe, take advantage of the cyber deals and, of course, pick out your tree. >> every year is an argument on what tree should we pick a little fatter, a little taller >> reporter: the tree shopping season starting early this year. customers at this fir farm in new york are spending a little green of their own this year. >> just having the real tree makes it warm and cozy. >> reporter: owner barbara pratt says demand for real trees during this pandemic season is way up. >> we have a lot of new customers that have not visited us in the past there's a lot of people that are looking to get outside of their homes. >> reporter: across the u.s. more people are looking for the real thing, not an artificial one. >> honestly, i'm not sure that any of us could have predicted that it would be this busy. >> reporter: some from the comfort and safety of their own car. last year more than 20 million

real christmas trees were sold in the u.s now in the middle of a pandemic, experts say that number could go up a recent survey found that nearly 25% of people who had an artificial tree or no tree at all last year plan on buying a real tree this holiday season. >> we've been through a heck of a year people are trying to end it with something positive, something happy, and real christmas trees can do that. time with your family to go out and get the tree, bring it home, be together. that's really what it's about, is making memory. >> reporter: for many, a real tree is an experience and a symbol >> i think that's why so many people are here buying their trees because we all want hope >> reporter: something we can all use, hope, along with a little christmas cheer steve patterson, nbc news. >> they look fantastic and nothing like that fresh tree smell, too, right? >> yeah, nothing like taking the time to clean up all the needles that fall throughout the month i spent more time decorating than ever before i think we're wanting to

appreciate and savor the traditions that we can still do during this time. >> the brightness literally and figuratively especially ever year we've all had thanks for kicking off cyber monday with "early today." i'm frances rivera. >> and i phillip'm

welcome to the sprint to christmas. as millions of travellers returned from the thanksgiving break, health care officials are concerned the next few weeks could see another major uptick in cases of coronavirus from a hollywood -- from a holiday spread. breaking over the weekend. literally. joe biden gets the boot as doctors tell the president-elect he fractured his foot and will be wearing a walking boot for many weeks. and get ready foe whatr whas expected to be the biggest online shopping day in history shoppers expected to shell out some $12.7 billion