follow us online at cbsnews.com d join it's monday, september 21st, 2020. this is the "cbs morning news." supreme court clash. a partisan fight erupts over nominating a new justice. where most americans currently stand on this divisive issue. beta incoming. millions of people watching yet another tropical storm. the threat posed as it gets closer to hitting the u.s. grim milestone. the number of covid deaths in america nears 200,000. how life has changed over the past few months, plus the dire warning from the head of the warning from the head of the fda. captioning funded by cbs george in for anne-marie green. we begin with the intense battle to fill the vacancy on the supreme court. president trump may nominate a

replacement for ruth bader ginsburg this week.tribute thez ndond woman appointed to the high court. mr. trump's democratic rival joe biden is urging republicans not to jam a nominee through the senate less than two months ahead of election day. laura podesta's on the story. what's the democratic strategy? >> reporter: good morning, michael. house speaker nancy pelosi did not get into specifics but said to influence this process we have, quote, arrows in our quiver. but there's not much that democrats can do other than try to convince more republican senators to vote against a nominee. president trump may nominate a supreme court justice this week. >> we have an obligation as the winners to pick who we want. >> reporter: cbs news has learned two women, judges amy coney barrett and barbara lagoa

are among the front-runners. >> i would say that a woman would be in first place, yes. >> reporter: democratic nominee joe biden insists the winner of november's election should appoint the new justice.d. the election.hold a ent obama te >> the american people should have a say. >> reporter: senate judiciary chairman lindsey graham doubled down on that position. >> if an opening comes in the last year of president trump's term and the primary process is started, we'll wait to the next election. >> reporter: with 43 days until the election, graham and many of his republican colleagues now hope to quickly confirm a new justice. >> well when you have both , storic the confirtion goes fo >> reporter: a "reuters" ipsos poll found 62% of americans

believe the next president should fill the vacancy. >> let the people speak. cool the flames that have been engulfing our country. >> reporter: so far two republican senators say they oppose a nomination this close to the election. at least two more would need to join them to block a confirmation. susan collins of maine and lisa murkowski of alaska are the two republican senators currently opposing moving forward with a nomination. democrats hope that chuck grassley and mitt romney will join them as the four senators needed to stall the process. michael? >> laura podesta in new york. thanks. joe biden indicated he will not be releasing a list of possible supreme court nominees. biden singled out president trump as the only presidential candidate who put out a list of possible names for the high court in both 2016 and 2020. biden said that sets a dangerous precedent. he says he'll follow the protocol of past presidents and seek bipartisan consultation from the senate.

ahead on "cbs this morning," we'll speak with white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany about what president trump is looking for in a supreme court justice nominee. there's reportedly been an arrest in the case of an envelope containing the poison ricin sent to the white house. law enforcement officials told the "associated press" that a woman was taken into custody at the new york/canada border. she's expected to face federal charges. the letter was intercepted at a government facility that screens mail addressed to the white house and president trump. more than ten million people are under storm warnings as tropical storm beta moves through texas and louisiana. the storm is expected to make landfall tonight, bringing torrential rain. beta's impact was being felt yesterday in galveston, texas. officials are urging people to evacuate with severe flooding expected there this morning. >> we will see a combination of the surge, the fresh water rain and high which could give us three to four feet over the road.

that's what we were concerned about. that's why we asked people to leave if that was going to be a problem. >> some parts of texas and louisiana could get up to 15 inches of rain over the next several days. dry and windy conditions today will only make it harder for crews battling wildfires on the west coast. this time-lapse video shows the intense flames near yosemite national park. normally it's a scenic drive, but thick smoke blanketed the oneavi an ge haze. north of los angeles, the bobcat fire exploded in size. it's now grown to more than 103,000 acres, doubling in size in a week, and making it one of l.a. county's largest blazes ever. it's getting so bad, a new round of evacuations was put in place. this morning, we're confronting a new milestone in the covid-19 pandemic. the number of reported cases in the u.s. has topped 6.8 million,

and the number of deaths will soon hit 200,000. still, states that suffered the most are seeing lower infection rates. cases are still rising in other states. tom hanson reports. >> reporter: it's a new devastating chapter in covid -- >> i feel bad. i feel sad. >> reporter: american life has changed drastically since the first death in february triggered an avalanche of infections and then deaths. by may, a pre-summer surge of 20,000 cases a day. hospitals overwhelmed, and an cometo a close, 40,000 cases a day. hot spots moving from major cities to the u.s. heartland with so much still riding on the line. >> my opinion is if i'm going to get it, i'm going to get it. >> reporter: now more mass gatherings and spikes as tens of thousands of bikers packed missouri's lake of the ozarks for bike fest this weekend. voters endured long lines to cast early ballots in four states. >> we are exhausted from what we've been going through.

>> reporter: exhausted, yes, but finished, no. 11 states and puerto rico still report a positivity rate of 10% or higher. and on "face the nation," former fda commissioner scott gottlieb warned of another wave. >> i think we have one more cycle heading into the fall and winter. there's an unmistakable spike in new infections. >> reporter: here in new york city, once the epicenter of the pandemic, the infection rate is around 1%. a report from the mayor's office calls covid-19 the largest mass fatality incident in modern new york history. >> that was tom hanson reporting. over the past week, 18 states and washington, d.c., have reported an increase in the number of covid-19 cases. the united nations general , it will be very different this year. presidents and prime ministers from around the globe will not be traveling to the u.n. headquarters in new york city due to the pandemic. instead, their prerecorded

messages will be played inside the building. tomorrow we'll hear president trump's recorded remarks, along jinping, and russian president vladimir putin who rarely speaks at the u.n. coming up on the "cbs morning news," a warning about how thousands may have been exposed to the coronavirus on airplanes. and later, a daring nap. a man sleeps on a flying bed. this is the "cbs morning news." " my psoriatic arthritis pain? i had enough! it's not getting in my way. joint pain, swelling, tenderness much better. my psoriasis, clearer... cosentyx works on all of this. four years and counting. so watch out. i got this! watch me. real people with active psoriatic arthritis are feeling real relief with cosentyx. cosentyx is a different kind of targeted biologic. it treats the multiple symptoms of psoriatic arthritis to help you look and feel better. it even helps stop further joint damage.

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a back yard party left two people dead and 14 others hurt. police say the shooting took place saturday morning at a party attended by more than 100 people. investigators say the 19-year-old man and 19-year-old woman killed were innocent bystanders. rochester's been the scene of protests following the release of video showing the arrest of daniel prude. "the san diego union tribune" says 250 camp pendleton marines and sailors are deploying to help fight a massive wildfire near fresno. the military personnel trained with firefighters before heading out to the front lines of what's known as the creek fire. it's burned more than a quarter million acres since the beginning of the month. >> marine battalions have supported fire-fighting in the past. as a matter of fact, there were two marine battalions that supported the fire-fighting for the yellowstone fires in 1988 and again, like i said, we are very honored to be able to help protect the property and people and public lands of california.

>> unit's commanding officer says most of those being deployed volunteered for fire-fighting duty. and the "washington post" reports the cdc says nearly 11,000 people may have been exposed to the coronavirus on flights. the health agency investigated 1,600 cases of people who flew while at risk of spreading the virus. it identified nearly 11,000 people who were potentially exposed on the flights. the cdc says while some of those travelers got sick, without complete contact tracing it has not confirmed a case of the virus being transmitted on a plane. still ahead, driving in the fast lane. we'll tell you which car models got ticketed the most for speeding. mornings were made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis. when considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz... a pill for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis when methotrexate has not helped enough. xeljanz can help relieve joint pain and swelling, stiffness, and helps stop further joint damage, even without methotrexate.

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even after multiple touches. try microban 24. available in multi-purpose, sanitizing, and bathroom sprays. this has been medifacts for microban 24. here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ take a look at this. this youtuber in turkey took an air bed to new heights. there he is taking a snooze on a giant bed attached to a parachute. he had all the props including bedside tables, a lamp, and an alarm clock. he was in the air for 15 minutes. which his alarm clock went off, he pulled up his eye mask and safely glided back to the ground. looks like a nightmare that i think a lot of us have had. on the cbs "money watch," a ban on tiktok is delayed, and which cars get more speeding tickets than others. diane king hall has that and

more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this week investors will look at key economic data and corporate earnings including numbers on new home sales and weekly jobless claims along with quarterly reports from nike and costco. wall street ended lower last week. the dow drop 244 points. the nasdaq lost 116 points on friday. and the s&p 500 was down 37. president trump is backing a proposed deal to keep tiktok operating in the u.s. tech giant oracle is teaming up with walmart to form a new entity called tiktok global which would be headquartered in america. the app's owner chinese company byte dance is still expected to hold its majority ownership position. the action comes as the app was set to be banned in the states starting at midnight. president trump has satok aucould ill inn. deed t allegns you can register to vote at all footlocker stores starting tomorrow.

each of the company's stores will house a kiosk with a their voteatus, register to vo f foot locker said the initiative is geared to the more than four million young americans who have become eligible to cast ballots in this year's election. and if you get a lot of tickets, your car may be to blame. a new study finds people driving subaru wrx sports cars received the most speeding tickets over the past year. people behind the wheel of the volkswagen gti and the subaru impreza were also pulled over for going over the speed limit. dodge has the most vehicles in the top-ten list. i got to say guess i'm lucky because i drive a honda civic. thank you. up next, making history at the emmys. the show that swept all the comedy categories at last night's ceremony. last

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ and the emmy goes to -- "schitt's creek." ♪ [ applause ] >> it was a record-setting night for the comedy series "schitt's creek" at last night's emmy awards. the show about a wealthy family forced to live in a rundown motel took home the most emmys ever for a comedy series in a year. it swept all the comedy awards. it won seven prime time emmys and nine overall. eugene levy paid tribute to his son daniel who also won for writing and directing. >> i also want to thank once again this young man who took

our fish-out-of-water story about the rose family and transformed it into a celebration of inclusivity, a castigation of homophobia, and a declaration of the power of duethe covirus,ost celebrities took part virtually from their homes and back yards. we'll have complete coverage of the emmys later on "cbs this mo. and two of the hosts of the e! network's virtual emmy awards preshow had to bow out after testing positive for the coronavirus. in a video from her home, giuliana rancic said a test before the show indicated she was positive. she said her husband and son also tested positive. rancic said they're doing well. special correspondent vivica a. fox also tested positive and missed the show. last-second heroics in game two of the finals. >> here's davis for three and the win -- it's good! anthony davis has won it for the

lakers! >> the los angeles lakers' anthony davis drilled a three-pointer as time expired to give the lakers the 105-103 win over the nuggets. the lakers took the 2-0 lead in the series. davis finished with 31 points including the last ten points. the nuggets trailed by as much as 16 points. coming up on "cbs this morning," a tribute to ruth bader ginsburg, and the battle over the next supreme court justice nominee. i'm michael george, this is the "cbs morning news." "cbs morning news." chances are you have some questions right now

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don't do it dennis. that's the way you execute a midnight snack run. stand up to cancer and rally want you to reduce your risk for cancer, go to takeahealthystand.org. our top stories this morning -- president trump may nominate a replacement for the late supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg as early as this week. democrat joe bidurging republicans not to jam a nominee through the senate less than two months ahead of election day. republican senators lisa murkowski and susan collins oppose taking up the nomination before the election. and millions of people are under storm warnings as tropical storm beta approaches texas and louisiana. beta is expected to make

landfall tonight and bring torrential rain. people in galveston, texas, are being urged to evacuate. officials say the worst flooding could come this morning during high tide. some places in texas and louisiana could get up to 15 inches of rain through thursday. microplastics are a big polluter of our waterways and oceans. a large part of the problem is single-use items. ian lee shows a possible breakthrough solution thanks to a tiny green vegetable. >> reporter: nearly eight tons every year, clogging our beaches and harming sea life. a new type of plastic easy on the environment is rolling out in the uk, one made from peas. >> single-use plastics and microplastics don't need to be made from fossil fuels. there's something very wrong about making materials from oil that lasts for a minute or two. >> reporter: he says it's the first company in the world to engineer plant protein into a material that acts like single-use plastic. it starts as a like bid that's

turned into sheets for packaging items like dishwasher detergent, sandwiches, candy, even those fruit stickers, all biodegrade in a matter of days. >> at the moment the microcapsules contain plastic which would not degrade and last for ages in the ocean. our capsules were made of protein and would be eaten by fish eventually. >> reporter: much healthier than consuming microplastics, and fish aren't the only ones. studies show the average american ingest more than 70,000 microplastic particles every year. it's taken over a decade to perfect the process, and other plants can be used like potatoes. it doesn't even have to be food blat ends up on the dinner >> there are a lot of waste products already in the farming process that have got very low value or even are just plowed straight back into the field that can be sold on and used to make our kind of materials.

>> reporter: new materials helping to wrap up the world's plastic problem. ian lee, cbs news, london. coming up on "cbs this morning," a tribute to ruth bader ginsburg and a look at the future of the supreme court. plus, the battle over the next supreme court justice nominee. we'll speak with white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany and minnesota senator amy kolbuchar. a member of the senate judiciary committee. first on "cbs this morning," former first daughter chelsea clinton reflects on the legacy of ruth bader ginsburg. that's the "cbs morning news" for this monday. thanks for watching. i'm michael george. have a great day.

live from the bay area studios, this is kpix 5 this morning.