donate.>> that is it for us at five. we will see you back here captioning sponsored by cbs >> yuccas: tonight, bracing for what's next. with millions heading home, fears are thanksgivings gatherings will fuel a new covid surge. los angeles issues tough restrictions in a preemptive strike, infections accelerating across america, one million new cases icases in less than a wee. hospital and staff, including this kansas i.c.u., straining to keep up. >> i am nervous. i am not going to lie. i am nervous sosee what happens. >> yuccas: also tonight, president trump returns to the links while the wisconsin recount widens joe biden's victory. >> this recount demonstrated what we already know, that elections in milwaukee county are fair. >> yuccas: plus iran's supreme leader vows revenge for the assassination of a top nuclear scientist. at the have the, an african

american first: archbishop wilton gregory is elevated to cardinal. struggling stores: why the small businessed is is more urgent than ever. >> it's harder and harder every time a new mandate comes out. >> yuccas: and later a college soccer star shows she got game on the gridiron. >> it was really exciting to step out on the field and do my thing. >> this is the "cbs weekend news." >> yuccas: good evening. i'm jamie yuccas in los angeles. with thanksgiving over, now we wait as americans head home from feasts with family and friends, it's likely many are unknowingly taking coronavirus back with them. covi is already slamming hospitals with patients, and robbing them of staff, pushing our health care system to the edge. the numbers are shocking: more than 200,000 new cases friday. total infections now exceed 13

million. the death toll topping 265,000, the worst in the world. cbs' danya bacchus starts us off. >> reporter: tonight, a growing fear that the thanksgiving holiday will make an already out-of-control pandemic worse. >> if you are sick, please protect others by staying home. >> reporter: this week, tens of millions ignored warnings to stay home. some hit the roads, others passed through airport checkpoints. >> at the end of the day, like, we've got to live our lives and, like, i'll be as safe as possible, wear my mask all the times. >> reporter: hospitals, many on the brink of capacity, are bracing for another surge. brandie kopsas-kingsley is a nurse in indiana. >> as a frontline health care worker, i can understand, and i can describe the sound of a zipper on a body bag makes. >> reporter: 23 states set a recrd for new daily cases in the last six days, about 60

americans now dying every hour, according to johns hopkins. >> those numbers are the people that are dead. there are countless more that will have lifelong disants from this. >> reporter: in oklahoma, the need for nurses is so dire, the state department of health is allowing asymptomatic covid-19-positive nurses to keep working. surging cases have some cities making preemptive strikes. los angeles county public health director barbara ferrier. >> we're in for a very rough time because we will have a surge on top of a surge. >> reporter: starting monday, gatherings in l.a. county with anyone outside of your household will be banned. the exception: religious services and protests. c.d.c. advisers will vote tuesday on who will be the first to receive a coronavirus vaccine when one is approved. jamie. >> yuccas: danya bacchus in los angeles, thank you. president trump this weekend is splitting time between camp david and his golf course. he's also been bizo twitter, again making false claims about

the elections. cbs' ben tracy is at the white house tonight. >> reporter: marine one dropped president trump off at his virginia golf club this morning, his third day in a row of hitting the links. but his efforts to overturn the election results are going negotiable. in wisconsin, milwaukee county just repeated the recount paid for by the trump campaign. out of 460,000 votes cast, the recount actually increased president-elect joe biden's total by 132 votes. milwaukee county clerk george christenson: >> this recount demonstrated what we already know, that elections in milwaukee county are fair, transparent, accurate, and secure. >> reporter: in pennsylvania, a unanimous federal court ruling rejected the trump campaign's latest lawsuits there. a trump-appointed judge wrote a blistering opinion saying, "the campaign's claims have no merit. voters not lawyers choose the president. ballots not briefs decide elections." >> we don't have a lot of time. >> reporter: president trump's

attorney, rudy giuliani, plans to appeal to the u.s. supreme court. while visiting a holiday market in washington, d.c., today, vice president-elect kamala harris was asked if she and mr. biden would be prepared to take on president trump again if he runs in 2024. >> please. ( laughing ). >> reporter: this coming week, president-elect biden is expected to nominate more people for key roles inside his white house, including his economic team. mr. biden is also expected to get his first presidential daily intelligence briefing on monday. jamie. >> yuccas: ben tracy at the white house tonight. thank you. iran's supreme leader is vowing revenge tonight for the assassination of a top nuclear scift. the killing threatens to renew tensions between the u.s. and iran. holly williams is in baghdad tracking developments. holly. >> reporter: iran's president, hassan rouhani on saturday blamed israel for the killing of scientist mohsen fakhrizadeh, who was gunned down in an ambusk

just outside the iranian capital, tehran, on friday. israel so far hasn't commented on the assassination, but in 2018, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu singled out fakhrizadeh in a news conference, accusing him of developing nuclear weapons. >> remember that name, fakhrizadeh. >> reporter: there are fears that iran will now retaliate against israel, or perhaps even its ally, the u.s. israeli embassies are reportedly on high alert, and a u.s. aircraft carrier has been moved back to the middle east. the pentagon says it's there because of troop draw-downs. the iranian president said oned is that iran would take revenge "in due time." one moderating force may be hopes in iran that under president-elect biden, the u.s. will rejoin a nuclear deal that gives iran sanctions relief. president trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018. there's been no official comment from the u.s., either. this comes less than a year after president trump ordered the assassination of a top iranian general, qassem soleimani, here in baghdad,

iraq. that resulted in iran targeting u.s. troops with missile strikes. we're currently on a base that's used by u.s. troops in baghdad, and threat level here has not changed. holly williams, cbs news, baghdad. >> yuccas: protesters marched across france today. in paris, authorities fired tear gas after demonstrators threw stones and set cars on fire. they're angry over a proposed security law that would make it illegal to take photos of police. now to rome. wilton gregory was not raised catholic, but today gregory, the archbishop of washington, made church history, becoming the first black american to earn the rank of cardinal. cbs' chris livesay is at the vatican. >> reporter: that's latin for wilton daniel gregory. add a ring and a red hat, and you're looking at history. due to the coronavirus, there were more masks than fanfare, but that didn't take away from

the ceremony's profound significance, especially for african americans. how important is it for them to see you now become a cardinal? >> the first individual achieves a certain public recognition, the entire family celebrate. and i think that's-- that's what's going on with the-- with the african american community right now. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: his ministry has been marked by welcoming diversity, including the l.g.b.t.q.community and by crisis management. last year becoming archbishop of washington, d.c., the same year one of his predecessor, theodore mccarrick was defrocked for sex abuse. >> and let's be honest, chris, it revealed some awful events and huge mistakes on the part of church leadership. >> reporter: but if you've heard of gregory recently, it

might have been in june as black lives matter protesters marched through the capitol, and were violently pushed away so president trump, bible in hand, could pose in front of st. john's episcopal church. the next day, when the president visited the st. john paul ii national shrine, gregory called it reprehensible and baffling. now, gregory tells me he hopes his relationship with president-elect joe biden will be marked by conversation and not condemnation. also noteworthy at today's ceremony, he was the only new cardinal to wear a mask from start to finish. chris livesay, cbs news, rome. >> yuccas: entrepreneur tony hsieh made zappos an online retail giant. we learned today the former c.e.o. died after being injured in a house fire. hsieh was also a philanthropist who worked to revitalize downtown las vegas. tony hsieh was just 46 years old. the pandemic has changed much about our lives, including how we shop. well, dominant retailers seem to

be thriving, everyone else seems to be just hanging on. as michael george shows us, it's why small business saturday carries extra weight this year. >> reporter: black friday 2020 was the second biggest spending day in u.s. history, but it wasn't foot traffic that drove sales. that happened online. $9 billion in sales were made, according to adobe. but for some businesses, many of them small independents, it's too little, too late. in new orleans, nearly half of the shops have closed. brice sanderford says coffee is about more than beans and water. >> the pandemic happened, and, you know, our business just ground to a complete halt. >> reporter: since the start of the pandemic, about 29% fewer small businesses have their doors open today. revenue has dropped 32%. and hundreds of companies that received government p.p.p. loans have filed for bankruptcy since

august, according to the "wall street journal." hundreds of philadelphia's business owners have hoping this idea sticks and bolsters their bottom line. chris fascinelli manages unique photo store. >> it's definitely important to shop local. it's almost like having a badge of honor when they're wearing their little stickers. >> reporter: some small business owners claim they're being unfairly targeted by restrictions. when big box stores haven't. stephanie bozzalla owns this shop in scremento. >> it's harder and harder every time a new mandate comes out. >> reporter: stores like this woman-owned small business have pushed clothing racks to the sidewalk and are reducing capacity. new york city is taking applications for $35 million in no-interest loans to many businesses across the city. jamie. >> yuccas: michael george in new york, thanks. vanderbilt soccer star sarah fuller made history today. she kicked off against the missouri tigers. it made the first woman to play in a southeastern conference

football game. fuller, a senior goalkeeper, was asked to join the team this week after covid depleted the roster of specialists. on her helmet-- i love this-- the message "play like a girl am. she spoke after the game. >> i just want to tell all the girls out there 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. >> yuccas: manifesting, love it. billy jean king by the way marked the occasion on twitter saying, "women belong in the game." and we love women supporting other women. straight ahead on the "cbs weekend news," hospitals in the heartland struggling during a covid spike. plus, why scientists deliberately tracked the shift in arctic ice. and how cher won freedom for a lonely elephant.

coronavirus crisis more real right now than in our nation's heartland. many hospitals are overwhelmed despite months of preparation. that include topeka, kansas.

cbs' jessi mitchell takes us inside. >> reporter: topeka's stormont vail hospital just hit a devastating milestone: 100 covid patients, 100% capacity. >> 14 staff members are out with covid. >> reporter: nurses like alissa dickey have been preparing for this since march. >> it was hopeful it would not get to this point, but here we are. >> reporter: four of her family members have tested positive. now more than 100 of her colleagues are also positive. one floor down, ardith griffin is packing her bags for rehab. >> so they're going to get me my strength back. >> reporter: already battling c.o.p.d. and m.s., she's recovering from covid and pneunomia. >> i'm a fighter. i want to get this over with. >> reporter: her son, keith, is an administrator here who helped redesign the hospital for the virus. he converted the air flow in covid rooms and created pop-up preop rooms when they ran out of space.

covid patients are now on four floors, and most of the i.c.u. >> they're upside down to help the oxygen. >> reporter: dr. hassan taha oversees the i.c.u. >> many-- unfortunately many of these patients can't talk. they're on ventilators. they're very sick. many of them may not live to be here tomorrow. >> reporter: some of dr. taha papatients who are envelope fans regret going to the stadium. >> they wish they could go back in time and not go to the chiefs game. >> reporter: he is urging families to have small gatherings during the holidays. you're stretched so thin right now, what's going to happen in a couple of weeks? >> so the situation will be much worse. we're going to have patients with no beds. we're going to have patients who are very sick at home because they can't come to the hospital. we're not talking about imagination. we're talking about right now. >> reporter: as the nation heads into winter, the hospital staff expect a 20% increase in covid patients. >> i am nervous.

i am nervous to see what happens. >> reporter: it's a feeling shared by many of the staff here who say this hospital is at a breaking point. jessi mitchell, cbs news, topeka, kansas. >> yuccas: i think a lot of us are nervous. still ahead on the "cbs weekend news," what an expedition in frozen arctic ice is revealing about our future.

crunching the numbers from a yearlong mission to the arctic to gather data on how melting ice at the top of the world will affect the rest of our planet. more from cbs' debora patta. >> reporter: the polasterns spent over a year in the arctic trapped in ice on an unprecedented scientific mission. we spoke to dr. alison fong of rhode island before she set sail on board. >> we're looking at creating a whole picture of what the arctic is going to do in the coming years. >> reporter: and the picture is not a pretty one as they learned through their makeshift

high-tech labs on ice. now, back at home, fong says the evidence she and her colleagues gatheringed provides devastating proof of a dying arctic ocean and warnings of ice-free summers due to manmade greek warming the planet. >> as scientists, i think we need to be more outspoken about the crisis that we see in front of us, the environmental crisis and not be shy about more facts. we know that what we have done is caused an increase in temperature and carbon dioxide on earth, and that causes warming, and that warming is causing the melting of both the north and the south poles. and the loss of this ice is causing major changes to the way the climate functions. >> reporter: scientists claim that means more-intense wildfires, stronger hurricanes, extreme floods, and drought around the world. the scientists braved polar bears, days of complete darkness, and isolation for months on end.

and when they finished, they took samples of the ice for further study back home. but home looks very different. they left to dry land before anyone had heard of covid, only to return to a global pandemic. >> some people think that perhaps because of this focus on the global pandemic, we also can't address the issues of climate and global warming. but they're not exclusive. we must take action. >> reporter: that action includes producing clean energy, recycling, repurposing, and assuming less. >> the choices we need to make about how we sustain humanity must be different. >> reporter: choices she believes that can help halt the damage to our warming world. debora patta, cbs news, johannesburg, south africa. >> yuccas: it can be tough choices, too. next on the "cbs weekend news," cher comes to the rescue of the world's loneliest elephant.

smugglers caught in the act and the high-speed chase that followed was caught on camera. look at this. it happened in the mediterranean, off the coast of spain. the pursuit went on for five hours until a customs boat finally intercepted the suspects who tried to toss their cargo into the sea. police seized two tons of hash. anew lease on life for what's been called the world's loneliest elvanity. kavan has spent most of his life without a companion at an islamabad zoo. now, he's getting a new home with help from cher. the singer is in pakistan to see kavan air lifted to a sanctuary in cambodia tomorrow. quite something. when we return, an education in giving. how college students are getting food to families struggling with hunger.

sharp contrast: farms with more food than they can sell and food

pantries with empty shelves. here's cbs' jonathan vigliotti. >> reporter: where were you last thanksgiving? vernie jackson was not in line at a food pantry. >> people are independent, and i lost my job in the pandemic, so right now, you know, i'm just praising the lord. >> reporter: inflamed by covid, america's preexisting hunger crisis is now grumbling in the streets. >> this is absurd for the wealthiest country in the world to, you know, have all of this food that's going to waste and all these people that are hungry. >> reporter: absurd, says stanford university junior junior jack rehnborg. >> it's a problem that it's-- about 20 billion pounds of food wasted. >> reporter: and the reality is so much food wasted and yet so many mouths that need to be fed. >> i mean, it's bad in l.a. it's bad in dallas. it's bad in colorado right now. it's bad in san francisco. it's a national problem. >> reporter: stunned by images of produce rotting on farms during the pandemic, a group of

college kids started the "the farmlink project," collecting food from the fields and delivering it to pantries running on empty. >> they made it happen and got deliveries in all different locations so it's been big and huge and we're really thankful for them. >> reporter: they've served more than 18 million meals since the spring and this thanksgiving week they're handing out one million meals across the country. when covid is over, this continues? >> absolutely. this continues -- this continues after covid is over and, really, this continues after-- after, you know, farmlink leaves and the cameras leave. the food insecurity is not going away. we're going to try to keep doing deliveries across the country, you know keep food moving. >> reporter: and going where it's needed most. jonathan vigliotti, cbs news, los angeles. >> yuccas: really puts things in perspective. that's the cbs weekend news for this saturday. later on cbs, "48 hours." and don't forget "sunday morning with jane pauley "first thing tomorrow. i'm jamie yuccas in los angeles. have a great night.

life from the cbs bay area studios this is kpix 5 news. >> we are on target to derail if we don't apply brakes right now. from business capacity and quarantines to banning 49er football. santa clara county is taking drastic news to steps to combating covid-19. despite their best efforts the pandemic and public health orders simply took too big of a bite out of their business. i'm devin fehely, coming up i will tell you what the pancake

house plans to do next. a high-stakes holiday for many bay area merchants. tonight they are banking on a successful small business saturday. >> i feel like it helps the community. i also want to support businesses i really like.>> three barria counties are bracing for big changes tonight. san francisco is just 18 hours away from a new round of pandemic related rollbacks. the city and san mateo county will fall back to the states most restrictive purple tier at noon tomorrow leaving marin as the last bay area county still in the red. betty yu was live in san francisco where businesses are hoping for a holiday boost butter bracing for the opposite.>> reporter: many retail stores here in union square were banking on the holiday shopping season for a strong finish to 2020 and now they will have to scale back capacity. san francisco and san