abc's elizabeth schulze has the details from washington. elizabeth, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, kenneth. the biden administration is taking shape and the president-elect is unveiling which issues he'll tackle first. this morning, president-elect joe biden revealing his priorities for the first months of his administration saying this won't be another term of the obama white house. >> we face a totally different world than we faced in the obama/biden administration. >> reporter: as early as today, biden will receive his first presidential daily briefing after a federal agency formally began the transition of power finally allowing the biden team access to the government's coronavirus response data. >> we're already working on meeting with the covid team in the white house and how to not only distribute but get vaccinated, so i think we're going to be not so far behind the curve as we thought in the past. >> reporter: in his first post-election interview biden looked ahead to his first 100 days in office promising to roll back pre

elizabeth schulze, abc7 news, washington. >>> the salvation army says it's in great need of donations because of the pandemic. but for the exact same reason, the organization warns its famous red kettle campaign will likely see a drop in contributions. holiday shoppers will still hear the ringing bells like this one at union square in san francisco, but it may be at fewer locations. the organization estimates the campaign will bring in about 50% less than last year. factors include a nationwide coin shortage, people being out of work, fewer retail location, and less foot traffic. >> because of covid, there are some retail chains nationally that just are not allowing the salvation army to set up our kettles like we have in the past. >> the salvation army is also offering contactless donations. there will be a qr code on kettles to donate electronically via smartphone. you can also make a donation through alexa. >>> your daily square looks a little different. instead of one large christmas tree, art students got to design and compete for the best tree design. 16 trees were decorated by

>> elizabeth schulze, thank you. >>> republican leaders are scrambling to make sure president trump's election fraud claims don't backfire. republican national chair woman rona mcdaniels was in georgia rallying support for candidates in the upcoming run offs. she faced voters who questioned why they should vote if it's already, quote, decided. >> it's not decided. it's not decided. if you lose your faith and don't vote, that will decide it. >> the president plans to travel to georgia despite calling the system fraudulent. >>> the supreme court plans to hear arguments today about president trump's plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census. that means the allocation of political power and billions of dollars in funds are at stake. if the president wins the case, some congressional seats in liberal areas could shift to conservative areas. >>> we have new pictures of a rescue 86 miles off the coast of florida. that's 62-year-old stewart beak clinging to the hull of his boat in the atlantic. only about four feet of the boat was left above water when another boat rescued him.

elizabeth schulze, abc7 news, washington. >>> the salvation army says it's in great need of donationspandemic. but for the exact same reason, the organization warns its famous red kettle campaign will likely see a drop in contributions. holiday shoppers will still hear the ringing bells like this one at union square in san francisco, but it may be at fewer locations. the organization estimates the campaign will bring in about 50% less than last year. factors include a nationwide coin shortage, people being out of work, fewer retail location, and less foot traffic. >> because of covid, there are some retail chains nationally that just are not allowing the salvation army to set up our kettles like we have in the past. >> the salvation army is also offering contactless donations. there will be a qr code on kettles to donate electronically via smartphone. you can also make a donation through alexa. >>> your daily square looks a little different. instead of one large christmas tree, art students got to design and compete for the best tree design. 16 trees were decorated by students from th

i'm elizabeth schulze.he latest on the transition coming up. >>> and plan ahead to get those holiday gifts arriving on time. the steps to take now before dropping off a package at the post office. >> good morning. it's monday, november 30th. sue, mike, reggie, good to see you guys. >> good morning. mike, how are we looking today? >> a lot of sunshine. kind of the theme to this forecast is it's going to be dry once again as we end november and move into december. push the umbrella way into the back of the closet. don't even need to worry about it for several days, which is unfortunate in one respect and nice into the other. we have to enjoy it while we have it. let's talk about it. surface winds are light. not much of a windchill, but also that allows the temperatures to drop rapidly. i'll show you some freezing cold neighborhoods coming up in the next

abc news reporter elizabeth schulze shows us the point impact. >> reporter: good morning.any americans are forgoing traditional thanksgiving plans today, more than 50 million people are expected to travel by plane or car this holiday. the results could be another spike in covid cases just in time for christmas. as the daily death toll from the virus climbs towards an all-time high, millions of americans are ignoring a cdc plea not to travel this thanksgiving. >> we just try to be as safe as we can and get home and see family. >> reporter: health officials are fearing large crowds will exacerbate the pandemic. >> we are in a humanitarian crisis right now. >> reporter: the covid tracking project says 90,000 americans are hospitalized with covid-19, an all-time high. on wednesday there were more than deaths. >> i don't understand what 230,000, 240,000 deaths sounds like. >> reporter: while many cities and states face growing resistance to new restrictions, officials are reminding americans masks and testing remain the best line of defense. >> you obviously have to take a mask

i'm elizabeth schulze. the latest on the transition coming up. >>> and plan ahead to get those holiday gifts arriving on time. the steps to take now before dropping off a package at the post office. >> good morning. it's monday, november 30th. sue, mike, reggie, good to see you guys. >> good morning. mike, how are we looking today? >> a lot of sunshine. kind of the theme to this forecast is it's going to be dry once again as we end november and move into december. push the umbrella way into the back of the closet. don't even need to worry about it for several days, which is unfortunate in one respect and nice into the other. we have to enjoy it while we have it. let's talk about it. surface winds are light. not much of a windchill, but also that allows the temperatures to drop rapidly. i'll show you some freezing cold neighborhoods coming up in the next hit. for now let's talk about what will happen this afternoon. after being in the 30s and 40s this morning, we'll hit the low to mid 60s around the bay. 61

abc news reporter elizabeth schulze has more. >> the president-elect of the u.s. joe biden.bide. >> reporter: president-elect joe biden pledging to heal a divided nation after a bitter and historic election. >> i'll work as hard for those who didn't vote for me as those who did. >> reporter: after more than four decades in public office, biden reveling in the moment and sharing the spotlight with kamala harris who makes history as the first woman, first black person, and first american of south asian descent to be elected vice president. >> while i may be the first woman in this office, i will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities. >> reporter: a record more than 74 million americans voted for the ticket. after days of anticipation while votes were tallied, many crowded the streets across the country to celebrate the victory. president trump's supporters also gathering, echoing the president's false claims that the election is being stolen. the president has yet to concede as his campaign vows more

in washington, elizabeth schulze, abc 7 news. >>> even with biden's message of unity, how soon can wetry to heal and what will it take? abc 7 news contributor phil mattier shared insight. j it wasn't a surprise to see democratic support for joe biden so great. what took everybody off-balance was the support for donald trump. he actually got more votes this time than he did four years ago, and that created close races in a number of states where we haven't seen before, and underscores that part of the history of this race is that going forward, we are still in a very divided america, not necessarily regionally, but also within states and within communities themselves, by age, by gender, all the way across, this is, nobody's walking in with a mandate, although as they say in politics, if you win by one vote, that's your mandate. >> vice president-elect kamala harris then served as san francisco's district attorney and california's attorney general before being elected to the senate four years ago. mattier has covered harris since she worked as a prosecutor in alameda county 20 years ago

elizabeth schulze has more on how the pandemic is affecting families across the country. >> reporter: good morning. millions of americans are in desperate need this holiday season as the pandemic continues to put unprecedented strain on the u.s. economy. the economic toll of the virus is mounting. the latest report from the labor department showing 778,000 americans filed new unemployment claims last week with more than 20 million people now collecting some form of jobless benefits. an estimated 50 million people are facing food insecurity, up 43% since before the pandemic. >> happy thanksgiving. >> reporter: on thanksgivng americans waiting hours in line for food. >> i have nothing at home. >> so this is a huge help today. >> it sure is. >> reporter: economic stimulus programs that provided lifelines for millions of americans are set to run dry at the end of the year. with covid cases surging again, there are concerns that the economy is stalling as the stock market surges. while many stores close their doors for in-person shopping amid the pandemic, online retail sales are expected

abc's elizabeth schulze has the latest from washington. izabeth, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. the federal government is allowing the biden administration to start, but overnight president trump made it clear, his fight isn't over yet. this morning, president trump still refusing to concede even after authorizing his team to begin the transition process. the general services administration informed president-elect biden monday that he now has access to $6 million in transition funding. in a tweet the president implied he had signed off on the move in the best interest of our country and said he's instructed his team to cooperate, but later the president writing, what does gsa being allowed to preliminarily work with the dems have to do with continuing to pursue our various cases. we are moving full speed ahead. it comes as trump suffers even more legal defeats in his effort to overturn the election results. the pennsylvania supreme court rejecting five more lawsuits. even rush limbaugh is slamming trump's legal team. >> th

elizabeth schulze, abc news, washington. >>> new video showing a sky driver making a grand exit fromloon ride over southern california. >> whoo! un-huh. so josh newman swung from the balloon before freefalling to the ground. now, the video stops before we see him pull out his parachute. but his friend who is also in the balloon said he did land safely. newman is an experienced skydiver from l.a. so do not try this if you get caught up in the hot air balloon. >> no. it's a double no for me. no skydiving and no hot air balloon. >> no hot air balloon? >> nope. >> why? >> i do the news. how many times have we sat here and told people about hot air balloon accidents? many. many. >> friend -- >> that was going to be my first question. who will get in the balloon first. i guess kumasi and i will get in the balloon. >> we'll get in. >> but we're not going to jump out. >> reggie is not going because there's no bathroom. >> i forgot about that part. there's no bathroom. and the catering must be minima minimal. >> the fact you remember that is impressive. >> she knows me. >> you two. i tell you

elizabeth schulze, abc news, washington. >>> all right. 5:41. of us in anticipation of dealing with the wet weather today. but before that happens, look at these temperatures. mid 50s to mid 60s with increasing clouds, some drizzle possible along the east bay shore, definitely up in our hills and mountains before the steadier rain starts to move in. we do have some of our valleys where we have 40s locked in like the east bay valleys and up in the north bay, everybody else in the 50s and 60s. so, our microclimates are definitely this morning. let's talk about your commute as we look at 87 in san jose from the shark tank northward to maneta san jose international. poor this evening and poor by noon for most of us. so we'll have rainy stop physical you're taking mass transit and you'll need the wet weather gear and also if you're taking a ferry. one on the storm impact scale with light to moderate rain and then scattered showers through the evening hours. a tenth of an inch in the south bay to three quarters of an inch in the north bay. you can see

as elizabeth schulze tells us they're running out of time and options. >> president trump's chances to challenge the election appear to be dwindling by the hour. a judge in arizona says he'll rule on a case this morning that could delay the state's certification of ballots. republicans are requesting a redo of a hand recount in maricopa county, the state's largest, but the judge expressing skepticism before the ruling reportedly saying he's, quote, having a hard time understanding why the lawsuit was filed more than two weeks after the election. also today georgia will announce results of its statewide audit. so far uncounted votes have been found in four counties landing president trump more than a thousand votes but not nearly enough to overtake president-elect biden's lead in that state. >> we do not have enough evidence to say they reached the level of 13,000 or so. >> reporter: as president trump refuses to concede more republicans are calling him to grant biden access to intelligence briefings. >> the president is contesting the election and i would urge him to give intel briefin

abc's elizabeth schulze has more. good morning, elizabeth. >> reporter: mona, when it comes to covid infections, november is now the worst month of the pandemic, and today's only the 18th. many hospitals reaching their breaking points. this morning, covid infections are on the rise in every state. 2 million americans have tested positive so far this month, and more than 1,500 deaths were reported yesterday, the highest daily total since may 14th. in washington state officials are warning 300 people who attended a wedding after 40 covid cases were linked to the event. >> it's the kind of thing that really is what they refer to as a superspreader. >> reporter: in los angeles, new restrictions will be imposed including a 10:00 p.m. curfew for businesses. >> i don't really go out past 10:00, so for me it would just be living life normally. >> i'm no scientist, but covid doesn't sleep from 10 to 6, so i just think that it's kind of just blowing smoke for no reason. >> reporter: ohio and maryland now imposing similar curfews

abc news reporter elizabeth schulze is live in washington, d.c. with us, elizabeth. >> good morning, liz, the race for the white house continues here, votes continuing to be tallied. but former vice president joe biden projecting confidence, saying he will win the white house, and telling americans to remain patient at these final votes are tallied. this morning joe biden edging closer to victory. the former vice president extending his lead in pennsylvania, where a win would give him enough electoral votes to secure the presidency. biden also holding onto narrow leads in arizona, nevada and georgia. >> we don't have a final declaration. of victory yet. but the numbers tell us it's clear. tell us a clear and convincing story. we're going to win this race. >> reporter: late friday biden urging patience as votes continue to be counted. >> your vote will be counted. i don't care how hard people try to stop it. i will not let it happen. >> reporter: the trump campaign has already filed several lawsuits, making baseless accusations about fraud in the e

abc's elizabeth schulze is in washington. elizabeth, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, kenneth and mona. well, in the final weeks of his presidency we're learning that senior advisers recently talked president trump out of launching a military strike on iran. this morning, new details about dramatic military action nearly taken by president trump with only two months left in his term. abc news has confirmed that trump asked his senior advisers last week for options on attacking iran's main nuclear site after a report detailed how the iranians are increasing their stockpile of nuclear material. vice president mike pence and secretary of state mike pompeo were among the group who convinced the president not to pursue a military strike. the report coming as the pentagon expects orders from president trump by the end of this week to reduce troop levels in afghanistan and iraq by mid-january. the president tweeted back in october that all american forces in afghanistan should be home by christmas, but the military pushed bac

abc's elizabeth schulze has more. good morning, elizabeth. >> reporter: good morning, mona. president trump's legal team to launch hail mary challenges in several battleground states, even as they run out of time and options. president trump's chances to challenge the election appear to be dwindling by the hour. a judge in arizona says he'll rule on a case this morning that could delay the state's certification of ballots. republicans are requesting a redo of a hand recount in maricopa county, the state's largest, but the judge expressing skepticism before the ruling reportedly saying he's, quote, having a hard time understanding why the lawsuit was filed more than two weeks after the election. also today georgia will announce results of its statewide audit. so far uncounted votes have been found in four counties landing president trump more than a thousand votes but not nearly enough to overtake president-elect biden's lead in that state. >> we do not have enough evidence to say they reached the level of 13,000 or so. >> reporter: as president trump refuses to concede more

abc's elizabeth schulze is live in washington with the very latest. good morning, elizabeth. >> reporter: good morning, mona. president trump says he will leave the office, but he wasn't willing to concede defeat. overnight president trump delivering a message to troops, then taking questions from reporters for the first time since election day. >> between you people, don't talk to me that way. you're just a lightweight. don't talk to me that -- i'm the president of the united states. don't ever talk to the president that way. >> reporter: the president is still refusing to concede the election, which he overwhelmingly lost. >> it's going to be a very hard thing to concede because we know there was massive fraud. >> reporter: trump provided no direct evidence of fraud while claiming irregularities in pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin. and joe biden cemented his victory with 306 electoral votes and a record 80 million votes. >> so if the electoral college does elect president-elect joe biden, are you not going to leave this building? >> just so -- ce

abc's elizabeth schulze has the latest. good morning, elizabeth. >> reporter: good morning. those key players are lawmakers from michigan, a state president trump is now targeting as he appears to run out of options. meanwhile, democrats are taking a new approach. this morning, democrats in the house are demanding answers from the woman who's blocking joe biden from beginning his transition into the white house. >> this is a block not just to our transition but to the senate doing its constitutional duty as well. >> reporter: top democrats are now giving emily murphy, held of the general services administration until monday to explain the delay saying she has no conceivable argument to deny biden won the election. >> we'll do our jobs and move forward but really would be great'gsa would follow the law. >> there is no excuse not to share the data and let us begin to plan. >> reporter: it comes as more election results are certified. georgia overnight wrapping up a statewide audit reaffirming biden's win. >> the audit has aligned very closely to what we had on election night r

abc's elizabeth schulze has the latest. >> reporter: there's a potential dead lock in michigan as the state moving to finalize its election results today. that's not stopping joe biden from picking key members of his cabinet. michigan's canvassing board made up of two republicans and two democrats is preparing to vote to certify the presidential election results or delay the process to allow an audit. one republican member is expected to vote to delay the certification. if there's a tie, the issue could end up in court. >> if there were a 2-2 split, it would then go to the michigan supreme court to determine what their response would be, what their order would be. if they didn't have an order it would be certified, we would have a constitutional crisis in michigan. that's never occurred before. >> reporter: michigan's secretary of state saying we have no reason to doubt the canvass will carry out their duty to certify. also today some counties in pennsylvania are set to certify their election results. it comes after a state judge dismissed a trump lawsuit ruling the campaign's allegat

elizabeth schulze has the latest. >> reporter: the president is again refusing to concede to president-elect biden, and now trump's legal team is facing another setback as they try to reverse the election results. this morning, president trump is abandoning a major part of his legal challenge in pennsylvania. the trump campaign is dropping a claim in the lawsuit that accuses officials of unlawfully blocking observers from watching ballot counting in philadelphia and pittsburgh. the setback comes after president trump appeared to briefly acknowledge biden's election victory tweeting sunday he won but quickly adding, i concede nothing while continuing to spread unfounded claims about fraud. this weekend, thousands of trump supporters flooded the streets of washington, d.c. as night fell clashes with counterprotesters led to 20 arrests. former president obama says it's time for trump to concede. >> a president is a public servant. they are temporary occupants of the office by design. and when your time is up, then it is your job to put the country first and think beyond your own ego. >> reporte

abc's elizabeth schulze has the latest. >> reporter: this morning, democrats speaking out against president trump's decision to pardon former national security adviser michael flynn. >> it makes a mockery of our democracy to those watching from around the world. >> reporter: trump tweeting, it is my great honor to announce that general michael t. flynn has been granted a full pardon. fling pleaded guilty back in 2017 to lying to the fbi about his contacts with russia. but he's tried to take back the confession ever since. house speaker nancy pelosi slammed trump's decision calling it an act of grave corruption and a brazen abuse of power. but the justice department says the flynn pardon is obviously an appropriate use of the president's power. >> he should pardon everyone from himself to his administration officials to joe exotic if he has to. i think that the president ought to wield that pardon power effectively and robustly. >> reporter: sources say trump is planning more pardons. >> this holiday season will be pardon palooza. you're going to see flynn, bannon, the former rnc finance cha

in washington, elizabeth schu e schulze, abc 7 news. >>> even with biden's message of unity, how soone expect the country to heal and what will it take? abc 7 news contributor phil mattier shared insight. >> it incumbent' a surprise to see democratic support for joe biden so great. what took everybody off balance was the support for donald trump. he actually got more votes this time than he did four years ago, and that created close races in a number of states where we haven't seen before, and underscores that part of the history of this race is that going forward, we are still in a very divided america, not necessarily regionally, but also within states and within communities themselves, by age, by gender, all the way across, this is, nobody's walking in with a mandate, although as they say in politics, if you win by one vote, that's your mandate. >> vice president-elect kamala harris then served as san francisco's district attorney and california's attorney general before being elected to the senate four years ago. mattier has covered harris since she worked as a prosecutor in alame

in washington, elizabeth schulze, abc 7 news. >> thank you, elizabeth, the waiting continues. >>> presidentjoe biden should not wrongfully claim the office of the president. jonathan karl has more on what the president's most loyal allies are saying. >> reporter: 24 hours after -- >> sorry about that, little bit of technical difficulty. we'll try to get that back for you. meantime, we've been keeping a close eye on the 12 state propositions on california ballots, final results on prop 18 which failed, it would have ald 17-year-old californians to vote in primaries as long as they would have turned 18 before the general election. now several propositions are still close to call -- excuse me, still too close to call right now with ballots still being counted. those include prop 14, which authorizes billions in general bonds to go to stem cell research, and prop 15, an increase in commercial property taxes for education funding and prop 19 which would let homeowners 55 and older pay lower property taxes if they move while raising taxes for some people with inherited property. . now, six propos

elizabeth schulze has more on the challenges the biden transition team is facing. >> reporter: this morning president trump is abandoning a big part of his legal challenge in pennsylvania. his campaign is dropping a claim that accuses officials of unlawfully blocking observe earns from watching ballot counting in philadelphia and pittsburg. the setback comes after the president appeared to acknowledge biden's victory in a tweet on sunday and walked it back saying i concede nothing and i won the election. in a 60 minutes interview, former president barack obama urged the president to concede. >> a president is a public servant. they are temporary occupants of the office by design. and when your time is up, then it is your job to put the country first and think beyond your own ego and your own interests and your own disappointments. >> reporter: over the weekend thousands of trump supporters rallied behind the president in washington, d.c. clashes with counter protesters led to at least 20 arrests. the trump administration is continuing to block president-elect biden from receiving sensitive