gabe gutierrez, nbc news. >>> in just 60 seconds, a launch of a holiday shopping season like no other how black friday may look a lot different this year. when to get the best deals coming up. >>> just hours left to score amazon prime day deals and this year it's giving us a preview of how the pandemic is reshaping the holiday shopping season vicki nguyen on what it means for black friday. >> reporter: the pandemic pushed amazon proctober launching the holiday shopping season now coronavirus is poised to change one of the biggest shopping days of the year, black friday with covid surging and social distancing in stores, retailers are bracing for more online shopping, shipping and earlier sales. >> we have so many sales popping up so consumers have to be really organized. >> reporter: walmart announced it's holding three black friday sales starting in early november target and best buy also promising multiple black friday deals throughout the month. with covid-related economic struggles some research shows deals are more important than ever. 39% of americans say they plan to cut back o

taylor's family is asking for a new special prosecutor and another grand jury lester >> gabe gutierrez, thank you. >>> in houston a veteran police officer was shot and killed today as he responded to a report of a domestic dispute police say the suspect shot sergeant harold preston several times in front of his apartment. another officer was wounded and is in stable condition the officers returned fire, wounding the suspect, who was under arrest sergeant preston was 65 years old he'd been on the force for 41 years >>> with just two weeks now before election day president trump is in battleground pennsylvania but not with first lady melania trump as she called off her trip late this afternoon. geoff bennett has the latest >> reporter: first lady melania trump was set to join the president at a rally in battleground pennsylvania tonight planned as her first public appearance since recovering from coronavirus. but this afternoon canceled an aide citing a lingering cough. coming as the president continues to criticize the commission on presidential debates >> i think the whole thing is cra

. >>> with early voting still in progress in many places and election day around the corner, gabe gutierrez reports on how to stay safe casting your ballot. >> reporter: these aren't lines for covid testing. it's politics during a pandemic. >> it's very secure. >> reporter: sheryl mcaffey was among the first to vote early in battleground wisconsin. she got covid earlier this year. her brother died from it. >> nothing was going to stop me i'm here for me and my brother. >> reporter: as we head into the final stretch many others are still questioning whether going to crowded polling places is safe. the cdc offers some guidelines before. you vote plan do go to the polling place during off-peak hours such as mid-morning. and fill out a sample ballot first at home so you spend less time here while you vote, of course, wear a mask, make sure your polling place is well ventilated bring your own pen or stylus for touch screens. don't try to disinfect a voting machine yourself some cleaning products can damage them. how big of a concern is the pandemic for you right now? >> big concern because i hav

with more on that here's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: at st. mary's hospital in green bay doctors ar sounding the alarm. >> the situation in wisconsin best way to describe it is awful >> reporter: this doctor along with more than 200 other health professionals just sent this letter t local politicians urging them to discourage reckless disregard of basic public health measures a month ag wisconsin was seeing 800 daily cases of covid-19 now it is more than 2,300. over the last two weeks cases have risen in 32 states. >> i would say every hospital is one bed away from being over capacity, some are actually over it already. >> reporter: among the lives lost, heidi, a teacher who planned to hold class via zoom even after her covid diagnosis. she died five days later. >> when i think of her i just think of purely kind to the soul i think of somebody who is so kind in every sense of the word. >> reporter: today wisconsin's governor announced the opening of a 530-bed field hospital at the state fairgrounds and tomorrow a new statewide order limits cro

gabe gutierrez is in a growing hotspot. >> reporter: today the parking lot of a major league ballpark transformed into wisconsin's newest drive-through testing site the cars started lining up here more than an hour before this testing site opened on friday, wisconsin saw a record number of covid cases. more than 3,800. what are your symptoms >> i've had a pesky cough since saturday, fatigue. >> reporter: we spoke with teacher stacy isaacson from a distance >> we all want to get back to work and have life as normal as possible specifically as an educator we want our kids to be in the classroom learning and not be subject to long delays and gaps in their learning. >> reporter: hospitalizations in wisconsin have tripled over the last month, about 85% of the state's beds are full. >> this is serious you know this ain't no joke it's killing people. all you got to do is look at the numbers. >> reporter: covid hospitalizations at their peak in at least 16 states including north dakota and new mexico where they have spiked more than 100% in 2 weeks health care workers have noticed a dramatic

our gabe gutierrez has the latest. >> we have a massive fire just north of i-10 and 99. >> reporter: the three-alarm inferno lit up the sky near houston just before dawn >> [ bleep ] crazy. >> reporter: a $30 million apartment complex under construction up in flames. >> never seen a fire like this before. >> reporter: residents in a neighboring complex owned by the same company say they could feel the scorching heat >> you can feel the heat. >> reporter: firefighters had trouble finding water pressure. >> some of the debris that was coming off of the roof in the smoke was coming down and starting little pockets of grass fires. >> reporter: one firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion, no one else was injured. >> if you're standing in front of my window in the house, yes, i fell the heat. the heat from the building is tracking the -- some of the windows. >> reporter: the fire is out as investigators search for what sparked it gabe gutierrez, nbc news >>> new mandatory evacuations are in effect in colorado. the cameron peak fire is threatening homes northwest of denver its burned mo

he spoke to gabe gutierrez. >> anybody in there? >> reporter: the wrecked car near davis, california, was up in flames and the responding officer knew every second counted. >> where you at? >> reporter: bystanders point him to a woman trapped inside. >> get out right now! >> reporter: but she is disoriented so he takes action. as amazing as the body camera video is, what may be even remarkable is what police corporal lee did next. >> you didn't tell anybody about this? >> correct. >> reporter: no one knew until the supervisor asked to see the video the next day. >> to me, what i did was not heroic. it was just a part of what every cop is supposed to do. so after i left the scene, i continued my shift, and i didn't say anything about it to anybody. >> reporter: he's been a cop for more than 20 years, never had a rescue like this one, though. the woman was later charged with dui but she survived thanks to him. >> i quickly realized that she was not going to come out on her own volition or physical strength so that's when i decided to

they definitely don't see this as being anywhere near over, craig. >> gabe gutierrez for us in madisonsin. gabe, thank you. thanks for that. that is going to do it for me today and this week. enjoy your weekend. dr. anthony fauci will join my colleague chuck todd on "meet the press daily" today at 1:00 eastern right here on msnbc. dr. fauci with chuck at 1:00. but coming up next, "andrea mitchell reports." it's moving day. and while her friends are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute. wait, a minute? but what have you been doing for the last two hours? delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. now that's simple, easy, awesome. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today. in mass incarceration of black and brown communities. the shame is on all of us. i'm working to right the wrongs of injustice. ending cash bail. ending the war on drugs. decriminalizing sex work, and passing major sentencing reform legislation. but unti

gabe gutierrez is in south dakota >> reporter: tonight, the covid crisis is ravaging many smaller communities for the first time. >> we have a certain percentage of the nursing staff, our physician staff, all of our staff that are out either quarantining or sick with covid >> reporter: the dakotas lead the u.s. in coronavirus cases per capita cases in at least 42 states are up 10 or more in the last 2 weeks. >> so now we are at the highest baseline we have ever been which is really quite precarious no matter how you look at it, it's not good news >> reporter: across the country, about 41,000 people are now hospitalized a 40% jump in th last month >> we have cared for them for so long, and we truly do love them, and we miss them. >> reporter: in el paso, texas, hospitals are full shea acosta is battling the virus and struggling to breathe. >> i do worry because there are no beds right now. >> reporter: but in rural carter county, montana, there is only one hospital which doubles as nursing home there are no icus an the closest ventilator is 120 miles away. how worried are you about flu season

this reporting from nbc's gabe gutierrez in billings, montana, in one of three icu units they are nowng for covid at that particular hospital, 14 patients intubated, 14 covid patients intubated while gabe was there. this is joey traywick, who works there as a nurse. >> you know, at first i hesitate to tell you this, but i -- i was the nurse for -- man, sorry. i was the nurse for the very first patient that passed from covid in our hospital, and i thought i've seen this before. i'm a nurse. i've been doing this a long time. i know how much time i have. i can tell by looking at her how acute this is, and i'll come back and check on her regularly. at that point she was moderately lucid. and i came back to the room at one point, and she had passed by herself. and i thought, i'm never going to let that happen again. i am never going to let that happen again. it snuck up on me, and it surprised me because it's so relentless. and so 23 patients later, i don't miss it. if i have to stay late after work, if it means coming in on my day off, they're not going to pass alone on my unit again. non

and that's where gabe gutierrez is standing by this morning in indianapolis.ing on where you are? >> hey there stephanie. i'm having a bit of a hard time hearing you, but i can tell you the situation here on the ground in minnesota, the governor here is warning that this state is reaching a critical point. hospitalizations are up 70% over the last month and throughout the midwest as you mentioned, stephanie, things are increasing significantly. yesterday we were in the dakotas. and the dakotas actually lead the nation per capita in cases right now. now here in minnesota, we have been hearing from hospitals, including this one and say they are trying to make -- trying to make plans for the coming winter months as, you know, the winter and colder temperatures drive people indoors where the virus spreads more easily. now here in minnesota, they've also noticed that over the last few months, community spread has been increasing. for example, in weddings. about 70 wedding-related outbreaks have been reported. and local public officials here are urging people to try

hospitalizations tripled over the past month nbc's gabe gutierrez is live for you in milwaukee >> reporter: local authorities calling this a five-alarm fire about 85% of the hospital beds are full right now the state saw a record number of cases on friday. behind me is a new drive-thru testing site shep, we have seen cars here for pretty much most of the day since it opened for the first time this morning. this drive-thru testing site is in the parking lot across the street from miller park, the home for the brewers the state has also opened a new emergency field hospital not far from here. today, we spoke with several people in line at a distance here is what frank lock locket had to tell us. >> this ain't no joke. it's killing people. all you have to do is look at the numbers. >> reporter: a bit hard to here. he was experiencing symptoms, bus his basket appoint is he wanted people to take it seriously. there was breaking news today that a wisconsin judge had ruled the governor's order restricting capacity, bars and restaurants at 25%, the judge ruled that order could stay in place despit

nbc's gabe gutierrez is there, in milwaukee, wisconsin. right now early voting is also starting while these cases are on the rise. gabe, what's the latest on the ground in milwaukee? >> reporter: it's a story of long lines, both for early voting and also for covid testing. the line behind me is not at a polling place, but actually outside a drive-through testing site that opened yesterday. it doesn't open for another 45 minutes or so here. you can see there's a long line of cars that steps all the way down the street, very similar to what we saw yesterday. this is home of miller park, home of the milwaukee brewers. you see that tent behind me. this drive-through testing site will be open into the evening. we expect hundreds, if not more than 1,000 people to be tested here. craig, as you mentioned, it's an increasingly dire situation here in wisconsin which is seeing about 3,800 new covid cases each day. as you mentioned, more than 80, 85% or so of the hospital beds in the state of wisconsin are filled. yesterday a court upheld the governor'

. >> nbc's gabe gutierrez is in el paso, texas. el paso is a city seeing the surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations as well. gabe, what's the situation there like right now? >> craig, picking up on that point, el paso seeing about a 300% surge in hospitalization in recent days. university medical center, where we're at right now, we're overlooking these tents that have been constructed right outside the hospital. craig, this is something they put up several days ago, nearly 200 or so covid patients right now. in each tent they have a capacity for 12 or 15. the county judge is calling this a crisis situation in el paso. some of the more serious patients are being airlifted to other cities throughout texas. traveling nurses are coming here to el paso to help with staffing issues as well. we also spoke with a doctor who runs a local clinic here that deals with lower income patients and migrants as well. he says he's seeing about 200 patients a day. about half of them are testing positive for covid-19. take a listen to what he

nbc news correspondent gabe gutierrez joins us from el paso. , what's being done to handle the surge? >> reporter: hi there, andrea. yes, as you mentioned, hospitalizations are up dramatically in el paso. behind me, you can see one of the mobile medical tents, several of them, actually, set up here at the university medical center of el paso. 12 or 15 patients per tent. right now at this hospital there are nearly 200 covid patients, some of them critically ill and airlifted to other parts of the state. they're also dealing with staffing issues here, and in many other hospitals, not just in texas but across the country, they're bringing in travel nurses from across the state. here in el paso local officials have imposed a nightly curfew to try and stop the spread of the virus. take a listen to the chief medical officer from another medical center here in the region. take a listen. >> just two weeks ago, we were having public discourse around 500 cases a day, 700 cases a day, 800. last week we broke the record three times, a thousand, 1,200, 1,400

nbc news correspondent gabe gutierrez was granted access and introduces us to the critical care staffontana. >> reporter: st. vincent health care in billings, montana, wasn't always montgomery, alabama the front lines in the war against covid. it is now. >> i'm a good nurse, and the worses i work with are good nurses, but we are broken. >> reporter: joey says he's personally held the hands of 23 of his patients who have died after the first one passed without him. >> when i came back to the room at one point and she had passed. by herself. and i thought i'm never going to let that happen again. if i have to stay late after work, if it means coming in on my day off, they're not going to pass alone on my unit again, none of them. >> reporter: the hospital granted us access with the permission of patients families to show the devastating impact of the virus. billings is a city of more than 100,000 people, but this facility takes in critical patients from across the state. this is one of the hospitals three covid units. at least 14 patients here are on ventilators right now. it's a minute

nbc's gabe gutierrez has more. >> reporter: new options for holiday travel may be taking off. talks with airlines and foreign governments about ways to jump-start travel between the u.s. and europe and exploring rapid testing on domestic travel corridors between cities as a way to shorten routes like from u.s. to london potential changes could come as soon as the holidaying now just two months away. this as airlines fight to survive and tens of thousands of u.s. airline workers remain furloughed the industry dell december pratt for a boost is adding new routes to entire travelers while em fa sizing cleaning and safety protocols. united, jetblue, and hawaiian airlines are offers testing. and some are offering tests right in the terminal. 39% say they plan to travel during the holiday season. 21% say they usually would but won't this year. the cdc still warns the chances of traveling and getting and transferring the virus increases. book by togetherget the best deals. domestic air travel for thanksgiving and chris is expected to be 40% cheaper. >> you're not going to be losing o

. >> this is gabe gutierrez in madison, wisconsin, where the covid units at university hospital keeprowing. >> i'm very scared that if this doesn't stop soon we're going to end up with a much bigger problem. >> reporter: dr.icaty started working here this summer. it's much busier now. how much worse do you think this could get? >> i think unfortunately it could get really, really terrible. it's devastating. it's terrifying to see someone struggling to breathe. you can see the fear in their eyes. you can see how scared they are. >> reporter: this covid unit has 28 beds that reached that capacity not long ago. it's now down to 20 patients, and this hospital is making plans for this winter as flu season takes hold. this is one of the hospital's three covid units. it was once just one hallway. now it's four. nurse katie knows the hardest part. >> they are lonely, dealing with this alone and it's become increasingly harder for us to try to manage and play all these different roles. playing the nurse, playing the support person. it's very difficult. >> reporter: tonight just across town th

here's nbc news correspondent gabe gutierrez from billings, montana. >> reporter: montana reported the second highest total of daily covid cases, just yesterday. and now, we're hearing dramatic stories from health care workers about the rise in the cases. it is clearly taking a toll. >> reporter: st. vincent health care in billings, montana, wasn't always among the front lines in the war against covid. it is now. >> i'm a good nurse. and the nurses i work with are good nurses but we are broken. >> reporter: joey traywick said he's personally held the hands of 23 patients of his died. after the first one passed without him. >> i came back to the room at one point and she had passed. by herself. and i thought, i'm never going to let that happen again. if i have to stay late after work, if it means coming in on my day off, they're not going to pass alone on my unit again. none of them. >> reporter: the hospital granted us access with the permission of patients' families to show the devastating impact of the virus. billings is a city of more than 100,000 people but the facility takes in cr

it's like we won. >> gabe gutierrez joins me now. gabe, just extraordinary reporting that you did first for "nightly news" last night, we really appreciated that insight. how is joey doing, how are the doctors doing? >> reporter: you know, andrea, he got a lot of response after that piece first aired last night, people from around the country calling him a hero. he's grateful for that. a lot of the health care workers we spoke with, not just here but across the country, there is a sense of exhaustion. they've been dealing with this for months. some areas, like billings, montana, have seen a dramatic rise in the last couple of weeks. montana recorded its second highest number of covid cases since wednesday. these health care workers are thankful they're being heard and the hospital granted us access to show the impact in communities across the country. >> gabe, you were in el paso yesterday, now billings. thank you for everything you're doing to bring it to the american people. it's very important. we appreciate it. >>> private negoti

we want to go to gabe gutierrez granted rare access in billings. talk about what you're seeing and hearing there firsthand. >> reporter: hi. yes, as you mentioned yesterday montana recorded the second highest number of new co-vid cases since the pandemic began. and we came here to st. vincent health care. a hospital that has three co-vid units at this point. billings has a population of more than 1 00,000. this hospital takes in patients from rural areas across the state and it has been swamped over the last several weeks. last hour i introduced you to a registered nurse. you heard the toll that this pandemic was taking on him. now i want to -- i want you to meet doctor chris, an icu doctor who has been a physician for more than 30 years. she went to new york, came out retirement, went to new york during the height of the pandemic here, came back to billings. and now the virus is knocking on her doorstep here. she gave us that rare tour of a co-vid icu. this hospital granted us access with the permission of some patient's families in order to show

that's where we find gabe gutierrez.ecause it has been up in the upper rocky mountains, the upper midwest that has been hit the hardest, the dakotas, wisconsin, minnesota, and, yes, montana. and billings is like a lot of these larger cities that are surrounded by a lot of rural counties where they get the patient ares from maybe 400 or 500 square mile vicinity, not just from the city of billings. what are you seeing there with the virus, gabe? >> hey there, chuck. you hit it exactly on the head. this hospital -- it's packed at this point. they have three covid icus here. and this is a city of more than 100,000 people. but, yes, it brings in these critical patients from rural areas around the state in montana. montana yesterday reported its second highest daily covid cases since the pandemic began. doctors and nurses we spoke with here, chuck, they're frustrated that more people haven't been wearing masks. one of the doctors we spoke with, chuck, she actually came out of retirement earlier this year, went to new york to h

. >>> this is gabe gutierrez in madison, wisconsin, where the covid units at university hospital keep growing. >> i'm very scared if this doesn't stop soon we're going to end up with a much bigger problem. >> reporter: dr. katie cavinski started working here this summer it's much busier now how much worse do you think this could get >> i think unfortunately it could get really, really terrible it's devastating it's terrifying to see someone struggling to breathe. you can see the fear in their eyes. you can see how scared they are. >> reporter: this covid unit has 28 beds it reached that capacity not long ago and now down to 20 patients and this hospital is making plans for this winter as flu season takes hold this is one of the hospital's three covid units. it was once just one hallway. now it's four. >> people are staying in here who are very sick >> reporter: nurse katie lenoway knows the hardest part. >> they're lonely and dealing with this alone and it's becoming increasingl harder for us to try to manage an playing the different roles, playing the nurse, playing the support perso

the start of flu season creates that double threat we've been hearing about with more here's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: tonight as coronavirus cases surge in parts of the midwest, some hospitals in wisconsin are being forced to wait list or transfer patients. >> this is a grave, dark reminder for all of us in our state that covid-19 isn't over >> reporter: in all 28 states and puerto rico have seen a rise in covid cases over the past two weeks. >> our nurses are stressed and our doctors are stressed. >> reporter: but in nebraska where cases are up 108% in two weeks, some business owners are defiant. >> i don't want people on my property wearing masks. because there's a lot of people that come and go, and if something comes up missing and i've got a videotape of somebody with a mask on i'll never figure out who it is. >> reporter: the -- >> everyone needs to be disciplined about wearing a mask it's very, very important to protect others as yourself. >> reporter: intensifying warnings about a twindemic in the fall if people don't get 1/3 flu shots. >> do it now, get yourself and everyone el

breaking daily records for new cases and in many remote areas hospitals are at a breaking point our gabe gutierrez got exclusive access inside a covid icu in a growing hot spot i have to tell you some of what you are about to see is hard to take. >> reporter: st. vincent health care in billings, montana, wasn't always among the front lines in the war against covid. it is now. >> i'm a good nurse. and the nurses i work with are good nurses but are we are broken. >> reporter: joey traywick said he's personally held the hands of 23 of his patients who have died after the first one passed without him >> i came back to the room at one point and she had passed by herself and i thought, i'm never going to let that happen again. if i have to stay late after work, if it means coming in on my day off, they're not going to pass alone on my unit again. none of them. >> reporter: the hospital granted us access with the permission of patients' families to show the devastating impact of the virus. billings is a city of more than 100,000 people but the facility takes in critical patients from across the state thi

they're at the breaking point and perhaps nowhere is as badly overwhelmed as el paso, texas our gabe gutierrez is there tonight. >> reporter: tonight critical covid patients are being airlifted from el paso to other cities in texas. here at university medical center doctors and nurses are working around the clock in this room medical tents help treat this region's surging cases. >> over the last ten days, we've seen this 300% increase. it's unprecedented we did not expect this. >> reporter: hundreds of traveling nurses have rushed in to help. >> we are at a very critical situation at this point in time. >> reporter: the county judge imposed an overnight curfew and a mask mandate. >> the governor is close to the provisions of stay-at-home order to get. >> reporter: but tonight some positive news the drug company regeneron reported more evidence that its antibody cocktail reduces symptoms in patients not hospitalized still the u.s. averages more than 72,000 new cases a day. president trump has repeatedly blamed more testing for that but the administration's testing czar says cases are going up.

with 48 fatalities in just 24 hours as rural areas struggle with the pandemic for more, here's gabe gutierrez some suburban businesses are facing new covid restrictions by the end of the week in the midwest, the region's second surge is spreading rapidly. >> in my 34 years as a physician, i have never seen so much suffering from a single disease over such a short period of time. >> i'm tired know others are tired. not just our bodies and our minds, but our spirits our fatigue just went up. >> our patients coming are are incredibly sick. >> reporter: a few weeks ago this testing site in chicago was dealing with no more than 600. as day now it's up to more than 1,000 in ohio hospitalizations are at a record high. at a nursing home outbreak in indiana, 44 have died 30r, 37 ae infected. >> it shows that the persistent health care disparities that exist in our u.s. health care system have been exposed to a great disease grooe egree by co >> i never imagined anything like this would happen to me. >> reporter: at the same chicago hospital was her mother also sick she died one floor away. >> having c

here's nbc's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: frances, wisconsin is among those states seeing a record number of covid cases the state had already opened an emergency field hospital near milwaukee. now this new drive-through testing site as demand for testing soars. the parking lot of a major league ballpark transformed into wisconsin's newest drive-through testing site the cars started lining up an hour before testing started. on friday they saw a record number of covid cases, nearly 3 rkds 800 what are your symptoms >> i've had a pesky cough since saturday and fatigue we all want to get back to work and have life as normalal as possible, and specifically as an educator, we want our kids in the classroom learning and not be subject to long delays and gaps in their learning. >> reporter: hospitalizations in wisconsin have tripled over the last month about 85% of the state's beds are full. >> think ain't no joke it's killing people. >> reporter: hospitalizations are at their peak in at least 16 states including north dakota and new mexico where they spiked 100% in two weeks. health care worker

a juror is speak out saying juror members were never asked to consider homicide charges our gabe gutierrez has more. >> reporter: phillip, brie o na taylor's family is calling for a new prosecutor and another grand jury in a rare review, a juror in the breonna taylor said questions were asked about additional charges and the grand jury was told there wouldn't be none because the prosecutor didn't feel they could make them stick, adding the jury never considered homicide charges because they were never given the option. the former emt was shot and killed in march during a botched drug raid. no officers were charged in her death. one was charged with wanton endangerment, his bullets ending up in another's apartment. they say the two other officers were justified because taylor's boyfriend shot at them first police say they identified themselves her boyfriend insists they didn't now the juror says the grand jury didn't agree that certain actions were justified nor that they would be the only charges in the case. a case that has fueled protests worldwide. >> at this time our climates do wish t

warning so other families don't have to share her pain miguel almaguer, nbc news >>> this is gabe gutierrez in the midwest where tonight the region's second surge is spreading rapidly. >> in my 34 years as a physician, i hav never seen so much suffering from a single disease over such a short period of time. >> i'm tired i know others are tired. not just our bodies and our minds but our spirits are fatigued, as well. >> the patients that are coming in are incredibly sick. they're requiring expensive measures >> reporter: in illinois, the testing lines snake down streets. a few weeks ago, this testing site in chicago was dealing with no more than 600 tests a day. now it's up to more than 1,000 in ohio, hospitalizations are at a record high and at a new nursing home outbreak in indiana,the pa four people have died and 47 others have been infected. the pain is spread widely but not always evenly a new study out today found black patients in the u.s. were 72% more likely to be hospitalized than white patients >> it shows that the persistent healt care disparities that exist in our u.s health ca

i want to bring in gabe gutierr gutierrez. what kind of precautions are in place in chicago.t be coming down the pike? >> reporter: well, this testing site opened a short time ago. already a huge line of cars here. illinois has added another 5 states to the emergency travel order. that means now residents here that travel to 31 other states now are supposed to quarantine for two weeks when they come back. you see this huge line of cars. the governor here also says that parts of the states and suburban areas in the chicago area might get tighter business restrictions by tend of the week. i'm joined by kevin jax, a representative for hr support, the organization that runs this testing site. and you have been seeing increased demand over the last several days. how busy is it compared to a few weeks ago. >> we have seen an increase of 65% in our testing compared to september. at this specific and then we've also seen a 50% increase around a 50% increase in all of our other sites. >> at one point you were dealing with 600 tests or so a day. now how many are you seeing? >> upwards

joying me now from a drive through testing site in wisconsin is gabe gutierrez. you were in new york city in the early days of the pandemic. i imagine that you did not expect to be in another one that was popping up again seven or eight months down the line. >> yeah. it is very reminiscent of what we started to see in new york earlier this year. i want to get to breaking news in wisconsin. this is a brand new set up. and we have been seaing car after car show up here. the line extented out of this parking lot. some of the cars have been waiting here. a judge has jum held the governor's restriction here limiting capacity at bars and restaurants to 25%. there has been a lawsuit trying to stop that. in the past few hours, they said that a judge can issue that order. but again, they ordered that it can go forward, but yes, the concern here is that this is a state that is in a dire situation. you see the case's increasing dramatically. on friday wisconsin saw more than 3800 confirmed cases. and you mentioned that a set up for this emergency field hospital here is tryi

hospitals, covid has changed the lives of thousands of doctors, nurses and others across the country gabe gutierrez spoke with some in montana today gabe, a rough road ahead there >> reporter: certainly, shep, there's a lot of concern here as we head into flu season and as we get into the winter with colder temperatures. we did speak with some of those health care workers here today they say they've seen a dramatic rise in cases over the last several weeks. they have three covid units here at some times they have been at or near capacity take a listen to what they showed us today. >> saint vincent health care in billings montana wasn't always among the front lines in the war against covid. it is now. joey says he's personally held the hands of 23 of his patients who have died, after the first one passed without him >> they're not going to pass alone on my unit again >> reporter: the hospital granted us access with the permission of patients' families to show the devastating impact of the virus this facility takes in critical patients from across the state >> this is one of the hospital's three covi

that is where we find gabe gutierrez this morning. he joins us from a newly opened field hospital near milwaukee. gabe, good morning. >> good morning. local officials are calling this a five-alarm fire. covid cases near wisconsin are at the highest levels friday. now, a tiny number of covid cases on friday and to where they are overwhelmed. the cases are now rising in the rural areas as the temperatures are keeping people indoors and the virus spreads more easily. >> you cannot say that we are on the road to essentially getting out of this. >> the next six to 12 weeks are going to be the highest of the pandemic. >> reporter: according to the nbc news counts, cases have increased at least 10%, 30 states have risen 25% or more, prompting authorities to nix a 10,000 person wedding. that was set for today. >> there is no safe way to do that. >> here in wisconsin an emergency hospital was opened at the state fairgrounds. the number of cases are threatened to overwhelm the crisis center. >> we are in crisis here in wisconsin. >> reporter: in

gabe gutierrez joins us with more on that gabe, good morning. >> reporter: willie, good morning.el this holiday season for many half of them it will be the first time doing so since the pandemic started as the airline industry fights for its life, it's also battling questions about safety this morning, new options for holiday travel may be taking off. the u.s. now in talks with airlines and foreign governments about ways to jumpstart travel between the u.s. and europe, and exploring rapid testing on designated travel corridors between select cities as a way to shorten quarantines on major routes like new york to london, where u.s. travelers currently face a 14-day quarantine on arrival. potential changes that could come as soon as the holidays, now just two months away this as airlines fight to survive and tens of thousands of u.s. airline workers remain furloughed the industry desperate for a boost is adding new routes to entice travelers while emphasizing cleaning and safety protocols. carriers like united, jetblue and hawaiian air lines are announcing plans to offer coronaviru