This, as President Trump remains silent about the alarming surge in covid cases as he pursues false claims on voter fraud. Thanksgiving crackdowns. The states now ordering families not to gather in large groups for the holidays. The furious backlash and the big question, how will police enforce the rules . Plus, the couple behind that superspreader wedding speaking out. Nearly half their guests infected with covid including three of their grandparents. Why they are blaming the dance floor. Prince william breaks his silence about the investigation into that infamous interview with his mother, Princess Diana. Was she tricked . And the blockbuster news out of hollywood. Get used to it. Now how hollywood is planning to lasso in audiences. The highly anticipated hits going straight to your living room, just in time for christmas. Yes whoohoo good morning, america. Good to be with you on this thursday. We have some encouraging news on the vaccine front this morning. And well have more on that breaking news in just a few moments, and it is much needed at this time because the United States has more than 250,000 american lives that have been lost to the virus. Another 869 died yesterday. Thats more than one american every minute. The highest oneday toll since may and the surge has forced new york city to shut down its Public Schools. Whit johnson begins our coverage outside a school here in manhattan. Good morning, whit. Reporter george, good morning to you. The new York City School closure is expected to last at least through the thanksgiving holiday. Many parents though are fighting back, arguing it doesnt make sense to keep the kids at home while places like bars and gyms can remain open, but the governor warns if the numbers keep going in the wrong direction, those could be next to shut down. This morning, a major setback for new york city. The Largest School district in the country shutting down inperson learning again. No one is happy about this decision. We all, in fact, are feeling very sad about this decision. Reporter the big apple hitting its selfimposed threshold of a 3 Positivity Rate on a sevenday average and the School Closures impacting 300,000 students, infuriating some parents. Restaurants continue to be open at full capacity. But we have 0. 2 positivity in our schools. So the city may have hit 3 , but it turns out that our schools are the safest place to be in our city right now. Reporter the city now joining other major districts like los angeles, chicago and San Francisco that have been fully remote this entire school year. Some schools in kentucky and minnesota going virtual as well. This as the nation marks that painful milestone, 250,000 americans dead from covid19. In idaho, hospitalizations have increased by 84 . In just the last month. Health care workers emotionally and physically exhausted. I feel like im in that fight or flight mode having my patient call their Family Member before we intubate for the last time, for the last video message, and then the silence that follows after is really hard. Reporter wisconsin reporting a record daily high, over 8,000 new cases. Reissuing a state of emergency, extending its mask mandate until january 2021. Masks also now required in kansas and in arizona, the governor mandating masks in schools. Getting back to normal isnt in the cards right now. Reporter with exactly one week until thanksgiving, officials are sounding the alarm about family gatherings acting as superspreader events. Concern mounting over College Students bringing the virus home. I got tested and i was waiting for my results, i was like, im going to be negative, an hour and a half later started feeling symptoms. Reporter Claire Silverstein and sydney from syracuse have both been diagnosed with covid19, but are waiting out their isolation before heading home. Ive got a test ready to go home, it was negative, but i wanted to take that extra precaution, wait a couple days, and then do another one and thank god i did because im testing positive. Reporter some states are adding tough, new restrictions ahead of thanksgiving. Oregons governor ordering a twoweek freeze to reduce social gatherings, and limiting places like restaurants to takeout only, and michigan starting a threeweek pause on business and school operations, all an effort to slow the spread. George. No doubt more restrictions are coming. Thanks very much. Michael . Thank you, george. Now to that breaking news overnight on another potential coronavirus vaccine. Oxford announcing promising results from its Clinical Trials just days after that big news from pfizer. Tom llamas joins us now from a pfizer facility in andover, massachusetts. Good morning, tom. Reporter michael, good morning to you. More big news coming on the vaccine right now. This is from oxford, astrazeneca and as you just mentioned, they just wrapped up a press conference moments ago in oxford. Heres the major headline. They say their vaccine shows a robust immune response in healthy adults aged 56 to 69 and people over 70 saying in phase 2 results the vaccine is as effective for older demographic as it is for the younger demographic. Theyre now in phase 3 and they should have results by christ s christmastime. The news we had yesterday that here at pfizer their vaccine is 95 effective across race, ethnicity and age. Moderna, who is not far from here in cambridge, mass, their vaccine about 95 effective, so the next step, pfizer at any moment, could happen by tomorrow, theyre going to apply for this emergency authorization from the fda, and then its a twoweek to fourweek process but before the end of the year some americans can get that Pfizer Vaccine. Thats really good news, tom, but there are concerns about distribution because of the Pfizer Vaccine needs to be stored at minus 94 degrees. Reporter yeah, thats a major concern. Minus 94 degrees, so, michael, as were speaking the vaccine is being made right there in that building and one of the ways theyre able to manufacture this vaccine is with freezer farms. Thats how they get the temperature to negative 94 degrees. Now, in a building like this thats easy, but when youre talking about planes and trucks and other locations to distribute the vaccine, in a giant way, there becomes some concerns but right now the general in charge of operation warp speed and distributing the vaccine, he says not to worry. Theyre going to get these freezer farms to the locations they need them and will be using dry ice and make sure they can ship this vaccine in a safe way so every american who needs the vaccine ultimately can get it, michael. Thats the news we want to hear. Thank you so much, tom. Robin. Right about that, michael. Thank you. Joining us now is dr. Richard besser, president and ceo of the Robert Wood Johnson foundation, and former acting director of the cdc, and, you know, a very good friend to many of us here at gma. Rich, i need to ask you this because you have dedicated your professional life to Public Health. 250,000 american lives have been lost to coronavirus. When you hear that number, what goes through your mind . You know, robin, it is absolutely mindnumbing to think that we have lost that many people. Each individual representing a friend, a Family Member, someone whose life had value. One of the things thats so true in Public Health is that its much easier for people to grasp the meaning when two or three people die in an accident than it is to truly understand what it means to lose 250,000 people and i worry, robin, if we dont change what were doing, were going to be having a conversation before the end of the year about 300,000 people. You think that we will reach that by the end of the year in just a matter of six weeks or so, rich . You believe that . Were losing more than a thousand people a day and the numbers are rising and if we dont recommit, i am very worried about that. Okay, rich, and you know here in new york city, the Positivity Rate has reached 3 and Public Schools have closed again. What do you make of that, and what does this mean for children returning home . Yeah, you know, robin, i think its the wrong way to go. You know, its so important that were guided by Public Health science, and we were all concerned. Im a pediatrician up here and i was very concerned about kids going back to school and what it might mean, but what weve seen in a lot of School Districts, and new york city is really the poster child for this, is that they have been able to get kids back into school safely. They havent seen increased spread. They havent seen increased spread to teachers and to staff and within the community and they set this mark of 3 at the start with a concern that if it got to that level they would see increasing spread from the community in the schools and back and forth. Thats not happening. For many children being in a classroom where someone can observe them wearing a mask, can help make sure theyre keeping away from others is absolutely the safest place for them to be. What is the reasoning, rich, behind schools closing but bars and restaurants and gyms remaining open . Well, if you look at the approach in europe, theyre doing the exact opposite, theyre viewing schools as an essential service for children, for families, for working parents, and Closing Everything else down in order to keep schools open. Here its the opposite. In many places were seeing that Indoor Dining and bars are driving a lot of transmission and those should be shut down, move to takeout again and do everything you can to keep children in school where it can be done safely. Follow the data. If you see schools where its leading to spread, yeah, you have to shut those down. But thats not the case in most communities. Following the data. Thank you, rich. With all these vaccine trials, it is encouraging news. It seems like we are getting there. As always, appreciate your insight, rich. Please take care. Thanks, robin. All right. Okay, robin. Thanks. Lets get the latest now on the president ial transition. President elect biden will meet with governors to plan covid19 Vaccine Distribution as he warns the president s diagnosis to refuse to accept the results could set back the fight against the virus by weeks or months. Mary bruce has the story. Good morning, mary. Reporter good morning, george. Well, joe biden is promising americans that he can get this pandemic under control. Hes trying to plow ahead, but as the Trump Administration blocks him from Critical Data and resources, the president elect is growing increasingly frustrated saying its time to put politics aside and save american lives. This morning, with effective vaccines on the horizon, joe biden says the only thing standing in the way of a speedy rollout is President Trump. There is a whole lot of things that we just dont have available to us which unless its made available soon were going to be behind by weeks or months. Reporter during a virtual roundtable with frontline workers, the president elect warning, if the Trump Administration doesnt give him team access to Government Resources soon theres more at stake than immunization like getting badly needed protective equipment to hospitals. Weve been unable to get access to the kinds of things we need to know about the depth of the stockpiles. We know theres not much at all. Reporter trump hasnt said a word publicly about the alarming surge in covid cases. Instead, the president is fixated on the election, refusing to accept that hes lost. Hes launching longshot attempts to overturn the results. In wisconsin, a state where biden is ahead by over 20,000 votes, the trump team is now asking for a recount in two counties, a move unlikely to change the outcome in the state and in georgia, staffers worked right up to the midnight deadline to finish retallying over 5 million votes. The results are expected to be announced later today, and expected to show biden still in the lead. Officials there are urging americans to trust the system. They need to have faith in the outcome of these elections whether they win or whether they lose because thats the bedrock of how we have a transfer of power. Reporter but in michigan, outrage after republicans initially refused to certify the outcome in the states largest county including the majority black city of detroit. Voters sounding off during a public forum. You talked about not certifying detroit even though you acknowledge that livonia, a city by the way, i know you know is 95 white, had bigger variances than detroit, which is 80 black. We understand, just know, when you try to sleep tonight, the law isnt on your side. History wont be on your side. Your conscience will not be on your side. Reporter after the outcry, the republicans backtracked, but now theyre flipping again, attempting to revoke the signoff claiming they were enticed into giving it. Now, biden is trying to tune out a lot of this noise and focus on the pandemic. Today he and the Vice President elect Kamala Harris will have a Virtual Meeting with a Bipartisan Group of governors from across the country to try to strategize a path forward. Biden has said he will push governors to adopt stricter measures like mask mandates but, of course, that strategy only works if the governors are willing to follow his lead. George. Mary, the president elect has started to fill out his white house staff. Where is he on cabinet appointments . Reporter he is actively putting together a list of appointees. We know theyre hoping they can fill posts like state, defense, treasury and justice around the thanksgiving holiday, but, george, this is a big job. There are several contenders for many of these posts so this could take some time. And the puzzle pieces have to fit together. Mary bruce, thanks very much. Michael . All right, george. Theres some big news coming out of hollywood this morning about wonder woman, which is one of the most highly anticipated movies of the holiday season. Rebecca jarvis joins us with more and what the news could mean point way we watch movies going forward. Good morning, rebecca. Reporter good morning, michael. When it comes to wonder woman 1984, the show must go on. There were so many questions coming into this year, would it run in theaters . Would it not . The answer now is yes, it will run in theaters, and you can also stream it on your tv. Welcome to the future. Reporter it appears to be the future. Overnight, warner bros. Announcing its highly anticipated wonder woman 1984 will be released on chs day in limited theaters but primarily streaming on time warners hbo max. Nothing good is born from lies. Reporter in these unprecedented times, Hollywood Studios have had to resort to extraordinary measures. Trying to lasso in audiences. The Box Office Expectations were massive for this film. In 2017, wonder woman bringing in nearly 1 billion. Now its my turn. Get used to it. Studios are trying to come up with some formula that if they go online its going to work and its going to make them some money, at least some of the money back that they invested in these big movies. Reporter many major film studios have delayed Theatrical Release dates until 2021 or sent them straight to their streaming services as our Parent Company disney did with mulan released to disney plus and disney plus now planning their own Christmas Day release of the pixar film soul starring jamie foxx heading to the streaming service the same day as wonder woman. Yes. Reporter warner bros. Released Christopher Nolans tenant, only in theaters, but with audiences reluctant to return, Box Office Numbers were disappoint manager the u. S. The film earning just 56 million in the u. S. Since its release. This is unprecedented. This is nothing like weve experienced before and until theaters reopen, we dont know. Reporter a number of other major releases have been delayed until next year including the James Bond Film no time to die, black widow and west side story. Michael, still unclear how many theaters wonder woman 1984 will be released in. Its very clear that itll be fewer than times past. Michael . Ive been spoiled sitting on the couch. Helps that. We are following a lot of other headlines this morning including Prince William has broken his silence on the investigation into his mothers famous interview. Plus, the backlash over those thanksgiving crackdowns. How will police enforce the rules . And what this couple is saying about their wedding that turned into a superspreader event. Was the dance floor the main reason why for the outbreak . But first, we say good morning to ginger. Good morning, ginger. Good morning, robin. At least 14 large uncontained wildfires in the west, one of them is called the Mountain View fire. Youre seeing it there in walker, california. That was deadly, killed one person, 20,000 acres burned. Greater than that. 20 contained and now theyve taken 80 homes and buildings so it has consumed a lot. Still going. Then i wanted to show you the high wind alerts and the red flag warnings, so from texas and oklahoma panhandle, all the way over to buffalo, new york, including west liberty, kentucky, even chicago could see gusty winds, very dry conditions today, and the gusts 40 to 60 miles per hour. Lets get the sunny cities sponsored by sofi. Sunny cities sponsored by sofi. Good morning. Im abc7