Odonnell good evening, and thank you for joining us. We are going to begin with breaking news on just how soon americans may be able to get a vaccine for the deadly coronavirus. Tonight the drug maker moderna says it has applied for emergency approval from the f. D. A. For its vaccine, making it just the second company, after pfizer, to ask for emergency authorization. The company says its on track to have 20 million doses ready by the end of december. The army general in charge of distributing the shots in the u. S. Says that by june, 100 of americans who want to be vaccinated, will be. And the h. H. S. Secretary, alex azar, tells cbs news that many seniors in nursing homes, along with front line workers, will have already gotten their shots before the end of this year. But its what happens before then that has Public Health officials sounding alarms tonight. Dr. Anthony fauci the nations top Infectious Disease expert says the country is now facing a surge on top of a surge. The virus is now spreading so fast, four million americans were infected this month alone. Now thats onethird of the 13. 5 million cases here in the u. S. Since the pandemic began. In fact, things are so dire that right now hospitals nationwide are treating nearly 100,000 covid patients. That is another new record. So we have a lot of new reporting for you and your family tonight, and our team of correspondents is covering it all. Cbss Jonathan Vigliotti will leads us off tonight from los angeles. Good evening, jon. Reporter good evening. Take a look at this line behind me here at dodger stadium. It snakes around for miles. Were told 13,000 people have signed up for testing here today alone. Americas Top Health Official say if you traveled for the holiday you should assume you have covid and act accordingly. Meanwhile a breakthrough in the race for a vaccine. The race for a vaccine nearing the finish line with two companies neck in neck. Tonight, moderna reporting their vaccine is more than 94 effective. If approved, modernas vaccine along with pfizers could be given to as many as 20 Million People within weeks. We could be seeing both of these vaccines out. And getting in to peoples arms before christmas. Reporter still not soon enough, as the nation faces a surge in covid hospitalizations. Now more than 93,000 nationwide. In the new battlefield, Hospital Capacity is a top concern. Period. Reporter new yorks governor with a dire warning, pleading for doctors and nurses to come out of retirement, saying new york needs to increase bed capacity by 50 . Rhode islands hospitals now completely full. Out west, Los Angeles County closing playgrounds, limiting how many can shop at one time, and telling residents they cant meet up with anyone who doesnt live with them, even outdoors. In northern california, Santa Clara County banning all Contact Sports for at least three weeks, meaning the San Francisco 49ers will play home games in arizona. Another n. F. L. Team, the denver broncos, had all four quarterbacks declared ineligible for violating covid protocols. The replacement quarterback in sundays game completed three passes two to the other team. The new Orleans Saints fined half a Million Dollars for this maskless celebration. In florida, schools will remain open despite concerns from teachers. The states governor not mincing words. People who advocate for closing schools for virus mitigation are effectively todays flat earthers. Reporter there are also new warnings after millions ignored pleas to stay home and avoid gatherings. Like this Houston Party drawing hundreds. As bad as this looks, the crowd did not violate the citys covid guidelines. Another houston image, this doctor who has worked over 250 straight days, comforting a patient in tears. And Southern California today mourning the death of a religious leader from covid. Pastor Gregory Bundy was 65 years old. He loved his family. He loved his church, and he just. He was he was an awesome man. Reporter and californias governor tonight warning of drastic new measures in the coming days. Nationwide, one study shows nearly 200,000 more americans could die from covid by march. Norah. Odonnell Jonathan Vigliotti, thank you. Tonight were getting an inside look into how the vaccines will be distributed. United airlines is already using chartered flights to fly pfizer shots from overseas ahead of f. D. A. Approval. Cbss kris van cleave has more on the mass air shipment of a covid vaccine. Reporter some 40 million doses of Coronavirus Vaccine are already being produced. As soon as the f. D. A. Approves, they will start shipping. This is going to be one of the most challenging Public HealthDistribution Efforts weve seen. Complicating the efforts, the Pfizer Vaccine must be kept at negative94 degrees and is shipped in batches of about 1,000 doses, packed in specialized containers cooled by dry ice. Every box will have a monitor that goes with it so we will be able to monitor not only the temperature but where the shipments are going. Reporter dhl will handle some International Shipments of vaccine, moving them from the factory to be a airport under guard. No one wants to fail. Everybody knows that this vaccine is basically a source of life. Reporter dhl showed us its operation at miamis airport, where vaccine shipments will temporarily be stored in freezers and topped off with dry ice before being loaded o be to planes ant sent to south america. Upon landing those vaccines will be put on trucks and delivered. U. S. Airlines will also play a key role. United flew its first shipment of pfizers vaccine last week. Modernas vaccine will be easier to move as it doesnt need to be stored at such a low temperature. This is essentially a giant refrigerator, and its where you would put something that needs to be kept cool until it gets picked up by another shipper. This, all pharmaceuticals here, waiting for delivery. Companies like fedex will be part of the effort to quickly get the vials from central shipping hubs out to cities and states. It is going to be hard to imagine this going off without a hitch, but there likely are unanticipated issues that are going to arise when you are sipping that many vaccine doses all around the country. Odonnell and kris joins us now. So kris, do we have a sense of who will get the vaccines first . Reporter well, norah, the c. D. C. Is set to vote tomorrow on guidelines that will spell out just that, who gets the shot first. We expect the Pfizer Vaccine will be sent to hospitals in large clinics initially because they have the infrastructure to keep it supercool, and can handle the mass distribution of those nearly thousand doses per box. From there as it becomes more prevalent, look for it to show up in major pharmacies like cvs and walgreens as the major push to vaccinate everybody. And those cold boxes that will carry the vaccine . They have to be picked up as soon as they are emptied and rushed back to pfizer so more vaccines can go out. Norah. Odonnell so many moving parts, thank you. Tonight, President Trump is launching more false charges of ballot fraud in states where he lost. But now some in his party worry the president s attacks could cost him votes in georgia, where two runoffs will decide which Party Controls the u. S. Senate. Heres cbss paula reid. Reporter President Trump continued his assault on the 2020 vote today, and even as he claimed total election corruption in arizona. All 15 counties have certified their results. Reporter . The states republican governor was certifying bidens victory. And with the Trump Campaign recount in wisconsin failing to reverse bidens win in the state, the president looked to georgia, where he called on the republican Governor Brian Kemp to overrule the secretary of state, brad raffensperger, another republican, and help him win the state. The truth matters. Reporter raffensperger disputed the president s claim of voter fraud and said today the Third Party Groups are continuing to spread false information. There are those who exploiting the emotions of many Trump Supporters with fantastic claims, halftruths, misinformation and, frankly, they are misleading the president as well, apparently. Reporter the president s repeated claims that the vote in georgia was rigged is worrying Republican Leaders ahead of the two key Senate Runoffs in january. I just wish trump would stop. Quite frankly. Reporter g. O. P. Fundraiser dan eberhart said mr. Trumps rhetoric could lower republican turnout and cost him the senate. Acting like a sore loser is just plain not helpful. Reporter Christopher Krebs, the former top cybersecurity official mr. Trump fired earlier this month, told 60 minutes the president s voter fraud claims have no merit. The proof is in the ballots. The recounts are consistent with the initial count, and to me thats further evidence, that is confirmation, that the systems used in the 2020 election performed as expected, and the American People should have 100 confidence in their vote. Reporter that recount in wisconsin cost the Trump Campaign nearly 3 million. But it resulted in an additional 74 votes for president elect joe biden. President trump says he will file another lawsuit in wisconsin by tomorrow. Norah . Odonnell that is not a good return on that investment. Paula reid, thank you. Tonight, president elect biden has gotten his first classified president ial daily briefing. At the same time, he is taking a sledgehammer to washingtons glass ceiling. Nominating women to lead the Treasury Department and white house budget office. He is also choosing an all female White House Press staff of seven, that includes six mothers of young children. Cbss ed okeefe is covering the transition. Reporter as his president ial transition rolls on, joe biden himself suffered a physical setback this weekend after slipping while playing with his german shepherd, named major. His doctor said the 78yearold has hairline fractures in the middle of his right foot and will likely require a walking boot for several weeks. Reporter that didnt stop him from receiving his first intelligence Briefing Since election day, previously blocked by President Trump. Mr. Biede everyone staffing announcement included historic firsts, an allfemale communications team. I was excited to come out and chat with you. Reporter the most visible being former state Department Spokeswoman jen psaki is set to serve as press secretary. Janet yellen will be the first woman nominated to be treasury secretary, and neera tanden set to be white house budget director the first woman of clor to be nominated for the role. But some republicans claim tanden has been too critical of the president and several g. O. P. Lawmakers on twitter giving her little chance of being confirmed. John cornyn of texas telling reporters this afternoon i just think she is going to be radioactive. Honestly, the hypocrisy is astounding. If republicans are concerned about criticism on twitter, their complaints are better directed at President Trump, whos made a hobby out of denigrating republican senators on twitter. Reporter there is still a vacancy at the pentagon and cbs news learned there are three contenders for defense secretary former obamaera defense official michelle flournoy, lloyd austin and former Homeland Security secretary jeh johnson. While there will be Republican Opposition to some of mr. Bidens nominees, there is a key factor with potential confirmation fights which Party Controls the u. S. Senate. Now, we wont know that until after those runoff elections in georgia in early january. Norah. Odonnell ed okeefe in wilminton, delaware tonight, thank you, ed. Covid has forced more Holiday Shoppers to look for deals online this year and today for cyber monday, analysts are expecting record sales of up to 12. 7 billion. Thats a lot. That would be a 35 jump from last year. Internet shoppers made 9 billion in purchases just on black friday. Tonight we are getting a good look at some of the overseas challenges that joe biden will face when he takes office. In the middle east, irans leaders are seething over the assassination of the countrys top nuclear scientist, and isis may be planning a comeback. Cbss Holly Williams reports tonight from irbil, in northern iraq. Reporter the alleged mastermind of Irans Nuclear weapons program, mohsen fakhrizadeh, was buried with full military honors today. He was ambushed with a remote controlled machine gun mounted on a car that later blew up, according to iranian media reports. Irans president blamed israel for the killing on saturday and vowed retribution in due time. Its just one of the problems that president elect biden will inherit in this unstable part of the world. This month, the pentagon announced that u. S. Troops in iraq would be cut by 500, just before biden takes office. A move critics say could give a boost to militia groups backed by iran that have fired scores of rockets at u. S. Targets this year alone. At this command center for air strikes in baghdad, a place the u. S. Military calls the shark tank, general ryan rideout told us that constant surveillance is also needed to stop isis from regrouping. If you stop, stop pa if you stop stop patrolling, stop going out you potentially could have a comeback. Reporter its thought that thousands of the extremists are still at large. In neighboring syria, we went on patrol with the 82nd airborne division. Theyre working to stop isis regaining control of Lucrative Oil facilities like this one. If were not able to move around, that means isis can. That means isis is getting in with the population and influencing them. Reporter but President Trump opened the door to an incursion by turkey into syria last year, some people in syria told us offcamera, they are now finding it harder to trust the u. S. Norah . Odonnell Holly Williams in irbil tonight, thank you. And there is still much more news ahead on tonights cbs evening news. An explosive wreck at 137 Miles Per Hour how did the driver survive . Severe storms play in the east and who will get hit by the next batch of dangerous weather. And the breathes taking rescue of a man clinging to life on a sinking boat nearly 90 miles from shore. Re. This is hals heart. Its been broken. And put back together. This is hals relief, knowing hes covered by medicare from blue cross blue shield. And with coverage you can trust, backed by over 80 years of healthcare expertise, well be there when it matters most. This is medicare from blue cross blue shield. This is the benefit of blue. This is medicare from blue cross blue shield. Gillette proglide and proglide gel. Five blades and a pivoting flexball designed to get virtually every hair on the first stroke, while washing away dirt and oil. So youre ready for the day with a clean shave and a clean face. Twto treat acute, nonlow back stmuscle and joint pain doctors with topical nsaids first. A formulation they recommend can be found in salonpas. A formulation they recommend can be found in salonpas. Salonpas. Its good medicine. Hisamitsu. Im happy to give you the tour, i lohey jay. It. Jay . Charlotte oh hi. He helped me set up my watch lists. Oh, hes terrific. Excellent tennis player. Byebye. I recognize that voice. Annie . Yeah she helped me find the right bonds for my income strategy. Youre very popular around here. Theres a birthday going on. Karl he took care of my 401k rollover. Wow, you call a lot. Yeah, well its my money were talking about here. Joining us for karaoke later . Ah, id love to, but people get really emotional when i sing. Help from a team that will exceed your expectations. Odonnell violent storms hit the east coast today. Several people had to be rescued from flooded roads in baltimore. In new york city, officials closed the verrazano bridge due to high winds and heavy rain, parts of ohio could get between halfafoot and a footanda half of snow by wednesday. Also tonight, a formula one race car driver is recovering from a horrific crash. Romain grosjeans car hit a barrier at 137 Miles Per Hour, broke in two, and burst into flames. He was trapped for nearly 30 seconds before he managed to climb out, and he thanked his racing team today. I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the effort, the work, the initiative, everything you did yesterday. You helped me get out of that big fire, and keep me alive. Odonnell grosjean suffered burns on his hands. He credits a titanium head brace, called a halo, with saving his life. Here is another remarkable story a man missing in the atlantic was found sunday, 86 miles off the florida coast. Stuart bee was alive and clinging to the bow of his mostlysubmerged boat when he was rescued by the crew of a passing freighter. Tonight, the coast guard said the odds of finding him were 100 million to one. Wow. Up next, playing like a girl. Why one kick meant so much to so many. Many. Were all putting things off, especially in these times. But some things are too