other, but it looks like they re social distancing six inches away from each other. reporter: record-breaking heat out west sending thousands to seek relief on the beach in santa monica. crowds also flocking to downtown nashville, as restaurants and bars eased restrictions. i feel safe. if i were scared, i would just stay home. reporter: just a week ago, cases were increasing in 13 states. today, they are climbing in 30. but it will be weeks before we know whether labor day weekend triggers a spike like the ones after memorial day and the fourth of july. i am very worried that if we don t take these precautions seriously, we re going to go into the fall with school and colleges opening with a lot more cases and it s going to be much more difficult to navigate and get through. reporter: the country now averaging double the daily cases it had going into memorial day. after this party scene on a lake near indiana university, the school warning students they could face sanctions.
flames? yeah. there was really no warning. the fire just moved so fast. so there was only so much we could do. getting rescued right now. reporter: the california national guard using a black hawk and chinook helicopter to transport everyone to safety. a middle of the night rescue operation in the heart of the fire zone. some of them were in critical condition with burns or broken bones. to get aircraft to fly at night into the mountains is a is really something else. reporter: the smokey haze from the fire even invading yosemite national park. across california, more than two dozen major fires now scorching the state. in san bernardino county, at the el dorado fire, families using garden hoses to help firefighters battle the flames. officials say this out of control fire was sparked by a pyrotechnic smoke device someone set off as part of a gender reveal photo op. all right, zohreen shah joins us live now, and i want to pick up where you just left off there. that family
of a vaccine. i will say that i would not trust donald trump and it would have to be a credible source of information. they ll politicize it. they ll say anything. and it s so dangerous for our country what they say. reporter: biden saying it s not about politics. if i could get a vaccine tomorrow, i d do it. it would cost me the election, i feel. we need a vaccine and we need it now. all right, kyra phillips joins us now from washington. and kyra, there is another report making news, this time from the washington post. postmaster general louis dejoy, who has already come under fire for the cuts he s made to the postal service, now he s being accused of pushing his former employees at a private company to write checks to republican candidates and later reimbursing them through this bonus? reporter: that s absolutely true, tom. and if proven, that s illegal. his spokesperson telling the washington post in a statement,
no arrests. the city s plan to keep the peace appearing to work. here s abc s matt gutman. reporter: tonight, a convoy of president trump s supporters gathering in portland. it s time for us to stand up. reporter: clogging the roads by the hundreds. blm activists gathering just north of the city to come men rate labor day. protesters have lit mattresses. this one is about to go. and behind them are police officers. behind them is the north pre precin precinct. police soon marching in. it was 102nd night of consecutive protests here. at least 74 people arrested this weekend. protesters turning fireworks into cannons, blasting police and, in a significant escalation, lobbing gasoline bombs. oh, my god. reporter: one demonstrator caught in a splash of fire. bystanders struggling to put out the flames. police in full riot gear blanketing the streets with tear gas. you see that cloud of yellow mustardy-like smoke.
the entire corner here was lit up. and in rochester, there is also simmering unrest. that, hts of otes demdingusti fr orteafigfo r daniel prude, who died in police custody in march. around 1,000 protesters marched relatively peacefully to the public safety building. police making no arrests. today, president trump criticizing both cities handling of the protesters. they throw rocks, they throw cans of soup, they throw lots of hard objects and rarely does anything happen. reporter: rochester s mayor saying in a statement, it is clear his only desire is to bait people to act with hate and incite violence. tom, it s unclear where the blm protests are headed. there really is no end game in sight. but you can see this massive pro-trump caravan splayed out behind me on the highway. interestingly, they were supposed to head south, they are now heading north towards portland and there is some concern among law enforcement that this could somehow trigger