probably helped fuel a subsequent covid surge in this country. this year americans are hitting the roads and the skies with travel expected to be way up from last year to near pre-pandemic levels. and gas prices are the highest they've been, though, in years. on tuesday president biden announced the release of u.s. strategic oil reserves in a joint effort to ease gas prices along with china, india, japan, south korea and great britain. >> while our combined actions will not solve the problem of high gas prices overnight, it will make a difference. it will take time, but before long you should see the price of gas drop where you fill up your tank. and in the longer term, we will reduce our reliance on oil as we shift to clean energy. >> truly a unique holiday this is. vax-giving than thanksgiving. it is one of the busiest travel days of the year. the crowds will remind you of pre-pandemic times. preside aaa estimates travel will be up 80% over last year. >> it's a holiday t happens. >> i'm taking an international flight. >> it's almost back to what it was before the pandemic. >> it's good to feel normal again. people feel really safe about leaving and are excited to reconnect with friends and family. >> and for the second covid thanksgiving, coronavirus cases are climbing again, especially in cold weather states. nearly 60% of the u.s. population is fully vaccinated, but about 82 million people, more than a third of those eligible, have yet to receive even their first dose. so how to enjoy a safe and happy holiday? health reporter jacqueline howard has some suggestions. >> many families are super excited to get together for thanksgiving this year. i know mine is. but, you know, one of the most important questions to ask before your turkey dinner is, are you vaccinated? if you or others are not vaccinated, then you'll want to wear a mask and take some extra precautions. but if everyone is fully vaccinated, it's okay to ditch the masks. here's dr. anthony fauci with our colleague dana bash. >> so, if you are vaccinated and you're going to a holiday setting where everybody is vaccinated, it's okay to be there without a mask? >> absolutely, absolutely. that's what i'm going to do with my family. >> so, you see, knowing someone's vaccine status is key here. and that axios ipsos poll finds 40% of people planning to gather for the holiday will be around unvaccinated guests. and an additional 17% say they don't know whether people around them will be vaccinated or not, so that's why asking that question is key. and then another question to consider asking, whether someone has been tested, or testing yourself. that could help some people feel more comfortable. and you know, there are some over the counter rapid covid tests you can buy at your local pharmacy or online to test yourself or others. and then here are two more questions to consider. one, ask to crack open a window to get air circulating in a room when there are lots of people. that can help reduce the spread of virus in the air, especially if someone happens to be infectious. and then number two, ask whether you'll be around someone who is immunocompromised or at increased risk of severe covid. that's helpful in deciding what additional safety measures you should take. but overall, let's have a happy and healthy thanksgiving this year. i'm wishing you all a wonderful holiday. christine and paula? >> jacqueline howard, thank you so much for that. no politics, no elbows on the table. now covid status is something else we have to talk about. religion, politics, all those things that cause people to have fights, now covid status or vaccination status. >> on animals, babies. >> let's talk about kids and dogs. americans can expect to find price hikes under the tree. dollar tree will soon be dollar and a quarter tree. they will raise prices on most of its products next year. the retailer is facing inflation in the rise of inflation. you can expect to pay more for food brands. inflation is coming to breakfast, folks. cnn has learned general mills is raising prices on household names like cheerios, yoplait, b betty crocker could rise as much as 25%. prices in october were more than 5% higher than the same time last year. this is because of higher costs for commodities, labor, shipping. and while gas prices appear to be leveling off this week, it is still tbd whether government intervention will really bring prices down long term. cnn reports that president biden has been privately advised that tapping the strategic reserve won't do much to relieve the current price spike. he is not the first president to try, folks. presidents have both parties have used reserve to deal with everything from supply disruptions in the middle east to hurricanes in the gulf of mexico. look at those quantities there, paula. this president is using 50 billion -- 50 million, sorry, 50 million barrels coming off line. that's the largest we've seen, and also getting other countries to do it at the same time, just trying to get some supply back in the market to at least stall those rising prices. >> i hope it makes a difference. people are feeling it at the tank. unite the right united a jury, but not on all charges. what it means for the organizers of the deadly white nationalist rally. emed to take one. everything felt like a 'no'. everything. but then ray went from no to know. withth freestyle libre 2, now he knows his glucose levels when he needs t to. and... when he wants to. so ray... can be ray. take the mystery out of your glucose levels, and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free. visit freestylelibre.us this is the new world of work. each day looks different than the last. but whatever work becomes... the servicenow platform will make it just, flow. whether it's finding ways to help you serve your customers, orchestrating a safe return to the office... wait. an office? 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>> thank you, todd. it's time for three questions in three minutes. let's bring in former federal prosecutor hoenig. $26 million, that is a big pay out and the jury didn't reach a consensus on the two federal claims. what is next for the white nationalist movement? can they get after that money? can they get all that money? >> in this case first of all, both sides are going to want a redo. white nationalists are going to appeal and get the damages knocked down. some of the peunitive damages ae way more than the compensatory damages. there has to be some align: watch for an appeal. as brian just said, the plaintiffs here are going to look to re-pursue their federal civil rights claims. but bigger picture, this will be a real financial hit for the white nationalist movement. it tells them, look, speech is protected. hate speech, even is protected under the first amendment. but violent hate speech is not. and if you cross that line into action and to violence, you can be held financially responsible. >> so pivoting to ahmaud arbery, interestingly, one of the defense attorneys for william roddy brig roddy bryant, he doubled down about comments about black pastors in the courtroom. let's listen to what he said to chris cuomo. >> chris, let me put it to you this way. if every time a police officer is killed we're going to allow the police department to stack the courtroom with uniformed police officers, i think you'd agree that that would be inappropriate. would you not? >> i don't know that it would be inappropriate, but i know it's not an analogy. having black pastors there to support the family, i don't think is going to have a chilling effect on a jury. nor should it. >> i don't think of pastors in terms of black and white. and let's be clear. if you were in that courtroom sitting in my chair representing roddy bryant, you would be doing the same thing. >> no, i wouldn't. >> in the penalty phase where a police officer died, and they do stack the courtroom with police, that is not a great analogy. what do you make of this? >> i don't know why he's so fixated on this. i don't know what audience he's playing to, where he thinks it gets him. if he's worried about the black pastors, he's the one drawing all the attention. he's the one making a fuss complaining to the judge. i don't know that anyone would have even noticed. the bigger point here is what we want our jury to do, the jury deliberating right now s to almost literally get into a box, right, that deliberation room, put aside all the distractions, allt all the politics, all the emotions swirling about this, whatever games the lawyers are trying to play, if they're trying to plant a seed through the media or elsewhere and just decide this case on the facts that they got at trial and the law, i hope the jury can do that. i hope they can shut out all these distractions. but this lawyer is not covering himself in glory the way he's handling this. >> the jury has a lot of important work to do here. we'll see if they want to get this done today, if they want -- they'll have to go out through the holiday weekend or take a break. what's the process there? >> jurors are human beings and they respond to the same human incentives we do. there is the phenomenon friday verdict. it's the ultimate friday because tomorrow is thanksgiving. the judge said if you don't have a verdict to come back friday. >> let's focus on right-wing extremist groups like proud boys. what is the consensus on this? >> it's a good move by the committee. they're subpoenaing the right people behind this. at some point you have to ask what's the "end game" here? are they really going to get testimony from the oath keepers, the proud boys? are these boys going to show up in congress and testify truthfully? i think that's very doubtful. the committee has picked some fights, has issued subpoenas to some high-profile targets. these guys, also your steve bannons, your michael flynns, your stephen millers on down the line. what's the committee going to do toer enforce the subpoenas? are they going to do what they did with bannon, hold him in contempt? will the justice department charge other people beyond steve bannon or will that be it? >> it will be interesting to see. thank you so much for joining us. >> great to see you. >> happy thanksgiving if we don't see you. >> thanks. he and the newest victim from that car attack on the christmas parade just 8 years old. the suspect was in court. this time his bail should keep him there. 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>> all right, omar for us in wisconsin. for weeks the u.s. has raised concern about moscow's activity on the border with ukraine. now kiev is racing to support its defensive. fred pleitgen is live in kiev for us next. ...so you feel cool, night after night. save up to $500 on select adjustable mattress sets during the tempur-pedic black friday event. good wednesday morning. this is "early start." i'm christine romans. >> and i'm paula reid. it's 29 minutes past the hour. all right, what a difference a year can make. it is the second pandemic thanksgiving, but americans are not locked down. they're not waiting for vaccines. nearly 53 million people will be traveling this weekend, getting home to family. cnn's pete muntean is along busy i-95 in aberdeen, maryland. pete, happy almost thanksgiving. happy vax-giving. we're seeing travel numbers back to near pre-pandemic levels. tell us more. >> reporter: well, it's so interesting here, christine, is the vast majority of people will drive and these numbers are going to be huge and they're really not that far off from where we were in 2019 before the pandemic. here is the aaa prediction. that 48 million people will hit the road right about now. those numbers really only down about 3% from where we were in 2019. but what's also so interesting here is that people are doing this when the gas is so expensive. the average price of a gallon of regular, $3.41 nationwide. it's only down about $1.30 from where we were last year. this is a seven-year high when you compare this number from where we were during the levels thanksgiving of 2020. the bottom line is the traffic is back and so is the expense, and aaa predicts people will simply just swallow the cost and still travel in spite of all these challenges in front of them. >> a lot more confidence, people are feeling better about traveling. and no matter what the gas prices are and they are quite a bit higher than last year, people are still going to take that trip. >> reporter: aaa anticipates significant delays general throughout the country starting this afternoon. the worst times to travel, between noon and 8:00 p.m. according to aaa. the best time they're going to have to wait till after 9:00 p.m. tonight. the maryland transportation authority, which is responsible for this stretch of i-95 here at aberdeen, maryland, they say the best time to travel is right now before 6:00 a.m., or you're simply going to have to wait until after 11:00 p.m. tonight. christine? >> yeah, you're going to have to pack your patience before you have your pumpkin pie. that is true every year, but especially this year. all right, pete muntean, nice to see you this morning. thank you. a new study reveals cancer screenings dropped dramatically at the start of the pandemic and still haven't fully recovered. researchers found cancer-related ct scans declined by 82% during the covid-19 peak between march and may of 2020. and from may to november, rates were still down 12% from before the covid surge. the study's authors say the decline in screenings could lead to increased rates of cancer in the future. the opioid epidemic in ohio, the federal jury found three of america's biggest pharmacy chains, cvs, wal-mart, and walgreens substantially contributed to overdoses and deaths. it's the first time the retail side of the i undendustry has b held accountable. the judge will rule this spring. >> they criticized the ruling, so we can expect an a he will pooh. the verdict could have ramifications for cases across the country arguing that pharmacies turned a blind eye to the escalating crisis. new federal data shows opioid overdose deaths reached a new high during the pandemic. ukraine has fears as frustration grows. cnn's fred pleitgen got a rare look at the work underway at a naval base and he joins us live this morning from kiev. nice to see you, fred. we understand you have new reporting about ukraine defending its territory, not just from russia, but from belarus in the north. what can you tell us? >> reporter: yeah, one of the things we have to keep in mind with all that is belarusian strong man alexander lukashenko is the ally of putin anyone that region. there are concerns by the belarusians not only could there be increase of the belarusians trying to bring migrants across the border as they have been doing with poland, but also an attack if it were launched might happen on the border with belarus as well. what ukrainians have done is started exercise he which they say involve anti-tank units, pretty big hardware they're using. also airborne units as well. they say that is, in part, to strength ebb the border they have with belarus. they also have that border with russia in mind as well. the u.s. says, allies say and ukrainian government says russia has been amassing troops and they've been doing that not only in the east of ukraine, but, of course, also in the south of ukraine as well. one of the places that could be one of the main battle grounds, we managed to get on a patrol there with the ukrainian navy on artillery boat. they flat-out said they are modernizing their navy and they certainly want to and will stand their ground if there is an attack and if there is san invasion. we got access to the construction site of a rare naval base the ukrainians are building. the interesting thing about that is they have actually now said with the threat going on that that construction needs to be greatly accelerated to get it done faster just to make sure that they can project more power and those very contested waters of the sea of azof. u.s. and ukraine are saying there could be close to 100,000 russian troops amassed in that area. satellite has come up. big troop concentrations in the southwest of russia. it's a big concern for the ukrainians. the ukrainians are certainly saying right now they are ready. they will remain ready. and late last night they announced they are going to pass a law that will allow them to draw up some 200,000 conscripts if that is something that should become necessary. but, of course, in this region the ukrainians are saying, the u.s. are saying they warn russia they should not invade. the russians say this is hysteria and saying they have no plans to invade. very tense situation here. if you speak to the soldiers there on the ground, they certainly say they don't want this to escalate any further, guys. >> the tension there is real. fred pleitgen, we're so glad you're there for us. thank you so much. a potentially dire situation unfolding in ethiopia. the country's prime minister says he will personally lead troops on the front lines against advancing rebel fighters. the latest escalation of a year long conflict now has the u.s. positioning special operations troops near ethiopia. if the situation deteriorates, it could destabilize the impoverished region and trigger a huge humanitarian crisis. cnn's larry madoa has the story from nairobi, kenya. all right, larry, how did we get to this point and what happens going forward? >> reporter: so, paula, we got here because the war that began last november in the north of the country in tigray has spilled over now into neighboring regions of afar and umhara. the people's liberation has assembled and they are threatening to march on addis ababa, the capital of ethiopia, and overthrow the government of the prime minister. that is what his government is now saying. as of tuesday, he is leading from the front lines and has handed over routine administrative duties to his deputy so that he can really lead what he calls the last fight to save ethiopia. he has been stoking up this nationalist sentiment of recently return to ethiopia, spent more than a week there. we were not allowed to report. one of those internal/external enemies the government of ethiopia considers is cnn. there is a huge anti-western, anti-national media out there. that is what the u.s. is asking u.s. citizens in ethiopia to leave while there are still commercial flights available because this could change at any time. france and germany are also doing the same. the prime minister met with the u.s. special envoy for the horn of africa, jeffrey feldman, on sunday. feldman came out of that saying he thinks there is some progress, but it risks being overtaken by the military escalation here and that is a real problem because the only way to find a negotiated political cease-fire here is if all sides are willing to talk. that will still doesn't exist so it is a problematic situation here. and the last time, paula, that an african leader went to the front lines to battle against rebels, he ended up dying. that was back in april, the president of chad. we're not how strongly the prime minister of ethiopia is committed to going to the front lines to battle against these rebels who threaten to overthrow his government. >> larry, thank you for that excellent reporting on a potentially dire situation. to germany now, it has reported its highest single day surge in covid infections as it battles a fourth wave of infection. 67,000 new coronavirus cases in one day, that is almost 50% higher than the previous 24-hour period. germany has one of the lowest vaccination rates in europe at 68%. critics explain the lack of leadership as long-time chancellor angela merkel plans to leave office. after two years sealed off from the world, new zealand plans to gradually reopen, but only to those who are fully vaccinated. displaced new zealanders can go home from january 16 onwards, while tourists can enter from april 30th. the country imposed some of the toughest pandemic measures since march of 2020. we'll be right back. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. my psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen... painful. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. tremfya® is the only medication of its kind also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant® with tremfya®... ask you doctor about tremfya® today. nurse mariyam sabo knows a moment this pure... ...demands a lotion this pure. new gold bond pure moisture lotion. 24-hour hydration. no parabens, dyes, or fragrances. gold bond. champion your skin. ♪ [laughing and giggling] (woman) hey dad. miss us? 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(tiger) this is the dimension of imagination. ♪ welcome to allstate. where you can pay a little less and enjoy the ride a little more. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ now, get new lower auto rates with allstate. because better protection costs a whole lot less. you're in good hands with allstate. click or call for a lower auto rate today. xfinity rewards are our way of thanking you just for being with us. enjoy rewards like movie night specials, xfinity mobile benefits, and the chance to win tickets to see watch what happens live. hey, it's me. plus, get holiday gifts for everyone on your list with great deals on fan favorites from today. join over a million members by signing up for free on the xfinity app. our thanks. your rewards. this new one you're tracking, how big? >> it's what we call a global killer. nothing would survive, not even bacteria. the united states government has to save the world. anybody want to say no? >> people get hazard pay? >> imagine that. armageddon, but in real life. well, nasa has been thinking about just that. so, if a killer asteroid hurtling toward earth, how would you be able to change its course and save humanity? overnight the space agency launched a first of its kind mission to figure out just that. we'll get more from cnn's kristen fisher. >> reporter: good morning, paula and christine. it really does sound like the sequel to the movie armageddon. but instead of a killer asteroid being destroyed by a bomb with the help of bruce willis and beben affleck, they are using something called kinetic deflection. that's the scientific way of saying this dark spavcecraft is on a kamikaze mission to push it off course. here is nasa administrator bill nelson. >> it may be the way to save planet earth if there's ever an inbound big asteroid that could really challenge our existence as a planet. >> if it's successful, then if we had a real inbound killer asteroid, we could do that with it and it would miss us in its trajectory. >> so this mission has incredibly big goals. i mean, we're talking about potentially saving all of humanity and planet earth. now, nasa is quick to point out that this particular asteroid poses no danger to earth, nor does any other asteroid that we know of, though it's likely only a matter of time. nor does this d.a.r.t. mission have the ability to create the huge debris field we saw from the anti-satellite weapons test that the russians did last week in low earth orbit which jeopardized the international space station. the reason for that, it's going to take ten months for the d.a.r.t. spacecraft to reach this asteroid. it's very far away, but just in case something goes wrong, in case something doesn't work, or a potential killer asteroid does amir, nasa says that it did invite bruce willis to the launch just in case. paula and christine? >> well, bruce willis is going to be there, i feel better about the whole situation. thank you so much for that report, kristen. >> it's going to be an especially happy thanksgiving for one missouri man. tuesday a judge set aside kevin strickland's conviction in a triple murder. strickland had spent 43 years in prison, one of the longest wrongful imprisonments in u.s. history. >> i was actually watching a soap opera. [ laughter ] the thing went across, news break or whatever they call them, and i just couldn't believe what i was hearing. >> so that's how you learned? >> that's how i learned. >> you saw your own name on the screen? >> and the picture, yes, and then other inmates started hollering and i heard them beating on walls and carrying on. i'm not necessarily angry. it's a lot. it's a lot. i mean, i think i've created some emotions that you all don't know about just yet. >> 43 years. strickland will join the 8:00 hour of "new day," so don't miss that. and the return of a beloved holiday tradition, the macy's parade balloon inflation happens tonight ahead of tomorrow's main event. all attendees over the age of 12, though, must be vaccinated. the younger kids can come with vaccinated adults. >> unlike last year's basically empty parade, the 95th annual event will feel more normal, with 8,000 marchers and santa claus. so, will you be giving thanksgiving for the weather during the long holiday weekend? that's the question. here's meteorologist tyler maulden. >> christine, paula, it's one of the busiest travel days of the year. if you're traveling by ground or by air in the eastern third of the country, the weather is looking fine. across the central u.s. we have this weather maker beginning to develop. it will cause winds to pickup and rain to be produced that. could lead to a few delays here. you have mountain snow across the rockies and rain across the pacific northwest. the storm system across the central u.s. is then impacting areas of the deep south and the ohio river valley on thanksgiving day, but notice the majority of the country on thanksgiving day is looking fine and dandy. here's the timing with the system as it pushes to the east. once we get to noon on thanksgiving day, it is producing some showers, maybe some thunderstorms, and then on black friday it draws in some colder air and we could see some wintry mixture across higher elevations of the east coast as we head into this upcoming weekend. back to you. >> all right, tyler, thank you so much for that. los angeles has launched a new program to deal with its homeless problem. the city is dispatching unarmed intervention teams rather than police to respond to non-violent 9111 calls. the mayor says the new program will free up officers to deal with serious crimes. and the theory of relativity isn't cheap. some notes albert einstein wrote sold at a paris auction for $13 million. the buyers or buyer is smart as they chose to remain anonymous. let's get a check on cnn business this morning. speaking of money, looking at the markets around the world, asian shares have closed mixed here. tokyo down 1.5%. european shares have opened lower here, and on wall street stock index futures are also leaning down just a little bit. markets are open today, but it will be a shortened holiday week for the thanksgiving holiday. new overnight, samsung will make its largest investment in the u.s. next year. the south korean electronics giant building a huge $17 billion semiconductor plant in taylor, texas, that will create 2,000 high-tech jobs there. samsung says it is intended in part to contribute to the stability of the global supply chain, which has already been interrupted by covid. the company already has a site in austin, international companies are attracts today texas with its lower tax rates and housing costs and fewer regulations. there could be another hitch for delivery of your holiday packages. ships in chinese waters are disappearing from global data trackers after a new law went into effect in china november 1st. that law dictates how domestic and foreign agencies collect and export china's data. data that helps keep shipping routes clear so you can see where the ships are, where they're going. the last three weeks china signals dropped 90%, further frustrating efforts to ease these post-covid bottlenecks. and it was awesome, baby. a legendary college basketball announcer gets emotional in his first game back after being diagnosed with cancer. coy wire has this morning's bleacher report. >> yeah, awesome, baby! it's a battle between the top two teams in the country, paula, but the best, most powerful moment came before tip off. dick underwent treatment for two different kinds of cancer this year. first melanoma before being dike no, sired with lymphoma last month. he made his return. g gonzaga/ucla game, he couldn't hold it back when being announced. >> i'm so upset here. i want to thank all you people. so many messages. all my buddies at espn. i want to thank shirley, my family and all the fans. my, you've been unbelievable. on october 12, i'll be honest with you. when they told me i had cancer, they thought it was mild cancer. i thought it wasn't going to be a serious surgery at all. i never dreamt i would be court side again. to be here today, i'm sorry, i hope i don't cause a problem out there. i'm so emotional. >> good to have him back on the side lines there. as for the game, top ranked gonzaga putting the beat down on number 2 ucla. the final four game won at the buzzer by gonzags. dominating from start to finish, going up by 20 at halftime, and they would hold that lead through the second half. 83-63 the final, largest margin of victory by a number one over a number two in 16 years. the jets revolving door quarterback spins again after joe flacco and mike white placed on the covid-19 list yesterday. white tested positive for the virus according to espn. flacco was added as a close contact. flacco said last week he was not vaccinated. that means rookie zack wilson will make his return to the starting lineup against the texans after missing the last four games with a knee injury. finally, golf's best rivalry is going to next level on friday. brooks koepka, bryson dechambeau, one on one in the match. dechambeau started off the final count down with some, shall we say, target practice off the top of the wynn hotel in vegas. taking a giant cup out of koepka's head. they played word association about previous match competitors starting with phil mickelson. >> lefty. >> tiger woods. >> winner. >> payton manning. >> warhead. >> tom brady. >> -- >> awful swing. >> stephen curry. >> um, downtown. >> aaron rodgers. >> -- >> aaron rodgers. >> oh, yes. you can watch the match on our sister channel tnt with simulcast running across turner platforms, true tv and hln. and yet again, this is for a charity. typically this event raises millions of dollars. >> little celebrity golf buzz, trash talking is fun to watch. nice to see you. thank you. have a great holiday if we don't see you. >> you, too. thank you. the final word on this thanksgiving eve morning from president biden before departing washington for the long holiday weekend, the president, first lady and vice president harris and second gentleman helped to pack thanksgiving meals at d.c. kitchen. the president offering a holiday message of hope for those anxious about the pandemic and rising prices. >> all these concerns a few weeks ago, there would be -- there would not be ample food available for thanksgiving. so many people talked about that. understandably. but families can rest easy. grocery stores are well stocked with turkey and everything else you need for thanksgiving. >> it's true. things are better stocked than we thought they would be. the grocery store chains have really done everything they can to make sure you're going to have all the goods you need. bidens are spending their thanksgiving holiday on nantucket. all right. buckle up, everybody. americans are hitting the road for what could be the busiest travel day of the pandemic. you'll be on the road, right? >> i will be on the road unfortunately. and should justin bieber cancel a show in saudi arabia? the fiancee of a murdered journalist. thanks for joining us. i'm paula reid. >> thanks for being here, it's been lovely having you on the sets. >> it's been nice being here. >> i'm christine romans. 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