Covid cases skyrocketing across the country, increasing in at least 39 states. This morning, what we now know about the third person in the u. S. To be infected twice with the virus, and the new warnings as americans prepare for the holidays. Abc news exclusive. Chris christie joins us live, just released from the hospital after spending seven days battling covid19 in the icu. Why the former governor now says he was wrong for not wearing a mask at that white house superspreader event. Wildfire emergency. The critical danger exploding in the west as the Trump Administration denies californias request for disaster assistance. Ginger is tracking the latest on the red flag warnings this morning. Aloha again. Thousands of vacationers touching down in hawaii on the first day of the islands finally reopening to tourists, lifting restrictions. What this could mean for your Holiday Travel plans. And, oh, my. Dwyane wade caught with this look on his face. The surprise moment that made the nba legend melt. Good morning, america. Hope youre well this friday morning. What a night last night. Now, i only saw half of it. [ laughter ] your half. Vice President Biden and my half. You can tell me how the other half went. George had a long and late night and still beat us to the office this morning. Exactly. Both candidates went at it just not in the same room, of course, dueling town halls and yours, george, if philly with the Vice President last night. Yeah, we were there for an hour and a half and the Vice President actually took a lot of questions from the viewers after. He wanted to make sure everyone got their questions answered so he was there even later than i was last night. Substantive exchange. Got a little bit of news out of him on the Supreme Court. He is now promising an answer before election day. We will watch for that. It is just 18 days until those final votes are in. We are officially in the final stretch and so we want to get right to it. Mary bruce is in philadelphia. She has all the highlights from both town halls. Good morning, mary. Reporter george, good morning. These town halls were as different as the candidates themselves. Last night was a split screen moment that made Crystal Clear the stark differences between these campaigns. Both on style and substance. Joe biden spending much of the night looking ahead, detailing his policy proposals for the future while the president was often combative and on defense. Overnight the candidates not facetoface but still fighting from afar. Offering contradicting visions for how to lead the country out of this pandemic. I was okay with the masks. I was good with it but ive heard many different stories on masks . When the president doesnt wear a mask or pokes fun at folks like me that was wearing a mask for a long time, then people say, well, it must not be that important. Reporter President Trump says he and the country are on the mend even with cases on the rise. We have done an amazing job and its rounding the corner and we have the vaccines coming and we have the therapies coming. Reporter but joe biden said the president failed the American People. He said he didnt tell anybody because he was afraid americans would panic. It is the president ial responsibility to lead and he didnt do that. He didnt talk about what needed to be done because he kept worrying in my view about the stock market. Reporter the president on defense. I knew it was a big threat. At the same time, i dont want to panic this country. I dont want to go out and say everybody is going to die. Reporter the most shocking moment of the night, trump refusing to denounce the fringe Conspiracy Group qanon which baselessly believes democrats are a pedophilia ring that only trump can stop. I know nothing about it. I do know theyre very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard but i know nothing about it. They believe you do know. I dont know. No, i dont know. I dont know. Reporter on the Supreme Court the president whos running as a prolife conservative wouldnt say if he wants roe versus wade overturned. I think it would be inappropriate to say right now. Reporter while biden still refused to give a straight answer on whether he supports expanding the Supreme Court. But hes promising one soon saying voters have a right to know even as nearly 18 million americans have already cast their ballot. No matter what answer i gave you, if i say it, thats the headline tomorrow. It wont be about whats going on now. The improper way theyre proceeding. But dont voters have a right to know where you stand . They do have a right to know where i stand and theyll have a right to know where i stand before they vote. So youll come out with a clear position before election day . Yes. Depending on how they handle this. Reporter both candidates also addressing the issues of racism and how they plan to bring the country together. Ill say it loud and im very proud of it and i have a great relationship because of what ive done with the africanamerican community. Im very proud of it. Reporter the president who refused to disavow White Supremacy at the first debate grew visibly frustrated when asked why he hesitated to do so. Here we go again. Every time, in fact, when people get im sure theyll ask you the White Supremacy question. I denounce White Supremacy. Ill tell you one thing. If im elected president , youll not hear me race baiting or hear me dividing. Youll hear me unify. Besides you aint black, what do you have to say to young black voters who see voting for you as further participation in a system that continually fails to protect them . If young black women and men vote, you can determine the outcome of this election. Not a joke. You could do that. The next question is, am i worthy of your vote . Can i earn your vote. Reporter biden then detailing policy proposals to help black americans gain wealth. Did you hear what you needed to hear . I think so. Reporter with 18 days to go, the president again sowing doubt without evidence about the elections legitimacy. Your own fbi director says there is no evidence of widespread fraud. Oh, well then hes not doing a very good job. Reporter biden saying win or lose hell keep working towards a more perfect union. Mr. Vice president , if you lose, what will that say to you about where america is today . Well, it could say that im a lousy candidate and i didnt do a good job, but i think i hope that it doesnt say that we are as racially, ethnically and religiously at odds with one another as it appears the president wants us to be. Reporter now in the room it was clear that joe biden was really enjoying this rare opportunity to interact with voters. He didnt want to leave. He hung around for quite some time chatting with voters answering their additional questions. Now the two candidates have one more chance to actually come facetoface at the final debate next week. George, joe biden telling you he does expect to be there next week. He will be there but wants the president to have a negative test before he does. Meantime, Kamala Harris campaign has had to be altered because there were some positive covid tests in her campaign entourage. Reporter yeah the biden team confirming three people in the campaign orbit have tested positive. They say neither joe biden nor Kamala Harris have had close contact with these people. Yesterday they both tested negative aye again. Out of an abundance of caution harris will be off the campaign trail through the weekend. George . Mary bruce, thanks very much. Lets bring in jon karl for more on last night. You were going back and forth between the town halls. What did you see . Reporter well, i saw a study in contrast, george. It couldnt have been more stark. On one hand you have joe biden thoughtful, reflective, occasionally longwinded talking about specific policy proposals, legislation. And on the other hand you saw a very combative donald trump offering very little in the way of specifics to what he would do in a second term. George, i thought one of the most telling moments of the night in the donald trump town hall was when he was asked point blank why should people support you and give you a Second Chance for a second term and he said because ive done a great job. That was the level of specificity. And at a time when most polls show that well over half of americans do not approve of the job that donald trump has done in his first term that is not going to be a sufficient sufficient answer. Well, thats the question now for the president. How does he change his trajectory . 20 million americans have already voted. Were 2 1 2 weeks away from the final votes and the president according to National Polls, the average of National Polls about ten points behind. Reporter he needs to do something dramatic to change and, frankly, he did not do that last night. He had a chance to respond to some very tough questions, actually i thought it was probably one of his better appearances. But then he went off as mary mentioned, you know, kind of almost praising the conspiracy theorists of qanon. He offered, again, very little specifics. One issue that has dogged him and dogged republicans two years ago is the question of health care. He was asked a very friendly question from somebody who voted for him last time around. What is your plan for keeping Health Care Costs down . And he really had no answer whatsoever except to say obamacare is bad and he got rid of the individual mandate. No specifics on what he would do on health care. Jon karl, thanks very much. Cecelia . We turn to the Coronavirus Crisis thats entering a dangerous new phase this morning. A third surge as the United States reports more than 51,000 new cases a day. This as we are closing in on 8 million total cases. Alex perez is joining us from chicago where illinois is seeing a disturbing new record. Good morning. Reporter hey, good morning, cecilia. Yeah, were seeing the highest one day increase in cases here since the pandemic began. Across much of the country its clear, a third surge is well under way. This morning, some experts warning the latest covid data is clear and points to a third surge of covid19 under way across the country. New cases catapulting 18 just this week. Here in illinois 4,015 new coronavirus cases reported thursday alone. The highest oneday increase since the pandemic began. If youve been following the numbers here in chicago, this is not a good week for covid. Reporter cases also on the rise in states like ohio, North Carolina and wisconsin where they have readied a Field Hospital near milwaukee for overflow covid19 patients fearing hospitals could soon run out of room. Some regions here dealing with Staff Shortages and icus that are 90 full. This is becoming life and death for folks in the state of wisconsin. Reporter and in seattle, researchers say a nursing home resident is the third known person in the u. S. To have been infected twice with coronavirus. The man is in his 60s and spent 40 days in the hospital in the spring before testing negative multiple times only to get sick with covid five months later. And as we head towards thanksgiving and holiday planning millions of americans facing tough choices. The Trump Administrations testing czar telling abc news thursday that families, even those who get tested, should think twice about how they celebrate this year. You cant rely on testing. Because if youre negative one day you could be positive the next day or the next day and so you cant rely on that as sort of your card to say its okay to get together and i wouldnt risk my familys life, my mothers life on that. Reporter just some of the many things families have to consider as we approach the holidays. There is some encouraging news on the vaccine front. Pfizer says it believes it can have a vaccine ready for approval by the third week of november. T. J. . All right, well, thats good news there. Thank you so much, alex. We turn to the covid emergency abroad. A second wave sweeping through europe and new restrictions are going into effect in at least two cities, two of the biggest and most popular cities, paris and london. Our James Longman is in london with more. Good morning to you, james. Reporter good morning, t. J. Yeah, europe now does seem fully in the grips of a second wave of coronavirus. With more testing cases are soaring and governments are scrambling to make sure cases dont translate into deaths but some people are rebelling. England has introduced a threetier system with liverpool put into tier 3. Shops and businesses are closed down once again, but a lot of people are worried about the longterm consequences of further lockdowns. You can see here in liverpool, young people took to the streets in a protest rave and look at this in london. A wedding had to be raided by police for breaching covid guidelines and the venue owner faces a 12,000 fine as a result. In france a similar picture recording record infection rights, icus are filling up. So paris and eight other cities have instituted a curfew. Italy, poland and germany are also seeing record cases since mass testing began. Its hoped that taking action early can stop the spread quicker this time. There is a lot of anger across the continent about the seeming lack of a longterm plan. George . It is spreading everywhere. James, thanks very much. We turn to a social media crackdown on Conspiracy Groups in the run up to election day. Youtube is removing videos related to groups like qanon and whit johnson joins us with the story. Good morning, whit. Reporter george, good morning to you. Youtube is just the latest video sharing giant to toughen restrictions on conspiracy theories like qanon but admits managing all that misinformation will be a challenge saying that the content is always shifting and evolving. Hours before that town hall in which President Trump refused to denounce the Conspiracy Group qanon i know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. Reporter youtube launched a new crackdown on the group whose followers are sometimes visible at protrump rallies donning the letter q on tshirts and signs. Q is planning to save the world. Reporter the platform owned by the same Parent Company as google saying in a statement, we are taking another step in our efforts to curb hate and harassment by removing more Conspiracy Theory content used to justify real world violence. Additionally, weve removed tens of thousands of qanon videos and terminated hundreds of channels under our existing policies. I am 100 behind q. Reporter the movement that started almost three years ago is based on the unfounded Conspiracy Theory that a group of satan worshipping, child sex trafficking alist celebrities and politicians are trying to secretly overthrow President Trump. Videos espousing the conspiracy have been a key part of spreading its beliefs. Now, this move by youtube comes says it will begin ramping up its enforcement immediately. This comes after a ban on facebook of anything related to qanon. The fbi called those examples a huge domestic threat. George . Theyve got to keep an eye on it. Thanks very much. How about we switch gear, guy, turning to baseball, the october playoffs is closer to the world series. They beat the dodgers, 102 and they are up three games to one. This was a rough night for you cecelia, balancing two town halls and all this baseball last night. So much sports content. In the other series last night, it was the Tampa Bay Rays now so close they were so close to heading to the world series, but the Houston Astros narrowly escaped on this stunning moment. Carlos correa, hero of the night, saving the astros with a walkoff home run. But before he got to the plate, check this out, you all. His teammates and his manager says he called the shot before he got out there. Told them, im going to end this thing and stepped up and did it. The astros won this game. And they stood and watched. What else do you do . We are following a lot of other stories this morning including coming up, our exclusive interview with new jersey governor former new jersey governor chris christie. He is standing by after just being released from the hospital battling the coronavirus. The impact of amazons big prime days with all these retailers starting the Holiday Blitz so early. Are shoppers who missed out on the prime day already out of luck . But first to ginger with the latest on those wildfires and emergency out west. Reporter thats right. Mandatory evacuations for the largest wildfire in Colorado State history. We were able to announce that yesterday but this thing grew another 3,000 plus acres in just the last 24 hours. The name as you look at that time lapse is the cameron peak fire. It started more than two months ago. It is now 56 contained and, unfortunately, we still have red flag warnings in colorado. We could still see gusts to 55 miles per hour. You saw those fire weather watches extending all the way into the midwest, indiana, illinois. Have to watch out for brush fires. My goodness, is it hot along the west coast. Oakland, 99. We could see records in a lot of these places. It is not just the heat but some gusts will go 30 to 50 miles per hour, making fire danger very high all the way down to the mexican border. So well keep an eye on this as we go through a rough fire weekend. Lets get the weekend forecast now sponsored by subaru. Good morning, welcome to friday, im abc 7 news, meteorologist, the record warm low and high fire dangers, high temperatures today, and more comfort tonight while youre sleeping and the