Massive manhunt. The search for a gunman who opened fire inside a Shopping Mall in wisconsin. We heard the first shot fired and knew immediately it was a gunshot. At least eight people hurt. What police are saying about the suspect. Gma exclusive. The mother of Quawan Charles speaking out about the loss of her son, questioning police procedure. Had they done what they were supposed to do, my son would be alive today. Why she thinks her sons case was handled differently. And home for the holiday . College students facing a difficult decision. Listen to the cdc recommendations and spend thanksgiving in their dorms or possibly spread covid to their loved ones. How theyre considering that decision. And the tips to reduce the risks for your family. Hey, good morning, everybody. Lets get right to the latest on the surging pandemic. We are seeing record case counts as we head into a thanksgiving where americans are being advised not to celebrate with extended family and where Many Americans have simply been devastated economically. These are live pictures in union, new jersey where county officials are preparing for emergency distribution of holiday food such as turkey and fresh produce. This as more than 1. 1 million new coronavirus cases were reported across the country in the last week. And that is the equivalent of 112 americans testing positive every minute. The u. S. Breaking alltime daily records for tests, cases and hospitalizations. Abcs trevor ault is at a new york city testing site with the latest. Trevor, good morning. Reporter good morning, whit. You know, at some of these Testing Facilities were seeing the lines form hours before they even open as nationwide the number of new infections is simply staggering. Now, 72 of the country say they know someone who tested positive for the coronavirus and a quarter of americans say they know someone who has died. This morning, the United States smothered by rampant covid19 spread as testing lines grow across the country with some waiting hours, the sevenday average for National Cases has doubled since november 1st and the virus has claimed more than 250,000 american lives. You could be the strongest person out there, but it will still take you down. Reporter this week Katherine Pennington was laid to rest in alabama leaving behind her ten children. She passed away moments after their final phone call. She said i wouldnt wish this on my worst enemy, if i had one. Reporter nationwide more than 80,000 patients are in the hospital fighting to avoid that same fate. But hospitalizations are rising in every single state. 12 of them hitting record highs friday alone. Im seeing individuals in their 30s, 40s and 50s and that shift to younger individuals including individuals that require intensive care for covid19 at a young age is very worrisome. Reporter thats especially a concern in the midwest. Ohio setting a record high of 8,800 cases friday. Hospital workers warn they dont have the staffing to meet this incredible demand. We can always get more drugs. We can always get more machines. We cant get ahold of we cant just make more people. Reporter in texas, el paso will continue relying on inmates to help transport bodies as the National Guard is standing down. The citys mayor citing spread inside still open businesses as a major source of their surge. We found out that 55. 11 of our positives were coming from retail shopping. Reporter now more communities are enacting strict measures. Newark, new jersey rolling out a tenday stayathome order ahead of thanksgiving as across the country doctors fear holiday spread, particularly from College Students heading home. This is about younger people who may have no symptoms at all that are coming back from a wonderful college experience, but are contagious and dont know it sitting next to three or four generations older next to them, all day long. That is a potentially deadly recipe. Reporter but even if this virus doesnt kill you, it can still do irreparable damage. Indiana nurse carrie wegg needed a double Lung Transplant to survive and with mounting medical bills, she still hasnt seen her children since july. Its been so hard because i was healthy and i thought if i ever got it i would be fine. Reporter and with more medical workers becoming infected the situation inside hospitals is growing more dire by the day. Nationwide more than one in five hospitals, 22 , say this week they are expecting critical staffing shortages. Dan . We need to protect our medical workers. Trevor, thank you so much. There are, of course, some real bright spots on the horizon here. This morning we may be one step closer to a vaccine. Pfizer is asking for emergency use authorization for the vaccine it has developed and abcs elwyn lopez is at cdc headquarters in atlanta. Elwyn, good morning to you. Reporter good morning, dan. Here at the cdc a panel will be meeting on monday to discuss who will get the first round of covid19 vaccines. This as two Major Drug Companies near the finish line. This morning, a light at the end of the tunnel. Pfizers covid19 vaccine becoming the first to seek emergency use authorization from the fda. We will continue the work already under way to make sure we can begin shipping the vaccine immediately after authorization or approval. Reporter moderna says its vaccine is not far behind and both drug giants claim their candidates are about 95 effective. The date to circle on the calendar, december 10th. Thats when a panel of advisers will take a look at pfizers trial data. After that, they will make a recommendation on how to move forward. If approved, arm to needle could come before christmas. There will be Public Health measures, but be prepared for serious help that we will get from the vaccines. Reporter delivering and supplying pfizers vaccine comes with a challenge. Interesting requires a minus 81 degree celsius, in other words, really cold. Reporter medical grade freezers like this one in las vegas hard to come by. The second major step only made possible through volunteers. I was really enthusiastic to participate. The trials are rigorous. The procedures are very detailed. Reporter those who rolled up their sleeves first in clinical trials, an essential part in the fight against coronavirus. Both pfizer and moderna reported no serious side effects in their clinical trials, both requiring two doses of the vaccine. If authorized for emergency use, up to 20 million americans could get vaccinated by the end of the year. Eva . Elwyn lopez for us, thank you. Joining us is dr. Paul offit, a member of that Advisory Panel and a vaccine expert at the Childrens Hospital of philadelphia. Thank you for being with us. This emergency use authorization request by pfizer for its vaccine, kind of walk us through. What does it entail and how long will it take . Right, so what is happening now, pfizer has submitted to the fda approval through emergency use authorization. So the fda will take a couple weeks to look through all those data, and its massive amounts of data. Then theyll turn to the fdas Vaccine Advisory Committee and say do you agree this vaccine should be approved through an eua. Well meet on december 10th and make that decision. Assuming that decision is, yes, to approve it, then it goes to the cdcs Advisory Committee called the Advisory Committee for immunization practices and it will be an independent group that will look independently at the data and then make a recommendation for whether the vaccine should be given and to whom and how should it be administered. Who would be the first, second, third, et cetera. We still are hearing a lot of people having skepticism about this vaccine, any vaccine. Does the fast pace of the vaccine authorization worry you at all . No. I think the key thing is that you do a phase 3 trial. When we saw what happened with hydroxychloroquine where drugs were approved without any clear evidence that they worked, i think that shook people up and its understandable. This is different. All these vaccines are being subjected to a phase 3 trial meaning the case of moderna, 30,000 people get the vaccine or get placebo. In the case of pfizer, 44,000 get vaccine or placebo. Thats true of any pediatric vaccine. Thats fine. The only reason theyre not licensed as compared to through emergency use authorization is the length of time theyre studied. With pfizer youll know theyre protected for a couple of months. Typically the fda wouldnt license a product thats only been tested for that short of period of time. So then the question becomes if youre protected for a couple months is it likely you would be protected for six months or a year . And the answer to that question, i think, yes although there may be some erosion in percent effectiveness, it wouldnt be much. It is faster than typical and i think we mitigated a lot of risks associated with the vaccine. So then the next question is what are the hurdles of getting this vaccine to where it has to go to people . Right, and thats going to be a challenge. Especially pfizers vaccine which requires storage and shipment at minus 70 to minus 80 degrees centigrade is part of it. What happens is once you then thaw the product it only has a 24hour life in the refrigerator and it is a concentrated product in five to tendose vials. It needs to be reconstituted with saltwater, saline and then it only has a sixhour life after that. You have to line people up and make sure they all get it. It will require centers specifically designed to look after this vaccine and give it so it will be challenging. Dr. Offit, thanks for being with us this morning. We always appreciate you. Whit, over to you. We turn to politics now. President trump still disputing the Election Results meeting with republican lawmakers from michigan. This as president elect biden is moving ahead with the transition, checking in with Democratic Leaders in congress. Abcs rachel scott is in washington with the latest. Rachel, good morning. Reporter whit, good morning. Yeah, its been two weeks since the race was called for joe biden but President Trump is not backing down refusing to concede an election he lost. With 60 days left in office he is running out of options and his lastditch efforts have done nothing to change the results of the election. Overnight yet another blow to President Trumps failed attempts to overturn the 2020 election. After georgias election workers tallied every vote by hand, the republican secretary of state certified joe bidens victory. The numbers that we have presented today are correct. The numbers reflect the verdict of the people. Reporter but the president is still falsely insisting he won a second term. The campaign, which i won, by the way. Reporter it was a rare public appearance by President Trump since election day and he left without taking any questions from reporters. Mr. President , are you being a sore loser . Reporter his press secretary held her first briefing in 50 days and gave no indication the president is any closer to bowing out. Theres ongoing litigation. There are what we know 74 million americans that voted for this president. Thats more votes than any president has gotten in history. Reporter but nearly 6 million more americans voted for biden than voted for President Trump and 16 of those postelection lawsuits have been tossed out or withdrawn. No widespread voter fraud found and some republicans are starting to recognize biden as the president elect. I have not spoken with the president elect. I will say now is the time for the Trump Campaign, if they have their information, that they need to present in court. Now is the time they need to be taking that evidence to court. Reporter in the last push, the Trump Campaign even considered trying to pressure republican state legislators to override the will of the people and choose electors that would declare trump the winner instead. After the president invited gop leaders in michigan to the white house, they released a statement saying they have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in michigan. As the president refuses to concede, biden is moving forward with the transition process, promising to tackle the raging pandemic meeting with the speaker of house, nancy pelosi. In my oval office, mi casa you casa. Im going to need you. Hope we spend a lot of time together. Reporter President Trump has been silent on the rise in coronavirus cases. Overnight news his eldest son, donald trump jr. Who consistently downplayed the virus, tested positive for covid19 and is now in selfisolation. Apparently i got the rona. Out of an abundance of caution ill quarantine, following the regular protocols. Take it seriously. Reporter a spokesperson for donald trump jr. Said he is asymptomatic. The president s eldest son the latest in the white house orbit to have tested positive for the virus and we also learned andrew giuliani, the son of the president s personal lawyer, has tested positive for covid19 too. Dan . Rachel, thank you. Lets dive in more deeply into that meeting that the president held at the white house with top michigan law makers a short time ago. I spoke with michigan congresswoman Debbie Dingell. Representative dingell, good morning. You have said that the president is and im quoting here attacking the integrity of our elections but do we know what he actually said to the lawmakers in that meeting . I have not talked to the lawmakers that were there or anybody in the meeting. So, no, im only reading the same reports you are reading. So what are the next shoes to drop here . The certification is supposed to happen monday and does that close the chapter . Well, then when they certify, the electors will have to be appointed, and hopefully once the votes have been certified as having gone for joe biden the democratic electors will be appointed and will vote and joe biden will have the electors and electoral colleges from michigan. Is there any wiggle room in that period after the vote is certified and then the electors are assigned . Is there any wiggle room for the legislature, two of whose members were in the white house yesterday, to intervene in some way . I think we have to be alert and aware that anything can happen until electors are appointed and they vote. What im really worried about you know part of this whole process has been to draw the process out, but what its doing is undermining peoples confidence in the Democratic Electoral process. Given there are tens of millions of americans who have questions about the freeness and fairness of the election that we just witnessed, how confident are you that the election in michigan was, in fact, free and fair . Im very confident it was free and fair. There have been numerous investigations and i think that people dont understand all of the issues either. About what balancing votes means, you think, oh, theres all kinds of fraud. These votes arent off by thousands of votes. So youve got a volunteer working. You get an absentee ballot envelope. Its open, but theres no ballot inside, but it had been registered as coming in. So you have a precinct thats off and my understanding and i have dug into this. Most of the precincts that are off are fewer than have been in the past and are only off by one or two votes. Its not perfect, but happens all over the country. What was so disturbing about this from livonia, a republican clerk called in. Livonia is 95 white and said my balancing is worse than the city of detroit, yet theyve been ready to certify all the other cities outside the city of detroit in wayne county. Weve got to look at that. Thats just to understand the process we should probably take lessons in what balancing means, dig into the system and people need to have confidence in the system. Democratic congressional representative Debbie Dingell from michigan, thank you very much for joining us on a saturday morning. Thank you. As you heard, guys, she insists it was free and fair. Moving on now, in wisconsin a massive manhunt is under way after a mass shooting at a mall left eight people injured. Witnesses say at least a dozen shots rang out at the mall just seven miles northwest of milwaukee. Dozens of police and First Responders flooded that scene sending the mall and a nearby school into lockdown as shoppers ran for cover. We dropped to the ground and ran in the opposite direction and found a stairwell nearby and went down to the basement of the store macys and hid there. Again, police are still searching for that shooter this morning. All right, lets shift gears and get a check of the weather and head to rob marciano who was briefly in the studio but then we sent him back outside in the elements. He is in norwalk, connecticut with the latest. We took a vote. What happened, rob . Shortlived. Reporter just as i got back inside they pulled me back outside with the dog. Reporter the dog is not with me today. Good morning. Yeah, we want to be safe and my covid test isnt back yet, my second one at least. Hopefully ill see you tomorrow. If not, next year. Beautiful weather here across parts of the northeast, above average temperatures, a little sliver of storminess across the mid section of the country. We want to highlight that for you. If you do live in this area you could see thunderstorms up through Oklahoma City to springfield, missouri. Getting into the ohio river valley eventually although i think the ohio state game should be mostly dry. Maybe some sprinkles there. 50s in columbus. 70s in atlanta. 65 in d. C. Should touch 60 degrees in new york city so well above average temperatures. But if you want to think about winter head to the pacific northwest. Crystal mountain, some fresh snow there. Snowboarders were out. Theyre open as is mammoth in california opening new terrain today. Thats a good saturday morning, temperatures mild in the upper 60s in santa cruz today so we have our cold mornings for several days, and then looking at the mild afternoons, in fact, all through next week, subtle