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(NEW YORK) — The Thanksgiving travel period will see record-breaking numbers for those hitting both the roads and the skies, according to reports from several airlines and travel organizations.

American Automobile Association

The American Automobile Association projected that 79.9 million travelers will head to destinations at least 50 miles from their homes over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, which officially runs from Nov. 26 to Dec. 2, 2024.

That would be an increase of 1.7 million people from 2023, and 2 million more than in 2019 (looking to pre-pandemic figures, in light of the global event’s impact on travel).

AAA projected that 71.7 million Americans will travel by car over Thanksgiving, an increase of 1.3 million compared to last year.

However, drivers can expect to see lower gas prices this year compared to last year, according to AAA. Last year’s national average was $3.26 per gallon. With prices decreasing this Fall, AAA predicts the national average could drop below $3 per gallon for the first time since 2021, even before Thanksgiving travel begins.

Nearly 2.3 million people will also travel by bus, cruise, or train this Thanksgiving, according to AAA, which an increase of almost 9% from last year and 18% compared to 2019. This growth is largely driven by the rising popularity of cruises in the post-pandemic era, AAA explained.

When it comes to the friendly skies, AAA says that travelers are paying 3% more for domestic flights this Thanksgiving. International flight bookings have surged by 23%, partly due to a 5% decrease in international airfare, according to AAA.

The Top 10 Thanksgiving travel destinations of 2024 share a common theme: warm weather. AAA data shows that the Top 3 domestic destinations are cities in Florida, while other top destinations include New York, California, Hawaii and Las Vegas.

Internationally, Europe and the Caribbean dominate the list, driven by interest in beach resorts, tourist attractions and river cruises, according to AAA.

Airlines for America

Airlines for America, a trade organization, said that airlines also expect an all-time high this year. It anticipates that more than 31 million passengers will fly on U.S. carriers over the given holiday period.

That’s compared to nearly 29 million passengers during the same period last year and 28 million in 2019.

Airlines are preparing to accommodate the demand by flying an average of 2.8 million passengers daily — a 5% increase from 2023, according to A4A. To meet the surge, carriers are adding 150,000 more seats per day compared to last year’s Thanksgiving holiday period, it said.

A4A expected that the busiest days for air travel will be the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and Sunday, Dec. 1, each with over 3 million flyers per day projected.

Hopper

Hopper also predicted that this Thanksgiving will be the busiest on record, with 36.5 million seats scheduled to depart between Nov. 23 and Dec. 3 — a 4.8% increase from the same period last year.

Hopper projected that the busiest day to travel will be Dec. 1. For those who need to return by Monday, Hopper recommends taking an early flight that morning instead of returning on Sunday, as it can save you around $175 per domestic ticket.

The busiest airports for the Thanksgiving travel period are Atlanta, Dallas Fort-Worth and Denver as they are each scheduled to serve between 1.5 to 2 million passengers, Hopper reported.

According to Hopper, hotel rates over the Thanksgiving week are averaging $213 per night, with some rates as low as $140 still available. In popular cities, the prices are slightly higher; for example, in New York city, the average rate per night is as high as $423 due to the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

This year’s popular Thanksgiving destinations are Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, Las Vegas and Chicago, according to Hopper. Internationally, the most popular destinations are Puerto Rico, Mexico City, Madrid, Bogota and Cancun.

Airlines, by the numbers

United Airlines has said that it expected its busiest Thanksgiving ever this year, with 6.2 million passengers expected to fly between Nov. 21 and Dec. 3. Nearly 480,000 people per day will fly with United — about 30,000 more people per day than last year.

Delta Airlines projected that it will see its busiest on record, with 6.5 million passengers anticipated between Nov. 22 and Dec. 3. An average of 540,000 passengers are expected to fly each day during the 12-day travel period, marking a 5% increase compared to last year.

American Airlines shared similar predictions, with 8.3 million passengers expected to fly on more than 77,000 flights between Nov. 21 and Dec. 3. The airline said it expected to carry over 500,000 more travelers than last year — which, it added, translates to serving roughly 6.8 million Biscoff cookies to its passengers during the holiday period.

Its highest-travel day is expected to be Dec. 1: To handle the surge, American Airlines said it will be operating 1,035 mainline and regional aircraft as of approximately 10:45 a.m. CT, marking the highest number of flights handled at any given time during American’s travel period.

Tips for travelers flying to their Thanksgiving destinations

Thanksgiving is one of the busiest weeks of the year to travel, with packed airports, highways and hotels across the U.S.

For those hitting the skies, plan for longer lines at security and potential delays or cancellations, as the airports will be packed with larger schedules than usual.

Here are a few tips from experts to manage holiday crowds and disruptions:

• Book flights earlier in the day: Flights from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. are less likely to be delayed.
• Download the airline’s app and check your flight status before heading to the airport.
• Add trip protection.
• Choose direct flights to avoid missed connections due to flight delays and cancellations.
• Have flexible travel plans and try to build in a buffer day in case of delays or cancellations.

In the event you encounter any disruptions or issues, experts have also suggested that it is important to know your rights and options: Airlines are now required to provide 24/7 customer service via live chat or phone support. If your flight is canceled, contact an agent at the gate, by phone or through chat.

Federal regulations now mandate that airlines issue automatic refunds for domestic flights delayed over three hours and international flights delayed more than six hours. Additionally, if a passenger’s bag is delayed for more than 12 hours, they are eligible for a refund on their bag fees.

Passengers also have the right to request refunds on any unfulfilled ancillary services, like Wi-Fi access.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will send Congress an emergency funding bill “in the coming days,” with the intent to address the urgent need for disaster relief throughout the United States following a brutal storm season, a White House official said in a memo on Monday.

Several agencies said they are running low of money in the wake of back-to-back major hurricanes, the memo stated.

“The Biden-Harris Administration stands ready to work with lawmakers to deliver the vital resources our communities need with strong bipartisan and bicameral support — just as Speaker Mike Johnson has promised,” Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in the memo.

It emphasized the fact that Congress last passed a comprehensive disaster relief package in 2022, and it stated that the Biden-Harris administration would be putting forth a new one in a matter of days.

“We look forward to working with Congress to quickly pass emergency funding so the Federal Government can meet its obligations to the American people,” Young’s memo continued.

However, it also noted that prior attempts to secure such funding, including outreach as recently as June, had failed to garner support.

Young also pointed to Johnson’s remarks after Hurricane Helene, which were delivered in North Carolina in October.

“What happens next after a storm like this is that the states then do their individual assessments and calculations of the damages and then they submit that need to the federal government. Then Congress acts,” Johnson said at the time. “So as soon as those calculations are prepared, Congress will act in a bipartisan fashion to supply what is needed to help these communities recover, the appropriate amount that the federal government should do.”

The memo also said that FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, which has been used in the immediate aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, “is in need of additional funding.”

“To ensure these communities get comprehensive recovery assistance, our Administration has made multiple requests to Congress outlining the need for emergency funding to address these disasters, and detailing the consequences of failing to deliver this aid,” Young wrote.

“To date, Congress has yet to act,” she added.

Over the last week, the heads of several departments, including at the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Agriculture Department of Transportation, have written letters to Congress expressing their need for additional funding.

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(WEATHERFORD, OK) — A tornado-producing storm was tearing through southwestern Oklahoma early Monday, with at least one confirmed tornado, the National Weather Service said.

The storm was near Granite, a town with a population of about 1,600, at about 3:37 a.m. CST, the service said.

Tornado warnings were in effect for western Washita County, southwestern Custer County, northwestern Kiowa County, northeastern Greer County and southeastern Beckham County.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — For the first time in days, the Northeast was under no red flag warnings, but officials cautioned that fire danger in the region remains high as drought conditions persist.

All red flag warnings, which signal critical fire weather conditions like strong winds and low relative humidity, were lifted throughout the Northeast Saturday evening as conditions improved following days of wildfires that broke out across New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

The biggest wildfire in the Northeast remains the Jennings Creek Fire, burning on the border of New York’s Orange County and New Jersey’s Passaic County. The fire, which has burned more than 5,000 acres, prompted hundreds of voluntary evacuations Saturday night when it jumped a containment line near Greenwood Lake and threatened homes in the private beach community of Wah-ta-Wah Park, according to New York State Parks Department spokesperson Jeff Wernick.

The Jennings Creek Fire was 88% contained on the New York side and 90% contained on the New Jersey side, officials said.

The blaze broke out Nov. 9 and burned drought-parched wildland stretching from West Milford in Passaic County, New Jersey, to the Sterling Forest State Park in New York’s Orange County, and on both the New York and New Jersey sides of Greenwood Lake, officials said.

The cause of the Jennings Creek Fire remains under investigation.

A New York State Parks and Recreation employee was killed earlier this month while helping the battle the Jennings Creek Fire, officials said. The deceased parks employee was identified by the New York State Police as 18-year-old Dariel Vasquez.

Wind gusts, which have helped fan the fire, are forecast to be lighter on Sunday, peaking at 15 to 25 mph, and relative humidity is expected to be slightly higher, allowing for some relief for firefighters. Temperatures will also top out around 10 to 20 degrees above average on Sunday and Monday, with temperatures rising to the low to mid 60s.

But the prolonged period of dry weather is expected to persist with no measurable rainfall expected in the Northeast until possibly Wednesday or Thursday. While any rain is beneficial, there is an increasing chance for an inch or more of rain from the upcoming storm, with some higher-elevation snow also possible in New England late in the week.

Since Oct. 1, New Jersey firefighters have responded to at least 537 wildfires that have consumed 4,500 acres, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, while officials at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said New York fire crews have battled 60 wildfires since Oct. 1 that have burned 2,100 acres.

At one point last week, the National Weather Service had issued numerous red flag fire danger warnings throughout New Jersey and New York. At least 15 New York counties were under red flag warnings last week, including New York City and all of Long Island.

Multiple wildfires broke out across the Northeast, including some in New York City, where one ignited in the Inwood neighborhood of upper Manhattan and another scorched wooded land in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.

Due to the high fire danger, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a statewide ban on outdoor fires.

Elsewhere in the country, a developing storm system in the Southern Plains is forecast to bring a severe weather threat to parts of Texas and Oklahoma on Sunday and Monday.

On Sunday afternoon and into the evening, strong to severe storms are likely in cities across Texas, including Wichita Falls, Abilene and Midland. The thunderstorms are also expected to bring damaging wind, large hail and scattered tornadoes.

Severe weather is also forecast for Monday in the Oklahoma City area and Waco, Texas. A flood watch is in effect from northern Texas through Oklahoma until Monday evening, with 2 to 5 inches of rain likely.

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(WASHINGTON) — A federal appeals court has granted Special Counsel Jack Smith’s request to pause his appeal of President-elect Donald Trump’s classified documents case until Dec. 2.

Smith asked for a delay earlier this week to assess the “unprecedented circumstance” of Trump’s election and impending presidential inauguration.

The move is part of Smith’s winding down of his two cases against Trump — the classified documents case and the federal election interference case — due to longstanding Department of Justice policy that prohibits a sitting president from facing criminal prosecution while in office.

“As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, one of the defendants in this case, Donald J. Trump, is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025,” the filing said.

Smith asked to hold the appeal in abeyance and push the next filing deadline until Dec. 2 “to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”

Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back.

Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed the case against Trump and his co-defendants this summer, ruling that Smith’s appointment as special counsel was unconstitutional because he was not appointed by the president or confirmed by Congress.

Prosecutors then appealed that decision to the Atlanta-based United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

The judge in Trump’s federal election interference case paused all upcoming deadlines last week, following a request from Smith. Trump pleaded not guilty and denied all wrongdoing in that case.

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(NEW YORK) — Nearly 43 million people are under red flag warnings across eight states as the fire danger remains elevated in the Northeast.

Relative humidity as low as 20% coupled with wind gusts up to 40 mph could help accelerate the spread of any fires.

While Sunday brings a slight improvement in fire weather conditions, the overall fire risk will continue into next week across much of the Northeast.

There is no measurable rain in the forecast for the next several days in this area, although there are some signs that much-needed rain may arrive in the region late Wednesday into Thursday. At this point, it doesn’t look like a complete soaker, but any bit of rain will help.

The lack of rainfall will only exacerbate the moderate to extreme drought conditions across the area.

Storm out west

In the Pacific Northwest, a strong storm system will be moving onshore this weekend, bringing periods of rain and significant mountain snow.

Winter alerts are in effect for much of the Cascades and northern Rockies, covering portions of six states from Washington to Utah. At least 1 to 2 feet of snow is possible in the mountains, especially above 2,000 feet in elevation.

Severe threat to Texas

A new storm will be forming in the Southern Plains on Sunday, bringing a severe weather potential to portions of Texas.

Both Sunday and Monday have a slight risk for severe storms with damaging winds, large hail, and isolated tornadoes.

Tropical Storm Sara

Tropical Storm Sara has been drenching much of Honduras over the last couple of days, with an increasing threat for mudslides and potentially catastrophic flash flooding. Rainfall amounts of 15 to 25 inches are expected, with localized amounts up to 35 inches due to this slow-moving storm.

Sara is forecast to drift across Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, dissipating into a remnant trough by early Monday.

The threat of this storm redeveloping into a tropical system in the Gulf of Mexico is slim due to unfavorable conditions, so a U.S. landfall from this tropical system is not likely at all.

There will be some impacts to the U.S. in the form of tropical moisture being fed into passing front, leading to a good chance for heavy rain along the Gulf Coast and into Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

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(NEW YORK) — Sean Combs’ new application for bail should be denied because the music mogul “poses serious risks of danger and obstruction” to his criminal sex trafficking case, federal prosecutors argued in an overnight court filing.

Prosecutors took aim at Combs’ activities from behind bars where, they alleged, “the defendant has, among other things, orchestrated social media campaigns that are, in his own words, aimed at tainting the jury pool; made efforts to publicly leak materials he views as helpful to his case; and contacted witnesses through third parties.”

Prosecutors cited notes from the Combs’ cell that were found during a sweep of the jail. The contents of the notes are redacted but the prosecutors said there is a “strong inference” that Combs paid off an unnamed witness who had posted a statement to Instagram.

The government filing also accused Combs of using the telephone accounts of at least eight other inmates at MDC-Brooklyn “seemingly to avoid law enforcement monitoring” and to make phone calls to people who are not on his approved contact list.

“To obtain or maintain access to other inmates’ [phone access code] numbers, the defendant directs others to pay the inmates, including through payment processing apps and BOP commissary account deposits,” the filing said.

Defense attorneys said new evidence “undermines” the government’s case against Combs but prosecutors said “the defendant offers nothing new and material justifying a third bail hearing” and “rehashes the same arguments” rejected by two other judges.

The “near-total restrictions” Combs offered as part of an enhanced bail package are “woefully insufficient” in keeping him from tainting his upcoming trial, prosecutors said.

“The defendant is a violent, serial abuser who uses his vast wealth and position in the entertainment industry to conceal his illegal conduct and prevent victims of, and witnesses to, his abuse from coming forward,” prosecutors said.

The judge has scheduled a hearing for Friday afternoon. Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and prostitution charges that accused him of using violence, threats and coercion to force women to engage in sex acts with male prostitutes, sometimes lasting days and often recorded. Combs allegedly called the activity “freak offs.”

In arguing for release, Combs argued the video of him attacking his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura actually revealed “a loving, at-times toxic, long-term relationship between two adults who decided mutually to break up.”

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(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump has ambitious plans to utilize U.S. federal lands for the extraction of natural resources.

But Trump – who promised at the Republican National Convention in July to “drill, baby, drill” if he were to be reelected – may not be able to accomplish the vast majority of his plans due to existing protections and the way federal lands are defined, environmental law experts told ABC News.

Trump won’t be able to “just turn on the spigot” for new oil and gas drilling on day one of his administration, Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program, told ABC News.

“Every administration gets to the place where they have to differentiate between the rhetoric that they use in the campaign and the actual challenges when it comes to actually governing,” Stan Meiburg, executive director of Wake Forest University’s Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability, told ABC News.

National parks, wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, military reservations and public-domain lands are owned and managed by the federal government.

Public land is intended to be used for public benefit, but for the last century or so, that definition has sometimes been conflated to also include the extraction of natural resources, such as oil, gas, minerals and timber, according to Peter Colohan, director of federal strategies at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a nonpartisan think tank.

Federal lands are “for the benefit and enjoyment of all people,” Colohan told ABC News, evoking the famous phrase by former President Teddy Roosevelt that’s inscribed on the arch at north entrance of Yellowstone National Park.

Trump carried out what environmentalists widely regarded as an anti-environmental policy regime during his first term, withdrawing from the Paris Agreement to address climate change upon taking office in 2016 – which he has said he plans to do again, reversing President Biden’s Jan. 20, 2021 action to rejoin the agreement – removing clean water and air pollution protections, and fast-tracking environmental reviews of dozens of major energy and infrastructure projects, such as drilling and fuel pipelines, which Trump has said would help boost American energy production and the economy.

During his next term, Trump also has promised to drastically increase fossil fuels production in the U.S., despite the U.S. already producing and exporting a record amount of crude oil under the Biden administration.

“I think it’s an absolute certainty that Trump is going to push to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 19.3 million acres in northeastern Alaska that provides critical habitat to several species, to unfettered oil drilling, as well as areas outside of the refuge along the Alaska coast,” Kierán Suckling, executive director for the Center for Biological Diversity, told ABC News. “He’s been gunning for that for years.”

The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment on this story.

Regulatory challenges

The president and the executive branch may have a “great deal of discretion” over control of public lands and monuments, but existing laws to protect lands like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will be difficult to overturn, Suckling said.

Since the 1970s, a slew of environment regulations have been put in place to protect the U.S. landscape, such as the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, followed by the Clean Water Act in 1972 and the Endangered Species Act in 1973. The Clean Air Act was established in 1963 and has been amended several times since, the first time in 1970.

Because of this legal environmental infrastructure, it would be virtually impossible for Trump to easily or unilaterally change these protections, the experts said. In order for the Trump administration to overturn regulations against use of protected lands for energy production, he would have to present evidence to demonstrate that the proposed actions would not violate existing environmental laws, Suckling said.

“You have to use the best science available and if the science does not support your policy, the law is not going to permit you to do it,” Suckling said.

The day after Trump won reelection, President Joe Biden moved to narrow the scope of the lease in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, signed by Trump in 2017, to limit oil drilling. The Biden administration found “legal deficiencies” in the leases that would have made it possible for the Trump administration to expand fossil fuel production, Colohan said.

The biggest roadblock to Trump’s plans to drill on federally protected lands is whether or not those areas are actually economically competitive, compared to places where people are drilling on private land using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, Meiburg said.

However, most federal lands are not protected, Drew Caputo, vice president of litigation at Earthjustice, told ABC News. For such unprotected lands, it’s possible for Trump to issue an executive order to lease them for energy production. Even so, whenever a decision is being made to lease public land, “there will be a legal battle for sure,” Colohan said, adding that executive orders are “more reversible” than an existing statutory regulation.

Environmental activist resistance

In order for Trump to open federal land for leasing, his administration is required by law to notify the public, with environmental lawyers certain to be ready to challenge him.

“Environmental laws are carefully designed to produce a stable, democratic, scientific outcome,” Suckling said. “You can’t just get in and jump around and do whatever you want, and that’s why the United States has one of the best-protected environments – one of the cleanest, healthiest environments of any nation on earth,”

During Trump’s first term, the Biological Center for Diversity sued his administration 266 times and won about 90% of those actions, Suckling said. Earthjustice filed about 200 lawsuits against the Trump administration and won about 85% of them, according to Caputo.

“We’re going to have to sue their pants off every chance we get,” the Sierra Club’s Manuel said.

The Trump administration will likely face opposition from other stakeholders as well, such as Native American tribes, which could be impacted should federal land be leased for energy extraction, Meiburg said.

Trump’s loss in the 2020 election may have been the speed bump needed to thwart his agenda for federal lands, some experts also said. Now that he’s been reelected four years later, he’s essentially a one-term president and many of his proposed actions could be tied up in litigation for years, Suckling said.

Conversely, had Trump had eight consecutive years in office, it may have afforded him the continuity to enact more sweeping changes regarding use of federal lands, Caputo said. Should the House or Senate flip to Democratic control after the midterm elections, Trump’s agenda would likely be blunted even more, Manuel said.

However, it’s also challenging for land managers and environmental agencies when there’s constant turnover in the regulatory environment because it can slow progress for environmental protections, Colohan said.

All land is under pressure – whether for development, extraction of resources, agricultural use, climate change or biodiversity loss, Colohan said. But federal lands carry the ideal of conservation for the public benefit, recreation, cultural purposes, and for climate mitigation and resilience, he added.

“Those things are the better, the longer-term benefits that come from conservation,” Colohan said. “And so that’s really a choice that’s made by every administration.”

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(SANTA ANA, Calif.) — Samuel Woodward, a California man found guilty of murdering his former classmate in 2018 in a hate crime, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday.

Blaze Bernstein — a 19-year-old gay, Jewish student at the University of Pennsylvania — went missing while visiting his family in Newport Beach during winter break in January 2018. His body was found, following a dayslong search, buried in a park in Lake Forest he went to with Woodward the night he went missing, authorities said. He had been stabbed 28 times, prosecutors said.

Woodward, now 27, was charged with first-degree murder as a hate crime. Prosecutors had argued that Woodward murdered his high school classmate because Bernstein was gay.

In issuing the sentence during a lengthy hearing on Friday, Judge Kimberly Menninger said there was evidence that the defendant planned the murder, and that the jury found it true that the crime was committed because of Bernstein’s sexual orientation.

Menninger also denied Woodward probation.

On whether the defendant is remorseful, Menninger said, “Unfortunately for the court and for the defendant, I’ve never seen any evidence of this up to this point in time.”

Woodward was not present at his sentencing hearing due to an illness, according to Menninger.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — A week after cellphone users across the U.S. reported a flurry of racist text messages, members of the Hispanic and LGBTQ communities are now receiving text messages saying they have been selected for deportation or to report to a re-education camp, according to a new statement from the FBI.

The messages follow reports of African American and Black residents receiving racist texts in the days after the 2024 election that they were selected to “pick cotton on a plantation,” according to the FBI. Cellphone users in at least nine cities — New York, Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, Houston, Huntsville, Texas, Los Angeles, Norfolk, Virginia, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama — reported receiving the messages.

The new message also include some emails, the FBI said in its statement.

TextNow, a mobile provider that allows people to create phone numbers for free, said last week it discovered “one or more” of its users allegedly sending out racist text messages to phone numbers across the country and that the service quickly shut down the accounts.

The FBI has said it is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter.

Recipients of these messages include high school and college students.

“Although we have not received reports of violent acts stemming from these offensive messages, we are evaluating all reported incidents and engaging with the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division,” the FBI said in its Friday statement. “We are also sharing information with our law enforcement partners, and community, academia, and faith leaders.”

Anyone who receives these messages — or any threats of violence — is encouraged to report them to the FBI.

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