Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Fredricka Whitfield 20200822

Every day by september if safety mandates are relaxed. As University Students return to campuses across the country, schools in at least 19 states are reporting outbreaks. Lets begin with the Postal Service vote in the house. We have live coverage with correspondents on capitol hill and at the white house. Sunlen serfaty is following developments in the house. How is the vote expected to play out today . Reporter very rare and very unusual session of the house this morning. They were called back from summer recess, in the middle of recess, to vote on this bill today. Youll see live pictures of the house floor this morning in session in the last hour, and what youll see this hour is a few procedural votes. Members will cast their vote, socially distanced in waves to make sure they adhere to social distancing. Theyll be casting procedural votes. That sets up debate to happen in the course of many hours today, and likely theyll move to final vote on the bill in the 3 00 hour, eastern time, which sets up likely final passage later this afternoon. Now, the bill as you said in the introduction, it blocks organizational and operational changes to the u. S. Post office through end of the year, provides 25 billion in funding. House Republican Leaders have been instructing members to vote against this bill today. It is very likely that we will see some republicans break ranks across the aisle, vote with democrats. This bill is expected to pass largely along party lines, but thats essentially the end of the road there. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell has indicated he does not intend to bring up a standalone bill solely focused on the Postal Service. The white house issued a veto threat, saying it spends money arbitrarily without tying it to a broader coronavirus package. Speaker pelosi today said shes focused squarely on a narrow bill to address the Postal Service issues. Rare sight to see in washington on a saturday, especially in august. Sunlen serfaty, thank you. The white house is threatening to veto this bill if it gets to his desk. The Trump Campaign is accusing them of pushing conspiracy theories about the Postal Service. The president himself has been spreading false hoods about mailin voting, calling it fraudulent. Now they accuse democrats of conspiracy theories, thats rich even by trump standards. Thats right. In talking points distributed yesterday by the Trump Campaign, they were describing democrats concerns as conspiracy theories. They made the argument in the talking points that the problem would be the rapid expansion of mailin voting when it comes to potential election issues, not any issues with the post office itself. The white house made clear that bill making it through the house would be dead on arrival if it gets to the president s desk. For starters, the 25 billion figure is more than the white house and republicans wanted, more what they tentatively agreed to in the last failed round of stimulus talks, 10 billion, and wanted Strings Attached to funding. White House Republicans wanted some of that funding earmarked for covid and the election, instead of cash infusion into the post office. In the Statement Last night, the white house accused democrats are using the pandemic as pretext to impose restrictions on the post office, made clear they want to see changes and reforms. Want to read you part of that statement. The administration strongly opposes passage of hr 8015, the bill in question. Instead of reforming the United States Postal Service to ensure continued viability in the modern economy, this bill would arbitrarily give the Postal Service 25 billion in emergency taxpayer funding without linking funding to the pandemic or the upcoming election. The white house doesnt want a usps specific bill. They were not for a stand alone piece of legislation that would just deal with the Postal Service. They have continued pushing for a broader stimulus deal and said as did President Trump himself that they want to see Postal Service money tied to other things they were pushing for in stimulus talks that again fell apart. A lot of charges before we are going to see any kind of funding put into the Postal Service at this moment. Youll be following it all through the weekend. Sarah westwood, thank you so much. An influential new health model shows 310,000 americans could die of coronavirus by december. Researchers from university of washington saying nearly 70,000 lives could be saved if americans wore masks. Meanwhile, Infectious Disease society of america says hydroxychloroquine should not be used to treat coronavirus patients at all. The group saying doctors should not even experiment with the drug as part of a clinical trial. The fda recent guidance cautions against use of the drug outside hospital or clinical trial. Due to risk of heart rhythm problems. All of this as President Trump takes aim at the fda commissioner who he nominated this past november. President trump tweeting the deep state or whoever at the fda is making it very difficult for Drug Companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics. These are your own people, mr. President. The president claiming some in fda are deliberately delaying vaccine trials so one could not be available until after the election. Cnn reached out to the fda for comment and we will bring that to you once we get it. Florida is now reporting more than 4,000 new coronavirus cases today, this as Florida Atlantic University Pauses football practices after several players tested positive for the virus. Natasha chen joins me from boca raton. How is this impacting the rest of the student body . Reporter right now students have just finished moving into the dorms. Classes start monday. A lot of them havent been on campus until now and there are three Football Players that tested positive for covid19, thats practice is paused until monday at the earliest when they can review the next round of tests. A lot of students are preparing, going to the bookstore, and classes theyre going to experience are generally going to consist of virtual experiences. No class with more than 50 students will be in person. Those will all be virtual. Those that do face to face instruction will be in classrooms with reduced capacity, so a lot more distance between them. You can tell everyone has a mask on. Thats why i have a mask on. It is required here for students both inside and outside when around other people. It is reassuring to see the students Wearing Masks. Let me ask about the ruling in the Florida Education Association lawsuit against Governor Ron Desantis emergency call there. What is the latest out of that ruling . Reporter well, were expecting a ruling to come early next week. There were two days of witness testimony and a judge here in florida asked for two sides to submit briefs by the end of yesterday to be looked over. So what we know is this is the Largest Teachers Union in florida that filed the lawsuit against the emergency order back on july 20th arguing that the states order, commissioners order to have all schools provide an option for in Person Learning five days a week by august 31st is simply not safe. Teachers union says if you follow medical expert advice, you should only do this if the Positivity Rate is 5 or lower which they say is not happening in florida right now. And of course the governors attorneys argued that a lot of serious consequences can come from students not having a high quality, in person education. It is a slippery slope. We have been covering teachers unions across the country pushing for new Safety Measures to be put in place before classes resume. Thank you so much. Joining me to discuss, dr. Daniel fabuey. Thank you for joining us this morning. Let me ask about the cdc which just released updated guidelines on reopening schools, emphasizing the importance of keeping schools open when possible. How should leaders balance the need to keep kids in school and the threat of coronavirus and keeping everyone safe . Yeah, hi. Good morning. Thanks for having me. We have been talking about this ad nauseum the past several weeks. Really it is looking at the Positivity Rate of disease in their community. Factor that in with policies and plo protocols. Good that the cdc put out additional guidelines to be clear for the audience and for administrators and even parents and families making decisions for students. The safety of our public is really important. And in this case, when you look at the Positivity Rate, less than 5 in the region or in that school, province we are talking about, in addition to Wearing Masks or face coverings that are mandated, shouldnt be any loophole, mentioned this before, there has to be a strict process that everyone follows, but the key step people tend to forget, gets left out or dropped, policies that are in place if theres a positive case in that school or in that area that effects a child or student that is at a certain university. What policies are connected to Public Health officials or to a medical system where they can do testing and do they shut down the school. Thats the key issue. How quickly they followup is imperative here. Let me ask you about the Positivity Rate and that being a factor. We talk about cities like detroit and new york city where the Positivity Rate is well under 5 , and you still see the powerful teachers unions are pushing back to reopen schools after administrators say theyll be imposing mask mandates, trying to put as many Safety Measures in place as possible. What do you say to those teachers that continue to delay opening . Look, its a personal opinion. The Public Health piece is that we have to understand covid is keeping us all humble. We dont have a Silver Bullet yet and guidance is out there, should be less than 5 , but new york has 1 , even some places just less than 1 in terms of Positivity Rate. But they still have to walk this gradually. We are unfortunately experimenting with our kids. Thats what it is at the end of the day. There will be cases, but were trying as best to keep a lid on it. I understand their reservations. Nobody wants to get this and die from the disease, if you can avoid it, you have to do this in a systematically, well thought out process. I think they need to work with the Public Health officials there and the government in that province or in that area to be able to say hey, this is what we put in place, has it met these criteria. And understand there may still be a risk to contract the virus and this is what were going to do. All about messaging and optics that belong with it and how you execute it. If we get one case, we will notify you as soon as possible and within a reasonable time frame. Do we shut down the school a day or a week, but resume, or is it spreading like wildfire. Those are things they have to balance. We dont know all of the answers yet, but it is a dynamic of flux. Lives are on the line, not only adults, children too. They seem to avoid some of the most significant consequences of coronavirus. A sixyearold just passed away, too. This is imperative for parents to be sure children are healthy. Let me ask you about the new model. It shows that 69,000 lives could be saved if 95 of people wore masks. Are leaders doing enough to emphasize the importance of Wearing Masks . It is not that difficult to put one on. No. The short answer is no. The bottom line is were not doing enough, havent been doing enough from the inception of this process. There have been serious missteps. This is one of those. Masking should be mandated. They do it in other countries. We have the play book. Seen it in other countries that have it together. We are lagging, dont have the will power to say lets get to the other side of this. We havent taken it seriously. Yes, there should be mandates across the board. Get with the game. We want to move on with our lives, everybody wants to be safe. Wear your mask, put it on, put it on your face, get going with it. Thats how they should be doing it. Great message. It is not that big a sacrifice to wear a mask. Doctor, thank you for joining us. Appreciate it. Blame. Republicans blast democrats over the Postal Service, saying it is an excuse to undermine the election. A democratic congresswoman will respond next. Later, nearly two dozen wildfires in california are burning more than 900,000 acres. We are live with challenges that firefighters are facing. You cant claim that as a dependent. Because its inanimate [ sigh ] people ask. What sort of a person should become a celebrity accountant . And, i tell them, nobody should. Hey, buddy. Whats the damage . [ on the phone ] i bought it the waterfall . Nope my new volkswagen. A volkswagen . i think were having a breakthrough here. Welcome to caesars palace. Thank you. Essential for sewing, but maybe not needles. For people with certain inflammatory conditions. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz. 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Always go for 100. Bring out the bold™ right now, the house set to debate a 25 billion package to boost the Postal Service. A vote is expected later this afternoon. The legislation aimed at preventing delays and interference with election mail. Already, the white house is threatening to veto the bill, this as the Trump Campaign accuses democrats of cooking up what they call a Conspiracy Theory about the Postal Service. Here with me to discuss, democratic congresswoman Eleanor Holmes norton. Thank you for joining us. You dont get to vote today because d. C. Doesnt have state hood. Minor set back. This is something you have been pushing for for a long time. Let me ask you, what concerns are you hearing from constituents about the Postal Service now and what is your reaction to the president s campaign and rnc calling the push by democrats a Conspiracy Theory . Well, first, let me be clear, i have a vote in committee, so i will be at that committee, and importantly so because what we heard at the Senate Committee from dejoy was, if i may say so simply untruthful. For example, i have seen a july memorandum where the Postal Service instructed postal employees to leave behind mail at the Distribution Center and to cut overtime. Moreover, i have seen another memorandum where the new post master general, dejoy, has sidelined 23 of his top employees and centralized all authorities with himself. What cannot be doubted is what the post office itself has said. The post office has warned 46 states and the District Of Columbia that it cannot guarantee that their mail in ballots will get there in time. Thats what we didnt hear any questioning about at the senate hearing, thats the kind of questioning i will do at the house hearing monday. Im glad you have the vote on committee. Thats important to note there. In terms of concerns over a hiring freeze or freezing of overtime pay, the post master general yesterday said all of that would transpire after the election. You would put that on hold for now. Is that a step in the right direction, does that address some concerns . First of all, he had to move somewhat because he has been exposed but what he did not say even though specifically questioned was whether he would leave in place steps he has already taken, and he in fact said he would leave those steps in place. Those steps have done considerable damage all over my district. I hear people saying theyre not getting mail on time in my jurisdiction, in my city. Many people said they havent received mail for two weeks. If he doesnt go back to the status quo ante, but the bins he moved out, mailboxes he closed, those remain, then we still will have a terrible shortfall about ballots getting in on time. What did you make of the fact after being pressed by multiple senators to at least turn over some of the data, some of the information that led him to make the decisions that he did make, he was unwilling to do so. They gave him a deadline, seemed to be a fair question to ask, can you show us the research and data that led to your Decision Making to the American Public and he refrained from doing so or agreeing to do so. What did you make of that . Well, interesting they gave him a deadline to monday. Thats when we have a hearing. When a member of the administration does not agree to turn over internal documents, he will have a subpoena. You cant have internal documents you keep from house of representatives and senate of the United States. And when you say you dont want to turn them over, you are in effect admitting that you have something to hide. On the committee do you have power to subpoena the documents . We do. Will you . I am not chairman of the committee, but i am certain we will. You and more than half the Democratic Caucus wrote a letter to speaker pelosi, urging her to consider some Coronavirus Relief package separate from todays legislation. Shes refusing to do so now. Is this concerning for you . Well, shes playing hard ball. I have to tell you, it is hard to second guess this speaker because she has been so successful. We are concerned that these executive orders, the effects of which are just beginning to come in, that President Trump issued in place of a new bill are proven ineffective. That being the case, seems to be there would be more pressure on the republicans to come to the table with pelosi. Look, people in this country need help yesterday. So the sooner especially in my community, im hearing it, yes. The sooner that can get done, better for everyone. Congresswoman, appreciate your time. Thank you for joining us. Always a pleasure. Coming up, the gulf coast on alert this morning as a pair of tropical storms inch closer to the u. S. Details on the rare tropical threat. And apocalyptic scenes out of california. Take a look at these images as a number of wildfires burn out of control. Well take you there live coming up. Cant always stop for a fingerstick. With the freestyle libre 14 day system, a continuous glucose monitor, you dont have to. With a painless, onesecond scan you can check your glucose with a smart phone or reader so you can stay in the moment. No matter where you are or what youre doing. Ask your doctor for a prescription for the freestyle libre 14 day system. You can do it without fingersticks. Learn more at freestylelibre. Us. Whether we see them or not, we need to know that theyre always there. For the past 25 years, masimo has been monitoring patients in hospitals around the world so that doctors and nurses can make sure you feel safe. As new challenges have arisen, weve grown to bring that same safety and support to the place that you want to be most. If weve learned nothing else, its that when challenges arise, theres only one way to rise above. Together. Masimo. Together in hospital, together at home. Welcome to camp tonsafun on xfinity its summer camp, but in your living room. Learn how to draw with a minions expert. How to build an indoor Obstacle Course plus. Whatever shes doing. And me, jade cattapreta. The host of es the soup camp tonsafun. Its like summer camp, but minus the poison ivy. Unless you own poison ivy. In which case, why . Just say summer camp into your xfinity voice remote to join. Wildfires rage across california, charring nearly 1 million acres. More than 500 fires burning following a blitz of lightning strikes, including two of the biggest blazes in the states history. The largest of those, the lnu lightning complex fire charred more than 300,000 acres, killed four people. Paul vercammen is there for us this morning. Paul, i can see from behind you, tell us what the situation on the ground is like. Reporter well, bianna, the weather calming down, just a little cooler. The aftermath of the lightning complex fire you can see behind me, utter devastation. I am in the highlands. You can see this house is completely gone. You go up on this ridge, also devastated here as you pointed out. 314,000 acres charred in the lightning complex. That makes it the second most devastating wildfire in california history. Off in the distance, you can see wildlife flushed out by the blaze, theres a family of deer. The governor talking about so many fires burning in california, the most acres burning at one time in california history. A daunting task for the crews. The challenges were facing in the state is disproportionally impacting northern california. Thats because of close to 12,000 lightning strikes that we experienced over a 72 hour period. Just a day ago i announced that we are struggling to address the needs of suppressing some 376 fires in the state. That number has grown to 560 fires. Reporter just to clarify, i was on the phone with cal fire officials, it is not that there are 500 major fires, there are about 20 major fires, but they have stretched resources thin. Part of the covid19 program in california was for the prisons to let some inmates with great behavior go early and that is also reduced the total number of inmate firefighters now available this summer. And i read help may be coming from not just other states or other countries, it is that bad. Tell us, what do officials mean when they say the fires merged . Reporter thats what happened on the lightning complex. We had so many lightning strikes, imagine push pins on a map, lightning strike, lightning strike, all these fires. Where i am standing, this is the merging of eight fires. Firefighters liked that. It means they can fight the fire on a unified front, for example, defend this road instead of having to deploy resources around eight separate fires. It is dangerous to be between fires, they can pull at each other, and dont want fire in front of them and in back of them. Bianna . God speed to those firefighters and everyone in the community experiencing this. Thank you so much. Turning now to the eastern half of the country where were tracking not one but two tropical storms moving toward the gulf coast. Laura is impacting puerto rico today, and marco moving toward the u. S. Both could make landfall on the coast in the coming days. Allison chinchar is at the weather center. We just got an update on the forecast track for the two storms. Tell us what youre learning. Lets take a look at the latest updates from the hurricane center. Tropical storm marco is the biggest thing we have seen changes in. Sustained wind speed jumped 15 miles per hour, now looking at sustained winds of 65 miles per hour, gusting up to 75. Forward movement, north, northwest, 12 miles per hour. Tropical storm laura is a different story. Not much change here. Sustained winds at 40 miles per hour. The Forward Movement is west at 18 miles per hour. May not sound that fast. For tropical systems, thats a pretty good clip. Heres what we anticipate storms to do. Going forward, main concern with laura is heavy rain across puerto rico. Were starting to see heavier bands push in. As we go through the afternoon and evening hours, youre going to see wind gusts pick up and rain bands become more frequent. From there, begins to head in to the gulf of mexico. Again, models are truly split as to where the storm is going. Laura could make landfall from Corpus Christie to florida. You have a wide amount of options. Texas and louisiana are the focal point for that particular storm. A couple of cities are in for both storms, houston and beaumont, texas. Both of them could be hit by not one but both of these particular storms. It wont happen at the same time. Timing is significantly off with these. Marco likely to enter the gulf first around monday and laura about a day behind. Keep that in mind. Even if they both hit a similar area, it will be 24 to 48 hours apart from the two. One thing to note, a lot of people, say you live in new orleans or houston, they go east or west when they evacuate. Thats not an option with this event. You have two, not one storm to think about. You may have to reevaluate the normal evacuation route. Hope theres a change intraj in trajectory. Allison chinchar, thank you so much. Rescue crews are searching for a firefighter that went missing in Detroit River friday. The sergeant was off duty and with his 10yearold daughter when he jumped in the river after a group of girls signaled they had trouble swimming. A civilian and nearby boaters rescued the three girls, made it safely to shore. Well keep you updated on that story. Next, a former green beret, accused of spilling secrets to russia. How he allegedly put National Security at risk. Plus, was a russian Opposition Leader poisoned . Why he was moved out of the country overnight. To soccer practices. And new adventures. You hope the more you give the less theyll miss. But even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past. They may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. Lets help protect them together. Because missing menb vaccination could mean missing out on a whole lot more. Ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. Ask your doctor if your teen vo elevate your senses. The audi a6. Get exceptional offers at your local audi dealer. Im a talking dog. The other issue. Oh. Im scratching like crazy. Youve got some allergic itch with skin inflammation. 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I guess those cows must actually be big dogs. Sit i said sit were going to bring you an update on Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny in a few minutes. First, to joe bidens campaign along with the dnc that are saying they raised 70 million during the four Day Virtual Convention this week. Roughly 122 million americans tuned in to watch joe biden and Kamala Harris become the partys president ial and Vice President ial nominees. Now biden and harris are sitting down for their first joint interview after accepting nominations. The pair coming together for a socially distant interview with abc news. The full interview will air sunday night, but in clips released friday, harris and biden touch on the Coronavirus Response as well as this moment of reckoning against Racial Injustice in the country. David muir asked Kamala Harris what she makes of the president s attacks against her. President trump referred to you as nasty, a sort of mad woman, disaster, meanest, most horrible, disrespectful person in the u. S. Senate. How do you define what you hear from the president . Listen, i really think that theres so much about what comes out of Donald Trumps mouth that is designed to distract the American People from what he is doing every day that is about neglect, negligence, harm to the American People. And incompetence . Absolutely. Absolutely. More news in just a moment. First in todays represented, we mark the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote with stories of modern women willing to get into good trouble. The cofinder of black lives Matter Movement turned a hash tag into a global rallying cry against racism and police brutality. When we started black lives matter, we really started it in response to the killing of Trayvon Martin and acquittal of george zimmerman. We were disturbed, dissatisfied, we were angry, we were wanting more for black people in general. She wrote a love note to black folks. I responded with hash tag, black lives matter on facebook. Within the next 48 hours, we were creating this online community. Mike browns murder would make black lives matter go viral the first time. There has been a long history of black people rising up against our death, our tragedies. With George Floyds death, people witnessed him die in front of their eyes. People across the globe have shown up to not just talk about Police Violence but racist monuments taken down. This fight were in isnt solely focused on black people dying. The mission of black lives matter is affirming black life, fighting for black people to be thriving in their lives, divesting from militarization of policing and investing into black communities. Cnn is exploring the past, present, and future of womens rights in the u. S. And around the world. Check out more of this reporting at cnn. Com represented. Im greg, im 68 years old. I do motivational speaking in addition to the substitute teaching. I honestly feel that thats my calling to give back to younger people. I think most adults will start realizing that they dont recall things as quickly as they used to or they dont remember things as vividly as they once did. Ive been taking prevagen for about three years now. People say to me periodically, man, youve got a memory like an elephant. Its really, really helped me tremendously. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Im looking for my client. Im so sorry. Accountant. [ sighs ] hey hey man youre here. You dont trust me here is vegas, do you . Well. I thought we had a breakthrough with the volkswagen. We did. Yes. We broke through. Thats the volkswagen thats the cross sport. Wow. Seatbelts. Please, just tell me where were going. I got it all from you im always pushing through i know well make it to the finish line i know youre waiting on the other side im like you ondemand glucose monitoring. Because theyre always on. Another lifechanging technology from abbott. So you dont wait for life. You live it. The department of justice says a former Army Green Beret has been arrested and charged with espionage. They say he knowingly leaked u. S. National defense secrets to members of russias intelligence service, prosecutors say he met with russian operatives on multiple occasions between 1996 and 2011, and endangered National Security by providing details of his unit and identifying special forces team members. In other news, russian Opposition Leader alexi know volume knee is in a hospital. He has been in a coma since falling ill earlier this week. Supporters say he was poise oon. Matthew chance joins us, do we know anything about his condition . Reporter he is unconscious in germany, berlin. He is in stable condition after a long flight from a city where he was medevacd from after wrangling with medical the doctors in siberia who had beennavalny. Theyve been treating him since thursday. They say they detected no poisoning whatsoever as far as any of their tests are concerned. That, despite the very concerning images that emerged on thursday morning of Alexi Navalny being evacuated from the commercial airplane that he was on that had to make an Emergency Landing on the way back to moscow in omsk. You can hear him screaming with agony as hes taken onto the into the ambulance on the tarmac outside. He was on a life support system there. What his family members say is that they believe this is all a coverup. That actually there were toxins in his body but that the medical authorities in russia were trying to prevent him from being evacuated to a clinic in another country because they wanted to make sure those toxins came out of his body so they couldnt be traced and the truth couldnt come out as it were. Thats the position of Alexei Navalnys family and supporters. Despite the fact hes still in a bad situation, theres still optimism among those supporters that hell get the best possible treatment and possibly they can find out what put him in this situation. This isnt the first time theres been an attempted poisoning of him but obviously the most critical and dangerous. And it has been gut wrenching just following his wife and watching as she had been trying over the past couple of days to see him and speak with those german doctors. Its a bit reassuring to know hes actually in germany right now. Matthew chance in moscow, thank you for joining us. And at 2 00 eastern in the cnn newsroom, ill talk with the chairman of the Human Rights Foundation gary cass prove. The massive explosion in beirut this month took a terrible toll in terms of lives and property. Some say its also one more strike against lebanons government. Ben wedeman introduces us to one young couple that lost their 3yearold and is now losing their faith in lebanons leaders. Reporter she was their world. Alexandra was born in beirut. Tracy and pauls only child. And at the age of 3, she died in beirut, her life cut short in a blast that tore away and tore apart so many lives. Alexandra hit her head with something. I dont know what. And then i hit my head as well. And then i covered her, and i had two doors and ceiling and the acs on my back and head. The shock on her head was too big that it caused an edema that damaged her brain too much so this is what caused her passing. Reporter this young couple, entrepreneurs who took alexandra to last years demonstrations demanding a better lebanon, is still in shock and despair. We were in our house. The only shelter or place of safety that you thought was still there, you dont have anymore. Its just too much. Reporter repairs are under way in their neighborhood next to the port. Beyond repair, perhaps, is faith in a country falling apart in so many ways. People cant keep living in a criminal state. You cant live in a country anymore where the government and the parliament is against you. And i still have hope. The only difference, i guess, is that the rage we have today is exponentially growing. And reality is hitting us. It is the last chance we have. Paul and tracy, like so many others, are contemplating giving up and moving abroad. Reality in lebanon has hit them too hard. Ben wedeman, cnn, beirut. My heart just breaks for that family. Remarkable that mother, tracy, still has hope. Well be right back. The coronavirus pandemic is inspiring some unique lesson plans. Take a look. Ms. Williams gone viral i never had a teacher like that. What a way to get your kids out of bed. Adriana williams is one of two teachers who produced a rap video to get their students engaged and ready for the virtual classroom. This was shot at the Monroe Comprehensive High School with the help of the Cheerleading Team and, of course, they all wore masks. Williams spoke to cnn this morning about how her students are reacting to this. Its all about relationships and relationship building. I promise you, i wouldnt have been able to get the cheerleaders involved as much as we did not have the relationship with them that we do. So just continuing to uplift them, especially during this pandemic, because its a lot of kids that are going through a lot of things, as well as teachers. Losing loved ones, being sick themselves so we wanted to find a way to boost the morale of our students and the teach sleers a well. That uplifted us all. The pair also tells local affiliate walb they have another surprise coming soon so stay tuned. Some lucky kids there. Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining me. Im Bianna Golodryga in for fredricka whitfield. On capitol hill, a divisive and rare saturday vote will be taking place in the house today. Lawmakers in congress are about to begin debating a 25 billion package to help boost the Postal Service with the vote expected this afternoon. The bill is aimed at preventing delays and interference with election mail. A critical priority now that Many Americans are mailing in their ballots because of the pandemic. The white house is threatening to veto the bill if it makes it to the president s desk. For the very latest, lets bring in Phil Mattingly on capitol hill. ,