The Sunshine State returned to the classroom this week, nine of them with Positivity Rates higher than the cdcs recommended mark for reopening. Next door in georgia, the governor today applauded its first week back to school in many counties. This week went real well other than a couple virtual photos. Reporter thats despite hundreds of Public School students and faculty quarantined, testing positive after returning for inperson classes. That includes this high School Northwest of atlanta in this viral image, now temporarily moved to Online Learning after nine reported cases. Teachers throw themselves in front of bullets when there is an active shooter in the building. But this time we are being asked to potentially sacrifice not ourselves but also our family. And that is the difference. Reporter the numbers paint a spark picture for the backtoschool season. The American Academic of pediatrics says nearly 100,000 children tested positive for covid in the last two weeks of july. A 40 increase in child cases. Covid continues to rise in these eight states in red. The death toll flat. The u. S. Averaging 1,000 dying every day. In illinois, cases are up sharply. Chicagos mayor closed a lakefront beach after seeing this packed area. In texas where the states Positivity Rate remains above 20 , some churches are now worshipping outdoors. And then there was the sturgis, south dakota, motorcycle rally, which brought about 250,000 people to the small town. On fears of contracting covid and taking it home . Hell, no, were going to get it sooner or later. [ bleep ]. Reporter the reality of the virus now impacting College Football, the Major Conferences expected to announce soon whether the fall season will happen after a smaller conference canceled its football season over the weekend. It was not a decision that was made lightly. It was not a decision that was made quickly. Reporter in the race for a vaccine, despite the president predicting one by election day. Yes, i think so. Reporter that time line may not happen. Moderna, the First Company in the u. S. To begin phase three Clinical Trials last month says about 4,500 study subjects have enrolled. 30,000 are expected by september. But accounting for the time between for injections by november 3rd. The chance that this could be done by the end of the year is just infinitely small. Reporter while the College Football season is yet to be decided, President Trump weighed in saying that the student athletes have worked too hard to have their season canceled. Pam, this tweet coming as the administration has been pushing for colleges and schools to reopen this fall. Kyung lah, thank you for bringing us the very latest. And now lets discuss with cnns chief medical correspondent dr. Sanjay gupta. So you just listened to kyung lahs piece. You heard one person she saying well get it sooner or later. It makes you wonder do people understand how serious this is . I mean, its essentially russian roulette, is it not . If you do get it, you could be one of the ones that responds badly to this virus. Right. We have some idea who are the most vulnerable, pam lachlt but obviously there are people who are younger, people without preexisting conditions who are getting sick. You spread it so its not just about im going to get it sooner or later. You also become a vector of spread to people who dont think like you and dont want this virus. The other part of this, as you remember, pam, in the beginning was the idea that if a lot of people get it quickly from what could be a super spreader event, the hospitals become overwhelmed. So part of the issue is that, yes, when we look at the overall fatality rate of this virus, it is what it is. But the idea that people overflood hospitals and cant get care and die preventible deaths as a result is a real concern. We are trying to outpace this virus, hopefully get a vaccine, hopefully do things that can mitigate it. If people think this way, the virus will outpace us. Thats exactly it. The u. S. Still hasnt gotten the upper hand. And weve talked a lot, sanjay, about how can we get people to care more. Younger people who might be spreading it and people, you know, like we saw who were in kyung lahs story there. Its delayed gratification. If you can just hunker down now, follow these mitigation efforts, you can get back to that life that we are all missing. Is it not about that in part and about empathy for others . That argument certainly works with me, i think, pamela, and probably your friends as well. I think what weve seen around the country, you know, is a situation where certain regions start to redline. People get very sick, hospitals become overwhelmed. And people often know somebody who got very sick or died. And that all of a sudden makes it real for them. Youd like to think that other places around the country that observe this could say, hey, thats a lesson, well learn that lesson without having to experience that turmoil ourselves. But that doesnt seem to be the case. We saw what happened in the northeast. Now you see whats happening in the south where i live. Sadly, i think itll take some terrible stories before people realize how real this is. Right now i think about one in six people know somebody in the country who has contracted this virus. But the numbers are bound to go up over the next couple of months. And youre absolutely right. And lets talk about Lessons Learned because were already seeing schools face the repercussions of opening and not having some of those mitigation efforts in place. There was a high school with packed hallways and a photo went viral. Now that school is reporting nine positive coronavirus cases. The school is currently being disinfected, you know, before it lets kids come back in for learning. We dont know when that is going to happen. But what is the Lesson Learned at this school . Well, im not sure there is a Lesson Learned here for the school. Because ive talked to some of the folks over there. I looked at the letter that was sent to parents, pamela. There is still no mention of masks. You disinfect the entire school, somebody comes in the next day who hasnt been tested, doesnt know they have the symptoms and they sneeze or cough. I mean, that would sort of require disinfection of the whole area again. Disinfectant doesnt necessarily stop the spread. It just buys you its clean at that time that you cleaned it. But if you dont have masks and people still continue to put the germ in the environment on hightouch surfaces, possibly causing people to touch those surfaces and then infect themselves, that cycle continues. I hope theres a lesson for other School Districts who look at this and say, okay, they didnt wear masks, they didnt follow these procedures that are recommended. And right away they had six kids and three teachers get infected. Lets not do the same thing. Masks would be a simple way to do it. Frankly, as ive told you over the last couple of weeks now, pamela, i think it might be an exercise of futility to just put this many people into an enclosed structure during a pandemic. Id like my kids to go to school, but i think its going to be impossible, certainly very hard. I want to go back to in a second on kids and how theyre impacted by the virus. But first i want to get to this what we learned from Georgia State representative beth moore. She says shes receiving these messages from hundreds of anonymous teachers about schools reopening. And here is one example. This teacher writes, i have a coworker who has decided to report to the building today even though she had a positive covid test last week. She says she feels better and our county does not require a negative test before returning back to school. I am a type i diabetic. I am incredibly fearful and couldnt sleep last night because i feel as if i may be exposed today. We should note that Fulton County schools are virtual until labor day, but teachers are still required to report to the school. And she brings up this interesting point. What protections should be in place if a teacher or student or administrator tests positive . Well, youd like to think that at this point wed be able to document that people are negative. They no longer have the virus. We dont have enough tests to do that. The testing that we do have is so sensitive in some cases that it may pick up viral fragments. The point is that the testing is not in a position to actually provide the guarantees, the assurances of what that teacher would want. In order to be considered negative, and we have a list of things here, is that ten days since symptoms began that youve been off of medications to lower fever for at least 24 hours, and that you have improvement in symptoms. I dont know that this teacher just hearing what the other teacher was saying would fit this category because she said she just started feeling better. Youve got to be ten days symptomfree. She might not fit that criteria even. But we still dont have enough good assurance testing to obviate situations like this. As a parent i still am frankly confused in terms of sending my child to school and how the virus impacts children. Because there are all these different studies out. There is one study that Shows Younger kids have a higher viral nose. In another study it says younger kids dont transmit as much. The Washington Post pointed out that when it comes to children and the history of medicine, its not always what we first assume. And that Research Takes time. Whats at risk when it comes to making decisions without the full picture of the threat . Well, the real risk is that these little kids even, kids under the age of 10, could be spreaders of this virus. And we are treating them as if theyre not, and that could actually contribute to significant burden of virus on the country, on their parents, on their grandparents. I have looked at these studies closely, pamela. Youre right. Historically we thought little kids werent going to be spreaders of disease. Thats what they thought about the flu. Then they realize little kids get the flu and they spread the flu. What weve seen here is that the kids who did the surveillance testing, they did have significant amounts of virus in their nose and their mouth. That would sort of fit with the idea that they could be significant spreaders. The south korea Contact Tracing study, there are some 50,000 contacts that were traced. But only about 50 were from kids 09. The point is that kids really havent been out over the last several months. Theyve been at home. Its been kids who are older and adults who have been out. We dont know for sure what the Contact Tracing shows about these younger kids. My guess is theyre going to spread. They have the virus in their nose and history teaches us that. Just anecdotally, i dont know about you but my kids used to get me sick all the time, especially my toddler would go out. I dont know how to compare that to covid19, but it just youre right. You make a really important point that there is a difference between these studies with kids that have been in lockdown or staying at home versus in these crowded situations in school. There is a very big difference there. Dr. Sanjay gupta, thank you so much. Great discussion as always. You got it, pamela. Thank you. As concerns grow when americans will actually see the money President Trump offered this weekend, a new report says he wants to make a big change to Mount Rushmore. That is next. And then which masks keep you safe . Details of a new study including the one mask which may make things worse. All otc pain relievers including voltaren have one thing in common none are proven stronger or more effective against pain than salonpas patch large theres surprising power in this patch salonpas dependable, powerful relief. Hisamitsu. Whatintroducing the new sleepld . Number 360 smart bed. Now temperature balancing, so you can sleep better together. Can it help keep me asleep . Absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. Can it help with snoring . Ive never heard snoring. Exactly. No problem. And done. Will it help me keep up with mom . You got this. So you can really promise better sleep . Not promise. Prove. Its our weekend special with 0 interest for 48 months on all smart beds. Ends monday. How abowhat a shame. Wilson . So soon after retiring. I hear his wife needed help with the funeral expenses. Thats ridiculous he had social security. When my brother died, his wife received a check from social security, all right for 255 the funeral costs were well over 8,000. How on earth did she pay for it . Fortunately, my brother bought additional Life Insurance before he retired. Whew i bet that cost a pretty penny, huh . Not with Colonial Penn. Coverage options start at just 9. 95 a month. Less than 35 cents a day. I have it myself. We both do. Both of you . Neither of us had to answer any Health Questions or take a physical exam. In fact, no one our age can be turned down. For any health reason. Your rates go up every year, right . No, not at all. Friends keep telling friends about guaranteed acceptance whole Life Insurance from Colonial PennLife Insurance company. With this coverage, your premium never increases for any reason, and your benefit wont decrease simply because you grow older. Options start at just 9. 95 a month. To find out more, call now. male announcer call now and youll also get this free beneficiary planner and this free prescription savings card. And in our politics lead today, President Trump is firing back after a fellow republican called trumps executive orders, quote, unconstitutional slop. Senator ben sasse is the first republican to publicly criticize the president s actions on coronavirus relief. Though other Top Republicans agree it is not the job of the president to make those decisions. But negotiations between the white house and democrats fell apart on friday leaving millions of americans struggling to pay bills. And as cnns Jeremy Diamond reports, there are no signs of a deal on the horizon. Reporter today, confusion and uncertainty for millions of americans waiting on help from washington. We think its going to be very rapid. We want it to be very rapid. Reporter two days after President Trump signed an executive action promising 400 per week to out of work americans, the white house is shifting responsibility to the states. We hope to see it quickly and close to immediately i dont have an exact readout for you on time, but a lot of this will depend on states and them applying. Reporter and blaming democrats for any delays in the president s new program. Any delay that does exist, its important to note where that delay and the responsibility rests with nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. Reporter and beyond delays, many unemployed americans may not see any new money unless their governor agrees to pay a quarter of the cost and administer the new benefit. Many states already cash strapped amid the pandemic, unable to chip in and caught off guard by trumps proposal. If he thinks this is a resolution, this only makes a bad situation worse. Reporter trump also facing criticism from within his own party. Today firing back at republican senator ben sasse who called trumps executive actions unconstitutional slop, tweeting rhino or republican in name only ben sasse has gone rogue again. And while trump took a victory lap this weekend. Weve got much of what weve wanted without having to give up anything. And thats very good. You cant beat that. Reporter treasury secretary Stephen Mnuchin suggesting the administration is still in a dealmaking mood. We are prepared to put more money on the table. There are things that make sense to compromise. Weve compromised. If we can get a fair deal, we will do it this week. Reporter the president claiming his unilateral action is bringing democrats back to the table. The democrats have told theyd like to get together. Reporter but the democrats, baffled. Fables from donald trump. Thats what he seems to specialize in. I didnt call him. Speaker pelosi didnt call him. He makes these things up. Reporter trump has yet to engage directly in the latest negotiations and he hasnt talked to pelosi since october. And, pam, weve reported that President Trump is considering delivering his gop nomination acceptance speech from the white house. But amid from criticism of that potential venue, the president is now floating another one. This time hes talking about the hallowed Civil War Battlefield in gettysburg, pennsylvania. But that can be controversial because this is a president who has positioned himself as a defender of confederate symbols and monuments to confederate generals. There is this reporting from the New York Times claiming the white house actually reached out to the governor of south dakota about the process of adding more president s to Mount Rushmore. It seems as though the president liked this idea in his tweet today. All you have to do is look at the public statements by the president himself and guilty governor nome. The president tweeted this was a false report but he said, quote, seems like a good idea to me. And governor nome talked in a 2018 interview about the fact that she actually discussed this with the president in the oval office back in 2017. And the president told her it was his dream to have his face added to Mount Rushmore. And she said he was totally serious. And clearly she didnt forget it. She actually greeted the president when he visited Mount Rushmore just last month with a fourfoot replica of the monument, with one addition, the president s face. All right, jeremy, thanks so much for that. A new study finds one type of face mask may actually spread coronavirus instead of help contain it. Well talk to the former head of the cdc about that and more up next. Tech when youve got auto glass damage. Safelite can come to you. Tech and youll get a text when were on our way. Tech just leave your keys on the dash and well replace your windshield with safe, nocontact service. Tech schedule at safelite. Com. Singers safelite repair, safelite replace. [ engines revving ] its amazing to see them in the wild like th shhh. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. Extra cheese, extra pepperoni right to the edge and the biggest slices in papa johns history. But its bigger than pizza because 1 from each sale is donated to support communities. Curry. Cacciatori. Chimichurri. Fried turkey. Blueberry. Mcflurry. Cheese cake. Grilled steak. Clam bake. Milkshake. We are americas kitchen. Doordash. Every flavor welcome. Simon pagenaud takes the lead at the indy 500 coming to the green flag, racing at daytona. Theyre off. In the kentucky derby. Rory mcllroy is a two time champion at east lake. He scores stanley cup champions touchdown only mahomes. The big events are back and xfinity is your home for the return of live sports. And turning to our health lead now, a new study you need to see before you wear your next mask. Duke University Researchers tested 14 different types of masks to see which were the most effective. Well, heres what they found. N95 masks, to no surprise, won out. But those fleece neck gators not only arent preventing respiratory droplets from escaping, but they actually make them spread more. Joining me now is the former acting cdc director, dr. Richard besser. Thank you for coming on. And to be clear here, doctor, the study does not say you shouldnt wear a mask. You still should wear one, but the type of mask you wear really matters here. How so . Well, its not surprising that different types of material, different thickness is going to have different impact in terms of spreading respiratory droplets. And thats the moisture that comes out of your mouth that were concerned about in terms of spreading virus. This is one study. Its a laboratory study. And what they found is that not all masks are created equal. The n95 masks that are used in Health Care Settings that we really want to leave available for people in Health Care Settings are the best. Theyre really well fitted and will ensure that the individual wearing those is not exposed to respiratory droplets from others. What the big goal is for the masks that we wear is to protect other people. What they found was that the fleecy masks that people wear when theyre running actually break down bigger respiratory droplets into smaller ones that then come through the material. This doesnt show that these have been responsible for spread. But what they found in here was that cotton masks that are three layers thick and the surgical masks that so many people wear, that those were better than the fleecies or the bandannas. The bottom line takeaway is that everyone should be wearing masks. Thats really important when you cant social distance. And that we need to do more than that. We need to make sure that everyone has what they need to keep themselves and their families safe. Right. So n95 is considered the cream of the crop as far as masks go. But like you pointed out, they were in short supply early on. They are reserved for health care professionals. But considering how much longer we have to go until potentially a vaccine is created and enough people get it, do you think its realistic or its something that could happen where the rest of the public could have access to n95 masks . Well, again, were looking at things you can do to help reduce the risk to others around you. Ive worn n95s in Health Care Settings. And wearing them properly for long periods of time is really challenging. It can be really difficult to breathe through a properly fitted n95. I think for the general public going with a wellmade cloth mask or a surgical mask is a good way to go. Is sufficient. Okay. So lets talk about the challenges of wearing a mask. Because we were having this robust discussion with the team today about exercising outside. More exercise groups are going outside for classes. And i sometimes see runners wearing masks. Sometimes runners arent wearing a mask. What should we do if were exercising outside . Should we all be wearing a mask . Or does it just depend on the circumstances . I would put it into it depends on the circumstances. When you think about what it takes to acquire a virus, its not just being exposed to someone, but its that duration, how long youre exposed and in what setting. And one of the things that we have learned since this pandemic began is that Outdoor Activities are much safer than indoor activities. So if youre outside and youre running and you are six feet away from people, youre not running in a marathon with people shoulder to shoulder. And youre just running by people. If you give them a nice berth, you dont need to wear a mask when youre running or riding a bicycle. If youre out on the lawn and people are spaced more than six feet apart, i dont think thats a setting where you need to wear a mask. If youre more comfortable wearing one, go ahead. But i see and have some concern about shaming of people who are really not doing anything thats really risky if theyre six feet apart and theyre outdoors. I was talking to someone that they were running and they were being shamed by a neighbor even though they werent even close. So it just got me thinking what should we all be doing . But thats a great perspective. And i want to get to this oped before we let you go, d dr. Besser. And this is what they said. They said we continue to allow the coronavirus to spread rapidly throughout the country or we can commit to a more restrictive lockdown state by state for up to six weeks to crush the spread of the virus to less than one new case per 100,000 people per day. So what do you think . Do you think we need to go back to the beginning, go back to lockdown mode to get this under control . Or is there a happy medium where a lockdown isnt necessary as weve heard from dr. Fauci . Yeah. I know dr. Osterholm very well. I think what he has in here makes a lot of sense. But if we do this, there are things that we know that are different now just as we were talking about the safety of exercising outdoors. You could envision a type of lockdown where that was taking place. But i cant envision the lockdown and i wouldnt be in support of a lockdown unless the supports are there to ensure that everybody has what they need to be safe. Weve seen a disparate impact in this pandemic among black americans, latino americans and native americans and with essential workers on the front line. Weve seen their families get hit hard. A new report showing that children, black children, latino children, five to eight times more likely to be hospitalized than white children. So we need to make sure if we go into lockdown that weve got the income supports, mortgage foreclosure protection, all of those things so that everybody whos going into a lockdown can be safe and secure, not just those who are better off financially. Yeah. And, you know, also youre seeing Public Health experts make this argument that we have this window right now before we get into the winter and flu season, and so forth. And the public should be taking advantage of this window to reduce the cases. Well, thank you so much, dr. Richard besser. That was such an interesting conversation. We appreciate you coming on. Thank you, pamela. Its a pleasure. Well, can the post office handle mailin ballots in a timely manner . We visited post offices in several cities to see what is happening with the mail right now. And any moment, joe biden could announce his running mate. Now the campaign is already preparing for potential attacks. Well be back. Checks from here. Deposit and you can see your transactions and check your balance from here. And pay bills from here. Because your bank isnt just one place. Its virtually any place you are. Just download and use the chase mobile app. Visit chase. Com mobile. And get way more. Ith wso you can bring yours vision to life and save in more ways than one. For small prices, you can build big dreams. Spend less, get way more. Shop everything home at wayfair today. Californias economic challenges are deepening. Frontline workers stretched too thin. Our nurses and medical professionals in a battle to save lives. Our schools, in a struggle to safely reopen, needing money for masks and ppe, and to ensure social distancing. And the costs to our economy, to our state budget . Mounting every day. We need to provide revenues now, to solve the problems we know are coming. And we are back with our politics lead. New reporting about how President Trumps own advisers worked against President Trumps Foreign Policy vision. And one episode effectively fooling President Trump into leaving troops in syria. That is according to this new book out tomorrow, the madman theory trump takes on the world, written and reported by cnns very own jim sciutto who joins me now to discuss. Jim, congratulations on this book. It is so illuminating in so many ways. And you talked to several current and former Trump Officials that really examine trumps Foreign Policy. This episode about troops in syria really exemplifies that. What happened . It shows a couple things. One, many of his most senior advisers did not welcome his decisions, and in many instances, acted to either water them down or block them. And this relates to the president s withdrawal orders from syria delivered by tweet in september 2018 and october 2019 where the pentagon opposed this. They knew this would hamper the u. S. Mission on the Ground Fighting isis. In the first instance they reduced but didnt withdraw all the forces and just hoped that the president s attention would turn, and it did. And the second time they came up with another plan to justify the deployment that they thought would appeal to the president , that is to say were actually there to defend the oil fields and the president accepted that. And there are still many, not the same number, but many u. S. Forces on the ground. Mick mulroy said you could see that play out. They were definitive about leaving and then we didnt leave, and now we havent left, were still there, and thats a good thing. Wow. And you also did a lot of reporting on the Intelligence Community and the concerns that russia was trying to recruit President Trump. What did you learn about that . Well, this is the thing. In the midst of all the investigations but also just reactions to the president s Public Comments regarding russia, his refusal to stand up to russia, a concern was not so much collusion with russia but about russia doing whats called an influence operation, attempting to influence the thoughts, the decisionmaking the u. S. President , in effect, to recruit him to some degree unwittingly but through Public Comments, through private conversations with putin, to change or influence his view of the world. Senior officials in the Trump Administration say that the president s hostility towards european leaders, western european leaders, the leaders of u. S. Allies, influence, in part, by Vladimir Putins descriptions of him. And, frankly, in some of the president s Public Comments, you could see him very much in line with kremlin talking points on, for instance, natos position in europe. Its an alarming view to hear from within the president s own administration. And to that point, jim, what did you learn, or did you learn anything about putins seemingly holding of sway over the president . Well, this was the thing. I asked everyone i interviewed for this book, again, all people who served this president , some who have been critical, some who remain loyal. How can they explain the president s consistent deference to russia, to putin . Even, for instance, on most recently new evidence that russia is interfering in the 2020 election and his reluctance to call them out for that. And the best explanation they could come up with is that the president simply admires vladimir putin, he admires his power, but also shares something of a nilistic view of the world. And you saw that in his comments in 2017 to bill o reilly when o reilly said putins a killer and trump said are we much better . And the president was reminded that russia armed the taliban in 2018 and President Trump said, well, we armed the taliban in the 1980s too, not making a distinction, in effect a watering down of american exceptionalism. Remarkable to come from a sitting u. S. President. Were hearing from a top u. S. Official who deals with election security, warning that russia has been trying to interfere in the upcoming november election with a preference for President Trump. As we know, jim, President Trump has equivocated when it comes to Russian Election meddling. And you write in the book, trumps willingness to ignore, contradict, and defy his seniormost advisers is a quality i heard from virtually everyone i have spoken with about him. And yet there is still no sign that the president is along to call out russia. I havent seen anything about it in the readouts from his recent calls with putin. No, not once. And hes had many opportunities to. He could tweet it out tomorrow but just doesnt do it. And the president has a reflexive ability to just say, well, i dont believe what youre saying to contradict his advisers. And thats one thing intelligence officials told me when its about advice or analysis. You can disagree with someones opinion of something. But its different, they say, when the u. S. , when the Intelligence Community knows something, when they have the goods, and they have the goods on russian interference in the election in 2016 and again in 2020. And once again the president simply refuses to accept that. All right, jim sciutto, im really looking forward to reading your book. Congrats again. Thank you. Thanks so much, jim. Well, besides foreign election interference, there are questions about how mailin ballots will potentially impact the u. S. Election, since the u. S. Postal service has admitted that costcutting services. And a former trump fundraiser is running the post office now. Reporter the Postal Service slogan might be we deliver. But its not what reality appears to be. Were having trucks leave our buildings with zero mail on the trucks. Reporter for this man who heads a Postal Worker Union in philadelphia, the mail is moving too slow. My union reps, they call me throughout the night in the morning saying, nick, the mails all over the place. Were just not getting it out. Reporter in 35 years with the United StatesPostal Service, he said he has never seen issues this severe. The new changes have democrats worried that slow mail could slow mailin ballots, crucial in an election year, overshadowed by the pandemic. Were not providing the services that we provided 24 7 before mr. Dejoy was appointed the pastmaster general. Reporter in june President Trump appointed louis dejoy who has no postal experience. It is his newly implemented changes like eliminating overtime and ending extra trips by carriers that are causing delays nationwide. In baltimore people waited two hours in hopes of getting their mail that never showed up. Im waiting on unemployment, a card, and its just not showing up. It should be here today, but it shouldve been here a week ago too. So i dont really know. Reporter mail delays have also been reported from minneapolis to North Carolina and in philadelphia. A lot of them are bills. And then theyre going to charge you late charges. Weve missed six collection days in the last four weeks, which means theyre not delivering, theyre not collecting. So its a problem. Medicines arent being delivered. Bills arent going out in the mail. Reporter james says the problem got so bad that he called his congressman, and hes not the only one. People were calling us raising concerns about the mail system. Reporter House Democrat dwight evans and 80 other members of congress wrote dejoy demanding the Postal Service not reduce mail delivery hours. Dejoy denies that any intentional slowdown is taking place. Despite any assertions to the contrary, we are not slowing down election mail or any other mail. Reporter postal carriers live by the motto neither rain nor snow. Now the concern is politics will keep those like james waiting on the mail. Both sides of the aisle need to look at this. They need to fund the Postal Service properly so that these guys can go back to work. Reporter even in spite of all this, President Trump continues to stand by dejoys changes in a new he calls mailin voting a catastrophe, even though the American Postal Workers Union says the only real catastrophe is the squeeze being put on the Postal Service. Dejoy is set to face a congressional hearing and answer to these mail delays but not until september 18th. Pamela . All right, pete, thank you so much for that. And i want to turn now to our 2020 lead. Any minute, any hour, any day now, joe biden is expected to announce his running mate. And i want to bring in cnn correspondent jessica dean and cnn senior political reporter niamalika henderson. You have been covering the Biden Campaign for several months. Where does this decision stand right now . We know that they are very, very close, as you said any moment now, we are expecting an announcement from the Biden Campaign on his vp selection. We do know that hes met with a number of contenders in person. We also know based on our reporting that one of them is Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer who had kind of fallen off the radar for a moment. But they did meet in person. She flew in from michigan and met with him last sunday. But, again, pam, were expecting to hear any moment now. We know from biden that he said for tmonths and months and monts now he wants somebody who he is, quote, simpatico with. He wants somebody who he can be who he was with barack obama. But he said many, many times theyre going to have a lot of work to do if they find themselves in the oval office. Any moment now we should know. But the list right now, pam, remains pretty long in terms of who it could be. This is a closely guarded secret even within the Biden Campaign itself. Very few people know a lot of specifics. They clearly want this to be a surprise. And niamalika henderson just wanted out, they are going to have a lot of work to do once they go into the if biden wins and if they take on that role. But also they could face sexist attacks or comments. Even the New York Times which seemed to also forget that there was a woman on the ticket, noted, quote, conservatives will undermine the veep candidate with stereotypes. Whos wearing the pants here, anyhow . How do you expect this to play out . You know, she talks about conservatives. I think its any number of people might launch sexist attacks against this vice president. Weve seen this throughout history. Sarah palin was asked how would she take care of her kids if she was in the white house. It didnt just come from conservatives. It came from a political reporters, political pundits. If you look at some of the conversations surrounding this current pick, there are people in and around bidens camp who are sort of leveling pretty sexist charges kind of comparing karen bass to Kamala Harris. Karen bass might be more likely to be the pick because she might not be as ambitious as Kamala Harris, as if ambition is a terrible, terrible thing. So i dont think maureen dowd is in that column. I think all of us should be on the lookout for all number of sectors, be it the interpret and pundits and political reporters for the kind of sexist language that people can lapse into when it comes to looking at women assuming positions of power. Its interesting, Kamala Harris actually addressed this whole idea of being too ambitious as a woman and what that means exactly. And the Biden Campaign, i imagine, jessica, has been thinking about how they might fight back against sexist remarks about the vp selection. What have you learned about that . Well, thats certainly right, pam. I actually spoke with a campaign aid earlier today who said over the last few months they have been in contact and meeting with womens groups that focus on getting women elected to office. And what theyve been doing is talking about some of the attacks that women who run for office face that men maybe dont face. And the whole point of this has been for the Biden Campaign they said to familiarize themselves with these lines of attacks and also begin to prepare for whatever may be coming their way. Well, we shall see when that announcement is made this week. Jessica and nia, thank you so much. Well, a shootout, looting, and more than a hundred people arrested in chicago alone. What sparked the chaos . Up next. How about poor fred wilson . What a shame. So soon after retiring. 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To find out more, call now. male announcer call now and youll also get this free beneficiary planner and this free prescription savings card. In our National Lead now, the mayor of chicago is shutting down parts of the downtown area and putting more police on the streets after a night of looting and violence there. About a dozen officers were injured, and more than 100 people were arrested. Massive crowds descended on downtown. They were smashing windows and looting stores. And at one point, police and the looters even exchanged gunfire. Well, chicago is just one of many u. S. Cities seeing an uptick in violence and unrest in recent weeks. Riots were declared in portland for a second night in a row. In kansas city, police are getting federal assistance as crime surges including six murders this weekend alone. Cnns Palo Sandoval joins me now from chicago. Do we know what sparked this . Reporter the answer to that question is really what might be setting this civil unrest apart from some of those other incidents weve seen in other parts of the country. Thats because misinformation is like likely behind what we saw play out. Were talking about mainly a rumor to according to the citys mayor and the top cop began to circulate throughout on sunday. And that was that police had shot and killed a 15yearold boy. That certainly, as you could expect, was inciting some tensions. The mayor made it clear that, yes, there was a policeinvolved shooting over the weekend but it was a 20yearold man who was shot and wounded by officers after he allegedly shot that the them. He is expected to recover and that incident is it under investigation. But still the damage has been done. There were police on every corner throughout the night. And there were hundreds of looters. This wave of looting basically swept through Downtown Chicago and of course caught in the middle of this all are many of the business owners, many of the residents. And you can imagine that they are quite frustrated, especially since this is not the first time this year that many of these businesses have had to clean up and board up. In fact, some of them had just opened up. So thats really whats fueling their frustrations, as of course authorities hope that were not in for another similar night tonight. On that note, what are officials doing now . Well, theyre starting by at least locking down parts of downtown. Theyre going to try to restrict some of the access because we did see some almost caravans of these looters driving through the streets according to police. They are trying to prevent that. And then also as far as the Law Enforcement side goes, theyre going through the video right now, Surveillance Video of all these stores both small and big businesses to try to track down and identify these individuals and also to keep themselves safe. They will be doubling up on their shifts and extending them as well. Okay. Thanks so much, we appreciate it bringing us the latest there from chicago. And turning now to our world lead, new video capturing the exact moment of last weeks explosion in beirut that killed at least 160 people and led to violent protests. You can see as the shock waves tear through the city from the blast the man who took this video, we should note, survived. Protesters were clashing with Security Forces for the third day in a row today, exchanging, you know, as you can see, explosives and tear gas. And the anger there now forcing the Prime Minister and his cabinet to step down. Protesters blaming what theyre calling the crippling corruption in the government for the blast along with the worst financial crisis the country has seen in decades, and rising coronavirus cases. Well, im pamela brown in for jake tapper today. Our coverage on cnn continues right now. This is cnn breaking news. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf blitzer is off today. Im jim acosta in the situation room. And were following breaking news. Were standing by to see if President Trump takes questions at a White House Briefing thats about to begin. It comes as the number of coronavirus cases worldwide is nearing 20 million. Onequarter of them in the u. S. Where the death toll now tops 163,000 people. Despite that, more schools across the u. S. Are reopening this week amid troubling new data, the American Academy of pediatrics says that almost 100,000 children tested p