Twin trouble. Overnight Tropical Storm hanna taking aim at texas as hurricane douglas barrels toward hawaii. Both areas now bracing for another potential crisis amid this pandemic. Ginger tracking the very latest. Panic and chaos on a passenger plane. The pilot saying the flight descended 14,000 feet in just four minutes after this frightening possible collision. Showdown in the halls of congress. I am here because i have to show my parents that i am their daughter and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men. Alexandria ocasiocortezs powerful speech saying florida congressman ted yoho verbally assaulted her. And game on. Baseball is finally back. The pros facing off on the field and united in the black lives matter movement. The world series reigning champs rained out and the unforgettable wild first pitch that was just a bit outside. Dr. Anthony fauci. Good morning, america. Were laughing at dr. Faucis first pitch. Were not laughing at him. I was. I was going to say, in his defense, i was thinking about this. In his defense, all he does is he talks about social distancing, so i guess he decided to throw it 6 feet from the plate. Infectious disease expert stuff. He has plenty of stuff to be working on right now. We do have a lot to get to this morning. Were going to start with the coronavirus crisis. The cdc is now predicting there will be 175,000 deaths in the u. S. By august 15th. There are now more than 4 million confirmed cases of covid19 here in the u. S. That number has doubled over the last six weeks and worldwide cases have climbed above 15 million. The World Health Organizations top covid19 expert, she is standing by to talk about all of this and more, but we begin with the surprise reversal from President Trump as the virus surges there in florida. He is now canceling the Republican Convention in jacksonville. Our mary bruce has more on this from washington. Mary, good morning. You know the president had been set on seeing those Big Convention crowds. Reporter cecilia, the president was adamant, really holding onto this idea of giving his acceptance speech before a massive inperson crowd. Even as others recognize that simply wasnt realistic but now in a major reversal, the president says hes calling off the convention to set an example. Its an abrupt aboutface after demanding a packed arena, the president now canceling the 2020 Republican Convention in jacksonville, florida. I looked at my team and i said, the timing for this event is not right. Its just not right with whats happened recently, the flareup in florida. Reporter as the state marks its highest singleday death toll, the president s plans succumbing to the threat of the virus. Trump saying he was swayed by concerns over safety. We have to be vigilant. We have to be careful and we also have to set an example. I think setting the example is very important. Its hard for us to say were going to have a lot of people packed in a room and then other people shouldnt do it. Reporter its a retreat for the president who promised a big inperson celebration. Just weeks ago moving the event from North Carolina to florida. Hoping to take advantage of more relaxed restrictions. Somebody was asking today, will you cancel the convention . I said, no way im going to cancel the convention. Were not going to cancel. Its going to be incredible. Reporter but now he says the convention will be largely virtual. Still unclear when and where trump will give his acceptance speech. The president is also reversing course on schools, acknowledging for the first time that some schools may have to delay opening. In cities or states that are current hot spots and youll see that in the map behind me, districts may need to delay reopening for a few weeks and thats possible. That will be up to governors. Reporter hes been insisting schools reopen and is still pushing to get kids back in the classroom saying without Firm Evidence the children dont transmit the virus as easily as adults. The children obviously have a very strong immune system, maybe even as strong as yours. They seem to be able to fight it off and not have a problem. We cannot indefinitely stop 50 million American Children from going to school harming their mental, physical and emotional development. Reporter now this all comes as republicans in congress are struggling to agree on a plan for the next Coronavirus Relief bill. The big Sticking Point here is the 600 weekly payments that have been going to help unemployed americans make ends meet. Some republicans feel that amount is simply too high and they say it discourages americans from getting back to work, but while republicans debate, these payments are set to expire this weekend impacting as many as 30 million americans, michael. A lot of people keeping their eye on that. Thank you so much. Were going to get more now on the country struggling with the pandemic as many states hit Record Number for new cases, hospital admissions and deaths, the cdc is revising its projected death toll saying 30,000 americans may die of the virus in the next three weeks. Kaylee hartung has more in houston. Good morning, kaylee. Reporter more grim news this morning, michael. The National Death toll is rising and its now more than 18 higher than it was just last week. And here in texas all the key metrics are bad. In Hidalgo County there is a twoweeklong wait list for crematoriums. This morning, the u. S. Topping 4 million cases. 1 million new infections in less than two weeks. Now with 144,000 americans already fatally succumbing to the virus, the cdc with a dire prediction estimating between 15,000 to 30,000 more americans could die over the next three weeks. On thursday, both california and florida setting new records for their states for the most covid deaths in a single day. As pictures of crowds like these become more and more common, hundreds gathering for a Worship Service in redding, california, wednesday. Many without masks and no social distancing. At least 50 hospitals in florida have no icu beds available. We got to make sure you cover your whole face. Reporter on thursday, officers in miami beach began enforcing the new mask mandate issuing 50 tickets to violators. And new york state, once the epicenter of the outbreak in the u. S. , now seeing the Positivity Rate among young people climbing to more than 13 . The governor saying 30 people tested positive from one fourth of july party. This is not the time to fight for your right to party. The virus can kill you. And if it doesnt kill you, you can bring it home and give it to someone inadvertently and it can kill them. Reporter as hospitalizations continue to rise, now back up to levels we saw in april, an urgent need for convalescent plasma donations taken from recovered Covid Patients to help those currently fighting it. They say about 68 people have been affected by our donation. In a positive way. Reporter brian and dina murphy answered the call in san antonio. Brian donating seven times and dina, 12. Both saying theyll keep donating as long as theyre allowed. You barely feel the needle even going in, its so small, and the thing is, you know, its just rewarding to know that you have helped other people, and we all need to do that, especially in these times. Reporter convalescent plasma among the many treatments that saved dr. Grant lashleys life. After 39 days on a ventilator, the e. R. Doctor spent the past six weeks at this houston rehabilitation facility. Nice step. That was a better one. Reporter he is relearning the most basic skills one step at a time. Physically things are just different for him now and they wont always be that way but its going to be a long road to recovery. Reporter the next step for this family is reuniting and going home together just hours from now. Im happy to see you, dad. We love you. Youre the best daddy in the world. Reporter and today, dr. Lashley will be able to wrap his arms around his wife and those three kids for the first time in about 90 days. That family has traveled from their home in louisiana here to houston in the world renown memorial facility to bring him back 37 george. We are happy for them. Okay, kaylee, thanks very much. Were joined by the World Health Organizations lead expert on covid19, dr. Maria van kerkhove. Doctor, thank you so much for joins us this morning. You lead the w. H. O. s emerging diseases unit. You have been on the front lines of this fight since the very beginning. After seven months, more than 15 million cases worldwide where do things stand . Are we controlling the virus or is the virus controlling us . So good morning, george. Thanks for having me on the show. Thats an excellent question. Right now the virus is controlling us in many parts of the world. Were seeing quite some worrying trends in many parts of the world where many countries are seeing, you know, really increased transmission, intense transmission, much of the americas right now are really in the thick of it. But we do see signs of hope. In some countries they have been able to control the virus. This virus is controllable with the steps that are outlined with this whole comprehensive approach that weve been talking about since the beginning of this pandemic and weve seen many countries have success so i think there is an element of hope that Everybody Needs to understand. Even countries that are really overwhelmed right now can turn this around. They can and they will turn this around. Let me press you on that. Because almost half the worths countries are coming from just three countryies united states, india and brazil. We have seen the curve flatten in parts of europe and asia although there is some resurgence. In some of those countries now. How do you explain the difference . Well, theres there are quite some differences in countries in the way that they have responded to this pandemic. What we do know what works consistently in highincome countries, lowincome countries, north, south, urban, rural populations is a comprehensive approach. Its this quick isolation, identification care of patients of cases. Even cases that have mild disease who are asymptomatic, putting them in isolation prevents them from passing it to someone else. Contact tracing. Finding contacts of confirmed cases, putting them in quarantine whether this is an in a special quarantine facility or quarantining at home, empowering your population, letting them know where is this virus, what can you do . What can i do to prevent myself from infection . Making sure that this is an all of government approach. This is just an ahealth sector approach. This is an all of government approach meaning that every sector needs to be involved. But i think most importantly as ive already mentioned is really empowering communities, empowering individuals so they know what they can do to prevent themselves from getting infected and this is the package of interventions, its physical distancing. Its cleaning your hands, its wearing a mask where appropriate. Its being vigilant, being alert, being aware and really being kind. Here in the united states, theres so much concern about back to School Coming up in just the next few weeks. The cdc released Additional Guidance saying the best evidence shows that covid19 poses relatively low risk to schoolaged children and that covid19 transmission among children in schools may be low. How do you assess the risk of sending kids back to the classroom right now . Well, theres a lot that were learning about children with this virus. The good news for children is that overwhelmingly among children that are reported to have been infected most of them have mild disease so that is very lucky. That is very good news. However, there are some children that develop severe disease and unfortunately there are some children who have died. Were learning now about transmission among children. I think theres quite some open questions about how this virus transmits among children and between children and from children of different ages. What were learning from some of the studies is that there is a difference between the youngest children, so, for example, those under 10 years old or 12 years old and those over 12 above 10, above 12 years old. And there may be differences in their infection rates and there may be differences in their ability to travel. But one thing to remember when we think about schools is that schools are part of communities, and so if theres transmission thats happening in communities, theres transmission that can happen in schools. We cant think of them only as an isolated facility and so when we think about reopening schools, because schools are incredibly important and i know everyone across the world knows the importance not only for education, but for mental health, for social, for food. For safety. Theres a number of considerations that the Decision Makers need to take into account, but importantly, what does transmission look like in the area where those schools are . That is absolutely critical because schools are part of that community, and its not only the children themselves. Its the people that work at those facilities as well, and these of course, are adults. Dr. Van kerkhove, thanks very much for your time this morning. Thank you. Cecilia. We turn to a pair of dangerous storms set to hit the u. S. , a second potential crisis for those areas as they deal with the coronavirus. Hurricane douglas is bearing down on hawaii, and hanna is expected to be a Tropical Storm when it barrels into texas this weekend. Ginger, of course, is tracking the latest on this. Good morning, ginger. Tropical storm hanna already looking more and more tight meaning it is only going to intensify as it approaches texas. Thats why weve got images here from galveston to show what is usually kind of the bay and the gulf of mexico that is peaceful. Well, its already choppy, and so you know its going to get bad. By tonight youll see impacts. The center will move toward Corpus Christi and we have Tropical Storm warnings from raymondville to lake jackson. Galveston is on a watch, and coastal flood advisories to new orleans and the mississippi. Mouth of the mississippi. But the timing is really tomorrow when the core of it hits. You recall to see four to eight inches of rain overall that can cause flash flooding up to a foot and starts to die out over the weekend. As it dies out, theres more storms and douglas looking like a beast, michael. High swells by tomorrow in hawaii, and we will see some impacts over the weekend. Well keep watching this. All right, ginger, keep us informed. Thank you. Now to the close call in the sky. Panic and chaos on an iranian passenger plane after the pilot says the flight descended 14,000 feet in just 4 minutes after a possible collision with an american fighter jet. Ian pannell joins us now with the latest. Good morning, ian. Reporter yeah, michael. This morning, iran accusing the u. S. Of attacking one of its commercial passenger planes in the skies over syria. This happened when an american f15 fighter jet came close to the aircraft. While not verified by abc news, according to iran staterun media this shows the moments after the flight descended 14,000 feet in just four minutes. The iranians claiming the pilot was forced to maneuver to avoid a collision. The u. S. Confirming an american f15 did fly close to the iranian jetliner, but to carry out a visual idea of the aircraft which was heading over an American Military base at the time. This video also shown by iranian tv claims to show the jet in the distance. Now, a military spokesperson telling abc news that their aircraft was more than half a mile away and one pilot identified the aircraft as civilian, and it simply opened distance. The plane safely landing in lebanon. But this incident speaks to how tense relations are between iran and america. George. Boy, it certainly does. Thank you very much. We turn to baseballs opening day. After a delay there were no fans in the stands but players did take the field after a first pitch that will be hard to unsee. T. J. Holmes has it all. Oh, george, be nice. That pitch wasnt that bad. Lets start with the first game of the night. A nice moment beforehand. All players and coaches at this game, the nationals and yankees take a knee and clutching the same black cloth as a show of solidarity and support for the black lives matter movement. When the game did get under way didnt have to wait for the first home run. Giancarlo stanton went yard in the first inning and no coaches out there or rather fans who were used to clamoring for the balls, the thing just bounced around because no fans were in the stands. The yankees ended up winning this thing 41, and the first game of the delayed season was delayed by weather. Can you believe that . They had to shorten this thing. Only six innings. The other game of the night which was the dodgers and giants, they had, look at that, fans in the stands. Those are just cardboard cutouts actually. They had cardboard cutouts in the stands. These arent random folks. A lot of teams are doing this. George, theyll let you buy one of them and you can send in your picture, and theyll make you a cutout. They found a way to make money, and they win it 81, the dodgers. I have nothing but sympathy for dr. Fauci. Have sympathy for the man. He tries to paint the corner and just misses. This man knows how to flatten the curve, does he not . He hasnt been working on his pitching arm. Hes been trying to save the world from itself for the past four months, though. Give the guy a break. We hope he keeps concentrating on that. T. J. , thanks very much. We are following a lot of other headlines including congresswoman alexandria ocasiocortezs powerful speech where she slammed a congressman for using what she called abusive language. And a bombshell ruling in the Ghislaine Maxwell case with documents being ordered to be unsealed. First lets head back to ginger. We have to get to that weekend forecast sponsored by caesars rewards. Were just getting started. 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