yourself beyond your limits. it's about mental toughness and stamina. and from what i've seen, these female marines have all that. and more. from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to tour viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell. next here on "newsroom," pulling out. the trump administration announces plans to withdrawal all remaining troops from northern syria. the move that many fear could give isis a chance to regroup and could put syria, kurds in a great deal of danger. the impeachment inquiry. u.s. lawmakers back on capitol hill as new impeachment political proceedings take place. and a deal in ecuador. after weeks of deadly protests

there, the government is giving in to the demands of anti-austerity protesters. 2:01 on the u.s. east coast. around the world, good day to you. the u.s. defense secretary says president trump has ordered all remaining u.s. forces out of northern syria. a move with far-reaching impolitical indications for the ongoing what are in syria. the kurds already feeling abandoned by this white house are facing an all-out offensive by turkey ask now they're turning to the syrian government, an ally of iran and russia, to help. they are sendi -- the kurds say it is part of the deal with

damascus after u.s. pulled its troops outs of syria. none of this is stopping turkey. that country's proxy militias promise to push deeper and deeper into syria territory to set up what they call a safe zone. now there are concerns that isis could use that chaos to regroup. that's in part because the kurds were garden isis prisoners. they say nearly 800 people ties with isis fighters have escaped after guards at camps were attacked. despite these concerns, the trump administration is planning to withdrawal even more troops from sir gentlemyria. cnn's ryan brown has details now from washington. >> reporter: nearly all of the 1,000 u.s. troops currently in syria are to be withdrawn in the face of a turkish attack on america's kurdish allies. secretary of defense mark esper announced sunday that u.s. troops will be conducting a deliberate withdrawal, we're

told, taking time to remove critical equipment, intelligence, other assets that will need to be withdrawn or destroyed. now that u.s. troops are leaving the area. the u.s. plans to keep a very small contingent of forces in southern syria but are making it clear that u.s. troops are coming out of the country's north where turkish troops continue to attack america's former kurdish allies. now that the u.s. has made it clear that it will take no action to protect the kurds from turkey, the kurds have asked russia and the syrian regime for support. something kurdish leaders had long told the u.s. it would do in the event of a turkish attack and lack of u.s. support. secretary of defense esper saying sunday that this was one reason the u.s. decided to pull out to avoid getting caught in the middle. >> we have american forces, likely caught between two opposing advancing armies and it's a very untenable situation. i spoke with the president last night after discussions with the rest of the national security team. and he directed that we begin a

deliberate withdrawal of forces from northern syria. >> now, secretary of esper said the decision was made by president trump, but it remains to be seen what the u.s. will do to ensure that the fight against isis, which has currently been paralyzed, goes on and that some 10,000 isis prisoners aren't able to escape amid the chaos there. ryan brown, cnn, washington. >> thank you so much. chaotic, indeed. there are a lot of players here involved. so, follow me on this. the turks are using allied rebel groups in their offensive and pro-turkish forces have now cut off a main road to kobani. that's a largely kurdish city near where u.s. forces have been based. cnn senior international correspondent nick paton walsh is on the ground reporting from northeastern syria. >> reporter: extraordinary to witness this day just how fast things are changing here in northeastern syria. how quickly the positions of the americans and their syrian kurdish allies are collapsing,

deteriorating. how fast the ground is changing hands. we saw what we thought would be a simple drive to the city of kobani where the syrian kurds fought so hard against isis with american support. we saw on that highway the scope of turkish ambitions, how terrified civilians are of bumping into syrian rebels that turkey is backing and doing the fighting for them and just how quickly things can unfold here. the road to kobani tells you how savage this war already is and where it's going. here kurdish female activists was shot dead, allegedly by syrian rebels, turkey backing. a gruesome video of the killing viral online. just outside and a huge isis family camp there's panic. gunfire up ahead. trucks turn around fast. families in disarray. there were heavy clashes there, he says. nobody can go. what do you want from us, hey,

he says? they're coming. they'll take everything. may god end america. turkey and before them isis have been their enemies here but only america has betrayed them. and they are leaving. just down the road, this patrol pulling out of ain issa. they don't want to talk to us but clearly americans still active in areas around the syrian kurds. if they leave, turkey makes its bold ambition to go anywhere felt. jets flying low. sending a message to us, the kurds and the americans. leave now. but the arrival of two u.s. apache helicopters to circle the area and their patrol show the americans are not ready to do that just yet despite president trump's instincts to end the endless wars, as he says. syria's war, though, just keeps getting longer.

u.s. official has told me that actually the road now towards kobani where they have some of their troops based is being cut off by turkish-backed syrian rebels. they set up checkpoints just outside that town we were in. we had to leave. this is extraordinary. nobody thought this was originally part of turkey's invasion plan. as we drive away, it seems clear turkey plans to seize the road, in part. these are turkish armored personnel carriers and tanks bearing turkish flags. more arriving in the dust. soon syrian kurds won't be able to drive down here at all and the rest of the area cut off from the east. the city of kobani, again, left to face a siege. one of the major problems are these syrian rebels that turkey is getting to do the fighting for them. one u.s. official said they're mostly extremists, former al qaeda. turkey always said these were moderates who could transform an

area where sunni arabs could live. they are terrified, often running away from situations where they feel they're about to be under attack. we see the ground here constantly changing. people packing up to leave from homes where they've been for years. it's terrifying, really, to see a new chapter in syria's civil war unfold here and the possibility of yet further blood shed. u.s. troops are kind of caught in the middle of this, precariously caught between these different emerging factors. the possibility that syrian kurds, who used to be their allies are reaching out to the syrian regime backed by russia to bring their forces in to fight for them. the fact the turkish are so much more aggressive and pushing further into northern syria than they originally suggested they would. and those extremist rebel forces, according to american officials doing so much of the fighting on the ground here. it's moving quickly. deeply depressing for those who watched isis get pushed back, according to one u.s. official,

may as well be getting a second life here. we'll see how many days u.s. forces feel comfortable managing their withdrawal. nick paton walsh, cnn in northeastern syria. let's get the context with bob bayer, cnn's intelligence and security analyst. also a former cia operative. it's good to have you with us. >> thanks. >> so, bob, as the turkish military continues to push into syria, many of the kurdish fighters who once fought alongside u.s. troops to defeat isis, they now find themselves targeted by another u.s. ally, turkey. and with americans leaving now, the kurds are turning to the syrian army for a deal even considering russian forces to protect them. how does that strike you to hear the kurds say that america betrayed them, that america sold them out? >> well, george, it's absolutely right. i mean, let's not forget the kurds did most of the fighting against the islamic state and beat them. drove them into the ground.

and now as soon as we're done with them, we're abandoning them to the turks, to turkish air power. not only that, but we're abandoning them to turkish syrian allies which happen to be very close to the muslim brotherhood. they depis the kurds. right now they're committing ethnic cleansing in the kurdish areas. no wonder the kurds can scared, feel defeated and betrayed. i've never seen the u.s. turn on an ally like this ever so quickly and without cause. >> many of these kurdish forces were protecting prisoners that were held -- they were holding isis prisoners. but now they find themselves defending themselves against turkish forces, they say, guarding isis is no longer a priority. so, hundreds of those prisoners, hundreds of people with ties to those prisoners have escaped already. how great of a risk do you see this for isis to possibly

resurge? >> well, as of today, it's an enormous risk. we're getting reports out of syria that high-value islamic state prisoners are escaping. and you can count on it, thash going to come back to the battlefield and they're going to be attacking whether it's in iraq, syria, europe or even the united states. it's not a surprise that the kurds have abandoned these prisons. they are defending themselves. this is an existential threat, the turks are at this point. they had to take whatever arms and firepower they have and put it on the front. i mean, this was, again, all predictable. what i don't understand is why the president of the united states didn't factor any of this in. it's like he woke up one morning, talks to erdogan and says, i'm out of here, for absolutely no reason at all, no planning. and i know the ambassador that represents that area, jeffrey. the guy is brilliant. he did not support this, i guarantee you that. so, trump has gone without any

advice, without any plan for what's going to happen afterwards and what we're seeing in this part of the world and we're going to see it spread, i guarantee you that, is chaos and more war. >> this u.s. president who takes credited for the defeat of isis says he shoots from the hip, essentially. he works with his gut but a great deal of backlash from this gut move from donald trump. and as the fighting there, the chaos continues, bob, thousands of people are being displaced. people being pushed further from their homes, deeper and deeper into syria. help our viewers understand what that means to see the humanitarian crisis there get worse. >> well, i mean, syria was barely stabilized as it was, doing better than it was in 2011. to see this ethnic cleansing, and i'll say it again, going on, essentially tolerated by the

united states, it's a tragedy beyond belief. i fought with the kurds for many years. it's amazing what they can do in the battlefield. it's amazing what they -- the trust they put in us and at this point, just abandoning them, you know, who is going to protect them and who is going to fight the islamic state? because, i tell you, the free syrian army, this turkish group is not. it's just totally incomprehensible to me that the president made this decision. >> bob baer with perspective. thank you. to he can what core, the violent protests there that have rocked the country for two weeks appear to be over. the government reached an agreement with indigenous protest leaders to repeal a decree. that was passed to raise fuel prices and get financing. a financing deal with the international monetary fund.

cnn spoke about why the government is repealing it. >> the indi indigenous communit spoke about it during the 12 days of protests. that was certainly high up on the priorities for the government to solve and they probably thought there was no other way to stop the violence and the country moving other than repealing this decree. now, they acknowledge something has to be done to improve the economy. they say they're going to meet with the government and find a way to, perhaps, target these subsidies to only people who really need the low prices get it, find a mechanism to get it done so upper income people pay full price, lower income people get a discount. one of the problems they're

bringing up is on the border with colombia, there are people who take the cheaper he can what donor fu -- ecuadorian pul and take it across the border and that's a lot of revenue. >> the demonstrations in ecuador lasted 11 days. 1,000 were injured. still ahead on "newsroom," the impeachment inquiry. what a key witness is expected to tell congress about the president's controversial phone call with his ukrainian counterpart. stay with us. it's tough to quit smoking cold turkey.

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the son of vice president joe biden, hunter biden, says he will step down from his board role at a chinese private equity firm. his private business dealings have drawn attacks and criticism from u.s. president donald trump. biden also pledged not to work on foreign-owned firms if his father wins the white house. at a campaign stop in the state of iowa, joe biden slammed the

president for repeatedly targeting his son and saying he did nothing wrong. meantime, u.s. lawmakers return to capitol hill for critical testimony in the impeachment inquiry. jeremy diamond has the latest from washington. >> reporter: a busy week coming up on capitol hill this week as democrats move forward with their impeachment inquiry into the president's dealings with ukraine. several current and former members of the president's administration dealing with ukraine matters will be coming before the house to testify beginning on monday with the president's former top adviser on russia and european affairs, fiona hill. later in the week you'll have several members of the president's state department as well as the u.s. ambassador to the european union, gordon sondland. he will be testifying on thursday. that comes after the white house last week blocked him from testifying on capitol hill, but after receiving a subpoena from house democrats, sondland is expected to testify. of course, he was central to this whole matter involving

several diplomats in ukraine and the text messages that have since been released publicly. sondland was downplaying those concerns of a quid pro quo that were coming from the top diplomat in ukraine. but, according to "the washington post," sondland is now expected to say that he learned there was no quid pro quo directly from the president, but that he doesn't necessarily know if that is true. one official that we are not expecting to see testify on capitol hill any time soon is the whistle-blower, who sparked this whole impeachment inquiry when this intelligence official lodged a formal complaint with the director of national intelligence's inspector general. congressman adam schiff, the top democrat on the house intelligence committee, says he has concerns for that whistle-blower's safety after the president's attacks on him. >> yes, we were interested in having the whistle-blower come forward. our primary -- >> not anymore? >> our primary interest is making sure that person is protected. indeed, now there's more than

one whistle-blower, that they are protected. given we already have the call record, we don't need the whistle-blower who wasn't on the call to tell us what took place during the call. we have the best evidence of that. we do want to make sure we identify other evidence that is pertinent to the wholie in with the military source, covering this up in a classified computer system. we want to make sure we uncover the full details of the conditionality of the military aid or meeting with ukraine president. >> reporter: house democrats were busy preparing for this week's testimony and document deadlines on capitol hill. the president spent much of his weekend attacking democrats, house impeachment inquiry is constitutional bs. he also spent much of his time defending his personal attorney rudy giuliani on twitter as well as appearing on a fox news program on saturday. that all came after the president learned through "the new york times" that rudy giuliani is now under federal investigation over whether he potentially violated federal

lobbying laws. jeremy diamond, cnn, the white house. >> thank you. and to get perspective now on this, let's bring in mike purdy. a presidential historian and also the author of the new book titled "101 presidential insults: what they really thought about each other and what it means to us." mike joining this hour from seattle, washington. good to have you with us. >> thanks for having me. >> so, mike, another week of testify set to get under way. and we're seeing officials defy their boss's orders and agree to go on the record. the white house, for its part, refusing to cooperate with this investigation that the president has called, his words, bs. he actually says that out. do you see that strategy holding up as more and more people come forward? >> well, i think more and more people will come forward as they recognize their own legal risk and exposure to this. and i think if they harken back

and look at what happened in watergate, a lot of people ended up going to jail and so i think some people are cognizant of that. it does seem like it's going to be another blockbuster week with the testimony coming forward. >> one person we know that won't be coming forward is the whistle-blower. adam schiff saying concerns over protecting his or her identity comes first, so to ensure that person's safety, he adds they already have enough evidence given the call record and text messages and officials coming towar forward to deaf. will democrats be at a loss not hearing from that whistle-blower or do you believe what schiff says, does he have a point? >> it seems like what the whistle-blower has come forward with, and we know there's multiple ones now, has been confirmed by even the transcript

that the white house released of the july 25th telephone conversation and by the actual other documents and other testimony. so, i don't know that having the whistle-blower actually testify is critical. i think that information is coming out from other sources, from other testimony and from documents. i think this is one of those things that we're going to see just continue to unfold. it's going quickly, this impeachment inquiry. and as more and more information comes out, that's going to, you know, shape how this unfolds totally. and in some ways i think we have a situation of the impeachment inquiry despite what the white house is saying that it's a witch hunt and unconstitutional. that we see this trying to come out with what are the facts and that's kind of in opposition to

a publicity campaign to say that it is a witch hunt. i think it will be interesting as testimony from officials who have firsthand knowledge of what went on, as that starts to come out. >> mike purdy, we appreciate your time. thank you so much. >> thank you. constitutionstill ahead on much more on the turkish offensive taking place in northern syria with the u.s. pulling out troops in the region and america's kurdish allies saying that america betrayed them. we'll get reaction from all sides of this from turkey in a live report from istanbul. stand by. this is the family who wanted to connect... and find inspiration in new places. leading them to discover: we're woven together by the moments we share. everything you need, all in one place. expedia.

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welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. you're watching "cnn newsroom" live from atlanta. i'm george howell. with the headlines we're following this hour. first, in northern syria. kurdish officials say the syrian government will deploy troops along the turkish border to help repel the offensive by turkey. some troops are already moving north, according to syrian state media. syria's government has not said whether this is part of any sort of a deal with the kurds. turkey launched its offensive after the u.s. pulled troops out of syria last week. the defense secretary says president trump is ordering the remaining forces out of syria. turk esh forces have cut off a key road leading to kobani. kobani, a largely kurdish city where u.s. troops have been based. let's get the latest from the

region. cnn is on this story live in istanbul, turkey. look, we've already seen the kurds under a great deal of pressure from this offensive and even u.s. forces feeling some of the burn, some of the heat, as they withdraw from that region. >> reporter: absolutely. i mean, george, if you look at the developments over the past 24 hours, really rapid and serious developments in that part of syria. of course, the most significant we're hearing overnight not just that announcement that the president, president trump is ordering the withdrawal of u.s. forces or remains of u.s. forces in northeastern -- in northern syria, but you've got this announcement that shouldn't come as a surprise. we've heard the kurds hinting at this for some time now. they say that they have reached an agreement with the syrian regime for the syrian military to deploy along the border with turkey. they say that they have

requested the regime's assistance to help them with repel what they say is the turkish aggression. they say it is the syrian government's duty to protect the country's borders and to maintain its sovereignty. we don't know the details of this agreement, george. there's a lot of questions about this and what it actually entails. this came in a statement that was posted by the kurdish authorities that run that part of the country on their facebook page last night. we've not had confirmation from damascus yet that this is happening. we've not had any official reaction from turkey to this announcement, so we'll have to wait and see what happens. as you mentioned, syrian state media is saying the syrian military was moving towards the northern part of the country. so, quite a critical time right now. we'll have to wait and see what comes in the next few hours and

days as this situation develops. if you look at these developments, george, you're looking at basically the united states here just pulling out and handing over this region and whatever leverage and control it had at one point, basically, to the syrian regime. of course, to their main backer, the russians. >> important to remind our viewers, the context here so important that the kurds, many of them fought alongside u.s. troops in the fight against isis, the defeat of isis. now we understand that many of those isis prisoners, many of the people who had ties to those isis prisoners, hundreds of them, in fact, are on the run. >> reporter: it's quite a chaotic situation, as you can imagine, in that part of the country. now, the syrian democratic forces, that mainly kurdish force backed by the united states, as you mentioned, they

were the key and main partner in the fight against isis and the territorial defeat of the group in syria. now, they say -- they have been warning for days that while they face this operation, this -- what they call turkish aggression and invasion, they're not going to be able to focus on the fight against isis, concerns about the resurgence, sleeper cells that could take advantage of the vacuum and the chaotic situation. and on the other hand, they're also concerned about the situation when it comes to isis detainees. they have about 12,000 isis detainees. about 10,000 iraqis, about 2,000 from 50 different countries who are in their detention facilities and then you've got three camps, many of the family members or people who lived under the control of isis are housed in these three different camps. we saw these reports yesterday. the syrian democratic forces

saying because of the turkish operation and the chaotic situation, they say that a number of these isis families, they say in the hundreds, more than 700, believe the number was, imagined to escape from the ain issa displaced people's camp in northern syria. we've heard from the united nations since, george. they're saying that the population of that camp is about 13,000 people. they say the majority still remain there, but the kurds are warning that they say hundreds affiliated with isis have managed to escape from that camp. >> wow. thank you. now, to the united kingdom where all eyes will be on the palace at westminster in the coming hours. this as the uk government sets out its agenda in the queen's speech, which opens parliament. the pomp will be in -- all in place there, but it's the politics that are different this year.

that nation's prime minister, boris johnson, doesn't have a majority, so there's no guarantee that the british prime minister can get his agenda through the house of commons and his hopes of sealing a brexit deal in time for this week's critical eu summit. it all could be in jeopardy. let's go live to london. cnn's anna stewart live outside number 10. the queen's speech is the traditional reopening of parliament. what all is expected, given brexit and boris johnson, how might this be different? >> reporter: you don't get more pomp and pageantry than opening of parliament. it hasn't happened for two years due to the ongoing brexit negotiations. the majesty will leave buckingham palace with a royal procession to parliament. she'll be in a carriage with six horses, 1,300 members in uniform, and it will be all very exciting. kicks off about 11:00 a.m.

london. on arrival, the queen gets into her robe, and goes to the house of lords where she addresses mps from the commons and the house of lord members as well. she delivers the queen's speech. in is actually a speech that is written by the government of the day and it lays out all the proposals and policies they would like to implement. what is so unusual about this one, the fact it's happened -- is happening after two years, not one, the fact that this government of the day, as you say, does not have majority, so passing in any of those policies would be incredibly difficult through the houses of parliament. also, george, boris johnson, he wants to have a general election. why announce these policies now? it's seen as slightly controversial state opening of parliament. meanwhile, under way in brussels, the brexit talks continue between the eu and uk with time running out. the big eu summit, the last before the brexit deadline is this thursday/friday. >> for boris johnson, there was some optimism growing because of

his conversations with -- in ireland with his counterpart there, but with the eu's chiefle negotiator saying the proposal to leave the eu is still not acceptable. where does that leave things now? >> reporter: well, we had a small glimmer of hope, i would say, at the end of last week because both sides were saying talks were constructive. that was more positive than we've had of late. however, there is a long way to go before the prime minister, i think, can actually reach a deal, a final text that can be presented to the eu leaders at that summit. if one can be reached, if it can pass through the 27 other eu member states, it then has to come back here to westminster to be passed by mps. as we said, the prime minister does not have majority. will it pass? very unclear. so many ifs and buts here. saturday there will be a session of parliament. very unusual to have one on a saturday. if he can get a deal with the eu, if he can get it passed through parliament, perhaps we

proceed from there. if if he doesn't, however, the current law calls for the prime minister to ask for an extension. something he said he does not want to do. this will be an incredibly tense, busy week. let's hope the queen is having a hearty breakfast next door. >> hopefully that's the case. anna stewart live for us. here in the united states, a deadly police shooting. another one to tell you about. this time the victim, a woman who was in her own home playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew. up next, how the community is responding. ♪

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in the city of new orleans, take a look at what happened to this hotel. right now, the search continues for a missing worker at that collapsed building, the future hard rock hotel. it gave way, leaving two people dead. the search for the missing third

worker was on hold until the dangerously shaky construction site was stabilized. that allowed rescue crews to remove one body. they're trying to get a second body out now. the identities of those who have been killed has not yet been released. investigators are trying to figure out what caused that collapse. in ft. worth, texas, a racially charged shooting. police are investigating the seventh fatal shooting by one of their officers this year. 28-year-old atatiana jefferson was killed in her own home saturday morning. we've learned the woman's 8-year-old nephew was in the room when she was shot. and police say the officer did not identify himself before he fired his gun. our polo sandoval has the story. >> reporter: we went from a welfare check to a woman being killed by the cops. >> reporter: outrage is building over the actions of a ft. worth, texas, police officer. saturday morning just before 2:30 a.m., police were called to

the home of 28-year-old atatiana jefferson after neighbors noticed her front door was open. heavily edited body camera video released by ft. worth police picks up what happens next. they peer through the front door, walk the perimeter of the property when they say an officer spotted someone standing by a window. the medical examiner identified the woman the officer shot as jefferson. she died at the scene. james smith says he's the concerned caller who first alerted police. >> i feel guilty because had i not called the ft. worth police department, my neighbor would still be alive today. >> reporter: in a statement ft. worth police said their officer drew his weapon and fired the single shot after, quote, perceiving a threat. in addition to the body camera footage, investigators release this still footage showing a firearm inside the house. cnn legal analyst and criminal defense attorney joey jackson cautions not to jump to any conclusions. >> you're going to release the

fact that she has a gun in the home as, perhaps, what? to suggest she had a gun and that we were, perhaps, fearful for our life? there's no indication where that gun was. there's no indication she had that gun. there's no indication they should not have had the gun. >> reporter: cnn has requested the unedited body camera footage. a police spokesperson said nothing else will be released at this time and the department, quote, shares the deep concerns of the public and is committed to completing an extremely thorough investigation. police have not named the officer who joined the department in april of last year. polo sandoval, cnn. >> thank you so much. to china and a warning from that nation's president, xi jinping, a warning where he says, quote, to split china in any part of the country, he says, those efforts will end in, quote, crushed bodies and shattered bones, end quote. chinese state media quoted mr. xi during a state visit to that pal. it comes as china faces a

prolonged trade war with the united states and 19 straight weekends of pro-democracy protests playing out in hong kong. more protests are planned for monday. that's after police and protesters faced off over the weekend. some groups of demonstrators vandalized metro stations and blocked roads. police used dear gtear gas to c the crowds and arrested several people. pro-democracy activists climbed the city's lion rock peace to put up a statue called lady liberty. it represents an injured protester believed to have been shot in the eye by a police projectile. protesters say they hope that it will inspire hong kong to keep up the fight. hong kong stores, sdpraunts other businesses have suffered a great deal in the past four months from the protests and clashes. now some protesters are accusing some businesses of being blue, or pro-government, and those businesses are being deliberately targeted.

our kristie lu stout explains. >> reporter: a city plunged in protests is struggling to stay in business. time and time again, some of hong kong's busiest shopping districts have descended into chaos. the violent clashes forcing stores and restaurants to close repeatedly during four months of protests, including this famous snake soup restaurant in causeway bay. regulars usually line up at the door for a taste of their michelin-recommended dishes but these days it's far too easy to get a table. >> translator: the number of tourists dropped due to the protests and local people also come here less often. >> reporter: since the protests kicked off in june, he says business has fallen 40%. many businesses have been forced to close early because of their proximity to flash points like the legislative counsel. others have been directly targeted for their perceived allegiance to the government.

restaurants owned by indicate caters, including starbucks, have been targeted by demonstrators after the founder's daughter publicly condemned protesters as violent. on twitter pro-democracy activist joshua wong has called for a boycott of starbucks. protesters have stray painted this starbucks cafe calling on other people to aboycott it. branches of the bank of china and china construction bank smashed and tagged with graffiti. demonstrators are sharing this interactive map to identify which businesses are blue, or pro-government, as opposed to yellow, or sympathetic to the movement. lists of yellow and blue shops are also making the rounds. they are circulated online and in the real world by activists, like emily. that's not her real name and she beneficia wishes to remain anoun mouse.

>> translator: boycotting these restaurants is a way people can express their thoughts. >> reporter: when violent protests paralyzed the city, most hong kongers take heed of the police alerts sent to their mobile phones and avoid going out entirely. that means no dining, no shopping, no local consumption. the hong kong government announced august retail sales plunged 23% from a year earlier. that's the worst year-on-year decline for a single month on record. the government cited subdued economic conditions and severe disruptions to tourism and consumption-related activities. lo does not want to talk about politics but since the start of the protests, he's had to lay off 10% of his staff. >> translator: the business will be fine again, but i'm not confident that it can go back to the peak time. >> reporter: as hard line protesters and police battle in the streets, local businesses are caught in a political cross fi cross-fire and they are struggling to stay afloat.

cnn, hong kong. this weekend female athletes dominated the sports world, breaking records and taking names. including u.s. gymnast simone biles, who secured her place in history. i have moderate to severe pnow, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are getting clearer, yeah i feel free ♪ ♪ to bare my skin ♪ yeah that's all me. ♪ nothing and me go hand in hand ♪ ♪ nothing on my skin ♪ that's my new plan. ♪ nothing is everything. keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained it through 1 year. and skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. ♪ i see nothing in a different way ♪ ♪ and it's my moment so i just gotta say ♪ ♪ nothing is everything skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection

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welcome back. a major typhoon in japan has killed at least 31 people. it's left a trail of destruction behind. let's bring in our meteorologist ivan cabrera tracking everything from the cnn weather center. ivan, this was a strong storm. >> powerful storm, george, no question about it. one of the strongest they've had and one of the most deadly in quite some time for folks across japan. in would have been equivalent of category 3 landfall. bridges have been washed away as a result of the rain. some areas picking up 35 to 40 inches of rainfall. look at this home a few feet right off the coast there. and the land is just giving way. you can see the cables in the middle there. a mess across japan. that's been the case for the last several days.

look at the rivers. upwards of 14 rivers are at flood stage. the tributaries are impacted as well. you see this line here, that indicating an incredible amount of water coming out of the region here. i'll show you this picture here. we just got this from nasa, by the way. a before and after. dramatic stuff with the rivers swelling up, as you can imagine, with the amount of water. in is the before picture. notice, you really can't pick out the rivers from up above in space. once you get into october 8th and beyond, take a look at this. just quite a dramatic change here. you can see the river draining at tokyo bay. you see these features depicting the runoff going into the bays as a result of the rivers just flushing all that water. the sagame along with the fuji river. a mess across tokyo. there's nothing left of it here for hagibis.

that has been impacting the region with a few showers but that's about it. i don't think we'll have any issues with the recovery that will be well under way over the next several days across japan. they sent upwards of 100,000 troops out there to get people help. they certainly need it at this hour in japan. >> our christina mcfarland was there. she went through that storm. she described it as a fast moving, hit fast, moved out fast. the damage left over is extensive. ivan, thank you so much. >> you bet. a u.s. athlete has just become the most decorated gymnast in the world championship history. simone biles smashed a record this week after earning five gold medals during a competition in germany. she's now got 25 championship medals, the most ever. the 22-year-old is already a four-time olympic champion. but she says next year's olympics in tokyo will be her last. awesome to see her there. thank you so much for being with us this hour for the "cnn

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