the u.s. in a new phase of the coronavirus fight. that is according to a key member of the white house task force who says the virus is extraordinarily widespread in both urban and rural areas. millions of americans are also at risk from a tropical storm as it moves up the east coast. it could regain hurricane strength with high winds and flooding the biggest dangers. and a spike in coronavirus

cases sends one of australia's biggest cities into a strict lockdown. what the government is trying to do to stop the spread before the outbreak grows. hello and welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. i'm rosemary church, and this is "cnn newsroom." good to have you with us. and we begin this hour with a stark warning to americans from a top member of the white house coronavirus task force. dr. deborah birx says the country's entering an ominous new phase of the outbreak.

>> i want to be very clear. what we're seeing today is different from march and april. it is extraordinarily widespread. it's into the rural as equal urban areas. and to everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune or presented from this virus. and that's why we keep saying no matter where you live in america, you need to wear a mask and socially distance. >> well, covid-19 has killed about 1,000 americans every day for most of the last week. and a new projection from the cdc suggests another 18,000 people or more could die in just the next three weeks. the test positivity rate, which shows how fast the virus is spreading, is also up. it's been rising 2/3 of the country over the last week. new infection numbers have plateaued in about half the u.s., but experts say they're still too high. florida and california in red here remain the most dangerous hot spots. the numbers could get even worse in florida as testing sites that were closed due to tropical storm isaias reopen.

on sunday the coronavirus task force member in charge of testing set the record straight on the drug hydroxychloroquine. >> from a public health standpoint, at first, hydroxychloroquine looked very promising. there were not the definitive studies. at this point in time, there's been five randomized control, placebo control trials that do not show any benefit to hydroxychloroquine. so at this point in time, we don't recommend that as a treatment. there's no evidence to show that it is. >> that statement, of course, at odds with some made by u.s. president donald trump. and he made his 284th visit to one of his own clubs sunday for a few rounds of golf without wearing a mask. mr. trump has a habit of contradicting his own top health experts. jeremy diamond has more on that. >> reporter: well, in recent days, we have watched as

president trump has continued to downplay the severity of the coronavirus, falsely claiming time and again that the rising cases that we are seeing in the u.s. is due to an increase in testing, and the president also continuing to hock hydroxychloroquine, that drug that has been proved in multiple studies to be an ineffective treatment for coronavirus, but the message that we are hearing from the public health experts within this very same administration is very, very different, including the message we heard on sunday from dr. deborah birx, the white house's coronavirus task force coordinator. she made clear this epidemic in the united states currently is extremely widespread, making clear that it's not just happening in the urban areas where we saw the early days of this pandemic, but also in rural communities. and she gave a message specifically to those rural communities encouraging them to practice those mitigation efforts. listen to her warning about the seriousness of the situation in the united states. >> we are in a new phase, and that's why i really wanted to make it clear to the american people, it's why we started putting out governor reports directly to the health officials

and to the governors in every single state because we could see that each thing had to be tailored. this epidemic right now is different, and it's more widespread and it's both rural and urban. >> reporter: now, dr. birx did say that she is seeing something that is, quote, a bit reassuring, and that is the notion that it appears cases in the west and the south may be beginning to plateau or even decline, saying it seems those mitigation efforts that have been put in place in some of those states are working, but she is also making clear that the states that are beginning to see even slight increases in their test positivity rate, for example, need to immediately begin to slow down their reopening plans and implement those mitigation efforts. jeremy diamond, cnn, the white house. joining me now is dr. ali khan. dr. khan is the dean of the university of nebraska medical center's college of public health. thank you so much for being with us, doctor. >> thank you for the opportunity. >> so white house coronavirus

task force coordinator dr. deborah birx warned americans over the weekend that the coronavirus is now more widespread than ever in both rural and urban areas. not only did she insist that everyone wear a mask in public, but she also said that anyone living in a multigenerational home should consider wearing a mask inside the house if they're in a high-risk group. so dr. birx blamed the increase in cases on people refusing to wear masks and social distance, but is it enough to blame people without following that up with a national mask mandate? wouldn't that make sense? >> oh, absolutely. so there's actually probably three questions in that statement of yours. so because of the biggest public health failure in the united states ever, we have gone from approximately 100 cases per million per day to 200 cases per million per day. so there is no doubt the disease is more widespread because of our failed response than it had been previously. and there's also no doubt that

if everybody wore masks we could -- we would get those cases down. however, that's only part of the picture. and we should be very careful about shifting blame for the failed public health response to individuals. so, yes, individuals need to wear masks, but the government needs to do its job about -- in leadership and use of data and in dropping community transmission with test and trace and isolation. >> and dr. birx also defended herself against accusations from democratic house speaker nancy pelosi that the trump administration is spreading disinformation on covid-19. now, there is no evidence that dr. birx is doing that, but she did say there are reassuring signs being seen regarding covid-19 infections and hospitalizations in the west and south of this country. do you see any reassuring signs? >> nationally, i see no reassuring signs, and with all due respect to dr. deborah birx and her scientific expertise, we

don't have a national strategy. and our current national strategy, to me, seems to be 1,000 deaths per day national strategy. so this is a herd immunity national strategy while we wait for a vaccine and potentially -- and protect vulnerable individuals. we'll see 1,000 deaths per day. >> and white house testing czar admir admir admiral giroud says that wearing masks would have the same effect as a total shutdown. why doesn't he follow through with a global mask mandate on that? >> so getting this outbreak under control is going to require a lot of different things, right? so mask-wearing is appropriate. avoiding gatherings is prison. but where is the test and trace? where is the leadership so we don't have the disinformation that we're seeing right now? where is the isolation of people who have disease? where is timely testing? where is robust testing? it's very easy to go point at individuals and say, it's your fault, but this outbreak is the biggest public health failure ever.

in the united states. and the government needs to step up with leadership. >> and the problem is, doctor, that in the midst of all of that, when you explain that to us, president trump is still pushing for all schools to open their doors to face-to-face classes, even threatening to take funds away from those schools that don't. but now that more studies are showing kids get and spread covid-19, is it smart to go virtual right until we know a little bit more, so that at least those students and teachers are safe, until we do understand what happens with all of this? >> so, i believe the president's position is a little bit more nuanced than just open. but there's no doubt we know kids transmit disease. that's not a secret. we know kids get infected. that's not a secret. we know there's outbreaks with the camps and school settings. none of this is a secret. we do need to get kids back to school, there's no doubt, but we have to get them back safely,

and the only way to get them back safely is to drop community transmission. so our university of nebraska criteria are that -- do not consider sending kids back to school until there is about 25 to 50 cases per million per day within your school district. remember, the u.s. is now at 200. so that's four times that. and even the white house today said that unless your testing rate is less -- positivity -- the number of people positive in the community is less than 5%, they're also saying don't go back to school. so now there's lots of different triggers, parents, school districts, teachers can use before they consider sending kids back to school, but there's probably only a handful of school districts in america that are ready to send kids back to school, and even then probably on a staggered, part-time basis. >> dr. ali khan, thank you very much. >> thank you so much. remember, masks on. >> great message at the end there. well, storm warnings have been extended further along the

u.s. east coast as tropical storm isaias is projected to grow to near hurricane strength when it reaches the carolinas later today. the tropical storm is bringing heavy wind, rain and tough tides to florida now after slamming into the bahamas. alerts have been issued up and down the eastern seaboard in advance of the storm's projected move northward. so let's go to our meteorologist pedram javaheri. he's been keeping a very close eye on this. good to see you, pedram. so what are you seeing ahead for the next few hours? >> yeah, rosemary, potential strengthening as you noted here. just shy of a category 1 hurricane. this is sustained at 70 miles per hour. about 70 miles also off the coast of florida at this point. and we think landfall about 24 hours from right now. so as we transition from monday night into tuesday morning along the coast of the carolinas there, that's where landfall pocket is at its highest. again, when you're talking about a storm as a strong tropical storm equivalent of just shy a

hurricane category 1, the impact's really not going to be much different, whether it strengthens to that category 1 or not. you notice the eastern side of this, where all the activity is, essentially keeping florida out of the vast majority of the action. here we go as we forecast the track northward. we do believe this will potentially strengthen again just to get to that category 1. water temperature going to be a little warmer along the gulf stream and as the system migrates further to the north, the jet stream wanting to push it away from the united states, while a ridge of high pressure wants to nudge it back towards the united states. so it will parallel the coast here as it makes landfall and potentially stay as such as it pushes through parts of north carolina into the delmarva. could still be looking at a tropical storm wednesday morning into long island, new york. areas widespread around areas of new york city at that point, and that's really the biggest concern. you bring a storm of a tropical storm magnitude with such winds, of course power outages become a

concern in a major metro area. but storm surge, 2 to 4 feet, that is above the typical high tide. now, monday is a full moon, which means the aft normal high tide for the entire month of august takes place on monday afternoon and monday evening. and here's what it looks like. charleston right around 9:00 p.m., we expect the high tide to be around 6 1/4 feet. factor in an additional 2 to 4 feet on top of that, that will usher water into historic downtown charleston as the storm system nears. the 30 days of august you could get a system to come ashore, this not the day you want to see it, on a full moon as it pushes towards this region. of course, needless to say, heavy rainfall and the flood concern remains extreme. some of these areas, rosemary could see 4 to 6 inches of rainfall in the next four days. we'll follow this story as we move forward. >> we appreciate that. all of this in the midst of a pandemic, it's just too much. pedram, thanks very much. appreciate it. >> absolutely. well, the storm is

compounding another emergency already devastating florida. coronavirus cases continue to spike there and health experts fear superspreader events could come from people riding out the storm in shelters. cnn's natasha chen shows how how officials are dealing with both dangers. >> reporter: so far isaias has not caused a whole lot of problems for florida. it's been moving very slowly, and here in daytona beach, people aren't expecting the worst of the storm to hit until overnight local time. emergency management officials have been prepared. they opened a few shelters in case a few people needed them, but closed them back down after seeing not a lot of people show up. they did prepare for this situation of having a tropical storm, possible hurricane during a pandemic. typically, families would be given a certain amount of space in each shelter. they are giving families more space this time. that reduces the capacity in each of the shelters, which also means they've prepared for the possibility of needing more

shelters available in case the storm becomes very severe. now, we talked to the emergency management director yesterday in a war room, which is typically filled with people, filled with first responders, but they're all taking care of this virtually this time. here's what he said about the bizarre nature of two threats at the same time. >> it's weird. because we -- they're our friends, you know, and we do enjoy getting together. and, you know, and problem solving. so once we get into the event, you know, tomorrow, once we have a few people into here and we're -- we're looking at the evacuations and the transportation, and then solving the problems that are going to come up, because now we got to get on a computer, get on a phone to be able to get aholode of people to be able to do those things when i could walk across the room and solve that problem immediately, it may take a little bit longer. you know, so we're going to go through it. >> reporter: other ways in which covid-19 and the storm are

overlapping for these emergency officials, some of the testing sites by these counties on the eastern coast of florida had to temporarily close as the storm passes, and those are expected to reopen early next week. now, while this storm was downgraded to a tropical storm for florida, hurricane watches were issued sunday evening for the carolinas north of us. so that will be the focus in the days ahead. natasha chen, cnn, daytona beach, florida. and after the break, australia declares a disaster in one of its most populous states. after hundreds of new covid infections are reported. we'll have that in just a moment. want to brain better? unlike ordinary memory supplements- neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. try our new gummies for 30 days and see the difference.

new stricter lockdown measures are now taking effect in parts of australia's state of victoria in an attempt to fight surging coronavirus cases. the premier of victoria declared a state of disaster after almost 700 new fecs and infections and 7 deaths were reported saturday. tight restrictions which include a nightly curfew for melbourne will be in effect for six weeks. so let's go now to cnn's anna

coren. she joins us live from hong kong. good to see you, anna. so australia isn't leaving anything to chance here. taking this virus very serious with a strict lockdown in melbourne and victoria. what are you learning? >> yeah, the strictest restrictions, if you like, rosemary, in the time of peace time australia. the victorian premier daniel andrews is saying there is no other choice and telling melbournians that they must stay home. nonessential businesses will be closed for the next six weeks. you mentioned that curfew in place from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. every single evening. schools shut. child care centers will be shut. and only one family members from each household will be allowed out each day to do the grocery shopping.

and they can only travel within 5 kilometers from their home. they are leaving nothing to chance, and the reason being is that melbourne, a city of 5 million people, has been on lockdown, stage iii lockdown for the past month. and they haven't seen numbers decrease. in fact, they've just been rising week after week. and that has been extremely alarming. and they have found that people are ignoring the rules. they're ignoring the instructions to stay home when they're feeling a little bit sick. stay home between testing and getting results. when statistics show that more than 50% of victorians were going about their normal day from the point of test to the point of getting results. and even some people who tested positive, rosemary, were still going to work. so it is quite extraordinary that victorians have been so lax, so laid back about it, even

under stage iii restrictions, but they are hoping now under stage iv they'll have no other chance. the visibility ran premier daniel andrew said he'll be announcing much harsher penalties for those who break the laws, saying everybody must work together to bring the numbers down, rosemary. >> human behavior plays a big role in this, doesn't it? anna coren joining us from melbourne. let's discuss this further. joining me now is professor and chair of epidemiology at deacon university. good to have you with us. >> hello, rosemary. >> so, you know, it is a tale of two nations, isn't it? the u.s. recording surging cases across the country but has no national plan to deal with it, but australia responds to the surge in cases with a severe lockdown, a curfew in melbourne and ordered mask-wearing across the city. granted australia's population is considerably smaller than the

u.s., but this is about how a nation responds to surging cases, isn't it? talk to us about this swift and severe action. will it work, given melbourne had already been in a lockdown? >> well, we did so well with the first wave. we had lots of cases imported to australia with return travellers. and we did go very quickly to quite a strict lockdown at the time, which we called stage iii, and that had a great impact, in that we eliminated local transmission pretty much across the country and we were managing returned travellers, really, as our main concern for most of, you know, may and june. when we saw the cases rise, which was due to essentially a reintroduction of the virus through return travellers and a breakdown in quarantine in our hotel quarantine system, we ended up with quite a record rise in cases quite quickly. but because we had such an early

investment from the first phase and we only had just over 100 deaths australia-wide to that point, the decision was made to really go hard again to see whether we could contain this early. unfortunately, like with other countries, there is a different dynamic with the second wave. there is a lot of fatigue. people perhaps in australia didn't take it as seriously because we had done the right things and got off lightly in the first phase. but it proved really challenging, even with stage iii introduced in the city of melbourne, to fully contain this. we did flatten the curve. so while we've -- we saw the numbers rise quite quickly for the last week, it's been relatively stable and we think we're beyond the peak, but there just wasn't enough push, you know, in terms of people's compliance to actually start to really bring the numbers down, and that's what led to this next level of restriction to really try and shorten this now and get the numbers down and get us back to a point where we're hopeful

we can really suppress the virus and perhaps eliminate local transmission again if we get it right. >> yeah, indeed. and of course australians, like americans, and british citizens, they're not comfortable wearing masks. and there has been considerable pushback. but on the whole, people are starting to get used to the idea. as an epidemiologist, do you think life can return to some level of normal as long as people wear masks in all public places? and could this be a way to avoid severe shutdowns once australia, victoria has gotten through this stage, of course. but, you know, avoid those severe shutdowns that inevitability lead to economic stress, which creates a whole new set of problems of its own. >> absolutely. look, it's interesting how people have adopted masks. there was initially a lot more talk and pushback, but, in fact, in melbourne, before we even went to mandatory masks, you know, i went to my local supermarket and at least half the people there were wearing masks.

so it's going to become much more the norm. and i think when that happens, it's easier to understand, you know, how effective it can be. so what compliance looks like, and if enough people are wea to perhaps ease some other restrictions as we go ahead. that make life more bearable and more sustainable from an economic point of view. but also, you know, factors into what is the new norm, which is keeping up the social distancing is still important. the hand hygiene remains, you know, critical. but if that all becomes more habitual, along with mask-wearing, then we probably are in a position where we can look to ease restrictions again. but we have to stay on alert. the victorian story tells us what, you know, it was probably one traveller, some security guards became infected at work, took it back to different parts of the community where they were really well-connected just as we were relaxing restrictions. and like other countries in the world, you see just how quickly this can fly.

so even with masks and other precautions, you always have to stay on the lookout for signals that the new level of community transmission might be taking off and then do what's happening in new south wales, go in very aggressively with contact tracing and testifying very early. that's the only way you can pull these outbreaks back and stop these waves. >> right, of course. just very quickly, your neighbor new zealand, not only crushed the curve, it eliminated the coronavirus. again, it is a much smaller population. but is that the approach all nations should be taking? now we've seen second wave and third waves in some parts of the world. or is elimination for most nations not possible until we have a vaccine? >> look, i think there's a good argument that we achieved elimination in australia as well. the virus circulating now in southeast australia is the virus that's linked to that breach of our hotel quarantine, not the virus that was around in, you know, march and april and may.

so, in fact, i think even a larger nation and a complex, you know, set of borders like australia achieved it. the challenge is how you maintain it. if you keep up freight at any level of return travellers or essential travel across international borders. and clearly with countries that don't have the advantage of being island nations like new zealand and australia, that challenge is even greater. so i think elimination, a lot of local transmission is still possible, but as soon as you have borders, then you have to have all the other things in place to be ready should there be very early signs of the next wave that allows you to, you know, take it on and nearly quash that transmission before it takes off in your local community again. >> as you say, we have to be vigilant. katherine bennett joining us live from melbourne. thank you so much for your expertise. appreciate it. >> thanks, rosemary. well, as u.s. lawmakers

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welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm rosemary church. u.s. lawmakers and white house officials will meet again in the coming hours to try to reach agreement on another stimulus plan. a key sticking point is the extension of the $600 weekly unemployment benefit that expired last week. republicans view it as a disincentive for some americans to go back to work.

and want it cut to $200. they also want states to move toward benefits based on a percentage of workers' wages. >> the fact is, they put on the floor the end of this week in the senate $200. so when you say, well, you aren't going to do the $600 they have no support for that in their party. we are unified in our support for the $600. they are in disarray. >> mark meadows and i will be back there every day until we reach an agreement. we understand there's a need to compromise, but on the other hand, there's also a big need to get kids into school, get people back to jobs, and keep the economy open and keep people safe. >> also at issue is the democrats' push for additional funding for state and local governments. now, for many americans, that extra $600 helped pay the rent, and if it's discontinued,

they worry they could end up out on the street. cnn's paul kevercammen has one family's story. >> reporter: tension on the streets of los angeles this weekend. economic worry. people wondering how they're going to make ends meet. the $600 supplemental paycheck from the federal government gone and looming on the horizon, how to pay rent or make up for rent that has not been paid? there is a moratorium on evictions in the city of los angeles, but in the state, some other eviction moratoriums may go away soon. we talked to the alvarez family. they haven't been able to pay rent in three months and they are greatly concerned about what's going to happen down the road when someone comes to collect that rent check. >> we need real help to cancel the rent because it's -- because we live with the pressure that we can't pay the rent. as soon as this is over, i know

they want us to, like, repay the month we didn't pay. how are we supposed to do that when we can barely make for the month we're living in? >> reporter: but also at play here, landlords, many of them in southern california relying on rental income to make their living. one community activist said this is all such a double-edged sword. >> what we need to do is we need to not only explore, but we need to act boldly to be able to put programs in place that will not only protect the renters, but also the landlords. we understand that. most of the renters that i speak with, if not all of them, you know, they want to pay their rents, but if that's not happening, you know, again, the landlords will also suffer, especially the mom and pop landlords, and that worries me a lot. >> reporter: and there are a number of bills working their way through the legislature that could give relief to both landlords as well as renters. stay tuned on that. california reckoning with both the covid-19 pandemic and its very serious consequences on health as well as all of these

economic woes. reporting from los angeles, i'm paul vercammen, now back to you. >> thanks for that report. well, the coronavirus death toll is soaring across latin america and the caribbean. health officials there have now confirmed more than 200,000 fatalities since the pandemic began. brazil accounts for almost half that total. its outbreak is by far the worst in the region. more than 2.7 million cases have been reported in brazil so far. well, germany is seeing a rise in new coronavirus cases after initially getting the pandemic under control. public health officials say lax enfofr informed of social distancing and hygiene rules are contributing into the steep rise in cases. that was on display this weekend as thousands gathered in berlin to protest restrictions. almost no one in that crowd was wearing a mask.

cnn's frederik pleitgen is live in berlin with the latest. he joins me now. i mean, it does make you shudder when you see images like that, fred? i mean, we see that a lot in the united states. >> reporter: yes. >> not used to seeing it in germany. talk to us about this rise in cases and how germany is responding to the challenge of containing this again. >> reporter: well, first of all, rosemary, i think it made the berlin police shudder as well when they saw that demonstration unfold. they stopped that demonstration, actually, as they noticed people weren't wearing masks and physically distancing a couple of hours into the event and told people to go home. which took several hours. that's going to have a long-term effect. a lot of politicians extremely angry about what happened there. the german health minister saying, look, yes, you have the right to protest, even in times of the coronavirus, but you have to do it under the conditions of the pandemic even if you don't like the measures put in place because of the pandemic. but you're absolutely right,

rosemary, germany is still dealing with a rise in cases. on friday, they had 955 new infections, which is the most that they've seen since the middle of may. so certainly things are going up. they're dealing with another challenge now. in some states, school is actually starting. in fact, in one state, school is starting today. because germany has a federal system that is actually very similar to the united states, every state has their own system of how to bring school back. there are some states like for instance the state of berlin that i'm in right now that is going to force students to wear a mask, but certainly all of them want the kids to come back into class and they all have separate hygiene concepts. the other thing that also kicked in on the week, which is very important as they try to bring those cases down, is that testing has become free for anybody who enters here into the country. i've been looking at the numbers sort of over the weekend. apparently a lot of people did that, especially down in ba vary yeah where people were coming from austria and other places. a lot folks chose to have the few test where you get the

results just a few hours later. the germans trying to do everything they can to keep the number of infections down as there is a rise in n. infections. this is the bottom line, people have to become more vigilant and more stringently follow the measures that they've put in place to try to combat the pandemic which, of course, are the same ones that have been in place the entire time, which has been physical distancing, first and foremost, but also wearing masks whenever you are indoors and can't physically distance, and, of course, sanitizing as well, rosemary. >> yeah, it's so difficult, isn't it? we talk about human behavior being one of the challenges in the midst of this pandemic. and there it is on display. frederik pleitgen joining us live from before minute. many thanks. well, the uk has issued strict lockdown measures for northern england and the order came right before the start of eid. friends and family hoping to spend the holiday together on what some muslim leaders calling shockingly short notice.

melania has more. >> reporter: just hours before the start of the holiday, the government announced on twitter new restrictions in northern england because of a coronavirus spike in the area. separate households can no longer meet in their homes or gardens, disrupting the plans for hundreds of thousands of muslim families who are preparing to celebrate the biggest holiday of the faith together. >> picture the scenario. it was 9:30 in the evening last night. which is christmas eve. you've basically put the turkey in the oven. you've wrapped the presents. you've got family coming round early in the morning from all over the country. and 9:30 you read the news, you see the twitter feed saying, "i'm sorry, but tomorrow's cancelled". >> reporter: the tweet was posted at 9:16 p.m., announcing new measures coming into force at midnight. muslim leaders said it was shockingly short notice and they feel singled out because pubs, bars and restaurants remain open

in affected areas, though people are not allowed to mingle with other households. many community leaders say authorities should have allowed families to celebrate eid and then move in with restrictions. but the government says that household gatherings were a key factor in the virus surge and they had to move quickly. >> we take this action with a heavy heart, but, unfortunately, it's necessary because we've seen that households meeting up and a lack of social distancing is one of the causes of this rise in greater coronavirus. and we'll do whatever is necessary to keep the country safe. >> reporter: one conservative lawmaker representing one of the affected areas accused members of the community for the rising infections, saying they were not taking the pandemic seriously enough. a blame game some muslim leaders say isn't helpful, especially after missing out on a holiday that is meant to bring people together. >> there's no point of grieving and doing anything. all we can do is follow the

guidelines and help the people and help the government saving lives. it's important. >> reporter: a scaled down celebration amid a frustrating new reality. cnn, london. microsoft says it's still interested in buying tiktok, but it will also continue talks with the trump administration to address concerns over security. the details ahead. ok. it was an accident. he was tickling me and... [laughing] stop it! yeah. whoops! but julie has resolve pet expert. its latest formula attacks odors at the source. no odor. no stain. no nothin'. whatever happens, no big deal. resolve.

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well, microsoft says it's still discussing a possible purchase of tiktok. that follows president trump's threat friday to ban the popular video app from operating in the united states. tiktok is owned by a chinese start-up. cnn's eleni giokos joins me live now from johannesburg in south africa. good to see you, eleni. so microsoft still exploring this idea of purchasing tiktok in the u.s., but how will the security concerns be overcome?

>> yeah, i mean, that's such a good question. firstly, they have been announcing they're in talks with bytedance, the parent company of tiktok, is really significant. and it comes over the same period you had president trump saying with conviction his intention to ban the social media platform, even willing to issue an executive order to do so. microsoft ceo i think was on a phone call with president trump over the weekend discussing the potential deal, and microsoft saying, look, they want to conclude this as quickly as possible. and hopefully by the 15th of september. you've got to remember, with any acquisition there has to be due diligence. you have to look at national security issues. and the national security issues regarding tiktok really pertain to the fact its parent company is chinese-owned and chinese-opened companies should be able to hand over any information requested by the chinese government. that is the big concern here. that if u.s. data is handed over to the chinese government, that would mean a national security breach. now, bytedance, the owner of

tiktok, has basically tried to shake off the perceptions of it being a chinese-owned company and saying it's a global entity. take a listen to what they said over the weekend. looking at the statement, they're saying that they've always been committed to becoming a global company and in this process, we're faced with all kinds of complex and unimaginable difficulties, including a tense international political environment, and adhering to the vision of globalization and continue to increase in investments around the world. so it's interesting they mentioned the political landscape. we know that tensions between the u.s. and china have definitely escalated over the past few weeks, but tiktok has received criticism in other markets. india has banned the social media platform. we've also seen the australian government say there are concerns about, you know, security breaches and also we've seen very similar rhetoric coming through from south korea as well. so it definitely has heightened concerns about the safety of the platform, but in the meantime, the millions of users in the united states have voiced their

concerns about the banning of the platform. and they're saying it's heartbreaking, and, of course, they also sharing that they're angry about the potential decision. so the fate of tiktok in the u.s. really does depend on where this acquisition with microsoft will go through and, of course, whether bytedance wants to sell off one of its prized assets. >> it's going to upset a lot of those young folk and some older folk who really get into it. eleni giokos, thank you very much for joining us. appreciate it. and after two months, nasa's mission on a spacex capsule returns to earth. we will tell you how it made history and how it could change the face of space flight. back in a moment. the sleep number 360 smart bed is on sale now.

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splash down. >> as you can see -- >> magnificent. and this was the scene sunday as the spacex crew dragon capsule safely splashed down in the gulf of mexico. two nasa straws emerged from the craft, proving the first-ever manned commercial flight to the international space station a success. spacex is planning more such

missions in what is being hailed as a new era in space flight. well, after the landing, spacex's ceo elon musk said while he isn't religious, he was pray for a safe return. cnn's rachel crane takes us through the final moments before the capsule landed. >> reporter: nasa astronauts bob behnken and doug hurley making history with crew dragon's successful splash down in the gulf of mexico off the coast of pensacola after a two-month stay at the international space station and a 19-hour journey home. recovery boats were waiting nearby to attend to the astronauts and the spacecraft after the capsule parachuted into the ocean at around 15 miles per hour. a far cry from the 17,500 miles per hour it was traveling at just before re-entering earth's atmosphere. the astronauts then waking their way to johnson space center where they were reunited with their families and underwent some medical assessments. the successful return means spacex has, indeed, made history.

becoming the first private company to put nasa astronauts in orbit and safely bring them home and finally returning u.s. human space flight to american soil after the retirement of the shuttle program nine long years ago. now, this technically was a test mission intended to certify spacex's crew dragon spacecraft for future operational missions, which could start flying as soon as two months from now. this is all part of a multibillion dollar contract spacex has with nasa to regularly run such missions. ushering in a new era of space flight. one where private companies are the ones tasked with ferrying people to lower orbit and nasa is just the customer. back to you. >> thanks so much for that. and thank you for watching "cnn newsroom." i'm rosemary church. i'll be back with another hour of "cnn newsroom" in just a moment. do stay with us. awesome internet.

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hello and welcome to our viewers joining us in the united states and all around the world. you are watching "cnn newsroom" and i'm rosemary church. just ahead, a warning from a top white house coronavirus task force advisor, the virus is widespread and now hitting rural america really hard. australia's second biggest city is now living with a state of disaster and a curfew as it struggles to cope with the ongoing outbreak. and as if the virus wasn't bad enough for florida, it's now dealing with a powerful storm. we will have an update.

well, a warning for americans from a top member of the white house coronavirus task force. dr. deborah birx says an ominous new phase is on the horizon. >> but i want to be very clear, what we're seeing today is different from march and april. it is extraordinarily widespread. it's into the rural and equal urban areas. to everyone who lives in an urban area, you are not immune and protected from this virus. that's why we say no matter where you live you need to wear a mask and socially distance. >> the u.s. now has more than 4.6 million known coronavirus cases. roughly 1/4 of the world's total.