hello, everyone. i'm kate balduan. thanks so much for joining us this hour. a predictor of trouble ahead. that's how dr. anthony fauci is describing a new warning coming from the white house coronavirus task force coordinator dr. deborah birx, now signaling out nine cities and california's entire central vale is a real problem, seeing danger in key indicators there. you see them all on the map. you can also see these are cities are just about every region of the country, rural and urban showing that nothing nowhere is immune to this virus, from this virus. dr. birx warning this new phase of the virus is more extensive and far more widespread than the spring. in a private phone call with state and local leaders, she pressed them to seriously step

up efforts to stop the spread which dr. fauci echoed this morning saying without real action this uptick will quickly turn to a surge. >> if it's referred to at percent positive. it's a clear indication that you are getting an uptick in cases which inevitably, as we've seen in the southern states, leads to surges, and then you get hospitalizations and then you get deaths. what dr. birx is saying is now is the time to accelerate the preventive measures. she was warning the states and the cities to be careful because this is a predictor of trouble ahead. >> yeah. this warning as the country marks a second day in a row with nearly 1,400 people dying from the virus and the total number of deaths in this country is now creeping closer and closer to a tagering 200,000 people. let's focus in on california as dr. birx and fauci are in.

officials are saying young people are driving the spike in cases there, and in response los angeles' health department is banning parties, banning gatherings and threatening even more really unprecedented and drastic steps if people don't abide and people don't listen. let's bring in cnn's stephanie elam joining me now from los angeles. stephanie, what exactly are officials saying and what exactly is happening there? >> reporter: well, we've seen it just in this last week, kate, that people are feeling like they were not going to be touched by this virus, and that's just not the case. we saw two parties that happened indoors, people also close together, looking like most of them not wearing basks and because of this we're hearing from the mayor of los angeles eric gerretsy saying he's going to act. take a listen to what he plans on doing. >> these large house parties have essentially become night clubs. i'm authorizing the city to shut off los angeles department of water and power serve advice in

the egregious cases in which houses, businesses and other venues are hosting unpermitted large gatherings. >> reporter: that's going to begin tomorrow night just to really drill down on how they want young people to stop gathering in these groups and spreading the virus. you were talking about the central valley, kate. just to put in perspective why dr. birx is so concerned about that region. governor gaven newsome has talked about in the state the positivity rate has been at 7% or moving just below that in the last couple of days it or so. in the central valley which is our agricultural hub where so much food for the country is grown. the positivity rate in that region is 18%. i talked to the state and they already have people there on the ground, the strike teams, support teams that get in there and get the messaging out to let people know what they need to do to stop spreading the virus and giving them the resources to quarantine and isolate as necessary as they are busy

catching up on all of the contact tracing that needs to be done there, but very clear that young people are driving this virus here, and this is what they need young people to stop doing, getting together. kate. >> i mean, cutting off water and power is one way of saying we're not joking here anymore if they were at all. stephanie, thank you. joining me right now is dr. jorge rodriguez who specializes in internal medicine. doctor, thank you for being here. dr. fauci on cnn this morning, he stressed yet again just the fact it's simple but it -- it drives everything, that we really are all in this together. let me play this for you. >> yls everybody pulls together and gets the level way down of a baseline, we're going to continue to see these kind of increases that dr. birx was talking about in several of those cities. that's what i mean by smouldering. you've got to get that baseline

down, and everybody on this group, everybody on the team of american citizens need to pull together because we're all in this together. >> with that in mind, what do you think of this strategy that we're now seeing in l.a., that the city is saying we're going to cut off power and water if people are violating social distancing rules. do you think that's what's needed? >> i think something like that is needed to be quite honest. for a while i've been saying all of these recommendations need to have teeth behind them. come on, this is not a joke. even though someone thinks that they may be not even immune but are not going to get a serious form of the disease, a, that's not true because we know that young people are getting very sick and also getting long-term complications, but also like dr. fauci said, we're in a slow sort of simmer that at any time could boil over, so once we start going down the slippery slope, it's very hard to put on the brakes, and, yes, i do

believe something needs to be done. this is a public health issue and with other public health infectious diseases like tuberculosis or syphilis, we actually do confine people or fine them. this is no joke, and everyone like dr. fauci said yesterday, needs to be rowing in the same direction. no ifs, ands or buts. >> yeah. that's -- you could say that on the local level, on the state level and you would hope on the national level which that is not what we're seeing, doctor. dr. fauci and birx, they are also focusing in on the test positivity rate that we've started and all had to come to learn about as they call the existing and new areas of concern, california being one of them. >> right. >> why is, just for folks to understand it, it why is the test positivity rate such an important indicator? >> reporter: well, because you could test a lot of people and you could say, well, you know what. more people are becoming positive because we're testing more people. the positivity rate is actually

a percentage of the people that are being tested, so if your positivity rate is 2% of the people that are being tested or are actually positive, that's low, but when the positivity rate starts going up, that means that even if you're testing more people, a larger percentage of those people are becoming positive which means that it is increasing in the population, and there's something we haven't talked about in a while and it's maybe nerdism. there's something called r not so that's key to try to prevent spread. >> it's a small uptick in the positive rate is the indicator that they are talking about. it's not going, from as you mentioned 2% to 18%. when it just starts toss uptick,

that is the red flag, and you're going to see that before you see the fallout of the more cases, most optizations a more hospitalizations hand more deaths and similar to many other viruses. let me play what dr. fauci said about testing and talking about people still having to wait five to seven days to get results. he was asked by politico. listen to this. >> it is very difficult. it's been this way from the very beginning of the issue of defending things that have to do with testing when you're given an example like you just gave me about waiting five to seven days. you know, i would be non-credible and i wouldn't be true to myself if i say oh, that's okay. it's not okay, period. and we need to do better, and i wish we had done better.

>> he wishes we had done better but why didn't they do better, and what can be done about it now? >> well, the first thing is that, yes, if tests are taking five to seven days to come back, ideally, if you take a test, you should know within a few minutes whether you're positive or not so that you can start isolating. if you take seven days to get a response back, that's kind of worthless unless you take a test and isolate. the reason why we're here. there are a myriad of reasons and a myriad of people that we can point to starting off with the fact that in the federal level the task force who is assigned to this preparedness had been either shifted around or dismantled. secondly, we didn't take tests supposedly from the world health organization that had it ready, and -- and it really is incredible that in this country we cannot get this going immediately. this is where the federal government should be putting much or most of its resources into getting us tested and

having tests back within 30 minutes, an hour, that's where we could make a big difference. >> if you had had a difference, think about it. you go in for a strep test, you go et it immediately. you go in for a flu test you get it immediately. that's the level of expectation that we have when it comes to getting test results. >> right. >> so we can act very quickly. doctor, thanks for coming in. appreciate. >> my pleasure. coming up for us a small city in south dakota about to host the biggest event since the pandemic started, the biggest public event in the united states since the pandemic started, tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people expected. one of the state's top doctors joins me now. congress and the white house really fighting over, discussing, negotiating, whatever you want to can a call it or not negotiating over the next still plus package millions are in desperate need of relief. the democratic house majority leader is going to join us and we'll talk about how close they are to any deal.

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they should be wearing the masks and hand-washing. >> look, the pandemic has been going on for months and people are desperate for activity or for some normalcy, whatever you want to call it. the do you think there's a way to pull off the event of this scale safely, or is it from your stabbed point just not mob with the virus and where the country is right now with it? >> is i think if we can convince the people who are going to attend that they need to follow the proper guidelines, and, again those are the hand-washing, the masking and sgansing and you can find those on the cdc website and on our state medical association, if everyone follows that then i think we can have a safe event. >> doctor, thanks for coming in had. we eel definitely be checking in how things are looking, you know, a few weeks from now i guess. >> appreciate it. >> thank you so much for allowing me to be on your show. >> inning that you. schools are starting to reopen and we're already seeing more cases -- more covid cases

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is. nearly 7 million students will be starting their school year online in the united states. the majority of the largest school districts in the country have chosen to stick with at-home learning with chicago public schools becoming the latest big district to make that call. others like new york city schools in boston and dallas schools have still not announced their final decisions. for more coronavirus headlines let's check in with our reporters stationed across the country. >> reporter: i'm diane gallagher in atlanta. the first week of in-person class nez cherokee county georgia isn't even over yet, and already the district says that they have at least four positive cases of covid-19. more than 60 students have been september home to quarantine for at least 14 days because of possible exposure. in mississippi the current school district which has been having in-person classes since july 27th says that at least six students and one teacher have

tested positive and more than 115 students are now quarantining at home because of possible exposure. >> reporter: i'm pete montin in washington. no mask, no travel, no exceptions. that's the edict from more major airlines. jetblue and alaska airlines say passengers cannot claim health exceptions so they don't have to wear a mask while flying. united airlines is banning a mask with vents or openings around the nose or mouth and airlines are making these rules without any mandate from federal regulators. >> reporter: i'm andy scholles in milton, georgia. major league baseball sending out a new memo outlining strict changes to its health and safety protocols. players and staff are being told to wearing face conversation at all times including in the dugout and clubhouse. the only exception is the players on the field. clubs are now required to reduce

the size of their traveling parties to only those who are absolutely essential to playing games, and players and staff are now strictly prohibited from gathering in any public areas without permission from the team's compliance officer. a repeated or flagrant violations of the new protocols to result in a player being suspended for the remainder of the season. >> i'm christine romans in new york. the new evidence of a jobs crisis in the pandemic recession. another nearly 1.2 million americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week. the weekly number down slightly from the previous week, but it still brings the total to more than 55 million claims since the start of the pandemic. 20 state weeks of million plus layoffs or furloughs. in that time more than a third of the labor market have filed for jobless benefits and some of the jobs have come back, but there's real worry right now rising cases across the country will lead to a second wave of

job loss. >> guys, thanks so much for that. coming up still for us, stimulus talks at a standstill in washington so where are things headed? is there a deadline? are they ever going to get a deal? i'm going to talk to the house majority leader next. mother. she was not able to vote in her lifetime, but i wanted to honor all that she had done to ensure a lasting legacy of education and civic involvement. i'm very proud to carry on her story. it was 1961 when nellie young lost her devoted husband. without him, things were tough. her last option was to sell her home, but... her home meant everything to her. her husband had been a high school football coach and it turned out, one of his former players came up with an answer. a loan, created just for older homeowners. and pretty soon, nellie young had one of the first reverse mortgages. discover if a reverse mortgage loan is right for you.

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. it now appears there's something of a countdown clock for another round of coronavirus relief funds. the trump administration warning that if they don't reach agreement on a basic framework by tomorrow, hope for a new stimulus package for millions of americans may be lost. president trump is also promising executive action if no deal is reached. his chief of staff mark meadows says the two sides are trillions of dollars apart still. so while there are a lot of politics involved here, of course, this is so much more than that. this is about surviving for people, their livelihoods, keeping their homes and putting food on the table, even resources for schools to help them navigate this new world and try to do so safely. this isn't just another washington logjam or political gain. let's figure out where things r.joining me right now is the democratic house majority leader steny hoyer. thanks for coming in. are you trillions of dollars

apart as mark meadows described? >> of course, we passed a bill $3.4 trillion. the senate hasn't passed a bill but the majority leader in the senate mcconnell put a bill on the floor which was $1trillion so, yes, you could say you're $2.4 trillion apart. i don't think we're that far apart, but i think, unfortunately, what the administration did today was make a pretense that action was not going to be necessary, that they would take some sort of executive action. that's -- that's not going to solve the problem. you are absolutely correct. we have people who are desperate, not -- not needing something, they are desperate for themselves, their families and their children. we passed a bill. unfortunately, the senate sat on its hands for two and a half plus months. that's not a talking point. that's a reality, and that's why it's so difficult because they did not come back with something, and, in fact, we know right now that mcconnell has said half of his members do not support any action, so what he's

going to have to do is get together with chuck schumer and say, look, i need 40 of your votes and 20 of my votes to get something done, and that will require compromise. frankly mark meadows who is in the room negotiating is not famous for compromises. as you know he was the leader of the freedom caucus in the congress and house of representatives, and he could not agree with his own leadership paul ryan and with john boehner before, that so -- but i've talked to speaker pelosi yesterday, going to be talking to her later on this afternoon. we need to get a deal. we need to get a deal which will not only handle unemployment insurance but you mentioned people are hungry. we have money in there for food, for s.n.a.p., for perhaps that help people get food. we have money in there for education. we have money in there for housing and renters who have faced the end of the last month without the ability to pay their rent or their mortgage. >> i hear you. i mean, you say you need to get to a dole. what's interesting here is

you've got steve mnuchin and mark meadows saying it's you that are being intrang jent in this. it's them that have come up on some issues. i don't want to go in the nitty-gritty but are you letting the perfect be the enemy of the good as i often have to ask when it comes to negotiations in congress? >> no, we're -- we're letting the absolutely essential be the goal, not the good, not the great, not the best, the absolutely essential in terms of confronting the virus, in terms of having state and local governments have the resources to help respond to the virus and prop up the economy and to individuals, not only with respect to unemployment insurance but to those personal payments that we were making, corporations who will lay people off that we need to help keep those people employed. the no, no, no. tales not the perfect that's the enemy, it is the essential and very frankly if this administration had acted in the last two and a half months and come up with an alternative, we would have reached an agreement

before we left in july for these negotiations. >> do you think it's friday or bust as mnuchin seemed to lay how the? if you don't agree on major issues on friday, there's going to be no deal? >> i don't know what we means by friday or bust. let's say -- >> that's my take on it, but, yeah. >> but i -- i totally reject that and i hope mnuchin reflects upon that. there is no walking away from the american people. there's no walking away from these folks who are confronting a crisis and their families are confronting a crisis. if we don't get the deal friday, we need to get it saturday. we need to get it done as soon as we possibly can, and i hope it -- i hope that means friday. i hope it means saturday, and i will -- >> the threat -- >> i'm sorry. >> the threat from the president that you just -- that you noted that he says he's going to take executive action if you don't come to a deal, is that a threat you take seriously? >> well, it's hard to take anything the presidentization seriously because he's all over the ballpark every day.

one minute he says this and then the next minute he says the opposite so, you know, whether or not he has the power to do that, it i just heard that statement, so i don't know what he has in mind, bewe ought not to have to rely on an executive order that may be questionable because that will leave so many people in deep, deep distress and in danger because he'll only be able to deal with one part of the problem. are we prepared to make a deal on the money? we're not going to get 3.4 trillion, we understand that, but the fact of the matter is what speaker pelosi has said and what mr. -- what leader schumer has said is you are not dealing with the problem. you're not dealing with the states and locals. you're not dealing with the health care workers. you're not dealing with testing and tracing which everybody says is essential if we're going to get a handle on this virus. this president said this was a hoax. >> can i ask you something. >> certainly. >> i'm sorry. >> you sat on things for two and

a half months. >> sorry, i hate these audio delays. one other thing that i want to ask you about. you have members coming in from all over the country from the capitol at all times. you're indoors and in close quarters. why aren't you requiring and providing testing for all members and staff, especially when you consider that you have people in that building that are in the line of succession to the presidency? >> we are having discussions with the medical community on that, and the problem -- they have a number of problems with that. first of all, the testing, unless you test every day, as you know, is not good from day to day. can you find out you're negative one day and the next day or two days later you're positive. that's one problem, but i had a discussion with our -- the house, the capitol physician yesterday about this very issue. he is providing a paper that gives us the options to do. the speaker and i discussed it

yesterday as well. a very serious matter. however, we do not want to in any way take away from the testing regime that people who absolutely have to have it, who have -- who are symptomatic. now if a member is symptomatic, they are getting a test, but, kate, we want to make sure that we're not taking away from others and we want to make sure it's the efficient effective thing to do for health reasons and take medical advice from that, but we're looking at it very, very closely. >> because you're right. people come from all over the country. some hot spots, some not. they go back to those places, and it's -- and it's very difficult for them to manage their lives, quarantine, not quarantine, so we're looking at the testing regime. >> i mean, it's like one giant super spreader waiting to happen. regardless, back to it, thank you for coming in it. i really appreciate it, majority leader. really looking forward to what comes in the next 24 to 48 hours, whatever it is, with this much-needed money for millions

of americans. i appreciate it. >> we're all praying that we get an agreement forthwith that the senate can pass. that's the key. right now mcdonnel can't pass anything. >> get to it. thank you. >> you're right. coming up, elite college athletes banding together and demanding more from the ncaa. why they say it's not doing enough to protect players from covid. two players who are spearheading this movement join me. ♪ come on in, we're open. ♪ all we do is hand you the bag. simple. done. we adapt and we change. you know, you just figure it out. we've just been finding a way to keep on pushing. ♪ we're helping members catch up by spreading any missed usaa insurance payments over the next twelve months

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conference-only schedule more than 1,000 players released a letter saying what about us? let me read you just part of what they put together. we're deeply disappointed for the lack of leadership demonstrated by the ncaa res to the player safety. the ncaa, which is nope for its zeal for regulations and enforcement has had ample time to prepare for the safe return of its athletes to competition, yet it has done nothing. the letter goes on to outline five areas where the athletes would like to see more regulations and enforcement for their protection ranging from more testing and contact tracing to reimbursement for medical expenses. joining meal right now are two of the student athletes spearheading this effort, hunter ranlds, defensive back at michigan and benjamin st. jude, defensive back at minnesota. great to see you. hunter, over a thousand athletes signing on to this. what are you seeing and hearing from other athletes that has you so concerned about the season?

>> so, you know, we've just been hearing a lot of players comparing their experiences in the time they have been back on campus throughout this summer, and we've heard while there have been some similarities there's been numerous differences across the board which we just feel like for a season where there's so many unknowns, having the unknown of playing against a different team where they could have different protocols and different regulations and a different way of handling the situation could just lead to, you know, unsafe conditions for us to play in. >> benjamin, the head of the ncaa, he was asked about your leather morning, and he said that he disagrees with you. he says that they are not taking a laissez-faire attitude towards this, that everything that has been decided has been done on the advice of medical experts. what do you say to that? >> well, first, there's two things. i say the time that it took to

come up with actually something that can be put into a plan, took about five to six months for the longest athletes, coaches, you know, thought that the university was hiding some information but they were just kept in the dark just like us. there were times of uncertainty which creates a super stressful environment for every student athlete, and we're about to start camp and we still don't know really what's going to happen. what's the clear protocol, and the second thing to that, to say that he disagrees with is just the fact that we are the ones experimenting all those plans and protocols so there should be some kind of communication with the student athlete or some sort of leader to have an opinion or at least consult us what's the best for us so they have our best interests so our well-being can be protected also, so i think -- i still think we have some work to be done. >> definitely heard

>> without steps, without more, the concrete steps you lay out, what should happen? do you think the season should be canceled? >> i don't think the season should be canceled. if we really have a well thought-out plan in place that we can move forward as safely as possible. in a time like this, there's no knowing exactly what will happen on a day-to-day basis but if we have a plan and we have a line of communication i think that we can go through with the season as it's currently scheduled. >> benjamin, have you heard anything back after putting this letter out there? >> so far, from the ed guys we have been in communication with or they t commissioner is very helpful trying to communicate with the student athletes.

coaches and all that stuff. i think what we're missing right now is real formal meeting with the head guys at the ncaa and the conference and the leaders to see where we can find common goal and come together and maybe change some things for the better but we are still waiting on that so we'll be in contact with them soon. >> absolutely. no matter what happens with the season, good on both of you for taking your health into your own hands and being concerned and wanting to be part of that conversation. i said it in the break, benjamin, good luck with the season. but, hunter, go blue. that's me through and through. thank you both very much. >> thank you. coming up for us, utter devastation in beirut. why there were warnings about explosive materials that were allegedly ignored.

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>> reporter: nothing prepared them for this. 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate exploding sending a shock wave so strong so vast many who survived said they thought doomsday arrived. prayers were lost to fear and chaos. life's iconic moments swept away in an instant. and in its aftermath, an apocalyptic waste land. the destruction on such a scale, many cannot find the words to express the depth of their emotions. with more than 135 dead, 5,000 wounded, and dozens of others still missing. there is shock, horror and deep

sorrow coupled with anger and demands for answers. how is it that such a massive amount of dangerous explosive material confiscated in 2014 was stored in an unsecured warehouse despite multiple warnings from the head of customs? the lebanese government said that many port officials will be put under house arrest and -- >> translator: to hold accountable those responsible and inflict on them the most severe punishment. >> reporter: but there's little faith in country's rulers. in a nation where corruption dominates and the people suffer at the hands of the political elite. u.s. president trump offered his condolences floating the idea this may not have been an accident but offering no proof. >> it looks like a terrible attack. >> reporter: and then, his own secretary of defense refuted that claim. >> most believe that it was an accident as reported. beyond that, i have nothing further to report on that. it is a tragedy. >> reporter: it is a tragedy.

the largest in a chain of many. a failing economy, the spread of covid-19. that have crippled this nation. 330,000 people have been displaced. damages ets mated to range $10 billion to $15 billion. how do you recover from something like this? physically, emotionally or as a nation. what we are seeing now, kate, is an army of volunteers from beirut and all over the country coming in and helping with the cleanup effort, helping especially the elderly try to clean up their homes, as well. you have medical field tents set up for basic bandage changes or first aid to ease some of the burden on the hospital. you have people who are distributing food and there is a realization among the lebanese population if they want to get through this they can't rely on the government but lean on each

other. >> i still honestly, arwa, i ka cannot get over the images. hard to wrap your mind how that did happen in an instant. thank you, so much, for your great reporting as always. thank you all so much for jonning us this afternoon. cnn's coverage continues now with john king. thank you, kate. hello, everybody. i'm john king in washington. thank you for sharing your day with us. trouble ahead, the words of the nas's top infectious disease expert says he sees warning soons in the data and if it means the uptick to mushroom into surges if the country doesn't adjust the behaevior right now. 1.2 million more americans filing fur first-time unemployment benefits. the president heading to ohio today and predicting the virus will just