i'm brianna keilar and welcome viewers here in the united states and around the world. everybody 70 seconds an american is dying from coronavirus. and there are lives behind the numbers. and there's so many more they leave behind, the lives forever changed. keith and gwendolyn robinson, four children, ten grandchildren died 11 days apart from the coronavirus. she passed away while saying good-bye to her family on facetime. you gene and angie hunter only in the 50s and they also died just days apart. they behind a 17-year-old son who lost both of his parents within a week. >> they really lived with no regrets. my dad, he told me in situations

like this i have two choices. the first choice is i can sit here, cry, you know? feel sorry for myself. and just kind of be useless and not do anything. or i can cry, realize what happened and accept what happened and move on from what happened and do everything in their name and do everything for them from now on. >> and alan, a member of the tappan fire department for more than four decades fulfilled a dream of opening a model train store in his hometown. a vintage fire truck carried his casket to the cemetery. valitina, she was an emotional and financial rock for her

parents. joseph costo, a doctor that died the virus. his husband david explains why he took off his ppe during the final moments to say good-bye. >> i contracted covid from joe at the time he was dying. i was just not going to not be able to touch him. with my bare hands, with my cheek. so i took everything off. i just took it off. i know i wasn't supposed to do that. but at that point it was what i wanted to do for him to help support and comfort him. >> joe just 42, his wife said joe wrote her love letters every day and left them in the lunch box. the doctors held the phone over him as she played the wedding song and a 44-year-old died on his twin daughter's 10th birthday.

leslie leak, nikki and john a mother and two children all gone within a month. and byron and mikayla, their mother struggling to make sense of why they were taken so soon. >> honestly can't say where they got this virus from because they basically was home bound. i mean, only went to orlando for a vacation. and -- all of a sudden they came home sick. >> now the number of cases, it doesn't tell the whole story. like miracle larry just one case, one survivor. he spent 128 days in the hospital and 51 of those on a ventilator. >> they pulled my family in, my brother, daughter, my wife. pretty much against protocol to come to the glass to pay their last respects. and they were strongly

suggesting taking me off life support and my daughter and my wife strongly opposed that and said he would want to live. the last text message i sent to my wife right before i was vented i said, i promise i'll never stop fighting. i kept that promise. >> and while you've been listening to this, three americans have died. that is not just a number that we have been putting on the screen. these are americans, they're our parents and grandparents, kids and neighbors, people. six months into the pandemic the coronavirus testing situation is getting worse, not only are results taking too long, more than a week in some cases but 29 states doing fewer tests this week than last. the covid tracking project says recent storms and technical problems contributed to the testing decline nationwide which is down 10%. dr. jake deutsche is an e.r.

doctor with cure urgent care. why are we here at this point? where should we be? >> well, those stories, i mean, i was just getting teared up myself and we are in a situation that people are disconnected from. >> yeah. >> unless you can really identify somebody who's had a situation like that. there's not a connection to what's really happening and testing really is the key link. if we can't get people tested, if people aren't aware that asymptomatic carriers are a large part of the population we have a large disconnect in this country. >> i definitely agree. you see that number climbing and we have to not become immune to what that number means. the number is so big. >> people are frustrated. you know? the time to get results are taki taking longer. what's the incentive for

somebody without symptoms to get tested if we don't make it easy and be efficient? we aren't going to do anything to move in the right direction. >> yeah. or some people they could be discouraged from testing saying i'll let people who have symptoms get that test like in the beginning but 24 hours ago we were reporting that the governor of ohio, governor dewine, had positive test results after he had taken a rapid screening ahead of the president's visit but hours later there was a tweet saying the governor took a more sensitive test and it was actually negative bringing us to the question are the quick tests that the white house are using reliable? >> great inequities between the different type of testing. rapid antigen testing not so sensitive. down to 50%. it's kind of unfathomable that they use that type of test to have somebody in close proximity

of somebody of the president of the united states and the pcr test more accurate but the delays and it actually is about a six-hour test if you have swab to on the machine for the result in the best-case scenario and see delays on the national level seven, ten days. that is not going to be efficient and give us accurate results. we need a process, a plan in place to get testing in a widespread basis and make it very, very accurate. >> the governor of new york andrew cuomo just announced that all school districts in the state to reopen because the numbers are even better than expected. there's hospitalizations that have dropped to 536, a new low since march and cuomo says that the number of tests that are positive are 1%. that's a pretty good number. can the state keep this up after schools open, though, do you think? >> you know, there needs to be a plan. again, opening schools is a possibility if we see low numbers but what does that look like when things change?

how are we monitoring it? just opening the schools and not having a real plan in place to accurately test only leads to problems and we have to remember the number of asymptomatic patients range from 20% to 30% some of the times so if we don't test we will be in trouble and especially as we see an increase number of positive cases among young adults. that's the most vulnerable population when you talk about students and teachers. we really need to address this with a critical plan in place. that's my recommendation. >> doctor, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. now breaking news first on cnn, elizabeth warren and a group of other democratic senators sent a letter calling for the inspector general to look into what's going on at the u.s. postal service. there's growing concern the trump administration is trying to degrade the service before the november election. i want to bring in cnn's jessica

dean. tell us about the letter. >> reporter: this is senators asking the u.s.p.s.'s inspector general to get involved. we have been reporting over the last week or so that since he took over, the new postmaster general, a president trump loyalist and former fund-raiser, has put into place some operational changes that critics say and postal workers and also union members say have slowed down service. this is about cutting back on overtime, not being able to make extra trips and degrading the service that the postal service provides. this letter asking the inspector general to look into several things, those operational changes that i just mentioned, why did those happen? what's the reasoning behind them? they want the inspector general to look into potential conflicts of interest, financial conflicts

of interest. that the new postmaster general might have. also, too, how all of this might impact the 2020 election and vote by mail. i want to read to you a part of this letter that the congress people go on to say that as of the date of this letter the responses from postal service officials have been seriously lacking. while we have every intention to continue to press for answers, mr. dejoy's actions call into question his willingness to keep congress informed and we believe a postal service inspector general review can help ensure americans obtain the answers they need and deserve about the quality of their mail service. you will remember dejoy was on the hill earlier this week meeting with nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. both of them expressing their frustration they didn't get the answers they were looking for from him. he spoke today to the u.s. postal service board of governors, the first time we

heard him speak publicly since this happened and said while he has a good relationship with president trump he's not doing this at direction of the president or the trump administration and they'll do what they need to do for vote by mail and more to come on this as the days and hours and roll on. >> we are close to the election and the post office is going to be essential. jessica, thank you for the report. stimulus talks on the brink of collapse as millions face evictions and the small business relief ends. plus, slatded to be america's largest event since the pandemic, 250 thousand dollars people at a biker rally starting today. j and did the president's attacks on joe biden's faith go too far? this is cnn's special live coverage.

despite warnings from health experts one of the largest motorcycle events in the world will kick off today in sturgis, south dakota. it is expected to draw more than 250,000 people to a city of population of 7,000. cnn's ryan young is joining us now on this. what more can you tell us about the event and how it is playing out this year, ryan? >> reporter: so far people are starting to roll in. we asked a few folks are they worried about covid? haven't seen people wearing masks in this area. they talk about it's so much open air and handled the mount rushmore event so well. you can see how expansive this is. you know that 250,000 people are expected to come in this weekend. it is an $800 million shot to the economy in this area and there are people here who of course have concerns about covid but when you think about how

rough and raw it's been for so many people in this country coming to the economy you know that an area like this could use a shot in the arm. we have been talking to vendors who said they have come as far away as florida to be here because this might be the only chance to get close to making their year and in fact listen to an organizer talk about the reason why this event should take place. >> i don't mean to make light of it but i mean to be dang serious about the freedom aspect. they're not going to give it up. our governor said the government's duty not to control people's lives. it is to give them the information so they can make their own decisions. that's what these people are doing. >> reporter: we have been talking to people about what they plan to do over the next few days and a lot of people who especially going inside they do have their masks in hand. you see the signs up all over the place. there's talk about social distancing and when you think about the events they're on this

600-acre area and obviously a spread but i think the big shock here is there's a pent-up frustration from across the country that's bringing people this direction so you see plates from new york, to florida, to connecticut. you understand that they believe the numbers will show up in the next few hours. it is just getting going and we're told maybe in 24 hours or so when the concerts start all the people really start rolling in despite the large crowds that are already here. >> we hear from experts saying outdoors is better than indoors but worry about gatherings. ryan, thank you for that report from sturgis. new york is unveiling a new quarantine check point for out of state drivers. a republican candidate accused of racism for selling an anti-china mask. as the president sues nevada, former senate majority leader harry reid joins us live and who he thinks joe biden

should pick for his running mate. we're always here to help you focus on your health. because it's always, time for care.

- sir. - you're talking about a first [runnigeneration americanren] from the streets of the imperial valley who rose to beat the odds. she worked nights and weekends till she earned herself a master's degree. she was running in a marathon when a man behind her collapsed from cardiac arrest. and using her experience saved this man's life. so why do i think there should be more people like carmen bravo in this world? because that man... was me.

today the postmaster general told the postal service board of

governors he will not slow down election mail this fall. a trump donor himself, dejoy assured the board that he will not act based on any partisanship. but democrats are weary and calling into question the ability not to politicize the postal service coming as the president continues to sow doubt in the mail-in ballot process. >> florida's different in a sense that they had been doing it and they had two very good governors, frankly, an infrastructure that's taken years to build but nevada, they start voting very soon and he just threw it out there and the other thing is the votes don't have to be counted until seven days after november 3rd so that means if we wait for one state and it's a very great, important state, big state, if we wait for that state, you don't know what the answer will be until after maybe seven days and but it is not seven days but months or years. >> former democratic senate

majority leader harry reid is joining us now and, sir, thank you for coming on to speak with us. i'm so glad to see you're doing well. >> thank you. glad to be with you. >> i want to ask you about the trump campaign which is suing your state for expanding mail-in voting which is something that nevada did to avoid those hours long lines, up to seven or eight hours at polling stations in the primary in june but then with florida he say that is mail-in voting is safe and secure. qu what do you make of that? >> mail-in voting goes back to the revolutionary war. we had mail-in voting then. we had mail-in voting in the war of 1812, mail voting in the civil war. so it's nothing that's new. and it's -- we have learned from our republican secretary of state that all the time she's been secretary of state there's

not been one fraudulent vote cast. that's the way it is around the united states. it is a safe method and it's just an effort by trump and the republicans to stop people from voting. but it's a system that is fail safe and we're very happy in nevada with the pandemic sweeping nevada like it is, the rest of the country, that people have an alternative. the legislature did a good job. not only will people be mailed a ballot but will have expedited voting in person, will have extra places to vote. early voting and they provided money so that the local official will have the money to take care of that so it's making a big deal over nothing. >> why do you think he singled nevada out or do you see it that way that he singled nevada out?

>> i'm happy that he singled nevada out if he has a problem because we have a system that's really, really good and has been proven so over the years. he's got a business here. maybe that's why he does it. he has the trump tower here. maybe he needs a trip here to play golf or something. i don't know. but it's -- he's raising concerns that are nonexistent. >> and you raised the issue that he's trying to stop people from voting in your perspective. do you think that this is going to undermine mail voting or his argument trying to undermine mail voting to affect voter turnout and maybe trump voter turnout? >> yes. i believe that this is focusing attention on voting by mail. i think we will have more vote by mail. i think it will improve the voter turnout and you have republicans that are looking at what trump are saying and saying

what in the world is he doing this? marco rubio of florida. jon thune says this is foolishness. so he's really out alone because it's drn we need to do in america today is make it easier to vote and that's what we're trying to do. >> you certainly are someone that the difference of 400 votes or so can make. if it's chaotic, you know, so many ballots, so little time, do you foresee it possibly throwing this election into -- i don't want to say maybe question or just into such a messy process? do you see that happening? >> i see the trump-ites doing this but i don't think it's going to work. we have a system here that is really going to work extremely well. it's going to i think add to

voter turnout. and as we have learned around the country, it's nothing that's new. vote by mail is something we have had since revolutionary times. >> let's talk now about the presumptive democratic nominee. who do you want to see as joe biden's vice presidential running mate? do you think it's essential that he picks a woman of color? >> he's already said he'll pick a woman and there is a big field of women out there who would be good. there are a number of people of color, we heard a lot especially today, susan rice and kamala harris, we have heard a lot the last week or so tammy duckworth, elizabeth warren, so he will pick somebody that's good and the reason i feel good about this is that he's approached this in the right way. he's had chris dodd qulo's a revered member, former member of

the senate to help him work through vetting some of these people. sure, they've done that and there's no one that i know is more prepared, experienced, has the wisdom to do this than joe biden. someone who has been vice president for eight years. so he's going to pick the right person. >> and obviously, you're familiar with so many of the potential picks. have you weighed in with biden or his campaign about who you would like to see the running mate be? >> i have talked to his chief of staff on a number of occasions, chris dodd on a number of occasions and i think that he's approaching this in the right way, he is doing it cautiously and as i have indicated i have great faith in his ability to do

this. he's prepared to do this. >> surely there's someone you must like in particular. could you tell us if you weighed in on their behalf? and hopefully who that person is. >> well, that wouldn't be very fair to anyone so i'm not going to do that but yes, i have. i have a number of favorites, not one favorite but a number. i think we have some great, great potential candidates and confident that with his experience and with his help from chris dodd it will be a very, very favorable choice he makes. >> the president unleashed a new line of attack yesterday on joe biden. this is it. >> he's going to do things that nobody ever, would ever think even possible because he's following the radical left agenda. take away your guns. destroy your second amendment. no religion, no anything.

hurt the bible. hurt god. he's against god. he's against guns. >> joe biden, of course, called that shameful. you're sort of laughing there. what is your reaction? >> i think it's just so absolutely crazy. there's something wrong with that man. we keep -- i keep hoping that it will become more attune with reality but he's getting worse. joe biden's against god? that's kind of a stretch i would think. >> and so what do you say to that? he's attacking his religion. what is it to you for his religion to be attacked like that? >> joe biden is a man who's been a devout member of the catholic faith for a number -- for his whole life and he lives his religion. he doesn't wear it on his

sleeve. it is a personal thing with him as it should be and it is wrong for anyone to attack joe biden with his life history because of his religion or lack thereof. joe biden is a man of integrity and i'm sorry to say our president is just the opposite. >> i'm sure you have been looking at poll numbers, democrats are looking at poll numbers and favor biden considerably right now. do you think the democrats might become too confident? >> i think that's one thing we won't become too confident but i do say this. this is going to be a change election. trump is going to be beaten. we're going to pick up the senate, pick up seats in colorado, montana, maine, north carolina. we're going to pick up a seat in georgia, win in arizona. as we speak we are ahead in

alaska so this is a change election. and the biggest change is coming as a result of people being fearful of the trump presidency and how much harm it's done to our country and our standing in the world community. >> i mentioned, mr. leader, so great to see you healthy. you are in remission from pan creatic cancer and you had an experiment treatment that was successful. it makes us think especially right now as the nation as just lost civil rights icon john lewis to pancreatic cancer. >> i talked to john week before he passed away. he was one of my idols, a hero. but i just say this. this is a time when we should be aware of the fact that we

shouldn't be -- we should be doing everything we can to expand it, the make it stronger and the affordable care act is one of the hallmarks of modern-day politics. in my opinion it is the number one strength of a legacy of barack obama and what we need to do is make it even stronger by having a public option. >> sir, it is great to see you. former majority leader harry reid, thank you for joining us today on cnn. >> thank you very much. as many schools are opening up in georgia, a 7-year-old boy with no underlying conditions is the youngest to die in the state. a reversal in the suspension of a student for taking pictures of the crowded hallways at her school. a republican lawmaker said jerry falwell must resign from liberty university over pictures of showing him with his pants

unzipped. ♪ 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. ♪

a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! the women's national basketball association announcing today that the league's 139 players not 1 tested positive in the latest

round of testing for coronavirus. the wnba season began on july 25 in a bubble in bradenton, florida. and seven playered had tested positive for covid-19. now to the biggest headlines on the pandemic from the cnn correspondents around the country. >> reporter: i'm dianne gallagher in atlanta. a grim milestone passed in georgia on thursday as more than 4,000 people died from covid-19. the state also reported its youngest death, a 7-year-old african-american boy from the savannah area. according to the decht of health he did not have any known underlying conditions. more than 200,000 people have tested positive for the virus in the state of georgia during the pandemic. >> reporter: i'm shimon prokupecz in new york city where authorities have set up check points at key access points across new york state to screen

out of state travelers traveling from hotspots and warn them that if they are staying in new york city that they need to quarantine for two weeks. now, these check points are set up at bridges and tunnels, railway stations and also bus terminals across the city and one of the things that authorities are saying that if you don't quarn tee you face the potential of up to $10,000 in fines. >> reporter: i'm at reagan national art. the tsa is taking measures to protect employees after the worker that is tested positive for coronavirus crested 1,500. the tsa purchased another additional individual acrylic screens for 37 airports it considers the biggest hubs in the country. the price tag, $2.5 million.

i'm rebecca buck in washington. there's at least one republican who is embracing face masks in the campaign but there's a catch. nick is running in virginia's 7th congressional district and he's selling them on the campaign web side but they come with a big controversial message. covid-19 made in china. in big letters. his campaign defending the practice in a statement to "the washington post" saying they're calling out a quote communist regime and underscoring now china allowed the virus to spread but in a separate statement a spokesperson for the opponent said that the mask trivialize the pandemic. >> thank you for those reports. the president of liberty university and a top trump supporter posted a racy photo of the pants unzipped.

my next guest says an apology is not enough and calling on him to rejoin. the school reversed the spu essential of the georgia student that posted this now viral photo of a crowded maskless school hallway. - [narrator] did you just reward yourself for spending a perfectly reasonable amount of time on the couch with tacos from grubhub? grubhub's gonna reward you for that with a $5 off perk. (doorbell rings) - [crowd] grubhub! (fireworks exploding)

you have heard of the express do as i say not as i do, well, a leading evangelical voice is apologizing for something that he did that's an apparent violation of the honor code. jerry falwell jr. post add photo of himself with unzipped hands

and then holding a glass with dark liquid and explained in a radio interview that it was all in good fun. >> you know, it was weird because she was pregnant and couldn't get her pants zipped. and i was like, trying to like -- i had on a pair of jeans i haven't worn in a long time and i couldn't get mine zipped either so -- and so i just put my belly out like hers and it was just -- she's my wife's assistant and she is a sweetheart and i should have never put up a photo and embarrassed her because -- anyway, i have apologized to everybody and i promised my kids i'm going to try to be a good boy from here on out. >> well, that apology may not be enough. he is the head of liberty university which maintains a strict code of ethics banning

lewd lyrics, sexual conduct and immodest dress and not the first time that he's caused a scandal. he was urged to step down after making a black face joke. a member of the and is calling on him to resign and congressman walker is joining me right now. you are calling for him to resign. tell us why. >> brianna, i just think there is a code leaders have to live by, especially when you're leading the largest christian evangelical university in the country. now, jerry jr. deserve as lot of credit for building liberty university to what it is today. but there's a pattern of behavior not becoming to what the school's code of conduct is. on the property itself, jonat n

jonathan, jonathan falwell, heads where his father was. eveen inyou listen to his comment oszen the radio show, he apologized for embarrassing the young lady. he did not apologize to the thousand of alumni, the students, faculty and many others who hold liberty university in a high esteem. >> i mean, why do you think there is this pattern of behavior? what do you thing is going on here? >> it's very troubling. i was a pastor for 16 years myself before running for the united states congress almost seven years ago. i don't want to speculate. i don't know his heart. i don't know if there are other things going on. over the last two or three years has come to the forefront and as a pastor, as i referencing,

every meeting i try to have, i try to have a redemptive element that runs through it. i hope that's how they will talk to jerry jr. we cannot look the other way with this behavior where you have a strict code, one i don't disagree with in many cases, butted you're out here promoting, talking, and being smug about, even the instagram post that i'm going to try be a better boy from here on. i'm not here to try to attack him but i am saying this is not the design of the university or his founding father, who, literally, blood, sweat, and tears, created this on the side of a mountain. >> and are you worried at all that his actions could hurt the president's evangelical support? >> i don't think so.

evangelicals are independent in their thinking process when it comes to their churches, whether it's universities in this case. schools, whatever it might be. i don't think there's any factor in that at all. i just think as a former pastor, and evangelical, someone who taught as an instructor on the campus of liberty university. i felt it was time to address it. something i believe he has reached a place where he needs people around him to help guide him through the season of life. >> i want to ask you about something the president said, especially i think this is something that, with your perspective as a man of faith and a former pastor and republican, that i think i really want to get your insight on. this is an attack he made on joe biden. >> he's following the radical left agenda. no religion, no anything. hurt the bible, hurt god. he's against god. he's against guns.

>> he's against the bible. essentially against religion, but the bible. >> joe biden and the radical democrats are against fracking, they're against guns and they're against the bible, essentially. they're against god. if joe biden were to become president, they want to crush religious liberty. they don't want religion. >> joe biden is a man of faith. i'm sure you have disagreements with him on that. but just on the president attacking his faith, what do you think of those remarks? >> well, i think of the scripture, i believe it comes from the book of proverbs that says man looks on the outside, god looks in the heart. we don't know someone's heart. we have an ability to look at one's actions. i heard senator reed say that's a very personal matter but we're also commanded to go and preach,

make disciples across the world. so, i do believe there should be some fruit, if you're going to talk the talk, you must walk the walk. but specifically, as far as going after somebody, as far as their faith and level of it, it's something that's not in why wheel house or something i'm not comfortable with. yet, at the same time, if you're going to have zero problem when it comes to the level of abortions we see in this country and some other, what we would call moral things from our perspective, i think you can push back and say this lifestyle doesn't match what you're talking about when it comes to your faith. but as far as knowing what's inside someone's heart, i believe only all mighty god knows that. >> there are a number of moral issues. couldn't you make the same criticism or raise the same questions about president trump and his actions? >> i don't believe there's any questions that when it comes to

someone with a background such as the president's, you could make a case this is someone who has not led the most moral life. but unlike the chancellor of the president of a christian university, it is the people that get to make that decision every four years in november to be able to say do we want someone who has a sweet or kind or gentle or moral personality? or do we want someone to get us from point a to point b and i think there's much evidence to asupport that for the first three years, two months, that the president did exactly that when it comes to our economy, when it comes to crim inal justice reform, there is much to celebrate. i think that's where the american people are and were. it's not necessarily the moral content that makes a good leader. would you like both? certainly always but success in

getting things done is what most people are looking for in an elected official. >> thanks for joining us. >> a privilege. thank you. new york governor andrew cuomo is urging them to start schools. and what's the plan if numbers strike. and as dr. fauci says division is holding the coronavirus response back. we're going to look at how americans view the pandemic and how that depends on what they watch. an army family who is always at the ready. so when they got a little surprise... two!? ...they didn't panic. they got a bigger car for their soon-to-be-bigger family. after shopping around for insurance, they called usaa - who helped find the right coverage for them and even some much-needed savings. that was the easy part. usaa insurance is made the way liz and mike need it- easy.

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