i'm halfway through and it's gripping. >> listen, i took a look at four years of the world under trump, under his foreign policy upending not only relationships with enemies but allies and within his own government, unleashing a madman theory of his own. and the results for the country by and large not positive. all i ask is you give the book a chance and let me know what you think. >> tons of access to current and former officials talking to you on the record. congrats, i'm proud of you. we'll see you back here tomorrow. i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm jim sciutto. "newsroom" with katie baldwin starts right now. hello, everyone. i'm kate baldwin. thank you for joining us this hour. the world now passes a startling marker. 20 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide.

the united states accounts for an outsized portion of that. a quarter of those cases, 25%, though the united states makes up less than 5% of the world's population. the u.s. is also leading the globe in the number of coronavirus deaths. with all of that in mind this morning, the concern for america's children amid the pandemic has never been so urgent or real. a new analysis from the american academy of pediatrics says there's been a 90% jump in covid cases in children in the last four weeks. in florida, the situation is even worse. the state seeing a 137% increase of covid in children in the past month. with kids in many states already heading back to school, dr. anthony fauci is once again pleading for everyone to mask up. also calling out the photo of a crowded hallway at a georgia high school. >> there should be universal wearing of masks. there should be the extent possible social distancing,

avoiding crowds, outdoors is better than indoors, and continually have the capability of washing your hands and cleaning up with sanitizers. when i see sights like that, it is disturbing to me. >> let's start with the growing number of cases in schools. nick, what is going on there. what's the latest you're hearing? >> kate, these numbers are very concerning. florida used to be the focus and it now seems that georgia is becoming the hot spot in covid cases. georgia, the schools here returning, among the first in the nation returning august 3rd. just last week in cherokee county, we're focusing on that because the cases are rising so fast. after the end of the first five days of classes, 478 people were in quarantine. at the start of class today, that number had swelled to over 800. 50 of those tested positive for the virus. even still, you would think there would be more of a concern

there locally in cherokee county. but when we went there this weekend, it was almost a cavalier attitude. just listen to the governor as well saying that after the first week of school, things were great. >> there's definitely going to be issues when you open anything. we saw that when we opened businesses. we're seeing that when we open schools. i think quite honestly this week went real well other than a couple virtual photos, but the attitude from what they're telling me was good. >> reporter: we talked to parents in cherokee county who said that they're not social distancing even though masks are required for school staff. one parent told me she walked into the school district to complain about the lack of social distancing believing that her child was not safe and that no one in the school was wearing masks. in fact, the principal of that elementary school told her staff that she didn't need to wear a mask because she was shielded by god. now, we spoke to jamie chambers, one of the local activists who's

been sounding the alarm, very concerned that the spread of viruses in schools will only spread further and further throughout the community, putting more people in danger. he has decided to not send his kids to school, they're virtually learning. those are stories we're hearing from parents in the district who are removing their students from face-to-face learning to now learn online. kate? >> that statement from that school principal is truly remarkable when you look at science. good to see you. thank you very much for calling it out. one question all along, which is even more important now as children return to school is how easily can they spread virus to others. one leading expert says likely all to easily. >> there's every reason to suspect that this virus, even though it can kill you, behaves pretty much like a cold virus in terms of transmission. who drives colds? children drive colds.

>> joining me right now is dr. william shafter in the division of infectious disease. many questions. what nick valencia just reported is that a teacher was saying -- reporting that an elementary school principal in georgia said she did not need to wear a mask in school because she would be shielded by god. as a scientist, would you like to comment on that? >> well, i'm just saddened by that. the covid virus does not respect religion. if we were shielded by a greater being, why would there be 20 million cases around the world and 5 million here in the united states? i don't understand that. nick's story has me very, very concerned. why aren't masks required in those school systems? you know, we're learning more about this virus every day.

we're writing the textbook as we go along. and one of the things we've learned recently is that children can become infected. they're less likely to get seriously ill, but they can become infected and it's looking increasingly as though they have the distribution franchise, that they can spread this virus, first of all, amongst themselves, and then they'll bring it home, spread it to their parents, grandparents, neighbors, friends, and keep the virus going in the community. so if you're not opening schools carefully, they will accelerate the spread of this virus in the community. >> one of the reasons that this whole question of how much can children spread this virus, why it continues to come up and it's something i feel like experts like yourself are explaining still is because the president continues to throw out unfounded claims that i'm not drawing you

into politics. i do want to keep it to sign, doctor, but just yesterday he said he actually literally said they don't transfer it to other people or certainly not very easily. look, one thing that we know is there is a lot unknown about the virus in children because dr. birx has said this, parents do a great job of keeping kids home at the beginning of the pandemic. so they were largely, like, out of the way and protected. and now we're learning much more. but is there anything to that concept of children certainly do not spread this virus easily? >> actually, to the contrary. at the moment, the data are coming in that children do become infected and are capable of transmitting this virus. they shed a fair amount of virus, comparable to adults. we're learning as we're going along, the children were indeed as dr. birx said sheltered early on, so it was not evident that

they could spread this virus. but as we're opening up, having the children out in the community, they're getting infected and spreading it amongst themselves. if we're not careful about how we open these schools, as i said, they will accelerate the spread of this virus in the community. >> does that speak to this new reporting from the academy of pediatrics that they're seeing a 90% increase in covid cases amongst children in the united states over the last four weeks? is it because it has been -- children have had it, they just haven't been tested? what do you think this is? >> well, children certainly haven't been tested as much in the past. we concentrated on adults. now we're testing more children. but more importantly, can children are now getting together with each other. we've seen all these vacation times, and so more exposure, more illness among children also. >> just as easy, i remember talking to my pediatrician who

said, look, the common cold, the summer cold and flu kids would normally get wasn't happening, and now as kids are starting to hang out again and again, he's starting to see that summer cold pop up. i want to play another sound bite about schools reopening in person. listen. >> when school starts both at the high school level and in college and universities, we think we're going to see an explosion of cases in september that will far surpass what we saw after memorial day. this is just going to continue increasing and getting higher and higher in terms of numbers. >> dr. shafter, do you share that prediction? >> i share mike's concern. i'm not so sure it will be an explosion. but we will see here and there throughout the country splurges of infection. dr. fauci's right, we should all be wearing the mask. >> it is not hard. that did not hurt, dr. william

shafter, to put that mask on. there's no pain about it. w dr. shafter, thank you. coming up, russia claims it's developed the first coronavirus vaccine. if true -- is it true, first? what does it mean for the vaccine trials in the united states? plus, a fitness trainer in california thought covid wasn't real and thought that he was safe because he was in good shape. then reality hit him and he was in a coma for five days. what he wants others to learn from his mistakes. >> tech: at safelite, we're committed to taking care of you and your car. >> tech: we'll fix it right with no-contact service you can trust. >> tech: so if you have auto glass damage, stay safe with safelite. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

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breaking overnight, vladimir putin claims russia has developed the world's first

coronavirus vaccine. but it's coming before clinical trials are finished, and without releasing scientific data about it. can it be trusted? matthew chance is in moscow. what don't know here? >> reporter: well, it's quite a revelation, the fact that vladimir putin has come out in the past couple hours and announced that he has approved or the country has approved the world's first vaccine against covid-19. this is what he said. it's gone through all the necessary checks, i know it's effective, and it forms stable immunity. he said that in a videoconference broadcast on russia state television. this extraordinary revelation, vladimir putin said one of his own daughters has actually already been vaccinated. he said she had a slight heightened temperature for a while but now feels better. of course she's just one person. it doesn't take away the criticism that's been leveled at this vaccine by scientists all over the world.

but those crucial phase 3 human trials, which usually involve thousands of people to assess the effectiveness and the safety of a vaccine like this simply have not even started yet before the approval of this vaccine. nevertheless, the russian health ministry says while those phase 3 trials are under way, they will still start vaccinating key workers, frontline medical workers, teachers, the elderly as well, people in those vulnerable categories. russian health ministry saying it is a huge contribution this vaccine is to what they say is the victory over coronavirus. that, again, despite all those major concerns that are still out there. kate? >> absolutely. matthew, thank you for those details. i really appreciate it. a lot of questions here. joining me right now is michael kin, director for drug development at washington university, the author of "between hope and fear: a history of vaccines and human immunity." thank you for being here. i think i likely can guess the answer, but i do want to ask

you, from what you know of this vaccine touted by russia, would take this vaccine? >> well, we don't know much, and so would i take it if my choices were that or nothing, perhaps. the little we know about this vaccine is that it is what's known as an adno advisor vaccine, it's using a virus that causes cold to deliver this vaccination. the problem is that somewhere between 30% and 60% of the people, the population in the u.s., russia, and everywhere else are resistant to this particular adno virus. so the consequence is the vaccine may not work actual, and that can be truly dangerous because you might end up imparting a false sense of security for the people who received the vaccine, and that can be dangerous because they could resume risky blazers. >> the w.h.o. lists this vaccine candidate we're talking about as being in phase 1.

even if it has wrapped phase 2 trials, at this point in a critical trial, what do you know about the safety and what do you not know still? >> pretty much all you know is that it's safe kind of microscopically, the patient isn't showing distress or problems. you don't know whether you have immunity that is what we call durable, that it's going to last a long time. virtual any vaccine can trigger a sherm responsort-term respons is a complete unknown for this vaccine and for most of the vaccines being tested here and europe. >> this also highlights, it appears, the dangers and high stakes of an international race to be the first to find an effective vaccine. i mean, from your perspective as you look at this, what are those stakes? what are the dangers that it

brings with it? >> well, the stakes are obviously very, very high because billions of lives could depend upon this. unfortunately you're going to have some, frankly, crack pots like putin saying he knows that this works and that is not -- that is not science. science is based on evidence. so the dangers are that either people in russia or elsewhere either want to take this vaccine or compelled to take this vaccine. if this vaccine is useless, or lord forbid, if it causes toxicity, might cause inflammation or auto immune disease, then you have a tremendously compounding problem. it will be unprotected and potentially suffering side effects for a long time. >> look, just to put a fine point on it, without a phase 3, which is these massive, broad trials in testing the safety and effectiveness, can a vaccine be

trusted? >> i think you need the phase 3 because a phase 3 is by definition a very large trial with a lot of different people. that's going to cover many different age ranges, racial composition, past medical history, and that's the crucial thing. a phase 1 is oftentimes performed with healthy college students, for example, and that may not be representative either of the toxicsy or the usefulness of a vaccine. so it's essential to have these phase 3 data because what you inject in a college student probably is very different than in an 80 something-year-old woman. >> after listening to you now, i understand why alex say czar said this morning the goal is not to be first necessarily but to get this right, especially when you have so many lives at stake. michael, thank you for being here. >> thank you. still up for us, georgia's second largest school district reopens monday. it will be all online learning. now some parents are protesting that.

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. in georgia's second largest school district in cobb county, classes haven't yet started, but officials say at least 100 students and staff have tested positive for covid since july 1st. with that in mind, they've now announced that classes will begin there next week all online. but school leaders are facing backlash from some parents for that decision, protesting, demanding the district offer an in-person option when the school year starts monday. so what is going to happen? what is going on there? joining me is the superintendent of cobb county schools, chris ragsdale. thank you so much for your time. you have, it appears, two opposing forces, unfortunately, at play that shouldn't be. you have the data telling you cases are jumping and a group of parents protesting, demanding in-person learning. can you talk to me about that

push and pull of the pressures you're facing right now? >> sure. i mean, first and foremost, there's no one that wants to be back in the face-to-face classroom mode more than me. we have the greatest teachers in the world here in cobb, and our students have a tremendous level of teaching and learning going on in those classrooms. so that's why originally we offered two options, the virtual option for those parents that didn't feel comfortable sending their students back and a face-to-face option. however, when the level of spread in cobb county specifically reached the high level that it currently is and was during that decision-making time, we had to make the decision to go all virtual because, again, if we're going to say the top priority of our district is the health and safety of our teachers, staff, and students, then that's how we have to make the decisions and that's what we did. >> mr. ragsdale, when and why did it become at this moment you versus the parents?

because that's not it at all. you're all in this together. >> yeah. you know, this is one of those unique situations to where, you know, i get a lot of email, obviously, on any decision that impacts the district. and this one has pretty much been about split as far as the emails i'm getting. i get as many thank you emails for the decision to go all virtual as i do those emails truly wanting a face-to-face option. you're right. it's not an us versus them. our mission statement in cobb is one team, one goal, student success. it's important for us to maintain that one team. you know, we took three parameters into consideration before making that decision. the high spread, as i already mentioned, the effective contact tracing that would have to be done when positive cases did present themselves, and continue delay in testing the lines and also getting those results back. those three parameters were just

creating a situation to most importantly that was not going to be safe for students and teachers to be in a compacted classroom with the number of students in each classroom and we had to go with the data on those three parameters and that's what we did. >> you have to keep going with the data. just north of your district is cherokee county where 800 students and staff are quarantining after a suspected cluster has popped up in a high school there. how much is what's happening north of you or in neighborhoods districts factoring into your decision for your schools? >> well, certainly in the metro atlanta area, the superintendents communicate regularly and coordinate when we can. but that being said, each county is different and we're getting data that's specifically related to cobb county. that's what we're basing our decisions on. i know each superintendent struggles with this decision because, again, the health department and safety is the top priority. but what other districts are

doing are making decisions specific to the data to their specific, individual counties. >> the governor is not mandating masks in the state. we know that. masks are not required in many schools. the superintendent of paulding county schools to that point said this in a letter to the school community that i wanted to ask you about, writing wearing a mask is a personal choice and there's no proximate cause choice to enforce a mandate to wear them. he's talking about in schools. do you agree with that statement that you can't mandate masks because it's not enforceable in your schools? >> well, again, each superintendent has to make their own decision for their community and counties individually. you know, we will have to determine that decision as well for us when we are able to get back to a face-to-foundation option. >> but do you think -- you have a dress code. there are dress codes in schools. >> true. >> there are rules on usage of your personal phones in schools.

isn't it also understandable that you could have a policy or an enforceable policy on wearing masks in schools? >> yeah, i mean, i think, again, to our previous conversation, we have to let the data impact and determine the decisions we make. i think there is a lot of, you know, words that can be used such as mandate, require, and those things that do carry a lot of weight in and of themselves. so when you say staff are required to wear a face covering, that does go a long way. now, again -- >> and it's also that it's something dr. fauci says should be done in schools. you should trust anthony fauci, right? >> you got to go with the data to make that decision. if a face covering is going to be beneficial in limiting the spread -- because again, that's our top parameter. so if we can limit that high

spread by wearing face coverings, then absolutely we should be doing that, all of us should be doing that. >> absolutely. thank you so much for coming on. good luck. >> thank you. >> got a busy week ahead of you next week. thank you very much. >> absolutely. coming up for us, one man thought the warnings about covid were overblown. then he got it and then covid almost killed him. now he's sharing his story of survival and he joins me next. when you shop with wayfair, you spend less

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public health experts across the board say americans should avoid gathering in large groups because of the pandemic. that is exactly what is happening at the annual sturgis motorcycle rally in south dakota right now. some attending saying they don't believe the threat of coronavirus, dismissing the dangers altogether. with that in mind, scenes like this, a concert by rock band smash mouth, might not be too surprising then. listen to what band member had to say from the stage. >> they're going crazy, you know? now we're out here together tonight. [ cheers ] and now we're here once again. [ bleep ] covid [ bleep ].

>> after so many months of this, so much science and so many deaths, why are people still denying the real and serious threat of this virus? let me bring in one man who went from coronavirus skeptic to realist, but it took a near-death experience. reuben, great to meet you. thank you for being here. before the virus, what did you think of covid? >> i didn't think it was real. i thought it was something that was made up. if it was real, it was not going to come near, you know, where i was at. it was for people up in age. but i didn't think it was real as far as i was going to be able to contract it. i had that mind-set. >> why were you so skeptical? >> my mind-set, the conditioned mind of it'll never happen to me, buying into other people's story, it's easier not to have to wear a mask.

it's easier not to have to change and stick with my belief system of it'll never happen to me. i'll get it. i had this mind-set of the ego saying i'm stronger than anything. >> some of the reason you thought it wasn't real, thought it wouldn't be bad if you did get it was because you're in great shape. you're a fitness trainer. i mean, you live a healthy lifestyle. is that part of it? >> yeah, thank you, kate, for that. yes, like, the environment at the gym, a lot of people have that same mind-set. we're high fiving and we're not going to get it. we have that mind-set. and they're invincible, i know the going to happen to me, and that seems to be the mind-set of a lot of people until it gets close to home or really close to home. it's like one doesn't get it until they get it or somebody close to them gets it. it's unfortunate about that. >> i mean, you look fantastic

now. just so everyone knows, things didn't just get bad for you, it was almost fatal for you. you were diagnosed in early march. you were admitted to the hospital, out upon a ventilator, and almost immediately -- and then you had to be put into a medically induced coma for five days, thank god turning the corner after that. do you recall, reuben, the moment you realized how wrong you had been? >> yes, because there was the symptoms that started, major body aches. the body aches, the fever that didn't go down, the inability to think. it was a foggy mind. when my taste buds went, that's when it really -- because normally if it was a fever or something, i could dominate it with ginger tea, doing what i knew, but it didn't subside and the conditions got worse.

that's what i realized it's something bigger than me. >> yeah. you know, people still think the way that you do before you got the virus. do you think there is something that someone could have said to the reuben of early march that, i don't know, could have scared you straight? you want to speak out now, you're trying to use your story to get people to understand and to learn lessons and not make the mistakes that you did. what do you think you could have been told before that would have helped you avoid everything you've gone through? >> how serious it is. it's life. it's life or death. it's not a cough that you could take something or it's not something so simple as my conditioned mind knew. it was life or death. and until that happened and realizing it's serious of life

or death, then i maybe would have thought different of knowing the consequences of not, you know, washing my hands, not staying six feet away of social distancing and not wearing a mask. if i would have known that, that's why i'm speaking out so much about what the results may be of not doing those three things, it's death. my friend, my brother's best friend just passed away two days ago, and i spoke with him a week before saying go get checked, go get checked. and unfortunately, may he rest in peace, it's the mind-set. it's unfortunate. but like you were sharing, if i was told that very -- i would say in a way of looking at it as reality, not just hearing it from somebody else, like, on tv. my mind put that aside.

it didn't want to spill what reality was. but if i was told by somebody about what really may happen, i would have thought about it different. that's why i'm speaking out on it, especially out here in orange county. we have a campaign called hashtag #maskupoc that talk about it. we just posted a video and we had almost 4,000 views in less than a day, which is great, because that's the purpose that i received -- yeah. >> that's great. it's great that you look fantastic. thank you for using your experience and your story and your scare, really, to try to teach people and get people to learn from your mistakes. thank you so much, reuben. good luck jud. coming up, some campus staff at the university of north carolina are filing a lawsuit over the school's reopening plans. some faculty have a message for students as well. stay at home, don't come back yet. one of those professors joins me next. ♪

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. the university of north carolina is now being sued by some of its employees over the school's reopening plan and decision to bring students back to its various campuses statewide. the group is accusing the school of putting their lives at risk. but it's not just those campus workers raising alarm. a group of unc professors is as well, writing an open letter to unc undergrads with a very clear message, please stay home. joining me now is one of the unc faculty members behind that letter, professor jay smith. professor, thanks for being here. what was the final straw that led to writing this letter and speaking out so publicly against the university's plan?

>> well, we felt our time running out, the sands in the hourglass were dwindling away. we were working since may, we've been working hard, a whole coalition of workers on the unc campus to get through to administrators, to talk sense to them to change their plans. they ignored us steadfastly, and we realized with a week to go before classes began that our hail mary pass had to be a direct appeal to students. and so we asked them to stay at home and make the safe choice for themselves. >> classes started yesterday. you told my producer that you and most of the faculty are teaching remotely right now. what are you hearing from students? do you think your fears are going to be realized? >> well, yes, yes, we do.

we have every reason to suppose so given the statistics in north carolina for the past couple of months. the pandemic has clearly worsened and there's reason i read yesterday that one student, a student leader said he felt like he was walking into a burning building, and that was an apt metaphor. all the statistics suggest that viral spread will be inevitable, and that vulnerable communities are going to be impacted by this. >> i mentioned the campus, the lawsuit that was filed by campus workers against the school asking for more protections for employees. is there a level of protection that you could see that would get you comfortable in heading back into a classroom and teaching in person? >> well, you know, our orange county health director -- recommendations for the university that they ignored, if

those recommendations were followed, we would all feel a whole lot safer going back on campus. they recommended that the density of student housing be greatly reduced, and they recommended that at least first five weeks of the semester be conducted remotely. having a default remote teaching mode. at least for the first five weeks. and if those directives were followed, we would all feel a lot better about things. >> have -- you mentioned your open letter was addressed to the undergrads on campus, but have you heard anything back from school leaders about your message, about what you wrote, about obviously your frustration and it is not you alone, it is a group of faculty that did this together. >> right, right. and one source of our frustration has been the nonresponsiveness on the part of our leaders here at the campus level and at the board of governors level over the entire unc system. no, they have not answered that

letter. they have not answered that message. they ignored petitions that we sent to them with thousands of signatures on them, earlier in the summer. they are bound and determined to head over that cliff, like thelma and louise. their foot is on the accelerator. >> well, we'll stand by to see what happens as the school year gets under way, classes started yesterday. professor, thank you for coming in, appreciate your time. >> thank you. want to turn to the fate of college football, the college football season, which right now appears to be hanging by a thread. a second ncaa conference announced overnight, it is postponing the fall season and there are reports of a decision from the big ten and the pac-12 conferences that could come as soon as today. some coaches and players are pushing back against the momentum to cancel the season saying they want to play. cnn's andy scholes is following this and joins me now, today could -- today, tomorrow could be hugely consequential when it comes to -- with the message from the big ten and pac-12

would mean. what are you hearing? >> well, kate, the big ten presidents are meeting as we speak right now discussing the future of the college football season, the pac-12 conference, their leaders are expected to meet today as well. we could find out that they -- of the college football season, for those two conferences later on today, and it might not just be postponing the fall season, it might clue something like pushing it back from the start from the first week of september to the end of september. if we were talking yesterday morning, it certainly seemed like postponing the fall football season was going to happen. but that's when a number of players, big time coaches and even some other conference commissioners came out and said, look, we want to play football, this fall, and that,pa campaign the players was led by trevor lawrence. he said they want health and safety protocols to be universal across college football, but he added they want to play this fall because he thinks that's the safest for all of the players. >> we feel safe here. we feel safer here than anywhere

else, honestly. and when you go outside these walls and go get food, go do anything, you're at just as much if not more risk. >> we cancel football, the virus is going to go away. it is fully my belief that these guys are safe here. not only are they safer here, minimally it is better for them. >> the big ten conference appears to be the first power five conference that would make the move to postpone the fall football season if they decide to do that. but they have some of their biggest head coaches saying no, we want to play football this fall. that list includes michigan, head coach jim harbaugh, ohio state's head coach ryan day. and nebraska's head coach scott frost took it an even step further and he said, nebraska's playing football this fall no matter what, even if the big ten decides not to. >> our university is committed to playing no matter what, no matter what that looks like and how that looks.

we want to play no matter who it is or where it is, so we'll see how those chips fall. we certainly hope it is in the big ten. if it isn't, i think we're prepared to look for other options. >> and that is certainly a powerful statement there from coach frost. a team playing in another conference for one season, kate, that's really unheard of. and if you think about the other conferences in the power five that we're not really hearing about now, the s.e.c., they're moving along as scheduled, their players are practicing, teams are practicing and commissioner was on "good morning america" this morning saying they're not going to be in any rush to make any kind of a decision. >> the s.e.c. looks like they're looking at every possibility to see if they can pull it off. a lot of push from players they want to see it. also you can hear otherwise as well. good to see you, andy. thank you so much. russia claims it is the world's first covid vaccine. do they have the science to back it up?

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