despite the outcry, despite the facts, donald trump is doubling down on his false claims about mail-in voting. also -- >> he's very selfish and i don't think he's conservative. >> people who once supported the president are now campaigning for joe biden. hear what changed their minds. also this hour, what will it take to keep college athletes safe? at this point, it's anyone's ball game. opposing sides in the world of college football. we're live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm natalie allen.

"cnn newsroom" starts right now. thank you for joining us. our top story, u.s. president donald trump's younger brother has died. 71-year-old robert trump passed away late saturday at a new york hospital. he served as an executive with the trump organization and for a time oversaw its atlantic city casinos. mr. trump is expected to attend his brother's funeral, but no details have been released so far. cnn's kristen holmes is traveling with the president in new jersey. >> reporter: president trump's younger brother robert trump passing away late saturday night. a night after president trump had gone on an impromptu visit to new york city. the press had known he was going

to new jersey, at the last minute they told us he was going to the hospital in new york to visit his brother robert. we know he had been seriously ill, but not clear what illness he had. he had been in and out of the hospital since the spring. now, the white house issued a statement on behalf of president trump and it is clearly an emotional and sentimental statement here. it says, it is with a heavy heart i share my wonderful brother robert peacefully passed away tonight. he was not only my brother, he was my best friend. he'll be greatly missed but we will meet again. his memory will live on in my heart forever. robert, i love you, rest in peace, the president said. so clearly you can see the strength of their relationship. president trump said on numerous occasions that robert trump supported his candidacy for president a thousand percent. it is unclear exactly what the illness is that robert trump passed from. we are waiting to hear more

information from the white house. it is again his younger brother who had been ill since around the spring passed away late saturday night. kristen holmes, cnn, traveling with the president in bridgewater, new jersey. ivanka and eric trump reacted to the death of their uncle in posts on twitter. shortly after the announcement, ivanka trump tweeted, uncle robert, we love you, you are in our hearts and prayers always. and eric trump wrote, robert trump was an incredible man, strong, kind and loyal to the core, anyone who uncountered him felt his warmth immediately. he will be deeply missed by our entire family. now to the battle against the coronavirus. and evidence the world is still losing ground. world health organization has received reports of a record number of new cases in a 24-hour period, more than 294,000.

and you're looking here at figures in the united states. figures that are just as grim. more than 1,000 deaths have been report for the fourth straight day, that brings the u.s. death toll to as you can see, 169,483. here in the hard hit state of georgia, the governor is now reversing course after a spat with atlanta's mayor and it is letting cities impose mask mandates with some restrictions. his executive order says they cannot be enforced on private property or at polling places and it says local governments can't find businesses or find violators more than $50. the cdc warns that covid-19 cases in children in the u.s. are steadily increasing, that is, of course, frightening news for parents who are trying to decide many of them what to do about school.

cristina alesci has more on what top experts are saying about how the virus is impacting our kids. >> reporter: that's right, new cdc guidelines that parents might want to consider as they weigh whether or not to send their children back to school this fall. the cdc now acknowledging that children do transmit the virus in places like homes and summer camps, the cdc also noting that the number of cases among children is rising. now, 7.3% of all covid cases are among children. that is up considerably since cdc's last guidance, which was at 2% for children with covid. also, the cdc noting that the lower rates in children could be attributable to school closures in the early part of the pandemic. and that's why it was lower for children. now, given the new guidance, it is entirely appropriate to be questioning public officials including governors and mayors who have put forth plans to

reopen schools or allow them to reopen. and in new york, particularly, the governor last week announced the fact that schools can reopen here, we reached out to the governor here to see if these new cdc guidelines factor into the decision or change the plan at all. we have not heard back from them. but educators here in new york city's largest school district in the country now expressing a lot of unease about schools opening here and whether they have the right precautions and the right equipment to deal with the large influx of students who would be coming back to school here. but, for now, at least as far as new york is concerned, it looks like full speed ahead on school reopenings. back to you. >> on another issue, congressional democrats are so alarmed by recent changes in the u.s. postal service that u.s. house leaders are considering calling lawmakers back from their summer recess. with the u.s. presidential election just months away now,

many americans expected to vote by mail due to the pandemic, there is growing concern that some of those ballots might not be counted. the postal service has said it cannot promise to deliver all mail-in ballots in time to meet state deadlines. james clyburn speaking with ana cabrera framed the controversy as an attack on democracy. >> for us not to make revisions for people to be able to participate in this democracy without having to run the risk of contracting a disease that could kill them. i never thought that i would live to see the u.s. tolerate a tyrant. most of the outrage is directed at louis dejoy, a top republican fund-raiser who

president trump recently appointed post master general. on saturday, a large group of protesters banged pots and pans as they marched past dejoy's washington residence, but the president is standing by his appointment. we get more about it from cnn's sarah westwood in washington. >> reporter: president trump on saturday continuing to cast doubt on the reliability of mail-in voting, despite experts repeatedly saying that widespread voter fraud in the u.s. is exceedingly rare. and many states have relied on the mail-in voting to varying degrees for years. though the post master general has made changes to the post office operations that critics say will hamper its ability to deliver mail-in ballots at the volume expected in november, the president praised dejoy's efforts. he also sought to draw a distinction between absentee voting and mail-in voting. >> louis, he is working very

hard, but as you know, the democrats aren't approving the proper funding for postal and they're not approving the proper funding for this ridiculous thing they want to do, all mail-in voting, universal, you could call it, mail-in. absentee voting is great, i'm a absentee voter, i requested, i got and sent in my vote. that works out very well. that's what we had. now they want to send in millions and millions of ballots and you see what's happening, they're being lost, they're being discarded, they're finding them in piles. it is going to be a catastrophe. >> the president recently requested his own absentee ballot, but the distinction between absentee voting and mail-in voting is not black and white. in fact, the lines between them are pretty blurred. both are conducted in much the same way, the ballots are delivered through the maim, and only nine states in the district of columbia are doing what the president was warning about, which is mailing every voter a ballot, in most states people will still have to request a

ballot in order to vote. the president's also exploiting the likelihood that the election result may not be entirely clear on election night because it does take longer to count mail-in votes. the president tweeted saturday morning, the democrats know the 2020 election will be a fraudulent mess. we'll maybe never know who won. and meanwhile, the postal service in late july warned 46 states and the district of columbia that their election laws are incompatible with the postal service operations. they said some of the deadlines that states have set for requesting and turning in their ballots just doesn't leave the postal service enough time to get the ballots delivered. sarah westwood, cnn, washington. president trump had another chance saturday to denounce the birther conspiracy theory about senator kamala harris. he said he would stop pursuing it, but he didn't dismiss it. instead, the president continued to praise the controversial

professor who wrote an opinion piece for "newsweek," questioning kamala harris' eligibility. >> i have nothing to do with that. i read something about it, and i will say that he is a brilliant lawyer that i guess he wrote an article about it. so i know nothing about it. but it is not something that bothers me. >> when you do that, and create -- >> why do you say that? i just don't know about it. it is not something we will be pursuing. let me put it differently. let me put it differently. don't tell me what i know. let me put it differently. let me put it differently. to me, it doesn't bother me at all. i don't know about it. i read one quick article. the lawyer happens to be a brilliant lawyer. as you probably know. >> let's talk politics with natasha lindhstat, a professor of government at the university of essex. she joins me to talk about what's going on here a few

months before the election. natasha, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> first up, i want to begin with the virtual democratic convention which begins monday. what do you expect from team biden and harris in these uncertain times in our country's history and can they generate excitement without an audience and do you think they'll be reaching out to disenchanted trump supporters? >> right, well, i think with the upcoming convention usually it is about highlighting rising stars, energizing the party and trying to make the case to the wider american public. i think this convention is going to be unusual in that it is going to be more about the latter two things, about really motivating and energizing the democratic base, but trying to make the case to the american public that the u.s. cannot handle another four years under trump that the u.s. is facing imminent disaster and that it is really biden and harris that can pull the u.s. out of this mess. in particular, because of the incredibly high unemployment

rates and the mass spread of the virus. they're going to be trying to make this case to the american public about what policies they're going to pursue in order to help americans and that they are the team that can do so. >> kamala harris' choice as the vp candidate generated much excitement from democrats. what does she bring to the ticket for joe biden? what will you be listening for from her. >> the choice was about trying to give energy to the campaign. she has done that. we're seeing from early polls, the most recent axios poll showed she is helping biden. normally a vp pick doesn't help much, but it looks like she's doing well with both wings of the democratic party, with hispanics, african-american voters, and even with independents. she doesn't really make much of a dent with younger people. she didn't do that well with those 65 and older and she doesn't do that well with whites

in general. but she does seem to give a lot of energy, which is what we're seeing with all this campaign funding coming in. she really puts a contrast with biden who some think is very old, and needs youth, needs someone who is young and who is also very capable. she is showing that. she's going to be a very effective surrogate for biden on the campaign trail, fighting for what she thinks he is going to add to the presidency. and i think it is -- the pick was about trying to appeal to key demographic, african-american demographic, this is a key base in the democratic party. and in 2008, and 2012, 66% of african-americans came out to vote when obama was presidential ticket on the presidential ticket. this compares with 2004 and 2016, only 60%. and some said that this actually did have a big impact in affecting hillary clinton's chances for winning. it is also more about demonstrating that biden can

pick someone who challenges him, who will criticize him. she showed that early on in some of those democratic debates. and by choosing kamala harris, he's demonstrating he's willing to have people surround him that don't always agree with him. >> natasha lindstaedt, we appreciate your insights. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. an intense heat wave is fueling wildfire on the u.s. west coast, leading to remarkable scenes such as this, a fire tornado in california. we have the latest advisories and the forecast straight ahead. also, a new mask mandate in paris, just one of the major developments we'll have for you from around the world with the pandemic. stay with us. robinhood believes now is the time to do money.

without the commission fees. so, you can start investing today wherever you are - even hanging with your dog. so, what are you waiting for? download now and get your first stock on us. robinhood. several wildfires are raging in the western u.s. now and things could get worse this weekend, as much of the region is baking in an intense heat wave. almost 100 million americans are under some form of heat advisory from texas through the rocky

mountains over to the west coast. in southern california, hundreds of firefighters are battling to control the lake fire as it is known. the spate of wildfires in the west have collectively burned more than 100,000 acres or 40,000 hectares. meteorologist derek van dam is following the conditions firefighters are facing. he joins us now. you do have to know that these are some of the toughest firefighters in the world, because california goes through this so often now. >> yeah, natalie, a lot of times these firefighters are volunteers as well, something to consider. speaking of the lake fire, you're showing some video of that a moment ago. this is incredible. at one point at the beginning of this inception of this fire, earlier this week, it was burning or consuming 66 acres per minute, which is equivalent to a football field burned every 1.2 seconds. that gives you an idea of the explosive violent nature of these wildfires that are ongoing across much of the western u.s.

and talks about the really dry conditions that are in place. if you look at just the last time it rained in los angeles, it was 88 days ago, into las vegas it was over 115 days ago. so the ongoing drought just continues over the western u.s. let's look at some of the footage out of the lake fire once again. an interesting phenomenon took place, this is called a fire whirl, often mislabeled as a fire tornado, but look at the turbulent wind conditions this is associated with and creating itself, intense rising heat which can get up to 2,000 degrees fahrenheit, sucking debris and ash into the vortex of fire you see in the middle. it lasts a few minutes. sometime these fire whirls can have winds over hurricane force, enough to uproot trees and take down power lines. that's why it is so dangerous to have these fire whirls take place. look at the physics behind what is taking place, you need an intense wildfire, which we have.

we get that very temperature differential between the ambient air and what is happening around it and get this converging spin in the atmosphere and we see the vortexes or flames start to rotate and create that fire whirl. the containment here is lackluster at best. we're talking about 12% containment for the lake fire. that's nothing compared to what is happening. in colorado, for instance, 80 million americans under some sort of heat advisory at the moment. for good reason too. we're talking about triple digit heat from palm spring to baker field to sacramento, even northward toward the pacific northwest, portland today should top 100 degrees as well. we have the potential to break over 100 record high temperatures from today, right through tuesday. and with the ongoing drought we can clearly see the deep shading of red and orange, stretching from colorado all the way to northern california. that's a recipe for disaster, the fires continue. look at the pine gulch fire over the western sections of colorado. this is a satellite imagery, you

see that convective nature to the thunderstorms. those are called pyro cumulonimbus clouds. natalie? >> it is usually just california, but it branched out, has it not? derek, thanks so much. >> clearly. >> good to see you. >> okay. authorities in mauritius declared an oil spill a forbidden zone after a cargo split in two on saturday. take a look and you can seat damage. greenpeace africa says volunteers working on the cleanup have been asked to stop their activities over safety concerns. the japanese owned ship was on its way from china to brazil when it ran aground on a reef in late july. it has been leaking tons of oil into a pristine lagoon in the indian ocean since last week. at least five people have

been skilled in shark attacks in australia this year, but a man in new south wales wasn't going to let his girlfriend become the latest death. police say the pair were surfing yesterday when a juvenile great white clamped its jaws on her leg. so the man went into attack mode himself, pounding on the predator until it let go. the shark got away and now area beaches are closed as authorities try to track it down. >> that's what some of the surfers were saying, apparently that the shark bit the girl and wasn't letting go straightaway. so the boyfriend apparently jumped off his board and was having to physically get the shark off her. >> the woman is in serious but stable condition in a hospital with bites on her calf and thigh. and, hey, my opinion, her boyfriend is a keeper. you're watching "cnn newsroom," much more straight ahead, including how the

coronavirus and the delayed election are sparking protests in bolivia. you doing okay?

yeah. this moving thing never gets any easier. well, xfinity makes moving super easy. i can transfer my internet and tv service in about a minute. wow, that is easy. almost as easy as having those guys help you move. we are those guys. that's you? the truck adds 10 pounds. in the arms. -okay... transfer your service online in a few easy steps. now that's simple, easy, awesome. transfer your service in minutes, making moving with xfinity a breeze. visit xfinity.com/moving today.

welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm natalie allen th. this is "cnn newsroom." brazil opened public attractions and theme parks on saturday, including the famous christ the redeemer statue in rio. brazil ranked second in the world still in total coronavirus cases. fewer visitors are allowed to the attractions and precautions like temperature checks are in place. south africa is also easing

restrictions as their case numbers are falling. bans on alcohol and tobacco will be lifted. restaurants and bars can reopen with strict hygiene protocols required. and paris, police, were out enforcing a mandatory mask rule saturday after the city was declared a zone of active circulation. let's go now live to cnn's senior international correspondent jim bittermann, near paris. talk with us about what that active circulation is all about there, jim. >> well, it is something worrisome for the authorities here. the number of cases every day now for the last four days has grown. not only grown, but grown exponentially. authorities here are quite worried about what they're seeing, what the trend lines are. large parts of paris, large parts of marseille have been put under a mask ordinance, people are -- have to wear masks out and about, walking or jogging, whatever, in these areas that

have been specified. the only people accepted are bicyclists, they can ride without wearing masks. in any case, it shows that the government is moving in the direction that i think imposing mask orders just about everywhere. we are hearing from the labor minister that she's going to talk to the labor unions about wearing masks that work. and we had a warning from the high counsel of health basically saying that people should consider wearing masks in private settings, in family gatherings and that sort of thing. it is all moving in the wrong direction since may 11 th, they have been relaxing things here. but it looks like the numbers are not going in the right direction. >> right. it looks like from what i can tell from our video that people are adhering to it. also, this weekend, the cause of the uptick in cases there, we saw the uk restrict travel from france and many people were getting out, how did that go?

how has that gone over for france? >> well, it is pretty interesting, actually, the french government's official position is that it is regrettable that they impose this 14-day quarantine on travelers who are coming from france. but we heard this morning from one of the former ministers of european affairs here, who is very close to the president macron and she said on french radio this morning, she said the quarantine by the british government shows the british government that has been very late in taking action against the coronavirus, it is now trying to demonstrate its effectiveness with delay. so, in other words, a little bit of bitterness there, less than diplomatic language, just underneath the surface among those party members that are belonging to the same party as the government here. natalie? >> certainly hope the new mask mandate helps out. thanks so much, jim bittermann, for us there in paris. we always appreciate you. the coronavirus is fueling

unrest in the south american nation of bolivia. protesters there say the country's leader is using the pandemic as an excuse to keep postponing elections. cnn's steph knano poziban has m. >> reporter: country facing two crisis, the coronavirus. they are angry the country's general election was postponed for a second time. supporters of former lieftest leader morales, it is not the right time to go to the polls, the government says. more than a dozen government officials contracted the virus. tensions have been brewing since the presidential election was moved from september 6th to october 18th. protesters say they want the

election moved back, to the september date, where assurances that the elections will not be postponed again. >> translator: the government is using this as a pretext. oxygen, drug s were already lacking a long time ago. >> reporter: he and his supporters say it was a coup. power fell to a senator, janine anes, sworn in with mandates to call for new elections. the vote is yet to take place. to voice their protests, anes ordinance set up roadblocks, a common practice in the deeply polarized nation. the blockades are preventing the transport of medical supplies and oxygen needed for patients and babies in the neonatal unit and led to some deaths.

protesters disagree. >> translator: we're letting in ambulances and oxygen and not stoning them. they're passing through with full confidence and we're opening the way. >> reporter: the government tried to stop the stalemate by ordering armed forces to guard the transport of 66 tons of oxygen it three cities. the interior minister with the task of restoring order in the country told cnn he's trying to prevent the potential catastrophe. >> translator: to go out and fire -- would be the politically correct thing to do. but we are not doing it. >> reporter: on top of medical supplies, the barricades are raising concerns of possible gasoline shortages in this nation. protesters are are furious over response to the coronavirus pandemic. virus has overwhelmed morgues and hospitals and it is not slowing down. 2020 could be a game changer for arizona politics.

next, why more and more republicans say they will not vote for president trump. what does it mean to feel safe? what if you can have direct access to certified personal security agents or you have the ability to set security check ins or a watchful eye when you are expecting a delivery or have someone by your side whenever you go for a walk that's why we created the worlds first security platform that brings personalized security to you and your loved ones 24/7 this is bond, personal security for all. we already helped thousands stay safer go to the app store to download the bond app today. hi jen! hi. so you're the scientist here. does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day? it's true jen. really?! this prebiotic oat formula moisturizes to help prevent dry skin. impressive! aveeno® healthy. it's our nature. it's kind of my quiet, alone time. audible is a routine for me. it's like a fun night school for adults.

i could easily be seduced into locking myself into a place where i do nothing but listen to books. i never was interested in historical fiction before, but i'm obsessed with it now. there are a lot of like, classic and big titles that i feel like i missed out since i don't have time to read, mean i might as well listen. if i want to catch up on the news or history or learn what's going on in the world, i can download a book and listen to it. because i listened to her story over and over again, i made the decision to go ahead and follow my own dream, which was to help other veterans. i think there's like 180 books in my, in my library now. it changes your perspective; it makes you a different person. it's true, it's so true. to start your free 30-day trial, just text listen25 to 500500.

to start your free 30-day trial, it's more than just fast. it keeps all your devices running smoothly. with built-in security that protects your kids. protects your info and gives you 24/7 peace of mind that if it's connected, it's protected. even that that pet-camera thingy. can your internet do that? xfinity xfi can because it's simple, easy, awesome. get advanced security free with the xfi gateway. download the xfi app today.

president trump and his allies keep pushing unproven claims about mail-in and drop off voting and now many u.s. states are pushing back, defending the systems they use as safe and secure. for more about it, here's cnn's abby phillip reporting from connecticut. >> reporter: you can walk up or drive up, either way, this is the newest way to cast your ballot in connecticut. >> it is very simple. fill it out, drop it off, no problems. >> reporter: drop boxes like these have been installed all around the state, one of several changes made to create more options for voting during the coronavirus pandemic. here it has been pretty much uncontroversial, connecticut secretary of state denise meryl says.

>> they're strongly in favor, strongly in favor, because it gives them more options. >> reporter: but in the battleground state of pennsylvania, republicans are already challenging the state's use of drop boxes that allow voters to bypass the postal service altogether. arguing in the lawsuit that allowing ballots to be collected in drop boxes allows illegal absent and mail-in voting, ballot harvesting and other fraud to occur and/or go undetected and will result in delusion of validly cast ballots. meantime, president trump continues to spread false claims of fraud with ballots submitted by mail. >> in all the mailboxes and kids go in there and raid the mailboxes and hand them to people signing the ballots down the end of the street. >> reporter: opponents say ballots could be stolen or vandalized in unsecured drop boxes. you've seen so far no evidence of fraud, tampering, vandalism? >> no, no. the clerks empty these things a couple of times a day, actually, and they usually are in very prominent places, it would be very difficult to vandalize one of these boxes.

>> reporter: you can't even stick your hand in the ballot box. >> that's right. bolted to the ground. it is really quite a secure system. >> this is just a regular usps mailbox and normally you can just pull down this lever and put your ballot right inside. the opening is a little bit larger than the drop box, but it is pretty much the same. in hartford, local election officials say they unload the boxes every few hours. ballots are taken here. >> the envelope contains a ballot. we time stamp it. >> reporter: this bar code you're scanning, what is that telling the system? >> that john doe has mailed his absentee ballot in. >> reporter: that part of the process ensuring one person, one vote. but this year, drop boxes may be the next front in a partisan battle over vote by mail.

>> it is voter suppression, you know, we're supposed to enhance voters' ability to participate in electoral process. >> reporter: states like california, washington and colorado used them for years. in colorado, which votes almost entirely by mail, 75% of all ballots in 2018 were returned through ballot boxes or manually at polling locations, officials say. and officials in connecticut see little reason for the controversy. >> it is a way of scaring the public and trying to make them doubt their election system. and it is very destructive. >> reporter: abby phillip, cnn, hartford, connecticut. as the partisan battles brew, the pandemic still meets many u.s. voters will be voting by mail for the first time. here's some advice to make sure your voice is heard. first, get a ballot, and many states is an easy online application. you also have to mark your calendar. most states require an absentee ballot be requested by mid to

late october. next, track your ballot, many requests will come with a code, you can go to your secretary of state's website to see where you are in the process. finally, don't wait. the postal service warns ballots mailed late may not be delivered in time to be counted. for more on how to make sure your vote counts, you can go to cnn.com. some life-long republicans are abandoning president trump in a state that should be a shoo-in for the party. cnn's miguel marquez reports from mesa, arizona. >> trump trouble in the phoenix suburbs? >> he's very selfish. and i don't think he's conservative. >> reporter: the president's handling of the pandemic -- >> he's not been truthful about the coronavirus. >> reporter: making voters who typically vote republican -- >> i have hope that we can take

the party back from extremism, back to the center. >> reporter: -- not only speak out, but organize to defeat him. >> donald trump wins arizona. >> reporter: trump won arizona by less than four points in 2016. he still has support in this battleground state, but recent polls show joe biden with a narrow edge. now even some current and former republicans are organizing against trump. >> you can't blame the president for the virus, but you can absolutely blame him for the complete lack of leadership and the mismanagement since that time. >> reporter: c.j. degle runs the nonpartisan political group co-founded by mcmullen who ran as an independent in 2016. >> we want to make sure people know they have an outlet to -- permission if they will to go out and either vote against trump or just not cast a ballot for him. >> reporter: degle, a

self-described life long republican, never thought he would say this. >> i will be voting for joe biden this year because i'm so, so disgusted. >> reporter: kathy vargas says she voted for donald trump. she now volunteers for republicans for a new president. >> i would like to see a president that can unify the country, that can show empathy for others. >> reporter: long time republican daniel barker, twice appointed a judge by republican governors, started a little action committee, its name is its message. arizona republicans who believe in treating others with respect. >> if we can make a difference, whatever it might be, so that joe biden won arizona, that is our hope. >> reporter: for now, he's printing and distributing arizona republicans for biden yard signs. laura clement is working with a group mormon women for ethical government. it started after trump's election. >> he was in denial and he only started wearing a mask like a

few weeks ago. so i think he only made it worse. >> reporter: she too says she's voting for biden. the president and the pandemic in the grand canyon state a call to action for some republicans to vote for anyone other than donald trump. miguel marquez, cnn, mesa, arizona. cnn will bring you live coverage of this year's all digital democratic national convention. it begins monday, 8:00 p.m. eastern time. then on monday, august 24th, we'll be covering the republican national convention. of course, you can check it out -- our daily coverage of the race for the white house always at cnn.com as well. college sports are on the verge of being sidelined in the u.s., due to the pandemic. schools are weighing their options as more players test positive. is there hope for college

football? i'll talk with a sports reporter about that next. - [alan] what is a wish? (medical equipment beeping) (sonar pinging) (upbeat music) - [man] captain, we're ready to dive. - [alan] it's adventure and seeing the unknown. (inspirational music) it's imagination - [man] we're ready to surface. - [alan] and coming up for air.

(inspirational music) - [alan] but really, deep down, a wish is hope. and right now, we need hope more than ever, that's why we need your help. when children with critical illnesses spend their days here, getting tests and treatments, to wishing to be anywhere else. they're wishing to just be kids again. by giving $20 a month, 67 cents a day, or any amount to make-a-wish, you make wishes real. (uplifting music) wishes provide hope and give strength to children and their families. wishes change lives.

(uplifting music) - [announcer] for just $20 a month, 67 cents a day, or any amount, you can give a child hope. call the number on your screen or visit wish.org to grant wishes today. concentration - in cwe suppohectic times .oments, and focus to win the day. unlike ordinary memory supplements... neuriva's clinically proven ingredients

fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. take the neuriva challenge with our money-back guarantee! i want college football to come back. these are strong, healthy,

incredible people. these are people that want to play football very badly. a great, great talent. u.s. president donald trump there on saturday, reiterating his desire for college football to go ahead, despite the pandemic. college athletes like clemson quarterback trevor lawrence rallied online with th the #wewanttoplay. but several schools are dealing with outbreaks. the university of oklahoma announced nine players have tested positive. oklahoma's part of the big 12 conference, which said this week it plans to move forward with its season. the chief medical official with the national collegiate athletic association talked about what the schools are up against. >> the pathway to play sports is so exceedingly narrow right now. everything would have to line up just perfectly. and so that's why you've seen so many of the schools have decided

they can't play sports. it is not just an individual school decision. there are very, very strict mandates that the ncaa has put out and the schools must follow those. and so you're seeing that some of the schools are made decisions very early, many others have made them more lately and some conferences are still waiting and i think they're waiting for that one possibility that maybe there could be a breakthrough, but the mandates are pretty rigid. bruce feldman is a reporter for the athletic, he's also the new york times best-selling author of qv, the making of modern quarterbacks. he's here to talk about the impact of this pandemic on college football. bruce, thank you for coming on. how are you doing? >> i'm doing well. thank you for having me, natalie. >> sure thing. first up, clearly this has to be an agonizing decision, like so many others associated with sport and the pandemic. some conferences have made the choice to suspend play.

what does the season look like so far this year? >> it has been pretty chaotic. i think what it has shown is there is no centralized leadership as it relates to college football. and so as you mentioned, a couple of the biggest conferences in college football, the big 10, which has ohio state and michigan and a bunch of other midwestern powers as well as the pac-12, which is usc and oregon and a bunch of schools on the west coast, they both decided their medical experts told them they cannot play this fall. and they're hoping at least at this point that they may be able to splplay in the spring. what that left is three other conferences in the power five are still at this point have said they're going to try to play and wait until there is more information, they're going to go through training camps, they're going to probably -- delay the start of the season, probably, two, three weeks later than normal. but right now, they're all bracing for when the regular students come back and they're hopeful there won't be too much of a surge that ends up

spreading on back to their team, because it has been a challenge for them to ramp up testing and everything else that has been going on with the pandemic. >> you mentioned the pac-12 team, you tweeted about a zoom call with team members that was chilling and helped them make their decision to postpone. tell us about that. what happened on that call? >> they had a zoom call monday night between all the pac-12 coaches, their athletic directors and the commissioner larry scott. from our reporting and i talked to about half of the coaches in the league over the weekend for the athletic, they described to me what they thought was a very disturbing and chilling power point presentation that one of the medical experts walked them through on the concerns they had, as it relates to heart issues. and stemming from covid. several big 10 student athletes have suffered from that. we don't know exactly how many. it has been reported there is at

least ten in the big 10 alone. to my knowledge, there have not been any in the pac-12, but there are also some other concerns about several other athletes as it relates to that, also they talked about how there are several hot spots that they identified within the pac-12 that had five schools they felt like they would need to ramp up testing to have it daily. and that's something that some of these schools they didn't think would be able to do that until november. >> some players want to play. others are bowing out. one accused his team of lying about the situation. his coaches misleading the team to what the situation was, that shows you how complicated this is and let's talk about the stakes here. what kind of pressure do college teams face to play? what is at stake for them, what could be the repercussions of canceling or postponing their season? >> well, first of all, we're

talking about hundreds of millions of dollars, you're talking about huge tv contracts if they do not have a season in the 2021 calendar -- academic calendar year. that's out in front. when you have other sports that are back competing, the nba, the nhl, mls, wnba, those sports had a bubble, there is no bubble as it relates to college sports. even major league baseball and they had some interruptions due to covid, but they pressed forward with the season. keep in mind the rosters in college football are at least twice the size, baseball is more of a social distance for it as opposed to tackle football. the other big piece of this is their college athletes, they're not professionals. i think those are the challenges that people have been sorting out and i think when you talk about some of the student athletes involved, we have seen a lot of pushback, especially in

the big 10 among those athletes, some of their coaches, as well as all the parents of the players saying, hey, listen, you have not given us enough of an explanation of why you have told them they can't play. where as other conferences are saying, hey, you know what, we feel like until we get more information, we're not going to shut it down. so you have a real big disconnect and a lot of -- a lot of friction now all over college football, especially. and, again, i think now it has become very politically charged on top of it, it is a big mess. >> we appreciate your insights and your reporting on this. we'll continue to follow you on twitter. see what you report next. bruce feldman, thanks so much for your insights. >> thank you, natalie. thank you for watching this hour. i'll be right back with another hour of "cnn newsroom." you're t our top stories right after this. we live with at&t and we are well past the honeymoon phase.

ocupado tom. at&t, what's this i hear about you advertising a 100% fiber network? only like a fraction of my customers can get that. that's it?!? you have such a glass half-empty attitude. the glass is more than half-empty! you need to relax tom. oh! tom, you need a little tom time. a little tt. stop living with at&t. xfinity delivers gig speeds to more homes than anyone.

mourning a brother and best friend, president trump issues a heart felt statement after his younger brother robert dies in a new york hospital. also this hour, we bring you the very latest on the presidential election, democrats say they may recall the house early to deal with major controversies over mail-in voting. wildfires raging in the western u.s., where scorching temperatures are intensifying. the challenge to fight them. we're live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta. welcome to our viewers