hello and welcome to our viewers. joining us here in the united states and all around the world. you are watching cnn newsroom. and i'm rosemary church. just ahead, speaker nancy pelosi calls on the house to return to washington to deal with an escalating crisis over the u.s. postal service, accusing president trump of a campaign to sabotage the election. this as the democratic national convention kicks off today in a way never seen before virtually. more on what to expect in the week ahead. and new zealand postponed its general election for a month. the details coming up.

good to have you with us. u.s. democrats are heading into a party convention unlike any seen before while also preparing a political fight over the postal service. house speaker nancy pelosi is calling representatives back to washington this week. they will ramp up their investigation into the new postmaster, a trump fund-raiser. the house will also consider legislation reversing changes made since january 1st. meantime the postal service now says it will delay removal of mailboxes. this after warning last month it might not be able to deliver some mail-in ballots in time. the stakes are high since many will vote by mail due to the pandemic. president donald trump continued to sow doubts about mail-in voting this weekend saying it would be catastrophic and make the u.s. a laughing stock. and democrats are prepping for a

virtual convention this week. still, a cnn poll finds joe biden's lead among registered voters is 5% lower now than in june. well, there is, of course, a lot to cover so we turn to cnn's abby philip. she has more on the problems facing the u.s. postal service and the political fight that's raging. >> reporter: amid national outcry, the u.s. postal service appears to be backtracking on two moves that it had made in recent months as part of a major restructuring that had led to significant delays in mail delivery all across the country. the postal service says it will no longer remove those blue mail drop boxes that you'll see in communities across the united states. those drop boxes were slated for removal because the postal service said some of them were in low usage. they will now no longer remove those postal service boxes between now and the election. they are also keeping in place some of these massive pieces of equipment that were used to sort millions of pieces of mail all

across the country. about 700 were slated for removal, destruction or redistribution in the postal service system. and amid outcry, they are saying they will leave those pieces of machinery where they are now until the middle of november. cnn has obtained internal documents that show many of those pieces of machinery were already slated to be removed by this point, about 95% of them. so it's not clear whether or not this announcement will make a substantive difference. meantime, white house chief of staff mark meadows was pressed this weekend about whether the white house would be willing to come to the table on the issue of funding the postal service. take a listen. >> the postal service issue is one everybody can come together on. why not have a stand alone bill? you seem to be suggesting you don't want to do that. you want part of a bigger package. let me ask you about a broader -- >> don't -- don't get me wrong. i'm all about piecemeal. if we can a great on postal,

let's do it. if we can agree on stimulus checks, let's do it. >> reporter: and that would be a reversal of the white house's position on this issue. last week president trump made it very clear he did not want to fund the postal service to the tune of $25 billion because he was concerned that money would be used to help the postal service process millions of mail-in ballots. meantime over on capitol hill, house speaker nancy pelosi in a major development says she will bring the house of representatives back from recess by the end of this week to deal with the issue of the postal service. she is also calling on her members to have a day of action on tuesday, urging them to go to postal offices in their district to bring attention to this issue. abby philip, cnn, washington. >> national convention kicks off in a matter of hours, and the party has a lot on its plate. the pandemic, the recession, racism and civil unrest in the u.s. this week we will hear from many of the party's big names.

michelle obama and bernie sanders headline monday's speeches. jessica dean shows us what else to watch for. >> reporter: the 2020 democratic national convention is set to kickoff on monday and this is going to be a convention unlike any convention we've seen as democrats work around the pandemic and work to make sure everyone is socially distanced and safe as they also try to rev up the democratic party and build support around joe biden and kamala harris. and we're getting some details on logistically how this might work. we're told first there are four different sets that they'll be using. los angeles, new york, wilmington, delaware, here in wilmington, delaware, where we're told joe biden and kamala harris will give their acceptance speeches, and milwaukee which is where the full convention was originally slated to take place. to that, there will be speakers all across america from different historic sites that will be giving their speeches, which we're told will be much shorter than we're used to seeing at these conventions.

these will be more like 2 to 5 minutes. we're used to seeing 10, 15 minutes from some of these speakers. additionally to that, we're told broadcast kits have been sent out all across the country to delegates and different members of the party who will be able to set up those broadcast kits in their own living room. there will be a truck here in wilmington, delaware, that will be able to see those feeds from all of these people across america and be able to punch up reaction shots. they'll also use that for their roll call. we are also told tlel be here w an emcee and various emcees that will carry the programming because, remember, this will be like a television broadcast. typically a convention is broadcasting to both the room and tv. in this case they are simply broadcasting out to tv and then also across all the various online platforms. we are also told there will be a host of speakers fl r there will be a host of speakers monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday with a variety that includes bernie

sanders, michelle obama and a former governor john kasich who is speaking at the democratic national convention. a lot to watch as we head into monday. jessica dean, cnn, will ming top, delaware. with me from los angeles, michael genevai from los angeles. let's starts with that latest cnn poll showing the biden/harris ticket 4 percentage points ahead of the trump/pence ticket. how surprised are you by how close this is? >> i think this was a very close race from the beginning. this is 11 weeks. we won't have a clearer picture until a few parties later.

there's the popular vote and the electoral vote. the other way is if republicans can be successful in voter suppression and if the mail-in ballot continues and they don't resolve that before the election. there is concern the elderly and vulnerable won't have an opportunity to vote. should the rest of us consider voting in person? >> well, i think this is the universal problem. not just the elderly or the infirm. who wants to go to a high school gym in the middle of a pandemic with a bunch of other people? this requires us to have some

ultimately clear thinking and take some risk in terms of trying to think of some things. we need to open up the voting process. the problem is, the president is going to try to narrow the range of the vote. democrats want to expand it and whoever wins that race, the rae's to open or close the amount of people voting, is going to win the presidency. >> in just a matter of hours, they kick off four days of virtual events. michelle, bernie. this will be different than anything we've seen before due to the pandemic. what are you expecting to see and hear and what are you watching for? >> this is not your father's conventi convention. this is going to be a strange one. i've been to six party conventions, they tend to be

partly trump big circus and partly revival meeting. this is much more tempered, moderate and much more controlled. in the past we didn't know the nominee until we got to the convention. since the era of primaries, we knew the candidate so the drama is gone. it's more of a coronation than a contest. big infomercial for both parties. what i'm looking for is to see who can manage the process best and who can get their key points across best. >> it's going to be a very different arena. president trump intends to make a speech near joe biden's hometown on the same day the former vice president accepts the democratic nomination. what's trump's strategy? will it work, do you think? >> he likes to do counter programming. he likes to do counter punching. donald trump always has to be the center of attention. the cameras are going to be on

biden and the democrats. he's going to try to wrestle them away. it's something like teddy roosevelt's father said, has to be the baby at every christening. donald trump is going to try to get the spotlight on himself, tear down biden. normally the opposition party gives the other party a few days to sort of make their case and not interfere, but donald trump is a norm buster. he's going to try to meet claims center stage. he may very well be able to do it. >> we shall watch and see. michael genevais from los angeles. thank you so very much. >> thank you, rosemary. still to come, in just 18 days coronavirus deaths in the u.s. have jumped from 150,000 to 170,000. what the cdc is predicting about the case count in autumn.

plus, new zealand is delaying its election to a new outbreak of covid-19. we'll have that ahead. ly, that paved the way. find their stories. make them count. at ancestry.

well, another blow to the united states and its battle against covid-19. the virus has now claimed more than 170,000 american lives. the most unsettling is how quickly the u.s. hit this new milestone. it comes just 18 days after the u.s. reported 150,000 fatalities. over the weekend president trump disagreed with an assessment from the head of the centers for disease control and prevention who warned the country could be headed for the worst fall ever from a public health perspective. he said the double threat of covid-19 and seasonal flu could have a catastrophic impact on the u.s. one spot, arizona is seeing a change. the virus is spreading at a slower rate. health officials warn of a few

trends that have them concerned. cnn's miguel marquez reports from phoenix. >> reporter: the things here in arizona seem to be improving by the day. the positivity rate is now at about 10%, perhaps a little lower right now. all that is good. one thing that officials say is not happening in arizona is that the number of people getting tested is not rising, it's actually falling. that will make it very difficult for officials to know where breakout is, how big it is and then to track and trace that breakout as well. officials at asu, arizona state university believe that around 1 to 2% of the population in the state, 150,000 people, up to 150,000 people may carry the virus and not know it. it's important to keep that testing up. this is something we're seeing not only in arizona but across the country. the number of people getting tested is coming down as it's taking too long for results to

come back. it's not readily available at every pharmacy or doctor. it's very, very frustrating that they can't get the tests quickly, easily. people aren't doing it. that is raising headaches for public health officials in arizona and beyond. we'll see one thing that we have seen just being here over the last few months, anecdotal, staying in hotels, restaurants, there is a great adherence to mask control in maricopa county. it does seem to be waning to 10 some degree. we see many more people without masks in hotels, in bars, in restaurants as we go about our daily lives. so officials warning people across arizona that they have to keep those mask orders on. they have to keep their foot on the gas as they say. otherwise they will see a very

big wave as snow birds rush and school starts up and university students return. nearly 300,000 new covid-19 cases were reported worldwide in a 24 hour period over the weekend. that is according to the world health organization. south korea, france, new zealand are among the countries seeing a new surge in cases. cnn's kim brunhuber has more on how some countries are handling the situation. >> reporter: they were family, not just photos on a wall, numbers in a death toll. the didaz family lost five members. a tragedy that's difficult to bear. it's something very shocking, one family member says, because not only my mother left but also my grandparents, my uncles. the recovery has been slow. their losses are just a snapshot of the sickness that's sweeping

the globe. over the weekend the w.h.o. reported a record number of new cases worldwide in a 24 hour period and in latin america covid-19 cases have ticked up passing the 6 million mark. more than half of the infections are in brazil. it hasn't reached the peak but despite that it reopened some of the iconic landmarks with masks required and limited admission. the city of seoul is tightening the social distancing measures. officials say some clusters are linked to religious gatherings and warn there could be tough times ahead. the situation is showing the early sign of another wave of epidemics one official said. if we cannot control the spread, we will face a dangerous situation. cruise lines have been largely moored since the beginning of the pandemic. as of sunday some mediterranean cruise liners and sale again.

italy is trying to stop travelers from bringing the virus back. a more welcoming arrival in frankfurt where a couple separated for months is finally able to reunite after germany allowed none.u. members into the country. >> it's an incredible feeling again. i'm going to see my darling again after 6 1/2 months. a rare scene where social distancing perhaps shouldn't be required. kim brunhuber, cnn, atlanta. new zealand is delaying its election by four weeks due to a growing outbreak of covid-19. the country has report the 9 new locally transmitted cases in just the last 24 hours. cnn's angus watson is following

the story from sydney, australia. what is the latest to this and delaying the election? >> reporter: well, rosemary, they have taken the extraordinary step by pushing the election back four weeks. the government there does not think that it's safe enough to hold the vote with aukland, the major city, largest city, now in the grip of a new cluster of covid-19. you'll remember that it wasn't too long ago that new zealand was celebrating 100 days without community transmission. now the feeling that new zealand is right back where it started. here's what she said about that this morning. >> ultimately the 17th of october in approximately nine weeks' time provides sufficient time for them plan around the range of circumstances we could be containing under. the electoral commission to

appear and voters to be ensured of a safe, critical election. due to this decision, i am proposing parliament reconvene tomorrow. >> reporter: this isn't a political decision. she is in the ascendency. the opposition party has done very bad. it's had three separate leaders. it's in a state of disarray. the labor party would have been looking forward to the election. the people of new zealand feel that she has done a good job in crushing coronavirus. they hope to eliminate it completely from the country. they'll hope to do the same thing again. >> they're showing the rest of us how hard it is to get rid of this because they did eliminate it initially. angus watson, many thanks to you. appreciate it.

spain, frans, greece, germany are seeing worrying spikes in new covid-19 cases in recent weeks. france saw more than 3,000 new cases on sunday. the second highest daily jump in cases since mid may. cnn's melissa bell is live from paris. she joins us now. good to see you, melissa. what's driving the new cases? >> reporter: rosemary, it is all about watching for that dreaded second wave. this is what europe worried about. just over that as well the day before. it is extremely worrying. what's interesting, you're seeing the rise in new cases not necessarily yet the number in icus and deaths. those numbers have stayed low and stable. what that tells you is the age being hit by the latest rising cases is the younger people who

don't necessarily have as many of the complications as the people in the older groups might have. that is something also that authorities are trying to take on in companies like italy, spain, closing nightclubs. the big announcement came as a result of these very worrying rises in spain in particular. here in france, new eastern urs announced fairly regularly to try to get the numbers back under control. it was already the case, those areas, neighborhoods have risen. to walk down this area, you need a mask. there is some suggestion beyond looking into whether masks being worn like shops and cafes, it's been a while they've been mandatory here, the authorities say even in outdoor spaces they will become obligatory as well. authorities trying to keep that dreaded second wave at bay and

to get it under control. there's extreme worry the. >> proving again the mask is the main weapon we have against this virus. many thanks. melissa bell joining us live from paris. this is "cnn newsroom." massive protests on the streets of belarus. we are live from minsk. that is next. it's pretty inspiring the way families

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well, the 2020 democratic national convention kicks off hours from now. it will be a scaled down version

from what we're used to seeing. almost all of the convention speeches and events will be done virtually from across the country. michelle obama and bernie sanders will headline the convention. kamala harris will be among the top speakers on wednesday and joe biden's acceptance speech as his party's presidential nominee is expected on thursday. another high profile speaker at the convention will be joe biden's former boss, barack obama. the former president will look to likely energize voters. cnn's m.j. lee has our report. >> this also gives the internet one last chance to talk about our bromance. >> reporter: they call each other brothers, family. former president barack obama

and former vice president joe biden have long publicly flaunted their friendship. >> same time next week? >> same time next week. >> all right. >> now biden's former boss could play an outsized role in helping him take on president trump in the fall. one of the most famous and popular democrats in the country. >> you're all feeling a sense of urgency. >> obama already making several high profile campaign appearances on biden's behalf. a virtual fund-raiser in june. >> there's nobody i trust more to be able to heal this country, get it back on track than my dear friend joe biden. >> raising a whopping $11 million in one night and there was this lengthy video recorded by the biden campaign. >> it all starts with being able to relate. >> featuring the two men discussing everything from covid-19 to president trump. >> he ran by deliberately dividing people from the moment he came down that escalator and i think people are now going, i

don't want my kid growing up that way. >> reporter: obama not often going after trump by name but making clear that his successor is very much on his mind. >> but even as we sit here there are those in power who are doing their darndest to discourage people from voting. >> the obama/trump feud dating back years. trump infamously embracing birtherism casting doubt on obama's ability to be president. >> why doesn't he show his birth certificate? he has pulled one of the great cons in the history of politics. >> reporter: trump flaming conspiracy theories. >> kamala harris. >> reporter: this time on kamala harris. >> so i just heard that. i heard it today, that she doesn't meet the requirements. >> reporter: obama's advice on

handling trump? >> you are not going to out controversy this president. you're not going to get more attention. the circus that he runs is not something that joe should try to compete with. >> reporter: former president barack obama will be speaking on wednesday night. we are told the theme of that evening will be a more perfect union where the democratic party tries to speak about the importance of moving the country past the donald trump era. that is of course also when we will hear from kamala harris. cnn, new york. and cnn will be bringing you live coverage of this year's all digital democratic national convention. that starts monday at 8 p.m. eastern time. then on monday, august 24th we

will be covering the republican national convention. well, a lack of consumer spending during the pandemic has dealt the japanese economy a painful blow in the second quarter. we're live in tokyo. that's next. so what's going on? i'm a talking dog. the other issue.

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welcome back, everyone. tensions are rising further in belarus. more than a week after contentious election results, tens of thousands of people protested on the weeks and they're demanding a redo of the election. embattled president rejected that call organizing his own rally. fred pleitgen joins us live from minsk. what's the latest and where is this all going? >> reporter: hi, rosemary. it seems as though the opposition has a gigantic rally. some estimates say around

100,000 people showed up to the rally, very, very peaceful. they called for a general strike in the entire country. one of the places in the strike, this is government tv. state tv in belarus. it's known as one of the biggest propaganda instruments of the government but the people are saying they don't want that anymore. the folks that work here, the debate originally called for by the camera operators and photo journalists of state tv. they were the first ones to have the courage to call for the strike. this morning the anchors of state tv did not show up for work. they have been showing an empty picture. we're seeing around here, by the way, rosemary, this is part of working here, the government has jammed the internet trying to prevent people from sending up signals. that's not going to stop us. similar from different places around the country.

this is a lot of factories and industries. the embattled president has tried to go to one of these factories. he went there, apparently spoke to a couple of people but the folks protesting against the election that took place here a sunday ago were simply more at that place as well. the protests continue. his position is getting weaker by the minute. unclear where all of this will go. we're seeing alexander lukashenko backed down. the opposition leader came out with another statement of her own saying that she was ready to become a political leader here in this country. the big wild card, by the way, rosemary, is what russia will do. there were phone calls between putin and lukashenko.

>> we will continue to watch this very closely. very pleased we got your report to air. fred pleitgen joining us live from minsk. many thanks. dismal news from japan. they suffered the biggest contraction on record in the second quarter. gdp shrank by 28%. this is japan's third straight contraction. we are joined by carrie. of course like other countries, japan is suffering. these gdp numbers put it deeper into recession. how is the government responding? >> reporter: for now the government is saying that it wants to try to resume this economy, but the number of virus cases has been surging since mid july. this complicates the recovery prospects. i think that's what people are worried about. the figures for april to june,

7.8% decline has never happened. i think we all knew it was going to be bad, especially given the numbers we've seen in other parts of the world. it doesn't strike home until you see it in black and white. this is a catastrophic figure. it puts the size of the japanese economy back where it was in 1 2011 after the earthquake and nuclear disaster. it wipes out any gains the government is trying to put forth. one of the biggest issues is consumption. they depend more than 50% on consumption. even though there is no state of emergency, people are afraid of the virus and because of the lack of testing, they don't know whether it's safe to go out. the other of course is the export engine. we've seen countries like china rebound, first in, first out is

the thought there. there are problems in the japanese economy that might make the rebound very precarious at best. that is the problem. that is one the abe administration wants to address. he went to hospital for a checkup but it started the rumor mill flying. i think that shows how precarious some people think his situation is going forward. there has been already talk about a possible reshuffle at the top of japanese government at a time when you need policy going to try to revive the economy. small and medium businesses are the bulk of the japanese economies, not the toyotas, not the hondas. the measures put forth over the last couple of months to address them will be expiring in december. unless they're expended, it makes any recovery process at

best very mediocre. >> very much appreciated. thank you. in south korea the u.s. mill rare ri is raising the health protection level. let's go to cnn's paula hancocks joining us live from seoul. what's behind the new spike in cases there? >> reporter: rosemary, there are a number of different outbreaks that officials are looking at at this point. one of the most noteworthy is from a church in south korea and seoul. we feel we've gone back for many months. it was a religious gathering that started the original outbreak down in the city of degue. once again, we have this church, this religious group, that has more than 300 of its congregation having tested positive so far.

we noah cording to health officia officials, they gave reports that more than 4,000 have visited the church. they're asking all of them to quarantine. 1,000 they haven't tracked down. 500 they don't have details for. they are enlisting the police, once again, to try and help track them down, help have them tested and now the church itself has criticized the government. it is a very antipresident moon jae-in church as a whole. they have criticized the health minister for defaming the church saying they are doing everything they can to contain the outbreak. on saturday there was a protest, antimoon jae-in protest. and the president spoke at the protest as well taking off his

mask while he was speaking. so certainly this church is coming under some criticism as to whether or not they acted quickly enough and why they were part of the protest. the protest itself had been banned by greece. officials had requested the protests not to go ahead. simply having 10,000 people on the streets of seoul during a pandemic is less than ideal. the reverend did continue. there is an uptick in cases. already the effect has been felt. the social distancing rules have been enforced and they might get more stringent. >> rosemary, many thanks. paula hancocks joining from seoul. mexico has confirmed more than half a million cases of covid-19. in the border town of tijuana,

americans could be making the problems worse. the city's red light district is still bustling with tourists. >> reporter: go out and risk your life. stay at home and go hungry. it's the pan dem anything's choice. it's another if you're a sex worker. here in the red light district prostitution is legal. they fuel a thriving industry normally. officially the government forced all sects-related businesses to close back in march. >> i'm not going to put myself at risk or my employees at risk. >> roberto had to close his strip club and his female workers left. where they went, he's not sure. some nearby businesses aren't following the rules. >> certain places aren't open. certain hotels are open. >> so in the middle of a

pandemic americans and mexicans are playing to have sex here with people like allejandra. she said fearing for her life is a new way of life. i don't know if the person i'm with that day has the disease or not. i'm so scared for my health and for my daughter's, the but her daughter is the reason she goes out. whatly do tomorrow if i end up getting sick? i still have to go out even though i don't want to. after she speaks to us she walks back out into that world and we followed. that night we arrange a ride along with state police through the red light district. this is not an area where cameras are very welcome so the cops required us to wear body armor. driving around it was obvious there was a lot of working women out and about but where they're working is not really clear. >> the streets are a lot quieter because the government has

forced these businesses to shut down. the business is going on, it's just happening behind closed doors. >> in sex hotels that are still operating near normal with patrons like this, american. cnn agreed not to lose his name. >> we see lots of americans here? >> lots of americans here. >> he says he's being safe except for the part where he has sex with a stranger. >> i think a lot of experts would say it's not save. i mean -- but you think it's safe enough? >> i believe i'm pretty well educated about all of this and i feel completely safe. >> reporter: as the sex trade continues, the lives of everyone involved are at risk, but for the workers, the money earned puts food on the table. it's two sides of a very dangerous coin. matt rivers, cnn, tijuana, mexico. and with many schools starting back up around the u.s., school nurses are about to

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than 50 million kids back to school. some have opted for virtual learning and others have sent kids back into the classroom at full force. thousands of nurses are battling on the front lines. mayor de blasio is promise to go have a nurse at every city school when they open in a few weeks. cnn's deanna colodrigo reports. >> good morning. >> this will be and is unchartered waters, something that we've never had to face and the uncertainty is frightening. >> reporter: dineen dry has been a nurse for nine years in bucks county. it has taken a pandemic the recognition they deserve. >> the nurses were the forgotten entity in school. we are the ones when there's a sniffle or a cough, we'll be

asked the questions and asked to step up and make everyone feel safe. >> dry and thousands of school nurses across the country are the front lines of defense against covid-19. >> it's a daunting task and the weight on the shoulders is extreme sometimes. >> preparation and training involves following state and local guidelines which for many districts includes temperature checks and quarantine rooms for students who contracted the coronavirus. dry acknowledges that will get her only so far. >> i don't think i'm going to be prepared until it happens. >> reporter: they say school campuses are unprepared for covid outbreaks due to lack of funding and nurses. >> reporter: isn't it the case every school has a nurse down the hallway? >> reporter: nearly 1/4 of k-12 schools have a full-time nurse. even more jarring, there is just

one nurse for every 500 students. >> our -- are nurses equipped and are we relying on them to be? >> this aspect, sort of school nurse aspect has not gotten a  huge amount of attention beyond some sort of language around providing ppe to people. >> and at least one school nurse from georgia quit her job in a district that has declined to mandate masks. >> the board's decision to make mask a, quote, personal choice and that social distancing wouldn't be practical was not only a concern for myself and my family, but i could not imagine giving care especially to my special needs community. >> the nasn has asked for $200 billion in order to prioritize the health and safety of students and staff which would

include hiring thousands of additional nurses. the average age of a school nurse in america was between 47 and 55 in 2015. dry falls into this category. >> i fight every day with whether or not i should come back to school or want to come back to school. the nurse part of me wants to be there, wants to help. the mom and grandmother part of me wants to keep myself safe. >> thanks so much for your company. i'm rosemary church. "early start" with laura jarrett and christine romans is up next. you're watching cnn. have a great day. look here, it's your very own all-in-one

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the second biggest school district in the u.s. wants to test all 500,000 students plus staff when they go back to the classroom. house lawmakers called back to washington to try to block changes at the u.s. postal service before the election. the democratic national convention kicks off in just hours from locations all over the u.s. a convention week unlike anything we've ever seen. pandemic convention week. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. this is "early start." i'm