hello and welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm michael holmes. and coming up here on "cnn newsroom," donald trump's emergency announcement on a coronavirus treatment. hear why some experts are saying it's too much too fast. we are just hours away from the kickoff of the republican national convention. who to watch for. what to expect. we will discuss. and two dangerous storms threatening the u.s. gulf coast at the same time. meteorologists say they've never seen anything like it. we'll have the latest on their track.

welcome, everyone. with the start of the republican national convention just hours away, the u.s. president donald trump touting a possible treatment in the fight against covid-19. but already there is debate over whether enough data is out there to prove it will work and his credibility, of course, in this area is suspect already. the u.s. food and drug administration has given emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma for treating patients hospitalized with coronavirus. now, the plasma would come from those who have already recovered from the virus and have antibodies which might help fight the infection. president trump made the announcement on sunday lauding how significant the treatment would be.

>> today i'm pleased to make a truly historic announcement in our battle against the china virus that will save countless lives. this is a powerful therapy that transfuses very, very strong antibodies from the blood of recovered patients to help treat patients battling a current infection. it's had an incredible rate of success. today's action will dramatically expand access to this treatment. >> that is not entirely true. an emergency use authorization is not a full approval from the fda. and while plasma treatment has seen some success, multiple experts say much more data is needed to determine any clear benefit against covid-19. also to get enough plasma, you need donors. plus the ability to track which ones have the most effective plasma. there's a lot to it. cnn's jeremy diamond with more on the announcement from the

white house. >> reporter: president donald trump on sunday announcing that the fda has approved an emergency use authorization for a potential coronavirus treatment, and that is convalescent plasma. now, convalescent plasma certainly has been used already in about 70,000 patients here in the united states. and there is some promising data behind it, but certainly randomized, controlled clinical trials have not yet reached a conclusion about this convalescent plasma's efficacy, but nonetheless, the president insisting this is an historic breakthrough. while this certainly may be an incremental improvement, something that will widen the availability of plasma, to call this a breakthrough is simply not the case. the president insisting he was able to overcome what he called a logjam at the fda. >> well, i think there might have been a holdup, but we broke the landeskog jam over the last to be honest.

there are people in the fda and the larger department that can see things being held up and wouldn't mind so much. that's my opinion. a very strong opinion. and that's for political reasons. this has nothing to do with politics. this has to do with life and death. >> reporter: those comments followed a tweet in which the president made similar accusations against the fda, accusing members of the, quote, unquote, the deep state trying to undermine him by slow-walking approval of the coronavirus vaccine and treatment. we should note there is no evidence to back that up. what's interesting is the apresident appears to have put some significant political pressure on the fda to grant this emergency use authorization. and the timing, of course, is very notable. the president is set to begin the republican national committee over this coming week, and the president certainly looking for a win. so this appears to be the one that the president was able to find for himself. but, again, the way that the president described this adds a breakthrough, something historic. not the case.

jury is still out on convalescent plasma, but there is some promising data behind it. jeremy diamond, cnn, the white house. >> now, one vaccine expert says authorizing the plasma for emergency use isn't a case of presidential heroism against a slow bureaucracy. he says there is a reason why the treatment hasn't been approved before now. >> you have to prove that the plasma made a difference and all the data so far really haven't done that. that's why the fda was low to approve the drug through eua. now we get an approval. the question is are there more data we haven't seen? if there were more data, you would think they would present those data because it only makes their case better. by not presenting, you wonder if there are any new data. and if there aren't, what just happened? is that the administration just bullied the fda into approving something that they were uncomfortable about approving. >> and james clyburn, the house coronavirus committee chairman, agrees saying, quote, i am

troubled by the president's desperate and dangerous pattern of pushing unproven treatments, as he did with hydroxychloroquine. and refusing to allow scientists to determine the appropriate authorizations and recommendations with respect to particular therapies. now for more on this, i'm joined by dr. jorge rodriguez, an internal medicine and viral specialist in los angeles. good to see you again, doctor. let's talk about this announcement. it is a known potential therapy. it's been given to i think 80 or 90,000 patients already. not historic nor a breakthrough as the president says, but talk about the fact that in a medical sense shouldn't it be trial to actually confirm its efficacy? >> absolutely. i think what is alarming most people in the medical field is the fact that it does appear that politics is pushing science. so let's start off with this is not a china virus. this is the sars covid ii virus.

we'll start from there. people who have had it, most of them have antibodies that with other infections, other viruses have been able to give that plasma to people and those antibodies can help lessen if not cure the disease. well, right now since we're in such a state of alert with this pandemic, it's been tried sort of as a compassionate use for tens of thousands of people. the mayo clinic just did a retrospective analysis. they looked at over 30,000 cases, and what they found was if you gave it within three days, 8.9% of the people died that were very sick and if you gave it within four days after the people got sick, it was almost 12%, but it doesn't prove that this really does save lives. you need to have a placebo arm. so the big danger that we're seeing in an act of desperation we may be providing people plasma in the long run, "a," has not been proven to help, and

"b," we don't know the long-term side effects. this is not the way things are done. >> the other thing, too, that is really critical is that the fda pumped the brakes on this only a few days ago. said let's wait on this. then you've got the president on saturday accusing the fda, run by somebody he appointed, of holding back on vaccine trial approvals, therapeutics, and then within a day of the tweet, approval. do you think given what you've seen there is at least the impression the fda might have been pressured to do this? and if so, wow. >> absolutely. and that's the big danger. listen, the politics could be that anthony fauci, dr. collins and cliff lane, who is also at the nih, that i've known for years and worked and had research with as far as hiv. these are respected scientists. and they did not think that the mayo clinic's study proved anything. as a matter of fact, the mayo clinic conclusion was that more studies needed to be done. so it does appear that on day

one the fda did not approve this and lo and behold, two days later, after the president applies pressure, it's approved. the danger is what will be next? what unproven regimen or medicine will be approved next? >> and i think the closer we get to november 3, the chances of something popping up grow. i mean, i wanted to ask you too. you know, with india saying last night it could have a vaccine by the end of the year. you've got russia's vaccine. whatever else donald trump promises before the election. i'm wondering, do you think there are too many countries going it alone here? i mean, is there a risk of vaccine nationalism? shouldn't everybody be working together, a global effort here? >> yeah, absolutely. and that is what's happening. and the more you think about that, you know, it's almost like -- it's almost a race when you're thinking about human lives. it shouldn't be a race. and everybody wants to be first to try to see how many people it can save.

russia is trying a vaccine that hasn't even been tested. and this was my biggest concern when trump said that he was going to lead the world heath organization. that either we were not going to have access to a vaccine created in a country or that we were not going to share our science. this is a pandemic. this needs to have worldwide cooperation from all countries. otherwise it's not going to be pretty. >> dr. jorge rodriguez in los angeles, always a pleasure. thanks so much for coming on. >> thank you, sir. now on the eve of the republican national convention, white house counsellor kellyanne conway has announced she's leaving that post at the end of this month. her husband, george conway, a vocal critic of the president, also announced that he's withdrawing from the lincoln project, an anti-trump political action committee, and also taking a break from twitter. both said they need to focus on family. with kellyanne conway writing in part, quote, this is completely

my choice and my voice. in time, i will announce future plans. for now and for my beloved children it will be less drama, more mama. conway is scheduled to speak, by the way, at the republican convention. unclear if she still will do so. president trump, though, plans to be in the spotlight every day. a republican source saying he will make an appearance every single night and will deliver an optimistic and upbeat message. that could be challenging given the more than 176,000 coronavirus deaths in the u.s. and an economy in tatters. hours ahead of the convention, the trump campaign released its second-term agenda. it's not a platform. which includes the creation, it says, of 10 million new jobs in ten months and the promise of a coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year. again, crucially, not a platform, which is what you normally get before a convention.

it is just an agenda and a pledge of support for donald trump. now, in another departure from tradition, republican delegates won't be releasing any platform, as we say, before the convention. the party says it is going to, instead, quote, enthusiastically support the president's america first agenda, instead. cnn's ryan nobles is in charlotte, north carolina with more on that. >> reporter: the city of charlotte, north carolina will play an important role in the republican national convention this year. perhaps not the big role they expected to play when they won the bid for the convention more than a year ago, but a lot of the activity taking place here on monday will be very important for president trump's campaign. that's where the delegates will come from around the country, more than 300 of them, and cast their ballots for president trump and mike pence to be the ticket for this year's presidential election. and president trump will actually be here. he and the vice president will thank the delegates for their participation. he'll deliver brief remarks. now, this is not his formal acceptance. that's not going to happen until

later in the week on thursday when president trump officially accepts his nomination. and that will happen at the white house. in fact, most of the activity will shift from charlotte to washington almost immediately. many of the speeches that will take place that happen live will originate out of washington, and that includes speeches from second lady karen pence. and melania trump will also deliver her remarks from washington as well. the vice president, mike pence, will travel to baltimore and deliver his remarks from fort mchenry. now, this is something that president trump has a lot riding on. he, of course, a former reality television show star himself. he's told his team that he wants this convention to be bigger and better than what we saw from the democrats last week. he's even brought in some of his former colleagues from "the apprentice" to help produce all of the events that take place this week. a lot riding for president trump. we shouldn't forget that there are two hurricanes that could make their way on to the gulf coast some time during the week of this convention, which could add a further complication to this entire process. ryan nobles, cnn, charlotte, north carolina.

>> and just want to mention later this hour, we're going to be hearing from a republican strategist and former convention communications director on what we might expect from this year's convention. a history-making event as two dangerous storms make their way towards the gulf coast of the united states. we are tracking the destructive path of marco and laura. we'll get the latest for you from the weather center after the break. and also, hundreds of wildfires are burning throughout california. extreme weather working again the firefighters. the situation report for you when we come back. being an independent business owner means i'm responsible to every single one of my team members and all my patients. we went above and beyond regulations because i wanted to make sure that the community is taken care of. we owe it to them to be careful stewards of their health. so trust your people and take care of your teams and you will weather the storm.

♪ your business has an easy choice.t-mobile for business, and you will weather the storm. the largest 5g network... award-winning customer satisfaction... insanely great value. choose. any. three. ready when you are.

if your child doesn't 1 iseem themself at times,ed. they may not be hydrated enough. wabba wabba! all new, plant powered creative roots gives kids the hydration they need, with the fruit flavors they love, and 1 gram of sugar. find new creative roots in the kids' juice aisle. with safe, convenient service. we're here for you >> tech: we'll come right to you. ♪ upbeat music >> tech: you'll get a text when we're on our way.

>> tech: before we arrive, just leave your keys on the dash. we'll replace your windshield with safe, no-contact service. ♪ upbeat music >> tech: and that's service you can trust when you need it the most. ♪ upbeat music >> tech: schedule at safelite.com. ♪ upbeat music >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ (burke) oh, just puttering, tinkering... whatcha working on... commemorating bizarre mishaps that farmers has seen and covered. had a little extra time on my hands lately. (neighbor) and that? (burke) oh, this? just an app i've been working on. it's called signal from farmers, and it could save you up to fifteen percent on your auto insurance. simply sign up, drive and save. but i'm sure whatever you've been working on is equally impressive. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ eh, not enough fiber... chocolate would be good... snacking should be sweet and simple. the delicious taste of glucerna

gives you the sweetness you crave while helping you manage your blood sugar. with nutrients to help support immune health. don't settle for less. revitalift triple power with pro-retinol plus hyaluronic acid and vitamin c. it visibly reduces wrinkles. firms. and brightens. now that's triple power. revitalift triple power moisturizer from l'oreal. welcome back. the u.s. gulf coast is bracing for not one but two dangerous storms. marco was just downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm. as it inches towards the gulf coast. laura expected to reach hurricane strength as it makes landfall later this week. i want to show you the scene inside the eye of laura as it ripped through the caribbean, killing nine people. and leaving nearly half a million people in the dominican republic without power.

storm watchers and warnings stretch from florida to texas at the moment, and the state of louisiana has begun mandatory evacuations in some area. the governor telling people to be prepared for the long haul. >> these storms are not to be taken lightly. especially because there are two of them. the second storm comes in so close that there may not be much of a window when we can fly search and rescue helicopters, when we can get out with highwater vehicles. >> and meteorologist pedram javaheri is here to tell us more. what are you seeing here in the next few days? >> yeah, michael, it's going to be a tough go across the gulf of mexico. as you noted here, really incredible setup when it comes to not one but two tropical systems. in fact, going back to 1851 when records began, only one storm, the most recent storm making appearance, two storms at the

same time in the gulf of mexico would be-june in 1959. again, no hurricanes have simultaneously been in the gulf of mexico so, again, this is something we're watching very carefully. as you noted, marco now a tropical storm. laura on the heels of this also coming in as a tropical storm. we do expect some changes with this forecast. notice some of the cloud field pushing off to the north and east of the center of the storm. that's wind shear or winds above it trying to shred it apart. that is certainly causing it to weaken within the next couple of days, we think monday night, it skirts off the coast of southern louisiana. by tuesday night, paralleling western louisiana into eastern texas and weakens across that region, maybe even just rains itself out before it ever makes landfall in the region. but with the water already in motion across this area, the storm surge threat of as much as 6 feet is certainly a possibility. grand isle. some of these areas mandatory evacuations in place across the region. notice the contours of red,

oranges, yellows. these are indicative of wind shear. not much of it left once the storm pushes ashore in the next couple of days. that's what sets the stage here for laura, which has the potential to be a far more significant player here. you'll notice it will skirt just south of cuba within the next 24 hours. possibly to the gulf of mexico. at that point, this could be a much stronger feature, ocategor 1 to a strong category 2. this is one of the storms you cannot let your guard off because the ingredients are in place for rapid intensification. could even be a major hurricane. notice this, offshore, upwards of00 oil platforms off the coast of louisiana and texas. about 100 of which have been already evacuated. this is an area of concern with the system moving directly over this region and kind of joe layi overlaying with marco and laura. back on the western side around lake charles on into houston. that is where the forecast track right now takes laura as

potentially a strong category 2, maybe even a category 3 by wednesday afternoon. so, again, just a couple of days removed from one another. we've not seen since this 1959, seen two storms in the gulf at the same time. michael? >> crazy few days ahead. pedram javaheri, thanks so much. we'll check in with you next hour. now, thousands of firefighters, meanwhile, some working around the clock, are battling hundreds of wildfires across the state of california with no end in sight. many of these fires started by lightning. the fires scorching more than a million acres of land and still they've had to call in reinforcements just to keep up. cnn's paul vercammen is in calistoga, california with more. >> reporter: michael, there's smoke in the air and tension in the air. that's because they know there is a strong possibility of these lightning strikes, a red-flag warning all over northern california, central california. here is the command post where they're helping to dispatch the

14,000 firefighters now on the lines in california. speaking of those lines, this gives you what they're up against. this is the lnu complex. the black line means they've got containment either by digging it with bulldozers or shovels or backfiring. the red, that's where there's no containment whatsoever. on these monster fires. firefighters have been pouring in from other states, including oregon, and we spoke with one of those firefighters who is out on the line. >> this is an historic, i mean, something that we've seen in the past, but not to this magnitude. our resources are stretched thin. and what we're worried about is the system coming in causing the same havoc throughout the state. and trying to get resources to protect the citizens of california. >> reporter: this is calistoga, california. they've had their share of trouble with fire over the past half decade. you can look over here. and one of the firefighters advising a resident as to what's going on here with evacuations. the potential for more blazes. and people here showing appreciation.

a woman drove up and heard that firefighters needed pillows or at least were trying to buy some pillows. so she handed them 12 to 14 pillows. >> we love you. god bless them. we're nothing without them. and thank good they're here. and they just put out so much -- look how hot it is. the air is horrible. they're out there fighting these things for us. the least we could do is bring some pillows. wish i could do. >> reporter: so here back on the ground, this sense of anticipation, what will this weather bring them? will it be more of these lightning strikes that caused so much trouble before? they're just crossing their fingers and hoping they get through the next 24 to 48 hours. back to you now michael. >> paul vercammen, i thank you for that. we're going to take a quick break. when we come back here on "cnn

newsroom," up to two weeks of outrage and calls for change, demonstrators in belarus find they have sympathetic neighbors in lithuania. also -- >> you know deep down in your sunday school hearts what kind of man donald trump is. >> why some republicans don't want president trump to win re-election. how about no no uh uh, no way come on, no no n-n-n-no-no only discover has no annual fee on any card. >> tech: when you've got ...safelite can come to you. n-n-n-no-no >> tech: and you'll get a text when we're on our way. >> tech: just leave your keys on the dash and we'll replace your windshield with safe, no-contact service. >> tech: schedule at safelite.com. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ actually, you're really thahelping actors.ing restaurants right now. uh, no. most actors got started at restaurants, like me. same here! uh...

so, keep your orders coming to help actors. you're really helping restaurants, and we're partnering with the national restaurant association to lend a hand. ♪water? why?! ahhhh! incoming! ahhhahh! i'm saved! water tastes like, water. so we fixed it. mio

and welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm michael holmes. you're watching "cnn newsroom." now in a few hours, the republican national convention will begin with a roll call in charlotte, north carolina.

after that, many of the events will originate in washington with promises of an upbeat celebration, but for some republicans, a second term for president trump is nothing to celebrate. jeff zeleny reports. ♪ god bless the usa >> reporter: as president trump formally accepts the gop nomination again this week, some republicans are already speaking out. >> really ashamed to say it, but i'm one of many who voted for the current president, donald trump. >> reporter: voicing their regrets -- >> it's been worse than what we ever imagined. we're farmers. and, like i said, conservative republicans. >> reporter: -- and warning fellow conservatives. >> you know deep down in your sunday school hearts what kind of man donald trump is. what kind of christian he is. you know! don't you?

>> reporter: these are some of the faces of the never trump movement, a small slice of disaffected republicans. rank and file and former elected officials swimming upstream in trump's party hoping to make him a one-term president. the movement is multiplying with the lincoln project, republican voters against trump and bush alumni for biden. whose slogan is we worked for w., we support joe. this time using the president's words against him. >> i am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily-armed soldiers. we dominate the street. >> reporter: and hoping to get into his head. at least that's the goal of the lincoln project, whose videos made by former aides to george w. bush, john mccain and mitt romney are designed to needle the president. george conway, the husband of top trump adviser, kellyanne conway, is the co-founder. the president has long belittled

never trumpers as his grip has tightened on the republican party. >> some of these people don't forget it. never trump is disappearing rapidly. >> reporter: the second act of the movement may be an uphill battle considering 97% of republicans in the latest cnn poll said they would vote for trump again. his re-election campaign has already spent $1 billion while these groups have raised only a tiny fraction of that. yet two key points are different this time, trump's record and joe biden is not hillary clinton. >> joe biden just simply isn't as scary to them. i think women are going to lose this election for donald trump. i think that is going to be the decisive and defining group of people. >> reporter: sarah long well is a lifelong republican and political strategist at republican voters against trump. she spent the last four years studying his supporters from 2016. and senses a different moment now. amid the coronavirus crisis and deep economic pain. >> but at the same time, so many republicans are still with him. why is that? >> there's always going to be a

core of support that's never going to walk away from donald trump. you know, you see it all the time. these college-educated republicans in the suburbs, women, women are walking away from this guy in droves. yes, does he have a base? of course. but you need bigger political coalitions to win elections. and his political coalition is shrinking by the day. >> reporter: jeff zeleny, cnn, washington. doug heye is a cnn political commentator. also the former director of communications for the rnc. a pleasure to see you again, doug. i wanted to start off, actually, with one of your tweets and we can put it up for people to look at. it says, gop enthusiasm is unlikely to match the intensity of the last election given trump's first-term success in filling court vacancy. so often you see a team win a championship and then they lose the urgency for the repeat. what do you expect from this rnc convention? and what will be different to how the democrats handle theirs?

>> i don't think we know precisely how it will be different yet. the democrats were preparing for this inevitable virtual convention while the republicans, i think honestly, were kidding themselves for a while that they might be able to move locations and so forth. they may be less prepared than what democrats were. what we've seen i think surprises a lot of people is you're not seeing a lot of censor or members of congress who otherwise would clamor to be on a stage for a convention, and certainly were four years ago. ted cruz being a very prominent example. i looked at the list today, and to some extent it resembled either the addams family. democrats really trying to expand their base, expand their appeal to people. that's why you had very popular folks in the country like barack obama and michelle obama, to name the two most prominent examples. republicans really seem to be doubling down on this base. we'll see if that's a successful strategy. >> yeah, i think half the keynote speakers are either married to or related to the president.

which sort of says something in itself. i mean, it's going to be hard for the president to do what the bidens did pretty much in centering their narrative about the family. around their emergency. -- message. especially given the book by trump's niece and his sister's withering comments about the character of the president. tell be if i'm wrong, it's not like his base doesn't already know the character of the man. and this seems like a president, though, who doesn't really want to grow the tent. >> yeah, look, voters made up their minds one way or another by and large on donald trump not just a long time ago but well over four years ago. you are either very much for trump or you decided you were not going to vote for donald trump. there is a very small sliver of voters who are trying to be in an area where they can be persuaded one way or another and that's where i think the trump campaign is really behind on things right now, not just with the gender gap. if you were talking to democrats

in january and february, obviously everywhere in the world is a very different conversation between now and then, but democrats were really scared about donald trump being able to campaign on a positive economy. and that that would risk him for another four years in the white house because incumbents don't lose in positive economies. but we know right now we have a death toll that's above 170,000 people. 170,000 americans and an economy with more than 10% unemployment and so much insecurity and pain in the country. it's really hard to see how they're going to be able to persuade people. this may be an election more on motivation than persuasion. >> yeah, good point. the campaign adviser jason miller was saying that republicans are going to present -- he called it an optimistic and upbeat convention this week. in contrast with what he described as a massive grievance fest by the democrats. we've seen the president constantly harp on negatives if democrats win. and you've got speeches like nick sandman. you've got the gun-toting missouri couple. i mean, that doesn't exactly

suggest the convention is going to be all positive and uplifting. do you think there's danger in leaning into culture war stuff like that? >> not just leaning in, but leading with it. you know, jason miller's been a friend of mine for more than 20 years, and a sincere friend, not just a washington, d.c. friend when you say that and don't mean it, but it's really hard to see the optimism coming from him and other folks with the trump campaign, except that they're paid to be, because of the bad news that you have throughout the country. you know, one of the things that the trump campaign is talking about right now is violence in the streets and how that may be joe biden's america. but we're really in donald trump's america right now. so how you sell that vision of what may happen under somebody else's leadership when it's happening under your leadership is a really tough sell, i think, even if you are purported to be the great salesman. >> it is a good point. he said think of the smouldering ruins of minneapolis, the anarchy of portland, the blood-stained sidewalks of chicago, which is all happening on his watch. so it's an interesting thing to try to push out as a negative.

i wanted to ask you this, too, with all his talk of what he calls the dangers of mail-in voting, and literally saying -- he said, quote, the only way they're going to win, the democrats, is by a rigged election. is he setting the scene for a loss? and also, aren't comments like that just dangers for the public's faith in democracy? the only way i can lose is if it's rigged. >> you know, it hurts me as somebody you mentioned that used to run communications for the republican national committee to say that the president from my party is saying dangerous things. they're also hypocritical things. i wish i had it sitting right next to me instead of ten feet behind me. i received a mail piece from the north carolina republican party just yesterday. urging me to send in an absentee ballot for donald trump. now, i haven't lived in north carolina since 2004. it might have been a piece directed towards my father who died in 2016. in which case, that's either bad list management or they're trying to get somebody to vote fraudulently.

i would point out the last time i had dinner with my father before he passed away, he said to me he's reluctantly voting for trump, this is in 2016, but, man, if joe biden's run, he'd vote for joe in a second. probably not the target audience one way or another. >> wow, interesting. doug heye, good to see you. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> now just before the convention kicks off, a new cbs news uh gov. poll putting democratic nominee joe biden ahead of president trump by a ten-point margin among likely voters. that's exactly what the polling looked like before the democrats launched their convention a week ago. so not so much of a bump. on sunday, biden responded in a tv interview to one of mr. trump's many personal tack lines. >> i want to turn to the bli blistering attacks we've seen from president trump this week alone on your mental fitness, whether you're up for the job. his campaign as called you diminished and i'm curious how

you respond to that. >> watch me. mr. president, watch me. look at us both. what we say, what we do, what we control, what we know, what kind of shape we're in. come on. just, look, i think it's a legitimate question to ask anybody over 70 years old whether or not they're fit and whether they're ready. but i just -- the only thing i can say to the american people, it's a legitimate question to ask anybody. watch me. >> and do tune in to cnn for coverage of the republican national convention. starting on monday, 7:00 p.m. eastern here in the u.s. for our international viewers, that's 12:00 a.m. tuesday in london. 7:00 a.m. tuesday in hong kong. what you're looking at there is a nearly 19-mile-long human chain of protesters in lithuania. they are lined up from the capital city to the border with belarus. in solidarity with opposition protesters in belarus. large crowds of demonstrators turned out in the capital,

minsk, again on sunday. it's been two weeks since that country's highly contested election which cemented president alexander lukashenko's 26-year grip on power. protesters will soon have to face not only police but the army as well. lukashenko arrived at the presidential palace on sunday wearing body armor and holding an assault rifle. getting justice for the victims of new zealand's worst mass shooting. just ahead, the man who killed 51 people in terror attacks on two mosques will be sentenced in the coming days. we'll have a live report on the first day of the harg when we come back. i can't wiat to share at&t's big 5g news... (shouting through the glass) at&t has nationwide 5g? yup! and that's faster? faster, yea! but is it reliable? ah huh and secure! you should consider making a big deal about it! bigger? i said bigger! oh, big-bigger deal bigger than what i'm doing?

it's not complicated. a 5g network needs a 5g device. now everyone including existing customers can get a free samsung galaxy note20 after trade-in. (vo) ♪ through our love promise, subaru and our retailers are proud to be replanting 500,000 trees... ...in areas devastated by wildfires. subaru. more than a car company.

that helps you master your backhand... ... then you should be able to get a bank account that helps you master your budget. virtual wallet® is so much more than a checking account. clearly see the big picture of your finances. and easily manage and grow your savings. did you see that? virtual wallet® for digital banking from pnc. it's time to get more from your bank.

the man responsible for new zealand's worst ever mass shooting will learn his fate in the coming days. the first day in the sentencing hearing of brenton tarrant just

wrapped up. over the next four days the courtroom will be filled with family members of the victims, as well as survivors of the attack. tarrant pled guilty to murdering 51 people and the attempted murder of 40 others after he opened fire at two mosques in christchurch in march of last year. for more on this, let's turn to cnn's senior international correspondent ivan watson joining us from hong kong. emotional, as one might imagine. >> reporter: that's right. i forgive you were the words of the mother of one of the 51 victims of brenton tarrant's rampage. to the self-confessed terrorist's face in the courtroom today. and eyewitnesss say that was one of the only moments where we visibly responded to victims' impact statements, putting his hand to his mouth and rubbing his eye at one point.

so this just part of what is expected to be a very intense emotional experience as new zealand authorities say some 66 relatives and actual survivors of the rampage will be speaking over the course of at least four days here in this court in christchurch. in part to court officials and to the judge who will be doing the sentencing, but also to the self-confessed killer himself. who is under high security. there are snipers on the roofs of the courthouse. unprecedented security, really, for a court case in new zealand. at this time. and understandable given that this was the deadliest attack in new zealand's history. with brenton tarrant, who has been convicted of 51 charges of murder and of engaging in a terrorist attack. now, the crown prosecutor laid out a lot of details here that

people have never really heard before, describing in detail how brenton tarrant began plotting this attack as early as september of 2017, a year and a half before that terrible day in march when he attacked these two mosques, when he planned to attack a third mosque but was intercepted by new zealand police. they say that he had incendiary devices and told police after he was apprehended that he planned to burn the two mosques down. he has espoused a white supremacist ideology, saying that he was trying to stop what he described as invaders, muslim immigrants from coming into countries like new zealand. and that he wanted to kill more people than he actually had. and the prosecutor describing in detail how tarrant went murdering people at pointblank range, going back to kill people

who had already been wounded. let's take a listen to another relative of a victim and what she said in the court earlier today. >> may you get the severest punishment for your evil act in this life and in the hereafter. we know that allah is the most just. you transgressed and you thought you can break us. you failed miserably. we became more determined to hold tight to islam and our beloved ones -- >> reporter: now, tarrant could face -- will have to face life in prisonment. imprisonment. there is no death penalty in new zealand, but the judge has the option to take away the possibility of parole for this man. michael? >> all right. ivan, thank you very much. we'll check in with you a bit

later. we'll take a quick break. educating millions of children is a tough job, even in the best of times. when we come back, how mexico is taking on the challenge of distance learning in the coronavirus pandemic. we'll be right back. >> tech: at safelite, we're here for you with safe, convenient service. >> tech: we'll come right to you. ♪ upbeat music >> tech: you'll get a text when we're on our way. >> tech: before we arrive, just leave your keys on the dash. we'll replace your windshield with safe, no-contact service. ♪ upbeat music >> tech: and that's service you can trust when you need it the most. ♪ upbeat music >> tech: schedule at safelite.com. ♪ upbeat music >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ shpork chop. soda pop. soursop. hot pot.shiso. scallop. kebab. brussels sprout. sauerkraut. fresh-caught trout. alfalfa sprout. we are america's kitchen. doordash. every flavor welcome.

don't settle for less. revitalift triple power with pro-retinol plus hyaluronic acid and vitamin c. it visibly reduces wrinkles. firms. and brightens. now that's triple power. revitalift triple power moisturizer from l'oreal. now that's triple power. (burke) oh, just puttering, tinkering... whatcha working on... commemorating bizarre mishaps that farmers has seen and covered. had a little extra time on my hands lately. (neighbor) and that? (burke) oh, this? just an app i've been working on. it's called signal from farmers, and it could save you up to fifteen percent on your auto insurance. simply sign up, drive and save. but i'm sure whatever you've been working on is equally impressive. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ here's a choice you don't have to make.ses are always making choices. the largest 5g network... award-winning customer satisfaction... or insanely great value. now, with t-mobile for business, there's no compromise. network. support. value. choose. any. three. t-mobile for business ready when you are.

schools around the world are coping of course, with the challenge of educating young minds in the middle of a pandemic. and mexico, like so many other countries is moving much of its learning online. but not everyone has internet access, cnn has a look at how they are overcoming that problem. the jimenez family has the morning routine down, get up, get dressed, breakfast and off to school. which this year will be ten feet away in the living room. >> it stresses me out not knowing how to do this exactly says mom. mexico's 30 million students start school but not in the classroom. this year, it's all remote learning. >> it's good that we are having class, but i'm sad because i was going to start a new school. but taking math class online is not so easy, in a country where many don't have it's being add

we went to where class is already in session. sort of. we watched as they were on camera in the studio. teaching about the properties of sound. he said that it's not 40 kids i know in a class anymore but be mind the camera, there's millions kids that need that knowledge. he is part of the ambitious plan to broadcast classes, and the hope is to reach all kids this way. about 93% of mexican households have tv, and only 56% have internet. for kids who don't have tv, there will be radio programs as well. including in indiginous languages. it was a tough decision to not open schools, by doing had this, we are trying to not let the education gap get wider. an education gap, closed schools

can make a big difference. if you are well off, your internet connection gives you access to classes if you are not getting internet, you are watching classes the same way you watch cartoons. the only learning they will get is what they see from tv. and if they have questions, our ability to help is limited. simply put, the ministry of education does not have a lot of kids with internet. but they have teachers who use the words mission and calling when they talk about their work. it's important to be here, i represent teachers and it's our job to make sure that everyone kid is educated. their school is not offering online classes so they will watch them on tv instead. and that does not stop her from coming one daily schedules for her kids. it has to work, she said, we have to give it our all. she is helping her neighborhos o

young kids. we asked if they are missing their friends. >> translator: yes, she said, and my teacher as well. >> for kids there's things that even extra tv time cannot fix. >> now, over the weekend, nasa announced that yes, an astroid is heading towards earth because did -- 2020, the ask tro astroil make a close path next to earth right before the election. it's named 2018-vp-1. you can see it's two meters wide in the orbit. as the white circle, while the earth is the blue tickcircle. let's isolate it, from today to november 2nd, the chance of it entering our atmospherer is

0.4%. but nasa said, don't worry, it will disintegrate before hitting the earth. sure, nasa. thanks for watching cnn newsroom. i'm michael holmes, i will be back with more news in just a moment. or less. revitalift triple power with pro-retinol plus hyaluronic acid and vitamin c. it visibly reduces wrinkles. firms. and brightens. now that's triple power. revitalift triple power moisturizer from l'oreal.

no uh uh, no way come on, no no n-n-n-no-no only discover has no annual fee on any card. they're going to be paying for this for a long time. they will, but with accident forgiveness allstate won't raise your rates just because of an accident, even if it's your fault. cut! sonny. was that good? line! the desert never lies.

isn't that what i said? no you were talking about allstate and insurance. i just... when i... let's try again. everybody back to one. accident forgiveness from allstate. click or call for a quote today.

♪ >> this episodes of "united shades of america" from late 2019, months before the pandemic with the country and also months before george floyd was killed by minneapolis police. and the wave of protest that's followed. at the time i was welcomed into people's homes. i was able to have the kind of intimate conversation that's have become impossible during the pandemic. you see handshakes, high