on edge, as the u.s. heads into a holiday weekend, there are fears it could trigger another surge in coronavirus cases, showing promise. initial results are in from a russian vaccine. and dramatic rescues at sea, after a cargo ship goes missing in a typhoon.

dozens of sailors are missing. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to you, our viewers, here in the united states. i'm kim brunhuber. this is "cnn newsroom." the u.s. is beginning a holiday weekend that could impact public health for weeks to come. labor day is traditionally summer's last hoorah. a time to be outdoors and around people. but health experts warn it could mean a surge of new coronavirus cases, which is what happened after holiday weekends. the president is boasting about the country's progress against the disease and getting a skeptical response from the nation's top infectious disease expert. >> by the way, we're rounding the corner.

we're rounding the corner on the virus. >> i'm not sure what he means. there's states that are doing well, in that the case numbers are coming down. our concern right now is that there are a number of states, particularly, flex, the dakotas, montana, michigan, minnesota and others, who are starting to have an uptick. >> the numbers tell a different story than the president, as well. the country has now confirmed more than 6.2 million cases, according to johns hopkins university. that's one-quarter of the world's infections. new cases are surging in other countries, too. you can see in red, france and japan. the labor day holiday's traditionally celebrated communally. people barbecue or go to the beach or camping and spent time with family and friends. as tom foreman reports, the coronavirus doesn't take a

holiday. >> reporter: brace yourself for more superspreader events. that's the warning from health officials who fear, with millions traveling over the labor day holiday, the pandemic could spike. just as we enter fall, when the flu and other illnesses may come into play. >> we use labor day as a way to take the day off. unfortunately, the virus doesn't. >> we don't want to go into that with another surge that we have to turn around again. it really is an important weekend. >> reporter: infections shot up in some places after memorial day, and the fourth of july, despite warnings against big social gatherings. like a motorcycle rally in south dakota, that produced dozens of cases. private parties in many cases and numerous family events, like a wedding reception, that left a new jersey woman and three of her children. for all of that, president trump mocks joe biden for wearing a mask. >> you ever see a man that likes a mask as much as him?

>> reporter: still, imagine an outdoor barbecue. if you attend an event like that, for a short time, with a mask, your risk could be relatively low, depending on whether people are silent, talking, shouting and singing. stay longer and it get s worse. take off the mask for a while, worse still and without a mask for a long time, the risk explodes, especially if the party movers indoors. so, images like these are raising alarm bells. hundreds of students ignoring safety precautions. >> are you concerned about coronavirus at all? >> no. >> i think it's a hoax. >> i don't think it's a hoax. if i were to get it, i would survive. >> reporter: that's the attitude driving another warning this holiday, from health experts watching college students on campuses everywhere. >> putting them on airplanes and sending them home to their

parents doesn't make sense. >> reporter: the reward could be huge. a new projection from the university of washington says, with universal masking, the u.s. could see 300,000 deaths by the end of the year. but if restrictions are eased too soon, that number could be doubled by the new year's holiday. tom foreman, cnn, washington. many european countries are suffering a second wave of coronavirus cases. france set a new daily record friday, with almost 9,000 new cases. this brings the total number there to 310,000. but despite the high increase, the country's national health agency says, the number of people hospitalized from the virus remains stable. out to the south, in spain, more than 10,000 new cases on friday, half of them diagnosed in the past 24 hours. spain reports almost 200 new deaths. it's the highest daily number

since late may. in brazil, the health ministry reported 50 new cases on friday and 900 deaths. and that raises the death toll to well over 125,000. but in a sign of hope, johns hopkins university says the death rate may be easing. brazil has the second-highest behind only the united states. a russian vaccine candidate is showing promising results after first two phases of testing. while that's encouraging, health experts want to see it undergo more testing. >> reporter: in russia, the battle against covid-19 is being fought with real soldiers. this is the country's defense minister getting a vaccine. on state tv, russian's mayor says he has been vaccined too.

did your temperature rise, president putin asks. no, says the man. just a headache. the vaccine is safe. even top officials trust it. the kremlin won't confirm to cnn if putin himself has taken the plunge. but there is now some reason for russia's confidence. first data from phase run and two clinical trials, published in "the lancet" medical journal, said the vaccine has no adverse side effects. it seems to be safe, in other words. it generated an antibody response, in all of the test participants, only 76 people. but russian scientists say that's more than enough to prove the vaccine works and works well. >> the high level of cell immunity suggests there's great prospects for developing memory

cells. this tells us that it will not create protective levels at the moment of immunization. but that the impact will last for a long time. >> reporter: russia has been one of the world's worst affected countries in the covid pandemic, recording more than 1 million cases nationwide. it has a track record of creating vaccines, famously against polio in the 1950s, and more recently in 2016, to ebola, in west africa. this being a cautious reception to covid-19 vaccine. lack of published data and approval for use before human trials were compete there's concerns about its safety and effectiveness. "the lancet" warns that studies are too small and larger phase three trials are needed to know how useful the vaccine will

really be. >> we can say that the new russian vaccine, the results are encouraging, but it would be premature. highly premature, to think this is the basis for a successful vaccine for public use. >> reporter: that's not what the russians want to hear. they named their vaccine sputnik v, after the satellite, that shocked the world by orbiting earth, a global first and a symbol of russian scientific prowess. the vaccine, it seems is not quite there yet. matthew chance, cnn, moscow. u.s. president donald trump is slamming an article as a hoax. it alleges he disparaged the war dead as losers and suckers. here's how the president responded friday.

>> it's a continuation of a witch hunt to effect the election. these people have gone after me more than a president in the united states in history. >> it questions why anyone would serve in the u.s. military. all that provoked this response from joe biden, who hopes to take mr. trump's job after the election. >> duty, honor, country. these are values that drive our service members. president trump has demonstrated he has no sense of service. no loyalty to any cause other than himself. >> now, the journalist who wrote the story says he has multiple sources and is standing by his reporting. president trump does have a history of insulting some u.s. veterans and their families. his events described in the article, don't mesh with the

facts. for that, here's boris sanchez. >> reporter: it's a fake story and it's a disgrace that they're allowed to do it. >> reporter: today, president trump continuing his strong and vehement denials of a magazine article, claiming that president trump called fallen service members losers and suckers. >> to me, they're heroes. it's harder to do it. and i say that. the level of bravery. and to me, they are heroes. >> reporter: those comments following a late-night statement to reporters, after returning from a rally in pennsylvania. >> it's a total lie. it's fake news. it's a disgrace. >> reporter: reporting in "the atlantic," cites four sources who says president trump canceled a visit to honor american war dead at a cemetery in paris, because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain. telling senior staff members, quote, why would i go to that cemete

cemetery? it's filled with losers. trump referred to the 1,800 marines killed in a battle as suckers for losing their lives. the white house says that plans to visit the cemetery were scrapped because of bad weather, a line trump repeated last night. >> i called home. i spoke to my wife. i said, i hate this, i came here to go to that ceremony. >> reporter: trump couldn't have called home to melania. the first lady was traveling with trump in france. "the atlantic" reporting that during a memorial day visit to arlington national cemetery in 2017, trump joined john kelly at the gravesite of the former chief of staff's son. sources say trump turned to kelly and asked, i don't get it. what was in it for them? john kelly declined to comment on the story. >> it is an honor to serve the american people. >> reporter: and following the death of arizona senator, john

mccain, the article also claims trump reportedly became angry that flags were lowered to half-staff at the white house and told aides, we're not going to support that loser's funeral. trump denying it on twitter. writing, quote, i never called john a loser. while campaigning for president in 2015, he did. >> you know, he lost. so, i never liked him as much after that because i don't like losers. >> he's a war hero. >> he's a war hero because he was captured. i like people that weren't captured. >> reporter: amid the president's rebuke, the journalist behind the story is defending his reporting. >> i stand by my reporting. i have multiple sources telling me this is what happened. i stand by it. >> reporter: and trump's democratic opponent, joe biden, whose late son, beau, served in the military, saying -- >> if what is written in "the atlant atlantic" is true, it's disgusting. who the heck does he think he

is? >> reporter: john kelly not commenting on this story. and james mattis, the president's former secretary of defense, also not commenting on the allegations in this story. one former trump administration official is. john bolton, the former national security adviser, who is on this trip to france and wrote about it, in his recently released tell-all book. he told "the new york times," he did not directly hear president trump make the disparaging remarks about service members. he did acknowledge it is possible the president said them when he was not around. boris sanchez, cnn, the white house. among those coming to the president's defense is his wife. first lady melania trump, in a rare public defense of her husband, she is denouncining "t atlantic" story as untrue. this is not journalism, it is activism and a disservice to the american people. coming up, dramatic and dangerous rescues in stormy seas after a massive cargo ship goes

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the japanese coast guard suspended its search from dangerous waves and strong winds from a storm. the ship got caught in a typhoon on wednesday. it was carrying cows from new zealand to china. only 3 of the 43 sailors onboard have been found. will ripley is following developments from hong kong. will, a potentially tragic story ending there. what's the latest? >> this has to be so discouraging for the families of the 40 sailors, mainly from the philippines, who remain missing. when you see the photos of the ship, it is massive. it's a cargo container ship to carry 6,000 cows in the open air. the wind blows through to get

ventilation. they were exposed to winds of more than 200 kilometers an hour on wednesday. and massive waves, that potentially cause this ship to vanish. a dramatic rescue off of the coast of japan. this coast guard vessel tries to reach a man in the water. battling rough seas, getting closer and closer, as the man bobs up and down like a cork. finally, they're able to get him onboard. they bring him on to a coast guard ship, warm him with a blanket and give him water. >> yeah. yes, yes. >> reporter: he is the officer of a cargo ship that gave a distress call. the ship was carrying 43 crew members and almost 6,000 cows.

some seen dead, floating in the sea. the ship left napier, new zealand, on august 14th, headed for china, a journey that was supposed to take 17 days. at the time of the ship's disappearance, it was being pounded by a powerful storm, the same strength as a category 4 hurricane, with winds more than 200 kilometers or 125 miles per hour. the chief officer told authorities the ship's engine failed. the vessel was hit by a wave and capsized. on friday, 30-year-old filipino crew member was also found, clutching on to a ripped life raft, two kilometers from the island. rescuers discovered a third man floating unconscious. he was later pronounced dead. the wife of the ship's engineer, pleaded for officials to search for the missing crew. >> translator: i would like to call on the philippine government to give us legitimate

information and strengthen the cooperation for the ongoing search and rescue operations. >> reporter: new zealand has since announced it's suspended exports of live cattle, as it investigates what happened in the ship's journey. the export of livestock has been controversial. animal rights groups have called for the practice to be banned. it is a huge industry in this part of the world. you know, that ship was headed to china, to satiate china's appetite for beef. these ships are traveling through the east china sea, during typhoon season, and some of the storms are so massive. imagine -- you looked at the pictures of that ship. if these winds and these waves were enough to incapacitate the ship and leave a handful of survivors that have been found so far. nobody knows where the ship and the remaining 6,000 cows are. that's something they have to take a very hard look at. you not only have the people,

you also have all of the animals in those really terrifying weather conditions. >> absolutely. thanks so much. will ripley in hong kong. appreciate it. the heavy seas and strong winds that force rescuers to stop their search, are coming from another dangerous storm that's heading for japan and korea. the typhoon will be the third major storm to hit the region in two weeks. the typhoon is weakening a little bit. it is packing destructive winds and a huge amount of rain. let's bring in derek van dam. we have back-to-back typhoons here. what are we expecting from this one? >> kim, we can understand easily why the coast guard is calling off the search and rescue operations with this distressed ship, because maximum wave heights within the center of this storm, the third storm to approach the area in weeks, are

over 45 feet. the waves are extremely dangerous. the seas are tumultuous. it has been an incredibly bad run of weather for this region. the latest, 230-kilometer-per-hour sustained win wind. that makes it like a category 4 hurricane. it is a formidable, large and dangerous storm, with all of the threats one would imagine with a storm surge. damaging winds, flash flooding and coastal erosion. let's break it down for anyone who is watching from japan or in the korean peninsula. we're talking local time now. we're expecting landfall somewhere across the northern islands sunday morning. p you can pay attention to the legend on the top portion of my tv screen behind me. and sunday night, into monday morning, the eye of the storm, should stay just offshore.

14 million people live within this area. because of the counterclockwise rotation of a typhoon, we get the onshore push of water. the bays and the inlets that face in that westerly direction, will get the storm surge. the potential for damage is high. it will quickly race across the korean straits into south korea, that will make landfall, where the previous typhoon made landfall not a week ago. just no rest for the weary across this region. the threats include flash flooding because rainfall totals here could exceed 300 millime r millimeters. this is on top of what is record breaking territory for the m monsoon rains that have set up for this season. look at the wave heights that have a tremendous amount of energy behind this season. there's been six category 2 or higher storms. that's 154 kilometers per hour. since records began in the '50s.

the last time a storm of this magnitude rolled through the region, last week. so, that puts it into perspective for you. >> absolutely. we'll keep an eye on this all weekend. thank you very much, derek van dam. appreciate it. it's labor day weekend in north america, normally a time to hit the beach, fire up the barbecue. ahead, why experts fear this time the holiday could fan the flames of covid outbreaks. plus, million of american renters face eviction during the pandemic. but at the last moment, while they're getting a reprieve. we'll talk about a lawmaker that acted fast to help them. stay with us. you doing okay?

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welcome back to you, our viewers in the united states, canada and around the world. i'm kim brunhuber. you're watching cnn newsroom. the u.s. is racing into a pandemic. there's discussion about whether a vaccine will be available. alexander field has all that, plus the latest death toll projection from an influential group. >> reporter: a stunning 410,000 total deaths by new year's. the latest projection from a group whose predictions have been more accurate if not conservative from accurate figures. and more deaths if you abandon safety protocols, and fewer if everyone wears a mask. >> public health intervention, we know they work. >> reporter: with the election nearing, cnn knows the environment is a pressure cooker inside the fda, the agency that would approve a vaccine.

>> we're rounding the curve. we're coming up with vaccines. i think vaccines will be announced soon. great companies will be announcing these vaccines. we announce a groundbreaking -- >> reporter: since last spring, trump has sped up the officials to come up with a vaccine or a drug to treat coronavirus, according to sources inside the administration, who tells cnn the efforts are intensifying. i will resign if there's interference in this process, says the scientific head of warp speed, to bring a vaccine to the american public, according to an interview in "science." he says, there's been no interference. questions of interference were raised after cdc guidance instructed states to distribute millions of doses of a vaccine as early as late october. a timeline some officials have called unlikely. >> in terms of realistic time lines, we're not expecting to

see widespread vaccination until the middle of next year. >> reporter: a russian vaccine is showing promising limited results, according to "lancet." but it has not gone through large-scale human trials. three u.s. vaccine developers are in the third and final phase of trail. with the labor day weekend upon us, a reality check. the u.s. continues to coverage roughly 40,000 new covid-19 cases a day and saw more than 1,000 deaths on each of the last three days. in the northeast, a single wedding in maine last month, linked to 144 cases and two deaths. and hot spots are lighting up across the midwest, where some of the surges sparked on college campuses. >> our colleges and universities have plans in place and are take all steps necessary to keep their students and communities as safe as possible. >> reporter: amid all that pressure to fast-track a vacc e

vaccine, we're hearing that one pharmaceutical company may slow down the process. moderna is trying to recruit more diverse populations, even if it means to slow down enrollment in the trials. in new york, alexandra field, cnn. millions of americans who have lost their jobs during the pandemic are now facing the possibility they'll lose their homes, as well. with special federal unemployment benefits now gone, many can't pay the rent and they're facing eviction. but the cdc may have a temporary solution. cnn's brian todd explains. >> reporter: quiana ashley put it best, this summer, after she lost work. she and her young son faced eviction from their rental home in new york. >> that's something i wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. not knowing where you're going to rest your head at for the next day, that's not good.

>> reporter: now, groups say some 30 million to 40 million americans, like quiana, who are at risk of e conviction, could be getting help. the cdc has issued an extraordinary order for a federal health agency. ordering a halt to evictions across the country, until the end of this year. >> the very least the federal government ought to do in the middle of a pandemic, is assure each of us that we're not going to lose our homes in the middle of it. this action by the cdc could do just that and provide immediate relief for tens of millions of anxious and hurting families. >> reporter: marquerite is living on that edge. the single mother of two lost her job as a massage therapist in california's bay area and lost a second job with a tech company to the pandemic. her unemployment expired at the end of july. state unemployment money, a one-time charity payment and a part-time job aren't giving her

a lot of confidence that she can stay in her home. >> it's worrisome. you think, i have children to feed. i'm homeschooling them. i have to provide them with shelter, food. how am i going to do that. >> reporter: in order to get the new cdc protection, renters have to meet four conditions. single renters have to prove they have income of $99,000 or less. for couples, it's $198,000. you have to prove you made efforts to get government assistance for rent. you have to declare that the coronavirus pan dem sidemic is reason you can't pay rent. and you have to declare you would be homeless if evicted. there's a struggle among landlords to collect rent and avoid foreclosure on rental properties. paul, who has rental properties in florida, doesn't know how much longer he can give renters a break. >> i don't want to tell anybody, you have to get out immediately. but i won't be able to pay the

mortgage for them forever. >> reporter: that's why advocates say the cdc's new eviction protection is a half-measure, because it doesn't relieve them of owing back rent. >> they create a financial cliff for renters to fall off of when back rent is due and they're no more able to pay it then than now, or they were at the beginning of the pandemic. >> reporter: giving renters money to fend off eviction, requires an act of congress. the house has passed about $100 billion to assist renters. but so far, it hadn't gotten through the senate. brian todd, cnn, washington. some 4 million renters were facing eviction in california, which has the most covid cases in the nation. and some of the priciest rents. but relief is on the way. under a new california law, passed just this week, tenets who pay their rent through january, will be protected from eviction. they don't have to repay rent

they owe from march to august. to qualify, renters have to declare each month of the pandemic has caused them stress. it protects owners. mortgage companies can't foreclose on properties if tenants can't pay rent. david chu is an assembly member representing san francisco. he joins me now. thank you for being with us. homelessness is a huge problem in california. the pandemic making things worse. you must hear the most heartbreaking stories from constituents. >> we really do. before this pandemic, california and the rest of the country was in the midst of the most intense housing crisis in recent modern history. clearly, with the pandemic and recessi recession, it's been more xe intensified.

>> it's a compromised bill. many say it doesn't go far enough. do you agree? >> it is a compromise. it's fair to say that both sides of the discussion weren't happy. i wish there were stronger tenant protections. the alternative of not doing anything is far worse. we're trying to avoid a catastrophic massive wave of evictions that was looming this week, if this bill had not passed. >> how do you think the bill will help? >> in recent months,ing there millions of folks that can't way rent. we told everyone to shelter in place. during that process, so many lost their jobs, depleted savings, gone into debt. and many states have had temporary eviction bans, but they've all been lifted, including the one put in place by california. without any change in the law we

had millions that faced an eviction. and we need to do everything we could to prevent a wave of mass evictions. it would be catastrophic for homelessness and covid-19 spread. it would turn this recession into a great depression. >> the federal programs have ended. no deal on coronavirus relief. what do you make of the impasse that's prevented more relief for those hardest hit? should your representative in congress, nancy pelosi, be doing more to compromise and get a deal done here? >> speaker pelosi is doing everything she can to get assistance for struggling americans, particularly to struggling tenants and landlords. unfortunately, president trump and the trump administration and his republican allies have not agreed to the financial assistance. states, we can't solve this on our own. we're struggling with our own

budgets. and unlike the federal government, we can't print money. we need the federal government to step in with assistance and relief. but in the meantime in california, we worked on our own solution to make sure that we are not going to see a massive wave of evictions. in the coming months, we're going to need help from the federal government. >> we heard vice president mike pence, say we're not going to allow democrats in congress, to use a coronavirus relief bill to bail out poorly run democratic states. how would you respond to the vice president? >> this is not about republicans or democrats. we have tenants in every state in this country, who are truly struggling, for a reason not in their control. we told them to stay at home during this time period. in california, we addressed this, by saying if you had an economic hardship due to covid, you shouldn't be evicted. this is not going to be the case

in every state of this country. we need the federal government to just step up. this is not a partisan issue. >> all right. we appreciate you coming on to talk about this, david chiu. thank you for your time. >> thanks for having me, kim. images coming to us from portland, oregon. you can see here, about an hour and a half ago, police declared an unlawful assembly. portland police confirmed they were trying to arrest michael r reinoel on thursday night. they say he is wanted in the shooting death of aaron danielson, during a protest in portland last week. the u.s. attorney called reinoehl, and said the streets were safer without him. the pictures are from surveillance video before the shooting.

you can see danielson and another man on the sidewalk, and reinoehl conceals himself around a building. they were on opposite sides of the political divide and protests. the people of lebanon are hoping for a miracle. press c rescuers are scouring for survivors in the rubble of beirut's blast. we'll go there live for the latest. stay with us. he was tickling me and... [laughing] stop it! yeah. whoops! but julie has resolve pet expert. its latest formula attacks odors at the source. no odor. no stain. no nothin'. whatever happens, no big deal. resolve.

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you're looking at live pictures behind that truck. a desperate effort underway in beirut, lebanon. almost 200 people were killed when an explosion at a warehouse tore through the port on august 4th. there is possible signs of breathing under a stairwell next to a collapsed building, a full month after the blast.

the hope many had yesterday has faded somewhat. but now, resurrected. there's still hope. tell us the latest. >> reporter: that's right, kim. one worker spoke to us today and said there's more hope today than yesterday. yesterday, the signs of life that sparked this search and rescue for possibly the last survivor of the blast that ripped through the city. there were no signs of life yesterday. today, or rather, last night, the rescue team detected signs of life, which has renewed a hope for the search and rescue operation. this is a glimmer of hope that is important to the lebanese population. it's been a month of devastation, of hopelessness, of lack of closure. the investigation hasn't shown much in the way of establishing responsibility for the blast.

this search and rescue that started three days ago, has renewed a hope of a kind of closure of a survivor, of some positive news after a very difficult month. the people in lebanon are glued to tv screens. they are cheering on the chilean team. the dog that sparked this effort, people joke that he should be president or the prime minister, even. it's been a very charged three days and renewed symbolism. and the hope is important to the people of lebanon. kim? >> we're looking at live pictures there. when you see closer pictures, sometimes you see -- you might expect people to be frantically digging away. but often the process seems slow and deliberate. tell us about the obstacles they are encountering and why they have to move so carefully, even though they might be extremely

close. >> they might be close, that's true. this is the most destroyed building on the street to the street that is largely devastated. piles of rubble. piles of limestone. it's a delicate task they are working on because of a possible survivor. they are worry ied that if the signs of life point to someone alive under the rubble, this person may die in a clumsy or in a rushed evacuation process and a rushed rescue process, why they are practicing utmost delicacy. this team is highly experienced and the lebanese authorities are following their lead on this. >> yeah. i covered the moles as they're

known in english, in other circumstances, in an amazing team there. prayers across the nation there and people are watching across the world, hoping for a miracle. thank you very much. appreciate it. it is show time again at movie theaters in china. but thanks to the covid pandemic, the big screen experience won't have big crowds. you can forget about popcorn and soft drinks. that's ahead on cnn. stay with us. so what's going on?

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well, that is a new prototype from spacex, that is taking an impressive first hop. starship rose 500 feet, 150 meters, during this test flight in texas last month. the reusable spacecraft will be the most powerful launch vehicle developed. starship is supposed to take up to 100 tons of cargo and crew to orbit. then, the moon, mars and beyond. if the prototype lookses boxy,

it's missing the nose cone and fins. in a sign of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, some theaters in china are reopening. and the box office attraction is a film that hollywood hoped would be a blockbuster before covid struck. we have details from beijing. >> reporter: tickets in monda s hand, ticketgoers are going to the movie theater. i really miss it, she tells me. she is here to see "tenet" the sci-fi thriller, produced by warner brothers. this is the first major hollywood release in china since the covid-19 outbreak that's expected to attract large audiences. china is allowing theaters like this one here in beijing, to reopen at 50% capacity. they've got several seats, as you can see blocked off,

allowing for social distancing. when you're here for a film, you have to wear a mask the whole time. can you take it off for popcorn? not an option. concessions are not being sold. i think it's okay, it is worth it, she says. china shuttered theaters in late january, as the virus spread, only to reopen them with limited capacity and many film reruns in july. we're talking about roughly six months of closure. how devastating is that for the industry here? >> it is devastating. that means sort of lower investment for future projects. so, that's a pretty worrying trend, not just for this year. >> reporter: it comes off what was a $9.2 billion year for china's box office in 2019, which is up 5% from the year before that. less than north america's $11.4 billion, according to the motion picture association, but narrowing the gap. experts have expected china to

overtaken the u.s. and china box office sales this year. that was before the outbreak. now, with a vast majority of theaters reopen, and customers feeling comfortable to venture out, china could become the most profitable. >> everybody is a star, baby. >> reporter: there have been cuts from western films in the past, including censoring lgbt conte content, from "bohemian rhapsody." she thinks producers and studios aim to appeal to the global audience. >> i think they understand what can or cannot be shown in chinese theaters. >> reporter: "tenet" made the cut. so did disney's adaptation of "mulan." moviegoers adjusting to this very different movie watching experience postoutbreak. perhaps making the escape into another plot all the more alluring. david culver, cnn, beijing.

>> that wraps this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm kim brunhuber. i'll be back with more news. stay with us. it's pretty inspiring the way families

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it's labor day weekend in the united states, and officials are urging people to take the pandemic seriously hoping the mistakes of holiday weekends past can be avoided. also ahead, outrage after reports that mr. trump made disparaging remarks about u.s. soldiers who had been killed or captured. how president trump is reacting. and as kids return to school, a new study suggests that children may show different symptoms if they h