my apologies to jennifer aniston we ran out of time. george lopez will host tomorrow. "nightline" is next. thanks for watching. goodnight. this is "nightline." tonight, party peril. as the pandemic rages, people defying the rules, packing the bars, party boats, even a chain smoker's concert. inside america's night life controversy and science how germs are passed around in tight spaces. >> come on, when you're close together in bar without a face mask on, you're droplets. and tiktok shuffle. to dance your heart out or change. >> share believes.

>> tiktok facing a potential ban, can the communi their platform annouer:nitlines right now with juju chang. thanks for joining us. meeting friends can be part of a healthy social life. not during a pandemic. yet instead of sheltering at home, keeping the party going. caught in the middle is the night life industry. >> reporter: what was supposed to be a secret rave in new york turned into packed crowds. people dancing shoulder-to-shoulder, few wearing masks. ♪ >> reporter: scenes like this sparking national outrage and causing authorities to crack down across the united states. >> landed a party boat's captain and owners in hot water. >> reporter: videos on social media of people drinking and living it up. igniting a debate fearing that

crowds could be contributing to rise in covid cases. other remain consistent they feel safe and have right to party. is this first time out? >> every day for past four months. >> reporter: feel safe? >> completely. >> reporter: tougher decision to get a drink? >> honestly no. >> reporter: 15 states seeing increase in cases and over 155,000 people have already died from the virus. as the cases continue to climb, night life industry is center of national controversy. lawmakers from at least 16 states putting a pause or reversing the opening of bars and restaurants as they fear people socializing may be contributing to surge in the pandemic. >> we cannot move forward if a few knuckleheads think the rules don't apply to them.

>> states need to close their bars. >> reporter: people cooped up at homes fighting to be out. just last weekend, a chain smoker's convert in the hamptons, party goers packed together with no masks on caused national uproar, many questioning how there could be a concert in middle of the pandemic. >> nothing could stop me from participating. >> reporter: grace lee was one who attended. >> people so respectful, dancing on top of car whole time, well distanced. >> reporter: what would you say to people practicing social distancing saying your decision to do this is selfish. >> maybe it was a little bit selfish, actually. i guess i could have avoided it, stayed at home. i participated because i knew i was going to have the space to socially distance, and knew i wasn't putting anyone else at risk. not riskier than going to grocery store, standing in line

at bank. >> reporter: organizers say they followed the guidelines from the cdc, collaborated with state and local health officials and followed all proper and current protocol and said event raised money for no kid hungry, south hampton fresh air home and of new york. >> people trying to promote social distancing and public health are doing a great job, don't have an easy job. don't want to take anything from their efforts. but i don't think we can continue in this way of nothing is allowed. things have to be allowed within certain guidelines. >> reporter: backlash to the chain smokers concert, a reminder of what is still at stake. venues remain closed as owners try to figure out how and if we should be partying at all. >> i don't know if night life comes back unless they really have it under control. >> reporter: david grutman, the

king of miami night life, counts a-listers l dj khaled khaled closest friends. you made the decision to close your clubs, some of the biggest in the united states. talk to me a little bit about the decision that went into actually closing those. >> we had heard other places being closed around the country. then when we saw they stopped international travel, we knew it was time to pause. >> reporter: clubs remained closed, he opened up restaurants in may following state guidelines after florida made decision to lift restrictions. >> when florida opened, people came in droves, and we kind of were a little bit naïve, opened the floodgates a little bit too early, especially my places. >> reporter: florida has some of the highest rates of covid.

he counts himself lucky, hospitality group is large enough to stay afloat for the time being. a lot of small business owners are struggling with the decision to open their bars. what would your advice be to them as they struggle? >> i know it's tough. landlords are calling. make deals is best i can tell you, but just go slow. we've got to get rid of this. >> reporter: for bill nye, the science guy, intergenerational icon of all things molecular, says the science points to just being safer to stay at home. >> close together at bar without a face mask, going to spray droplets, other things that happen in bars, i don't want to shock you, some people's inhibitions go down. >> reporter: using household

items, illustrated how bars and restaurants could be a breeding ground for the virus. >> droplet from your breath is like a popcorn kernel in maple syrup. it falls after a while, but not right away because the syrup is thick. same is true of droplets from your breath in the air, the air is thick. >> reporter: when we talk, particles from our breath stick in the air the same way? >> yes. air is viscous enough if you're a droplet from a human sneeze, the droplet couldn't fall very fast in viscous air. it's unlikely if you're 30 feet away you get enough viral load. that's why everybody's talking about social or physical distancing. >> reporter: as the public plays by their own rules and state guidelines change weekly, some small bar owners don't have the luxury of waiting things out.

>> how do i manage my finances when i don't know when i'm going to make money again. >> reporter: bar owner in lexington, kentucky, shut in june after state ordered them to close. >> uncertainty was scary, especially two months of being shut down. >> reporter: after seeing uptick in covid cases, kentucky ordered all bars closed again. restaurants could remain open with limited capacity indoors and unlimited outdoor dining. to get around the restriction, had to get creative. >> when they initially reopened restaurants in early june there was option for bars to get a permit to offer food. and remain open. so i kind of got the wheels in motion, got working on it. reached out to a very popular deli that was able to provide packaged, sealed sandwiches. >> reporter: that permit is the

only reason why his bar has stayed open. >> we're all fighting for our survival. >> reporter: ability to adapt and roll with the punches. unique quality in being a night life owner in 2020, as the pandemic continues onndmain k i want to get back to work, make money, but want to do it responsibly. they will wait. bigger groups can afford to do that, smaller places can't. >> reporter: for "nightline," aschen sing, in manhattan. coming up, could it be tiktok's last dance? hit-making app facing a potential ban. drop the taco, get in the car. does this sentra feel like a compromise to you? wait what? the handling, it's good right? no compromise there... nope. watch this... brie brie... (sfx: rab beeps) rear automatic braking. so if this nissan sentra

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for a full generation of artists, singers and activists, tiktok is the social media spot to make their voices heard. the white house recently threatened to ban the app, then pulled back. why? abc's rebecca jarvis. >> tiktok makes dreams come

through, it made mine. >> reporter: for cameron campbe campbell, tiktok is more than addiction, it's life. >> biggest income i have right now. >> reporter: at 26 years old, went from working at walmart to partnering with big-name brands. cameron one of millions of creators on the platform. known as launch pad for hits, eye-popping stunts and endless dance crazes. multibillion dollar social media behemoth owned by china, at controversy over user privacy concerns. white house has wanted to ban it, microsoft wants to buy it. everybody is talking about it. >> we're going to turn now to tiktok. >> no one really expected this app would be such center of attention and national security

issue for the trump administration. >> reporter: all started last friday when president trump sent shock waves through social media after making this comment. >> we're looking at tiktok, we may be banning tiktok. >> reporter: the app facing scrutiny from congress is banned on government phones. >> two big concerns, one is ccp, chinese communist party could get user data from tiktok. other big concern is use the platform as propaganda to push certain views or political candidates they favor over others. it's important to know there's no specific evidence to support any of those claims, just this concern that china is an enemy. >> reporter: can the president really block the platform? >> there are a number of legal avenues the president could take, would be unprecedented and more similar to the actions we see from the chinese government.

>> reporter: president's comments coming on the same day news broke that tech giant microsoft was in talks to acquire the app. tiktok released this video. >> we've heard your support, we're not planning on going anywhere. >> reporter: also this statement, u.s. user data is stored in the u.s. with strict controls on employee access, we're committed to protecting users' privacy and enjoyment as we bring meaningful careers to those who create on our platform. yesterday, microsoft confirmed its plans to buy the platform. trump giving the companies 45-day window to close the deal, or face the ban. today the president saying he was ready to see the deal move forward, as long as the u.s. gets a cut of the sales price in exchange for approving it. without explaining how that would happen. >> i said a significant portion

of that price will have could come into the treasury of the united states, we're making it happen. >> this boils down to the trump administration stance toward china. very zero sum, taken a number of hostile actions towards the country, some definitely warranted, tiktok is part of the policy, nothing specific about the app itself. >> reporter: microsoft stating it is committed to acquiring tiktok subject to security review and providing proper economic benefits to the united states, including the treasury. >> they're the only major tech platform without a very successful social network. >> reporter: seems like microsoft gains a lot by owning tiktok. >> microsoft over the last couple of years has wanted to be a business first company. buying tiktok would give them leverage in the consumer market. there's all that valuable data about young people they could

use to inform other parts of their product, integrate tiktok into parts of microsoft, they stand to gain a lot here. ironic, given last week there was hearing in congress about antitrust and big tech. >> 3.6 million followers, if it got banned, would be terrible. ♪ >> reporter: we first met cameron last year. at the time he posted this video of himself dancing on the job. went viral. >> blowing up and people contacting me. >> reporter: one of the new faces of aero postale, d d photo shoot, did the dance that made him famous. views poured in, power of tiktok on full display. >> now 151. it keeps going. >> reporter: what will it mean if the app is shut down? >> on its face, if it's shut

down soon, major platform for free expression especially among young people was taken away months before extremely consequential election. i find that troubling, will be free speech and cultural loss, unprecedented. >> reporter: over the last several months the platform has evolved. >> this is no trend. >> reporter: tiktok a space for activism on the left and right. >> you are strong. >> reporter: taylor cassidy quickly recognized its potential as megaphone for social issues. >> i think what they gain from my content is insight of education they couldn't get from their own school. i see comments saying i learn more from tiktok than school because lot of times in school you don't see big representation of black history, what my content is centered around. >> reporter: at age 17, more

than 38 million likes but says her dreams aren't defined by tiktok. >> no matter what happens, we're going to keep creating content, let our creativity speak volumes for experiences, still going to tell each other stories and still going to find some way to keep going. so even though we might lose something precious to us, we can find another way. >> reporter: like taylor, cameron believes the content isn't defined by the platform, but trying to stay positive and hopes for resolution. >> i want people to look at tiktok in a positive light. it's an app where you can put talent and abilities out there. if tiktok doesn't get banned, tiktok is going to grow even stronger. >> thanks to rebecca. up next, setting a record. high school senior graduating with the highest of honors. just over a year ago,

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and finally tonight, take a

bow. for 17-year-old nina mitchell, hearing her name called out loud is the sweetest sound. >> nina mitchell. >> graduating as valedictorian as de cal b high school in illinois, first black woman in history of the school to claim the honor. following in footsteps of grandmother at a different school. lasting legacy. happy graduation. that's "nightline," watch full episodes on hulu, thanks for staying up with us. good night, america. >> dicky: from hollywood, it's "jimmy kimmel live," with guest host, nikki glaser. tonight, paris hilton and phoebe robinson.

and now, nikki glaser! >> nikki: welcome to "jimmy kimmel live." i'm nikki glaser, your guest-host for the evening. i really can't believe i'm hosting a network late night talk show. alone. inside a weird house. with no laughter. wow, this is both the high and low point of my career. i want to thank jimmy for letting me host his show while he's on pregnancy leave. jimmy, i'm really happy you're keeping this one. the last time i saw jimmy was just a couple days before the quarantine when i taped an episode of who wants to be a millionaire where i accidentally locked in a wrong answer and this happened. no! no! no! >> no! >> nikki: the day after i taped that, i decided that instead of going back to my place in new york, i'd go to my parents' house in st. louis where i could stay for a week or two until this whole corona thing blew over. here's footage of my reaction when i realized viruses don't blow over.

no! no! no! >> no!