right now on "america this morn right now on "america this morning" the covid-19 crisis raising questions about school safety. facebook now removing a message from president trump about children and immunity. meanwhile, a surge in positive cases among babies near the southern border. four people from the same family now dying in a matter of days. plus the new crackdown on house parties. you can have your electricity and even your water shut off. breaking overnight, the source of the beirut blast. the reported link to a russian cargo ship. a quarter of a million people left homeless. we hear from that bride running for cover during the explosion. plus a warning about the same chemical compound and where it's being stored here in the u.s. weighing in, sarah palin giving her take on joe biden's potential running mate.

why she says a woman will face more scrutiny just days before biden is set to announce his pick. plus, high speed crash. the pileup during an international bike race with sticker shock, what's behind the rising prices at the supermarket and how much more you can expect to pay. mac and cheese for breakfast? how your childhood favorite is breaking into the most important meal of the day. good thursday morning, everyone. we begin with the growing crisis along the southern border. >> we're going to show you how covid-19 is taking a toll in texas, but first the national numbers. we're seeing more than 1,000 deaths per day, but the increase in deaths over the last week has slowed down to 3.6%. >> facebook has now removed president trump's post from wednesday in which he claimed

children are, quote, almost immune from the virus. >> children are not immune and overnight we learned one county in south texas has reported the number of babies testing positive has nearly doubled in the last two weeks. >> abc's andrea fujii reports. >> reporter: this morning with coronavirus concerns jeopardizing the re-opening of schools, president trump confident that kids should go back to class. >> my view is the schools should open. this thing is going away. children are almost -- and i would almost say definitely, but almost immune from this disease. >> reporter: it's a message he posted on facebook, but facebook has since removed his post saying the claims are false and harmful. the president's team clarifying, saying he meant that kids are less susceptible to contracting the virus. but children are not immune. in canton, georgia a second grader tested positive. now all 20 students and the teacher are in quarantine. in georgia, hundreds of teachers blasted their horns to protest re-opening.

in oklahoma, one teacher quit her job in protest. >> it's just like everybody is kicking the can down the road until we get to the two groups of people who can't. >> reporter: one kentucky school district is now planning to give face shields to each child. deaths from the virus are rising in 32 states, although death rates nationwide are declining, and although new cases are dropping, hospitalizations are still rising in 28 states. the university of mississippi medical center says it's beyond capacity with negative 14 icu beds. along the texas border -- >> i saw so far about 25 patients on a ventilator. >> reporter: doctors working in makeshift hospitals. more than 1,000 people have died here. >> when i saw them, i know my wife was alone. >> reporter: the caballero family saying they've lost four members in less than two weeks. >> they explain to me, they say there's nothing they can do, no more.

>> reporter: scenes like this house party near beverly hills are prompting new crackdowns. l.a.'s mayor now authorizing the city to shut off water and power to homes hosting large gatherings. >> and beyond the noise, the traffic and nuisance, these large parties are unsafe. >> reporter: in new york city, quarantine checkpoints now being set up at train stations and bridges like this one in staten island to track visitors from hot spots. dr. anthony fauci agrees the u.s. outbreak is the worst in the world, and testing must be improved. >> it's unacceptable, period, and i don't know why because that's not what i do every day. >> reporter: fauci also calling out the political divisiveness, saying his family has been targeted. despite encouraging news about potential vaccines in the works, one fda adviser says it's unrealistic to believe one will be ready by the end of the year. virginia is the first state to use a contact tracing app that will alert users if they've been in close contact with an

infected person. users can opt in to download. kenneth and mona? >> andrea, thank you. democrats and republicans remain deadlocked on a new coronavirus stimulus package. president trump is threatening to take executive action if no progress is made by tomorrow. the big sticking points are whether to renew the $600 unemployment benefit and whether to give more aid to local governments. breaking overnight, police in portland, oregon have declared that a protest outside the east precinct is an unlawful riot and they've ordered everyone to leave. they feared an explosive device was left at the building but later said it was not an explosive. overseas new details about that massive explosion in beirut, lebanon. at least 150 people are confirmed dead. the chemical compound from the blast is being traced back to a russian cargo ship. abc's reena roy has more. >> reporter: this morning, a new day of uncertainty for the estimated 250,000 people left

homeless by that massive explosion in beirut. drone video shows the destruction, massive piles of metal beams where buildings once stood, and hundreds of windows blown out. this satellite image shows the blast site before and after, the area decimated. a crater filled with water where a building once stood. an american living in beirut describing the nightmare. >> i ran down to the street to see what was going on, kind of took cover because so much glass was falling from everywhere and so much glass on the streets. >> reporter: this morning, officials at the port of beirut are under house arrest until an investigation determines who's to blame, as we learn more about what fueled the blast. the 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate was confiscated six years ago reportedly from a russian cargo ship that stopped at the port because of financial difficulties.

"the new york times" reports the chemical was moved to a dockside warehouse after a what to do with the cargo and nothing was apparently done to secure it.er in 2013, an ammonium nitrate explosion at a fertilizer facility in west texas killed 15 people. a chemical safety board found then that more than 1,300 facilities across the country store ammonium nitrate and residents are often unaware the chemical is being stored in their community. back in beirut, the blast changing lives in a matter of moments. the power of the explosion on display during this interview, the woman later saying she's and this bride was posing for her wedding photos when the blast ripped through the city.

>> when i hear the explosion, one thing came into my mind, that now my life has changed from wedding, happiness, into a sad moment. now i'm not going to be the bride. now i'm going to die. >> reporter: u.s. defense secretary mark esper says it appears the explosion was an accident and not an attack as president trump initially suggested. kenneth, mona? >> thank you. the death of a black prisoner in winston-salem, north carolina is bringing criminal charges. in december 56-year-old john neville fell off the bed in his cell. officers say they tried to move him to another cell for n but a handcuffed him and placed a bag on his head to keep him from

spitting, he said he couldn't breathe. he died two days later. five officers and a nurse have been fired and charged with involuntary manslaughter. time now for a look at your thursday morning weather. tropical storm isaias unleashed widespread flooding in the northeast, some of it powerful enough to sweep small buildings like this one in eastern pennsylvania. more than 1.5 million customers in new york, new jersey and connecticut were still in the dark overnight. checking today's forecast, sunny and cooler in the northeast with highs in the 80s. hot and humid across the south. 98 in dallas, 91 in miami, 60s and 70s in the northwest, 109 in phoenix. coming up, pothole problems, the three states with the worst road conditions. but first, the fbi raids the mansion of youtube star jake paul. what they found. and paying more at the grocery store. just how high prices have been rising. 6

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back now with a frightening end to this race. back now with a frightening end to this race. the cyclist wiped out at the finish line in poland. five riders were hurt, one suffered life-threatening injuries. officials disqualified another biker for pushing the man into the barrier. americans are spending more money on groceries. new figures show the price of beef and veal is up 20%, eggs up 10% and pork more than 8%. there's been a jump in demand for groceries as millions of americans avoid eating out and infected workers forced food plants to shut down in the spring. we turn now to the fbi raiding the california mansion of youtube star jake paul. agents and the s.w.a.t. team arrived in armored vehicles. >> reporter: this morning, new fallout for youtube star jake paul. >> good morning, jake paulers. welcome back to another video.

i hope you guys are as thrilled as i am right now. >> reporter: the controversial blogger famous for his outlandish stunts making new headlines after fbi agents raided his mansion near l.a. >> that's a lot of weapons. >> reporter: tmz capturing this footage of what appears to be s.w.a.t. team members swarming the property. police seizing multiple firearms. >> you see the weapons leaning up against the side there. >> reporter: the raid comes less than two months after paul was arrested for trespassing and charged with a criminal misdemeanor. these videos, police say, show paul engaged in looting at a mall in arizona during a protest against police brutality. >> oh, my god, this is getting crazy. >> reporter: police announced they are dropping those charges saying, it's, quote, in the best interest of the community to dismiss misdemeanor charges without prejudice so that a federal criminal investigation can be completed. as to why investigators raided paul's home wednesday, the fbi is only revealing it was linked to a further investigation and the warrant is sealed by a judge. paul has denied all allegations

of looting, posting a message on soci saye paul also made headlines for allegedly ra paies during the pandemic. sahe plans to th the investigation. fewer people are commuting to work these days but that doesn't mean road conditions have improved. a new study looked at potholes and other problems and found rhode island, california and new jersey were the states with the worst road conditions. the states with the best conditions were georgia, tennessee and florida. coming up, caught on camera, a man just barely avoids getting struck by lightning. but first, what sarah palin is saying about joe biden's search for a running mate. sarah palin is saying about joe biden's search for a running mate. e biden's search for a running mate. hey, can i... hold on one second... sure. okay... okay! safe drivers save 40%!!! guys! guys! check it out. safe drivers save 40%!!! safe drivers save 40%! safe drivers save 40%!!! that's safe drivers save 40%. it is, that's safe drivers save 40%.

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tree in his yard only feet from where he was standing. new details about those sightseeing hot air balloons that crashed in wyoming monday. the owner of that balloon company is blaming the accident on an unexpected downdraft during a freak storm. more than a dozen people were injured. the owner says the weather was clear and the storm was not forecasted. one passenger says it was windy with dark clouds. now to the race for president and several big changes to the campaign, but much of the attention is focused on who presumptive democratic nominee joe biden will choose as his running mate. >> reporter: this morning, sarah palin weighing in on the democratic deep states. >> joe biden kind of put himself in a pickle by excluding some demographics certainly of gender. >> reporter: presumptive democratic nominee, joe biden, has promised to choose a woman as his running mate. as the first female republican vice presidential nominee, palin says biden's pick will face more scrutiny than a man would. >> i was asked so often how are

you going to do this with children and granted i had just had a baby. people weren't able to know my accomplishments of who i was, my experience, what i stood for, what i could add to the ticket, and instead the rollout of the campaign kind of just went along with media, letting it be more about personality. >> reporter: an announcement on biden's choice is expected monday, a week before the convention. biden now saying he won't travel to milwaukee due to coronavirus concerns. instead he'll accept the nomination in his home state of delaware. in the meantime, the trump campaign is suing nevada after democrats there passed a law sending ballots to every registered voter and allowing ballots to be counted even after election day. our kyra phillips pressing the president. >> could you lay out and tell us exactly where the evidence is right now that mail-in ballots in nevada and other states will lead to widespread fraud. >> you see them all over the internet. they've had horrible stories on mail-in ballots. they have the right to go seven days after the election for approval. so you're not even going to know

who won the state of nevada. >> we did call nevada secretary of state's office election division and a spokeswoman there says that that simply isn't true, mr. president, and that nevada will continue to check ballot signatures against the voter registration cards. it's done at the county level. >> but that's not what they said when they approved it. they said they're not going to check signatures. >> reporter: now controversy at the post office. president trump claims the agency was given insufficient notice about the millions of expected ballots. >> it's a catastrophe waiting to happen. >> reporter: house democrats have now requested testimony from the new postmaster general, one of trump's top donors, amid reports that his cost cutting moves have created backlogs in mail delivery. the postal service saying the agency still has ample capacity for the election but critics point to new york's congressional primary back in june. a winner was just declared this week after a judge ruled on a dispute over whether some ballots were postmarked too late. as for sarah palin, she's not ruling out another run for office. >> i have certainly learned a lot about politics and how ridiculous so much of the political arena is.

so much of the shenanigans and the corruption, i would be more adamant than ever to clean things up. >> president trump has suggested delivering his convention speech at the white house. he says it would save money, but critics including some republicans argue the white house should not be the stage for a campaign speech. the coronavirus is putting the future of college sports in doubt. the university of connecticut has now cancelled its football season. the ncaa says all student athletes will be allowed to opt out of competition and all schools must honor athletic scholarships of students who do opt out. >> we came to the realization that this just wasn't going to work from a health, safety and welfare standpoint of our student athletes. >> meanwhile, as other college teams face coronavirus outbreaks, colorado state university says it's investigating claims that athletes were discouraged from getting tested. sc oicials iisheal is their top priority. major league baseball is making a new move to enforce

safety protocols and will require players and staff to wear face coverings in the dugouts. violators could be banned for the season. coming up, the new push to make mac and cheese a breakfast food. also ahead, the unpleasant surprise for bank customers checking their account balance. unpleasant surprise for bank customers checking their account balance. try new nature's bounty stress comfort. three unique gummies for your unique needs. find peace. boost mood. sleep well. stress comfort comes naturally, only from nature's bounty

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>> okay. next, imagine going to check your bank balance and it says zero, zip, nada. >> that's exactly what happened to some bank of america customers wednesday. not to worry, the bank says it's an online glitch and your money is still there. >> the bank says repairs are under way but haven't said exactly what went wrong to begin with. >> that happened to me in college. i just didn't have any money. to a trashy pony ride in texas. >> check out this video from outside houston. a garbage collector grabbed a life-sized stuffed pony that was in the trash along his route and he took it for a spin. >> the owner said she threw out her daughter's pony because it had a broken leg. when they saw him playing with it, it made their day. finally, the vehicle you have to see to believe. >> it's got one horsepower, literally, engineless, the vehicle was spotted in ukraine. >> the horse was trotting in the slow lane as it pulled the car down the street. bet they get great gas mileage. >> that's what i heard. and you can just feed them oats. at i heard.

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. making news at 4:27, have you tested positive for coronavirus? you could soon be getting a check in the mail if you live in won bay area county. and in it for the long haul, the blunt warning from another surge from a top doctor. my name is eric, i'm 14. wheth . >> my name is victoria. >> my name is jasmine. >> we're going one-on-one with students as the school year starts. they have definite opinions on distance learning and their health and safety. good morning, everybody. it is thursday, august 6. happy that you are waking up with us this morning. also happy that it is almost friday, mike. how are you? >> i'm doing well. first thing i thought of when i was like oh, i got to get up this morning. whoa, wait a minute, it's

thursday! almost there. i really did. so let's get this -- always enjoy this time together. it is our little timing. your and mine at 4:28 in the morning. let's take a look at the winds. and you can see they are not quite as high as they were yesterday, but they are still out there and some mist hanging in the air in places like san francisco. we had some record cold high temperatures yesterday, and that is gone. that is yesterday's news. today we rebound about 4 to 15 degrees. so mid to upper 60s coast into san francisco. low to mid-70s around the bay. and some 80s showing up in the north bay and east bay. we'll climb through the weekend. and we know this is a really hard choice for some people who are sick with coronavirus, either stay home and lose pay or

go to work and risk the health of everybody around you. one county is now stepping into hel help. amy hollyfield is live in hayward with details on this. >> reporter: so here is how it works. the county has partnered with a few clinics like this one hear here in hayward, they would let the county know that someone needs financial help so they can stay home. alameda county has set aside e$0 million for this program and the plan is to pay infected money who need the money $1250 to stay home from work and quarantine. officials were finding that sick people who couldn't go without a paycheck were still showing up for work, so they hope that this will help keep people home. >> when you have people who are going out and not being able to quarantine when they are sick, this is going to spread the

disease even more. so the goal obviously is to help these families. but the goal is also to prevent a big spiking of covid. >> reporter: these are the alameda county neighborhoods hardest hit by covid-19 and where they are hoping to help. west oakland, east okay land, fraught veil, south hayward and ashland and cherry land and unincorporated alameda county. these are for people who would not get sick pay or eligible of any kind to get state and federal help and for people who have tested positive for the virus. reporting live in hayward, amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. president trump says that he may use his executive powers to boost unemployment benefits if congress fails to act. democrats and republicans are in a stalemate over an economic relief package.