"nightline" is next. good night. ♪ ♪ >> this is "nightline." >> in the middle of a pandemic sending students back to school in georgia, oklahoma and arizona. from teachers embracing learning, discipline for sound sounding the alarm for social distancing. >> people are dying from this. >> plus, night of unrest in chicago. more than 100 people arrested. dozens of stores smashed. what sparked the mayhem? what's next for a city under ckwn aouncer: "nightline" starts ri now with byron pifts. >> good evening, thank you for joining us. looming in the minds of

students, parents and teachers in america, is it safe to go back to school? this is nearly 100,000 children test positive for covid-19 in the last two weeks of july. now the school districts staying their course despite growing doubts. it's these crowded hallways that hannah waters feared as she headed back to her georgia school last week. >> the outside looks like a normal day like we're going about it and trying to stay as safe as possible. but when you really go on the inside, that's why i took the photo, because people don't know what it looks like from the inside. >> just two days into the school year, the sophomore honor student took out her phone and began to film the crowds. >> you get an insight to what it looks like from the students and teachers' view how dangerous it is to be in there and how easily it is to contract things in there. >> her video going viral, thousands sharing her post, sparking a nationwide conversation on whether schools should open as coronavirus cases continue to rise across the country.

>> i've had a lot of people contact me, friends that i haven't talked to in a while text me and say, thank you for doing this. and there's been some people taking screen shots and saying stuff like, we're going to jump every girl named hannah in the 10th grade, or someone who lives in my neighborhood saying, oh, i know where she lives. >> by every definition, those are are threats. >> yeah. >> but hannah's video turned out to be a warning. over the weekend the superintendent sent a letter to parents. nine students and faculty tested positive for covid. the school is switching to digital learning for at least two days to be cleaned. what surprised you the most during this process and what's disappointed you the most? >> i was very upset with parents and some teachers were upset that i did this because i'm just trying to keep your kids safe. trying to keep even you safe because they come back to you after school. >> the global pandemic rages on. the u.s. now surpassing 5 million total cases. the number of deaths increasing in multiple states. but teachers and students across

the country are already returning to school. grappling with the life and death risk going back with covid. >> we've been reckless with b and beaches and restaurants and we simply cannot be rex tillersonless with our schools. this is not a petri dish. >> the american academy of pediatrics finding over 80,000 children have tested positive since the pandemic started. nearly 100,000 of those in the last two weeks of july. and yet school districts across the country have pushed for in-person learning, opening a new front line in the fight against covid. >> good news, all schools can reopen. >> in new york city, the biggest public school system in the country, schools will move forward with in-person learning and follow public health recommendations, including mandatory face coverings for all. dr. anthony fauci weighing in today with abc's david muir. >> do you feel comfortable with much of the country sending

children back to school? >> it's really a mixed bag in some respects, david, because we live in a pretty large country that have differences in different parts of the country. i think as a default position, we should try to the best of our ability to get the children back to school. having said that, as a default principle which we should try to do, there is a however there. but the however is that we've always got to make our primary consideration the health, the safety and the welfare of the children and of the teachers. >> it's this delicate balance that's proven so challenging. school started last wreak in ornty in suburban, atlanta. more than 250 students and staff were asked to quarantine after at least 11 students and two staff members tested positive. tiffini robbins is a middle school teacher in that same district. >> so, it's monday morning and i'm getting ready to start my second week of school with students. >> robbins' school opted for in-class learning, forcing her to make a difficult choice.

>> it took a lot of soul searching, but i decided that, you know, i love teaching. i love what i do. and if this is the only way i can do it in this county at this point in my life, then i have to go back into the classroom. >> it was her choice, but not an easy one. >> i am feeling kind of conflicted. it was wonderful to be in the classroom, but i'm worried. i'm worried for them, worried for my personal children. worried for my students. i personally did make sure my will was there and updated. >> the fact that she had to draft a will and file for life insurance obviously it worries me. >> 50 miles south in gwinnett county, georgia, reality isn't much different. the majority of residents in this part of the state are black and latino. >> in these minority populations, there have been health disparities that already

existed before this pandemic happened. and the pandemic just shone a really big spotlight on those economic and racial disparities that we see in health care. >> georgia state representative emory university lecturer jazz minute clark is also a microbiologist. she knows the science and opted for virtual learning this fall. >> i signed up my daughter for digital learning. i fear for my daughter's safety. i fear for everyone's safety. i am hearing the stories of people who just wish that we as a community would do the right thing collectively so that we can stop the spread of this virus. >> but representative clark says her daughter isn't happy about their tough decision. >> jada loves to be around her friends, around her peers, so choosing virtual meant that i was taking that from her. but as a scientist and just understanding viral

transmission, and also as a person who represents this area and represents those teachers and those school employees and those bus drivers, i really had to look at the bigger picture. >> in-person learning has been a contentious issue across the country. in wisconsin, parents urging a return to classrooms. but last week more than 1,000 teachers called on michigan's governor gretchen whitmer to keep schools closed, a sentiment being echoed in school districts across the country, including oklahoma. a lifelong educator, nancy shively, never predicted her career would end this way. >> maybe some day i'll get to go back. i always loved teaching, i love working with kids, even the ornery ones. i don't see how they're going to avoid outbreaks. >> as tulsa schools resume in-person learning this week, shively thought it was too dangerous, so she's resigning. >> i've got underlying health

conditions. i'm over 60. none of that would bode well where i could get coronavirus. >> but she's not stopping there. shively is so outraged she's penned an op-ed in usa today, blasting the president helped vote into office. >> one of the worst mistakes in my life. when the pandemic hit, i'm watching this and watching him abdicate his responsibilities and i'm like, i cannot be part of this republican party any more. people are dying. i think what we're doing is we're conducting this big experiment with schools reopening and the people are going to pay the price are the teachers and children. >> in states with high infection rates, many districts have had to readjust their plans. >> we'll do a post reflection, but at the end of the unit. >> arizona high school chemistry

teacher katherine driving hawk is back in school, but without her students. >> it's sad. i feel like i'm talking to myself the whole time. i miss the presence of having students in my classroom and having my social interaction with them. on the next page -- >> for the ten-year veteran, this has been one of the big east coast challenges biggest challenges of her career. as a chemistry teacher, there are still barriers. >> as a chemistry teacher there is a fine line. the way i teach is very interactive. i like kids being in groups, i like them doing lab work. and having them in the classroom would certainly make that easier, but, you know, that would require them not being 6 feet apart. we had to wear masks. that could also pose a difficulty in hearing each other. i could just see that being very difficult to manage. all at the same time of trying to teach, so i think what we're doing right now is the best we can do under the circumstances. >> back in georgia, high school sophomore hannah waters doesn't

regret sharing the videos of those crowded hallways. she was first suspended over the viral photo. but her suspension has since been rescinded. do you prefer to go back to virtual school? what would you like to do? >> for safety reasons and the threats from unless something changes like masks are required, then i probably wouldn't go back to in-person. >> i imagine most honor students love school. you love school. >> and i value my education at north a lot, and they've always done me right. they've always given me a good education. i don't want to have to risk my life or my family's life just to learn better. because at this point it's a decision over safety or education and it's an incredibly hard decision for everyone to make.

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chicago tonight, a city under lockdown after a night of vandalism and turmoil. what started as a police-involved shooting quickly devolving into chaos as rumors spread. here's abc's alex perez. >> it looks like they're looting further down south. there's no police officers. >> they're looting a store on wabash north of washington. >> what is your emergency? >> i need more people. >> reporter: a stunning scene in one of the country's most expensive stretches of high-end shopping and retail. >> going in for jewels right now. >> reporter: last night hundreds of stores ransacked as looters overwhelmed police and destroyed property along chicago's upscale magnificent mile. >> i heard glass being shattered at walgreens, 7-eleven. cops in the area. >> in the downtown and surroundingehavior pure

and simple. >> reporter: the looting, police say, stemming from a police-involved shooting sunday, authorities say a 20-year-old suspect who allegedly fired at police was shot and injured in the inglewood neighborhood of chicago's south side. >> after this shooting, a crowd gathered on the south side following the police action. tempers flared. >> they don't do nothing but hold us down. >> reporter: residents and activists, with megaphones in hand, live streaming these videos to social media of a standoff with police following the shooting. false information about that shooting, investigators say, spreading on social media fueling the melee. >> dpd became aware of several social media posts encouraging looting downtown. >> reporter: hundreds of chicago police officers were dispatched downtown as the first incident unfolded after midnight. >> people were everywhere. vehicles were going down the wrong way, down a one-way street. >> reporter: the incident coming after a difficult summer in

chicago from shutdowns due to covid-19. to peaceful mass protests in the wake of george floyd's death. and a year after fatal shootings were down, deadly gun violence in july more than doubling in the city since the same time last year. police and citizens are on edge, making yesterday's looting all the more painful. >> this was an assault on our city. stores that were targeted were more than just large chain stores. they were all small businesses. >> this is the third time we've boarded up since may. >> they didn't get inside the store here today. they just bust the window out. that g thank god that's all they did here. >> reporter: communities left picking up the pieces once again. >> our thanks to alex. earlier today i spoke to d dr. amina matthews, a community organizer, antiviolence activist who grew up on the south side of chicago and found herself at the

stand-off with police at the unrest sunday night. dr. matthews, thank you so much for joining us. what's the feeling on the ground now in the community tonight since time has passed? >> you know, time is passed as far as the hours of the day, but there hasn't been change, so time really hasn't passed. we're still stuck in that pain. we're still stuck in the devastation because of the policing, of the lack of security, lack of trust from the police officers. and, yes, the looting -- the looting happened, and i'm not minimizing that, and i'm just so grateful that it wasn't any lives that was lost. >> certainly the frustration in chicago goes back decades. but like in much of america in this moment, it's been a challenging summer for the people of chicago, facing a global pandemic, protests in the wake of george floyd, and now an uptick in gun violence. where do you go from here? how do people -- how are people expected to manage that level of

stress? >> we're living the state of emergency here in chicago. so it's just -- we must make wise decisions. tonight we're on a curfew, and, you know, hopefully that will kind of hold back the action of the pain. but, you know what, the bottom line is that we must secure our community and provide mental health services. we must make sure -- we're in a pandemic, in a powerless state of being from masks and social distancing. but to care and raise our community up and save our youth, our next generation, they feel that it's at a breaking point that they're not being heard. it's not right that looting. it's not right -- it's not right for the police to shoot and kill a black man over and over again. >> i know you're a proud

daughter from the south side of chicago, an activist, a woman of faith. how do you rally all that you are and all that you believe to impact the community? >> my faith plays a big part to help me stay sane out here. i want to leave the place better than i found it. i challenge anyone that is in the sound of my voice, i need my families, my young men, my young women in chicago, that if you can hear my voice, please, this is not the way to stop any problems, to loot, to shoot. what we're going to do is we're going to come together. my 18-year-olds and more to vote. let's come out and fight. >> dr. matthews, thank you so very much for your witness, your courage, your grace. godspeed to you and to your family and to your beloved city of chicago. >> thank you very much. thank you for you guy's time. thank you guys. god bless you. >> up next, after that blast in beruit, finding the light in the

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and finally tonight, home is where the heart is.

>> dinner? >> a flicker of hope shining bright in a sea of debris. >> happy birthday. ♪ happy birthday to you >> left behind from a deadly explosion in beruit last week, surprising 27-year-old with a birthday cake. checking the damage done to her apartment, picking up the pieces of her life with the help of loved ones. that's "nightline" for this evening. thanks for the company, america. good night. >> announcer: from hollywood, it's jimmy kimmel live with host dua lipa. tonight gwen stefani. and now, dua lipa. >> dua lipa: hello, and welcome to a very weird episode of "mtv cribs." i am your guest host of the night, dua lipa.

you know that song your kid listened to 5,000 times while trying to perfect a dance on tiktok? that was me. you're welcome and i'm sorry. jimmy and i actually just switched jobs for the night. right now, i'm here, and he's performing for thousands of people at a dance hall in berlin. in a very tight tank top. the last time i saw jimmy it was after i broke into his house in the middle of the night. i teamed up with his wife molly -- got a bunch of lights and a smoke machine and did this. ♪ ♪ >> dua lipa: ah, there's nothing sexier than a grown man wearing a mouth guard. and i thought i'd had the last laugh, until tonight. when jimmy tricked me into hosting his show from a creepy empty house. good one jim. all kidding aside, i'm excited to do this. it's a totally new experience