the push to reopen schools hits a wall in one of the nation's biggest cities. while on capitol hill lawmakers close in on a deal to deliver more relief to the millions of americans left reeling from the pandemic shell shock sets in after the catastrophic blast in beirut what the country's leaders could have done to prevent the deadly explosion. coronavirus biting into grocery budgets. what's driving up prices at the supermarket? "early today" starts right now good thursday morning i'm

phillip mena >> we we again with the latest on the coronavirus outbreak spreading across the united states the country is inching closer to 5 million cases. according to nbc news analysis, over the last week nearly 7,500 people died. that is one person every 80 seconds. new york city is setting up check points at key entry locations to enforce the state's quarantine rules travelers from 34 states are required to self-isolate for 14 days and fill out contact forms or face a $2,000 fine. the cdc is warning against drinking hand sanitizer. the cases came out of as azoaria and new mexico chloroex- disinfecting wipes can be hard to find until 2021 demand has multiplied six times

and they believe they won't be able to meet demand until next summer according to a memo obtained by usa today armrests and seat belts will not be wiped down between each flight. those flights would be cleaned nightly instead. it will focus on high touch areas like tray tables millions of parents are now faced with the tough decision of whether to send their kids to school chicago, the nation's third largest school system is going to begin their school year online >> reporter: some 400,000 students in chicago will not return to the classroom at least for now stepping back from a proposal for hybrid learning, a split between online and in-person instruction, the superintendent says the decision was made based on the high number of covid cases. >> i did not feel confident that we would be able to enter the classroom in a safe way. >> reporter: teachers concerned

about going back to the classroom are now relieved >> we're not reinventing what it means to build connections with students we're translating that to an online platform. >> reporter: citing chicago's nearly 5% positivity rate. a key metric school leaders insist it's best for children. but some families disagree >> i would have hoped that we could have come up with some good solutions to get some form of in-person to start the school year i do not feel that it is develop mentally appropriate for them to be doing it remotely >> reporter: in florida where 11% of people are testing positive the state has surpassed half a million covid cases in court the largest teachers union filed an emergency injunction to delay the start of classes statewide. in georgia with a 13% positivity

rate, high school students packed in hallways and at one reopened school district a second grader tested positive on the first day causing the entire class to quarantine for two weeks. the president again insisting on a return to school >> i'd like toe see the schools open parents want the schools open. we want them open and we're going to practice very strong hygiene and all the other things that i've enumerated many times but we want to see the schools open >> reporter: the decision to return to the classroom is expected in new york its positivity rate is among the lowest in the nation, less than 1% finally good enough for one of the harshest critics of reopening. it can be done with proper precautions. >> the level of community transmission how much virus is spreading in the community. and the bottom line is that new york has done a fabulous job of controlling the virus and one of

the prizes of being able to control the virus is you get to open up schools safely. >> reporter: the debate over going back to the classroom where hard lessons may soon be learned. >> and decisions need to be made quickly as some cities are just days away from the start of a new school year. >> thank you lawmakers and white house negotiators are said to be closer to a deal on a new coronavirus relief package the desperate need for more aid underscored by the weekly jobless numbers. another 1.4 million expected to have filed for unemployment benefits and this new stimulus package starting to take shape. >> reporter: but stillticism wh pull this together by tomorrow here's where they are in those closed door negotiations we're told they've agreed on $400 a week down from 600 to renew unemployment benefits from the federal government and that

will be till the end of the year plus a ban on evictions until the end of the year. still no deal we're told on money for schools, state and local governments or food aid, something democrats really wanted and still skepticism about how quickly they can get this done. >> i'm confident that we will have an agreement, the timing of it i can't say because i don't know if we don't do something significant we won't not only be delinquent in our duties to fight this virus which is the way to open our economy and open our schools safely for our children and grandchildren, but we will also be increasing the damage to our economy. >> while americans are struggling the democratic leaders have moved about one inch in eight days >> reporter: mcconnell confirms

that the senate will stay in washington next week in hopes of some sort of vote taking shape president trump has said if it doesn't get done at least the frame work for a deal, some sort of agreement by tomorrow, cori >> okay. than much. the university of connecticut setting an ominous tone for college football becoming the first school at the sports highest collegiate level to cancel the 2020 football season each division will decide whether to play fall championships. so far divisions ii and iii have cancelled fall title games and the league announced zero positive coronavirus cases for the third straight week. a global rescue mission is underway in beirut after that massive explosion rocked the capital on tuesday the death toll has risen to at least 135 killed with 5,000 wounded. hospitals are said to be overwhelmed and victims are still trapped beneath the

rubble international aid is headed to the region which is now under a state of emergency >> reporter: new videos show how the powerful blast instant a church service underway when the roof beginnings caving in a bride posed for a wedding video. you can hear the first blast and then -- a reporter in the upper corner doing a live television interview in arabic, she survived we learned at east one american is among the more than 100 people who died. at least 5,000 were injured and hundreds are missing hospitals already struggling with covid are beyond capacity >> we have a small hospital. it's a 60-bed hospital and it's not equipped to receive this number of casualties i've never seen something like

this >> reporter: lebanese officials say the blast was caused by a fire you can see it popping and sparking what started it remains unclear. but it grew setting off the big explosion at a storage facility. lebanese officials say packed with 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate commonly used in fertilizers. it can also be used for bombs. timothy mcvague used it to destroy the federal building in oklahoma city. the beirut blast was 1,300 times more powerful. they're investigating why so much of this explosive chemical was left at beirut's port. lebanese officials say it was seized from a cargo ship six years ago. customs officials claim they asked to get rid of it but it never happened instead, this was the port area

before and after like it was never there. the lebanese government says it is placing an unspecified number of port officials under house arrest while the investigation continues. apparently out of concern they try to leave the country >> all right thanks it is time to check in with janessa webb good morning how's it looking out there >> good morning. we have kind of a quieter weather pattern giving people a lot more time to get the cleanup going. i know we still have many people without power so hopefully that starts to get restored this afternoon. now, i am watching a front that's going to make its way across the mid-atlantic to the southeast and that will cause some scattered showers on top of this flooding that we've already seen we really need kind of a dry spell in this area it will not push offshore until tomorrow afternoon with temperatures starting toe almos0

degrees. we continue to watch cooler air make its way in across the great lakes all the way to detroit, 75 it's been a rough week i think we need to look at the weekend. that's coming up >> yes and hold on to those 70s as long as we can. >> thanks. still to come, the hollywood ctn. and disney's live aio >> and how the pandemic is reshaping the 2020 race. >>wow...ok! that's 15% on top of what geico could already save you. so what are you waiting for? idina menzel to sing your own theme song? ♪ tara, tara, look at her go with a fresh cup of joe. ♪ gettin' down to work early! ♪ following her dreams into taxidermy! oh, it's...tax attorney. ♪ i read that wrong, oh yeeaaaah!

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democrats scrambling to make for president due to coronavirus final arrangements for the lateo concerns organizers announce he'll deliver that speech from his home state of delaware and president trump said he'll probably deliver his speech accepting the gop nomination from the white house >> if somebody had difficulty with it i could go someplace else the least expensive i think would be live from the white house. >> reporter: it would mark yet another break in presidential norms. they've historically drawn clear lines twine official white house business it's ethically out of the question it shouldn't have been something that was expressed. >> reporter: president trump continued his baseless attacks on voting by mail targeting nevada over its plan to conduct the election almost entirely by mail-in ballot >> they're going to blanket the state. anybody that ever walked will get one. >> reporter: the president who has voted by mail in a florida

says that state system is more trustworthy because it's had two republican governors election fraud is exceedingly rare nationwide. the president meeting with arizona governor >> in your estimation is mail-in voting safe in arizona as it is you say if in florida? >> i can tell you in florida they've done a good job with it. in nevada it would be a disaster it's a very political state and the governor happens to be a democrat and i don't believe the post office can be set up. >> reporter: funding for the postal service emerging as a key sticking point in talks over the coronavirus relief bill. >> and negotiators met yesterday with the new postmaster general, a major trump donor whose policies and budget cuts have sparked fears they won't be able to deliver ballots in time for the november election. coming up, the oscar winning coming up, the oscar winning actor in hopeshigh-priced plans:

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walmart is launching drive-in movie theaters in the parking lots of 160 of its stores starting august 14th. it will run through october 21st the company released the list of the movies with dates and the cities where those free move veers will be shown. >>nks in talks to play

in the disney version of pinocchio. he reached out to the film's director to express interest lady gaga is teaming up with apple music for a weekly show called gaga radio. she will chat with people involved with creating her album. that all starts this friday. now to the price hikes many are seeing at the supermarket paying for the essentials now getting more difficult as more americans go hungry. >> reporter: good morning. today we'ring grocery prices which are going up across the board and across the country putting added pressure on families during an already stressed time. grocery store prices have been rising for months. >> have you noticed a change in grocery prices. >> reporter: they 'risen quite a bit. meat and veal jumped more than

20%. fresh vegetables and cereal also rising more than 3%. >> meat and eggs, two things almost every family out there eats a lot of. why are they seeing the biggest increase >> they are very large industries that rely on workers and vault of the covid-19 infections that they had issues with keeping people on the line. >> reporter: it's also because of early on covid-19 shut down meat plants causing supply constraints. people are also eating out less which means buying more for meals at home. >> the food that is distributed to restaurants are packaged differently. they're usually packaged in huge lots they're different cuts of meat than what we're used to in the grocery store. >> reporter: but the spike in prices means many families can't afford to get the food they need more than 29 million americans said they didn't have enough to

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we're back with new signs of hope for those suffering from covid-19 while operation warp speed to develop a vaccine, promising therapies for those who have the virus or were exposed to it are picking up steam as well. >> reporter: urgent effort to create a covid-19 countering the worst medical crisis in a century has sparked hope in the white house. while the medical community remains bullish on a break through, a timeline of 2020 is no guarantee and covid cases like kate porter continue to suffer >> right now today i'm on day 140. as we speak i have the highest temperature that i've had all four months actually that's why i'm sweating and a

little shaky right now. >> reporter: the 35-year-old mom from the boston area says she's battled around 30 symptoms since contracting coronavirus in mid march making two visits to the er >> the high heart rate, i can feel my heart skip a beat. >> reporter: with elevated heart rate and brain fog leading to a hodgepodge of medicines. now a form of relief in the form of anti body treatment >> if you get them early enough you can block that initial wave of virus that comes when your body gets infected with covid-19 drug maker and the national institutes of health calling for 2,000 volunteers one trial involving covid patients hospitalized, the other coping at home to test the effectiveness of anti body treatment. special proteins taken from the survivor that would target and lock on to the virus preventing it from spreading. if successful the therapy could

prevent some patients from ever reaching the hospital doors and potentially block the virus from replicating any further in people like kate >> what would an effective treatment be for your situation. >> it would give me hope again and give me just everything i need to kind of resume my life and just do all the things that i love. >> our thanks to sam brock were that report. exciting news for all you thrifters out there. the famed 127 yard sale, the longest yard sale in the world will start today one tennessee community along the 690 mile route on highway 127 has set up hand sanitizing stations and outdoor sinks i think a big find would be the clorox wipes you can't find anywhere >> they are prized possessions these days

>> thanks fostarting your dar

right now at 4:30, vallejo police in the spotlight. next a lawsuit about to be filed today plus new evidence in an officer-involved shooting that is raising new questions. plus, are kids less susceptible to covid-19? coming up, we'll hear from one mother whose son is battling the virus. emerging from the fog. today sunshine returns to some bay area spots that were covered with clouds all day yesterday. your forecast is straight ahead. "today in the bay" starts right now.