mola lenghi, cbs news, new york. >>> president trump is expected to criticize china over its handling of the virus in his pre-recorded address to the u.n. general assembly today. he said he'll have a strong message for that country where the first cases of covid-19 were reported. >>> the police department in louisville is under a state of emergency this morning. that means emergency staffing and no days off ahead of a major decision involving the deadly shooting of breonna taylor. the first floor windows of the federal courthouse are boarded up. the city is waiting to hear whether the officers who shot taylor will face a any charges. the 26-year-old was killed in her home back in march when those officers executed a no knock search warrant. >>> the female sheriff's deputy in california who was ambushed and shot in the jaw is now out of the hospital. the 31-year-old mother spent time in icu before being released yesterday. she was one of two deputies shot earlier this month in compton where a gunman walked up to their patrol unit and started firing. the other deputy was released last w

we're going to begin tonight with mola lenghi, who is in kenosha. evening, mola. >> reporter: good evening, norah. joe biden found a much different atmosphere here in kenosha than the president found just two days ago. as you mentioned, their visits were a contrast in mood and message. it was a quieter trip for the former vice president, without the same anxiety or excitement that met the president here two days ago. nearly two weeks after the jacob blake shooting, kenosha, wisconsin, has become the center of the political universe. ( cheers ) today, former vice president joe biden and wife jill met privately with blake's family then attended a community meeting where biden described a phone call with blake. >> he talked about how nothing was going to defeat him, how whether he walked again or not, he was not going to give up. >> reporter: during the event, biden listened to pleas from local community leaders. >> i would love to see legislation put in place to try to address some of the over- policing in communities. >> there's way more that we want

cbs' mola lenghi is going to lead off our coverage tonight in new york city. evening, mola. >> reporter: well, good evening, norah. that 200,000 certainly a sobering number. but perhaps even more sobering-- in some parts of the country, there are few signs this virus is slowing down. on the grounds of the washington monument today, 20,000 american flags remembering 200,000 american lives, lost to the coronavirus. >> and these flags are indicative not only of the lives lost, but of the families left behind. >> reporter: some well known, others unsung. an american has been lost every one and a half minutes, on average, since the first death was reported back in february. that's the equivalent of roughly the entire population of salt lake city, utah, or akron, ohio. >> the idea of 200,000 deaths is really very sobering and, in some respects, stunning. >> reporter: america is accustomed to leading the world, but not like this. the u.s. has had more deaths than any other country. president trump, grading his handling of the pandemic: >> public relations i give myse

>> reporter: i'm mola lenghi, also in kenosha, where tonight, some local trump supporters hope the president a visit will help the town heal. >> a lot of people lost a lot of things. we just need to start being divided by our differences. >> we support god. we support trump. and we're praying for our country. >> reporter: while police and national guard members monitored what were at times heated but mostly peaceful protests in kenosha, today, president trump also addressed unrest in portland, where overnight potesters clashed with police, the president saying this about aaron danielson, the victim of saturday night's fatal shooting: >> he was targeted. they targeted him. they shot niment street, and then they were so happy that he >>g t pridens vitonosha... >> we need a president that's going to unite our country and take us in a different direction. >> reporter: ...a counter-rally with jacob blake's family offering resources often lacking in the african american community, like voter registration and covid-19 testing. justin blake is jason's uncle. how is he doing? >> he's hanging in help

here's cbs's mola lenghi. >> confusion from the c.d.c. after official guidance posted friday said airborne transmission is the primary way the virus is spread, and there is growing evidence that drop droplets and airborne particles can remain suspended in the air and be breathed in by others and travel distances beyond six feet. but in a sudden reversal today, the c.d.c. removed that guidance saying in an email to cbs news when asked why, the bottom line is airborne transmission is possible but not the main way that it spreads. >> it may not be the main way it spreads but there is good evidence that the virus can spread through the air under certain circumstances at distances greater than six feet. >> meanwhile the bells at the national cathedral tolled 200 times on sunday as the u.s. nears 200,000 lives lost to the virus. including rebekah looper's father, fred. >> i held his hand and i told him i loved him and i set my head on his chest. my mom was there. we each took turns going and saying good-bye to him. >> looper's daughter called h

we get more now from cbs' mola lenghi. >> reporter: today, the nation's top health officials in the hot seat. >> in the end, f.d.a. will not authorize or approve a vaccine that we would not feel comfortable giving to our families. >> if i take a shot to get the vaccine, does that give me covid? >> absolutely not. that would be impossible. >> reporter: the head of the national institutes of health, dr. anthony fauci, sparring with senator rand paul, over new york city's low test positivity rate. >> they are looking at the guidelines that we have put together from the task force of the four or five things of masks, social distancing, outdoors more than indoors; avoiding crowds and washing hands. >> or they've developed enough community immunity that they're no longer having the pandemic because they have enough immunity in new york city to actually stop it. >> i challenged that, senator. >> i'm afraid-- >> please, sir, i would like to be able to do this because this happens with senator rand all the time. you are not listening to what the director of the c.d.c. said, that in new york, it'

norah. >> o'donnell: mola lenghi, thank you. today liberty university hired an outside firm to conduct a wide-ranging investigation into jerry falwell, jr.'s tenure as president, and that includes they say financial, real estate and legal matters. falwell, a strong supporter of president trump, resigned last week from the christian school after acknowledging that his wife had an affair with a young pool attendant. falwell claims that man tried to blackmail him after they went into business together. now to our cbs news interview with the head of the f.d.a. who confirmed with us tonight the f.d.a. would consider emergency approval for a covid vaccine before clinical trials are completed. that has raised a number of concerns that there is pressure to get a vaccine approved before the november election. dr. jon lapook asked dr. stephen hahn if politics is playing a role in vaccine development as we continue our series "racing to a cure." >> reporter: tonight f.d.a. commissioner dr. stephen hahn insists the agency is not losing its

our mola lenghi is in kenosha and spoke to people gearing up for the president's visit there.ood morning. very interesting. what are people saying? >> good morning, tony. a lot of different views on the president's visit here to kenosha today. some folks we spoke with welcome the president and say he can help heal and unify this community while others are concerned he will only inflame an already tense situation and that this will be nothing more than aop. >> we've had several days of peace here. >> reporter: that's kenosha's sheriff david beth. he and other local officials are hoping residents keep the peace when the president visits. beth has blamed outside agitators for most of the violence over the last week. >> there's been over 200 arrests since this started. over half of those have come from outsidehis is not just a sr hand over the whole world and everything is going to be okay and everybody is going to love each other. >> reporter: some of the worst damage happened in the neighborhood surrounding pastor david montgomery's church. an area full of minority-owned busines