follow me on twitter pamela brown @cnn.amela brown in for jake tapper and our coverage continues right now. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. we're following breaking news, an influential university of washington model often cited by the white house now projects almost 300,000 american deaths by december. but that number is avoidable. the model also says consistent nationwide use of masks could save as many as 70,000 lives between now and then. the u.s. coronavirus death toll has now topped 159,000 people here in the united states with

pamela brown, cnn, washington. >>> the u.s. postal service has implemented new policies that workers say are causing mail delivery delays. and that's raising concerns about mail-in ballots and the november election. adding to the concern, the person who put the new rules in place, is a long-time trump supporter, donor and fund-raiser. here's more from cnn's jessica dean. >> reporter: cost-cutting measures at the u.s. postal service are raising new concerns about delays in mail delivery and the potential impact of vote-by-mail in november's election. employees of the united states postal service, say new rules enacted by the postmaster general, trump loyalist, louis dejoy, are delaying mail across the country. >> we're getting reports from workers and customers, over the last few weeks that mail service has really been degraded. >> reporter: a usps internal memo has detailed the changes that dejoy has made, like ending overtime and trips for postal workers. one aspect of the changes that may be difficult for employees, the memo

and cnn's correspondent pamela brown has more. >> this is going to be the greatest disaster in history>> reporter: tonight, 95 days before the u.s. election, president trump is stoking fears of an election interference. >> nobody wants that date more than me. we wish we would move it up, okay? move it up. but you're not prepared for what they're doing. >> reporter: and laying the ground work for a contested election. >> they're not prepared for an onslaught of millions of ballots pouring in. you watch, they're not going to announce anything on november 3rd or the 4th or 5th or 6th, it will go on forever. >> reporter: his advisers ramping up the assault with false information. >> nobody who mails in a ballot has their identity confirmed. nobody checked to see if they're even a u.s. citizen. >> reporter: fact-check, noncitizens aren't allowed to register in federal elections. and mail-in ballots are authenticated. cnn has learned during a closed-door hearing today, top intelligence officials dismissed the possibility that foreign powers would interfere on a mass scale by producing and se

pamela brown, cnn, washington. >> let's go to sara westwood who is at the white house. the trump campaign is accusing democrats of pushes these conspiracy theories. the president himself has pushed conspiracy theories about mail in voting. >> reporter: a war of words here with the trump campaign rnc firing a shot last night and distributing talking points that framed democrats concerns about the postal service as conspiracy theories. they say the problem is not changes to the postal service or lack of funding but the fact that mail in voting at the levels democrats are suggesting is new. states may not have time to implement that kind of system before november and the chaos will be caused by mail in voting itself and has nothing to do with usps. trump campaign and rnc is highlighting the postal service has had proximate predating the trump administration. they claimed they have lost $78 billion since 2007 and been operating at a loss for years. so they are trying to paint this not the fault of the trump administration but the fault of the obama administration and previo

election experts are taking extra care to get it right, jake. >> pamela brown in washington, thank youo talk about election security and more, senator mark warner of virginia. the vice chair of the senate intelligence committee. senator, good to see you. so president trump has refused to say that he will accept the election results. many americans are anticipating a problem with that. a new cnn poll finds that if he wore to lose, 55% of those polled believe that he will not concede. what are democrats planning to do if the president loses and refuses to leave? >> well, first of all, jake, i think we need to take a deep breath and step back for a moment and just hear what you just said. there is never been in our history a time where a president, before an election, said he might not abide by the results of the election. that is so anti-american, anti-basic democratic principles and it just gets my head spinning when he said this on a repeated basis. and he's saying this in the aftermath yesterday, the fifth volume of our intelligence committee report came out, all bipartisan, that outl

follow me on twitter pamela brown @cnn. i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper and our coverage continues right now. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. we're following breaking news, an influential university of washington model often cited by the white house now projects almost 300,000 american deaths by december. but that number is avoidable. the model also says consistent nationwide use of masks could save as many as 70,000 lives between now and then. the u.s. coronavirus death toll has now topped 159,000 people here in the united states with more than 4.8 million known cases as the death rate rises in 15 states right now. president trump meanwhile is visiting the battleground state of ohio where the gop governor tested positive for the coronavirus. governor mike dewine just spoke out about his infection saying he feels fine but has a slight headache. we'll get more on that in a moment. let's check in with mar

pamela brown, cnn, washington. >> samantha is the cnn national security analyst, a former member of the u.s. council in the obama administration and a senior adviser at the obama institute. let's start with foreign interference, it was sort of in your ballpark when you were in the white house. president trump is continuing to praise putin. he's opaque about his calls and hasn't raised russian bounties on paying the taliban to kill u.s. forces, how involved right now would vladimir putin be to interfere again? >> well this needn't be a hypothetical question. we know he is interfering. us intelligence officials gave a briefing to lawmakers, if which they reportedly said nation states, including russia, continue to try to interfere in our elections. concurrently, there was a public announcement issued saying countries like russia, china and iran are trying to attack our elections. it is a certainty they feel emboldened to continue attacking american democracy. >> you have the president, of course, saying the election will be rigged, mail-in voting will be corrupt and so on, which is untrue

i'm pamela brown in today for jake tapper. and we begin with the health lead. as the nation nears 5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus with more than 150,000 deaths. the world health organization warning today that there is no silver bullet to end this pandemic, and there may never be. one top official leading the coronavirus response for the organization is saying that everyone is feeling the fatigue of this pandemic, but, quote, we have a long way to go. that reality as the cdc projects there could be up to 27,000 more people killed before the end of this month. and as cnn's sarah sidener reports, the virus is now more widespread in the u.s. than ever before. >> it will be felt for decades to come. >> reporter: the head of the world health organization predicting the effects of the coronavirus pandemic will last for decades. >> not only on the health aspect but on social, economic, and political. >> reporter: the coronavirus is still spreading out of control in parts of the united states, and death tolls are continuing to climb. >> we are very concerned,

pamela brown joins us now.mined the president's latest conspiracy theory. >> yeah, he did. he was combative, he was defiant during his hearing today. he said for the first time publicly, jake, that he wanted to get the word out that the president's constant railing on mail-in voting and the suggestion that the post office couldn't handle the mail-in voting was not helpful. here's what he said. >> did you not tell the board of governors this month in august that in fact you had had contact with the trump campaign to ask them to stop their attacks on the postal service and voting by mail? >> i have put words around to different people that this is not helpful to -- >> so you did have contact with the trump campaign? >> for good purpose. >> i'm trying to think of -- when you say the trump campaign, i have not spoken to the trump campaign leadership in that regard. i've spoken to people that are friends of mine who are associated with the campaign, yes. >> and as we know, jake, dejoy had split from the president wh

abby phillip, pamela brown, thanks to both of you for your reporting. >>> from mail-in voting to in,classes, the debate is coming up in florida. i'm going to talk to florida's head of education will florida's steady push to keep things open, despite the fact that more children are getting infected with coronavirus. stay with us. we made usaa insurance for veterans like liz and mike. when their growing family meant growing expenses, our agents helped make saving on insurance easy usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa i do motivational speakingld. in addition to the substitute teaching. i honestly feel that that's my calling-- to give back to younger people. i think most adults will start realizing that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to or they don't remember things as vividly as they once did. i've been taking prevagen for about three years now. people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. simon pagenaud takes the lead at the indy 500! coming t

i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper. the death toll in the united states is now more than 160,000 people. take that in. more than 160,000 people. the number of infections nearing 5 million. the world health organization warning cases of coronavirus are soaring among younger people, and, sadly, we now know of a 7-year-old little boy with no known underlying conditions who has died from coronavirus. as cnn's sara sidner reports, it comes as the governor of new york is giving the green light for schools to hold in-person classes and california just topped 10,000 total coronavirus deaths. >> reporter: virtually no masks in sight as 250,000 people are expected to descend this weekend on sturgis, south dakota, a town of about 7,000, for the 80th annual sturgis motorcycle rally. one rallygoer say masks impede his freedom. >> i don't mean to make light of it but i mean to be serious about it. these are freedom-loving people and they are not going to give that up. >> reporter: 70,000 lives could be saved by december if masks are

first, let's go to cnn's pamela brown in washington for the latest on this uspa hearing. what do we expect here? certainly hard questions from democratic lawmakers. how is the postmaster general going to answer? >> well, that is the question, and this is likely to be much more contentious, jim, than what we saw last friday before the senate. this is the emergency oversight hearing led by house democrats. remember, it was just last week that nearly 100 house democrats were pushing for dejoy's ouster. of course, this comes as democrats over weekend voted on this bill that would reverse changes dejoy has made as the postmaster general and would halt any further changes until after the pandemic, now the uspa pushed back on that over the weekend saying that that would hamper its ability to be efficient and to cut necessary costs, but expect house democrats today to scrutinize dejoy's changes that he has made before the election, changes like cutting down on overtime, cutting down on the post office hours, removing mail sorting machines. now, as we know, dejoy put a halt to tho

pamela brown joins me now to talk about this. and pamela, dejoy tried to make it clear that the u.s. postal service is prepared to handle this massive volume, tens of millions of mail-in ballots and that all americans, he said, should be allowed to vote by mail. >> reporter: right. very early on in this virtual hearing today, jake, louis dejoy, the post master general, seemed to want to distance himself from president trump who you pointed out has railed against mail-in voting, rather. dejoy in contrast assured lawmakers that american people should have faith in the system, that he's a supporter of mail-in voting and something that he does himself and something the person public should be able to do. here is what he said during that hearing. >> i voted by mail for a number of years. the postal service will deliver every ballot and process every ballot in time that it receives. i think the american public should be able to vote by mail and the postal service will support. >> reporter: and dejoy also made the case that election mail

i'm pamela brown in today for jake tapper.oon, the united states death toll crossed 156,000. in response to the average deaths around a thousand americans a day, the president is saying in this new "axios" interview, it is what it is, and claiming that government is doing all it can to combat the pandemic. last hour, the coronavirus task force began meeting in "the situation room" at the white house and top health officials are warning the coronavirus is more widespread than ever before in the u.s. as cnn's erica hill reports. >> reporter: if you ask the president. >> i think it's under control. i'll tell you

i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper today. and this afternoon dr.lling testing delays in this nation, quote, unacceptable, period, and warning the pandemic will keep smoldering without a more unified response. we have a source telling cnn that president trump is still struggling to grasp the severity of the pandemic. this source said, quote, he does not get it. globally about one person is dying from coronavirus every 15 seconds. that's according to cnn's calculations. and as cnn's athena jones reports, the u.s. just marked one of the deadliest days of the summer. >> i mean, the numbers don't lie. >> reporter: america's top infectious disease expert with a stark diagnosis six months into the pandemic. >> when you look at the number of infections and the number of deaths, it really is quite concerning. >> reporter: but dr. anthony fauci has some good news, especially for those who don't want to go back into quarantine. >> we can do much better without locking down. and i think that strange binary approach, that eit

i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper today. and we begin with the health lead.uld see up to 200,000 total deaths in a matter of weeks. the u.s. has continued to average over 1,000 deaths every day. for 18 days in a row now. take that in. california just became the first state to mark 600,000 cases. and florida and georgia lead the nation in the number of new infections per capita. in fact, the white house coronavirus task force even urged georgia to adopt a mask mandate. as cnn's kyung lah reports, it

i'm pamela brown in today for jake tapper. and we begin with the health lead.es of coronavirus with more than 150,000 deaths. the world health organization warning today that there is no silver bullet to end this pandemic, and there may never be. one top official leading the coronavirus response for the organization is saying that everyone is feeling the fatigue of this pandemic, but, quote, we have a long way to go. that reality as the cdc projects there could be up to 27,000 more people killed before the end of this month. and as cnn's sarah sidener reports, the virus is now more widespread in the u.s. than ever before. >> it will be

. >>> welcome to "the lead," i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper.number of coronavirus cases is nearing 5 million in the united states. one of those cases is now ohio governor mike diviewine tested positive. he's not showing symptoms but was scheduled to meet president trump. he was tested before coming in contact with the president. when it comes to the general public, the president suggested the u.s. tested too much. dr. anthony fauci says testing

i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper.age on cnn continues right now. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm jim acosta in the situation room and we're following breaking news. we're standing by to see if president trump takes questions at a white house briefing that's about to begin. it comes as u.s. coronavirus deaths top 166,000 people with more than 5.2 million confirmed cases. the country has reported its deadliest day of the pandemic since may. also breaking joe biden and kamala harris calling for mask mandates in every state in their first full day campaigning together the presumptive democratic presidential and vice presidential nominees drew direct contrast with the response to the pandemic making it clear that will be a centerpiece of their campaign. let's begin with cnn's

i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper on this friday. our coverage on cnn continues right now. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome to our view years here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzerthe pandemic ha claim ld the lives of more than 160,000 americans. the situation in new york state has improved to the point where the governor andrew cuomo is clearing the way for schools to reopen next month including the nation's largest school district. that would be new york city. also breaking, talks between the trump administration and congressional democrats for another round of pandemic stimulus has just collapsed. the treasury secretary steven mnuchin says he will recommend president trump make good on his threat to take matters into his own hands through executive orders. let's get some more on the pandemic right now. cnn national correspondent athena jones is in new york for us. schools there and indeed across the state, they will be re-opening. >> reporter: hi, wolf. that's right. one expert said this week tha

. >> pamela brown reporting for us.t hours away now from the start of the third night of the democratic convention where senator kamala harris will make history as she becomes the first woman of color to be nominated be i a major party for vice president. let's discuss with senator tim kaine. thank you so much for joining us. you know a thing or two about giving a speech, accepting the no, ma'am fashi nomination for vice president of the united states. i wonder what advice you would have for senator harris has he makes history tonight. >> she is going to make history. that was not the case with my candidacy. i wasn't breaking a glass ceiling. but kamala harris is. and this is the centennial of women getting the right to vote. and we still haven't had a women president or vice president. i did everything i could to change that in 2016. but maybe the destiny was that we would crack that ceiling in 2020. i think the key is she's got to introduce herself to the american public and they're going to see an amazing personal ca

i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper.oll in the united states is now more than 160,000 people. take that in. more than 160,000 people. the number of infections nearing 5 million. the world health organization warning cases of coronavirus are soaring among younger people, and, sadly, we now know of a 7-year-old little boy with no known underlying conditions who has died from coronavirus. as cnn's sara sidner reports, it comes as the governor of new york is giving the green light for schools to hold in-person classes and california just topped 10,000 total coronavirus deaths. >> reporter: virtually no masks in

. >> my colleague pamela brown tried really hard to press him on this issue.do you make of that, to be talking about a defense production act measure being taken next week. we're almost six months into this pandemic we still don't have testing right in this country. it still takes a week to ten days for some people to get their results back. they're just not getting the job done. >> that's right. i of course completely agree with you and sanjay on this. i see patients and my patients can't even get testing in a timely manner if they are symptomatic. i had someone that i've talked to today who said that she has a fever. but she was told that if she gets a test, she can't get another test if she develops more symptoms over time. what kind of system are we in that we can't even get symptomatic patients testing much less the level of surveillance testing that we need in order to find out what is the true level of virus, what is the true level of coronavirus here in our country? and so not enough has been done. we've been saying this for months and months. i don't

. >>> welcome to "the lead," i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper on this monday.d the two visions for the nation. this afternoon joe biden calling the trump presidency, quote, toxic, accusing president trump of encouraging violence in an attempt to distract from his failed response to the coronavirus pandemic. >> he's supposed to be protecting this country, but yesterday he's rooting for chaos and violence. the simple truth is donald trump failed to protect america, so now he's trying to scare america. do you know what people are afraid

pamela brown, cnn, washington. >> i want to go to sara west wood. the trump campaign is accusing democrats of pushing conspiracy theories. the president promotes conspiracy theories about mail in voting. what is the word from the white house this morning? >> reporter: the trump campaign and republican national committee firing back at democrats over their concern about the postal service. they are framing those concerns as conspiracy theories saying democrats are trying to distract from the real issues that are going to be facing election officials in states across the country. they have been arguing, especially in talking points that were distributed yesterday by the trump campaign an rnc that the postal service has been suffering from financial problems for years now and that pre-dates the trump administration, it predates the decisions that underscrutiny right now, for example they focus on the fact that the postal service has lost $78 billion since 2007 and arguing that those problems are not going to affect the election as much as the rapid exp

. >>> welcome to "the lead," i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper on this monday. we begin with the 2020 lead and the two visions for the nation. this afternoon joe biden calling the trump presidency, quote, toxic, accusing president trump of encouraging violence in an attempt to distract from his failed response to the coronavirus pandemic. >> he's supposed to be protecting this country, but yesterday he's rooting for chaos and violence. the simple truth is donald trump failed to protect america, so now he's trying to scare america. do you know what people are afraid of in america? they're afraid they're going to get covid. they're afraid they're going to get sick and die. >> well, tomorrow president trump is heading to kenosha, wisconsin, despite pleas from the state's governor to stay away, warning the president's mere presence will only cause more unrest there. president trump on twitter meanwhile is fanning the flames, attempting to make law and order his central campaign message and tweeting the only way to stop violence in so-called crime-infested cities is

i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper today. and we begin this hour with breaking news.as decided on a running mate. sources tell cnn he has revealed his choice to top advisers and the announcement could come as soon as today, really any minute now, potentially this hour. moments ago we also learned the biden campaign has now informed some of the contenders of his decision, and congresswoman karen bass was told by biden himself that she is not

. >> reporter: pamela brown, cnn, washington. >> joining us now, the senator you heard from, the democrat from nevada, were you satisfied with dejoy's answers to your questions today? he couldn't really commit to a number of things you asked. >> no, no, anderson. thank you for having me on, this is really important. i was not satisfied with the answers today. postmaster general did not commit to transparency. he did not clearly understand what he did, the consequences intended or unintended. he was not willing or able or understood the data that helped him make these decisions or how these decisions were made, so we have to hold his feet to the fire to be sure that our postal service continues to deliver the mail, the prescriptions, the checks, all of it in a timely manner as the american people expect. >> to your point of the lack of transparency, i want to play another exchange between you and the postmaster general. >> we need transparency, and the changes you've been making and in everything you've discussed here today, will you commit to providing this committee with any and all tran

i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper. of ten days since the beginning of just this month, 9,108 people in the united states have died from coronavirus. that means that the u.s. lost more lives in ten days than canada has during this entire pandemic. and i want to go back and actually correct the number because it keeps ticking up. it's now 9,204 people that have died just since the beginning of this month. as we mentioned, the numbers change minute by minute, hour by hour. so let's just put this in perspective. the u.s. now has more cases than the whole population of ireland. the world is now poised across 20 million confirmed cases of coronavirus as a new alarming report finds that more than 97,000 children in the united states alone tested positive for coronavirus just in the last two weeks of july. so, that is a big increase there for children, a 40% increase in the number of child cases. as cnn's kyunl law reports, it comes as some schools are beginning to hold in-person classes. >> reporter: as florida teachers prote

well, i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper today.e on cnn continues right now. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm jim acosta in "the situation room." and we're following breaking news. we're standing by to see if president trump takes questions at a white house briefing that's about to begin. it comes as the number of coronavirus cases worldwide is nearing 20 million. one-quarter of them in the u.s. where the death toll now tops 163,000 people. despite that, more schools across the u.s. are re-opening this week amid troubling new data, the american academy of pediatrics says that almost 100,000 children tested p

i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper. follow me on twitter or tweet the show @theleadcnn. our coverage on cnn continues right now. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following breaking news. we're standing by to see if president trump takes questions in a coronavirus task force briefing, as the u.s.'s death toll climbs past 155,000 people with almost 4.7 million cases now confirmed here in the united states with the rate of new deaths trending up in 30 states. and amid the worsening numbers, the president is taking new aim at yet another member, a top member of his task force. we're talking about dr. deborah birx who gave this somber warning about the virus. and i'm quoting her now. what we are seeing today is different from march and april. it is extraordinarily widespread, her words. let's go to our national correspondent athena jones. we are standing by and we are seeing some very disturbing new numbers right now. what's going on? >> reporter: hi, wolf.

i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper. and we begin with big breaking news. any minute now, we will see a history-making moment. joe biden and his new runningmate senator kamala harris together for their first joint campaign event in wilmington, deleware. effectively launching the 2020 democratic ticket. their spouses, jill biden and doug emhoff are also expected to be there. and it comes as we learn biden long believed harris was the strongest choice for the job. biden publicly acknowledged the close friendship that harris had with his late son beau that helped guide his decision. and harris, one source says, spoke at last about their friendship. jeff, as we wait for this event to begin, you're learning more about that intense ten days before biden made his final decision on senator harris as his running mate. >> reporter: pamela, we are. and it's clear that california senator kamala harris was anticipated and viewed by most democrats inside and outside the process as the person to beat essentially. this vice presidential search with the most experience, the

i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper today. and we begin with the health lead. the cdc is now projecting the u.s. could see up to 200,000 total deaths in a matter of weeks. the u.s. has continued to average over 1,000 deaths every day. for 18 days in a row now. take that in. california just became the first state to mark 600,000 cases. and florida and georgia lead the nation in the number of new infections per capita. in fact, the white house coronavirus task force even urged georgia to adopt a mask mandate. as cnn's kyung lah reports, it comes as schools and families grapple with the realities of re-opening. >> it was terrifying. it was my worst fears had come true. >> reporter: that's how this georgia parent ends a traumatic back-to-school week. her child quarantined like the more than 2,000 teachers and students and staffers across the state. at least 230 positive covid cases reported from schools. the head of the cdc says re-opening schools can't be done quickly. >> we don't want to pressure anybody. our guidance is there to help them begin to open, as i sai

i'm pamela brown in today for jake tapper. and this afternoon, the united states death toll crossed 156,000. in response to the average deaths around a thousand americans a day, the president is saying in this new "axios" interview, it is what it is, and claiming that government is doing all it can to combat the pandemic. last hour, the coronavirus task force began meeting in "the situation room" at the white house and top health officials are warning the coronavirus is more widespread than ever before in the u.s. as cnn's erica hill reports. >> reporter: if you ask the president. >> i think it's under control. i'll tell you what. >> how? many americans are dying a day. >> it is what it is. but that doesn't mean we aren't doing everything we can. it's under control as much as you can control it. >> reporter: infectious disease experts disagree. >> our natural response to this pandemic should be a national embarrassment. and the data that comes from the white house task force backs up exactly what dr. birx said. there is uncont

well, i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper today. our coverage on cnn continues right now. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm jim acosta in "the situation room." and we're following breaking news. we're standing by to see if president trump takes questions at a white house briefing that's about to begin. it comes as the number of coronavirus cases worldwide is nearing 20 million. one-quarter of them in the u.s. where the death toll now tops 163,000 people. despite that, more schools across the u.s. are re-opening this week amid troubling new data, the american academy of pediatrics says that almost 100,000 children tested positive for coronavirus in the last two weeks of july. let's get more on the latest on all of this with cnn national correspondent athena jones. athena, there is some breaking news out of georgia right now. isn't that right? >> reporter: hi, jim. that's right. this is what happens when you try to open schools in a commun

i'm pamela brown in for erin burnett. "outfront" tonight breaking news. trump comes to the defense of an accused killer who also happens to be a supporter. speaking just moments ago the president almost justifying what kyle rittenhouse allegedly did last tuesday night armed on the streets of kenosha, wisconsin with a long rifle, where police say he killed two protesters and injured a third. >> do you condemn the actions of vigilantes like kyle rittenhouse? >> we are looking at all of it. that was an interesting situation. you saw the same tape as i saw and he was trying to get away from them i guess it looks like. and he fell. and then they very violently attacked him. and it was something that we're looking at right now and it is under investigation. but i guess he was in very big trouble. he probably would have been killed. it's under investigation. >> all right. let's look at what the criminal complaint said. it said rittenhouse was not on the ground when he first opened fire. instead, he was clashing with people who had gathered near a car dealership.

and i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper today. our coverage on cnn continues right now.eat day. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following breaking news. we're standing by to see if president trump takes questions at the coronavirus briefing about to get underway. but a source close to the task force is now telling cnn the president, quote, still doesn't get the severity of the pandemic as evidenced in his latest claim that the virus will just go away. amid the president's denial of the crisis, more than 157,000 americans have now died with the country seeing its highest one-day death toll in two months, and now topping 4.8 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the united states. dr. anthony fauci underscored the true magnitude of the crisis saying today that the united states has suffered, and

i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper. and we begin with big breaking news. minute now, we will see a history-making moment. joe biden and his new runningmate senator kamala harris together for their first joint campaign event in wilmington, deleware. effectively launching the 2020 democratic ticket. their spouses, jill biden and doug emhoff are also expected to be there. and it comes as we learn biden long believed har

i'm pamela brown in for erin burnett.

i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper today. and we begin this hour with breaking news. joe biden has decided on a running mate. sources tell cnn he has revealed his choice to top advisers and the announcement could come as soon as today, really any minute now, potentially this hour. moments ago we also learned the biden campaign has now informed some of the contenders of his decision, and congresswoman karen bass was told by biden himself that she is not the pick resources say. let's start with cnn's jeff zeleny. so, jeff, what are you learning about this decision? >> joe biden of course has been looking for a running mate of his own for three or four months now. and we were told this afternoon that he has indeed made a decision on his choice. he informed a small handful of advisers earlier today that he had indeed settled on his choice. that sets into motion the rollout plan. what this means is it is going to be a historic choice whoever he decides. why? because he pledged some five months ago that he would pick a woman as his running mate. so whoever he decides, so th

pamela turner. for michael brown. trayvon. and anybody else who lost their lives. or to evil. man. it's hard, man. >> george floyd! george floyd! george floyd! george floyd! george floyd! >> i got you. it's never been more clear than change right now. it's happening right now. because we demand it. >> no justice! >> no peace! >> everyone here has made a commitment because they wouldn't be here for no other reason right now. it's hot and i know it's hot but it's now we're here because we're being fried right now, man. man. bridget. >> you good. >> i'm trying. i'm good. i'm good. i'm good. i got it. i got it. i got it. all right. i got it. >> i can't breathe. i can't breathe. i can't breathe. i can't breathe. i can't breathe. >> as of now everybody out here right now, our leaders, they need to follow us while we're marching to enact laws to protect us. man. it's hard, man. it's really hard. i'm so sorry, man. >> you got it, man? >> we got your back, man. we got your back. >> i can't, man. man. >> we got you. >> my brother george, he's looking down right now. he's thankful for everyth

pamela turner. for michael brown. trayvon. and anybody else who lost their lives. [applause] >> george floyd!rge floyd! george floyd! [crowd chanting] >> it's never been more clear. the change is happening right now, because we demand it. >> no justice! >> no peace! [crowd chanting] >> everyone here has made a commitment, because they wouldn't be here for no other reason right now. it's hot, and i know it's hot, but we are here, because we are being fried right now, man. i'm trying. i'm good, i'm good. i got it. [crowd chanting] i got it, i got it. >> i can't breathe! i can't breathe! i can't breathe! i can't breathe! [crowd chanting] >> everybody out here right now, our leaders, they need to follow us while we are marching, to enact laws to protect us. men come it's hard, man. it's really hard. i'm so sorry, man. >> we got your back, man. >> we got you. >> my brother, george, he's looking down right now. he is thankful for everything that everybody is doing right now. y'all showing a lot of empathy and passion, and i'm enjoying every last bit of it right now. if it weren't for y'all, i don't

i'm marching for george, for breonna taylor, for ahmaud arbery, for jacob, for pamela turner, for michael brown, trayvon and anybody else who lost their lives. it's never been more clear than change right now. it's happening right now because we demand it. >> jacob blake is the latest victim of police brutality that this nation has witnessed. the 29-year-old was shot seven times in the back by a kenosha, wisconsin police officer and remains hospitalized. jacob blake's father implored those at the march to use their voices to stand up and make change. >> there are two systems of justice in the united states. there is a white system and there is a black system. the black system ain't doing so well. but we're going to stand up. of black person in the united states is going to stand up. we're tired! i'm tired! of looking at cameras and seeing these young black and brown people suffer. >> breonna taylor was 26 years old when she was shot by louisville, kentucky, police officers in march. no arrests were made in her death. her mother was making sure her daughter's name was still heard in washington,

i'm marching for george, for breonna, for ahmaud, for jacob, for pamela turner, for michael brown, trayvon and anybody else who lost their lives. >> the rally also marked the 57th anniversary of the march on washington, one of the most important civil rights demonstrations in our history. it was august 28, 1963 that dr. martin luther king jr. delivered his iconic i have a dream speech. this jeyear's march took place amid the coronavirus pandemic. the rise of the black lives matter movement and the shooting of jacob blake in kenosha, wisconsin. reverend sharpton spoke to the family and blake's father gave an update on his son's condition. >> he's heavily, heavily sedated but the first time i got to see him was two days ago. and just to be able to touch my son -- >> it's all right. take your time. >> that was enough for me. >> friday also marked 65 years to the day that 14-year-old emmett till was brutally murdered by two white men in mississippi after being falsely accused of flirting with a white woman. his killers were later acquitted by an all-white jury. joining me now the organizer of

. >> i'm marching for george, for breonna, for ahmad, for jacob, for pamela turner, for michael browntrayvon. >> be strong, stand tall, be encouraged, don't stop saying black lives matter. don't stop peaceful protesting. >> the list could go on and on. joining us right now is rochelle ritchie, former secretary for the house democratic policy and communications committee. thanks for being here. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> there were so many victims that all of the families didn't get the opportunity to speak. what was your take away from all of the pain that was on display. >> you know, i think that i share in the same feelings as many people that were at the march yesterday. i'm tired too. i'm exhausted as well. i'm thankful that i have never had to suffer the loss of a family member due to police brutality. but, you know, it's like what do we do at this point? we have marched, we have protested, we have even passed legislation. we have hash tagged. we have done everything possible and, you know, we're having these marches and we're shouting from the podium, you know, to

i'm marching for george, for breonna, for ahmaud, for jacob, for pamela turner, for michael brown, trayvon lost their lives or are too evil. it's never been more clear than change right now. it's happening right now because we demand it. >> jacob blake is the latest victim of police brutality that this nation has witnessed. the 29-year-old was shot seven times in the back by a kenosha, wisconsin, police officer and remains hospitalized. jacob blake's father implored protesters at the commitment march to use their voices to stand up and make change. >> there are two systems of justice in the united states. there's a white system, and there's a black system. the black system ain't doing so well, but we're going to stand up. every black person in the united states is gonna stand up. we're tired! i'm tired of looking at cameras and what happens when 2 million people switch to xfinity mobile? well, the good news gets shared. and it gets rated #1 for customer satisfaction. but don't just take our word for it. take theirs. it's your wireless. your rules. only with xfinity mobile. call, click or v

i am marching for george, for breonna, for ahmaud , for jacob, for pamela turner, for michael brown,ody else who lost their life to evil. [voice breaking] man. [applause] [chanting] george floyd! george floyd! >> say his name! >> george floyd! >> say his name! >> george floyd! philonese: it's never been more clear than right now, change is happening right now, because we demand it. [chanting] >> no justice! >> no peace! >> no justice! >> no peace! philonese: everyone here has made a commitment, because they wouldn't be here for no other reason right now. it's hot, and i know it's hot. but as of now, we are here, because we are being fried right now man. i am trying. [crowd chanting] i'm good. i'm good. i got it. >> no justice! >>! peace. >> no justice! no peace! >> no justice. >> no peace. >> no justice. >> no peace. >> i can't breathe. i can't breathe. >> everybody out here right now, our leaders need to follow us while we are marching, to enough enact laws to protect us. man it's hard, man. it is really hard. i am sorry, man. [cheers] [chanting] >> say his name! >> george floyd! >>