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House Votes On $25 Billion Postal Bill In Rare Saturday Session; FAU Football Team Pauses Practices After Players Test Positive; Key Model Predicts 310,000 Deaths In U.S. By December; Interview With Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D), Washington D.C.; Nearly One Million Acres Burned In Deadly California Wildfires; Tropical Storms Laura And Marco Threaten Gulf Coast; Putin Critic Moved To German Hospital In Coma; Family Loses Daughter And Faith In Their Country's Government. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired August 22, 2020 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[11:00:09]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Bianna Golodryga, in for Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin this hour on Capitol Hill where a rare and divisive Saturday vote will be taking place in the House today. Right now, lawmakers in congress are set to debate a $25 billion package to help boost the postal service with a vote expected this afternoon.

The bill is aimed at preventing delays and interference with election mail, a critical priority now that many Americans are mailing in their ballots because of the pandemic.

And on the pandemic, a grim new projection says that the death toll in the U.S. from the coronavirus could surpass 300,000 by the beginning of December. Now that model which is often cited by the White House warns that in a worst-case scenario as many as 6,000 Americans could die every day by December if safety mandates are relaxed.

And as university students return to campuses across the country, schools in at least 19 states are reporting outbreaks.

But let's begin with that postal service vote in the House. We have live team coverage with correspondents on Capitol Hill and at the White House. Sunlen Serfaty is following the developments in the House.

Sunlen, how is this vote expected to play out today?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- very rare and very unusual session of the House this morning. They were called back from summer recess, in the middle of that recess, to vote on this bill today.

Now, you will see live pictures, there you go, of the House floor this morning in session in the last hour. And what you'll see this hour is a few procedural votes. Members will come in and cast their vote, socially distanced of course, in kind of waves to make sure they're adhering to social distancing. They'll be casting procedural votes.

That sets up a debate to happen over the course of many hours today, and most likely they will move towards final vote on this bill in the 3:00 hour, Eastern time, which sets up likely final passage later this afternoon.

Now, the bill as you said in the introduction, it blocks organizational and operational changes to the U.S. post office through the end of the year, and it provides $25 billion in funding.

Now House Republican leaders, they have been instructing their members to vote against this bill today. It is very likely though we will see some Republicans break ranks across the aisle and vote with Democrats. This bill though is expected to pass largely along party lines, but that's essentially the end of the road right there.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has indicated he does not intend to bring up a stand-alone bill solely focused on the U.S. Postal Service. And the White House, of course, has issued a veto threat last night saying that they believe it spends money arbitrarily without tying it to a broader coronavirus relief package.

But Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi she said she, at least today, is focused squarely just on a very narrow bill to address the postal service issues, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: A rare sight to see in Washington on a Saturday, especially in August.

Sunlen Serfaty, thank you.

Well, the White House is threatening to veto this bill if it gets to the President's desk. And the Trump campaign is accusing them Democrats of pushing conspiracy theories about the post office.

For more on this, let's bring in Sarah Westwood who's at the White House.

Sarah, good morning. You know, the President himself has been spreading falsehoods about mail-in voting, calling it fraudulent. Now they are accusing Democrats of conspiracy theories. That's rich even by Trump standards.

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Bianna. In talking points distributed by the Trump campaign in the Republican National Committee yesterday, Republicans were describing Democrats' concerns about the post office as conspiracy theories. They made the argument in the talking points that the problem would be the rapid expansion of mail-in voting when it comes to potential election issues, not any issues with the post office itself.

And last night, the White House made clear that that USPS bill making its way through the House now would be dead on arrival if it were to get to the President's desk. For starters, that $25 billion figure is more than what the White House and Republicans had wanted, more than what they had tentatively agreed to in the last failed round of stimulus talks which is $10 billion. And also they wanted strings attached to that funding.

The White House Republicans, they wanted to see some of that funding earmarked for COVID and for the election, instead of just a cash infusion into the post office. And in that statement released last night, the White House also accused Democrats of using the pandemic as a pretext to impose restrictions on the post office and make clear they still want to see changes, they want to see some reforms.

I want to read you part of that statement. "The administration strongly opposes passage of HR 8015" -- that's the bill in question. "Instead of reforming the United States Postal Service to ensure its continued viability in the modern economy, this bill would arbitrarily give the postal service $25 billion in emergency taxpayer funding without linking funding to the pandemic or the upcoming election."

[11:04:59]

WESTWOOD: Now, the White House doesn't want a USPS specific bill. They were not for a stand alone piece of legislation that would just deal with the postal service. They have continued pushing for a broader stimulus deal and they have said, as has President Trump himself, that they want to see the postal service funding money tied to some of the other things that they were pushing for in the stimulus talks that again fell apart. So a lot of challenges before we are going to see any kind of funding put into the postal service at this moment, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: And you will be following it all throughout the weekend for us. Sarah Westwood, thank you so much.

An influential new health model shows that 310,000 Americans could die of the coronavirus by December. The researchers from the University of Washington saying nearly 70,000 lives could be saved if Americans wore masks.

Meanwhile, the Infectious Disease Society of America says hydroxychloroquine should not be used to treat coronavirus patients at all. The group now saying doctors should not even experiment with the drug as a part of a clinical trial. The FDA's most recent guidance cautions against use of the drug outside of hospital or clinical trial due to risk of heart rhythm problems.

Now, all of this as President Trump takes aim at FDA commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn who he nominated this past November. President Trump tweeting this morning, "The deep state or whoever over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics." These are your own people, Mr. President.

The President even claiming some in FDA are deliberately delaying vaccine trials so one could not be available until after the election.

CNN has reached out to the FDA for comment and we will bring that to you once we get it.

Well, Florida is now reporting more than 4,000 new coronavirus cases today, this as Florida Atlantic University pauses football practices after several players tested positive for the virus.

CNN's Natasha Chen joins me now from Boca Raton. And Natasha, how is this impacting the rest of the student body there?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Bianna, right now the students have just finished moving into the dorms. Classes start on Monday.

So a lot of them haven't really been on campus until now. And there are three football players, we should note, that tested positive for COVID-19 and that practice is paused until Monday at the earliest when they can review the next round of tests.

We see a lot of students now preparing, going to the bookstore, and, you know, the classes they're going to experience are generally going to be consisting of a lot of virtual experiences. No class with more than 50 students will be in person. Those will all be virtual. And those that do face to face instruction will be in classrooms with reduced capacity so a lot more distance between them.

And you can tell everyone's got a mask on. That's why I have got my mask on. It is required here for students both inside and outside when they're around other people, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: It is reassuring to see all of those students wearing masks.

Let me ask you about the ruling in the Florida Education Association's lawsuit against Governor Ron DeSantis' emergency call there. What is the latest out of that ruling?

CHEN: Well, we're expecting a ruling to come early next week. There were two days of witness testimony and a judge here in Florida asked for the two sides to submit briefs by the end of yesterday to be looked over.

So what we know is, of course, this is the largest teachers' union in Florida who filed this lawsuit against the emergency order back on July 20th arguing that the state's order, the commissioner's order to have all schools provide an option for in-person learning five days a week by August 31st is simply not safe.

The teachers' union says that if you follow medical expert advice, you should only be doing this if the positivity rate is 5 percent or lower which they say is not happening in Florida right now.

And of course, the governor's attorneys argued that a lot of serious consequences can come from students not having a high quality, in- person education, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. It is a slippery slope. We have been covering teachers' unions across the country who are pushing for more safety measures to be put in place before classes resume.

Natasha Chen, Thank you so much.

And joining me now to discuss if Dr. Daniel Fagbuyi, the public health expert and emergency medicine physician. Doctor, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

Let me ask you about the CDC which has just released updated guidelines on reopening schools, really emphasizing the importance of keeping schools open when possible. How should leaders balance the need to keep kids in school and also the threat of coronavirus and keeping everyone safe?

DR. DANIEL FAGBUYI, EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN: Yes, hi Bianna. Good morning. Thanks for having me.

We have been talking about this ad nauseum over the past several weeks. Really it is looking at the positivity rate of disease in their community, factoring that in with policies and protocols in place.

[11:10:02]

DR. FAGBUYI: It's good that the CDC has put out additional guidelines to be more clear for the audience and for administrators and even parents and families who are making decisions for students. But the safety of our public is really important.

And in this case, when you look at the positivity rate, less than 5 percent in the region or in that school province that we are talking about, in addition to wearing masks or face coverings that are mandated, there shouldn't be any loophole, I've mentioned this before. There has to be a strict process that everyone follows.

But the key step that people tend to forget or that gets left out or dropped is the policies that are in place if there is a positive case in that school or in that area that affects a child or a student that is matriculating at a certain university.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

FAGBUYI: What policies do they have in place? Are they connected to the public health officials or at least to a medical system where they can do testing? And then do they shut down the school? That's the key issue.

GOLODRYGA: How quickly they follow-up really is imperative here.

But let me ask you about the positivity rate and that being a factor because we talk about cities like Detroit and even New York City where the positivity rate is well under 5 percent. And you still see that the powerful teachers' unions are pushing back to reopen schools after administrators say that they will be imposing mask mandates and they're trying to put as many safety measures in place as possible. What do you say to those teachers who continue to delay opening?

DR. FAGBUYI: Look, it's a personal opinion. The public health piece is that we have to understand COVID is keeping us all humble, ok. We don't have a silver bullet yet and the guidance is out there saying it should be less than 5 percent.

But yes, New York has about 1 percent, even some places just a little bit less than 1 percent in terms of positivity rate. But they still kind of have to walk this gradually. We are unfortunately experimenting with our kids. That's what it is at the end of the day. There will be cases. But we're trying as best to keep a lid on it.

So I understand their reservations. Nobody wants to get this and nobody wants to die from the disease. And if you can avoid it, you have to really do this in a systematically, well thought-out process.

So I think they need to work with the public health officials there and the government in that province or in that area to be able to say hey, this is what we put in place. Has it met all these criteria? And understand that there maybe still a risk for someone still contracting the virus and hey, by the way, this is what we're going to do.

It's all about the messaging, the optics that belong with it and how you actually execute it. If we get one case, we will notify you as soon as possible and within a reasonable time frame. Do we shut down the school for a day or a week, but yes resume? Or is it spreading like wildfire?

So those are the things they have to balance.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

DR. FAGBUYI: We don't know the whole answers yet, but it is a dynamic of flux.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Lives are on the line, not only adults, children too. They seem to avoid some of the most significant consequences of coronavirus. A six-year-old just passed away, too. So this is very imperative for parents to make sure their children are healthy.

Let me ask you quickly about the new model that shows that 310,000 Americans could die of coronavirus by December. That's only a few months away.

DR. FAGBUYI: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: The model shows that 69,000 lives could be saved if 95 percent of people wore masks. Are leaders doing enough to emphasize the importance of wearing masks? It is not that difficult to put one on.

DR. FAGBUYI: No. The short answer is no. In the military they teach us to keep -- give us the bottom line up front. The bottom line is we're not doing enough. They haven't been doing enough from the inception of this whole process.

There's been a concatenation of serious missteps. And this is one of those. Masking should be mandated. They do it in other countries. We have the play book. We've seen it all around other countries that got their stuff together. We are still lagging.

We don't have the will power, unfortunately, and we need to have the willpower to be able to say let's get on to the other side of this. And we haven't really taken it seriously.

So yes, there should be mandates all across the board. Like get with the game. We want to move on with our lives and everybody wants to be safe. So wear your mask, put it on, put it on your face and get going with it. That's how they should be doing it, honestly.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Great message. It is not that big of a sacrifice to wear a mask, especially if you're going to save lives.

Dr. Daniel Fagbuyi, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it.

DR. FAGBUYI: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

GOLODRYGA: Well, coming up, a quote, "new bogeyman to blame". Republicans blast Democrats over the postal service controversy saying it is just an excuse to undermine the election.

A Democratic congresswoman will respond, coming up next.

Then later, nearly two dozen wildfires in California are burning more than 900,000 acres. We are live with the challenges that firefighters are facing.

[11:15:02]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: Right now, the House is set to debate a $25 billion package to help boost the postal service. A vote is expected later this afternoon. The legislation is aimed at preventing delays and interference with election mail.

Already, the White House is threatening to veto the bill. This as the Trump campaign is accusing Democrats of cooking up what they call a conspiracy theory about the postal service.

Here with me now to discuss is Democratic Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. She represents Washington, D.C. and is on the Oversight and Reform Committee.

Congresswoman, thank you so much for joining us.

You actually don't get to vote today because D.C. doesn't have a statehood, minor setback there. This is something you have been actively pushing for, for a long time. But let me ask you, what concerns are you hearing from your constituents about the postal service right now? And what is your reaction to the President's campaign and the RNC now calling this push by Democrats a conspiracy theory?

[11:20:01] REP. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D), D.C. DELEGATE: Well first, let me be

clear, I do have a vote in committee and so I will be at that committee, and importantly so, because what we heard at the senate committee from DeJoy was, if I may say so, simply untruthful.

For example, I have seen a July memorandum where the postal service instructed postal employees to leave behind mail at the distribution center and to cut overtime. Moreover, I have seen another memorandum where the new postmaster general, DeJoy, has sidelined 23 of his top employees and centralized all authorities with himself.

What cannot be doubted is what the post office itself has said. The post office has warned 46 states and the District of Columbia that it cannot guarantee that their mail in ballots will get there in time. That's what we didn't hear any questioning about at the Senate hearing and that's the kind of questioning I will do at the House hearing on Monday.

GOLODRYGA: I'm glad you have the vote on committee. That's important to note there. But In terms of concerns over a hiring freeze or the freezing of overtime pay, the postmaster general yesterday said that all of that would transpire now after the election. That he would put that on hold for now.

Is that a step in the right direction? And does that address some of your concerns?

NORTON: Well, first of all, he's had to move somewhat because he has been exposed but what he did not say even though specifically questioned was whether he would leave in place the steps he has already taken. And he in fact said he would leave those steps in place.

Those steps have done considerable damage. All over my district, I hear people saying they're not getting their mail on time or aid in my committee, in my jurisdiction, in my city. People there said they haven't received their mail for two weeks.

So if he doesn't go back to the status quo ante, but the bends he's moved out, the mailboxes he's closed -- those remain, then of course, we still will have a terrible shortfall of the kind of just indicate about ballots getting in on time.

GOLODRYGA: What did you make of the fact that after being pressed by multiple senators to at least turn over some of the data, some of the information that led him to make the decisions that he did make, he was unwilling to do so.

They gave him a deadline. It seemed to be a fair question to ask, can you show us the research and data that led to your decision making to the American public and he refrained from doing so or agreeing to do so. What did you make of that?

NORTON: Well, it's interesting they gave him a deadline until Monday. That's when we have a hearing. When a member of the administration does not agree to turn over internal documents, he will get a subpoena. You cannot have internal documents that you keep from the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States. And when you say you don't want to turn them over; you are in effect admitting that you have something to hide.

GOLODRYGA: On the committee, do you have the power to subpoena those documents?

NORTON: We do. And we don't get them --

GOLODRYGA: Will you?

NORTON: And if -- well, I'm not the chair of the committee but I'm certain we will.

GOLODRYGA: You and more than half of the Democratic Caucus wrote a letter to Speaker Pelosi, urging her to consider some sort of coronavirus relief package in addition, separate from today's legislation. She's refusing to do so now.

Is this concerning for you?

NORTON: Well, she's playing hard ball. And I have to tell you that it's hard to second guess the Speaker because she has been so successful.

We are concerned that these executive orders, the effects of which are just beginning to come in, that President Trump issued in place of a new bill are proven ineffective. That being the case, it does seem to be that there would be more pressure on the Republicans to come to the table with Pelosi.

GOLODRYGA: Look, people in this country need help yesterday. So the sooner that can get done --

NORTON: Especially in my community, I'm hearing it, yes.

[11:24:56]

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Yes. The sooner that can get done, the better for everyone.

Congresswoman, we really appreciate your time. Thank you so much for joining us.

NORTON: Always a pleasure.

GOLODRYGA: And coming up, the gulf coast on alert this morning as a pair of tropical storms inch closer to the U.S. Details on this rare tropical threat.

Plus apocalyptic scenes out of California. Take a look at these images as a number of wildfires burn out of control. We'll take you there live coming up.

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[11:29:50]

GOLODRYGA: Wildfires continue to rage across California today, charring nearly one million acres. More than 500 fires are burning following a blitz of lightning strikes, including two of the biggest blazes recorded in the state's history. The largest of those, the LNU Lightning Complex fire has charred more than 300,000 acres, killed four people.

CNN's Paul Vercammen is there for us this morning. And Paul, I can see from behind you, tell us what the situation on the ground is like.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bianna, the weather calming down, just a little cooler. But the aftermath of this lightning complex fire you can see behind me, utter devastation.

I am in the Lake Berryessa neighborhood, the highlands. And you can see this house completely gone. And you go up on this ridge, also devastated here as you pointed out. 314,000 acres charred here in the lightning complex. That makes it the second most devastating wildfire in California history.

Off in the distance, if you can just see wildlife flushed out by the blaze, there's a family of deer. The governor talking about so many fires burning in California, the most acres burning at one time in California history. It's a daunting task for the crews.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): The challenge that we're facing here in the state is now disproportionally impacting northern California. And that is because of close to 12,000 lightning strikes that we experienced over a 72 hour period.

Just a day ago I announced that we are struggling to address the needs of suppressing some 376 fires in the state. That number has grown to about 560 fires.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And just to clarify, I was on the phone with CalFire officials there explaining that it is not that there's 500 major fires, there's about 20 major fires, but they really have stretched resources thin. And part of the COVID-19 program here in California was for the prisons to let some inmates with great behavior go early and that has also reduced the total number of inmate firefighters now available this summer, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: And I read that help may be coming not just from other states but from other countries as well -- it is that bad. But tell us, what do officials mean when they say that the fires actually merged?

VERCAMMEN: Well, that's what happened here on the lightning complex. We had so many lightning strikes. If you can imagine push pins on a map, lightning strike, lightning strike, we have all these different fires. And where I'm standing right now, the Hennessey fire -- this is actually the merging of eight fires.

And firefighters actually like that. Here's why. It means they can fight a fire on a unified front. For example, defend this road instead of having to deploy resources around eight separate fires. It is also dangerous for the firefighters to be between these fires because they can pull at each other, and they definitely don't want fire in front of them and in back of them, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Well, Godspeed to those firefighters and of course, our thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones and everyone in that community experiencing this.

Paul Vercammen, thank you so much.

Well, turning now to the eastern half of the country where we're tracking not one but two tropical storms moving toward the Gulf Coast. Laura, which is now impacting Puerto Rico later today, and Marco currently moving north toward the U.S. Both storms could make landfall along the gulf coast in the coming days.

CNN's Allison Chinchar is at the Weather Center for us. And Allison, we just got an update on the forecast track for these two storms. Tell us what you're learning.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, so let's take a look at the latest updates that we just got from the hurricane center. So Tropical Storm Marco is the biggest thing that we have seen changes in. In fact the sustained wind speed has jumped 15 miles per hour, now looking at sustained winds of 65 miles per hour, gusting up to 75. The forward movement is still north-northwest at just about 12 miles per hour.

Tropical storm Laura, this is a different story. Really not much of a change here. Sustained winds at about 40 miles per hour. But the forward movement is west at 18 miles per hour. May not sound that fast but for tropical systems, that's a pretty good clip.

So here's a look at what we anticipate these storms to do. Going forward, the main concern with Laura is going to be heavy rain across Puerto Rico. We're already starting to see some of those heavier bands begin to push in. but as we go through the afternoon and especially evening hours, you're really going to see those wind gusts pick up and the rain bands become more frequent.

Then, from there, it begins to head in towards the Gulf of Mexico. But again, the models are truly split as to where the storm is going. Laura technically could make landfall anywhere from Corpus Christie, Texas to Apalachicola, Florida. Again, so you've got a wide amount of options there.

Marco, not much smaller really. Texas or Louisiana are really the focal point for that particular storm. Notice however, that a couple of cities are actually in the cone for both storms, including Houston and also Beaumont, Texas. Both of them could potentially get hit by not one but both of these particular storms.

[11:34:52] CHINCHAR: Now, it won't happen at the same time. The timing is

significantly off with these. Marco likely to enter the gulf first around Monday and then Laura just about a day behind. So keep that in mind. Even if both of them do hit a similar area, it will be about 24 to perhaps 48 hours apart from the two.

One thing we want to note, Bianna is a lot of people, let's say you live in New Orleans or you live in Houston, they go east or west when they evacuate. That's not going to be an option with this particular event because you have two, not one, storms to think about. So you may have to reevaluate your normal evacuation route.

GOLODRYGA: Let's hope there's a change in trajectory for those two storms, obviously a big warning to people in the Gulf of Mexico and those states.

Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.

Well, rescue crews are continuing their search for a firefighter who went missing in Detroit River, Friday. Sergeant Sivad Johnson was off duty and with his 10-year-old daughter when he jumped in the river after a group of girls signaled that they were having trouble swimming. A civilian and nearby boaters rescued the three girls and made it safely to shore.

We will keep you updated on that story.

Up next, a former Green Beret, accused of spilling secrets to Russia. How he allegedly put national security at risk.

Plus, was a Russian opposition leader poisoned? New information on Alexei Navalny and why he was moved out of the country overnight.

[11:36:12]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: And we're going to bring you an update on opposition leader Alexei Navalny in just a few minutes.

But first, let's go to Joe Biden's campaign along with the DNC who are saying that they raised $70 million during the party's four-day virtual convention this week. Roughly 122 million Americans tuned in to watch Joe Biden and Kamala Harris become the party's presidential and vice presidential nominees.

And now Biden and Harris are sitting down for their first joint interview after accepting nominations. The pair coming together for a socially-distant interview with ABC News.

The full interview will air on Sunday night, but in clips released Friday, Harris and Biden touched on the coronavirus response as well as this moment of reckoning against racial injustice in the country.

ABC anchor David Muir also asked Kamala Harris what she makes of President Trump's attacks against her. Here's what she said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MUIR, ABC ANCHOR: President Trump has referred to you as nasty, a sort of mad woman, a disaster, the meanest, most horrible, most disrespectful of anybody in the U.S. Senate. How do you define what you hear from the President?

SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Listen, I really -- I think that there's so much about what comes out of Donald Trump's mouth that is designed to distract the American people from what he is doing every day that is about neglect, negligence and harm to the American people.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And incompetence.

HARRIS: Absolutely. Absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: AND More news in just a moment.

But first in today's "Represented", we mark the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote with stories of modern women willing to get into good trouble.

Meet a co-finder of the Black Lives Matter movement who turned a hashtag into a global rallying cry against racism and police brutality.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRISSE CULLORS, CO-FOUNDER, BLACK LIVES MATTER: When we started Black Lives Matter -- Alicia, Opal and I -- we really started it in response to the killing of Trayvon Martin and then the acquittal of George Zimmerman.

We were disturbed. We were dissatisfied. We were angry. We were wanting more for black people in general.

Alicia Garza wrote a love note to black folks. I responded with a #Black Lives Matter on Facebook. And then within the next 48 hours, we were creating this online community.

Mike Brown's murder I think would make Black Lives Matter go viral the first time. There has been a long history of black people rising up against our death, our tragedies.

With George Floyd's death, people witnessed him die in front of their eyes. People across the globe have shown up to not just talk about police violence but racist monuments that have been taken down.

This fight that we're in isn't solely focused on black people dying. The mission of Black Lives Matter is affirming black life and fighting for black people to be thriving in their lives, divesting from militarization and policing and investing into black communities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: CNN is exploring the past, present and the future of women's rights in the U.S. and around the world. Be sure to check out more of this reporting at CNN.com/represented.

[11:43:45]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: The Department of Justice says a former Army Green Beret has been arrested and charged with espionage. They say he knowingly leaked U.S. national defense secrets to members of Russia's intelligence service. Prosecutors say Peter Debbins met with Russian operatives on multiple occasions between 1996 and 2011. And he endangered national security by providing details of his unit and identifying Special Forces team members.

In other news, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is now in a German hospital after being airlifted out of Russia overnight.

Navalny, known for being a strong critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin has been in a coma since falling ill earlier this week. His supporters say he was poisoned, something the Kremlin and hospital doctors refute.

CNN's Matthew Chance is in Moscow. And Matthew, you've been following this from the jump. Do we know anything about Navalny's condition right now?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that he is still unconscious in a clinic now in Germany, in Berlin. And according to the doctors there he is in a stable condition after that long flight from the Siberian city of Omsk where he was med- evac'd from finally after some wrangling with the medical authorities there, the doctors in Siberia who had been treating Alexei Navalny.

The Kremlin, you know, he's the most outspoken critics of the Kremlin in this country. They've been treating him since Thursday. They said they detected no poisoning whatsoever as far as any of their tests are concerned.

[11:49:56]

CHANCE: That despite the very, you know, concerning images that emerged on Thursday morning of Alexei Navalny being evacuated from the commercial airplane that he was on that had to make an emergency landing on the way back to Moscow in Omsk.

You can hear him screaming with agony as he's taken onto the -- into the ambulance on the tarmac outside. He was on a life support system there.

What his family members say is that they believe this is all a cover- up. That, you know, actually there were toxins in his body but that the medical authorities in Russia were trying to prevent him from being evacuated to a clinic in another country because they wanted to make sure those toxins came out of his body so they couldn't be traced and the truth couldn't come out as it were.

That's the position of Alexei Navalny's family and his supporters. And I think, you know, despite the fact he's still in a bad situation, there is some optimism amongst those supporters now that he'll get the best possible treatment and possibly they can find out what put him in this situation, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. This isn't the first time that there's been an attempted poisoning of him but obviously this is the most critical and dangerous. And it has been gut wrenching just following his wife and watching as she had been trying over the past couple of days to see him and speak with those German doctors. So it is a bit reassuring to know that he's actually in Germany right now.

Matthew Chance in Moscow. Thank you so much for joining us.

And at 2:00 Eastern here in the CNN NEWSROOM, I will talk with the chairman of the Human Rights Foundation Garry Kasparov prove.

The massive explosion in Beirut this month took a terrible toll in terms of lives and property. Some say it's also one more strike against Lebanon's government.

Ben Wedeman introduces us to one young couple that lost their three- year-old and is now losing their faith in Lebanon's leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She was their world. Alexandra was born in Beirut. Tracy and Paul Naggear's only child. And at the age of three, she died in Beirut, her life cut short in a blast that tore away and tore apart so many lives.

TRACY NAGGEAR, BEIRUT BLAST VICTIM: Alexandra hit her head with something. I don't know what. And then I hit my head as well. And then I covered her. And I had two doors and ceiling and the vases on my back and head.

PAUL NAGGEAR, BEIRUT BLAST VICTIM: The shock on her head was too big that it caused an edema that damaged her brain too much so this is what caused her passing.

WEDEMAN: This young couple, entrepreneurs who took Alexandra to last year's demonstrations demanding a better Lebanon, is still in shock and despair.

P. NAGGEAR: We were aggressed and killed in our house. Our house, you know, the only shelter or the place of safety that you thought was still there, you don't have anymore. It's just too much.

WEDEMAN: Repairs are under way in their neighborhood next to the port. Beyond repair, perhaps, is faith in a country falling apart in so many ways.

P. NAGGEAR: People can't keep living in a criminal state. I mean you can't live in a country anymore where the government and the parliament is against you.

T. NAGGEAR: And I still have hope. The only difference, I guess, is that the rage we have today is exponentially growing. And reality is hitting us. It is the last chance we have.

WEDEMAN: Paul and Tracy, like so many others, are contemplating giving up and moving abroad. Reality in Lebanon has hit them too hard.

Ben Wedeman, CNN -- Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: My heart just breaks for that family. Remarkable that mother, Tracy, still has hope.

We'll be right back.

[11:54:02]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: The coronavirus pandemic is inspiring some unique lesson plans. Take a look.

(MUSIC)

GOLODRYGA: I never had a teacher like that. What a way to get your kids out of bed, right. Mrs. Audrianna Williams is one of two teachers in Georgia who produced a rap video to get their students engaged and ready for the virtual classroom. This was shot at the Monroe Comprehensive High School with the help of the cheerleading team and, of course, they all wore masks.

Williams spoke to CNN this morning about how her students are reacting to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AUDRIANNA WILLIAMS, TEACHER: Well, it's all about relationships and relationship building because I promise you, I wouldn't have been able to get the cheerleaders involved as much if we did not have the relationship with them that we do.

So just continuing to uplift them, especially during this pandemic, because it's a lot of kids that are going through a lot of things, as well as teachers. You know, losing loved ones, being sick themselves so we wanted to just find a way to boost the morale of our students, our community the teachers as well because we needed uplifting too for this schoolyear.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[12:00:00]

GOLODRYGA: That uplifted us all. The pair also tells local affiliate WALB they have another surprise coming soon. So stay tuned. Some lucky kids there.