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COVID-19 Cases Surge in U.S. Despite Vaccination Uptick; Wildfires in U.S. and Greece; Rockets Fired toward Israel; Tanker Hit by Iranian Drone; Protesters Angered by Thai Government's Response to COVID-19; Sanctions Expected from Biden Administration on Belarus; Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired August 07, 2021 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): COVID-19 cases are surging in the U.S. as some areas see their worst-case numbers yet but there's also good news on the vaccine front. We'll explain what you need to know.
Also ahead, terrifyingly similar scenes from different continents. A close look at the fires ravaging parts of the western U.S. and Greece.
And it's a fourth straight gold for Team USA's men's basketball but it was no walk in the park against France.
Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
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BRUNHUBER: We begin with an encouraging sign of progress in the U.S. vaccination campaign against the coronavirus. Half of all Americans are now fully vaccinated, from data released Friday.
Despite that, the number of new cases keeps growing, now topping 100,000 per day. And in Florida, the Delta variant is spreading at unprecedented speed. We're talking about 20,000 new cases per day on average.
Florida had more than 134,000 new cases total over the past week, the highest number since the pandemic began. But the White House is making it clear the nation isn't headed for another lockdown. Nick Valencia has the latest on vaccination efforts across the country.
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NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A major milestone for the country with half the total U.S. population fully vaccinated. But the grim count of COVID deaths is rising fast, a 52 percent increase over last week's seven-day average. Florida reported more COVID-19 cases over the past week than any other
seven-day period during the pandemic. Data published Friday by the state health department, reported 134,506 new COVID-19 cases over the past week. For an average of 19,215 cases each day.
One unvaccinated Virginia man reminding people to get the shot before it's too late.
TRAVIS CAMPBELL, COVID-19 PATIENT: I'm so sorry that I made the mistake that I'm able to -- I'm not able to get vaccinated. Vaccinations are so important, that I could do better as a parent, as a human. And I hope to God everybody else can, too.
VALENCIA: The United States is recording its second highest seven-day average surge for new cases, nearing almost 100,000 a day. The Gulf Coast region has particularly suffered. Mississippi's top health official giving a dire warning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As everyone is aware, we have seen a phenomenal increase in the number of daily reported cases of COVID. And this is entirely attributable to the Delta variant, which is sweeping over Mississippi, you know, like a tsunami.
VALENCIA: In Alabama, one of the hardest hit states, vaccination rates are up slightly. But tens of thousands of shots have already spoiled because not enough people there want the shot.
DR. SCOTT HARRIS, ALABAMA HEALTH OFFICER: We are starting to see some wastage.
VALENCIA: The push to mandate vaccines continues to be a polarizing issue, especially in schools. New Jersey's governor is now requiring all K-12 students to wear masks. But other school districts in the country have been at odds with their governor over what to do. Florida's governor standing firm on his ban on mask mandates.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): If you are coming after the rights of parents in Florida, I'm standing in your way. I'm not going to let you get away with it.
VALENCIA: But Florida's Orange County school district is doing what they can to help, tooling school employees they must wear masks.
In Louisiana, the emotional toll on front line workers is evident. The state currently has the highest rate of new COVID-19 infections per capita in the nation.
WANDA RIVERS, NURSE: We're stressed because we thought that this was getting better. And now we're working as hard, even harder, than we did a few months ago.
VALENCIA: Heading into the weekend, there are concerns of another possible super spreader event in South Dakota, as 700,000 visitors are expected to attend the Sturgis motorcycle rally, an event that drew fire last year in the state that push back against COVID safety protocols. Republican Governor Kristi Noem tweeting, "There is risk associated
with everything we do in life. Bikers get that better than anyone."
This year, the city says, it will provide free COVID self-test kits.
CHRISTINA STEELE, STURGIS PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER: These are just little tests that you get, that you take home. You still do the nose swab but you have results within about 15 minutes.
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VALENCIA: And with cases surging across the country, masks continue to be a hotly debated issue. In Georgia, governor Brian Kemp says the state does not need a mandate for citizens to, quote, "do the right thing."
Meanwhile, on the local level, there's a push to increase vaccine confidence especially among communities of color. Here on Buford Highway, CORE, Community Organized Relief Effort, is giving out free vaccine for those 12 and up -- Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.
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BRUNHUBER: There's a concerning trend in the COVID pandemic, the substantial increase of cases among children and teens, that's according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
They say that nearly 4.2 million kids have tested positive since the beginning of the pandemic. More than 72,000 are just from last week. The numbers have been rising steadily since the beginning of July.
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BRUNHUBER: Dr. John McGuire is the chief of the division of pediatric critical care medicine at Seattle Children's Hospital and also an associate professor at pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Thank you so much for joining us. Earlier this week, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported that COVID-19 cases among American children and teens jumped 84 percent in a week.
What are you seeing right now at your hospital?
DR. JOHN MCGUIRE, CHIEF, PEDIATRIC CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE, SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: We are certainly are seeing an increase in the number of children being hospitalized with COVID and particularly with more severe COVID-19 infection.
BRUNHUBER: And these people who are hospitalized are principally people who haven't been vaccinated, right?
MCGUIRE: Yes, we are seeing teens who are not vaccinated and younger children, who are largely from families in which the other eligible family members aren't vaccinated. BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's the problem, is that so much of this seems to
be preventable. You know, in terms of the more serious side effects, like multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, I know that your hospital deals with those cases; very often, they're sent to you.
These cases could have been perpetuated in young people if the parents had been vaccinated. And we heard on this program from parents, who had wished that they had acted before it was too late.
It must be, you know, as a physician, hard to see that sense of regret from parents, who feel, you know, guilty for what their child is going through now, that could have been avoided.
MCGUIRE: Yes, it is worrisome. We had hoped that we would be seeing a reduction in COVID infection in children and in adults and we're certainly well into a fifth wave here in Washington state.
And commensurate with that, we've seen the increase in number of children admitted and with severe COVID-19 and families are worried. They're worried about the short-term and the long-term effects of COVID infection in children.
We're still learning about this serious disease and people are worried about what's going to happen if the numbers in the community continue to rise.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, and this is -- you know, in many places, school still hasn't started, so you can see how the cases might increase, once they're all in school.
But just looking at the case studies here in Georgia, where, you know, most schools have started already, we have seen outbreaks, you know, this early into the school year. The head of the CDC says those outbreaks have happened generally because the schools aren't following the guidelines. Let's listen to what she said here.
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DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: The places that are having the problem, the places that are having disease that is transmitted in the schools are the places that aren't taking the prevention strategies, the places that aren't masking.
The places that you're seeing kids in the hospital, the footage of kids in the hospital, are all places that are not taking mitigation strategies to keep our children safe.
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BRUNHUBER: So the problem is, many states are making it hard to take those prevention strategies, states like Florida, which have banned mask mandates in schools, and Texas, where if a student gets sick, the schools won't be able to do contact tracing.
With all the roadblocks in place, how worried are you that we'll see large outbreaks in school, that we didn't see with the less contagious versions of the virus?
MCGUIRE: I think we're worried. Last year, most of the schools in our area were doing largely remote, not in-person schooling.
When we saw the return to the classroom, it was during a time where we were seeing lower numbers of COVID cases in the community. Unfortunately now the timing of school starting lines up with this new wave of cases. So it's very concerning.
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MCGUIRE: So we are first and foremost encouraging people to be vaccinated for the eligible adults and teens. That will help protect those individuals, as well as the younger children and other individuals, who can't be vaccinated that are around them.
And we're strongly encouraging people to follow the guidelines of the CDC and the local health department to follow the public health recommendations for masking and the other preventative measures.
BRUNHUBER: Excellent advice to end on. Dr. John McGuire, thank you so much for speaking with us.
MCGUIRE: Thank you, Kim.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. We want to take you now live to Bangkok. What you're seeing there is police in Thailand's capital, facing off against protesters, who are angry over the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
In just the last few minutes, we've seen protesters throwing objects at police, police firing tear gas at them and the protesters throwing it back at the police.
Now according to Johns Hopkins University, the country has reported more than 714,000 cases of COVID and this week has seen daily records in both cases and deaths. Thai health officials report that so far, only about 6 percent of the country has been fully vaccinated.
So we're going to stay on this story and bring you more, once events warrant.
Well, there are now more than 100 large fires burning across the U.S., wreaking havoc on western states. The Dixie fire in northern California has exploded to more than 434,000 acres, becoming the largest fire in the country.
Now to put that into perspective, the fire has burned an area the size of New York's Central Park every 11 minutes for 24 hours. Eight people are still unaccounted for and more evacuations are underway.
And what you're seeing there is what's left of the historic Gold Rush town of Greenville. The Dixie fire reduced much of the area to ashes, destroying over 100 homes. (WEATHER REPORT)
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BRUNHUBER: So now let's get more on the scores of wildfires in Greece that are prompting thousands to evacuate. And some of the most dangerous blazes are just outside the capital, as we heard there.
The fires took a deadly turn on Friday, when a volunteer firefighter was killed. At least 20 people have been hospitalized. Elinda Labropoulou now joining us live from Athens.
I understand the winds are really making things worse.
What's the latest?
ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: They absolutely are. They keep changing direction and therefore making operations much more difficult. There's a lot of firefighting aircraft. You may be able to see some behind me.
And you'll definitely be able to see the haze and some of the smoke from areas very, very close to Athens by now. A number of residential areas have been evacuated as the fire is approaching.
And this is just one of the many fires burning across Greece. We understand that a fire close to the ancient site of Olympia has also rekindled. There was a big front there some days ago.
Now firefighting operations are underway there as well, to try to prevent any damage in the archaeological site. It's been going for days now. You know, local residents, everybody is taking part in these huge efforts to try to put out the blazes.
As one man told me earlier today, the destruction is so immense, it's destroying the lungs of Athens, this big fire. We expect the weather conditions to remain unchanged for the next 24 hours. So this will even make operations even harder.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Elinda Labropoulou, thanks so much.
Growing tension in northern Israel after Hezbollah militants in Lebanon fired a barrage of rockets across the border. We'll have a live report from the region just ahead.
Plus, the U.S. military says evidence points to Iran being behind last week's deadly drone attack on a tanker ship. Our correspondent in Iran will have the details coming up. Please stay with us.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) BRUNHUBER: The United Nations is calling for restraint from both sides
after Hezbollah militants in Lebanon fired a barrage of rockets towards Israel and Israel retaliated with artillery.
No casualties have been reported but the fear is the situation could quickly escalate. CNN's Hadas Gold is covering this for us from northern Israel.
Hadas, that's the question.
How likely is this to escalate?
What more do we know?
HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been, other than a few fighter jets we heard overnight, it's been relatively quiet here near the border between Israel and Lebanon.
We've had no reports yet of further Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon nor have we heard anymore reports of Hezbollah launching anymore attacks, rockets or missiles across the border.
Just behind me is a mountain known as Har Dov, also known as Shebaa Farms. This is where six of those 19 rockets launched yesterday landed in open areas. Ten of those rockets, the Israeli military says, were intercepted by its Iron Dome missile defense system. Three rockets landed short within Lebanon.
As you noted, the Israeli military responding with strikes in southern Lebanon, saying it struck some rocket launch sites. There have been no casualties reported on either side. But just because it's been quiet, relatively quiet in the last 24 hours or so, that doesn't mean everything is calm and back to normal.
Tensions are incredibly high, because, as you noted, this is one of the most serious escalations in these tensions between Hezbollah and Israel that we've seen in years. It had been years since Hezbollah had taken responsibility for a cross-border attack, even longer since Hezbollah had taken responsibility for rockets that were launched from the Lebanese territory toward Israel.
Overnight, the U.S. State Department releasing a statement, saying that the U.S. condemns in the strongest terms Hezbollah's rocket attacks into Israel, saying that the violence puts both Israelis and Lebanese at risk and jeopardizes Lebanon's stability and sovereignty.
They went on to say a they call upon the Lebanese government urgently to prevent such attacks and bring the area under its control. And just because it's been quiet here in the north, in the south overnight, the Israeli military saying they struck several targets in Gaza, including what it says was a Hamas rocket launching site.
This, they say, was in response to incendiary balloons that were launched from Gaza into Israel yesterday, causing what authorities say were four fires. Goes to show you that the military is very actively involved both on its northern and southern borders -- Kim. BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much, Hadas Gold in northern Israel.
The U.S. embassy in Kabul is now urging Americans in the region to leave immediately. The embassy warns its ability to assist U.S. citizens is extremely limited and is advising those leaving to use commercial flights.
The British foreign office is repeating the same warning that it first issued Friday. America's withdrawal from Afghanistan is almost complete. But peace seems farther away than ever.
In recent weeks, the Taliban have advanced relentlessly in Afghanistan. A few hours ago, a provincial capital in the north fell to the Islamist group, although the fighting continues. It's the second provincial capital to fall in the past day.
The key city of Zaranj near the border with Iran was the first. U.N.'s special envoy to Afghanistan had this strong warning for the international community.
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DEBORAH LYONS. U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY TO AFGHANISTAN: In the past weeks, the war in Afghanistan has entered a new, deadlier and more destructive phase.
The Taliban campaign during June and July to capture rural areas has achieved significant territorial gains. From this strengthened position, they have begun to attack the larger cities.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. military has concluded that last week's deadly drone attack on a tanker ship near Oman was carried out by Iran. On Friday, the G7 foreign ministers issued a joint statement condemning the attack and saying, quote, "All available evidence clearly points to Iran."
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BRUNHUBER: Iran insists it had no role in the attack. We get the latest from CNN's Frederik Pleitgen in Iran.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. military, now says that it has evidence that the drone that was used to attack the Israeli-managed ship Mercer Street was manufactured, in Iran.
Essentially, what the Pentagon is saying is that a forensic, team from the U.S. military, went on board that ship after it was hit and what they managed to do, is they managed to recover some of the parts of the drone, which they say was a suicide drone.
In other words, one that crashed into the chip, killing two of the sailors. And they managed to recover some parts of that drone.
They said, looking at those parts, it became clear, those were parts that were usually used by Iran. They also said, that drone had used military grade explosives.
Now of course, before all of this, the U.S. and Israel had blamed the Iranians for the attack. Iran denies all of that. However, the Israelis have come out and have, said they will be able to retaliate against Iran, on their own.
This has caused some angry reactions here, from the Iranians. You have the spokesman for Iran's foreign minister, saying, quote, "In another brazen violation of international law, the Israeli regime now blatantly threatens Iran with military action. Such malign behavior, stems from blind, Western support. We state this clearly, any foolish act against Iran, will be met with a decisive response. Don't test us."
Of course, all of this comes just on the heels of a new president, taking office here in Iran, a hardliner, Ebrahim Raisi, who has said that Iran will continue to act boldly, here, in the Middle Eastern region -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Iran.
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BRUNHUBER: Just ahead, we'll find out what the Biden administration plans to do about surging COVID numbers and the possibility of future lockdowns.
Plus, a key part of Joe Biden's economic agenda is getting closer to happening. We'll have the latest on the $1 billion bipartisan infrastructure bill making its way through the Senate. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: We're following growing protests in Bangkok, Thailand. We've been monitoring this and so far we've seen a few exchanges between protesters and police, protesters throwing objects at police, police firing gas canisters at the demonstrators. You see one just go off there.
Again, this was all prompted by the government's handling of the pandemic. This week has seen daily records in both cases and deaths. And according to Johns Hopkins University, the country has reported more than 714,000 cases in total. Thai health officials report that so far only about 6 percent of the country has been fully vaccinated.
Again, what you're seeing there are live images from Bangkok, Thailand's capital. Protesters angry over recent outbreaks of COVID-19 and what they see as the government's botched handling of the crisis. And we'll stay on this story and monitor it and come back to it as events warrant.
We want to return to our top story. At least half the U.S. population is now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. That comes as states across the U.S. report a dangerous escalation in new cases fueled by the Delta variant.
But despite the recent surge, the White House has no plans to start imposing lockdowns.
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JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're not going to lock down our economy or our schools because the country is in a much stronger place than when we took office, thanks to the president' leadership in vaccinated the American people and getting economic relief to those who need it.
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BRUNHUBER: With the positive vaccination news and a welcome economic report, the Biden administration isn't easing up when it comes to the COVID fight. Phil Mattingly reports from the White House.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America can beat the Delta variant.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, despite a blowout jobs report, no victory lap for President Biden.
BIDEN: My message today is not one of celebration. It's one to remind us we got a lot of hard work left to be done.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): A clear recognition of the looming danger of the Delta variant is enveloped the nation. Biden touting the economic progress underscored by the 943,000 jobs added in July, the unemployment rate that ticked down to 5.4 percent.
But the comments clearly designed official say to provide reassurance in an exceedingly uncertain time.
BIDEN: Now while our economy is far from complete and while we had doubtless you will have ups and downs along the way as we continue to battle, the Delta surge of COVID. What is indisputable, now is this, the Biden plan is working. The Biden plan produces results. And the Biden plan is moving the country forward.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Country now gripped by a resurging pandemic, with new cases averaging close to 100,000 per day. Still, Biden's remarks coming the day that U.S. reached the milestone of 50 percent of the entire population fully vaccinated and weekly vaccination rates have increased to levels unseen since June. BIDEN: I'm pleased to report the past week we've seen the first-time vaccinations in America go up by 4 million people, getting back 4 million shots.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): But the depth of the Delta crisis clear and seemingly every action Biden has taken over the last 10 days pressing vaccine mandates for private businesses, implementing vaccine requirements for federal workers.
BIDEN: There will be more to come in the days ahead.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): And now, sources say, in preliminary discussions about using federal power, specifically on federal funding to leverage more vaccinations in places like long-term care facilities. No final decisions have been made, sources say but a key window into the urgency driving an administration keenly aware of just how interconnected the virus is to everything.
BIDEN: Please get vaccinated. We can get this done. We just have to stay at the course. We just have to remember who we are.
MATTINGLY: And while there's unquestionably progress on the economic front, the jobs report makes that exceedingly clear, the administration still underscoring with at least one action today how much remains uncertain.
The Biden administration deciding to extend a freeze on federal loan payments that was put in place at the start of the pandemic and they plan to extend it through January of 2022.
It's something Democratic lawmakers have been pressuring the White House to do. They have decided to do that, to extend that freeze until the first month of next year.
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MATTINGLY: But they have also made clear that will be the last extension of that freeze of federal loan payments and that, at some point, they expect the economy, everything, to go back to normal. At least, that's the hope -- Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Senate will reconvene in the coming hours in the latest bid to advance a $1 trillion infrastructure bill. At least 10 Republicans need to join with Democrats for it to reach a final vote. And that's not the only hurdle it faces. Ryan Nobles has the latest from Washington.
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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is by no means an easy process but the Senate is moving closer to passing that trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure package. And it could happen as soon as early next week. The Senate, for the most part on Friday, was not conducting any
business. And that's because they are allowing this process to take its place.
And on Saturday, sometime in the afternoon, they're expected to break the filibuster on this big bill. And both Republicans and Democrats do believe the 60 votes necessary to break the filibuster, which is a key step, could happen.
After that, it is anybody's guess. At any point, if all 100 senators agree, they could fast-track this legislation, meaning they could pass it out of the Senate as soon as Saturday night.
But if even one senator decides to slow down that process, that means they'll have to jump through a number of hoops before they get there. That could mean a series of votes that have to take place between Saturday, Sunday and then potentially even into Monday and Tuesday before the bill is finally passed.
Now there is still a great degree of optimism that, ultimately, this bill will make it over the finish line. This is just the last-minute haggling between Republicans and Democrats, trying to get as much as they can into this bill before it passes.
Keep in mind, this, of course, a by-product of a 50-50 Senate, where essentially every member of the Senate has the opportunity to slow this process down, and that's exactly what we see playing out here.
Even after it passes the Senate, this package has a long way to go. It's going to go to the House, where they will review it and potentially make changes. But already, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said they're not moving ahead with this legislation until they see that bigger $3.5 trillion reconciliation package come along with it.
And the Senate is expected to vote on the resolution, which is just the shell of that $3.5 trillion plan, perhaps as soon as next week, as well. It will then go to the House, which will begin that process.
Once the bill passes the Senate, it will go over there and sit on the House side. The bipartisan package is going to sit there on the House side until the reconciliation package can be passed.
So the long and short of this, well, they are making progress. It is unlikely that either of these big budget bills, these infrastructure bills, will be anywhere near President Joe Biden's desk until some time in the fall.
But the fact that they are going to cross this hurdle here in the next couple of days is a very significant step -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, on Capitol Hill.
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BRUNHUBER: There are new fears about how far Belarus will go to crush dissent. We'll have an exclusive report on what appears to be a prison camp being built near Minsk. Stay with us. (MUSIC PLAYING)
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BRUNHUBER: The Biden administration is expected to unveil a new round of sanctions against Belarus. It will be the latest action in response to crackdowns on protesters and dissidents by the country's autocratic president.
A congressional source tells CNN to expect an announcement on Monday, the anniversary of the country's disputed presidential election.
The Belarusian opposition leader met with U.S. President Joe Biden last week in Washington and she provided a list of companies close to the Lukashenko regime that she would like to see sanctioned.
And there's troubling evidence about where some of those political dissidents targeted by the Belarusian government could end up. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has this exclusive report.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): A chilling sight, not from the last century but last month. A possible prison camp built inside Belarus for political prisoners.
CNN obtained this footage of what witnesses said looked like a newly refurbished camp about an hour's drive from the capital Minsk. A new sign saying forbidden border and entry.
A three-layer fence electrified they said. New moving surveillance cameras, bars and reflective screens on the windows of newly rebuilt barracks. No prisoners yet. What look like a soldier inside and regular military patrols who told our witnesses outside to leave. One local talked to them anonymously.
My friend Sasha a builder told me they refurbished this place, he says, there are three levels of barbed wire and it's electrified. I was picking mushrooms here when a military man came up to me and said I can't walk here.
The building sits on the vast site of a former Soviet missile storage facility surrounded by forests. The repairs came not long after defecting police officers released secret recordings of senior police discussing the need for prison camps at several sites.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The assignment to develop and build a camp but not for prisoners of war or even the interned but a camp for especially sharp-hoofed for resettlement. And surround it with barbed wire along the perimeter.
WALSH: Not surprising CNN hasn't gained access to the interior of site, so we can't definitively say that it is intended for use as a prison camp but a Western intelligence official I spoke to said that use was, quote, possible, although they didn't have direct evidence.
In the current climate it's tough to imagine what else the camp could be for. Opposition leaders fear its possible use, why President Alexander Lukashenko forces during future protests.
FRANAK VACORKA, SENIOR ADVISER TO SVIATLANA TSIKHANOUSKAYA: Not surprising that he is trying to build something like a regular prison camp because the new wave for protests will come up anyway. It can be triggered by his statement. It can be triggered by economic situation but it will come.
And he understands but he also wants to be prepared more than last year in 2020. And this is why I would not be surprised that such camps are being built.
WALSH (voice-over): Belarusian officials declined to comment and have called the recording about the camps fake news when it was released saying that they follow the law.
These images emerge after a week's long crackdown against remaining independent media inside Belarus and dozens of arrests. Inside Belarus the protest movement is being persecuted so hard, it now holds remote flash mob demonstrations like these filmed by drones. But some of it is finding ways to hit back, CNN has learned.
These are railway saboteurs, apparently in action.
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WALSH (voice-over): They say their operations, the details of which we aren't disclosing, just trigger alarms that stop trains on the tracks. Risking nobody safety and causing traffic to slow down, they say. We spoke to one organizer.
When our skies are blocked, he said, we should block the land as well. The main goal is to cause economic damage to the regime because all the delays cause them to pay huge fines.
This action was carried out they said on a key route from Russia to the European Union. CNN can't independently confirm it was effective.
WALSH: If there is an impact on rail traffic, it could have great significance outside of Belarus and here Lithuania, because so many goods from the east rely on this network to get to Europe.
WALSH (voice-over): Signs both sides could be adopting new harsher tactics and what may await fresh protests as the screws tighten -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Vilnius, Lithuania.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. Coming up, the Olympics got off to a rocky start for the U.S. men's basketball team. We'll tell you whether they redeemed themselves on the court next. Stay with us. (MUSIC PLAYING)
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BRUNHUBER: We're following protests in Bangkok.
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BRUNHUBER: What you're seeing there are live pictures of police in the Thai capital, facing off against demonstrators, who are angry over the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
And just watching this here, we're seeing a few exchanges between protesters and police, protesters throwing objects at police and police firing what appears to be tear gas at the demonstrators.
And the demonstrators sometimes throwing those canisters back at the police. This was all prompted by the government's handling of the pandemic. The group organizing the protests spelled out its demands on Facebook.
And it wants the prime minister to resign and for cuts to be made in the defense and monarchy budgets and that money to be used to tackle COVID-19 instead. Thai health officials report that, so far, only about 6 percent of the country has been fully vaccinated. We'll stay on top of this story as it develops.
For the fourth day in a row, Tokyo has reported more than 4,000 new coronavirus infections, with more than 4,500 new cases Saturday. The city is under a state of emergency until August 31st.
And it is nearly 7:00 pm in Tokyo on the final day of the Olympic Games. We'll take a look at all of the exciting action that's been happening.
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BRUNHUBER: And we're seeing some extraordinary moments of sportsmanship and kindness at the Olympics, from the sharing of gold medals to runners helping their rivals. Will Ripley has more on the feel-good games.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The legacy of Tokyo 2020 may not be measured in medals or COVID cases but acts of kindness, moments of grace, Olympians choosing humility over hubris.
American gymnast Simone Biles cheering on her teammates, even as she was struggling to compete. American swimmer, Annie Lazor hugging her South African competitor, Tatiana Schoenmaker, who broke a world record to win gold.
[05:55:00] ANNIE LAZOR, TEAM USA BRONZE MEDALIST, SWIMMING: To have someone right next to me break a world record, just as a fan of the sport in general, that's something that's pretty amazing to happen to you.
RIPLEY: Given that there were no spectators and you were in this bubble in the middle of a pandemic, do you think that brought the athletes closer, this experience?
LAZOR: Definitely more of a sense of we're just really happy that this is happening and really happy to be here.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Happiness written on the faces of the first ever Olympic skateboarders.
SKY BROWN, GREAT BRITAIN BRONZE MEDALIST, SKATEBOARDING: Winning as one big family, probably getting on the podium with two of my best like -- two of my favorite people is like awesome.
ROB KOEHLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL, GLOBAL ATHLETE: I think, you know, we're seeing that camaraderie between athletes now.
There is always something good that comes from something bad and I think this is part of what the pandemic has done is, it has created a better community of athletes that are supporting each other under very difficult conditions in Tokyo to be supporting each other is huge.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Support spanning across continents and badminton courts. When Denmark dethroned China to win gold in the men's singles, the players traded shirts as a symbol of respect.
These Qatari and Italian high jumpers, friends and competitors for years, opted out of a jump off, deciding to share the gold.
GIANMARCO TAMBERI, ITALIAN GOLD MEDALIST, HIGH JUMP: It was just amazing and sharing with a friend is even more beautiful.
MUTAZ ESSA BARSHIM, QATARI GOLD MEDALIST, HIGH JUMP: Thank you.
RIPLEY (voice-over): There were high-fives and helping hands. After falling during the 800-meter, these runners from the U.S. and Botswana finished the race arm in arm, a legacy of kindness and camaraderie, outshining even the Olympic flame -- Will Ripley, CNN, Tokyo.
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BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber at CNN Center in Atlanta. Thanks for watching. For viewers in North America, "NEW DAY" is next. For the rest of the world, it's "TECH FOR GOOD."
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): COVID-19 cases are surging in the U.S. as some areas see their worst case numbers yet but there's also good news on the vaccine front. We'll explain what you need to know.
Also ahead, terrifyingly similar scenes from different continents. A close look at the fires ravaging parts of the western U.S. and Greece.
And it's a fourth straight gold for Team USA's men's basketball but it was no walk in the park against France.
Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
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BRUNHUBER: We begin with an encouraging sign of progress in the U.S. vaccination campaign against the coronavirus. Half of all Americans are now fully vaccinated, from data released Friday. Despite that, the number of new cases keeps growing, now topping
100,000 per day. And in Florida, the Delta variant is spreading at unprecedented speed. We're talking about 20,000 new cases per day on average.
Florida had more than 134,000 new cases total over the past week, the highest number since the pandemic began. But the White House is making it clear the nation isn't headed for another lockdown. Nick Valencia has the latest on vaccination efforts across the country.
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NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A major milestone for the country with half the total U.S. population fully vaccinated. But the grim count of COVID deaths is rising fast, a 52 percent increase over last week's seven-day average.
Florida reported more COVID-19 cases over the past week than any other seven-day period during the pandemic. Data published Friday by the state health department, reported 134,506 new COVID-19 cases over the past week. For an average of 19,215 cases each day.
One unvaccinated Virginia man reminding people to get the shot before it's too late.
TRAVIS CAMPBELL, COVID-19 PATIENT: I'm so sorry that I made the mistake that I'm able to -- I'm not able to get vaccinated. Vaccinations are so important, that I could do better as a parent, as a human. And I hope to God everybody else can, too.
VALENCIA: The United States is recording its second highest seven-day average surge for new cases, nearing almost 100,000 a day. The Gulf Coast region has particularly suffered. Mississippi's top health official giving a dire warning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As everyone is aware, we have seen a phenomenal increase in the number of daily reported cases of COVID. And this is entirely attributable to the Delta variant, which is sweeping over Mississippi, you know, like a tsunami.
VALENCIA: In Alabama, one of the hardest hit states, vaccination rates are up slightly. But tens of thousands of shots have already spoiled because not enough people there want the shot.
DR. SCOTT HARRIS, ALABAMA HEALTH OFFICER: We are starting to see some wastage.
VALENCIA: The push to mandate vaccines continues to be a polarizing issue, especially in schools. New Jersey's governor is now requiring all K-12 students to wear masks. But other school districts in the country have been at odds with their governor over what to do. Florida's governor standing firm on his ban on mask mandates.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): If you are coming after the rights of parents in Florida, I'm standing in your way. I'm not going to let you get away with it. VALENCIA: But Florida's Orange County school district is doing what they can to help, tooling school employees they must wear masks.
In Louisiana, the emotional toll on front line workers is evident. The state currently has the highest rate of new COVID-19 infections per capita in the nation.
WANDA RIVERS, NURSE: We're stressed because we thought that this was getting better. And now we're working as hard, even harder, than we did a few months ago.
VALENCIA: Heading into the weekend, there are concerns of another possible super spreader event in South Dakota, as 700,000 visitors are expected to attend the Sturgis motorcycle rally, an event that drew fire last year in the state that push back against COVID safety protocols.
Republican Governor Kristi Noem tweeting, "There is risk associated with everything we do in life. Bikers get that better than anyone."
This year, the city says, it will provide free COVID self-test kits.
CHRISTINA STEELE, STURGIS PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER: These are just little tests that you get, that you take home. You still do the nose swab but you have results within about 15 minutes.
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VALENCIA: And with cases surging across the country, masks continue to be a hotly debated issue. In Georgia, governor Brian Kemp says the state does not need a mandate for citizens to, quote, "do the right thing."
Meanwhile, on the local level, there's a push to increase vaccine confidence especially among communities of color. Here on Buford Highway, CORE, Community Organized Relief Effort, is giving out free vaccine for those 12 and up -- Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.
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BRUNHUBER: There's a concerning trend in the COVID pandemic, the substantial increase of cases among children and teens, that's according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
They say that nearly 4.2 million kids have tested positive since the beginning of the pandemic. More than 72,000 are just from last week. The numbers have been rising steadily since the beginning of July.
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BRUNHUBER: Dr. John McGuire is the chief of the division of pediatric critical care medicine at Seattle Children's Hospital and also an associate professor at pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Thank you so much for joining us. Earlier this week, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported that COVID-19 cases among American children and teens jumped 84 percent in a week.
What are you seeing right now at your hospital?
DR. JOHN MCGUIRE, CHIEF, PEDIATRIC CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE, SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: We are certainly are seeing an increase in the number of children being hospitalized with COVID and particularly with more severe COVID-19 infection.
BRUNHUBER: And these people who are hospitalized are principally people who haven't been vaccinated, right?
MCGUIRE: Yes, we are seeing teens who are not vaccinated and younger children, who are largely from families in which the other eligible family members aren't vaccinated.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's the problem, is that so much of this seems to be preventable. You know, in terms of the more serious side effects, like multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, I know that your hospital deals with those cases; very often, they're sent to you.
These cases could have been perpetuated in young people if the parents had been vaccinated. And we heard on this program from parents, who had wished that they had acted before it was too late.
It must be, you know, as a physician, hard to see that sense of regret from parents, who feel, you know, guilty for what their child is going through now, that could have been avoided.
MCGUIRE: Yes, it is worrisome. We had hoped that we would be seeing a reduction in COVID infection in children and in adults and we're certainly well into a fifth wave here in Washington state.
And commensurate with that, we've seen the increase in number of children admitted and with severe COVID-19 and families are worried. They're worried about the short-term and the long-term effects of COVID infection in children.
We're still learning about this serious disease and people are worried about what's going to happen if the numbers in the community continue to rise.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, and this is -- you know, in many places, school still hasn't started, so you can see how the cases might increase, once they're all in school.
But just looking at the case studies here in Georgia, where, you know, most schools have started already, we have seen outbreaks, you know, this early into the school year. The head of the CDC says those outbreaks have happened generally because the schools aren't following the guidelines. Let's listen to what she said here.
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DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: The places that are having the problem, the places that are having disease that is transmitted in the schools are the places that aren't taking the prevention strategies, the places that aren't masking.
The places that you're seeing kids in the hospital, the footage of kids in the hospital, are all places that are not taking mitigation strategies to keep our children safe.
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BRUNHUBER: So the problem is, many states are making it hard to take those prevention strategies, states like Florida, which have banned mask mandates in schools, and Texas, where if a student gets sick, the schools won't be able to do contact tracing.
With all the roadblocks in place, how worried are you that we'll see large outbreaks in school, that we didn't see with the less contagious versions of the virus?
MCGUIRE: I think we're worried. Last year, most of the schools in our area were doing largely remote, not in-person schooling.
When we saw the return to the classroom, it was during a time where we were seeing lower numbers of COVID cases in the community. Unfortunately now the timing of school starting lines up with this new wave of cases. So it's very concerning.
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MCGUIRE: So we are first and foremost encouraging people to be vaccinated for the eligible adults and teens. That will help protect those individuals, as well as the younger children and other individuals, who can't be vaccinated that are around them.
And we're strongly encouraging people to follow the guidelines of the CDC and the local health department to follow the public health recommendations for masking and the other preventative measures.
BRUNHUBER: Excellent advice to end on. Dr. John McGuire, thank you so much for speaking with us.
MCGUIRE: Thank you, Kim.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. We want to take you now live to Bangkok. What you're seeing there is police in Thailand's capital, facing off against protesters, who are angry over the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
In just the last few minutes, we've seen protesters throwing objects at police, police firing tear gas at them and the protesters throwing it back at the police.
Now according to Johns Hopkins University, the country has reported more than 714,000 cases of COVID and this week has seen daily records in both cases and deaths. Thai health officials report that so far, only about 6 percent of the country has been fully vaccinated.
So we're going to stay on this story and bring you more, once events warrant.
Well, there are now more than 100 large fires burning across the U.S., wreaking havoc on western states. The Dixie fire in northern California has exploded to more than 434,000 acres, becoming the largest fire in the country.
Now to put that into perspective, the fire has burned an area the size of New York's Central Park every 11 minutes for 24 hours. Eight people are still unaccounted for and more evacuations are underway.
And what you're seeing there is what's left of the historic Gold Rush town of Greenville. The Dixie fire reduced much of the area to ashes, destroying over 100 homes.
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BRUNHUBER: So now let's get more on the scores of wildfires in Greece that are prompting thousands to evacuate. And some of the most dangerous blazes are just outside the capital, as we heard there.
The fires took a deadly turn on Friday, when a volunteer firefighter was killed. At least 20 people have been hospitalized. Elinda Labropoulou now joining us live from Athens.
I understand the winds are really making things worse.
What's the latest?
ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: They absolutely are. They keep changing direction and therefore making operations much more difficult. There's a lot of firefighting aircraft. You may be able to see some behind me.
And you'll definitely be able to see the haze and some of the smoke from areas very, very close to Athens by now. A number of residential areas have been evacuated as the fire is approaching.
And this is just one of the many fires burning across Greece. We understand that a fire close to the ancient site of Olympia has also rekindled. There was a big front there some days ago.
Now firefighting operations are underway there as well, to try to prevent any damage in the archaeological site. It's been going for days now. You know, local residents, everybody is taking part in these huge efforts to try to put out the blazes.
As one man told me earlier today, the destruction is so immense, it's destroying the lungs of Athens, this big fire. We expect the weather conditions to remain unchanged for the next 24 hours. So this will even make operations even harder.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Elinda Labropoulou, thanks so much.
Growing tension in northern Israel after Hezbollah militants in Lebanon fired a barrage of rockets across the border. We'll have a live report from the region just ahead.
Plus, the U.S. military says evidence points to Iran being behind last week's deadly drone attack on a tanker ship. Our correspondent in Iran will have the details coming up. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: The United Nations is calling for restraint from both sides after Hezbollah militants in Lebanon fired a barrage of rockets towards Israel and Israel retaliated with artillery.
No casualties have been reported but the fear is the situation could quickly escalate. CNN's Hadas Gold is covering this for us from northern Israel.
Hadas, that's the question.
How likely is this to escalate?
What more do we know?
HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been, other than a few fighter jets we heard overnight, it's been relatively quiet here near the border between Israel and Lebanon.
We've had no reports yet of further Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon nor have we heard anymore reports of Hezbollah launching anymore attacks, rockets or missiles across the border.
Just behind me is a mountain known as Har Dov, also known as Shebaa Farms. This is where six of those 19 rockets launched yesterday landed in open areas. Ten of those rockets, the Israeli military says, were intercepted by its Iron Dome missile defense system. Three rockets landed short within Lebanon.
As you noted, the Israeli military responding with strikes in southern Lebanon, saying it struck some rocket launch sites. There have been no casualties reported on either side. But just because it's been quiet, relatively quiet in the last 24 hours or so, that doesn't mean everything is calm and back to normal.
Tensions are incredibly high, because, as you noted, this is one of the most serious escalations in these tensions between Hezbollah and Israel that we've seen in years. It had been years since Hezbollah had taken responsibility for a cross-border attack, even longer since Hezbollah had taken responsibility for rockets that were launched from the Lebanese territory toward Israel.
Overnight, the U.S. State Department releasing a statement, saying that the U.S. condemns in the strongest terms Hezbollah's rocket attacks into Israel, saying that the violence puts both Israelis and Lebanese at risk and jeopardizes Lebanon's stability and sovereignty.
They went on to say a they call upon the Lebanese government urgently to prevent such attacks and bring the area under its control. And just because it's been quiet here in the north, in the south overnight, the Israeli military saying they struck several targets in Gaza, including what it says was a Hamas rocket launching site.
This, they say, was in response to incendiary balloons that were launched from Gaza into Israel yesterday, causing what authorities say were four fires. Goes to show you that the military is very actively involved both on its northern and southern borders -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much, Hadas Gold in northern Israel.
The U.S. embassy in Kabul is now urging Americans in the region to leave immediately. The embassy warns its ability to assist U.S. citizens is extremely limited and is advising those leaving to use commercial flights.
The British foreign office is repeating the same warning that it first issued Friday. America's withdrawal from Afghanistan is almost complete. But peace seems farther away than ever.
In recent weeks, the Taliban have advanced relentlessly in Afghanistan. A few hours ago, a provincial capital in the north fell to the Islamist group, although the fighting continues. It's the second provincial capital to fall in the past day.
The key city of Zaranj near the border with Iran was the first. U.N.'s special envoy to Afghanistan had this strong warning for the international community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBORAH LYONS. U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY TO AFGHANISTAN: In the past weeks, the war in Afghanistan has entered a new, deadlier and more destructive phase.
The Taliban campaign during June and July to capture rural areas has achieved significant territorial gains. From this strengthened position, they have begun to attack the larger cities.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. military has concluded that last week's deadly drone attack on a tanker ship near Oman was carried out by Iran. On Friday, the G7 foreign ministers issued a joint statement condemning the attack and saying, quote, "All available evidence clearly points to Iran."
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BRUNHUBER: Iran insists it had no role in the attack. We get the latest from CNN's Frederik Pleitgen in Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. military, now says that it has evidence that the drone that was used to attack the Israeli-managed ship Mercer Street was manufactured, in Iran.
Essentially, what the Pentagon is saying is that a forensic, team from the U.S. military, went on board that ship after it was hit and what they managed to do, is they managed to recover some of the parts of the drone, which they say was a suicide drone.
In other words, one that crashed into the chip, killing two of the sailors. And they managed to recover some parts of that drone.
They said, looking at those parts, it became clear, those were parts that were usually used by Iran. They also said, that drone had used military grade explosives.
Now of course, before all of this, the U.S. and Israel had blamed the Iranians for the attack. Iran denies all of that. However, the Israelis have come out and have, said they will be able to retaliate against Iran, on their own.
This has caused some angry reactions here, from the Iranians. You have the spokesman for Iran's foreign minister, saying, quote, "In another brazen violation of international law, the Israeli regime now blatantly threatens Iran with military action. Such malign behavior, stems from blind, Western support. We state this clearly, any foolish act against Iran, will be met with a decisive response. Don't test us."
Of course, all of this comes just on the heels of a new president, taking office here in Iran, a hardliner, Ebrahim Raisi, who has said that Iran will continue to act boldly, here, in the Middle Eastern region -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Iran.
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BRUNHUBER: Just ahead, we'll find out what the Biden administration plans to do about surging COVID numbers and the possibility of future lockdowns.
Plus, a key part of Joe Biden's economic agenda is getting closer to happening. We'll have the latest on the $1 billion bipartisan infrastructure bill making its way through the Senate. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: We're following growing protests in Bangkok, Thailand. We've been monitoring this and so far we've seen a few exchanges between protesters and police, protesters throwing objects at police, police firing gas canisters at the demonstrators. You see one just go off there.
Again, this was all prompted by the government's handling of the pandemic. This week has seen daily records in both cases and deaths. And according to Johns Hopkins University, the country has reported more than 714,000 cases in total. Thai health officials report that so far only about 6 percent of the country has been fully vaccinated.
Again, what you're seeing there are live images from Bangkok, Thailand's capital. Protesters angry over recent outbreaks of COVID-19 and what they see as the government's botched handling of the crisis. And we'll stay on this story and monitor it and come back to it as events warrant.
We want to return to our top story. At least half the U.S. population is now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. That comes as states across the U.S. report a dangerous escalation in new cases fueled by the Delta variant.
But despite the recent surge, the White House has no plans to start imposing lockdowns.
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JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're not going to lock down our economy or our schools because the country is in a much stronger place than when we took office, thanks to the president' leadership in vaccinated the American people and getting economic relief to those who need it.
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BRUNHUBER: With the positive vaccination news and a welcome economic report, the Biden administration isn't easing up when it comes to the COVID fight. Phil Mattingly reports from the White House.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America can beat the Delta variant.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, despite a blowout jobs report, no victory lap for President Biden.
BIDEN: My message today is not one of celebration. It's one to remind us we got a lot of hard work left to be done.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): A clear recognition of the looming danger of the Delta variant is enveloped the nation. Biden touting the economic progress underscored by the 943,000 jobs added in July, the unemployment rate that ticked down to 5.4 percent.
But the comments clearly designed official say to provide reassurance in an exceedingly uncertain time. BIDEN: Now while our economy is far from complete and while we had doubtless you will have ups and downs along the way as we continue to battle, the Delta surge of COVID. What is indisputable, now is this, the Biden plan is working. The Biden plan produces results. And the Biden plan is moving the country forward.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Country now gripped by a resurging pandemic, with new cases averaging close to 100,000 per day. Still, Biden's remarks coming the day that U.S. reached the milestone of 50 percent of the entire population fully vaccinated and weekly vaccination rates have increased to levels unseen since June.
BIDEN: I'm pleased to report the past week we've seen the first-time vaccinations in America go up by 4 million people, getting back 4 million shots.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): But the depth of the Delta crisis clear and seemingly every action Biden has taken over the last 10 days pressing vaccine mandates for private businesses, implementing vaccine requirements for federal workers.
BIDEN: There will be more to come in the days ahead.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): And now, sources say, in preliminary discussions about using federal power, specifically on federal funding to leverage more vaccinations in places like long-term care facilities. No final decisions have been made, sources say but a key window into the urgency driving an administration keenly aware of just how interconnected the virus is to everything.
BIDEN: Please get vaccinated. We can get this done. We just have to stay at the course. We just have to remember who we are.
MATTINGLY: And while there's unquestionably progress on the economic front, the jobs report makes that exceedingly clear, the administration still underscoring with at least one action today how much remains uncertain.
The Biden administration deciding to extend a freeze on federal loan payments that was put in place at the start of the pandemic and they plan to extend it through January of 2022.
It's something Democratic lawmakers have been pressuring the White House to do. They have decided to do that, to extend that freeze until the first month of next year.
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MATTINGLY: But they have also made clear that will be the last extension of that freeze of federal loan payments and that, at some point, they expect the economy, everything, to go back to normal. At least, that's the hope -- Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Senate will reconvene in the coming hours in the latest bid to advance a $1 trillion infrastructure bill. At least 10 Republicans need to join with Democrats for it to reach a final vote. And that's not the only hurdle it faces. Ryan Nobles has the latest from Washington.
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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is by no means an easy process but the Senate is moving closer to passing that trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure package. And it could happen as soon as early next week.
The Senate, for the most part on Friday, was not conducting any business. And that's because they are allowing this process to take its place.
And on Saturday, sometime in the afternoon, they're expected to break the filibuster on this big bill. And both Republicans and Democrats do believe the 60 votes necessary to break the filibuster, which is a key step, could happen.
After that, it is anybody's guess. At any point, if all 100 senators agree, they could fast-track this legislation, meaning they could pass it out of the Senate as soon as Saturday night.
But if even one senator decides to slow down that process, that means they'll have to jump through a number of hoops before they get there. That could mean a series of votes that have to take place between Saturday, Sunday and then potentially even into Monday and Tuesday before the bill is finally passed.
Now there is still a great degree of optimism that, ultimately, this bill will make it over the finish line. This is just the last-minute haggling between Republicans and Democrats, trying to get as much as they can into this bill before it passes.
Keep in mind, this, of course, a by-product of a 50-50 Senate, where essentially every member of the Senate has the opportunity to slow this process down, and that's exactly what we see playing out here.
Even after it passes the Senate, this package has a long way to go. It's going to go to the House, where they will review it and potentially make changes. But already, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said they're not moving ahead with this legislation until they see that bigger $3.5 trillion reconciliation package come along with it.
And the Senate is expected to vote on the resolution, which is just the shell of that $3.5 trillion plan, perhaps as soon as next week, as well. It will then go to the House, which will begin that process.
Once the bill passes the Senate, it will go over there and sit on the House side. The bipartisan package is going to sit there on the House side until the reconciliation package can be passed.
So the long and short of this, well, they are making progress. It is unlikely that either of these big budget bills, these infrastructure bills, will be anywhere near President Joe Biden's desk until some time in the fall.
But the fact that they are going to cross this hurdle here in the next couple of days is a very significant step -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, on Capitol Hill.
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BRUNHUBER: There are new fears about how far Belarus will go to crush dissent. We'll have an exclusive report on what appears to be a prison camp being built near Minsk. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: The Biden administration is expected to unveil a new round of sanctions against Belarus. It will be the latest action in response to crackdowns on protesters and dissidents by the country's autocratic president.
A congressional source tells CNN to expect an announcement on Monday, the anniversary of the country's disputed presidential election.
The Belarusian opposition leader met with U.S. President Joe Biden last week in Washington and she provided a list of companies close to the Lukashenko regime that she would like to see sanctioned.
And there's troubling evidence about where some of those political dissidents targeted by the Belarusian government could end up. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has this exclusive report.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): A chilling sight, not from the last century but last month. A possible prison camp built inside Belarus for political prisoners.
CNN obtained this footage of what witnesses said looked like a newly refurbished camp about an hour's drive from the capital Minsk. A new sign saying forbidden border and entry.
A three-layer fence electrified they said. New moving surveillance cameras, bars and reflective screens on the windows of newly rebuilt barracks. No prisoners yet. What look like a soldier inside and regular military patrols who told our witnesses outside to leave. One local talked to them anonymously.
My friend Sasha a builder told me they refurbished this place, he says, there are three levels of barbed wire and it's electrified. I was picking mushrooms here when a military man came up to me and said I can't walk here. The building sits on the vast site of a former Soviet missile storage facility surrounded by forests. The repairs came not long after defecting police officers released secret recordings of senior police discussing the need for prison camps at several sites.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The assignment to develop and build a camp but not for prisoners of war or even the interned but a camp for especially sharp-hoofed for resettlement. And surround it with barbed wire along the perimeter.
WALSH: Not surprising CNN hasn't gained access to the interior of site, so we can't definitively say that it is intended for use as a prison camp but a Western intelligence official I spoke to said that use was, quote, possible, although they didn't have direct evidence.
In the current climate it's tough to imagine what else the camp could be for. Opposition leaders fear its possible use, why President Alexander Lukashenko forces during future protests.
FRANAK VACORKA, SENIOR ADVISER TO SVIATLANA TSIKHANOUSKAYA: Not surprising that he is trying to build something like a regular prison camp because the new wave for protests will come up anyway. It can be triggered by his statement. It can be triggered by economic situation but it will come.
And he understands but he also wants to be prepared more than last year in 2020. And this is why I would not be surprised that such camps are being built.
WALSH (voice-over): Belarusian officials declined to comment and have called the recording about the camps fake news when it was released saying that they follow the law.
These images emerge after a week's long crackdown against remaining independent media inside Belarus and dozens of arrests. Inside Belarus the protest movement is being persecuted so hard, it now holds remote flash mob demonstrations like these filmed by drones. But some of it is finding ways to hit back, CNN has learned.
These are railway saboteurs, apparently in action.
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WALSH (voice-over): They say their operations, the details of which we aren't disclosing, just trigger alarms that stop trains on the tracks. Risking nobody safety and causing traffic to slow down, they say. We spoke to one organizer.
When our skies are blocked, he said, we should block the land as well. The main goal is to cause economic damage to the regime because all the delays cause them to pay huge fines.
This action was carried out they said on a key route from Russia to the European Union. CNN can't independently confirm it was effective.
WALSH: If there is an impact on rail traffic, it could have great significance outside of Belarus and here Lithuania, because so many goods from the east rely on this network to get to Europe.
WALSH (voice-over): Signs both sides could be adopting new harsher tactics and what may await fresh protests as the screws tighten -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Vilnius, Lithuania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: All right. Coming up, the Olympics got off to a rocky start for the U.S. men's basketball team. We'll tell you whether they redeemed themselves on the court next. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: We're following protests in Bangkok.
[05:50:00]
BRUNHUBER: What you're seeing there are live pictures of police in the Thai capital, facing off against demonstrators, who are angry over the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
And just watching this here, we're seeing a few exchanges between protesters and police, protesters throwing objects at police and police firing what appears to be tear gas at the demonstrators.
And the demonstrators sometimes throwing those canisters back at the police. This was all prompted by the government's handling of the pandemic. The group organizing the protests spelled out its demands on Facebook.
And it wants the prime minister to resign and for cuts to be made in the defense and monarchy budgets and that money to be used to tackle COVID-19 instead. Thai health officials report that, so far, only about 6 percent of the country has been fully vaccinated. We'll stay on top of this story as it develops.
For the fourth day in a row, Tokyo has reported more than 4,000 new coronavirus infections, with more than 4,500 new cases Saturday. The city is under a state of emergency until August 31st.
And it is nearly 7:00 pm in Tokyo on the final day of the Olympic Games. We'll take a look at all of the exciting action that's been happening.
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BRUNHUBER: And we're seeing some extraordinary moments of sportsmanship and kindness at the Olympics, from the sharing of gold medals to runners helping their rivals. Will Ripley has more on the feel-good games.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The legacy of Tokyo 2020 may not be measured in medals or COVID cases but acts of kindness, moments of grace, Olympians choosing humility over hubris.
American gymnast Simone Biles cheering on her teammates, even as she was struggling to compete. American swimmer, Annie Lazor hugging her South African competitor, Tatiana Schoenmaker, who broke a world record to win gold.
[05:55:00]
ANNIE LAZOR, TEAM USA BRONZE MEDALIST, SWIMMING: To have someone right next to me break a world record, just as a fan of the sport in general, that's something that's pretty amazing to happen to you.
RIPLEY: Given that there were no spectators and you were in this bubble in the middle of a pandemic, do you think that brought the athletes closer, this experience?
LAZOR: Definitely more of a sense of we're just really happy that this is happening and really happy to be here.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Happiness written on the faces of the first ever Olympic skateboarders.
SKY BROWN, GREAT BRITAIN BRONZE MEDALIST, SKATEBOARDING: Winning as one big family, probably getting on the podium with two of my best like -- two of my favorite people is like awesome.
ROB KOEHLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL, GLOBAL ATHLETE: I think, you know, we're seeing that camaraderie between athletes now.
There is always something good that comes from something bad and I think this is part of what the pandemic has done is, it has created a better community of athletes that are supporting each other under very difficult conditions in Tokyo to be supporting each other is huge.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Support spanning across continents and badminton courts. When Denmark dethroned China to win gold in the men's singles, the players traded shirts as a symbol of respect.
These Qatari and Italian high jumpers, friends and competitors for years, opted out of a jump off, deciding to share the gold.
GIANMARCO TAMBERI, ITALIAN GOLD MEDALIST, HIGH JUMP: It was just amazing and sharing with a friend is even more beautiful.
MUTAZ ESSA BARSHIM, QATARI GOLD MEDALIST, HIGH JUMP: Thank you.
RIPLEY (voice-over): There were high-fives and helping hands. After falling during the 800-meter, these runners from the U.S. and Botswana finished the race arm in arm, a legacy of kindness and camaraderie, outshining even the Olympic flame -- Will Ripley, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber at CNN Center in Atlanta. Thanks for
watching. For viewers in North America, "NEW DAY" is next. For the rest of the world, it's "TECH FOR GOOD."
