And joe biden trading fire on the hot button issues of race and faith. Economic crisis, new jobs numbers out following another week of staggering jobless claims and the latest on the negotiations over the relief bill. Is it on the brink of collapse . Pot peril . The american haef heart associa sounding the alarm. How marijuana could affect your heart, as sales spike during the pandemic. And royal rumble. Harry and meghan on a mission to take down toxic social media, calling out a crisis of hate, a crisis of health and a crisis of truth. The princes scathing attack this morning. And good morning, america. We hope you all are doing well this friday morning. Its a busy one. So lets get right to the latest on the coronavirus emergency. Overnight, the number of confirmed cases worldwide surpassed 19 million. In the United States there have been more than 4. 8 million reported cases, the number of american lives lost to the virus has now surpassed 160,000, and new research from the university of washington is now predicting nearly 300,000 deaths by december 1st. But perhaps a sliver of good news. The covid project is saying that new cases are down by 10 and hospitalizations are down by 7 from last week. That is some good news. Dr. Birx has issued a warning for nine major cities and california Central Valley. There are now over 541,000 cases in california, more than any other state in the country. Matt gutman is there. He starts us off from burbank. Good morning, matt. Reporter good morning, george. Those numbers are staggering, and just in l. A. County alone, there are more than 200,000 cases. Thats more than three or four states in the country. Thats why the hospitals have the overflow covid units ready to go. But as you mentioned, the biggest concern in california is for the agricultural belt of the Central Valley, and, in fact, rural areas across the country where covid seems to be growing fastest. As the death toll from the coronavirus here in the u. S. Passes 160,000, concerns that the virus is spreading into rural communities. This morning, new research from the university of washington predicting the death toll in the United States could reach nearly 300,000 by december 1st. Dr. Deborah birx warning nine cities plus californias Central Valley that their increase in test positivity could be an early sign of an imminent surge in cases. California now surpassing 10,000 deaths from covid and reporting more cases than any other state in the country. Now Ohio Governor mike dewine confirming he is negative for the coronavirus. The governor first tested positive as part of a routine screening just before he was set to meet with President Trump. Everyone who sees the president is tested, so i was tested. I went from there to the airport and when i got to the airport found out shortly thereafter that i had tested positive. So that was a big a big surprise. Reporter in a statement overnight, dewine said he and his family immediately went to Wexner Medical Center in ohio to be tested again, twice. Adding that the earlier positive test was taken with new technology called an antigen test, and we dont have much experience with them in ohio but are researching how the discrepancy between the two tests could have occurred. The apparent false positive adding to the confusion about the countrys testing capabilities, as President Trump is now suggesting that a vaccine could be ready by election day. Im optimistic that it will be probably around that date. I believe well have the vaccine before the end of the year, certainly, but around that date, yes. I think so. Reporter but dr. Anthony fauci thinks likely not. Hes eyeing a target date of early 2021. You might likely get an indication that you know if it works and if its safe by the end of this calendar year. I might add that im cautiously optimistic though you can never guarantee things with the vaccine. Reporter an emotional toll not getting any easier, not just for older americans. This san antonio father is now preparing to bury his 22yearold daughter. The aspiring nurse battled covid19 for over a month. Both father and daughter had contracted the virus. That was in my mind, why am i still here and my daughters not . You might think youre invincible, you might not get it. We thought the same thing. We took care of ourselves. We took every precaution available. Reporter and an increasing number of Young Americans battling the virus, some like 29yearold shaudry were closer to death than to life. She held my hand and she said, ron, if you can hear this, squeeze my hand. I was holding her finger and i squeezed it while i was under. Nurses were telling me, wow, youre back. Youre a miracle child. Reporter well, it could take months for that miracle child to fully rehab. Now, we mentioned those vaccines. There are 140 vaccine candidates, 26 of them are in clinical trials. Now you may wonder, well, is that overkill . No, its not. For the entire global population to be vaccinated or 60 of it, multiple Companies Need to chip in because no Single Company has the capacity to vaccinate everyone. Now we talked to the experts. They say the glut of vaccines wont be ready until the end of 2021. Amy . All right, matt, and certainly not in time for the school year, and so we turn now to the battle over reopening schools safely. Intensifying in districts across the country, teachers in michigan flocked the State Capitol to protest the states reopening plans. Steve osunsami is joining us from atlanta with more on that. Good morning, steve. Reporter good morning to you, amy. At this high school behind me they have decided on Remote Learning but there are many parents for various reasons who live in this community who arent happy with that. School systems and families across the country struggling to decide what is best for their children. As School Districts across the country this morning are figuring out how to best educate children safely and in some cases are sending them back to classrooms, School Systems like the one in paulding county, georgia are struggling with their decisions. A student was suspended on wednesday for sharing these images of a packed hallway between classes at her high school from the first week of classes where most of the students werent Wearing Masks. The superintendent had to write this letter obtained by abc news trying to calm families where he underlines that masks are still encouraged and says more resources are on the way for families and teachers. I saw many people were not Wearing Masks and it was making me feel really unsafe and uncomfortable to be in school. Reporter a former teacher who worked in the School District is agreeing to talk with us, but asked for some anonymity because shes afraid people will come for her. She says bully behavior is what made her quit. I feel as an educator it is my duty to point out an instance where i do not feel like the children are being kept safe. I do not feel like my fellow teachers are being kept safe. Reporter teachers in americas streets are protesting inperson learning. One of their biggest concerns, heading back to classrooms that dont have enough space to follow safety protocols. I teach high school. I have 39 kids in a class, just not going to happen. Reporter students continue to share photos of crowded schools online. These are from inside Woodstock High School in georgia. Showing some students in masks, but little social distancing. The School System here is reporting covid19 infections in at least five different schools already. Some parents have to work and struggle with keeping their kids at home, but its also true that children who are attending these schools are getting sick. Here in georgia, a 7yearold has now died from covid19. A child with no underlying conditions, the youngest child to die from the disease in this state. Cecilia . Just awful. Steve, thank you so much. Well turn to washington and President Trump targeting tiktok and wechat signing executive orders that would ban doing business with the popular apps here in the United States if theyre not sold by the chinese Parent Companies in the next 45 days. Rachel scott is traveling with the president in bedminster, new jersey. Rachel, the white house says this is about National Security concerns. Reporter yeah, thats right, cecilia. Good morning. The president said that when americans download the apps theyre putting their privacy at risk and hes putting tiktok and wechat on notice, ramping up the pressure for the chineseowned companies to sell the apps. Now tiktok this morning is responding saying they are shocked by this executive order. The president giving American Companies just 45 days to stop doing business with the app. We know that microsoft has been in negotiations to purchase the platform. Those negotiations now on a firm deadline, and the Trump Administration says that these chineseowned platforms are a National Security threat. When million of americans download them theyre putting their privacy and data directly in the hands of the chinese government. Of course, tiktok has pushed back against the claims and today theyre saying this is setting a dangerous precedent, that it undermines the rule of law, and this escalates the tensions between china and the u. S. George . All right, thank you, rachel. Well get the latest on the race for the white house. Joe biden and donald trump trading jabs on the issue of race. Mary bruce has the latest from washington. Good morning, mary. Reporter good morning, george. President trump is opening new lines of attack against joe biden. Going after his rival on race and religion. But joe biden is also on defense over his recent remarks on diversity in the Africanamerican Community. Overnight, joe biden doing damage control. After he seemed to suggest that most africanamericans are uniform in their views. What you all know but most people dont know, unlike the Africanamerican Community with notable exceptions, the Latino Community is an incredibly Diverse Community with incredibly different attitudes about different things. Reporter seeing an opening, trump pounced. Joe biden this morning, totally disparaged and insulted the black community. What he said is incredible and i dont know whats going on with him. Reporter biden then tweeting, in no way did i mean to suggest the Africanamerican Community is a monolith. Not by identity, not on issues, not at all. Adding throughout my career, i have witnessed the diversity of thought, background and sentiment within the Africanamerican Community. Black voters back biden over trump by a staggering margin. Among black americans, the Washington Post ipsos poll put joe biden 87 ahead of trump. Trump has a long history of divisive actions and racially charged remarks. He labeled black lives matter a hate group. He retweeted a supporter shouting the racist phrase, white power. As he ramps up his attack, the president is also taking on bidens faith. No religion, no anything. Hurt the bible, hurt god. Hes against god. Reporter biden a devout catholic, fired back overnight calling trumps attack shameful, saying his comments show us a man willing to stoop to any low for political gain. Now Something Else were keeping a close eye on here is kanye west. We have learned that some republican operatives with ties to the Trump Campaign have been working to get the rapper on several state ballots. Its a political move trying to sway young voters away from biden. George . Okay, mary. Meantime those stimulus talks between the congress and the white house, completely stalemated. Reporter george, the talks arent going anywhere. In fact, theyre teetering on the brink of collapse. Theyre far apart, including on whether to extend the key Unemployment Benefits and the president may go it alone and take executive action. Its unclear what the president could do on his own and the democrats say they are likely to challenge it. The bottom line, millions of americans are bearing the brunt of these failed talks. Those 600 weekly checks have expired, and there is just no relief in sight here. George . Mary bruce, thanks very much. Amy . George, now to the economic crisis. More than 30 million americans claiming Unemployment Benefits, a staggering figure. Our chief Business CorrespondentRebecca Jarvis has the latest on those new jobless numbers due out this morning. So good morning to you, rebecca. Reporter good morning, amy this is our broadest snapshot of whats happening to jobs in this country. In the month of july the u. S. Economy added 1. 8 million jobs and the Unemployment Rate fell to 10. 2 . Putting this into context were at a higher Unemployment Rate at 10. 2 when we were during the great depression. If you look back at the last 20 weeks the u. S. Economy has been laying off employees. More than 1 Million People have lost their jobs for the last 20 weeks straight. As the reopenings happen the economy gains momentum. Amy . Yeah, so rebecca, were in unchartered territory. That said, do experts have any indication, any predictions about what the fall may look like . Reporter were digging out of a deep. Between may, june and july the u. S. Economy has regained 9. 3 million jobs. Thats about half the jobs we lost. What happens Going Forward will come down to the virus itself, consumer behavior, are consumers feeling optimistic, are they spending money . Finally the government. What does the government do in response . Weve seen the 600 Employment Benefit expire. Theres a stalemate in washington. We dont know what washington will decide with these new measures. That, amy, is a big question Going Forward. Yeah. Still so many unknowns. Rebecca jarvis, thank you. Cecilia . Well turn to another blast of summer storms from the already hardhit east coast. Look at harlem, wow, total darkness. Nearly 1 Million People without power along the northeast after isaias and those residents are bracing for more trouble. Ginger is tracking it all for us. Hey, ginger. Reporter hey cecelia. We are one of the customers of the 1. 3 million customers still without power. I have been broadcasting to you from my basement using a generator, but that generator died, and now without power, weve got a great crew to bring you this information, and its important because this morning, more Power Outages in manhattan, and so there are power issues and im not just telling you the power drama because its interesting three days after isaias that took down the trees and the powerlines, but Governor Cuomo and governor lamont of connecticut both asking for an investigation saying that more should have been done prestorm. We knew isaias was coming, and they think that power getting restored by next week which is what myself and a lot of others have been told, is just too long. Also, there have been new summer storms. Charlottesville, virginia, youre seeing the power lines down, the trees there. George, today from Virginia Beach all the way up to trenton and allentown, flash flood watches. Waiting for another hit. Ginger, thank you very much. All right, well get to the new fallout from the massive explosion in beirut that killed 150 people, thousands injured, more than a quarter of million left homeless. This morning anger is growing over the cause of the blast as we learn new stories of survival and heroism. Lama hasan has the latest. Good morning, lama. Reporter good morning, george. With more than 150 people now dead, thousands more injured from that catastrophic blast that shook beirut to the core, this morning, rescuers are searching for survivors. They are trying to track them down through the cell phone signals. Now, as we continue to watch the terrifying videos of the devastating blasts, an american who was watching the plume of smoke from his apartment window when just across the street all of a sudden, the blast occurred. As beirut picks up the picks up the pieces from its shattered streets, that desperately needed aid is slowly coming in was with u. S. Planes packed with medical aid. Water and food are touching down. Now, in a city mourning the dead, shock and disbelief is quickly turning into anger with protesters spilling into the streets, clashing with Lebanese ArmedSecurity Forces near the parliament building. Demanding to know who was responsible for this devastating blast, and how it could have happened. George, theyre organizing more protests tomorrow. Im sure they are. Okay, lama. Thanks very much. Okay, a lot more to tell you about. Were following a lot of headlines including the latest on the death of Army SpecialistVanessa Guillen in ft. Hood, texas. The Army Secretary promising to make enduring changes after her murder.