Lebanon Explosion Death Toll Reaches 160.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People have been pushed to such a point that they no longer have the patience or the tolerance to give their political elite time. They want to see change.</s>HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Will the Lebanese Government fall? Sources tell CNN it could be as early as today. Then another move on the U.S.-China chessboard. China imposes sanctions on top U.S. politicians echoing President Trump's recent rhetoric. Plus, one step forward, two steps back. A coronavirus in U.S. schools, empties classrooms once again. And 100 days free as Jacinda Ardern launches her reelection bid. New Zealand celebrates a major coronavirus milestone. Hello everyone. This is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Hala Gorani. Let's start with the latest out of the Beirut. Last week's explosion at Beirut's port took a human toll of course and now it is taking a political tool as well. CNN has just learned Lebanon's government is expected to step down in the coming hours. Sources tell us it will be declared a caretaker government. Three cabinet ministers have quit now, as have a number of Parliament members. And it follows of course that big explosion that caused so much carnage at Beirut's port last week.</s>GORANI: This is perhaps the clearest view, the clearest look at what happened in Beirut. A man on his terrace shot this video of the fire at the warehouse, then the blast that sent that Shockwave across the city. Tuesday's blast has claimed now 160 lives, it wounded thousands of others and up ended life in the entire city. And on the streets of Beirut all weekend, protesters seething with anger, demanding change in what they call an ineffective and corrupt government.</s>OMELLA NAJAM, PROTESTER: Because if they had a bit of dignity, a bit of truth, trust and honesty, Beirut wouldn't be destroyed right now. We're here to just show the international community what they're going through. We are facing the worst, the worst days of our lives with a government that doesn't give one -- they don't care about us.</s>GORANI: Well, Ben Wedeman has been covering the blast since it happened, Ben, and let's talk first politics. Another big resignation, the finance minister a few hours ago. Will this government last?</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly what we're hearing from sources within the government is that it is going to resign shortly. But it's important to keep in mind that two of the pillars of that government, the Shia Amal Movement, and Hezbollah, clearly are hesitant for that to happen because this is the first government they've ever had sort of a controlling interest in. But what we've heard from the street is that people want this government to go. This government like previous government has failed to stop the economy from collapsing this current government but really previous governments are responsible for the fact that for six years, 2750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate sat in the port. And even though there were various calls for it to be removed, nobody took action. So the lack of confidence of the population isn't necessarily restricted to this particular government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab that came to power on the 21st of January. But it is an utter lack of confidence in the state writ large, from -- everything from generating electricity, to providing clean water. And even the streets of Mar Mikhael and Gemmayzeh and Karantina, the neighborhood's most badly affected by this blast. We were there yet again this morning. And what we saw were ordinary Lebanese, some people just on their own others is part of voluntary organizations. [10:05:06:]</s>WEDEMAN: They're doing the cleanup. They're doing the repair work. They're passing out sandwiches and water to the volunteers, while the state in the form of the police and the army are sitting in the shade smoking cigarettes and drinking tea. Hala?</s>GORANI: Yes. Now there was a Sunday donor conference where about $300 million were pledged, but when you look at the scale of the devastation, it looks like that might be a drop in the bucket. Do we have any kind of estimate of what it will cost to rebuild the devastated parts of the capitol?</s>WEDEMAN: Well, the -- Marwan Abboud, the governor of Beirut has said that he estimates that the damage ranges between three and $5 billion that may be a rather rosy outlook on the situation. I've seen much higher figures. And obviously $300 million is not going to go very far. Now, the donors conference made it clear that this money, this relief should go to the Lebanese population, not via the Lebanese government, which for its part has pledged $66 million for the relief efforts so far, which is even less than a drop in the bucket. And therefore, you know, how long is it going to take to rebuild the damaged parts of Beirut, who's going to pay for it? It may be up to the Lebanese people themselves yet again. Hala?</s>GORANI: And a quick last one, I know that the glass behind you was damaged by the explosion last week and I see you standing in the position that I know quite well. In front of -- over Riad El Solh square. How have you managed that? How are you adjusting?</s>WEDEMAN: Well, you know, all of a sudden there's massive demand for repair for glass, for repairing broken doors and everything. So behind me, the window is yet to be repaired. But we've cleared away a lot of the rubble and we're like everybody else in Beirut just trying to find the people and the resources to minimally secure our office at the moment. You could drive a car through our front door. Hala?</s>GORANI: All right. Good luck with that, Ben, you and the team. Thanks so much for that reporting. And nearly a week after the devastating explosion, some residents of Beirut are still desperately searching for loved ones lost in the rubble. The time for rebuilding is far into the future because they have much more pressing demands. CNN's Arwa Damon spoke to one woman who hasn't heard from her husband since last Tuesday. Now she and her family really fearing the worst, Here's their story.</s>ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Michelle hasn't slept in three days. Neither has her sister-in-law with whom she shares the same name and a love for Joe, husband and brother. Michelle struggles to form words and sentences in Arabic, never mind in English. Joe is an electrician at the port. And this is the last video she got from him on Tuesday night. Minutes later, the entire building he was filming would explode. Jennifer, Joe and Michelle's oldest child was in Beirut.</s>MICHELE ANDOUN, JOE'S SISTER: So, she heard the explosion and she start praying and shouting. This is my dad's --</s>DAMON: She knew that's where her dad worked?</s>ANDOUN: Yes.</s>DAMON: And the entire family was frantic calling Joe nonstop.</s>ANDOUN: At midnight, Joe opened his phone for 21 seconds before we heard voices, deep voices that's what he said and then nothing.</s>DAMON: Another call also seem to have gone through on Wednesday for 43 seconds but there was silence on the other end. He must be alive, they thought. They had to get to him. Joe is strong, clever, he would've figured out a way to save himself. They comb through video shot by others from other angles, looking for any clues to give teams locations to search. You think that's Joe?</s>ANDOUN: Yes. This is on.</s>DAMON: You think one of those people is Joe?</s>ANDOUN: Of course. Yes, we are sure. And he was filming from here.</s>DAMON: It's the building right in front of the grain silo. A building that is now buried. But they still had hope. There's an operations room deep underground. They heard there are bunkers. 10:10:06]</s>DAMON: Three bodies were pulled up but no Joe. Maybe he's deeper in, deeper under, somehow still alive.</s>ANDOUN: We have to keep searching.</s>DAMON: Michelle was born in the U.S. The children also have American passports. Joe was just about to get his visa. All that now seems like a different reality.</s>ANDOUN: He loved life in every detail. He wanted to go to America because it's better for his -- for Jennifer, for Joy, for better future but not for him.</s>DAMON: The women are trying to shield the children from their grief.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My shoes smelled bad so they washed me.</s>DAMON: Jennifer doesn't know daddy is missing. Joy is thankfully too young to fully understand. Maybe they will never have to tell the girls their daddy is dead. That night the fourth after the explosion, crews are searching around the clock. Searching the area where the family believed Joe would be found, clinging to the hope that he would still somehow be alive. At 4:00 a.m., they sent is a heartbroken message. Joe's body had been found. Arwa Damon, CNN, Beirut.</s>GORANI: Well, so much heartbreak and grief across the city and across the country. In a show of support, Dubai's airport had a special welcome for passengers arriving from Beirut over the weekend. The staff at the airport, handed out white roses to the arrivals with messages of solidarity. Now the UAE is among a group of countries that have sent aid but as we were discussing with Ben Wedeman there, this is a city and a country that's going to need billions and billions to get back on its feet. We'll have a lot more on the Beirut explosion a little bit later in the program. And in the meantime, I want to update you on what is happening with the coronavirus pandemic. It is still raging -- it is still raging. Globally cases are quickly approaching 20 million. And now five million of those cases are in the United States. You can see on the chart it just took 17 days for the U.S. to go from four to five million cases. It's truly just absolutely staggering. For the last five consecutive days the U.S. reported at least 1000 deaths a day. It's kind of becoming the norm. A thousand plus a thousand plus another thousand, bringing the total to nearly 163,000. Now, despite the worsening spread, many schools in the U.S. are reopening. A high school in Georgia is under scrutiny after a photo of a very crowded hallway went viral online. This is what it was. Students snap that photo and multiple students from that school have tested positive for the coronavirus. And CNN spoke to the student who took the picture. And by the way, she was briefly suspended for posting it online. Listen.</s>HANNAH WATTERS, STUDENT WHO TOOK VIRAL PHOTO: The fact that we already have nine cases, just at the end of that week is very concerning because even then we don't know how many people those nine people came in contact with and how many people aren't taking tests yet, so they don't know. And then they come back possibly this week too. So it just is going to spread like wildfire and that school. We could have delayed school so they could find more safety measures to follow in the school and they could have found more plans for all the students and teachers and staff members, but they kind of sent us into school and used us as guinea pigs to see what would happen later on.</s>GORANI: Well, CNS Natasha Chen joins me now from Atlanta where she's been following this story. I mean, with these students testing positive and you -- we've seen in the crowded hallways, is there any kind of -- our authorities reconsidering their plans to open up schools in the fall?</s>NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, hello, there are a lot of school districts here that are have already started their school year. So they have had to make some quick decisions, difficult decisions. In this case, the first week of school has been completed. And it was originally planned for the students to be in the building for three days at home virtual learning for two days. Now that's being extended, asking the students to stay home and additional two days today and tomorrow. And that gives the district time to clean this campus to consult with the public health department and figure out their next steps. So the superintendent wrote to families yesterday saying that by Tuesday evening, families will be notified what the plan is for instruction in the coming days. They did mention in that letter that there could be other folks who are also positive that perhaps still waiting test results and this high school is not alone in this situation.</s>CHEN: One of the middle schools in that district also now has a student who tested positive. That letters went home to those families over the weekend as well. And in other school districts, we're seeing similar stories. Cherokee County, which is also outside of Atlanta, saw at least 19 students and four staff members so far test positive after the first week of school in Gwinnett County, the largest school district in Georgia. The teachers so far have been in the buildings just for preparation and training, class hasn't even started yet, but already at least 260 employees there and that districts have either quarantined or tested positive. So a lot of this is very difficult as the school districts try to grapple with how fast the virus is spreading, whether parents are really calling for face to face instruction, which some parents have because they have childcare issues if they need to leave the home for work during the day. And then of course, the teachers very concerned about being in the building. space, even if they are supposed to teach virtually, Hala.</s>GORANI: All right. Natasha Chen, thanks very much. Well, getting children back to school is a global issue with each country trying to make sure no child makes out on an education. Here in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson says there is a moral duty to reopen schools next month despite the threat of coronavirus. Most students in the U.K. have been at home since March, when strict lockdown measures went into place. Nic Robertson is live in London outside a school that's preparing to open next month. All right. Let's talk a little bit about what schools are saying what measures they're going to have to put in place in order to ensure and not just that the children don't catch COVID. But of course, that the children and the adults around them, the support staff, the teachers, the parents who come to pick their kids up from school, also don't catch it and then spread it into the wider community. How are they preparing?</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, I was talking to a teacher earlier this morning, Hala. And the concern is for them that it's not only obviously them and partners, but it's anyone in their homes that they're going to come into contact with who is sheltering, you know, following the government guidelines that they may have an underlying health condition or maybe particularly old. And for that reason, there is a concern for the teachers, for the parents in this type of scenario, what the government is saying, well, they're looking, they say at new statistics analysis that is still underway and being done internationally, Ireland, Germany, Korea, they're pointing to countries where these studies are underway, and they say there's relatively little evidence of pupil to pupil transfer of coronavirus in the in the young and the primary schools. It gets worse or increase incidence of it. Junior schools are sort of 11 to 18 age group, but also said there's little evidence as well as pupil to teacher transfer. Teachers who have made spaces in their classrooms and they're trying to create an environment where the children have in one class or an older schools have one-year group don't mix with other classes or other year groups, staggering start time, staggering, break time staggering meal times. All of these efforts are underway. Head teachers' union is suggesting, for example, that the Prime Minister should have a backup plan of perhaps teaching children in school one week and remote learning at home and another week. But we heard from the Prime Minister today at a school in London very clearly saying this is his priority. And he wants it done. This is how I put it.</s>BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It's not right that kids should spend more time out of school. It's much, much better for their -- for their health and mental well-being that obviously our educational prospects if everybody comes back to school full time in September. It's our moral duty as a country to make sure that happens.</s>ROBERTSON: And a national priority is set as well where if coronavirus infection rates are going up as they are at the moment and he has to decide whether or not to keep pubs and restaurants open or schools. The Prime Minister has indicated very clearly it's going to be schools that stay open, Hala?</s>GORANI: All right. Thanks very much. Nic Robertson. Israel's school year is now in limbo. A rush to reopen classrooms is now being blamed for a second wave of coronavirus cases. That's coming up Plus, Beijing's crackdown on its critics continues. This time. It's the billionaire media mogul, Jimmy Lai. And tensions flare between the U.S. and China. There have been some high- level meetings in Taiwan and that is angering Beijing. We'll be right back.