ben wedeman writes, it's an earthquake, i thought, as the cnn bureau in central beirut shook tuesday with a violence i've never felt before. i crouched down on the floor waiting for more tremors. a split second later i heard glass shatter and the crunch of metal and you can read the rest of ben's firsthand account of this massive explosion online. there's a link to ben's analysis. a blast like no other on our home page, cnn.com. still to come, lebanon is concerned after u.s. president donald trump called the devastating blast an take. we'll have details of president trump's comments after this. a lotta folks are asking me lately how to get their dishes as clean as possible. i tell them, you should try cascade platinum plus the power of oxi. cascade platinum + oxi penetrates and breaks down food soils some detergents can leave behind, washing away even the smallest food residue, so it doesn't redeposit on your dishes. and oxi is cascade's most powerful clean, formulated without any chlorine bleach, for a deep hygienic clean you can see and feel. cascade + the power of oxi. the #1 reco

the blast impacted nearly every home and business yet cnn's ben wedeman shows us how many are wasting no time jumping into action determined to rebuild. >> reporter: for beirut residents, life is divided between what came before and what came after. a staff member of the barbell house gym captured these images on his phone. she was unharmed. a trainer in the gym -- >> as soon as i saw nothing happened to me, i ran out, went to the gym tried to help people out. a lot of people were wounded, on the floor, disoriented. we picked them up, took them outside. took them to the hospital. >> reporter: less than two days later, they were doing an accounting. father was sitting in the pews and immediately assumed it was a political assassination in the streets outside. >> translator: god save us. god save us, he recalls. we wanted to get out of here with the least possible damage. glass shards torn to the pews mostly empty because of coronavirus restrictions. two stained glass panels were spared, one depicting jesus, the other a lebanese saint renowned for miracles. not a miracle but perhaps a g

ben wedeman, cnn, beirut. >>> the daily star lebanon joins me now from lebanon. in the midst of this disaster you tweeted newsroom is working as hard as we can to keep everyone in the loop following yesterday's explosion in bay rutd despite the state of the office. firstly, what was the impact on you and your colleagues personally? >> i mean, it was like nothing we've ever seen before. we originally thought it was an earthquake. the building was shaking for five seconds. the buildings blew out. it was chaos. when the emergency alarm came out. it was only when we got on the street we realize the the true devastation. it was harrowing. >> there's been a decline in fundamental freedoms and repression of free speech in lebanon. that has resulted in independent media in lebanon. your own paper faced financial difficulties. as we reflect on the past 36 hours, what needs to change? >> in the country as a whole? >> right. >> i don't know where to start. i mean, look, people are angry. people are really angry. what's happened. this only ee ppitomizes the she negligence of

ben wedeman, cnn, beirut. >>> brazil has made a display of solidarity with the people of beirut. the design of lebanon's flag was projected on the christ the redemer statue. the statue is 98 feet or 30 meters tall. it's come to symbolize rio and brazil. >>> the light of day is revealing the result of the airindia crash. we'll have the details ahead. these folks, they don't have time to go to the post office they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/now and never go to the post office again! simon pagenaud takes the lead at the indy 500! coming to the green flag, racing at daytona. they're off... in the kentucky derby. rory mcllroy is a two time champion at east lake. he scores! stanley cup champions! touchdown! only mahomes. the big events are back and xfinity is your home for the return of live sports

ben wedeman in beirut, thank you. >>> a family is calling out the president and the texas governor in an emotional obituary for a father. >>> how did san francisco go from an early covid success story to a hotspot? a city bus driver will join me live to explain why. >>> the president apparently reverses himself on mail-in voting but only in one state. hey there people eligible for medicare. gimme two minutes. and i'll tell you some important things to know about medicare. first, it doesn't pay for everything. say this pizza... [mmm pizza...] is your part b medical expenses. this much - about 80 percent... medicare will pay for. what's left... this slice here... well... that's on you. and that's where an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company comes in. this type of plan helps pay some of what medicare doesn't. and these are the only plans to carry the aarp endorsement. that's because they meet their high standards of quality and service. wanna learn more? it's easy. call unitedhealthcare insurance company now and ask... for this free deci

wedeman joins us live from beirut. ben what are health authorities saying there about the likely cause of this surge in covid-19 cases? >> reporter: well it's widely believed, rosemary, that one of the factors in the increase in cases is the beirut blast that happened 15 days ago and rendered more than 300,000 people homeless. now we spent a lot of time in the areas worst affected and although many people were wearing masks, many people weren't and it was a very sort of crowded area. but what we've seen in lebanon is from about 700 cases at the beginning of may, lebanon at this point as of yesterday recorded 9,758 cases. so initially the country dealt fairly well with the outbreak but certainly over the last few months we have seen a dramatic increase in cases, although it's worth noting at this point as of yesterday, 107 people had died from coronavirus as opposed to more than 170 from the beirut blast itself. so there are many things here that are going wrong. the economy is collapsing. you have a government that's b

let's go to cnn's ben wedeman, live in beirut, spent years covering there. you've seen a lot of stuff there in decades covering the region and lebanon. how severe is the outrage and are you surprised by the government's exit now? >> no, nobody is really surprised, jim and poppy, that the government may be about to resign. now it's not certain at this point, several ministers have already resigned, about seven members of parliament have resigned as well. what we've seen in lebanon, if you take into account last tuesday's massive explosion that killed 160 people, wounded 6,000, and made 300,000 people homeless, plus the economic collapse, plus the covid pandemic where we're seeing every day a greater number of cases, it is a perfect storm and much of this can be -- go down to the incompetence and negligence of not just this government but previous governments as well. it is expected that the government will resign within the coming hours. that probably will not do much to decrease the anger on the street because people are angry not necessarily with this parti

let's go now to cnn's ben wedeman, the situation there does seem to be escalating and we're learning that lebanon's prime minister has addressed protesters. what can you tell us about this frustration over something that can't be described as anything other than sheer government incompetence? >> reporter: well, that's really why so many people are so angry because of as a result of what appears to be incredible incompetence and negligence by the government, more than 150 people were killed, thousands wounded, and 300,000, according to government estimates have been made homeless, and today was declared to be the day of judgment, judging their rulers, the oligarchs who run this country, so we have seen since about the last five hours there have been running battles between protesters and the security forces. now, according to the lebanese red cross, at least 100 protesters have been injured. we saw many of those injured, some from tear gas inhalation, others seem to have been hit by rubber bullets. there is a report on some of the local lebanese media that one member of the riot polic

ben wedeman, cnn, beirut. >> my heart just breaks for that family. remarkable that mother, tracy, still has hope. >>> we'll be right back. >>> the coronavirus pandemic is inspiring some unique lesson plans. take a look. ♪ ♪ ♪ ms. williams gone viral >> i never had a teacher like that. what a way to get your kids out of bed. adriana williams is one of two teachers who produced a rap video to get their students engaged and ready for the virtual classroom. this was shot at the monroe comprehensive high school with the help of the cheerleading team and, of course, they all wore masks. williams spoke to cnn this morning about how her students are reacting to this. >> it's all about relationships and relationship building. i promise you, i wouldn't have been able to get the cheerleaders involved as much as we did not have the relationship with them that we do. so just continuing to uplift them, especially during this pandemic, because it's a lot of kids that are going through a lot of things, as well as teachers. losing loved ones, being sick themsel

let's go to ben wedeman. he's in beirut. he was in lebanon when the explosion happened. what are they saying, authorities, about the possible cause of this explosion? >> reporter: well, they're talking about more than 2,000 tons of imodium nitrate that was confiscated back in 2013, maybe 2014, being kept in one of those -- the warehouse where the blast took place. now, lebanon being lebanon, this is the middle east. of course many suspicions are pointed at israel when this sort of thing happens, but no official has indicated at this point that it was an attack. so, this statement by president trump has taken many people by surprise. people do normally take the words of the u.s. president seriously, but there's been no indication from official sources here in beirut that this massive blast that happened just about seven minutes last 6:00 p.m. local time, was an attack. now, the government has given itself a five-day deadline to investigate exactly what happened. in the meantime, it's declared a state of emergency and declared beirut to be a disaster zone. what we've seen

our ben wedeman takes us inside. >> reporter: like any anxious father, he wanted to capture it. but not this. all of the horror of tuesday's explosion converged on beirut's hospitals. overwhelmed by thousands wounded. many of the injured had to be treated outside. >> i just want to show you this area. >> reporter: she was a supervising nurse at the night at the university hospital which received more than 200 wounded. >> i witness many disasters, but this disaster, it was the longest, you know? and usually, the disasters, it's two hours maybe, rush, alert, you work hard. and that will end. this time, they came in at 7:30, 2:00, 3:00, in the morning, always working. >> reporter: and as he exampled from one patient to another, the doctor was torn between duty and family. they were waiting to hear from me and me from them, he recalls. here i was busy treating the wounded. it was painful. the memories of that night remain vivid. >> you could manage that you were not hit by tell but whenever you stopped you would take that thought. >> reporter: this is the main hospital treating covi

cnn senior international correspondent ben wedeman is live in beirut. and tell us where exactly you are and more about the blast itself. >> reporter: yeah, i'm in the cnn bureau where in the studio where the windows were shattered and the window frames were knocked off. our front door is just in a thousand little pieces of glass. now i was in the bureau here minutes after 6:00 p.m. local time. that is more than four hours ago. when i felt what i thought was an earthquake. and just moments later the blast hit and i heard our windows shattering and hundreds of windows in this area, there had been a fire in the port that i had seen pictures of just a little bit beforehand. but these -- according to the national news agency, what was on fire was a warehouse that it said contained fireworks but the size of that explosion would indicate something far more deadly went off this evening in beirut. in fact, the head of general security said that it would be naive to assume that this explosion was, in fact, caused by fireworks. now the health ministers come on tv

ben wedeman, cnn, beirut. >> inspirational resolve from the people there in beirut. >>> next here, a huge fire is sweeping parts of southern california, at the same time that the state is seeing a searing heat wave. derek van dam is with us for more about it, next. the audi a6. get exceptional offers at your local audi dealer. we were paying an arm and a leg for postage. i remember setting up shipstation. one or two clicks and everything was up and running. i was printing out labels and saving money. shipstation saves us so much time. it makes it really easy and seamless. pick an order, print everything you need, slap the label onto the box, and it's ready to go. our costs for shipping were cut in half. just like that. shipstation. the #1 choice of online sellers. go to shipstation.com/tv and get 2 months free. >>> a huge fire has charged 17,000 acres in northern los angeles county in california. and it is only 12% contained. the flames erupted wednesday and had been spreading due to hot, dry conditions. we're talking hot. surrounding areas are under evacuation orders. and on friday,

ben wedeman is joining us live from beirut. what's the latest there, ben? >> reporter: yes, we've heard from the white house that president trump contacted his lebanese counterpart michelle aoun. they are taking part in a conference call to try to figure out how to help lebanon in its time of need, and need it is because in addition to the horrible loss of life that took place as a result of the blast tuesday evening, the port of beirut, which takes about 60% of lebanon's imports, including food imports, is basically destroyed. it is out of action. and also, you'll remember, wolf, that right next to warehouse that blew up is lebanon's main grain silo that contained 85 -- >> i think we've lost our connection with ben wedeman, but the president, president trump, did say he's going to be having a conference call also with president macron of france, leaders from lebanon. everyone wants to help the people of lebanon, according to president trump, that in a statement that just was released. he's going to be having a news conference coming up shortly. he's going

our senior international correspondent ben wedeman was there when it happened. here's some observations. >> it felt like an earthquake, and it looked like a mushroom cloud. the explosion in beirut tuesday so massive it shook the ground all the way to cyprus, 150 miles away. the level of devastation is still being assessed, with widespread destruction stretching for miles from the epicenter near beirut's port. firefighters and emergency workers rushed to the scene, one that the city's governor marwan abaaoud described like hiroshima or nagasaki. the lebanese red cross put out an urgent call for blood donations. the casualty count staggering. thousands injured and dozens dead. with the number of dead surely to rise in the hours to come. initially, the state news agency attributed the cause of the blast to a fire at a fireworks warehouse but shortly afterwards, the head of lebanese security said the explosion happened at the site of confiscated high explosive materials. lebanon's prime minister later said it is unacceptable that a shipment of an estimated 2,750 ton

ben wedeman has our report. >> reporter: this car is loaded with bread and other supplies. she and her friends are part of a massive volunteer effort filling the void left bay government and political elite that on the ground appear to have done very little. >> they are not doing anything. they are sitting in their houses, spending our money. it's ridiculous. >> reporter: the state in the form is present in the streets of the badly damaged neighborhood. sitting and watching. store owner hasn't ruled out government aid will eventually come. not yet, not yet, it's still early. it takes seven or eight years he says. no one from the state has come to check on us. no one never says his wife. we thank the people who have helped us. fellow shop keeper is looking beyond lebanon's borders for assistance. >> if we don't have support from outside lebanon, they can do anything. >> reporter: the governor of beirut said the cost of the damage will total $5 billion. the government has allocated $66 million in disaster relief and for reconstruction. over the weekend donor nations agreed to

ben wedeman, cnn, beruit. >>> hello, everyone. thank you so much for joining me. the fight over mail-in voting heating up. today a group of protesters demonstrated outside the home of the postmaster general, demanding that they make changes to the services that have changed delivery. they say

let's go to ben wedeman. this has turned extremely violent, the red cross reporting that more than 100 protesters have been injured. what is the latest? >> reporter: the latest is that these protesters have now also occupied the foreign ministry, the trade ministry, the ministry of the environment and the lebanese banking association. this is something the likes of which we have not seen here in beruit before. now, this really is the result of a total loss of confidence by ordinary lebanese in the government. the government which neglected, which passed the buck when it comes to this cause of the explosion on tuesday evening, that 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate that blew up and killed more than 160 people, wounded more than 5,000 and made 300,000 people homeless. this is the utterer failure of a government to do the most basic thing, which is to protect its people's lives and property, both of which have been lost to an amazing extent, and therefore we already have been reporting for quite some time on

cnn's ben wedeman has reported extensively on lebanon for us. and he was in the thick of saturday's demonstrations. >> reporter: more than anything it's the big picture. the fact that five days ago there was an explosion in beirut that killed at least 150 people, wounded 5,000, made 300,000 homeless, and really fundamentally it's a total lack of confidence and trust in the government, in the fact that in the five days since that explosion took place no government, no official help has been given to the people who are so badly affected by the explosi explosion. and the people are calling for a revolution. they're culling -- or they've come out with nooses. and today has been declared a day of judgment because they want the entire ruling oligarchy to step down from power. and of course these soldiers and members of the gendarme are the ones who actually have to defend the government, and even they aren't in a very enviable position because of the clachts economy and the local currency, the lira, they've seen their income basically reduced by 75%.

cnn's ben wedeman has reported, extensively, on lebanon through the years. he is based in our bureau there. he tells us the explosion was a last straw for a country on the edge. >> reporter: they carried a banner with the names of those killed in tuesday's massive blast. beirut's initial shock, now, white-hot fury. at a government, a political elite that, through incompetence and corruption, has pushed lebanon to the brink. in their demands, there is no subtlety. we want to take revenge on them, says this man. we want to hang them because they killed us. our blood is still boiling over the people killed in the blast. an atomic bomb that exploded at the heart of beirut. saturday, the explosion in beirut was one of rage. ordinary citizens have lost so much in the last few months. they have little left to lose. they've seen the economy collapse, the local currency lose much of its value, hyperinflation, lengthy power cuts. and last tuesday, a catastrophic explosion that killed more than 150 people, wounded thousands, and made at least 300,000 homeless. and now,

ben wedeman on the scene for us. >>> "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. >>> "outfront" next, the breaking news, more than a thousand americans died of coronavirus today. the president down playing the numbers, saying, quote, it is what it is. except, it doesn't have to be this way. plus the obituary she wrote for her husband, blaming the president and the governor of texas for his death. why her words are gaining attention tonight. >>> more breaking news, the president just calling an explosion in beirut an attack. was it? we are live on the ground tonight. let's go "outfront." good evening i'm erin burnett. "outfront," tonight, it is what it is, the words of donald trump when asked about 1,000 americans dying from coronavirus each day. and just moments ago the president saying something false about the coronavirus situation. >> we proportionately are lower than almost all countries. we're at the bottom of the list. and relative to cases also, we're at the bottom of the list which is a good thing being at the bottom of the list. >> the u.s. is not at the bottom of the list when i

ben wedeman is in beirut. he's got the latest. what are you learning, ben? >> reporter: well, what we know is that the initial investigation into what possibly happened in the port of beirut yesterday evening just after 6:00 p.m. is that there is or there was 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate that had been seized six years before from a russian vessel that was bound for africa. and it basically sat there for six years, that the head of lebanese customs had told the port management repeatedly that they need to remove that material because of the danger it posed to the densely inhabited areas around the port. but we also heard from the port manager who told local tv that he didn't realize it was quite that dangerous. now, as a result of the initial investigation, the senior officials in beirut port have been put under house arrest. and we have heard the president of lebanon pledging that the investigation into the incident would be swift and transparent. there is a good deal of skepticism about that, however, wolf, because as you well know over the last fe

ben wedeman, let me begin with you. ben, this is your home. you've lived there for years. what was it like when it happened and also just tell us where you are inside right now? >> reporter: well, when it happened was obviously just a shock beyond description. i thought it was an earthquake and then saw the explosion and the smoke rising from the port, and i knew something absolutely out of the ordinary had happened. just to give you an idea of where i am, we are in a flat overlooking the port where the blast took place. this flat was inhabited by a couple in their 60s. when the blast happened the walls just collapsed. the elderly woman in her 70s was in bed. she was severely wounded and the bed is still stained with her blood. she is currently in hospital. i'll just step out of the way so tariq, our cameraman, can show you. you'll see in the distance, in the middle distance, you will see there's the drain silo that is right next to the warehouse that exploded about seven minutes past 6:00 p.m. yesterday. you see that water justing in, that yesterday was where the warehous

our ben wedeman is in beirut now with more on the story. >>they carried a banner with the names of those killed in tuesday's massive blast. >>beirut's initial shock now why. and a government political elite that through the competence of corrections has pushed lebanon. the breeze. in their demands. there is settled. and none them and we want to take revenge on them says for alaska said wendy we want to hang them because they killed us our blood is still boiling over the people killed in the blast, an atomic bomb that exploded in the heart of beirut has i saturday the explosion in beirut was rage. >>ordinary citizens have lost so much in the last few >>they have little left to lose. they've seen the economy collapses the local currency news much of its value. hyperinflation thank you power cuts and last tuesday, a catastrophic explosion that killed more than 150 people wounded thousands and made at least 300,000 homes. and now politicians are being called to account. about aon chain on them says this protest are they killed their people the

so the protesters you see, i want to go to ben wedeman live in beirut right now. ben, the protesters, as we understand it, have real trepidations about the government conducting an investigation because there are suspicions of corruption and negligence. >> reporter: more than anything, it's the big picture. the fact that five days ago there was an explosion in beirut that killed at least 150 people, wounded 5,000, made 300,000 homeless. and really it's fundamentally it's a total lack of confidence and trust in the government, in the fact that in the five days since that explosion took place no government, no official help has been given to the people who are so badly affected by the explosion. and people are calling for a revolution. they've come out with nooses. and today has been declared a day of judgment. because they want the entire ruling e ining oligarchy to ste from power. and of course, these soldiers and are the ones who actually have to defend the government. and even they aren't in a very enviable position because of the collapse of the economy and the

jim, you and i both spent time -- our senior correspondent, ben wedeman has lived there for years and joins us now. your recounting of this is harrowing. you said it's like nothing you ever felt before. >> yeah. i have been in lebanon for the civil war, wars with israel. political assassinations, but what happened yesterday, one massive explosion was something i have never seen before here and nobody else i have spoken with has either. at this point, in addition to the dead and the wounded, the mayor -- the governor of beirut is saying at least 300,000 people have been made homeless by this explosion. we're not far from the port where the explosion took place. behind me is the lebanese state electricity company. almost every window there has been knocked out. and when you walk down this street here, you see cars that have been smashed. buildings that have simply collapsed and throughout the day, we have seen an incredible effort by hundreds -- probably thousands throughout beirut, volunteers, young people coming in to help the people who have been displaced, to move their property out

i want to bring in cnn's senior international correspondent, ben wedeman, live in a very chaotic beirut this morning. ben, why don't you give us the latest. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, john. well, i'm just going to step aside and let you see, there are volunteer teams going around this neighborhood, which is severely damaged by the blast, and we are in front of a building where i think almost every window was blown out. so ordinary people are doing what they can to put their country, their sit back together. in the meantime, of course, there's rising controversy about what happened just a few minutes after 6:00 p.m. local time. we understand there were 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate in that warehouse that blew up. a chemical compound that is highly explosive and was kept in that warehouse apparently for 67 years after being seized from a ship that entered beirut's port. now, whether it was incompetence, corruption, or something else that explains why this very dangerous chemical compound was kept in a port that's very near to the center of town and in very populated areas is not at

ben wedeman, cnn, beirut. >> lena katib joins from us berlin. thank you for taking the time to speak from us. our reporters on the scene have been cataloging the myriad problems now facing lebanon. you've said that lebanon is in danger of becoming a failed state. we've heard many in lebanon the last few days suggest they're already living in one. why do you think it's so close to the brink? >> well, before the explosion, lebanon was already suffering from one of the most severe economic crises in its modern history. the currency had lost 80% of its value in just a few months. gdp was over 170% debt. the country was heading to bankruptcy. add to this an explosion was so far estimated to have cost $15 billion that the lebanese state does not have and a port that used to import, according to different estimates, between 60% and 80% of what lebanon needs, and a country that relies on imports for the vast majority of anything it needs for medical supplies to food to energy. and you have a situation in which the country is simply not sustainable as th

ben wedeman joins us from beirut. ben, despite what the president said, do we know what caused the explosion? >> well, we do understand, anderson, that the explosion occurred in a warehouse, where according to the prime minister, 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate was being stored. that was a substance that has been taken from some sort of contraband shipment. and how the actual blast occurred is still a mystery. no one is here -- of course there are always many suspicions lebanon being lebanon that somebody was behind, but no official statement has been made suggesting that this was an attack. the blast was something i've never seen before. and you mentioned a minor earthquake. i'm less than a mile from the port, and it felt to me like a major earthquake, and, of course, our bureau is in shambles, as are most of the homes in beirut where windows have been blown out. people wounded in the street were being treated by ordinary citizens trying to provide some sort of assistance. but as you said, more than 4,000 wounded, mor

wedeman is in beirut with more. >>they carried a banner with the names of those killed in tuesday's massive blast. >>beirut's initial shock now. >>the political elite that through incompetence and corruption has pushed never gone. the breeze. in their demands. there is settled. and none them and we want to take revenge on them says for alaska said wendy we want to hang them because they killed us our blood is still boiling over the people killed in the blast, an atomic bomb that exploded in the heart of beirut has i saturday the explosion in beirut was one of rage. >>ordinary citizens have lost so much the last few >>they have little left to lose. they've seen the economy collapses the local currency news much of its value. hyperinflation thank you power cuts and last tuesday, a catastrophic explosion that killed more than 150 people wounded thousands and made at least 300,000 homes. and now politicians are being called to account. shame on them says this protest are they killed their people the impoverished us we'v

ben wedeman, cnn, beirut. >>> the international community has pledged to help lebanon with tens of millions of dollars, along with emergency medical and food supplies. but the devastation the blast has left behind is a stark symbol of just how close the country is to collapse. arwa damon is at beirut's ground zero. >> reporter: even standing here, it's still so hard to wrap your mind around the enormity, the size of this blast. you can see a ship over there blown onto its side. and this massive area right here, this is where the storage unit housing that ammonium nitrate once stood. they have dive teams in the water trying to presumably salvage anything that they can that would potentially help in the investigation. they're still looking for the bodies of those who are listed as missing, although at this stage there is not that much hope that they would somehow be found alive. there was some hope that underneath the silo in the operation room there, because it is so far underground that perhaps they would be able to miraculously find someone alive. but this has largely shifted from being a

cnn's ben wedeman is on the ground and joining me now from beirut. what are you learning about the resignations? >> reporter: we know already that a variety of ministers announced that they're resigning from this government that was formed on the 21st of january so it's relatively new but simply the pressure from this street is so intense, after that explosion last tuesday evening, that this government clearly has a very limited life span at this tonight. we understand that the president will go to the presidential palace and submit his resignation. he is scheduled to make a televised address to the nation in 40 minutes. but certainly, in addition to the blast, the lebanese economy is collapsing. lebanon is struggling with a coronavirus pandemic which has seen for a few days record new numbers of cases. and the problem is that the people are not just blaming this government for these disasters but the lebanese state writ large, kate, we have gone day after day to the areas most affected by the blast and what we have seen is ordinary citizens are doin

ben wedeman, our deepest, deepest condolences to all the people in beirut. you've got a great city there. our heart goes out to everyone for this horrific, horrific explosion. thanks very much for watching. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. ♪ >>> "outfront" next as the u.s. approaches 5 million coronavirus cases, the president insists the virus is just going to go away. we've heard it from him again and again and again and it's still here. plus the biggest event since the pandemic started, 250,000 people, at least, expected gathering in america in one small town. why is it taking place? i'm going to talk to the mayor. and republicans with ties to donald trump are helping kanye west run for president. let's go "outfront." >>> and good eveningment i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight the numbers don't lie. that's the message tonight from dr. anthony fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, saying that when it comes to coronavirus, the metrics are nothing to brag about. >> i mean, the numbers don't lie. and every country has suffered. we, th

cnn international correspondent, senior international correspondent ben wedeman was in beirut at the time of the explosion and is live there for us this morning. ben, it is quite a scene in that entire city for us this morning. >> reporter: yeah, and we're not far from where that explosion took place, shortly after 6:00 p.m. local time last night. as you can see behind me, some of the buildings simply collapsed in this neighborhood, almost every single window was shattered. there are lots of people that you see with bandages from the shattered glass. at this point, the death toll is tentatively somewhere above 100, but they're still looking for bodies in the ruins. more than 4,000 people killed, but this was an explosion the likes of which nobody in beirut had ever seen before. no one knows yet how many people died in tuesday's blast in beirut. the instruction was so extensive, the shock wave felt across the city. the emergency services so overwhelmed, it was up to whoever could help to provide a bit of comfort to the injured. open loss turned into field hospitals. the blasts happene

ben wedeman cnn beirut. the memory that will certainly last a lifetime but for this beautiful bride, this particular video does not. >>capture the joy of her wedding day. yet instead captures the terrifying moment of yesterday's massive explosion in beirut you can see you know the impact and the blasted to blows the woman back to that harder for was even pushed down the street by the shock waves. there she goes there and they're also people running for safety, including the bride and the groom. but amazingly no one in the wedding party was hers. >>tonight's sports report to we doubled our speeds the fastest just got back. >>i would go 11 games into the short in major league baseball season in the a's find themselves in first place looking better every day bob melvin and his guys hosted the texas rangers second game of a three-game set. >>a's were go a long ball all night bottom one that you all sent a towering drive deep to right is gone. 2 run shot one of 2 homers on the night for olson its to one a's oakla

ben wedeman, cnn, beruit. >>> hello, everyone. thank you so much for joining me. the fight over mail-in voting heating up. today a group of protesters demonstrated outside the home of the postmaster general, demanding that they make changes to the services that have changed delivery. they say dejoy is trying to sabotage the mail system ahead of the upcoming election. among those voters, the president and first lady who both requested mail-in ballots in florida. that didn't stop president trump from continuing his baseless attacks on mail-in voting today, tweeting that the 2020 election will be a fraudulent mess and that we may never know who won. kristen holmes joins me now live from bridgewater new jersey, close to where president trump is spending his weekend. the trump campaign was forced to hand over documents to prove their allegation of voter fraud in the state of pennsylvania. what are we learning about that? >> reporter: well, that's right, bianna. the trump campaign has sued in several states, particularly notable that they are several key swing states, i

ben wedeman, thank you. >>> good afternoon and thanks for joining me. i'm in for fredricka whitfield. we begin this hour with a nation reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. while washington drags its feet to help millions of americans looking for answers. talks of a new stimulus package breaking down without a resolution and at this point no plans to resume. the deal is supposed to be a lifeline to help americans out of work and hurting financially. this as a new study says 40 million face eviction after protections expired two weeks ago. as those talks stalled, president trump is saying he will issue an executive order in place of a new deal. it's not clear if he has the legal authority to do that. all of this as the coronavirus pandemic in the u.s. nears 5 million cases. another 1,200 people died from the disease on friday, bringing the total deaths in our country to over 161,000. meanwhile, schools are beginning to reopen. in georgia 260 students and eight teachers are being forced to quarantine following positive test results in just the first week

cnn senior international correspondent ben wedeman has the latest from beirut tonight. >> reporter: george federones has come with a friend to see what they can salvage from the remains of his parent's apartment, which looked directly on to beirut's port. tuesday's blast turned it into a moonscape, a panorama of utter destruction. dried blood marks the spot where his mother was resting in bed when the explosion sent a wall slamming on top of her. she's still in hospital. this was his parent's retirement home. >> this is their life. everything they did here. look what happened. >> reporter: given the damage, they probably will never be able to move back. many neighbors were badly injured. others killed. in addition to the dead and the wounded, many, many people have lost their homes. according to the governor of beirut, more than 300,000 people in the city have been made homeless. officials believe the blast emanated from a warehouse filled with 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate, sitting there under lax security for six years. the government has promised a quick, transparent investigati