[Allen:] Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Natalie Allen and this is CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. Tropical storm Isaias is not quite a hurricane but that could change soon. South Florida's East Coast is already experiencing wind and rain from the storm's outer band. Florida officials face the difficult task of trying to keep people's faith even as the world grapples with the worst outbreaks in the country. There is another emergency situation on the other side of the country. California's already dealing with a large number of coronavirus cases. Now they have to screen people going to shelters because of a raging wildfire. This is about 70 miles east of Los Angeles in Riverside County. Fire officials say the Apple Fire started Friday and exploded in size on Saturday, as these things do in California. The fire has now burned more than 12,000 acres and thousands have been evacuated. The combination of COVID-19 and economic hardship is pushing many to the margins. California just reported 219 related deaths Saturday. That is the most ever in a single day since this began. And with a number of cases rising, so are concerns about food and housing. Paul Vercammen visited a food charity in Los Angeles.
[Paul Vercammen, Cnn Correspondent:] They work late in the afternoon, cleaning up after a huge food giveaway in the First Unitarian Church. This is Koreatown in downtown Los Angeles. They served boxes of meals or sent them out to more than 2,000 people, 1,500 of them walked up here, some have been in line since midnight. And then they shipped out another 500 boxes to nearby churches as well as a grocery workers' union.
[Vercammen:] The workers here reflecting on just how trying it is for them to see the biggest numbers of people ever come into these food lines in the middle of a pandemic because a lot of renters' protection is running out, because unemployment benefits are running out. Some of these people without a job, something close to half a year right now.
[Unidentified Female:] It's surreal to see, you know, that many people standing in those lines for food and it's really a larger indictment of a failed system and of the federal government to take care of the people because at the end of the day, it's unconscionable to live in a world where people have to wait for 7 hours for a box of groceries.
[Vercammen:] Just boxes and boxes of food went out here, as we said, 1,500 people walked up to grab their box and another 500 boxes went out to nearby churches and a grocery store workers' union. And for people handing out the boxes, they said this was rather heartening because they could see the look of relief in people's eyes as they knew that many of them might not have any income right now during the pandemic reporting from Los Angeles, I'm Paul Vercammen, now back to you.
[Allen:] And that is just a microcosm of the larger picture of what so many Americans face right now. Saturday saw no agreement on new stimulus measures to help Americans forced out of work by the pandemic. According to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, there is an impasse over short term versus long-term provisions. The White House has offered a 1-week extension of the $600 unemployment benefit that expired Friday. Another Republican proposal would cut that payment to $200. The Democrats want to extend the $600 weekly benefit through January. But we will say, for the first time, both sides sound hopeful.
[Sen. Chuck Schumer , Senate Minority Leader:] This was the longest meeting we had. And it was more productive than the other meetings. There are many issues that are still very much outstanding where we're apart. But we had a serious discussion and we went down piece by piece and so where each side is at.
[Rep. Nancy Pelosi , House Speaker:] We have to get rid of this virus, so that we can open our economy, safely open our schools and to do so in a way that does not give a cut in benefits to America's workers.
[Allen:] President Trump, as you know, has had a testy relationship with some news organizations, to say the least. But now Republicans are doing something unprecedented in U.S. politics, banning news media from their convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. The closed press event will be smaller, less boisterous and with fewer participants than the one in Ohio back in 2016. The party says that is due to social distancing rules the state's Democratic governor has imposed. A Republican officials says the vote to nominate Mr. Trump as their candidate will be livestreamed August 24th. In Jerusalem, the largest protest yet. Thousands of Israelis demanding prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu resign. Coming up, we'll go to Jerusalem live for the latest.