also good news on hospitalizations. new daily admissions are down by almost a thousand for the seven-day average. in florida a state where they had 17,000 people hospitalized with covid in august we're now down to under 4,000. >> sam brock in miami, thank you. now to news overseas and the growing high stakes tension between china and taiwan. the two in a fierce tug of war over the future of the island's independence that some fear could grow into a larger conflict. >> reporter: taiwan marked its national day with flags, fanfare, and defiance. the island's president vowing taiwan will not be forced to bow to china. taiwan is standing on the front line of defending democracy, show said. china has long viewed taiwan as its own national territory. china's president xi jinping on saturday all but declaring it policy. the complete reunification of our countries must be and