The National Guard activated after that eruption of violence in her city. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms joins us live only on gma this morning. Severe storm alert. Flash flooding and hail slamming the northeast. Now the new storms moving in. Under pressure. As Jeffrey Epsteins longtime confidante, ghislaine maxwell, wakes up behind bars in new york this morning, her friend, Prince Andrew, faces new fallout as the world waits to see what she may reveal. Tiktok ban. Overnight secretary of state mike pompeo saying the Trump Administration may consider banning the hugely popular app hundreds of millions of teens use over privacy concerns. The nbas top teams and biggest stars now on their way to restart the season at disney world. Lebron james masked and ready to go. Cases explode in florida and concerns with other major sports leagues. This morning an inside look at life in the bubble. And we do say good and we do say good morning, america. And a very, very busy tuesday morning, especially for the nba. Were going to take a live look at espns wide world of sports in orlando. Teams are starting to arrive there today to enter what theyre calling the basketball bubble, george. Thats right, robin. Of course, the Coronavirus Crisis is top of those players minds right now. Florida hard hit, cases have now passed 200,000 and across the country closing in on 3 million cases, more than 130,000 deaths. And the outbreak, of course, far from over. Americas top Infectious Disease expert dr. Anthony fauci warning we are still, in his words, kneedeep, robin, in the first wave of infections. So, t. J. , in a moment well speak live with Atlanta MayorKeisha Lance Bottoms who just yesterday announced she tested positive as her city battles a spike in cases and a surge in violence. But first matt gutman starts us off in phoenix where theyre also seeing an increase in cases and testing problems as well. Good morning, matt. Reporter and good morning, robin. That really is creating this vicious circle. There is this surge of cases and a surge in demand for testing. People waiting here for up to eight hours in the searing heat to get tested and then sometimes they have to wait up to ten days to get the results. Now, that lag is furthering the Community Spread here and you really feel it in firehouses like this. Get this, over the past 24 hours, nearly 50 of the calls here have been covid suspected. Those partiers slammed together in lakes and on dance floors over the past week perhaps explaining that disturbing new statistic this morning. A quarter of a million new covid cases in the u. S. In just the first six days of july. [ crowd chanting usa ] reporter some americans openly rebelling against basic covid19 messaging. In jacksonville, florida, which will host the Republican National convention, this rally to support a local lawmaker who filed a lawsuit monday against a recently mandated mask policy. 86yearold chuck grassley, the senates oldest republican, announcing monday he will not attend the convention for the first time in 40 years due to concerns over the virus. Dr. Anthony fauci saying the pandemic is worsening in the u. S. In part because, unlike europe, some states and cities moved to reopen before the country sufficiently lowered the number of cases. We are still kneedeep in the first wave of this. Reporter same wave, different demographics. Fauci says the average age of those testing positive now is 15 years younger than it was just a few months ago. Many in that 20 to 44 age group erroneously considered the virus harmless. Young people do get sick. Weve seen young people sick, get sick, and weve seen young people even die. Reporter as the virus ricochets throughout the country, testing sites packed. Supplies depleted and labs backed up. In arizona, many are frustrated when trying to get test results. It blows my mind. Reporter labs now falling behind, some taking as long as ten days to return results. Quest diagnostics saying it can have results in a day for priority patients but four to six days for all other populations, and the company adding, it is doing everything we can to bring more covid19 testing to patients in the United States at this critical time. But tracing has also become increasingly difficult. We have colleagues who were testing positive and have to be quarantined and so, you know, the rest of us have to pick up the slack. Reporter this morning at least nine states reporting record numbers of infections over the fourth of july weekend. New cases doubling in florida over the past two weeks. The state accounting for 20 of all daily cases in the country. Arizona now the eighth state to surpass 100,000 cases and in california, the states Positivity Rate climbing to nearly 7 . The governor incrementally shutting the state down again, several counties with severe restrictions. L. A. County one of them, it now has more cases than 42 states. Cases are surging. Hospitalizations are increasing, and mostly this is all a reflection of a lot more Community Spread. Reporter and the New York Times obtaining federal data of what weve known anecdotally for months now. Latinos and africanamericans are more than three times more likely to contract the virus than their white neighbors and more than twice as likely to die from the virus and you really get a sense of that at this firehouse. 95 of their covid calls are to multigenerational latino families. T. J. . Matt, thank you so much. We want to focus on georgia, also hard hit by the coronavirus outbreak, also hit by a surge of violence. The governor has now declared a state of emergency there activating up to a thousand National Guard troops. Atlantas mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, will join us live in just a moment. Lets start with Steve Osunsami with the latest. Good morning to you, steve. Reporter good morning to you, t. J. There are many here who feel the governor didnt need to do this, to put troops again on the streets of atlanta, that this was a political move, but the governor is saying that if the city cant control its gun violence, then he will. Military vehicles and as many as a thousand troops from the georgia National Guard are protecting state buildings in atlanta this morning after georgias governor declared a state of emergency. The troops are a response to gun violence that wounded more than 30 people and killed five. 8yearold Secoriea Turner was killed outside this wendys restaurant by men with long guns who set up barricades and had taken over the street after 27yearold Rayshard Brooks was killed here at the hands of a white police officer. The restaurant had become a memorial, but there were still shootings. These arent Police Officers shooting people on the streets of atlanta. These are members of the community shooting each other. Reporter the extraordinary amount of gun violence is hitting cities across the country and hitting black communities the hardest. In chicago this Holiday Weekend 77 people were shot. 14 of them died, including 7yearold natalie wallace. In new york city, gun incidents were up 130 compared to last year, according to the nypd. They say the push for Police Reforms have made it harder for officers to protect residents of any color. They are afraid if they make an arrest that if their knee goes on the back of someone that they are fighting their life for, they could be prosecuted. Reporter investigators here are offering a 10,000 reward for any information that leads them to the two gunmen who they believe killed this little girl. George . Steve osunsami, thanks. Lets bring in the mayor of atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms. So much to discuss with you this morning, madam mayor, beginning with your health. How are you feeling . I feel okay, george. I have a slight headache, but thats not unusual during allergy season for me, and allergy season is just about yearround in georgia now. So just the same headache that i have during stressful times and allergy season. And your family, your husband, one of your children have tested positive. Ones tested positive. Ones tested negative. Im getting the other two tested today. My husband literally slept from thursday until yesterday and thats what gave me some concern. Ive just never seen him sleep that much, but he is feeling better. Thank you. That is good to hear. Are you confident you will handle the city as you deal with corona . I am, and prayerfully, my symptoms wont get any worse. What theyve told me is i have a low positive test. So it either means im on the way up or the way down. They dont know which one but theyve told me to treat it as if im positive, just in terms of quarantining and all of the things that are recommended that people do. It has been such a challenging time for atlanta right now with the surge in violence weve seen in the last several days. In your view why is it happening and how do you stop it . I think its just this perfect storm of distress in america. I think that people are obviously anxious and even angry about covid19. Loved ones are dying, people are losing their jobs. I think theres a lot of frustration, a lot of angst and i think the rhetoric that comes out of the white house doesnt help it at all. It doesnt give people much hope and i think that its all converging together and were seeing it happen and spill out into much of the streets in atlanta and seeing it across the country and then you add on top of that the cases that weve all witnessed of Police Brutality and it has all come together. Its just in a valid way. Do you agree with governor kemps decision to declare a state of emergency and activate the National Guard . No. The irony of that is i asked him to allow us to mandate masks in atlanta and he said no, but he has called in the National Guard without asking if we needed the National Guard. So i understand that he wants to protect state buildings. We have been coordinating with the Georgia State patrol which we do on any number of occasions. Law enforcement agencies coordinate, and we provide assistance to them. They provide assistance to us. But at no time was it mentioned that anyone felt there was a need for the National Guard to come in. Of course, all this is coming, as you mentioned, in the middle of the pandemic. Did the city and the state of georgia just did you open up too soon . I think we were too aggressive in opening up. Now, the city has taken a phased approach in the opening and i think to the extent that our numbers are our numbers are still extremely high, but to the extent they arent any higher is because weve been very thoughtful as a city with buyin from many of our fortune 500 companies which are large job centers in not massively reopening in the way the state has. But our numbers are surging. It was too aggressive. It was too soon and were paying for it not just in georgia but were paying for it across the country and people are paying for it with their lives. Whats the situation with schools in atlanta . Well, the School Systems are independently controlled by independently elected boards. They are making independent decisions. So its a hodgepodge of responses. Some schools are giving people the option of virtually learning or sending their kids back into the classroom. Some have not made a decision at all, and schools open up pretty early in georgia. We open up at the beginning of august. So i expect that well have more announcements soon. But with the way the numbers are up i dont know how it can be possibly be safe to send kids back into the school for the sake of our teachers. The kids may be okay, but our teachers will certainly be at risk. So well see what happens in a few weeks with that. Mayor, thank you for your time this morning. We hope recovery goes well for you and your family. Thank you. Robin . All right, george. Good for her to think of the teachers as well as the students. To washington now where President Trump is choosing to focus on culture wars over the pandemic, tweeting about nascar driver Bubba Wallace and the decision to ban the Confederate Flag. Cecilia vega is in washington with more on all this for us. Good morning, cecilia. Reporter hi, robin. Good morning to you. Were 119 days out from the election. This is usually when candidates are trying to broaden support. Instead President Trump is fanning racial tension again. That Bubba Wallace tweet, its just the latest example. President trump says wallace needs to apologize for what the president is calling a hoax. To be clear, this was not a hoax. There was a pull rope, as you know, tied into a noose into his garage but the fbi concluded he was not the victim of a hate crime because the rope had potentially been there as early as last year. Its unclear what wallace would apologize for. In the same tweet President Trump also seemed to take a clear stand on flying the Confederate Flag, saying nascars ratings went down after the ban. That is not true either. Even his staunchest ally, lindsey graham, publicly pushed back on that. As the covid cases are surging President Trump is trying to shift focus. This is part of a clear pattern and, robin, aides have tried to shift the president s attention away from inflammatory issues. So far theyre not having very much success at that. No, they are not. All right. Cecilia, thank you. Lets get now to t. J. T. J. . Robin, we turn now and shift to the nba and the comeback. First round of players are reporting to disney world this morning where they are going to live and play for the next few months. Will reeve is outside espns wide world of sports in orlando with more. Good morning to you, will. Reporter good morning to you, t. J. The first six teams are scheduled to arrive today and if any of them happen to make it to a game seven scheduled for october 12th of the nba finals, they will have been here for 97 days, which is quite a long time to be inside a bubble even with every amenity extended and every protocol taken. This morning the nba taking a major step toward restarting the season as some players and coaches are set to arrive at the espn wide world of sports at Walt Disney World in orlando. Lebron james cant wait for tipoff posting this photo on instagram wearing a mask with the caption, war ready. Overnight his teammate Dwight Howard announcing on cnn that, despite his reservations, he will join the team in orlando. I know theyll be working countless hours to make sure everything is right for everybody thats down there. Reporter but amid all the excitement, a grim reality. Covid cases surging nationwide. So far 25 nba players have tested positive for covid19. Another ominous sign, Major League Soccer is already here at the disney complex. But now one team, f. C. Dallas, forced to withdraw from the upcoming tournament after ten players and a coach tested positive. Despite this development, the nba hoping to move forward and keep their players safe. All 22 participating teams will be sequestered together when they arrive. The teams will be spread among these three hotels. Championship contenders at the new gran destino tower, middle seeds at the grand floridian and on the playoff bubble at the yacht club. The bubble will have 24hour vip concierge and even onsite barbers, manicurists, pedicurists and hair braiders by appointment. Off the court playersonly lounges will be stocked with Entertainment Options like nba2k, tvs and arcade gaming. They can play pingpong or cards, although theyre not allowed to play doubles pingpong. Reporter players will be well fed. Each will have a dedicated Disney Culinary Team to create individualized team menus. Although players will initially be separated and isolated from their loved ones, any teams making it past the first round of the playoffs will have the option to reserve up to two additional guest rooms for guests and members of their family here at Walt Disney World. George . Boy, so much planning has gone into it. Will reeve, thank you very much. We are following a lot of other headlines, pressure growing on Prince Andrew after the arrest of ghislaine maxwell. What will she reveal . Also, will the Trump Administration ban tiktok . What the secretary of state is now saying. First, lets say hello to ginger. T. J. , did you see it, the incessant lightning here in manhattan over this is from brooklyn to manhattan. You can see the Empire State Building getting struck several times in a row. Bradford county, pennsylvania, had two deaths because of lightning. The sever storms blew through with flash flooding, water rescues from around new jersey, down to washington, d. C. , five to seven inches of rain, wind up to 71 Miles Per Hour and today weve got a shot at it again, that will happen in mostly the northern plains. Tuesday trivia sponsored by walgreens. 123450 or if you have any serious underlying medical conditions, like heart disease, chronic lung disease, diabetes, or if your immune system is compromised for any reason. If youre at higher risk, wash your hands frequently with soap and water for twenty seconds. Avoid touching your face. Disi