Capitol hill over a new Coronavirus Relief package. The republican plan looking to slash benefits by more than half. The race to reach an agreement. Oh, boy. Also this morning, more than a dozen players and staff with the Miami Marlins testing positive. Major League Baseball postponing games just four days after opening day. Will the season survive . Tropical threat. Hurricane season heating up. Puerto rico braces for a possible Tropical Storm as texas recovers from hannas powerful punch. Fatal shark attack. The first shark incident in maine in ten years. Could it have been a great white . Red flags flying right now after several sightings in new york. The warnings from beachgoers right now. And the heroic rescue caught on camera. An unconscious drivert of his smoking car right before the vehicle was suddenly engulfed in flames. Ive got a show to do remembering Regis Philbin. The tribute for those who knew the morning maestro best and this morning, our interview with his longtime cohost kelly ripa only on gma. And we do say good morning, america, and its great to be with you on this busy Tuesday Morning. Dr. Fauci standing by to talk with you in just a bit, george. Thats right, robin. So many questions this morning on reopenings, vaccines, sports, plus a series of controversial tweets from President Trump overnight including an attack on dr. Fauci d it com a aosthuny. Covid19 hospitalizations are on the rise in at least 40 states and the death toll is increasing in 28. Hard hit florida is one of those states where cases are climbing. Icus there overflowing. Hospital admissions increasing by 79 since july 4th. Victor oquendo joins us from miami with the very latest. Good morning, victor. Reporter good morning, michael. From inside one of the Clinical Labs here in miami participating in the final stage of pfizers vaccine Clinical Trials, amr miami joining in the race for a vaccine. Doses starting this week in patient rooms just like this one as cities and states across the country struggle to slow the spread of the virus. This morning, rolling back reopenings. St. Louis now limiting crowds to 50 people and closing bars early. Officials now saying they will take action against businesses that ignore social distancing. Packed gatherings concerning dr. Deborah birx, warning some states might need to shrink capacities even further. We can see what is happening in the south moving north. We do believe that there are states that do need to close their bars. Reporter and now new crackdowns coming. Overnight new yorks Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeting this video of a concert in the hamptons on saturday saying, i am appalled. The department of health will conduct an investigation. We have no tolerance for the illegal and Reckless Endangerment of Public Health. The events organizers stressing it followed cdc guidelines and made best efforts to ensure social distancing guidelines were maintained. In florida, this gym owner was arrested after repeatedly violating county Health Orders arguing his guests cant be forced to wear a mask. In alabama, more than 40 people tested positive after attending a multiday church event last week including the pastor. He says while they took precautions ahead of the event, services were shut down after the first member learned they had the virus. Covid19 derailing major League Baseball just four days after opening day. Mlb postponing three games after an outbreak on the Miami Marlins infected more than a dozen players and staff leaving many to wonder if the season will continue. Were taking a risk every day. Fair to say guys are concerned. I dont see it as a nightmare. We built the protocols to allow us to continue to play. We think we can keep people safe and continue to play. Reporter this as dr. Anthony fauci tells abc news that some of the messages the Trump Administration has relayed to the public did not always match the reports he was getting from people on the front lines about struggles like shortages of protective equipment. We keep hearing when we go to these Task Force Meetings that these are being corrected, that its being corrected, but yet when you go into the trenches you still hear about that. I really, quite frankly, have to be honest with you, i cannot explain that. Reporter overnight new hope in the race for a vaccine. As moderna begins its phase 3 trial, Pharmaceutical Company pfizer announcing its moving into the final phase of testing in its vaccine trial anticipating to test up to 30,000 people. If its successful and approved, their goal is to have 100 million doses available by the end of the year. Were now looking at safety and efficacy, that is the ability of the vaccine to actually prevent covid19, and this is the trial that will generate the key data needed to actually get a license to distribute the vaccine. Reporter like moderna, pfizers vaccine likely wont be available until early next year. Once pfizer gives the green light Clinical Labs like amr miami will be looking for volunteers. Michael. All right, thank you so much, victor. George. We go to the white house where President Trump sent out a series of tweets overnight promoting hydroxychloroquine, attacking dr. Anthony fauci after calling on some governors to reopen faster. Our senior White House Correspondent cecilia vega joins us now. Cecilia, this also comes after his National Security adviser has tested positive for covid. Reporter yeah, george, good morning to you. This one hits close to home for the president. Robert obrien is the highest Ranking Administration Official known to have tested positive and it brings the number of people in the white house or in the campaign to have tested positive to more than a dozen. This morning, the white house wont say when the president last came facetoface with his National Security adviser. I havent seen him lately. I heard he tested, yeah. I have not seen him. Im calling him later. Reporter Robert Obrien last seen at the white house grounds on thursday, now the white house will only say hes experiencing mild symptoms and that there is no risk of exposure to President Trump who is regularly tested. But the press secretary has said they are often together. You have ambassador obrien who sees him in person twice a day. Reporter on a tour of a vaccine production plant in north carolina, the president complying with state law requiring a mask. The second vaccine is likely to enter phase 3 in a matter of days. Reporter but in that same visit he also called on states to reopen even as cases surge. I really do believe a lot of the governors should be opening up states that theyre not opening, and well see what happens with them. Reporter overnight the president went on a twitter spree. Among the things he shared with his more than 84 million twitter followers a doctor saying you dont need to wear masks. She touted hydroxychloroquine instead. That video has since been removed and flagged by twitter as a violation and he also shared a tweet that called dr. Anthony fauci a fraud and another claiming fauci misled the American People on what the president said were many issues, george. Okay, cecilia, thanks. We are joined by dr. Anthony fauci. Thank you for joining us this morning. I got to say this is not the way i expected to start the interview but i have to have you respond to those tweets from President Trump that were taken down overnight. First on that one that said you dont need masks, there is a cure, its called hydroxychloroquine, can you just clarify for our viewers the best scientific guidance we have on masks and hydroxychloroquine . We should all be Wearing Masks outside, george. This is something that you heard dr. Birx mention when she was making a comment. Its very important. There are certain fundamental things we should be doing, particularly if you happen to be in an area where theres viral activity. Wear masks all the time when youre outside. Social distancing, six feet at least. Avoid crowds. Close bars in areas where theres viral activity and do hand hygiene. Theres no question about that so thats something thats not really arguable. How about hydroxychloroquine, the president promoting effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine. We know the fda has recommended against emergency use. Right. Right, exactly, and i go along with the fda. The overwhelming prevailing Clinical Trials that have looked at the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine have indicated that it is not effective in coronavirus disease. And one of the retweets from the president also accuses you of misleading the public on many issues. Youve been at the nih since 1984. Youve advised six president s. Can you continue to do your job when the president of the United States is publicly questioning your credibility in this way . You know, george, i dont know how to address that. Im just going to certainly continue doing my job. You know, i dont tweet. I dont even read them so i dont really want to go there. I just will continue to do my job no matter what comes out because i think its very important. Were in the middle of a crisis with regard to an epidemic, a pandemic. This is what i do. This is what ive been trained for and ill continue to do it. To the charge youve been misleading the American Public . I have not been misleading the American Public under any circumstances. Lets talk about reopening right now. Which states are you most concerned about . You know, i mean, obviously the Southern States that really actually had a major surge, florida, texas, arizona, california. They appear, i hope and it looks like they may be cresting in coming back down. What im concerned about is what dr. Birx mentioned just a little bit ago is that some of the other states, the ohios, the indianas, the tennessees, the kentuckys that are starting to have that very early indication that the percent of cases regarding the number of tests that you have, that its going up. That can a surefire sign youve got to really be careful and youve got to if you are trying to open up, please do it in a way thats in accordance with the guidelines, the guidelines that we carefully put together sometime ago. If you do that carefully and you do the fundamentals that i mentioned just a moment ago, george, i think we can prevent the surges that weve seen in the Southern States because we just cant afford yet again another surge. Yet as you know the governor of tennessee simply said hes not prepared to go along with what dr. Birx said and at the same time President Trump yesterday is saying some states should be thinking about reopening. Do we need a coordinated national strategy, all going in the same direction . You know, george, if you look at the guidelines, the way we put them out some time ago, that really is the national strategy. This was the recommendation that was made saying heres what you need to do. If youre at this level, you wait until you have a period of time over 14 days where it comes down. Then you graduate to the next phase. We there, u t the nexttied some states are not doing that. We would hope they all rethink what happens when you dont adhere to that. Weve seen it in plain sight in the Southern States that surge. So weve got to get back to a very prudent advance from one stage to another. Lets talk about sports. Weve seen that outbreak in the Miami Marlins. Can the baseball season continue . You know, i dont know. I hope so, george, because i know that major League Baseball, the players, the owners, the managers have put a lot of effort into getting together and puttinprocole fe would work. Its very unfortunate what happened with the miami dolphins. Its just first of all, im concerned. I hope the players are all right. I heard about a dozen of them have gotten infected. Even though theyre young, vigorous and very healthy i hope theyre okay but you just interest to watch this. This could put it in danger. I dont believe they need to stop but we need to follow this and see what happens with other teams on a daybyday basis. I know you meant the marlins. You said the dolphins. That does take me to my next question. I meant the im sorry. Im sorry. Sorry. Sorry, george. I totally get that. But i do want to ask about football because as we look forward to the football season, the preseason has been canceled. Is football going to have to do what the nba is doing if theyre going to have a season . Will they have to be in a bubble . You know, they might. Again, george, i hate to make determinations on that because there are people who are involved with the teams who are putting a lot of work and a lot of consideration in. It might be that they have to go in a bubble but i think theyre conscientious enough and want to protect their players and the personnel that they will do the right thing. Finally, let me ask you about vaccines. We saw that moderna trial begin yesterday. I know you say youre cautiously optimistic. What should people expect . You know, george, when i say im cautiously optimistic, i mean that. The reason i say that is that the phase 3 trial, as you know, started yesterday. The early data on phase 1 which was fundamentally safety but enough for us to see the kind of response that this vaccine induces in individuals and it induced a level of antibodies which are the proteins that fight the virus at a level that was quite high in the sense of it was comparable, if not better, than what we see in the recovery from natural infection. And thats really one of the issues when youre dealing with vaccines. If you can induce a response that is at least as good as natural infection, that is a good predictor that youre going to have a vaccine that works. Obviously the proof of the pudding is youve got to do the trial. Its a large trial. 30,000 people are going to be in the trial. That will give us the answer, and, yes, i am cautiously optimistic as we get into the late fall and early winter we will have an answer and i believe it will be positive. Dr. Fauci, thanks for your time this morning. Thank you, george. Thank you for having me. Well have much more on the covid crisis and an inside look at what went wrong as the nations top scientists look back at the beginning of the year coming up in our next hour. Robin. Always appreciate dr. Fauci joining us in the morning, thank you, george. We turn now to the u. S. Capitol. A live look where the late congressman john lewis, the first black lawmaker to lie in state in the capitol rotunda, one of the nations highest honors. The capitol closed to the public due to the pandemic but the civil rights champions coffin will be moved outside for the public to pay their respects. Also this morning in washington, lawmakers are locked in a trillion dollar battle over the next Coronavirus Relief package. The gop looking to decrease unemployment benefits, and time is running out on reaching a deal. Mary bruce is on capitol hill with more. Good morning, mary. Reporter good morning, robin. Well, the negotiations began here in earnest overnight and they are not off to a great start. Emerging from a twohour meeting with the treasury secretary and the white house chief of staff, House Speaker nancy pelosi declared the republicans are not ready to seriously negotiate. Look, the two sides are far apart here on many of these issues, but the key Sticking Point here is really those unemployment benefits. Democrats want to continue these weekly 600 checks that have been helping more than 30 million americans who are unemployed stay afloat right now while republicans say that those payments are simply too high, that they discourage americans from getting back to work. They want to slash those checks down to 200 and implement a new system that would cap these payments at 70 of a workers previous wages. Bottom line, these benefits are expiring now and it is likely to take weeks for the two sides here to reach a final deal while these benefits for millions of americans are going to be hanging in the balance, michael. A lot of lives depending on it. Thank you so much. Take a look at this heroic rescue caught on camera. An unconscious driver in new jersey saved by good samaritans. They pulled him out of his smoking vehicle after a car accident, saving him in the nick of time right before the vehicle was suddenly engulfed in flames. The Burlington TownshipPolice Officers salute those two men for their heroism. What a job they did right there. Oh, yeah. We are following a lot of other headlines including a rare shark attack. A woman killed off the coast of maine. There are warnings for beachgoers this morning. And how americans are taking advantage of traveling to croatia amid the pandemic. But is it truly safe . First, lets go to rob in texas. Hey, rob. Hey, good morning, michael. Coming to you from a familiar place, the texas coastline as we deal with remnants of hurricane hanna. Look along the border there, homes and neighborhoods swamped in floodwaters. They got the worst of it and theyre dealing with coronavirus in a big way too so not a good situation in the Rio Grande Valley. Watching this tropical wave develop. Theyre going to send a hurricane aircraft in there and check it out. We think it will becomem ourex. How strong it gets, we have no idea at this point but most of our computer models bring it over puerto rico and somewhere near the east coas