March and ape lot less like june. Announcer this is new day with Alisyn Camerota and john berman. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is new day. It is tuesday, july 21st, 6 00 here in new york. President trump will restart the coronavirus briefings today, but if youre hoping for information about covid19, you may be disappointed. Sources tell cnn the socalled news conferences will not actually be focused exclusively on the pandemic. The Coronavirus Task force, meaning the doctors and experts like dr. Fauci, may not even participate. President trump cites tv ratings as the reason he wants to bring back the briefings. So, are the briefings mostly about the president s bad poll numbers . President trump also doing an aboutface on masks pun intended. He now calls wearing one patriotic, though he refused to do so for many months as the virus killed 140,000 americans. Also, he was not seen wearing one at a fundraiser at the trump hotel in washington last night. So, its an aboutface on an aboutface. Lets keep this picture up for a bit, if we can. To be clear, by his own definition, the president is engaging in acts here that the president thinks are unpatriotic, in terms that he might understand. Hes kneeling on a mask. Not only that, he seems to be in violation of washington, d. C. s reopening orders which require staff and guests to wear masks at hotels. Also, poor Lindsey Graham, who was in the frame a moment ago. Lindsey graham fell all over himself gushing praise for the president tweeting a mask photo. So, he will be so disappointed, Lindsey Graham. Graham will not only be disappointed in the president , but also disappointed in Lindsey Graham because he was standing right there for the whole thing. This morning, deaths rising in 26 states. At least eight states in puerto rico recording record hospitalizations. Overnight in texas, a judge in Hidalgo County issued an emergency order for people to shelter in place, stayathome orders. But they have restricted their abilities to enforce the orders. Also overnight, the leading diagnostic lab said processing tests could take up to two weeks as the white house tries to block funding for testing and str tracing in the next stimulus bill, money that republicans are calling for. Joe johns is at the white house. We expect to see the president give some kind of a briefing today. How extensive or how much about the pandemic remains to be seen, joe. Reporter anybodys guess, john. Hes got 141,000 americans dead on his watch. He is sinking in the polls. And now hes decided to go back to his coronavirus briefings. Its been months since the president went to one of these briefings. And showing up, just showing up, will not be enough. The question will be about the content and the messaging. President trump announced his regular coronavirus briefings are making a comeback. Were going to give you a lot of briefings in the next week and over the next few weeks. Reporter instead of focusing on the recent surge in cases and the high human cost of the virus across the country, trump gave his attention to the number of americans who could possibly tune into the sessions. Well, we had very successful briefings. I was doing them, and we had a lot of people watching, record numbers watching. Ill do it at 5 00, like we were doing. We had a good slot. Reporter the president s briefings came to an end after he made this bizarre statement in april, suggesting that household disinfectants could be used to treat coronavirus patients. And i see the disinfectant really knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do Something Like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning . Reporter trumps return to the podium will be after weeks of debate among his aides. Faced with the president sinking in the polls and Many Americans disapproving of his handling of the crisis. One Senior Trump Campaign aide suggesting the briefings arent only about saving american lives, but they could also save trumps reelection chances in november. The strategy also seen in President Trumps sudden support of wearing masks, tweeting an image of himself in one from his visit to Walter Reed National military Medical Center earlier this month, writing, many people say that it is patriotic to wear a face mask when you cant socially distance. Its the only time hes been seen wearing a mask in public after weeks of pushback. I wore one in this back area, but i didnt want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it. Reporter back in april, trump said this the same day the cdc and Coronavirus Task force asked americans to use facial coverings to slow the transmission of the virus. I just dont want to be doing i dont know, somehow, sitting in the oval Office Behind that beautiful, resolute desk, the Great Resolute desk, i think wearing a face mask as i greet president s, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens i dont know, somehow, i dont see it for myself. I just dont. Reporter still, President Trump has rejected calls for a National Mask mandate. No, i want people to have a certain freedom, and i dont believe in that, no. And i dont agree with the statement that if everybody wear a mask, everything could disappear. Reporter but Top Health Officials, such as the surgeon general, sending this message im begging you, please understand that we are not trying to take away your freedoms when we say wear a face covering. Reporter the president s endorsement of wearing a mask really raises the question of what took him so long to get there. And with that endorsement, it does not appear the president is changing his behavior behind closed doors. He attended a closeddoor fundraiser here in washington just last night, and he wasnt wearing a mask. John . What more evidence do you need . You see a big smile on his face, but no mask on his face there, joe johns. And that was last night. Oh, and theres Lindsey Graham, right . Theres Lindsey Graham, who tweeted out praise for the president in endorsing maskwearing yesterday. Poor Lindsey Graham will be so upset. The maskless Lindsey Graham, by the way. All right, joe johns at the white house. Thank you very much. Major developments in florida overnight. The state is reporting record hospitalizations with dozens of intensive care units at capacity this morning. Floridas Largest Teachers Union is suing to block the governors mandate to reopen schools. Cnns rosa flores live in miami with more. I keep on looking at those icu numbers, rosa, and theyre not getting better. Reporter theyre really not. 53 hospital icus across the state of florida are at capacity this morning. Here in Miamidade County, they have gone from operating icus at 107 capacity on thursday to 130 capacity just yesterday. The good news is that the county says that they have more than 400 beds that they can convert into icus. But the other issue and the bad news is the need for medical staff. Now, weve learned that Jackson Health has requested an additional 275 medical personnel. The state has already sent 125 nurses here. And all new this morning, were learning from the state Operations Center that another 39 hospitals across the state have asked the state of florida for more nurses. Now, i wish i could give you a full report on the Positivity Rate here in Miamidade County like i normally do, but on saturday, miamidade stopped issuing its full data report on their Positivity Rate. I asked why, and in a statement, they told me that the state and the county were going to be meeting on monday to figure out the, quote, discrepancies in how they report the Positivity Rate. Well, ive been pushing them since yesterday, and i have not received an answer. Look, its this lack of information, the lack of clarity, that has some floridians very frustrated and taking their concerns directly to Governor Ron Desantis. Take a listen. If you had been [ inaudible shouting ] if you had been infected then you [ shouting ] shame on you reporter now, florida educators are also very frustrated with the governor, filing a lawsuit yesterday against Governor Ron Desantis and his education secretary to try to stop the reopening of schools for inperson instruction next month. And john, theyre arguing in this lawsuit that this move is reckless and unsafe for children. Rosa flores, terrific work for us in miami. One point rosas making there the data has been harder to get a hold of the last four or five days. Maybe its because of the shift in the administration, taking it away from the cdc, moving it to hhs, but we are having a hard time interpreting the numbers were seeing every morning as well. There is encouraging news on the vaccine front. Three separate trials reporting promising early results. Well bring you the very latest next. vo the time is coming for us to get out and go again. To visit all the places we didnt know meant so much. But were all going at our own speed. At enterprise, peaceofmind starts with our complete clean pledge, curbside rentals and lowtouch transactions. With so many vehicles of so many kinds, you can count on us to help you get everywhere you want to go. Again. Whenever youre ready, were ready for you. Enterprise. Tempurpedics truly transformative sleep. So, no more tossing and turning. Because only tempurpedics proprietary material adapts and responds to your body. So you get deep, uninterrupted sleep. Experience our top selling tempuradapt, now only 1,999. I appreciate what makes each person unique. Thats why i like Liberty Mutual. They get that no two people are alike and customize your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. Almost done. What do you think . I dont see it. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Killer attitude. Nevor hydration. Neutrogena® hydro boost. The 1 hyaluronic acid moisturizer delivers 2x the hydration for supple, bouncy skin. Neutrogena®. That selling carsarvana, 100 online wouldnt work. But we went to work. Building an experience that lets you shop over 17,000 cars from home. Creating a coast to Coast Network to deliver your car as soon as tomorrow. Recruiting an army of customer advocates to make your experience incredible. And putting you in control of the whole thing with powerful technology. Thats why weve become the nations Fastest Growing retailer. Because our customers love it. See for yourself, at carvana. Com. No uh uh, no way come on, no no nnnnono only discover has no annual fee on any card. Walk to end alzheimers alzheis everywhere. Tion all of us are raising funds for one goal a World Without alzheimers and all other dementia. Because this disease isnt waiting, neither are you. Go to alz dot org slash walk. Developing overnight, a judge in southern texas issuing an emergency stayathome order for all residents in Hidalgo County, this amid a spike in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Meanwhile, Top Health Officials in maryland asking their governor to reimpose restrictions on bars and restaurants. Joining us now is dr. Peter hotez, the dean of the National School of tropical medicine at Baylor College of medicine in houston. Dr. Hotez, good to see you. So, Hidalgo County, stay at home i mean, in other words, its going backwards. What prompted that judges order . Alisyn, we had 34 deaths in the last 24 hours in not a very large county, so south texas is just getting hit incredibly hard. Its underreported because this is an underserved area, hispanic, latinx population. High rates of poverty. The hospitals are overwhemd. This is a dire humanitarian crisis down in south texas. And there are many stories across texas and across the southern United States among hispanic and latinx Communities Just getting hammered, and were not really getting a full accounting of this. My suspicion is that the death rates are extraordinary among these populations who live in poverty, who represent essential workers, who have to be in the workplace in order to support their families. And these are just incredible tragedies, one of the many, of course, in this 2020 epidemic in the United States. But we just dont hear enough about the role of covid19 as a health disparity, and im very discouraged by that. Dr. Hotez, you said we should stop counting on the administration for answers here and look to others to lead. In that vain, the white house, the president has announced hes going to begin holding briefings again, which will include some information, i imagine, on the pandemic. How much of a difference do you think this will make . You know, in the past, john, the quality of the briefings is very poor. There was not they were not very informative, and they were horribly organized. I mean, you would just have several different people get up there, cite different facts or factoids, but it was left to you to kind of string together the real story of what was happening. They never got up there and said, look, this is the three big problems that are facing the nation right now. This is where if we dont do anything, things will head, and heres what were going to do about it. It seems pretty obvious, doesnt it, that this is what you would do in a briefing, but that was never done. It was just this random collection of facts, with the Vice President and the physicians on the task force. So, you came away saying, well, what actually are they going to do . And now we know, they didnt plan to do anything. There was never a national plan. It was put the states out in front. Well provide some backup fema support and other types of support, when asked, but this is why were in this terrible situation. There was never a federal response led by epidemiologists who knew what they were doing in terms of giving directives to the governors to tell them what to do. And so, a few of us are starting to do this independently, now putting together what needs to be done, because we can do a lot between now and october in terms of reducing the hospitalizations and deaths. And its just so awful and tragic that its not coming out of the federal government. Dr. Hotez, its also, as you point out, so awful and tragic. 34 dead in one county in 24 hours . I mean, that is just such a stunning number. And you know, at the same time, we had heard that things, therapeutics were working, you know, hospitals were trying new things. They were going to be able to keep the death count maybe down, somehow, through steroids or through remdesivir being, you know, distributed at hospitals. And so, is that just not across the country . I mean, why are deaths spiking, if weve made progress . Well, the deaths spike for three reasons. And now were starting to see it. Remember a few weeks ago we heard from the white house, no deaths . And we all said there was going to be a lag in deaths . And sure enough, now were seeing a steep rise in deaths in florida, texas, across the south. And they come in three different waves. The first part is the fact people on ventilators for periods of time finally succumb. Thats a big part of it. The second is the fact that as hospitals become overwhelmed, as hospital staffs become overwhelmed, its not just the beds, its the human capital, donning and offing ppe multiple times a day, hospital staff getting sick. This is what were seeing across the south. Thats when you get the second big waves of deaths coming along. We saw this in europe. We saw this in new york. And guess what, were seeing it here. So thats also happening as well. Its just impossible to manage the surge. And then there are the unreported deaths at home, which according to some estimates, may account for an extra 20 deaths. So, all those three are coming together now in south texas and across the south. And again, its mostly happening to people of color and the working poor in many of these counties. All preventible and predictable, unfortunately. Some vaccine news yesterday. The vaccine study out of oxford, the one that they are promoting, also one in china, moving to the next step, shown to produce an immune response and also very few significant side effects at all. What does this mean, dr. Hotez . How much hope do you hold out . Well, as dr. Fauci uses always that term cautiously optimistic, and i would echo that. I think looking at the oxford vaccine and that study that was published in lancet, they really only got a really strong immune response that looked promising in individuals who got two doses of the vaccine, not one dose. And the reason thats important is there were only ten patients in that study who got two doses. So, cautiously optimistic in the sense that it looked good in those ten patients, but were going to need to vaccinate thousands of patients in order to get an idea whether these vaccines are actually working and theyre safe. So, i think the takehome message, a number of the warpspeed vaccines, and a number of the chinese vaccines, is theres enough there there, in order to move it into clinical trials, large trials, 20,000 to 30,000 people. And next year well get a better read on whether these vaccines work and are safe. So cautiously optimistic. Dr. Hotez, thank you so much. We learn so much talking to you, even if the information is hard to hear. We really appreciate it. Thank you. President tr