Announcer this is new day with Alisyn Camerota and john berman. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is new day. Its wednesday, july 22nd, 6 00 here in new york. And the breaking news, more than 1,000 new deaths reported overnight from coronavirus. You can see from the chart there, except for a few days of data anomalies, this is a play the u. S. Has not been since the beginning of june and its the wrong place to be. More than 142,000 americans have now died. This morning, were at near record hospitalizations. Again, the wrong place to be. It comes as the president acknowledges the situation in america will get worse before it gets better. And the numbers tell us it is worse, now. Some have noted the president spoke different words out loud than he has about coronavirus with a direct appeal to wear masks, but he also made a stunning admission about where the administration is in formulating a strategy to fight the pandemic. We a we are in the process of developing a strategy thats going to be very, very powerful. In the process of finding a strategy thats going to be very powerful. Wasnt it the time for that several tens of thousands of deaths ago . And john, Vice President pence is refusing to say whether he would have done anything differently during the course of this pandemic. He says his focus is solely on the future. This morning, this future looks challenging. California has surpassed new york as the state with the most cases. In south texas, one doctor says its been a tsunami with medical staff stretched to the limit and starting to break down emotio l emotionally. Well take you inside one South Texas Hospital later this hour. In arizona, doctors are rationing testing equipment, even as the Trump Administration sits on billions of dollars on unused money that congress had designated for testing and tracing. Lets begin our coverage with cnns jeremy diamond. He is life live at the white house. Reporter over the last month after, we have watched as cases have surged. President trump has been missing in leadership as these cases have surnlgd. Instead, when he has addressed the pandemic, he has sought to downplay it or make false claims, claiming that testing is solely responsible for the increase in case. But yesterday, we saw a bit of a change from the president. He was on script after a lot of political pressure to address this situation. And the president for the first time in a while acknowledging that things will get worse before they get better. President trump held his first Coronavirus Briefing since april, a move that one Senior Campaign adviser says could help the president politically and surge lives among surging case numbers. Some areas of our country are doing very well, others are doing less well. It will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better. Something i dont like saying about things, but thats the way it is. Reporter trump appeared at the podium alone, without any of the nations Top Health Officials from the Coronavirus Task force. I was not invited up to this point. Dr. Birx is right outside. Reporter but he did bring this new message about masks, after months of refusing to wear one in public. Were asking everybody that when you are not able to socially distance, wear a mask. Get a mask. Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact. Theyll have an effect and well need everything we can get. Reporter for some, the president s apparent change of heart is far too late. If he had said months ago, lets wear masks, lets socially distance instead of having rallies and politicalwhatevertheywere, then more people would have followed his lead. Hes the president of the United States. Reporter and with coronavirus cases surging in at least 26 states, hospitalizations rates moving close to what they were after the peak of the pandemic in april, and the u. S. Recording over 1,000 deaths in a single day for the second time this month, trump once again making this claim. The virus will disappear. It will disappear. I think that i always like to say as, you know, either way, when you look at it. Reporter but Health Experts say thats just not true. Its unlikely to go away until we develop a significant amount of immunity on the planet. Thats going to take years, even with the vaccine, thats going to take a long time to get to that point. Reporter dr. Anthony fauci says there are some strategies people can use to help slow the spread of the virus. Things like universal wearing of masks, close the bars, stay physically distant, outdoors better than indoors, wash your hands. The really fundamental things. Its not rocket science. Reporter the nations top Infectious Disease expert also responding to this comment made by the president on sunday. Hes a little bit of an alarmist. Thats okay. I consider myself more a realist than an alarmist, but people do have their opinions other than that. Ive always thought of myself as a realist when it comes to this. And in an interview yesterday with a local South Carolina tv station, Vice President mike pence was asked repeatedly whether he would do anything different in terms of this administrations response to the pandemic. Three times he was asked that question and he refused to offer an answer, saying instead that his focus is completely on today and going forward. Alisyn . Jeremy, thank you very much for that report from the white house. Also, developing overnight, california surpassing new york, becoming the state with the most coronavirus cases. The outbreak is so bad there that Los Angeles County is on the verge of shutting down again. Cnns Stephanie Elam is live in l. A. With the latest. Whats the scene on the ground there, stephanie . Good morning, alisyn. When you take a look at the Positivity Rate in the entire state of california, it is at about 7. 5 . And it has been ticking higher. And it looks like its going to continue to move higher. Writ stands right now over this 14day period. The state wanting to keep that number below 8 . But when you look at the number of cases here, the Health Secretary for the state saying that there is such an infusion of the infection going around, that its being very difficult for them to Contact Trace and reach out to all of the people who may have been in contact with somebody, who has tested positive. When you look at that number and the fact that we are at this point where hospitalizations are at a record number, above 8,600 hospitalizations in the state right now, icu patients, those numbers continue to tick up incrementally. And also, 28 out of the last 30 days, weve seen an increase in that number of hospitalizations in california. Now, here in Los Angeles County, which accounts for about 40 of all of what were seeing in the state, these numbers continue to go up, as well. The case here announced yesterday were 2,741 announced here. Whats interesting about this, though, theyre saying 57 of the cases in Los Angeles County have been from people 41 years of age or younger. The Positivity Rate, 9. 6 . And also, hospitalizations, third day in a row with them being above 2,200. Their making it very clear, the reason why this virus is spreading is because of the behavior of younger people. Its driving infections for people over 65. 11 of all of the cases, but 65 of the death here in Los Angeles County. This is why its been very clear from the mayor of los angeles that we are on the brink of another shutdown when you look at these numbers. Just to put in perspective the idea of california versus new york and the fact that california has overtaken that sad record there that we saw in new york, keep in mind, that california has twice the number of residents as new york state does. And their death rate, as far as how many people have died in new york state has been over 32,000. Here in california, its closer to the 8,000 mark. Just to put that all into perspective, alisyn. Thats really helpful context. Thank you very much, stephanie. With more than 142,000 americans killed by coronavirus, how is there still no federal plan . President trump, yesterday, said hes in the process of developing a strategy. When will we hear what that is . Thats next. Tada did you know Liberty Mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need . Given my unique lifestyle, thatd be perfect let me grab a pen and some paper. Know what . Im gonna switch now. Just need my desk. My chair. And my phone. Only pay for what you need. 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Joining us now, cnn political analyst, David Gregory and william haseltine. Professor, haseltine, i want to start with you. Yes, the president used different words than he has before on the status of the pandemic, saying its going to get worse before it gets better. He used his least ambiguous language yet on masks and thats a good thing. But the admission you just heard there that the administration is in the process of formulating a strategy and its going to be great, why the wait . Well, we know what the strategy has been. Its been to, in his own words, ride the sucker through. Its a dramatic underestimate of the power of this virus. And to wait for a vane accine a for a drug. We know thats not going to come soon enough for schools opening and soon enough for a lot of people. Weve heard a lot of the vaccine experts yesterday talk about maybe in september. Well, ken fraser, the head of merck, has called that irresponsible. That is not what people should be talking about, because theyre underestimating, in my opinion, this virus. We cannot underestimate it. There are many things that we can do that are strategies that other people have done, all over the world, and even in new york to control this infection. We have strategies that work. We just arent yet implementing them here. Actually, almost to the contrary. And i do want to get to those strategies in a second. But first, david, lets talk a little bit more about this white house briefing, because it is so striking to see such a different President Trump. So heres somebody who is sober, hes reading off notes, hes staying on message, hes not veering off into strange lands of suggesting that people inject themselves with detergent or whatever it was, disinfectant, so what do you think of the obviously, dr. Fauci, dr. Birx, dr. Redfield werent there. What do you think the effect of these new white house briefings will be . Well, i think, unfortunately, in the president s mind, and so often in our evaluation of it, its performance heart. How did he do . How did he seem . What was his tone like . The bar is so low, he speaks a little bit more forcefully about wearing masks. We say, oh, well, thats a good thing, thats a real sign of progress. I think its an admission on the part of the white house and the federal government led by the president that, indeed, things will get worse before they get better. And the why they will get worse is what weve been scrutinizing over the many weeks now. So, you know, again, i would love to see the public Health Experts out in front, without the president calling dr. Fauci an alarmist, because the remedies, we know what they are. We know what the strategy should be. It takes collective action. And i still think its striking that theres so much we dont know or cant get our arms around with regard to the virus. And i think the president has got to be the one to lead that. He cant leave it to the states where theres a patchwork, hes still got to lead. Thats right. Its not about tone, its about results. Its about plans, its about, what are you doing. And to that end, professor haseltine, after i spoke to you last night, i spoke to an emergency room doctor in arizona who told me they are rationing tests in Emergency Rooms in arizona. They do not have enough tests to give to everybody, so theyve got to pick and choose who gets the tests and people who are dying who almost definitely have coronavirus, who are never being tested. There are billions of dollars in unspent funds, already appropriated, for testing, that havent been used yet. So what does that tell you . Well, it tells you that we arent coordinated and we havent been from the very beginning. In any epidemic, you need leadership, you need governance, and you need social solidarity. And the u. S. Has been sorely lacking on all three. I hope whats happening now is a clarion call to repair the damage. It isnt going to be soon enough to save these lives, but it could be soon enough to save another 100,000 or several hundred thousand lives. We need to start acting now. On that note, professor haseltine, since President Trump says theyre now working on a strategy, can you just give us the top three things that they could do today to turn this around . Well, the first thing that they can do is have a leadership that talks about this in realistic terms. And its something that is showing that each person has to do their own part. The second is a centralized federal program to provide the assistance, the education, and the money and tools necessary to the local Public Services to make sure that this happens. That is really what we need. And its been clear all along that thats what we need. All the while, supporting research to the max to make sure that if there is a chance for great drugs and great vaccines, were making the best use of that chance. David, you had something you wanted to say . It just seems so obvious, too, that as a country, we have to be wearing masks. We have to find a way to live with this virus. At a time when were balancing reopening carefully, and much more carefully than weve done in certain parts of the country that are seeing this resurgence. Also, what was lacking yesterday was a kind of centralized federal plan to assist states who are going to make local decisions about how and when to reopen schools. This is coming up for families, very quickly, within weeks, and theres no plan. Coercion is not a plan. Forcing schools to reopen is not a plan. I encourage pushing schools to try to reopen in as safe a way as possible, because the need is so great. But there arent the resources there, theres not the coordination, as the professor says, thats whats vitally necessary right now. So david, there was a stunning moment that had nothing to do with the pandemic at this News Conference, when the president was asked about the case involving ghislaine maxwell, the friend of jeffrey epstein, who is charged with assisting his sex trafficking ring. I want to therelisten to what t president said about this accused felony. I want to wish her well. Ive met her numerous times over the years since i lived in palm beach and i guess they lived in palm beach, but i wish her well, whatever it is. I wish her well. Wow, david. I mean, how many times would it be a much better idea not to comment. We have covered president s who have said, you know, really not appropriate for me to comment on a case thats being investigated, a lurid, disgusting set of crimes that shes accused of. Ea shes entitled to a fair process. But for the president of the United States to comment at all, including wish her well, im sure his advisers wish he hadnt. Theres so many areas where a president should say, just not appropriate for me to weigh in and cause news on this. I dont think the president has ever grasped or cared to grasp that what the president of the United States says reverberates much more widely that average people. And has legal implications. Will she take it as a message from the president of the United States, who has pardon power, among other things. And who has a track record now of intervening in cases where he has personal favor. David gregory, Professor William haseltine, thanks so much for being with us this morning. Thank you. There are serious rifts brewing on capitol hill between the white house and republicans over money for testing a