Transcripts For MSNBCW Andrea Mitchell Reports 20200706

Im not going to get into whos right and whos wrong. So you wont say whether 99 of coronavirus cases are completely harmless as true or false, what the president said at the would us last night . Danna, ill say we have data in the White House Task force the data show us its a serious problem and people need to take it seriously. Florida Governor Ron Desantis set to brief media at any moment and were carry part of that for you at the coronavirus situation in florida. Of course, its getting critical. Waiting for that to get under way. First, going to florida, nbcs Kerry Sanders in st. Petersburg. Kerry, floridas cases are hitting levels no the seen sis new yorks peak. The governor pressured to issue a statewide mask mandate as the Texas Governor had to do last week. What is the situation there . Reporter well to put a fine point on that, im in st. Petersburg, as you noted. This is one of four hospital the floridaarea agency on Health Care Administration says is out of space in its icu for more coronavirus cases. That is of concern here in Pinellas County but really across the state as were continuing to see going from, well it took four months to have 100,000 positive tests. Now, in the last two weeks, to 200,000, and after this Holiday Weekend, the fear is that people did ignore social gathering right here in Pinellas County. Beaches were open, people gathered on the beaches. So the fear is that that lag time is now going to show up, and its not only just spacing the hospitals, because hospitals can, they can move a little bit. They can add a little room here, make an area and an added icu. Its the number of nurses need to attend to each of the patients. Its pretty much been a oneonone across the country to give the care thats needed for the patients in the hospitals, and as they run out of space and certainly dont have enough nurses, they then have a crisis on their hands. In miamidade county, Jackson Memorial went in advance of the fourth of july weekend and hired 80 new nurses knowing that theres likely to be more patients. But bottom line is, the concern is, there is going to be even more before it lessens and nobody knows when its going to lessen. Listen to what this expert had to say. I do anticipate that after this weekends parties we are going to see a bump in the next, you know, week to ten tdays, tw weeks. Beaches are closed. They are pausing on reopening because south florida behaved a lot more like the northeast than the rest of the state of florida does. Reporter florida is averaging 45 deaths a day. Sunday the greatest number of deaths was right here in Pinellas County. 14 14. Bottom line, Health Officials are uncertain what is going to be the eventual end to all this because of the patchwork in the state, and its possible floridas governor will address that. Up until now he that stood back. He has allowed the counties to make decisions. So in miamidade county, for instance, they have just decided now theyre going to open the beaches tomorrow, but theyre going to close Indoor Dining a the restaurants, but they will allow it for takeout. Whereas here, the beaches are open and you can go in to the restaurants. Its a big state and, remember, this is a tourist state. So there are those who have been traveling, andrea, to miamidade, discovering when they got there, well, our vacations a little different, and get in the car, come up here to central florida. Out on the west coast on the beaches here. Of course is, if theyre asymptomatic, carrying potentially the spread of the coronavirus. Andrea . All to be, allworrying indeed as we wait for Governor Desantis briefing. Thanks for setting us up and nbcs priscilla is in houston. They hit a new record in hospitalizations over the weekend. More than 8,000 people. You spoke to an e. R. Doctor earlier. What did he tell you . Reporter well, some of the same things, andrea, that ker talked about. For one, a need for more staffing. As these icu beds in the hospitals begin to fill up, there is a growing concern about having staff here. The e. R. Doctor i spoke with says they are in touch about the possibility of bringing in Health Care Providers from other states to be able to help out, because they are preparing to possibly have to use that Surge Capacity here soon. Right now the Texas Medical Center is reporting 98 of icu beds here are full, and so doctors here at houston methodist are preparing extra rooms to have those icu capabilities, and i also spoke to the doctor about the patients that theyre seeing coming through these doors and really what theyve learned since this virus first emerged a few months ago. Take a listen to what this doctor told me. This second surge is showing us a younger population. The rates of infection are higher. Weve already tripled the number at our peak to 629 today. If not higher. And those patients are requiring admission for treatments to increase oxygen, but not necessarily needing ventilation because of things we learned from the first surge. Reporter and so, andrea, that might explain why were not hearing as much as the need for more ventilators as we heard whenever new york city was a hot spot, because it seems doctors developed different strategies to not necessarily have to put folks on those ventilators immediately. But, you know, folks here still urging people to use those preventative measures, because it is really the only way well begin to see the numbers come down, andrea. Thanks so much to you, priscilla. Joining us now, nbc news medical correspondent dr. John torres. Dr. Torres, a lot to unpack including what the president said about 99 of the cases are harmless. None of the experts weve spoken to are indicating that that is correct. Theres also the lack of Face Covering at his events. Especially in Mount Rushmore. Barely month masks to be seen and his own lack of models of Face Covering. Youre right. A lot to unpack. Start with the 99 thing. I think he was referring to the death rate, we think is around 1 maybe a little less. That is different than saying this is a harmless virus, because only 1 of people are affected by it. What we estimate is 15 to 20 , so around 20 of people who test positive for coronavirus or have coronavirus end up in the hospital. Of those around 20 end in up the icu. A portion of those end up with longterm issues. Respiratory issues, neurological issues, other issues they have. Some of these are probably going to carry with them the rest of their lives. To say its harmless is far if a the fact and that 99 again, i think referring to the death rate not the virus itself and what it can do to people. Again that 20 are getting harmeds by the virus. Doesnt even fall close to the 1 . As far as the crowds out there, what we do know is that the more people you are around, the longer youre around those people, the more likely to catch coronavirus. Being outdoors certainly helps. Not having masks, being shoulder to shoulder, that close to others that can cause it to spread. Well find out over the next couple of weeks what the actual impact is. We know from protests doesnt seem to have spread as much but they werent in a static situation. Walking around. Air moving around. Here its different but it is outdoors and hopefully that helps out a little bit, andrea e. And take a look at part of what new jerseys Governor Phil Murphy had to say on meet the press about people coming from myrtle beach, coming from other areas, cullioming from florida reinfecting jersey, so hardhit, second after new york at the i dont ut set. Lets watch. Were starting to see a small spike in reinfection from folks come canning back from places like myrtle beach and as well as in florida. Other hot spots. We went through hell. We cannot afford to go through hell again. We need a National Strategy i think right now and masking has to be at the core of that. And you here have situations where greg abbott retreating in florida from his ruling previously that local mayors could not ban the lack of masks, and in texas, rather, and then as well desantis resisting that in florida. Asa hutchinson i spoke to on meet the press from arkansas saying masks were encouraged but he wasnt going to require it. All of these different decisions statebystate, and Public Health people saying, why not have a National Standard . And i think thats the exact question. Why not have a National Standard . Im hearing as well as you have, anecdotal stories of people going inside without masks getting in arguments with staff. Even getting violent with staff or vice versa. This is the type of thing. If we had a National Mandate that would quell the whole situation, because then it would be one of those, im not saying this because its our policy. Saying it because this is a national policy. One thing, because of our nation, we have borderers that are open. You can travel from one coast to the other. Travel north to south without issues but also transport coronavirus, and one of the big things to realize, sure in some situations in some areas, absolutely no virus or very little virus, they might be Wearing Masks and not necessarily needed as much. Some of the other areas, hot spots, but the goal here is for everybody to protect themselves, their loved ones, their community add the whole country to make sure we all recover from this as quickly as possible. And now i also wanted to ask about 200 scientists urging the w. H. O. To adropt Higher Standards regarding airborne spread. Known quite a while think is an airborne spread and why people are concerned about singing and other, shouting and what can be spread from these, these droplets in the air. Especially indoors, and with poor ventilation. And now the, the scientists are urging the w. H. O. To focus more on that as part of their requirements, or recommendations . And the world health organization, cdc, both looking into this. What essentially theyre saying, these 239 scientists, is that because of different patterns of spread in restaurants and other indoor situations, that it looks like the virus might be airborne. Thats justish, more on les a scientific distinction of the size of the virus and how long it lasts. Indoor, no ed to be care of the. Spreads more readily indoors. Children, young adults going back to college in those indoor situations come fall. We need to be very careful. A better look at the ventilation system, better look how to make sure the virus doesnt spread whether its respiratory droplets or airborne particles, smaller ones. Seems social distancing, might have to wear them indoors, might be part of the mandate, and ventilati ventilation, those things will make sure we get through this. John torres, youre helping us get through it so thank you very much, doctor. Appreciate it. Coming up, the divider in chief. President trump, ramping up his rhetoric on a weekend meant to celebrate the country. Plus, the veep states. Who is joe biden going to pick for his running mate . Later a look at some contenders. This is Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. This is Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. Dear fellow Business Leaders and technologists, i see all the Amazing Things you have been doing. You are transforming business models, and virtualizing workforces overnight. Because so much of that relies on financing, we have committed two billion dollars to relieve the pressure on your business. As you adapt and transform, were here with the people, financing, and technology, ready to help. Were here with the people, finansaturpain happens. Gy, aleve it. Aleve is proven stronger and longer on pain than tylenol. When pain happens, aleve it. All day strong. And sometimes, you can find yourself heading in a new direction. But when youre with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. A partner who makes sure every step is clear, yeah. This moving thing never gets any easier. Well, xfinity makes moving super easy. I can transfer my internet and tv service in about a minute. Wow, that is easy. Almost as easy as having those guys help you move. We are those guys. Thats you . The truck adds 10 pounds. In the arms. Okay. Transfer your Service Online in a few easy steps. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Transfer your service in minutes, making moving with xfinity a breeze. Visit xfinity. Com moving today. Today the president continues to play to the most extreme factions of his Political Base tweeting an attack against Bubba Wallace, the only black sponsored driver in nascar. The president asking, has Bubba Wallace apologized to all of those great nascar drives and officials who came to his aide, stood by his side and willing to sacrifice everything for him only to find out the whole thing was just another hoax, well, it wasnt. Actually wallace and nascar replied in full in the last days and weeks the rope found in this garage was unlike all others shaped like a noose. The difference, it had been there a while and not found by the fbi to be aimed specifically at Bubba Wallace. Another driver tweeting we dont need an apologize. Well do just fine without i dont support. The president deciding an attack on critics of the confederate monuments is a big appeal to his base during this Holiday Weekend speeches in the Mount Rushmore and in washington. The radical ideology attacking our country advances under the banner of social justice, but in truth, it would demolish both justice and society. It would transform justice into an instrument of division and vengeance. Their goal is not a better america. Their goal is to end america. We will never allow an angry mob to tear down our statues, erase or history indoctrinate our children or trample on our freedoms. [ applause ] and joining me now, nbc White House Correspondent and weekend today cohost peter alexander, msnbc political analyst rick tyler. Pbs news hour White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor and welcome to all. What a way to celebrate the nations birthday and bring the nation together. Peter, the attacks continuing today. The bub ba wallace. Why go after Bubba Wallace personally with that dig today . Andrea, exactly right. Not just going after Bubba Wallace also perhaps striking in the tweet him being so supportive of the Confederate Flag in his two addresses over the weekend that faced a lot of criticism. He tried to uphold the American Heritage as he describes it but steered clear of making any particular references to the confederacy. He did that, though, in this tweet, in speaking to one of the president s allies within the last hour this individual described it to me and an unforced error, a step backwards and the president basically pursuing a smaller and smaller slice of the pie right now. Also struck by what Lindsey Graham said about this just moments ago, pushing back, one of the president s own allies pushing back publicly to the president s statement saying to Fox Newsradio about nascar, theyre trying to grow the sport. Ive lived in South Carolina owl my life. In business, the Confederate Flag is not a good way to grow your business. As weve witnessed this is the president not just doubling, triples, be quadruple down on the culture wars against stoking racial divisions within the country, andrea. Peter, you did great. We can hear you fine over that blower or trucks and Everything Else on the north lawn. Yamiche alcindor, the president falling back on his denial in terms of the virus and focusing on dividing the country by going after protesters and emphasizing any violence in the protesters and really drilling down on support for the confederate soldiers saying they were fighting for freedom, not fighting against racism. Thats right, andrea. What we see in President Trump is someone who is determined to be on the side of confederate generals, determined to be on the side of people who see american history, critics say, as weis white history. The idea america treated everyone equally and there was no racial strife in america is the history President Trump continue to harkin baearken on. Andble the black lives matter, its swelled, support of americans across all 50 states including in red states. People taking to the streets saying africanamericans should be treated equally. Police brutality should stop. The particulresident is saying americans are asking for the country to could better, he does the no want that movement to succeed and taking a political risk. Looking a the people against moving America Forward saying, no. We need to be on the other side of those people. Interesting that all of this is happening as the New York Times had to sue the trump administration, the cdc, to get racial data on the virus that shows africanamericans and latinos are dieing and infected in the virus at higher rates than white americans. I think all of this together is really showing that the president is really running from the . Ed there is racial inequities in this country and an interesting strategy on his part. Worked in 2016. In 2018 and well see if it works in 2020. You traveled a lot with the president focusing on this issue. I wanted to share with a lot of our viewers an excerpt from what your colleague wrote as well today. He wrote, trump knows his Reelection Campaign is in trouble sees the fight against this enemy of his creation as his pathway to victory in november. His political weapon of choice is exaggerated and at times racist rec rick designed to pit americans against americans. Never in our lifetime has the fourth of july been used for this. And the idea is that theyre betting hard here on something some of his own advisers think is a bad idea, which is to focus on an extremely small slice of america, which overlaps with some of his most hard core ardent supporters. The problem is he drives adrivs large share of his electorate hes going to need at this point quite troubled campaign. No one around the president who thinks this is a bad strategy long term has been able to persuade him otherwise. I think what we saw this weekend in than dan balls identified so clearly, historical difference we see now. The nations birthday has really been for two centuries and certainly in the modern Communications Era for most of the last century, been an opportunity for president s to speak to the country in unifying fashion and talk about the things that unite us and talk about the things that make America Great and look forward to continuing that greatness and all the kinds of rhetoric that is easy to summon on july 4th, and instead what we had this weekend in this speech at Mount Rushmore and again at the july 4th speech was the president attempting to divide americans one from another. Some of the rhetoric recalled to antiimmigrants, rhetoric from the 2016 campaign. There he was focusing outward on an enemy. Here making the enemy other america, and also overtones of the inauguration address, the carnage in america. Rick tyler, i was talking to Asa Hutchinson on meet the press yesterday. Here is a southern governor asking about the wearing of masks and the example that the president is not setting. Lets watch. Youre showing by example when youre out in public and other republicans now are the president is not, and he not only is not wearing a Face Covering in public, but he has these huge gathering over the weekend. South dakota. Again, in washington, d. C. Do, against local objections in washington. What example is that . Well, in terms of the gatherings themselves, you know, a lot of them were canceled. Here in arkansas for the july celebrations, just trying to minimize that exposure, but when you look at a national level, i think it is good that we celebrate our independence. Thats a controlled environment. It was outside at Mount Rushmore. I think it inspired many. Obviously i would have liked to have seen more Face Covering there in order to set an example. Governor, absolutely no social distancing in south dakota. Thousands of people there sitting absolutely crowded in, and no Face Covering as well. There should have been Face Coverings. They should have followed guidelines there. Went on to say he would not like to have a rally in arkansas, rick, without some kind of Face Covering and distancing. We know, andrea, i saw that, your interview yesterday with asa. Its unbelievable to me we cant just have a simple message that masks represent freedom. Masks represent freedom from infection, from illness, from not being able to breathe. From hospitalizations. The worry you might infect a uv willed one especially your elderly grandparents, and its such a simple thing to do. Look, i said on this program over a month ago that the coronavirus is going to hit the red states and its going to hit them hard. Thats now happening. Id like to make another prediction. Not being complacent. Intrajectory, its almost impossible he could win an election, unless its close where he could put the country into a crisis. Nine of ten of the states are all states trump won. Florida is getting 10,000plus cases a day. That has affected not only Peoples Health but the economy dramatically. Trump touted his 5 million new jobs in the month of june. Lets put that in context. If we had a jobs report equal or better than the 5 million in june in july, august, september, and october, we would still be 2 million jobs in the hole. Thats the reality that people are facing. Theyre facing coronavirus and Economic Hardship and this president would like us to believe that this virus is somehow magically going to disappear. Its not going to magically disappear. Hes going to magically disappear. And just to pick up that point, peter. You spoke to the president s chief of staff mark meadows about that 99 harmless comment. Lets play that and i want to ask you about it. Thats the real key is, is when you start to take out some of the deaths weve had in Nursing Homes and those, its not to downplay the deaths weve had but really to look statistically to know that whatever risk that you may have or i may have or my children or my grandchildren may have, lets look at that appropriately and i think thats what he was trying to do. Reporter he says 99 of people test positive, you agree may not die it still necessarily may not be harmful . Anytime anybody is sick, we look at that. It wasnt the president s intent i dont think to downplay that. Saying lets look at this in an appropriate way, look at the risks. Peter, the fact is the president , the white house strategy, as youve been reporting, is to downplay the threat of the virus, right now the white house strategy, messaging, people have to learn to live with it but the president wasnt speaking the truth when he said 99 of are the cases are totally harmless. Curious who the white house identifies as a member of the task force would say that fact is true. They havent been able to prove that data. A lot of people dont die but get sick and severely at times. Peter thank you so much and all of you, thank you. And coming up, unanimous. Todays Supreme Court ruling 0en a case that could have changed the way we pick our president. Still waiting for an update from floridas Governor Ron Desantis. Supposed to speak about the covid19 outbreak in this state. Well bring it to you when it happens. Stay with us. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. Rts on msnb. And its bigger than pizza because for every shaqaroni sold, 1 is donated to the Papa Johns Foundation for building community. 1 is donated to the Papa Johns Foundation with herbal ashwagandas help turn the stress life into your best life live like a stress baller with stressballs 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. Now to a unanimous ruling bite Supreme Court today that could impacts the upcoming president ial election and had to do with faceless electors. Electoral College Members who feel they dont have to follow direction of the voters in their states. Joining us now, pete, tell us ash this case and significance of the ruling. Andrea, if the vote in the electoral to college was close and electors were free to vote for whoever they wanted they could decide outcome of the election. As it stands now electors are chosing by there Political Parties and pledge to support whoever wins the popular vote in their state and thats the way its supposed to work. If the democrat wins the vote in a certain state then the democratic slate of electors go to the Electoral College for that state and vote accordingly. Can they go rogue . The Supreme Court said, no. Writing the decision, true the constitution is silent on this, but it does say that states appoint electors and the power to appoint means the power to set conditions. One of those cases, if it had gone the other way, hugely destru destructive. Thats basically what those who brought the case were hoping, ultimately more attention on the Electoral College and persuade moor to move more towards direct popular vote. Pete, do we know anything else about the rest of the term . When the final decisions will come . Were in july. You know as well as i, that doesnt usually happen. The anything else part, yes. We know what cases are left to be decided but, no, dont know when well get the final decisions. Still witting on the big ones, whether a new york prosecutor can get subpoenas to financial documents the president has. A couple freedom of religion cases optout for mandate of obamacare and dont know what the last days are. In a situation with the pandemic. Supreme court called off oral argument from march and april, pushed to may and thats pushed the whole schedule behind, andrea. Pete williams, happy to have you around. Thank you. Longer than usual in july. Coming up in the running who is on the list to be joe bidens running mate . More on that coming up next. And why have black and latino people been hit so hard by the coronavirus . We dive into that later. This is Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. Is andrea l reports on msnbc. crowd cheering therabreath, its a better mouthwash. At walmart, target and other fine stores. Or psoriatic arthritis, Little Things can become your big moment. 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But when youre with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. Joe biden has long said he will picka running mate. Since the death of george floyd a growing push to put a black woman on the ticket. I asked about this on meet the press sunday. You are also of course mentioned on the Vice President ial list for joe biden. Obviously you have the National Security credentials, but how should americans feel about voting for someone whos never had any experience in electoral politics. Never run in a national campaign. Andrea, lets not get ahead ef ourselves here, right . Joe biden needs to make the decision as to who he thinks will be his best running mate and i will do my utmost drawing on my experience of years in government, years of making the bureaucracy worked. Ive worked on multiple campaigns, president ial campaigns. Been on the campaign trail as a surrogate and im going to do everything i can to help get joe biden elected and help him succeed as president , whether im his rinningmate or a door knocker. I dont mind. And joining me now, former democratic congresswoman Donna Edwards of maryland and Jonathan Capehart, opinion writer for the Washington Post. Welcome, both. Donna, it was very interesting that there was no shyness there in susan rices answer. She put herself out there. She was very direct about it. Similarly, weve seen others respond that way. The Washington Post reports to senator duckworth is emerging as a contender higher up on the list. And weve seen former Senate Majority leader harry reid has been in direct contact with the Biden Campaign talking in an interview a lot of attention lately on duckworth. What are you seeing . Look, i think the Democratic Party and joe biden in particular has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to selection for a Vice President. I think the big issue on the table is whether it was going to be a woman. What woman . Well, he put that aside by saying that he would choose a woman, and there are any number of women in my view who have the requisite experience, pluses and minuses and so ive actually decided no the to get invested in who that woman should be, because i think the most important thing is for joe biden to choose somebody he can govern with. Not just someone he can campaign with. But he can govern, with a govern agenda thats really strong and making sure that we put the country on a pathway that isnt just about recreating the past, but really building a future that includes a future for all americans and i think he should choose someone he can work with to get that job done. And until now the conventional wisdom has been Kamala Harris fits the bill, because she has run in a national campaign, has been in the debates, and that was one thing that joe biden said he was thinking about. Lets watch what she had to say to Nicolle Wallace last week. I want deep in my heart, that joe biden wins this election, and i want joe biden to pick whoever is going to help him win the election and wherever i am, im going to support him in every way i can. Jonathan capehart, Kamala Harris is high on a lot of peoples lists, but not your aunt gloria list. What does aunt glor wa want. From the very beginning said joe biden would be the nominee, needs to be the nominee. Shes been proven right. Theres aunt gloria. Then early on she said. Love it. She thought that senator Elizabeth Warren should be his running mate. When the black lives matter protests flared up initially in late may, early june, i got an email from aunt gloria saying, in this time, we need to be brought together. I think senator harris should be that person, but it only lasted a couple of weeks and she emailed me back saying, nope. Sorry. Going back to senator warren. She thinks that senator warren would be a good governing partner with Vice President biden. I have to say in my family, my mother on the other hand wants susan rice to be the Vice President ial nominee. She likes susan rice. I still stand by my original going on the record to say that senator Kamala Harris would be the best pick for Vice President biden. But, look, all of the names ive mentioned and all the names aagree with congresswoman edwards,s that an embarrassment of ish ares here for former Vice President joe biden. Any of the people weve been talking about would be superb. Well, i just want to say, jonathan, i havent met aunt gloria but i met your mother on zoom last week on your birthday celebration. Listening to everyone in your family and to Donna Edwards. So joe biden will pick the eventual choice of course. Leave it there, because Governor Ron Desantis in florida has, in the villages by the way, where that white power protest was last week the president retweeted is now speaking. Lets listen. Thats very, very important. Mortality is very, very clear skewing heavily in that direction. Those are folks that need support. Well talk about expansion of testing very robust now. Social distancing, still very important. Support for Hospital Health care workers, and then obviously introduction of the virus into florida. So if you look at where we are and kind of where weve been particularly over the last month, when we started this clearly the testing levels were low at the time cdc said only test somebody whos 65 and older. Has symptoms. It was in china. Maybe some other international places. Part of that, a limited testing capacity. So you look kind of the march, beginning of april. We were testing at probably similar levels per capita that other states were except for the northeast, but much different than what we are now. But the Positivity Rate was basically about 10 for those first four to six weeks. So if you did 10,000 tests, you get 1,000 positive is kind of what we were looking at there. Then as we got into april, we started seeing positive movement in the Positivity Rate. Beginning of may through that second week of june was really the best testing that we had had going on in the state of florida in terms of low positivity. We were expanding the number of tests being contacted, but the amount of people, the percentage of people testing positive was very, very low. So you look at the beginning of may, you know, we were under 5 . All the way through june 13th. We were 4. 9 . Now, the june 13th week, 7th to the 13th, you started to see even though 4. 9 is still good, 3. 3 the week be before, started to see increase in positivity. Part driven by discreet outbreaks we saw in different parts of the state. I think kind of the beginning of then the next week. We get into, again, were testing a lot of people, 230,000. But we went to 9. 5 positivity. So youre testing a lot of people but percentage testing positive is higher and then the following week a huge increase in the number of tests that are done, but also an increase in the positivity from 9. 5 to 11. 9 and then this past week we did almost 400,000 tests, but had just under 15 positivity, and, really, when you look at the positivity, its been about 14 , 15 pretty consistently now for more than a week. Really probably about eight to ten days. So when you look at cases, and ill talk about this a little more in a minute, for every case thats documented there are many more infections that actually occurred. We only diagnose a small fraction of the total number of infections. So if you are at 5 positivity and you test 50,000, then you test 100,000, positivity stays same, yeah, twice as many tests come back positive, but not really evidence that its more prevalent. When you are seeing the positivity increase more people out of whatever amount youre doing testing positive, thats an indication of the positivity increasing and so some of the, these things weve seen over the last eight days, media says, record case. Its basically been the same. Yeah, we do 80,000 tests well have more. 40,000 tests going to have less positives, but the percentage has been pretty consistent. Now this is, we want to get back down in that 3 , 4 we were in may and early june. At the same time the 15 , thats a far cry from what you were seeing in places like the northeast where they were 30 , 40 , 50 early in the pandemic. In fact, we are now at the point where weve tested 10 of the states population. So 2. 2 million people. We got about obviously a little under 22 million floridians. Thats a lot of tests. But i think its something that was significant. We wanted to expand testing and weve done it. Then heres the stats to the last week. Almost 400,000 people tested. 14. 8 tested positive. So, again, take the may percentage, we would have probably been 4 or 5 . That generates a lot more tests, positive tests, when testing at 14. 8 and the positivity is not uniform throughout the state of florida. You go down to miamidade, theyve been 20 . You look at hillsborough, between 15 and 20 . I think Orange County has been over 15 . And then theres other places that have been less. And you know, may not be, some places 1 or 2 in may. Now they may be 6 or 7 . Youve seen increase in positivity but a lot of parts of florida that are still in the single digits. So obviously i want to keep it that way and be able to do median age is significant. Talk a little more about that in a minute. The median age of everybody testing right now positive for this past week is 36. As weve seen the cases increase the median age every single day has been in the 30s. Sometimes as low as 33. Why is that important . Well, because this is a virus that does not affect all age groups equally. Its much more lethal for people who are in their 80s and 90s than it is in your 20s and 30s. Going through some of the numbers, basically if youre under 40 and you dont have significant comorbidities, fatality rate is pretty close to zero. So who is testing positive is just as important as how many people are testing positive. This is a, probably a two decade shift from where we were with the median age at the end of march, beginning of april. We had been in the 60s, then in the 50s and then as this upswing has really been driven by a lot of people in their 20s and 30s, testing positive. So heres an example of kind of the risk profile by age group which is very, very important. And as weve listened to the governor of florida, downplaying the numbers and saying that playing the numbers and saying its increased testing and and that its also a younger can hort. So rejoining me now is nbc news medicine correspondent, john torres, and former democratic congresswoman, Donna Edwards and Jonathan Capehart. Dr. Torres, back to you. Hes basically saying a lot of what the president has been saying. Increased testing and that the age category is lower, so therefore, not to worry. But those young people do have families, have grandparents and parents and see other people. So what are we to believe here . So exactly. Youre right. It is something to worry about because the numbers you touted, definitely theres more testing, which means the numbers are going up. But the Positivity Rate, the number of people who test positive. That Positivity Rate is much higher than it should be. 10 or less is what we look forment hes talking 15 to 20 . The median age is in the mid 30s. Thats middle of the age range of people testing positive. But like you said, those people, it might not affect them much, but they can spread it to other people. Those are just the ones we know about. Thats the rate of the ones tested. The asymptomatic ones, that number is going to be higher as well. Again, we need to look at both aspects of this. And also, the impact of africanamericans and latinos who have been so disproportionately affected by the coronavirus. This has to be concerning to anyone in the Public Health field, as well as elected official, as well as all americans. Well, i think, i mean it is a concern and i dont think we fully understand the, the issues and the challenges and i think this administration continues along with their red state governors, to down play the impact of this virus. As though somehow, magically, it has gone away or is going away when in fact, in state after state, i think Something Like 32 states have seen increases in coronavirus over the last couple of weeks. This virus has taken hold because of the mismanagement of this administration and the president of the United States. And jonathan, just your final thoughts on this racial d disparity. What this pandemic has done is show the disparities that are throughout american society. The fact that you have this virus disproportionately impacting africanamericans just goes to show how broken our Health Care System is. And the desperate need for a National Strategy to get the virus under control, but to also help the, help africanamericans who are being hit by this pandemic in ways that they really shouldnt be if we had a functioning white house and a functioning administration that took the lives and the lively 450d hoods of all americans to r heart. Thanks so very much to you, Jonathan Capehart and to dr. Torres and Donna Edwards and now to the heartbreaking news from broadway. Tony nominated actor, nick lost his long battle with coronavirus. He died after 90 day as in freemt. He was only 41 years old. That to what the governor was saying about young people. He is survived by his wife and their 1yearold son, elvis. Joe friar has more on his life. The bright lights of broadway a little dimmer after the passing of one u of its stars. He died sunday after bravely battling coronavirus for more than three months. His heartbroken wife, a amanda writing on instagram, god has another ainngel in heaven now. He was surrounded in love by his family, singing and pray, when he gently left this earth. Reaction to the tragic news, swift, my heart is broken, i feel ill. My condolences to you. Zack braf writing i have never met a a kinder human being. Dont believe that covid only claims the elderly and infirm. He spent the last three months in the hospital, six weeks of that in a medically induced coma. His wife kept the world posted through the triumphs da da is awake yay and the tears. Nick suffered from some new england infection in his lungs earlier this week. Unable to see her husband for 79 days, amanda was finally able to visit him in june, posting this tender photo of them Holding Hands at his bedside. Amanda encouraged fans and friends to sing his 2018 single, live your life, every day. A heartwarming response online was overwhelming. In her instagram note, she said that song not only lifted her spirits, but provided comfort in his final moments. We sang it to him today holding his hands. As i sang the last line to him, theyll give you hell, but dont you let them kill your light, not without a fight, live your life. I smiled because he definitely put up a fight. I will love you forever and always, my sweet man. Actor zack braf said the last text he receive frd him is to look out for his family. He promises the world they will never want for anything. Our thoughts are with them. Absolutely heartbreaking. That does it for this edition. Craig melvin picks up our coverage after a break. Picks u coverage after a break to severe psoriasis, Little Things can become your big moment. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. 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Transfer your service in minutes, making moving with xfinity a breeze. Visit xfinity. Com moving today. A good monday afternoon to you. Were following the latest facts on this pandemic for you right now. We just heard from florida governor, the governor down play thag states increase in case numbers, say iing the jump is coming because of an increase in testing. He said the recent surge in cases has been driven by people largely in their 20s and 30s. Meanwhile, the United States just crossed 2. 9 million cases of coronavirus and nearly 133,000 americans have died. Florida, texas, arizona are among the states with the highest surge in cases right now. But today in new york city, theyre entering phase three of reopening. Allowing nail salons,