Numbers keep increasing. We keep seeing covid patients. The work is heavy. We try to keep each other up and help each other out. I dont think as nurses youre less immune to being scared and terrified of it like the general population. What is scary now is that people are starting to be deceitful with their coronavirus testing results. Because you could spread it and still feel fine and theyre going out in public and giving it to people and i dont think that people realize it would wipe us all out just by being deceitful and selfish and not staying inside. Once again we begin the show with voices from medical workers on the front lines of this pandemic as the situation continues to deteriorate. In a growing number of states, welcome to wednesday. It is meet the press daily and im katy tur in for chuck todd. As we approach the july fourth holiday there is concern this pandemic could once again spiral out of control if something doesnt change. Cases are rising at record levels. States are playing catchup. Hospitalizations are threaten to overwhelm some cities. There isnt enough testing. The white house is once again urging all americans to do their part to slow the spread and the president is just now recommending the use of facial coverings. Let that all sink in. That is where we are four whole months into this pandemic. The trends are alarming. And in arizona cases are spiking, so are hospitalizations. Hospitals statewide have been given the green light to activate crisis care standards. The governor is urging all residents to stay home. Vice president pence met with the state governor this afternoon in phoenix and he assured the state that, quote, help it on the way from the federal government. In california, theyre seeing a Record Number of cases and a Record Number of hospitalizations, too. Right now 99 of the normal icu beds in riverside county, one of the most populous counties in america are occupied. This afternoon the governor announced hes ordering los angeles and riverside and 17 others to drastically scale back indoor activities at restaurants, movie theaters and other businesses. In texas, the state is also battling Record Numbers of new cases and Record Numbers of hospitalizations. States like georgia, mississippi, nevada and tennessee are also seeing record hospitalizations and cases continue to climb in other states like florida, south carolina, and oklahoma among others. Meanwhile test providers like quest and lab corp are scrambling to keep up with the surge in demand. Positivity rates are above recommended guidelines in two states which means there still isnt enough testing. The president has been eagerly hoping to focus on reopening states. But right now the administration is headed back to crisis mode as cases surge. And in a telling reversal, the president is no longer flouting the use of masks. Im all for masks. I think masks are good. If i were in a group of people and i was close you would wear one . I have. People have seen me wearing one. If i were in a tight situation with people, i would absolutely do you think the public will see that at some point. I mean, i have no problem. I had a mask on. I sort of liked the way i looked. I thought it was okay. It was a dark black mask and i thought it looked okay. It looked like the lone ranger. We should note before todays interview the president has repeatedly downplayed the importance of wearing masks. He mocked a reporter for wearing one at a White House Press conference and publicly mused that some wear masks to signal opposition to him and hes told reporters he didnt want to see them wearing one. Joining me now from phoenix is my nbc news colleague vaughn hillyard. So the Vice President was there and he said that he was sending federal reinforcements to that state. What more could you tell us about what governor ducey is doing to flatten this curve, to decrease the spread . Reporter yeah, katy, they announced theyll garner additional medical personnel to help with the facilities here. Because there are hospitals that are already overwhelmed when it comes to the staff that is on the ground at these facilities, what we just heard from the Vice President during this press conference with Arizona Governor was the Vice President that said wear a mask, wash your hands, and socially distance. I think the hard part is that where that mess wage was over t last month and a half. The stayathome order expired lear on may 15 jd and the numbers continue to rise. The percentage positive number has risen since. The number of influenza like cases has risen since then. Vice president pence when asked about hospitalizations, he said, quote, they have capacity. Noting that current across the entire State Hospital bed capacity is 85 and icu capacity is 88 . But that doesnt take into account there have already been patients for a dozen hospitals to sent to other facilities because they are already at capacity. There is also dr. Birx who was also here as part of the Coronavirus Task force and it was a line from dr. Birx that caught my ear. If they see a rise in the percent positive number that is when they need to urge people to stay at home and use masks. Here in the state of arizona, the of the number taking place a month and a half ago and it wasnt until this monday when the governor began to implea. Restrictions on gyms and movie theaters and still senator sinema calling on the state to take more action including a stayathome policy because restaurants and malls are open, eateries are still open. There is a question mark of where does this go in the next two weeks. Vaughn hillyard, thank you. And earlier you were talking to a doctor that things were getting so bad they might have to triage covid patients, those more likely to survive the disease and not treat those less likely to survive. Vaughn hillyard, thank you. And joining me now are two local leaders in charge of hot spots within hot spots. Judge lena hidalgo of texas, the most populous countries in texas including houston. And miami, florida mayor francis suarez. And judge hidalgo, i want to start with you. The rise in cases in texas was predictable. The Lieutenant Governor today said that he doesnt think Anthony Fauci knows what hes talking about. The Vice President had painted a rosier picture of what was happening across the country. Now the president is making something of an about face on masks. The confusion and the messaging, what is that doing to the population in your county . I hear from folks every day in harris county, largest county in texas. We are home to houston and 33 cities in addition to unincorporated areas and i hear from the community that theyre confused. If there is something that you shouldnt be doing, presumably the government will tell you about it. They will tell you not to do it. So we have heard that the mixed messages ultimately dilute what we have to do which is at this point is to stay home. The way ive worked to get around that as best possible is being very, very clear with my community as showing a Warning System on friday. We raised the level of alert to the highest level, level one, red, severe. And the recommendation is to stay home. Of course, to the extent that there is consistent messaging it will make a difference and we dont have time to waste. We may well be too late. And so i think we have to all be consistent in that messaging and of course as far as individual comments, i dont want to be pulled into a political fight. That is the very last thing we need right now. All throughout ive been committed in trying to make the reopening a success. Done everything we could for that to happen. At this point we see it was too fast, it was too early. We know what works and we have to get smart about this. We just showed your sevenday moving average there in texas and it is steadily on the rise. Worryingly so. Do recommendations work or does it need to be an order for people to stay home . Unfortunately im afraid recommendations dont work. We saw it very clearly with our Face Covering order. We had an order back a few months ago and as soon as the order was signed, the news was talking about how masks and Face Coverings were going to be the new fashion item and folks were figuring out how to make one and the state stepped in and removed our local authority to issue those orders. All of a sudden folks didnt want to wear it any more. Its human nature. The goal is not to go and see how many fines we can collect to have a Police Officer at every street corner. In fact, whether we had a stayhome order that i issued back when the first curve happened, bars and restaurant order, it was enforceable but the priority was education. I dont think we handled out a single fine but it works because there was that provision there. When you dont have it, folks dont recognize it is a requirement. And that is why ive been advocating with state that we need the enforce ability of a stayathome order because that is the ome thing that will work right now. We just crossed 100 of the base icu capacity so we are at Surge Capacity asking nurses to double up, you know, changing the way the rooms are set up. That is what this next surge phase looks like. So there is only one way out of there. The curve will not flatten itself and we knows what works and that is a stayathome order. Mayor suarez, lets talk about what is happening in florida. 6,563 new cases in the last 24 hours and in Miamidade County 1,141 additional confirmed cases and nine new deaths. Why are you not ordering other or reissuing another stayathome order in miami. You know, the stayathome order that we ordered in late march or april was very effective. Without a doubt. I think were in a different place at that time economically. The economy was at full employment and people were in a much better position to be able to stay at home and not essentially be able to work. Were in a different place right now. Unfortunately the economy is at historicic levels ever unemployment. Those who are working with making a fraction of what we were making precovid and so were trying to be surgical and balanced. The fact that the economy is on the verge of collapse with the fact that we have a Public Health crisis. So we ordered masks for the public, that is something that were the first to order in the state of florida. Weve also have associated fines with failure to wear the plask the mask in public and penalizing the businesses that dont comply with the requirements and regulations and closing them for ten days for the first instance, 15 days for second, and 30 for the third. But ill tell you, a stayathome order is totally possible. Im not saying and ive never said throughout this entire process that it is impossible for us to go to a stayathome order or roll back some of the opening that weve done. In fact ive been very clear that option is on the table. And depending on our Hospital Capacity and the circumstances, we may have to take that unfortunate step. Who is driving the spike in cases in miami and in florida . The spike in cases are predominantly in the 18 to 35yearold age group. But to me, there is two things about that. I dont want to overemphasize that as if that is not a threat for two reasons. The first is, it takes two to five weeks to know exactly what the implications of a new case are going to be in terms of hospitalizations and in terms of deaths. And the second thing is, if new cases go up to a point where the vulnerable in our society are at a higher risk because young people live with their parents or their grand parents or visit them or in contact with people that are immunocompromised, to me the fact that more people are getting sick is not necessarily a good thing. It is not something that we should tout as if it is a good thing. So for me, it is still a major concern. Let me ask you one other question. You were talking about the economy and i understand the negative economic effects of shutting down. You also say that you have a mask order for miami. Does there need to be a statewide mask order in order to continue to have some semblance of Economic Activity in your state while also trying to flatten the curve, trying to mitigate the spread of this virus . Is county to county, city to city going to be effective. I recommend it. I recommend the statewide mask order. I also recommend shutting down businesses that dont comply with the various rules. And doing it and shutting them down for more than one day. Before it was the 10, 15, 30 rule, if you got shut down for no noncompliance and acting like a nightclub, bars have been closed and we were the last city to open in the state and i was criticized for that. But if we didnt implement the rules you would get shut down for one day and the next day you would demonstrate compliance and you would be up and running again. So there was no penalty for noncompliance. And to me, we set a set of rules based on what our epidemiologists have analyzed and the department of health has analyzed in terms of data. Whether someone criticized me i with stand that because my job is to protect my residents and that protects our economy because we dont have the bad press of the fact that our cases seem to continue to go up. The faster you could flatten the curve the faster you could reopen safely. Thank you very much. And judge lena hidalgo, thank you as well. And ahead, how bad could the surge get. Im going to ask the former head of the fda about what he is expecting. And later what did the president know about the russian bounties on american soldiers . Ill talk to a senior official who worked in the Trump Administration and is calling the white houses explanation absurd and alarming. Stay with us. Tada did you know Liberty Mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need . I should get a quote. Do it. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. New fixodent ultra dual power provides you with an unbeatable hold and strong seal against food infiltrations. Fixodent. And forget it. You say that customers maklets talk data. S. Only Xfinity Mobile lets you switch up your wireless data whenever. I accept 5g everybodys talking about it. How do i get it . Everyone gets 5g with our new data options at no extra cost. Thats good. Next item corner offices for everyone. Just have to make more corners in this building. Chad . Your wireless your rules. Only with Xfinity Mobile. Now thats simple easy awesome. Switch and save up to 400 a year on your wireless bill. Plus get 200 off a new Samsung Galaxy s20 ultra. And please, please, please wear a Face Covering when you go out in public. It is not an inconvenience. It is not a suppression of your freedom. If you want the return of College Football this year, wear a Face Covering. If you want a chance at prom next spring, wear a Face Covering. If you want to go on spring break next march, next april, wear a Face Covering. If you want to stop with the stayathome orders, wear a Face Covering. Wear a mask. That is the Surgeon General yesterday pleading with americans to wear masks. Even citing events well into next year. As we told you at the beginning of the show, today President Trump shifted his tone slightly. Saying hes all for masks despite, of course, a whole lot of evidence to the contrary. The president s reluctance to embrace the basic of Safety Measures is one piece of the federal government sponsor lack thereof as cases surge across the country. Lets bring in dr. Scott gottlieb. Thank you so much for being here. Lets talk about what the president said about masks today. Hes not exactly embracing them but not treating them as with such repulsion as he was before. Is that going to be enough to get those skeptical Trump Supporters out there to wear a mask . Is it too little too late or is it a good thing . Well, a number of things need to happen. First of all, the cdc needs to change the guidance. Right now the recommendations on the website are that you should wear a mask if you cant socially distance but people who go out of the homes dont know if they could socially distance or not and we need to change that guidance. should be guiding people to wear macs all of the time outside of homes. States are going to start to mandate masks, unfortunately after it is late and death and disease and cases start to build. But i think the masks arent 100 protective but the simplest thing to do to try to reduce the race of transmission. There is not a lot of literature you could get the race of transmission brrn so youve seen a great reluctance to do it here. It is an infringement and im not sure how this became a political issue in some of the states but it is aim pellest thing to do collectively to get this under control and well come around to it. Let me just clarify. Youre saying that the cdc guidance said wear a mask if you cant socially distance. Youre saying wear a mask period if you go outside . That is right. And some states have implemented universal macing to i would advocate in the setting of an epidemic. We wear people to wear seat belts to protect themselves and lower insurance premiums. Woe could man date masking where the dangerous pathogen we could tell consumers they have to wear a mask outside of homes. I know there is a lot of reluctance and people say well youre going to fine people or lock them up for not having a mask on. Not necessarily. You could give people warnings and allow businesses and local officials to refuse sfrs to people who dont have masks on. You could give them fines. We dont necessarily need to fine people on a first instance of not wearing a mask outside of their house. Youll have to have enforcement but it doesnt need to be peop