looks like it's starting to happen in florida. you can deny this all you want and say that this is just a hoax or political ploy but florida has the highest rate of the coronavirus on the planet right now. it is a hot zone. and the governor of florida is doing nothing to put that fire out. >> but he is trying to claim this is about parents deciding what is best for their kids but listen to what one parent said in broward county today. >> my child is 14 years old. she's vaccinated. had a liver transplant, she's immune suppressed. my child needs to be protected. all she wants to do is go to school and learn. learn science, ironically. learn science. she wants to live. >> dr. reiner, it's what's been true for the entire pandemic, protecting our citizens, older americans in the beginning, rest of us this year with vaccinations, now children with delta. >> our children, particularly less than 12 years old, are now our most vulnerable citizens. when the pandemic began, our most vulnerable citizens were elderly, now 90% of folks over 65

. >>> florida governor ron desantis, punishing schools in florida that have required students to wear masks. even as portable morgues are brought in to handle the overflow of coronavirus deaths. >>> plus, are florida residents beginning to turn on republican governor ron desantis over his handling of the pandemic? we'll look at those numbers next. i'm morgan, and there's more to me than hiv. more love, more adventure, more community. but with my hiv treatment, there's not more medicines in my pill. i talked to my doctor and switched to fewer medicines with dovato. dovato is for some adults who are starting hiv-1 treatment or replacing their current hiv-1 regimen. with just 2 medicines in 1 pill, dovato is as effective as a 3-drug regimen... to help you reach and stay undetectable. research shows people who take hiv treatment as prescribed and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit hiv through sex. don't take dovato if you're allergic to its ingredients or if you take dofetilide. taking dovato with dofetilide can cause serious or life-threatening side effects. hepatitis b

right now, in florida, there are almost twice the number of daily cases in florida as in the united states entirely on july 4th and again, it's increasing by about 1,000 people per day. the governor only has three sort of tools at his disposal. he can get the public to mask up. he can mandate masks. he can get the public to increase their vaccination rate by essentially either mandating vaccines or empowering businesses to use vaccine passports, but he's refusing to do that, or he can shut down. the governor of florida refused to do all three of those. the state is on fire, and if you prevent the fire department from coming to the rescue of a house fire, that house is going to burn to the ground and that's what is happening in florida now. >> it's interesting because andy said to me this week that it's almost like these governors are getting caught being too caught by half because they can put these bans when the case counts were on the decline looking like we were moving out of the pandemic and now they're not dealing with the reality. we know desantis is not likely a presidential contend

the top rnc official in florida. this guy has been comparing the biden administration's vaccine efforts to nazi-era brown shirts. i mean come on with this crap. our friends at k-file found this. peter feman is the guy's name. he wrote stupidly on his blog the biden brown shirts are beginning to show up at private homes questioning vaccine papers. look, not only is it not true. when are they going to stop with this type of just ugliness, and when will desantis, because this is his state, but republicans in general in leadership not just say i don't agree with that, not just say that's wrong, say he shouldn't say it. shut up, that's what they should be saying. we need to hear it. it's not one and done with this guy. in may he called vaccines a mark of the beast and it wasn't a throwaway. he was making a reference to a symbol from the biblical book of revelations showing allegiance to satan. thursday he wrote the wolves wanting control and power. as for me and my house, we will fight them. look, on one level there is no

>> florida congressman and former florida governor charlie crist joins me now. he is now running for his old job in hopes of replacing desantis. welcome back to "prime time." >> thank you, chris. great to be with you tonight. >> what he's doing has him with good numbers in florida, your governor. but the case numbers, the hospitalizations, are worse. so what does that tell you? >> well, they are worse, no question about it. and we're number one in the country right now, chris, as you indicated. and it's appalling and it's heartbreaking. but we just got some new polling yesterday, independent of us, independent of our campaign that has me up on him by about two points if the election for governor were held today. so i think it's starting to take hold finally. and people are understanding that what he's doing is wrong. it's dead wrong. >> what do you think in terms of why so many people in this state are anti-vaxx, anti-mask? >> i don't know. i really can't explain that, except to say that, you know, we have all heard so much about misinformation. and in our state

that's coming from the florida hospital association. the same association that is raising the red flag saying, look, 60% of hospitals will have critical staff shortages in the next seven days. so those two things right there give you an idea of where florida stands right now. i am in hialeah where the governor just spoke. he did not address covid or take any reporter questions, but listen to the last time he talked about covid. >> joe biden suggests that if you don't do lockdown policies, then you should, quote, get out of the way. let me tell you this. if you're coming after the rights of parents in florida, i'm standing in your way. >> reporter: and the governor saying that he will be reviewing how he will not prohibit masks, but make it optional or give parents, rather, an opt out for the upcoming school year. but one thing i want to highlight here, ana, the superintendent of leon county wrote the governor a letter asking him to be flexible and give them autonomy. and he said, please don't allow pride or politics to cloud our better

would that work for florida? >> well, i think what we need to do is make sure it's at least encouraged. we don't even have that in florida. first things first. let's get it encouraged. i understand some people have qualms about it and i think it's important to be respectful of that. but i also understand that my fellow floridians are dying. so at least we could have a governor who would encourage people to get the vaccines, jim. that's step one. and also not issue edicts that say that you cannot wear a mask in schools in florida. that's insane. i mean it's just unbelievable. every medical and health care professional tells you it's the right thing to do. as governor and a lawyer, you decide that's not what you're going to do because you're pursuing an ideology instead of the safety of our people? it is unconscionable, it is irresponsible leadership, it is wrong, and it needs to be gone. ron should be gone. >> do you think that these school districts should defy governor desantis in your state? just do what they n

and it's not just florida. bit later in the program, we will hear from a doctor in tennessee who lost her job as the state's top-vaccine official, what turned out to be a political firestorm. but first, this bookster news. cnn's phil mattingly joins us from the white house for more on that. so what are you learning regarding booster shots? >> what we are learning is fda officials have kind ever centered around the idea of having a full kind of layout for a proposal for all vaccinated individuals as it relates to booster shots at some point in early september. that would be for everyone. it's worth noting, according to an administration official that, perhaps, boosters would come for those who are most at risk at an earlier point in time. but i think what this all underscores, anderson, is other countries around the world are starting to move forward on the pr process of booster shots. but this planning makes very clear, there is an expectation and you get it when you talk to administration officials across the

barbara jenkins there in orange county, florida. thank you. >> pleasure. >>> brand new hour, same victor blackwell. good to be with you. moments ago the nation met the president's july 4th vaccine goal about a month late. the cdc just reported 70% of adults in the u.s. have received at least one dose of covid vaccination. overall, 49.7% of the population is fully vaccinated. and the milestone comes as the cdc releases data showing how lifesaving vaccinations are. the cdc found that 99.99% of vuly vaccinated americans have not had a breakthrough infection that's resulted in death or hospitalization. again, 99.99%. and for any kind of breakthrough infection, not just severe, under 1% of the vaccinated are impacted, according to the kaiser family foundation. but cases of coronavirus mainly driven by the unvaccinated continue to grow. the u.s. is now averaging more than 79,000 new infections a day. that's a 54% jump from last week. 88% of americans live in an area with substantial or high transmission. the pressure campaign to get vacci

florida is the epicenter. and desantis is making all of this about politics. >> don, i would urge governor desantis and other republican governors to listen to governor hutchinson of arkansas who deeply regrets to sign a bill into law that restricted local jurisdictions' ability to impose mask mandates. no one likes to impose those mandates. but it seems to me that we have to give local authorities some flexibility to deal with the crisis in their communities. it's as simple as that. what's even more disturbing is that many of the same people, i'm not saying governor desantis, but many of the same people fighting mask mandates are also some of the same people who are cast doubts on the efficacy of vaccinations. and, you know, for those of us who are vaccinated, we think it's now time that some of these leaders start using sticks, not just carrots, to get people vaccinated. you just mentioned the secretary of defense is likely to impose a mandate. many leading businesses are doing the same thing. if elected off

and florida has now been dubbed by some the new national epicenter of this. there is that other study, the 22% of the people that paolo mentioned are between 12 and 19 years old. so they are old enough to get the vaccine. how are you seeing this affect younger people as opposed to some of the older patients that you have? >> well, currently during this new surge our peaks are higher than our winter surge and we are quickly approaching that of our first surge in terms of the numbers and actually the hospitalizations. i mean, we're over 10,000 hospitalizations currently in florida, which is out of -- which is absolutely ridiculous. but because so many individuals who are 50 and older got vaccinated, we are seeing a downshift in the number, in the average age of individuals coming into the hospital and to the icu. so the vaccine -- sorry, the virus, unfortunately, has a large pool of patients it can jump to and continue to spread, and as a result we are seeing younger patients who are coming into the icu and to the hospital with coronavirus. >> and how do those

mostly here in south florida. and right now florida is seeing the highest average number of new cases since mid january. in terms of who is vaccinated, about 49% of floridians are vaccinated. still less than half the people in florida are vaccinated. many of the people are ending up in emergency rooms, in icu wards. i visited a covid ward in jacksonville recently at baptist medical center. i spoke to a nurse who told me 99% of the patients they're seeing are unvaccinated and they're now begging for the vaccine. listen to this. >> ready to intu bait the patient, and they said if i get the vaccine now, could i not go on the ventilator. i mean, they're begging for it. they're desperate because they're gasping for air. they can't breathe. they are scared. they feel like they're going to pass away. >> this is also very concerning for children because schools open here in the state of florida next week. so kids will be going back to school, and if you look at the numbers for children younger than 12, we know they can't

like texas and like florida. and today, the nation's top infectious disease expert warning that if more action is not taken to stop the delta variant from spreading, there is a good chance that the united states of america could soon be facing a more dangerous outbreak from another variant. in an interview today, dr. fauci says i'll quote him, if we don't crush the outbreak to the point of getting the overwhelming proportion of population vaccinated, then what will happen is the virus will continue to smolder through the fall into the winter and there could be a variant that is lingering out there that can push aside delta. variants are living with the vaccine. desantis and abbott are scoring political points to win reelection, giving fuel to those against the vaccine. in many cases, those who are spreading conspiracy theories about the vaccine, which is why there are some other governors including new jersey's phil murphy losing patience. here is governor murphy today confronting a group of protesters at a covid

it's so high in florida that i think that if florida were another country, we would have to consider banning travel from florida to the united states. he needs to understand that he's painted himself into a corner. people are dying in florida. it's going to get much worse. the hospitals are filling. >> children as well. >> exactly. florida leads the country in the number of hospitalized children. he has to back off a little bit. allow localities to do the right thing, to mask up, to even close businesses down. i've said this before. if you are in florida now and you are unvaccinated, you are very likely going to get covid. if you are in florida and you are unvaccinated, do not go in to a bar or a restaurant. you will absolutely contract this virus. >> all right. dr. reiner, we could go on and on and probably will be spinding a lot more time on this over the next couple of hours. we could do it with you, but we'll let you go, and we'll talk to you on another occasion. thanks for coming in and being on set with us. >>> want further proof that florida is the epicenter right now? listen

case in point, florida. >> what is he so upset about florida? his solution is he wants to have the government force kindergarteners to wear masks in school. >> florida's republican governor, ron desantis, is barring school districts in the state from enacting mask mandates. never mind that conservatives tend to support local control over their schools, that's only part of the problem. the problem is that florida has been one of the leaders in the u.s. in covid cases. just as kids too young to be vaccinated are heading back to the classroom. the delta variant is slamming states where vaccination states are lagging behind much of the country. the map is very clear there. one of those delta hot spots is missouri, where senator josh hawley has been going after the biden administration for requiring vaccinations for federal employees. >> what we're seeing is joe biden and the left using a campaign of fear and intimidation in order to try to keep the country in a perpetual state of crisis and centralize control and power over people's lives. >> he see

show biden's numbers in florida. >> look at this. much worse than ron desantis' numbers are in florida. this is what politics is basically coming down to right now. it is negative partisanship. it is not just how am i doing. it's how is my opponent doing or how are the democrats doing? what we see here is that desantis, you watch him go on fox news. he always plays off against the democrats. this is a smart move in a state like florida where joe biden's approval rating is down significantly over the last few months and so for him he's like, you know what? i don't have to be doing that great. i just have to be doing better than the other guys. >> covid, well, right. it is who is worse, right? that is the breakdown. who's worse? and it is all partisan. if anybody thinks that covid created clarity that was transcendent of politics it just reinforce the same old rules. >> that is exactly right. just reinforced the same old rules. what i'll note here is that i think a lot of people expect a certain relationship with covid, right? when cas

, the florida department of education and the florida department of health to issue emergency guidelines that give parents choices. now, john, i got to share with you, i spent time here in broward county with families on both ends of the spectrum. families that are for machks and families that want choice, and all politics aside, i think that americans have a lot of things in common. these parents, especially, the love for their children, and they all want the best when it comes to education for them as well. >> it's just going to be a fascinating and i think somewhat confusing few weeks ahead. grateful for the live report from florida. in washington breaking news. the biden administration says is a sign of some vaccination progress. the white house tweeting out 70% of american adults have gotten at least one shot. that is nearly one month behind the president's initial goal of by july 4th. joining our conversation, health policy reporter for the washington post and also the author of a fantastic best seller "nightmare scenario, inside the trump administration response ♪ . >> you have

and then there's florida's governor ron desantis. about one in five new cases of covid in the united states are coming out of florida. according to the governor it is because of the border with mexico. >> joe biden has taken upon himself to single out florida over covid. this is the guy who ran for president saying he was going to shut down the virus. and what has he done, he's imported more virus from around the world by having a wide open southern border. why don't you do your job. why don't you get this border secure. until you do that, i don't want to hear anything about covid from you. >> i know you might be asking does florida share a border with mexico? and you would be right. no. he has an explanation for that. >> you have hundreds of thousands of people pouring across every month. not only are they letting them through, they are then informing them out all across our communities across the country. putting them on planes and buses. >> that claim is not based in fact. there is no proof of some large- scale importation of covi

what is he so upset about florida? his solution is he wants to have the government force kindergartners to wear masks in school. i don't want to hear a blip about covid from you. >> reporter: days long back and forth about the white house and florida governor ron de san tis. >> governor who? >> still in full effect. >> 25% of hospitalizations in the country are in florida. >> the white house pointing to delta's surge in the state making it clear it has no plans to back down. >> we're here to state the facts. frankly our view is that this is too serious, deadly serious to be doing partisan name-calling. that's what we're not doing here. >> and, wolf, despite the political back and forth, white house officials made clear they are currently offering federal assistance, an array of assistance to 16 different states as it pertains to the delta surge. they are also in conversations with the state of florida, also the state of text as to possibly provide federal resources to them as well, trying to make the point. they don't

mostly here in south florida. we are certainly edging closer to the highest average that we saw of cases in january. and not even half of the population here in the state of florida is vaccinated. just 49%. still trying to get those numbers up here in the state. i visited a covid ward in jacksonville at baptist medical center where 99% of the patients in the hospital are unvaccinated. i spoke with a few of them. this is what one woman told me. >> bad? >> yeah. i have shortness of breath. i feel sorry about not getting a vaccine. >> you are sorry you didn't get the vaccine. do you think you would be here if you had gotten the vaccine? >> no. >> and that woman also told me that her entire family has covid. none of them were vaccinated. she plans to get everyone vaccinated when she gets out of the hospital. another concern is children, schools are reopening any day now. looking at 10,585 cases in the past week for children under 12. they're too young to be eligible for the vaccine right now but their positivity rate

mandates, but what it does do is it orders the florida department of education and the florida department of health to issue emergency rules that gives parents choice. now, florida governor ron desantis, a staunch critic of the new cdc guidelines on mask, so much so he made fun of them at a conservative conference last week in utah. meanwhile in his state, florida, the number of cases were surging. florida making up one out of five cases in the entire nation. last week florida reporting 110,000 cases. now, just to give you an idea of what that means, in the weekending of may the 21st, that number was 15,000. so when you compare those two numbers, you realize how much these numbers are growing. a huge concern for a lot of the local leaders here. now the positivity rate in this state, 18% when you look at the positivity rate for the children ages 12 to 19 the positivity rate is 22%. if we look at the counties here in this area where i am, miami-dade, 12%, broward 14%, and palm beach county 15.5%. the frustrating part for local leaders and county leaders here in the state of florida is that

juxtapose what we're seeing in florida. if a message matters and it's resonating in society and its dispositioned on taking on the pandemic, then the answer in florida would be vermont. i know it's a smaller state and it has less challenges, but the dynamic still holds, the messaging and the follow-through. let's talk about vermont and why president biden gave them a big shoutout today. what does the health state commissioner there think should be happening all over this country, next. hey lily, i need a new wireless plan for my business, but all my employees need something different. oh, we can help with that. okay, imagine this... your mover, rob, he's on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. we cut to downtown, your sales rep lisa has to send some files, asap! so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee... yeah i should've just led with that... with at&t business... you can pick the best plan for each employee and only pay for the features they need. ♪ someone once told me, that i should get us

new numbers coming in from the department of health here in florida and they show that florida's reporting 151,000, more than 151,000 new cases over the past week here in florida. and here in broward county the broward teachers union telling us that two teachers as well as a teacher's assistant have died because of covid-19 complications. all three of them unvaccinated as the chairman of the school board points out, the school year here hasn't even started yet. >> let's just be honest, when we started covid we had leadership that first didn't even want to acknowledge that it was a real pandemic and that it was deadly. then all of the false information started to spread to make the vaccine suspect then, saying it was warp speed and all these kind of things that put fear and questions in people's mind that they didn't feel comfortable being vaccinated. and now we're paying a deadly consequence for it because people are dying. >> reporter: in a letter to the state education commissioner, the superintendent here in broward county is doubling down saying she prepares to move forward with a mask

so that's here in south florida. go up north a little, you go to central florida, the central florida medical disaster coalition telling me they have four portable morgues that will be arriving today. the priority, they say, is the daytona beach area, and ten more by the end of the week. they place the order on these portable morgues because they say in talking to hospital systems in their area, they are telling them that their highest priority right now is morgue capacity, and they are also seeing a delay in funeral homes picking up people who have died from covid-19. i confirmed that with a funeral director that i spoke to yesterday who says they are being inundated with covid-19 deaths. now, let's keep this in perspective. some of the hospital systems are telling me that they are ordering the portable morgues or some sort of freight, refrigerated freight truck as a precautionary measure, but then you have some like broward county reporting to us that they are already using coolers to help with capacity right now.

and florida, we're a free state. joe biden suggests that if you don't do lockdown policies, then you should get out of the way. let me tell you this. if you're coming after the rights of parents in florida, i'm standing in your way. i'm not going to let you get away with it. so why don't you do your job, why don't you get this border secure. until you do that, i don't want to hear a blip about covid from you. >> look. biden did come after florida's governor by name. but can't we just focus on the people who really matter? more than 11,000 are hospitalized in florida right now. this is not about the undocumented. it's about the unvaccinated, and bad messaging. messaging matters. ask the republican governor of arkansas who is expressing regrets for saying what desantis is saying, for letting his state fall backwards by approving a ban on mask mandates earlier this year. listen to him. >> our cases are at a low point. everything has changed now. in hindsight, i wish that had not become law. >> he was told that at the ti

things are tough in florida. and masks can keep people safe, especially unvaccinated people like kids, rosa. >> reporter: you know, brianna, you're absolutely right. here we are, the school year is about to begin. and every single metric that you look at here in the state of florida is shooting up. you look at the graphs, they are all increasing. i'm live at an elementary school that once the school year begins will be hustling and bustling with kids. you know what the positivity rate in state of florida for children and teens between the ages of 12 and 19? 22%. >> give me that. >> reporter: this family -- >> swish. >> reporter: and this family -- >> nice. we like it. >> reporter: both have children attending broward county public schools in south florida. one family is for mask mandates in schools. >> i think masks are the best course of action and i think that keeps everyone safe. >> reporter: the other is for masks being optional. >> mandating doesn't seem fair or right. i think best case scenario parents shou

take control of your fragrance with air wick. >>> it's so high in florida that i think if florida were another country, we would have to consider banning travel from florida to the united states. he needs to understand that he's painted himself into a corner. people are dying in florida. it's going to get much worse. the hospitals are filling. >> children as well. >> that was dr. jonathan reiner talking about florida governor ron desantis and how bad things are there. as we know, desantis has banned mask mandates across the state. he has threatened to pull funding from any district that tries to compel districts to wear them. this as record breaking new daily cases of covid-19. one infectious disease expert at florida international university told cnn that miami area children's hospitals are, quote, completely overwhelmed right now. frances suarez is the mayor of miami. he joining me now to talk about this. thanks for joining us. how bad are things across florida and in your city right now? >> definitely the lead indicators are not good. new cases are up. percent positivity is up and h

and also florida is not yet 50% vaccinated. half the population isn't even vaccinated here, fully vaccinated at least. 49% of floridians are vaccinated. and those are the people, the people who are unvaccinated are those who are ending up in the hospitals. i was at jacksonville hospital recently at baptist medical center where 99% of their patients are unvaccinated. and i spoke to some of the patients who were on breathing machines in the covid ward and this is what one of them told me. >> bad? >> yeah, i cannot breathe good. i have shortness of breath. i feel sorry about not getting a vaccine. >> you're sorry you didn't get the vaccine. do you think you would be here if you had gotten the vaccine? >> no. >> we're seeing a lot of regret among those unvaccinated patients. that woman told me her whole family was unvaccinated and they all got covid. they now plan to get the vaccine but there's a lot of concern, too as schools start to reopen and kids return to the classrooms here. 10,585 new cases on average for children under 12.

and in panellas county, florida, parents wanted it to be their choice. >> it's our choice. it's our choice. i don't care if these kids are wearing masks. we're pulling our kids out. we don't want these decisions to be made for us. > >> wear a mask to prevent covid-19. come on. >> you are finished. thank you. time's up. let's move on. next speaker. don't make me ask you to be removed. >> reporter: randi kaye, cnn, palm beach county, florida. >> let's get the advice of dr. marty, infectious disease doctor. dr. marty, according to a recent analysis, there have been 70,000 covid cases and only 30,000 quarantined sibefore the start the school year. what do you think about the governor telling districts they aren't allowed to opt out? >> quite frankly, the entire thing breaks my heart. we're doing everything we can to stop transmission of this horrific virus. and the governor and everyone else, all leaders, should be working with us to do everything possible to slow down transmission. if there is a concern about masks being clean, remember, we have to change our underwear every d

many don't fauci florida -- the florida governor himself says this. >> these innovations have failed time and time again throughout this pandemic. if it didn't stop it before, it's definitely not going to stop it now. we have some people who aren't vaccinated that have been admitted to hospitals. are you going to sit there and criticize, or are we going to try to treat and help the folks? i'm just sick of the judgmental stuff on some of this stuff. nobody is trying to get ill here, okay? >> the governor is right. we do have to show places where it's going right and encourage people to keep doing it. in fact, in florida you do see new people who are unvaccinated going to get the vaccine. that's good. the problem is he's been giving out messaging that has slowed down this process and progress, and he has to own that. let's bring in the mayor of miami beach, dan gelber. good to see you, mr. mayor. give us your take of why the situation is the way it is. >> first of all, the governor needs to own up to the judgment. nobody is accusing him of not doing the things he's supposed to. he's ma

this is a dramatic move by the florida governor. they are just a week after the state is reporting its worst week ever in the number of new coronavirus cases. there are two counties in florida who are already defying the governor's orders, so we will have to wait and see how this plays out here in the coming days. and we're now starting to see the same thing here in texas, wolf, where governor greg abbott for weeks has been saying there will be no new mandates or shut down. and this as schools are set to launch here in texas. the first school district has come out today here in dallas saying that they will require students when they go back into school next week, teachers, administrators and students, to be wearing masks. i spoke with the superintendent here in dallas this afternoon who said that based on what he has seen in recent days in the number of spiking coronavirus cases in this -- in dallas county, this is a move he insists he had to make. >> we can save a few lives and save the health of some kids, it's worth whatever trou

and i still maintain that by staying in florida and by being in assisted living in florida, that's what killed him. >> i mentioned your father was a jokester. what was it, a cat fetish i was reading? tell us about it. >> all animals. he loved animals so much. we got constant emails and pictures of animals. he had a birthday list, because there's so many of us, seven kids, 17 grand kids, that he would send out annually to update birthdays and everybody's pets was still in the birthday list, he always made sure they were included. yeah. he loved animals. >> it's nice to see that he can still put a smile on your face. may his memory be a blessing, and may everyone hear this and go out and get the vaccine. >> thank you. >> danielle allen, thank you so much. >> i hope so. thank you. >>> up next, the final hours for new york governor andrew cuomo and his time in office. >>> and the school district that's making masks part of the dress code. centrum multigummies aren't just great tasting... they're power-packed vitamins... that help unleash your energy. loaded with b vitamins... ...and other k

florida. thank you all both for coming on. and i'm going to start with you. broward county public schools, the second largest district in florida and the sixth largest in the country says it wants to keep its mandate requiring masks but will make its final decision before classes resume on august 18th. what do you want them to do? >> i want them to keep the mandate. i've heard that we have over about 7,000 parents and educators have e-mailed our school board members to ask them to keep the mandate full and keep us safe in our schools and keep our children safe. >> how many schools, andrew, that your union oversees and look to at actually wants to the have the mask mandate but isn't imposing it because they're worried funding will be pulled by the governor given his threat? >> we're seeing today actually a lot of school districts coming out and isaing they are going to actually have a mask mandate. they've all said now they're going to have a mask mandate, but what they're doing to meet the gov

several counties in florida are moving forward with mask mandates despite threats. florida governor ron desantis is threatening to withhold paychecks from school officials who enact mask mandates. joining us is a reporter at "politico," he has covered florida politics and government for the past two decades. gary, threw so much for being with us. just tell us what is the showdown like in florida between some of these school districts and the governor. >> well, what we have is we have a couple of school districts who have decided that they will impose mask mandates and that the only way that they will let people get around them is if they have a note from a health care professional. we have other districts that have gone along with the governor's plan to create an opt out, but we do have at least two districts and then we have some other districts that are still thinking about it because they haven't yet gone back to school. what happened is yesterday the administration said, well, we don't think getting a note from a health care professional fits the spirit of what

that's according to the latest data from florida's health department. three teachers in the same school district died in the span of 24 hours and two more are hospitalized. >> broward county, the school board has defied governor desantis as he threatens to cut salaries, they're keeping mask mandates in place. >> three teachers and two other community members passed away in one day. it was a strong blow. i'm extremely happy that our school board and our superintendent are going to enforce the mask mandate. i am thrilled to hear that our president of the united states is backing all of florida school board administrators. >> at least three schools ever closed. in guinette county, georgia, 679 positive cases. they're getting hammered with oregon and hawaii setting records for new cases on friday. >> friday the 13th has never been so frightening. it is real and terrifying and tragically it's preventible. >> cvs health is prepared to start administering the third dose as early as today in efforts for the triple dosing. many of the places that are administeri

people are dying in florida. it is going to get much worse. >> harry, the doctor set it up asking the question, if florida or louisiana were foreign countries, what we been travel? >> i mean this is bad. florida, louisiana, look at this. worst of the entire pandemic in both louisiana and florida. look at that per 100,000. up to 100 per day. look at this, hospitalizations. same deal, look at this. worst of the entire pandemic in both louisiana and florida. the only difference is louisiana , florida is worse than the other. but anyway you look at it is bad. compared to other countries look at this. these are countries. the united kingdom, france, greece. a sickly have to wait 14 days after you've been in the country. essentially a travel ban. covid cases per 100,000, louisiana +99. florida +90. united kingdom, only +40. still really high but not nearly as high as florida or louisiana. greece +25. these places, louisiana and florida and there are some other states in there as well, they are worse than places in whic

this is according to the florida hospital association, and some children's hospitals in florida are saying they're overwhelmed by the significant increase in the number of children coming in with covid. many of them having to be hospitalized. and that was what was in mind when the broward county public school board voted to require masks when school classes resume next week. >> are you going to bully him into wearing a mask? >> reporter: despite some protesters and the governor's threat to withhold funding, the broward county school board still vote todayd to require ma this year. >> i'm not willing to play russian roulette with somebody's life, especially not a child. >> we did what was the right thing, in the best interest of our children. >> reporter: florida governor ron desantis standing by his order, banning mask mandates in school. >> ultimately, my view is it's a parent's decision. >> reporter: but for health experts, there's no debate. it's about keeping children safe. >> we need to take the politics out of this. and simply state, this is for the health and safety of students. >>

what is he so upset about florida? his solution is he wants to have the government force kindergartens to wear masks in school. i don't want to hear a blip about covid from you. >> reporter: the day's long back and forth between the white house and governor ron desantis still in effect. >> governor who? >> 20% in florida. >> reporter: pointing to delta's surge in the state. >> we're here to state the facts. frankly our view is that this is too serious, deadly serious, to be doing partisan name calling. that's what we're not doing here. >> reporter: wolf, the war of words between florida governor ron desantis and the white house extended to the cabinet level as well. saying in the briefing room, basically chastising florida and texas about mask mandates saying don't be the reasons our kids can't go back to school. they have suffered enough, wolf. >> thank you very much. let's discuss this and more with the director for the centers for disease control and prevention. thank you so much for joining us. we're grateful to yo

this is as cases are arising in florida. how about potential push back from parents in some of these school districts where the school districts are, some parents are fighting back and. and some where masks are not required parents are upset. >> right. what you have seen interestingly so far and that's another point of tension the governor has made it very clear that he does not support any kind of mask mandate. says it should be optional for parents to decide that fact. you have seen a couple districts that waded into, okay, we want to do this on our own. i mean, as i sit back and watch this, it's going to be interesting, are they going to continue to stick to their guns and are they willing to fight the governor in his executive order dealing with masks he basically said, there is the potential of with holding state funds if you impose a mask mandate. so do we have school districts that will stand up to him? a couple are saying they're willing to do that, but you know, we still haven't seen that play out. >> people need to

thank you so much. >> up next the battle over masks in florida schools. what residents there have to say about the governor's push to not have a mask mandate. match is this for real? yup! we match all the cash back new card members earn at the end of their first year automatically woo! i got my mo-ney! it's hard to contain yourself isn't it? uh- huh! well let it go! woooo! get a dollar for dollar match at the end of your first year. only from discover. (upbeat pop music in background throughout) boost is the only mobile carrier to give you the power of free 24/7 access to live doctors from your phone. get a free samsung galaxy a32 5g when you switch to america's largest & fastest 5g network. more power to stay healthy. boost mobile as your business changes, the united states postal service is changing with it. with e-commerce that runs at the speed of now. next day and two-day shipping nationwide, and returns right from the doorstep. it's a whole new world out there. let's not keep it waiting. >>> deaths from covid in florida are at an all-time high. acco

we have searched every hospital from the south of florida to the north part of florida, and like you just said, all the beds are taken up by covid victims also getting ecmo treatments. so now we're desperately searching outside of the state just for a hospital to take him. >> so it's possible to say airlift him out of state to get this treatment? >> yes. we have actually been in contact with a third party medical air flight team that would send supporting staff to take him to a center, to a hospital that would offer ecmo on an ecmo machine. >> susan, how are you through all of this? >> devastated. we've lost a daughter two and a half years ago to a brain aneurysm and we never thought we would see ourselves facing tragedy two times. we haven't even been able to get over the past, the loss of our daughter, and now my husband is fighting for his life. >> i'm so sorry. i know that you at one point, you know, before he was admitted, would have been able to talk to him, obviously. at what point did you know he had to be admitted and what weigh he saying at that point? >> well, he tested po

one of our other medical contributors, listen to this. >> it's so high in florida that i think if florida were another country, we would have to consider banning travel from florida to the united states. >> provocative, but it points to the problem that that one state in particular is driving a surge right now. >> that's right and we know that we have travel requirements for other parts of the world that have variants of concern, that are undergoing their own surges. the only issue is here in the u.s., we know that it doesn't work for us to restrict travel from different states. there are too many porous land borders. no way to be really imposing quarantining, testing requirements for people from other states. a lot of us living in other parts of the country that are not going through surges right now. we should not be resting saying, oh, that's what's happening in florida or arkansas or louisiana. we should be looking at what's going to happen to our states next because this is a virus that knows no borders and it's only a matter of time, too, before we may get another variant that may b

. -- florida. the state has some of the highest covid hospitalization rates per capita in the country. pediatric hospitalizations more than four times higher than they were a month ago. that's according to the u.s. department of health and human services. cnn's amara walker is in ft. lauderdale. good to see you and earlier today the governor downplayed the increase of children hospitalized with covid. what can you tell us? >> yeah. this is just a few hours ago at a news conference. governor desantis claiming that the delta variant has had little impact on the children here in florida, but his statements conflicted that. what we're seeing from the department of health and human services that shows that pediatric hospitalizations due to covid-19 in florida is more than four times higher than it was just a month ago. here's ron desantis just a few hours ago talking about how all of this is affecting kids. >> some people, yeah, you hear a lot of stuff. does delta behave differently vis-a-vis kids and n

we know in florida we have hurricanes. we know how to get everybody together and everybody in the same page. it's really important to do that, but in this moment, governor desantis has done something that i think is pretty despicable which is he's taken this health care crisis and try to convert it, really, to his own advantage politically. he's divided our community. he's divided our community. so now mask usage, even vaccines, just simply healthy practices have become political moment statements and that should never happen because you want to save people's lives, not put them at risk to make sort of a cheap political point. >> mayor, the governor has been framing his opposition to mask mandates and schools as preserving parents' freedom to choose what's best for their children. what are you hearing from teachers and families in your community? what do you make of the argument he's been making? >> i'm one of those parents. i have a 17-year-old son going to public school. he's vaccinated. i'd like to know that he and his