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U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Exceeds 140,000; Los Angeles County Reports Record COVID-19 Hospitalizations; Florida Reports Another 10,000 New Coronavirus Infections; Phase Four Re-opening For New York City; Lawsuits Filed Against School Re-openings; Trump Posts Picture In Mask; White House Blocking Funding For Testing And Tracing; Promising Vaccine Results From Oxford. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 20, 2020 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Sadly he died Thursday at age of 77. To the Ellis family and all his listeners, we offer our deepest condolences. May his memory be a blessing. Our coverage on CNN continues right now. Thanks for watching.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following breaking news.

The coronavirus death toll here in the United States has now topped 140,000 people with more than 3.8 million known cases. And infections are on the rise in 31 states right now as the CDC projects another 17,000 Americans will die from the virus in just the next three weeks.

Los Angeles County just reported a record number of coronavirus hospitalizations for the fourth time in a week. Also, President Trump is now planning to resume White House coronavirus briefings.

And after months of refusing to wear a mask and even mocking those who do, he just posted this photo of himself in a mask, tweeting and I'm quoting him now, "Many people say it is patriotic."

Let's go straight to Los Angeles right now, the breaking news we're following. CNN's Nick Watt is joining us. Nick, a new record number of hospitalizations where you are in L.A. County.

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf, and Governor Gavin Newsom just said that across this state, the next few weeks are going to be critical. He called out one county up by Lake Tahoe, Napa County also, Wine Country, saying that they right now are having constraints in terms of ICU beds and staff.

And, Wolf, as you mentioned, fourth day in a week, we have sat here in L.A. County, another unwelcome record.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (voice-over): Record numbers in Los Angeles hospitals. Why? Premature re-opening? ERIC GARCETTI, MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES: I do agree that those things

happen too quickly.

WATT (voice-over): A return to a stay-at-home order could be close.

GARCETTI: I think we're on the brink of that.

WATT (voice-over): Nationally, we're now seeing three times the number of new cases every day compared to mid-June. And nearly 60,000 Americans are right now hospitalized with COVID-19, getting close to the grim record set back in April.

BRETT GIROIR, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH, HHS: There is no question that we're having a surge right now. It really is all hands on deck. This is serious, but we know how to stop this.

WATT (voice-over): And in this graph, there might be some optimism. Average new case counts are flattening just a little in our hot spots. California, Arizona, Florida, and Texas. Let's hope that holds. A possible reason?

ALISON HADDOCK, DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Since the mask order went into place, I have seen more people in my community who are wearing masks, who are doing more social distancing. I think some of these individual behavior changes are driving some of the improvement that we're seeing.

WATT (voice-over): Arkansas's mask mandate kicks in today. In Florida, the governor was heckled. Florida's average daily death toll doubled these past two weeks. Monete Hicks lost two of her children to COVID- 19, Byron Francis and Mychaela in the space of 11 days.

MONETE HICKS, LOST SON AND DAUGHTER TO CORONAVIRUS: I honestly can't say where they got this virus from because they basically was home bound. I mean, the only thing we say we went to Orlando for a vacation and all of a sudden they came home sick. Wear your mask. If you don't have to come out, stay home.

WATT (voice-over): The governor still won't mandate masks. So in Miami, the city will fine those with uncovered faces. In Georgia, Governor Kemp wants to prevent Atlanta's mayor from issuing press releases stating that she can make rules that are stricter than his. It's all part of his lawsuit over her mask order. Mayor Bottoms says she won't be silenced.

FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH: It is bizarre that we have turned the mask wearing into something political. Imagine you were an alien coming to the planet Earth. You would be totally astounded, puzzled, amazed. You'd wonder what is going on here.

WATT (voice-over): As New York City moves into phase four opening today, Governor Andrew Cuomo has a message aimed at young partygoers.

ANDREW CUOMO (D), GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK: I'm telling you, in plain New York speak as a born and bred New Yorker, it's stupid what you're doing. It is stupid. Don't be stupid. What they're doing is stupid and reckless for themselves and for other people. And it has to stop.

WATT (voice-over): And he has a message for police departments. Make people wear masks.

CUOMO: They have to enforce the law. That is the only line between anarchy and civilization.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[17:04:57]

WATT (on camera): And of course the issue of what do we do with schools is drawing ever closer. In Arizona, 87 health workers have written an open letter to the governor saying keep them closed until mid-October. To do otherwise, they say, would be ill advised and dangerous.

And in Florida, the education association is actually suing some state and county leaders over the order that they must at least offer in- person teaching five days a week. These teachers call that reckless and unconscionable. Wolf?

BLITZER: Nick Watt in L.A. for us. So Nick, thank you. Let's go to the White House right now. Our chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta is joining us. Jim, after weeks and weeks of saying very little about the pandemic, the president now plans to resume those coronavirus media briefings. Tell us about that.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. A White House official says discussions about bringing back these coronavirus briefings have been going on over the last couple of weeks and there is no final decision yet as to what these news conferences will look like or even if they'll be in the White House briefing room.

The official says that these briefings are coming back to show Americans that progress is being made in the pandemic, but it's also a change that comes as polls show the public is rejecting the president's handling of the pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): With more than 140,000 deaths from the coronavirus in the U.S. and counting, President Trump is offering up a new proposal to show he's dealing with the pandemic, resurrecting the briefing room news conferences on the administration's response to COVID-19.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'll do it at 5:00 like we were doing. We had a good slot and a lot of people were watching and that's a good thing.

ACOSTA (voice-over): As Mr. Trump made the announcement, the former reality TV host turned president appeared to be more focused on the ratings for the briefings than the surging number of cases across the country. TRUMP: Well, we had very successful briefings. I was doing them and we

had a lot of people watching, record numbers watching. In the history of capable television, there's never been anything like it.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The briefings were sometimes useful when they featured the expertise of health experts like doctors Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci. But Mr. Trump suspended the news conferences back in April shortly after he suggested people could inject themselves with disinfectants to kill the virus.

TRUMP: And then I see the disinfectant knocks it out in a minute.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The president is still misleading the public about the virus insisting he was right when he predicted COVID-19 would miraculously vanish.

TRUMP: It's going to disappear. One day it's like a miracle, it will disappear.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Mr. Trump defended that comment on Fox.

TRUMP: I'll be right eventually. You know, I said it's going to disappear. I'll say it again. It's going to disappear --

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS HOST: But does that -- does that discredit you?

TRUMP: And I'll be right. I don't think so.

ACOSTA (voice-over): And his lukewarm support for wearing masks still runs counter to what the experts are telling Americans.

JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: I'm begging you, please understand that we are not trying to take away your freedoms when we say wear a face covering.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The president still faces tough questions over his handling of the pandemic like why the White House is seeking to block new funding for testing for the virus, a stance that irked some in his own party and surprised administration health officials.

COLLINS: The opening bid from the White House was a bit surprising, certainly for many of us who were certainly hoping to see more in the way of support.

ACOSTA (voice-over): A new ABC/Washington Post poll finds Mr. Trump far behind former Vice President Joe Biden. So the president and his team are turning to former aides, Cory Lewandowski and Steve Bannon for advice.

TRUMP: We have Cory and we have all the people. And actually Steve Bannon's been much better not being involved. He's says the greatest president ever, I mean, he's saying things that I said, let's keep Steve out there. He's doing a good job.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Bannon's message to Mr. Trump, pay more attention to the pandemic.

STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: My recommendation would be every day start to have the top people around you, Dr. Fauci, Br. Birx, the Vice President, Dr. Redfield, and CDC, chief of staff Meadows. Have them in the Oval, get briefed every day on an action plan.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The president's interview on Fox concerned even some of his own aides with one adviser telling CNN it was embarrassing. His total lack of preparation is catching up. One awkward moment came when Mr. Trump bragged about passing his cognitive assessment tests.

TRUMP: Well, I tell you what, let's take a test. Let's take a test right now. Let's go down, Joe and I we'll take a test. Let him take the same.

WALLACE: I took the test too when I heard that you passed it.

TRUMP: Yes, how did you do?

WALLACE: It's not the -- well, it's not the hardest test.

TRUMP: No, but the last --

WALLACE: And it's in the picture and it says, "What's that" and it's an elephant.

TRUMP: No, no, you see, that's all misrepresentation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (on camera): Now, earlier this afternoon, Vice President Mike Pence led a conference call with the nation's governors on the COVID- 19 response. Some of the governors on the call were from states currently seeing big surges of the coronavirus.

Also on the call was Dr. Anthony Fauci who urged the governors listening in to focus on the fundamentals in their response to the virus, a sign that that's not being done right now. And Wolf, speaking of wearing masks, the president tweeted this earlier this afternoon. It is a picture of himself. You mentioned this earlier, of wearing a mask.

This is quite an about face from the president. The president says in this tweet that it's patriotic to wear masks. Well, back in May he mocked former Vice President Joe Biden for wearing them. So, quite a change for the president. He's embracing these masks now as his poll numbers are diving. Wolf?

[17:10:02]

BLITZER: All of a sudden. All right, Jim Acosta, thank you very much. Let's get some more on all of this. Dr. Peter Hotez is joining us. He's a professor and dean of tropical medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and Dr. Ashish Jha, the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute.

Dr. Hotez, we're seeing a new level of urgency from local officials. The Los Angeles mayor, Eric Garcetti, for example, says he's on the brink of issuing a new stay-at-home order for the city. And the Republican governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, issued a mask mandate that goes into effect today. Based on your analysis, are these steps necessary? Will they do much good in the short term?

PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR AND DEAN OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Well, you're absolutely right. The southern U.S. is in a bit of a free fall right now where this part of the country now accounts for 25 percent of the world's COVID-19 cases.

So, across the globe and the pandemic, one quarter of the cases are all in the southern United States going throughout the southeast and then Los Angeles and into Arizona. So, this is crisis time and we've got to take steps nationally to come up with this plan.

In some areas you might be able to just have masks and social distancing. In others, we may need a complete lockdown. And this is what we're not getting from the federal government.

They need to look at the nation as a whole to bring us way back down to a certain level, say, by a set date by October 1st and then point to each of the states and each of the regions, say here's what you need to do, here's what you need to do, and here's what you need to do.

And they're not getting that guidance and direction. So the governors are baffled. They're trying to figure it out as best they can using some epidemiologic models, but it's very inconsistent and scattered and ultimately it's failing.

And this is why we're continuing to see this very aggressive rise in cases, hospitalizations, deaths, hospital staff getting exhausted and mortality going up further, hospital staff getting sick. And there's no end to this until we come up with a national strategy.

BLITZER: And given these numbers, Dr. Jha, not just cases but hospitalizations and deaths exploding right now. What's it going to take for these hot spots here in the United States to get this virus under control and keep it under control?

ASHISH JHA, DIRECTOR, HARVARD GLOBAL HEALTH INSTITUTE: Yes, Wolf, thanks for having me on. You know, we are I think at a critical juncture. And then we've been walking up to this point in the last couple of weeks where I think all of us have been saying you got to step up the response and you got to do more.

It's nice to see Arkansas go to a mask order. I wish that had happened a couple of weeks ago, but here we are. And the question is how do we stop the uptrend? So two things, one is I think we're starting to see some data that people are doing it on their own. Even if you don't have shelter in place orders, people are starting to go out less in these places. People are starting to really cut back on their own, but that won't be

enough. I really do think we need aggressive action from governors across all of these states helped by the federal government to bring the large outbreaks under control or we're going to have to go to a complete shelter in place across all these states, which all of us have been hoping we can avoid.

BLITZER: Yes. We were hoping we can avoid, might not be able to. Dr. Hotez, I want to get your perspective on some encouraging new data on a potential vaccine being developed over at the University of Oxford.

Here's what a study published just today finds in "The Lancet" finds about these initial trials. And you can see it up on the screen. It suggest the vaccine is safe, induces immune response, provokes an antibody response within 28 days, provokes a T-cell response within 14 days. Most common side effects are headache and fatigue.

What do you think? Do you think this is really encouraging that we're going to get a vaccine? There are five or six of these vaccine trials underway right now and a lot of people hope maybe by the end of this year, one or two of them might really work out.

HOTEZ: Well, that's the hope. I don't think we're really going to have that information whether these vaccines actually work until the middle of next year.

Now, looking at the data coming out of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, in a single dose, the vaccine did not seem to do all that much. The levels of virus neutralizing antibody which many think is a good indicator of whether the vaccines are going to work were not very high.

In two doses it seemed to be better, but there were only 10 patients who got the two doses so it's really hard to conclude very much from this. I think all I can really take away from it is there's enough there in the paper and the data suggest we need to do a larger trial.

And that's the idea behind "Operation Warp Speed." All of these vaccines will start entering phase three clinical trials at various times over the next year. And then it'll take a year to accumulate all of the data showing the vaccines actually work as well as that they're safe.

And then sometime maybe in the middle of next year we can start potentially releasing some of those vaccines to the public. But keep in mind, the first vaccines may not be our best vaccines.

[17:15:02]

It's looking like many of them may just be partially protective, potentially preventing from getting very sick, but not interrupting transmission. So even then we're still going to have to maintain ongoing public health control methods.

BLITZER: And Dr. Jha, you know, Dr. Hotez is right. If you just took one dose on day one, it really didn't do much. But if you took a second dose 28 days later, it did show some promise, some minor side effects. Among them, there could be, you know, little chills, fever, headache, a little muscle ache, a little pain where you got the shot, but they would go away after a day or two. So that was a little bit encouraging.

JHA: You know, it was encouraging. And so the short term safety profile looks good. And as Dr. Hotez said, you know, we've got some data here that you seem to be generating both humeral and T-cell immunity. This is two different arms of the immune system both getting activated. That's good.

What we need ultimately now is really to show that this vaccine protects you from severe infection and ideally all infections, and that it's safe over a longer period of time. And that is going to take time. So, people who think we're going to have a vaccine sometime this fall, I think it's hard for me to wrap my brain around how that could possibly come to be.

Maybe I'm a touch more optimistic than Dr. Hotez in the sense that I think it will be early 2021, but it's almost surely going to be next year.

BLITZER: It's going to be a while that this is going to go on. All right, doctors, to both of you, thank you so much for joining us.

Up next, as President Trump plans to resume White House coronavirus press briefings, he tweets a picture of himself in a mask. There you see it.

Plus, multiple states are seeing record numbers of new cases as the U.S. death toll now tops 140,000 people. We'll be right back.

[17:20:00]

BLITZER: As the numbers of new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths climb, President Trump this afternoon tweeted a picture of himself wearing a face mask and said many people call mask wearing, in his words, patriotic.

Will it really, though, make a difference at this point? Let's ask Dr. Vivek Murthy, a former U.S. Surgeon General and our chief political correspondent, Dana Bash.

Dana, the president might finally becoming around on mask, but he spent months and months downplaying or even mocking the importance of masks. You've been doing some reporting on this apparent change of heart of the part of the president when it comes to masks. What are you hearing?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: One word, polls. And that comes from a source familiar with the president's thinking. That is the driving factor, the driving motivation for him finally after all these months changing his tune and calling wearing a mask patriotic and taking a photo and putting it on his twitter feed.

Not just polls about, you know, the idea that people understand and appreciate the notion of wearing masks and how much that affects public policy and the health of people around them.

But, more importantly, I'm told, it's his own poll numbers, that his poll numbers have, obviously, we've been reporting on this for some time, really gone down.

And that he was convinced by people who have been trying to convince him for a long time, but they somehow finally got through to him this weekend and this morning that there's a connection, that it is all about the coronavirus when it comes to his re-election.

And his sinking poll numbers, they're directly related to his inability or his distance, intentional distance that he's put between himself and coronavirus. So that's why you saw that today, and also the president say that he is going to resume some form of a briefing.

BLITZER: Yes, and his job approval numbers are now in the high 30s. And incumbent presidents who have a job approval number in the 30s usually don't get re-elected. I'm sure that is playing a huge impact on the president and his political advisors.

Dr. Murthy, do you think the president could convince a significant number of his supporters at this late stage to finally go out there and wear a mask? If he does -- he posted a picture. He was seen once in public wearing a mask when he was at the Walter Reed Military Medical Hospital, but is it too late right now?

VIVEK MURTHY, FORMER U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: Wolf, it's good to be with you today. And it is not too late. It's never too late to start taking the right steps. And if we think about it in the subject of masks, the CDC said on April 3rd that we should be wearing masks. That was 108 days ago.

And since then there have been so many infections, so many deaths, so many jobs lost because we haven't been able to pull ourselves together to do the right thing as a government and sometimes as a community. But it's not too late because there are lives at stake.

And the president is able to communicate passionately. He's able to motivate people to take action. And he should be doing that now when it comes to public health measures. Because here's the bottom line, Wolf. The lessons of this spring still hold true today.

We still need to invest in expanding testing capacity and contact tracing capacity. We still need to use or to follow the levers of the federal government to make protective equipment for front-line workers, especially people in hospitals.

And it's not too late, but it's going to require our political leaders to really step up, especially in the federal arena. And this is take three. We had a chance at the beginning of the year. We had a chance after things got worse in New York. And we have another chance now.

I'm hoping that take three will be the time when we finally decide that we're going to put all our muscle behind getting this right.

[17:24:56] BLITZER: You're the former Surgeon General, Dr. Murthy, of the United

States. From a public health perspective, how important would the daily press updates from the coronavirus task force be? What needs to be done to make them more informative, more productive for the American public?

MURTHY: Well, I certainly think, Wolf, that giving more information to the public, more high-quality scientific information is important. And if the White House is able to do that, I think that could really help the cause because the truth is that how you communicate determines whether you build or destroy public trust.

And one of the most important assets you have in a pandemic response is public trust. And you have to cultivate it at all costs. Otherwise, when you need the public to follow guidance, they won't trust you enough to listen.

And that's actually the situation we may find ourselves in when it comes to vaccines because already surveys are showing nearly half of people are not inclined to take a COVID-19 vaccine even if it was available today. It's a shocking number and it's deeply concerning.

And we know that distributing vaccines is going to be hard enough, but if people are not willing to take it because we haven't built enough public trust, that's seriously going to impair our ability to build herd immunity.

So how do you cultivate public trust? Here's how, you tell the truth especially when you make a mistake. You lead with science and with scientists. You communicate frequently and consistently. You set goals and actually meet them and you communicate with empathy.

BLITZER: Dr. Murthy, thank you so much for joining us. Dana, thanks to you as well. We have an important programming note for our viewers. Be sure to join CNN's Fareed Zakaria as he investigates President Trump's embrace of conspiracy theories. That's later tonight 9:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.

Coming up, a record number of cases now recorded in Florida. I'll speak to the mayor of Miami Beach. That's coming up. >

Plus, doctors begging Arizona's governor not to reopen the state schools until October. Will he listen? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:31:51]

BLITZER: Arizona right now seeing a one day record for the number of coronavirus deaths and the state's seven-day average positivity rate is the highest in the nation right now. Our National Correspondent Miguel Marquez is in Phoenix for us. Miguel, doctors there, I understand they're pleading with the Governor to keep schools closed next month. They're supposed to open in August. What's the latest?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is going to be the very -- the next very big fight here, Wolf. Eighty-seven doctors sending a letter to Governor Ducey, asking him to push back his aspirational date of opening schools back up from August 17th to at least October and if not getting rid of the whole semester entirely.

The problem is there is just so much virus out there. As you mentioned, the positivity rate, the number of tests that come back positive from the thousands that they are doing here, it's at about 23 percent, 24 percent right now.

So almost a quarter of the people who get tested, come back as positive. There is a ton of virus out there. On the upside, the retransmission rate. If I have it, how many do I pass it on to, that is slightly lower here and moving in the right direction. Hospitalizations are down slightly but everybody we speak to in Maricopa County, at least that works in these very big hospitals, they are overwhelmed with a number of patients. They are pushing their ICU beds, their nurses, their doctors to the absolute limit.

So the big question is now that all this virus is out there, how are they going to put it back in the bottle? Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Miguel, thank you. Miguel Marquez on the scene for us from Arizona.

Let's head over to Florida right now, which is seeing record numbers of cases. The Mayor of Miami Beach Dan Gelber is joining us right now. Mayor Gelber, thanks so much for joining us. As you know, a major concern of Florida right now is hospital capacity. We're told that dozens of hospitals in the state have no more room in the ICUs. Give us an update, first of all, hospitals in the Miami area.

MAYOR DAN GELBER (D), MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA: Well, Miami-Dade County still remains the largest. We have over 2,200 admitted patients, we have 513 in ICUs, almost 300 on ventilators which is 100 more than it was when we last sheltered in place. And obviously, we've had about 1,300 deaths in just Miami-Dade County.

So our capacity is getting high. I mean, one of the things you got to think about though is we're getting better at increasing our capacity. But we also have to realize that if the mere fact that we can increase our capacity, just means that we are processing more human suffering, because everybody who's hospitalized, a certain percent are going to go to the ICUs and a smaller group will go to ventilators and succumb to the disease. So we can't just focus on capacity, we have to focus on how to stop people from catching this virus right now.

BLITZER: Miami Beach I know has implemented an 8:00 p.m. curfew for a big chunk of the city, South Beach, for example this past weekend. From what you've seen so far, are residents and businesses complying?

GELBER: Residents typically are. Certainly in my city, they are and I think in a lot of other places. Younger residents are still not doing what they should do because we're still seeing this huge group of folks under 35 testing positive and they're bringing it home to their elder parents or relatives.

[17:35:11]

Businesses, I think are doing a pretty good job. And we've closed restaurants indoors for now in our 8:00 p.m. curfew. I think it's helped. But this is a pernicious virus that we're really trying to get our arms around.

BLITZER: You and I spoke in "The Situation Room" Saturday evening, and you told me you weren't sure if you needed to go even further with restrictions. What would it take, Mayor, for you to implement, let's say a full stay-at-home order?

GELBER: Well, you know, my commission talked about it this week. And I was on the call this morning with some other mayors, Mayor Suarez from Miami. We -- we're sort of a study group, we sit with biostatisticians and healthcare experts, and we're hoping that what we've done, the mask order, the curfew and all these other measures, we're trying and hoping that that will move at the trajectory in the way we wanted to.

We seem to think it's done some of that already. But we're just not sure that trend is going to go. If we, however, go upward for a few more days, then I don't know what -- I don't know how we can't take more drastic action because just the volume of people entering this march into the hospitals is too great to allow.

BLITZER: As you know, your Governor -- the Florida Governor Ron DeSantis refuses to issue a statewide mask order. Other Republican governors around the country they have recently done, so the President just tweeted a picture of himself in a mask saying many people say that it is patriotic to wear a face mask. How much of a difference would it make if there were a statewide mandate in Florida right now that everyone had to wear a face mask when they were outside?

GELBER: A statewide mandate and a federal mandate, frankly, because, you know, when you when -- I was in the legislature when we made seatbelt laws requirement, and immediately people started to comply. But more importantly, the Governor and the President have a group of people, a cohort that do what they say that follow them, that believe in them. And if they made it their point to say that it would make a big difference.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure what's going to happen with the President. His political formula has been one of dividing, and we desperately need uniting right now. I would urge him to do that. It would be smart, I think politically, and more importantly from a healthcare perspective.

BLITZER: Yes, you're absolutely right. The Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber as usual, thanks so much for joining us. Good luck to everybody in Miami and Miami Beach.

Coming up, the Bahamas where the economy depends on tourism. The Bahamas about to ban U.S. tourists because of coronavirus fears. Plus, did Vladimir Putin get early access to a secret Russian coronavirus vaccine. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:42:24]

BLITZER: In coronavirus headlines from around the world, the government of the Bahamas is about to ban tourists from coronavirus hotspots, including the United States. CNN's Patrick Oppmann is monitoring all these developments from Havana for us. Patrick, tell us more.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the Bahamian government says they will close borders with the United States and other coronavirus hotspots starting this Wednesday. Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis says that the closing of borders will have a big impact on the Bahamian economy, but it's a necessary move so that starting on Wednesday they will only accept visitors from Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom and those travelers will have to show that they tested negative for the coronavirus in the last 10 days.

And while the Bahamas is dependent on tourism from the U.S. -- from Florida in particular, Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said they had no other choice that the number of cases since reopening in early July, were surging, and as soon as they didn't close borders, they will be overrun with the coronavirus. Wolf?

BLITZER: Patrick Oppmann reporting, thank you. Meanwhile, mask wearing is now mandatory in France. CNN's Melissa Bell is in Paris for us. Melissa, what are you seeing?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a new law came into effect here in France this Monday, which means that anyone heading in or out of a public closed space now has to wear a mask. Until now, it was pretty well the shops that were deciding whether or not their customers needed to wear masks when they walked in. They now have to impose.

And same for banks, same for conference centers, same for pharmacies, any kind of business where the public is heading into a confined space. They now have to ensure that they are wearing masks. Now the police can levy 135 euro fine, but it will be up to the shops themselves, these public spaces themselves to enforce this new rule which is the result of the fact that although France have coped very well over the course of the last few months. With getting the COVID-19 fingers down and really bringing this outbreak under control, authorities now concerned that there is a slight rise in those COVID- 19 figures here in France, Wolf.

BLITZER: Melissa Bell in Paris, thank you. In Moscow, meanwhile, officials deny President Vladimir Putin and some of Russia's top elites are getting access to a secret coronavirus vaccine. Let's go to CNN's Matthew Chance, he's in Moscow for us. Matthew, what are you hearing?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, tonight denials from the Kremlin that President Vladimir Putin has been given an experimental coronavirus vaccine being developed in a secretive Russian lab. Its official spokesman telling reporters, quote, it probably wouldn't be a very good idea if a head of state was using an uncertified vaccine. [17:45:04]

Question came amid speculation that members of Russia's political and business elite have been given early access to a trial vaccine before it's made available to the general public. The head scientist who created the drug said he is already injected himself and his staff before formal human trials began.

And one senior Russian officials told CNN he's taken the vaccine along with his elderly parents. All this along with allegations denied by the Kremlin that Russia hacked into U.S. and allied research labs, fueling concerns that it's cutting corners in its rush to produce a vaccine. Wolf.

BLITZER: Matthew Chance in Moscow, thank you. There's breaking news coming up here in "The Situation Room". Word of a deal between the NFL and the players union over coronavirus safety protocols.

Plus, the state of Georgia hits a record number of new cases as the Governor there is taking Atlanta's Mayor to court to try tho stop her from enforcing a mask mandate. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms standing by live, she will join us. We'll be right back.

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[17:51:02]

BLITZER: The world champion Washington Nationals have just announced that Dr. Anthony Fauci a great Nats fan will throw out the ceremonial first pitch on opening day this Thursday against the New York Yankees. Meanwhile, the NFL has reportedly reached the deal with the players union and daily COVID testing for the first two weeks of training camp.

Joining us now, Malcolm Jenkins of the New Orleans Saints. He's a CNN contributor, the founder of the Malcolm Jenkins Foundation as well. Malcolm, thanks for joining us. You sit on the executive committee of the NFL Players Association. What can you tell us? What have you heard about this new agreement, coronavirus testing? Do you think it goes far enough?

MALCOLM JENKINS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think, you know, for us as players, we always want to defer to the data the -- in the experts and our joint committee that we have with the NFL and let them tell us, you know, what the protocol should be.

And I think from our end, that is one of the many points that we've been in negotiating over but obviously player safety is our number one thing players want to play. We've seen that over the weekend with guys posting on their social media handles that we want to get this done as we get closer and closer to camp.

Testing is just one of the many things that has been left on the table but I think players are, you know, looking to see the league do a lot more when it comes to these negotiations in our health. BLITZER: Yes, that safety is priority number one, the health of everyone. You tweeted yesterday -- let me put it up on the screen. This is what you tweeted, "It blows my mind that the NFL is unwilling to follow the recommendations of their own experts regarding player health and safety. If we want to have a FULL", all caps, "FULL season this year, we need the NFL to listen to their experts. #WeWanToPlay."

The NFL claims they're implementing safety protocols agreed to by the Players Association reviewed by the CDC. What are they still -- where are they still falling short, Malcolm?

JENKINS: Well there's a lot of things and a lot of questions that players have not only regarding, you know, what happens if you get sick, but what does that mean for people's families? And not just, you know, reporting and getting the season started, but how do we actually get this to a full season?

How do we, you know, get this through the Super Bowl so that fans and, you know, and the guys that are playing can actually enjoy this and have something, you know, worth putting ourselves out there for.

So there's still a lot of things to be negotiated. Testing, like I said, was one of them. But we can't just agree to certain things. We need a deal in its totality. And yet that hasn't happened. There have been calls as early as today and negotiating is ongoing as we get closer and closer to those reporting dates.

BLITZER: Some NFL players have pointed to measures taken by other professional sports leagues, including the NBA, Major League Baseball, for example, what are those leagues doing right, Malcolm, that the NFL should emulate?

JENKINS: Well, I think, you know, those sports are a little bit different, but I think we've been in touch, you know, with those player unions and trying to see, you know, what are the things that they're doing right but what are some of the mistakes? And I think, you know, all of that is kind of yet to be said, the information changes almost every two weeks. And I think we're starting to have some movement as we get closer and closer to these deadlines.

But for us, as players, I reiterate, we look to those health experts to guide everything. We don't want to deviate from what that joint committee has put out as what, you know, from a ramp up period. How do we get our bodies ready to play in a game? What are some of the things from testing and how frequent we need to do that with the social distancing protocols? All of these things are on the table.

Some things, you know, we agree on, and obviously some things we don't. But for players, our health and safety, before we could even get to the business aspect of all of this is the number one priority.

BLITZER: Yes, you're absolutely right. The safety, safety, safety priority number one for the players, the coaches, the fans, if there are going to be fans, and everyone else.

Malcolm Jenkins, as usual. Thanks so much for joining us. Good luck, good luck to all the NFL players and everyone else involved. Appreciate you joining us.

[17:55:04]

JENKINS: Thanks for having me, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Coming up, potentially critical new developments in the search for a coronavirus vaccine. We'll talk about it with a former CDC director. Plus, President Trump resuming the White House coronavirus press briefings as his poll numbers are falling.

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BLITZER: We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following breaking news on the faltering U.S. response to the coronavirus. At this hour, more than 140,000 Americans have died.