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U.S. Death Toll Tops 142,000 After Reporting 1,000-Plus Deaths In One Day; Fauci: I Don't Really See Us Eradicating COVID-19; Study: Immunity To Virus May Decline Quickly After Infection; Fear Of Case Spikes As NYC Moves To Reopen Schools; Trump Threatens to Deploy Agents to New York, Other Cities; Key Model Predicts Drop In Deaths If Mask Mandates Continue; GOP Infighting Delaying Progress On New Stimulus. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 22, 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]

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. President Trump is about to hold a coronavirus media briefing, the second in two days after almost a three month absence.

The U.S. death toll now tops 142,000 people. And the country reported more than 1000 deaths yesterday, just in one single day. First time that's been done in a while.

Also breaking, California has just reported a single day record for new cases more than 12,800. And that puts the U.S. on track to add 1 million cases in just two weeks, underscoring the warning from Dr. Anthony Fauci, who says the U.S. is not only not winning the fight against the coronavirus, it's not even halfway through the game.

Let's begin with the breaking news out of California right now. CNN's Nick Watt is in Beverly Hills for us.

Nick, almost, what, 13,000 new cases reported in California in just a single day.

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And we've also just heard from Los Angeles County and they say that COVID-19 is fast becoming one of the leading causes of death in this county, more than Alzheimer's, more than stroke, more than COPD. And in six months COVID-19 killed twice as many people as the flu did in eight months.

That record you mentioned, Wolf, 12,807 new confirmed cases in California within 24 hours. So, they are saying that 10 percent of the tests they did in that period came back positive, that's not great, but it's a lot worse other places.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (voice-over): Around 20 percent of tests across Florida are coming back positive, a sign the virus is out of control in the sunshine state, seven weeks after the governor announced bars were back.

GOV. RON DESANTIS, (R) FLORIDA: People go, enjoy, have a drink, it's fine. We want to kind of not have huge crowds piling in.

WATT: In Texas, the Navy now sending medical personnel to the hard hit Rio Grande Valley. Doctors report a tsunami of patients.

DR. IVAN MELENDEZ, HIDALGO COUNTY HEALTH AUTHORITY: I went to put someone on life support, to intubate someone who's my sixth grade school teacher.

WATT: Nationally, the number of COVID patients in the hospital is inching ever closer to that grim April peak. The national COVID daily death toll just topped 1000 for the first time in two weeks.

But there is some optimism. Take those vaccine trials.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We have well over 100,000 people that have already signed up as volunteers.

WATT: The U.S. government just pre ordered 100 million doses of Pfizer's potential vaccine might be ready for regulatory review as early as October might be available by the end of the year.

JOHN BURKHARDT, PFIZER HEAD OF DRUG SAFETY R&D: We are optimistic we are hopeful things can go wrong, that can slow a project. So those are optimistic things.

WATT: Meanwhile, this is California's current normal, you can get a haircut, but only outside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I lost a lot of customers. They're scared to come out, you know for one, you know, two, can the loss of jobs.

WATT: This state now leads the nation with the most confirmed cases over 400,000 just surpassed New York.

But look how each state got there, New York a brutal early spike, California, a steady climb.

DR. MIZUHO MORRISON, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: We saw a slow tidal wave coming, right? And in emergency medicine, we actually call this time to prepare the golden hour.

WATT: That time and the lessons learned from New York helped a lot. Similar case counts, but California's death toll less than a quarter of New York's

MORRISON: We're hoping this is the peak but of course we're all dreading the upcoming flu season.

WATT: In some other hotspots Florida, Arizona average new case counts are right now plateauing high but flattening. FAUCI: We are certainly not at the end of the game, I'm not even sure we're halfway through.

WATT: And to maintain any momentum, we must wear masks.

DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, CDC DIRECTOR: Probably the most powerful tool that we have is a simple face mask. If all Americans would embrace that, as part of their personal responsibility to confront this outbreak, we could actually have a very significant impact on the outbreak that we're seeing across the country in the next four, six, eight, 10, 12 weeks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: Now, those University of Washington modelers, Wolf, have just dropped their estimated death toll by November 1. They've dropped it by 5000 because people are wearing masks and many places are mandating masks.

Now, how many times have we heard the administration or Republican governors saying, we don't need a mandate, we can trust the people? Well, these researchers say that in states where there is a mosque mandate, more people are wearing them, and if we would all just wear them, by November 1, we could save 35,000 American lives.

[17:05:09]

BLITZER: Yes.

WATT: Wolf.

BLITZER: Just put on a mask. It's not that difficult. All right, Nick, thank you very much.

Let's go to the White House right now. Our Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta is joining us.

Jim, we'll be hearing shortly from the President after a rather dramatic change, at least in his tone on the pandemic yesterday.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, President Trump will be holding that news conference in about half an hour from now. One thing we do know Dr. Anthony Fauci will not be at this press conference later on this evening. Just heard this a few moments ago.

But White House officials are touting President Trump's performance at his press conference yesterday, but aides to the president are glossing over Mr. Trump's reversals on key issues in the fight against the coronavirus like wearing masks. White House officials are even claiming there is only a, "tissue paper" of difference between the President and Dr. Anthony Fauci but that of course, is not true.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): With coronavirus death soaring and as poll numbers sinking, President Trump's sudden seriousness on COVID-19 is running into a major reality check as a scripted new tone, maybe too little too late.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It will probably unfortunately get worse before it gets better. Something I don't like saying about things, but that's the way it is. It's the way -- it's what we have.

ACOSTA: White House officials are cheering the President's performance at his first coronavirus news conference in months while pointing the finger at states blaming them for reopening too quickly.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: Some of these states blew through our gated criteria, blew through our phases, and they opened up some of the industries a little too quickly like bars.

ACOSTA: But hold on, it was the President who was goading his supporters into pressuring states to restart their economies with tweets like "Liberate Michigan" back in April. This month, Mr. Trump warned states could lose school funding if they don't send children back to classrooms.

TRUMP: We're very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools.

ACOSTA: The President is still claiming the virus will just vanish.

TRUMP: The virus will disappear. It will disappear.

ACOSTA: A continuation of six months of magical coronavirus predictions.

TRUMP: We have it totally under control. It's one person coming in from China. And we have it under control. It's going to be just fine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you trust that we're going to know everything we need to know from China?

TRUMP: I do. I do. I have a great relationship with President Xi.

ACOSTA: Dr. Anthony Fauci still says it won't be that easy.

FAUCI: I think we ultimately will get control of it. I don't really see us eradicating it.

ACOSTA: The President and his team are trying to rewrite history on masks too, overlooking Mr. Trump's mocking of former Vice President Joe Biden for wearing them when he retweeted a Fox News pundit.

The President wasn't wearing a mask earlier this week at his hotel in Washington, yet claims he will use one when necessary.

TRUMP: Well, I do actually do it when I need. I mean, I carry the mask. When I have to go -- I went into Walter Reed Hospital the other day, I have the mask right here. I carry it and I will use it gladly. No problem.

ACOSTA: The White House is even trying to claim the President and Fauci are on the same page.

CONWAY: Dr. Fauci and the President don't have a piece of tissue paper between them. And they both made that very clear to the other.

ACOSTA: When that's clearly not the case.

TRUMP: He's a little bit of an alarmist. That's OK. A little bit of an alarmist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a bit of an alarmist?

TRUMP: A little bit of an alarmist.

ACOSTA: Mr. Trump also insisted the U.S. is outperforming much of the world.

TRUMP: We've done much better than most.

ACOSTA: That's not how republican senator Mitt Romney sees it.

SEN. MITT ROMNEY, (R) UTAH: I don't think it's been a great example for the world to see America. I mean, look at other nations. Look at Germany, the E.U.

ACOSTA: Which is why the President may be reluctant to share the stage with Fauci who sees his role as giving Americans straight talk.

FAUCI: I'm not walking away from this because this is just too important, there's too much at stake for the world for me to walk away from this, not a chance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: It's still unclear whether the President will have other members of the coronavirus task force within at today's news conference. As we were just saying a few moments ago, Dr. Anthony Fauci will not be in attendance

Yesterday to top health experts were available but not in the briefing room with the President. Dr. Deborah Birx was waiting just outside the news conference and Dr. Fauci was not invited to attend yesterday. We're told, though, he was practicing his baseball pitching skills with his wife at the time, as he is scheduled to throw out the first pitch when the Washington Nationals play baseball tomorrow night, Wolf.

BLITZER: That would be the World Champion Washington Nationals, they're going to play the New York Yankees.

ACOSTA: That's right.

BLITZER: He will throw out the first pitch. Let's hope he does a good job. I'm sure he will.

Alright thanks very much Jim Acosta.

ACOSTA: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you very much.

Let's get some more in all of this. William Haseltine, the Chairman and President of ACCESS Health International is joining us. And Dr. Paul Offit, Director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia also with us.

Dr. Offit, what, for the first time in a few weeks, the U.S. now reporting more than 1000 deaths in one day, that was yesterday. And we're approaching a hospitalization rate not since, since the peak of the pandemic here in the U.S.

[17:10:03]

Given -- give us your overall assessment of where we stand right now in this fight against this deadly virus.

DR. PAUL OFFIT, VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER DIRECTOR, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: Well, I mean, right, we're losing. I think the only way we're going to be able to stop the spread of this virus is with a successful vaccine. And I'm optimistic that we can make a successful vaccine and have one available as early as the beginning of next year.

What worries me is that there will be pressure with an upcoming election to put a vaccine out there before we've adequately tested it in phase three trials.

I mean, we've been making so much of the these two recent studies that came out in the New England Journal of Medicine Lancet that really frankly, involve about 15 patients in one study, about 10 patients in another study, and that's not enough. We're going right to these phase three trials, which hopefully will be 30,000 people, 20,000 vaccine, 10,000 placebo. And if we do that, then we can, I think, maintain the trust of the American public that we've done this the right way, and that we haven't short circuited the process.

BLITZER: Yes. Good point. You know, Dr. Haseltine, we're seeing some signs that the rate of new cases might be stabilizing in some hotspots, let's say like Arizona and Texas. Are you optimistic and all that new measures like a mask mandate around the country, you think these new measures might be paying off?

WILLIAM HASELTINE, CHAIR & PRESIDENT, ACCESS HEALTH INTERNATIONAL: Surely mask will help. But I think we need a lot more than mask to contain this epidemic that's running through our country like a freight train. We have to in red zones, reinstitute closings of key places where people congregate, we have to close places where the young people congregate at night. We have to be very wary of any large meetings, especially the red zones, yellow zones, we have to be careful as well.

So, I am not confident at all that this seeming plateau means that we're out of the very serious woods yet. Until we see major changes in behavior and until we see the public health services here, stepping forward with many more resources, we aren't sure if containing this. Insofar as a vaccine goes, by my count, it would be five or six months away at the earliest. So we're -- we have some issues here.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting, you know, Dr. Offit, Dr. Fauci said today, we may not be able to globally eradicate the virus, even if we do have a vaccine. But he also says we should have at least under more control, you agree with that assessment?

OFFIT: Absolutely. I mean, if you think about it, first of all, there's 7 billion people in the world, the vaccines that are initially going to roll out are going to be two dose vaccines. You're talking about, arguably 14 billion doses. I mean, we've never made that many vaccines that much vaccines for anything.

So, I think that that we'll slowly get vaccines out. They will slowly start to decrease spread. And slowly we will get control of this virus. I think there's every reason to believe that that can happen over the next few years.

BLITZER: Dr. Haseltine, a new study from UCLA, I don't know if you saw it, but it does indicate that immunity to the virus may actually decline quickly after infection, especially in mild cases, how should we think about living with this virus in the long term if we're actually unable to eradicate it?

HASELTINE: I think the first thing to say is don't underestimate this virus. This is a coronavirus. And we know other coronaviruses come back every year. And in some cases, in fact, is that very same people. These are tricky viruses.

It's not as simple as measles or mumps, it's going to be a lot more complicated. That doesn't mean it's hopeless. I think that everybody agrees we have a good chance of making a big dent. But it does mean that we have to be very wary of what kind of results we can get in what space of time.

Hope -- pinning all our hopes on a vaccine that works immediately is not the right strategy, a public health strategy which has been shown around the world to contain the spread of this infection is what we have to put our hopes on with the help of a vaccine and help of effective drugs.

BLITZER: Yes. Therapeutics and a vaccine would be really, really critical.

Dr. Haseltine, thank you so much for joining us. Dr. Offit, thanks to you as well. We're appreciative of everything you guys do.

We're standing by for the White House coronavirus media briefing. You're looking at a live picture coming in from the briefing room over at the White House. And we'll be hearing from the President fairly soon, we're told.

And we'll also talk to the New York Mayor Bill de Blasio about his city's reopening and the breaking news on the Trump administration's controversial deployment of federal agents to various U.S. cities. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:19:03]

BLITZER: There's breaking news we're following, the President about to hold a coronavirus news briefing over at the White House, as the U.S. is now on track to add 1 million new cases in just two weeks.

And just a few moments ago, the President announced his administration will send federal agents and officers to Chicago as it already has to Portland, Oregon. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Today I am announcing that the Department of Justice will immediately surge federal law enforcement to the city of Chicago. The FBI, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshal Service and Homeland Security will together be sending hundreds of skilled law enforcement officers to Chicago to help drive down violent crime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, let's discuss with the Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio.

Mayor de Blasio, thanks so much for joining us. And I want to get your thoughts on the potential deployment of federal officers to your city in just a moment.

[17:20:00]

But let me get the latest from you now the latest developments on what's going on as far as coronavirus in New York is concerned as you well know. New York City moving into phase four of reopening this week, even as much of the country is imposing tighter restrictions and you want to go even further by eventually reopening schools.

But look at this chart, if you can, look what happened in Israel in early May, when they reopened school and ease restrictions, all sorts of other restrictions. Looking at all those numbers simply went up and up and up.

What gives you confidence, Mayor, that New York won't see a similar spike, if you roll back some of these restrictions too quickly?

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: Wolf, we're very aware of what happened in Israel. And we've seen what's happened all over the United States. And there's a common link there, which is when governments make decisions based on something other than the data and they move too quickly, either because of political considerations or other reasons. And we're just not going to let that happen here, we take a health and safety first approach.

And every decision, as we've gone through each of the four stages, it's been a decision leading up to it was the facts were the facts. They're the data to prove we could move into that next stage.

Now so far, Wolf, we feel very good. Continue to see a low level of positive numbers in terms of the coronavirus testing. Continuously very few hospitalizations. We went through hell, as you know, back in March and April, but we learned extremely crucial lessons on how to keep people safe going forward.

And we're not going to let our guard down. I mean, New Yorkers know you got to do a social distancing, you got to wear the face coverings. And as we get closer to decisions on things like schools, it's going to be based on the facts and the data. And if they support it, yes, a vast majority of our parents want kids back in school. But if the data doesn't support it, we're not going to do something that's not safe.

BLITZER: New York, as you know, is facing a lot of the same lab shortages plugging the rest of the country, which means it's taking days for people to get their test results. Do you worry, Mayor, that delay means you won't necessarily be able to detect a spike in new cases due the, let's say reopening of the schools?

DE BLASIO: Oh, I worry about it on many levels. Yes, we need information. We need it quickly.

Now, we are finding ways to address this through our own public hospital system. And our own lab capacity we're able to, in recent days, get quicker results. But, the bigger problem is absolutely real, Wolf. There is no national testing strategy.

Here we are in the fifth month of this crisis, no national testing strategy. I keep saying it, the President must invoke the Defense Production Act. Must convert all over the country facilities to do this lab work, to get the chemical reagents produced that we need so we can get prompt testing.

If we don't have it, my first concern is just a bunch of people don't get a test at all. My second concern is your point that we get people tested but the results take so long to come back. That it's a dangerous gap.

BLITZER: Yes.

DE BLASIO: But look, the White House still doesn't have a test testing strategy after five months is breathtaking.

BLITZER: All right, let's move on, Mayor, the President, as you heard, he just announced that he could deploy federal agents to additional cities in the coming weeks. If that includes your city, New York City, I understand you're threatening to take the Trump administration to court. Tell us why.

DE BLASIO: Wolf, if it's simple, there's no precedent for this. It's absolutely unacceptable. It's unconstitutional for the federal government to go into a local jurisdiction to do day to day law enforcement that our police do, our police know how to do.

You send in outsiders who don't know our circumstance, who are not welcome, who are not coordinated with us. And I fear in fact, more violence, more problems, exactly what we've seen in Portland. Violation of people's rights.

We've seen these officers sent to do crowd control and to inhibit protest, as the President said to, "dominate protests." That's un- American. And people all over this country are pained by what they see in Portland, we will not allow it here.

So if the Trump administration tries to send federal law enforcement in, we will see them in court and we will beat them in court because again, the Constitution honors the rights of localities to make their own decisions about safety.

Federal government doesn't run our police, cities run their police forces.

BLITZER: But as you know, the administration, their legal arguments are that they have the right to protect federal property anywhere in the United States. Would you object, Mayor, to federal officers coming to New York, if they were deployed with a very narrow mission to protect federal property in New York City?

DE BLASIO: First of all, well, they already have federal officers here who do that effective.

BLITZER: But what if they needed more?

DE BLASIO: And we would do that because we do it all the time. Our police do it all the time, right now. But look, if they come to us with a proposal we agree to it, that's a different matter.

[17:25:06]

But it is the fact that the President started reeling off cities that he was just going to force federal officers into against the will of those jurisdictions. That's what's dangerous.

And also, these officers doing something far outside their mandate. If they're doing crowd control, they're trying to stop protests, none of these federal agencies are supposed to be doing that. That's not what the law says their role is. That's dangerous.

If they come to an agreement with New York City or any other state, that's a different matter. But we are not asking for them to come here. That's the bottom line.

BLITZER: But you do admit that they have the right to protect federal buildings if necessary, let's say New York City Police decide not to protect those buildings. You would welcome, I assume, or you would want federal authorities to come in?

DE BLASIO: Wolf, I respect the federal government's authority over its own buildings, sure, but we would always protect their buildings we always do. And there's never a situation in which they should come into a city to confront people in the middle of legal protest, or to do crowd control. That's not what Homeland Security was created for. That's not what any of these agencies are meant to be doing.

And that's a very slippery slope, Wolf. When federal agencies are supposed to have specific missions to protect people turn into agents of repression of public speech and public assembly. That's dangerous and unconstitutional.

BLITZER: All right, Mayor, Bill de Blasio of New York, thanks very much for joining us. We'll see where this leads.

Let's hope there is peace and quiet in all these cities. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that's happening right now. Thank you so much for joining us.

DE BLASIO: Thank you.

BLITZER: All right. And to our viewers, please stay with us. We're once again waiting for President Trump to take questions in today's White House coronavirus briefing.

We'll also speak with the doctor behind a brand new key model on the future of the pandemic. It's predicting actually some fewer deaths than before, if, and this is a huge if, if almost everyone in the country wears masks when they go outside

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:32:01]

BLITZER: We have breaking news we're following, an influential model of the coronavirus pandemic has just been updated and it's predicting nearly 220,000 deaths here in the United States by November. That's about 5,000 fewer deaths than its last forecast because more cities and states are now mandating the wearing of masks.

Let's bring in the head of the institute behind this model. Dr. Christopher Murray. Tell us why you revived your -- revised your projection, Dr. Murray.

DR. CHRISTOPHER MURRAY, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH, METRICS AND EVALUATION: Well, Wolf, we try to take into account the mandates that different jurisdictions are putting in place, so we've seen bar and restaurant closures and in certain places, we've seen more mask mandates in the almost daily data we get on mask use.

Mask use is up in a number of places. So that's all factoring in to reduced forecasts for some states, but, you know, worrisome increases in Alabama, Georgia and, you know, the trajectory for Texas doesn't look good at all.

BLITZER: Yes, even if there's universal mask, and it goes up to 185,000. But that's about 40,000 more Americans who would die between now and then if there's universal mask wearing, which there clearly is not in big parts of the country.

We have seen, Dr. Murray, the rate of new cases begin to stabilize in some of the hotspots like Arizona and Texas, but stabilizing at a pretty high number. Are we already seeing at least some impact of mask wearing in some places?

MURRAY: Well, we're definitely seeing, you know, cases sort of stabilized, as you said, in Arizona and California, even Florida. It's bouncing around day to day, but it's not, you know, continuing that huge increase. So that's good news. That means that we think deaths will probably start to stabilize in another 10, 12 days in those places if that trend continues.

We think that stabilization is people getting sort of scared and being more cautious, people -- more people wearing masks. We see that in the data. And, you know, some restrictions on bars and restaurants. So all those coming together to hopefully, you know, stop that meteoric rise, but we think those case numbers will stay high for quite a long time.

BLITZER: Which is so worrisome. Hundreds of Americans are still dying. Yesterday 1,000 Americans died from this coronavirus and it continues and continues.

Dr. Murray, thanks to you and your colleagues, for all the important work you're doing. We're deeply appreciative.

MURRAY: Thank you, Wolf. Thanks.

BLITZER: All right. And another important development in the coronavirus crisis. We're keeping a very close eye on the infighting here in Washington among Republicans, which is clearly delaying progress and a new economic stimulus package that is so critical.

Let's go to our Congressional Correspondent Phil Mattingly. Phil, update us on the very latest

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows just arrived in the capitol short while ago for another meeting, probably the third or fourth over the course of the last 24 hours as they seek to reconcile very real differences not between Republicans and Democrats but between Republicans and Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[17:35:15]

MATTINGLY (voice-over): As Congress sprints to pass another massive emergency coronavirus relief bill, the fight isn't Republican versus Democrat.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Yes, I asked my Republican colleagues, what in the hell are we doing?

MATTINGLY (voice-over): For now, it's Republicans against themselves. A raucous closed-door Senate Republican lunch on Tuesday laying bare a series of divides between President Trump and the GOP.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R) MAJORITY LEADER: There are some differences of opinion on the question of the payroll tax cut and whether that's the best way to go. MATTINGLY (voice-over): And between Senate Republicans and Senate Republicans.

CRUZ: But a number of senators at lunch get up and say well, well, gosh, we need 20 billion for this. We need 100 billion for this and they're just really eager to spend money, like, what are you guys doing?

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell attempting to thread the needle over internal concerns about spending. And the White House push on a series of priorities, Republicans simply don't back.

MCCONNELL: The legislation that I've begun to sketch out is neither another CARES Act to float the entire economy, nor a typical stimulus bill for a nation that's ready to get back to normal. Our country is in a complex middle ground between those two things (ph).

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Republicans planning a $1 trillion proposal with $105 billion for schools, but rejecting the idea of explicitly tying all those funds to reopening, a key Trump ask. Another round of stimulus checks to Americans but wary of Trump's push for a payroll tax cut. A push to increase funds for state grants to increase testing, a new money for the CDC and NIH.

Despite the administration's insistence, there is still money available and more isn't necessary. And as millions of Americans face losing $600 in federal unemployment benefits at the end of this month, the biggest unanswered question, how to restructure the program amid GOP opposition? McConnell, however, making clear his conference and the White House will unify.

MCCONNELL: So I'm going to introduce a bill in the next few days. That is a starting place that enjoys fairly significant support among Republican senators, probably not everyone.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): For Democratic leaders, unified behind their own $3 trillion proposal passed by the House in May, a waiting game.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: And the sooner we can see their bill, the sooner we can understand our differences more clearly or our similarities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then start negotiating.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): And this sharp critique.

PELOSI: One thing is very clear, we have been united in our priorities. I think their delay is their disarray.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): And Wolf, sources tell me that GOP staff was just briefed on the top lines of the looming GOP proposal by leadership staff. A couple key components were listed out not unlike with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the floor yesterday.

One thing that was not mentioned, the payroll tax cuts still an open question on where that ends up. One thing that was mentioned, there would be in the GOP proposal, an extension of the unemployment insurance, the Federal enhancement of it for up to two months at a flat rate, that rate was not laid out in detail on the call.

But one thing we do know and kind of underscores how difficult an issue Republicans have had, that the White House floated the idea of a temporary extension, just as long as negotiations continued of that unemployment benefit.

Earlier today, that has been rejected, I'm told by Senate Republican leaders who make clear that deadline is probably necessary for any deal. They're going to try and get things done before time runs out the end of next week, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Phil Mattingly up on Capitol Hill. The stakes clearly are enormous for millions and millions of Americans right now. Thank you very much.

There's more breaking news we're following, the President about to hold a coronavirus news briefing over at the White House as the U.S. death toll now surpasses 142,000 people. Plus, what the Florida Governor just said only moments ago about reopening his state schools. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:43:42]

BLITZER: Breaking news, President Trump about to hold a coronavirus news briefing over at the White House, the second in two days after an almost three month absence.

Let's get some more. Joining us, Dr. Peter Hotez, Professor and Dean of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, and CNN Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger. Gloria, we heard the President yesterday finally acknowledged that the pandemic is going to get worse before it gets better.

But as we all know, very often, the President sets a new more serious tone but it doesn't take long before he goes back to his old ways. What should we expect from the President as he tries to send the message that he's now extremely serious about focusing in on this deadly crisis?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's hard to predict what we're going to get from the President. What we should get from the President is some detail on any kind of a national strategy to reopen schools, any kind of a national strategy to improve testing and tracing. But we didn't hear that yesterday. What we heard was the President talking about some sobering statistics and saying that, of course, he now believes that wearing a mask is the patriotic thing to do. The question that I really have is, is the President going to try and mailed (ph) talk about the pandemic and these serious issues of the pandemic with his campaign platform.

[17:45:08]

And, you know, we heard today that the President wants to send more federal agents into cities like Chicago and New York, and the governors and the mayors there don't want it. You just interviewed Bill de Blasio. So the question is whether he's going to move on to the -- onto the campaign and move away from the pandemic, which is what these briefings are supposed to be about.

BLITZER: In a, Dr. Hotez, relatively small step forward, the President finally appears to be on board with wearing a mask. Does that give you at least some hope that mask wearing will become less politically divisive here in the United States?

DR. PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR AND DEAN OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Well, as Gloria points out, let's see what he says today, because he does waffle and go back and forth. You know, the fact remains the southern United States along with Brazil and South Africa, and maybe one or two other nations represent the epicenters of this COVID-19 pandemic. That's not a club we want to be in.

And beyond even just talking about schools, we still don't have a federal plan for what we're going to do about COVID-19 in America. There's -- there are no ideas, there are no recognition of the extent of the problem. He did say, things will get worse before they'll get better. But again, this kind of minimalist approach that really just chipped away at the edges without a direct mention of how we're going to assault this because the numbers are going to continue to climb.

And the tragedy is you had Chris Murray on and he talked about 220,000 deaths by the end of October and maybe 300,000 by the end of the year. That's not inevitable, that's not a fait accompli. That's only if we allow it and that's what I want us to come out of the President.

BLITZER: Yes. And he points out that thousands of Americans will live if everyone starts wearing masks and they do it right away.

You know, Gloria, we also heard from Dr. Fauci today that the U.S. is currently losing the fight against the coronavirus and we may not even be halfway through this battle. This is going to be with us well beyond the election in November. Do you think the President will keep the coronavirus front and center even as we get closer and closer to Election Day?

BORGER: Well one thing he doesn't want to do is talk about losing. As you know, Wolf, he always likes to talk about winning and being a winner and being the best and having the least mortality, which is not true and giving the most tests, et cetera. But this is the elephant in the room that he has to pay attention to because it's what the public is paying attention to. And right now, his poll numbers were tanking. Two-thirds of the American public trust, Tony Fauci to deal with this coronavirus, about a third trust the President. He's got to regain credibility, the trust with the American public. And if the numbers with coronavirus keep getting worse and worse, he will have no choice but to continue to deal with it. How he deals with it, Wolf, is really the question.

BLITZER: It certainly is, all right.

BORGER: We'll see today.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens. Gloria, thank you. Dr. Hotez, thanks to you, as well.

And to our viewers, stay with us. Once again, we're waiting for the President to take questions at today's coronavirus news briefing.

Plus this, Florida's Republican Governor just trying to reassure very nervous parents in the state just ahead of this fall's reopening of schools in Florida. We'll update you on that when we come back.

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[17:53:33]

BLITZER: Breaking news, we're following Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis just spoke out about plans for reopening schools in Florida this fall. Let's go to CNN's Randi Kaye. So what did the Governor say, Randi?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, well, first of all, it's important to note that these comments came just two days after the largest teachers union here in the state of Florida filed a lawsuit against the Governor and the state about the schools reopening. The Governor said that things will get better. He said that children play a small role in transmission. And he said that opening schools is not a major factor in transmission.

But he really changed his tone. He has said before that parents could have a choice. But today, it was different. He really hammered it home. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: The evidence that schools can be open in a safe way is overwhelming. Yet I also understand the apprehension that some parents may feel and I believe in empowering them with a choice. No parent should be required to send their child to in-person instruction if they don't want to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Empowering parents. We certainly haven't heard him say that before. He said that teachers as well, for the first time, should get creative and continue their virtual lessons if they choose to. And he also said that he's OK with delaying the opening of some schools for a few weeks, which is already happening here. In fact, Palm Beach County where I am right now is debating that as we speak.

Meanwhile, we're hearing from the Governor as we're getting news that a 9-year old, now, the youngest person in the state of Florida has died from COVID-19. We've seen now five miners die, two 11 year olds, a 16-year old and a 17-year old.

[17:55:11]

And this also comes as we now know, Wolf, that more than 23,000 children under the age of 18 have been infected with COVID-19. More than 200 of them in the hospital. And as I said now, five of them dead. Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: All right, Randi, thanks very much.

There's more breaking news we're following. Much more coming up on the coronavirus crisis here in the United States right after this.

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BLITZER: We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world.