Here in new york. Alisyn camerota is off. Erica hill joins me this morning. Big morning. Yeah, it really is. And not the kind of big you want to see. 5 million cases. 5 million cases of coronavirus in the United States. More than 1 million new cases in the past 17 days alone. A new study finds nearly 100,000 children tested positive in the last two weeks of july. Reports this morning that the College Football season might be canceled this week. The impact is profound, sprawling, and deepening. 5 million cases. 5 million is more than the population of 27 entire states. Its also 4,999,999 more than the one person the president told us about in january. We have it totally under control, its one person coming in from china and we have it under control. Its going to be just fine. Its not just fine. 5 million is not just fine. And its 5 million more than the close to zero the president promised in march. When you have 15 people and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, thats a pretty good job weve done. Its not a pretty good job. 5 million cases is not a pretty good job. Its also nearly 4. 5 million more than the number of cases on easter when the president at one point wanted to see full churches. I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by easter. That was 4. 5 million cases ago. This morning, 5 million is the reality. And as we continue to look at how weve gotten to this point, by the first week of april, the case count in this country was about 276,000, nearly 10,000 deaths at that point. And suddenly the Trump Administration was recommending masks, with one notable exception. I think wearing a face mask as i greet president s, prime ministers, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens, i dont know, somehow i dont see it for myself. I just dont. Maybe ill change my mind, but this will pass and hopefully it will pass very quickly. This will past very quickly. Well, by june 16th, nearly 120,000 americans had died. And thats when Vice President wrote an oped in the wall street journal, calling the administrations Coronavirus Response a cause for celebration. In recent days, he wrote, the media has taken to sounding the alarm bells over a second wave of coronavirus infections. Such panic is overblown. We are winning the fight against the invisible enemy. That message later echoed by President Trump. If you look, the numbers are very minuscule compared to what it was. Its dying out. By the way, were doing very well on vaccines and therapeutics, also. I think theres going to be some big announcements on that in the nottoodistant future. But no, were not concerned. Its dying out, were not concerned, were winning the fight. Well, its not, and we are definitely not winning. Less than two months later, this is where we stand. Over 5 million confirmed cases. Keep in mind, those are just the confirmed cases. Nearly 163,000 americans are dead. So how is the United States addressing this . Were not. There is still no nationwide testing program. There is no clear guidance on reopening schools. Theres no acceptance at the top. President trump peddling the same stale, false message hes been pushing since january. Absolutely. Theres no doubt in my mind it will go away. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Its really amazing when you hear that. The bookends to 5 million cases, saying the same thing in january that he is saying in august. It speaks volumes. And on top of the news this morning, when you see 100,000 children testing positive the last two weeks of july. The entire College Football season might be canceled this week. That just tells you where we stand this morning. It really does. And the ripple effect, as we have talked about, right, for the past so many months. The ripple effect. There is not a single area in this country that is not touched by this virus and by the lack of a coordinated response. It is mind numbing that this is where were at. But here we are. And a lot to get to this morning. There is a lot to get to, including developing overnight, new confusion from President Trump about these additional Unemployment Benefits, which he announced on saturday. Well, now hes saying that some states may not be required to pay part of those benefits after all, if governors request federal help. Cnns lauren fox is live on capitol hill with the latest. This is raising, frankly, even more questions this morning, lauren. Well, erica, it has been ten days. Ten days since those federal Unemployment Benefits, that additional 600 a week that individuals were counting on, expired. And despite the fact that there were negotiations all week on capitol hill last week, there is still no deal in sight. And this comes as the president signed those executive orders at his new jersey golf club. Whether anything can get done from those orders . Well, thats another question. With negotiations for a new stimulus package at a standstill on capitol hill, President Trump tried to sidestep congress and take Coronavirus Relief into his own hands, signing executive orders. I think it actually works better if we do it the way were doing it. You cant beat the deal we made. But the president s move does not provide a clear path to help millions of americans out of work. My constitutional advisers tell me theyre absurdly unconstitutional. And unfortunately, the president s executive orders described in one word could be paltry. Reporter part of trumps memorandum, reducing the additional unemployment benefit, from 600 to 400 per week, leaving it to states to pitch in 100 for every resident enrolled. By sunday, the president said its possible the federal government could pick up the whole tab if a governor requests it. It will depend on the state and theyll make an application. Well look at it and well make a decision. So it may be theyll pay nothing in some instances. Reporter earlier, President Trumps economic advisers said states could afford it. I think theyll be able to make room. So based on our estimates, the states will be able to provide the extra 100. Reporter but for states with budgets already stretched thin by the pandemic look, that would cost us about 500 million between now and the end of the year. I could take that money from testing. I dont think thats a great idea. Reporter and in another executive order, the president said so im protecting people from eviction. Reporter in reality, trumps executive order does not explicitly provide help for homeowners and renters. The president also promised to suspend payroll taxes. Thats money paid into Social Security and medicare. If im victorious on november 3rd, i plan to forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax. Reporter trumps plan is actually a deferral and only congress has the power to change tax law. Meanwhile, House Speaker nancy pelosi and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer are looking to meet yet again, with white house chief of staff mark meadows and treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin to try to work out a deal. Weve said, lets pass legislation on the things that we agree on and knock these off one at a time. And theyve refused to do that. Were at a stalemate, because the republicans have from the start never understood the gravity of the situation that we are in. The problem has grown. And it has become an Enormous Economic problem. And when you take a step back, remember, President Trump had long attacked former president barack obama for his executive actions on daca. And many republicans on capitol hill felt the kpexact same way. So far, were hearing just from ben sasse, a republican, who says hes concerned about the constitutionality of President Trumps executive orders. John . Oh, yeah, there are republicans who made it their lives to criticize barack obama for doing this when he was president. And now they are completely silent on it. We will wait to see if there is any consistency this morning when they get back to work today. Lauren fox on capitol hill, please keep us posted. We do have breaking news this morning. A heavy Police Presence on Michigan Avenue in downtown chicago. Large groups of protesters gathering overnight, vandalizing retail businesses. Video taken outside of saks fifth avenue shows armed officers standing guard at an entry door with the glass shattered. Chicago police tell cnn that large crowds began to gather shortly after midnight. They did not have any particular information on the size of the crowd, amount of the damage, or level of police response, only saying, quote, this is an ongoing situation. Not clear what triggered this. Cnn is reaching out to the police for more information. So speaking of pictures, this picture of a crowded Georgia High School. So many people saw this after a student posted it because she was so concerned about the lack of mask wearing, the lack of social distancing. She was suspended for a time for posting this picture. Well, guess what happened now . The school is closed due to cases of coronavirus. That story, next. Come on in, were open. All we do is hand you the bag. Simple. Done. We adapt and we change. You know, you just figure it out. Weve just been finding a way to keep on pushing. Weve just been finding a way to keep on pushing. There are so many toothpastes out there, which one should i use . Try crest pro active defense. 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Hi jen hi. So youre the scientist here. Does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day . Its true jen. Really . this prebiotic oat formula moisturizes to help prevent dry skin. Impressive aveeno® healthy. Its our nature. Developing overnight, a Georgia High School thats been under scrutiny of a student posted this photo of a packed hallway, no social distancing, clearly many students without masks, this school has now announced it is temporarily closing after nine people have tested positive inside the school for coronavirus, for a few days, at least, theyre shifting to online learning. Cnns natasha chen joins us now with the latest on this. I have to say, it is stunning, but not surprising, that were here this morning after that picture surfaced last week, natasha. Reporter well, john, the principal and superintendent made sure to tell families that that was a fiveminute period when students were changing classes. They said this may happen in a school with 2,000 students. But now the letter that was sent last night from the superintendent to families said that, of course, they are Virtual Learning monday and tuesday, cleaning the campus, consulting with the Public Health department on what to do next. And families will receive notice by tuesday evening on how they will proceed for the coming days. Now, sophomore hanna waters posted that photo of the crowded hallway last week. She was suspended and then that suspension was reversed. She talked to cnn last night about how shes now gotten threats because of that. I feel like a lot of teachers have my back, because they know how dangerous it is going to school, but i know that a lot of the kids i go to school with, ive gotten backlash for, ive gotten threats and things like that, but i know im doing the right thing and its not going to stop me from continuing to do it, but it is concerning, especially since a lot of the people i go to school with, people ive known for years now, that are threatening me now. Paulden county is not alone in this. In other counties in the area, in cherokee, there are 260 students and staff quarantined right now. And over in gwinnett county, the Largest School system in georgia, at least 260 employees either testing positive or in quarantine. And just to explain where we are this morning, this is by the atlanta airport. Were expecting later this morning Governor Brian Kemp along with the u. S. Surgeon general to announce a new partnership, allowing for new testing in the next 16 days that would allow results to come back in 48 to 72 hours, a turnaround that is much faster than it currently is in georgia. Its much faster than it is in places around the country. That would be helpful, to be sure, if measures elsewhere also enforced. And natasha chen, thanks very much for being with us. Joining us now, dr. Carlos del rio at grady Health System. Can we put the picture back up, so people can see this picture in North Paulding High School last week that was posted by hanna waters. Clearly, dr. Del rio, people are not social distancing and people are not wearing masks. Heres the thing, they were required to do neither inside that high school. Masks were not required and in the guidelines posted by that school district, they acknowledged that there would be cases where social distancing is not possible. So how surprising is it, given that picture and given those facts, dr. Del rio, that we are where we are this morning with six students and three faculty members testing positive . Good morning, john. It is not surprising. Unfortunately, there is a lot of cases still. Theres a lot of Community Transmission in georgia and many southern states. And somebody is going to come to school thats infected. And the possibility of transmission we know that a lot of transmission is likely to occur in close environments, close quarters. Whether its indoors, small environments, close contact, lack of ventilation. So that hallway is the best place to have transmission when you have a lot of people close to each other. I think that not requiring masks and not social distancing is exactly the recipe we need for transmission. And if thats the recipe, it seems to be working at that high school. Can you just fact check something for me. What we heard initially, the superintendent seemed to make the case in that initial letter, well, the kids may be in the hallway, but theyre not there for that long. There isnt enough time that theyre together for transmission, maybe five minutes. Does that figure in here . It does figure in a little bit. We know that a lot of transmission occurs when you have close proximity to somebody neurosurgeon more than 10 to 15 minutes. However, when you have a lot of people together, a lot of crowding in very small quarters, so close quarters, close proximity, cramped places are places where a lot more transmission can happen very quickly. So i do think that the 10 minute, 15minute rule applies most of the time, but you need to be in a bigger space, an auditorium, a classroom, but not a small hallway. I bet you in that hallway there were a lot of viral particles floating in the air that could have easily infected somebody. Two sobering numbers this morning. Weve spent a lot of time talking about 5 million cases in the United States. Thats quite a place to be. We can get to that in a minute. I was also struck by this new study over the weekend that nearly 100,000 children, and that varies by age depending on state, but broadly speaking, 100,000 children tested positive in the last two weeks of july alone. So what concerns does that raise for you this morning . Well, you know, its very interesting, john. We initially did not think that children were infected or if they were infected, they would not transmit the virus. But the evidence clearly now shows that evidence can get infected. And many children may have higher viral loads in their respiratory secretions than adults. I think children were initially not infected, because adults did a very good job of sheltering children and keeping children indoors. But as children are starting to come out, i think its likely that more infections will happen. I must tell you that we clearly know that theres an Inflection Point at about ten years of age. Its about ten years of age, where children younger than 10 are less likely to get infected, children older than 10 will get infected as quickly as adults. Children 10 and older are infected as quickly as adults. My 10yearold is going into fifth grade and were figure how well these kids are going back to school. I do want to touch on this number of 5 million cases. Were now past 5 million confirmed cases. But dr. Del rio, as we know, and as we heard from dr. Whitfield at the cdc, weeks ago now, those are just confirmed cases. Of there could be ten times the number here in the United States. And it seems that testing is getting more difficult in many areas, as opposed to improving. I think, erica, first of all, its a very sad number to have 5 million cases and to have, you know, over 160,000 deaths. Each one of those is a person. Each one of those is somebody who has a family, who has friends, who has loved ones. But i also think that we see in our country something which is a disproportionate impact on africanamericans and hispanics. Most deaths and most cases are occurring on minorities. And i think those racial and ethnic disparities in those 5 million cases are really something we have to think about. Its not just equally distributed. So i think we need to address some of the social determinants of health. Its not just enough wear masks, wash your hands, we need to talk about crowding, housing, opportunities for employment, the fact that many frontline workers are those that are highest risk. If we dont address those issues, were not going to see a significant decrease in the number of infections in our country. Dr. Del rio, thank you very much for being with us this morning. We always appreciate your insight. Good talking to you, john. Developing overnight, californias Public Health director resigning unexpectedly in an email to staff members. The Los Angeles Times reporting that dr. Sonia angel did not give a reason for her immediate departure. It comes after the state discovered serious issues with testing data that caused several thousand coronavirus cases to go unreported. More than 10,000 people in california have now been killed by the virus. Also developing overnight, some election chaos in puerto rico. Primaries temporarily halted because of a lack of plballots Voting Centers across the island. Puerto ricos governor has blasted the Election Commission calling the decision totally unacceptable and outrageous. Voting is set to resume next sunday. So a big week in politics here in the president ial campaign. Former Vice President joe biden is expected to announce his running mate any time this week. The list of candidates growing shorter. What we know about the deliberations, next. I like liberty mutual. 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The president , as you heard, now saying its possible the federal government could cover the entire cost, if a state governor requests help. Joining us now, cnn political correspondents, mj lee and arlette saenz. Mj, we know a lot of states have actually already asked for help, perhaps not in the way that the president is now suggesting that they should. But just another sign that this is clearly not very wellthought out, when we cant, a, couldnt get a lot of answers on day one, and now, a couple of days later, were seeing a shift again. Thats right, erica. I mean, it is incredibly dubious what kind of legal standing the president has to enforce and enact these executive orders that he has put out. It is very questionable what kind of help real people who have actually need this real help might be able to get. And i think the question about the Unemployment Benefits is a perfect example. We just heard him there raising a lot of what ifs, and maybe we could do it this way or that way. To your point, i think its very clear from those statements this is not something that was thoroughly thought out. It doesnt appear it was clear, at least to him, how exactly he sees this being enforced. You know, the question about this partly being responsible by the states, that the states would have to partly offer some of this funding. Well, the reality is that a lot of states are actually not in a position to offer this kind of extra funding. They are in not a good financial position to be able to handle some of this. So for those kinds of states, what does that mean for the People Living in those states who need that kind of help. So both with that and even, you know, with the eviction ban that were talking about, President Trump has essentially said, well, it is up to the federal agencies to find the money. We dont know how that money is going to be found, and if it is found, how is that going to be distributed. There is just a whole lot of questions at this point as to how this help can actually get to the people and filter down to the people. And i think the fact that he issued these executive orders just kind of perfectly goes to show that the president , at least politically speaking, felt like it was not tenable for him to not take some kind of action. Theyre making it up as they go along. Theyre making it up. There is disagreement between Steve Mnuchin, the president , and poor larry kudlow who cant complete a sentence without contradicting himself on this subject. They cant explain whats going on. They cant explain how the payroll tax situation will be handled with the deferred payments there. So theyve got to figure that all out. And then theres the legal matter or the constitutional matter or the internally consistent matter politically speaking, mj. Im going to read you a tweet from President Trump, mind you, when he was then just donald trump. This was from 2014, november 20th. He says, republicans must not allow president obama to subvert the constitution of the United States for his own benefit, because hes unable to negotiate with congress. Now, he was talking about daca then, but its the exact same situation, because he was unable to negotiate with congress. So, condemning president obama then, doing it himself today. Right. I mean, this is another example of something that President Trump, according to his own words or tweets in the past, would have condemned this kind of action. And i think, again, it goes to show almost kind of the political desperation that i think we are seeing from the administration. I mean, a big part of the irony here, too, john, is that this is a president who prides himself and has really branded himself as the negotiator, the person who has spent decades in business, making deals, striking deals and negotiating with people. This is one where after weeks of trying to get a deal with democrats, this simply wasnt possible. Republicans, the white house, and democrats in congress were not able to get to a big spending deal on this, and that is why we find ourselves in this mess of a situation. It is certainly a mess, to put it mildly. Look, theres a lot else going on, as we know. People waiting to see who former Vice President joe biden will pick as his running mate, arlette. There are i feel like weve narrowed the list down, right, to a few picks. Any better sense this morning of when we will get this announcement and who the running mate will be . Well, really, this pick could come any day now. And joe biden has blown through a lot of his selfimposed deadlines, making it clear that he doesnt feel like hes going to be rushed to make this decision. But we have seen this focus kind of come into shape with a few of the women. One of those being michigan governor gretchen whitmer, who over the weekend we learned actually traveled from michigan to delaware to meet one on one, with the former Vice President , within the last week, week and a half, to talk about that possible running mate job. Shes one of the national cochairs of bidens campaign, and shes also caught bidens attention for the way that shes handled the coronavirus pandemic in her state. But theres also a big focus on two, particularly, women of color, on this list. And that is one of them is senator Kamala Harris of california. She is a former rival of joe bidens, having one herself. They had that heated debate moment back last summer during the democratic primary. And then theres also former National Security adviser, susan rice, who is one of the few women on this list who actually has that working relationship with the former Vice President. They served together under the obama administration. And there are still a few others who are considered to be in the mix, like karen bass and Tammy Duckworth and even elizabeth warren. But clearly, biden is heading into that final stretch of deliberations, as hes trying to find what he says is a governing partner for him, if he were to become president. And mj, look, we dont know exactly what joe biden is doing or thinking as he makes these deliberations. It might just be who he thinks is the best fit. However, there are people raising questions about whether the pick needs to be a woman of color. And that will become an issue, i believe, if he were to pick michigan governor gretchen whitmer. It could potentially be an issue. But, look, i think joe biden himself and anybody that you talk to around him over the last couple of weeks, have made it so clear that what this will come down to is going to be sort of a gut check feeling that joe biden has about the person that he would like to spend every day of his potential protest with. There are lots of highs and lows that come with working at the white house. He knows that better than anybody else. And both he and his wife, jill biden, have made very clear that the person he ultimately ends up choosing is going to be somebody who he feels like he can be entirely insync with. He has made clear that he is really trying to create this relationship and bond that he had with former president barack obama. So, yes, it is very, very clear that in the deliberations process and the vetting process, the issue of whether he could choose a running mate who is a person of color, a black running mate, that has been a huge factor in this. But we dont know if at the end of the day, that is going to be the determining factor, because, again, for him, for joe biden, the biggest thing is going to be sort of this gut feeling of, is this somebody i feel like i can imagine myself working with day in and day out. Arlette, weve got to run, but in 15 seconds or less, night one of the democratic convention, as it is, who are we going to see . Were going to see michelle obama, whos an exciting figure for the democratic party. Also, Bernie Sanders, who could energize progressive voters to come out and vote for joe biden. And also former ohio governor, john kasich, which happens to be a republican. So this is kind of a show of unity, as the Biden Campaign and democrats are trying to show the appeal that they could bring to voters heading into the fall. Conventions arent subtle. So its a notsubtle message, night one, from Bernie Sanders to a former republican governor. Thats the point they want to send. Arlette saenz, mj lee, thanks so much for being with us. Developing overnight, President Trump is denying a report in the New York Times that someone in the white house reached out to south dakotas governor last year about adding additional president s to mt. Rushmore, namely, President Trump. The governor reportedly gave the president a fourfoot replica of mt. Rushmore that included mr. Trumps face during july 4th celebrations last month. The president denied the story on twitter, but did go on to say, it sound like a great idea to him. Mm. So theres that. Look, has he ever has there ever been anything he didnt want to put his name or face on . Nope. Not that i can think of. There you go. And here we are. Happy monday. Meantime, so much focus on sports and specifically the College Football season. This morning, were learning the entire season may be on the brink. The leaders of the power five conferences. Could they actually be about to pl pull the plug . We have those details for you in the bleacher report, next. vo weve got your back, road warriors. Because we know you want to get back to going your speed. Steering life at 10 and 2. Youre prepared for this. And so are we. Soon youll get back to skipping the counter without missing a beat. 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No decision has been made yet, but this is certainly indicative of a fall without College Football. A source within one of the conference tells cnn that the commissioners have been meeting for months and that those talks will continue. One schools Athletic Director telling cnn, quote, the outlook doesnt look good. On saturday, the midamerican conference became the first tier to postpone all of the conferences fall sports. Those include men and womens soccer, field hockey, womens volleyball. You really feel for the scholarships that played these nonrevenue generating sports. Clemson quarterback trevor lawrence, the likely number one nfl draft pick posting a series of tweets with the hashtag, we want to play. Lawrence saying this, people are at just as much, if not more risk, if we dont play. Players will all be sent home to their own communities where social distancing is highly unlikely and medical care and expenses will be placed on the families if they were to contract covid19. Now, lawrence also shared an image with the logos of the major conferences, listing the players desires. And that includes the creation of a players association, which is something weve heard over the course of this pandemic. This as Major League Baseball is postponing the st. Louis candors threegame series against the pittsburgh pirates, which was scheduled to start today. A total of 17 members of the organization, ten players, and seven staff have been infected with coronavirus. The teams president of baseball operations is tell cnn that one president and one staff member did go to the emergency room, but neither were admitted. The team now faced with how to tackle playing 55 games in 46 states. And youre right, john, theres a course of players who want to play College Football and this is a huge story thats starting to develop. There are a lot of risks associated with that, health risks and the like. Its a decision not taken lightly. I think its fascinating these schools are getting together and talking, these conferences getting together and talking, over the conference over the weekend canceled their games. It raises a ton of questions. Carolyn, thank you very much. Up next, cnn will speak exclusively with Health Secretary alex azar about the pandemic response. Apps except work. Rywhere. Why is that . Is it because people love filling out forms . Maybe they like checking with their supervisor to see how much Vacation Time they have. Or sending corporate their expense reports. Ill let you in on a little secret. They dont. By empowering employees to manage their own tasks, paycom frees you to focus on the business of business. To learn more, visit paycom. Com all right, breaking overnight. Major news out of hong kong. Police have arrested nine people, including the publisher of a prodemocracy newspaper, a man that regularly criticizes hong kongs government and chinese leadership. All of the individuals now charged with violating the territorys new National Security law. Cnns Senior International correspondent, ivan watson, is live in hong kong with the latest. As clear of an example as we have had yet of china exerting really authoritarian influence in hong kong. Yeah, i mean, this was an unmistakable show of force, john, where you had more than 100 Police Officers raiding the newsroom of this hong kong newspaper, apple daily, which happens to be owned by one of the Chinese Communist partys fearest critics here in hong kong, jimmy lie, this kind of tycoon who is just absolutely not ashamed of coming out and criticizing both the communist party and the leadership thats allied with it here in hong kong. The police say they arrested him and at least eight other people, confiscated dozens of boxes of information. On the grounds of suspicion of collusion with a foreign country, which could endanger National Security, conspiracy to defraud, and other offenses. This is all coming less than a month and a half after beijing rammed through a controversial National Security law on hong kong, which gives the chinese authorities direct power to investigate, search, detain, prosecute people for suspected crimes like terrorism, subversion, sedition. That was viewed as a real turning point, because hong kong is supposed to remain mostly autonomous from Mainland China for a period of 50 years, up until the year 2047. The speed of the crackdown here as really got people surprised, because the authorities have barred at least 12 opposition activists from running for elections that were scheduled in hong kong next month. The authority have now postponed those legislative elections for at least a year on the pretext grounds of the coronavirus pandemic, for health and safety reasons, they say. A growing number of opposition politicians and activities are facing an array of different charges and prosecution. In the end, youve got much less tolerance now for opposition to the authorities. For freedom of assembly. Nor now we see, freedom of press. That all adds up to an authoritarian crackdown. Ive seen versions of this in other countries. The speed here is really remarkable, especially in a city where those freedoms had been protected up, up until, really, a matter of months, if not weeks ago. And the audacity of arresting jimmy lie in a way that everyone can see. He is so well known in hong iconic and internationally. Its a statement not just there, but to the entire world. Well wait to see how the u. S. Responds. Ivan watson in hong kong, thank you very much. Please keep us posted throughout the morning. Up next, cnn will speak exclusively with Health Secretary alex azar about the u. S. Pandemic response. I have the power to lower my blood sugar and a1c. Because i can still make my own insulin. And trulicity activates my body to release it like its supposed to. 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Just press firmly and it continuously eliminates odors in the air and on soft surfaces. For 45 days. Breaking overnight, chinese fighter jets briefly crossing into taiwan amid a highprofile meeting between alex azar and chinas president. China has condemned the visit. Cnns Paula Hancocks just spoke exclusively with secretary azar and she joins us now live from taipei. Paula, heading to taiwan in the middle of a pandemic, what more are you learning from secretary azar . Reporter well, erica, that was one of the first questions i did ask, why do you need this facetoface interaction in the middle of a global pandemic, but he insisted it was important to learn how taiwan has managed to deal with this pandemic. This is a country an island of some 23 million people. Theyve had less than 500 cases. Most of those imported and just seven deaths. So clearly, there is a lot to be learned from the way that taiwan has dealt with this when it comes to the u. S. And many countries around the world. I also asked him why the numbers were so high in the u. S. , compared to other countries. He did reject comparisons to other countries, and said the president , he believes, is doing a good job. In terms of the president s historic response to the coronavirus crisis, a novel, unprecedented pandemic, we have actually been able to manage to ensure that the Disease Burden did not exceed our Health System capacity. No american died because of lack of a ventilator or lack of an icu bed. And thats a critical, critical factor in terms of how we engaged in mitigation steps to keep, as we say, the curve within capacity, that was the core strategy, initially, to delay and flatten the curve, to keep the burden within the systems capacity. So what would you say to critics of the Trump Administration who say, your visit here three months before an election is political . My visit here is about supporting taiwan and supporting taiwan in the international Public Health community. My visit is about health. Its about the health of the people of taiwan. Its about the health of the american people, and its about the health of the people of the world. And the way we protect that is by entities around the world being transparent, cooperative, collaborative, compliant with the International Health regulations, and taiwan has been a model of that. So interesting to hear from him. Reporter and as you can see, he was wearing a mask during e the im sorry, paula, go ahead. Reporter you could see that he was wearing a mask during the entire interview. He has been throughout the entire trip, including when he met with the president s and also with the health minister. And he said, thats one of the key things in the United States. That people have to start wearing face coverings. I pointed out that the president doesnt always wear a face covering. Thats one that he skipped past, erica . Skipping past an answer on that one. Meantime, whats the message to beijing . Reporter well, i asked him that as well, because obviously this relationship isnt happening in a vacuum. The u. S. china relationship is in dire straits and china considers taiwan to be a re renegade province. There were incidents of fighter jets coming into the air space around taiwan a little earlier today, as well. But he said that there is no message to beijing. This is a message for taiwan, single handedly. And saying that criticizing beijing for politicizing the Health System, politicizing the health crisis. Saying that taiwan and other democratic countries have been transparent and open in the way that they are dealing with the pandemic. But once again, criticizing beijing for not having being open enough. But he did not engage when i asked him specifically, why come now . Why send this message to beijing. Paula, great to have you with that interview. Thank you. New day continues right now. Over 5 million cases of the coronavirus have now been reported across the country. And the rate of the spread is stunning. If doctors and Health Care Experts are correct, the wave of covid19 infections is not even close to over. We failed early on to adopt the testing that was necessary. And even more so, we failed to ramp that up to a degree that were going to need. President trump, meanwhile, has been touting his new virus relief package, which he unilaterally extended through executive action. We offered compromises, we couldnt get it, so the president decided to take action on his own. My constitutional advisers tell me theyre absurdly unconstitutional. Announcer this is new day with Alisyn Camerota and john berman. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is new day. Alisyn is off. Erica hill with me this morning. Great to see you. Good to be back with you. We do begin with breaking news. 5 million coronavirus cases in the United States. We have passed the 5 million mark and it is climbing. More than 1 million new cases in the past 17 days alone. The death toll, about to surpass 163,000. The United States now accounts for more than 25 of all confirmed cases and 2 of all fatalities in the world, yet the u. S. Makes up only 4 of the worlds population. The president claims that children are nearly immune from the virus, but a new study finds that nearly 100,000 children tested positive in the u. S. In the last two weeks of july alone. And this morning, there are reports that the College Football season could be canceled completely or