Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20200914

Climate crisis. President trump, conversely, seems to be blaming californians for not sufficiently raking leaves in the forest and continuing better Forest Management even though, as the governor just pointed out to President Trump, the vast majority of the forests in california are federal, and President Trumps push against Climate Science is something that one california official took issue with today when he met President Trump. And were seeing this warming trend make our summers warmer but also our winters warmer as well. If we ignore that science and sort of put our head in the sand and think its all about managing. Itll start getting cooler. Just watch. I wish science agreed with you. I dont think science knows actually. The fires are just one matter of life and death that President Trump is facing right now in his job as he ignores the science of Climate Change as you saw in that clip. He is also ignoring the science of the coronavirus pandemic holding a crowded indoor rally with thousands in attendance, few masks in sight. President trump and holding that rally was defying local restrictions in nevada as well as guidance given by the White House Coronavirus task force, also defying simple common sense. As the u. S. Approaches 195,000 deaths from covid19, less than 5 of the worlds population, more than 20 of the coronavirus deaths worldwide, according to official statistics, its a comparative failure with any other western wealthy nation. And now cnn has exclusively obtained a new recording of President Trump talking to author bob woodward with President Trump a month ago today bewilderingly insisting that he could not have done anything more to save lives, as Cnns Kaitlan Collins reports. Reporter with fires rafb yadgeing the west coast, President Trump made a brief stop in california to assess the damage after being criticized for largely staying silent on the devastation hes blamed on Forest Management. There has to be good strong Forest Management which ive been talking about for three years. Reporter as he met with California Governor Gavin Newsom in a stop added two days ago, only emphasised trumps reluctance to accept Climate Change. Trees fall down after a short period of time about 18 months they become very dry. They become really like a match stick. Also leaves. When you have years of leaves, dried leaves on the ground, it just sets it up. Scientists have concluded its Greenhouse Gas emissions from burning fossil fuels that are making the fires longerlasting and more damaging. Is there a Climate Change issue in california . Uh, youll have to ask the governor that question. I dont want to step on his toes. But, please respect and i know you do, the difference of opinion out here as it relates to this fundamental issue on the issue of Climate Change. Reporter former Vice President joe biden said trump doesnt listen to the experts. If you give a climate arsonist four more years in the white house, why would anyone be surprised if we have more america ablaze . Reporter the president s visit coming after he held a rally with thousands of people indoors yesterday, blatantly defying the governor of nevadas order limiting indoor gatherings to 50 people. Many in the audience werent wearing masks, and trump only mocked the governors restriction. And if the governor comes after you, which he shouldnt be doing, ill be with you all the way. Reporter trump told the Las Vegas Review journal that the limitations didnt apply to him, and he wasnt worried about getting covid19 from being in the room. No, im not concerned. Im more concerned about how reporter the revelation that trump knew the dangers of coronavirus came from Bob Woodwards book. In new audio obtained by cnn today, trump repeatedly asked woodward how the pandemic would affect his reelection chances. So you think the virus totally supercedes the economy . Oh, sure, but theyre related, as you know. A little bit, yeah. Reporter trump also told woodward nothing more couldve been done on covid. Despite what dr. Anthony fauci told jake tapper in april. I mean, obviously you could logically say that if you had a process that was ongoing and you started mitigation earlier, you could have saved lives. Reporter now, jake, the president has just left california. He is now on his way to arizona where he is going to be holding a latinos for trump event. As polls show he is edging joe biden out with that group. But i want you to look at the room where the president is going to host this event. Weve got our team in the room. See how many chairs there are and how closely they are together. Our team counted over 500 chairs though. Of course, its unclear yet if all of them are going to be filled. But it just shows you, if so, this is going to be another event where the president is throwing these covid19 precautions to the wind basically. And we know that the virus has struck minority groups, latinos and africanamericans disproportionately hard. Joining me now is congressman of california, a democrat and the largest fire in state history is currently burning in his district. The fires are just 30 contained. Thanks for joining us. President trump today focused on Forest Management as the solution for alleviating some of the fires and for the problem in the future. You have touted your efforts on preventive Forest Management to make them more resilient to wildfires. So, is there any truth to what the president is saying here . Certainly there is. Certainly we do need to manage the forests better. Certainly there are many things that can be done. But i notice he didnt bring money. Thats what its going to take to do it. And its only this year that we were able to set up a funding mechanism for the u. S. Forest service that allows them to manage the forest with some money. Previously, all the money was spent on fighting the fires. Nothing was left to manage the forest. But the issue is far, far bigger than raking the leaves. Its an issue that we have to deal with Climate Change. Jake, we knew back in the 1990s, i was deputy secretary at the department of interior in the runup to the kyoto Climate Conference in 1998, we studied what would happen if the climate got warmer. We predicted exactly what is happening today with hurricanes, with floods, with super storms, and with fires. We knew the forests were going to die. Here we are 22 years later, and the president denies Climate Change. This man is a danger not only the pandemic, but hes a danger to our communities. And also, congressman, gavin newsom today pointed out to President Trump that a majority of the forests in california, i think i have this right, are federal lands, and its a small minority that are state lands. Is that correct, and how does that relate to this issue of management of the forests . Well, as i said a moment ago, ive been talking about federal forest money. Previously, the money was consumed in fighting fires. There is nothing left over to manage. We now have a new funding mechanism in place. We do need to in the forests. And the great majority of forests in california are federal. But the fires are occurring not only in the federal forest but theyre also occurring on private lands and they are occurring in our cities, certainly as you saw in oregon. Were having fire storms in our cities, in our suburbs and the cities. And it is directly related to Climate Change. We know this. Unfortunately the president simply refuses to accept the responsibility that is his. Thank god biden made it very, very clear what he will do as president. He will address these issues. So, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti was on state of the union yesterday. He suggested to me that, in his view, President Trump responds to disasters in republicanleaning states more quickly and more aggressively than he does when the disasters are in democraticleaning states. Take a listen. And from the president i wish that we would get as much attention not based on an electoral map but just purely on being americans, and the need for leadership to be from the white house for all of america. Do you agree with that, that President Trump is more readily offering support to americans in primarily republicanled states like texas . Well, we certainly know that the president is paying attention to the red states, and even more so to the states that are in play, the swing states. With regard to california, yes, we do need federal help. We do need assistance. And, frankly, we need the heroes bill. Unfortunately, the president refuses to recognize that state, local governments around this nation, red, blue, independent, whomever, swing or not, are all hurting for money. So the heroes bill, which is unfortunately not in play here in the senate, has to provide the money that these local governments need, not just to sustain the fire fight, but also all of the other, fighting the coronavirus, the testing, the tracing, all of those things. And i must go back and just, biden gave an exceptional speech earlier today just ahead of the president. And the stark difference between a biden thats looking to the future protecting america from all of the climate catastrophes that are already with us and a president that simply denies that there even exists such a problem. Weve got to make a change. We cannot let time go by any longer without fully addressing the climate crisis, and biden laid it out clearly what he would do. One last question for you, sir, about the coronavirus and this new recording from bob woodward and President Trump. I want to play an excerpt of President Trump talking about his efforts to tackle the pandemic. Take a listen. Nothing more couldve been done. I acted early. Do you agree with that, nothing more couldve been done and he acted early . Whats the current count on lies that the president has stated . Were at 20,000 lies over the last four year . You can add that one more to it. The fact is he didnt act early. All he did was to shut down some of the travel from china. He opened left the door open to europe and he left some, i dont know, 60,000, maybe 100,000 additional people come into the United States from china. Thats all he did. But worse than that is that he denied the reality of the pandemic. He knew back in february that this illness was far more serious than the common flu. He said it himself in the tapes to woodward. And now here we are, nearly 200,000 americans dead, dead as a result of the infection that has overtaken us, and an economy in rubble and ruin. It is an indictment of the Trump Administration and specifically of trump himself. He had the knowledge, he had the information. He refused to act to protect americans. And for that reason alone, he must go. Democratic congressman of california, as you can see, also a forceful advocate for the Biden Campaign, thanks for your time today. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of california, oregon, and washington. The worlds lawest producer of vaccine says there might not be much vaccines. Hes not telling parents some key numbers about coronavirus. Stay with us. When i started cobra kai, the lack of control over my business made me a little intense. But now quickbooks helps me get paid, manage cash flow, and run payroll. And now im back on top. With koala kai. Save over 30 hours a month with intuit quickbooks. We have different needs. Y. 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But the Worlds Largest vaccine manufacturer is warning today if the Coronavirus Vaccine requires two doses, the world will not have enough until 2024. As cnns athena jones now reports. Reporter a major warning on the vaccine front. The head of the Serum Institute of india, the Worlds Largest vaccine manufacturer telling the Financial Times there wont be enough Vaccines Available to inoculate everyone in the world until the end of 2024 at the earliest if two doses are needed to provide immunity, as expected. All of the studies are showing that to get an adequate immune response is going to require two doses probably spaced a month apart. Reporter but. What we need to keep in mind is that it may not require first and foremost everyone in the world to get vaccinated to slow down or even stop this spread. Reporter meanwhile, a bold prediction from vaccinemaker pfizer, which is already manufacturing hundreds of thousands of doses in the hopes its Covid Vaccine is deemed safe and effective. We will know if the product works by the end of october. Reporter six months after the president declared a state of emergency to combat covid19, still a mixed picture across the United States, with 24 states showing a downward trend in new infections, 16 States Holding steady, and ten states and puerto rico on the rise. New infections up 55 in wyoming, 36 in wisconsin, and 10 in connecticut. Texas now behind just new york and new jersey in the total number of covid19 deaths. San francisco today reopening hair and nail salons and gyms with limited capacity and face coverings required. Covid spread in Higher Education remains a concern with more than 45,000 cases reported at colleges and universities in all 50 states. One reason seems like this one near nyu over the weekend are raising eyebrows. And there are new concerns about politics impacting guidance. A federal official telling cnn assistant health and human secretary Michael Caputo has been altering the cdcs weekly reports so that they dont undermine President Trumps message on the virus. This is not about the message, this is about science. Reporter in fact, the New York Times reports caputo accused cdc scientists of sedition on facebook, stating, without evidence, the agency was harboring a Resistance Unit determined to undermine the president. Now, i should point out Michael Caputo is a political appointee. The New York Times quoting him telling his facebook followers, quote, scientists have given up science and become political animals. They also quote, saying there are scientists who work for this government who do not want america to get well, not until after joe biden is president. Jake . All right, lets bring in dr. William schaffner. I want to start with your reaction to this New York Times reporting trump hhs official Michael Caputo accusing the cdc of sedition, having a Resistance Unit determined to undermine President Trump. Youre a longtime adviser to the cdc. Whats your reaction . Well, im very distressed, jake, at those words. Because thats not the cdc personnel that i know. They work very hard, theyre apolitical in their work. Theyre devoted to science. Theyre devoted to actually getting out the best information as quickly as possible so that the American People can be as healthy as possible. And they have a wonderful track record going back to hiv aids, ebola, zika virus, in protecting the United States from invasion by infectious agents and dealing with them after they arrive. Theyre a model for the rest of the world. So, doctor, this new reporting comes after cnn confirmed a different story by politico that trump appointees including caputo at hhs have been pushing to change language used in these weekly cdc morbidity and mortality reports, and other reports about the coronavirus. Sources telling cnn that the political appointees apparent goal was to make sure that the data released by the cdc did not undermine President Trumps political messages. We should point out that caputo says that they were just trying to make sure data drives policy, not, quote, alterir deep state motives. What was your reaction to that story . Well, i find it abhorrent that political influences are trying and perhaps successfully inserting themselves into the cdc communications, which have always been a model of sciencebased rectitude very, very rigorous. They are the bible that everybody in Public Health reads not only in this country but around the world. We cant have them contaminated with politics. Politics should be kept out of Public Health. Politicians should be supporting Public Health, not trying to spin it. And, doc, the Worlds Largest vaccinemaker warning if the vaccine ultimately requires two doses per person, that the world will not have enough of the vaccine until 2024. What might that mean for any sort of time line for returning to some sort of normal . Well, were thinking about the Global Economy and also the economy here in the United States. I suspect well have more vaccine for the United States before we have it for the entire world. And some vaccines under development now require only one dose. So, i think that time line can be accelerated surely here at home and even around the world. Im more optimistic than that. I wanted to get your reactions at President Trumps really rally in nevada last night. It deified state regulations, thousands of people crowded indoors, very few masks, no distancing. When you see these images, what do you think . Well, what i think, jake, is that the virus was there. It was uninvited. People brought it in. It spread during those circumstances. And those circumstances were actually 180 degrees opposite from current good Public Health practice that should not have occurred. We should not have these large gatherings. This is not a political statement. Its a simple Public Health statement. We need to avoid large gatherings today and for the foreseeable future. You know, weve talked about this before because President Trump obviously had that rally in tulsa, not to mention of course his acceptance of the Republican National Convention Nomination at the white house where it was outdoors at least. But still very few very little adherence to guidelines. We dont know who gets it as a result. Is that just because we just dont have the Contact Tracing . I mean, because it seems like we see these things and we say, well, people are going to get the virus because of it, but then we seldom hear about that actually happening. Its so difficult to trace back where an individual could have gotten covid. Because there are so many opportunities today. So its very difficult. But there is no doubt, ask any Public Health person in the country today, these large gatherings are accelerants for the virus. They will spread among the personnel not only locally, but these people will then return to their homes, sometimes quite distant, and set up mini outbreaks in those locations also. It all just keeps fueling the outbreak. Its the exact opposite of what we ought to be doing. President trump says that hes not worried about getting it from these events. But its not only about him, of course. Doctor, thanks so much. I appreciate it. A massive manhunt is underway for a man who ambushed two Los Angeles County deputies. Tech at safelite, were committed to taking care of you and your car. Tech well fix it right with nocontact service you can trust. Tech so if you have auto glass damage, stay safe with safelite. Singers safelite repair, safelite replace. Its totally not the same without you. We miss your lets do this look, the sound of your laugh cry screams, and how you make every day here the best day ever. We cant wait to get you back so weve added temp checks, face coverings, social distancing and extra sanitizing to get the good times going again. Were finally back. And cant wait until you are too. Buy now and get two days free at the parks. Restrictions apply. Developing right now in our National Lead, a massive manhunt for the criminal who ambushed and shot two Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies in cold blood. This video may be disturbing to watch. But in it you can see the suspect walk up to their official vehicle saturday night, fire multiple shots and take off. A Department Official says both deputies, a 31yearold mother and a 24yearold man were critically injured but are out of surgery. What do we know about the condition of the deputies today as well as the frantic search for the suspect . Reporter we have just learned, jake, that the deputies are still in Critical Condition here at the hospital that you see behind me struggling to survive after being shot multiple times. We understand from the sheriff that one of the deputies was shot in the face. The other in the head and in the arm as well. And at one point one of the deputies, whos a 31yearold and a mom, ended up helping put a tourniquet on her 24yearold partner in this particular case, trying to help save him. He had a terrible wound to the arm. When you look at this video, though, it is chilling. You see the suspects walking up to the deputies vehicle. They are sitting outside of a metro station here in compton. And he just fires off shots. Were saying he because theyve given a very, very vague description that it was definitely a male shooter in this particular case. But theyre also warning people that when you look at this video and they released it hoping to try and get some leads as to who this person might be, that the video is coming from the metros surveillance camera and that surveillance camera is a bit of a fisheye lens. So youre getting a bit of a distorted picture of what the person actually looks like. It looks like the person is very short. But these two deputies are fighting for their life right now in the hospital after being shot multiple times in what the sheriff is calling an ambush. Jake . And, sara, some shocking news after the two deputies were rushed into surgery. There were actual protesters outside the hospital, people saying that they wanted the officers to die . Reporter yeah. There was about four or five maybe six people who came out. And you can hear them yelling at police. They were protesting police. And you did hear one of them say that he hoped the officers die, and also cursing at police. We found out and figured out which group that was because they identified themselves. The person said he was with the l. A. African town coalition. And he explained in a subsequent post on facebook that this was he hopes that this was in retaliation to the number of people that lasd had shot here. And so you can see this just horrific situation happening. And they are fighting for their lives and you have people outside wishing for their death. The mayor saying there is absolutely no place for this here in los angeles, jake. Absolutely disgusting. Sara sidner, thank you so much. Our thoughts and prayers obviously with those two sheriffs deputies. Joe biden says the gloves are off in the fight for key voters in a critical state. How that has impacted his travel plans. Thats next. A lot goes through. 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In our 2020 lead, tomorrow, joe biden will make his first visit to florida as the official democratic president ial nominee after polls show the race tightening in that electorrich state and show biden struggling there with latino voters. The latest nbc marist poll showed 50 to bidens 46 . Hillary clinton lost florida, but she won latino voters there handily. Cnns mj lee is in wilmington, delaware. The Biden Campaign making hispanic outreach a Main Objective of this trip. Reporter they are, jake. And we should also note that this is joe bidens first trip to florida as a democratic nominee for president. This is going to be his focus tomorrow. And what the Campaign Says their strategy is right now is of course working on latino outreach in the states that you would expect. We are talking about states like arizona, florida, new mexico. But you they also say that they want to recognize that there are plenty of other states where there are growing latino populations. They said that they want to make sure states like georgia, iowa, and michigan do not get left behind. Then of course its things like growing the number of spanishspeaking surrogates that the campaign has and making sure that they are investing in Spanish Language ads. Biden just wrapped up a speech here in wilmington, delaware. And as he was walking out, reporters asked him about his trip tomorrow. This is what he said. I will talk about how i am going to work like the devil to make sure i turn every latino and hispanic vote. He also said that his hispanic support overall is better than donald trumps, but he conceded he needs to get those numbers up among latino voters. Its definitely a weak spot. And billionaire mike bloomberg, once a competitor against biden, is now committing to spend 100 million in florida specifically to help biden. Is he going to spend the money on latinofocused ads . Do we even have any idea how hes going to spend that money . Reporter well, you know, were going to get the answer to that in the coming weeks, see exactly how they spend that money. But this is a huge sum of money that is not an overstatement. It is the kind of money that could help make the difference in a huge state like florida where the media market is very expensive. It is important to note though, jake, that this isnt just about florida. This obviously frees up the Biden Campaign to use their resources to target other battleground states that are not just florida. So certainly a boone for the Biden Campaign right now that this huge amount of cash influx is going into their florida operation. Thanks so much. I want to bring in our panel on this. Laura, today marks 50 days until the election. Thats less than two months. Will bidens latino outreach basically starting now, is there a risk that its too little too late . Well,ing in a state like florida its all about the margins, jake. I mean, theres definitely time, and both campaigns are fighting for latino voters in that state. Trump clearly has the upper hand with cubans. Theres also a sizeableportorican population in the state. And they are more inclined to vote democratic. The campaign has released ads in florida, Spanish Language ones that are very specific in terms of the accents of the latinos that are featured because they are trying to show that they are paying attention to the diversity of the latino population there. But again the polls are showing that. Bidens trip there is trying to make up for that. The campaign also held a call yesterday where they were trying to show that they are very much focused on latino voters. Toluse, in 2016, trump won florida. But exit polls show Hillary Clinton won 62 compared with trumps 35 . If recent polls reflect reality, most latino voters wont be voting for biden at all. They will be voting for trump. Yeah. That could be a big problem for joe biden just because floridas always a very close state, all campaigns try to say that its a very diverse state. Even the community is incredibly diverse. If President Trump is winning overall, that will make it very hard for joe biden to eek out a win in florida, which is expected to be very close down to the wire. Biden is doing well with seniors. He is also trying to improve with africanamerican voters and white suburban voters without sort of getting to the hispanic vote and really turning out as many democratic hispanic voters as possible. It could be hard for him to win florida. I think thats part of the reason hes going down to the state tomorrow. And i think you can expect to see a lot of joe biden, a lot of Kamala Harris and a lot of Biden Campaign staffers and surrogates in florida speaking to those florida voters trying to get them to turn out at high numbers. Ive seen that movie before. Lara, your publication politico reported today that disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories about joe biden and the democrats are flooding florida latino communities. Tell us about that. Yeah. So, it appears that a lot of this disinformation as well as qanon conspiracy theories, those are conspiracy theories that have been promoted by the president himself. Hes promoted qanon supporters or followers. But its really prevalent on whats app, which is a tech messaging app which is heavily used among the latino community. If it infects Spanish Language radio, then that could have an impact on latino voters. Again, the vast majority of the latinos that it appears to be influencing are ones that lean republican, cubans and venezuelans but also colombians which are split in terms of how they vote for democrats or republicans. So its certainly something that a number of democrats are paying attention to. I asked some latino sources, democratic sources in other states like arizona if theyre seeing things at this level that they are in florida and they said no, not so far, not beyond the disinformation and conspiracy theories that weve seen largely across the country in terms of coronavirus. They havent seen it to the level that its permitting latinos in florida. Lets be clear though. Lets call it what it is. Its cheating when you put out conspiracy theories and disinformation campaigns to target voting populations. Thats cheating. Thats not how elections are supposed to be done. Right now President Trump is headed to arizona for a roundtable with latinos. I want you to take a listen to what he heard in a similar event in las vegas yesterday. Ufb done more for this country in my lifetime than any other president. The law and order that you propose is what we want in our states. The ppp, the disaster loan, me personally, theres no way that my business would still be alive if it wasnt for you. So, as the president heads to arizona, a new cbs poll shows that he and biden are near even statewide. Biden has 47 compared to trumps 44 . Thats within the margin of error, which is 3. 9 percentage points. Arizona typically votes republican. This year, it is a battleground state. What do you make of that . Yeah. No democrat is on arizona at the president ial level for the past 24 years so it would be a swing state in which democrats are sort of fighting uphill now. We have seen in recent elections suburban voters really flee the republican party. And thats what joe biden is relying on. Thats part of the reason President Trump is there this week, and this weekend hes trying to spend a lot of time directly trying to increase the hispanic vote, trying to increase his numbers when it comes to suburban voters, talking about those Business Issues like the ppp loan. The president is not giving up on arizona, even though there have been some polls showing joe biden way ahead i think as we get closer to election, they were likely to see those numbers tighten. And arizona just like florida is one of those states where both campaigns see it as key to their route to 270 votes. And both campaigns are fighting to try to make sure that they can secure arizonas electoral votes by looking at the Diverse Community in the state including hispanic voters, collegeeducated white voters, suburban voters and even the few rural voters who remain in the state. Thank you so much to both of you. Speaking of florida, the governor there asking School Districts to not release key covid19 data which could help parents decide what to do with their kids. Thats next. Een years old. My family was really poor. Now, ive got fifty employees. When the pandemic hit, i was really scared about losing my business. But osmar, my Financial Advisor from northwestern mutual, he told me, brother we got your back. His Financial Planning helped to save my business. If i could talk to my younger self, i would say, youre going to be proud of yourself. Connected approach to your aetna medicahealth and wellness. With medicare plans designed to simplify medicare and help you age actively. So you can keep pursuing the life you love. Aetna medicare solutions. Cancer wont wait. It wont wait for appointments to open up or test results to come back. Thats why at Cancer Treatment centers of america, our worldclass experts give you the care you need, when you need it. With appointments in as little as 24 hours and rapid test results to get you a personalized treatment plan. Because cancer isnt just what we do, its all we do. Call today. Appointments available now. The situation room with wolf blitzer up next on cnn. In our National Lead today, floridas republican Governor Ron Desantis is facing pressure to disclose Coronavirus Cases School by school. There has been a 26 increase in cases involving children. But whats not clear is how many of those children returned to inPerson Learning when it started a month ago in florida. And now cnns rosa flores is pressing Governor Desantis for answers as parents are forced to make tough decisions with not all the information they need. Reporter classrooms like these are what florida Governor Ron Desantis has been pushing for, for months. Because the risk for kids is extremely low. Reporter but he did not present a statewide safety plan. More than a month into facetoface learning, he has not releelsed covid19 data on schools. For families like the richardsons, the lack of information made it difficult to decide between virtual and inperson schooling. It was stressful. It was even up to the last second i was still having second thoughts. Reporter reese started seventh grade in person at martin public county schools, one of the first districts to reopen in the state. One day after reopening, an entire classroom in the district was placed under quarantine, and hundreds more students just days later. Cnn was given access to jensen b. Elementary school where there has not been an outbreak. The halls are marked to facilitate social distancing. The dining room is disinfected after every use. But the desks are not six feet apart because there is not enough room. If we took the book shelves out, i might be able to space them out more. Reporter the superintendent says parents were warned. Yes, that was information that was put up right up front. Reporter unlike the state, the Martin County School District does release its own covid19 data. So far its reported 23 positive or presumed positive cases and has quarantined about 510 students. Why has the state not released a every single day when you get the but specifically for School Districts, governor . Excuse me. When you get the daily report, you can see by age how every new positive case is broken out. Reporter state data shows a 26 increase in cases among children under 18 since classes started. And the overall Positivity Rate is 14. 3 . The pandemic has also killed eight children in florida including a 9yearold with no preexisting conditions. Now floridas Largest Teachers Union is running tv ads to pressure desantis to release the data. When we deny that information, it just causes the spread to grow much faster. Reporter reese stopped going into school after a week and a half. Kids were taking off their masks. They were touching. They were close in the halls. Reporter last week 40 students at her school were quarantined. Until florida gets a handle on the covid19 situation in schools, the richardsons say theyre staying home. Now we did find one School District who said that the state pushed back on them for releasing this information. But as you saw in this piece, School Districts are releasing the information anyway. Now, despite the fact that the state of florida has not released schoolspecific data, Governor Ron Desantis has just moved Miamidade County into phase two of the reopening plan. And, jake, what that means is that paves the way for Miamidade County Public Schools to reopen. And that is the largest School District in this state. Jake . All right, rosa flores, great reporting. Thank you so much. Lets now discuss this with the mayor of miami, francis suarez. I want to get to phase two in a second. But dozens of classrooms, some entire schools have been temporarily closed in your state because of coronavirus outbreaks. I dont understand why Governor Desantis would order School Districts, some of them, to stop releasing schoolspecific data. I know he cited privacy issues, but you dont have to name the kids who have it. Isnt this a case where the more information the public has, the better . I would think so. As parent, transparency throughout this covid crisis has been a positive tool so that people can make the very best decisions for their health and for the health of their children. Obviously knowing what school, where someone is infected in a school is something thats going to motivate parents to decide whether or not the child should be attending in, had Person Learning at that school. So to me i think as a parent, thatd be the information i would want to know if someone was sick at my sons school, i would certainly want to know that. Right. We dont need to know who it is or how old they are or what class theyre in. Its good to know so that they can make as parents these decisions. Lets talk about Miamidade County. Your county was able to choose Virtual Learning because of the high case count in july. Now that case numbers have gone down and the county of miamidade is entering phase two of reopening, theres going to have to be a decision about whether schools will reopen inPerson Learning. What will that decision be . Would you be comfortable based on what the levels are now, sending your children to the classroom . Yeah. Let me give you a little perspective of where we were and where we are now. We were at 3,500 new cases per day just over a month ago. And we had a Positivity Rate over 20 . Just a couple days ago our Positivity Rate was close to 5 . Yesterday we had 250 new cases. Less than onetenth of the total amount that we had at the peak. So i think things have improved dramatically. The superintendent had originally targeted october 5th. He had an eightpoint criteria that he was going to utilize and determine whether or not it would be safe to open schools. He has said publicly that that criteria has been met. But he has not yet decided what day, if any day before october 5th, inPerson Learning will occur. And i do know that parents have been very frustrated, whether youre a Public School or private School Student with Virtual Learning. Its been very, very difficult for all parents irrespective of your socioeconomic class. 5 is still not low in terms of the infection rate. What do you think as a parent what are you going to do with your kids . You know, its a struggle. Its been tough obviously to have our child learning virtually because its difficult. We both have the ability to be home a lot of the time, but its still very, very difficult. Yeah, it sucks, i agree. Were probably going to have him our school is allowing him to go one week on, one week off. If we feel in any way that hes in jeopardy or anything like that, obviously we have the ability to have him go virtual. So thats probably what were going to go for now. I wish that there was testing at the level that Health Experts said we needed to be at this point so that your kids and my kids could get tested and have all their classmates and teachers and faculty and School Support tested, at least every few days or something. That would be really helpful. But were not there. Yeah. That would be really helpful. And also the Contact Tracing has not been where its at. And ive been working with all the experts from hopkins and across the country to try to find appbased solutions that make Contact Tracing easier. We are using a horse and buggy system that hasnt worked anywhere in the country very effectively. Contract tracing is not where it should be. And certainly testing, had we been able to get testing like some of our professional athletes, itd be better for our children. Yeah, if only as good as our professional athletes. Mayor, thank you. Best of luck to everybody in miamidade. Our coverage on cnn continues right now. This is cnn breaking news. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer in the situation room. Were following breaking news on multiple crises facing the United States including the coronavirus pandemic, which has now claimed the lives of more than 194,000 americans with more th m