More record case numbers, all reported over the weekend. Hospitalizations also surging today. And hours long lines for tests and in some areas not nearly enough. The nation now topping 2. 5 million cases with more than 125,000 deaths. While the global death toll has reached more than 500,000, the u. S. Health secretary warning that the window is closing to get the crisis in this country under control. Now some officials rolling back more reopenings as concerns about july 4th celebrations build up, florida closing some beaches for the holiday weekend. Bars and nightclubs also in focus. Californias governor now closing them in seven counties in that state. And this hour, we are putting a spotlight on the worsening crisis in arizona. Thats where we find msnbcs Vaughn Hillyard to kick things off for us, at a drive through testing site in phoenix, arizona, one of the many areas where the demand for tests is currently outpacing availability. Vaughn, what is the situation right there . Reporter in order to get a test at this location where folks are just now beginning to pull up, you have to have an appointment. There is frankly not enough capacity for tests to meet deet mand in this state. Why you saw the long lines over the weekend. The state said they tried to expand their number of testing locations, but unless youre lucky enough to get one of those appointments, youre out of luck. In the turn around time to get test results here is still most often more than a week, just take into account, ayman, what weve seen in the last two weeks, in just the last two weeks the number of hospitalizations in the state of arizona have increased by 84 . And the number of new cases just yesterday in the state, more than 3800. The state this weekend also broke records for the number of hospitalizations, the number of ventilators in use, the number of icu beds in use. And frankly this state doesnt have the resources or the policies in place to stop the burgeoning of the widespread virus here. The governor implement restrictions. You know, up in new york, when it was at the height of its peak, you know, essentially the city, the state was in a lockdown. Thats not what you saw here this weekend. The streets here in june 2020 look like the streets like they did in june of 2019. And what you continue to see is a rise in hospitalization, a rise in cases, in one specific number that is especially threatening, ayman, is that 25 of the cases that are tested come back positive. Thats a staggering number, the highest in the country. Let me ask you quickly, you mentioned the governor, what has the states response been in all of this . Are we seeing any new restrictions being rolled out . The only policy that this governor has implemented is allowing localities to require face masks. But localities are not allowed to shut down bars or restaurants themselves. Thats why you continue to see pool parties across the wider valley. You saw down on the salt river, tubing with, you know, thousands of folks not Wearing Masks taking place. You see restaurants continue to be filled, bars continue to be filled. The governor and the department of liquor has threatened several businesses, the scottsdale pd has filed a class one misdemeanor against one bar. In terms of actual policy, unlike places like texas and in florida, this governor has so far resisted policy changes and said urging folks to stay home. But having been through here through the course of the weekend, there are not enough folks adhering to that. Well touch base with you later on in this hour. Lets go over to the white house and nbcs monica alba. You covered Vice President mike pence, certainly his trip yesterday to texas drew a lot of headlines. That state is also another hot spot for new cases and hospitalizations. And there the Vice President encouraged americans to wear a mask, while still opposing a federal requirement to do so. Reporter exactly, ayman. He actually wore a face mask for the first time for a long duration. I traveled with the Vice President to texas yesterday as those cases were spiking, and he appeared next to the governor there, greg abbott, and he modeled that behavior with wearing one that the own president of the United States has not done in public. I pressed the Vice President if he now is urging americans, particularly in hot spots, anywhere where you cant socially distance to wear a Face Covering, why we havent heard that from the top and what it would mean for all of the leadership to do so. He said that because he is the leader of the task force, he being the Vice President , hes the one who is going to convey the message on behalf of the entire administration. But this was a notable shift because just on friday, at that task force briefing, the Vice President declined to tell everybody to wear Face Coverings, he deferred to local and state authorities, but he really did change his tune yesterday, went further than he ever has and he really modeled the behavior, which is also significant and you had dr. Deborah birx telling young people in particular, ages 20 to 40, who we now have seen hard hit by the virus, that wearing a mask in the next couple of weeks and months is one of the most essential things, again, we havent heard that directly from the president of the United States, it is unclear whether we will, but this say new message from the head of the task force that wearing a Face Covering is important as we are here nearly four months into the pandemic, ayman. Monica alba live for us at the white house, thank you. Joining me now is Dallas County judge clay jenkins who wrote Governor Greg Abbott this weekend asking for a state wide order mandating masks in addition to other new safety measures. Judge jenkins, thank you for joining us this hour. First of all, let me get your thoughts about why you took it upon yourself to send that letter and more importantly have you received a response from the Governors Office . I have not received a response yet. But very hopeful that the governor will respond by doing what the doctors ask. As the local doctors who are actually treating people in the hospitals, the heads of epidemiology, Infectious Disease and Public Health, what the governor needed to do to keep texans safe, they wrote it down, i sent it to the governor. That is reinstitute a stay at home, stay safe order for people, doesnt mean all the businesses that are open need to close. Businesses where 100 masking can occur, the doctors say can stay open at a 50 occupancy. The doctors are encouraging him to reinstitute a reasonable cdc type guidelines for day cares, he stripped all those away, to keep the bars closed, to have the restaurants open only for patio dining, to close everything where you cant wear a mask 100 of the time, like cigar bars and spin classes that are still open, bowling alleys, things of that nature, that are still open here in texas. You heard a moment ago our reporter talking about the Vice President who yesterday obviously appeared in dallas wearing a mask. Hes also recommending masks, but thinks any requirement should be left to local officials, but the way thats playing out in texas, as you know, you have cases surging while the governor is blocking city and county officials from mandating Face Coverings in public. How do you make sense of that . How do you square that messaging and the decisions that coming out from the Vice President and the governor of that state . Well, it is very much a mixed message. It led to huge surge. You know, the locals handling this very well early on, up until the time when the governor said the locals had no more control and he was taking over in early may and we went from the state with the least infection, the least death per capita, to pretty much the most, on a trajectory for the most and it is because of the messaging from the governor. Hes got to lead on this. Hes got to do state wide masking, he cannot leave it up to local leaders who many of whom are republicans who he made fun of for a month on talk radio, theyre going to be afraid to act. Hes going to need to act now. And it is as simple as to listen to what the doctors say and follow the doctors advice. What is, in your perspective, the reason why so many in texas refuse to wear masks . What do you attribute the resistance to Wearing Masks by some to . Well, it is the governors messaging, it is when you make things mandatory as we have done near Dallas County you get near 100 compliance. When the governor took away our mandatory mask requirements, went down to about 50 , when he allowed us to put them back, went up to 100 . It is like seat belts and other things that the requirements people do it. Here in texas, and most states, we require people to have liability insurance, to drive a car, thats a big ask, you have to spend money to keep other people safe, if you hit them. All were asking you to do is wear a mask, as you go babout your life to keep other people safe. It is the best way to stop the virus and, governor, we need to you to make it mandatory state wide. How would it look like . By him standing up there in front of the cameras an saying were making this mandatory or is it you know, something that trickles down to people getting fined if theyre not wearing their masks or being taken out of stores if they enter without their masks . The way we have done it in dallas, no fine on the individual person, but the store can be fined if they dont draw up, implement and enforce a mask policy in their stores. That could work state wide. Not just stores, office buildings, any place outside the home where people congregate with people outside their family, inside of a building. Or on a work site within six feet of each other outside. Thats working pretty well. It is less important how he does it, you know, 31 other states have already done it, so you look and pick the one you like the best, but the important thing is, we need Decisive Action now. You can use the Dallas County model, it is working almost 100 here. And finally, sir, you know, were just around the corner from july 4th weekend, big holiday, a lot of folks going to the beaches. What your biggest concerns as this holiday approaches . Look, ive asked the governor to limit Outdoor Activities to 100 because thats what the doctors said, with six foot distance in masking. Really my suggestion is keep it as small as possible, try it stay with your own family. Dont wait for the governor to act. Dont listen to what is legal in texas, listen to what the doctors say is safe, take care of yourself and your family, but if youre in texas, you can find the Dallas County covid. Org. Thank you so much for joining us this hour. We want to go to some breaking news now that we mentioned at the top of the hour. Were expecting a Supreme Court decision. We have a second decision that has just been issued. Want to cross over to Tom Goldstein, for a quick update on that decision. Tom, what do we know about this decision . Good morning. The Supreme Court this morning issued a major abortion ruling. The court has upheld the fundamental right to choose and very significant case out of the state of louisiana. The court by a 54 vote, with chief Justice John Roberts providing the fifth vote for the majority, has held that a state law that required that there be requiring that there be admissions privileges for abortion providers is unconstitutional, on the ground that the Supreme Court had already invalidated a very similar texas law, just a few years ago. The chief justice with that fifth vote having said that i think that that texas decision is incorrect, but we have decided and therefore as a matter of stare decisis, once we decided things, we leave them decided, im going to rule in favor of those challengers to the law. Thats a pretty significant development. And well get into it in a moment, contrasting what the decision was in 2016 with what we just heard today. This was the case known as june medical services llc versus russo. At issue was the as we heard there from Tom Goldstein, a louisiana law that required doctors who performed abortions to have admitting pri inting pr nearby hospitals. This was upheld by the lower 4th Circuit Court of appeals. The significance of this for abortion rights in this country cannot be understate eunderstat. This is a significant victory for abortion rights in america today. Thats exactly right. It was entirely possible that the court with an expanded conservative majority was going to take a significant step back from that texas ruling. And instead though it does have a stronger conservative majority than it did at the time of that earlier decision has said because of the chief justices vote, were not going to turn back and overturn our prior ruling. This louisiana case is basically a mirror of the texas case and therefore the challengers to the statute prevail. If the Supreme Court had upheld the statute, or if it had upheld that nobody had the right to challenge the statute because they lacked legal standing, it would have been a major, major victory for prolife forces, for opposition to roe v. Wade. But today the Supreme Court goes in the opposite direction 5 4. Tom, stay with me for a second. I want to cross over to washington, d. C. And bring in Pete Williams, also following this. Pete, significant development. We heard the decision there from Tom Goldstein being read to us. Give us your initial take on this, particularly the basis for the decision by the chief Justice John Roberts here. Well, louisiana had a really tough road here. Because the odds were against louisianas winning for the simple reason that two years ago the Supreme Court looking at virtually the identical thing said you cant do that. Now, the big change, of course, between two years ago and now is that anthony kennedy, who was generally one of the courts supporters of a womans right to choose, has left the Supreme Court, replaced by Brett Kavanaugh and Brett Kavanaugh today voted basically against the he was one of the dissenters today. The chief justice, what he says is i didnt think this was right when we decided it, two years ago, but that is what we decided. And under this longstanding view of the Supreme Court, that once you decide a case, you dont simply switch and go the other way, what lawyers call stare decisis, meaning the law should stay the way it is, he agrees to join the majority today. So it would have been what was there were really sort two of critical things about this case. Number one is how receptive was the Supreme Court going to be to new restrictions on abortion, given that the next line of cases that are on their way here are cases in which states have passed very strict laws intending to basically outlaw abortion . How open would the Supreme Court be to that . So thats one signal the court has sent today. The second thing, and what was sort of lurking in the background here was an argument by louisiana that came in at last minute saying, you know what, the people who challenge this law, two doctors and a clinic did not have the legal standing to bring the challenge, because abortion, it is a womans right to choose. Not the clinic or the doctors right. Only pregnant women could bring the lawsuit. Now, if the Supreme Court had said that, it would make it extremely hard to challenge abortion restrictions. Most successful challenges to abortion restrictions in the past have been brought by clinics or doctors or planned parenthood or some group like that. So this is sort of a double victory, if you will, for advocates of abortion rights because on the one hand, the Supreme Court strikes down the louisiana law, which was really never went into force, and completely, and secondly, they the with the chief justice joining the majority today, they say that these groups these clinics, these doctors, these abortion rights advocates, can challenge abortion laws. So it is a double victory. All right, Pete Williams with that in washington, d. C. Pete williams, thank you for that break news update. I want to bring in dr. Kavita patel and sesil richards, former president of plan Parenthood Federation of america. If i can get your reaction to the point we heard from Pete Williams that this is a double victory in sorts because of the nature of the case and how it was brought forward, but also because of the decision. Well, it is an incredibly important decision and, of course, it upholds the same decision made a few years ago. I would note, though, that the two justices that were appointed by this administration voted to overturn this right and i think thats very worrisome. This is an important 54 decision. But make no mistake, donald trump promised he would put on justices that would overturn the right to abortion and he did. But today is a very good day for the women of louisiana and women across the country. Do you are you at all concerned about the future challenges as pete outlined what the cases in the pipeline about abortion can continue for, as you highlighted the two judges that voted to basically they were in the dissenting vote in this decision. I think it is very worrisome, i mean, we have an administration that is now passed the federal judiciary including these two Supreme Court justices, with judges who are against womens rights, against the right to safe and legal abortion, we have another Birth Control case coming down probably tomorrow. Also this administration tried to get rid of the right to Birth Control to allow your boss to decide that. So there is a very worrisome trend on the court. Today, Justice Roberts did the right thing. He upheld precedent and stood with women. Make no mistake about it, this is an administration that is completely committed to taking away the right of people to make their own decisions about pregnancy. Dr. Patel, your thoughts on this as a medical practitioner. The implications of this decision to medical professions and doctors in this country, what is your take on it . Well, it is definitely a victory as cecil mentioned and there are already so few providers who can offer some of these Reproductive Services in certain parts of the country, that putting onerous restrictions on them just takes away a womans right to her own health. And thats essentially what you saw handed down by the Supreme Court. But, again there are so many other decisions that need to come out, particularly those which affect the Affordable Care act. I worry a little bit that some of these glimpses that were getting nat nget ing into the newer justices could be a problem going forward. But this is a victory. But ill tell you, we were all on the edge of our seats, it could have easily gone the other way and that would have taken away access for not just one state, but potentially many people in this country. Dr. Patel, can you tell us quickly the challenge here in terms of what was applied to doctors . They needed to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals in order to be able to perform abortion for women. What does that exactly mean and how would that have restricted the number of clinics where a woman could have received an abortion . Yeah, what that means is simply put that if you are trying to provide the services, you were required to go ahead and apply and be accepted for what we call admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of where they perform the Reproductive Services. You have to put an application in for the services, but the hospital would have it receive you and process you to be an admitting physician and this is not something that is required of any physician. Im a physician and i can easily provide primary Care Services and not be required to have those same privileges, so basic Health Rights were violated in terms of access. And it put onerous restrictions that nobody else has and thats what this is. Tom, back to you for a moment and talk about the way this case made its way to the Supreme Court. And more importantly to elaborate about the distinction between the 2016 case and louisiana, this time around. What is it that louisiana was arguing that made their case different than what texas tried to ban in 2016 or rather tried to apply in 2016 that was struck down by the Supreme Court . I think the essence of louisianas argument was that access to abortion in louisiana is different, that the plaintiffs in the case hadnt actually proved there were that the restrictions were making it essentially impossible for doctors to get admitting privileges, it was at the very least too early in the case, there needed to be more of a factual showing that you were, that the privileges were being denied to the doctors. Louisiana didnt deny it was had the same structure of the law, but it said that when they went to court, the plaintiffs were not able to prove that the effect actually was the same and that because the burden is on the plaintiffs to inle havalidae law, the court should not conclude there was an undue burden on access to abortion. And to that point, tom, as Pete Williams was saying, that there is a double victory of sorts in this case, but given the fact that the chief Justice John Roberts essentially said that he didnt want to reverse the 2016 decision, does that mean a womans right to choose stands on shaky grounds in this country, given the fact hes using a legal argument about a Supreme Court decision of 2016 rather than a more principled one about a womans right to choose . Right, so i would say that it is probably too early to say that the fundamental right to choose, the right recognized by roe v. Wade in later cases is in danger right now because there are opinions from the chief justice and Justice Kavanaugh saying i would overturn roe v. Wade entirely, but youre making a good point, if it was a different kind of law than the texas law, there is every reason to believe the chief justice would have voted with his more conservative colleagues to narrow that right and be more likely to uphold the law. So people shouldnt overread this decision as if the Supreme Court was, you know, fully reembracing the same approach that it took in the texas case or even more in earlier cases, but rather this is a holding action. Right now, just because this law happens to be the twin of one that was invalidated when Justice Kennedy was still on the Supreme Court. Which begs the question about the other challenges that may be in the pipeline, well get to those in a second. Stay with me. I want to bring in neil katel, msnbc legal analyst. Neil, good to talk to you again. Another important decision coming out of the Supreme Court this hour. Give me your first take on it and then ill be more pointed with some of the questions about where we go forward from here. First take is it is a major victory for abortion rights, particularly in louisiana, that, you know, i think this is a chief justice who voted just a couple of years ago in the texas case, which had virtually the same identical law to uphold those abortion restrictions, which would have eliminated most of the abortion clinics in texas. Today he said, look, i voted that way, i still believe what i said there, but the principle of stare decisis, adhering to legal precedent, trumps all of that, therefore this law had to go. Thats a pretty remarkable thing for this chief justice to have done. Now today, when you read it in conjunction with his decision two weeks ago, for example, the title 7 lgbt rights case, Something Interesting is happening at the court. The more specific question i had, something that tom brought up, the cases that are in the pipeline that could still challenge abortion rights in this country, a womans right to choose, really are not completely protected given the way this decision came down, as you mentioned, more of a legal interpretation of 2016 rather tha than a principled one about a right to choose. Thats right. As you look at the landscape of abortion restrictions across the country, some states are passing bills, for example, socalled heart beat laws that restrict abortion pretty much immediately. And so those cases are coming to the Supreme Court. Todays decision doesnt say anything directly about them. It is possible that the chief justice would vote to strike those down, but we just dont know. And so i think this is going to put a lot of pressure, electorally, on the november election. I think this is now this decision today guarantees abortion is going to be one of the big front and center issues in the campaign. So to that point, thanks for teeing that off for us. Back to you, this now puts as neil was saying the issue of abortion to some degree front and center in this election. Across the country are broadly concerned. Youre seeing enormous gender gap in the president ial election. I know most recently i think women favoring joe biden over the current president by 18 points. And there is an understanding by women that this administration, not only on the issue of abortion, but on Birth Control, on a lot of other issues, has not been on their side. So to me this is actually further indication as many of the other folks have said, this narrow case, this is a huge victory, but we see anned ama a administration that appointed two justices who have clearly voted against womens rights, we know ruth bader ginsburg, such an important voice on the court and part of this majority, unclear how long Justice Ginsburg will be on the court. And the next president may very well make a critical Supreme Court appointment and thats going to be on the mind of women when they go vote in november. Do you anticipate this becoming part of the actual discussion by the biden campaign, should it become a key factor in the election . I think the issue of women will be the majority of voters in november. They are the most progressive voters, women of color, of course, black women, these are women who are highly motivated. Not only to vote, but to be active in registering other women and getting them out. I think were going to see this kind of decision women recognize how thin a ledge we stand on, in terms of protecting our rights, and we need a president and administration and frankly a United States senate that stands on the side of women. It will be motivating for women. Were going to have a record turnout i think in november. Tom, let me get your final thoughts on this as we take a quick break. Looking forward to other important cases coming out of the Supreme Court, and certainly other legal challenges on the issue of abortion, what are you looking out or watching closely . Sure, so as far as this Supreme Court term goes, we probably got somewhere around ten days to two weeks left and the big case that americans are going to be watching, given all the attention that the issue received are two decisions involving access to the president s tax returns. And whether it is that the house of representatives or criminal grand jury can get those materials or instead their privilege, and then looking forward, an array of cases related to abortion restrictions and conservative state legislatures, i think have really gotten a signal that it would be a good idea to try and push the envelope and pass more laws, so that issue is by all means in the going away. We should see more of those cases reaching the Supreme Court in the next two to three years. All right. Tom goldstein, msnbc Supreme Court analyst, appreciate it. Dr. Kavita patel, cecil richards, neil katil, thank you very much. A doctor slamming arizonas governor for failing to implement more restrictions to keep people safe. Vaughn hillyard will be back with us. Mississippi lawmakers vote to remove the confederate battle emblem from the state flag which has flown for more than 120 years. The republican and democratic leader of the state house both join me next to discuss the historic move. A blockbuster new report that the bounties of Vladimir Putin paid to the taliban to target american troops in afghanistan may have in fact resulted in the deaths of several u. S. Service members. What President Trump is saying about it this morning. What presg about it this morning. combati he used to have bad breath. Now, he uses a capful of therabreath fresh breath oral rinse to keep his breath smelling great, all day long. combative yelling therabreath, its a better mouthwash. At walmart, target and other fine stores. You cant always stop for a fingerstick. Betes a better mouthwash. With the freestyle libre 14 day system, a continuous glucose monitor, you dont have to. With a painless, onesecond scan you can check your glucose with a smart phone or reader so you can stay in the moment. No matter where you are or what youre doing. Ask your doctor for a prescription for the freestyle libre 14 day system. You can do it without fingersticks. Learn more at freestylelibre. Us. By a vote of 3714, the vote has passed. This morning, the state flag of mississippi is flying above the capitol in jackson, you see it there. Not for long. That is because it is a new day in that state after a pair of historymaking votes overnight. Lawmakers in the state house as well as the Senate Overwhelmingly passing a bill to remove the state flag. That flag showcasing the confederate emblem will soon be off flagpoles for the first time in more than a century. The state is setting up a commission to create a new flag design, and voters will decide on their new flag in the november general election. This is all happening as the nation continues to confront racist confederate symbols across the country. With us now from the state capital in jackson, two lawmakers who put this into motion, philip gunn with House Minority leader robert johnson. Great to have you both of you with us. Representative johnson, ill start with you, if i may. We had you on this program two weeks ago, and as prospects to pass this bill started to look promising, and you spoke of how walking into work under that fl flag was frustrating for you. How are you feeling this morning . Im not feeling frustrated. First, let me thank you for having us this morning, thank you for shedding some light on the work were doing down here. But i feel triumphant. I feel like im a part of a new beginning. And it was good spending the time, it took a lot of work and it was tough getting done. I think i said at that time i thought it was a chance, 5050 it would get done and it wouldnt happen without the help of the speaker. He said the flag ought to come down, he didnt say it because it was popular, he agreed with me it was a step forward for the state of mississippi. We did that. Five years later, were getting that done. Let me get your thoughts on that, speaker gunn, you authored this bill, and after passage you said were not betraying our heritage, we are fulfilling it. Talk to us more about what you mean by that. Im sure there are some people in your state who look at that simply as a sign of your heritage. Well, good morning. Thank you for having us. I would echo what robert said. This is a new day for mississippi. And were excited about that, the heritage of our state is very important to many people in this state. Wear not disregarding our heritage, were not ignoring the past. But we are embracing the future here. And what we have now is a new day in mississippi. We made history this weekend. And we took i want to commend all those representatives and senators who took their responsibility seriously, stepped forward, showed courage to create a new image for our state, a new brand, if you will, were not going to set about a process of with dignity and respect, retiring the current flag and creating a new one. So this is a new day here, and were very proud to be able to stand together and talk about this. Have you had a chance to speak to the governor and do you have any details as to when he he will sign this bill . Dont have any details about that. He tweeted this weekend that if we put a bill on his desk, that he would sign it. I have not had any communications with him over the weekend. One thing i would like to point out, because of the point at where we are in this session, the bill deadline had passed back in february, so in order to even bring forth this bill, it took a twothirds vote of both the house and the senate to make that happen. And i think that just speaks to the unity that we were able to put together to pass this bill. Yeah, speaking of that unity, representative johnson, as you mentioned, this bill has come up time and time again, what made this possible now as opposed to a year or as you said five years ago . Well, it was like a perfect storm. I want to tell you the speaker and i and other members have been working together more so i told somebody the other day, we started out the session extre screaming at each other. Were at a point now where were working we always worked together, well, and we always fought fairly. But we are working together, when the pandemic started, we had to come together because that pandemic knows no color, no race, knows no political party. So we had to come together to work on behalf of the people of the state of mississippi. It was a crisis. The flag has been a crisis. And speaker gunn and myself agreed on that. But were able to garner the support of other people that understood that crisis had a paul over the state of mississippi that kept us from growing, that was running a lot of our young people, the wealth of our knowledge and intelligence away from us. Win now we have an opportunity to keep it. What i think would happen, i think the speaker will go with me on this, i hope we sit down and we Work Together to expand medicaid. I want to work on, you know, raising unemployment. We have the highest poverty rate in the state. Hes been open during this pandemic to talk about some of those issues. I want to continue, because those are substantive things we have to work on. We have a serious problem in corrections, we have prisoned overcrowded, people we need to take care of. So we can talk about release and criminal justice reform, and i can tell you that we have been in his office sitting down talking about those issues. And in a way we havent talked about them before. The flag is just the beginning. Were about to do some work on behalf of the people of the state of mississippi. He decided to cooperate this time. Thats what happened. He needs to do more of that. Okay, ive learned. Im older than he is, i would say he has learned, but both of us are learning so well do that. Hopefully you get that work done for the people on for the people of the state of mississippi. Philip gunn and robert johnson, thank you for joining thus ho i hour on a historic day. Now back to the coronavirus pandemic. The state of florida saw a Record Number of new cases over the weekend. In fact, the New York Times reporting the daily case count there has increased fivefold in just two weeks. Now the mayors of three florida cities are closing down their beaches for the upcoming fourth of july holiday weekend. And state wide, officials are banning drinking in bars, just three weeks after many reopened. Now, still, Florida Governor ron desantis said there are no plans to issue a state wide mandate to make people wear masks, while blaming the spiking numbers on young people. This is basically socializing. You have graduation parties, youre going out, doing different things. To these younger groups, they need to be thinking about who theyre coming into contact with, who may be in the more eventual initial gro vulnerable groups. To sam brock in miami beach. People are not happy about beaches closing including the one that youre at, i saw in the last hour the mayor of that city, i guess, being maybe booed if you will by some of those who attended that press conference where she announced that. What are you hearing on the ground . Reporter there was some booing. Good to be with you. That was to the north in the ft. Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach area. The mayor shut all the beaches, shut them down in this county. If you talk to people and find out why theyre so upset, theyll tell you, look how easy it is to social distance out here. But this is what it looks like at 10 00 in the morning on a monday. The concern is how things appear on july 4th weekend when we know after memorial day, we learned a lesson, so many people came out, cases spiked a couple of weeks after that. There is the concern. We talked to some beachgoers about why they dont want to see this happen. The closure that is. Heres what they had to say. I want to be out here. Why not . I want to be here. The rallies in seattle, all the way to florida, no one make a problem of it. Once we want to have fun, it is close the close it down. Get over it. It is like any other sickness, i feel like, any other flu. Reporter with 18,000 cases, ayman, over the weekend, 140,000 cases in florida now, one of the highest totals in the country, those explanations not going to cut it, why were seeing beaches closed for the holiday. Back to you. Sam brock live for us in miami beach, thank you. Joining me now, dr. Jeremy faust with brigham and Womens Hospital in boston. Always a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you for joining us. Let me play for you if i can really quickly our health and Human Services secretary azecle azar warning the american people. The window is closing. We have to act. And people as individuals have to act responsibly. We need to social distance. We need to wear our Face Coverings if were in settings where we cant social distance. Particularly in these hot zones. Dr. Faust, do you agree with that and what needs to be done right now . At the moment were seeing the downstream effects of inconsistent messaging for our leaders throughout this crisis. Youre allowed to change your mind on the science, you can say things changed about masks and what we need to do at what moment. But what i think has been so confusing is that there has been downplaying and upplaying and it matters, it doesnt matter, masks are important, the Vice President will wear them, the president wont, so the reason people are confused is they look to leadership and the message has been confusing. We need to be consistently hearing from Public Health experts and scientists and not be driven by politics. You know this better than i do, but is there a concern that there may be a ricochet effect, how difficult will it be to stop the virus from spreading to states like new york and new jersey that just managed to flatten the curve after three months of just devastating and crushing numbers . Places like new york and new jersey are certainly worried about that, but what i would say is at least they get it. They know what to do, to keep this from spiking again and to do their best. Thats all question do we can d best. Were seeing a handful of places that didnt seem to understand this. You saw arizona, undercounting covid cases dramatically. We saw that. And we saw that, of course, the spikes come after that when people realize they cant deny it any longer. Same thing is true in florida. Were seeing the downstream effect of opening too soon and texas, this is the real example, you open too soon, you put bars and restaurants out in play, and it is not going to be overnight, two, three weeks later, you see the spikes. So were watching this virus do what it does. And we have so much power, were not powerless. Unless we choose to be powerless. I think in many places around the country, there has been a little bit of a dereliction of duty because it seemed like opening the economy was the more important factor. Dr. Faust, quickly if you look at this chart about the number of new cases per week, you can see the u. S. Is dealing with an outbreak of a much bigger magnitude than any other affluent country in the world, when you look at that one there. What are we doing wrong that most other countries are doing right . You look at europe, same size almost, and they turned the corner on this front, were still on an upward trend. From a management perspective, very few places have done this well. Where i live in massachusetts, we have really low levels of transmission, we also have some of the most the best in terms of how many people are covered by healthcare. Europe has that figured out. So we have done a lot of things wrong. We see poorer outcomes, we have been all over the place on messaging in terms of what to do about this. Europe took this more seriously, china took this extremely seriously. Were still early in this, so far if you want it see what we have done right, the answer is very little, we did a little we seem like we did a little bit of the right thing in april, but we just were way too jumpy and i think were seeing the results of that. But hopefully we can turn the tide. Dr. Jeremy faust, thank you for joining us. Back over to Vaughn Hillyard in phoenix, arizona, standing by with one of the doctors fighting that fight on the front line. Vaughn . Reporter yeah, i want to bring in dr. Andrew carol, hes one of the doctors on the front lines. Youre a family physician here. And also youre doing covid tests yourself. This week jndend i was talking folks, one was a waiter, one works in retail, asymptomatic now, another young woman whose mom had covid, she was waiting. Theyre trying to get a test. Where is the state when it comes to testing now . We have caught up with the needs we have today. We dont have them for tomorrow. In the beginning, i could only get three tests a week. Thats what i had to reserve it for the people really sick. Then we got the asymptomatic carriers, people working with people who are positive. We have no means to test all of them. What were doing with banner, theyre trying to screen thousands of people. And yet thats still not enough. Were falling behind on testing. Reporter you said theyre going to process 1,000. The physicians, theyre trying their best to test as many people as they can. It doesnt look like the surge is stopping at any point. What needs to happen . What would be your message to the governor now . When you have a 25 positivity rate, that means most of the people a lot of people are sick. That means there is a lot of people that dont know theyre sick and theyre going to end up in the hospital, patient of mine called me last night, i had to send him to the hospital, he was getting sicker and sicker. There is no treatment we have other than to support those going through the illness. What is your message to the governor . The governor needs to clamp down. He shut everything down and it flattened the curve. Now we have this spike, we have got to get it flat again and the only thing we can do really shut state down. Reporter which right now youre not seeing a shutdown of the state. This governor has gone only as far as allowing localities to put in face mask requirements. What do you want him to do right now . Essentially the stayathome order expired on may 15th. The mask ordinance he put in was to allow cities to make that decision for themselves. We need leadership at the top. We need state level guide lines for how we move forward, otherwise were going to lose. Reporter you have to get to chandler to go and test people. Well let you go. In the last two weeks alone, the number of hospitalizations has increased by 84 . Right now there is deep concern here in the state about where were going. Certainly a lot of concern, watching those numbers continue to rise. Vaughn hillyard, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Coming up, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle demanding answers from the white house on the alarming news that russia offered to pay bounties to the taliban to target u. S. Troops in afghanistan. Nbc news has that reporting. Plus, reaction from congressman jason crow, who served in afghanistan and a member of the Armed Services committee next. Istan and a member of the Armed Services commteite next you cant predict the future. But a resilient business can be ready for it. A Digital Foundation from vmware helps you redefine whats possible. Now. From the hospital shifting to remote patient care in just 48 hours. To the university moving hundreds of apps quickly to the cloud. Or the City GovernmentGoing Digital to keep Critical Services running. You are creating the future on the fly. And we are helping you do it. Vmware. Realize whats possible. New microban 24 watch as microban 24 kills 99. 9 of bacteria. And then, even after multiple touches, keeps killing bacteria for 24 hours. I trust microban 24 to keep killing bacteria for 24hours. Live look at the white house, where members of congress are heading today to be briefed on the disturbing reports that russia offered bounties on the lives of american soldiers in afghanistan. The Washington Post reports u. S. Intelligence believes those bounties may have, in fact, resulted in the deaths of several u. S. Service members. A spokesman for the National Security council says it co continues to be evaluated. A senior official says there is no evidence a bounty was paid. The question remains, did the president know . If he did, why hasnt the white house taken action . According to the New York Times, the intel was briefed to President Trump. He said it was not. Tweeting out overnight, intel just reported to me they did not find this info credible and, therefore, did not report it to me or the Vice President. Still, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are demanding answers. I bet that he was briefed, itd be in the daily brief. If not, what does it say, the concern that people have near the president know not to go near the russia issue with this president. Liz cheney is demanding answers to congress, including who knew what and when. Joining me, a veteran who served in afghanistan and iraq, now sitting on the committee. As someone who served two tours in afghanistan, i wanted to get your reaction to the troubling reports that russia offered to pay bounties on the lives of american soldiers there. How disturbing do you find this . It is very disturbing. Everything i do with regard to afghanistan now as a member of congress, i view through the lens of the former army ranger, you know, when i was boots on the ground in iraq and afghanistan, fighting alongside the men and women of this country, now the people i represent from my district and around the country, who are still fighting. This is a very dire situation. People are still fighting and dying in this war. We have 8,000 troops still there. The allegation that russia would be paying bounties on the heads of our soldiers is deeply concerning to me. Let me get your thoughts, just based on what we have been hearing in the reporting. Do you believe the president was briefed on this . I dont know. I dont think anyone knows. Thats why with enee need the a. Congress has asked for the dni, Intelligence Community to provide the briefings. So far, that information hasnt been forthcoming to us yet. What i do know is this, the president doesnt like to hear bad news. Thats very ricky insky in a sin where it is the president s job to know concerning news so he can deal with it. He has a history of not wanting to hear it, and that has a Chilling Effect to his closest advisers. The other thing we know, he often doesnt Pay Attention or read his intelligence briefings. That is also concerning. He doesnt want to hear information regarding russia. It is a really toxic cocktail of bad situations. The president is denying he was briefed on this and is ka casting doubt on the intelligence all together. Tweeting, possibly another fabricated russia hoax maybe by the fake news. Aside from what the president says, what message do you think that actually sends to our troops in afghanistan right now . Well, this is the president s longstanding pattern, to undermine his own intelligence agencies, to cast doubt on the flow of intelligence information coming from our intelligence agencies in the military, to undermine our generals for his own political purposes. It sends the wrong message to the men and women who dedicated their lives to making sure we have the information to keep ourselves safe. Who have dedicated their lives to serve in uniform. To defend our freedom and defend our constitution. It is exactly the wrong message, but it is something the president has done for a very long time. This is not new. He continues to do it. It is yet another shocking allegation about the president s lack of respect for our military, for our men and women, and for the sacrifice of those who consistently stand up and put the interests of the country ahead of themselves. Thats something that the president fundamentally does not understand. Congressman jason crow, thank you so much nfor joining us. Appreciate your time. Thank you. Come up, weing up, the surgr of covid19 cases in texas. That is coming up next hour here on msnbc. Always here for you. Learn more at phoenix. Edu. Wayfair has way more ways to renovate your home, from inspiration to installation. Like way more vanities perfect for you. Nice. Way more unique fixtures and tiles. Pairing. Nice. Way more top brands in sinks and faucets. Way more ways to rule your renovation. Nice on any budget, with free shipping. Wayfair. Way more than furniture. Good morning, everyone. Im amin mo in for craig melvin morning. Were following the breaking news out of the Supreme Court. The court just struck down louisianas 2014 restrictive abortion law, saying it violates the constitution. The law required any doctor offering Abortion Services to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. The 54 majority included chief Justice John Roberts, siding with the more liberal justices on the court. I want to turn now to nbcs Pete Williams. Also with us is melissa murray, a law professor at new york university, and former law clerk