Morning. The state of florida has shattered the alltime record for new cases of coronavirus in a single day, recording more than 15,000 cases on sunday. That is 3,000 more than the previous record set by new york state back in april. Hospitalizations also increased in florida with more than 18,000 seeking treatment. Despite the increase in cases, disney opened parts of its orlando park over the weekend, and Governor Ron Desantis who was slow to enact restrictions and quick to lift them is set to reopen schools next month. Heres wh ees what admiral brer said about sending students back to school in the fall. Im want to emphasize. Im a pediatrician. We have to do this safely. Kids not in school, risk their social and emotional health, risk getting nutrition, child sexual abuse. Its really important to get kids physically back in school, but we do have to do that safely, and the first thing we need do is get the virus under control. When we get the virus more under control, then we can really think how we put children back in the classroom. So the president and members of his administration, theyre ramping up the pressure on state and local leaders to reopen schools in the fall. During an interview on cnn yesterday, the education secretary betsy devos repeatedly pressed how the administration plans to have children safely return. Heres what she had to say. Can you assure students, teachers, parents that they will not get coronavirus because theyre going back to school . Well, the key is that kids have to get back to school. There is no nothing in the data that would suggest that kids being back in school is dangerous to them. It sounds like what youre saying is you as the secretary of education is compelling you are compelling schools to reopen regardless of whats happening. No. What were saying is kids need to be back in school. Lets move on to what happens if theres an outbreak. What are experts telling you about the appropriate level of transmission for a school before it has to shut down . Well, i know that thats an area that the cdc is helping to provide further insight into. I cant as a nonphysician or a nonmedical expert tell you precisely what to do in the case of one child in the classroom or five children in a classroom, but the key is every school should have plans for that situation to be able to pivot and ensure that kids can continue learning at a distance if they have to for a short period of time. Youre the secretary of education. Youre asking students to go back. So why do you not have guidance on what a school should do just weeks before you want those schools to reopen, and what happens if it faces an outbreak . You know, theres really good examples that have been utilized in the private sector and elsewhere, also with frontline workers and hospitals. And all of that data and all of that information and all of those examples can be referenced by leaders who have the opportunity do you have a plan for what students and what schools should do . The plan so skals shou s the plan so skals shouchod do whats right on the ground at this time for their students and for their situation. Okay. So we have more in another interview on fox news on sunday. Secretary devos was questioned about the administrations threat to pull funding from schools that dont fully reopen in the fall. Under what authority are you and the president going to unilaterally cut off funding, the funding that has been approved from congress, and most of the money goes to disadvantaged students or students with disability, and, secondly, isnt cutting off funding exactly the wrong answer . Dont you want to spend more money to make school safer, whether its with plastic shields or health checks, various other systems . Doesnt it make more sense to increase funding for schools where its unsafe rather than cut off funding . Look. American investment in education is a promise to students and their families. If schools arent going to reopen and not fulfill that problem, they shouldnt get the funds. Then give it to the families to decide to go to a school that is going to meet that promise. Its a promise to the American People. Lets follow through on the promise. You cant do that. I know you support vouchers, and thats a reasonable argument, but you cant do that unilaterally. You have to do that through congress. Well, were looking at all the options because its a promise to the American People, to students and their families, and we want to make sure that promise is followed through on. Safe to say, not a lot of straight answers there. But while this is happening, new york city wants the epicenter of the outbreak reporting its first death, the milestone marking the end of a fourmonth stretch. According to the cdcs health department, theres not been a day without a covidrelated death since march 13th. Thats two days since the first reported death. The progress is coming in the shadow of an evergrowing spike in other parts of the country. Also, the white house is attempting to discredit Infectious Disease expert dr. Anthony fauci amid his dire warnings about the Trump Administrations coronavirus response. A white house official telling nbc news yesterday this. Several are concerned about the number of times dr. Fauci has been wrong on things. The administration then shared a list with several news outlets that included nearly a dozen past comments by fauci, which a trump official had said ultimately proven erroneous. The list included his january comment that the virus was not a major threat, and his guidance in march that, quote, people should not be Walking Around with masks. Meanwhile a Senior Administration official telling the Washington Post dr. Fauci no longer tweets trump and is never in the oval office anymore. Fauci last spoke to him during the first week of june. Fauci has not yet comment on some of these reports. Joining me now, white house and washington reporter for politico, daniel lippman. Daniel, good morning to you. Great to see you on this monday morning. Thank you for getting up early for us. Thank you. Lets talk about the latest report with regards to dr. Fauci and his past assessment. What are you learning about the white houses effort to possibly discredit him . Yeah. Theyre not happy with some of the comments that hes made on tv in the last week or so where he has said that the u. S. Is not doing a good job containing this virus, and so they view it as implicit criticism of the president. And, you know, the focus right now is reopening the economy right now and getting a handle on that spike in cases, but clearly they think fauci only causes more press headlines that are negative for the president , and they, you know, want to discredit him a little bit. They really cant fire him since hes a career Civil Servant and there are no plans to do that right now, but it definitely is very unprecedent to have a white house official sending talking point Opposition Research on a fellow member of the administration. Meanwhile, if were looking at polling throughout the entire pandemic, dr. Anthony fauci has been held in incredibly high regard amongst the American People and they trust him and what he says about the spread of this pandemic. Lets talk about getting back to schools here as there has been a lot of controversy over that, daniel. Listen. I know a lot of folks here, a lot of frnds that i have. They are frustrated about the possibility that their schools may not fully reopen. In that same regard, though, theyre worried about their children possibly getting sick or being superspreaders. There is a strong divide as were seeing and as i played as to how to handle the reopening of schools. You have betsy devos saying you have to get schools open but not necessarily clear about the guideline if there is, in fact, an outbreak. Then you have admiral giroir saying we need to get this virus under control. It is important to get the schools open, but its important not to have 15,000 cases in a state like florida. What are you hear something. Yes. Its clearly a balancing act, and i think the Trump Administration is focused on opening the schools because of how the Economic Impact of having, you know, parents stay at home and unable to go to their jobs, you know. Most people are not rich enough to hire fulltime babysitters or people who are going to basically educate their kids during the day, and so they have not had a strategy to reopen schools. They havent really met with, you know, unions since march early march, and so i think the onus right now is on local School Districts and states to decide how theyre going to reopen because it doesnt seem like theres a strategy from the federal level thats working properly. Yeah. It certainly does not. Daniel lippman, stay close. Im going to talk to you again in just a little bit, my friend. Still ahead, everybody, President Trump commutes the sentence of a longtime ally, robert stoechblt and in a rare moment, bob mueller breaks his silence. Also, the president wears a face mask in public for the very first time. Those stories and, of course, a check on your weather when we come back. Check on your weather when we come back. Experience the joy of a bigger world in a highlyconnected lexus vehicle at the golden opportunity sales event. Lease the 2020 es 350 for 359 a month for 36 months. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. To soccer practices. And new adventures. You hope the more you give the less theyll miss. But even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past. They may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. Lets help protect them together. Because missing menb vaccination could mean missing out on a whole lot more. Ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. Ask your doctor if your teen a lot of folks ask me why their dishwasher doesnt get everything clean. I tell them, it may be your detergent. Thats why more dishwasher brands recommend cascade platinum. With the soaking, scrubbing and rinsing built right in. For sparklingclean dishes, the first time. Cascade platinum. Welcome back. Late friday President Trump commuted the 40month prison sentence of longtime ally roger stone who was due to report to prison on july 14th. The commutation came hours after roger stones emergency motion to delay his surrender date to september due to the coronavirus. The president called stone on a friday to personally deliver this news as the white house issued a lengthy statement attacking the investigation that produced the charges. It reads in part, this, quote, mr. Stone was charged by the same prosecutors from the Mueller Investigation tasked with finding evidence of collusion with russia. The simple fact is that if the special counsel ha not been pursuing an absolutely baseless investigation, mr. Stone would not be facing time in prison. Stone was convicted of lying congress, witness tampering, and obstruction of the Mueller Investigation in a Trial Attorney general bill barr regarded as, quote, righteous. Bill barr learned he was among the president ial advisers who advised against the commutation with the white house fearing political backlash on this. So former special counsel bob mueller responded to the statement with a defense of his investigation. In an oped in the Washington Post, mueller explained why stone was a central figure in his investigation of russian interference in the 2016 election. He writes in part this, quote, he commuted in 2016 with individuals known to us with russian Intelligence Officers and he claimed advance knowledge of wick kileakswikileaks relea stolen by those russian Intelligence Officers. A jury later determined he lied repeatedly to members of congress. He lied by denying he had communicated with the Trump Campaign about the timing of wikileaks releases, and he tampered with a witness, imploring him to stone wall congress. We make every decision in stones case as in all our cases based solely on the facts and the law and in accordance with the rule of law, claims to the contrary are false. Joining me now, msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos. Good morning, danny. Good to see you. Good morning. Welcome back. Thank you. Talk about commuting the sentence and how that could actually be better for roger stone than a pardon. Generally as a prisoner, you want a pardon before a commutation because a pardon essentially erases a conviction. There are some aftereffects. A commutation shortens your sentence, maybe to zero in roger stones case, but roger stone may actually prefer a commutation because if commuted, his verdict stands, and he can continue to appeal it. And during that time, he can assert his fifth amendment privilege. As a defense attorney, i would not allow a prisoner or a defendant to talk about his case while his case is under appeal. So during that time, he can assert the fifth amount. And if someone wants to call him before a grand jury, then he has that privilege. With that pardon, that privilege erases because you couldnt possibly say anything that incriminates yourself because the crime has been deleted. So what does that look like then, asserting the fifth amendment if he plans to move forward. And take that one step further as to how the commutation, the effect it has on his appeal. He can continue to appeal his conviction. Now, the odds are probably against that he could get a new trial or get his conviction overturned, but consider this. That could be years in the making, and, really, that helps President Trump stall any chance that stone would be called before a grand jury. And more than that, it allows stone and trump to perpetuate the russia hoax because during that appeal, that is time that roger stone can perpetuate the narrativ narrative. The entire investigation was baseless. And with the pardon, you can erase all of that. You can get called before the grand jury, before congress, and you can assert the fifth amendment. Strangely people would prefer a pardon. Stone may be a rare case that prefers the commutation to the pardon. Well have to wait and see whether or not mueller does, in fact, once again testify as Lindsey Graham desires. Danny cevallos, thanks again. Great to see you, my friend. Coming up this morning, a fire breaking out on a navy ship in san diego. What officials are saying exactly happened there. Were back in a moment. Saying exactly happened there were back in a moment vo audi etron. The next frontier of electric. Get an exceptional offer at your local audi dealer. Tmobile and sprint have merged. And tmobile has a bigger and Better Network than ever before. With more towers, more engineers, and more coverage. Welcome to tmobile. Americas largest 5g network. Oh, oh, announcer ® onceweekly ozempic® is helping many people with type 2 diabetes like emily lower their blood sugar. 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He wrote, kellys life and love will always be remembered. I will be taking time to be there for my children who have lost their mother, so give me in advance if you dont hear from us for a while. Now, the couple had three children, one of whom died back in 2009 from a seizure. Travolta and preston had one of the longest marriages in hollywood, celebrating their 28th wedding anniversary just last year. Kelly preston was only 57 years old. All right. At least 21 people are hurt after a fire broke out on a ship at a u. S. Naval base in san diego, california. Officials say 17 sailors and four civilians are being treated at a hospital for nonlifethreatening injuries. According to the New York Times, an explosion occurred after the fire started and the ship was evacuated. Smoke was seen billowing from the middle of the ship. Its unclear, though, what exactly started this fire. So for your first look at the forecast, i want to go to nbc meteorologist bill karins. Good morning, bill. Its been a while since ive seen you. You were off anld then i was of yes. Reunited. And it feels kind of good. Im was going to go there, but i thought id let you do that. Its exceptionally hot. One area,ite note a mi itarea,. At 2 00 right now its 102 in phoenix. We have a heat dome sitting over the southwest.