hello everyone. i'm kate bolduan. and requiring face covering in all of their stores. one example of a trend that is emerging that cannot be overlooked and should not be ignored. from corporations to church leaders. local officials to school officials. all taking matters into their own hands now. looking to science and data to drive their decision-making in the midst of the pandemic, no longer looking to the white house. here's the alabama school leader who is not bringing students back into classrooms, despite what the white house says. >> we have to make a decision,

decisions that fit our community, and for the selma community, this was the right decision and it's the right course moving forward. >> and here is the church leader out of georgia who is shutting down sunday's service, despite what the white house says. >> we're for our communities and we don't want to accidentally do something to our communities. >> and here is the local judge in texas who's taking over the county testing operation, because he can't wait any longer for the federal government to catch up. >> so it wasn't working at all. we're going to take it over. we're going to do those tests in two days or less. turn around in two days or less, and we appreciate the federal offer but i politely decline. >> they're stepping up, because they are left with no other option. clearly. considering that the president continues to say, we're in a good place, with taking on the virus. and continues to try to change the subject. remember? he went to go talk about infrastructure? but you can't press, cannot

press release your way out of this. nearly every state is seeing a rise in cases week to week and even more concerning, look at this graph of people with covid requiring hospital care. this is a hospitalization rate we see in the country now showing the country is almost back to where we were in april. not a place anyone wants to return to. in addition to the lack of leadership from the president, also not helping are a handful of governors still taking his lead. governors in some of the hardest-hit state. take georgia, where the governor banned cities and counties in the state from implementing mask requirements leaving the mayor of savannah the first local official in georgia to issue a face covering order declaring this -- "it is visually official. governor kemp does not give a damn about us." so they are left to go it alone in savannah, which is at the moment the unfortunate

overarching message in america. you are on your own. how does that work with a virus? an invisible enemy that knows no political party and no physical boundary? see how that's working out today in florida. cnn's rosa flores from miami joining us now. what's the latest there? >> reporter: florida department of state 14,000 coronavirus and the state breaking its record for most deaths reported within 24 hours. 156. that's 156 families today mourning their loved ones. this as the city of miami mayor francis suarez announced today during a press conference that hospitals in his city are at 95% capacity. so what is driving the surge according to the mayor? individuals that are between ages of 18 and 34. what about transmission? according to the mayor he says most of the transmission is through households. here is how the mayor

described's situation at hospitals in his city. >> we're at the highest level of hostation we've seen throughout this pandemic. highest level of leventilators through the pandemic, an indication of the death rate that will increases most likely over the next couple of weeks. >> reporter: now, the mayor expressing his concern, because as these numbers continue to grow and surge, that, of course, means more people could end up in the hospital system. so to give you a clearer picture of what's going on inside these hospital systems, here are a statement we received from jackson health that says "jackson health system has continued increasing icu capacity by converting beds and equipment and deploying staff. we are also not admitting new cases if their medical needs can wait. our focus now is on caring for covid patients who require hospitalization, and those

patients with true emergencies. kate, when you hear a hospital say we are not admitting new cases with medical needs, that can wait, you know it's a dire situation. kate? >> absolutely. rosa, thank you so much. turn to texas now. despite another record-breaking day of cases and deaths, just yesterday, the governor continues to resist calls from local officials s to slow down even shut back down. the governor saying texas does not need to. >> people are panicking thinking i'm about to shut down texas again. the answer is, no. that is not the goal. i've been abundantly clear saying exactly what the head of cdc said today. the head of cdc said today, if everyone can adopt the practice of wearing a face mask the next four weeks, we will be able to get covid-19 under control. >> tell you, though, the local officials in texas that you talk to, they say that's actually not the case.

there needs to be more. is that enough? look at the new projection model out of harris county, texas, including houston and what direction it's headed. if only the current measures stay in place. it's that dotted blue line right there. that's terrifying. joining me now is dr. david rubin, director of policy lab at children's hospital philadelphia. the group behind the projection model and a cnn senior medical analyst and commissioner of health for new york city. thank you for being here. dr. rubin, your projection in harris county in texas is jarring. described it as a deteriorating situation. how so? >> well, you know, i think we're doing a lot of messaging around universal masks which is really important. but people are underestimating just how much distancing is going to be required to contain transmission and those areas like houston, texas, now, with a runaway epidemic, i think a strong argument can be made for significant mitigation efforts, even shutting down for a few

weeks before resuming. i would call smarter reopening that would be very focused limiting gathering size, indoor restaurant occupancy and closure of bars and nightclubs. >> that is not the type of reopening we saw in texas the first time around. very clearly. that's for sure. doctor, often what dr. rubin is saying, is this what we see, does this -- does this make the case crystal clear that governors have to do more? they have to lead more. it can't just be local jurisdiction to local jurisdiction? because the virus isn't stopping. >> well, there's been a complete abdication of leadership from the president on down. which is really unfortunate, in states like georgia, as we heard, not only are they abd kating their duty, they're obstructing what mayors and others are trying to do in their local areas. if you're going to talk about we want to take a local approach

that this epidemic in the country, at least let local officials do their jobs. even that is being obstructed at this stage. >> doctor, also seeing increasing risk once again heading north, you call out places like in maryland and virginia. d.c. even to new jersey and back to new york city, and i want to show folks a look at the projection model you have for baltimore to see how difficult the next four weeks really could be there. i mean, is this virus just ping-ponging across the country, because of the 50 different strategies in 50 different states? i don't know how much more clearer people need to see that it's not working. other than looking at these projection models now the virus is once in the northeast. now traveling to the south, the midwest and west, and now as your projection model shows seeing trouble once again in the east. >> absolutely.

i think we know now that we are failing, because of the lack of national standards. even within states to protect communities around them. breaks my heart to see areas like new orleans really begin to deteriorate. breaks my heart areas around kansas city. even the colorado region now seeing evidence that things are starting to worsen a bit, but the northeast is something that people need to really pay attention to. the lack of significant mitigation efforts in the south, there's just pulsing the rest of the country now. particularly up the atlantic seaboard. we've seen areas in maryland and virginia certainly the d.c. metro area looking more like north carolina this week than they do, like counterparts to the north. in philadelphia, just beginning to see the surge that has started already down in the d.c. and the baltimore area, and we're now seeing significant increases in risk throughout the counties throughout the new york city metro area and i think the public would be surprised given all the hard work they've done

that it's back. resurgence has begun. now is the time for decisive action. we've got schools that were supposed to reopen here around labor day. the public will not send their kids to school, teachers will not return to school unless there is confidence we can get this back under control. this really is a time of sacrifice that people have to act, what are we trying to accomplish in the next six weeks? and is it realistic to get our communities back to a place where we can feel safe opening after labor day? >> i think you hit on something that's been lacking in many places which is setting a clear goal. setting a clear goal from state to state. clear messaging on what that goal is and how it can be attainable in this projected time frame, if we do the following -- which is following the science and following the data. which is so clearly laid out, dr. rubin. and doctor rubin mentioned maryland. the republican governor of maryland larry hogan made it

pretty clear in an op-ed in the "washington post" today he has essentially given up on the federal response. you talked to this, this kind of gets exactly to your point. at one point in the op-ed talking about problems with testing kind of overall and said this -- eventually it was clear waiting around for the president to run the nation's response was hopeless. delayed longer condemning more of our citizens to suffering and death. that is a republican governor. are you in a place, doctor, especially leaning on your experience with -- in york city with the health department, are you ready to declare the federal response a failure? >> in new york, it's really been the new york response that controlled the virus. whether the new york state or the new york city response that you're talking about. you know, i am concerned this is one, huge game of whack-a-mole across the country and rear here in new york city after all the work we've done and all of the effort we've made and slowly on

a scientific basis lifting each of our phases of lockdown measures, that we're already dealing with a situation where our control of the virus is again in peril. we're already seeing an uptick in transmission in cases among the 20-something year olds unfortunately in the area a bit more laxed about their practices of social distancing and wearing masks, and now as you mention, all throughout the area around us, the surrounding counties, there has also ban increaeen an in cases. i hoped our second peak here in new york wouldn't hit until october, november, i'm very fearful it's come ag month or two earlier than that. >> yeah. it is a problem for all sorts of things. number one especially, dr. rubin points out what that means for getting kids safely back into schools. thank you both for being here. appreciate it. coming up for you the cdc finds that the u.s. travel ban on europe came too late for new

york city. new york's governor andrew cuomo joins me next. plus, president trump makes a big change to the top of his campaign team. now, simparica trio simplifies protection.

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new study just out from the cdc calls into question the signature move taken by the president that he has touted such success and major success in slowing the spread of the virus in the united states. shutting down travel from china and europe. the cdc now finding that the president moved too late in shutting down travel to stop the virus from getting to new york city. researchers examined data from the new york department of health and found that the strain of the virus in new york city early on closely resembled the

strain from europe and here are the dates. the administration banned travelers from europe march 13th. the study determined by march 8th the virus was in new york and by march 15th community transmission always widespread in new york city. joining me by the phone right now is new york governor andrew cuomo. governor, thanks for jumping on the line. i really appreciate it. getting on so quickly. so the cdc now says that the travel ban came too late. it was already in and spreading in new york city. what is your reaction to that? >> well, thanks. good to be with you, kate, this afternoon. look, we knew that in new york. i had been saying it, but it's a damning admission by the cdc. the cdc is a federal agency. it's the president's agency. and they admitted in their report today clearly that the virus came, the federal government missed it. they were all looking at china. the virus had gone from china to

europe, mutated in europe, came to new york. they traced the strains back to europe. and the president talks about his travel ban against china, and travel ban against europe. it was too little, too late. he closed the barn door after the proverbial horse was gone, and what happened in new york didn't need to happen. it was a clear federal failure. >> the president's campaign spokesman was just asked about this report, and actually turned it around and said that you acted too late and you deserve blame. i want to play this for you, governor. listen to hogan gidley. >> let's talk about too late for a minute. governor cuomo is to blame for two late. 65% of the cases in the country can be traced back to seeding in new york city because the governor refused to listen to the president and quite frankly ill norred consider ignored cdc

clean the subways and finally shut down subways only shut down a few to be funneled into a tiger place making it easier to seed this virus spread across the country. >> governor, do you want to respond to that? >> yeah. i don't know who he is or what he's talking about. i didn't close down any subways ever. his problem and the president's problem are the facts. the cdc is a federal agency. the cdc is a federal agency and says the virus came from europe and the travel ban was too late. so mr. trump's problem and his campaign manager's problem is their own government. their own health officials. it's the facts. it's the science. they have been in denial from day one. thought they would handle the virus politically. you can't. the virus does not respond to politics. the virus responds ton science and medicine, and let them learn the lesson, because they're still doing it.

thousands of americans are dieing who don't need to die. look at the increase in the 40 states. this is now seven months after they've been on notice, and we still don't have the science in place and the testing and the tracing. that's what's killing people. the denial of the virus and the incompetence of the government is what's killing people. and they should listen to their own health officials. this is no conspiracy. i'm not saying anything. it's their cdc. their cdc is saying it. >> governor, you have been taking some heat for celebrating what you call kind of crushing the curve. i've heard you say that many time. you said that the country is going to talk about what new york did for decades. to tame the beast. also for a poster you put out earlier this week kind of

celebrating what new york accomplished. the country, as you know, governor, is objectively nowhere near through this crisis. are you celebrating too soon? >> oh, we're not set bratie ce all. that was mr. tapper's misconstruction in his own political interpretation, whichever you want to allow. no. not at all. what we're saying, new yorkers did step up and did flatten the curve. that is a fact. the people of new york unified. the people of new york were disciplined. they helped each other. and they did it. we went from the worst infection rate in the country to the best. to the lowest. that is a fact. good for new yorkers. i applaud new yorkers. i'm proud to applaud new yorkers. unfortunately, we're now afraid that the virus is going to have a second wave. >> right. >> not the second wave they talked about but it's going to rebound because all of these

other states have such a high infection rate and the people are coming to new york. we're trying to impose a quarantine, et cetera, but i'm very afraid of an increase in the infection rate because of what's happening in the other states, and that's why i want the federal government to wake up and do their job. >> governor, i want to throw that poster up one more times for folks so they know what we're talking ak. one point my colleague jake pointed out was that there's a lot in this poster that you'll put out, but it doesn't -- it doesn't also mention how there are more deaths than any other state, than any other state than new york. do you think the poster was a mistake in the midst of all this? >> no. tapper's point, you just heard from the cdc report, tapper should say that trump is to blame for the virus coming to new york, because that's the fact. that's what the cdc just said.

if trump's government had done its job, the virus wouldn't have come here. we don't do -- governors don't do global pandemics. i was trying to explain that to mr. tapper. state governments don't do global public health. that's not in the state charter. the federal government does that. the virus didn't come here because of anything new yorkers did. the virus came here because the federal government missed it. what the cdc, the federal government, says today. we then had to deal with it, and new yorkers did. they did! they came together like never before. good for new yorkers. and i can tell you as a born and bred new yorker, i've never seen them do that. i've never seen them come together like that before. and if mr. tapper doesn't think that new yorkers did something great, i disagree with mr. tapper. >> i know that jake thinks new yorkers did great things. i do not believe that he was trying to disparage the efforts

that you or anyone in new york -- i mean, i'm here and i saw it with my own eyes whatever new yorker -- how new yorkers came together to -- to pull off some incredible, incredible things against unsurmountable, unbelievable challenges. but also you are starting a new campaign actually. just announced a national mask-up campaign. a series of psas if viewers haven't heard of it. this is video by one. voices like morgan freeman, jamie foxx. going on-air not just in air but all over country. why are you doing this? >> well, look. i believe this president has made a terrible mistake. there are governors across the state, across the nation, who have made a terrible mistake. we know that masks work. the ihme projection model, which is a model accepted by the president, they say 40,000 more

americans will die than would have died if you wore a mask. 40,000 more americans die than if you had just done a mask policy. it is just -- insane that we would not at least do a mask policy, and if the federal government won't do it, i'll do everything i can to try to get that message across the country, and that's what these ads are all about. >> listen to the data. listen to the science. it's the only way to get through this and we're nowhere near close. good to talk to you, governor. thank you for jumping on the phone. >> good to be with you. all the best. coming up, hospitals are not just at capacity in hot spots in florida and texas. the mayor of wichita, kansas, is now sounding the alarm and joins me, next. dear fellow business s and technologists, i feel the weight you carry, as i carry it myself. but as i reflect and see all the amazing things you've been doing... one thing is clear, technology has never been so important.

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facing spiking numbers the governor of kansas announceds they are pushing back the start of school by three weeks. this as the midwestern state reports more than 20,000 people have been infected there, and hospitals in wichita, the state's largest city, are now concerned about their capacity.

brandon wiffle is the mayor of wichita and joins me now. thank you for being here. i saw your tweets that the hospitals told you they could take capacity in two to three weeks. what are you hearing from they towed? what are they up against? >> well, really, we're on the phone with the hospitals about once a week. since this whole pandemic started and getting constant updates. right now it's not just about capacity, it's also about staff, making sure we have enough medication. it's a whole picture of stuff. so we're doing well here in wichita at the moment, but we freed people to have their masks on to be looking out for one another so we can do what we can to stop the spread so our hospitals don't wind up in the situation that some other hospitals have wound up throughout the country. >> you've seen so many things of what's happened and terrified the coming your way, because i wonder what is happening in kansas? the governor has been relatively

aggressive with mitigation measures. she put in place a state-wide mask mandate and other measures. what's happened? >> so really in kansas, i'm proud of our governor and really proud of the city of wichita. our governor came out and was one. first governors to call off school when it started up. here in wichita, we're one the first cities to stop public events. i remember myself and another council member started to see the pattern happening with covid going to our staff saying, tonight we have an incredible park opening. we really probably shouldn't hold it. getting ahead of this is what we want to do here in wichita and make sure that not only we're doing this as a city with our city resources but getting good information out that scientific information out to the people of wichita. one of the things about wichita, folks know what should be done, they will do it. not only wool they do it for themselves but make sure, tell their neighbors as well.

>> clearly not everyone. because you've got this that you're up against. read what one wichita resident told a local news very recently. she said, i don't have a mask on because i'm not afraid. we can't walk in fear. if we do we're just done for. if that's where people's heads are in wichita, what are you going to do to get this thing under control? >> so -- this is a global pandemic that happens once in 100 years. there are folks out there who i think choose to feel this is not as big a deal as what our hospital community says. and that's okay. the overwhelming majority of wit witch witch -- witch tans take this seriously. they got the information they needed looked out for themselves

and their neighbors we s we did see those type of numbers. it is sad about 30 people during that time perished which is sad. we didn't see the 100 to 200-person spike. i get that twitter, folks get on twitter say their opinions. here in wichita it's about action and we see people coming together, doing what needs to be done to protection ourselves, protect our neighbors and we want our kids back in school this fall. we don't want to have to pay the economic price that wichita and other cities our size paid early on when we had to shut down the economy. you're right. there are folks live on twitter, i get some of that. i think i got over 100 folks posting on my facebook, about 4 of them are the ones who just can't comprehend the science of this yesterday, but the rest of the people i think are, hey what can we do? what can we do to help us get through this? >> let's hope science reigns supreme and they are listening.

mayor, thanks for coming in. appreciate your time. >> of course. thanks a lot. still ahead for us, new polls out show the american people have a very strong opinion whether the president of the united states is helping or hurting to slow the spread of the virus. ta-da!

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a move that you don't hear about for a campaign that is happy with what they are seeing, especially three and a half months out from the election. on that note, two new national polling just out showing president trump in trouble. trailing joe biden by double digits. the nbc/"wall street journal" poll biden leads by 11. quinnipiac poll, biden's up by 15. joining me, david chalian, always a lot of numbers we can and do dissect in these polls. there are two that really jumped out to me. both having to do with the response to the pandemic. first in the pew poll, they asked, is the president helping or hurting efforts against covid? 62% said the president of the united states is making matters worse. in the nbc poll, they asked, what they want candidates to focus on more. 57% wanted more focus on the virus. not the economy and reopening businesses. what do you see here? >> well, in those two findings i

think you see why joe biden's up double digits nationally, where you started, kate. that issue of whether or not reopening the economy should be the priority or not, donald trump is just out of step with where the american people are. then when you noted the 62% who say what he is doing is actually hurting efforts to slow the spread? >> that's crazy to me. >> that's where the american people are. what they see him doing, they think has an actual negative impact on the battle to quell this pandemic. so -- both of those numbers i think you're right to highlight and that is precisely what the president's issue is. not necessarily how his campaign is being run by his former campaign manager, right, exactly. >> right. so this is a national poll, but inside of this, especially on this 62%. i just -- i can't get past it's he's not just ignoring it, not not helping.

he's hurting the effort to beat the virus. what-ish whe what -- where do the president's key voters land on this one? >> the quinnipiac poll, this group looking at that question broken down by different groups fascinates me. look among white non-educated voters on this question. you see 48%, part of donald trump's base, say his efforts are hurting attempts to slow the spread. look at rural voters. another part of his base. 44% say his efforts are hurting. so, granted, i'm not trying to say rural voters and white non-college voters are biden voters. they're not. still with the president. i get that. but when you look at that split in that group, those are key parts of his constituency, his base, and for a president who's entire strategy for three and a half years has been jazzing your

base, not -- the middle is gone right now for donald trump. right? so the whole approach here, the whole strategy has been just turbo charging that support from base voters. you see on the issue of coronavirus, they have questioned about donald trump's leadership as well. >> and simple fact there is more and more evidence that a good, bold federal response is good politics. we've seen so many examples of, i mean, take, like, on a small microscopic scale, david, of a bungled response to a snowstorm is what is the, you know, the -- the death sentence for many a mayor. this is in no way compares to a bungled response to a global pandemic. >> yeah. i mean, we've watched donald trump defy all the forms of politics. >> i think also donors -- resisting it. good response is good politics. >> yeah, well, i think that's the, you know, trillion dollar question. kate, i really do. my sense is that he believes

that either, if he were to lean in to all things coronavirus it would lead to longer tying of shutdown of the economy not coming back, kids not being in school. life would not be normal and he thinks that would hurt him politically. all the evidence here is, case, the panel to political rehabilitation tore donald trump is actually through getting his hands around and managing the coronavirus pandemic. >> you cannot press release your way out of a global pandemic. it's not going to work. good's to see you, david. coming up next for us, the doctors who called coronavirus testing "an american failure." i'll ask if it's too late to fix it.

this is an american failure. we're five months into this epidemic, and we can't figure it out. this isn't me talking, even though any reasonable person should actually agree. this is from one of the top health officials in louisiana. dr. joseph canter. you'll remember that louisiana was one of the hot spots back in march and april. now it looks like it's facing the threat of another surge. the reason, testing backlogs, delays and more. dr. joseph kanter joins me now. thank you for joining me. tell me, what are you seeing in louisiana that's concerning you? >> well, we're seeing similar trends to our neighboring states like texas and arizona, florida. cases are going up considerably. and we're working as hard as we

can to meet that challenge. as you mentioned, kate, testing has been a choke hold. we've done a great job on testing. we actually surpassed 1 million tests a couple days ago for the state. but there are some delays in supply chain issues that cause choke holds for us and make the problem much more. >> this is something that confounds me and i think a lot of people that the supply chain is so messed up this many months in when we know that adequate widespread testing is the only way to actually get your arms around this crisis. you all it an american failure. from your view, on the ground in louisiana, where is the break in the chain? >> yeah, that was a hot take, based on some frustration. but - and that's okay. >> and it's -- thanks. you know, we're five, going on six months into this, and it's frustrating not to have a better

capacity right now. we've had a couple challenges here. some of the instant labs have had restrictions in how much reagent they can get from the national suppliers to other platforms. and some lending operations that send tests out of state for commercial have had long turnaround times, sometimes, up to two weeks but we've seen one or two days turnaround times. and it makes the contact tracing continuously behind the 8-ball. we're chasing things that happened a week or two ago. and it's heart ard to keep up w the growing outbreak when we're handicapped like that. >> and the way it's been explained to me, 14-day turnaround makes the testing useless and the contact. that's why the turnaround is so crucian. testing is key to getting back

to the new life and getting kids back to schools again. i want to play something that the white house press secretary just said about opening schools. because i would like your take. listen. >> where he says open, he means open and full, kids being able to attend each and every day at their school. the science does not stand in the way of this. >> she's actually looking down at her prepared remarks when she's saying that. what do you do if the white house position is now don't let the science get in the way of opening up? >> yeah. in louisiana, we're focused on the our issues here. we view science as a tool that will allow us to open up, whenever it is safe to do so. testing is a part of that. masking is a big part of that as well. we want students and faculty to be as safe as possible. >> plain and simply.

dr. kanter thank you for coming. >> thank you, kate. the nfl association has just revealed how many players have really tested positive for the coronavirus. you're going to want to hear this, next.

this just in, 72 nfl players have tested positive for coronavirus as of last week. that's according to the league's players association. the players association database does not specify, however, how many players have actually been tested.

overall. it's an effort to keep players and personnel updated on the spread of the virus within the league. and despite the numbers, nfl training camps are scheduled to begin before the end of the month. and the nfl insists that the regular season will begin as planned in september. also this, as scientists across the country race to develop a vaccine and put an end to this pandemic, they have a new challenge that they are up against. russian hackers. if you can even believe it. yes, even russian hackers getting involved in this. according to u.s., uk and canadian security officials, russian hackers are targeting researchers and organizations involved in covid vaccine development. the group believed to be behind these attacks has links to russian intelligence. the kremlin, however, denies any involvement. this is a programming note for all of you, a new season of

"united states of america" premiere this weekend. my good friend w. kamau bell take on the farming to the beaches of miami. that's this sunday at 10:00 p.m. eastern and pacific. only on cnn. thank you all for being with me, i'm kate bolduan. "the lead with jake tapper" starts now. ♪ welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper, and we begin with the health lead. this afternoon, the u.s. passed 3.5 million cases of coronavirus, as the death toll tops 137,000. right now there are only two states in the united states, delaware and maine, that are seeing a decrease in infections. dozens of hospitals throughout the country are overwhelmed with coronavirus patients. a hotel is now being converted into a health care facility in laredo, texas. the situation