remark and kaley is defending it from the white house podium. and she knows what she's doing. she talked about his racist comments about mexicans. so, she knows exactly what she's doing. i want to bring in kaitlan collins, april ryan. katelyn, to you first. i mean, we always say this. it's hard to be surprised by something. i think what was so, i guess noticeable there was just her repeated defense of a racist term. it was like watching someone over and over again say something that we know, based on her past comments -- i mean, she'll say anything. what did you think about this? >> the argument the white house is making is that because media outlets in january and other months refer to it as the chinese coronavirus or the wuhan, virus, i think that was before the who had given it a

name, that means it's okay for the president to call it kung-flu as he did saturday night. a media outlet calling the chinese coronavirus is not insame as the president using the term that civil liberty outlets have said will inspire racism against asian-american people. no legitimate news outlet has used that phrase. those are not the same thing and that was the white house's only defense of the president using thats phrase saturday night. and from pbs, kelly ann conway, when ask about a white house official using a phrase, kung-flu earlier, she believed it was highly offensive. there's a recognition about what that term means, implies and the potential. and it was not the same as what she was trying to say. a tactic she's used many times, trying to say the media has done this.

calling the chinese coronavirus is not the same thing and not a viable argument. as it stood by and said the president doesn't regret using that term saturday night. >> this is the shift we've seen where you've had it -- this term used on background, right? from a white house source and then you have a kelly ann conway saying it is wrong and offensive. and now, the difference is you have kaley from the white house podium saying this is perfectly fine. this is not racist. this is a change we're seeing here and it's incredible. >> you know, i don't necessarily follow the change. it has been floating through the white house and now it's been justified. and if they're making the statements, it's not just a racist statement, it's about the heart. is he a racist to say this? i asked him this question early on in the presidency. it took him three days to

answer. and if this is about the origins of this deadly virus, call it out for the origins this came from, why all this extra racial overtone. it not only causes a problem with the asian americans, but our neighbors in asia. our neighbors on finances, human rights issues, so many other levels. this is not just about a racist statement inside this nation. this has ripple effects. and at this time when the president is rallying his base, we need to call it out. not to say it's a racist statement. but everyone in there, who is embracing it, are they racist? if they continue to say this and hold on to it, like they said the words, like the president said the words, s-hole nation is talking about black haitian and african countries.

it's racist. it is racist. >> jaime, you have new reporting. tell us about this. tell us how republicans are reacting to the president's rally behind the scenes. what are they saying? >> i think what we saw is actually going to make the reporting i'm about to say underscore the problem here because what we've seen today reflects right back to what happened on saturday night. my phone blew up saturday and sunday. at the rally. not just because they were empty seats and not just because these were senior republican officials, long-time hard core supporters. fundrazors, big donors who said that having the rally inside was a mistake. but they went on to talk about a lack of leadership. and what i'm hearing and i just

think what we saw at the white house just now from the podium, we're going to hear this again, is trump fatigue from long-time supporters from big donors. i just want to read to you direct quotes. and these are people who have never said things like this to me before on background. one long-time big donor said, quote, people are questioning whether they can vote for him, who have never questioned voting for him before. another said i'm a third-generation hard core republican but how can i vote for this guy. he hasn't handled the pandemic like a leader. why isn't he wearing a mask? how big a deal is that? there is -- look, we have a ways to go before november, and just because there were empty seats at the rally, doesn't mean that

people weren't watching him on tv or go out and vote for him, but what i've heard in the last 48 hours is something that i haven't heard before. and that is people who may not be willing to vote for joe biden, but they do not want to vote for donald trump. >> very interesting reporting. thank you for sharing that with us. we appreciate it. it is the top of the hour and we begin with another grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic. more than 120,000 americans dead. nearly half of states seeing a rise. 11 seeing a spikes of more than 50% in the past week. officials in states across the south have warned more young people in their 20s and 30s are testing positive.

globally, they reported the largest increase at more than 183,000 new cases sunday. and that was driven mostly by spikes in brazil and the u.s. athena jones is live from new york. and these spikes are exactly what public health officials have been warning about. >> that's exactly right and they're very concerning. while cases continue to fall in new york city and other parts of the northeast, the picture in much of the rest of the country is considerably bleaker. just the latest sign the crisis is far from under control. >> people are not practicing social physical distancing. >> reporter: with coronavirus cases on the rise and more moving to the next phase of reopening, experts are sounding the alarm. >> they're not wearing masks and not paying attention and not believing there's a problem. >> reporter: new cases nationwide topped 30,000 for

consecutive days. including florida, texas and california. where hospitalizations recently reached their highest level since the pandemic began. hospital also under pressure in states like washington, florida and arizona. >> our hospital beds have about 17% left in capacity. we're in a crisis situation. >> reporter: florida passing 100,000 cases, joining more than six other cases to reach that grim milestone. leaving some localities to pump the breaks. >> we're not opening large venues where you can have a large congregation, whether it's a sporting event or rally. >> reporter: many testing positive are in their 20s and thurtsz. and experts say the high percentage of positive tests in florida, where the rate is past 10%, and in arizona where it is around 20%, show the increase is real. florida governor, a trump ally,

agrees. >> even with testing increasing or being flat, the number of people testing positive is accelerating faster than that. that's evidence there's transmission within those communities >> nfl players are being advised to stop training together. and major league baseball is shutting down some training facilities in arizona. the cdc is expected to issue updated recommendations on masks. and one white house official said the administration is preparing for a new wave of infections in the fall. eevren as another says that wave won't come. >> we're doing everything we can beneath the surface, doing everything we possibly can. >> we know how to deal with this stuff now. it's come a long way since last winter. there is no second wave coming. it's yus hot spots. >> new jersey, washington d.c.

and georgia where the six flag amusement park opens to guests. while new york wants the epicenter in new york is taking the next step in what has been a slow, coshess approach. >> we had less than 1% transmission rate yesterday. we went from the highest transmission rate to the lowest. if we see any tick in those numbers, we will respond. >> reporter: now phase two in new york means offices can act at partial capacity and parks and playgrounds can open. most retail shops are open and outdoor dining is allowed in restaurants and bars and caves, the governor has warned localities that don't follow social distancing protocol could have their liquor license revoked or be shut down. >> we've seen that already in miami. we'll see how new york handles it.

my next gegs knows what it's like to deal with covid-19 and beat it. he spent 38 days on a ventilator during the months he's been battling the virus. let's bring in ron to talk about this. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you so much for having me. how is it going? >> we are doing well. you appear to be healthy, which is wonderful to see. and i'm hoping you can take us back to the beginning, when you first learned you were infected. tell us about that. >> i can. first off, i was contracted to come down from new york city to austin, texas, to play the broadway touring show, aladdin. that was early march. so, i came down. and instead of a full two-week run, we did two days and it was cancelled. seeing as that time new york was the epicenter for the virus, i

decided to stay in texas and go down to san antonio and check in on my mom who's been living there most of her life. and it was there when i got covid, which was surprising. i had been away from new york for literally over a month and it was in early april when, at the time allergies were really kicking in pretty bad. and i thought i was dealing with allergies, feeling feverish and such. and then probably april 3rd or so, my older brother is visiting and comes over to check in on me and they found me unresponsive in the bed. from there, they called the ems, who took me to northeast baptist hospital in san antonio. big thanks to dr. tamara simpson and the doctors and nurses at the cce unit for taking good care of me. i was put on an ventilator and in a medically induced coma for 32 days.

when i came out of the coma a few days later, i was taken off the ventilator. i had been on that for 37 days. having known about the issues in particular with people on ventilators and how it could effect their lungs, i was fortunate to find out they weren't effect said. and i attribute that to years of playing low brass instruments. >> thank goodness. sorry. go on. >> i was going to say after that i was transferred to the hospital north of san antonio, where dr. k and the nurses and therapists did a great job helping me regain my strength, as well as mussel control and balance. and after about six weeks there, i was transferred to the warm springs rehabilitation hospital in kyle south of austin where, after about a week of intensive therapy, i was able to come home. here in austin now. and just very grateful and thankful to everyone. >> ron, listening to everything

you went through, i mean t is so much the involvement of what you went through and you now have a message when it comes to masks, which have been politicized. tell us what it is. >> my biggest message is for those of you out there who still feel like you don't have to wear a mask, please reconsider your thoughts on that. masks can help. as far as being able to reduce the spread of this virus. even if you may be asymptomatic, you may be in contact with someone who, in my case, has an immuno suppressant system. and they could get sick from this. i mean, people are dying from this virus. if you're out and about, please wear a mask. please practice social distancing. please wash your hands. please use hand sanitizer. i mean, i understand how people can go stir crazy after being inside for so long with this but

it's the best way we have right now, according to the scientific community to stem the swell of the virus. >> ron, thank you so much for coming on. and a shouts out as you did to all your doctors and nurses who have helped you through this. we appreciate you being here with us healthy. >> thank you. if i could throw in a quick shout to all my friends watching this, musicians or civilians. let's all hang in there together. i've got a fundrazor going at ron's road to recovery.com that's been able to help me out and i appreciate all the donations and appreciation and such. and one of the big things for me is the reason i pulled through was because i still have a lot of work to do with my music. i have a new alble coming out. and it was things like that that helped me hang in there and fight this virus. i know maybe not a lot of people have that, but i'm hoping this interview and them hearing me

will at least give them inspiration. because this thing is deadly. >> ron wilkins, thank you so much. we really appreciate seeing you from texas. and a noose above a black driver. hear who was allowed inside that facility. and new plans when it comes to removing a statue. sources say the president is angry over the turnout in tulsa. this is cnn special live coverage. here's huge news for veterans with va loans.

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it calls a heinous act against the sport's only full-time black driver. they say a noose was discovered inside bubba wallace's garage. he drove a car promoting unity and the black lives matter movement. and led the initiative to ban confederate flags from nascar events. live at the speeder speedway in alabama. and dianne, drivers are planning a show of support for wallace ahead of today's race. what can you tell us about this? >> reporter: they are, brianna. already on the track. the grass. they are painting #i stand with bubba. and at the beginning, before the race, during the prerace formalities, the drivers, we're told, are planning to push the number 43 car, bubba wallace to the front of the grid and stand around it as a show of support during the national anthem. we're told they're working out

additional details on how the rest of the field is going to support bubba wallace. but the main thing is the other drivers want to make sure those watching, people here again today understand that what happened yesterday, the discovering of that noose in the garage stall of the number 43 is not okay. and they all stand completely against it. now, nascar released a statement last night telling us about the discovery of that noose. i'm told that bubba wallace actually never saw the noose. it was nascar president steve phelps who told him about it after a crew member discovered it in the garage stall. nascar said we are angry and outraged and cannot state strongly enough how seriously we take this heinous act. we'll do everything we can to identify the person or persons responsible and eliminate them from the sport. they reiterated that today saying once they determined who did this, they will be banned for life from nascar.

they're currently here on scene continuing the investigation. now, we know there are cameras here but nascar would not comment on what, if any, video was reported of the incident and said right now they didn't have a lot of answers for it. simply that the fbi was investigating it and they were doing everything they could to support it. and bubba wallace did release a statement on his twitter account. he said we will not be deterred by the reprehensible actions. this will not break me, nor will i back down. i will continue to proudly stand for what i believe in. his mother told him yesterday the people who did this were trying to scare him. and bubba has been standing up and leading the charge here in this sport. this was the first race and it was postponed yesterday due to weather where fans were able to come in, who had purchased tickets due the pandemic and many noticed the confederate

flag ban would be taking place. and yesterday there were videos of people doing demonstrations with the flag across the street from the speedway. there was a defund nascar and confederate flag behind it. but right now they say their focus is on bubba wallace and making sure he's okay. they say they have additional security on hand now. >> dianne, thank you. dianne gallagher, from talladega. the press secretary is now defending the president's use of a racial slur, defending it over and over again. the slur to describe the coronavirus. the trump campaign will join me live, plus we'll talk about the size of the president's rally in oklahoma. apps are used everywhere...

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president trump's weekends rally had fewer than 6200 people in attendance, according to the tulsa, oklahoma fire department. that's certainly a good showing for your run-of-the mill campaign. they said more than 1 million registered to attend. they claimed 100,000 trump supporters would be there. they made plans for a massive overflow area and that was completely empty, as were entire

sections inside the center. now, sources say president trump is very upset about the crowd size and that the format of future rallies is now in question. i want to bring in trump campaign communications director, joining me now. tim, how did your campaign get the attendance numbers so wrong here? >> first, we know how many people came through the mag nomteres. it was 12,000. and one of your reporters was inside the arena with us. and he could tell you the lower bowl was full and that's 9,000 all by itself. so, the fire marshal's number is wrong. >> but that's still 988,000 less -- sorry. go on. >> let's remember for more nan a week leading up to the rally, your network and the entirety of mainstream news media were

telling people the trump rally is about the most dangerous place you could be because of coronavirus and because of the threat of vilent protests outside. and the mayor of tulsa issued a statement early in the week that said he had information that organized o organized outside groups were coming tine make trouble. it really looked like a war zone. and so people were scared away. i think the fact that 12,000 people decided to show up anyway is quite an achievement. and president trump would have got out on the stage. the first thing he said was you're all warriors. 12,000 people is approximately 11,990 more people than joe biden had at his last event. the enthusiasm gap is real and it is wide. >> does joe biden has advance staff testing positive for covid? >> i don't know. because i don't think people pay very much attention to joe

biden's campaign and they seem focussed a lot on the re-election campaign. i will tell you joe biden hasn't had a press conference in 81 days. and just today he rejected a call for an earlier and longer debate schedule. and we know former governor, tim mccullau say joe biden should stay in his basement. that's not the way americans can get a look at a man who wants to be president. >> tim -- i will say this. i have to interrupt you there. because joe biden has been out. you know this because you fuelo this. he's been in pennsylvania. he's met with small business owners. he delivered remarks on the economy and jobs report. i got to be honest i'm surprised you bring it up. because there's only one person who sought basement in a refuge recently >> that speech in philadelphia, he didn't take questions from

reporters and it was 2:00 in the afternoon that day and joe biden could barely function. you remember the famous tv commercial from last cycle, who do you trust to answer the phone at 3:00 in the morning? joe biden is proving he probably can't answer the phone at 2:00 in the afternoon. having a speech in front of an empty gymnasium should not be kin sidered reaching the bar. for you to hold that up as proof of his vitality is crazy. i invite you to watch the video of that speech. it was, shall we say, not very impressive. when the two men get on the debate stage together, americans will see the difference between the vitality and vibrant leadership of president trump and the confused meandering of joe biden. >> i want to ask you because back to the crowd size, because it's pretty surprising the number. we have reporting that ivanka trump and jared kushner are,

pissed, quote pissed. that's from a campaign source. and they're concerned that it's over promised and underdelivered. i wonder if it's time for a leadership change at the campaign? >> certainly not. he's built a fantastic team with the entire family. he has a tenure relationship with the president and the entire trump family. i think it's really amazing -- >> is the president upset? >> look, the president understands what the national news media did for a week leading up to the rally. and it's amusing to hear from cnn when, for a week, they worried about the size and now cnn is worried it wasn't big enough. i think you have to determine which way you want things to go. you want the president have nobody? i think that is your end goal. they're desperate to keep president trump off the campaign trail.

because it shows the difference between president trump and biden, the enthusiasm behind the president's campaign and the duldrums that surround biden. we know trump supporters will run through a brick wall to vote for donald trump. ain't nobody running through a brick wall for joe biden. >> you call this a breakthrough, that it proves it's okay to get together in large groups. i wonder how you can say that responsibly when you haved a vanszed staff that have tested positive for coronavirus and we're days away from the rally, when you know full well you won't know if they contracted the virus for up to two days to two weeks after this event. how can you say this is an example of how people can go out in groups in an arena like this where they're not even practicing precautions?

>> we found the positive cases because we were doing our due diligence and protecting folks by conducting testing. that's why we released the information. >> did you test the attendees? >> everyone got a temperature check and handed a mask to -- >> but you did not test them and they did not wear masks? >> they were provided masks upon entry and everyone had a temperature check. and if they showed a temperature, they were pulled aside and allowed to cool off. >> you know people have coronavirus without having a temperature. so, you did not test them, right? >> the reason we selected oklahoma in the first place is because it is just about the most open state in the country. they're well into phase three -- >> despite a spike in cases centered where you had the event. >> i know everyone wanted to -- let's go back in time. everyone wanted to praise governor cuomo in new york and

the media had a love affair with governor cuomo, slip of the tongue. and everyone wanted to criticize governor dos santos in florida, who history showed, did a much better job of handling the coronavirus. >> tim v you seen the numbers from florida? they're spiking right now. >> why don't we compare them to what's going on in new york and what's happening in new york and which governor ordered nursing homes and elderly care centers -- >> i think you should look at the numbers, if you want to compare florida to new york, i mean -- i'm not going to talk anymore about it with you because i think you should study the numbers. i want to ask you about thujendsau coming into what he hopes is a second term. because we looked at this event saturday and it was billed as this idea of talking about the economic resurgence of america. and instead what we heard was a lot of stuff like this. >> i just saw it outside.

he just saw it outside. you saw these thugs that came along. they want to demolish our heritage. they want to defund and dissolve our police department. it's 1:00 in the morning. and a very tough -- i've used the word on occasion, hombre. a very tough hombre is breaking into the window. of a young woman whose husband is away. you want to save that beautiful heritage of ours. by the way, it's a disease without question. has more names than any disease in history. i can name kung-flu. i can name 19 different versions of names. >> you, tim, are in charge of communications for this campaign. do you want it defined by racist comments? >> the president has been pretty

clear and insistent that he was responding to china's accusation that the united states military somehow had something to do with the initial outbreak. he has been consistent all along -- >> that's not what he said -- i don't know if you heard it but we just played a lot of what he said during the event. >> it's another version of trying to make people understand the origination was wuhan province of china. and i know it's not very popular in the liberal elite media to be able to pinpoint the location of it. they would rather ignore where it came from but the president is not going to let that happen. and with regard to the beginning of the clip, you don't think -- does cnn not think it's disturbing to a lot of americans that you have leading democrats leading people who have endorsed joe biden calling for the defunding and disbanding of police departments across the united states? who will answer the phone when you call 911?

>> when he said kung-flu? >> you played me several clips and you're only asking me to respond to one. in the beginning he was talking about defunding police. it's a stupid idea, a ridiculous idea and it's insane to talk about reducing law enforcement presence in people's communities. look at what happened in minneapolis with businesses burning down, many in minority communities. these are people who used their life's work and savings to build businesses. >> tim, i get why you pivoted to this and you can keep bringing this up to your audience of one with the kung-flu -- i asked you about the racist comments you seize said on of courses the one thing -- but i want -- i want you to know -- it's just a fact. it's a racist comment. i want to ask you about what the president said about coronavirus testing in this event. let's listen.

>> here's the bad part. when you do testing to that extent, you're going to find more people, more cases. so, i said to my people slow the testing down, please. >> is that true he's asked for the testing to be slowed down? >> no, it's not. as a matter of fact the united states leads the world in testing. we've tested more than 25 million americans -- >> so, why is he saying that then? >> i nunderstand there's not muh of a sense of humor at cnn. he was joking. when you expand testing, you will naturally detect the number of cases. i'm not surprised you're unable or unwilling to understand the president has a tongue and cheek remark there. but that was the point he's making. >> i mean 120,000 americans dead.

i do not think that is funny. do you? >> he was trying to illustrate the point that when you expand testing -- >> you said it's a joke? >> in fact leading the world. you can often use ironic humor -- >> is it funny? dead americans? unemployed americans? is that funny to you have? >> you can ask it 100 different ways. >> and you won't answer it. >> the president was illustrating the point that american testing has expanded to such lengths that we are now detecting more positive cases. it stands to reason, it stands to reason we will have more positive cases when you do more testing. that's just a fact. >> you are aware that that hospitalization numbers disprove what you are saying. that testing does not solely account for the numbers we're seeing, including florida. it is not funny americans are dying.

it's not funny they're unemployment. thank you for coming on. the nba providing rings to help predict coronavirus. but do they work. and d.l. hughley collapses and later tests positive for the coronavirus. you sit your arrogant self in here and while the pain and hurt of the people of this community is on display. so, you don't give a dam and you should resign. usaa was made for right now. and right now, is a time for action. so, for a second time we're giving members a credit on their auto insurance. because it's the right thing to do. we're also giving payment relief options to eligible members

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it's not approved and studies are still being conducted. the senior medical correspondent is here with more about this. look, if athletes are going to be needing this because they're in close contact, what about normal americans? so, how would this device work? >> it would be great if there was a device we could all wear during this pandemic that would tell us hey, watch out, you may be headed towards coindividuals. there is no indication this device is that thing. again, would be great. but there is no indication that this device can do that. so, first of all, you want a device that measures things accurately. seconds of all, you want to make sure the things you're measuring even matter. let's say you measure your heart rate, does that matter? do covid patients have changes in heart rate that make you say oh, you need to head to your

doctor? it's a smart thing to work on. we should try to get one. there's no reason to think this ring is that devices. >> maybe it's a mood ring of some sort or a distant relative. i want to ask you about d.l. hughley. he found out he has coronavirus after collapsing on stage in nashville. he was performing in a small, crowded space. first off, he says he never had a single coronavirus symptom. he was very surprised that he was sick. what does that tell you, elizabeth? >> what that tells us is the cdc is right. they say 40% of transmission of covid is done by people who have no symptoms. we have been saying it over and over again for months now. they can transmit covid without feeling sick. now that i think about it, i had a tickle in my throat or a slight headache.

people feel no symptoms or such slight symptoms that they don't associate they perform in comedy shows and they go to work and raurps and they would run into you. that is why it is so important to wear a mask. >> and just real quick, should his audience, his crowd be quarantining. >> i think someone needs to get in there. a health official needs to get in there and analyze, how long was he there for and how close was he to the people and how small is the ventilation. it is hard to say that everybody but certainly his staff who are close to him and within six feet of them, i certainly hope they're quarentining. >> certainly. elizabeth, thank you so much as alzheimeras always. the number of professional and college athletes testing is climbing so how will teams move

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we are missing live sports. i know we are. but are leagues delusional in the midst of a pandemic. major league baseball shutting down following coronavirus outbreaks and mlb owners and players have still not agreed how to start the season. in florida the league plans to restart next month. the telling players not to participate in group workouts after several players tested

positive. the nhl also dealing with positive cases and hundreds of college football players have tested positive since returning to campus including two dozen clemson players. bearus fell hugo is from "the washington post" and you made the case that the return of sports sometime soon is somewhere between unlikely and irresponsible. tell us why. >> i think the numbers you cited is obvious. the leagues are doing the best they can to come up with plans to put their teams, their players, their coaches, their personnel in some sort of bubble to protect them from the coronavirus. but even in the early stages of coming back, the nhl for instance hasn't started full team workouts yet. yet the tampa bay lightning have shut down their rink. college football is another area where you're talking about teams that are 100 kids strong with many more personnel and coaches

around them. they would be traveling potentially from places with spikes to other places with spikes. how is that going to work. there are a lot of warning signs even in the early stages of starting sports again. >> and we're looking at 120,000 americans who have died from this virus. i wonder, is it going to take a college or a professional athlete dying for top officials of these sports to reconsider an early return or do they just think that their players are immune from the worst ramifications of this? >> well, we hope, that is not what it takes. and to be clear, we're still a month or more out from starting, say, the nhl stanley cup playoffs or the nba season again. and major league baseball has not agreed how to come back yet. but people wrote out to me since i wrote the piece yesterday,

hey, these are healthy young athletes and best equipped to survive the virus even if they get it. if you look at the numbers for the demographics in people in their 20s it is not that bad. but you have to remember the support systems around them. several coaches in baseball are typically quite a bit older, there are support staff that even in a striped down version of staging games with to fans would be in direct contact with athletes. the athletes could be carriers to more vulnerable parts of the population. >> that is right. because the coaching staff, as you point out, is older. so they would tend to be more immunosuppressed and there are family members to think about here, right. so this is a balancing decision. major league sports and college athletes are big money-makers. how much is that factoring into these decisions? >> well it is a huge factor. i mean, these owners have paid

in some cases billions of dollars for the franchises. they want the values to go up. a lot of the money comes into sports through the television contracts so even if there were no fans in the stands, there is still access to millions of dollars from tv, if they were able to stage games. that is a major, major factor in trying to start the season. it is really the only factor to try to start the seasons. i think if everybody was doing the absolute sensitive sensible safest thing they would step back and say, are we doing this for the right reasons? who is at risk here. and i also think if things move forward you're going to see some athletes, maybe some star athletes say, you know what, this isn't worth the risk for me. i'll come back when i feel like it is safe. i've made millions of dollars in my career. i don't need to make the money i would make this year. i'll see you in 2021.

>> yeah. it's such -- i've heard so many people say they miss live sports so it is something we'll continue to talk about as this is a negotiation. thank you for talking about your column with us. >> thanks for having me. and our special coverage will continue with brooke baldwin. hi there, i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me on this monday afternoon. you're watching cnn. let's g let's begin with this. the u.s. is unflattening the curve. more than 120,000 people have now died from coronavirus and significant spikes of new cases are emerging across the country. check out this map with me. 23 states, almost half, are now reporting this rise in new infections compared to the previous week. 11 states are up, 50% or more. and not only that, ten states are seeing the highest seven-day average of new daily cases since the start of this whole thing. but in the face of the