for social distancing. last year's champions who ate up to 71 and 31 hot dogs respectively they will be back. funds raised will go to food banks. just reminder, cnn's fourth of july in america, evening of fireworks and big musical lineup starts tomorrow 8:00 p.m. eastern. have a great weekend, everybody. our coverage continues with brooke baldwin. hi there. i'm brooke baldwin. you are watching a special holiday edition of cnn "newsroom." new cases of the coronavirus are hitting record numbers in the united states with more than 52,000 more people testing positive. the number of cases now tops 2.7 million and the cdc projects another 20,000 americans will die from the virus over the next three weeks.

36 states now entering the weekend with sharp increases in about the comparison to the last big holiday in america, the numbers are still all the more startling. the week of memorial day people getting together and the majority of the country was holding steady or declining. now just 14 states. here is dr. anthony fauci. >> i think it's pretty obvious how we are not going in the right direction. right now if you look at the number of cases it is quite disturbing. we are setting records practically every day of new cases in the numbers that are reported. that clearly is not the right direction. >> texas and florida just two of the states shattering the single day records. dr. deborah birx is making this plea to floridians whether they're showing symptoms or not. >> if you have participated in a large gathering in the last four

weeks we ask all of you to come forward and be tested. because the level of asymptomatic spread. we are asking for everyone under 40 that you were in a gathering please go and get tested. please wear a mask. please do all of the hygiene issues and please stay away from those who have comorbidities. >> so let's begin in florida which is now really officially the epicenter of this outbreak in the country as the state averages the most new cases each day. today reporting nearly 9,500. boris sanchez is on clearwater beach for us. i see people out and about today. what do the high numbers mean for people this holiday weekend? >> reporter: brooke, the expectation is simply to what we saw after memorial day week, people dislo baying the social distancing recommendation that is we'll see another surge even

as we're amid the record setting streak in the state of florida. and the governor here ron desantis effectively allowed local officials to determine the precautions. miami-dade county closed beaches this weekend. there's a tight curfew in effect. there's a very serious mask mandate. here take a look. people piling into the beach since this morning. a sign says that folks should not gather in groups larger than ten people. they shouldn't congregate if they don't live with someone. stay six feet away from them. i have seen crowds bigger than ten people this morning altogether and it is not clear how strenuously these rules are being enforced and just off to the right here i want to point out frenchie's rockaway grill, people coming here all day and would have to stop seating folks

because they had hit capacity and there's crowds out here. i spoke to a local saying it is not as packed as usually is. they see a lot of tourists this week. not as many on the beach now but there are people trying to celebrate the fourth of july by coming to the beach. the big question is, how big is the surge going to be two weeks from now when coronavirus in the state of florida continues to spread. >> you said it. don't gather. and then tent after tent after tent full of people. how strenuously do they enforce it? thank you. let's go to texas now where republicans will soon hold an in-person state convention as cases surge in that state. this as more and more people are being admitted to the hospital. governor abbott announced to require almost the entire state to wear masks in public. cnn's lucy kavonov in houston. who has to wear masks under the

governor's order? >> reporter: brooke, this new order applies to roughly 95% of all texans. this is a major reversal for the governor who's previously barred local officials from penalizing people from wearing massings in public but texas reporting 175,000 total cases. coronavirus cases. so some steps put in order and allowing local officials to restrict outdoor gatherings to just ten people encouraging them to practice social distancing and some officials say that doesn't go far enough. you might see folks talking. we are at a press conference by the local representative here. sheila jackson lee. the democratic congresswoman from texas has a strong message for the governor wanting him to empower local authorities to do

more for them to, for example, enforce stay-at-home orders. take a listen. >> if you give authority back to the cities, city of houston, harris county, let them make the decision about an effective stay-at-home order that i believe we need guided by the science. so i guess we're calling for a stay-at-home order guided by the science. >> reporter: she believes they need that here because houston is buckling under the surge in cases. the positivity rate here is 25%. 1 in 4 people coming in for a test come back with a positive result and very much worries local officials heading into the fourth of july weekend. >> lucy, thank you in texas. california's also seeing a rise in cases and hospitalizations and beaches in california counties are closing for the fourth of july holiday weekend and several cities vowing to issue fines to people not following the state's

mandatory mask order so go to santa monica to dan simon. i think i see part of the sign saying temporarily closed where you are? >> reporter: that's right, brooke. it is sunny, perfect conditions. 75 degrees out here. normally this place would be humming but the beaches in los angeles county, orange county, ventura county closed this weekend. you can see the sign here and a few folks on the bike path and officials looking for compliance voluntarily and as long as it's not jammed i don't think you'll see any citations and this comes amid a surging amount of cases in california, in los angeles county, 1 out of 140 people said to be enfeinfectious. the mayor said next week it could be 1 out of 70 penal aopl.

$500 for a third violation. meantime, check out this new psa from the state of california. pretty disturbing. take a look. and, brooke, something else to know. if you plan on attending church in the state of california this weekend, the department of public health actually put out an order saying no singing and no chanting in church because, of course, if you sing that could expel particles and spread the virus. brooke? >> wow. just shows how incredibly serious this is. dan simon on that beautiful beach, thank you. dr. gandhi works in internal medicine in austin and a democratic congressional candidate for texas' 10th district. nice to talk to you again.

let's go back to texas for a second because that's where you are and we were talking about the mask mandate in your state. we know that governor abbott resisted calls to take this action but he now says that the number of cases reveal a stark reality. what's your reaction to that move? >> i'm glad he is doing it. look. am i disappointed it didn't happen a couple weeks ago? you bet i am. the first time we talked in the middle of may we were sitting at 45 or 50 hospitalizations from covid in the austin area and now at 415. there are about 150 in the icu and 4 times as many hospitalizations than late may and so we should have had that mask mandate in place back then but i'm happy it is coming now and got to reward governors when they make the right choice and this is the right thing to do. >> the governor is pushing back on the idea of doing a second shelter at home saying that the

goal of the mask mandate to help people texas open. we know that he's ordered bars to close and restaurants to reduce capacity by half. but are -- do you think tighter restrictions are necessary at this point? >> i absolutely do. a doctor went on tv earlier today and talking about the notion to each put up sandbags around the home if a flood is coming but that's not enough. we all know if the levee breaks you are done and we are to fortify this levee and the way to do it is through very strict protocols like not just shutting down bars but shutting down in-dining in restaurants. by mandating masks which the governor has done but allowing local officials to have the power to implement stay-at-home orders if they need to. we have to fortify the levee now and the orders don't come far enough. do we need a stay-at-home order

today? no. is it in the pipeline in a week or two? may be. >> your lieutenant governor said he no longer is listening to dr. fauci, that the nation's leading infectious expert is wrong every time. what kind of impact does saying that have on the lives of texans and do statements like that especially from one of the state's top officials put more lives at risk? >> his words will cost texans their lives. this is not a partisan thing. this is overt science denialism from a highest official in the state of texas. this is not a time to undercut the expertise of public health officials and clinicians and physicians in the state of texas and nationally and he can set an example. he could wear a mask, ask the state gop to pull out of their convention where 6,000 individuals are going to descend on houston in just a couple of

week's time. while houston's the epicenter of this outbreak. we have icu beds at capacity in the medical center and having a convention in the middle of a crisis and the lieutenant governor could lead of spitdi spitting in the faces of scientists in texas and it's unfortunate. >> you mention -- so glad you brought up icu beds. in harris county and san antonio, a doctor said yesterday i had to admit very sick young people with covid and had three beds and i don't think we were prepared to make that high-level judgment who gets the beds and who doesn't. you add to that the fact that this weekend is a holiday weekend. tons of people will be coming together. lastly, doctor, what is your message to people who want to have a good time this weekend but should be safe? >> the most patriotic thing to do for your country is to stay

home this weekend. i don't say that lightly. i say this from the perspective of someone treating patients at an outpatient health center looking at the colleagues in medicine, respiratory therapy. folks, we have got to stem this rising tide here and the way to do it is to stay at home so please. the patriotic thing, stay home. avoid large gatherings. wear a mask. that is the sacrifice to make for our neighbors and country. >> dr. gandhi, thank you so much. >> thank you. as the country hits all these coronavirus records just in the absolute worst way president trump is pushing ahead with the planned event. 7,000 people set to gather. masks and social distancing not required and not just the health risk that has so many people concerned. why some believe trump is literally playing with fire. plus, more mask mandates

could be coming in ohio as the governor there deems six counties as red alert spots for coronavirus. so much more to talk about on this friday. stay here. you are watching cnn. yes. neutrogena® ultra sheer. superior protection helps prevent early skin aging and skin cancer with a clean feel. it's the one. the best for your skin. ultra sheer. neutrogena®.

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and there's other controversies namely the fireworks themselves. so let's start with joe johns there with just a picture perfect live shot. joe, first, what are the plans for this evening? >> reporter: you said it. this is all systems go as we know. 7,500 people expected here including the president of the united states this evening. no social distancing but people that come here will be provided with a mask if they ask for it but not required to wear the mask. we got a large public gathering and a potential problem. another problem, of course, is the messaging that's coming from the government on this issue in health care crisis. that includes the president who doesn't wear a mask in public and his people don't. we'll see tonight but also the governor herself who uses as a justification for all of this liberty and american freedom.

not the issue that everybody says is most pressing which is science and protecting the public health. listen. >> those who want to come and join us we'll be giving out free face masks and won't be social distancing. we are asking them to come, be ready to celebrate, to enjoy the freedoms and liberties we have in this country. >> reporter: so south dakota is one of those states where we're seeing that trend line go upward. about 7,000 cases so far. about 97 deaths from coronavirus. a question, of course, when the president of the united states gets on air force one and flies back to washington, what happens here in south dakota? brooke? >> joe, thank you. more about tonight's fireworks show specifically so joining me is joe low, former fire chief for the south dakota division of wildland fire suppression and

international author in wild land fire. chief, thank you for joining me. welcome. >> thank you, brooke. it's a pleasure to be on. >> so fireworks. there were fireworks at mt. rushmore between 1998 and 2009 and canceled with high fire danger and reading about this and during the years according to the national park service a minimum of 27 wildfire starts and i know you were the fire chief for much of that time. do you think that the fireworks celebration tonight is wise? >> you know, brooke, any time -- first of all, the temperature's about 87 degrees up there. the relative humidity's going to be low. are you there, brooke? >> yes, i am. >> can i just -- just a second. we are losing power here. >> oh. okay. standing by, chief. standing by. >> okay.

so it's going to be 87 degrees up there and in addition to that, you can have low relative humidities so any time you launch fireworks over a dry fuel bed with high temps, steep slopes, and possible thunderstorm winds you have a potential for large fire. >> so the question is, let's say whether it's the president obviously wanting to do this this evening or anyone, and you just named all those conditions, and you know all about, you know, the flammable ponderosa pine, right? all in that area. is what they're doing tonight wise? >> well, let me frame this for you a little bit, brooke. on contiguous lands the 1.2 million acre black hills national forest, fireworks are prohibited. state lands, you know where that

fire was in custer state park which was six miles as the crow flies? fireworks prohibited in custer state park. so the partners, your inner agency partners aren't allowing fireworks. i sat in the parking lot across there whether i became fire chief 2001. i sat in the parking lot with my crews and we had to pre-stage fire equipment over there and we staged usually about five engines and a hand crew and the rest of the community also staged engines and things. that would have been the forest service and national forest service and volunteer fire departments. each of the years launching fireworks when you had the flaming embers coming down and land in the dry receptive fuel bed and have spot fires so most years we were very lucky.

we were able to have resources to pick up the spot fires. and spot fires did not outpace the resources on scene. so we didn't have a really large fire but the potential is there. so if your inner agency community really is not banning fireworks we're all kind of on the same page. it's still risky business when you do what you're doing. >> i hear you loud and clear and just i got one more minute with you. given all of that and given the fact that, you know, a lot of places just given circumstances sometimes wonderful and lovely and safe and sometimes depending on the wind and you are there in rapid city. will you go? could be a beautiful night. >> not a chance. two reasons. i'm not really wanting to go

with no masks and no social distancing and sitting next to bunch of people from other states and the second thing is i spent 12 years up in the hills during the fourth of july and i'm kind of retired now. i'm not ready to go sit there and suppress fires so i've had a good career and like i say it's risky business. we'll see what happens tonight. with this. the other thing is we're in a moderate draught rig moderate drought right now and it is not a real good thing to do this so we'll see what happens. >> wow. i hear you. the list is long. let's hope everyone is safe and it goes off without a hitch. joe lowe, former fire chief there, thank you. i appreciate you. happy fourth of july. >> same to you, brooke. happy fourth of july. bye-bye. >> thank you. a critical vote happening right now in cincinnati where city leaders decide whether to

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today cincinnati city council voting to mandate masks in the city. take a look at the numbers in hamilton county where cincinnati is located. june number of cases per day 30. by the end of the month that number has quadrupled to 120 new cases per day. the ohio department of health designated a red level three public emergency. the coroner flagged this on her twitter account. the doctor also took to social media after seeing the issue of wearing a face mask politicizing tweeting do we need politicians to tell us to wear a mask? do we not have common sense? wear it? the doctor is with me now. thank you for taking the time and what happened for you to say this is it? i need to get more voice out

there. >> you know, i just saw a lot of conversation, a lot of social media comments about this is an infringement of my freedoms and i shouldn't have to do this and told what to do. i guess i just look at it as a health care issue. this is a health care issue. i don't understand what the real objection is to something as simple as wearing a mask. >> for people, there are the people who say, i feel claustrophobic, i have a hard time breathing. as a doctor, what do you say to them? >> there are a lot of different options for face covering and for protection and you don't have to wear a very constricting facial mask, a surgical grade mask or an n95. wear something more comfortable, anything that will at least mostly cover nose and mouth will protect you to some degree.

there are face shields that are very clear that just go around your head and wear some as glasses with a clear shield and protect your eyes and nose and mouth from anything hitting towards or heading toward them and also protect other people from you and anything that you -- anything that might come out of your nose or mouth and any particles. >> for everyone that says it's okay. i don't need to wear a mask. it is my right. you are the county coroner and without making the segment turn too grim and keeping us in check, you know, what would you tell people about how bad it can be? the severity of the situation. >> this truly is a health care issue and even if you wanted to talk about politics and you wanted to talk about what your rights are, i think a friend of

mine reminded the declaration of independence is about the common good and this is the common good and, you know, if we don't get control of this and we see a lot more people being affected and a lot more communities we are talking about jobs, businesses, we are talking about a lot more deaths and frankly, we have a lot of elderly in the community and how come we're not talking about the infringement of their freedom? they're scared at home staying away from people and parks and, you know, it is horrible for them to be scared and alone and not with their families but if just the majority of the popular w waring a mask, it would be great if it was everybody but we can significantly decrease the transmission of the disease in the country. >> like you said it for the greater good. doctor, thank you so much.

>> thank you. for anyone flying this weekend, whole situation looks different because of the pandemic and the precautions airlines and passengers are taking. talking about that. an annual festival in arizona moving ahead with plans this weekend despite the state going back into lockdown mode. hear how they're doing it a little later. (birds singing) (bouncy keyboard music)

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airports are preparing far uptick in passengers this holiday week. on wednesday the tsa reported 626,000 travelers but a traction of the travelers on this day last year. the reason, covid-19. and the big question, is it safe to fly again? one person raising the concerns is oregon senator merkley who tweeted out this photo and a sharp criticism to american airlines writing how many americans will die from full flights? cnn's pete monoteen there in d.c. are you seeing a bunch of people or no? >> reporter: it is pretty light right now. i'm talking to passengers getting off of flights here at reagan national airport telling

me they were aware of the change in policy allowing full flights and what they were expecting although they're finding that flights were a little bit less than full in spite of the fact that american said that yesterday was its busiest day of the pandemic, the most passengers since march 17th. american says flights are about 63% full on average. listen to what passengers told me about that policy in light of the pandemic. >> i don't think that's wise. i think that you should still give more time and block the seat and eliminating the number of flights that they have and just trying to get all those people that spread across like eight flights a day to two flights a day and i don't think that's wise. >> i thought it was going to be worse in terms of number of people traveling but it's a decent amount of people. >> reporter: american airlines joined united airlines in selling all seats on board the

aircraft. you have a higher chance of being on a completely full flight. what is so interesting is that admission by united airlines saying the move by competing airlines to block middle seats is a public relations move rather than a vital public health mover and that drew ire this week calling for a review of american airlines policy, calling it troubling and now we will find out if passengers agree with that sentiment. brooke? >> if someone is flying and they have purposely booked the window seat, american, delta, united, alaska, whatever airline, for the most part should people be prepared to having someone in the middle seat? have the rules really all changed? >> reporter: bottom line is a plane can be completely full on most airlines short of a couple. i have to tell you that masks are required on board all the

flights. really required in most airports and the tsa says it's opening up more lanes across the country. the goal to move passengers through more quickly and to keep exposure down for workers. about 899 tsa workers have tested positive for coronavirus, brooke. >> pete, thank you at reagan national airport. a quick programming note, cnn's fourth in america is an evening of fireworks and an all-star musical lineup and begins tomorrow 11:00 p.m. eastern. the president set to attend another massive event in the middle of a national pandemic. no mask requirement. the warning from south dakota health officials ahead of the holiday celebration at mt. rushmore. t-mobilerint is a part of we have more towers, more engineers, and more coverage than ever before.

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just a couple hours from now president trump and melania trump will be heading to south dakota for a celebration at mount rushmore and despite the administration saying to social distance and wear masks neither measures will be required when more than 7,000 people gather there this evening. with me now is jake tapper. jake, we'll get to really your big news here in a second but i want to get your comment on this event tonight. we know the plans are moving ahead. big fireworks display. had a conversation with the fire chief about how dangerous that area is for fires. why is the president doing this?

>> i don't know. i can't get into his head. i do not understand the mixed messages coming from the president and the white house when it comes to this pandemic. it doesn't make any sense. the white house tells us to -- the white house coronavirus task force tells us to wear masks and avoid crowds and the evidence, the data as dr. fauci acknowledges shows we're losing the battle and you have president trump having rallies indoors where nobody is social distancing or physical distancing, very few people wears masks and today's event is outdoors but the idea that the pride that seems to come with individuals like the governor saying proudly that they're not going to practice social distancing doesn't make any sense. i mean, just based on the data the united states is losing this battle and we are alone among wealthy western countries, other

countries to get this under control. we have not. so why the president and his team continue to send the opposite message based on the behavior from what they're telling us to do is nonsensical. >> what about the other piece of news not related to coronavirus but the intel reports on afghanistan? that russians offered money to taliban about russia actually led his national security team to brief him less often on russia-related threats. and you had john bolton on yesterday. and he all but confirmed that. what did he tell you? >> he said he's had the scars on his body from trying to bring up information with president trump about putin and how putin's russia consistently is trying to undermine the united states in various ways and president trump doesn't like to hear about that.

i can't understand why that would be. and it's our responsibility to know where the tletsz are, from friend or foe. saying that president trump did not like hearing negative news about putin's rushingau. and i don't understand it. i don't know if this intelligence is accurate. if it has been briefed by the u.s. to the uk, that would suggest a certain amount of credibility the intel has. but the president's response has been to attack the "the new york times," which broke the story. to attack those who have been covering it in the media and democrats on capitol hill. i have not heard him express concern about what the russian gru is doing by allegedly paying taliban terrorists to kill u.s. service members. that too, me, is a much better focus of his ire than the "the new york times."

>> and you can't not think about all of that as we watch your movie. you heard me right. jake tapper. you wrote this best selling book "the outpost". came out in 2012. today is the day the film, based upon the book, comes out in theaters. it's a real-life story based on your book, as i mentioned. so, we have a clip. >> everyone's worried about the new co. >> okay. how so? >> he doesn't know what he's doing. he's scared and it's obvious. he doesn't leave except to take a [ bleep] i carry his puss every other day. >> carter, take a seat. take a seat, carter. come on. you ever heard of captain bausic

or colonel fency? they're two commander whose lost their lives in this [ bleep] hole. this commander is a 37-year-old captain who's seen a whole lot of death in iraq before you got mere and probably seen more firefights than you have in movies. >> congratulations on this film. we talked about your book. but give me the back story, a little more about the story your book is based on and how did this become a movie? >> so, first of all, let me say for anybody who wants to see the movie but concerned about going to a theater, it's available right now on video on demand. so, if you have that through direct tv or comcast, amazon prime or apple, you watch it right now. this out dpz post was built in 2006. and it was always a very dangerous clip.

you heard in that clip saying lieutenant colonel benty died and major tom bostick died in serving the interests of this outpost. others were killed as well. it was a very deadly place to serve. and the book tries to look at the war in afghanistan by looking at one outpost. one small outpost. all the troops that rotated in and out. their wives and family members at home worrying about him. what they were able to accomplish and not able to accomplish. then in 2009, 53 u.s. troops up to 400 taliban attacking from the high ground, because the outpost was built add the bottom of two steep mountains. and it was the deadliest day for the u.s. in afghanistan, 2009. now, this book, which is based on a true story.

and much of the movie is very real and based on actual events and things the soldiers said that people have a greater appreciation for what they do for us. we're part of the 99%. we enjoy the liberty they help fight for. and this 1% does all of this for us. >> i was reading one of the film reviews in the "rolling stone" today. there have been other films about the afghan war but the "outpost" brings it home as heroism as a collective action. i'm sure it's fun to hear from family and friends. but the gold star families, folks like that, that have seen their loved ones portrayed on the big screen. what has that been like for them? >> well, let me say that "rolling stone" review was nice and we've gotten a lot of great reviews for the movie, and

that's important and i hope people see it. but the reviews we really cared about, the director and i and producers and screen writers, we had a special screening around the 10-year anniversary of this battle in washington. they flew a bunch of the gold star families here to washington to watch the movie. and those were the reviews we were worried about. it's nice to get gu get good reviews. what is it like to see your loved one depicted by actors, by hollywood actors? and what is it like to see your loved ones death re-created on the screen? and we were really nervous. but to a person, everyone of the gold star families and troops there thought that the movie honored they are loved one's sacrifice and service. and those are the reviews that meant the most to us. i can't tell you what it's like

to wauch it as someone who's lost a husband or son in battle. i can't. but i know it mattered more to me than anything that they thought the film honored their lovered ones. >> and this weekend, as we celebrate the 4th of july and think about our freedoms, take a moment and sit in the comfort of your home, safety of your hoerjs and watch it. it's called "the outpost." congratulations and thank you. (vo) parents have a way of imagining the worst... ...especially when your easily distracted teenager has the car. at subaru, we're taking on distracted driving... ...with sensors that alert you when your eyes are off the road. the subaru forester. the safest forester ever.

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