good evening. the president of the united states now considers it praise worthy it fewer than 240,000 americans die from the virus. his comments come to public health experts contradicting him on mask wearing and the timing of a vaccine. according to the data gargthere by people at johns hopkins

university, there are 1,293 new covid-related fatalities yesterday. yet, late today, the one single person, whose words and deeds might have prevented so many people from dying, tried to gaslight us all into seeing the last six months as a great success. >> if you look at what we've done and all of the lives that we've saved. i'm going to ask that a graph be put up. and now, it's up. this was right at the beginning. this was our prediction. that if we do a really good job, we'll be about 100,000 to 240,000 deaths and we're below that, substantially. and that's despite the fact that the blue states had tremendous death rates. if you take the blue states out, we're at a level that i don't think anybody in the world would be at. we're really at a very low level. >> if you take the blue states out. just think about that. that is really a window into how

he views this country. there are his states and the blue states. ignore the death in the blue states. things look alone, is stunning should be. had the administration done, quote, not so good a job. so is, what, victory, now, for him? a great job, as he said, at last night's town hall on abc when asked if he ever wondered about doing anything differently. i think we did a great job, he said. george w bush was raked over the coals for telling his fema director he was doing a heck of a job during the worst of hurricane katrina. but that was for patting someone else on the back. this is an american president patting himself on the back, while presiding over the greatest loss of life in the shortest amount of time, ever, in this country. to him, because it is useful to him with an election coming up, he's already put that behind him. >> we're going to be okay, and it is going away. and it's probably going to go

away now a lot faster because of the vaccine. it would go away without the vaccine, george. but it's going to go allot fast away a lot faster with it. >> i really believe we're rounding the corner and i believe that strongly. >> again, he said that on a day that nearly 1,300 deaths were reported. and today, well, the president also contradicted the sworn testimony of the cdc director on mask wearing. but before we play that, here is what dr. redfield, the cdc director, actually said. >> we have clear scientific evidence they work and they are our best defense. i might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against covid than when i take a covid vaccine because the immunogenicity may be 70% and if i don't get an immune response, that vaccine's not going to protect me. this face mask will.

>> top public health official, a member of the president's task force. i think he still is. i mean, you'd hardly know if he is, these days, because he is nowhere to be found at any briefing, same with dr. birx or dr. fauci. you know, actual doctors with experience dealing with virus pandemics. the president's go-to now is a radiologist. here's what the president said about redfield's testimony and i am quoting now. quote, as far as the mask is concerned, he made a mistake. meaning, redfield made a mistake in what he said in his testimony. he said he spoke to dr. redfield about it later today but instead of recounting what the doctor told him or allegedly told him. listen to the president, now, staying what dr. redfield might, hypothetically, say when asked, which is not the same thing, at all. >> i believe that, if you ask him, he would probably say that he didn't understand the question because i said to him. i asked him those two questions. the one question, which we covered. and the mask question. and i was inaccurately covered

because i was on with george last night. george stephanopoulos. and i enjoyed it. i think people enjoyed it. i got -- you know, a lot of people said very good things about the show. i hope they did well. but they said a lot of good things about the show. but they always cut my sentences off. you know, they cut it off on masks. masks got problems, too. and i talked about the masks have to be handled very gently, very carefully. i see that in restaurants, there are people with masks. and they're playing around with their mask. and they have it. their fingers are in their mask and then they're serving with plates. i mean, i think there's a lot of problems with masks. >> i hope they do well, by the way. it means he hopes abc did well with the ratings of the town hall he was on. the stuff he said about masks being no good because food service workers sometimes touch their faces. aside, dr. redfield has just tweeted showing no sign he agrees with the president's cover story that he misnood understo

misunderstood the question. this is redfield's latest tweet. the best defense we currently have against this virus are the mitigation efforts of wearing a mask, washing your hands, social distancing, and being careful about crowds. okay. so clearly, redfield is not saying oh yeah, it was a mistake. i totally agree, now, with what the president said. doesn't want to say he disagrees with the president because i guess he wants to keep his job. the boss is back to holding indoor rallies, of course. nearly the only face coverings to be seen are on his human backdrops. but for the cameras, the president has now said several times, including after this event, that he is not worried because he is kept at a distance from the people he is bringing together. some who will, just by the law of probability, get infected, get sick, and sadly, some may die. if dr. redfield isn't gaining much ground on face covering, over what he said today about the timing of a vaccine.

>> if you are asking me when is it going to be generally available to the american public? so we can begin to take advantage of vaccine to get back to our regular life, i think we're probably looking at third -- late second quarter, third quarter, 2021. >> so, dr. redfield said that, under oath, to a senate committee today. and then, the president said this. >> no, i think he made a mistake when he said that. it's just incorrect information. and i called him and he didn't tell me that. and i think he got the message, maybe, confused. maybe, it was stated incorrectly. no, we're ready to go, immediately, as the vaccine is announced. and it could be announced in october. could be announced a little bit after october. but once we go, we're ready. >> do you remember when he said, about his health care plan when he was running, he was saying how soon as obamacare is done,

is gotten away with, then his health care plan is instantaneously going to shift. there's not going to be any delay. like, one, two, you're going to blink and, suddenly, you have new health care coverage. that's essentially now what he is saying about this vaccine. it's just going to be out there everywhere. it's not going to take -- there's not going to be preferential, you know, to first responders and people on the front lines of this. and then, to others. no, it's going to be nationwide, all at once. it's not going to take, you know, six months. not long after the president said that, a cdc officer named paul fulton jr., not dr. redfield it should be pointed out, in today's hearing, dr. redfield was answering a question he thought was in regard to the time period in which all americans would have completed their covid vaccination. he was not referring to the time period when covid-19 vaccine

doses would be made available to all americans. no comment from dr. redfield in there. if this is -- if it all has a certain odor about it, consider that a few weeks ago, tout a covid treatment in such glowing terms he was later forced to apologize publicly. consider that the president is, again, declaring victory on the pandemic as thousands are still dying. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta and founder and director of the institute near san diego join me now. dr. topal, i mean, do you buy what the president is saying and apparently what the cdc is now saying? that director redfield, you know, misunderstood the question under oath and he's been working with viral infections and infectious diseases for more than 30 years. i mean, for any criticisms how he is to run the cdc, he does have experience actually with

pandemics. >> well, good to be with you, anderson and sanjay. i think the key, here, is that dr. redfield was telling the truth. and the truth is we're not going to have vaccines, if we do this right, until the end of the year, beginning of next year, to start. and he also was, you know, straight on the mask which, of course, is essential. and we're going to be wearing masks with the vaccines over the course of the next year. so here, we have a direct collision. it's like a circus act, in the midst of an important pandemic that is just the last thing we need. >> so when you say -- when you say about the vaccines, can you just explain? i mean, the president's saying, look, we could get a vaccine in october. his radiologist says -- mentions something about an emergency-use authorization. and then, them just getting the vaccine out, you know, via the military to everybody in america. does it work that way? >> no, it can't work that way, unless there's just preposterous shortcuts that are taken.

if you just do the math, these two big trials, the pfizer and moderna trials, haven't even completed enrollment. then, they have -- these participants have to get a second dose, which takes about another three to four weeks. and then, we are looking for infections endpoint. there are various interim analyses and the data analysis plans haven't been approximate published. but to get any reasonable readout of a strong efficacy singis signal, that would take you, easily, through november. no less, december. so anything short of that -- and by the way, the fda vaccine advisory committee is not even meeting until october 22nd. so that is predicated on there being a trial stopped, prematurely, which is the last thing we'd like to see here before that time. so the -- the timeline that president trump is giving is just unrealistic. it doesn't compute.

>> sanjay, the -- you know, we're talking about this timeline the president has given. i'm wondering what you make of his timeline because, again, i think it was the radiologist, today, who was saying -- his radiologist was saying that i think he made mention, in passing, of emergency-use authorization. is that something that they are going to go for, to try to speed this up? and does that mean -- i mean, doesn't it -- will it still go through phase three and, you know, all boxes checked? >> well, an authorization is not an approval. so this is -- this is an unusual circumstance, anderson. first of all, there's not really been a vaccine that's really been emergency-use authorized before. there was an anthrax vaccine that sort of had that designation but for different reasons. so this would be an unusual situation. what they are saying is they would complete phase three clinical trials but this would still be an authorization the vaccine maker could apply for approval, later. what that means is, you know, as

dr. topal was saying, they are going to look for some evidence that this is effective. they're going to see if there's more people getting infected in the placebo group, versus the vaccinated group. and they're going to wait a certain amount of time. and i think they say 42 days or so is when most adverse effects occur. so they're going to wait a certain amount of time before they say this is now authorized. so that's where they sort of get that timetable. but i just want to tell you, anderson, i talked to chief adviser to operation warp speed last week. this exact issue came up. how much vaccine's going to be available, when? take a listen to what he said. >> if shown efficacious in november or december, we don't have enough vaccine doses. we'd have a few million in november. and, maybe, 10, 20 million of each in december. that will be enough to vaccinate certain populations. start vaccinating certain population. but not the whole population. >> so you -- you get an idea

there, anderson. and, you know, essential workers. there's about 29 million people that have that designation. people who can be considered high higher risk. there are 75, 76 million. so there is a lot of people who would be in that first, sort of, highe higher-risk group before you would even be able to think about the general public. >> you mentioned this earlier. just, i mean, looking at the redfield tweet on masks, there seems to be no ambiguity on what he is saying on how important it is to wear one. >> well, he made it very clear how essential masks are. and the fact that this is still being challenged is just lunacy. this is our main protection, right now. and as i mentioned, even as we go through the vaccination period, which is going to be put to question by all this uncertainty and potential shortcuts. but we still need to use masks because, remember, that vaccines don't render mucosal immunity.

that is, you still could harbor the virus. it protects from the illness. so we could actually get more carriers in -- in the vaccination phase. a lot of people don't recognize this. the other thing, of course, is that these trials are not powered for severe infections or moderate infections. the two big trials that we're talking about are really looking into what could be even mild infection. so the protection that they're affording, the endpoint that would be used to stop them, we wouldn't want to see that stopped precociously. these are big trials. each, of 30,000 or more participants and we'd like to see them go to completion. but no matter, the masks are going to be essential. and we're talking not just for a few weeks but for many months ahead. >> you know, sanjay, i mean, it's undeniable that when you put together the most recent stuff the president is saying, it's so politically motivated. it's so clear. the timetable that he is discussing is all based on the election. you know, he keeps talking about, you know, we could have

an answer in october. we could get confirmation on a vaccine that works in october. and then, it'll be very quickly. so sort of hinting that it's going to be nationwide, as soon as the election is done and over. as long as there's something in october. maybe, it'll be late november or early december. doesn't mention anything about winter coming and the concern about a huge rise, you know, telling stephanopoulos last night, and he said this before, about, you know, we're turning the bend. you know, we're turning the bend into a winter. already, europe is seeing, you know, a big resurgence. that is the concern, here, as well. i mean, it's so blatantly obvious, the timelines, why he's rigging them the way he is. >> yeah. i mean, you can't disentangle anything from politics, nowadays. there's no question about it. i -- i will say that, you know, this idea that they're -- they're moving really fast. yes. unfortunately, the backdrop of an fda that, you know,

authorized -- emergency-use authorized hydroxychloroquine, without any evidence. exaggerated the data on convalescent plasma is what a lot of people are worried about. i think the bigger point, though, is that even if you start to get some evidence of efficacy, effectiveness from this vaccine, by the end of the year and maybe even before the election, it doesn't really mean anything for the general public. i mean, this is still, you know, that's -- that's the concern is that people think it's going to switch. just flip on a switch, at that point. as dr. topal was saying, we're still going to need to wear masks for a while. and we obviously want to make sure this is a safe and effective vaccine. so all those things still have to happen. >> sanjay, dr. topal, appreciate it. thank you. next, the departure of a top health official and the video that led to it. anthony scaramucci joins us. and later, cnn investigates what was touted as a real game changer on testing. whether it's living up to that

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land o' frost premium. fresh look. same great taste. health and human services, michael caputo, took a leave of absence to deal with a condition. in the wake of a video he recently posted on facebook, it's been taken down. here is part of what he said on that video. >> these people cannot --

cannot -- allow america to get better. nor, can they allow america to hear good news. it must be all bad news, from now till the election. frankly, ladies and gentlemen, that's sedition. they are sacrificing lives. ladies and gentlemen, that's sedition. it's also -- well, call it what you will. but when they let somebody get sick and die, there's one word for that. the partisan democrats, the conjugal media, and the scientists, the deep-state scientists, want america sick through november. they cannot afford for us to have any good news, before november, because they're already losing. donald trump, right now, if the election were held today, would win. >> joining us now is former white house communications director anthony scaramucci. anthony, thanks for being with us. whatever michael caputo's going through personally, and i

sincerely hope he is okay. he's a human being with a family. it is stunning that the head of communications for an agency with a huge number of employees and a huge budget and handling the pandemic would be spreading conspiracy theories about people in his own agency. >> well, anderson, it's very hard for me not to feel pain watching that. i mean, you and i are both empathic people. so there's a lot of things going on in there. i feel bad that he's going in that direction. i think what happens is when it's corrupt, at the top, it spills over into everybody. and this is going to be a case study in that. and so, you know, the president is undercutting the cdc, the head of the cdc dr. redfield. but he would praise something like what michael caputo is saying. and so, that's what happens. you are getting this sort of hornet's nest of sycophants. the reason he undercuts people is he's figured out that a very

large group of the population is listening to him and listening to him, only. so if he is lying about the science, they're accepting that lie. if he is lying about the economy, well, they'll accept that lie. and so, when the -- when dr. redfield's out there under oath telling the truth, that the mask is as important as the vaccine. he's got to undercut him because his only hope to win the election is to secure that base and increase the participation in that base. and so, that's why he's doing that. but my heart goes out to michael caputo. i hope somebody has a deprogramming intervention with him. shakes some sense to him and brings him back into the real world. and they sort of dematerialize trumpism on november 3rd. >> but, you know, the president is now increasingly sending messages to conspiracy theorists. you know, even his -- you know, i think he -- you know, used the term pedo to describe vice president biden. which is something that the qanon people. i mean, that's a clear signal, to qanon people, that's -- you know, they are accusing

everybody of being pedophiles and all democrats. i mean, it -- it is frightening that the mainstreaming of conspiracy theories has reached this point. i mean, the -- you know, the president is saying that, you know, this -- this candidate who won the -- the republican primary and -- and is probably going to end up serving in capitol hill who is a qanon conspiracy theorist. she's the future star of the republican party. >> for now. she's the future star, for now. if trumpism is defeated at the ballot box and the republican party is reconstituted, obviously, there's going to have to be a lot of healing in that party. but people are going to have to have a reckoning. you know, it's just like any time a demagogue has taken over a party, a government, the haze that takes place, after that demagogue is gone. and then, the reknitting of that society. i mean, one of the things that's happened here, that i'm astonished by, is the loss of national purpose by my fellow republicans. i mean, the lack of civic virtue

and the lack of patriotism. they're sitting around stewing. they know that what the president is doing is wrong. they know that he is lying about the science. but they're locked into this knot with him and they're not exactly sure how to get out of it. and so, the qanon stuff will go away, a little. but it will persist after the defeat of donald trump. and so, we've got a systemic problem going on in the country, right now, anderson. it's going to require honest leadership, transformative leadership, and servant-based leadership. you know, the president wants to rule. when we set the founding documents up, it was about service and public service. but the president isn't thinking about it as service. he thinks about it as ruling. and this is why we're in such a dangerous situation. this is why george conway and i participated in that documentary "unfit." so that we could lay the case out for people. because there are moderates that are watching other networks, that are buying into that he's better for teconomy. he's not better for the economy.

he wrecked the economy through the mishandling of the truth and mishandling of the science with covid-19. and joe biden will be way better for the economy, way better for the stock market than donald trump. >> you really believe that? there's a lot of folks worried about, you know, who have large investments in the stock market and potential capital gains. you know, there will be higher taxes, likely, under joe biden if he gets elected. >> so, listen. i'm -- i'm -- the likelihood of a tax increase going through the economy this anemic is virtually zero. i will take everybody back to the 2008-2009 transition from george w bush to barack obama. no tax increase until the economy healed and the federal reserved maintained the same policies. moreover, the vice president will offer more stimulus to lower and middle-income people, which will help the economy, tame down the economic anxiety. and the last thing, and the most important thing, anderson, he is not a systemic threat to the

institutions of the democracy of the united states. i challenge anybody on wall street that thinks that donald trump is the right solution, if he continues to destroy and undermine the democracy and the rule of law. everybody that's a commercial transactionalist knows that the integrity of the system is way more important than the ideas, ideologies, or the policies. >> good point. anthony scaramucci, appreciate it. thank you. >> good to be here. >> president trump's remarks at a news conference claiming a vaccine is coming soon in a way dovetailed with what he said last night. talked about his long-promised, new health care plan. what he said about that, next.

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president trump's remarkable put-down of his own cdc director seemed to be off the same playbook he used on an audience last night. a vaccine is coming sooner, rather than later, he said. and the promised health care plan of his is actually, no kidding, just around the corner, coming very soon. listen to this woman expressing frustration with the president over serious issues she's had with her health care. >> it cost me, with co-pays, i'm still paying almost $7,000 a year, in addition to the co-pay. and should pre-existing conditions, which obamacare brought into -- brought to fruition -- be removed -- >> no. >> please, stop, and let me finish my question, sir. should that be removed, within a

36 to 72-hour period without my medication, i will be dead. >> i interviewed you in june of last year. you said the health care plan would come in two weeks. you told chris wallace, this summer, it would come in three weeks. >> i have it all ready. >> but it's -- you've been trying to strike down pre-existing conditions. >> i have it, already. and it's a much better plan for you and it's a much better plan. >> joining me now to discuss. cnn political analyst, "new york times" correspondent maggie haberman. and gloria borger. it's hard not to almost admire the sheer brazenness of, i mean, this -- the lies, at this point. but the idea that, oh, i have it in my pocket. i'm just not going to show it to you. i mean gloria, we heard the president last night said the health care plan is ready. he has promised that time and time and time again. the idea that he's not going to show it right before an election. it's so good, though. but -- but not going to show it. i mean, does that make any sense, other than a political

sense? >> no. no. >> it doesn't even make any good political sense, honestly. what technic really didn't make sense to me also was white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany, reporters like you are asking questions about this saying, okay, where is this? and she refused to even specify who was working on it. i thought that that was what you were supposed to do from the white house podium when reporters ask you questions. you say, talk to this person at the department of, you know, hhs. and -- and they'll give you all the details. i think the truth of the matter is that the president wants to do something that protects pre-existing conditions. and there is absolutely no agreement within the republican party about how you would do that. or they would have had a plan, already. and the chief of staff, mark meadows, has said, yeah, we're going to do some kind of an executive order. and that will clearly be some kind of political document, which will not have any support

among a lot of republicans on capitol hill. so, it'll -- it'll be a -- it'll be a campaign plan. >> maggie, i keep going back to the campaign when the president constantly talking about how it's going to be instantaneous. the switch over. and it's going to happen so fast and it's just going to be great. and you can bring it state to state. i mean, it's like -- it's like a three-card monty game and we still don't see which -- where the health plan is hiding. >> it's almost like health care and health care reform is an enormously complicated and complex issue that you can't just write on the back of a cereal box and campaign off of it. look, anderson, what i was really struck by last night. i'm no longer struck by the fact that the president keeps promising a plan that he has, yet, to deliver. because we have heard him do versions of that, for a long time. i agree with gloria. i think if given his druthers, he probably would not stick to what the gop orthodoxy has been on this. he is a republican and he cannot

be allowed to not own the lawsuit the department of justice is engaged in on repealing obamacare. so when he is talking to this woman, and saying -- and she is saying, you know, he interrupts her and she's asking if she should have health care cut off due to pre-existing conditions coverage. and he says no. and he is creating an enormous amount of confusion and uncertainty, for people on actual life-and-death issues. >> gloria, you know, you wrote a piece for cnn.com today that i saw about how president trump's always refused to see the difference between truth and lies. same thing bob woodward was saying last night. not knowing if the president has straight in his head about what's real and unreal. >> yeah. that's -- that's what he does. and i guess we shouldn't be surprised by it, anymore. but, you know, it took me back to a time when i -- four years ago, was doing a documentary on donald trump. and there's this story that always pops into my mind now.

which is in 1990, he was opening up the taj mahal casino in atlantic city and opening night, a third of the slot machines shut down. and it was a disaster for him but he went on larry king and instead of saying we had a real problem with the slot machines. what he said to larry king was, they were so hot, they blew out. and that was the story. and he is sticking to it. and that is what he -- we've seen him do, throughout his presidency. which is, once he comes to a narrative, that he believes he can sell, not that he believes in, not that he believes is the truth. but a narrative that he thinks he can sell. then, he is devoted to selling it. and whether it's on health care, forget the fact that his administration is fighting pre-existing conditions in court, as maggie points out. doesn't matter. his narrative is i'm going to protect it, no matter what. >> you know, and maggie, we've become so used to just things which are just so weird and would be just derailingly weird,

in any other time. you know, the president's press conference today. he -- which used to be the coronavirus task force press conference, which he's now taken over. none of the actual, known doctors are there anymore. dr. birx is off on some sort of, you know, extended tour somewhere. dr. fauci is on podcasts. and, you know, redfield's been knee capped. his own sworn testimony, know, the president just saying he's mistaken and there's a radiologist, now, who is the go-to guy. is this -- i mean, is -- is there a coronavirus task force, anymore? >> there is. but to your point, it sort of doesn't matter. i mean, this is -- this has always been an issue with this white house, in terms of dealing with the coronavirus. is the degree to which the president's treated this like a messaging challenge as opposed to a pandemic and a medical crisis and a health care crisis and a health crisis. instead, he has looked at, you

know, the pr crisis because he tends to conflate all issues, legal, public health, government, with pr crises. and that's what you saw him do today and it was pretty remarkable watching this in real time, to your point, at this press conference. where he is literally saying, you know, intimating that he suggested to redfield that redfield must have misunderstood the question. and that redfield would make that clear, the cdc director, if we asked him now. and then, he turns to scott atlas, his new, go-to guy who's in the room, who basically says a version of what redfield said, just minus the thing about masks. but in terms of what he was saying about the timetable on the vaccine, he was saying the same thing. >> and yet, but the president just kind of ignored -- ignored that as well. >> ignored that and then pretended that had not been said at all. it was -- it was -- it was -- >> mortifying. >> mortifying, it is, gloria. >> how mortifying is that for the cdc director? it is -- it is mortifying. he had to come out and say,

well, i didn't say what i said, which he said. >> maggie haberman. gloria borger. quick programming note. i will be moderating presidential town hall with former vice president joe biden, tomorrow night, takes place in scranton, pennsylvania. up next, the trump administration boasted to be a game changer contract for rapid antigen tests. we will take a look at what's happened. and later, massive flooding on parts of the gulf coast because of hurricane sally. we'll take you there. so through ancestry, i discovered my great aunt ruth signed up as a nursing cadet for world war ii. she was only 17. find an honor your ancestors who served in world war ii. their stories live on at ancestry.

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at his press conference today, president trump again praised his record on coronavirus testing. this as his administration last month promised a rollout of rapid antigen tests. hhs secretary alex azar calling it, quote, another incredibly valuable result to president trump's all of america approach. cnn investigative correspondent drew griffin now on the results. >> reporter: it was supposed to be a game changer in the fight against covid-19. the trump administration announcing, a few weeks ago, it was buying 150 million new abbott laboratories rapid antigen tests. >> we're going to deliver millions every week to governors. >> reporter: finally, the u.s. has desperately needed point-of-care tests, which don't have to be sent to a lab, can be done at schools, workplaces, and nursing homes, and give results in just 15 minutes. but what should be a pivotal

moment in the response to coronavirus, likely, will not be. because, once again, there is no clear, national plan. according to 11 experts who spoke to cnn, all who believe the country needs more federal guidance. >> national messaging is essential to controlling infectious disease because diseases don't stop at state borders. >> reporter: the point-of-care tests are cheap and very fast, but not as accurate. multiple experts tell cnn they are most effective when groups of people are tested, repeatedly. that would require far more tests than the u.s. has on order. >> we are talking about a lot of tests. more than 100 million tests, per month. >> reporter: which is why ten states have teamed up to purchase millions of their own tests. and in lieu of any detailed guidance from federal health officials, the rockefeller foundation and duke university have come up with their own guidelines. a report on effective testing and screening for covid-19. >> how we test, how often we

test, who we test, which test we use for people who don't have symptoms. when they're going back to the workplace or going back to school, that's where we really need guidance. >> reporter: the report's main feature, according to duke university director and former fda commissioner, mark mcclellan, is screening. massive amounts of the population, on a regular basis. one key goal. catching asymptomatic individuals. 40% of people infected with coronavirus have no symptoms. >> we have asymptomatic testing going on now. it works. it helps reduce spread. what we don't have is a national strategy that we're actually implementing to get those asymptomatic screening tests to everybody who most needs them, right now. >> reporter: the report's plan. testing school children, returning to class, essential workers. detecting positive cases. isolating them. tracing their contacts. and developing a single,

coherent, public health message, with one simple goal. suppressing the virus so we can reopen society. >> that sounds like a plan that you would have at the beginning of a pandemic, not eight months in. >> well, it would have been helpful to have a plan at the beginning. >> reporter: it would also have saved lives. south korea and the united states, both, announced their first case within 24 hours of each other. south korea launched a massive testing program. the u.s. did not. deaths in the u.s. skyrocketed to, now, nearing 200,000. south korea's death toll is less than 400. a rate 85 times lower. >> they refused to launch a national response. it's one of our greatest national tragedies and it's our biggest public health failures. >> reporter: the kind of testing needed now, according to experts, can be found on some u.s. campuses, like the university of illinois. where students take a saliva test twice a week. they are able to identify asymptomatic people with covid, and limit potential outbreaks

before they spread. but epidemiology professor, rebecca lee smith, says it won't work unless the entire nation works together. >> it is quite frustrating. guidance, from the top down, is what will get us together, as a country to get out of this. >> anderson, the department of health and human services responded to this report saying they do have a national strategy and support. $10 billion worth of support. to local and state agencies, to do testing. but those state agencies say that's not a strategy, at all. that's just throwing money at 50 different states to come up with their own plan. and it's just not the kind of leadership and, in fact, the lack of leadership and leadership is what is needed, now, they say, to get us through this pandemic. anderson. >> drew, thanks very much. we go now to the gulf coast where hurricane sally came on shore this morning as a category 2. caused catastrophic flooding

across alabama, the panhandle. pounded the city for nearly 12 hours. gary tuchman joins us from pensacola, tonight. what does it mean in terms of damage? it's a slow-moving storm. >> well, anderson, this is a barrier island, pensacola beach, florida. and hurricane sally, what it meant here was hurricane conditions for much of the morning, today. tropical storm conditions from last night until this afternoon. but it wasn't a -- it wasn't a wind event, here. that's a very important point to make. it was scary. it was there is flooding at businesses and homes. the beach bar under water right now and next door there is the parasaline water business under water right now. that's the case here at escambia

county and the gulf coast. a lot of damage and a lot of heart aches for people right now. the good news is no one has died from this hurricane. there has been a lot of rescues. hundreds of people had been rescued here in the state of alabama who are trapped in their homes from rising waters. all those rescues have been successful. there is a bridge, anderson, it is called three-mile bridge, that bridge is going to be out of commission for months because of unmanned barges. one barge got away and hit the bridge. now a long ride to get to that city. one other thing i want to mention to you, this is quite an amazing story. a woman went out to see her property after the hurricane, she lives near the mobile bay, she ran into a 12-foot, 5-foot

wide alligator in her property and she ran in some snakes. she was not shocked or upset. if you saw that in new york or nebraska, that would be upset. she knew while the hurricane is coming in, not to go out there because that's where those critters would quote "hunker down." >> gary, appreciate it. he fled war and now he's on a mission for peace. how he's making a difference as a video game developer, you will meet this champion for change when we continue. never letting anything get in my way. not the doubts, distractions, or voice in my head. and certainly not arthritis. new voltaren provides powerful arthritis pain relief to help me keep moving. and it can help you too. feel the joy of movement with voltaren.

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this week cnn has been highlighting remarkable change maker. people who are redefining our "champions for change." today he's on a mission of peace. he uses the power of gaming to help spread that message. >> i first saw a computer for the first time in 2007. it was an amazing moment for me.

i was like i want to buy a computer. i saved money for three years looking for $300. my mother bought me the computer and i then realized that i can work three hours to be able to charge my computer. i would do it daily. >> it is three hours to charge his laptop so he can walk back so he can work two hours. he's teaching himself how to code and building and creating games. >> i am a creator of video games, salaam. when you are playing games, you can bring communication together. salaam means peace. i was born in a way as my family

was fleeing south sudan. i spent over 22 years in the refugee camp. it became home for us. we wake up in the morning to find food to eat. all you need is to survive. >> we are looking at approximately 80 million displaced people in the world today. that number is higher than we have ever seen. while we are talking about or people who are running for their lives, they're seeking safe ground. >> tayou are buying water for somebody in the refugee camp. >> what the game does is it provides people engaging in that game an opportunity to contribute actual relief and assistance to refugees.

>> his game is going to bring people that are not necessarily a traditional audience for messages about refugees. it is going to bring them into the room. they're going to be learning this at a younger age and a game changer. >> i talk to game developers all the time. they want to create better experiences for people. 99.9% of the time those experiences are going on adventures but when you talk to him, he talks about finding food and water for refugees. he can use his unique vision to change the world. >> my hope is i want other refugees that we are not just here to survive but