hello, i am brianna keilar. i want to welcome viewers in theist and around the world. we entered the disaster zone of the coronavirus pandemic. the country is averaging more than 155,000 new infections a day and climbing. mon monday alone, 166,000 plus new cases with 995 deaths. that's 995 people who are gone when they didn't have to die. the death count is going to increase. positivity rates we are seeing will ensure that. more than 10% of coronavirus tests nationwide are coming back positive, a level we haven't seen since may. yet 301 days since the first u.s. case was reported, and there was still no nationally coordinated plan. the president has given up. he is not governing. his white house task force with whom he hasn't met for five months has increased urgency in weekly reports to states writing

there's aggressive, unrelenting expandi expanding broad community spread, reaching most counties without improvement, but rather further deterioration. current mitigation efforts are inadequate, must be sustained for covid and noncovid emergencies. many health systems are on the brink. 73,000 americans are hospitalized with covid now, the highest number ever. those on the front lines are exhausted and they're warning they are maxed out. they're watching their own colleagues being admitted to the icu, knowing that person has seen patients die alone from covid, and are at risk of the same type of final isolation. >> there were patients, there was nothing we could do for them. >> flat out don't have the resources, we just don't. >> it is awful, awful, awful, watching people die alone. >> this situation is unsustainable. and it is going to get worse if

we continue to set new records every day of infections. >> we walk into the covid units, you hear the sounds of monitors beeping, heart rate, respiration, hear the ventilators going because most of the people are on ventilators. >> look how many pumps, this is one patient. >> you hear bells ring when things go wrong, call code blue when there's a cardiac arrest. >> so tired of hearing covid, covid, code blue, blue lights flashing. y'all, the morgue was so full of bodies that they ran out of room. they've had to bring in freezer trucks, there are so many bodies. >> this is charles mains, one of the icu nurses who was a patient

about three months ago. >> taking care of charles was scary. he is the sickest employee i have taken care of. >> cases started to rise. had a couple of co-workers that got critically ill, and they're crying to you, they're scared and alone, it was scary. we were truly worried they might not make it. >> when things are dragging out for a year, year and a half, two years, then we don't feel like heroes any more, we feel like we are sacrificial lambs. >> el paso county, texas, medical examiner's office is so overwhelmed by the pandemic, they recruited inmates to move bodies of coronavirus victims. a few weeks ago, the county requested four more mobile morgues to add to six it already has to house bodies there. since the pandemic began, more than 76,000 have tested positive

and there are more than 700 deaths in el paso. cnn correspondent omar jimenez is there. tell us why inmates are helping the medical examiner rather than medical personnel or the national guard? >> reporter: that's right, brianna. this is meant to be a temporary measure as they await help from the national guard, though timing on that front is unclear. remember, there are members of the u.s. military that were sent here to assist in the coronavirus response, but in this case for the inmates, they're ones that volunteer, literally outfitted with full ppe and assist those in the morgue's office in moving bodies as the medical examiner tries to keep up with the pace of bodies they have seen in the pandemic, particularly here in el paso. listen to the county judge, why he says they felt this was a step they needed to take. >> temporary opportunity for us to give a helping hand to how

exhausted some of the personnel and staff are at the medical examiner's office. we are shorthanded. people are really tired. nurses, doctors are tired. it's a very secure process. >> and that is on top of the refrigerated units requested and brought in to help with the process as well. if you remember last week, there was a lot of debate back and forth from the county and state over a shutdown of nonessential businesses. the state eventually won the appeals process as leadership here tries to get on the same page on how exactly they're going to move forward in the fight. one of the things we heard from the mayor is one of the big places they were seeing major spread was big box stores, for example. that's why they're limiting the amount of people to go into places like walmart and other places. when you consider the numbers, the sheer amount of significance of coronavirus here in el paso, more than 50% of the hospital

capacity is for covid-19 patients. hospitalizations topping a thousand, around record levels. more than 300 of those hospitalizations are icu patients. when you breakdown the number of active cases, more than 30,000 active cases with total population, that gets you to one in every 24 people actively has covid-19 here in el paso. >> those are numbers that cannot be ignored. omar, thank you for that report from el paso, texas. on the senate floor, the politics of masks erupted between two senators. alaska republican dan sullivan was presiding over the chamber when the ohio democrat sherrod brown opened with remarks by asking sullivan to mask up. >> mr. president. >> senator from ohio. >> start by asking the presiding officer to please wear a mask as he speaks and people below him, i can't tell you what to do, i know behavior --

>> i don't wear a mask when i am speaking like most senators. i don't need your instruction. >> i know you don't need my instruction, but there clearly isn't much interest in this body in public health. >> sullivan because we looked at the tape was not wearing a mask while not speaking, to be clear. but republican senator ted cruz came to sullivan's aid, calling sherrod brown a complete ass. he tweeted brown wears a mask to speak when nobody is near him as a sign of fake virtue. dan sullivan was over 50 feet away, last i checked, 50 feet is more than 6 feet. couple of things. cruz is missing the point, he is within spitting distance of several senate floor staffers. when joanie ernst presided before, here she is, wearing a mask. and second, six feet indoors is an outdated guideline for social distancing.

the cdc has explained this. small droplets and particles can linger in the air minutes to hours. these viruses may infect people further than six feet from the person infected or after that person left the space. the cdc warns people with covid-19 have infected others mo are more than six feet in enclosed spaces with inadequate ventilation like the senate floor which does not have windows. since senator cruz brought up asses, this was his grand prediction in july. >> if it ends up that biden wins in november, i hope he doesn't, i don't think he will, but if he does, i guarantee you the week after the election suddenly all of the democratic governors, all of the democratic mayors will say everything is magically better. go back to work, go back to school. suddenly the problems are solved. you won't have to wait for biden to be sworn in. >> he said suddenly all those democratic governors will say

everything is magically better. what's happening is that governors, democrats and republicans, are putting restrictions in place to fight the spread. let's go state by state. california, they're considering a curfew. massachusetts, there's already a curfew in place. in new york and virginia, restaurants and businesses with liquor license must close at 10:00 p.m. jersey, criminal and civil jury trials are suspended. in michigan, a new emergency order is in effect, this limits indoor gatherings. and in mississippi, seven new counties that are under a mask mandate. and then there are other states with gop governors, including those that previously resisted restrictive measures. they're starting to follow science. in utah, the entire state is under mask mandate, casual gatherings are limited to just households there. in north dakota, after months of resisting, the republican governor did a 180, mandating masks and limiting the size of gatherings. >> our situation has changed and we must change with it.

>> in west virginia, this is what the republican governor jim justice said at the beginning of the pandemic. >> for crying out loud, to go to the grocery stores, if you want to go to bob evans and eat, go to bob evans and eat. >> west virginia escaped the initial covid surge and now is setting records. here is what the governor is now saying as he implements a stricter mask mandate. >> i need you to quit believing in any way that somebody is going to come and take your guns or unconstitutional. who cares about that right at this moment. right at this moment, all we need to do is try to some way break the chain of this killer that's eating us alive. we need to stop listening to this noise out of people that just want to take your money to buy their campaign rhetoric or want to absolutely be relevant. silly. >> in iowa, this was the

republican governor, kim reynolds, back in july when the white house task force advised the state lockdown to prevent major spread, saying, quote, no, i am not going to mandate masks, i trust iowans. there's no way to enforce it. most of the states or entities that have done that have gone as far as to say we're not going to enforce it, so it is kind of a feel good. now governor reynolds is reversing course, mandating masks for the first time. >> no one wants to do this. i don't want to do this. if iowans don't buy into this, we lose. businesses will close once again. more schools will be forced to go online. and our health care system will fail. >> these governors are finally accepting reality but not in south dakota. this is republican governor, he asked her about the possibility

of adding his face to the monument. her state one of the especially centers now, one of a handful that has no restrictions of any kind. she described her governing at the rnc. >> we are not and will not be the subjects of an elite class of so-called experts. we the people are the government. >> her office released this statement in response to calls recently for a mask mandate. quote, it's a good day for freedom. joe biden realizes the president doesn't have the authority to institute a mask mandate, for that matter, neither does governor noem, which is why she provided citizens with the full scope of science, trust them to make the best decisions for themselves and loved ones. full scope of the science, says a governor that's given air to those that question the effectiveness of masks. the proven effectiveness of masks. this isn't a legitimate debate.

the death rate in her state is one of the highest in the nation, so is the case rate now. yet she continues to play indicate president trump's insecurities at the expense of public health of her constituents. essential workers and medical staff, including this nurse from south dakota who described what it's been like to witness people dying of covid. >> their last dying words are this can't be happening, it's not real, when they should be spending time facetiming families, they're filled with anger and hatred. >> and this doctor from sioux falls begging noem to do something, to do anything. >> governor noem, the people are suffering. we have a thousand cases a day and this is not just about being in the hospital or percentage of hospital beds, this is about the vast array of conditions that will develop for people in

general getting covid. we need to throw everything we have at it. i get that you don't want strict lockdowns. neither do i. those are devastating, too. we can't just let the virus run without throwing everything we have at it. and that means, governor, you need to be out in front of the people and you need to encourage all of the mitigating strategies that even have the potential, including masks, which i know you have sort of said the results were mixed. i'm sorry, governor, but all of medicine is mixed results. that's what we do every day. so please, we have to take a different course. >> south dakotans are dying because of their leader's malfeasance, dying without dignity in some cases, wondering how their body is ravaged by

something they didn't think was real. south dakotans are sounding the alarm. are you listening, governor noem? we just mentioned how the republican governor of iowa has abruptly changed her stance on masks. for months, governor kim reynolds rejected a mask mandate, called it a feel good measure. that changed yesterday. since the pandemic began, iowa coronavirus cases and deaths have gone one direction, up. cnn national correspondent miguel marquez in an area that's been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. tell us the other measures the governor is mandating. >> reporter: look, all of iowa is hard hit by the pandemic now is what we are discovering. to be very, very clear, what the governor put into place doesn't come close to what the cdc recommends for mask mandates. she put into place some recommendations, shaved off hours that bars and restaurants

can be open. but she left masks wide, exceptions for churches and schools, mask mandates or rules she put in effect are riddled with holes as well. if you go into a public space and are there for less than 15 minutes and you can stay six feet from people, you don't have to wear a mask. if there more than 15 minutes, too close to people, then you do have to wear a mask. public health officials here are in shock. they feel it is too little too late. her own board of health, iowa board of health, members that she appointed last week in a 7-2 vote urged her to put in a statewide mask mandate and that still hasn't been done. meanwhile, you have not only cases exploding but hospitalizations. a month ago, less than 500 iowans in hospitals with covid-19. today, that number is triple. about 1500 across iowa, going up

everywhere. small towns and big cities in iowa all across the board. what's happening is the entire system is starting to fill up. we're doing a story you'll see later today, lots of cases coming in, they can't care, don't have the resources, nurses, the ability, don't have the stuff to take care of the most critically ill, so they move them to other hospitals, bigger hospitals. now when they call them, they say no room at the inn. it is harder and harder to move those patients. that's going to be the biggest problem here. the entire system is starting to back up. brianna? >> that's when we see the problems, start to see the problems there. thank you so much for telling us what's going on in iowa. >> reporter: you bet. a republican lawmaker in michigan tells president trump to admit that he lost. he is going to join me live. plus, the republican in charge of georgia elections says senator lindsey graham of south carolina suggested that he throw

out legal votes. and now critics are calling that criminal. and we're going to roll the tape on all of the promises and claims the trump administration made about covid as cases soared. this is cnn special live coverage.

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now, he uses a capful of therabreath fresh breath oral rinse to keep his breath smelling great, all day long. (combative yelling) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. at walmart, target and other fine stores. just in. an election official in georgia says the state recount is on track for tomorrow. the vast majority of counties are reporting results spot on with initial tallies. the majority of the republican party continues to humor president trump's conspiracy theories and ramblings that he really won the election. they're afraid to contradict him, fear of political

retribution or mean tweet. it is noteworthy when republicans stand up, say the truth. michigan republican congressman paul mitchell told the president it is time to move on, that the good of the nation requires effective transition. let's just deal with it. congressman paul mitchell joins me now. i should mention you have decided this summer not to run for re-election. you will be exiting congress soon. you mention quote the good of this nation in this. do you think the president is hurting the country by refusing to acknowledge president-elect biden's win? >> i think it's necessary to begin a transition. i think because it is, you talked about earlier, complex problems facing the nation, besides the pandemic, national security and a series of other things. fw given the complexity, need to start the process of transition to a new administration. what's the worst thing that

happens, if by some miracle the president prevails, we went to the effort for nothing, but we need to move forward because the american people expect us to govern and not just raw politics. i think election results say a lot about that, they get tired of raw politics they saw on both sides. i think that's why it cost nancy pelosi seats in the house, getting into politics rather than the interest of the american people. i think we need to move on. i think the people have spoken, we have president-elect biden and need to accept that. >> you say if by some miracle the president prevails, doesn't sound like you think that's going to happen, but are you saying that could be essentially the rhetorical out for president trump and others who support his efforts to prove that actually he won the election when he really didn't? >> well, there are people that hold onto rhetorical outs for a lot of reasons. as you said, recount in georgia looks like it will come out

pretty much as they announced it. the president has failed in efforts to pursue legal challenges in a number of states, in pennsylvania and michigan. and at some point in time those all run out rapidly here. i believe we'll have the election results certified in michigan and the republican legislature said they'll seek electorates that reflect the popular vote. in 2016, president trump won by 10,000 votes. they will see it reflect the vote for president-elect biden because that's what the american people expect. their votes count. once they voted, we move forward with governing the nation. >> i know privately there are a lot of republicans who won re-election, are in congress, and they agree with you on this, that it is time to move on, time to acknowledge that president-elect biden won, but they're following the queues of

president trump. you know they would look at someone like you, say that's easy for you to say, you're retiring. you're not running for re-election. you can speak your mind on this. what do you say to those folks that are still staying and may have to deal with fallout of saying something like you said. >> i think first, i am not leading the population. i have an opinion and am going to express it. i think i understand somebody would be hesitant to climb into it because they think it will resolve itself. there are other members that have spoken, adam kin slinger, people are speaking out more and more, some people don't see a need to do so at this time. i think transitions need it because we have some real challenges facing the nation and need to not let time go by and

have a haphazard transition. >> congressman, thank you for being with us. as you leave your position in washington in congress, good luck on the next chapter. >> thanks very much for having me. >> of course, we really appreciate it. it is being called criminal, morally reprehensible. the republican in charge of georgia's election says lindsey graham approaching him about tossing legal votes, and former opponent will join us next. and howard stern says trump tv would fail within a year. chn, we started by making the cloud easier to manage. but we didn't stop there. we made a cloud flexible enough to adapt to any size business. no matter what it does, or how it changes. and we kept going. so you only pay for what you use. because at dell technologies, we stop...at nothing.

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georgia's republican secretary of state who is in the middle of a hand recount of georgia ballots after joe biden's win there is resisting tremendous pressure from within his own party to fix the recount for donald trump. he tells cnn that the republican senator lindsey graham called him and asked if it was possible to throw out certain mail in ballots. a witness is now confirming this

account. here's what georgia secretary of state told wolf blitzer. >> i asked if the ballots could be matched back to voters, and then got the sense it implied that then you could throw those out, look at the counties with the highest frequent error of signatures, so that's the impression that i got. >> i want to be clear on this, mr. secretary. you say senator graham wanted you to get rid of legally cast ballots? cnn asked him about the allegations, he denied them. he says that's ridiculous. his words. that's ridiculous. >> well, just an implication that look hard, see how many ballots you can throw out and i think they were looking at that as part of a court case. >> so graham is not denying he called him, he is denying he inquired about his ability to throw out certain mail-in votes, but that contradicts both he and

the other witness that heard the phone call. graham tells cnn he was pushing the georgia secretary on mail in ballot rules, admits he spoke to officials in nevada and arizona, too. the problem is graham only worries about states trump failed to win. want to bring in the man that challenged graham in the south carolina senate race and lost that race, jamie harrison. thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> look, i want your reaction to this. i know you talked about it in social media, but tell me what is your reaction to learning this? >> it is disgusting. my grandma told me, she said jamie, when you buy rotten a.m. apples, don't be surprised to find worms. he needs to focus on south carolina. there's no reason whatsoever that he should be calling the

secretary of state asking about election and recount that they're in the midst of. we should not have any political influence on counting of our votes. every american citizen should have their votes counted and not have political influences, democratic or republican, officials trying to influence that. my advice to lindsey graham, focus on south carolina. we have enough issues here that you can fill up your calendar on. you don't need to be in georgia messing with their elections. >> you call it criminal. do you think he broke the law? >> well, i think an investigation should take place in order to see if he did. i'm not sure, i wasn't on the phone call but it doesn't smell right. something is not right. the question is are there other secretaries of state he is calling. he needs to focus on issues that are important to people of south carolina, not on how votes are being counted in georgia.

>> there are in nevada and arizona, we know that, he admitted that. do you have any awareness of other secretaries of state that he might have called, do you have any awareness of him communicating with the secretary of state in your state? >> no. i'm not sure, you know. i'll leave that up to investigators to figure out. but again, it is about focusing on making sure people have confidence in their system, and that's democrats and republicans. we all as americans should be confident that our votes when we cast ballots that they're going to be counted and that we won't have elected officials calling around, seeing if you'r legally cast ballot can be thrown out for political reasons. >> if it should be investigated, who should be investigating this in your opinion? >> you know, i'm sure they have their own election laws in georgia and they will look into that and even on the federal

level, but at the end of the day my advice is representatives, senators, focus on your own state. don't call up secretaries of state in the midst of a recount, the states. lindsey graham knows better, he is chairman of the senate judiciary committee. >> you're watching this go down, but seal him resist. he is facing death threats, resisting pressure from people within his own party. it can make you wonder if there was a secretary of state that hasn't really walked this very straight line that we see him doing, what that might mean in an election like we have seen in georgia. we have heard republicans talking about widespread voter fraud that is not. now we're talking about a republican that's trying to influence the outcome of an election or certainly which

ballots are being cast. do you think the system is insulated enough against this kind of interference? >> it seems like, brianna, this is the wild, wild west where everybody can do and say whatever they want, but there are certain rules we have, certain laws that we have. you can see why folks like lindsey graham can be embolden, when you have a convention on the white house grounds and there are no repercussions, when you can raise money in the senate office building and there are no repercussions. you can see why someone can then believe they can call the secretary of state and encourage them to possibly toss out good ballots and not have repercussions. we have to change that. there has to be fundamental new laws with some teeth to make sure these type of things don't happen. rule of law has to mean something. it means something here in south carolina, means something in georgia, all across this country. we need our elected

representatives to actually follow those laws. >> jamie harrison, thanks for being with us. >> thank you. the president making more moves behind the scenes to put joe biden behind the eight ball when he is sworn in, this includes a possible attack on iran. and we'll see the president-elect in moments as he gets a briefing from national security officials. and we roll tape on all of the promises and claims the trump administration made about covid as cases soared. this is cnn special live coverage. when i was in high school, this was the theater i came to quite often. ♪ the support we've had over the last few months has been amazing. i have a soft spot for local places. it's not just a work environment. everyone here is family. gonna go ahead and support him, get my hair cut, leave a big tip.

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at this point in a lame duck presidency, we often talk about the legacy of an outgoing commander in chief. never has a legacy been as dark as president trump's, unencumbered by planning for another term, he should be using the remaining two months to address the coronavirus pandemic and save american lives. instead it is more of the same, refusal to operate in the reality of the pandemic against all data, against all scientific advice, will define his legacy. >> this president will always put america first, always protect american citizens, we will not see diseases like coronavirus come here. >> we have contained this.

we have contained this. i won't say air tight, but pretty close to air tight. >> it is being contained and do you not think it is being contained? you said it is not being contained. are you a doctor or lawyer when you say it is not being contained? you said something and it is not true. >> trump is back in charge, not the doctors. we have like a negotiated settlement. >> you watch, they're milk it every day between now and november 3rd. guess what, after november 3rd, coronavirus will magically go away, disappear, everybody will be able to reopen. >> went to the cdc, kept hearing about new infections. why aren't they talking about this? the number is almost nothing. we have gotten control of this thing. we understand how it works. they have the therapeutics to deal with this. >> mid june, vice president mike pence wrote an op-ed that said recent days, the media has taken to sounding alarm bells over a second wave of coronavirus

infections. such panic is overblown, thanks to the courage of president trump, our public health system is stronger than four months ago and winning the fight against the invisible enemy. that's wrong and pence knew he was wrong saying it at that point in the pandemic. the media sounded the alarm because scientists sounded the alarm, scientists that were advising pence. the leadership of president trump denigrated mask wearing, turning his white house and campaign events into super spreaders, unleashing covid among the president and vice president's staffs. the public health system stronger than it was four months ago, pence said, but it is maxed out. hospitals are out of icu space, they're turning patients away to go to other hospitals. these facilities and these staff are not stronger, they're exhausted because their country asked too much of them and the virus rages on, as their leaders

refuse to lead. all the way up to the president who thought he could just pretend a pandemic wasn't killing hundreds of thousands of americans. >> the virus that we're talking about having to do, a lot of people think that goes away in april with the heat, as the heat comes. when you have 15 people and the 15 within a couple days is going to be down to close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done. i said calm. you have to be calm. it will go away. this will be gone. it will be gone. hopefully gone for a long time. hopefully at the end of the month, if not, hopefully will be soon after that. it is going to go, leave, be gone. numbers are minuscule compared to what it was. it is dying out. it is dying out. numbers are starting to get very good. i'll be righty v eventually. it is going to disappear. say it again. and i will be right.

my view is schools should open. this thing will go away, it will go away like things go away. my view is schools should be open. once you get to a certain number, we use the word herd, once you get to a certain number, it will go away. it is going to disappear, it is disappearing, vaccines will help and therapeutics will help a lot. it will go away, as i said, we are rounding the turn, rounding the corner. look what's going on. we are rounding the turn, rounding the corner. we're rounding the corner beautifully. we have to get our lives back, have to take our country back. it is going away, it is rounding the turn. >> the only one rounding any kind of turn is the president, turn on his time in office. defined by his refusal to acknowledge suffering caused by covid, defined by his lack of a plan, by his preferred coronavirus task force adviser, speaking against measures that would keep americans safe and

alive. trump hasn't taken questions in 12 days and is hold up with advice of advisers who are reinforcing his worst tendencies, like his son-in-law, jared kushner, who as of last week was pushing his father-in-law to hold rallies calling for recounts. in april at the beginning of the pandemic, kushner told veteran journalist bob woodward this. >> the most dangerous people around the president are overconfident idiots, right, because that has a way sometimes of getting past his defense mechanism, because if you're overconfident, sometimes on a topic where he doesn't have other people around to kind of validate it, then he can sometimes say okay, let's go with that. i think if you look at the evolution, we have a lot of overconfident idiots and now more thoughtful people that know their place, know what to do. >> gotten rid of the overconfident idiots, if you say so. coming up, why radio host

howard stern says president trump's attempts to start his own tv network after his presidency are laughable. more on breaking news. georgia's election official says the recount will be completed tomorrow and will show that joe biden won the state. ♪ we made usaa insurance for veterans like martin. when a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. new projects means you need to hire.gers. i need indeed. indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database. claim your seventy five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed.com/home.

just in. an election official in georgia says the state's recount is on track to finish tomorrow and will reaffirm president-elect joe biden's win saying the vast majority of counties report results spot-on to the initial tallas. bringing in a reporter following this in all things georgia

elections. tell us where things stand now? looks really very much on track? unfortunately i think -- can you hear me? all right. okay. we're going to try to re-establish our keck and get that important information about the georgia recount. moving on, though, president trump found a new target since losing the election, and that is actually fox news. the president has unleashed retweeting a stream of negative comments about the network. growing obsession sparked talk he would try to launch a network once he leaves office to compete with fox. howard stern has a grim prediction for president trump if he pursues this path saying a trump news network would do about as well as trump's bankrupted wa seencasinos and business ventures. >> busy tweeting about fox news.

add at them because they is reality over there and talking the oann network, never seen. >> oh, it's a doozy. >> i haven't seen it, now he likes that and going to start, saying he'll start his own news network. he thinks running the country's hard? wait until he has to run a news network. that will fail inside of a year like all the other businesses. >> cnn chief media reporter j n joins us, brian stelter. >> trump will find a way to stay in media limelight, radio, tv, streaming service, something like that. stern hits, it would be very difficult. trump's options are limited. a lot of media entities business partners that don't want anything to do with limb. laun

him and launching a streaming service is really hard. stern has good advice for hess longtime friend. twitter and facebook as his foundation, or former friend. he can build from there. >> likes to lend his name to things sometimes. and others doesn't want to do the work. interesting to see. you know, we're watching in realtime, brian, this re-alignment of conservative media. in a post-trump world, where of his supporters going to go for their jnews? >> exactly what it is. re-alignment. fox news, dominant, only big player outside of rush limb bahr. now on-screen, news max, oan, drawing those away from fox, they're even further right. the race isn't over yet here, trump might still win the election. fantasy talk, but some fox viewers prefer it.

seeing news max gain in ratings. fox having a ratings slump, although still the number one player. trump has been hitting fox, criticizing fox, also promoting propaganda through march bartiromo and sean hannity. trying to have it both ways. if not fox, then news max. fox it his market to itself and now there's competition. trump has a fan base. not all 73 million people who voted for him over the weekend tweeted out telling people to watch maria bartiromo on fox, half a million viewers changed the channel. some willal buy whatever he's selling. not a big base but it is something. something he can tap into in the future. >> brine stelter, thank you so much. brian stelter.

it is the top of the hour. i am brianna keilar and we have unfortunately entered the disaster zone of the coronavirus pandemic. the country is now averaging more than 155,000 new infections a day. this is climbing. monday alone the nation reported 166,000-plus new cases with 995 deaths. 995 who are gone when they didn't have to die. the death count is going to increase. positivity rate we're seeing across the country ensure that. more than 10% of coronavirus tests nationwide are coming back positive. a level not seen sis may and yet 301 days since the first u.s. case was reported still no nationally coordinated plan. the president has given up, not governoring. his white house task force hasn't met in five mosnths indicates aggressive,

unrelenting expanding community spread across the country reaching most counties without evidence of improvement, rather further deterioration. current mitigation efforts are inadequate and must be increased to flatten the curve to sustain the health system for both covid an non-covid emergencies. many health systems on the brink. 73,000 americans hospitalized with covid now. highest number ever. those on the front lines are exhausted. they are warning, they're maxed out. they are watching their own colleagues being admitted to the icu psh icu. treating them, knowing them and seeing patients die of covid now at the risk of the same time of final isolation. >> patients, nothing we can do for them. >> flat out we don't have the resources. just don't. >> it is awful, awful, awful watching people die alone. >> this situation is unsustainable and it's going to get worse if