captioning sponsored by cbs >> dickerson: i'm joke johndickerson in washington. this week on "face the nation." , as the delta variant runs, tempers flare. the delta's southern swing appears to be the peaking. america's anger is spreading, too. >> we will not comply! >> dickerson: this time there is an alarming rise in cases among those who don't even have a choice when it comes to getting a vaccine: kidsment. kids.>> i don't think the virus is targeting kids, necessarily, i think there is a firestorm under way and kids are getting swept

up in it. >> dickerson: the government is considering limiting federal money that goes to states unless they improve their vaccination rates. >> biden: i say to these governors, please help. if you're not going to help, please get out of the way of people trying to do the right thing. >> dickerson: florida republican governor ron desantis is threatening to withhold some funding to those school systems who do require masks. >> if you're trying to deny kids a proper in-person education, i'm going to stand in you're way. >> dickerson: we'll talk with miguel cardona about the challenges facing the school systems. and we'll ask alberto carvalho how his district plans to handle the governor's threat. and we'll talk with arkansas republican governor asa hutchinson, who says he now regrets

signing a law banning state mask mandates, and is confronting vaccine hesitation head on. and we'll check in with former f.d.a. commissioner dr. scott gottlieb. plus, we'll preview cbs this morning and the albany time's union interview with brittany camesso. she is speaking for the first time about why she filed a criminal sexual harassment complaint against new york governor andrew cuomo. >> what he did to me is a crime. >> dickerson: plus, we'll sit down with author amanda ripley, and her new book explores how we can find out w our way back to roductive conversations. it is all coming up on "face the nation." ♪good t "face the nation." we thought we were done

with that feeling in our fight against covid-19 that one step forward could be followed by two steps back. but we're not done. the u.s. is now reporting an average of 100,000 new cases a day, 15,000 a day just a month ago. public health officials expect that number to go a lot higher before it begins to drop. what is different, though, is that during this time of backslide, there is something we could only hope for during previous ones: a vaccine. but 100 million americans who are eligible for the vaccine have not gotten it. we begin with mark strassmann in georgia. >> reporter: cajun country versus covid, it is not a fair fight. lose hlouisiana has one of the lowest vaccination rates. covid hospitalizations are hate times higher than they were eight weeks ago. >> people are younger and

sicker, and we're intubating and losing people that are my age and younger. , 1% of louisiana's entire population has caught the virus. >> we have no reason to belien data that we have reached the peak or that we're coming down. we have more children sick with covid-19 than at any other time during the pandemic. >> reporter: across america, 71,000 kids tested positive in the last week of july. one in five new cases. as the delta variant stalks the unvaccinated of all ages. >> the level of sick visits that we've seen this summer, june, july, and now august, i've never seen in 20 years of practices here in houston. >> reporter: another negative: surging positivity rates. 20 states are over 10%. more alarming, idaho, oklahoma, and mississippi, over 40%. two states, texas and florida, make up nearly one-third of america's

covid cases. both governors oppose universal masking. >> we can either have a free society or we. i can tell you florida is a free state. >> we have it everywhere, in both is sides of unit. >> reporter: on friday, the state set a daily record, nearly 24,000 new cases. deaths have doubled. despite the run-away spread, covid's culture war is unrelenting. more schools opened this week; more parents will square off about protecting kids. >> you can't mask the kids. it is unconstitutional. it is child abuse, and everybody knows it. >> reporter: ain ante anti maskers. >> you have lost your minds. >> the only way to fight

against it, we get the shot. >> reporter: urgency drives vaccination compaigns, and right behind the delta variant variant lurks the lambda variant. a lot of companies have a policy, get it or get gone. here in georgia, the number of new cases is at its highest level before the vaccine was made available. hundreds of kids, and they tested positive during the first week of school. john? >> dickerson: mark strassmann in atlanta, thank you. we go to the arkansas governor, ag asa hutchinson. >> gordon: good to be here. >> dickerson: we want to go to the issue of masks, because in schools, those under 12 can't get vaccinated. you signed a bill that was

against mask mandates, and you changed your position, why? >> facts change, and leaders have to adjust to the new facts and the reality of what you have to deal with. whenever i signed that law, the cases were low, and we were hoping that the whole thing we, but it roared back with the delta variant. we are pushing the vaccines out, but those under 12 cannot get vaccinated in the schools. so i realized we needed to have more options to our local school districts to protect those children. so i asked the legislature to redo the law that prohibited those requirements or those options for the school districts to protect the children. and so it was an error to sign that law. i admit that. thank goodness because if the legislature did not act this week, which they didn't, the court stepped in and held that as unconstitutional, and now we have that local

flexibility for schools to make their decision to protect the children based upon the unique circumstances of their district. >> dickerson: when you say facts changed, did you see something in the last few weeks, particularly with respect to those under 12, who are in hospitals, who are getting covid -- did you see and learn more about the way in which the delta variant is affecting that specific part of your community? >> governor: we have, and part of it is that the delta variant is so transmissible that it affects every population. the higher age group populations have been vaccinated, so we're seeing 40-year-olds in the hospital and on vents. and then it goes down. and while the children are less susceptible to it and have less risk, still, a small number of children find themselves in the hospital. we've had over 24 24 in our

children's hospital. we have had three adolescents die -- they couldn't be vaccinated. i look at that and i say we've got to do everything we can to protect those children. everybody else can be vaccinated, and i'm pushing those vaccinations. we don't need other stringent measures there because the vaccine is their solution. but for those under 12, we want them to go to school and we need to have that flexibility because they do have some risk. >> dickerson: quickly about the marion school district, i think there are about 900 students and teachers in quarantine. do you think that won't have happened if the school district that the freedom of local control and the ability to have a mask mandate in that school district? >> governor: well, if we would have had more vaccines out, those numbers would have been less. but it illustrates the point that if we're geg to hgoingto have a successful school district, school districts like marion need

to have that option to require masks for those lower grades or make the decision that is suitable for their community. ordinarily you have about 2.5 contacts from one exposure that has to be quarantined. but in a school environment, it was more like 18 to 1. that's why we had so many that were quarantined. you can't have a successful school year with that kind of exposure in the school. so vaccines, as well as flexibility of the local school district, would be the key in my judgment. >> dickerson: the last time you were on the program, arkansas was 46th in the nation in terms of first vaccinations. it has now risen to 38 in the nation, so it has gotten better. 60% of our citizens have gotten at least one shot. what accounts for that improvement? >> governor: well, two things: we did start our community conversations, have are townhalls, which i've been to over 12 cities, and those honest

conversations, from skeptics to trusted advisors in the community, has spurred action to increase vaccination rates. more significantly, the risk factor is at play. people see the hospitalizations up, they see what happens to their neighbors, they're worried about it, and they're goin out and getting vaccinated. we want to engage our local communities, and hopefully we can be successful and increase our vaccination rate. that's the only way out of it. >> dickerson: last time you were on, you said if incentives don't work, reality will. and it seems to have kicked in. a new kaiser foundation poll has found that half of those unvaccinated say they're more worried about the vaccine than getting sick. when that comes up in your conversations, what do you say to people? >> governor: well, first of all, it is not what the government says. and i recognize that's not going to be the answer that is needed or is

persuasive. but i will call on a local physician that they know, that they know, that they trust in their community, and ask, what do you say about that? that trusted advisor is more persuasive and fact-oriented and helps to dispel the myths. the second thing that is important is: the f.d.a. has to act. we've had well over 100 million americans that are vaccinated. they're not going to come in now and say, well, that shouldn't have been approved. as dr. fauci says, they're dotting the eyes and causing the "t"s. we need that final approval. >> dickerson: do you think that there would be mandates after that approval happens? >> governor: not in arkansas. i don't support a vaccine mandate. we can do it through education.t expect that broader acceptance of the vaccine.

i do expect that some employers and sensitive industries will require vaccines. but you have to have the f.d.a. approval before that is more broadly accepted. >> dickerson: when you've been going around the state and encountering your constituents, a lot of times in this pandemic people have said, "we're all in this together." but you made a statement this week where you said some politicians are playing to people's fears and not being compassionate. are we all in this together, based on your experience? >> governor: well, we're all in it in terms of trying to get through the pandemic. but we have to have leaders that will step up and say that's a myth, that's not supported, and y'all need to listen rationally to people. we can't just give in to the loudest voice, which is 15% of people who are not going to take the vaccine regardless, that believes in the conspiracy

theories, that are totally irrational. and we have to have leaders that are able to resist that loudest voice in the room and talk common sense, compassion, and logic to them. >> dickerson: finally, governor, as we go out the door, you served as chairman on the national governor's association. and the democratic co-chairman was andrew cuomo. you said you're going to wait for that investigation to take place in new york. the investigation has taken place. a lot of people think he should step down. do you have a view? >> governor: well, the invetigation was very thorough. the allegations could not be more serious. no woman should have to go to the workplace and have to choose between a paycheck and being assaulted, particularly when it is in a public environment. so he either needs to resign in the face of this. certainly if criminal charges are filed, he should resign. it is a sad circumstance, but that was a very cred credible review, and the allegations are very

serious, and that should not be tolerated in a public environment, for sure, much less a private environment. >> dickerson: governor, thank you so much for being with us. >> governor: thank you. >> dickerson: in an exclusive interview for cbs this morning and the albany times union, national correspondent jericka duncan spoke to brittany camisso, who is going public for the first time since she was identify as executive assistant number one. in the new york attorney general's report against sexual harassment. she says she was groped and sexually harassed by the governor, and on friday filed a criminal complaint against him with the albany sheriff's office. she is one of 11 women ac cuev accusing the governor of sexual misconduct. cuomo denies the allegations and says he will not step down. >> why did you file that criminal complaint with

the sheriff's office? >> it was the right thing to do. the governor needs to be held accountable. >> just so he i'm clear again, being held accountable, to you, means seeing the governor charged with a crime? >> what he did to me was a crime. he broke the law. >> dickerson: you can see more of je her interview tomorrow morning. "face the nation" will be bake. stay with us. serena: it's my 3:10 no-exit-in-sight migraine medicine. it's ubrelvy. for anytime, anywhere migraine strikes,

without worrying if it's too late, or where i am. one dose can quickly stop my migraine in its tracks within two hours. unlike older medicines, ubrelvy is a pill that directly blocks cgrp protein, believed to be a cause of migraine. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. most common side effects were nausea and tiredness. serena: ask about ubrelvy. the anytime, anywhere migraine medicine. >> dickerson: it is back to school time across america, so we turn to education secretary miguel cardona. good morning, mr. secretary. the governors of texas and florida have enacted forbidding mandated masks. have you talked to them? >> we are ready. 50 million students across the country are ready to

return to school. we owe it to our students to safely reopen schools, to make sure they have the best opportunity for learning, which we know as educators is in-person. i have calls out to many governors, including governor asa hutchinson, which we just heard from. and i talked to governor abbott, and i talked to the commissioner in florida. we need to work together to make sure our schools are safe for all students and staff. >> dickerson: did you make any progress in those phone calls? >> what we're seeing across the country is we recognize the importance of vaccinations. the president put a charge on all of us: let's gut our pop-up vaccination centers set up in our schools. i think everybody across the country agrees on that. i think we need to do everything, including our mitigation strategies, to make sure our students are safe. the data is showing us in places where they're not, following those mitigation strategie we're putting students at risk. >> dickerson: you said that governors in those

states of texas and florida are letting politics interfere. do you see no merit, though, to their argument that basically the school experience is impinged by wearing a mask? >> listen, i understand the fatigue of wearing masks. i don't like wearing masks. i know my own children don't want to wear masks. they are vaccinated, but we also understand that this is bigger than us. we're trying to keep infection rates low. and i think it is more dangerous for students to be home and have interrupted learning because of the decisions we're making. we're clearly at a fork in the road in this country: you're either going to help students be in school in-person and be safe, or the decisions you make will rt ss. while i understand the argument around not wanting to wear masks because we're fatigued, without questions student safety and staff safety come first. >> dickerson: you're

argument, as i take it, is if you don't allow some flexibility, if you don't have masks in schools, you'll see an eruption. there is a quarter of the country where there are these blockages on mask mandates. do you believe you could have schooling actually fully interrupted? >> i do believe that. the segment before, 18 students in a class had to be quarantined because masks weren't being used and perhaps they were in close contact. last year we spent a whole year trying to safely reopen schools. this year we have the benefit of the return to school roadmap that provides tips for families and for schools, the benefit of the american rescue plan, where res sources areresources are there o make sure our schools are safe. we know it works. we have seen it work. we have to follow the guidance from c.d.c. and let our education leaders lead. let's give them the opportunity to do what is right. >> dickerson: let me get

your insight of the cost in 33states, 10,000thrk tes" ha local public schools lost at least 20% of their kindergarteners. can you as set the gravity of that figure, and, secondly, what are we going to do about it? >> i saw that. my experience here in connecticut as we reopened schools, we saw that our kindergarten numbers were very low. half of the number of students that didn't return to school are 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds, and 5-year-olds. what that tells us is we must double down as educators to share with the families what we're doing to keep their children safe. as a parent, nothing is more important than the safety of my children. we know early childhood education is critically

important to the success of our students. having our students come into the classroom where they learn by doing, social and emotional skills, is critically important. it is our job now to help parents feel comfortable with what we're doing to keep their children safe. >> dickerson: one of the ways that the parents can feel comfortable is increasing the vaccination rates, as you mentioned, particularly with teachers. what is your position on teachers mandatory vaccination -- mandatory vaccination among teachers in schools? >> we're promoting the week of action, where we're really getting the message across the country to get vaccinated when you're eligible. we're having pop-up clinics in schools. just tomorrow i'll be in kansas with the second gentleman promoting the vaccine efforts. i feel strongly if you're eligible to get vaccinated, get vaccinated. do your part to make sure your safe and we can reopen achools without

interruption. our students have suffered enough. it is time for all of us to do our parts. >> dickerson: the teachers union representative suggested get vaccinated -- how helpful would that will be that cause? >> it is helpful. quite frankly, i think we recognize, as educators across the country, we're going to get farther if we work together. that's what we're seeing across the country, educators who have bent over backwards for our students last year. they're coming together to say, let's do our part. we know they are lining up to get vaccinated. 90% of the teachers across the country have gotten vaccinated. we're proud of that. we want our youth to get vaccinated. to those who are making policies that are preventing this, don't be the reason why schools are interrupted, why children can't go to extracurricular activities and games are canceled. we need to do our parts as

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♪ this is the "cbs overnight news." good evening, and thanks for watching. we begin tonight with a spreading covid threat. even with just over half of americans now fulfill vaccinated, that's not enough to hold off a surge of new cases. the u.s. is now reporting an average 100,000 infections per day, up from 11,000 in late june. hospitalizations are also up, averaging about 50,000 a day. cbs' mola lenghi is in sturgis, south dakota, tonight, where there's clearly more fun than fear. >> reporter: that's right, jericka. here at the