12 noon out west. we begin, though with the headlines at this hour. there are now more than 5 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus here in the united states. a number that has doubled since the end of june, however the cdc believes the actual number of infections is far higher than that, the death toll now stands at nearly 164,000. as schools start to reopen a new report says that at least 97,000 children have tested positive for the virus during the last two weeks of july. the report also says that at least 338,000 kids have tested positive since this pandemic began. a blow for college football fans, the big ten conference voted to cancel the 2020 college football season because of the coronavirus. the paper reports there could be a formal announcement as early as tomorrow and that the big ten is trying to coordinate with other big conferences in the country, president trump

tweeting his displeasure this afternoon, he wants to see college football played this fall. no signs that democrats and republicans plan to return to resume talks on a new pandemic relief talks days after the president signed executive orders, but critics on both sides of the aisle say they are insufficient and he may not have the authority to carry out some of those actions. let's get you caught up on some of the other stories making headlines this afternoon. overseas the political crisis following last week chemical explosion in beirut deepens today. as the government announced their resignation the move comes after demonstrator and world leaders demanded political reform. after the blast killed 160 and injured thousands more. at least one person were killed and four others were injured in

a massive gas line explosion in baltimore the blast leveled at least three homes in the northwest part of the city, there's no word on what caused the explosion. now all of this comes as the nation waits for joe biden to decide who he wants to be his running mate later this fall. nbc news reports that the decision come as soon as today. the latest from some of the nation's biggest hot spots, we start in georgia where the state's largest testing site opened at the atlanta airport as questions are raised about the decision to send students back to school. nbc's blayne alexander joins us from college park, in georgia, so the surgeon general jerome adams was in georgia to open that airport testing site, you had a chance to talk with him about that viral photo from a packed hallway with few students

wearing masks. >> reporter: yeah, both he and governor brian kemp behind me, talking about the largest site here in the state with a capacity to test some 5,000 every single day, but day were both questioned steadily about what those images were, those images we coming out of schools last week that went back to school for the first time last week. the district got a lot of criticism from around the country as students packed in those hallways and very few of them wearing masks. governor kemp said he's not in favor of requiring masks when kids go back to school. he put that power with local superintendents. i pressed the surgeon general on that very same question, i asked him as public health official what was his response was when he saw that photo. take a look. >> when i saw that picture,

these are kids who don't understand they're not going to have a prom, they're not going to have a spring break if they don't em brabrace the role of t disease. a requirement depends on how you're going to enforce, and i think that's an important perspective that people don't think about, we talk about minority students being victims of over-enforcement. we don't need enforcement if people understand they'll benefit from doing the right thing. >> reporter: so basically he said he's not against mandating masks, the more effective measure to take would be to educate students why it's so important to wear the masks. this testing site that opened today, a quick look at the georgia numbers, when you talk about deaths in the state of georgia from covid-19, they're as high as they've ever been, on

friday, georgia saw the highest number of single day, the highest edition of deaths from covid-19, 91 deaths added in a single day the seven-day average is as high as it's ever been. that's why they were here. >> all right, live in college park, georgia, nbc's blayne alexander let's head out west to california where governor gavin newsom is about to hold a news conference. how serious was this glitch, information has been a corner stone to how this country deals with this pandemic, has it been corrected and what do we know about the extent of the outbreak in california? >> reporter: well, big question marks still over the extent of the outbreak, the big headline here in the state of california

is the resignation of the state's public health director, she was seen as a key member of governor gave yun newsom's task force, in the post less than a year, and her resignation on the heels on this announced glitch, announced early last week, resulted in the undercount of the number of coronavirus cases throughout the state, which is particularly problematic given the governor's entire policy, he's emphasized time and time again is data driven and 38 counties currently on the watch list for the state are frozen until the entire situation is fixed. we understand the glitch has been fixed. they're still working through a backlog of cases, potentially hundreds of thousands of cases underreported at this point. now, no specific reason was given for angell's resignation, we have heard from the governor,

he issued a statement about her resignation, quote, i want to thank dr. angell for her service to the state and her work to help steer our public health system during this global pandemic. we last heard from the governor on monday of last week, he announced that progress has been made in the state in the fight against covid-19. he was pointing at the time to inaccurate figures. the one figure that everyone is focusing on, hospitalizations, down 18% in the last two weeks, separate from the database that was mired with glitches. that's seen as good news. >> i want to head out east for a moment to sturgis, south dakota, where thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts have gathered fn annual rally there, there hasn't

been a lot of mask wearing from what i have seen on social media. >> reporter: yeah, we had a crew out there that weekend, not too many masks to be seen, normally attracts 500,000 people to sturgis, south dakota, they're expecting half that, a potential superspreader e., they're offering that tiny town of some 7,000 people free coronavirus testing, once that rally is over in the next week or so. joining us now to take a closer look at all of these developments an epidemiologist at the ucla fielding school of public health. your thoughts on what we were just talking about that event in sturgis, motorcycle rally, tens of thousands of people, many without masks, small town, many probably leave that town and go

back to their respective homes and towns, are we looking at the start of a possible superspreader event in this country or in that region. >> the bottom line is, virus transmission hasn't changed, here's what we know -- when people get together in close proximity and are not observing social distancing and are not wearing masks, providing opportunity for that virus to spread. you know, sturs jis, the good news on the one hand, lot of this is happening outside, but what's happening the rest of the time, people are staying somewhere, people are probably going to bars and restaurants and there's a lot of uncontrolled interactions here and that's when you start seeing spread of the virus. i think we all really need to be thinking about consequences. here we go again. we're trying to get our kids back into school, the biggest discussion we have ongoing right now and the only way to do that

is if everybody does their very best to really push transmission way down and that means foregoing a lot of this, you know, the whole idea, foregoing present pleasure for future gain. the common theme of everything we talk about today. >> speaking of schools and going back to schools, i have to ask you about this incident in georgia, obviously you've probably seen the video or picture that has gone viral, nine students now at that georgia high school showing students in a packed hallway not wearing masks, they are now sick with coronavirus, the school is closed for two days of deep cleaning and elsewhere in georgia, a second-grade class was quarantined after a student there tested positive. similar reports from other areas where schools have reopened but there are still a number of schools that are still trying to decide what to do, how would you advise them given what we have seen so far?

>> yeah, i think this is predictable, we all discussed that we know now students, you know, kids especially those over the age of 10 are able to trans -- be infected and transmit the virus very easily. studies have shown that even younger kids carry significant virus in their nose and we know asymptomatic is an issue. warnings from israel, even in places where you do have low level of cases it's an an illusion that you're not going to be able to see covid spread. the advice is, everybody needs to do everything they can, and if they don't have all of the protections in place, including ventilation, social distancing, looking at how they're going to monitoring people and keeping everybody safe, you really need to re-think having all of these things in.

kids aren't good at social distancing, wearing masks. all of this is very complicated. complicated for adults. even more complicated for young people. so, i think that we've got a very complicated situation on our hands and that i would, you know, i would definitely advise everybody to be cautious and to be really thinking clearly about what the risks are, not just to the students but to the teachers, to the vendors, to the -- to the people who are driving the busses, to the people who are in the cafeteria. this is very important for everyone to remember. >> i want to ask you about this "the new york times" editorial that says we as a country can turn the situation around in a matter of a few weeks if we were to take drastic action, that's a big if seeing how this has played out "the new york times" writes in editorial, six to eight weeks, that's how long some of the nation's leading public health experts to finally

get the united states' coronavirus epidemic under control. if the country took the right steps, many of thousands of people could be sparred from the ravages of covid-19. the economy could finally begin repair itself and enjoy something more like a normal life, we've heard this from some leaders, i'm curious to get your thoughts, if we took drastic actions, lockdowns, quarantining and tracing, is it feasible that we could get this pandemic under control? >> i'm going to agree with all of these public health professionals who are basing these recommendations on science. i will say here very clearly, we all know what works to get this pandemic under control. and our epidemic here in the united states. it's doing the hard work. there's one way through this and it's through it. that means, social distancing,

masks, hand hygienes, all the things that we have talked about, lockdown s where necessary. i'm going to say it again, it's about -- everything has a consequence, everything has a price, what price do we want to pay? do we want to pay the price by locking down and doing the really hard work right now so we can reap the benefits, get back to normal life? what do we want? we as americans have a lot of this instant gratification need and, you know, we've not been doing the kind of hard work and making the sacrifices that are necessary. so i agree with this -- with this op-ed and i think we really need to double-down here and think about this issue of consequences, during the hard work now and reaping the benefits afterwards. >> thank you very much.

i appreciate your time this afternoon. reminder to our viewers, all this week, nbc news and msnbc are talking about coronavirus and the classroom, join us all week long as we bring you the facts, the latest advice from experts. when we return -- the latest from capitol hill, where democrats and republicans remain very far apart over a coronavirus relief bill it comes after democrats and even some republicans slammed the president for taking action unilaterally, action that may not be constitutional. and later, critics are calling it a friday night massacre, they're demanding answers about why the trump administration is making big changes at the united states postal service ahead of an election that will depend heavily on the mail. sk me what sort of a person should become a celebrity accountant. and, i tell them, "nobody should." hey, buddy. what's the damage?

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lawmakers failed to reach an agreement last week the stalemate between the two sides triggered president trump to sign an executive order that provides $400 million of -- $400 per week of unemployment but that move was criticized by democrats and even some republicans because it may not even be constitutional. garrett haake following closely on capitol hill. bring us to speed, what can you tell us about the president's claim that democrats are seeking to hit the restart button on these talks now? >> reporter: well, look, the reality is democrats do very much want to continue the negotiations but the way the president has described it i can tell you chuck schumer has called it a fable, there has been no outreach, neither schumer or speaker pelosi have spoken to the white house since the talks broke down late last

week, none of this sort of democrats clamoring to call the president and beg him to get back to the table. that said, democrats very much understand, as do many congressional republicans, including a lot of those vulnerable senate incumbents that they need to pass something, that the ultimate relief and the ultimate opportunity to keep their jobs in november will to be pass a comprehensive bill that addresses not only the things addresses in executive order but other things including state and local aid, continue direct payments, more robust unemployment benefits. as i stand here right now, we're unfortunately, in a state of political posturing. the senate floor opened a few minutes and ago, mitch mcconnell accused the democrats of holding this up for partisan gain. >> clearly, this isn't about

covid. democrats think they smell an opening they have wanted for years to make uncle sam bail out decades of mismanagement and broken policies in places like new york, new jersey and california. and so they've decided that no working family anywhere in america can get another cent, not one cent unless they get to create a trillion-dollar slush fund for mismanaged states completely and totally out of proportion to pandemic needs. >> reporter: fact-check various elements of that statement there. we're very much still in a period in which both sides are trying to maximize pressure on the other to return to the negotiating table on more favorable terms. right now, no progress is being made on that relief bill that so many people are relying on. >> garrett, thank you. joining now is annie karney,

she's also an msnbc contributor. i want to start with your reporting from over the weekend that really paints a picture of what the scene was at the president's club there in new jersey, because it was a big jarring for those who read it. president trump arrived for a surprise "news conference" that seemed at times to be a much a benefit for his loyal club. speaking in front of dozen of members who gathered in a ballroom to see him. many of them holding wine glasses and foregoing masks. preside he described the back and forth he expected as always a lot of fun. what can you tell us about the white house? that sounded more like a campaign rally.

>> i talked a too that thought this was great, they thought that trump has been off of his game recently and this was old, vintage donald trump putting on a show. the scene was kind of remarkable with country club members literal literally with wine and not wearing masks. the real purpose was a hot mic. trump on a hot mic was caught talking to one of members saying, watch this. you get a chance to me -- this was a show, friday night, he announced that he was going to sign executive actions but didn't say when, didn't talk about the legality of doing so and circumventing congress. saturday he held a second press conference to sign them. and it was all in the realm that we've become used of the official duties of the president doubling as entertainment at

these private clubs that he owners you talked about the legality of all this, do you get a sense that the white house, the level of confidence that the white house has in the legality of this weekend's executive actions. >> they haven't really explained it. the president himself was asked on friday and he took a very cavalier approach, he said, we'll see, we get sued all the time. we got sued on the travel ban. he didn't seem bothered by potential legal problems holding this up. mostly what the white house was doing over the weekend was trying to sell this as an example of the white house jumping into the void where congress had failed and trying to provide the american people with some relief, trying to explain that this would help americans get $400 checks every week, not sure it will.

>> one of things that's emerged in the last 85 days before the election is the issue of the post office, politico is reporting that the president's considering some executive action around the post office at a time where it's become front and center and critical to our election, any context or reporting that you can add to that what the president might be considering doing around the post office? >> this has been something that he been talking about, sewing distrust in the postal service for weeks. louis dejoy is a trump donor, he's the first person to run this organization who wasn't a career postal worker, so the politicalization of the post office has been a long time coming. . the president's attempts to create concerns over whether

we'll get real election results in an election that will be much more heavily by mail because of the pandemic, mostly seen as a sign of campaigning from a sign of weakness. i think it shows that he knows that this is a tight race at best, a losing race at worse. >> thank you for joining us for that reporting. when we return -- president trump making big changes to the postal service late on a friday night and ahead of what many expect to be an election compromised. relying on mail-in balloting. our next guest calling it deliberate sabotage and he wants answers.

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