ed lavandera, cnn, dallas. >> all right. let's turn, now, to dr. rodriguez in los angeles, internal medicine and viral specialist. good to see you again, doctor. you know, it's interesting. cases in the u.s. have doubled in six weeks. i mean, the southern u.s. has a quarter of the world's cases. florida, 50 hospitals, at full icu capacity. i mean, what does that show to you? particularly, when we talk about testing levels being too low, results too slow? >> i think we haven't been testing enough. we haven't done a good job in educating people. we haven't done a good job in motivating people to try to prevent this from spreading. so, you know, i -- i vacillate between getting mad and getting sad. just because, sometimes, it appears so overwhelming a task. so obviously, we need to test more. we need to know where things are going. but, more than that, we need to, somehow, flick that switch to make people realize that this is a problem that we all face. and it has been said. it's not political. not at all. >> there's even talk, i mean, in florida, of

cnn's ed lavandera is live in dallas this morning. ed, what is the latest? >> reporter: good morning, erica. those two counties star and hidalgo county in the rio grande valley in south texas urging people to shelter at home in place, because the hospitals there are at capacity and it say warning we're starting to hear from more and more cities across the state here that have seen a staggering increase in the number of new coronavirus cases here in the last week and especially if you look back to mid-june, the trajectory of new cases being reported here has really shot up dramatically here in this state in the last two weeks. the mayor of austin this morning telling cnn that the next two weeks could be dire in that city. >> what's happened in texas, in may and june, we opened up in ways th s thas that were not su and now we're having to turn that curve or else we're looking at our hospitals being overwhelmed here in the next ten days to two weeks. >> reporter: the cdc forecast that hospitalizations could reach nearly 2,000 per day here in this state by mid-j

cnn's ed lavandera visited a traditionally conservative city in texas to hear how voters think mr. trump is handling the big issues. >> reporter: the quaint downtown square of mckinnie, texas promises good times. but good times have been smothered by the coronavirus, the pandemic is casting a long shadow over the 2020 presidential election. >> the whole covid thing is being used as a tool to divide us as a country instead of us coming together. >> reporter: margie and kelly both support president trump and said he's done an honest job of handling the pandemic. >> he's doing the best key. there's so much mixed information out there and trying to decipher what's fact and what's fiction and where it's coming from. i wouldn't don't be in his position. >> i don't always like his decisions, his intentions are good. he gathers the information and makes the decision for our country and not for an ulterior motive of personal goal. >> reporter: this is a conservative big city suburbs where political analysts say trump is vulnerable and the kind of area joe biden is now targeting with a new t

i'm ed lavandera. another sign this morning that the rio grande valley of texas is a troubling hotspot here in texas. leaders in star county with a shelter in place order to get the coronavirus spread under control. remember, neighboring hi dahlda with a similar order described as a tsunami of coronavirus cases but a point of contention in state and local officials. the governor said local authorities don't have the power to issue these kinds of orders. >> reporter: i'm stephanie elam in los angeles where more than half of the deaths in the state of california have happened here in this county. this as california has hit a record number of deaths reported in one day of 157. we also saw a very high number of cases reported in a day, 12,040, second highest number behind yesterday's and also looking at the da ta here in lo angeles county, hospitalizations above 2,200 and positivity stabilize at a higher level than we like to see at 10%. >> reporter: in washington, d.c. keeping an eye on an i.c.e. detentio

ed lavandera is in ft. worth and the u.s. navy deploying teams in texas. what will be the role, ed? >> reporter: they're coming in to help alleviate the pressure on the hospitals in many corners of this state as the pandemic continues to worsen here in texas. the governor announcing this afternoon that five u.s. navy medical teams will be deployed to four different south texas cities and del rio,texas and all those areas in south texas where there's just an onslaught of these cases. the south texas area has been a hotspot within the texas hotspot and that is where medical professionals have been sounding the alarm of how dire the need is and the pressure on the hospital systems in that region because of the growing and skyrocketing number of coronavirus cases that were seen here in this state. so this is already on top of a large number of other military personnel teams that have been brought boo tinto the areas to in other areas. >> ed lavandera, thank you so much. >>> so despite the skyrocketing case count across the country, president trump continues to downplay the coronavirus p

let's go to cnn's ed lavandera in dallas. tell us more about this dire situation in texas, ed. >> reporter: well shg, wolf, yo exactly right, those numbers coming out in a day. the state officials here in texas saying the numbers were goes to be worse than last. that number gets to the heart. 129 deaths reported today. that is more than 20 than the highest previous day record that we have seen since the pandemic started. and the number of new coronavirus cases also being reported is now topping 10,000 for the third day in a row. so, a stunning number here. and again, that infection rate always around 17%. that continues to be an area of great concern. and the death toll has put so much stress on hospital systems and county morgues across the state that refrigeration strucks have been brought in, in to some of these areas, to relieve the pressure. the morgues are full at some of these hospitals. in san antonio, we saw one at a hospital here in the dallas here area as well. so it speaks to the morbid and the dire situation that

ed lavandera is in midland, texas, for us this morning. good, ed. how much of an emotional toll is this all taking on families there? >> it's devastating to put a fine point on it. this comes at a time where depending on where you are here in the state of texas, it can be far more dramatic or perhaps not as dramatic. but the bottom line is in south texas, in particular, this is an area that has been ravaged by all of this. one doctor telling us it's ripping parents and families apart. the garcias met as kids in texas and became high school sweethearts. they reveled in life's sweet moments. ♪ happy birthday to you >> reporter: yolanda's birthday, cutting the granddaughter's hair. and then in late june, her daughter priscilla believes they caught coronavirus at the grocery store. they were taken to different hospitals on the same day. it would the last time they saw each other. >> it's heart breaking because you never want to die alone. you want to die with your family around you. there's nowhere there to support you in the last moments. >> reporter:

. >>> to dallas, our ed lavandera is there with the latest on the crisis in south texas and ed, i think your reporting brings to light what is going on there. >> hey, poppy, well, we spoke with some doctors in south texas who are on the front lines living that pandemic nightmare in hidalgo county. and they -- one doctor described it as a tsunami of patients they're dealing with right now and also went on to say he was overwhelmed by the number of death certificates he's had to sign over the past weeks. this comes as the number of overall hospitalizations in texas has reached a record high and there in hidalgo county, that county reporting a record number of deaths. in just one county, 49 people reported died yesterday, there in hidalgo county. the county judge has issued a shelter at home order, urging people to stay at home to get the virus under control, but the governor of texas has pushed back on that, saying that the county doesn't have the legal authority to issue such a wide, sweeping order like that. the county judge spoke with cnn this morning, reacting to the governor's reacti

ed lavandera shares their stories. >> reporter: this is the daily routine for this doctor. a critical care doctor when he gets dressed it looks like he's getting ready to be launched into another world. that's what it is like to work in a covid-19 unit of a south texas hospital. >> it's a tsunami what we're seeing right now. >> reporter: coronavirus patients have filled the hospital where this doctor works. he says he's treating about 70 different patients. four to five times more than he usually sees in a single day. >> i never had to sign as many certificates as i have been signing. it's been difficult for families. >> reporter: you can describe the suffering you've seen? >> when it happens it's heartbreaking. it is so difficult to watch them. many say good by to their relatives by getting on the phone i'm having a problem. nurses crying all the time. doctors are breaking down all the time. then, again, that's what we do. >> reporter: south texas is the covid-19 hot spot inside the texas hot spot. health officials are warning that hospital bed and icu space are running ou

ed lavandera joins us from dallas. think it was just last weekend when it was 50 members going to help one city and now it's much more broad. >> you're right. i was being focused on san antonio, but now those military medical personnel are being shipped across the state to houston, dallas, san antonio, austin and the rio grande valley and many of the hospital systems across the state simply overwhelmed by the number of coronavirus patients showing up. as you mentioned that number of 10,700 cases reported yesterday and that's a single-day high and we focus a lot on the positive infection rate because that is one of the key medical data points that state officials here in texas were looking at in the end of april and early may as one of the reasons that they pointed to, that they felt comfortable opening up the economy. at the end of may that positive infection rate was at 4.2% and it was reported at nearly 17%. it has roughly quadrupled in just the last month and a half and the ramifications of this, poppy and jim, we'r

cnn's ed lavandera is at the hospital this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, star and hidalgo county in the southernmost tip of texas, the judges there saying the hospitals there are at compassity, and there are a number of other city leaders across the state that are also warning that they are headed in the same direction. the mayor of austin, texas, told cnn this morning that they could see that kind of dire situation in that city over the next couple of weeks, so this as the number of new cases being reported here in texas are reaching staggering record-breaking levels that we have not seen since this pandemic erupted back in march here in this state, and the cdc is also forecasting that by mid-july the state could be seeing some 2,000 hospitalizations per day which is also quite staggering as well, and that's the concern here as this state tries to get a handle on the situation that has really started to spiral out of control in many people's estimations, and they are concerned about what the next few weeks and mont

. >> cnn's ed lavandera is live with more. i'm wondering if the hurricane is affecting hospital's essential ability to deliver health care to hospitals right now? >> they're struggling and were already struggling last week, describing the pandemic a tsunami of cases coming to south texas and that was before a hurricane with 90-mile-an-hour winds came ashore. hurricane hanna barreled down on southern texas this weekend. >> we woke up to the worst 6 our fears. >> reporter: hanna made landfall was a category 1 hurricane, boats piled on top of one another. the storm was downgraded to a tropical depression but still drenched parts of south texas with up to a foot of rain, leaving more than 140,000 residents without power this morning, according to power outage.u.s. president trump included a federal declaration for the hard-hit state. >> this challenge is complicated and made even more severe, seeing it is sweeping through an area that is the most challenged area in the state for covid-19. >> reporter: the rio grande valley, seeing

ed lavandera, cnn, dallas, texas. >>> brazilian president jair bolsonaro still hopes his country willn as soon as possible even as he battles his own case of the virus in isolation. but as cnn's patrick oppmann tells us, conditions in south america are making it easier for the virus to spread. >> reporter: it was the coronavirus test result heard around the world. brazil's jair bolsonaro is not the first head of state to test positive for the coronavirus. but he perhaps more than any other leader has the impact of the pandemic. on tuesday, bolsonaro revealed that he had caught what he once termed a little flu. and continued to downplay the danger coronavirus presents even though the death toll in brazil is now around 70,000. younger people take care, but if you're infected by the virus, rest assured that for you the possibility of something more serious is close to zero, bolsonaro claimed falsely. the coronavirus is raging through latin america and the caribbean, with a particular vengeance. this week, the number of reported cases reached 3 million. in a region plagued by economic dis

>> ed lavandera, thank you for the update there in texas.ore i let you all go, let me tell you all this. michael cohen is officially no longer in prison. cohen was released from federal custody earlier today to go back into home confinement in new york city where he will serve out the remainder of his three-year sentence. this move comes after a federal judge found that the government sent michael cohen back to prison earlier this month in retaliation for a tell-all book that he is writing about the president. cohen was convicted of tax evasion, lying to congress and campaign finance violations. and again just a quick update on that family i spoke with a moment ago, the boy and the two sisters now orphans. i just want to say thank you for all the tweets we're getting. i just posted the gofundme if you are feeling generous. "the lead" with jake tapper starts now. >>> this is cnn breaking news. welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. and we begin this friday with breaking news in our health lead, the nation's top infectious disease expert dr.

ed lavandera, cnn, dallas, texas. >>> and coming up, the debate over mask wearing has been front and center here in the united states, and now that debate has traveled overseas. the latest from london where new rules about face coverings have just been announced. a lot of folks ask me why their dishwasher doesn't get everything clean. i tell them, it may be your detergent... that's why more dishwasher brands recommend cascade platinum... ...with the soaking, scrubbing and rinsing built right in. for sparkling-clean dishes, the first time. cascade platinum. robinwithout the commission fees. so, you can start investing today wherever you are - even hanging with your dog. so, what are you waiting for? download now and get your first stock on us. robinhood. i got this mountain bike for only $11. dealdash.com, the fair and honest bidding site. an ipad worth $505, was sold for less than $24; a playstation 4 for less than $16; and a schultz 4k television for less than $2. i won these bluetooth headphones for $20. i got these three suitcases for less than $40. and shipping is always free. go

ed lavandera, texas. >> heart breaking. many of the communities in texas hit hard by the coronavirus are now in the path of hurricane hanna. this was the scene in port mansfield, texas, the first atlantic hurricane of the season knocked down trees and tore roofs from buildings. the governor issued disaster declarations for 32 counties after some areas were inundated with rain. people are gathering in storm shelters, but officials say the response to the hurricane has been complicated by the pandemic. cnn meteorologist derek van dam is tracking hurricane anhanna. we saw some strong pictures from texas, is that the worst of it or the beginning? >> the worst of the storm has passed because it is no longer actually a hurricane. it is now a tropical storm. good morning, kim. good morning to our viewers. just listening to ed's video a moment ago talking about how texas and specifically southern texas is the hot spot for some of the coronavirus hospitalizations, and infection rates, now you put on top of that a landfall of a hurri

ed lavandera, cnn, dallas. >> just so heartbreaking to watch that. >>> joining me now is chief of staffunited memorial medical center in houston, texas. doctor, i want to ask you your response as a doctor, as somebody who is there and witnessing all of this suffering, and you've spent 100 straight days working there. you've got nurses surrounding you. what kind of a toll does this take on you emotionally? >> i mean, clearly we're going to have a very emotional situation. i have been working today 128 continues days, 16-20 hours a day. i mean, people say how can your body do that. and i guess we're running on adrenaline. just like you saw earlier today on his unit, we see the same. last week i had to sign the largest number of death certificates that i have ever signed in my entire life. and i've been practicing medicine for quite a bit. it is a toll. you see the nurses, they break down, they start crying. they say, i cannot do this anymore. i mean, you see a patient that is doing fantastic and then two minutes later they're not here anymore. it is very tough. this disease has caused the

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ed lavandera joins us now from texas. it's just heartbreaking, these families. the president suggested that coronavirus numbers are stabilizing in texas. is that accurate? >> kind of. the numbers are starting to show signs of slowing down. we've seen weeks where he had more than 10,000 cases being reported per day. we're seeing just under 10,000 now for the last week or so. he also touted the positive infection rate of those cases being, starting to stabilize, but it's stabilizing at really high numbers. at the end of may, anderson, the positive infection rate was about 4.5%. it reached 17.5% a couple of weeks ago and now it's dropped to just under 13%. so, it's still extremely high here in this state. anderson? >> ed, appreciate that report. just heartbreaking. thank you. want to check in with chris, see what he's working on. chris? >> the reality is heartbreaking. and what the president did when he went to that state is an outrage. and people need to be outraged. that state is breaking records all the wrong kinds of ways. and yes, they have unique challenges.

. >>> i'm ed lavandera in dallas. 129 people have died of coronavirus, that is a record single day high. and we've now seen more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases being reported for three days in a row. the positive infection rate remains around 17%, which is almost quadrupled in the last month and a half. the state of new york is sending help here to this state. new york is setting up two testing sites at houston air kb yeah churches that could test 2,000 people a day. >>> i'm evan mcmorrow in phoenix. doug dousey is warning residents that there is no end in sight. at the press conference he urged -- wore a mask, set up a program to give mask away for free but he continues to decline to set up a statewide mask mandate. that leaves arizona a patch work of mask rules with some places requiring them and some places keeping them optional. >> reporter: i'm christine in new york. grocery store chains became the latest retailers to require masks. it joins walmart, kroger, cvs and target. soon americans will not be able to go to a big brand shopping unless they have a mask. the rising amount o

cnn's ed lavandera explains that the scenes and sounds don't stop there. >> welcome to globe life field it is baseball time in texas. >> reporter: chuck morgan's i n iconico iconic voice has becomed fans to the ballpark for 40 years. >> the starting lineup for your texas rangers. >> reporter: but with no fans allowed in major league baseball games -- morgan's words echo flatly over the field. >> playing first base, number 21, todd frazier. >> reporter: a public address announcer, with no crowd to talk to. >> i'm a fan of the fans. i hate it they can't be here. i'm sad about it. >> reporter: no matter where you sit, alone in a sea of empty seats, it's a surreal experience, watching ballplayers like this. all of the sounds are eerily ampamp amply if ied. what's stranger is that the team was supposed to unveil a brand-new $1.2 billion stadium this year. it's a shiny new car with no one to ride in it. fred ortiz was one of the architects that designed the ballpark. their team spent four years waiting to unveil the new stadium. it fizzled because of the coronavirus pandemic. >> as we've gott

. >> i'm ed lavandera in fort worth, texas. the governor is announcing five u.s.dical teams are being dispatched to hospitals in four different cities. del rio, eagle pass, rio grande city and hare landville. they're trying to alleviate the pressure on the medical staff. >> reporter: i'm miguel marquez in phoenix. the state reported the most number of deaths from coronavirus so far. 147. on that same day the rate of positivity came back at 39%. that's the second highest day so far in the pandemic. there is good news slightly. hospitalizations down statewide. all of this as they wrestle with one very big question, as they wrestle with the opening of schools. >>> i'm natasha chen. the state is in a red zone. in an unpublished report, 13 out of 82 mississippi counties have instituted their own mask mandate, yet there is none statewide despite the fact that the mississippi medical association said the governor should implement one. if he thought a mask mandate was the best way to save lives, he would have done that a long time ago. >>> i'm sarah westwood in washington

ed lavandera is with me again from dallas. the governor of texas even says, ed, this is not the worst of it. >> yeah, which is really stunning considering this is coming from greg abbott here in texas who is one of the first governors to push for the reopening. this comes on the day that health officials reported 105 people were reported dead on thursday because of coronavirus. it is the first time that the daily fatality rate has topped the 100 mark. and we are now approaching 3,000 deaths overall here in the state of texas. and that's just one of the few troubling numbers. over the course of the last three days, nearly 30,000 new coronavirus cases being reported. and more significantly is that positive infection rate, which was at 4.2% just at the end of may and it is now approaching 16%. and health officials here in the -- and the governor had been saying that they wanted to keep that number under 5% and because it was under 5%, they were going to push the reopening of the economy. this was back in may. but now all of that i

cnn's ed lavandera has been talking about doctors and families of patients in dallas. >> reporter: this is the daily routine for this doctor, a critical care pulmonologist. when he gets dressed, it looks like he's getting ready to be launched into another world. that's exactly what it's like to work in the covid unit. >> it's a tsunami what we're seeing now. >> reporter: coronavirus patients have filled the hospital where he works. on most days he's treating about 70 different patients. four to five times more than he usually sees in a sickngle day. >> i have never had to sign so many death certificates that i have signed the past couple weeks. talking to these families has been very, very difficult. >> reporter: can you describe the suffering that you've seen among the patients? >> they will have trouble with their breathing. and when it happens, it's heartbreaking. it is so difficult to watch them maybe say good-bye to their relatives. saying i'm having trouble, i don't know what's going to l happen next. i see nurses crying all the time. i siee doctors breaking down al the time. >> r

cnn's ed lavandera spoke with two women mourning the sudden logs of their loved ones. >> reporter: rolandod yolanda garcia met as sweet hearts. they revelled in sweet moments. ♪ happy birthday to you >> yolanda cutting her granddaughter's hair. but in late june the coronavirus caught the couple by surprise. as they got sicker, the 70-year-old grandparents were taken to different hospitals on the same day. it would be the last time they saw each other. >> it's heartbreaking because you never want to die alone, you want to die with your family around you. there is no one there to support you in your last moments. >> reporter: rolando died on the 4th. >> my dad passed away and she ended up having a heart attack on her own. the last time i spoke to her i told her dad was waiting for her. >> the garcia's died four days apart. priscilla has covid-19 and she's guaranteed in her parents' home. a small shrine fills the living room. it's a place to reflect. >> they didn't have to die. they still had another good 10 or 15 years. they were very vibrant. >> what's it like in south texas right now? >> i

. >> i'm ed lavandera in dallas. health officials reported thursday that 105 people died of coronavirus. that is a record single day high. that number has not topped 100 since this pandemic started. almost 30,000 new cases of coronavirus have been reported in just the last three days and the number of people hospitalized here in texas has tripled in just the last three weeks. these are staggering numbers that are causing a great deal of concern and alarm virtually across every corner of this state. >>> i'm evan mcmorris santoro in phoenix, arizona. this is at the highest rate per capita of any place in the country since june 7th. on thursday the governor tried to put a positive spin. the rate in which the infection spreads have come down. he attributed that to recent orders closing gyms, bars, other places people gather. local officials want him to close indoor dining, too, but he refused and he capped restaurant capacity at 50% of the fire code, a rate he said will be strictly enforced. he told air zone thanes to st

let's get over to dallas and ed lavandera in texas. ed, what are you hearing there about hospitals and capacity? >> reporter: well, local officials and city and county officials are sounding the alarm that the hospital capacity is going to come and continue to be a dire situation in the days and weeks ahead. we have the mayor of austin saying hospital capacity could be reached there within the next couple of weeks. you have county judges in the rio grand valley in star an hilgd hidalgo county are already at capacity and now we have new numbers from the department of health and human services and really indicates how difficult it is to control this coronavirus. in the child care facilities now reopened, that they are now reporting more than 1,300 cases of coronavirus, most of those cases are among staff members, but some children also infected as well, but just look at how this has jumped in just the last two months. may 15th, there were 59 covid cases reported in child care facilities in texas. a month later 210 and now we're at more th

. >> reporter: i'm ed lavandera. a resurgence of coronavirus cases in the state of louisiana is putting plans on re-opening the economy there on hold. the governor says that the state will remain in the phase two of re-opening for at least the next two weeks because he's seen a surge of coronavirus cases across the state. the governor last week issued a mask mandate order and health officials there in louisiana are saying that once again that state is head in the wrong direction. >> reporter: i'm athena jones in new york. state of vermont must be doing something right. the governor says the state now has the lowest coronavirus case count in the country. there have been no deaths from covid for 30 days and very few hospitalizations. just three people admitted to hospitals on monday. no plans for a maverick mandate any time soon the governor said because the numbers aren't alarming enough to require one and vermonters are wearing masks on their own. colleges and universities are planning to have students back on campus

. >>> i'm ed lavandera.the in tulsa, oklahoma says that the rally that president trump held there june 20'd with more than 6,000 people inside and a few other gatherings and protests outside more than likely contributed to a large spike in new coronavirus cases in that city. health officials say they have the spike over the last few days which is very different from the decline in the previous two weeks and as we have reported it can take up to two weeks for people to feel the effects of the virus. >>> i'm coy wire in atlanta. the ivey league has ruled out fall sports. they become the first division i conference to do that, postponing all programs until january 1st at least. the school presidents say they don't believe they can create a program for safety and that sports couldn't be played under the campus wide policies like the social distance requirements and restricting student and staff travel. >>> thank you. nashville is second major league soccer team to pull out of the tournament in florida. dallas wi

we heard from the doctors in the ed lavandera piece who said they never signed so many death certificates. we spoke to a doctor in hidalgo, texas, who says he doesn't need what he needs in terms of testing and a neighboring county has run out of money for new testing. they're rationing tests in arizona, yet, the federal government we know is sitting on billions of dollars of unspent money for testing. and i know you have had your own experiences here. >> yeah. i mean, this is -- it's hard to believe at this point. this is a -- this is a moonshot in a way when it came to testing and it was very achievable. i mean, you know, the idea that 2 1/2 months ago now, closer to 3 months ago we heard from ambassador birx saying what we need here is some big breakthroughs on testing that should have been a galvanizing call to industry, let's get testing out to the populations so people can have some idea if they have the coronavirus or not. maybe even one day in people's homes, you know, maybe through a telehealth visit or whatever it might be. but the idea that hospitals still don't have testing. as

let's get to ed lavandera from texas, in dallas specifically, which has just reported the state's highest number of coronavirus deaths -- deaths, not just contractions, but deaths since the start of the pandemic. >> it seems like every day disturbing and troubling records being set here in texas. 98 deaths reported on wednesday. that is by far a record high in the number of deaths reported on any single day since these pandemic numbers have been released, dating back to march. over the course of the last two days, more than 20,000 new cases of coronavirus have been reported. we haven't seen those numbers at all as well. couple of graphics here i want to show you that really show you the troubling trend lines here in the state. the first one is the five day average of the number of coronavirus cases in the state. look at the trend lines over the course of the last three weeks. then look at the trend line for hospitalizations in this state, and this is one of those factors that state officials here having saying that they're looking very closely at. just look at the trend lines there as wel

concerning again because similar to houston what you just heard there from ed lavandera, seeing hospitalizations rise. they have now said over the last three week it is hospitalizations of people positive for coronavirus has gone up 41%. and the warning from officials here, health officials and government officials here, the warning is that by the end of july they could have completely filled icu beds, no more beds available for people in the icu if the rate keeps continuing like this. and so, here in california you can expect that there may be some new rules that are put in place to try to get people to stay at home and put their masks on. kate? >> they warned that it would be coming if things didn't change and things have not. sara, thank you so much. >>> back to florida now as we were discussing, coronavirus positivity rate in miami-dade county hit 26% on sunday. the goal for the county was to keep the virus in check, to keep it in check was to keep that rate to not exceed 10%. very clearly more than double that. and that is what leads to this breaking news that rosa brought us about miami-da

our ed lavandera recently spoke with doctors working on this on the front lines in that county and edat doctors are sharing with you is just so sobering. >> reporter: it really is, poppy. we talk a lot about the medical data and the number of new cases and hospitalizations, and all of that technical numbers that we have to go through to report this story, but sometimes you need to hear from the people on the front lines living this pandemic nightmare. this is the daily routine for dr. federico vallejo, a critical care pum nol gist. when he gets dressed he looks like he's getting ready to get launched into another world. that's what it looks like in the covid-19 unit of a texas hospital. >> it's overwhelming. it's a tsunami what we're seeing right now. >> coronavirus patients have filled the hospital. on most days dr. vallejo says he's treating about 70 different patients, four to five times more than he usually sees in a single day. >> i have never had to sign this many death certificates that i've had to sign in the last couple of weeks. talking to these families have been very, very

cnn's ed lavandera joins me. so are you seeing fans show up? how prepared are they?s going on? >> reporter: good afternoon, fredericka. we are about 20 minutes away from the beginning of this nascar race here just north of ft. worth, texas. this is a venue that on a normal day in the grandstands and in the infield of the racetrack normally fits 130,000 spectators. we are going to see a fraction of that today. already speedway officials say that the track would be limited in capacity to 50% of the grandstand so at most saying that only 50,000 people would be allowed in here but it is not clear at this point whether that -- even that number of fans will be showing up here today. we have spoken with people here approaching the speedway here in ft. worth and asked them if they're concerned about spending the afternoon inside this speedway with perhaps thousands of others. >> it is real. but i think the hype is overblown. i'm not worried about it. it is probably to me just i'm not used to big crowds and just the crowd itself probably makes me more nervous than coronavirus

cnn's ed lavandera explains. >> welcome to globe life field. baseball time in texas. >> reporter: chuck morgan's iconic voice has welcomed millions of texas rangers baseball fans to the ballpark for almost 40 years. >> the starting lineup for your texas rangers. >> reporter: but with no fans allowed in major league baseball games, morgan's words echo flatly over the field. >> playing first base, number 21, todd frazier. >> reporter: a public address announcer with no crowd to talk to. >> i'm such a fan of the fans and i hate that they can't be here for the first game in a new ballpark. i'm a little sad about it. >> reporter: no matter where you sit, alone in a sea of empty seats, it's a surreal experience watching major league ball players like this. all of the sounds are amplified, the pop of the ball hitting leather gloves, the crack of the bats. what's even stranger for the texas rangers is that the team was supposed to unveil a brand new $1.2 billion stadium this year. it's a shiny new car with no one to ride in it. >> it's going to be incr

ed lavandera from dallas has more. is that state -- is that step being seriously considered now? >> well, remember, this has been a struggle between local officials in places like houston, dallas, san antonio and austin and the governor's office over the last few months. as you mentioned, jim, the mayor of houston calling for a two-week shutdown. he's saying that the coronavirus is running out of control in the state. he would like to see a two-week economic shutdown to help get it under control. we have reached out to the governor's office, we have not heard directly from them. but the governor did tell a local affiliate here in dallas last night that he doesn't seem to have much of an appetite for an economic shutdown once again. he is basically saying that the masked mandate should be enough to help get the virus under control here. he went on to say that he doesn't think because of people's frustration with the pandemic that he doesn't really think that people would comply with any kind of economic shutdown. and he doesn't feel like -- or get the sense in hearing what he told

our ed lavandera joins us in dallas this morning with the latest. and despite these numbers that you cannot refute, the governor is still resisting a statewide stay at home order despite local leaders pushing for that, is that right? >> you have a number of local leaders that have pushed to shut down the economy here in texas once again to help get the virus under control. you have seen the mayor of houston doing that. the judge in hidalgo county in south texas, and this comes as we have reached almost 200 deaths reported yesterday. that's a record high. record high number of statewide hospitalizations as well. but there's also some other medical data in there, poppy, that kind of suggests a mixed bag of information that we have at this point. and perhaps some information that perhaps the situation here in texas is starting to plateau. it's plateauing at a very high level but hopefully plateauing nonetheless, as the number of new coronavirus cases has dipped below 10,000 in areas considered hot spots like here in dallas county. the case numbers are

. >> ed lavandera joins us from dallas with more.have the right now, the counties, to do this and make this decision by themselves. >> reporter: and this has been, you know, the one thing that has been a struggle between local authorities and state officials here in texas for several months now as many of these counties, star counties, the latest issuing this order. that is down in the south texas area which has been the hot spot within this texas hot spot, and if you take a closer look at the medical data now emerging from texas, the case numbers still remain high, but it's been several days since we've seen numbers topping the 10,000 mark which is significant, and that is why we're beginning to believe that there might be a plateauing of these cases. now, nearly 10,000 cases per day is still extremely high, and the other side of that coin is that the hospitalizations also remain extremely high and at record levels. number of deaths being reported every day was over is 70. yesterday these were the highest that we've seen since this

let's go to ed lavandera in dallas. it is very significant that he's issued the statewide mask order for sure but he is pretty certain that they are not going to -- need to shut down again because he thinks that this will reverse the trend. >> reporter: right. we have the right wing conservatives in the republican party here in texas that are meeting in their state convention. they are doing it virtually. the governor defending the mask mandate. there's a number of people coming from that right wing saying that this mask order is unconstitutional, and the governor is defending the mask order because he believes, he says, that the mask order is what is going to prevent an economic shutdown, so as the governor talks about a great deal of concern amid these growing escalating numbers of coronavirus in texas and concerned that it's going to cause another economic shutdown, the governor seems to be saying that it will not happen for now if people wear their masks, so if anything were to happen on that economic shutdown front

ed lavandera is joining me again from dallas. good morning. so i think the real question is these dire warnings from medical experts within the state are those going to cause the governor to reverse course because he keeps saying masks will solve it. we are not, you know, closing down again. we are not shutting down the economy again. >> right. i don't see based on what the governor has said over the last few days any imminent shutdown of the texas economy based on what he has said. there's some wiggle room and he is really pushing people here in this state to use the masks. the governor has said he believes if people were to strictly wear masks when they're out in public, that that would do enough to curtail the surge of cases in hospitalizations that we're seeing in this state. but he did say that people need to do that to prevent another shutdown. there's some wiggle room there, but i think it's some time away as they continue to see how these cases continue to unfold. the number of coronavirus cases over 10,000 for most of this week, per d

. >> ed lavandera, thank you very much. >>> let's going to tucson, arizona. the health officials there are using something frankly, evan, i just did not think of, but they say it's an effective way to track the spread of covid, and the news is not good. >> reporter: that's right, poppy. the big question everywhere is how much you can reopen and still control the spread of the virus? scientists here at the university of arizona's west center say that they found one way to track it by using wastewater. they take sewage samples from the tucson waitwater treatment plant behind me as well as other facilities across the country, and they test them for coronavirus rna, and what they are finding right now is here in tucson the rna level is the highest that it's ever been. i talked to dr. ian pepper who is a director of the west center about his research. what is the wastewater of arizona telling you about what arizona should do right now? >> right now, i think we should be very careful about reopening fully, eating indoors, going to bars. that really seems to cause s

cnn national correspondent ed lavandera is in san antonio where military personnel are deploying and, ed, what do we know about the size and scope of the efforts there? >> reporter: hey, brianna. about 50 medical personnel which includes critical care nurses and respiratory specialists will be flown in from fort carson in colorado here into the texas area in san antonio specifically to help out, many of the hospitals overwhelmed by all of the cases of coronavirus that are exploding here in this state. if you look at san antonio which is in bexar county with about 15,000 total coronavirus cases, more than 3,000 of those have been added in just the last week. that's a 25% increase. medical and local health officials here sounding the alarm about the stress that that is putting on hospitals like university hospital here behind me. we are told by hospital officials here that they will be receiving ten of those military personnel here at this particular hospital to help the overwhelmed staff. they have about 160 coronavirus patients here right now but this is a region of the state that alr

. >> ed lavandera joins us. the president says things are stabilizing in texas, is that accurate?mbers are starting to show signs of slowing down. we're seeing just under 10,000 now for the last week or so, he touted the positive infection rate of those indications starting to stabilize at the end of may -- it reached 17% a couple weeks ago, now it's dropped to under 13%. it's still extremely high in the state. let's check in with chris for cuomo prime time. >> the reality is heart breaking, what the president did when he went to that state is it an outrage. and people need to be outraged. that state is breaking records all the wrong kinds of ways. they have unique challenges. he goes there and entertains the maskless masses. he wants to know why people don't like him, that's the answer, right there what he did today. we're going to unpack the truth of the reality, what the inaction is doing to us, and what must be done if we want our kids in school and the economy to get back to normal any time soon. >> we'll see you in six minutes from now. we remember some of those lives lost.

. >> ed lavandera, appreciate the reporting live in dallas.e'll take another look has those numbers go up. now to pennsylvania, cases starting to rise there. the state's governor imposing new restrictions similar to phase one of the pennsylvania shutdown, limiting large gatherings, indoors and outside, at restaurants and at bars. the governor says this is necessary to slow the spread. >> this is what we have to do. feels like a step backwards but it isn't. it's just a reminder we need to get back on the course of mask-wearing, social distancing and successfully mitigating covid-19. >>> joining us now the lieutenant governor pennsylvania john fetterman. thank you for your time. i just want to point to as we start this conversation, pennsylvania is in green, yes, trickling up a little bit, but because of the work of your state, the commonwealth, pennsylvania in a pretty good place there. down low of you obviously see texas and florida there. i assume it's watching the experience of these states that are having the dramatic spikes right now that