ines de la cuetara, abc news, washington. >>> hundreds of highway miles in california will soon be upgradedh new safe guards to try to protect wrong way drivers. so this includes reflectors that shine red when you approach them going in the wrong direction. also new signs will light up to alert wrong way drivers. and new cameras will alert authorities when drivers have entered and on ramp in the wrong direction. >> and the monitoring systems would take a picture of the driver when they enter the exit ramp in the wrong direction. and then send that picture and an alert to caltrans and chp. >> so hopefully they would be able to summon the highway pa r08 to stop these drivers before they cause a head-on collision. >>> and a deadline today for thousands of california families to apply for free food benefits for their kids. the state program called pandemic ebt provides up to $365 in emergency food aid per child. and this is open to all kids who are eligible for free or reduced priced school meals. 3.4 million families have already applied, but the state believes that there are another 400,000 c

abc's ines de la cuetara has more. >> reporter: as the coronavirus pandemic continues to worsen in many parts of the country, president trump struggling to explain how he plans to lead the nation out of this crisis telling fox business -- >> i think we're going to be very good with the coronavirus. i think that at some point that's going to sort of just disappear, i hope. >> reporter: the president also facing growing backlash for refusing to wear a mask but now insisting -- >> i'm all for masks. i think masks are good. i would wear -- if i were in a group of people and i was close -- >> you would wear one? >> i would -- i have. i mean, people have seen me wearing one and i thought i looked okay. i looked like the lone ranger. >> reporter: and on the foreign policy front, the white house grappling with new reports that accuse the kremlin of paying taliban fighters to kill u.s. troops in afghanistan. trump insisting the intelligence people didn't believe it happened and saying this -- >> i think it's a hoax. >> reporter: his 2020 opponent blasting the president for not taking action soon

ines de la cuetara has more. >> reporter: as he faces growing backlash for his handling of the covid-demic, president trump gearing up for a fourth of july celebration at mt. rushmore. thousands expected to attend. south dakota's governor ksvealing there will be no would be optional prompting concerns from native american leaders worried the president's photo-op may put tribal members at risk. >> we won't be social distancing. we're asking them to come, be ready to celebrate, to enjoy the freedoms and the liberties that we have in the country. >> reporter: large parts are experiencing an alarming rise in covid-19 cases, something 2020 rival joe biden calls a direct consequence of -- >> donald trump's bungled leadership and the total mismanagement of this crisis from the start. >> reporter: but president trump insists -- >> our health experts continue to address the temporary hot spots in certain cities. >> reporter: the president choosing instead to focus on the economy. new unemployment numbers showing three out of ten americans who lost their jobs during the shutdowns now back at wo

here's abc's ines de la cuetara. >> reporter: this morning, another health scare for the supreme court'sldest justice. the court saying that ruth bader ginsburg is being treated at the hospital for a possible infection. the 87-year-old undergoing a medical procedure at johns hopkins hospital in baltimore. ginsburg has been treated four times for cancer and was hospitalized for another infection two months ago. >> justice ginsburg said she plans to stay on the court as long as she's mentally fit. she's declared in january that she's cancer-free. >> reporter: ginsburg, who was nominated by president bill clinton is the second longest serving current justice behind associate justice clarence thomas. the supreme court, which has a 5-4 conservative majority, remains in recess until october after just wrapping up a flurry of work including rulings on everything from the president's tax returns to lgbtq rights. in the rose garden on tuesday president trump saying he hopes the justice feels better. >> i didn't hear that actually. she was just hospitalized? no, that's too bad. no, i wish her the

as abc's ines de la cuetara reports president trump insists he and dr. fauci are on good terms. >> reporter: after his advisers put out information critical of dr. anthony fauci, president trump told reporters he gets along just fine with the government's leading expert on infectious diseases. >> well, i have a good relationship with dr. fauci. i've had for a long time right from the beginning. i find him to be a very nice person. i don't always agree with him. >> reporter: but the president recently made it clear he's not happy with dr. fauci's warnings that the pandemic is far from over. >> i don't think you can say we're doing great. i mean, we're just not. >> and dr. fauci is a nice man, but he's made a lot of mistakes. >> reporter: multiple white house officials tell abc news he has a nickname for him, dr. gloom and doom. the doctor hasn't briefed the president in more than two months and on monday trump retweeted former game show host turned conservative commentator chuck woolery accusing the cdc, doctors and others of lying to the public about the

abc's ines de la cuetara reports. >> reporter: overnight "the new york times" uncovering a possible financial link between russia and the taliban writing, american officials intercepted electronic data showing large financial transfers from a bank account controlled by russia's military intelligence agency to a taliban linked account adding, analysts have used other evidence to conclude the transfers were likely part of russia's effort to offer bounties for the killing of u.s. and coalition troops in afghanistan. the white house refusing to say whether president trump was briefed on the matter through his presidential daily briefing or pdb back in february. >> the pdb is a top secret document that is widely disseminated among government. i will never sit here and confirm or deny what is in a top secret document. >> reporter: when asked if the president reads the intelligence he's given. >> the president does read and he also consumes intelligence verbally. this president, i'll tell you is the most informed person on planet earth when it comes to the threats that we face. >> reporter: presiden

abc's ines de la cuetara has more. >> reporter: this morning, both parties announcing changes to their national conventions next month amid the pandemic. organizers for the democratic national convention informed members of congress and party delegates overnight not to travel to milwaukee for the gathering, and the republican national committee announcing it's scaling back its convention in florida where covid-19 cases are exploding. at the white house on thursday, president trump warned of a dismal future if democrats win the presidential election in november. >> the american dream would be snuffed out so quickly and replaced with a socialist disaster. >> reporter: it comes as the president's administration faces criticism for its handling of the pandemic. maryland's republican governor larry hogan writing in a "washington post" op-ed, it was hopeless waiting around for him. governors were being told that we were on our own. it was sink or swim. >> it's really striking, his comments, especially when you compare them to his past comments. this is revisionist history by governor hogan.

abc's ines de la cuetara has the details from washington. >> reporter: good morning, kenneth. with less than four months until election day, president trump is announcing a major change to his re-election team. the president demoted longtime manager brad parscale. it comes amid a string of botched efforts to reboot his campaign amid the ongoing pandemic including his june rally in tulsa where only a third of the arena was filled and just last week the president's team again failed to reboot its campaign last week canceling a rally in new hampshire citing weather concerns publicly while privately campaign officials tell abc news they were fearful of a repeat of tulsa. trump promoted the deputy campaign manager bill stepian to the new role of manager. parscale will stay on the team. sources say he was informed of the change by the president's son-in-law jared kushner. the biden campaign is seizing on this saying, quote, almost 140,000 americans have lost their lives and millions more have lost their jobs because of donald trump's failed leadership. the trump campaign's game of m

here's abc's ines de la cuetara. >> reporter: this morning, washington's football team on the verge ofetiring its name. >> touchdown, redskins. >> reporter: multiple reports saying the redskins will reveal a new nickname as early as today. >> i heard that the nfl is starting to take steps to tell everybody who has washington's nickname on its platform to start scrubbing it, start taking it off, which means something is coming. >> reporter: the franchise has been called the redskins since 1933 before it moved from boston to washington in 1937. the name, a hotly contested debate for decades. washington owner daniel snyder telling "usa today" in 2013 that we will never change the name of the team adding, as a lifelong redskins fan and i think that the redskins fans understand the great tradition and what it's all about and what it means. the recent focus on race relations bringing new scrutiny to the team's name. >> the fact that even today as i say this, this despicable name has not yet changed is a national outrage and disgrace. >> reporter: earlier this month reports that the team is d