joining us, the mayor of miami beach. thanks so much for joining us. re than 100,000 cases total now in miami-dade county and miami beach of course is in miami-dade county. we see that eight intensive care units there have now run out of icu beds. icus countywide are 137% capacity. so, how bad are things right now, mayor, from your vantage point? >> well, i think the problem is we talk about the processing of people in our hospitals like, you know, just because we can that just makes it fine if we're able to. every day miami-dade county right now about 200 people go into our hospitals because they're too sick. 20 to 30 of them will likely die. a good portion of them will end up two weeks in icu, and another portion will be on ventilators and survive. that's -- we're normalizing something that should never be normalized just because we're able to process this many doesn't mean we should. we have to focus on the reason they're coming in and the positivity rate because right now i can't imagine why anybody in tallahassee, our state capital, like the govern

hardest hit miami-dade, 1,800 hospitalized here in palm beach county, 622. orlando is and where disney world just opened up over the weekend, they have about 560. the miami mayor saying that they are at 91 to 92% capacity in the city of miami in the hospitals. he's hoping to increase that up to about 50% in the next couple weeks he said the biggest is not beds, it's actually staff. and the miami mayor saying that he hasn't taken a new stay-at-home order off the table just yet. also, wolf, just quickly, the statewide positivity rate is now 18.6%. that's well above the 10% that they would like to see, still hitting young people, mostly 25 to 34. and i will just leave you with one stunning fact. the state of florida now reporting more new cases than the entire european union combined. >> that's an awful, awful statistic indeed. joining us now the mayor of miami beach, mayor dan gelber. thank you so much for joining us. we heard the mayor of atlanta issuing a stay-at-home order. and now the mayor of houston just said his city needs a two-week shutdown to get the

take a look at the miami beach convention center. this is a testing side where we have seen people coming just about the entire day. there was an enormous line. that may have to do with weather but the folks that are waiting in their cars, this line wraps around the entire block and goes around the other side of this street. a lot of folks obviously concerned and the mayor of miami beach putting out warnings in part because the rate of infection is also very high. it is nearly 15%. here's more of what he shared with cnn earlier today. >> our hospital capacity's reducing and it really is sort of a line. you see the positive increase and then you go to your hospitalization and we have doubled our hospitalization, the census is doubled in 14 days and then the intensive care doubled and even we have 158 people on ventilators right now and i think 2 weeks ago it was 64. >> reporter: he is recommending that people take advantage of this access to testing and spoke to a young couple saying it took about 15 minutes waiting on foot and able t

miami beach and most of the beaches here in south florida are shutting down for the july fourth holidaykend because cases are surging, and the governor still refuses to require people statewide to wear a mask. a lot of people are not. we found out just today that an 11-year-old boy died of coronavirus complications here ouyoungen to diesoar in e that i epicenter of this pandemic. this line was almost a mile long at this stadium parking lot near miami, which is now one of the largest covid-19 testing sites in the state of florida. look at the numbers: today, a record-setting 10,000 new cases. compare that to a month ago when it was just 617 cases that day. this surge in cases comes after the state loosened restrictions. carlos giminez is the mayor of miami-dade county. >> the reason we opened up is we opened up with these rules, and our medical experts said if we follow those rules, the levelof connotation should ot have gone up. obviously, a lot of people didn't follow the rules. >> reporter: tonight, 37 of the 50 states have case numbers that are rising, in part due to the same scenes

the mayor calls miami beach the epicenter of the epicenter for the virus. he's joining us live there. thank you for joining us. businesses in south beach, for example, they'll have to close by the top of the hour, 8:00 p.m. eastern. does this curfew, from your perspective go far enough in considering just how bad things are in your area right now? >> well, we're going to have to see because right now we do not have a handle on this at all. it has a handle on us really. so, an 8:00 p.m. curfew, we've got obviously a mask order. we stopped all short-term rentals because we thought there were a lot of parties going on there in the entire city. so, we've really, i think tried to take measures that we hope will work. but i'm not sure that they will. and we're looking at the data very carefully. all the mayors and commissions and managers are obviously very troubled and we're all consulting with one another to try to figure out what the next step will be that will help us tempt this down and reduce the trajectory. >> how do you stop groups of partiers from gathers

it is miami beach that is put out no short-term rental here. the thing is worsening. s different for miami, i grant you. do you think that is an overreaction? >> i don't know until we see the death rate. infection rate and testing are complicated, whether things are going up or down. i do believe they are going up. even in my town in kentucky, we meet people every day who are infected. they are all getting better. they are getting better. if this is a mild disease in miami, don't shut it down. if you have an increase in your death rate and it is significant, maybe you should. so far, florida is doing way better than new york. he would know that if you watch cnn. florida is doing way better than new york. new york had a disaster, a public policy disaster, public health disaster in their nursing homes due to democrat governor decisions. florida is doing a lot better. you won't get that from the media that cannot report any thing objectively. it is a disaster. >> neil: senator rand paul, thank you very much. the total cases, total deaths. when we come back again come out

we'll talk to the mayor of miami beach in a bit.t is the attitude of residents in south florida after the imposition of the new restrictions? >> reporter: a lot of people are recognizing that you know, they were relaxing when they shouldn't be. look at the statistics. we had 14 states yesterday that hit a record of the single highest number of positive tests, and so here in south florida, and quite frankly n some of the other urban areas in the state, people are sort of waking up and understanding that what we're heading into in the fourth of july weekend is actually a moment where people need to recognize that the solution lies with the individuals, and it's about social gathering. fourth of july officials fear is when people are going to ignore the rules. they're going to get together and it's going to spread. sort of as an example of that, i'm standing here at jackson memorial hospital in miami, and in anticipation of what likely follows within about the two-week period of fourth of july, they have canceled the elective, future e

in miami beach, it has been fine. i've been seeing a lot of people, most people i would say anecdotally wearing their masks. if you go north of here to palm beach county, probably seeing some of this contentious video interest a recent commissioner's meeting, they required masks as well, the residents are suing the government claiming they are infringing upon their constitutional rights. for most part, most communities here are mandating masks and people are taking it in stride. ayman? >> let's cross over to jo ling kent. jo, you're tracking an alarming development there in california's riverside county. 99% of icu beds reportedly filled. that has got to be an alarm bell for officials there. how are healthcare workers responding this morning? >> reporter: hey, ayman, good morning. just a few minutes ago, i spoke with the chief nursing officer here at riverside community hospital. her name is annette greenwood. and she says they are near the same level, the highs that they saw in terms of covid from back in may right no

victor oquendo joins us now from miami beach. late today, officials across south florida taking further action to try to curb the spread of the virus. >> tom, miami's mayor saying the time for warnings is over. if you're not wearing a mask in public you'll be fined $50 for your first offense. here in miami beach, an 8:00 p.m. curfew and north of us they'll start implementing a curfew in broward county as well. >> victor, thank you. >>> now to the breaking news for california. the governor outlining new criteria for schools that will most likely keep most of them closed when then is begins. abc's will carr reports from california, where he's also see firsthand the testing crisis in america. >> reporter: tonight in california the governor just ordered schools, both public and private, in all 32 counties on the state's watchlist, roughly 80% of the population, to stay closed for in-person classes until their numbers drop for 14 days. >> we all prefer in-classroom instructions for all the obvious reasons -- social and emotional, found

from the miami pd. >> larger crowds coming out of miami beach. not wearing say coverings. >> reporter: at this moment the state's governor ron desantis is providing an update on coronavirus figures in orlando we know there's a dispute between the state and county of miami-dade over positivity rates. they suspended them here percentage of people testing positive divided by all those that took the test at 27% the last figure we saw 10 pennage points higher than the state. they're trying to figure out their discrepancies. andrea >> thanks very much. that could be political math we don't know. thanks, sam. >>> president trump trying to reassure florida residents during that fox news interview. >> we'll put out the flames and put out in some cases just burning embers we also have burning embers. we have embers and we do have flames florida became more flame-like, but it's going to be under control, joining me now, dr. aileen marty, director of infectious diseases at florida university doctor, the president is talking about them as embers and maybe some

effective today, masks are mandatory on miami beach at all times, with few exceptions. >> just wear the darn mask. >> reporter: if you don't wear one, you face a $50 fine. if this mask ordnance doesn't work, what's next? >> well, you know, there's not a lot of tools left in the kit for us. i think everybody declared a victory too early. >> reporter: florida's governor said his state was a success story just last month. >> you got a lot of people in your profession who waxed poetically for weeks and weeks about how florida was going to be just like new york, wait two weeks, florida's going to be next. just like italy, wait two weeks. well, hell, we're eight weeks away from that and it hasn't happened. >> reporter: that was then, but now cases and hospitalizations are on the rise and there are calls for a statewide mask mandate, something the governor has resisted. studies have shown that the virus may spread by even just talking. some research noting people can release up to ten times more particles through speech than a cough. >> stay healthy! >> reporter: this demonstration shows how w

we're going to talk with the miami beach mayor, dan gilber, coming up. >>> new york city is opening a fourth phase of reopening tomorrow. more outdoor venues will be open, but you still can't eat-in doors, and malls, movie theaters and gyms are all remaining closed. >>> joining us is dr. ben callum. dr. callum, i appreciate you being here. what's your reaction to the latest numbers around the united states and around the world, for that matter? >> there is a real concern that numbers are going up in the south. we were hoping for a bit of a break in the summer, but unfortunately the case numbers are going up and up, the hospitalizations are going up, and now we're starting to see the deaths going up about three weeks after the cases first started going up. >> so what is the u.s. doing wrong? we've heard that schools in europe are reopening, life is getting back to normal, some areas in asia as well, thailand schools are going back, kids are going back into the classroom. what are these areas doing differently that are successfully reopening that the u.s. can learn from? >> that's a rea

joining me is miami beach mayor dan gelber.nt to talk about the icu capacity in another moment, but another statistic that jumped out to me this morning, this is very concerning and it has to do with the elderly. jackson health reports that the number of people 80 years old and older who have been admitted over the last two weeks has basically doubled. that's a 100% increase in over just two weeks and yes, this recent surge fueled by young people but it does appear that now we are seeing an impact on the elderly. what are your concerns here? >> well, it's pretty obvious what's happening and that is that people aren't respecting this virus, especially younger people. their going out, they're having parties. they are not exercising social distancing and of course they have family members who are older. we have too much virus in our community. we had over 3 thousand cases in one day earlier this week which is enormous in just our county. so we just have too much virus. the positivity percentage is something like 25%, so there's to

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so while clearwater beach is open, miami dade county, beaches are closed, broward as well. a serious situation in the state of florida. one we will likely watch unfold in the coming days and weeks, fred. >> we will indeed. boris sanchez, thank you so much. >>> let's talk about what is anticipated in the road ahead. we have a doctor with us, a cnn medical analyst, as well as a former cdc disease detective. so doctor, what are your concerns about what happens after this weekend, particularly in places where people are allowed to congregate? >> so there's always this lag between people being exposed and then actually testing positive and being recorded as a positive case. also there can be a one week to three or four week lag between somebody testing positive and getting sick enough where they land in the hospital. so already the numbers are record high, we keep smashing the national records. i worry that in florida in particular there are regions in florida where icu wards are at 82% capacity right now. there are three acute care hospitals in southwest florida where the icus

in miami beach an 8:00 p.m. curfew. florida again reporting over 10,000 daily cases, over 50 hospitals in the state out of icu beds. >>> president trump, after resisting wearing a mask, his new message to americans tonight and why he's bringing back his task force briefings. >>> plus, the growing list of retailers requiring masks. and delta's brand new policy the shocking ambush, a gunman disguised as a de federal judge, her husband critically wounded, tus york governor andrew cuomo from the one-time epicenter to the hot spot of georgia, his new mission. >>> federal agents violently clashing with protesters in portland, the wall of moms trying to keep the peace. >>> and the moment of silence today to honor a civil rights icon.is is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening, everyone, we get to lead off tonight with a rare piece of positive news about our battle with coronavirus. the early results are in for one of the most closely watched vaccine trials out of oxford university, the bottom line, researchers

so will the beaches in broward county just south of here and miami-dade further south of here. but then you have lucia county that will be tracking with drones. they say it's the bars, not the beaches that really spread this virus. and one grim note, jim, to point out here. as we are getting more information about this 11-year-old boy from miami-dade county who passed away from coronavirus, that is the youngest person in this state, he was severely compromised we have learned. still unclear. he wasn't traveling so it's still unclear how he got that virus, jim. >> still very sad news. randi kaye, thank you very much for that. let's get expert medical analysis from peter hotez and former u.s. surgeon general vivek murthy. you describe this as a perfect storm. the u.s. seeing its highest single day of new cases as the holiday weekend approaches. just how bad do you fear this could get? could we see things spike even more? >> thank you, jim. i'm deeply concerned about where we are in this pandemic. you know, we are certainly seeing more cases than we've ever seen. we are setting rec

cnn's boris sanchez is joining us from miami beach. what's being done to address this huge spike in cases? >> reporter: yeah, officials here were eager to keep people away from this area this holiday weekend. they shut down the beaches. they put a mask mandate in place. they have enhanced the curfew bringing it up to 10:00 p.m. it was originally midnight. i spoke with the mayor of miami beach and he told me there's still more options on the table if these numbers do not go down in the coming days, including beefing up the curfew and returning to that stay at home order. i want to paint a quick picture of what we saw earlier today. this is a testing site at the miami beach convention center. they are open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day. it turns out speaking of the people managing this site, by : 6:30 a.m., there was already a line here. there was massive demand for testing. as long as people need testing and there aren't tests for them, that's a siers problem. we saw this site have to shuttle down more than an hour early because

you are next door in miami beach. are you seeing signs of improvement?well, first of all we're feeling the deaths is the surge from a couple weeks ago. the number is incredibly high and there's truth, we look at this every morning, the increase is slowing down but the amount of viruses we are fielding every day is four or five, six times it was when we were sheltering in place, so we have way too much in the community, and we have to get it to plateau and then go in the opposite direction a long way, because we are getting two or 3,000 in our county alone every single day of new virus infections. >> the miami mayor says contact tracing efforts in miami suggest a lot of people are getting infected inside their own homes from their own family members, especially if they live in these multigenerational family homes. what steps do you need to take to stop the spread inside the home? >> well, the problem we are having, and the mayor and i every morning sit with the experts and data guys talking about this and i know what he is listening to, and he's right. th

but some other beaches, miami beach, they made the decision to close down. why have you kept the beaches open? >> well, we have seen a drastic increase or actually, a drastic improvement since memorial weekend. memorial weekend, we had a huge influx of tourists who were not practicing social distancing, were not wearing masks and that is not the same crowd we're seeing now. and since memorial weekend, we have enacted the mask order. last week, actually. so that is the difference a and the beach is wide open. we have over 60 miles of beach. plenty of room for people to spread out and our beach patrols are patrolling our beach to make sure people are spread out. >> i want to ask you before you go, you're quote d "the washington post" saying i believe it's unrealistic to say we have to shut down again. we all have to learn to live with it. and it sounds similar to the messaging that we are hearing that the white house is going to be shifting to. obviously, people want to get back to work. nobody wants to be collecting unemployment, but how do you also reckon tha

good to have you on this story. >>> in miami beach, it will be anything but a typical july 4th weekend. beaches are now closed and a new curfew is going to go into effect tonight. with me is the miami beach mayor, dan gelbert. we know you have a lot on your plate when this weekend begins. what are you saying to people they can do safely in terms of celebrating the holiday and getting together with family and friends? >> we're telling them to have a july 4th holiday at home. we're not going to have throngs of people at the beach. we are a curfew. we're not having fireworks. we're doing it with the new world symphony online. there's nothing more american than by making a sacrifice to stay at home, keep the family members safe, neighbors or a stranger safe. >> so you have taken a step that a lot of states had resisted. although there's some change now. texas with a mandatory mask law. i'm curious now that they're mandatory in miami beach, what happens if a person violates it? are you handing out tickets for this kind of thing? >> well, what we have done is we have a $50 fine because other

reporter: the 8:00 curfew, the earliest in south florida. >> we've seen larger crowds coming out to miami beach, not adhearing to distancing guidelines, not wearing face coverings. >> reporter: nearly 12,500 more infection sunday pushed the total to 350,000 miami-dade temporarily stopped reporting the percent of people testing positive at last check 27% telling nbc news in part its officials are meeting with state department health officials to go over discrepancies. while numbers tell a story so does the eye test like this street party last weekend have officials extremely concerned. things getting worse not just in florida but other hot spots like houston too. >> more than half of the beds in the texas medical center are covid positive patients. >> reporter: texas notching record numbers while still digesting the shock of saturday's news of sick children >> we found out 85 children under the age of 2 tested positive for covid-19. how is that possible >> covid infects everyone regardless of age. >> reporter: california providing more disturbing evidence of that reality after bay area station u

how worried are you, mayor, that the hospitals in miami beach, in miami itself throughout the county be overwhelmed fairly soon? >> well, the problem is if this spike continues, that's a very legitimate -- in fact, you know, the real problem is that because this thing shows up two weeks after a spike, the spikes we just saw, we are not feeling yet in intensive care or in ventilators and in the sort of the critical care that a lot of those folks need. the real concern we just saw this weekend in these last four days is going to manifest itself in two weeks in ways that we're not prepared for. so this is real, and i think everybody needs to understand that because if they did, they would know what to do. they would wear masks. they would socially distance themselves. they would take precautions that every doctor i know tells them they should take. >> they certainly should. it's simple to do and it will save thousands and thousands of american lives. the new model from the university of washington medical school projects now more than 45,000 americans could be saved by november 1st if 9

let's get to the mayor of miami beach joining us now. thank you for coming back in. this announcement to hear from the miami-dade mayor, what does it mean for you? >> well, i have spoken to him a few times this morning already because i think he is trying to get everybody's input. we are rolling the carpet back up. it is pretty clear we have this real problem, two weeks ago there were 60 covid patients on ventilators. today it is 160. two weeks ago 120 covid patients in icus in the county. today over 330. this is not some kind of result of too much testing as the president might say. it is the result of people being so sick they need that kind of extreme life support so we have to do something because people have not really been following these guidelines the way they need to. >> what is the reaction going to be to this kind of a rolling back at this point? the governor of new york made a good point. it is easier i think probably psychologically with a lot of folks to have a slower phased reopening than open it back up and have to roll it back but that is what you all

correspondent has the report tonight for miami beach. >> the midnight curfew is back for miami beach as south florida struggles with spiking covid-19 cases. the fourth of july weekend will be like no other. and much of the states, there will be no holiday celebrations on the beaches as many counties are closing them for the long weekend. restaurants that have become after our bars must shutdown after midnight. if no more off-site alcohol sales after 8:00. >> people need to treat this like a hurricane. hurricane is coming to my community and we don't care what party you are, it's not like we're worried about -- we do the right thing and act responsibly for ourselves and the others and that's what's happening. >> of miami-dade county, if you're caught not wearing a mask, you now face a 50-$100 fine. the governor says that he will not order a mandatory face covering row for the entire state and says that he has no intention of rolling back any of the states phase two of reopening. he was joined in tampa today by vice president pence. >> you'll have a group of friends and they will get to

we want to begin with rosa flores in miami beach, florida. we are seeing a troubling trend across the country right now and we're seeing a lot of that in florida. >> reporter: we are. it's troubling and it's a dire situation across the united stat states. 32 states showing upward trends including california which busted its daily record this weekend with nearly 12,000 cases on sunday alone. the scenes out of san diego were reminiscent of pre-pandemic tim times. in texas in star and the rio grande, south texas, hospitals there have hit capacity. people in the rio grande valley are getting messages on their phones warning them to stay home. >> meantime as we look at what's happening where you are in florida we're seeing a spike in cases and more concerns about hospitalization. where do things stand right now? >> reporter: experts about a month ago were concerned about 1,000 cases per day, maybe 2,000 cases per day, florida busted its record over the weekend with more than 11,400 cases in just one day. when you look at the pass activity rate abo

fortunately to answer those questions, we have the mayor of miami beach here with us.ayor, thank you so much for sharing a part of your fourth of july weekend with us. i would shake your hand, but obviously, social distancing. the first question, is there enough testing? >> there's not enough testing. the demand has become awesome. there are lines around the block. we're seeing that. and that's a good thing. we're in the middle of a hospitality industry and i think a lot of the people here who are in service and, you know, interact with the public, they want to be tested as do their employers. this is healthy and we would like to have more tests. we're going to ask for more and they've usually given us more when we ask. >> reporter: you mentioned the hospitality industry. the fourth of july weekend a huge one here in miami beach. there's a curfew, a mask mandate. what more could be done to get the message out to keep people socially distant? >> we've had ambassadors handing out free masks. we're doing everything we can. there's more that's going to have to be done. the

victor joins us now from outside the convention center there in miami beach where i know a field hospital has been set up if needed. >> reporter: david, right now all eyes are on the hospitals here in miami-dade county. icus are operating at surge capacity, but they are able to manage. if it gets to the point where they can't, they're prepared to take on patients here at the miami beach convention center. the field hospital has more than 400 beds. >> all right, victor oquendo, our thanks to you and matt gutman and, of course, not just florida. there had been so much hope, the summer heat would slow this down. califoiaonighte un we are with the first responders, one hospital with just three icu beds left. the first responders answering these calls, some who haven't seen their own families for days say, believe the warnings. take precautions, that this is getting worse. abc's kaylee hartung riding along with them in riverside county, california, tonight. [ sirens ] >> reporter: paramedic bill titov is the first one through the door, armed in ppe, when cal fire station 71 gets a call. >> oft

now, if it gets to the point where they can't they're ready at the miami beach convention center. the field hospital inside can handle more than 400 patients. >> all right, victor oquendo, our thanks to you and matt gutman and, of course, not just florida. there had been so much hope, the across the sun belt and in california tonight in one county we are with first responders, one hospital with just three icu beds left. the first responders ans warnin. take precautions that this is getting worse. abc's kaylee hartung riding along with them in riverside county, california, tonight. >> reporter: paramedic bill titov is the first one through the door, armed in ppe, when cal fire station 71 gets a call. >> you also, you keep in the mind, in the back of your mind that you have a family that you want to go home to and friends you want to go home to. >> reporter: he hasn't seen his family in ten days. his station here in palm desert, california, one of the busiest in the country. in the extreme heat fire captain pete tierney says the n95 masks make it even harder to breathe. >> the guys

. >> reporter: with cars in miami beach backed up for blocks. nurses say families are showing up in the e.r. instead >> chances are if you don't have the virus when you come in, you're being exposed to it, because we have so many positive cases. >> reporter: another hotspot, arizona, which leads the nation in new cases this week phoenix officials activating new plans to expand morgue space. new cases are skyrocketing now faster than last spring 36,000 in a single day, a record that stood for nearly two months until july 24 when there were more than 45,000 new cases. since then, infections have shot up every day. tonight, near 60,000 in texas, a system straining to keep up with record hospitalizations, today surpassing 10,000 covid patients. >> the numbers are definitely concerning. we can already feel the tension building in the hospital as we talk to our colleagues in the icu >> reporter: another cause for alarm, the percentage of people testing positive in miami-dade, the figure soared to 33% thursday, or one in three people new york city, the

now, the mayor of miami beach, dan gelber. who recently wrote to the governor criticizing his administration for the surge in cases in his area. quote, a large part of the blame, he writes, falls on an unprepared and understaffed operation. thanks for be with us. i'm sorry it's under these circumstances. governor desantis said to reporters back in may. about how florida was going to be just like new york. florida, now, sadly, has overtaken new york in the number of cases, nearly, surpassing california. do you point to the governor's decisions on this? >> well, i think, certainly, when it comes to the contact tracing, i do. because in dade county, miami-dade county in florida, the department of health who works for the governor does all the local health. there is -- there are no health departments in the county or city. they are all reporting to the governor. and the cdc said you don't open up unless you have very good contact tracing. it was a core state responsibility and it was the first thing they mentioned as the state res

we've got reporters spread out across the country i want to start with sam brock in miami beach where a new curfew is in place to keep this virus from spreading sam, what's going on there >> steph, good morning good to be with you. curfews all over the region. miami-dade has a 10:00 p.m. curfew broward county, an 11:00 one that expires in two weeks and miami beach, 8:00 p.m., dinnertime, steph. that's just over my shoulder across the bay here. all efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus as the state of florida has now cracked 10,000 cases five days in a row. that brings the total about 350,000 infections since this pandemic began hospitals right now are under strain miami-dade is reporting 127% of icu bed capacity in their hospitals. at the same time, though, the state is reporting miami-dade has 22% availability so, clearly there is some disconnect here but one thing that's irrefutable, the economic toll that these curfews and measures are taking. we spoke with visitors coming from out of town to enjoy miami beach yesterday. here's what they had to say. >> the thing that bother

this was a scene on miami beach last night, on a saturday night, where at 8:00 p.m. there was a curfew that was in effect on parts of the beach. police were out on famed avenues there to enforce the curfew on the world famous area for its crowded nightlife scene. >> we're going to speak with the mayor of miami beach coming up this morning. >>> new york city, meanwhile, getting ready for phase 4 of reopening tomorrow. some outdoor venues will be reopening, but indoor dining and gyms will remain closed. >>> the new increase in cases, at a quarter of a million cases for the first time. some states are still setting their own records. >> sam brock is in florida with the details. >> reporter: from a nation reeling from the covid crisis, small bits of hope. >> i am really rooting for this vaccine. it has helped me cope because i see an end. >> reporter: heather wiley recently completed phase 1 of a vaccine trial that has moved to the next step. it's an assistance that can't come soon enough. as states across the country continue racking up record numbers. in florida, more

we spoke with the mayor of miami beach, dan gel behr. he shared his concerns with us.isten to this. >> how do you tell somebody to have to wear a mask and be socially distanced when the president doesn't and hosts a rally where they're almost celebrating the lack of those simple countermeasures? so really we're not on the same page. there's not unity in the -- in our community or any community right now. and i really feel like that's the greatest challenge. if people listened and did what made sense and what was healthy we'd get through this much better. >> reporter: the big open question is what happens next? two weeks from now specifically with the covid-19 numbers. remember, coronavirus carries that 14-day incubation period. and after another holiday weekend in previous months, a memorial day weekend, we saw a surge in cases nationwide because people were ignoring social distancing. so what happens in two weeks? will we wind up seeing even bigger numbers than the record-breaking ones we saw this weekend? boris sanchez, cnn, miami beach. >>> so another so-called sun

the city of miami beach has imposed a curfew for some of the busier areas starting at 8:00 every night, and we welcome to the broadcast that city's mayor, dan gelber and back with us tonight is dr. mercedes carnethon, vice chair, preventive medicine at the feinberg school of medicine at northwestern university mr. mayor, i'd like to begin with you the president today shouted out your governor saying he's doing a good job your governor today said, quote, we are on the right course how do things feel to you there? >> well, we've never had more people admitted in our hospitals. we've never had more people in our intensive care units we've never had more people on ventilators, and we have over 1,300 people that have succumbed to the virus in just miami-dade county, so i don't consider this a win by any stretch we are all, the local mayors and commissioners, we are struggling to figure out how to get around this, and we haven't gotten the kind of help we need frankly at the state level and certainly not on the federal level. >> you had a lot of company. in plain english, do you look back an

i know your re-opening in miami beach came slightly later. average daily new cases are up more than 1,200%. dr. fauci says florida reopened simply too quickly. and now is paying for it. do you agree with dr. fauci? >> well, we opened up too early because we didn't have the appropriate countermeasures. we opened up well after that, by the way. and we were the last city to reopen because we get so many visitors, we were very concerned about it. but the problem is we didn't have these contact tracers in place to deal with the surge. and everybody, you know, i think really from the top to the bottom treated this thing as a green light and an all clear, and obviously isn't. and a lot of that is because, as leaders, we have to let people know how they're supposed to perceive this and how they're supposed to act. when everybody gets excited about opening and acts like the virus is gone, of course it's going to come back. without the contact tracing to cabin it and to control it, it's not a surprise to me at this point that it's spreading like wildfi

ronald reagan showed up in miami beach, gave a press conference and said, i'm running for president.of this moment, response to that resolution by the california delegation. >> reagan is in many ways everything nixon is not. he's smooth. he's handsome. people like him. and people are confused, they're like, we believe that he's a true conservative and we've never really trusted nixon. okay, so now what are we going to do? >> the name of the game right now is stop nixon. now, if a lot of those southern delegates move away from nixon to ronald reagan, then they feel that nixon can be stopped on that first ballot. >> the real fear was that rockefeller and reagan could hold off enough votes so they could prevent us having a victory on the first ballot and then it would break wide open. now, i didn't fear rockefeller. i never did, but reagan was something else. >> any circumstances under which you would accept the vice presidency? >> there is no circumstance whatsoever that could alter my decision about that. >> the pressuring of delegates to come out for nixon, or not to do so, proceeds

what specifically, mayor, are you doing in miami beach to mitigate the surge?> the county has started to roll up the carpet, so to speak. restaurants snds are now closed. we're trying to do the things that might limit activity. listening to the last report. dr. fauci is the only person in the federal government that we're listening to on the local level. to not only get people to comply, but to do these rules that people have to comply with. and he's the only one he's been listening to. it's nuts that the federal government has decided that he's upsetting the president so we should all not listen to the doctor because we don't like what he's telling us. >> it's amazing when you think about an effort that some are describing as opposition research against the nation's top infectious disease expert, someone who was been working for decades in trying to help not just the u.s. but the world in dealing with these kinds of health crises. i know that you and several area mayors down there in south florida have been critical of florida's contact tracing efforts. you sa

here's ernesto rodriguez with miami beach pd >> we have seen larger crowds coming out to miami beach. not adhering to social distancing guidelines. not wearing face covers. our number one objective here is compliance >> since the pandemic started, miami-dade, where i am right now, makes up about 25%, 24% of all the cases in the state plus broward county, those two together on monday were over 40%. that's why you're seeing more extreme measures right here in miami. katy >> sam brock, sam, thank you very much. and let's bring in dan gelber, the mayor of miami beach, florida. thank you for joining us i'm wondering how you feel about this hodgepodge of restrictions, this 8:00 p.m. curfew only applies to south beach, but not everybody is only going to dinner in south beach. it might be a hot spot is it effective if you're seeing one area have stricter rules than another >> well, in our county, i think we're even if we're a little different, we're on the same page all the mayors meet pretty regularly and talk about all these different things the reason we had to do that is we have famous pr

tell the american people that's what i'm doing. >> i have to let you go, but quickly, an update on miami beach miami-dade county. any sign that cases are leveling off or anything like that? >> they are leveling off, we think, but they're leveling off at a very, very enormously high level. i think 20 or 30 people are going to die a day in dade county alone, and we've got to get the virus down. we've got to get our contact tracing in place. we've got it wear our masks. we have a curfew. we've closed indoor restaurants. but we have to do all those things if we're going to be able to really open up at some point. >> mayor dan gelber, we appreciate you coming on the show this morning. thanks so much. >>> john, we want to remember some of the more than 148,000 americans lost to coronavirus. 56-year-old dr. joseph costa was chief of critical care at baltimore's mercy medical center. hospital officials wrote in a letter to the staff that when the global pandemic came down upon us, joe selflessly continued to work on the front lines. he is survived by his husband and partner of 28 years, david hart. ga

this is the miami beach convention center. just a short time ago, they closed testing for walkups. if you were joining us earlier there were a line of people walking here getting tested, now it's only open to vehicles. it appears that that's -- that may actually be changing as we speak. they may have run out of the allotted tests for the vehicles, but this line ran around the block. it's easy to get tested. i did it a few hours ago. all you had to have was a government i.d., a person heavily in ppe, a swab, a moment of discomfort. in about two or three days, i'm supposed to get the results from that test back. the other concern here in florida is not just testing and the rate of infection, which is at over 15%. it's also the rate of hospitalization. the mayor earlier today was on cnn. our census has now double in the last 14 days. and you go to the intensive care. that's us doubled. we have 150 people on ventilators now. i think two weeks ago it was 64. all these things they talk about lagging are catching up. of course, the problem is you can't wait until that problem is in front

as you mentioned, i'm at the miami beach convention center testing site. all these cars which go down the block and around on the other side of the adjacent street, the individual ye you showed, 1200 tests a day at this site, kristen. it's not enough. they're running out of test, hitting that limit. there are people going to other places to try to get it done. let me bring in dana james, an er nurse at a hospital in the miami area. dana, what's the trends you've been seeing in the last couple weeks? >> especially in the last two weeks we've seen people coming into the emergency room and using it more as a testing site rather than emergency services for elective testing. >> they don't want to stand in line or can't or don't have the time to wait in long lines and are coming to the er instead. who is coming primarily? >> i've seen a lot of parents. i've had parents' moms bringing in their children. the mom walks in and says i'm positive right now. i want to know if my child s. we have exposure right there. >> seems like an obvious question. what are the dang

meanwhile, nbc's sam brock is in miami beach. what are they doing there, given the hotspot that miami beach has become? >> reporter: andrea, there's no question, the numbers today just reported within the last hour or so not as gaudy as what we saw over the weekend. 9,200 new cases of covid-19 in florida. the concern this afternoon, andrea, fatalities a new record, 132 deaths confirmed, the fourth time in six days that this state has hit a new peak in deaths. 4,400 in total for the state of florida. over my shoulder, you're looking at these cars, testing is part of the equation as well. here in miami beach they're testing from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., still not enough to get all the demand for cars. there are people left out, waiting to get tested, even after all of that. the other major concern is the lag time. governor desantis was talking about this recently, it's supposed to be about 48 hours between when you get tested and when you get the results back. right now for floridians it's between five and seven days. we've talked t