and context on new books about the trump administration, with admiral michael mullen. it is just ahead on "face the nation." ♪ >> dickerson: good morning, and welcome to "face the nation." many weeks, when we put together this broadcast, were challenged by the number of stories that we want to cover and how best to illuminate them. this is one of those weeks. we're going to try to get to a lot today. our lead is clear, though, it is a story that has dominated the news for 18months now, with a dangerous new twist, causing a surge of the coronavirus here in the rk strassman texas. >> reporter: covid has boomeranged. the menace, the masking, the fear, all back. and it is largely a self-inflicted wound across our two americas. >> this is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated. >> reporter: as of midnight, los angeles reimposed its indoor mask mandate. las vegas wants safer odds, now recommending masks in casinos and all indoor spaces. for the first time since january, new weekly covid cases have jumped in all 50 states, fueled by the delta variant. nationally, a spike of