Georgia Surpasses 200k Confirmed COVID-19 Cases; Florida Governor Asks Judge to Dismiss Lawsuit Over School Reopening Plans; Los Angeles Mayor Approves Utility Shutoffs for Party Houses.
HARLOW: Welcome back. This morning, more than 100 students at a school district in Mississippi are under quarantine. This is after six students and one staff member tested positive for COVID-19.</s>SCIUTTO: And at least four cases have now been reported in the metro Atlanta school district since it opened on Monday. At least 61 students in Cherokee County, Georgia, now in quarantine. CNN's Dianne Gallagher joins us now with more. And Dianne, I imagine school districts expected this and they have some plan for how to handle it. I mean, is that plan kicking into action? Is it working?</s>DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it might be too early to determine whether or not it's working, Jim. They still haven't finished the first week of school in Cherokee County and we're looking at more than 60 students that have been sent home for quarantine purposes because they've been exposed to a positive case. All of those on the first day of school, on Monday. We're talking four different cases of COVID-19. At four different schools, in one school district. And so, this is likely what we're going to continue to see happen at these districts that have chosen to allow parents to send their kids back to in-person classes. Again, we're just at this first week of school. And here in the state of Georgia, we remain at over a 10 percent positivity rate. It became just the fifth state to surpass 200,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Yesterday, and likely we'll close in at 4,000 deaths sometime this week. Dr. Birx herself saying that she is concerned specifically about the city of Atlanta because it remains high when we're talking about that positivity rate. So, it's something that parents have to consider that sending their kids in person while there are positives to that for many parents, there's also an extreme risk that we're seeing play out in schools across the state right now.</s>SCIUTTO: Yes, no question. All experiments here that we're watching. Dianne Gallagher --</s>HARLOW: Yes --</s>SCIUTTO: Thanks very much. Let's go to CNN's Rosa Flores, she's in Miami, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is now asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit over his executive order, forcing schools to open for in- person classes this Fall. Rosa, how is the lawsuit impacting reopening plans?</s>ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Jim, it's not. Schools are moving forward with their plans, but here's what's at the center of this lawsuit. The teachers union is claiming that it is unsafe for children to walk into a school for face-to-face instruction, and that the emergency order that was issued by the education commissioner of this state that forces schools to reopen brick-and-mortar style is unconstitutional. Governor Ron DeSantis' attorneys of course disagree with that. Here are the facts. According to the Florida Department of Health, there are more than 39,000 children who have contracted this disease, more than 400 have been hospitalized and seven have died. And new this morning, we're learning more about the two teens who recently died who were reported by the Florida Department of Health. Now, according to the M.E.'s office here in Miami-Dade County, this includes a 16-year-old girl with multiple chronic conditions including spina bifida, and according the medical examiner of Pinellas County, a 17-year-old boy from Manatee County also died, who died at a hospital in Pinellas County. This little boy also had multiple chronic conditions including cerebral palsy and asthma. Now, when you look at the total cases in the state of Florida, Florida has surpassed 500,000 cases. More than 7,600 people have died and the hospital system in this state continues to be tested. This morning, there are 53 ICU hospitals at zero capacity. Meaning, they have zero ICU beds. And so hospitals are having to do things to make hospital space. We're learning this morning from Baptist Health, south Florida, Jim and Poppy, here's what they're doing. They're allowing COVID-19 patients to go home and recover at home. If they do not need acute care. And what the hospital is doing is they are monitoring them remotely, using technology to make sure that they have bed space for those patients who need critical care. Jim and Poppy?</s>HARLOW: Rosa, thank you for that reporting on both fronts. Let's get to Stephanie Elam now in Los Angeles. Good morning, Stephanie, the Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti with a unique move to try to slow the virus, the spread of the virus, actually threatening to cut off water and power supplies to houses that host big parties?</s>STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and Poppy, this has been done. The mayor has done this to businesses that were repeat offenders that kept operating. When we were at that stay-at-home order earlier in the year, well, after we saw some large parties over the weekend earlier this week, where you could see people standing very close together. Many of them without masks on, this became an issue. And so the mayor is now saying, starting tomorrow night, Friday night, if anyone were to have a party, they will go ahead. These repeat offenders, they will cut their power, cut their water, really hard to have a party if you don't have water, especially if you have bathrooms, right? So, this is a way to mitigate these people getting together. The other issue, and the reason why this is important is because here in Los Angeles County, health officials are pointing out who is contracting the virus. And they're saying that of the new cases that they announced yesterday, which there are more than 2,300 that they announced. They're saying that 76 percent of those new cases were in people who were under the age of 50. And to drill into those numbers, taking a look at the people under 30, they represent 54 percent of those new cases. So these young people are the ones that are driving these cases and they're asking them to continue to do what they need to do, socially distance themselves, wear those masks. I talked to a woman yesterday who at 30 got the coronavirus. She had a stroke. She's now walking with a cane. Her younger sister who is 12 also had the virus, but was asymptomatic. This is what we're talking about here. This is very serious. And even though young people have that invincibility feeling, it's not the case, and that's not what we're seeing playing out here in Los Angeles, which is the worst --</s>SCIUTTO: Yes --</s>ELAM: And hardest hit county in California right now. Jim and Poppy?</s>SCIUTTO: Yes, listen, no one is immune. That's a fact. Some people are at greater risk than others in terms of getting truly sick from this, but no one is immune. Stephanie Elam, thanks very much. Can the White House and Congress reach a stimulus deal by tomorrow when insiders say both sides are still far apart? We're going to be live on the Hill with the latest.</s>HARLOW: We are also just a few minutes away from the opening bell on Wall Street, taking a look at futures, pretty flat here. Looks like a mixed open as another 1.2 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week. Stocks closed higher across the board yesterday, the Nasdaq once again finishing at an all-time high. We'll keep a close eye on the markets. Stay with us.