There are just over 10 million cases of coronavirus globally and almost 500,000 deaths. U.S. deaths recently rose to 125,000.

Yet, the Trump Administration continues to downplay the seriousness of this pandemic. The White House Coronavirus Task Force met Friday for the first time in two months, with Vice-President Pence acknowledging the surge in several states but insisting, "We're in a much better place," than we were two months ago. 

Also this hour: The estimated backlog of unopened mail at the IRS is about eleven million. And that doesn't include the one million pieces of mail that continue to come in every day. It may take a while to get your tax refund. 

Lastly, fireworks are a rite of summer. In this summer of pandemic, police brutality, and overall mistrust, fireworks have attracted darker conspiracies. 

GUESTS:

• Rebecca Katz is a Professor and Director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center. (@rebeccakatz5) 
• Kelly Phillips Erb is a managing shareholder at the Erb Law Firm, a Senior Contributor at Forbes, regular columnist for Bloomberg Tax, and author of the “Taxgirl” blog. (@taxgirl)
• Kaitlyn Tiffany is a staff writer for The Atlantic. (@kait_tiffany)