Americans return to restaurants, stadiums & schools as vaccinations climb and cases, deaths decline; Georgia judge allows another ballot review in Fulton County; 12 mass shootings reported this weekend, at least 11 people killed; Blinken heads to Jerusalem amid fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire;

The Lead with Jake Tapper

CNN

News

3.5 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 24 May 2021

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

CDC: nearly 50% of all U.S. adults are fully vaccinated; CDC: 25 states & DC have fully vaccinated at least 50% of adults; U.S. cases & deaths drop to lowest levels since last summer; NJ to lift most mask & social distancing requirements Friday; CNN: Wuhan lab illnesses raise new questions about COVID origins; CNN: several Wuhan lab scientists hospitalized in November 2019; Fauci “not convinced” COVID-19 developed naturally;

Judge rules absentee ballots can be unsealed in Georgia after groups claim possible fraud in 2020 election; Georgia election audit likely to have more guidelines than current ballot review playing out in Arizona;

48 shootings in Chicago over weekend, 10 cases deadly; Police: 14-year-old girl killed at concert in SC; Police: one arrest in shooting at NJ house party; two killed, 12 injured; White House Press Secy: “there is a guns problem” in America; Study: 7,500 people killed in shootings in 2021; Police association: violent crimes including homicide, rape, robbery up in 63 major U.S. cities in 2020;

Secy Blinken travels to Middle East today in Biden’s first big intl. peacemaking push; Blinken travels to Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo and Amman in post-ceasefire peace effort; Blinken travels to Jerusalem 3 days post-ceasefire;

21 runners die in severe weather during ultra-marathon in China;

To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	As the U.S. returns to normal attention now turns in more earnest to the origins of the pandemic,
0:08.5	the lead starts right now. A new report points to stronger evidence that COVID may have started in
0:15.7	a Wuhan lab, as details of sick lab workers as far back as November 2019 are discussed.
0:24.8	Weekend of violence on the streets of America, a dozen mass shootings in eight states, a five-year-old
0:31.0	among the wounded, and it could be just the beginning of a tragic and deadly summer. Plus,
0:38.2	a deadly race 21 runners dying at a high elevation when hail high winds and freezing temperatures
0:45.0	swoop in. How an ultra marathon turned into an extreme test of survival.
0:54.5	Welcome to the lead. I'm Jake Tapper and we start today with our health lead and a return to
0:59.6	pre-pandemic life for many Americans, crowded restaurants, live music, fans in the stands. America
1:07.2	largely appearing open for business in many places as COVID cases, deaths, and hospitalizations,
1:13.3	or at their lowest point in months and continuing to trend down and a key milestone for vaccinations.
1:19.7	25 states and Washington DC have now fully vaccinated at least half of their adult populations,
1:26.0	and nine states have more than 70% of their adult populations at least partially vaccinated.
1:31.9	This good news comes as new scrutiny begins about the origins of the deadly coronavirus
1:37.6	scene and has learned that a US intelligence report found that several researchers,
1:42.6	a China's Wuhan lab, were hospitalized in November 2019. The Chinese government had claimed to
1:49.6	the World Health Organization that the first patient with COVID-19 symptoms was discovered in December.
1:55.9	But let's begin now with CNN's Alexander Field and those declining case numbers in the US.
2:04.1	It's the feeling sweeping across the country. It's time for everyone to come back. It's time for
2:09.3	us all to be together. New York City's public schools will fully reopen for in-person learning by
2:15.2	the fall. Some of the latest in an onslaught declarations of incredible progress, if not quite victory
2:22.2	in the fight against COVID-19, as so many Americans feel safe enough to celebrate.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from CNN, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of CNN and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.