Night 1 of RNC filled with dark, gloomy rhetoric; Heartland emerges as hot spot as sunbelt sees declines; Evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr. resigns as president of Liberty Univ. amid sex scandal; Kenosha, WI center of nationwide protests after police shoot unarmed black man;
The Lead with Jake Tapper
CNN
3.5 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 25 August 2020
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
FDA Chief apologizes for overstating plasma benefits, but insists authorization not politically motivated; Dr. Fauci warns against premature authorization of vaccine; Johns Hopkins doctor: Outbreaks in U.S. are “rolling hotspots”; University of Alabama records 500+ new cases in six days; Trump praises his response to COVID-19 despite nearly 180,000 dead; RNC speakers spread fear, claim Dems will destroy families; RNC promised optimism but warned of a terrifying future; Tonight’s key speakers include first lady Melania Trump, Secy of State Mike Pompeo, Eric & Tiffany Trump; First Lady’s RNC speech was not vetted by the West Wing; Former Republican appointees blast Trump, endorse Biden; Michael Cohen slams Trump in new campaign ad: “You shouldn’t believe a word he utters”; Protests underway over police killing of Breonna Taylor; Jacob Blake’s father: Police shooting paralyzed my son; No explanation given for shooting, two WI officers put on leave; Former Wisconsin governor on police shooting of unarmed black man; Republicans praise Trump’s handling of pandemic; “Hoax” details how deeply Trump influences Fox News; New book: Hannity associate says Fox News host thinks Trump is a “batsh*t crazy person”; Washington Free Beacon: Liberal site spent millions on “deceptive” Facebook campaign; Hurricane Laura strengthens as it moves towards Gulf Coast on heels of tropical storm Marco;
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the lead, I'm Jake Tapper. We begin today with the health lead, the |
| 0:03.2 | coronavirus pandemic. New COVID-19 cases in the United States are |
| 0:06.8 | thankfully declining from the peak in July, but the Midwest is seeing |
| 0:11.8 | cases rise. |
| 0:12.6 | The governor of Kansas, Laura Kelly, calling the state's infection rate, |
| 0:15.8 | a quote, an alarming trend in the wrong direction. |
| 0:18.4 | As a top Trump administration official is also walking back a false statement inflating the effectiveness |
| 0:24.0 | about a potential treatment for the virus. The FDA Commissioner Dr Stephen Kahn |
| 0:27.7 | now admitting this major mistake as Dr Gene Marazzo explained to us on this show |
| 0:32.3 | yesterday. |
| 0:34.2 | He misstated the magnitude of the benefit. |
| 0:38.8 | He said that there was a 35% reduction, that 35 out of 100 people would be saved right if they got plasma. |
| 0:45.6 | That is a complete misrepresentation of what the data actually showed. |
| 0:51.6 | So Dr. Hahn now acknowledging that Marazzo was right and apologizing for overstating the benefits of |
| 0:58.0 | convalescent plasma pushed by President Trump, Dr. Han calling the criticism of his statements |
| 1:02.3 | justified. Though he also maintains the emergency |
| 1:05.5 | use authorization of the plasma treatment was not, not politically motivated. |
| 1:11.0 | Many health officials believe there is not yet enough evidence behind its use |
| 1:14.5 | and there have been concerns that the push is part of President Trump looking to |
| 1:18.2 | deliver victories of sorts ahead of the November election, with many experts |
| 1:21.6 | worried that the president may push a vaccine before one is ready. the of efficacy by Dr. Han. It's a big difference. |
| 1:35.0 | I mean, we heard, we just heard you and your, the other doctor, |
... |
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