Trump on COVID-19 death toll: “It is what it is”; Health Minister: At least 50 dead, 2,750+ injured in Beirut blast; Trump: Virus “under control as much as you can control it”; Sources: WH, top Dems nowhere near deal on stimulus bill;

The Lead with Jake Tapper

CNN

News

3.5 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 4 August 2020

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dr. Fauci: New community spread outbreaks are “insidious”; Trump defends holding Tulsa rally by touting TV ratings; Trump falsely claims virus “under control” as death toll climbs; Study: Need comprehensive testing & tracing to reopen schools; “It is what it is”: Trump responds to 156,000+ Americans dying of virus; Trump makes false claims about U.S. testing, death rates; National Sec adviser at WH after recovering from COVID; Lebanese Red Cross makes urgent call for blood donations; Lebanese official blames “confiscated high explosive material” for blast injuring hundreds in Beirut; The testing crisis: what 20 experts say they need from fed govt; Trump testing Czar: “Tell me one thing we should be doing”; 20 experts to CNN: More supplies & support; Lab official: We need support at the federal level for testing; The consensus from 20 experts: Trump administration is not doing enough to increase testing capacity; Trump falsely claims there is too much testing; Voters cast primary ballots in 5 states, all offer mail-in-voting due to pandemic; Trump contradicts himself, encourages Floridians to vote by mail; Trump claims without evidence mail-in voting is plagued by fraud; Trump downplays John Lewis’ legacy, complains Lewis “didn’t come to my inauguration”; Vulnerable GOP lawmaker: If we can’t get a deal, “we have failed the American people”; 100M+ at risk for flooding, damaging winds as Isaias moves north; To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the lead I'm Pamela Brown in today for Jake Tapper and this afternoon the
0:06.2	United States death toll crossed 156,000 in response to the average deaths of around a thousand Americans a day, the president is saying in this new Axios interview,
0:17.0	it is what it is, and claiming the government is doing all it can to combat the pandemic.
0:23.0	Last hour, the coronavirus task force began meeting in the situation room at the White House,
0:27.0	and top health officials are warning that coronavirus is more widespread than ever before in the US. As CNN's Erica Hill reports.
0:37.0	If you ask the president...
0:39.0	I think it's under control. I'll tell you what...
0:41.0	How? A thousand Americans are dying a day. They are
0:43.2	dying. That's true and you have it is what it is but that doesn't mean we aren't
0:48.1	doing everything we can. It's under control as much as you can control it.
0:53.0	Infectious disease experts disagree.
0:55.0	Our national response to this pandemic should be a national embarrassment.
0:59.0	And again, the data that actually comes from the White House task force backs up exactly
1:04.3	what Dr Burke said. There is uncontrolled spread in over 32 states in the country.
1:10.2	Adequate testing and tracing still lacking six months into the pandemic.
1:15.0	States that were doing well seeing cases climb again including New Jersey
1:21.0	which just scaled back indoor gatherings to 25 people down from 100.
1:26.5	The actions of a few knuckleheads leave us no other course.
1:30.3	There are some bright spots. California's positivity rate is declining and 14 states, including
1:36.1	Arizona and Florida, are seeing a dip in new cases over the past week.
1:40.5	But of the 28 holding steady, many are plateauing at a very high level.
1:46.3	If you just look at the facts, the U.S. has about 4% of the world's population and about a quarter of the cases, 25
	...

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