Trump returns to campaign trail for first time since COVID diagnosis; No social distancing, few masks at site of Trump’s first rally; Team Biden to spend final weeks of race in states Trump won in 2016; First day of hearings for judge Amy Coney Barrett wraps up;
The Lead with Jake Tapper
CNN
3.5 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 12 October 2020
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Trump physician won’t say if president has tested negative yet; Trump begins four straight nights of rallies after being infected with coronavirus; President Trump falsely says he’s “immune” and virus will “disappear”; Meadows refuses to wear mask to talk to reporters after having been around president Trump; Fauci: Trump campaign ad took my comments out of context; Fauci asks Trump campaign to take down ad featuring him; Fauci says it would be “terrible,” “outrageous” & could “backfire” if Trump campaign made more ads featuring him; Fauci says campaign rallies are “asking for trouble”;
31 states report an increase in new cases compared to last week; Early data: schools don’t appear to be major spreaders of COVID-19; Fauci: when schools have a plan & are prepared, it can work; Study: U.S. saw 20% more deaths than expected from March to August;
Team Biden to spend final weeks of race in states Trump won in 2016: Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Texas; Biden makes economic pitch at drive-in rally in Ohio; Trump says polls look “very good” despite trailing in many states; Biden up big in polls, but Dems fear a possible 2016 repeat;
Judge Amy Coney Barrett to face questions tomorrow; Senate Dems argue Barrett will eliminate Obamacare; Republicans say Dem attacks on Barrett are about her faith; Hearings spotlight Trump push to eliminate Obamacare;
Technical problems at “supersite” for Georgia’s first day of early voting; Investigation launched into unofficial drop boxes for mail-in ballots in California; Nearly 8 million ballots cast so far before election day; Pennsylvania judge rejects lawsuit from RNC and Trump campaign over drop boxes; Judge limits drop boxes in Texas to one per county;
Remembering 53-year-old COVID victim Edward Konaha;
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We are continuing this hour with the |
| 0:04.9 | 2020 lead. In minutes I'm going to talk to Dr. Anthony Fauchy as we wait for |
| 0:08.3 | President Trump to depart the White House and perhaps talk to reporters as he heads to a campaign rally in Florida |
| 0:15.3 | tonight. |
| 0:16.3 | It is the first of four Trump rallies this week as President Trump continues to defy all public |
| 0:22.4 | health guidance in stopping the spread of this deadly virus, |
| 0:25.8 | astoundingly continuing to hold rallies with no requirement of masks or distancing. |
| 0:31.9 | rallies that we know have led to his very own supporters getting |
| 0:37.3 | infected and worse. |
| 0:39.5 | This comes even in the wake of his own battle with coronavirus, |
| 0:42.6 | in which he was able to get experimental drugs |
| 0:45.2 | and treatment not available to those whom |
| 0:48.0 | he is inviting into harm's way. |
| 0:50.2 | President Trump, in an effort to secure |
| 0:51.9 | his own political future, is putting the health and lives of his supporters at risk. |
| 0:56.5 | And as CNN's Caitlin Collins reports, the President's physician has yet to say whether or not his client his patient has tested negative for the virus. |
| 1:08.0 | After being sidelined from the campaign trail because of coronavirus |
| 1:12.0 | President Trump returns tonight with an outdoor |
| 1:14.4 | rally in Florida. |
| 1:17.2 | It'll be his first appearance outside Washington since testing positive, and as his opponent |
| 1:22.1 | is widening his lead |
| 1:23.6 | Trump is packing his schedule with more rallies in Pennsylvania |
... |
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