Trump returns to WH ahead of GOP plan to challenge Biden win; Record number of U.S. Covid deaths for second day; CDC: Rapid antigen tests far less accurate than PCR tests; U.S. Defense Officials split on potential for Iranian attack; Crowdless Times Square prepares for subdued celebration; Managing stress and anxiety in the new year;

The Lead with Jake Tapper

CNN

News

3.5 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 31 December 2020

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

2 House Republicans tell CNN they expect at least 140 House Republicans to vote against counting electoral votes; Source: McConnell calls out Hawley over plan to challenge Biden; Georgia Sen. Perdue to quarantine after exposure to COVID-19; GOP Sen Sasse: GOP putting “personal ambitions” above democracy by joining Trump’s election protest; WSJ Editorial Board: Trump’s electoral college challenge is “embarrassing” and “doomed to fail”; Health Official: One person in L.A. county dying of Covid every 10 min; Fauci “disappointed” more Americans have not been vaccinated; Fauci: Spreading out first doses of vaccine to more people is “under consideration”; 42 people in WV mistakenly given antibody instead of vaccine; CDC predicts 80K more deaths over next three weeks; Biden: “We aren’t getting all the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas”; Trump Budget Office Chief: Biden team has made “false accusations” about not sharing information; Biden’s inaugural committee hosting memorial for Covid-19 victims on Jan 19; World ringing in new year with muted celebrations as virus surges; Times Square preparing for celebration like no other; Managing stress and anxiety in the New Year; 4-year-old boy dies of Covid the morning after Christmas; "Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President” Sunday at 9P ET/PT on CNN;

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to a special edition of the lead. I'm Jake Tapper on this last day of
0:07.0	2020 and we are ending this year with some absolutely horrific new records
0:12.2	when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic.
0:15.0	3,744 Americans died just yesterday from COVID-19,
0:20.0	breaking the tragic record set the day before and more than 125,000 people are
0:25.1	currently hospitalized with the virus in the US. President Trump canceled his
0:29.3	plans to attend a New Year's Eve party at Maralago in Florida returning to the White House just moments ago.
0:34.8	But this change of plans was not because he is concerned about the pandemic or how the administration
0:40.8	is behind schedule when it comes to the COVID vaccine.
0:44.7	It is because he is preparing for one last-ditch effort to overturn the election results, one that
0:51.6	is doomed to fail. It will happen next week when Congress
0:54.8	meets to certify Joe Biden's Electoral College win. That will be on Wednesday. Just minutes ago,
0:59.9	two House Republicans told me that they expect at least 140 Republican members of the House
1:06.8	to vote against counting the electoral votes for Joe Biden.
1:09.7	Now, there's absolutely no way this effort to undo the Democratic free and fair election
1:15.6	will succeed in Congress. But this is where the president is focused and he is
1:20.3	getting help from many Republicans in Congress on this futile effort at more political
1:26.2	power at undoing democracy.
1:28.7	As CNN's Caitlin Collins reports.
1:31.1	Mr. President, will you take our questions?
1:35.0	Without answering a single question from reporters,
1:38.0	President Trump cut his Florida vacation short today
	...

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