Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20200824

Things being held up and wouldnt mind so much, thats my opinion, a very strong opinion. Reporter the emergency approval was held up by concerns among top government scientists who wanted more data before signing off. Though, two of trumps aides claimed they were slowwalking the approval. If they dont see the light, they need to feel the heat. Convalescent plasma, thats like going after bambi. Reporter the fda commissioner didnt address trumps attacks but praised him before later saying in a statement that the decision was made based on data and not politics. Thank you, mr. President , for your leadership. Reporter the announcement comes as cnn is also reporting that last month white house officials raised the possibility of granting a similar emergency authorization to use a vaccine before phase three trials are completed, raising concerns that politics is being put ahead of science. What they are doing is using covid to steal an election. Reporter the president is looking for good news as he heads into his Convention Week after it was revealed that his niece secretly recorded his older sister describing him as a liar with no principles. Oh, my god, im talking too freely, but, you know, the change of stories. Reporter President Trump is hoping to rewrite that narrative at this weeks convention. Ours is going to be a very forwardlooking convention. Reporter Kellyanne Conway said she will step down from her role at the end of the month to focus on her family as her husband will also pull back from his role in the antitrump group, the lincoln project. Reporter and, jake, thats not the only drama thats around the president. The new York Attorney general also made some developments about their investigation into the Trump Organization and whether they inflated the number of their assets in order to get loan approval. Today, the new York State Attorney general said they want to be able to speak to eric trump under oath and also get more documents from the Trump Organization after they said that eric trump abruptly canceled a scheduled interview with their office last month and also said recently they heard from the Trump Organization that they did not want to provide further documents to them. All right, kaitlan collins, thanks so much. Joining me now to discuss, dr. Paul offut. He also serves on the fda vaccine advisory committee. Dr. Offut, thanks for joining us. So you said that you were seeing bullying at the highest levels of the fda, which commissioner stephen hahn denies. Hahn says that he took an oath more than 30 years ago to do no harm. We heard from this chief of staff specifically talking about the fda. Take a listen. If they dont see the light, they need to feel the heat because the American People are suffering. This president knows it. So, you dont believe he was feeling the heat and he made his judgment accordingly . I think we have two pieces of evidence for that. The first was hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug which had never been shown to work for covid19 where i think that the administration looking for some quick, fast cure for all this pushed the fda for a drug for which we had no evidence. And now we know not only did it work to treat the disease, but 10 of people had heart arrhythmias can be fatal. Now we have round two. Weve had evidence that at least according to dr. Fauci and dr. Collins whos head of the nih was not adequate enough to show that the plasma therapy worked in a clear way for people who had covid19. Although i think it probably does have some efficacy. We dont have data showing that it has efficacy. The fdas job is to make sure that they would not approve a product until its been shown to be safe and effective. And this had not clearly been shown to be effective. And everybody had agreed to that a few days ago. Last night there was a change of heart by the fda without any new data. So one can only conclude that there had to be pressure on the fda. And looking at Donald Trumps tweets, you can only conclude that. And it is worrisome, especially as we move to the notion of a vaccine. We cant do that anymore. Theres too much at stake with the vaccine. So, i want to get to a vaccine in a second. But on the subject of hydroxychloroquine, obviously, that can do harm to an individual. So i understand what youre saying there. What is the risk of approving the blood Plasma Treatment . I understand that its not following scientific protocol. But i guess whats the worst thing that happens . Well, i think as a generally safe product, although we all know that once that any medical product that has a positive effect can have a negative effect. You are giving a lot of foreign protein to somebody who gets this plasma. You can always be surprised unpleasantly on what the side effects can be once you put it into a lot of people. I dont think thats really going to be the issue. Its more of an issue of we have another example of absent Clear Scientific evidence if something works that the fda is being pushed to approve it. And thats what worries me actually more than anything else. I dont think its going to increase or decrease the use of plasma therapy here. It just worries me that it sets yet another precedent to make you worry about the fact that the administrations willing to bully its sciencebased agencies. So now lets talk about a vaccine because i know that that is a big concern among many experts, many medical experts. Sources tell cnn that white house officials raised the possibility of a vaccine emergency use authorization that would take place before phase three trials of the vaccine were completed. So, again, completely in violation of scientific protocol. Ive heard this discussed as a way to help the president s reelection chances. Thats why people are pushing for it. Are you worried that President Trump is going to push a vaccine on the public before it is thoroughly ready and vetted and according to scientific protocols as a political gambit to win the election . Yes. I mean, im on this nih group that was put together by francis collins. And we recommended that the trial be a 30,000person trial. Roughly say 20,000 people get a vaccine, 10,000 get placebo. The reason for that is you want to have an excellent safety portfolio. The strategies that are being used to make these vaccines, whether its messenger rna or adenoviruses or new strategies, theres no experience with those vaccines. Those strategies have never been used to make a commercial product thats ever been used in this country. So you want to have an excellent safety profile and make sure that you have data on people who were elderly, people who have various medical comorbidities, africanamericans, latinx communities so that you can go to those groups and say we have excellent safety data here and you want robust statistically solid efficacy data. If we dont have that and we bring a vaccine out too early, i think we could scare an already skittish american public. Theres only two ways out of this pandemic. One is hygenic measures, you know, that s masks, social distancing, contact tracing. We havent been very good at that. The second is a vaccine. We cant mess this up. We cant scare people by putting a vaccine which hasnt been adequately tested out there because this, frankly, is our most important way out of this pandemic. And i worry about this administration which hasnt been attentive to good science. Do you think it potentially could cost human lives if the vaccine is released early either because it hurts some people because it hasnt been thoroughly vetted scientifically or because it creates an unsuredness by the public . Youre testing 20 to 100 people. When you do a phase three trial youre testing tens of thousands of people. Each time youre reducing uncertainty. Youre not eliminating uncertainty. Youre reducing uncertainty so that when you put it into 20 million people, 100 million people, youve at least done a good job of reducing as much uncertainty as you can because you dont want to have to get lucky. And i think when youre asking to test it in only 5,000 people, 8,000 people, have sort of a substandard safety portfolio, youre asking to be lucky. Most people who get this vaccine are going to be healthy young people. They are not the ones who are most likely to die from this virus. So you have to make sure you have an adequate safety profile especially with vaccines with which we have no commercial experience. And very briefly, sir, you dont have any confidence that the head of the fda, stephen hahn, would stop that from happening . He wrote a viewpoint piece where he promised he would hold this vaccine to a High Standard of safety efficacy, promised he would put it in front of the vaccine advisory committee. Im choosing to believe that when he said that, he meant it. Thank you, dr. Paul offit. Coming up, what scientists are learning about the first documented case of a person who seems to have gotten coronavirus twice. Plus, President Trumps brief 52minute remarks as the Republican National convention kicked off his wide range of rambling lies and mistruths that show that we are definitely in for a wild ride before election day. Stay with us. Under rumbles ] [ engine rumbling ] [ beeping ] [ engine revs ] uh, you know theres a 30minute limit, right . 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And in a surprise appearance at the Convention Site in North Carolina this afternoon, the president delivered a rambling speech filled with misleading and false claims about voter fraud and democrats and a suggestion possibly joking that he could serve for the next 12 years. Cnns ryan nobles is live outside the Republican National Convention Location in charlotte, North Carolina. Ryan, is this what the conventions going to be like, or will there be more of an effort to temper some of the president s more, shall we say, troubling impulses . Reporter well, jake, this convention now only just a few hours old, and if weve learned anything from what weve seen already today, that this is Donald Trumps convention, and everything that we see from here on out is going to be something that comes directly from him. He is going to drive the messaging. He is going to drive the story of this convention, and that was on full display this afternoon and this morning. Its important to point out that the president s aides said leading up to this convention that it was going to be very different from the democratic convention. They accused the democrats of putting on a convention that was filled with doom and bloom and talking about all the bad things going on in the country and that this convention was going to be filled with hope and optimism. The president showed none of that today during this 52minute speech where he complained about a wide variety of things of accusations that president obama and his administration were spying on his campaign, talking about the potential of voter fraud, complaining about a wide range of things and talked very little about the hope and optimism that he would bring over the next four years. The other thing we should point out is that while his campaign will attempt to spend each day with a frame for each event, theyre going to talk about certain issues that they want to highlight, ultimately all of these speakers have one of two things in common. Theyre either related to President Trump, meaning that his wife or his children or they are a group that have pledged their undying loyalty to donald trump. Rick scott from South Carolina, the senator from there is going to be one of the speakers. Nikki haley, his former u. N. Ambassador, the current republican chairperson. You also have congressman steve scalise. His son donald trump jr. , matt gaetz and jim jordan. These are all individuals who, above all, support donald trump. So as the president tries to make the case about Building Back the economy, building on the accomplishments that hes had over the past four years, one thing is clear about this convention, jake, and that it is all about donald trump, and youre either with him or you are against him. I would say that South Carolina senator tim scott has been willing on occasion to break with President Trump. But i take your point, ryan nobles. The biden complain planning to counter republicans at every step this week not only by lining up live events with Speaker Pelosi but also planning for senator Kamala Harris, the partys Vice President ial nominee to deliver another attack on President Trump and his administration. Cnns jessica dean joins me now live. This attempt at counterprogramming, it started i guess with the first joint interview with biden and harris. Reporter thats right. We saw biden and harris in their first joint interview last night. Jake, they covered a host of issues. One thing that former Vice President biden was asked very directly about were these attacks by President Trump and his campaign on his mental fitness. Biden giving a response weve heard multiple times from him when its heard to that question, which is just watch me. He asked the person meme to watch him, how mentally and physically fit he is. He says hes up for the challenge and told people again watch him. Were going to see more from the dnc and the Biden Campaign really working hand in hand this week. Were going to see ads in battleground states and nationally on cable from the dnc attacking President Trump and laying out their version of what has happened over the last four years and what they consider to be his lack of leadership. Were also going to see these events with big keynote speakers from the democratic party. And then again we are expecting to hear, weve been told, Kamala Harris to make a strong case against donald trump. But its unclear right now if thats a bigger event. She had a Virtual Event that was smaller today with a very particular group of people. Would this be a bigger event . That remains to be seen. Jessica, the Biden Campaign says the former Vice President has not been tested for coronavirus, though people who come in contact with him are tested. I have two questions for you. First, have they explained why he hasnt gotten a test . And, second, they seem to be handling the question in an odd way. Whats going on with that . So lets go to your first question first. He hasnt shown any symptoms. They have said that at one point he said he didnt want to take a test from somebody who might need it since there were limited tests at that time. We heard from his Deputy Campaign manager. Listen to what she had to say to that question. We have put in place incredibly strict protocols to ensure that everybody involved who is around Vice President biden, who is around senator harris is undergoing the appropriate testing. The Vice President has not had the virus. Has he been tested . He has not been tested. So, again, jake, to answer the back part of your question there about them kind of bristling at this line of question. He has not been tested, there are no plans at this moment for him to be tested. But then go back to these strict protocols for anyone that comes in contact with him. That has been the line that we have heard from them time and time again and what they continue to say. All right, the Republican National Convention Kicks off this evening. You can hear from former United Nations ambassador nikki haley, donald trump jr. And much more. Our special live coverage begins at 7 00 eastern here on cnn. Coming up next, a truly disturbing case out of wisconsin. A black man, father of three, shot in the back at close range in front of his three children. He was unarmed. What police are saying about the officers involved. Plus, those calling this case a result of systemic racism. Stay with us. 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And two White Police Officers are on administrative leave after disturbing video last night showed jacob blake unarmed being shot by police at least seven times in the back while his three children watched nearby. State authorities are investigating what exactly happened in the city of kenosha, wisconsin, is cleaning up after overnight protests that led to broken windows and torched vehicles. [ gunshots firing ] reporter with those gunshots, this wisconsin father became another black man in america shot by police. Witnesses report that jacob blake was attempting to break up a fight sunday evening between two women before Kenosha Police arrived. I looked out the window. I seen this black man get out the truck. Reporter the man who took the cell phone video ask that we not show his face on camera. He opens the door and attempts to get inside. Almost immediately, the shots are fired. [ gunshots firing ] the familys Attorney Says blakes 3, 5, and 8yearold children were inside the car at the time. I was very angry at that moment. I had so many mixed emotions i didnt even know how to feel and it didnt even happen to me. Im just witnessing it and recording it. I was so angry. Reporter who called police and why they were there remains unclear, as did what prompted officers to shoot. The Kenosha Professional Police Association says, as always, the video currently circulating does not capture all the intricacies of a highly dynamic incident. We ask that you withhold from passing judgment until all the facts are known and released. The local authorities took swift action in the wake of the shooting, handing the investigation over to the States Department of justice. The two Police Officers are now on leave. Tonight a curfew goes into effect in kenosha as the community prepares for the possibility of more protests on the heels of the demonstrations sunday night that targeted businesses and local government buildings. This is not the first time kenosha has dealt with questions surrounding its officers use of force. Five years ago there was an incident with the suspect who ended up being fatally shot by police. The District Attorney concluded that the use of force was necessary to stop the threat. For white and the other black members of the community, this is personal. It couldve been me too. I stood right here. Reporter as for jacob blakes condition, a family spokesperson telling cnn that he remains in the icu at this hour still in serious condition. Many of those who have been rallying behind his family, theythey are peacefully protesting and at 8 00 tonight the city will be putting an emergency curfew back in place. The goal here is to try to keep that widespread damage from happening again. How long will it take for this investigation to wrap up . Reporter the Kenosha Police Department Almost immediately after the shooting took a step back, they handed that investigation over to state authorities, in this case wisconsins department of justice. They suggested that it could be another 30 days before they can conclude this investigation. So that could be up to a month before many of the people on these streets and of course mr. Blakes family will have answers that weve been looking for, for almost 24 hours now. Joining us to discuss, cnns legal analyst laura coates. What should we expect to hear from them . Reporter well, theyre going to have a period of time when theyre going to figure out all of the relevant players, any witnesses who may be there for the officers involved in shooting any conflicts of interest or potential people to say hold on you dont want the fox guarding the hen house. Youre going to have a combination of investigatory techniques that are going to be used to try to understand what happened, which officer shot, was it both officers who dispatched their guns . Was it just one . And then theyre going to hand it over to the prosecutors office, jake, to figure out if any charges should be filed, whether there are any defenses that could be raised that could undermine any claims against the officers. And it may even go into the civil context involving a lawsuit of course against the city or the state of wisconsin. Jacob, blakes family has returned civil rights attorney benjamin crump. He was the fame attorney for George Floyds family. They said blake was leaving the scene after, quote, breaking up a fight between two women. If the Wisconsin Department of justice can corroborate this, we see on the tape that jacob is walking to his car. He doesnt have any weapons that we can see. He is not confronting the officers. He is trying to leave. The officers run up to him and apparently shoot him in the back. I guess, why would it take a month to investigate this . Well, the reason youre even stumbling or even trying to ascertain it here is because the absurdity of the person who was trying to act as a Good Samaritan with three young children, his own sons i believe in the car, walking back to the drivers side and having seven shots ring out. No one can comprehend what would possibly be the motivation behind that. But even knowing that these are the facts as we know them today, there still has to be a thorough investigation on behalf of the officers and the families. And the reason for that is because you want to preserve whatever evidence, you want to make sure theres not going to be a blue wall of science. Youre going to have to contend with the unions who are a very powerful force in being able to undermine the expediency of investigations. And ultimately youre going to have this time with the prosecutor to say i had all the information with no stone left unturn. Should it take 30 days, jake . It should not take 30 days. However, we are in a state in america and have been for decades upon decades where the idea of crossing every t and dotting every i is often a convenient and sometimes a necessary excuse to slow down the process. Im not sure where we are, if its about convenience or about hindrance. But they want to make sure they have all the information they need. Then the timing that it will take should be faster, but it could be as long as 30 days. I believe the 30 days is more of a feeling and not a floor, however. Thank you so much. We just got a court ruling in on floridas efforts to force schools in that state to reopen. The judges decision in that case, next. Terans like liz and. When their growing family meant growing expenses, our agents helped make saving on insurance easy usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Usaa and mines unlisted. Try boost® high protein. With 20 grams of protein for Muscle Health versus only 16 grams in ensure® high protein. And now enjoy boost® high protein in new cafe mocha flavor. At morgan stanley, a global collective of thought leaders offers investors a broader view. We see companies protecting the bottom line by putting people first. We see a bright future, still hungry for the ingenuity of those ready for the next challenge. Today, we are translating decades of experience into strategies for the road ahead. We are morgan stanley. We have breaking news for you now on the return to classrooms in the state of florida. A judge just sided with the states largest Teachers Union. Teachers were challenging Governor Desantis order for all School Districts to reopen for inperson learning by the end of this month. This means that the government cannot force schools to reopen until the schools say they are ready. On top of that, funding cannot be pulled from any school that does not reopen, at least for now. Joining me now is cnns nick watt. And, nick, this seems to be a big win for florida teachers who were very worried. Reporter it is, jake. Now, the state was trying to force districts to at least offer five days a week inperson teaching. And now they are told that they cannot do that. Now, the Teachers Union has reacted saying that districts hands will not be tied now as they continue to try and protect students and educators. Now, meanwhile, there is some optimism around the country, but certainly areas of some pretty deep concern. There were plenty of motorcycles but very far masks in sturgis, south dakota. They can all kiss my [ bleep ]. Im going. Reporter now cases are climbing alarmingly in the dakotas. Over in illinois theres a resurgence after a summer lull and a record death toll in arkansas saturday. But, nationwide for the first time in about a month, the average daily death toll did just drop below 1,000. And in half our states, new infection rates are falling. The sunbelt slammed in the summer, now easing up. You just got to take it stepbystep a day at a time. But i think that clearly if you go back six weeks to where we were to where we are now, those are positive trends. Reporter the university of miami hurricanes will allow 13,000 masked fans in for their Season Opener in a little over two weeks, but no tailgating. And no frat house ragers allowed in many places. Penn state fraternity just suspended after hosting a large social gathering over the weekend. Notre dame now more than 400 cases since the beginning of august. And after an uptick at the university of alabama tuscaloosa just closed every bar in the city, outbreaks on College Campuses in at least 19 states. Meanwhile, the epa just authorized American Airlines to use a brand new disinfectant on some flights that could kill this coronavirus on the surface for seven days. This is i believe a major gamechanging announcement. Reporter and the fda just granted emergency use authorization for a promising but still largely unproven blood Plasma Treatment. The fundamental questions about this therapy are still unanswered. Reporter and after criticism over political pressure, the fda issued a statement defending its decision, saying it was based on the available scientific evidence. And, jake, we have just heard from minnesota, 27 cases there tied to that motorcycle rally in sturgis. And some very interesting news out of hong kong. A confirmed case of somebody being infected with covid19 twice. A 33yearold man, he got sick back in the spring, fever, cough, that kind of thing. Then tested positive again 142 days later coming back into hong kong after a trip around europe. Now the experts are still trying to figure out exactly what this means. It is still one case. But it might be good news. He was sick the first time, he was asymptomatic the second time. So, this might suggest that if you are infected, your body will then the next time you are infected not actually get so sick. Jake . All right, thank you so much. I want to bring in dr. Peter hotez. He is the codirector for the center of Vaccine Development at texas childrens hospital. He is also the dean of the school of tropical medicine at Baylor College of medicine. Dr. Hotez, thank you for joining us. Hong kong may have the first confirmed case of someone contracting covid19 twice. What might that mean for the rest of us . Well, were hoping, jake, that its not a common occurrence. We know from nonhuman primate studies that when you infect them with the sars2 coronavirus that causes covid19, they developed high levels of neutralizing antibody that prevents you from getting reinfected. I still think thats probably the case for most individuals. It could be in this particular person. The level of antibody responses was modest or low. And therefore it was high enough to prevent it from getting sick but not high enough to prevent it from actually getting the infection. So were still studying this virus. It has a lot of important implications for a Vaccine Development because we want to have some sort of security that if we induce some sort of virus antibodies, there are going to be individuals like this that dont have a really robust response and therefore can still get the infection. Researchers found that the first time this patient had covid, he had a strain similar to what was seen in the u. S. Or england. The second time they say he had a one similar to the one in switzerland and england. How many strains are going around the world . Well, you have to be careful on the use of strains. I have the sars2 coronavirus is an rna virus and rna viruses are notorious for being able to undergo mutation. So far those mutations have not really translated in significant differences in how the virus behaves in a patient or the level of transmissibility we think. And i dont think this is going to be a big issue so far for Vaccine Development. Things may continue to evolve in the coming years where itll become a problem. So the Scientific Community is still fingers crossed, hopeful that variation in this virus and different geographic areas is not going to be a big factor. Ive spoken with a number of Health Experts including just in the last hour or so, a doctor out of alabama, dr. Offit out of philadelphia, who are concerned about the fda authorizing the emergency use of convalescent plasma to treat covid19 given the fact that so many other experts such as dr. Francis collins at the National Institutes of health and dr. Fauci and others dont think theres enough data. They fear that dr. Stephen hahn, who heads the fda, buckled under political pressure because trump wanted to bring good news to the American People. We should point out that dr. Hahn denies that. Do you share their concerns . Well, part of their concerns. The part that concerns me is that this is the first time the fda has issued an emergency use authorization for a biologic. This is a branch known for biologics evaluation research. The reason i care is thats the same part of the fda that will potentially could issue an emergency use authorization for a vaccine. And thats where this community of scientists is drawing a line in the sand. We do not want to see an eua for a vaccine. We want the vaccines to go through the full approval process and large Clinical Trials of 30,000 people to confirm that the vaccines both work and are safe. And so the part that makes us nervous is, at least in my case, is that an eua might be released for a vaccine. I dont think they will. I think our regulatory systems are robust enough. I think the Scientific Community will draw a line in the sand. But thats the part that keeps me up sometimes. A lot of people worried that President Trump will push a vaccine into being available before the stage three Clinical Trials are completed. A lot of fear about that. I dont think he has the power to do it. So, thats going to be really interesting. But i dont think itll happen. Dr. Peter hotez, thank you so much. Its always, good to have you on. Breaking news in our 2020 lead today. The Biden Campaign has announced that joe biden and senator Kamala Harris will now be regularly tested for coronavirus. Cnns jessica dean joins me now live. And, jessica, we just spoke minutes ago about the mounting questions about why joe biden had not been tested, why they were being all squirrely, the campaign about whether or not hes being tested. What changed . Reporter well, jake, according to one campaign aide, these are increased new covid19 protocols within the campaign. So as you mentioned we now know joe biden and Kamala Harris will be regularly tested by the campaign. Were now some, what, 70ish days away from the election. They want to increase their protocols and thats what theyre doing. The campaign also pledging that if either harris or biden are confirmed positive, that they will be telling everyone, they will be recording that. But again this is the breaking news that now after months of not being tested, joe biden in this final stretch of the campaign and Kamala Harris will be regularly tested for covid. All right, jessica dean, thank you so much. Appreciate it. The postmaster general once again forced to try to tamp down President Trumps attacks on voting by mail. What did he say . Thats next. But come ye back when su mom, dad. Whys jamie here . Its sunday. Sunday sing along. And he helped us get a home and auto bundle. 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Yet, President Trump today falsely called it the greatest scam in our history, claiming, again, without evidence, that mailin voting is inherently fraudulent. Again, thats not true. The president went so far as to say that the aballots may be only sent to democrats and not republicans. Thats under ranged. Deranged. Pamela brown joins us now. The postmaster general really undermined the president s latest conspiracy theory. Yeah, he did. He was combative, he was defiant during his hearing today. He said for the first time publicly, jake, that he wanted to get the word out that the president s constant railing on mailin voting and the suggestion that the post office couldnt handle the mailin voting was not helpful. Heres what he said. Did you not tell the board of governors this month in august that in fact you had had contact with the Trump Campaign to ask them to stop their attacks on the Postal Service and voting by mail . I have put words around to different people that this is not helpful to so you did have contact with the Trump Campaign . For good purpose. Im trying to think of when you say the Trump Campaign, i have not spoken to the Trump Campaign leadership in that regard. Ive spoken to people that are friends of mine who are associated with the campaign, yes. And as we know, jake, dejoy had split from the president when it comes to mailin voting saying he fully supports it, he thinks that everybody american should have the opportunity to vote by mail if they so choose. He also said he has never spoken to the president directly about the Postal Service other than a congratulatory meeting. Pamela, dejoy says he did not make changes to overtime after he took over in june. Is that accurate . Yeah. So dejoy has this messaging about overtime saying that the overtime amount hasnt changed since before he took over. But heres the thing, jake. In july was when they made the changes and tried to streamlined the truck schedule so that the trucks ran on time. In that memo it said what could happen and what could not happen. Which, in effect, the implication could mean that overtime would be cut down. Some of the changes he has made so far that he has put a stop to that did impact overtime, jake. All right. Pamela brown, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. In our National Lead today, louisianas Cameron Parish just issued a mandatory Evacuation Order and is urging residents to leave as soon as possible with two Tropical Storms currently in the path. Tropical storm marco and Tropical Storm laura. Jennifer gray is in the Weather Center with more. Jennifer, what is the current path of these two storms . Well, jake, these are two very, very different storms indeed. We first have marco thats going to be making landfall within the next couple of hours. Its fizzling out. It is weakening. 40mileperhour winds, gusting to 50, moving to the northwest at 6 Miles Per Hour. Now this storm is going to head west. It is going to bring rain, a lot of it. Some areas could see 46 inches of rain. As it moves to the west, but really our attention should be focused on laura because this storm could rapidly intensify once it enters the gulf of mexico the next 24 to 48 hours definitely crucial with this storm. It is a little ragged. Its had some interaction with cuba. Thats very common when you have storms interacting with land like this, a little bit of wind sheer has sort of torn it apart. But once it gets on the other side of cuba, it gets into the gulf of mexico, this is going to have a very favorable environment for rapidly intensifying. This is expected to become a hurricane tomorrow, and then could become a category 2 or 3 by the time it makes landfall on wednesday. So this is going to quickly strengthen. Right now 60mileperhour winds. Its moving at 20 Miles Per Hour, which is actually very fast. But it is expected to slow quite a bit. And as it sits in the gulf of mexico, it churns. It has weaker wind sheer. It has warm waters to just sort of marinate out there and is going to intensify quite a bit. Now we are forecasting a landfall wednesday night into thursday morning. So the wee hours of the morning, possibly thursday morning, as a category 2, 105mileperhour winds. Keep in mind a category 3 is 111 Miles Per Hour. So were right there on the line. And so this could very well be a category 3 as it makes landfall. Also new, we do have hurricane watches up for the Southeast Texas coast into louisiana. This includes the peninsula in texas all the way to morgan city. You can see those areas shaded in pink. We also have Tropical Storm watches that were just issued for the 5 00 advisory. This just came out a few moments ago, Tropical Storm watches that does include houston, and you can see all of these inland counties and parishes, and then including portions of south louisiana as well. So here are the forecast models. They are coming into agreement as we get closer and closer to when this storm is expected to make landfall. And then of course it is going to go up and curve to the east and produce possibly flooding conditions all up across the Lower Mississippi river valley. So heres the forecast rainfall. We could see anywhere from 6 to 10 inches of rain. You can see these models have it right around lake charles to lafayette. But depending on where this storm makes landfall is going to make all the difference in where this rain sets up. And we see this time and time again when these storms come ashore. And you know this very well. Those storms will start training one after another. They can produce 6 to 10, a foot of rain, even more. Its very easy to do with these storms. But we have to reiterate this is a very different storm than marco. This could be a major hurricane making landfall in the next two days. This is one to take very, very seriously as we could have winds anywhere from 105 to 115 Miles Per Hour as its making landfall. So, just take this one very seriously, jake, and well keep you posted as well. Historic storms, jennifer, thank you so much. Join us tonight for cnn special coverage of the Republican National convention. It will be the first night of President Trumps rebuttal to the democrats. Speaking tonight senator tim scott, former u. N. Ambassador nikki haley and the president s son donald trump jr. A Campaign Source tells cnn that there will be surprises to come as well. Ill see you later tonight. You can also follow me on facebook, instagram, and twitter jaketapper. Right now our coverage continues with wolf blitzer in the situation room. This is cnn breaking news. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer in the situation room. Were following breaking news. The coronavirus death toll here in the United States has just topped 177,000 people. And the number of cases is now more than 5. 7 million. Although cases are trending down in 25 states. Also, were just hours away from the start of night one of the