The Rundown: Trump Unveils Plasma Treatment For COVID Patients

President Trump yesterday announced emergency authorization to treat coronavirus patients with convalescent plasma, which comes from people who have recovered from Covid-19. The authorization makes it easier for some patients to get the treatment, but isn't the same as full FDA approval.

TREATMENT ‘BREAKTHROUGH’? Pres. Trump announced a new plasma treatment for COVID-19, one day after accusing the FDA of delaying vaccines and treatments until after the election, as some universities postpone in-person learning. @TrevorLAult reports. https://t.co/ldhs9CwIuG pic.twitter.com/MYFNkh8TPQ

— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) August 24, 2020

While Trump called the treatment a "breakthrough," health experts say more study is needed, with the evidence so far not conclusive as to whether or not it works, when to give it to patients, and the appropriate dose. FDA chief scientist Denise Hinton said in a letter about the emergency authorization that convalescent plasma, quote, "should not be considered a new standard of care" for Covid-19 patients, as saying that there are ongoing clinical trials. Trump alleged during yesterday's press conference that he believed there'd been a, quote, "logjam" at the FDA in granting the emergency authorization, baselessly alleging a politically-driven delay. A day earlier, Trump had tweeted a similar accusation, alleging that the, quote, "deep state" at the FDA was holding up testing vaccines and therapeutics, and making the unfounded accusation: "Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd," which is Election Day.

• There have been more than 176,800 deaths in the U.S. as of early this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University's count, and more than 5,703,000 confirmed cases.

Weather.com 8/24/20

➤GULF COAST RESIDENTS EVACUATING AS TWO STORM SYSTEM AT SAME TIME POSSIBLE: Some residents of the Gulf Coast were evacuating Sunday as the region readied for the possibility of two hurricanes hitting one right after the other, one from the Gulf of Mexico and the other from the Caribbean. The potential danger zone stretches from Texas to Alabama. Tropical Storm Marco grew into a hurricane Sunday as it moved up from the Gulf of Mexico toward Louisiana before being downgraded again last night, and Tropical Storm Laura was battering the Dominican Republic and Haiti as it was on track for the same area of the Gulf Coast with the potential to grow into a hurricane.

Weather.com 8/24/20

Experts say the combined effects of the two storms in succession could bring two feet of rain to parts of Louisiana and several feet of potentially deadly storm surge.

LA Times 8/24/20

➤FORECAST BAD NEWS FOR CREWS BATTLING CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES: Firefighters battling three huge wildfires in Northern California raced Sunday to make preparations ahead of forecasted weather conditions that could make the fires worse, including high winds and more lightning strikes, which is what caused many of the blazes there and in other parts of the state.

LA Times 8/24/20

There was another fatality discovered from the fires, the seventh in California in the last week. Two of the wildfires in Northern California, one north of San Francisco and the other southeast of the city, are among the three largest in state history, both burning more than 500 square miles.

➤WHITE HOUSE, SENATE REJECT EMERGENCY POSTAL AID PACKAGE PASSED BY HOUSE: The White House and Republican-led Senate on Sunday rejected an emergency funding bill for the U.S. Postal Service passed by the Democratic-led House in a rare Saturday session a day earlier. The bill would provide $25 billion for the Postal Service and block operational changes made by new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, amid complaints about mail delays and concerns about being able to vote by mail during the pandemic after operational changes ordered by DeJoy. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows called the legislation a "political statement," and said President Trump would only consider money for the Postal Service as part of a broader coronavirus relief package. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell charged the legislation was part of what he called a postal, quote, "conspiracy theory." But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for the Senate to act, saying, "The public is demanding action on this now."

USAToday 8/24/20

➤REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION BEGINS TODAY: The four-night Republican National Convention that will nominate President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for re-election begins today. Like the Democrats, the Republicans' original convention plans were dashed because of the coronavirus pandemic, with it first planned to be in Charlotte, North Carolina, and then in Jacksonville, Florida.

But while the Democrats' convention was all virtual, and much of the Republicans' will be, the marquee speeches of Trump, Pence and First Lady Melania Trump will be delivered before an audience, albeit much smaller than usual. Trump will speak from the South Lawn of the White House, which has drawn criticism from Democrats and ethics groups for using the Executive Mansion in that way for political purposes. Similarly, Melania Trump will speak from the White House Rose Garden. Pence will speak from Fort McHenry in Baltimore, which inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner" in 1814.

Breaking from usual practice, in which the president speaks only on the final night when he gives his acceptance speech, Trump will speak each night. Broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC will air an hour of coverage each night at 10 p.m. ET, and the cable news networks will provide more extensive nightly coverage.

➤NBA PLAYOFFS: Results from first-round playoff games yesterday:

• Boston Celtics 110, Philadelphia 76ers 106 -- Boston wins series 4 games to 0
• Toronto Raptors 150, Brooklyn Nets 122 -- Toronto wins series 4 games to 0
• Dallas Mavericks 135, L.A. Clippers 133 (OT) -- Series tied at 2-2
• Utah Jazz 129, Denver Nuggets 127 -- Utah leads series 3 games to 1

➤NHL PLAYOFFS: Results from second-round playoff games yesterday :

• Boston Bruins 3, Tampa Bay Lightning 2 -- Boston leads series 1 game to 0
• Vegas Golden Knights 5, Vancouver Canucks 0 -- Vegas leads series 1 game to 0

➤SATO WINS INDIANAPOLIS 500: Takuma Sato won the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, the second Indy 500 victory of his career, winning under caution after teammate Spencer Pigot crashed with five laps remaining. Scott Dixon was second.

2 x 2% 🥛 #Indy500 | #WinnersDrinkMilk pic.twitter.com/5Lis6tfB23

— Indianapolis Motor Speedway (@IMS) August 24, 2020

The iconic race was held in an Indianapolis Motor Speedway without fans for the first time in 104 runnings because of the coronavirus pandemic. Sato became the first Japanese winner of the Indy 500 in 2017.

➤DONCIC HAS TRIPLE-DOUBLE, WINNING OT SHOT AT BUZZER FOR MAVERICKS: Luka Doncic had a big night for the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, scoring 43 points as part of a triple-double and nailing the winning three-pointer at the buzzer in overtime to beat the L.A. Clippers 135-133 and tie their first-round series at 2-2.

BAAAAAANG! LUKA IS CLUTCH pic.twitter.com/WEmGZaPKLU

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) August 23, 2020

It wasn't clear until game time if the 21-year-old Doncic would even be playing because he hurt his ankle in Game 3, but he had a stellar performance, getting 43 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists for his second straight triple-double.

➤JOHNSON WINS NORTHERN TRUST BY 11 SHOTS, REGAINS NUMBER 1 RANKING: Dustin Johnson won The Northern Trust by 11 shots at the TPC Boston golf course in Massachusetts Sunday, earning a return to the world's Number 1 ranking. Johnson's 11-stroke victory was the largest margin of victory since Phil Mickelson won by 13 at the TPC Sugarloaf in 2006, and his 30-under 254 finish made him only the third player in PGA Tour history to finish at 30 under or better.

➤NFL HAD 77 APPARENTLY FALSE-POSITIVE CORONAVIRUS TESTS: The NFL had 77 positive coronavirus tests from 11 teams that were apparently false-positives, after they all came back negative after being re-examined. The league asked BioReference's New Jersey lab to investigate the results, and the 77 tests are being re-tested one more time to make sure they were false positives. The NFL uses BioReference for all its coronavirus testing, but five labs throughout the country handle them so that teams get results as quickly as possible. Only the New Jersey lab had this weekend's false positives.

➤CAPITALS FIRE HEAD COACH REIRDEN: The NHL's Washington Capitals fired head coach Todd Reirden Sunday, just days after losing their playoff series to the New York Islanders, getting eliminated in the first round for the second year in a row. Reirden was promoted two years ago after four years as assistant coach with the Capitals.