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The Situation Room
Interview with Bob Woodward; President Trump Taken to Walter Reed Army Medical Center; President Trump Now at Walter Reed after COVID Diagnosis. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired October 02, 2020 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: It will take the president on a very brief flight over to the Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, very brief flight, maybe 10 minutes, if that, not very far away.
[18:00:06]
The last time the president went to Walter Reed, he was in a motorcade, drove there by car, maybe a 20-minute car ride through the streets of Washington, D.C., heading towards suburban Maryland.
But, right now, we're waiting for the president to emerge. There are journalists, there are photojournalists, camera crews outside waiting to see the president emerge. We will see if he stops and talks to reporters.
We are told that the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, is already standing by over there. And she is, as opposed to most other times, wearing a face mask right now, as we wait for the president to emerge.
I want to bring in our White House correspondent, Jeremy Diamond, who's over at Walter Reed for us.
So, Jeremy, you're getting more information. Set the scene, what's going on right now? Because, fairly soon, we're told the president will board Marine One and fly over to where you are.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf.
Any moment now, we are expecting the president of the United States to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, where he will come here. We are in front of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where the president will be admitted as a coronavirus patient.
This comes, Wolf, after the president tested positive for coronavirus. In the very early hours of this morning is when the president released that information, posting on Twitter that he and the first lady had tested positive for the virus, Wolf.
The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, in just the last 45 minutes or so put out this statement announcing that the president was going to be admitted to Walter Reed Hospital, not just for a few hours for a battery of tests or something like that, but rather that he will be actually staying here and living here for several days.
This is the statement from the White House press secretary. She writes: "President Trump remains in good spirits, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day." She says: "Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the president will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days. President Trump appreciates the outpouring of support for both he and the first lady."
Now, Wolf, this comes amid an evolution that we have seen from this White House in terms of how they have been describing exactly what the president has been undergoing.
Initially, when we learned that the president had this, we heard that he was having moderate symptoms. The White House chief of staff earlier today actually said that the president was very energetic.
And then came the second letter from the White House physician, Dr. Sean Conley, which came just a few hours ago, where he said that the president was fatigued, and that, indeed, the president has been facing symptoms.
We also learned through another source that the president has been having a fever all day long, Wolf. So there certainly has been an evolution in terms of how they have been describing what the president has been feeling and what he's been undergoing.
And, obviously, Wolf, as we were talking about in the last hour, this is the optics president. And the fact that he would be coming here to Walter Reed for several days, sending a really serious signal to the world that he is not only facing this disease, but that he is experiencing symptoms and needs to be monitored at a hospital, Wolf, it must have taken a lot for the president to actually agree to that.
And so this is where we are, Wolf, with the president set to arrive any moment now, set to leave the White House any moment now to arrive here at Walter Reed Hospital, where he will be treated for several days before coronavirus.
And, additionally, Wolf, we learned earlier today that the president has already been given this experimental treatment, a promising experimental treatment, which is an antibody cocktail, as well as some other things like vitamins that the president is receiving.
But, obviously, the fact that he's coming here to the hospital, they have a lot of medical equipments already, Wolf, at the White House. And so coming to the hospital suggests a higher degree of concern, and certainly that they are at least wanting to have the president monitored with much more sophisticated equipment and with a whole team of doctors around him.
BLITZER: All right, we will see what happens unfold.
Once again, that's Marine One standing by on the South Lawn of the White House to take, medevac, as Dr. Sanjay Gupta points out, to medevac the president from the White House over to Walter Reed. Bob Woodward is joining us right now, the author of the brand-new book "Rage," who spent a lot of quality time with the president and interviewing the president for this bestselling book.
Bob, you and I have covered a lot of history here in Washington.
When you see what's going on, the drama right now that's happening, the president confirming himself that he's tested positive for coronavirus, and now he has a fever, he's fatigued, and he's about to be flown over on Marine One to Bethesda, what do you think?
BOB WOODWARD, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Well, first of all, you have got to wish him and the first lady and everyone well.
And, I mean, that is a serious concern. And we're talking in the media about, gee, we'd like to know more. Quite frankly, I think we can come to 10. They need to treat him and take care of him. The focus should be there.
Now, over the months of my conversations with him -- and this may shed some light on his thinking about how to deal with the virus in terms of himself. I had lots of conversations.
[18:05:15]
Back in April, what was very interesting, he said, look, the virus moves rapidly and viciously. He was very concerned about it. And then he said, if you're in a certain group, you're in -- it's a much bigger hazard for you.
I asked him, well, what is that group? And he said, well, if you're older. And he put the cutoff age at 80. He said, if you're 80 and have some other medical condition, then you're really in trouble.
And then we talked about how old he was, how old I was. He was 73 at the time. He's now 74. So, at least in his mind, as he expressed it at that time, the concern was really a focus on somebody at age 80.
Then the next week, on April 13. I did ask him directly. I said, look, you walk around, you meet with people. Aren't you risking getting this, getting the virus, the way the way you move and talk to people, go to briefings, deal with people, are close to them? And I said, are you worried about that? And he said, no, I'm not. I don't know why I'm not. I'm not. I asked why. And he just said, I don't know. I'm just not.
And so it sounds like he's saying he thought, because of his age, because of his health, and almost a semi-mystical belief that he didn't need to worry about himself.
So that may account for some of his actions. But this obviously is a serious medical moment. And we're going to just have to be patient and see how it works itself out, I think.
BLITZER: And, as you say, we all wish the president a speedy, speedy recovery from this coronavirus. We wish the first lady a speedy recovery, wish everyone a speedy recovery.
We just did get this statement from the president's middle son, Eric Trump, Bob. It's on Twitter. Let me read it to you and to our viewers.
"Donald Trump is a true warrior. He will fight through this with the same strength and conviction that he uses to fight for America each and every day. I ask you to join me in praying for his recovery. I have never been more proud of someone and what they have had to endure."
When you hear those words coming from Eric Trump, Bob, what do you think?
WOODWARD: Well, I think they're acknowledging, and just because they're going to take him to Walter Reed, it's very serious.
I think no -- whatever attitude you may have toward Trump, I think there would be very wide, if not almost universal agreement he's a warrior, he's a fighter. This is what you need to be in this situation. And I agree wholeheartedly with you, prayers and thoughts and anything anyone can do to help him.
And I -- obviously, the medical team is focused on that. And, again, I -- be nice to have briefings and know all kinds of things. I think we can put that on the back shelf, at least for a few minutes, if not a few hours, and let them do what they're doing.
If I -- if you or I were in that situation, you would want the energy to go to that, quite frankly, not being overly concerned about briefing the media or the public at this moment. They obviously are going to at some point, but maybe patience is called for.
BLITZER: And, once again, we're waiting for Marine One to take the president from the South Lawn of the White House to the -- to Bethesda, Maryland, the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
On that note, that point, Bob, that you were just making, let me read a statement that we just received from the former President Barack Obama. And let me read it to you.
"Let me start, by the way, by just saying that we're in the midst of a big political fight, and we take that very seriously. We also want to extend our best wishes to President Trump and Melania. Michelle and I are hopeful that they and others who have been affected by COVID-19 around the country are getting the care that they need, that they are going to be on the path to a speedy recovery.
"And it's important, I think, for all of us to remember that, even when in the midst of big political battles with issues that have a lot at stake, that we're all Americans, and we're all human beings, hoping that we can all be healthy."
[18:10:10]
And on a related note, the Joe Biden campaign has just announced they're pulling, Bob, all negative ads today, going all positive, after the president has been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Those are significant developments, in and of themselves, as you point out, Bob.
WOODWARD: Yes.
Well, and that's exactly the right posture to take. And I listened to Biden earlier. I thought he struck exactly the right note. We are a month away from a presidential election that obviously is going to be critical.
But I think those words that former President Obama uttered and others are underrated are absolutely important, and that it is critical to show that there is a kind of unity here on wishing him well.
As we know, we only have one president at a time. He has the job. And I really hope and I think it's obvious now people are going to show the concern for his health and, as you say, speedy, speedy recovery, which is quite possible.
BLITZER: And we hope, in fact, it happens. He's going to have world- class treatment over at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, as we all know.
Bob, you have covered every president since Nixon. Set the scene for us from a historic perspective what we're seeing unfold.
And, once again, we're seeing Marine One, the president's helicopter, standing by on the South Lawn of the White House to take him over to the Walter Reed Hospital.
WOODWARD: Yes, well, this is -- in any time, whether it was Reagan having an operation, or when Reagan was shot in 1981, I mean, everyone was holding their breath. I think it is a bipartisan holding the breath at that time.
And I think it is now. And there is, indeed, concern, and people are talking about the president's approach. I, quite frankly -- I spent many, many hours this year talking to him at night, on weekends, during the day. I'd call him. He would call me. We covered the waterfront in terms of discussion topics.
And, as I say, we actually got into what age group would you be in that you're really worried? And he said, age 80. So, let's wait and see what's going to happen. And I think his son saying he's a warrior, I wouldn't -- I would endorse that from knowing Trump as an outsider, maybe as much as anyone does.
BLITZER: Yes, that's very true, indeed.
All right, Bob Woodward, thanks so much.
Once again, the book is entitled "Rage." It's really a terrific, terrific insight into the current president of the United States.
Bob Woodward, thanks very much. Jamie Gangel, our special correspondent, is with us.
Jamie, I understand you're getting some new information. You're doing some reporting on what's taking you so long. The Marine One has been on the South Lawn now, I'm guessing, for about an hour or so.
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Wolf, as you know, the lack of information here is, we're -- just not normal procedure.
Normally, we would be getting more information from the White House doctor, the White House press office. And I reached out to several White House officials. I reached out to senior Republicans. They don't have any information either.
They each said to me -- I reached out to five different people -- that they are watching us, that they don't know what is going on with the president's health, that they haven't been briefed.
And that's just -- not only isn't it normal procedure. And we have all learned that the Trump White House doesn't conduct itself the way other White Houses do. But it is of particular concern right now, because we have a national security issue and the president's health is at stake.
BLITZER: It certainly is right now.
We're waiting for the president to emerge. We will see when that happens. And we will have, of course, special coverage of all of this.
Dana, I know you're doing some reporting on all of this. What are you hearing?
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I just want to echo what Jamie is saying.
I mean, I'm reaching out to people who are usually informed about what's going on inside the president's world. And the people I'm talking to, just like Jamie, aren't hearing anything.
[18:15:12]
And, yes, it is true that, not so long ago, maybe an hour-and-a-half ago, we got a statement from the president's doctor that gave us the cocktail that they're giving him, which, for Donald Trump, that was maybe a big deal.
But what Sanjay was saying was obviously, as we're watching now, dead on, that they were kind of leaving bread crumbs that something bigger was going on, other than the fact that he just had mild symptoms, which is what they started telling us as the day began.
And just the fact that there doesn't seem to be very much outgoing information at all, and, in fact, what we are getting are tweets like Eric Trump's tweet, which was beautiful, but also, I thought, very stark, is different from what we usually see with this White House.
BLITZER: Yes.
BASH: When -- not when it comes to telling the media, but at least reaching out to allies outside the White House.
BLITZER: When Eric Trump, the president's son, says, "I ask you to join me in praying for his recovery. I have never been more proud of someone and what they have had to endure," which suggests the president is going through a rough, a tough situation right now, that from the president's son Eric Trump.
Gloria is still with us as well.
I know you're doing some reporting. What are you hearing?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think it's important to note, first of all, overall, Wolf -- and I heard what Bob Woodward was saying, but I want to respectfully disagree, because I think we could be getting more information than we're getting, although it seems to me that the White House staff standing out there masked now doesn't have a lot more information than we do.
But I think what's concerning to me is what Manu Raju was reporting from the Hill, which is that top leaders of Congress have not had any briefings about the president's health. The Gang of Eight has not been notified about his health or about the transfer to Walter Reed.
And that is -- I think that is really problematic. Now, Manu is also reporting that Trump did call, reach out to some of his allies on Capitol Hill earlier today, like Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell. But we don't really know anything more than that.
And I think it is particularly concerning, given the fact that the president has been given an experimental monoclonal antibody cocktail. And that really does speak to some level of concern on the part of the president's doctors about the president's health, because it is experimental.
And I'm no doctor. Sanjay can clearly talk about this better than I can. But I do believe that, even if you're not doing a full-fledged briefing on the president's health, that, as we sit and we await his departure here now for more than an hour, I do think that the public is owed more detail than they have been given.
Hopefully, that will be forthcoming once the president gets to Walter Reed. But what is particularly concerning is that people on Capitol Hill, including the Gang of Eight, which are the leaders of the House and the Senate, they have not been told anything either.
BLITZER: Interesting.
Gloria, stand by.
We are now told the president is aboard Marine One. You can see the helicopter, the blades beginning to turn. He is aboard Marine One. He walked out of the door on the South Lawn of the White House, did not speak and answer reporters' questions, did not make a statement. He just kept on walking.
We will get the video of that and show it to our viewers soon.
But you can see Marine One getting ready to take off from the South Lawn of the White House and make that brief eight-or-10-minute flight over to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
It's interesting, Gloria, I think that the president didn't even make a statement as he was walking out, simply walked out and boarded Marine One. It'll be interesting also to see who was with the president, what the president was wearing. Was he wearing a mask? We're going to get all that information fairly soon.
We will get that videotape. And we will see what's going on.
Jeremy Diamond, you're getting some more information. You're already there at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. What are you hearing?
DIAMOND: Yes, Wolf, well, we will get that video of the president boarding Marine One shortly. This is one of those events where it's not live, but we feed the tape in. So we will see that video shortly.
But what we do know from our pool producer, Nikki Carvajal, who was there, she said that the president walked out of the residence and he was wearing a mask. He was also in a suit, and then he waved to the media, but did not stop to talk.
I presume that reporters were probably shouting questions to the president, but he apparently did not answer those walking over to Marine One.
[18:20:05]
He was also accompanied, Wolf, by the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who, earlier today, we saw talking to reporters without a mask. He was wearing a mask because he was following the president on Marine One.
In fact, there has been a policy Wolf that White House aides actually do wear masks aboard Marine One for quite some time now, but notable that the White House chief of staff was actually walking across the South Lawn with a mask on.
And as we were waiting for the president, Wolf, our colleague Jim Acosta took a picture of several White House staffers. They were wearing masks as they were waiting for the president.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Jeremy, hold on for a moment.
Marine One -- Marine One now taking off, lifting from the South Lawn of the White House to make that brief flight. It'll head north towards Bethesda, Maryland. Very often, when a president -- and I covered the White House for seven years -- the president will simply have a car, be in the limousine, the presidential limo, and do a motorcade drive. It's not very far over to Bethesda. But right now he's going in Marine One. And you can see the chopper taking off and will be heading -- there, you can see it right there.
Usually, there are at least one other, maybe two other helicopters in the area, other Marine helicopters escorting Marine One. But there you see it going over the nation's capital and heading towards Bethesda.
We will try to keep a shot up as long as we can.
But, Jeremy, go ahead.
DIAMOND: Yes, Wolf, and it's only going to take the president a few minutes.
It's about a half-hour drive from the White House to here, much shorter, obviously, by helicopter. So, in a matter of minutes, really, we will likely be seeing the president's helicopter land on the field in front of Walter Reed Military Medical Center, which is where we are right now.
But, Wolf, as I was saying, Jim Acosta took a picture of some White House staffers who were gathered for the president's departure. All of them were wearing masks, nearly a dozen staffers there. And, Wolf, what's remarkable is that that picture was a novelty.
I mean, I can't recall another instance where I have seen so many White House staffers actually wearing masks at the same time. And we are months into this pandemic, Wolf, and yet it takes the president of the United States coming down with coronavirus for the White House to begin following many of its own CDC guidelines, which they have been encouraging Americans to follow for months now.
And yet we are only now starting to see that trickle into the White House. And beyond that, Wolf, obviously, as we are talking about the president's condition, the change in how the White House has been describing his condition throughout the day, one of the reasons why we are obviously so skeptical of the way that they have been describing the president's condition is because this is a White House, Wolf, that has obviously consistently withheld information, offered counterfactual, false information, not only about the president himself, but about a range of topics.
And so we often talk about this White House's credibility problem, Wolf. And this is when it matters. These are those national security crises when the White House's credibility matters. It doesn't just matter as it relates to matters of foreign policy and matters of war and peace.
But it also matters when it comes to the president's health, which is also, of course, a national security matter. And we are now seeing the results, Wolf, of five years, from the president's candidacy throughout his time in the White House, of his falsehoods and his lies coming back to bite him, in the sense that it is very hard to believe word for word everything that the White House is saying about the president's condition.
And, furthermore, because of the fact that there has been shifting explanations throughout the day, the White House chief of staff saying the president's very energized, then the doctor, Sean Conley, the White House physician, saying that the president is fatigued merely hours later.
BLITZER: You see Marine One escorted by another Marine helicopter making their way over to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda. Should be there fairly soon.
We are told, Jeremy, that when the president walked out of the residence on the South Lawn of the White House, he was -- repeat -- was wearing a mask. He was wearing a suit. He waved to the news media who were stationed there, he but he did not stop to talk. He was accompanied by the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who was also wearing a mask.
He followed the president out to Marine One. He -- the president boarded Marine One, by the way, at 6:17:00 p.m. Eastern. It's now 6:24:00 p.m. Eastern. And we see the helicopter making its way towards the Walter Reed Medical Center.
The -- we're about to get also the actual video.
Here's the video of the president walking out such. Let's watch.
[18:25:24]
All right, that's the video. So, we have -- we saw the president walking out. We saw Mark Meadows. They were wearing masks, others carrying some, I assume, equipment. I don't know what kind of equipment it was.
But you saw them walking out with masks as well, boarding Marine One to make this flight, the helicopter still in the air over Washington, D.C., making its way to suburban Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C., to Bethesda.
You looked at it.
And Sanjay Gupta is with us.
When you saw the president, Sanjay -- and you're a physician. You understand these things. What did look suggest to you? Could we make any determination as to his state when we saw him walking out there, Sanjay?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, I think it'd be hard to speculate too much on that.
Obviously, he was walking on his own. He seemed to not have any difficulty with that or going up the stairs or anything. He was wearing a mask, as you point out, which is absolutely mandatory now, especially now that he has the virus. We know that.
But, no, there's nothing particularly concerning that you see when he just boards the helicopter there. But I wouldn't have necessarily expected that either. He -- even with moderate symptoms, fever, not feeling well, fatigued, whatever it may be, this would still fit with that.
It's the level of concern, Wolf, that prompted this, the helicopter flight over to the hospital. So, hopefully, as you have asked, and hopefully we will get more details about what prompted that specifically, but we know he's going there. And he's going to -- he's expected to stay there for some time.
So, that's just -- they're giving us clues here that there's a level of concern that obviously changed, as Jeremy Diamond pointed out, throughout the day. And we're sort of forced to speculate on what that is.
So, hopefully, we will get more details, maybe from the medical team at Walter Reed after he arrives there and is assessed.
BLITZER: We -- hopefully, we will.
We can see Marine One making its way to Bethesda, Maryland, about to land at the hospital. It's -- they have been in the air for maybe almost close to 10 minutes.
Jim Acosta, you were there on the South Lawn, Jim, when the president walked out, together with the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and others. What was it like?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, first of all, I can tell you, we waited for about an hour for the president to come out.
At about 5:15, the White House pool, which we're a part of today, was brought out to the South Lawn of the White House, where, Wolf, we wait out there for the president to depart on Marine One.
And when the president came out, we asked him some questions. He didn't want to take any of those questions. Obviously, the striking difference was that the president was wearing a mask. We don't see him wearing a mask very often.
I will tell you, Wolf -- and I don't know how much you can read into this -- I could see some fatigue in the president's eyes. You could tell he looked tired. And it appeared to me that Marine One was just taking a little bit extra time leaving the White House grounds this evening. That could also just be the way they were flying this evening.
But it just -- everything seemed to be moving a little bit slower this evening, which, of course, is understandable, Wolf, given the situation that the president's in right now.
The other thing I will say that was really striking standing there on the South Lawn of the White House -- and I think you have made note of this earlier, Wolf -- I have never seen so many White House officials in the press office wearing masks.
As we were waiting for the president to depart the White House and board Marine One, you could see the press secretary and various communications and press staffers wearing their masks. They almost never do that walking around the White House. They almost see it as a source of pride that they don't wear masks.
That seems to have changed on a dime this evening, Wolf, seems to have turned on a dime this evening. And so now we're just waiting to see what happens next.
I mean, obviously, this doesn't happen very often. For the president of the United States to essentially be airlifted or medevacked from the White House to Walter Reed suggests that this is a serious situation. The White House has been telling us all day long, no, this is -- he's just dealing with mild symptoms and so on.
Honestly, Wolf, I think we're just going to need more information before we can take that to the bank. If he were just dealing with mild symptoms, and he was in good spirits, as they have been telling us, one has to wonder, why is all of this necessary?
But, again, as I was saying, as he was leaving the White House, he just seemed to be moving a little slower than we're usually seeing him. And, typically, this president, you know, he likes to talk to reporters.
[18:30:01]
You have seen this on so many different occasions. It's a beautiful evening, it would have been just fine from the stop and talk to us and he went right past us, flashed the two thumbs up. I asked him how are you doing, how long do you expect to be gone from the White House, all we got was a thumbs up from the president. Mark Meadows, the chief of staff following behind him. But that's about it.
And now, we're just waiting to see how long will the president of the United States be hospitalized, how long will he be there, how long he will be treated. And we're now waiting on the latest developments on that, Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes. We do know there is a presidential suite there at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he will be, we're told, for several days right now. You see Marine One, it has landed there at the helipad at Walter Reed.
Kaitlan Collins is getting some new information for us as well. What are you learning, Kaitlan?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we're learning a little more of what could have played a role in this visit that you're seeing the president make as, of course, the marine there wearing a mask as well, we should point out, as getting ready for the president himself to get off Marine One. But we are told that he has spooked by this diagnosis, Wolf. The president is someone who is obviously very concerned about his health. He has always kind of been that figure if you talk to people who knew him before he took office. But we're told that he became increasingly alarmed by this diagnosis, and as he developed symptoms overnight. And so it really seem to set in with the president what was going on.
And that is a big difference from what you heard his tone during that interview last night on Sean Hannity when he said that he had been tested, Wolf, and they were waiting on a result. He sounded very nonchalant, did not seem too concern. We are told that has changed significantly and the president's mood now is much more freaked out than what it had been, you know, as immediately upon diagnosis.
BLITZER: Here comes the president, who is now walking down. Let's just listen and watch, see if we can hear anything.
No we can't. We're not going to be able to hear anything. He's going to get into one of those vans that will make a very short drive over to the actual hospital in he'll head in, and he's going to be there for a few days.
Kaitlan go ahead, finish your thought. We will see this motorcade depart momentarily.
COLLINS: Yes. Notice that every single person you see is wearing a mask that's around the president, including the chief of staff, including these body men, those are the guys with the bags that travel with the president. You don't normally see them wearing mask, Wolf, when they've been going to these rallies, getting on Marine One, because they, of course, they felt this false sense of security with the test.
And we are seeing how it took their boss, the president, getting coronavirus to wake some people up about wearing a mask and how the precautions about them taking, because we have not seen that level of precaution at all inside the White House. And so, it will be interesting to see how this changes things.
But this is something that went off like a bomb inside the White House today, Wolf. People realizing that their boss, the president of the United States, had tested positive for coronavirus really shook people up. And so many people we spoke with were upset about it, they couldn't believe it. They were really -- it was a disbelief situation, Wolf.
And it does makes you question what will be different going forward about the way that they are working out of the west wing now that the president will not going to be there for a few days. It's just -- it's hard to overstate how significant this moment is.
BLITZER: Yes. And we're told, by the way, Kaitlan, that the president, as soon as he leaves this motorcade, he will go upstairs to what are called the presidential -- the presidential offices and the presidential suite. It's a large complex, as we know. There you see in Bethesda, the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda.
But there is a sitting room for the president, a conference room for the president and the actual hospital bedroom for the president. And according to the White House press secretary, the president will be, quote, working there. And we've also been reporting he will not be transferring power to the vice president. He will still be in charge.
Doug Brinkley, the Presidential Historian, is with us right now. So give us a little sense of history as to what we are seeing Doug.
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well for start as the White House now is a hot bed of COVID-19, and that's not just the residency of the president, but this is our executive branch is really under siege by the virus. Everybody should be wearing a mask but the entire White House apparatus, every room, every building is going to have to be super sanitized at this point because many people work there.
Secondly, I don't think we're going to be having these press spokesmen, as we're used to, in presidential history speaking for the president unless he is really to the point of unable to communicate. He does have Twitter. He probably will communicate once he feels he is in a safe zone there. Some information maybe even dabbled in politics in the next day or two.
And the good news for President Trump is that he's got the best medical attention imaginable on Walter Reed, while his age, being in the mid 70s isn't good and being overweight.
[18:35:05]
95 percent of people in this situation will weather this okay, but it has to be a humiliation for this president who has been making jokes about the masks that Joe Biden wears, almost created a 2020 campaign of mocking the mask-wearing public and here he is hobbling to Walter Reed Hospital on Marine One having to wear a mask. And in many ways, it will be part of the narrative of this year this sort of grand medical humiliation he had.
And also, Wolf, I would say one other thing. I think the president has to be fatigued. I mean, running how he has in 2020 nonstop and coming out of that big debate, he's fighting the virus with exhaustion.
BLITZER: It is a serious development that we're watching unfold. And as I repeatedly said, on behalf of all of our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world, we, of course, wish the president a speedy recovery. We wish him the best. And, hopefully, he won't have to spend too long over there.
We're getting some more information coming in. The president just tweeted a video. Let me play it for our viewers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank everybody for the tremendous support. I am going to Walter Reed Hospital. I think I am doing very well, but we are going to make sure that things work out. The first lady is doing very well. So thank you very much, I appreciate it. I will never forget it. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: A short statement from the president, he is trying to reassure the American public and American friends around the world that he's okay, that the first lady is okay as well.
Jeremy Diamond, you are there at Walter Reed. We saw crowds gathering outside. They wanted to get an image, historic moment indeed. What are you seeing where you are?
DIAMOND: Yes, Wolf. We saw the president arrive here at Walter Reed Medical Center. He landed on Marine One. The president got off Marine One, down the steps, and then boarded one of those SUVs that he typically uses for transportation really to take him just a couple of dozen yards, Wolf, so that he could go inside Walter Reed Hospital, which just behind me, behind this fence here.
And, Wolf, there was a scene here as well as the president was arriving. I mean, we saw many of the president supporters, we also saw people who were against the president, and they are still gathered here. You can see a crowd of people who have been gathered here to watch the president arrive here at the hospital.
Obviously, a very significant situation, it's something that a lot of his supporters simply wanted to see. We also saw supporters trying to block media cameras from actually trying to film the arrival of the president. They are obviously aware that there are health concerns here. And this is something (INAUDIBLE) some his supporters perhaps don't want to see. They don't want to give that to the media, to allow the media to cover it.
Obviously, we were able to get the shots here, Wolf, but there is a scene of people who have gathered as the president of the United States, 74 years old, in a high risk category of course, as it relates to coronavirus, is now admitted to the hospital for several days.
BLITZER: We see Marine One, the helicopter behind you taking off, that's why it's hard to hear you right now, Jeremy. But Marine One did its mission, about a ten-minute flight from a south lawn to the White House to where you are over at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Jeremy, stand by. Gloria, when we heard the president in a brief little video that he tweeted, when he said, I think I'm doing very well, but we're going to make sure that things work out, what did you think of what the president said, what did you think of how the president looked? Because he clearly didn't stop to speak and answer questions when he emerged from the White House to board Marine One.
BORGER: Well, I think the only way we can know he is doing well, as we all hope he is, is to hear from his doctor. And I know I sound like a broken record tonight about this Wolf, but the people we're hearing from is the little video of the president, the Eric Trump tweet and really nothing else aside from a perfunctory letter from his doctors inside the White House, telling us that he is on an experimental drug, which they gave to him, I presume, intravenously. And we haven't -- we really haven't heard anything else.
It's reassuring to see that the president could do that video, that he could walk out and kind of wave to people. Obviously, it looked like he didn't have the kind of energy he normally has. But this is why you need people inside the White House who are not just his family, but we need people who -- and doctors who can tell us what is really occurring here.
[18:40:00]
And I'm hopeful that perhaps once he gets assessed at Walter Reed, we'll be able to have some more information, but I don't even think this is a close call, Wolf. You have a president who is being helicoptered over to Walter Reed and we are not sure exactly what is occurring or why that needs to occur. If it is out of an abundance of caution, then that's great, but let a doctor tell us that.
I don't think this is time to wait. I do think that the American public is watching this play out in real-time and that the public deserves an explanation from the medical experts. If they do not want people just sort of saying, okay, this is what I think is going on, this is what I think may be going on, then tell the American public exactly what is going on.
And I think the video from the president may reassure the president that, great, the president is in a suit, he is in his tie, he looks the way he normally looks, and he tells you he's going to Walter Reed, but he didn't really provide any information other than saying, look, I hope things are going well, and so does the American public but let the doctors tell us exactly what is going on.
BLITZER: Yes. The president -- and maybe we can cue it up. I would like to hear the president's statement again. You know, Javy (ph), if we can just cue that up, let's play it for ours viewers one more time. This is the statement that the president posted on Twitter. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I want to thank everybody for the tremendous support. I am going to Walter Reed Hospital. I think I am doing very well, but we are going to make sure that things work out. The first lady is doing very well. So thank you very much, I appreciate it. I will never forget it. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Sanjay Gupta is still with us as well, our Chief Medical Correspondent. So when you saw the president in that brief 20 or 25- second statement, Sanjay, what did you think?
GUPTA: You know, it's so hard to speculate on anything there, Wolf. I mean, he looked good, obviously standing there, you know, not requiring any kind of aid or anything like that, so that was certainly good to see.
I mean, again, just from that short video, did he appear out of breath, not to me, but, you know, that's something that, again, it's hard to tell there. So I don't know that we could read too much into that.
One thing, Wolf, I will say as well, to Gloria's point regarding the doctors, I was curious whether any members of the coronavirus task force have been involved at all today. You know, you got some of the world most expert people on COVID and the novel infection. And what we're hearing, what I'm hearing is that they are in the dark as well. They are getting details about this from watching the television coverage and reading news reports right now.
So it's just a little surprising to me, again, when you have that level of expertise at your disposal in terms of what's best to do for clinical care, it sounds like the task force members are not part of this decision-making process either.
BLITZER: Stand by, Sanjay. I want to bring in our Chief Legal Analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, who is watching all of this unfold.
We heard earlier, Jeffrey, that the president has no intention of transferring power authority to the vice president of the United States. There are procedures in place if a president gets ill, right?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: That's right. It's the 25th Amendment, which was passed in -- was ratified in 1967 partially in response to the Kennedy assassination. And the procedure has been used three times. Ronald Reagan invoked it before he had cancer surgery and George Herbert Walker Bush did it twice when he got routine colonoscopies.
And what it is is the president writes a letter to the president of (INAUDIBLE) of the Senate, who is now Chuck Grassley, and the Speaker of the House, now, Nancy Pelosi, and says I transfer powers of the president to my vice president. And at some point, he then writes another letter taking those powers back. That's how the process is designed to work.
The question now is, is the president, is President Trump sick enough where he would want to transfer his powers to Vice President Pence. According to the spokesman we just heard from, the answer is no, but giving the evolving explanations of the president's condition and the fact that he has been transferred to a hospital does raise the question about whether or when such a transfer of power will take place.
BLITZER: Yes, that's very, very significant indeed. We'll see what happens on that front.
The former secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, is joining us right now. Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for joining us.
[18:45:01]
As I've been saying, this is history unfolding right now. You are looking at it from your perspective. What do you think?
JEH JOHNSON, FORMER SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: I think a couple of things. First, Jeff points out the 25th Amendment. I don't think we are near the need to invoke that yet. It's been invoked in the past when the president has gone under general anesthesia.
My other thought is this. The White House docs that the president is with are first rate. I was a patient of the White House docs. I have been at Walter Reed, been an inpatient there, been there overnight. He is receiving firsthand first class medical care.
BLITZER: So you are confident the president will get the best treatment in the world for coronavirus?
JOHNSON: Yes.
BLITZER: And you don't think it's necessary right now to transfer power, according to the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to the vice president who's -- we are told over that the vice president here in Washington, at the Naval Observatory. At what point, though, and you're the former secretary of homeland security --
JOHNSON: Just -- Wolf, if I could say --
BLITZER: Yeah, go ahead.
JOHNSON: That's based upon what we the public are seeing. The information we are seeing. Based upon what I see, I think that would be premature right now.
BLITZER: To transfer -- to transfer power. At some point, though, if the president needs an operation, then that's automatic, right?
JOHNSON: Well, it's not automatic. The president has to agree under Section 3 of the 25th Amendment that power should be transferred to the vice president. And as Jeff points out, that has been done three times in the past. In those instances, the president was under general anesthesia. He was out.
BLITZER: And that's what happened.
You say you were treated there at Bethesda. We used to call it Bethesda Naval Hospital. Now, it's the Walter Reed National Medical Center.
When were you treated there, were you then the general counsel over at the Department of Defense, or were you the secretary of homeland security?
JOHNSON: Actually both.
BLITZER: Take --
JOHNSON: When I was at the Pentagon and when I was secretary of DHS.
BLITZER: I'm curious, Mr. Secretary. Take us inside. What was it like? JOHNSON: It's very large. But somebody who is a very senior government official is escorted around. It is not like you have to find your way around. It is a first rate facility.
Military docs are excellent. I, frankly, was a little spoiled.
BLITZER: When you were there, which is understandable.
Let me ask you about the national security ramifications right now. People are watching all over the world, friendly countries, allies, but also adversaries.
And some adversaries, whether Russia or China, or Iran, North Korea, they might want to take advantage of a moment when they suspect the president and the U.S. government maybe preoccupied with other stuff.
How serious potentially of a problem is that?
JOHNSON: Wolf, I feel obliged to say this. We still have a national security adviser who is active and on the job. We have a secretary of defense and a Department of Defense that is active and still on the job. We have a secretary of state who is on the job who has tested negative for COVID.
And so -- and the chief of staff is with the president. You saw that on the images.
So, our government is active and functioning.
I will offer this, Wolf --
BLITZER: Yeah.
JOHNSON: -- I think, respectfully, that those in the presidential line of succession, particularly the top half of the presidential line of succession, should think very seriously about some form of quarantine for themselves while we are in this period.
BLITZER: Are you talking about the vice president, the speaker of the House, the Senate, or the senator, the top senator, Senator Grassley. We're talking about the --
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNSON: The president, the pro temp of the Senate, the secretary of state, treasury, AG and possibly defense.
BLITZER: So, you want all of them --
JOHNSON: I was actually the last person in the last -- in the presidential line of succession.
BLITZER: You're at the Homeland Security -- Department of Homeland Security is the newest cabinet department, that's why you were last in line.
JOHNSON: Correct.
BLITZER: But tell us once again why you think all of these individuals, these cabinet members, the top leadership in the House and the Senate, needs to stand down right now and quarantine.
JOHNSON: I believe that while we are in this period with this invisible virus circulating around Washington right now, that we -- that those in the line of succession in the top half need to think seriously about some form of quarantine.
[18:50:15]
BLITZER: Just to err on the side of caution because this is a really sensitive moment right now.
Secretary --
JOHNSON: Wolf --
BLITZER: Yeah, go ahead.
JOHNSON: So, if I could, I also want to say this -- this should be a wake-up call for all of Americans that were still in the clutches of this invisible virus. And we see the numbers going up in a number of states. There's a lot more we need to do. We should not let our guard down.
The most secure American in this country gets this virus. None of us is safe. And we know how to deal with this, a simple mask.
This should not be regarded as something that is a matter of political correctness. This is not -- should not be regarded as something where only -- where no real men wear. This 10 cent device can make a huge difference.
BLITZER: It could save people's lives. And yesterday, the Johns Hopkins University noted about 45,000 Americans were confirmed with coronavirus, the president and first lady among them. And unfortunately, 857 Americans yesterday, just yesterday, died from coronavirus.
JOHNSON: Correct.
BLITZER: Mr. Secretary, you make a very important point. It's not over by any means despite a lot of wishful thinking out there right now. It's still a very deadly and contagious coronavirus pandemic that the entire country and indeed so much of the world is going through right now. And a simple mask, washing your hand, social distancing, that will save lives.
Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for joining us.
JOHNSON: Yes. Thank you.
BLITZER: All right. Let's go back to Jamie Gangel. She's getting new information on the brief video that the president posted in which he said, he says, I'm doing very well, but we're going to make sure that things work out.
What are you learning, Jamie?
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Wolf, I just want to point out I heard from two people who are very familiar with the White House and how these things are done. And their point about the video was that was a very short video. It was about 18 seconds. It was controlled.
This is the president who loves to stop and talk to the press when he's going out on the south lawn. And they were really concerned because even though he looked okay when he was walking, as Sanjay said, he sounds okay in the video, he could have quickly stopped, spoken to the press, said this is just a precaution, everything's okay. The fact that he chose to do it in the controlled video spoke volumes to two of my sources.
BLITZER: Yeah, very interesting indeed, because you're right. He could have simply walked over, said to the press, I'm doing fine. We're doing this out of an abundance of caution. I'll be in touch.
Didn't even have to answer reporters' questions, could have continued walking. You make a good point.
What else are you hearing, Jamie, from behind the scenes about what's going on over there at the White House?
GANGEL: So, actually what surprised me the most is I reached out to several people who are senior White House officials, and they are watching us, Wolf. They have no information about the president's health. They have been waiting, frankly for -- some of them have worked in other administrations where they're used to the doctors coming out and having a press conference.
I've reached out to several senior Republicans on the Hill and at the cabinet level. They don't know what the status is of the president's health. And so, I think there is a real concern that even though this is not a normal White House, that in this case they really should be much more transparent -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Stand by, Jamie. We're going to get back to you.
You know, Gloria, there's a political fallout. We're only a month away from the presidential election here November 3rd here in the United States. It was significant, I thought, that the Biden campaign announced a little while ago because the president has coronavirus, because he's now at the Bethesda hospital, the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, they are pulling all negative ads, no more negative ads for the time being as a result of what's going on.
BORGER: Right.
BLITZER: So, the political fallout with only a month ago, the president was planning on a daily basis to go out there and campaign. There were going to be debates. Everything now is up in the air.
BORGER: Right. And because nobody knows where this is going to go, Wolf.
[18:55:02]
And let me -- let me echo what Jamie is saying. I reached out to a couple of Republicans who just said to me, we have no idea where any of this is going. We're close to an election. Nobody knows at this point how sick the president is. Nobody really knows how many other people inside is White House are sick or will be sick. Nobody knows what's going to happen to the vice presidential debate or the upcoming presidential debates.
So, this is a big question mark for everyone, Wolf, because nobody knows. There is no information. And we've been covering elections a long time, and we can't predict what's going to happen tomorrow.
BLITZER: We certainly can't. This is a major, major moment. Gloria, stand by as well.
I want to bring in Dr. Len Schleifer, the cofounder and CEO of Regeneron. That's the company that makes the experimental antibody cocktail that is being given to the president.
Dr. Schleifer, thank you so much for joining us.
We're told by the president's physician he received a single dose, the highest dose of Regeneron's cocktail, experimental, hasn't been approved for emergency use. But tell us about this cocktail. Tell us what's going on and why the president's doctors decided he needed this treatment.
DR. LEN SCHLEIFER, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, REGENERON: Sure, thanks, Wolf. Let me start by saying on behalf of everybody at Regeneron, we hope that all the hard work that our people have put into developing this medicine will help make a difference and will lead to a speedy recovery and in the president's words everything will work out.
Look, he's in a race now and I'm not talking about the political race. He's in a race where his immune system is racing against the virus. And if the virus wins, you can have dire consequences, obviously. And what our antibodies do is we make it a fairer fight. He's in a higher- risk group for a variety of reasons such as he's being older. And if we give antibodies, we hope we will give his immune system enough of a boost so he can win this and make a complete recovery.
That's the strategy. We've got a lot of data. But we're still in the experimental phase. But when you're in the midst of a pandemic and you have people who are at risk, we do think it makes sense to try these in addition to our large scale clinical trials on an individual basis such as we did with the president.
BLITZER: In the statement from the president's doctor that was released, Dr. Sean Conley, they said it was a precautionary measure that he received a single eight gram dose of the Regeneron's polyclonal antibody cocktail. He completed the infusion without incident. That's what the statement says.
Tell us about the infusion. Tell us about what was going on.
SCHLEIFER: Well, I think it's really pretty straightforward. Our antibody is really a collection of monoclonal antibodies that's made in controlled laboratory and factory conditions. It gets infused through your vein and into the person's body. And then it helps that person win the race.
It's not all that complicated. We're just trying to mimic the natural immune system, which isn't really ready to go when the virus is already going. And so this, when we look at our data -- just this week, we were talking about it earlier in the week, we saw very encouraging signs.
And I think they were encouraging enough to the White House physicians that they wanted to try it on what's called a compassionate use basis which is really just an individual experimental approach that they filed with the FDA for approval and we just provided the drug. And we really hope that it will make a difference.
BLITZER: Is it just one dose? Is that enough?
SCHLEIFER: Yeah. These antibodies, it's a large enough dose so that it will last quite a long time for him, hopefully even beyond when he's made the complete recovery. We have evidence ready that these are long-lasting in the body, as you would expect with this type of therapy. So, a single dose, high dose, should do the trick. And we hope that it will.
BLITZER: We got it from the statement from the president's physician that the first lady, Melania Trump, remains well with only a mild cough and headache. Did she also get a single dose of this cocktail?
SCHLEIFER: Yeah, we're not able to talk about any individual patient. We're not even allowed, from a medical ethical point of view, talk about the president. We're just confirming that we did supply -- if they make a statement, whether she did or she didn't, then we can react.
But right now, we're just focused on what they said about the president, that he did receive this under this so-called compassionate use. And we did supply it. It's a cocktail of two monoclonal antibodies that work together to really glom on to that virus and effectually make it impossible for the virus to get in your cells. That's how it works.
BLITZER: Well, let's hope it works.
Dr. Schleifer, thanks to you and thanks to everyone at Regeneron working on this new cocktail. Appreciate it very much.
It's truly been a historic day here in the nation's capital.
CNN's special coverage of this major breaking story continues right now with "Erin Burnett Outfront."
