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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Infectious President Trump Returns To The White; Biden: Trump Is Responsible For Getting Coronavirus; U.S.-Russia Tension Mounts In Skies Over Black Sea. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired October 06, 2020 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:31:27]
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump sheds his mask while he could be shedding the virus in a heavily-staged White House return from the hospital.
Good morning, this is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Laura Jarrett. It's about 31 minutes past the hour here in New York.
The president back in the White House this morning after effectively checking himself out of the hospital last night. In a bizarre spectacle, the infectious president -- still being treated for coronavirus, we're told -- emerged from Marine One, climbed the south portico staircase, pulled off his mask, shoved it in his pocket, and walked back into the White House residence without a mask.
He risked exposure to anyone in his path. It was a reckless and senseless act from the leader of the free world, matched in words by this baffling pronouncement Monday on Twitter. Quote, "Don't be afraid of COVID. Don't let it dominate your life." That tweet landing just hours before the U.S. surpassed 210,000 deaths from COVID-19.
We get more now from CNN's Kaitlan Collins.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine and Laura, it was just 72 hours after the president went to Walter Reed that he made this dramatic return to the White House. It involved him climbing up the stairs and removing his mask in front of live television cameras as he lingered there for several moments before trying to go back into the White House and then coming back out so a camera crew that was waiting inside could shoot his entrance back into the White House.
It was in a video that he later posted on Twitter where he downplayed coronavirus and his diagnosis with it that came just a few days ago as the president was trying to say you cannot let it dominate American life, not mentioning that he is on steroids and another drug that very few Americans have actually been able to get access to in the United States -- those who have coronavirus -- and a team of doctors at Walter Reed that were treating him and are going to closely monitor him over the next several days.
Christine and Laura, he's also returning to a very different White House where his daughter, Ivanka Trump, will not be there for a few days because she's quarantining at home even though she tested negative because she did come into contact with people who tested positive.
Of course, his -- Hope Hicks is not there, his body man's not there, two press aides aren't there.
And, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany will not be there either because she is working remotely after testing positive for coronavirus -- something that she did while -- as she continued to come to the White House. Despite having come into contact with Hope Hicks and being informed of such, she continued to brief reporters while she wasn't wearing a mask. And now, she'll be working at home for the next several days as she goes through this diagnosis of coronavirus.
And it's really making staffers inside the West Wing a little nervous to come to work -- to not know if the people they're interacting with are truly negative even if they've tested negative. And it's created a really different environment in the West Wing than we've seen any other time during this pandemic.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Kaitlan. Thank you for that.
Despite President Trump's tweet that he was feeling better than he did 20 years ago, serious questions remain about the actual state of his health. He is still in the middle of treatment. He is receiving powerful medications and has suffered two dips in oxygen levels, and that's just what we know about.
Even the White House physician, who has dodged, deflected, and strained to reflect the president's upbeat tone -- even he expressed some caution yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SEAN CONLEY, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S PHYSICIAN: It's been more than 72 hours since his last fever. Oxygen levels, including ambulatory saturations and his work of breathing are all normal. Though he may not entirely be out of the woods yet, the team and I agree that all our evaluations and, most importantly, his clinical status support the president's safe return home where he'll be surrounded by world-class medical care 24/7.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:35:12]
ROMANS: And, Dr. Anthony Fauci also offering this warning on CNN last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: The issue is that he's still early enough in the disease that it's no secret that if you look at the clinical course of people, sometimes when you're five to eight days in you're going to have a reversal. His physicians know -- a reversal, meaning going in the wrong direction and get into trouble.
It's unlikely that it will happen but they need to be heads up for it. He knows it, the physicians know it, so they're going to keep an eye out on it. But yes, you're not out of it until you've gone several days out and doing well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Joe Biden, facing questions about the president's behavior, insisting there's only one person responsible for Mr. Trump's illness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Anybody who contracts the virus -- essentially saying masks don't matter, social distancing doesn't matter -- I think is responsible for what happens to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: The former vice president also had this reaction to the president's reckless and heartless pronouncement that there's nothing to fear from coronavirus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: It's what the scientists tell us. This isn't complicated.
The president is getting out. I saw a tweet he did -- they showed me -- and he said don't let COVID control your lives. Tell that to the 205,000 families who lost somebody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: CNN's Arlette Saenz has more now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Laura and Christine, Joe Biden campaigned here in Florida, a critical battleground state, on the same day that President Trump left Walter Reed Hospital as he continues to battle the coronavirus.
Biden wished the president a speedy recovery but also sent this message to President Trump. Take a listen.
BIDEN: I was glad to see the president speaking and recording videos over the weekend. Now that he's busy tweeting campaign messages I would ask him to do this. Listen to the scientists. Support masks.
I hope the president's recovery is swift and successful but our nation's COVID crisis is far, far from over.
SAENZ: Now, Joe Biden and President Trump are set to debate herein Miami in just nine days. The president's campaign says that he does plan on debating the former vice president despite going through coronavirus at this moment. Biden and his advisers have said that he intends to debate as long as the medical experts determine that it is safe.
Now, this comes just one day before Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence are set to face off in their first and only vice presidential debate in Salt Lake City. There will be Plexiglas dividing the two candidates as they are seated 12 feet apart from each other on that stage -- just one of the many changes being made to these debates due to the coronavirus -- Laura and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JARRETT: All right, Arlette. Thank you for that.
With four weeks to the election, it's time for three questions in three minutes. Let's bring in CNN senior political analyst John Avlon. John, good to see you this morning.
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, guys.
JARRETT: We've got to start with what happened last night.
So, say you're an undecided voter. You're sitting in Michigan or Pennsylvania or Wisconsin. You're watching your nightly news last night. How do you possibly make sense of what happened?
I have to point out a recent CNN poll shows that 63 percent -- 63 percent of people think that Trump's handling of this infection risk and the people around him has been irresponsible. So how does the Trump campaign think that this won't backfire with voters who are undecided?
AVLON: Look, they're clearing betting that the president's -- that the president's showing strength and that people won't see it as reckless despite the fact that, as you pointed out, it was two-thirds of the American people say the president has been irresponsible.
But, you know, trying to focus on sort of a show of strength when you're sending a message as commander in chief that is deeply reckless and deeply disrespectful to the 210,000 Americans who have died, and their families is a real political problem.
But they're hope -- and you already see it in the social media bluster -- is that this will be seen as the president being defiant and fearless. But it's not just a question of strength and reckless. It could be a question of clever and stupid.
ROMANS: You know, it's interesting because the president has an empathy deficit. We know that. He could have used this moment -- his own battle for -- with coronavirus to sort of reset that image or reset his campaign. But in projecting strength, he did not reach any kind of empathic look there.
AVLON: No, empathy is not really what this president does. Although, there was a video over the weekend where it sounded like he'd learned something and he made a big show of that. Now, granted, he had to experience it personally, apparently, to be able to relate to the suffering of a lot of folks, but that had the life of a firefly, apparently.
The president's got -- had an ability to reset and really say look, I feel what families are going through. I'm going to take action based in solid science to go and really change the campaign and my posture and it would have addressed one of his biggest deficits. But at the end of the day, he is who he is and we're not going to see a change.
[05:40:10]
ROMANS: Yes.
JARRETT: So the Trump campaign is running out of time. There's only four weeks left until Election Day. It's hard to believe it's almost here.
How does Biden appear sensitive to Trump's condition? On the one hand, he is sick with coronavirus but he's also got to present a closing argument in these closing days of the campaign -- right, John?
AVLON: Yes -- and look, it's a tough line to walk. The Biden campaign has come under some criticism from the left and sort of political hardballers who say look, don't drop the negative ads at this point. The Trump campaign isn't doing it. And now, we're finding out that the Trump campaign is actually pulling ads from a lot of swing states because they're cash-strapped at the moment.
But he's got to be firm, he's got to be clear, and I don't think unilateral disarmament is a wise strategy. At the same time, he should be respectful to a president who is under an affliction. That is a tough line to walk --
ROMANS: Yes.
AVLON: -- but don't pull a punch during the critical -- during the critical final stretch.
ROMANS: All right, John Avlon. So nice to see you again this morning. A CNN political analyst.
AVLON: Good to see you, guys.
JARRETT: Thanks, John.
ROMANS: Thanks, John.
All right. Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris still set to face off tomorrow night in the only vice presidential debate of 2020. It airs on CNN with special coverage starting at 7:00 eastern time.
JARRETT: Well, the French government is raising its coronavirus alert to the maximum level with cases spiking across the country. Paris will close all bars, gyms, and swimming pools for two weeks, starting today.
Let's bring in Melissa Bell, live in Paris, with the very latest developments. Melissa, last time we spoke, you said that people were feeling a little bit mixed about lockdowns again. Obviously, nobody wants to return to what happened earlier this spring. What's the move like now?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, especially, Laura, when you consider that a city like Paris so dependent on tourists is really suffering as a result of these international travel restrictions that remain in place. Paris is simply not itself. And yet, authorities were looking at those figures -- and they've been rising really sharply here in the greater Paris region -- and realizing that they simply had to do something.
So, from today, bars and cafes will be closed for the next two weeks. That will already make Paris feel even sadder and quieter than it did already. Restaurants will stay open, though, with some fresh restrictions. And this, as authorities try and bring those numbers back under control.
The positivity rate on Monday reached, nationally, a new record, 8.6 percent. That is up from 7.6 percent in just a week. That shows you how fast the COVID-19 is progressing here in France and specifically, in cities like Paris.
One other interesting figure, Laura, that reminds you that it is the young that are driving this second wave here on the European continent. The incidence rate amongst 20 to 29-year-olds is double in the greater Paris region than what it is for the general population.
So, big measures being taken. Will they be enough? We've got another couple of weeks to wait and find out, Laura.
JARRETT: Yes, a really troubling spike there. All right, Melissa, thanks for all of your reporting, as usual.
BELL: Yes.
ROMANS: It almost feels like we're going backward, doesn't it?
All right, to business now.
Clean energy stocks are booming. Solar and wind company NextEra Energy -- that company briefly dethroned Exxon as America's most valuable energy company on Friday. By Monday, Exxon now had retaken the top spot with a market value of $142 billion -- about $1 billion more than Next Energy. While the moment was short-lived, it does show the optimism around clean energy and uncertainty about the future of fossil fuels.
NextEra is the nation's largest renewable energy company. Its stock is up 19 percent this year, trading near record highs. And, Wall Street is betting NextEra could benefit from a blue wave in November that would mean more money for climate spending.
Exxon is losing money for the first time in decades. Weak prices and a travel industry stunted by the pandemic has hurt the oil and gas industry. In August, it was kicked off the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Exxon has lost more than half of its value this year alone.
JARRETT: All right. Still ahead, U.S. Navy pilots -- they get into a high-flying faceoff with Russian fighter jets. We will take you there. It's a CNN exclusive, next.
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[05:48:11]
JARRETT: All right.
Tensions have been mounting between the U.S. and Russian military aircraft with a growing number of unsafe intercepts in recent months. CNN's Fred Pleitgen gives us an exclusive look from the skies over the Black Sea.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The U.S. Navy on the move deep into what Russia considers its backyard.
We're onboard a P-8 maritime warfare and surveillance plane in the Black Sea. It's a heavily-militarized region and we're told Russian jets are in the air. The crew spots one creeping up. It's a Su-27 fighter jet. It seems to be moving out of reach.
But suddenly, our plane is buzzed. The encounter, fast. We catch the fighter just as it's pulling away.
LT. DAN LOUDON, U.S. NAVY PILOT: It could be an unpredictable pilot, maybe new pilot -- something like that. So that can always be a challenge. You do keep on constant alert when you're being intercepted.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): The crew is tracking several other Russian jets nearby.
PLEITGEN (on camera): Encounters like this one with Russian warplanes are not uncommon for U.S. military personnel flying in places like the Black Sea. In fact, the U.S. military says they're becoming more common and also some of them are conducted in an unsafe manner.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): In late August, two Russian interceptors nearly rammed a B-52 operating here in what the U.S. says was an unsafe intercept. Russia says it was operating according to international norms, but there's no doubt Moscow is growing more brazen.
In 2017, Russian jets buzzed a U.S. warship in the Black Sea and only recently, in Syria, Russian military vehicles rammed a U.S. convoy.
President Trump hasn't publicly called out Vladimir Putin for the string of recent incidents between U.S. and Russian forces, but continues to insist he's tough on Russia.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do get along with President Putin, but I've been tougher on Russia than anybody else, by far.
[05:50:07]
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Words that don't seem to have deterred Moscow. Its presence in the region increasing over the past years.
The P-8 flying straight into the lion's den, right off Russia's main Black Sea naval port Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula.
The crew tracked 10 Russian military vessels nearby, including this Kilo class submarine, before checking on a U.S. destroyer, the Roosevelt, which was also being shadowed by a Russian warship.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be advised you've got a surface contact. It looks to be a combatant trailing you in parallel, approximately six miles off your starboard side. Copy.
REAR ADMIRAL ANTHONY CARULLO, U.S. NAVY: Really it's a message to all potential adversaries and a -- a message to our allies and partners that we're here to support them, keep the freedom and prosperity open for the entire continent of Europe.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): And that includes missions into difficult and contested areas like the Black Sea where Russia continues to try and grow its influence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: And, of course, that message especially important to friendly countries like, for instance, Georgia and Ukraine, showing them that the U.S. is going to continue to stand by their side, Christine.
ROMANS: All right, an important look for us there. Thanks so much -- Fred Pleitgen for us.
All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this Tuesday morning. A mixed performance for stock markets around the world. You can see European shares mixed right now. They've just opened in the last hour or two. On Wall Street, futures right now also not very decided at the moment.
Stocks closed higher on Monday on optimism about President Trump's health and the possibility of more stimulus. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin -- they spoke for an hour over the phone Monday but did not reach an agreement. Pelosi's spokesperson said another call is planned for today.
The Dow closed up 465 points. That's the best day since mid-July. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq finished higher. It was the best performance for the S&P and the Nasdaq in nearly a month.
JARRETT: Well, daytime soaps are getting very creative as they try to keep their actors safe in this age of coronavirus. Here's our Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A soap opera wouldn't be a soap opera without all that kissing, but in the age of COVID, forget passionate 25-second deep dives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL."
MOOS (voice-over): Still beautiful, but less bold. That's a mannequin he's kissing. The clip went viral and the hilarity it inspired was contagious.
Normally, Lawrence Saint-Victor and his abs would be intimate with his love interest, Zoe. But, Zoe was replaced by the mannequin. Actress Kiara Barnes tweeted, "We def had to do a billion takes because everyone was cracking up."
"ACCESS HOLLYWOOD" got exclusive access to actors emoting to mannequins on-set.
DENISE RICHARD, ACTRESS, "THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL": I hope you feel the same.
MOOS: Whose mouth is that? Actors are being replaced by spouses in tight shots. That's Denise Richards' husband's head.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Action.
MOOS (voice-over): No kissy-poo action for co-star Thorsten Kaye. There's a lot of smooching in the show "RIVERDALE" but these days they link arms and swig mouthwash. Their swishing is timed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty seconds in.
MOOS (voice-over): Instead of staring romantically, they stare balefully until they crack up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ten seconds to go.
MOOS (voice-over): KJ Apa and Camila Mendes had to spit in a baggie, which they mercifully didn't show. "Our new normal is washing our mouths before every take of a make-out scene."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember how I used to stroke your hair?
MOOS (voice-over): "SNL" invented some COVID soap opera precautions of its own. KATE MCKINNON, CAST MEMBER, NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Take me, please, please.
MOOS (voice-over): But precautions give new meaning to that old lament --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, what are we doing?
MOOS (voice-over): Lawrence Saint-Victor was doing something right. "I mean, the soulful way he looked that mannequin straight in the eyeballs and kissed her. Give that man a Daytime Emmy now."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You will never see her lips on another man.
MOOS (voice-over): Make that another mannequin.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JARRETT: Oh, Jeanne, thank you for that. We needed that.
ROMANS: I needed that.
JARRETT: The hand on the back of the plastic just kills me.
ROMANS: Oh my gosh. Take your husband to work day so you can -- so you can kiss for the scene. That's good.
JARRETT: Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Laura Jarrett.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. "NEW DAY" is next.
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[05:59:25]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONLEY: Though he may not entirely be out of the woods yet, the team and I agree that all our evaluations support the president's safe return home.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: He writes this tweet and says you don't have to fear COVID. We have to fear COVID. It is a contagious, deadly disease.
BIDEN: What is the macho thing, I'm not going to wear a mask? Big deal if it hurts you. Be patriotic for God's sake.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They live inside a different reality over here at the White House because a deadly virus is circulating inside the West Wing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the 11th day in a row of increased hospitalizations week-over-week. This is not a good trend. FAUCI: Our level of baseline number of cases per day is higher than I
want to see it. It's stuck at 40,000.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States.
