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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Calls Off Coronavirus Relief Negotiations; Top Pentagon Leadership Quarantining After COVID-19 Exposure; White House COVID-19 Outbreak Grows. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 06, 2020 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:35]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

And we begin today with the politics lead.

President Trump's physician has just released a new brief update on the president's current condition, saying the president has reported no symptoms today, and is doing -- quote -- "extremely well."

The letter is characteristically opaque, with no information about President Trump's temperature, his lung scans, or his current course of drugs. And we still do not know, of course, when the president last tested negative, which is an important question, because, if he was infected on Saturday, September 26, as the White House has suggested, it's unclear if the president even was tested between then and the debate on Tuesday, September 29.

It's also unclear whether we will hear from the president's medical team or the president himself today, though both, of course, have been reluctant to give the full picture of his health during his coronavirus infection, information the public, frankly, has every right to know about any president.

Let's get right to CNN's Kaitlan Collins.

Kaitlan, there are still so many questions that remain unanswered about the president's condition. And this note, typically, is not very detailed.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, it's really short.

And we also have not heard from Dr. Conley, as we did for the last three days, where he wasn't revealing a ton of information, but at least he was taking questions. And it doesn't appear that a briefing like that is going to materialize today, because we haven't gotten an indication like that from the White House. So, now that the president is back, he is projecting this idea that

he's recovered from coronavirus, though, of course, he still very much has it and his doctor even noted just yesterday he is not out of the woods yet. Jake, though he is acting like he is back on the campaign trail, tweeting that he's looking forward to debating Joe Biden in just nine days.

What that's going to look like is a whole different question. And how many tests they will want the president to take before he actually goes to Miami for that debate, if that happens, is still something that's to be determined.

But what we do know, Jake, is that the president is back at the White House. And it is kind of being run by a skeleton crew right now because of the recent outbreak that's been happening inside the West Wing and in other parts of the White House.

This morning, we reported that a military aide who was assigned to cover or to deal with the president in the Oval Office and in the residence has tested positive for coronavirus in recent days. That's causing several other of these military personnel to quarantine as well at home.

And now we have just learned that a third press staffer has also tested positive, meaning that three of Kayleigh McEnany's deputies are now working from home after testing positive. And, of course, she is well.

And so you're just seeing how this outbreak in the West Wing is growing. And it's causing serious concern among the other officials who are still coming to work about whether or not they could be next.

TAPPER: And, Kaitlan, while the president is pretending that he has kicked the virus, which he has not, and he's quarantined inside the White House, which has become a hot zone, there are tens of millions of Americans still waiting for relief because of the massive unemployment and other struggles caused by this pandemic.

The White House had been negotiating with Nancy Pelosi, specifically Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin negotiating with the House speaker. But President Trump just said that he's telling Mnuchin to stop negotiating and any hope for a relief bill is dead?

COLLINS: Yes, he says there is not going to be any discussion of that until after the election.

Of course, whether or not the president is going to win reelection is another question. But you see what he just tweeted a few moments ago, announcing he is cutting these talks off and he's instructed his aides who were doing the negotiating with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others to stop doing that.

And that comes as the Treasury secretary and Nancy Pelosi were supposed to speak this afternoon. But you see there he's saying that she's asking for too much money. He says they came up to $1.6 trillion, but she wanted $2.4 trillion. And, of course, what the real issue is, they didn't like what

Democrats wanted included in these stimulus talks and in this bill, and so he said he's instructed his representatives to stop negotiating until after the election.

And then he says they will pass a major bill after that, though, Jake, that -- we should warn viewers that is not even close to anything being realistic, because, of course, we have no idea what's going to happen in this election and whether people would have the appetite to pass that afterward.

But it does go to show how the president is viewing what's going on. A lot of his aides thought this could actually be helpful to him politically, if they could get another stimulus package through, though they weren't really close on talks. It was kind of a deal that was on life support.

[15:05:03]

They had actually just been talking, at least, and making some progress. But now the president says that is not going to be happening. And it's notable, Jake, because the president only recently got involved in these talks since he came down with coronavirus. He hadn't really been on the phone with any of these people. He had been talking through Mnuchin and being updated by Mnuchin and the chief of staff, Mark Meadows.

And now he is the one ending these talks and saying there will be no stimulus agreement before the election, which, of course, we have still got several weeks to go.

TAPPER: It's politically questionable in terms of the president apparently wanting to be seen as killing negotiations less than a month before the election.

Let me ask you, also. Michelle Obama, the former first lady, today tweeted -- quote -- "My heart goes out to everyone touched by this virus, from those at the White House, especially the Secret Service and residence staff, whose service ought never be taken for granted" -- unquote.

She seemed to be sending a very pointed message about the fact that President Trump, in returning to the White House, is, of course, in some ways, putting other people who are not infected at risk.

COLLINS: Yes, it's not just that return. It was that ride outside Walter Reed on Sunday, then, of course, the flight back and the motorcade yesterday, as the president got back to the White House. Now he is quarantining, they say, in the residence.

That still involves the president working downstairs and doing meetings like that. Whether or not he stays over there is still kind of anybody's guess.

But the first lady is obviously somewhat -- the former first lady is obviously someone who worked very closely with the staff in the residence, who, despite this pandemic, are still going to work because they have to serve the first family.

And so, basically, the thinking is, they should do as minimal as possible in order to protect those people. But the president has still been utilizing Secret Service, of course, and the residence staff, even though we have seen how that's affected some of these military personnel who do at times work in the residence, with one of them testing positive.

TAPPER: And we know the president does not like to wear a mask.

Kaitlan Collins, thank you so much.

We have some breaking news from the Pentagon now. All but one member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are now under quarantine, this after a top Coast Guard official tested positive for coronavirus after visiting the White House.

CNN's Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon.

And, Barbara, the Coast Guard admiral who has coronavirus, when exactly was he at the hot zone at the White House?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is Admiral Charles Ray, the number two at the Coast Guard.

He was at the White House a week ago Sunday for an event for Families of the Fallen, but he was also in the Pentagon at the end of last week. And that is what they are looking at right now. He came into contact when he was here at the Pentagon with a number of members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Admiral Ray testing positive, and, of course, we wish him the very best. But now the entire Joint Chiefs, except for one, are working from home. They have undergone, we are told, initial testing. All have tested negative. It will be up to their medical advisers as to when they come back to work inside the Pentagon.

One of them not a member of the Joint Chiefs, General Paul Nakasone, head of U.S. Cyber Command and head of the National Security Agency, one of the most important intel agencies. He too came into contact with the admiral here at the Pentagon -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Barbara Starr with that alarming news, thank you so much.

Joining us to discuss, Dr. Peter Hotez. He's the co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital.

Dr. Hotez, we're seeing even more effects from the president's diagnosis. The president's doctor says Mr. Trump is showing no symptoms today. Do you think that means that President Trump is on the path to recovery? Or is there a chance that those symptoms could come back?

DR. PETER HOTEZ, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Well, actually, there's three parts to that question. Actually, one, will the president rebound in terms of having inflammatory consequences over the next couple of days?

Because we can sometimes see this waxing and waning course of COVID- 19. So, yes, he could have a recurrence of symptoms due to his own inflammatory response to the virus, not necessarily because he's getting reinfected. That's part one.

Part two is, we have seen a lot of what's called long-haul syndromes, where people have chronic lung issues in terms of difficulty breathing, heart issues, and then neurologic complications, what some people call cognitive disturbances or brain fog or even depression.

And then the third unknown piece to this is, remember, he got neutralizing antibodies early on in the course of his illness. And we have no idea how that affects the natural course of this virus infection. That's a total unknown, because it's only been given to about 275 patients.

So that is still under study. So we don't know, the fact that he did get those monoclonal antibodies, how that affects the natural history of the disease. So there's a lot to look for.

And we're not getting much information from Dr. Conley. And that may not be entirely his fault. It may also be the fact that the president himself does not want information released. And that's putting the White House medical staff in a difficult position. Who are they responsible to? Is the patient-protected information from the president, or do they have a responsibility to the American people?

[15:10:17]

So there's a lot of ethical issues around that as well.

TAPPER: And don't forget, these are Naval officers, who also report to President Trump, as the commander in chief. It's not just a normal doctor-patient relationship. They have to follow his orders.

Commander Conley, Dr. Conley, he did not let the public know how low President Trump's oxygen levels got, but now he is providing information, as always, that reflects well on the president's health, saying that the president has an oxygen saturation level of 95 to 97 percent.

There is no HIPAA law that allows you to give good news, but not bad news.

HOTEZ: Well, yes, I mean, the patient-protected information is universal, right, both good and bad news.

And, again, he -- and especially if the president is, if the patient himself is restricting information, he may feel he's got to respect that. And this is when you bring in someone like our Art Caplan, the biomedical ethicist, to say, who -- is this -- is the doctor responsible to the American people, to the president? How do you thread that needle?

I think it's a really tough one, especially if you have a difficult patient.

TAPPER: All right. Dr. Peter Hotez, thank you so much, as always.

If you looked at President Trump's tweets this morning, you would not be blamed for thinking that it might be March or April or possibly even February of this year -- how President Trump's misunderstanding or misrepresentations about the virus seem to have come full circle.

Then, under personal pressure, more details on what President Trump is asking drug companies to do when it comes to a coronavirus vaccine.

Stay with us.

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TAPPER: We have some breaking news in our money lead.

The markets are falling after President Trump announced on Twitter that he is ending all negotiations on any sort of coronavirus relief deal.

CNN's Manu Raju joins us live.

Manu, were there any signs that this was going to come together at all or fall apart?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was a big surprise that the president is pulling the plug on these talks.

I mean, there was still a wide -- far, very far party to get -- trying to get a deal. But negotiations were ongoing. They were actually expected to have talks today with Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. And they have been trading proposals back and forth.

Even though it was a long shot, there was still some hope that potentially a deal could come together. But the president, after having a conference call with Republican leaders and Steven Mnuchin, put out this tweet that surprised everybody on Capitol Hill. It makes it clear that there will not be a stimulus deal before the November elections.

And this is the important part of this multipart tweet that the president put out. He claims, he says that: "I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election, when immediately after I win, we will pass a major stimulus bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and small businesses."

Now, a lot to unpack right there, but this is significant because, of course, this would be the fifth relief package that they have been stalled over from months and months and months.

But, recently, the two sides have suggested that the perhaps they could try to come together. At least, President Trump has indicated that he'd be willing to get a deal. He's instructed Mnuchin to have negotiations with Nancy Pelosi. They have gone back and forth.

They have been far apart over the overall price tag. Pelosi wants about $2.4 trillion. The White House has come about $1.5-$1.6 trillion. They are divided over a lot of the number of details.

But, again, Jake, there was an expectation they would at least try to continue to trade proposals, try to get closer to see if they can come up with something. Even if that something would not be enough for Senate Republicans who didn't like the direction that talks were going, at least those negotiations would continue, but the president making it clear he does not want those talks to happen at all.

And, Jake, one other thing. I heard that Nancy Pelosi just addressed this on a conference call with House Democrats. She unloaded on the president. She said that the president is undermining science.

This move is contending is going to help -- hurt workers across the country. So expect to hear more from her about the surprise move that effectively ends any negotiations until after the elections -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Manu Raju, thanks so much.

Let's discuss this with CNN's Gloria Borger and Jeff Zeleny.

And, Jeff, let me start with you.

The president right now, who we all wish well, we all wish a speedy recovery, he is suffering from a self-inflicted wound, quite literally, behaving recklessly in contracting the coronavirus. This is a political self-inflicted wound.

I don't really understand it. He doesn't really care about the deficit, President Trump. He has made that clear. Why would he want to be seen as stopping people who are struggling from getting money less than a month before the election?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: There's no question about any of that.

And that sound you heard there is from Senate Republicans who are vulnerable who are wondering the exact same thing you just raised. Why would you stop the negotiations? It's one thing to vote for a bill, as Manu said, but it's a whole 'nother matter to stop negotiations while the market is still open.

That is the biggest question of all here, why the president would make this decision, make this announcement while the stock market is open. There is no rationale for that. So this is one of the continuing signs that the president simply does not seem to understand the economic pains of this, as well as the medical realities of this.

We're just seeing just a considerable evidence mounting up on both of those fronts here. So it is unclear why he decided to weigh in at this point. He's not been that involved in these negotiations from the very beginning. He's been hands-off throughout this process, really for much of the last three-and-a-half years or so, with Capitol Hill. [15:20:03]

But, today, he inserted himself. And we're seeing exactly on the screen what's happening here, Jake.

TAPPER: And, Gloria, I mean, the market is down 363 right now. We have no idea where it's going to close in 40 minutes.

But this is an example. The president's words can move markets.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.

And I think what -- yes, and in the wrong direction. And you know how much the president likes to brag about the stock market, and how he can affect the stock market.

And I think, if you read the president's tweets, what is sort of an on his mind is that he doesn't want to bail out the so-called blue states, which he says have been mismanaged, and he doesn't want to throw money at them.

And this is a president who has said that there wouldn't be as many deaths from coronavirus if you didn't count the blue states. Remember that? So this is a president, I think, trying to say to his base, I'm not going to help those terrible people.

But this will boomerang. I agree with you, Jake. And I think that there are a lot of Republicans scratching their heads, particularly since there was supposed to be a meeting at about this time between Pelosi and Mnuchin. And they were trying to get together on something before the election.

And the president just threw this grenade into the room and then kind of walked out, after not participating in these discussions for months.

TAPPER: Yes.

I mean, if he cared about the deficit or the debt, that would be one thing.

BORGER: Right.

TAPPER: But he has made a very clear he doesn't. So that's why this is so bizarre.

Let's talk about the election more broadly.

Jeff, a new CNN poll out today shows Joe Biden with the widest lead so far with less than a month before Election Day, Biden up 57 percent to Trump's 41 percent. Now, I don't know anybody in the Biden campaign who thinks that they're going to win by 16 points, but it's not a good sign for Donald Trump.

President Trump, of course, it has been grasping for a campaign message the last few months. He has also been saying that the stimulus will happen. And now he's saying the same stimulus will happen. You just have to elect me first.

I don't even know if he's going to have the Senate after November 3.

ZELENY: Well, that's the central question here.

If you talk to a lot of Senate Republicans, they are very worried about just the idea of holding on to the Senate. These vulnerable seats certainly are plentiful and growing.

But the overall construct of this of this race is expanding in Joe Biden's favor. And you're right. We should not look at that overall margin. That's a national poll and elections are conducted state by state.

But inside that poll, the numbers are alarming for the Trump campaign in terms of seniors, in terms of a credibility and the economy. The president has always held at least a marginal lead advantage on the economy over Joe Biden. At least, in this poll, it is showing that is changing here.

So this is all after that first debate. It clearly didn't go well for him. Perhaps that is why we are seeing the president do all of these showmanship-like activities from the White House to try and change the subject here.

But the reality is, this raises, as millions of Americans have already voted and more are voting every day, the structure this race is not changing in his favor.

TAPPER: So, Gloria, you know, Mike Kinsley's favorite -- famous saying is a gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth.

BORGER: Right.

TAPPER: Take a listen to Hogan Gidley, the press secretary for the Trump campaign, talking to the president's favorite channel about Mr. Trump and his battle with the virus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOGAN GIDLEY, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY: We're looking forward to him getting back on the trail, when the doctors say it's physically feasible for him to do so.

He's ready now. And if he had his druthers, I don't know that he would have ever gotten off the trail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: If he had his druthers, he never would have gotten off the throw.

That's not something to brag about.

BORGER: No.

TAPPER: He's infected and he's contagious. And it's a deadly virus.

I don't doubt that Hogan is telling the truth there, though.

BORGER: Right. I think he probably is, unfortunately.

I mean, remember, they were they were trying to put the kibosh on anybody learning about Hope Hicks getting infected, and maybe others beyond. We still don't know how many people inside this White House exactly are infected.

We don't know an awful lot about the president's condition. We get these very rudimentary press releases. We have a doctor who won't answer questions. And so this is a president who has been trying to play down this virus.

And I just want to remind us, as we look at the president blowing up the stimulus talks, the thing the president said the other day about COVID, don't let it dominate your life, well, if the stimulus talks have now collapsed because the president has decided to end them, how can COVID not dominate the lives of people who will stop getting that income that they so desperately need and who will lose jobs in states, in blue states and red states, who are first responders?

Yes, COVID will dominate their lives.

TAPPER: Yes. How about the parents who have kids that have to do school remotely?

BORGER: Absolutely.

TAPPER: Gloria Borger, Jeff Zeleny, thanks to both of you.

You don't want to miss the only vice presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris, the vice president and the senator. CNN's special coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night, Wednesday night.

[15:25:00]

Coming up: why certain areas of New York City could start looking as if it is March and April all over again. That's not a good thing.

Stay with us.

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TAPPER: Back now with our national lead.