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Source: Trump Received Supplemental Oxygen Friday; Trump's Positive Test Renews Focus On Safety During Campaign Events And Debates; Biden Tests Negative, Continues On Campaign Trail As Trump Isolates; Leader McConnell Seeks To Push Senate Floor Activity Back Two Weeks As Graham Plans To Proceed With Barrett Confirmation Hearings; Trump's Positive COVID Test Could Have National Security Implications; NFL Hit By COVID Crisis. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired October 03, 2020 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:53]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

Brand-new questions, very big questions today, swirling around President Trump's urgent medical care. What the public doesn't know at this hour is just how sick the president is, and doctors are going back and forth about exactly when the president and others knew about his COVID diagnosis. We've had very little clarity on that earlier today when the president's personal physician and other Walter Reed doctors came out and talked to reporters.

Now, they described the president as doing very well, in good spirits and fever-free. What triggered the new questions was something the president's doctor now says was a mistake, the timeline -- when the president was diagnosed, when he started initial treatment. And he side stepped answering multiple direct questions about whether the president was ever given oxygen to help him breathe.

Let's get out to White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond outside Walter Reed Medical Center right now.

Jeremy, as I just mentioned, the president's doctor repeatedly not saying whether President Trump was given oxygen. Other sources are telling CNN something very different. Fill us in.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. We have since learned a source telling our colleague Jim Acosta that the president did indeed receive supplemental oxygen yesterday morning at the White House before he ultimately left for Walter Reed, where he is now a patient admitted for several days, at least we expect.

And so, obviously, when you heard Dr. Sean Conley, it was quite evident that was likely the situation because he kept saying the president is not currently on supplemental oxygen. He does not currently require supplemental oxygen. And when he was asked whether he had it in the past, he said, no, he did not have it on Thursday and said he did not have it with the team here at Walter Reed, suggesting that the president had indeed gotten supplemental oxygen, required it, in fact, while he was at the White House earlier in the day.

And this is just one of those things where we have watched the White House's, you know, explanation of the president's condition really shift. And it's not been a model of transparency. There's no question that hearing from Dr. Sean Conley, hearing from other doctors today was the most information we have gotten so far. But then you heard Dr. Conley refuse to say specifically how high the president's fever spiked and provide some other information about the president's condition.

And then, of course, as you referenced, Ana, there is this big question of the timeline. And Dr. Conley, earlier today saying that the president was diagnosed with coronavirus 72 hours ago, which would put his diagnosis through mid-day Wednesday, before which the president ultimately went off to a rally in Minnesota and then carried on with his day as normal on Thursday, when he went to Bedminster, New Jersey.

Dr. Conley has now corrected that statement and I want to read you the latest memo from Dr. Conley, where he says: This morning while summarizing the president's health, I incorrectly used the term 72 hours instead of day three and 48 hours instead of day two with regards to his diagnosis and administration of polyclonal antibody therapy.

He says the president was first diagnosed with COVID-19 on the evening of Thursday, October 1st, and had received Regeron, he means Regeneron, but it gives you a sign how quickly this is put together, antibody cocktail on Friday, October 2nd.

So, again, putting the timeline back in line with where things stood. But I think we just have to underscore here, Ana, this is perhaps one of the most consequential moments of Donald Trump's presidency, of any president perhaps in recent memory. And the White House right now is really, you know, they're not -- they're not doing it how you should, as it relates to communicating the president's health and all of the information around him.

You know, they have not been a model of transparency. And honestly, by putting out half information or half truths about the president's condition, it really only garners more questions. And that is where we stand today, still wondering about the president's condition, particularly after a source familiar with the president's health saying that he experienced some tough symptoms over the last 24 hours, that they had concerns about his vital signs and that there is no clear path forward for his recovery as of now.

[16:05:10]

So, again, a lot to continue to monitor here, but we are continuing, of course, to press the White House for more information, for more details and really to be as transparent as possible.

CABRERA: Of course, the president's health is most important first and foremost. It's not just the president's health. One of the reasons we need the information is to determine who else may be at risk. Today, we're hearing more and more people have gotten the unfortunate news that they are also positive for the coronavirus.

Fill us in on who they are, what is the impact of all this.

DIAMOND: That's right. I mean, you think about the number of people that we have learned, particularly members of the administration or Republican members of the Senate who have tested positive for coronavirus since the president announced his diagnosis, and it is really a startling number. And it is coming at a very rapid fire clip this morning.

We learned that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who was part of the close quarters maskless debate prep last weekend that he also tested positive for coronavirus. Governor Christi was actually also at the Supreme Court announcement that the president had last Saturday, and that is where we've had so many cases of coronavirus pop up.

I think we have an image that we can put on the screen here. Governor Christie is one of the individuals. You have Melania Trump, the first lady, who was also there. Kellyanne Conway, the president's former counsel who has also tested positive for coronavirus, Senator Mike Lee and Senator Thom Tillis, both of whom have also since announced they have tested positive for coronavirus.

Now, I will tell you, Ana, I was at that event. We were further apart from the crowd, but you could see -- I mean, you felt like you were living in an alternate reality. You have several hundred of the president's closest supporters packed into the Rose Garden, all tightly packed together, not wearing masks.

And then you wonder what's going to happen. And it appears now that this may have been a super spreader event -- Ana.

CABRERA: And we look at this video, Jeremy Diamond, and you see them talking very closely to each other, people face to face, people shaking hands, fist bumping. It feels like a universe in which the coronavirus doesn't exist and now this one event has so many victims.

Thank you very much, Jeremy Diamond.

I want to bring in our health experts. Dr. Carlos del Rio is an infectious disease specialist and the executive associate dean of Emory University School of Medicine, and Dr. Jonathan Reiner is a professor of medicine at George Washington University. He also served as Vice President Dick Cheney's long time cardiologist.

And, Doctors, I'm just baffled as to why Dr. Conley didn't come out and just level with the American people and say the president's symptoms were concerning yesterday but he was given oxygen and today he's doing much better.

Dr. Reiner, as someone who treated a previous vice president and released updates about his health, what do you think about the briefing Dr. Conley gave this morning?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I thought it was a fiasco. I've done these briefings and the goal of these briefings are twofold. One is to update and reassure the public about the status of the president or the vice president. And the second is to tell the truth.

So, if you go out there wearing a white coat, you are a medical doctor, not a spin doctor. And what we saw today was just spin.

If you're going to give a medical briefing, you should be able to tell the public how high the president's temperature has been. You should be able to tell the public how low his pulse ox has been. You should be able to tell the public if he's ever been on supplemental oxygen. You should be able to tell the public when was the last time the president tested negative. You should be able to tell the public if the president has received steroids.

Why won't Dr. Conley say any of that? His role is to tell the truth, period, not to create some kind of carefully crafted fiction.

And we'll note when he said he misspoke, he read those words. That was in written statement that said 72 hours. And those written statements, certainly in this administration, are vetted by the administration. So, those words that said 72 hours into this were vetted by the administration.

CABRERA: It was quite clear that there was an intentional point made to make sure that they provide as rosy an outlook as possible and to communicate that the president was strong. In fact, I recall Dr. Conley coming back to the microphone saying I'll take questions, wait, wait, before I do that, essentially, he interrupts himself and says, I have to say the president has a big stack of work that he received from the chief of staff, and he is really getting at it.

It was a very awkward moment because it really clarified that he was trying to project a message that somebody told him to put out there. And then you have somebody who comes back to the reporters after that press conference and shares with reporters this statement, the president's vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care.

[16:10:04]

We are still not on a clear path to a full recovery.

Dr. del Rio, when you hear a source familiar with the president's health call the next 48 hours critical and that there's not a clear path to a full recovery, what goes through your mind?

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAD OF EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, GRADY HEALTH SYSTEM: Well, Ana, I think that what happens is that we have somebody who's 74 years old infected with COVID, and we know that patients at that age are increased risk of complications, including death. So, I agree. I mean, the next 48 hours, 72 hours are very important. The president is receiving remdesivir, which may decrease his risk of complications. He may or may not be receiving steroids. We weren't told.

But I do worry about it, and I think that that this is why he is at Walter Reed, because he needs to be monitored. He needs to be watched closely because the reality is, at his age, this could potentially get very serious disease.

CABRERA: Let me come back to Dr. Del Rio, and that is about the treatment that we've learned the president has received so far. He had received an experimental antibody cocktail from Regeneron. He's also been treated with remdesivir. I understand they work differently.

Can you explain, you know, what these treatments do and what does it tell us about the president's condition?

DEL RIO: So, yes. Let's start with Remdesivir. Remdesivir is an antiviral, and it's a drug that has been shown through clinical trials to decrease the time for improvement with people with COVID. It does not improve survival. It does not cure you. But it does improve the time to recovery.

The other thing that he's receiving is a monoclonal antibody that is not a polyclonal as was said, it's produced -- this one is produced by Regeneron. There are two major monoclonal antibodies currently in clinical trials. One produced by Eli Lilly, one produced by Regeneron.

And this monoclonal antibodies are being used for treatment and prevention. It's actually very exciting drug because, for example, for (AUDIO GAP) for people in contact with the president who tested negative can actually be given the monoclonal antibody as a way to prevent them, so it's like a vaccine to prevent them from getting the disease.

And, in fact, that study is currently being done through the COVPN, which is this network of research studies around COVID. And the study -- the drug can also be used, monoclonal antibodies can also be used for treatment. It is actually being studied that Eli Lilly monoclonal currently being studied for treatment in people who have mild disease like the president, who don't need to be in the hospital. Now, once he's in the hospital, it's a different story.

But in my recollection, we've never used both of them together. They do work through a different mechanism, but they have not been studied together.

CABRERA: Dr. Reiner, considering how often the president and those around him are supposedly tested, does it surprise you that they can't determine when the president may have contracted this virus?

REINER: Yeah, that's -- that's a big mystery because the narrative has always been, you know, the president is surrounded by this cocoon of testing safety and the president is tested himself every single day.

And I've always doubted that the president is tested every day. If he's having a real COVID test every day, that's a nasopharyngeal swab, which is not the most pleasant test to have. And I doubt the president has been tested every single day.

So I think the White House was in a quandary because he almost certainly was not tested that morning. Or if he was, why wouldn't they simply say that he was negative? It's important to know when his last negative was because it actually impacts what his potential infectivity would have been on the night of the debate. And that impacts attendees here, in particular the former vice president.

So, it's important for the White House to tell us when was the president last tested negative.

CABRERA: And, in fact, he was asked that question directly, and the answer was, quote, I'm not going to get into all the testing going back, but he and all his staff are routinely tested.

REINER: Right.

CABRERA: Dr. Jonathan Reiner and Dr. Carlos del Rio, gentlemen, thank you very much. I appreciate your time and your expertise.

During a national crisis when the president is in the hospital with COVID-19, the American people need to be able to trust what the White House is saying. This is when credibility is essential. Legendary journalist Carl Bernstein is going to join us next to discuss. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:13:23]

CABRERA: Confusion only seems to be growing over President Trump's condition and the timeline of his COVID-19 diagnosis. This morning, the president's doctor gave a rosy assessment, saying Trump is doing very well. But not even an hour later, a source told reporters the president's vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care.

CNN political analyst, journalist and author Carl Bernstein is joining us now.

Carl, we saw that update today with the president's doctor. It looked really more like a political news conference. The White House has a lot of confirming information only after it's been reported, reactive versus proactive.

Do you believe the White House is being transparent enough about what's going on?

CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Obviously not. The White House has never been transparent enough about anything under Donald Trump of consequence to the national security of this country. But let's talk a deep breath here and look at what really is the pattern going back to January 28th when Trump was first informed by his national security adviser and deputy about this virus and what a great threat it posed.

And since then, his response has been homicidal negligence. He has failed to protect the American people and rather to put his own interest of re-election and holding on to the office of the presidency in front of the health and well-being of the American people. And what we are seeing in this last week is the same thing, this willingness, this negligence, even as he himself has become stricken with this horrible disease, his interest in front of the country, for purposes of his election. [16:20:12]

Again, let's take a look at the timing that's under question here, this going to Bedminster after knowing, it certainly looks like, that his closest aide, with whom he spends the most time, and proximity in the Oval Office, Hope Hicks --

CABRERA: Hope Hicks.

BERNSTEIN: -- has come down with the virus and he then goes to a fund- raiser in Bedminster. He also goes to a campaign event. Apparently, he and certainly his staff and the chief of staff and others knowing that he has been exposed to somebody who's testing positive and apparently has COVID.

This, too, gets to what certainly looks like back to this idea of homicidal negligence, go back, also to the Rose Garden ceremony in which we see these people packed together for a political event, really, you know, nominating and celebrating the nomination of his candidate to go to the Supreme Court.

There are many ways to do it, but to pack those people into the Rose Garden without masks. Once again, treating his supporters like sheep.

CABRERA: Well --

BERNSTEIN: And they responded like sheep, without masks.

So we got to go back to the -- this idea of the president undermining the national security of this country for his own interest. It's a very bitter pill at the moment when we see the country itself in a grave national security crisis because of the president being stricken with COVID.

CABRERA: And I just think about all that has transpired in just the past week, even less than the week, just since last Sunday, we had the bombshell reporting on Trump's taxes, the debate that was anything but presidential, then the president's refusal for days to unequivocally condemn white supremacy and now we have the risk to the president's own health and safety after repeatedly flouting those recommendations of his own health experts.

In your decades of reporting, Carl, have you ever seen anything like this?

BERNSTEIN: Obviously not. Look, you know, it's known that Bob Woodward and myself, we covered Watergate. This far exceeds the horrors of Watergate. These are horrors committed by a felonious presidential felon, really, a felon -- felonies committed against the people of the United States and their health and welfare and safety and national security.

And the COVID example is really the most horrendous beginning back early in the year and now continuing through this last week. It's very significant that the president's principal national security advisors and chiefs of staff, Kelly, Mattis, McMaster, Tillerson, on and on, Bolton, they concluded that the -- and Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, they concluded that the president of the United States himself is a threat to the national security of the United States.

That's never happened in our history. Nothing close that presidents, whatever their failings, have put the interests of the United States as they interpreted it in front of their own interests.

What Trump has done is the opposite, and now we are seeing the bitter fruit. We're choking on the bitter fruit of his selfishness and that's where we are. And take a look. We now have a government in quarantine. Senators --

CABRERA: Yep.

BERNSTEIN: -- who are exposed in the Rose Garden. The executive branch is now being crippled, to some extent, by the spread of the virus through the super spreader events that were allowed to happen because of this homicidal negligence.

CABRERA: It was -- it wasn't just allowed to happen. It was, you know, put forward, it was supported, it was, you know, created because of a different reality that the president was trying to project and has been all along throughout this pandemic.

Carl Bernstein, I appreciate your thoughts. Thank you for --

BERNSTEIN: Can I have one thing, Ana, before we go, just one quick thing.

CABRERA: Sure.

BERNSTEIN: For the press and for Democrats and for Republicans alike on Capitol Hill, it is essential that in the next 24, 36, 48 hours, whatever it takes, that we learn the real timeline of the president's illness and when it was -- and his testing, every test that he has taken. It is essential to the national security of the United States that we find the answers to these questions and every reporter covering him should be dedicated to this.

[16:25:09]

And every decent senator and congressman should be committed to this.

CABRERA: We are going to discuss more about the national security impact coming up later this hour.

Carl Bernstein, as always, thank you very much.

We are now just one month away from Election Day. We are going to take you inside the changes the campaigns are making in light of the president's positive coronavirus diagnosis.

Stay with us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CABRERA: We are exactly one month out from Election Day and with the president off the campaign trail and instead in the hospital, this is without question reshaping the final stretch of this election.

The president's positive test has also renewed focus on --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:00]

CABRERA: We are exactly one month out now from Election Day. And with the president off of the campaign trail, and instead in the hospital, this is without question reshaping the final stretch of this election.

The president's positive test has also renewed focus on safety during campaign events and debates.

CNN Political Analyst, Jackie Kucinich, and CNN political correspondent, Abby Phillip, are joining us now.

Jackie, the Commission on Presidential Debates has now announced that audiences in future debates will be required to wear masks.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.

CABRERA: And those who don't comply will actually be escorted out.

We are in a pandemic. Are you surprised the commission wasn't more firm on this earlier? I know they had some rules regarding masks but now they're saying they'll escort people out who aren't wearing them.

Are they making any other changes that you know of?

KUCINICH: This stems from the fact that the first family, when they walked into the presidential debate at the Cleveland Clinic, which is one of the foremost medical centers in the country, had their masks on and then took them off while watching the debates.

The Biden side of that auditorium largely kept their masks on. The Cleveland Clinic offered the Trump family masks and were waved away.

So, it seems now the fact that there's this outbreak within the Trump campaign and also among the Republican Party, they've had enough. And they're making sure that people actually wear masks inside to ensure that everyone is safe.

They've also moved apart Kamala Harris and Mike Pence more. I believe they're going to be 12 feet apart.

And you know, they'll still be sitting, which is traditional in the vice-presidential debate, but they're going to make sure that there's even more distance. And I believe that was a request of the Biden campaign.

So, these changes that are being made may seem minimal, but it is surprising that they weren't more firm on the front end at that first debate.

CABRERA: Abby, the president mocked Joe Biden during Tuesday's debate or this past week for how often he wears a mask. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't wear masks like him. Every time you see him, he's got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away and he shows up with the biggest mask I've ever seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Do you expect the rhetoric to change now going forward?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I sure hope so.

And you know, to Jackie's point, the Commission on Presidential Debates probably could not have imagined that, given how much attention is being paid to safety at these events, that the first family would choose to do what they did, which was take their masks off.

This is not a White House or a campaign that has ever viewed mask wearing as something that is necessary to do. It is optional in the White House.

And even in the days prior to today, after the president and many people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, the campaign was holding events in which you could clearly see in the photographs many attendees indoors not wearing masks.

Look, this is a moment where they have to decide what they're going to do. It is not a personal choice to wear a mask. It is something that you do out of a responsibility not to put other people in danger.

And so far, I really haven't seen a sort of full-throated, you know, endorsement of mask-wearing.

Yes, we are seeing more White House officials publicly wearing masks than we have seen in the past. That's good. I hope we see more of that.

But it really -- I think, the rhetoric and the tone and the encouragement of mask-wearing really needs to come from the top and I hope it does after this moment.

CABRERA: Let's talk more about the impact on the race.

Jackie, Joe Biden says he was tested twice on Friday. He's moving forward with his campaign schedule.

So, the potential of this being, you know, a reverse of the summer, when Biden wasn't necessarily out on the campaign trail, doing more virtual events, but Trump was out to do his rallies. Now Trump isolating and Biden stumping.

How does that change the dynamic of the race?

KUCINICH: Well, it's hard to say at this point, honestly. Because the race has actually been fairly steady throughout all of this turmoil with the pandemic and everything.

The Biden campaign has also begun doing more in-person canvassing, which they had not done throughout the summer because of the pandemic. And that has been a reversal.

But the president is -- I mean, they just sent out an email announcing this Operation MAGA, which was saying that the president and his family and Mike Pence are going to be out on the campaign trail until the president is able to come back out himself.

But to Abby's point, you would hope that when Mike Pence goes to Arizona to have an event there, that perhaps mask-wearing is a little bit more mandatory than it's been in the past.

But you know, there was video today put out by Trump campaign officials that had people wishing the president well, but about half of them were wearing masks and they're in crowds.

So, lessons learned aren't filtering through at this point, and it will have to wait and see if that continues, as Mike Pence heads to Arizona, next week.

CABRERA: Right. He's got the debate on weapons, Arizona on Thursday. And I think a lot of people are asking why he isn't quarantining, especially when you see him in that picture at the Rose Garden ceremony.

KUCINICH: Right.

[16:35:08]

CABRERA: He is literally surrounded with people who have now been diagnosed with the coronavirus.

In fact, Senator Mike Lee was sitting right behind him. Right across from him was Kellyanne Conway and Melania Trump. You have Senator Thom Tillis over his right shoulder. President directly in front of him.

KUCINICH: Right.

CABRERA: And we know he's always been at other events with the president since then as well.

So I think there's still more ongoing questions about whether that is, you know, safe for him to be on the campaign trail at this moment.

KUCINICH: Right.

CABRERA: Jackie Kucinich and Abby Phillip, ladies, I appreciate your insights. Thanks.

With only weeks until the election, it is time for Mike Pence and Kamala Harris to face off. And right now, the only vice-presidential debate of 2020 is planning to be Wednesday night. It will air on CNN. We'll have special coverage starting at 7:00 eastern.

Some breaking news now. Senator Mitch McConnell says he just spoke to President Trump. We will head to Capitol Hill for a live report on what they discussed and what the Senate majority leader is learning about the president's condition.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:40:15]

CABRERA: We have more breaking news. We are learning Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just spoke with President Trump.

Let's get right out to CNN's Lauren Fox.

Lauren, what are you learning from McConnell?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Just a few minutes ago, Majority Leader McConnell tweeted, quote, "Just had another great call with POTUS. He sounds well and says he's feeling good."

"We talked about the people's business, fighting the pandemic, confirming Judge Barrett, and strengthening the economy for American families. Let's keep our president and first lady in our prayers."

It's worth noting, Ana, that this question about Judge Barrett's nomination is front and center on Capitol Hill this Saturday. There are questions about exactly whether or not she will be able to move forward in a full-timely manner timely manner.

And here's the issue. McConnell has said he wants to withhold any votes on the Senate floor for the next two weeks, given the fact that three Republican Senators have tested positive for coronavirus in just the last 48 hours.

However, there still is a plan to move forward with the Senate Judiciary Committee's nomination hearing for Judge Barrett even though two of those Senators, Thom Tillis and Mike Lee, sit on the Judiciary Committee.

Now, there are questions about if they are absent, what that means for the future of Amy Coney Barrett's nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee. They need a quorum to be able to vote.

And there are procedural maneuvers the Democrats could unfold if they wanted to stop this nomination if Tillis and Lee were not present.

Essentially, Democrats could not show up. There wouldn't be a quorum. Without Tillis and Lee present, that would create a problem for the Judiciary Committee Chairman Graham.

So essentially, the big question right now is: When do Lee and Tillis return to the Judiciary Committee?

And of course, we're watching the health on Capitol Hill of many Senators, some of whom were at that Rose Garden ceremony last Saturday -- Ana?

CABRERA: OK, Lauren Fox, thank you.

Up next, the president's positive COVID-19 diagnosis can have potential national security implications. What is being done to ensure America remains protected?

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:46:43]

CABRERA: We continue our breaking news of the president in the hospital battling COVID-19. And the national security implications could be far-reaching.

Joining us now to discuss is retired rear admiral, John Kirby, CNN military analyst and former Pentagon press secretary as well as secretary of state press secretary. As well as Max Boot with us, CNN global affairs analyst and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Max, we've heard from several national security experts that this could all put the U.S. at risk. In what ways do you think is the U.S. potentially more vulnerable right now?

MAX BOOT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I mean, keep in mind the president is the commander-in-chief. He always travels with a suitcase full of nuclear codes.

I mean, he is the person who is at the top of the military chain of command. He has to give orders in a crisis. And we don't know what his condition is or whether he is going to be in a condition to give those orders.

I mean, our government is really dependent upon the president being reachable 24/7, being able to make decisions when they need to be made.

That's why the 25th Amendment was drafted and approved so that the president can hand off authority if he is incapacitated. But we don't know -- he certainly has not done that.

I'm not saying that he necessarily needs to do that, but we just don't know if he's in a position to make those critical decisions.

CABRERA: Well, and at this point, his doctors say he is doing very well. And there's no reason that they've given us, at least, to believe that the president is an incapacitated situation at this point. But, Admiral, not only is America watching every word and move of this

administration and of these doctors, but so are foreign allies and adversaries, right?

I just wonder, would adversaries like North Korea, Iran, Russia, would they see opportunity here to make moves they wouldn't otherwise if President Trump was 100 percent healthy?

REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY, CNN MILITARY & DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: Well, look, I think. Ana, in the information space, you're already seeing that.

I mean, the Chinese, on state-run media, have already come out decrying America's leadership or lack of leadership with respect to the virus, and using this to bolster their argument with their allies and partners in the region, that America is not fit to lead on the world stage.

The Russians are no doubt making hay of this in the information space, particularly when it comes to our election security and interfering in the polarization of the United States.

Now, whether this translates to actual, tangible sort of grabs by some of our adversaries, I think it's too early to know right now.

I can tell you for a fact that the military's already thinking that through and looking at that, as are all the other national security related agencies in the government.

But this is why it's so important that there be consistent, steady, honest, transparent communications about what the president's going through.

And that's why what we saw today on the steps of the Bethesda Naval Hospital was so troubling to me because you do need to speak with one clear voice at this very sensitive time.

It would be sensitive no matter when a president is hospitalized, as Max said, but it's even more so 30 days out from an election.

CABRERA: What message does it send, Max, to America's adversaries if the U.S. was unable to protect the president of the United States from this known global health threat?

BOOT: I think it reinforces the message that we have seen during the past year, going back to the start of the pandemic, Ana, which is that the United States is basically a pitiful pariah on the world stage.

[16:50:08]

We have lost massive face because we have not been able to handle the coronavirus. We have about four percent of the world's population and about 20 percent of all coronavirus cases.

We have more coronavirus deaths than any other country in the world. That is not only a tragedy but it's also an embarrassment. And that diminishes American power and standing. And now the message that we are getting is that the president of the United States, he not only cannot protect the country, he cannot even protect himself.

That is a terrible message to send to allies and adversaries alike.

CABRERA: Admiral, is the U.S. national security team able to operate at full capacity right now if the president is sick and in isolation and others may be in quarantine right now?

KIRBY: It's a fair question, Ana. I mean, look, the last place that you want to be in infectious worries and infectious-related churn is at the White House and the National Security Council.

So it's very alarming that so many officials around the president and in the White House and at the political levels at that strategic level have been sick or are concerned about becoming sick.

But look, even in the best of times, this is not a White House that has been known for a normal national security policy decision-making process or anything like the normal -- coordination that you typically get.

So in the best of times, they've struggled with this. This is clearly not the best of times.

And I do worry about the process itself and the structure itself, about how they make decisions now being impaired by not just the president being potentially unable to make decisions but the people around him.

Now, there's depth on the bench. There's no question about that. There's deputy cabinet officials and I understand that.

But again, at this particular time, it certainly doesn't give me great comfort, given what I know about their normal processes, that they're going to be that much more able to conduct those processes going forward right now.

CABRERA: Admiral John Kirby, Max Boot, my thanks to both of you as always.

We have more breaking news today. This time, from the sports world. There are reports one of the biggest names in the NFL has now tested positive for the coronavirus. That's next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:56:57]

CABRERA: More breaking news. New England Patriot quarterback, Cam Newton, has now tested positive for coronavirus and will not play this week. This is according to reports from the NFL network and ESPN. Although, in a statement, the Patriots do say a player has tested

positive and that other players and staff who had been in close contact with this individual were tested. Those results were all negative, according to the team.

Now, the Patriots were scheduled to play the Kansas City Chiefs tomorrow. That game is now being rescheduled.

Another game this weekend between the Tennessee Titans and the Pittsburgh Steelers had already been postponed due to a positive COVID test for the Titans as well. And now we know multiple players on that team are COVID positive.

CNN Sports Analyst, Christine Brennan, is with us.

Christine, it was a great first three weeks for the NFL but can it continue now that this league is facing its first COVID crisis.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Ana, this is the worst week for the NFL during COVID and during a time that they're trying to play games in the midst of all of the issues that we are discussing as a nation. Obviously, it carries over to sports as well.

My sense is this will not be the last -- these will not be the last two games that are postponed. As you mentioned, it's two.

And the questions will be with the New England Patriots, just as we've seen with Tennessee, you mentioned the outbreaks there, 18 staff and players total now over the last week or so.

So the Patriots have one. And it has been reported it's Cam Newton, their star quarterback, making a comeback this year. He's 31 years old.

The question will be now: What happens with the Patriots over the next week or so? Will we so more positives with that team as well?

CABRERA: NBA basketball successfully used a bubble. Strict protocols, all teams and staff were sealed off from the public in one location for months.

Is that something that maybe the NFL could try? Is it realistic for the NFL?

BRENNAN: I don't think it's realistic anymore, Ana.

But believe it or not, back on June 18th, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that to have football this year, we might need to have them play in a bubble. And pretty much everyone knew that was just going to be too difficult to pull off, college and pro. So it's not happening in either one.

There have already been 22 college games that have been postponed. And then of course, now the first two NFL games.

But I think Dr. Fauci was right. And he told us months ago, and it was just, I think, impossible for the league to try to pull off. So, I think we're going to see more of it.

The NBA, WNBA, they knew how to do it. They were able to do it at those locations in Florida.

With the NFL trying to play these games and six tomorrow, six of the games that are going to be played tomorrow, Ana, will have fans, a small number. Think of that. Fans in the stands.

You've got people working security. You've got concession people. You have ushers and janitors. All of them now opening stadiums for fans.

And again, with this issue being front and center in our nation, with our leadership and our country, to think that now it's here in sports, and the NFL's most popularly -- obviously, our most popular sport, it's clearly a trend as we're seeing. And I don't think it's going to go away.

CABRERA: And the risk level just goes through the roof with fans now, like you said, more and more people packing in.

[17:00:01]

Thank you, Christine Brennan. Appreciate that.

I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thank you for being with us this afternoon.

Wolf Blitzer picks up CNN's breaking news coverage with a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" right now.