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Trump Hospitalized; Reassurance from Pentagon; More COVID-19 Cases in White House and Campaign. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired October 03, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, everyone, I'm Natalie Allen. You are watching CNN live from Atlanta.
We begin this hour with the breaking news in the United States, President Donald Trump now hospitalized with COVID-19 and a growing number of his allies testing positive for the disease as well.
Mr. Trump spent Friday night at Walter Reed military hospital in Maryland, an extremely rare event for a sitting president. According to the White House physician, he's doing well, does not need supplemental oxygen and has begun remdesivir therapy.
But an adviser says the president is very tired and having some trouble breathing. Mr. Trump put out this upbeat message after his arrival.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to thank everybody for the tremendous support. I'm going to Walter Reed hospital. I think I'm doing very well but we're 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)
ALLEN: We're now getting a glimpse of just how far the virus has spread within the president's inner circle. Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien has recently tested positive for the virus as well as former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.
She tweeted the news, saying she has mild symptoms and has begun to quarantine. Conway was at the crowded Supreme Court nomination event at the White House last Saturday, along with senators Mike Lee and Thom Tillis, who also tested positive.
They're among at least six people diagnosed with COVID-19 after attending the ceremony, including the president and first lady, who was there in the front row. Some doctors say it looks like a possible super spreader event.
Let's go to our White House correspondent, Boris Sanchez, right now. He is live from Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, as we continue to stay on top of what we're learning.
What is the latest you're hearing about the president's condition? How much are they saying?
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Natalie. They're really not giving us much information. But we are learning more in the last few hours about the combination of medications that the president is being administered.
For one, he's taking this experimental cocktail of drugs called Regeneron in combination with remdesivir, a known antiviral drug. Both of those approved by the FDA to treat the symptoms of coronavirus.
And what we've heard from the White House physician is that the president is in good spirits, that this trip to Walter Reed Medical Center is largely out of an abundance of caution.
What we've heard is that the president has a low-grade fever, that he's had some difficulty breathing, as noted, some congestion and is experiencing fatigue. From what we've heard from sources close to the president, he was spooked when he got this diagnose and about the speed of the onset of symptoms.
Of course, the concern for those around the president is that this virus can very quickly become much more serious. As we saw with the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, initially he had mild symptoms and then days later he wound up in the intensive care unit.
So there is some concern, especially for those around the president who are watching. Officials at the White House press that was near the president and Republican senators, as you noted, also tested positive for COVID-19.
Notably, all campaign events that were scheduled to be held have been postponed or canceled, a very stark contrast with what we saw as confidence just a few days ago, when the president was holding these rallies with thousands and thousands of supporters, many of them not wearing masks, not social distancing.
Now a very different image from the White House, especially given what we saw last night, when we saw almost all White House officials wearing masks at different points, especially when they were waving goodbye to the president as he boarded Marine One and came here to the White House (sic).
Really a somber moment for officials at the White House who even, just days ago, privately were questioning things like the efficacy of masks and the wisdom of medical experts that we've heard from over and over again, who have urged the public to follow simple CDC guidelines -- Natalie.
ALLEN: All right. We hope in the coming hours to get an update on his condition. Boris Sanchez there at Walter Reed Medical Center, thank you, Boris.
I'm joined now by Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, an internal medicine and viral specialist.
Doctor, thank you so much for coming on.
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, INTERNAL MEDICINE AND VIRAL SPECIALIST: My pleasure.
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ALLEN: Well, this is what we know about President Trump. He made a short video in the afternoon and then he walked to Marine One to go to the hospital. So we know little about his condition, although we have heard that he does have a fever and he's feeling fatigued.
How do you take that?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, I take it as the fact that probably something a little bit more serious than that is going on for a few reasons.
One is, in my experience with my own patients, who have had the COVID virus, it's very rare that people go from zero to 60, if you will, from being diagnosed and, within 24 hours, going to the hospital.
Once you develop the fevers, you probably have been infectious, you know, on the average, four to perhaps six days. And there are a lot of things that bring up some red flags that basically -- that basically tell us that something more serious is going on.
For example, the fact that they gave him an experimental medication; that usually is not done until the patient is almost toward the end and there are no other recourses to take. And the fact that he's going to a hospital where there's an ICU or many ICU settings just tells me they are really cautious at best and concerned at worst.
ALLEN: Tell us more about this experimental drug, Regeneron. It's not yet even approved by the FDA.
RODRIGUEZ: The company is Regeneron. I don't know even if they have a name for this, but it is what's called a monoclonal antibody. It actually has two of them in there. It says that people were willing to take some risks with the president's health because, first of all, this is the president of the United States.
And you are using a drug that, even though it looks promising in a very small study, we are not sure of what the potential side effects could be. They could have been life threatening. This could have actually been a death blow to the president. Nobody knew. But they were willing to take that risk.
Obviously, the president in the past has been very cavalier about recommending and championing certain non-prescribable medications, if you will. So maybe it was just his personality that urged them to use this. But the fact that they went right toward this experimental drug, that, to me, was a red flag. ALLEN: That's interesting, too. The other red flags -- talk about his
age and the fact that he is overweight.
RODRIGUEZ: Well, those are two factors that contribute highly as to the potential risks that he is going to face with this virus. People of his age have a 3 percent risk factor of dying from coronavirus, which is much higher than the general population.
Obesity has been found to be one of the risk factors, along with diabetes and high blood pressure. So he has two of the largest risk factors that put him into a very risky category.
ALLEN: I want to ask you, too, before we go, just the bigger picture here. This is a president, who sent out mixed messaging over this virus and said, for many months, it will go away. It wasn't a big deal. It's like the flu, would not wear masks.
And here -- this is where we are.
What do you hope, bigger picture, hopefully, this president will be well soon, comes from this, with flu season on the way and people that feel like they don't have to wear masks or take simple precautions?
RODRIGUEZ: I'm so glad you asked me that because I was going to go there anyway. Because even though I don't wish anybody harm and I wish him a very speedy recovery, we cannot leave tonight without seeing and discussing what harm has been done by in president's hubris, by the fact that he knew very early on in the year that this was a dangerous virus.
He knew that it was recommended to wear coverings and to separate at least six feet from other people. He knew that. But yet apparently, for political and perhaps personal gain, he went against that grain.
And we must talk about the reality, that this probably cost tens of thousands of lives. I'm hoping that when he recovers from this and that he does recover from this, that there will be a change in attitude because this epidemic is not over.
We are going to have a confluence of two storms coming up in the fall and in the winter. And it is more important than ever that people realize -- so I'm talking to the viewer.
This is not a hoax. This virus is real. This virus doesn't care who you are, what political or religious affiliation you have.
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RODRIGUEZ: It is the most unbiased thing in the world. And you can do something about it. You can wear a mask, you can distance from other people, you can have great hands hygiene.
The government is running their own little circus, but you need to protect yourself. So, I'm hoping that people realize that it's up to them to stay healthy. ALLEN: And we'll all be better for it, won't we, and the country as
well. Thank you so much. We really appreciate your time and your expertise, Dr. Jorge Rodriguez. Thank you, sir.
RODRIGUEZ: Thank you.
ALLEN: Following the president's diagnosis, Joe Biden's campaign has pulled all negative TV advertisements attacking Mr. Trump. The Trump campaign says it is not doing the same.
The former vice president and his wife, Jill, both tested negative Friday before returning to the campaign trail. While speaking in Michigan, the former vice president said coronavirus must be taken more seriously.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I would like to start by acknowledging, which I'm sure all of you would do, as well, sending my prayers for the health and safety of the first lady and the president of the United States after they tested positive for COVID-19.
My wife, Jill, and I pray that they'll make a quick and full recovery. This is not a matter of politics. It's a bracing reminder to all of us that we have to take this virus seriously. It's not going away automatically.
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ALLEN: Here to talk more about the campaign now is CNN's Jason Carroll, joining me live from Wilmington, Delaware.
Hello to you, Jason. So it seems that Mr. Biden is not slowing down his campaign even though his opponent has come down with COVID-19.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's is correct. He did alter his campaign, though, yesterday for a little bit in that stop in Michigan. Initially he was supposed to make two campaign stops in Michigan. And he ended up making just the one.
And there were some questions if he would even do that, if he would even head to Michigan, given that had shared the debate stage with the president on Tuesday night. But I spoke to a campaign official about the reasoning, about going forward with that.
There were several factors that played into that. First and foremost is that the former vice president tested negative twice. He was not in close proximity to the president on that debate stage. They did not shake hands. They did not do an elbow bump or anything of that nature.
And also, Biden has been very strict about wearing a mask. He's always been that way throughout this pandemic, on the campaign, off the campaign trial, very strict about wearing a mask. He talked about that yesterday when he spoke very briefly in Michigan, saying that not only is it the patriotic to do, it's about protecting yourself, it's about protecting loved ones. And so going forward, a lot of folks asking, what's the campaign going
to do, given all that's going to happen?
They're going to do what they've done in the past, following the science, keeping a small footprint when they're on the ground, when they're out campaigning. No rallies, no large crowds of people.
So they're going to be doing in the future what they've basically been doing in the past. And an example of that is, later on today, the former vice president will be holding a virtual town hall. He'll be doing that with members of a transit union.
So again, looking forward, it's going to be doing what they've been doing in the past, following the science, keeping a small footprint when they're on the ground -- Natalie.
ALLEN: All right, Jason Carroll, following the Biden campaign, thank you so much. We'll talk more about it in a moment.
Campaign rallies and debates kind of up in the air right now because of President Trump's coronavirus diagnosis. We'll talk more about how the U.S. presidential election could now be impacted -- right after this.
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ALLEN: U.S. president Donald Trump had a busy schedule before he tested positive for coronavirus. Monday, he was in Washington, holding events on the South Lawn of the White House and in the Rose Garden.
He also helped debate prep sessions -- he held debate prep sessions with several others, who have since also tested positive now.
On Tuesday, he flew to Cleveland, Ohio, for the presidential debate with Joe Biden. Then flew back to D.C. The next day, Mr. Trump traveled quite a bit, holding a private fund raiser in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and attending a crowded campaign rally in Duluth.
Later that night, one of his top aides, Hope Hicks, began feeling sick. On Thursday, Hicks tested positive for coronavirus. But President Trump still went to Bedminster, New Jersey, for a fundraiser. The White House press secretary defended his decision to go.
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KAYLEIGH MCENANY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SPOKESPERSON: It was deemed safe for the president to go. He socially distanced. It was an outdoor event and it was deemed safe.
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ALLEN: When he returned to the U.S. Capitol, the president confirmed Hope Hicks' diagnosis in a phone interview with FOX News. Then early on Friday, Mr. Trump tweeted that he and the first lady had tested positive for COVID-19.
President Trump's coronavirus infection could have an unprecedented impact on the presidential election, just over a month away. Joining me now is Natasha Lindstaedt, a professor of government at the University of Essex. She's in Colchester, England.
Good morning to you. You've helped us analyze the current presidency for years now. It seems surreal that we're analyzing the campaign now based on his COVID-19 diagnosis. Let's talk about the impact here.
White House officials underscore that the president has not transferred power to the vice president, as is sometimes customary when a president is ill or going under a procedure. The White House communications aide said Friday the president is in charge.
Hopefully that is a sign he's doing well. But talk about the protocol here when past presidents have faced health concerns.
Where do you see the situation that the president and the country are in right now?
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NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Well, it is unprecedented because we've never had a modern president that has faced this type of illness this close to an election. In the past, when someone has had surgery, when a president has had some sort of illness, they were allowed to invoke the 25th Amendment, which would be to delegate power to the vice president.
I think in this case, President Trump wants to project an image of strength. He's very unlikely to do so because he doesn't want to appear weak. That's been one of the major things that he's critiqued Joe Biden about.
But now we have very contrasting images. You have Joe Biden, that's campaigning in person. And for months and months he had been doing a virtual campaign because he'd been shielding and taking extra precautions.
And now you have, Trump who's having to quarantine. He can't come in person and do these big campaign rallies like he was hoping to do. So these images on this split screen, you can see one Biden in person, Trump having to quarantine. And that's a very big difference from the way we've seen this campaign unfold in the beginning.
ALLEN: Right. And much of his top tier staff also needing to quarantine right now as well.
So the question is, how does this affect the top tier there at the White House and the Trump campaign? LINDSTAEDT: Well, I think it has a huge effect on the campaign. As I already mentioned, he loves campaigning in person and his campaign is built around making these in-person campaign rallies and being in front of an adoring audience and trying to really connect with voters in person.
He doesn't really have a virtual campaign and no experience doing that. In contrast, Biden has been running his campaign virtually for some time now and is ready and prepared to do so if that needed to happen.
I think the bigger issue is that Trump needs come from behind and pull out some sort of miracle. Not only is he behind nationally -- and polls haven't moved since April -- but he's also behind in the key states that he has to win, like Michigan, like Pennsylvania, like Wisconsin.
And he's even slightly behind in Florida. He was going to have to really come from behind and gain voters. But you have to really look at what the voters are going to do now. There are very few that are undecided at this point.
The question is, will this make them more likely to vote for Trump now that he's contracted the virus?
I think the answer would be no because of the way he's flouted the rules, he's disregarded advice, he didn't want to wear a mask in public for a long time. Even recently at the first debate, he criticized or at least made fun of Joe Biden for wearing a mask all the time.
So all of these things don't play out well for Trump as he's dealing with the campaign.
ALLEN: Absolutely. And of course, Joe Biden, he has routinely worn masks. President Trump has routinely made fun of him for it. And now that Trump is in the hospital with COVID, if he recovers soon, hopefully he does, you know, it would be interesting to see how he will approach COVID and the pandemic after diminishing it for all these months.
And now he's been a victim of it. And he's been a victim within the remaining days of this election.
LINDSTAEDT: I mean, the timing really couldn't be worse for him. What we've seen in the U.K., when prime minister Boris Johnson contracted the virus, he had downplayed the virus in the beginning. But after he contracted it, it was really serious, he was hospitalized, he really changed his tune on this.
He was more of a hardliner, that the nation would have to quarantine, have to go into lockdown. And we may see that happen with Trump. But there's not that many weeks left for him to make this U-turn.
We do know the way he feels privately about this because we know this from the Bob Woodward tapes. He knew it was a very deadly virus and needed to be something to be taken seriously. But he wanted to downplay it because he thought it would affect his re-election chances.
ALLEN: It may end up doing that, especially now. We appreciate your insights as always, Professor Natasha Lindstaedt, thank you.
LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.
ALLEN: This is the first major health threat a U.S. president has faced while in office since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. And there's concern that the White House is isn't being completely transparent about the president's condition.
But this wouldn't be the first administration to try to keep health details under wraps. We learn more from CNN presidential historian Doug Brinkley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOUG BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Presidents have been worried about showing bad health. I mean, back in 1893, Grover Cleveland actually had a cancerous tumor in the roof of his mouth. He didn't want anybody to know so they snuck him onto a yacht and did the operation on the roof of his mouth in a yacht.
When Reagan -- Woodrow Wilson had a stroke, where they covered it up.
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BRINKLEY: FDR covered up a lot of health things. But when Reagan was shot, we all saw it. In fact, Reagan famously said, I forgot to duck, went to George Washington Hospital, made a joke about whether the doctors were Republicans or not.
But we all prayed for Ronald Reagan and he pulled through that. But it started getting Americans worried more than ever, starting in the '80s, about having to know the health of a president.
So we did know it, when Ronald Reagan had colon cancer and when he had skin cancer. And really since the '80s, we've been very vigilant on medical records, tell us what's going on, we demand to know. There's no more Grover Cleveland-Woodrow Wilson-era cover-ups allowed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Douglas Brinkley there.
Anxiety over the continuity of government in the face of the president's COVID-19 diagnosis. Coming up here, how a lack of transparency over Trump's health is fueling national security concerns.
Also, coming up, world leaders are reacting to President Trump and the first lady testing positive for COVID. We'll tell you what they're saying.
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ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Natalie Allen. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
The Pentagon is trying to reassure Americans that U.S. national security is not at risk because of the president's illness. Officials say his status doesn't warrant a change in defense alert levels or military postures, saying this.
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ALLEN: "There's no change to the readiness or capability of our armed forces. Our national command and control structure is in no way affected by this announcement. The U.S. military stands ready to defend our country and interests."
I'm joined by Miles Taylor, CNN contributor, and the former chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
Thanks for coming on. Hello.
MILES TAYLOR, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks, I appreciate it.
ALLEN: Well, this story continues to evolve in a very unfortunate way with more and more people that were at that White House event in the Rose Garden coming down with COVID.
First of all, let's talk about the president of the United States. And we're getting a little information right now about his situation in the hospital.
What is this whole situation with the chain of command and how does this work if he were to be ill and not be able to continue his duties?
TAYLOR: Well, first and foremost, I think we want to be as cautious as possible and hope that the president is doing well and is able to continue to function in office. And I think that everyone hopes that. And they wish the president and the first lady and the rest of the senior staff of the White House well and anyone else who's affected.
That said, right now, there are serious conversations that would be taking place in the White House and in the president's national security cabinet about how to handle this incident. And the most -- the most important aspect is what to do if the president is incapacitated.
Now in the United States, in our Constitution, we have something -- an amendment to the Constitution, the 25th Amendment, that prescribes a series of procedures so that power can be handed in the event that the president is unable to discharge the duties of his office.
This is a very serious scenario, where we might be thinking about whether those authorities need to be invoked. Right now, without a doubt, there are lawyers at the White House, national security officials, who are making sure those documents are drafted so that if vice president Mike Pence has to step in, he can step in seamlessly if the president takes a turn for the worst, which, of course, we hope will not happen.
But that's the type of planning that needs to be going on right now. And that's how serious this has gotten.
Again, I can't underscore enough the fact that the president was flown to a military hospital, Walter Reed, for treatment, instead of being treated at the White House, shows that this situation is escalating in terms of its seriousness.
And they want to make sure they get ahead of it. So that planning is happening in earnest. And it absolutely should. But you know, officials are still caught off guard by this.
ALLEN: Right. And certainly we all hope that the president is doing OK and recovers. But this is the time that these questions have to be addressed because the other issue is what we're seeing is the lack of transparency from the White House.
We haven't heard a report from doctors. We usually get these types of things if a president is ill. Also just this afternoon, in a phone call, the vice president Mike Pence said the president and the first lady would be convalescing at the White House.
And then not much later, we saw this president walking to the helicopter to go to the hospital.
TAYLOR: What we need is this from the White House: the American people, the U.S. government and world leaders, people around the world need extreme transparency out of this White House.
Donald Trump isn't just American everyman, he is the commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States and leader of the free world. It is imperative that the people who are serving around him, that the American people and, again, the world, understand what his condition is because it affects a whole lot of things.
Now I've been telling other officials that I've been talking to in government that I believe that this is a continuity of government crisis. And what I mean by that is, in the U.S. government, we have these elaborate systems and procedures to make sure that, in the worst case scenario, that the government continues to function, even if a senior official like the president or vice president or a cabinet secretary is unable to do their jobs.
In this case, we are by, the hour, finding out that this event in the Rose Garden at the White House seems to have been a super spreader event of COVID-19. So you could think of this in the sense that there's no need for an adversary to attack us with anthrax or a biological weapon.
Our current administration has walked almost willingly into a global pandemic and let it spread at the highest levels of the federal government.
Now I hope that no one else contracts it. But right now, we continue to see senior officials announcing, whether they're senators or congressmen or members of the administration, that they've been sickened by the virus and potentially from that one event.
This is very concerning. I think that it affects those procedures that are put in place to continue the functions of government in a way that this administration should have anticipated.
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TAYLOR: Should have prevented but didn't. So this has become a serious national security concern, not just a public health concern.
ALLEN: Right. Your point is well taken. And yes, with every hour, it seems we're learning yet about another person who was there at the Rose Garden event, who has tested post. We appreciate your insights. These are important conversations to be having right now. Miles Taylor, thank you so much.
TAYLOR: Thanks for having me, Natalie.
ALLEN: Let's continue to talk about this topic. President Trump's hospitalization does have people wondering who is next in line to govern the country if Mr. Trump is unable to do the job. Brian Todd breaks down what continuity of government in the United States looks like.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump's chief of staff says the president is showing, quote, "mild symptoms of coronavirus." If President Trump gets very ill, one analyst says, there will likely be considerable angst inside the West Wing if there isn't already.
LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: The White House staff and the political staff for Trump must be extremely nervous. This destroys a lot of the plans they had. You've got the health dimension, you've got the governing dimension.
TODD (voice-over): If President Trump gets too sick to govern, what happens next?
The first step is determining that he is incapacitated. According to the 25th Amendment of the Constitution, Trump could make that determination himself.
JOHN HUDAK, CENTER FOR EFFECTIVE PUBLIC MANAGEMENT: He can notify Congress, the House and Senate, that he is going to be incapacitated because he'll be sedated on, a ventilator and, until he says so, that the powers of his office would be transferred to Mike Pence, who would serve as acting president until the president's health improved.
TODD (voice-over): Ronald Reagan did that when he had an operation on his colon. George W. Bush did it twice when he had colonoscopies. They each handed over power just for a few hours while they were under anesthesia.
But what if the president is so sick and incoherent that he can't make the determination himself to hand over power?
The 25th Amendment has a plan for that, too.
HUDAK: The vice president and a majority of the cabinet can notify the Congress, both the House and Senate, that the president is incapacitated. And at that point, the powers transfer from President Trump to vice president Mike Pence.
TODD (voice-over): If Pence and the cabinet don't agree with each other to take power from President Trump, a supermajority of Congress would have to vote to take power from Trump.
Pence has so far tested negative for coronavirus and his doctor says he's in good health. But COVID has infiltrated the White House and President Trump has been in close contact with Pence. If Pence gets the virus and becomes incapacitated, next in line to be acting president would be the Trump team's political arch rival, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
SABATO: I don't think they'd let it happen. They'd find a way around it. Possibly the secretary of state, someone in the Republican line, either the elective line in the Senate or the cabinet line, would take over. It's just untenable. And Nancy Pelosi would recognize that as well.
TODD (voice-over): If Pelosi is bypassed or doesn't want the job, the rules call for the presidency to go to the Senate's president pro tempore, who, at the moment, is 87-year-old Republican Chuck Grassley.
Should Americans be scared of all these possibilities?
HUDAK: The public should absolutely not be scared. While the situation is a difficult one, we have constitutional and legal provisions in place to deal with this situation and situations much more dire and much more complicated than the current one.
TODD: But another key question is, what about the election?
What if either or both of the nominees become incapacitated or die from the virus?
Nothing like that has ever happened before. So far, Joe Biden has tested negative for coronavirus. But experts say if either of the nominees has to drop out for any reason, then the Republican or Democratic National Committees would have to scramble to select a new nominee.
A dicey proposition this late in the game, since so many people have already voted -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: That highlighted the complication, didn't it? World leaders are sending President Trump and the first lady well wishes. Next, we'll go to our correspondent in Hong Kong for how they are reacting.
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ALLEN: Global leaders are sending President Trump and first lady Melania their best wishes to recover from COVID.
On Facebook, the French president and his wife posted a handwritten letter that reads, "My best wishes to you and Melania as you are now fighting the virus together. Brigitte and I think of you both and express our most friendly support. Stay strong and keep going."
British prime minister Boris Johnson, who recovered from COVID, tweeted this, "My best wishes to President Trump and the first lady. Hope they both have a speedy recovery from coronavirus."
And the North Korean state media are reporting that leader Kim Jong-un is sending, quote, "warm greetings" to the president and first lady, saying he sincerely hoped they would be recovered as soon as possible and he hoped they will surely overcome the disease.
For more reaction, let's go to CNN's Ivan Watson in Hong Kong.
Ivan, it has been a shock to the world that the United States is number one in cases and deaths and it has to be equally a shock, now that both the president and first lady are suffering from this virus.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's pretty stunning to watch from overseas. And the kind of presidential and prime ministerial get-well cards pouring in reflect that.
You mentioned the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un, somebody that President Trump famously once insulted, calling rocket man, that he sent a message of sympathy, where he hoped that President Trump and the first lady would get well and recover quickly.
We've heard other messages coming out. For example, from the prime minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga, who was only recently installed because his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, who had a close relationship with President Trump, had to step down recently due to a non-coronavirus- related illness.
Here in China, it is a major holiday week now. So there hasn't been a statement from President Xi Jinping; the Chinese foreign ministry gave CNN a statement, saying -- it's quite short.
It just say, quote, "China has noted relevant reports and wishes Mr. and Ms. Trump a speedy recovery." It has been interesting to note some of the reaction online in Chinese
social media. There was some gloating and some people who were calling this a mid-autumn festival gift.
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WATSON: This is the mid-autumn festival here now. That has been cleaned up, a lot of it, apparently by Chinese government censors, who work around the clock.
And there was a message from the editor of China's tabloid and state- backed "Global Times," who often criticizes the U.S. very overtly, Hu Xijin, who had tweeted actually that President Trump and the first lady, quote, "have paid the price for his gamble to play down COVID- 19." That tweet has since been deleted -- Natalie.
ALLEN: All right. Very interesting responses there. Ivan Watson in Hong Kong, thank you.
Well, the U.S. president, of course, isn't the only world leader to have gotten infected. He's joining a small group of presidents, prime ministers and others, who have downplayed the virus and then caught it. Here's CNN's Nic Robertson with more about this from London.
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BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: I've taken a test that has come out positive.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: When Boris Johnson tested positive for COVID-19 late March, there was little surprise. But the lessons of his infection are worth reviewing.
JOHNSON: I shook hands with everybody.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): For weeks before his positive test, Johnson seemed slow to acknowledge COVID's dangers.
ROBERTSON: How's the prime minister, Mr. Hancock, please?
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Other government ministers got it, too. But as they recovered, Johnson got worse. Nine days after his positive test, he was taken to hospital, shocking the nation when he was moved into ICU
JOHNSON: I've today left hospital after a week, in which the NHS has saved my life. No question. Thank you from me, from all of us.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): By contrast, Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, barely seemed fazed when he got COVID-19 this summer. All along, he'd loudly played down its dangers. His resilience reinforced his messaging.
Johnson's near-death experience won him a brief popularity boost, the nation willing him well again. But within weeks of leaving hospital, his ratings plummeted back, as the nation's pandemic problems persisted.
ROBERTSON: The other big takeaways from his brush with death was the rosy optimism coating his office's pronouncements on his health and his struggle to get back to full strength.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Fifty-six years old and overweight, Johnson took two weeks off after leaving hospital. His much younger, pregnant partner, Carrie Symonds, says she had COVID symptoms, too, bounced back more readily, soon having a son. The couple naming their child after the doctor Johnson credits with saving his life.
JOHNSON: I start the day by going for a run with the dog and --
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Johnson took up jogging, shedding some of his excess weight. COVID's lasting impact on him and the nation, a push to get fitter, to aid survival and hold the pandemic at bay -- Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
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ALLEN: Next here, the impact last weekend's Supreme Court nominating event in the Rose Garden may have had on the health of the president and some of his key allies.
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ALLEN: President Trump's campaign manager is the latest member of his inner circle to contract COVID-19. It is unclear whether he attended last weekend's Supreme Court nominee announcement event.
But former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway was there. She's one of several prominent Republican attendees now testing positive. Here's more from Tom Foreman.
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TRUMP: And I'll say it all the time. We're rounding the corner.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Infections and concern about them are ricocheting through the immense web of people surrounding the president. He announced his new Supreme Court nominee last weekend with health officials, his attorney general Bill Barr and more standing close by.
Now several from that event have tested positive, including Trump, the first lady, senator Mike Lee and the president of Notre Dame University.
Trump has shared space with vice president Mike Pence, who traveled on to campaign in Pennsylvania. Trump met with a Gold Star parent, military leaders, cabinet and Congress members, journalists, too.
TRUMP: No matter where we go, we're having crowds like nobody -- I don't think anybody's ever gotten before ever, not even close.
FOREMAN: Trump met with his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who went to Capitol Hill to talk with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who then, along with Pence, met with that Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.
Trump talked with his Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, who then went to see Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. And to prepare for the debate, Trump sat down with advisers, including Hope Hicks, Kellyanne Conway, Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie.
CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: No one was wearing masks in the room when we were prepping the president during that period of time.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Leaving for the debate, Trump was surrounded by dozens of aides and family members, including Ivanka and Jared Kushner, Don Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle, with few signs of masks or social distancing.
Trump did not get close to moderator Chris Wallace or Joe Biden and members of his team posed with masks backstage.
TRUMP: And I have a mask right here. I'd put a mask on -- you know, when I think I need it.
FOREMAN (voice-over): But then they took them off, in violation of the rules, and refused replacements, even as Trump mocked his opponent about the subject.
TRUMP: Every time you see him, he's got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from it and he shows up with the biggest mask I've ever seen.
FOREMAN (voice-over): And on it went. Trump and his entourage cramming into Marine One, Trump sharing photo ops with political allies, Trump again talking with reporters, holding a large outdoor rally and attending a fundraiser.
TRUMP: I just want to say that the end of the pandemic is in sight.
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TRUMP: And next year will be one of the greatest years in the history of our country.
FOREMAN: Multiply it out and the president clearly has had first or secondhand contact with thousands of people. That, of course, doesn't mean that they will all get the virus. But it completely shatters his long claim that it could never penetrate his inner circle -- Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ALLEN: The Pentagon is trying to reassure Americans that U.S. national security is not at risk because of the president's illness. Officials say his status doesn't warrant a change in defense alert levels or military posture, saying "There's no change to the readiness or capability of our armed forces. Our national command and control structure is in no way affected by this announcement. The U.S. military stands ready to defend our country and interests."
We have spent most of this newscast focused on President Trump's situation. But on the day he said he tested positive, so, too, did 44,000 other Americans. More than 800 died.
And of course, globally the coronavirus continues to spread. Tens of millions of people have been infected around the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. India just passed 100,000 deaths and, sadly, more than 1 million people have died. Each of those has family members, friends and loved ones mourning their loss.
I'm Natalie Allen. Thank you for watching this hour. And keep it here on CNN as we continue to bring you updates. I invite you to follow me on Instagram.
Next, for viewers in the U.S., it's "NEW DAY." For our international viewers, the "Modern Explorers." I'll see you soon.
