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Questions Regarding Trump's Health After His Doctors' Press Briefing; Trump Releases Twitter Video From Hospital Room; Trump Rides Motorcade Outside Walter Reed To Greet Supporters And Reporters. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired October 04, 2020 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00]
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. As we continue our breaking news coverage, President Trump's doctors speaking to reporters again today. The president's third day as a COVID patient at Walter Reed Medical Center.
The president's medical team described the president's condition today as stable. They say he has no fever currently. They say he could possibly be discharged as early as tomorrow.
And they discuss some other details for the first time. Like the president's condition when he was still in the White House and what led to their decision to bring him to Walter Reed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN CONLEY, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S PHYSICIAN: Thursday night into Friday morning when I left the bedside, the president was doing well with only mild symptoms and his oxygen was in the high 90s. Late Friday morning, when I returned to the bedside, the president had a high fever and his oxygen saturation was transiently dipping below 94 percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: The president's personal physician also mentioned for the first time a medication they prescribed, a steroid.
CONLEY: Over the course of his illness, the president has experienced two episodes of transient drops in his oxygen saturation. We debated the reasons for this and whether we would even intervene. It was a determination of the team, based predominantly on the timeline from the initial diagnosis that we initiate dexamethasone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Now, that's on top of two rounds of remdesivir and an experimental anti-body cocktail he's been given. What we still don't know and is troubling doctors outside of Walter Reed, are details about the president's specific vital signs, results of his chest scans, how high his fever got, how low his oxygen levels dropped, and when he last tested negative for the coronavirus.
We'll have much more medical analysis from my panel of doctors and their concerns in just a moment. But first, let's go to the White House and CNN's Kaitlan Collins.
Kaitlan, the message from the president's doctors, a bit clearer than a day ago but still there's still a lot of information we don't have and we're several days into this diagnosis. Why is there still a lack of clarity coming out of the White House?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Basically because they know there's an audience of one that they are trying to please when they come out to these press conferences, and that's something we knew yesterday when they refused to say something as simple as whether or not the president had been given supplemental oxygen.
But now they confirmed it today as they were speaking to reporters and they were asked about these mixed messages. The one difference between yesterday and today is that Dr. Conley was willing to admit on the record that the president has now gotten that oxygen.
Of course, that only came after CNN and several other outlets have reported on that already. But what they were saying, you know, they were talking about in this upbeat tone that the chance of the president could possibly be discharged as soon as tomorrow, they were saying that what the medical experts have looked at, them saying that his oxygen levels have dropped twice. He's now being given a steroid.
They say that's a sign that this is not as mild as they had initially seemed to say that this was. Now, of course, when it comes to the credibility that is a whole other matter here that people are talking about because they want to know that they're getting straight answers.
And yesterday we were getting conflicting messages from the chief of staff and from the doctors who were briefing us. And so Dr. Sean Conley was asked about that today and he made clear that this is, in part, public relations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONLEY: I was trying to reflect the upbeat attitude that the team, the president, his course of illness has had. I didn't want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction. And in doing so, you know, it came off that we were trying to hide something, which wasn't necessarily true. And so, here you have it. He is -- the fact of the matter is, is that he's doing really well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, on an obviously giving information about the president's condition is not going to affect how that condition turns out as the doctor was saying there. And talking about his attitude is nowhere near the same as talking about his vitals, which is what people actually want to know about the president of the United States. But the doctor is in a tough position because, of course, he is
meeting with the president right before he comes out to do these briefings. And we've been told the president is being extremely critical of people who are speaking on his behalf and he's frustrated that he himself can't address the media.
So, whether or not, you know, these briefings of the doctors continue, hopefully, they become more straightforward, but so far it has been a lack of clear information on their part, to say the least.
[17:05:04]
CABRERA: OK, Kaitlan Collins at the White House. Thanks. Let's bring in our experts. Dr. Manisha Juthani is an infectious disease specialist at the Yale School of Medicine, and Dr. Myron Rolle is a neurosurgery resident at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital. Doctors, thank you for being here.
Let's talk about what we do know first. Today, we learned the president has had no less than two episodes of decreased oxygen saturation. And after one of those episodes, supplemental oxygen was administered.
We also learned he's been prescribed a new steroid medication, dexamethasone, which is generally reserved for severely or critically ill coronavirus patients.
And when asked about, you know, what his CT scans or other advanced imaging showed, the president's doctors said only that they had seen some expected findings. Dr. Conley also said the president is improving. So, Dr. Juthani, when you take all that, what kind of condition does it sound like the president is in to you?
MANISHA JUTHANI, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST, YALE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Ana, please, first of all, thank you for having me and my thoughts and prayers are with the president and his family and hope that he's continuing to get better, which it sounds like he is.
Having said that, I think when a patient requires oxygen and when they said his CAT scan had expected findings, in the context of everything else that was said, the expected findings sounded to me like he probably has pneumonia on those radiographic images, which put together with the other findings that we've been told about, sounds like he has severe disease.
When we talk about COVID-19, there's a spectrum of disease. There are people who asymptomatic or presymptomatic. There are those who have mild disease, those that have moderate disease. And then severe disease is when you need oxygen.
So, although it may be at the border of moderate and severe disease, it sounds like that's probably in the range that the president is. And I'm glad to hear he's doing better and well. But still, this is probably a severe case of COVID-19.
CABRERA: We know they are giving him extensive treatment. The National Institutes of Health says dexamethasone, the steroid that we now know has been administered, that it should not be used on patients who don't require supplemental oxygen.
A study, in fact, revealed it can harm patients with just mild symptoms. We are told the president has only had two episodes of decreased oxygen levels in just one required supplemental oxygen. Dr. Rolle, if that is the case, does it make sense that he's been prescribed this drug?
MYRON ROLLE, NEUROSURGERY RESIDENT AT HARVARD: Well, also thanks for having me. You know, it's difficult to say. Dexamethasone has a lot of different side effects. We use it in our patients quite often as well in neurosurgical disease burden where hypertension can occur, increased glucose can occur.
And so, without knowing the full scope of the picture, as you had mentioned earlier, all the information, medical professionals want to know all the things that are happening. Vital signs, what his clinical exam look like? What does he look like as a patient? Are we treating the actual patient or are we treating political ideology or a title or an office?
And without that information at your disposal, it's hard to think about what are the processes going forward. How are we keeping this evidence-based? How are we keeping this patient centered? Are we doing the best we can to manage this actual human, this actual person's disease? And if we are, then we need to be transparent with it.
CABRERA: And so they are planning to continue to use dexamethasone. Dr. Girabaldi, one of his physicians who spoke at the press conference also said that they completed a second dose of remdesivir and we continue to plan to use a five-day course of remdesivir, he said.
And yet, Dr. Juthani, also said that President Trump could be discharged tomorrow to continue these treatments at the White House. Does that make sense to you?
JUTHANI: For most patients that would not be possible. If you were getting remdesivir, it is an IV treatment and you need to be in the hospital to get that.
Now, if the president is doing much better and his doctors feel that they can provide the kind of supervision that he needs at the White House, that may be a possibility for him as the patient-in-chief. But for most people, that would not be a realistic treatment option.
CABRERA: Dr. Rolle, based on what you know about the progression of COVID-19 symptoms, even if the president is showing improvement now, and hopefully that is the case and that he's continuing to get better and better, but is there a risk of relapse?
ROLLE: Well, yes, there's certainly a risk of relapse. There's certainly a risk of having going into flu season and having a co- infection with flu that we just don't know what a COVID-19 plus a flu situation and one protoplasm can do. We're also not quite sure what the comorbidities that he has right now. [17:09:56]
If a CT chest does show examples of lung scarring or some sort of decreased lung capacity and his vitals, as you mentioned, oxygen saturation are going down, there is something that is affecting him at a very baseline level. And so, he's definitely put himself at a higher risk of a relapse of having this situation occur again.
But again, it's hard to prognosticate. I think what providers need to do is certainly keep a close eye on him, make sure he's examined, make sure he's well taken care of, well nourished, hydrated to be the most efficient and productive he possibly can be and monitor these symptoms going forward. I don't think he's out of the woods just yet.
CABRERA: We still do not know when the president last tested negative. But here's what Dr. Conley said about the progression of the president's symptoms. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONLEY: Thursday night into Friday morning when I left the bedside the president was doing well with only mild symptoms and his oxygen was in the high 90s. Late Friday morning when I returned to the bedside, the president had a high fever and his oxygen saturation was transiently dipping below 94 percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: So, Dr. Juthani, he -- we're told, tested positive on Thursday and then by Friday he had a high fever. His oxygen saturation levels were dropping below 94 percent. Does this onsets and progression make sense to you or is it possible the president was experiencing mild symptoms days earlier?
JUTHANI: My expectation would be that there may have been some symptoms earlier than that. Now, we all saw him on Tuesday and he looked well. It's unclear to me when his first symptoms really started. And I think this is a very important point.
In my experience taking care of COVID patients, really that first start of symptoms, even if it's just fatigue, not feeling well, that is the onset of symptoms. And somewhere around seven days is an important time point that we need to think about.
In my experience caring for older adults, this is my area of expertise, patients can often present in very weird ways with COVID- 19. And so sometimes they may look like they're getting better and then all of a sudden take a turn for the worse the next day.
So, I think the president is in a critical juncture where he needs to be observed. He's in very good hands. He has an outstanding team of doctors who he should trust and are taking great care of him. But I think these next few days are going to be extremely critical to figuring out which direction he's going.
There are a lot of things we don't know. There are lab tests that I would be curious about in terms of what direction they're going in. And without that kind of information it's hard to really make an assessment of what direction he's likely going in the next few days. Hopefully, it sounds like in a positive direction with the treatments that he's received.
CABRERA: Dr. Rolle, quickly if you can. Can you help us understand oxygen saturation levels? What's average? What's bad?
ROLLE: Well, you know, typically you want oxygen saturation to be 99 or 100 all the way up, certainly. But when you get under 92 or maybe even to 88 or so, that's sort of the cutoff where nurses and clinical providers get very nervous that you could be dipping quite quickly, especially in the setting of having a COVID-19 positive test.
So that's when supplemental oxygen happens and if you need more than that, then there is face mask that you can have rebreather as an end (ph). The most extreme would be getting intubated. And so we don't want to go down that route and that's certainly something that we've seen in a lot of COVID-19 patients.
CABRERA: And again, we don't know exactly how low the president's oxygen saturation got. Only about it was below 94 percent at least a couple of times. And when a reporter asked a follow-up question about that, the doctor responded, well, it never got into the low 80s.
So that's obviously quite a range that he provided in which the president's oxygen could have been. Dr. Juthani, Dr. Rolle, great to have both of you with us. Thank you so much for being here and for what you do.
JUTHANI: Thanks very much.
CABRERA: The lack of clarity coming from this White House and the president's doctors is putting our allies, and more importantly our adversaries, on alert. Coming up, we'll explain how the mixed messaging could make the country more vulnerable. You're live in the "CNN Newsroom."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:15:00]
CABRERA: As contradictory statements over the state of President Trump's health continue to flow from his own medical team and administration, and as he remains hospitalized with this virus that has now killed more than 209,000 Americans, it's no wonder we along with world leaders have more questions than answers about the president's condition.
James Clapper is a CNN national security analyst. He is the former Director of National Intelligence. And David Gergen is a CNN senior political analyst and served as a presidential adviser to Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton. So, David Gergen, what are we to believe?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's really hard to tell. You know, I think what really is needed here is for the doctor from the White House to sit down with Sanjay Gupta and perhaps one or two others and have a one hour conversation on television in which is a real probing and exploration of what's the truth.
Because at this point, we don't know when people from the White House are telling us the truth. They had a bad record coming in on this issue and it's gotten worse since they've been there over the last two or three days.
Very clearly, the president has been anxious to put the word out that he's fine, that he's getting better, that he's strong, that he's going to get through this, that he's going to beat COVID, that he's going to be the champion of COVID.
But they're making the very same mistake that they made when the president was first informed about how severe and how dangerous COVID was. He decided to put a happy face on it and he misled the country and we paid a huge price for it. He's making the same mistake again and it is not helpful for him and for the country.
CABRERA: And so, Director Clapper, you could call it disinformation. They've been putting out disinformation about the president's health. It's coming directly from his own officials, his doctor, his chief of staff. You know, there was another analyst on our air earlier who said it was reminiscent of what would be happening in a place like Russia. What do you think?
[17:20:00]
JAMES CLAPPER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, exactly. And to David's point, that this ambiguity and lack of transparency is very bad from the standpoint of our foreign relationships, whether allies or adversaries.
The confusion and lack of information, specific information about the president's condition. And he's not exactly a private citizen. There are huge stakes riding on his condition. One thing -- so, adversaries of course are watching this carefully for this ambiguity. It does present an opportunity for mischief for, you know, someone like Iran or North Korea, who both feel they have scores to settle and look upon this ambiguous time and also has an opportunity to do so.
CABRERA: Hey, you guys, I have to let you know that his is a live image right now. And we just saw President Trump drive by in that vehicle. It looked like he was waving at supporters. This is right outside Walter Reed.
We're working to find out a little bit more information about what's going on. Forgive me for interrupting, but you are watching with us as we're looking at live images, again, outside Walter Reed and appeared inside one of those black SUVs was the president of the United States who waved at the people who were standing on the sidewalk.
We know some of his supporters have been out there with signs with, you know, cheering and chanting different things. And so again, live images as we're watching outside Walter Reed. A full entourage of vehicles and President Trump in one of those vehicles as he waved at supporters as he passed by.
You can see clearly there's a lot of law enforcement surrounding the president in those vehicles. We're going to try to bring the video back and we're rolling on that so we can get another look at exactly what just transpired. And as we watched these images, David, what's your reaction to seeing the president in that vehicle drive by waving at supporters?
GERGEN: My -- well, first of all, I was stunned.
CABRERA: There he is again. This is taped. This is it. The second is very clear --
GERGEN: This it. It sounds like he's going back to the White House, doesn't it?
CABRERA: Well, I don't know. We don't know where he's going. I can tell our viewers that we were told at the press conference earlier that he could be discharged as soon as tomorrow, so there was no talk about discharge today, to return to the White House.
We don't know where he's heading in these vehicles. We weren't given any kind of heads up. In fact, the White House press corps was given a lid for the day, usually meaning that there won't be any other statements made. And so we don't know what is taking place right there.
GERGEN: Yes, we don't know, Ana, but the chance is very high he is in charge. And he's told those guys, he wants to go home. He wants to go back to the White House.
And, you know, earlier in the day, Sanjay Gupta in his wisdom said, he thought it was a mistake for the president to go home tomorrow to be discharged tomorrow. It was too early.
So, this is going to raise a lot of questions, not only (inaudible) you'd wonder why, and how does this fit into his overall health issues.
CABRERA: Right. And again, we don't have all the information, and that's part of the problem. We're showing the video again. We're putting it in slow-mo so we can all get a look as the president is in it the vehicle wearing a mask, waving.
And let's go live to Jeremy Diamond as we look at this video. He's on scene outside Walter Reed. Jeremy Diamond, what can you tell us about what we just witnessed?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, we just saw the president drive by in the motorcade to wave to supporters. It was a stunning scene. We didn't get any notification, of course. Initially, they started to block off a part of the street right here in front of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
And then the president's motorcade proceeded to drive down one side of the street where you have several dozen of the president's supporters, and then back around the other side. The president was seated in one of these SUVs.
I can't see the screen right now, but I presume you have the video up on the screen. And the president was seated in the back of one of his presidential SUVs. He went along in the motorcade. The motorcade drove by at a pretty slow pace. And the supporters here, of course, for the president went wild as they saw this happen.
You know, we saw the president post that video and tweet to his supporters saying that he appreciated all the support -- sorry, I'm just making sure he's not coming by again near behind my shoulders, but it appears that they're opening the street back up to traffic now.
But again, this is the president making his latest attempt yet to show his supporters, to show the country, to show the world, really, that while he is sick with this coronavirus, that he is not near death by any stretch of the imagination.
And that is what he is trying to do by coming out here not only to thank his supporters, but also of course, to send this sign to the world that he is doing all right.
[17:24:55]
Of course -- and part of this, of course, Ana, is being driven by the fact that the president here is really having to come in and take a handle on this messaging that has gone wrong over these last two days where we have heard contradictions between Dr. Sean Conley, the president's physician, and the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows just yesterday in terms of the president's condition.
Now, the president may have been in this motorcade. He may have gone by Walter Reed to wave to his supporters. He was wearing a mask, by the way, from the video that I was able to see of this so far. But let's be clear, the president is facing serious symptoms of the coronavirus.
You know, we know that he is not only on this experimental antibody cocktail, he's also on Remdesivir and he is now also on this steroid that is typically only given to people who are experiencing serious symptoms of this virus including who need supplemental oxygen.
In fact, there are several studies that have shown it can be detrimental to patients who aren't severely sick enough. So, the president's condition is still very serious, very significant. Don't let this image of the president deter you from that.
But nonetheless, the president coming out here and sending a pretty clear message to the world that he is here, that he is doing all right, all things considered. Ana?
CABRERA: And as we continue to look at this video, we would play it. This was again, just moments ago where you can see the president of the United States sitting in the back of that SUV wearing a suit and a mask and waving to supporters.
This followed, as Jeremy mentioned, a tweet that the president had put out that included a video in which the president alluded to a surprise that he was going to have for his supporters. And this appears to be that surprise.
It's good to see the president strong enough to be in position of being in the vehicle and driving by, but as Jeremy pointed out, his doctors made very clear that he is on some serious treatment, that he's been in very serious condition.
The fact that he had two episodes in which his oxygen saturation levels dropped to concerning levels enough in which he required supplemental oxygen, that he had a high fever on Friday and he is now on steroids. He is on Remdesivir treatments, which has been the only approved treatment for the coronavirus and given to the most severely ill patients.
He's also undergone an antibody cocktail that is not approved even for emergency authorization use. It is, in fact, an experimental treatment that the president has endured. And so, obviously, we want to be very cautious in terms of how we -- what we know about his condition.
And, again, it's good to see him there in this vehicle just moments ago driving by. Let's play the video now that we have it from his tweet earlier in which he warned of a surprise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're getting great reports from the doctors. This is an incredible hospital, Walter Reed. The work they do is just absolutely amazing and I want to thank them all. The nurses, the doctors, everybody here. I've also gotten to meet some of the soldiers and the first responders and what a group.
I also think we're going to pay a little surprise to some of the great patriots that we have out on the street. And they've been out there for a long time and they've got Trump flags and they love our country so, I'm not telling anybody but you, but I'm about to make a little surprise visit.
So, perhaps I'll get there before you get to see me, but I just -- when I look at the enthusiasm, and we have enthusiasm like probably nobody has ever had, are people that love the job we're doing. We have more enthusiasm than maybe anybody.
So, it's been a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about COVID. I learned it by really going to school. This is the real school. This isn't the let's read the book school. And I get it and I understand it. And it's a very interesting thing. And I'm going to be letting you know about it. In the meantime, we love the USA and we love what's happening. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Let's go back live to Jeremy Diamond, again, outside Walter Reed Medical Center where the president just passed by in that SUV moments ago. Jeremy, do you know where he is now? Where did he go? DIAMOND: You know, presumably the president went back to Walter Reed.
You know, they have opened the street here back up to traffic, which suggests that the president isn't going to come by again or at least not right now. So presumably, he is back inside Walter Reed.
I would note that that video that he sent out, you know, he's announcing the surprise. Obviously, it was posted, it seems, right at the moment when his SUV, his presidential motorcade actually arrived here on scene. Obviously for security reasons they wouldn't want to disclose that the president is about to make a movement in public.
But obviously, I'm sure Secret Service and the people protecting him had some concerns. We saw several of the Secret Service officers in tactical gear walking alongside the motorcade as well because he is in very close proximity to the people who -- the members of the public who are out here on the street.
[17:30:00]
One thing that I would note, though, of course, you know, obviously we've talked about the element to which this is the president trying to send a signal to the public and to the world that he is doing all right. But at the same time, you have to wonder, you know, what was the risk benefit analysis that was done here?
I mean, you know, it seemed like the Secret Service agents who were driving the president in that motorcade, they did appear to be wearing those N-95 respirators on their faces, but that was it. You know, the president right now while he is at Walter Reed, we've been told by Dr. Conley and others, that they enter those rooms with the full suite of protective gear on them.
And that's not just an N-95 mask, but it's presumably goggles or some kind of a face shield and gloves, you know, and something over their entire bodies. So, you know, the president here is to a certain extent putting these Secret Service agents who are driving him and who are in the vehicle with him, at some degree of higher risk.
Obviously, they are mitigating that risk to a certain extent by wearing these N-95 respirators on their faces. But I do think that is something that we should note here as the president is doing this, obviously, for a PR and kind of publicity value as well.
CABRERA: That is a really good point, Jeremy. And it is very fitting because this president, we know how much he loves to put on a show. Loves to create surprises to make good TV. Let me bring back in David Gergen as we sort of digest what we just witnessed, this unexpected moment in which the president drove by in an SUV to say hello to his supporters, give them a good wave.
Jeremy did make a good point there, David Gergen, that one, we know the president is not 100 percent, clearly, as he is continuing to battle the coronavirus and has been very ill along the course of his coronavirus journey.
It was good to hear him in that video sounding a little bit stronger and looking good in this image as well. However, he's putting those Secret Service drivers and members who are protecting him in this moment at risk.
GERGEN: Yes. It's classic, classic Donald Trump, isn't it? You know, he does want to be the star of any show or he wants to be at the center of attention. He does have admirers out there, obviously, people gathered and he is, I am sure cheering them on and sending a message to the rest of his base, look, I'm in this fight.
I mean, that's a message not only about today and tomorrow, the next two or three days. He's the message of someone who is running for president and he wants to be back in the action as soon as he can. I think, you know, -- I think it's up to the doctors to tell us, is this reckless or not? Is this something you all would have approved of or he just do it on his own?
It would be helpful to know more, but I doubt we'll hear anything more until tomorrow. I think he's -- he's achieved what he wanted and that is a real surprise. And I must say in that video, he was stronger than we've seen him in the last couple of days.
And he looked more himself. He looked more like he was back on his feet already raring to go. I just think that raring to go, what he really lives on is the sense of being strong, being tough, being able to take it and exciting people by that kind of sense of toughness and I can do what no one else can do.
CABRERA: David, if you were advising him because as we always discussed, you have advised four other presidents, would you have thought this was a good idea?
GERGEN: I think I would have been skeptical. The first and foremost issue here is the president's own health and getting him and not putting him in a place which is dangerous. And there is this question, I think that Jeremy raises about putting others at risk in order to advance your own cause.
And it's hard to know where to go with it, Ana, except it is so classic. I would have thought it should be done with great care and the best thing to do is finish up his initial treatment, get back to the White House, you know, come along and then make his first appearance in about three or four days.
Now, I can tell you when Ronald Reagan was shot and I was there, we waited. We waited a fairly long time before he was seen in public again. And he then was -- he had a couple pictures taken at the windows of the hospital with Nancy and waving to people, but he was very cautious about that comeback.
Instead, he waited actually for his real comeback. First time he came and spoke to the public, we arranged a joint session of Congress and he came in to wild cheering from members of Congress. And (inaudible) said, now pass my bill and he got huge legislation passed as a result.
CABRERA: Let me bring Kaitlan Collins who is joining us from the White House right now. Kaitlan, any reaction from there? [17:35:00]
COLLINS: Well, let's say that the White House called a lid several hours ago. That's what typically happens when the president is not going to have any more events. That means the reporters who are typically supposed to be with the president if he goes anywhere, even on a drive like this, were not there at Walter Reed for this trip.
We obviously had zero heads up about it since we really found out about 20 seconds before the president tweeted this out and then he started -- then we saw the images of him on this ride greeting these supporters. But this is what happens when you don't like what the people who are speaking for you are saying.
And that's what our reporting has shown about the president and now we're seeing it play out in real time because he's coming outs and he's trying to take the message into his own hands to project to his supporters standing outside Walter Reed that he is okay because he wanted to be seen by them.
And I guess they decided this is the way that the president wanted to do it because he's clearly been unhappy with what his doctor has been saying about his condition. We could see that by how cagey Dr. Conley was being. But also, we know he was infuriated by what the chief of staff did yesterday by telling reporters that he had very concerning symptoms and had no clear path to full recovery at that point, 24 hours ago.
So now the president, who often does try to take the message into his own hands, is doing that here, though, of course, now he's got an infectious disease, a highly contagious disease, and now he is riding in the car. And what I noticed, you know, we're talking about whether he's putting those people in the car with him at risk, those agents.
The president appears to be wearing a cloth mask if you're looking at this image while those in the front seat, the agents appear to be wearing those medical-grade masks. It looks to be an N-95 potentially.
So that raises questions, why would the president not be wearing a medical grade mask since we know he does have COVID and could be contagious to those in the car with him? It's kind of remarkable to see -- just to see these images of the president driving by his own supporters.
CABRERA: We took this live picture while we were having this discussion with David Gergen and Jim Clapper, the former director of National Intelligence, and it really was shocking to see unexpectedly the president drive right by -- ride by in front of our cameras, again, moments ago outside Walter Reed Medical Center for our viewers who may just be tuning in.
Kaitlan, please standby. I do want to bring back Director Clapper because I rudely interrupted him as we were reacting to this moment that was so unexpected. Director Clapper, you were talking about messaging to foreign leaders around the world. And clearly, it's not just his supporters who are watching this
moment, it's not just Americans who are, you know, waiting for the next word or watching every, you know, message that the president puts out there. Is this a show of strength to the rest of the world?
CLAPPER: Well, it is. One hopes that it's not a transitory thing, given the nature of COVID where there are apparently up and down cycles here. Let's hope that this comports with his rate of improvement. But, yes, this will be of great interest to foreign countries, both, you know, friends and allies and adversaries alike.
And the president, you know, always a showman, concerned about the optics, so, at least temporarily, transitorily, this is -- it's a good message, and I hope it comports with the rest of his recovery.
CABRERA: And don't we all. Thank you very much. Director Clapper, David Gergen, Jeremy Diamond and Kaitlan Collins. My thanks to all of you.
The president promises a surprise and he did just that. A surprise visit to supporters outside Walter Reed Medical Center. And just to be clear, we're not exactly sure where the president is at this moment. We'll continue on the other side of a break. Stay with us.
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[17:40:00]
CABRERA: We're back with breaking news into CNN. President Trump just rode by a crowd of his supporters and reporters and waved. There he is in the backseat of that SUV moments ago outside Walter Reed Medical Center where the president continues to be hospitalized for treatment for the coronavirus. Let's go back live to Jeremy Diamond on the scene there. And Jeremy, I understand we just learned the president has returned to Walter Reed?
DIAMOND: Yes, that's right. The president is indeed back at his presidential suite at Walter Reed. I'm seeing the information on my phone as well right now. And obviously, this came as a surprise. You know, the press was not informed. The pool of reporters who travel with the president are supposed to be with the president at every movement that he makes. They were also not informed.
Typically, you would have a group of 13 journalists, which includes photographers, print reporters, TV reporters -- one TV reporter, who would be in those vans as part of the motorcade at the tail end of it. They were not there.
This was something obviously that was planned very quickly. Something that the president wanted to do in his very typical shock and awe style to try and send a message to the public, the voting public, one month out from the election.
And to the world, really, that he is doing all right despite the fact that he is going through some pretty significant symptoms of coronavirus as his own doctors have laid out over the last several days. We know that this is a president who has had his oxygen levels, his oxygen saturation levels dip below 94 percent. Not just on Friday, but also at some point yesterday.
We know that he has required supplemental oxygen. We know that he is on three drugs at the moment, an antibody cocktail, an experimental -- which is an experimental treatment we should note.
[17:45:02]
He is also on this anti-viral Remdesivir as well as a steroid, dexamethasone I believe is what it's called. I may be flubbing that name. But obviously, this is a president who is facing severe symptoms of this virus and yet he wants to send this message to the world that he is healthy and doing all right at a time when he is obviously not.
At a time when he is obviously going through the wringer with this virus over these last several days. We heard his doctors earlier today say that despite these drugs that the president is currently on for this coronavirus, that they are looking at the potential to discharge him tomorrow, which a lot of medical experts have raised significant questions about.
I believe our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta said that he would not discharge the president at this moment based solely on the medication that he is currently on. But you can see, obviously, that the president is aware of the optics right now, aware of the fact that he -- someone who likes to project strength for whom strength is really a central part of his brand, is very weak right now.
That is where he is. He is a 74-year-old man who is obese, who is in a high-risk category for this virus, and who is not experiencing just a mild case of the virus, but is experiencing a significant case that required him, of course, to be hospitalized as well.
CABRERA: And we can hear how loud it is there where you are, Jeremy Diamond. I'm just curious in those moments when the president drove by, what was the reaction from his supporters, which was clearly who he was playing to?
DIAMOND: Yes. His supporters were obviously overjoyed. They broke out in cheers. We saw several of them running alongside the motorcade. And there were also Secret Service agents, some of them in full tactical gear who are running alongside the motorcade. They were going very close by to the public, which is typically something that Secret Service likes to avoid when they are moving the president.
That is why this was a surprise. It was not announced ahead of time. The only warning that we got was when they started to block the road around the entrance to Walter Reed for a few minutes before the president's motorcade actually turned up.
We weren't necessarily expecting the president, who is, of course, not only in the throes of this virus but still contagious to actually come out of the hospital and to come through on the motorcade. We thought perhaps somebody else was going to arrive. Perhaps the vice president would come and pay the president a visit. Something of that nature. But obviously, the president chose to do this, chose to project this
strength. You know, Ana, there are obviously some major differences, but this does remind me back during the 2016 campaign, which I was covering, I was in the lobby of Trump Tower, the day -- in the days after this "Access Hollywood" tape came out in which the president made these crude and disparaging comments about women.
And the president at that point was in a very weak position. Different set of circumstances but similar in the sense that he's in a weak position, and he decided to do something very similar, which was he came down the elevators in Trump Tower, no expectation, no announcement and walked out onto Fifth Avenue to wave to some of his supporters who were there before quickly going back inside Trump Tower.
Very similar in the sense that this is the president at a moment of weakness, who is trying to project strength, who is trying to reassure the public, but especially his supporters about the future, in this case, the future of his own personal health.
CABRERA: And Jeremy, stand by. I want to bring in Kaitlan Collins at the White House because as you're speaking, I'm thinking about the reporting from earlier in which we know the president had been upset about some of what he was seeing and the messaging that his doctors were putting out there, that his chief of staff had put out there regarding his condition and he thought that they were exaggerating description of his condition.
Kaitlan, we know this is a president who likes to be in control of the message and his image. I guess this is him taking it into his own hands.
COLLINS: It is him taking it into his own hands and we've seen that time and time again throughout his presidency where he's undermined the people who speak for him or he has held his own press conferences because he didn't think the ones that others, that spokesmen were doing for him were sufficient, but this is different.
This is the president who has a contagious disease that we do not have a cure for, that we do not know how to fix for everybody, and yet he got into a car with two Secret Service agents in a heavily armored vehicle with windows rolled up to come and wave to supporters to show them that he's okay, to show this message that he wants to project, this message of strength and that he's okay.
But he's riding in the car with two people and he knows he has coronavirus. You probably couldn't pay someone to get in a car with someone who has coronavirus. And of course, these are agents who risk their life, they sign up for that, when they're going to protect the president, but I don't think they meant doing it knowing he has this disease and getting in the car with him with the windows rolled up.
And yes, they are all wearing masks, but the president appears to be wearing a cloth mask, these mask that you've seen other White House officials wear, while the agents up front you notice are wearing the medical-grade mask. [17:50:02]
As you can see there, it's highlighted on the president but you can see the masks that the agents sitting up front are wearing. So, you understand why the president wants to send this message. It's been clear from the reporting that he doesn't like what people are saying for him.
But you have to question who thought this was a good idea for the president to get in a car with two other people knowing that he has coronavirus and that he was just diagnosed two days ago with this. And so it's going to raise a lot of questions about that.
Of course, this is just more sloppiness on behalf of the White House, of not letting the reporters who are meant to cover the president and be with him through all of his movements, even when he has at Walter Reed and he has got a contagious disease.
They are supposed to let reporters know. And those reporters who are supposed to be there with him are here at the White House waiting for any kind of movement like that, even though the White House had already told them there would be no other movements today.
So it does raise the question of how small is this circle, how many people knew that the president was actually going to be making this trip. But to be clear, the reporters who were supposed to be traveling with the president in his designated pool were completely unaware that he was going to make this visit today.
CABRERA: I want to bring in CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip as well to join in the conversation here. And Abby, we know this president needs the adoration of his supporters. So, it seemed like, you know, it was as much about him as was them. I do wonder how this will be received beyond his most ardent supporters.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is a really good question. I mean, this whole episode is really an unknown in terms of what kind of impact, especially political impact it might have on an election that is ongoing where people are voting right now and where we are 30 days away from the actual Election Day.
I think that all of this for the people who were already skeptical of the president's handling of the virus, who were -- who have been unhappy with his attitude and his demeanor around the virus, honestly, I mean, all of this, I think, is not in his favor in that respect.
And I think this episode, leaving the hospital with a highly contagious virus, I think a lot of people are going to be very confused by that. We've all been hearing stories for months and months and months of COVID patients who are hospitalized who can't see their families, who have to say their last words to their families over FaceTime and over the telephone.
I think it's going to be confusing to people to see the president doing this while he is in the throes of a highly contagious and potentially deadly virus. And so, it is a little bit risky politically to kind of send those kinds of mixed signals to people when they are looking for the president -- looking at the president's actions to see, you know, has this changed his approach to the virus? Has it changed the way that he views it in terms of its seriousness?
And I'm not sure that this action, which seems to be geared at lifting his own spirits, which I think is an important thing to do, is really going to convince people are already skeptical that he's got this all under control and that he's going to change his behavior and attitude going forward.
CABRERA: We still don't know the extent of his illness at the moment and where he is along the journey of his illness. I do want to play the video that he tweeted out just before we saw him drive by in the SUV. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're getting great reports from the doctors. This is an incredible hospital, Walter Reed. The work they do is just absolutely amazing and I want to thank them all. The nurses, the doctors, everybody here. I've also gotten to meet some of the soldiers and the first responders and what a group.
I also think we're going to pay a little surprise to some of the great patriots that we have out on the street. And they've been out there for a long time and they've got Trump flags and they love our country so, I'm not telling anybody but you, but I'm about to make a little surprise visit.
So, perhaps I'll get there before you get to see me, but I just -- when I look at the enthusiasm, and we have enthusiasm like probably nobody has ever had, are people that love the job we're doing. We have more enthusiasm than maybe anybody.
So, it's been a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about COVID. I learned it by really going to school. This is the real school. This isn't the let's read the book school. And I get it and I understand it. And it's a very interesting thing. And I'm going to be letting you know about it. In the meantime, we love the USA and we love what's happening. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Abby, what stands out to me at the end of that video is how he speaks about the coronavirus. It doesn't sound like he's, you know, projecting a different tone regarding this virus. Did you hear a change in tone at all? Am I missing it or is he still downplaying it?
PHILLIP: Well, you know, it has been interesting in all of these videos, several of them that he's released over the last couple of days, that he hasn't included any messages to the American public about what they should do about the virus. No message to say, you know, I'm experiencing this virus now.
[17:55:02] I can tell you how serious that this is. I really urge you to wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands, those sort of public service type of things that can demonstrate his knowledge, firsthand knowledge now, as he alluded to in that video, of this virus.
That's still missing to me, but you know, these videos have a totally different purpose. They are designed to show his supporters that he's here, that he's strong, that he's improving. And you can see it day by day some signs of clear improvement in his at least physical appearance.
He looks stronger. He's speaking more quickly. He has color in his face in a way that in the video on Friday it seemed that he didn't. So there's signs of improvement and that's what he's trying to project. But do I see any sign that he has changed his perspective on how to approach the virus and how to convince the American public to take it seriously? Not in these videos. And we'll have to see what happens as the days go on.
CABRERA: Absolutely. We're going to take a break here, Abby, thank you. Pleas, everybody, stand by with me. Again, President Trump driving by moments ago. His supporters outside Walter Reed, he gives them a good wave. We understand he's back in his suite now at Walter Reed Medical Center after making that surprise appearance.
I'll speak to a Trump campaign adviser, Jason Miller, coming up in our next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.
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[17:59:59]
