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White House Sows Confusion About Trump's Condition; How White House Rose Garden Gathering Likely Became a Superspreader Event; Senate GOP's Third Positive COVID-19 Case Threatens Quick Barrett Confirmation; Trump Diagnosis Affects Suburban Voters; China Reacts to Trump's Positive COVID-19 Test; California Fires Take Nearly 4 Million Acres in 2020; CNN Bids Farewell to Natalie Allen. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired October 04, 2020 - 03:00 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): And welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world, I'm Natalie Allen, coming to you live from Atlanta.
The U.S. president right now is spending a second night hospitalized amid conflicting reports about his condition. Donald Trump's medical team says it is, quote, "cautiously optimistic" but also admits he's not out of danger. On Saturday evening, Mr. Trump posted this video from Walter Reed Medical Center.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm starting to feel good. You don't know, over the next period of a few days, I guess that's the real test. We'll be seeing what happens over those next couple of days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: So that is what we are hearing from the president. We are also getting a peek into how he is conducting business. The White House released photos to support the claim that Mr. Trump is still at work.
But here's where it starts getting unclear. Shortly afterward, an administration source gave journalists a less positive report, saying Mr. Trump's vital signs were, quote, "very concerning" and that the next 48 hours would be critical.
That source has been identified by "The New York Times" and Associated Press as White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Later Saturday, Meadows had a more optimistic message for FOX News.
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MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: And the doctor is exactly right. He is doing extremely well. In fact, I'm very, very optimistic based on the current results and as the doctor said, he's not out of the woods the next 48 hours or so with the history of this virus, we know can be, can be tough.
And but he's made unbelievable improvement from yesterday morning. When a number of us, the doctor and I were very concerned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Then there is the president's physician, Dr. Sean Conley. A White House source confirms Mr. Trump had supplemental oxygen since his illness started. But Dr. Conley was evasive when asked about it.
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QUESTION: Has he ever been on supplemental oxygen?
DR. SEAN CONLEY, TRUMP'S WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN: Right now he is not on --
QUESTION: I know you keep saying right now.
But should we read into the fact that he had --
CONLEY: Yesterday and today he was not on oxygen.
QUESTION: So he has not been on it during his COVID treatment?
(LAUGHTER)
CONLEY: He is not on oxygen right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Dr. Conley also needed to clear up confusion about the timeline regarding President Trump's diagnosis. CNN's Sarah Westwood is live from Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Before we get to that, what is the latest on the president's condition and the treatments he's receiving?
SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Natalie, the latest on the president's condition comes from a memo released by his physician, Dr. Sean Conley, this evening.
He said the president has made substantial progress since his diagnosis with COVID-19 and that Trump received his second dose of remdesivir this evening without complication, that he went into the night still having no temperature.
That came, as you mentioned, after a day of confusion and mixed signals from this White House about the president's condition. That really started around 11:00 am this morning, when Dr. Conley and the president's other care providers came out and briefed reporters here at Walter Reed. Dr. Conley and the others painted a really rosy picture of how Trump
has been doing since he arrived at Walter Reed but also yesterday before he was hospitalized.
But just moments after that had ended, a source familiar with the president's condition told reporters that Trump had experienced quote, "very concerning" symptoms in the hours before he was hospitalized here at Walter Reed.
So not a lot of clarity about what the president was experiencing while he was at the White House Friday.
There was also confusion because of comments that Dr. Conley made, that made it seem that perhaps the White House hadn't been truthful about exactly when the president received his positive diagnosis and when he began treatment.
The White House hasn't exactly been forthcoming about that in the days leading up to it. But Dr. Conley was forced to come out with a clarifying statement and said he misspoke when he talked about the timeline of the president's illness, which is still unclear.
Meanwhile, the White House medical unit is continuing its contact tracing for aides and advisers who may have come into contact with the president's inner circle who have tested positive. And that's a growing list, like the first lady.
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WESTWOOD: Kellyanne Conway and Chris Christie have announced that they, too, are positive because of this outbreak around the president. Three Republican senators have also tested positive, with senator Ron Johnson becoming the third today, unveiling his positive diagnosis.
Other lawmakers, aides, advisers are all awaiting the results of their tests. So we still don't know the extent of the outbreak that sickened the president right now, Natalie.
ALLEN: Yes, certainly, we all hope that moving forward, we'll get more transparency from the president's medical team on how he's doing. Sarah Westwood, for us there outside the hospital. Thanks, Sarah.
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ALLEN: Let's talk more about the president's condition with Dr. Scott Miscovich, a family physician and national consultant. He also pioneered popup testing in Hawaii. He joins me now live from Hawaii.
Hello, Doctor. Thanks for coming on.
DR. SCOTT MISCOVICH, FAMILY PHYSICIAN AND NATIONAL CONSULTANT: Thank you, Natalie.
How are you tonight?
ALLEN: I'm well, thank you for asking. The president, though, now spending a second night at Walter Reed. He
says he'll know in a couple of days how he's doing. As we just heard, it's kind of tricky to know exactly how he's faring, since the doctor has not been that forthcoming with details.
What do you make from what you're hearing about it?
MISCOVICH: Well, I think what we know about the disease, there's still many days before we're going to know for sure. The average number of days before someone is admitted to the intensive care unit after the onset of the disease is 10 to 12 days.
So the way this disease destroys the lung tissue over time, that lung destruction will lead to shortness of breath, decreased oxygenation and that's why the questions being asked about, is he on oxygen or not, those are very important because that is a sign there is worsening damage to the lung tissues.
So he's far from being out of the woods right now.
ALLEN: Right, and we now know that his chief of staff said that his vital signs were very concerning.
What does that tell you?
MISCOVICH: Well, again, when we look at one thing we follow closely, it's what's called the oxygen saturation. It's that little monitor put on your finger and tells you how much oxygen you're getting into your bloodstream.
Also you look at the heart rate because, as you're struggling for oxygen, your heart rate will go up and the oxygen level will drop. And that can happen -- it's very common; we'll see, in 36 hours, people will go from normal oxygenation to being on a ventilator or to being in serious condition in the ICU.
So there's often not a long period of time before someone will just be compromised.
ALLEN: What does it indicate to you also, Doctor, that the president is on a five-day course of remdesivir?
MISCOVICH: That's probably fairly standard. We'll see that going on. Remember remdesivir; people have gotten the flu, they've been put on Tamiflu. That's just a standard antiviral. So that doesn't really scare us.
I think most of us really raised our eyebrows when we knew he was put on the Regeneron treatment, which was very experimental and only, what, 275 patients had ever received it. And a lot of us were like, really?
I mean I would not give it to my family. So to be that experimental and be getting it is something we all looked at.
ALLEN: You have diagnosed and followed some 3,000 COVID positive patients, who have recovered.
Assuming the president recovers, what will his recovery look like?
What can he expect?
MISCOVICH: You know, that is the question I think the country needs to start addressing because the number one thing we're seeing in post- COVID patients who are hospitalized is extreme fatigue. So over half of them are having extreme fatigue.
The second thing we're starting to see is shortness of breath, where he probably is not going to be able to walk that easily from the Rose Garden to his helicopter.
Here's one that bothers me a lot. We're starting to see upwards of a quarter will have some degree or so of memory loss and also have some types of confusion. They'll have mood disturbances and sleep disturbances.
That is something, I think as a country, we have to understand if our commander in chief is experiencing these very common symptoms that we're seeing across the world.
What do we do?
ALLEN: That sounds bleak. And we know that he has conditions that could contribute to his recovery. His age is a factor, his heart and his obesity.
MISCOVICH: Yes, I mean a lot of us, as soon as he was diagnosed, had put together you know, our expert opinions. And I think consensus is that someone at his age with those conditions had at least and still has at least an 8 percent mortality from this.
And with those three conditions, that we know of, let's put it that way.
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MISCOVICH: He would be in that 8 percent, possibly even up to 10 percent or more, depending on how he would change during this condition of recovery.
And again, oxygenation is key. The other one that we haven't talked about is, there are a lot of neurologic events. There are microdamages to the brain with what we call thromboses. Minor blood clots can occur. And that can lead to the memory changes and to even small strokes.
So there's still so many possible problems that can occur at this stage. We just don't know.
ALLEN: I want to ask you and refer back to the thousands of people you've treated and you've seen with positive cases. And I'm sure many of those folks didn't think they were going to get COVID, took precautions, maybe some didn't. And how do you think this president might be changed emotionally after
going through this?
And we certainly know that he did a lot of disregarding the coronavirus leading up to him getting it.
MISCOVICH: You know, again, that's a great question because one of the things we're looking in the COVID recovery patients is just their emotional status. And there is a lot of depression.
And we're finding that people, if they've been in the hospital for a period of time, they might have some PTSD because it is a near-death experience and it is a experience that affects you psychologically.
Now how our president is affected, he's obviously a different person than a lot of normal people. How he'll be behind the scenes versus to the public, that's hard to say. I also wonder, as his wife has the disease at the same time, as a couple, gosh, that's going to present some real interesting challenges in relationship emotions and how you respond to others.
Hopefully the White House has woken up and takes their security for wearing masks and doing testing a lot more seriously right now.
ALLEN: We certainly hope so. Thank you so much for your time and your expertise, Dr. Scott Miscovich, and thank you for what you do for all of us.
MISCOVICH: Thank you for having me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Donald Trump's diagnosis is having a big impact on the Joe Biden campaign. Coming up here, what the president's political rival is changing as he looks to win the White House.
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ALLEN: What happens when you gather a large, mostly maskless crowd in a small space during a pandemic?
We know now. You get a potential superspreader event. The one we're talking about features several of the most powerful people in the U.S. government.
Last Saturday, President Trump held a ceremony at the White House Rose Garden to announce his nomination for Supreme Court. She was there with her family. Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us how this event became dangerous.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What you're looking at is the origins of a likely superspreader event. At least eight people, including President Donald Trump himself, are now infected. And that is among those who have had the ability to actually get tested.
GUPTA: You can't see the virus but what is happening during a superspreading event?
DR. ERIN BROMAGE, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: You know, it's a very rough analogy. But if we think of a campfire and say that that's a person who is infected and releasing virus, it's not like it's the ring around the person that is actually going to be the risk.
It's those that are on the side where more of the virus is being projected, either through big talking or through the breeze, the air that's blowing it there.
GUPTA (voice-over): But it was also these moments that caught CNN medical analyst Erin Bromage's eye.
BROMAGE: When the event finished, when they're all coming up and hugging and shaking hands and saying congratulations, that's where -- if I was a betting person, I would be putting my money on of where this occurred.
GUPTA (voice-over): We know that the safety protocol for the event was to test anyone in close proximity to the president. But it wasn't required for everyone attending the ceremony. And it clearly wasn't foolproof.
Again, take a look here, where the people who were diagnosed as positive were sitting not next to each other, which leads us to again look at what happened right before and right after.
Former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, closely leaning in to speak with attorney general William Barr. Lots of people closely interacting with their guard down. It can be difficult to pinpoint these superspreader events.
This one ceremony, though, is giving us a look at the anatomy of how it happens all the time, not just here but anytime people aggregate together in large groups in the middle of a pandemic.
BROMAGE: There's no doubt that there has been transmission at the protests, the political rallies. It's just a fact that the virus doesn't discriminate.
Just because we haven't documented it, doesn't mean it hasn't happened. It's just that we've got an event now that is very visible, well documented, well tested and we're seeing the outcome from it.
GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
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ALLEN: The spread of the coronavirus could jeopardize a quick confirmation for Mr. Trump's Supreme Court pick. Two Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have recently tested positive and that's raising questions about a swift vote on Barrett's nomination. Phil Mattingly has more from Capitol Hill.
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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not just the White House that is grappling with the magnitude of this moment, the president testing positive for coronavirus. It's also here on Capitol Hill, where now three Republican senators have also tested positive for coronavirus.
There is obviously the public health issues there, trying to figure out, one, how those senators will deal with it. Right now two senators have reported mild symptoms. A third believes he's asymptomatic.
But there is also the question of what happens next on a massive issue, the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to join the Supreme Court. Republicans have made it clear they're working on a compressed timetable. They want her confirmed before the election.
In fact, hearings are already scheduled to start October 12th.
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MATTINGLY: Well, two of the three Republican senators, Mike Lee, Thom Tillis, they are on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the committee that will move forward on that nomination. They will need to be present if the committee is to vote, likely starting the process October 15th.
So the big question now is twofold.
One is will those senators who tested positive be OK in time to be back to consider that nomination?
The second one, this is what unsettles everyone, is anybody else going to get sick?
Right now, they don't have answers to those questions. They've made clear they want to move forward on the nomination but those answers could change that calculation -- Phil Mattingly, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Sources tell CNN that all of this has Democratic nominee Joe Biden planning to get tested more often. The nominee himself says he does not want to attack the president and, of course, the first lady but that he would have handled the pandemic fundamentally differently. Here he is.
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JOE BIDEN (D-DE), FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For so long, Washington left our states, cities and transit agencies to bid against one another.
If that's not the president's responsibility, what the hell, the heck, is his responsibility?
"Not my fault. I have no responsibility. Go to your mayor, your governor, your employer."
It's unconscionable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: For more now on the Biden campaign, here's CNN's Arlette Saenz.
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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joe Biden is moving forward with his in-person campaigning and officials say he will be tested more regularly for coronavirus.
This follows the news that President Trump has tested positive for coronavirus as well as several other people in his orbit. The Biden campaign says they will release the results of the tests each time he is tested.
Biden last received his last negative test results on Friday and told supporters that, while he wasn't tested on Saturday, he will be tested for coronavirus on Sunday morning.
Now the Biden campaign has always adhered to social distancing and safety standards at his campaign events. Officials believe that the way that they've structured these events have promoted health and safety, not just for their candidates but also those involved in the events and for the general public.
Biden is always wearing a mask when he is at these events. And they have people at social distances from each other and him. And those are protocols that they plan to move forward with as he continues to campaign in person.
On Monday, Biden is heading to South Florida and, on Thursday, he will travel to Arizona, his first visit to the battleground state and his running mate, Kamala Harris, will also be joining him.
Kamala Harris is set to face off against vice president Mike Pence in their first debate on Wednesday. We are learning there have been some changes to the way that debate will play out.
The two candidates will be seated down for that debate and originally were only slated to be seated 7 feet apart. They will now be 12 feet apart from each other as this debate plays out.
We have also learned that masks will be required for everyone in that debate hall, except for the two candidates and the moderators. This follows Tuesday night's presidential debate when many in the audience on the Trump side were not wearing masks. But going forward, anyone who is in that debate hall must wear a mask
and if they fail to do, so they will be asked to leave, just one of the many changes that is occurring in this campaign due to the coronavirus pandemic -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Many health experts are warning that vice president Mike Pence should self-isolate.
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ALLEN (voice-over): Here he is, circled in yellow, at that White House Rose Garden event a week ago, seated very close to others who have tested positive for COVID-19.
Pence has tested negative since the president's diagnosis. On Monday he will travel to Salt Lake City ahead of the debate on Wednesday. On Thursday, Mr. Pence is expected to attend a campaign event in Arizona.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris is already in Utah ahead of the debate with Mr. Pence. On Saturday, she toured This Is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City. It honors the Latter-Day Saints pioneers who came to the area in the 1800s.
The next debate is between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence. CNN's special coverage begins at 7:00 pm Wednesday on the U.S. East Coast. For our international viewers, that's midnight Thursday in London and 7:00 am in Hong Kong.
We are less than a month away from the U.S. presidential election and many are weighing in on Donald Trump's coronavirus diagnosis.
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DAVE ELLISTON (PH), MICHIGAN VOTER: You should have wore a mask, dude. You didn't wear a mask and now you're going to pay the price.
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ALLEN: More reaction from the key state of Michigan, right after this.
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ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Natalie Allen and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. U.S. president Donald Trump is spending a second night at Walter Reed
amid questions about just how sick he really is. Mr. Trump spent much of Saturday conducting business, according to his doctor, who says he's better but not out of the woods. The doctor also says the president has been given a second dose of remdesivir.
But a Trump administration source gave journalists a much less positive report earlier in the day, saying the president's vital signs had been concerning and that the next 48 hours would be critical. That source has been identified by "The New York Times" and Associated Press as White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
We are less than a month from Election Day in the U.S. The president's COVID diagnosis is reverberating in voters' minds as they decide which candidate to back. CNN's Jeff Zeleny spoke with voters in the key state of Michigan.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Denise Hardaway (ph) cast her ballot on Friday she had President Trump's health on her mind.
DENISE HARDAWAY, MICHIGAN VOTER: I pray for him, I home he recovers. I hope his family recovers.
ZELENY (voice-over): But she voted for Joe Biden, in part because of what she believes has been the president's mishandling of coronavirus for which she has now tested positive.
HARDAWAY: He has been denying the whole science behind coronavirus and so I hope this is a wake-up call for him.
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HARDAWAY: And I hope that it changes his administration's thinking and that he realizes and understands the importance of this pandemic that we're in.
ZELENY (voice-over): In Michigan, like many states, the election is already underway, with voters dropping off their ballots, even as the campaign is suddenly filled with fresh uncertainty.
BIDEN: This is not a matter of politics. It's a bracing reminder to all of us that we have to take this virus seriously.
ZELENY (voice-over): At a stop in Grand Rapids, Biden also wished the president well, hours before the president was admitted to Walter Reed hospital, a remarkable development that put the pandemic back in the forefront in the final stretch of the campaign.
TOM ORLOVSKY (PH), MICHIGAN VOTER: I hope it turns out right for him. But he was kind of pressing the limits with a lot of things he's done recently.
ZELENY (voice-over): Tom Orlovsky (ph) has supported many Republican presidents but Friday he voted for Biden.
ZELENY: Did the president's handling of the coronavirus influence your vote this year?
ORLOVSKY (PH): Sure, sure it did. I believe, again, based on what I know, that this has been poorly handled. And a lot of it could have been eliminated. I can't help but think it's going to be, obviously, a big issue in this election. People that know people that have died or been affected by it.
ZELENY (voice-over): Four years ago, Trump narrowly won Michigan, the first Republican presidential candidate to carry the state since 1988.
TRUMP: On November 3rd, Michigan, you better vote for me. I got you so many damn car plants.
ZELENY (voice-over): His strength here in the suburbs of Detroit will help determine if he does so again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we was dealt a bad hand.
ZELENY (voice-over): Philip Brown (ph) cast his ballot for Trump and does not blame the president for how he's handled coronavirus. Yet he said he's not surprised Trump tested positive.
PHILIP BROWN (PH), MICHIGAN VOTER: A number of people have tested positive in the White House. This is a very contagious disease. I think at some point with all of the protections he would have caught it.
ZELENY (voice-over): The president's COVID-19 diagnosis is the latest bombshell of the 2020 campaign. But conversations with voters suggest it may not change many minds.
LAURA LAURAIN, MICHIGAN VOTER: I can't believe it took this long it for him to get the virus because he just didn't follow any of the rules as far as staying safe.
ZELENY (voice-over): Linda (sic) Laurain said the president should have taken the pandemic more seriously but noted that she always planned to vote for Biden.
Dave Elliston (ph) was less charitable towards Trump.
ELLISTON (PH): You should have wore a mask, dude. You didn't wear a mask and now you're going to pay the price.
ZELENY (voice-over): His words dripped with sarcasm but turned serious.
ELLISTON (PH): I don't want him to die right now. But he should get a little bit of a taste of his willingness to avoid what everybody tells him he's supposed to do and set a good example for this country.
ZELENY (voice-over): Yet not all voters here are as harsh. STEVE, MICHIGAN VOTER: Nobody could have done anything different.
Blaming him for all the deaths is ridiculous. This is something we've never experienced before ever.
ZELENY (voice-over): This Michigan doctor, who asked to be identified only as Steve, said he's leaning towards Trump because of his economic policies.
ZELENY: Will coronavirus play a role into how you vote this fall?
STEVE: No, not at all.
ZELENY: It's an open question if the president's case of COVID-19 changes the minds of any voters. But one thing is clear, coronavirus is now front and center in this campaign conversation one month before Election Day -- Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Birmingham, Michigan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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ALLEN: Joining me now is Julie Norman, a lecturer in politics at University College London.
Good morning to you, Professor, and thanks for coming on.
JULIE NORMAN, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Good morning, Natalie.
ALLEN: We're hearing from voters about what they think about President Trump getting COVID-19. And it certainly depends on whom you ask.
How do you think the news may, in general, affect how people vote on the Election Day?
NORMAN: Well, Natalie, I don't think the news itself will affect voters' choices. It won't really change many minds. For most of Trump's supporters, they will probably see this as something somewhat inevitable from the president being out on the campaign trail.
And the White House is -- you're being very strategic in using the language of Trump being a warrior, pulling through this. So as long as the president does recover fully this week, I think that most of his supporters will see him as that type of warrior figure.
Meanwhile Democrats, of course, will -- many see this as something that they might have seen coming, given the president's responses to the virus in the past, really underscoring the need to have someone in the White House who takes the virus seriously.
And also for many Democrats, really bringing health care to the forefront of the campaign, seeing the kind of care that the president has had, rightfully so, but trying to emphasize that other voters should also have care at this time.
[03:35:00] ALLEN: It's really unbelievable that, one month before an election, the president of the United States falls ill and is in the hospital. The question is, I mean, voting is underway already.
How this campaign looks from here, how does this campaign go on from here?
NORMAN: Well, that's exactly right. Even if this news doesn't shift many voters' opinions, it's definitely going to change the campaigns in terms of both their pace and their shape for this crucial month going forward.
Of course, Trump will need to be canceling some of the many of the in- person events and rallies that he had planned. These are situations in which he thrives and does quite well usually with his base.
And they probably will be sending surrogates instead, such as his children or vice president Mike Pence.
But this will affect the Biden campaign also. We've already seen, over the last few days, that the Biden campaign has chosen to remove most negative ads. They have also canceled at least one event. And they need to be playing this somewhat carefully in the sense of keeping Biden's momentum going but not look like they're exploiting this moment.
And, of course, keeping the public health concerns in mind as well. This also, of course, there was the future debates into question, especially the second debate. That will be coming up on October 15th. And that will certainly have a different format if it goes ahead.
ALLEN: Right, taking it day by day right now, to be sure. It'll be interesting to see how the president being ill affects the partisanship we've seen over this pandemic as well.
And I also want to ask you, though, how his illness and others' illness in his circle affect the critical issues, like the stimulus bill and the confirmation process for the Supreme Court.
NORMAN: Absolutely. So again, this news is affecting pretty much everything right now. The president's own diagnosis, of course, but the fact that many others in the upper levels of government, several senators, including several senators on the Judiciary Committee, have also tested positive, as well as many staff in the White House.
So we expect that this will probably delay, at least by several days, the confirmation hearing for Amy Coney Barrett, for the Supreme Court nomination in the Senate. Right now we're hearing from Mitch McConnell that that schedule is still on track. The Judiciary Committee will be holding hearings with members calling in virtually if needed, so they are trying to keep that on track.
But it will be difficult for that to move ahead if the virus continues to spread, as many predict it will, among that level of government. And likewise for the stimulus bill as well, there was already momentum building behind that, to try and get something through. With the president's condition as well as markets falling on Friday in
response to the uncertainty around his condition, there's certainly extra pressure on Congress to get that through this week.
ALLEN: One more for you, Professor. You know, this president has been considered a bully. You mentioned Biden's ads. He took off his attack ads. The Trump campaign is not doing that.
But do you think we may find a softer, gentler President Trump when he recovers from this?
What impact it might have on his emotions and his outlook on life?
NORMAN: As we heard from your last guest, coming out of COVID-19 can certainly affect individuals in different ways and it'll be interesting to see how this affects Trump and how it affects his messaging in particular around the virus.
Of course, he has spent the last six months really downplaying its threat. Now obviously, many taking it more seriously, seeing his condition. And even if the president doesn't change his own messaging, again this is something that has also affected his staff, his campaign workers.
And even if some of the visuals and optics change, with more people wearing masks, more people social distancing within the White House or at his events, that could be a silver lining to all this and just tamping down some of the real polarization, hyperpartisanism around this virus. That really is a human problem, not a party-based problem.
ALLEN: We'll wait and see and we certainly hope that the first lady recovers well in this ordeal, too. It's hard to believe they're both going through it. Julie Norman at the University College London, thank you so much. We appreciate your insights.
NORMAN: Thank you, Natalie.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: For months, Mr. Trump has pinned the blame for the coronavirus squarely on China. Just ahead, China's reaction to the U.S. president's diagnosis.
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ALLEN: Throughout history, many presidents and aides and their supporters have tried to hide presidential illnesses from the American public and the news media. Since President Trump's coronavirus diagnosis, reporters and the public have had to piece together confusing information about Mr. Trump's condition. There was a time when reporters willingly went along when asked not to
publish details about a president's declining health. Renowned presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin spoke to CNN earlier about trust and transparency, particularly with this president.
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DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, the conflicting timetables, I think, is just a minuscule example of the fact that we've lost in many ways, trust in the president's word.
And it's the most important thing a president has. Think of it a president is the person who has to tell us that we need to go to battle, why it's important to do so.
Roosevelt, FDR had to tell people why rationing was essential during World War II, so that there'd be an equitable distribution of scarce resources. You had to believe him to go through all of that.
If you don't believe even the timetable of what's happened, who knows what, when, is what history is always about.
And the fact that we've had a conflicting timetable now, just raises the larger question of what it was that President Trump knew back in February about the seriousness of the -- of the virus but didn't think the public could hear it thought, again, the public would panic. It's the same thing all over again.
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ALLEN: She always has so much interesting information.
President Trump has long blamed Beijing for the coronavirus. Inside China, news of Mr. Trump's illness has been met with both sympathy and criticism. Chinese President Xi Jinping sent well wishes to President Trump and first lady Melania for a speedy recovery. For more about the China response, here's CNN's David Culver in Shanghai.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Between a range of responses to President Trump testing positive for the coronavirus coming from officials here in China, the original epicenter of the outbreak, as well as state and social media.
[03:45:00]
CULVER: As far as officials are concerned, you got President Xi Jinping putting out what is a diplomatic, even compassionate well- wishing to the president and first lady of the U.S.
State media taking a different approach, partially criticizing President Trump and one editor of one of these state-run tabloids putting out a very harsh critique on Twitter, saying that President Trump and the first lady have paid the price for his, referring to the president's, gamble to play down the COVID-19, going on to say the news shows the severity of the U.S.' pandemic situation. That coming from the editor of the "Global Times."
Social media is echoing that to some extent. It's also creating this rise in nationalism as, China is in the midst of Golden Week and just traveled within the past couple of days from Beijing to here in Shanghai. We feel as though we are living in a bubble that certainly state media wants to portray as a safe and sound environment, albeit one that is not easily penetrated for folks traveling from other countries coming in, could be rather challenging.
But for that reason, China believes they have been able to contain the spread of this virus. Daily reported numbers have ranged from single digits to upwards of 20 but really no more than that. Of course, all of that, according to the central government.
So the juxtaposition from what we are seeing on the ground here, as life has gone pretty much back to normal, to life in the United States and the president, the leader of the free world, himself, now being diagnosed with this virus, is quite striking.
Nonetheless, the reaction is expected to continue over the coming days, as folks here are closely monitoring how the president, first lady and other officials in the U.S. are able to move forward with this diagnosis -- David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.
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ALLEN: We have discouraging new numbers about the coronavirus spread from around the world. The United States, first up, is currently averaging more than 700 COVID deaths per day. That according to Johns Hopkins University.
CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke earlier with the director of the research group behind an influential coronavirus model. And it predicts 2,900 COVID deaths per day by the end of this year. But the director says we do have an effective way to fight this virus.
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DR. CHRISTOPHER MURRAY, INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH METRICS AND EVALUATION: Given what we know about the effectiveness of masks and given what we know about half of Americans wearing a mask when they're out, we think that about 86,000 lives can be saved if we can get mask use way up.
So it's very much in our control as to what's actually going to happen.
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ALLEN: On Saturday, the state of California surpassed 16,000 total deaths from coronavirus.
Officials in Kentucky reported the highest number of new cases for this state since the pandemic began. Plus, a record high case count in Wisconsin as well. The United Kingdom reported almost 13,000 new cases on Saturday. That
is more than double the U.K.'s seven-day average for the week. The government, though, blames the spike on a technical issue; previously unreported infections from the past week had been added to Saturday's total.
Now to France. A new daily record of the COVID-19 cases there, the country reporting almost 17,000 new cases in the past 24 hours. The previous record, set a bit more than a week ago, was just over 16,000. This brings France's total to nearly 630,000 cases.
After the break, weather conditions could soon be improving for the thousands of firefighters battling major wildfires in California, Derek Van Dam will have that and I will have a personal story for you. Right after this.
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[03:50:00]
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ALLEN: Thousands of firefighters in California continue to work to contain, get this, 23 major wildfires. So far this year the state has had over 8,200 fires and they have burned nearly 4 million acres. That's about 16,000 square kilometers; 31 people have died and over 8,000 structures have been destroyed.
High temperatures have made it easier for wildfires to spread. But state officials say a cooling trend could start today. Thank goodness for that.
(WEATHER REPORT)
[03:55:00]
ALLEN: This is a special moment for me, it is a bit sad but mainly happy. As I sign off this show right now, I'm also signing off from CNN.
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ALLEN: Well, the Man of Steel has apparently met his match and its name is Doomsday. We're talking about Superman, the superhero, and plans for his super end. CNN's Jeanne Moos has more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
ALLEN: How about that?
That was a fun throwback to when I first started working at CNN in 1992. There's Lou, if you remember Lou. There's Derek. I've worked twice for this incredible network for a total of 20 years,
anchoring coverage of extraordinary events. This pandemic is just the latest. And what a story to leave on.
Between my assignments here at CNN, I worked at a different network as a climate correspondent. And it made me realize that climate change is the story of our lifetime. So I've made it my mission to cover the environment and climate solutions with a new venture I'll be starting. So stay tuned for that.
And stay with me via Instagram and Facebook. And link in with me. I'm also planning to get married to a great guy, there he is, Dr. Jeff Rosensweig. On Earth Day in April, like many other brides and grooms, the COVID-19 crisis delayed our previous wedding plan. So we have much to look forward to.
Thanks to everyone here at CNN. I will miss my wonderful colleagues and my friends here.
And thank you for letting me be a little part of your lives. And that wraps my final hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. Thank you so much for watching.
