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Trump Takes Joyride to Wave to Supporters Despite COVID-19; Doctors: Trump Could Be Discharged as Early as Monday; Lack of Transparency Raises Questions on Trump's Condition; Vatican Says It's Praying for President Trump; Biden to Continue In-Person Campaign Activities; Inside the Lab that Created Russia's COVID-19 Vaccine. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired October 05, 2020 - 00:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[00:00:23]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company, and we begin our breaking news coverage with jarring video of the U.S. president, Donald Trump, flouting all CDC guidelines again, to go on a joyride in a sealed SUV on Sunday, while still contagious with the coronavirus, all for the sake of waving at a few supporters. He had Secret Service agents with him, as he always does.

The White House claims appropriate cautions were taken during the motorcade, but a Walter Reed Hospital physician who is not involved in the care of the president calls it absurd. Here's what he told CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JAMES PHILLIPS, NONMILITARY ATTENDING PHYSICIAN, WALTER REED HOSPITAL: The idea that this would be clear without any medical indication is absurd. Masks or no masks, being inside a vehicle that is hermetically sealed circulates the virus inside and potentially puts people at risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: President Trump's illness has left Americans with more questions than answers. His doctors say they hope to discharge him as early as Monday, despite at least two concerning drops in oxygen levels. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SEAN DOOLEY, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S MEDICAL TEAM: The patient continues to improve. He has remained without fever since Friday morning. His vital signs are stable.

DR. BRIAN GARIBALDI, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S MEDICAL TEAM: Today, he feels well. He's been up and around. Our plan for today is to have him to eat and drink, be up out of bed as much as possible, to be mobile. DOOLEY: I'd like to reiterate how pleased we all are at the president's recovery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And here's the confusing part. The White House physician, Dr. Sean Conny [SIC] -- Conley also mentioned the president is taking the drug Dexamethasone, a drug typically given to patients seriously ill, on supplemental oxygen or ventilation.

CNN's Sarah Westwood joins me now, live from the Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

Good to see you. That drive-by wave to supporters, why and at what risk, the Secret Service inside that vehicle?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michael. Why appears to be the key question here, because in getting into that car and doing that drive-by today, the president did risk exposure for the Secret Service agents who were in the car in images that we saw. Those agents were wearing full protective gear.

But there's also the potential that those agents may now have to quarantine for two weeks because of their proximity to Trump, an infectious patient. And that decision was made to do the drive-by the president's supporters, who were gathered outside Walter Reed.

The White House said appropriate measures were taken for the president before he got into that car and that the medical team cleared the decision to get into the SUV. But that decision is, of course, coming under question, and it just raises even more questions, Michael, about how seriously the president is taking the virus, even in the face of his own struggle with symptoms here at the hospital.

HOLMES: Yes. What is the state of his treatment and condition after another day of official statements that, frankly, left more questions than provided answers.

WESTWOOD: All right, Michael. Today, we got continuing mixed messages from the White House. We learned that the president did have those two transient drops in his blood oxygen level, a potentially serious situation for the president there.

And Dr. Sean Conley, the president's lead physician, acknowledged that Trump has received supplemental oxygen through the course of his illness. That was the first time that we heard it directly from the president's medical team.

We also learned that Trump was given the drug Dexamethasone, which is a corticosteroid. It's often given to patients who need oxygen, who are on a ventilator.

But despite all of those really serious developments that we learned from the president's medical team, we also heard Dr. Conley say that Trump could be discharged from the hospital as soon as Monday. That doesn't really fit with the picture of a patient who is still requiring oxygen, requiring steroids. So a confusing message from the president's medical team there.

Now, Dr. Conley was also pressed on the evasive answers that he gave on Saturday, when he was asked about whether the president had ever required supplemental oxygen. He dodged a number of those questions, saying, you know, Trump isn't on it right now.

But withholding the information that Trump did receive oxygen for the first time at the White House on Friday in the hours before he was hospitalized, Dr. Conley said he simply wanted to reflect the upbeat attitude of his patient. He didn't necessarily want to make the virus, the president's struggle with it, sound any worse than needed.

Of course, his credibility seems to have been damaged from that episode on Saturday, as we head into this third night of Trump's stay at Walter Reed, Michael.

[00:05:04]

HOLMES: Yes, exactly. Sarah, good to see you. Sarah Westwood at Walter Reed Medical Center. Appreciate that.

All right. Let's turn now to Dr. Eric Topol. He's a cardiologist and professor of molecular medicine at Scripp's Research. He joins me now from La Jolla in California.

Doctor, thanks for doing so. I wanted to ask you about this drive-by outing. The president earlier said he now understands COVID after contracting it and then gets into a car with two other people, just to wave at supporters. What was your take on that?

DR. ERIC TOPOL, PROFESSOR OF MOLECULAR MEDICINE, SCRIPPS RESEARCH: Well, good to be with you, Michael. It really seemed preposterous to put some people at risk, for his doctor to let him go out like that of the hospital. It just -- it didn't make any sense at all.

HOLMES: We're still, in many ways -- we were talking about this earlier. Still, in many ways having to read between the lines, given the opaqueness of official information.

What do you make of the known regimen? There's an experimental cocktail, which hasn't even been given an emergency-use authorization. Then Remdesivir and now this Dexamethasone. What does that tell you about his likely condition and, with those medications, the risk versus reward factor?

TOPOL: Sure. Well, it's very difficult to interpret, because we're not getting the truth. You know, we're not getting the real facts, and we have to kind of piece it together.

It seems as though he really took ill Friday morning, when his oxygen dropped, and that may be the reason why a lot of medications were used.

The monoclonal antibody cocktail is something that's really potent, a neutralizing antibody that has not been really, as you say, been approved. There have been nine other people that have had it for compassionate use. It makes sense, in some respects, but of course, what triggered it isn't clear.

The other two medicines, Remdesivir and Dexamethasone, as you mentioned, they both are used in severe cases. And what we're told is he only had transient drop in his oxygen blood saturation. So it isn't making sense, unless he had a more severe case, and they were just trying to use everything.

The problem with the Dexamethasone is that it suppresses the immune response. So if it isn't a severe condition of the COVID illness, it could actually make things considerably worse.

HOLMES: Yes. There's just so many questions unanswered. Another thing they came out with, this lung scan with so-called "expected findings." And that could mean anything, of course. I mean, pneumonia, perhaps. In the past, lung issues have included that with that so-called ground glass opacity.

What are -- what are the odds of that being it, because we are left to guess. And you know, as we've also known from others who've recovered from initial infection, there can be lasting impacts from lung scarring and neurological issues and so on.

TOPOL: Absolutely, Michael. I think it's fair to say that he had abnormalities on the CAT scan of his lungs. As you say, the classic for COVID is a ground glass opacification of the pneumonia. And even in people who don't have symptoms of COVID, if you do lung scans, you'll find those

So this is pretty clear that it was abnormal. And for the hedging to occur, which was when asked a question directly, he said "the expected finding." Well, the only thing we'd expect is that there was, indeed, pneumonia.

HOLMES: Yes. Yes. And to that point, you tweeted on Sunday -- and I'm going to quote you on it -- you said it's very sad to see a doctor now trained to lie. Of course, the truth of all -- on all these medical matters inevitably comes out. With -- that was so well put.

How do you think the doctors are handling not the medical side, but the inform the public side? And what are the risks of omission or playing down realities?

TOPOL: Well, determine to play it down, we've heard that before, right? And that's what we're seeing from the doctors, especially Dr. Conley. And it's really unfortunate. If he just told us the truth or if he said, you know, I'd like to tell you about that, but the president has specifically said not to divulge that. But not to make things up or try to sidestep and be evasive.

There's been so much obfuscation her. And, you know, this is a serious matter, because if the president is losing oxygen significantly, or if he's getting drugs that could affect his mental status, that changes his capacity to function.

And so, you know, this whole idea of the strong man and the doctor who's complicit with this, it doesn't work well. HOLMES: Yes. In your experience, how -- how do patients handle being struck down by the virus? In an emotional sense, I'm curious how it changes people in your experience, especially somebody like the president, who's been so cavalier. I imagine it's quite humbling as well as frightening.

[00:10:03]

TOPOL: Well, I mean, the main thing is it just sucks out your energy and profound fatigue. And that's why, you know, when you look at these serial videos, it looks like he may be making clinical improvement. The videos, perhaps, tell more than the doctors are telling us.

But you know, combined with the other symptoms, the difficulty breathing that he undoubtedly had when his oxygen dropped precipitously, the high fever that he spiked. And we're only seeing these things confirmed, you know, a couple of days later, when they happened on Friday.

So, you know, I think it's fair to say at one point, he was really down and out, and that's probably why they -- they wanted to get him to the hospital as soon as possible. And likely, he resisted that for a while.

HOLMES: It -- is it worrying that, despite the positive outlook being put out and, as you say in the videos, not looking too bad. Is it not true that the progression of many people who have the virus is that there is often a precipitous drop in a patient's condition a week or even ten days after initial symptoms? I mean, would you be heartened right now, or would you be very cautious?

TOPOL: Yes, excellent point. So what happens is a person can actually get much more stable for a stretch as you say. And then they have this dysregulation of their immune system. Their immune system goes into overdrive. And it's basically a cytokine storm. And especially more common in people of advanced age.

So that could happen. He's not out of the woods, by any means. That's why the idea of him going home tomorrow seems a real reach.

HOLMES: Yes, exactly. I just want to ask you one other quick question, too, because there's been a lot of talk about the president's the most tested person in the world and there's -- all these tests have been going on. But testing isn't prevention, obviously, is it?

I mean, and -- and finding out that you're positive or negative is secondary to stopping the infection in the first place. And that's been a bad message, in many ways.

TOPOL: Absolutely. You know, the tests that were being done routinely, we still don't know when the last negative test was for the president. But those tests were a high-sensitivity issue. That is, a lot of false negatives. And so to rely on that solely is a big mistake. That's why we need masks. That's why we need physical distancing.

So this idea that he could live in a bubble and have frequent tests was a flawed one from the start.

HOLMES: Great advice. Dr. Eric Topol, pleasure to speak with you. Thank you so much.

TOPOL: Same here, Michael. Thank you.

HOLMES: We're going to take a quick break here on the program. When we come back, more on the conflicting statements coming from the White House regarding President Trump's health and whether all of this raises national security concerns.

Also, what the White House is and is not doing to track down potential infections from that Rose Garden ceremony there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:15:05]

HOLMES: Welcome back.

The White House physician has held two press briefings that raised more questions than they answered about the state of Donald Trump's health.

Now, the president was reportedly furious with his chief of staff for telling reporters his vital signs early Friday were concerning. Now, the lack of transparency on his condition and his treatment leaves experts to have to read between the lines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. EZEKIEL EMANUEL, FORMER HEALTH POLICY ADVISER TO BARACK OBAMA: He's definitely sicker than they've let on. All day on Friday, they were underplaying: resting comfortably, when he was actually feverish, fatigued. His oxygen saturation was going down. They had to put him on oxygen. You don't jump to Remdesivir, which isn't yet indicated for the supposed condition he had. And you don't add in an experimental cocktail, which hasn't been even given an emergency-use authorization, unless you're really, really worried and things are much worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the national security team briefed the president Sunday on a range of issues. Pompeo speaking with reporters before leaving for Japan, where he will meet with Australian, Japanese, and Indian leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I did get a chance to talk with the president some today. I think he spoke with his entire national security team today. Look, this is the team. I've been working for this president for almost four year now. This is a team that is mature and capable. They're fully prepared for all of the possibilities that may take place. We know there's rogue actors. We know there's malign actors around the world. The United States is fully prepared, both the State Department and our diplomats. I was with General Miller this afternoon. Everyone's ready.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Let's turn now to CNN's national security analyst, Samantha Vinograd.

Good to see you, Sam. How does the lack of clarity from the White House and the president's own medical team impact issues of national security?

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Michael, the White House team is shooting themselves in the foot by having such inconsistent and seemingly untrue messages about the president's status.

During crisis coms, a core focus for the U.S. government is to send messages about stability. That's to really dissuade malign actors from trying to take advantage of perceived vulnerabilities in the national security apparatus.

This time around, unfortunately, the team is so incompetent at their communications that they look completely disorganized. They look completely untruthful. And that really degrades any semblance of stability that the administration might be trying to put forward.

Concurrently, we know that malign actors like China and Russia have been trying to discredit the image of the United States as a competent global leader for some time. And at this point, that's really not a hard sell based upon the president's status and the really disorganized approach to communicating the state of his health.

HOLMES: Yes, worrying analysis. I mean, how does what is happening to him impact or potentially impact his ability to effectively run the country and make -- and make considered judgements focused on -- on the crucial issues, especially you know, with the current situation. But also, if there are lingering effects. Is that a concern?

VINOGRAD: It certainly is. The president's health and keeping the president healthy is a primary focus for the White House physician during normal circumstances. The president needs to have full physical fitness as well as mental acuity at all times.

Suffering from a deadly pandemic, having low oxygen levels, being at Walter Reed, having to meet with doctors, not having as regular access to his staff, that all inhibits the ability of the president to fully discharge his duties.

Now, we are not at a point where he's under anesthesia, like some of his predecessors. But in my opinion, the president cannot fully discharge his duties when he's in a compromised state like this for several days. So I am deeply concerned about how the national security process is working, in addition to the stability of the U.S. government, as we we just discussed.

HOLMES: Yes. I mean, obviously and understandably, we demand honesty and transparency about the president's medical condition. But -- and we're not getting it. But you know, are there national security implications other than that?

No White -- no White House in modern history has ever completely leveled with the public about a president who was in a precarious health position. Is there any defensible reason for that?

VINOGRAD: I really can't see one. And you know, we talk about this being -- and I talked about being an unprecedented situation. I find it to be so unprecedented, because we have a U.S. president who seemingly knew that he could be a contagion risk; went to a fundraiser in New Jersey, was around his staff and was really just a walking infection without taking any measures to try to mitigate the adverse impact he could have on the people around him.

When we talk about national security, that doesn't really scream that this president cares about American lives. It really screams quite the opposite. And there's a really adverse strategic effect on our national security for that reason. It appears that the U.S. president is really mostly concerned on making political fundraisers, versus the safety and security of his own staff, their families and the American people that he was trying to fundraise with.

HOLMES: You were there in the White House in the Obama administration, in the national security apparatus. Are you confident that the system of national security can run on autopilot in this sort of situation? Or are there gaps right now in terms of all hands on deck? Does that create vulnerabilities itself?

VINOGRAD: Well, critical resources have undoubtedly been redirected from their day jobs to focus on this current crisis. That's time, attention, and resources that aren't focusing on other threats, because they're really focused on containing this virus, working on crisis communications and more.

But Michael, comparing my experience under President Obama and the national security apparatus, the national security apparatus we currently have in place, is apples and oranges. I was confident under President Obama that the national security apparatus, the intelligence community, the people that we had working there were fully functional and that there was a process for making decisions and integrating intelligence.

At this point, the intelligence community, which is key right now, they have to be monitoring increased risks to homeland, how foreign actors are perceiving this moment.

The intelligence community has atrophied so much under President Trump as he's trashed them. And the national security process even before this pandemic, Michael, was really falling down on the job, so we are just adding a crisis on top of existing crises that the national security apparatus was facing under President Trump.

HOLMES: Worrying but important analysis, as always. Samantha Vinograd, a pleasure there in New York. Thank you.

VINOGRAD: Good night.

HOLMES: Well, there's more international reaction to President Trump's diagnosis. A message from the Vatican, to begin with, and what Pope Francis says the pandemic exposes about healthcare systems around the world. It's a very important point. We'll have that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: President Trump's supporters briefly shutting down New York's busy Fifth Avenue on Sunday morning. A caravan of vehicles driving to Trump Tower, with supporters honking horns, cheering and waving Trump 2020 flags. They say they will keep fighting for the president as he battles coronavirus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do we feel? We love him! We know he's down for a little bit, but we know he's going to be fine. He's a fighter. He took on an impeachment. He took on a phony Russian hoax. He took on every phony piece of news that the left could come up with. He's not going to stop. He's going to fight for us every day, and we're not going to stop fighting for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:25:17]

HOLMES: U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson dodging a question about how President Trump's weight and eating habits might affect his COVID-19 treatment. In an interview with the BBC, the prime minister pivoting to talking about obesity in the U.K. instead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I'm sure that President Trump is going to be fine. He's got the best possible care. And I think that, you know, he just needs to -- I mean, most important thing to do is follow his -- his doctor's advice. And he's got superb --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A few less cheeseburgers?

JOHNSON: -- superb medical -- medical advice. I -- I think that certainly, you know, it is -- this is an important point. Obesity -- I'm not making any comment about President Trump. But obesity, since you mentioned cheeseburgers, is one of the problems that this country needs to address.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Mr. Johnson has said in the past being overweight made his own treatment for coronavirus more difficult. The prime minister says he has no doubt President Trump will make a strong recovery.

And President Trump getting support from the Vatican as he battles COVID-19. This coming as Pope Francis is weighing in on how the pandemic has affected healthcare systems around the world.

CNN's Delia Gallagher with more from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, told CNN on Sunday that the Vatican is praying for President Trump. The cardinal said that the Vatican was sorry to hear the news of the president's illness, that they are following it and praying for him, as well as for all of those who are ill with COVID-19.

The cardinal's comments come just as Pope Francis has released his newest encyclical. That's the highest form of papal document, in which the pope says, among other things, that the pandemic has revealed the failure of free-market capitalism, of countries' healthcare systems, and that a better kind of politics, the pope said, is needed.

Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: A senior Trump campaign advisor accusing Joe Biden of using face masks as a prop. Yes, you heard that right. After the break, the Biden camp responds and charges ahead with in-person campaign activity.

Also still to come, Russia created a working vaccine for coronavirus, or so they say. We're getting exclusive access to the lab that developed it, and we have questions. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: More now on our breaking news coverage of U.S. President Donald Trump's health.

The president continues to be treated at Walter Reed Hospital for the coronavirus. But his doctors say it's possible he could be released later today.

[00:30:04]

Despite his contagious condition, the president went on a joyride in a sealed SUV on Sunday evening, accompanied by Secret Service agents, who were wearing masks and medical gowns but, as we know, that's often not enough to protect people when they're in close proximity to somebody infected with the virus, especially in an enclosed space.

Meanwhile, the lack of transparency from the White House on the president's condition causing a whole lot of confusion. The White House physician trying to explain why he has failed to answer basic questions about the president's health.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SEAN CONLEY, WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN: I was trying to reflect the upbeat that -- the team didn't want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction. And in doing so, you know, came off we're trying to hide something. It wasn't necessarily true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: CNN's Kaitlan Collins has been following the story and has the details for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, on a day where the president's revealed that his levels of oxygen had been fluctuating over the last 48 hours, and he actually started to be administered a steroid, in addition to that other antibody cocktail that he had received a day before.

This is the day the president decided to leave Walter Reed, only for a few moments, to participate in a drive-by of his supporters who were standing outside the hospital. Of course, the trip started immediately raising questions about whether or not the president was putting the Secret Service agents who were in the car with him at risk, because as you can see as he was driving by and waving to his supporters, the Secret Service agents were wearing face shields, medical-grade masks and gowns over their clothing.

Though the White House did later say that the president's medical team had cleared the trip, though they did not say which physician specifically had done so.

Dr. Sean Conley is his primary doctor, and the comments that he's been making in two of the briefings they've held in recent days have only raised more questions than they've answered, because he has specifically tried to avoid certain questions, specific questions about the president's vitals, even though they are crucially important.

And even in a press conference on Sunday, he revealed that a lot of this has to do with the patient that he's treating, saying that he wanted to reflect the upbeat mood of the president. Though, of course, he's a doctor, and that is certainly not his requirement. And it's more to provide an accurate assessment of the status of the president of the United States.

That's something that has raised several criticisms out of the White House, as well as the White House staff, including the chief of staff and the press secretary, who would not say if President Trump was tested before he went to that debate with Joe Biden in Cleveland on Tuesday or if he was tested before he went to that fundraiser in New Jersey on Thursday, which of course, we now know he had already learned that his top aide, Hope Hicks, had tested positive.

Kaitlan Collins, CNN, at the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: Well, the president's drive-by to wave at his supporters appeared to be an effort to project improving health, but Brian Stelter reports it backfired.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there. Yes, if this photo op was meant to be reassuring, it actually had the opposite effect. There was an avalanche of concern about the Secret Service officers who were in the car with the president, who may have been in danger as a result of this bizarre publicity stunt.

The White House Correspondents' Association, which represents members of the media that cover the White House, immediately spoke out and denounced the circumstances of this trip, because the White House press pool, which is a small group of reporters that are supposed to travel with the president at all times, was not notified about this trip and was not with the president during this drive along the road near Walter Reed.

Here's a statement from the White House Correspondents' Association, pointing out this is a break of protocol that is very concerning. Quote, "It is outrageous for the president to have left the hospital -- even briefly -- amid a health crisis without a protective pool present to ensure that the American people know where their president is and how he is doing. Now more than ever, the American public deserves independent coverage of the president so they can be reliably informed about his health."

Those are very true words from the White House Correspondents' Association. We're in this situation in the United States right now where there's a lot of propaganda coming from the White House. These photos that may or may not be staged that make the president look like he's doing very well. What we need is independent news coverage to try to verify those assertions.

We do know, according to White House sources, telling CNN that the president is watching some of this news coverage. He is paying attention to what's being said about him. CNN's Jim Acosta reports that the president's angry with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, because Meadows went out and told reporters, trying to be anonymous, that the president was not doing as well as his doctors claimed.

These medical briefings by the doctors of Walter Reed seem to be performances put on for the president, and that is very concerning. And no matter what you think of American politics, this is not a partisan issue. Everybody should have accurate information about the president's health.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[00:35:10]

HOLMES: Brian Stelter and our thanks.

The U.S. attorney general, William Barr, meanwhile, expected to self- quarantine this week, days after he was potentially exposed to the coronavirus. A Justice Department spokesperson says Barr has so far tested negative, but of course, last week he attended that White House ceremony where many -- with many people who did eventually test positive, including the president.

Now, it's still unclear when the president first became infected, but after that ceremony, he participated in several events, including the presidential debate in Ohio. Still, the governor there says the White House never told him that the president had potentially exposed people in his state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): Well, they've not reached out to me. I know that I talked to the CEO of the Cleveland Clinic today, who gave me an update, gave me a report. So I don't know whether they've reached out to Cleveland Clinic or not. They've not talked to me about it. No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And a new poll showing most Americans believe it's President Trump's own fault he contracted COVID-19. The ABC News/IPSOS poll finds 72 percent of Americans think the president has not taken the risk of getting the virus seriously enough, and the same amount believe he didn't take appropriate precautions when it came to his personal health. Big numbers.

On Sunday, a senior Trump campaign advisor accused Democratic rival Joe Biden of using face masks as a prop. Biden's deputy campaign manager hit back, saying the attack, quote, "Tells you a lot of what you need to know," unquote, about Trump's crisis response.

Biden is moving ahead with in-person campaign events and more frequent testing. CNN's M.J. Lee is with the campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

M.J. LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: While President Trump receives treatment at Walter Reed Hospital for COVID-19, Joe Biden's campaign continuing their normal campaign activities. Later today, we're going to see the former vice president travel to Florida.

And what the Biden campaign has announced is that they are now going to make sure that Biden is tested more frequently for the virus than he had been previously. And you'll recall that last Friday, shortly after news broke that President Trump had tested positive for the virus, Biden himself announced that he was tested twice for the virus, and both of those test results came back negative.

And we also learned last night, Sunday night, that he had taken another test that also came back negative.

Also just want to point out, heading into this week, that the big political event that's coming up is the first and only vice- presidential debate. This is going to be between Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris.

And what CNN can report is that the Biden campaign had raised some concerns about the amount of space between Pence and Harris on the debate stage. And after talks and negotiations, where they landed is that, instead of there being seven feet between the two candidates, now we are going to see 12 feet. So more space than originally planned.

And finally, the one thing that is entirely unclear right now because of the president's status is what is going to happen to the second presidential debate that was slated for later this month.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Paris is about to get another taste of lockdown measures coronavirus cases rise there. Reports say French authorities will put the capital and surrounding region on maximum alert this week.

Now, that means additional restrictions in public areas to try to slow the spread of the virus. Restaurants can stay open, but bars and cafes will likely close. The measures will be in place for 15 days, starting on Tuesday.

France reporting nearly 17,000 new cases on Saturday, the highest daily number since widespread testing began.

To the U.K., and the single-day case record there nearly doubled on Sunday after the government admitted it failed to report nearly 16,000 new coronavirus infections. Public Health England says a technical issue caused the reporting error, affecting cases between September 25 and October the 2nd.

The government says, quote, "robust measures" are in place to prevent that problem from happening again.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the U.K. has more than half a million COVID-19 infections.

And the U.S. has seen its worst five-day period for new cases since mid-August. According to Johns Hopkins, more than 232,000 new infections were reported from last Tuesday through Saturday, an average of over 46,000 cases a day.

[00:40:00]

Los Angeles topping the list for the most COVID-19 infections and deaths in the U.S. More than 6,600 people have died from the virus in L.A. County alone.

Now back in August, Russia raised eyebrows when it became the first in the world to approve a vaccine for public use. But they pushed the treatment out very early, before Phase 3 trials had even been completed.

Well, now CNN is getting an exclusive look inside the secretive lab that created that vaccine. Here's Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's taken us months to gain access to the secretive Moscow lab, where these very scientists help create Russia's coronavirus vaccine.

(on camera): You assessed the effectiveness --

VLADIMIR GUSHCHIN, HEAD OF LABORATORY, GAMALEYA INSTITUTE: Yes.

CHANCE: -- of Sputnik V in this lab?

GUSHCHIN: Yes, yes, yes, yes.

CHANCE (voice-over): Now CNN has been given a brief but exclusive glimpse inside the Gamaleya Institute and a chance to understand how this Russian government facility was able to produce what it says is a working COVID-19 vaccine ahead of the world's biggest pharmaceutical firms.

GUSHCHIN: Team is one of the secret. Platform is another.

CHANCE: Scientists here insist it's their expertise plus tried and tested technology used on vaccines for other diseases that gave them an edge.

(on camera): What else is it? A team, the technology? But what's the secret?

GUSHCHIN: Well, the secret. I think -- I think the secret is when your team is really involved in this process. Concentration on this process. I think in many pharma, you have different projects you have involved, but here, when you concentrate on this special task, when people are ready to stay here overnight, let's say.

CHANCE: Everybody's just working on one thing?

GUSHCHIN: Yes, yes. And one thing. Yes, Sputnik. Sputnik, exactly.

CHANCE: Well, this is one of Russia's oldest, most accomplished vaccine research laboratories. But in the rush to create Sputnik V, critics say this Gamaleya Institute has abandoned normal scientific practice, as well as skipping large-scale human tests before approval. Russian soldiers were used as volunteers in early trials.

And the institute's director even injected himself and his staff with the experimental vaccine.

(voice-over): Now, in a rare interview, the Gamaleya director is defending his methods. "The world is at war with COVID-19," he told me. "And we must use all available means to defend ourselves." (on camera): But the fact that your vaccine has been registered for use before Phase 3 clinical trials have ended, so before we know if it is safe or effective, is in itself a cutting of the corner. Are you comfortable with that corner being cut?

"Maybe we should ask the relatives of those killed by COVID if they would prefer us to wait until Phase 3 trials have finished," he said, "or to vaccinate their loved ones with a vaccine that demonstrated brilliant early results."

"The answer," he says, "is obvious."

GUSHCHIN: Here, we have a couple of rooms where we purify proteins.

CHANCE: He could be right, and the Russian vaccine created here at breakneck speed could prove safe and effective. But if it doesn't, reputations and lives could be ruined.

Matthew Chance, CNN, at the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow.

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HOLMES: Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. I will be back in about 15 minutes with more world news. WORLD SPORT starts after a short break.

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