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Trump Returns To White House; Recovering Trump Tells America Not To Worry About Coronavirus; 50,000 New Coronavirus Cases Friday And Saturday; WHO Believes 1 In 10 People Worldwide Have Been Infected; Trump's Doctors Unclear On Diagnosis; Polls: 69 percent Don't Believe White House on Trump's Health; U.S. Voters Express Concerns Ahead of Election Day; U.S. Stock Market Looks to Extend Strong Rally; Armenia, Azerbaijan Accuse Each of Attacks on Civilians; Delta Quickly Strengthens to Category 1. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired October 06, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm John Vause with breaking but not entirely surprising news.
Donald Trump, infected with the coronavirus and possibly contagious, left Walter Reed hospital on Monday after three days, returning to the White House.
A source told CNN Trump thought he looked weak staying in the hospital.
And so Monday night came what appeared to be a show of strength. He slowly and gingerly walked from Marine One across the south lawn then climbed the rarely used exterior stairs to the Truman balcony.
With lighting in place, American flags behind him, the president removed his mask, gave a thumbs up, saluted military personnel. A moment which seemed more at home in North Korea than the United States.
It was also a continuation of what this president has done since the very outset of the pandemic; undermined the credibility and message coming from his own health experts.
In a video posted on Twitter, Trump urged all Americans not to be afraid of COVID and get back out there and be careful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I knew there's danger to it but I had to do it.
I stood out front, I lead. Nobody that's a leader would not do what I did. And I know there's a risk, there's a danger but that's OK. And now I'm better and maybe I'm immune. I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The president's personal physician authorized Trump's release warning the president was not out of the woods. But that seem to be the only straight answer on Monday from Dr. Sean Conley.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Have you seen any evidence of pneumonia or inflammation in his lungs at all?
DR. SEAN CONLEY, WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN: So we've done routine standard imaging. I'm just not at liberty to discuss.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Doctor, you were on board Air Force One --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: So you're actively not telling us what those lung scans show, just to be clear?
CONLEY: So there are HIPAA rules and regulations that restrict me in sharing certain things for his safety and his own health -- and reasons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Trump is being treated with a cocktail of experimental drugs not available to most Americans, including the antiviral remdesivir.
He's also taking a powerful steroid which could have serious side effects including mood swings, aggression and confusion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GERGEN, FMR. ADVISER TO PRESIDENTS NIXON, FORD, REAGAN & CLINTON: We're in the grips of a mad man. And it's going to take a while to get out, we'll get it back to normal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Democratic presidential nominee and regular wearer of face masks, Joe Biden, tested negative for COVID on Monday. He had this message for Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, FMR. VICE PRESIDENT AND DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Anybody who contracts the virus by essentially saying masks don't matter, social distancing doesn't matter I think is responsible for what happened to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Joining me now, Dr. Robert Wachter at the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Doctor, thank you for being with us.
DR. ROBERT WACHTER, CHAIRMAN, UCSF DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE: My pleasure.
VAUSE: OK. We saw what I think Donald Trump believed to be this soft triumphant return to the White House on Monday night. It's worth looking at again because he landed in Marine One, walked across the White House lawn and then he took the exterior stairs to the balcony -- that's sort of rarely done, it was all lit and staged.
Takes the mask off -- the hair is done, it's in place. The makeup is back on, he looks a bit like his old self. That is until you can see him gasping for air, he's sort of -- fairly struggling for air.
I'm asthmatic, I know what it's like when you have an asthma attack, it's hard to exhale making inhalation strained.
From your point, from a medical point of view, what did you make of it?
WACHTER: Well, there was a lot of pageantry. And yes, it looked to me like he was somewhat winded -- which, of course, is not his fault, he has a very serious illness.
But he is minimizing it, he's trying his very best to show that he's strong and maybe he'll get away with it.
But it's a little bit scary, he should still be in the hospital, in my judgment. And he's not out of the woods, things could go very badly over the next few days.
VAUSE: You say trying to appear to look strong, but is he strong at this point?
WACHTER: Well, he seems to be doing OK. He was obviously quite ill on Friday and they were minimizing his symptoms, they haven't really told us very much about what's going on.
They're engaged in a lot of happy talk where they tell us the good stuff that and seem to be obfuscating on the bad stuff.
But he appears to have done better over the last two days, at least judging by the report of his doctors today, if it's to believed. His vital signs were stable, his oxygen level seems reasonably good.
So he is stable, he is doing well compared to what could have been.
But the course of this illness can be very -- it's a very cagey bug. And you can be doing fine and then crash a day or two later.
[01:05:00]
And so he's not out of the woods. And I personally think it's a little bit risky for him to be out of the hospital.
VAUSE: Not only was that balcony scene but also the White House video statement from the president. I want you to listen to part of it. Here it is.
WACHTER: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I just left Walter Reed Medical Center, and it's really something very special. The doctors, the nurses, the first responders. And I learned so much about coronavirus.
And one thing that's for certain. Don't let it dominate you, don't be afraid of it. You're going to beat it.
We have the best medical equipment, we have the best medicines.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Can you explain the level of care, the depth of experience of the medical team which would attend a president of the United States compared with, say, the sort of treatment African Americans or other minorities would have received during this pandemic?
WACHTER: Well, they're a very good -- it's a good hospital, they're a good team. I think many patients around the country would receive equally good care although not have access at least one of the medicines that he had, there was no question that was because he was the president.
Many other patients in the United States whether they're from minority groups or not don't have access to the kind of round-the-clock care and pampering that he got, and certainly did not -- would not have access to all of the medications that he had. They wouldn't be able to get to the hospital via helicopter, wouldn't have the kind of monitoring he had.
But I would say that in terms of the care he got in Walter Reed, it's really not very different than he would get in most American hospitals. So that's not the issue.
The issue is that he did have a medicine that no one else could have access to, it's experimental.
And he's being incredibly cavalier about his situation right now. And saying to people don't be worried about it, don't be afraid when almost 210,000 Americans have died of this.
We don't want them to hide under a chair but we do want them to be a least a little afraid. Afraid enough to take reasonable precautions so they don't get it. And he's not saying that and he's certainly not role modeling that.
VAUSE: And just very quickly. Because at the outset of this pandemic when it first began and there were a lot over how people should be treated, there was a shortage of ventilators, there was not enough room in hospitals, people were left in the emergency room.
So I guess from one point of view, the president's fortunate it's happened not six months ago. WACHTER: Yes, I think that's right. Certainly, there have been people who have died -- in New York, in March people died because they simply -- there was not enough room, there were not enough ICU beds, not enough PPE. Healthcare workers have died.
I think the situation now is more broadly distributed around the United States. We are seeing yet another surge and people are dying, the rate of cases going up. But hospitals are not being overwhelmed the way they were in the very beginning.
VAUSE: OK. Doctor, thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate your time.
WACHTER: Thank you.
VAUSE: Dr. Robert Wachter there in San Francisco. Thank you, sir.
President Trump has repeatedly belittled, taunted and mocked Joe Biden for wearing a face mask.
But Biden and his campaign have made a point for following guidelines set out by health experts within the Trump Administration.
On Monday, while visiting the battleground state of Florida, the former vice president said wearing a mask is a patriotic responsibility. He urged Donald Trump to try it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I would hope that the president, having gone through what he went through -- and I'm glad he seems to be coming along pretty well -- would communicate the right lesson to the American people. Masks matter.
These masks, they matter. It matters, it saves lives. It prevents the spread of the disease. Social distancing.
Instead of talking about -- well, the only thing I heard was one of the tweets saying that -- don't be so concerned about all this, essentially.
There's a lot to be concerned about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The White House now seems to be the epicenter of this pandemic in many ways.
A number of top White House aides and Republican politicians who attended the rose garden ceremony for Amy Coney Barrett's supreme court nomination have all tested positive.
That's including former New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, Senator Mike Lee of Utah, Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina. Three unidentified White House reporters were also infected. By Monday, word came that White House press secretary, Kayleigh
McEnaney, tested positive, as well as two of her aides.
This comes as the U.S. death toll from the virus is now 210,000 and counting. The infection rate still soaring at an average of 43,000 cases every day.
Over the past week, only a handful of states reported fewer cases than the week before while more than 20 saw a rise of at least 10 percent.
New York, the former epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S., is again reporting some of the worst numbers nationwide.
On all of this, we have details from CNN's Nick Watt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In nine New York City zip codes, schools are closing down again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, N.Y.: It's time for us to rewind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:10:00]
WATT: In those same zip codes, the mayor also wants non-essential stores, gyms, indoor dining closed again as test positivity rates rise now too high for comfort.
The governor won't go for that. Not yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SALVATORE MUSSO, OWNER, LA STRADA PIZZERIA: Very sad. We expect to move forward but this -- we go behind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Also concern over in New Jersey after that fund-raiser Thursday hosted by a likely infectious president.
Case counts are now rising again across the Northeast which was so recently a success story.
These five states saw at least 50 percent more cases this past week compared to the week before.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DE BLASIO: This is a wake up call to everyone in New York City to tighten up again, to do the things that work. Look, we overcame the worst problem in the entire country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: New York State's governor says a lack of local enforcement is a big part of the problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-N.Y.): You will see people die if we don't do more enforcement. The state is going to take over the enforcement oversight in all the hot spot clusters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Meanwhile, this morning down in Miami Dade County, another former hot spot, more than 22,000 kids returned to the classroom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I'm here to report happily that I've seen nothing but happy faces.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: At one North Carolina school, all third grade now quarantined after a teacher, Julie Davis, tested positive. She later died.
There will be plenty more pain ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I'm actually disturbed and concerned about the fact that our baseline of infections is still stuck at around 40,000 per day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: He's been saying that for weeks, and we've only gotten worse.
Back-to-back days of 50,000 plus new cases nationwide, Friday and Saturday. First time we've seen that since mid-August.
Now President Trump tweets don't be afraid of COVID.
Well, since his positive test, since he was Medevac'd to one of the greatest hospitals on earth to receive treatment that very few other people can get, since then more than 2,000 other Americans have died of COVID-19.
More than 200,000 Americans have died of COVID since this began. And we are far from done.
Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Next up here on CNN NEWSROOM. How many people worldwide actually have COVID-19? The World Health Organization believes the official tally is a lot higher -- or excuse me, a lot lower than the real numbers.
Plus the U.K. tries to figure out how it bungled the COVID fight back. While France hits the pause button on cafe culture.
The latest from London and Paris in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:15:00]
VAUSE: Welcome back. The World Health Organization believes one in ten people around the world have been infected with the coronavirus, that's about 770 million people.
More than 20 times higher than the official count of 35 million cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MICHAEL RYAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION EMERGENCY HEALTH PROGRAMS: Southeast Asia continues to see a surge in cases with Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean regions showing an increase in cases and deaths.
The situation in Africa and the Western Pacific is currently more positive.
Our current best estimates tell us that about 10 percent of the global population may have been infected by this virus. This varies depending on country, it varies from urban to rural, it varies between different groups.
But what it does mean is that the vast majority of the world remains at risk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN uses data from Johns Hopkins in our reporting. That data also confirms recent surges in parts of Asia, particularly Southeast Asia.
Across Europe, several countries have seen an increase in cases just since last week. Up more than 50 percent in the U.K., Latvia, Poland, the Netherlands and Slovakia.
Meantime, France imposing new coronavirus restrictions on Paris where the COVID alert has been raised to its highest level.
Bars and cafes will be closed for at least two weeks while restaurants will have to follow new sanitary guidelines if they are to remain open.
The government says it's targeting places where the virus can be easily transmitted. All this comes as the city is seeing higher infection numbers and a rise in hospital admissions.
The British government is facing more scrutiny over its handling of the pandemic. They're now trying to figure out why thousands of cases of COVID-19 have gone unreported.
Details now from CNN's Scott McLean.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Last week it looked like the U.K. was tamping down its resurgence of the coronavirus with relative ease. Daily new case counts were almost flat weeks after the government enacted new restrictions on social gatherings and forced bars and restaurants to close early.
But by Friday, it became apparent that there was a problem, a technical problem. Which meant the almost 16,000 new cases of the virus hadn't been counted over the previous nine days. Those who had tested positive were notified but their close contacts were not.
The government has launched an investigation into exactly what went wrong.
The latest daily case count is almost twice as high as it was a week ago.
This weekend, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged public frustration over coronavirus restrictions but warned that things would continue to be bumpy until Christmas, perhaps even beyond then.
Scott McLean. CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Restrictions in Auckland, New Zealand, will be lifted on Wednesday eight weeks after they were reimposed.
No new cases have been reported in that city for 10 consecutive days. Schools and workplaces will be opened, there will be no limits on gatherings as well.
But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the country must remain vigilant against the virus.
Venezuela's embattled president is wishing his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump a prompt and effective recovery from COVID-19.
It's not like Nicholas Maduro says all is forgiven though.
CNN's Matt Rivers has more now, reporting from Mexico City.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, reaction from around the world continue to comment about President Trump's diagnosis including from some unlikely places.
Over the weekend, we heard from Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro of Venezuela who actually said that he hopes that President Trump has a swift recovery.
Here's a little bit of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICHOLAS MADURO, PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA (Through Translator): We express our solidarity with the president of the United States, a bloody enemy of Venezuela.
But we wish you health and life and that you regain your health and life, Mr. Donald Trump. And I hope all of this will lead you to be more thoughtful, more humane, for the protection of the people of the United States and to understand the peoples of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: Now, of course, you expect Maduro to criticize Trump because President Trump does not believe that Maduro is the legitimate president of Venezuela, and wants him to step down.
It's worth noting that Maduro has a terrible human rights record himself.
He is dealing with a COVID crisis in his own country right now, one that experts pretty much universally agree that we can't rely on the numbers coming out of Venezuela in terms of painting the true picture of how serious the crisis is there,
And CNN actually recently reported that critics in the country are alleging that some people who are suspected of having the virus have actually been put by the government into forced quarantine under extremely inhumane conditions.
Matt Rivers. CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, as we've been reporting, Donald Trump out of hospital, back at the White House. Claiming victory over the coronavirus.
Doctors authorized his release but did not give him a clean bill of health. The U.S. president spent the past three days at Walter Reed Medical Center.
On the Truman balcony Trump staged a dramatic moment, taking off his mask for a campaign video.
The president is telling Americans don't be afraid of COVID, get back out there.
We have more now from CNN's Kaitlan Collins.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It was less than 72 hours after the president was actually admitted to Walter Reed hospital that he returned to the White House --
[01:20:00]
-- where he dramatically climbed the steps of the White House and, facing live television cameras, took off his mask, standing there for several moments before turning to go back inside.
And then coming back out briefly as he could let a camera crew that was waiting inside the White House shoot his return so he could then post a video on his Twitter feed touting his time in the hospital and downplaying coronavirus overall, saying that it cannot dominate American life.
Of course, that comes as the president was on steroids and another drug that fewer than 10 people outside of clinical trials have gotten in the United States.
But he sought to really downplay his diagnosis.
Even as he was just a few days into it, and his doctor earlier told reporters that he was not out of the woods yet when it came to coronavirus. And they've been monitoring him closely while he was back at the White House.
He's also returning to a much different White House where his daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka Trump, will not be there because she's at home quarantining after coming into contact with people who tested positive.
Because we were seeing this outbreak inside the West Wing grow. Starting with Kayleigh McEnaney, the press secretary, who had been briefing reporters for several days without a mask on and now has tested positive for coronavirus and is also working remotely, as are two of her aides in the press shop who also tested positive.
It's raising concerns about what life inside the West Wing is going to look like over the next several days, And whether or not the president is actually going to stay quarantined or is going to try to break out of that a little bit earlier.
Kaitlan Collins. CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Professor Lawrence Gostin from Georgetown University is with us this hour from Washington. He's also university faculty director of the O'Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law.
Professor Gostin, it is good to see you. And it's been too long.
LAWRENCE GOSTIN, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGETOWN: It's great to see, you, John. Thanks. VAUSE: Thank you. Well, now, we heard from the president's doctor again on Monday. Seemed to be offering just more confusion over the timing of when Trump first tested positive.
Here he is. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Can you tell us, please, on testing. Can you tell us when he had his last negative test? Was it Thursday, was it Wednesday -- do you remember when he had his last negative test?
CONLEY: I don't want to go backwards (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: When was his last negative test and what was his viral load?
CONLEY: Everyone wants that.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: But we've been exposed --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Why is there hesitancy to say when the last negative test was?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Did he have any abnormal tests? Any -- were any of his lab tests abnormal?
CONLEY: I'm not -- again, HIPAA kind of precludes me from going into too much depth on things that I'm not at liberty or he doesn't wish to be discussed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: As a general rule, when someone's story is confusing or lacks consistency, it's usually a sign they're lying or covering up.
And it's a trait common to this White House.
Only this time, if the good doctor is trying to cover up something here, that could come with some fatal consequences.
GOSTIN: Well, it really could. The president of the United States leads the country, he's important for national security, his health and safety is very important. And so the public absolutely has the right to know.
To say that HIPAA privacy precludes the doctor from talking about his -- important information in a transparent honest truthful way is unfathomable to me. And it's not just the president whose health and safety and life is important. He's also put others at risk.
It's very possible at the rose garden even before he went in terms the hospital that the White House was the venue for a super spreader event.
I don't know any other seat of power in the world where the actual government itself was spreading the coronavirus. It just makes you shake your head.
VAUSE: Could there be legal action here from those who caught COVID- 19 after attending maybe that rose garden function or maybe that fund- raiser in New Jersey?
After all, Donald Trump has admitted he knows how deadly and how contagious this virus is. He said it on tape. Here he is.
TRUMP (VOICE OVER): This thing is a killer, if it gets you. If you're the wrong person, you don't have a chance.
ROBERT WOODWARD, JOURNALIST: Yes, yes. Exactly. This is a monster.
TRUMP (VOICE OVER): So this rips you apart.
WOODWARD: This is a scourge. And --
TRUMP (VOICE OVER): It is the plague.
WOODWARD: It is the plague. And the --
TRUMP (VOICE OVER): And, Bob, it's so easily transmissible, you wouldn't even believe it.
WOODWARD: I know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That sort of wanton disregard for public health and safety, would that be enough to count for a First Amendment defense, freedom of speech, freedom to gather?
GOSTIN: Well, he's allowed to say whatever he wants to say. But he's not allowed to do whatever he wants to do if he places other people at risk.
[01:25:00]
The timeline is so uncertain and so foggy.
But I want to know, the public wants to know, the world wants to know, when did he know he was infected? Did he see other people after becoming infected? Did he have a political rally after he became infected?
If I was John Doe citizen and I knew I was infected and I went out on the public and I made someone else sick or even killed him with an infectious disease, there's certainly legal precedent to hold me accountable under tort law.
The president thinks that the rest of us go by one set of rules and he goes by another. That's just so fundamentally opposed to American values.
VAUSE: New Jersey is one of many states which has criminal laws which are intended to stop the spread of HIV. GOSTIN: Yes.
VAUSE: "It's a felony offense to knowingly spread the virus for which there is no vaccine and there is at least a relatively effective treatment."
GOSTIN: Yes.
VAUSE: If this president was positive for the coronavirus, went to an event which made the spread of this virus almost inevitable or practicably inevitable, how is that different to someone who does not disclose their HIV status before sexual contact?
GOSTIN: I don't see how it's different. I mean, all we need are the factual predicate but we don't -- we're not given that by the White House. So we don't know the timeline.
But I can say this. If the president knew he was infected with COVID- 19 or even that he was seriously exposed and he went out in the public whether it's in New Jersey or any other state and he transmitted that infection to others, that is culpable.
Whether or not -- I don't think a court would hold him liable, he's the president of the United States, he's got immunity, probably. But in the eyes of the public and in morality, he's clearly culpable.
VAUSE: Yes. Look, morality in this situation clearly is something which seems to be lacking.
There's this issue of contact tracing and what would seem to be the lack thereof.
Michael Shear is a White House reporter for "The New York Times". He believes he caught the virus 11 days ago.
Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL SHEAR, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": I've not been contacted by the White House, nobody from the White House has said "boo," and asked anything about where I was or who I talked to or who else I might have infected. And so I think that that just shows you that they're not -- they're not taking it seriously.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It seems this goes beyond not taking it seriously, it seems the administration just doesn't want to know or acknowledge the extent of the outbreak which is coming from the White House.
GOSTIN: Contact tracing is a core function of public health. You cannot allow people to be exposed to a potentially deadly infection and then not warn them about it, warn their contacts and do any appropriate self isolation or self quarantine that's necessary. How on earth are we going to stop this virus from consuming the United States and marching on the way it has -- over 200,000 deaths -- if we don't change.
If we don't have a national plan, if we don't implement what the CDC tells us to do. Test, contact trace, isolate, quarantine, mask up, socially distance.
VAUSE: With that, we're out of time, Professor. But thank you so much.
GOSTIN: Thanks, John for having me.
VAUSE: It is extraordinary, you're right. Thank you.
Just ahead. The U.S. Postal Service admits right now it's struggling just to deliver the mail on time.
So what happens when there's a flood of mail-in ballots for the presidential election? More on that story after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:27]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Well, a new CNN poll has found an overwhelming number of Americans believe President Trump is not taking seriously the risk of spreading the virus to others, 63 percent believe his actions are irresponsible. And then there is a lack of credibility, 69 percent say they don't trust White House statements about the president's health.
Ron Brownstein is CNN's senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic". He joins us now from Los Angeles.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, John.
VAUSE: Ron, good to see you.
Let's start with those poll numbers. When almost three-quarters of the country believes the White House is lying about the president's health, what are the consequences beyond this particular moment and this administration?
BROWNSTEIN: You know, I just -- really, from the outset, I have not understood who he thinks he is talking to in the way he has responded to this. I mean, you know, the three biggest concerns that has come up in polling from the outset is he didn't take it seriously at the start, that he worries more about himself than the country and that he disregards the experts.
And then week after week, month after month, and especially in these last, you know, 96 hours or so, he goes out and underlines, he buys a billboard to, you know, basically confirm those concerns on the part of the public. I mean a president who is facing roughly 60 percent of the country saying he cares about more about himself than the country, exposing Secret Service agents to a, you know, ego-driven drive-by outside of the hospital. Or even tonight. I mean, you know, kind of the, you know, kind of strong man want to be imagery, you know, standing on the balcony like Il Duce, by taking off the mask and once again saying you worry more about yourself.
You know, John, sometimes I feel like his entire audience are the kinds of demonstrators who showed up with fatigues and confederate flags and automatic weapons outside of state capitals in the spring to oppose lockdowns.
But the reality is it's something like two-thirds to three-quarters of Americans support a national mask mandate, which is beyond what even Joe Biden is talking about. It is a performance that has been both destructive for the country and politically inexplicable.
VAUSE: You know, this president has returned to a White House which seems to be in total meltdown. There's this reporting from Axios that frustration and anxiety built among White House staffers who said there were days with no internal communication from chief of staff Mark Meadows about protocols and procedures.
The little guidance that has been issued it seems came about 15 minutes after Axios called for comment. And even then, it was minimal.
So here's the question. What happens if this outbreak in the (INAUDIBLE) a good number of the senior executive staff? And who will believe any announcement that Vice President Mike Pence has tested negative?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. No, well, first of all, I mean it is a little mysterious why the Biden campaign is blase about Kamala Harris appearing in the same room with him in 48 hours, given what we know not only about his exposure to the president but the way he has conducted his own rallies and the many questions about whether the president, you know -- when the last time he had tested negative, if at all in recent point before that debate on Tuesday night.
I mean I think, you know, they have -- they do not -- they have not earned the benefit of the doubt at this point. The Commission on Presidential Debates is sort of reluctantly and late to the game, kind of acknowledging that they have -- you know you can't really have the honor system involved when you are talking about President Trump.
[01:34:57]
There are real concerns about what this means for the upper levels of the government. And there is also the obvious symbolic kind of resonance here that what is happening in the White House is kind of a miniaturization of what has happened to the country.
No plan, not taking it seriously from the outset. Not following the common sense guidelines of public health officials. This is what you get in a confined space like the White House. And this is also how you get to the point where you have over seven million infections and in over 200,000 people dead.
VAUSE: You know, you mentioned the Il Duce moment on the balcony, and CNN is reporting that Trump made not one but two grand entrances to the White House.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins explains why. Here's part of her report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT; You can see an official photographer and a camera crew sitting inside the White House shooting the president. And it's about four people within close proximity of the president who, of course, like we said is not wearing a mask despite just returning from the hospital after being diagnosed with coronavirus.
And this is part of this staged entrance that the president is making where he wants to be back at the White House and be able to use this apparently, you can guess, maybe in a campaign video.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, you touched on this. This seemed to be a propaganda moment that would make the North Koreans blush.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. And again, like who does he think he is talking to by doing this? You know, he may wish that he had kind of a -- you know, this is, the moment tonight on the balcony was very similar to the moment in Lafayette Park a few weeks ago -- a few months ago when he used, you know, law enforcement personnel to clear away for him to have this kind of dramatic, you know, cheerleader moment in front of the church.
He may wish he was a strongman in a one-party state, but he is not there yet. Ok. He still has to run in a democracy. And the fact is that a majority of Americans consistently in polling going all the way back to impeachment have said they think that he is above -- he thinks that he is above the law.
And I focus in on this group of well college-educated white voters. Something like two-thirds to three-quarters of which say their financial situation is excellent or good, and yet in the NBC/Wall Street Journal this weekend, 57 percent of them said they are voting for Joe Biden.
It is precisely because of the behavior that we are seeing on a, you know, daily, if not hourly basis in terms of contempt for the law, contempt for science, focusing on himself over the good of the country.
It is not as if he, again, I just ask myself this question all the time. Who do they think they are talking to by behaving this way other than their core supporters who are already there?
VAUSE: I want you to listen to Donald Trump talking to journalist Bob Woodward, a couple of months ago. It gives this sort of insight into how he felt about the virus back then.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB WOODWARD, JOURNALIST: Well, you're risking getting it, of course, the way you move around and have those briefings and deal with people. Are you worried about that?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I'm not.
WOODWARD: You're not.
TRUMP: I don't know why. I'm not. I'm not.
WOODWARD: Why?
TRUMP: I don't know. I'm just not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, news flash. He was wrong. So now he's had it. Why make this grand display of removing the mask? Why not accept the fact that anyone can get this virus. It's the ego (INAUDIBLE). That's what doesn't make sense to me.
BROWNSTEIN: Well, also -- I mean there are two points here. First, you know, from the beginning, the original sin has been his belief that the best way to reelection for him was to project normalcy at all costs, at all points, no matter the cost in public health. And that has I think guided his decisions from the outset.
The reluctance to shut things down. The insistence on opening things up as quickly as possible. The pressure on Republican governors to, you know, keep the economy running, to block local ordinances on masks. Even the pressure on the Big Ten to start playing football again.
And then the second point is, you know, he went out today in his tweets and his videos and saying look, I had to go out there and be a leader. I couldn't cower in the White House. I have to go show people that I was, you know, on the front line with them. That is fine.
But you don't have to go out and do it in a way that magnifies the risk to them and yourself and models the wrong behavior for the country. Even if you believed your job was to be out there, it didn't require you to be out there in a way that was completely irresponsible both in terms of your own behavior and how it influenced others.
60 percent in the CNN poll today said they disapproved of the way he is handling the coronavirus. That is the highest number of disapproval that CNN has ever had on this. And the share of voters who said that he did not take this seriously enough in terms of those around him, rose to 72 percent, and about two-thirds of those college educated whites and perhaps most important of all, two-thirds of seniors.
No Republican has lost seniors in a presidential race since George W. Bush in 2000. And Donald Trump is at real risk of doing so, precisely because of the kind of behavior that he continues to do day after day, hour after hour.
[01:39:55]
VAUSE: We're out of time but also, the message it sends to the 210,000 people in this country who have died. They didn't get --
(CROSSTALK)
BROWNSTEIN: The callousness -- the callousness is titanic.
VAUSE: Yes, to say the least.
Ron, thank you.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
VAUSE: Ron Brownstein there in Los Angeles.
The next debate will be between Democratic vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence. CNN's special coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday on the U.S. East Coast; midnight Thursday London; 3:00 a.m. in Abu Dhabi and 7:00 a.m. in Hong Kong.
A surge in coronavirus in parts of the U.S. will most likely mean a surge in mail-in ballots with many choosing to avoid crowded, potentially dangerous polling stations. Election day is less than a month away. Excuse me.
And with president who continues to undermine the credibility and veracity of mail-in ballots, there are now concerns about voter suppression potentially on a massive scale.
Here's Abby Phillip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CEDRICK BROWN, DETROIT VOTER: I'm not going to question my ballot (INAUDIBLE). How about I just come in and drop it off.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: As millions of voters begin casting their ballots in person or by mail, the Postal Service acknowledging in court documents that there has been a significant drop in first class on time mail delivery. The USPS saying it will increase staffing and make other changes to fix the problem.
In battleground Michigan, voting is ramping up. And so are the worries from voters.
MARTEZ ROBERTSON, DETROIT VOTER: I want to personally make sure got handed in. With all the talk of problems with the mail and that sort of thing, I want to be sure.
PHILLIP: In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott is facing at least two separate federal lawsuits after he issued an executive order restricting ballot drop boxes to one per county because he feels there will be more secure. Opponents say this is no less than voter suppression.
CHRIS HOLLINS, HARRIS COUNTY CLERK: To make it so that our voters who have disabilities, our elderly voters have to drive over an hour, more than 50 miles in some cases, to drop off their mail ballots -- it's unfair. It's prejudicial and it's dangerous.
PHILLIP: Millions of voters have just hours left to register to vote for the 2020 general election including competitive states like Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Texas. Already some 2.6 million general election ballots have been cast according to CNN and Edison Researchers' survey of election officials in 24 states reporting voting data.
And in six of those states where party data is available, registered Democrats make up more than half of the ballots returned. In Pennsylvania, ongoing dispute over the changing ballot rules, poll watchers, new voting machines and the spread of disinformation are adding to the challenges, some from the president himself.
TRUMP: They had Trump written on it. And it was run in a garbage can. This is what's going to happen.
PHILLIP: And amid all of this, we are also learning about a new cybersecurity threat. In the last week CNN has obtained an email sent by the Democratic National Committee warning campaigns and organizations about emails sent by a hacking group intended to mimic official emails but it includes a malicious attachment.
These are the kinds of emails that have election security officials concerned that hacking groups could try to take advantage of vulnerabilities ahead of this election.
Abby Phillip, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well Wall Street does not seem overly concerned about President Trump's COVID diagnosis. Monday saw some of the best numbers in weeks. Will that continue? Details after the break. Also, Azerbaijan and Armenia accuse each other of attacking civilians; that's sparking (ph) alarm to world powers. There is growing urgency to avoid a wider conflict. Details when we return.
[01:43:28]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Well, U.S. stock futures have been mixed in early trading after Wall Street saw a strong rally on Monday. The Dow and Nasdaq, S&P 500 -- all with their biggest gains in weeks. The rally picked up after President Trump announced he'd be leaving the hospital where he was being treated for COVID-19 and returned to the White House.
CNN's John Defterios is live in Abu Dhabi. John, what happened to the old days of buy the rumor, sell the news? This seems to be buy the spin, ignore the news because the spin defies logic and defies medical advise about the health of the president?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes, it certainly does, John.
This is a market that sees the glass half full right now. As you are suggesting the president rushed his return to the White House, did a mask-less photo op which was really unusual. But that is sent a signal to Wall Street of stability because of the craziness we've seen over the last couple of months, of course, during the election campaign overall. It was the best day for the Dow since mid-July for the S&P 500, the best in a month and a half. So it's not bad.
Let's take a look at Asia. This kind of mass better performance we've seen in Asia because we're seeing gains but not substantial ones because we are at a two-week high. Seoul is the underperformer.
Take a look at oil. We talked about whether it's going to have strong demand in the future for oil going into 2021, but the narrative here is a 5 to 6 percent gain on Monday, and holding on to those gains with the international benchmark above $41 a barrel.
A couple of other factors at play though, John. We have an oil workers' strike in Norway knocking down better than 300,000 barrels a day at production and then Tropical Storm Delta in the Gulf Coast, again they're going to have to shut in production. So that is a factor.
And for context, John, about the presidential shocks, CFRA Research in the United States look back to 1919, it usually takes four days for Wall Street to recover when they see a surprise medical shock to the president or an assassination attempt or worse.
Again, bang on, four days market recovered and stabilized just on seeing President Trump at the White House. Pretty extraordinary.
VAUSE: To say the least. What is also extraordinary, the stimulus bill what, debated after that September 30 deadline and it just -- is it closer to any kind of completion? This has been dragging?
DEFTERIO: Yes. I wanted to flag because again, one of the reasons for the rally is because there are hopes that the stimulus package will get across the goal line here, using the U.S. football analogy.
It's starting to feel that way. But politics is a pretty nasty game in the House, led by Nancy Pelosi the Speaker. She's looking for one big wide bill, the omnibus bill here to get through. The White House suggests if we can't build a consensus with U.S. Senate Republicans, we may need to take a different approach. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, I do think that there is the potential for a deal, as long as politics do not get in the way again. Even if a large comprehensive bill is not possible because of a few things that are out there, and there's still some major differences, let's go ahead and pass a number of the things that we can agree upon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS: Hope springs eternal, John, is that what they say? I'm a little bit worried here because the evaluations are so high and they're counting on a great outcome, and right now, the gap is still wide. You heard it there at the White House from Mark Meadows. Back to you.
VAUSE: Oh they'll just keep bringing that money in. They'll just keep flooding the markets and everything will be great.
John, thank you. John Defterios in Abu Dhabi.
Well, Armenia and Azerbaijan accusing each other of (INAUDIBLE) rocket attacks on civilians as a deadly conflict over a breakaway region enters a second week. The U.S., Russia, France are calling for a cease fire amid concerns this violence could turn to a wider regional conflict.
Details now from CNN's Nick Paton Walsh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has gone so much further than many expected. Neither diplomacy nor exhaustion nor civilian casualties seem to slow the war between Armenian and Azerbaijan, now over a week old.
This video from the Armenian side we can't verify shows the impact and skyline over the Nagorno Karabakh, the ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan's borders at the heart of the fighting.
Civilians here shelter in a church, quipped.
[014951]
WALSH: "When the sirens sound, we go here", she says. "We've been living in fright and fear for many years and this cannot be resolved in any way."
Azerbaijan said its large cities were hit by Armenians shells. Here, the aftermath in Ganja (ph), one of two attacks alleged over the weekend. Armenia denied it was them, and the breakaway Armenian Republic said it would only target the military and Azerbaijan cities.
Armenian images show these artillery active Friday but this is now so far from the few days of isolated clashes that is commonly blighted the past decades of this conflict. With Azerbaijan parading what it said were abandoned Armenian positions here and claiming it has also captured some territory.
A sign that Baku's (ph) well-resourced operation is moving swiftly, President Ilham Aliyev demanded Sunday Armenia withdrawal, apologize to Azerbaijan and admit Nagorno Karabakh is not part of Armenia. Azerbaijan has denied these sophisticated attacks, including drone strikes brandished daily in defense ministry videos as supported by Turkey despite Ankara's full-throated backing for their campaign.
Ankara has also denied sending Syrian mercenaries to fight for Azerbaijan, as France's President Emmanuel Macron has claimed, saying it was a red line.
These videos growing in number, which CNN has not independently verified, appear to show Syrians on the Azerbaijani frontline. The big question, as fighting continues what is Russia's redline? Power broker Moscow, is a closer ally to Armenia than Azerbaijan yet has pushed diplomacy so far and failed.
Vladimir Putin pictured at the weekend with his security cabinet virtually meeting. Would he tolerate Turkey pushing for his ally's defeat?
Yet support for Azerbaijan's military push was visible Sunday in Baku. And Armenians here in the capital Yerevan were rushing supplies to Nagorno Karabakh. Decades of enmity within a week, now a spiraling ugly war.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Police in Kyrgyzstan's capital use heavy force to disperse protesters on Monday.
The sound of gunshots and some grenades could be heard as riot police moved in. They used tear gas and a water cannon to disperse some of the protesters.
This violence came after thousands gathered to protest Sunday's parliamentary election which Western observers say was corrupted by vote buying. The result heavily favors two parties which campaigned on closer ties with Russia.
Well, the Atlantic about to be hit by the 25th named storm this year, and hurricane season is far from over. When we come back, the very latest on where Hurricane Delta is expected to do its worst.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: In less than a day Tropical Storm Delta became Hurricane Delta a category 1 with winds around 120 kilometers an hour. Warnings are in effect for parts of Cuba, Mexico. Delta could hit the U.S. Gulf Coast later this week.
CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri following all of this from -- I was going to say the CNN Weather Center, but not quite. It's the makeshift one at home. Pedram, what are the details?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, John. You know, you noted that this particular storm having the potential,
of course, having strengthened in the past 24 hours, now it has the potential to further strengthen to a major hurricane within the upcoming 24 hours.
[01:54:58]
JAVAHERI: And that's the concern because it's a very favorable area for rapid development on a very strong -- a small system, I should say. And typically, the smaller the system in size often they speed up rather quickly, kind of take the analogy of an ice skater, as they bring their arms in, they spin more vastly. They take their arms out, and they spin slowly. And this is precisely the case with Delta here in a very small stature and allows it to really intensify rather quickly.
So a category one. 130 kilometer per hour winds. It is moving to the west northwest in an area that is conducive for further strengthening.
And the governments of Mexico across areas around Cancun, they have already prompted hurricane warnings meaning hurricane conditions are expected within the next 24 hours. And much the same across western Cuba as the system approaches. And notice this is the warmest water temperatures this system will face within the next 24 or so hours as we expect it to strengthen.
And then beyond that, some variabilities in this forecast. We do expect the steering environment to potentially favor this to the western gulf area of the United States, the Gulf Coast of the U.S. And then if this is the case, this interacts with warmer weathers as it traverses westward. But notice the cooler waters on the eastern side of this region.
So really significant changes could develop with the storm system. We do expect it to be a major hurricane as it enters the Gulf of Mexico.
Of course, initially, Cancun going to see the brunt of the system within the next 30 or so hours, and then beyond this, we will see exactly where the system kind of migrates, whether it be a western track or an eastern track, and of the 27, I believe storms we've had so far this season six of them have either threatened or made landfall across the state of Louisiana.
The concern is this could be number seven here as we approach Friday into Saturday, either a Category 3, but we do expect it to weaken with that cooler water near the coast, John, which would still be a potent Category 2 as it approaches land, again Friday into Saturday across parts of the Gulf Coast states.
VAUSE: Pedram, a busy time for you, more so than usual. We appreciate the update.
Pedram Javaheri, thank you.
And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Rosemary Church takes over at the top of the hour with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
Stay with us.
[01:57:04]
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[01:59:49]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our reviewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
And I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, Donald Trump's choreographed return to the White House as the infected president downplays coronavirus once again.
International calls for a cease fire as the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan continues.
