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Trump Back at White House Despite Still Have COVID-19; President's Physician Under the Microscope; W.H.O. Says One in 10 Worldwide May Have Contracted COVID-19; Bars in Paris Close in Effort to Combat Virus; Armenia, Azerbaijan Accuse Each Other of Attacks on Civilians; U.S. Stocks React as Trump Returns to the White House; U.S. Voters Express Concerns Ahead of Election Day. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired October 06, 2020 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: And she says he died because he trusted President Trump's advice and didn't wear a mask. Here's more of what she told CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTIN URQUIZA, LOST FATHER TO COVID-19: At this point, I think the President of the United States is the most dangerous person in the world. He is continuing to spread misinformation about this virus, not only through his words, but through his actions. By taking off his mask and entering into the White House, he is signaling to his people and to his supporters that it is the strong person's will to go forward with the virus as is, and everybody will be fine. But that simply is putting people at risk for contracting this deadly disease, and it's appalling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And a lot of questions remain about when the White House knew President Trump had contracted COVID-19. And everyone including Mr. Trump's doctor is dodging those questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Doctor, what was the date of the President's last negative test?

DR. SEAN CONLEY, WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN: I'm not going to get into all the testing going back. But he and all the staff routinely are tested.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you answer the question as to when the President's last neg negative test was?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, as I said earlier, I'm not part of the White House medical unit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was he tested on Tuesday before he went to the debate and then, was he tested Thursday morning before he went to the New Jersey fundraiser?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Yes, I'm not going to give you a detailed with time stamps that every time the President is tested. He's tested regularly, and the first positive test he received was after his return from Bedminster.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was he tested Wednesday night and the time he went to the New Jersey fundraiser?

MCENANY: Again, not giving a detailed readout of his testing. But I am safe to say his first positive test was upon return or at least after Bedminster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And the man fielding most of the questions about the President's health has been his physician, Dr. Sean Conley. He has become a household name in just a few days, holding regular briefings. But as CNN's Tom Foreman reports, Conley is becoming just as famous for what he doesn't say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When did the President last test negative for COVID?

CONLEY: I don't want to go backwards.

FOREMAN: How high was the President's fever?

CONLEY: I'd rather not give any specific numbers.

FOREMAN: Any sign of pneumonia?

CONLEY: I'm just not at liberty to discuss.

FOREMAN: Was he ever getting supplemental oxygen?

CONLEY: He's not on oxygen right now.

Yesterday and today he was not on oxygen. He is not on oxygen right now.

FOREMAN: From the start of the 74-year-old president's battle with COVID, White House physician Dr. Sean Conley has been giving vague and oddly optimistic assessments considering Trump was hospitalized, being pumped full of powerful drugs, including an experimental treatment. And when Conley was caught misleading, turns out the President had gotten extra oxygen, his explanation?

CONLEY: I was trying to reflect the upbeat attitude that the team, the President, that his course of illness has had. I didn't want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction.

FOREMAN: Conley's file, he went to Notre Dame, studied osteopathy at the Philadelphia College of osteopathic medicine, a practice often associated with holistic healing -- then into the Navy. He served in the medical corps in Afghanistan before rapidly rising to the top job in the White House, replacing Dr. Ronny Jackson who once gushed about the President's incredible genes and excellent cardiac health.

DR. RONNY JACKSON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN: He has a lot of energy, a lot of energy and a lot of stamina.

FOREMAN: Conley has towed the Trump line too, amid all the questions about his health. He called Trump's sudden trip to Walter Reed last fall part of a routine physical. A claim widely seen as suspicious considering the extremely unusual nature of the unplanned visit.

Trump said in May he consulted his doctor and began taking hydroxychloroquine, despite study saying the drug is no good and could be dangerous. And now in a White House that prizes loyalty, Conley appears to be just what the President ordered.

CONLEY: The President has been a phenomenal patient during his stay here.

FOREMAN (on camera): To be clear, Conley might be a fine doctor but anytime he is asked any question that might see his medical expertise collide with the President's opinion, even if the public health is involved, the doctor dodges.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: One in every ten people in the world may have contracted coronavirus since the pandemic began. That is according to the World Health Organization. The W.H.O. did not provide a specific number but 10 percent of the world's population would be about 770 million people.

[04:35:00]

That number is more than 20 times higher than the official tally of 35 million cases by Johns Hopkins University. But the W.H.O. and other experts say the real numbers are likely much higher than those confirmed cases with infection rates varying significantly by region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MIKE RYAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, W.H.O. EMERGENCY PROGRAM: 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 rather more positive.

Our currently best estimates tell us that about 10 percent of the global population may have been infected by this virus. This varies depending on countries, 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)

CHURCH: To Europe now, where the continent is struggling to get control over the second wave of the virus. Only four European countries are measuring below a key threshold of new COVID cases.

In Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is self-isolating after she took part in a meeting with someone who later tested positive.

The U.K. government has vowed to investigate how it failed to report nearly 16,000 new coronavirus cases.

And in the French capital, bars have now closed for two weeks. Restaurants in Paris can remain open, but they face a set of strict new rules. So let's bring in CNN's Melissa Bell. She joins us live from Paris. Good to see you, Melissa. So what are these new rules for restaurants there in Paris?

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Well, going to a restaurant is going to be slightly less than it was. You can't have a table of more than six, for instance. You will have to show that you have uploaded the authority's tracing app, and you're not going to be able to take your mask off before you get to the first course. But those were the conditions, Rosemary, so that restaurants could stay open at all.

Because ever since Paris officially moved up into that maximum alert category from today, I mean, it had reached the criteria, things like ICU occupancy, things like incident rates, both for the general population and for the elderly, it had reached those criteria, putting it in the maximum alert category several days ago.

But from today, those fresh restrictions came in, and it was a price that restaurateur had to pay. They were simply very reluctant to see their establishments close once again, given the economic fragility of their recovery over the course of the last few weeks.

But if you happen to be here in Paris in a bar or a cafe owner, well you will be seeing your establishment shut all together. Fresh restrictions that, as part of a package of things like ensuring that students can no longer have parties, lecture halls can only be attended by 50 percent of the students, to try and bring that second wave back under control.

For the time being, the figures here in Paris are not good, Rosemary. And at a national level, that positivity rate reached another record level yesterday. 8.6 percent. That is up from 7.6 percent in just a week at the national level -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Incredible numbers there. Melissa Bell, many thanks, bringing us that report live from Paris.

Well, violence is erupting in a part of the world that doesn't usually make international headlines. The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia is putting civilians in danger and it's threatening the stability of the region. We'll take a look at that on the other side of the break. Stay with us.

[04:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Armenia and Azerbaijan are accusing each other of missile and rocket attacks on civilians as their deadly conflict enters a second week. The fighting is focused on the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but an ethnic Armenian majority governs there. The U.S., Russia, France and the head of NATO are all calling for a cease fire. There are fears the violence could turn into a wider regional conflict, potentially escalating tensions between Russia and NATO. And CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is following the conflict for us and reports on the spiraling crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It has gone so much further than many expected. Neither diplomacy nor exhaustion nor civil casualty seems to slow the war between Armenians and Azerbaijan now over a week old. This video from the Armenian side we can't verify shows the impact and skylight over Nagorno-Karabakh the ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan's borders at the heart of the fighting. Civilians here shelter in a church crypt.

When the siren sounds, we go here she says. We had 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 Armenian shells. Here the aftermath in Gyandzha, 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 in Azerbaijan's cities.

Armenian images showed these artillery active Friday, but this is now so far from a few days of isolated clashes that's commonly blighted the past decades of this conflict. With Azerbaijan parading what it said were abandoned Armenian positions here and claiming it is also captured some territory.

A sign that Baku's well resource operations is moving swiftly. President Ilham Aliyev demanded Sunday, Armenia withdraw, apologize to Azerbaijan and admit Nagorno-Karabakh is not part of Armenia. Azerbaijan has denied this sophisticated attacks, including drone strikes brandish 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 Presidents 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 front line.

The big question, as fighting continues, what is Russia's redline? Powerbroker Moscow is a closer ally to Armenia than Azerbaijan yet has pushed diplomacy so far and failed. Vladimir Putin pictures the weekend with his security cabinet virtually meeting. Will 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 of Yerevan who, Russian supplies to the Nagorno-Karabakh.

[04:45:00]

Decades of enmity within a week now a spiraling ugly war.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well, Police in Kyrgyzstan's capitol used heavy force to disperse protesters Monday.

Gunshots and stun grenades could be heard as riot police moved in. They used tear gas and water canon who disperse some of the protesters. The violence came after thousands gathered to protest Sunday's parliamentary election. Which western observers say was corrupted by vote buying. The result heavily favored two parties which campaigned on closer ties with Russia.

Wall Street appears optimistic about President Trump's COVID-19 recovery. Monday saw some of the best numbers in weeks, but will this rally continue. A live report on the markets next.

And the U.S. Postal Service admits its struggling to deliver the mail on time. So what happens when there's a flood of mail-in ballots for the presidential election. We'll take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:50:00]

CHURCH: U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to convince the world that his COVID-19 diagnosis is no big deal. And that strategy appears to be working on investors who welcomed news Mr. Trump would be leaving the hospital and returning to the White House.

The Dow finished 466 points higher on Monday. Its best day since July. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also closed higher. Their best performance in nearly a month. And here's a look at how U.S. stock futures are faring now in negative territory there.

So let's turn to CNN's John Defterios. He joins us live from Abu Dhabi. To see you, John. So markets bounced back on news President Trump was heading back to the White House, but he's not out of the woods yet, according to his medical team, so will that rally continue, do you think?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, it seems almost irrational, doesn't it, Rosemary. You have the return to the White House prematurely, many in the medical community would suggest. But that was still a buy signal for Wall Street because of what was transpiring over the last four days from Friday all the way until the Monday trade.

By the way, this is not unusual historically because going back to 1919, the average length after a presidential shock on the medical front usually takes four days, and that's what happened. But that was quite a rally that took place. That sentiment kind of spun into Europe today where we see some negative results. But Asia had a pretty good day with the gain of about a third of 1 percent to nearly 1 percent in Hong Kong.

The European markets started higher and then retraced here because that halo effect is not lasting. After the rally, we're going to hear from the World Trade Organization. And also the International Monetary Fund give us some updates on the economic outlook.

The star performer on Monday was the oil market, which was up nearly 6 percent, and again, the international benchmark going above $41 a barrel. We have strikes in Norway, which has pulled up production from the market, about 3,000 barrels a day. And a tropical storm off the Gulf Coast, called Delta, which shutting in production in the United States as well. So that's the real driver here, along with President Trump going back to the White House. Kind of a twist of fate, Rosemary, and the valuations, once again, on Wall Street are very high in terms of prices.

CHURCH: Yes, and John, U.S. stimulus bill is still being debated, well after the deadline. Is the market view that a deal is imminent here.

DEFTERIOS: Yes, I think the market has been hoping for that, Rosemary, you and I have talked about it, for what, a better part of a month right now. Thinking that any day they'll cross line and the deal will be done. But there's quite a gap between the U.S. House Democrats and the Senate Republicans. The latter don't want to spend as much as the House Democrats. And the White House finds itself squeezed in between. Saying that if we don't get a big umbrella deal, so let's do it bit by bit. Here's the chief of staff to the White House, Mark Meadows.

(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: And it's hard to get politics out of the way, Rosemary, right, with the presidential election on November 3rd, and the Senators and Congress people are trying to go back to the polls and win their seats back. It is very political at this stage.

CHURCH: Just about everywhere, isn't it? Thank you so much, John Defterios appreciate it.

Well searching coronavirus in parts of the U.S., will most likely mean a surge in mail-in ballots with many voters choosing to avoid crowded polling stations. And with the President trying to undermine the credibility of voting by mail, concerns are growing about voter suppression, potentially on a massive scale. CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CEDRICK BROWN, DETROIT VOTER: I'm not comfortable sending my ballot through the mail. I'd rather just come in and drop it off.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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 battle ground Michigan, voting is ramping up and so are the worries from voters.

MARTEZ ROBERTSON, DETROIT VOTER: I want to personally make sure it got handed in. With all the talk of problems with the mail and that sort of thing, I wanted 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 they'll be more secure. Opponents say this is no less than voter suppression.

[04:55:00]

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 ballot, 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 disputes 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.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They had Trump written on it, and they were thrown in a garbage can and this is what's going to happen.

PHILLIP (on camera): And amid all of this, we are also learning about a new cyber security threat. In the last week, CNN has obtained an e- mail sent by the Democratic National Committee warning campaigns and organizations about e-mails sent by a hacking group intended to mimic official e-mails, but it includes a malicious attachment. These are the kinds of e-mails 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)

CHURCH: And thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church, be sure to connect with me anytime on Twitter @RosemaryCNN. And "EARLY START" is up next. Have a great day.

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