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Trump Says He's Better, Signals Return to Campaign Trail; Fox Says, Network Doc to Conduct Medical Evaluation on Trump; Hurricane Delta Takes Aim at Louisiana, Fourth to do so This Season. Aired 1- 1:30p ET
Aired October 09, 2020 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:00:04]
JOHN KING, CNN HOST: That's it for us today. Brianna Keilar picks up our coverage right now. Have a good day
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Hello. I am Brianna Keilar. Welcome viewers here in the United States and around the world.
With 25 days until Election Day, enough to be knocked off the campaign trail while personally battling the coronavirus, President Trump is planning to return to the 2020 spotlight in a big way this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think I'm going to try doing a rally Saturday night, if we have enough time to put it together. But we want to do a rally probably in Florida Saturday night, might come back, and do one in Pennsylvania in the following night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: So, the president announcing his itinerary, including those rallies in Florida and Pennsylvania.
As 28 states are now showing an increase in new cases compared to a week ago, this includes in Pennsylvania, where the president is headed. The number of new infections there rising Thursday to the highest in five months. Overall, in the U.S., Thursday was the highest number of cases in a single day in two months. Trump rallies would mark the first time the president has been seen aside from videos released from the White House in several days following his departure from Walter Reed Hospital on Monday.
And even inside the White House, only a handful of advisers have seen the president in person. The secrecy contributing to growing questions about the truth of the president's health, something he offered no clarity on when asked about his recent or upcoming tests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Did you test negative?
TRUMP: And I'll tell you, I took this Regeneron, it is phenomenal.
HANNITY: Have you had a test since your diagnosis a week ago?
TRUMP: Well, what we're doing is probably the test will be tomorrow, the actual test. There's no reason to test all the time. But they found very little infection or virus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Dr. Saju Matthew is a Primary Care Physician. Dr. Matthew, the president's doctor says he is clear to return to the trail tomorrow. You certainly haven't treated the president, but would you recommend that kind of travel and schedule to someone his age with his risk factors on the medication that he has been on since they indicate he likely had pneumonia, and also considering we don't know that he is not contagious?
DR. SAJU MATTHEW, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Good afternoon, Brianna. If I were his physician, I would not be comfortable with President Trump returning back to normal activities. Let's remember, there are criteria that have been set forth by the CDC. The one big one is ten days from when symptoms started.
But, Brianna, let's not forget that that is for patients with mild symptoms, President Trump, from the information we have, had moderate to severe COVID viral infection. And for those patients, if you look at the CDC guidelines, they could be contagious for up to 20 days.
Also, we don't really know the details about the steroids. Is he still taking steroids? And if he is, that can mask symptoms of fever because that's another criteria. You should be fever free for 24 hours.
So I actually have a lot of questions, but based on what I know would not be comfortable releasing him back to work.
KEILAR: This especially where he is going to be having rallies or where he is saying he is going to be having rallies brings into relief what these states are facing. Right now, there are 28 states that are showing upward trends. And I wonder if you think this is a second wave or is it possible that the U.S. just never got down low enough to even really end the first wave and go into a second one and we're really just going to see one big wave over multiple seasons?
MATTHEW: Yes, that's exactly right, Brianna. If you look at other countries, and we talk about this a lot, but it is true, continents like Asia and Europe, their numbers went down to such a low level that then after that, if there is a resurgence, you can call that a second wave. We really never got down to low levels.
I mean, just like you mentioned, the highest number of new cases, over 50,000, and we're moving into the cold and flu season where more people are going to be indoors and kids are returning to school and they are infecting parents and older, vulnerable populations.
KEILAR: The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, Doctor, says that Sean Conley, the president's doctor, has assured her there will be tests to ensure the president is not able to transmit the virus. Are you aware of any such test that is able to ensure someone is not able to transmit the virus shy of a negative COVID test?
MATTHEW: Not really, Brianna. All the information that we have is posted on CDC guidelines. I always mention this, that, as a primary care physician that takes care of COVID patients, we put a lot of credence, Brianna, on a negative test. Let's remember, as we talked about last week, that your test could still be positive for up to two months after you have recovered from COVID-19.
[13:05:04]
So, technically, if the president is tested today or tomorrow or next week, if the virus is still in his system, it could still be positive, but it doesn't necessarily mean it is contagious. So, we need to follow the guidelines. With the president, I think we should be looking more at 20 days of possibly being contagious as opposed to ten days.
KEILAR: All right. Dr. Matthew, thank you so much. We really appreciate seeing you.
MATTHEW: Thank you, Brianna.
KEILAR: President Trump has reportedly signed off on a $1.8 trillion stimulus offer. This is a counteroffer that will be presented to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. This is according to two people with knowledge of this decision. Talks have been stalled over the dollar figure on this much needed new round of stimulus, Democrats not wanting to go below 2 trillion, Republicans have voiced concern over 1 trillion.
Analyst Gloria Borger is here with us now. And, Gloria, this new offer that Trump has signed would mark the highest top line dollar figure the administration has put forward so far. But with that price tag, it could risk actually not having Republican support. What is your read on this?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, that's right. My read is that the president has suddenly changed his mind, Brianna. He wants a deal now. As of last Tuesday, he was tweeting that there's no way that he would do this bailout, as he called it, because it would be for poorly run, high-crime Democratic states or Democrat states, as he calls them. Suddenly, he changed his mind.
We don't know what is in their proposal. We know that -- and that's really important, Brianna, because the Democrats won't take anything that doesn't take care of these Democratic states, these blue states for the frontline workers there in particular, for schools in particular. So we don't know what the details of this are, and it matters.
But we also have Mitch McConnell coming out and saying that he doesn't think anything is going to be done before the election. So we don't know whether he is going to change his mind because some Republicans want it, but we know, as you point out, that a lot of Republicans have told Mitch McConnell they wouldn't vote for this. So, Nancy Pelosi has the leverage at this point. She has got to figure out what she wants to do and when she wants to do it, because, obviously, she wants this money for people who need it but she wants to get as much money as she possibly can.
KEILAR: And speaking of the House speaker, just a short time ago, she announced legislation that would give Congress a role in determining if a president is fit for office. This is what she had to say about the timing of the bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): A president's fitness for office must be determined by science and facts. This legislation applies to future presidents. But we are reminded of the necessity of action by the health of the current president. With this bill, the Congress honors our oath to support and defend the Constitution and protect the American people. And we uphold our responsibility to preserve our republic for generations to come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: So, realistically, without Senate support, this wouldn't go anywhere.
BORGER: Of course, yes.
KEILAR: And considering that, what's the point here, Gloria?
BORGER: I think Nancy Pelosi knows how to poke the bear and she is poking. And she knows more than anyone else she can get under the president's skin. I think there's a serious issue underlying all of this, of course, that they're raising because of the president's erratic behavior, now that he seems to be home alone and is running things. There seem to be an awful lot of problems.
But I think she knows what the future of this bill is right now and she is just -- it is another way for her politically to say to the American public, take a look at the president, he is behaving erratically, we have never seen anything like this, and we ought to consider this legislation.
Now, you could say, okay, do stimulus first and worry about this other stuff later. So this is a political move to raise an important point about the president's behavior.
KEILAR: And I want to ask you about something separately. There's a top intelligence official, Bill Evanina, who has spoken about the president's COVID diagnosis, he called it a national security problem, he called it an open wound for enemies, meaning foreign enemies to exploit, and this is a blunt assessment here. What do you make of these comments?
BORGER: Well, I think they're accurate and I applaud him for actually speaking out on this. Look, when you have a president who has been sick and the public is denied all of the bits of information it needs, that's a national security risk that other countries like China and Iran and Russia can take advantage of.
And when you have a president who is constantly tweeting and talking about a rigged election, that is another piece of information that our enemies can talk about and make hay with.
[13:10:06]
And so it doesn't take being a high ranking intelligence official to know this, but I think that him pointing it out is important to everyone in this country to understand exactly what a target we are now and how the president's physical condition and how his emotional condition is really affecting all of this, Brianna.
KEILAR: Yes, it creates major vulnerabilities, and there he is saying it. Gloria, thank you so much. It's wonderful to see you.
BORGER: Sure. Have a good weekend.
KEILAR: You too.
The president floating having Fox News -- Fox hosts, I should say, moderate the next debate as the network says its unstaffed doctor will give him a medical evaluation on T.V. We will roll the tape.
Plus, backlash grows from orthodox Jews in New York, as the state accuses the community of spreading the coronavirus.
And we'll take you to Louisiana as a hurricane gets ready to strike the coast.
This is CNN's special live coverage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:15:00]
KEILAR: Fox is promoting the first on-camera interview with the president since the coronavirus infection. In the news release, the say their on-staff doctor will, quote, conduct a medical evaluation. And that on-staff doctor is this man.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MARC SIEGEL, FOX NEWS MEDICAL ANALYST: This virus should be compared to the flu because at worst, at worst, worst case scenario, it could be the flu.
Under 70, it is almost impossible you're going to die from COVID, and yet fear-messaging continues.
TRUMP: It was 30 or 35 questions. The first questions are very easy. The last questions are much more difficult, like a memory question. It is like you'll go person, woman, man, camera, T.V. So they say, could you repeat that?
(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: Dr. Marc Siegel hasn't exactly put medicine and science first during his employment at Fox but he certainly has caught the president's attention. No surprise since Trump appears to watch so much of his favorite channel that he is on a first name basis with almost the entire roster.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Let's have a fair -- let's get a fair anchor, somebody like the great Sean Hannity, we'll get Rush, we'll get Laura, we'll get Judge Jeanine.
HANNITY: That's going to happen.
TRUMP: We've got a lot of them out there, right? We'll get Jesse, Pete, we got a lot of them. Tucker is pretty good.
HANITY: You're going to get me killed on all the Fox talks. Let me ask you --
TRUMP: No, no, no, but this is a disgrace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And he seems like he's kidding, but these are the people that he flocks to, the people that he says are fair. And if his wish came true and they moderated a debate, do you think they would press him on the administration's failed response to the coronavirus? Let's roll the tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: The president and his campaign should simply not react to any of this alarmist COVID drivel form here on out.
MARK LEVIN, FOX NEWS HOST: 200,000 people died from the coronavirus. That is the biggest lie of the century.
HANNITY: I think we're over this sometime in the fall, my guess. I think -- I feel pretty certain, very optimistic about that.
PETE HEGSETH, FOX NEWS HOST: Herd immunity is our friend. Healthy people getting out there, they're going to have to have some courage.
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: 78 is also the life expectancy for all people in this country. In other words, it is dangerous to be an old person who has the coronavirus, it's also dangerous to be an old person.
JEANINE PIRRO, FOX NEWS HOST: The point of the mask is to basically kind of dehumanize, to frighten people, you don't know who is behind the mask.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: By the way, here are pictures of Jeanine Pirro frightening people and dehumanizing herself, as she puts it, put masks. The CDC says they are America's greatest weapon against the virus and the best way to be able to reopen an economy. Maybe these would be moderators at the president's favorite channel might ask him why he mocks them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEGSETH: There is a very stark choice here. You have got a president to open the country with Donald Trump or you've got president mask mandate who is going to keep things closed. What do you want in the future?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Well, maybe Trump's preferred moderators might ask him about how his racist rhetoric is affecting Asian-Americans, or how positive thinking isn't in itself a cure for a novel coronavirus for which Americans have no immunity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Yes. You want to know how I really feel about the coronavirus, if I get it, I'll beat it. It is called the power of positive thinking. And I think America needs to wake up to that.
I live in Manhattan. I got off work, went straight to the subway, Asian guy sits down next to me, mask on. What do I do, finish the ride, then I go home, then I order Chinese food.
I am not afraid of the coronavirus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: They could ask the president about whether he understands that his own actions likely contributed to his being infected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: This is like when the general gets wounded by the invisible enemy, goes and gets patched up and then gets right back to the frontlines.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And since we're heading into a confirmation process for the next Supreme Court justice, that topic would certainly come up, right? Maybe they would ask Trump why he cast doubt on the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg saying, as it became clear that she would die, that her most fervent wish was that she would not be replaced until a new president is installed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Keep in mind, we don't really know actually what Ruth Bader Ginsburg's final words were. Did she really leave this world fretting about a presidential election? We don't believe that for a second.
[13:20:00]
If it were true, it would be pathetic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Another big issue facing right now is voting. Maybe these would-be hosts could challenge the president on all his false claims about mail-in voting and widespread fraud.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: With widespread mail-in voting, United States Postal Service, they won't be the ones responsible for the outcome of this election.
Now, with all due respect to my mailman, I love my mailman ever since I was a kid, but you have got to trust the United States Postal Service with the future of our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Washington is so fractured, the issue of restoring some semblance of unity and bipartisanship that would allow Congress to actually do its job, surely that would be an important issue to explore with Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEVIN: This mob, one way or another, will be crushed. If they're not crushed at the voting booth, they will be crushed otherwise.
Nancy Pelosi is mentally ill, just so you understand. She's mentally ill, she has the shakes. Her face, with old age, is malformed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Maybe they would ask Biden about his plans for the future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: Well, I have a lot of thoughts. The first thought that I have, Jesse, is, for some reason, I just had this feeling that Joe Biden isn't going to be on the ticket. I have a sense that something is going to happen before the election, and he is not even going to be on the ticket. So, don't even ask me if he is going to make the four years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: They could address the widespread non-violent protests across the country, the instances of looting and violence we have seen and the alarming trend of armed right-wing groups patrolling protests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CARLSON: So, are you really surprised that looting and arson can accelerated to murder? How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Or with rates of violence up in some cities, a significant issue, perhaps they talk about sensible solutions and the underlying problems that are contributing to the violence right now with President Trump in the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: In a Biden administration, the chaos, like ongoing lockdown, will become trusted means of intimidation and control in every town and city across all 50 states. Holy hell will be unleashed from coast to coast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Maybe they challenge the president about his baseless claims about Biden's mental state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think there's any doubt Biden is senile.
PIRRO: Everywhere he goes, he goes with his wife. It's almost like she's his caretaker. She makes sure that she sits next to him, she makes sure that she holds onto him. Is this what we really want in the United States of America for a president?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And with widespread consensus that the first debate was a hot mess of interruptions and name-calling, one of these would be moderators would have to regulate that, right? They'd have to show impartiality in how they enforce the rules.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Extremely weak, the frail, the confused, kind of angry Joe Biden just got steamrolled by President Trump.
Maybe it is past his bedtime, probably stayed up too late, needs his nap.
One thing I have concluded at the end of tonight is it's basically you're going to get a gladiator, warrior, fighter in Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Clearly, these prominent voices on that network won't be moderating any debate other than amongst themselves, but we show you this because these are the people the president is listening to. These people are giving the president a daily briefing and it appears this is the one he is actually listening to.
Ahead, we have disturbing new details on the kidnapping plot against the Michigan governor by a group of alleged domestic terrorist.
Plus, an update on Chris Christie, who is still in the hospital after being in the debate prep room with the president and contracting coronavirus.
And we're going to take you to Louisiana as a hurricane gets ready to strike the coast.
This is CNN's special live coverage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:25:00]
KEILAR: Parts of the Louisiana coast right now bracing as yet another powerful storm sits just offshore. Hurricane Delta is set to make landfall tonight, and right now it is headed straight for areas that were hit hard by Hurricane Laura just weeks ago. Hurricane Delta is the fourth named storm expected to hit Louisiana this season.
And CNN's Martin Savidge is in Lake Charles, Louisiana, following all of this. This is an area that's still recovering after it was slammed by Hurricane Laura in late August. Tell us what's going on, Martin.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Yes, that's exactly right, Brianna, although recovery might even be too much credit really. They're just barely getting out from under Laura. And that's really the problem here.
Last storm, the big concern was, of course, the water. This time, it is the wind, any kind of wind. Tropical storm force and, for goodness sakes, they really don't want to think about hurricane force winds because so much damage has been done. The debris that's around me becomes the potential weapon in the next storm coming ashore.
Let me just show you what you've got, like this stuff, aluminum siding, which obviously gets picked up in a very easy wind, this is almost razor sharp, it's got nails embedded in it.
[13:30:03]
And it's just an example of some of the stuff that's out here. But look down the street.
