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Trump Holds First White House Event Since Coronavirus Diagnosis; Key Model Projects 394,000 U.S. COVID-19 Deaths by February 1st; Biden Continues to Reach Across Political Divide in Pennsylvania; Louisiana Residents Hit Hard by Back-to-Back Storms. Aired 12:30-1a ET

Aired October 11, 2020 - 00:30   ET

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

[00:30:00]

BORGER: And maybe you would have won?

BALDICK: We'll never know.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hi, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and from all around the world. Welcome. You're watching CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.

CURNOW: Thanks for joining me this hour. A little more than a week after Donald Trump announced his coronavirus diagnosis, his doctor has cleared the U.S. president to return to an active schedule. Now in a memo, Dr. Sean Conley says Mr. Trump is no longer a transmission risk and meets CDC criteria to stop isolating. But there are still so many things we don't know about the president's illness, like whether or not he's actually tested negative for the virus.

Dr. Conley's memo doesn't say that. And Mr. Trump certainly wasn't waiting for that information to be made public before he started holding rallies again. Just hours ago, he gave a speech at the White House in front of a packed audience, as you can see here. It was the president's first public event since his coronavirus diagnosis, and he says the virus is starting to go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Through the power of the American -- the American spirit, I think more than anything else, science, medicine, we'll eradicate the China virus, once and for all. We'll get rid of it all over the world. You see big flare-ups in Europe. Big flare-ups in Canada. Very big flare-up in Canada, you saw that today. A lot of flare-ups but it's going to disappear. It is disappearing and vaccines are going to help. And the therapeutics are going to help a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Now back to that memo from the president's doctor clearing him to leave isolation. It was full of praise for the president's condition but really didn't give quite a lot of detail.

Jeremy Diamond breaks down now what we know and what we don't.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, 10 days after the White House says President Trump first tested positive for coronavirus, the president's physician, Dr. Sean Conley, is now clearing him for a return to public activities. Dr. Conley writing in a new memo released late Saturday night that the president is no longer considered a risk of transmission for this coronavirus to others.

Now, let me read you a part of this memo from Dr. Sean Conley, where he writes, "This evening I am happy to report that in addition to the president meeting CDC criteria for the safe discontinuation of isolation, this morning's COVID PCR sample demonstrates, by currently recognized standards, he is no longer considered a transmission risk to others. Now, at day 10 from symptom onset, fever free for well over -- for well over 24 hours, and all symptoms improved, the assortment of advanced diagnostic tests obtained reveal there is no longer evidence of actively-replicating virus."

And Dr. Conley also goes on to say that he will continue to monitor the president's health, as he returns to a more active schedule. Now, President Trump, of course, didn't wait for this memo before holding an event on the South Lawn of the White House on Saturday. The president did stay at quite a distance from the several hundred people who attended this event on the south lawn of the White House.

But those folks, while they were mostly wearing masks, they were also not observing any social distancing. Packed quite closely together, just two weeks after that event in the Rose Garden of the White House, that is now considered a super spreader event and perhaps the origin point for many of those positive coronavirus tests that we have since seen at the White House. President Trump needed this memo, though, in order to get some more public confidence in his return to an active schedule.

And that is exactly what he is going to be doing this coming week. The president hitting three battleground states, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Iowa, this coming week.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Thanks, Jeremy, for that update.

So a model that's often been overlooked during this pandemic has given the U.S. a serious wakeup call so I want to show you some of this data. The model is based on current conditions so let's look at what those are right now. As you can see here, most states are seeing an increase in cases compared to a week ago.

At this hour, Johns Hopkins University has the number of lives lost in the U.S. at slightly more than 214,000. The University of Washington model projects a total of almost 400,000 COVID deaths by February 1st in the U.S. Now the model also says that if social distancing mandates are relaxed, that number could easily surpass half a million people dying. But that same model also predicts that if almost everyone in the U.S. wore masks, tens of thousands of lives would be saved.

Well, Dr. Jorge Rodriguez is an internal medicine and viral specialist. He joins me now from Los Angeles.

[00:35:01]

Doctor, lovely to see you again. I just want to get your take on these projections. I mean, they're stunning and they're desperately concerning.

DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, INTERNAL MEDICINE AND VIRAL SPECIALIST: They are. But they're also right on the money. The University of Washington's projections said that we would have approximately 214,000 cases by a few days ago, and we are there. I have no reason to doubt these projections. What I think is very important is that, at the lowest, if we continue doing as we are, we're going to have 390 or so cases by the end of February.

And if we do not act even more responsibly, it could go up as high as half a million. And they're projecting that, in the world, at that time, we could have a total of four million deaths. Approximately 30,000 a day, which is really startling. And all we have to do to try to decrease that tremendously is to put on masks, to wash our hands, and to respect social distancing.

CURNOW: Yes. It's simple but those numbers again as you say, I mean, it's just --

RODRIGUEZ: Startling.

CURNOW: Startling. So I want to get your opinion as a doctor. As our colleague and correspondent was reporting from the White House, this letter from the president's physician. What are the key takeaways for you as you try and decode it?

RODRIGUEZ: Well, you know, I agree with a lot of my colleagues that are calling this a master class in medical deception because of its ambiguity. The -- there's so many things in it that is sort of like medical speak but don't really get down to the point which is, does the president currently have infectious droplets? They measure viral loads and things like that, that disappear after six days. So we don't know whether he is infectious.

But something that was interesting to me, the CDC says that if you have been 10 days after your first symptoms and you've been isolated, then it's probably safe for you to go out. Well, this changes the timeline of the president having his first symptoms somewhere around the end of September or October 1st, which would be that Wednesday. And we know that he did public speeches and such on that Thursday. So it's all so ambiguous. If nothing else, the CDC also says that if you have a serious episode

of this infection that maybe you should isolate for 20 days. The fact that we don't, you know, know specifics tend to tell us that this is becoming more of a political decision than a medical recommendation.

CURNOW: But also, if you could give us a sense. President -- as you saw, the president gave a speech at the White House today. He is planning public rallies over the next few days after being hospitalized a week ago. So based on the president's weight, his age, what we know about the severity of his illness, is he out of the woods now? As a doctor, would you recommend that he still stay in bed?

RODRIGUEZ: Yes, absolutely, I would not recommend that he go out and do all of these rallies that he is doing. If nothing else, for his own speech. My patients sometimes are four to six weeks out and they're still feeling winded. You know, I think it's interesting that the president, who usually gives these Fidel Castro-type, lengthy speeches, only spoke for 18 minutes. And I think that is all, you know, that his body can really tolerate right now.

The weaker he makes himself by stressing his body, by flying, by taking long hours, the more likely he is to, not only relapse but perhaps get very seriously ill.

CURNOW: He says he's doing fine and that he is recovered. So he will be -- he will be going on these rallies. You know, as certainly, he seems to be making an effort to get better. Thank you very much.

RODRIGUEZ: Yes. Yes. I think the --

CURNOW: Dr. Rodriguez -- yes, carry on.

RODRIGUEZ: Yes. Yes. You know, the president does not shy away from hyperbole. But this time it may come back to haunt him a little bit.

CURNOW: Thank you very much, Doctor. Good to speak to you.

RODRIGUEZ: Likewise.

CURNOW: So British prime minister is set to announce new coronavirus restrictions on Monday to try and end the surge in cases there. Now the British Medical Association, meanwhile, is calling for face masks to be made mandatory in all office spaces and outdoors, when social distancing isn't possible.

Neighboring France is once again hitting an all-time high in daily COVID cases. Beating a record that was set just a day earlier. Now the country recorded nearly 27,000 new cases on Saturday alone. Germany is also reporting an increase in cases. The country's public health institute is now confirming nearly 320,000 total infections.

So coming up on CNN, with less than a month to go before the presidential election, Democrat Joe Biden is getting out the vote and reaching across the aisles in Pennsylvania.

[00:40:05] We'll talk about that, next.

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CURNOW: Welcome back. I'm Robyn Curnow.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden may be leading in the polls but he's still reaching out to independents and disaffected Republicans. Biden was in his birth state of Pennsylvania on Saturday. In his remarks he said he had worked as hard for those who don't support him as those who do. He's also traced America's current economic woes to the president's mishandling of the pandemic.

Here's Jessica Dean with more on that -- Jessica.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Former Vice President Joe Biden campaigning in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania on Saturday. He traveled here to Erie, Pennsylvania. It's in a county that President Trump won narrowly back in 2016 and it is tailormade for Biden's economic message that he's been delivering specifically to white working class voters in towns like Erie.

Notably, Biden touring a training facility at a union hall before giving remarks that really could be described as his bread-and-butter economic message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The top 100 billionaires in the middle of this pandemic, they made $300 billion additional. Hear me now? One hundred individuals made $300 billion this year. And what did the bottom half get? They got the kick, they got the slide down because the fact is the president can only see the world from Park Avenue.

I see it from Scranton, I see it from Claymont, for real. You all know what I'm talking about. You all see it from Erie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: In the meantime, Vice President Biden's campaign reported that he underwent PCR testing, that's the gold standard COVID test, on Saturday and that test came back negative. The campaign has said that Joe Biden will continue to be tested regularly and always when he travels.

Jessica Dean, CNN, Erie, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: CNN Politics White House reporter Stephen Collinson joins me now from Washington.

Stephen, hi, good to see you. So talk us through this latest communique from the White House doctor. If you don't mind, can you read between the lines for us? Because it's difficult to quite figure out what exactly they're trying to say.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, what it appears is, at least by the letter of the law, the president has now satisfied CDC recommendations for no longer being contagious, given the amount of time that's lapsed since his coronavirus diagnosis. But of course, given the way that the White House has obscured the truth and real information throughout his illness, I think there's grounds for doubt.

The White House physician Sean Conley still doesn't confirm if the president has taken a negative COVID test and most interestingly the White House is still refusing to tell us the last time the president tested negative before he got sick. That, of course, is not just important for knowing how long that he was likely to be contagious -- he's right on that number of 10 days if we believe the date when he was first tested positive for COVID.

But it's also very important to establish whether the president knew he was infected and carried on doing campaign events before we were told he got sick. And that is the reason perhaps that the White House is not telling us exactly when he last tested negative for coronavirus.

CURNOW: So talk us through these pictures that we're seeing now on the screen. The president speaking from the balcony at the White House to a largely African-American audience today. It was a pretty dark message. What was the reason for this?

COLLINSON: The president has been itching to get out on the campaign trail. Originally, he was even talking about going out on Saturday. We now know that there are three rallies in Pennsylvania, Iowa and Florida, scheduled for next week. But it's all about getting pictures of the president back in the race.

Let's face it, there are three weeks and a couple of days left in this campaign. The president is behind. He needs to get himself on television. He needs to convince people that he is recovered and that he's fit to campaign. The fact this was an event that was focusing on minority support is interesting. Of course, the president has been trying to peel away African-American male voters from the Democrats who traditionally vote for the Democrats.

This could be important in some states like Georgia, which is unexpectedly close. And Biden needs -- former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, needs to get big African-American turnout in cities like Cleveland, in Ohio, in Philadelphia or in Pennsylvania and some of these swing states to offset the president's popularity in more rural areas. And that was something that Hillary Clinton didn't do.

You could say, if you were a cynic, that the real reason that he started campaigning again with a minority event was to do a little bit of clear-up over that failure to immediately condemn white supremacy in the presidential debate. CURNOW: Let's talk about Vice President Biden. What's his messaging?

It certainly seems like he is trying to pick up disaffected voters, former Trump supporters who might have changed their mind or are still wavering, independents. How successful is he being at that?

COLLINSON: Well, if you look at the polls nationally and in swing states, he is doing pretty well. You know, since that first debate in which the president behaved in an exceedingly belligerent manner, Biden appears to have stretched his lead in the polls. Now, you know, we don't know whether to trust the poll; some of the polls were wrong the last time around, especially in battleground states. But you have to say that the former vice president is ahead in these this race. He's trying to lock in his gains.

It's interesting that he was in Pennsylvania twice this week. He's really concentrating on consolidating that path to 270 electoral votes. If he were to win Pennsylvania, a state where he currently leads, and he has been doing well among independents and perhaps more moderate, non-populist Republican voters, he would almost be assured of the White House. So that's what the former vice president is doing here.

And the fact that he now doesn't have to debate against Donald Trump again this week takes another area of risk off the table for him. And I would expect him to carry on this path of his visits to swing states over the next few days.

CURNOW: OK. Always good to speak to you. Always good to get your analysis. Stephen Collinson, live from D.C., thanks a lot.

COLLINSON: Thanks.

CURNOW: So coming up on CNN, U.S. residents along the Gulf Coast are reeling from back-to-back storms. We'll take a look at the damage caused by Hurricane Delta.

That's next. Stay with us.

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[00:53:50]

CURNOW: Destruction and devastation. These images out of the U.S. state of Louisiana are after Hurricane Delta made landfall on Friday night. It's now categorized as a post-tropical cyclone, and it's worst. The storm knocked out power to a quarter of the state's residents. It downed power lines, trees and homes. Fortunately, no fatalities have been reported.

But heavy rains and flooding have been a huge problem as you can see from these images. Delta dropped more than a foot of rain on Louisiana. The storm also impacted other U.S. states along the Gulf Coast leaving millions of people under flash flood watches.

And thousands of National Guardsmen are in Louisiana helping emergency crews. Residents of the state are reeling from these back-to-back storms as Martin Savidge now explains from Lake Charles -- Martin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It turns out that Hurricane Delta was not the destructive killer that had been feared. Still, the governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards says that it had a greater impact on the western part of Louisiana than they had expected, primarily in the issue of knocking out power. In fact more people lost power during Hurricane Delta than they did during the much more powerful Hurricane Laura six weeks ago.

In fact the governor says at the height of the outages during Delta, 25 percent of all electricity customers in the state lost power.

[00:55:06]

The good news is it's not expected to take weeks to restore. The other good news so far no deaths had been attributed to the storm, although I'll underline so far. The awful irony here in Lake Charles is this community was so devastated by Hurricane Laura at the end of August, it's really hard to tell where the damage of one hurricane ends and the destruction of the next storm begins. But we do know there is additional damage here.

We know that by the blue tarps, which were an indication of the families and homeowners starting to make the very basic repairs. Now you'll find blue tarps torn, shredded, ripped and strewn all over Lake Charles, which means that homes have been damaged again and the homeowners and the people who live in them will have to start over again, which there are signs they're already doing, relying on the help of their friends and neighbors in their community again.

Martin Savidge, CNN, Lake Charles, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Thanks, Martin. So if you're looking for ways to help those impacted by Hurricane Delta the Impact Your World team can show you how. So go to CNN.com/backslash.

OK. Thanks for watching CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow. I will be back with more news in just a moment.

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