Our live coverage of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus illness has ended for this evening.
President Donald Trump received the experimental Regeneron antibody therapy on Friday – which may have helped him fight off the worst effects of Covid-19, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday.
“It very well could have been that,” Fauci told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.
Monoclonal antibodies are one of the potential coronavirus treatments that scientists are “really quite optimistic about,” Fauci said.
Regeneron’s coronavirus product is being tested in human trials, but it can be given to patients outside of clinical trials under the Food and Drug Administration’s compassionate use program.
“The President got that as a compassionate use, and whether or not it was that that got him better, I’m strongly suspicious that it was, but obviously you can’t prove that until you do a number of studies that prove that it actually works,” Fauci said.
“It could have been he was naturally going to turn around,” he added. “If you’re asking me my opinion, I think it made a difference.”
Trump was also given several infusions of the antiviral drug remdesivir, as well as the steroid dexamethasone.
President Trump isn’t out of the woods yet, and could experience “a reversal” in his Covid-19 disease progression, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“Reversal?meaning going in the wrong direction and getting into trouble.”
Trump left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center late Monday afternoon to return to the White House, declaring he felt well.
“It’s?unlikely that it will happen, but they need to be heads up for it,” said Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force. “He knows it. The physicians know it. So they’re going to keep an eye out on it. They’re going to try and do that within the confines of the White House as opposed to in the hospital.”
Doctors know coronavirus patients can feel like they are improving, and then worsen.
“You’re not out of it until you’ve gotten several days out and doing well, but he certainly does look very well. I mean you don’t need me to tell you that. You saw the way he came out of the helicopter,” Fauci said.
Trump left Marine One on the White House lawn and climbed the stairs unaided into the White House – an unusual entry – stood, stripped off his mask, saluted and then entered the building.
“He looked?like he was in pretty good shape,” Fauci said.?
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany appeared on?Fox News’ “Hannity” tonight said she is “feeling great” and has no symptoms after testing positive for coronavirus.
McEnany called it a “really nice moment” to see President Trump on the balcony this evening at the White House and said it shows America “will overcome,” referring to Trump’s made for TV publicity stunt as he arrived home from Walter Reed medical center and taped a political ad.
“Watching him on that balcony — just showing that we will overcome, America will overcome, just as he’s overcoming this illness. I think was a really nice moment for our country to see,” she said.
McEnany added that she was “very blessed” to have a mild, asymptomatic case of Covid-19.?
Vice President Mike Pence told supporters Monday that President Trump was “doing very well” following his coronavirus diagnosis.
He spoke about Wednesday night’s debate, saying that he “can’t wait to take the debate stage against Sen. Kamala Harris.
About the debate: Pence and Harris will be separated by acrylic glass at the debate, a source familiar with the preparations tells CNN.
The commission, along with medical consultants at the Cleveland Clinic, made the decision on Monday after studying the airborne nature of the virus and as the number of positive cases in the White House continued to grow.
CNN’s Dan Merica contributed to this report.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said he got “frustrated” during his first debate with President Donald Trump, and regrets calling Trump a “clown.”?
“I should have said, ‘this is a clown undertaking,’ instead of calling him a clown,” Biden said at an NBC News town hall.?
He noted that the moderator of that debate, Fox News host Chris Wallace, said Trump had interrupted Biden or Wallace 158 times.?
At their next debate, a town hall-style event scheduled to take place next week in Miami, Biden said: “I hope we at least have an opportunity to hear the question and answer the question directly before there’s an interruption.”
Joe Biden said Monday at the NBC News town hall that he wasn’t surprised President Donald Trump was infected with coronavirus.?
Biden noted that more than 210,000 people in the US have died of coronavirus, and said “the expectation is if?nothing changes, we’re going to?have another 200,000 dead by the?end of the year.?That’s 400,000 dead, God forbid?if that happens.?That’s more than were killed in?one year in America than four?years in World War II.”
After landing at the White House following his hospitalization at Walter Reed, President Trump taped a campaign-style video and tweeted it out.?
“We’re going back. We’re going back to work. We’re gonna be out front. As your leader, I had to do that. I knew there’s danger to it but I had to do it,” Trump said in the highly produced video, which he taped after reporters left the South Lawn.?
“I stood out front. I led. Nobody that’s a leader would not do what I did. I know there’s a risk, there’s a danger. That’s okay. And now I’m better and maybe I’m immune? I don’t know. But don’t let it dominate your lives. Get out there, be careful,” he said in the video, which was filmed within close proximity of White House staffers all without wearing a mask.
Of his battle with Covid-19, Trump said,?“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. We’re gonna beat it. We have the best medical equipment, best medicines.”
“I didn’t feel so good. Two days ago- I could have left two days ago. Two days ago, I felt great. Like better than I have in a long time… I said better than 20 years ago. Don’t let it dominate. Don’t let it take over your lives. “
As he landed at the White House, CNN reported that?more than 210,000 people have died in the US from?coronavirus.?
Democratic nominee Joe Biden said in an NBC News town hall Monday night he was “very happy” that President Donald Trump “seems to be coming along pretty well.”?
But, he said, he was concerned by Trump’s tweet that Biden characterized as telling Americans, “don’t be so concerned about this, essentially.”?
“Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life,” Trump had tweeted hours before he departed from the Walter Reed medical center.?
“You have about 1,000 people a day getting the coronavirus. It’s a significant concern. I hope no one walks away with the message thinking it’s not a problem,” Biden said. “It’s a serious problem. It’s an international pandemic.”
He said he hopes that the message from Trump’s battle with the virus will be that Americans should wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines.
Biden said Trump bears responsibility for contracting coronavirus because he flouted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance.
President Trump has returned to the White House tonight after departing from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he spent three nights being treated for coronavirus.
After exiting Marine One, Trump entered the White House through the Blue Room balcony and not the typical entry of the residence. He walked upstairs from the South Portico. He then took off his mask while on the balcony and put it in his pocket while he gave two thumbs up.
TV viewers got a highly unusual view of the presidential helicopter as it flew along the Potomac, past the Pentagon, and then banked and turned towards the National Mall near Reagan National Airport before landing on the White House South Lawn.?
Watch:
President Trump has left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to return to the White House after spending three nights in the hospital being treated for coronavirus.
Trump recklessly downplayed his experience in a tweet announcing his departure.
“Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life,” Trump wrote, even as his doctors warned he wasn’t yet “out of the woods.” The building he’s returning to has become a center for viral contagion — in part because of disregard for mitigation measures.
Trump emerged from the front doors of the hospital at 6:38 p.m. ET with a fist pump.
He made his way down several steps on his own accord dressed in a suit and wearing a mask. Trump waved to the press and said “thank you very much” and gave a thumbs up before getting into the motorcade. He now has a short drive to Marine One.
He ignored shouted questions from reporters.?
Watch the moment:
President Trump tweeted that he’ll be “back on the Campaign Trail soon” ahead of his departure from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center tonight.
Read his tweet:
Trump spent three nights in the hospital being treated for coronavirus.
Previously, Trump’s doctors have said his condition required intravenous medication and, on at least two occasions, supplemental oxygen.
Earlier today, Trump’s physician Dr. Sean Conley insisted Trump was well enough to return home.
“He’s met or exceeded all hospital discharge criteria,” he told reporters outside Walter Reed. “We plan to get him home.”
President Trump’s name was on a list of names of people who had tested negative for the coronavirus before last Tuesday’s presidential debate, the Cleveland Clinic said Monday – and indicated that he would have had to have tested positive within 72 hours of the debate.
But the clinic, which acted as health security adviser to the Commission on Presidential Debates, did not review the test results, clinic spokesperson Angie Kiska told CNN.
Kiska told CNN that the Clinic suggested the campaigns begin testing on Sept. 27 because that “covered into the night of the debate.” Once a person had submitted a confirmed negative test result, they did not have to submit any further testing.?
“The Cleveland Clinic required everyone entering the debate hall to have a negative COVID-19 test. This was also required by the White House medical team,” the Cleveland Clinic said in a separate statement sent to CNN.
Both campaigns had to submit the names of those who tested negative within the 72 hours prior to the end of the debate, Kiska said.?
The submitted names, including that of the President and former Vice President Joe Biden, were reviewed by the Cleveland Clinic. However, the Clinic did not have to review actual test findings or see proof of negative results, said Kiska.?She also said the date of the test was not required.
Under the agreed protocols, the campaigns were allowed to use any diagnostic test that had been authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. That would include both rapid antigen tests and the gold-standard PCR diagnostic test. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rapid antigen tests are generally less sensitive – less accurate at generating true positive readings — than PCR tests.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the Senate is “praying for a quick healing and smooth recovery for President Trump and the first lady.”
McConnell said he spoke with Trump two times over the phone during the weekend and that both times Trump’s “spirits were high,” and that their topics of conversation included discussing Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court. ?
McConnell accused Democrats of holding up coronavirus stimulus relief and said “for the sake of our nation let’s hope they finally lay down their partisan demands and let our country get back on offense against this disease.”
He also said that members will receive at least 24 hours notice “if any votes on urgent matters are scheduled before October the 19th,” noting that otherwise that is when the full Senate will next convene.
But the majority leader made sure to say that despite that “we are full steam ahead with the fair, thorough, and timely confirmation process that Judge Barrett, the court and the nation deserve.”
After wishing President Trump and first lady Melania Trump well during their convalescence, Joe Biden, wearing a mask for his remarks, sent a message to the President asking him to listen to the science.?
Speaking in Little Havana in Miami, Biden said his prayers continue to be with the President and first lady, who, “like so many American families are dealing with Covid-19.”
He asked the President to support a national mask mandate.
Watch:
When President Trump returns to the White House this evening, his working spaces will be contained inside the executive mansion in temporary offices set up on the basement level adjacent to the White House medical suite, according to a person familiar with the plans.
While Trump has office space in his personal residence on the third floor of the White House, where he is also expected to work from, the temporary offices in the Map Room and the Diplomatic Reception Room will provide closer access to his physicians and medical equipment.
The Map Room is directly next door to the medical suite, which includes a reception area, an exam room, and Dr. Sean Conley’s office. The diplomatic reception room is just down the hall.
The workspace will also serve to isolate the President in the residence away from the West Wing, where staffers this week have faced a fresh outbreak.
The Biden campaign is carefully watching the actions of President Trump today, but intentionally avoiding being drawn into any criticism of Trump’s medical decisions — for now, at least.
Conversations with several advisers today echo the central premise of what Joe Biden told reporters before flying to Florida this morning: Any decisions about debates or their own campaign schedules will be based on science, not politics.
With the President scheduled to return to the White House tonight and the Trump campaign now saying he intends to debate on Oct. 15, the Biden campaign is highly skeptical of this. But they do not want to give Trump any ammunition to be able to suggest that Biden is afraid to debate, people familiar with the matter say.
“If the Trump campaign is trying to set a trap for us here, it won’t work,” a senior Biden adviser tells CNN.
The Biden advisers have repeatedly declined to talk about the White House’s refusal to say when Trump last tested negative. But it’s also an incident they aren’t eager to repeat.
So look for the Commission on Presidential Debates to be even more involved with testing protocols — should any other debates take place.
Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris will be separated by plexiglass at Wednesday night’s debate, a source familiar with the preparations tells CNN, as the White House continues to be gripped by a coronavirus outbreak.
The commission, along with medical consultants at the Cleveland Clinic, made the decision on Monday after studying the airborne nature of the virus and as the number of positive cases in the White House continued to grow.
Despite the White House being gripped by a number of positive coronavirus tests and the fact that Pence attended a Rose Garden event over a week ago that is widely seen as the genesis for the spread throughout the White House, the vice president has continued to test negative and the debate is moving ahead as planned.?
CNN previously reported that, in response to the coronavirus outbreak at the White House, the debate commission and both campaigns agreed that Pence and Harris would be separated by 12 feet and 8 inches on Wednesday, further away than originally planned.
President Trump is planning to participate in the next presidential debate scheduled for Oct. 15, Trump Campaign Communications Director Tim Murtaugh tells CNN.
Asked by CNN on debate plans, Murtaugh said, “It is the President’s intention to debate.”
About the debate: The second general election presidential debate will be hosted in Miami, Florida, at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, which hosted the first Democratic debates of the 2020 primary last year.
Unlike the first debate, the second presidential debate will take the form of a town hall where questions will be posed to the candidates from Miami-area residents, the commission said.
Could it be safe for Trump to attend the next debate? Here’s what one expert said:
President Trump “has not been on any fever-reducing medications for over 72 hours,”?White?House?physician?Dr.?Sean?Conley?said during a news briefing?at the?Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday.
Yet Trump has been administered the corticosteroid dexamethasone as part of his treatment regimen for Covid-19. Dexamethasone, which lowers inflammation, can mask a fever.?
“Dr.?Conley?just said that POTUS has not been on fever-reducing medications for 72 hours.?That is wrong,” CNN medical analyst?Dr. Céline Gounder tweeted on Monday. “Dexamethasone is a fever-reducing medication.”
Trump’s doctors have been stressing that the President has not had a fever since Saturday.
Being fever-free is one sign that a patient is recovering from a Covid-19 infection.?Conley?said Trump had a “high fever” on Friday morning.
President Trump has been given supplemental oxygen twice during the course of his illness so far, White House physician Dr. Sean?Conley?said during a briefing?at the?Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday.
On Sunday, the President’s physicians said that there have been two episodes of his oxygen level transiently dipping — but did not explicitly divulge how many times he had been given oxygen.
“Both times, he received a little bit of oxygen and recovered immediately,” Conley said on Monday.
Conley has previously said Trump’s oxygen level fell on both Friday and on Saturday.
Watch:
The President’s physician Dr. Sean Conley declined to provide any details on when Trump last tested negative for Covid-19 amid ongoing questions about when he was first contagious with the virus.?
“I don’t want to go backwards,” Conley told reporters at Monday’s news briefing at Walter Reed National Medical Center, claiming that contact tracing is “being done.”?
Watch the moment:
President Trump’s physician Dr. Sean Conley?said the President’s evaluations and clinical status supports his return home.
Earlier today, Trump said he’s be leaving Water Reed medical center at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Watch the moment:
One of the physicians treating President Trump said he has received his third dose of remdesivir and tolerated that infusion “without difficulty.” The physician said the President’s kidney and liver function?“continue to be normal.”
Garibaldi said Trump is still taking dexamethasone.
Remember: Trump is being given a five-day course of the antiviral drug remdesivir. The treatment is intended to shorten recovery time for Covid-19 patients.
In the phase 3 clinical trial, remdesivir was found to speed recovery in moderately ill patients with pneumonia from Covid-19, according to results?published in the medical journal JAMA?in August.
Trump was given the corticosteroid drug dexamethasone on Saturday after his oxygen level transiently dipped, White House physician Dr. Sean Conley said during a briefing on Sunday.
In the United States, dexamethasone has been used to treat some Covid-19 patients since early on in the pandemic — but?some doctors previously have warned?“it is not a treatment for mild disease.”
President Trump’s physician Dr. Sean Conley was pressed by reporters on the question of why it was safe for him to leave Walter Reed medical center on Sunday for an SUV ride to wave to his supporters outside the facility.
Conley said that Trump “has been?surrounded by medical and?security staff for days wearing?full PPE,” adding, “and yesterday the US Secret?Service agents were in that same?level of PPE for a very short?period of time.?
On the question of what precautions are being taken at the White House ahead of Trump’s planned return tonight, Conley said, “We worked with our infectious?disease experts to make some?recommendations for how to keep?everything safe down at the?White House for the President?and those around him.”?
He continued: “We’re looking at where he’s?going to be able to carry out?his duties, office space, and?I’ll just say that it’s in line?with everything we’ve been doing?upstairs for the last several?days.”?
Watch the moment:
President Trump’s advisers urged Trump not to check out of the hospital as recently as this morning, a source close to the White House tells CNN.
Even as Trump has told aides he feels better and is agitating to get out of the hospital, aides have encouraged Trump to stay, warning him of the bad optics if his condition were to worsen again requiring a second hospitalization.
“You don’t wanna come back,” is the message that’s been relayed to the President, this source said.
If Trump gets worse after returning to the White House, this source said: “That would be bad.”
“Bottom line is you can have good days and bad days. You could fool yourself into thinking you’re feeling better and you’re not,” the source said.
Trump tweeted Monday afternoon that he was leaving Walter Reed medical center at 6:30 p.m. ET and the White House press office confirmed he will be returning to the White House.?
President Trump just tweeted that he will be leaving Walter Reed medical center at 6:30 p.m. ET today.
“Felling really good!” he tweeted moments ago. “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.”
Here’s his full message:
President Trump’s physician Dr. Sean Conley will give a briefing in the 3 p.m. ET hour, according to White House spokesperson Judd Deere.?
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has again updated its guidance about how Covid-19 spreads to include information about potential for airborne spread.?
“Today’s update acknowledges the existence of some published reports showing limited, uncommon circumstances where people with COVID-19 infected others who were more than 6 feet away or shortly after the COVID-19-positive person left an area.?In these instances, transmission occurred in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces that often involved activities that caused heavier breathing, like singing or exercise.?Such environments and activities may contribute to the buildup of virus-carrying particles.”
Some background: Last month, the agency updated its guidance to say Covid-19 could spread through the air, then abruptly reverted to its previous guidance days later.
At the time, the agency said a draft version of proposed changes had been posted in error, and once the scientific review process was completed, the new language would be posted.
CDC said people can protect themselves from the coronavirus by staying six feet away from others, wearing a mask that covers their nose and mouth, washing hands frequently, cleaning surfaces and staying home when sick.
Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser said the city’s administration has not had “substantial contact” with the White House since the Covid-19 outbreak among staff and members of Congress.
She said that her administration has reached out to the White House on both a “political level and a public health level” but they have not received a response.?
She said the city’s administration is concerned about the spread of the virus in general and that “scientifically justified protocols to contain the spread of the virus are being followed.”
“That’s for DC residents, that’s for DC workers and that’s for also people on federal properties including the White House,” Bowser said.
She added that “we have a mask mandate in our city for a reason. We limit large gatherings to fifty or fewer for a reason. We ask people to socially distance for a reason. We remind people to stay home if they are sick for a reason. And that applies to everybody.”?
President Trump, who is at Walter Reed medical center, is saying, “I need to get out of here,” a source familiar with the President’s phone calls today tells CNN.
CNN is told that the President is being warned that, politically speaking, if he rushes to leave the hospital and then has a setback it would be really bad for him — not just health wise, but also for his campaign.
Overall, the President is sounding very upbeat and healthy on the phone, according to the same source.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said that Trump was reckless by deciding to attend the Bedminster rally last Thursday after adviser Hope Hicks had tested positive for Covid-19.
The state of New Jersey says that all 206 people that attended the Bedminster fundraiser as well as an additional 19 staff members that worked at the event have been contacted.?
All of them have been urged to quarantine for 14 days and then to be tested no earlier than five to seven days after the event, which would mean attendees would begin being tested Tuesday at the earliest.?
“We certainly hope and pray fervently that no confirmed cases come out of the event in Bedminster,” Murphy said.?
Murphy also said that there are reports that suggest that rules regarding events in the state of New Jersey may not have been followed.
Given the positive?test results in the White House press office, staffers in both upper and lower press areas of West Wing are working remotely from home as a precaution, a White House official tells CNN.?
Some essential workers are still at the White House, the official said.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and two of her deputies tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday.
Two of White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany’s deputies, Chad Gilmartin and Karoline Leavitt, have also tested positive for coronavirus, two sources tell CNN.
Leavitt tested positive a few days ago and Gilmartin did within the last 24 hours, though the exact timing is unclear.?
Earlier today, McEnany confirmed that she had tested positive for Covid-19.
She said she is experiencing no symptoms and had no knowledge of Hope Hicks’ testing positive before her briefing last Thursday.?Hicks is one of President Trump’s top aides.
McEnany said she will begin to quarantine.
At least 10 people in President Trump’s family, the US government and circle of advisers and recent contacts have recently tested positive for Covid-19.
Meanwhile, at least 23 people from Trump’s inner circle have tested negative for Covid-19, but several of them have not stated if they have received additional tests over the weekend, and what the results are.
As of 12:40 p.m. ET, here is a running list of people who said they tested negative for coronavirus last week but have not said if they have been tested again over the weekend:
Some background: The cluster of cases among top Republican officials probably began at Trump’s Rose Garden event announcing the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court,?a senior administration official?said?on Saturday.
Both indoors and out, participants were observed without masks and not practicing recommended social distancing measures.
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were tested for coronavirus this morning and both were negative, White House spokesperson Carolina Hurley tells CNN.
CNN obtained a cable sent by the?State?Department?public affairs office on Saturday to embassies around the world providing guidance?about what America’s diplomats abroad could say about President Trump being diagnosed with Covid-19, but it gave no guidance about the health status of the President who was at Walter Reed medical center by the time the cable was sent.?
The guidance makes it clear that America’s diplomats are not expected to discuss the specifics about Trump’s health status or the fact that he had been brought to the hospital on Friday night, after receiving additional oxygen after his oxygen levels had rapidly dropped.
The?State?Department?points to one specific quote from Secretary of?State?Mike Pompeo on Oct. 2, before Trump was taken to Walter Reed, saying the situation is being taken “very seriously.”
The cable also highlights tweets from Pompeo and the?State?Department?spokesperson, both of which were sent out on Friday morning, and offered prayers to Trump and the first lady but nothing about his medical status.?
“May you both have a quick recovery. Our nation is standing strong with you,” Pompeo said in his tweets.
Many diplomats were only forwarded the guidance from their bosses who received it on Monday when they got to work, a?State?Department?official who received it told CNN.??
A State?Department?official told CNN that as of Sunday afternoon, diplomatic posts had not received guidance on how to talk about Trump’s condition. The cable sent Saturday does not give details on Trump’s health.
“If you followed what happened over the weekend, there was inaccurate information coming out from the administration anyway, so it is better we didn’t share that with our allies,” said a second?State?Department?official who received the guidance.
The White House Correspondents’ Association said in a statement on Monday that there are no new known positive tests among members of the media who cover the White House. However, “we know some are awaiting test results.”
Three members of the media tested positive last Friday.?
This comes after White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced she tested positive for the virus and is starting the quarantine process today.
The statement also wishes Kayleigh McEnany a swift recovery.?
Read the full statement:
Boarding his flight to Florida Monday, Joe Biden briefly stopped to speak with the traveling press. Asked to comment on the President leaving Walter Reed Sunday to wave at supporters from inside a car, Biden said he is “reluctant to comment” on anything relating to the President’s health and that he would leave that to his doctors.
Asked if he would debate the President if he were healthy by the next scheduled debate on Oct. 15, Biden replied,?“If the doctors — listen to the science. If the scientists say that it’s safe and the distance are safe, then that’s fine. I’ll do whatever the experts say is appropriate to do.”
He added that he is “looking forward” to the town hall style debate.?
“I’m not an expert on that but I think we should be very cautious as I’ve thought all along, and I’m going to continue listening to the scientists,” he said. “But I’m looking forward to have an opportunity to do a town hall meeting if that occurs.”
Arlette Saenz reports:
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham tweeted Monday morning that he had just spoken with President Trump, who he said “sounds terrific– very engaged and ready to get back to work!”
Graham said the President is “very excited” about Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s impending Supreme Court confirmation process, as well as “focused on a good deal to help stimulate the economy.”
This comes as Graham continues to press forward with Barrett’s confirmation ahead of Election Day, despite two Republican members of his committee testing positive for the coronavirus in the past week.
On a new stimulus bill, although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin remain engaged in negotiations over a new stimulus package, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on Fox Monday, “there are still some major differences” between the sides.
President Trump has been pushing for a deal via Twitter as he remains hospitalized for the virus.
See Graham’s tweet:
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted today that she tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday morning.
She says she is experiencing no symptoms and had no knowledge of Hope Hicks’ testing positive before her briefing last Thursday.?
She said in a statement posted on her Twitter account that she will begin to quarantine.
McEnany is?at least the 11th person close?to President Trump to have recently tested positive for the virus.?
Read her tweet:
Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence again tested negative for Covid-19 Monday morning, an administration official tells CNN.
Vice President Mike?Pence is still scheduled to travel to Salt Lake City, Utah today, according to daily guidance released by his office moments ago.
Pence is set to debate Sen. Kamala Harris in the vice presidential debate in that city Wednesday.
First lady Melania Trump has tweeted she is “feeling good & will continue to rest at home” after testing positive for Covid-19 last week.
She also thanked medical staff and caretakers, and said she was praying for those affected by coronavirus. CNN has reported the first lady has no plans to leave the White House while she battles the disease.?
See her tweet:
Dr. George Yancopoulos, founding scientist, president and chief scientific officer of Regeneron, said that it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment on when the White House got in touch to ask for the experimental Covid-19 treatment President Trump received.??
Yancopoulos said on CNN on Monday that as?physician scientists,?they respect patient privacy and in doing so, leave questions like this to the patient and their direct physicians.
When asked if they had heard from the President’s team over the weekend,?Yancopoulos?said they hear the same thing about the President as everyone else.?
“What we hear is very much, I think, what you’ve been hearing,” Yancopoulos said. “That he’s been doing exceedingly well, and that they’re very optimistic.”?
Remember: The White House confirmed doctors gave President Trump a single 8-gram dose of Regeneron’s?experimental?antibody therapy to treat Covid-19.
Regeneron, a New York-based biotech company, confirmed that it provided the drug in?what’s commonly known as?a “compassionate use” request from the President’s physicians.
The therapy?is known as REGN-COV2; the company calls it?a “cocktail” of two monoclonal antibodies.
Polyclonal antibodies are made using several different immune cells, while?monoclonal antibodies are made using identical immune cells that are clones of a specific parent cell.?
To make its monoclonal antibody therapy, Regeneron scientists selected two antibodies that best neutralized a version of the novel coronavirus in the lab. They then cloned these antibodies and put it into a treatment. Regeneron is using two antibodies since they think it will work best as the virus mutates.
Read more here.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease, said on CNN Monday that period from when someone is able to spread the coronavirus to when they show symptoms varies from person to person, and the general guideline is that it’s safe for a person to go out 10 days after they developed symptoms.
But Fauci declined to comment about President Trump’s SUV ride on Sunday, a few days after Trump developed symptoms.?
Fauci said that there have been studies that tried to isolate the virus when people are in the disease state or recovering and they don’t have it.?
He said the period when someone is contagious is “usually before they get symptomatic and for a few days thereafter.”
When asked by Berman about the President riding in an SUV on Sunday about four days after he reportedly showed symptoms, Fauci responded, “I don’t want to really go there, John, and comment on that.”
The nation’s top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has worked on a number of outbreaks, including HIV/AIDS, Ebola and Zika virus. Even though every outbreak has been intense, he says, there has been “nothing to?the intensity that we’re?experiencing now” and that what’s different this time is “a very divisive society.”
“You always have a degree of that?when you have outbreaks as we’ve?been in the past but nothing to?the intensity that we’re?experiencing now with Covid-19,” Fauci said.
Basing decisions and actions on science is critical, he said.
“Make sure you stay?on that path because otherwise?things don’t work out right,” he added.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is calling for federal cooperation as authorities continue to contact trace after President Trump’s big-dollar fundraiser at his New Jersey golf club Thursday night despite?the President and staff knowing he had been exposed to coronavirus.
“We need everybody to punch at their weight here,” he added.
The President announced he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for coronavirus roughly eight hours after leaving the fundraiser, when he was back at the White House.
Murphy also emphasized the need for everyone at the Trump event to self-quarantine.
“This?borders on reckless in terms of?exposing people not just in New?Jersey, but looks like from?folks around the country, who?have now scattered by the way,” he added.
Watch more:
Wall Street opened higher on Monday after President Trump’s doctors said he might be released from the hospital today.?
That said, there’s still a lot of room for volatility. Aside from the President’s health, hopes for a new round of fiscal stimulus and uncertainty surrounding the election in four weeks are keeping investors on their toes.
Here’s how things looked at the opening bell:
Dr. Anthony Fauci said everyone who was at the White House Rose Garden event should “absolutely” be contacted by contact tracers.
Speaking to CNN’s John Berman on New Day on Monday, Fauci said he is not involved in the contact tracing efforts underway.
“I don’t know what the process of the contact tracing is that’s going on at the White House,” he said. “In general, the CDC is very much involved with the local authority.”
Berman said he was surprised to hear that New York Times reporter Michael Shear?–?who did not attend the event, but was at the White House that Saturday, traveled on Air Force One that night, and has now tested positive for Covid-19?–?has not been contacted for contact tracing.?“Yes, absolutely,” Fauci replied.
Though Fauci wouldn’t comment specifically about the contact tracing efforts, he did say, “But the one thing we do know is that when you get cases, if you have a situation where someone comes into contact and is infected, and you know that there are people around him, that it the important public health measure is to do the identification, isolation and contact tracing.”
Fauci said the goal is “so that you can get people who have been exposed, to go into the appropriate quarantine, get tested and do the things that are very clearly delineated in the CDC guidelines.”
Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that?New York Times reporter Michael Shear?attended the Rose Garden event. Shear did not attend the event, but was at the White House that Saturday.?
Watch Dr. Fauci:
President Donald Trump was demanding to go back to the White House on Sunday, two sources familiar with the situation told CNN.
“He is done with the hospital,” one of the sources said of Trump’s mood yesterday.
Trump is concerned the sight of him being hospitalized “makes him look weak,” the other source said.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said earlier this morning that a determination by Trump’s doctors as to whether the President would return to the White House would be made later today.
President?Trump’s campaign?has been thrown into chaos, adjusting its tactics, messaging and work environment following Trump and a number of top aides and political allies’ positive tests for?coronavirus.
Trump is in the hospital. His campaign manager,?Bill Stepien, and the Republican National Committee chair,?Ronna McDaniel, contracted the virus. All of the campaign’s planned rallies and fundraisers featuring the President and his family are on hold. And Trump’s ability to debate Democratic rival?Joe Biden?again is uncertain.
Trailing Biden with one month left in the 2020 race, Trump is now stuck in a position he’s spent months trying to avoid: Faced with an election that is all about the coronavirus pandemic, with no way to change the topic.
Biden meanwhile has committed to?getting tested more frequently?as he continues in-person campaigning in the final month before Election Day.?He is campaigning in Miami today, delivering remarks at 4 p.m. ET focused on the economy and the Hispanic community.?
With ballots already available in 35 states and voting beginning in the swing states of Arizona, Iowa, New Hampshire and Ohio within the next week, millions of votes could be cast with Trump sick with a virus he has downplayed for months.
The next time Trump and Biden are scheduled to meet in person for a debate is?October 15, for a town hall-style event in Miami. But it’s unclear now whether Trump will be physically able to participate.
The Commission on Presidential Debates is already preparing to make a change that is effectively a rebuke of Trump, whose guests declined a Cleveland Clinic doctor’s request that they wear masks at the first debate on Tuesday.
A source familiar with the matter said the commission will announce that everyone in the debate halls, except the candidates and moderator, must remained masked until conclusion — and those not wearing masks will be escorted out.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN this morning that he has not been involved in the care of President Trump and declined to comment on the status of his condition following the President’s Covid-19 diagnosis Friday.
Fauci praised the physicians that have been treating Trump at Walter Reed medical center, saying he is getting “optimal care.”
“I might comment that my?colleagues that I know,?including Sean Conley, are?very good physicians and very?qualified so I am really?confident that the President of?the United States is it getting?the optimal care that you can?get with the team over at Walter?Reed,” Fauci said.
Watch Dr. Fauci:
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said a decision about President Trump’s discharge from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center will be made later today after a consultation between Trump and his doctors, but he added that Trump has made “unbelievable progress.”
“We are still optimistic that based on his unbelievable progress and how strong he’s been in terms of his fight against this Covid-19 disease, that he will be released, but that decision won’t be made until later today,” he added.
Later in the interview, Meadows said it’s his understanding the earliest time this decision may be made would be this afternoon.?
President Trump has no events on his schedule for Monday as he continues to be hospitalized at Walter Reed medical center.
Yesterday, Dr. Brian Garibaldi, who is part of President Trump’s medical team, said the President could be discharged from Walter Reed as early as today.
Trump completed a second dose of?remdesivir on Saturday and “today he feels well,” Garibaldi said.
Trump left the hospital with his security detail late Sunday afternoon so he could ride in a SUV past supporters cheering him on outside of Walter Reed. Trump waved to his supporters through the window while wearing a mask in the back of his SUV.
Trump was up and?tweeting?Monday morning, apparently watching Fox and Friends from his suite at Walter Reed Medical Center.?
Trump quoted the show and repeated his claim that “NEXT YEAR WILL BE THE BEST EVER” in terms of the stock market, before encouraging Americans to “VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!!!”
First lady Melania Trump has no plans to leave the White House while she?convalesces at the Executive Residence after contracting Covid-19, an official confirmed to CNN on Monday.
The decision marks a stark contrast with her husband,?President Trump,?who also tested positive for coronavirus. On Sunday, the President left Walter Reed Medical Center for a motorcade drive-by past a few dozen supporters outside the hospital, potentially risking exposure to his Secret Service agents.
“Melania is aware of the dangers of Covid-19,” the official told CNN. “Potentially exposing others is not a risk she would take.”
NBC News first reported?the first lady’s decision not to leave the White House.
The first lady made the decision to cut back on travel and public events six months ago because she was aware of the extensive apparatus of people involved in her movement, and did not wish to chance their health, nor her own, the White House official told CNN.
Last month, the first lady traveled to New Hampshire to visit a hospital program focused on treating babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome.
Rudy Giuliani said he spoke with the President last night, and Trump said he will listen to his doctors about when he can leave Walter Reed hospital.?
He added it’s his understanding that no decision had been made about Trump’s possible discharge as of last night, saying “I don’t think they decided yet no. All of these decisions are assuming you make the progress they predict you’re gonna make by the next day.”
After Trump’s political stunt to greet his supporters yesterday, Giuliani admitted that the Secret Service will be at risk protecting the President over the next few days. However he claimed, “the chances now at this point of his spreading infection is small. He’s wearing a mask, they’re wearing a mask.”?
Giuliani said Trump “has to keep the spirits of America up” which he says was part of the reasoning behind the drive outside of Walter Reed last night.?
Remember: An attending physician at Walter Reed harshly criticized Trump’s Sunday drive-by as a risk to the lives of Secret Service agents who accompanied him in his SUV.
“Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential ‘drive-by’ just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity,” Dr. James Phillips tweeted.
President Donald Trump is hospitalized at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Maryland, where he has spent the past few days following the announcement of his coronavirus diagnosis early Friday.?
If you’re just joining us, here’s a recap of the latest developments:
Trump could be discharged later today:?Dr. Brian Garibaldi, who is part of Trump’s medical team, said the President?could be discharged?from Walter Reed medical center as early as Monday. Trump completed a second dose of?remdesivir on Saturday and “today he feels well,” Garibaldi said on Sunday, adding that if the President “continues to look and?feel as well as he does” they hoped to discharge him as early as Monday to continue his treatment at the White House.
Photo op:?Trump left the Walter Reed medical center with his security detail on Sunday so he could?ride in an SUV past supporters?cheering him on outside the hospital. The White House claims “appropriate precautions” were taken but attending physician at Walter Reed Dr. James Phillips criticized the move?as something which could endanger lives of Secret Service agents who accompanied the President, saying “the irresponsibility is astounding.”
Two drops in oxygen levels:?On Sunday, Trump’s physician Dr. Sean Conley said the President experienced?“two episodes of transient drops?in his oxygen saturation.” On Friday morning, Trump “had a high fever and?his oxygen saturation was?transiently dipping below 94%,” Conley said. He added that Trump was given supplemental oxygen. Then on Saturday, the President had a second episode of his oxygen level dropping, “down to about 93%,” Conley said.
Dexamethasone:?After his oxygen level transiently dipped, Trump was given the corticosteroid?drug dexamethasone?on Saturday, Conley said. Dexamethasone is a widely available steroid drug and is typically given to patients on supplemental oxygen or needing ventilation. “We decided that in this case the potential benefits early on in the course probably outweighed the risks,” Conley said.
Mixed messaging:?But Conley has come under fire for making confusing and?misleading comments?– including one?he later walked back?– about the President’s condition. On Sunday, Conley defended the decision to not disclose that the President was administered oxygen?by saying he wanted to?“reflect the upbeat attitude of the team.”
President?Donald Trump?in March said he didn’t have “a lot of time” to meet with Dr. Anthony Fauci as the coronavirus pandemic surged across the US, according to newly released audio from an interview with journalist Bob Woodward.
Trump hailed Fauci in the March 19 interview as a “sharp guy” who has “done it before,” but when pressed if he had met with the nation’s leading infectious disease expert one-on-one for a better understanding of the virus, the President offered: “Yes, I guess, but honestly there’s not a lot of time for that, Bob.”
“This is a busy White House,” Trump explained. “We’ve got a lot of things happening. And then this came up.”
The admission could fuel fresh scrutiny: The President’s concession that he had limited time for Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, in the early weeks of the pandemic is likely to fuel fresh scrutiny of his handling of the outbreak, which has infected more than 7.3 million people in the US,?including Trump himself.
In a video?posted to Twitter?from his suite in Walter Reed National Medical Center – where Trump has stayed since Friday when he was airlifted to the facility from the White House – the President boasted that being treated for Covid-19 is “the real school” and that he’s “learned a lot” about the virus more than six months into the pandemic.
“This isn’t the ‘let’s read the book’ school, and I get it and I understand it, and it’s a very interesting thing,” Trump said in the video posted Sunday. “And I’m going to be letting you know about it.”
Trump’s March concession of not prioritizing time for Fauci also underscores the tension that has defined their relationship throughout the pandemic.
Trump already admitted he played the virus down: In previously released?interview tapes, Trump admitted to Woodward that he knew weeks before the first confirmed US coronavirus death that the virus was dangerous, airborne, highly contagious and “more deadly than even your strenuous flus.”
“This is deadly stuff,” Trump told Woodward on February 7.
And on March 19, the same day Trump said he didn’t have a lot of time to meet with Fauci, he also told Woodward he “wanted to always play it down.”
WATCH:
Russian scientists responsible for creating the country’s coronavirus vaccine are calling for the US to reconsider?Sputnik-V following the news of US President Donald Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis.
“Now would be a good time for the US to seriously consider the Russian vaccine to defend themselves against Covid-19,” Vladimir Gushchin,?head of the laboratory at the Gamaleya Institute told CNN’s Matthew Chance.?
Alexander Gintsburg, director of the institute that created?Sputnik-V, told Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti that Russia was ready to help the US if they asked for support.?“I think that if they officially turn to Russian authorities, we will be able to help them,” Gintsburg told RIA on Friday.?
Gintsburg said he expects the US will be able to take care of their President, but it would have been good to have vaccinated Trump with the Russian vaccine, adding there are other US officials who should now consider taking?Sputnik-V.?
Moscow fast-tracked the approval of Sputnik-V before phase 3 human trials had started,?generating criticism outside Russia.?
CNN?previously?reported in August that Russian officials in Moscow had offered?“unprecedented cooperation” with Operation Warp Speed (OWS), the US multi-agency body set up to accelerate access to effective Covid-19 vaccines and treatments.?
But officials told CNN at the time?that the “US is not currently open” to the Russian medical advances.
Pacing the well-appointed presidential suite at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center between intravenous doses of remdesivir and near-hourly checks of his vitals,?President Donald Trump?has told more than one well-wisher he’s desperate to fly the coop.
So on Sunday he did. Just past 5 p.m. ET, a combination of boredom, agitation and yearning for adulation while convalescing from Covid-19 brought the President to the rear seat of a black Chevy Suburban, waving frantically as he rode at a crawl down Rockville Pike while two US Secret Service agents, dressed in medical gowns, respirator masks and eye protection, stared stoically ahead.
It was an image concocted by the President himself and the very tight group of aides who have accompanied him to Walter Reed, including chief of staff Mark Meadows and social media adviser Dan Scavino, a person familiar with the matter said. They hoped it might reassure Americans that Trump remains both hale and in command after what he deemed exaggerated news coverage of his condition and – in particular – outsized prognostications he planned to transfer power to?Vice President Mike Pence.
But his seconds-long parade only underscored the relaxed attitude toward transmission that appear to have landed Trump in the hospital to begin with. The contained space inside the presidential limousine hardly allowed for social distancing from the driver and agent. While Trump wore a mask, his status as a Covid-positive hospital patient precluded him from falling within anyone’s recommendations for a public appearance.
Afterward, members of the Secret Service voiced escalating concern at what many of the agency’s personnel have determined is total disregard for their well-being amid a deadly and highly contagious pandemic.
Read the full story:
Following two briefings from President Donald Trump’s doctors over the weekend, more details about the course of his Covid-19 illness are emerging — but some questions still remain.
Here’s a brief timeline of what we know so far:
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
President Trump?is trying to convince the world that his Covid-19 diagnosis is not a big deal after all. That strategy might be working on investors, for now.
Global markets and US stock futures are rising after Trump’s physicians said that the President could be discharged from Walter Reed National Medical Center?as early as Monday. A quick recovery could ease some of the?huge uncertainty?surrounding the US election with just four weeks left in the campaign.
Here’s the latest:
The positive outlook marks a reversal from last Friday, when stocks around the global tumbled after Trump tweeted that he had tested positive for a virus that?has now killed more than 1 million people worldwide?and infected tens of millions of others.
Various reports over the weekend sowed confusion about Trump’s condition. While his physicians on Saturday said the President was “doing very well,” chief of staff Mark Meadows later told reporters that Trump’s vitals were “very concerning.”
Then on Sunday, Trump left Walter Reed with his security detail so he could ride in an SUV past his supporters — a stunt that one physician at Walter Reed said displayed an “astounding” level of irresponsibility. (The physician, Dr. James Phillips, has not participated in the care of the President.)
The White House is “shooting?themselves in the foot,” by giving inconsistent and mixed messages about President Donald Trump’s health status, CNN national security analyst Samantha Vinograd said on Monday.
Vinograd added that countries such as China and Russia “have been trying to discredit?the United States as a competent?global leader.”
But, she said, “that’s really not?a hard sell based upon the President’s?status and the disorganized?approach to communicating the?state of his health.”
At least 10 people in President Donald Trump’s family, the US government and circle of advisers and recent contacts have recently tested positive for Covid-19.
The cluster of cases among top Republican officials probably began at Trump’s Rose Garden event announcing the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, a senior administration official?said on Saturday.
Here’s a rundown of who has tested positive for the virus so far:
Current and former Trump administration officials:
Members of Congress and the Judiciary:
Republican Party officials and Trump campaign staff:
Trump family members:
Read more:
It’s been more than two days since?President Donald Trump?was airlifted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, but Americans remain largely in the dark about the trajectory of?his infection with Covid-19?and the specifics of his condition as the White House tries to control the optics of his illness with misleading briefings, posed images and even a reckless photo-op outside the hospital.
A governing crisis: Some seven months into a pandemic that has?killed more than 209,000 Americans, the nation is now facing a grave governing crisis with?its commander in chief hospitalized, as the White House?events of the past week?serve as a textbook example of how not to handle a deadly virus.
Lack of information: The White House already has a huge credibility problem with the public, and the lack of on-the-record information from White House officials over the weekend served as a master class in opacity and contradiction that raised major questions about the President’s health.
Concern about optics: For much of this year, Trump has spun an alternate reality about the dangers of coronavirus – disputing science and the efficacy of masks, downplaying the risks to the American people, and making false statements about how 99% of coronavirus cases in America are “totally harmless” or that the virus “affects virtually nobody.”
Rallies and rapid tests: Trump encouraged his aides and advisers to live in that dangerous fantasy land, pushing his luck to the limits as late as this past week when he again recklessly gathered thousands of unmasked Americans at his political rallies and packed the top officials in government into a Rose Garden ceremony for his Supreme Court nominee. All the while, White House officials embraced the fallacy that administering rapid coronavirus tests frequently at the White House could provide a shield of immunity.
Read the full story:
President Donald Trump’s fight with Covid-19 has so far not convinced him to prioritize a responsible approach to a pandemic that has killed 209,000 Americans over his own political needs.
Trump staged an?extraordinary drive-by photo-op?Sunday in front of supporters gathered with flags and banners outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
The stunt, which risked exposing Secret Service agents riding in his armored SUV, amounted to a familiar flouting of government recommendations to stop the spread of the virus which has infected 7 million Americans.
It was the latest flagrant sign of politics superseding Trump’s duties as a steward of the national well-being – with Election Day only 29 days away and voting in many states already underway.
It came amid lingering?confusion about the President’s true state of health?after a weekend in which the White House undertook strenuous efforts to minimize the seriousness of his case. But details about the cocktail of therapies that he is taking suggest that he is experiencing complications from the disease, even as his doctors said it was possible he could return to the White House Monday.
The showman President’s motorcade photo-op followed a misleading and politicized White House performance that displayed all the failures that have made the US anti-Covid effort one of the worst in the world.
Read the full analysis:
The United States reported at least?38,630?new Covid-19 cases and?410?new virus-related fatalities on Sunday, according to?Johns?Hopkins?University.
At least?7,420,971?coronavirus infections, including 209,794?deaths, have now been recorded in the US.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.?
CNN is tracking the US cases:
A senior adviser to President?Donald Trump’s?reelection campaign said Sunday there won’t be any additional safety protocols for upcoming rallies following the President’s hospitalization after contracting Covid-19.
Senior campaign adviser Jason Miller, when pressed by CNN’s Ana Cabrera on the safety of Trump’s campaign rallies, which have largely flaunted best public health practices, said the campaign would take the temperature of attendees while providing face masks and hand sanitizer – the same steps that were in place before Trump’s diagnosis.?
His comments, paired with Trump’s?Sunday photo-op?in which he left the hospital with his security detail so he could ride in an SUV passing supporters, raise more questions about whether the President and his campaign grasp the seriousness of a highly contagious and deadly disease.
His comments also underscore the importance that Republicans believe rallies play in Trump’s White House bid.
Read the full story:
The President’s health crisis is undoubtedly the biggest single story in the United States right now. But it should not blot out the broader coronavirus story.
Along with the cooler temperatures that drive people indoors, there are worrying trends across the US. “In many states, local and state leaders are reporting worrying milestones,” CNN’s Christina Maxouris and Jason Hanna?reported?over the weekend.
Wisconsin is emerging as a hotspot: The state reported 2,892 new cases on Saturday, “a record number.” In Kentucky, the governor said his state “shattered” the previous case record. In New York City, the mayor?said?he wanted to lock down certain hot spots in the city.
The daily new-case count surpassed 50,000 on Friday. And on Saturday, there were 49,994 new cases reported nationwide, according to JHU. The virus is tightening its grip on many parts of the continental US. And the fall is just beginning, so expect that grip to get even tighter. The President’s diagnosis should be reported in that context…
Big picture: More than 7.4 million people have been infected nationwide, according to Johns Hopkins data. More than 209,000 people have died.
Read the full analysis:
President Donald Trump is hospitalized at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Maryland, where he has spent the past few days following the announcement of his coronavirus diagnosis early Friday.?
If you’re just joining us, here’s a recap of the latest developments:
Trump could be discharged later today: Dr. Brian Garibaldi, who is part of Trump’s medical team, said the President could be discharged from Walter Reed medical center as early as Monday. Trump completed a second dose of?remdesivir on Saturday and “today he feels well,” Garibaldi said on Sunday, adding that if the President “continues to look and?feel as well as he does” they hoped to discharge him as early as Monday to continue his treatment at the White House.
Photo op: Trump left the Walter Reed medical center with his security detail on Sunday so he could ride in an SUV past supporters cheering him on outside the hospital. The White House claims “appropriate precautions” were taken but attending physician at Walter Reed Dr. James Phillips criticized the move?as something which could endanger lives of Secret Service agents who accompanied the President, saying “the irresponsibility is astounding.”
Two drops in oxygen levels: On Sunday, Trump’s physician Dr. Sean Conley said the President experienced?“two episodes of transient drops?in his oxygen saturation.” On Friday morning, Trump “had a high fever and?his oxygen saturation was?transiently dipping below 94%,” Conley said. He added that Trump was given supplemental oxygen. Then on Saturday, the President had a second episode of his oxygen level dropping, “down to about 93%,” Conley said.
Dexamethasone: After his oxygen level transiently dipped, Trump was given the corticosteroid drug dexamethasone on Saturday, Conley said. Dexamethasone is a widely available steroid drug and is typically given to patients on supplemental oxygen or needing ventilation. “We decided that in this case the potential benefits early on in the course probably outweighed the risks,” Conley said.
Mixed messaging: But Conley has come under fire for making confusing and?misleading comments?– including one?he later walked back?– about the President’s condition. On Sunday, Conley defended the decision to not disclose that the President was administered oxygen by saying he wanted to “reflect the upbeat attitude of the team.”
Other developments to note:
Since?President Donald Trump announced his positive Covid-19 test,?public attention has centered on the Rose Garden ceremony for Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court announcement and how a number of its attendees have since tested positive.
But there was also a smaller, private reception inside the White House — one that did not include wearing masks and did not include social distancing.
After the public event, dozens of attendees gathered inside the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room and the adjoining hallway. The reception lasted between 30 and 45 minutes, one source with knowledge of the event told CNN.
CNN is told the attendees did not wear masks, and pictures of the event show no social distancing.
Pictures of the reception taken by the New York Times’ photographer Doug Mills and White House photographer Andrea Hanks capture a group of people talking very close together, with one image showing first lady Melania Trump, Barrett and her family posing shoulder to shoulder and directly behind Trump in the Oval Office.
See more photos from the reception:
Many of President Donald Trump’s aides or contacts who have recently tested positive for Covid-19?attended the White House festivities honoring?Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett?on Sept. 26, in the Rose Garden.
At least seven people attending the event, including the President and first lady, have tested positive. University of Notre Dame President the Rev. John Jenkins, former counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway and Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who were seated relatively close to each other, tested positive.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also tested positive and?checked himself into the hospital?Saturday as a precautionary measure, because he has asthma.
Conway, Christie, Trump’s senior adviser Hope Hicks and his campaign manager Bill Stepien — who have all tested positive — were also all involved in debate prep ahead of Trump’s Tuesday clash with Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
Trump did not address anyone else’s diagnosis during a video message from Walter Reed Saturday.
As he praised the medical care he had received at Walter Reed, he sought to spin his hospitalization to his advantage by making it sound like his diagnosis had been inevitable, even though he took few precautions to prevent it.
Read more here.
In the midst of an aggressive course of?treatment for coronavirus, President Donald Trump left the hospital with his security detail Sunday so he could ride in a SUV past supporters cheering him on outside of?Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
The short trip, where Trump waved to his supporters through the window while wearing a mask in the back of his SUV, was an attempted show of strength that displayed the President’s questionable judgment, his willingness to endanger his staff and the fact that he still does not seem to comprehend the seriousness of a highly contagious and deadly disease.
Photos of Trump’s unannounced ride posted by Getty Images show a Secret Service agent in the front row wearing a full medical gown, respirator mask and a clear face shield.
Trump’s diagnosis also doesn’t seem to have changed his campaign’s understanding of the risks their events have posed to their supporters.
Jason Miller, a senior campaign adviser to Trump, told CNN’s Ana Cabrera Sunday on “Newsroom” that the campaign will continue to take temperatures and give out hand sanitizer and masks as supporters enter rallies, but he did not detail any other changes like requiring attendees to wear those masks.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump’s doctors provided concerning details about the President’s condition to reporters, including several alarming drops in his oxygen levels, yet the late Sunday photo op showed that the President’s chief concern is projecting a commanding image to the public, amid reports that he was furious at his chief of staff for telling reporters Saturday that his vital signs early Friday were concerning.
Read the full story:
The president of the White House Correspondents Association, Zeke Miller, denounced President Donald Trump in a statement for boarding his motorcade for a photo op around the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center without the protective travel pool which is supposed to accompany the President whenever he is out of the White House.
Read the statement:
Some context:?The White House press pool was not notified about Trump’s movement outside of Walter Reed medical center, according to the latest pool report.
There was a travel photo lid issued by the White House earlier today, indicating the President would not be seen in public.
It is highly irregular for the press pool not to accompany the President during a movement.?
A non-military attending physician at Walter Reed National Medical Center harshly criticized President Donald Trump’s?motorcade photo op?as something which could endanger lives of Secret Service agents who accompanied him in his SUV.
Phillips has been an attending physician for almost three years at Walter Reed medical center and is also a board certified emergency medicine physician and assistant professor at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C.
“That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play,” Phillips tweeted.?
The White House released a statement?this evening saying?that “appropriate precautions” were taken for Trump’s motorcade and that the movement “was cleared by the medical team as safe to do.”
Speaking with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Sunday evening, Phillips, who has not participated in the care of the President, went on to say it was unlikely the President’s motorcade had been approved by medical professionals without outside political influence.
“That’s not standard practice by any means and I have a hard time believing that without undue influence, based on their chain of command, that those physicians would have cleared that,” he said of the President’s motorcade.
“When we take care of patients in the emergency department, or in?the thousands of hours I’ve?spent in the inpatient wards and?surgery and medicine and ICU, we don’t let the patients leave the hospital when they’re sick, unless they sign out against medical advice,” he added. “…The idea that this would be cleared without any medical indication is absurd.”
See his tweets:
With President Donald Trump battling coronavirus at Walter Reed medical center, White House doctor Sean Conley has come under fire for making confusing and misleading comments — including one he later walked back — about the President’s condition.
After Saturday’s televised briefing at Walter Reed, a White House official offered a more alarming assessment of Trump’s health to reporters. That reporting was initially given to a pool of reporters attributed to an official familiar with the President’s condition.
Later, the Associated Press and the New York Times identified that official as White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Conley claimed at Sunday’s briefing that Meadows’ widely reported statement contradicting him was “misconstrued.”
Conley added: “Fortunately, that was really a very transient limited episode, a couple hours later he was back up. Mild again. You know, we, I’m not going to speculate what that limited episode was about so early in the course but he’s doing well.”
Conley on Sunday also defended the decision to not disclose that the President was administered oxygen by saying he wanted to “reflect the upbeat attitude of the team.”
“I was trying to reflect the upbeat attitude that the team, the President, his course of illness has had. I didn’t want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction, and in doing so it came off that we were trying to hide something,” Conley said, adding that “wasn’t necessarily true.”
A senior administration official told CNN on Saturday that the cluster of coronavirus cases among top Republican officials probably began at President Donald Trump’s Rose Garden event announcing the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
The ceremony on Sept. 26 brought together top White House aides and allies, cabinet members, Republican lawmakers, and friends and family of Barrett, who has since tested negative but was revealed this week to have contracted the disease, along with her husband, earlier this year. Both have recovered.
Trump, who announced he tested positive early Friday, was moved to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center later that day and was expected to be there for the next few days. The Supreme Court announcement took place outdoors, but Barrett and others also gathered inside the White House.
Both indoors and out, participants were observed without masks and not practicing recommended social distancing measures.
Read the full story:
