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.
