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Erin Burnett Outfront
WH Outbreak Grows To At Least 11, Top Trump Adviser, Stephen Miller And Two More Press Aides Test Positive; Senior Pentagon Leadership Quarantining After Exposure; Trump Abruptly Ends Talks With Dems On Virus Relief Bill; Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) is Interviewed About Trump Pulling Plug on Virus Relief Bill Negotiations. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired October 06, 2020 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We're going to continue our special coverage. That's coming up next.
"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" will do so right now.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next breaking news, Stephen Miller, one of the President's top advisors testing positive for coronavirus. This news just in to CNN this moment, bringing the number of White House COVID known cases to at least 11. That is as of what we know of. The White House still dodging the basic question of how many. Why? I'm going to ask the White House Deputy Spokesperson.
Plus, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi questioning Trump's mental state after he abruptly pulls the plug on stimulus negotiations.
And Michelle Obama with a striking closing argument for Joe Biden as the rules for tomorrow night's crucial, crucial vice presidential debate are announced. I'll tell you what they are. Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight the breaking news, the White House coronavirus outbreak is growing tonight. We have just learned that top Trump adviser, Stephen Miller, has just tested positive for coronavirus. This is video of him from last Wednesday. You see him there along with Hope Hicks. Obviously, no one there wearing masks.
Miller was in that debate prep session with Trump, which now brings the total number of people who have tested positive who were in that room with the President to six out of eight people. All of them now with the virus.
And this comes tonight, Stephen Miller's diagnosis just breaking this moment. We are also learning two more press aides at the White House have tested positive for coronavirus, so that brings a total number of known infections at the White House to 11 that we know of.
And on top of all of this, the top military generals of the United States are now in quarantine, because of a positive result from the vice commander of the Coast Guard who attended an event at the White House. From the Oval Office to the Pentagon, tonight American power disrupted by the virus and yet the White House is rejecting the CDC's offer to contract trace and find out the source of the outbreak, according to a federal health official.
The White House says, we'll do it ourselves, except that they do not deal in contract tracing the CDC does, that's what it does. And knowing for sure how this started is crucial to American Security. You've got American power disrupted, top generals in quarantine, the President was in the hospital. We need to know how this started.
And as of tonight, frankly, it is possible that the President of the United States could even be the one responsible for the spread of the virus through the top corridors of American power. On Saturday, September 26th, President Trump attended the Rose Garden ceremony announcing his selection of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court.
We know that at least eight people who were near the President or first lady at that event have now tested positive for the virus. The next day, the President and the First Lady attended a Gold Star Family's military event. These are pictures from that event. It looks like it's circa 2019, there's no social distancing, you can't even see any masks in the picture and it's inside.
The Vice Admiral of the Coast Guard Charles Ray was at that event. He now has tested positive for the virus and it is his diagnosis that is forcing other senior leaders at the Pentagon to now quarantine including the top U.S., General Mark Milley. So the White House hasn't accepted CDC help and contract tracing and won't even tell us how many people have the virus.
The President was at each of those events. He was in the room for debate prep. He is the one thing all those events have in common, so we don't know who started this. But we do need to know what the situation is. The person who wants to be reelected is the oldest president in American history, Donald Trump needs to tell us about his health.
The only update today we got on that was a letter that says the President has reported no symptoms and is doing 'extremely well'. No information here about his temperature, drugs he's still taking. We don't know the last time he tested negative, which is crucial, because without it we have no idea how many people he possibly infected who may now be spreading the virus to people who could die.
But the White House does not want people to even know who has the virus inside the West Wing. Bloomberg first reported senior White House staff wanted to keep news of Hope Hicks positive coronavirus test positive. According to The Wall Street Journal, the President also asked an advisor not to disclose the results of their own test saying, "Don't tell anyone."
The New York Times reporting two White House resident staffers also tested positive. When they found out, they were told to 'use discretion' in discussing it at all.
Kaitlan Collins is OUTFRONT live near the White House to begin our coverage. And Kaitlan, look, the web keeps growing, but we still have no definitive count and the CDC is not involved, we understand, in contract tracing it.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And there's questions about that because we're just seeing how widespread this is getting just in the West Wing alone.
[19:05:01]
Because earlier, Erin, we were talking about coming on this show and talking about how there are now four press staffers in that office that have tested positive for coronavirus in addition to the Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who of course we found out tested positive yesterday. And now we've learned that today Stephen Miller has tested positive as well.
And in a statement to CNN and other outlets, he said that over the last five days he had been working remotely and self isolating. He said, "Today, I tested positive for COVID-19 and am in quarantine." That, of course, is after he was also in direct contact with Hope Hicks after she tested positive last week, in addition to the President and several other officials that we now no had tested positive.
But, Erin, just to show you how much we do not know about coronavirus, let us remind viewers that a few months ago Stephen Miller's wife who was a top aide to the vice president also tested positive for coronavirus and had it. And, of course, clearly Stephen Miller did not get it then but he does have it now.
So it is going to raise so many questions for the doctors about this, about coming into contact with people and how that works as far as it goes with transmission.
But the other thing that it's raising questions about obviously is the workplace inside the West Wing and whether or not staffers are safe, because we've talked to so many staffers, Erin, who were saying they didn't wear a mask at work because their bosses didn't wear a mask at work and they didn't feel comfortable going into a meeting with their superiors being the only person wearing a mask and we're seeing how that could have potentially helped spread coronavirus through the West Wing, given so many people now in the West Wing have gotten it.
So many top aides to the President who is now back at the White House working in the residence of the White House in different quarters, but still does not have the familiar faces around him that he did when he left the White House just last week, given how many positive cases we're now learning about.
BURNETT: All right. Kaitlan, thank you very much.
And I do want to go straight now to the White House Deputy Communications Director and Deputy Press Secretary Brian Morgenstern. So Brian, we've just found out that Stephen Miller has now also tested positive for coronavirus. Are there any more positives this hour that you're aware of that we don't know of?
BRIAN MORGENSTERN, WH DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: No, Erin, and thank you for having me on. Obviously, we've been dealing with this for a number of months now and we know what to do. We are isolating when necessary. We have our hand sanitizer everywhere. We are distancing. We are going about the work of the American people, Kayleigh and others and Stephen working remotely, continuing to carry on our work.
The President, we're thrilled to have him back and we have precautions in the residence. And we have ways that we can interact with him in a safe way with PPE and at a distance. And we just want the American people to know we appreciate all the well wishes we've received.
BURNETT: Yes.
MORGENSTERN: But want the American people to know that we are doing the people's business. We're just carrying it on in a safe way. We know how to do this. We've been in the pandemic for a while now and so we're able to carry on.
BURNETT: So when you say you know how to do this, I hope you're not surprised at the point that I'm going to make here, which is, of course, we all know how to do this, which is social distance and masking. And we all know that you all have not been wearing masks for many of those months, that's the reality we see in all of the pictures.
So Brian, when we hear Kayleigh, Kaitlan talking about how people will go in meetings with superiors and they don't want to be the only one in the room not wearing a mask, that they felt that there was pressure to not wear masks because of that, the one thing that we know works, what's your response to that? I mean, are you wearing one now in every meeting, every place?
MORGENSTERN: So many people do wear masks, we do distance, we typically leave chairs between one another in meetings. We, of course, are tested quite frequently. Those of us who have meetings at work, particularly with senior leadership like the President or Vice President were tested quite frequently.
So we do take a number of precautions and we're able to carry on here. And like I said, when cases pop up, this isn't the first time we've had the National Security Advisor as well. I saw you and Kaitlan mentioned Katie Miller earlier on in the pandemic. So we know what happens, that people have to isolate, we do contact tracing.
There is contact tracing, by the way, going on with the White House medical unit, and there's an epidemiologist from the CDC embedded there. If they need help, they know where to go.
So we're going through the process here and just carrying on our work in a safe way. And thank God, the folks who have been infected have not had severe cases and they've been able to work remotely and continue their duties.
BURNETT: So the President, you mentioned that there are systems in place now with PPE. Obviously, the CDC has made it clear a mask is meant to protect other people in case you are infected. The person we know to be infected is the President. So is he wearing a mask?
MORGENSTERN: So I haven't seen him lately, but he wears a mask when anyone is in proximity to him. And the way we've set it up is people generally will stand back from him, everyone else has masks, PPE, goggles, the appropriate attire and so we're able to be around him but in a safe way. And that's what he wants.
He needs to be back at work. He needs to show the country that he's resilient and strong and that's what he's doing. And his staff is likewise supporting him in that way as well.
[19:10:08]
BURNETT: Absolutely. So what you're telling me though and this is important, because you saw the images that we saw last night, when he took off the mask. The White House photographer came around him and that was within proximity. He then went amidst a group of people and he was not wearing his mask and they were.
So you're saying that categorically is not happening anymore. He isn't maskless while others are around him.
MORGENSTERN: So, Erin, you're showing the footage here. He's outside on a balcony, certainly not within six feet, probably more of anyone.
BURNETT: Well, the photographer came up behind him and was and he has coronavirus.
MORGENSTERN: It's hard to breathe on somebody behind you. But the point is, he's still on a balcony. He's outside. And the photographer, of course, had her mask on and she's trained like the rest of us. We know how to interact in a way that is safe and that's what she was doing.
And then, of course, the President going back inside where we have people six feet back, we maintain our distance, stay out of the personal space, as is (inaudible) ...
BURNETT: Certainly in those images, they weren't. But I mean, again, he has coronavirus. I mean, I know I feel sometimes talking to people around him about this issue, it seems a little defying reality. I would imagine you wouldn't have behaved that way.
MORGENSTERN: No. But, Erin, it's important to note that we can interact with somebody with coronavirus. It's not a death sentence, they're not a leper. It's someone that obviously is of good health, according to his doctor. He still has the virus, but it doesn't mean that we can't interact with him in a safe way.
BURNETT: Right.
MORGENSTERN: And so that's what we're going to continue to do and he'll continue to lead.
BURNETT: With the mask, absolutely. I do want to just start with - see the best you can tell us about the timeline, Brian, as I was laying it out. Because it is important when you have all of these people in quarantine, the President was in the hospital to know how this actually started.
So when the President started feeling symptoms, we are told that was Thursday, so that means he was almost certainly infected on Tuesday when he went to the debate, because of the time the CDC has told us it takes between infection and the onset of symptoms. So can you categorically, Brian, say he tested negative on the day of the debate?
MORGENSTERN: I don't have that. I have what I think everyone knows now that what we put together in terms of timeline, which is that we know that Hope had tested positive on Thursday, at some point later the President had that confirmatory test, which he announced to the nation very late at night then.
BURNETT: Yes.
MORGENSTERN: And so that's the information that we have, but the President had not been obviously showing any symptoms or anything like that. And contact tracing, it's important point, Erin, because I think there's been a little bit of misunderstanding about contact tracing. It's 48 hours looking backward from the time of positive test or demonstrating symptoms and so a lot of people are referring back to the Rose Garden event.
But if people then a week later or something like that would have a positive test or symptoms, it doesn't necessarily mean that looking back a week would be what a public health professional would do to prevent further transmission of the virus, which is what contact tracing is meant to do. It's not meant to go back and find patient zero necessarily, I understand there's a curiosity there. But it's meant to really mitigate further transmission, so that's how our health unit and the CDC embed and our supporting staff are taking care of them.
BURNETT: So do you know the answer to the question of, I'm asking not the answer, I'm asking do you know the answer, to when the President's last negative test was, do you actually know that information, Brian?
MORGENSTERN: I personally do not. I have not asked him or the doctors to go back through records and things like that. I'm not sure. But as I said, we look at it from a contact tracing sort of forward looking exercise. That's what the health professionals, that's what the CDC does, that's what our med unit does and we're letting them do their work.
And to the extent other people have positive tests is to help professionals handle their positive case, but then do the 48 hour look back and handle that sort of contact tracing as well. But the President is resilient, he's strong, he's back at work, we're supporting him and we're going about our business as well in a safe way.
BURNETT: So do you not think it's important to know how they started when you have the President in the hospital, six of eight people in a debate prep room with coronavirus, another one of them is in the hospital, top generals of the United States are in quarantine. This is all coming out of the White House. It's only a point of curiosity to you to know how this started.
MORGENSTERN: Well, the point is to mitigate further transmission. And it could have come from any number of sources, but it's almost unknowable.
BURNETT: I understand your point, that's what contact tracing is about. But do you think it's important to the American people to know how it started?
MORGENSTERN: But it's almost unknowable, Erin. I mean, if you want to go back to the Rose Garden event, there are a number of journalists that subsequently had positive tests or, of course, any number of guests, potentially who maybe were negative that day, but something happened later. So it's almost an unknowable question and we're not interested in blaming someone. We're interested in taking care of what we need to do and supporting the health professionals with contact tracing.
[19:15:03]
So as I mentioned, the President's doctor said the President is doing extremely well today. You reference that as well, Brian. We've been told some of the treatments he's received, which is obviously important, but his doctor has so far not spoken about the President's lung scans, which is important, obviously. We know this is important, lung damage and what it can do to someone, pneumonia can harm the lungs over the long term.
These are things that for the American people are really important to know. We are all about, as citizens, to vote in an election to determine whether President Trump is physically able to handle another four years. He will go in if elected as the oldest President, as with Joe Biden, but as with Donald Trump. Why not be honest and put all this information out there if there's nothing to hide?
MORGENSTERN: Well, Erin, I think we've been extraordinarily transparent. Multiple briefings by the doctors, half a dozen memos from the doctor, the President himself has spoken to the camera a number of times. Kayleigh has briefed in gaggle. The chief has spoken to the press. I'm here speaking with you saying that the President is strong and resilient and back at work.
So he's being amazingly transparent, I have to say. I mean, the President is about twice my age. He's got 10 times my energy. I have absolutely zero doubt that he is healthy and strong and able to lead the country just as he's doing now and he's demonstrating that. It seems to be making some folks angry, but he's doing great and that should be a moment for celebration for our country.
BURNETT: It certainly should be, but people should know the circumstances around that, the lung damage, obviously he's on steroids. There's a lot of pieces to this puzzle that are important and not personal, private information when you want to be the President of the United States and reelected in that role. I want to ask you one other question, Brian. This is important about
the President's been talking about stimulus. Today he ordered the Treasury Secretary to end talks with the Democrats on a coronavirus stimulus package. He said he doesn't want to deal with it until after election day and he told Mitch McConnell to instead focus on getting the Supreme Court nominee approved.
And the reason that this is jarring to me is that three days ago, the President tweeted in all caps, "Our great USA wants & needs stimulus. Work together and get it done. Thank you." So three days ago, it was an all caps tweet from Walter Reed Medical Center and today it's ordering an end to talks, did he just decide we don't need the stimulus that badly?
MORGENSTERN: No, Erin. I want to address the question, but just first to something you said earlier about the standard of care. It's really come a long way because of the President's leadership with warp speed getting treatments and vaccines to market. He's getting care that many other patients are getting with dexamethasone, remdesivir and other treatments.
BURNETT: Regeneron.
MORGENSTERN: And the course of his illness has been very fast and that's really terrific and it's part of the President's leadership that he's now actually benefiting from it and setting that example. To your question on the stimulus, look, we came up from a trillion dollars to $1.6 trillion to pay for things like opening schools, so parents don't have to do double duty for things like PPP, to get small businesses to keep their employees connected to their jobs.
We offered a standalone airline bill to keep those people from being laid off. We don't want them to suffer. It became very clear that Speaker Pelosi would rather have zero than 1.6 trillion and she was really just playing games and holding things up. And that's why the President ultimately said let's accomplish something together that we can really get across the finish line. Let's confirm a fantastic Supreme Court nominee. Let's get it done. And we are in silly season of the campaign, but that's going to be over soon.
BURNETT: Yes.
MORGENSTERN: And then we can revisit the stimulus. We know we want to help people. We know how to help people.
BURNETT: I'm just confused as to why three days ago, it was all caps, wants and needs stimulus work together to get it done and then now it's just, OK, we're at this number, you're at that number, so let's just put it off another month. I mean, it doesn't square.
MORGENSTERN: So Erin, this has been going on. The Republicans have made so many good faith efforts over the last month that have included, as I said, PPP. It's included stimulus checks to people who need them. It's included unemployment insurance. It's included an airline bill. It's included school funding. It's included all these things that everyone agrees on, by the way. These are all things that have universal agreement, but the speaker
has insisted on including things that don't have anything to do with the coronavirus to really bail out Democrat states. And so she's trying to really exploit the situation that our country is in to get stuff that is unrelated. The President is not going to stand for that, so he decided let's wait till after the election, then we'll give people the relief that we know they need that everyone on both sides agrees that they need.
BURNETT: Brian, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
MORGENSTERN: Thank you for having me, Erin. Have a good night.
BURNETT: All right. You, too.
And next, Nancy Pelosi raising questions about Trump's mental status. She is connecting it to the steroids that he's taking for coronavirus treatment. So we're going to talk to our doctors about that.
Plus, the President abruptly ending talks on that stimulus bill. So what is next? I'm going to talk to Sen. Patty Murray, Assistant Democratic Leader.
[19:20:01]
And Michelle Obama tearing into the President tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: What the President is doing is once again patently false. It's morally wrong and, yes, it is racist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:23:52]
BURNETT: Breaking news, the White House saying they know how to deal with coronavirus. As top Trump adviser Stephen Miller becomes the 11th person in the White House to test positive. Now, six of the eight people who were in the room for debate prep all have it, two of them hospitalized. One was the President, the other Chris Christie.
The White House Deputy Spokesman now telling me moments ago that he does not know the last time the President tested negative.
OUTFRONT now Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Gloria Borger, our Chief Political Analyst along with Dr. Jonathan Reiner, who advised the White House medical team under President George W. Bush.
So Sanjay, I asked that question to the Deputy Press Secretary very specifically, not when was the last test, I first wanted to know if he even knew that the answer to the question and I think it was clear that he was being honest that he does not know. So you've now got the 11th person, six in the room with the President for the for the debate prep. And the Deputy Press Secretary who's running the shop because the Press Secretary has coronavirus, doesn't even know the answer to this crucial question.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it is known, the answer to this question is known by somebody.
BURNETT: Somebody, yes.
GUPTA: I mean, it has to be.
[19:25:00]
We're dealing with a contagious virus that is obviously as deadly. The President is a vulnerable patient by virtue of his age and pre existing conditions. I mean, this has to be known and this is a national security thing almost to make sure that the President is coronavirus negative.
They said he was getting tested daily. I am starting to believe that that's not the case. But we still don't know when his last negative test was and I'm not sure why they're not disclosing that. And you I thought your questions are really good to him, but if you if you start to think about the idea that he may have been positive, much longer than we realize that's obviously a huge concern, which gets to the other questions you're asking about contact tracing.
When was the President last negative sort of is a crucial question here in the midst of an outbreak that's happening within his own house. We still don't have the answer to that question.
BURNETT: And Gloria, it's crucial because obviously we care, if the White House on the honor system said he tested negative before the debate if that was not true, right? If he just hadn't been tested. That would be a lie and it's a big lie and it's important. But it also now matters from a national security perspective.
You have a situation where six people in that debate prep room have it, two were hospitalized, 11 people total in the White House that we know of. The top general in the United States quarantined. This has now affected the entire corridor of power for the United States of America and yet the Deputy Press Secretary wanted to act as if it was merely a point of curiosity on how it started.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, he said to you, I think we want to be forward looking. The truth is we need to be backward looking right now. Because you need to know was he, was the President of the United States positive at that debate. We don't know the answer that because they don't want to tell us, because what it tells us is that there's been an epic failure at the White House to manage this disease and they don't want us to know about that quite frankly. And that, of course, has to affect the contact tracing.
As for national security, you have to take a look at this and you have to say, look at the chaos, look at the uncertainty here, can somebody or someone or some foreign adversary try to exploit this? Of course, they can. I mean, they're looking at a White House that is meltdown right now.
And I think that is scary on lots of levels, but also the fact that they are not leveling with the American public about when the President last tested negative is quite remarkable to me. As Sanjay says, someone knows and they're not saying it.
BURNETT: And that's the bottom line, Dr. Reiner.
BORGER: Yes.
BURNETT: Somebody does know the answer to this question and it's not just the President.
JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I know who knows.
BORGER: Who knows?
REINER: We all know who knows, Sean Conley knows.
BORGER: Right.
REINER: Sean Conley absolutely knows, because he administers the test. And I can tell you with almost certainty the answer to the question as to whether the President was positive on the day of the debate and that answer is yes. Because the average incubation period from the time of infection to symptoms is about five days, so let's turn the clock back.
The President became symptomatic on Thursday night. So to think that he was negative on Tuesday and now symptomatic on Thursday is not really consistent with the natural history of this disease. And also the fact that there was an obvious outbreak, infecting people apparently at the SCOTUS announcement five days earlier, again, is consistent with the fact that the President was probably positive earlier.
So the reason why Dr. Conley will not disclose the last negative date is that it was a long time ago. It was a long time ago.
BURNETT: And yet, Sanjay, they won't put that information out. And again, I believe the Deputy Press Secretary, maybe I'm the crazy one, I believe him that he doesn't know. I don't think they're giving people like him that information, because they don't want it to leak out. I mean, Gloria, I don't know, do you disagree?
BORGER: Well, no, I think you're a hundred percent right. I have to ask the question, what did Mike Pence know and when did he know it. He's the Vice President of the United States. He's about to have a debate tomorrow night. I mean, maybe somebody ought to ask him that question at the debate. I don't know, but what did the vice president know?
I mean, Dr. Reiner, you've been in a White House. I don't know how this information flows, but if you're Mike Pence, wouldn't you even ask the question of Dr. Conley when was the President's last negative chest just so I know for my own sake and for the country's sake. BURNETT: What do you say, Dr. Reiner?
REINER: Well, they've obviously created a firewall and Dr. Conley knows.
BORGER: Yes.
[19:30:01]
REINER: And, unfortunately, since they went -- they used this notion that the president gets tested every day as one of the excuses for why he did not wear a mask in the presence of other people. You know, what they said was, the testing that he had precluded him from having the virus, so he didn't need to protect you from him.
But the truth of the matter is, the test they have been using, the Abbott test, has never been designed to do this. In asymptomatic people infected with the virus, they may have a viral load lower than the ability of that virus -- of that test to detect it. So they've been using a flawed system to begin with.
But if they -- if they acknowledge now that the president is infrequently tested, it just creates -- it just shows you that everything has been a lie up to this point.
BURNETT: Now, Sanjay, one of the things that Brian said that I found jarring was when he said we know what to do when you get the virus, right? And we know how to handle it. Obviously, they wouldn't have the virus if they had done the basic things that everybody knows to do, right, including wearing masks.
But his comment about masks was there was nothing wrong with the president taking off his mask, because the photographer was behind him and he's not a leper. It's not a death sentence to be around somebody with coronavirus. That's his justification for what we saw last night with the president. Not wearing a mask.
GUPTA: Yeah. Justification is the right word. I mean, they're just trying to justify things.
The president should be in isolation. I mean, you know, we're coming up -- they're coming up with excuses for all this behavior. He should be in isolation. He got in a car, he got in a helicopter, he flew to the White House, he was around people without his mask on.
I mean, there's no justification for this. For his own sake and for obviously the sake of people around him, he is dealing with COVID. He's probably shedding virus right now. You know, he turned around, I mean, he said, he walked into the house.
BURNETT: Right, amidst a group of people who were not social distancing. Right.
GUPTA: Yeah. And then he walked into the residence, you know? So, then he walked inside. So they can justify this all they want. This is another example of minimizing the virus. For the sake of the president who has COVID, who has been sick from
this, and for the sake of people around him, he should be in isolation. Better at the hospital, that's where he should have stayed.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you all three very much.
And next, stop Senate leaders now accusing the White House of hiding crucial information when it comes to the White House outbreak. Senator Patty Murray wrote a letter to the White House demanding answers. She's OUTFRONT.
And Michelle Obama delivering her closing argument for the election, and she's not mincing words.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:36:38]
BURNETT: Breaking news.
President Trump pulling the plug on stimulus negotiations, saying he will focus instead on Amy Coney Barrett and the Supreme Court. The Dow falling nearly 400 points on the news.
OUTFRONT now, the assistant Democratic leader, Senator Patty Murray.
And, Senator Murray, I appreciate your time tonight.
This bill had a lot in it, $25 billion for airlines. Airlines say that would have allowed them to bring back about 50,000 workers that they furloughed on October 1st. So, now, this has been put off until after the election. What happens, say, to those 50,000 workers for the airlines?
SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D-WA): Well, it's the airline workers, it's the people who have been unemployed. It's people in the hotel industry who are minimum wage workers, who no longer have a job and just waiting for a little bit of help.
It's the people in the food line. It's the people on the front lines of this pandemic, and our health care system that aren't going to get the help and support they need.
It's the small little communities across the country that are reeling from the economic impact, who just had the president of the United States virtually say to them, I don't care. That to me is so irresponsible.
BURNETT: So, I want to ask you about the letter you wrote. You wrote it along, I know, with the Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. You accused the White House of, quote, opaque and secretive handling of information.
So when you say that, Senator, what specific information do you think they are hiding? MURRAY: Well, since the beginning of this pandemic, back in January
and February, I have been angry because this administration has not taken this as an urgent health crisis. Their number one job is to secure the safety and health and economy of this country, and they haven't been urgent about it. Now, we have a White House who is clearly covering up when this started, who was exposed, the extent of it.
So, those people who have been exposed can take care of themselves, quarantine, and not spread it further. It is really dismissive of people's health and well-being, and it sends a message not only to the White House, but to the country, that this crisis is not being dealt with in a way to assure you and your family, that you are being taken care of.
BURNETT: Why -- Senator, why do you think they're doing this? Why, if it's as simple as just having people have the ability to take care of themselves, if they're in quarantine --
(CROSSTALK)
MURRAY: I fear that for the president, he worries about optics more than he does about any human being in this country. And he wants -- he doesn't want us to know when it happened or how it happened or that he might be the spreader or whatever because he's worried about politics.
It is so past time to think about that. We have to think about the health and safety and security of everybody who's been exposed and every family in this country. So, I don't expect the president to do the right thing, but I do expect some people around him to be adults and take charge and deal with this.
BURNETT: Do you think -- I don't know if you just heard Dr. Reiner, right, who used to advise the White House and obviously worked with Dick Cheney and communicated with the press frequently in that role about his health. He's raising the point that the president, he believes, he believes, had -- would have been positive for the virus on the day of the debate if he were to have been tested, which right now it doesn't seem that he was.
[19:40:07]
But we just don't know, right, because they're not giving us that information.
MURRAY: Right.
BURNETT: Do you think, Senator, because this is a really significant thing to say if so, that President Trump knew he was ill, but went ahead with his travel and events schedule? Obviously, we know he was not feeling well on Thursday when he went and met with the donors, right, and he knew Hope Hicks was positive, and that's a terrible thing that he did that.
Beyond that, though, do you think he went to a rally, do you think he went to a debate? (CROSSTALK)
MURRAY: I don't know. And you know what he looks like, he's the kid who has his hand in the cookie jar and he won't fess up. And you're looking at him, and you know.
This is far more serious, obviously. If they know when the president was contagious and are not telling people so that they can take care of their own health, that is so wrong, irresponsible.
I'll just say as a mom and grandmother, it's time for people to take care of the people around them, to make sure that they can take care of themselves and prevent themselves from being sick or spreading it.
No one knows of any of those employees who work in the White House, whether it's military, whether it's the waitresses, whether it's people who clean the bathroom or serve the president, if they have somebody at home that could die because of this, let's go (ph) up in the White House. That's what I would have to say.
BURNETT: Senator, I just want to ask you, the White House deputy spokesperson was on. Obviously, Kayleigh McEnany is quarantined. So, Brian Morgenstern was on.
I asked him specifically whether he knew the answer to the question of when the president last had a negative coronavirus test, right? Does he know the answer to that question? He said he does not know the answer to that question.
Do you think it's acceptable that the deputy press secretary wouldn't know that?
MURRAY: Well, somebody knows. And somebody responsible needs to stand up, fess up, tell people. Not so we can point fingers. I'm so far beyond that. But so that people can protect their own health.
If people have been exposed, they need to know it so that they can get tested, so they can quarantine, so they can stop the spread of this virus. It has impacted the health, well-being, and lives of too in people in our country and our economy, and as a policymaker, I can tell you, we have spent billions of dollars as a result of this pandemic.
Let's stop fooling around, let's take the steps we know that need to be taken, let's contain this, and it starts with letting people know if they have been exposed so they personally can take the precautions to stop the spread.
BURNETT: Senator, I appreciate your time. Thank you.
And I want to turn now to Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, obviously, one of the nation's top experts on testing and coronavirus.
So, Dr. Jha, it was another thing that President Trump did today that I just want to give you chance to be clear about. He claimed the coronavirus is far less lethal than the flu.
He tweeted: Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000 and despite the vaccine, die from the flu. Are we going to close down our country? No. We have learned to live it, just like we are learning to live with COVID, in populations -- most populations far less lethal.
Dr. Jha, that claim is factually untrue.
DR. ASHISH JHA, DEAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Hi, Erin, thanks for having me on. That was untrue. It was untrue when it was uttered in March. It's been untrue every time it's been uttered by our leaders, by the president and his supporters and it continues to be untrue today.
It's just not the fact. This virus is between five and times more deadly than the flu. And that's why it is wreaking havoc on our society, and it's wreaking havoc because we have ignored it, acted like it's the flu and not brought it under control.
BURNETT: So I also want to ask you about why you think the president is saying that. This is just show bring he's going to go politically. I know you're not weighing in politically, but it appears that's what he's trying to do, right? He can't say I learned a lesson, because that would be taking responsibility for what's happened which he can't do, because that involves a lot of death.
So this, is I'm going to rip that mask off and say this is nothing.
JHA: Yeah. You know, I think a lot of this, when we were watching the president struggling, he was sick on Friday and Saturday. And still sick, by the way, he's not out of the woods. We were hoping that this would be a wakeup call, would help the president realize how serious this is, how most Americans don't have access with the kind of care he has, and therefore, get him on board with getting Americans to take this virus seriously.
And I think we're all feeling disappointed that he's not used that opportunity in that constructive way.
BURNETT: No, in fact, he did the exact opposite of what his arch nemesis has done. He's making the whole case of his re-election, one of the main cases, right, is I'm going to be tough on China, I'm going to take them on that they gave us this virus. You need me for the American economy to stay about theirs.
China, though, whatever dishonesty they had about their death count, they are back to normal way more so than we, right?
[19:45:05]
We see them out on a holiday. You see -- they don't even all need to wear masks anymore. Now, you when you -- when you see that, and images of strength, our president sees the image of strength as whipping off his mask, right? The image of strength projected by President Xi was to go in a hospital and look at people on video cam and completely garbed in PPE. What do you make of that?
JHA: Yeah. So, on the one hand, China's actions, certainly in the early days, I think was pretty unacceptable. And the way they brought the virus under control was incredibly draconian and sort of police state, and I wouldn't want that in our country, and it was also unnecessary. There are a lot of other countries like South Korea and Germany and others who done it in a way that would have been much more acceptable to our people.
But either way, China has brought the virus under much better control than the U.S., and their economy is doing better as a result of it. And at the end of the day, we should be one of the leaders, not one of the laggards in the world when it comes to controlling this virus.
BURNETT: All right. Dr. Jha, appreciate your time as always.
JHA: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, the vice president's staff rejecting a decision to place plexiglass around the vice president. The Biden campaign responds next.
And Michelle Obama speaks out in the final weeks of this campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY: A lot of people are being sold lies from those who want to get rich and stay in power, or sometimes both.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:50:43]
BURNETT: Tonight, Joe Biden offering a message of unity as Michelle Obama offers her stark assessment of the Trump presidency and what she says is at stake of this election in her closing argument for Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Think about what the next four years would mean for our country's future. The message we will send to our children about who we are and what we truly meant. Think about what would possibly compel you to accept this level of chaos, violence and confusion under this president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Arlette Saenz is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Joe Biden near the site of one of the Civil War's bloodiest battles, pressing his case for unity for today's divided nation.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We must seek not to have our fists clinched, but our arms opened. We seek not to tear each other apart, but see to come together.
SAENZ: Biden travelling to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, invoking the words of President Abraham Lincoln.
BIDEN: Today, once again, we are house divided. But that, my friends, can no longer be.
SAENZ: The former vice president with a push for bipartisanship and overcoming racial divisions, and issuing a call to action.
BIDEN: We must vote, we will vote. No matter how many options are thrown in our way, because once America votes, America will be heard.
SAENZ: With the coronavirus crisis still raging across the country, Biden saying leaders should follow the science.
BIDEN: Wearing a mask is a not a political statement, it's a scientific recommendation. We can't undo what has been done. We can't go back. We can do so much better.
SAENZ: Biden's trip took him to the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania while President Trump is sidelined for the campaign trail with coronavirus. With just four weeks until Election Day, a new polls show Biden with his widest lead yet over the president nationwide. The Democratic nominee ahead of Trump with likely voters by 16 points.
Biden's advantage fueled by support from older voters, a group Trump won by seven points in 2016, but now, backing Biden by 21 points.
And the former vice president seen at a bigger advantage among women with two-thirds of female voters favoring Biden over Trump.
Today, one of the Democratic Party's most revered women take taking aim at the current president.
OBAMA: They are stoking fears about black and brown Americans, lying about how minorities will destroy the suburbs? So, what the president is doing is once again is fatally false, it's morally wrong and yes, it is racist.
SAENZ: In a 24-minute video, Michelle Obama making her closing argument for the election with her own pitch with unity.
OBAMA: Let's be very real. America is divided right now and a lot of people are being sold lives from those who want to get rich or stay in power and sometimes both. And as I have said before, we must all empathize with those who might not look like us or vote like us.
SAENZ: The former first lady urging undecided voters to vote their conscience.
OBAMA: We can no longer pretend that we don't know exactly who and what this president stands for. Search your heart and conscience and vote for Joe Biden like your lives depend on it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAENZ: Now, Biden a short while ago told reporters that if the president still have COVID when they're set to face off in their debate next week, that they shouldn't have that debate.
Now, tomorrow, Biden's running mate Kamala Harris will off face for her first and only debate against Vice President Mike Pence.
And today, the Biden campaign released a set of new ads featuring just Kamala Harris herself as they're looking to highlight the historic nature of her candidacy.
BURNETT: And it's going to be a crucial, crucial vice president debate in this country's history.
[19:55:02]
Arlette, thank you.
So, tomorrow tonight, Senator Kamala Harris will be going head to head with Vice President Mike Pence, and it truly is one of the most important vice presidential debates in American history. It is amazing to think of how crucial tomorrow night will be.
OUTFRONT now, Karine Jean-Pierre, chief of staff to vice presidential nominee, Senator Kamala Harris.
So, good to have you with me, Karine. Let me just start by asking you the latest information we have now is that Katie Miller, who obviously works with Vice President Pence, is taking herself off of his team for the debate, not going to go there. She's already had coronavirus, but her husband Stephen Miller, we just had found out within the past hour has tested positive. He was also in that room, of course, with the president of the United States, during his debate prep before that debate last week.
So you are going to be submitting these test results. I mean, are you confident in the system here this time around? Is it still the honor system as far as you know it in terms of test results?
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, CHIEF OF STAFF FOR DEMOCRATIC VP NOMINEE KAMALA HARRIS: Yes, we are confident in the system. If the president debate commission, they are in charge with the safety measures for this debate, we abide by them and we listen to them.
And so, we as a campaign are doing our part. We are getting tested and we are wearing our masks, as you can see right now, Erin. We are keeping our social distance.
And that's how leadership looks like, right? That's what -- that's what in a Biden and Harris campaign is trying to do. It's lead by leadership. That's what's going to happen with their administration. And that's what key.
Look, this is serious. This is not a hoax. COVID-19 is not a hoax. We see an outbreak literally happening in the White House.
And we have a president who is putting forward rhetoric that is incredibly dangerous. He's been doing that in particular especially since he left the White House, and that is what is dangerous.
BURNETT: So --
JEAN-PIERRE: And that's what they need to speak to.
BURNETT: Katie Miller, actually -- again, she had the virus. Her husband now has mocked your boss, Senator Harris, over these plexiglass shields, right, that are going to be put up at the debate. And I -- she said, if Senator Harris wants to use a fortress around herself, have at it. They've now said that the president will not have the plexiglass.
Senator Harris, my understanding, is -- will.
Karine, will she make this part of her argument, that yes, I want -- I'm going to own this. This is here and it's here for a reason. Is this plexiglass actually going to become something significant?
JEAN-PIERRE: Let me remind the viewers who are watching, Mike Pence is in charge of the White House COVID task force -- 19 task force. This is his job, one of his jobs -- one of the things that he owns.
He and his team should want more protection. They should want to make sure that not just Kamala Harris and Mike Pence's lives are safe and protected but also the moderators and his -- and their family, and also the families who are on the front who are going to be watching. And that's what -- that's what you do. That's what leadership looks like.
And so, it is -- it is shameful that Mike Pence, again, who's in charge of this task force that his team is complaining and his team is complaining about this. Look, tomorrow, what we're going to see is we're going to see Kamala Harris is going to make that contrast between a Biden/Harris campaign and this Trump -- and Trump and Pence's campaign.
And what I mean by that is they're going to -- she's going to lay out what Biden and Harris would do in a crisis like this and to avoid -- what do we do in a pandemic, what would we do in an economic, and lay out the plans and make that contrast. That's what this is about in the debate.
It's about making sure that you present to the American people a vision and our vision is very different than what we see with Trump and Pence.
BURNETT: So, the details that we have, the vice president stage, left, Harris, stage, right, 12 feet and three inches between them. First question I believe to the vice president. And we now know no opening and closing statements.
What are the last things that the senator is doing to prepare? JEAN-PIERRE: Well, the senator has a very diverse debate prep team
with her. They are some of the best who have done this at this level. She is very well-prepared. She is ready. She is ready to make that contrast and make the case for a Biden/Harris administration.
And she's done this before, right? She's done it first, since she's running for senator, we all know attorney general, district attorney. So, now, it's just taking it to the next level, but she is ready. She's going to do what Joe Biden did last week is talk to the American people. Let them know what is our vision and what is our plan for once they become -- going into the administration.
BURNETT: Karine, thank you, I appreciate your time.
JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you. I appreciate it.
BURNETT: And you can watch that vice presidential debate live here on CNN tomorrow night, as I said so crucial to watch this. Our special coverage begins at 7:00 Eastern tomorrow night.
Thanks for joining us.
"AC360" with Anderson begins now.
