good friday afternoon, everyone. a big question this hour -- when will we hear for the president of the united states? that is the question as president trump and the first lady spend their first full day in isolation after testing positive for the coronavirus. just moments ago, the trump campaign announcing that all campaign events will be held virtually or temporarily postponed. as former vice president joe biden heads to an event in michigan today, trump's time in isolation could cost him about half the remaining time on the campaign trail. throughout this entire hour,

we'll talk to people inside the room. new jersey governor phil murphy joins us now about his containment of the presidefallo the president's fund-raiser in his state. we've got a team of reporters and gsts who have all of the very latest reporting and expert analysis of the situation as we have been throughout the day. we'll bring you any breaking news if it does happen. let's start with nbc news white house correspondent geoff bennett at the white house. a person familiar with the matter telling nbc news that everybody is in a, quote, panic inside the white house about their own health, what is the latest from the white house? >> reporter: well the latest as it relates to president trump's health, ayman, according to white house chief of staff mark meadows, the president is experiencing mild symptoms, although meadows says that trump

is in good spirits. although, we have to say that information, none of it is independently verified, this is all coming from the white house chief of staff and the white house press secretary and this white house, of course, has a credibility deficit on a number of issues especially those issues having to deal with president trump's health. now overnight, the white house physician put out a statement where he said the president can continue to work without disruption but so far, the campaign has put on hold all of the scheduled events. they say they're going to be moved to virtual events. the rally for florida is no more. a number of lingering questions, number one having to do with the treatment the president is receiving. this morning, the white house chief of staff didn't want to weigh in on that. you could make the case that the american people deserve to know, hour by hour, the health status of a president of the united states, and we also don't know

particularly the time line, how much longer this president will have to stay in quarantine, of course that's directly connected to the severity of his illness, but this are a range of questions having to do precisely with the president's health that the white house hasn't been forthcoming about it. hope hicks, the president's close aide and confidante the white house didn't put out that information, we came to learn of that information through a very talented reporter at bloomsberg news, jennifer jacobs. the white house aware is that there's this desire for the president to be seen, of course, for anyone who's tested positive for coronavirus, you can imagine the difficulty in trying to arrange some sort of media availability, even the president going before the cameras. but that doesn't necessarily rule out the president waving from a window, waving from a

balcony, recording an audio address, a number of things that this white house is considering for the president to address the american people. >> geoff bennett at the white house. keep us posted. if you get anything new throughout the hour. we want to review for all of our viewers what we know at this poemt. tuesday with the debate ohio. hope hicks was part of the group onboard air force one. on wednesday the president traveled to minnesota for a rally with hicks by his side. that night, hicks felt unwell and self-isolated on air force one and was tested for covid-19. now thursday morning, hicks tested for the virus b that afternoon, president trump flew to new jersey for a private fund-raiser, here's how chief of staff mark meadows describe why he still went on that event. >> i'm not going to into the tiktok, i can tell you in terms of hope hicks, we discovered

that right as the marine one was taking off yesterday, we turnly pulled some of the people that had been traveling and in close contact. >> in other words, they knew before they went to new jersey. joining us now is new jersey's democratic governor phil murphy. governor murphy, it's a pleasure to talk with you. i want to first get your reaction to that fact that we just learned from the chief of staff, that the president, or the white house certainly had been exposed, they knew about hope hicks, and they still came to your state for a fund-raiser. >> let me say, ayman, first of all, it's good to be with you. most importantly, we wish the president and the first lady a speedy recovery. i'm not privy to the details, i will say this that we have

plussed up as you can imagine contact tracing resources, testing resources, we have our teams on this working between federal and state officials. it's a reminder that we're not out of the woods. >> okay, sir, i appreciate that. being in close quarters with folks is inside of a particular -- is really dangerous. it remains so. >> i appreciate that and we're going to get in just a moment. i want to hone in on the fact that the chief of staff of the white house has publicly said they knew about it as they were getting onboard, heading towards your state, so i understand you may not be privy to the details, the white house knew about it and they still went ahead to your state. >> yeah, i mean, apparently i just saw meadows, that's the first time i've seen it. come by the way from a county that's a hot spot in our state, again, we are all fighting this thing, and we just can't do stuff like be inside without

face coverings. just can't happen. no matter where it. >> fair enough. this morning, obviously, your office put out a statement saying that contact tracing is under way, i'm curious to know, have you or health officials in your state responsible for this contact tracing, been provided the names and contacts of those who attended the trump fund-raiser, either from the trump campaign or people coming forward. >> as far as i know, everybody's cooperating and that includes both the white house and the rnc and as i said, both federal and state folks are on top of this, i can't tell you that i got an alphabetical list in front of me. we're getting what we need. ayman, i'd say this, if any one was there they've got to be self-quarantining. not just the president, he's got some of his teammates that have

tested positive. folks have to take themselves off the field and this notion of testing right now will tell you sort of black or white, whether or not you're in the clear, that's actually not clear, the virus takes some time to incubate, the most important thing you do is take yourself off the field, self-quarantine and in a few days test yourself and we need folks who are there to do that. >> the guidelines from your state are very well known, the republican national committee released this statement about yesterday's events saying the site was clean and the attendee s completed a wellness questionnaire and passed a temperature screening. but it didn't say they were wearing masks. was this event in your eyes, sir, a violation of your state's guidelines. >> i'm seeing that for the first time. we ask -- we mandate mask coverings indoors.

period. by the way, ayman, just because you were tested going in, i met the president at bedminster i was tested. if you were there take yourself off the field, self-quarantine. >> all right, governor of new jersey, phil murphy, good luck to you and all the health officials working in that state. thank you for your time. >> thank you. joining us now is anna palmer, senior washington correspondent for politico. and dr. blackstock, yahoo! new medical contributor and founder of ceo of advancing health equity. anna, politico playbook says washington is getting a brutal covid reality with this news over the past 18 hours or so, does this grind the capitol to the halt? >> it hasn't so far. what we're trying to get across

is oftentimes washington feels a little devoid of reality and right now you're really seeing covid-19 come to the capital, come to washington, the white house, senator mike lee has tested positive. i think there's heightened concern around next week's hearings around the supreme court nomination, there's no mandatory testing in the capitol right now, they're saying the positions, assistant physician to the capital say they're going to have increased testing, no mandatory testing. this at the same time, we don't have a code relief bill -- >> why don't we have mandatory testing on the capitol hill. it's co-equal branch of government, they don't have the same protocols or procedures that they have at the white house. >> 100%. these are people in the succession line, right, if you look at nancy pelosi, chuck

grassley, the reason why they don't have it, the white house offered in may to give congress rapid testing, i believe, we've written a lot about this in playbook, we're kind of flabbergasted by the fact that you have people going back to their states and traveling on a regular basis that this is basically a super-spreader, place inside the capitol building and they haven't done it. a lot of it was because both the speaker and majority mitch mcconnell didn't have want to have the bad story that a few member of congress were being treated differently than the people in the state. they haven't re-examined it. chuck schumer today now is the time for it to start. >> we're reporting that the president has quote mild symptoms and only recently tested positive. what do you make of that development, that he was tested late last night or yesterday in the afternoon at least, and

already being described assympt. >> with mild symptoms, we need to know what are those specific symptoms. we need more transparency from the white house about his health status. if he's having mild symptoms as of last night, he could have been infected anywhere three, five days ago, even prior to the debate, he's had extensive traveling over the last few days including campaign rallies in enclosed areas. essentially everyone around him who's either had direct contact or within six feet of him are potential at risk. >> although he has significant risk factors given his demographics, president trump's prognosis is pretty good, explain to our viewers why you have that assessment? >> exactly, you know, he does have these risk factors but the

fact is that most people of his age will have mild symptoms and survive, but also he has access to the best care, he's been, you know, tested early in the course of the virus and also, he has access to direct care, one-on-one care by physicians the best equipment, i'm sure they're monitoring his oxygen saturation, the amount of oxygen in his blood. and he has access to medications that many americans don't have especially experimental medication. >> not to mention around the clock coverage. thank you so much. the cleveland clinic oversaw safety precautions for tuesday's debate and released a statement that says in part, based on what we know about the virus and the safety measures we had in place, we believe there is low risk of exposure to our guests. we're joined now by the daughter of coronavirus victim, who

attended the debate as a guest of the biden campaign. good to talk to you again. our own reporters reported and saw guests of president trump take off their masks while seated inside, that has been captured in pictures as well. describe for us what you saw. >> thanks for having me. so i was in the front row next to dr. biden and when i looked behind me, everybody on our side of the debate hall was wearing mask, when i looked over to the right-hand side, not a single person on the trump side including the trump family, melania trump, the trump children, wearing a mask. i remember thinking to myself, when the debate started, oh, my goodness. is anybody going to regulate on these people wearing mask? and nobody did. >> were you at all concerned while you were there, was there

interaction that made you feel uncomfortable being there? >> overall, leading up to getting into the debate hall i felt fairly comfortable. the biden campaign which invited me did a really good job of briefing me on the covid safety measures, i had the opportunity to ask questions. and then all of the attendees were required to take a test, in cleveland, and quarantine until they got the results. so only people who tested negative i thought were going to be allowed in. what is really concerning to me is that those same rules and regulations were not applied to air force one, which completely underscores this consistent disregard for rules, law and order and quite frankly human lives by donald trump and the trump administration overall. >> quickly, are you planning getting tested again since the

debate? >> yes. that's why i'm in a car right now. i'm on my way to get tested. and i had a phone call earlier today with folks from the biden camp who reached out to me to basically, you know, extend their extreme concern for me and to make sure i get tested and any other support that i could use. and you know, for example, my mom isser the fid. she lost my dad this summer. i'm her only child. trauma is real. this is unacceptable. >> kristin, i appreciate you joining us with your time and your concerns. best of luck to you as you go get that covid test. thank you. >> thank you. up next what president's coronavirus diagnosis means for our national security, could america's adversaries take advantage of this perceived weakness in our leadership. former ambassador michael mcfaul

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♪ ♪ all right, let's go to ground in duluth, minnesota, with voters are reacting to the president testing positive for coronavirus after holding a rally that local authorities estimate about 3,000 people attended just over a day ago, that's where nbc news correspondent morgan radford is

there. >> reporter: today, people are reacting because as you mentioned the president was here just two days ago, holding a rally. the question now, was that event a super-spreader? you can tell the anxiety are palpable here? there's still so much uncertainty. take a listen to what they told me today. >> i mean, the fact that he was here and i don't know if he wore mask or not, it's not the greatest thing to hear from a president. >> i'm sad about it. he's the president of our country. and i pray for him. >> nobody knows how you're going to react to covid once you get it. >> he's the one who said don't wear a mask. >> that was lisa at the end who posed that last question, aman,

if it could to the president it could happen to any of us. i think the reality is settling in here on the ground in cloout. the minnesota department of health issued a statement who said anyone who has been at that rally should go and get a test whether or not they have symptoms. ayman. >> morgan live for us in minnesota. despite the diagnosis, president trump remains on the job, and while the pentagon says there's been no change in the united states alert level and that the military continues to stand ready, today's developments are raising security concerns at least for our national security establishment. joining me now is the former u.s. ambassador to russia during the obama administration. ambassador mcfaul.

how concerned would you say our national security officials, an adversary of the united states may look at this as a moment of weakness or vulnerability and exploit it and take advantage of the moment. >> well, our national security team should be worried about that, for sure, in fact already let's be honest, we've been distracted for a long time now and the united states hasn't been engaged in crises around the world and especially the president hasn't been engaged in crises and events happening around the world. in belarus, there's the most massive pro-democratic movement that you've had in europe in decades. the president hasn't said anything. poisoning of alexei navalny by russia, he hasn't engaged in on that. even before this latest news, we have not been engaged as a world

leader and i think moving forward there will be opportunities for those who want to exploit this moment and in particular, i'm worried about turkey is doing. what turkey is doing and supporting in azeribaijan an area that could flare up. that's a place that i'm particularly worried about moving forward. >> as someone who previously worked in state department, you outlined some of these hot spots that aren't getting the atension of the president, what do you believe our diplomats overseas are doing right now to try and reassure our allies, if anything at all in. >> well, of course, they're talking about continuity of government and we have -- they should be, by the way, there's no reason to panic, we have a national security apparatus in place the vice president, the national security adviser,

secretary of defense, secretary of state, that should happen, but i think we need to be more proactive about it. i worked at the white house by the way before i went to moscow for three years and it was always important for people to see the president in action. remember pete souza, our photographer he used to take photos all the time as a signal to the rest of the world that we're taking things seriously. i think the president needs to do that right now. remote meeting of the national security. putin has done it all the time. he's not met with reporters for months. >> there's no doubt the optics are sometimes just as important as the message. ambassador michael mcfaul, thank you so much for joining us. he was a guest of joe biden's at this week's debate,

what did ohio congressman tim ryan when it came to safety precautions and mask wearing inside of the debate hall. he'll join me next. we're live in grand rapids, michigan, an hour from now, joe biden will be holding a campaign event after testing negative for coronavirus. you're watching msnbc. find your rhythm.

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michigan, at this hour, after he and his wife tested negative for the coronavirus. his running mate kamala harris also testing negative, joining me now from grand rapids is nbc news' michael memoli. an uncertain question whether or not he would go to michigan today, how much of the news of president trump's diagnosis shake up the biden campaign both politically as well as the precautions they're going to take moving forward. >> reporter: yeah, it's so interesting. one of the questions we've been asking today is why the former vice president continuing on with his travel if he was potentially exposed to the coronavirus or others on his staff given the proximity they were to the trump campaign and the president himself this week, a biden campaign official tells me just a few moments ago that they believe because he was wearing masks at all times, other than when he was on the stage and because he was a distance away from the president, and because they continue to enforce all kinds of

security protocols and safety protocols at their events, it's safe for him to continue to travel. one thing i should note, as we have seen the biden team fan out across the country, dr. jill biden just took the stage in manchester and as she's speaking right now, she's wearing mask. a slight change. perhaps, one indication of how things are changing. another note, ayman, as we look forward to the former vice president's remarks, outside at -- just outside a union hall, the union that's hosting him says that the audience will include essential workers who have been on the front lines of this pandemic and that the audience will include a survivor of covid-19. this event was supposed to focus on the economy, will continue to focus on the economy, but for the biden campaign everything relates back to the pandemic. the president's handling of it

and we should expect, of course, the former vice president to discuss today's news this his remarks. >> mike, thank you so much for your time. joining us now is democratic congressman tim ryan of ohio who attended the cleveland debate as a guest of the biden campaign. and we dive right into it. tell us about what you saw when it came to mask wearing that ev evening and the precautions that were in place. >> all the biden people and anyone who wasn't the trump family, we all had masks on and then right before the family walked in and not one of them had a mask on, and later melania walked in, she didn't have mask on. it's a moment where you roll your eyes. we hope the president is okay, it's like the rules don't apply to these people. they don't pay their taxes. they don't wear a mask. there's nobody being held accountable and it's just so

irresponsible. this was being hosted by the cleveland clinic. like, we weren't at some bar or somewhere, we were being hosted by case western reserve and the cleveland clinic. they walked in without any mask. . a level of arrogance you rarely see. >> despite the measures that had put in place going into the evening, are you at all concerned about your health since the debate and what may have happened that night, are you going to get tested for coronavirus? >> yeah, i got tested this morning. i feel fine and the attending physician at the house said it was very low risk because i wasn't around any of them for an extended period of time. melania walked in front of me, but through was a significant amount of space and the family walked in. but i didn't have extended contact. i feel fine. i'm sure i'm fine. i got tested. on my way home to ohio, my wife

is a schoolteacher, my kids go to school, this is why you wear a mask, our kids go to two different schools, i mean, you know, that's why it's so irresponsible and, you know, again, i don't want to beat a dead horse here, it's just a level of irresponsibility and then, you know, trump was making fun of joe biden, he was making fun of biden for wearing mask the last few months. and making fun of him for socially distancing and staying in his house and not being out and about, and so, here we are, you know, it's like -- you know, ultimate karma. >> congressman, do you think rapid testing should be available and required for everyone working on capitol hill? co-equal branch of government yet they don't have the same protocols put in place over at

the white house. >> yeah, i mean, we're very careful and i hope we do, but we're trying to get testing out to everybody, i mean, this is what the heroes accident was, the cares act, was to make sure everybody in the country, everybody who goes to work has access to that. we're very careful in the house with our voting and everything else. so i feel good. again, we have a lot more people to deal with. we have 535, it's a little bit more difficult. we can do contact tracing and then eventually everyone can get a vaccine, but that goes to the heroes act that the republicans won't pass in order to help everybody else. >> congressman tim ryan, i appreciate your time. thanks for joining us. after the break, i'll be joined by a lawmaker who tested positive for the virus and is still under quarantine. you're watching msnbc. ♪

♪ ♪

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campaign is doing. any new precautions they've taken for the week or beyond. >> a very big shift in strategy here, so many packed rallies, thousands of the president's supporters shoulder to shoulder in the just last week on so, he was supposed to have three more in the next 24 hours, all of them have been postponed indefinitely and we understand they might shifted to a virtual setting it's possible that the president will do something in the calling days, do a tele-rally which he was doing at the height of this crisis. we're also learning something quite interesting here is which the vice president since he has tested negative is going to be continuing with all of his campaign schedule, he'll continue to hit the road and do events. he's doing fully indoor events. i was in wisconsin for example where he was working a -- line.

while the president is essentially out of the campaign trail, he can't be traveling at this time, they may find creative ways to be a part of it, but the vice president is the one who's physically going to hit the trail. we learned that members of the trump campaign are self-isolating or quarantining. the campaign office in virginia actually remains open and so staffers who weren't expose continue to plan for events hoping that in 14 days maybe the president will be able to get back on the road. ayman, it's such a striking instant here, what the president enjoys the most bringing together thousands of people during this health crisis despite health experts' warnings, it remains to be seen how he'll be able to campaign if at all, we haven't heard from him today. >> what a rapid change.

as we keep tabs of the president's orbit, we should note to our viewers, rudy giuliani testing negative for covid-19. per his spokesperson. another lawmaker who previously tested positive for covid-19 and has been quarantined for almost two weeks is speaking out about her own personal experience. she joins me now. democratic congresswoman from connecticut, johanna hayes. almost two weeks since she tested positive for the coronavirus. congresswoman, thank you so much. how are you dealing, how are you feeling. >> hi, thanks for having me. i'm feeling much better. yesterday i was on a good path and yesterday and today had a little bit of a struggle. >> what are some of the physical challenges that you are facing day in and day out in this challenge? >> fatigue and shortness of

breath are -- it just sneaks up on. i can take phone call and get off and feel like i just got off the treadmill. you start the day feeling really good, thinking, i feel better than yesterday, at the drop of a dime, you're winded again. >> how quickly early on in this infection did you feel or maybe considered that you had the symptoms of it and you wanted to get tested for it? lot of questions surrounding the president's mild symptoms as it's described and we would be curious to know how short of a window feeling very healthy and fit to what you just described? >> i think it's very important that people think about especially this time of the year when we're in cold and flu season, because for several days i was experiencing shortness of breath, a sore throat and i

attributed it to my allergies. i was kind of self-diagnosing this was my allergies flaring up. at the point my staffer tested positive, i went and got tested the next day and my results came back positive. within 24 hours i had a fever, chills, night sweats, i think that's something we have to think about, this time of year are already traditionally sick, i think the other thing to stress, as soon as i heard my staffer tested positive i pulled down all events, i went into quarantine before i got the test and contacted my entire staff in both d.c. and connecticut and the organizers of every event that -- there were lawn parties going on where people were phone banking, i let everybody know, literally within the hour, that i have been exposed to someone who tested positive and i need to make you all aware of that.

>> let me ask you quickly about mask wearing if i can, some of your colleagues have been less strict about it, certainly a lot of people at the white house have been less strict about wearing them, what needs to be done about that from your perspective. >> we need a national strategy. we need leaders to really lead by example. i truly believe that although one of my staffers and myself tested positive, i had 25 staffers who were negative and i think it's because we really practiced all of those procedures, all those protocols, the social distancing, the hand washing, and you're always going to find where someone tests positive but for as much as we can promote that, we have to try and -- >> are you taking any medication right now, did you use any medication or treatment to help you recover?

>> just over the counter the cold medicine for just the fever and those symptoms, i had a pump for the breathing, i've been very careful because i know different people are responding differently. people sent me all kinds of remedies to try. but one thing if i can say, because i heard the last segment, and as members of congress, we don't get to regularly tested and that's something that i've been talking about and really trying to get some change in that, i think even more than members i had staffers who had such a hard time getting tested, some of them had to drive to virginia or to maryland to pay out of pocket, that shouldn't happen. not only should members and staff be covered with testing, all american families, people who are returning to work, teachers, you know, if people want to test they should be able to access one and get -- and get

rapid results that are accurate so that they're not out in the communities continuing to spread the virus unknowingly. >> it's incredible eight months into this we still don't have the capacity to test everyone in this country multiple times if need be. congresswoman, i can tell how difficult it is you trying to catch your breath for this interview. i appreciate you taking your time joining us. >> this is important. thank you. joining me now is dr. mercedes, an epidemiologisepide. at northwestern university. thank you so much for joining us. we just heard from the congresswoman who obviously tested positive, the president is in isolation, for someone who has mild symptoms like the president, what are they going through physically? >> certainly, the advice to hydrate well, the types of steps

one would take if they had the cold or flu is appropriate in this situation. the need to disclose to other people who may have been in contact with about your positive test. because it's really -- when we launched this contact tracing protocol that we can try to prevent other individuals from contacting the illness. >> if the president's symptoms are so called mild, they could last longer than a typical cold or flu, your thoughts not only the short term the two-week symptoms we talk about but someone in his age group, his weight group, what are the long-term impacts of his recovery? >> one of the great mysteries. what we don't know about this illness and learning from our large scale studies is that there's a diversity of responses even in individuals who have similar health characteristics coming into it. for most individuals it's true

that it's going to be a mild illness and it's going to resolve. however for very many individuals it turns into a severe illness. as you point out, individuals who are obese and have chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertech, existing heart disease tend to have worst long-term outcomes. however there's population of individuals who are long haulers whoened up doing well with the initial infection but then they end up with lasting symptoms of fatigue, some of those that the congresswoman just described that go on for a long period of time. i think we have to hope that the individuals exposed in in particular event will end up having their illness resolved quickly. >> all right, doctor, thank you so much for joining us. appreciate your time. despite scientific and medical evidence backing the validity and severity of the coronavirus, there's still an aggressive spread of disinformation about it. we'll have a lot more on that

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so let me start by sending my thoughts and prayers for the health and safety of of the president and the first lady after they tested positive for covid-19. and joe and i pray that they will quickly recover and make a full recovery. this is just not a matter of politics. it's a matter of health and respect. >> so that was jill biden, dr. jill biden moments ago wishing the trump family well while at a campaign event in new hampshire. less than three weeks ago, president trump held an indoor rally full of maskless supporters just outside of las vegas where we find vaughn hillyard. he's where kamala harris is scheduled to have an event today. and he, as well, has been speak

ing to voters. >> want to let you hear from a couple of the voters. it's important to have that rally that took place just outside of las vegas less than three weeks ago in which thousands of maskless individuals convened inside an event on behalf of donald trump with the president of the united states standing there and encouraging everybody to be there at a time in which more than 1,000 nevadans have already passed away here in the greater las vegas area alone. i want to let you hear from a couple of the voters we talked to this morning. >> i thought it was pretty ironic because he was denying it the whole time. more people hopefully will start taking it more seriously. >> does this make you nervous about president trump's health? >> yeah, i mean, anybody getting covid, that's serious. >> i think it's scary for our country. i think this is like a very unprecedented moment where we really don't know what's going on. >> that's what's sad about this. you automatically start laughing and going, oh, my god, clorox

and you do all that. but in reality, he got covid. >> ayman, each of those voters were telling me they were trying to figure out a diplomatic way to say they wish the president well while being frustrated with the way covid has been handled over the last seven months here. kamala harris is going to be flying into las vegas momentarily. of course, you just played the sound of jill biden there and kamala harris at a campaign event where they're doing a drive-in with your car event. it will be continuing this afternoon before she heads up to salt lake city ahead of next week's debate against vice president mike pence. in "the washington post," there's a report that there's already a slew of misinformation spreading online about the president's diagnosis. let's now bring in former fbi special agent and author of messing with the enemy, surviving in a social media world of hackers, terrorists, russians and fake news. clint watts.

this is quite an event in terms of how it's shaping up with the disinformation. how widespread is the disinformation right now around the president's diagnosis and what's the danger of it spreading further? >> i think what's most remarkable is people are sticking with their consistent theme and adapting it to the covid-19 that the president has acquired. for example, if you watch some of the qanon sort of communities, there's a experience about, this is a maneuver to essentially keep the president in power or to go after hillary clinton. i think the one that's most disconcerting is that it is actually the democrats that somehow gave it to president trump. and it doesn't really matter that joe biden tested negative and has staff has at least so far. it's a conspiracy that somehow it was a way to take down the president. from afar what's been interesting is many of the foreign nations we typically see narrate in terms of disinformation have held back to a degree meaning they are

waiting to see how serious the situation is. what is their play in it. for russia, for example, they've been sort of supportive. and president putin has issued a very supportive statement, wishing well to the president. but in that periphery you're seeing some conspiracy theories start to crop up as they start to position for how they would use this vis-a-vis their opponents. china is doing straight reporting and i'm sure trying to figure out what the stable plan is or the stability is through it. it's domestic groups here in the u.s. pushing conspiracies far and wide. >> no doubt that's definitely going to take hold over the next couple of days just by virtue of time and how these conspiracy theories work. let me ask you, though, about the broader issue that we're facing with disinformation. a new study done by researchers at cornell who analyzed about 38 million articles about the pandemic at large, not the president's diagnosis, find that the president was the single largest driver of ino demic or

falsehoods involving the pandemic. will that make it difficult for the white house to communicate on the president's status effectively for people to believe? >> absolutely. i was on air last night with brian williams when he were trying to sort this out. and the answer, how did it come? it came through the president's twitter feed. not a press conference. not the surgeon general or some doctor coming out and telling us what was going on. it came through the president's twitter feed which is notorious for being the largest single vector of covid-19 disinfo in certain cases in protests and election disinfo. so what are we to believe? and i think this is where the gap starts from the moment that we heard about this late last night, until we get some sort of a press conference or know what the president's actual status is -- >> of course. >> until we see him and know that he's okay, it's going to be really hard to know for sure because there's so much doubt cast around everything that comes out of the white house, particularly when it comes from

one twitter feed. >> i was going to say. given the vulnerability that a twitter feed can be hacked. what are you watching out for in the days ahead? >> i am most worried about mobilization. if people take this as an impetus, conspiracy to mobilize, to support the president or to challenge the president or whatever it might be, that's always the biggest fear is that people mobilize to protest into violence. >> we'll start nice finish this hour with what we started it with. where is the president in terms of comments, public statements or any reaction. clint watts, thank you. that wraps up this hour for me and for the week. i'll see you back here monday at 3:00 p.m. "deadline: white house" with nicolle wallace starts after this quick break. reak get real-time insights in your customized view of the market. it's smarter trading technology for smarter trading decisions. fidelity. my job is to help new homeowners who have turned into their parents. i'm having a big lunch and then just a snack for dinner.

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hi there, everyone. it's 4:00 in the east. we're following today's breaking news. news heard around the world that the president of the united states has tested positive for coronavirus along with first lady melania trump. they are in isolation in the white house residence experiencing mild symptoms, according to top aides. we have yet to see the president or to hear from him directly since the news was announced on his twitter feed a little after 1:00 in the morning eastern time last night. and though the white house is saying that trump is, quote, in good spirits and working, business as usual, he did not participate in the one event that was on his public schedule today. it was an afternoon coronavirus briefing call. nbc news is reporting that donald trump asked vice president me