going to see the president at this point there's a large crowd of media here there are some passersby who have stopped to watch the activity we're seeing cars honking for the television cameras there is sort of a crowd gathering here in anticipation of a major news will be able to see or when we'll hear any information from the president's doctors. the president's doctors have not been in front of the media to take questions we had statements on paper but no questions from the media to the doctors or medical team. back over to you. it's 6:00 on the east coast. 3:00 p.m. on the west coast. i'm sheppard smith at cnbc global headquarters. this is breaking news now on cnbc we're waiting for president trump to walk out of the white house we're told on his own to be taken to the marine one helicopter that you see on your screen for transport to walter reed medical center after he tested positive forcovid-19.

a senior administration official tells nbc news the move to walter reed is a precautionary measure after consulting with physicians and that the president will stay there for the next few days working out of walter reed's presidential offices that have been in place for many years the white house says the president has not transferred power to vice president mike pence. the president is still in charge this afternoon, the president's physician report that he was fatigued but in good spirits and received a regeneron cocktail to lesson the symptoms. the president has a low grade fever and has for much of the day. the white house calling the president's symptoms mild and later in the afternoon, his senior economic advisor larry c kudlow saying his symptoms are moderate peter alex eander reports mike pence will remain in the

reservery. yesterday the president seemed tired and has a raspy voice. cdc says every covid-19 ten patient should isolate for ten days the news came in the 1:00 a.m. eastern hour five hours later bloomberg reported hope hicks tested positive so we learned last night but she learned on wednesday a group of white house officials got word then that hope hicks had tested positive and the president had been around her repeatedly yet, he traveled to a fundraiser in new jersey after. the president did not wear a mask at the event at his golf course in bedminster or on the plane to and from there. where did this begin who was the super spreader the truth is we do not know but have these facts around noon today the republican senator mike lee of utah

announced he tested positive now, look at this video. see on the right of your screen? this is from saturday. six days ago at the supreme court nominee announce 789 this was no washington and people shaking hands all of this activity goes against the cdc guidelines another person tested positive the president of notre dame and see that picture there the nominee herself judge amy coney barrett tested negative today but new today, judge amy coney barrett had the virus. three officials said it was back in the summer the judge since recovered. she has tested for covid-19 today and amy coney barrett tested necessarygative for covi now. there is no word of further spread but one journalist and

one white house staffer who worked with journalists tested positive today according to the white house press association. now, we don't know what that journalist or the staffer are. but the vice president and karen pence have tested and they are negative the president's election opponent, the former v.p. and his wife dr. jill biden have also tested negative in addition, vice president biden's running mate in the upcoming election, kamala harris has also tested negative testing and tracing is happening now with members of the president's inner circle now, think of this the president made a number of moves after he had been around hope hicks who tested negative the question is when did the transmission of the virus happen well, we have reporting to indicate that both the president and the former vice president joe biden were indeed tested prior to the debate, which happened on tuesday night. chris wallace was there and he

said that members of the president's family did not wear masks on that occasion but there is noting to indicate that others who were at that event have tested positive aside from the first lady. you have to go back to the saturday event at the white house with all of the hugging and no wearing of the masks that does raise concerns and questions about whether that virus could have been spreading in that event. think of it. the people who were there, the president was there. he's now negative for covid-19 the first lady was there she's negative -- positive for covid-19 both of them are positive. in addition, the president of the university of notre dame tested positive. mike lee who you just saw in that video, the republican senator from the state of utah tested positive. so whether there was a super spreader event that happened on saturday, we cannot know definitively but those facts exist. whether the president was infected there, we can't know. he is in two high risk categories, the president. both age and weight. the president is 74 years old

and clinically he is obese let's go to cnbc kayla for more. we have questions whether others who have been tested and tested negative might have a future test positive just like players on the tennessee titans' team did. it's believed they may have spread the virus at the same time but people tested positive on different days because it takes awhile for this virus to show up in testing and takes even longer for symptoms to develop, kayla. >> reporter: usually experts recommend being tested five to seven days after potential exposure and because of the regularity of the tests conducted for white house and cabinet officials, they test negative until they test positive in the case of president trump and hope hicks who both are tested regularly. earlier today, the chief of staff mark meadows was asked about contact tracing and one of the challenges is the president entertained a pretty wide circle

of company in the past week everything from a one on one meeting with the oval office with the treasury secretary to private fundraisers with small numbers of donors to thousand person rallies at airport hangers outside. all the while he chris crossed many events at the white house we heard many officials say on the record they themself tves he tested negative. one of the president's top aids tested negative and jared kushner and ivanka trump tested negative larry kudlow tested negative again today and peter navarro, he was asked on a call with reporters earlier today and ended the call instead of answering the question people who had close contact with the president were told to work remotely but for those who want to go to the west wing and

work in person, they have to have a negative test to do that. the white house is now doing that for every single staffer who wants to enter the west wing at least as of this morning, they're using the abbott rapid test the president unveiled earlier this week although it's an antegen test with a higher rate of false negatives so we could see more positives as the days go on. >> thanks very much. kay kayla. this is not the series of events which we were anticipating the white house is to be questioned i'm not saying that at all i can information what we've been learning throughout the day. it was clear through the series of statements that were made by people close to the president that he had symptoms and that at least larry kudlow classified themed a moderate, not mild during the 3:ocho -- 3:00 hour

this afternoon that did not go unnoticed. by the afternoon it was clear he had a fever. then it was clear he would get a cocktail from regeneron and after that kmchoppers would be coming around 4:30 we were not reporting this the president's safety was of importance and we wouldn't tell you that choppers were coming because it could be danger to the president. we held off on that in agreement with the white house, all the major news networks. we were told around 5:15 all of the networks could report what we knew from white house information and that the chopper would land, the president would walk out of the white house on his own, would go to the chopper, the chopper would take him to walter reed, once he's at walter reed, he would work for the next few days inside the presidential quarters there. there are offices set aside for the president and we believe it

would happen sort of orderly in a time period like that. now, it's certainly possible that, you know, something came up and there is just a delay we don't have any idea what it is there is nothing official from the white house except that the president will be working there. that he felt fatigued. that he has this low grade temperature and that he'll be taken there and working there. he's still in charge of the government there is no transfer of power. he's not that sick but the rhetoric has changed throughout the day i've given you those examples already. we have gotten some news from the biden campaign while we wait, what we believe to be the president going to walk out of the white house. that's what the white house told us we have news from the biden camp mike, what have you learned? >> reporter: shep, former vice president joe biden just took off from grand rapids here after holding a campaign event in which he largely stuck with his message focused on the economy

and pandemic offering thoughts and prayers for the president and his health and reminding americans for their patriotic duty to wear masks and follow guidance and make sure everyone is healthy and safe. the news we learned in the last few minutes is that the biden campaign has made the decision to suspend all negative advertising on the air waves the biden campaign has an awful lot of money to spend on television advertising they will continue to run positive advertising but given the president's condition, and especially in light of the announcement that he is going to be spending a few days at least at walter reed, the biden campaign is telling me just in the last few minutes they are suspending all negative advertising. this is a campaign that has been operating on frankly a crisis footing for months they have adapted their campaign strategy to the coronavirus. i've been covering the former vice president for 12 years. i've been covering this campaign since it began covering him in the last eight months really meant often not getting close to him

when i am, it's after being tested and after being -- having my temperature taken this is a candidate that does not to change it. >> the negative campaigning is gone which makes sense u y you don't go negative on somebody that's sick he's the president of the united states he's the most powerful man in the world and he's ill every american hopes that his progression doesn't happen and that he's better immediately and the campaign can return. but it's, you know, there are no a assurances of that with this disease. 206,000 americans have died and counting of covid-19 and people with co-morbidities are most vulnerable statistics from doctors and scientists that i'd like to share now. people the president's age, he's 74 who develop covid-19 often but not always, often have more subtle symptoms initially that may give way to progressing

illnesses conditions as time goes on. one of the commonerly symptoms among elderly covid patients is a drop in mental acuity of periods of mental confusion. we have no information to suggest that anything like this has happened this is a disease that can often, can and often does confound with many people experiencing no or very mild symptoms in the early going and then progressing to be very serious or stopping at the level where we're told the president is now but those who are older and those who are obese are more vulnerable let's go to eamon javers i don't want to suggest there is something a miss here except that we had every indication that the chopper would land. the president would walk out on his own. sort of show of strength and, you know, calm to be reassuring to the people of america and frankly, to world leaders that he would walk out, get on the

helicopter go to walter reed and continue with his work. so far, that's not what happened. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, shep we don't know the cause of the delay. the vice president has remaineded at his residence, the naval observatory, not too far of a drive from where i'm standing now outside the walter reed military medical center what we know is that the president has access to top of the line medical care at the white house, but this is one of the most state of the art medical facilities in the world so clearly, there is a decision they need to have access to some facilities or personnel here that they don't have access to at the white house that would be the reason why you would physically move the president out of an abundance of caution is what the white house is saying now. what we don't know exactly what is happening behind the scenes the last time he came here for the surprise physical last year, we saw the president walking out of the white house in a very hurried way but walking into a motorcade for transport to

walter reed. in this occasion, they landed marine one, the helicopter on the south lawn and we expect to see him walking out there. the white house press poll for marine one departures is brought to the south lawn to film that, the president walking from the oval office to the helicopter or from the residence to the helicopter and in both cases, we can see that from our position on the south lawn. we'll see if we're allowed to get that shot today. if the president is in a strong frame of mind, strong physically, you would imagine the white house would want us to see that image of him walking on his own two feet out to the helicopter tonight we don't know why they have made a decision to helicopter here today rather than take the mo r motorcade but it is a rush hour to the extent there is a rush hour anymore here in washington d.c. so maybe this is simply in the interest of getting him here as quickly as possible but no indication here on the ground at walter reed that we are going to see the president at any time. there is a little police activity here outside where the media have gathered but not a

lot. i got to tell you, shep, there is no indication anything is imminent from where i'm standing. >> this notatiknonotice, stay w you can, this notice from the president's doctor from kayleigh mcenany from sean conley came out this afternoon just shortly before 5:00 eastern time and then the white house asked that we hold this information until 5:15 eastern time. that was when the networks were told it would be -- we would not be putting the president in any jeopardy by reporting this and they wanted this information released, which is why they gave us this release. it was at 5:15 we could report the president would be walking out of the white house it now 6:16. so it's been one hour and one minute since that happened during that period, eric trump has issued a tweet which came out a few minutes ago and said, donald trump is a true warrior he will fight through this with the same strength and conviction

that he uses to fight for the american people each day i ask you to join me in praying for his recovery i've never been more proud of someone and what they have had to endure. so that from eric trump on the president just a short time ago. let's gorucker from "the washington post" that has covered the president and breaking news regarding the president over the past four years. phil, this hold until 5:15 the chopper has come flying in the word the president will come walking out, that he will get on the helicopter on his own accord, that we'll walk out on his own as it shows strength and now an hour and two minutes later, we see no movement. what do you know, if anything? i'm told now that the president is coming out. the producers say that is happening now. we can't see it because of the chopper but he is coming out and we'll have the tape.

they aren't allowing live pictures of that i presume unless it's in other locations they aren't allowing a live picture. i wonder what you make of this and what your sources said about what is p haeni haening. >> our reporting is his condition has worsens to some degree today he has a fever and a cough and also nasal congestion. those of course are symptoms of the coronavirus and also as one source described it like having a head cold so we'll see officials are saying he's going to walter reed out of an abundance of caution but we know donald trump and how much he focuses on image and the image of him being airlifted to the hospital is probably not something he would do unless he felt it were necessary so we can read into that what we will we'll look for those images of him walking out and really be

able to take a look at his condition. >> the rotor is turning now and the president will be taken to walter reed. one of the -- phil, one of the marks we have to look at historically, recent history is that of boris johnson whom "the washington post" reports almost died of covid-19 and that's a quote. today wished the president a speedy recovery. if memory serves, boris johnson had his first symptoms and then three to four days later he was in what amounts to an intensive care unit in great britain it was rough going for him. >> it was very rough going and it was not rough going immediately but it became worse for boris johnson and it became worse very quickly and so perhaps, this is an effort by the president and his medical team to try to get him into a place at walter reed where he had better care around him and the proper equipment and protective gear for medical professionals and they can take

care of him as his condition changes, perhaps in the days to come. >> though, the president had not shown a lot of concern about coronavirus over time, he had shown concern behind closed doors. i've talked to reporters who said that he didn't want to be near anyone unless they had been tested, that he was concerned about the virus itself what is your reporting on those instances in recent weeks and months >> it's certainly he has been concerned inside the white house there say pretty strict testing regimen in place, has been for months where anybody who is on the staff or outside guest will be coming into contact with the president is tested that morning daily but we could all keep in mind what the experts keep telling us, the tests don't mean somebody is invincible it is recommended everybody wear masks, especially in quarters and they socially distance and those are measures this

president ignored and the white house decided not to enforce. >> phillip rucker, from the white house pool report, the president did walk out on his own. mark meadows was there with him. both were wearing masks i'm told and the white house pool was able to shoot tape of that but not permitted to have live pictures this is a really stunning picture that we're seeing now. we have been living with this virus since the early days of march. our nation was on lockdown and very concerned our economy began to teeter. our businesses began to shut the largest city in america was completely shut down for months on end and the president remained re remained resolute. his closed a visor was positive for covid-19 and the president was positive today we learned he had mild

symptoms that larry cud lkudlow was moderate and the washington reports are escalating symptoms and the president of the united states is being flown to walter reed medical center where officially, the white house says he will work for the next few days while being monitored by doctors. the world is watching at this moment dr. scott gotly is with us under president trump, cnbc contributor. pfizer and alumna board member, as well dr. gotly, we have reporting from "the washington post" that the president's condition has escalated throughout the day and n brks krrc and are you concerned that we're seeing an escalation in a man of his age under his conditions or is it your belief that these are all precautionary measures >> well, the bottom line is we don't know we hope for the best with the president. i think it's not surprising that

his condition would worsen before it's going to improve he's a 74-year-old gentleman this is a serious disease in people of that age and people who are older. it's not surprising that he's developing progressive symptoms and doesn't necessarily mean he's going to progress to the stage where people develop the acute respiratory syndrome and have that sort of viral inflammatory response to the virus where they get very sick that usually develops eight to 12 days after the onset of symptoms so the president's symptoms now could progress a little bit and start to resolve or it could progress into that more serious disease that is a small percentage of patients that will develop that condition but that's when you worry. if his symptoms progress through the week, that's a worrisome sign he could be progressing to the more serious stage, which we hope not. >> well, that's all the more reason to be at walter reed. it's my understanding walter reed has some of the best pa

cities available and if the president of the united states has a disease that killed 206,000 americans. it seems like it would be. >> people who get sick who are older when you talk to the doctors who are caring for these covid patients, they describe circumstances where they deteriorate quickly. this isn't a progressive illness where every day you get gradually worse. a lot of patients will develop blood clots and deteriorate because of that. you have more of an ability to put him on blood thinners in that facility if that's something the doctors decide to do and more resources, if in fact, he does continue to progress in his illness, which we hope he doesn't, but you have more resources in case that does happen so i think it's prudent to have him in a facility where you can back yourself up and you have more care available. i don't think there is anything -- >> here is the tape of the president walking out. this is just a few minutes ago

let's listen. i must say as an american, that's a reassuring piece of video right there. the president walking out with a solute to the marine to the helicopter mark meadows there at his side the president wearing a mask i believe this is the second time i've seen him actually wear one. mark meadows wearing one, as well and now that helicopter on route to walter reed he, you know, what do you make of somebody walking across a lawn except, you know, he was up and on his own and doing just fine that's how it looked, at least,

doctor. >> it's encouraging. if his oxygen saturation was low, if he was requiring supplemental oxygen, i don't think they would have allowed him to walk across the lawn like that without sup meaplemental oxygen it's encouraging to see and suggestions his symptoms are still in the range of mild to moderate at worst and he hasn't progressed to the point where his oxygen saturation decreased to a worrisome level. >> we don't know exactly when the president contracted the virus. we don't -- it's not possible for us to know but i listened in the last hour, it wouldn't stand to reason he got it at the debate it would stand to reason that he would have been presymptomatic at that time so we can go back to the saturday event, six days ago where we have the nominee for the supreme court and all of those who were sick that day

that would put us six days out so the next, what, five, six days would be of critical importance. >> well, you would be looking from the time when symptoms came on so he's been symptomatic for 24 to 48 hours and so you'd be looking eight to 12 days from the point at which he became symptomatic is when patients develop the post viral inflammatory phase where your body has an inappropriate immune response you don't look at the point in which you got infected. >> i want to go to eamon javers is there at the hospital as the chopper is coming in eamon? >> reporter: that's right. we can see the marine helicopter is coming in moving the president is a multiple helicopter affair and we can see both of them arriving here at the naval hospital here. we see two helicopters coming in and one is approaching the grounds of the hospital for a

landing presumably that is the one that is carrying president trump right now coming in just behind our live shot position where we are standing right here and presumably and medical staff the new home of walter reed will be on hand to move the president very quickly from the helicopter to the facility here at walter reed we saw the president walking out of the residence and getting on board the helicopter under his own power. that was as you said, shep, an encouraging sign i would imagine that we will see something similar here it's not clear if we will get similar pictures here because the white house press pool does not travel on marine one with the president. the pool would be presituated in place if they can be and from our position here, we will not be able to see the president emerging from marine one, which is just behind my shoulder here now but the president has arrived and presumably will soon move into the facility and begin

whatever process of treatment is necessa necessary. we don't know exactly what the medical specialists are going to be doing this evening in terms of the president but we got a fascinating dynamic now as the sun is setting over the hospital here just outside of washington d.c., the president arriving here, the vice president at the naval observatory a short ways from here we are told there are no plans now to transfer power from the president to the vice president but the president, the vice president i'm told is feeling healthy at this hour and is at his residence as the president is being moved here to walter reed, shep, back over to you. >> we'll watch for the president. that's a matter worth noting the vice president was in close contact with the supreme court nominee, as well it would appear that others who were at the that event have since contracted the virus and it stands to reason they would be closely watching the vice president's condition as well because we know there is this lag between the time when you're

in the presence of the virus may have ingested the virus and the time when you show a positive test so that people have tested negative does not mean that people have not come into contact with the virus we just don't know yet and there is no a way to know. frankly, until we do. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. i've just been texting with officials to get an update on the vice president's status and what i'm told as i said he's at the residence and he remains healthy. that is the phrasing i'm getting. he remains healthy there is an on going health progression here and they will monitor the viels president as carefully as possible given the situation you're seeing behind me as the president is going in for some of the best medical care anywhere in the world this is a military facility so the best military doctors will have access to the president and he'll have access to all of the cutting edge technologies. over at the vice president's

residence, a waiting but no transfer of power from the white house to the vice president at this time, shep. >> masked marine escort as the president waits to walk down the stairs presumably and be met at some point by the doctors there. it strikes me asi'm confident it does you, this is a president maybe more so than any in recent memory, let's listen here as he comes down and we'll pick it up from there of pi optics matter to this president more than any i can remember and he used to speak of central casting. i remember back in the early says when he was talking about who would be working for him and his general and mat dog mattis was right out of central casting. optics matter to him and he always wants to show strength. this trip to the hospital i

can't imagine this is what he would have wanted. >> absolutely not, shep. the president as you remember during the 2016 campaign raised questions about the health and physical stamina of his opponent hillary clinton and that raised -- he has been racing questi - raising questions about the physical stamina of joe biden saying he's hiding mocking him for wearing masks in public and not leaving his basement as the trump campaign has called it during the course of the year. this is a president who very much as you say wants to project strength wants to project confidence. he told bob wood ward this year he was down playing the virus despite what he knew about it and told bob wood ward earlier in the year because he didn't want to cause a panic. he wanted to project that sense of calm and strength to the country that he always wants to project about himself personally now we're seeing a moment where the president can't fully do that and that's got to be frustrating for him and the people around him as he's being helicoptered to the hospital but

those images of the president walking under his own two feet will be very reassuring to americans across the country and also to the white house staff that the president does appear to be not worsening to such a degree that he can't make that journey at least, shep. >> when we received this word, i'm confident for every american it was shocking. the president of the united states has contracted a disease that can be very, very difficult. and true to pattern, you know, you look at patterns with this president, the pattern, he's never deviated from it the president controls the message through his twitter account and during the early morning hours before the sun came up in new york city, i was following -- watching his twitter waiting to hear from the president i'm fine i'm positive but i've tested positive but all is well or something, anything because he always without fail does and as the day went on and we weren't

hearing from the president, i must admit, it did give me some pause because i just expected that we would hear something from him and we never did and still have not. >> yeah, you know, that was my instinct, as well, shep. we got word of this about 1:00 a.m. this morning. my producer called me on the phone and woke me up -- >> forgive me because it would so happen the president has posted a video statement to twitter. it's just happened as far as i know and we have it. let's look. >> i want to thank everybody for the tremendous support i'm going to walter reed hospital i think i'm doing very well, but we're going to make sure that things work out. the first lady is doing very well so thank you very much i appreciate it. i will never forget it thank you. >> well, that's what you have. it's looping so i want to thank everyone very

much and off he goes. >> yeah, short and sweet we don't know exactly when the president recorded that and what we don't know is exactly who issued the tweet he put out last night from the white house suggesting that he had tested positive we saw mark meadows, the white house chief of staff say we decided to put out that tweet last night as soon as we knew what was going on. presumably there is a collective decision making among the team that presumingly, we know the social media team does have access to that twitter account and can put information out under the president's name they chose not to do that during the course and the president thanking everybody, and relatively and encouraging as we have this once again the former fda and trump cnbc contributor.

>> yeah, look, like i say, i think the video and the fact that he walked by himself to and from the helicopter is a suggestion he is not experiencing low oxygen saturation which is something you look for right now to know whether or not it's progressing. this is purely speculation i don't believe that the white house physician would allow him to walk to the helicopter by himself if he was requiring supplemental oxygen or worried he was desaturate. that would be dangerous. this is encouraging based on what we know now. >> do we have any indication that we'll be getting anything further officially from the white house or from the president's team >> no, we don't, shep. at this point the white house is not communicating at all and i'm told there is frustration among cabinet level secretaries they are not receiving communication

either exactly what the plan is and situation is we're getting communication from the white house correspondence association within the past couple seconds put out a statement publicly indicating that there are three members of the press core who have now tested positive for covid-19 today. they're saying as of this moment, three white house journalists tested positive for covid-19 they're identifying each of those people with contact tracing. there are details here in the white house statement from the press association to exactly where and which events those individuals attended so there is some concern now within the press staff that the press staff may have been exposed to this virus, as well this does affect everybody on down the hire ark key, as well. >> it was our understanding, we had a report one journalist had been affected or tested positive and a white house staffer that works with journalists tested

positive do we know anything about that that was from the white house press association. do we know anything more about that staffer >> we don't know anything about the staffer. what they are describing is three individuals and as we listen to marine one take off. the helicopter will be removed from the grounds of walter reed. marine one is in the air presumably of course without the president of the united states now we're told there are three individuals, individual one, two and three and where they were inside the white house on given dates. that's all the information we have as you can hear marine one taking to the skies here above walter reed as the sun is setting and the president has entered the complex. >> thanks. we just got word from the house speaker nancy pelosi she has tested negative. so the vast majority of the tests we've been hearing about today have been negative

the word of these three reporters who tested positive we wish them our best as we of course, do, the president of the united states and a speedy recovery all americans wishing that no doubt today. let's go to jake sherman he's an nbc news political c contributor. >> no, shep, it's quite unusual. the congress has not been made or notified officially about the president's condition but the heads up and he tested positive for coronavirus last night, the staff found out from tv reports and told the speaker and further more, they did not know he was going to walter reed, which again the white house is normal. the government issue here shep second in line to the president and god forbid the president, something happened to the

president or vice president the speaker of the house is next in line so very kind of the intel apparatus on capitol hill has not been made aware. it's a bit of a vacuum right now but obviously the president and the white house is focused on the president's health which is understandable. >> you know, there was reporting yesterday in the late hours yesterday that the white house had not released information about status of and a unique individual and jake, tell me your thoughts but if there is anyone in the white house the president relies for strength and resolve and comfort, it's hope hicks they are extremely close and she was at least at one point essential to the presidents' day today well being and being that

only in the most, you know, the happiest way but when we got no official word on hope hicks, knowing that the president were in each other's company frequently and repeatedly throughout every day, you wondered if the white house was being transparent and now it's gone forward and there is evidence about the process, is there not? >> listen, there is two issues at play which are competing and there is attention between the two issues they received word the american public deserves and elected officials and it's age and a health concern which the white house believes people are entitled to surprise and information about the white house and about such a deadly disease and information but

you're exactly part of the trump family and counsel with the communication involved in herely all tricks and doings go through picks and discovered the coronavirus obviously that's a huge concern to the president and the first lady who spent a lot of time in hope's presence. >> i haven't heard a lot from the regular sources and reporters who have them today, jake, about what the mood was in the white house. we didn't get that trickle of how things were, how unsettled it was or how calm it was alternately. did you hear anything throughout the day or did anything surprise you? >> it did surprise me because there is always a lot of chatter out of the white house but it

was very quiet and a heavy mood. the president is a big figure and sets the tone for the white house. this president more than anybody else because he's a big personality and really does set the tone but mark meadows, the chief of staff who i covered for his entirety of his term in congress, i wrote a book he was the central figure of. mark meadows is somebody who likes to have control of situations he's very adapt at trying to control crisis and on capitol hill he was. he often times created crisis he tried to clean up. this is not a crisis of his creation but he's somebody that wants control and exerts himself to get control of situations it doesn't surprise me that much that it was quite quiet throughout the day. >> jake, thanks, appreciate it back to dr. gotly now. third generation spread. is that where we are and can you give us details of how we should process all this, doctor

>> this is probably second generation spread so the president, the first lady, hope hicks probably second generation spread from some event or events that happened probably friday or saturday late last week, maybe over the weekend and could be that saturday event where one more more people infected the president what we're likely to see next week, as early as sunday, perhaps third generation spread, people that got infected from the president or hope hicks at the index event now the second generation spread, some of the people infected now probably inpektfected other peo. you might see sunday to tuesday additional cases this is speculation. based on the epidemiology, that does appear to be the sequence of events right now. >> some people carry a heavier

viral load that you have more of the virus in you and then therefore you can spread it more is this discovery a random thing. >> it's a random thing some people seem to be the super spreaders but it's not just the person, it's also the circumstances and so it's the right person at the right time and the right environment so typically, you're most contagious in a presymptomatic phase just before the onset of symptoms typically, you're going to be able to spread the virus most efficiently when you're in a confined setting with poor air circulation and so those are the conditions we see these events it could be someone who is at an event and shook a lot of hands and spread it through contaminated surfaces. so it's unclear how this was spread but it does appear to be the case there probably was an index case or two index cases that went on to infect a number

of people. so through contact tracing, what you can do is look at who is infected now and make a determination where they might have been to come into contact with the virus and one event or maybe a sequence of events. >> dr. gotly, stand by our cnbc kayla is with us with the comings and goings and details from the white house what have you learned. >> reporter: well, shep, the mood inside the white house today was chaotic with staffers learning of this news overnight with no official communication wondering should they becoming into the office today and if they came in, would they be tested well, the answer is anyone that wanted to come into the west wing today was given an abbott rapid test and only those with negative tests were allowed to stay that being said, white house chief of staff mark meadows fully expects these circle and the number of people who have positive cases associated with the white house to expand because we know there is a lagging indicator to some of these tests and that people

don't show symptoms until several days, five to seven days after their exposure now within the white house today there was a little bit of confusion about what the president would do because earlier in the day when it was first announced the president was positive, it was said he would be completing his duties from the white house residence as business as usual well, then it crime to the noon hour and the president asked the vice president to sub in for hi on a call to senior citizens, combatting covid-19. it's unclear why the president asked the vice president to take this on. it isn't clear whether he wasn't feeling up to it or the right message given his recent diagnosis. as we reported earlier senior administration officials say beyond that reassignment of sorts earlier today, there is no discussion of a potential transfer of power or responsibilities given the president's move to walter reed for the next few days where he's expected to work from the presidential suite there for the cabinet, nearly everyone

in the cabinet who responded to cnbc's out reach said they tested negative for the coronavirus. many members of congress present at the saturday announcement at the nomination of amy coney barrett said they also tested negative there are still a few we're waiting to hear back from and we'll get you that news as soon as we have it. notably treasury secretary steven mnuchin tested negative he went with the president as recently as wednesday before he headed to capitol hill to meet with nancy pelosi where they discussed a potential stimulus package moving forward as there is an expiration of airline aid that ended this week and they were trying to find some sort of compromise to move forward, somewhere between 1.6 and $2.2 trillion well, secretary mnuchin has tested negative after that limited exposure in that meeting to the president and the speaker was also tested out of an abun dense of caution because of her meeting with that muchen and tested negative. those in the closest encounters

with the president, his family members, his son-in-law jared kushner who is a senior advisor and daughter ivanka have tested negative the chief of staff tested negative his head of social media who is also along with hope hicks one of the president's closest advisors and the most frequently photographed next to the president, he always travels with him, dan, he also is said to have tested negative. there are a number of key aids we haven't learned their results, that being peter navarro,ed tra the trade advised steven miller who has been traveling recently with the president. i'll note i've been texting the campaign manager for the trump campaign and senior advisors to the trump campaign they have not responded. many of them were in cleveland with the president doing debate prep this week and we now know that there are 11 members of advanced teams involved in the debate prep in the setup for that event who have now tested positive according to ohio health authorities so we are learning this

information very slowly, shep. it is trickling in a lot of this is taking coordination between the white house and state departments of health because normally, it's the jurisdiction where these events are taking place that lead to the contact tracing but the white house so far kept a lot of information close to the vest and many states are frustrated in my conversations with them about not being able to have access to attendee list. >> kayla with a look ahead nbc news political contributor what has stepped up for you today? >> oh, i'm sorry, the line dropped. we'll get to her in just a few minutes. one thing i want to mention remember the president has been given a cocktail from regeneron and had this infusion. remember, this was not -- it has

not gone through phase three testing but there are many indications that in fact, it may be helpful to some patients. cnbc meg terrell follows this industry very closely and has had contact with regeneron today. what have you learned? >> hi, shep. i got off the phone with regeneron's sicientific officer that developed this drug and they provided this on compassionate use. a mechanism of accessing expe experimental drugs outside clinical trials when patients don't have good options and a risk of severe disease or life threatening disease. he said that they have given this drug on compassionate use to a limited number of other patients and i asked how many, is it about ten? he said on that order but no specifics there and of course, there is limited quantities of this drug as they are testing it in clinical trials now, the drug did show in

clinical trial that reported this week of about 275 patients that reduces the levels of virus people the recovery and people who have not a situation where president trump tested negative very recently has tested positive and perhaps he's in that situation this could be incredibly helpful potentially for helping him recover faster from the disease. in this trial, they found four people in that category who didn't get the drug. it would take two weeks to recover from symptoms and people who did recovered in about one week from their symptoms however how the president was there with the drug and if it will help him. regeneron talking about the uniqueness of this moment and saying it feels like a bit of validation and of course, there is tremendous amounts of

pressure to keep generating good data and supply it in large enough quantities if and when it gets approved or cleared for emergency use authorization to be able to provide it to everyone that needs it, shep. >> meg terrell digging deep for us on this drug cocktail from regeneron. i want to get to nbc news political tr political contributor, well-known to viewers of cable news channels. thank you so much. appreciate you being here. >> thanks for having me. >> i'm curious on the behind the scenes how the president would get from the white house to the helicopter and to the hospital he is one who enjoys stage craft and believes that the visual message is extremely important and i wonder if you have any behind the scenes on how that went down. >> we know that the president walked out of the white house in

front of cameras he did not speak to reporters but waved and that as we know, the president is someone who understands optics so obviously, he wanted to be seen he released a video a short time after arriving in walter reed filmed before he left and there he is saying he's in good spirits and he's essentially wanting to project the idea that he's healthy, that he's still in command. there are real questions today whether or not the president could continue to be working but the white house insists he's moving to walter reed out of an abun -- abun dense of caution and he can still work. even though the president's entire calendar was cleared today and of course, he's part of the risk group as a 75-year-old over weight man but i think in particular, the president was very aware of the optics we saw the president walk out of the white house on camera and remain on camera when he got to walter reed. we saw him get out of an suv and walk into the building. >> getting anything out of the white house today, i know there weren't a lot of people in

there. my friends who are core spon dan - correspondents were tested and the ones i know tested negative. we know through journee journale positive do we know anything about them >> i know the journalists that tested positive, many of them were at least a number of them were at the briefing on sunday with the president and these are white house correspondents that have close uarters the white house is not a very big place, the place where reporters are are very close quarters. >> it's extremely close quarters. >> it's extremely -- for people that haven't been at the white house, it might be lost on people how close we are. i sometimes especially before the pandemic would sit shoulder to shoulder, back to back with reporters. now there is some social distancing where maybe you have a chair's length but not a long distance reporter haves been wearing masks and trying to social distance as much as possible but it's scary to think about the

fact that there are reporters now testing positive for the coronavirus because the quarters are so small i myself was sitting in a booth in the basement today so i think there are a lot of reporters trying to be extra cautious today and remain even further away from each other than before. >> what sort of communications did the white house have through official channels with those who work in the white house and just for a little bit of clarity, imagine a series of small clo t close closets, not as big as a walk in closet in the suburbs but what one might call a walk in closet in manhattan, if you know what i mean that's about the size of the booths where each network and major newspaper works. there is one after another after another in the basement. it's extremely close what kind of official communication about risk from the white house did those do today? >> today, the white house was really talking about again washing hands, being socially distant and making sure to wear masks. the national security counsel said all of their staff members

are going to be required to wear masks but one of the most remarkable things that happened today while i was reporting from the white house is there were a number of white house officials speaking to reporters and taking questions without wearing facial coverings. that includes the white house chief of staff mark meadows and larry kudlow, a top white house economic advisor and white house pressyleigh mcena mcenany. mark meadows was standing alongside president trump going into walter reed and had a mask on then. earlier in the day mark meadows was not. it goes to show you this is a white house in the midst of this outbreak and people coming up positive, top officials in the government they are still not following the precautions their own government is telling people to take and that of course, is wearing facial coverings. >> each day at the white house, there comes a period where on the overhead speakers inside the area where the reporters work, there's an announcement, there is a lid on travel for the day

just a few minutes ago, there was an announcement of a lid on travel with the president off at the hospital an announcement of sort of a run of the mill event, it seems sort of having the president at the hospital and having that announcement, it's other worldly here in the early going. >> that's right. you can't really over state how remarkable today was in the history of the white house the fact that you had the president of the united states arguably the most protected individual in america not being able to protect himself from the virus or his wife or his workplace from the virus this shows just how much this virus is reeking havoc in america with 7.2 million people infected and it also shows that the president as he has downplayed the virus, he was obviously misleading the american people in that because what we see is a virus that continues to infect people and now of course, it's gotten to the white house. >> we don't know how far it has spread at the white house yet.

because we know that people can come in contact with the virus and it can be eight to 12 days before, you know, a positive test is confirmed. i just wondered among you and your colleagues and all of your friends who actually work for the white house there, the level of concern about themselves and their families. >> i think everyone is understanding and has been understanding for a long time because the white house has not been a place that has been doing social distancing because the white house had a number of events from the republican national convention to the rolling out of judge amy coney barrett that we've seen the white house over and over again hold these events that health officials say is dangerous as white house reporters, we have been going into those events but trying to protect ourselves as much as possible. i was giving a call to my mother saying i'm going into the white house but i'll be protective trying to put my family and friends at ooease that's the job you show up and tell the stories

because this is a government that has to have real people pressing them. there are so many unknowns to this who gave it to president trump did hope hicks give it to someone? was there someone else is there patient zero that we haven't identified how is this going to impact the president's schedule, the debate, the campaign, the of th. and whether or not, he's tested negative but there are questions about whether those testing negative might turn up positive later on. >>am evenal sind yo. it is 7:00 on the east coast, 4:00 p.m. on the west coast. i'm shepherd smith at cnbc global headquarters and this is coverage of covid in the white house. the president is at walter reed after making this historic walk to marine one. masked next to his chief of staff on route to the hospital he is now said to be in good spirits and fatigued after testin