we're coming up on 6:00 p.m. in the east. you're seeing marine one at the white house, preparing to take president trump to walter reed medical center. at 12:54 a.m., the president announced he tested positive for covid. we learned this morning that the president had mild symptoms, but over the course of the afternoon, the situation appears to have become somewhat more serious. the president reported to have a fever, chills, and a cough. also reported to be taking regeneron, an eight-gram dose. the president preparing to go to walter reed medical center perhaps for a few days. jen ashton, talk about the course of the president's illness so far, and what we can expect over the next few days. >> i think the thing is, this virus has shown us that we really can't predict very much.

no one has a crystal ball here. we are talking about someone in their 70s, you know, with fever and chills. i can tell you, when i have fever and chills, i don't know that i could make a 50-yard walk by myself to a helicopter. and obviously, i'm not 74. so i think that every patient is different. we have to understand that this virus can be really unpleasant. we've heard many, many reports about that from everyone from boris johnson to the average person. and until it's in the rear view mirror, you don't know what to expect in medicine. so the treatment will be based on observation, there will be some aggressive measures taken. but also by the same token, some expe expe expectant and conservative measures. it's not robotic, cookie cutter, or one size fits all.

>> rachel scott is at walter reed medical center. can you detect any activity yet? >> not yet. but we're seeing people starting to arrive as we await the president's arrival at walter reed medical center. this is a stunning turn of events. less than 24 hours after the president revealed he's tested positive for covid-19, the president is expected to come to walter reed medical center. he's expected to receive tests every single day. and the president has been workiwor working throughout the day, but he is experiencing the mild symptoms, a low-grade fever, chills, and congestion. >> and i want to bring in john santucci. you spoke with don junior, the

president's son? >> yes. he said he spoke to his father earlier this morning. describing him as in a good mood, pretty upbeat. but said he did sound a little tired, as he quickly turned the conversation to how things were out in the campaign trail. the president's eldest son telling me he's never seen his father sick in 42 years. and is hoping he'll get back on the road soon. but obviously, asking everyone to please keep his father in their thoughts today. >> and we should also note, over the last now more than four years, five years, hope hicks has become part of the trump family as well. >> no doubt, george. she's the adopted child of the trump family. the president refers to her as hopie. someone who has for so long been

in tow with the trump family. her office is the closest one, just outside the president's door. when she returned this year, many aides and family members of the president welcomed it as someone that had the president's trust, loyalty, and the secret weapon of hope, as multiple sources have told me, she's the only one who can tell him bad news. which is a tough task for anybody in the white house, and definitely a tough task for anybody in the white house this year. >> what do we know about how she's doing? >> i've spoked to multiple sources, i'm told she's doing okay. she is exhibiting symptoms of the coronavirus. she has been resting at home. most of the white house aides that travel with the president are tested before they hit the road. and that's exactly what happened to hicks on wednesday morning.

she joined the president on his trip to minnesota. she had passed her covid test, it came back as negative. as she was in the air with the president, i'm told that she started to feel ill, started to exhibit symptoms. that's when she was actually told to quarantine. and i'm told that things did get a little worse after that. but she is at home and resting. and she is, you know, hoping to make a speedy recovery. >> john, thanks very much. i want to bring in mary jordan, who has just written a book on melania trump. melania trump also testing positive, has symptoms, and you also have to be concerned about their son barron, who has been

living in the white house. >> and also her parents. there is nobody closer to melania than her elderly parents. she had been caring for her mother, who was sick. there is a lot of concern for their very, very close family, the closest people on earth to melania trump. she eats dinner and breakfast -- >> i think we lost mary jordan there again. let me bring matthew dowd back in. as we see the white house, friday afternoon, on a crisp autumn day. waiting for the president to come out to marine one. it's hard to imagine more of a surprise coming in the final weeks of a presidential campaign. >> we've all been used to, you and i, we've covered campaigns for a long time. we're used to the october surprise, but this goes beyond

any kind of surprise we've seen. i'm willing to bet my texas land that the president walks out under his own volition on this. because i think he understands, as rahm was saying, he understands what that means if he doesn't. and how much that is important to him. so my guess is, he's going to do that. this is a surprise like days? when the president is going to the hospital, he is on a campaign picture with the president. he is in contact and what does he need to do, does he not go out? that is a whole other question -- let's try to at least try to answer some of them. i mean, the president, as you

pointed out was coming into this week behind, pretty stable seven-point lead by joe biden, and nothing seemed to shape that. this brings the coronavirus front and center once again. with the white house and the trump team mount a campaign at this point? >> i don't think they can, actually. actually. i don't think they can mount anywhere close to the campaign they thought about. but i think this is an entirely new territory for them. which may be good for them. because the campaign they were mounting wasn't working. the convention didn't move numbers, the debate strategy didn't change the dynamic. maybe not running any campaign is their best route to this in any kind of scenario. so, for somebody that has tried to discount coronavirus, kind of

do downplayed it, made fun of joe biden for wearing masks, for him to be going to be going to walt hospital with coronavirus, i think puts a huge, huge dent into anything that they wanted to possibly say in the last 30 days. >> and we were talking about boris johnson, he got a wave of sympathy in the wake of his hospitalization with covid earlier this year. but the president is facing a much different situation. in part because of the reasons that matt just mepntioned, and he's in the middle of a presidential campaign right now. >> he is. everyone will want to unite, and hope and pray for his speedy recover. and when he does recover, there could be a rallying among his base. look, i beat it, we can do it, too. he would need to modify some of

the language around masks and other issues. but i've talked to a former campaign manager, still close to the president, saw him over the weekend. he said the campaign can go back to what they were doing during lockdown. they did have the president on the phone, holding kind of virtual rallies on the phone. it's certainly not the same thing as the trump show in a real really. but talking to voters in ohio, michigan, pennsylvania, it sounded like trump supporters were willing to cut him some slack, as many voters are, about the original emergence of this pandemic. they saw it as an act of god. now that he's afflicted with it, the question is, will that forgiveness, that understanding that i heard, talking to voters, continue this deep into it? >> in a deeply divided nation. cecilia vega, one of the other

quandaries for the president is, it seemed like since the convention, the president's strategy was to take down joe biden. that's what we saw at the debate. tough to do that when you're in the hospital, when the country is facing this health crisis. >> and they wanted to do that at these mega, in-person rallies. and some of the hot zones. the president had been planning to hold two rallies this weekend in wisconsin, in surprise of the task force calling that state a red zone. with the polls that you just mentioned, and this widening gap between trump and biden, they were really hoping to try to close that gap in the final weeks of the campaign with this mega travel blitz that the campaign has said they're going

to stop all in-person venues and either cancel them or turn them into virtual events. it remains unclear how they're going to do that with the president at walter reed for the next few days. and on the biden side, we mentioned they've pulled negative ads. and the trump campaign is still running attack ads on facebook targeting joe biden right now. but i think the reality is, both sides are struggling with how to do this, given the uncharted un waters we're in. and this morning, the questions about the health of the top tier of the trump family, them having to be in isolation. they're the folks helping to run the campaign, and even staffers that have come into contact with the president. so, it's not just a function of can they hold the rallies for the voters and the trump base

and supporters. can they physically do them if people who are running the campaign need to be in isolation? >> and mary bruce is in delaware with the biden campaign. we've seen elements of the strategy, he pulled down the negative ads. we saw the tweet calling for unity. are you able to pick up anything more about how they're looking at the next few days. >> the message coming from the biden campaign is clearly to say this is not political. this is a moment for the country to try and come together and recognize that this virus is still a very real threat. that of course echoes the message that the biden campaign has been making for weeks while the president and his campaign have tried to argue the country is turning a corner, as trump says. the biden campaign says, no, we're still in the middle of this. now, they believe, underscored by the fact that the president

has now tested positive. but regardless of which side of the campaign you're looking at, the campaign trail as me know it is now fundamentally changed with 32 days until the election. the biden campaign having to partially change their strategy. there will still be traveling. kamala harris is heading to an event in las vegas, joe biden wrapping up this event in michigan. he was on the road earlier today. they're still getting out and about, talking with voters, getting their message out. but the message is being tweaked, ramping down the attacks, ask tnd ramping up the language about the need for the country to come together. >> and their message, they're going to go full speed with the debates, they're willing to go again despite what happened on tuesday night. but they won't go along with any change in the schedule. that's what i was told by a biden campaign official earlier this morning. do they expect the debates to

happen? >> that is such a good question right now. simply nobody knowknows. the biden campaign was full steam ahead for october 15th. but the president's health, and whether or not he's able to attend safely, if he's even healthy enough, is the big x-factor here. and of course, the vice presidential debate, he's tested negative, but there are questions about a need for isolation. sometimes it can take several days for the virus to be detected. whether or not we'll see debates in the same timing or format are all big ifs right now. we simply don't know. and there are too many x-factors for the campaign to make a determination right now. >> the biden campaign has been extremely careful with covid. the vice president said he took

two tests today. do we expect the tests to become routine now? >> the tests were regular, and i would expect them to become more freque frequent. both campaigns ramping up the events, the president going back to the packed events. and joe biden, even as he increases the number of events, they're all with a very limited audience, making rules. and today, he did not take his mask off. i have been at many you'll see the press sitting six feet apart. they take this very seriously. and his staff is tested

frequently. there's a limited number of staffers that are allowed to have close access to the vice president, they're all required to wear masks. they take this virus very seriously. i suspect the strictness of precautions will only increase now. >> and cecilia, if the white house had been somewhat more cavalier about masks, i would expect that to change now as well. >> yeah, it's changing in real time. the pool reporters who cover the president day-to-day, abc is one of many outlets, the pool reporters are reporting that the team of white house staff on the south lawn waiting for president trump are all wearing masks. including the press secretary and other staffers. usually they don't wear masks. and i'll repeat what i mentioned

this morning on "good morning america." it's one of the reasons the cavalier attitude that many news outlets have pulled back at least in terms of a full presence at the white house, for fear of the safety of our own team because people were not wearing masks. we were not seeing social distance happening on a regular basis. you're coming into close contact with aides and secret service agents on a day-to-day basis. i mentioned this earlier, the quarters inside for the press particularly are not very big at all. so there have been a number of questions about how seriously they were taking it. of course, it all goes back to the statements that the president himself has made from inside the press briefing room, downplaying the severity of this, and turning the issue of masks into not just a political one but a campaign one. as recently as the debate, he

challenged and mocked joe biden for wearing a debate. >> now the helicopter is getting ready to go. i think that's a good sign the president will not be speaking when he makes the walk to the helicopter. we have seen more activity now around marine one. and we're told he went directly to the helicopter, our cameras were not there to see the moment live. he's in the helicopter, and prepared to go to walter reed for examination and tests for the next several days. and he will have an office set up there, as we've said, to do work and to continue to make decisions over the course of the time that he's at walter reed. and as cecilia and terry reported, he has not invoked the 25th amendment. will not be turning over any powers to the vice president

while being treated for covid. he's received a single dose of regeneron, and a daily aspirin. jen? i don't think we have jen ashton right now, either. terry, it is quite a sight to see the helicopter waiting to take off. knowing what is happening. >> it is. he is the president of all americans. we're deeply divided as a country right now, but that is our president, the one officer of the government elected to serve and represent all the people. many people don't like the way he does his job. many people find him a threat to the country that he governs. but no question, the constitution put him there. that's our president. and this is a very serious

moment, given what we know about this virus. one can only wish him well. >> marine one slowly taking off from the south lawn of the white house. the president inside. we were told by the pool he was wearing a mask as he entered, wearing a suit and a mask as he entered the helicopter. a relatively short flight to walter reed medical center, martha, where the president's team will already be in place, ready to give him the best care. i have to imagine the president has spent time at walter visiting wounded shouoldiers. i imagine this has to feel like a blow, though. >> this is a man who is vigorous, he counts on that energy. he does not like to be seen in any way as weak. and you can see the helicopter, i think it will be there in a

matter of moments. it's in bethesda, maryland, very close to washington, d.c., just over the border. he should be there quite quickly. i'm sure the doctors are standing by, with the vip headquarters set up. so if he can do work, he will do work. again, very unusual that we haven't heard from the president today. and so little information coming from the white house. and you have to believe that americans right now for the last hour and a half have seen that helicopter sitting there with so little information about this. covid, of course, has been the campaign issue. for joe biden. i can't imagine, george, some of these debates going forward at all, even the vice presidential debate. as matt and cecilia have pointed out, it's about tone. and what do you say if you have a president --

>> it's almost impossible to imagine at this point. >> it really is. >> we've seen outpourings of good wishes for the president from leaders all around the world. but also behind the scenes, i would assume at the pentagon, some concern. will any of our adversaries try to take advantage of this moment? >> there is a minor bit of concern. but there are systems in place. they do not feel vulnerable. i've talked to military officials who say everything is normal, everything is in place. and social media has many things that are not true going on, about launching doomsday aircraft, ask tnd things like t. those rumors are not true. things are going on as normal. there are not concerns for national security. north korea will not launch a missi missile, nor iran trying to make

some move, because the president is in the hospital. both helicopters close to walter reed now. he should be there very, very soon. >> it is a very, very -- >> looks like they're just about landing at walter reed. a massive facility with some of the best doctors in the world. and he will have at his disposal any doctors he probably wants, any specialists. the secret service, also, they've been with him for days. >> and there we see, there is the pictures earlier of the president walking out to the helicopter, wearing that mask. thumbs up from the president. his signature sign right there. and a small wave. >> i suspect very much he wanted that picture, walking himself to

the helicopter with those masks on. >> absolutely. >> you see the staff around him, pro protecting themselves as well. and the president by wearing a mask, protecting them. >> jen ashton, he seems to be walking relatively comfortably up those stairs heading into marine one. and we were discussing, this can take so much out of you. >> absolutely, george. anyone who has ever had a virus with a fever typically when you get chills, it is accompanied with a high fever. that makes people feel incredibly weak. there can definitely be changes in the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. getting up and down and walking can be really difficult. it is pretty surprising that someone of this age, you know,

could handle anything like this. as i said before, i could tell you i probably wouldn't be walking if i were in that condition. it just takes a lot of out >> you see the president walking to marine one a few moments ago. jon karl, in place at walter reed. can you see the helicopters? >> i see marine one headed this way. i'm right across the street from walter reed. and the white house in the very little bit of information we've heard the statement from the press secretary, saying he will be here for a few days, working out of what they call the presidential offices here at walter reed. and i can now see the helicopter coming into view quite clearly. >> jon, have you been able to get any indication from the

white house about what more information we will be getting from the president, his team, his doctors? >> george, the thing that we've asked for repeatedly is information directly from the doctors, a briefing directly from the doctors. we have the statement that you've discussed, the second statement from his doctor explaining what exactly he's taken in terms of this cocktail. but beyond that, no official information beyond that. and the challenge here is that as we get statements from the president's press secretary, you know, there's just a real question about the reliability of the information given that they have not been particularly transparent. especially on issues of the president's health. but on other issues as well. which is why the request that is being made by me and by so many other reporters, to get official

information directly from the president's doctor. as you can hear the sound of marine one, it's just about to land. >> marine one about to touch down at walter reed medical center. president trump is inside, prepares to spend a few days there to be treated for covid-19. melania trump, also positive, has stayed back at the white house. and we have not heard what more the doctors can tell us about his condition. but we do know that they would not be taking this step if they didn't have to, if it wasn't absolutely necessary in their mind at this point for the president to be in a hospital setting, to have access to the world's best doctors and equipment. as we see everyone crowding around. we're not sure what we'll be able to see of the president as

he walks inside. and it brings to mind -- goahea. >> george, it's quite a scene here. as i mentioned, i'm across the street from walter reed. the crowd of people across the way, as word got out that the president was heading here to walter reed. you have people coming over to try to catch a glimpse. obviously, the view is quite blocked. but what a sight, to see marine one essentially medevacing the president of the united states to the walter reed medical center. we saw him walk to the helicopter on his own. but still, quite a scene, essentially a medevacing of the president of the united states. >> what a year 2020 has been. being

and the coronavirus. we'll move now to "world news tonight." 1:00 a.m. this morning -- the president in a tweet, telling the country he and the first lady have coronavirus. tonight, president trump's doctor on his symptoms so far, the treatment so far. and the decision now to take the president to walter reed medical center. where he's expected to spend several days. tonight, the white house in crisis mode. vice president mike pence stepping in for the president on a call with governors today. all of this just 24 hours after learning the president's top aide, hope hicks, who had traveled with the president all week, had tested positive. after learning she had the virus, the president was back out and traveling for a fundraiser. new questions tonight about why that happened. and new jersey's governor now urging people at that fundraiser to get you can which had. mod the immediate concern this