1 00:00:01,566 --> 00:00:03,566 JUDY WOODRUFF: With President Trump's return to the White House, 2 00:00:03,566 --> 00:00:07,833 let's turn now to one his reelection campaign's senior adviser, Steve Cortes. 3 00:00:08,966 --> 00:00:10,900 Steve Cortes, welcome to the "NewsHour." 4 00:00:10,900 --> 00:00:14,100 So, we heard the president's doctors today say he is not out of the woods 5 00:00:14,100 --> 00:00:18,666 yet. They are watching him very closely. They say they know he is still contagious. 6 00:00:20,333 --> 00:00:22,833 Given that, why is it a good idea for him to go back to the White House? 7 00:00:22,833 --> 00:00:24,333 STEVE CORTES, Trump 2020 Campaign Senior Adviser: Well, listen, 8 00:00:24,333 --> 00:00:25,933 I'm not going to speak to the medical side of things. 9 00:00:25,933 --> 00:00:27,633 That is obviously up to his team. 10 00:00:27,633 --> 00:00:31,300 But we know that they approved of this, and I trust in their judgment. 11 00:00:31,300 --> 00:00:35,100 Dr. Conley is not only a man of science, but he's also a Naval officer, 12 00:00:35,100 --> 00:00:39,333 an incredible patriot who served this country in Afghanistan. So, between his -- both his 13 00:00:39,333 --> 00:00:43,266 patriotic service and his professional credentials, I'm going to defer to them. 14 00:00:43,266 --> 00:00:45,900 Of course, the president prefers to be in the White House. I think 15 00:00:45,900 --> 00:00:48,500 most patients of any kind prefer to be at home. 16 00:00:50,366 --> 00:00:53,666 But he's not doing this without the approval and cooperation of his medical staff. 17 00:00:53,666 --> 00:00:56,366 JUDY WOODRUFF: It's understandable he'd want to be back there. 18 00:00:56,366 --> 00:01:01,233 But, as you know, again, he's still contagious. We already have at the White House 19 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,766 not just the president. You have the press secretary, you have to press aides, 20 00:01:08,233 --> 00:01:11,866 you have other -- others on the staff who have tested positive. 21 00:01:13,233 --> 00:01:16,033 And there's going to have to be a duplicative, 22 00:01:17,366 --> 00:01:20,666 secure area around the president because he's contagious. 23 00:01:23,166 --> 00:01:26,900 It just -- it just calls into question why, and whether this is being done for political reasons. 24 00:01:28,900 --> 00:01:31,233 STEVE CORTES: Well, listen, no, I can assure you it's not being done for political reasons. 25 00:01:31,233 --> 00:01:34,033 I think that the -- again, I defer to the medical authorities, 26 00:01:34,033 --> 00:01:37,866 I'm not a doctor. I'm going to defer to them that they think this is appropriate, 27 00:01:37,866 --> 00:01:41,966 and they believe they can manage him, as well as protect other folks at the White House. 28 00:01:41,966 --> 00:01:46,700 And then, secondly, I will just tell you, from a governmental standpoint, although he does have an 29 00:01:46,700 --> 00:01:51,333 office suite, and a considerable one, at Walter Reed, it's, of course, not quite the White House. 30 00:01:51,333 --> 00:01:54,766 And I think that the president believes that he will be more effective as our 31 00:01:54,766 --> 00:01:57,900 commander in chief in the White House, and that he can do so effectively 32 00:01:57,900 --> 00:02:01,066 while protecting other folks. Clearly, he's not going to be wandering the halls 33 00:02:01,066 --> 00:02:03,766 of the West Wing or next door at the Executive Office Building. 34 00:02:03,766 --> 00:02:08,100 But, look, this is good news. I mean, I think that we all should celebrate this, that our president, 35 00:02:08,100 --> 00:02:12,333 who everyone, I think even people who don't support his agenda, were very understandably 36 00:02:12,333 --> 00:02:16,900 worried when Marine One took off from the White House with our president infected with this virus. 37 00:02:16,900 --> 00:02:21,866 He is now returning home in far, far better condition already in just a few short days. 38 00:02:21,866 --> 00:02:24,900 JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, let me ask you about the state of the campaign. 39 00:02:24,900 --> 00:02:29,700 As we know, the campaign manager is now down with COVID. The chairman of the RNC 40 00:02:31,700 --> 00:02:35,733 is down with COVID. The president is back in - - behind Joe Biden by anywhere from eight, 41 00:02:37,066 --> 00:02:39,633 nine or more points in the polls. 42 00:02:39,633 --> 00:02:42,833 What is the shape? How far are you behind in this campaign? 43 00:02:42,833 --> 00:02:46,566 STEVE CORTES: Well, let me address that, please, on polls, because I think -- and, 44 00:02:46,566 --> 00:02:49,333 look, I don't like to play the game of just cherry-picking polls. 45 00:02:49,333 --> 00:02:52,200 But, if we're going to do that, yes, there are some polls that have come out, 46 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,733 national polls, which aren't really all that relevant, honestly, to how we elect 47 00:02:55,733 --> 00:02:57,900 the president of the United States, but there are some national polls 48 00:02:57,900 --> 00:03:02,033 lately that have shown us sliding, that have shown a retreat in our standing. 49 00:03:02,033 --> 00:03:05,066 However, there are also national polls that show us gaining, 50 00:03:05,066 --> 00:03:09,066 and respectable ones. Ones like Zogby and Investor's Business Daily show 51 00:03:09,066 --> 00:03:13,366 Joe Biden with an extremely narrow lead and us gaining three points, actually, since the debate. 52 00:03:13,366 --> 00:03:18,166 So, here's what I think. If you look at battleground states, polls are an important input 53 00:03:18,166 --> 00:03:21,866 for us, for those of us here in the campaign, both public polls, as well as the internal ones we do. 54 00:03:21,866 --> 00:03:25,066 When you look at battleground states, all of them in the last couple of 55 00:03:25,066 --> 00:03:30,066 months have tightened dramatically. And even if we don't have a lead in a lot of those states, 56 00:03:31,166 --> 00:03:33,766 we are very much within striking distance. 57 00:03:33,766 --> 00:03:37,233 So, I view those -- and I'm trying to be unbiased as I can here. I really view the battleground 58 00:03:37,233 --> 00:03:42,233 states as tossups. I think even the Biden camp would roughly agree that either side is capable 59 00:03:43,700 --> 00:03:44,966 of winning these battleground states, given what we know... 60 00:03:44,966 --> 00:03:46,366 JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, let me... 61 00:03:46,366 --> 00:03:48,466 STEVE CORTES: ... of internal and public polling. 62 00:03:48,466 --> 00:03:51,833 JUDY WOODRUFF: Very quickly, Vice President Pence, no concerns about his exposure to COVID, 63 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:56,466 having him travel the country, as he is between now and the election? 64 00:03:56,466 --> 00:04:00,466 STEVE CORTES: No, listen, the chain of command is well-established here, 65 00:04:00,466 --> 00:04:03,700 of course, in the United States. I'm not talking politically now. I'm talking governmentally. 66 00:04:03,700 --> 00:04:07,633 And neither the president, nor Pence, nor anyone on our campaign, 67 00:04:07,633 --> 00:04:12,633 we cannot cower and hide. We simply will not do that. We can take reasonable precautions. And 68 00:04:15,233 --> 00:04:17,300 we will. And -- we have and we will. None of that guarantees safety. We saw that with the president, 69 00:04:17,300 --> 00:04:21,300 who, unfortunately, still got infected, as the most protected person probably in the world. 70 00:04:21,300 --> 00:04:24,900 But Vice President Pence is going to be -- he is out there, not going to be. He is out there 71 00:04:24,900 --> 00:04:28,833 traveling the country, heading to the debate. This campaign is charging forward. We're going 72 00:04:28,833 --> 00:04:31,766 to defeat the virus, and we're going to convince the American people to rehire 73 00:04:31,766 --> 00:04:35,866 Donald Trump as their CEO for this economic revival of the next four years. 74 00:04:35,866 --> 00:04:40,333 JUDY WOODRUFF: Steve Cortes, with the Trump campaign, thank you very much. 75 00:04:40,333 --> 00:04:41,866 STEVE CORTES: Thank you.