President 'bored' at hospital, not 'out of the woods'
Chief of staff Mark Meadows says he was "very concerned" on Friday.
The mystery surrounding the President Donald Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis and condition deepened Saturday after several rounds of confusing and contradictory information from the White House and the president's medical staff.
Amid the swirl of developments, sources told ABC News that Trump, who remains hospitalized, had been given supplemental oxygen and experienced shortness of breath, a potentially worrisome picture that appeared to contradict both the rosier statements from Trump's doctor and assessments that he was doing well both on Twitter and elsewhere.
Speaking outside Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on Saturday, Trump's physician would not offer a clear, declarative statement about whether the president had received oxygen treatment since testing positive.
The press pool was told soon after by a "source familiar with the president's health" that Trump's "vitals over last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care."
The lack of transparency and clarity from the White House contributed to a troubling pattern surrounding the events of the last week, including learning of Hope Hicks' diagnosis by a media leak, as the U.S. faces a potential crisis of governance just a month before the election.
Numerous questions remained including how many people at the highest levels of government had been exposed after a week of events involving the president where social distancing and mask-wearing were lax and the integrity of the testing efforts at the White House and elsewhere.
Since Trump announced he had coronavirus, Sen. Mike Lee, Sen. Thom Tillis, Sen. Ron Johnson, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former White House adviser Kellyanne Conway have announced they tested positive for COVID-19.
Saturday's headlines:
Trump campaign adviser says White House didn't call him for contact tracing following Hicks' positive test
Trump 2020 campaign senior adviser Corey Lewandowski, who attended Wednesday's rally in Minnesota with the president just hours before Hope Hicks tested positive, told ABC's "Good Morning America" Saturday morning that he was not contacted following Hicks' positive diagnosis despite being in close contact.
"Prior to going into the event everybody had to produce a negative COVID test which they did," he said. "I did not hear from the White House after Hope Hicks tested positive on any type of contact tracing -- but I went and got a test yesterday and had the results come back negative."
Lewandowski also attended Saturday's Rose Garden event for Judge Amy Coney Barrett and made a point to say how some notable Republicans who have tested positive -- including Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel and Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien -- have contracted the virus and were not present then.
"Look, I don't think it's as simple as one event," he said.
Asked if he thinks Trump's tone about masks and White House protocols will change now with the positive diagnosis, Lewandowski defended the White House protocols but said the question is, "What more can we do?"
"I do know that the protocols when you go to the White House require everybody to be tested, whether you're going to see the president or you're going into the West Wing or not. Every person who goes onto that complex is tested when they come onto that complex, and I think that's a smart decision, but we have to ask ourselves, 'What more can we do?'" Lewandowski said.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, also an ABC News Contributor, who helped prepare the president for Tuesday's debate, said he was also not contacted about Hicks positive test but found out through news reports.
Trump debate prep room: Who is positive and who was there?
Now that the president's current campaign manager and a former top White House official have tested positive for COVID-19, attendance at Monday’s debate prep session at the White House has become a common denominator among many.
Below is a list of who ABC News knows was in the room and their current status.
IT WAS IN: The Map Room (with some aides moving to the Oval Office after)
IT HAPPENED: Monday, Sept. 28 at midday
THE ATTENDEES:
President Donald Trump - POSITIVE
Campaign Manager Bill Stepien - POSITIVE
Former Senior Advisor Kellyanne Conway - POSITIVE
Counselor Hope Hicks - POSITIVE
Senior Advisor Jared Kushner - NEGATIVE
Personal Lawyer Rudy Giuliani - NEGATIVE
Campaign Senior Advisor Jason Miller - NEGATIVE
Senior Adviser Stephen Miller - TBD
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie - AWAITING RESULTS
Other aides potentially popped in over the course of the meeting which was in one room but lingered to the Oval Office.
ABC News' John Santucci, Katherine Faulders and Will Steakin
Update on the president’s health expected at 11 a.m.
Dr. Sean Conley, physician to the president, will provide an update on the president’s condition at 11 a.m. at Walter Reed Medical Center.
Conley issued statement late Friday night reporting that Trump was “doing very well,” was not requiring any supplemental oxygen and had received the first dose of Remdesivir therapy, an anti-coronavirus drug the president himself has touted in recent weeks.
Another GOP senator tests positive for COVID-19
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has tested positive for COVID-19, per his press team.
He’s the third GOP Senator to test positive since Friday.
3rd member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to quarantine
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse announced Saturday that although he has tested negative for COVID-19, he's going to quarantine in his home state due to his "close interaction" with other senators who have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Sasse is now at least the third member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who was at the Sept. 26 Rose Garden ceremony for Amy Coney Barrett who is now quarantining or isolating. President Donald Trump nominated Coney Barrett to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.
The Nebraska senator said he'll undergo "further testing" back home.
"After consulting with the Senate attending physician and Nebraska doctors, he will work remotely from his home in Nebraska, undergoing further testing," a spokesperson for Sasse told ABC News. "He will return to Washington for in-person work beginning October 12. Ben, Melissa, and their kids are praying for the President, the First Lady, and a nation continuing to battle this nasty virus.”
Sasse and other Republicans have made confirming Coney Barrett a priority despite multiple positive COVID-19 tests from those who were at the ceremony.
While Republicans, who hold a two-seat majority on the committee, are determined to plow forward with confirmation hearings - with virtual attendance by infected members permitted - the panel rules stipulate that a majority of members must be "actually present" in order to vote on a nomination.
"No bill, matter, or nomination shall be ordered reported from the Committee, however, unless a majority of the Committee is actually present at the time such action is taken and a majority of those present support the action taken," according to the committee rules.
If Sens. Mike Lee and Thom Tillis, who both tested positive for the virus, were unable to appear in person, Republicans on the 22-member committee would be deprived of an in-person majority, given that all Democrats on the panel would be expected to oppose the nomination.
However, that scenario is unlikely.
Lee said he'll be done with his 10-day quarantine before the hearing. "I have spoken with Leader McConnell and Chairman Graham, and assured them I will be back to work in time to join my Judiciary Committee colleagues in advancing the Supreme Court nomination," he said in a statement Friday.
ABC News' Trish Turner contributed to this report.