Environment which was lax when it came to normal, standard procedures associated with covid, wearing a mask, social distancing, trying to take as much outdoors as you can, and working from home. And none of those things were Standard Operating Procedures at the white house. I think that the American Public is getting a look at, when you take risks, you are going to have to pay the piper, and thats whats happening. David before any of this happened, one of the Big Questions in the election coming up just a month from now was, do we trust President Trump more than we trust former Vice President biden to handle this crisis . The president was already behind in most of the polls on that score. We are getting conflicting, sometimes ambiguous or confusing briefings from his doctor at walter reed. There was a lot of working things walking things back. We also saw the president get into his suv, a closed and contained suv, with two secret service agents, to drive past the people inside. He says he gets it. Does he get it . Rick its difficult to say whether or not he gets it. The president criticized joe biden repeatedly on the campaign trail and most recently at the debate for using a mask as a way of dramatizing the coronavirus, and yet now it looks like that was exactly the right approach that the Vice President was taking, by Wearing Masks to all his events and socially distancing. The criticism is now coming back to haunt him. The issue that the white house hasnt really been able to create a positive narrative around, trump getting sick and going to the hospital and managing the case while hes at the hospital with differing reports between the doctors and the chief of staff are really causing a lot of concern in the public mind, because they cant get the straight story. These are the kinds of things where you just dont want to make mistakes, so the fact they are not on top of this does not reflect well on their management of covid, in general, but specifically the president s health. David we do have an election going on. What does this do to the president s ability, his teams ability, his Campaign Manager has tested positive can they go forward forcefully with a campaign in these final days . Rick his Campaign Manager has tested positive. His lead advisor, governor chris christie, has tested positive, who has been helping him through the debates. I would say that we dont know toirically how this is going affect him. We dont have polling data since the president contracted covid, but we do know whats happened since the debate. Theres been a spike in bidens ballot nationally and in some states from polling taken after the last debate. If there was any question as to who was going to take advantage of that debate, it looks like it is biden, to the point where, in the latest poll, he has almost doubled his National Average and increased in states like pennsylvania and other surveys. Right now, i would say the president has, i wouldnt say bigger problems than covid, but the election is slipping away at a time where you have only 29 days left before election day. David as you point out, he is playing from behind, at least according to almost all the polls, including in some of the key swing states, like michigan. Hes got to come from behind. What can he do to turn this around . It feels like the momentum is going away from him, not with him. Rick he is using advertising and social media to try and reboot the campaign while he is but even his events, in that area, biden, because he has had such a successful fundraising campaign, is outspending him in every single category, with paid media. What is the earned media impact . He is not on the campaign trail. The next debate comes on the quarantinetwoweek that you would assume the president would respect. Debate forbe another the president to try and get back in this race . Without that debate, i cant imagine there is an event or scenario that would catapult the attention of the voters, but, then again, who wouldve thought wed be sitting here talking about the president sitting in walter reed with covid a week ago . Anything can happen in this election. David anything can happen. Can a stimulus bill get past in this election get passed in this election . Rick this may be a victim of covid. There seemed to be some momentum at the end of last week, none of which has come to fruition. There are bailout packages for the airlines, where they are holding off firing thousands of employees if they can get this deal done. Sayy pelosi, continues to t they can get a deal done nancy pelosi, the speaker, continues to say that they can get a deal done. The longer it takes, the less likely it is. David what would you say to joe biden right now . He has taken his negative ads down in an abundance of caution, not wanting to look like he is using the president s covid diagnosis as an advantage. Hes going high, not low. At the same time, he is spending time in these targeted states, florida today and pennsylvania and ohio after the debates. I think hes doing the right stuff. At some point in time, and this is going to be a big week, kama la harris is going to have her debut on the National Stage as Vice President ial nominee, and she will be debating on wednesday Vice President pence. That will be the next big event. She needs a good performance in order to keep the momentum alive for biden. David thank you so much to our bloomberg political contributor, rick davis. He will be with us wednesday night at 8 30 p. M. Eastern time on Bloomberg Television and radio. Coming up, the president taking ill has potential ramifications around the world. Ons is balance of power Bloomberg Television and radio. David this is balance of power on Bloomberg Television and radio. I am david westin. We welcome reva goujon, Martin CrumptonGroup Managing director. We have secretary pompeo in tokyo with a meeting going on. He is going to come back early. What does this disease and the president s hospitalization potentially mean internationally . Reva everyone is watching whats happening in the white house cluster very closely. Its highprofile. It doesnt seem to favor the chances for a biden presidency, but i dont think any country is really taking any chances. Most are doing their contingency planning, preparing for either outcome. Obviously, the distraction in the United States, the disinformation opportunities on social media those are very rife. This is like something out of a greek drama, so lots of fodder for disinformation campaigns and maybe potential to leverage that distraction. Negotiatinge powers in stalemates. You look at north korea, stuck in a negotiation with the u. S. Potential for an icbm test. You look at iran. It has a lot stacked up against it with either president. Andl in its Nuclear Freeze it could push Nuclear Activities in the strait of hormuz. You have turkey essentially giving the green light to azerbaijan. That could draw russia into yet another proxy battle, where its on opposing sides with turkey. Thats another area that could draw u. S. Attention. Lots of different hotspots to watch. A lot of countries are still in wait and see mode. Anything theye can do to send a message around the world, this is not the time to push us . There are some rivals to the United States who i take the opportunity to take advantage who might take the opportunity to take advantage. Reva the election itself has been a big distraction for the sitting president , so a lot has already been delegated. The important thing is to show business as usual. You see in the south china sea, taiwan strait, those are ways to show we are here, nothing has changed, status quo. I think you can expect things like that. This its like pompeo to tokyo visits like pompeo to tokyo. Those are the kinds of things you can expect to see as well, where the Biting Campaign is also going to be focusing on foreign the Biden Campaign is also going to be focusing on foreign relationships. David is this potentially good news, at least in the short term, for china . Both President Trump and, to some extent, Vice President biden have wanted to put pressure on china. To allow group want pressure to be brought to bear on china. Does this mean china has more of a freehand . Reva maybe be to some limited extent. This does provide an opportunity, kind of like earthquake diplomacy, where we ve already seen chinese president xi jinping and his wife send a get well letter to President Trump and melania. It also allows china to contrast itself with the american response to the pandemic and show progress on its vaccine rollout and use that as a tool to other countries that are hungry for that vaccine. A less chaotico outcome, everyone is looking at the same factors. Russia has more of a history in terms of the disinformation campaign, but china still has a lot to worry about. This quad meeting, which is really about trying to give a backbone to this alliance, semialliance between australia, india, japan, and the United States, is a real test. And china has always turned this an antichina theres a lot of momentum for the u. S. To take advantage of, whether its a biden or trump presidency. What do you tell your clients when they ask you a question im sure they must ask, which is what is the biggest single difference between a President Biden and President Trump . Reva it really comes down to tactics, because the Structural Forces are still very much there. I think you are looking at the building crisis over taiwan in the south see south china sea. If you can reconstruct a as youe with beijing, had during the obama administration, and you also have a lot of incentive in beijing for reform. The reformists in beijing are saying the geopolitical climate is just another factor that means we need to create a more competitive china at home for businesses. If you do see real reforms and traction on that front, that could also help create a more positive negotiating climate to help manage the competition overall. That competition is still building across a number is still building. David thats reva goujon. We turn now to Mark Crumpton for bloomberg first word news. Mark no relation. President is ready to return to a normal work schedule President Trump is ready to return to her normal work schedule. Mark meadows tells fox news that he is making, quote, unbelievable progress. Another person who works closely with President Trump has been infected with covid19. In a, White House Press secretary Kayleigh Mcenany says she has tested positive in a White House Press secretary Kayleigh Mcenany says she tested positive. She says she didnt know about diagnosis before holding the White House Press briefing on tuesday. Charles evans is sounding optimistic about the outlook for the u. S. Economy. He spoke with bloombergs Michael Mckee earlier today. I think the economic recovery has been pretty good. In fact, its been a little quicker than i was expecting back in june when i submitted a forecast. I had been quite nervous about, well, theres a normal recovery where we get back to the level of where we were going into this sometime in 2022, maybe. Then we seem to have been doing better than that. Mark evans also said he is hopeful there will be more fiscal stimulus going forward. The republican plan to confirm Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett by election day is now in peril. Three senators have tested positive for the coronavirus in the past few days, and at least eight others are known to have had direct exposure. Majority leader mcconnells narrow margin for confirming barrett would evaporate if just three republicans were unable to vote. Tropical storm delta is expected to strengthen to a hurricane, endangering the Cayman Islands and cuba on a path into the gulf of mexico. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm gamma stalled just north of mexicos yucatan peninsula today, after lashing the coast with winds and rain. At least six people were killed. Thousands were forced from their homes. Global news 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. I am Mark Crumpton. This is bloomberg. David thanks very much. Still ahead, the house antitrust subcommittee is close to releasing its big report on big tech. This is balance of power on Bloomberg Television and radio. David david this is balance of power on Bloomberg Television and radio. I am david westin. Its time for a check of the markets. Risk on. Scarlet the scenario is bullish for risk. Treasuries falling, the 10year yield rising. The dollar weakening. It all boils down to stimulus. The president tweeting that a deal to get done. Nancy pelosi saying as much on friday, but the two sides are pretty far apart. Trillion to 2. 4 trillion. Joe bidens lead in the polls is widening, reducing the odds of a contested election and increasing talk of a democratic sweep. If we get a blue wave, that could raise the risk of inflation. A could pull forward an eventual fed rate increase it could pull forward an eventual fed rate increase. Banks borrow at the short end of the yield curve and blend at the long end lend at the long end. Netnet, this pushes really yields lower and the dollar weaker, and that produces easier financial conditions, which is positive for risky assets. David thank you for that report. The antitrust subcommittee, the house judiciary committee, has been conducting hearings about how antitrust laws should be applied to big tech. It is reportedly due out anytime now. Bill served as the assistant attorney general for antitrust in the obama administration. Its great to have you back with us. You testified before the subcommittee. What do you think we are going to hear out of it . Bill another slow news day. I testified last thursday, the final hearing before this report comes out. Whats unusual about this report is it really reflects not just a couple hearings with ceos and other things, but a 15month or dive, looking at nonpublic documents subpoenaed from the four companies. What the subcommittee was able to do was understand the motivations behind certain acquisitions, motivations behind certain changes in rules and requirements by these dominant hightech factions. [indiscernible] interacting with the members of that subcommittee on thursday, both in the public testimony and in some private conversations, this is more of a bipartisan consensus that we need to do something. We need to increase funding for antitrust enforcement. At a minimum, we need to modify the antitrust laws to direct courts to be a little more receptive to challenges to mergers and challenges to monopolization behavior than they have been in the past. David lets talk about that more specifically. Is the antitrust laws not changing the sherman act or the clayton act is that changing the sherman act or the clayton act . Bill Amy Klobuchar on the senate side has a bill that would change the merger standard from a [indiscernible] reducerially competition. On the side ofr blocking increasing concentrations in already concentrated markets and the more skeptical of acquisitions by dominant firms and be more skeptical of acquisitions by dominant firms of more nascent startups. There is talk about changing the antitrust laws, not dramatically, but to get the courts to be more receptive to antitrust challenges by the federal antitrust agencies. David is that barring the door after the horse has left the barn already . Would it affect the instagram deal . That never made it to the courts. They didnt even challenge it, did they . I think federal trade commission concluded under existing law both instagram and whatsapp, those two facebook acquisitions, were not covered by the current language of the clayton act or at least by the way the courts have interpreted it. The notion would be to try to direct the courts to be more receptive to challenges by the antitrust agencies. Tcu could go back, and the f may be looking at this with regard to facebook or acquisitions by other firms, and of, hey, this is a pattern monopolization under the sherman act, and therefore, we ought to go in, as the courts did years ago with the standard oil trust, and force divestiture or limit the ability of a dominant firm to make acquisitions going forward. So, there is some ability to look backwards. But i think the subcommittees focus is trying to toughen the antitrust laws so we can deal with concern about growing concentration. David what about something perhaps even more radical than that . Weve heard from the chair of the antitrust subcommittee, talking about the equivalent of a glasssteagall law with respect to antitrust. If you run a platform, as google does, as facebook does, you cannot also appear on that platform. Is there any likelihood of that . Bill the chairman has been an articulate proponent of that as something that ought to be on the legislative agenda. I dont know that there is bipartisan support for that, but i think it will be in the report. I think there will be support from some members of that subcommittee for going that far, that whole separation of functions notion. David this reads aga