and obviously as long as his symptoms continue to be mild. was the president aware and planning for this eventual positive test during your time in the white house, and was it something that he was concerned about considering, jen, of course, his advanced age? well, i think as you noted, yasmin, the president and anyone around him took every step possible. he received that second booster just back at the end of the march, normally to protect his own health but to send a message to the country about how important it is. i think anyone is preparing for the possibility they may test positive. i mean i ve had covid twice, right, and i was pretty careful and took every precaution necessary. it can happen but what is hugely foreign here is the reason he s having mild symptoms is because he was boosted twice and because he took those precautions. but, yes, you re preparing. he has obviously a doctor who is his personal doctor. every president has access to the best medical care in the
testing on a routine basis to make sure that they were well. but again, obviously, this is significant breaking news. this is a 79-year-old president who right now is dealing with what are described as mild symptoms, but obviously, there is great concern about his health and safety at this time. you know, honestly, yasmin, at this moment, we re trying to get a better sense of understanding about how this will impact the next several days for this president. but clearly, he s going to be in isolation or in isolation even if he can work from a distance from aides over the course of the next five plus days, we imagine. and i m wondering, peter, you may not have this information, but how long do we know that the president is going to be in isolation? in certain instances, there are folks that test positive for covid, and after five days of isolation, they re allowed to go back for their lives, and not necessarily even having to retest or test negative in order to resume life. do we know
vaccinated, he s someone who has tried to take this pandemic very, very seriously. he was elected on the idea that he was going to be the one who brought in the experienced team, who was going to be the president who could figure out this pandemic. and he has been the person who has made sure that vaccinations have gone out throughout the country. that americans have continued to talk about the pandemic. but i think, yasmin, it s also a reminder that we are living in a pandemic. there are so many things that often become the things that are the top priorities. whether it s inflation or foreign policy in ukraine or whether it s the january 6th hearings that will be historic tonight. all of those things are happening, but if the backdrop of that is this pandemic that s continuing to make americans sick, that s continuing to kill americans, and that has killed more than a million americans. and there are so many americans across the country that are mourning the loss of loved ones and are
we re in the mid-80s right now. still likely to make it to 100 or close to 100. and we ve had already in the north texas area 25 days of 100-plus-degree temperatures. seven of those days over 105. so excessive heat. a lot of people showing up at water parks like this one in plano. the public water park here with a lazy river, a wading pool, a diving area. they ve got a simulated surf area. they re taking full advantage. more than a thousand every day, pushing this place to capacity. and it s one to get some temporary relief. their concern is, it s only temporary. and you re right, people are struggling in their homes, and in texas, while they re used to heat, not like this, and especially this early, yasmin, august is the hottest month of the year here in texas. so a lot of people very concerned about what s coming next. sorry, guys. we have some breaking news, jay.
joining us now for reaction to the president s positive covid test. jen, thanks for joining us and jumping on to talk good morning, yasmin. good morning. give me your reaction first in hearing the president has in fact tested positive. i m sure you re not surprised at this point. no, i think, yasmin, as many would expect who have been following it closely, i think we ve been preparing or they ve been preparing for this probably for several months now given the percentage of people in the country who have tested positive. what they were probably bracing for impact before they made the statement this morning because they knew there would be a lot of reactions, obviously from media, but certainly maybe from the markets, from other leaders. but what they ve done so far over the last less than an hour since the news came out is done two smart thing, one is they ve been transparent, they made clear that he was taking paxlovid, his symptoms have been mild and the second thing they d