this is bbc news — more than seven million people have been infected coronavirus in the us, one of them, we now know, is president trump. the news of his positive test, tweeted out in the middle of the night, has thrown the final phase of this year's election campaign into complete disarray. with just over a month until polling day president trump and his wife melania are now isolating in the white house. the campaigni the campaign i said that all public events will be cancelled or go online. —— have said that. the president is said to be suffering from mild symptoms of the virus, but his chief of staff insists he's still working. he's had a mild symptoms but he is ha rd he's had a mild symptoms but he is hard at work. we are having to slow him down a little bit.

the democratic contender for the white house, joe biden, who shared a debate stage with donald trump this week, has tested negative and is continuing campaigning. so, with the virus springing an october surprise like no other, how will it affect this year's closely fought election contest? hello, i'm katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london. we should begin our coverage this evening with a reminder that the odds of a full recovery are overwhelmingly on donald trump's side. but it is sobering, nonetheless, that the leader of the free world, a 74—year—old man, is now suffering the mild symptoms of coronavirus. we know the risks, more than 200,000 people have already died in the united states from this virus. and tonight 32 days before an election, behind in the polls, the president is locked in the white house under the watchful eye of his physicians.

there have been global messages of support today as well as the schadenfreude expressed on social media. for months donald trump has played down the seriousness of coronavirus. he's campaiged throughout in defiance of the public health guidelines — and yesterday despite being told — en route to his fundraiser in newjersey — that senior aide hope hicks had tested posititive, he went ahead with the trip anyway. there are many questions that we will get to this evening — but first here's our north american editorjon sopel. last night, one of the great pre—election traditions, the president attending the al smith dinner, where donald trump addressed the coronavirus pandemic with what now appears to be grim irony. the worst is behind us, he said. the end of the pandemic is in sight, and next year will be one of the greatest in history of our country... then later in the evening

the bombshell that will reverberate around the world, the most serious health issue to affect a serving president in decades. he tweeted, tonight the first lady and i tested positive for covid—i9. we will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. we'll get through this together. today, the president's chief of staff gave reporters this update. the president and first lady tested positive for covid—19. they remain in good spirits. the president does have mild symptoms. a hint of something being wrong came early in the evening last night when it was announced that this woman, hope hicks, had the virus. she travelled by helicopter with the president on tuesday. none of them was wearing a mask. as donald trump appeared to dance with joy at a rally in minnesota, she had become symptomatic and was quarantined on air force one for the return journey to washington.

the ripples of concern will reach everyone who has been in close contact with the president, not leastjoe biden, who shared a debate stage with him for a shouty 90 minutes on tuesday night. a debate whether president ripped into the democratic candidate for his mask wearing. i don't wear a mask like him, every time you see him he has got a mask, he could be speaking 200 feet away and he shows up with the biggest mask i've ever seen. and it was noticeable that none of the trump entourage wore face coverings. that actually violated the rules of the cleveland clinic, which was in charge of all the safety issues inside the hall, which were that everybody except for the president, the vice president and i were not supposed to wear masks, were supposed to wear a mask. the president has worn masks in public in less than a handful of occasions, and his ambivalence towards them is evident. can you take it off? because i cannot hear you. you want to be politically correct. it is a recommendation,

they recommended. i am feeling good. and he has been holding rallies as though covid was in the rear—view mirror, with thousands turning up, no attempt at social distancing, few wearing masks. last night, the president's doctor, a seemingly upbeat assessment. the president and first lady are well at this time and they plan to remain at home within the white house today, messages of support from around the world, this from boris johnson, who has been where the president is now. i think we all want to send our best wishes to the president and first lady, and i have done that this morning, as you can imagine. and i am sure that they will both stage a very strong recovery. and messages of support too from political rivals.

joe biden wrote... this is first and foremost a medical issue for the president and his wife, but it has upended a presidential election campaign that needed no further agitation. with many questions begged and few answers to give at this early stage. jon sopel, bbc news, at the white house. so there is here in washinton an extensive test and trace operation under way, it involves the highest strata of federal government. here is a list of contacts that hope hicks has met in recent days, which gives you an idea of the size of the operation the white house in involved in. lets bring you quickly up to speed with those who have tested negative today; the vice president, mike pence who would be asked to take over if the president's condition worsened. the chief of staff mark meadows,

who has spent time on capitol hill this week discussing the nomination of amy coney barratt for the supreme court, she too tested negative. treasury secretary steve mnuchin, nancy pelosi, and joe biden who of course stood for 90 minutes opposite the president on tuesday night. all of them negative but that doesn't mean of course they are yet out of the woods. let's bring in president trump's former campaign adviser, bryan lanza. thank you forjoining us. what is happening in the campaign in the white house right now? thank you for having me. the white house are going through their strict protocols they set out. they've had other members of staff get sick so they are going through the contact tracing and testing everybody. i've had meetings today that were moved from being on campus to being the telephone so they are going to the normal process they are going to the normal process they have done and i think it was they have done and i think it was the fourth high profile person is going sick. the campaign, almost on a freight. they have to cancel some

events. and now they are developing a new game plan of how to move forward with this much possible online. it is a whole new game plan now. this is first and foremost a medical issue, everybody wishing the president and the first lady well. but in terms of the campaign, we cannot ignore the politics of this because we are 5—wood from an election. this is going to have an impact? does that makejoe biden strategy of campaigning staying at home to a more virtual events and wearing a mask, make that look more sensible now? i don't think so. i think you have to remember, we have a lot of protest here in the united states. peaceful protests and hundreds of cities. you haven't had a significant threat. you've had some campaign rallies where they haven't had a significant spread so i think from the odds if that is what they are planninguk they are in a good space but it is when you play the odds it takes one to throw it all out of whack. i think both getting sick or at least testing

positive and getting sick, there is a distinction, and brought it close to home and the inner circle at the ta ke test to home and the inner circle at the take test for the next week i suppose. hindsight is a wonderful thing. 0n reflection, given that the president learned of hope hicks positive results on marine one on the way to air force one on thursday, shouldn't they just the way to air force one on thursday, shouldn't theyjust have turned around ? thursday, shouldn't theyjust have turned around? i don't know enough on the ground in think those guys come he is making the decisions, doctors and policymakers are there but it is his decision but i do think having somebody who is visiting the white house quite regular, they have very strict protocols on what to do somebody test positive. it is not a risk they ta ke test positive. it is not a risk they take that appears to be outside the protocol but hindsight is always 20/20. it is much easier to cancel this particular moment but we have no reason to believe the protocols they went through were inconsistent with what they do at the white house

and other campaigns without looking at the calendar the next 14 days to move or do that later but clearly what shines out. the televised debate. there already real change is coming from the commission. do you think that has to be cancelled or will there be discussions about moving that virtual online?|j will there be discussions about moving that virtual online? i think will have to see first what the do people want to see a discussion between these two, they want to know what theirjob between these two, they want to know what their job future looks like post covid—i9. this makes this even more critical. i think it will move a good opportunity for resume our skype to garner a lot of media attention. but it wouldn't surprise me if this is done virtually this debate and possibly a few others. this strange election and the stranger just keeps getting stranger. imagine that. if somebody would have told you this six month ago we would have a skype debate

between the president and the democratic candidate, you would never have believed it. we still have a month ago. i like that happen between now and then. yes. as this campaign is telling us. brian, thank you very much forjoining us. let's get more now from our reporter anthony zarco. let's get more now from our senior north america reporter anthony zurcher. how does this affect the race? and throws into turmoil. as he mentioned, we will see donald trump campaign essentially suspended, at least no more campaign events for donald trump were campaign events for donald trump family except for virtually. it seems like mike pence who announce he tested negative is going to continue to do campaign events going to continue to do campaign eve nts o n going to continue to do campaign events on the road, but because in the question all the decisions made by the republican side and also it brings attention tojoe biden to his campaigns decision. will this help anybody or the other? it is very

early to say that but you have to remember if you look at polls, they suggest that the american public wasn't unhappy with donald trump handling of the coronavirus pandemic bya handling of the coronavirus pandemic by a fairly sizeable margin. anything you would think that would cast a direct spotlight a laser—like focus on the coronavirus here with just 32 days before the election, thatis just 32 days before the election, that is not going to help the president in any way politically. i'm struck by the contrast, some of the reporting today was that there isa the reporting today was that there is a pool ready reporter who was supposed to be going to michigan with joe supposed to be going to michigan withjoe biden who was pulled off of the trip because on wednesday he had been on air force one going to minnesota. so you have the biden campaign that is wearing mask, taking all the right decisions, not campaigning, pulling people off who we re campaigning, pulling people off who were at risk, compared to what we just hired there from brian. yes. it is pretty remarkable to see the contrast between the two campaigns. and remember, joe biden was being

ridiculed over the past few months by republicans in the president for hiding in his basement and now because of this abundance of caution on the part of the democratic campaign, ithink on the part of the democratic campaign, i think that you see a very distinct contrast were joe biden is going to michigan today and continue to do at least some campaigning were as donald trump now it essentially grounded. i can speak personally. also to be in the press pull for donald trump flight down to florida later today. —— i was supposed to be. now that has been cancelled. i was in a press pull flight cancelled. i was in a press pull flight just last week and while the media were wearing mask and you can see staffers generally wearing mask, when she got out on the ground, many people were not wearing masks. the crowds were packed in. —— once you got on the ground. not only in the hangers but buses sitting right by the aeroplane hangars were all of these people who got there to see donald trump in the) these people who got there to see donald trump in the ) to be transported there so just to say these outdoor rallies and saying i

suppose so but getting to the outdoor rallies, these people were at risk. anthony, thank you very much for that. what about funding? does it affect funding? a desperate scramble for money. particularly in the term campaign over the last few weeks. the biden campaign has been coining money, the campaign staff can't believe how much money they have made after the death of ruth regensburg, they got a lot of money and the nomination of amy barrett. they are in a position where they can outspend the term campaign. —— ruth bader ginsburg. the term campaign had been ahead but it seems they spent a lot of money early on in the year. —— the truck campaign. now they are struggling. 0ne in the year. —— the truck campaign. now they are struggling. one of the reasons why donald trump was on the flight reasons why donald trump was on the flight commit with a fund raiser yesterday. he needs to get out there and when they get the big money is when he is in the room with owners. the donors want to pay big money to see him. that is when they manage to

film the campaign coffers. it will affect fundraising. so possibly in florida today in wisconsin tomorrow. all love that cancelled. —— supposed to be in florida today and wisconsin tomorrow. all of that is cancelled. despite the obvious risks that is facing everybody working in the west wing today, there are still staffers and senior officials walking in and out of the white house today without. point in case mark meadows, the chief of staff, who has tested negative but still briefed reporters without wearing one. and that's despite two more people testing positive in the white house today within the press pool. it is unlikely the message from the top is going to change. in fact the fox news host, brian kilmeade, was voicing his opinion today that if trump recovers quickly, then some people will take that as confirmation that the virus is not that serious. people think if i get it, i die. look at this. 7 million people have it. it is terrible. what if the most famous person in the world gets it, and in ten days is back out? doesn't that also send a message that you

can say whatever you want in stacks and graphs, but i give you an example of somebody who is in that danger age of 7a, who is out there, gets it and beats it? could that send a message? interesting what you would've heard if you would been watching fox news. very different in this country for what you had to wash it more liberal leaning media. even though the risk of severe illness from covid—i9 increases with age, most people who contract it get well quickly with minimal symptoms. but it's hard to say how long a recovery could take. he is a 74—year—old man with a history of high cholesterol. and experts agree that the next week will be critical in determining the course of mr. trump's illness. by way of example let me show you how borisjohnson's illness developed. so he was diagnosed with covid—i9 on march 27th, with mild symptoms but by april fifth nine days later he had been admitted to hospital. where he spent three nights in intensive care. though at no point did he require

mechanical ventilation. so let's speak to uche blackstock — she's an emergency medicine physician and a yahoo news medical contributor in new york. i want to go back over the timeline because both candidates to test before the debate. and both of them tested negative, so what can we say about that. the thinking is that if he was with displaying symptoms yesterday, he could have been shedding virus for a number of days. yes. he could have been shedding the virus probably most often within three to five days before he was actually diagnosed. so the chances are either it was too early or the test to pick up that he was positive or it may have been a false negative. but the fact is that your infectious for several days even before you start having symptoms. infectious for several days even before you start having symptomsm now he is is isolated, what does that mean for the way he goes about

hisjob in the that mean for the way he goes about his job in the west wing and in the white house? does he have to be com pletely white house? does he have to be completely isolated from other staff looking after him and feeding him and trying to give him briefings all have to be in ppe? how does the work? absolutely. he definitely come he and his wife will need to be isolated for a total of 14 days. anybody coming into contact with them will have to have the personal protective equipment on at the very minimum, they should have a mascot if not gloves, as well as a gallon. he really should have minimum contact with other people besides the staff would need to attend to him. when you look at the fact that joe biden and his wife had tested negative and the vice president mike pence has also tested negative, would you rely on those negative tests at those moment, talking about the timeline? is it possible they came into contact possibility getting if essig were not showing up

ona getting if essig were not showing up on a test yet? absolutely. i would say they are definitely not out of the woods yet. they should probably have testing daily for the next few days. just to see if the test remain negative. this virus, sometimes people can go for several days from exposure before they test positive, so doctors will have to keep a close eye on them. so should actually mr biden be isolating do you think? you know, i think that depending on how close, i can't remember the proximity he was to mr trump on tuesday night, but it was less than six feet come i don't think it was completed probably seriously consider isolating himself for the next several days while he is being tested. 0k, thank you very much dr for joining tested. 0k, thank you very much dr forjoining us. so at minimum ten days of isolation for the president.

let's take a look then at the political calendar for 0ctober. on wednesday kamala harris and mike pence will be taking part in the vice presidential debate. republican leaders in the senate have confirmed they still plan to go ahead on october 12th with the supreme court hearings before the senate judiciary committee. that's three days before the second presidential debate in florida. the 15th of october. the commission on presidential debates had no comment today on whether that will be cancelled. a week later — we could have the final presidential debate in tennessee. election day is then on tuesday november 3rd. even though we hear people already voting. let's bring in the former white house communications director, anthony scaramucci. thank you forjoining us again, anthony. what do you think this does to the campaign for the next few weeks? well, they are scrambling,

and fortunately for them at the scope of the campaign because the president gets a lot of energy from these rallies and he is behind and a lot of battle ground states that they were planning on his visits boosting him in those states. i think it is very hard for the president over a virtual situation. he gets bored pretty easily so i don't see how that will work for him. iwant don't see how that will work for him. i want to say i hope him and mrs chuck and hope hicks recover quickly. nobody went to see anybody sick. that's and mrs trump. there is a level of incompetence that has taken place a level of incompetence that has ta ken place here a level of incompetence that has taken place here that has to be addressed in terms of the way he has handled the virus in the way he has lied about the science and the way he has put people in harms way, his family members and the support staff and his supporters for that matter, because he really has sent a message of the culture inside the white house and people are frowned upon if they are not mask lives inside of they are not mask lives inside of the white house. -- not wearing a mask without you work there and i

have been there several times. it is super—tight and small in the west wing of the white house. your right up wing of the white house. your right up against people. the chances of it being a place where this could spread seem to be pretty high. yes. air force one, look at the cabins inside, it is even smaller. so my heart goes out to the family, but you have to think about the tens of thousands of lives that could still be here if we have just handled this better, so i think that has to be litigated over the next month and i think it will be and there's a certain level of symbolism here that the president himself has gotten the virus, primarily related to his malfeasance in the way he has handled the situation in terms of not taking it seriously enough. handled the situation in terms of not taking it seriously enoughlj wa nt to not taking it seriously enoughlj want to come back to what kiting was just saying about the white house. we have a floor plan of the first floor. —— what katty was saying. i guess we will and oppression ofjust how tight it is. you have this impression it is a sprawling place

the west wing but actually, you have an office, hope hicks right next door, almost opposite the vice president, and then you don't have ventilation like you would have in a modern building. no, the building was built in 1909, it had air conditioning issues over the last 100 plus years, they did a renovation of the building in august of 2017 but i don't think they have the scrubbers in that building they would have on aeroplane let's say, so it is tight quarters, but the president is a middle school bully, he is setting the rules against the rules of science, and he is forcing the people that is sitting at his lunch table to abide by his rules and of course, pursuant to what epidemiologists would say the high for those people and many of them a fortu nately for those people and many of them a fortunately now the virus. -- u nfortu nately. we fortunately now the virus. -- unfortunately. we have talk together about what message the president wa nted about what message the president wanted to push at this campaign. he didn't want to be talking about the

coronavirus, sadly for him it will be front and centre now for the running to the vote. no question. and trust me, he has it. all these conspiracy theories that says he doesn't, he my friends in the white house tell me but also i know the president. he would never put himself off the playing field for this long if he didn't have the virus. it is unfortunate by the way because i would like the free marketplace of ideas in the litigation of what has gone on over the last four years to be front and centre in the campaign and let there bea centre in the campaign and let there be a full free market—based referendum on it, i would like to talk about the racism, i would like to talk about the voter suppression, the destruction of the institutions of dark democracy, so we can really showcase the to the american people what he has done over the last three and a half years. he has lied about the science come he the country wea ker the science come he the country weaker come he made the country sicker and poor, and

weaker come he made the country sickerand poor, and in a weaker come he made the country sicker and poor, and in a weird way, the covid—19 diagnosis is overshadowing things like the tax issue and some of the other systemic issues that we have to continue to bring forward to the american people right now. 0k. anthony scaramucci, thank you very much forjoining us again. we had you earlier this week. always a pleasure to have you. what you were saying their christian about this put covid—19 front and centre, we know from the polls that the president does not get very many points for his handling of the virus, but it makes this the top of the conversation. this is a conversation he had tried to deflect from consistently for the last few weeks. now the very fact that he has it that we are talking about covid—19 again and doctors will be back on television again in a rage is the issue again. it is not in the rear—view mirror. he is a symbol of the fact that it is not gone away. a lot more on this, including talking to people who used to work at the white house on the task force of the

coronavirus who can fill us in on what they are doing. stay with us. hello again. it was a lovely day today across scotland where we had the blue skies. tomorrow the skies are going to look very different. and that's because the wet and windy weather that we have had for the south is going to develop more widely this weekend. the rain is going to be the issue that's likely to be some flooding, some travel disruption although there will be strong winds at times. earlier today and this money we had windy for the english channel from storm alex, that's weakened and getting consumed by a larger area of low pressure that will move northwards into the uk and spread that rain and the stronger winds to more areas. we've got more rain at the moment across parts of england in particular, wet for first central and eastern areas a bit drier through wales and southwest later on but still windy.

and the winds will rain towards ethan parts of scotland. western scotland and northern ireland largely dry and clear skies, but chilly here maybe some early sunshine tomorrow. generally cloud and rain on the way as the rain sets in for more of england and wales, the gales still in the southwest and turns weather across scotland. largely dry for northern ireland and after the rain clears we could get sunshine in the afternoon with the southeast of england giving temperatures a boost. underneath the cloud and rain it's a chilly 11 to 13 degrees. that rain is going to be heavy at times especially over the hills, we do have amber rain warnings from the met office for later on saturday into saturday night, there could be more than two inches of rain over the higher ground here, and further north in the area that's likely to have some flooding in the northeast of scotland. a lot of rain over the hills. blown in off the north sea around our area of low pressure. as a movie to the second half of the week in the centre of the low is going to be sitting slap bang over the uk. stronger winds and probably

ridges we have this rain, the rain should move away from the northeast of scotland in the morning and wet weather not far away from northern ireland and the southwest of england. not as windy in central part of the uk but there will be some sunshine and some heavy showers around as well, and it's still a cool day typically 13 or 1a degrees. those temps are not really going to change as we look ahead to the early part of next week, the winds will not be quite as strong perhaps but there will be sunshine and heavy showers.

you're watching bbc news with me katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london. our top stories... president trump has tested positive for coronavirus. with just over a month until polling day, his campaign has said all public events have been cancelled or will go online. the president is said to be suffering from mild symptoms of the virus, but his aides insist he's still working. he continues to be not only in good spirits but very energetic, we have talked and number of times this morning. the democratic contender for the white house, joe biden, who shared a debate stage with donald trump this week, has tested negative and is continuing campaigning.

the stock markets do not like uncertainty. it is been a nervous day on wall street. markets already spooked by the prospect of a contested election result in november. and now this. which is why you will be hearing plenty of positive noises, from mr trump's chief of staff in the coming days, much like we had today. on with business it's reported he fell asleep on the flight home from minnesota on wednesday night. ‘maybe' that was the first effects of the illness — but then he has had a very intense week. in any case by thursday he was feeling the effects of his illness. mark meadows says he sounds a bit hoarse but generally "in good spirits". so let's head over to the white house and check in with the bbc‘s gary 0'donoghue.

there was some talk this morning that maybe they would put the president on television. a national address to calm the nerves. they won't want to do that if he is sounding ill. no. i think won't want to do that if he is sounding ill. no. ithink that won't want to do that if he is sounding ill. no. i think that one is faded. the press secretary who was speaking to journalists earlier didn't mention that. she said he would be hearing from the president a great deal. so we didn't have any time scale of when that would happen. clearly he has plenty to do some of these campaigns events online. the online process come he whenjoe online. the online process come he when joe biden was online. the online process come he whenjoe biden was doing his events online. they don't want to ms too many of these out if he can possibly do them because were only 32 days away from polling day itself. every single event could be potentially important. but we don't know yet is what i think is in some ways more important is how they will do the business of government if the president has to isolate. how did they get people and get briefings in

front of them. all that kind of things in the mix for the smooth running of the federal government? do we have a definite quarantine time for him? there is the presidential debate coming up in two weeks. what are you hearing at the white house about what will happen which is blue sometimes you hear ten days. sometimes 14 days. ithink which is blue sometimes you hear ten days. sometimes 14 days. i think you have a tall possible. at that are possible they will want to make that debate. ican possible they will want to make that debate. i can see the kind of argument you can see, this will all depend on the nature of his symptoms and whether they get worse of remain pretty mild, they will be able to say we have done multiple test, that will be there hope that we have done multiple test and had multiple negative test and therefore we think it is safe to do it. that will depend on the presidential

commission and what their viewer thatis commission and what their viewer that is an with the former vice president biden who thinks of all of that but i think if they can possibly can, they will want to avoid the president not showing up to that debate. thank you, gary. let's have a look at where the president's movements over the last seventy—two hours. on tuesday the president was in cleveland ohio — where he faced joe biden in the first presidential debate. the two maintained their distance from each other throughout — but neither wore face masks on stage. the next day president trump travelled to minnesota for a fundraiser at a private residence — before holding a rally at duluth international airport that night. hope hicks travelled with the president aboard air force one — but after developing symptoms during the rally travelled back in quarantine. she exited from the plane's rear entrance in washington. then on thursday morning — hope hicks's test for covid—19 came back positive. we heard from chief of staff mark meadows today that the president heard

about her positive test while on marine 0ne en route to andrew air force base. but still flew onto a fundraising event at the trump national golf club in bedminster. and i think we can speak to someone who was at that fundraiser last night — joe piscopo is a newjersey radio host and comedian. welcome to the programme. how close did you get to be president?” welcome to the programme. how close did you get to be president? i was not close. i was just there as a private citizen and a guest. i was pretty far back, at least 50 yards back. this was all out of sight. when i saw it coming all outside, it was the president came out and spoke at the portico of the beautiful trenton national, bedminster new jersey about a half hour from my home and we were all outside, adhering to the cdc guidelines, i didn't see anybody close to the

president, except for the secret service of course. of course, that would be attended by his biggest supporters, people who really want to be in the company of the president. this do you think some of them might be feeling a bit peeved today to learn that they knew that somebody who had been very close to him had coronavirus and get still press on with the event? no. we love our president. despite what you might hear. we are very supportive. ido might hear. we are very supportive. i do the radio in new york every day. by the way, an honour to be on bbc, the legendary bbc. it is an honour to be here. the president is loyal, when he would make that speech, it was to say thank you to his most ardent supporters and he was away, far away, and he came out and he had to go back to the white house right after that. he took the time to address us and showed loyalty, character, he was charming,

he was strong, i had never seen the president look healthier than i did yesterday at three o'clock in new jersey time, his voice was strong, and he was funny and glib, and it was the best i have seen the president. no matter what happens, we send our prayers, and our hearts to the first lady into the president of the united states. we appreciate he isa of the united states. we appreciate he is a strong man, you cannot keep this guy down. i am jersey tough as we say. you guys may have the original jersey we say. you guys may have the originaljersey here but we are new jersey usa. we are tough. that president has that toughness.|j president has that toughness.” wa nted president has that toughness.” wanted to have the legendaryjoe piscopo on the bbc i have to say. —— are honoured to have. as a supporter of the president, do you come we all wish him well, do you worry about the fact that he might be off the campaign trail for the next ten, 12 days, not holding rallies and what they could do to his campaign in

this critical run—up the election? i got your name wrong, i'm so wrong. you should've corrected me. please we have relatives. we have relatives in the south of piscopo, but in italy sometimes were my people come from, they say piscopo, i was ok with that. very italian. we think, actually to you as a broadcaster i may, we do live shows, i'm an intern or virtually, but as a broadcaster, we suspect the will president will win ina we suspect the will president will win in a formidable faction if not a landslide. i'm telling you that right now. you will come back and check out piscopo, katty and gratian made a prediction, i'm telling you. that's what will happen. i don't know you can damage him because he

is so popular these days. what is the campaign going to look like? that is to question. will he do a virtual campaign? it didn't seem to have worked well withjoe biden, the democratic nominee. but what will the president do? he is a rally kinda guy. i don't know what they would do from here on out. we got a radio host and battle ground state and we do it a lot of nights, mia katty. we will have to come and find you again to preach on the spot that night before the election. —— to me and katty. if the bbc to be here. you guys are great. thank you, from the states, we love you and thank you very much. lovely to see you, joe. thank you for being with us. if the president was feeling the effects of the virus last night it is a fair assumption that he was infected earlier in the week, maybe while he was debating with joe biden on tuesday night. so there's been a lot of focus today on the audience

at the cleveland clinic. which included mr trump's family. you see them coming in wearing masks but then they sat down and took them off in spite of the rules they had agreed to. yes nancy pelosi said today she had been told it was like a bad wedding, with one side —joe biden's side — all wearing masks and the trump side sitting there without them. 0livia troye used to work for the white house's coronavirus task force under vice president mike pence. she's since come out and criticised the administration for its handling of the crisis. and she joins us from virginia. things 0livia, very much forjoining us on the programme. when you heard the news today and woke up and heard the news today and woke up and heard the news today and woke up and heard the news about the president having covid—19, given what you know of the messaging and the situation in the white house, did it kind of strike you as very surprising that he might get this? you know, like every other american, i was shocked. you don't wa nt american, i was shocked. you don't want your country's leader to experience this and suffer, and also, from a national security

standpoint, it's worrisome, the concern about the leadership and what happens. quite honestly, i'm actually more shocked that it took this long for this to happen, given the dynamics inside the white house and the negligence that i saw first—hand. and the negligence that i saw first— hand. you and the negligence that i saw first—hand. you know, we were told one thing, and messaging the task force, the president would sometimes counter that message, and internally, we were definitely not following the proper protocols to mike and tell you that first—hand. described the pressure within the white house on members of the staff not to do things that the medical side of the task force was saying, like wearing masks and social distancing. you know, we had masks available at the west wind entrance into the building. there was certainly no shortage of outcome and we had testing for specific staff, not everyone on the staff gets tested every day. i got tested because i did see the vice president

every day, and immediate staff do get tested. but i think the issue was that, you know, we knew the risk and how quickly this virus spreads, but it didn't seem like it was actually ta ken seriously but it didn't seem like it was actually taken seriously by some of the critical peers in the inner political circle, and we are seeing the effects of that today. you have said, 0livia, that you are at times under pressure to change the guidelines to fit the president's narrative, do you think in light of what's happened today that may be the messaging might change?” what's happened today that may be the messaging might change? i am curious about the outcome because now, given that the personal experience of the president and we are seeing first—hand whether they will see the message change. you know, whether it will be or we will see white stat —— white out —— white house staff wearing masks, they should've been wearing masks, especially given the news of a colleague that they had all been

exposed to very recently testing positive. i personally believe and can't believe that they actually we nt can't believe that they actually went on the trip given the proximity that they all had to each other. i think it was negligent to put the president in that situation and other staff, and also the people at these events. also, it'sjust inconsiderate to expose others knowing that there had been a recent exposure. we were struck with what anthony's garbage he said to us a few minutes ago, that there are some people who don't really think that he's got it. i wonder if that is really the effect of all the lies, that it's just taken on the toll that it's just taken on the toll that we think. we don't trust what comes out of the white house. you know, i think that is very... that isa know, i think that is very... that is a really dark day for our country, and that's where we are right now. it's very unfortunate. i'm not going to like him i mean, this white house... i wouldn't put it past them to think that this is political ploy to switch the

messaging and a way to shift the conversation onto something else, but i would hope that they would not actually do that, and that something as serious as this that has national security implications and for the continuity of government, i would hope that they are being honest. you know, they will play this down, that isjust what this know, they will play this down, that is just what this white house does. i know other previous administrations in certain situations like this can try to keep your clouds close to your chest until you really understand what's really happening, but i can guarantee you i'm almost positive that we will see other staff, other names, coming forward testing positive. i don't expect this to be campaigned. olivia, was there a plan in place for this eventuality? did you discuss it on the task force what would happen? the task work didn't really get into specific topics such as that. we

we re specific topics such as that. we were certainly aware at the very early beginning, and there was planning being done on the national security council side of the house, where we have seen continuity of operations, can't really get into the details of that because it's classified, but there were certainly planning that was always done in a situation like this. but i can't say that i have seen a lot of those protocols in the middle of a crisis that's ongoing for so long followed. 0k, 0livia, thank you very much for joining us. thank you for having me. stay with us on bbc news, still to come. we will be live in atlanta, georgia coming up next. more than 750 students have tested positive in newcastle — at northumbria university. almost all of them showed no symptoms. it's the biggest outbreak so far at any university in the uk. 0ur correspondent sharon barbour

is there and has more information. 770 students, as you say, an extraordinary number of students have tested positive for coronavirus here at northumbria university in the heart of newcastle only 78 though showed symptoms. all of those students, all flatmates and all close contacts a re students, all flatmates and all close contacts are now self isolating for 14 days. the university is getting food and sorting laundry and some kind, any kind of help that they can come about today, the council and the university also appealed to the public to put together food parcels to get to the nearly 800 students. why are there so many? well, one of the —— one of the reasons is they have made really good testing available to the students, accessible for a lot of students, they say have been tested. that's one reason, some of the students who spoken to say that they have also

been celebrating from of a start at around 26,000 students started here two weeks ago. of course, freshers' week, they have been doing a lot together. back to you. sharon barber reporting. two billionaire brothers from blackburn have won the battle to buy asda from walmart, in a deal valuing the supermarket at almost seven billion pounds. zuber and mohsin issa made their money through petrol stations and now own more than 5,000 across the country. the deal means the the grocer will return to uk ownership for the first time in 20 years. the national crime agency says intelligence indicates that the government flagship loan scheme designed to help out small firms affected by covid is being exploited by organised criminals. earlier this week a bbc news investigation revealed that gangs were setting up bogus companies and getting tens of thousands of pounds for each application to the scheme.

so the world is digesting the news of president trump's positive covid result. and inevitably we've had lots of reaction out of washington. but what's the word outside the dc bubble? let's go live to atlanta and speak to the bbc‘s larry madowo. i know you have been speaking to people there in atlanta, what do they make of its? it's as far as possible from the dc bubble indeed come out here in georgia, a lot of simply for president trump on the airwaves, georgia liens heavily republican, but here in atlanta commits much more mixed. we heard from people who told us that they are not surprised that he got sick because they see that he's been downplaying the severity of the coronavirus that he's been marking, vice presidentjoe coronavirus that he's been marking, vice president joe biden coronavirus that he's been marking, vice presidentjoe biden for wearing masks, and his entire attitude they feel that led to this moment. we also heard from some from supporters here in atlanta who told us, listen, here in atlanta who told us, listen, he has done a lot of events with people. he reaches a lot of people at these campaign events, so they we re at these campaign events, so they were not surprised as well that they got him sick, but they wish him

well. we heard from one woman who told us that even though he's downplayed this, i will pray for him andl downplayed this, i will pray for him and i pray for the country, because you don't wish this on your worst enemy. did you hear it all from the term supporters about whether this impacted their own view of the severity of the coronavirus? we have heard from some from supporters who say that they understand the president has fallen sick but i still don't think this is so sick but i still don't think this is so serious. he is going to get the red. 0ne so serious. he is going to get the red. one man told us, i'm in my 60s, he was about 60 to come and still feels that it's not for him, he's not going to die from coronavirus evenif not going to die from coronavirus even if he catches it. but he is getting support from an unlikely source, the atlanta mayor, keisha lance bottoms who herself have coded few months ago sent thoughts and prayers from her family to the first family, and she stated koba19 diagnosis is unsettling to me even more so diagnosis is unsettling to me even more so when a loved one tests positive. she says her husband and herself which president trump and the first lady all the best. the same feeling from the governor of

georgia, brian kemp. yes, and those warm sentiments echoed around the world today. larry, thank you very much for that from atlanta. of course, president trump not the first world leader to get coronavirus. we mentioned earlier — it's only around five months since borisjohnson got infected — and eventually ended up in intensive care in hospital.0ne of the big fears, in a situation like this, is that the virus spreads like wildfire through the cramped offices of the white house to other senior advisors. but that's something the white house has a protocol for — here's chief of staff mark meadows speaking a little earlier. what you have is a virus that is contagious that certainly continues to be regardless of whatever protocol we have, that it has the ability to affect everybody, as you know, the presidents, we keep a pretty wide circle, all of you that have interacted with him know that. so even with that wide circle around the presidents, we find that he's having to deal with this, like so

many millions of other americans and people around the world have had to deal. let's bring in someone who knows the white house inside out, former advisor to president george w bush — ron christie. we should say, because you just reason he recovered from covid—19, you will be understanding just how the president feels today. that evening to you, christian. it's nice to see you. yes, i am fully re cove red, nice to see you. yes, i am fully recovered, i am glad i nice to see you. yes, i am fully recovered, lam glad i have successfully gone through this ordeal, but what the president is dealing with right now it's a bubble that's not gotten so much smaller thanit that's not gotten so much smaller than it normally is. not only has —— now his most senior aides who had beenin now his most senior aides who had been in proximity to him while he's in quarantine, meaning they can talk to him in the residence on a secure television line, they can talk with them on the phone, but the way that them on the phone, but the way that the residents in the white house works, he will be literally isolated from the rest of the building and the rest of the staff. hope hicks says she's feeling a bit achy today, and of course, these are the first

symptoms that the president has. but when you were told that you had its, did it develop, did it become worse over the following days, how did it develop? when i was first diagnosed, i felt perfectly fine, everything was great, and then about a day or so was great, and then about a day or so later, yes, for me, i started getting achy. you have to recognise that different people have different symptoms and they have different manifestation of this. so while i didn't have a fever, the president could develop a fever. while i was achy, the president may not get all. of the question for me is, how will this impact the way that he does his job, notjust for the next this impact the way that he does his job, not just for the next two weeks in quarantine, but what impact this will have on the race to come. good point that you say they're about isolation, because we know this presidents, he thrives on being with people. so i think that for him, i haven't really thought about it until you mentioned it, but two full weeks, pretty much, ofjust being by himself. i wonder if he's ever done that. you have got to turn those

notifications off, he will be on his phone unsupervised. it's not hazy to do for anybody, let's be serious, to be in isolation is not hazy, but i can imagine for president trump, it's going to be super—hard. let's consider the source. as president loves being in front of big venues, 30,000 people, and other notion that he is going to be upstairs in the mansion of the white house by himself with my —— first lady, with his twitter handle going nuts. so i would expect that the president is going to be making pray use of his twitter account to the next two weeks. yes, lordy. what does it say about the campaign deciding to do and the white house deciding to do and the white house deciding to do these big packed events. i think there's now another, what started to look at an event where several people may have been affected, and that is the event with amy conan baratz at the white house on saturday. there you see her and the presidents coming to people now

that, senator mike lee from utah and the president of notre dame university, they have already tested positive from that event. do you think the campaign, the white house is going to rethink events like that where you have lots of people, no one wearing a mask, all standing close to each other? they should. i've always found it to be extraordinarily irresponsible not to be in public and not be wearing a mask. from my own personal experience, that you can do quote everything right, washing her hands, social distancing. " everything right, washing her hands, social distancing." and everything right, washing her hands, social distancing. " and still contracted. so the notion for a political rally or political events, you are going to have very many people in close proximity not six feet apart, not wearing a mask met some is a foregone conclusion what the inevitable outcome might be, and we have seen this with senator lee and of course the president of notre dame. i don't want to get ahead of ourselves and don't want to spark alarm, and we all hope and pray that the president and the first lady recover quickly, but i have been

jetting up today, ron, on what happens if he doesn't come if it goes the other way. so talk to me with your lawyer hat on about article 25 of the constitution. don't go too deep, but what happens if it doesn't go well. welcome a christian, i will bring you up to speed. there are number of sections of the 20 for the amendment which deals with the presidential incapacitation. there is one particular section that the president could decide to hand the reins off to the vice president for a short amount of time or for a longer duration depends. for president bush, there were two specific incidences where the president was having a procedure done where he had of power to his vice president for two hours the first time in two hours and 15 minutes the second time. there are other sections of this article that talked about presidential incapacitation and removal from office, but let's not get there yet. the president still has mild symptoms, he still seems to be in good health, let's wait before we talk about that.

yes, absolutely. good to see you come around stubbly good to see a. we will be here on extended time tonight. we will be here for the next couple of hours. and he will be back with us again in next hour. hello again. it was a lovely day today across scotland where we had the blue skies. tomorrow, the skies are going to look very different, and that's because the wet and windy weather that we've had further south is going to develop more widely this weekend. it's the rain that's going to be the issue. there's likely to be some flooding, some travel disruption, although there will be strong winds at times. and earlier today, this morning, we had some very windy weather through the english channel from storm alex. that has weakened and is getting consumed by a larger area of low pressure that will move northwards into the uk and spread that rain and the stronger winds to more areas. so, we've got more rain at the moment across parts of england in particular. it stays wet for central and eastern areas. maybe just a bit drier through wales, the south west later on, but still windy here. and the winds will blow in more rain into eastern parts of scotland.

western scotland, though, and northern ireland largely dry, some clearer skies, but chilly here. maybe some early sunshine tomorrow. but generally it's cloud and rain on the way as the rain sets in for more of england and wales. we've got gales still in the south west. it turns wetter across scotland. largely dry for northern ireland, and after the rain clears, we could get sunshine in the afternoon for the south east of england, giving temperatures a boost. but underneath the cloud and rain, it's a chilly 11—13 degrees. and that rain is going to be heavy at times, especially over the hills. we do have amber rain warnings from the met office for later on saturday into saturday night. there could be more than two inches of rain actually over the higher ground here. and further north, as well, another area that's likely to have some flooding, the north east of scotland. a lot of rain especially over the hills blown in off the north sea around our area of low pressure. and as we move into the second half of the weekend, the centre of the low is going to be sitting slap bang over the uk. so, we've got the stronger winds

probably around the edges where we have this rain. that rain should move away from the north east of scotland in the morning. the wetter weather not far away from northern ireland, heading into south wales, the south west of england. not as windy for many central parts of the uk, but there will be some sunshine and some heavy showers around as well. and it's still a cool day, typically 13—14 degrees. those temperatures aren't really going to change as we look ahead into at least the early part of next week. the winds won't be quite as strong perhaps, but there will be sunshine and some heavy showers.

this is bbc news. more than 7 million people have been infected with coronavirus in the us. one of them, we now know, is president trump. the news of his positive test, tweeted out in the middle of the night, has thrown the final phase of this year's election campaign into disarray. with just over a month until polling day, president trump and his wife melania are now isolating in the white house. the campaign has said all public events have been cancelled or will go online. the president is said to be in good spirits, and his aides insist he's still working. i'm not going to get into the president's symptoms exactly. he's had mild symptoms, but he is hard at work. we're having to slow him down a little bit. the democratic contender for the white house, joe biden, who shared a debate stage with donald trump this week, has tested negative. he's due to hold a campaign event in michigan within