this is bbc news. i'm samantha simmonds. the latest headlines: president donald trump has been taken to hospital for treatment after being diagnosed with coronavirus. he left the white house unaided, wearing a mask. on twitter, he said he was doing well. i'm going to walter reed hospital. i think i'm doing very well, but we're going to make sure that things work out. the first lady is doing very well, so thank you very much. i appreciate it. i will never forget it. thank you. he's already been treated with an antibody cocktail and vitamins. his doctors earlier said he was fatigued but in good spirits. we'll look at the possible

risks the president is facing. hello and a very warm welcome. president donald trump has been flown to hospital for tests less than 2a hours after he was diagnosed with coronavirus. a helicopter has taken him to the walter reed military hospital close to washington. earlier, the president's doctor released a statement saying mr trump has been receiving an experimental antibody cocktail to treat his infection. a short while ago, the president released a short video. this is what he had to say. i want to thank everybody for the tremendous support. i'm going to walter reed hospital. i think i'm doing very well, but we're going to make sure that things work out. the first lady is doing very well. so thank you very much. i appreciate it. i will never forget it. thank you.

dr david buchin is a medical analyst and a surgeon at huntington hospital. he joins us from new york. welcome to you. thanks very much for being with us. what do you make of president trump, who appears to look well, he walked unaided, wearing a mask, to the helicopter and from the helicopter into the hospital? what do you make of him being taken to hospital for treatment? i would assume they are taking every precaution with the american president because he is the president, obviously. we want to make him as comfortable and we want to heal him and take every precaution with him. his advanced age, he is 7a years old, and he is obese, so those are two major risk factors for him, so obviously even if he sneezed wrong, they were taken to the hospital. and he's being taken care to the hospital. and he's being ta ken care of to the hospital. and he's being taken care of at one of the best institutions in america,

so, absolutely, they should do that. and meanwhile, they —— we understand he is being treated today with an experimental drug. what you know about that? i don't know much about it, but i will say that if... there are pulled antibodies they can give him that might lessen the process of the coronavirus, people that have already had current virus and they donated their antibodies, they absolutely could lessen his symptoms and the severity of the disease. we don't know enough a lot about his symptoms apart from, at the moment, the most we have been told is they are mild and he is fatigued those are classic symptoms of coronavirus. fatigued those are classic symptoms of coronaviruslj fatigued those are classic symptoms of coronavirus. i am assuming that... i also heard

he may have a fever. take every precaution you can with the american president. precaution you can with the american presidentlj precaution you can with the american president. i suppose that we are nine months into knowledge of this disease and treatment of this disease, doctors are in a better place to treat the president now, so much more is known about how it could possibly progress? absolutely. six months ago, when we were in march and we had very little idea of this, we tried everything. we tried hydroxychloroquine, and i noted the american president was taking hydroxychloroquine. that has kinda been of being effective. we do have remdesivir, remdesivir has been the best treatment so far, and iam assuming the best treatment so far, and i am assuming they would probably that on him as well. and i suppose if his condition

we re and i suppose if his condition were to worsen, the best place for him would be a hospital, despite there is a medical facility in the white house, because if a worst—case scenario happened and he needed to be ona scenario happened and he needed to be on a ventilator, that is probably where that would need to happen. he is going to one of the best hospitals in america, walter reed. i am assuming they have all the top—notch equipment if you needed a ventilator. they could obviously ventilate him better in the hospital then they could in the hospital then they could in the white house. the respiratory symptoms of coronavirus, those are the worst ones. there is also... if you were to have any of those competitions of coronavirus, they can easily treat him at walter reed. what do you make of the fact, though, that he has got in there so quickly? again, this is the president of the united states. if he sneezed wrong, he really should be observed. this is the leader

of the free world. i would absolutely bring him to the hospital and have him in the hospital and have him in the hospital rather than the white house. that is just... hospital rather than the white house. that isjust... this is a very deadly disease and a disease process, so, yeah, he should be monitored in a proper institution. this is a hospital which is fairly close to the white house, a ten minute flight white house, a ten minute flight or so by helicopter, and it has treated former presidents in the past. what can you tell us about it? and what kind of facility and care he will be getting there? most likely, they will be monitoring his oxygenation with a pulse oximeter, they will be evaluating him and doing blood work on him, making sure that he is breathing properly. again, if he needs intensive care, they have a very good

intensive care unit at walter reed, so those of the things that they can do much better at walter reed than they could at the white house. 0k, dr david buchin, thank you very much for joining us from new york for your thoughts and analysis as president trump begins his treatment at the walter reed hospital. thank you. let's speak now to our correspondent barbara plett usher, who is outside the walter reed medical centre. and has been watching to elements over the past few hours. welcome to you. what do you make of the pictures we have seen of president trump looking quite fit, able to walk, but perhaps a bit pale?|j think that pretty much it's the description that we have been getting from the white house during the day, that he has mild symptoms, he has been described as being fatigued. other reports of said he has a low—grade fever and some sinus symptoms, but that he is in

general in good spirits and not seriously ill. that had been the message from the white house. and he physically seems to show that. he was able to walk alaves to the helicopter when it took off from the white house, and then when he landed here at walter reed, he waved. there were some of his supporters at the gate, he waved at them. as you probably reported already, he has issued a video on twitter before he came, again saying, i think i'm doing very well but we just wa nt to doing very well but we just want to make sure everything works out, and taking people for supporting him, so all of that has really been designed... excuse me. to send a message of reassurance to people as he has gone to hospital and is very well—equipped to deal with him, as we were hearing there. he is ina place, as we were hearing there. he is in a place, we understand, called a medical executive treatment unit, which is a separate entity altogether on

the rest of the hospital. doctors and nurses and officials are trained to work if the president comes. it has a separate office space, it has facilities, it has space for secret service and family members, and the white house as he is going to continue working there, to say he is still on there, to say he is still on thejob. but he is in a place where he can be monitored over the next couple of days because this has been quite a sudden revelation that he has tested positive for covid and that disease does move in unexpected and unpredictable ways, so it seems the medical experts felt it was best to have them in this facility to see what happens over the next couple of days. do you know what kind of updates, if any, we will be receiving? throughout the day, many commentators were commenting how little information we are getting from the white house. there has

not... know, they have not said whether they plan to issue regular updates, and i think during the day, they were kind of struggling to get across what was going on. you're right, their questions about what sort of information should be coming through, some suggestions that white house was not being transparent, but they have issued a couple of statements, one from the physician, another from the press secretary. perhaps that will continue in the coming days, as they work out their communication strategy now that the president, this very tumultuous day, which has passed, and he is now in hospital, in a situation where he is being monitored, and they may be some sort of rhythm to the communications about his situation as well. we will have to wait and see. but certainly, this morning when we heard news that he had tested positive, we we re that he had tested positive, we were not expecting to be sitting outside the watery

military hospital with him inside, so has been a very moving date —— walter reed military hospital. what do you make of the choreography? waiting outside for the has helicopter, waiting. the president walking in a very choreographed way and out again. it was very carefully managed. yeah, i think they wa nted managed. yeah, i think they wanted to show him in as good a light as possible, in terms of the disease that he has. they wa nted the disease that he has. they wanted to show, and he wanted to show, that he was still in charge, and so that walk to and from the helicopter was important, of course. not only that, him waving to supporters, thinking people, just saying, i thinking people, just saying, i think i'm going be all right but i want to be that everything will work out, so

sending a reassuring message. also, not only to the people but to the markets, to the world, to allies, two adversaries, to say, we are still in control here, we are not having a leadership crisis. not that there would be a leadership crisis because there isa leadership crisis because there is a constitutional process in place for the vice president to take over, but certainly today, the intent was to show that, although he does have some symptoms, he is not seriously ill. and we have not seriously ill. and we have not had much of an update on his wife, lamia, -- his —— his wife, melania. -- his wife, melania. there was an update from the physician in the letter he put out a couple of hours ago, in which he said president trump had a cocktail of antibodies and he also talked about melania trump and said she had a bit of a cough and a headache, but she was

doing well, and she is... probably the concerns would not be quite as pointed with mrs trump because she is not as vulnerable as her husband. mr trump is 7a years old, he is overweight, clinically obese, given his height and weight, and that places him squarely in the category of people who do the category of people who do the worst with covid. as we know, it is a disease which has hit senior people with underlying conditions in a very deadly way, so there would be heightened concern about mr trump for that reason. mrs trump for that reason. mrs trump is much younger, so... and according to the doctor, although she has a mild symptoms, she is doing fairly well and she also has tweeted out, saying that she is in good speed spirits. -- good spirits. barbara, for now, at the walter reed medical centre, thank you. the director of medical ethics

at new york university grossman school of medicine, arthur caplan, told us why he thought the president has been moved to the walter reed military hospital. i think my guess is it is because his symptoms are worsening and he is in such a high risk group, as you just reported, that they want to be safe. so even though it is a medical unit at the white house, it's not a hospital, and if he's started to show more lethargy, more fever, if they are also looking at it in a 74—year—old man, i think that is what is going on. they are concerned. and as you said, they're giving him experimental antibodies which also they would not do if they were not pretty worried. —— unless they were pretty worried. tell us more about these experimental antibodies. it is a single dose of regeneron, we understand, that he's had. this is a non—approved, experimental medicine, if you will. it tries to take immune building cells that you manufacture... this is not the same as getting the transfusion from someone who has had the disease. it is artificially manufacturing those same chemicals.

hopefully you build up the resistance in the person and they are better able to fight off the virus. but experimental, unproven, in clinical trials — looks promising but not yet approved by our fda. so who would have taken the decision to go ahead with an experimental, non—approved drug on the president of the united states? his doctors. and the doctors would have to make a request for what is called compassionate use to the company, regeneron, that makes this medicine. regeneron would have to consider it and decide, yes, it is a situation where the president cannot be put in a clinical trial of it, he has got the infection, he seems to be slipping, we are going to move quickly and allow that to happen. it's his doctors making that request. and what are they weighing up here, the potential benefits of a drug which has not been approved with what

possible side effects? there is some information on this intervention. these antibodies do seem to help if you use them early, so they are thinking about that, but there can always be damage to the kidneys. if you have unknown consequences of any experimental medicine, they have to weigh that. what they are thinking is symptoms starting to show, probably worsening, high—risk person age wise, size wise, let's try the experimental medicine, but that indicates real concern to me. we understand that the president also has been given a cocktail of other drugs, including vitamin d, zinc. obviously vitamins, those. what do you understand about what else he is receiving? don't know what else he's received. things like vitamins, there is not much evidence that makes any difference to the course of covid in anybody. it can't hurt, they're known to be safe, but i don't think they're particular helpful.

there are some steroid drugs shown to be helpful if your lungs begin to fail, and i'm sure those are lined up. the president of the united states is not you or me. they're going to be able to get any and every agent they think might help and do so in ways that ordinary citizens might not be able to access. and he is in a high risk group because of his age and weight, isn't he? yes. again, that tips the equation in trying things you might be as aggressive with for a 30—year—old or, for that matter, with his wife at 50. you're watching bbc news. the headlines. president donald trump has been taken to hospital for treatment after being diagnosed with coronavirus. he's already been treated with an antibody cocktail and vitamins. his doctors earlier said he was fatigued but in good spirits. let's get more on this from julia manchester, political reporter for the hill. welcome for the hill. to you. thanks very much welcome to you. thanks very much for being with us. a

momentous and tumultuous day in us politics. what is your assessment of the political fallout of donald trump being taken to hospital with coronavirus? i think right now, it is too difficult to tell or predict anything because we don't know how president trump is going to be impacted by the virus. what we do know now is that he has been transported to walter reed medical centre, he appeared to be able to walk fine from the white house to the helicopter, on his own, but he will be there as a precautionary measure according to the white house. and during this time, we have seen that vice presidentjoe biden has taken down his campaign's negative advertising right now, ina way negative advertising right now, in a way paying respect to president trump and what he's going to right now, but i think it too soon to tell. we'll probably have a better idea as the days progress and as we see how president trump's body reacts to the virus. i think we are also good have a better idea when we see vice president

pentz and senator kamala harris ta ke pentz and senator kamala harris take the vice president or debate stage on wednesday, but we always say no so much can happen now but does that really minute by minute kind of scenario we are watching —— vice president pence. it really is. we are looking at those pictures of president trump leaving the helicopter, walking to the hospital. what do you make of the correct a few of the past hour or so, the release of that short video saying he thinks he is doing 0k, saying he thinks he is doing ok, him walking very carefully but purposefully to the helicopter and out of it again, wearing a mask, everyone around him wearing a mask?|j wearing a mask, everyone around him wearing a mask? i think is d eftly him wearing a mask? i think is deftly a matter of optics for the president. remember, he does not like to appear weak. i don't think anybody wants to appear weak, but for this president in particular, image is everything. he worked in reality television and entertainment for years before he got into politics, so he wa nted he got into politics, so he wanted to choreograph this as though there was nothing wrong, that this was just a precaution, so he purposefully got that shot of him walking to the helicopter and then you had

eve ryo ne the helicopter and then you had everyone around him wearing masks, including the president himself. the president is not one to always do on a facemask but even made fun ofjoe biden for wearing face masks frequently earlier this week at the debate, so that definitely shows he is taking a very cautious approach to what happened, what's happening right now. you said that it is too soon to tell what kind of political fallout there will be from this, but over the past 15 hours or so, from this, but over the past 15 hours orso, in from this, but over the past 15 hours or so, in the absence of much news from the white house, there has been enough love speculation from commentators, saying this could go either way for president trump in the election campaign. it could either win him super the vote or if he emerges from this looking healthy and strong, he can say it is not so bad, i have beaten this. what is your view on that? how do you think it could fall for him? it could fall one of two sites. on that site of the sympathy kind of vote, i think if president trump is humbled by this

experience, if he says, this really impacted me and my family, it does a number on someone, as it has to 200,000 americans, i think that will definitely help him and maybe make him seem more relatable to the american people, especially those who have been directly impacted by the coronavirus. i was just impacted by the coronavirus. i wasjust think impacted by the coronavirus. i was just think about the united kingdom and how prime minister borisjohnson was diagnosed earlier this year and he seemed to have a very different outlook on the virus after he spent some time in the intensive care unit. on the other side of that, president trump could not be impacted by this virus at all, he could have a speedy recovery which we all hope. he could say, however, emerging from this, look at me, i beat covid, i am tough, and kind of make this about him. it can go a number of different ways but i think, right now, everyone, including the president, the white house

and the trump campaign staff, are trying to see where this goesin are trying to see where this goes in terms of development before they try and start crafting some of that messaging. his campaign, meanwhile, is pretty much on hold for at least the next ten days while he has to isolate. joe biden meanwhile still out campaigning, and he gave a speech a short time ago. just bring us they had lines from that speech. essentially, joe biden called for unity during that speech. he said, we're at a time when she hundred thousand americans have died. now the president of the united states and the first lady have coronavirus. he said they should civilize what kind of a crisis our nation and the world is facing right now and he said now is not a time for partisanship, we need unity. he also need a very strong statement, not verbally but through what he wore during that address, and that was his facemask. normally, joe biden comes up to the podium with a facemask on, takes it off, sta rts facemask on, takes it off, starts talking, when he is finished, he puts it back on and walks off. no, this was an

outdoor speech in michigan, he walked up to the podium with a facemask on and or it for the duration of the speech, probably ten minutes, 15 minutes or so, so that was definitely something was notable. and he also preached the importance of wearing a facemask, saying this is not about being the tough guy, it is not being patriotic. president trump has embraced this image of not wearing a mask as a sign of masculinity or toughness, but joe biden was sympathetic towards the first family, and even said god watch over the first family even said god watch over the firstfamily in even said god watch over the first family in the rev up to its speech. and he has committed to pulling all negative trump ads for the time being. he has. that is a big moment, and you definitely see that sometimes in campaigns which —— when attractive and happens.

thejoe biden —— when attractive and happens. the joe biden campaign —— when attractive and happens. thejoe biden campaign pulled all ads on september 11 during that day. if a negative event is happening, in this case president trump and the first lady, melania trump, being diagnosed with covid. julia manchester, very interesting to get your thoughts. thank you for being with us. let's go now to portland to speak to dr esther choo, who's a professor of emergency medicine at oregon health & science university. welcome to you. thanks very much for being with us. tell us your thoughts on president trump being taken to the walter reed medical centre. it has been a really wild and fast—paced last 16 hours, not quite 16 hours, since we heard the first news of the diagnosis. and as much as we wa nt diagnosis. and as much as we want more details commit exactly progress pretty dramatically in this time period. we heard that he was tested positive but feeling perfectly fine and then we heard he was fatigued, and then there was a fever, and possibly

some side sinus symptoms. big picture, that looks like a trajectory. we are getting a lot of reassuring information that this is being donejust to be extremely careful, with some of lot of comorbidities which put them at risk from worse outcomes, so i guess time will tell and we will see whether they will be continued escalation with symptoms or if he is feeling fine or having a little cold symptoms and this is just to be safe. but if it really is to be safe, there is no reason in the next day or sue no reason in the next day no reason. . . no reason... the next two days or so will give us what we need. my my anticipation is that if they decided to watch him in the hospital to the peer device a leash and, it will continue into next week's topic would you advise that to be the appropriate course of action. it was suggested he would probably be there for a couple

of days. ijust probably be there for a couple of days. i just cannot see what a couple of days can you, given we expect from these disease and the fact is comorbidities are not going anywhere. once they make the decision to bring them to the hospital, to see him through the time, i cannot ta ke him through the time, i cannot take of the rationale, unless it is that they think some of his symptoms are actionable to the experience drug he received. in that case, that drug should be out of his system in the day or two and maybe that is what they are monitoring, and thinking that his fatigue or his fever might bea his fatigue or his fever might be a response to that medication. we don't know a lot about it. that's the only scenario i can think of off the top of my head in which a short hospitalization would provide all the reassurance you need and then you can go back home. if it is really to monitor him over the course in which he might deteriorate from covid, i would suspect it would be a longer stay. i don't know how much you know about the six peer mentaljunkie much you know about the six peer mental junkie has much you know about the six peer mentaljunkie has been given. —— experimental drug he has been given. were you surprised how quickly it was given to him

given it is not an approved drug? i don't know a lot, i don't think anybody knows a lot. this is a drug that went into phase one, two, three trials at the same time. they have a portion of the drug released on 200 75 patients, andi released on 200 75 patients, and i read through what i could find of the test results. there is also very vague and the statistics are reallyjust bare—bones. airport two patients have moderately negative side effects but don't report what those are —— they report. i found it report what those are —— they report. ifound it infinitely ha rd to report. ifound it infinitely hard to find out anything about this medication but they have seem to have found promising early results in terms of, for patients who don't have their own, strong immune response in keeping them out of the hospital, so it is kind of interesting. the end point seems to be keeping people out of the hospital, but present from todd and amelia went to the hospital, so i do not know

if that is a failure orjust being aggressive —— president trump went to the hospital. how do doctors way up at risk of a ministering a drug that has not been approved yet, that is an early trials, to the president of the united states, with any positive negative outcomes?” do not and the deposition. to ta ke do not and the deposition. to take something with such a paucity of data, it likely put you at high risk for adverse outcomes, that is a very tough thing to walk somebody through, evenin thing to walk somebody through, even in the best of circumstances, when you know a drug really well. a mystery drug really well. a mystery drug with mostly a hypothetical benefit and unknown risks, how do you have an intelligent conversation about that decision? it is a decision grounded in data and science and the kind of layers and

layers of evidence that you would like to have when you are making a tough decision, so i think it was one of those extremely bold decisions. i certainly would not feel co mforta ble certainly would not feel comfortable receiving a medication like that myself. 0k, medication like that myself. ok, professor esther choo, good to get your thoughts and analysis. it's well known that the older you are and the heavier you are, the higher the chance of having serious complicatons with covid—19. our medical editor fergus walsh looks at the possible risk to president trump's health. donald trump has several factors which raise his risk profile for coronavirus — his age, weight, and being a man. at 7a, he's often insisted how healthy he is, despite a love of burgers and hot dogs. age is the biggest risk factorfor covid—19. in the united states, eight out of ten deaths have been among the over—65s.

the risk of dying for somebody aged 65 to 7a is 90 times higher than for someone in their 20s. to put that in context, a recent international study found that once infected with coronavirus, the chances of dying were around one in 100 at age 65, one in 25 at 75, and one in seven at 85. the president and first lady of the united states... the first lady, melania trump, is just 50, 2a years younger than donald trump, and physically fit, so her risk from covid should be low. the president is six foot three and weighs more than 17 stone, putting him in the obese category — another red flag. his medical team will be on constant guard for any change in his condition. often patients have quite mild symptoms to start with and then