welcome to bbc news. i'm james reynolds. our top stories: donald trump says he's doing well in hospital, where he's being treated for coronavirus, but expects to remain for the time being. you don't know, over the next period of a few days, i guess that's the real test, so we will be seeing what happens over those next couple of days. meanwhile, as more senior republicans test positive, we ask — was last week's unveiling of the president's supreme court nominee at the white house a super—spreader event? and in other news, civilian areas come under fire as the conflict in the disputed region of nagorno—karabakh intensifies.

a short time ago, a video of donald trump — seated at a desk — has appeared on twitter in which he says he has been unwell, but is now feeling better. it comes on a day when officials have given contradictory reports about the president's health after his first night in hospital for coronavirus treatment. let's listen to mr trump now. i want to begin by thanking all of the incredible medical professionals — the doctors, nurses, everybody — at walter reed medical centre — i think the finest in the world — for the incrediblejob they've been doing. i came here, wasn't feeling so well. i feel much better now. we are working hard to get me all the way back. i have to be back, because we still have to make america great again. we've done an awfully good job of that,

but we still have steps to go, and we have to finish thatjob. i'll be back — i think i'll be back — soon. and i look forward to finishing up the campaign the way it was started and way we've been doing, and the kind of numbers we've been doing. we've been so proud of it. but this is something that has happened, and it's happened to millions of people all over the world, and i'm fighting for them, notjust in the us. i'm voting for them all over the world. we are going to beat this coronavirus or whatever you want to call it, and we are going to beat it soundly. so many things have happened. if you look at the therapeutics which i'm taking right now, frankly they are miracles, if you want to know the truth. they are miracles. people criticise me when i say that, but we have things happening that look like they are miracles, coming down from god. so i just want to tell you i'm starting to feel good. you don't know — over the next period of a few days, i guess, that's the real test,

so we'll see what will happen over the next couple of days. i just want to be so thankful for all of the support i've seen, whether it's on television or reading about it. i most of all appreciate what's been said by the american people, by almost a bipartisan consensus of american people. it's a beautiful thing to see, and i very much appreciate it, and i won't forget it — i promise you that. i also want to thank the leaders of the world for their condolences. they know what we are going through. they know, as your leader, what i have to go through. but i had no choice, because i just didn't want to stay in the white house. i was given that authority — stay in the white house, don't ever leave. don't even go to the oval office. just date upstairs and enjoy it. don't see people, don't talk to people and be done with it,

and i can't do that. i had to be outfront. this is america, this is the united states, this is the greatest country in the world and the most powerful country in the world. i can't be locked up in a room upstairs totally safe and just say, hey, whatever happens happens — i can't do that. we have to confront problems. as a leader you have to confront problems. there's never been a great leader that would have done that. so that's where it is. i'm doing well. i want to thank everybody. the first lady is doing well, melania asked me to say something as to the respect that she has for our country, the love that she has for our country, and we are both doing well. melania is really handling it very nicely. as you've probably read, she is slightly younger than me, just a little, tiny bit, and therefore — we know the situation with age

versus younger people, and melania is handling it statistically like it's supposed to be handled, and that makes me very happy and it makes the country very happy. but i am also doing well, and i think we are going to have a very good result. again, over the next few days, we are probably going to know for sure. so i just want to thank everybody out there, all over the world, specifically the united states, the outpouring of love has been incredible. i will never forget. thank you very much. so what questions does that video answer and what questions does it not answer? here's our north america correspondent peter bowes. well, i think that video was donald trump being donald trump, taking control of the situation after really a day of and mixed messages, at least in terms of our interpretation of what his doctors were saying and what we heard the white house chief of staff had said

in a briefing to reporters. his doctors being very positive, saying he was responding to treatment and that his symptoms were going away. but then we heard from the chief of staff, underlined that he gave in a briefing, which seemed to be more reserved and suggest that the course ahead wasn't so clear and that the president perhaps wasn't out of the woods yet, to interpret those words. well, i think this is now the president taking control. we often say that he describes himself as his best press spokesperson, and i think that's exactly what he is doing. he is there upfront in a video that lasts about four minutes, dressed in a jacket with no tie, as we saw, but looking 0k — a little tired perhaps — but making the point that he went into hospital not feeling well, and he is feeling a lot better now. being positive about the outcome, at the same time acknowledging the next 2a to 48 hours will be crucial.

that reflects what his doctors have been saying. but clearly a message to his many supporters that he wants as soon as possible to be back out there working on the campaign, which he says he believes he will be back doing soon, and using that phrase, "making america great again". that's what he sees his job being moving forward. overall this is the president simply wanting to portray a very positive outlook for himself as he battles this condition. talking about being out there, a lot of attention is on that event in the rose garden in the white house on saturday last week, the nomination of a supreme courtjustice. peter, we learned that the number of people at that event have now tested positive. talk us through that please. yes, a lot of individuals from republican senators — chris christie, the former newjersey governor, very close to the president. he was involved in preparing the president for the debate that he had earlier

in this past week, withjoe biden, and of course in fact he attempted — wants himself to get the nomination for president. he wasn't successful. but he is certainly in the president's in a circle. he has tested positive, and he has tweeted that he has in fact checked himself into hospital. he has underlying health conditions. several people, as you say, at that event just a week ago, and it does seem to be a focal point of the virus — perhaps a covid cluster, as some people describe it — which must be very concerning for others who were there. the results haven't been revealed yet, but it does how in a closed confined area this virus can spread extremely quickly. so what can we say about the president's medical condition? doctor cedric dark is an emergency medicine physician and assistant professor at baylor college of medicine in houston, texas. i'm happy to see that the president is looking good. however, not knowing any of the details of

his medical condition, not knowing what his chest x—ray looks like and all his vital signs, it's inappropriate to completely speculate about that. what i will say is that knowing someone that has been hospitalised, who has been on oxygen, this isn't going to be an easy road for him. when you look at some of the science behind this, and the study of remdesivir from the new england journal of medicine, the mortality rate for people in mr trump's position was somewhere around 7% over the next 14 days of the disease. in the recovery trial, which studied dexamethasone in hospital patients with coronavirus, we are talking at mortality rate of nearly 25% over the span of a month. right now he is looking ok, but you have to remember this is extraordinarily early in the disease phase. the second week tends to be the worst for people who have coronavirus because of the inflammatory effects that the body puts out, so i think next week is going to be the true

test of what will happen to the president. he himself has essentially made that point in the video, saying the next few days are crucial. what difference does it make to that stage, knowing he is actually hospital and the doctors can monitor him minute by minute? does that help? i do think that has some help to it, because he can be monitored more than he is in his home at the white house. but at the same time this is a disease that for the most part we in the medical profession are watching and waiting to see what happens to the patient and reacting to them as opposed to something we are able to control. a lot of it is waiting and hoping the therapeutics we have do theirjob, but right now there is no cure. the best thing that people in america and around the world can still do is to make sure you are wearing a mask, staying socially distant and avoiding contact with people, like the president and his inner circle, who are now starting

to demonstrate the effects of being at a super spreader event. what is the significance of the reports we've been getting saying he was given oxygen at the white house on friday? all that means realistically is his oxygen levels may have been lower. he may have felt a little bit short of breath. i wouldn't be too much into that, other than the fact that people who require oxygen tend to be sicker than people that do not require oxygen. butjudging beyond that is a little bit difficult to speculate upon. cedric dark. let's get some of the day's other news: coronavirus restrictions that put the spanish capital, madrid, under partial lockdown appear to have been heeded. nearly 5 million residents in the greater madrid area are confined to their municipality. madrid is the first european capital to re—enter lockdown in a bid to curb soaring infections. streets that would normally be crammed were largely deserted, with rain playing a part in keeping people indoors. guatemala says it has deported more than 2,000 migrants who entered

the country illegally in the past few days, as part of a caravan heading north towards the us border. local media reported that hundreds of hondurans agreed to leave, and others were put on military trucks and sent back. a peace deal has been signed between the government of sudan and an alliance of rebel groups aimed at ending decades of conflict which have left hundreds of thousands of people dead. several heads of state attended the ceremony, which took place injuba, the capital of neighbouring south sudan. the british prime minister, borisjohnson, and the european commission president, ursula von der leyen, have acknowledged significant disagreements must be overcome before the two can agree a post—brexit trade deal. the two leaders said they'd instructed their chief negotiators to work intensively to try to bridge the gaps. the prime minister of armenia says his country is facing a "decisive moment", as it battles azerbaijan for control of the disputed region of nagorno—karabakh. clashes have intensified despite international calls for calm.

azerbaijan says it will continue the offensive until the region is under its control. our correspondent, jonah fisher, sent this report from the region's capital, stepanakert, which has come under heavy shelling. one of the world's oldest conflicts... explosions ..is very much alive. we are being shelled here in nagorno karabakh. ste pa na ke rt stepa na kert. it's an ethnic armenian town that under international law belongs to azerbaijan. the reality of life in nagorno—karabakh for the last few days, under assault from the air — it sounds like artillery but there have been drone strikes too. those azeri shells hit this residential building near our hotel,

killing one and destroying the homes of dozens of others, like 78—year—old rita, who once had azeris as neighbours. we had many friends from azerbaijan here but now we are enemies. great enemies. i, personally, don't want to live with them and don't want to speak to them. this first week of war has been marked by azerbaijan's use of military drones striking at will. nearly three decades after losing nagorno—karabakh, the azeris appear intent on claiming it back. they are trying to invade, and they do everything to invade, to terrorise the people and civilians here. that is why they are using drones and aerial strikes in this way? for sure. some have seen enough

and are leaving to find safety. anoush tells us her husband has gone to the front line and she must get out with their children. but the aerial threat is never far away. this soldier is warning that drones have been spotted, and shortly afterwards there is an explosion nearby. everybody is scrambling to come in here. a real reminder, as they were fleeing, as to why this place is increasingly dangerous for people, under attack, day and night. jonah fisher, bbc news, stepa na kert. this is bbc news. our top story: donald trump tweets a video from hospital saying he's doing well, but still expects to remain at the walter reed medical centre for a few more days. so, i just want to tell you that i'm starting to feel good.

you don't know, over the next period of a few days, i guess that's the real test, so we will be seeing what happens over those next couple of days. joining me now is professorjoel goldstein from the saint louis university, specialising in the presidency, vice presidency and constitutional law. professor goldstein, i would like to talk about the 25th amendment to the constitution, passed in 1967, it lays out what should happen if a president is incapacitated. does it work? well, i think it can work. we haven't had a lot of experience with it yet. we have had three instances where one of the provisions, section three, has been used, whereby a president can voluntarily tra nsfer president can voluntarily transfer power to the vice president if the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, and

those have all been short—term situations, and i think those works pretty well. we have never had a use of it under section four, which involves the involuntary transfer of power from the the involuntary transfer of powerfrom the president the involuntary transfer of power from the president to the vice president. of course, there are so many hypotheticals here. the president himself has said that in the next few days, he will find out what happens. one hypothetical, what would happen if a clearly unwell but conscious president refused to hand over power to the vice president? well, i think then, if the vice president, if the president is clearly unable to discharge the powers and duties of his or her office, then i think it is incumbent up on the vice president and the principal officers of the executive departments, which is the president's cabinet, to

ta ke the president's cabinet, to take action to arrange to have powers transferred to the vice president. i think that is part of their constitutional responsibility. in a situation where the president is unable to discharge his or her powers and duties. and given that this isa and duties. and given that this is a widespread pandemic, given the number of republican political figures over recent days you have been testing positive, —— who have been testing positive, what would happen if both the president and vice president are incapacitated at the same time? well, but very difficult situation. when the 25th amendment was ratified, the frame is recognised that they we re frame is recognised that they were not addressing that situation. —— framers recognised. but they concluded that if they tried to come up with a perfect amendment that dealt with all the possibilities, that they would never get anything accomplished. so they focused on the major issue of presidential inability. if the

presidential inability. if the president and vice were both incapacitated, the presidential succession law of 19117 says nextin succession law of 19117 says next in line of succession is the speaker of the house. but there is no specific provision that has been written into law as to how the speaker would go about making a determination that the president and the vice president were disabled. and then there is the political problem that the president and the vice president are republicans, the speaker is a democrat. talking about but succession, you have got the president and the vice president and the vice president and the nancy pelosi, the speaker. what if secretary of state mike pompeo said, as in 1981 of state mike pompeo said, as in1981 in the of state mike pompeo said, as in 1981 in the reagan assassination attempt, "i in charge"? —— "i'm in charge". that is what happened, as you say, with secretary hague,

1981, in fact, say, with secretary hague, 1981, infact, everybody say, with secretary hague, 1981, in fact, everybody at the time viewed data as being a mistake, and in fact people in president reagan's own cabinet said, you don't understand the constitution. —— viewed that as being a mistake. you don't understand the law. the law does not put you in charge, the law puts the vice president and then the speaker of the house, then the speaker of the house, the president pro tem poor, nextin the president pro tem poor, next in line. —— pro tempore. the idea secretary of state could take the position that he, not the speaker, would be nextin he, not the speaker, would be next in line, is mistaken. you are quite right, it has been suggested. there have been some academics who said that the presidential succession law of 1947 is presidential succession law of 19117 is not constitutional, because the speaker is not what is intended by the constitution as an officer of the united states. i personally don't think that is a compelling argument, particularly given

that for most of our history the succession law has put a legislative leader next in line of succession. george washington, who presided over the constitutional convention, signed the first presidential succession law putting the legislative leader after the vice president. so my own view is that the law is constitutional in that respect, at least. so i wouldn't think that the secretary of state would have a very strong argument. professor goldstein, thank you very much. thanks for having me. the authorities in egypt have unveiled dozens of ancient coffins, recently discovered at a burial ground near cairo. it's thought they contain the remains of priests and other seniorfigures who lived around 2,500 years ago. it's the first such disovery to take place since the coronavirus pandemic. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. logically —— archaeologically

speaking, these sounds are the gifts that keep on giving. for around 3000 years, the dead we re around 3000 years, the dead were buried here. now, once more, it gives up its secrets. dozens of ornately decorated coffins, found buried deep below the surface. notjust coffins, found buried deep below the surface. not just an important historical find, but the source of some national satisfaction two. i am very proud that this discovery of the day, with 59 wooden coffins in perfect condition of reservation, was done by egyptian mission and egyptian hands. the coffins are believed to date back to the fifth —— for six or seventh century bc, around the time of the 27th dynasty, the last native rulers of egypt before the persian conquest. there are occupants we re conquest. there are occupants were most likely priests, dignitaries, traders, important figures, and there may well be

more to come, with other coffins still to be found. so todayis coffins still to be found. so today is not the end of the discovery. i consider it is the beginning of the big discovery. these sarcophagi will now be moved to the soon to be opened ground egyptian museum. another chapter in the ancient history of the country truly blessed with the reminders of its past. tim allman, bbc news. the duke and duchess of cambridge have released a video of their children, george, charlotte and louis, asking questions to sir david attenborough about the natural world. they filmed their children at kensington palace before meeting him in person. hello, david attenborough. what animal do you think will become extinct next? hello, david attenborough. i like spiders, do you like spiders too? what animal do you like? i think i like monkeys best. because they're such fun.

he answered the question. i watched the whole video and he a nswered watched the whole video and he answered all of their questions. they listen to us all. it is just worth recapping oui’ all. it is just worth recapping our main story. —— a lesson to us our main story. —— a lesson to us all. president trump is beginning his second night at walter reed hospital, just north of the white house. and there is a statement which has 110w there is a statement which has now been released by the press secretary to the president, in the name of doctor connolly. he is the president's physician, in fact, you can see him there in those pictures from today, approaching the microphone. this is a new statement which has been released, it says president trump continues to do well, having made substantial progress since diagnosis. this evening he completed his second dose of remdesevir without complication. he remains fever free and offer supplemental oxygen with a saturation level between 96 and 98% all day. the statement goes on, "he spent most of the afternoon conducting business and has been up and moving about the medical suite without difficulty. the statement says

while not yet out of the woods, the team remains cautiously optimistic. the plan for tomorrow is to continue observation in between doses of remdesevir, closely monitoring his clinical status while fully supporting his conduct of presidential duties. so that is the later statement from the president's physician, and let's hear a bit more from the president earlier on on twitter. so i just president earlier on on twitter. so ijust want president earlier on on twitter. so i just want to tell you about i'm starting to feel good. —— that i'm starting. you don't know, over the period of the next few days, i guess that's the real test. so we will be seeing what happens over those next couple of days. that was an extract from the four minute video that donald trump's account posted to social media a couple of hours ago, giving the public their first sight of the president since he entered walter reed hospital on friday afternoon. born on the story on our website. —— more on this story.

you can reach me on twitter. i'm @jamesbbcnews. hello there. it has been a thoroughly wet night up and down the country and we continue with more rain this morning, maybe across western and southern areas, where we're likely to see more transport disruption and further flooding in places. it's here where the winds will be strongest as well. all tied in with this area of low pressure. you can see where the isobars are closer together across western and south—western areas, and this is where we will have that weather front as well, bringing that heavy, persistent rain. the amber warning across south—west england and wales is likely to persist up until around midday today, so we could see further flooding here through the morning period, whereas further north, the amber warning across eastern scotland should expire early this morning as the rain begins to pivot away and push towards the west. so we should see a bit of brightness appearing here as the day wears on. the heaviest of the rain will tend to be across

northern ireland and down into wales, south—west england, across the south and south—east as well. even here the rain should start to move away as we head on into the afternoon. central areas, some lighter winds, sunshine around. temperatures reach around 15 or 16, and it will be quite chilly across the south—east. into sunday night, it looks like those rain bands begin to spread away from the uk. we will continue to see lots of showers spiralling around the centre of the load. lengthy clear spells in between and when that happens it could potentially warm in one or two spots, generally 8—10 for most. low pressure still with us as we head on into the new working week for monday. it will be slowly filling, which means it will be gradually weakening through the day, so conditions should slowly improve as we move through the week. for monday, again, we will see scattered showers around, the winds not quite as strong, some of the showers that develop could be on heavy side again. some could merge together to produce long spells of rain. in the sunshine we could see 15 or 16 degrees,

and that is where we could see some of the heaviest of the showers. as we go out of monday, i will show you our area of low pressure, beginning to drift north. it opens a north—westerly wind across the uk which will drive in a few showers but we should also see good spells of sunshine as well. it's really a slow improvement as we move through the week. that low pressure system moving away. by the end of the week, high pressure will start to build in, so that will settle things down.

this is bbc news, the headlines: on his second day in hospital donald trump has tweeted a video thanking well—wishers, and says he's

making progress — but admits he still expects to remain at the walter reed medical centre for a few more days to come. so, i just want to tell you that i'm starting to feel good. you don't know, over the next period of a few days, i guess that's the real test, so we will be seeing what happens over those next couple of days. and in other news, despite international calls for calm, fighting has intensified in the disputed region of nagorno—karabakh with reports of civilians being targeted. armenia's president says the country is facing a decisive moment as it battle azerbaijan for control of the region. now on bbc news, dateline london