You're down the middle explanation of news events.

I'm Carl Jesus.

Thank you for starting your week with us as we produce this show.

US.

President Donald Trump was in the hospital fighting coronavirus.

News broke on Thursday night that the American leader had tested positive for the disease along with first lady Melania Trump.

Several people who worked closely with the president have also tested positive for Cove in 19.

They include political adviser Hope Hicks, former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway Trump, 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien.

And former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who helped President Trump prepare for last week's debate.

Some of these people attended an event at the White House Rose Garden on September 26th when the president announced his nominee for the U.

S.

Supreme Court.

Observers say many people there weren't wearing masks or keeping their distance from each other.

But one of the attendants said people were tested before the event and told they didn't need masks when the results came back negative, regardless of where or how the disease was spread, President Trump left the White House for treatment at Walter Reed National Medical Center last Friday.

A day later, a person familiar with the president's health told reporters that his vital signs were quote very concerning and that the following 48 hours would be critical in terms of his care.

But doctors said on Sunday that President Trump symptoms have been improving since he checked in, and that he could be able to go back to the White House as soon as Monday.

The president gave updates himself over the weekend.

I want to begin by thanking all of the incredible medical professionals, the doctors, the nurses, everybody at Walter Reed Medical Center.

I think it's the finest in the world for the incredible job they've been doing.

Uh, I came here wasn't feeling so well.

I feel much better now.

We're working hard to get me all the way back.

I'll be back.

I think I'll be back soon.

But this was something that happened, and it's happened to millions of people all over the world, and I'm fighting for them, not just in the US I'm fighting for them all over the world.

We're gonna beat this coronavirus or whatever you wanna call it.

and we're gonna beat it soundly.

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'll be seeing what happens over the next couple of days.

He went on to thank people in the U.

S.

And abroad for their messages of support and to talk about the treatments he's been receiving for Covid-19 which includes some experimental medications for coronavirus patients.

President Trump's hospitalization brought up a lot of questions about what happens If, for instance, could the presidential debate schedule be impacted if he doesn't recover in time?

Who would be in charge if the president's condition got worse and if he wasn't able to do his job?

CNN's Brian Todd explores some possible scenarios.

If President Trump gets too sick to govern what happens next, the first step is determining that he is incapacitated.

According to the 25th Amendment of the Constitution, Trump could make that determination himself.

He can notify Congress, the House and Senate that he is going to be incapacitated because he'll be sedated on a ventilator.

Uh, and until he says, so that the powers of his office would be transferred to Mike Pence, who would serve as acting president until the president's health improved.

Ronald Reagan did that when he had an operation on his college.

George W.

Bush did it twice when he had colonoscopies.

They each handed over power just for a few hours while they were under anesthesia.

But what if the president is so sick and incoherent that he can't make the determination himself to hand over power?

The 25th Amendment has a plan for that to the vice president, and a majority of the Cabinet can notify the Congress, both the House and Senate, that the president is incapacitated.

And at that point, the powers transfer from President Trump to Vice President Pence.

If Pence and the Cabinet don't agree with each other to take power from President Trump, a super majority of Congress would have to vote to take power from Trump.

Pence has so far tested negative for coronavirus, and his doctor says he's in good health.

But Cove it has infiltrated the White House, and President Trump has been in close contact with pence.

If Pence gets the virus and becomes incapacitated.

Next in line to be acting president would be the Trump team's political arch rival, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

I don't think they'd let it happen.

They'd find a way around it, Uh, possibly the secretary of state, someone in the Republican line.

Either the elective line in the Senate or, uh, the Cabinet line would take over.

It's just untenable.

And Nancy Pelosi would recognize that as well.

If Pelosi is bypassed or doesn't want the job, the rules call for the presidency to go to the Senate's president pro tempore, who at the moment is 87 year old Republican Chuck Grassley.

Should Americans be scared of all these possibilities, the public should absolutely not be scared.

While this situation is a difficult one, we have constitutional and legal provisions in place to deal with this situation and situations much more dire and much more complicated than the current one.

Okay, 12th trivia.

Which of these space stations was launched first?

Skylab, Salyut one mere or Tiangong one.

The Thief first space station, which was launched in 1971 was the Soviet Union.

Salyut one another space first is set for October 31st commercial company Space X is set to launch its crew one mission aboard its crew Dragon vehicle.

It had a manned mission back in May, but this one will be its first fully operational.

One with four astronauts will spend six months on the International space station.

It's part of a multi billion dollar contract Space X has with NASA.

This will be your first time flying to space.

So you're technically a rookie here.

How do you feel about having your maiden voyage be on this new spaceship?

And how does your family, specifically your four Children feel about it?

Well, you know, I am thrilled.

Just the opportunity to go to space is amazing.

My kids are really thrilled by I think my kids love NASA.

They really love space six.

I just They they've got a great culture and the marketing has been great.

So my kids are really excited about it.

What have you learned from Bob and Doug?

You know, who were the first crew to fly and Crew Dragon just a few months ago about the journey and the flight?

They've given us both technical information as well as's daily life information and the daily life stuff is, are the things that you will not get in a classroom learning about a vehicle, things like the sounds that you're going to hear on the dragon.

It's always important to know what to expect.

And so we've talked a lot about that.

I think one of the most important things they told us is that the vehicle does fly like the simulator, so that is really good.

It's a testament thio, all the work that went into both building the spacecraft and the simulator.

So we have a good idea how the vehicle's gonna fly.

What does it mean to you to be a black man and an astronaut at this moment in our country's history?

You know, I'm not immune to the things going on in the world right now from the physical, uh, insecurity that many people are feeling to the economic insecurity.

And I will say this.

The overriding feeling that I have is that I want to go up there and do my job well on, then come back and tell a great story about a great mission and a great team so that people have something to look up and look forward to, and it is a challenging time.

But, you know, that's what teams have to come together and do.

Put the best people forward and and show what we're capable of.

When we work hard, we work together.

The first mission demo to was filled by two veteran male astronauts.

But this time you know, it's more of a mixed bag.

You have a rookie.

Ah, few seasoned veterans and international partner and yourself a woman.

So how do you anticipate that diversity in the capsule impacting the mission?

I think it makes our crew that much stronger.

Uh, we we've known each other for years.

We've worked together for years, Um, and having diversity of backgrounds, diversity of approaches, diversity of training just makes the team that much stronger.

And I really think, you know, a lot of people are focusing on this, and we have an incredibly diverse team, but this is this is the goal.

This is how we wanna fly space flight.

From here on out, we need people of all backgrounds.

We need all international partners.

It just spaceflight is a diverse endeavor, and so we're just a reflection of that you won't be on the I s as any time soon, but you can still be part of the planet Patrol.

Sounds kind of like Moon patrol.

NASA has a satellite called Tess the transiting exoplanet survey satellite.

The $287 million vehicle is on the hunt for other possible planets, but it takes too many snapshots for scientists to review.

And the computers that do that sometimes make mistakes.

So NASA is asking for citizen scientists to help identify exoplanets.

So what happens if you actually find one?

Well, I don't know how the folks at NASA planet, but it would totally rock to land your name on a distant surface.

It be otherworldly.

Some folks would never come back down to Earth.

I'm Carla Zeus.

Some of you are watching from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.