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President Trump Contracts And Fights Coronavirus; What Happens When A President Gets Too Sick To Govern; Space Stories. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired October 05, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello to everyone watching worldwide and welcome to CNN 10. And you`re down the middle explanation of news events. I`m Carl
Azuz. Thank you for starting your week with us.
As we produced this show, U.S. 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 Melanie Trump. Several people who work closely with the president have also tested
positive for COVID-19.
They include Political Advisor 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 their 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`s 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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. 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 U.S., I`m fighting for them all over the world. We`re going to beat this coronavirus or whatever you want to call it and we`re going to
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 those next-- next couple of days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He can notify Congress, the House and Senate that he is going to be incapacitated because he`ll be sedated on a ventilator. 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
improves.
TODD: Ronald Reagan did that when he had an operation on his colon. 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 too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The vice-president and the 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.
TODD: 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 COVID 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t think they`d let it happen. They`d find a way around it. Possibly the Secretary of State, someone in the Republican line
either the elective line in the Senate or the cabinet line would take over. It`s just untenable and Nancy Pelosi would recognize that as well.
TODD: 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 American`s be scared of all these possibilities?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these space stations was launched first? Skylab, Salyut 1, Mir, or Tiangong 1. The first space station which was
launched in 1971 was the Soviet Union`s Salyut 1.
Another space first is set for October 31st. Commercial company SpaceX is set to launch its Crew 1 mission aboard it`s Crew Dragon vehicle. It had a
manned mission back in May but this one will be its first fully operational one with four astronauts who will spend six months on the International
Space Station. It`s part of a multibillion-dollar contract SpaceX has with NASA.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know, I am thrilled. Just the opportunity to go to space is amazing. My kids are really thrilled by it. I -- I think, my
kids love NASA. They really love SpaceX. I -- I -- they`ve got a great culture and the marketing has been great. So my kids are really excited
about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What have you learned from Bob and Doug, you know, who were the first crew to fly in Crew Dragon just a few months ago about the
journey and the flight?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`ve given us both technical information as well as daily life information. And-- 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 until we -- they`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 to all the work that went into both building the spacecraft and
the simulator. So, we have a good idea how the vehicle`s going to fly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What does it mean to you to be a black man and an astronaut at this moment in our country`s history?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I am not immune to the -- the things going on in the world right now from the physical 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 and
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 -- and show what we are capable of when we work hard and we work together.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first mission Demo 2 was filled by two veteran male astronauts. But this time, you know, it`s more of a mixed bag. You
have a rookie, a few seasoned veterans, and international partner and yourself, a woman. So how do you anticipate that diversity in the capsule
impacting the mission?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it makes our crew that much stronger. We -- we`ve known each other for years. We`ve worked together for years and
having diversity of backgrounds, diversity of approaches, diversity of training. Just makes the team that much stronger. And I -- 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 want to fly spaceflight 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: You won`t be on the ISS anytime 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`s asking for a citizen scientist to help identify
exoplanets.
So what happens if you "exoly" find one. Well I don`t know how the folks at NASA "planet" but it would totally "rock" to land your name on a distance
surface. It`d be "otherworldly". Some folks would never come back down to Earth. I`m Carl Azuz. Some of you are watching from Abu Dhabi, United Arab
Emirates so a big shout out to our viewers at the American Community School there.
END
