Go for the gold: Your Weekend Briefing

October 4, 2020

By Remy Tumin and Judith Levitt

Welcome to the Weekend Briefing. We’re covering President Trump’s health, the N.F.L.’s game postponement and the vibrant colors of fall.

Anna Moneymaker for The New York Times

1. The status of President Trump’s health is raising more questions than answers after his infection with the coronavirus.

His vital signs were “very concerning” over the last day, said Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, contradicting a rosier picture painted by the president’s doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, above. Mr. Meadows warned that the next two days would be pivotal in determining the outcome of his illness.

Mr. Trump, 74, will stay at Walter Reed for an indefinite number of days, his doctor said, undergoing a five-day antiviral drug regimen for Covid-19 that indicated his condition might be more serious than had been publicly disclosed. The president is in a high-risk group as far as Covid-19 is concerned.

For Mr. Meadows, the clarification appeared to be an effort to lay some groundwork for the possibility that Mr. Trump’s condition could worsen, and the possibility of a potential transfer of power to Vice President Mike Pence under the 25th Amendment. Here’s what happens if Mr. Trump cannot run for president anymore.

In a video posted to Twitter on Saturday evening, Mr. Trump said he was “starting to feel good” but added that the severity of his case would probably become apparent over the coming days.

2. A White House long in denial about the coronavirus is now confronting reality from the top down.

Mr. Trump’s diagnosis appeared shocking but also inevitable in a West Wing that assumed that daily rapid virus tests were substitutes for other safety measures, like social distancing and wearing masks, our White House reporters write.

These are the public officials and members of Mr. Trump’s circle who have recently tested positive or negative, many of whom attended events at the White House on the day of Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination ceremony. Here are scenes from one gathering under scrutiny.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, postponed the Senate’s return for two weeks after three senators tested positive, even as he pledged to press ahead to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times

3. A president’s illness might rally people behind him in ordinary times. But 2020 is anything but ordinary.

In the Trump era — and a month before Election Day — his health crisis is filtered through the partisan lenses that divide Americans on seemingly every issue. “I think it was pretty powerful that he admitted it,” said Cruz Zepeda, above, a supporter of Mr. Trump’s from Phoenix.

On the first weekend of the new Trump political reality, the overarching signals from his campaign were about continuity and resolve, despite canceled rallies. Joe Biden, who reported having a negative coronavirus test, is proceeding with in-person events. At an event in Grand Rapids, Mich., he cast his opponent’s positive test as a vivid illustration of the public health risks at play but offered Mr. Trump wishes for a speedy recovery.

The latest Times/Siena College poll found that voters in Pennsylvania and Florida had been repelled by Mr. Trump’s conduct in the first general-election debate on Tuesday. Mr. Biden maintains a lead in the two largest battleground states.

In a special edition of The Daily, we explore how Mr. Trump’s test result could affect the final days of the 2020 race — and consider what might happen next.

4. As Mr. Trump and many of his inner circle test positive for the coronavirus, the U.S. is at a crucial inflection point.

With more than 209,000 people dead from the coronavirus, according to a Times database, the number of new cases identified each day across the U.S. has been steadily rising. The Great Plains states, spared early on, are struggling, and Wisconsin’s situation in particular has grown alarming. That state also happens to be crucial to both parties’ hopes of winning the presidency.

Here’s a look at the current state of the virus in the U.S.

Colleges are driving tens of thousands of new cases. But there are some bright spots: Some campuses have successfully contained the virus by testing extensively.

Elizabeth Frantz for The New York Times

5. The U.S. economy is facing a tidal wave of long-term unemployment.

The Labor Department said on Friday that 2.4 million people had been out of work for 27 weeks or more, the threshold it uses to define long-term joblessness. Nearly five million are approaching that same benchmark in the next two months. MacKenzie Nicholson, above, lost her job in June.

The unemployment rate fell to 7.9 percent, but the decline masks a worrying trend: Many women, who were hit hard early in the pandemic as service-sector jobs evaporated and child-care responsibilities kept them at home, have stopped looking for jobs and dropped out of the work force entirely.

The takeaway: “We’ve entered a longer, slower grind that puts the economy at risk for the indefinite future,” our senior economics correspondent writes.

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Leon Neal/Getty Images

6. Britain and the E.U. entered a make-or-break phase for a long-term trade agreement.

Negotiations for the final piece of Britain’s lengthy divorce proceedings from the E.U. have ground on inconclusively for months and will now intensify as the two sides scramble to meet a deadline that would allow a deal to be in place on Dec. 31.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the president of the European Commission agreed that the two sides shared enough common ground to aim for a final settlement. The outcome will have profound implications for Britain’s future relationship with the E.U. The risk of a rupture is as big as it was this time last year, when negotiations on the withdrawal agreement hit a similar moment of truth.

Winslow Townson/Associated Press

7. The N.F.L. postponed Sunday’s highly anticipated game between the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs after positive coronavirus tests on both teams. Cam Newton, the Patriots quarterback, was reportedly among those who tested positive.

The postponement is latest in a string of positive cases in the N.F.L. The league is now feeling the consequences of its decision to start the season on time as the virus raged around the country and not to create closed communities to significantly reduce the risk of infection.

Newton is just starting to win over New England, a racially complicated area accustomed to Hall of Fame quarterback play. All it has taken are a couple of wins, endorsements from his taciturn coach and a whole lot of charm.

Will Heath/NBC

8. Live from New York — it was Saturday night!

The cast of “Saturday Night Live” returned with live performances last night for the first time since the pandemic shut down Studio 8H at NBC’s Rockefeller Plaza headquarters in March. Chris Rock hosted, with Megan Thee Stallion as the musical guest. Here are the highlights, including Jim Carrey as Joe Biden.

Elsewhere in New York, comedians are doing pop-up gigs wherever they can. But there were a few comedians who managed to record specials before comedy clubs went quiet in the days leading up to quarantine. Four new specials give us a snapshot of life just as we were starting to realize what the pandemic would mean.

And for more comic relief, Weird Al Yankovic teamed up with the Gregory Brothers for a musical debate recap for Opinion.

Benjamin Rasmussen for The New York Times

9. Not even a pandemic can stop the vibrant colors of fall.

Six writers in six states — Massachusetts, Ohio, West Virginia, Maine, Tennessee and Colorado — named their favorite drives and hikes to try this fall. Apple cider doughnuts, a highway ghost and sightings of otters, beavers and wild turkeys may be included.

Looking ahead to another fall tradition, one of our editors (who is also a dad) really likes frightening young children at Halloween. “Without tears and some light emotional scarring, Halloween is just another saccharine Hallmark holiday,” Erik Vance writes. He hopes making children tremble isn’t a thing of the past.

Sima Diab for The New York Times

10. And finally, an array of great journalism.

Our exclusive reporting on President Trump’s taxes. The 22-year-old force behind Egypt’s #MeToo movement, above. The story of a “Humans of New York” star prompting millions in donations. These are just a few of our Best Weekend Reads.

Our editors also suggest these 10 new books, a great new food show on YouTube, new songs from Maren Morris and more.

Have you been keeping up with the headlines? Test your knowledge with our news quiz. And here’s the front page of our Sunday paper, the Sunday Review from Opinion and our crossword puzzles.

Have a restful week.

Your Weekend Briefing is published Sundays at 6 a.m. Eastern.

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