Donald Trump, storm Delta, Supreme Court begins 2020 term: 5 things to know Monday

Editors, USA TODAY
·4 min read

President Trump's doctors say he could go home Monday

President Donald Trump, hospitalized with COVID-19, continues to improve and his doctors say he could be discharged as early as Monday, according to a White House physician. Trump's doctor, Navy Commander Sean Conley, said if the president continued to look and feel well, "our hope is that we can plan for a discharge as early as (Monday) to the White House, where he can continue his treatment course." At a news conference Sunday, physicians said the president had begun a course of the steroid dexamethasone on Saturday following a drop in his oxygen levels. Claiming progress in his personal fight against COVID-19, Trump ventured outside in an SUV on Sunday and waved at supporters who gathered at the hospital before then returning to the facility. Critics called the move "reckless" and said Trump endangered the Secret Service members riding in the vehicle with him. Dr. James P. Phillips, an attending physician at Walter Reed, tweeted that everybody in the vehicle with Trump should be quarantined for 14 days.

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Hurricane Delta? New tropical depression could make landfall this week

A newly-formed tropical depression could make landfall as a hurricane in the northern Gulf Coast this week, forecasters say. The National Hurricane Center upgraded the storm to Tropical Depression 26 on Sunday, forecasting that the disturbance would develop into a tropical storm on Monday near the Cayman Islands and become a hurricane near Cuba on Tuesday. The tropical depression, which would be named Delta, could become the 25th named storm in the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season — about double the average of a usual season. As of 11 p.m. EDT Sunday, the tropical depression was about 75 miles south-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica.

The Supreme Court begins 2020 term

The Supreme Court begins its 2020 term Monday. Shorthanded and still mourning the death last month of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the eight remaining justices will carry on their work amid a partisan firestorm over her likely successor, Amy Coney Barrett. At the same time, they will face a flurry of emergency petitions from Democrats and Republicans over the way mail-in ballots are distributed, delivered and counted. Barrett's nomination to the seat held for 27 years by Ginsburg marks a potential turning point for the nation's judicial system.

Rochester mayor facing felony campaign charges

Mayor Lovely Warren of Rochester, N.Y. — the scene of protests over the death of Daniel Prude, a Black man restrained by police in March — will be arraigned Monday on two felony campaign finance charges. The charges relate to Warren's successful 2017 mayoral re-election bid. The first charge is for first-degree scheme to defraud; the second is an election law offense for illegally coordinating activities and expenditures. Warren has adamantly denied any wrongdoing in the matter. The charges add another major crisis for the already embattled mayor: Warren has faced increasing questions about her honesty with her claims that she was not informed until August of all of the facts about the March police incident. Prude died of asphyxiation afterward. If convicted of the felony charges, Warren would be removed from office under state law. The maximum sentence ranges from 16 months to four years in prison.

Patriots-Chiefs game rescheduled after positive COVID-19 tests

The New England Patriots will face the Kansas City Chiefs, reigning Super Bowl Champions on Monday after their matchup was postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests from both teams. The rescheduling creates a rare double-feature for Monday. The Patriots-Chiefs game, which will be broadcast by CBS, will precede the "Monday Night Football" game between the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers. ESPN's broadcast of Falcons-Packers has been moved to 8:50 p.m. ET.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump, COVID-19, Delta, Supreme Court, Patriots-Chiefs: 5 things to know Monday