Trump remains in the hospital, South Carolina Senate race, 'SNL' returns: 5 things to know this weekend

Editors, USA TODAY
·5 min read

President Trump to work from hospital after COVID-19 diagnosis

President Donald Trump will remain at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, after announcing he tested positive for COVID-19. Trump, 74, went to Walter Reed Friday in what aides said was a precautionary move. "The president will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days," said White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Due to this development, Trump was forced to cancel two weekend campaign rallies in the battleground state of Wisconsin. Given the state's recent surge in COVID-19 cases, local health and elected officials had urged Trump to reconsider the rallies in Green Bay and Janesville hours before he tested positive.

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Graham, Harrison to square off on debate stage in South Carolina

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison will meet in their first face-to-face debate Saturday night. The event in Columbia is their first of three scheduled meetings with two more debates slated for later in October. In a recent phone interview with the Greenville News, part of the USA TODAY Network, Graham, 65, predicted voters will reject Democrats for embracing "the most radical agenda that I've ever seen." In a separate interview, Harrison, 44, said Graham "has simply lost touch with the people of this state." Graham is fighting to keep his seat and as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also shepherd President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, through the Senate. Graham has said hearings will begin Oct. 12, and a vote is expected Oct. 29, just days ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

Tropical Storm Gamma on track to hit resort areas in Mexico

Newly formed Tropical Storm Gamma was headed for a Saturday collision with the resort-lined coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, bringing torrential rains to a large swath of southern Mexico. As of late Friday, a tropical storm warning was in effect for the northern half of the peninsula's Caribbean coast, covering Cancun, the Riviera Maya and other resorts. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said 4 to 8 inches of rainfall are likely in parts of the Yucatan and far-western Cuba. Gamma is the 24th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. There have been 23 other named storms this year — about double the average for an entire season.

Minnesota Vikings expected to play after potential COVID-19 exposure

The Tennessee Titans won't play their scheduled Week 4 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers due to a COVID-19 outbreak. However, the Minnesota Vikings, the Titans' Week 3 opponent, are on target to visit Houston and play the Texas (0-3) Sunday since they had no positive COVID-19 test results on Friday. The Vikings, who lost at home to the Titans last week, returned to work at their facility Thursday after it was closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Titans have had 15 positive tests since Sept. 24, including eight players and seven team personnel. The NFL was able to reshuffle its schedule and move the Titans-Steelers game to Week 7 on Sunday, Oct. 25. But it's not known how the league might handle the schedule if the Titans are not able to play their Week 5 game at home against the Buffalo Bills, especially as the league has tightened its procedures for how teams return following positive COVID-19 results.

Live from New York, 'SNL' is back!

"Saturday Night Live" will return to NBC with the premiere of its 46th season Saturday. Actor/comedian Chris Rock will host and Megan Thee Stallion is the musical guest. The episode will air from Studio 8H in New York City at 11:30 ET/8:30 PT. This will be the first live episode since the coronavirus forced production into a hiatus last season and later resulted in the cast and crew producing three pre-recorded episodes from home. NBC says the entire current cast from last season will return, with Ego Nwodim rising to become a regular cast member. Andrew Dismukes, Lauren Holt and Punkie Johnson will join the show as featured players. A steady run of episodes will air leading up to the Nov. 3 presidential election, with Alec Baldwin playing President Trump and Jim Carrey playing Joe Biden. In accordance with New York's COVID-19 restrictions, the only people in the audience will be cast and crew.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump hospitalized, SC Senate debate: 5 things to know this weekend