Trump team sends mixed messages following president's COVID-19 diagnosis
President Trump announced early Friday morning that he tested positive for COVID-19, after downplaying the severity of the virus for months. Leading up to his diagnosis, Trump held a ceremony to announce his Supreme Court nominee. Since then, many other prominent figures and aides, including First Lady Melania Trump, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Utah Sen. Mike Lee have tested positive for the virus. On Saturday, Trump checked in at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he is receiving access to the country’s best care and has been participating in an experimental antibody treatment. Since being hospitalized, there have been inconsistent reports regarding Trump's health. His doctor, Sean Conley, expressed cautious optimism, while Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, reported that the president's condition is more severe. Trump campaign Senior Advisor Steve Cortes said the campaign will “vigorously proceed” and is confident Trump will make a full recovery.
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict continues, hundreds killed from violence
On Sept. 27, Armenia reported that Azerbaijan launched air and artillery attacks on Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed region between the two neighboring countries, while Azerbaijan maintains that it was conducting a "counter-offensive in response to military provocation." The United Nations considers the region the official territory of the Muslim-majority Azerbaijan, thoughChristian-majority Armenia has been financially and militarily supporting Nagorno-Karabakh since the 1990s. Resulting violence from the centuries-old conflict over the region, chiefly escalated by the rise and fall of the Soviet Union and its leader Joseph Stalin, has killed more than 100 people this past week. The United States has remained largely silent on the issue.
Close to 18,000 ballots rejected in the Massachusetts primary election
According to data from Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin, 1.3 million voters cast ballots by mail or during the early voting period for the primary, amounting to over half of the total ballots submitted. Of those ballots, 17,872 were rejected, due to failed delivery or failure to sign the ballot envelope, among other reasons. Despite the multitude of rejected ballots, Galvin, the state’s top election official, describes Massachusetts’ first attempt at widespread mail-in voting as a “tremendous success” and warns that the number is misleading as “98% were successful in getting their ballots counted."
North Carolina senate race spirals into chaos
The North Carolina senate race has been upended as the two leading candidates, incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis and Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham, have grabbed headlines. On Friday, Cunningham admitted to sending flirtatious texts to a woman who is not his wife. This is likely to strain his campaign ahead of the final debate. On the other side of the race, Tillis announced on Friday that he tested positive for COVID-19. Tillis was likely exposed to the virus at President Trump’s Supreme Court nomination ceremony last weekend; several other attendees, including the president, have also tested positive for the virus. So far, Tillis reports that he is only experiencing mild symptoms.
