October 2, 2020

President Trump and the First Lady have tested positive for the coronavirus and are now experiencing “mild symptoms” according to the White House. At 74 years old and clinically obese, the president is a high risk patient. Former acting surgeon general Boris Lushniak joins Christiane to explain the medical risks and assess how this infection could have reached the commander in chief.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is one of the few world leaders who truly understands what President Trump faces following his COVID-19 diagnosis. Earlier this year, Johnson was rushed to intensive care due to the virus. Mark Landler of the New York Times joins the program to compare Trump's diagnosis to Johnson's.

When it comes to understanding how coronavirus spreads, most of us have heard about the R number – the average reproduction number of people infected by one other person. But Zeynep Tufekci says it’s more telling to look at a different letter: K. It’s the subject of her latest prescient article in The Atlantic, and she joins Christiane to explain.

Like President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin initially played down the coronavirus – but his country has the world’s fourth highest number of cases. And when it comes to protecting himself, Putin has been far more rigorous than Trump. Correspondent Matthew Chance joins the show from Moscow with details of Putin’s own protective bubble.