3/27/20: Members of the Coronavirus Task Force Hold a Press Briefing

Thank you very much, it is a pleasure to have you and thank you all for being here. My administration is taking new steps to ensure that the United States has the resources and medical equipment necessary to combat the global pandemic. It has been a brutal pandemic for more than 150 countries around the world. We have had great success over the last month. As you know, we have successfully delivered millions and millions of pieces of equipment, we have successfully purchased and delivered them and made them available to the states and the governors have been very gracious. For the most part, I would say a couple not appreciating the amazing job they have to do a better job themselves, that's part of the problem, but overall, I have to tell you, the governors have been great.

I just spoke with the governor. from New Jersey Connor Murphy and he's very grateful and Governor Cuomo has been very kind, they've really appreciated it. I think what the federal government has done is look at the hospitals that are being built all over the country by the Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA, it has been really incredible that no one has seen it. They will build hospitals in two or three days, portable hospitals this afternoon. I invoke the Defense Production Act to

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General Motors to accept, perform and prioritize federal contracts for ventilators. Ventilators are a big problem and we have delivered thousands of them and many times not many ventilators are needed, hospitals do not have many and now we are discovering that we have to produce large quantities, but we have been able to do it and we are going to be doing much more, this invoking the DPA should clearly demonstrate to everyone that we will not hesitate to use the full authority of the federal government to combat this crisis that we thought we had to take as an example General Motors and I guess they thought otherwise, they did not agree and now they do They agree and I think we could do it, but we let them know how we feel and they can't do that.

We will work in partnership with the private sector. sector, but where there is an emergency and it is very important that we get to the bottom line and quickly we will do what we have to do and we will immediately exercise all available legal authorities to get the job done this afternoon I also signed an investment executive order and very strongly equip to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security of all authorities available under the Defense Production Act to respond to the outbreak of the terrible virus, the invisible enemy, as we say, my order also states that Peter Navarro is very trustful.

White House person and he's been incredible, he's done an incredible job for me in terms of negotiating in terms of understanding where the world is going economically, but my order states that Peter will serve as policy coordinator for the defense production bill national for the federal government. That is a very important position, probably more important than it has almost ever been in our country, so I want to congratulate Peter and his family. I know he will do a fantastic job. He's been doing that job for the past few weeks. Peter is a PhD in The economist from Harvard has a master's degree in public administration from the Kennedy School also from Harvard and he's a fantastic guy and he'll do a fantastic job and maybe I'd like to ask him before we continue that Peter say a few words please. thank you.

Of course, you already know the Harvard prankster and his Harvard colleague. You can't tell them much anyway. Seriously though, they let me give you a little insight into defense production law and why it's so important that we're involved in what matters most. significant industrial mobilization since World War II, we have a wartime president, an invisible enemy, and we have the full

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of government along with the full power of private enterprise addressing this problem for the American people. Well served, what we had to do today with President Trump. so ordered with respect to General Motors. I want to give you a little bit of information that we need industrial mobilization to make adequate ventilators, particularly in the very short term, to help people in New York, Detroit, New Orleans, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, all over this country.

The virus beats and ventilators are really the most important thing for the patients who get the most seriously ill, they are literally the lifeline for people and I personally have been working with FEMA and I have been working with HHS and over ten ventilator companies making sure that we can get what we need as quickly as possible and virtually all of those companies have cooperated and moved patriotically in the Trump era, meaning as quickly as possible, sir, but we had a problem with GM and Ventech, for a On the other hand, we had Ford. and GE moving forward on a similar type of project moving forward patriotically as quickly as possible over the last few days we ran into obstacles with GM we cannot afford to lose a single day, particularly over the next 30 to 60 days, so the President Trump called on defense production to act as a wave to enhance and accelerate this mobilization.

I congratulate you for doing it. It will make my job a lot easier for the most part. We have had tremendous cooperation from the private sector today, sir, it was the right day to do it. Thank you. Sir, thank you, thank you, good luck, my administration is marshaling the full power of the American government and we will do it, and that is what we have done and we will continue to do it until our war is won, economic, scientific, medical, military and security national. of this to beat the virus, we are working to sign contracts immediately with the country's major ventilator companies including Philips Medtronic, Hamilton's old red drug, will steal and fire, these are all the companies that do this, big companies that the FDA will reduce and give up unnecessary regulations to achieve this, we are going to get rid of certain, let's say, barriers to speed, we want them to do it quickly, they have been doing it for a long time, they have been making ventilators for We hope that for a long time General Motors joins the fight under the normal conditions in which it would be usual. 29,000 ventilators will be distributed in the United States each year over the next 100 days.

Well, first of all, we have already delivered thousands of them, but in the next hundred days we will manufacture or somehow obtain over a hundred thousand additional units and I suppose, to put it in other words, in the next 100 days we will receive more than triple the amount of enolate that is manufactured during a normal year in the United States and that does not include all the thousands and thousands that we have given to the different states, many of them we delivered thousands, as you know, to New York and not they knew they had it and then we also put thousands in a warehouse and that was also for New York and they just found out they were there so we have to make sure that when we deliver things they are distributed today.

I spoke with Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun and Boeing will produce and donate face shields to help our medical professionals on the front lines. They are actually quite complex in terms of plastic and the quality of the materials is important. They have to be top of the line. They're going to make thousands of these a week. They have already tested production and are ready to start producing all of these shields from the plastic face covering shields, so Boeing is also offering us the use of their. they, the dream cargo plane, is the largest plane in the world and this is a kind of image that they called a moment ago that can carry anything that is the largest in the world and they are letting us use. that for the distribution of products across the country, especially heavy products or large quantities of products, Boeing will dedicate up to three aircraft to the mission of transporting medical supplies to wherever we need them, each plane can carry 63,000 pounds of cargo per flight, that's a big load I also signed an executive order giving the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security the authority to activate the Ready Reserve components of the Armed Forces.

This will allow us to mobilize emergency and disaster response medical personnel to help fight our battle against the virus by activating thousands of experienced service

members

, including retirees, we have many retired people, great military

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who are returning and who have volunteered to support the nation in this extraordinary time of need and they come back, they don't say how much they don't say how much they pay us they just want to come back it's really amazing to see it it's beautiful this afternoon I also signed a two point two trillion dollar law into law and I needed urgent help for families , workers, companies of our nation. and Americans of one race, color, religion and creed and the 2.2 billion amounts to six point two billion depending on need, making it the largest bill ever signed and not just emergency relief, but any guy, we've never signed a bill like that. magnitude and, incredibly, it was 96 to nothing in the Senate and it was essentially the same in Congress, they did it very quickly, in the House they did it very, very quickly, so if you look at Congress, what they have been able to do. the house was a voice vote I guess you would call it and something like that is rarely played and 96 to nothing in the Senate for the largest bill in the history of our country, that's pretty good and I want to thank the Republicans.

I want to thank the Democrats for coming together for the entire nation and this is a great thing, a great victory, this will save companies that are incredible, but they are going to need help because of what happened a month ago, they were exceptional, they were having the better. year they had and then they hit us and then we will help them, it's thousands and millions of jobs, it's millions of jobs and I just want to thank everyone for working so hard and that includes the people who are with me right here, the legislation. extends a vital lifeline to American families and American workers with job retention loans for small businesses and a big focus of the bill is small businesses, they are really the energy, they are whatever you want to call it in terms of our The nation that pushes people have no idea how important the factor is Peter can tell you that small businesses in this country are from an economic standpoint from a labor standpoint, we expanded unemployment benefits for workers very substantially and Direct cash payments will substantially go to US citizens.

This legislation also provides a massive increase in hospital funding for the disaster relief fund and critical supplies, including masks, respirators, and pharmaceuticals of all kinds, and speaking of pharmaceuticals, as you know, we are working on vaccines, We are getting a good response and We are working on therapies and cures and we have some very interesting things happening this afternoon. Apple launched a new tool created in partnership with our CDC and FEMA working group. Anyone who is worried about having the virus can download the free VOC identification plate. 19 on your iPhone and answer a series of simple questions about your symptoms and risk factors;

It is becoming a very modernized system; in fact, they will soon receive recommendations from HHS on what to do next, including whether they should get tested or not, and again we only want people to get tested if we think they need it in a few moments divorce secretary secretary Purdue will discuss new partnerships with the private sector that provides meals to millions of students while schools are closed. They have both been incredible at work. They have been very appreciated, we are grateful for the help of Niren, the CEO of Panera Bread Company, they have been so incredible to us and to the people of our country and to Denton McLain, president of McLane Global Logistics, and them.

They have joined us, they are on stage with me, they are going to speak during this ordeal. I have been amazed and inspired by the American people more than anything else, more than anyone. Americans from all walks of life have followed guidelines that seem incredible. compassion and great sacrifices on behalf of their fellow citizens. I want all Americans to know that their heroic and selfless actions are saving lives and I want them to know, and I have said this before, that I am very proud to be your president, very proud. of the American people, my administration is actively planning the next phase in an all-out war against this horrible virus.

We are now testing almost 100,000 patients a day more than anyone else in the world, and we've been at it for even a couple of weeks. It tests more than any other country in the world and our capacity continues to grow. Widespread surveillance testing will allow us to monitor the spread of the virus and we are doing that quite accurately and Deborah and Tony will talk about that and coordinate with the states to contain new hot spots as they emerge with a targeted approach based on facts and data Brahe everything is driven by dataThese surveillance tests will soon allow us to release updated guidance to state and local leaders.

We want each county and region and Conte to have the evidence on the ground that they need to determine the appropriate mitigation measures for them, each location is different, some They are very different, the day and the night of the summer, some are in very good condition and others are not, and we will be able to have very precise information very soon we already have a lot of that information The United States is bravely fighting this pandemic through science and cutting-edge medical innovation and rational, deliberate and determined surveillance no effort will be spared to win this war we are going to win the war I hope we win soon and with the fewest possible lives lost, you will see what is happening around the world, you will see the lives , you will see Italy, you will see Spain, you will see all these countries going through so many things, going through hell like that, and us.

We are all in very strong communication. I can tell you that our professionals are dealing with them every day in many of the countries, in many of the countries, but in many of the countries we are dealing very directly and closely and we will be in very good shape. in terms of certain equipment that is very difficult to manufacture and at the appropriate time we will distribute that equipment around the world to other countries. Boris Johnson was calling for ventilators today, as you know Boris got tested, unfortunately it came back positive. and it's kind of terrible but it's going to be great I'm sure it's going to be totally great but they want fans Italy the fans Spain wants fans Germany wants fans everyone is asking for fans well we're going to make a lot of fans and we're going to take care of our needs but also we will help other countries so I just want to thank everyone.

I want to thank some great American citizens and there are a lot of amazing things happening, they really are happening and it's a shame that it was. I said before we had the

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conference when we signed at a signing ceremony where we signed the biggest bill in our history and I said think about it 22 days ago we had the largest economy in the world everything was going wonderfully the stock market hit everything -The weather peaked again over a hundred and fifty times during my presidency and the world looked good and then we were hit by the invisible enemy and now there are countries around the world reeling, but we are winning and we will do it.

We will be bigger, better and stronger than we were even before and we will also have gadgets that work, we won't have broken systems, we will have amazing systems, so if this happens together, hopefully it won't be, but if something happens. If this were to happen again, we will be able to handle it much more easily, so with that I will answer a few questions, please say a little about these negotiations with General Motors, what were they reluctant to do or was it a debate? because they are adequate, well, I have to debate about the cost and we don't want to think too much about the cost when we talk about this, this is not cost.

He was unhappy with where General Motors built the plants. and other places over the years, not so much during my tenure, but they built a lot of plants in other countries. I won't name the countries, but you can imagine, so I didn't go into it with a very favorable view. I was extremely unhappy with Lordstown Ohio, where they left Lordstown Ohio in the middle of an automotive boom because we had 17 car companies that came in and then left a plant in Ohio. I love Ohio and what's happening, that became the story, not that all these plants are moving. but that you had a plant that they were leaving and, frankly, I think it would be a good place to build fans, but we'll see how it all works, but I wasn't very excited and then we thought We had a deal for 40,000 fans and suddenly it became six and then the price became a big issue, but Peter Tavares will take care of that and Peter will do a very good job.

We'll see, maybe they'll change their minds, but we didn't want to play with them. Two questions for you, one about state quarantines, the other about seeking treatment, the first over the last 24 hours. Governors in several states, including Florida and Rhode Island, have issued borders for travelers. It came from our state quarantine orders, yes, and they are intercepting people on the roads at airports, they say this is on the recommendation of your administration, is it true? If so, why not? Well, I guess I'll let Tony talk a little about that. a little later, but we are being very strict with the quarantine, we are being very strict with people not leaving especially certain states and going to other states where they have less problems.

I mean, you constantly hear about people leaving New York and leaving. Even Florida and New York is obviously a hotspot and that's why we're building all those hospitals in New York and all those medical centers in New York, so we'll let Tony answer that, but specifically you have to understand that we're not playing games. Games went DPA again this morning, you tweeted about it and I was told it was coincidentally shortly after that tweet. Ventech and GM announced that they had reached an agreement on the Kokomo Indiana plant, which is a clean facility that manufactures electronic equipment. to 10,000 ventilators a month which were the first ones that were delivered in a couple of weeks who why the need to invoke duty after that wasn't after it was before and we just weren't getting there with General Motors we weren't getting there We're getting there there with a lot of other companies and we have the people who are doing it for me in the room right here and we can talk to you later about it, but we have to involve these people.

We're not looking to get into a big deal on price, we're not looking to get ripped off on price, we don't want prices to be double, triple what they should be, so General Motors we'll see what happens, but now they're talking but They weren't talking the right way at the beginning and that wasn't right for the country right after you told Sean Hannity last night that you didn't think there was a need for 30 or 40 thousand veterans and today they're basically federalized. General Motors will make tens of thousands, which I think there's a good chance we won't need that many, and frankly, I think there's a good chance we won't need that penny, but you know, there are plenty of others. people who will need them, we have countries around the world that are friends of ours and we will help those countries.

We are in a position to do things that other countries cannot, so we have an interesting position we can take. them because we're going to produce over a hundred thousand pretty quickly so we can make them and if we don't need them, John, it's okay because we can help Italy and we can help you, K Boris Johnson specifically, I mean when I say how do you feel and what? The first thing Boris told me is that we need ventilators all over the world, they want them and we are in a position to manufacture them in other countries.

Not okay, first I can continue with what Governor Cuomo had said thirty. Forty thousand ventilators is what he needs, he relied on the experts who were advising him, on what are you basing your assessment that he does not need that many? Well, if you look, I think you can ask that question better than Deborah, but I think her estimates are high. I hope they are high. They could be extremely high. We are even making hospitals based on fairly high estimates. You know I'm making them anyway and like I told John, if we don't need them, that would be wonderful.

We can help many wonderful people around the world. We can help them live, but I think their estimates will be very high. We'll see, don't forget that we sent thousands of ventilators to New York and they didn't do it. I don't know that they got it, so we sent thousands of ventilators to New York. They have a warehouse in New York, in Edison, New Jersey, which is kind of interesting, and we ship it to Edison, New Jersey. They were in the warehouse ready to go and New York. They never took it so they knew they were there so we have to align people, we understand it, we have given it and I don't blame New York, look this is something of a magnitude that no one has seen before, but it will tell you I will say.

You know the federal government has done a great job, so we sent thousands of ventilators to New York and they didn't know it at the time, they were complaining about thousands, we had 2,000 in 2000 and then 4,000 and they were going there in large numbers. numbers and then before that we send many thousands, we want to have so many that we have more than we need because we can send them to other big countries, to other countries that have been our friends and will never be able to do it. themselves, yes some of the governors do not appreciate what the federal government has done and you have suggested that some of these governors are not doing everything they should do so these governors are to blame can you be specific what more at this time?

I think we've done a great job for the state of Washington and I think the governor is a failed presidential candidate, as you know, he leveled off at zero in the polls, he constantly stumbles and I guess complaining would be a good way of saying If we're building hospitals We've done a great job for the state of Washington, Michigan, all you do is you have no idea what's going on and all you do is say, "Oh, it's the federal government's fault and we've been very careful." . from Michigan, you know the care we have given to New Jersey.

I think if you ask Governor Murphy of New Jersey how we're doing, I think he'd say great. I think he's a Democrat. Governor Cuomo has really said we're really doing a great job and I saw the

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conference where he was thanking the people at FEMA, the people at the Army Corps of Engineers, this woman, I mean, they built a hospital in three days. and a half and it's a big hospital in the Javits Center and they're building medical facilities in different parts of New York and Governor Cuomo has appreciated that, but you know, a couple of people, right?

We've done a great job, the federal government has really stepped up, it's what the governor of Washington most specifically wants. All I want you to do is very simple, I want you to appreciate it, I don't want you to say things that are not true, I want you to appreciate it, we have done a great job and I am not talking about myself. I'm talking about Mike Pence, the

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force. I'm talking about FEMA, the army's coverage. No country in the world could have done what the Army Corps of Engineers has done and is doing now, they are literally coming in and building. go to hotels and renovate them, that should be the responsibility of the governors, that should be the responsibility of the states, we have the Army Corps of Engineers so equipped and supplied and psyched and they are incredible and there are no games with these people.

I'm out there yelling "do it, do it", they don't like to sit back and take it easy, these are hard workers, these are amazing people, so I think the Army Corps of Engineers, when someone for political reasons wants to place blame, I see it as blame these incredibles. people no one has ever seen it I don't know if they have been to the Javits Center now I have seen it I would love to go there but with everything we are doing tomorrow we will both be in the hospital there is another one We have this incredible hospital ship that was supposed to be ready in three and a half weeks because it is undergoing maintenance.

A great maintenance contract. We were able to finish it quickly. We were able to stock it to capacity and it will be out tomorrow. at two o'clock leaves Virginia will be in New York on Monday weeks ahead of schedule I think even the media and the governors should appreciate it and I have to say the media has been pretty good and the governors have been really good except for a couple and with them it's just the political house Trump, do everything right I don't know, you know, let's play because we have done, we have done a job like no one has seen because you know what when they don't thank me, they don't thank the Corps from the Army, they don't thank FEMA, it's not right, these people, weren't they working 24 hours a day?

Mike Pence, I mean, Mike Pence, I don't think he sleeps. since these are people who should be appreciated, call all the governors, I say, I mean, I'm a different type of person, I say, Mike, don't call the governor of Washington, you're wasting your time with him, don't call. The woman in Michigan Well, no matter what happens, you don't want to say that they don't treat you well. I don't call, he is a different type of person, anyway he will call quietly, he is fine, but he is. you did a great job, you should be appreciated for the work you have done, yes ma'am, since older Americans are advised to stay home and avoid traveling, you absolutely must go to Norfolk, Virginia tomorrow, to find out if you You know, but I have spirit for the country, I mean, we have sailors, we have doctors on that ship, we have everything, I mean, I'm not going to be jumping in groups, but yes, I think it's a great sign, the president of the United States hasa The boat out of maintenance completed all the work and a fraction of the time it was supposed to be there for an additional three and a half weeks and they did it and it is in very good condition and they are shipping it so the answer is good. question, it's a fair question.

I feel like as the leader of our country, when they can do the job like they have and they've been working all day, all night, medical supplies, everything loading that ship, I don't think it's the worst thing. The best thing in the world is right down the road, practically in Virginia and I think it would be great if I go to Virginia. I guess I can take a helicopter or a plane. It's a drink. It's like a little trip. I think it's a good thing when I go there. and saying thank you doesn't mean I'm going to hug people and it doesn't mean I'm going to shake people's hands, Andrew, but I think it sends a signal when the president can go there and say thank you. you so you know we will be careful Peter mr. president on stockpiling pandemic supplies yesterday at the podium you blamed your predecessor saying when you came in as president you said quote, we took an empty shelf you have been president for over three years why didn't you and your administration fill that position?

We filled it twice and have been distributing it for literally a year. We've been filling everything in for a good question, Peter, thank you very much. We have been filling it and We have been filling that reserve many, many times, it has been filled many, many times and now what we are doing is something different because I think it is better that we fill it so that it comes from wherever the manufacturing point is or whatever we fill it and then we go now it's appropriate that we take it and just strip it now what we're doing is we have an emergency we're saying go straight go straight go straight we're sorry only when it's necessary but now we're trying to go straight so they drop it off in New York or drop it off in Michigan drop it off in Virginia wherever maybe Florida the farm is getting a lot of stuff and we're finding it's a much better system, but we fill up and we've stocked up many, many times yeah, we ended up with an empty shelf yes, please I spoke to the Chinese presidency yesterday, what did you tell them in terms of data that you are going to share and yes, how did they get the number of cases to go down?

So last night I had a great conversation with the president of China quite late at night. It was fascinating for me. You know, they have a different world. It is a different form of government, to put it mildly. We talked for a while. I guess we talked for a long time for at least an hour and one of the things I asked him is, do you know when you noticed this happening? We talked about the whole concept, how it happened, when it happened, what the most effective use was. I mean, was it the fact that you know the distance was the distance?

The best thing we talked about most of all and he got it and it was developed because they are ahead of us from a time point of view, it happened there, actually, long before it happened here, by the way, it would have happened. here much sooner if we hadn't left those people out, the Chinese would come to the country if we hadn't left them out, but we talk about it because he has had additional experience from having been there much earlier and he has developed some incredible theories and all that information is Getting here is a lot, the data has already arrived, we call it data and we are going to learn a lot from what the Chinese went through.

Our relationship with China is very good. We also talked about the trade agreement, but I must tell you all this. The invisible enemy has taken over the world. nobody cares about trade nobody cares about anything you want to talk about trade they immediately come back to this so we really did we talked about trade you know they are starting to buy a lot from farmers under the agreement under the trade agreement that we just signed but honestly, he, all of us, we're all talking, you turn on the TV, you read the papers, it's about this and you know what it should probably be mainly about this, it's hard to talk. about, hey, how are you doing with the farmers, they've started making very large purchases, as you've probably read, but what we really focused on was this.

I also said how the cures went and how the vaccines went. We discussed that. and you know they're doing the same thing we're doing, they're working really hard at it they think they have some interesting things. Interesting things have been determined and we will see what happens, but we talk a lot about the vaccine, we talk a lot. about possible cures, how good would that be? I mean, that's a game changer so we'll see and by the way, we have several things happening right now that have to do with cures and vaccines and I think we're doing it, I think we're doing it. very good, especially on the vaccines, I think we are very close, but as Toni will tell you, it is a long trial process, so we will see what happens, you just suspend Tara, he never asked me to suspend the tariffs, no , we are accepting it. billions of dollars, you never asked me that Monday will be the end of the 15 days, I just love the spread of the virus, do you expect me to just renew the guidelines or do you expect there might be some modification to them, so John?

I will sit with this brilliant woman and this brilliant man and many brilliant people who work with them. I think so, Debra and Tony, and we'll sit down on Monday or maybe Tuesday depending on what's best for everyone and We'll be making that determination, okay, we'll do it anyway, obviously, we won't do it for New York. You see, New York is entering this really heated situation. We're building a lot of things in New York right now. that no one thought would be built a lot of things are happening in New York, obviously, but we're talking about possibly other parts of the country that really aren't affected to any significant degree or maybe we don't because maybe on the advice of a lot of people very talented people who make a living doing this, they won't want to do it, they won't want to expose anything, they want to do it all at the same time, this is the kind of thing we'll be talking about for the people at home who are wondering how long we're going to have to live So, what advice would you give?

Well, it depends, we want to flatten the curve, we want to see the curve start to go down in the other direction to a minimum and we really have to talk about areas of the country that have not been affected or that have certainly had a very small effect and I will say: I certainly want to open it as soon as possible. I don't want it to be long, but I also wanted to open the safe, otherwise what did we do? I hope not. I hope it's sooner. I hope it goes away faster. I really believe that the people of our country have done a great job.

I looked last night. I was looking and I'm looking towards Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue John, there were no people on the street. I mean, normally you wouldn't be able to see the sidewalk. There would be cars everywhere. It would be like rush hour. I am looking. I look at it and say: I can't believe it. There are no cars. There are no people. There wasn't a single person on Fifth Avenue. And you're walking down the street. I've never seen that before. You know, I guess. maybe I wanted to close in the morning at four in the morning maybe but I've never seen that before, people have been amazing, they really have been when you talk about social distancing, I mean you know we don't have a law, we don't We're going to put them in jail and yet, I really think there are two things: number one, they're afraid and number two, they really want to win this, yeah, they're worried that there's not enough money to put them on the ticket. $2.2 trillion that you just signed at the end of a relief period that would be at the end of September, when restrictions on layoffs lift and we could see major layoffs, so I was wondering what your reaction would be. that's what it was and what could the administration do, so yes, ask, we have brilliant people, we have an enormous amount of money and we have brilliant people that I am taking from Wall Street with Secretary Minuchin, who has done an incredible job, a guy brilliant, I'm taking from the Wall Street people that I've met, that you all know, the most important people in the world, they don't want money, they don't want, I mean, will they get any?

Yes, maybe they get who knows what they want compared to what they normally would get. I'm taking the smartest, brightest people in the world in finance and they're going to take care of I'm not going to hire I'm not going to hire someone who's never done it, who's a political person or something like that. Otherwise, we are getting the brightest financial minds in the world. I know them all, you know them all. I mean, you read about all of them. I guess some of them you know and they're probably the smartest of them all, but the fact is we're taking these brilliant people and they're going to deal with United and they want to help look at the airline business.

I will say right now, the airline, this has always been a difficult business, it has always been a very difficult business, difficult to run. making money with which it has all the barriers that that business may have, but for our country it is very important, we have to take care of our country, we need the airlines to stay, it is also important for jobs, so we will be able to handle United and We will be able to handle Delta and we will be able to handle everything. We have a lot of money now. We will end up owning large portions depending on what these great geniuses decide alone with the executives of the different companies. possible and they will make a better deal on the loan, but the taxpayer will end up owning a large part of the companies, for example, Boeing.

Until a year ago, I think Boeing was the largest company in the world by far, that wasn't the case. For me, there was nothing like it, I think it was 1% of GDP. Well, think about it: a company, 1% of GDP, was perfect, then had problems, and then had this whole virus thing on top of it, so Boeing will do it. We probably need a hand and we're going to get Boeing healthy, but we have the smartest people in the world. We have the smartest people. I don't even know if you know. I think this might be the first time you're hearing it.

We're talking to people like Larry Fink and that's Blackrock and we have, you know, the smartest people and everyone wants to do it. I'm all serious. They love this country. Everyone wants to do it. So we are talking. People like that and they will be able to figure it out. I guess my question is that there's probably a tension between returning businesses to economic health and protecting people's jobs. I wonder if they will intervene and ask no. I think there's something I want to say, you know, getting people healthy and protecting their jobs for me and I'm good at these things, it's the same thing, I'm in a very different position as president than if I were an investor or something like that. . but I want to restore them to health because I want to preserve their jobs, but I also want to preserve the airlines because that preserves a lot of other jobs that preserve the travel and leisure industry, which is perhaps the largest industry in our country if you add it up.

In total, it adds up to all the hotels, all the travel, all the planes and everything else, probably by far the largest industry in our country, so saving the airlines is very important and all the airlines were doing wealth, you know, the airlines were doing record business. a month before this, today let's say even 22 days to be exact, just when we started to see some real signs of trouble, they were at record levels last year, they had a record year, the biggest in airline history, to Everyone was doing well, I mean. I was presiding over the most successful economy in the history of the world and now we're going to have to rebuild it and I think we're going to have an absolutely incredible fourth quarter.

You know, it might be a little bit after that, to be honest. but it will be in that period of time as soon as we get rid of this. I think we're going to have an explosion upwards. It will be amazing to shoot some of the lowest restrictions in the country, but Florida has the highest percentage of seniors in the congestion do you think the governor's dissent is handling this well? I believe it because he is a very talented guy he is a very good governor everyone loves him he is doing a fantastic job for Florida he was not happy with the people coming from New York you know they are Flying from New York and he had a state and he has a state , would you know that there are obviously much fewer problems?

Florida has done very well and the feeling of testing has shown much better results. They'll talk to you about it later. but no, he was very dissatisfied with the people who came from New York and I understand that now Ron is a very tough guy, he is a great governor and I have tremendous confidence in him and you know that he had the beach situation and he resolved that will get. all resolved yet please certain high risk, medium risk and noise counties, in practical terms how can that be enforced? How can you prevent people from entering?

You have to speak louder. Sorry, how do you get it? How can you prevent people from going fromhigh risk areas? to the low risk areas we have some very, very strong restrictions, but you're right, I don't like it, so we're seeing how it works, the data will come in on Monday and Tuesday and we'll see how it works. It seems, but you know, we can get to a more difficult level, but that causes other problems that we will see and we will be reporting very shortly after my meetings with Tony Deborah and others that were going to be you and I and our vice president are going to report to the media communication, okay, thank you, hello mr. president Owen Jensen with EWTN news millions of schoolchildren across the country our classroom, including my own board, restless learning a little online, but it's better in the classroom, you know, yeah, and they're my kids, they want their quotes They crawl on the walls and I climb the walls and my wife is about to lose control, so a lot of them are watching right now, what would you say to those kids right now? elementary school, middle school, high school, what would you tell them right now?

We are looking towards home. I would say you are a citizen of the greatest country in the world and we were attacked like it was nothing, possibly since 1917, many, many years ago, we were attacked and we are winning the battle and we are going to win the war and hopefully it won't take much longer. time, but we have to win the war and I would say that they have a duty to sit, watch, behave, wash their hands, stay in the apartment with mom and dad, they look like that. They are lucky to have you as a parent and they just learn from it but you know they are there the young people have been tremendous they some of them are very happy not to go to school you understand that maybe yours maybe not but they' We've had to know that we literally haven't had any problems, but again they should just sit back and be very proud of our country because we are doing it for them.

You know, ultimately, we're doing it for them more than anything else. If you think about it, there is another thing that is nice and the only thing that has come to light and I learned it again was reaffirmed by President Xi last night in my conversation: young people are really an incredible phenomenon, but they are successfully attacked. to a much lesser extent because of this pandemic because of this disease this whatever you want to call it you have a germ you can call it the flu you can call it a virus you need you can call it by many different names I'm not sure anyone knows what it is, but the children do very well, It's almost that the smaller they are, the better they do.

I guess the immune system, unfortunately for some of us their immune system is stronger, but I'm actually very happy about that, but they've done it. attacked, for example, the Spanish flu and if we look at the h1n1, this backbone, if we look at the swine flu, which, as you know, not long ago, attacked very strongly young children, people middle-aged, at all ages. "A factor here, so your kids have to be in good shape, but just tell them to be very proud of the country. Okay, follow this quickly. When does the risk become acceptable to allow people to return to their lives?" Determination and you.

You will have something to do with that look. We will also have very strong feelings. I will tell you what the media in general I have impressed many. to fair treatment in the media. I don't know, I don't know how to handle it, but the media has really been in general. I think the media has been pretty fair. I don't want to say, I could tell you who, but what's the point. , but has the media really been fair? I mean, do you see this as we're all in a problem together and we're going to win, we're going to win, please, yes, thank you, President Rubber.

New York is currently the epicenter of the outbreak in. the US with about half of the illnesses yesterday Kellyanne Conway afternoon much of the blame for that lies with the mayor. I'm pointing out that she told people to live normal lives and you resisted inclusive schools and businesses. I'm wondering if you agree and also if I could ask you what you think about the stimulus bill impeding each of your businesses. Do you think that's fair? What do you think? Well, that's not happening. I mean, I think they wrote us off and that's fine, but that's not happening so far.

As the mayor of New York, I'll be honest, I didn't know him well, he and I obviously have opposite opinions and we would try, but we didn't. I don't know if we ever talked to anyone other than maybe. I greeted him a couple of times. I did it at the World Trade Center Memorial once a long time ago, so I talked a lot with him, Mayor de Blasio, and we really had incredibly productive discussions. I have given him many conversations. People, we got him a medical center that he requested in Elmhurst. I know Elmhurst Hospital very well.

I mean, it was an area of ​​Queens that I grew up in and, boy, you talk about an epicenter that's really the epicenter of the epicenter which is really something that we talked about because that was, you know, very close to where I grew up and you know, at Being so familiar with it, it's amazing to see where they have the trucks. I don't have to go into much detail about refrigerated trucks. Coming soon and I have never seen anything like it. I have spoken with Mayor DeBlasio a lot over the last week. We have helped him.

I think a lot and I've really come to like it. Now I get along very well with him. he wants us to do certain things and we have produced, I mean, I spoke to him today with Secretary of Defense Esper and we had a great conversation and we are helping him get some of the things he needs. I would have to go. in great detail, but he is very happy with what we were able to do for him today and he is like us, he is working very hard, but I can't say anything bad about Mayor de Blasio, since my relationship with him over the last few weeks has been great and we've done a good job for him in talking about ventilators and PP PPE and that kind of stuff, but what about hospital capacity?

Is this a great question? We are increasing capacities, right? We're actually adding through the Army Corps of Engineers, this is a big job and we're doing it in many states, not just New York and California. By the way, Gavin Newsom has been excellent. I have to tell the governor of California, we get along very well and we are working hard for him, as you know, the hospital ship, the other hospital ship and they are incredible they just arrived in Los Angeles fully equipped, but Gavin Newsom has been really well and many of the governors have been good and these are governors that I have been fighting with. about different things for a long time, the forest fires in his case and the border and all kinds of things and here we get along very well so I appreciate his nice words.

I really appreciate it. I really appreciate it. It is and the people with me appreciate it. You have another question about what I was going to say about the issue of hospital capacity and the enjoyment of the fence, yeah, very good, good question, yeah, well, I mean, look, we just started this, you know, we're just running out to notify and some of the governors have asked us to build. hospitals through extensions through portable hospitals through things and normally, to be fair, this is normally done through local government, we don't go into the cities and expand the hospital that exists, but we are doing it now because we are really equipped to do it, we have amazing people and we are expanding hospitals, we are building a lot of portable hospitals, not just the Javits Center, where you have four and four medical centers, but we are doing it in New Jersey Governor Murphy, we are doing it in In other states we're doing it in California, we're doing it in some in Washington state, even though I don't appreciate the way the governor is talking, we're doing it in a lot of different places and we're doing a lot of expansions, we are also taking over buildings and the city will come in or the state will usually take over a building and we go in and equip it and make it so that it now functions as a hospital, they call it hospital operation.

We're doing a lot of that again, this is normally done by the governor and then handed over to the city to get down to business, but we're doing a lot of that and they're doing a great job. done mostly by the Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA, a couple of questions about those governors, you and your team have obviously had classified

briefing

s on the pandemic for a while now, where the governor is included in those sessions information that you would have received in January in February. when I didn't notify him the governor said he would have had the information first, yes well they say I had classified

briefing

s a long time ago which wasn't true but we have had briefings and as I know so have the governors they have had them. a lot of Fed briefings, I guess telling him this was going to happen, this was an oh, I think we'll be new, I think we knew for a while, but if you take a look, I was the first one to tell China and it I have great.

I respect China, I'll tell you, but I was the first one when they had the problem of saying you can't come in and if you come back, that was a long time ago, so if I can ask about the fans, I understand if you have a question. If our New York needs as much as it wants what Governor Cuomo says we are going to have 21 days, are you ready? we're going to have more of them we're making a lot of them now we're accumulating a lot we're taking a through the act we're taking a lot of things we're actually taking them and we'll have it in a very short period of time and Peter is doing it along with some very talented people, some really talented people, it's actually very impressive, but we're actually taking a lot, we're going to have a lot and if for some reason, if for some reason you're going to need even more, we'll be prepared as an example, now We have given our thousands and thousands, which I believe.

You know we accumulate thousands, we give them that, but right now I think in reserve we have over 10,000, the reason we don't want to distribute that is exactly what you're saying if there's an avalanche in New York. or maybe in Louisiana or maybe somewhere else we don't want to have distributed all those units, the ventilators and then in those sections we give them to Iowa, but they had no problems in Iowa, we give them to Idaho, we give them to them. to a lot of different places and now we have to try to get them back, which is never easy to do, Mike, you know, John, what I'm saying is we're prepared for things that no one has any idea we'd be prepared for and you.

Did you know? When I took over this, it was an empty box, we had no evidence, we had nothing, we had a broken system, we had a broken system with storage, we had a lot of broken systems and not just blaming President Obama, it was done long before that , but to be fair to all the former presidents, none of them thought something like this could happen, but now we have 10,000 ventilators in reserve and we are ready to use those ventilators, which we don't do. What we don't want is where we distributed the ventilators like we did in New York and they didn't need them or they didn't know what they weren't used for.

If we need them in New York, we will have plenty now. We are receiving many ventilators in the next short period of time. Many fans will arrive in the next short period of time. We are manufacturing. We went to all the companies. I read their names. We went to all those companies. They are going to go, I would say 24 hours a day, Peter, you are right, they go 24 hours a day, we have already distributed thousands and thousands, normally, these would be purchased by the states, so you understand, normally, these would be purchased by the governors. I don't want to say they weren't prepared, but no one was prepared for this, what we've done, no one can even imagine and by the way, I've been told by governors, including Democratic governors, who said we can't believe they've been we can do this. and you go to other countries and we don't just compete against States because we don't want to compete against States.

We've had a couple of cases where states were buying and I specifically said because I heard about this, back off, let the state buy it immediately, the price goes down and they end up buying it, but once they compete against a lot of countries because a lot of countries need fans, that's why I want to build more, if possible, John, maybe we will. Take one more question. The question that was built is: can you guarantee these states, these hospitals that everyone who needs events later will receive a ventilator? So this is what I will tell you.

I think we are in very good shape. This is a pandemic like no one has seen before. I think we are in very good shape. I think, first of all, we have distributed ventilators to a large extent. We have distributed a large number of ventilators and were prepared to make large quantities. I think I'm in very good shape. I hope that is the case. I hope we have leftovers so we can help other people. The needs of other countries. What we can achieve. A fan. Look. Don't be so cute, you know? everyone who needs what no one has ever done what we haveIn fact no one has done anything like we were able to do and all I assumed was a disaster it was a broken country in many ways in many other aspects apart from this we had a bad testing system we had a bad storage system we had nothing in the storage system storage so wouldn't tell me what you say what you know how to be a wise guy, go ahead mr.

President, you signed a bill today the size of which could suffocate an entire herd of horses, and before you even had a chance to put pen to paper, people were already talking about the need for phase four. Yes, do you see another major war and where? I think that, well, it may be something in which we are going to have to help the states because the states have been very harmed and the beautiful thing about our country is 6.2 billion because it is 2.2 plus 4, it is 6.2 billion of dollars and we can handle that. easily by who we are what we are is ours is ours of the money is ours we are the ones that is our currency we can handle it and we can handle I saw Jerome Powell the other day and he did a good job he said to do what we have to do John we have to do what we have to do the priorities life and security and then the economy life and security it seems that the language also sees that we love you but now it seems like a glass or a lot of things that I tell you is your life, then it is your security and if we need more time they will not have problems waiting for their life to end, it is security and it is our country, but we have to take care of people at the same time as we love them.

To get them out they want to get out our country was built on that, but we have to make sure it's safe and everyone knows it. Okay, one more question, thank you both. The World Health Organization as recently as today and their own health officials have said that any treatment we use for kimono buyers must be scientifically proven to be effective, but at the same time you has said that, for example, cleansing could be used to heal. very soon it will also be who, and their health officials at this point, are so hydroxychloroquine, which is supposed to be the better of the two, seems to have good support, let's see, look, governor cuomo, we have given you ten thousand units. it's a lot and they're testing it it's a malaria drug it's also an arthritis drug but it's phenomenal for those two things as you probably know especially for malaria but we'll find out soon hope it works if there were signs it might be okay they're testing 10,000 units is a lot and I'll tell you what I want to thank the FDA because they approved it immediately based on it being already out for a different purpose they approved it immediately so it looks like hydroxychloroquine is a very powerful drug for certain things and it's a very successful drug.

There is reason to believe he could be successful here now. The reason I don't agree with you and I think Tony would disagree with me, but the reason I don't agree with you. It's that we have a pandemic, we have people dying now, if we go to the laboratories and test all this for a long time, we can test it on people right now who are in serious trouble and who are dying if it works. We've done something great if it doesn't work, you know, we tried, but this is not something that's going to kill people, so we can go in and do testing or we can take our time when I was with the FDA, you know, they indicated .

Well, we will start working on it right away and it could take a year. I said, what do you mean a year? We have to have it tonight, if we don't have it tonight. I want to try it right away because it's on the market. in a different way, so we know, from a safety standpoint, at least we know, but you're talking about giving it to people who in many cases are dying, so we want to do it the way that is more or less correct to try. We were right to test a Brook 440 John for 44+ years, they couldn't approve it.

We have the best laboratories, the best doctors, they couldn't get it. I approve it now if someone is terminally ill and if we believe we are. something that's going to work, we can actually use it, they can use it and I'll tell them what to do when this is over, they have to make a story about it just because we've had tremendous results before they leave. Can I ask you something that just appeared in the Wall Street Journal? The headline reads: The Trump administration plans to suspend the collection of import tariffs for three months, according to administration officials.

Remember, they don't even talk to me about fake news anymore, but look, they don't even talk. To me, they're talking about the only one I've heard, like for example, China pays twenty-five percent interest on two hundred and fifty billion dollars worth of products they ship and that's a lot, everyone keeps saying how are you going to suspend the tariffs, well the answer is no, but president, she never mentioned it, it was never even discussed, it's fake news, tell the Wall Street Journal, you know the Wall Street Journal also publishes a lot of fake news, it's pretty surprising.

I want to leave you just saying I want to thank you for being here I want to thank the American public and all the people who have helped so much and we are going to give the podium to Vice President Pence who has been incredible and if he is tired and not answering questions like he should, we have a great reason. because yes and I slept in about four weeks, but I want to thank him because he has dedicated himself, I mean, he is a dedicated person long before this, but the work. What he's done has been fantastic, so I want to thank Mike, all the people on the

task

force and FEMA and the Army Corps, everyone.

They have been fantastic. Thank you very much to all. Good evening everyone and thank you, Mr. President The White House

coronavirus

task force met today. We continue to follow the president's direction to focus on slowing the spread of the corona virus through expanded mitigation testing and ensuring our healthcare workers have the supplies they need with cases now in all 50 states and more than 50% of cases in the New York area, it is more important than ever to comply with the guidelines of state and local authorities, and for every American, the best thing you can do, whether young or old, is to implement the president's guidelines about the corona virus for the United States. it's the way each of us can do our part since we last spoke as you all know the President signed the Economic Security Act for corona virus relief this makes direct payments available to families In Americans, the average family of four will receive a direct payment of about thirty-four hundred dollars.

It also covers payroll for small businesses across the country for a period of several months so that even if the business closes they can still have a loan that would be completely forgiven. if they keep their entire team on the payroll. There is support for critical industries for hospitals and for the states, just as this afternoon the president has issued 12 major disaster declarations, the most recent for the states of Maryland and Missouri and, on the topic of vaccines, Emory University in Atlanta began enrolling volunteers in one phase today. A clinical trial of another potential

coronavirus

vaccine testing is available in all 50 states and as a great credit to our partnership with commercial laboratories across the country this morning it was reported that more than six hundred eighty-five have already been conducted. thousand tests and we are particularly grateful to the American Hospital Association, whose members now report to the CDC and FEMA in real time, giving our experts more visibility into those who have contracted the disease across the country.

The president mentioned this, but it's worth mentioning again. Apple has a new application. It is a screening tool that will help Americans determine if they should get tested. It has an easy format. A question and answer if you have doubts about whether a test is or is not. appropriate for you, you can use the new Apple app to accomplish that as well on the issue of supplies and the president talked about the priority we're giving to personal protective equipment and especially ventilators, and I won't add any more to that. I can tell you that this weekend we will be reporting on the aggressive efforts our supply stabilization task force at FEMA is making to import medical supplies from around the world, working as we speak on an airlift from several countries around the world to deliver very important medical protective equipment for the United States right now, you've heard the numbers, but from the strategic national stockpile we distributed over 7 million n95 respirators or masks, over almost 3 million face shields, over 8,000 ventilators and donations to the Strategic National Supply.

We have mentioned that Apple donated around nine million en masse. It can be used by healthcare workers, but Merck recently announced plans to donate 500,000 en masse with 500,000 masks and a small company called Puritan in Maine is now in the business of making swabs. Therefore, businesses large and small across America are rising to the challenge, as the president noted that he will attend the embarkation of the US Navy ship Comfort from Norfolk tomorrow. The US Navy ship Mercy arrived in Los Angeles today. We will continue to focus resources and supplies on those areas around the country that have experienced a significant outbreak, but let me send a message to hospital workers across the country, we continue to hear anecdotally and occasionally see in media reports people who fear that Your hospital is running low on personal protective equipment in the coming days, we simply encourage you to notify your hospital administrator.

Hospital administrators, please notify your state health director tonight. FEMA Administrator Gaynor will speak to all state emergency managers in the United States to discuss resource availability, but also encourage them to have a plan to perhaps even use their National Guard to move medical equipment from warehouses to hospitals. We will work very closely with state emergency managers on logistics issues, but today we are fortunate to have two Cabinet members who have been busy making sure America's children have the meals they need while school has been suspended in so many places around the country. Secretary DeVos and Secretary Perdue are going to share some exciting news and the progress we've made feeding children. who need nutrition assistance while schools are closed, the truth is that many disadvantaged children would not receive school meals other than the fact that, as we stand here today, our administration has approved waivers for all 50 states to give them flexibility to work with local partners to get children's meals that are a necessity and also a nationwide exemption to allow parents to pick up the meals well.

What's most exciting today is that our two Cabinet Secretaries will reflect that we have private sector partners, some of whom are with us today, who are helping us expedite important meals for children and families across the country, in moments You'll hear the president of McClain Global Logistics and also the CEO of Panera Bread talk about the work they're both doing, delivering literally millions of meals to American families, it's truly an inspiring story and I look forward to hearing it from them and sharing it with you, but it's just one more example as President Trump said we will get through this and we will get through this together not only a hole in the focus of the federal government working with all of our state partners working with health care authorities at the local level but also working with companies that have been willing to step up and be at the point of need and be there for the most vulnerable and help us meet the needs of our children. and our families and on behalf of the president, a grateful nation, we thank you, Madam Secretary, thank you very much, sir.

Vice President and I just want to start by thanking President Trump for his clear-sighted leadership during these difficult times for our country and for our world and Vice President Pence for his tremendous leadership of the task force and for really making a difference. That's certainly true for America's students and teachers, as well as most of them, as Owen said a moment ago, who are experiencing unprecedented disruptions to learning and to their lives. I want each of them to know that President Trump and his administration are taking decisive steps to keep them safe and healthy so that they can continue learning we must rise to the challenge of educating all children from all walks of life who suddenly find themselves in many different learning environments and they count on all of us to find solutions.

I am very happy to behere today for the announcement of another great solution initiated under the president's leadership, Secretary Purdue will share details of this public-private partnership, but before that I would like to make some additional comments and talk about the work that the Department of Education has been doing on behalf of students, parents and teachers during this national emergency. My team and I are in daily contact with the governor's state schools chiefs, college presidents, superintendents, and local educational leaders. We are responding quickly to your needs so you can do what you need. The following that is right for your students: Most governors have decided to close some of our schools in their states for a period of time, as a result of which students may not be able to take government-mandated standardized tests federal this spring and the president took steps to make sure they didn't.

No need, we made the process to delay these tests for a year quickly and painlessly. As of today, 47 states have requested the delay or waiver and 46 have been approved within a 24-hour period. We also published additional information that makes clear the expectation that education will continue for all students the transition to distance and online learning must occur quickly and must include meaningful instruction and supports for children with disabilities learning should not be stopped or denied because schools are afraid of federal regulators or are afraid to do something different distance learning is happening States like New Hampshire and Florida have implemented phased, phased approaches to meet the needs of students in their states, other schools and states are implementing approaches creative and working through practical realities to help students continue learning in remote Colorado mountain towns without internet connectivity. prepare weekly learning packets and

hold

office hours over the phone to help their students when they're stuck South Carolina is deploying 3,000 buses with mobile Wi-Fi hotspots to help children in remote areas access learning the way that this national emergency gives all of us the opportunity to come together to educate all students on principle, it is simply not an acceptable option to educate any of them out of fear, so we are ready to help educators and their students .

We're putting together all the tools we've produced along with the great resources Stay offers to help you continue learning, there are already many online learning platforms and many states were already offering a solid menu of courses virtually. We will add that information to our website on an ongoing basis and that site is ed. Government against coronavirus We are using all possible tools to extend flexibility to states and communities. This includes funding flexibility where we do not have the freedom. We are working with Congress on solutions that one area is providing directly. financial support to students, families and teachers we will propose that Congress provide microgrants to help students continue learning.

These would focus on the most disadvantaged students in our states or communities where their school system has simply closed. I have always believed that education funding should be tied to students, not systems, and that need has never been more evident. We will also support microgrants to teachers to help them support all of their students in a different environment than what they are accustomed to and we know they are facing. It is an unprecedented situation, but it has been truly inspiring to hear story after story of teachers who rose to the occasion and met the unique needs of each of their students.

Ultimately, we know everyone is grappling with the challenge of keeping students safe and healthy while building capabilities for remote learning. It is an important moment to realize that learning can and does happen anywhere and everywhere. I think about the dad from Texas who started a daily webinar interviewing friends and acquaintances in very different careers and helping students understand what it takes to work in that career chosen for history. teacher in Virginia who connects with his students through a live stream every morning. I think of the art teacher in Tennessee who broadcasts his lessons on social media or Second Lady Karen Pence who prepares packets of art supplies and projects for her students to pick up. their school lunches or the Alabama principal who goes online every day giving morning announcements leading the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence, and I think of the many schools that have distributed laptops and tablets to students who don't have them to be able to continue learning via video conferencing and those who simply don't have that option currently, like remote towns in Colorado, Joy Hofmeister, the head of the school in Oklahoma, may have put this better, she told me that the school is not a building, It is students, teachers and families working together for advanced learning, she is right and that is our shared mission, let me also very briefly mention how we support students pursuing higher education studies.

At the beginning of this outbreak, we immediately provided the Institute's higher education institutions with regulatory flexibility so that learning could take place online, and it did. in many cases it was a smooth transition and the learning continues and we continue to cut federal bureaucracy and let schools rise to this challenge. We greatly improved the distance learning policies that we are working quickly to implement because we are working quickly to achieve an ability to Traditional short-term higher education programs and internships also need to grow and prosper and as the president has so effectively advocated for the Workers need these options as they seek to return stronger than ever from these momentary setbacks.

The president promised to defeat this invisible enemy and keep our economy strong, taking immediate action and providing student loan relief to tens of millions of borrowers. We set all federal student loans at zero percent interest rates and deferred payments for 60 days now with the Cares Act you signed today, Mr. President, those actions will be extended to six months. We hope that these actions and others we have taken for those who are behind on payments or have had other problems with their student loan payments will help ease the financial burden and anxiety students and their families are feeling during These are difficult times. , These are tough times, but we the people are tougher, so in closing, let me offer just a few words of encouragement to our students.

Your education can and should continue learning. It can happen anywhere and we will help you make sure it does. We believe in you. We will support our teachers and help them, they are doing a great job, keep up the good work and to all parents and families we know that these are difficult times, but it is in the face of great challenges that Americans have always risen to the occasion and They have embraced greatness and I know we will do it once again. I think again of the President and Vice President for their leadership on behalf of American students and on behalf of all of us, and I will now turn to my friends, Secretary Sonny Perdue, to share more about how we are working together to help support nutrition. of the students.

Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President, while our dedicated educators are out there trying to continue to fill our children with knowledge even when they are not on a school site. The USDA is working very hard to continue filling your bellies. You may know that many of these children receive breakfast and lunch if their schools and our federal government participate with our dedicated school lunch and nutrition professionals across the country and we have issued waiver after waiver to make this flexibility available for things that make sense when children cannot congregate in a singular place that is one of The first waivers we made we issued them and when Congress gave us the authority to issue more, we are changing those waivers and quickly in less than 24 hours, so We are very lucky to have a great team and our food nutrition.

The consumer services team works 24/7 to ensure our children continue to be fed. It's a great partnership that's happening. I want to mention another simple but very important point about another matter that your listeners and readers may be very interested in. That's the food supply chain, obviously the USDA is integrally involved and intimately involved in the food supply chain. We have worked with all of those producers, including those who provide equipment and materials to our farmers, ranchers and producers to make sure they have what they need. We need them to be part of the critical and essential workforce to continue and the good news is that, although people remain on the job, those who have cultivated it, those who are processing it, our inspectors, who are rating it the same way they always did. those people who deliver it, patch it, package it, deliver it shockingly, stock those shelves and check on customers, that's the big news about our food supply chain and it's a great American story, mr. vice president under your leadership the president's leadership this is the focus of all of America the federal government can't do everything but we have great partners in the food supply chain as well as our food nutrition services and our partners and our nutrition services school nutrition are doing a great job to continue bringing these meals to children.

They are two of our private sector partners who are here with us today. I would like them to tell their story because it is a great story. It is not like this? McClain with McLean Global is associated here. with Baylor, a poverty and hunger collaboration along with PepsiCo to package a million meals a week to deliver to rural children who may not be able to get to the city to these delivery sites where other children they pick up the meals and again nearby in McCourt much shorter and nearby in Chaudhary from Panera Bread Co Panera Bread and company are also participating in Columbus Ohio with the Alliance Against Children's Hunger there to deliver meals that meet USDA regulations in flexible terms to get meals there and Panera is looking to expand that nationwide as well, so why don't you come and tell us your story?

Thank you very much, Mr. President Mr. vice president secretary perdue in secretary you right now there is a lot of attention on our big cities and the enormous challenges they face, but imagine that you live in Iberia Parish Louisiana or you live in the Nome Parish in Alaska, your schools are closed and normally your children receive two meals a day at school both parents work from home but mom and dad just can't go to work go to town where food pick up is offered that's about to change and change for the better because of this USDA program McClane global will get a safe reception, you will organize a simple package label and then deliver the boxes directly to a children's home and here's another big difference: for the first time we will be able to offer non-perishable meals that will last two weeks, that's a real game. change for rural families is happening because of the president's order to do whatever it takes to get the job done, everyone knows tons of paperwork can be like lighter fluid for a great idea and this is a great idea, we think we tried it in 2019 and worked, have you heard today about the administration's work on this project, here are other important partners in this effort, we have Baylor University, they will provide sponsorship in the oversight, in addition, we are deeply grateful to the ups in the The United States Postal Service and we are teaming up with PepsiCo to help achieve this thanks to this collaboration and our tireless employees.

I can inform you that the boxes are ready to be displayed and after all, this is about the children who must be fed during this crisis, we are ready to serve. Thank you. You mr. president and mr. vice president for caring about the specific needs of children living in rural America, thank you, welcome, Niren Chaudhary, your CEO, Panera Bread, good evening, thank you, mr. president and mr. Vice President for your leadership, it is an honor to be here and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity. This is an extraordinary moment and I passionately believe thatIn those moments we must all come together and do our best to contribute and make a difference.

At Panera our mission is simple: it's about ensuring that good food is accessible to everyone, especially those who are the most vulnerable, like children, and especially at a time like this, and we are absolutely determined to make a difference in this sense, today we announce. a partnership with the USDA and the Alliance Against Children's Hunger to serve healthy, freshly prepared meals to children across the state of Ohio to start, and then hopefully expand that program to many other states across the country. I believe that the human experience, in fact, is life. It's all about having resilience in the face of adversity and also having the tenacity to keep going and at Panera our associates and our franchise partners live that spirit every day, they are resilient and tenacious and in their name I am committed. that we are committed to doing what is right for the country and helping serve those who need it most at this important time.

They are ready to serve. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for your business and your incredible generosity in everyone. In fact, I will allow the two business leaders to leave if they wish. We appreciate you very much on behalf of the president and a grateful nation before we move on to questions. I'm going to invite dr. burks and dr. I ask you to step forward with some thoughts on what we're seeing in the data, and as you all know, over the next few days our team will be putting together recommendations for the president to provide more guidance to the American people in states around the world. . country and both can share with you the importance of continued mitigation efforts by every American, the need to support what is the guidance of state and local leaders for every American community, but also as expressed by dr.

Burks continues to work carefully with the modeling analyzing the data, she will reflect on the progress that was made as I just need to pick up on some of the questions you had earlier so the issues we discussed with the modeling yesterday were to ensure that the models to fit the great work that every citizen is doing in doing the mitigation efforts and to see if that was reflected in the specific request for ventilators, so we wanted to make sure that with a limited number of ventilators and the problems that we saw in Detroit and Dearborn in Cook County and now in New Orleans that we were balancing and projecting correctly based on what the models had predicted and then if they adjusted to the incredible mitigation work going on in New York City, we understand. that this week and next will not reflect that mitigation, whether in New Orleans or in New York and the New York metropolitan area, we know that the hospital admissions we are seeing this week and next will be infections that occurred before the mitigation. but we wanted to make sure that in the future the needs reflected that that was what was fitted in the Ferguson model for the United Kingdom and I know that they are following it very closely because they firmly believe that the mitigation methods that were implemented and that informed our mitigation methods that we were all working on from that same model and I want to make it clear that those models, those flown models, have been incredibly useful in actually predicting what the layering of these different mitigation methods would look like, from distancing social to staying home if you are sick. to stay in that house

hold

that quarantines all members of the household if someone is positive, now there are other countries that took different approaches and I want to be clear because we hear from both China and South Korea, but it is always important that they adopt and adapt and adapt it to your community and the reality of your country.

We do this all over the world. You can never just take a standard approach and then implement it in your community. You have to understand your communities and although both China and South Korea removed people who tested positive from their homes and segregated them from their families. We didn't think our Americans would adopt and adapt to that situation and that's why in our guidelines we ask people if there is a family member to provide self-isolation at home and for that person to still be there in the home, so I just wanted to make it clear that yes, we all heard about what China and South Korea did as much as we could, we adapted them to the American situation as the United Kingdom has also done and we just wanted to make sure that all the requests because the stockpile reflected the great work that American citizens were doing in each of these areas to ensure health and ultimately no, there was a question about requiring quarantine.

I want to make sure that everyone understood and we talked about the New York residents who had gone to other places was to voluntarily isolate themselves and take care of themselves because we felt that they could be exposed and we really wanted to alert them that the rates in New York City were high, we are increasing and we were probably exposed during some of the highest exposure periods before mitigation efforts began, so it was really about the health of our New York citizens who then chose to go elsewhere both to protect themselves and to protect others, so hopefully that will be clear to everyone.

Those problems we continue to analyze the data every day. We really want to applaud the laboratory tests that are helping us. They will help us a lot when we can implement comprehensive surveillance in many of our communities and surveillance of the most vulnerable, especially in nursing. homes and long-term care facilities so we can more quickly test both the workers and occupants of those communities. Thank you, President, just a few hours ago today I had the opportunity to have a phone call with the people on the front lines. lines, the people who are actually in the ICU or in the hospitals in all the areas that are just being affected, including New York, and I'm not a supply person, I'm a doctor, I'm a scientist and I make vaccines and I make medicines. but I am a member of the working group and I take very seriously the responsibility we have to those people to get them the material they need.

We've heard discussions about ventilators, personal protective equipment, masks and things like that that they're doing. Amazing job there and I just want to send you a message that I told you on the phone: As a member of the task force with my colleagues here, we will do everything we can to make sure you get everything you need. They need it when they need it because they're doing an incredible job there and I congratulate them, thank you, we'll answer some questions, Dr. Burse, please, I asked you, I think about eight or nine days ago about the data from all of these tests. and you suggested that there would soon be a website where we would see all the data or we are closer to that when you expect them to give it to us tonight, as far as I can tell, this has not been public at all, Jeff.

Yes, thank you, I learned and as Tony described it, we learned that when a community is educated, we all do better together, so it's important to spread that information when we start talking about where the virus is and what the percentage is. The positives are and it really informs communities so they can make decisions so people can take protective measures for themselves and for their families and I think it's important, yes, for us to have the data, but sequel II as well It is important for state and local governments. As communities we still are because we worked very hard to include it in the first bill, but it was changed to state and local laboratories and obviously 90 95 percent of all testing is done in commercial laboratories, so in this bill recent law that was just passed, it is mandatory for all commercial laboratories to submit reports, so they will have that data when we get the complete data from all commercial laboratories.

Well it was approved today so hopefully we'll wait for it tomorrow, but I guess what the testing standard is here, you're going to need to test people who were well or just people who have symptoms, obviously let's say in Omaha, ten people They enter a hospital, five enter and all tested positive. Five go home, they may still be positive. is your standard for making these recommendations so I'm glad you asked because the important thing about testing is that it just tells you that if you are positive or negative that day, you could become positive the next day, so testing should be used intentionally as a surveillance tool or a diagnostic tool and I think what we're going to work on over the weekend is weaving together a testing strategy for the surveillance that you've raised on that key point and at the same time maintaining a test solid for diagnosis because our first obligation is still to ensure that patients are diagnosed so that there is no need to use personal protective equipment for those who are negative, but also to give those patients the opportunity to receive optimal care and I think that Dr.

Falchi mentioned this a few minutes ago. What we have learned in the last three months was a lot of information about the best way to ventilate patients. I think that has been shared among communities and doctors around the world; We had never had an experience before. where many people had to be ventilated face down, so this type of information that has been shared has been fundamental in improving the survival of the patients that we have in the United States of America and we really want to applaud the countries that have been giving us to everyone that information and sharing it through the clinical network dr.

Patty Sunday will mark one month since the first death from this new disease. I wanted to ask you a philosophical question. I've known you for 25 years. You have gone through HIV/AIDS. MERS SARS. West Nile virus. Ebola. All that. How has this nation changed since that first death a month ago? Well, this is truly an unprecedented situation we are going through, as you rightly mentioned, John. I have been through everything since the beginning of the very uncertain days with HIV. AIDS cumulatively, if we look at what has happened with HIV/AIDS during the thirty-seven and a half thirty-eight years that we have had it, the burden, the suffering and the death have been enormous, historic, but produced during a period of time when there was The fear at the beginning, well, what we are seeing now in real time is something unprecedented.

This is something we've never seen before, at least in our generation, they saw something like this a hundred years ago and we're. We are really being challenged to not only learn in real time to be able to respond in a way that is useful and effective, but we are also in uncharted waters and I think that's what I find different is that the waters are uncharted, so No. It's that we had an example of how to do it. You know, we have an extraordinary confrontation about the health and well-being of the world. In particular, you know it here in the United States, as someone who has been through it all. those outbreaks this is really unprecedented so from the first day now the first death that we have gone through something that no one has experienced in our generation let me say good night to each of you.

I trust this has been helpful. We will continue to keep you informed throughout the weekend. The president will travel to Norfolk to board the US Navy ship Comfort. Our task force will meet over the weekend and review the data and prepare recommendations. for the American people in the future, but thank you all for your time and attention.