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Trump And Coronavirus Task Force Hold Briefing; New York, California, Washington State Get Major Disaster Declarations. Aired 6- 7p ET
Aired March 22, 2020 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These are tremendous people. They're fully on alert. We've signed what we had to sign and it's been activated. And we're dealing also with other states, the states that have been hit the hardest. Actually, pretty much by far, you could say the hardest, everybody can see that. Just look at the numbers.
And through FEMA, the federal government will be funding 100 percent of the cost of deploying National Guard units to carry out approved missions to stop the virus while those governors remain in command. So the governors locally are going to be in command, and we'll be following them, and we hope they can do the job, and I think they will. I spoke with all three of the governors today. And just a little while ago, and they're very happy with what we're going to be doing, because we'll be announcing some other things for those three states and some other states where it's hit the hardest.
This action will give them maximum flexibility to use the Guard against the virus without having to worry about costs or liability and freeing up state resources to protect the health and safety of the people in their state. The federal government has deployed hundreds of tons of supplies from our national stockpile to locations with the greatest need.
In order to assist in those areas, I approved the State of New York's request for a major disaster declaration, something which Governor Cuomo has been asking for and which I agree, and we had it done in very rapid fashion. We approved this on Friday evening and we are working very, very hard to get all of these things not only signed up, but completed and finished and win.
The request from the State of Washington for a major disaster declaration was approved just a little while ago. It went through the process, and we moved it very quickly. The request from the State of California was just received, and we will have it approved very quickly. We'll be working. I told that to Gavin Newsom. And we are working on getting that done very quickly. It will be done maybe tonight.
We have large quantities of medical equipment and supplies on the way, based on all of this, to those states, including respirators, surgical masks and gowns, face shields, coveralls and gloves with large quantities already delivered to Washington and to New York.
In addition to large quantities of supplies, I have also directed FEMA to supply the following, four large federal medical stations with 1,000 beds for New York, eight large federal medical stations with 2,000 beds for California, and three large federal medical stations and four small federal medical stations with 1,000 beds for the State of Washington. The governors know.
The supplies en route to California and New York will be delivered within the next 48 hours. In addition, the naval hospital ship, the USNS Mercy -- it's an incredible ship -- these two ships are incredible, one on the West Coast, one on the East Coast -- will be deployed to Los Angeles to add emergency surge medical capacity. And they have a tremendous capacity. They are really something.
I will say that if you look at some of the things we've been doing, and now those numbers have gone up, and just to be a little bit more exacting, we've done a presidential approval for request for major disaster declaration for the State of New York, approval of title 32 National Guard activation for the State of New York. We're providing all of this at no cost to the governor.
I spoke with Governor Cuomo. He's working hard. We're all working hard together. The relationship has really been amazing. But it also enables the governor to provide robust National Guard support to the state. And the 25 percent, we're going to be waiving that 25 percent cost. We're picking up. We'll be coordinating and they'll be doing something with very special people.
Mission assignment of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide support to build out alternate care sites, they're doing various alternate care sites, which have now been designated by New York, four large federal medical stations of 1,000 beds. These are very complex places, actually, with great equipment and great people. Strategic national stockpile order, and this is as of a number of days ago, so far delivered to New York, and this is the 19th. We had the N95 respirators, 186,416, delivered.
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We've delivered 444,000 O-78 surgical masks. Many have been delivered since then. Face shields, we have delivered 84,560 face shields. Surgical gowns, 68,944, to New York. Coveralls, 352. Gloves, 245,486. Also to New York, in terms of what's been delivered, just since then, the numbers are quite large, and we have tremendous numbers of companies also making equipment.
For the State of Washington, we've delivered 369,000 N95 respirators, 507,406 surgical masks. This is as of about three days ago. Face shields, 63,788 face shields. Surgical gowns, 107,850. Gloves, 240,376. And we have many, many things pending. It's actually not pending. They're being fabricated. They're being made. And they're moving.
Now, for Washington -- so, we have four small federal medical stations, 250 beds. And for Washington, State of Washington, we have three large federal medical stations, 750 beds. And then you have, as I said, the approval of the title 32 National Guard.
State of California, again, to be very precise, we're going to have the approval of the title 32 National Guard activation, and we're providing all of this, again, like in New York, at no cost to the governor, meaning Governor Newsom and the state, no cost to the state. It enables the governor to provide robust National Guard support to the state, so they're going to have control of the National Guard.
The federal government's sending -- these are incredible people that are being sent. We have eight large federal medical stations with over 2,000 beds, and that's going to California. And then strategic national stockpile order, we've ordered, likewise, hundreds of thousands of different items. I won't go into the exact numbers, but the numbers are very substantial, but we're having a tremendous additional number sent. And whatever the states can get, they should be getting.
I'd say we're sort of a backup for the states. And some of the states are doing really well and some don't do as well. The ones that don't do as well need more help. But these are three states that really do need help because they are -- they are hit very hard.
And the outpouring from the private sector has also been extraordinary. I'm pleased to report that Honeywell, great company, has just announced it will immediately expand its personal protective equipment manufacturing operations in Rhode Island to produce millions of additional N95 masks. They're very hard to get. They're actually quite complex for the U.S. government's strategic national stockpile. They will be immediately then delivered to the various states. This expansion is already under way and it's going to provide a lot of jobs for that state, probably around 500.
The masks will be distributed by the government for the use of the health, safety and emergency, and this for response workers, primarily for response workers. These are very high end. This expansion is in addition to Honeywell's action, to more than double production of its existing personal protective equipment manufacturing plants. They make a lot of different things, and they're doubling and tripling their production. They're going around the clock.
Today, I'm also announcing the launch of a new public-private consortium organized by the White House, the Department of Energy and IBM, to unleash the power of American supercomputing resources to fight the Chinese virus. The following leaders from private industries, academia, and government will be contributing, and they're going to be contributing a lot of different things, but primarily computing resources to help researchers discover new treatments and vaccines. They'll be working along with NIH and all of the people that are working on this.
But tremendous help from IBM, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, MIT, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Department of Energy's national labor laboratories, the National Science Foundation and NASA.
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They're all contributing to this effort, and they're fully in gear.
This afternoon, I also want to update you on the steps we're taking to protect and serve our country's 18 million veterans. These are great people. Our amazing veterans have shown their eternal loyalty to our nation, and this is a time where they're in need, and we are going to show our loyalty to them. We're being very protective of our veterans. We're working on certain hospitals where we may be doing some work in Louisiana in particular and some other states, veterans' hospitals. We're going to be very protective of our veterans.
Some of them are of that very vulnerable age, and some of them, obviously, are not feeling well. And some of them are still suffering the wounds of war from many years ago.
Yesterday, I signed vital legislation to ensure that the G.I. bill will cover distance learning during this emergency. I also spoke with many of our veteran service organizations who are the VSOs, to describe our unprecedented action. In February, the Department of Veterans Affairs established 19 emergency operation centers throughout the country.
One of the things that they've been trying to get done for many years -- you all know this from following me over the last number of years, but we got it done pretty quickly. They've been trying to get it done for many, many decades, was choice, veterans choice, and also veterans accountability. Now, if it's crowded within this -- if they can't get to a doctor -- we have great doctors in the V.A. I have to say that. We have fantastic doctors, as good as they come.
But it's hard to get to them because of what was bureaucracy but no longer bureaucracy. We've done a lot of things in that case because of accountability. When people aren't doing their jobs, or if they're bad or if they're sadistic or if they steal or anything bad happens, we're now allowed to fire them for -- I signed that a year-and-a-half ago -- for many years you weren't able to do that. So, the V.A. is working.
And I was just told by our great leader at the V.A. Robert Wilkie, he said, for the first time, get the highest marks in the history -- highest poll numbers in the history of the veterans' administration. It came out a week ago, that they're happy. And, look, one of the reasons that happened -- highest in history.
One of the reasons that happened is because of veterans' choice. If they have to wait in line, they have go and see a private doctor, and we pay the bill, and they get better. They don't have to wait two weeks and three weeks or two days, but they get better. And a lot of times, they waited so long that they would have a problem and it would end up being terminal because they couldn't get the kind of treatment that they deserve.
So, highest poll numbers, highest approval numbers in the history of the V.A., I was just given that information yesterday.
We restricted visitors' access to 135 veteran community living centers, which house nearly 8,000 veterans with chronic medical conditions so that we limit their exposure to the virus. We want to totally take care of our veterans. And that's what we're doing. The V.A. has canceled most elective medical and surgical procedures. They're delaying them until after this is gone, after we've won. We began providing life-saving care to patients who had symptoms across the 171 V.A. medical centers nationwide. That's a big deal.
Under my administration, the V.A. has also been a leader in expanding telehealth. Telehealth is becoming a bigger and bigger factor in medicine. This month, we have taken bold action to cut through the red tape and make telehealth available for millions more Americans during this crisis.
They can speak to a doctor from the safety of their home rather than risk becoming infected or making a tremendously long trip, when, frankly, you'll speak to a great doctor right from your home. It's happening, telehealth. We're very much at the forefront of that too. We're very proud of it. And it also takes a big burden off our system.
We continue to accelerate the development of safe and effective vaccines. We're also aggressively investigating a number of antiviral therapies and treatments to determine their potential in reducing the severity and duration of the symptoms. And you know how I feel, because how I feel is on Tuesday, they're going to be starting it on Tuesday morning, and we're going to have some medications delivered that -- we're going to see if they work.
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They certainly are effective in other ways, and they are safe from the standpoint is that they're not killing people. We're not going to have that. So, a lot of great things have been happening in that regard.
I just want to finish, and then we're going to ask a couple of people to say a few words that have been so much in the forefront of this incredible job that we've all been given. But I want to say that I know that this is a challenging time for all Americans. We're enduring a great national trial, and we will prove that we can meet the moment. I want to ensure the American people that we're doing everything we can each day to confront and ultimately defeat this horrible, invisible enemy. We're at war. In a true sense, we're at war, and we're fighting an invisible enemy. Think of that.
For those of you who are feeling alone and isolated, I want you to know that we're all joined together as one people, internally linked by our shared national spirit. We love our country. The spirit of courage and love and patriotism. No American is alone as long as we are united, and we are united. We're very united. People are saying things now that three weeks ago, they didn't talk that way. We're very united. No force is equal to the strength of really a unified America, united America, an America like we have it right now.
For those worried and afraid, please know, as long as I am your president, you can feel confident that you have a leader who will always fight for you, and I will not stop until we win. This will be a great victory. This is going to be a victory. And it's going to be a victory that, in my opinion, will happen much sooner than originally expected. It's now attacking. The enemy is attacking 144 countries at this moment, 144. That's unthinkable. There's never been anything like this. And it's vicious. It is vicious. Some people recover well and some people have a hard time. We all know that. But we will be totally victorious. We will then get our economy up to a level that it was, and in my opinion, beyond, because that will be a pent-up demand. There is a pent-up demand. And a lot of great things will happen.
But I'm very proud of our country. I'm very proud. I'm very proud to be your president. And it's just something that's just -- you're very special people. So, thank you very, very much.
And I'm going to ask, if I might, a combination of, Pete, why don't you start off, okay? Please.
PETER GAYNOR, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: Thank you, Mr. President.
Just a little bit about what we're doing in Washington, California and New York. We understand that the states of Washington, New York and California are seeing a steady increase in COVID-19 virus cases. In order to assist for additional needs identified in those areas, the State of New York was approved for a major disaster and declaration this morning. Washington state was also approved earlier today. California submitted their request and the president will consider it immediately.
We have medical supplies en route to these states, including respirators, surgical masks, gowns, face shield, coveralls, gloves, with quantities already delivered to both Washington, New York and California. And we anticipate additional supplies to be delivered within the next 42 hours to all these states.
Under President Trump's unprecedented national emergency declaration on March 13, FEMA is assisting state, local, tribal and territorial governments, including reimbursing eligible emergency protective measures taken at the direction or guidance of public health officials in response to this emergency. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, five territories, and two tribes, are working directly with FEMA under the nationwide emergency declaration for COVID-19. With the assistance of the FEMA regional administrators who are throughout the country, we are working to address the needs of state and local officials everywhere.
States, tribal, and territorial governments do not need to request separate emergency declarations to receive FEMA assistance under this nationwide declaration. The emergency declaration does not authorize direct financial assistance available to individuals, such as disaster unemployment assistance or other needs assistance at this time.
Just a note on the USNS Mercy, based on analysis of potential needs for hospital beds on the West Coast, the decision was made that the USNS hospital ship Mercy would have the greatest impact in California.
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The Department of Defense has been given direction to dispatch it to Los Angeles immediately. DOD has advised that the Mercy can get into position within a week or less of today's order.
Even though there are more cases right now in Washington, the projected needs for beds in California is five times more that of Washington. The Mercy will be used to take pressure off local hospitals, other medical needs and not for treating COVID-19 cases.
And finally, a little bit about the National Guard. The federal government continues to take aggressive action and proactive steps to address the COVID-19 threat, as we attack the health and safety -- or protect the health and safety of the American people. That remains our top priority. The National Guard is especially postured and equipped to assist federal, state and local agencies while serving the public.
In response to this unprecedented, nationwide operation, President Trump has approved Washington, California and New York National Guard units under title 32 status for the COVID-19 response. The president's action provide the nation's governors continued command of the National Guard Forces, enabling states to use additional resources to meet the missions necessary in the COVID-19 response.
The National Guard is a viable and responsive avenue to provide a much-needed asset that is state-managed and federally supported. And I want to be clear, this title 32 activation does not federalize National Guard members. The National Guard is still under the authority of each governor. They will work in concert with the Department of Defense.
And we've had a lot of disinformation circling, and I want to make sure it is understood that this is not martial law. The Department of Defense, by way of a mission assignment, will lead this task. And then finally, we continue to respond to hundreds of requests from governors across the country in filling all of their critical needs.
Thank you, sir.
TRUMP: Thank you, Pete, very much.
Peter Navarro?
GAYNOR: Thank you, sir.
PETER NAVARRO, DIRECTOR, TRADE AND MANUFACTURING POLICY: Thank you, Mr. President. Good evening.
What I want to talk briefly about is the Defense Production Act. And to give you the overview here, using the full power of private enterprise and the full force of the federal government, my job at the White House is to make sure, tactically, working with FEMA and HHS and the American people, particularly our healthcare professionals, get the gloves, the masks, and all of the personal protective equipment they need.
And I can tell you, sir, that since you signed the Defense Production Act, my job has gotten easier, and let me explain why. The Defense Production Act in this context has two primary functions. One is mobilization of the industrial base, in this case, the public health industrial base, and the other is allocation of resources, both from the supply chain to the manufacturers and from the manufacturers to the end users, such as the healthcare professionals.
Now, what we're seeing, on a purely voluntary basis, based on the leadership of this administration, we're seeing the greatest mobilization in the industrial base since World War II. And every day, I'm working with organizations and companies, national association of manufacturing, the National Council of Textile Organizations, and so on, in terms of building up rapidly our capabilities to get what you need.
Now, let's think about what mobilization means. It can mean, for example, repurposing a factory. So, Pernod Ricard called us last week, and they had three hurdles they had to deal with. They called my office. I had to make a call with Treasury, FDA and HHS to clear the path. We got that done that day. They started their production that day, moving from alcoholic beverages to hand sanitizers. And as we speak, a truck is moving towards New York and will arrive there Tuesday to share with the hospitals over 1,000 gallons of sanitizer. So, that would be a repurpose.
A second example would be one that the president offered with Honeywell. Again, Honeywell called the White House asking for help from the president. And what they said is, look, we want to do this new factory in Smithfield, Rhode Island. They called me on a Friday Morning.
And by that night, we had a contract in to HHS. HHS flipped that immediately, and I had Honeywell moving people and equipment from Massachusetts to that facility in Smithfield, Rhode Island, and we're going to have those masks produced within 30 days moving on the assembly chain. So, my point is, mobilization is repurposing, building up capabilities.
And the other portion is, of course, is the allocation of resources.
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Now, what I can tell you so far is that the Defense Production Act, sir, has given me quiet leverage. When you have a strong leader, you can take a light hand initially.
And so what we've seen with this outpouring of volunteers from private enterprise, we're getting what we need without putting the heavy hand of government down. There will be possibly cases down the road, and the manufacturers have actually asked me and alerted me this, where some places in the supply chain, they may have problems that the White House will have to break through using the Defense Production Act. We won't hesitate to do that.
The last thing I'll tell you is that I also get a lot of calls that are very disquieting. Brokers are offering millions of items, whether they're goggles, masks, or whatever. And you go through three different brokers, trace them to a warehouse in L.A. that's allegedly got 10 million masks and then want to charge you seven times what they cost. That's price gouging. We have got a message to the hoarders. If you've got any large
quantities of material that this country needs right now, get them to market or get them to us. We'll pay you a fair price. But if you don't do that, we're going to come for you and make sure that doesn't happen in this country, and that would be a good use of the Defense Production Act.
So, I salute you, sir. You've made by job easier and I appreciate that.
TRUMP: Thank you very much. Mike, please.
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, Mr. President. The task force met this afternoon, as we do every day. And let me begin today by simply saying thank you to the American people and thank you for the way that people across this country, seven days into 15 days to slow the spread.
The people in communities large and small across America are responding, are cooperating, are communicating, not just on behalf of their own health and the health of their family, but more importantly, on behalf of the most vulnerable among us. So on behalf of your president and our entire task force, just thank you to the American people.
I also want to express our appreciation to the governors across the country. The president today just announced action in New York, California and Washington State, as the latest demonstration that this administration will do whatever it takes to support the leadership at the state and local level, as the American people confront the spread of the coronavirus.
The legislative that are under way being negotiated on Capitol Hill as we speak, the bipartisan spirit that's taking place there that's reflected in all of our interactions with state leaders around the country is a great credit to the nation. But it should be a great encouragement to the American people that your government at the federal level, at the state level, working with courageous healthcare providers all across America, are coming together to meet this moment.
And that is the way our system works. It's extremely important that the American people recognize that one of the things that makes America different is that we have a system of federalists and that the -- by putting FEMA in the lead, the president has emphasized that our response to the coronavirus is in the anthem of FEMA, it is locally executed, state-managed and federally supported.
We want the people on the ground, the decision-makers, to have what they need. We want states to be able to manage the unique circumstances in their states. And whether it'd be the legislation moving through the Congress or the efforts the president announced today, major disaster declarations, title 32 of the National Guard, resources flowing, hospital beds flowing, we're going to continue to make sure that our states have what they need to meet this moment.
Our task force continues to focus on the priorities the president has given us. They are testing, mitigation and supplies. And on the subject of testing, as is evident to people across the country, testing is more and more available every single day. We'll be detailing tomorrow from this podium the progress that we are making on tests.
At this day's reporting, 254,000 Americans have been tested and received results in coronavirus tests with slightly more than 30,000 actually testing positive. There's a bit of an encouraging word in that for every American. Remember, everyone that's being tested now, with the exception of our healthcare workers, are people that have symptoms that make them think they may have the coronavirus.
And as our numbers come in consistently, because the 254,000 does not include all the local hospitals or all the local labs in our states, it's working out to be about one in ten Americans who have been tested who thought they had coronavirus, actually had it, nine out of ten did not.
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But we'll continue to roll out the testing to provide that resource to the American people. And we're working to make testing happen faster.
We expect from word from the commercial labs that we should be caught up on the backlog in testing by the middle of the week, and we are urging today, on the president's behalf, that all labs would prioritize in-patient testing.
Let me say it again. All of the commercial labs in the country, you will receive guidance from HHS tomorrow. But on behalf of the president and the White House Coronavirus Task Force, we are urging all commercial labs to prioritize in-patient testing. We want people that have been checked into a hospital, that are being treated for what they suspect to be coronavirus, to receive those tests more quickly.
Also, I'm pleased to report that yesterday the FDA approved an emergency authorization on a new test that should be in production by the end of March. It actually would be a coronavirus test, the results of which come back in 45 minutes. And we're also working and the FDA is working with manufacturers around the country to come up with even faster, more innovative tests.
And as we've told our governors in several calls this week, governors and state health officials should simply contact FEMA for the latest information on testing solutions.
Let me also say, tomorrow when we gather at this podium, we'll be unveiling, with Dr. Bob Redfield in the lead, new guidance for people that work in law enforcement, first responders, people that work in what we call critical infrastructure in the country.
It was in early March the CDC issued guidance for people that were asymptomatic or did not have symptoms but who had been exposed to someone with coronavirus. We gave them guidance about being able to return to work wearing a mask for 14 days. And tomorrow at this podium, CDC will unveil in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security new guidance, which will make it possible for people that have been exposed to return to work more quickly with -- by wearing a mask for a certain period of time.
Let me also amplify a point on behalf of the president and on behalf of the State Department about Americans abroad. You know, one of the reasons why the United States is in a different position today than portions of Europe are and China and elsewhere is because the president suspended all travel from China. He suspended travel from Europe and the U.K. and Ireland. But The State Department is working around the clock to assist Americans who may find themselves overseas.
They're able to come home. There's no barrier to Americans coming back to American soil. They're screened when they come home through a series of airports. But we're aware that with flights being canceled, some Americans have found themselves unable to find a way home. And as the president said, we've been working very diligently through the State Department to make it possible.
Their commercial flights have been chartered. We're also working with the military for a backup on flights. At this point, the State Department has brought more than 3,000 Americans back home, but speaking to the secretary of State today, he wanted me to share a Web site and a phone number for any American that might be looking on from overseas. You can call the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at 1-888- 407-4747 or you can go online at Step.State.gov.
This will allow our embassies and consulates to gather important information about your situation and work to facilitate to bring you home.
Let me say, finally, as I began, let me close. As the chairman or the leader of this White House Coronavirus Task Force, we are seven days into 15 days, and the American people are responding because as we speak about supplies, as we speak about testing, the most important thing every American can do is heed the guidance and the direction from your state and local officials, particularly in areas where we have widespread coronavirus infections.
But for every American, putting into practice these measures that the president alluded to at the very beginning of his remarks is a way that we can -- that we can do this, America. We can lessen the magnitude of the coronavirus in our country.
With the cooperation, compassion, generosity and prayers of the American people, we can slow the spread, we can protect the most vulnerable, and we can heal our land. So, let's do it, America.
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TRUMP: Thank you, Mike, very much. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mike.
So, just a couple of little things then we'll take some questions. Maybe you will have some. Maybe you won't. It will be a shock. It will shock the American public. But I have to say, on the testing, the new -- if this works out, and we think it might, the new test will be a very simple one, much easier than the existing test, which is quite complex and not a lot of fun to take. And this would be a game- changer.
But remember, we inherited a broken, obsolete system. It was good for a small number of people, but not good for the millions of people that we're talking about. And we've made this into a system that no matter where you go in the world, that's where they're going, that's what they want to do, that's how they're going to be doing it, should something like this happen again. So, our people have done a fantastic job. Really, a fantastic job.
And I hope the new test works out. We'll know fairly soon, I think, Doctor. We're going to be knowing about that fairly soon. Hopefully, it will check out or test out, and we certainly are looking forward to that. That will be a very simple test by comparison. Won't be unpleasant at all.
And one other thing. The ships. So, we have the Mercy, and that's going to California, as you know. That's on the West Coast now. And you have a sister ship that's essentially a twin. They're incredible. I mean, they're incredible ships. I've seen it. I've seen one of them. And they are unbelievable, what they can do and the capacity. Many operating rooms. You know, they're wartime ships. They were meant for war.
Many, many operating rooms, stainless steel. These rooms are as good as there is any in the nation, actually. I spoke with Governor Cuomo. We had a great conversation today, a number of conversations, actually. He's working very hard. And we are going to be bringing that ship. That's called the Comfort. So, you have the Mercy and the Comfort. The Comfort is on the East Coast, and that ship will be coming over the next three weeks -- three or four weeks.
That's being -- it was in the middle of maintenance, and we are moving the maintenance very, very quickly, and we're also supplying the ship simultaneously. It's actually big supplies going into those ships, big. And that ship will be coming up here over the next few weeks, and we'll probably be putting it in New York Harbor. And we're making arrangements for that also as to where it's going to be docked.
So, you have the Mercy and you have the Comfort that'll be coming up. The Mercy will be coming up very quickly. It will be arriving in Los Angeles pretty soon, so we look forward to that. Question? ABC, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you. First of all, Senator Paul tested positive. When's the last time you had in-person contact with him?
TRUMP: Gee, I think it was quite a while ago.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But also --
TRUMP: It's been a long time.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: On top of Senator Paul now, four senators are in isolation. And the rules say that in order to vote --
TRUMP: Who are they?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Romney, Senator Lee --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Senator Gardner and Senator Rick Scott also. Two of them were in contact --
TRUMP: Rick Scott --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: With the critical stimulus package --
TRUMP: Romney's in isolation?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yes.
TRUMP: Gee, that's too bad. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Detect sarcasm there, sir?
TRUMP: No. No. None whatsoever.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you think that Congress should consider changing the rules to allow them to vote remotely if it comes to this critical stimulus package?
TRUMP: I was thinking about it today and I'm saying, you know, you could have a lot of senators and a lot of House members. I spoke last night with a very, very good man who happens to be in the House, as you know, and he's just started. And he tested positive. So, you could have a large number of people, and they're from Congress. You could have -- between the House and Senate, you could have a large number, and I think it's something at least -- I mean, I fully understand why you should be there.
I think and maybe a constitutional reason why you should, but we could be in a position where I would certainly be in favor of it, where they could vote from a certain outside location. I would be in favor of it. I was thinking about it today. I mean, we could be in this, with what's going on -- nobody has ever seen anything like this -- you could have a lot of people in there from Congress, and it would certainly be, they're telling me there's a reason constitutionally, and there may be, but I would be totally in favor of it on a temporary basis.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It does seem like negotiations still have a ways to go on the stimulus package. Are you concerned about the timing at all?
TRUMP: Well, we all have an interesting thing. You know, we all want to get to the same place, but with different -- I have -- we want to -- and I just wrote this down just a little while ago. We want to protect the workers very much. So do they. So do the Democrats. We also want to protect the worker through their companies. [18:40:03]
We don't want to necessarily -- we're going to help the worker anyway, but ideally, they can go back to one of their great companies. You know, you have great companies that are in financial trouble now, and we need money to help those companies so they get back into where they should be, health, you know?
Most of these companies four weeks ago were having the best year they've ever had. Last year was the best year, almost all of them, other than Boeing, which has incredibly had problems.
Big percentage of GDP. But we have to be able to work with Boeing. Boeing is a -- was a great company and will be a great company again, I think shortly. So, we have to work with the companies, and they don't want to do that. It's crazy. They don't want to do that.
I don't want stock buybacks, so I don't know where the problem is there, but I know that's one of the things that they're talking about. I do not want stock buybacks. I don't want to give a bailout to a company and then have somebody go out and use that money to buy back stock in the company and raise the price and then get a bonus, OK? So, I may be Republican, but I don't like that. I want them to use the money for the workers.
I want them to use the money for the company, to help the company in the airline business to take care of their planes and all of the things they have to do, including buying new planes, but I don't want stock -- I don't want to have any stock buybacks.
The Democrats are with me. I don't know what the problem is on that one because I can't imagine that is too tough. We want to be able to take care of our people. You're going to have some things coming up. We're going to have -- some of the elements that they're talking about, they're down to, I mean, literally 95 percent of things that you would think that they wouldn't agree and you'd think the Republicans wouldn't agree to it and unemployment as an example is one of the things they talk about, and unemployment insurance.
I think we're very close on that, but, you know, right now they're not. So, right now they're not there. But I think that the Democrats want to get there, and I can tell you for a fact the Republicans want to get there, and I don't think anybody actually has a choice. It's a bold package. It's a big package. We do have money for -- one of the things is we do have money for saving small businesses.
I don't imagine the Democrats -- because we have a lot of money set aside for small businesses. We also have a lot of money set aside for big businesses, you know, the big, powerful companies that were powerful four weeks ago and today they're overextended. Look at the cruise line. That's a big -- that's a tremendous business. A big business, very important to Florida, and it's unthinkable a month ago. Just unthinkable.
They were setting all sorts of records. They're building new ships. We can't let the cruise lines go out of business. I mean, that would be massive numbers of jobs for our country and, actually, for the world, but for our country, it's a massive business, and it doesn't take much to keep them going.
So, we have to provide for that. But I think both the Democrats and the Republicans are agreeing that we have to take care of our workers and we're going to be doing that in numerous ways, including a substantial cash payment. Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When it comes to the Defense Production Act, we know that governors across the country all day today were pleading with you to utilize the DPA saying that they needed --
TRUMP: Well, it depends which -- it depends governors you're talking about.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Specifically for that allocation piece that you mentioned, Mr. Navarro.
TRUMP: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why not use it now, if that would answer their pleas for help?
TRUMP: Well, we are using it now. The fact that I signed it, it's in effect. But you know, we're a country not based on nationalizing our business. Call a person over in Venezuela. Ask them, how did nationalization of their businesses work out? Not too well.
The concept of nationalizing our businesses is not a good concept. But I'll tell you why -- as Peter said, we may have to use it someplace along the chain, but we're getting calls. Here's the beauty of it. If we go out and we want, let's say masks, we don't know who to call on mask. But Hanes, who makes things of cotton, various elements, lots of things. It's a great company. They called us and they said, we're going to make millions of masks.
We got a call today from 3M. There's a big article today. The head of 3M. They're going to make tremendous products, and they're more or less in that business. And if they're not, like for instance, General Motors spoke to us, Ford spoke to us about doing ventilators. The beauty is, they're calling us.
If you go the national route, nationalization route, we're going to tell a company to make a ventilator. They don't even know what a ventilator is. In the case of one company, they used to make them years ago and they know how to make them. You know, it's a very complex piece of equipment, frankly. So, what we're doing is, I think Peter said it maybe better than anybody's going to say it.
We have the threat of doing it if we need it. We may have to use it somewhere along the supply chain in a minor way, but we have millions of masks being done. We have respirators. We have ventilators. We have a lot of things happening right now.
[18:45:02] So, just the threat of using it. But using it's actually a big deal. I mean, when this was announced, it sent tremors through our business community and through our country, because basically, what are you doing? You're talking about, you're going to nationalize an industry or you're going to nationalize -- you're going to take away companies. You're going to tell companies what to do. The truth is, most people -- nobody would know where to start.
There are companies out there that you wouldn't think of that have called us that say, we can do ventilators. We used to do them years ago. And they can do them in large quantities. Other company -- if I call companies and say, you build ventilators, they don't even know what a ventilator is. So, it's really working out very well. One of the reasons I read the numbers to you is because we've given vast numbers of just about everything. We've taken it out of our supply, and we're restocking our supply.
But we're really backing up the governors. The governors have to go out, do their things. And you have a lot of governors who have done a fantastic job. You have some that haven't. Usually it's the ones that complain that have the problems. But we've had a great relationship, as an example, with Governor Cuomo, with Governor Newsom. We've had a great relationship with the state of Washington. Those are three hotbeds. Those are three hotbeds.
Now, we're also dealing with other states. As the admiral said yesterday, we're dealing with all of the states, actually, in one form or another. Some are very affected in a very minor way, where you have two people or three people, and I don't even mean deaths, I mean literally, cases. And that's different than New York, where you have, you know, tremendous -- where everybody -- I lived there for a long time.
Everybody's extremely close, tight. And you have a lot of cases in New York. You have a lot of cases in New York. And we're helping Governor Cuomo. We're helping Governor Newsom. They've been -- frankly, they've been total gentlemen. They want to get it done and we want to get it done. But doing it the way we're doing it is much better. It's really much better.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But in terms of -- I'm asking about the supply chain, not -- it's about allocation, not about manufacturing. So, the companies, it's not nationalizing companies --
TRUMP: But if it comes from --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: No, you're right.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It's about the allocation.
TRUMP: We coordinate with the states and we are coordinating with the states, and for the most part, the coordination's been very good. Look, three days ago I had a phone call with all the governors. I actually allowed the press to stay. They weren't supposed to stay. And one person in the media said, that was surprising. It's actually a little risky doing that because we had Democrats and we had Republicans.
And you know, they're politicians and they always have something to say. Well, I took a lot of calls. And we really didn't get one nasty or bad response. They were thanking us for the job we did. And I had the press -- I don't know if you were there, I don't think so. I had the press standing there watching. They weren't supposed to be there, but I said, let them stand there. The governors were very complimentary. Very, very complimentary.
And I watched over the last few days Governor Cuomo. I watched Gavin Newsom, California. I watched both of them, and they've been, you know, very complimentary. And those are really the hotbeds. And so, we want to keep that going. I'm very proud of this country and I'm, frankly, very proud of a lot of the politicians that normally we're fighting with. We have different views on things, you know, a little different view.
But we're going to get to the same place. We have different views, but we're going to get to the same place. Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yes. I wanted to ask if you're considering an executive order to free elderly nonviolent criminals from federal prisons?
TRUMP: We have been asked about that, and we're going to take a look at it. It's a bit of a problem. But when we talk about totally nonviolent, we're talking about these are totally nonviolent prisoners, we're actually looking at that. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Also, your administration eliminated a key position in China in July. A medical epidemiologist embedded in China's Disease Control Agency. And it was just months before the first cases were spotted in Wuhan. So, the question is basically why the post was eliminated and if that's --
TRUMP: Well, I could ask -- anybody? Would you like to take that one, Bob? But you know, this is just like all of the other stuff that you -- not you, but that the press was asking. All of which turned out to be, we actually gave CDC more money, not less money. They said we defunded. It turned out, it was more money. Every one of those things that were said were 100 percent wrong, and this sounds like another one of them. But anyway, go ahead.
DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: Yes, as you know, CDC has offices all around the world right now to do our function, to detect and prevent and respond to outbreaks where they occur. The China office is actually being augmented as we speak. And we've been embedded there for over 30 years. There's a reason they call it the Chinese CDC because we've had that productive partnership.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: And I wish, again, our relationship with China's a very good relationship.
[18:50:03]
I wish they told us three months sooner that this was a problem. We didn't know about it. They knew about it, and they should have told us. We could have saved a lot of lives throughout the world. If you look at what's happening in Italy and Spain and a lot of other countries, we could have saved a lot of lives throughout the world. OK?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, given the diagnoses for Senator Paul and people being self-quarantined, what concerns do you have about the direct threat to the function of the Senate, the ability to get this important package that people are waiting for pass? And should Americans be expecting you to extend the 15 days given the climate of how this is spreading?
TRUMP: Well, I hope we won't have to possible. But we have to see how that works. As far as the Senate is concerned, we are looking at some -- you know, folks are feeling very good. Some are quarantined but they're negative. They may be totally fine, OK? Others are positive, we're just finding this now for the first time. You know, over the last two days we found out.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you see it as a threat to the aid package the Americans are waiting for?
TRUMP: No, I don't see any threats at all. Honestly I don't see any threat at all. It will all work out. It is a question and a very good question. I thought that we are considering. I don't know if you can do it constitutionally but we are considering letting people vote. Senators, congressmen and congresswomen vote -- for me, separate -- for me separate occasion from outside mainly a hospital or a home depending on where they are. So we are looking at that. It's a little trickier question most people would believe. But we are looking at that very strongly.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) kind of alluded to it. They weren't able to get the 60 votes to move the patch or the cloture vote. I'm just curious. Just a reaction to that, sir. And that, what is Mitch McConnell telling you and Secretary Mnuchin --
TRUMP: Well, we're dealing with it all the time. And we're dealing with Mitch. We're dealing with the other side. Everybody wants to get there. We'll see what happens. I think he'll get there. To me it's not very complicated. We have to help the worker. We have to save the companies. Because as soon as we are finished with this war -- it's not a battle, it's a war. As soon as we're finished with this war, our country is going to bounce back like you have never seen before, but we have to get into that position and we have to make sure that those companies are whole.
That they haven't been disbanded. Because if you do that, it is going to take much longer. So we have been pennywise if you don't. But we want to help the worker, we want to help the companies that the workers come from, because if those companies go out of business and that includes small businesses. We have a tremendous amount of small business working there, you know that. Once they go out and they don't come back, that's a much longer period of building.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I apologize, there was a woman that was an American that was being tortured, what was going on?
TRUMP: Bad things were happening to her in a certain country. And we are really under the feeling that we should keep it somewhat private until she's already been freed. And I have to tell you, General Millie and these people are unbelievable. They were not playing games. General Millie does not play games. He's a very interesting guy. They got her out.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: We wish she was seriously abused, accosted, and whatever the maximum word is other than death, that happened. But we got her out. And she's OK and she's back with her parents.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can I ask you one last question? Previous crisis, like the tsunami, Katrina, past presidents said -- they've called their predecessors, and said, hey, I need you to step in, do something like that? Do you have any interest in reaching out to Presidents Bush, Obama, Clinton? Called or -- I'm just curious if you're considering that?
TRUMP: Look, I have the best people in the world. I think they're doing an extraordinary job. If you look at -- if you look in, let's say the h1n1, you look at that whole -- that was a disaster. That was a tough period of time for our country. You look at so many other things that weren't handled very well whether it's Katrina or something else.
Look, I respect everybody, but I feel like I have an incredible team and I think we're doing an incredible job. When you look at the job we're doing, and all you have to do is look at the approval numbers on the job we're doing. I think we're doing an incredible job. So I don't want to disturb them, bother them. I don't think I'm going to learn much. And, you know, I guess you could say that there's probably a natural inclination not to call.
Now if I felt that if I call I'd learn something and that would save one life, it would save one life, OK? I would make the call in 10 minutes but I don't see that happening. Please.
(CROSSTALK) UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can I ask you about the comments of (INAUDIBLE) former aides, who've said today, Gary Cohn said, "Is it time to start discussing the need for a date when the economy can turn back on?"
[18:55:06]
Whereas Steve Bannon, let's say, drop the hammer today on the virus, we're going to have to take between (INAUDIBLE), we have to shut it all down. With the tension between the economic thing we're suffering and of course the virus itself and the casualty and deaths from that.
TRUMP: Look, I'm of the opinion we have to do great during these 14 days, during the 15-day period. We'll know at the end of 14 days. Pretty much. We're going to have a pretty good idea how we're doing. I think you have to shut it down and you have to see. But, you know, there'll be a point at which we say we're back in business. Let's go.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Those two statements are not mutually. You understand. I saw both of them today. And they're sort of -- they're intermeshed.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: For more of a shutdown.
TRUMP: Well, he is calling for a faster -- just a brutal shutdown and then open up maybe a little bit faster. So, you know, this is a fine line. Look, we did a big shutdown when we wouldn't allow people from China. There could have been very seriously impacted. That worked, when we cut that off very early. And then we cut Europe off very early as you know. So that was also --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When do you start opening the main street back?
TRUMP: Well, I can't tell you that. What I have to say is that I think we're going to have good results. I think the American people have been amazing. I think our stimulus package will get done and it will be a tremendous package. We're really not -- I mean, they may not have gotten those votes, but they're very close to getting a deal done.
So I'd be surprised if they didn't. And if they don't I think frankly the American people would be very upset with the Democrats because the Republicans are ready to approve a deal. The only reason the deal could get done is pure politics. Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, despite your differences with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, he says that the city is going to run out of basic hospital supplies by April. How do you prevent New York City from becoming the next Italy?
TRUMP: Well, he should have -- you know, the hospital systems in various places. Some have been stocked and ready to go for -- nothing for this. This is beyond anything that anybody ever thought possible. I think you could really say this. Nobody can -- nobody can really -- nobody can really say, oh, gee, this will happen. This is a very unique and hopefully it will be unique for, you know, many, many centuries, you know, for a long time. Hopefully we don't see this again.
But again, the system is supposed to be ready, really enabled. It's supposed to be ready to go. We are helping them a lot. And I have great love for New York City and I have great love for New York state. And we're going to help them a lot. And I was just saying, we're sending our ships up there. We're sending more than just this ship. We may be using -- if we need, we'll be using some of the cruise ships that you've been reading about.
We'll be using them also because they're very immediate and very quick. They can be there very quickly. We have good docking -- you know, systems in the places that we're talking about. So we may be using some of the cruise liners that we're talking about.
But, no, I mean, I think -- I think Bill de Blasio is working very hard. I think he's trying very hard. It's a tough situation for him and every mayor because nobody has ever seen the scale. You know, when you've given millions of masks and you've given hundreds of thousands of masks in a certain short period of time and then you hear they need many, many more. You know, one of the things they have started with respect to masks is the sterilization process.
Some -- you know, it works very well, others aren't really set up that way. You throw them out. But we have a sterilization process that's working very hard. Speaking of that hand sanitizers, you know, when you asked the question on the companies and what's going on, we have many companies now, companies that make whisky, that make alcohol, they've now gone very quickly into the hand sanitizers.
All of -- you know, you've been reading about three or four big companies were doing incredibly well on that. There is no way, if you took the existing companies something like that could happen. But it happens almost -- they'll call Peter Navarro or they'll call somebody. In one case they called me. They said, we can do this.
We can do that. We've had a lot of those calls where companies want to -- there's a company in New Hampshire, a great company, they want to make ventilators. I never thought of them for ventilators, but they do make metal equipment and things out of metal. They'll be great. They're make a great product. So Peter, I think you're seeing a lot of that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
TRUMP: Yes, please.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The bill that is being contemplated by the Senate right now has a fund that has hundreds of billions of dollars for the Treasury Department to use to bail out states and localities, as well as specific industries such as cruises and hotels. Will you commit publicly that no taxpayer money will go towards your own?
TRUMP: Well, you know, every time I do it, I committed publicly that I wouldn't take the $450,000 salary. It's a lot of money. Whether you're rich or not. It's a lot of money. And I did it, nobody cared. Nobody said thank you. Nobody said thank you very much. Now, I didn't commit it. I just said I don't want it. I don't want my salary. I work for zero.
