By Elise Hammond and Meg Wagner, CNN
There have been at least 1,426,716 cases of coronavirus in the US, according to the Johns Hopkins University's tally.
At least 86,228 people have died in the country from the pandemic.
Johns Hopkins on Friday reported 8,942 new cases and 330 deaths.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.
From CNN's Melissa Mahtani
President Trump said he believed the US would have access to a possible coronavirus vaccine even if China was the first country to develop one.
During a news conference, a reporter asked: "What happens if China is the country that develops the vaccine? Will the U.S. Still have access to that vaccine?"
Trump responded:
"I would say the answer to that would be yes."
Seeking to reassure the public on the progress of a vaccine, he said many countries would work together to develop one.
"We're working together with many different countries, and again, we have no ego, we have no ego. Whoever gets it, great. We'll work with them and they'll work with us."
Remember: Trump has repeatedly blamed China for the coronavirus pandemic, claiming Beijing could have prevented it.
From CNN's Maegan Vazquez
President Trump underscored Friday that the United States will rebound regardless of whether or not a coronavirus vaccine is developed.
Announcing new leadership for a “Warp Speed” initiative to develop a vaccine, Trump said, “I just want to make something clear. It’s very important. Vaccine or no vaccine, we’re back. And we’re starting a process.”
"In many cases they don’t have vaccines and a virus or a flu comes and you fight through it,” he continued during a ceremony in the Rose Garden.
“People sometimes, I guess, we don’t know exactly yet, but it looks like they become immune — at least for a short while. It may be for life. But you fight through it,” he added.
However, the President added that he’s hopeful a vaccine can be developed by the end of the year.
Watch:
President Trump said the truck horns that could be heard during his Rose Garden remarks on vaccine efforts were not a protest, but a “sign of love” to support his presidency.
“You hear that outside, that beautiful sound. Those are truckers that are with us all the way. They're protesting in favor of President Trump as opposed to against. There's hundreds of trucks out there. That's the sign of love, not the sign of your typical protests. I want to thank our great truckers. They like me and I like them,” Trump said.
Trump added that his administration and the truckers are “working on something together.”
The horns could be heard as other officials took the podium to speak.
More on this: Despite Trump’s assertions that the truckers were honking to support him, a letter from the Independent Drivers Association, obtained by CNN, says that the truckers were actually lobbying Congress to change federal regulations on transparency by brokers, "to help truckers know they are being compensated fairly."
This was the second time the President had suggested truck drivers were in town to support him. "They’re not protesters, they’re supporters of me because we’re getting things for the truckers… they’re really very thankful that I’m President,” he said during an interview with Maria Bartiromo that aired Fox Business Thursday.
Earlier Friday, CNN caught up with a group of truck drivers in Washington to protest.
“He lied on national television,” one trucker said, in response to the President’s remarks. “Let’s make a big sign – ‘yes we are a protest,’” another exclaimed, with another trucker chiding, “And remind him that this is an election year.”
Watch:
From CNN's Elise Hammond
Moncef Slaoui — the ex-head of GlaxoSmithKline’s vaccines division who was appointed by President Trump to lead the US's coronavirus vaccine effort — said he is confident a vaccine will be developed by the end of 2020.
"I have very recently seen early data from a clinical trial with a coronavirus vaccine and this data made me feel even more confident that we'll be able to deliver a few hundred million doses of vaccine by the end of 2020 and we will do the best we can," he said at a news conference with Trump on Friday.
In addition to a vaccine, he said operation "warp speed" will also focus on the development of medicines for those who are already infected as well as improving and "optimizing" diagnostic tests.
"It is a great honor to serve our country and the world in this remarkable endeavor," Slaoui said.
Watch:
From CNN's Melissa Mahtani
Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, President Trump said his administration and its "Warp Speed" initiative to develop a coronavirus vaccine are working under the assumption of having one "in the relatively near future" adding that he hoped it would be before the end of the year.
“It’s risky. It’s expensive, but we’ll be saving massive amounts of time. We’ll be saving years if we do this properly,” he said.
Trump continued: "Typically pharmaceutical companies wait to manufacture a vaccine until it has received all the regulatory approvals necessary, and this can delay the vaccine's availability to the public as much as a year, even more than that. Our task is so urgent that under Operation Warp Speed the federal government will invest in manufacturing all the top vaccine candidates before they're approved so we're knowing exactly what we're doing before they're approved."
Watch:
President Trump announced the two leaders of "Operation Warp Speed," the effort to develop a coronavirus vaccine.
They are Moncef Slaoui, the ex-head of GlaxoSmithKline's vaccines division, and four-star Army General Gustave Perna.
Previously, CNN reported that Slaoui, who has been a venture capitalist since leaving the pharmaceutical giant in 2017, will act as the chief adviser to the vaccine effort. Perna will serve as the chief operating officer overseeing logistics, White House officials said. Trump said this week he would "rapidly" mobilize the military to distribute a vaccine when it is ready.
President Trump is speaking now from the White House Rose Garden. He's expected unveil new details about a vaccine effort.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is also at the event, and is wearing a mask.
Iowa is reporting at least 374 new coronavirus cases on Friday, according to Gov. Kimberly Reynolds.
The use of ventilators and beds in intensive care units continues to go down, Reynolds said. So far, about 93,556 Iowans have been tested.
Iowan officials also said they have not encountered any case in the state involving the mystery illness tied to Covid-19 that appeared in children in many parts of the country and the globe.
For the first time, personal protective equipment will not be delivered across Iowa as the state’s stockpile is “in a good place right now,” Reynolds said.