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Trump and White House Coronavirus Task Force Briefing on Coronavirus Response. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 22, 2020 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[19:00:00]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nobody said thank you very much. Now I didn't commit -- I just said, I don't want it. I don't want my salary. I work for zero. I don't want my salary. Nobody said thank you very much. But I guarantee you if I ever took it you would go out after me, you in particular would go out after me. All that crazy.

So I have no idea what they're talking about with regard the one -- everything is changing, just so you understand. Still changing. But I have no idea, but every time I commit to do something. I committed to do that. Look, I ran and everybody knows I was a rich person. I built a great company. And people knew that. But I agree to do things. I didn't have to. I still don't have to. But my company, I told the kids who are running it, I'm not running it.

But I told them, don't deal with foreign companies. Don't -- I didn't have to do that. I could have just run and I have -- I didn't have to deal with it at all. And instead of being thanked for, again not agreeing to do it but just for not doing it, I get excoriated all the time. So I've learned, let's just see what happens because we have to save some of these great companies. They could be great companies literally in a matter of weeks. We have to save them. Yes, please.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President. Can I go back to your announcement at the top about the National Guard and then also the medical centers that are going to be built?

TRUMP: Yes, go ahead. Sure.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: OK, so you had said that there would be eight large medical structures that will be built in California with more than 2,000 beds. And then I think I heard you say there would be four small medical structures in the state of Washington with 250 beds? And could you say what cities and areas those are going to be specifically?

PETER GAYNOR, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: So we are filling the governors' requests and so we sent that resource to them. They'll put it to best use. They'll put it where they'll have the most effects. We don't dictate exactly where it goes. Again this will be request from the state to the federal government for a certain asset and those assets are sent to -- the governor can use that as he or she sees fit.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And you're still considering -- you just said that using the cruise ships as well? So do you --

TRUMP: I hope we don't need them. I hope we're going to have great luck on Tuesday morning. We sent a lot of the medicine, we don't have to go into it again. But we sent a lot of the medicine to Governor Cuomo. I believe they already have it and they have some very capable people. We spoke to Dr. Zucker who is -- his primary representative on this. And we spoke to the governor himself. And I think he's excited about it like I'm excited about it.

Now will it work? I think it has a really good chance. I think it's worthwhile. Why should we be testing it in a test tube for a year and a half when we have thousands of people that are very sick? They're very, very sick. And we can use it on those people and maybe make them better. And in some cases maybe save their lives. So Governor Cuomo tells me they'll be starting their supplies -- starting their supply on Tuesday morning.

I think it's very exciting. I think because -- if that happens much of what we're talking about with ships and hospitals and all of the things that we're doing and all of these masks and everything that -- ventilators. It's a whole different game if that happens. And we'll see. There's been some tremendous signs that could work.

Now again, you know, some doctors think it should go for years in testing. But, you know, this has been something that's been around for many years. It's been phenomenal, strong, powerful drug for malaria but we think it might work on this based on evidence. Based on very strong evidence.

We're going to see. We're going to know on, you know, sometime after Tuesday. But you'll have to ask Governor Cuomo. I think they're going to start the process. And we've gotten them the drug. I think they're going to start the process of giving the drug, you know, through mouth and I think that starts on Tuesday morning he said.

And that'll be -- I mean, I'll tell you what, I don't want to get anybody overly excited but I am very excited by that, by the prospect of it. Then in addition to that they're working -- NIH is working on vaccines and on. They're making great progress. But the vaccine does have to be tested for a long period of time because you can't give, you know, thousands of people a vaccine and it turns out to be dangerous. So that does have to be tested. But this one has been taken for a long time. So we know pretty much -- yes, please.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President. I wanted to ask about China and President Xi. When was the last time you had a conversation --

TRUMP: Well, I don't want to exactly say that but I have spoken to President Xi about this, specifically about this. And look, he doesn't want this. As you know, this is not something that he wants and it happened. It happened to China.

[19:05:03] And one thing they told me, I was told by our great secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Purdue, that China has been buying a lot of our farm product. And I'm looking at different pricing. But China has -- despite all of this, and it started -- just delayed it a little bit obviously, but it started fairly recently. But China is buying, we made a new deal as you know with China. Very big trade deal. And China has been buying our agriculture product.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you talked to China about masks? I mean, they have been a supplier of the United States of masks, of (INAUDIBLE) equipment.

TRUMP: Yes, in fact they're sending some masks. They're sending masks to Italy. They are sending masks to Italy. We're in a very good process with masks. But I'm a little upset with China, I'll be honest with you, because as much as I like President Xi and as much as I respect the country and admire the country, I have great admiration for the country of what they have done in a short period of time.

Of course our presidents -- previous presidents allowed that to happen. You should say thank you very much to all of them. But, they should have told us about this. And I did ask him whether or not we could send some people and they didn't want that. Out of pride. I think really out of pride. They don't want to send people into China to help them. You know, China is a strong country. They have their scientists and they have their doctors. Very smart. A lot of people. And, you know, but I did discuss that about sending our people and they didn't really respond.

We went again, they didn't respond. If they went it, they would have been able to tell us, give us a much earlier indication. But we had an early indication. That's why I closed out China. I mean, I felt it was my instinct but that's why I closed out China at a very early time. Please.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, are undocumented persons welcome at testing sites? And can they show up to be tested without being fear of being reported to immigration officials for possible deportation?

TRUMP: It's really a fair question. I think I'll let the -- would you like to answer that question? Please, please. Surgeon General.

DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: We know from a public health perspective that it is important that people who have symptoms can get tested. But as you heard earlier, we are --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Regardless of citizenship?

ADAMS: Well, we know that the virus doesn't judge based on where you are from. And so it's important that we try to get people tested who have symptoms. But the important thing that we really want people to hear is that in-patients need to be tested. We need to prioritize their healthcare workers. And one thing I would like to say to you all very quickly, on behalf of the doctors on the task force, healthcare workers, we hear you. We hear you and we absolutely are prioritizing your health and safety,

making sure our healthcare workers can get tested, in-patients can get tested. People at highest risks. But to answer your question, yes, we absolutely want to make sure people who have symptoms who could be spreading it can get tested.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Without fear?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sir, question -- sir, question. Surgeon General?

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Department of Homeland Security addressed that issues a few days ago. Customs and Border Protection actually issued guidance that absent of certain circumstances, Custom Border and Protection does not target emergency rooms or health clinics, and I will refer you to the Web site. They issued a very clear statement, making it clear to any person that is in need of a test or a medical care that Customs and Border Protection is not focusing on emergency room or health clinics or the drive-thru clinics.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But they could come in without fear of --

TRUMP: Yes. I'll answer that. And if that's not the policy, I'll make it the policy. And I was just saying, as Mike was saying that, the answer is yes. We will do those tests because I think in that case it's important. I think that if you can could -- you could say illegal alien, you could say illegal immigrant, you could say whatever you want to use, your definition of what you're talking about, we're all talking about the same thing.

Yes, we will test that person. Because I think it's important that we test that person and we don't want to send that person back into wherever we're going to be sending the person, whether it's another country or someplace else. Because, you know, we're now bringing them right out of our country. But yes, we will test those people. OK?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. Surgeon General, a question. We're talking about this before the briefing. You know a lot of folks, they're watching TV. They're reading up on this constantly. If you are not, you know, somebody who's got a preexisting health condition but you'd always said, you know, all of a sudden you just don't 100 percent. And then your mind just starts playing with you, right, and think oh my god, I coughed three hours ago, was that a first sign? When should those people really start to say, OK maybe I need to call the doctor?

So you don't want a flood, but a lot of people that are pretty healthy right now are thinking, whoa, wait, that's all I'm hearing about, it's all I can think about. When should I call a doctor or get tested?

[19:10:06]

TRUMP: Do you need a test?

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: No. Well, I hope not.

ADAMS: I asked him before they came in. They've been checked.

TRUMP: You better not, right? You better not.

ADAMS: The vice president gave an important statistic this morning. Only 10 percent of the people who have symptoms who have been tested actually tested positive for coronavirus, meaning nine out of 10 people who actually likely had symptoms do not have the coronavirus. So I want people to understand that so that they are reassured.

I also want to direct people to a Web site we've been telling them about all the time, Coronavirus.gov. Coronavirus.gov has information to walk you through the symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, body aches and what to do if you have symptoms or you're worried. The most important thing we can tell people is call your healthcare provider, talk to your healthcare provider, information.coronavirus.gov to walk you through when to come in and when -- and what to do.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And Mr. Vice President, you got tested yesterday. I'm just curious, sir, can you tell us what was like for you? A lot of people are going to be through this. What -- were you standing by the phone or you're just having an iced tea? What did you -- you know, what was that like? And what did you do to kind of kill the time and keep your mind at ease?

PENCE: The test was very quick. But it goes a fair amount of (INAUDIBLE) sciences and it's not comfortable. And it probably is a good opportunity to say again to any Americans looking on. If you don't have symptoms, you don't need to test. And the current testing format, although they're evolving regularly now, we just mentioned that I think at the end of this week, there'll be a new test and there's all new technologies.

I would say again to all the governors that are looking on and their state health officials, contact FEMA. We'll give you all the latest information on new testing that is available including steps we're making, where Americans would be able to test themselves and send it in. But --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: For you? What was that like for you?

PENCE: Well, for me and Mrs. Pence, it was kind of a pinch. It was kind of invasive. But we were grateful for the support. Walter Reed Hospital processed the test very quickly. They had a lab at the hospital to be able to do that, and gave us the results quickly. But it also informed me. We were wondering during that time as a family and it's one of the reasons the president has made it such a priority that we brought all these commercial labs together, and now more than a quarter million tests have been done.

We believe it will be caught up, if you will, by the middle of this week on a backlog of tests. But we announced today that we are directing commercial labs to prioritize people who are in the hospital for tests. Because we want to continue to work with new technology and with a new focus and guidance from HHS to get the results of that as quickly as possible for every American. If they have coronavirus, they can be properly treated or they can have the peace of mind that they may have some other respiratory ailment but not that.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: And you know, everybody that knows Karen Pence, and I was this, because the vice president told me, he said, she actually handled it better than him. Right? That's true, right? I didn't handle it -- I didn't handle it so well either. Don't worry about it.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, Speaker Pelosi earlier today said that the House may introduce its own bill. A, are you willing to work with the speaker on a House bill? And given what happened in the Senate just a short time ago, what are you willing to do to get this bill over the finish line, given the urgency? Secondly, did you send a letter to North Korea's Kim Jong-un seeking cooperation for the virus?

TRUMP: Yes, with numerous countries. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And if so what type of --

TRUMP: Sure. With numerous countries. If they need help, we'll give them help. Because nobody has what we have especially with a new test that are coming out. North Korea, Iran, by the way, and others. We are open for helping other countries. And it's a very serious time and North Korea is going through something. Iran is going through something very, very strong. We let -- Iran is really going through a very difficult period with respect to this, as you know.

So I put the -- it's really a glad hand, it's all it is, to North Korea, to Iran, and to many other countries and we're working with, as the doctor can say, we're working with many countries with respect to the problems that they have. Again, it's over 140 countries right now. But North Korea, Iran and many other countries. We will help. And we're willing to.

As an example, this new test. If this new test works out, we're -- instead of going through what we all went through with this rather difficult test, to put it nicely, we would have -- is that just a swab on the tongue, just a -- how does that work?

[19:15:05]

PENCE: It's a similar swab but we're going to do it --

TRUMP: Not to the same -- not to the same --

PENCE: Not to the same, all the way. TRUMP: It doesn't go all the way up and hangs it right under your eye.

Right? That's a tough test. So if we do that, the procedure, the test, and nobody has this in the world. Nobody has this. This is developed by us. We think it's going to be certified soon. We think it's going to be good. But if we have that, we'll be able to help a lot of countries.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What about Speaker Pelosi, sir? What about Speaker Pelosi?

TRUMP: We're going to work with everybody to see we get something done. Please.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Just to follow up on that, are you willing to work directly with Speaker Pelosi?

TRUMP: Yes. Whatever we have to. We have to help the American worker. We have to help the countries from which the American workers -- I mean, they came out of these companies, they were doing phenomenally well. You saw where payroll was going way up, where wages were going way, way up. There's never been a time like this. We can't lose those companies. And we want the worker to be happy.

And we're being -- I think we're generous than anybody has ever been. We want to take care of the worker. But we want to make sure that when we win the war, it's only a question of -- it's when, not if. When we win the war against the virus, we want to make sure those companies are ready to charge forward. Not that they've been disbanded because we were pennywise and dollar foolish.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, there are factories around the world that produce medical protective equipment that are used in European hospitals. They've been certified for use and at the highest level in European hospitals. Is the FDA and the administration willing to look at a waiver for the equipment to be sold from those factories?

TRUMP: Well, we were asked that question a little while ago and the answer is we may but we may not need it. We do a very high standard. Our standard is higher. Please.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, I was hoping if you can give some guidance to American families who are anxious about their financial futures. Earlier today on one of the Sunday morning shows, the secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin, was talking about the millions of Americans who are impacted by the shutdowns that are happening at cities and sometimes full states.

TRUMP: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And Secretary Mnuchin said that this shutdown, this lockdown could last 10 to 12 weeks, perhaps early into June. Given that, would you consider another fiscal stimulus, another check to these families? TRUMP: We're going to see what happens. Hopefully we won't need it but

we might. But we're going to see what happens. Look, the greatest thing we can do is win the war. The war is against the virus. That's the war. We do that everything -- I really believe everything is going to fall into place. It's going to be beautiful. I call it a pent-up demand. People are dying to go out to a restaurant. People are dying to go on to airplanes.

I think we -- there's a tremendous pent-up demand. You may be surprised to the degree. I think it's going to go very rapidly. Because this wasn't a financial crisis. Just the opposite. This was a medical crisis.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did you sell stock, Mr. President? Did you and your family sell stocks?

TRUMP: No. I don't think so.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you making the alternates to an investment in advance to this?

TRUMP: No. I didn't think about it. You know, it's very interesting that you asked a question like that. You know, nasty question, and yet it deserves to be asked, I guess. What I have done by deciding to -- and I knew this. I knew this the first day, I said, if I win, it's going to cost a lot of money. It cost me billions of dollars to become president -- to be president of the United States. And things that would normally be around a certain thing, even people that don't like me because they think I'm too tough on the border.

You know, some people love me for it, and other people don't like me at all. You know, it's very funny. My wife and I were at a charity event in New York City, I had just announced that I was running, and we were at the Robin Hood Foundation, at the Convention Center which now we're going to be converting to hospitals for Governor Cuomo.

And I was walking in and there was a smattering of boos and a smattering of cheers. I was getting both. And our very popular first lady, she's turned out to be very popular, people have great respect for her. But our very popular first lady said to me, huh, that's strange, I've never heard anybody booing you. That was very early on. Because I think I call for strong borders. I called for something that other people don't like, you know?

And I knew this would happen. I knew it was going to happen. But the fact that I ran and I knew as soon as they announced. When I ran, I said it's going to cost me a fortune. Not only in terms of actual cost. Look at my legal costs. You people, everybody, everybody is suing me. I am being sued by people that I have never even been heard of. I am being sued all over the place. And doing very well but it's unfair.

But I'll say this. In terms of running for president and I don't think rich people -- Michael Bloomberg, he spent now it's determined almost a billion dollars, and look at what happened.

[19:20:06]

I think it's very hard for rich people to run for office. It's far more costly. It's just a -- it's a very tough thing. Now with all of that being said, I am so glad I have done it because, you know, there are a lot of rich people around. Got a lot of rich friends but they can't help and they can't do what I've done in terms of helping this country.

We are doing things, we got sidetracked by the invisible enemy but, you know, when you look at what we've done, I said before, with the veterans, with the -- with all of the things we have done especially choice, but when you look at all of the accountability, when you look at all of the things that we've done, rebuilding the military, the tax cuts which -- thank goodness we had the tax cuts because we had cushions. And without that, this would have been catastrophic.

We had a big cushion. I mean, with all of the losses that you've seen in the stock market, we are basically back and with this horrible thing. If this were to happen before, you would have had nothing left. This was all cushion. But, I will say that it cost me billions of dollars to be president and especially with all the money I could have made for the last three, four year, and I didn't because I was being president.

I have no interests in it. I am allowed to. You know, I don't know if you know. George Washington, they say, he was a rich man supposedly. Relatively rich. And he ran the presidency and he also ran his business. They say he had two desks. Nobody complained until I came along. I got elected as a rich person but nobody complained until I came along.

So it cost me billions of dollars to be president, and I am so happy I did it. Because who cares? Who cares? I am really happy with the job we're doing. And I'm glad that this team and me are here for this horrible thing. I mean, it's -- a number of people have said it. But -- and I feel it actually. I am a wartime president. This is a war. This is war. A different kind of a war that we've ever had.

And when you look at the economics of the war, in the past, we used to stimulate, you get people jobs. Now we're stimulating to protect people because we don't want to them to work. Because we want them to stay away from each other. We don't want them to gather, social gathering. So we're paying billions of dollars more than that so that they don't gather. They don't -- because we have to defeat this virus and we will. But it cost me billions and billions of dollars to be president and I am so happy I did it.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Go ahead, how about you?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, can I ask about foreign countries, please? I realize that your priorities is to Americans and of course this nation. But what about have you ever considered supporting the foreign countries who are also fighting this global pandemic? Let me -- TRUMP: Well, we do have foreign counties. That was the other question.

And I'm honored to help and the doctor has helped, the surgeon general is speaking to other countries all the time. They're asking him questions, what do we do? Nobody has ever seen anything like this. They're calling our people all of the time. And yes, I have -- let it be known that we'll help people including North Korea, including Iran and including many other countries. It's very important to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you considering any financial support for them? Let me quote to you two retired general, a retired Admiral, from the U.S. Global Health Coalition, no matter how successful we are in fighting the threat of COVID-19 pandemic at home, we'll never stop unless we're also fighting it around the world. So financially is there anything in the stimulus bill and then are you considering it?

TRUMP: No, not in the stimulus bill but we are very much -- I mean, we give way billions of dollars for, as an example, AIDS in Africa. We're still fighting that battle. It's a tremendous battle. Tremendous war also. But we're fighting it here as you know, in 10 years, now it's eight years because I started it -- it should have been started before -- long before I got here because they had the answer even before.

But we're fighting that battle. We'll be AIDS free in approximately eight years. It looks like that is going to happen. We're spending a lot of money. But we're spending a lot of money with other countries. If you look at the aid that we give to other countries, we get billions and billions and billions of dollars to other countries.

And a lot of times they say, you know, we could save a lot of money, we shouldn't have, and then they come in, I say, what's it used for? It's used to fight malaria in countries that are very poor. It's used to fight AIDS in Africa. It's used to fight many other things. Many other things. And I don't think I've ever said no. I can't. It's just so terrible.

Countries that we have really, we're not involved with them very much other than they would be tremendous death. Tremendous death. I mean, you can get a list and I could get you a list. We give away billions of dollars to other countries. And we are giving away a lot in terms of everything and probably we'll end up doing economically doing something for other countries.

[19:25:08]

But when I'm presented with this list that yes, sir, in Africa, we're fighting AIDS or we're fighting something else, I tell you what, I start off by saying, you know, we should save -- we could save a lot of money, and then by the time they walk those lists into my office, I say, we have to keep doing that. That's humanity you're talking. How about one more question? Yes, please.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sir, thank you. I want to ask you about the states that have not yet issued stay-at-home orders? So Texas, for example, the hospitals have said that they expect to run out of beds, probably end of April if the governor does not issue a stay-at-home order. The Dallas County just announced their order. It's very -- it's not --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: The states have to -- that's a great governor. You're talking about Gregg Abbott in Texas, and he's a great governor. And he knows what he's doing. A lot of the areas that he's talking about, a lot of the counties he's talking about are not very strongly affected. You know, it's very different kind of a place and a great place. But I have total confidence in Governor Gregg Abbott.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So you're OK with --

TRUMP: Everyone --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The lack of uniformity?

TRUMP: Yes, sure. Because every state is different. Every state is different. I mean, Idaho, West Virginia, Iowa, Nebraska are much different than New York, than California, Los Angeles as an example, or San Francisco. They're much different. I mean, it's much different. The hot spots right now are state of Washington and probably number one by far right now is New York. That's the hot spot, like no other hot spot. And California is a hot spot but New York right now is the leader. There's no question. OK. Final question.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you, sir. Your administration is backing a lawsuit to invalidate the Affordable Care Act. And given that people are losing their jobs now and need health care more than ever, would you consider rethinking your position on that?

TRUMP: But that's a lawsuit coming out of Texas again. That was headed up by Texas. And what we want to do is get rid of the bad healthcare and put in a great healthcare. And we will always -- I will say this, I can make this commitment to you, the Republican Party is fully backing preexisting conditions.

Now if we could get a great healthcare plan, which would need the House to do, but if we can get a great healthcare plan, we will only do it if we have preexisting conditions totally back. So we're backing preexisting condition. But we'd like to get rid of bad healthcare.

Now we are running the bad healthcare much better than it was ever run and we're making it better. But it could be much better than it is. And so what we want to do is terminate it, have a great healthcare. But we will only do it with preexisting. We will back preexisting conditions. OK?

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Thank you all very much. Thank you. We'll be back. We'll have a meeting tomorrow.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We wanted to clarify that. San Jose, works for us. (CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you, sir.

TRUMP: The other night. OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donate blood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donate blood. We need it.

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: OK, while we were listening to that briefing that lasted nearly an hour and a half, the number of coronavirus cases here in the United States climbed past 32,000. The death toll has now hit 400.

I want to bring back in Dr. Megan Ranney, who is an emergency physician at Lifespan Brown University. Also with us, epidemiologist, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, CNN's chief business correspondent, Christine Romans, and CNN's chief political adviser, Gloria Borger.

We have so much to talk about. Gloria Borger is our chief analyst. Thank you, guys.

Doctor Ranney, let me start with you because this is a public health crisis first and foremost. What did you hear as a doctor that brings us closer to a medical solution?

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, LIFESPAN/BROWN UNIVERSITY: So first and foremost, in the prepared remarks, I was just thrilled with what Trump and Pence and Surgeon General Adams had to share. The response by the federal government in terms of mobilizing ships, authorizing the Defense Production Act, and helping to get supplies where they are needed, exactly what medical professionals across the country are asking for.

I do hope that it will be delivered on as promised during his remarks. And there are certainly still a lot of questions out there that we are looking for answers to that we're not yet addressed in this conference. But again, those prepared remarks were terrific, and I will say that our bureaucrats, FEMA, HHS, et cetera, appear to be doing a great job of developing appropriate responses.

And it's said that it's coming so late but better late than ever. And at this point, we're in the middle of a pandemic, so I'm thrilled that they're stepping up.

CABRERA: And let me go through some of those actions that they're taking, his -- our viewers missed them.

Dr. El-Sayed, I'll direct this question to you, because of the actions outlined are applied to New York, California and Washington specifically. The hardest hit states. He says that they have now approved their major disaster declaration request, activate the National Guard units. They're sending supplies including masks and equipment, and medical units with thousands of additional hospital beds, plus two ships being deployed, one to the West Coast, one to the East Coast.

Does this give you confidence that America's healthcare workers will have what they need?

DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED, EPIDEMIOLOGIST AND PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT: Look, it's a step in the right direction. But I'm hearing every day from folks who are on the frontline worried about whether or not they even have the personal protective equipment that they need to provide their patients adequate care, worried about whether or not they're going to have a test for themselves, if and when they're exposed.

There are a lot of things that were talked about, but I want to bring this back to the fact that epidemics are like fires, you can either fight them when they're small, or you can allow them to get big.

And while this is a step in the right direction, it's a step we should have had two weeks ago.

Right now, the frontlines are going to be seeing an onslaught of patience. We're looking at a doubling time, the number of times -- the amount of time it takes for the number of cases to double and about two and a half days right now, that means that two and a half days from for now we're going to have double the number of cases we have.

And so the question becomes, is this enough? Is this a timely enough response? And is it enough for the burden that we're going to be facing?

We need to be anticipating this crisis, not just reacting to where we were even a week ago.

CABRERA: Everyone, please stand by. We have some breaking news I want to get to on Capitol Hill right now with our Lauren Fox and Lauren, everyone been waiting on a stimulus package, and we're learning a key vote has failed. What happened and where do we go from here?

LAUREN FOX, CNN POLITICS U.S. CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, essentially, Democrats voted against moving forward with this procedural vote, essentially denying McConnell the votes he needed to make sure that they could vote on this final stimulus package tomorrow.

That's significant because tomorrow morning, we're all anticipating that the markets are going to open and that there's going to be deep concern that Republicans and Democrats haven't been able to come to any kind of agreement.

Now, what I'm told in terms of the sticking points are a few things. One of them, the State Stabilization Fund to ensure states have the resources they need. The way that's structured is a point of disagreement between Republic publicans and Democrats.

I'm also being told that there are issues with how they are structuring this pot of money that businesses could apply for in an effort to ensure that the businesses have the money they need to weather this storm of coronavirus moving forward. Now, that doesn't mean they can't get there tonight, but there's not a

lot of optimism right now. I'm told that negotiations will continue, that conversations are going to continue to be happening between staffers, Republicans and Democrats on these committees.

But at the end of the day, this really has to be an agreement between Majority Leader McConnell and Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate.

CABRERA: Okay. Lauren Fox, thank you. We'll come back as you get more information. More reaction there. Gloria, if there ever was a time to be bipartisan, isn't now that time?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I think it is, and I think that the complication here quite frankly, is that there are now five Republicans in the in the Senate who are unable to vote because they are either -- because they are either ill or self-quarantined.

And I think however, the Democrats at this point are making a case that they care more about the workers than what happens to big business, and this is obviously an argument that they have been having with Republicans for an awfully long time.

They're in the middle of a presidential campaign, and I think in the end, and I may be Pollyannaish, about this, but I think everybody understands that something has to get done.

And I know that the Secretary of the Treasury, Mnuchin was positive that something could get worked out later in the evening, and maybe they do one package and then another package, but they have to get something worked out, and I think they're very well aware of it.

They are very well aware of what's happening with the stock market, and they need to do their jobs. They just need to do their jobs, and they have differences, but they need to figure out a way to get around that at a certain point and say, this is the best we're going to get as Republicans and this is the best we're going to get as Democrats, and we need to do something for the American people and then maybe come back and do more.

CABRERA: Speaking of stock markets, the stocks are down sharply as far as futures. Christine, this, obviously is, I assume a reaction to what investors are hearing today.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know, look, until you know exactly what this stimulus is going to look like and how big it is, and it gets passed, you're not going to be able to put a floor underneath these markets.

But the market crisis is one thing. There's a bigger crisis, and that's a jobs crisis, and that's going to come home to roost this week. We are going to see maybe two or three million people lose their jobs in this week layoffs. There's really no cushion for small business and they're going to need money immediately.

So you have -- the government has pushed the pause button on the economy, but no one has pushed the pause button on everyone's bills, especially small business who only have about a month of wiggle room, a month of solvency.

[19:35:06]

ROMANS: So this is a crisis that the markets will put a lot of pressure on these lawmakers tonight, no question. It feels a lot like October 2008, when TARP did not pass, and when TARP didn't pass, the market tanked, and it turned around very quickly when Congress passed something.

This is bigger. This is even bolder than then. And it's even more important because this is a job crisis that could be depression level.

CABRERA: Gloria, let me come back to you. You mentioned the senators who are in quarantine right now. I have to play this moment from the briefing. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: On top of Senator Paul now, four senators are in isolation. And the rules say that in order to vote, they have to --

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Who are they first? Who are they?

QUESTION: Romney, Senator Lee, Senator Gardner and Senator Rick Scott also. Two of them were in contact with --

TRUMP: But Rick is coming out.

QUESTION: With the critical stimulus package vote expected --

TRUMP: Romney is in isolation?

QUESTION: Yes.

TRUMP: Gee, that's too bad. Go ahead?

QUESTION: Do I detect sarcasm there, sir?

TRUMP: No. None whatsoever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Gloria, what's your reaction to that?

BORGER: Well, it's completely inappropriate. He tried to take it back, but he still can't. He can't control his natural impulse, which is he does not like Mitt Romney.

Mitt Romney, you know, voted for impeachment. So he'll never forget it just the way he will not forget John McCain's vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act.

This is a President who can't get beyond himself. And let me just say one other thing about this briefing we just watched for an hour and a half. It was almost as if it was an open mic night for the President, who then started -- while the American people are looking for the healthcare professionals to tell them what to do and how bad the crisis is, et cetera.

Clearly, the President came out and gave some welcome news about the National Guard and about what FEMA is doing. He did not say and his -- Peter Navarro said that they did not want to use yet the heavy hand of government, which is the Defense Protection Act in a lot of areas.

But what kind of struck me is the President going on all of these detours, which he often does, eventually taking down this sort of going down this cul de sac about that it is costing billions of dollars to become President, after he was asked a question about whether he had sold any stocks, which he called a nasty question.

And then went into this whole thing about how much it cost him and how he was still happy to be President, and I don't think that gives the American people much raised assurance about what their personal situations are right now, and that is what they want to hear from these briefings.

And so I think on that level, it was disappointing.

CABRERA: Going back to that moment at the briefing, in which he sort of callously joked about Mitt Romney being in quarantine. I want to bring in Dr. Sejal Hathi. She is a resident physician at Massachusetts General Hospital in Internal Medicine in Boston.

Dr. Hathi, Mitt Romney is man in his 70s. His wife and Romney has an underlying vulnerable condition. This is not a laughing matter, right?

DR. SEJAL HATHI, RESIDENT PHYSICIAN, MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL INTERNAL MEDICINE: It is not, Ana, and you know, President Trump said the American people are looking to their doctors. We're looking to our government, and we are sick and tired and angry at the indifference of a self-obsessed President and the inaction and ineptitude of his dithering administration.

We need action right now and hurling barbs at vulnerable patients and people of the stature like Senator Romney is simply not acceptable.

CABRERA: I want to go back to Lauren Fox, I understand, Lauren, you have new details on Senator Rand Paul.

ROX: That's right. Our Jake Tapper is reporting a little bit more about this timeline, where Senator Rand Paul got tested, essentially What we're learning thanks to Jake's reporting is that Rand Paul went to an event on March 7th back in Kentucky, then on March 15, he found out the two individuals that he says he did not have contact with had contracted coronavirus and been diagnosed as having COVID-19.

Now, out of an abundance of caution, Senator Paul, despite the fact he did not have symptoms decided to get tested about six or seven days ago. That's according to a person familiar with this timeline that spoke with Tapper. So what we're learning is that in that timeframe, those six or seven

days since he got tested, he has been up on Capitol Hill attending G.O.P. lunches. He also as we reported earlier today, was spotted at the Senate gym.

So that has led to some concerns from Republican colleagues that if you got tested for coronavirus, even if you were asymptomatic, perhaps you shouldn't have been attending those GOP lunches, perhaps you should have been home awaiting the outcome of that test.

[19:40:03]

FOX: Now, we'll have more reaction from his colleagues now that this timeline is becoming clear, but certainly, as I was talking to lawmakers earlier today, including Senator Lindsey Graham, someone who also had been tested, but found that he did not have coronavirus, he said, you know, it's just commonsense that while you're waiting for your tests to come back negative or positive, you just stay at home. You don't go out in public.

Because as we know, and as our doctors on our air had been reporting, you can still perhaps share coronavirus with other people even if you're asymptomatic -- Ana.

CABRERA: Lauren, why was the Senate gym open?

FOX: Well, I think that's one of the biggest questions up here on Capitol Hill. I don't know about you, but most gyms in Washington, D.C. all around the country are closed. Now, it is of course the Senate gym. Senators had the ability to make their own rules about whether or not their facility is open, but certainly that's going to be a cause of concern for senators up here, given the fact that Rand Paul was spotted this morning and now we know of course, he has confirmed to have coronavirus -- Ana.

CABRERA: And let me also ask you, Lauren in terms of voting. Now, if people are moving away from the Capitol and aren't going to be there in person because they're either soft quarantining, or they're concerned about being in large groups, which we've been told to not be a part of. What happens when it comes to this legislation and voting?

FOX: Well, this has really been the debate over the last two weeks, Ana. Now they just had a vote a few minutes ago, of course, and we saw senators coming to the floor, usually one by one, you know, we saw Brian Schatz. He was actually in a mask as he walked on to the Senate floor.

But this has been the concern from Republicans and Democrats alike in the House, in the Senate. Leadership spend clear they do not want to allow remote voting at this time, but obviously, the Senator Rand Paul news today was a game changer.

The way that senators are acting in the hallway is very different. The way that scrums are happening up here on Capitol Hill have changed over the last few days, and I will tell you that there are a lot of members on Capitol Hill who are anxious to get back home as soon as possible -- Ana.

CABRERA: Dr. Ranney, what do you make of these new details about Senator Paul? He felt fine. He had no symptoms apparently, and yet he tested positive.

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN LIFESPAN/BROWN UNIVERSITY: So I think this highlights that a lot of us are potentially asymptomatic carriers. In other countries, a large percentage of people who have tested positive have been symptom free, and we actually found the same thing when testing cruise ship passengers like the Diamond Princess.

I think it also highlights the importance of listening to what the Surgeon General said during that press conference, which is to take social distancing seriously, and if you are under consideration as a potential COVID-19 case, please, do not go out in public.

Self-quarantine at home -- that means not seeing people from work, not going to parties, not going to bars, certainly not going to gyms. We need to take this virus seriously and not spread it to others.

Finally, it highlights the importance of all of us staying away from people who are immunocompromised or elderly or otherwise high risk for dying of this infection.

If we go out in the public, even if we're feeling fine, and we hang out with our, you know, 80-year-old parents or our friend who is recovering from cancer, even if we're feeling okay, we could be carrying the virus and risk passing it on to them.

So to me, this just highlights the importance of the public health messaging that we've been emphasizing all along and I hope that Senator Paul recovers. I also hope that he has not infected anyone else over the last week.

CABRERA: And Dr. Hathi, given that he had no symptoms. We keep hearing that they are shifting strategies as far as what the medical professionals are advised to do and that is to not test anybody if they do not have symptoms, even if they thought they could be at risk, could have been exposed.

If you're asymptomatic, don't get tested, prioritize the test because they are still limited in number. For those who are hospitalized and who, you know, might have treatment changed if they are, in fact, a coronavirus infected patient.

So in terms of testing, is that still a barrier here, do you think?

HATHI: Oh, absolutely. You know, we heard some good news a couple of days ago about that 45-minute point of care test that the F.D.A. has just approved, but that's still several days away in being enacted.

And right now, I think the latest numbers suggest that we're perhaps testing about 40,000 people a day. We need to be testing to three times more than that. There is simply not enough tests. We're still sending away patients who present to our hospitals because we don't have enough tests. We don't have enough swabs to test them with. But I think this also highlights another important point and that goes

to just the complexity, if you will, of the number of laws that are being enacted and the orders that are being made across the country.

[19:45:10]

HATHI: We saw Ohio and Louisiana make shelter-in-place orders just earlier today. They followed the lead of California, Illinois, and other states. And I think what would simplify matters considerably for a lot of Americans who are still not sure what social distancing means is a nationwide shelter-in-place order, a nationwide quarantine to get these cases under control.

Because right now too many people, many millennials like myself, and younger folks in particular still going outside, are still not social distancing.

CABRERA: And Gloria, the fact is, we know Senator Paul had this test. He was wondering, could I have coronavirus and yet he went to the gym this morning. What kind of leadership is this from Senator Paul?

BORGER: Well, I think that is very curious. I spoke with somebody who is close to Senator Paul just this afternoon, who said to me, you know, don't forget that Senator Paul has a preexisting condition, which is a lung condition, which he had remember after his neighbor attacked him a while back. I don't know if you'll recall that and then he was at a big event, and he didn't have any symptoms.

And you know, they're saying, okay, he didn't have any symptoms, and he didn't think he had it. That still does not explain to me as it clearly doesn't explain to you why you would go to a gym -- any gym.

And, you know, their explanation is and he had no reason to believe he had it because he had no reason to believe he was in contact with anyone who did have it.

But still, under all circumstances, you have to be so careful here as the doctor is saying that it just -- it makes more sense to just hang back and not go into the Congress. And this is why senators are very upset about this.

People who sat at lunch with him like Mitt Romney are now self- quarantining, and this could have a large impact, of course, because there isn't remote voting at this point.

The President in his press conference said, well, maybe there will be. But we have to see -- we have to see when and if that occurs, and we have to see if anybody else is now required to self-quarantine.

CABRERA: And I want to bring in CNN's Kristen Holmes at the White House for us. Kristen, your reaction to this briefing that lasted 90 minutes and seemed at times to veer very far off course.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT; Well, that's absolutely right. I do want to note, you know, the one real question that we've been talking to medical professionals in the field, on the front lines here that we're talking to, governor's offices all day was whether or not there was going to be some sort of nationalization of the supply chain so that these people could get what they needed.

Remember, we heard governors all day, essentially pleading with President Trump to put in order, to utilize that Defense Production Act so that they could get the supplies, because what we're seeing right now is about 50 states competing with each other, also competing with the Federal government, and also, in some cases, competing with hospitals all to get that personal protective equipment that these medical workers so desperately need.

We asked President Trump that, and he essentially kind of blew it off. He said that businesses don't want a nationalization of the manufacturing. When I pushed back on that, I said, it's not about manufacturing, it's about allocation. He didn't really have a clear answer for that.

Keep in mind here, we are hearing from governors, even governors, Republican governors who support him who are saying they just aren't getting the help that they need.

And you know, I just want to kind of pivot here off of what Gloria said, it isn't reassuring. When you look at the stock market, when you look at the economy, when you know so many people are getting laid off. We know that the Stimulus Bill on Capitol Hill, a huge sticking point is about unemployment insurance, about trying to get more money to people because we know more people are going to be unemployed.

It is not comforting to Americans at home to hear someone continually rail about how many billions of dollars he has lost because he was President, because he is a rich man going on and on and kind of lamenting on that front.

It gives you a little bit of a disconcerted feeling there because we know what is going on in America right now. We know that people are essentially looking at their retirement funds, looking at their savings and watching them dwindle away.

We had a conversation earlier today, a colleague and I about whether or not their retirement was going to be extended, that timeline, all because of what we're seeing in the stock market.

So again, you know, you see a little bit of a juxtaposition here, and it's pretty jarring. We know what's going on in the country, and then you hear the President kind of lamenting about all the money he has lost and how he says he wouldn't trade it, but again, going on and on about how he is a rich man.

CABRERA: Right. I want to go back to CNN's chief business correspondent Christine Romans on note, because this is an economy, Christine, on the verge of massive layoffs. What did you hear from the briefing?

[19:50:06]

ROMANS: You know, I heard him talking about the pent up demand and how it's going to be beautiful. He said, it'll be beautiful when all these people come back and they go to restaurants and they spend their money.

But this week, Ana, is not going to be beautiful. This is going to be maybe the ugliest week we've ever lived through, honestly, for the economy.

You have companies, small businesses that know that they're not going to have customers for the next number of weeks, and they've got rent that is due on April 1st, and they've got payroll to make.

They're going to be very quick to try to lay off workers because in a normal garden variety recession, people hold on to the workers as long as they can because they think it's going to get better, but they know that there's going to be this period of a stopped economy, an economy stopped at the behest of the government.

But even right now, they don't know whether their bills are going to be stopped. Now, in this package that they're arguing about right now. There is, you know, two weeks of cash flow for small businesses, if they pass this. They are arguing about better unemployment benefits for people. So even if you're furloughed, maybe you could get unemployment benefits.

Democrats really want longer and more money for people who get unemployment, but there still is this feeling, 11 years after the financial crisis the last time around, it was the companies and the banks who were bailed out and not the regular worker.

And so Democrats are very aware that this has to -- we have to help workers who April 1st in just a few days are going to have bills to pay.

CABRERA: So are you suggesting that Republicans are not prioritizing the American worker? Is that your concern?

ROMANS: No, I'm not suggesting that at all, because when you look at how much money is in this package, we've never seen this much money thrown at a problem and I think both parties Republicans and Democrats both know that they've got to get along lot of money out the door and very, very quickly.

The sticking points in this seem to be on what the Democrats demands are for unemployment insurance, and also for some more transparency about the bailouts for big corporations.

You know, they want to make sure that's not a repeat of what happened in 2008, where you still had 10 years of criticism of bailing out companies.

So I think that they're going to -- I hope that they're going to get to yes on this. The markets are going to put an awful lot of pressure on them, but I'll say it again, there's a market crisis. But there's a real worker crisis, a labor market crisis, and we're really going to feel the brunt of that this week. CABRERA: And Gloria, if the nation was looking for leadership and a

sense that someone was in charge of a country in crisis, both in terms of health and safety and financial stability, what did they see in that 90-minute briefing?

BORGER: Well, I think a lot of Americans would have liked to probably hear from Tony Fauci, the doctor to hear what is in store for them and how the curve is progressing, whether it is flattening.

I think from the President of the United States, it alternated. On the one hand, he said, you know, we're going to provide FEMA. We're going to provide the National Guard. We're not going to charge the states. And that was all good. You know, the three states that are hit so badly.

On the other hand, you heard from the President and Peter Navarro, saying they don't really want to talk about the Defense Production Act right now because of the so called heavy hand of government, and a lot of people are probably scratching their head saying, I thought that's what government does in a crisis. Doesn't the government kind of step in in a crisis?

And the President instead was talking about how great it was that 3M called him up and Hanes called him up and said, we're going to make masks, we're going to make respirators, which is all wonderful.

But at the quantity that is needed, as the governors are saying, they are competing with each other as Kristen was saying, and they don't need to compete with each other, they need the Federal government to say, you get this and you get that and we're going to help you figure out how to do it, so we don't increase the prices.

I mean, this morning, Governor Cuomo was saying, a mask that used to cost cents now costs $7.00 to him, because he is bidding against another state that is only charging $6.00.

So the government could really help, but if you were so stringently sort of anti-government that the government shouldn't step in at this point, I think that that's going to continue to really be an issue, but as for reassurance, I think it was lacking today on a personal level.

The President tried to do it. He read a statement about how we're -- I know you're frightened, and I'm looking at my notes here, we're fighting an invisible enemy and we are united.

CABRERA: He started on a strong note, but veered.

BORGER: And we all get that. Yes, it did, but then, it sort of went downhill.

CABRERA: Yes, Gloria Borger, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you to all of my guests who are with me, Christine, Romans and our doctors. I really, really appreciate your expertise. Thank you.

[19:55:05] CABRERA: And as I say goodbye tonight, I think about just how much

has changed in a week. Who knows what will still happen before I sit behind this camera again next weekend, so thank you for being with me during this time of uncertainty.

We have become used to you know, watching crisis play out from afar. We give standing ovations to wounded soldiers at sporting events and we raise money for victims and first responders, but this time it is different.

This is shared sacrifice. No one is spared and I promise you, we are working as hard as we can to bring you the most important information to help you and your loved one stay safe and healthy.

Please stay strong. I know it may feel lonely right now. You are not alone. We are all in this together.

And on behalf of my team, I want to thank all the doctors and nurses the researchers and other healthcare workers who are working tirelessly and sacrificing their own wellbeing to help those of us who may be sick and thank you to all the grocery store workers and food delivery workers and mail carriers and many, many, many more.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Good night and be well. "CNN Tonight" with Don Lemon is live next.

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