me that too. so we appreciate it. please. >> thank you. so google and apple have announced that they are jointly enabling contact tracing on their mobile phone operating systems and i was wonder if this is something that you would consider or maybe adopt -- >> -- problems and other things. it is something we'll look at it certainly and we know they've done that. and it is highly -- it is new technology. it is very interesting. but a lot of people worry about it in terms of a person's freedom. we'll take a look at that, a strong look at it. we'll let you know pretty soon. >> and i have another question. >> brand-new, yes. >> can you explain why it is appropriate in the middle of a pandemic to be talking about cutting or eliminating funding for the world health organization. >> well, we're going to talk about the w.h.o. next week in great detail. i didn't want to do it today. good friday. i didn't want to do it before easter. i also didn't want to do it before we have all of the facts.

but over the years, many years, we've been paying them from 300 to 500 and maybe million dollars a year and china is paying them less than $40 so wire paying them ten times more than china and they are very china centric as i said during the week. china centric. china seems to get the better of the -- of the argument and i don't like that. i really don't like that. i don't think that's appropriate. i don't think it is fair to the american people. and, you know, i tell that to president xi, i tell that to dr. ted rose. i spoke to him one time. i think he is a very nice man, i liked him. but we're talking about that next week in great detail. we're looking at it very, very closely we want to make sure money is properly spent. but again, why is the united states paying $500 million a year, that's a lot, and why

is -- okay, that's a lot. and why is china paying last year, this year $42 million. but generally under $40 million so it is in the 30less. so we're at 400, 401, different amounts anyone years and they're at 40, 38, 36, 35, 32, 31. no, but you have to ask yourself that question. and then the answer always turns out to be in china's favor. well i have the same thing with the world trade -- isn't it interesting. world trade. so we have world health and world trade. so we have the world trade organization. and until i came along we were losing cases, so many cases. it was ridiculous. we were always losing these cases. almost every case. and now we're winning cases. we just won $7 billion because they know i'm not going to put up with it. china has been unbelievably

taken advantage of us and other countries. you know since they're considered a developing nation. i said well make us a developing nation too. they get big advantages because they're a developing nation. india a developing nation. the united states is the big developed nation. well we have plenty of development to do, okay. and now we're winning cases because they know that if we're not treated fairly i'm going to pull out. and you never heard this before because nobody ever talked about the world trade organization. but the world trade organization has treated us very unfairly. but they know i'm not going to put up with it. because all of these countries are taking advantage of the united states. now in the courts, and the courts system we're not approving new -- we're not going to approve it. and bob light houser is working very hard on that. and we had always a minority position. meaning numbers of judges. so we'd have a minority number of judges.

i said, how do you win with a minority number of judges. but all of a sudden we're winning. and the reason we're winning is they know if they don't treat us properly and we won $7 billion just this -- re vvery recently we won a lot of cases too. from covering it, i know you know, that the united states was taken advantage of by the world trade organization. and by the way, speaking of china, if you look at the history of china, it was only since they went into the world trade organization that they became a rocket ship with their economy. they were flat lined for years and years. frankly for many, many decades. and it was only when they came into the world trade organization that they became a rocket ship. because they took advantage of all of those -- i'm not even blaming them. i'm saying how stupid were the people that stood here and allowed it to happen. but we don't allow that to happen. and if they don't treat us

fairly we'll leave. and we're starting to win for a change. how about somebody new for a change. >> as many schools and school districts are closing across the country, florida governor ron desantis has not ruled out closing up schools in may saying that many kids are not vulnerable this to disease. do you agree with that assessment and do you believe that schools would -- would recommend that schools open up and to those states that have -- >> well i have a lot of confidence in ron desantis. a lot of faith in ron desantis. he's doing a great job as governor. ron desantis, i had read where he's thinking about opening up the schools earlier than the date -- the end of the month. i'd have to look at numbers. but again, i like to allow governors to make decisions without overruling them. because from a constitutional standpoint, that is the way it should be done. if i disagreed, would you overrule a governor. and i have that right to do it.

but i would rather have them -- you could call it federalist, call it the constitution, but i call it the constitution. i would rather have them make their decisions. but he's made a lot of good decisions. and here -- he said he's going to but he's thinking about it so i'll take a look at it. >> if i could ask a follow-up to one of the doctors. if you allow children back in the schools wouldn't that pose a threat to spreading the virus further to the vulnerable -- >> well i think the answer is obvious. but if you want either -- would you want to talk about that, maybe. tony. >> [ inaudible ]. >> i think we know the answer to that. >> yeah, i mean, from pure public health issues is that if you have a situation in which you don't have a real good control over an outbreak and you allow children to gather together, they likely will get infected and if they get infected the likelihood they'll bring the infection home. that is a risk. i don't know the situation at

all in any detail and i'm not specifically speaking about florida i'm speaking about what happens when you have infections in the community and congregation of people such as in classrooms, that is a risk. >> under 25 died, dr. fauci, in the country -- >> yes. >> the governor said that no one under 25 has died. i guess he would clarify, people under 25 could die as a result of this. >> i'm not sure -- >> again, i -- >> in the country. >> let's do that. because i don't want to answer for a particular state. yes, please under 25 have died of coronavirus disease in the united states of america. >> thank you. >> so if you reopen the country in may and there is a new outbreak, worse, a spike in infections are you open to the idea of shutting the country down again? >> depending on the outbreak, yeah. and that's happened as you know with a couple of countries. you know what i'm doing, i'm watching other countries in many cases they're ahead of the

standpoint that it attacked them before us, it hit them first. and i'm watching what is happening with respect to certain other countries. some of them obvious, some of them less obvious and the success they've having and that is going to play a large part of the role. we're also setting up a council, a very, very great doctors and business people, we're going to be announcing it on tuesday. of some great people. >> -- the economic task force -- >> this is beyond economic. this is really -- i call it the opening our country task force. or opening our country council so we don't get it confused with mike's task force which has done so great. and we're going to have the great business leaders, great doctors, we're going to have a great group of people. we'll probably do it by teleconference because we don't really want them traveling in for their own purposes. i don't think it would look good, also. but we don't want them traveling in. so we'll do teleconference.

we did one the other days with the banks and it was successful and we'll announce names on tuesday who is on that. and that will play a role. but ultimately i have to make that decision and then i make the decision do we close an area that is a hot spot. i do say this, jim, i want to get it open as soon as possible. this country was meant to open and vibrant and great and not what people are -- staying in -- >> [ inaudible question ]. >> i would love to open it. i'm not determined anything. the facts are going to determine what i do. but we do want to get the country open. so important. so i'll have a task force. i'll have a council. it is going to be announced on tuesday with names that you have a lot of respect for. a lot of great names. different businesses. different people. >> bipartisan. >> bipartisan. i didn't even ask. i mean, honestly, i think it is bipartisan. the one thing i didn't ask, are you a republican or a democrat. hard to believe, i didn't ask.

so it would be. and i wan their views on what they think. also very important different parts of the country, because you go to the midwest and it is different than perhaps the east coast or the west coast. now the west coast, those numbers are really pretty amazi amazing on the west coast. very amazing. so we'll announce that in a short while. probably tuesday. >> government officials in latin america and caribbean, bahamas, cayman islands saying that u.s. authorities are blocking the shipment of ppe and i wonder if you could speak to that. >> we have a tremendous force out there, naval force and we're blocking the shipment of drugs. so maybe what they're doing is stopping ships that they want to look. we're not blocking. what we're doing is we're making sure -- we don't want drugs in our country. and especially with the over 160 miles of wall. it is getting very hard to get through the border. they used to drive through right the border like they owned it

and in a certain way they did. they could drive right. they had human trafficking, they had -- all of a sudden they have a powerful wall up and they're not driving through that wall. that wall is tough. and it is also loaded up with equipment. cameras and sensors and everything you could think of. on top of that, we have drones flying back and forth over it. so it's a very powerful -- a very powerful barrier between mexico and the united states. a lot of people, though, what they're doing now is they're trying to come in through the waterways. whether it is the gulf or the ocean itself. and what we're doing is we're being very tough and we're being tough because of drugs and also human trafficking. and remember, the human trafficking is mostly females. it is mostly females. it is horrible. and what we're seeing is horrible. but you have a big -- we have a human traffic problem -- a human trafficking problem worldwide the likes of which -- you think of it as an ancient thing. it is not ancient.

it is bigger than it has ever been before over the last ten years because of the internet. the internet made human traffics to the extent that it is now which is massive, the internet made it so big. so we are -- we have a big naval force that is stopping. so maybe when you mentioned that, maybe the ships are getting caught. but we are -- we're stopping a lot of ships and we're finding a lot of drugs. yeah, please. >> thank you, sir. on the additional money for small -- >> i meant you but that's okay. >> on the additional money for small business, apparently -- treasury steve mnuchin on the $250 billion, are you willing to give into democratic demands for additional hospitals and states and cities. >> i would rather have that be in phase for. i don't deny it but i think it should be in phase four and i think we should have infrastructure and a payroll tax

moratorium. because that is something that over a period of time the workers get, you know, sort of semi immediately. it is over that period of time. it starts immediately but over a period of time. there are a lot of people, i'm one of them, that would like to see the payroll tax cut as a permanent cut but we should do the edged, meaning business employee payroll tax cut so we're talking about that and i'm certainly okay with helping the states and the hospitals and i just think the hospitals need help. you see what they've gone through. and the states need help. some states in particular need help. they need big help. i'm willing to look at that very strongly. but i like looking at it in phase four. the $251 is actually the plan is working out well. the banks are getting started with the distribution. they've taken thousands and thousands of applications. the numbers aren't even believable, the number of

applications. they're swamped, with bank of america and wells fargo and citibank is now kicking in. what nobody is talking about, the commercial banks, the community banks. everyone is talking commercial banks. the community banks are doing tremendous volumes. and they're probably doing them faster from what i understand. i hear the community banks frankly with the easiest ones in terms of getting the money out. so the money is getting out. the applications are far beyond what we ever anticipated and that is why we're going -- because this is money that goes essentially to the workers. we want the businesses to hold on to their workers because once they lose the workers they will never open again. it is not going to happen. >> -- from the "wall street journal." i wonder if you could expand on the form mexico would take, the reimbursement, what form would that take, to essentially add it to the tab for the wall that you've mentioned and i have a second question -- >> well there is no real cost

because we're agreeing to produce a little bit less. so it is staying in the ground. you have it for another day. it is cheaper than storing it when you take it out and deliver it to a massive well like the strategic reserves, our national strategic reserves where it has to be brought there and that is an expensive process in itself. but oil is getting to a point where there are some areas, some people would say the water is more valuable than the oil. never thought you would see that. never thought having cover it, i know you cover it, you never thought you would see oil at $20 a barrel, how about $10 a barrel. that you never thought you would see. we're looking at it strongly. there is no real cost. i want to help mexico out. we have a great relationship with mexico and the president. i really like him a lot. he's been terrific to us on the border because he stopped -- you don't see the caravans coming up any more and when i took office it was unbelievable what was going on. and they are really -- they have been helping us a lot.

and we've been helping them a lot. they make product for us, they sell it to us. and it is fine. it is a good relationship. and sometimes it is a great relationship. so, he could not have done any more than that. and i think there was political reasons for that, for him. that other -- other nations don't have. they don't have that. the nations that we are talking about, the 22 other nations that we're talking about, they just don't have that problem. so it doesn't cost us anything. and, yet, it is very valuable. we will be reimbursed in the future, maybe in the near future, maybe in the more distant future but we'll be reimbursed by mexico in a certain way and it will be fine. but we get mexico over the hump. now with all of that being said, that doesn't mean the deal is going to happen any way because they still have a lot of different states. but this is one of the stumbling blocks. okay. go ahead. >> if i may. china and some other countries have been particularly active seen as maybe taking advantage of the u.s. during this process,

during this period. china particularly active in the south china sea, you have a carrier down obviously, what is your message to the adversaries -- >> well, look, the way i view it is this -- china has taken advantage of the united states for 30 years. okay. i mentioned the world trade organization. china has taken advantage of us through that and using rules that are unfair to the united states and they should have never been allowed, should have never been allowed to happen. when china joined and was allowed to join under those circumstances, the world trade organization, that was a very bad day for the united states. because they had rules and regulations that were far different and far easier than our rules and regulations. plus, they took advantage of them down to the last -- and you know china and you study china and you know what i mean, they took advantage of them like very few people would think to take advantage of them.

and again, they're considered, right, a developing nation. we are not considered a developing nation. they give an advantage. for many years china has ripped off the united states. and then i came along. and right now as you know, china is paying 25% and we've taken in billions and billions and billions of dollars in tariffs from china. and i know a lot of the people kept saying, oh, no, we're paying. well we're not paying. countries are different. not every country is china. but china would de value their currency and they were essentially paying most of the tariffs, not us. and as you know we've taken in tens of billion dollars. they targeted our farmers but we took in so much money i was able to give back one year was $12 billion and one year was $16 billion. >> was able to give back our farmers the money they were targeted hurt, china bought $12 billion and $16 billion, one year each and then i gave them

back the $16 the farmers and now they're targeted in a different way. now i'm going to be very interested to see. so we signed a deal with china. and under that deal they're supposed to buy substantially in excess of $200 billion from us. that is not only farm product, it is manufacturing product, lot of different things. they're going to buy a lot. i want to see if they live up to the deal. i know president xi and i would say he would live up to the deal. but remember this. i never took off the tariff. it is still 25%. that is still big -- 25% of $250 billion. so for the first time and you saw also -- now again i'm going before the virus hit because that is sort of like -- let's start all over again. okay. i can't tell you that yet. because that chapter hasn't been written yet. but go up a few weeks ago, the deficit with the united states and china was coming way down.

nobody seen that. nobody has ever seen that before. but the deficit has come way down. so now we start a new chapter. and i could only tell you, if a smart person is standing where i'm standing, we're going to do very well with china. okay. and i think it's -- i have to also say this. i think our relationship and having the relationship i have with china is a good thing. but for the first time we're benefiting instead of being the sucker that could -- that got taken advantage of for years. nobody -- i said to china, how did this ever happen. i got to know them very well. i said to them, representatives of china at the top level, you know who i'm talking about, i say how did this ever happen? they looked at me and they said, but nobody ever called us. we didn't have a deal. it is not like we had a bad deal. we had worse. we didn't have any deal at all. so they just took advantage. think of it.

$500 billion a year deficit. not $500 million is a lot of money, right. everybody said i made a mistake when i say trillion, no you mean million, i say a $500 billion a year deficit with china for a long time. but it was 200, 300, 400, 450, 507, $500 billion plus a year deficit with china. now i'm charging them tariffs. and you know it is very interesting, a lot of people that don't want to do that, they all agreed. because china has taken advantage of this country like nobody has ever taken -- we have built china. with the money we gave them. now, i give them aip l-- them a lot of credit, okay. they did it. but you know what, we made it a hell of a lot easier. we gave them a fortune. how about you in the back.

>> i'm deborah sanders from the -- and i'm here today as a print reporter so i would like to ask a question and ask a question from one of the reporters that couldn't be here because of social distancing. >> a little louder, please. >> thank you. i was wondering if you've been tested for antibodies. >> have i been tested? >> not that i know of. they tell me no. >> has anyone else on the task force been tested for antibodies. >> we don't have the test. >> that will come out. they've just developed those tests. sort of new. >> okay. good to know. so this question is from andrew feinberg from news week. money was made to boeing in the recently signed c.a.r.e.s. relief act but boeing are still planning a round of layoffs so should bogeing that accepts financial aid be penalized for laying off workers after doing

so. >> well the aid hasn't been given yet but they will be asking in my opinion. they haven't even asked yet. boeing has not asked for aid yet but i think they probably will. now, at the same time they do have to run a company. isn't a great time to sell airplanes. if you're a business person, boeing makes airplanes. they had a big problem with one but they make the greatest airplanes. they make the best airplanes in the world. they had a problem with one. it got too complex. you have to be number one in the class at m.i.t. to fly it. it is a mistake. every two years they wouldn't to make it more and more. they had great success with the 737, the boeing 737 and then all of a sudden they do the max and they say let's make it more complicated and put on different engines and do this and do that. it was not exactly a good decision. bad decision. very bad. horrible decision. number one, human lives and, number two, horrible what is

happened to the company. here is a company f-- from the business stand point, the greatest company in the world. i think it amounts to 1% of gdp. people saying it a half but i think it is one. but one of the greatest companies anywhere in the world, and maybe the greatest, and then boom. on top of what happened there, with the two planes, and they say they have that fixed. that's good. they say they have it fixed. undisputably. somebody said they gave me something and i said you should say it that way, they said, sir, this is now the safest airplane in the air. i said, that is what you should say. that is a very good statement. it is the safest airplane in the air. that is a very good statement. you should use it. i said, by the way, are you changing the name? but whether you do or not, you should use that. but he said that. boeing person said to me, it is safest airplane in the air. that is a great thing. but we know they're going to need help. now does that mean they're going to need help and they should

keep people that they absolutely don't need. that business is a cyclical business, like many businesses frankly. so that determination hasn't been made. they have not spoken to us yet. i think they will be. maybe they won't need help. that is great. look, boeing made so much money. who would have thought they would have made all of those planes that are parked all over the place in many cases i guess payment not made. but who would have thought they could do that and they're still a solvent company. okay. what a tragic thing happened. and in numerous ways. but also economically. so when they see us, making sure that boeing is strong again is very, very powerful and very important. and we'll do whatever is necessary to do. please. >> thank you. a quick one and then a longer one. >> should we keep there going, everybody? huh. >> you're the president. >> -- wants to leave. keep it going for a while. yes. we have time? if you want. sure. you're not going to criticize me

that the conference was too long. if i leave short, yesterday i left short, it was too short. if i stay too long, they say it was too long. some day we're going to get it just right. okay. should we continue? yes. >> well answer my question. >> okay. at least your question. >> have you had a chance to speak to -- have you had a chance yet to speak to boris johnson. >> i have not. no, i have a call just to wish him well to his group. no, i don't want to call him now. i want him to get better. he's become a friend of mine. a real friend of mine. he has a great feeling for our country. obviously for his country. he loves it. he's a tremendous guy. >> and -- >> and i think he's probably right now, he was very high -- i think he might be 100% popularity right now. i think he's -- when they talk about approval polls, right. i'm sure you've never heard that, i hear it all of the time,

his approval rating must be about 300%. but he's a great guy. he was a great guy before and i think people see what he's been through, what he's been through is incredible. and they say a big turn. so let's see what happens. let's hope. >> and for me, where do you see the use of something like immunity certificates or documents or passports when we get to -- >> excuse me. >> immunity certificates. once we get anti-body testing -- >> well, i see a lot of different things. we're going to be very careful for who comes into the country. look, my opposition party wants to have open borders. this is a case where i'm very glad that my position, i don't want open borders. i want very strong borders. that includes not only on the southern border, our southern border with mexico and you could also say our norther border with canada. but we want to have strong borders. and i think this is maybe one of the learning points. we learned something about

borders. we need borders. the country needs borders to be a great country. and this is, i think it is a great point. go ahead. do you have something else. >> i wasn't just thinking about reporters but ordinary americans who are currently stuck at home if they are tested for antibodies and they have the disease and shouldn't be infected again, some sort of documentation to allow them to go back to work safely. >> once they get better. >> yeah, people who might -- >> so they have the disease. and they're better. and they have -- the immune now. they have -- supposedly, according to what i'm hearing, it could be a long period or a lifetime or a year or two, i'm hearing, tony, so nobody told me yet if it is for a year or two years or for a lifetime. like chicken pox. if you have chicken pox, you have immunity, they say for a lifetime. i hope that is true. but nobody has actually told me with certainty, maybe because they don't know yet, you don't know yet, because it is new. this came upon us. nobody knew.

we just -- they do know you have it for a period of time. and it's strong for a period of time. they don't know. hence the antibodies that we're making. i saw somebody was really sick and he got better. a young person, relatively young person, 35. and physically fit, you know. and he got better. he made it. barely. but he made it. the first thing that he did when he got better, i want to give whatever i could give to help other people because nobody should go through it. it is a tough thing. so we don't know yet how long -- if you want to add anything to that. is it a year? it will be a year. but is it more than a year? and only time is going to tell. okay. thank you. >> one more question. >> go ahead. try one more. >> will you have governors, mayors, members of congress reopen the country that you talked about -- >> i think we're going to put governors, i've gained great respect for governors, republican and democrats.

i've become friends with some of the democrat governors that i won't have the privilege of getting to know. and governor murphy of new jersey, he's very liberal guy. i'm not. but we've had a great relationship. john bell, as you know, i call him john bell, john bel edwards, people call him john bel. i have a good relationship with him. gavin newsom, honestly, i think we've -- hey, we're fighting now. i want automobiles to be made cheaper and safer and stronger. and but you save $3,000, $4,000 per -- and environmentally equal. we're better maybe. and we're fighting on that -- we're fighting a lot of different things. we fight on the border. he wants open borders, i want people to come into our country legally. but i've gotten very friendly with gavin newsom. he's done a very good job here. i think i've gotten very

friendly. i think he's been sort of a friend of mine for a long time. don't get to see him much. but governor cuomo of new york, would talk all of the time. i spoke to him, the last call before walking in here. i've gotten to -- i've developed a lot of good friendships with the governors and including the governors -- i think mike dewine, republican, but i think he's doing a great job in ohio. so, yeah, i want to put on both parties. i want to have some governors. am i going to have all of the governors but i would like to put some representative governors on the council, yes. i would like to do that. i have asked a couple of them. they've all said yes. so far everybody said yes. i think everybody would like to be on that council. it is a very important council. go ahead in the back. >> thank you. mr. president, two questions, if i may. do you have a message to those pastors who are still planning to have easter services defying the public health guidelines?

>> well, you have to say it louder -- to those -- >> those pasters still planning to have easter services. >> pastors who were -- >> i didn't understand. you have a nice voice but it is low and you're far back. i've had talks with the pasters. and most of the pasters agree, and very complex subject, let's face it, for the obvious reasons, i don't have to go into it. most of the pastyers agree they're better off doing what they're doing which is distancing. they feel that, let's get this over with and get back to church so badly. can you imagine where easter sunday and i'm going to be watching pastor robert jeffers who has been a great guy. did i tell you. he's been a great guy. and i'm going to be watching on a laptop. now a laptop is in his church o another church. no matter what you see, oh,

isn't it wonderful. but i've done this for three weeks and they've had tremendous -- i let people know who it is. they've had the biggest audiences they've ever had. they have millions of people watching and people are liking what they're hearing. so i'm going to be with -- on easter paster -- i don't know if he knows it yet. but he will soon. i think he will in about two minutes. paster robert jeffers and he's a terrific guy. a terrific man. i've gotten to know him very well. he's a man of great compassion. he loves our country. and i'm going to be with him on easter. meaning i'm going to be with him watching on a laptop. doesn't sound good, but it's -- it's one of those things. it could not beat church. i would not get into it. it could not beat church. most pastors, people of faith, people who respect and admire, franklin graham is someone i have most respect for, done an incredible job in new york on

central park where they put up samaritans purse, he's done an incredible job. the son of the late great billy graham. his family is incredible. he's incredible. franklin graham, the job he's doing on -- i mean, he loves to do it. he has such a passion. and that is why he's so good at it. he does it with -- with incredible love. and he will tell you, we're all saying, we have to get our country cured. i know there are some pastors and ministers that want to get together and i have great respect for them. two of them i know. but i would say first heel -- i'm a christian. heal our country. let's get healed before we do this. and there is time to do that. we'll do it for hopefully the rest of our lives. please. >> thank you. the mercy and the comfort seem to be u to be underutilized in los angeles and new york, is there any consideration sending the

medical unit news the cities to help with the hospitals there or to moving the hospital ships. >> so the mercy and comfort were sent when projections were much higher. and i say, tony backed it up, deborah made the statement, they said you're not going to need these many rooms but we wanted to be prepared, we had the ship. they did an incredible job. the comfort was supposed to be in maintenance for four weeks and they had it done in three and a half four days and so we had there. if there is a disaster from the standpoint that you need -- i'll tell you, the javits center, andrew will tell you. we were ready to go. it's incredible. the job they did. but they are using less beds. this is good thing, not a bad thing. they're using let beds. now javits has been busy over the last couple of days and the death numbers are horrific.

but you go back, now, and you finding they're going to start to come down very substantially, just based on the fact that the bed usage, the number of beds are much, much less. much, much less. so the mercy and the comfort were there in case they needed them. los angeles, where have the one and new york where you have the other. they just don't -- fortunately we haven't hit numbers where they would have -- they would have been used. they're always going to be overflow because their on the edges. they're not as convenient as certain places. but the people were ready, willing and able. they were ready to go. they were going to do a great job. but fortunately we don't need-just like we didn't need as many ventilators. when they were asking in new york for 40,000 ventilators, had experts, people i listened to them and they said you never need that many and they were right. and i dealt well with mayor de blasio. we got him a lot of ventilators

we got andrew a lot of vooen-- ventilators. and we have 10,000 in the stockpile. that 10,000 could move rapidly. woe could be within 24 hours almost anywhere. and hopefully we're not going to have to be. but just -- this is really been a great military operation. it hasn't all been military. because we're dealing with great companies, we have companies that are making masks, and we're all set up on the mac -- the masks too. we have an order coming in soon, 500 million masks. 500 million. we have companies, you know the story with gm, or 3m and also gm but 3m is doing a great job. i spoke to the ceo and we have a dispute with them and now it is all settled and i think they're trying to show the country something. maybe me. but the country something.

so, we've done, you know, i think -- and not me. i'm not talking about -- this country, our country, the people that are doing it, army corp of engineers, fema, these people sitting right here, people that we have in the back, that are watching every word that we're saying, they've done a fantastic job. they really have done a fantastic job. please. >> thank you, mr. president, i wanted to ask you a question about testing. you've mentioned the impossibility of testing entire american public. so has -- >> well we have -- >> the surgeon general. >> do we have 350 million people. do you want to do -- >> that is not what i'm getting it. dr. birx mentioned priorities in parts of the country and i want to ask you specifically about one industry in particular and that is food processing plants. is there a priority to get testing at food processing plants all across the country. >> well you're asking that because of what happened.

it is a fair question, too. what happened in denver. because in denver, i've never seen -- i said what is going on. we're looking at this graph, where everything is looking beautiful and it is coming down and then you got this one spike. i said, what happened in denver? and many people, very quickly. and by the way, they were on it like so fast you wouldn't believe it. they knew every aspect. they had people going not only testing, who did you see, where were you, how many people did you meet, were you out to dinner, in somebody else's home. where were you. where did this number of people come from. they are totally on it. now this just happened. i just saw it this morning. isla i'm looking at everything smooth and going down and then the spike in denver and it is like where did this come from. and we're look at that. and we don't want cases like that happening. but this is the kind of thing that could happen. this is very complex. this is a very brilliant enemy.

it is a brilliant enemy. they develop drugs like the antibiotics, you see it, antibiotics should so solve every problem and now one of the biggest problems the world has is the germ has gotten to brilliant that the anti- -- antibiotic can't keep up with it. and they go in for a heart operation and die from problems, you know the problems i'm talking about. there is a whole genius to it. we're fighting not only is it hidden but it is very smart, okay. it is invisible. and it's hidden. but it is very smart. and you see that in a case like a denver. but i think we're doing well and there on denver like i couldn't believe. i came in this morning, it is a flurry. and they said denver. and i said what happened in denver because denver was doing pretty well and they have that

under control. but that is a case where you do some very big testing. peter. >> mr. president, we learns that more than 16 million americans applied for unemployment over the last few weeks it is friday and pay day and we're seeing lines at food banks around the country. what do you say to the americans in need at this moment. >> number one, i love them. number two we're working hard. it wasn't their fault. sometimes they don't do a good job and they lose their job. that is one thing. this is the case where we take the strongest economy in the history of the world which is what we had, more people working in the united states, peter, than ever before. almost -- look at the numbers. 160 million people almost, just short of 160, excuse me. so we have the greatest economy we've ever had and by the way, black unemployment, hispanic unemployment, asian unemployment, the best numbers we've ever had in virtually every way. and then you get hit like this.

and it is traumatic. people that had great jobs that went out to dinner and they didn't have any problems, they take their family, they were making good salaries, all of a sudden you use the term cold terk turkey. it is cold turkey. they go from that to having no money. and waiting for their checks which are being processed very rapidly but they have to go out and look for money. it is a -- a terrible thing. all i say is we love them. we're working so hard. and they're going to be back. and i hope they're going to be back even stronger than before. >> let me ask you about that if i can to follow up. you chose not to do a national stay-at-home order. now you want to reopen parts of the economy. what authority do you have to do that? isn't it ultimately up to the states to do that? >> no. it is really -- the states can do things if they want. i can override it if i want. but the national stay at home, just so you understand, 95% of the country is stay at home. like as an i spoke with

the governor of texas greg abbott, he has a stay at home and people didn't know it. but he had a stay at home. some people reported texas wasn't. he had a strong stay at home. 95 to 96% south carolina as you know has it. which at one point a week ago they didn't have. south carolina, another great governor mcmaster. no, 95% of the country is covered. now, the states that aren't, and again, constitutionally from a federalist standpoint, if i thought there was a problem, if i saw a state with a problem, i would absolutely demand it. but they're doing great. and the states that aren't are states that have not had a big problem. >> what authority do you have to reopen right now. the same way that the states shut it down, what authority do you have. >> i have great authority if i want to use it. i would rather the states -- and this is shocking. and people say he's reasoned.

people are shocked, i think i do -- i have absolute authority to use it. but so far our relationship with governors and the job they're doing, i haven't had to do it. would i do it if i saw a state that was out of control and they don't have the stay at home policy. i would do it in a heartbeat. >> jeff. >> mr. president, there is a lot of interest in how to make that decision. >> very big decision. i don't know that i've had a bigger decision than that when you think, right. think of that decision. somebody sed it is totally up to the president. i saw this morning. it is totally up. and i don't know that i've had a bigger decision. but i'll surround myself with the greatest minds. not only the greatest minds but in numerous different businesses including the business of politics and reason and we're going to make a decision and hopefully it is the right decision. i will say this, i want to get it open as soon as we can. we have to get our country open, jeff. >> will you say what metrics you

will use to make that decision. >> the metrics right here. that is my metrics. i can listen to 35 people. at the end i have to make a decision. and i didn't think of it until yesterday, i said, you know, this is a big decision. but i want to be guided. i'm going to be guided by them. i'm going to be guided by our vice president. i'm going to make a decision based on a lot of different opinions, some will maybe disagree and i would love to see it where they don't disagree. will there be risk. there is always a risk something to flare-up. look at what is happening with countries are trying to get open and there is a flare-up and i would like the flare-up to be localized so we could control if t from a local standpoint. there is always a risk. this is genius that we're fighting. we're fighting this hidden enemy which is genius, okay. it is genius. the way it attacked so many

countries and so many different angles and i mean you take a look at what is going on. and the greatest doctors in the world, i think they're close, by the way. but they haven't figured it out yet. look at what it has done to some people. some people, it is grabbed and it's a -- it's a horrible -- a horrible way to go. you want to know the truth. it is a horrible -- and other people it hardly has an impact on. we talked about it. sniffles. they don't even know they had anything. and some people, i looked at new york this morning and i look at what is happening and the amendment of people that are dying and dying violently dying. it is a very tough adversary. but we're going to win and we're going to win it, we're going to win it very decisively. i'm going to have to make a decision and i only hope to god that it's the right decision. but i would say without question it's the biggest decision i've

ever had to make. >> quick follow up for the doctor, for dr. fauci and dr. birx, the models as i understand them are based on social distancing continued through may. is that correct? and if you were to open the economy on may 1st or sometime during that month, would that impact the models in terms of the deaths that you expect? >> you want to answer that? >> we're taking turns today. good. good. so the model -- the ihme model does state that it's through may. every month we've had these model discussions, haven't we, more weeks now. so the models are formed by the data and you could see how much the model has shifted on the amazing work of the american people. so i think that's what we're evaluating right now. remember when -- when i talked yesterday, i've been public health a long time.

i have never, except for ebola, where we worked very closely with the communities about specific issues, we've never taken a countrywide or a global-wide approach to mitigation. this is unprecedented. i will tell you there is nothing in the literature about specifically what to expect. and i think that's why the models continue to modify themselves based on what actually is happened with social distancing and hand washing and all of the pieces that the american people are doing. the decreasing, the closing of the bars, closing of the restaurants. no communal eating. that was thought to be a very big issue and many other of the other cultures that went through this virus. so the models continue to evolve based on the impact. and so therefore it makes it very difficult to interpret each component of social distancing and which ones are absolutely critical. there is a way to do that in analysis potentially and i want

do -- i want everyone to understand that there are states that are tested and doing contract tracing. so i think sometimes we get -- we look at what new york is doing and detroit and we forget there is a utah and a new mexico and a north and south dakota and a whole series of states that have been doing testing and contact tracing and have been testing at rates higher than that per capita rate that we all have discussed. so we're looking at that. what did they do. where are the most vulnerabilities. where are the outbreaks most likely to occur. that is why i've been talking about nursing homes. because we do believe that there is a relationship between age and seriousness of disease. not to say that there can't be young people with serious disease but proportionately, it is a smaller piece with serious disease. and so when you have that kind of spectrum where the older and the more complicated the higher the severity, yet the impression there may be more asymptomatic

antibody test comes in. so when you're putting all these pieces together, you're trying to understand where would be the first signals. you have the cdc's influenza-like illness, married with their syndromic piece, giving us the insight about where to test and where to proactively test, in nursing homes and other vulnerable groups, because that has been a signal in the states that have very, very prevalence and incidence of disease. that's the kind of factors we're putting all together to really define the best way forward and we have superb road maps, i hope you all have seen them, there's six different road maps to opening that people have put online. again, there's no literature

that you can cite that says we did this 20 years ago and it worked. there isn't that. there's brilliant public health people giving us their insights. >> reporter: because those are the models you've been using, if you go with starting to open up the economy again on may 1st, doesn't that lead to more deaths? >> well, look at how much it changed with mitigation. and now we're looking at those state by state, and there's some states in there that are still in contact tracing. so we're looking at the impact of that model, what that model predicted based on the type of contact tracing, less mitigation, more contact tracing. are you getting what i'm talking about? okay. so there are states that didn't stay-at-home orders but were doing contact tracing from outbreaks. so we're looking at them and how they have done and we're looking at certainly what's happened in the big metro areas and we're integrating all of that data together to make a plan going

forward. so i can't tell you, because look at how much the model has changed in just a week. remember, just a week ago it was 80,000, now it's 60,000. and the curves, i'm sure you're all watching, the curves are getting much broader confidence intervals. there's still a dotted line but the confidence intervals around the dotted line are getting bigger. when you see that, you know the model has a bit of instability. that's why tony and i base our discussion on cases and what physically is happening in that county, in that state, at the same time not ignoring the models but integrating the models as one piece of our thought process. do you want to come up here and say what you think about models? >> i just want to say, you talked about couldn't it lead to death, meaning if you open it up, it could lead to death, and you're right. but you know what, staying at

home leads to death also. it's very traumatic for this country. but staying at home, if you look at numbers, that leads to a different kind of death, perhaps, but it leads to death also. so it's a very big decision. as i said, eigit's the biggest decision i'll ever make. >> reporter: thank you, mr. president. you said one of the last people you talked to was governor cuomo and at his news conference today he said he was asking you to use the defense production act to require companies to make more tests, to streamline testing. is that something that you would consider? because you've considered it with ventilators and -- >> you know, the other side seems to keep using that. and i have used it. you know i've enacted it, you do know, and i've used it, some people thought viciously, just ask a couple of companies, if you want, you could just look up the names. and i'm surprised he would have said that. we actually have great tests.

we have others under development. you don't need full testing, as the doctors have been talking about ad nauseam. so i would be surprised that he would have said that, meaning it that way, if he did, i would have a much different type answer. >> reporter: you talked about testing over the phone? >> we did talk about testing. one of the things was i put the two doctors in charge of that call. i said, you know what, andrew, i have two very talented people standing here, we're getting ready to go on, let me put them and have them talk to you. they talked to him really at length. and i think by the time they finished he understood what we were saying, he understood it very clearly. okay. >> reporter: one more question, please. you've talked a lot this week about holding the world health organization responsible for its response to the coronavirus. i'm curious if you've given any more thought to holding china financially responsible for the part that it played and the

economic toll it's taking on the american people. >> yeah, i understand the question very well. look, nobody has done to china or treated china as strongly as i have, i use the word "strongly." as you know, you've reported on it, billions and billions of dollars is flowing into our treasury because of what i've done with china. i think it's a very sad thing that happened. and i think if people knew, including the world health organization, and i do believe they knew, but they didn't want to tell the world, and we're going to get to the bottom of it, and we'll have reports on all of this and we are not happy about it. but i wanted to leave the world health for later. and i can tell you that we're constantly in touch with china, we're talking to china, and we've expressed how we felt. we're not happy about it. we're not happy about it at all, kristen. okay? one or two more.

yeah, jim. >> reporter: mr. president, we hear from a lot of people who see these briefings as sort of happy talk briefings. >> no happy talk today. >> reporter: and some of the officials and you paint a rosy picture of what is happening around the country. if you look at some of these questions, do we have enough masks, no. do we have enough tests, no. do we have enough ppe, no. >> why would you say no? the answer is yes. i think the answer is yes. you asked me do we have enough masks. yes. >> reporter: we hear from doctors, we hear from health experts. >> you didn't say that. you said do we have enough tests, yes. do we have -- plus we're developing new tests. do we have enough ventilators, yes. do we have enough hospital beds, yes. we've built 20,000 hospital beds. go ahead, jim, let's go. >> reporter: what do you say, i mean, you watch the coverage. >> a lot of it is fake news. a lot of it is fake news.

>> reporter: when the doctors and the medical officials come on our air and say, they don't have enough tests -- >> on your air, because if they don't say that, otherwise you won't have them on. the governors said, last night they had a group of governors, 14 governors, they were together someplace, and they said it's unbelievable what's happening, we've been totally responsive. ventilators, everyone has the ventilators they need to a point where we're getting calls from foreign countries saying, you have all the ventilators, can we get some, and we're going to try and help some of these countries. these people have done an incredible job. this is not happy talk. maybe it's happy talk for you. it's not happy talk for me. we're talking about death. we're talking about the greatest economy in the world, one day i have to close it off. and we did the right thing because maybe it would have been 2 million people died instead of whatever the final number will be, which could be 60, could be 70, could be 75, could be 55. thousands of people have died. there's nothing happy about it,

jim. this is sad talk. this is the saddest -- these are the saddest -- these are the saddest news conferences that i've ever had. i don't like doing them. you know why? because i'm talking about death. i'm talking about taking the greatest economy ever created, the greatest numbers we've ever had in almost every aspect of economics, from employment to companies -- look at the airlines, they were having the best year, now all of a sudden we have to save them, okay? there's no happy talk, jim. this is the real deal. and i've got to make the biggest decision of my life. and i've only started thinking about that. i've made a lot of big decisions in my life, you understand that. this is by far the biggest decision of my life because i have to say, okay, let's go, this is -- >> you have hospital administrators -- >> sure, but you have many doctors who say, unbelievable job. i watched this morning, and i watched a certain network, and

it wasn't fox, and you had doctors saying that we've done an incredible job. i just read off these, no, no, no. we have ventilators. we have equipment. we have beds. how about beds? i mean, governor cuomo just told me a little while ago he's got plenty of beds, in fact they're having a hard time filling javits center. we built him 2,900 -- >> reporter: when you're talking to reusing ppe, obviously you don't have enough. >> excuse me. we have masks. we have everything. and we were trying to get ready for the surge. and a lot of people said it will never happen. deborah said it, you'll never need that many beds. they said we needed 40,000 ventilators, 40,000, it's like building a car, 40,000 ventilators. people said -- i felt it too. you'll never need that many. guess what? we have tremendous -- we have -- we're the envy of the world in terms of ventilators.

germany would like some. france would like some. we're going to help countries out. spain needs them desperately. italy needs them desperately. mexico needs them desperately. he asked me last night would it be possible to get 10,000 ventilators within a short period of time. i'll be able to help out mexico. no, jim, just the opposite of your question, it's not no, no, no. it's yes, yes, yes. we're in great shape. and you know what, what's happening now is those numbers, horrible, but take a look at the number of beds, we have beds available all over new york, new york really being the epicenter. new york -- new york has experienced something that has been absolutely horrific. i saw harts island yesterday, i saw those people being buried yesterday. fortunately we have the beds and you can speak to mayor de blasio, you can speak to governor cuomo. people are -- people can't even believe the job