return to a sense of normalcy. i feel like so much of our government and our institutions have been dismantled. they have kind of been, you know, really taken apart and broken the last few years. >> i would like to see the candidates focus on climb change and antitrust laws. yeah. getting money out of the government. specifically, anti-lobbying and those sort of issues. >> voices from the road, on c-span. during a news conference today, white house officials outlined the trump administration's actions to combat the opioid epidemic and discussed how drug overdose deaths have decreased for the first time in 29 years. for the

29 years. >> we come before y >> good morning. thank you for being here. we come before you bearing good news. for the first time in four years, life expectancy in the united states of america has increased. and for the first time in 29 years, the number of drug overdose deaths has decreased. this has not happened through coincidence. it's happened through causation. it's owing in large part to a whole-of-government approach to treat the whole person led by president trump, first lady melania trump, and really the entire administration. nearly 70,000 of our fellow americans died from an overdose last year and 48,000 of those involved opioids. about 70% of those deaths also involved some type of synthetic opio opioid, most prominently fentanyl which could be an instant killer.

a couple of tiny grains are a lethal dose. met with first -- we've met with first responders, parents who have lost children, people in recovery, people who are running recovery centers. we've met with mothers whose babies were born chemically dependent and certainly have met with health professionals. all of them are shared stories of loss but increasely of courage and recovery. this is the crisis that we call the crisis next door because we want people to know from the beginning that the silence and stigma of many people and prevents them from seeking out the kind of treatment and help that is available to them is a very big priority for us, busting through that stigma and silence. we also want to make clear in this crisis next door that it is indiscriminate. it affects all races, socioeconomic status, gender, age, and certainly other

affiliations. if the crisis is indiscriminate, then the response must be indiscrimina indiscriminate. and that's why in addition to everything that the president and the first lady and the administration have done i wanted to share with you as a reflection what i consider to be the most robust and significant bipartisan accomplishment of the president's first term. hr-6. the support act. the president signed it into law following overwhelmingly unanimous support from every democrat who voted for it in the house and the senate. this overwhelming bipartisan action has led to an increase in the money and awareness on the opioid and polydrug crisis. features of the support act include the crib act where there is more money and more action for those neonatal abstinent syndrome babies i mentioned before. medical professionals tell us it's best to keep the mother -- it's best for the mother and

best for the baby to keep them together, and increasingly, that is happening. also the nearly $3.7 billion in new grants put forth by the administration have made a real difference in our municipalities. the stop act helped us increase the numbers of seizures and fentanyl and others coming through our mail. it's up to 38% and have a goal, if not a mandate, of 100%. let me go through a couple of the numbers. 4.1% overdose death decline overall in our nation. that is the first time in 29 years. nearly three decades. but in some of the hardest-hit states, we're off a peak of over 20%. 19% in pennsylvania. 22% decline over the peak high in hohio. 11% in west virginia. 14% in minnesota. 7% in north carolina. just to highlight a few of them. also, the customs and border protection in the last fiscal year increased the seizures of

fentanyl by 21%. we also launched a targeted ad campaign geared at youth that was seen by over 1.4 billion views and over 58%, in fact, the longest documentary-type one won an emmy. meloxom prescriptions have increased over 400%. surgeon general in april 2018 issued the first advisory by a surgeon general in over a decade. and dr. adams said at the time we need to have neloxone more available to first responders, to our health professionals, to our school systems, libraries, ymcas, and the rest, but also to each and every one of us. the surgeon general says if each of us were to carry neloxon on our person, we, too, could be part of the solution reducing the overdose deaths with overdose reversing medication. last night, congress passed a

15-minute extension of the kusht current emergency scheduling of fentaninntanyl analogs. it allows law enforcement to continue to detect, analyze, and handle safely and effectively this very lethal drug. in our effort to focus on prevention education, treatment and recovery, law enforcement interdiction, i'm also happy to report that we have record bac - to back to back to back collections on takeback day. i want to credit partners like google who have been incredibly helpful to us in raising awareness and action among the public in understanding how to safely and broadly dispose of your unused, unneeded, expired drugs. in addition to take-back day, the prescriptions of high-dose opioids have fallen by over 32% since the president came into office. if you need the pain medication, it will be there, but people are walking around with what's left from a bottle of 30, 40, pills, and that's when some of the peril begins.

in addition, we launched findtreatment.gov, a completely overhauled tool for every american to access so that they can customize finding treatment for their needs. you can customize it by age, by geography, whether you're a veteran, by lgbt, certainly by gender, and this promotes quality over quantity. when you type it in and you customize it, you can find treatment centers that are best for you. maybe you need to be there for short amount of time. maybe you need to be there in-patient, outpatient, maybe you need to be there a long end amount of time. you can customize that quite confidentially. from 1999 to 2015 the government reported a 20% reduction in our workforce due to opioid and other drug and abuse addiction. 26% decline over 16 years. i'm happy to report that because we invested over $100 million in

displaced worker grants across 17 states in the cherokee nation, those numbers are moving. we are trying to treat the whole person, not just check a box. we got you in drug court, got you in drug treatment, isn't that terrific. it's really terrific if we can then help them acquire education, skills, training, certainly housing on their way to full recovery. there's so much more work to be done. we're very pleased the overdose deaths declined. 68,000 of our fellow americans died last year from drug overdose. that's 68,000 too many. if you look at the super bowl this coming sunday, that number could be represented by every single seat with 3,000 left over at the super bowl this coming sunday, just to give you the actual enormity of the problem. we will continue to fight this every single day and we will continue to make the investments of money, of time, of education,

and with that, i'd love to turn this over to direct jim carroll of the office of national drug control policy and then admiral giroir, assistant secretary for health of the united states of america. thank you very much. jim? >> thank you, kellyanne. a couple years ago when president trump and i first talked about me taking the job as the director of the office of national drug control policy and serving as his drug czar, he instructed me to be relentless in our efforts to save lives. and that's exactly what we've done to tackle this drug problem here in the united states. the good news that we're announcing today is a testament to the president and his leadership on this issue. it's an example of what can happen when we come together and apply that whole-of-government approach. the obstacles we face could not be greater, but through our efforts on prevention, treatment and recovery, and reducing

availability, we've made real progress for the american people which we not only want to sustain, we want to accelerate. kellyanne discussed how we got here and what these numbers mean. admiral giroir will discuss the incredible headway we're making with getting people into treatment. but i want to highlight the progress that we have made with our international partners and our law enforcement who are critical in reducing the supply of these dangerous drugs. back at the g20 summit in 2018, president trump raised the issue of fentanyl production with the head of china and demanded a solution. he made it clear that the united states would not tolerate the flow of fentanyl and other deadly synthetic drugs coming into our country. because of this, in may 2019, china scheduled fentanyl and other similar analogs such as controlled substances, which was an historic and significant

event. last night, the house of representatives passed a 15-month extension on the ban and scheduling of fentanyl, but a long-term solution is still needed. in september of 2019, i led a white house delegation to beijing to ensure that china was keeping up with their commitment to president trump. the chinese government agreed to improve the legal framework, agreed to improve their standards for prosecution for fentanyl-related trafficking and established law enforcement methods there that were not heard of before. in every meeting i had with the chinese, my counterparts said they heard the president loud and clear, that the flow of fentanyl into the united states was not tolerated. since then, the chinese officials have invited our u.s. counterparts back there to watch the first ever prosecutions of chinese nationals for trafficking drugs into the

united states. this progress combined with president trump's commitment to secure our southwest border, which is critical to stopping the flow of drugs into our country, brings together several lines of effort that will serve to keep americans safe from the dangers of illicit drugs. a wall acts as a force multip multiplier for our border patrol agents and as one of the many tools we're using to counter drug traffickers. taking the steps toward the humantarian crisis at our southern border has also been critical to keeping those drugs out of the country. the more men and women we have in uniform, the more that we have online, the more that are stopping these traffickers, the greater chance we have of saving lives. the department of justice has played a critical role in this. as they have been cracking down in unprecedented numbers on drug

trafficke traffickers. under president trump t, the do has ramped up trafficking prosecutions not only here domestically but internationall has ramped up trafficking prosecutions not only here domestically but internationa y internationally. under this administration the u.s. treasure rdepartment made more kingpin designations against operators of distributors in foreign countries. the high-intensity drug trafficking areas that we fund out of the white house here that provides assistance to federal, state, and local drug task forces, has received unprecedented funding from this administration and that is beginning to show and is part of the paradigm shift that we're seeing. these hida initiatives, for example, have dismantled 3,000 drug trafficking organizations. they've removed $16.5 billion of illicit drugs off our streets and have made nearly 99,000 arrests of drug traffickers. in 2018 we even added for the

first time in 17 years the first new hida to make sure we're tackling this. the men and women of law enforcement, whether they're in uniform or not, are playing this vital role in putting their lives on the line every day. what this shows is the president's efforts are working and we are saving lives. before i turn this over to admiral giroir, i want to ask when you're reporting on this issue, that when you're reporting on these numbers, that numbers are really just part of the story. behind each of these numbers is a person, is a child, is a mom, a dad, someone whose loss has left a great mourning in a family. i was with three parents yesterday who had lost their child to an overdose. today, we remember jason, amber, and eddie, and all the other people that we have lost and we continue this fight in their honor to make sure that we fulfill the president's commitment to save american

lives. and with that, i'll turn it over to my friend, admiral giroir. >> thank you very much, director carroll. again, i'm brett giroir, assistant secretary for health at the department of health and human services. i'm also secretary azhar's principal adviser on opioid policy. i've been that for about two years and i'm honored to wear the uniform of the u.s. public health service commission corps. what we see today is no accident. this is the result of an intentional whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach to overuse -- to opioid use disorders and other substance use disorders. first of all, we recognize this as the public health emergency as it is, and as such, we've focused on many different areas to yield these results. first, as kellyanne said, the number of opioids that have been produced, the total amount of opioids that have been prescribed since january 2017 is reduced by 30% nationally.

and we have been able to do that while preserving and expanding options for pain control for those who truly are in chronic pain or have debilitating injuries. secondly, we've approached this as a public health emergency because addiction, opioid use disorder, is a chronic brain disease. we have unprecedented numbers of individuals who are now receiving treatment. our estimates are over 1.3 million individuals are now on medication-assisted treatment and they're also getting the psychobehavioral support and wraparound services that they need. you heard about neloxone. very, very important because everybody deserves a second chance at life. you have the power -- i hope all of you in the media carry nel o neloxone with you. you can save a life, give a person a second chance. this resulted in a decrease in the number of deaths and a 4.6% decrease in the actual overdose age adjusted mortality rate.

very important. a couple comments on the overall longevity. i have been shocked, everyone in the public health community has been shocked, that over the three years previously our longevity has decreased. that really means that our children and grandchildren will live less long and less quality of lives than we have. this is shocking and we have not seen this since the height of the aids epidemic in the '90s. this has been reversed. we're now on the trajectory of increasing years of longevity and that's associated with a number of things. what does that mean? it's only one-tenth of a year, but that's 25 million person years we just gained by this increase in longevity. and the good news is the preliminary data from quarter one and quarter two of 2019 is our mortality rates continue to drop. now, i want to talk about all the health and human services issues like treatment, like preprengs, bpr preventi prevention, but i do want to mention the social determinants of health are very important.

there was a nationwide study in december that highlighted what we all know. when an auto plant closes, opioid mortality rate among the young goes up 85%. we have to keep our eye on those socioeconomic issues and everything that we're doing to increase employment, increase opportunity. these all directly affect the rates that we see and celebrate today. and the final thing is, we are not taking our foot off the gas. we understand that this is a dynamic issue. opioid use disorder, oather use disorders. it's being fueled by transnational cartels. we're going to keep working together. we workweekly, daily, together across the government to make sure we continue a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach. >> any questions? >> kellyanne, couple of questions. how should we think about this moment? is this, in fact, a turning point? as you point out, the rate is still very high, but do you see this as a turning point?

i have a couple of other ones. >> sure. i'll have my colleagues speak to that as well, kristen. it's a turning point, and we hope it becomes a trend. so what we're doing is working, and it is a multifaceted approach, so i can't say it's just law enforcement and surveillance or customs and border protection, just a new treatment locator, just take-back day, more education, that tiny little body that bears the label of the local doctor and pharmacy that was prescribed to help someone could, in fact, be very dangerous in the wrong hands or even in your own hands if you're the prescribee. if you use it for purposes other than why it was prescribed. so we want to keep and redouble our efforts. . we certainly hope that we can count on continued bipartisan action and agreement on this because as i said earlier and i'll repeat here, hr-6 had every single democratic vote in the house and the senate, including all the people in the house and the senate running for president. so there is tremendous agreement and action on this issue because it affects every single district

and state. so we want to see the trendline. we recognize that the mortality rate -- excuse me, that the life expect tan city iancy is increae of strides in the drug space. we still have cancer, frankly. we know that suicides and flu, and flu combined with pneumonia, are keeping that rate down among other americans. but we're going to continue and we hope that we have -- we have what i call the horizontal and vertical government approach. horizontal horizontally, it's across state, federal and local, and vertically, i, you know, i call it -- in terms of the federal government apparatus, to have 13 or 14 departments and agencies actively engaged on this, ones you'd expect like hhs, fda, nih, cdc, samsa certainly, but also veterans affairs, veterans administration, dhs, state department has been very helpful, doe apartmeepartment o

obviously. also department of labor and department of educate and department of interior to help with rural and tribal america. we feel like we have a protocol that helped us get to this point of progress. >> if you want to weigh in on that one, i do have one on the coro coronavirus. >> it absolutely is a turning point. we have to look at the complexity of the problem. some states still have increasing rates of death. most states have decreasing rates of death. we now know that prescription opioid overdoses that cause death are really down tremendously as a result of our work. down 13% in 2018 and they continue to decline. the newest data says cocaine is starting to level off, but we still have issues with fentanyl. it used to be up 30% to 40% year over year. now it's up under 10% so we're making progress, but we're all worried about the next wave which is evolving and that is psychostimulants or methamphetamine. those continue to increase across the nation. they're being driven almost

entirely by transnational mexican cartels and we have been on that problem for about a year right now. so, yes, we're at a turning point, but this is a dynamic rapidly evolving crisis. >> and -- >> go ahead. >> to follow up, i think one of the things that make this a turning point, to give hope to people suffering from an addicti addiction. for them to come forward and realize there are, in fact, life-saving measures they can take and we can help them to get on the path to recovery. the prevention programs we fund like through our drug-free community programs, the efforts that we're making to get people the help that they need and to also -- while we're striking hope in the minds of people who have an addiction, we're striking fear in those who want to traffic and will look to other legitimate opportunities instead of turning to selling drugs in our country. >> just a quick question on the other big health news of the day. has the white house ruled out stopping flights into and out of china? can you update us on any conversations going on related to that?

>> so there's a new task force that's been created. it's being led by secretary of health and human services, alex azhar. as you are probably aware, the president was briefed yesterday in the situation room. i've been a part of those staff-level briefings, senior staff-level briefings, and i won't make an announcement about that right now. i will say that we're all very relieved and happy and heartened to see what happened with the flight of the 201 or so americans who landed in anchorage and then california. so we will continue to monitor the situation, as you know, and i think that secretary azhar had a few interviews just this morning, maybe addressed this as well. >> a second flight this week? >> i don't want to comment on than. >> kellyanne -- >> i have just sort of two. i wanted to follow up on that one. do you know what the president has spoken to president xi about this situation with the coronavirus? but i also have a follow-up on

fentanyl and the overdose deaths. >> well, the president has tweeted about his -- about president xi, i believe last week or maybe earlier this week. you can see that. obviously, we've offered assistance and, obviously, we are also monitoring the fact that other countries now have cases and in this -- i think that's all i'll say right now. the cdc director and dr. fouchy, they're all very involved, and admiral giroir, maybe you want to address that, or you don't. we're monitoring -- the president is briefed daily on this. and yesterday in the situation room. so i'm going to leave it at that. >> okay. and my follow-up on the issue of overdose deaths, as you mentioned, fentanyl is up and there are a number of other overdose areas involving drugs that are up as well. i'm not asking for a silver bullet, but if you were to pick out two or three pieces of

policy that might bring down those numbers, what would it be? >> so let me say that not only does it make common sense, but the academic community has proven that there is no such thing as a silver bullet to this issue. that there has to be multimodal approaches that span prevention, that span treatment, and, again, i'm a pediatric intensive care doctor. i use fentanyl every day on suffering children in the icu. in microgram quantities. this is coming into our country in hundreds of pounds, thousands of pounds, potentially, so we have to have a law enforcement component. overall, i would say we have to treat this as a public health emergency, which we do. addiction, i'd rather use "use disorders" as a more appropriate term, is a chronic brain disease. once you have that chronic brain disease, it is very difficult, but possible to treat, but it requires medication treatment and all the supporting services

we have. so a combination of prevention, stop it before it happens, get people into treatment, and that's reduction of stigma across the board. this is a disease. you need treatment. and then, again, all the kinds of follow-ups that we're doing on a national level. >> kellyanne, can you speak to what the administration believes -- what more the administration believes needs to be done to address this crisis, particularly what should we expect to see in the president's forthcoming budget in terms of any additional programs? >> sure. well, thank you. and just in the issue, we're happy last night really at the 11th hour, it was set to expire february 6th, but the congress took action. it's todis appoinappointing 86 voted against it . that's a no-brainer, considering they were all onboard with the larger compilation of dozens of dozens of bills that became hr-6 that included several different

focuses on fentanyl. reduction handling analysis and the like. so we hope that we can, again, notwithstanding anything else that's happening, count on everyone to belly-up and help. i think we also need to -- to admiral giroir oor's point, we' concerned about the fourth wave of the drug crisis, meth. we hear from law enforcement routinely that whereas they're whacking the moles of fentanyl more and more, up pops meth more and more and i think to some extent, heroin as well. one thing i would say is in the states that have the good samaritan laws where if i'm driving the car, my friend is overdosing, perhaps i have also used with that friend. in the past, i basically pull up to the emergency room and the blueing friend starts rolling out the door, i pull away because i'm afraid of being

prosecuted. that doesn't happen in many of these states now where you won't be prosecuted, in fact, both people will go in and try to get some services. i think so much of it is education. . the incomplete, underwhelming coverage of this issue, is probably something i would want to solve with you in that we don't -- you draw the concentric circles around those lost lives, the dozens and dozens, hundreds of people affected beyond that one lost life. it's also making sure law enforcement, customs and border protection, local sheriffs, ports our entry, and between our ports of entry where increasingly last year customs and border protection did interdict these poisonous drugs. i think respecting the fact that making sure they have more respect and better resources and also, i think for all the things that we're teaching our kids in

the formal curriculum in school today, i'm speaking as a mom of four school-aged children, it would be terrific if on a volunteer basis, even, educational programs like this were more incorporated into the formal curricula and/or for after-school programs or with the local law enforcement or health professionals. this should absolutely be included because they are in the line of peril. all of them. this is indiscriminate. and so i think the treatment and recovery -- one thing i'll mention, didn't get mentioned today because there's so much to talk about, be ut one of the bi things that happened in this administrati administration, i believe it was granted -- up to 22? >> 27. >> 27. it's really remarkable. was it four when he got here? four states or so. up to 27 states. this ind 1115 exclusion has occurred. this is really helping people get into treatment because that was a ban on mental institutions keeping people too long. it existed for 40 years. and it had a lot of merit for that reason. but it had a cruel -- the cruel

irony, the cruel result of it was long waiting list for treatment and empty beds. so we have granted -- we now have as a government, as a nation, 27, more than half the states, have a waiver so that you can treat that 17th to 50th to 60th person in your facility and still count on medicaid reimbursement. and i'll also say something about the veterans. the president took action several months ago on veteran suicides. he's always been very concerned about that. we are taking action as a government also on opioid and other drug misuse disorder among our veterans. i visited the cleveland veterans administration, for example, not the cleveland clinic but for the veterans across the street from there, and i was really struck by how there and other place, but by way of example, pain management may not mean pain medication. they're trying other protocols first. they're doing raking, swimming,

yoga, other less addictive drugs to help our veterans. so i think looking at each and every department, asking them what they're doing, it's unusual for the department of education, department of labor, to be so solved, but they are. labor has all these dis -- dr. giroir can speak about the factories for a moment. we know if you lose your job because of a substance use disorder, you lose your job because you tested positively for drugs, for many americans, you also lose your hope of recovery. i visited a great place called belden, b-e-l-d-e-n, industries. by way of example. with dr. adams and surging general and then-secretary alabor alex acosta in indiana where belden is one of many examples where you fail a drug test, instead of you failing your job immediately, they hold a job for you but agree to go into immediate treatment and work with the local hospital, they work with the local community college to make sure you keep your skills and education up and that job is waiting for you when you are ready to reassimilate.

again, the government far too often pats itself on the back, oh, look at all the numbers. director carroll and admiral giroir said it beautifully and brilliantly, these aren't just numbers, these are people. you want to help these people reassimilate into society. if they qualify for skills education, unemployment opportunities, housing opportunities, we want to be able to connect them with that information. so that's a very lengthy answer because we have to -- i would never just say treatment and recovery which was the emphasis of the last administration. just, oh, we can arrest and punish our way out of it. no, we can't. that would be a ridiculous idea and thankfully this president agrees with that and we can't just say to people, gee, don't start. what about all the people who are already there? >> kellyanne, can i ask a question -- >> and then -- >> thank you so much. >> i'm sorry. >> oh, thank you, kellyanne. can you walk us through the life expectancy increase, what are

the numbers, what factors contributed to that, also how do americans fare with other people in the world. admiral, since you're going to take this, i have another question for you on corona. >> the life expectancy data, again, this reverses a three to four-year trend in a loss of life expectancy. some of the components that resulted in the increase expe expectancy was a reduction in cancer mortality, a reduction in unintentional deaths and that really deals with overdoses primarily but also things like car crashes. there was also, though, a reduction in cardiovascular mortality, reduction in alzheimer's mortality, so it was very broad across many causes of death. there was also a 4.8% decrease in homicides in 2018. so these are all positive factors. the negative factors, the only ones that were there, were an increase in suicides which the

administration has been incredibly attentive to with many new programs rolling out and also influenza. again, we talk about coronavirus and we need to talk about that, but remember, over 8,000 americans have died this year of influen influen influenza. how do we rate? we still don't rate very well compared to the rest of the developed world. certainly the last few years have lowered our ratings. as i said, we continue -- our morality rate in 2019 continues to really plummet and i do want to make the case, we talk about these outcomes as if it's all medical care. medical care is very important, but about 80% of health zwroouts in the united states are due to social determinants of health and behavior. it's really the economy. it's the jobs. it's smoking. it's alcohol and other use. so 80% of our outcomes are expected to be -- to come from those -- those kinds of impacts. >> and what is the number? >> pardon me? >> what is the life expectancy?

>> the life expectancy is 78.6 years. and that's life expectancy in the united states right now. women live about five years longer than men. and that's been common across the board. so women, i think, are 81.2, if i'm correct, and men are five years less than that. so, again, it seems like a small increase, an increase of a tenth of a year, but when you look at a tenth of a year across 300 million americans, it's really 25 million life years of increased life expectancy and, again, this is against three years of loss in life expectancy since we haven't seen since the early '90s. >> on coronavirus, how confident are you that it can be contained at this point, and what is the white house's plan, contingency plan, in case it is not? >> well, i will say that this is an all-hands-on-deck effort. there's tremendous leadership from the white house. secretary azhar and director redfield for the cdc.

the assistant secretary, bob cadillac. again, resources have been put to airports. we're doing screening. the commission corps of the public health service has been deployed to support the repatriation mission as well as the airport screening. and, again, this is no cause for urgent panic in any way in the united states. this is currently under control, but really, this is a dynamic, rapidly changing event, and, you know, the news can change at any given moment. but the resources are deployed. the government's mobilized and we feel confident and we know the steps to take right now to contain it. and you know everything else. we have good diagnostics now by the cdc. the nih already has candidate vaccines as well as many other individuals. that is a result of dozens of years of medical research to get us to the point of being rapid. >> kellyanne, i know you wear so many hats, we're lucky to have you because you have an attorney cap as well. i have to ask whether you agree with alan dershowitz's argument

that every politician weaves their public -- their private interests in with public interests and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. >> i actually am not going to discuss politics from the podium, so i will tell you i was very struck by his argument that no one is above the law including the congress, but just generally speaking, i think we'll leave what else is going on on capitol hill to capitol hill today and our crack group of attorneys who are doing an amazing job of not preening for the cameras and not being partisan politicians, frankly, but lawyers, effectively, in a courtroom speaking to the jury and speaking to the american people. so i'll leave that there, but i'm not going to address the political aspect of that from the podium. >> admiral, in addition -- >> thank you. admiral, two questions. first, two weeks ago, the administration announced that it was repealing a number of rules that required social service

providers that receive federal funding to -- religious in nature -- to refer people who might not be interested in faith-based approaches to secular outside approaches to secular outside organizations. is that going -- has there been any discussion or study as to whether that will make it more difficult for some people, religious minorities or other vulnerable groups, to receive drug treatment. and the second, last year attorney general barr criticized prosecutors who, for instance, declined to prosecute low level drug possession crimes as social justice reformers who let criminals off the hook and said they're demother liezing to law enforcement and dangerous to public safety. is that disdain for declaring to

prosecute in favor of steering people into treatment consistent with the scientific literature? >> do you want to take the prosecution question? i'll just say that i work on a regular basis with doj, with dea, and at the leadership level there is absolutely no distance between us in approaching this as a public health issue. it doesn't make sense to put a person with a use disorder who has been using because of their addiction into long-term incarceration without treatment. it makes absolute sense for me to get the people who are pushing tons of methamphetamine to our youth across the country to get them behind bars as soon as possible. but i'll let director carroll because he deals with the law enforcement -- i'll come back to that. >> what we know is that drug courts work for people that have an addiction. we're able to push people and

hold their hand and get them into treatment if they are suffering from the disease of addiction. what is so disheartening is that when there are prosecutors or judges out there that don't take seriously the people's addiction is to greed. the only thing they care about is lining their pockets and preying on the victims that do have a substance abuse disorder. those are the people we need to target. that's what the department of justice is doing, that's what the prosecutors across the country are doing. the people in jail we support with record funding from the white house, and putting them in federal courts as well to make sure people who have an addiction are not the ones that are going to jail. >> and just the comment, i want to make it clear that this administration stands to treat all people who were in need. i have the privilege of running/ending the hiv epidemic. presidential priority announced

at the state of the union last year. and we provide care to everyone, regardless of who they are, where they are, what circumstances they are, and we'll continue to support that. that is the humane thing to do, and that is the position of the administration. >> wouldn't that make it more difficult for some people to seek treatment if they -- if the only treatment facility in their area is a faith-based one and they won't refer to somewhere that might be more comfortable? >> so, we work with all communities. i think faith-based providers have an important -- have an important -- component in this, particularly in wrap around service. for opioid use disorder, m.a.t. is the standard of care. but m.a.t. if you don't have a job or a place to live or a welcoming community is not the entire solution. all those things are important. we'll continue to study and make sure there are no adverse events. we want everyone to be treated. that's the core administration

policy. >> another follow up question -- >> one quick thing to add. i would point you to findtreatment.gov also. we worked on that for years and it's the first overhaul. it used to generate quantity. if you put in your zip code, it would say look at the 400 facilities you would go to and people shut it down. how do i find the one right for me? you can customize it by any number of criteria, whether you're a veteran, male or female, lgbt, inpatient, outpatient, temporary, longer term, type of insurance, medicaid, medicare, no insurance. i would also point you to that because that is a new tool for every american to k assess and they are doing it. yes, ma'am? >> thank you so much. i want to know how high do you think is the reach of coronavirus spreading in the u.s.? and do you think this could be a global emergency since we just saw the numbers surface -- the

number from sars from 2003 and 2002. >> it's hard to take theoreticals because it is a rapidly emerging and rapidly changing environment. there has been at least of this situation this morning, there's been no person to person transmission within the united states. there clearly has been person to person transmission in china, but there has been no person to person transmission. there's screening and isolation going on and we certainly hope that continues. but to sort of project what's going to happen over the next couple of weeks, it's a dynamic situation. all the resources are in place. the situation rooms are in place. the operation centers are in place. we have cdc deployed. we're working with the world health organization, my health organization is deploying in support of the repatriation missions as well as the airport screenings. and there will be updates on a regular basis from secretary

azar, my boss, who is leading the effort. >> i have a coronavirus question if you don't mind. you talk about the importance of combatting what potentially becomes serious. one of the president's cabinet members this morning referenced it could be good for jobs in the united states. i wonder if you find that helpful and what you suggest to public officials as they talk about this. >> i don't have any knowledge of the comments this morning. >> i didn't see that. i'm sorry. >> can i just ask really quickly. in terms of the evacuations of u.s. personnel, i know it's already happened with respect to wuhan, but will the u.s. government give diplomatic personnel throughout china the option of leaving their post? >> i would refer you to the state department. >> some numbers. can you give us an update on how far the post office has gotten in compliance. i think they have to screen all

packages or refuse them by the end of the year. are they close to getting there? >> it's going from zero. if you go to the jfk facility, if you ever want to take a field trip to jfk airport, you'll see how few packages are screened coming in from china and elsewhere. but the stop act essentially means that foreign origin packages now must have sender, recipient, and contents listed on them. third parties have been doing that for a long time, ups, fedex, et cetera. so, the u.s. postal service needs to get on board with that. the last numbers were in the 35 percentile, and we're on our way to it needs to be 100% at some point. we're pleased 16 months into the stop act, maybe less was signed into law, we're at 37%. but jim can lead with that. >> i would love to lead the delegation at the jfk or other ones to show you what customs and border protection are up

against. what we need is additional capital, additional investments from congress to make sure we have the technology. what we have seen is the president attacking this at the core, at the countries where it's coming from. so, as i said at the beginning we do have a dramatic reduction in the amount of fentanyl that is coming in the mail from china. so, that is helping at the outset. while we continue to develop the resources, technology to tackle it at the facilities themselves. >> you think you're a long way off. are they going to get there? the law says what the law says. can they comply? >> that's our goal. >> just quickly, none of us mentioned the first of their kind fentanyl advisories which we issued as an administration in august. that included the department of the treasury and others. essentially we're trying to show the private sector how easy it is to disrupt and divert their otherwise legitimate supply chain. so, we gave first of their kind advisories on the movement, the

money, the manufacturing and the marketing by these fentanyl traffickers who are very clever because you could have a couple of blocks of fentanyl in your otherwise legitimate supply chain. we're dealing with the private sector. they're more aware of how they can be unwittingly helping this come into the country. >> on the coronavirus, do you have any evidence or information about the china's use for biological weapons for coronavirus? >> i have no comment on that whatsoever. >> u.s. officials should have more cooperation with china in order to get coronavirus under control. is there any sign that china's wanting to have more cooperation? and how are those negotiations going? >> well, i'd really refer you to secretary azar, but there's been at least our perception a high degree of cooperation with

china. and there's ongoing requests for assistance, and i would refer you to dr. redfield who runs the cdc for that. >> one other question, your former coworker john kelly says he believes john bolton. what do you make of john kelly's statements saying that he believes john bolton? >> well, i respect general kelly enormously. and like him personally. i don't know what he's referring to so i can't answer. in other words, that's just -- i believe john bolton -- i've not seen a manuscript and i will tell you -- >> president trump directly tied the aid to ukraine. >> he didn't say that. >> that's what john bolton said. >> did john bolton say that or are we talking about an unpublished manuscript? >> john bolton said -- >> where? where did john bolton say that? >> he said that in front of a number of people -- >> where did ambassador john bolton say that? no, no, no, back up. where did ambassador john bolton

say that? >> it was in front of cameras. everybody saw it? >> john bolton or john kelly. >> john kelly said that in front of cameras. >> where did john bolton say that? you're not answering my question. i can't answer your question unless i understand it. >> it's a clear question. >> it's not clear at all. >> john bolton said in his book -- >> is that what you're talking about, an unpublished manuscript as reported by "the new york times"? i'm asking you what he's referring to. >> john kelly was talking about that as well? >> i don't know that to be true and neither do you. in other words, i don't know what john kelly was referring to. i'm asking you what did john bolton say this week in advance of general kelly's comments? what did he say? i didn't see him say anything. i hear about unpublished manuscripts that i haven't seen and you haven't either. you want me to answer a hypothetical -- >> why don't you just answer what do you make of john kelly

commenting that if the manuscript is true, then he believes john bolton. >> if the manuscript is true. >> yeah. >> you want me to answer a hypothetical. >> i believe john bolton. what do you make of john kelly saying those words? >> i don't make anything of it. >> you don't make anything of it? >> no, i will tell you you guys couldn't stop -- i know where you work. day after day, you appear there. day after day after day, you know what you talked with john kelly. he was on his way out. he was the next one to be fired. he started do that. there's a political article in october of 2017 about six weeks after he took the job. that person has moved on to a different outlet now. but it was still a ridiculous article. for a year and a half while he was on the job, the main story about general kelly was he was going to be on his way out. now you want me to answer a question i haven't talked to general kelly about this or ambassador bolton about this. and i'm not going to comment, particularly from the podium, in

a press briefing room on a hypothetical -- on a leaked, unpublished manuscript that i haven't seen. i hope it doesn't include classified information. and i know there's always this rush to put credibility on whomever you think is against the president at that moment. if it's not michael cohen, it's michael avenue na ty. if it's not him it's lev parnas. so, that's a hypothetical. >> my question is what do you think of general kelly's comments. >> i told you what i think of general kelly. i respect him and i like him. you're asking me to comment on -- he said i believe john bolton. i don't know what he's referring to when he says that and neither do you. >> kellyanne, in the state of the union address -- >> just a question about -- responded to mr. bolton's attorneys urgent request that you review the chapter on ukraine so he can use it if he is called as soon as next week to use it.

>> i tell you what the president of the united states is doing. in addition to eliminating from the face of the earth dangerous terrorists, completing two trade deals, continuing to reshape the judiciary, keeping this unbelievable economy going and that's why his approval rating is at its highest point ever in his presidency according to some polls if not reported by your outlets, he is helping to bring the overdose death rate down and to improve the life expectancy. he's focused on those types of thing. he will go to michigan today to -- and i believe an automanufacturing plant and then to des moines, iowa. that's what he's doing. the idea that we should stop what we're doing to review somebody's book strikes me as not a big priority in my view for the president. and so -- >> he could be a key witness in the trial if witnesses are called next week. >> you would hope so, wouldn't you. but anyway, i -- again, if, if,

if -- hypotheticals, i'm not answering them. here's what i know to be real. 68,000 americans died last year of a drug overdose. that's why we're here. i'm happy to answer your questions as you full well know, but i've got to stick to reality and not hypotheticals and frankly wishful thinking. >> are you confident you have the votes to prevent witnesses? >> can i ask you a question? different health topic. the pentagon announced this week that the number of victims, u.s. service members with traumatic brain injuries went up to 50 from 34 from dozens before that. the president said recently that he considers that to be not very serious injuries. you as a health professional, do you agree with that assessment? >> i can't comment. i do not know any of the details of the traumatic brain injuries on the dod side. it can be mild to very serious. it depends. i don't know what the dod

injures are. i have not seen those. >> last question. >> on the state of the union address next week, there's a big issue for you, opioid abuse, opioid addiction, it's a priority for the president. will he make it a part of the state of the union address next week? >> he will. i'll have to check for sure, but that'll make the third consecutive year he has. we've had guests in the first lady's box like little baby hope two years ago who was adopted by a police officer and his wife in arizona after said police officer saw this woman using drugs, visibly pregnant, i think it was behind a shopping center. he said to her you're hurting yourself and you're hurting your baby. and he and his wife adopted baby hope. they were in -- also i would remind you this is a huge part of the first lady's be best initiative and the work that she does. i think she has single handedly helped raise awareness and funding for neonatal abstinence

syndrome. and happy to report, we also see decline in counties in the state of maine and across appalachia in the number of neonatal abstinence syndrome babies being born or getting into treatment right away. while we're on the topic, i think what we're talking about today is part of the president's overall health care vision because he's done things like improve kidney health initiative. we're alts going to be doing maternal mortality which is way up in this country. the highest -- one of the highest in developed countries. and in increasing. we're working on rural care. and i think the country wants to have another protracted conversation or argument about health insurance and health care. we want to put the health care back in health care which means improving health outcomes and curing disease. that's why we're here today. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you.

clerk will call the roll. >> mr. cohen. >> aye. >> there are 23 ayes and 17 noes. >> the article is agreed to. >> article 1 is adopted. >> afforded more rights to jesus that the democrats have afforded this president. >> the president's crimes are impeachable. >> because you just don't like the guy. you didn't like him since november of 2016. >> make it be very clear that this president will be held accountable, that no one is above the law. >> and the question is now whether senator mcconnell will allow a fair trial in the senate. >> madame president, the house's hour is over. the senate's time is at hand. >> each of us will face a choice

about whether to begin this trial in search of the truth or in the service of the president's desire to cover up. >> do you solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of impeachment of donald john trump, president of the united states, now pending -- >> you will do impartial justice to the constitution and laws so help you god. >> since the president was sworn into office, there was a desire to see him removed. >> the impeachment of president trump. watch unfiltered coverage of the senate trial on c-span2 live with same day reairs. follow the process on demand at c-span.org/impeachment. and listen on the go using the free c-span radio app. the first votes of campaign 2020 are just days away.

watch our unfiltered coverage of the iowa caucuses live monday as we follow the candidates on the campaign trail, take you inside caucus voting sites, and show live caucus results begins at 7:30 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org, or listen with the free c-span radio app. experts and academics from the jewish community including jonathan greenblatt testified on the rise of anti-semitism in the u.s. before the house homeland security subcommittee on intelligence and counterterrorism. witnesses discussed the role social media and big tech has played in fostering hateful rhetoric and what can be done to combat antesemitism on a national and global level.