big in south carolina and two of the major candidates dropping out and endorsing him are newsworthy events. cover,e press decides to and the press is not a monolithic thing either, that can determine which candidates are in the spotlight. i have seen a lot of complaints from elizabeth warren supporters that she does not get the coverage she deserves. i think a lot of candidates who >> we'll leave this and go live to a news conference with federal reserve chairman powell. >> bringing that range to one to 1.25%. my colleagues and i took this action to help the u.s. economy keep strong in the face of new risks to the economic outlook. the fundamentals of the u.s. economy remain strong.

the unemployment rate has been near half century lows for well more than a year. job gains have been solly lid and wages have been rising. strong labor market conditions have underpinned solid household spending which has been the key driver of economic growth over the past year. at the time of our meeting in january, prospects for continued economic growth remain favorable and we judged that monetary policy was well positioned to support that outlook. since then, the spread of the coronavirus has brought new challenges and risks. the virus has affected many around the world and our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been harmed. the outbreak has disrupted economic activity in many countries an prompted significant movement in financial markets . the virus and measures being take ton contain it will surely weigh on economic activity here and abroad for some time. we are beginning to see the

effects on the tourism and travel industries and we are hearing concerns from industries that rely on global supply chains. the magnitude and persistence of overall effects on the economy, however, remain highly uncertain and the situation remains a fluid one. against this background, the committee judged that the risks to the u.s. outlook have changed materially. in response we have eased the stance of monetary policy to provide some more support to the economy. of course the ultimate solutions to this challenge will come from others, particularly health professionals. we can and will do our part, however, to keep the u.s. economy strong as we meet this challenge. as always, our actions are guided by our congressional mandate to promote maximum employment and price stability. in the weeks and months ahead we will continue to closely monitor developments for the economic outlook and use our tools and act as appropriate to support

the economy. thank you and i'll be happy to ake a few questions. reporter: thank you. two questions. first what changed between last many of your colleagues thought it was too soon to tell about the outlook, what changed between last week and today? and how much confidence do you have that there will be a quick and relatively complete recovery of economic activity after the peak of this virus has passed? chairman powell: what changed. of course we've been carefully monitoring the situation since it first became known. and waiting to see how it would evolve. we have come to the view now that it is time for us to act in support of the economy and once you reach that decision, we decided to go ahead. so what changed really was over

the course of the last couple of weeks we have seen a broader sprofede the virus, seen it begin to spread a bit here in the united states. but for us what really matters, of course, is not the epidemiology but the risk to the economy. so we saw a risk to the outlook for the economy and coach to -- and chose to act. in terms of my confidence that we'll return to -- what was your question? reporter: how do you expect this to -- the economy to recover from this? do you see it as a persistent decline in activity or something relatively temporary and short lived? chairman powell: i don't think anybody knows how long it will be. i know the u.s. economy is strong and i fully expect we'll return to solid growth and a olid labor market as well. the speaker pro tempore: you said that the ultimate solutions will come from others and i have two questions about that. first is this a coordinated --

part of a coordinated action with other central banks and should we be expecting to see more as part of that? second, what would you like to see from american fiscal policymakers in response to these new threats? chairman powell: first question, we're in active discussion with banks around the world on an ongoing basis as you would guess. i have been in contact with central bank leaders from around the world that will continue. central banks are doing what makes sense in their particular institutional context but we're all talking to each other on an ongoing basis. our action today represents what we think is the right policy for us in our particular individual context under our domestic mandate. you saw this morning's g-7 statement of finance ministers and governors, i think that statement does reflect coordination at a high level in the form of a commitment to use all available tools including health care policy, fiscal poll sained monetary policy as

appropriate. so in terms of fiscal policy, not our role. we have a full plate with monetary policy. not our role to give advase to monetary policymakers but you saw the mention of the gmbing-7 statement as appropriate as ell. reporter: the g-7 seemed indicate -- i'm sorry. the g-7 statement seemed to indicate that policymakers would use tools that were not going to do anything imminent. does this contradict that? or is it in keeps with the actions, the statement by the g-7 this morning? and can i ask what would cause you to make -- take another step, what would you be looking for in terms of economic outlook for data? chairman powell: the sense of

the g-7 is to -- we have seven country obviously and different policies, different situations, different mandates, a lot of overlap. the sense of that is to get together as a group and say these are the things we're going to do we're going to use our tools. all of our tools, to try to support the economy. that's a state ofment general support. i think within that, you will see actions, you've seen our action, and i think it's up to individual countries, individual fiscal policies and individual central banks to do what they're going to do. i would think it would be, it's possible there will be some more formal coordination as we move forward. in terms of -- in terms of moving forward, i would say that we do like our current policy stance. think it's appropriate to support our dual mandate goals.

but as i said we're pre35eured to use our tools and act appropriately depending on the flow. reporter: is there anything you're watching that would change it? chairman powell: i can't point to any one thing, it's always a range of things. reporter: i'm concerned about edit markets and insolsen -- insolvencies or defaults as a result of the coronavirus. are you talk about this? are we likely to see emergency provisions from the c.r.a. activated or things you normally do during a hurricane or that type of disruption to the economy? chairman powell: we don't see any of that happening yet, we are thinking about what should do should those things happen. the economy continues to perform well. we do hear concerns particularly from those most directly exposed.

but there's nothing in that nature, financial markets are functioning in an orderly manner and that sort of thing. i think when it comes to those sorts of issues, though, we will be, the supervisors will be working with banks to ensure ey work with their borrowers and that sort of thing. i can imagine us doing those sorts of things but those are not upon us at the moment. reporter: thank you. has the committee discussed any other monetary policy tools in addition to rate cuts and the pacing and timing of when they might be appropriate? chairman powell: we're in the middle of a review of all of our tools. if you go back a few meetings, we talk about what our tool kit is, and we put that in the mins. but currently no. we came to the view that it was appropriate to make a change and id that today.

reporter: thank you very much for having the press conference. can you talk -- take us through the reasoning behind the rate cut a little more in depth? was this supply-side shock? rate cuts are not particularly suitable for this, others say the supply side cut -- i wonder if you could give us more depth on the reasoning behind the rate cut? thank you. chairman powell: sure, i'd be glad. to the virus outbreak is something that will require a multifaceted response and that response will come in the first instance from health care professionals and health policy experts. it will also come from fiscal authorities, should they determine a response is appropriate. it could come from many other public and private sector actors, businesses, schools, state and local goffs. but there's also a rule for monetary policy monetary policy can be an effective tool to support overall economic activity. we do recognize a rate cut will not reduce the rate of

infection, won't fix a broken supply chain. we get that we don't think we have all the answers. we do believe it will provide a meaningful boost to the economy. it will support financial conditions, avoid tightening financial conditions. it will boost household and business confidence. you're seeing central banks around the world functioning as they see appropriate in a articular institution. reporter: can you tell us what you would do if the virus ends up being contained fairly quickly. would you envision the fed actually raising rates in shorted orer if the economic damage doesn't occur the way that you potentially fear? and a second question, which is, president trump was just tweeting about you this morning, talking about the fed needs to cut rates. did you feel any political pressure to make this move?

chairman powell: on your first question, we'll always assess monetary policy in a given time in a way we think best serve ours dual mandate goals, it's as simple as that. if we get to a place where with think it's an appropriate time to change the stance of monetary policy we won't hesitate to do that. i would also say that it's very important that people understand that we will always make our decisions based on the best thinking we have, based on our -- what we learned from our outreach to miss, nonprofits, educational institutions that we get every cycle through the reserve banks and the best analysis, best veck. we'll always make our decisions in the interest of the american people to carry forward and try to achieve the mandays that congress has given us. we're never going to consider any political considerations whatsoever. we will not do that and it's

very important that the public understand that. reporter: i know you mentioned a little bit of outreach, some of the fed bank presidents were talking about how much they'd listen to tacts have you gotten reports from contacts, nonprofits and so forth, that have affected your decision making? what are you hearing from those folks? thank you. chairman powell: so we are hearing, ill just say, the effects are at a very early stage. but you are hearing concerns from people, for example, in the travel business or the hotel business and things like that. that's what you're hearing. you don't see things showing up in actual data. you do see them showing up in sentiment forecast indicaters and things like that. we expect that will continue. it will probably grow. that's one of the reasons why we have come to the view that it

would be appropriate for us to make a move to support the economy. that's what we've done. hanks very much. >> wrapping up with fed chair jerome powell responding to the coronavirus. we have a special webpage set up at c-span.org/coronavirus where you can see conversations and hearings we've aired about the virus. go to c-span.org/coronavirus. we continue with live coverage, we take you to capitol hill to hear from treasury secretary mnuchin answering questions at a house budget committee hearing. the ways and means committee chaired by richard neal. >> at the end of the day you can th