president pence except their party's nomination. aginning monday at 10:00 --9:00 apm 9:00 p.m. eastern. watch live on c-span, live streaming and on-demand at c-span.org, or listen with the free c-span radio app. before the convention's evening session, watch c-span at 6:00 p.m. eastern for past convention speeches by prominent politicians. watch past convention speeches at the start of the republican national convention monday, only on c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. this afternoon can mop president trump held a news

conference on the federal response to the coronavirus. he also spoke about the california wildfires. the federal government has

already deployed over 26,001st responders and personnel to battle the wildfires. we are working very closely with ae governor and closely with lot of great state representatives and local representatives. we will take care of the situation. 26,001st responders already. our hearts go out to the thousands of families who have lost their homes. we grieve for the families of two first responders. and five residents who have wrist their lives. it's been a very horrific fire. one of the biggest we have ever seen. my administration is also closely monitoring hurricane marco and tropical storm laura, which are coming in rapidly. hurricane marco is expected to make landfall in louisiana tomorrow, and tropical storm laura is expected to hit louisiana two days later. this is somewhat unprecedented. the scope of the storms, and also the fact that they come so

quickly after another. both storms have the potential of gathering strength before the make landfall and could cause significant damage across the gulf also in puerto rico. we have everybody stationed and ready to go in puerto rico and the gulf coast. and we have tremendous, tremendous people. we have -- fema is lined up, and we have the coast guard ready. the coast guard has done a fantastic job. they do so many -- they do such good work. we want to thank our great coast guard. i am asking all americans in the storm's path to follow the instructions of your state and local governments very closely. i have approved emergency declarations for puerto rico as well as louisiana. fema is mobilized on the ground and is ready to help. they will in there very quickly. very quickly. i spoke to governor john bel edwards also of louisiana. and i've informed him, and at his request also, a major

disaster declaration is signed and ready to go. we have everybody ready in puerto rico, the gulf coast, louisiana, and also in the forest fires in california. so we have a great team. unfortunately, we have some very, very powerful natural disasters. on the therapeutics front, this is what i've been looking to do for a long time, this is a great thing. today, i am pleased to make a truly historic announcement in our battle against the china virus that will save countless lives. the fda has issued an emergency use authorization, and that's such a powerful term, emergency use authorization, for a treatment known as convalescent plasma. this is a powerful therapy that transfuse is very, very strong

-- transfuses very, very strong antibodies from the blood of recovered patients to help treat patients battling a current infection. it's had an incredible rate of success. today's action will dramatically expand access to this treatment. i want to thank dr. han and secretary azar. i want to thank the fda, all the people that have been working hard on this. it showed tremendous potential. this is the only possible, and it is only made possible because of operation warp speed. that is, everybody working together. we are years ahead of approvals, we would be, if we went by the speed levels of past administrations. we would be two, three years behind where we are today, and that includes vaccines that you are going to be hearing about very soon, very shortly. we are removing unnecessary barriers and delays, not by

cutting corners, but my marshaling the full power of the federal government. we provided $48 million to fund the mayo clinic study that tested the efficacy of convalescent plasma to patients with the virus. through this study, over 100,000 americans have already enrolled to receive this treatment, and it is proven to reduce mortality by 35%. it's a tremendous number. the fda, m.i.t., harvard, and mount sinai hospital have also found convalescent plasma to be a very effective method of fighting this horrible disease. based on the science and the data, the fda has made the independent determination that the treatment is safe and very effective. recently, we provided up to $270 million to the american red cross and america's blood centers to support the collection of up to 360,000 units of plasma.

in late july, we launched a nationwide campaign to ask patients who have recovered, and these are patients who have been incredible the way they have donated, but these are people recovered from the virus to donate plaza. since then, weekly plasma donations have doubled. today, i once again urge all americans who have recovered from the virus to go to coronavirus.gov and sign up and donate plasma today, please. it's been, really, an incredible -- just incredible people. the country has united so strongly behind us. i will go over the numbers but -- i will go over the numbers, but if you look at what has happened, and the success that we have had the people do not talk about, the united states has experienced the lowest case

fatality rate of any major company in the world. you don't hear that. the european union's case fatality rate is estimated to be three times higher than that in the united states. europe has seen 33% more fatalities compared to a typical nonpandemic year than the united states. i just want to ask two of our people, who have done such a fantastic job, alex azar and stephen hahn, to say a few words. stephen, thank you. the fda really stepped up, especially over the last few days in getting these done. the results have been incredible. and i think you will see the results go up substantially. we appreciate it, and maybe i will ask alex to go first and then stephen. sec. azar: thank you very much for the bold leadership that allowed us to deliver this very happy news today. thanks to your all-america approach, america has done more than any other country to expand the art of -- arsenal we have to

battle covid-19. thanks to early efforts by your administration, americans have broader access to these treatments, including convalescent plasma, than patients anywhere else in the world. in early april, early in our fight against covid-19, the fda barred us, the mayo clinic, and others sprang into action to -- president trump is the right to try president, and he fought hard to ensure americans can have access to promising covid-19 treatments. convalescent plasma has been a tried-and-true therapeutic method in prior outbreaks. but the president wanted to ensure that we develop the data to support its use, and this fda authorization is one result of that effort. the data we gathered suggested that patients who were treated early in their disease course, within three days of being diagnosed, with plasma containing high levels of antibodies, benefited the most from treatment. we saw about a 35% under

-- 35% better survival in the patients who benefited most from the treatment, who were patients under 80 and not on artificial respiration. i just want to emphasize this point, because i do not want you to gloss over this number. we dream in drug development of something like a 35% mortality reduction. this is a major advance in the treatment of patients. a major advance. convalescent plasma is one new tool we've added to our arsenal against covid-19, alongside remdesivir, steroids, and a number of other promising options currently being studied. because of the president's operation warp speed, we expect to have other new results and new options reaching patients as soon as this fall. operation warp speed is supporting experimental therapeutics all the way through to manufacturing so that if they meet fda's gold standard for safety and efficacy, they can begin reaching patients without a day wasted.

americans who have tested positive for and recovered from covid-19 can go to coronavirus.gov to find out a quick and convenient way to play a potentially life-saving role in our fight. know, if you donate plasma, you could save a life. we have also provided guidance, so health-care providers can contact patients who have recovered from covid-19 and give them information on how they can donate. so thank you again, mr. president, for supporting this remarkable progress against covid-19, and i want to thank dr. han, dr. marks, and the entire team at the fda for the speed in which they have approached this, the diligence to ensure this meets the standards at fda, and i will turn it over to dr. han. dr. han: thank you for your leadership. it is good to be here today to announce the fda's recent decision. from the beginning of this pandemic, the president has asked fda to cutback redtape, to

try to speed products into the hands of patients and american consumers. i want to echo the president's thanks to the more than 17,000 men and women who work at the fda. they work day and night to do that. so, plasma is the liquid portion of the blood. that liquid portion contains the natural immunity that someone develops in response to an infection. in this case, covid-19. that liquid portion can be extracted. and for many years, it's been given to patients with infectious diseases, for more than 100 years. so there was a really good rationale for why this might work. and as was mentioned, in early april, an expanded access program was started at the mayo clinic with the support of the federal government under president trump's leadership. and that has gone on for the last four months. more than 90,000, close to 100,000 americans have enrolled in this program, and over 70,000 have received treatment. this is one of the largest

expanded access programs in the history of fda. so a very successful approach to evaluating how convalescent plasma would work. so, in the independent judgment of experts and expert scientists at fda who have reviewed the totality of data, not just the data from this expanded access program, but more than a dozen published studies, as well as the historical experience associated with this, those scientists have concluded that covid-19 convalescent plasma is safe, ensures promising efficacy, thereby meeting the criteria for an emergency use authorization. in the optimal treatment of the optimal patient as described by secretary azar, there was a 35% improvement in survival, which is a significant clinical benefit. we are waiting for more data. we are going to continue to gather data. but this clearly meets the criteria we have established for emergency use authorization, and

we are very pleased with this result. so let me put this in perspective. many of you know i was a cancer doctor before i became fda commissioner. a 35% improvement in survival is a substantial clinical benefit. what that means is, and if the data continues to pan out, 100 people are cyclical by 19, 35 covid-19, 35ith would have been saved because of the administration of plasma. we have seen a great deal demand for this from doctors around the country. what the emergency use authorization today does is it allows us to continue that and meet the demand. and i want to echo the president's and secretary's ask of the american people if you have recovered from covid-19. please donate. it could save a life. mr. president, thank you again. pres. trump: ok. any questions? >> i want to ask you about the

covid-19 drugs that are in phase three. are they going to be available to the american population? you and i talked previously about the right to try. can we assure the american people that if it is in phase three, you have that right? it is a great question. i am not sure a lot of people have been thinking about right to try. we are all waiting for the final answer. maybe i could ask stephen, but i would say right to try is if someone is virtually terminal, in other words, they are not going to make it, and if we have these incredible therapies and drugs that are happening, i think it is a very interesting question. i congratulate you for that question, because i think we are all waiting for that exact final input. what about that? we have all of these seemingly great answers that are ready to come out, but because of the process -- can we use some of this under right to try? >> that is a great question, and

it all depends on the clinical circumstances and what a doctor and a patient together decide. with respect to the administration of any agent. but if you think about what happened with convalescent plasma and the expanded access program, this is exactly what happened. so, we have ongoing clinical trials that are randomized between placebo and the convalescent plasma. while that was going on, we knew there was great demand from patients and doctors. the expanded access program is a way of doing that, and it fits perfectly with what the president just said about allowing people to be able to use something we have now determined to be very safe. pres. trump: it is something we have to consider. i think it is fantastic. you should get credit for that. thank you. that is very good. >> thank you, mr. president. convalescent plasma as a treatment has been around for 100 years. you mentioned operation warp speed, which enables this process to move along a lot faster. what went into the effort to get

this approved for covid-19, and would that hold up political in nature? pres. trump: i think there might have been a holdup, but we broke the logjam over the last week, to be honest. i think there are people in the fda, and actually in your larger department, that can see things being held up and would not so -- and would not mind so much. it is my strong opinion. that is for political reasons. this has nothing to do with politics. this has to do with life and death. so we are being very strong and very forthright, and we have got some incredible answers. we are not going to let them be held up, because every day is lives, and we are not going to let that happen. ok? very good. thank you. >> mr. president, in announcing this today, you said the fda has made the independent termination that the treatment is safe and very effective. yet dr. hahn just said it

was showing promising efficacy. pres. trump: i think i will let dr. hahn answer that question. dr. hahn: under our legal authority for emergency use authorization, this is not the same as an approval, but an authorization that allows us to expand the access to this. our data, we know we are going to continue to collect data. we knew that for all of our emergency use authorizations. for example, remdesivir, which was authorized on may 1, we are still collecting data and we will continue to do that with plasma, as well. it is the nuances of the language around the authorization use. >> it a promising treatment. you can't say it is effective just yet. dr. hahn: i would say if you are one of those 35 out of 100 people who this data suggests survives because a bit, this is significant for that person and their family. pres. trump: this is a very big day. a day we have been looking forward to. thank you very much. great question.

>> was there pressure on you to authorize this? you did not answer the question. nobody answered the question. announcer: tonight, on q&a, catherine gale with her book, "the politics industry. politics industry." >> it is a result of having to, who are incentive to work far apart from each other and are incentive to keep everybody else out and they are incentive not to compromise ever, because it works better for them to leave a problem unsolved than to

compromise and give a little on either side. they would rather leave the problem unsolved and keep it is an issue for the next election. announcer: catherine gale, tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a. announcer: this week, it is the republicans' turn. starting monday and for four days, the republican national convention. hear their vision for the future and priorities for the next four years. watch president trump and vice president tense accept their party's nomination. beginning monday at 9:00 a.m. eastern. at 8:30 p.m. eastern, the evening session kicks off. watch live on c-span, live streaming and on-demand at c-span.org, or listen with the free c-span radio app.