public health service. americans a day. we remind every governor and that will continue to grow. it will continue to accelerate every laboratory, every hospital in the country, it is imperative but i think the misunderstanding that you continue to report daily to the cdc the results of early on was, there were many those tests to give us ability tests being distributed, many test kits being sent but under on data best informed resource the old system, as the decisions. also we, we reiterated today to president's described it, antiquated system, those were being processed in state labs or governors in person and also at cdc or in private labs on a through correspondence to every governor the importance of using very slow, methodical, system their national guard if need be that could only produce maybe 30 to move medical supplies. to 50 test as day. fema is very busy as you will but this new partnership that we have with commercial hear in a moment delivering laboratories allows the progress literally millions of supplies we're making but the to states around the country but breakthrough with abbott we're urging every governor to laboratories now moves to point make sure they work with the of care, which means you're state and emergency management going to have devices and tests team and maybe use the national guard to move those supplies that people will literally be able to take at their doctors from warehouses to hospitals. at the present moment as the office at a hospital, at a president said we've distributed clinic at a nursing home and have the results in 15 minutes. more than 11.6 million n95 reporter: the 26 million tests we were talking about, were masks. more than 8100 ventilators those tests under the old, around the nation. millions of face shields, antiquated system? surgical masks and gloves. >> yes.

reporter: and now, are we still we initiate ad air bridge that using those, those 27 million tests or have we completely moved on -- the president announced >> the answer is yes, to the new yesterday. flights arrived in new york. one arrived in illinois system. >> even today, which is, i have yesterday and a flight will to say, coming out of rab -- arrive in ohio in the next 24 hours. fema is literally working and laboratories, developed tests, contracting around the world with now more than 51 flights worked on vaccines and gone on that we'll be bringing vital medical supplies. on the subject of ventilators, to fight epidemics it is fema is currently delivering 400 disappointing to me we have 500,000 capacity of abbott tests not being utilized. ventilators to michigan, 300 to they're out, they're in the states, they're not being run new jersey, 150 to louisiana, 50 and not utilized. ventilators to connecticut and now we have to figure out how we in the last week and in the week ahead more than 450 ventilators create a awareness. to illinois. sometimes you put early platform this is in addition to more than 4400 ventilators that the out, the first plat orme out president and fema directed to high speed was roche, you put the state of new york. that out, people get dependent we just want people that are on that, don't see there is working on the front lines that availability of tests, right now the president just spoke about, half a million tests sitting dr. birx and dr. fauci spoke capacity, not being utilized. we're trying to figure out how about, we want you to know help do we inform states about where is on the way and at the

these all are? president's direction we'll how do we work through every leave no stone unturned anywhere in america or anywhere in the laboratory association so they're aware? world to make sure that you have how do we raise awareness so the resources and the equipment people know there is point of care, there is thermofisher, to do your job. so again, i want to say thank there is abbott testing and there is roche, and if you add you, america, thank you for stepping up, thank you for those together that is millions of test as week. putting into practice the 15 reporter: not being reported. days to slow the spread and >> they're not being reported. thank you, for the response of >> or not even being used. tens of millions have already that is what is really, what we're working on? had for the 30 days to slow the reporter: [inaudible] spread. we encourage each one of you as >> because when people get used to have a single platform they we have governors around the country to spread the word about the guidelines. keep sending it back to that listen to your state and local lab, away to get on a roche authorities in areas that are more greatly impacted. machine, rather being moved to we continue to urge people in the other lab that may have the areas of new york, abbott capacity. new jersey and connecticut to they're all on in different refrain from travel around the laboratories. reporter: how do you -- country and people who traveled >> admiral girard is spying from that area check your figuring it out to create some temperature and self-quarantine for 14 days. you can see from that chart the kind of visual, every governor and health official can see unique challenges people in the greater new york city area are every capacity in their countries, i mean their states, facing, with the coronavirus and county by county, so they know where the tests are. we want to do all we can to so we pushed a lot of tests out

protect your health, focus but they're not all being resources and the community and utilized. >> it is up to the people if prevent unnecessary spread. they don't send them back. lastly as the president they use them, don't send them highlighted yesterday, back. doctor, go ahead. businesses around america are stepping up as never before. >> i mean dr. birx explained it tomorrow i'll travel with very well. john, i want to get back to your secretary sonny perdue to goard question. it is a logical question, you sonsville, virginia, to the look at the number you want to walmart distribution center so no what the do moving graph if you will be -- do movinggraphy, the american people can see first-hand how the food supply continuing to roll on 18 wheels this number we anticipate but don't have to accept it as and airfreight all over america. inevitable. we thank you again to grocery that is getting back to what i'm store operators in america, saying, we can influence it to every one working on the varying degrees, if we influence highways and byways keeping food it to the maximum, that we don't have to accept that. supply rolling and rolling that is something we anticipate, strong. to the american people we want to assure you we'll continue to i, not i, all of us want to do work our hearts out, work our much better than that. reporter: on that, what do hearts out that to make sure models say on the low end if you health care providers have have full mitigation? everything they need and anyone struggling with the coronavirus >> it says, between 100. have the support and health care they need and i'm absolutely confident to see way the >> that was full mutt mitigation. >> 100 to 200,000, which governors are responding and see anything, that is a lot of the team the president has people. a lot of people.

assembled and coronavirus task you didn't ask the other people, force, confident of the prayers of the american people that what would have happened because we'll get through this but it this is the question i've been will take all of us doing our asking dr. fauci and dr. birx for a long time and they have part and we'll get through it been working on this for a long sometime, the question is, what together. would have happened if we did nothing? because there was a group that reporter: just to be clear what said let's just ride it out, is the projected death toll if people are reasonably good ride it out. what with have happened? following the mitigation that number comes in at 1.5 to measures? >> if they're reasonably good i 1.6 million people, up to 2.2 guess i could say, i would like and even beyond. so that is 2.2 million people dr. fauci and deb come up and would have died if we did say. i would have numbers. nothing. we just carried on our life. i would rather have them say the numbers, if you don't mind. now you done this that would have been possible because you would have had people dueing all big question. offer the place. >> so of course this is a this would not have been a projection, and it is a normal louvre. how many people have on a soon projection based on using very much what's happened in italy anybody die? you would have seen people dying and then looking at all the on airplanes. models and so as you saw in that you would have seen people dying in hotel lobbies. slide, that was our real number, you would have seen death all over. about 100,000 to 200,000. from a practical standpoint, that couldn't have been carried and we think that is the range. out too far. but if you, if you did nothing, we, we really believe and hope every day we can do a lot better on the higher side, the number than that, because that's not would be 2.2 or maybe even more

assuming 100% of every american and on the lower side, does everything that they're supposed to be doing but i think 1.6 million people. reporter: understood. 100,000 is the number with full that's possible. reporter: over the next two mitigation, how do you push, how weeks you said, next two weeks do you push it forward? will be very painful. >> we've been at this a long is the bulk will happen over time. you go first. next two weeks? >> so, john, it is an obvious, >> you an upslope as mortality, fatalities to this disease will very good question. if this is full mitigation, and increase and then it will come back down and it will come back it is 100,000, why am i standing down slower than the rate which here saying i want to make it i went up. better, because that is what the model tells you it is going to so that's, that is, really the do. what we do is that every time we issue, how, how much we can push get more data you feed it back the mortality down. in and relook at the model. >> so our hope is to get that is the model really telling you what is actually going on? and again i know my modeling down as as far as we possibly colleagues are not going to be can. happy with me, but models are as the modeling that dr. birx showed predicts that number that good assumptions you put into them. you saw. and as we get more data, then we don't accept that number, you put it in and that might that that is what it is going to be. we're going to be doing change. so even though it says according everything we can to get it even to the model which is a good significantly below that. model, that we're dealing with so you know, i don't want it to be a mixed message. this is full mitigation, as we

get more data, as the weeks go this is the thing we need to by, that could be modified. anticipate but that doesn't mean that that is what we're going to accept. we want to do much, much better reporter: why is the model now, than that. the top line on the low ball reporter: doctor, when you look estimate, why is that not topped at the curve it goes much further in time. so we would have deaths and out 240,000, not 200,000? is that a change? states are not doing enough? cases for much longer, i mean we >> you know, it just has to do do -- >> look at slide number two. with, if you had more new yorks so that is a generic -- go back and new jersey, you know. to the slides and put up slide two. chicago, detroit, l.a., dallas, okay. so what i should you was a generic picture of what happens in an epidemic. houston. you know all of our major when you mitigate. so no mitigation, mitigate. cities, modeled like new york, this is based on the experience that's what gets us into trouble but i am reassured by looking at around the globe with this particular virus. the seattle line, by looking at and so, it does have a tail. the l.a. line, by looking at but the peak, you can see by what california has been able to this projection, and this is the do, that is not something that, ihme data, the peak is over the i don't believe that is going to happen. that is the outside case of next two weeks and that is, this is tracking mortality. having 10, 15, metros like so the number of fatalities from

this virus. new york and the new jersey so that's the part that we think metro area. we can still blunt through the reporter: new york had community spread pretty early undetected. superb medical care that every don't many much those other client is receiving but also, states, if not more of them with less information are they likely even more stringent, people to see the same spike? following the guidelines. >> well, california and reporter: i can't see the washington state reacted very small -- are we seeing this early to this. yes, washington state had some of the earliest infections. until june? i can't really -- >> this is june. they have kept it low and steady >> this is june. reporter: would still see problems and that's in june? and for now a month has been >> it is a projection. tracking it with a small reporter: it a projection of increase in the number of cases course. >> getting back to what i said about the step wise things, but not this log rythmic form of deaths always lag. so you will be seeing deaths at a time when as an epidemic we're the virus. doing really, really well that is the piece we're trying to prevent, in new orleans and because the deaths will lag. reporter: dr. fauci, should detroit and in boston right now americans be prepared for the likelihood there will be 100,000 and in trying to make sure that americans who die from this each of those cities work more virus? like california than the >> the answer is yes, as new york metro area. reporter: mr. president, i just sobering a number as that is, we should be prepared for it. wanted to get your thoughts on face masks. we asked you about this is it going to be that much? yesterday, you signaled you were

i hope not and i think the more thinking about it. >> just to end the last topic, i we push on the mitigation, the think i can say this because i spoke to dr. birx before and to less likelihood it would be that number but as being realistic, dr. fauci, for whatever reason we need to prepare orselves that new york got off to a very late is a possibility that is a start and, you see what happens possibility. reporter: very short period of time of time to happen. when you get off to a late >> right. start. reporter: can the country handle new jersey got off, i think both that within short period of time governors are doing an excellent of, couple months, 50,000 a job but they got off to a very month? >> 2 will be difficult. no one is denying the fact we're late start. when you look at washington state, if you remember, that all going through a very, very difficult time right now. started in a very confined we're seeing what is happening in new york. nursing home and you had 20 some that is really, really tough and odd people i believe dying in if you extrapolate that to the nation, that will be really one home. tough but that's what it is, that doesn't mean it escaped jim. we'll have to be prepared for that home. and so, they have a very that. >> i think because the model, different statistic than other states. that model that was from ihme, but, i mean i remembered very vividly the nursing home in that's based and heavily ladened washington state where, you had by the data that come in from many people dying every day, people were dying, in the one new york, new jersey and connecticut. you know that can skew to a exact location. higher peak and more significant so they were able to keep that relatively speaking, into that

mortality. if all of the other states are location. able, and all the other metro reporter: were you surprised areas are able to hold that case when you saw these projections? the numbers are sobering? number down, then it is a very >> the numbers are sobering, different picture but you have when you see 100,000 people, that is a minimum number. to predict on the data you have, what we're looking at, as many which is heavily skewed to people as we're talking about, new york and new jersey. whatever we can do under that reporter: one other thing -- number, substantially under that >> getting back to that, that is number we've done that through a important slide that dr. birx really great mitigation. showed. the cluster of other cities that we've done that through a lot of are not new york and not really dedicated american people that, you know, 100,000 is, is new jersey. if we can suppress that from any kind of a spike, the numbers according to modeling a very low could be significantly lower than what we're talking about. number. in fact when i first saw the reporter: some cities are not number, i asked this a while following these guidelines? ago, they said it is unlikely >> that is the reason, my plea you will be able to attain that. at the end of my remarks, jim, that now is the time to put your i think we're doing better. i think we have to see, but i foot on the accelerator because that is the only thing that will think we're doing better than that as john said, that would be stop those peaks. a lot of lives taking place over >> some of the cities are doing a relatively short period of very well, we should say very time. well at this early stage but the think of what would have happened if we didn't do number, doctor said, 100,000, anything? i had many friends, business people, people with actually number between 100,000 and

great common sense, they said, 200,000, maybe even slightly more but we would hope that we why don't we ride it out. a lot of people said it, thought could keep that. >> can we have the next slide, about it, don't do anything, the slide after that. ride it out and think of it as the flu but it is not the flu. go one more slide. perfect, yeah. it's vicious. reporter: would you tell cities when you send a friend to the that aren't doing what, you hospital and you call up the to know, new york, new jersey, find out how is he doing, it washington, you know the cities happened to me where, goes to that have been taking charge in all of this, would you urge some the hospital. he says good-bye, sort of a cities haven't been doing this, tough guy. mr. president, to get with the program? >> i would, but you see a little older, a little heavier, than he would like to new york, i believe dealing with new york. new york is having a much harder be frankly, and you call up the time than other of the cities, next day, how is he doing, he is in a coma? certain cities are doing this is not the flu. actually, we look down here, so we would have seen things had incredible job. they were early. we done nothing, but a long they were very, very firm and while a lot of people were they have done an incredible asking that question, right? i was asking it also. job. this is new jersey, new york. i mean a lot of people were saying let's ride it out. this is -- this is not to be ridden out, >> remember, california, washington state were down here. you would be looking at they had some of the earliest potentially 2.2 million people cases. reporter: we're seeing places in or more. 2.2 million people in a florida not doing what new york relatively short period of time. and new jersey had been doing with what washington state has if you remember they were

been doing. >> doing very well in comparison looking at that concept, as a concept i guess, it is a concept, if you don't mind yes, john? death, a lot of death, but they reporter: mr. president a question to you and dr. fauci as were looking at that in the uk, well. we, you told us yesterday that remember? they were very much looking at your, the u.s. accomplishing it. 100,000 tests per day but we're and all of sudden they went hard still hearing difficult stories the other way because they from the front lines of started seeing things that weren't good so they were, you first-responders that you praise so appropriately a little while know, put themselves in a little ago, they can't test all of the bit of a problem. now boris tested positive and i people that they need to test. do you have any kind of hear he is, i hope he is going projection as to when everyone to be fine but in the uk they who needs a test will be able to were looking at that, and they receive one? >> i can only say we're doing have a name for it but we won't more than anybody in the world even call, won't even go by the by far. we are testing, highly accurate name but it would have been, it would have been very tests. these are tests that work. catastrophic i think if that would have happened but that was as you know many tests are being something everybody was talking sent to countries and they're about, steve, like, just don't broken. reporter: note enough -- do anything. >> every day we get, and the don't do anything. forget about everything. word is exponential, we're just ride it out. they used the expression, ride getting more and more and more, now we have the new test that it out. we would have had at a minimum you saw yesterday. that is going to be rolled out i think tomorrow or the next day. and that is going to take only a 1.5, 1.6 but perhaps would have few minutes, literally a few minutes to see the result and it had more than 2.2 million people

is a highly accurate result. dying in a very short period of time. i mean tests were given out not that would have been a number the likes which we've never by us, by other countries where seen. so now when we look at our there was 50/50 chance it was package that we just approved wrong. what kind of a test was that? for two trillion dollars all of these are highly accurate tests but the new tests coming out are sudden it seems very reasonable, very quick and they were just right? when you're talking about two developed. abbott labs did the one million lives, all of sudden it yesterday. so we're doing more than anybody seems very reasonable. in the world by far and they're i must say, a lot of people that very accurate tests and we're have been seeing the more getting a lot of information advanced numbers because these from those tests. are much more advanced numbers now, than when you first started you didn't know, this was a >> the tests the president difficult kind of a virus, nobody knew that much about it, unveiled yesterday, the abbott even the experts you don't really know where it is going, laboratories test which is a 15 they see what is going on in minute test, our team is working italy and what is going on in spain and you see france is very closely with admiral gerard having a very hard time, and other countries are having a and fema to make sure those are distributed around the country. very, very hard time, once they earlier this week abbott see what is going on they start laboratories will be producing making projections. 50,000 tests a day and i hope they will be very high distributing those around projections but based on america. there is already the machines in everything else that would be the number. let's see if we can do much better than. i hop with can. some 18,000 different locations

around the country, and they reporter: mr. president -- . have told us they have several thousand on the shelf now and reporter: what is the are dawgs what we're doing is trying to if -- >> you no, you can use a scarf. identify the areas where we may yet have pockets, or, as dr. a scarf, everybody, a lot of people have scarves and you can use a scarf. a scarf would be very good. my feeling if people want to do birx often says we want to it, certainly no harm to it. do what is called surveillance i would say doubt but use a testing to identify where there may be coronavirus cases where scarf if you want, rather than there has been very little going out and getting a mask or incident. but if i can just amplify one whatever. we're making millions and millions of masks. other point, that is, when you look at this chart, go back 15 but we want them to go to the hospitals. one of the things that dr. fauci days and reality is, that, this told me today, we don't want them competing, we don't want everybody competing with the is me speaking as a layperson, hospitals where you really need but as i have listened to our them. so you can use scarves. experts, new york, greater new york city area have unique you can use something else over your face. challenges. doesn't have to be a mask. it is a city we really believe but it is not a bad idea, at may have had exposure to the coronavirus much earlier on than least for a period of time. we could have known and had its eventually you will not want to do that. own challenges. you will not have to do that. in new york, connecticut, this is going to be gone, gone, new jersey, are leaning into this effort but, when we look at hopefully gone for a long time. this chart for all the other reporter: mr. president, the states, including washington

mitigation steps that are on state and california, it really your 30-day plan is that enough does give evidence that at or is more needed? least, it begins to give evidence that the 15 days to >> we hope it's enough, we hope slow the spread is working and it's enough. we hope we're at a level where that in fact the american people we can say let's go because our are putting these things into country wants to get back to practice in states across the work. we really want to get being, country, including in new york everybody wants to get back to and new jersey, even though they have faced a greater magnitude work. now i could ask the doctors to answer that question but we of cases for certain discussed that all the type, what do you think? circumstances that are related reporter: have they been to international travel and recommending harsher mitigation? those communities. >> i think we've been very but -- reporter: national shelter in harsh. you look at the streets. place -- i looked at fifth avenue today >> i think, american people, what i'm suggesting to you, jim, on camera, i didn't see anybody the american people can look at walking on the street and i'm numbers in other 48 states and used to watching that street, you can't even see, you can't they can see in the last 15 days, the president's see the asphalt, you can't see the concrete and you look, there coronavirus guidelines were working and that is precisely is nobody. there was one car, looked like why president trump is asking it might have been a taxicab and every american to continue to put these guidelines into practice for 30 more days. it was in a time of the morning that normally there would be a >> follow up on testing? lot of people. you know i think the mitigation has been very strong. reporter: if i corks so right pleats. reporter: mr. president, will you confirm your plans to defer now we're at about 4,000 deaths here in the united states. you're suggesting a spike of tariff payments for 90 days?

more than 90,000 deaths over the >> i didn't do anything about next few weeks. tear rough payments. do you have a demographic break i don't know who is talking about tariff payments. they keep talking about tariff payments and we haven't done that china is paying us, we made down of areas most at risk and a deal with china. where most of those deaths would under the deal they're paying us occur? >> well right now, and i think 25% on $250 billion, and they if you asked chris murray, he pay it. would say, he is using the i spoke with president xi the information coming out of other day. he didn't mention that. new york and new jersey and we didn't mention that. applying that to potentially we had a great conversation by other states having the same the way, a very productive outcome. i just want to say, again, this conversation, on many things, most of it was on the virus but yellow line, the yellow line, this is all corrected for you know, we're not talking who 100,000 residents. are you with? who are you with? so this is normalized so we can who are you with? compare apples to apples. reporter: "wall street journal." report by "wall street journal" this is still washington state. and bloomberg -- >> that is incorrect reporting. this yellow. they might be but i will have to approve the plan. so they have been able to, for a one thing i will tell you, i, long time of measuring cases not approve everything. have a spike. they have not presented it to so it's possible and we're me. therefore it is false reporting. watching very closely to make sure it doesn't have a spike. therefore don't dot be -- do the but that's what the people in washington state are doing.

this is what every community -- story. if we're going to do something i would be glad to let you know. there is nothing wrong with so washington state early, about doing it. two weeks before new york or we'll get back to you. reporter: thank you, sir. new jersey. [inaudible]. california a week before i wanted to ask you about new york or new jersey. really talked to their individual states, issuing stay communities and decided to at home orders. what do you think for instance, mitigate before they started in florida, ron desantis has seeing this number of cases and resisted urges to issue one of now we know that makes a big those but he said moments ago that if you and the rest of the difference. early, as dr. fauci said, if you task force recommended one, that wait until you see it, it is too would weigh on him heavily. late. reporter: you have a demographic what sort of circumstances need breakdown, dr. birx, where these to be in place for to you make deaths may occur? that call and say, this is >> there is a demographic something you -- breakdown that we've discussed >> different kind of a state. also great governor, knows before related to mortality and exactly what he is doing. has a very strong view on it and it is as we're seeing in we have spoken to ron. new york exactly what we saw in mike, do you want to tell him a little bit about that? italy. very low mortality not to say, >> well, let me echo our that young people under 30 or appreciation for governor young people under 40 are not getting ill, they are, but most of them are recovering. so profile looks identical to desainted 'leadership in florida, he taking decisive italy with increasing mortality steps working with our testimony with age and preexisting medical

conditions. and so that is holding in the team at the federal level. same way. let me be clear on this, the but what we're hoping is, that recommendation from the health through the work of communities expert was take 15 days to slow and again it comes down to the spread and have the president extend that to hurt communities. this is not, this is communities days forever american. now that being saud -- said, we deciding that this is important to them, to not have the experience of new york and recognize when you'ring with a new jersey. health crews sus in the country and i think, you know, we are it is locally executed by health worried about groups all around care workers but it is the globe. i don't know if you heard the state-managed. so we continue to flow report this morning, there are 8,000 ventilators in the uk. information to state governors, if you translate that to the we continue to heart -- to hear united states, that would be like the united states having less than 40,000 ventilators. about the data they're analyzing we have five times that amount. and consult with them. so i mean these are the things at the president's direction the that everybody is having to face coronavirus task force will continue to take the posture we and i think the united states is will defer to state and local in an excellent position from health authorities on any measures that they deem our medical care position but we appropriate. don't want to have to test that but for the next 30 dawes this is what we believe every system. we want this to be a much american, every american in every state should be doing at a smaller epidemic with much minimum to slow the spread. smaller mortality. >> unless we see something reporter: follow on the testing obviously wrong, we're going to

question real quick before we let the governors do it. move on? so the testing numbers, i now if it is obviously wrong, understand a million tests done. people can make, they can make a a big increase but we were told decision we think is so far out there would be 27 million tests that it's wrong, we will stop available by the end of the that but in the case of governor month. so, can you outline where in the desantis, you know there is two thoughts to it and two very good supply chain, where in the thoughts to it and he has been logistics chain are those other doing a great job in every 26, where are the other respect. 26 million tests right now? we'll see what happens. >> i think this is, just for but we would only exercise if we purposes of clarifications, thought somebody was very obviously -- go ahead, your there is a difference between turn. sending a test that can be reporter: thanks. i had a question for the administered to a test being vice president about the national strategic stockpile but while you're at the podium i done and, because a month ago, want to ask but the call with president putin a couple days or more, the president brought ago. economics turn for a lot of together the top commercial labs people with the state of oil in america and said we need you prices right now. >> yeah. reporter: if you agree with to partner with us to create a president putin -- brand new system that would >> the call was probably about rapidly process tests. that, the oil prices because as you know, russia and we're now at 1.1 million testin0 saudi arabia are going at it and they're really going at it and by going at it to the extent that they are, the oil has dropped to a point where, look,

it's the greatest tax cut we have ever given if you look at it that way because people will be paying 99 cents for a gallon of gasoline. it's, incredible in a lot of ways, will help the airlines but at the same time it is hurtful to one of our biggest up industries, that is the oil industry. it is not even feasible what is going on. so i spoke to president putin about that. i also spoke to the crown prince about that, saudi arabia. reporter: they agree to doing anything? >> yeah. they will got together. we're all going to get together, we'll see what you can do. you don't want to lose an industry. you will lose an industry over it, thousands and thousands of jobs. we have, i don't know if you know there is oil all over the oceans right now. the boats are filled. they're renting his, ships that weren't dying, weren't doing well, now like, that is where they're storing oil. they're sent out to sea, they sit there for long periods of time.

there is so much oil, in some cases it is problemly less valuable than water in some parts of the world. some parts of the world water is more valuable and we've never seen anything luke it -- like it. and the two current throughs are discussing it. i am joining at the appropriate time if need be, we had a great talk with president putin. we had a great talk with the crown prince. we also discussed more so with president putin in this case the rye just, because the russia is being hit pretty hard. we discussed trade and in the case of both we very much discussed the oil and oil prices. you look it is $22 but it is really much cheaper than that if you want to negotiate. nobody's seen that. that is like from the 1950s, it really is. to think it was 50, 60, 70, 80, and now it is 22 but you know, if you put a good bid at nine i think you could probably get

what you wanted, right? john, please. reporter: mr. president, you tweeted earlier today now would be a good time to start looking toward if there is a light at the end of the tunnel and work on a infrastructure bill. >> yeah. reporter: you suggested it should be two trillion dollars, which is twice what the last one was or proposal at least. are you anticipating that like after the economic crisis of 2008-2009 america will need to have so called shovel-ready jobs in order to get people back to work? >> the problem with that one maybe shovel-ready jobs or maybe not but they never used it for the purpose of infrastructure. so far nobody was able to find money that was spent on infrastructure. i want to use it on infrastructure. one of the reasons i'm suggesting, john, we're paying zero interest. the united states is paying almost zero interest rate. the federal reserve lowered the rate, fed rate, that and a combination of the fact that everybody wants to be in the united states. you know we have the dollar that is very strong. i know that sound good but it

does make it hard to manufacture and sell outside because other currencies are falling and our currency is very strong, it's very, very strong. proportionately it is through the roof. so we have a strong dollar. people want to invest in the united states, especially nowadays where they're looking at safety. they have all the problems, plus the virus in 151 countries they all want to come into the united states. so we have a zero interest rought essentially and i said, wouldn't this be a great time to borrow money at zero interest rate and really build our infrastructure like we can do it? so the plan was, the republicans had a plan of about 750, i would say, they were where, seven, five, democrats were a little also than a trillion dollars. the republicans were a lull bit less than that and i'm suggesting two trillion dollars we redo the roads, highways, bridges. we fix up the tunnels, many of them in bad shape like coming into new york as you know, really bad shawn.

and with really do a job on the infrastructure. and that doesn't mean we're going to do the green new deal. you wont do it. we're not doing the green new deal and spend 40% of the money on things that, the people just have fun with. reporter: how would you pay for it, sir? >> we'll borrow the money at 0% interest. so our interest payments would be almost zero and we can borrow long term. people want to be in the united states they want to be invested in the united states. go ahead, jim. reporter: i want to get back to the virus. you were saying at the beginning of the press conference you're looking holding back 10,000 ventilators. is that because you need to pick and choose where the ventilators are going to have to go because of nature of pandemic and spreading it? other question. reporter: want to ask dr. fauci, doctor birx is it possible atcha finish, is that part of the reason why you're projecting 100,000 to 200,000 deaths? there are going to be some people who aren't going to be able to get ventilators?

>> actually us why the opposite. we're holding back we have almost 10,000. we're holding because we'll need them over the next couple of weeks as the surge -- we haven't hit the top yet. we have to move them immediately and we can't take them because it will be very hard to do that, we can't take them to places that aren't needing them. plus we have requests for ventilators in hospitals and in states and cities that don't need them in our opinion, they don't need them. they won't need them at the top. so we're holding it back for incomessability. with actual just took 600, we sent them to different lo cautions today. but we have close to 10,000 and we'll be automobile to get them, we're all set to march, we have national guards and we have fema, we're all set to move them to the applauses. as for your second request what we'll do is salve lives because of it. otherwise we would not get -- we don't know what the hottest spot. reporter: ventilator shortage now? >> in some areas we might but

we've done a great job with ventilators and we're having them made, unbelievable, 11 companies are making ventilators. now they will be starting to arrive in the next week but we've also grabbed a lot of them. some hospitals had more than they were saying or at least more than we knew about which is a good thing, not a bad thing but we want to be able to have i guess the word would be flexibility so that if the surge turns out to be much stronger in louisiana which it could, that we can immediately bring 1000 or 2000 to louisiana. otherwise we wouldn't be able to get them, we wouldn't be able to say listen, governor cuomo in new york, we want to take ventilators away from new york, they will say, well, we can't do that, it would be a disaster. so we have great flexibility. now when the surge occurs, if it occurs fairly evenly, we'll be able to distribute them very quickly before they need them but we want to have, we have a reserve right now. it is like having oil reserves, except more valuable frankly but

we have a reserve right now. and we'll be able, we also have a great team of people ready to deliver, they can move them fast. so when we see it going up in a certain state and louisiana could be one and michigan could be another with detroit because detroit is having a lot of, a lot of hard time right now. detroit came out of nowhere and that is what happens with this it comes out of nowhere. we are dead did i jim, depending what happens, and we have a stockpile. that is why it is called a stockpile. now a lot of ventilators and a lot of other equipment rather than sending it to the stockpile we had it sent directly to a hospital, to a location, to a place so we didn't have the cumbersome nature having it come in, unboxed, put in and then delivered. we have it brought, which they have never done before. they don't do that, generally speaking they don't do that, we have had, mike i think we had tremendous success doing that. that is for other items including ventilators where it is brought to the site that

needs it but we have a good supply of haven't -- ventilators, we are ready do go and trucks ready as we're saying john, this could be a hell of a bat two weeks or maybe bad or two or three weeks. this will be like three weeks we haven't seen before. reporter: should hospitals be prepared for that? >> i think hospitals -- reporter: looking like a medical war zone in some laces. >> a war zone, that is what it is. i heard some paramedics did, doctors been in war zones, they have never seen anything like this. look at elmhurst hospital in queens, that is hospital near where i grew up. it is a war zone in a true sense. yes, please? reporter: on ventilators we've been hearing from governors fighting amongst themselves, bidding amongst themselves -- >> they shouldn't be doing that. if that happens, they should be calling us. we have ventilators but we have

distributed thousands of ventilators but they shouldn't be doing that. if they need them that badly, we know, we have pretty good ideas where they're going to need them. some people frankly think they need them that they don't need names, some people that want them and it is really not the some peopl, i guess, automatically hoard a little bit. they want to have more than they think they need but, you know, a ventilator is a very preciousig. it is hard to make. it takes a long time to make it. it is complex. some of them are like the dashboard of an airplane, they're very complicated, very expensive machines and some are much simpler but we're ready to go depending on what happens. but we have some hospitals and in some states that think they need ventilators and we don't think they do. if they do need them, we will have them there before they need them. we'll be able to move very quickly. reporter: hydroxychlorquine any

new data on these trials? >> nothing i heard. that is the first question i make every morning. i call up, we have 1100, 1100 in new york right now, and we have other locations where patients people are taking them. now, the good news is, it is only three days and you know it is like a seven or eight-day treatment. the good news we haven't heard anything bad. in other words, there has been no catastrophic events but it is a little bit too soon to talk about it. it would be a total game-changer john, if that happened t would be a game-changer. in all cases, the zpack, you know what the zpack is, we'll see what happens with the hydroxychloroquine. yeah, just one second, steve? reporter: anti-viral drugs that have some promise, working soon? >> looking at a lot of them. we're looking at a lot of them.

some show promise. i think maybe the doctor might want to speak about the vaccines because a lot of, johnson & johnson is advanced, very advanced. we'll see what happens. the one thing with a vaccine, it doesn't help this group because this group, you know, you need to test the vaccine. the one thing with the drug you just mentioned, right, is that has been out. it is a malaria drug and arthritis drug, it has been out there for a long time. very powerful drug but it has been out there a long time, so it is tested in the sense you know it doesn't kill you but you may want to discuss vaccines for a second, dr. fauci. >> thank you, mr. president, but just for a second before the vaccine in answer to your question, steve, there are a number of candidates, the drugs now looked at in various ways, either compassionate use, clinical trials, are generally drugs that already exist for other things. there is a whole menu of drugs and interventions now going into clinical trials that are not

approved for anything yet. i mean, for example, things like immune serum, convalescent plasma or hyper immune globulin or monoclonal antibodies other things, there is a lot of things going on behind the scenes and designs of clinical trials that will give us an ends. you need an answer, because if it doesn't work you want to get it off the table to go to the next one so there are a lot of things. reporter: how long does that normally take? weeks, months? >> it takes at least months, at least months, at least. so i mean that is the reason why you're seeing a lot of activity with drugs that already exist for other purposes because they're already there, but the drugs you want to show in a good randomized clinical trial at very best they will take months. just one word on the vaccine, exactly like we said, we hope that as we get into the summer, if in fact there are cases out there when you're in a phase two or phase three trial or two h about as -- two-b, might might

get early efficacy signal. that means even though you definitely haven't proven a vaccine works, you get enough information that you might be able to have an emergency authorization for it. reporter: that sounds -- >> i have to say this, hydroxychlorquine and azithromycin, you take it with it maybe if you want for the infection, i think some medical workers are doing that, using it maybe or getting it prescribed perhaps as, for another use but, the word is that some are, and some aren't. i think it is not a bad idea to do it but that is up to the doctors but there is a theory going around in our country and in some other countries people are taking that work in the hospitals, work with the patients and there is some

evidence, it will have to be proven. it is very early. we're rushing this stuff through. it was supposed to take a long time to be approved and i prevailed upon the fda to get it approved immediately, because it was already on the market for many years for another use, malaria, and arthritis, but mostly malaria. we'll see what happens, but there is a theory out there for the medical worker, doctor, it may work, it may work and if you take it, you know it has been out there a long time. please, go ahead. reporter: i want to go back to jim's question about the national stockpile. >> about which? reporter: national stockpile. the governor of connecticut today said he was disturbed to learn the stockpile is now empty, his words and he said -- >> it is not empty. let me explain something, what we do, i thought i said it accurately, i certainly meant to, rather than having it brought into the stockpile where appropriate other than certain things like we have quite a few of ventilators which is not a

lot when you look at the whole country, actually, it sounds like a lot, almost 10,000, but we're trying to have supply sent directly to the states because we save a big state, we save a big, we don't want medical supplies coming in to warehouses all over the place, we take them from there and bring them to another warehouse. so we're having, ideally from the manufacturer directly to the hospital or to the state where it is going. so we're trying to keep it that way as much as possible. now in some cases we are having -- remember this, we also took over a virtually empty, and i say that again, like we had no ammunition in the military, and we had virtually no ammunition, we had very little in medical supplies too in our stockpile. so for the most part we're trying hard to deliver it to the site where they need it. please go ahead. reporter: mr. president, here in the united states domestically we can practice social distancing but some of our sailors, specifically on the

roosevelt they're not able to. they're in confined spaces. what are your thoughts on that? should they be off loaded? are you concerned -- >> i will let the military make the decision. reporter: are you concerned about u.s. military readiness during this pandemic? what would happen if as reported china increases patrols in the south china sea what would -- >> we'll see all about that. don't worry about our military. you saw the military put up a hospital in 3 1/2 days with 2900 beds with a lot of beds, nobody has ever seen anything like it. by the way, that wasn't the only one. it wasn't just the javits center. it was at other locations. now it is louisiana and now it's new jersey and now it's other places. one thing i think that is indisputable when i watch the army corps of engineers and fema, working with them, when i watch the army corps of

engineers throw up these hospitals, they're complex, they are incredible buildings, essentially, tents, various things they did it in such a quick, short period of time and our military is ready like you haven't seen and you know who the best, the best guests on different shows we watch, we watch shows at night i think the best guests i've seen in a long time are the military people and they have never done it before. i watched general simonite who i deal with a lot, general, you have to give us two new hospitals in louisiana. yes, sir. the next morning they're building them at 6:00 in the morning and they're up in three days. i think they're the best guests you have. i'm tired of all the other guests to be fairness. jim, go ahead. reporter: may be an uncomfortable question but what would the models have looked like dr. birx and dr. fauci show if we started social distancing guidelines sooner in february or january, china, south korea were doing those -- >> i will let them answer

that -- reporter: what information we're getting from them, but if we started these practices sooner could these models be different right now? >> i will let them answer the question, remember this, i say it, everybody says it, you know who says it better than anybody? is dr. fauci. i had a decision to make. maybe it was my biggest decision. china was heavily infected and thousands and thousands of people were coming from china to the united states and against the wishes, not even wishes but they disagreed with the decision, i made a decision to stop china from coming in. took a lot of heat, even from china. they weren't exactly happy. i just made a trade deal, a big one, 250 billion-dollar trade deal, shortly thereafter saying you can't come into our country. that was a big decision. that was earlier than the date you're talking about. so that was a big decision. that was probably, and by the way not because i did it, that was probably the biggest decision we made so far. but if you look at the one

graph, the problem new york has, new york started late but the other ones didn't start so late. new york is also more complicated for obvious reasons but it got a late state but you want to answer this question? >> i don't know if you can go back to slide two, i want to explain two things i think is really important, because we had a lot of questions about mortality what it meant? you see the confidence intervals? here's the line. this is the confidence interval. this is where we have the ability to push it down. so you have a large confidence interval around the line. and so we're trying to move that gray down tighter and below the dotted line. so i think that is really important. and then if you can go to the next slide. so, we really can't answer your question until we can get

anti-body testing out there because what we can't tell you is, we can always do this, there is always samples in hospitals and other things. it is the way we really defined the hiv epidemic in the united states. we were able to go back to blood samples when we had the test to really find out where it was and what was going on. we really need to look in here, and really see, was there virus significantly circulating in early, and late february and what did it look like and where was it? and was it all in the metro areas? i think that is what dr. fauci and i are very focused on is getting serology testing out there to really figure out when it came on and really have those samples to be able to do that. reporter: do you understand the painful part of my question, please i don't mean to put you on the spot -- >> we understand we can't answer it. reporter: saying if we started this sooner we might not have

100,000 to 200,000 americans dieing? >> that makes an assumption that it, it was a lot back here that we didn't see. until we have the anti-body tests i can't really answer that. >> just to underscore what -- liz: you're watching the earning edit and white house coronavirus task force. sobering numbers if there is no mitigation, quote, 1.5 million to 2.2 million fatalities. with mitigation they're looking at numbers of around one hundred thousand to 200,000 fatalities in the united states. president saying and task force saying the next two weeks are critical, that there must be social distancing, no discretionary travel, no social visits, no visits to nursing homes. 400 nursing homes across the country are at risk. 1.1 million tests are now underway. new orleans is a serious situation right now, talking about louisiana, also detroit, michigan, though there are glimmers of hope dr. fauci said,

mitigation seems to be washington, california and parts of new york city. he sees the curve bending. so, little bit of hope there. we'll stay on the story for you tomorrow night. join us. liz beg mcdonald, evening edit. lou dobbs is next. now. lou: the president and the coronavirus task force are getting ready to brief the american people about the ever spreading wuhan virus. once the president enters the white house briefing room, we'll take you to him live. sparsely populated, that is more than appropriate social distancing. it was two weeks ago that there were fewer than 8 thousand cases of the china virus, the