pillsbury among our guests here tomorrow. we hope you will join us. thanks for being with us tonight. good night from sussex. ♪ >> pretty much this. this is what we talked about, this is what everyone is talking about, this is what they want to talk about and he gave me his point of view and i fully understood that and we just had a very friendly conversation. lasted probably 15 minutes and it was really good, it was really good, really nice. i think it was very much so i appreciate his calling. as we continue our efforts to develop treatments and cures this afternoon i spoke with leaders of the american pharmaceutical companies and just to give you their names, amgen, genentech, gilead,

regeneron, four of the greatest in the world for doing exactly what they're doing. and currently 10 different therapeutic agents are in active trials an some are looking incredibly successful we have to go through a process. it will be a fairly quick process, i tell you based on what the fda told me. 15 are in plans for clinical trials. they're advancing rapidly. a second company announced that the fda authorized it is vaccine candidate to begin clinical trials. johnson & johnson is already there. i believe they're the one that's first and now we have a second company that just announced and we were just, was just approved. so we have two companies at that level, for the vaccine itself. we have you no performed 100, well, if you think of this, 1.79 million tests.

that is one million, 790,000 tests nationwide. i think we're going to put up a screen here someplace that they're on cue, just on cue. and here it is. this is the process starting on 5 march and ending right there, right about now, right? that's about it. so, and it is going up at a rapid rate. nobody has done more testing. and one of the reasons why they say, and i think i can say this, deborah, very strongly but one of the reasons we have more cases is because we've done more testing. if i went to some of these countries in my opinion far more people than we do that had the problem and if we did the kind of testing proportionally that we're doing they would have many more cases than us but we have more cases because we do much more testing. so when you do the testing you have cases. otherwise you wouldn't know about the cases.

people sit home, you do not know about it. we have now done one million 790,000 tests nationwide, that is more than any other country in the world, hence we have more cases. and that number is growing by nearly 125,000 people per day. think of that one. so it is growing by 125,000 people per day. i told you about south korea. this is a, you know vastly faster and -- we also have, they say the most accurate of tests. cvs is launching and they have been great, two new drive-through testing sites in atlanta, georgia and providence, rhode island and each location will be able to test up to 1000 patients per day using the ultrafast five-minute test developed by abbott labs. now they're down to five minute. they call it the ultrafast and it's very accurate. abbott labs, i want to thank

them. they have been fantastic. we're also speeding urgent economic relief to the american worker and families and the employers. as of today tens of thousands of small businesses applied for more than $40 billion in relief under the paycheck protection program you've been reading about it. it has only been going couple days. it is performing well, a couple little glitches, minor glitches, taken care of what they say. these funds will result in nearly two million jobs preserved. we're taking care of small businesses and our workers. nearly three thousand lenders already made loans under the program and we're signing up additional lenders very quickly, rapidly. community banks have been very responsive and larger banks are also stepping up. if we run out of funds by the way we're already preparing because it is going so fast for the small businesses and their

employees. we'll ask congress to refill it immediately but the banks have been great. the big banks, bank of america was right up there at the beginning. jpmorgan chase was, has been great after the first day, they really, they really came through and a lot of the big banks but the community banks have been fantastic. as we announced last week we are providing $100 billion in direct support for our hospitals and the first tranche, $30 billion will be distributed this week. so i want to say one other thing, our farmers, we love our farmers an as you know as of april 1st the china trade deal, $250 billion, they purchased $250 billion from us, if not more and of that approximately 50 billion is expected to be with our farmers. so it kicked in as of april 1st. we'll see how it goes.

it seems like they're buying. so we'll let you know how that's going but they're buying anywhere from 40 to $50 billion worth of our agricultural products. that should have a huge impact on our farmers, a tremendous impact on our farmers but we're watching it very closely. to fight the medical war we've mobilized the unbeatable and, just, it is unbeatable strength of american determination, ingenuity and compassion. i got to see that when i spoke to the great science, i call them science companies more than drug companies. they're scientists. we've seen businesses, charities and private citizens making generous donations. so many people are making donations. we've seen states and cities supporting and helping each other and caring for our citizens. and we've seen americans of all background and beliefs uniting together to answer the challenge and rise to the moment. that is what they're doing.

above all we've been awed, inspired by the exceptional courage of the doctors, nurses, emts, health care workers who are the soldiers of this war. no words can ever express the complete measure of our gratitude for these intrepid heroes. one cleveland patient credited his medical team for not only saving his life but their skill but forever changing his life through their example of selfless devotion. count believe it. so generous he was with his statements. and he talked about their bravery in an area that was in such trouble, an area of that hospital where people were dying. he talked about their bravery. another survivor in houston said simply, i will consider them, my angels forever, i will consider them, think of that, my angels forever, as our nation endures the depths of loss and grief, we're also witness to the summit of american virtue, character

and courage with the love and dedication of every american patriot. we will win this battle, we will defeat this enemy, we will rise from this present crisis with new strength, urnty and resolve and that's what's happening. tremendous stories are coming out of this horrible moment, very dark moment, for the world. 182, i was saying, 151 for a while and then it got up to 160 and 182 as i announced yesterday, 182 countries are being attacked by this virus. so i just want to thank everybody. i want to thank the american citizens for doing a great job. stay inside and let's win this and let's get our country open as soon as we can. i think it is going to be sooner than people think. things are going really well. again light at the end of the tunnel.

and with that i will take a few questions, then mike is going to take over and talk with the admiral and with the professionals and we appreciate you being here. yes, please. reporter: mr. president, you mentioned you were asking the drug companies to provide treatment to the british prime minister. what sort of treatment is that? is that available -- >> yeah, it is a very complex treatment of things they have just recently developed and that they have a lot of experience with having to do with something else but recent for this and they will be, they have already concurred, they have already had meetings with the doctors and we'll see whether or not they want to go that route but when you're in intensive care it's a big deal. so they're there and they're ready. i think we have three of them. i spoke with four. you know who the four would be and you know the people within those. you probably, you would know the companies, i told you the companies but the people with the greatest, the greatest in the world.

so they're at the hospital and we'll see and they have, they have everything with them should it be needed. hopefully won't have to be needed but should it be needed. i just, i found him, i found boris to be a fantastic person, just like a fantastic, warm, strong, smart guy. he loves his country. you see that. he fought like hell for his country. and intensive care is big stuff, really big stuff. reporter: you were asked about this as well but now that he is moved to intensive care does that give you the or the vice president, pause or concern to take steps within the government here? >> no, i don't think so. mike had his test a couple days ago. i had my test couple days ago. we're here and here you are. no, i don't think so. i think we'll probably because of questions like that i think we'll probably have maybe quite a few tests. it is not the worst idea.

the system of testing now is so quick and so easy. so i could see, you were tested again today? are you sure you're okay? >> i'm okay. reporter: mr. president, despite nearly 1.8 million tests you said the united states has done the inspector general for the department of health and human services released a report today, survey of more than 300 hospitals across the country and the number one complaint from those hospitals were severe shortages of testing supplies and really long wait time. >> that is just wrong. did i hear the word inspector general, really? it's wrong. they will talk to you bit. it's wrong. >> this is your own government? >> it is, where did he come from the inspector general? what is his name. >> came from the inspect store general report. i don't know his name. let me know. find me his name i would appreciate it. >> but sir, these are hospitals that -- >> put up on the board, you're going to ask, you're going to ask the admiral, but we are

doing -- reporter: hospitals are stating they wait a week or longer to get their -- >> we've done more testing and had more results than any country, anywhere in the world. they're doing incredible job. now they're all calling us. they want our testing. what are we doing? how do you the do the five minute test? how do you do the 15 minute test. give me the name of inspect core general? could politics be entered into that. go ahead. reporter: thank you, sir. are you worried about retaliation to your decision to ban export of medical goods like indian prime minister modi's decision to not export hydroxychlorquine to export it to our country? >> i don't like that decision. i didn't hear it was his decision. i know he stopped it for other countries. i spoke to him yesterday. we had a very good talk. we'll see whether or not -- i would be surprised if he would. india has done he have well with the united states. foremany years they have taken advantage of the united states on trade, so i would be

surprised if that were his decision. he would have to tell me that, i spoke to him sunday morning. we appreciate you allowing our supply to come out. if he doesn't allow it to come out, that would be okay. of course there may be retaliation. why wouldn't there be? reporter: thank you, mr. president. the paycheck protection program has gotten off to cone fusing start for small business -- >> i don't think so. reporter: wells fargo stopped taking application. >> not anymore they haven't. reporter: bank of america, taking applications from clients -- >> bank of america has been the leader. they have tremendous numbers about applications. and of course there may have been, they wanted a slightly different application. they warranted a little bit different information but bank of america has been a leader. they are number one in terms of applications. i wish you would ask the question differently. why don't saw say it has gotten off to a tremendous start there are some little glitches which by the way worked out. so much nicer if you do that

you're just incapable of asking a question. reporter: what measures -- >> it already done. is it has taken the measures. we may even do a different system. not with this. we'll have to probably add more money to save and keep our small businesses going and keep the employees of small businesses working by it is such a positive event and ask it in such a negative way. i wish we had a fair media in this country and we really don't. speaking of unfair, go ahead. reporter: mr. president, the acting secretary of the navy told the crew of the uss roosevelt that captain crozier was too naive or too stupid to be in command. is that appropriate for the office the navy to talk this way -- >> i haven't hurt exactly. i haven't heard the statement made, if that were the statement, it is a strong statement. look the letters shouldn't have

been sent and certainly shouldn't have been leaked this is a military operation. i must tell you i have heard very good things about the gentleman, both gentlemen, by the way. i will say this, about both gentlemen and i may look into it only from the stand spies point something should be resolved. i am hearing good things about both people. reporter: what will you look into? >> i may get involved if that is okay. you have two good people and they're arguing. believe it or not i'm good at settling arguments. i am good at settling arguments. i will look at it in detail i may figure out very fast. that was the statement. it was a rough statement, look, letters should not have been sent to many people, unclassified. that was a must take. it is a mistake that shouldn't have been made because it's unfair to the families of the people on the ship because they

get nervous. and it shows weakness and there is nothing weak about us now. not anymore. we have the strongest military we have ever had and we're not going to be showing weakness to anybody because we have, that ship is incredible, nuclear powered aircraft carrier and we don't want to be doing, writing letters. we don't want to have letter writing campaigns where the fake news finds a letter, get as leak. we don't want that. so the excuse me, so the letter shouldn't have been sent. with all of that said his career prior to that was very good. so i'm going to get involved and see exactly what's going on there, because i don't want to destroy somebody for having a bad day, okay? does that make sense? okay. reporter: mr. president, vice president biden's spokesperson said he made some suggestions to you about action you could be taking with the pandemic. >> he did. he had a very good talk. we agreed we weren't talking about what we said. we had a very good talk. it was a warm talk.

i enjoyed it. i hope he enjoyed it. it was short, it was 15 minutes. reporter: did he have suggestions? >> he had suggestions doesn't mean i agreed with his suggestions. i told him solve of the things we're doing. the conversation was a very friendly conversation. reporter: thanks a lot, mr. president, you mentioned other members of the your task force mentioned over the course of next two weeks it will be difficult time in terms of fatality. >> it will be a difficult week 1/2. reporter: there are a number of governors close allies of yours, mr. president, refrained to have stay at home orders. dr. fauci who of course is on your task force -- >> true. reporter: said it would, the state has don't have stay-at-home orders are putting themselves at risk around country. >> if dr. fauci said that i would be inclined to call them up. we do have a constitutional problem in doing that. you understand that. there is double, there is a

double-edged sword you understand. i can do it but it is a constitutional, you can say federalist, you can say, there is lots of different reasons where i would rather have the governors do it, make their own determination. they're smaller and not in all cases but sort of smaller cases but i'm not sure 100% dr. fauci said that but you can ask him. please. >> i had good conversations with the governor of nebraska and the governor of iowa here and it is interesting that functionally, even though they have not given a strict stay at home -- what they are doing is really functionally give learn to that. we had a really good conversation with both of the governors. and you know, when i had mentioned that, i think there was a public response that they weren't really doing anything at all and they really are doing a very good job, both of them. those are the only two i spoke to but it was very good conversation, i want to make

sure people understand because they don't have a very strict stay-at-home order they have in place a the place totally compatible with lot of things other people are doing. reporter: ask dr. fauci,. >> go ahead. reporter: you said you wanted to get back to normal as soon as possible, will we get back to normal before there is a true vaccine for everybody? how do you start lifting the restrictions? >> john, if back to normal acting like there was never a coronavirus problem, i don't think that is going to happen until we have a situation where you can completely protect the population, when we say getting back to normal we mean something very different from what we're going through right now because right now we are in a very intense mitigation. when we get back to normal we will go back gradually to the point where we can function as a society, but you're absolutely right, i mean if you want to get

to pre-coronavirus that might not ever happen in the sense that the fact the threat is there but i believe with the therapies that will be coming online and the fact i feel confident over a period of time we'll get a good vaccine we will never have to get back to where we are right now. if that means we're getting back to normal, i think we'll get back to normal. >> i think with the therapies and with the vaccines that i have total confidence with the companies, i'm dealing with the companies, i'm talking to johnson & johnson and talking to all of them, i think when you add the tremendous stimulus we're giving, like for instance deductibility for restaurant conditionses for restaurants and entertainment, the money we're talking about for small businesses and everybody to keep everybody working and other things we're frankly working on right now which will be great for our people, i think when you add that to it, i think you can get more than back to normal from a economic standpoint, actually better, more than back to normal.

i agree would love to see a vaccine but would immediately love to see a therapeutic. think we're getting very close. reporter: do you think you will be able to lift restrictions on april 30th? >> i don't want to comment right now. i certainly want to try but we'll see what is going on. we're doing very well. you look look at most places you call it the bump, you can call it the hill, you can call it the mountain, whatever you want to call it it is very flat. that was done through mitigation and done through a lot of good work. that far exceeded our expectations before. i mean, people can't even believe how, how low some of those bumps are, some of those hills are, they are very surprised. they have a couple tough ones, new jersey has been very tough and new york is very tough. they are crowded in tight, it is tougher. we're far exceeding, california far exceeds, washington state far exceeds. you look at so many of these

states, how well they're doing. the eight states by the way, i haven't spoken to the governors but tony is so right, they may not have it from the standpoint that they're saying it but those people are practicing it and they're doing a fantastic job. take a look at where they are in terms of the levels but look where they are. so but if i thought it was something that, and i looked at them, and i looked at them very carefully, i looked at them today, looked at them yesterday, from a constitutional standpoint i would love not to get involved with that, not from a legal standpoint, just from a moral, constitutional standpoint because legally i can but morally, you know i believe in our constitution, much more so than most people and i'd love to be able to let the governors to do what they have to do. those states are doing a fantastic job, all eight of them. they're doing a fantastic job.

so we'll see what happens. as per your question, you fully understand what i'm saying, so thank you. yes, please. reporter: hi, [inaudible]. do you think boris johnson talking about shaking hands with hospital patients does he downplay the threat of this virus? do you know exactly what his -- >> i think boris was looking at it differently. he was looking at it earlier. he was looking at it, ride it out. many people were thinking about riding it out. meaning, whatever it is it is but then you see what starts to happen and the numbers become monumental and they decide not to do that. we actually moved early. we moved early because of what we did with respect to the ban on china coming in. then europe coming in. that was an early ban too. then uk. so, no, he waited a little while and he felt that, he made a decision very quickly thereafter

to do what they did and they have gone to a very strict lockdown but they're suffering greatly as a nation right now. they're going through a lot. they're a nation that is having a difficult time but, i have gotten to know him. he is just such an incredible guy. that is shock nothing see that. intensive care is a big deal with regard to what we're talking about, that is a big deal a scary deal. yes, please. reporter: related to social distancing a tougher question, thomas howell of "the washington times" how many health workers in the u.s. have become infected with covid-19? the answer is not known, will the cdc be publishing that information? >> i can give you the information. i think they're probably willing to give that. we could get you that information. reporter: opec is meeting on thursday and they have said they are willing to make a cut in production if the u.s. chips in as well, which suggests they want you to ask, u.s. producers

to do as well -- >> you're the first one that told me that. i don't know. we'll have to make that decision, maybe we will, maybe we won't. we'll have to make that decision. i think cuts automatic, if you're a believer in markets, i can guarranty you there is a cut from pre this condition. it happened because of virus. virus knocked down 40%. literally when places close up you're talking about a 40% cut. no, i think it is happening automatically. nobody asked me that question yet. we'll see what happens. i will let you know thursday evening. reporter: that is a deal. but you would consider asking u.s. companies -- >> i think it is automatic because they're already cutting. if you look they're cutting back. it is market. it is demand. supply and demand. they're already cutting back and they're cutting back very seriously. reporter: opec is asking for a signal -- >> nobody asked me that. if they ask me i will make a decision. okay. but again, its happening anyway.

yes, please. reporter: in light of all the discussion about prime minister johnson and his health can you update on the status of the second half of your physical that you were going to have this year? >> so i had a physical. first half was very successful. i did it on a day when i was in the white house and we were able to do that as the doctor reported. and i have some, the second half of physical is different, probably done at walter reed. i will do that at the appropriate time. i feel good. according to the doctor very good shape. reporter: can i ask you again on the idea of a national stay at home recommendation what is giving you so much pause about -- >> i told you. i told you. he understood very well. i appreciate your understanding. reporter: it is not order -- >> constitution of the united states. i would rather have, if possible for the governors to make the decision. if a decision was very necessary and they have done a good job, tony said it better than anybody, they are, they are doing, they are doing what we're

asking them to do without having to put the seal on it. but i will say if i thought it was necessary i will do it in a heartbeat. reporter: do you agree with the georgia governor opening beaches. >> eaching what? reporter: the beaches? >> i will have to see to what extent. i will have to see how many people you're talking about. are they crowded, are they packed, not packed? we'll have to take a look at it. right now very early for beaches in georgia. right now very early. i will take a look at it. he has done a very good job as the governor. he knows what he is doing. we'll have to take a look. it really does depends how crowded it may be but i will talk to him. i will ask him that question. please. reporter: mr. president, talk about you're considering travel restrictions around hot spots. is that something still on the table and at what -- >> we're looking at it around the airlines have been cutting their routes. you saw that yesterday, they announced big cuts in routes. we need some flights for emergency use, for, military

people. we need some flights for medical people, and there are very few flights as you know. the flights going out are i think they said they're three to 4% full. you have 3% of the plane is occupied. so it's, they're very, very empty, generally very, very empty planes but it's good to have, it's a tiny amount of flights relative to the overall and we need them also for medical workers, for otherwise we'll have to do a whole big thing with our own planes. so they are done for a reason. there is also testing done. when people get on to the planes. also when people get off the planes. reporter: mr. president, if i can follow up on this question of the hhs inspector general, by the way her name is christie graham. it wasn't so much her opinion but they interviewed 323 different hospitals. >> still could be her opinion. when was she appointed. when was she appointed? >> do me a favor. let me know now. i have to know now, john.

let me know now john. because we are doing incredible job on testing. we're doing a better jock than anybody in the world right now on testing there is nobody close. and other nations admit this. other nations have admitted it very strongly. other nations are calling us, wanting to know about our testing. let me know when she was appointed, would you. reporter: specifically there had been a delay -- >> thank you very much much. go ahead. reporter: mr. president, only last week there were multiple flights coming from china full of medical supplies. >> yes. reporter: companies like huawei and alibaba been donating to the united states. >> people i know very well. reporter: n95 masks, also a lot of medical gloves and much more medical supplies. so -- >> a statement more than a question. reporter: sir, chinese investors last night. [inaudible] calling for cooperation with the united states. so are you personally working

directly with china on -- >> signed a trade deal. reporter: still fighting with the virus. >> biggest deal probably ever made. i hope they're going to honor that trade deal. if they don't honor the trade deal then i will tell you a different answer but i think they will. they're going to spend billions of dollars for agriculture. they're going to spend billions of dollars for many different things. whereas china never spent money in our country. we spent money. we had a deaf it, a trade deficit with china for years of $500 billion, $400 billion. we had the biggest trade deficits in the history of the world with china. now china's going to spend, halves agreed to spend 250 billion, many billions of dollars in our country, much of it going to farmers and manufacturers. so i will let you know. i hope they're going to honor the deal. we'll find out. reporter: china are you cooperating with china. >> who are you working for, china? are you working with china or

newspaper, who are you with? >> hong kong nxtv. >> who owns that, china, is it owned by china. is it owned by the state. >> it is not. owned by private company. >> i will give you a answer in a few months. it us time for them to help us. it is time for china to help us. and hopefully they do. if they don't, that's okay too. but we signed a deal. it was signed in with great goodwill and spirit and it is time that our farmers benefited, our manufacturers benefited. we'll see whether or not that deal is honored. and i think it will be because i know president xi, who i like and respect and i think he will honor the deal he made with us. it just went into effect four days ago. i will see whether or not or not, i called up just a little while ago, i said how farmers are doing with respect to china? are they buying the product as

anticipated? the answer was yeah, i think so but it wasn't the most positive, but it was starting, the deal just started. so i'll let you know but you know for many, many years, china ate our lunch because we had people in this position that i'm in right now that allowed china to get away with absolute murder. and it should never happened. reporter: what about the virus? >> we're now dealing with china. we'll see what happens. yes. reporter: mr. president -- >> wait, wait. how many do you want to ask? reporter: answer your question you asked me, she was appointed january of this year to her current position as principle deputy director. >> we'll take a look at it. go ahead. reporter: small business loans sir, you said businesses applied for $40 billion of loans but can you tell how much actually gone out to the small businesses? >> i can't tell you, it goes out very quickly once the loan application is approved.

the process is very bad. these are banks. this what they do. they were swamped. they were actually swamped. go ahead. reporter: i know you don't want to talk about the inspector general report but testing is still a big issue in this country. when can hospitals -- >> put the slide up again please. reporter: when can hospitals expect to receive a quick turnaround of the results? >> you are ready? >> hospitals can do their own testing also. states can do their own testing. states can do their own testing. hospitals are supposed to be doing their own testing. we're the federal government, we're not supposed to stand on street corners doing testing. they go to doctors. they go to hospitals. they go to the state. the state is a more localized government. you have 50 of them. and they can go within, you have territories as you know. and they do the testing. and if you look at the chart, if you take a look, did they put it up, yeah, just take a look.

these are testing and results are now coming in very quickly. initially speaking the tests were old, obsolete and not really prepared. we have a brand new testing system that we developed very quickly. and that is your result. you should say, congratulations, great job instead of being so horrid in the way you ask a question. please, go ahead. reporter: mr. president -- >> i would love admiral speak to that question. go ahead. >> so i can talk a little bit about testing later on but, as the president said, 1.79 million tests have been done. this does not count the hundreds of thousands of tests that are done within hospitals that are now currently not reporting. so i'm sure we're well over two million. that inspector general report was done here, 23rd, 24th, during the ramp up period. quite a long time ago. there was clearly, it is hard to interpret the report because it mixes up all kinds of things but

clearly, there was complaints by some hospitals of a backlog, probably of sent out tests, and that is true. there were several days of backlog at some of the major labs that have been taking care of. we know now the acla labs have 24 to 48 hour stern around. they're doing well over 100 thousands tests a day. abbott machine now is point of care. 18,000 of those instruments throughout the country. thethe scph-eid machine is 45 minute turn around. we work with hospitals with their own laboratory derived tests. some of those quite frankly didn't understand the regulatory freedom they have to use other different kinds of instruments or different kinds of reagents. >> like they do now. >> like they do now. i'm on the phone with them to make sure everything is clear. we have a 24 hour call number. that is what it was there for.

and i don't know the inspector general, i don't know that person. i tell you one thing i have a problem with, if there was such a problem that she knew about or he knew about on march 23rd and march 24th, why did i find out about the tests from them on the news media at 8:00 this morning? if there was a problem, i think you're ethically obliged to tell me where that is so we can interact with it like i do every single day. that is discussion for the future. i think testing is really in a good position right now. i would be happy to expand on some of the really good tests that are coming up. >> how long has that person been in government? >> did serve in the previous administration. >> you didn't tell me that, john, you didn't tell me that, john. did serve in the previous administration, you mean the obama administration. thank you for telling me that. there is a typical fake news deal. >> you asked me when she was appointed. reporter: i told you when she was appointed. >> you're a third-rate reporter.

what you said is just a disgrace. you asked me said, sir just got appointed. take a look what you said. when did they, when did this person, how long in government. it was appointed in the obama administration. thank you very much. john. thank you very much, john. you will never make it. go ahead, please. reporter: on ventilators. >> you're terrible. reporter: can you tell us where you are today, how many ventilators are in the federal stockpile. >> i will not tell you how many are in the stockpile but i can tell you we look at ventilator use granularly every single day and every single state and down to the hospital level. so we have been able to meet and easily meet all the ventilator requirements that have been brought up to us by the state. no one has, not gotten a ventilator that needs a ventilator and as far as we can project, looking at all models, every person who needs a ventilator will get a ventilator. i'm a ventilator doc, right? i'm an icu physician for children. spent every day of my life

managing people on ventilators this is my community. it is also the surgeon general's community as anesthesiologist. sew what we have in the stockpile i think is not a number we give out but we have thousands remaining in the stockpile and now you're seeing out of the appropriate american spirit that when pa state like washington or california, doesn't need that ventilator they're doing the right thing by moving them around the country. >> around 9,000 so you understand. it is about 9,000. you didn't tell me about this inspector general came out of the obama administration. you didn't tell me that. please go ahead. go ahead. reporter: looking at the inspect juror general's bio, served in government since 1999. hoping to ask you about, your called forward by president joe biden, something you learned on phone call. -- >> i before the call. reporter: speaking to people -- >> i think he is very nice. he is a nice man. i always thought he was a nice

man. i don't know him. i don't know if i ever spoke to him before other than to say hello. but i think he is a nice man. we had a very nice call. reporter: you are to seek now the counsel of some of your predecessors, george bush, barack obama. >> no, not really. we are doing a great job. hey, i inherited, we, this administration, we inherited a broken system, both militarily, we rebuilt the military. we now have so much ammunition whereas you remember, very important general said, sir, we have no ammunition. they wanted to save money on ammunition. they didn't want to save money because they spent money like nobody ever spent money but you know what? we now have a great military rebuilt. we have so much ammunition we don't know what to do with it, okay? that is a nice feel towing have. but they also gave us empty cupboards. you herd the expression, the cupboard was bare. we took over a stockpile where the cupboard was bare and the testing system was broken and old. we redid it. frankly would be okay for a

small event but not for a big event. they had a chance to do it. somebody said a certain person i won't tell you, but a certain person said this will happen. and that's true. the problem is that person never did anything about it, previous administrations in previous -- they never did anything about it. we all know all about pandemics and all of the things that we're seeing now but nobody thought it was going to happen. if we did think it was going to happen, the problem is nobody did anything about it. we did. we have rebuilt the system. and now we're a fine tuned machine. we built thousands of hotel beds for new york. we moved a ship now we're going to make for covid, covid-19. we're going to make it so that people having this horrible thing happen to them will be able to use the ship. the ship as i said will be shared with new jersey, new york and new jersey. we've done things that are incredible. when you build, what was it, 18 hospitals? we built 18 hospitals.

we built medical centers all over the country. when you have gavin newsom and other governors who really have been very nice and generous in their statements because they make the statements to the press, not just to my face. others tell us how great we're doing, like the call that mike had today. i heard from other people on the call. it was incredible t was two hours, everything was positive. they were so happy with what we've done. and we're ready to do more if they need it because we're ready to march. the admiral can tell you we are sitting there with 9,000 ventilators and we're ready to march when we see that we can move very quickly, as soon as we see that need, we can move very quickly, we're ready to march. we built a great system. the problem is the democrats like a guy like chuck schumer is a total lightweight by the way, i've known him for a long time, he will say, why don't you put a military man in charge. military man? i have all military men. this man is doing incredible charge. we have two admirals, numerous

generals. we have the army corps of engineers. we have fema. we have this whole floor is like nobody's ever seen before. we have a great military operation. and they have done an incredible job. honestly people should respect because nobody has ever seen anything like wee ever done. what they end up, think about me, don't worry about me. if i say how many ventilators you need, governor, 1000 would be great. nobody, i will send you 10,000. then you will call up from the media. you will say how did trump do. we're not happy. he didn't send us enough ventilators. that is called politics. if you look what is happening, that, i am even surprised. the governors are saying all good things but the democrat governors, and a couple of rinos frankly, they're rinos that's all they are, one rino in particular they're all saying

great things. he had a call two hours. i heard about the call, not just from mike it, was a perfect call. i'm sure you're on the call, even though you're not supposed to be, sure you were on the call, some of the media is on the call because they're constantly reporting the call f they're honest they will say it is a great call. okay. next question, please? here we go. here we go. reporter: you didn't mention the hospitals that were built in new orleans and dallas today but you mentioned them a number of times previously. there seems to be some concern in texas that they might lose the hospital in dallas if it is not -- >> we're never going to do anything that hurts texas. we're only helping texas. by the way the governor is doing a great job over there with the situation. and texas is so big. you have some parts of state are affected other parts are not affected at all it is an incredible place. reporter: do they keep the hospital even if it is unused or will the federal government shift resources elsewhere.

>> we're do whatever we need. we are doing it totally in conjunction with the governor, okay. we're doing in conjunction with the texas governor who is doing a fantastic job. reporter: governor abbott set up checkpoints at the border to check people coming in from louisiana. we've seen check point in florida, other state borders, americans are -- >> very few people are coming through our border. you will be happy to know, we're up to mile 161 of the wall. reporter: talking about internal borders between states. >> okay. but on the border between mexico we have 161 miles of wall. reporter: internal boards. americans don't, they're not used to seeing border checkpoints between states. how much longer, is that something that is states have -- >> first, do you want us to call eight governors and tell them to do something. then you are complaining another governor is so strict that he actually checks the borders. i understand why he is doing that. he knows who he has. he doesn't want people coming in if they should maybe, you know,

not be to the liking of the doctors. no, i think it is, he has done a great job. he has done a great job with this case as have many other governors. but he has done a great job. one of the things i thought you were going to say we've been very tough on our southern border as you know, very, very tough. part of that is the fact that we have so much, you know when you talk about the 160 miles of new wall, nobody is coming through that, nobody. not even close. and we're building it rapidly. we will have early next year, we'll have close to 500 miles of wall, which is what our goal was. please. reporter: you mentioned senator schumer just a moment ago. he had a conference call today and he said that he believes that a covid four relief bill will be necessary. do you share that belief and what would be contained? >> i don't know necessarily but i certainly want to listen and what i want to do is two things. real infrastructure not "green new deal," you know, bar

bonn footprint. we're not looking for the carbon footprint, we want toe put people to work. frankly for so many years we let our infrastructure go to hell because we were wasting all our money in the middle east and other places, okay. i want to rebuild our country. we're tired, we rebuilt, if you call it that, or destroyed, frankly what we've done, is so crazy. what we have done, the direction this country has taken is so sad but we're in the middle east for $8 trillion and if you want to fix a pothole on a highway you can't do it because they don't want to give you the funds. we want a infrastructure bill a real one, like in the vicinity of two trillion dollars to completely rebuild our roads, our bridges, our highways, our tunnels, everything. and i'm totally open to listening to that i'm also opening to listening to, to even putting forward because we'll be putting something forward more money for our citizens because they have gone through a trauma.

this has been trauma. this came out of nowhere. i say it, and i will say it again. we had the greatest economy in the history of the world. we had the most people working in the history of our country, almost 160 million people, far more than ever before and than one day our professionals correctly came to us and they said, sorry, sir, we have to close down our country. and i said, say it again. say it again. we have to close down our country. and, the entire world closed down because of this hidden enemy. now we, we are going to take good care of our people. it was not our fault. reporter: dr. birx claire fay something she said on saturday -- clarify. would i ask dr. birx clarify something she said on saturday. it comes from a radio colleague of mine, you said sounded like

people in high-risk areas should not even go to the market or the drugstore. is that what you meant to say or is that accurate? >> you know, out of respect for every single health care worker, that is on the front line, whether they're a nurse, a doctor, a respiratory therapist, phlebotomist, the person who comes in the room to clean, you know, out of respect for them we as americans should be doing everything possible and what i meant was, if you can consolidate, if you can send one person, entire family doesn't need to go out on these occasions. we really need, this is a highly transmittible virus. we have been saying that. we want every american to know what they're doing is making a difference but we need to have solidarity of commitment from everyone to really, so, you know, maybe once every two weeks

we can do a grocery store and pharmacy shop for the entire family. it is really about we have to do everything we can. i know i see on the tv stations the level of human suffering in the hospitals. dr. fauci and i and admiral gerard have spent our lives taking care of each other and we need to take care of each other as americans to do everything in the guidelines. i know they're tough. i know incredibly how tough they are. my grandchild of 10 months got a fever of 105 this weekend. i'm a doctor. and i couldn't get there. i mean, so i'm trying to explain to my daughter how to listen to her lungs, how to listen to her lungs and the baby's lungs. >> you did not go there? >> i did not go there because of you two. you can't take that kind of risk with the leaders of the country. >> grandson's okay? >> daughter. but she is coming out of it.

>> [inaudible]. >> we're all, that is just an illustration, i know you all are making sacrifices. i guess i want everyone to take this seriously. so that was really a call of seriousness, of how important this is. and how we're starting to see the impact but you can see what can happen when you come at this a little bit too late. and that is why the message before you see it, before you have to see your hospitals and your emergency rooms overwhelmed, it is on us as a member of this community, of this country, to do everything possible to save one another. so that was really what i was saying. i will continue to say that because i do believe it is making a difference. you can start to see it making a difference but we have to do even more right now because that will predict where we are two or three weeks from now. >> it is making a big difference. i saw where governor cuomo was a

little bit upset today over the weekend a lot of people outside. there were pretty big groups of people. i saw that he wasn't happy with that. i could understand that. look, we have a short period of time, hopefully it is a short period of time of time to go and let's get it done. let's get it done. kristin, you have a question. you're so quiet. reporter: just got here. quirk follow to the question about legislation. i know there is discussion about phase four but are you also looking seriously at a second round of direct payments and are you putting discussions on a potential phase four on hold for now while you pursue that? >> i was opposed to the way of distribution, money distribution through as you know unemployment and through the state offices because they have very old, not all of them, but many of them have 40-year-old equipment as i have said and it makes it very difficult but that is what they're looking, that is what they want to do. that is the way it was mandated

to do. i thought it would be better to do a direct payment system. democrats really wanted that. they had help from couple of people i would have, had he spoken to them i would have convinced them otherwise i really would believe. but it is getting out. the federal government has done its job. all we can do is give the massive amount of money to the states. the states are responsible to distribute it. a little bit like we're talking about here but the money will be right on time from the federal government. they were the states have to do their job getting it out. reporter: what about a second round? >> we could very well do a second round of direct. i would do it direct. reporter: that is -- >> that is absolutely under serious consideration. reporter: in terms of chuck schumer, he also said he spoke to your chief of staff about potentially appointing a czar to oversee the supply chain. is that something that you -- >> we have people that are so talented. i know the people he is suggested. they're wonderful people. they worked here. they are wonderful people.

he is just doing that because it is politics. because you know what? we have many, depending on what? in terms of testing, this gentleman right here. in terms of, you know who the point person is? this gentleman right here. he is the one in charge of the task force. but mike, you may want to tell them about, this is really a military operation. reporter: mr. president, in terms of the supply chain -- >> let me answer your question if i may. it is a very good question and i spoke to senator schumer the night before last just about that the president signed a declaration of national emergency. he stood up fema, as the lead agency implementing his policy to marshall a whole-of-government response and under fema, we provide federal support, the state manages the health care response, and health care providers and first-responders implement that response on a local level. our lead on this issue in

implementing it is admit straight tore pete gaynor, the man managing all the supplies, and you heard a presentation this weekend about our air bridge, what we also call the control tower, we literally with admiral john polowczyk at the helm of our logistics effort, we have visibility on all supplies moving across this country and into this country around the world. it is really extraordinary. when the president tapped fema to lead this effort, we essentially wanted to say we want to organize this in a military fashion and we tapped really some one who is widely regarded as the number one supplies and logistics military officer to do just that. he really is an extraordinary individual, admiral girard known him a long time.

working with admiral polowczyk. we go over that with administrator gaynor and admiral polowczyk. as we were explaining to governors today, we work with the requests that are coming in from states with the priority on the areas dealing with widespread outbreak like the greater new york city area, new jersey, louisiana, focus own detroit, focus on chicago and illinois, and then what pete gaynor and admiral polowczyk are doing, directing the commercial distributors to send the resources directly to the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus. it is an extraordinary system and as i explained to the governors today, as i have explained to congressional leaders, who have made, what i think is a, a good faith

recommendation that we have, that we organize this in a manner of military logistics, that is exactly what president trump has done. it is what we're doing every single day to make sure that health care workers, to make sure that the states are dealing with a widespread outbreak of the coronavirus can be confident that we're going to fair no expense, leave no stone unturned and use this extraordinary apparatus centered in fema to get the people of our country what they need when they need it to battle the coronavirus. >> kristin, when schumer makes a statement like that, he is only doing it for politics. he knows, we have the best generals, the best admirals, we have the best people. these are incredible leaders. these are vibrant people. they have done such a good job. and again, you will get a tape of the conversation because i'm sure some of the governors probably had their favorite reporter listeninging to the conversation even though they weren't supposed but that has happened before.

just so you understand, we had a call today that was a beautiful call. everybody friendly, everybody happy. they have also know in some cases we'll get them a little bit more. if they need it we'll get them a lot more depending where this monster is going. when schumer does that, take a look, take a look at the -- you know, you will have to tell me who. some democrats because they view this as a campaign issue. they want to make trump look as bad as they can because they want to try to win an election they shouldn't be allowed to win based on the fact we have done a great job. we built the greatest economy in the world. i will do it a second time. we got artificially stopped by a virus nobody ever thought possible and we handled it. we built a team. we built an apparatus that has been unbelievable. take a look at the swine flu, right? that is h1n1. take a look at that. it is not the other way around,

by the way, it is h1n1. you know what i mean by that. take a look at the swine flu. it was a disaster, 17,000 people died. the other administration, they didn't even know, like they didn't know it was here. that was peanuts compared to what we have in terms of the power, magnitude of what we're going through. this is attacking 182 countries simultaneously. schumer is just all about politics. i've known him almost all of my adult life and, he is a disgrace, in many ways he is a disgrace. he knows it is -- he wants to do that he knows the job we're doing. everybody is amazed at job we're doing. the public is starting to find out. one of the reasons i do these news conferences because if i didn't, they would believe fake news. we can't let them believe fake news. they see us up here. they see us with admirals. they see us with this talent. they see the job mike pence has done. which has been an unbelievable

job. an unbelievable job. i put him there, i thought he would do well. he did great as the governor of indiana. i thought mike would do well. he has done much better than well. and he gets along with people. i think much better than i do. mike can put up with things sometimes i say it is amazing he can put up with it, he has done an incredible job. so has the entire team. this is a military operation. and again, we built 2900 beds in javits center. we build medical centers in new york. in chicago we built 1000 beds much more now, in mccormack place. that is their big convention hall, the equivalent of javits convention hall. big mccormack place, fantastic place. by the way the mayor of chicago, at least on the phone is extremely happy with what we're doing, thanking us, has a great relationship with mike, thanking

us. elizabeth: that does it for us. i'm elizabeth macdonald with the evening edit. thanks so much for having us in your hopes. thanks for watching. we'll be staying on this developing story. >> announcer: a century-old amusement park that could be lost forever. >> we're dying on the vine down here. >> "our time is over." that's serious. >> announcer: a divided family on the verge of a painful split... >> no amusement park in the world has been owned by a family as long as this one. >> the family loyalties just tend to get disintegrated. it's just a pattern for disaster. >> announcer: ...and a reprieve from the governor. but will it be enough? >> it's the day after labor day. the amusement park's not open down there. my father is flipping in his grave right now. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ]