officers to match the uniforms. i think of this proudly and i think that community everythingg will day. i want to cover three quick topics. first is where we are numerically. the vice president already said we are now topping 39 million deaths across the country. the states really crush their goals in june. it is about 12.9 million in june. cdc numbers have finalized that it is about 16 and a half million tests for june. congratulations to almost all the states who made their goal, exceeded their goal. we are doing very well right now, between 600,000 and 700,000 tests per day. we topped a number last week and we are averaging about 626,000 tests per day. we continue to shift. we are right with swabs and media, the states tell us what we need, we work with them to set those goals based on their state testing plans after technical assistance by the cdc

and my office. fema ships those every week. that is now along with the assistant secretary for preparedness and response at hhs. that is the overall general view. we announced yesterday what we talked about a little bit last week, and that is federal surge sites. we opened these in three communities. there was a list of communities identified by dr. birx and her team that has certain characteristics of their infection trend, but also met certain characteristics, numerical numbers and isolation. it might have an impact over a short period of time. our goal in those communities is to do at least 5,000 tests per day. those are in baton rouge, jacksonville, and mcallen. mcallen in texas. we have many other sites that we are working with. again, this is a partnership with the state and local governments to make that happen. there up and running, testing

and all three sites. baton rouge started yesterday. we have almost 6,500 appointments already made this morning, so that's going very well. the last thing i want to talk about is phoenix, i don't know if we have the slides for this, but i get just a little bit concerned when i hear things in the news like we are doing nothing for phoenix and the federal government hasn't been doing anything with phoenix. that really is not correct and undermines a lot of the things we are doing. i'm going to show you some slides. i didn't make these up. my team, this was part of the 55-slide deck, just on phoenix, where he understand the demographics, the health disparities, the income levels, the racial and ethnic backgrounds, where the tests are done. this is where we work the issu issues. we are in constant contact with governer ducey and his team.

i know dr. redfield does this, as well. we provide support according to the state plans. in the last two months we shipped over 500,000 swabs and media to the state, to fulfill their plans. in terms of phoenix, if i can get that first slide back, please. i just want to say that, yes, we have lots of support in phoenix. this is a community-based testing location. i didn't decode this because it's right out of my slide deck. phoenix has three federally funded retail sites. this is paid on a per capita basis. you come up, get a test. not these three sites, but this overall program assisted just under million individuals and they are located specifically in communities of high social vulnerability. we have three there. we also have 13 3.0 sites. these are retail pharmacies, that because of our regulatory flicks ability, they can do that

without a federal stipend or grant. they do it just through the insurance medicare/medicaid billing system. those are 16 federal sites we have in phoenix. next one. i don't know if there is a map to go with that, but under the leadership of secretary azar, we have really surged into fq hcs. federally qualified health centers. this is where you want testing to happen, because these are medical homes for those who are indigent and underserved. we have 28 sites performing testing just in the phoenix area right now. next slide. we don't have that slide, but let me talk about -- we have also identified every single testing machine in phoenix. there are testing machines to do tens of thousands of tests per day, and we are sending at least 100,000 -- maybe it will come up, maybe it won't. we have at least 100,000 to the phoenix area every week. these are all the things we are doing in the background that

happen on a regular basis that we do community by community. two days ago i heard that mayo mayor gallego was not happy because there was a federal support. on monday morning i was on the phone at the fema representative in the afternoon. it was clear to me that phoenix was not in tune with all the things the state were doing. we convened a call last night where we had governer ducey's people on the phone, where we had the mayor's people on the phone, various health officials on the phone. we got everybody together, understood where the gaps are. there is a surge from arizona state, there was a surge in testing sites, state testing sites in phoenix that are up there. this morning, governer ducey looked at everything, thought a surge site would be helpful in west phoenix. he requested that and we are contracting that right now. i just want to give you an example, because it really pains me when somebody says the federal government isn't doing anything when we have 41 federal

sites there. we are sending supplies, we are sending tests. we work with the governor every day. if there's an appropriate request, it's on the list for dr. birx, which it was, we will send a surge site. that's what we're doing, contracting that this afternoon. thank you. >> vice president pence: thank you, admiral giroir. as we said, the focus today is unsafely reopening our schools. as we discussed yesterday at the white house summit, from very early in this process, the centers for disease control has been issuing guidance for schools and for child care services in early march. march the 12th, to be specific. when we first published the 15 days to slow the spread and encouraged people to engage in schooling from home wherever possible, from that point forward, cdc has published decision trees about how schools can begin to redeveloping plans

and published guidance for k-12 schools. as dr. redfield can elaborate, in a few moments they will be issuing five new documents that will range from preparing communities to return to school safely. the decision-making tools for parents and caregivers, and to create symptom screening considerations as children and teachers returned to school. as we made clear yesterday and we will make clear again today, we are here to help. none of the cdc recommendations are intended to replace state and local rules and guidance. what we made clear to governors and the state and local health officials is cdc stands ready to work with local officials as they tailor their plan for reopening schools. we are all committed to getting our kids back in the classroom and getting back this fall. with that, i want the secretary

of education to reflect on the effort she's making here with the debarment of education. we will hear from dr. redfield and if you wrap up comments from the secretary of hhs before we go to questions. >> thanks for hosting the task force here today. we are so capable to the president and for you for your leadership on doing what's right for students. we had a good and important conversation that was insightful and inspiring. as mrs. pence noted, these past few months, parents have worn multiple hats. they really are unsung heroes, and i might add, as the vice president noted, as are the teachers who were often playing dual roles as parents themselves, and continuing to help their students learn. she also said -- mrs. pence also

said that, as we reopen businesses, restaurants, theaters and our country, we simply can't leave out our schools. that is so correct. students can and must continue to learn full-time. i have been really inspired by the innovative teachers, schools, and their communities that have kept learning going through this past few months. they are getting ready to do it again this fall. a couple of great examples in harlem and the surrounding burros in new york , they moved to distance-learning in one week using platforms. teachers there insisted on learning new materials right along with their students. the students were still graded. they made sure of the all the studentshad the tech the at home initially. miami-dade county used existing instructional continuity plans to make a seamless transition to

distance-learning. they added interventions for students who were struggling already before the pandemic. the international leadership academy in texas started from the mind-set that not learning wasn't an option for any student. they delivered multilingual and special education curriculum to all of their students. there were a number of schools and districts across the country that did an awesome job of transitioning this spring. and there were a lot in which i and state school leaders were disappointed, in that they didn't figure out how to continue to serve their students. too many of them just gave up. the center for reinventing public education said that only 10% across-the-board provided any kind of real curriculum and instruction program. as i said, i have talked to all of the state school chiefs at least once, most of them more than once. they told me that many of the

districts in their state to have done well through the past several months. a number of them, they were very disappointed in doing next to nothing. then we see as we talk about reopening schools, there are some creating false paradigms for the fall. here, right in our neighborhood, the d.c. area, fairfax county, which is one of the most well-funded -- i would call it an elite public school system in america, offered families a so-called "choice" for this fall. either zero days in school for their students were two days. their springtime attempt at distance-learning was a disaster. i give this as an example because things like this cannot happen again in the fall. it would fail america's students and it would fail taxpayers who pay high taxes for their education. ultimately, it's not a matter of if schools should reopen, it is

simply a matter of how. they must fully open and they must be fully operational, and how that happens is best left to education and community leaders. i really appreciate something that secretary azar reiterated yesterday at the white house. it's the surgeon general's prescription for health care, and i'm going to repeat it again, because it bears repeating. first, ask yourself, what is your individual circumstance? are you or someone in your home vulnerable? second, what's going on in your community? is a virus widespread or is it isolated? third, think about the kind of school activity and what needs to be in place for things to be successful. education leaders need to examine real data for their own states and communities, and weigh the risks. local leaders in every community need to ask these questions and consider all the risks.

physical health and safety are factors. so his mental health. so is social emotional development. importantly, very importantly, so our lost opportunities for students, particularly the most vulnerable among us, and students with disabilities. the american academy of pediatrics noted keeping schools closed, it places children and adolescents at considerable risk of morbidity and, in some cases, mortality. the pediatrics guidance concluded that everyone should start with a goal of having students physically present in school. fully open and fully operational means that students need a full school year or more, and it is expected it will look different depending on where you are. what is clear is that students and their families that they need more options. i have talked a long time about the need to rethink the need for education and expand options for all students.

this moment really demands action, and america always was and is and always will be a country of doers. we are confident that, with grit and determination and a measure of grace, we can and will do what's right for all the students in our nation. thanks very much. >> dr. redfield? >> thank you very much, mr. vice president. first and foremost, i want to make it very clear that the guidance that cdc continues to put out for schools k-12 and higher is intentional for reopening and keeping our schools open. that is its purpose. we recognize there's a variety of unique circumstances were different schools, different school districts, and so we've outlined a number of strategies

that those schools, those administrators, can use to accomplish this goal safely. i want to make it very clear that what is not the intent of cdc's guidelines is to be used as a rationale to keep schools closed. we are prepared to work with each school, each to use thestrategies so they coh the optimal strategy for those schools. i would be very personally disappointed, and i know my agency if we saw that individuals were using those guidelines as a rationale for not reopening our schools. i think there is a series of additional guidelines that we are about to put out, to help with the k-12 community,

particularly at the community level, to help open safely. guidelines also that come out, consideration documents for parents and caregivers, guidelines for schools to help them best and characterize symptoms in a school as a tool, and i want to close by reiterating again the purpose of cdc's guidances, remember, it is guidance. it is not requirements. its purpose is to facilitate the reopening and keeping open the schools in this country.

as the vice president said, it is critical that we get the schools open, do it safely, we are prepared to work with all the school districts and schools to help them facilitate the development of their own unique plan to accomplish that. thank you. >> thanks, dr. redfield. opening up schools is the right thing to do for our kids so they don't fall behind academically and also so that children that are in need of services, special needs children, children with mental health issues, nutrition needs, have the support that they receive at the schools. it is important, though, for parents and for working families. i asked secretary scalia to be here from the department of labor to speak on the impact, as we put america back to work, to make it possible for us to put single parents back in the workforce. it's essential to get our

schools open, as well. secretary scalia, and then of course the secretary of hhs to make remarks before we go to questions. mr. secretary? mr. vice president, it's good to be with you all today. for reasons that that were mentioned, having our schools open it so important to our children's education. as the vice president has said, it is very important, as well, to working men and women across the country who need to be able to structure their workdays in a protectable manner. the expectation that schools will be open and their children will be able to be in school so the parents in turn can have a predictable schedule they bring to the workplace. of course that is important to our business places, as well. in that sense, it is rooted dumb like really critical important to a national opening. one study has suggested that if

we closed all our schools and day care for just a month, just hypothetically if we did that, the impact on u.s. productivity would be anywhere from $50 billion to give you some sense of the impact, having our schools closed can't have a national recovery. i did want to mention a couple of groups in particular to whom this is very important. first, lower wage workers. one of the great triumphs of the economy that we have enjoyed until the virus came was how well lower income men and women were doing in the workplace. we, as you know, had an appointment at a 50 year low, record low unemployment for african-americans, hispanic-americans, and others. we had rising wages, wages rose about 15% for lower income men and women during the first three years of this administration. unfortunately, and a number of people have observed this, it's the lower income workers who

have been particularly adversely affected by some of the shutdowns that we've had in response to the coronavirus. unemployment among the lower income workers has been higher than for other populations. therefore, for them, having schools reopen, so they can have protectable schedules and be able to wear int return to the e is very important. they have jobs that are less likely to be jobs -- many of us know that you can telecommute, there are burdens being placed on mothers, fathers were getting up a little bit earlier or staying up a lot later to get work done to plan around caring for their children in the interim. for lower income men and women, that option obviously is not even available. second, let me briefly talk about working women who study show, and i think experience of many of us reflects, that it is women in the household that quite often bear the larger burden when it comes to caring

for children, study show this, and again, prior to covid, another great success that the economy was enjoying was the employment rate for women, the employment rate for women was lower than for men before the virus came. this is its citizen we've been tracking. the on employment rate for women now is higher than it is for men. we made great progress in june, the vice president mentioned the extraordinaire jobs report. we put 7.5 million americans back to work in just two months. the unemployment rate for women dropped nearly 3% in june, but still, but we have important work to do. and we know that working women will have a harder time getting back to the workplace, that continue to cite child care is much higher reason then men do that for a reason they are not able to work.

reopening our schools will be very important. just to wrap up, and such an important sense, the case and structure of our national life is built around the expectation that our young people will be in school in person during this school year. that is so important for them, but it's also vitally important for their parents. in that sense, so critical to this reopening that is proceeding very well economically. to get going we need our schools open in the fall. thank you very much. >> mr. secretary? >> well, thank you very much, mr. vice president, for your leadership. for the focus that you are now putting on getting kids safely back to school.

from hhs's perspective, reopening schools safely may be the single most important thing we can do to support healthy families during this pandemic. all decisions about undertaking activities during covid-19 have to look at risk as a continuum, not a binary question. states and school districts can think about the same things that we urge individuals to think about. as secretary devos noted, our surgeon general has come out with his prescription for health. ask yourselves three critical questions. where are you? is there significant community transmission of the virus in your area? whom are we talking about? children are much less susceptible to severe outcomes from the virus than adults. activities are we looking at? there are more and less-risky activities for schools, like keeping kids in the same classroom versus changing classes. avoiding large gatherings, and doing activities outside whenever possible. reopening schools comes with

some risk, but there are risks to keeping kids at home, too. at home, kids aren't benefiting from social stimulation. they may be falling behind learning, they may be more vulnerable to abuse that goes unreported by the mandatory reporters in our school system. they may not be getting special services they may need. they may not be getting the nutrition that they get at school, and it may be difficult for parents to get back to work, as secretary scalia noted. this issue, like so many considerations around safely reopening, isn't about health versus the economy. it's about health versus health. all of this is why the american academy of pediatrics has strongly recommended beginning with the goal of having students physically present in school. this goal is the right way to use the extensive guidance that cdc has put out to help each state and school district think through a safe reopening. last week we put out guidance

around testing for k-12 schools. this guidance, like our guidance for colleges and universities, offers recommendations for how and when students, teachers, and staff should be tested. while the cdc does not make a recommendation in favor of universal testing, it is a perfectly appropriate surveillance technique where the capacity exists and capacities growing all the time. we've talked with colleges and universities that are able to use their research lab capacity with pooling of multiple samples to test their whole student bodies and staff frequently thanks to regulatory flexibility that cms and the fda have provided. many of the leaders we heard from yesterday at the white house school reopening summit are doing testing before returning to school, and then sentinel surveillance. on top of that, the measures we recommend universally, like keeping a distance, wearing a face covering, and frequent hand washing, are effective and can be applied in the college or

the k-12 setting. we put out the cdc guidance to enable and support to states and school districts in reopening safely. we want them to use the tools available to reduce risk, and will be putting out more guidance on how schools can use each of these tools, such as face coverings. on top of that, i will reiterate that our set of tools is expanding all of the time. just yesterday, we signed a new agreement with regeneron to provide nearly half a billion dollars in support for a promising therapeutic, all the way to manufacturing hundreds of thousands of doses for the american people. the initial doses, pending approval, would be available as soon as the end of this summer or early fall. that's the first of the number of therapeutic agreements we will do under the president's operation warp speed initiative. promising therapeutics are already being administered every day by her heroic health care workers. i want to thank these heroes who continue to put themselves at risk, caring for those suffering

from the virus. we know many front-line workers have gotten sick and we know some have given their lives, including some of my employees in the indian health service. america is deeply grateful. it is because we are making progress against the virus in learning more about it every day that we can talk about how to bring america's kids and teachers back to school safely. we have the tools to do it, and it has to be a top priority. thank you to president trump and the vice president for putting such a focus on this very important aspect of our road to recovery. thank you. >> right here, please. >> reporter: mr. vice president, in the president's call to reopen schools, is there a situation in some states where the health situation doesn't allow for this, where you'd be supportive of some states continuing

distance learning? we now see the president threatening to cut off funding for schools. is that a serious threat, and what would that look like? >> well, the principle behind our approach to this coronavirus pandemic has been to provide federal support as states manage their own response. what i can tell you is, in the weekly reports we provide governors, we are down to the county level in terms of where the new cases are and where the positivity lies. i think we would account for the fact that, while we hope every school in america is able to open this fall, there may be some states and local communities, given positivity in that community, a certain set of days or certain limitations. we will be very respectful of that. what the president has made clear, though, we think it's absolutely imperative that every

state and territory in this country make steps, take steps, rather, to get kids back in the classroom to the fullest extent possible. we really believe that every state has the ability to do that, but for those individual communities that may be seeing outbreaks, we will work with them, give them the guidance, and the support to be able to implement the policies they deem are most appropriate. our mission here is to safely reopen our schools, and as you've heard from all of these members of our task forces, it's not just about kids learning and falling behind academically. it's about the vital services, working families, opening up america again. we will continue to drive on that. on the second point, i would tell you that, at this point, i

think 90% of education funding comes from the states. roughly 10%, depending on state budgets, come from the federal government. as we worked on the next round of state support, we are going to be working for ways to get states a strong incentive and an encouragement to get kids back to school. please, go ahead. >> thank you, mr. vice president. the president tweeted this morning that he disagrees with the cdc's very tough and expensive guidelines for reopening schools. do you also disagree with those guidelines, and are you concerned that you may be putting the health of students and teachers at risk to meet thethepresident's dementia reop? >> vice president pence: we spoke about that this morning, and i think what you will hear from dr. redfield of the summer and

today is very consistent with the president's objective and the concerns that he's raised. we don't want the guidance from cdc to be a reason why schools don't open. want to partner with states, with local education officials, with governors, with local health officials, to find a way to meet their needs to open up. the president's statement this morning was simply reflective of that desire, but we remain very confident, as we continue to provide resources we are seeing not just k-12 education. all 47 states and two territories have already published plans and guidance for reopening their schools. we reiterated to the governors earlier this week and again at the summit yesterday that we are really here to partner with them to achieve that. i think with the president was saying this morning is that, if there are aspects of the cdc recommendations that are

prescriptive or that serve as a barrier to kids getting back to school, we want governors and local officials and education leaders to know that we are here to work with them, to support the measures they are putting into place. i think every american knows that we can safely reopen our schools and we want, as the president said this morning, to make sure what we're doing doesn't stand in the way of doing that. go ahead. >> reporter: just to follow-up, when we are talking about the health of children, shouldn't the guidance be tough, and shouldn't no expense be spared? >> vice president pence: well, i'm going to ask bob redfield to speak to that. one of the things we have seen -- and i tell you, as a parent, as much is your vice president and the head of this task force, i have been grateful for it.

apart from having an underlying health condition, children do not appear to be susceptible to serious illness from the coronavirus. dr. birx can speak to that statistically on a global basis, and that's been a blessing for americans and american families. as secretary azar just said, we know the risk of serious illness to children is very low, and our measures we can put into place to make sure that we don't see the spread of the virus or outbreaks in individual schools, by having children learn in a single classroom or learn outside as often as possible and not go into larger settings. this is all the kind of guidance that the cdc's putting forward. i'm going to let bob redfield speak to that, because we really do believe we can open the school safely given what we have

seen in terms of outcomes among children and also the kind of measures that we think we can put into effect to prevent the spread. >> thank you, mr. vice president. i think it's really important to be clear that our recommendations to open schools are really based on the sound public health and safety and health of children. i think you heard already from some of the speakers that there is substantial health consequences that we've seen as a consequence of schools being closed, whether it's access to adult services, access to nutrition. clearly, we know a lot, and i think it's important that we don't react emotionally, we act based on data. clearly, the ability of this virus to cause significant

illness in children is very, very limited. we know of the post immune and inflammatory disease that you've heard about, but it's very rare. in general, this virus is not causing significant illness in children. secondly, and i think in the important, unlike influenza were one of our biggest concerns is really schools in children the become instrument of transmission throughout our community with influenza, we really don't have evidence that children are driving the transmission cycle of this. the most important thing as we reopen schools, and as i mentioned before, we are prepared to work with every school and every school district to help them find the right mixture of strategies for them to do this safely. our recommendations are not requirements, and they are not meant to be prescriptive. we have lots of different options on how the schools can

put it together. what we do want to reiterate as we reopen schools is to remember the importance of protecting the vulnerable. that we will be strong on. it is important to limit the ability of individuals with significant comorbidities, individuals that happen to be elderly with comorbidities, we want to limit those individuals, their interactions in general and society independent of the schools. >> let me say also in response to your question, i would recommend that every american review the statement issued by the american academy of pediatrics that release an important report indicating that they are real physical and mental cause for children to be deprived of an in-classroom setting ranges from nutrition to children that have special nee

needs. we heard that some 7 million children in america deal of mental health issues, and the services in the counseling they receive, they receive in their schools. we want to put the health and well-being of our kids first. given the fact that children, as dr. redfield said, again, do not appear to be susceptible to serious outcomes from the coronavirus, we want to put the totality of their health and well-being forward. that all tells us, it tells the president, it tells this task force, we need to get our kids back to school. >> reporter: you articulated the myriad risks that students face in school come the fall, but what's the plan? what is the administrations specific domain plan in terms of increased testing, contact tracing, increase pp if needed, to support the schools? schools were not billed for students socially distance, they

were built to pack in as many students as possible. which is why some districts like fairfax, virginia, and school districts in new york in texas have moved to this hybrid approach, some in person and some distance learning. >> vice president pence: the plan is to continue moved on from the beginning. as we've heard, i believe we are 39 million tests performed all across this country. you heard admiral giroir described the extraordinary commitment in one community alone and we've conveyed to governors is whatever support they need to get kids back to school we want to make sure they have. we want to make sure they have the testing resources and we are currently educating the states on the possibility of working with commercial labs and the possibility what is called pooling. literally, there could be one test run on, say, ten samples. they are particular universities that have already built into

their plans the idea of testing all of their students at the beginning of the academic year and then doing surveillance testing. we made it very clear, whether it's testing, personal protective equipment, or other resources, we stand ready to provide those resources to the states and we reiterated that once again to the governors. the good news is, because of the historic mobilization of president trump initiating, we literally have hundreds of millions of supplies of personal protective equipment, 59,000 ventilators in the strategic national stockpile, testing is scaling all across america, and we know that come the school year we'll be ready to meet those needs. question? >> reporter: dr. birx, what is the infection rate among children and what is the very latest that you know in terms of how the virus presents in children? how children transmit the virus

to older adults? nearly a third of teachers across this country are ages 50 and older. what is the best practice in terms of testing children? i've never heard of a case where a schoolchild is tested for covid-19. >> those are all good questions. i think it really comes to the evidence base of what we have as far as testing in children. if you look across all of the tests that we've done, when we have the age, the portion that is in the lowest tested portion is the under 10-year-olds. we are putting into place other ways to get testing results from them, and looking at antibody. that discarded samples and trying to figure that out. parents have really done an amazing job of protecting their children. i think americans have done a great job in keeping infection rates low in children, and the sheltering time, keeping infection rates right now, those new cases, originally i think we

saw great protection of people with comorbidities. we are worried now that, as cases spread, that it's getting to the older parents and the grandparents. i call on, again, every multigenerational household, to get tested and protect those in the household. we do know there are children with vulnerabilities, and certainly within the cdc and the department of education, it is protecting those children also from getting exposed to the virus. we do know there are children with comorbidities. you know their children in america with cancer and undergoing chemotherapy parents also protected their children, and early on we said test if you have symptoms. now we know that if you are under 18 the majority of you don't have symptoms. really figuring out --dash they are universities working around the country on a saliva test. it would be easier for children to put saliva in a tube, what we call spitting in a tube, spitting through a straw into a tube, and looking at that kind of innovation and testing.

what admiral giroir has been working on very hard is this antigen-based testing, and getting that equipment into the most vulnerable areas like nursing homes, assisted living, and other places. also, considering how the school district could use that would make it much easier to test and to use saliva. all of those are being worked on and it's why we've been pushing on the antigen test. i know we've been talking about that in april. our data is skewed originally to people with symptoms and with adults over 18. we are looking very closely into that category by looking at antibody tests. >> did you talk about risk to children? >> i think the vice president talked about that incredible well. we know the mortality rate in under 25 from cdc data is less

than 0.1%. that's holding. until we know how many have been infected, we have no evidence that there is significant mortality in children without coexisting diseases. we have to make sure we have turned every rock and understand that in detail. >> reporter: mr. vice president, we all know the cdc guidelines are not requirements, their advice. when the president because it too tough or impractical, making it easier for americans for parents and school officials to ignore that advice. >> i have every confidence that governors and state education officials and local health officials are going to implement policies they think are in the best interest of children and families.

i think the president's sentiment this morning is shared widely by the american people and certainly been members of this task force. we want to make it very clear that the guidance that we are issuing is not to supplant the laws, the rules, regulations, the decisions at the state level. and to create essentially a range of options, and what we made clear to the governors on the governors call this week specifically was we are prepared at the cdc to sit down with state officials and to work through their plan, and be able to advise and dialogue with them about the best way forward. i must tell you that, in this role over the last four months, i've been impressed by governors in both political parties and

health officials in all of our states and territories with where they put the health of their people first. i must also say that i have a great sense talking to governors and a great sense that this is something the american people want to see happen, and governors are hearing that, they know that, and that's where you have 47 states that have issued plans or guidelines and we are going to work with them to make those reality. >> last question, guys. >> one for you and one for dr. redfield. can you explain why the president is threatening to cut funding from schools at a time when educators are saying they need more so they can safely reopen? >> vice president pence: first and foremost, what you heard from the president is just his determination to provide the kind of leadership from the federal level that says we are going to get our kids back to school, because that's where they belong. we know based upon what our best

health officials tell us that we can do that, in a safe and responsible way. to be clear, the current cares act provided $13 billion to support education efforts in states in the midst of the pandemic. we are going to work with congress. we expect there will be additional support there. the president is just very serious. for reasons that we discussed today. he believes and we believe it is absolutely essential for children's academic development and for their social and emotional and health and nutrition needs to be back in the classroom. we are going to provide leadership from the federal level to do that, that being said, i tell you, i sense that we've made it very clear that we will partner with them, providing them with the resources to impact bat and also

the supplies. >> is a local decision, shouldn't it be up to them to the site if they should safely reopen and not the pressure saying he will pressure them to do so? >> we have rising and rising positivity. if you look at the nation as a whole, the president of the united states has made clear that he thinks, as we reopen america, we need to reopen american schools. it's like you said earlier this pandemic, we got to get our places of worship back open again. the president provides leadership and we are providing for the white house coronavirus task force's partnership with the governors and the state health officials, because you just got to get our our kids back. i have to tell you the best expert i know on this topic is

my wife, karen. she spoke at the summit very compellingly about how our kids are hurting out there. they are struggling with loneliness, social isolation. the american academy of pediatrics spoke about that, very forceful statement from pediatricians across the country that said, "we need to get our kids back in school." wwhat you are going to seize the president to continue to provide leadership. i expect as the debate in congress goes forward about additional resources we will look for states to go forward, but the president has made it clear, most parents in america would agree that we will get our kids back to school and get them back into the classroom, and we can do it in a safe and responsible way. >> reporter: dr. redfield, you were talking about the guidance

the cdc has put out. it sounds like you think it is in the best interest of students and ways to safely reopen school so far. are you going to change that guidance because the president said he does not like it? >> i think i just want to reiterate, we are going to continue to work with local states and jurisdictions. i think the guidance that you point out gives a series of different strategies for them to consider what is the most appropriate and their unique situation. i want to come back to the goal, when the goal of this is to get schools reopened. i did mention -- and i want to reiterate -- that goal is just not a goal to reopen schools, it's because we believe it's in the best public health interest of the students for the reasons you've heard. we will continue to develop and involve guidance to meet the needs of the schools and the states that we continue to provide that assistance to.

>> vice president pence: i'm sorry, i can't hear your question. >> reporter: the guidance recommends that schools have social distancing of students, . that's why they are adopting these hybrid models, they don't think they can keep students 6 feet apart within their buildings. i'm wondering if that particular part of the guidance is something you are rethinking or if you support that social distancing inside schools. that's where i think schools are having trouble. >> vice president pence: the president said today we don't want the guidance to be too tough. that's the reason why next week the cdc is going to be issuing a new set of tools, five different documents that will be giving more clarity on the guidance going forward. we know each school system has unique capabilities, different

facilities, and what parents around the country should know is that we are here to help. we are here to work with their governors, with their local education officials, to get our kids back to school. the truth of the matter is, as we reopen america, we've got to reopen our schools. for the academic advancement for working families, and for also, as you've hurt again today, to continue the momentum we see in this economy as we saw last week with nearly 5 million jobs created. i promised the american people we will stay focused on that task force with saving lives, meeting the needs of our state and health care workers, protecting the vulnerable, and reopening america's economy. work and worship. thank you both very much. will talk to in a few days we will talk to you in a few

days. >> harris: a very important day as we wait to hear exactly what it'll look like now that president trump has said all schools across america should reopen. for the better part of an hour plus we have heard from the task force led by the vice president of the united states, mike pence. some of the details that we learned how to do with the president's lease it done my latest tweet saying if schools didn't reopen in states across america he will begin to look at cutting funding. the vice president was asked twice about whether that was a serious threat, and it wasn't until the second time, later in the hour, at the vice president said what you heard from the president of the united states was just determination. he is just very serious about reopening schools. again, is he serious about the threat for funding in schools

after cape kids 6 feet apart the cdc guidance as that. they said they are talking about it because they don't think the guidance is right they will put out some different types of guidance when asked about that. can schools be allowed to also do some digital learning? there is still many more questions. we heard a lot from the task force today. please stay tuned to this fox news channel on broadcast, turn t to cable for continuing coverage of this story and much more breaking news. i'm harris faulkner in new york. we took that pause so we can get back to coverage here on fox news channel. for the next few minutes you'll be watching "outnumbered" paid here today, katie pavlich, emily compagno, marie harf, and david asman. we are also going to slide an extra virtual seat on the couch

here, dr. marc siegel. dr. siegel, i'm going to start with you. there was a lot there. toward the end that is really when we started to get more details, because he was asking specific questions. one of the things he said was they were going to take a look at exceptions to reopening across america. according to those areas where there might be a rise in cases. a few months ago fox news polling showed that would be 36 states. that's a lot of places that would be the exception. >> dr. siegel: harris, they might focus in a more laser approach to areas that are huge hot spots. counties in arizona, florida, california, maybe nevada, texas. not necessarily all 36 states. i think the thrust of the conversation here was -- and i was fascinated by this, by the way. what is the medical, psychological, physical, nutrition cost to kids not going back to school?

kids with special needs? the vice president was very clear on that. how are kids with special needs going to be taken care of at home? where are they going to get the meals they use to? what about the interaction? the other issue here was maybe cdc guidelines are just that. maybe they are guidelines. the best ways to try and decrease the risks to people. as you just pointed out, in areas that are at lower risk, when there isn't an outbreak, maybe the guidelines wouldn't be severe. i would see the focus on what the cost would be for keeping the schools close. >> harris: katie pavlich, do you have a question for dr. siegel? >> katie: i do have a question. the other costs that the labor secretary said his $50 billion because people cannot get back to work and back in the economy. dr. siegel, d hhs secretary, alex azar, said reopening schools does come with some risks. he went on to talk about therapeutics that we now have that we did not have a couple months ago during the early

shutdown. how people can go back to school, teachers and parents, and feel confident that their stomach if there is a risk there are ways to mitigate it with therapeutics. >> harris: first of all, early diagnostics would be key here. even pushing to get more antigen testing so we can do widespread testing of teachers and those at risk. he talked about personal protective equipment. we are talking about for teachers, for custodial people. we are not talking about the kids. again, the emphasis is that kids, if they get it, get very mild cases almost across the board. in terms of treatment, we have seen remdesivir, but of course that is a hospital treatment. steroids are being studied for use early on in the game. really, we are moving in the direction of more treatments such as antibodies, monoclonal antibodies. you are not there yet, but we are definitely saying milder cases and more earlier use of treatments. >> harris: david asman, a

question for dr. siegel? >> david: yes, doctor, we still have models of schools in different parts of the world opening and reopening, place like denmark, norway, austria. they have reopened and had very little problems with the reopening, but they focus on younger kids. they say that children below 10 have fewer of the receptors of the virus developed in their body, and therefore they are less likely to get it than older children, particularly in high school. should we focus on elementary schools, since they are the kids that are the absolute least likely to get the disease? >> dr. siegel: david, that was very well said. they have less of the receptors in their nose where the virus enters, which is one of the reason they can milder case. yes, we have to focus on elementary schools starting off, because those kids lose the most by having online learning only. they may not even have any access online learning. i'm a huge believer in that. by the way, another point we've

always made, we can teach kids masking, physical distancing. it can be a learning experience at school. we don't have to look at it always in terms of fear and risk, especially in populations where there is a low risk. let's teach our kids how to physical distance. let's teach them how to wear masks. >> harris: real quickly, with just a couple minutes here before the top of the hour, how this plays political he. emily, i will come to you first, then marie. >> emily: exactly. i think the vice president actually made a powerful statement there at the end when he said this is an example of the president's determination to have this be conducted safely and with all considerations in mind. i think it's a step back from the pele politicalization. all those costs, socialization, technology, food insecurity, the students with disabilities, those are things we need to take into account. especially as secretary devos

said, the vulnerabilities in the community as well. moving forward i think it's incumbent upon all of us to take that step back from politicized ancient and accept that this is the good for all of us to be as flexible and reasonable as possible. >> harris: marie? >> marie: the president's messaging is just so out of step with where we are as a country. 1 million more cases and 28 days. we are 25% of the world's cases with 4% of its population. people are drowning in many of these places. when the president says it's going to go away, or he says 99% of the cases aren't serious, he pushes schools to open when parents are terrified and people are getting sick, he is so out of step with how so much of the country feels right now. they want leadership and a plan to roll back this tide. we haven't seen it from the president. all they are seeing are tweets that just aren't addressing the severity of the situation right now. >> harris: all right. we've got a little bit of the politics there, we've got a whole lot of the direction ahead

from the vice president who leads the task force today. everyone, thank you so very much. we stretched out the virtual couch, we brought in dr. siegel, we appreciate your expertise. thank you, everybody. that does it for this hour. let's move to the next. we begin with a fox news alert. we are awaiting a white house press briefing now amid the growing battle over when schools should reopen. after the corona task force just wrapped up its briefing, where some of the members urged students will be allowed in the classroom. this is "outnumbered overtime." i'm harris faulkner. president trump is now warning he may cut some funding from schools which do not reopen in the fall. the white house says it will not put up with anyone who wants to play politics with this issue. a short time ago, vice president mike pence calling it essential for schools to reopen their doors while appearing alongside other coronavir