washington ensure that the national guard can effectively respond to this crisis. the national guard -- these are tremendous people. they are fully on alert. we signed what we had to sign. and it has been activated. we are dealing also with other states, these states have been hit the hardest. actually pretty much by far you can say the hardest. everybody can see that. just look at the numbers. through fema, the federal government will be funding 100% of the cost of deploying national guard on approved missions to stop the virus while the governors remain in command. so the governors locally are going to remain in demand. we will be following them. we hope they can do the job. i think they will. i spoke with all three of the governors today. and just a little while ago. and they are very happy with what we are going to be doing because we will be announcing some other things for those three states, and some other

states where it's hit the hardest this. action will give them maximum flexibility to use the guard against the virus without having to worry about costs or liability. and freeing up state resources to protect the health and safety of the people in their state. the federal government has deployed hundreds of tons of supplies from our national stockpile to locations with the greatest need in order to assist in those areas, i approved the state of new york's request for a major disaster declaration, something which governor cuomo has been asking for, and which i agree. and we had it done in very rapid fashion. we approved this on friday evening. and we are working very, very hard to get all of these things not only signed up, but completed and finished and win. the request from the state of washington for a major disaster declaration was approved just a

little while ago. went through the process, and we moved it very quickly. the request from the state of california was just received. and we will have it approved very quickly. we will be working -- i told that to gavin newsom. and we are -- we are working on getting that done very quickly. it will be done maybe tonight. we have large quantities of medical equipment and supplies on the way based on all of this to those states, including respirators, surgical masks and gowns, face shields, coveralls and gloves with large quantities already delivered to washington and to new york. in addition to large quapts of supplies i directed fema to supply four large medical stations with 1,000 beds for new york. eight large federal medical stations with 2,000 beds for california. and three large federal medical stations and four small federal

medical stations with 1,000 beds for the state of washington. the governors know. the supplies en route to california and new york will be delivered within the next 48 hours. in addition, the naval hospital ship the" usns mercy", these two ships are inebl kr, one on the west coast, one on the east coast will be deployed to los angeles to add emergency surge medical capacity. they have tremendous medical capacity. they are really something. i will say that if you look at some of the things we have been doing and now those numbers have gone up. just to be more exacting, we have done a presidential approval for a request for major disaster declaration for the state of new york. approval of title 32 national guard activation for the state of new york.

we are providing all this at no cost to the governor. i spoke with governor cuomo. he is working hard. we are all working hard together. the relationship has really been amazing. but it also enables the governor to provide robust national guard support to the state and the 25% we are going to be waiving that 25% cost. we are picking up -- we will be coordinating, and they will be doing something with very special people. mission assignment of the u.s. army corps of engineers to provide support to build out alternate care sites. they are doing various alternate care sites which have now been designated by new york. four large federal medical stations of 1,000 beds. these are very complex places, actually, with great equipment, and great people. strategic national stockpile order. and this is as of a number of

days ago. so far delivered to new york. and this is the 19th. we had the n 95 respirators, 186,416 delivered. we have 444,000 o 78 surgical masks, many have been delivered since then. face shields. we have delivered 86,560 face shields. surgical gowns. 68,944 to new york. cover always, 352. gloves, 245,486. also to new york in terms of what's been delivered just since then, the numbers are quite large, and we have tremendous numbers of companies also making equipme equipment. for the state of washington, we

have delivered 369,000 n 95 respirators. 49 ,406 surgical masks. this is as of about three days ago. face shields, 64,788. face shields. surgical gowns, 107,850. gloves, 240,376. and we have many, many things pending. it's actually not pending. it's being fabricated. they are being made. and they are moving. now for washington, now, we have four small federal medical stations, 250 beds. and for washington, state of washington, we have three large federal medical station, 750 beds. then you have as i said the approval of the title 32 national guard. state of california. again, to be very precise we are going to have the approval of

the title 32 national guard activation. we are providing all of this, again, like in new york, at no cost to the governor, meaning the governor newsom and the state -- no cost to the state. it enables the governor to provide robust national guard support to the state. so they are going to have control of the national guard, federal government sending incredible people being sent. we have eight large federal medical stations with over 2,000 beds. and that's going to california. and then strategic national stockpile order. we have ordered likewise hundreds of thousands of different items. i won't go into the exact numbers. the numbers are very substantial. but we are having a tremendous additional number sent. and whatever the states can get they should be getting. i say we are sort of a backup for the states.

some of the states are doing really well. and so don't do as well. the ones that don't do as well need more help. but these are three states that really do need help because they are -- they are hit very hard. and the outpouring from the private sector has also been extraordinary. i am pleased to report that honeywell, great company, has just announced it will immediately expand its personal protective equipment manufacturing operations in rhode island to produce millions of initial n 95 masks. they are very hard to get. they are actually quite complex. for the u.s. government strategic national stockpile then will be immediately delivered to the various states. the expansion is already under way, and it is going to provide a lot of jobs for that state, probably around 500. the masks will be distributed by the government for the use of the health safety of emergency and for response workers,

primarily for response workers. these are very high end. this expansion is in addition to honeywell's action to more than double production of its existing personal protective equipment manufacturing plants. they make a lot of different things, and they are doubling and tripling their production. they are going round the clock. today i am also announcing the launch of a new public/private consort yum organized by the white house. the department of energy and ibm to unleash the power of american super computing resources to fight the chinese virus. the following leaders from private industries, academia and government will be contributing. and they are going to be contributing a lot of different things. but compute -- primarily computing resources to help researchers discover new treatments and vaccines. they will be working along with nih and all of the people that are working on this. but tremendous help from ibm, amazon, google, microsoft,

m.i.t. -- polytechnic institute. the department of energy's national labor laboratories, the national science foundation, and nasa. they are all contributing to this effort. and they are fully in gear. this afternoon i also want to update you on the steps we are taking to protect and serve our country's 18 million veterans. these are great people. our amazing veterans have shown their eternal loyalty to our nation. and this is the time when they are in need and we are going to show our loyalty to them. we are being very protective of our veterans. we are working on certain hospitals where we may be doing some work in louisiana in particular, and some other states. veterans' hospitals. going to be very protective of our veterans. some of them are of that very vulnerable age. some of them obviously are not feeling well. and some of them are still

suffering the wounds of war from many years ago. yesterday i signed violates legislation to ensure -- vital legislation to ensure the g.i. bill will cover distance learning during this emergency. i also spoke with many veterans service organizations, the vsos to describe your unprecedented action. in february, 19 emergency operation centers were established throughout the country. one of the things that they have been trying to get done for many years. you all know this from following me over the last number of years, but we got it done pretty quickly. they have been trying to get it done for many many decades was choice, veterans' choice, and also veterans accountable. now, if it is crowded within this -- if they can't get to a doctor. we have great doctors in the v.a. i have to say that. we have fantastic doctors. as good as they come. but it is hard to get to them.

because of what was bureaucracy, but no longer bureaucracy. we have done a lot of things in that case because of accountability. when people aren't doing their jobs or if they are bad or if they are sadistic or if they steal or anything bad happens, we are now allowed to fire them for -- i signed that a year and a half ago. for many years you weren't able to do that. the v.a. is working. i was told by your leader at the v.a., robert wilkie, he said for the first time we have got the highest marks in the history -- highest poll numbers in the history of the vet an's administration. came out a week ago. that they are happy. and, look, one of the reasons that happened -- highest in history. one of the reasons that happened is because of veterans' choice, if they have to wait on line, they go and see a private doctor and we pay the bill and they get better. they don't have to wait two

weeks and three weeks or days and they will get better. a lot of times they waited so long when they would have a problem and it would end up being terminal because they couldn't get the treatment they deserved. highest poll numbers, highest approval numbers in the history of the v.a. i was just given that information yesterday. we restricted visitors's access to veteran community living centers which house nearly 8,000 veterans are chronic medical conditions so we limit their exposure to the virus. we want to totally take care of our veterans. and that's what we are doing. the v.a. has canceled most elective medical and surgical procedures. they are delaying them until after this is gone, after we have won. we began providing life-saving care to patients who had symptoms across the 171 v.a. medical centers nationwide.

that's a big deal. under my administration, the v.a. has also ban leader in expanding telehealth. telehealth is becoming a bigger and bigger factor in medicine. this month we have taken bold action to cut through the red tape and make telehealth available for millions more americans during this crisis. they can speak to a doctor from the safety of their home rather than risk becoming infected or making a tremendously long trip when frankly you will speak to a great doctor right from your home. it is happening, telehealth. we are very much at the forefront of that, too. we are very proud of it. and it also takes a big burden off of our system. we continue to accelerate the development of safe and effective vaccines. we are also aggressively investigating a number of anti-viral therapies and treatments to determine their potential in reducing the severity and duration of the symptoms. and you know how i feel because how i feel is on tuesday they are going to be starting it on

tuesday morning. and we are going to have some medications delivered that we are going to see if they work. they certainly are effective in other ways. and they are safe from the standpoint as that they are not killing people. we are mo we are not going to have that. so a lot of great things have been happening in that regard. i just want to finish, and then we are going to ask a couple of people the say a few words that have been so much on the forefront of this incredible job that we have all been given. but i want to say that i know that this is a challenging time for all americans. we are enduring a great national trial. and we will prove that we can meet the moment. i want to assure the american people in a we are doing everything we can each day to confront and ultimately defeat

this horrible invisible enemy. we are at war. in a true sense, we are at war. and we are fighting an invisible enemy. think of that. for those of you feeling alone and isolated, i want you to know we are all joined together as one people, eternally linked by our shared national spirit. we love our country. a spirit of courage and love and patriotism. no american is alone as long as we are united. and we are united. we are very united. people are saying things now that three weeks ago they didn't talk that way. we are very united. no force is equal to the strength of a -- really a unified america, united america, america like we have it right now. for those worried and afraid, please know, as long as i am your president you can feel confident that office leader who will always -- that you have a leader who will always fight for you, and i will not stop until

we win. this is going to be a great victory. it is going to be a victory. it is going to be a victory that in my opinion will happen much sooner than originally expected. it is now attacking. the enemy is attacking 144 countries at this moment. 144. that's unthinkable. there has never been anything like this. and it is vicious. it is vicious. some people recover well. and some people have a hard time. we all know that. but we will be totally victorious. we will then get our economy up to a level that it was. and in my opinion, beyond, because there will be a pent up demand. there is a pent up demand. and a lot of -- a lot of great things will happen. but i am very proud of our country. i am very proud. i am very proud to be your president. and it is just something that's -- just you are very special people.

so thank you very very much. i am going to ask, if i might, a combination of -- pete, why don't you start off. okay? please. >> thank you, mr. president. just a little bit about what we are doing in washington, california, and new york. we understand that the states of washington, new york, and california are the areas seeing a steady increase in corona 1 virus cases. in order the assist with additional needs the state of new york was approved for a major disaster and declaration this morning. washington state was also approved early today. california submitted request and the president will consider it immediately. we have medical supplies en route to these states including respirators, surgical mask, gowns, face shields, cover always, gloves, with quantities already delivered to both washington, new york, and california. we anticipate additional supplies to be delivered in the

next 48 hours to all of these states. president trump's unprecedented emergency declaration, all 50 states, the district of columbia, five territories, and two tribes are working directly with fema under the nationwide emergency declaration for covid-19 w. the assistance of the fema administrators throughout the country we are working to address the needs of state and local officials everywhere. states, tribal, and territorial governments do not need to request separate emergency declarations to receive fema assists. the engine declaration does not authorize direct financial assistance available to individuals such as disaster unemployment assistance or other needs assistance at this time. just a note on the "usns mercy".

based on analysis for potential needs for hospital beds on the west coast the decision was made that that ship would have the greatest impact in california. the department of defense has been given direction to dispatch it to los angeles immediately. d.o.d. has advised that the "mercy" can get into position within a week or less of today's order. even though there are more cases right now in washington, the projected need for beds in california is five times more that of washington's. the "mercy" will be used to take pressure off of hospitals, medical needs and not treating covid-19 cases. the national guard -- the federal government continues to take action and proactive steps to address the covid-19 threat as we protect the health and safety of the american people. it is our top priority. in response to this

unprecedented nationwide operation, president trump has approved washington, california, and new york national guard units under title 32 status for the covid-19 response. the president's actions provide the nation's governors continued command of their national guard forces enabling states to use additional resources to meet the missions necessary in covid-19 response. the national guard is a viable and responsive avenue to provide a much-needed asset that is state managed and fed really supported. i want to be clear the title 32 activation does not federalize national guard members. they are still under the authority of each governor, they will work in concert with the department of defense. we have had a lot of disinformation circulating and i want to make sure it is understood this is not martial law. the department of defense by way of a mission statement will lead this task. final lesion we continue to

response to hundreds of requests from governors across the country in filling all of their critical needs. thank you, sir. >> thank you, pete, very much. good job. peter navarro. >> thank you, mr. president. good evening. what i want to talk briefly about is the defense production act. to give you the overview here, using the full power of private enterprise and full force of the federal government my job at the white house is to make sure tactically working with fema and hhs and the american people, particular cle our health care profession get the gloves, the masks and all of the personal protective equipment they need. and i can tell you, sir, that since you have signed the defense production act, my job has gotten easier. and let me explain why. the defense production act in this context has two primary functions. one is mobilization of the industrial base. in this case, the public health

industrial base. and the other is allocation of resources, both from the supply chain to the manufacturers and from the manufacturers to the end users such as the health care professionals. now what we are seeing on a purely voluntary basis based on the leadership this administration, we are seeing the greatest mobilization in the industrial base since world war ii. and every day i am working with organizations and companies nationally association of ever inning, national council of textile organization asks so on in terms of building up rapidly our capabilities to get what you need. now, let's think about what mobilization means. it can mean for example, repurposing a factory. so perno ricard called us last week. they had three hurdles. they called my office. had to make a call to treasury,

fda, and hhs to clear the pat. we got that done that day. they started their production that day moving from alcoholic beverages to hand sanitizers. as we speak a truck is moving towards new york and will arrive there tuesday to share with the hospitals over 1,000 gallons of sanitizer. so that would be -- that would be a repurpose. a second example would be one that the president offered with honeywell. again, honeywell called the white house asking for help from the president. and what they said is, look, we want to do this new factory in smithfielding rhode island. they called me on a friday morning. and by that night we had a contract in to hhs. hhs flipped that immediately. and i had honeywell moving people and equipment from massachusetts to that facility in smithfield, riled. a -- smithfield, rhode island.

and we are going to have the masks produced within 30 days moving along the assembly line. my focus is building up capability, production lines. the other purpose of course is allocation of resources. what i can tell you so far is that the defense production act has give me quiet leverage. when you have a strong leader you can take a light hand initially. what we have seen with this outpouring of volunteers from private enterprise, we are getting what we need without putting the heavy hand of government down. there will be possibly cases down the road -- and the manufacturers have actually asked me and alerted me to this, where someplaces in the supply chain they may have problems that the white house will have to break through using the defense production act. we won't hesitate to do that. the last thing i will tell you is that i also get a lot of calls that are very disquieting. brokers are offering millions of

items, whether they are goggles, masks or whatever, and you go through three different brokers, tracing them to a warehouse in l.a. that allegedly has 10 million masks and they want to charge you seven times what they cost. that's price gouging. message to the hoarders. if you have got any large quantities of material that this country needs right now, get them to market or get them to us. we will pay you a fair price. but if you don't do that, we are going to come for you and make sure that doesn't happen in this country. and that would be a good use of the defense production act. i salute you, sir. you made my job easier. and i appreciate that. >> thank you, peter. very much. mike pence. >> thank you, mr. president. the task force met this afternoon, as we do every day. and let me begin today by simply saying thank you to the american people. and thank you for the way that people across the country, seven days into 15 days to slow the spread. the people in communities large

and small across america are responding, are cooperating, are communicating. not just on behalf of their own health and the health of their family, but more importantly on behalf of the most vulnerable among us. so on behalf of your president, and our entire task force, just thank you to the american people. i also want to express our appreciation to the governors across the country. the president today just announced action in new york, california, and washington state as the latest demonstration that this administration will do whatever it takes to support the leadership at the state and local level as the american people confront the spread of this coronavirus. the legislative efforts that are under way being negotiated on capitol hill as we speak -- the bipartisan spirit that's taking place there that's reflected in all of our interactions with state leaders around the country is great credit to the nation.

but it should be a great encouragement to the american people that -- that your government at the federal level, at the state level, working with courageous health care providers all across america are coming together to meet this moment. and that is the way our system works. it is extremely important that the american people recognize that one of the things that makes american different is that we have a system of federalism, and that the -- by putting fema in the lead, the president has emphasized that our response to the coronavirus is in the anthem of fema, it is locally executed, state managed, and federally supported. we want the people on the ground, the decision makers, to have what they need. we want states to be able to manage the unique circumstances in their states. whether it be the legislation moving through the congress or the efforts the president announced today, major disaster

declarations, title 32 on the national guard, resources flowing, hospital beds flowing we are going to continue to make sure our states have what they need to meet the moment. our task force continues to focus on the priorities the president has given us, testing, mitigation, and supplies. on the subject of testing as is evident to people across the country, testing is more and more available every single day. we will be detailing tomorrow from this podium the progress that we are making on tests. at this day's reporting, 254,000 americans have been tested and received results in coronavirus tests. with slightly more than 30,000 actually testing positive. there is a bit of an enurge canning word in that for every american. remember everyone being tested with exception of the health care workers are people who have symptoms who make them think they have the coronavirus.

as our numbers come in consistently -- because the 254,000 does not include all the local hospitals or all the local labs in our states. it is working out to be one in ten americans who have been test who had thought they had coronavirus who actually had it. nine out of ten did not. but we will continue to roll out the testing to provide that resource to the american people. and we are working to make testing happen faster. we expect from word from the commercial labs that we should be caught up on the backlog in testing by the middle of the week. and we are urging today on the president's behalf that all labs would prioritize in-patient testing. let me say again, to all of the commercial labs in the country, you will receive guidance from hhs tomorrow, that on behalf of the president and the white house coronavirus task force, we are urging all commercial labs to prioritize in-patient testing. we want people that have been checked into a hospital that are

being treated for what they suspect to be coronavirus to receive those tests more quickly. also, i am pleased to report that yesterday the fda approved an emergency authorization on a new test that should be in production by the end of march. it actually would be a coronavirus test, the results of which come back in 45 minutes. and we are also working, the fda is working with manufacturers around the country to come up with even faster, more innovative tests. and as we told our governors in several calls this week, governors and state health officials should simply contact fema for the latest information on testing solutions. let me also say, tomorrow when we gather at this podium we will be unveiling with dr. redfield in the lead new guidance for people in a work in law enforcement. first responders. people that work in what we call critical infrastructure in the country. it was in early march the cdc

issued guidance for people that were asymptomatic or did not have symptoms but who had been exposed to someone with coronavirus, who gave them guidance about being able to return to work wearing a mask for 14 days. and tomorrow at this podium, the cdc will unveil in cooperation with the department of homeland security new guidance which will make it possible for people who have been exposed to return to work more quickly by wearing a mask for a certain period of time. let me also amplify a point on behalf of the president and on behalf of the state department about americans abroad. one of the reasons why the united states is in a different position today than portions of europe are and china and elsewhere is because the president suspended all travel from china. he suspended travel from europe and the uk, and ireland. but the state department is working around the clock to

assist americans who may find themselves overseas. they are able to come home. there is no barrier to americans come back to american soil. they are screened when they come home through a series of airports. but we are aware that with flights being canceled some americans have found themselves unable to find a way home. as the president said we have been working diligently through the state department to make it possible. commercial flights have been chartered. we are also working with the military for a backup on flights. at this point the state department has brought more than 3,000 americans back home. but speaking to the secretary of state today, he wanted me to share a website and a phone number for any american that might be looking on from overseas. you can call the smart traveler enrollment program. at 1-888-407-4747. or you can go on line as step.state.gov. this will allow our embassies

and consulates to gather important information about your situation and work to facilitate to bring you home. let me say, final lesion as i began, let me close. as the chairman or the leader of this white house coronavirus task force, we are seven days into 15 days. and the american people are responding. because as we speak about supplies, as we speak about testing, the most important thing every american can do is heed the guidance and the direction from your state and local officials, particularly in areas where we have widespread coronavirus infections. but every american, putting into practice these measure has the president alluded to at the very beginning of his remarks is a way that we can -- that we can do this, america. that we can -- we can lessen the magnitude of the coronavirus in our country . with the cooperation, compassion, generosity, and

prayers of the american people, we can slow the spread, we can protect the most vulnerable, and we can held our land. let's do it, america. >> thank you, mike, very much. thank you. thank you very much, mike. so just a couple of little things, then we will take some questions. maybe you will have some. maybe you won't. that would be a shock. american public. but i have to say, on he testing, the new test will be a much simpler one, easier than the existing test, which is complex and not a lot of fun to take. this would be a game changer. but remember, we inherited a broken, obsolete system. it was good for a small number of people but not good for the millions of people that we are talking about. and we have made this into a system no matter where you go in the world that's where they are going, what they want to do, how they are going to be doing it

should something like this happen again. so our people have done a fantastic job. really arc fantastic job. i hope the new test works out. we will know fairly soon, i think, doctor, we are going to be knowing about that fairly soon. hopefully it will check out or test out. and we certainly are looking forward to that. it will be a very simple test by comparison. won't be unpleasant at all. and one other thing. the ships.ha the "mercy" that's going to california, as you know. it is on the west coast now. and you have a sister ship that's essentially a twin. they are incredible. i mean, they are incredible ships. i have seen it. i have seen one of them. and they are unbelievable what they can do, and the capacity. many operating rooms. you know, their wartime ships. they were meant for war. many, many operating rooms. stainless steel. these rooms are as good as there

is anywhere in the nation, actually. i spoke with governor cuomo. we had a great conversation today. a number of conversations, actually. he's working very hard. and we are going to be bringing that ship that's called the "comfort". so you have the "mercy" and the "confident". the "comfort" is on the east coast. it will be coming on line in the next three or four weeks. it was in the middle of maintenance. we are moving the maintenance very, very quickly and also supplying the ship simultaneously. actually big supplies going into those ships. big. and that ship will be coming up here over the next few weeks. and we will probably be putting it in new york harbor. and we are making arrangements for that also, as to where it is going to be docked. so you have the "mercy" and you have the "comfort". they will be coming up. the "mercy" will start very, very quickly. it will be arriving in los

angeles pretty soon. so we look forward to that. a question? . >> senator paul testing positive. when is the last time you had in person contact with him. >> gee, i think it was quite a while ago. it has been a long time. >> on top of senator paul now four senators are in isolation. the rules say in order to vote -- >> who are they? >> romney, lee. >> gardner, and rick scott. >> rick scott also. two of them were in contact with rand paul. with the critical stimulus package. >> romney is in isolation? >> yes. >> that's too bad. >> sarcasm there, sir? >> no, none whatsoever. >> do you think that congress should consider changing the rules to allow them to vote remotely. >> i was thinking about it today, you could have a lot of senators and a lot of house members. i spoke last night with a very, very good man who happens to be in the house, as you know.

and he's just started. and he tested positive. so you could have a large number of people in there from congress. you could have -- between the house and the senate you could have a large number. i think it is something -- at least -- i fully understand why you should be there. i think it may be a constitutional weren't wconstitn al reason why you should. but i would certainly be in favor of it where they could vote from a certain outside location. i would be in favor. i was thinking about it today. i mean, we could be in this -- with what's going on, nobody has ever seen anything like this. you could have a lot of people in there from congress. it would certainly be -- they may tell me there is a reason constitutionally. but i would be in favor of it on a temporary basis. >> it seems like negotiations have a ways to go on the stimulus package. are you concerned about the timing? >> we all want to get to the same place but we have different -- we want to -- i

just wrote this down just a little while ago. we want to protect the worker very much. so do they. so do the democrats. we also want to protect the worker through their companies. we don't want to necessarily -- we are going to help the worker anyway. but ideally they could go back to one of their great companies. you have great companies that are in financial trouble now. and we need money to help those companies so they get back to where they should be, health. you know, most of these companies four weeks ago were having the best year they have ever had, last year was the best year, almost all of them, other than boeing, which incredibly had problems, big percentage of gdp. but we have to be able to work with boeing. boeing is -- was a great company and will be a great company again, i think shortly. we have to work with the companies. they don't want to do that. it's crazy. they don't want to do that. i don't want stock buybacks. i don't know where the problem is there. i know that's one of the things they are talking about.

i don't want stock buybacks. i don't want to give a bailout to a company and have them buy back stock and raise the price and then get a bonus. okay? i may be republican, but i don't like that. i want them to use the money for the workers. i want them to use the money for the company, to help the company. in the airline business, to take care of their planes and all of the things they have to do, including buying new planes but i don't want to have any stock buybacks. the democrats are with me. i don't know what the problem is on that one. i can't imagine that is too tough. we want to -- we want to be able to take care of our people. you are going to have things coming up. we are going to have -- some of the elements that they are talking about, they are down to, i mean literally 95% of things that you would think they wouldn't agree and you would think the republicans wouldn't agree to it, and unemployment as an example is one of the thing they are talking about, and unemployment insurance. i think we are very close on

that. but you know, right now they are not -- right now they are not there. i think that the democrats want to get there. and i can tell you for a fact the republicans want to get there. i don't think anybody actual low has a choice. it is a bold package. it is a big package. we do have money for one -- one of the things is we have the money for saving small businesses. i don't imagine the democrats -- because we have a lot of money set aside for small businesses. we also have a lot of money set aside for big businesses, the big powerful companies that were powerful four weeks ago and today they are overextended. look at the cruise line, a tremendous business, a big business, very important to florida. it is unthinkable. a month ago -- unthinkable. they were setting all sorts of records. they were building new ships. we can't let the crews lines go out of business. it would mean massive amounts of jobs for our country -- actually for the world. but for our country it is a

massive business and it doesn't take much to keep them going. we have to -- we have to provide for that. but i think both the democrats and the republicans are agreed that we have to take care of our workers. and we are going to be doing that in numerous ways, including a substantial cash payment. yes, please. >> when it comes to the defense production act we know that governors across the country all day today were pleading with you to utilize the dpa -- >> depends which government. >> specifically for that. indication piece that you mentioned mr. navarro. why not use it now if that would answer their pleas for help? >> we are using it now. the fact that i signed it, it is in fact. we are a country not based on nationalizing our business. call a person over in venezuela and ask them how did nationalizationing businesses work out? not good at all. the concept of nationalizing businesses is not a good idea.

as peter said, we may have to utilize it somewhere along the chain but we are getting calls -- here's the beauty of it. if we want masks we don't know who to call on masks. but haynes, who makes things of cotton, lots of elements, they called us and said we are going to make millions of masks. we got a call today from 3m. the head of 3m. they are going to make tremendous products. they are more or less if that business. if they are not -- general motors spoke to us, ford spoke to us about doing ventilators. the beauty is they are calling us. if you go the national route, nationalization route, we are going to tell a company to make a ventilator, they don't even know what a ventilator is. in the case of one company, they used to make them years ago and they know how to make them. it is a complex piece of equipment, frankly. what we are doing is -- i think peter said it maybe better than anybody is going to say it. we have the threat of doing it if we need it.

we may have to use it somewhere along the supply chain in minor way but we have millions of masks being done, ventilators -- we have a lot of things right now. but when this was announced it sent tremors through your business community and through your country. basically, what are you doing? you are talking about you are going to nationalize a industry, nationalize -- you are going to take away companies, tell companies what to do. the truth is most people, nobody would know where to start. there are companies out there that you wouldn't think of that have called us that say, we can do ventilators. we used to do them years ago. and they can do them in large quantities. other companies -- if i called companies and said you build ventilators, they don't even know what a ventilator is. it is really working out very well. one of the reasons i read the numbers to you is because we have given vast numbers of just about everything. we have taken it out of our

supply and we are restocking our supply. but we are back up the governors. the governors have to go out and do their things. you have a lot of governors that have done a fantastic job. you have some that haven't. usually the ones that complain have the problems. we have a great relationship as an example with governor cuomo. with governor newsom. we have had a great relationship with the state of washington. thou he is are three hot beds. those are three hot beds. now we are also dealing with other states as the admiral said yesterday. we are dealing with all the states, actually, in one form or another. some are very affected in a very minor way where you have two people or three people. and i don't mean deaths. i mean literally cases. and that's different than new york, where you have tremendous -- where everybody -- i lived there for a long time. everybody is extremely close, tight, and you have a lot of cases in new york. you have a lot of cases in new york. and we are helping governor cuomo. we are helping governor newsom.

frankly they have been total gentlemen. they want to get it done and we want to get it done. doing it the way we are doing it is much better. really much better. >> in terms of -- i am asking about the supply chain not about allocation, not about manufacturing. so the companies -- it is not about nationalizing the companies. >> you are right. >> it is about allocation. >> we coordinate with the states, we are coordinating with the states. for the most part the coordination has been very good. three days ago i had a phone call with all the governors, i allowed the press to stay. they weren't supposed to stay. one person in the media said that was surprising. it is risky doing that. because we had democrats and we had republicans. and you know, they are politicians and they always have something to say. i took a lot of calls. and we really didn't get one nasty or bad response. they were thanking us for the job we did. and i had the press stand -- i don't know if you were there. i don't think so. i had the press stand willing watching. they weren't supposed to be there. i said let them stand there.

the governors were very complimentary, very, very complimentary. and i watched -- i watched over the last few days governor cuomo. i watched gavin newsom in california. i watched both of them. and they have been, you know, very complimentary. and those are really the hot beds. so we want to keep that going. i am very proud this country. and i am frankly very proud of a lot of the politicians that normally we are fighting with, we have different views on things, a little different view, but we are going to get to the same place. we have different views but we are going to get to the same place. yes, please. >> yes. i wanted to ask if you are considering an executive order to free elderly non-violent criminals from federal prisons? >> we have been asked about that. we are going to take a look at it. it is a bit of a problem. but when we talk about totaling non-violent -- we are talking about these are totally non-violent prisoners. we are actually looking at that, yes. >> thank you.

>> i wanted to ask also, your administration eliminated a key position in china in july, a medical epidemiologist embedded in china's disease control agency. it was just months before the first cases were spotted in wuhan. the question is basically why the post was eliminated? >> i could ask -- anybody would you like to take that one, bob? but this is just like all the other stuff that you -- not you but that the press was asking, all of which turned out to be -- we actually gave cdc more money not less money. they said we defunded. it turns out it was more money. every one of those things that were said were 100% wrong. this sounds like another one of them. anyway, go ahead. >> as you know, cdc has offices all around the world right now to do our function, to defect and prevent and respond to outbreaks where they occur. the china office is actually being augmented as we speak. we have been embedded there over 30 years.

there is the reason they call it the chinese cdc because we have had that productive partnership. >> mr. president. >> i wish, again, our relationship with china is a very good relationship. i wish they told us three month. they knew about it and they should have told us. we could have saved a lot of lives throughout the world. if you look at what 's happenin in italy and spain, we could have saved a lot of lives throughout the world. kelly? >> given the diagnosis for senator paul and people being in self-quarantine, what concerns do you have about the direct threat to the function of the senate, the ability to get this important package that people are waiting for passed? and should americans be expecting you to extend the 15 days given the climate of how this is spreading at this point? >> i hope we won't have to if possible. but we'll have to see how that works. as far as the senate is concerned, we are looking at

some -- some of the folks are feeling very good. some are quarantined, but they're negative. they may be -- it may be totally fine. others are positive. we're just finding this now the first time. over the last two days we found that. >> do you see it as a threat to the aid package americans are waiting for? >> no, i don't see any threats at all. honestly i don't see any threats at all. it will all workout. it is a good question, a very good question we are considering. i don't know if you can do it constitutional, but we are considering letting people vote, senators, congressmen and women vote from a separate -- from a separate location from outside, namely a hospital or a home, depending on where they are. so we are looking at that. it's a little trickier question most people would believe, but we are looking at that very strongly. >> mr. president, speaking of --

i think kelly was alluding to it. they weren't able to get the 60 points for the cloture vote. i'm curious your reaction to that, sir. and what is mitch mcconnell telling you and secretary mnuchin -- >> we're dealing with them. we're dealing with mitch, everybody and the other side. i think we'll get there. to me it's not very complicated. we have to help the worker. we have to save the companies because as soon as we're finished with this war -- it's not a battle, it's a war. as soon as we're finished with this war, our country is going to bounce back like you've never seen before. but we have to get it to that position and we have to make sure that those companies are whole, that they haven't been disbanded because if you do that it's going to take much longer. in aw way it's being penny wise. that includes small businesses. we have a tremendous amount of small business work in there. you know that. once they go out and they don't come back, that's a much longer

period of building. >> you mentioned about -- i apologize. there was a woman that was an american, was she being tortured? what was going on? >> bad things were happening to her in a certain country. we're really under the feeling we should keep it somewhat private until -- >> she's coming home? >> she's already been freed. and i have to tell you, general milley and his people are unbelievable. they were not playing games. general milley does not play games. he's a very interesting guy. they got her out. they got her out of a certain country where she was seriously abused, accosted and whatever the maximum word is other than death, that happened. but we got her out and she's okay and she's back with her parents. >> can i ask you one last question? previous crisis like the tsunami, katrina, past presidents called their predecessors, hey, i need you to

step in, do something like that. do you have any interest of reaching out to presidents bush, clinton, obama, carter? >> i have the best people in the world. they're doing an extraordinary job. if you look in, let's say, the h1n1, you look at that whole -- that was a disaster. that was a tough period of time for our country. you look at so many other things that weren't handled very well, whether it's katrina or something else. look, i respect everybody, but i feel i have an incredible team and i think we're doing an incredible job. when you look at the job we're doing, and all you have to do is look at the approval numbers on the job we're doing. i think we're doing an incredible job. so i don't want to disturb them, bother them. i don't think i'm going to learn much and, you know, i guess you could say there's probably a natural inclination not to call. now, if i felt that if i called i'd learn something and that would save one life, it would save one life, okay, i would make the call in two minutes,

but i don't see that happening. please. >> mr. president -- >> can i ask you about the comments a couple of ire formyor aides said today, is it a time to discuss the need when the economy can turn back on, where as steve bannon is saying dropping the hammer on the virus, we're going to have to take the pain up front, shut it all down. the economic gain we're suffering and the virus itself and the casualty -- >> i'm of the opinion we have to do great during this 14 days, during the 15-day period. we'll know at the end of 14 days. pretty much we'll have a good idea how we're doing. you have to shut it down. we'll see. there will be a point at which we say we're back in business. let's go. it's not mutually exclusive. i saw both of them today and they inter mesh. >> for more of a shutdown now? e

>> he is calling for a brutal shutdown and open up faster. there is that fine line. look, we did a big shutdown when we wouldn't allow people from china that could have been very seriously infected that were, when we cut that off very early and then we cut europe off very early as you know. >> when do you start opening -- >> i can't tell you that. what i have to say is that i think we're going to have good results. i think the american people have been amazing. i think our stimulus package will get done and it will be a tremendous package. we're really not -- i mean, they may not have gotten those votes, but they're very close to getting a deal done so i'd be surprised if they didn't. and if they don't, i think frankly the american people would be very upset with the democrats because the republicans are ready to approve a deal. the only reason a deal couldn't get done is pure politics. yes. >> mr. president, despite your differences with new york city mayor bill de blasio, he says that the city is going to run out of basic hospital supplies by april.

how do you prevent new york city from becoming the next italy? >> well, he should have -- you know, the hospital systems in various places, some have been stocked and ready to go -- nothing for this. this is beyond anything that anybody ever thought possible. i think you could really say. nobody can really say, oh, gee, this will happen. this is a very unique and hopefully it will be unique for, you know, many, many centuries, you know, for a long time. hopefully we don't see this again. but, again, the systems are supposed to be ready, willing and able. they're supposed to be ready to go. we are helping them a lot and i have great love for new york city and i have great love for new york state. and we're going to help them a lot. as you say, we're sending our ships up there. we're sending more than just this ship. we may be using, if we need, we'll be using some of the cruise ships you've been reading ba because they're very

immediate and very quick. they can be there quickly. we have god docking systems in the places we're talking about. we may be some of the cruise liners we're talking about. i think bill de blasio is working very hard. i think he's trying very hard. it's a tough situation for him and every mayor because nobody has ever seen the scale, you know, when you hear -- you've given millions of masks and hundreds of thousands of masks in a certain short period of time, and then you hear they need many, many more, you know, one of the things they have started with respect to masks is the sterilization process. some are -- really, it works very well. others aren't set up that way. you throw them out. but we have a sterilization process that's working very hard. speaking of that, hand sanitizers, when you asked the question on the companies and what's going on, we have many companies now, companies that made whiskey, they've made alcohol, they've now gone very

quickly into the hand sanitizers and all of -- you've been reading about three or four big companies, we're doing incredibly well on that. there was no way if you took the existing companies that something like that could happen. but it happens almost -- they'll call peter navarro or they'll call somebody. in one case they called me. they said, we can do this. we can do that. we've had a lot of those calls where companies want to -- there is a company in new hampshire, great company that wants to make ventilators. i never thought of them for ventilators, but they do make metal equipment. they'll make a great product. so, peter, i think you're seek a lot of that. >> yes, sir. >> yes, please. >> mr. president, the bill that is being contemplated by the senate now has hundreds of billions of dollars for the treasury department to use to bail out states and localities and specific industries such as cruise ships and hotels. can you commit that none of that taxpayer money will go -- >> for instance, i committed

publicly i wouldn't take the $450,000 salary. it's a lot of money. whether you're rich or not, i didn't take the money. nobody cared. nobody said, thank you very much. no. i didn't commit legally. i said, i don't want it. i don't want my salary. i work for zero. i don't want my salary. nobody said, oh, thank you very much. but i guarantee you, if i ever took it, you would go out after me. you in particular would go out after me like crazy. so i have no idea what they're talking about with regard to the one element -- everything is changing, just so you understand. it's all changing. but i have no idea. but every time i commit to do something, i committed to do -- look, i ran and everybody knew i was a rich person. i built a great company. and people knew that. but i agreed to do things -- i didn't have to. i still don't have to. but my company, i told the kids who are running t i'm not running it. but i told them, don't deal with