we had ken frazier from merck pull out, and one or two others , and then i think the white house issuednouncement that it has gone away, and we heard from you and 2-3 other ceos that it unraveled. what happened in retrospect? alex: there was a lot going on, and it starts with the fact that there was a realization that transpired at the time there -- that were unacceptable. there was brought alignment, and in fact there were several councils, manufacturing, strategy -- david: this is in the wake of charlottesville. alex: there was a sense that the best thing doing was to -- and move forward independently. david: does that mean you continue to talk with the president and senior people? as you said, it is important to have some communication back and forth. alex: yes, we continue to have conversations with them. whether it is the fda or other regulatory agencies, of course. for a company like johnson & johnson, we are the largest health-care company representing so many different interests. we think it is vital that we stay engaged in an appropriate way. david: does the white house listen

we had ken frazier from merck pull out, and one or two others, and then i think the white house issueduncement that it has gone away, and we heard from you and 2-3 other ceos that it unraveled. what happened in retrospect? alex: there was a lot going on, and it starts with the fact that there was a realization that transpired at the time there -- that were unacceptable. there was broad alignment and in fact there were several councils, manufacturing, strategy -- david: this is in the wake of charlottesville. alex: there was a sense that the best thing doing was to -- and move forward independently. david: does that mean you continue to talk with the president and senior people? as you said, it is important to have some communication back and forth. alex: yes, we continue to have conversations with them. whether it is the fda or other regulatory agencies, of course. for a company like johnson & johnson, we are the largest health-care company representing so many different interests. we think it is vital that we stay engaged in an appropriate way. david: does the white house listen to ad