air when it sort of dissolved and we had ken frazier and one or two others pull out then i think thete house issued an announcement has again away and we heard from you and two or three others that it unravelled. >> there was a lot going on in a hort period of time and it starts with the fact there was a wanevents that transpired that were there were and several councils that were taking place. there was manufacturing and strategy. >> this was in the wake of charlottesville. >> it was. so, with those events there was a sense that the best thing both of to dissolve them and move forward independently. >> does that mean you continue o talk with the president with senior people? it is important for the government and large business to have some communication path. >> we continue to have conversations. f.d.a., erent what other regulatory agencies. of course. like johnson & johnson we are the largest health care company representing it any different interests is vital we stayin' gauged in an -- stay engaged. trade wars good for johnson johnson? > we want a trade environment that is collab

we had ken frazier from merck and one or two others pull out then i think the white house issued an announcementing it had gone away, and we heard from you and two or three others that it unravelled. alex: there was a lot going on in a short period of time and it starts with the fact there was a realization that events transpired that were unacceptable and there were several councils that were taking place. there was manufacturing and strategy counsel at the time. david: this was in the wake of charlottesville. alex: it was. so, with those events there was a sense that the best thing doing was to dissolve both of them and move forward independently. david: does that mean you continue to talk with the president with senior people? as you said, it is important for the government and large business to have some communication path. alex: we continue to have conversations. many different agencies like the fda other regulatory agencies. , of course. for a company like johnson & johnson we are the largest health care company representing so many different interests it is vital we stay engaged. david: a

i mean, we had ken frazier from merck sort of pull out, as i recall, and one or two others, and theny i think the white house issued an announcement that it has gone away, and then we heard from you and two or three other ceos. it seemed to unravel. what happened, in retrospect? alex: there was a lot going on, and it starts with the fact that there was a realization that events had transpired at the time, frankly, that were unacceptable. i think at that point, there was broad alignment -- by the way, there were several councils actually taking place. there was a manufacturing council, a strategy council -- david: this was in the wake of charlottesville. alex: this is in the wake of charlottesville. there was a sense that the best thing doing was to dissolve both of them and move forward independently. david: so does that mean you continue to talk with the president, with senior people? as you said, it is important for the government and large business to have some communication back and forth. alex: yes, we continue to have conversations with them. many different, whether it is cms,