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Trump Unveils New Guidelines; Not Enough Medical Equipment in U.S. Stockpile; Iran Reports Big Jump in Cases; Trump Administration Recommends Social Distancing; "Critical Shortages" of Medical Supplies in Europe; President Trump and Coronavirus Task Force Hold Briefing. Aired 11a-12:00p ET
Aired March 17, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Atlanta this is CONNECT THE WORLD.
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Great to have you along. I'm Robyn Curnow here at the CNN Center. Welcome back to the show.
We are waiting to hear from the U.S. vice president Mike Pence, heading up America's coronavirus task force. Monday marked an noticeable shift in tone
from Donald Trump. He is admitting the outbreak is not under control and a recession is possible.
He's out with new guidelines, urging Americans to stop most social activities for the next 15 days and avoid groups of more than 10. And the
U.S. had a jump of nearly 1,000 cases in the last 24 hours alone. Joe Johns is at the White House and joins me with more on all of this.
Certainly a new intensity in terms of the response from where you are.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Robyn. The question is what will change today.
This hour, we do expect another briefing from the White House coronavirus task force, including the vice President of the United States. We don't
know if the president himself will attend as he did yesterday.
But when you look at what changed, it was significant. As of last night, the number of accepted or recommended mass groups went from 50 to 10. The
president of the United States, others, warning Americans essentially not to eat or drink in bars or restaurants.
And some of the states following suit. So many of the questions during this briefing today will have to do, number one, with the American surge
capacity.
There's been a great deal of concern about the number of hospital beds available, the number of facilities and equipment available should the
numbers become dire here in the United States as some are predicting.
And we do know that some state governors stepping into the breach on that issue, trying to figure out where they can get extra facilities happening.
Just across the border from Washington, D.C., up in the state of Maryland, here on the East Coast.
One other question that's been asked almost continuously since last night is, why the United States president doesn't simply declare that there is a
nationwide curfew or some such.
And asking the question around here at the White House, they make it clear that the American system of government strongly suggests the president has
to wait for the states to take their action and then consider such measures because it might not otherwise pass Supreme Court muster -- Robyn.
CURNOW: That's interesting. Your probably heard Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York saying, hey, we need the federal government to step in. We
can't manage it on ourselves. We need the military. We need FEMA. We need capacity that only the president can unlock.
JOHNS: Absolutely. That is what some governors around the United States are saying, as well. So you get a different message, depending on who you
talk to.
And there are people who argue that the U.S. Constitution gives the president the power, emergency powers to deal with crises just like this
one. So anybody's guess what this president might decide to do.
He has certainly come a long way in changing his tone. As you mentioned at the top. It's very clear here at the White House from the top one down that
this is a serious crisis and not going to go away any time soon.
CURNOW: Joe Johns, thank you.
Now to Stephen Collinson, hi. Talking about the White House response, you have been watching it. The ups and downs of the president's attitude
towards the danger proposed by corona.
What do you make of it now?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Robyn, I think it's clear the president crossed the Rubicon in the handling of the crisis.
He has been mischaracterizing it, predicting it could all just wash away and go away and there could be a miracle.
Yesterday in the news conference and I think partly based on the report by the British epidemiologist that suggests a million Americans could die if
there's not much more urgency of the government, the president certainly changed his attitude and was much more sober and appeared in many ways as
you would expect a president during a crisis, trying to bring the country together.
[11:05:00]
COLLINSON: Seeming to be sincere in his efforts to work with all states and governors from whatever party.
Having said that, this is Donald Trump. One news conference doesn't necessarily change the course and the tenor of an entire presidency.
Already today the president lashing out at the governors of New York and Michigan, Democratic governors.
So it does show that, while he certainly has changed his tune, he's not going to sort of put his political rhetoric to rest, I think, during this
crisis.
CURNOW: Some critics say that the president's change of tune is not because of concerns about death rates but more about the numbers we are
seeing on Wall Street.
COLLINSON: Yes. That's a very good point. The Dow Jones obviously went down 3,000 points yesterday, its worst day in 30 years.
This is clearly something that's very threatening to the president, you know, eight months before he's due to go before voters and ask for a second
term. Clearly the president is very confident about that. He's used the stock market, of course, as a barometer for his own performance.
As recently as Friday, he sent a signed picture to supporters of the Dow going up 2000 points in his news conference. This is something that's
threatening to him.
We are hearing today, of course, of the government's request, the administration request of a $850 billion stimulus package that will include
help for small businesses, will bail out the airlines and possibly some tax breaks.
That is a bigger number than the Recovery Act that President Obama passed during the 2008 Great Recession. So I think that tells us the magnitude of
this economic crisis we face right now.
CURNOW: People are referencing another recession, that big one, rather than the more recent one in living memory, trying to equate what is
potentially going to go on here.
Just also for the viewers, live pictures inside the press room inside the White House, expecting the vice president to come and brief people.
Yesterday we heard Donald Trump actually coming to that podium. We'll go to it live as soon as we can.
Stephen, a last question to you. You reference this is an election year and we've seen a lot of this play in to potentially halting a lot of the
campaigning.
What is the long-term political impact in this in terms of when people vote?
It's difficult to gauge, isn't it?
COLLINSON: In the short term, I think it snuffs out Bernie Sanders' already very long shot efforts to overtake Joe Biden in the Democratic
race. We have a number of primaries taking place today, including in Florida. But voting in Ohio is not going ahead. There was supposed to be a
primary in Georgia next week. That's not taking place.
It's really going to change the campaign. The campaign presumably between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the Democrat, likely nominee, is going to be
almost a virtual campaign. No rallies. No going out to reach voters in person.
In some ways, I think you could say, it sounds crass to say but it is a political opportunity for the president to dominate the stage if he can
handle this crisis well. He could perhaps win over some of the people that have never warmed to his presidency. Conversely, of course, many problems
at the beginning of this coronavirus emergency, namely, with getting tests out. The U.S. is lagging far behind many other countries. Anything that
makes it look like the president isn't in control and is losing control of this thing could, of course, rebound to help Joe Biden, who's positioning
himself as a proven leader.
Of course, he's been in Washington government for nearly 50 years and been through many governmental crises. So I think that is the way the race is
going to be framed.
It certainly is going to be a very odd race. The president was talking about perhaps getting to July and August before this is all over. That
could lead to the cancellation of the political conventions that we're waiting to see in the summer. So I don't think we really know how this is
going to turn out yet.
CURNOW: No. Life is changing on all facets for all of us. Steven Collinson, practicing social distancing there, thank you.
So the World Health Organization is warning of a critical shortage of medical supplies in Europe. And U.S. top health care officials saying
there's not enough medical equipment like masks, gowns, gloves. Maybe even worse, they don't yet have a solution for the shortfall. So Elizabeth Cohen
joins me with more.
Hi. Good to see you. America is not prepared even though they knew it was coming.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. The term national stockpile should say it all, right?
Should have been enough stockpiled to make this work but there wasn't. I think this is going to go on much longer than anyone might have envisioned
putting together the national stockpile.
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COHEN: And the concern is that -- not even a concern, they know that that stockpile is not going to be enough for all hospitals in the United States
for as long as we can anticipate this lasting.
And so, they're working on various solutions but federal authorities have been clear, we don't have a solution and working on them, on this. One of
the possible things to help here is that these masks, N-95 masks, so important, not just the regular surgical masks but the special respirator
masks, used in industry and construction.
And so, there's action to make it industry to send them from construction and industry to health care so that they can be used that way. But I think
it's a lot of little things like that that are going to be put together to hopefully make this work. Hospitals are saying we really don't have enough.
CURNOW: Which is terrifying for them on the front lines already. We heard Andrew Cuomo say that in New York it is 45 days until the peak. They need
to double hospital capacity. Around the nation, needing all the gloves and all sorts of other equipment.
How long before any shortfall can be filled?
Do we have a sense of that?
COHEN: We don't. We don't know exactly. Different hospitals say different things. To keep in mind in the U.S. is we don't have a single payer
universal health care system here. There's not sort of one organization that organizes all of our health care. It is done in bits and pieces by
different providers.
And so it's hard to get a sense of where everybody is at. But to that point, we sort of have to hear from individual facilities. The nursing home
in Washington state, where there were so many deaths recently, that -- the direct -- one of the officials at that facility said, you know what?
Our supplier tells us that he may in two weeks not be able to get us new supplies. That's not a good sign. That is just one place. But what gives
you a feeling for how bad it is.
CURNOW: All of us at home keep on washing our hands and try to keep this curve down.
COHEN: Absolutely. I think we should all keep in mind how important health care workers are, we need protect them so that, for their own sake and
because they take care of us, also if they get infected, they could then unknowingly spread the disease to the frail patients they care for.
So as we're anxious, it is the health care workers to be thinking of.
CURNOW: Thank you so much for that.
So the coronavirus news from Iran, though, keeps on getting worse. The state TV reporting the biggest jump yet in Iran, more than 1,000 cases over
a 24-hour period.
The government says it will screen travelers at airports, train stations and entry and exit points of the hardest hit provinces. Arwa Damon is
monitoring the developments from Turkey.
Arwa, hi, good to see you, as well. Also practicing social distancing there and something people can't do.
What do you make of the latest stats coming out of Iran?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Recording the largest spike in coronavirus cases but also, a significant increase in
deaths, bringing that country's total to close to 1,000.
Look, we have been hearing from a number of senior Iranian government officials, who have been very critical and have issued some scathing
remarks towards the United States because they say that their country is struggling to deal with the coronavirus crisis because of the sanctions
that have been levied against it.
To that effect, the UAE did send two aid planes yesterday. But this is a country whose health care infrastructure has been battered. It is a country
that does not necessarily have the capabilities to deal with this kind of an outbreak.
And add to all of that, of course, you have a population that is constantly on the move. The Iranian government has said that it is going to try to
test people as they move within provinces. They have issued various restrictions on movement saying that only people who have to go out can go
out.
But you also have coming up on March 20th, Robyn, the Persian new year. This is a 13-day holiday, where families traditionally go to see one
another. Now the government has to try to convince the population to stop doing that.
And this is similar to some of the challenges that other governments are facing, as well,, trying to convince populations, people, to stay at home
and take this seriously. There are grave concerns, not just for Iran but for a number of other countries in the region, especially those that are
either coming out of war or still in the middle of war.
You have countries like Yemen, like Iraq.
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DAMON: And then you also have what's happening inside Syria, especially if we take Idlib province, for example, as a case to look at, where 3.5
million people are trapped inside that rebel-held shrinking territory, who, even if they wanted to, wouldn't necessarily be able to implement things
like social distancing or constantly washing their hands or trying to, you know, keep their children indoors, given that many of them are actually
living inside tents at this stage.
There are other countries like Jordan, who are implementing very severe measures to try to keep citizens at home. And Turkey right now also
restricted and barred a number of flights from a series of countries as well, has said that, you know, bars, casinos, cafeterias and other public
spaces are going to be shut down.
And you get the sense that especially in this region and in particular, Robyn, a lot of countries looking at Iran and trying to avoid that
scenario.
CURNOW: OK. Arwa Damon, thanks for that update there live from in Turkey.
Other hot spots on our radar: long lines of cars in Manila. President Duterte placed the country in a state of calamity and the government can
access its quick response funds to address the needs of the public during the crisis.
Meanwhile, in Singapore, citizens are rushing to stock up on food after Malaysia announced the closure of its borders. They import 90 percent of
its food, causing the new announcement to stoke fear.
And ahead here on CNN, police in Spain are using technology to help them manage the coronavirus. How drones are being used to try to get people to
stay at home.
And places of worship in Germany will remain empty as the German government announces new measures to contain the outbreak. Stay with us. You are
watching CNN.
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CURNOW: We're expecting to hear from the White House's coronavirus task force in the next few moments. We'll go live to that.
On Monday, Donald Trump issued new guidelines to curb the coronavirus spread in the U.S., one of them urges Americans to not gather in groups of
10 or more.
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CURNOW: Ten also happens to be the grade the president now gives his management of the crisis. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: Very simple question, does the buck stop with you?
And on a scale of one to 10 how would you rate your response to this crisis?
TRUMP: I'd rate it a 10. I think we have done a great job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: As we have been discussing, this crisis is impacting both the U.S. and global economies in a big way and the president is finally admitting
it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: Is the U.S. economy heading into a recession?
TRUMP: Well, it may be. We are not thinking of terms of recession. We're thinking in terms of the virus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: My next guest, Anthony Scaramucci, disagrees with the president's assessment.
I think you said that, quote, "Donald Trump is the virus."
You'll remember Mr. Scaramucci is the former White House communications director and he joins me outside New York.
That's a pretty bold statement to make.
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER TRUMP COMMS DIRECTOR: I think it's an honest analogy here, a metaphor, I should have said he is a virus, not the virus
because at the end of the day he has replicated his sort of insane management style throughout the executive branch and hobbled the executive
branch's ability to handle the crisis.
So I just posted up on my Twitter feed the statements that the president has made since January 22nd up until yesterday's statement. And then you
can just see what I mean by that and sort of the disarray and the confusion.
Now the very, very good news is that at least yesterday he's now acknowledging the problem, he recognizes that the economy's going to go
into a recession and I think the federal government is now prepared to take measures to resolve elements of the crisis.
But I have to tell you, $850 billion stimulus package is not going to be enough. If you do it back of the envelope calculation on this, it is closer
to $2.5 trillion is necessary to reset the economy and help all of these people that are going to struggle over the next two or three months, Robyn.
CURNOW: OK. So Anthony, what is it -- you used to work for the president. You used to support him. You changed your mind, of course, as many people
know.
What was it that flipped his attitude, do you think?
Do you think it was the stark warning of potential deaths or was it the numbers on Wall Street that made him change his mind?
What do you think precipitated that?
You know what I mean.
SCARAMUCCI: I think it's a combination of factors. But I think FOX News has basically gotten the message. They let one of the anchors go on the FOX
Business channel and had a real change of attitude towards this thing.
And I think almost impossible to argue with the science. Remember, this is not a battle between Republicans and Democrats. This is a bipartisan
problem. But it is a battle over the last two months between public health experts and what I would call Trumpists.
And basically if you look what the president did over the last eight weeks, he is down at Mar-a-lago, playing golf, he's trying to do what he's done in
other situations, which is curve the reality or distort the reality to a reality that he wants.
Unfortunately, with science you can't do that. So every time he came on and was making these statements in a press conference that were not congruent
with the science, you saw a $1 trillion to $2 trillion drop in the market.
So last Friday they did a cheerleading exercise. The markets did rally into that with short covering prior to the close. But the markets are going to
reset downward. You have got probably the SkyBridge Capital, my firm, we have probably a 5.5 percent estimate in terms of a contraction in the GDP
in the second quarter minus 4 percent in the third quarter.
So that's roughly equivalent to the global financial crisis in 2008 and the markets will now reset for that. But Robyn, the real problem is with the
small business owners.
CURNOW: Yes. I think I agree with you.
SCARAMUCCI: People in the United States and around the world living paycheck to paycheck.
CURNOW: Exactly.
SCARAMUCCI: Got to come from the government.
CURNOW: No. That's the real concern for hotel workers, for restaurateurs, people working behind bars, single moms who don't have insurance and work
two jobs. Talk also about timing here. You're in New York.
Andrew Cuomo, the governor, gave an extensive press conference. He said the tipping point, he said the actual tipping point is going to be 45 days
away. So he's trying to prepare New York, you know, for the worst to happen in 45 days.
Does anybody, does the president, do people understand just how long this might go on for?
And basically shut down the country.
SCARAMUCCI: Well, the president did say that he thought it was a -- he was preparing people for indefinitely. I think he said that in the press
conference.
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SCARAMUCCI: Dr. Fauci did say nine weeks. That's sort of where Governor Cuomo is getting the numbers from.
Listen, one thing Andrew Cuomo is doing here in New York is testing the people and I think what you will find is that many people actually have the
virus. Some of them are asymptomatic.
But if we were testing people, if we could test 20 million people, that case count would go up in an extraordinary sort of way. And so, you know,
the president's calling New York a hot spot. But it's really because of the responsibility of the governor's leadership by making sure that tests are
available for people that really need to have tests.
Remember, those tests are important for the epidemiologists to try to curtail and contain the virus. We have a long way to go and the government
should be thinking about a $2.5 trillion stimulus, not a $850 billion. It just isn't enough.
The interest rates are low enough to do this. This is a wartime situation. We have to hit this with an overwhelming level of fiscal force here to calm
down the nation and make sure people are protected going through the stressful situation.
CURNOW: In addition to that, what else do the markets want?
What do you think Americans want?
Do they want more leadership from the federal government?
Do they want curfews?
Do they want military involved?
How much of a heavy hand is needed here?
SCARAMUCCI: Well, listen. I'm only going to go by what the epidemiologists have said. Dr. Fauci was calling for a 21-day national quarantine. I think
the leadership in a Western democracy like ours, which everyone of us as individuals loves our freedom, it is very, very difficult to impose those
sorts of things.
But what I would want is a broad based educational program on every news channel where we separated the fact from fiction.
CURNOW: That's what Sanjay Gupta is doing, isn't he, with his podcast.
SCARAMUCCI: Yes, no. Exactly. If we do that then people will get readily. One thing about the American people and people around the world, if you
explain to them what is actually happening, not just the sound bites but you lay it out for them and their families just like in a wartime
situation, they will make the personal sacrifice.
CURNOW: OK.
SCARAMUCCI: To do what's right to protect the nation and the health of their individual families and their fellow neighbors.
CURNOW: And communities. Anthony, thank you very much for joining us. Appreciate it.
SCARAMUCCI: Good to be here.
CURNOW: So those on the front line in the fight could be lacking the equipment they need to stay safe. This is a real concern, the U.S.
Department of Health said it anticipates these gaps in supplies of masks and gowns and gloves and the government is working on a solution.
But it does call it an unprecedented challenge. Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports from New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: We are at a critical inflection point. We have the same number of case that Italy had two weeks ago and we
have a choice to make.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the era of coronavirus. Hospitals overcrowded in places like China and
Italy. Stretching resources thin and putting patients at risk.
And the concern is, that in a matter of weeks, that could become the United States.
DR. IRWIN REDLENER, U.S. NATIONAL CENTER FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS: We are so incredibly underprepared for a major onslaught to the hospitals,
which is now inevitable. We have to look at Italy and see what happened to them. And I think we are actually in worst shape. We don't have enough
hospital beds, ICU beds.
GUPTA (voice-over): According to the most recent estimates, even in a moderate outbreak, health officials estimate that 200,000 Americans will
need intensive care and 64,000 will need breathing machines.
But the United States has less than 100,000 ICU beds and only about 62,000 full featured ventilators on hand, with an additional 8,900 in the national
stockpile. But since we are still in flu season, many of those are already in use.
REDLENER: By the way, even if we had the 100,000 plus ventilators we need, we don't have the staff to operate them.
GUPTA (voice-over): So hospitals are bracing for a rush of patients, trying to free up as much space as possible. That means getting patients
who are well enough out of the ICU and canceling all elective operations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just have to make this a standard across the board.
GUPTA (voice-over): In some cases hospitals are trying to prevent patients well enough from coming to the emergency room in the first place, like
building tents to triage and treat potential coronavirus patients, using telehealth so that people can call in from home and building up their
testing capacity, in some cases without people even having to step out of their cars.
But all of this hinges on having enough supplies, which means hospitals are now rationing what they do have.
GUPTA: My hospital, I mean, you had a mask, gloves just sitting out, you'd use what you needed to use. That's changed.
[11:30:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right. We've had to remove many of these items from the shelves.
GUPTA (voice-over): To be clear, most people who get infected with the novel coronavirus won't need to be hospitalized. But for a small percentage
of patients, the virus can be deadly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have had everyone ranging from just needing some supplemental oxygen through the nose through people who are in shock and
needing to be on 100 percent oxygen on a ventilator in the ICU.
GUPTA (voice-over): When that happens, hospitals can quickly run out of space and supplies. And if staff don't have the proper protective gear,
they may run out of doctors and nurses as well.
GUPTA: But if this is really affecting an entire community and an entire state and country, the world, are we ready?
Do we have what we need?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I think we are as ready as we can be. But without knowing what the future holds it is hard to say whether or not we
are -- we have enough equipment and we have what we need. I think that there are concerns, legitimate concerns about as a nation if we're ready to
handle such an enormous pandemic.
GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: We are back after the short break.
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CURNOW: Hi, I'm Robyn Curnow. You are watching CNN. Thanks so much for joining us.
We are keeping an eye out on Washington. We're waiting to hear from the U.S. vice president Mike Pence, heading up the coronavirus task force and
he should be coming into this White House Briefing Room and we're waiting for press conferences across Europe. We'll bring them when we get them.
Meanwhile, Europe, the World Health Organization said it's monitoring critical shortages of medical supplies there.
[11:35:00]
CURNOW: Not just for coronavirus patients but medicines like antibiotics and painkillers, drugs for hypertension, diabetes, HIV, all hit by
disruptions in the supply chain.
Well, earlier today, the WHO said the time is now for Europe to stand together to fight the virus. France issued a clear message to Europe as it
faces a peak in the crisis. Be an ally. Stay at home. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The rules are simple. But the general rule is even simpler. Stay home. That's how you can stop the spread
of the virus. That's how you can help our caregivers and our health care system and be allies in our war against COVID-19.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Wise words. So we have reporters on this. We'll check in with Fred Pleitgen in a moment but first Scott McLean in Madrid.
There's certainly been a jump in cases where you are.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, Robyn. This city still on standby, the country is still on standby, lockdown. People are not
allowed to leave the homes. The borders effectively shut. No flights going between Spain and Portugal as this country tries to get a grip on its
coronavirus.
The economy is obviously at a standstill as well or very close to it. Today within the last hour this country's prime minister announced an injection
of cash in the area of 200 billion euros. That's the largest single injection of cash into this country in history.
He's extending unemployment benefits to anyone who loses their job or off time in this time. The numbers are spiking, more than 11,000 in this
country, almost half of the cases here in Madrid alone. And what's really scary is number of deaths is approaching 500 in Spain.
One of the things, as well, that this situation has exposed is the number of homeless. We are in the Plaza Mayor. Normally this is bustling with
people, cafes, bars, restaurants and all kinds of tourists. Today there is almost no one here.
The people who are here, though, are many of the homeless population and you can see them there. The police thus far, they have come through not
long ago with a loudspeaker, telling people to go home. But in other cases of tickets, they seem to be letting this segment of the population be, even
though there is an effort to get them into one of the city's convention centers, for instance, to try to isolate as best they can there.
The homeless population is much more susceptible to the coronavirus than the rest of us. They deal with a lot more people, they don't have the
access to sanitation like the rest of us do and not getting very much money to spend and to sustain themselves.
And I just want you to imagine one more thing. You're in the United States, Robyn. If coronavirus in a country like Spain where they have health care,
any of the homeless people could walk into a clinic and be treated, if this virus exposing this level of a problem here, imagine if the United States
goes down a similar track with a similar lockdown, sometime from now.
CURNOW: You make an excellent, excellent point there. A stark warning, in fact, Scott. Hopefully authorities are planning for that here in the U.S.
But excellent point there, yes. Let's keep a thought and make some effort for homeless people around the world dealing with this. Thanks so much.
So I want to go to Fred. Fred Pleitgen in Berlin and also tracking reaction there.
Angela Merkel coming out making an announcement and also essentially shutting down just about everything.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, shutting down large parts of the public life in this country. I was actually out
earlier today, Robyn, and there are still people who are out on the street. But it is considerably less than you would find on a normal day.
You look at specifically the tourist landmarks in Berlin, they're deserted. Almost no one out there. As far as regular shops, some are still open and
some people going out and indeed it is less than normal as --
(CROSSTALK)
CURNOW: Fred, sorry. I have to interrupt there to go to the White House. U.S. president Donald Trump is speaking. Let's listen in.
TRUMP: Last night, the FDA announced groundbreaking policies to increase testing substantially. All states can authorize test developed and use
within their borders to the FDA.
[11:40:00]
TRUMP: States have been very much involved from the beginning but we are stepping it up as much as we can and the testing procedures are going well.
Within a short time, the private labs will kick in. It has never been done before and I think it will be incredible if it is done properly.
These are great companies, the greatest companies in the world. The states are going to be dealing through themselves and local government, local
physicians, local everybody. They are also dealing with us but we have a tremendous testing policy.
We are announcing a expansion of Medicare telehealth. Medicare patients can visit a doctor by video without additional cost using FaceTime and Skype.
This has not been done before either.
Telehealth services for patients, the patient is not seeing the doctor but they are seeing the doctor so there is no getting close. During this time,
we will not enforce applicable HIPAA penalties. They will not be enforced.
We encourage everyone to max if I was use of telehealth to avoid the spread of the virus. Never used on a scale like we are going to use telehealth.
They are going to better maintain hospital capacity by doing this.
Earlier this morning, I spoke with executives from America's fast food industry, Wendy's, McDonald's, all of the big ones, burger king. They were
great. Talking about the pickups in light of yesterday's guidance, to avoid eating or drinking in bars, restaurants or food courts.
We talked about the important role the drive through and delivery services can play. They have been fantastic and have been doing it already but they
are keeping it open.
Smaller staffs, they are very capable people incapable companies and they are doing pickups -- people and capable companies and they are doing
pickups. It is a 15-day period. Now I would say it is a 14 day period. We are asking everyone to work at home if possible, postpone travel and limit
social gatherings to no more than 10 people.
By making sacrifices and temporary changes, we can protect the health of our people and our economy. I think our economy will come back rapidly. If
we do this right, our country and the world frankly but our country can be rolling again pretty quickly.
We have to fight that invisible enemy that I guess unknown but we are getting to know it a lot better. The Senate has taken up coronavirus
legislation including free testing for those who need it and free sick leave and family medical leave for those affected by the virus.
We are getting small businesses support. With the fast food operations, we spoke to chairman's and CEOs and one thing we discussed is getting small
businesses support and flexibility that they need for themselves and their workers and that is being worked on right now.
At my direction, Secretary Mnuchin is meeting with senators on additional stimulus packages. He was meeting with them late into the night last night
and for a big part of the day yesterday.
Tremendous things are happening. Great spirit, tremendous spirit and I can say that for Republicans and Democrats. I can say that with respect to
Governor Cuomo. We had a great talk is morning and we are both doing a good job and coordinating.
Different states need different things. We are not at 100 percent but we did have a good talk and we are at a good place. New York would be the
number one hot spot, that is just the way it is. We are working closely and getting FEMA involved. They have been involved but we are getting them
involved to a different level.
[11:45:00]
TRUMP: And we'll have everything ready. We are dealing with the Army Corps of Engineers should that be necessary, working in some cases, on standby in
other cases. My conversation with Andrew Cuomo was very productive and good and I appreciate that.
We are giving relief to affected industries and making sure we emerge from this challenge with a prosperous and growing economy. It will pop. One day
we will be standing up here -- and we are going to say that and we are going to win and I think we are going to win faster than people think, I
hope.
I will meet with leaders of the tourism industry as well as retail wholesalers and supply letters -- suppliers. I met with all the retailers
come all the big ones including Walmart and it was a good meeting. They are stocking up their stores like they have never stocked before.
We are trying to get people to buy less. They stay open all hours of the day and have been fantastic. We are taking action as one family and one
nation so that we can rebound jogger than ever before. We -- stronger than ever before.
While many workers can work from home, many others cannot. Health care workers and workers in food are helping us with the services we need. When
you talk about food service and manufacturing certain items in particular, they are going in and practicing the safety rules and regulations we have
talked about.
I would like to introduce our great partner, vice president Mike Pence, and then I will make some other introductions.
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you and good morning. I should be clear to the American people that President Trump has
issued a whole of America approach. His interaction through today and the course of this day reflects that we are bringing the full weight of the
government and American economy to bear.
I know I speak for the president when I say how inspired we are. It has truly been inspiring. Our task force continues to focus on the priorities
of testing, prevention and supplies.
In that category, I am pleased to report that while testing is available in all 50 states as the president just indicated, through the swift action of
the FDA and governors around the country.
Now state health authorities can authorize labs in their state and expand existing capabilities. In connection with the FDA's actions, we have
continued to expand the public and private partnership with commercial laboratories around the country, increasing access to the high volume, high
throughput coronavirus testing that is greatly expanding access even as we speak.
Our task force received a report that the public health service and FEMA are working closely with partners in the private sector to expand remote
testing sites around the country and will have a full report later this week as they come online.
Testing is happening all over the country. All of our health experts wanted me to tell the American people, you don't need the results of testing to
know what you should do. President Trump's 15-day coronavirus guidelines are for every American in every community.
As the president said, we continue to urge every American over the next 15 days to put into practice the principles in the president's coronavirus
guidelines, by every American -- guidelines. By every American practicing these guidelines, we believe we can slow the spread.
If every American acts on the president's coronavirus guidelines, we can see a substantial reduction in the spread of the coronavirus.
[11:50:00]
PENCE: But it will take all of us. If you feel sick, stay home. If someone in your house is sick, everyone in the house stay home.
Practice social distancing. No social gatherings more than 10 people. Use drive-throughs and practice good hygiene and common sense. The risk of
serious illness remains low but we are asking every American to partner with us in this effort to slow the spread of the virus.
And especially to be mindful of seniors or others with serious underlying health conditions, where the threat of the coronavirus can be very serious
and real. The president has continued to push our task force to bring a whole of America approach and we are -- with the way businesses are
responding.
We will soon be unveiling a public service campaign using CDC guidelines and as we work on the issue of supplies, meetings yesterday with department
of Dutch Department of Defense -- Department of Defense officials.
We would make one specific request, we would urge construction companies to donate their inventory of N-95 masks to the hospital and forego additional
orders of those masks.
Because of what the president asked to be included in legislation, those industrial mass are perfectly except the goal -- acceptable for health-care
workers to be protected from a respiratory disease. We are asking them to donate their N-95 masks to hospitals and forego making additional orders.
At the president's direction, we will continue to do whatever it takes, continue to marshal the best of the American people, the people behind me
and the people behind them, state and local officials and we will get through this and get through this together. Thank you.
I want to thank Chad Wolf and Homeland Security. The job they did at the airports was incredible. They screened thousands and thousands of people.
O'Hare got backed up a little bit but they got them out. Everybody was screened and screened carefully, did not want to rush it. It was 13 airport
and it was an incredible thing.
They had a big surge also from the U.K. and Ireland and that went smoothly. They did a fantastic job they work long hours and do a fantastic job.
I am going to introduce Steve Mnuchin and then ask him to leave because he has been working with the House on a bold package. It will be big and bold
and the level of enthusiasm to get something done, I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like it.
The first I would say is earlier today, I sent a letter to Fed Chairman Powell approving his request to use 13-3 and the Fed will be setting up a
special purpose vehicle which the treasury will invest $10 billion in for one of our funds. That will enable the fund to guarantee the purchase of A-
1 P-1 purchases going forward.
That is a trillion dollar market that is critical to American workers, businesses and savers, who have a lot of that money in money market funds.
We heard loud and clear there are liquidity issues.
This is significant and will create -- I don't think we will need to use it all but we will have the ability for the Fed to purchase up to $1 trillion
of commercial paper as needed. That created significant billeting in the market.
The second thing I would say, we previously talked about differing IRS payments. The president earlier this morning authorized me to announce this
program. I announced we would defer to hundred billion and the president suggested we increase that to $300 billion.
[11:55:00]
MNUCHIN: Let me clear on the specifics. We encourage those Americans who can fire later taxes to continue to -- file their taxes to continue to file
their taxes because you will get tax refunds and we don't want you to lose out. Many people do this electronically, which is easy for them and the
IRS.
If you owe a payment to the IRS, you can defer up to a million as an individual and the risen we are doing -- reason we are doing a million is
because that covers pass-throughs and businesses and $10 million for corporations, interest free and penalty free for 90 days. All you have to
do is file your taxes.
Any American has the right to extend their taxes. We are not taking that right but the president has asked us to go up to $300 billion.
The third thing is the president and I worked on a significant economic stimulus plan. Thank you for being available last night and this morning
and I will present that to the Republicans in the Senate this morning and also discussing that with the House.
We look forward to bipartisan support to pass this legislation very quickly. These will be payments to small businesses. We have talked about
loan guarantees to critical industries such as airlines and hotels and we also talked about a stimulus package to the American worker.
You can think of this as something like business interruption payments for the American workers. Thank you.
TRUMP: Do you have any questions for the Secretary of the Treasury?
QUESTION: When you say a stimulus package for American workers, do you mean direct payments to Americans or a payroll tax holiday?
MNUCHIN: Although the president likes the idea of the payroll tax holiday, what we have heard from many people, and the president said we can consider
this, the payroll tax holiday gets people money over six to eight months.
And we're looking to sending checks to Americans immediately. And what we have heard from hard working Americans, many companies have shut down, bars
or restaurants, Americans need cash now. And the president wants to get cash now. I mean, now in the next two weeks.
QUESTION: How much?
MNUCHIN: I will be previewing that with the Republicans. There's some numbers out there. They may be a little bigger than what's in the press.
TRUMP: Please, please. Wait. Please.
QUESTION: What help will you give to airlines?
MNUCHIN: I have had discussions with all the airline CEOs this week. The airline CEOs have had conversations with the Senate and the House, as the
president said. I was up with a subset of the Republican senators last night. I have discussed that with them.
I think as you know this is worse than 9/11. For the airline industry, this is -- they're almost ground to a halt. The president wants to make sure
that, although we don't want people to travel unless it's critical, we want to maintain for critical travel the right to have domestic travel.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) is that --
MNUCHIN: I'm not going to comment on the specifics. I will tell you we're very focused. There's a lot of workers. This is strategically important to
us and we will be working with Congress on this.
TRUMP: The airline industry will be in good shape.
Go ahead, please.
QUESTION: There's been talk about $1,000 checks to every American. Increasing support of Republicans and some Democrats for that.
Would you support that going to everyone or would you support some sort of income restriction on who gets a check?
MNUCHIN: I think it is clear. We don't need to send people who make $1 million a year checks. But that's an idea we like. We're going to preview
that today and then we will be talking about details afterwards.
TRUMP: I think we're going to do something to get money to them as quickly as possible. That may not be an accurate way of doing it. Some people
shouldn't be getting checks for $1,000. We'll have a pretty good idea by the end of the day what we'll be doing.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary?
QUESTION: Can you tell us, how's the mechanics of this work?
We have been talking about a payroll tax holiday, some $500 billion worth was floated to me today.
How would this idea of sending people a check work?
Would you -- would that be sort of an advance to pay in -- ?
(CROSSTALK)
MNUCHIN: Again, we want to make sure Americans get money in their pockets quickly. We want to make sure small business owners have access to funds.
We want to make sure that hotels, airlines -- we have an entire package, we will be laying out the details later today.
TRUMP: I have to say this. There's four different ways to do it. That's OK. You can hear me well enough, I imagine. OK. People that help me write,
those are very important people, come to think of it, especially you people.
Look, we have 4-5 ways we can do it. Four ways in particular. I think there's a fifth possibility.
END
