Posted on 03/06/2020 2:02:38 PM PST by ransomnote
Diplomatic Room
8:54 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. Good morning. Im going to Tennessee to meet with the governor and a lot of people. And its something. Its really something. I guess some of you are coming along, I assume. Is that right?
Q No.
THE PRESIDENT: You going?
Q Theres a crew out at Andrews waiting on you.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay.
So were signing the $8.3 billion. I asked for 2.5 and I got 8.3, and Ill take it.
(The bill is signed.)
Okay? So here we are, $8.3 billion. Were doing very well. But its an unforeseen problem. What a problem. Came out of nowhere, but were taking care of it.
We have big news on the ship. And a lot of things are happening on the ship. People are being tested right now. And I just spoke to the governor of California, Gavin Newsom. We had a good conversation. Were both working on the ship together. Its close to 5,000 people. So, its a big ship. But were doing testing on those people. Okay?
Could I have those others papers Im going to sign, please? These are additional papers relevant to various things.
Okay, this is it?
AIDE: Yes.
(The document is signed.)
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, give me the other one.
AIDE: These are the (inaudible) designations for the bill. Theres two of them.
(The document is signed.)
Do you have anything you want to say to the press?
SECRETARY AZAR: I just want to make it make it clear that in terms of tests, we have provided all the tests to the State of Washington and the State of California that theyve asked for. The production and shipping of tests that weve talked about all week is completely on schedule.
All of the CDC tests the tests that are available to test up to 75,000 people CDC has shipped to Americas public health labs. Those are out.
Then, IDT, the private contractor working with CDC to ship to the private sector and hospitals, has already shipped enough tests for 700,000 tests. And the remaining lots are arriving at CDC this morning for quality control and should get out, as we forecast, this weekend.
And then next week, well keep ramping up production. So as many as 4 million tests next week are going to be driving forward.
So everything is on schedule for the tests.
Q Mr. President, why arent you going to CDC today?
SECRETARY AZAR: Hes actually sent me. Im going to go down.
THE PRESIDENT: You you can tell them.
SECRETARY AZAR: Yeah. He sent
THE PRESIDENT: We may we may go. There was a they thought there was a problem at CDC with somebody that had the virus. It turned out negative, so were seeing if we can do it. But yesterday afternoon, we were informed that there may have been a person with with the virus, and they now find out that that was a negative test. Theyve tested the person very fully, and it was a negative test.
So I may be going. Were going to see if they can turn it around with Secret Service.
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, we may
Q You may go?
THE PRESIDENT: We may we may be going. Here, Steve, this is for you after covering me so well. (Laughter.)
Q How big a how big a hit to the economy
THE PRESIDENT: Its the first time Ive ever done that to a reporter.
Q How big a hit to the economy are you expecting (inaudible)?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, job numbers just came out and theyre incredible. The job numbers were tremendous. And we picked up close to 80,000 new jobs from the last report. And if you add that up, its over 350,000 jobs. The job numbers just came out a little while ago, and they were shocking to the people that were analyzing them.
Q Do you expect more gyrations in the stock market?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I think I think, you know, a lot of people are staying here and theyre going to be doing their business here. Theyre going to be traveling here. And theyll be going to resorts here. And, you know, we have a great place. Thats where so, foreign people come, but were going to have Americans staying home instead of going and spending the money in other countries. And maybe thats one of the reasons the job numbers are so good. Weve had a lot of travel inside the USA.
Q Do you think that Congress or your administration needs to take more action to diminish the risk of recession?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, all we can do is do what we do. I mean, were getting a lot of business from people staying. In other words, theyre its Ive always liked anyway; youve known that for a long time. But people are staying here and spending their money here, as opposed to going to Europe and other places.
Now, thatll change when this goes away, and hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.
But people were I would say virtually everybody you saw the job numbers, I guess people were shocked, because you add another 80 or whatever it is, a lot of a lot of numbers from last month, where they upgraded. So the job numbers were at a level that nobody thought possible. They were really incredible.
Q No stimulus needed?
THE PRESIDENT: I dont know. I mean, were going to see whether or not the Fed wants to stimulate. In my opinion, they should because Europe is, and China is, and everybody is but us. We have a Fed that is not exactly proactive. Im being very nice when I say that.
Q But no fiscal stimulus?
THE PRESIDENT: I think what happens is the Fed should cut and the Fed should stimulate. And they should do that because other countries are doing it, and it puts us at a competitive disadvantage. And we have the most prime. We are considered by far the most prime. And its our dollar that everybody uses. The Fed should stimulate and the Fed they should cut.
And why should Germany have an advantage over us with interest rates? So Germany you know, Germany, just announced that theyre stimulating and theyre cutting.
Asia is. All over Asia they are. China is. China is tremendously.
And were really not. And we pay higher interest; we have a higher rate. And its ridiculous, frankly. We should have the lowest rate by far, and instead we pay more than other countries. Other countries are paying zero and less than zero. You know it very well. And were paying interest, which is a very conservative approach, but its not a good approach because were also competing against other countries, whether we like it or not. Even our friends, were competing against.
Q Mr. President, on Afghanistan, are you afraid that once the U.S. pulls out, that the Taliban will basically just overrun the Afghan government?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you know, eventually countries have to take care of themselves. We cant be there for the next another 20 years. Weve been there for 20 years, and weve been protecting the country. But we cant be there for the next eventually, theyre going to have to protect themselves.
You know, this should have been done a long time ago. But you can only hold somebodys hand for so long. We have to get back to running our country too. So you understand that.
Q So do you think the Afghan government will be capable, in the long term, of defending itself?
THE PRESIDENT: Ill let you know later. You know, well have to see what happens. I hope they are, but I dont know. I cant answer that question.
Q Mr. President, any concern that the coronavirus is
THE PRESIDENT: Its not supposed to happen that way, but it possibly will.
Q Any concern that the virus is more widespread than originally thought because of the lack of testing? Is that any reason why youre not going to Atlanta today?
THE PRESIDENT: No, no, no. They had one person who was potentially infected.
And speaking of that, Id like to go. So you guys are trying to work that out. I was going to Tennessee first, in any event, and then I was stopping in Atlanta, then going down to Florida for meetings. I think that they are trying to work it out that I do go.
No, I hadnt heard that. I heard one person. And because of the one person at a high level because of the one person, they didnt want me going. But I would prefer going. And now that the person the test came out negative, were going to try and go.
The most powerful man in all of the media. Come on over here, please. He has a little something to do with the Wall Street Journal. I dont know if you know. This is real power. Right? (Laughter.) You used to do what they did.
MR. THOMSON: Yeah.
THE PRESIDENT: Right? And he did it he did it so well that hes the boss at News Corp. Of course, Rupert has something to say with that, I guess. Right? Lachlan.
Its good to have you. Its good to have you. They treat me very nicely the media. Right? Except for the Wall Street Journal, but thats okay.
Q How do you keep people from panicking from (inaudible)?
THE PRESIDENT: I dont think theyre panicking. I dont think people are panicking. I said last night we did an interview on Fox last night, a town hall. I think it was very good. And I said, Calm. You have to be calm. Itll go away.
We do have a situation where we have this massive ship with 5,000 people and we have to make a decision. You know, thats a big decision because we have very low numbers compared to major countries throughout the world. Our numbers are lower than just about anybody.
And in terms of deaths, I dont know what the count is today. Is it 11? Eleven people? And in terms of cases, its very, very few. When you look at other countries, its a very tiny fraction because weve been very strong at the borders. But then you have a ship with a lot of Americans on it. Its got 5,000 people on it. Its a massive ship and you know, and they want to come in. So we have to make a decision. Were working with the governor of California on that.
Q Are you meeting with President Bolsonaro this weekend, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I am. Were having dinner at Mar-a-Lago. He wanted to have dinner in Florida, if that was possible the President of Brazil. So well be doing that today.
Q Do you think the financial markets are overreacting?
THE PRESIDENT: I think financial markets will bounce back as soon as this really bounce back. Dont forget, theyre down probably 10 or 11 percent from, you know, where they were, but they were up 70 percent. So, you know, its only a its a relatively small piece. I dont like to see it happen because I was looking for 30,000 very soon. You were you were it seemed days away from 30,000. And now we have a little more room to make up.
But I think financially I think the country is so strong. Were so strong as a country now. We have never been like this. The consumer is generating so much because of the tax cuts, the regulation cuts, and, you know, the things weve done. So I think were in great shape. I mean, I think were in great shape.
This came unexpectedly a number of months ago. I heard about it in China. It came out of China, and I heard about it. And made a good move: We closed it down; we stopped it. Otherwise the head of CDC said last night that you would have thousands of more problems if we didnt shut it down very early. That was a very early shutdown, which is something we got right. Okay?
Q So looking at the Super Tuesday results, are you worried the Democratic Party is unifying around Joe Biden and that will take away your argument about Democrats being too left wing and too socialist?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, hes left wing and hes got all people that are left wing. And in many ways, hes worse than Bernie. Look at what he did with guns; he put Beto in charge of guns. Beto wants to get rid of guns, right? So thats a bad thats a bad stance.
And hes got a lot of people that are left wing, and theyll be running the government. Hes not going to be running anything. If he ever got in, theyll be running the government. Theyve got people further left wing than what Bernie has. So, not not going to be good. Wouldnt be good for Wall Street, I can tell you that.
Plus, if you look at his taxes, hes going to raise taxes incredibly. Hes going to raise taxes more than Bernie. I looked at and hes open about it. Bernie doesnt like to doesnt like to talk about it.
I mean, Joe Biden, his tax increases are theyre staggering. Its ridiculous. Hell destroy everything thats been built.
Q Do you think sexism was a factor in Elizabeth Warren pulling out? And do you believe you will see a female President in your lifetime?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I think lack of talent was her problem. She had a tremendous lack of talent. She was a good debater. She destroyed Mike Bloomberg very quickly, like it was nothing. That was easy for her. But people dont like her. Shes a very mean person, and people dont like her. People dont want that. They like a person like me, thats not mean.
Okay, Ill see you guys. Bye, bye everybody.
END
9:07 A.M. EST
On Friday, March 6, 2020, the President signed into law:
H.R. 6074, the “Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020,” which provides additional fiscal year 2020 emergency supplemental funding for combatting the spread of the coronavirus at the local, State, national, and international levels and to prepare for the impacts that it may have on the Nation.
TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:
In accordance with section 507 of division A of the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (H.R. 6074; the “Act”), I hereby designate as emergency requirements all funding so designated by the Congress in the Act pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as outlined in the enclosed list of accounts.
The details of this action are set forth in the enclosed memorandum from the Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 6, 2020.
Many thanks for posting this transcript!
Kaiser Seattle is in the process of recruiting volunteers for:
First coronavirus vaccine trial in the US is recruiting volunteers:
By Nicoletta Lanese - Staff Writer a day ago
Forty-five people will be enrolled in the preliminary safety trial of the new vaccine.
Researchers in Seattle have begun recruiting healthy volunteers to participate in a clinical trial for an experimental COVID-19 vaccine, according to news reports.
The vaccine, developed by the biotechnology company Moderna Therapeutics, was initially sent to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Maryland on Feb. 24, according to The Wall Street Journal. The agency anticipates launching a clinical trial by the end of April and will sponsor the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute to conduct the testing, NIAID Director Anthony Fauci told The Wall Street Journal.
Forty-five healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 55 will be enrolled in the initial trial, which aims to determine whether the vaccine triggers an immune response, and whether the given dose causes adverse side effects, according to a description on ClinicalTrials.gov.
https://www.livescience.com/us-coronavirus-vaccine-trial-recruiting.html
Oh, you mean that bill that sent nearly all our masks, hand sanitizers and drugs back to China.
What I want to hear is US first and foremost. I want to hear there are zero foreign passengers from planes and ships coming into the US. I want to hear any US citizen coming back into the country is required to be quarantined 21 days. I want to hear our north and south borders are secure. I want to hear anyone and everyone in the US can be tested and the results are complete within 48 hours or sooner. If every other country can get results quickly, so should we. I want to hear the lazy incompetent CDC is flushed out. But I won’t.
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