PRESS BRIEFING BY PRESS SECRETARY KAYLEIGH MCENANY James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 31, 2020 PRESS BRIEFING BY PRESS SECRETARY KAYLEIGH MCENANY James S. Brady Press Briefing Room   10:54 A.M. EDT      MS. MCENANY:  Good morning, everyone.  We're going to begin with some brief remarks from Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and he'll be giving you all an update on phase four negotiations.      MR. MEADOWS:  Good morning.  As you know, over the last several days, we've been having conversations on Capitol Hill, Secretary Mnuchin and myself, with Democrat and Republican leaders, both in the House and the Senate.      Last night, we concluded a meeting with Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi a little bit before 10 o'clock, and at the President's direction, we have made no less than four different offers to Democrats on Capitol Hill on how we can make sure that the enhanced unemployment that is set to expire today, along with eviction protection that is set to expire as well, is protected.  And those four different offers have been actually rejected, but more importantly than that, they've not even been countered with a proposal.      So the Democrats are certainly willing, today, to allow some of the American citizens who are struggling the most under this pandemic to go unprotected.  And the President has been very clear for us to be aggressive and forward leaning to make sure that they get protected.  And yet, what we're seeing is politics as usual from Democrats up on Capitol Hill.      It surprises me that when we talk about compassion and caring about those that -- that truly are in need, that a temporary solution to make sure that unemployment -- enhanced unemployment continues has been rejected not once but multiple times.      The Democrats believe that they have all the cards on their side, and they're willing to play those cards at the expense of those that are hurting.  And we'll continue on with additional discussions today with Senator Schumer and Senator -- and Speaker Pelosi, perhaps an in-person meeting tomorrow on Capitol Hill, as we -- we stay engaged.      But I'm -- I'm disappointed.  And what we've -- what we've experienced over the last three days -- and I want to stress that the Democrats have made zero offers over the last three days.  Zero.  And so, in a spirit of compromise, the President has sent us back not once, not twice, but three different times to try to find some common ground.  And what we found from our Democrat negotiators is that they are bumping the price higher than the very bill that they passed out of the House several weeks ago.      And to give you a particular example of that is: In their HEROES bill, they have $100 billion for schools.  We matched that offer and actually put forth a proposal for $105 billion for schools for K-through-12 and higher institutions.  And yet, what did they say to that?  “Oh, no, that was two months ago.  We want to increase the amount of money that we send to schools to $400 billion.”  We're going in the wrong direction.  They're going in the wrong direction because of partisan politics.  It is very disappointing.      And so we call on Capitol Hill to get serious about their negotiations.  The President is serious about the negotiations.  We're willing to engage.      As you know, Leader McConnell, yesterday, put forth a one-week extension at the current level for enhanced unemployment.  And what did we see?  Senator Schumer objected to that.  So there's no clear message that the American people should receive, other than the fact that the Democrats are willing to pay -- play politics at a critical time in our nation's very dire circumstances as we deal with this pandemic.      So I wanted to give you that brief update so that you can have it straight from the negotiations, as they've happened over the last three days, and as we work.      I'm going to -- I'm going to turn it over to -- to the Press Secretary.  And I think she's prepared to answer all the questions.      Q    Liability insurance -- is that a red line for you guys?  McConnell said it was.      MS. MCENANY:  Thank you, guys.      MR. MEADOWS:  I think she’ll address that.      MS. MCENANY:  The -- I'll take your questions in just a moment.  The Chief has to run to a meeting.      But earlier this week -- I just wanted to start off with an overview of what we've been doing on COVID, the President rather -- President Trump visited the great state of North Carolina to highlight the important work being done as part of Operation Warp Speed.      And thanks to President Trump's leadership, the Trump administration has made substantial investments, including investing in multiple vaccine candidates with several entering phase three clinical trials, including AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Pfizer; providing financial infrastructure for mass manufacturing of potential vaccines; guaranteeing doses of a vaccine will be available for distribution shortly after approval.  The race for a coronavirus vaccine is truly moving at warp speed under President Trump.      In addition, President Trump is leading on therapeutics.  Over 140 clinical trials are now underway: remdesivir, dexamethasone, convalescent plasma, and monoclonal antibody treatments.      Yesterday, President Trump visited the American Red Cross Headquarters to hold a roundtable on donating plasma.  This initiative will empower Americans to help their fellow Americans in battling the virus.  These critical investments in a coronavirus vaccine are due to the fact that we have a businessman in the White House.      And according to The Wall Street Journal, quote, “Democrats blame the U.S. case surge on inadequate testing and contact tracing.  But the U.S. has averaged two to three times more tests per capita than most European and Asian countries.”      Indeed, we've done more than five- -- 59 million tests; with India at number two, with just about 14 million tests.  So quite a difference there.      Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas all were doing more tests per capita when they lifted their lockdowns, more per capita than Germany, Spain, France, and South Korea have averaged.  The U.S. is the undisputed world leader in testing.      And on top of the more than 59 million tests that we've done, the FDA has authorized more than 193 tests under emergency use authorizations, including molecular and antibody tests.  Under the leadership of President Trump, the U.S. is leading the world in safe and effective therapeutics and the rapid development of a potential vaccine.  Together, as one American people, we will defeat the invisible enemy.      And with that, I will take questions.  Paula.      Q    Kayleigh, thank you.  On Mark’s -- on Mark’s comments about how it's Democrats who won't compromise: Democrats came up with a plan two months ago.  The Republican plan was just presented on Monday, and in that time, the President has contradicted the Republican plan on the amount of stimulus checks, on student loans.  Mitch McConnell threw you guys under the bus on funding for the FBI building.      What do you say to the tens of millions of people who are going to lose their benefits when it appears that the real issue is that the Republicans cannot agree among themselves even though they've had months?      MS. MCENANY:  That’s not it at all.  In fact, Democrats offered a $3 trillion plan.  We have a very specific focus right now, and it's not this comprehensive plan, whether it be the HEROES Act the Democrats proposed that wasn't serious, or the HEALS Act.      That narrow focus is this: that Americans are about to lose their unemployment insurance, and this White House, this Chief of Staff, this President, this Secretary of the Treasury have offered several iterations to make sure that Americans, who through no fault of their own lost their jobs during this pandemic, do not also lose these checks.      We've made several proposals, as Mark Meadows just said to you.  And how many proposals have the Democrats made?  Zero.  And if you want to know where the Democrats’ true intentions lie, look no further than the Martha McSally bill that was presented, that would have extended the $600 unemployment insurance.  It was rejected by Chuck Schumer.  And that was a plan that the President was willing to endorse.      Q    Kayleigh, what do you say to those that are going to lose $600 a week in unemployment payments that need that money?  And also, why didn't you start negotiating earlier?  And why only the offer of an extension of one week?      MS. MCENANY:  Well, what I would say to them is that this is unacceptable; that the Democrats have been fundamentally unserious.  And the -- you just heard the Chief of Staff say a great example of that is they had this massive $3 trillion bill that called for $100 billion in school funding.  We then gave $105 billion, which then was deemed insufficient.      So if Democrats were interested in extending unemployment insurance and helping the American people, they would have endorsed the Martha McSally bill and extended this by a week to give us time as we try to extend this in perpetuity while we also focus on evictions as well.      Q    So what do you say to those Americans that are about to lose $600 a week?      MS. MCENANY:  That they need to be calling the offices of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi and say, “Get to work and stop engaging in politics on the backs of hardworking Americans who deserve these checks, who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.”      Q    Are you willing to pass on the liability protection?      MS. MCENANY:  That's a -- that's a question for Mitch McConnell.  He said that that's going to be a part of any bill.  But that's Mitch McConnell’s.  That's his priority.  This President is very keenly focused on unemployment insurance, and the Martha McSally bill is a great example of what Democrats are focused on.      Yes.      Q    Kayleigh, if the President is so worried about how long it’ll take to count ballots in the election, then why isn't the President and this White House doing everything it can to secure more funding for staffing and other resources to make sure that we can have a safe and proper election?      MS. MCENANY:  Look, what this White House is focused on is making sure that our election is not riddled with voting fraud and that the timetable is not hung up here.  We are -- there are several lawsuits that the campaign is engaged on, and I would point you to the campaign for specifics on those.      Q    That doesn’t ask -- answer my question, though.  My question is: What is the White House doing to get more resources for funding and staff to make sure, as the President says, that it will be a secure and safe election?      MS. MCENANY:  Well, as you know, Peter, states run their elections, and it is up to states to make sure that they have the capacity.      Q    And they’re asking for more money.      MS. MCENANY:  But what this White House is focused on is ensuring that what Jeffrey Toobin has said over at the New Yorker, a CNN contributor, notably: “New York's Primary-Vote- Count Chaos Signals Trouble for November.”  And as he noted, you want to talk about the President, but Jeffrey Toobin himself: “Democrats control the state government of New York, [and] they are responsible for creating the fiasco that is unfolding now -- and that is certain to get worse in November.”           States need to get their acts together when it comes to elections.  And as we see in New York, where we're five weeks out from that election -- and, in fact, we still don't know the outcome of a congressional race, and that is certainly not what we want to see in November.      Q    And I’m asking you about the President.      THE PRESIDENT:  Yes.  Darlene.      Q    You asked why I was asking about the President.  I’m asking about the President because you work for the President.      MS. MCENANY:  Yes.      Q    I guess, the question is --      MS. MCENANY:  OAN.      Q    -- what specific --      Q    Thank you, Kayleigh.  So the President is meeting this morning, in a few minutes, with the National Association of Police Organizations.  In 2008 and 2012, they supported Barack Obama and Joe Biden.  In 2016, they didn’t support either candidate.  And now, in 2020, they’re endorsing President Trump.  To what does the White House attribute this change in support?      MS. MCENANY:  Well, it’s clearly a change in the Democrat Party, Jen.  When you look at the polling on defunding the police: ABC News/Ipsos poll, 64 percent oppose defunding the police; Huffington Post, 57 percent oppose; Rasmussen, 59 percent oppose.      But make no mistake, Democrats want to defund our law enforcement, and it comes at a time where 64 percent of Americans say they are concerned that growing criticism of America's police will lead to a shortage of police officers and reduce public safety in the community where they live.      The American people have seen very clearly where the Democrat Party of today stands.  It’s at an unacceptable place.  And I think that this administration has shown great respect for our law enforcement who every day are out there defending and protecting our streets in Democrat-run cities that have turned abundantly chaotic because of their lack of support and respect for law enforcement.      Darlene.      Q    Can you explain why the White House did not counter with a comprehensive plan of its own?  You said the White House was focused on two things: the unemployment insurance and evictions.  Why not -- why not have a more comprehensive proposal to counter what the Democrats have put on the table?      MS. MCENANY:  So I’ve walked through at this podium the more comprehensive plan that this White House was hoping to see in our priorities, like tax rebates, unemployment benefits, enhanced hiring and retention payroll credits, workplace tax credits, restaurant donations, and others.  Those are all part of the HEALS Act.  So there is a comprehensive plan that was put forward by Republicans on the Hill with several White House priorities in it.      But right now, at this day, at this moment, our focus is making sure that Americans who have lost their jobs get their paychecks.  It's why, as you heard the Chief of Staff say, we've made four proposals; Democrats have made precisely zero.      Q    Can I ask about the nomination of General Tata?  Is the White House still behind that?      MS. MCENANY:  The President still supports General Tata.      Yes.      Q    Kayleigh, so is there anything that you agree with on the Democrats?  After all these negotiations, are there any points of unity so far?      MS. MCENANY:  Well, look, they’ve presented zero plans.  So we've presented four and they’ve presented zero.  So do we agree with them?  It seems that they don't agree with us.  The White House supports unemployment insurance benefits.  The White House supports ensuring Americans don't get evicted.  But what do the Democrats support?  What do they stand for?  So far, they've offered zero, nothing, except rejecting Martha McSally’s bill to ensure that those who are receiving those checks continue receiving them.      Q    Is there an upper limit, Kayleigh, for the amount that you’re willing to go to?  Has the White House decided on some sort of a cap for how much you're willing to spend this round?      MS. MCENANY:  Not that I’m aware of.  The President has said, you know, he wants to make sure money gets to the American people.      Yes.      Q    Kayleigh, the Trump administration wants $377 million in the coronavirus relief bill for the long-delayed modernization of the West Wing.  How is that a priority in terms of the coronavirus pandemic?  You guys talk about priorities.  You had the FBI bill, which doesn’t seem to have much support from Capitol Hill as well.      MS. MCENANY:  So, two things.  And I’m glad you asked that because I do want to give you some details about those two items in particular.      When it comes to the FBI building, this has been a long-discussed issue.  I would note that the three previous COVID bills that have been passed had plenty of other things in them that were not related to COVID.  One of those examples is the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.  This is not a red line for us.  It was a part of the initial bill, but it is certainly not a red line.  The priority, as I've said several times so far, is unemployment insurance, making sure Americans do not get evicted.      And then, as it pertains to White House renovations, many of those pertain to safety protocols, filtration systems, enhanced communication ability, and needs that we saw that were highlighted during the pandemic.      But make no mistake, you know, a $377 million proposal will not stand in the way of ensuring that the American people get their checks.  That is the priority -- ensuring that Americans do not get evicted.  That is our number one, number two goals.      Yes.      Q    Thank you, Kayleigh.  I just wanted to confirm reports that Mark Meadows actually made an offer to extend unemployment insurance by four months.      MS. MCENANY:  I have not -- I haven't spoken to him on that precise proposal.  But as he's mentioned, there were four that were made.      Q    Maybe a follow-up question then.  I want to change gears and talk to you about Twitter.  We reported yesterday that the Israeli government wrote to Twitter's CEO, asking him to remove tweets from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini calling for the genocide of the Israeli people.  The company refused to do that because they said that the tweets were, quote, “comments on current affairs.”      I'm wondering if the White House has a response, given that Twitter has recently begun restricting the President's own tweets for glorifying violence -- quote, “glorifying violence” and spreading misinformation -- and if you have spoken to the President about any further action perhaps he's taking on social media companies.      MS. MCENANY:  Yeah, it's a great question, Ebony.  I did see that New York Post story, and I thought it was very eye-opening.  And it tells you where these social media company stands, where they're not willing to assess the Ayatollah Khomeini's tweets, but they are willing to assess President Trump's tweets.      It's really appalling, and it just speaks to their overwhelming, blinding bias against conservatives and against this President.  And we are taking action.  The administration is submitting a petition to the FCC for proposed regulatory changes to hold social media companies accountable for their censorship.      And this petition that was previously reported on earlier in the week asked the FCC to end the loophole that allows social media companies to escape civil lawsuits for their own speech, fact checks, and de-platforming.  And the petition seeks to expose social media companies to liability as a speaker or a publisher if they act as editors of content on their platforms or remove lawful speech based on politics.      And very good work by the New York Post in highlighting that issue.      Yes.      Q    Thanks.  Can I follow up on Darlene’s question on Tata for a minute?  You said that the administration is still behind him, but is -- are you guys considering putting him in an acting role? MS. MCENANY:  I have no personnel announcements, other to say that the President still supports him.      Yes.      Q    Thank you.  It's been a month since the reports of Russian bounties upon American military forces, and yet the White House has done nothing to push back on Putin.  What is the -- what is the delay?      MS. MCENANY:  So, as I've answered probably a dozen times from this podium, that intelligence is unverified.  There are dissenting opinions.      Q    But why hasn’t it been verified?      MS. MCENANY:  The media -- I would point to the Department of Defense, saying there's no corroborating evidence to validate recent allegations.  NSC allegations and recent press articles have not been verified or substantiated by the intelligence community, and ODNI has a similar statement.      But, look, this President acts.  He is not afraid to stand up to Russia.  He's done so repeatedly.  When our adversaries have directly targeted U.S. or coalition -- coalition partners, the President did not hesitate to act.      Q    But why didn’t he speak to Putin?      MS. MCENANY:  Look at Syria in 2018, when dozens of Russian mercenaries were killed in a retaliatory defensive strike.  He has continually stood up to Russia and will continue to do so.  And this President will always protect our troops and our men and women overseas, and he will act on verified intelligence.      Bill.      Q    Thank you, ma’am.  So, Colorado Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington all have automatic mail-in ballot systems.  The White House has made its position clear on absentee ballots and also the concern over these universal systems.  Does the White House think that those elections are fraudulent or are more at risk of fraud?      MS. MCENANY:  Always, a mail-in ballot system, mass mail-out ballots are going to be more at risk of fraud.  Look at L.A. County, where 112 percent of L.A. County is registered.  That means you have 12 percent of excess ballots floating around that are -- we know at least 12 percent that are that are not accurate ballots that were mailed out.      This is a very basic concept, and it's one that the media has done a very good job reporting on -- not just Jeffrey Toobin at the New Yorker; you also had the Washington Post article on this that the President held up yesterday that says the results that they -- that they've seen in a study have showed that there's “an unexpected stress test of mail balloting systems, many of which were designed to handle only a small portion of the vote and are not ready to scale up in response to a pandemic.”  That was the Washington Post.      There was another great ABC piece: “Mail-in voting delays in primary cause Pennsylvania to sound alarm about November.  Expansion of mail-in voting will likely delay the state's presidential [race].”      A great CBS report: “Pennsylvania's mail-in votes still weren't all tallied up after one week.  Officials fear election ‘nightmare’ in November.”      So, mass mail-in voting is certainly subject to fraud, and good work on the part of ABC, CBS, Washington Post, and the New Yorker for highlighting the fraud that is at play, the delays that are at play -- because those are, after all, the facts.      Q    And then just another quick one.  The Chief sounded quite frustrated a second ago.  Is there any situation in which the White House would walk away from negotiations on phase four?      MS. MCENANY:  I won’t get into the middle of the negotiations, and I'll leave that to the Chief and to the Secretary of Treasury.      But, yeah, there's -- there's a lot of passion because we're passionate about making sure Americans are taken care of.  I've heard the President personally talk about this.  It is -- it is his goal to make sure that those who have lost their job get these payments and those, who through no fault of their own, do not get evicted from their homes.      So those -- again, two big priorities for the President.      Raquel.      Q    Yes, thank you, Kayleigh, so much.  I have two questions.  One, you are here saying that -- how well the administration is doing in responding to different things, but the facts don't show that, and Americans are struggling and scared.  How do you -- what do you tell them, the American people?      MS. MCENANY:  So the one thing I would say is: The President has made clear that we're at a place where we want all Americans to make sure that they socially distance and that they make sure they engage in mitigation tactics.  And the President has been clear on that.      But, you know, one of the things I think as -- when you look at the United States response, you look at the fact that we were supposed to have a ventilator shortage.  In fact, we had a ventilator surplus.  We were -- we were told that there is a testing shortage.  Well, it turns out we've done, at this point, almost 60 million tests.      This President led on the development of remdesivir.  We just saw, this week, promising signs from convalescent plasma.  Our therapeutics are advanced; I would argue the best in the world.      And that's why, when you look at, in particular, at the case fatality rate -- which the President often talks about -- you see that that tells -- that tells a big story.  When the U.S. case fatality rate is at 3.4 percent, the world's is at 4 percent average, and the EU at 9.7 percent, that is a testament to our therapeutics.      But we encourage every American to engage in mitigation efforts.  And it's patriotic, as the President said, to wear a mask, especially when you can't socially distance.      Hunter.      Q    Can I ask another question on the travel ban?      MS. MCENANY:  Hunter.      On the travel ban?  Sure.      Q    Travel ban.  Yes, there is a movement (inaudible), called “Love is not tourism.”  They are families and couples separated for a month because of the travel ban -- couples who couldn't be together on their childbirth, or mothers and sons who are separated during illness.  They are asking if the administration could consider a waiver in their cases.      MS. MCENANY:  I haven't spoken to the President about those specific cases.  But this President will always put America first.  This President put in place the travel bans to protect American lives, and they've done that.  Dr. Fauci acknowledging that the travel bans have saved American lives, and that -- that is our goal at this moment.      Hunter.      Q    Thank you, Kayleigh.  I have two quick questions for you.  Herman Cain passed away yesterday, and obviously he had tested positive for COVID nine days after attending the President's rally in Tulsa.  Officials there have connected the rally to a spike in cases.  Is there any concern that Herman Cain may have contracted coronavirus at the President's rally?  And is the task force doing any follow-up to track other potential cases from that event?      MS. MCENANY:  Look, Herman Cain is the absolute embodiment of the American Dream.  We are grieved and we are very saddened by his passing.  He was raised in Atlanta, Georgia, on a small farm.  He left with just the clothes on his back.  His mother was a housekeeper.  And he rose to be an extremely successful businessman and someone who was -- who contended for the nomination of our Party.      And I would refer you to a post on Herman Cain's website, and he says “I realize…” -- or his website rather -- “I realize people will speculate about the Tulsa rally, but Herman did a lot of traveling the past week.  I don't think there's any way to trace this to one specific contact that caused the infection.  We'll never know.”      So that -- and I will not politicize Herman Cain’s passing, and I would just note the great contributions he's made to our society.  We’ll always remember him, and his legacy will stand.      Q    And then to follow up on another point: Obviously, the President's tweets yesterday seemed to float the idea of delaying the election.  He later said, you know, he supports no date change whatsoever.      Given a little bit of the ambiguity and confusion there, can you just state unequivocally whether or not the White House wants to see the date changed and state, 100 percent, that that is not something that you support?      MS. MCENANY:  The President answered this three times yesterday.  He said, “I want the date more than anyone.  I don't want to delay.  I want to have the election.”  And in a local interview he did, he said, “No one wants the date of the election more than me,” because he believes November 3rd will be a moment where the American people acknowledge the great successes of this administration.      Yes.      Q    Kayleigh, thank you.  Does the President support the Chinese-backed Hong Kong government in delaying their elections?      MS. MCENANY:  Yeah, so I do have an answer for you on the Hong Kong elections: We condemn the Hong Kong government's decision to postpone for one year its legislative council elections and to disqualify opposition candidates.  This action undermines the democratic processes and freedoms that have underpinned Hong Kong's prosperity.  And this is only the most recent in a growing list of broken promises by Beijing, which promised autonomy and freedoms to the Hong Kong people until 2047 in the Sino-British Joint Declaration.      I think it's appropriate, as we see this play out on the Hill -- this testimony by our doctors -- to just acknowledge the real successes and work of this administration.  I acknowledged the ventilators, and I talked about testing and just great American industry coming together, the American people coming together and working to get us through this tragic pandemic.  And we grieve when even one life is lost.      But I do want to point out just the early actions of this administration.  When there were zero reported cases in the United States on January 6th, the CDC issued Wuhan travel notice before any U.S. confirmed cases.  But what were Pelosi and Chuck Schumer doing?  They were calling on the GOP to support Bolton testifying.      Zero reported cases in the United States; on January 17th, the CDC implements public health entry screenings at three major U.S. airports receiving the greatest volume of Wuhan passengers.  What were Democrats doing?  Oh, House Democrats were preparing to file their first brief in the impeachment -- sham impeachment inquiry.      When there was one reported case in the United States on January 21st, CDC activated Emergency Operations Center.  What were Democrats doing?  Oh, Chuck Schumer was calling for witnesses in the impeachment trial, and Pelosi released a statement criticizing Mitch McConnell for his trial rules.      And finally, when there were seven reported cases in the United States on January 31st, President Trump issued travel restrictions on China and the first mandatory quarantine in more than 50 years, and those travel restrictions saved American lives.  But what were Democrats doing?  Pelosi was introducing the NO BAN Act, which would have imposed undue limitations on the President's authority to restrict entry of aliens into the United States.      And what are Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi doing now?  Stopping Americans from getting their unemployment insurance.  And it's despicable, and it's time for them to come to the negotiating table.      Thank you very much.                    END                 11:23 A.M. EDT

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP IN A ROUNDTABLE ON DONATING PLASMA American Red Cross National Headquarters Washington, D.C.

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 30, 2020 REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP IN A ROUNDTABLE ON DONATING PLASMA American Red Cross National Headquarters Washington, D.C.   3:01 P.M. EDT      THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Thank you very much, everyone.  It's a great honor.  It’s a magnificent building, and they do a magnificent job at the Red Cross.  I'm delighted to be here to discuss the remarkable progress being made in the development of plasma.  Plasma.  So important.  Therapies.      These therapies transfuse powerful antibodies from the blood of recovered patients to help treat those battling the current infection that we all know so well.  Plasma is one of the more delicate ways of doing things.  It's had tremendous response so far -- we've had.  And it's an effort to accelerate -- to really accelerate new therapies and further reduce mortality.      We've been able to show some tremendous things.  If you notice today, it was covered very well.  A lot of countries where they thought they were doing well, they're not doing well at all.  They've had explosions -- explosions, unfortunately.      We're joined by Secretary of Health and Human Services, who's doing a terrific job, Alex Azar.  Alex -- hi, Alex.  FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn.  Hi, Steve.  Surgeon General Jerome Adams.  And I hope your wife is okay, Jerome.  I know she had a little difficulty, but I'm sure she's going to be fine, right?  Please give her my regards.  Thank you, Jerome.  Dr. Francis Collins, who everyone knows -- Francis, thank you very much.  NIH.  And Dr. Anthony Fauci.  Anthony, hi.  And Deborah.  Where's Deborah?  Deborah?  Hi, Deborah.  Good job.      You know, everybody is -- everybody is doing a good job.  Everybody is working very hard.      I want to also thank to the CO- -- CEO of American Red Cross, somebody who's done outstanding work -- I've known about it for a long time -- Gail McGovern.  Thank you, Gail.  Really, an outstanding job, too.      CEO of America's Blood Centers, Kate Fry.  Hi, Kate.  Thank you very much.  CEO of CSL Limited, Paul Perreault.  Paul, thank you very much.  Great job.  And CEO of LabCorp, Adam Schechter.  Thank you, Adam, very much.      We've taken bold actions to give Americans access to plasma therapies.  The FDA made the treatment available to patients with life-threatening infections beginning in March.  We provided $48 million to the Mayo Clinic to support their expanded access program for plasma.  We're providing up to $270 million to the Red Cross and America's Blood Centers for the collection of up to 360,000 units of plasma.      My administration is partnering with commercial labs, insurers, and healthcare providers to encourage those who have had the virus to donate plasma.  So if you've had the virus, if you donate, it would be a terrific thing.  We really need donations of the plasma.  To those that have had the virus, you've gotten through it, and I guess that means you have something very special there.  Right, Gail?  So we would appreciate that.  It would help a lot of people.      We're grateful to LabCorp for offering free antibody testing to identify people who can donate.  And LabCorp has really been fantastic in a lot of ways -- other ways also.      As a result of these initiatives, we've already treated nearly 50,000 patients with plasma.  Roughly 2 million Americans have fully recovered from the virus.  This afternoon, I'm asking these citizens to go to the Coronavirus.gov -- it's Coronavirus.gov -- and volunteer to donate plasma as soon as you can.  We have a lot of people that would heal, would get better.  As soon as you can, please.      In addition, I'm once again urging all Americans to protect the elderly, socially distance, wear a mask when you cannot avoid the crowded places.  And if you can, you have to avoid crowded places.  It just seems like so many things are taking place in crowded places.  We don't want that.  And always wash your hands -- wash your hands as often as you can.  Together, we’ll defeat the virus, we’ll defeat the invisible enemy.      I want to thank the American Red Cross.  I've been a fan of the Red Cross for a long time, as you know, and we appreciate the great work that you do.  Thank you very much, Gail.      And now I'd like to ask Gail to say a few words, please. Thank you.      MS. MCGOVERN:  Mr. President, thank you so much for joining us today and for shining a light on the critical need for convalescent plasma.  I'm honored to be seated here with these distinguished, top medical experts who are striving to help us deal with this terrible pandemic.  And I am so grateful that the American Red Cross can actually play a role in the treatment of COVID-19.      We’re helping to collect units of convalescent plasma, which I've been told is showing promising results, and it's treating COVID patients.  We've shipped over 24,000 units so far, and I am in awe of our donors who are donating convalescent plasma.  They struggled through this disease, they came through the back end, they have precious antibodies, and hospitals are transfusing their plasma into patients that are struggling mightily with the disease themselves.      And it's a testament to the generosity of the American public.  These donors have recovered from a debilitating disease, and they're willing to lend an arm to help somebody they probably will never even have the opportunity to meet.  And, in fact, blood donors in general are just so generous.  They are helping save someone's life, and they do it without question.  And it's just an amazing, amazing thing.      Americans always step up, whether it's a pandemic or a hurricane.  And it's a privilege to be able to see the generosity of the American public over and over again, whether they're volunteering, donating blood, or even providing us with financial donations.      So on behalf of the entire American Red Cross, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the people that actually recovered from COVID-19 and are giving this remarkable gift of life to help them recover as well.      And right now the demand for convalescent plasma is exceeding our collections, so we really do need people to come out and donate.  In fact, over the past month, the number of orders doubled from our hospitals.      So please, please, please -- I know I speak on behalf of Kate as well -- consider donating plasma if you've had COVID, because you are going to do a wonderful thing.  It's easy, it doesn't take a lot of time, and I can tell you that when you donate blood and you leave our blood center, you feel so great.  You just feel so great about yourself because you just saved someone's life, and not a lot of people can make that claim.      So thank you again, Mr. President.  We really appreciate the shout-out for convalescent plasma.      THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Gail.  Great job.      MS. MCGOVERN:  Thank you.      THE PRESIDENT:  You’re really doing something very special.  Thank you.      Alex, please.      SECRETARY AZAR:  Well, Mr. President, thank you so much for leading the effort now to get people to donate convalescent plasma.  This is going to be a major national initiative in the -- in the months ahead, and I want to thank the Red Cross and I want to thank America's blood banks for the work that they're doing to bring our donors in and to get this plasma.      For the -- for the tens of thousands of people that have already donated plasma, thank you for what you've done.  You are literally saving lives.  And we need hundreds of thousands more to please come forward.      If you've been infected and recovered, please go to Coronavirus.gov and -- or reach out to your American Red Cross outlet or your local blood bank, and please be a donor.      We now have more than 48,000 patients that have received convalescent plasma thanks to the work of American researchers and physicians, the FDA, HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, and groups like the Red Cross and our blood banks.      This effort is just one piece of what the President is leading towards bringing therapeutics to the market.  So we have remdesivir, we have steroids for lung injury, and now we bring convalescent plasma to people.  We've invested more than $1.7 billion through our Operation Warp Speed, which is the President's initiative to get vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics to the American people in record time.      And when it comes to therapeutics, warp speed means weeks, not months.  Earlier this month, through Operation Warp Speed, we announced a $450 million agreement with Regeneron to support their promising monoclonal antibody cocktail.      What makes OWS so bold is that we've now paid to begin making doses of this Regeneron product before it receives FDA authorization or approval.  And that means that if, and only if, this drug meets FDA’s gold standard for safety and effectiveness, we'll have tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of doses to distribute to American patients right away, as soon as this fall.      And that's what today is about also: ensuring that even as the FDA reviews the data on convalescent plasma, we have plenty of supply, we have access for people.  It also enables us to develop new therapies such as hyperimmune globulin, which is the distilled, purified version of our convalescent plasma.      So thanks to everyone who's donated.  And thank you, Mr. President, for this national call to action to donate.  And thanks to all of our future donors.  Thank you, Mr. President.      THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, Alex.  Appreciate it.      Dr. Collins, please.      DR. COLLINS:  Well, thank you, Mr. President.  And good afternoon, everyone.  It's wonderful to be in this beautiful space.  And thanks very much, Gail, and everybody at Red Cross for hosting us here.      We try to make it clear what a remarkable gift Americans have been giving by donating plasma if they've recovered from COVID-19, because that has the potential to help lots of people.      Your own human body is a wonderful, little biotechnology factory, even if you might not think about it that way.  Your immune system is ready to take on whatever kind of pathogen happens to wander into your environment and potentially threaten you.  And we know this is a particularly impressive virus for what it can do.  And yet, most of us, thank God, once exposed to this, do figure out how to recover from it because that immune system kicks into gear and makes those antibodies that then allow the virus to lose the battle and you to win.      And now, having done so, you're in a position to be able to donate your biotechnology product, which is your plasma, to somebody else who's just now getting sick with this disease, and you have a chance to help them if their own factory hasn't quite kicked in.      Americans are amazing, and the way in which people have been doing this is truly inspiring.  Americans seem to believe that biblical verse, “To whom much has been given, much will be required.”  To whom coronavirus has been given and they've recovered, apparently they have recognized that they have something else that they can do to help the next person, and that is inspiring.  And we're here to encourage more and more people to see that as something practical and important they can do at the time of this global pandemic.      You already heard, though, from -- the comments made by the Secretary that this is part of a remarkable menu of therapeutics, of treatments that are being developed against coronavirus.  And this particular one also opens the door to other kinds of immune-therapy.      The monoclonal antibodies that were mentioned, where money has now been devoted to scaling that up with a company called Regeneron, is basically to take the part of the convalescent plasma that we think is the most potent and figure out how to turn that into a purified product.  We’re not quite there to show yet whether that works, but that is also a very promising approach.      And there are a couple of trials of monoclonal antibodies from other companies that are on the launching pad starting as soon as tomorrow.      So all of this fits together with what the Trump administration has been doing, through Operation Warp Speed, to literally bring all hands on deck from the public sector, from the private sector.  Nobody worrying too much about who's going to get the credit.  Let's just move this forward and save lives.  And all of the Americans who’ve been donating their plasma are a big part of that team.      So, thanks.  It's wonderful to be part of this event this afternoon.      THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Francis.  Appreciate it very much.      Kate, please.      MS. FRY:  Thank you, Mr. President, for having this important event today.  America's Blood Centers is the national trade association for independent community blood centers.  Our members are responsible for over 60 percent of the nation's blood supply and have been at the forefront of convalescent plasma collections in the U.S. over the past four months.      There are more than 60 independent community blood centers, as well as hospital blood banks, operating hundreds of donation facilities, taking part in the effort to collect convalescent plasma to ensure this product gets to every patient in every hospital across the country.      We’re excited to announce that, today -- that as of this week, independent community blood centers have distributed more than 100,000 doses of COVID-19 convalescent plasma to patients in need.  Every blood center -- small, medium, and large -- across the country has mobilized to do their part in this effort.  Of course, we are not slowing or stopping down in any kind of way; we are indeed mobilizing to do even more.  And we are projecting that we will double our current number of doses by the end of August.      This unprecedented response by community blood centers demonstrates their commitment to meeting patient need wherever it is.  America's Blood Centers and its members will continue to collaborate with the administration, federal agencies, and all stakeholder partners to ensure and advance the safe collection and distribution of convalescent plasma.      Now, the single most important thing to our ability to do more in distributing convalescent plasma is having donors.  And so this event is so important in terms of our ability to educate the American public and encourage them to donate.      I would say that when you make a donation appointment -- and appointments are critical here at your local blood center -- you'll go through a process.  The whole appointment takes about 90 minutes, and it's a safe and easy way to help your fellow Americans.      And so we are following -- all blood centers are following social distancing protocols.  They've implemented infection disease protocols as well.  So this is a very safe and easy way to help others.      So thank you again for having this event, and we look forward to being part of this effort.      THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, Kate.  Appreciate it.      Tony and Deborah, please.      DR. FAUCI:  Thank you very much, Mr. President, for support of this very important program.  When we talk about what is going on in this country and the challenge we're facing, we often say that it is something where we are all in it together, and we all have to pull together.      An important part of the process of being in it together and pulling together is helping each other.  You know, and I can think of nothing more manifesting, the helping of each other, than someone donating from their experience of being ill.  And this is something that I think is part of the American spirit, and we should be proud of it, and we should show it.  So it's a very important thing.  It's an important part of the entire response to this outbreak.      I want to mention that when we do something like give convalescent plasma, it's important to understand, as several of us have mentioned, that it is important part of the spectrum of interventions and response.  We have good therapies and we'll get better therapies for people with advanced disease.  We have the dexamethasone for people on ventilators, the remdesivir with people who are hospitalized, who have lung involvement.      And now we're talking about another important part of intervention -- is the intervention early in infection to prevent people from needing to go to the hospital.  And that's really what convalescent plasma is -- because the mechanism of it, it is directed against the virus.  It's taking the machinery that Francis has spoken about that the body makes to get a protein to block the virus.  And that's exactly what this is all about.      Now, it's also important to point out that this could be a proof of concept, because when antibodies work, it tells you a few things: It'll tell you that when you have a vaccine and you induce antibodies, it could work.      And this is the good news that's juxtaposed to what happened a couple of days ago when we went into the phase three trial for a vaccine.  Some of you may heard -- may have heard me say that I was “cautiously optimistic” -- a word that I use often -- that we will be successful with a vaccine.  One of the reasons is that, in the phase one study, the vaccine induced response that was comparable, if not better than what we see in convalescent plasma.  So here's where the work of vaccine essentially merges with the work we're doing now with convalescent plasma.      So that's the reason why we think it's so important and why it's so important for people to donate.      Thank you, Mr. President.      THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, Tony.  Thanks.      DR. BIRX:  Thank you, Mr. President.  And thank you for lending your voice to the day's important call to action and really making the two critical points of what we're calling every American to do.  Thank you for noting how important it is for every American to give back by wearing a mask, by socially distancing, and from avoiding crowded places where they may not be able to social distance or wear a mask -- and we know what we're talking about: parties and bars.      Thank you for also really calling to action for those who have recovered to donate lifesaving plasma to others.  And I think these two pieces together -- knitted together to stop the spread of the virus through masks, social distancing, and avoided crowded spaces -- either indoors and outdoors -- and protecting the vulnerable, and at the same time, calling for action to increase our therapeutic abilities to treat more patients.      Thank you.      THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Please.  Thank you.      MR. SCHECHTER:  Mr. President, thank you for having us today, and thank you for this national call to action.  We think it's very important.      At LabCorp, our employees have been working seven days a week, three shifts a day, to try to perform as many tests as fast as we possibly can to see who has the virus.  I'm proud to say that today we can do 180,000 tests per day, and we can turn those tests around in one day for priority patients, and two to three days for all other patients.      And I want to thank Dr. Hahn, Admiral Giroir, Secretary Azar for all their help to ensure that we have what we need to get these tests turned around even faster, and we're going to continue to build capacity.      At the same time, we realize that there's more that LabCorp can do.  And since the beginning, we were part of a coalition called the “Fight Is In Us.”  And it's a group of companies that came together to try to encourage people that have had the disease in the past, to give plasma.      To accelerate that, we're going to announce in the next several days that we will have free high-affinity antibody tests available for anybody through their physician, where if they're going in for routine bloodwork, the physician could just add on an antibody test; we will run it.  And the only thing that we ask is that if the patient has antibodies, that they please consider to donate plasma.      THE PRESIDENT:  It's a great idea.  Thank you very much.  Appreciate it.      Dr. Hahn, please.      DR. HAHN:  Thank you, Mr. President.  Based upon your call to action, FDA has responded to remove any unnecessary barriers to the speeding of medical products during this pandemic.      I want to thank the American Red Cross, the American Blood Centers for the collaboration that we've had in the development of the convalescent plasma program.      As the President and Secretary Azar mentioned in March, FDA began working with our colleagues to develop this program.  The Mayo Clinic has initiated what's called an expanded access program, which has really allowed physicians around the country to order convalescent plasma as an early treatment for patients.  A number of clinical trials beyond the expanded access program are taking place.      We're encouraged by the data; we've seen that this is a safe treatment.  And we're encouraged by the early promising data that we've seen.  And as the President mentioned, we're studying these data to determine, ultimately, the safety and efficacy of this product.      In the meantime, we know that doctors are writing these orders, that patients who are hospitalized need this, and so the call to action to donate is so important.  And even if, at the end of the day, convalescent plasma doesn't turn out to be the treatment we think it might be, remember that your donations still count with the American Blood Centers and the American Red Cross.  They can truly save lives.      And just to put another point on the therapeutics development: FDA is now overseeing over 200 clinical trials of therapies that the great American biomedical research enterprises put forward, and more than 400 are in the planning stages.      So we have a tremendous pipeline of therapies for COVID-19.  It's been an unbelievable private-and-public partnership.  And, Mr. President, thank you for your leadership.      THE PRESIDENT:  Stephen, could you give a few words on the speed with which we're getting the vaccines out and approved --hopefully approved and finalized -- and where we are with phase one, two, and three, et cetera?      DR. HAHN:  Yes, sir.  We have a number of companies that have come forward with vaccine candidates.  Some of those are in Operation Warp Speed.  And I want to emphasize the fact that FDA has a very bright line drawn between its actions and Operation Warp Speed.  We are the independent regulator.  And as the President said, we’ll ultimately be calling the balls and strikes with respect to the safety and efficacy of a vaccine.      We have six vaccine candidates that have come to FDA, and we've given them the “safe to proceed” into clinical trials.  Two are currently in the latest phase of trials, called phase three; they started this week.  Another one is planning to go into phase three in August.  And then an additional three are in other phases of the clinical development.      Four additional vaccines have come to us, and we expect to allow them to go forward fairly soon.  And then there are a number of 50-plus vaccines that have come in house for the pre-application process.      I think we can all agree that this has been sort of a remarkable effort from when the virus was first identified at the NIH, and the sequence was made, to the initiation of the first clinical trial -- NIAID spending a lot of time getting that to that point.  It really is record speed.      But also, at your direction, Mr. President, we aren't cutting corners with respect to the development, and we will not be cutting corners with respect to the assessment of the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.      THE PRESIDENT:  And you’re literally many, many months and even years ahead of schedule in terms of approval.  So we really appreciate the FDA.  And please let us -- let everyone know how we feel, all of us.  Thank you.  Great job.      Jerome, please.      SURGEON GENERAL ADAMS:  Thank you, Mr. President.  I really appreciate you being here today.      The theme of this national call to action is: “We're in this together.”  And when I think about all of us being in this together, I think about an iconic American image: Rosie the Riveter.  Rosie the Riveter became a part of our history because we were at war.  People were scared.  People felt helpless.  But the American spirit is all about people coming together -- coming together to defeat a common enemy.  And we have a common enemy now; it's COVID-19.  But we also have tools that everyone can bring to bear to really help us overcome this enemy, and one of those is convalescent plasma.      One thing I want to add to the discussion that hasn't been brought up yet is that the average age of donation of blood and plasma is over the age of 60.  So to the young people out there: We've got some work to do.  The seniors are showing us up.  We need everyone to do their part, because we're all in this together.      I also want to foot-stomp something that Dr. Birx mentioned and that Dr. Fauci mentioned.  There's a spectrum that we have here of treatments that are way downstream, treatments that are midstream, and then preventative measures that we can all take, because we're all in this together.      And, Mr. President, I want to thank you for emphasizing the three W’s: Number one, wash your hands.  Number two, watch your distance.  Number three, wear a mask.      I was in Miami just a few weeks ago and I promised them I would tell you this.  I was in Trump country and they told me to deliver you a message, Mr. President.  They told me to tell you, you look badass in a face mask.  (Laughter.)  I promised them I would tell you that.  Miami, I told the President he looks badass in a face mask.  (Laughter.)       We are all in this together.  Give blood.  Give plasma.  Save a life.  We'll get through this, America.      THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Jerome, very much.      Please.      MR. PERREAULT:  Thank you, Mr. President, for having me here today and, really, to join the partners that are here together to join our mission of combating this disease with our particular expertise and technologies.      I also want to thank you for your leadership.  I think that no one has seen this in the world.  It takes resolve and it takes effort, and you've shown that both with your leadership but also with the founding of Operation Warp Speed.  So thank you for that.      I also want to thank you for your outstanding team that we're working with -- great people; really have done a fantastic job -- and for proactively engaging the private sector to combat COVID-19.      I am Paul Perreault.  I’m the CEO of CSL Limited.  Our legacy in fighting infectious disease goes back to 1901, with Emil von Behring, who was the first Nobel Prize winner in medicine, who actually utilized plasma as a means to fighting off diphtheria.  So our history is long in this space.      Since then, CSL has been committed to innovating and developing therapies for rare and serious diseases.  That's our business.  We currently have several R&D programs that are fighting for COVID-19, including vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and plasma therapies.  We are one of the world's largest collectors of plasma.      I'm here today representing all the manufacturers of hyperimmunes, including the COVID-19 Plasma Alliance, which is really an unprecedented partnership of world leading plasma companies who have joined together to help develop a plasma therapy to treat COVID-19.      And I have to say that the help from the FTC was important as well because we're typically competitors, and this is really a combination of all of these companies working together.      The plasma donated by people who have fought off COVID-19, as you've already heard, has precious antibodies -- really important antibodies to fight off this disease.  These antibodies can be isolated and then they can be converted into what we term a “hyperimmune plasma therapy” that, in theory, could be used to treat active COVID-19 infections.  It builds on the concept of plasma transfusion.  But the product is more like a standard medicine.  This is an important approach and is well established in treating other infectious diseases like rabies or tetanus.      Working jointly with the NIH, the major plasma manufacturers have designed a clinical trial that will be enrolling individuals in the month of August.  And if the data from this supports our hypothesis, we could be in a position to submit the hyperimmune therapy to Dr. Hahn for immune therapy against COVID-19, by the end of this year.      But we need plasma, and we need plasma donors.  So we need them wherever they are.  We need them to donate blood.  We need them to donate plasma.  And we also need plasma in general, because plasma is used to treat other rare diseases.      So this call to action, that we're in this together -- the fight is in us.  We have to work together.  And this call to action to donate plasma and help us fight against COVID-19 is really an important step in making this happen.      So we thank you for bringing us together.      THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.      MR. PERREAULT:  And thank you, Gail, for hosting us.      THE PRESIDENT:  And I hope you'll be able to do it even before the end of the year and maybe substantially before that, from what I'm hearing.      Okay, thank you very much.      MR. PERREAULT:  Thank you.      THE PRESIDENT:  Would anybody have any questions of these very brilliant people having to do with plasma, antibodies?  Any questions?      Steve, go ahead.      Q    The death toll is now 150,000.  What is the current projection going forward?  What should we expect in the next couple of months?      THE PRESIDENT:  Well I'd let -- perhaps, Tony, do you want to discuss that, please?      DR. FAUCI:  You know, many of the (inaudible) -- look at it, we almost will not have enough that would be utilizable, particularly not only for the administration, but also for what was just mentioned about the supply of the hyperimmune globulin.  So, really, an unlimited amount.  There really is as many as we possibly can get -- in the hundreds of thousands.      Q    Are you going to recommend that Americans wear goggles, as well as face masks, to defend against the virus?  Is that going to be one of the CDC’s recommendations?      THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I can tell you I only heard of goggles for the first time about one hour ago.  Now I'm hearing about goggles.  So I don't know.      Deborah, do you want to discuss that?      DR. BIRX:  So I believe Dr. Fauci talked about this yesterday.  But we have, in the hospital systems and having -- for exposure -- have had people using face shields.  And I think you've seen that through my tour through the United States and 14 states across the country where the President sent me to make sure that we were combating the virus well on the ground.      Tennessee has created teachers -- special teacher packs to ensure that every teacher has a face mask -- a face shield, gloves, and hand sanitizers.  And I think we're trying to bring these best practices back to ensure that teachers feel safe in the classroom in the same way that doctors and nurses feel safe in the hospitals to decrease their exposure.      THE PRESIDENT:  I think when you look at Miami, by the way, or Florida, in particular, it looks like things are getting much better.  Arizona getting much better.  Heading down.  Heading in the right direction.  Some other areas getting much better.  Could be catching on, unfortunately, in a couple of areas.  We don't know quite yet, but we'll be able to report that soon.  But some very big progress being made in some of the states that two weeks ago looked like they were going to be quite bad.  And some great progress made.      All right, any other questions?  Please.      Q    Tom Howell, Washington Times.  Are you concerned at all about the lag time it takes to get a test back?  We've heard reports of a week or more.  The gentleman from LabCorp talked about that a little bit.  What's -- what's going on there?  Has there been improvement?      THE PRESIDENT:  So we're getting -- mostly now, we're ordering as many of the immediate tests, which is 5 minutes to 15 minutes -- even a little bit less, in some cases, than five minutes.  But we're trying to get those tests.  We have pretty close to 50 percent.  I call them “short-term tests,” but we're up to about 50 percent, which is amazing.      The other tests, while good, you have to send them, then they have to do the work, and they have to send them back.  So the process takes long, just in terms of delivery.  We really are liking the short-term test where you find out immediately whether or not you have a problem.  And that's what we're striving for.  But we're already up to approximately 50 percent.  Is that correct, Deborah?      DR. BIRX:  I think with the new antigen tests that are available now to nursing homes, that will really help our turnaround times -- to get them out, more specifically.  But you have charged us to get that turnaround time down across the board, and we're working with FDA to make pooling available.      The reason LabCorp has been able to decrease their turnaround time so remarkably is they moved to pooling several weeks ago.  That's dramatically increasing our throughput throughout the country.  And so we really need to call on all the laboratories to learn from LabCorp and others that are doing pooling, like the Broad and LabCorp, to really increase our turnaround times -- to decrease our turnaround time.  So we know that it's possible that we can decrease it by at least 50 percent, if all of our laboratories move to pooling.      So, sir, we're doing as you said, and we're going to decrease those turnaround times.      THE PRESIDENT:  Good.  Thank you.      And how is LabCorp doing about turnaround?      MR. SCHECHTER:  Yes, so, right now, Mr. President, for priority patients -- those in hospitals or those in nursing homes and hotspots -- within one day, we can turn them around.      THE PRESIDENT:  That’s great.      MR. SCHECHTER:  For everybody else across the country, we turn those around in two to three days on average.  And we can do 180,000 of those tests per day, and we're still increasing capacity.      And as Dr. Birx said, we're going to be doing pooling and multiple other things.  So we will continue to work hard.      THE PRESIDENT:  So then for nursing homes, one day, and something more than that for everyone else.  But three days looks like it's a pretty good target.      MR. SCHECHTER:  Yeah, well, on average, two to three days.  So we shoot for two to three days.  So if we can get it to two days on average, even better.      THE PRESIDENT:  Well, that’s really -- you know -- that’s very good.  We’d be happy with those numbers.  And numbers that we are happy with, and we use a certain test around here that goes very quickly.  And it's just been recently developed.  So we've done an amazing job.  Everybody at this table has done, really, an amazing job in coming up with testing, and testing that works.      Steve, go ahead.      Q    One issue that has come up is, once you do have a vaccine, how do you properly distribute it?  How do you get it out quickly to (inaudible)?      THE PRESIDENT:  Well, when we have the vaccine, we have the military all lined up, and the military is going to be doing it in a very powerful manner.  These are people that don't usually do vaccines.  They do soldiers and they do lots of other things that, frankly, are more difficult.  But we have our general, and logistically, he's all set.      Tony, do you want to say something about that?      Dr. FAUCI:  That is correct.  As the vaccine rolls out, we'll be getting them distributed.  And as you probably have heard, we are going to make sure that we do it in an equitable way and it's representative of the populations who need it the most.  And we have the standard way that we determine that, with the ACIP working with the CDC.      But Dr. Collins and Dr. Redfield have put together, with the National Academy of Medicine, a group that will fortify that decision-making process so that we're making sure that we're very fair and equitable in getting the vaccine distributed properly.      THE PRESIDENT:  And I think I could have Francis say that tremendous progress has been made on the vaccine, beyond anything that we would have thought if you go back six months.      What do you think?      DR. COLLINS:  It is just, frankly, quite astounding, Mr. President.  I've been at NIH for 27 years and director for 11, and I've seen some amazing things happen.  But the way in which the whole research community -- public and private, philanthropies -- everybody has come together to work on this, not worrying about who gets the credit, trying to figure out how to strip away anything that's going to slow things down.      And I think all of us motivated by the fact that this is the most serious problem we've encountered in our professional lifetimes, even a day matters.  And so that's why a lot of people look kind of sleepy, because we're all working 24/7, trying to make sure that nothing possibly slows this process down.      Yeah, the vaccines -- this week is a big week, as you just heard, having two phase-three trials started in the very same day, this past Monday.  And based upon very impressive phase one data, showing that people who got that in the phase one trials, developed these high levels of neutralizing antibodies that should be very predictive of protection.  But you don't know until you actually run the trial in those 30,000 people.      By the way, you heard earlier about Coronavirus.gov, which is a place you can go to to find out how you can donate plasma.  There's another thing you can do if you go to that website, which is to sign up to say you're interested in a vaccine trial.  And we need people to volunteer for that as well, because we're going to -- with these four or five trials coming along very quickly, each of which needs 30,000 volunteers -- that’s a lot of people.  And we need them.      THE PRESIDENT:  And, Francis, we're working very well with other countries.      DR. COLLINS:  We are indeed.  And science has always been international, and it certainly is right now.  And we work with our colleagues in Europe and the UK and Asia in a way that I think represents the best of the best.  And again, everybody recognizes we're all in this together across the whole planet.      THE PRESIDENT:  Okay, thank you very much, everybody.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.                               END                3:40 P.M. EDT

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP IN PRESS BRIEFING

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 30, 2020

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP IN PRESS BRIEFING James S. Brady Press Briefing Room   5:41 P.M. EDT      THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.  Let me begin by expressing our sadness at the passing of a wonderful man and a dear friend of mine, Herman Cain.  He was a very special person.  I got to know him very well.  And unfortunately, he passed away from the thing called the China virus.  And we send our prayers to Herman's great wife, Gloria.  Wonderful family.      And I have to say, America grieves for all of the 150,000 Americans who had their lives taken by this horrible, invisible enemy.  We mourn their loss, as a nation; we mourn their loss, as people -- as people that love one another.  And we're working very hard to not only contain this horrible event, this horrible plague -- it's what it is, is a plague -- but also to come up with therapeutics and vaccines.  And we're making a lot of strides.      All over the world, they’re having tremendous problems.  A resurgence has taken place in many countries that people thought were doing well.  Despite a wide range of approaches to the pandemic between countries, this resurgence in cases is occurring throughout large portions of our planet -- in Japan, China, Australia, Belgium, Spain, France, Germany, Hong Kong -- places where they thought it was -- they had really done great.  It came back.  And in a couple of cases, it came back very strongly.      The virus was said to be under control, but new cases have risen very significantly once again.  So when you think somebody is doing well, sometimes you have to hold your decision on that; you have to hold your statement.      Since the beginning of June, daily new cases have increased by a factor of 14 times in Israel; 35 times -- that’s 35 times -- in Japan; and nearly 30 times in Australia, just to name a few.  These were countries that were doing incredibly well; leadership was being praised.  Latin America now leads the world in confirmed infections.  And with the scarcity of testing in Latin America, the true numbers -- you have no idea what they might be.  And I can say “scarcity of testing.”  Almost anywhere, except for our country.      This disease is highly contagious and presents unique challenges to our border states.  Meanwhile, states like California, Washington State, Maryland, Virginia, Nevada, Illinois, Oregon, and many others -- they were thought to be doing well, and they had a big resurgence and were hit very hard.      And governors that were extremely popular are not so popular anymore.  They were held up as models to follow, and then they got hit and -- now, I'm not even saying this is their fault.  It's probably not their fault.  It's just the way it is.  That's the way it is.  Highly infectious -- one of the most infectious diseases that anybody has ever seen.  Not since 1917, over 100 years ago, has anyone seen anything like what we're witnessing now.      But these states have also seen the virus substantially rebound.  And, again, no one is immune.  No one is immune.  These facts illustrate the imposing determinant -- and it is a determinant -- that a blanket shutdown to achieve a temporary reduction in cases is certainly not a viable long-term strategy for any country.  People are starting to understand the disease now.  We certainly have understood a lot about the disease that we didn't have any idea.  We didn't -- nobody ever saw anything like this.      The primary purpose of a shutdown was to flatten the curve, ensure sufficient hospital capacity, and develop effective treatments and therapies to reduce mortality.  And we've done that.  But it can come rearing back when you least suspect it.      We did the right thing initially.  We saved millions of lives, what we did.  We did the right thing.  But a permanent shutdown would no longer be the answer at all.  A small shutdown of certain areas -- but we don't want to do that -- small shutdowns can be very helpful, but not for long periods of time.      We understand what we're dealing with now, but it's a very complex situation.  And I can only say: Thank Heaven that we -- that we are so advanced in what we're doing, in terms of vaccines and therapies.      We now know a great deal about the virus and how to treat it and who it targets.  Almost half of the deaths come from less than 1 percent of our population.  Think of it: Half of the deaths -- really, a tremendous number -- half of the deaths come from less than 1 percent of our population, those living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.  The average age of those who die from the illness is 78.      We've announced very strong measures to protect those who are most vulnerable.  The scientific path forward is to protect those at highest risk, while allowing those at lower risk to carefully return to work and to school with appropriate precautions.      I'm once again urging the American people to protect their dear family and friends and anybody who's elderly -- especially if somebody is elderly and they have heart problems, if they have certain illnesses.  Diabetes is a very bad one, having to do with what we're discussing.  But you want to protect the elderly and socially distance, wear a mask if you cannot socially distance, and practice vigorous hygiene.      Everyone, even healthy young people, should be taking extraordinary care to avoid infecting those at the highest risk from this terrible disease.  The elderly and those with chronic health issues have to be protected.      In the current hotspots across the Sun Belt, the data is showing very encouraging signs.  Arizona, in particular, has crossed an important threshold.  For every person with the virus, we're now seeing an average of less than one additional person infected.  And the numbers are coming down and coming down very substantially.  They're starting to come down in Florida.  Arizona is really leading the way.      I was in Texas yesterday, and they're starting to come down significantly, we believe, in Texas.  Need another few days to figure that one out, but it looks like they're coming down very significantly.      Earlier today, I visited the Red Cross headquarters to discuss plasma therapy -- which is a tremendous -- a tremendous thing that they're looking at, and they have a lot of experience with it -- potentially lifesaving treatments that infuse sick patients with powerful antibodies donated by those who have recovered successfully from this disease.      More than 2 million Americans have recovered from the virus, and today we're asking them to visit Coronavirus.gov -- Coronavirus.gov -- and volunteer to donate plasma.  We need plasma.  It's something that's been very effective, and we need plasma from those that were infected and successfully recovered, as most people do.  Most people do.      Plasma is one of the many promising treatments my administration is accelerating.  We've secured over 90 percent of the world's supply of remdesivir -- which is terrific -- an encouraging antiviral drug that can effectively block replication of the virus.      We've also approved the use of the widely-available steroid -- which has been very successful -- dexamethasone, which has shown success, even in patients at more advanced stages of the disease.      On July 17th, we announced a $450 million agreement with Regeneron to build manufacturing plants and hundreds of thousands of doses of its antibody treatment, which is currently in late-stage clinical trials -- moving along very rapidly.  That’s Regeneron.      As a result of such significant strides in treatment, the mortality rate in those over the age of 18 is 85 percent lower than it was just in April.  So in a very short period of time.  Think of that: Just 18 -- 85 percent lower than it was in April.  It's a big statement.      Now I want to provide an update on our efforts to ensure a strong economic comeback, including our negotiations on Capitol Hill.  Throughout this crisis, my administration has taken the most aggressive action in history to rescue American workers.  We love our American workers.  And we've set records on job creation -- records -- two months in a row.      We enacted a $3 trillion economic relief package.  The Paycheck Protection Program alone saved over 50 million jobs.  We delivered $300 billion to direct cash payments to Americans.  We approved $500 billion for our hardest-hit industries -- $500 billion.      We allowed struggling homeowners to reduce or defer their mortgage payments, and we put a nationwide moratorium on evictions from federally backed properties.  It was a big thing, a very big thing.      We also suspended student loan payments for six months, and we're looking to do that additionally and for additional periods of time.      As a result of these extraordinary steps by the administration, we added a record 7 million jobs in the two months past alone.      To ensure this comeback continues, which we think it will -- we had a great foundation to build on.  We were the strongest country in the world; nobody close.  We were outdoing everybody from China.  If you remember, for many years, you heard that in 2019, China would surpass the United States.  Well, it didn't.  We gained on them very significantly.  We took it to a level that nobody has ever seen -- 2019, and we'll be back there very shortly.  It won't take very long, based on everything that we're seeing.  It's not going to take very long.  I think next year is going to be an excellent year -- maybe one of our best years ever, from an economic standpoint.      We can never, ever forget the people that have been lost, and we never will.  We’ll never forget them; never forget what happened.  This could have been stopped in China.  They should have stopped it, and they didn't.      But I'm asking Congress to pass additional legislation to support Americans in need.  First, we want a temporary extension of expanded unemployment benefits.  This will provide a critical bridge for Americans who lost their jobs to the pandemic through no fault of their own.  This was not anybody's fault.  From the standpoint of jobs, it happened -- a terrible thing happened.  Could’ve been stopped.  It happened.      I want to thank Senate Republicans for fighting to extend unemployment benefits today -- in the face of very strong Democrat obstruction, which I'm surprised at -- because this is great for our country and it's great for our workers, and it wasn't our workers’ fault.       Second, we’re asking Democrats to work with us to find a solution that will temporarily stop evictions.  We do not want people who have lost their jobs due to the virus to be evicted from their homes or apartments.  We don't want that to happen.      Third, we need Democrats to join us to pass additional economic relief payments for American citizens, like the payments sent directly to 160 million Americans earlier this year, which was a tremendously successful program.  This money will help millions of hardworking families get by.      My administration is also asking Democrats to work with us to pass $105 billion to help schools safely reopen.  Children are not [sic] at the lowest risk.  If you look at what's going on: the younger, the better.  Amazing -- the immune system.  For children, the lower they are in age, the lower the risk, in terms of the age group itself.      I tell the story that, in New Jersey, with thousands and thousands of people dying -- sadly, dying -- the governor was telling me that only one -- Phil Murphy -- only one died under the age of 18.  That's incredible.  Where thousands of people that died in the state of New Jersey, one made an impact; one died under the age of 18.      Children are at the lowest risk of any age group from the virus.  Indefinite school closures will inflict lasting harm to our nation's children.  We must follow the science and get students safely back to school, while protecting children, teachers, staff, and family.  We have to remember that there's another side to this: Keeping them out of school and keeping work closed is causing death also.  Economic harm, but it’s causing death for different reasons.  But death -- probably more death.      If governors do not want to open the public schools, the money should go to parents so they can send their children to the school of their choice.  So we say if a school doesn't want to open or if a governor doesn't want to open -- maybe for a political reason and maybe not, but there is some of that going on -- the money should go to the parents so they can send their children to the school of their choice.      If schools stay closed, the money should follow the students so families are in control of decisions about their sons and daughters -- about their children.      But to pass a bill, Democrats must reject the extreme, partisan voices in their party.  They have tremendous voices.  They're looking at November 3rd.  And probably a day later, they'll say, “Let's open up the country.”      But the Democrats have to reject the extreme, partisan voices in their party so that we can get our country going even quicker than it's going right now.  We have a lot opening, and we have a lot of states that you thought were doing pretty poorly, from the standpoint of the virus, and they’re actually coming back very strong.      This pandemic has underscored the importance of economic policies that put American families and workers first.  I got elected on the fact that I put America first.      For many, many decades, in my opinion, we put America last.  If you look at the crazy, horrible, disgraceful trade deals that we've watched for many years destroy our country -- NAFTA, we terminated it.  We have USMCA now, which is a great deal, and our farmers are doing really well despite the pandemic.  But we put America first, America's families first, and America's workers first.      But that means bringing jobs and factories back to our shores, reducing unnecessary regulations, and creating new training opportunities for jobs and for the future.  We've cut regulations at a level that no President has ever cut regulations.  And we've cut taxes more than any President in the history of our country.      Americans always rise to the challenge, and we will emerge more resilient, more self-reliant, more independent, and more prosperous than ever before.      So I just want to thank you all.  And if you'd like, we'll take a few questions.      Steve, please.      Q    Are we going to launch an effort to try to delay the election?  Or was that just a trial balloon this morning?      THE PRESIDENT:  Well, what I want to explain to people, but it doesn't need much explanation -- I mean, you look at article after article: “New York's Mail-Vote Disaster,” “Tens of thousands of mail ballots have been tossed out in this year's primaries.  What will happen in November?”  It's a mess.  This is done by Washington Post.  Can you believe it?  The Washington Post, of all papers.  Fake news, but in this case, it's not fake, it's true.      This is done by the Wall Street Journal.  Here's another one, “Vote-by-mail experiment reveals potential problems within postal voting system ahead [in the] November election.”  And you see what's happening with so many different places.  They're doing even trial runs; they’re a disaster.      And I don't want to see an election -- you know, so many years, I've been watching elections.  And they say the “projected winner” or the “winner of the election” -- I don't want to see that take place in a week after November 3rd or a month or, frankly, with litigation and everything else that can happen, years.  Years.  Or you never even know who won the election.      You're sending out hundreds of millions of universal, mail-in ballots -- hundreds of millions.  Where are they going?  Who are they being sent to?  It's common sense; you don't have to know anything about politics.  And the Democrats know this.  The Democrats know this, Steve.      So, I want to see -- I want an election and a result much, much more than you.  I think we're doing very well.  We have the same pho- -- fake polls, but we have real polls.  We're doing very well.      I just left Texas.  And Biden came out against fracking.  Well, that means Texas is going to be one of the most unemployed states in our country.  That means Oklahoma, North Dakota, New Mexico are going to be a disaster.  Ohio, Pennsylvania -- disaster.  No fracking.      I want to have the result of the election.  I don't want to be waiting around for weeks and months.  And, literally, potentially -- if you really did it right -- years, because you'll never know.      These ballots are missing.  You saw Paterson, New Jersey.  You saw many other instances.  There's tremendous litigation on that right now.      And that doesn't include absentee.  Absentee is different.  Absentee -- you have to work and you have to send in for applications.  You have to go through a whole procedure.      Like, for instance, I'm an absentee voter because I can't be in Florida because I'm in Washington; I'm at the White House.  So, I'll be an absentee voter.  We have a lot of absentee voters, and it works.  So we're in favor of absentee, but it's much different than millions of people.      In California, they're going to send out tens of millions of voting forms.  Well, where are they going to go?  You read where postmen are in big trouble now.  You read where city councils are in big trouble now.  Voter fraud, all over the -- the ballots.      So, no, I want to get -- I want to be standing, hopefully, hand held high, big victory, because we're doing things with our country that I think nobody else could have done.  Our country is -- despite this pandemic, which is devastating the rest of the world, by the way -- devastating.      One of the articles that came out was, “The World's Covid Resurgence.”  This is the Wall Street Journal editorial -- the main editorial yesterday in the Wall Street Journal.  I don't always agree with them.  But they have “The World's Covid Resurgence.”  “Countries hailed as models [to] see…” -- and then they go, the virus returns at a level it's never -- they haven't even seen.      We've been giving praise to certain countries, and the virus has now come to them like -- like the first time.  But it's a very interesting -- and it talks about many countries where everybody was holding them up and saying what a great job they did.  Well, it's just one of those things.  Didn't work out so well.      So we want to have an election.  I'd love to see voter ID, but this is the opposite of voter ID.  The Democrats love it; the Republicans hate it.  We all agree that absentee voting is good.  Mail-in ballots will lead to the greatest fraud.      You know, we talk about “Russia, Russia, Russia” for two and a half years, and then they found nothing, and there was nothing.  But they talk “Russia, Russia, Russia.”  They talk China.  They talk all of these countries.  They say they get involved in our elections.  This is easy.  You can forge ballots.  This is much easier for foreign countries.      Go ahead, Steve.      Q    But -- but delaying the election is probably a nonstarter.  I mean, wouldn't you agree with that?      THE PRESIDENT:  I -- I just feel -- I don't want a delay.  I want to have the election.  But I also don't want to have to wait for three months and then find out that the ballots are all missing and the election doesn't mean anything.  That's what's going to happen, Steve.  That's common sense, and everyone knows it.  Smart people know it.  Stupid people may not know it.  And some people don't want to talk about it, but they know it.      And, no, we want to have an election where people actually go in and -- “What's your name?”  “My name is so-and-so.”  Boom, you sign the book, like I've been doing for years.      It's very, very unfair to our country.  If they do this, our country will be a laughingstock all over the world because everyone knows it doesn't work.      How many ballots is he sending in California, as an example?  Twenty-eight million or some massive number?  Other states are sending out millions and millions of ballots.  Well, they've done it.  They had experiments.  They had news organizations experimenting.      And, look, read the story in the Washington Post about mail-in voting; it's a disaster.  I'm very surprised to see that story, frankly, from them.  The story is a disaster.  So we're asking for a lot of trouble.      And, no, do I want to see a date change?  No.  But I don't want to see a crooked election.  This election will be the most rigged election in history.      John.      Q    So, Mr. President, you said that you don't want to see a delay in the election, but then it looks like the process of these mail-in ballots is going to continue to November the 3rd.      THE PRESIDENT:  Well, we have many court cases, John.  We have one that's been filed for a while now in western Pennsylvania, as an example, on mail-in ballots.      Q    So, I’m just wondering, is --      THE PRESIDENT:  And, by the way, John, we give tremendous examples -- numbers of examples of all the fraud and all of the things that have taken place with respect to mail-in ballots.      Q    I’m just wondering, is the net effect of what you tweeted this morning and what you're talking about now to cast doubt on the results of the November 3rd election?      THE PRESIDENT:  Well, it’s had an interesting impact.  I didn't know it was going to be the impact it had.  What people are now looking at is: Am I right?  But not me.  Are all these stories right about the fact that these elections will be fraudulent, they'll be fixed, they'll be rigged?  And everyone is looking at it, and a lot of people are saying, “You know. that probably will happen.”      Please, Jennifer.      Q    Mr. President, to break the logjam in Congress and to prevent that unemployment insurance from lapsing, what do you plan to put on the table tonight?  What are you --      THE PRESIDENT:  Well, it's a great question.  I can't tell you, though, because that wouldn't be very smart from a negotiating standpoint.  But we'll be putting certain things on the table.      Q    Do you have a plan to put on the table?      THE PRESIDENT:  We want to get money to people.  It wasn't their fault.  And we want to get money to people, and it has to be substantial.  It's not their fault what happened.      The fact is, people don't like saying it -- they know it's true: It's China's fault.  Okay?  It's not their fault.  It's not the worker who lost his job; it's China's fault.  And that's the way it is.      OAN, please.      Q    Thank you, Mr. President.  Yesterday, DHS came to an agreement with the governor of Oregon to remove federal officers, and Oregon state troopers took over.  Mayor Ted Wheeler was noticeably absent from that agreement.  Are you confident, sir, that the state of Oregon will be able to quell the protests in Portland?  And if the violence does continue, would you consider redeploying federal troops?      THE PRESIDENT:  So our people have done -- Homeland Security have done a fantastic job.  They went to Oregon a little more than a week ago.  The place was a mess.  The city, Portland, was just a disaster.  You see it, and a lot of people weren't reporting it right.  They tried to pretend it was a protest, as opposed to anarchists and agitators.  You understand what I'm saying.  It's a mess.      They went there a short while ago, and they saved a federal courthouse that costs hundreds of millions of dollars.  And they put a ring around the courthouse and they saved it.  But the group that's there is basically meant to save buildings, and they were very strong, very powerful.  And they didn't come out too often out of this cocoon that they built in order to save these very expensive, valuable, and psychologically important buildings -- right? -- like courthouses.      The governor and the mayor, we've been dealing with them, and we think they don't know what they're doing, because this should not have been going on for 60 days.  It's not our job unless, in case of emergency -- which I consider now to be an emergency -- it's not our job to go in and clean out the cities.  That's supposed to be done by local law enforcement.      Yesterday, the governor worked a deal where they'll do it; we’ll stand by, they'll do it -- and that's good.  That was very good, but she didn't report it that way.  What she reported was totally different.  She said, “I think Trump wants to take over the country.”  It's crazy.      So what happened is our people are staying there to see whether or not they can do it today and tomorrow.  And if they don't do it, we will send in the National Guard and we'll take care of it.  And we’re telling, right now, these protesters -- and many should be arrested because these are professional agitators, these are professional anarchists; these are people that hate our country.  We're telling them, right now, that we're coming in very soon -- the National Guard.  A lot of people.  A lot of very tough people.  And these are not people that just have to guard the courthouse and save it.  These are people that are allowed to go forward and do what they have to do.  And I think that makes the governor's job and the mayor's job a lot easier.      So they're working today and probably tomorrow to clean out this beehive of -- of terrorists.  And if they do it, I'm going to be very happy.  And then, slowly, we can start to leave the city.  If they don't do it, we'll be sending in the National Guard.      Please.      Q    Mr. Trump, given what's happening with Major League Baseball and now, today, the Rutgers football team is quarantined, how can you assure people that schools will be safely reopened?      THE PRESIDENT:  So, can you assure anybody of anything?  I do say, again: Young people are almost immune to this disease.  The younger, the better, I guess.  They're stronger.  They're stronger.  They have a stronger immune system.  It's an incredible thing.  Nobody has ever seen this before.  Various types of flu will hurt young people more than older people.      But young people are almost immune.  If you look at the percentage, it's a tiny percent of 1 percent.  It's a tiny percent of 1 percent.  So we have to have our schools open.  We have to protect our teachers.  We have to protect our elderly.  But we do have to have our schools open.      Yeah, please.  Go ahead.      Q    Mr. President, a week ago, you said: “We are in the process of developing a strategy that's going to be very, [very] powerful,” involving the coronavirus.  Where is that strategy?      THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I think you're seeing it, and I think you will see it.  And one of the things that we've done that we're getting -- and it hasn't been utilized fully yet -- but we're all set to march when it comes to the vaccine.      We have great therapeutics that are testing very well, and we have great vaccines from incredible companies -- Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer and Merck --      Q    But (inaudible) actually slowing the spread of the virus?      THE PRESIDENT:  -- and all of these great companies, and they're doing very well.      And the delivery system is all set, logistically.  We have a general that -- that's all he does, is deliver things, whether it's soldiers or other items.  And I think you're going to see something that's going to be spectacular.      The FDA has approved things at a rate that's a tiny fraction of what it would cost -- what it would take during a -- another administration, let's say.      We are way ahead on vaccines, way ahead on therapeutics.  And when we have it, we're all set up with our platforms to deliver them very, very quickly.  The vaccines are doing well, the therapeutics are doing well, and we're all set to deliver them as soon as we have them, and that's going to be very soon.        Thank you very much.  Thank you.                         END                6:12 P.M. EDT