>> WE WANT THIS THING TO END. WE DON’T WANT A LOT OF PEOPLE
GETTING INFECTED.
GETTING INFECTED. WE WANT IT TO END, END AS
QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
SO FAR, I THINK WE’VE DONE A
FANTASTIC JOB.
FANTASTIC JOB. I REALLY THINK THAT THE PEOPLE
BEHIND ME HAVE NOT BEEN GIVEN
THE CREDIT THAT THEY DESERVE.
ERIC: THAT’S PRESIDENT TRUMP IN
THE LAST HOUR, TALKING ABOUT HIS
ADMINISTRATION’S WORK TO FIGHT
THE CORONAVIRUS, HAD A NEWS
CONFERENCE IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
THIS COMES AFTER THE
ADMINISTRATION AND LAWMAKERS
STRUCK A LATE NIGHT DEAL LAST
NIGHT, NEW MEASURES TO CURB THE
PANDEMIC, INCLUDING PAID TESTING
AND PAID LEAVE PROGRAMS, THE
WHITE HOUSE ADDING RESTRICTIONS
WITHIN ITS OWN WALLS, SAYING
TEMPERATURE CHECKS WILL BE DONE
FOR THOSE IN CONTACT WITH THE
PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT.
PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYING HE HAS
TESTED FOR THE CORONAVIRUS THE C
DOESN’T HAVE THE RESULTS.
JEFF, WERE YOU OVER THERE THIS
AFTERNOON?
AFTERNOON? DID YOU GET TESTED?
WHAT HAVE YOU HEARD FROM YOUR
COLLEAGUES?
COLLEAGUES? >> REPORTER: I WAS NOT THERE
THIS AFTERNOON.
THIS AFTERNOON. I WAS THERE YESTERDAY FOR THE
PRESS CONFERENCE IN THE ROSE
GARDEN.
GARDEN. TODAY I WAS IN TOUCH WITH MY
COLLEAGUE WHO WAS THERE AND THEY
DID TEMPERATURE CHECKS FOR ALL
THE REPORTERS WHO WERE IN THE
BRIEFING ROOM WITH A THERMOMETER
ALONG THE FOREHEAD AND MADE
CLEAR THAT WAS FOR ANYBODY WHO
WAS GOING TO BE IN CLOSE CONTACT
WITH VICE PRESIDENT PENCE AND
WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP.
THAT IS A NEW MEASURE AND I
THINK IT SIGNALS A NEW
SERIOUSNESS WITH WHICH THIS
WHITE HOUSE IS TAKING THE
POTENTIAL FOR THIS VIRUS TO
SPREAD, NOT ONLY AMONG THE
PUBLIC, BUT THERE AT THE WHITE
HOUSE AND AMONG THE PEOPLE WITH
WHOM THE PRESIDENT AND THEIR
STAFF ARE INTERACTING.
ERIC: TALK ABOUT THE
SERIOUSNESS IN TERMS OF POLICY
AND THE BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION
PASSED LAST NIGHT, BILLIONS OF
DOLLARS TO TRY TO FIGHT THE
PANDEMIC AND TO REASSURE
AMERICANS.
AMERICANS. >> YOU HEARD TREASURY SECRETARY
STEVEN MNUCHIN AT THE WHITE
HOUSE BRIEFING THIS AFTERNOON,
SAYING THIS IS THE FIRST STEP.
SO IT ALSO SHOW AS YOU RIGHTLY
SAY A SIGN OF THE SERIOUSNESS OF
WHICH THEY ARE TAKING IT IN
TERMS OF POLICY, BOTH DEMOCRATS
AND REPUBLICANS, OF COURSE WITH
THE RESULTS OF NEGOTIATIONS
BETWEEN HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY
PELOSI AND STEVEN MNUCHIN, I
GUESS SOUNDS LIKE MOST OF THE
DAY YESTERDAY AND THE LAST
SEVERAL DAYS.
SEVERAL DAYS. AND MORE TO COME.
SO THEY CLEARLY ARE COGNIZANT
NOW, SOME CRITICS MAY SAY IT
TOOK A LITTLE TOO LONG, BOTH THE
ECONOMIC AND HEALTH IMPACTS OF
THE VIRUS AND ARE TAKING STEPS
NOW AT A TIME WHEN HOPEFULLY
THEY CAN REDUCE THAT CURVE, THAT
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI HAS BEEN
TALKING ABOUT IN TERMS OF THE
VIRUS AND THE IMPACT IT COULD
HAVE.
HAVE. ERIC: IF THEY DON’T REDUCE THE
CURVE, BEFORE THIS HAPPENED THE
CDC HAD ALARMING NUMBERS,
21 MILLION OPTIZED, WE HAVE
925,000 BEDS, UP TO 214 MILLION
OF US, 70% OF AMERICANS POSSIBLY
COULD BE INFECTED, 200,000 TO
1.7 MILLION DEATHS.
THIS IS ALL NOW AIMED AT TRYING
TO FLATTEN THAT CURVE AND WE
HAVING ELSE THAT’S BEING
FLATTENED AND THAT’S SOME OF THE
DIDIVISIVENESS IN WASHINGTON.
>> I WANT TO JOIN PRESIDENT
TRUMP IN THANKING SPEAKER
PELOSI, LEADER MCCARTHY, THE
REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS IN THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WHO AS
THE PRESIDENT SAID EARLIER TODAY
PULLED TOGETHER, PULLED TOGETHER
TO PASS LEGISLATION THAT’S
MEETING THIS MOMENT IN THE
BIPARTISAN HEALTH FIRST SPIRIT
THAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WOULD
EXPECT.
EXPECT. ERIC: DO YOU THINK SOMETHING --
THIS HAS CAUSED SOMETHING TO
CHANGE IN WASHINGTON?
>> WELL, THAT’S A GREAT
QUESTION.
QUESTION. I THINK TIME WILL TELL.
IT CERTAINLY HASN’T NECESSARILY
BEEN THAT WAY THE LAST FEW
WEEKS.
WEEKS. THE PRESIDENT, WHEN CALLING FOR
BIPARTISANSHIP HAS BEEN CRITICAL
OF VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN WHO MAY
END UP BEING HIS COMPETITOR IN
THE GENERAL ELECTION AND FORMER
PRESIDENT OBAMA AND WE’LL SEE IF
HIS RHETORIC CHANGES.
CERTAINLY HE TALKED ABOUT HABITS
CHANGING.
CHANGING. HE GOT A LITTLE BIT OF CRITICISM
YESTERDAY AT THAT ROSE GARDEN
PRESS CONFERENCE FOR SHAKING
HANDS WITH SOME OF THE CEOS WHO
WERE THERE AND HE WAS ASKED
ABOUT THAT THIS AFTERNOON AND HE
BASICALLY JUST SAID, LOOK, IT’S
A HABIT.
A HABIT. BUT HE A AGREED, WHEN HE WAS
ASKED ABOUT IT, SAID IT’S
PROBABLY NOT A GOOD IDEA TO
SHAKE HANDS.
SHAKE HANDS. SO WHETHER THOSE HABITS APPLY
JUST TO THAT KIND OF
INTERPERSONAL REACTION BUT ALSO
TO TWEETING AND ATTITUDES, NOT
JUST FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, FROM
DEMOCRAT AS WELL, IS SOMETHING
WE’LL HAVE TO WATCH IN THE
COMING DAYS AND WEEKS.
ERIC: NO MATTER WHAT COMES OUT
OF THE MOUTHS, WE SHOULD START
OUT DOING ELBOW BUMPS OR MAYBE
NOT EVEN FIST BUMPS.
NO FIST BUMPS, ARTHEL SAYS NO
FIST BUMPS.
FIST BUMPS. >> ELBOW BUMPS OR JUST A NOD
SEEMS TO BE THE SAFEST WAY GOING
FORWARD.
FORWARD. ERIC: I WILL NOD TO YOU, JEFF.
>> REPORTER: AND TO YOU, SIR.
ERIC: EVEN BY SATELLITE AND A