-The president appointed Mike Pence to take charge
of the response to the coronavirus
and held a press conference to try to reassure Americans
that ended up reassuring absolutely nobody.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Nearly 3,000 people worldwide have died so far
from the coronavirus, and now the CDC has confirmed
the first case here in the U.S. of unknown origin.
The stock market has plummeted this week on fears of potential
global pandemic and officials here are warning
that a wider spread in the U.S. is inevitable,
or as the president put it during a press conference
in India on Tuesday --
-You may ask about the coronavirus, which is, you know,
very well under control in our country.
We have very few people with it and the people that have it
are -- in all cases I have not heard anything other.
Maybe there's something new 'cause for two days,
I haven't been seeing too much of that news of --
very much news.
-Man, that -- that trip to India really screwed you up.
[ Laughter ] "You know, the problem is
I'm still on India time, which is ten hours ahead.
So a lot of this stuff that's happening in the States
hasn't happened for me yet because,
you know, because I'm in the future."
[ Laughter ]
Like, three weeks ago you were literally
going around D.C. holding up newspapers to brag
about your impeachment acquittal
like an extra from "Newsies."
Did you not think to at least try reading one of them?
"Look, we did it, coronavirus?"
Now, it turns out Trump's statement
was only partially true. It turns out
he was watching the news,
but only because he was freaked out about the effect
the virus was having on the stock market,
and thus his political fortunes.
-Our reporting indicates that while he was in India,
he was watching the stock market reaction very closely.
He was very nervous and upset
to see what was happening with the stock market.
He seemed to be more aware of what was happening
with the stock market than was actually happening
with developments with the virus.
-Of course, he was. That's the only thing
Trump cares about, the stock market.
For one thing, it's very easy to understand.
There's no reading involved.
All you have to do is look at the little arrow
on the bottom corner of your TV,
and see whether it's red or green.
In fact, whoever controls that thing could possibly
drive Trump insane by flipping it back and forth really fast.
"Oh, that's good.
Oh, no, that's bad.
Good. Bad.
Good! Bad.
Oh, no. Oh, somebody make it stop."
[ Laughter ] There are only two reasons
Trump only cares about the stock market,
one, it mostly benefits the wealthy elite that he caters to,
and two, he thinks it's crucial to his re-election chances.
"Politico" reported that the White House is afraid
the coronavirus could shape Trump's 2020 fortunes.
That's why Trump has been spreading misinformation
about the situation and seemingly
trying to just will the problem away.
For example, Trump keeps comparing
coronavirus to the flu.
Now, coronavirus has a fatality ratio about 20 times higher
than the flu and yet, when an actual medical doctor,
CNN's Sanjay Gupta asked Trump about that difference
at his press conference yesterday,
Trump insisted that Gupta was wrong.
-You talked about the flu in comparison to the coronavirus.
Flu has a fatality ratio of about .1%.
-Correct.
-This has a fatality ratio
somewhere between 2% and 3%.
-Well, we think. We think.
We don't know exactly numbers. -The numbers so far --
-And the flu is higher than that.
The flu is much higher than that.
[ Laughter ] -He's -- He's a doctor.
Why do you think you know more than he does?
Do you do this during your actual doctors' appointments?
"Mr. President, it looks like you have an undigested hamburger
lodged in your stomach."
"No, you're wrong, that's just my second heart."
[ Laughter ] Trump probably thinks
he knows more about actual doctors because this guy
was his actual doctor.
Do you remember him?
The guy who looks less like a doctor
and more like he's hiding in the witness protection program.
[ Laughter ] The guy whose fallback job
is roadie for Hootie and the Blowfish.
[ Laughter ] Trump probably did know more
than this guy. "Bad news, man,
looks like you got your feet where your brain should be."
[ Laughter ] "No, I think you just
have it upside down." "Oh, hey!
I guess you're right, man. All right.
Want some medicine?" [ Laughter ]
Now, look, it's important to be cautious and not to panic,
but it's also important not to ignore
the advice of health professionals.
Everyone should remain calm, hope for the best,
but follow the advice of experts and be prepared.
For example, public health officials have been warning
this week that it's not a matter of if,
but when the virus spreads here.
A top CDC official, the director of the National Center
for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases said this week
it was inevitable and that disruption
to everyday life may be severe.
So you can either believe that expert,
a doctor and scientist who's received numerous awards
and worked in public health for decades,
or you can believe this expert.
-The virus -- they're working hard.
Looks like by April, you know, in theory,
when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.
I hope that's true.
[ Laughter ] -What?
[ Laughter ] What are you talking about?
It will go away when it gets warmer?
We're talking about a possible pandemic, not winter skin.
[ Laughter ] Also, no one ever says,
"In theory" followed by the word, "miraculously."
That just proves how bad your theory is.
"In theory, she'll catch me having an affair
and it will miraculously make our marriage stronger."
But this isn't just a story about Trump's incompetence,
it's also a story about Trump's priorities
because while he's been doling out trillions in tax cuts
to corporations and the wealthy, he's also been proposing
massive cuts to health agency spending,
and when he was asked about that yesterday,
he just shrugged it off and said he could rehire doctors
whenever he wants.
-Trump consistently called for enormous cuts
to the CDC and the N.I.H. and the W.H.O.
You talked a lot today about how these professionals
are excellent, highly critical and necessary.
Does this experience at all give you pause about those --
-No, because we can get money and we can increase staff.
We know all the people. We know all the good people.
If we have a need, we can get them very quickly.
When we need them, we can get them back very quickly.
-No, you can't. You can't just fire
a bunch of doctors and then hire them back immediately
when there's an emergency.
You can't even get ahold of a doctor after 2:45 on a Friday.
[ Laughter ] This situation
should give Trump pause about his health cuts
but, of course, it won't because nothing ever gives him pause.
He literally doesn't even pause between words,
that's why he's constantly sucking in air.
[ Breaths ]
[ Laughter ] By the way, if you see someone
sniffing like that on the subway this week,
move to the other end of the car.
In fact, Trump's team is so deeply unprepared
that even the Republican Senators are getting frustrated
with their lack of basic knowledge about the virus
they're dealing with. Louisiana Senator John Kennedy
grilled the acting Secretary of Homeland Security this week
for some basic facts about the spread of the disease,
like how many cases the department is expecting,
and it only went downhill from there.
-Is someone modeling that?
Do you have any way of guessing?
-Again, H.H.S., through their medical professionals are --
-Yes, but you're head of
Homeland Security. -Yes, sir.
-And your job is to keep us safe.
-Yes, sir. -Do you know today how many
the experts are predicting --
-We only know that, again,
we anticipate those numbers to grow in the U.S.
-But, you can't tell us how many your models are anticipating?
-No, Senator.
Again, I would defer you
to the Health and Human Services for that.
-Okay. -CDC.
-Don't you think you ought to check on that?
You're the secretary.
I think you ought to know that answer.
-I understand that.
-How is the coronavirus transmitted?
-Through a variety of ways, obviously, human-to-human.
-How is it transmitted?
-A variety of different ways, Senator.
-Tell me what they are, please.
-Again, human-to-human.
-Oh, is that how it's transmitted,
from human to human?
"Sir, we believe coronavirus is either transmitted
from human to human or by drinking
a delicious Mexican beer.
But we do think you can stop it by putting a lime in the neck."
Seriously, how can you be the Secretary of Homeland Security
and not know how many cases you're expecting
or how the disease is transmitted?
The better question would be, what do you know?
"We don't have a vaccine yet, but what we can do is air drop
calendars into every city in America so they can count
the days until April when the disease will miraculously
go away, in theory.
In theory." [ Laughter ]
[ Applause ] So, obviously, obviously,
none of this is reassuring.
Now, when he was whipping up a panic about Ebola in 2014,
Trump criticized then President Obama's choice for a Czar,
to lead the response, tweeting, "Obama just appointed
an Ebola Czar with zero experience
in the medical area and zero experience
in infectious disease control. A total joke."
So, to calm fears over the spread of coronavirus yesterday,
Trump announced that he was taking his own advice
and appointing a Czar with in-depth medical experience.
-I'm going to be announcing, exactly right now,
that I'm going to be putting our vice president,
Mike Pence, in charge.
-Mike Pence? [ Laughter ]
What medical experience does Mike Pence have?
At best, he looks like a CPR doll that won't let you do
mouth to mouth on it. [ Laughter ]
[ Applause ] Although --
Although I guess it makes sense he's in charge of diseases now
because he always has an expression that looks
like number six on the pain chart.
Now, Trump explained his appointment
by claiming Pence had handled health care in Indiana well,
but in reality, he infamously oversaw a totally preventable
HIV outbreak in his home state.
Trump should have picked someone with relevant experience
and a proven track record, but instead,
he picked a political "yes man"
because he doesn't have anyone else left in his White House.
I mean, Ben Carson is an actual doctor,
but even he is less well known for his medical career
at this point than he is for realizing mid-interview
that he left his luggage in the car.
-We just saw Mr. Trump here. I asked him how did it go
and he said great, and he said he learned a lot of things.
What do you think he took away from today?
-Oh, my luggage. [ Laughter ]
Hold on. -Okay.
-"We have good news to report on the coronavirus.
Oh, no.
Oh, I left the vaccine in the car."
[ Laughter ] It's exactly the kind of
situation when you want someone competent in charge
of the government who fills the civil service
with apolitical experts and listens to them.
Instead, we have a mentally incompetent game show host
who's incapable of thinking about
anything other than his own self-interests.
In the meantime, we have to trust and listen
to the hardworking apolitical public health officials
and as for the Trump administration,
just hope that it --
-Miraculously goes away.
I hope that's true. [ Laughter ]
-This has been "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]