QUO THE LAST 24 HOURS. NO NEW CASES REPORTED AND NO ONE
ELSE REPORTED AS RECOVERED.
OUR NEXT DEFENDANT BRIEFED THE
SENATE TODAY AND WILL BE
BRIEFING THE HOUSE TOMORROW ON
THE SPREAD OF THE CORONAVIRUS.
WE ARE HAPPY TO HAVE WITH US,
ALEX AZAR, THE SECRETARY OF
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.
LET’S START WITH THE SHOULD BE
CHANGE?
CHANGE? TONE ON THE PART OF ALL OF THE
BRIEFING OFFICIALS IN YOUR
ORGANIZATION, THE CDC FROM IT’S
NOW NOT A QUESTION OF WHETHER
WE’LL HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS
PANDEMIC BUT RATHER WHEN.
>> OUR MESSAGING HAS BEEN
CONSISTENT.
CONSISTENT. FROM DAY ONE WE SAID WE’LL HAVE
ADDITIONAL CASES IN THE UNITED
STATES.
STATES. BUT THANKS TO PRESIDENT TRUMP’S
HISTORICALLY AGGRESSIVE
HISTORICALLY AGGRESSIVE CONTAINMENT EFFORT WE HAVE
CONTAINED THE SPREAD OF THE
VIRUS AT THIS POINT.
WE HAVE 14 CASE OF U.S.4
U.S.-IDENTIFIED CASES.
U.S.-IDENTIFIED CASES. WE HAVE HAD 14 FOR TWO WEEKS
WITH NO CHANGE.
WE HAVE THE PRESIDENT’S
AGGRESSIVE BORDER PATROL ACTION.
THE PUBLIC HEALTH
INFRASTRUCTURE, OUR HOSPITALS,
DOCTORS, EVERYBODY IS ROWING IN
THE SAME DIRECTION TO KEEP THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE SAFE.
LOU: THERE IS NO QUESTION, THE
PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM AND
AGENCIES HAVE DONE A TERRIFIC
JOB AND WE WOULD EXPECT THE SAME
OF THE BROAD HEALTHCARE
COMMUNITY IN THIS COUNTRY.
BUT THE TONE DID I THINK YOU
WOULD AGREE CHANGE.
IT ATTACHED GREAT URGENCY AND
GREATER CERTAINTY ABOUT THE
PROSPECT OF HAVING TO DEAL WITH
A PANDEMIC.
A PANDEMIC. >> THERE IS A PROGRESSION.
IF WE SEE ADDITIONAL CASES AND
ASK COMMUNITY-BASED
ASK COMMUNITY-BASED TRANSMISSION.
TRANSMISSION. YOU MIGHT HAVE MENTIONED THAT.
COMMUNITY-BASED TRANSMISSION OF
SOME VARIETY.
SOME VARIETY. WE’LL WORK AGGRESSIVELY TO
MITIGATE THE IMPACT OF THAT.
THAT’S WHAT CDC IS TALKING
ABOUT.
ABOUT. LOU: I WAS NOT CRITICIZING YOU.
I WAS COMPLIMENTING YOU.
TREATING AMERICANS AS ADULTS IS
WHAT I EXPECT FROM OUR
GOVERNMENT.
GOVERNMENT. AND I THINK IT’S WISE FOR OUR
GOVERNMENT TO PREPARE FOR THE
WORST, HOPING FOR THE BEST.
I THINK YOU AND ALL OF YOUR
FOLKS HAVE ALL OF THE TALENT AND
JUDGE TO THE DO JUST THAT.
>> I COULDN’T SAY IT BETTER.
WE WANT TO TREAT EVERYBODY LIKE
ADULTS.
ADULTS. THE PRESIDENT INSISTED ON
RADICAL TRANSPARENCY.
RADICAL TRANSPARENCY. THAT’S WHAT THE CDC AND MIH WERE
DOING TODAY.
DOING TODAY. GIVEN WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE
WORLD WE’LL PROBABLY SEE MORE
CASES HERE AND PROBABLY SEE
COMMUNITY SPREAD OF THE DISEASE.
BUT WE HAVE THE TOOLS TO DEAL
WITH THAT.
WITH THAT. WE HAVE BEEN PREPARING FOR
DECADES FOR SPREAD OF VIRUS LIKE
THIS.
THIS. SO WE KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING.
THIS IS WHAT WE DO.
I THINK PART OF THE MESSAGE TO
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE IS WE NEED
TO TAKE A BIT OF A DEEP BREATH.
THE GOVERNMENT IS WORK ON THIS.
WE ARE WORK WITH CONGRESS TO
INSURE WE HAVE THE RIGHT
RESOURCING, AND THE PRESIDENT IS
PROVIDING THE AGGRESSIVE
LEADERSHIP ON THIS.
LOU: LET ME GO THROUGH A NUMBER
OF ISSUES I THINK WILL BE
HELPFUL FOR OUR AUDIENCE.
HAS THERE BEEN ANY SORT OF
BREAKTHROUGH WITH CHINA GETTING
OUR SCIENCE, OUR MEDICAL
RESEARCH DOCTORS IN TO CHINA?
IS THERE ANY SIGN OF GREATER
TRANSPARENCY AND WILLINGNESS TO
WORK AS A RESPONSIBLE MEMBER OF
THE WORLD COMMUNITY?
>> THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
TEAM WENT TO CHINA.
THEY RETURNED ONE FROM THE
TONIGHT.LINE H. AND ONE FROM
THE C.D.C. WERE PART OF THAT
DEAL.
DEAL. THEY FELT THEY GOT TRANSPARENT
COOPERATION AND ACCESS TO DATA.
THE REPORTING ON THAT WILL BE
COMING UP FROM THE WORLD HEALTH
ORGANIZATION.
ORGANIZATION. LOU: MR. SECRETARY, I EXPECT OUR
GOVERNMENT TO REPORT TO US.
I DON’T CARE ABOUT THE W.H.O.
AND ITS UNITED NATIONS POLITICS
OR SENSIBILITIES.
OR SENSIBILITIES. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT OUR
GOVERNMENT KNOWS, AND I WOULD
REALLY APPRECIATE IT IF YOU
WOULD ACKNOWLEDGE THAT’S
IMPORTANT FOR YOUR DEPARTMENT
AND THIS GOVERNMENT.
>> ABSOLUTELY IT IS.
IT’S JUST THE PROTOCOL WHEN THE
W.H.O. SENDS A TEAM.
THAT TEAM PREPARES A REPORT.
THERE IS A REPORT FROM THE
W.H.O. THAT WILL COME OUT VERY
SOON THAT THEY ARE REVIEWING.
WE’LL GET THE INFORMATION
DIRECTLY.
DIRECTLY. AND WHEN WE GET IT WE’LL
TRANSMIT IT TO THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE BEING TRANSPARENT WITH
WHAT WE KNOW.
LOU: THERE ARE SOME HOLES WE ARE
CONTENDING WITH.
CONTENDING WITH. WE ARE HAVING SOME REAL ISSUES
IN TERMS OF DEALING WITH THE
FLOW OF TRAVELERS ACROSS OUR
BORDERS.
BORDERS. I’M TALKING ABOUT LEGAL
IMMIGRANTS AS WELL AS TRAVELERS
LYING TO OUR IMMIGRATION
AUTHORITIES ABOUT WHERE THEY
HAVE BEEN AND THAT CREATES A
REAL MARGIN FOR A TERRIBLE
PROSPECT FOR THE CORONAVIRUS,
DOESN’T IT?
DOESN’T IT? >> WE HAVE ALWAYS SAID WE CAN’T
HERMETICALLY SEAL THE BORDER.
THE WHOLE CONCEPT IS CAN WE SLOW
THE SPREAD OF THE DISEASE DOWN,
FOCUS OUR RESOURCES.
NOT THAT SOME PEOPLE AREN’T
GOING TO SNEAK INTO THE COUNTRY.
BUT BY THESE UNPRECEDENTED
MEASURES IN TERMS OF BORDER
CONTROL BY THE PRESIDENT.
SLOW IT DOWN, BUY OURSELVES TIME
AS WE CONTINUE TO PREPARE AND
GET OURSELVES READY.
LOU: IS THERE ANY CONTINGENCY
PLAN ON WHICH YOU WOULD SUSPEND
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL?
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL? >> WE’LL ALWAYS BE LOOKING AT
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS.
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS. WE ARE ASSESSING THEM EVERY DAY.
AS WE DID WITH CHINA.
IF THERE NEEDS TO BE ANY
APPROPRIATE RESTRICTIONS ON
PEOPLE COMING INTO THE UNITED
STATES --
STATES -- LOU: THAT IS ONE OF YOUR
CONTINGENCY PLANS TO SHUT DOWN
TRAVEL IF NECESSARY.
>> WE’LL ALWAYS LOOK AT TRAVEL
FROM HOTPOTS IF WE THINK IT WILL
BE EFFECTIVE.
BE EFFECTIVE. WE’LL TAKE WHATEVER STEP
NECESSARY TO PROTECT THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE.
AMERICAN PEOPLE. LOU: DO YOU THINK YOU WILL GET
THE $2.5 MILLION YOU HAVE ASKED
FOR?
FOR? >> I FEEL CONFIDENT WE’LL GET
THE $2.5 BILLION.
IF WE NEED MORE, WE’LL ASK FOR
MORE AND WORK WITH CONGRESS ON