>> have any u.s. diplomats or u.s. officials contracted the virus they -- as they have tried to rescue u.s. citizens abroad? >> not that i am aware of. i remember when we sent our team to get our officials and 800 american citizens living in wuhan, i remember when we sent one of our first repatriation flights. we set -- sent trained professionals, but they were going into a difficult place. they all got back with no one having contracted the virus. i am not aware of any officials who have had the virus attacked

them while performing their functions. we have a number of state department officials who have covid-19 now. we have had three fatalities of local employees, not u.s. direct hires, but local people working for embassies around the world. three fatalities so far. calls onhave been some the world health organization for a leadership change. i was wondering what your thoughts are on that. look, thiswant to -- is not the time to be doing that kind of change. there will be a lot of time to look back and see how the world health organization performed. in the meantime, our task is to protect the american taxpayers to make sure our resources don't go to places that are not going to deliver, and president trump and i are determined to deliver.

>> you said china has a responsibility to get correct figures. how would you broadly characterize cooperation with china right now? >> lots of places we have been cooperating. they are providing assistance where we need it. there are places on the ground where we do have access to the data we need and we are appreciative of that. we are prepared to cooperate with them. cooperation means sharing data, being transparent, allowing information to flow freely. that is our expectation of every country. we collectively have to work our way through this and to do that you have to have really good data. >> thank you, mr. president. thank you, mr. vice president. pres. trump: thank you very much. in just a few days we have delivered nearly 11 million and

95 masks to hotspots around the country, including 6.6 million to new york and new jersey, 1.8 million to chicago, 1.7 million to detroit, 807,000 to new orleans. i spoke with the governor of louisiana and they are doing pretty well, much better than they thought. they will be using fewer beds. we are about set to complete another hospital and there is the possibility they won't need it. morete we have shipped out than 8000 ventilators and we have almost 10,000 ready to go should we need them and an additional 2200 newly manufactured ventilators come online on monday. we are sending those to various locations just in case they need them. my administration is working with philips to double production of ventilators by may

and quadruple production by later this year. high quality ventilators. we are eliminating bureaucratic barriers to pave the way for philips' investments in american manufacturing sites and sales. this will help ensure our country can produce enough ventilators in the future that we can do them by ourselves. we are going to have a big stockpile when we are finished and we expect to be sending quite a few to other countries to help them after we are finished. a couple of countries are really in dire need and it looks like our projections were right on ventilators. some states that thought they would need thousands more than they thought are already taken care of, which we are very happy about. may wetion, beginning in will be receiving almost 300 million new face masks.

we are going to have masks, about 300 million. they will be starting to be delivered in may and june, so we are ordering a big stockpile and thinking about an extra 200 million should we need them, or for the stockpile. so we will be in the position to have something incredible. that will be a total of 500 million masks. today 75 million new protective landed in dallas, texas as a result of a partnership between the federal government and dupont. we have 750,000 new protective gowns, very high quality. as industry steps up to help, so our doctors and scientists. 10 drugs are in clinical trials is takinganization action to make new treatments

and therapies available without delay. the doctors, the lab technicians, the companies -- i spoke to them yesterday, spoke to them again today that i hope in the near future are going to be very special, very important. our national stockpile is now equipped with nearly 30 million hydroxychloroquine pills. we are distributing them by the millions. you read about the state representative who i very much appreciate, her going public, but she was very much helped by this pill. she saw what i was saying on television. she thought she was in very bad shape. you know her story. she is a highly respected state and i thinkhigan she did a great service, what she has done.

she is in terrific shape, she looks fantastic, and she was very generous with her statements. icin andion, the zithrom , they say wezinc should add zinc. i want to throw that out because that is where they seem to be having the best result. you add the zinv and zithromicin. we have had a lot of good stories. doses, almost 30 million so we have got a lot. i want to thank prime minister modi of india for allowing us to have what we requested before the problem arose, and he was terrific. later today the cdc will release further guidance to help ensure

critical infrastructure workers can perform their job safely after potential exposure to the virus, so they are working on that. the question was asked earlier about the world health organization, and as you know, they made a statement on january 14 that there was no human to human transmission. well, there was. they probably made that statement in the second or third week of december, but they made it powerfully on january 14. they criticized me strongly when i said we are going to shut down flights coming in from china, especially certain parts, but china generally. we were criticized very badly. many years, and for hundreds of millions of dollars has been paid to the world health organization. hundreds of millions of dollars a year. and year was $452 million

china paid $42 million. before that it was $500 million and china paid less than $40 million. before that it was similar 300,rs, in the 400s, sometimes even 500 of millions of dollars. china would do proportionally a small fraction of that number. i think they have to get their priorities right and their priorities are everybody has to be treated properly, every country. way, so weseem that are going to do study, investigation, and make a determination as to what we are doing. in the meantime, we are holding back. , $452 milliontes compared to $40 million to the

world health organization. that's not good. not fair at all. other countries, as you know, gave substantially less than the united states. , who, world health got it wrong, got it very wrong. in many ways they were wrong. they also minimized the threat very strongly. not good. i want to take this opportunity to express the thanks of an extremely grateful nation to the americans who go to work every day, especially in these critical industries in the midst of the pandemic to care for and protect and feed american people, including medical personnel, law enforcement, first responders, sanitation workers. somebody mentioned today, would you call out class years -- callout cashiers and clerks at

grocery stores who are in danger during the pandemic? during the epidemic. they are in danger, really in great danger. they have been incredible and i want to call them out, the cashiers and clerks. we grew up with cashiers and clerks and grocery stores and they have been through american heroes. they are working hard and working in conditions that are not ideal, but soon they will be ideal again, as we mourn the terrible loss-of-life from this great pandemic. we are seeing signs that our aggressive strategy to slow the spread is working, number of new cases is stabilizing, the number of new beds necessary in so many locations. i was watching new york, louisiana. the numbers are changing rapidly

and soon we will be over the top and headed in the right direction. i feel strongly about that. terrible days ahead, but we will have some wonderful days ahead. we are going to get this terrible thing behind us. some people will never be able to forget if they have a loved one, a great friend or a friend, but we are going to get it behind us this is a tribute to the discipline and devotion of the american people, what we have accomplished. if every american continues to strictly adhere to social distancing guidelines, we can defeat the invisible enemy and save countless of lives and do it much more quickly. we are hopefully heading toward a final stretch, a light at the end of the tunnel. as we continue to wage all-out medical war to defeat the virus, we are also fighting an economic war to make sure we can return

to full financial strength. we have to get the country back, have to get going. yesterday i asked congress to provide an additional $250 billion to expand the successful paycheck protection program. you have seen what has gone on, it is incredible, which is allowing small businesses to keep employees on the payroll and get ready for a second opening to protect millions of american jobs. i am asking congress to pass additional funding for this program this week as soon as possible and i think we have a pretty good understanding with the democrats. hopefully it is going to be bipartisan. we don't have time for the partisan games, the obstruction, or totally unrelated agendas. we want to do this for the small businesses and workers. we can do a phase four later. this will be an expansion of what we have already done because it is so successful.

the $350 billion will be expanded by hopefully $250 billion. tens of thousands of loans to small businesses, it is a great thing to see. it has turned out more successful than anybody would have thought. democrats and republicans are coming together to get that job done, a very important job. in days ahead, we will restore america's health and economic might, but also dimensions of our national strength will be brought together. i think we have a chance to be stronger than ever before. we have learned a lot and we have tremendous stimulus now and are going for more. hopefully we will be doing an infrastructure bill so we can rebuild our roads and highways and bridges and tunnels. we are going to rebuild our country, not other countries where they don't appreciate it. as ever citizens persevere

through this challenge, we are renewing american unity and replenishing american will and witnessing new american valor every day. we see it every day, the daring and determination of our people during this crisis remind us that no matter how hard it gets, what obstacles we must overcome, americans will keep writing and will secure the glorious future that our citizens so richly deserve after going through this nightmare, this evil beast. andre getting very close hopefully it is on the others and it will end soon, and i think it will. i think the people of this country are fantastic area we will take a few questions and the vice president will take over. >> abc is reporting your intelligence community was

warning about the virus as early as november and produced a report about the outbreak in china. when did you first learn about the intelligence and could you have acted on it that? pres. trump: i learned about the gravity of it just prior to closing the country to china. when we closed up the flights coming from china and various other elements, and then we closed up to europe. i don't know exactly, but i would like to see the information. >> a lot of americans want to see businesses reopened. pres. trump: so do i, more than anybody. >> what has to happen for you to feel it is safe to reopen the country and what is your plan? pres. trump: we have to be on the downside of the slope. we could do it in phases. some areas are much less affected than others. it would be nice to be able to open with a big bang and open up

our country, or most of our country, and i think we are going to do that soon. i would say we are ahead of schedule. you hate to say it too loudly because all of a sudden things don't happen. i think we will be sooner rather than later. we will be sitting down with the professionals, many different people, and those meetings will take place very soon. >> you would not do that until health experts tell you it is safe? is there a system of monitoring and testing you are looking at? pres. trump: we are putting in testing systems, we have the best testing systems. i am not going to insult any country, but i am looking at countries that are showing less cases than us. we are testing more than anybody. you saw exponentially more than anybody by far. i think our testing will end up being a big strength and effect

other countries. other countries that the media talk about are now calling us, what are we doing and how are we doing it so quickly? our tests are very good now, proven very accurate. >> two questions, one on infrastructure. members of your administration and congress have pointed out the top eight federal employee is the head of the tennessee valley authority. he made $8 million last year. pres. trump: ridiculous, i agree. long before i got here. tennessee valley authority, right? has to be the highest-paid man in any government. makes approximately $8 million or $9 million. i don't know the gentle man, but he has a heckuva job. he has been there a long while, hasn't he? >> this one is new. pres. trump: that is separate.

we just had some new people going on the board. as you know, that is a was i public agency -- that is a quasi-public agency. whoever the head is, that person makes a lot of money. which is an amazing thing. when we want them to do something, that's not good. that has been a story for a long time. salary untilg the infrastructure is built? pres. trump: reducing it by a lot. that is the greatest job in the history of the government if you are into money. i have been waiting for somebody to as about that -- to ask me about that. >> one of the biggest ratings hits of the coronavirus has been a show on netflix called tiger gang. -- tiger king.

the man is serving a 22 year prison sentence and asking you for a pardon, saying he was unfairly convicted. your son jokingly said he was going to advocate for it. pres. trump: which son? must be don. is that what he said? i know nothing about it. 22 years for what? >> allegedly he hired someone to order an animal rights activist but he says he didn't do it. pres. trump: do you think he didn't do it? are you recommending a pardon? you are not allowed to do that, you would be criticized. would you recommend a pardon? i don't think you what. i will take a look. is that joe exotic? week your top experts were saying we should expect 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in this country.

you have been talking about how things are plateauing. are these numbers being revised downward? i know you don't want people to stop social distancing, but what can you tell us about the numbers? pres. trump: my impression is those were the numbers set as an expectation from quite a while ago. we are doing much better from those numbers. if either of you would like to talk about that, it is a fair question. many ofnk all of you, you have done the analysis. if you do the models of the models, you end up with that range. at the same time, we carefully looked at italy and spain and we are doing much better in many cases than several other countries and we are trying to understand that. we believe our health care delivery system is

extraordinary. many of you are watching the act andmodel and the ihme model they have consistently decreased the mortality from almost 90,000 down to 81000 and now down to 61,000. that is modeled on what america is doing. that's what's happening. i think what has been so remarkable to those of us who have been in the science field for so long is how important behavioral change is and how amazing americans are in adapting to and following through on these behavioral changes. that is what is changing the rate of new cases and what will change the mortality going forward because now we are into the time period of full mitigation that should be reflected within the coming weeks of decreasing mortality. we are impressed by the american

people. i think models are models. i have always worked on validating. i spent my life validating models around the world. that is why we do surveys and surveillance and we make sure what we think is right is right. i think this will change how people look at respiratory diseases because it will change what is possible when the globe and particularly the american people do this level of mitigation. as i talked about yesterday, we are still in awe of the american people's strength in this. pres. trump: i am going to ask bob to come up. they have done -- everybody has done a great job. those were original projections. we don't want to say anything about beating it yet, but i think we have a good chance to

beat it very substantially. >> i just want to what ambassador birx said. this is a consequence of the commitment of the american people. a lot of us have challenges changing behavior, whether it is exercising regularly or smoking. what has been remarkable to watch here is how the american public changed their behavior when it protects the vulnerable. that is what i am so proud to see. >> a follow-up on something from yesterday and it question -- a quick question. yesterday you said you had not seen peter navarro's memo on the coronavirus in january. were you ever briefed on those memos? pres. trump: i don't remember that. i have now seen the memo. peter sends a lot of memos. i did not see the memo. world health was saying that was

not correct. i didn't see the memo but i acted as quickly -- people were shocked i acted so quick again everybody thought i was wrong because i acted so quickly with respect to hosing the borders. not only with china, but with your eye closed the borders. i did not see the memo at the time, but i have seen it since. >> the head of the world health organization today warned against litter sizing -- against politicizing. politicization could create more body bags, a vivid image. what do you believe the consequences of the u.s. pulling out funding from the who? say bodymp: when you bags, i think he would have done better serving the people he is supposed to serve if they gave a correct analysis area i said

everything was china centric, everything was going to be fine, no human to human. he wanted me to keep the borders open. i closed the borders despite him and that was a hard decision to make. we made a decision against the world health organization. he is politicizing. billion, almost $500 billion last year, hundreds of billions in previous years. they got to do better than that. when you talk about politics -- i can't believe he is talking about politics when look at the relationship they have the china. china spends $42 million, we spent $450 million and everything seems to be china's way. that is not fair to us and the world. >> you have been watching a news conference with president trump

where he said he thinks the country is closer to getting back to the way it was. we will all win against the virus sooner than people think. he continued criticism of the w.h.o. let's bring in mike hanna from one -- from washington, d.c. with the w.h.o. is rumbling on. >> we heard the secretary of state backing away from direct criticism, saying now is not the time to do it. shortly afterwards, president trump ups the ante by stating his belief that the w.h.o. minimize the impact of this epidemic. he is continuing to talk about how theo. about proportions of money paid to the organizations vary from country to country, saying the united states pays far more proportionally than a country like china. he reiterated his statement from

yesterday that his administration is going to look into it. earlier today the chief white house medical consultant, deborah birx, she said an organization is only as good as the data it receives, referring to the w.h.o., saying the administration would have to look at the data that the w.h.o. received from china at that time. there is various minor divisions within the administration about the w.h.o., but from the president himself clearly this is not an issue he is going to let go. he insists his administration will be looking

narrator: on this episode of "earth focus," the illegal lumber trade is a multi-million-dollar business spanning the globe. in the northwest united states, scientists are using innovative methods to stop lumber from enentering ththe country, w whin brazil, violent clashes have erupted at the source, where indigenous groups are trying to stop poachers from decimating their forest.