Pool Reports of March 13, 2020

Pool Report #1 Press conf announcement

The president two minutes ago tweeted:

"I will be having a news conference today at 3:00 P.M., The White House. Topic: CoronaVirus! "

Pool Report #2 Lunch lid

A lunch lid has been declared until 1:15 p.m.

3/13 In-Town Pool Chain

Pool Report # 3

From WH Press Office; note presence of Mark Meadows, described as incoming White House chief of staff

Pool Report #3

Today, President Donald J. Trump and several members of the Coronavirus Taskforce will meet in the Cabinet Room with industry executives as part of the Whole-of-America response to COVID-19.

The following individuals are expected to attend:

The White House
President Donald J. Trump
Vice President Mike Pence
Mark Meadows, Incoming White House Chief of Staff
Christopher Liddell, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Coordination
Jared Kushner, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor
Marc Short, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Vice President
Larry Kudlow, Assistant to the President and Director of the National Economic Council
Ambassador Debbie Birx, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator

Trump Administration
Secretary Alex Azar, Department of Health and Human Services
Admiral Brett Giroir, M.D., Assistant Secretary for Health, Department of Health and Human Services
Administrator Seema Verma, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Dr. Stephen Hahn, Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Food and Drug Administration
Adam Boehler, Chief Executive Officer, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation

External Participants
Richard Ashworth, President, Walgreens
Brian Cornell, Chairman and CEO, Target Corporation
Doug McMillon, President and CEO, Walmart Inc.
Tom Polen, CEO and President, Becton, Dickinson and Company
Stephen Rusckowski, Chairman, President and CEO, Quest Diagnostics
Matt Sause, President and CEO, North America, Roche Diagnostics
David Pierre, COO, Signify Health
Mark Stevenson, Executive Vice President and COO, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
Thomas Moriarty, Executive Vice President, Chief Policy and External Affairs Officer, and General Counsel, CVS Health
Bruce Greenstein, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, LHC Group

Pool Report #4 - Press Conference

The Rose Garden event lasted for about an hour and 13 minutes. As you all know it was open coverage and televised live.

POTUS was accompanied by what seemed a cast of zillions but in truth was 18 individuals led by VP Pence, Secretary Azar, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Ambassador Deborah Birx, Seema Verma and captains of industry; WH issued the full list earlier. Almost all were invited by the President to speak; in most cases their remarks were less than a minute each, except for Pence, Fauci, and Birx ,who spoke at length.

The partly cloudy weather was in the low 70s and a light breeze blew off some of the blossoms from a couple of crabapple trees flanking the oversized dais. Social distancing note: there were easily 200 individuals in the Rose Garden, likely more.

As telegraphed, POTUS declared a national state of emergency allowing the government to cut through red tape, getting FEMA into the act by freeing up about $42 billion of emergency funds to help expand and speech coronavirus testing.

He took questions for about 37 minutes, including multiple handoffs to Pence and Fauci and several other participants.

Various items:

"I don't take responsibility at all" for what some experts have argued was a sluggish and chaotic rampup to combating the crisis.
The President said there were rules and regs "from a different time" that had hampered progress but added that the problem is "not the fault of anybody." He said several times that his emergency declaration and other aggressive moves announced today and to come have kickstarted the government's counterattack and predicted positive results were only a matter of time - "a number of weeks."

Faunci said "there will be many more cases" but nobody was asked exactly how many citizens will test positive for the virus. POTUS said the next eight weeks are critical.

Trump said he hadn't been tested but seemed to hint strongly he probably will be although his physician doesn't see the need and he (POTUS) has zero symptoms. Again he said people shouldn't insist on testing unless their physician thinks it necessary.

Style note: After his brief remarks, the executive vice president of LHC Group, Bruce Greenstein, initiated an elbow bump with the President. "I like that, that's good," Trump noted.

Pool Report # 5 -LID

A travel/photo lid has been declared. Goodnight to all.

Pool Report # 6 - Macron Call

Judd Deere passes along this readout:

Today, President Donald J. Trump spoke with President Emmanuel Macron of France. The two leaders discussed how France and the United States are working to combat COVID-19 as well as opportunities to work together to stop the pandemic. President Trump agreed to host a videoconference on the coronavirus with all of the G7 leaders early next week. President Trump and President Macron also discussed issues in the Middle East, including countering the Iranian regime's dangerous behavior and the situation in northwest Syria.