AMNA NAWAZ: As we mentioned
earlier, the president
is talking tonight about
the outbreak of the

coronavirus, known as COVID-19.

In fact, he's speaking in the
Briefing Room right now about
what the federal government's

doing and how it's preparing
in case the outbreak gets
worse in the United States.

Here's some of what he said:

DONALD TRUMP, President of
the United States: I have just
received another briefing from

a great group of talented people
on the virus that is going
around to various parts of the

world.

We have, through some very
good early decisions, decisions
that were actually ridiculed at

the beginning -- we closed up
our borders to flights coming
in from certain areas, areas

that were hit by the
coronavirus and hit pretty hard.

And we did it very early. A lot
of people thought we shouldn't
have done it that early.

And we did. And it turned
out to be a very good thing.

And the number one priority from
our standpoint is the health and
safety of the American people,

and that's the way I viewed
it when I made that decision.

AMNA NAWAZ: The state of
preparations has become the
source of concern and criticism

between parties and among
some public health officials.

As we saw with the president
and lawmakers, it's also
increasingly a political issue,

too.

For more on all of this, I'm
joined here in the studio by
our White House correspondent,

Yamiche Alcindor, and from New
York via Skype by Dr. Thomas
Frieden. He's a former director

of the CDC, former commissioner
of the New York City Health
Department, and he is currently

president and CEO the nonprofit
group Resolve to Save Lives.

Yamiche, here in the studio, I'd
love to get your take on what we
just heard from the president.

He is still talking, of course,
but there he was hailing
the government's response,

saying, we did the right
thing early. He was
just given a briefing.

What do we know about how
he's been hearing about
the coronavirus and how
he's been communicating

about it so far?

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, the
president is seeking really
to calm Americans tonight.

After the CDC came out last
night and said it's not a matter
of if, but when the coronavirus

gets to the United States, there
was a lot of panic. I was on
Amazon. There's masks already

selling out. So people are
feeling very, very scared.

And the president here is trying
to be a calmer in chief. He's
trying to say, we are ready.

At the briefing just now, he
said, our number one priority is
health and safety of Americans.

He has also been saying that
he wants $2.5 billion to fight
this virus. Democrats today

said, actually, we should do
$8.5 billion. Instead of getting
into a fight, the president

said from the Briefing Room,
if you're offering that money,
we will work with you. We will

take that extra money.

So the president here is
really trying to calm a lot of
people here. He's gotten some

backlash for saying that we're
-- that the risk is low to
Americans, because the CDC

is saying, actually, this
is could be a pandemic.

But, that being said,
the president is trying,
I think, his best here
to try to calm people.

AMNA NAWAZ: Dr. Frieden, I want
to get your take on both what
we heard from the president

and what Yamiche
was just reporting.

President Trump has been saying,
this response so far from the
U.S. government has been a

success. That's the word
he continues to use.
Just assess for me what
you have seen in terms

of this administration's
response. Are they
doing everything they
should be at this point?

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, Former
Director, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention: Well,

first off, the risk today in
the United States is low. That's
correct. And the things that

have been done by the CDC
and others are appropriate.

But the big picture is
very different. A pandemic
is inevitable. That
has become clear in the

last few days. There have been
hundreds of people to leave
China with the virus who haven't

been diagnosed in
countries all over.

We have Iran, Italy, Hong
Kong, Korea with lots of cases.
And this is going to spread.

We are in the calm before
the storm. It's going to get
worse before it gets better.

And thinking that we can somehow
pull up the drawbridges and
not have anyone in this country

get it, that's a
dangerous delusion.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Dr. Frieden,
talk to me about some of these
figures you're hearing in terms

of what the government's
prepared to spend. We know the
president asked for that $2.5

billion. Democrats are
asking for $8.5 billion.

Based on what the U.S. has done
in the past, is this what we
should be spending? Is that

appropriate in
terms of a response?

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN:
There's a fundamental
question. For how long?

If that's a one-year
figure, that's one thing.
But, for Ebola, what we
found is, it was essential

to have a five-year allocation,
so we could really address
it in a comprehensive way and

get to the root of reducing
the risk going forward.

Ebola was $5.4 billion
supplemental over five
years. This is a much
bigger risk than Ebola.

I said and others said there
was no chance Ebola would spread
widely in the U.S. It just

wasn't in the cards.
And it didn't happen.

This could definitely spread
quite widely in this country.
We don't know how far it

will spread. We don't
know how severe it will
be, whether it will be
mild, moderate or severe.

But a pandemic is coming.

AMNA NAWAZ: We know the
president has also been
communicating about the
health and wellness,

the recovery of some of those
Americans who both contracted
it, were confirmed cases back

here, and also were moved
back to the U.S. after
being diagnosed overseas.

Here's what President Trump
had to say about them.

DONALD TRUMP: As the disease
spreads, if it spreads, as most
of you know, the level that

we have had in our country
is very low. And those
people are getting better.

Or we think that, in
almost all cases, they're
better or getting --
we have a total of 15.

We took in some from Japan.
You heard about that, because
they're American citizens and

they're in quarantine. And
they're getting better too.

But we felt we had an
obligation to do that.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yamiche, we have
been hearing from the president
things are getting better,

the patients are getting better.

That stands in contrast
to what some public health
officials are saying.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: That's true.

The president has been getting
backlash. People are thinking
that he's trying to downplay

this for his own political
benefit. He just now said that
Vice President Pence is going

to be the czar, the
coronavirus czar, putting
him now in charge of this.

But the president also said
that this is going to get better
in April, that, once it gets

warm, things are going to get
better. Now, that's usually
true, experts say, when it

comes to flu. But the
coronavirus is different.

This is a disease that people
are still learning about. So,
in some ways, the president is

getting a lot of backlash
for making claims that aren't
exactly accurate at this point.

And he's also, some people
think, really trying
to just make it seem as
though maybe Democrats

and other people who are his
political opponents are trying
to create some sort of hysteria

to scare people, and to
also make him look bad.

So the president has been
someone who has looked at his
own political benefit, even

in times of crisis, as
presidents some -- often
do in these in these cases.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, Dr. Frieden,
let's talk about that little
bit of news that Yamiche

just brought us, the
appointment of a czar.

We know the president was
reluctant to do that. He pulled
together a task force from

various agencies, including
HHS and DHS. Does that -- is
that right now the appropriate

response? And, also, can
you tell us, specifically,
at that federal level,
what concrete steps

should they be taking right now
that you don't believe they are?

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: The first
and foremost thing is to get the
supplemental through Congress

at a high enough level that
we can protect America.

That means supporting state and
local health departments. That
means working with hospitals.

That means investing in
a vaccine, even though we
aren't sure it will work.

And, crucially, that
means reducing the risks
around the world. It
costs about $1 per person

per year to upgrade those
early warning systems
and rapid response
systems in countries all

around the world that
will help tamp down this
pandemic and protect us
from future pandemics.

But that's a lot of
money. That's billions
of dollars over multiple
years. And a supplemental

is the best chance to get
a running start on that
and keep Americans safer.

AMNA NAWAZ: Dr. Frieden, you
said it's going to get worse
before it gets better. I think

that will worry a lot of people.

When you talk about what that
will look like here in the
United States, what can you tell

us in terms of schools or
hospitals and in communities?
What should people be ready for?

And what can they be doing
right now to get ready?

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: Well, first
and foremost, we have to admit
there's a lot we don't know

about this virus.

It just burst onto our
awareness two months
ago, and we're learning
more every day, sometimes

every hour.

But what we know is that it's
spreading widely. We know that
many people have left China with

the infection and not been
diagnosed elsewhere. We're going
to see more countries affected.

We're going to
see more clusters.

It's spreading quite readily
in some health care facilities.
It's spreading quite readily

in some communities, churches.
So, we will see a lot of it.

What we're not sure of
is how severe is going
to be. The initial
reports of a new pathogen

are often -- say it's really
deadly, because you're seeing
the most severely ill people.

But as we learn more, we
may find it's not so deadly.

When the 2009 flu pandemic
hit, initially, from Mexico,
it looked to be very deadly.

And soon, we found it was
quite dangerous for younger
people, but overall it wasn't

a terribly bad virus. It
was a new one, but not
a particularly bad one.

So we don't know if this is
going to be a mild, moderate
or a severe pandemic, but it

will be a pandemic. That means,
for most people, there's certain
simple things you can do.

Wash your hands often. Cover
your cough. When you -- cover
your mouth when you cough or

sneeze.

Be sure to not get others sick
if you're sick. That means
staying home if you're sick. You

may want to be careful and have
a few months of medicine if
you have diabetes or high blood

pressure, not in a panic buying
way, but in a sensible way,
so that if there are supply

chain interruptions,
you would be ready.

And think about what you do
if schools had to close. We
don't know that that would be

necessary. It may or may not be.
In different communities, there
may be different approaches,

but that's a possibility.

So it's worth thinking about
and planning about what you
would do in your life to be

ready.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yamiche, this
has moved from the if
to the when phase now.

What is the confidence level
like? People will be looking
to the president for leadership

on this. Are they
confident that they will
be able to handle this?

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: The
president and Vice President
Pence just now are saying
that they're confident

in this. They're saying that
Vice President Pence, because
he was a leader in Indiana,

that that's a good
health system.

He's been praising President
Trump from the podium, saying
that he's doing a good job.

Secretary Azar, who's in
charge of Health and Human
Services, he is also saying that

people are basically ready for
this, and that there's only
a few cases, maybe one case,

in the last couple weeks here.

But it's still very, very early.
So, they're still trying to
figure out kind of how many

cases there are. It's still
-- people are still trying
to figure out what's going on

here.

But the president is trying
to at least look confident and
trying to reassure people that

they are ready for this and
that, when this hits the United
States, that they're going

to have all the resources ready.
And it seems as though we're
seeing bipartisan support,

bipartisan working together.

So the leaders in this country
seem to think that this is a
moment for people not to be

arguing, but to be
focusing on how to do this.

AMNA NAWAZ: And that is
good news, indeed, a lot
we don't know right now.

Yamiche Alcindor, our White
House correspondent, thanks to
you. And to Thomas Frieden over

in New York, thanks
for being with us.