He was trying to be calm but it is distracting people from what is obvious and it is rarely calming in situations like this. That is right, chris. And i talked to a source close to the Coronavirus Task force this evening and i asked this person whether or not the president gets it. Whether he understands the severity of the crisis. Right. And the source said, quote, i think so. Well see. And well see any second. This is a rare privilege for a president to ask for network time. How will he use it were waiting on the president of the United States right now. Finally coming to address the nation. Here he is. My fellow americans, tonight i want to speak with you about our nations unprecedented response to the coronavirus outbreak that started in china and is now spreading throughout the world. Today the World Health Organization officially announced that this is a global pandemic. We have been in frequent contact with our allies and we are marshalling the full power of the federal government and the private sector to protect the American People. This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history. Im confident that by counting and continuing to take these tough measures we will significantly reduce the threat to our citizens and well ultimately and expeditiously defeat this virus. From the beginning of time nations and people have faced unforeseen challenges including large scale and very Dangerous Health threats. This is the way it always was and always will be. It only matters how you respond and we are responding with great speed and professionalism. Our team is the best anywhere in the world. At the very start of the outbreak we instituted sweeping travel restrictions on china and put in place the first federally mandated quarantine in over 50 years. We declared a Public Health emergency and issued the highest level of travel warning on other countries as the virus spread its horrible infection. And taking early intense action weve seen dramatically viewer cases of the virus in the United States than are now present in europe. The European Union failed to take the same precautions and restrict travel from china and other hot spots. As a result a large number of new clusters in the United States were seated by travellers from europe after consulting with our top Government Health professionals i have decided to take several strong but necessary actions to protect the health and well being of all americans. To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from europe to the United States for the next 30 days. The new rules will go into effect friday at midnight. These restrictions will be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground. There will be exemptions for americans who have undergone appropriate screenings and these prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo, but various other things as we get approval. Anything coming from europe to the United States is what we are discussing. These restrictions will also not apply to the United Kingdom. At the same time, were monitoring the situation in china and south korea and as their situation improves, we will reevaluate the restrictions and warnings that are currently in place for a possible early opening. Earlier this week i met with the leaders of Health Insurance industry who have agreed to waive all copayments for coronavirus treatments, extend Insurance Coverage to these treatments and to prevent surprise medical billing. We are cutting massive amounts of red tape to make antiviral therapy available in record time. These treatments will significantly reduce the impact and reach of the virus. Additionally last week i signed into law an 8. 3 billion funding bill to help cdc and other Government Agencies fight the virus and support vaccines treatments and distribution of medical supplies. Testing and testing capabilities are expanding rapidly, day by day were moving very quickly. The vast majority of americans, the risk is very, very low. Young and Healthy People can expect to recover fully and quickly if they should get the virus. The highest risk is for Elderly Population with Underlying Health conditions. The Elderly Population must be very, very careful. In particular, were strongly advising that Nursing Homes for the elderly suspend all medically unnecessary visits. In general Older Americans should also avoid nonessential travel in crowded areas. My administration is coordinated directly with communities with largest outbreaks and we have issued guidance on school closures, social distancing, and reducing large gatherings. Smart action today will prevent the spread of the virus tomorrow. Every Community Faces different risks and it is critical for you to follow the guidelines of your local officials who are working closely with our federal Health Experts and they are the best. For all americans it is essential that everyone take extra precautions and practice good hygiene. Each of us has a role to play in defeating this virus. Wash your hands, clean often used surfaces, cover your face and mouth if you sneeze or cough, and most of all if you are sick or not feeling well stay home. To ensure that working americans impacted by the virus can stay home without fear of financial hardship, i will soon be taking Emergency Action which is unprecedented to provide financial relief. This will be targeted for workers who are ill, quarantined or caring for others due to coronavirus. I will be asking congress to take legislative action to extend this relief because of the economic policies that we have put into place over the last three years, we have the greatest economy anywhere in the world by far. Our banks and Financial Institutions are fully capitalized and incredibly strong. Our unemployment is at a historic low. This vast Economic Prosperity gives us flexibility reserves and resources to handle any threat that comes our way. This is not a financial crisis, this is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world. However, to provide extra support for american workers, families and businesses, tonight i am announcing the following additional actions. I am instructing the Small Business administration to exercise available authority to provide capital and liquidity to firms affected by the coronavirus. Effective immediately the sba will begin providing economic loans in affected states and territories. These low interest loans will help Small Businesses overcome temporary economic disruptions, caused by the virus. To this end im asking congress to increase funding for this program by an additional 50 billion. Using emergency authority, i will be instructing the Treasury Department to defer tax payments without interest or penalties for certain individuals and businesses negatively impacted. This action will provide more than 200 billion of additional liquidity to the economy. Finally, i am calling on congress to provide americans with immediate payroll tax relief. Hopefully they will consider this very strongly. We are at a critical time in the fight against the virus. We made a lifesaving move with early action on china. Now we must take the same action with europe. We will not delay. I will never hesitate to take any necessary steps to protect the lives, health and safety of the American People. I will always put the well being of america first. If we are vigilant, and we can reduce the chance of infection, which we will, we will significantly impede the transmission of the virus. The virus will not have a chance against us. No nation is more prepared or more resilient than the United States. We have the best economy, the most advanced health care, and the most talented doctors, scientists and researchers anywhere in the world. We are all in this together. We must put politics aside, stop the partisanship, and unify together as one nation and one family. As history has proven time and time again, americans always rise to the challenge and overcome adversity. Our future remains brighter than anyone could imagine. Acting with compassion and love, we will heal the sick, care for those in need, help our fellow citizens and emerge from this challenge stronger and more unified than ever before. God bless you, and god bless america. Thank you. Now other than a declaration of war or major terrorist event, in a generation we have not heard a message from a president as serious as the one just delivered by president donald john trump. The headline for the next 30 days, no travel from europe to the United States. It will apparently include cargo, meaning Economic Activity. It may be different with certain aspects with the United Kingdom, britain, there may be certain exceptions for people who receive what the president called appropriate screening. He didnt go into detail on that. There are a lot of other releases of resources but overall a jarring message and the question is how will the country receive it . We have doctor sanjay gupta along with David Gregory and jim acosta also back with us. First, jim, is that the speech that was expected . Reporter i think that is the speech that was expected, i think it went well beyond what any of us really thought. I dont think many of us were expecting the president to announce to a travel ban from europe for 30 days starting at friday at midnight. That is stunning. That is going to cause major disruptions to the travel industry, and its going to cause all kinds of problems that we havent seen since the Trump Administration tried the travel ban very early on in the administration. We saw people waiting at the airport and so on wondering if loved ones will get back from europe. So it is interesting to find out what the details are from the Administration Officials in terms of how theyre going to implement that. The other thing, chris, that we should point out, at one point during the address the president referred to the coronavirus as a quote, foreign virus. That is interesting because i was talking to sources this evening, one of the points that the president wanted to make tonight, wanted to get across to americans is that this virus did not start here. But that they are dealing with it. Now why the president would go as far as to describe it as a foreign virus, that is something well also be asking questions about. But it should be pointed out that stephen miller, who is an immigration hardliner who advises the president is one of the top domestic policy advisers and speech writer, was a driving force in writing this speech and i think it is going to come across to a lot of americans as smacking of xenophobia to use that kind of term in this speech, chris. Sometimes we can answer the questions and the answer is hes doing it to put blame somewhere else. Weve seen over the last few days mccarthy and others saying the chinese coronavirus. The wuhan coronavirus. We get that. It cant be the main concern right now. Let me go to sanjay who is here now. In terms of the remedies, lets call them, no travel from europe, 30 days including cargo. Maybe different with the u. K. All of the releases of resources for economic relief. He said rapidly increasing testing. Vast majority of us very, very low risk. Well, first of all, in terms of the testing, this has obviously been a big issue and it was just a week ago where he said we have 15 cases in the country, expect to go to zero and now were well over a thousand as you know. The testing has been the issue. Youve talked about it. From the beginning, as i have. And that is the issue and remains the issue. So this is the first time hes acknowledging that issue. He said we have very few cases in the United States. Most of them are coming from elsewhere. Maybe true, the fact of the matter is we dont know that right now. We dont have good vision on here in the United States. And that is a huge problem. Because we dont really know how to allocate resources and how to deal with this. The other big thing, chris, if you see what is happening in italy, in europe right now, is that the virus is obviously a problem. The bigger problem i think in italy is that the Health Care System is essentially starting to become overrun. The hospitals, theyre having to make tough decisions, chris, on who to take care of and who not to take care of. You could imagine those sort of decisions . Two patients who could survive if only we had enough resources, we dont. I wish that i heard him talk about that specifically in this country. Were 100,000 icu beds short and tens of thousands of breathing machines and ventilators short. What are we going to do . These are real problems and this is hours and days count now, not days and weeks. Are we italy or are we china. The distinction for you at home. The china ramped to immediate scale. They built field hospitals, they had almost it seemed endless resources that seems to have been a big part of this picture of abatement that theyre putting forthright now. That it is getting better. Which is the u. S. More likely to be . Im worried that were italy in the sense that we dont have a lot of surge capacity. We dont have a Health Care System that has redundancy and cant build hospitals in a week like in china. Youre going to walk around new york city and say Convention Center and High School Gym is becoming an isolation ward. Im not trying to be dramatic but now is the time to do that because i think were within we have the capable to be prepared for this. But this is weeks now we should have been thinking about some of these things and luckily it seems the president it seems hes taking it more seriously certainly now. He is. Lets go to David Gregory on this. There are a couple of different points, david, that i would love you to take on. First, the president did not address the hard realities, that it is not 15 cases, it is going to be hundreds of thousands of cases. As tony fauci said with clear and a strong voice, this is going to get worse. Everybody has to be ready for that. There is something to preparing people, to letting them know it doesnt come as a surprise, as it has to to point. First on that, what is the plus minus on him not dealing with the harshest reality and what to do about Going Forward . The job of the president of the United States, in my judgment, and in my reporting of national and International Crises is to steel the country. For what were going through and what with we may face and what will be required of the country. He is a kind of moral force for the country. Only the federal government has the kind of scale and capacity to respond to something that doesnt have borders, that is international and global in nature like a Public Health emergency just like a National Security emergency. And when he talks about this being not a crisis but, quote, a temporary moment of time. I think he hurts himself. And i think he confuses the public. Because steps are being taken and we should underline a 30day ban on travelers coming from europe, now he said the United Kingdom would be excluded from that, that is a huge deal. It is a huge deal. Huge disruption economically, to families, to all of the connections americans have to europeans. And yet hes saying this is going to be a temporary moment in time. I think a lot of americans tonight are still confused and certainly anxious and sensing from their president a discernible change in tone and demeanor. Will he continue that . Lets talk about it. Because i think you and may have a different read on it. Hes more measured and not blaming us and hes not blaming democrats, okay. I have never seen him give a speech and seem as nervous as he was tonight. Now part of that is what we call prompter trump. He didnt write it. Hes not familiar with it. Hes not familiar with it. It is hard for him to follow the teleprompter, but his breathing. What was his tone . He did not vibe a lot of ive got this to the nation. No, agree with that. And, look, hes not a natural politician. So we live in an age where people look at this and evaluate his leadership with a partisan lens. We know that, weve been covering him now going on four years and the election as well so people have different views of that. Yeah, hes not accustomed to giving this kind of speech. I thought he kind of ran through some of the language and instead of really talking us through these points. There was still selfcongratulation about how great the response has been. And talked about were all in this together. I didnt hear any empathy for our allies around the globe. Like the italians and what theyre going through as a country. I think those things stand out. And again i go back to the idea of saying it was a temporary moment in time. That is not an existential threat to the United States. But Winston Churchill which did face a