Country. Maybe one thing everyone can agree on is this. Its an epidemic of an emergency of epic proportions. The president will make his official announcement of what he is going to do about it. Were going to be doing a very, very important meeting sometime in the very short future in terms of declaring an Opioid Crisis. Its hitting every part of my state of West Virginia and every part of this great country. There are people dying every day from this horrible epidemic and we need more resources. We need them now. If we had a terrorist organi organization that was killing 142 million americans on our soil, how much would we be willing to spend to stop it . President trump will stop short of making a formal declaration. Instead, hell declare it as a Public Health emergency, one that hits home for many americans. The supply is so great in dayton that you can drive down many, many roads in this city and they will give you free samples of drugs. Thats unbelievable. There is 142 deaths every day which means 10,700 people have died just since President Trump said he would address the topic back in august. Kristen welker is at the white house. Kate snow is here in the newsroom. Live in brussels, medical correspondent dr. John torres and dr. Barry mcccaffrey and filmmaker and author of i am a heroin addict. Kristen, this announcement comes 77 days after the president declared the Opioid Crisis a National Emergency. Realworld impact, what does it mean to declare a Public Health emergency . Reporter chris, lets talk about what this does and doesnt do. A Public Health emergency means that states will have more flexibility to deal with this crisis and we have a lock at some of the top lines. Its also going to give states more access to some funds that are set up to deal with this type of a crisis. It will allow treatment prescriptions through telemedicine. Thats significant because folks who live in more rural areas are going to be able to have tell conferences with their doctors, potentially get medicine prescribed over the phone. It means they will put a real focus on beefing up health staff in states that are being hit hard by this. Now, what it doesnt do is allow this crisis to use funds from the federal Disaster Relief fund. That is significant. Look, that fund is typically used for mings like hurricanes or natural disasters. The Administration Says that fund is set up for shortterm problems, not for longterm problems like this Opioid Crisis with the administration argues is a longterm and ongoing issue that they are going to need to deal with. Now, you can expect a robust push for congress to put more money into the federal funds that will be directed toward dealing with this, more resources. Again, youre going to have critics who say the president said he was going to declare this a National Emergency and this Public Health Emergency Declaration falls short of that. Chris . Kate, as she said, the people you have talked to are in the throes of this crisis. Its interesting. This morning i was in dayton, ohio, and i was speaking with folks there. They dont care what you call it, if its National Emergency being Public Health emergency. I just followed up with a phone call this morning to one of the gentlemen we met last night because last night we didnt know what this announcement would look like. The bottom line is, he said to me, you could say youre going to spend a trillion dollars unless it gets to the right places in their community, they dont see the impact. So they want to know the details of what exactly is coming to dayton and what exactly is going to help them with the issues that they talked about last night. For example, access to Treatment Facilities. Right now the average in that county is about three or four weeks you have to wait when if youre a person with Substance Abuse issues, you decide you want help, you want an inpatient facility, youre waiting three or four weeks before you can get in. So that involves policy and log jams where there are not enough beds or facilities. Thats the kind of stuff that they want to see changed. And speaking of doctors, dr. John torres, you sat down with a panel of them who drove home just how broad this crisis is. I want to play some of your discussion. How do wellmeaning doctors that are prescribing patients that are in pain, how did we fuel this epidemic . About one in ten people who gets a surgery in this country will go on to become a continual opioid user. That doesnt mean theyre addicted but three, six months after their surgery, we have 300 Million People every engineer who have become continual opioid users. Thats a setup for those people becoming addicted. And when were talking about young people, this one in ten number that youve mentioned is likely to be even higher. Probably. We havent seen those numbers yet but we know that the adolescence brain, i had my wisdom teeth removed and got put on opioids and now im using heroin. And prescribed opioids was the gateway, as you said. Switch to the dental aspect of this. Dentists appear to be the biggest prescribers for pain. We are at 12 and the number one prescribers for patients ages 10 to 19. Do they really need those opioid pain medications after a wisdom tut taken out, any of those things. The studies are showing that alternatives are just as good, antii antiinflammatory. Drl jo dr. John, when you hear somebody say that they have a wisdom tooth removed and they get prescribed opioids and they are addicted to heroin, what the president is going to announce today is about money but isnt there a change that has to happen in terms of how we treat these drugs . And there is a change that has to happen. One of the things i talked to docs about in their round table, unless we sign that prescription, they are not going to get the opioids to start with, especially after surgeries or dental procedures, that become as gateway to addiction for some people. Were starting to see more and more. We talked about the dental arena, ibuprofen, these types of medications and they are working quite well. In the surgical arena, for example, Ross Medical Center in chicago, they are sending patients with nonsteroidals and its working very well. Richard, what happened . So many other people who find themselves caught in the throes of these crisises are not thought of as drug addicts. Tell us your story. You know, i got addicted many years ago and it stems from the same situation. I was a football player, knee operation, given percocet. I think where we have the wrong dialogue, we can talk forever about, you know, how we get here but were already there. And today when President Trump goes and says that hes going to do what hes going to do, which is going to mean absolutely nothing because we will never beat we will never touch this Opioid Epidemic by treating opium addicts with opioids. So if the major treatment in this country for the millions and millions of addicts are two things, methadone and seb box sin and an opioid aganist create a positive awareness. You think about that. It immediately takes them they dont have to have any more physical pain or any more emotional pain. Now, who wouldnt want to wake up every morning like that with none of that. So now the brain starts to get rewired because you go to your doctor and he says take this seboxine because you have a disease and now you remove the feelings. There is controversy. General mccaffrey, where do you see the crux of the problem at what needs to be done and what do you want to hear from the president today . Well, from the president , all we can expect is prevention and education and the ability to rationally deal with a couple of million chronic addicts to opioids. By the way, i could not disagree more with what richie just said. One aspect of getting people in recovery and keeping them there, an opioid addiction, is to use drugs like methadone. They all have their play in a comprehensive treatment regime. Not alone. You also have to engage the 12step process, education of the addict. There has to be oversight and drug testing. But we should never let go of the pharmaceutical intervention as one aspect of a comprehensive recovery program. I want to take a look at some video that just came in to us today. Its from a florida officers body camera. It shows a scene of Police Officers that Police Officers across the country see every day, parents passed out in the front seat of their car with an infant in the back. I know, kate, youve seen these kinds of things in your reporting. Youve gone into schools and youve seen the very real impact of children and families. Lets bring this home as we wait for the president about what is going on out in america beyond the horror of how many deaths there are. Right. The impact on the kids. And you see the person waking up there because he or she was given narcan which happens in the field. I was out with dayton fire the other day and they see this every day and often they see children in the car or at the house where they are treating someone. Last night i was at a group called families of addicts in dayton where theres family members and also people in recovery. I want to play a little sound, chris, of a woman whose son is in recovery. I asked her, what would you say to the president . What id like to say to the president is that he needs to take some queues from dayton, from Montgomery County in particular, that they are looking for a drug czar, someone in the community who has lived it. I think we cant turn our we cant put all of our hopes in congress because they havent lived this life. Shes saying congress hasnt lived this, that drugs czar is an open position, the white house having to withdraw the last person they recommended. She wants that person, whoever it is, to be someone from a community who really gets whats going on. There was a real sense last night that they think washington doesnt get it. In fact, as you well know, general, the nominee for the drug czar withdrew after that Washington Post report that he helped let legislation through congress that weakened the deas ability to go after drug distributors. If you want to go back, sort of backup to how we got here, is there one thing you can look at that says this is how we got here but this is where we need to stop it . Look, the nomination of congressman marino, i have no idea why they did that. We have an acting director who is doing sa terrific job. We need somebody in the position who has the confidence of the white house to organize what is really a program across many federal agencies, not just these terrific Law Enforcement professionals and dea but health and human services, department of education, veterans administration, veterans affairs. You know, so we are lacking leadership on the issue. There are people in congress, by the way, like senator rob portman, who totally understands the issue. We just got the cara act passed with the help of this addition policy forum so there are people in washington who understand the issue. We need resources behind sensible sciencebased policy. Richie, you said we have to throw out the book and write a new one and youve expressed how you feel about some of the treatments. But what else did you experience and do you see now that makes you say weve got to throw out the book and heres what we need to start doing differently . Well, with all drew respect to the good general, if there were 25, 30 employees in your studio right now and i brought in some tabs of suboxone and said try these, everybody would be high. Everybody in your studio would be high. The way were going is not working and i understand why everybody wants to protect big pharma and we need these in place. No one is saying for a minute that we dont need these in place when were initially detoxing. But i hear nobody talking about abstinence. I hear nobody i dont even hear that as an alternative to everything is big pharma. We need this. So when i got straight, you know, it wasnt as today and you have all of these groups popping up, counselors, coaches, and you go to them and poor, young addicts say im sick and they say what can we do to make it easy for you. In my day it was like, hey, you sit down in that meeting and you shut up and you listen and you get up in the morning and you learn a schedule, you want to go to school, you go to school. Workout, youll feel better. Get spiritual. I dont see that. I see everything the entire war and again, with all due respect to the general that is about medication. And were not going to win that way. We will not win the war against opioid addiction by giving out opioids. I mean, id ask the audience this. Would you give an alcoholic two shots a day just to keep them no. Because we dont have and you know, i dont have a turnoff switch. I want to bring in ed markey, one of the Senate Democrats suggesting to invest 45 billion to help the Opioid Epidemic. Senator, i want to ask you about your bill, but there is this push and pull and were just hearing it on our air right now. Lets say you get 45 billion dollars. Whats the most effective way to use it. Some people say thats only a drop in the bucket. Do you feel as though theres been so much attention on this, we have a good handle on what needs to be done and how to do it . I dont think we should assume that the president is going to commit 45 billion. I think its just the opposite. The question were going to ask ourselves at the end of this speech and im looking forward to his speech is whether or not he committed 45 billion. Senator casey of pennsylvania and i have proposed that. But i dont think thats going to be forthcoming because, honestly, a vision without funding is a hallucination. First, you have to know that you have the money for treatment, for beds, to give the people to help which they need. We have millions of people in our country who are in desperate need of help because they are already addicted. We have to give them the help which they need. Thats going to take money. Thats why the dollar amount, which the president mentions, is going to be so critical. As well, we also have to say to doctors, to nurses that you have to have mandatory prescribing education before youre allowed to handle a bottle of opioids to people. Whats the problem as you see it, senator . At this point, its still a doctor and nurse problem across the country. Theres still not mandatory education for prescribing of opioids. We have to hear from the president if hes going to take on the ama, if hes going to take on this entire complex which has allowed for this problem to in fact grow. Otherwise, all were going to have is a bandaid applied where a tourniquet should be applied. People are standing to the president is coming in and i may have to cut you off. But in an ideal world, what is it that you need to hear from the president today . I need to hear from the president that, one, its a National Emergency. I dont think were going to hear those words. Were going to need to hear tens and tens of billions of dollars which are immediately going to be requested from kcongress for appropriation. Im sorry, senator. Melania trump is going to take on this as part of her platform. Lets listen. Thank you all for being here today. It touches my heart to see the many familiar places of people who have been lucky to get to know over the last few months. Thank you for the time and strength it takes for each of you to tell your stories. We are here today because of your courage. The Opioid Epidemic has affected more than 2 million americans nationwide and, sadly, the number continues to rise. We lost more than 175 americans to overdoses every day. And millions more are struggling with addiction. As many of you know, addiction affects children in many different ways. And i have recently taken a larger interest in what i can do to help fight this epidemic. I have been participating in it meetings and listening sessions and i have been visiting with people who have been affected by this disease. I want to take a moment now to tell you what i have learned from the men and women on the front lines of this epidemic. Don holman talked to me about his son garret who took medication for adhd and suffered from depression and anxiety. He explained that social media played a part in his sons erratic moods and behaviors. Garret started to buy synthetic opioids online and selfmedicated for his depression, passing away from an overdose just eight days before his 21st birthday. Don holman taught me that the stigma of drug addiction must be normalized and talking about it is the only way to do that. Coach david mcgee talked about his friend who became addicted after his pain medication was prescribed for a sports injury. His friend died from an overdose and through his tragic loss, coach mcgee taught me how important it is to educate kids, athletes and parents because his friend was not weakminded. In fact, like so many of our kids today, he was competitive and strongwilled. Now in her tenth year of recovery, she helped me learn that drug addiction is in fact a disease but with proper support and medical attention, a person can move on to live a healthy and happy life. We are so proud of you for all that you have overcome, sabra, and pray for you as you continue on this journey. Where are you, sabra . Hello. [ applause ] when i had the honor of visiting lillys place in West Virginia, a Recovery Center for infants born adrikted to drugs, i learned to help babies succeed, we must help their parents succeed by placing a priority of the whole family, lillys place is giving infants the best opportunity to try because the parents have been given the support and tools they need to succeed. I want to thank Rebecca Crowder and the staff at lillys place for their heroic efforts. Thank you. I have learned so much by those brave enough to talk about this epidemic and i know there are so many stories to tell. But what i find the common theme with these stories is that this can happen to any of us. Drug addiction can take your friends, neighbors or your family. No state has been spared. And no demographic has been untouched, which is why my husband and his administration has dedicated itself to combatting this Health Crisis by using every resource available. Im so proud to support him today as he sees this commitment through. I look forward to continue my work on behalf of children across the country and hope that citizens everywhere will join forces with this administration to help end this Health Crisis. Thank you very much for being with us today. God bless you all and god bless the United States of america. [ applause ] thank you, melania, for your moving words and for your devotion. A very deep devotion to our children. Thank you all to my cabinet, members of congress, state and local leaders, First Responders and Health Care Professionals gathered here today. We have some truly incredible people in this room, that i can tell you. Most importantly, we acknowledge the familys present who have lost a cherished loved one. As you all know, from personal experience, families, communities and citizens across our country are currently dealing with the worst drug crisis in American History and even, if you really think about it, world history. This is all throughout the world. The fact is, this is a worldwide problem. This crisis of drug use, addiction and Overdose Deaths in many years, its just been so long in the making. Addressing it will require all of our effort and it will require us to confront the crisis in all of its very real complexity. Last year we lost at least 64,000 americans to overdoses. Thats 175 lost american lives per day. Thats seven lost lives per hour in our country. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of unintentional death in the United States by far. More people are dying from drug overdoses today than from gun homicides and Motor Vehicles combined. Think of it. Motor vehicle crashes, gun homicides, more people by far from drug overdoses. These overdoses are driven by a massive increase in addiction. To prescription painkillers, heroin and opioids. Last year, almost 1 million americans used heroin and more than 11 million abused prescription opioids. The United States is by far the Largest Consumer of these drugs using more opioid pills per person than any other country by far in the world. Opioid Overdose Deaths has quadrupuled since 1987 and accounts for fatal drug overdoses. Who would have thought . No part of our society, not young or old, rich or poor, urban or rural has been spared this plague of drug addiction and this horrible, horrible situation thats taken place with opioids. In West Virginia, a truly great state, great people. There is a hospital nursery where one in every five babies spends its first days in agony because these precious babies were exposed to opioids or other drugs in the womb, they endure nausea, pain, anxiety, sleeplessness and trouble eating, just the same as adults undergoing detox. Some of these children will likely lose one or both of their parents to overdose. They will join the opioid orphans. Such beautiful, beautiful babies. Beyond the shocking death toll, the terrible measure of the Opioid Crisis includes the families ripped apart and, for many communities, a generation of lost potential an opportunity. This epidemic is a National Health emergency. Unlike many of us, weve seen and what weve seen in our lifetimes, nobody has seen anything like whats going on now. As americans, we cannot allow this to continue. Its time to liberate our communities from the scourge of drug addiction. Its never been this way. We can be the generation that ends the Opioid Epidemic. We can do it. [ applause ] we can do it. [ applause ] that is why, effective today, my administration is officially declaring the Opioid Crisis a national Public Health emergency under federal law and why im directing all executive agencies to use every appropriate authority to fight the Opioid Crisis. As part of this emergency response, we will announce a new policy to overcome a restrictive 1970s rule that prevents states from providing care at certain Treatment Facilities with more than 16 beds for those suffering from drug addiction. The number of states have reached out to us asking for relief and you should expect to see approvals that will unlock treatment for those who need it and those approvals will come very, very fast, not like in the past. Very, very quickly. Ending the epidemic will require local communities and private organizations. It will require the resolve of our entire country. The scale of this crisis of addiction is why, soon after coming into office, i convened a president ial commission headed by governor Chris Christie that has consulted with experts across america to listen, to learn and report back on potential solutions. We await the final report which will come in next week and i know some of the report has already been seen because i want to see it as quickly as possible and some of the things that they are recommending are commonsense but very, very important and they will have a tremendous impact. Believe me. Tremendous impact. Ill detail some of these aggressive steps with my administration today, which weve already taken. After we review and evaluate the commissions findings, i will quickly move to implement approximate and appropriate recommendations but i want the American People to know the federal government is aggressively fighting the Opioid Epidemic on all fronts. Were working with doctors and medical professionals to implement best practices for safe, opioid prescribing and we will do something very, very special. We are requiring federally employed prescribers to receive, finally, special training. And there is a campaign to put faces on the danger of opioid abuse. I want to acknowledge cvs caremark for announcing that they will limit opioid prescriptions to sevenday supplies, among other important reforms, and i encourage other companies to do their part to help stop this epidemic. [ applause ] the fda is now requiring Drug Companies that manufacture prescription opioids to provide more training to prescribers and help prevent abuse and addiction and has requested that one especially highrisk opioid be withdrawn from the market immediately. We are requiring that a specific opioid which is truly evil and be taken off the market immediately. The u. S. Postal service and the department of Homeland Security are strengthening the inspection of packages coming into our country to hold back the flood of cheap and deadly fentanyl, a synthetic opioid manufactured in china and 50 times stronger than heroin and in two weeks i will be in china with president xi and i will mention this as a top priority. And he will do something about it. I am also pleased to report that, for the first time, the department of justice has indicated Major Chinese drug traffickers and they have really put very, very strong clamps on them. They have indicted them, the drug traffickers, for distributing fentanyl into the United States. So jeff, thank you very much. Good job. Good job. [ applause ] and theyve been indicted and were not going to forget about them, believe me. They are doing tremendous harm to our country. The Justice Department is aggressively and really valiantly pursing those who illegally prescribe and traffic opioids, both in our communities and on the internet. And ill be looking at the potential of the federal government bringing major lawsuits against bad actors, what they have and what theyre doing to our people is unheard of. We will be bringing some very major lawsuits against people and companies that are hurting our people and that will start taking place pretty soon. Were also supporting First Responders and medical professionals access to the tools they need to prevent deaths through lifesaving overdose medications. At my direction, the National Institute of health, headed up by francis collins, has taken the first steps of an ambitious Public Private partnership with pharmaceuticals to come up with new treatment for addiction and overdose. So important. I will be pushing the concept of nonaddictive painkillers very, very hard we have to come up with that solution. We give away billions and billions of dollars a year and were going to be spending lots of money on coming up with a nonaddictive solution. We will be asking dr. Collins and the nih for substantial resources in the fight against drug addiction. One of the things our administration will be doing is a Massive Advertising Campaign to get people, especially children, not to want to take drugs in the first place because they will see the devastation and what it causes to people and peoples lives. Watch what happens if we do our jobs, how the number of drug users and the addicted will start to tumble downward over a period of years. It will be a beautiful thing to see. I learned myself, i had a brother fred, great guy, best looking guy, best personality, much better than mine, but he had a problem. He had a problem with alcohol. And he would tell me, dont drink. Dont drink. He was substantially older and i listened to him and i respected but he would constantly tell me, dont drink. Hed also add, dont smoke. But he would say it over and over and over again. And to this day, ive never had a drink. And i have no longing for it. I have no interest in it. To this day, ive never had a cigarette. Dont worry, those are only two of my good things. I dont want to tell you about the bad things. Theres plenty of bad things, too. But he really helped me. I had somebody that guided me. And he had a very, very, very tough life because of alcohol, believe me. Very, very tough, tough life. He was a strong guy but it was a tough, tough thing that he was going through. But i learned because of fred. I learned. And thats what i think is so important. This was an idea that i had where if we can teach young people not to take drugs, just not to take them, when i see friends of mine that are having difficulty with not having that drink at dinner, where its literally almost impossible for them to stop, i say to myself, i cant even understand it, why would that be difficult . But we understand why it is difficult. The fact is, if we can teach young people and people generally not to start, its really, really easy not to take them. And i think thats going to end up being our most important thing. Really tough, really big, really great advertising. So we get to people before they start. So they dont have to go through the problems of what people are going through. We are already distributing 1 million in grants in treatment and to support Law Enforcement programs that assist those facing prison and facing addiction. We have also launched an 81 Million Partnership to Research Better Pain Management techniques for our incredible veterans. And soon and by the way, secretary shulkin is here. You have done an incredible job for our veterans in a very short period of time. And soon hhs will launch a task force to develop an update best practices for Pain Management across the federal government. I am urging all americans to help fight this Opioid Epidemic and the broader issue of drug addiction by participating in the National Prescription drug take back day this saturday. When you can safely turn in these dangerous and horrible drugs for disposal, that will be a wonderful, wonderful period of time for you. All of these actions are important parts of my administrations larger effort to confront the drug addiction crisis in america and confront it head on, straight on, strong. Were going to do it. Were going to do it. For too long, we have allowed drugs to ravage american homes, cities and towns. We owe it to our children and to our country to do everything in our power to address this National Shame and this human tragedy. We must stop the flow of all types of Illegal Drugs into our communities. [ applause ] for too long, dangerous criminal cartels have been allowed to infiltrate and spread throughout our nation and astonishing 90 of the heroin in america comes from south of the border where we will be building a wall which will greatly help in this problem. [ applause ] it will have a great impact. My administration is dedicated to enforcing our immigration laws and defending our Maritime Security and securing our borders. We also have to work with other countries to stop these drugs where they originate. We have no choice. We have to work with others. We have to get together because they have similar problems to what we have. Some countries have bigger problems than we have. Whether that country is china, whether its a country in latin america, it makes no difference. Were going to be working with all of them. Were taking the fight directly to the criminals and places that theyre producing this poison. Here in america, we are once again enforcing the law, breaking up gangs and Distribution Networks and arresting criminals who pedal dangerous drugs to our youth. In addition, we understand the need to confront reality right smack in the face, that millions of our fellow citizens are already addicted. Thats the reality. We want them to get help they need. We have no choice but to help these people that are hooked and are suffering so they can recover and rebuild their lives with their families. Were committed to pursing innovative approaches that have been proven to work, like drug courts. Our efforts will be based on sound metrics and guided by evidence and guided by results. This includes making Addiction Treatment available to those in prison and to help them eventually Reenter Society as productive and lawabiding citizens. Finally, we must adopt the most commonsense solution of all, to prevent our citizens from becoming addicted to drugs in the first place. We must and are focusing so much of our effort on drug demand reduction. We must confront the culture of drug abuse head on, to reduce demand for dangerous narcotics. Every person who buys elicit drugs here in america should know that they are risking their futures and their families and even their lives and every american should know that if they purchase Illegal Drugs, they are helping to finance some of the most violent, cruel and ruthless organizations anywhere in the world. Illegal drug use is not a victimless crime. There is nothing admirable, positive or socially desirable about it. There is nothing desirable about drugs. They are bad. We want the next generation of Young Americans to know, the blessings of a drugfree life. In this enormous struggle against drug addiction, an Opioid Epidemic, it really is that, it is an epidemic, our greatest hope is the same as it has always been. Through every trial, america has encountered throughout our history, the spirit of our people and strength of our character, we win. Each of us has a responsibility to this effort. We have a total responsibility to ourselves, to our family, to our country, including those who are struggling with this addiction. Each of us is responsible to look out for our loved ones, our communities, our neighbors, children and our own health. Almost every american has witnessed the horrors of addiction, whether its through their own struggle or through the struggle of a friend, a coworker, a neighbor or, frankly, a family member. Our current addiction crisis and the epidemic of opioid deaths will get worse before it gets better but get better it will. It will take many years and even decades to address this scourge in society but we must start now to combat a National Health emergency. We are inspired by the stories of every day heroes who pull their communities through the depths of despair and leadership. Fire chief of new hampshire, a great state, runs a program which allows drugdependent residents to seek help at firestations at any time. Jesse and cindy of dayton, ohio, have provided a loving, stable home to children affected by the Opioid Crisis. I am calling on every american to join the ranks of Guardian Angels like chief noonan and the swaufords who help lift up the great people of our great nation. Together, we will care for our citizens, our children and our orphans and you know to say, ou. So many so many. But aware going to lift them up and were going to take care of them. We will work to strengthen vulnerable families in communities and we will help to build and grow a stronger, healthier and drugfree society. Together we will face this challenge as a National Family with conviction, with unity and with a commitment to love and support our neighbors in times of dire need. Working together we will defeat this Opioid Epidemic. It will be defeated. We will free our nation from the terrible affliction of drug abuse, and, yes, we will overcountryove overcome addiction in america. We are going to overcome addiction in america. We have fought and won many battles, and many wars before, and we will win again. Thank you, god bless you, and god bless america. Thank you. President trump promising that his administration is going to work towards seeing that the numbers start to drop. That the 142 lives that are lost every day to drug addiction in this country, some people think thats number is even higher, will be addressed by his administration. He said this could happen to any of us and he went through a whole laundry list of things he said could be done. Stop the flow of all types of Illegal Drugs that his commission will issue its report. Hes going to be looking at their good work. Hes going to file major lawsuits against people and companies, and i want to go first to kate, who is here. You have been following this for us from the very beginning agency we see the president sitting down. This hold on. Whats he saying . We will win. Right . [ applause ] so, kate snow, hes surrounded by people whose stories were told. Some of them so movingly by the first lady. The key is, all of this costs money. Reporter it is, but i will say, ib not heard this president address this epidemic agency he said several times in this way, and i think the folks that i meet all over the country, chris, will feel really good that the white house is paying attention. That the first lady is paying attention. It means something that he just spent nearly an hour talking about this issue out loud. And we saw the hug with Chris Christie on this commission. One of the questions here, as we see, bring back senator ed markey, listening along with us. The question was, would it be declared a National Emergency or Public Health emergency . Originally this commission that Chris Christie is on wanted the larger designation. They wanted the National Emergency, the president did not declare that today. We dont know whats going to be in their final report, but what did you hear as you listened to the president today . What die hed i hear . I heard nicesounding words, but the actions. No. I did not hear what he was going to do. In other words, on one hand he said he would build a wall across our mexican border. We know that costs 25 billion. We were waiting for the president to say he was going to ask congress to appropriate 25 billion. 45 billion, or 100 billion to deal with this epidemic across our country. 2 million americans addicted without treatment in our country right knew. We were waiting for him to say, hes going to mandate that every doctor, every nurse in america, which who previbes opioids have to have mandatory education so they dont perpetuate this Opioid Crisis. We wanted to hear he was going to take on the Insurance Companies, to tell them there is parity that much be given for treatment for these people and he did not say that either. On the tough questions, that had to bes onned, the specifics, money, prescribes, education, Insurance Companies doing the right thing, we did not hear what the president is going to do. Words without action are nothing more than false promises and hope to families waiting for the help they need. Senator ed markey, thank you very much for being with us. Back to the white house where Kristen Welker continues to stand by. Kate snow pointed this out. I dont think anybody could watch what Melania Trump did and not say that she really brought home in a very personal way the stories of the people that she has met and talked to. The impact theyve had on her. I dont know when ive heard the president talk like this, giving celled it to his brother for making him aware of the scourge of addiction, changing his life in that way and joking there may be other personality traits people might not look on so favorably, but it was a very personal kind of statement from the president , but to ed markeys point, the question is, the devils in the details, as he said. Waiting for the commissions recommendations and how much money is this administration willing to commit to really fight this scourge. Right . Reporter those are the unanswered questions, chris. No doubt about that. But i do think to kate snows point, it was remarkable to hear the president speak so extensively and personally about his older brother fred, and the impact he had on his life and some of the choices he has made in his own life. As you point out, the first lady, who clearly really spent time with these families. I think what we heard today will matter, particularly to his constituents, to all of those people who he promised he was going to do something about this crisis. Now, of course, the questions will be answered in the coming days bp you how much money. How much force will really be put behind these various initiative, but it seemed as though the president was mouthing out a multipronged strategy including not only cracking down on some of the drugs coming into the country and spreading all across the country, but also better prevention. Better treatment for those suffering with this crisis. Chris . This was, i think there is no doubt about it, general mccaffrey, a call to action. The question is, how specific a plan for action and will the plan work . What did you hear from the president today . Well, you know, i agree with senator markey. Youve got to have the funding at isnt point. But, chris, i got to be blunt. Thats the best presentation, comprehensive overview of this issue ive heard in over a decade. Simply magnificent. Hopefully there will be a followthrough and i understore one name mentioned, dr. Norah goldcow, National Drug abuse, one of the nih institutes that get over 1 billion a year in research money. We actually understand this issue quite well. This was, indeed, a finely crafted statement. How do you think it will be received by the people who may well be affected significantly by this and that tis the medica community . I think its actually going to be viewed very well. Again, the speech is very comprehensive, its a good starting point. The details will be important over the next coming days and weeks. Whats going to be included in there . How much money for prevention and how much money to try to get the education out there both for physicians, dentists that write prescriptions and patients who come in demanding thats the only things they need. A multipronged approach he talked about and a good starting point. Over the next days and weeking well find actualexactly what t details are. Thats going to be extremely, extremely important. The details, they say, always there. Something we have not seen often from this president , and that is a statement that was comprehensive, that was thoughtful. That laid out personal feelings, but it will be in the coming weeks to see what the actual action is, how does congress get involved and the impact. He promised the numbers will start to tumble downward on this Opioid Crisis. That wraps things up for this hour. Im Chris Jansing in for katie t katy tur. Alley val shi pick velshi pick from here. And were facing a Public Health emergency. Effective today my administration is officially declaring the Opioid Crisis a national, Public Health emergency, under federal law. And why i am directing all executive agencies to use every appropriate Emergency Authority to fight the Opioid Crisis. We can be the generation that ends the Opioid Epidemics we can do it. [ applause ] the president laid out his plan to liberate our communities from drug addiction. Changes regulation on existing funding and promises to speed up help for local community but does not mean extra money. That would come with a different declaration, a National Emergency. Something the president has pledged many times. In fact, as recently as yesterday. Im saying officially right now it is an emergency. Its a National Emergency. Were going to spend a l
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