As part of the overall administration effort to contain and respond to the Coronavirus issue President Trump is traveling to Maryland today to participate in a roundtable and tour of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Anticipated start time 2:30pm ET.

UPDATE: Video and Transcript Added

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[Transcript] – DR. FAUCI: Mr. President, thank you very much for coming to the NIH today.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

DR. FAUCI: We really are very pleased —

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Tony.

DR. FAUCI: — with your visit. And I want just, again, thank you for your support of everything that we’ve been doing in this obviously very important problem.

What I’ve asked is just first to have Francis Collins —

THE PRESIDENT: Good.

DR. FAUCI: — our director, just make a couple of comments about the NIH in general. And then I’ll talk to you about some of the things that you and I have been talking about for the past few weeks.

THE PRESIDENT: Good. Thank you.

DR. COLLINS: Well, Mr. President, welcome to NIH. It’s wonderful to have you here —

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Francis.

DR. COLLINS: — even though we are, in fact, faced with a very serious public health situation. We have a lot of people here that are working hard on it and are honored by your presence, and honored also by the presence of the Secretary, my boss, and a wonderful boss he is indeed.

Maybe I just quickly say who else is at the table so you understand who we’re with here. Starting over here, Dr. Barney Graham; he’s the Deputy Director of the Vaccine Research Center, and that’s where we are right now.

Next to him is Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, who is the front line on the bench, making this coronavirus vaccine happen.

THE PRESIDENT: Good.

DR. COLLINS: So a wonderfully talented young scientist in our midst.

You know Dr. Fauci, of course. Next to him, Dr. John Mascola, who’s the Director of the Vaccine Research Center. And next to him, Dr. Larry Tabek, who’s the Principal Deputy Director of NIH.

THE PRESIDENT: Good.

DR. COLLINS: And we are all thrilled to have you here.

I just wanted to say a word about NIH because we haven’t had the privilege of having you with us before, and just to sort of set the context for this remarkable institution — supported by your administration — the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world, the National Institutes of Health.

We distribute most of our funds — more than 80 percent — to institutions all over the country. So when you hear about a breakthrough in medical research that happened at the University of Illinois or Florida, it was probably supported by NIH. And we use the most rigorous peer review system in the world to decide what we’re going to fund.

And we do everything from fundamental discovery to clinical trials and everything in between. You could say we do Alzheimer’s to Zika, or A to Z, or some version of that.

And we also support infrastructure that makes it possible at a time like this to be able to move rapidly in terms of developing a vaccine. And you’ll hear more about that from Dr. Fauci.

The consequences of NIH research you could measure in various ways: extension and longevity. Reduction in deaths from heart attack down to 70 percent from what they used to be; strokes likewise. Cancer rates of death dropping about 1 or 2 percent a year. HIV, which used to be a death sentence, now compatible with long survival. Cystic fibrosis disease used to be maybe able to get kids to live for 8 or 10 years; now, just in the last few months, announcement of a drug therapy. That means a lot of those individuals are planning for retirement.

THE PRESIDENT: Wow. That’s great.

DR. COLLINS: What a big change that has been.

Economics: I think we could also say this is one of the government’s best investments, because the return on investment — every dollar that NIH spends is about 8 dollars and 38 cents, because of all of the other economic activity that that inspires.

But a major component of NIH — though it’s only about 11 percent of the budget — is the intramural program, and that’s where you are now on this campus. More than 5,000 MDs, PhDs, and MD-PhDs work here on a wide variety of things. A few hundred yards from here, the largest research hospital in the world, the NIH Clinical Center.

Among our achievements: the first chemotherapy for leukemia; the development of AZT for HIV; cancer immunotherapy now saving lives, including people who thought that there was no hope for them and are now being not just helped but cured; dramatic advances in treating depression. Lithium was invented here. Ketamine now turning to be a really exciting development for people with resistant depression.

The first gene therapy for humans done here at NIH and now evolving to a point where we are curing, on this campus, people with sickle cell disease with gene therapy.

And, of course, vaccines — vaccines — developed here for childhood meningitis, for HPV, for Ebola. And now we’re going to talk about coronavirus.

So for all these reasons, people call us the “National Institutes of Hope,” and we’re happy to embrace that particular description.

And you have next to you the — probably most highly regarded infectious disease expert in the country — I might even say in the world —

THE PRESIDENT: I agree.

DR. COLLINS: — Dr. Tony Fauci. And we have been graced by his presence for many decades, and he is exactly the right person to tell you what we’re doing right now about coronavirus and how we’re going to address the need for a vaccine, in order to tackle this really difficult problem.

So thank you for being here. I hope that’s helpful.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you, Francis. Thank you very much.

DR. FAUCI: Okay. Again, thanks again. I just want to connect what we’ve been talking about over the past few weeks. So if I could just get the — see, this slide here, remember when I mentioned that the fastest from the time that you get a pathogen — you know what it is — to the time you do a phase one trial for safety?

So look at what’s happened. When SARS was in 2003, from the time we got the virus to the time we did the first phase one trial — remember, that doesn’t mean you have a vaccine; it means for safety — it was 20 months. Then, H5N1 influenza, we got it down to 11. H1N1 influenza, 4. Zika, 3.25. And now, we believe, as I’ve told you several times, it’s two to three months. I think it’s going to be two.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s fantastic. That’s great.

DR. FAUCI: So that kind of thing is what this place is all about. It’s kind of like the SWAT team of going out and responding to emerging microbes.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

DR. FAUCI: So, you know, this building, this entire center, was first started in response to making a vaccine for HIV. But the crew that we brought together — and we brought the best of the best from all over the country — Dr. John Mascola, who’s the director of this place — we do everything, from fundamental basic science to the clinical trials.

We would — I mean, and I say this with some pride but also with some modesty, is that there’s a lot questions and things that we need to do, but this group is so good at what they do that every time we have a challenge — and that challenge could be flu, that challenge could be Ebola, that challenge could be anything — we always turn to this team to do that. And it’s really something that we feel that is — we’re proud of, but I think the nation should know that these are the kind of things we have available for them.

John, do you want to —

DR. MASCOLA: I would just like to also welcome you, Mr. President, Mr. Secretary —

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, John.

DR. MASCOLA: — to our vaccine research center. We look
forward to a brief tour for you upstairs, where you can have Dr. Corbett and Dr. Graham tell you about how we’re working on the coronavirus vaccine.

DR. FAUCI: Right.

THE PRESIDENT: Good.

DR. FAUCI: Just to give you a comparison, because we always talk about SARS and we always talk about MERS and things like that — if we could have — just go through the slide. I just want to — go to the next slide.

(A presentation slide is displayed.)

Just — this is an article that I wrote a little while ago and I called it “Coronavirus Infections—More Than Just the Common Cold.” The reason is, up until recently, coronaviruses were like mild things. They were just common cold and they just — next slide.

In fact, those are all different kinds of viruses. The ones with the red circle around them are the four viruses that cause the common cold. That was until 2002. Then we got a big surprise. And the surprise was — next — is that we had the severe acute respiratory syndrome, and that was SARS.

Multiple years later, we got the Middle East respiratory syndrome. But a story that you may remember, if you — next slide. In China, in the Guangdong province — this sort of history repeats itself, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Right. Right.

DR. FAUCI: In China, in the Guangdong province, there was this strange disease that came up that nobody knew what it was. The Chinese didn’t really tell anybody about it for a few months, November, until it got to Hong Kong. When it got to Hong Kong — next slide — in a hotel in Hong Kong — and this was way back in 2003 — someone from China went to the hotel, infected a bunch of people — next slide — and this is what you had: You had flights going — at the time, we didn’t make any restrictions the way you did, which I think saved us, really, a lot of — a lot of hurt. Next slide.

And then this is what happened: There were 8,000 cases, 774 deaths. And that’s how I get the number that I’ve been telling you that the mortality of SARS was about 9 or 10 percent. If you do that math, that’s what it is.

THE PRESIDENT: Right. Wow.

DR. FAUCI: Next slide. The other one is the MERS coronavirus, which was the one that was in Saudi Arabia. That was also from an animal reservoir. Next. In fact, it was from a bat. Next. From a bat to camel. And then for the people in the Middle East who got it, that was the infection there.

So these are the kind of things that go from an animal reservoir to a human. Sometimes it doesn’t go anywhere; it just goes one to two people. But sometimes it adapts itself to function very, very, very efficiently.

Next. And that’s what happened. We had MERS coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, we had a few cases in the United States, but not many.

And finally — next — this is where we are right now, with the coronavirus. And then, just getting back to the last — we got this sequence about a week after the Chinese were able to put it up on the board and — next — and then these are the things that we do: Therapeutics, vaccines.

So we’ll stop there, but we’d really like to hear some comments from you, Mr. President, if you want to —

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I want to thank you all. This is incredible. And I’ve heard about you, and I know all of you by name, and now I get to meet you. unfortunately, I get to meet you, because we’re talking about this.

But we’ve made tremendous progress. I know you’re dealing with other nations to help them out because they really — they got hit, some of them very badly. And we’re talking to them also. And we’re making decisions as to whether or not we’re allowed to travel — they’re allowed to travel. They’ve been — we’ve been pretty severe on those restrictions, but I guess we did the right thing by being severe.

NIH is the home of — I mean, I see so many different factors, and it’s true — the greatest doctors. I’ve heard that for so long. I heard that from my uncle, Dr. John Trump. He — big fan of what you’ve done and how it started. And it’s really been an incredible situation.

But the scientists and researchers all over the world, they say this is the best there is. And I think the world is extremely happy that you’re involved.

And, Tony, your reputation is second to none. I think we all agree with that. You have to agree with that, John, right? I mean, you have no choice.

DR. MASCOLA: Indeed, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: But the fact is, it is — in this case, it’s true. And we’re very lucky to have you.

I will say that the Vice President is over on the Hill. He’s just leaving now, and I told him to stay there and finish it up.

But we’re doing very well in terms of getting the funding we need, the necessary funding. And I asked for X, and they want to give us more than X. And that’s okay, as far as I’m concerned. In this case, Francis, that’s unusual, but that’s okay.

But I just want to thank everybody at NIH and all of the great scientists and doctors and everything. I know you’re working around the clock. I know you’ve made some great finds already, and that’s — really, it makes us feel very good.

We had some good meetings yesterday with the companies that — I guess you ultimately would go to the companies? You’d have to go to the companies. So we had Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson and some of the other great companies, and they were very positive as what — as to the outcome.

And therapeutics were a very big thing, because I guess therapeutics can happen faster than the actual vaccine. And certainly the result can happen a lot faster. So we’re looking for some good answers.

But I just want to thank you very much, Tony. And we really appreciate it. And, John, thank you. Thank you very much. Fantastic job. Thank you very much.

DR. COLLINS: Great to have you here.

THE PRESIDENT: And, you, I don’t have to shake hands with. (Laughter.) I see him every — I see him every day, so I don’t have to bother.

So thank you all very much. Great job. Appreciate it.

Q Mr. President, would you travel to Japan or Italy right now?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I haven’t been asked to. But I think we’re making decisions on certain parts of those countries, as you know. We’ve already made a decision on parts of Italy.

And Japan — it’s very unfortunate because I’ve seen the incredible job they did on the Olympics. As you know, they’re building a facility; it’s really finished. It’s beautiful. It’s finished right on time — as usual, with the Japanese. The Prime Minister, a very good friend of mine. And — Prime Minister Abe. And so I don’t know what they’re going to do. They have this magnificent facility, and I don’t know what they’re going to do, but they’ll make the right decision, I know that.

But, yes, if it was necessary, I would do it. Yes.

Q What’s your timeline on further travel restrictions, Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we’re looking at different areas, and we’ll make that decision with these professionals. We made an early decision based on a little bit of luck, I suspect, but that was the original decision on China itself. And China, in all fairness to them, they never blamed us. It was, you know, a tough decision for them, but they fully understood. They were very reasonable about it. But that was a hard decision to make. But I guess we would have had a lot more people with difficulty if we didn’t make that decision very early on.

But we’ll be making additional decisions as they arise, I guess, Tony.

Q What about closing the southern border? Is that still on the table?

THE PRESIDENT: We’re not looking at it very strongly. We’re not seeing a lot of evidence in that area. We’re closing it, I guess, automatically because we have a very strong border there now. We didn’t have a strong border at all. We’ve built 129 miles of wall, and the wall area is 100 percent secure.

But we haven’t seen any great — I don’t think we’ve seen any great evidence of that area as a problem at this moment. So we won’t have to bother with that at this moment.

Anybody? You’re so nice today. I can’t believe it. (Laughter.)

DR. FAUCI: This is the NIH. That’s it.

THE PRESIDENT: It’s the NIH. It rubbed off.

Q What about Super Tuesday?

THE PRESIDENT: Say it?

Q Tell us about Super Tuesday, how you’re watching the primaries that are taking place.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, it’s going to be a very interesting evening of television. I think it’s really going to be something. It’s — they’ve got some races going on that didn’t seem to exist a few days ago. And now Biden has come up a little bit. And I don’t know what’s happened with Bernie. I think they’re trying to take it away from him. I don’t know if that’s fair, but I guess it’s politics when you get right down to it and what’s fair.

But I think it’s going to be a very interesting evening of television. And because of the time difference — California time difference — it’s going to go a little bit later than we’re accustomed to, right?

Q And who would you like to most —

THE PRESIDENT: And I will be watching — who would I like to win? Anybody. I’ll take anybody I have to. That’s the way it’s going to work. Doesn’t matter.

Q You have a favorite opponent?

THE PRESIDENT: No, I have — I really just — you know, we’ve done a great job. We have the strongest economy on Earth. We — we’ve gone up and, you know — as you know, China’s economy has been hurt very badly, long before this. We’ve done a really good job, and I think people understand that. And I’m looking at polls that are very good.

But, you know, whoever it is, it is. We’ll take them on. We have no choice, right?

Anything else? Steve?

Q Do you have a reaction to the North Korean launch of those missiles yesterday?

THE PRESIDENT: No, I have no reaction. Short-term missiles? No. No. None.

Q And on the Afghanistan — was that your first conversation with the leader of the Taliban?

THE PRESIDENT: I don’t want to say that. But we had a very good conversation with the leader of the Taliban today, and they’re looking to get this ended, and we’re looking to get it ended. I think we all have a very common interest. We’ll find out about the country itself. But the country really has to get it ended. We’ve been there for 20 years. Other presidents have tried and they have been unable to get any kind of an agreement.

The relationship is very good that I have with the mullah. And we had a good, long conversation today. And, you know, they want to cease the violence. They’d like to cease violence also.

Q And the Afghan government seems reluctant to turn over those 5,000 prisoners.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, they may be reluctant. You know, they’ve been — they’ve done very well with the United States for many years, far beyond military, if you look at all the money that we’ve spent in Afghanistan. We’ve spent trillions of dollars. Trillions of dollars.

And we’re really a police force. We’re really not fighting, per se. It’s a fight that, if we had to, we’d win. But I don’t want to kill millions of people. We would win it fairly quickly, but I don’t want to kill millions of people. I think it’s crazy. And so we’ve been there — we’ll be very — very soon, it’ll be 20 years.

And I said, right from the beginning, not easy to get out of these conflicts. Very complex in terms of all of the people you have to deal with, including, frankly, people in the Senate, people in the House. And a lot of people feel differently about things. But I’ve been amazed at how positive the response is to getting out of Afghanistan and to moving on. And I really had a great conversation with him today.

Yes?

Q Back to coronavirus. Are you considering new guidelines for nursing homes, given the cluster in Washington State?

THE PRESIDENT: I could ask you to answer that question.

SECRETARY AZAR: So I —

DR. FAUCI: Mr. Secretary?

SECRETARY AZAR: So, actually, we have been educating healthcare providers, really, from day one, back in January, about the need to be on guard against respiratory syndrome. And then, when we had this case of the long-term care facility in Washington, we sent out special alerts to long-term care facilities to be very mindful about infection control, isolation, with these most vulnerable of our seniors and other individuals who have comorbid conditions.

And that’s really — what we’ve been seeing around the world is the prevalence of fatalities have been in the elderly and those who have other forms of medical fragility, comorbid conditions. And so really being on very high alert in our nursing home community is called for.

Q Mr. Secretary, can you talk about your meeting with lawmakers today and what specifically they’re asking the federal government? What’s their biggest concern?

SECRETARY AZAR: Well, I think it’s the same concern that we’ve all had, which is getting testing out there rapidly into the community so that we can be testing as many people as possible.

As you know, our excellent teams down at the CDC developed the test really in record time, within weeks of getting the genetic sequence back in January. And we approved the diagnostic at CD- — at the FDA, under an emergency use authorization in record time.

We’ve been able to be testing at CDC throughout, without any backlog in testing. Our throughput has been great there. We’ve had 12 labs qualify to be able to do the testing. We did suffer a manufacturing issue on that test as it went out to the rest of the public health labs.

We’ve gotten that issue solved in the last week, so that’s up and running in the public health labs. We also have gotten this test produced by this contractor to get it out. So we will, this week, have up to 75,000 tests shipping out there to public health labs, as well as available to hospitals who order it.

And then something really important happened on Saturday morning. So one of the biggest issues around testing that people don’t understand is, during the Obama administration, the FDA, for the first time, asserted control and regulatory jurisdiction over what are called “lab developed tests.” Before that, if a hospital or a lab, like a Quest Diagnostics, a Lab Corps, or an academic medical center would develop a test on their own with reagents and tests, they could just do that if they were a certified clinical lab, called a CLIA lab.

But under the Obama administration, the FDA asserted jurisdiction and said, “You have to come to us first and get approval of that test before you can do it.” On Saturday morning, Commissioner Hahn issued guidance saying, under an emergency use authorization, we are permitting these labs — these public health labs, these hospital labs, commercial labs — to go ahead, get the test going, do your own test, make it available, and come to us for approval after the fact under emergency use authorization.

That will make, as Commissioner Hahn has said, millions of tests per week available quite rapidly.

Q Mr. Secretary, can I ask you about the study from the CDC today that showed the Americans most at risk of contracting coronavirus are the ones with people living with patients? So should Americans be less worried about catching the virus from, say, people on the street or people at an airport?

SECRETARY AZAR: So what we said at the press conference just yesterday is very consistent with that, which is: For the average American, in your daily life, the risk of getting coronavirus — the novel coronavirus — is very low. But if you are around individuals who have the novel coronavirus, the risk obviously is higher.

And that’s why the efforts we’re taking with the state of Washington and with Santa Clara County, and elsewhere in the country, are around what’s called “community mitigation,” which is to isolate individuals who have the disease, as well as to reduce social contact to bring the level of disease spreading down.

Q And, Mr. President, I don’t know if you had seen reports about the Vice President having shaken hands with students from a Florida school, one of whom have been placed in a voluntary self-quarantine. Does that concern you at all? What did you think about that?

THE PRESIDENT: I haven’t seen that report. No.

SECRETARY AZAR: I haven’t seen it either.

THE PRESIDENT: I haven’t seen it.

Q Mr. President, how much money should go to hospitals for the uninsured?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we’re going to look at the uninsured because they have a big problem. And we’re going to look at the uninsured people that — you know, this came — it was a surprise to all of us. It just happened. It shows what can happen in life. But we’re going to be looking at the uninsured and see if we can help them out.

SECRETARY AZAR: We’re working — as part of the emergency supplemental, we’ll work with Congress on programs to help hospitals as they care for the uninsured with novel coronavirus.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay. Thank you all very much. Thank you.

END 3:11 P.M. EST

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Tonight President Trump heads to Charlotte, NC, for another massive Keep America Great rally at The Bojangles Coliseum. President Trump is expected to speak at 7:00pm EST.

RSBN Livestream Link – Donald Trump 2020 Livestream – Fox News Livestream

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Prior to bilateral discussions at the White House, President Trump and President Duque of Colombia held a press availability in the oval office. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. It’s my honor to have the President of Colombia with us. We have many things to discuss, including borders and trade and, unfortunately, drugs and drug trafficking. And we’re going to have a good, long session.

This was scheduled very quickly, over the weekend, and we look forward to meeting. We’re going to have representatives on both sides. Many things to talk about.

And thank you very much, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT DUQUE: Thank you so much, Mr. President. It’s always an honor to be here. As you know, we have been strong allies, not only defending democracy in the region, but also fighting corruption and drug trafficking. You know the commitment we have jointly against those terrible threats.

So it’s a pleasure to be here. Thank you so much, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’ve been working very well together on drugs and on trafficking — beyond drugs, trafficking and drugs, and trafficking and lots of other things. Unfortunately, human trafficking, which has become a very big problem.

Tonight, I’ll be going — as you know, we’ll be going to North Carolina. We have a big rally scheduled, and that should be, I think, terrific. It’s — thousands of people are already out there waiting. So we’re going to have, hopefully, a good time. We’re going to make a lot of different predictions tonight also.

Working very hard with CDC, with everybody in the — on a subject that has become a very big subject. The — our country is doing very well. Our professionals are doing, really, an incredible job.

We’re also working with other countries to help them because they really have a fear of the unknown. We’re working very much with a lot of other countries on — including Colombia — but we’re working with a lot of other countries on helping them with respect to this problem. And, again, we’re doing very well.

Some additional people were reported. They’re in good shape, but we have some additional people that were reported. Not very many in the United States. So we will be having a news conference later.

I’m also meeting with the pharmaceutical companies later on this afternoon. We have a big meeting with the biggest companies. Really, the most powerful companies — hopefully the smartest companies — anywhere in the world when it comes to drugs and vaccines, because we’re talking about a vaccine. Maybe a cure; it’s possible. So we’ll see about that. But we’re talking about a vaccine. And they’re moving along very quickly. All of the pharmaceutical companies are moving along very quickly.

But you’ll be invited to a part of that meeting, so we’ll see you a little bit later on in the afternoon. And thank you all very much. Thank you.

Q President Trump, what do you think about the efforts of Colombian government to fight against drugs? Do you agree with the aerial spraying with glyphosate?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, you’re going to have to spray. If you don’t spray, you’re not going to get rid of them. So you have to spray, with regard to the drugs in Colombia. Yeah.

Q Are you going to talk about Venezuela?

PRESIDENT DUQUE: And let me —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes, we will.

PRESIDENT DUQUE: — add something that is very important. We have to combine all the elements that we have: obviously, precision spraying, but also the record highs that we reached in 2019 on manual eradication and also dismantling the drug cartels.

So we have to work on all the elements, and we have to be very strong against crime. That crime is hurting our people and it’s hurting people everywhere. And we need to work jointly in that effort, as we have been doing so far.

Q Regarding Venezuela, what’s next steps from the United States, helping the region?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’re talking about Venezuela. One of the things we’re talking about is Venezuela. A big subject for us. And they’re treating the people of Venezuela unbelievably badly. They don’t have water, they don’t have food. They don’t have anything. And we are talking about that. That’s a big — that’s a big topic of discussion.

Yes, Steve?

Q What do you want to hear from —

PRESIDENT DUQUE: Mr. President, if I may add something to that.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes, please.

PRESIDENT DUQUE: It’s very important that we are stronger on sanctions against a dictatorship in Venezuela. Venezuela is running out of things. They have destroyed all the healthcare system. So we have to, in this year, work together jointly so there’s a political and democratic transition that is effective in Venezuela.

Q What do you want to hear from pharmaceutical executives about the vaccine?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we’re talking. You know, this meeting was set up before, and that was about drug pricing. This meeting was set up a long time ago with the pharmaceutical companies. And that meeting was about drug pricing, because we brought the numbers down last year — first time in 51 years that the drug prices, prescription, have come down.

And I have a meeting scheduled on drug prices, but now we’re going to make another subject and that will be — probably the first subject of that has to do with the vaccine, how are they doing.

Q Is it possible to accelerate the development of the vaccine?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, that’s what we’re going to find out. We’ll know that.

Q Dr. Fauci has said it could take a year.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we’ve asked them to accelerate whatever they’re doing, in terms of a vaccine. Absolutely.

Q Mr. President, is it safe or appropriate to be holding rallies during a public health crisis like this?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, these were set up a long time ago. And others are. I mean, you could ask that to the Democrats because they’re having a lot of rallies. They’re all having rallies. That’s what they’re doing. They’re campaigning.

Q But do you think it’s safe? Are you worried at all?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think it’s very safe. Yeah. I think it’s very safe.

Q Mr. President, do you think that the inter-Afghan talks are going to actually start on the —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Say it?

Q Do you think that the inter-Afghan talks are really going to start as planned on (inaudible)?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we’re going to find out. But we’re getting out. We want to get out. We had good meetings with the Taliban. And we are going to be leaving, and we’re going to be bringing our soldiers back home. We’ve been there for almost 20 years. It’s a long time. We’ve done a great job in terms of getting rid of terrorists. Now it’s up to other countries to get rid of those terrorists.

Q What if the violence picks back up again?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we’re going to meet. We have discussions to go. But we’ve made a lot of progress. Okay? Thank you.

Thank you all very much. See you later.

END 10:47 A.M. EST

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appears on Face The Nation with Margaret Brennan to discuss the negotiated peace agreement between the U.S. and Taliban in Afghanistan.

The United States and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Taliban) have signed a peace agreement to end the nineteen-year war in Afghanistan.  [Details Here]  During the signing ceremony Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered the following remarks.

[Video and Transcript]

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[Transcript] – SECRETARY POMPEO: Good afternoon. I want to start by thanking His Highness Sheikh Tamim for Qatar’s invaluable role as host of these historic talks. His unstinting support, and yours foreign minister, have supported both sides and allowed them to reach this momentous day.

The United States and the Taliban have endured decades of hostility and mistrust. Previous talks have faltered. This effort only became real for the United States when the Taliban signaled interest in pursuing peace and ending their relationship with al-Qaida and other foreign terrorist groups. They also recognized that military victory was impossible. I then asked Ambassador Khalilzad to serve as our lead negotiator to gauge the Taliban’s sincerity.

The agreement that we will sign today is the true test of this effort. We will closely watch the Taliban’s compliance with their commitments and calibrate the pace of our withdrawal to their actions. This is how we will ensure that Afghanistan never again serves as a base for international terrorists.

The negotiation process in Doha, with all of its twists and turns, has shown it is possible for us to take this step together. Over the past seven days, violence levels have reached their lowest point in the last four years. U.S. and Afghan forces responded to the reduced enemy attacks by also respecting peace. It was not perfect, but the Taliban demonstrated, even if only for a week, that when they have the will to be peaceful, they can be.

The Afghan people have rejoiced. They are moving freely about the country to visit family and friends. They’re trading. They’re even dancing in the streets. But we’re just at the beginning. Furthering the cause of peace will require serious work and sacrifice by all sides – the United States, the coalition, the Taliban, the Afghan Government, other Afghan leaders, and the Afghan people themselves – to maintain the momentum needed to reach a comprehensive, inclusive, and durable peace.

This agreement will mean nothing, and today’s good feelings will not last, if we don’t take concrete actions on commitments and promises that have been made. When it comes down to it, the future of Afghanistan is for Afghans to determine. The U.S.-Taliban deal creates the conditions for Afghans to do just that.

Here’s our take. Here’s our take on what steps by the Taliban will make this agreement a success.

First, keep your promises to cut ties with al-Qaida and other terrorists. Keep up the fight to defeat ISIS. Welcome the profound relief of all Afghan citizens – men and women, urban and rural – as a result of this past week’s massive reduction in violence and dedicate yourselves to continued reductions. It is this significant de-escalation of violence that will create the conditions for peace, and the absence of it, the conditions and cause for failure. All Afghans deserve to live and prosper without fear.

Sit down with the Afghan Government, other Afghan political leaders, and civil society, and start the difficult conversations on a political roadmap for your country. Exercise patience, even when there is frustration. Honor the rich diversity of your country and make room for all views. Afghan governments have failed because they weren’t sufficiently inclusive.

The Afghan Government of 2020, and indeed the Afghanistan of 2020, is not the same as in 2001. Embrace the historic progress obtained for women and girls and build on it for the benefit of all Afghans. The future of Afghanistan ought to draw on the God-given potential of every single person.

If you take these steps, if you stay the course and remain committed to negotiations with the Afghan Government and other Afghan partners, we and the rest of the international community assembled here today stand ready to reciprocate.

I know there will be a temptation to declare victory. But victory – victory for Afghans – will only be achieved when they can live in peace and prosper. Victory for the United States will only be achieved when Americans and our allies no longer have to fear a terrorist threat from Afghanistan, and we will do whatever it takes to protect our people.

The United States will press all sides to stay focused on the goal of a peaceful, prosperous, and sovereign Afghanistan and an Afghanistan free of malign foreign interference where all voices and communities are heard and are represented. This is the only way – this is the only way – a sustainable peace can be achieved. And for all of us here, and most importantly for the security of the American and Afghan people, this must happen.

Thank you. (Applause.)

[End Transcript]

[Agreement Link] – [Signed Agreement Link]

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Following the official signing ceremony U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a news conference to discuss details of the peace agreement between Washington and the Taliban.

[Video and Transcript]

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[Transcript] – SECRETARY POMPEO: Good afternoon, everyone. Today is an historic day for the United States of America and the American people. Today, we have taken a decisive step toward peace, real peace in Afghanistan. Just as any worthy journey begins, it is a first step.

Nearly 19 years ago, America embarked on a noble mission to mightily pursue the terrorist perpetrators of the September 11th attacks and their evil supporters and to prevent such a heinous attack from ever happening again. We have achieved great things. We have ensured Afghanistan isn’t a haven for terrorists who can attack us, and we have bettered the lives of Afghan people, for which we are very proud.

Today, political debate in Afghanistan is free and vigorous. Today, more than 9 million students are enrolled in school; 39 percent of them are girls. Today, more than 57 percent of Afghans have access to basic health care, compared to just 9 percent in 2002. And al-Qaida – al-Qaida today – is a shadow of its former self. We have decimated its leadership and now have the Taliban agreeing that al-Qaida must never again find safe haven in Afghanistan.

But just as Afghanistan today isn’t the Afghanistan of 2001, the world of 2020 isn’t the world of 2001 either. Today, the United States faces national security challenges that weren’t even imagined a few years ago, from Iran, from China, from Russia, and elsewhere. President Trump has recognized this new reality. He also saw that our sacrifices and gains in Afghanistan and realized the hard truth that a comprehensive, inclusive, durable peace could only be secured by the Afghan people themselves.

Today, we are realistic. We are seizing the best opportunity for peace in a generation, built on the hard work of our soldiers, diplomats, businessmen, aid workers, friends, and the Afghans themselves.

Today, we are restrained. We recognize America shouldn’t fight in perpetuity in the graveyard of empires if we can help Afghans forge peace.

And we have respect. We believe that the Afghan people are ready to chart their own course forward.

Today, following the first ever weeklong break in fighting in nearly 19 years, I am proud to announce that the United States has secured separate commitments from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban to hold negotiations for peace.

Very importantly, the U.S.-Taliban agreement entails a promise from the Taliban that terrorists can never again operate from Afghan soil. We make no mistake; the chapter of American history on the Taliban is written in blood that killed many Americans, NATO allies, coalition partners, and many Afghans.

I am just as angry over 9/11 as I was the day I watched al-Qaida knock down the Twin Towers on TV. Our valiant servicemembers, intelligence warriors, and world-class diplomats who have served in Kandahar and in Helmand and all over Afghanistan know firsthand what I mean. They know what I mean exactly.

And we know exactly who we’re dealing with. If the Taliban do not uphold their commitments, President Trump and his team will not hesitate to do what we must do to protect American lives.

If, on the other hand, the Taliban abide by their promises, the United States will undertake a responsible, conditions-based troop withdrawal. That withdrawal means that our men and women in uniform will incur fewer risks, our financial burden will be eased, and our brave troops will return home.

This is a hopeful moment, but it’s only the beginning. There is a great deal of hard work ahead on the diplomatic front.

Finally, let me speak directly to those invested in Afghanistan.

First, to America’s military and intelligence warriors, I know that some of you may be on your fifth or sixth tours of duty, maybe even more, far from the comforts of home. As the CIA director, it was my honor to join you in dealing blow after blow to this vicious enemy. Many of you wear black and silver bracelets in tribute to your brothers and sisters who died so that your countrymen might live in peace and security.

We will not squander what they and you have won through blood, sweat, and tears. You’ve kept America safe alongside our allies and Afghan partners. You’ve helped give the people of Afghanistan this opportunity for a brighter future.

Second, to our NATO allies and other coalition partners who have sacrificed right alongside of us, we will continue to look to you and to all countries which support these agreements to help maintain this nascent peace. Whether it’s Norway or Australia or Japan or any of our other valued friends and partners, we know you share our cautious hope.

To Afghanistan’s neighbors, including Pakistan, we thank you for your efforts in helping reach these historic agreements and make clear our expectation that you will continue to do your part to promote a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan so that the country and region can reap the benefits of lasting peace.

And to the Afghan people, this is your moment. Wars have tortured your country since 1979. No more violence. No more chaos. We’ll listen, listen to the voices of all – young and old, men and women, from every region, from every tribe, from every ethnicity, and from every religion. Factions will undoubtedly emerge that want to spoil our good work. We must call them out and reject their schemes for discord.

I’ll close by urging all parties to heed the wisdom of the pursuit of peace that’s found in Scripture: “Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies; turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.”

Today, we have sought peace. We will continue to pursue it. Thank you, and I am happy to take a few questions.

♦MS ORTAGUS: Thanks. We’ll start with Francesco Fontemaggi, AFP.

♦QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I wanted to know exactly what will make you stop the withdrawal if the Talibans don’t respect their agreement. Is it counterterrorism commitments, or is it the outcome of the negotiations, intra-Afghan negotiation, meaning that the timeline for the complete withdrawal is 14 months? Would they have to complete an agreement, intra-Afghan agreement by then, or just make progress in their negotiations? Thank you.

SECRETARY POMPEO: So we’ve spent many months getting to where we are today, and there are a set of interlocking understandings, implementation agreements, that are clearly spelled out. I am confident that each party that’s been part of this – the Afghan Government, ourselves, the Taliban – understands precisely the commitments that they have made and the response – not only the response about the speed and magnitude of the withdrawal of not only American but coalition forces, but the other elements of support that the United States provide. We’ve made commitments to continue to provide that security assurances for the Afghan Government, but it is our very expectation that the Taliban will live up to their commitments.

But no one should be surprised. The United States will do whatever it takes to keep the American people safe. And so to the extent the Taliban fail to live up to their commitments, President Trump is as committed to peace as he is to ensuring that the American people never suffer an attack again from Afghanistan.

MS ORTAGUS: Thanks. We’ll have Qatar TV now, Abdulla Al-Muraiki.

♦QUESTION: (Via interpreter) I’ll just translate very quick. How do you —

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you.

♦QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Your Excellency, how do you assess the role of Qatar as an ally to the United States in various issues in the region and beyond?

SECRETARY POMPEO: So the nation of Qatar has been an enormously important partner to get us to this very moment. When we have hit bumps in the road, they have helped smooth them out. They have agreed to host a significant piece of the conversations that have taken place that have built out on the set of agreements that you see today. We appreciate that and we thank them.

I had a chance to meet with the Amir as well as with my counterpart today to thank them for the work that they have done as well as to make clear to them that we have every expectation they will continue to help us as we move along this path towards peace. They have been great partners in getting to this point, and we’re counting on them to continue their efforts to deliver for the Afghan people this enormous opportunity that this moment brings.

MS ORTAGUS: Thank you. Christina Ruffini, CBS News.

♦QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Secretary Esper, as everyone knows, is in Kabul signing a joint declaration with President Ghani, and I am wondering if that means that the U.S., that you recognize his election victory, because the statement that came out from the State Department said it was noted, but are you recognizing him as the president of Afghanistan going forward?

And my second question is: Why did you feel the need to be here to be present at the signing today, and why come all the way here and not sign the document yourself? Thank you, sir.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, the document was signed by the two gentlemen who had worked so diligently to execute it, who had worked tirelessly, who had sacrificed so much of their time and effort and who’d put the real energy into being on the ground to get us to this point. It was appropriate that the two negotiators, the two senior negotiators, execute the document that they had delivered for the benefit of the Afghan people.

I wanted to be here because this is a historic moment. This is a historic opportunity. I served as a soldier. I know the sacrifices that so many of our young men and women have made in Afghanistan, and I am determined – I am determined – to reduce their risk, to create fewer young men and women who are on their fourth and fifth and six trip to Afghanistan. I am determined to ensure that there are fewer young men and women sitting at Walter Reed and there are fewer young men and women that never return home to their families.

And that I am equally determined to make sure that there is never again a terror attack from Afghanistan. And I think we now sit on the precipice of a real opportunity, and I want to make sure that I personally do everything that I can to help our State Department get off on the right foot as we begin the difficult diplomatic effort that can lead to this peace that we’re seeking.

I talked for a moment about the changes, the transitions that have taken place in Afghanistan during our time there. This is a very different country than it was when the United States went there to seek revenge for what happened in New York on 9/11. This country is very different. We’ve done enormous work.

The American people have sacrificed a great deal, not only the blood of our soldiers but resources, time, all of the work that the intelligence teams, our diplomats have done on the ground. I wanted to be here to express my appreciation for all we have done over these decades and then to make sure that everyone understood how important this is to get this right, to be here to communicate that the United States is committed to helping the Afghans push this process forward.

Your first question really gets to the political process inside of Afghanistan. We’re going to need every Afghani to join in. I talked about this in my remarks. They’re all going to have to be committed. They’re all going to understand there is something far bigger than being about themselves. They’ve got to deliver for the Afghan people.

The Afghan people want peace. You can see it. If you saw the pictures, Christina, from this week, it was glorious to watch Afghan people walking through the streets – they haven’t been able to do that – to see them dancing and celebrating peace.

The Afghan people are thirsting for the very opportunity that we have now presented to them, and every Afghan leader needs to look deep into their soul and deliver this peace for Afghanistan. It is time. The opportunity is in front of us.

We now have commitments from the Taliban to break with al-Qaida. This is historic. They need to live up to those commitments. They’ve made commitments to continue to reduce the violence level. They need to live up to those commitments.

When they do that, they will find that there is opportunity in this place, that the international community is demanding that Afghanistan be a peaceful place, and the Afghan people richly deserve the opportunity that has been created today. And I wanted to be here to communicate that.

Thank you all very much for being with me today.

[End Transcript]

President Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks to the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC 2020) this afternoon.  The speech was initially scheduled at 3:00pm ET; however, there is a delay due to earlier press briefing.

White House Livestream – NBC Livestream Link – Alternate Livestream Link

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Quite a bit to unpack here, and most of it is very good news.  First, this re-nomination was almost predictable when you look at the totality of the landscape:

President Trump needed to generate an official DNI nomination in order to retain the current acting DNI authorities for Richard “Ric” Grenell; so that’s one aspect.

However, beyond the procedural move there’s the larger background of the FISA reauthorization; and, in my opinion, that larger dynamic is the majority consideration.

The FISA reauthorization and the need for President Trump to support any type of reauthorization that eventually gets through the complex political dynamics within congress; and considering Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell traveled to the White House to discuss this issue yesterday; the outcome is considerable leverage for Trump.

On July 28, 2019, President Trump first nominated John Ratcliffe for the ODNI position to replace former DNI Dan Coats.  However, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence headed by Chairman Richard Burr and Vice-Chairman Mark Warner, informed the White House they would not support Ratcliffe.  Burr and Warner would not have made such a bold statement to undercut the nomination without approval from Mitch McConnell.

The epicenter of the deepest defensive mechanism of the Deep State is the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI).  The SSCI is the bunker, the intelligence manipulation operations headquarters. The SSCI is where the political nuclear weapons (black files and IC gathered political surveillance research) are housed.  As a direct consequence the SSCI is the most corrupt and manipulative committee in all of congress.  The SSCI also controls all nominations within the intelligence community (DNI, CIA, NSA, DOJ-NSD, etc).

As a result of Senator Burr and Senator Warner undermining Ratcliffe, on August 2, 2019, the Ratcliffe nomination was reluctantly withdrawn.

After the Ratcliffe nomination was withdrawn, President Trump was then dragged into the House impeachment effort.  In hindsight it is clear the SSCI position of Burr and Warner was partly due to their desire to watch and see whether the impeachment effort would be successful.   [August ’19 through February ’20 the impeachment effort was tried.]

Representative John Ratcliffe was/is a key member of the House who has investigated the details of the DOJ and FBI intelligence abuse during the 2016 election. Factually, Ratcliffe is one of only four high-clearance House members who had seen all of the unredacted and classified documents associated with the DOJ and FBI activity. [Ratcliffe, Gowdy, Goodlatte and Schiff]

In November of 2019 buried deep in the congressional budget Continuing Resolution (CR) was a short-term extension to reauthorize the FISA “business records provision”, the “roving wiretap” provision, the “lone wolf” provision, and the more controversial bulk metadata provisions [Call Detail Records (CDR)], all parts of the Patriot Act.  As a result of the FISA CR inclusion the terminal deadline was pushed to March 15, 2020.

On December 9, 2019, the DOJ Inspector General report on FISA abuse was released to the public.  Within the IG FISA report the prior statements of John Ratcliffe about the FISA abuse scandal were proven to be exactly correct.  Additionally, the severity of the FISA abuse, including the intentional manipulation of evidence by the FBI, was far more serious and substantive than anyone thought.

While the FISA issues were being investigated congress punted the reauthorization of FISA to March 15. There is a current debate on whether those FISA authorities should be reauthorized.

Representatives requesting FISA reform prior to renewal include: Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan, Doug Collins, Jody Rice, Devin Nunes and Steve Scalise. Additionally, Senator Mike Lee and Senator Rand Paul are trying to force reform or let the current version expire. However, Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell, along with AG Bill Barr, want a clean FISA renewal without public hearings….

It is into this debate where President Trump’s support becomes critical.  Yesterday:

Within the overall dynamic we can see where President Trump would gain leverage on Senate Leader Mitch McConnell over the FISA reauthorization issue.  McConnell wants FISA reauthorized… President Trump wants John Ratcliffe as ODNI.

With that in mind, CTH presented the possibility:

Should Trump cut a deal with McConnell: Support for FISA reauthorization in exchange for Ratcliffe as ODNI?  As you can see from our poll opinions were split with a slight advantage toward making the deal.

Personally, inasmuch as I hate-hate-hate the thought of FISA being renewed in its current context, I am cautiously okay with a deal because I trust current CIA Director Gina Haspel, current ICIG Michael Atkinson, current DoS Secretary Mike Pompeo and current DoD Joint Chief’s Chair Mark Milley, about as far as I can spit while facing a hurricane.

Having John Ratcliffe as ODNI at least provides President Donald Trump with control at the intelligence hub.  If DNI Ratcliffe can then help to remove corrupt schemer Michael Atkinson (ICIG), even better.

The position of DNI is critical within the intelligence community.  Essentially the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is the boss of the CIA Director and NSA Director; and the ODNI handles the flow of classified intelligence; and, importantly, the declassification of information to provide public sunlight.

In the position of DNI John Ratcliffe would have the ability to reach out into any intelligence compartment, retrieve and then declassify any/all documents that might be used to show the gross abuses of power by prior intelligence officials.  [Acting DNI Ric Grenell also has that current authority.]  The information within reach is the risk SSCI Chairman Senator Burr and Vice-Chair Warner have attempted to control.

It is likely President Trump would NOT be nominating John Ratcliffe today if he did not have the support of Mitch McConnell; and McConnell’s assurances the SSCI would not attempt to block the nomination this time.

Yes, it is possible President Trump would make the nomination without McConnell’s nod.  However, that approach would mean Trump is about to enter an all-out war against Republicans in the Senate….. not terribly likely in an election year.

What is most likely is that President Trump used the leverage he carries within the FISA authorization issue to get McConnell to agree to the deal:  FISA for Ratcliffe.

Now we wait to see the details; whether it’s a short-term FISA reauthorization, and what are the changed terms -if any- within the authority.