Transcripts For CNBC Squawk Alley 20240713

Begin to open questions about what does that mean, what are the risks inherent in that absolutely, rick, this is an issue that markets are paying attention to but again, both the commercial paper funding, if we get a facility, a similar way of trying to provide liquidity to markets and make sure companies can keep the doors open would certainly be steps forward to make sure that corporate sector doesnt experience too much stress as a result of this excellent thank you for your thoughts. Were running light on time and we will have you back as this proce progresses back to you. Good tuesday morning. Im Carl Quintanilla here at post nine of the new york stock exchange, Morgan Brennan at headquarters, jon fortt heads our coverage from the floor of the nyse compared to yesterday, relatively stable action no Circuit Breakers taken today, did lose 20 k briefly. Lets get to bob pisani. Not only is it a no, sir cut breakers but the volume is lower and the key event this week is going to be the quadruple expiration at the end of the week normally you get increased volume tuesday and wednesday and thursday and maybe traditionally calmer after that. The s p 500 we were briefly negative after 10 00 eastern time the key level technicals dont mean an awful lot here but 2351 the december 24, 2018 low. Everybody using that mentally. We didnt get close to there right now. Were not far from the highs of the day after the open the announcement of the fed to establish a commercial Paper Funding Facility is welcome news but didnt do a lot to impact the market it had been lifting prior to that banks, for example, mostly to the downside throughout the day. Bank corp and regional banks on top of citigroup and some of the super banks were also down modestly and remain down modestly the big story continues to be staples continuing to rally. A core group of names weve been bringing them for the last three or four days clorox, walmart, which got an upgrade today, kroger, campbells soup, procter gamble, all notably outperforming the market positive for the most part the other story the opposite end we mentioned this on our special at 7 00 p. M. Eastern time the destruction going on in the retail area continuing today these are not typos. L brand downs 27 , guess, kohlls. The consumer is not going to be shopping if and when the stores close and many are closed in the tristate area. I would note we have gotten a read on some of the metal names today. New u. S. Steel and reliance steel and dow inc a material name rebounding a little bit still very, very tentative back to you. Bob pisani, i will take it. Now lets bring in david katz, chief Investment Officer at Matrix Asset Advisors along with sam stover of cfra good morning to you. David, in this market which has been just so volatile, stocks down quite a bit, of course, it is time you argue for those who anything but a short time horizon to think about buying. Who should buy right now and who should sell . Well, basically, if you have a onemonth to threemonth time horizon what youve learned is this market is unpredictable and moving 5 or 10 on the upside and downside and no way to know which its going to go if you have a 12month time horizon and an investor and dont mind the volatility, theres a great likelihood theres going to be some sort of clarity the economy, which might very well go into a recession, an earnings recession, will be on the mend and stocks will be higher 12 months from now. The key is to buy very good businesses with very good Balance Sheets under 12 times earnings youre likely going to make a lot of money now sam, i want to question what a lot higher means. You subscribe to the idea we are in for a vshape recovery but im looking at what new yorks mayor and governor are saying about the need to get cash in the hands of consumers here because of the shock that theyre experiencing because of the coronavirus social distancing measures and bars and restaurants, its important to get cash in hand i wonder if the consumer is not ready to come back, can the markets really have a sustained vshape comeback when this is all over well find out in retrospect, but i think that when you look to Second Quarter gdp, which we expect to show a decline but then to see arecovery in the Third Quarter by more than 3 because we believe that the selfquarantine will be done, there will be a lot of pent up demand that our belief is that we are maybe we see one or two quarters gdp and or earnings declines but our belief is that the consumers are going to want to come back they are going to have cabin fever and want to get out and to do some spending david katz, you just mentioned the opportunity to buy strock businesses with great balances and prices like what . I ask that because the selling has been so broad based and we have seen some of the traditionally more defensive names sell off by double digits recently thats exactly it you dont have to buy names that are in the travel industry that are down a lot you can buy a lot of businesses that probably are not being that affected Companies Like abvi and merck and at t, we like facebook, home depot, getting shellacked on the retailer selloff. They have a better trap, a longterm business, great Balance Sheet, we like it a lot here we like the banks, pnc and wells fargo and the last thing to point out you definitely are starting to see a lot of insider buying and places in the market insiders are investing for the longer term and if they see an opportunity theyre stepping in. Theyve done this when youve had bear markets a year later people kick themselves for not having followed them. Sam, youre a man that likes to run the numbers and put them within historical context. Seeing a lot of comparison right now to things like world war ii, this idea that were at war right now where the coronavirus is concerned, from a numbers standpoint does that make sense . Well, from a numbers perspective, i think it made sense when we were trying to ascertain the killing of general s soleimani and why we thought the market would recover nicely from that, which it did with the coronavirus, history did not serve us well because if you look to one month, two months, three months after, sars, swine flu, mers, ebola and zika the market was higher in every observation, higher one month after the first u. S. Case of the coronavirus, but now in the second month, were down 29 . History has not served us very well and so i think you have to do as david was mentioning, look to historicals, health care, industrials, trading at double discounts to the relative p es and many not only trading at double digits but 20 and 30 below their absolute p e historical averages. David, finally, because you guys seem to be arguing that fiscal stimulus and right kind is key to the kind of recovery that the market hopes to see, i wonder how did workers and freelancers are affected by this weve seen a rise in that. I would even bring in, you know, waiters and waitresses into that group who might not see a benefit interest a payroll tax cut that we expect to see recommended by the administration here. What type of fiscal stimulus do you think would be most effective and perhaps even include those workers, the uber drivers and taskers, waiters and waitresses who maybe dont receive a paycheck by those traditional means . In terms of addressing the virus the government got it very wrong from the beginning theyre finally starting to get their act together in terms of the Health Issues with the quarantine in terms of the fiscal and Monetary Policy, the Monetary Policy we think is where it wants to be and we think the government is going to be pretty aggressive in getting the fiscal policy right, throwing a lot of money and a lot of areas of the economy. We think, you know, the payroll tax could help we think there will be a lot of other resolutions in the next two to four weeks that address some of the areas that you just mentioned that are being hit that are not being properly protected. We think thats going to happen. We think you have everybody in the government understand this is a major problem and major problems get Major Solutions and thats what we would look towards. That will help the market recover when things start to bottom out yeah. Well see if they can figure out how to target that money thank you. My pleasure thank you meantime former wells fargo ceo joins us this morning. Dix, good to see you this morning. Good morning. Good morning. The guys in the prior segment were talking about insider buying and we know that charlie bought some wells on friday at 28 and change. Are you doing any buying im buying a lot of things including bank stocks, although i own a lot of banks i do think its an opportunity i think were going to have a were like throw have a recession, but its going to be vshaped you know, this is all about the virus. Were talking about markets and so forth job number one is we have to get this virus under control we know how to do it other countries have done it and its and it can be solved relatively quickly, maybe a lot of disruptions in our lives to do that, quarantines and so forth. But this is not a financial crisis its not a banking crisis. Its a Health Crisis once that is solved the need for people to go back out and live a normal life is going to have a booming economy once we solve this problem its such a good point, because you look at the price action weve seen, especially in financials and then you look at the experience that obviously different types of countries in china and singapore and taiwan and south korea have had, they have peaked out and it seems like the bear argument right now is not paying attention to that dynamic at all or even that possibility and even you guys, youre still talking about all the issues in the finance and markets and so on. Because were heading into it what you should be talking about is the Health Providers and what needs to get done and talking to south korea and so forth, what happened there, and i think it was interesting that the mayor of new york city said he could see an end 45 days from now. Now im i dont know whether thats an accurate prediction. I certainly wouldnt believe a mayor, but the experts that are out there, you know, and the experience thats happened i think thats where the communication should go. Of course there are svaccines being worked on which is a longer term situation. It sounds like theres some interesting things going on there with people that know the business, the scientists that know the business, think they are going to find a vaccine. 45 days from now sounds good when President Trump is talking about this potentially stretching into august and certainly with everything were seeing play out in south korea, i do hope that becomes something of a template given the fact that we are seeing the numbers come down there. For what plays out here in the u. S. As well in the meantime some of the steps that have been taken in the last couple days where credit is concerned, where the banks specifically are concerned, Kayla Tausche is reporting that the regulators are looking to loosen some of the rules, governing the Bank Industry to basically free up liquidity right now, are these the right steps . Do they go far enough in the meantime well, lets talk about what arent the right steps you know, the monetary bazooka has been triggered it will have no impact in my opinion on improving the economy and doesnt do anything about the Health Issues and has a negative psychology that happened in the financial crisis, quite frankly. You know, they decreased by the fed funds by 50 basis points, the market went down a thousand points. They said lets do double that the market went down 3,000 points they also said like they said in the other crisis that well keep Interest Rates low forever well, that doesnt build any confidence every six weeks the fed came out during the crisis saying things arent very good, were going to keep rates at zero, how does that help the confidence of people and the investors . They also said theyre going to do qe on longterm bonds that didnt help even the financial crisis what they should emphasize and they did, but not enough, is that this is a liquidity crisis, not a financial crisis weve got to make sure that we get through this with by giving the liquidity necessary to do so and if theres any parts of the market that seize up like what happened in the financial crisis and is happening now, like commercial paper, theyll fix it. Those are the two things that they should be emphasizing, not the stuff that didnt work in the past now i hear you, but i want to ask you about something you just said you talked about this being a health issue agree with that, but it also seems to be a policy issue and an economic issue for a certain type of worker workers who are perhaps getting paid in cash, workers who are freelanced what needs to happen to make sure that worker, who was also a consumer, is able to be able to tide over for 45 days and doesnt turn into a financial crisis for that sector of the economy. I would call this fiscal policy we have to for whatever time is going to be nez, we have to support the people, those kinds of people at the lower income, particularly that are the ones that are being to be laid off or already being laid off because we cant go into bars and restaurants and the hotel and hospitality area and airlines and so forth, and we will have to supplement them and be sure that theyre getting Unemployment Insurance and whatever necessary things do to hold them over its very important. And i call that fiscal policy. We also need to ensure that the that whatever Small Businesses of who very little access to loans and capital are able to get through this whats important and we havent learned our lesson, is that industry to help these things get done is the Banking Industry they know how to do credit they know the businesses theyre probably already customers. We need to make sure they have the liquidity to make loans. The fed has decided and we all said this is the problem with the dodd frank bill, that the capital can now be used, not set aside for, i dont know, what do you need more capital for other than to be available in a crisis like this, the capital can b used to make loans, they dont need to keep 20 of their capital in unliquid or liquid assets that they never can use, use those assets, and right. And the window is open. This is a very important factor. One of the reasons that some of the markets are seizing up is because banks arent allowed to trade or take any risks on their Balance Sheet with securities. Yeah. Thats how they seize up. Maybe people will learn a lesson that what we thought were positive things become negative if you dont use them in crises like this. Exactly finally, for our viewers who are Small Business owners, maybe watching from home this morning and they are thinking to themselves, what is forgiveness going to look like regarding my mortgage, regarding my line of credit at the bar or health club that i own, or help run, what will forgiveness look like well, i think for sure, youre not forgiveness is you wont have to pay your Monthly Interest costs and so forth. You will be alolowed to extend that in some form. If you have healthies assets you will be able to get a larger loan with that but the entity can make that risk decision is your local banker but the banker has to have the liquidity to do that and thats where the right. The fed and the treasury and other activities go on exactly. And you have to do these fiscal policies, you know, that were talking about putting 8 billion in and now up to 100 billion and 840 billion. Let me tell you something you shouldnt do and california is usually the ones that do things we shouldnt do, they passed a bill that makes it that seizes up the gig economy. You know, you cannot be a gig you cannot work in the gig economy in california because of a bill that was passed last year yes. Weve been around that block. You cant make this stuff up and they still havent rescinded this. I doing all kinds of other things and all of these workers cannot even work anymore because theyre not allowed to do so basically. I imagine well be looking a law out there is that is being restrictive on the gig economy should absolutely be eliminated right now. Thank you for the fire as always a lot of good information there guys, session highs up almost 600 points on the dow up 111 points on the s p, morgan, which doesnt seem like much a month ago that would have been an enormous move. Isnt it amazing. Weve no decision on a potential Domestic Travel ban from the white house. Its been a tough few sessions more than a few sessions for Airline Stocks our next guest says if all flights do end up being halted the Major Airlines would exhaust their cash reserves in less than a year city Airline Analyst Stephen Trent joins us now. Thank you for having me. Is that the case . How did you get to those numbers in terms of the airlines and what could potentially be a cash crunch, especially as we see this continue to get worse before it gets better . Yeah, certainly so, you know, one of the things we did, you know, the analysis assumes all commercial air traffic haltsz so under those circumstances the only revenue coming through would be credit card revenue, which incidentally did not exist during the previous crisis and in Delta Airlines case you have an oil refinely, certainly with oil markets where they are, there still could be some revenue coming through from that and then we look at the cost side, you have somewhere 25 to 35 some odd percent of costs that are fixed so some of that costs can be deferred and the u. S. Majors, for example, have a little bit heavier fixed costs than the discount carriers. Once we get past what the expected cash would be in the event that all flying stops, then the next layer of the analysis pertains to how much liquidity on hand do the various carriers have so the numbers we looked at were statements by and large made in march. All right got it so were starting to get reports and headlines that potential relief package or bailout from the federal government could be Something Like 50 billion for the Airline Industry how much would it take would this be enough so certainly when we think about, you know, what that means as we apply all 50 million to the kind of largest four and doll out smaller amounts to the regional airlines, i think this is all going to boil down to a determination of how far this coronavirus thing has spread one of the things that i think has been spooking markets, of course, is the lack of data. Wall street and main street for the lack of information so the 50 billion beyond the monthly forecast for any of the five carriers under our coverage. But i think in terms of whether thats adequate pertains to what the coronavirus looks like when we have a better data. Is this something where the curb of new infections means were going to be locked down for a couple months or do we see it might imply a return to normalcy in a couple months versus 2021 or what have you i think the adequacy depends on where the bottom is in this thing which we dont really know at this point. So stephen, how do you model a consumer return to just discretionary travel vacation and what not are there historical events that you look back to that suggest once something happens, once the infection rate begins to decline significantly, whatever it might be, then it starts to return to normal and back at normal levels in, i dont know, one month, two months what are you modeling . Sure, absolutely. So this outbreak is so very different from anything weve faced before, but the two things we looked at fairly closely, how did the industry respond to sars and how did it respond to september 11th what i would say in terms of what were thinking at this point, we see pretty heavy downward decline in q2, but unit revenue falling almost 20 , almost excuse me was actually as bad as we saw during september 11th, and then in the Third Quarter of this year, what were thinking at this point well still get declines on a year on year basis, but the cadence of those declines we think is going to begin moderating some time in 3 q. That, of course, is predicated on the view at this relatively early juncture that we get at least a mild return to or at least a start of a return to normalcy some time in june perhaps which stephen we dont know at this point. On that front really quick, i dont have much time, operationally when consumers are ready to fly, what will the experience of flying be like i mean we saw after 9 11 the changes in baggage and tsa and the security of the cockpit. What would make a customer want to get on a plane again . Yeah, sure. Thats going to take a while first of all, one should not expect capacity to just snap back to where it was in january. Thats not going to happen the other thing thats probably unlikely to happen is what routes would be available. If the coronavirus data says this is widespread, this all takes a long time to recover is it isolated and we have a couple hot zones where there will be no flying. In the nonhot zones we have limited capacity, we possibly have an onboard experience where on a six row, six seat row Economy Class on a plane maybe theyre going to be required to keep the middle seat empty for modest social distancing to keep load factors a at a relatively low level and keep people separated versus the common flying experience. All that being said, its going to take months to get back to normal however, i think the street is going to start to look forward, at some point later this year, on what seems to be the industry poised to come back and have better gains if the street starts to read into these things and we have the disinformation excuse me the lack of information at least largely gone, we think that sets up stocks to react before low factors and demand actually react. Stephen trent of citigroup thanks for joining us on what is a mixed session for the Airlines Stocks more and more americans are turning to telemedicine as Health Officials advise selfquarantine. Doctors on demand ceo Hill Ferguson joins us by phone thanks for being with us thanks, morgan. So, im looking at this headline, cnbc. Com, story Telemedicine Companies are struggling to serve extreme volumes of patients as coronavirus calls surge. Are you seeing extreme volumes we absolutely are were seeing demand up 50 week on week and its growing exponentially to the point where we have a major supply and demand imbalance which has existed in our Overall Health care system and its especially true now of all of telemedicine across the country. One of the key questions as we see more and more people turn to the internet and go online for more and more of their needs right now, including telemedicine is, can you infrastructure handle it well, our Technology Infrastructure is, you know, is standing up. The real issue is really can we bring enough doctors online fast enough to meet patient concern and demand for the service. We are hiring and adding doctors fast and furiously but also looking at ways to enhance our triage technology to make sure that were sorting appropriately so that patients in most need of care are getting the care they need this is one case where getting to the front of the line and the ability to skip the line is actually critical. So were fast developing new a. I. And technology to do that we have a free assessment on our site which has been used about 150,000 times and were doing more there to try to process the volume yeah. One of the questions that certainly gets raised a lot as ive heard as more turn to telemedicine in the time of coronavirus to get a diagnosis or to, you know, check in and about their health, how effective is it to be able to do this over video . Well, its incredibly effective. Its its obviously right thing to do in this time where youve got, you know, massive contagion and you dont want to be infecting others if you think you might be at risk being able to have the consultations remotely from home is absolutely the right setting for care hill, i get how telemedicine can certainly help for people who have symptoms for other things that are not related to coronavirus right now because so many hospitals, emergency rooms, et cetera might be overloaded but i wonder, if someone has symptoms that could be related to covid19 what can a telemedicine doctor do dont they need to get a test . What is the process of moving this from online diagnosis to offline care . Thats a great question i think thats what were working on today, which is better triaging of patients. Ultimately our doctors can do a wonderful job of assessing the probability of a patient with covid19 from there the next step is to get a test and thats where our Health Care System is broken right now. We dont have the Lab Infrastructure and the testing infrastructure set up to where we can create a really simple handoff from a doctor visit into say a drivethrough testing facility these things are being stood up every day. Weve had calls, you know, for the last couple of weeks with Industry Leaders of all these companies to try to do this together, but its you know, were not prepared for it as an industry yeah. Its going to be really fascinating to see what kind of changes actually take route from this entire situation, whether its on the technological side, on the regulatory side Hill Ferguson, doctor on demand ceo, thank you for joining us today. And meanwhile, we are moments away from an update from the White House Coronavirus task force. Sue herera is also with us from hq sue . Indeed i am, jon. Good morning heres the latest on the coronavirus. Iran is warning its citizens millions could die if people continue to travel and ignore Government Health guidance this just hours after hardline shiites stormed several holy sites that had been closed to curb the outbreak. France has implemented new restrictions and called out the army to help move the sick to hospitals. People are being urged to stay home unless they are buying food, going to work, exercising or seeking medical care. 100,000 police will be deployed to enforce the lockdown. Chuck schumer is calling for the senate to pass a stimulus will today so that president can sign it into law the Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell is calling for bold steps. The senate will not adjourn until a bill is passed. Mcdonalds and starbucks have decided to close dine in areas at many u. S. Locations shifting to takeout and delivery instead. Dunkin also limiting service to takeout only and it is encouraging its customers to use the app for mobile ordering. You are up to date and get live updates on the virus going to cnbc. Com. Back to you. Thank you very much, sue herera lets get to news on Facebook Julia boorstin has this. Julia, we really didnt get to mention the theatrical window as much as we could yesterday because there was other news but this facebook [ no audio ] carl, thats right. Facebook will give every employee 1,000 to help them during the coronavirus outbreak. Facebook employs 45,000 fulltime employees at the end of the year. The news was first reported by the information this morning weve confirmed it according to a source close to the situation. Now facebook will also give all its employees top ratings for their first six month reviews of 2020 this will qualify employees for bonuses. This is part of the coronavirus as an extension of that. This follows the announcement this morning that facebook will offer 100 million in cash grants to Small Businesses and as well as free advertising to help them during the pandemic. As for those bonuses for employees, its unclear if they will apply to contractors, but they will apply to the 45,000 plus fulltime employees at facebook guys, back over to you all right julia, thank you. Meantime stocks are floating around session highs joining us now former st. Louis fed president bill poole on the cnbc newsline. Bill, great to have you with us. Good morning. Good morning. Bill, as we are awaiting vare sus conversations and decisions around the fiscal stimulus needed to tide over workers and prop up the economy during this time, im wondering what your thoughts are on exactly what is the most efficient way to get that money into the hands of people and is it possible to target it to the people who need it most . Well, most efficient and easiest way to do it is to send out checks or deposits, direct deposits in Bank Accounts where the irs would have the numbers that would be the easiest way to do it. So it could be targeted to all of those who file tax returns below a certain threshold that would allow it to be targeted to only the lower income people that could be done i dont know about the logistics of doing that. So is that what you would recommend or do you think that kind of a basket approach of many different measures would be needed i think i am uncertain about all this one of the problems i have is the duration of any fiscal program. Are we going to have a thousand dollars per quarter, you know, per family, Something Like that . And what happens if we put all this in place and then the our scientists are successful in coming up with a vaccine and then the issue is, how do to get people vaccinated quickly, not any more how to get money in their pocket sometimes these fiscal changes can be once instituted can be difficult to turn off. I think that has to be looked at very carefully yeah. Thats certainly, you know, can be a tricky situation. Im curious what you think, though, about the actions, the very big and aggressive and quick actions that the fed overall has been taking in recent days . Theres been a lot of talk about the possibility that we could need to see the emergence of some sort of emergency Lending Program as well, given what is actually playing out in the economy and what is of concern, liquidity, credit, et cetera do you think that that is something that is going to ma y manifest the Federal Reserve has put a lot of money in the system and cut rates down to essentially zero thats what the Federal Reserve can do what Federal Reserve also can do and has been doing is to make sure that the Banking System is safe and solid that means that banks will be able to provide loans to credit worthy borrowers on a very, very decentralized basis without the Federal Reserve having to get involved at all. We should understand that these huge numbers, billions of dollars that the fed is putting in, makes a very big number, but it does not directly treat the virus. The Monetary Policy cannot deal directly with this problem because its not a monetary problem. Yeah. On our screen were showing video of the white house, Vice President pence is expected to speak on the latest around the coronavirus efforts and we will bring you that in just a moment. In the meantime i want to get your thoughts on the dollar and the fact that we have seen it continue to strengthen in recent days theres been a lot of talk about this idea of it being a safe haven trade. Nonetheless with that, bill poole, thank you for being with us were actually going to bring it down to the white house as this task force gets under way now. I awaiting Vice President pence for the task force to get under way. Treasury secretary steven mnuchin, alex azar of hhs, andeny fauci, dr. Fauci is on stage as well as we await the latest on the federal governments efforts, latest data, around the coronavirus pandemic and we have seen a market change in tone, particularly from the president and the way the administration has been talking about the virus. So its going to be interesting to see today as theres so many different issues to cover, whether the availability of tests, whether its Economic Impacts heres the president. We werent sure whether to expect. Thank you progress being made. I appreciate you all joining us. Last night the fda announced groundbreaking new policies to further increase testing very substantially so all states can now authorize tests developed and used within their borders to the fda the states are very much involved they have been involved from the beginning. Were stepping it up as much as we can the testing procedures are going well within a short period of time all of the private labs will kick in. This has never been done before and its going to be something very i think its going to be incredible if its done properly and these are great companies, these are among the greatest companies in the world, actually the state is going to be dealing through themselves and with local government and local physicians, local everybody. Theyre also dealing with us we have a tremendous Testing Capacity today were also announcing a dramatic expansion of our Medicare Telehealth Services patients can visit any doctor by phone or Video Conference at no additional costs, including with commonly used Services Like face time and skype a historic breakthrough. This has not been done before either in addition, states have the authority to cover Telehealth Services for their medical patients and by doing this, the patient is not seeing the doctor per se but seeing the doctor theres no getting close during this time we will not enforce applicable hipaa penalties so the doctors can expand care for their patients using telehealth the penalties wont be enforced. We encourage everyone to maximize use of telehealth to limit exposure to the virus. Its been a very successful method of communication, but never used on a scale like were going to use the telehealth. And youll be able to also better maintain Hospital Capacity by doing this earlier this morning i spoke with executives from americas fast food industry, wendys, mcdonalds, all of the big ones, burger king, and they were great. Theyre talking about the pickups in light of yesterdays guidance you heard to avoid eating or drinking at bars, straupt restaurants or public food courts we discussed the Important Role that drivethrough Delivery Service can play in the weeks ahead. That is happening and they have been absolutely fantastic and doing it already but theyre keeping it open and smaller staffs, very capable people and very capable companies and theyre doing it, pickups. Our guidance yesterday urges americans to take action for 15 days to help stem the outbreak, so its a 15day period. I guess now i would say its a 14day period. Its 15 days from yesterday and were asking everyone to work at home if possible, postpone unnecessary travel and limit social gatherings to no more than ten people. By making shared sacrifices and changes we can protect the health of our people and we can protect our economy because i think our economy will come back very rapidly its 15 tase frdays from yester. If we do this right, our country and the world frankly, but our country can be rolling again pretty quickly pretty quickly we have to fight that invisible enemy that i guess unknown, but were getting to know it a lot better today the senate is taking up coronavirus legislation that includes free testing for those who need it as well as paid sick leave and family medical leave for workers affected by the virus. Were also committed to getting Small Businesses the support that they need one of the things we talked about with the fast food operations we spoke to the chairman and ceos of all of the companies but one with of the things we discussed, getting Small Businesses support and flexibility that they need for themselves and for their workers and thats being worked on right now. At my direction, secretary mnuchin is meeting with senators on additional stimulus packages. I can tell you he was meeting with them late until the night last night and for a big part of the day yesterday and tremendous things are happening great spirit tremendous spirit. I can say that for republicans and democrats. I can say that with respect to Governor Cuomo we had a great talk this morning. Were both doing a really good job and were coordinating it and we agree, different states need Different Things and we agree on that 100 we had a very good talk and i think were right down the same track and its going to be very successful new york has a pretty big problem. I guess would be the number one hot spot its no fault of anybodys its just the way it is. Were working closely together were getting fema very much involved theyve been involved but were getting them to a different level and well have everything ready. Were dealing with the army corps of engineers, should that be necessary we have them working in some cases on standby and other cases, but my conversation with andrew cuomo was a very, very productive one and very good one. I appreciate that. Were giving relief to affected industries and Small Businesses and were ensure that we emerge from this challenge with the prosperous and growing economy because thats whats going to happen its going to pop. One day well be standing possibly up here and say well, we won and were going to say that. As sure as youre sitting there, were going to say that. And were going to win i think were going to win faster than people think i hope later today i will meet with the leaders from the Tourism Industry as well as Industrial Supply retailers and wholesalers to discuss their critical roles. I met with the Department Store people, all of the retailers, the big ones including walmart and others, and it was great meeting. Theyre stocking up their stores like theyve never stocked them before were trying to get people to buy less if thats possible. Buy less dont take everything. Just buy what you need for a while. Theyre going to stay open all hours of the day and theyve been fantastic were taking aggressive action now as one nation and one family so that america can rebound stronger frankly stronger than ever before and we recognize that while Many American workers can work from home, many others cannot many of our health care providers, First Responders and men and women in the food service and manufacturing are showing that theyre showing up and standing to provide us with the goods and services we need we want people to stay home where they can, but in many cases when you talk about food service and manufacturing, certain items in particular, they are theyre going in and theyre practicing all of the safety rules and regulations that we talk about so with that i would like to just introduce our great Vice President , mike pence. He will say a few words and ill make some other introductions. Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. President. Good morning it should be clear to the American People that President Trump has initiated not only a whole of government approach, but a whole of america approach. The president s interaction even today and through the course of this day with leaders around the country reflects that were not only bringing the full weight of the federal government to bear but the full weight of the American Economy i know i speak on behalf of the president when i say how inspired we are at the way the American People have stepped up and the way that American Businesses largely and spal have stepped up its truly been inspired our task force met this morning. We continue to focus on President Trumps priorities of testing, prevention, and supplies in that category, im pleased to report that while testing is available in all 50 states, as the president just indicated, through the swift action of the fda, at the encouragement of governors around the country, now state Health Authorities can authorize labs in their state and expand existing testing capabilities also in connection with the fdas action which you will hear more about in a moment we have continued to expand the public and private partnership that the president forged with vast commercial laboratories around the country, increasing access to the high volume, high throughput coronavirus testing that is greatly expanding access even as we speak also, our task force received a report this morning on the progress that the u. S. Public Health Service and fema are making working closely with state governments and also partners in the private sector like cvs, target, wall green and walmart to expand remote testing sites around the country and well have a full report later this week as those come online. Its important the American People understand that testing is happening all over the country. But all of our Health Experts wanted me to tell the American People you dont need the results of testing to know what you should do. President trumps 15 day coronavirus guidelines are advice for every american in every community. Theyre the result of the best guidance of cdc and our Health Experts and as the president said, we continue to urge every american over the next 15 days to put into practice the principles in the president s coronavirus guidelines by every american practicing these principles we believe that we can slow the spread of the coronavirus. In fact, our experts have told our task force that if every american acts on the president s coronavirus guidelines we could see a substantial reduction in the spread of the coronavirus. But as the president said it will take all of us to d if someone in your house tests positive, keep the entire household home especially if youre a person with an underlying condition no social gatherings of more than ten people. Use drive through as the president discussed. For the American People, as a whole, the risk of serious illness remains low. Were asking every american to partner with us in this effort to slow the spread of the virus and especially to be mindful of seniors or others with serious Underlying Health conditions for whom the threat of the coronavirus can be very significant and very real. The president has continued to push our task force to bring a whole of government, a whole of america approach and we continue to be inspired the way our nations governors, businesses are responding we spoke yesterday with the leaders of every broadcast network in america who will be unva unveiling campaign and as we work on the issues of supplies meetings yesterday with department of defense officials about excess supplies. The president and i will be speaking about the supply chain for hospitals. We would make one specific request and urge Construction Companies to donate their inventory of n95 masks to your local hospital and forego additional orders of those industry masks because of what the president asked to be included in legislation moving through the congress today, those industry masks that they use on construction sites are perfectly acceptable for Health Care Workers to be protected from a respiratory disease were asking Construction Companies that our president knows well from his background, were asking them to donate their n95 masks to their local hospitals and forego making additional orders. At the president s direction we will continue to do whatever it takes. We will continue to marshal the best of the American People, the best of the people behind me, behind them, our state and local officials and we will get through this and get through this together. Thank you. I want to thank chad wolf and Homeland Security and the jobs they did at the airport was really incredible. They screened thousands of people ohare got backed up but little but they got them out. Everybody was screened and screened very carefully. They didnt want to rush it. They did a fantastic job id like to introduce Steve Mnuchin and im going to ask him to leave because hes going to the hill hes been working with the senate and the house on a very big, bold package. It will be big and bold and the level of enthusiasm to get something done, i dont think ive ever seen anything quite like it. Steve mnuchin, please. Thank you, mr. President. Id like to announce some very significant actions that the president has approved today the first i would say is earlier today i sent a letter to fed chairman powell approving his request to use 133 the fed will be setting up a special purpose vehicle. That will enable the fed to guarantee the purchase of a1p1 commercial paper Going Forward thats a 1 trillion market. Its critical to American Workers. Its critical to American Business and its critical to american savers who have a lot of that money in money market funds. We heard loud and clear there were liquidity issues. This is very significant and i dont think well need to use it all but we have the fed purchase up to 1 trillion of commercial paper is needed. Thats already created significant stablility in the mark today the second thing i would say is we previously talked about deferring irs payments the president earlier this morning authorized me to announce this program. Ive announced we would defer 200 billion the president suggested we increase that to 300 billion, which we will be doing let me be clear on the specifics. We encourage those american who is can file their taxes to continue to file their taxes on april 15th because for Many Americans you will get tax refunds. We dont want you to lose out. We want you to make sure you get them many people do this electronically which is easy for them and the irs if you owe a payment to the irs, you can defer up to a Million Dollars as an individual and the reason why were doing a Million Dollars is that covers lots of pass throughs and Small Businesses and 10 Million Dollar to corporations interest free and penalty free for 90 days all you have to do is file your taxes. You automatically not get charg charged interest and penalties any american has the right to extend their taxes the president has asked us to go up to 300 billion dollar thats also an enormous amount of liquidity in the system the president and i worked on a very significant economic stimulus plan. I will be presenting that this morning and discussing with the house. We look forward to having bipartisan support were now working with the senate to pass this legislation very quickly these will be payments to Small Businesses we talked about loan guaranties to airlines and hotels and a stimulus package to the American Worker thank you. Do you have any questions would you say its stimulus package for American Workers, do you mean direct payments or a payroll tax holiday . The president likes the payroll tax holiday. What we heard from many people, the payroll tax holiday would get people money over the next six to eight months. Were looking at sending checks to americans immediately what we heard from hard working americans, Many Companies have now shut down whether its bars or restaurants, americans need cash now the president wants to get cash now. I mean now in next two weeks how much . I will be previewing that with the republicans theres some numbers out there may may be a bit bigger than whats in the process . What help are you going to give to airlines, specifically ive had discussions with all airline ceos this week i was up with the subset of the republican senators last night ive discussed that with them. As you know this is worse than 9 11. For the Airline Industry this is they are almost ground to a halt the president wants to make sure that although we dont want people to travel unless its critical, we want to maintain for criminal travel the right to have Domestic Travel is that enough . Im not going to comment on the specifics. Were very focused theres a lot of workers this is strategically important to us and well be working with congress on this the Airline Industry will be in good shape. Go ahead, please theres been talk about a thousand dollar checks to every american increasing support would you support that going to every sort of income we dont need to send people who make a Million Dollars checks thats one of the ideas we like. Well preview that today and be talk about details afterwards. I think were going to do something that gets money to them as quickly as possible. That may not be an accurate way of doing it because some people shouldnt be getting checks for a thousands dollars. Well have a pretty good idea by the end of the day what well be do i think mr. Secretary how are mechanics of this working . Weve been talking about payroll tax holiday. How would this idea of sending people the check work . Would that be sort of advance on what they would pay in payroll tax . We want to make sure americans get money in their pockets quickly. We want to make sure that hotels , airlines, we have an entire package. Well be laying out those details today. Those are very important people come to think. Theres some very good ways of getting the money out and getting it out quickly payroll taxes one way. It does come over a period of months, many months. We want to do something much faster than that i think we have ways of getting money out quickly and accurately can you talk about the timeline how quickly you think you can get this done with bipartisan support . We have to do this now. This is now. Like within a week . Were going to work with the senate who is in session now, actively we will continue to have conversations with the house ive already spoken to Speaker Pelosi once today. This is stuff that needs to be done now the president has instructed me this is no fault to American Workers. For medical reasons we are shutting down parts of thi