Of course.

Why not?

You wanna sign?

Well, there's no need for that.

Mitch McConnell and I spoke, he said.

Stephen Ocean carries the ball.

So what negotiate it with him?

That was Speaker Nancy Pelosi on her relationship with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

As doctors and scientists lead the health effort to fight the pandemic.

Mnuchin and Pelosi are running point on the government intervention to shore up the economy.

The economic repercussions are global.

The stock market officially entered bear market territory this week.

The Dow Jones industrial average losing more than 20% of its value.

TREK Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin joins me right now.

Thank you for being here.

We appreciate it.

Thank you.

Good to be here with you.

So Gary Cohn, of course.

Somebody you know Well, the president's former top economic adviser said that he feels we're now in a recession.

Is he right?

I don't think so, but I think the real issue is not the economic situation today.

The real issue is what economic tools are we going to use to make sure we get through this because this is a unique situation.

We have a situation where travel has been ground to a halt.

We're clearly gonna have a slow down.

We're addressing issues for small and medium sized businesses, and later in the year, obviously, the economic activity will pick up as we confront this virus.

The president was again on Friday touting stock market gains because the market bounced back actually quite a bit on Friday, but we're still in a bear market.

Is is it kind of odd to hear the president talking about how great the stock market's doing?

When were We are by any definition, in a bear market?

Well, the president is focused on the stock market because it's just one indication of the economy that gives people confidence.

And I think what you saw is the stock market reacted very positively to the bipartisan bill to also the fact that we're ramping up testing dramatically and the fact that we have all these big companies coming in and helping us in public private partnership.

I think everybody reacted very well to the market and not just the market also reacted severely negatively to the Oval Office address.

Could you help me understand what happened there?

I mean, the president said several things.

He said that cargo would be banned coming in from Europe.

He said he didn't.

He failed to mention that American citizens would not be subject to the ban.

Hey, said that insurance companies, we're gonna cover all costs associated the treatment of the krone virus.

These were all false statements.

How in a in an Oval Office address, two statements about the president's own proposals end up being wrong.

Well, let me just first comment on your reaction to the stock market because the stock market is gonna go up.

It's gonna go down.

We can't focus on every day.

The move as it relates to the Oval Office address.

The president was very clear.

He wanted to address a very important point, which was?

He made the move to shut down travel so that we shut down more cases coming in.

Hey, wanted to reassure the American public?

I don't think in an Oval Office address you can address every single issue as you're discussing, and I think, you know, we saw you get things wrong about his own proposal.

I don't I don't think he got things wrong at all.

I mean, cargo's not banned and we were very clear that people misinterpreted the comment on cargo and we immediately put out a statement to clarify that.

So the president said this is similar to China and China.

Cargo is not banned.

What caused this?

Turning the president?

Clearly he was not taking the pandemic very seriously early on and now with these measures, he appears to be taking it very seriously.

What what caused that change in the president's approach?

I think the president has been listening to the medical professionals from day one and Dr Fatty just said that this situation is evolving.

We clearly saw a situation that were the case.

Loads in other countries were increasing a large, vast majority.

I think it was like 75% of the cases we had, where was result of incoming travelers and the president made very decisive decisions quickly and I think if you look what we've done and not only what we've done, but let me be clear, the president has instructed me, we will use whatever tools we have and whatever you tools, we don't have.

We will go to Congress on a bipartisan basis and get more tools.

The speaker and I are already in conversations about airlines which is critical to US hotels, cruise ships, more s B A lending, more liquidity, some type of stimulus.

So, as I've been saying, I think we're in the second inning of nine innings and we will use whatever tools we need to make sure the economy and hardworking Americans get through this.

One of the things the president mentioned was this idea of Google putting a website to facilitate testing.

Let's take a listen to what he said.

Google is helping to develop a website.

It's gonna be very quickly done, unlike websites of the past to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location that sounded really promising.

But the company developing the website, which shares a parent company with Google, put out a statement shortly after that, saying we are developing a tool to help triage individuals for covert 19 testing.

Verily, that's the company is in the early stages of development and planning to roll out testing in the Bay Area with the hope of expanding more broadly overtime information so important to be accurate that this made it sound like we were about to all nationally be able to go on Google and do this.

And this is not even developed in a pilot program yet again, could Google has made commitments to us?

They've been incredibly helpful.

I want to thank Google and all the tech companies.

I mean, let's focus.

This is a lot of corporate America small and medium sized businesses coming together.

And as I've said, the president is bringing in all the companies to make sure whatever resource is we need.

Industry is working with government.

When do you think that good that website's gonna be up and running for everybody to be?

Oh, I really don't know again.

I'm sure it's as quickly as possible.

What I'd rather focus on is one is more money coming to the American public.

What's much more important is we need to focus on the airline industry's.

This is an unprecedented situation.

There's lots of workers, hotel, other travel industries.

The president is going to use all the tools in our toolbox, and we will work with Congress on a bipartisan basis and this bill is very important in getting workers money in their pockets.

People who have to be home being quarantined.

20 conversations with Nancy Pelosi in a day that made That may be a record, certainly for the member of the Trump administration.

So the next steps do you think will be assistance for these industries that are most directly effective?

Travel, hotel restaurants, small businesses?

Absolutely.

And by the way people have been commenting on 20 it may have been 80.

So we were.

We were constantly in touch updating the bill making changes.

And, yes, our focus is especially small and medium sized businesses that are really hit hard and specific industries.

So the president has been again blasting Jay Powell that that the Fed chairman calling him things like his actions pathetic, slow moving, putting us at a decided economic and physiological disadvantage.

So the Federal Reserve pumped 1.5 trillion dollars into the financial system, an announcement that Powell just made made last week.

Interest rates are at historic lows.

Biggest rate cut, he announced before that, since the financial crisis, what Whatmore should Jay Powell be doing?

What's the president talking about?

Well, I think is, you know, is a matter of policy.

I speak to J.

Powell now almost every single day.

So it would be inappropriate for me to make comments on specific policies that he's considering and he may do.

But I can assure you he and I are in discussions every day.

They have certain tools.

We have certain tools.

Certain tools were taken away that I'm gonna go back to Congress and ask for.

And again, we're fully coordinated.

Do you share this assessment of the president?

The pathetic, slow moving, putting us at a disadvantage again, I think is, you know, I'm not gonna make comments on that.

It would be inappropriate for me.

His Treasury secretary.

The understands the president also said, suggested again on Friday that he could fire Powell.

He wanted to.

He could remove him.

His Fed chairman put him in another position of the Fed.

Is that right?

That's not the reading that most people have of the law.

But let me be clear.

I'm the I'm the Treasury Secretary.

I'm not the general counsel, So I'm not aware of what advice the President has been given.

But again what?

I want to focus on is there is an economic situation, and the American public should know that the president, the Vice president, the entire cabinet is going to be focused on what economic things we need to dio.

We have tools, tools we don't have.

I think you've seen we're gonna work together in a bipartisan way to make sure we protect businesses and individuals that are impacted.

And let me just comment.

You know, in South Korea, 200,000 people who had flu like symptoms were tested.

96% of them did not have the Corona virus.

So the actions that the medical professionals have recommended in the president has implemented hopefully will make a dramatic difference in the spread of this.

All right, Secretary Mnuchin, thank you for being here.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Hi, everyone.

George Stephanopoulos Here.

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