Two Very Big Words National emergency. "Two very big words," President Trump said Friday afternoon. The president spoke those two words, and many others, during a lengthy news conference in the White House Rose Garden. During the hour-long session, Trump passed the buck on the shortage of coronavirus tests available. “I don’t take responsibility at all,” Trump said. The president also appeared to take a swipe at the Obamacare website. “Google is helping to develop a website that will be very quickly done — unlike websites of the past.” And he had a tense confrontation with PBS correspondent Yamiche Alcindor. "You said that you don’t take responsibility but you did disband the White House pandemic office and the officials that were working in that office left this administration abruptly. So what responsibility do you take to that?” Alcindor said. “The officials that worked in that office said that the White House lost valuable time because that office was disbanded. What do you make of that?” “Well, I just think it’s a nasty question," Trump said. All in all, a typical Trump news conference — this one against the backdrop of a national emergency. Big Day on the Street The Dow had its biggest single-day point gain ever on Friday, erasing almost all of Thursday's record losses. The 1985 point surge represented a 9 percent increase. And the Nasdaq and S&P 500 posted similar gains. CNBC's Jim Cramer, who — earlier in the day Friday — gave the green light to panicked investors to jump back in, reacted favorably to Trump's afternoon news conference. During the presser, Trump announced a large buy for the strategic petroleum reserve, and announced that the government is waiving interest on federal student loans. "They listened!" Cramer tweeted, after the announcement. What's The Verdict, Doc? Government officials have continued to make public appearances to give updates on the spread of the coronavirus -- some more successfully than others (see our Winners of the Day above). Dr. Anthony Fauci has been praised for his handling of questions. In an appearance on Morning Joe Friday, he faced withering interrogation from Willie Geist and eventually conceded that President Trump's close contact with a Brazilian official diagnosed with the coronavirus means he should probably self-isolate and get tested. He's not the only one calling for Trump to embrace the warm comfort of a self-quarantine. Fox News contributor Guy Benson said Friday he sees no reason why Trump isn’t “in a self-quarantine situation right now.” Meanwhile, some good news: Wuhan, China, ground zero for the coronavirus outbreak, reported just five new cases on Friday. Other cities in China posted similar declining numbers. 6.5.0 |