Friday, May 15, 2020

Global - 4,200,000/3295,000; USA – 1,410,000/86,000 IMPORTANT DAY AT WHITE HOUSE: Wen to White House as usual, but today was a Rose garden ceremony announcing the “Operation Warp Speed”, which is the interagency plan to develop a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year and have 100 million doses by November and 300 million by Jan. 2021. This is the plan that we have been working on for some time at NIAID. In addition, the occasion was to introduce Moncef Slaoui as the “Czar” for the project and General Gus Perna as the COO or logistic person for the supply of vaccine doses. Important event was my meeting with the POTUS in the context of our ongoing “feud”. We (those who would be on the stage with him in the Rose Garden – Sec. Azar and Sec, Mark Esper (DoD), General Mark Milley (Chair, Joint Chiefs); Gen. Gus Perna, Francis Collins, Deb Birx) were all in the Oval waiting for the POTUS. We all had masks on. The POTUS walked in from the Inner Office and immediately caught my eye and opend up his arms. He gently pulled my into the outer office where the TV was on giving the economic forecast and said. “Tony, you are losing me trillions of fucking dollars.” Then he said something interesting. Her said: “Tony, you and I are OK. There is no problem between us We are similar is some respects. You are playing me and I am playing you. I know you better than you think and I respect you and like you. You need to do your thing and I need to do mine; as long as you understand tht I need to keep this country alive.” Then as we were ready to go out, he looked at all of us and said: “Do we really need to have those masks on. It sends the wrong signal”. I told him that we should keep them on since it would be an unforced error to take them off. The press would kill us. His response was “Who gives a shit about the press; they will try to kill us no matter what we do.” Francis and Deb looked to me and I said: “Mr. President, I will not remove the mask. I must wear it.” He had a look of exasperation on his face and said: “OK, if you insist” (Francis and Deb sighed a sigh of relief as it was clear that Deb was willing to romove the mask; Francis was with me). However, he turned to the generals and Azar and Esper and said: “You guys, take you masks off, you hear me?”. They dutifully did and we all walked out to theRose Garden. After the ceremony when we came back to the Oval and were about to disperse, he came over to me and said: “Tony, we are good, right?” I said: “We are good Mr. President”.