Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders et al. en route Washington, D.C., 8/29/2017
There have been about 30 hospitals that have closed in the area in Texas. All of those patients have been transferred to hospitals within the state. The state had capacity to be able to accommodate that.
Some unique situations that people don't oftentimes think about is -- one is dialysis. Folks require dialysis -- usually if they have a renal failure -- twice a week, usually Monday-Thursday, Tuesday-Friday. So we're in a time period now when folks were dialyzed last week. Their dialysis time comes back up and they may not have had the facility available to them. So working with the companies that provide the dialysis, the entities that provide the dialysis, we've been able to move those individuals to places that could accommodate them.
Same is true for folks with durable medical equipment -- oxygen concentrators and electric wheelchairs and those kinds of things -- to make certain -- well, what HHS does is identify where those people are or who they are, and then, in concert with the local government, let them know and so somebody can go out to the house or the apartment and make certain that they're doing all right.
But we're early in this. This is going to be a long, long duration. After, as somebody said, the sun comes out, we'll have a recovery phase that will last years, literally. And our goal at HHS to make certain that their health needs and human services needs are met.
Q How many hospitals, do you think, are still in jeopardy from the elements?
SECRETARY PRICE: There were six or seven more hospitals this morning that were in the process of evacuating or partial evacuation. Now, it would -- I don't know that there are any more that, given the current flood pattern, that are going to be in jeopardy. The challenge is making sure that they are staffed up -- that they have medical staff. Obviously, many of these staff members have been working since Friday or Saturday. So one of the things that we have is disaster medical assistance teams that come in and are able to give folks relief and are able to fulfill some of that staff need.
Q Do you think you have enough beds now for the people who need care, or are you short significant beds?
SECRETARY PRICE: Currently, all the capacity that was needed has been handled by the state of Texas -- within the state of Texas.
Q Based on your experience in Congress, what's the climate going to be like on Capitol Hill for spending requests for hurricane recovery?
SECRETARY PRICE: Well, I think that Congress will recognize that this is a -- this has been described as a storm and flood of epic proportions, and that that they will respond to the needs of the American people.
Q Do you have any concerns about any particular waterborne diseases or any kind of conditions that would be affected by water quality as this water starts sitting around for longer?
SECRETARY PRICE: Whenever you have standing water and this amount of water, that builds a stew that can harbor significant bacteria and marine challenges from an infection standpoint. CDC has guidelines for that and they're posted already, and we will work with the local communities to make certain that we're doing all that we can to mitigate the challenge.
Q Governor Abbott mentioned, when we were on the ground in Austin, that during the flight from Corpus Christi to Austin you guys had been looking at videos and so on of events in Houston, and that the President was heartbroken. Can you describe to us what was going on? Were you --
SECRETARY PRICE: I wasn't in that cabin, but I will tell you that, in my conversations with the President and in my experience with the President, that his passion and his love for the American people and concern about their welfare is unending. And what he has seen in this is what all of us have seen when you watch the television and you see the situation -- the tragic situation that many individuals are in. And his heart goes out to them, as does everybody's heart.
But the Texan people and the people in Louisiana who are about to be challenged, and the American people have always risen to the occasion and will do so this time as well.
Thank you all.
MS. SANDERS: Thank you. All right, we'll dive right in. I'll take a couple questions. I'm sure you don't have anything left to ask. Since we had all the brilliant individuals back here answering all the really tough stuff, I'll take the easy ones now.
Q Are you expecting an emergency spending request to cover the hurricane funding? Or will it be attached to the CR or something else?
MS. SANDERS: You know, I think that something they're still working through -- what the best mechanism is possible and what the best way is to make sure that the people of Texas get the funding they need.
Just one quick update that I meant to mention on the top, and I know the President has mentioned it before, but we are definitely going back to Texas on Saturday and possibly Louisiana on Saturday as well, depending on the weather conditions there. We'll probably be going into a more southern part of the state and a different part of the state than we were earlier today.
Q Following up on Steve's question, you mentioned that the people of Texas will get the money that they need. Does the administration believe that that money should be offset in the budget somehow?
MS. SANDERS: Again, we're still I think working through that process. I think the first thing is to determine how much they need, what the need is, and then develop the best process and plan forward from there.
Q You've got no ideological, you know, guiding principle that it should be budget or revenue-neutral -- or budget-neutral, rather?
MS. SANDERS: I think that the guiding principle here is taking care of Americans. I mean, that's the very core of who we are and that's something that the President has been very clear about. And when we have people in our country that are facing the type of devastation that Texas and possibly Louisiana are, then we want to step up and be able to play a part in that.
Q Just a follow-up on that. You know, we haven't really heard -- this hasn't been something that the President has had to take a position on in the past, but the Vice President did, as a House member, when he did demand offsets to pay for Katrina aid. Is that part of the discussion? Is there potentially going to be the demand from the administration? Or does this administration -- is that not in the picture?
MS. SANDERS: Again, we're at the very beginning stages of this process. We're working through and reviewing the best steps forward. And when we have specific details and we've had time for members of our administration to sit down with members of Congress and work through what that looks like, we'll certainly let you guys know.
Q Was the President concerned with the emails that were revealed yesterday where Michael Cohen, a longtime Trump executive, was emailing Dmitry Peskov, Putin's press secretary, about a project in Russia? And is he afraid that's going to spark any sort of investigation by Bob Mueller into his company?
MS. SANDERS: Not at all. I mean, I think it's pretty clear that there's really nothing there to this story, nothing to move forward. The President at that time was very focused on his campaign, and that was the priority he had at the time, and so certainly not something I believe he's at all concerned about.
Q Was he aware that Michael Cohen sent that email?
MS. SANDERS: I'm not sure.
Q The President's campaign send out an email to encouraging supporters to donate themselves to these relief efforts. Has the President made any personal donations to like the Red Cross or any kind of charity organization?
MS. SANDERS: I'll have to check into that and let you know.
Q Back on the budget -- the President today said in Austin that this looks like the most expensive recovery in history. What's he basing that on? Is it going to be more expensive than Katrina or Sandy or --
MS. SANDERS: I think some of the preliminary reports indicate it could be. And we're certainly still, as you know and as you guys are very well aware as you're reporting, we still don't know the full extent to the damage, but we certainly know it's record-level flooding and an epic storm, and is certainly going to be a lot of rebuilding and recovery that's going to come from that and potentially the largest we've ever seen. And there are a lot of estimates that put it there, and we'll have to get deeper into the weeds to finalize that and see what that looks like.
Q Was there a reason the President didn't talk that much about the people who were actually killed in the storm, the people who were displaced, who have been left homeless? It seemed like the focus was more on making sure the federal government was working well with state and local officials. And could you speak to just what his reaction was when he saw the images in Houston? It sounds like he watched some of that on the plane.
MS. SANDERS: I don't think you could deny the powerful effects that some of the images that we've seen over the past couple of days. Certainly something that I know is very moving both to the President and the First Lady. One of the reasons she really wanted to be part of the trip today. I think he's made very clear the priority is taking care of the people and doing whatever we can, but also letting the state and local officials take the lead in that process. And we're going to continue doing everything we can from our side to help in that.
Q North Korea, there's obviously -- like dramatically provocative missile test yesterday. Does the U.S. have any plans to move assets into the region that are not part of U.S. forces Korea or THAAD that's already being semi-deployed?
MS. SANDERS: As we have announcements on that, we'll certainly let you guys know. As you know, the President doesn't like to broadcast any movements. And when he's ready to make those, we'll keep you guys posted.
Q Do you think the North Koreans are testing the President?
MS. SANDERS: I'm sorry?
Q Do you think the North Koreans are testing the President?
MS. SANDERS: I'm probably not the military mind you want to ask that. I'll leave that to the Department of Defense to answer.
Q The President had said previously that any further provocation would be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen before. Does he consider that was provocation? I mean, what's happening?
MS. SANDERS: Again, we're reviewing the actions by them and we'll keep you posted on next steps from here. But I think our statement was clear last night that all options are on the table.
Q Well, I was going to ask about that. What does he mean when he says all options are on the table?
MS. SANDERS: I think that means all options are on the table. I think that's pretty clear, Steve.
Q Sarah, on immigration -- what is the President's current thinking on the DACA program? And should people who -- young men and women who are covered by that program be fearful right now that they could be deported?
MS. SANDERS: That's something that's under review. And again, a final decision hasn't been made, and when it is, we'll certainly announce it.
Q (Inaudible.)
MS. SANDERS: We'll keep you posted. Until the review is totally completed and a decision is made, I can't weigh in on a timeline.
Q Can you describe the President's reaction to Secretary Tillerson's comments on Sunday about American values? He seemed to suggest that the President didn't share the values of most Americans.
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