Hannity: Major businesses working with Trump on coronavirus

close

Video

Hannity: Major businesses working with Trump on coronavirus

Walmart, Target, Google, and others working together to combat coronavirus.

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," March 13, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: In the end, it took just four days to prove that all of this was totally real. In fact, they were conservative estimates.

Coronavirus isn't going away. We're going to cover it honestly. We promise.

See you Monday.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Welcome to HANNITY.

We begin tonight, this busy Friday news night, with a FOX News alert.

Tonight, we are witnessing what will be a massive paradigm shift in the future of disease control and prevention. A bold, new precedent is being set, the world will once again benefit greatly from America's leadership. It will give us reason to be proud as a country.

The federal government, state governments, private businesses, top hospitals all coming together, under the president's leadership, to stem the tide of the coronavirus.

Now, the announcement came earlier today in the Rose Garden. The president declared a national emergency, freeing up up to $50 billion in new funding.

Now, that new funding will be crucial to what is a major, groundbreaking, public-private partnership, all designed to protect the health, the well- being of the American family, our family. That means your loved ones, everybody.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To unleash the full power of the federal government in this effort today, I am officially declaring a national emergency -- two very big words. The action I am taking will open up access to up to $50 billion. Today, we're announcing a partnership with the private sector to vastly increase and accelerate our capacity to test for the coronavirus. We want to make sure that those who need a test can get a test very safely, quickly, and conveniently.

We've been in discussions with pharmacies and retailers to make drive-thru tests available in the critical locations identified by public health professionals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: What happened today, gone is the old way of thinking. Government walls itself off, tries to solve problems all on its own and now thanks to, really, a dealmaker-in-chief, an entrepreneur, lifelong businessman in the White House, there is now a new way to solve a crisis that has been developed and is unfolding before our very eyes. You're witnessing history in the making.

And with the help of the most amazing companies in this country, private sector companies, the administration has now created what will be the most robust plan, never tried before, to battle the coronavirus across all 50 states.

Today, we heard from representatives from several major companies involved. America's biggest and best corporations -- by the way, they deserve to be praised tonight.

Look at your screen -- Walmart, Alphabet, aka, Google, Walgreens, Target, CVS, Quest Diagnostics, LHC Group, Becton Dickinson, Roche, Signify Health, LabCorp are all playing a role here.

Now, here's what you need to know. With the help of Google's parent company, a brand-new website is being developed where Americans can go to determine if and when and where they should go to get a test for coronavirus -- 1,700 Google professionals working on that. New drive-thru test sites are now in the works all across the country. This will drastically reduce the spread of this virus and future viruses.

Hospitals, frankly, are in many cases where many people become infected. When fully up and running, this will also take much needed pressure off of hospitals and leave beds open to those that are most in need. In the coming days, they will be setting up a parking lot of big-box realtors like Walmart, Target, and other big stores.

And meanwhile, U.S. drug and testing companies have now developed a rapid new way to test for the coronavirus, and according to officials, results from the new test kit should take around 24 hours. With just one stroke of a pen, all the bureaucracy, all of the weeks, all of the testing, all the approvals, happened in hours.

Of course, this is only but one facet of the president's public-private partnership. The administration has developed similar relationships with hospitals in universities and insurance companies and American banks, all in an effort to keep you safe and combat this pandemic and get our economy back on track.

This is, frankly, America at its best. These are the doctors, the medical researchers, the scientists, the entrepreneurs rising to the occasion as great patriots in a crisis. These are the people I have been telling you about for weeks that I put the most faith in.

None of these companies had to partner with the administration. They didn't have to do it. They did it because they love this country. They care about their fellow Americans, and they are committed to saving lives.

This, frankly, what we saw today can only happen in this great country of America. This is free-market capitalism at its best. How many of these companies, by the way, have you heard demonized over the years? Oh, big pharmaceutical companies. Oh, the Walmarts of the world. Wow.

Maybe they deserve a pat on the back today, made possible by the president leading the way. What we all need to understand tonight is all of this did not happen in one day. It did not happen overnight.

As one official put it, this has been in the works behind the scenes for quite some time outside the view of the media mob and, of course, the general public, because there was no guarantee this will all come together the way it has.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I understand that a lot of this behind the scenes action over the last couple weeks was invisible to the press and the American people. But this intense effort has not only resulted in innovative solutions, but in automated, high-frequency system bringing the ability of these already coronaviral testing to the American people at an unprecedented speed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, ultimately, all of this work covers three very important areas -- testing, treatment, economic recovery, and the implementation is well underway.

For more context, let's go back to the timeline. This is very important.

December 30th, the WHO, they discovered an unknown virus with pneumonia- like symptoms that was first observed in the Wuhan province area of China. January 7th, the coronavirus was first identified. That is this year.

By January 31st, three weeks later, the president, the Trump administration declared a public health emergency. Americans abroad were then subject to mandatory quarantines on military bases. On February 2nd, the president ordered a temporary travel ban for all non-U.S. citizens who recently visited China.

In the days that followed, the president formed a task force filled with the top scientific medical professionals in the country led by the vice president of the United States.

February 29th, that travel ban was extended to Iran on the same day the State Department issued news travel restrictions to Italy and South Korea. Also on the 29th, the FDA cut regulations, allowing more rapid testing, more capacity for coronavirus.

March 2nd, President Trump met with pharmaceutical executives. These meetings now will come into a broader picture, what was going on.

March 3rd, the administration ordered the CDC to lift all restrictions on testing.

March 6th, the president, he signed an $8.3 billion emergency spending package into law.

On March the 10th, the president met with insurance industry representatives. Remember, they agreed to waive co-pays for corona related treatment.

On March 11th, he met with banking and food business executives to discuss economic relief for those businesses directly impacted by the virus and hourly workers, the same thing. On that same day, he extended the travel -- the temporary travel ban to all of continental Europe. These travel bans were critically important. Why? Because it prevented many other Americans from getting infected or contracting this virus. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our aggressive containment strategy, has it started early enough to avoid that peak that Italy is experiencing?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIH: Well, as I mentioned, there were two components of that. There's preventing from without to in, and there's what you do, mitigation in. Clearly, early on we made a travel ban with regard to China. That was a very smart move right there because what that did was prevent the major influx from China. Today, the new China is Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: By the way, breaking just moments ago, President Trump just announced his support for the congressional coronavirus relief package. We'll have more on that coming up.

Dr. Fauci is exactly right, but will anyone in the media mob, the Democratic Party, have they given the president any credit for anything he has done? Not one thing.

In February, there he was, quid pro quo Joe and other top Democrats, the president implements a travel ban he's called hysterical and xenophobic. And neither Biden or Bernie Sanders would have other enacted a ban, they were bragging about it still today. Old-school, old model bureaucrat swamp thinking.

In fact, for more perspective, let's take a look at the H1N1 pandemic, swine flu, 2009-2010. Yes, the Obama and Biden years. This fast spreading pandemic worldwide, particularly deadly to children, unlike corona which is more deadly to older people.

In April 2009, yes, Obama and Biden years, a few days after the pandemic was in the U.S., Obama's HHS secretary declared a health emergency freeing up some money. I will give credit, that was a good move.

By October 2009, well, more than 20,000 Americans had been hospitalized and more than 1,000 American citizens were dead, 1,000. And only then, six months later, did then President Obama finally declared a national emergency. That year, the CDC estimated 60.8 million Americans were infected, which ultimately resulted in over 274,000 Americans being hospitalized, and nearly 13,000 Americans in a one-year period died.

Worldwide, about 500 -- upwards of 575,000 people died in 2009 from swine flu, H1N1. The Obama-Biden administration, or as Joe says the Obiden-Bama administration, they never enacted a travel ban, not once during the H1N1 pandemic. There were no quarantines, they weren't quick to declare an emergency, 1,000 Americans were dead.

And, by the way, others were infected. Now the media mob, how did they react back them? Do you think they were going as hard as they are against Obama and Biden as they have been going after Trump and they did next to nothing?

If you want to know how corrupt the media mob in this country is, you should be disgusted by what I am about to show you. This was after 1,000 Americans were dead, tens of thousands had contracted the disease. Oh, then he decides to declare a national emergency. Great timing.

Now let's watch the media coverage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's talk about this, something that is concerning a whole lot of people these days, we're talking about the H1N1, and now, the president, President Barack Obama, declaring the swine flu outbreak a national emergency.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should there be a worse-case scenario, but administration officials are emphasizing, Fredricka, it's not that they are expecting one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More than a thousand people in the U.S. have died from the H1N1 virus, 90 in the last week. The federal government had predicted there would be 100 million doses of the vaccine by now. But as of this week, about 11 million were available.

When we hear emergency, alarm bells start to go up, what exactly does this declaration mean?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, the first thing to say is people shouldn't panic when they hear this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Health officials battling the H1N1 flu virus this weekend have received two booster shots of their own. President Obama has declared the virus a national emergency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNTY: Noticed a slight difference in the coverage?

That is how corrupt the media mob in this country has become in ten short years. That is disturbing.

What they have done and what they are currently doing is hurting our country. This defines them. If you ever had any doubt that they have an agenda, well, that proves our case.

Never before has there been this unholy corrupt alliance existing between the mob of the media and the one party they love with their agenda only. The same people that have been lying hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month now, for over three years.

Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, impeach, impeach, corona, corona.

That's how disgustingly corrupt they are, to the core. It is repulsive, anybody that watches that video, a thousand Americans dead, no urgency. It's like nothing had happened.

Meanwhile, President Trump, he takes unprecedented action within three weeks travel ban, quarantine. What does he get? Criticism.

You listen only to the mob of the media, you might think that the president may be caused the virus. You'd begin to think that, oh, he probably cooked it up in a laboratory somewhere to destroy the country likely with Putin and Russia and Ukrainian mad scientist. That's how distorted and conspiratorial and the level of hysteria and lying that's gone on for three years.

This alliance is hurting this country. They are not serving we, the people, in any way, shape, matter, or form. They are advancing a political agenda.

Journalism I declared in 2007 is dead, it is dead, it is done, it is buried. And it has now become disgraceful, state-run, liberal, radical, extreme, socialist TV. That's who they are. You would think the world is coming to an end listening to them.

This virus is serious. We've been telling you that from day one. We need to take the flu seriously. We need to take cancer seriously, this virus seriously.

Of course, we all need to prepare accordingly. And by the way, this is not pie in the sky tonight. This will be innovative. This will allow future presidents to have travel bans a lot easier. This will allow this time of cooperation between the top companies in this country to work hand-in-hand with our government to keep us safe.

But you do need to understand, we will, this is a fact, there are going to be dramatic increases in the weeks ahead of the number of Americans who test positive. They are going to hyped that up, I guarantee it. That's what the mob does, and they will blame Donald Trump every second.

They can't acknowledge a single good thing this president has done. They're against travel bans, xenophobic, racists. They're against the quarantines.

That alone saved countless thousands of Americans from contracting the virus. That one decision literally saved thousands of Americans from contracting this disease. Racist, xenophobic.

We expect that at some point, four to six weeks according to all the experts, hopefully, like in China, there will be a leveling off. That's where hopefully that will be followed by a dramatic decrease and reduction in new cases. And hopefully, then back to normal life.

If you are generally a healthy person, under the age of 80, and you don't have underlying health issues or a compromised immune system or getting chemotherapy or autoimmune problems of any kind, the odds of getting coronavirus and dying are slim to none. Some people have no symptoms, some have mild symptoms, some people feel like it's the flu or respiratory flu.

Now, but we've got to be careful for those people that are sick and if you do know people that are sick, you've got to keep a distance. Look out for your friends and neighbors. Basic, simple things we have been talking about.

In the coming days and weeks, as more Americans get tested, expect that sharp rise. It will be confirmed, don't panic. Ultimately, we believe it will level off and we will begin a precipitous decline. Let's hope we can all get back to normal. Keeping America safe and healthy.

Here with more, facts without fear reporting, is FOX Nation host, Lara Logan, back tonight.

Lara, what do you have tonight?

LARA LOGAN, HOST, "NO AGENDA WITH LARA LOGAN": Good evening, Sean.

Well, unfortunately, five more people, five Americans died from the coronavirus today. The death toll now up to 41 for the U.S.

Washington state is still the hardest hit, with 37 deaths. California after that with four, and then, you know, you have Kansas, Georgia, South Dakota and New Jersey has one and Florida has had two deaths so far. The total number of cases in the U.S. right now stands at 1,629.

With the president declaring a national emergency, that frees up basically billions of dollars in federal funds but it also frees up federal resources in terms of personnel. It puts FEMA, the federal agency in charge of disaster response, it puts them in a position to coordinate. They said that Health and Human Services, HHS, will still be the lead agency on this, but under the Stafford Act, which is what Congress passed back in 1993, this is what really gives the federal government a leading role in the response now and it's for states who are overwhelmed is really what triggers the act.

And so, this is the point at which, this is the moment where Trump can really use the federal resources to make an impact in how states deal with this on a local level.

Really, the last update, Sean, is that the cruise lines, all cruise lines have suspended all of their activities now. So, those have been put on hold. Every cruise line across this country, of course, that would be a really bad place to be caught, right?

For people who were on cruise lines over spring break, facing difficulties at schools across the U.S., schools uncertain on whether to let people come back, and -- but really, this will be the moment that Americans are looking to see if the federal government is able to step in here and make a difference now the national emergency has been declared.

HANNITY: All right. Lara Logan, thank you tonight.

So, what is the new plan mean for doctors and their patients and how to keep your family, your loved ones safe and secure and healthy?

FOX News medical A-team, Dr. Nicole Saphier, is with us.

Dr. Saphier, first, unprecedented actions by the president, number one, the travel ban, number two, the quarantines. This public-private partnership, America should be very happy about our corporate partners here and what they're doing. When the testing is set up in the parking lots of Target and Walmart or Walgreens or CVS, I don't want to miss the companies, it keeps people out of hospitals. It leaves beds open for those who need it.

How important -- what do you -- how do you see this perhaps changing the future of how we deal with these types of pandemics?

DR. NICOLE SAPHIER, FOX NEWS MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Today marked a very paramount option for President Trump. And it really signaled to us not only in messaging that he is taking this seriously, but what he is doing by declaring a national emergency, he is lifting regulations to allow hospitals to do what they need to do to make sure that we can care for patients if the event comes that they do become sick and we need more hospital beds.

Not only that, he invoked the Stafford Act, which gave us the funds to do so. And by this, as a health care worker, as someone who cares for a lot of immuno compromised patients, this gives me a lot more ease, and behind that, he brought in the private sector which I've been waiting to happen because we live in an incredible country that is based on capitalism, I was waiting for the private sector to come in and that is what happened.

I had a feeling this was going on going on behind-the-scenes, and it just needed to be announced and today, it was. And it should have absolutely given people the comfort that they need to know that we are moving forward.

HANNITY: Let me --

SAPHIER: They're going to do these drive-thru tests, and that's so important because we can't have people showing up to the emergency departments infecting not only health care workers but other patients.

HANNITY: We expect a rapid rise in the number of people that have contracted the virus, even those that have no symptoms whatsoever or very mild symptoms. Knowing the media as well as I think I know them, it will be shocking and alarming and fearmongering and scary.

What we've witnessed, though, in China in particular, and China is not on my list of favorite countries right now, because they did the world a disservice. I'll get to that later. But, then, we expected if their numbers are right, we now have our experts on the ground confirming it, the leveling off and precipitous decline of new cases. Do you see that happening? And how long will that play out?

SAPHIER: So, we are going to see an uptick in diagnoses, the reason is because we are all of a sudden going to be testing more people. That is what happens when you have test. You're going to have more cases.

But the truth is, we should look at South Korea. South Korea has beaten the other countries. They have the most aggressive testing. They didn't have to do a lot of mass shutdowns because they had aggressive testing right away.

And what that did, that gave us a more accurate case fatality rate of 0.7 percent, which is significantly less then what was reported out of China which was 3.4 percent. So, that does give us some comfort.

It will take a little bit for us to start seeing cases level off, and then decline in the United States. You know, I think it is going to be four to six weeks. It maybe a little bit shorter, maybe a little longer. But we will get there, and that's the point. And that's the message, that people have to know.

We've gone through pandemics before, and the president administration is doing the necessary steps to make it happen this time.

HANNITY: All right. Dr. Saphier, thank you for being with us tonight.

And breaking just moments ago, President Trump tweeted his support for the House coronavirus response bill.

Joining us with more, what the administration's economic plans, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow.

I know a lot of Americans look at the stock market, always jittery.

Larry, you've been around this -- the block a long time. It was interesting as the president's press conference went on in the Rose Garden today, to watch the Dow Jones rise and almost fully recover from yesterday's pretty big loss.

What do you see for the economy, but there's got to be some impact here on the economy, right? We would expect some negative impacts?

LARRY KUDLOW, UNITED STATES NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR: Yes, you know, it's interesting, Sean, during the press conference, the market went up a thousand points. I think it is the biggest one-day rise in history, at least on the Dow Jones.

And again, as you have said before and your guest, the emergency declaration and the phenomenal partnership between the federal government and private sector is breakthrough stuff, absolute breakthrough stuff that's going to get us closer to the end of this. This thing doesn't go on forever, as some people are predicting. We'll get closer to the end.

You know, in terms of economics here -- look, the deal made with Capitol Hill, Steve Mnuchin and Nancy Pelosi and President Trump signed off on it, that helps folks with unpaid sick leaves, going to help families, middle- class workers, spouses can help each other, if the kids have to stay home, this will also add a lot of money, probably close to $50 billion.

Other stuff that we're doing, we got $50 billion in assistance ready if necessary for small businesses. Probably, with the treasury's tax deferral, they want to defer tax liabilities, no penalty and interest and so forth, for at least three months. That's probably worth $200 billion.

On top of that, we are waving the interest on student loans, probably until the end of the year. And because of the hard-hit energy sector, hurt I might add by Russia and Saudi Arabia, we are going to give purchases of 75 million barrels probably to our American frackers to keep them going.

All in, Sean, right now in hand, we stand ready with $400 billion of various forms of assistance and, if I may, the president is keen on this payroll tax holiday towards -- through the end of the year.

That will give middle income blue-collar workers, they will keep more of what they earn, they'll have more liquidity, they'll have more cash flow, and so will their employers to get through this temporary problem.

I'm not sure folks understand the scope of our assistance program, but it's at least $400 billion in direct assistance and could be vastly more if we got this payroll tax holiday.

HANNITY: Larry, honestly, I -- it's very reassuring, because what you just explained, I hope the American people are listening. We appreciate you joining us tonight. We -- thank you.

KUDLOW: Thanks, Sean.

HANNITY: Now, we're learning more about China's cover-up of coronavirus, but get this, they're trying to blame the U.S. military for this and threatening to deny Americans life-saving medications. We have a full report, coming up and much more on this breaking, busy Friday news night.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: The coronavirus outbreak which originated in the Wuhan province area of China has exposed serious dangers of our dependence on China for essential drugs, medical supplies. By the way, nobody has warned about our reliance on China, unfair trade practices, intellectual property theft, reliance on manufacturing with China.

We were told during the Biden and Obama years, those jobs are never coming back and the president fought to bring back by eliminating regulation and creating tax incentives that we have more manufacturing here.

Here to explain all of this, investigative reporter Sara Carter.

Sara, the latest.

SARA CARTER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's certainly alarming, Sean, because China is definitely ratcheting up their rhetoric and they are threatening in their local media and state-run media to plunge America into the sea of coronavirus. That was their latest threats this past week, something that is alarming both national security experts and top physicians is the fact that 95 percent of our antibiotics are actually manufactured in China, and over 40 percent of pain medication.

And if China threatens to withhold that medication, that could put us in a horrible predicament right now. So, what they are doing is begging the Trump administration to make this a top priority, to look at what we can do to bring those manufacturing jobs back here and produce the antibiotics as well as the pain medication and medical supplies in the United States.

HANNITY: All right. Sara Carter, thank you. We're going to keep an eye on it.

And I know the president needs information from China right now. I know their trade deals in the works here. But China did the world no favor in any of this. They need to be held at accountable.

Now, the coronavirus has exposed this disturbing Chinese disinformation propaganda campaign, state-sponsored propaganda, making the wild claim that our U.S. Army is to blame for the outbreak that happened there. I don't blame the country of China for the outbreak. I blame them for the line, the lack of transparency, misleading information, and not accepting the help of world professionals that could have greatly reduced the spread of this virus.

Now, that prompted the U.S. State Department to summon the Chinese ambassador for this spread of these lies and this propaganda. Yes, the virus originated in the Wuhan province area. Dr. Fauci, many other experts have made that clear. It's just a simple fact.

The president was asked about it earlier today. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I did read one article, but I don't think that article was representative, certainly not of my conversations with President Xi. And they know where it came from. We all know where it came from.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Here with reaction, author Gordon Chang, along with FOX News contributor and former CIA station chief, Dan Hoffman.

Mr. Chang, let's start with you.

This is outright lying. China tried to hide it. They tried -- they were not helpful in the beginning and one person that had been warning about China more than any one individual in this country was for years, Donald Trump. Unfair trade practices, intellectual property theft, and too much American reliance on the cheap labor and manufacturing outsourced to China by the United States.

GORDON CHANG, AUTHOR: You're absolutely right. One of the first things that President Trump did was he had that July 21st 2017 executive order looking at the robustness of our supply chain. That was important because it led to a number of changes, including tariffs on steel and aluminum to bring that back to the U.S. We are critically reliant on China as Sara Carter said, and this is unacceptable because China, first of all, has turned around shipments of masks, gowns, other medical protective equipment. They did that a couple weeks ago.

We've also seen the threat three days ago to cut off the supply of antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals. This is just an unacceptable position for us to be in. The president recognized this earlier.

HANNITY: Mr. Chang, you have said China is our enemy. You have talked about in detail about "The People's Daily", the authoritative publication state media carrying a piece declaring a people's war on the United States. You mentioned the threat of holding or withholding some manufactured medicines.

Now, this conspiracy theory and they did hide the information from the world and they were less than forthcoming and it didn't help the world, it hurt everybody.

CHANG: Well, it certainly did. For three weeks in December and three weeks in January, the top leadership knew about this or had to have known about this. They didn't do anything. And clearly, while that occurred or didn't occur, the virus spread around China and it escaped China to the rest of the world. That didn't have to happen, but for the secrecy of the communist party.

And, by the way, Sean, we have seen the communist party go back to their extraordinary control over information. They have kept virologists for as long as possible away from Wuhan, they have inhibited their search, and clearly, this right now is a problem for not only Chinese people but for the American people and people around the world.

HANNITY: All right. Let me bring in Dan Hoffman.

Your take on all this.

DAN HOFFMAN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I just think this highlights the danger of outsourcing what matters to our national security to China, whether it's high-tech, and this administration has been very tough, including with our allies about not allowing Huawei to gain traction for the 5G network for the same reason.

This is China trying to whitewash their reputation overseas, as well as deal with the home front where Chinese are legitimately concerned about how -- as Gordon Chang emphasized -- their government withheld information. Indications and warning about a pandemic flu are not like fine wine getting better with age. And China really risked not only the health of their own citizens but the world as well, and they should be held accountable for that.

HANNITY: All right. Thank you both. And over time, we need to.

The president does need information right now. That would be helpful for the safety and security of American citizens. It's not exactly the time that we need to build up an enemy here. But they need to be held accountable.

Up next, all eyes on Capitol Hill. A vote could happen at this hour in the House of Representatives on a coronavirus bill. Chad Pergram, he'll join us next.

Also, Senator Lindsey Graham live on the phone. He is self-quarantined awaiting the results of his coronavirus test, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: More breaking news on this busy Friday. A FOX News alert tonight, the House will vote to approve the first coronavirus response with the president's support.

FOX News congressional correspondent, the hitchhikers guide to all things on Capitol Hill, Chad Pergram is with us.

Chad, what's going on there tonight?

CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Sean.

We'll call it green light for tweets, the idea that they were waiting for the president to send the green light by Twitter this evening to say that he would sign this bill and encourage all Democrats and Republicans to vote for this compromise. I spoke with Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, a couple minutes ago. He said, quote, there were some things which need to be cleaned up, it's important this gets done before everybody departed. Kevin McCarthy complimented House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

You know, Pelosi spoke 13 times, 13 times today with the Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. He was deputized by the president to cut this deal.

Now, we don't have the final legislative text, there were some things that were in this bill earlier dealing with abortion which seem to be out right now. But both sides are going to vote on this sometime in the next hour or two, and then it's on to the United States Senate.

Keep in mind that the Senate is not here this week. They will come back Monday night and we will see if they can process it then. I was told earlier in the day, if there is an overwhelming vote in the House of Representatives by both sides, that the Senate would green light this sometime early next week -- Sean.

HANNITY: All right. Chad on Capitol Hill tonight, thanks for that update.

PERGRAM: Thank you, Sean.

HANNITY: And we'll keep you up to speed throughout the hour.

Earlier this week, Senator Lindsey Graham, he decided to self-quarantine after he came into contact with the Brazilian president in West Palm Beach at Mar-a-Lago whose aide tested positive for the virus. Today, the senator's office released a statement that Graham was also in contact with Australia's minister of home affairs, Peter Dutton, who has also tested positive for the virus. Senator Graham is currently awaiting the results for his coronavirus test. He joins us on the phone.

Senator, I'm sorry to hear this. We don't want anybody sick. And --

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC) (via telephone): I'm OK.

HANNITY: You're OK, no symptoms whatsoever?

GRAHAM: Thank God for microwave.

HANNITY: Thank God for microwave -- what, microwave food?

GRAHAM: Yes, because that is the only thing I know how to cook.

HANNITY: I'll tell you what I'm going to do, I will order a whole steak and I will have it delivered and left on your doorstep.

GRAHAM: I'll take it.

HANNITY: Hall Steakhouse, I will tell -- I will call them tonight, I just need your address.

GRAHAM: The president and Melania, she's going to send stuff over, I'm going to milk this for all it's worth.

But I feel fine. The reason I got tested was because I had kind of an allergy episode for about a month and that little spike and chills, and I went to the doctor, and he said, let's just be sure, you know, have the test.

But let me just say this, today was a big day. We're not out of the woods yet. Dr. Fauci is a national treasure. We got many challenges left.

But let me tell you why I think the stock market went up. Three things happened today, a declaration of national emergency will free up about $40 billion to help states medical infrastructure. That will help us contain this problem.

You got a bipartisan deal that's going to help people who have been laid off and had their income go down. And you had a big change in testing where you had the private sector come forward with testing kits that are going to accelerate testing tenfold, and you got the private sector like Walmart allowing drive-by testing.

So, I think the president has made three really good decisions today supporting the bipartisan deal to help working people, getting emergency declaration to help the states, and getting the private sector to come up with testing programs outside the federal government.

HANNITY: Well, it explains why the president was meeting with all these industry leaders over these many weeks --

(CROSSTALK)

GRAHAM: That's the key. This is the private sector, is to get them to do things the federal government can't do.

The president inherited a system that was not designed to test everybody in America, and what we now have is a private sector/public sector partnership that's going to allow people to be tested in real time and we'll know more about the virus.

But here's what's supposed (ph) to be the 2020 election is going to be about, I don't think it will be about politics tonight. But the question for the country is, who is best able to rebuild this economy after dealing with a worldwide pandemic? Joe Biden or Donald Trump?

He's fixed a broken economy once, that was the Obama and Biden economy and he's going to fix this economy a second time.

HANNITY: Did you -- did you see my opening monologue tonight? If you didn't --

GRAHAM: No.

HANNITY: I'm taking attendance. You should have -- if you get a chance --

(CROSSTALK)

GRAHAM: I should have.

HANNITY: But two of the things that we brought up is, I think this will create a new paradigm. This is good for not only America, worldwide. These companies are amazing to do what they're doing and patriotic Americans.

Also, I went over chapter and verse, it took six months for Biden and Obama on the H1N1 virus, and when they finally declared a national emergency after 1,000 Americans were dead and tens of thousands contracted H1N1, only then they declared a national emergency, and the media was fawning over it six months later. Look at how far the media sucked.

(CROSSTALK)

GRAHAM: Well, you know, they want to Trump to lose no matter what or how they want him to lose. But here's the deal -- the president inherited a stagnant economy, it was loaded with regulations with high taxes. And in three years, Donald Trump took a wet blanket off the economy put on it by Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

Three weeks ago, this economy was historic. Now we got a worldwide pandemic that started in China. The single best thing this president did was stop travel into America from China. The reason Italy is having the problem is they didn't do that. He's done the same thing with Europe.

So, the goal is to contain the virus and stabilize the economy.

And here's what I would ask every American to think about -- look what Donald Trump did with the Obama and Biden economy that was going nowhere. Who do you want to fix the economy after a worldwide pandemic? Biden or Trump? That's an easy decision.

HANNITY: Here's one other quick thing we want -- we want you and we want every American healthy, safe, and secure. We wish you a speedy recovery. We're praying for everybody that is dealing with the anxiety of waiting a test result.

Thank you, Senator. Feel better.

GRAHAM: We're going to get through this. We're going to be stronger. We're going to --

HANNITY: Hall Steakhouse, all I need is an address, stay on the line. Give my wonderful producer your address and I will send it over. Have it sent over.

GRAHAM: All right, all right. Thank you.

HANNITY: No shaking hands. OK. Thank you.

GRAHAM: Don't worry.

And China, we are going to take our supply chain back home on the health care side.

HANNITY: Absolutely. They got a lot of explaining to do. We're going to come back --

GRAHAM: We're going to be stronger after this, Sean. We'll be stronger as a nation after this.

HANNITY: A new paradigm has been now set and I think it will help for many generations to come.

And when we come back, another example of quid pro quo Joe has absolutely no idea what he's talking about.

And later, rising star of the Democratic Party found in a hotel room in Miami where a man had overdosed on crystal meth in a bizarre story, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Quid pro quo Joe continually and shamelessly politicizing the outbreak of corona, recently tweeting a harsh critique of Trump's travel ban, saying a wall and travel ban will not stop the virus.

Here with reaction, former White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, FOX News contributor, Mike Huckabee.

Governor Huckabee, I would argue that that travel ban decision where Joe said it was the president being hysterical and xenophobic was the single best decision early that help Americans not contract this virus. I would argue probably saved thousands of Americans from contracting it.

MIKE HUCKABEE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I don't think there's any doubt about that, Sean. The fact is, by keeping the risk lower for Americans with people coming in who could infect Americans, it did in fact mitigate what could have been a much worse situation.

I think one of the most revealing things is that two of the most anti-Trump governors, Gavin Newsom of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York, have both publicly, publicly praised the president and the vice president for the kind of assistance and help that they have been given by asking for it. Now, these are not two guys who are prone to saying President Trump has done something great, but they could not deny it.

After all, the job of the governor is a pragmatic job when it really gets down to it. It's not as much ideological as it is pragmatic. They are dealing with a crisis, they got the help they needed, and it was because President Trump understood his role as president and the partnership with the states, and Joe Biden can't argue against that.

HANNITY: You know, Reince, you look at the man, the quarantine and now we know why all these industries one by one were going into the White House. This has been in the works from the get-go.

REINCE PRIEBUS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, from day one, the Trump administration established relationships with people in all sectors of the private sector, of aviation, the tech industry, pharmaceuticals, big hospitals. It's those partnerships so people coming in and out, even in the first six months.

And the reason this is important, and I think it's important time in our history, it's an important time for the safety of the American people. It's a very serious, it doesn't get any more serious and the political world when you actually have to try to resolve a pandemic.

And the reason going to 2020 that's going to be important is that Joe Biden's entire campaign is the only thing that will be there. They are going to have a virtual campaign, as you know. This is going to be a referendum on Donald Trump. That's it. They're not going to talk about anything else other than Donald Trump.

It's a huge political risk, but it's also a huge political opportunity and leadership opportunity for the president --

HANNITY: Yes.

PRIEBUS: -- to show the American people that you can resolve the most difficult, serious thing that take place in our society.

HANNITY: Obviously, thinking in a whole new way. I think this is a game changer for the world. We have a new paradigm.

Thank you both.

When we come back, shocking story -- I mean, mind-blowing story about one of the Democratic Party's up-and-coming stars. You may not even believe it, it's so nuts, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: We're following a very disturbing story involving Andrew Gillum.

Mark Meredith has the very latest -- Mark.

MARK MEREDITH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Sean, good evening.

Miami Beach police say they were called to a South Beach hotel last night for a man suffering from a possible drug overdose. In that room with the victim was former Tallahassee mayor and gubernatorial candidate, Andrew Gillum. Police say in the room, they also found three bags containing what is suspected to be methamphetamine.

Now, Gillum, as you know, was a Democratic candidate for governor back in 2018. In their report, police say they try to talk to the 40-year-old about what was going on but he was inebriated. Gillum has been saying that he did have had too much to drink but he also is denying that he ever used any methamphetamines. There are still a lot of questions, though, Sean, about what was going on in that hotel room -- Sean.

HANNITY: Mark, thank you.

All right. We're always going to be fair, balanced. We're not the media mob. We look for the truth and truth -- facts without fear.

Oh, pray for Laura. She's on a spring break, mommy-daughter ski vacation.

Let not your heart be troubled, special edition with Bill Hammer for the vacationing Laura Ingraham.

Content and Programming Copyright 2020 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2020 ASC Services II Media, LLC. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.