Trump administration is expected to reverse direction on face masks

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• Judy Woodruff:

  At the White House this evening, a sign that the administration may change their recommendation and say that Americans should wear protective face masks.

  Our Yamiche Alcindor is here now to fill us in on the latest.

  Yamiche, are they saying more about that this evening?

• Yamiche Alcindor:

  Yes.

  White House officials and President Trump are expected to make a major change in guidance related to how Americans can protect themselves against the coronavirus. They are expected to recommend that Americans that are living in hot spots or areas that are hardest hit by the coronavirus, that those people should wear cloth face masks.

  Now, that's different from the N95 masks that health care workers use and the ones that are in dire shortage for them. They still want those kind of masks to be focused on health care workers. But they are going to be asking Americans who are in community spread areas that are hardest hit by the virus to do that.

  This is a major reversal. The CDC had not been recommending this. I'm told that an announcement expected in the next day or so or possibly this weekend. It hasn't happened yet.

  But my sources at the White House tell me that it is coming fairly soon.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Well, I know you will be reporting on..

• Yamiche Alcindor:

  Another thing I should note, Judy…

• Judy Woodruff:

  Go ahead.

• Yamiche Alcindor:

  Oh, I was just going to say, the other thing I should note, Judy, is that the president has also taken a second test for the coronavirus. He tested negative again.

  Here's what he had to say about that:

• President Donald Trump:

  It took 14 minutes or something to come up with a conclusion, and it said, the president tested negative for COVID-19.

  So, that's the second one. I think I took it really out of curiosity, to see how quickly it worked and fast it worked, and it's a lot easier. I have done them both, and the second one is much more pleasant.

• Judy Woodruff:

  And, Yamiche, we know — and, of course, everyone's relieved the president still testing negative.

  We also know that the president and his — the people around him talked today about the use of the Defense Production Act. What are they saying about that?

• Yamiche Alcindor:

  Well, Judy, the Defense Production Act, as we have been explaining since this outbreak began, is an act that would allow the president to direct companies to make essential medical equipment as the government needs it.

  In this case, the president had only used it for one company, General Motors, and only for ventilators. He is now expanding that. He is going to be using it for other companies, including GE and a company named 3M, and it's going to be expanded to other items, including masks and ventilators.

  So the president is using his powers to direct companies, forcing them, essentially, to make these contracts and make these goods for the American people.

  The other thing to note is that governors have been asking for a long time for the president to expand the role he was playing when it comes to these — this needed medical equipment. So governors are going to be welcoming this. But it's still not the president making a blanket statement that he is going to be doing that for other medical equipment, like gowns and other things.

• Judy Woodruff:

  And finally, Yamiche, we gather there was — there were a lot of questions and answers tonight about the — this economic relief to people who are so hard-hit by what's happened with a loss of jobs.

  What are they saying?

• Yamiche Alcindor:

  That's right.

  Secretary — Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is saying that, within the next two weeks, Americans who have direct deposit information already with the federal government, that they will start receiving those checks, the $1,200 for people, for Americans, as well as $500 per child.

  That's going to start hitting people's bank accounts. But the thing to note is that people who don't have direct deposit information, who get paper checks, White House officials today told me that those people could wait up to 20 weeks, nearly five months, for those checks.

  Secretary — Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is saying he's hoping Americans don't have to wait that long, that he's hoping it is going to be weeks, not months. But it's critical for people who don't have direct deposit information and who are eligible for those checks to get their information to the government as soon as possible.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Well, I know people are hanging on this information, so important for so many Americans.

  Yamiche, thank you.