U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Coronavirus Task Force news conference in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Kevin Dietsch | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Kernen opened that interview by noting that "a case of coronavirus" had been identified in Washington state by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Have you been briefed by the CDC?" Kernen asked. "I have," Trump replied. Kernen then asked: "Are there worries about a pandemic at this point?" Trump said: "No. Not at all." "And, we're, we have it totally under control," Trump said. "It's one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It's going to be just fine." On Feb. 28, Trump said that Democrats are using the coronavirus outbreak as a "hoax" to damage him and his administration. "The Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus," the president said at a campaign rally in South Carolina.

President Donald Trump speaks during a CNBC Exclusive interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22nd, 2020. Adam Galica | CNBC