Dr. Fauci’s remarks came as the confirmed U.S. death toll from COVID-19 topped more than 121,000 — though he acknowledged the official figure is likely a significant undercount. His testimony came as Trump contradicted claims by his press secretary that he was “kidding” when he said he had urged White House officials to slow down coronavirus testing. This is Trump being questioned by CBS’s Weijia Jiang.

Weijia Jiang: “Mr. President, at that rally, when you said you asked your people to slow down testing, were you just kidding, or do you have a plan to slow down testing?”

President Donald Trump: “I don’t kid. Let me just tell you. Let me make it clear.”

The White House is set to end federal support for coronavirus testing at the end of the month. In Texas, lawmakers are warning of “catastrophic cascading consequences” if Trump follows through on his plans, which would end diagnostic testing at seven sites that screen hundreds of people a day.