ANDY SERWER: Are you optimistic about that?

MELINDA GATES: You know, I am because with the many partners we've been working with like the-- I have a company called Pivotal Ventures that works on societal issues here in the United States. Our partners like the Bipartisan National Policy Center-- they are starting to see movement because they're hearing-- Congress is hearing this difficult tension that moms and dads but particularly moms are facing at home.

And so I think finally, this problem that's been underlying our economy for so long is now exposed. And people are seeing that a nurse-- 85% of our workforce of nurses are women. They can't go to work if they've got two kids at home who there's no childcare option for them right now.

ANDY SERWER: Yeah, in addition to your piece in "The Washington Post," there was a story about just that in "The New York Times" this morning about Italy and how difficult it was for women to go back to work there. I want to shift and ask you about the private sector though, Melinda. They have to play a role here as well. Some say, oh, this will just add more costs to having on-site daycare centers, for instance. What's your response there?

MELINDA GATES: Well, I think there's several things that businesses can look at doing. And they can look at having more flexible work hours where they can. They can look at shift times, what can be done at home, what-- what can't be done at home. I think they can look at child care tax credits for their employees. And I think they can also look at yeah, maybe on-site daycare.

But you know, we always make these excuses. The United States always makes these excuses of OK, it's going to cost us something. Well, guess what? It's costing us enormously that we don't have these policies.

And so businesses need to step up. We have over eight states now that have passed robust paid family medical leave policies. In California, where their chamber of commerce was originally against it, now they're polling small businesses. California is one of the states that has it.

And small businesses are saying it's actually working. It's working for our employees. Because guess what? Most employees are caregivers. And we need to recognize that and stop forcing this unhealthy balance between doing the right thing for those we love and work.

ANDY SERWER: Makes sense. Let me pull back and ask you about the Gates Foundation and coronavirus generally. How much money have you guys given? And where is it going? And where has it gone?

MELINDA GATES: Yeah, so we've given specifically $300 million that Bill and I have opened just since this crisis began. We also have the about $4 billion plus that go out from the foundation every year. And a lot of that is being reworked during this COVID time. But the $300 million specifically is going for diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines, making sure that the science is pushing forward and that those will come out as quickly as possible with industry.

Another piece of it is going for the international response. Because if we don't focus on what's going to happen internationally in this crisis, you're going to get massive rebound back into countries around the world. And so we have a piece that's looking at how do we get vaccines out equitably and affordably to everyone.

And then there's a small piece that goes here for our home in the Pacific Northwest for our partners who are supporting those frontline workers or supporting those kids who need to get a computer brought into their home and set up so they can learn.

ANDY SERWER: Let me drill down into the international facets a little bit, Melinda. You've got money going to Gavi, which gives money for vaccines in third world countries, my understanding is. And then you said that you wanted to give money to the European Commission-- or working with them because-- I'm sorry. You're working with the European Commission because they understand global cooperation better. Why those places?

MELINDA GATES: Yes, so Gavi, which is the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations, has been in working for over 20 years. And it's an organization we work with. We know deeply. They have been getting vaccines out very effectively at low cost to many, many low income countries. And so that is the right organization that as soon as we have a vaccine, you give great global access pricing. And you get it out equitably for the most vulnerable.

The European leaders came together as part of the G20 this past Monday, May 4th, and said, we need a global architecture for figuring out how do we make sure that when a vaccine comes out, and these diagnostics and these therapeutics, we're not all competing, that everybody has access? And so they came together for a coalition to raise money. We were part of that with many other partners.

And they're going to run that money through the Center for Epidemic Preparedness that has been set up about three years ago for actually finding a vaccine. They're going to run some of it through an accelerator on diagnostics and then some of it through Gavi in terms of once the vaccines available. Those are luckily the right global architecture and structure that we've put in place as a world, thank goodness, in the last 3 to 20 years, depending on which one you're looking at.

ANDY SERWER: OK, that leads to the next question, which is a big one. How do you assess the response here in the United States?

MELINDA GATES: We are lacking leadership at the federal level in the United States. And it's highly distressing and disappointing. To have to have 50 state-grown solutions is inefficient. It makes no sense. And it's costing people their lives. It's costing people their health. It is impacting families now.

Because if we had a good testing and tracing system like Germany has, we would have started to reopen slowly more places in the economy. People wouldn't be struggling so much to put a meal on their table. The lack of action is really causing harm and hurt unnecessarily in this country. And I'm incredibly disappointed to see that.

ANDY SERWER: So how do we go about, given those failures, Melinda, how do we go forward from here? And can we even really talk about a reopening process? I mean, we are. We have to to a degree. What's the right way to go about it, I guess?

MELINDA GATES: Well, luckily, you're seeing many governors step up and not only do the right thing for their state. But they're taking regional approaches now with other governors. And so they're looking at what are-- who are the exemplar states? Who's done well on this?

They're talking to each other. They're figuring out how do you make sure you get the protective gear out equitably? How do you make sure that when you have testing available, you get it out to health care workers first and then the most vulnerable?

So I think we need to go very, very slowly with reopening this economy. There are places that will be possible to do it. But we have to look very carefully at the sentinel issues. That is, as soon as you see increased rates of COVID, you need to go back and pull back some.

And so we have to look at all of the places we're collecting data and then do-- and do modeling around it. But this is a slow process. This isn't just oh, one day, you wake up. And you open up a state. You're going to see rebound all over the place in the United States. And that is concerning.

ANDY SERWER: There are some governors moving too fast, do you think?

MELINDA GATES: I think there are a few who are moving too fast. You don't reopen when you have an accelerating disease curve. You reopen after you've flattened and when you're starting to see it go down. I mean, it's-- it's pretty simple in terms of when you look at the graphs and you know what to do. And I think one of the things that's difficult right now is, you know, we have an organization.

We set up, after the war, the Centers for Disease Control, to make sure we took care of malaria in this country. They have amazing employees, amazing scientists and epidemiologists. They are set up to provide the science to the local state and health commissions. But if you take away their power, they can't do their job. And so that just should not be.

ANDY SERWER: Are you working with the CDC right now, the Gates Foundation?

MELINDA GATES: We work with everybody.

ANDY SERWER: Right.

MELINDA GATES: Excuse me. Sorry. Yes, we're working with the CDC. We're working with HHS. We're working with Congress. We're working with global leaders because, you know, Bill and I have had this institution now, the foundation, for 20 years. And it's focused on the most vulnerable.

And luckily, we do know a lot about disease as an institution because of what we've been dealing with all over the world. And so yes, we are readily talking to all of those various partners and agencies and scientists, quite frankly, in academia and in industry so that, you know, everybody can push forward.

ANDY SERWER: Is it even appropriate, Melinda, to frame reopening in terms of an economic trade-off? I mean, you hear about this, that the cure is worse than the disease. That came from the president. And you can understand the economic pressure, certainly. But should we even talk that way?

MELINDA GATES: I think we should be talking about what's safe and what is the most safe for families. And I think we have to talk about how do you keep certain parts of our economy open. We have been successfully doing that, our health care system luckily, our grocery stores, our pharmacies-- those essential services. And then you have to say from there, what is the next safe places and how and where might you start to open things up?

And yes, it is important to reopen slowly where you can because we don't want to have so many people unemployed. We don't want to have kids going hungry. We don't want families struggling to put a meal on the table. But we can't do it in terms of, hey, you know, we're going to just quickly reopen this place because it's important for the economy. No, it's important to keep the American people first and foremost safe. And it's a balance, right? And we have to talk about that balance.

ANDY SERWER: You've talked about equitable distributions of a vaccine once we have one. Why is that so important?

MELINDA GATES: Because it's our most vulnerable populations who are being affected by this so much. I look at the statistics from the few states where we have what we call disaggregated data. And when you look at what's happening to people of color from this disease, oh my gosh. So you have to look at testing first our health care workers. And then you have to look at testing the people who are the most vulnerable so we can protect them. And they can protect their families.

You can't have the testing going to the highest bidder or, you know, high income families just because they know the right doctor to get it from. We have to take care of everybody because guess what? These most vulnerable-- they're also the ones who take care of us. They're the ones who are out working in the health care system, are keeping our factories open, are keeping our warehouses open, are the grocery store cashier. And many, many of them are women and people of color.

ANDY SERWER: And women are particularly vulnerable here as well in terms of domestic violence. We've seen that increase during this time, right?

MELINDA GATES: Absolutely. We're seeing it in the United States. And we're seeing it in country after country that when you're live with a partner who already has that tendency, and you're stuck in a home with that partner, domestic violence is going up. And that is tragic. And think of the impact on the children in that home as well who are experiencing that and seeing that. It is really awful.

ANDY SERWER: The foundation recently announced it would work with New York Governor Cuomo to reimagine education in New York state. What is that going to look like, Melinda?

MELINDA GATES: Well, Governor Cuomo asked our foundation to just come to the table with the many, many, many partners we worked with all over New York state and other places in the United States. And you know, our primary partners, let's be honest, are teachers, right? So he's asked us to come together just as part of a coalition, because we've been working in the state, to think about what might we do now with education.

You know, some kids are successfully going online and are keeping up their learning gains. Many, many are not and are falling behind. And so we need to look at, you know, where are teachers in the public school system who are being effective? How are they doing it? How can we help them spread their lessons to other public school teachers? How can we help low income kids have access to broadband, to a computer, and then to great teaching?

There are many great teachers out there. But not everybody knows how to go online. I have to say, even I struggle some days with all the different platforms, right, that we're using online these days. And so we need to support teachers. And they can support one another.

ANDY SERWER: Your husband, Bill, recently tweeted when President Trump announced he was freezing funding for WHO. Does it really rise to the level where you feel you guys need to respond? Maybe I'm not-- I shouldn't be asking you to speak for Bill. But-- but does it rise to the level where you guys feel compelled to respond like that?

MELINDA GATES: Bill and I both came out strongly with our voices on purpose in favor of the WHO. We know the World Health Organization. It's not perfect. But we have worked with them for over 20 years. They are the organization that was set up by the U-- after the world war-- last world war by the United Nations to deal with health around the world. And so it makes no sense in the time-- in a time of crisis to say you're going to pull back on a partner.

Yes, there will be time later for a postmortem and for some changes and to make things even better. But that is the institution we rely on. So we feel that when you're in a crisis, and you know a partner is good and robust, you stand up for what's right. And you stand up for your partners.

And guess what? WHO has a whole-- you know, it's a whole member set of the United Nation country. But they stand up for everybody else in the world. So of course, we're going to stand up for them. That's what's right.

ANDY SERWER: You mentioned you founded the foundation 20 years ago. And it focuses primarily on health care, which looks prescient now. I mean, you could have done climate change or something else. What made you decide to focus on health care, Melinda?

MELINDA GATES: Yeah, so when Bill and I founded the foundation, we really had this belief, we realized as a couple, that all lives have equal value, all lives. And yet the world doesn't treat all lives as equal. People don't all get to grow up and live that healthy and productive life.

So we've always been about the most vulnerable. And when we looked at where were people most having trouble around the world living a healthy life so they could go on and educate their kids, it is places where there is a lot of poverty and a lot of death because of diseases.

And so over 20 years, we've built up a knowledge base with many, many, many partners and scientists inside and outside the foundation of how do you deal with malaria outside the United States? How do you deal with HIV/AIDS in these low income settings? How do you look for a vaccine?

And so that knowledge is now coming to bear and the many partners we work with and that we have a relationship with, whether it's industry or academia or scientists in different labs, luckily, that is coming to bear now during this time of COVID.

ANDY SERWER: Another endeavor you have is the Giving Pledge with Warren Buffett. Have you guys looked to change the direction maybe of that during coronavirus? Or is that still just ongoing right now?

MELINDA GATES: Well, the point of the Giving Pledge is to really send a societal message that if you have the type of wealth that has-- that you've become a billionaire, it really has to do with because of where you've grown up, yes, and some luck and some skill.

And so it was getting billionaires together to sign up and say, we're going to give away half our wealth and not for a specific cause-- everybody, you know, works on their own pieces-- but to learn and to accelerate our giving.

We've had several calls now with that group. And believe me, people are pivoting and changing in their communities. They are making their funding flexible. They're supporting their partners in their community. They're saying, we have to fill gaps before the federal money showed up or when it shows up and doesn't show up in quite the right ways. And then they're starting to think about OK, what else might we do?

And I've been really impressed with the Giving Pledge community with how much they are being thoughtful with their partners, and saying we have to help our partners, and we have to help the most vulnerable in our communities. And we've had numerous ones of them call us and say, hey, we don't know anything about vaccines. But should we be contributing more to vaccines or therapeutics or diagnostics? And so we have ways to help one another do that.

ANDY SERWER: So they are responding. That's-- that's good to hear.

MELINDA GATES: Absolutely they're responding.

ANDY SERWER: So let me ask you a little bit about your book. And you talk about women leaders. And I guess I need to ask you or want to ask you which ones impacted you the most.

MELINDA GATES: Oh, I've had so many women leaders impact me over the years. But I can tell you one that I see right now and that I have worked with now for many years. And that's Chancellor Merkel.

When I see her consistent leadership over time, when I see and you talk to her about how she was underestimated originally in Germany. And yet she's a physicist. She grew up in East Germany. And she has risen to this role. But she has been consistently who she is.

And when we-- Bill and I talked with her on the phone a couple of weeks ago, she is asking all the right questions. She's listening to the science. She's listening to her advisors. She's saying, what should we do for the world, not just for Germany?

We're watching her systematically give guidance in Germany and open the country back up in a very wise way. That is the kind of leadership that to me is smart and is consistent and is compassionate. And she is a leader that completely and totally inspires me.

ANDY SERWER: Great. Let me ask you a few personal questions as we wrap things up here, Melinda. What are you and Bill and your kids talking about around the dinner table during this time?

MELINDA GATES: Well, of course, every night, we're talking about the news, not surprisingly. We're talking about the latest COVID data or what we know. The kids are bringing points of view. But we always are coming around to, every night, the most vulnerable, particularly in our own community.

You know, the kids-- our kids understand that we're lucky that we're not struggling to put a meal on the table. It may not be the best meal right now because Mom heats. She doesn't cook very well. But we're not struggling to eat, right? And we're not having to get up every morning and think about ah, who's going to take care of the kids? And how do I go in and work in the hospital today?

So we're talking about stories we're hearing that they're hearing from their friends whose families might be struggling. We're talking about what we're learning from Africa and what we're seeing, what we don't know, where we're confused. So those are very robust and ongoing conversations every single day. And then we're also just trying to have some humor at night too, right? [LAUGHS]

ANDY SERWER: Right. Yeah. And what about staying active? Are you guys working out, doing yoga together as a family or anything like that?

MELINDA GATES: I wish we were doing yoga together as a family. We seem to be a family that likes to exercise in each of our own ways in our own time. But luckily, it's turned to spring here in Seattle. So it's beautiful to get out and walk. You know, our son's in the gym lifting weights. So we're all kind of doing our own thing. And then we're coming together to do puzzles or play cards at night or sometimes watch a serious show on TV or a silly show on TV.

ANDY SERWER: Right. Yeah, I know that feeling. And-- and finally, last question, Melinda. What lessons on achieving success and happiness have you learned that you share with your kids and maybe people from younger generations?

MELINDA GATES: I talk to my kids a lot about the fact that we are all put here to make manifest in the world our talents and how we can-- what we can contribute to the world. But it all comes down to values.

And so I'm always talking to my kid about, who do you want to be? How do you show up in the world? And how do you stay true to those values? And I think for younger generations to think a bit about, you know, their values and who they want to be in the world and how they want to act.

And I think we all have to have safe places that when we don't act our best, or we say something to somebody even in our family that we wished we hadn't, that we learn to repair and to say, no, no. I wasn't my best self today. And so I talk a lot to our kids about living-- living into their values. And-- and they're still quite honestly developing their talents and their values. And that's great. And we're here as parents to try and support and nurture that.

ANDY SERWER: All right, Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Thank you so much for your time. Stay safe. Be well. And talk to you soon.

MELINDA GATES: Thanks, Andy.

ANDY SERWER: You've been watching "Influencers." I'm Andy Serwer. We'll see you next time.

[MUSIC PLAYING]