Eastern on cspans q a. The numbers courtesy of Johns Hopkins university. Million cases of coronavirus, and the global death toll now in excess of 312000 in 188 countries and regions. Fromorter joining us wellington, new zealand. Good sunday evening to you, where you are at this morning. Thank you for joining us. Guest thank you for having me. Host can you give us a sense of what has happened in new zealand . I know the country was quick to respond and quick to reopen. Guest thats right. No country can say conclusively that they have [inaudible] thewe have contained Community Transmission of the virus. In march, when they realized there was a spread, there was a plan to lock down the country and new zealand was put into a onemonth strict lockdown. Some of the toughest measures globally, really, people locked in their homes for a month. It is a few factors, basically. It was decisive leadership by the Prime Minister, the geographic advantage new zealand has of being one of the southernmost island nations, thats very limited access, and that really helped in containing the virus as well. Finally, the community got together. Theyll act they all locked themselves inside the house and stayed there until the transmission was broken. A little over a month after that, some of the restrictions were eased, and just last week, more restrictions were eased. Now we are back in a position where people can visit bars not bars, restaurants, bars our next week, but restaurants. Watching big economies like the u. S. , it is a totally different story here, and there is a story to tell about how it was managed in new zealand. Host im curious, what was the general reaction among residents in new zealand . How did they accept all of this early on . Guest there was a big shock. New zealanders love the outdoors. Like toe hiking, they go skiing, they sometimes like boating, fishing. Outdoor activities are a big thing in new zealand, so it was a big shock. Straight,vernment was the idea was to go hardcore early. They kept telling the population, people that if you do this properly for a month, we may get out of it quickly. And it seems to me that the plan has worked. People came and agreed to this idea that was put forward by our Prime Minister, and they stay the course. We can sayooks like that new zealand has one of the lowest case numbers, numbers of cases of coronavirus and lowest numbers of deaths in the world. Initially wastion a shock, but that help the government actually contain this. Bureauur guest is the chief in new zealand for Thomson Reuters, and as we look at other countries, south korea also really quick to respond. What was in the mindset of the government of new zealand to respond so early . A lot of criticism that other countries, including the u. S. , were slow to respond. Guest [inaudible] quick to respond and took it seriously right from the beginning, and were able to contain this virus to an extent. Of course, a second wave could be a totally different story, but people who took it seriously have been able to deal with it. Thats probably what happened here. You have to remember that the way the government went forward with this is quite different than what you are seeing maybe in the u. S. And other big economies. The Prime Minister was constantly in touch with the chief medical advisor and all her decisions were based on sound medical advice. She did not really try to influence the decision at all. Helps, because it meant that medical professionals could actually handle this scenario. That is where a lot of [inaudible] having said that, the whole lockdown and the shutdown really did cripple the economy here. It is already a very small trade and tourism focused economy here , so the process of rebooting the economy, that is going to be the big challenge in the coming days. Host in this country, we have been spending trillions of dollars to boost the economy and help those impacted by this pandemic. What are we seeing in new zealand in terms of the government response to the people impacted by covid19 . Last week the budget was announced, and there was a 50 billion covid package that was released. Biggest amount new zealand has done in one budget ever. The Prime Minister and the government says the response to to beonomy is going as focused as it was on the health aspect of this pandemic. So the expectation is they jumped in and government [inaudible] on top of the 50 billion, plus , we have seenies that happen a lot in the last month or two, and other relief measures for small businesses, for people who are unemployed, the Unemployment Rate is expected to peak really in the next few months. Withhave come in subsidies, with a lot of packages, but we have to see how bad the impact is, and we will only know that in the coming weeks. Host it is sunday evening in wellington, new zealand, and our conversation with the bureau chief for Thomson Reuters. Thank you very much for being with us. Guest thank you. Host our phone lines are open. 202 7488000 for those in the eastern half of the country, and 202 7488001 for those in the mountain or pacific time zones. If you are outside the u. S. , 202 7488002. Follow us on twitter at cspanwj , Congressional Democrats launching an investigation into the firing of Inspector General. Top democrats in the house and Senate ForeignAffairs Committee launching investigation yesterday into President Trumps ofe friday night firing the Inspector General. The senatemocrats on committee on Foreign Relations writing a letter to the white house, the state department, and i Inspector General to preserve all records related to his dismissals and to turn them over by friday, may 22. Basis back the they suspect the firing might have been an active retaliation, as was investigating possible misuse of a political appointee at the state department to perform personal tasks for pompeo and his wife. Trump fired the Inspector General on friday night, saying in a letter to congress that he has no confidence in the state department ig, who has been has been in place since the obama administration. Trump has been critical of the Department Since he was elected. Caller [inaudible] im glad to see you back. Good morning. I want to make a quick comment. People, no matter what you think about this euros bill that pat this heroes bill that passed, people just want to get back to work again, and i am one of them. My brother works at a grocery store, and [inaudible] so surreal to be working behind those glasses and wearing these masks all the time. I read an article the other day, where trump [inaudible] host we are going to go next to asa in jefferson, texas. Good morning. Caller hi. How are you doing . Host good, thank you. Caller good. I wanted to say that i feel like the United States response to the coronavirus has been very selfcentered. We are doing a lot for ourselves , passing though stimulus packages, but we are not focusing too much on the global spread. I think with how globalized the always is these days, it has the potential to pop back and have a second wave come into the United States, not even necessarily because of something we have done, but because it is able to get in from another country. I guess the other thing i want to say on that is even if we dont have a second spread in the United States because of something that is happening somewhere else in the world, the economic lockdowns and the shutdowns that happened in other countries that are fighting it will have economic repercussions on us. I know that 50 of u. S. Exports go through developing nations, and those are the ones that are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. So if there economy were to be locked down for long periods of wouldnt be buying american products. Even if we are able to reopen our economy, it would still take that hit. Host asa, thanks. The headline this morning, front page of the Washington Post, owners in homes violate federal disease standards, and from fox news, the president ramping up on the purge of the firing of the latest Inspector General, thats from the state department. Carl is next, from hedge jill, west virginia. Good morning. Caller good morning, steve. The way i see this thing, it is being politicized way too much. Another thing, the trial lawyers are going to have a windfall on this whole thing. When it does get under control. They are going to file suits against just about every company or every they will absolutely bankrupt, like the boy scouts. They will absolutely bankrupt a lot of citizens. With lawsuits. I Hope Congress can get something through that will prevent this. Thank you for the call. This is from fox news, the number of confirmed cases of covid19 since the 100th case, and the top line is the United States. You can follow online, from vox, vox. Com. At the bottom, hong kong and taiwan with Quick Reaction and also flattening the curve very early on as a result of actions in those countries. Our caller from hillsdale, michigan. Good morning, sam. Caller good morning. I want to mention that i am reading a book right now, it is imprisonment of german submarines in american waters during the early parts of world war ii. Communities by the eastern sea Defense Command wanted to soften their lives so submarines could not see the ships there are lights ights so the l submarines could not see the ships. It reminded me of how people are responding to this runup, they want to be comfortable themselves but help the neighbors. Host who is the author of the book, do you know . Caller he is from saint augustine, florida. I do not know if he is still alive or not. Michael gannon. Call. Thank you for the we focus on books every weekend and during this pandemic, also prime time in the evening when the senate is not in session on cspan2, a chance for you to catch up on our book tv coverage. Check it out on cspan. Org. Lucas is next from jackson, michigan. Good morning. Caller good morning. I called today just because i know everyone is ready to open everything up, which i myself, but i asked all my republican to be cautious and not politicize this, you know . In lansing we are seeing all this at the capital, and it is concerning to me because, you know, i am running as a delegate and i know a lot of people in my neighborhood, republicans included, want to be safe. They dont want to rush this. Thanks for the call. From the Washington Post, as obama tells the 2020 graduates if the world is going to get better, it is going to be up to you. He delivered to speeches, want to historically black colleges and want to the class of 2020 one to historically black colleges and one to the class of 2020. Here is what president obama told them. [video clip] doing what feels good, what is easy that is what kid like. Unfortunately, a lot of important grownups, some with fancy titles and jobs, still think that way. Which is why everything is screwed up. I hope you decide to ground yourself and values that last. Like honesty, hard work, responsibility, fairness,. Enerosity, respect for others you will not get it right every time. Youll make mistakes, like we all do. But if you listen to the truth that is inside yourself, even when it is hard, even when it is inconvenient, people will notice. They will gravitate towards you. And youll be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. Finally, build a community. No one does big things by themselves. Right now, when people are scared, it is easy to be cynical and say, let me look out for myself or my family, or people who look, think, or pray like me. But if we are going to get through these difficult times, if we are going to get to a world where everyone has opportunity and can afford college, we are going to save the environment and defeat future pandemics, we are going to have to do it together. Host that from president barack obama, his speech delivered last night, turning over the evening to the class of 2020, the High School Graduating class. We are getting your reaction to the u. S. And the global coronavirus pandemic response. 202 7488000 if you live in the eastern half of the country. 202 7488001 for those of you out west. New york times sunday magazine, there has to be some dignity to this, as Funeral Homes are overwhelmed by the dead bodies, eaterially in the gr new york city area. The inside story behind and word snowden anddward the nsa leaks, the great reckoning. More americans are unemployed anytime during the great depression. Bloomberg businessweek is focusing on remdesivir and the story behind the pharmaceutical wasany at least somebody thinking ahead, from bloomberg trumpssweek, and what if wins . Imagine the consequences of a second term. Jack is next from michigan. Good morning. Caller good morning. Host hey, do me a favor. Turn your all you down on the set, otherwise we will hear some feedback. Caller just a minute. I thought i had it down. Host you sound good. Go ahead. Caller i had a couple comments i wanted to make on the virus i dont know if you dont know the answer to it or not, but a lot of the hospitals, especially in the areas where theyve got it real bad, though ive been theyve been closed down. I wonder if they are keeping any kind of record on the people who needed to get in the hospital who couldnt make it, if there is a faster way. I do not know if they are keeping a true record. I know theyve got guidelines they have to go by, but i just wondered. If you give me about a half a , [inaudible] every time he gets on, all he wants to do, is badmouth trump. I cant remember what his name is i wanted to throw that out. Thanks again for taking my call. Jack, thank you. We know hospitals have been impacted. We do not know it of any that are shutdown, though there might be more in world parts of the country. Our next color from miami, florida. Good morning. Caller how are you doing, steve . Florida,great state of our governor, i would say he has done a great job, doing it as well as our mayor and county mayors, city mayors, they are slowly opening up the economy. The craziest part, florida has one of the worst unemployment, tatian systems there is. I applied march 21. The only thing i have heard, they finally received my. Pplication may 6 i got an email confirmation. And i am selfemployed and have been selfemployed for 25 years. Florida does not allow selfemployed or independent contractors to be able to apply, but it is part of the cares act. Eligible might not be for state unemployment are eligible for federal unemployment assistance. I am a grant writer, so i really should be ive been helping a lot of businesses apply for the , local grants, city grants, county grants, im usually, and sending the email to them or the link that they can do it, or i go to their business and be able to fill out the Application Online for them, you know . I think the problem is in florida, we have had a lot of tests that have come back, false positive tests. I have not been tested and i am not going to get tested. I stay home, i am home now, but when i do go to work again i wear a mask. I think we just have to listen to the scientists. We have to be able to prepare ourselves, wash our hands, do the things that are being requested of us, because where i live, Miamidade County is the epicenter of florida. Host you can follow us on our twitter page at cspanwj. Lisa has this point, the democrats have lost every point to attack the president , which is all this is. They seem to never tire of losing. We are checking in with foreign correspondents around the world. London is them bureau chief for the Washington Post, William Booth. Thank you for being with us. Booth, let me first ask you about the Prime Minister. How is he doing today . I know he was in the hospital, now back to work a couple weeks ago. How is he doing now . Guest Prime MinisterBoris Johnson is doing well. Did spend central nights several nights in the icu last month. He was very sick. He confessed that it could have gone either way, meaning he could have died. But he is back on the job and seeming to be doing well. And his fiancee and just had a new baby, he is back at the podium, back leading the government. Host and how, from your standpoint, did that change his approach to this pandemic, having firsthand experience to the virus . Big questions the that a lot of people are asking, how much this affected Boris Johnson himself. His governments approach going into the epidemic was, has been criticized as slow. They went into lockdown a little later than a lot of the rest of europe, but now they are coming out of the epidemic, out of the also. Wn slower so some people are thinking that nalht be boris perso experience with the virus and how bad it could be. That is possible. But britain is clearly behind france and germany and spain today, on sunday, on the measures they are taking to ease the lockdown. Youre in london on a sunday afternoon, whats open, what is closed . What can you do, if anything . You can go walking in the park now all you want. You can go up and down the streets. There is no limit on exercise or ,hat kind of thing, but the outside of the Grocery Stores and those kinds of food shops and pharmacies, most everything is still closed. Theres lots of takeout going on, but britain is still pretty locked down. Though that eased in the last week, where you saw a lot more people on the tube, our Subway Service in london, going to work. Boris was telling people to get back to work if they can, and a lot of them wanted to get back to work, go get a paycheck again. You feel like the lockdown