Again as the virus urges across the nation. It is not enough to praise you, we have to protect you and pay you. You deserve leadership that listens to you and that works as hard for you as you do for your community. You are in your own communities. You know the people that you are caring for. I am here today to hear what is on your mind, what you think you need the most, what i can do as president , for you, your colleagues and what you have had. I would like to talk to each of you and then maybe ask you some questions and get a little more detail if possible. Is that ok . Doc, how are we doing this . From ourtime to hear guest. To mr. Tonyit over murray. Please, tony, introduce yourself and share with us your experience. Tony hello. First of all, thank you for the opportunity, and dr. Smith, this great panel of people. Its such an opportunity to talk about our perspective of things. So thank you. So im a firefighter and paramedic. Ive been in Public Safety for 26 years. Today im speaking to you as the iff president for hamilton county, indiana, just north of indianapolis. Im actually quarantining myself because of a potential close contact exposure. So living this, just like so many other people are. As firefighters and emts and paramedics, we see america we recognize and see that people are struggling. Weve seen this firsthand during this pandemic. We see what people are going through. In 26 thand during this in 26 years, i have not had the experience that ive experienced through this pandemic in terms of how our response has changed and through such a prolonged period of time. Talk about just a concern, a couple of things. One is, personal protective equipment. This is a concern for the following reasons. You know, one, availability and access from our perspectives. Firefighters, emts, paramedics, we are most folks first access to the Public Health care system. Were treating wherever a person is whatever they need. Not just because theyre sick or with the virus or have symptoms, but whatever the emergency is, we take people in our ambulances and treat them and get to the hospital system. Ppe is so important for our patients to protech our patients first and foremost. If were able to protect our patients, we need to be able to protect ourselves by having access to this equipment. Its so important. Its vital. This stuff is intended for a single use. Its disposable, in essence. And we are wearing personal protective equipment, sometimes over and over again because we dont have quite the access that we need, you know, in its not intended for reuse. That puts people at risk and the community at risk. When it comes to ppe stockpiles, you know, those are really have been in this pandemic issued to hospitals and care facilities first. Which leaves Fire Departments and ems agencies left to the open market to go seek out and find what ppe is available. Obviously, theres a cost to that, as well. Were sort of at a disadvantage from a Fire Departments perspective when we operate at this way. Health care systems, they get their ppe by the semi load. Fire departments are getting ppe through cases or maybe a skid or something. So ppe is, you know, first and foremost a concern. As we progress through this pandemic, you know, and were seeing numbers surge, were going through more and more ppe. You know, part of the issue here too is that our work space is really defined by the emergency. We cant predict where were going to be working. This virus, we often times dont know who is positive and who is not. So we treat every call by protecting ourselves and our patients. Whether thats mrs. Smith who fell down but cant get Family Access and has nobody else to call at the middle of the night. We have to wear that personal protective equipment for mrs. Smith and our members. And when you talk about places that we work, you know, its crawling into the inside of a car thats flipped over on the side of a highway to take care of a mother and her child. That is close contact. You cant get any more close contact than that. Those are the environments were working in, which require us to be prepared and have access. Front line health workers, including firefighters, are seeing increased exposures, increased ems workers and firefighters having to go through quarantine. Were seeing infection rates of our responders increase. This is becoming taxing. We know that. We know that there is hopeful vaccine opportunities. Because of this, we live cumulatively in the firehouse. Were doing what we can to space and to separate and to alter our meal eating schedules. But every time we get in those rigs to answer the bell, were less than six feet away from each other. The other concern i would say is as we go into vaccination, that our workers, our Frontline Health care workers and fire, ems, have priority access to a vaccine. I think thats really important and has to be identified as a resource so that we can continue to deliver these Vital Services when people need us the most. Well, thank you. I appreciate it, mr. President. Firefighters, incredible. All right. Ill ask questions after everybody speaks. By the way, if you see me in your camera looking up, its because youre on a big screen to me and they tell me to look in the camera. Im not not paying attention. Theres a great big board in front of me, and tony is to my left and mary, youre my bottom left and so on. So i just want you that im not not paying attention. Thank you for that. Thank you so much, tony. So now ill turn it over to you, to britney williams. Please introduce yourself and sh share your insights. My name is britney williams, and im a Third Generation home care worker and a proud member of seiu. I understand more than ever the importance of the work that caregivers like myself do. Its one of the fields that was literally birthed out of slavery and bondage. Seeing you put health care [ inaudible ] workers as a top priority, its life changing for Health Care Workers. Thank you. Caregivers, were the maintainers of life. You have First Responders, once they take care of those people, it is us the home care workers that maintain that care. We have to go in and out, into the elements, going to the pharmacies, the Grocery Stores to make sure that those people we care for, because theyre more than clients, they become family. Make sure that they continue [ inaudible ] before covid, even before we fought and won ppe in washington state, caregivers were out there doing what had to be done, and we still are. We have to live with the idea in the back of our head that because of the job that we do going in and out of our clients homes, taking them to their appointments, we can become guilty [ inaudible ] like i said, our job means so much to the. As a Third Generation, its in my blood im a woman of color and the mother of two beautiful children. [ audio difficulties ] has a heart for them and understands the importance of rebuilding and bringing back this nations grandeur [ inaudible ] i understand that you have to bring balance with that. In the midst of working with that, in the midst of rebuilding this economy, please remember to push forward with a plan that you have put together, making sure that caregivers workforce is central when it comes to rebuild thing nation. And most importantly, making sure that everyone thats in home care and all workers are able to have good, strong unions. Well, thank you, britney. I promise you, you have my word, i will do that. Ive already begun to Contact People how we can put Something Like that together with my plan, which you know well. Seiu has been strong on your behalf and behalf of all home care workers. Thank you, and i have a couple questions when we get finished, okay . Thank you. Thank you, britney. So ill turn it over now to you, to mary turner. Intro tduce yourself and share with us what you are seeing in the icu. Im mary turner, president of the minnesota nurses association, which is an affiliate of National Nurses united, the Largest Union and professional association of registered nurses in the country. I proudly work as an icu nurse on the night shift. In a covid unit in minnesota, and i have been since the end of february. Thank you for inviting us to take part in this roundtable. National nurses united has been proud to work closely with you, and we so deeply appreciate your commitment to addressing this pandemic and fighting to protect nurses and other frontline workers. Right now, covid19 infections are surging across minnesota and the country. Our hospitals i tell you are overflowing with Covid Patients. And we arent prepared. We dont have the necessary resources to keep patients and our workers safe. Nurses im telling you are feeling extremely anxious right now. We know the right way to battle this virus. But our employers and our government are not supporting us. Were trying to care for patients despite limited supplies, limited staff, and a rapid decline in the hospital beds, and all the while we know that we could become infected and our families could be infected at any time. The physical impacts of this virus have been devastating. I myself have held the hand of dying patients who are crying out for their families that they cant see. Ive taken care of coworkers as they fight for their lives on a ventilator. And knowing that they got sick because of the hospital. Throughout this pandemic, weve had the reuse n95s so many times. Sometimes the masks literally falls off our faces. In our hospital, were still reusing n95s two times. But i know hospitals that are using them eight to ten times a shift. Eight to ten shifts. We cant stay safe with these standards. Nurses are getting sick. A month ago in my hospital, nine icu nurses were out with covid. Just recently, we had 12 emergency room nurses out with covid. We need to protect our frontline workers so that we can take care of you. Remember, there is no second line of defense. Its us. As president of the minnesota nurses association, i have been on multiple picket lines with Frontline Health care workers who are protesting to get the ppe that they need and other protections. There is something seriously wrong when nurses have to take to the streets to beg for protection in the middle of a pandemic. What were experiencing in minnesota is what nurses are experiencing all over the country. Were not being given the protection that we need. Which need to have optimal ppe for all staff. We need testing of our workers and patients and Contact Tracing and notification of exposure for Health Care Workers. Do you know i have not been tested yet, and i have been on the frontlines in the icu since february. Youre kidding me. No. We also need safe staffing of nurses in the hospital units, and patients who are or may be covid positive patients must be isolated from the general patient population. Workers who have been exposed need to be allowed to quarantine at home without fear of losing income and their jobs. This is a novel virus, but the principles of infection are not. Our hospitals have not been providing these basic protections. This is why it is so critical for the federal, state, and local governments to step in to ensure that nurses are protected. As a result, the pandemic is surging and frontline workers are getting sick and dying. Nurses across the country were so relieved and grateful. When you committed to taking action that we need to have to get this pandemic under control. Thank you for committing to invoke the defense production act. To increase manufacturing and distribution of ppe, which we need to establish. And also for establishing an osha Emergency Temporary Standard on infectious diseases, which could enforce protections we need from our employers. Thank you for that. We are also grateful that you have committed to a robust and comprehensive pandemic stimulus plan to make sure that our patients have the economic support they need. You know, we nurses, we know that we are facing immense death and suffering in the coming weeks. And we will be there. But we need to act now. We need to act quickly to protect our Health Care Workers so that we can save as many lives as possible. Thank you. Mary im sorry im so emotional. No. You got me emotional. Look, you know, anyone who spent significant time in icu like i did for months, umm, you know what i used to do . After i got out, i observed this is not covid, but i observed the incredible mental strain on nurses in icu units. You know what i did for a long time after i got out, i drove back and forth to wilmington, delaware, i commuted every day. But as Vice President what i would do is i would also i would go out back out to walter reed on the night shift and bring dinner and food for the nurses and hang out with them. The night shift, cool. Thats cool. Well, you know, one of the things that one of my neuro surgeons said to me was, you only see people walk out of the icu, theyre either walking out and they dont ever want to come back because they dont want the memory or theyre carried out and they cant come back. And the psychic remuneration for you guys is missing. You dont see the people you save come back. Im sorry for me to get personal about it. But there is a lot that i want to talk with you about but we used to say in the senate, excuse the point of personal privilege here, but thank you, thank you, thank you for what you do and all your colleagues, male and female, who are manning those rooms. And now i know weve got patricia next. And she also is shes a nurse with students. Im anxious to hear what you have to say, patricia. May i call you patricia or pat . Pat is okay. You can call me joe. Thats absolutely fine. Well, first of all, thank you for having me. And also thank you to my colleagues here on this call for sharing. Just know that were all with you and our thoughts are with you. Were all in this together. On a positive note, we now have good leadership. And thats going to change things around. That is going to make the difference. Ive been a school nurse for my whole life. I work in the inner city cleveland schools where theres 100 poverty and 85 of the children are minority. And im also a Proud Union Member of the American Federation of teachers where i sit on the executive board as the only nurse. And i like to be at the table as a union member, because i like to have a voice. I think we do the work and should be able to share our voice at the table, and im so appreciative of that. I think so much of the problem is theres been no federal plan, and its really hurt us. Our Health Department here in cleveland really is bare bones. Its still bare bones. Our contact tracers are working 24 7. But theyre about four days out. Theyre about four days from contacting a positive case. So in those four days that e positive covid person has been in the community, maybe with other family members, and i think that has really contributed to the increase in cases. Also when this first happened, the School Nurses got together and our schools closed on march 20th and we all got together and we got all of our ppe out of schools and we drove it to the hospitals, because they needed it. It was the right thing to do. So now if, as we talk about reopening, and going back, we dont have any ppe. So we our school buildings, our infrastructure will be in bad shape. We have no ventilation in some of those schools. You have to remember, whatever is going on in the community is going to be going on in the schools. So as long as the numbers are celebrated in the community, we just cant reopen. And we want to reopen. We are remote. The School Nurses have set up virtual clinics for all our kids and schools. They have our number. They can go on and talk to us virtually any time. And the one thing that concerns me in talking to all these children is their Mental Health condition. Absolutely. They are really in bad shape. They are traumatized and i fear for them now, and i fear that when we go back, we wont have the boots on the ground to give them the support. If i could do anything, i would mandate a school nurse in every school, every day. And im sure dr. Biden would support me on this. She does. You know, teachers need support. A teacher cant be a psychologist, a counselor, johnny has a nose bleed and a meltdown, and they are trying to teach. They love to teach. Its what they do. But they cant do it all. And, you know, so many times in the past, theyve been demonized and their evaluations have been based on how students are doing. And its not fair. Its theyve had value added put into their evaluations many times, and its just not been fair to them. They do want to teach. They do they are good at what they do. I think the science has not carried the conversation. When we talk about people Wearing Masks in public, i really feel like we need to get the science out there more. If we get the styncience out th, i think the patterns will follow. I think people will be more willing to wear a mask and follow through. But i think the science has been ignored, and i think thats why i think thats what has caused all the disruption. Oh, lets see. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the clinton global initiative. We went and took care of children in the last hurricane, and i just wanted to say thank you for that, as well. Because were about taking care of children everywhere. Im also worried about the children at the borders right now. A aft went there. We tried to get in and see children and they threw us out. I thought we were going to get arrested, and we never did really get to see how the children were doing. But, listen, those are going to be our children. Theyre going to come into our country. We need to make sure theyre healthy, make sure theyre immunized. And i would like the opportunity to, as a school nurse, to be able to somehow be a part of that. I think thats about all i had on my list. I hope School Nurses are going to stand ready to help in this with this vaccine distribution. School nursing is has a Public Health foundation. Weve been through smallpox and polio and measles and actually, it was a school nurse that discovered h1n1 in the schools. So were ready to help. If we could just have some more boots on the ground, well do whatever we can do to help you. Well, thank you all. Let me say a few things, and i want to ask you each specific questions, if i may. And dr. Smith up at yale knows a great deal about the science and i could see the look on her face as each of you were talking, it struck her, as well. Look, number one, and i dont i am optimistic, but we should be further along. One of the problems that were having now is the failure of the administration to recognize. The law says that the General Services administration has a person who recognizes who the winner is. And then they have to have access to all the data and information that the government possesses to be prepared. And it doesnt require there to be an absolute winner. It says the apparent winner. The apparent winner. We have been unable to get access to the kind of things we need to know about the depth of the stockpiles. We get to the point where we have a sense of when these vo p vaccines come out, how they will be distributed, what the plan is. Over 300 million americans and beyond our border that will have to be taken care of. Theres a whole lot of things we just dont have available to us. Unless its made available soon, were going to be behind by weeks or months being able to put together the whole initiative relating to the biggest promise we have, with two Drug Companies coming along and finding 95 effectiveness, efficiency in the vaccines, which is enormous promise. So i just want to tell you that, thats the only slowdown right now that we have. We put together, i think, a first rate team that you would all be proud of. And were all ready to go and doing a lot of work right now. But heres the thing that i want to mention. You know, theres already a circumstance where nationwide because of the requirement of school districts, county offices, mayors, governors, having to balance their budgets, theyve already had to lay off 666,000 teachers. 666,000 teachers have been laid off already since march. And im worried, tony, that i know in noblesville, you have a force of about 135 firefighters. The question is going to be when do we have to lay off because the county and the cities dont have the money. They cant deficit spend. They have to spend based on balancing their budget. When the First Responders and fire service also be laid off, including all those folks like you who run those emergency ambulances and get people to where they have to be quickly. So the point i want to make to you is i was the zwi who ran the recovery act during the Great Recession in 2009. I was asked to figure out how to distribute to keep us going into a depression 800 billion in 18 months. And i was in Constant Contact with all the local officials. Governors, city, county, all folks, including various unions you all belong to, and the skills you all possess. And we were able to put i was able to spend 140 billion on state and local governments to keep you all employed. To make sure the fire service maintained, because the community needed it. To make sure that the nurses, doctors, et cetera, Mental Health clinics, all were able to stay open. That Law Enforcement was able to still function, et cetera. And the congress has already passed that money. Its sitting there. Its available right now. But some of our friends on the senate side are unwilling to spend the money when we talk about states going bankrupt and having to lay off thousands upon thousands of people. One of the leaders on the other side said, let the states go bankrupt. Just let them go bankrupt. Its not a responsible position. And im hoping that the reason my friends on the other side have not stepped up to do something is because of their fear of retribution from the president. Hopefully when hes gone, they will be more willing to do whey they know should be done, has to be done in order to save the communities they live in. And so let me begin by asking you all, and i would like each of you to give me a brief answer. Tony, how much do you worry about as the president of the firefighters, do you worry about the Mental Health, the need for your firefighters, and i know its not something people are comfortable talking about, but Mental Health is the same as physical health. There is no should be no distinction whatsoever. None whatsoever. And just like an awful lot of my sons come patriots who fought with him in iraq for a year coming home with ptsd and needing help, but theyre trained not to ask for anything, weve got to get by this. I think theres a lot of emergency room nurses. [ no audio ] you see the lines. You see the lines for miles and miles and miles on television. People in their cars, because of the enormous Food Shortages people have right now. And so and britney, what i look at, what you guys are doing, is enormous. Think of all those all the people on this screen who, in fact, have children or have an elderly parent who is really sick and in trouble, and they have to make a choice between do they give up their job and stay home to take care of the child who is home, whos young, and or make sure that they take care of that elderly parnl w lly parent and need help. And youre there. I really mean it. My mother my dad was in hospice at my home and my mother as well later. I watched it. I had a great family and a income as a u. S. Senator. But of all those people i know who had to make a choice, do they eat or do they take care of their child or take care of their elderly parent . So theres a lot of things we can do and we can easily afford to do as a nation. But let me ask a couple of specific questions. If what is the what do you sense, pat, tell meable your what you call your corona crew, what is your corona crew . I read the background on this. Talk to me about it for a minute. So the kcorona crew is made p of four school purnurses that g on a zoom call like we are and said okay, what are we going to do . Our children are suffering, our parents are suffering, our teachers are suffering. What are we going to do . So we created a hotline. Its 838well. And nanyone in the community ca call and talk to us. And we direct them, if theyre sick or sometimes they just want empathy. They just want someone to listen to what theyre going through. Of course, now with the increase in the virus, we need to put more nurses on it, and we are. But from that, weve been able to collect data and we share it with the Health Department. And we have a plan to you figure out what direction we have to go with this virus. We are taking a lot of calls from children. I had a call here the other day, the child said i have a fever, my mother said take some tylenol. I have to go to work. Most of our parents, i would say all of our parents are essential workers. So the children are home, and theyre trying to do Remote Learning, and some of them are sick. So we called this childs mother, a and we were able to get her tested and she was positive. And thats how were trying to help the people in our community. Mary, let me ask you a question. Mary, you talked about the hospital administrators not stepping up. Can you tell me a little more about that from your perspective . You know, first i will say at our hospital that we are down to the two shifts that we were in 95. Were a level one trauma, and they have tried to bring down the numbers, because we started off back in february wearing our n95s ten times. Ten shifts. So they have tried. But this is where the lack of a federal plan has really hurt the states. I mean, im on the Governors Task force in minnesota, and so i know all about when we had shipments of a million n95s coming our way and they were sidetracked. And they didnt come. So i have to place the blame on the lack of our hospitals being able to get secure supply lines. What our problem is now, we need to be you know, i have other Hospital Systems across the state and we span four different states, that are not doing that. You know, nurses that are still wearing it ten times, hospitals that arent doing universal masking. Every person in a hospital should be wearing some kind of personal protective equipment, everybody. The housekeepers, food service, everybody. From the moment you get out of your car, you should be wearing personal protective equipment. Thats not happening. Is it not happening because they dont have the equipment or its not happening because you dont think its necessary . We have yet to hear how much equipment they have. This is where its the go ask mom, go ask dad. The state is saying we have the supplies, they just need to ask for it. So thats the transparency is what we need. We need a transparency as far as how youre going to handle elective surgeries and all the Covid Patients at the same time. We need transparency on how much staffing we have. What is it going to look like . When are we going into the surge plan . This is a lot of our anxiety is the not knowing what the plan is. All right. I understand that. My soninlaw is a surgeon in philadelphia at one of the major hospitals, and theyre going through similar crises, but its mainly because not being able to access ppe. And the idea that hospitals should have to compete with one another to get ppe is bizarre. That shouldnt happen at all. Let me ask you, another question, if i may. What is the tony, what is the greatest concern that your firefighters, particularly because ive observed, ive never seen a firefighter decide whether hes going to crawl under that car that is upside down, the roof crushed, and say, by the way, you black or white in there . You have covid or not . Do you have a child or not . You guys just go do it. And what is what is the major concern your men and women are talking about these days, about whether theyre going to be rescuing someone who has covid and theyre going to get it, or is it just the constant concern and frustration about constantly being called upon, call your Fire Department no matter what it is. Look, i spent a lot of time in firehou firehouses. Tell me whats going on around that table other than social distancing in the firehouse when theyre having a meal. What is the nature of the discussion . You know, thanks for bringing up the Mental Health piece, because that is something that transcends every worker is the Mental Health piece. So thanks for bringing that up. My union has done a great job of bringing this issue out of the shadows and to talk about this, and to get the treatment that people need. So weve been blessed to have a foundation and guidance to go to it. Were a brother and sisterhood, too. So often times, were checking in with one another. To answer your question about the greatest concern of firefighters and paramedics, i really answer it this way. Its not about doing the job, because every time the bell rings, our commitment and our pledge is to respond. You can count on us always. But i think always in the back of the mind is, okay, if i contract this disease, i dont want to bring it home to my family. I dont want to bring it home to my kids. I dont want to bring it inside. So i literally have people sleeping in their car for a certain amount of time in the driveway so they dont take it into their family, until they can get a test or a result of tests. Theres many, many things. People sleeping in campers. People that i think is the biggest component here is to duff yeah, to do our job and well always find a way to do our job and well fefr asknever question. Well just do it. Take care of the emergency, take care of the person. This is a humanitarian effort. Every day, 365. Thats the work that we do. But i think those two things go hand in hand, a fear of transmitting to family, but also having to just push all of these feelings down, because youve got to get up and go the next day. You have to get up and do it again. Mary, let me ask you, ive done a number of these calls over the last 10, 15 months. And what im finding, i spoke to a registered nurse, who happened to be an icu nurse, it was in philadelphia. Thats not true, it was in norristown, but any way, pennsylvania. She talked about when she got home, her husband would and she would pull in the garage, her husband would make sure she had a change of clothes in the garage, and he installed a portable shower in like the laundry room as you went in. So she stripped down completely, takes a shower, and cleansed and put on a new set of clothes before she would go in the house because she would scared to death that she would transmit it to her children. She happened to have young children, but thats irrelevant whether theyre young or old. Is that something your nurses talk about or i mean, talk to me about when they leave a shift and theyre dealing with a covid patient. Thats exactly whats happening. All across the nation. Nurses all across the nation are doing that to protect their households. Ive heard it, i work with a lot of young nurses with young children, and they described that very thing. I feel for them when it gets to be 30 below here in minnesota, changing in the garage. This woman had the garage she was able to go in the laundry room right off the garage. Yeah. And just trying to lighten the mood a little bit here, but you bring a very good point. When were at work, and just like with the firefighters, we do not have the luxury, we do not have the luxury of stopping and thinking about our emotions. I think sometimes my release is when i do some kind of a media thing, because it all comes crashing around me. I listen to nurses all over my organization, text me, call me, facebook me their concerns. And its like i said, youre on 24 7, 365 days a year and you dont get the luxury to stop and think about your emotions at all. One of the things im sorry, go ahead, pat. I just wanted to chime in on what mary was saying. We had a little bit of a conversation before you came on, and she shared with me, and i heard this on my aft call this past week, that nurses are having a positive covid test and they are being made to come to work positive covid, and they are they cant take off because they wont be paid. Even some with symptoms are being hold to show up on the job and that is troubling. That is troubling. It should have been anticipated because were in a situation where we lost how many died last week . I mean, were up to a quarter million dead. We have hundreds of thousands of people on a weekly basis now. A thousand people a day dying. And now its beyond that. And so its just theres just such an overwhelming, overwhelming shortage. Look, one of the things im keeping you all very long here, and im going to end this. But look, one of the things that i have concluded and the team that we put together, for the last seven months, ive been three times a week getting an hour and a half brief from some of the leading docs in the country on a regular basis about the state of play that day, that week, exactly who is sick where, how, why, et cetera. And one of the things that we should be investing our money in, is finding out how to get quick turn around testing available. You notice that that is running short. So the idea you can get a test and find out in four days doesnt help a lot. Nope. And so thats one of the things that were going to be working on, as well. But, look, i what i would like to do is i would like to make sure that we can figure out how to stay in contact with you all, and theres a group of all the folks i have spoken with, we do that with. And to let you know what were doing, what we plan on doing. Now, i have no budget. I cant do any of this until im sworn if or i can convince the president now to do things that should be being done already. I mean, there has hardly been a meeting thats taken place in the white house about any of this. But im convinced we can get it done. And the question is, whether we wait until another the estimates are, as dr. Nunezsmith can tell you, the estimates are, were going to have another as many as another 200,000 dead can, maybe exceed 400,000 people by the time we get sworn in. And this has reached a proportion that is way, way, way, way out of whack. You look at those curves, i look at every day in the brief i get, it is skyrocketing. It is skyrocketing, with no real end in sight. Now in 44 states, so this isnt something that is and one of the things that im going to be doing, as a matter of fact, im not even going to wait until were sworn in, theres enough republican and democratic governors who have now come around, the democratic governors, and im not being partisan with the exception of a few republicans like the governor of ohio who has been straightforward about Wearing Masks and the like. Now you have the governor of north dakota, you have others figuring out that this is real. Weve got to do something. And its not a political statement. Its not about, you know, whether youre a tough guy or not a tough guy. Whether youre its about patriotism. If you really care about your country, keep your neighbors and your family safe. Thats what you do. And you wear a mask and you socially distance and wash your hands regularly. And you access when available the ability to get tested. So i dont mean to, in any way, suggest theres not a lot more we could talk about. But i want to thank you for sharing your stories with me and everything youre doing to keep your communities safe. You really are. Its not hyperbole. Youre heroes. Youre struggling to get the protective equipment you need to protect yourself and your families, and youre focused on your students, your patients, while your own kids are struggling with Remote Learning by the way. You know, if we dont figure out how to get these kids back to school, were going to find an entire generation is going to lose a year and a half in terms of their learning ability and will be behind the curve. This is a Building Block problem here. And were worried about your parents and your students and as i said, the Mental Health. In addition to the burdens that you and your families are taking on. And all those folks, by the way, are being quarantined at home. Theres a significant rise in spousal abuse, theres a significant rise in suicides. Theres a significant rise i mean, its all real. And what im hoping, we dont have to have any more suffering to convince the public at large that this requires some very significant action. So one of the things im going to be doing is thanking the governors who have already moved, but calling on all the leaders in the states to have mandatory masking, testing, tracing, social distancing. I mean, for example, the docks that have been advising me docs advising me all along, thanksgiving is coming up. Well, they said, joe, maximum ten people in your home. Maximum, joe. Ive got a big family, you probably heard a lot about them. We do everything together. Were just not going to there are going to be three of us, because you cant mix the families that have been away that live in a different place. So all these difficult decisions people are going to be making, weve got to give them hope. I believe there is reason for optimism. Grant it, it could come quicker if we move quicker, but there is there is hope on the way. Not because of me. Im not like hope is on the way. But theres a realization thats coming upon everyone, and i promise you, i will be using the Defense Authorization act. I will be using the bully pulpit. The wording ofs of a president. A president can make the markets climb or cause it to fall. It can send people to war, can bring peace. The words of a president matter. And i promise you im going to be echoing to the public as president of the United States and as a punitive president of the United States, all that youve been talking to me about. All youve been talking to me about. And it does matter. It does matter if, in fact, you are and the organizations you belong to, let your local officials know. Contact them. Write them. Let them know republicans and democrats that what you want to see done. It will, i believe, change. Were all making extraordinary youre all making extraordinary sacrifices, and youre bringing a significant amount of the stress and that is worsened by, i think, the mismanagement of this virus thus far. I want you to know first and foremost how grateful i personally am. And my family is to all of you. All of you. Youve done so damn much, and i want to thank you. As president , im going to fight as hard as i can, as hard as youre fighting for your communities, and were going to make sure you get the personal protective equipment you need. Were going to make sure you have paid sick leave. Were going to make sure that you can care for your families. I mean this sincerely. Were going to make sure that we actually pay you and protect your right to collective bargaining and form a union and lead a robust and aggressive effort to control the virus. And were going to provide city, state, schools, businesses with federal guidance on operating. There is no one single place anybody can go to get the kind of guidance they need, whether its opening a school or maintaining access to health care. We are going to work like the devil with state and local leaders on mask mandates and together well honor the work youre doing and aggressively control this crisis. When i make a mistake, ill acknowledge it, ill take responsibility. Because it is this is like going to war. This is like going to war. You need a commander in chief. Im sure i have watched a lot of president s in my career. Ill make mistakes, but i promise you, i will acknowledge them when i make them, as well as ill take responsibility. So thank you, and as my mother would sa [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] with coronavirus cases increasing across the country, use our website, followorg coronavirus to the trends. Track the spread with interactive maps, and watch updates on demand at any time on cspan. Org coronavirus. Cspans washington journal, every day we take your calls live on the air on the news of the day. We discussed policy issues that impact you. Thursday morning, the latest on the 2020 president ial election results, and the january runoff elections in georgia, with buddy carter and hank johnson. Also, wall street journal talks about the recent piece examining the efficacy of federal stimulus aid to help u. S. Businesses amid the covid19 pandemic. Watch cspans washington journal, live at 7 00 a. M. Eastern thursday morning. Join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, Text Messages and that 10 00hursday on a. M. , followed by legislative business at noon for a work on a bill to create more british up opportunities. President obama possible chief of staff talks about the incoming biden administration. That is followed by a house financial subs Services Subcommittee meeting. At 5 00 p. M. , the u. S. Chamber of commerce speaks with the cdc director, dr. Robert redfield about the state of the coronavirus pandemic. A. M. , cspan3 at 9 00 medical experts on outpatient andtments for covid19 ascendant Homeland Security meeting. Up next, health and Human Services secretary provides an update on covid19 Vaccine Development and distribution. He was joined by other officials who outlined the process for safely storing and getting the vaccines to those who need them. This is close to one hour. Hello everyone, thank you for joining this update on operation warp speed. Because of president trumps ofnding and leadership operation warp speed, even as we face daunting trends around the ntry, we have transferred reason for optimism
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