Transcripts For KNTV Meet The Press 20240713

Innico generations. Andq around the world. U military vehicles needed to cart off the dead in italy. Testing kits and medical in short xd supply. Younger americans being struck harder than expected. Many still ignoring social distancingu pleas. If i get corona, i get xecor. At the end of the day, im not 1 going to let it stop my from partying. President tz . Fu changing hisu tone. We have it very well under control. Its something g  haveok tremendous control over. But now if youre talking about the virus, thats not under control for any place in the world. The u. S. Facing an invisible enemy with no end in sight. My guests this mora mg, new york cityo0dayor bille1 de blasio, governor larry hogan of maryland, senator pat toomey of pennsylvania, and fema administrator peter gaynor. Joining me for insight and analysis are nbc News White House correspondent kristen welker, former Homeland Security secretary jeh johnson, president ialu historian doris kearns goodwin, and david welcome to sunday and a special edition of meet the press. Announcer from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is a special edition of meet the press with chuck todd. Good sunday morning. Unlike with somexd crises this country has faced, prl harbor, the kennedy assassination, 9 11, its doubtful americans will remember where they were when they first heard the news about the coronavirus, but this crisis has also done what those couldnt do, empty the american landscape. New york state is essentially i] largest city. The same with illinoisewand chicago. This is the scene at the iconic santa monica pier outside of th] nations second largest city, los angeles. Other statesok are doing the sa. Is it enough . Are americans willing tow3 endu a full national shutdownni to sp the spread of the virus while we wait for muchi] needed corona6 j tests . While we wait forjf front line medical workers to get their protective equipment they need to treat the population, while we wait for hospital beds and ventilators to become available to treat the infected and while we wait to see if the government is up to this challenge. Thereq have beenqe sjut than 24 cases of covid19. Last nisunday, only 60 had died. Heres thefaqe yesterdays new york post. Were facing a category5 storm. The question is, are we prepared to temporarily sacrifice enough of thexd freedoms we as america take for granted to knock this menace down to at least a category3 . Thisnr is the most drastic california, connecticut, new we need to bend the curve in the state of california. Ultimately, you cant have a livelihood if you dont have your life. 46 states have closed all schools. The other four shut down at least some. So far, President Trump says a National Lockdown is not needed. I dont think well ever find that necessary. As the nation mobilizes to shut down, Many Americans are still struggling to take Public Health warnings seriously. If i get corona, i get corona. At the end of the day, im not going to let it start me from partying. Most of the people who are dying are older. Im fine, then. That as new cdc data shows 48 of icu patients through midmarch were under 65 and 20 of fatalities were from that younger age group, though this is still early data. And frontline medical providers are warning of equipment shortages, begging the federal government for help. Our number one priority is getting the n95 masks. We need those ventilators. This could happen in america where we can see something coming and we cant get the resources here to avert it is ridiculous. It should not happen. The federal failures over testing have blinded americans to the scale of the outbreak. On friday, the president seemed talk from dr. Uci. Were not there yet because otherwise people would never be calling up saying they cant get a test. To visibly coax the environment to weigh in. Mr. Vice president . I just cant emphasize enough about the incredible progress we have made on testing. For months, President Trump repeatedly dismissed the threat of a broad u. S. Outbreak. I thing its going to work out fine. Were going substantially down, not up. One day its like a miracle, it will disappear. Even as he was getting Intelligence Briefings in january and february about the global dangers poised by the virus. Even now, mixed messages are adding to the confusion. On friday, the president touted the treatment of a malaria drug for the coronavirus. I think we should give it a try. Even after fauci urged caution. It was not done in a controlled clinical trial. And mr. Trump lashed out at reporters. What do you say to americans who are watching you right now who are scared . I say that youre a terrible reporter. Thats what i say. As the economy stalls, Goldman Sachs predicted unemployment claims will spike to more than 2 million this week, and lawmakers are negotiating plans for a trillion dollar Economic Relief package which would include Small Business loans, corporate bailouts and direct payments to millions of americans. And joining me now is the chair of the National Governors association, governor larry hogan of maryland, and the mayor of new york city, bill de blasio. Gentlemen, welcome back to meet the press. Mr. Mayor, i want to start with whats going on in new york city. It does appear to be right now ground zero for what the country is facing. You noted on friday the grim reminder that new york city now has a third of all cases in this country. What can you tell us this morning . Is there any ebbing of this yet . Chuck, the truth is, and new yorkers and all americans deserve the truth, its only getting worse. April and may are going to be a lot worse. Right now, we are a third of the cases in the country. Thats going to get worse. Were about two thirds or more of the cases in new york state. Thats going to get worse. But chuck, the president of the United States is from new york city, and he will not lift a finger to help his hometown. And i dont get it. I dont get it. Right now, i have asked repeatedly for the military to be mobilized, for the defense production act to be used to its fullest to get things like ventilators so people who can live who would die otherwise, chuck, i cant be blunt enough. If the president doesnt act, people will die who could have lived otherwise. What is it that you want folks who are members of families, and we cant get action from the president of the United States. What is it that you want the military to do immediately . What would there be a specific thing you would want the military to do immediately . Chuck, the military has extraordinary medical capacity of its own thats been honed in fighting wars. They can handle any situation. All military personnel who are medically trained should be sent to places where this crisis is deep like new york. Right now. The military is the best Logistical Organization in the nation. If there are ventilators being produced anywhere in the country, we need to get them to new york, not weeks from now or month from now, in the next ten days, and the only force in america who can do that is the military. Why are they at their bases . Why are they not allowed to serve. I guarantee theyre ready to serve, but the president has to give the order. The shelter in place order for new york city, how do you plan on enforcing this next week . Chuck, people really do get it. I have been around the last few days, theyre getting the message more and more. Also, we will use the nypd and other agencies to go out and remind people. Educate them, break up groups of people if theyre congregating. It will take a while for people to truly get it, but right now, i tell you one thing. Everyday new yorkers, Everyday Americans are much farther ahead of the conserve in terms of understanding the crisis than kw anything were seeing from the white house. Thats troubling to think the people who have the power are not using it when everyday people get it right now, shelter in place is necessary. Governor hogan, i want to talk to you. You and i believe Governor Cuomo of new york jointly wrote a letter to the president , i think number one you wanted to get fema in the lead role. Theyre now in the lead role. Let me ask you on this issue of procurement. We already know Governor Cuomo admitted he had to get price gouged to by some n95 masks. Who should be the lead agency here . Should fema be the one both purchasing and doling this out . Or should the states be competing against each other . Well, look, so this is a problem that everybody has been talking about for a week, but i dont think just talking about what was done wrong yesterday or last week or last year is really that helpful in the discussion. Governor cuomo is the vice chairman of the National Governors association, im the chairman. I can tell you we have been talking with and meeting with all of the governors, with the Vice President , occasionally with the president , all of the senior team, almost every single day. Talking about the need, and i believe we pushed for action, and we are getting some progress. Now, its not nearly enough. Its not fast enough. Were way behind the curve. But lets talk about, you know, were trying to figure out what we can do to move forward. They are making progress. Its not fast enough. But on all of those things. On respirators, on ppes, on the masks, on the test tzs. Were ramping up. New york has about half of the aid of the rest of the country. Theyre focusing on the three states that are the worst right now. And new york is one of them. Theyre trying to push things out to all the states, but its not enough and failures were made and things that should have happened sooner. I want to focus on where we go from here because our job is to save the citizens. We had another death here in maryland last night. We just hit over 500 in the washington region. And instead of just talking about what didnt get done, i want to get things done. I understand that. Thats why i want to ask you. Do you feel as if there is a point person in the federal government that is handling this, the n95 mask issue, or do you feel as if you still have to find different ways to acquire masks . I think its a little bit of both, chuck. So fema, we pushed to get fema in charge. I think they are listening to the governors. All 55 governors have stepped up and weighed in. We listed priorities about what had to get done, what they need to focus on. Theyre responding to almost all fema has to take the lead, but we cant wait. Were taking individual actions as well. Its not a perfect situation, but were trying to ramp up and order things on the open market, get some things produced here. Its going to take the federal, state, and local governments all stepping up and doing whatever it takes regardless of who is supposed to do what. We have all got to jump in and do whatever we can. Thats just where we are. I want to talk about a regional issue. Im going to show some pictures to our audience. You cant do this, but this was at the tidal basin yesterday in washington, d. C. Not a lot of social distancing was being practiced there. You have been concerned, i know, that virginia hasnt issued the same level of restrictions that maryland and d. C. Have had. The inability to operate as a region here, is that a problem for you . Are you hoping the governor of virginia in particular and the mayor of d. C. , that all three of you are on the same page here . Well, so in addition to meeting with all of the governors, we have been meeting as a region with the governor of virginia, with the mayor of d. C. We talked on friday. Were going to be talking again, i believe, tomorrow. Were all taking actions and trying to work together, but yeah, the social distancing is not being enforced and its a little crazy to see the kind of crowds at the cherry blossoms. People have to listen. There are people that are out there, and you are endangering not only yourselves but your fellow citizens by not listening to these warnings. We have been getting pretty tough out here in maryland on folks, limiting people to groups of ten. We were chastising all these spring breakers who came back from partying in florida and told them they need to selfquarantine for 14 days otherwise theyre risking the lives of their parents and grandparents and friends. People of all ages. 40 of our cases are under 40 years old. We had a 10monthold, a 5yearold who have gotten this disease. People are kidding themselves if they think they should enjoy being out there, business as normal. We have get people off the streets and out of crowds. Mayor de blasio, there are a lot of people who are going to wonder what does progress look like. Because its an invisible enemy and every day the numbers right now are getting worse, not better, how can just people who are sitting at home anxious to know when do they get to go back to work, what does progress look like to you . Chuck, first of all, i respect Governor Hogan for sure, but i disagree with something he said. Its not blaming people for what happened in the past. Its about right this minute. The American Government is nat at full bore. The defense act has been activated. We have gotten no indication of any factory on 24 7 shifts, no shipments, and u. S. Military is at its bases and not the front lines. Respectfully, governor, we cannot be gentle about this point right this minute. From this minute forward, our government, our federal government needs to be in this fight instead of on the sidelines. Im not worried about blame. Im worried about saving lives right this minute and i dont see the federal government at this moment. To the point at hand, april is going to be worse than march and i fear may will be worse than april. So bluntly, its going to get a lot worse before it gets better. What would be progress . Real consistent social distancing being enforced, People Living with it, and hospitals that can function. People seeing that their Health Care System is actually holding because we have the supplies and personnel. I think thats going to be a national reality. Personnel. Medical personnel is taking from one part of the country to another as the crisis deepens. The supplies have to go with the need is greatest. If people see the system holding, that will be progress. If it starts to collapse, think of that in the United States of america. Governor hogan, what would you give as a prescription of what does progress look like as we sit at home and wait . Look, nobody knows where the end of this is or when the spikes are going to happen, but progress is going to be if we can somehow bend this curve downward and start to stop that spike thats going so we dont overload the Health Care System and if people are just going to look, its very disconcerting. Peoples lives are disrupted. Its scary and i understand people out there are concerned about when is it going to look better. Just know that people all over the place are working as hard as they possibly can to fight this hidden enemy and its going to take all of us, not only the local government, the cities like the mayor and state governments, the federal government, but it takes every one of our citizens is a part of this and we cant stop it without them cooperating. Its going to be a while. We dont know how long or how bad its going to be, but its going to continue until we can get it stopped. Were going to keep fighting it 24 hours a day. Its not true that people everywhere are fighting with all theyve got because our military is being sidelined and the white house is in denial. Its just not true, governor. Its just not true. We have military all over our state doing all kinds of great things. You have National Guard. You dont have the american same thing with hospitals and building new hospital beds. Your governor of new york is doing the same thing. So maybe you ought to try to talk with him. I have talked to him. It is not not everyone is doing everything they can do, governor. Lets be honest about it. Im going to be speaking with the fema administrator in a few minutes. Governor hogan, mayor de blasio. I know youre fighting the same fight here at the end of the day, lets get rid of the virus and hope we can get back, back on track here. Thank you both. I know its trying times for both of you. Thank you for your service. The Coronavirus Crisis has sickened the american economy, with businesses shuttering, unemployment spiking, and the dow losing all the ground gains under President Trump. Senate negotiators are back to work trying to agree on a rescue package expected to be well in excess of a trillion dollars. It could be close to 2 trillion. Among the negotiators in the room, republican senator pat toomey of pennsylvania. He joins me now. Welcome back to meet the press. I know theres going to be a meeting between the four leaders in congress in about the next couple hours. That tells me that maybe were landing the plane here on phase three. What is the latest . And how quickly do you expect a deal . Chuck, i think youre right. I think were on short final, and well have this plane landed. It starts today with a very, very important procedural vote this afternoon which will really tell us if were going to be able to go forward. I think we will. And i would like to share with you a quick summary of whats in the bill. And i think youll see why it would be very hard, i think, to categories, first, focus on take the guy who wakes up tomorrow morning and hes got a family to take care of, and theres pennsylvanias closed down all businesses. So that describes, of course, millions of people across the country. So focusing on individuals and families. We have already created a new paid family leave program. A paid medical leave program. Were going to bump up Unemployment Benefits significantly. Were expanding eligibility for unemployment and sending direct checks to all middle and lowincome workers, substantial amounts of money. Thats focused directly on getting people through this period. The next category is the resources were sending directly to health care providers. Hospitals, expanding our ability to research, develop, bring to market therapies, all that needs to be done in that space. The final space, you know, its essential people have a job to go back to when we get through this as soon as we possibly can. So theres a very, very large Small Business Lending Program that is in this legislation. And those loans, chuck, are meant to be forgiven to the extent theyre spent on maintaining payroll, and a very, very large package were standing up jointly with the treasury and fed and will make sure that our federal market, most importantly, that businesses can get temporary credit. This is going to be a very, very large, very powerful combination. Let me ask about some specifics i know most viewers are probably most anxious to hear. Thats the direct payment situation. Number one, is it going to be sustained if the National Emergency goes into may . We know theres an april payment that is planned on. Would there be a may payment if were still in a National Emergency . Is that codified in this bill . So that is not codified in this bill, but lets keep in mind, first of all, were going to make a tremendous amount of Resources Available to companies to keep their workforce employed, because were hoping this is a relatively brief period, and we want those folks to still be associated with their company, so theyre called back to work rather than feel like they have lost their tie. Thats number one. Number two, theres very generous significant Unemployment Benefits. So well reevaluate if were several weeks from now and we think we need another round. Its not the most efficient way to do this, by the way, chuck, were sending checks out to a lot of people who will still be salaried people, who will still have their income, put it seems the fastest way to get money in peoples hands. The issue of whichndustries to ou what would that look like, and how do you prevent i know youre a big opponent of t. A. R. P. And you believe this is a different situation. The question, though, is for instance, like on the cruise industry, are they part of a moral hazard in your mind or not . So heres the way i think about this. The big Credit Facility were standing up has two components. Theres a category of funds that will be available to the treasury secretary for direct lending. Frankly, that is going to be for really seriously distressed and absolutely essential companies. Thats going to be a short list, and its going to be about really about American National security. The vast majority of this is going to be and has to be under law a broadbased Credit Facility that will be available across categories, across sectors and industries, and it has to be repaid. None of this is grant money. None of this is free money. This is all going to be liquidity that is provided to fundamentally solvent companies to get them through this time. Final question, is the role that President Trump has been playing at the briefings do you believe that the public role the president has been playing has been helpful to this or do you believe he needs to take a step back and let the Task Force Lead this response . Well, you know, chuck, i think many have struggled to understand this and think about this. Its completely unprecedented. I think in many ways the president has stepped back. We hear Vice President pence has done a great job pulling together all of the different agencies and branches of government and dealing at the different levels. I think dr. Fauci has done a fantastic job helping people to understand whats happening here. I also think many other folks in the administration have been absolutely terrific, from seema verma to alex azar and others. So i think the administration as a whole is responding well. Right. Do you think the president has sort of gotten in the way of that at times . Look, i mean, his message has it changed as our understanding of this has changed. And sometimes its been better than other times. More recently, its generally been better. Senator pat toomey, republican from pennsylvania, thank you for coming on and sharing your views. When we come back, the federal government has struggled to manage the response to the outbreak. Im going to talk to the man who is tasked with managing this is tasked with managing this effort nationwide, femas but were also a company that controls hiv, fights cancer, repairs shattered bones, relieves depression, restores heart rhythms, helps you back from strokes, and keeps you healthy your whole life. From the day youre born we never stop taking care of you. My name is jonatan, and i work for verizon. I totally get how important it is to stay connected. Were connecting with people, were offering them solutions. Customers can do what they need to do whenever they need to do it online. Because it gives customers the ability to not come into a store. They can simply tap and swipe. Something that they can use wherever they are. We care about keeping you safe. announcer at verizon, we are here, and we are ready. We are open 24 7 online, so you can keep managing everything from home and through the verizon apps and verizon. Com. And sometimes, you can find yourself heading in a new direction. But at fidelity, well help you work through the unexpected. With Financial Planning and advice for what you need today. And tomorrow. Because when youre with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. E. Welcome back. Fema is now leading the governments response to the coronavirus. They will handing responses from the states and decide where to send medical supplies. Welcome back to meet the press. On friday, i heard from governors who said i am really glad to see fema now playing point. So i think you have 50 fans around the country right now. Mr. Gaynor, let me start with the need at hand. That is medical equipment and i guess the issue of procurement. Governor cuomo talked about getting price gouged. That is something for the n95 masks that is something hes hoping fema will solve. Is the federal government now in charge of procuring n95 masks for the country . So we we have masked. Federal government has a stockpile of masks in the strategic stockpile. We get donations from around the country. Were ramping up production in commercial facilities, and what ill say is, if you can find it on the open market, go buy it. So any governor that needs it and you find it, go buy it. Fema will reimburse you under this emergency. We ask shipping supplies every day. We shipped yesterday, were shipping today. Well ship tomorrow. Its fluid. Its dynamic. We have we have hundreds of requests from governors around the country for all the same kinds of things. What were trying to do is were trying to prioritize where the limited Critical Resources have to go. Places like new york, new york city. Seattle, washington, los angeles, california. We understand that. And thats our priority for right now. I guess the thing that are you at all concerned that a state that is not yet faced the incoming that new york and the places if they go and procure their own and they hoard, are you going to basically say, look, state x, i need this equipment right now in new york city. Is that now your job at fema to make sure we dont have states hoarding . Well, you know, i hope no one is hoarding, because were all in this together. Every american has a role to play. If you need it and you find it, you need to buy it. We hope not to get into that allocation decision making. We hope that governors and their supply chains can do it on their own. And if a governor needs help, Critical Resources, they submit that through the fema system and we have hundreds of requests right now. But this is a global pandemic. The supplies governors are asking for all the same supplies leaders of many countries around the world are asking for. So again, please play a role, and let me just try to give you an example. The testing. If you dont need a test, if you dont have symptoms, and you just want to make yourself feel better and get a test, youre really taking away from the ppe we need to go to hospitals. For critical actions. So if you dont need a test, dont do it. Do your part. Mitigation works. The president s5 days actions, stay at home, social distancing, wash your hands. All those things work. And its just not the other guy doing it. We all have to do it together. Including me and you. You brought up the 15 days. That expires, i believe, in about eight. I think if we go back to when these guidelines were put into place. Whats the likelihood that were going to have to continue these same guidelines for another few weeks . Well, again, this is fluid and dynamic. Ill leave the medical analysis up to the experts. Dr. Fauci and team. Theyre looking at that every day. But again, we know, we look at south korea, we look at china. We know mitigation works. We know theres an end to this. Again, we all have to do our role. That really is my message today. You know, it is about all of us doing what we can. The defense production act, we know the president invoked it. Has it been is it being used or not . Or are you wanting companies to voluntarily pitch in here, and youre only going to use it if they dont voluntarily pitch in . So i think its an insurance policy. Its a lever if we have to throw that lever, we will. And its pretty amazing. You know, companies from around the country volunteering to do all sorts of Different Things to help americans. And so we havent had to use it yet. Will we have to use it . Maybe, but right now, this is what makes america so great. Every company pitching in to make sure that we can beat this virus so its been really great to see. Are you confident you have the ventilators and n95 masks that this country is going to need in the next six weeks . Were working to source from all different kinds of manufacturing. I know theres manufacturing lines coming up and running. Again, these are finite, limited resources. Will we ever have enough . Im not sure. But our goal is to make sure that we aim these Critical Resources to the places that need them the most. And then, you know, well triage as we go. And i have a team, 13 agencies behind me. I have support from dod. I have the top logistics people here from the joint staff helping. We are doing great things today. The last time i had you on, it was a Natural Disaster, a weather event. I talked with one of your predecessors, craig fugate. He said the reality is if we have another weather event, while fema will be there for search and rescue, the Recovery Efforts that fema regularly leads probably gets pushed back a little bit. Is that fair to say . Ill say were ready every day for response. Its not just fema responding. Its all of government responding. Whether its dod or National Guard helping me, all these resources exist. Should we have another Natural Disaster over covid, its going to be a challenge, but again, we have a great team. I have great local, great state partners. Great private partners. I have no doubt were ready for covid19 or any disaster that may be in front of us. Peter gaynor, fema administrator, thanks for coming on and spending a few minutes with us. Good luck out there. When we come back, how well is President Trump handling the first crisis of his presidency . No mak one of the products i helped develop at 3m was a more secure diaper closure. There were babies involved. And they werent saying much. Thats what we do at 3m, we listen to people, even those who dont have a voice. We are people helping people. Tv sports announcer yeah, thats my man there. Tv sports announcer time out. Lets go tonooooooo cial. Not another commercial when you bundle your home, auto and Life Insurance with allstate you could save 25 . In fact, the more you bundle the more you can save. Put the other game on if its important to you allstate can protect it. Home auto and Life Insurance you could save 25 . If its important to you allstate can protect it. What . Bundle and save with allstate. Click or call for a quote today. Doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacistrecommendeding . Memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. If you looked at and that was all you knew, would you really understand it with just that point of view . Weve got a different way to look at it, from right here on the ground. We dont just see United States we see united towns. Were grateful for what you bring, and all the sparks youve shown, in the thousands of towns that we get to call home. Welcome back. The panel is here but not exactly here. Nbc News White House correspondent kristen welker. Former Homeland Security secretary jeh johnson. President ial historian doris kearns johnson, and david french. A columnist for time magazine. We look a little different this morning. Im the only one here in our studio. All the rest of in remote locations as we practice social distancing. Jeh johnson, youre a former secretary of Homeland Security. Fema is now playing point. The federal response, look, first it was cdc, then it was hhs. Then its the task force, now its fema. Where a lot of governors are happy. What did you hear from mr. Gaynor that the public should focus on . Asked him, do you have the ability to conc when the fema administrator hedged in his answer to that question. You cannot have a bidding war between one state and another over ventilators, the very medical device we use to cling the life. I hope the fema administrator has the authority he needs to prevent that and to actually enforce a proper allocation of medical supplies and resources. The role of the federal government in a crisis like this is to not answer the question about how long schools are going to be out. That is a question for state and local authorities to enforce social distancing. The role of the federal government in a National Crisis like this is actually to be the shipping clerk. The president says hes not a shipping clerk. He is the shipping clerk in chief through fema to make sure the states, cities, have the resoersh r resources they need to combat this virus right now. David french, i want to get you to react to something in this mornings New York Times for some. Mr. Trumps performance has put on display the traits democrats and some republicans consider so jarring. The profound need for praise, the lack of human emathy, the penchant for rewriting history, the distortion of facts, the impatience with scrutiny. For years, skeptics were critical of how he would handle a crisis facing the nation, and now they know. Pretty harsh. Harsh and deserved early in this crisis. His misstatements about the threat were inexcusable. Testing delays were appalling, but a lot of us, i think, were rightly encouraged over the last few days that his tone has changed. You still have this pattern where people are praising him incessantly as they give these briefings which is just absurd to watch, but the tone has changed. At the end of the day, his response and his leadership is going to belays out. Its a sad fact of American History that we often confront crises with early bungling and early bumbling. Thats a pattern throughout American History. Were going to be judged ultimately on how we respond over the full course of this. Kristen welker, all the reporting i have heard inside the white house and i know you have, there is a little bit of uncertainty at times because so many people are going directly to the president with their own ideas. I hear there are certain staffers in the white house going around fema, around the task force, and thats creating even more confusion. Jared kushner, his soninlaw, is month the people leading the effort, and that has created confusion within the administration, within some of the top officials of the Coronavirus Task force, and the president is getting incoming, not only from aides within his own white house, which you would expect, of course, but also outside allies. This is a president who likes to consult with his outside allies to stay in touch. Everyone has an opinion on how he should be proceeding at this point. Hes been in the Briefing Room daily. He wants to look like hes out front in charge. At times, that has been effective. As you have pointed out, and at times, it has created some mixed messaging when hes lashing out at reporters, for example, and when hes contradicting statements by his own top doctors about when the vaccine will be ready, for example, or when medications may be available for use. And so some of his outside allies are urging the white house to really assess this strategy of him coming out of an daily basis. Does he need to be there on a daily basis . If he is, he needs to stay on message, they say. Doris, leadership in turbulent times. I would say were in turbulent times. I would say so too. I think the most important thing in these kind of times is you have to trust the word of the president. And you have to believe in the actions that theyre taking. There was early bungling in response to the depression by the hoover administration. They relied on voluntary action, on state and local action. They didnt believe the federal government should be in charge of everything, so his words lost their credibility. He said prosperity will never be helped by raiding the public treasury. Fdr comes in, changes the situation entirely, his inaugural address not only says we shouldnt worry about fear itself. It says this is preeminently a time to tell the truth. Only a foolish optimist would not admit the dire circumstances. Then he says im prepared for action and action now. If dwresz doesnt give me what i want, i need broad executive power. You voted for me and i take this responsibility. Then things started happening. The banking crisis got helped, so why that defense production act is not being used right now as others have said, so we can mobilize a coordinated response to this, why the army is not being mobilized now. The bungling has already happened. We need to get to the next stage of systematic action. Jeh, explain how the army would be mobilized if you were there right now. You have active duty military. You have the reserves, you have the guard. First and foremost, i would be making use of the army corps of engineers and the various states National Guard. I dont know that i would federalize the National Guard and put it under national control. I would put them very clearly in what we refer to as title32 status where they remain under the control of the governors but the federal government is helping to pay for it. In terms of social distancing and doing the things on the ground we need to get the public to do, i continue to believe that is a state and local function, and the guard can help bring that about. David french, Civil Liberties are not being focused on right now, and in moments like this, they usually do take a back seat in a National Emergency, but there is a fine line here. What concerns do you have . I dont think theres a fine line right now. This is a situation where the states are at their maximum power. Notice i said the states. Under our constitutional structure, the states have the police power to deal with Public Health crises. So in this circumstance, they are operating at the apex of their power in much the same way a president would operate at the apex of his power in a National Security or war time situation. However, what you need to understand is that states, once they grab authority, often dont like to let it go. So as this crisis no government does. Exactly, as this crisis, god willing, eases over time, theres going to be some real Civil Liberties concerns as to when is it going to be the right time for the states to sort of take their foot off the gas. For right now, theres a compelling governmental interest in acting cial distancing, enfi social distancing is squarely within the Public Health authority of our state governments and has been since the founding of our country. Well put there, mr. French. All right, guys. This awkward im sorry we dont have our normal interactive conversation, but were going to pause it now and come back in a little bit. As we go to break, personal note. We here in our nbc news family have lost one of our own to the coronavirus. Larry edgeworth was a sound engineer who works at the network for over 25 years. He was known as a kind, generous man and a true professional. Its a reminder that behind these statistics are real people. Our condolences go out to larrys family and to his many [ action music throughout ] every box has a mission to protect everything inside from everything outside. That is where the true glory lies. When whats inside matters, [ doorbell rings ]. Count on boxes. But maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz xr, a oncedaily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well enough. 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Some providers you have to manually download updates to each device. Cto help keep your connectede udevices protected against new ransomware, malware and phishing threats. Every 10 minutes feels pretty good. Get secure, reliable internet and voice for an amazing price. Call today. Comcast business. Beyond fast. Kristen welker, i did hear a slight disagreement, i think, between where pat toomey is and where Steve Mnuchin is on the direct payments. Mnuchin indicating that the deal will that the goal is to multiple checks throughout this crisis. Toomey didnt eliminate that possibility, but he said it wouldnt be codified. What do you know about where we are right now . I think thats one of the sticking points, and that was, of course, the key phrase. Right now, its not codified. You have that meeting among top congressional leaders a little later on this morning, chuck, and it depends on who you talk to in terms of how much progress has been made. You have mnuchin, the white house, republicans, Senate Republicans indicating they are close to a deal, even chuck schumer, but House Democrats far more cautious in their language, essentially saying there are still a number of sticking points. Of course, the direct payments are one of them, and then the other big sticking point, i am told, is how many funds are going to state and local governments. So expect that to be a key focus. Having said that, there is so much pressure on all sides to get something done. They have set a deadline for early this week to pass this legislation. I think theres going to be a lot of heat on them to do that. They have to get the checks out the door for april bills. Doris, i want you to react some something Matthew Continetti rote about the larger societal toll it might take on us. The economic selfisolation of america can only continue for so long. If the coronavirus overwhelms americas social capacity, our government wont be in a position to choose between an economic crisis and a pandemic, it will have both. What hes getting at is my concern, too. You only have one shot of getting america to do this once. You only have one shot. At some point, our patience is going to wear out no matter what the numbers are, and thats when its a real challenge. Yeah, thisdisruptive crisis,e world war ii. And they took that one shot and did it well. They did it with rationing. They got people to work. They got people working 24 hours a day in those factories to get the supplies that were necessary at the time. And the worry right now is that i think were both in the middle of a social crisis and an economic crisis. And what you asked before, what is america going to look like after this, we need that vision in front of us. Is the government doing Everything Possible so when this is over, well be back at work, well be in restaurants, in bars, our lives will be back together again. I keep thinking fdr had a Cocktail Party every night during world war ii where the rule was you couldnt talk about the war. Maybe we need virtual cocktail hours with our friends where were able to get away and envision what might be. During the depression, he gave a great speech saying i already envision a world, an america, where were back to work, where were productive again. We well get there. The same thing he said about world war ii. Theyre not going to get three shots at this. They have to do that now. Then well get back to life. We have to believe were getting back to structured life or else the isolation is going to be so damning to all of us. We need human connectedness so badly. Empowering americans to do something, david french, do you feel like well be telling our grandkids, i did my part during the pandemic . I stayed at home and watched netflix. This is so contrary to the american spirit, which is at our best, were people of action. Im in nashville, and just days ago, we had this terrible tornado. And people swarmed out of their homes immediately to help friends and neighbors. Thats what we do. And in this circumstance, were going to have to figure out a way to put that action into process, but without leaving our homes in many cases. That means checking in with people. That can mean donating funds. But the problem we have right now going back to the earlier question you had, chuck, this is a response. We have one shot, and we have to have a huge degree of trust that what were being told is accurate about the need to sacrifice, and where the government is asking for that trust in a very lowtrust time in American History. And thats an immense challenge. Jeh johnson, i was i mean, that respond to that, because i agree. This is a unique challenge considering where we are as a populous when it comes to trusting government. Yes, chuck, absolutely. On a lighter note, one byproduct of doing so many remote interviews which include interviews, people from their dens, as you and i get to browse their personal book collections as theyre talking, but this accelerates theg z longerterm trend we have seen toward increased social distancing, where people get to stay home and shop online, conference calls, audio video conferences. The first impulse at my law firm is when people want to talk, they say lets jump on a call. I say, wait a minute, youre six doors down from me. One huge caveat to all of this, once we actually do flatten the curve, and we will flatten the curve, theres going to be another bell curve after this. The virus will not disappear. Theres going to be a resurgence. Hopefully, not as pronounced as the current one, but there will be a resurgence probably in the next season or two. And how we react to that is going to depend a lot on how people perceive how the government handsaled the first spike. I have to leave it there. You were a terrific first remote panel as we go through the crisis together. Thank you. Thats all we have for today. Thank you for watching. Please practice social distancing, wash your hands regularly, and be safe. As we leave, we want to say thank you to the people who cant work from home. The men and women helping to keep life as normal as possible for the rest of us. Of course, well be back next week because if its sunday, its meet the press. E nbc sports, home of the olympic games, the nhl, the indianapolis 500, the pga tour, and primetimes number one show, sunday night football, only on nbc. Games begin on the siren [ siren the excitement is building. This is where hockey was born if you love the game