And youll be in the u. K. Its ramifications well see whether its worth the trouble, but again, im here about what we can do to go forward for americas putting Families First without having the criticism of one or theres so much work that is going on, and with all the respect in the world for our staff who do much of that and our members who participate in that, everybody is not universally excellent at the same place in terms of technology. We want to make sure theyre at their personal best when that sets in. I hope much of what were doing is redundant and we dont have to engage in some of this. But if we do, we want to be prepared. We want to prevent the spread, so if people have to stay home, they have to stay home. But we also dont want people to panic. Thats why weve based any decisions about the capitol, this or that, on what is recommended by the capitol physician and the sergeant at arms and chief of police. I think we have to be very prayerful about this. People are sick and some people are dying in our country, and globally. And it is kind of shocking to see the challenges that we have and the decisions that have to be made about people coming together, whether its sports or the arts or just political gatherings, whatever it is. We have to think in a different way about that. Whether its about personal hygiene or contact with other people, we have to be smart about how we do that, washing our hands for 20 seconds with soap and water, i say that all the time anyway as a mom. So now its an imperative but its always been important. Gw what we think about one policy or another, what we really have to do is come together and get the job done. Now, we were very clear in our communications about what we heard. When members go home, they will hear more from their constituents, from their nonprofits, from their local government, from their Health Care Providers and the rest about what other ideas have emerged as important in all of this, and that will be a source of knowledge for when we come back and we could come back anytime. Everybody has to stand ready to be here at all times if we have a legislative solution to put forth. But again, it cant just spring from what we did before, anything else. Its about whats current in the challenge we face with this coronavirus. Its not about spending a lot of time saying how we got here. Wh we have to talk about where we go from here and then we can make changes for the future and how we could prevent or withstand whatever might be happening in other countries that might spread to our own. But i do want to salute our Health Care Providers, our first responders, all the nonprofits that are working to inform people about how they should be tested. In our legislation we enabled millions of masks to go out. That was something very important to the administration that we would suspend immunity for liability. It was a very big deal, a big concession to the administration on that because weighing the equities, it would be important to get those masks out, even though it provided that immunity. So we have tried to say, okay, and specifically for the coronavirus crisis. Anyway, i thank you for your interest in all of this. I want you to wash your hands for 20 seconds, all the time, not for no reason at all. And one bit of advice they told me, i said my usual saying, oh, that a month ago i might have said whoever the nominee is of the party we will enthusiastically embrace, and then i changed it to whoever the nominee is, well enthusiastically elbow bump. But somebody said to me, no, when you elbow bump, you get close to the person. So forget any physical contact, greetings. Bow in an eastern style. Thank you all very much. Again, were very excited that tee shock is coming. Im honored that leader mcconnell will be part of our hospitality to him at our lunch later today. Thank you. Does tee shock get a handshake . I told him last night i was honored last night and i was very excited about that. It was wonderful to see him, but i did not impose upon him with the handshake, nor did he on me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. There you have it, House Speaker nancy pelosi at her Weekly Assembly there with journalists in washington, encouraging social distancing. Also suggest that go perhaps the elbow bumping that some of us have been doing may not be the best idea. But encouraging americans to be prepared, dont panic, be prayerful as well. The House Speaker addressing the worry, the anxiety, the outright fear that is gripping much of the country right now. But she also specifically addressed the legislation that democrats have put forward here over the past 24 hours, a bill that would include, among other things, two weeks of paid sick time, beefing up on unemployment benefits, free testing for the virus, including those without Health Insurance and expanding existing food programs. That was House Speaker nancy pelosi just a few moments ago. Meanwhile, last hour we heard from Republican House leader Kevin Mccarthy talking about their response to the bill. This is part of what the California Republican had to say. This is a time and place that you do not want to rush something. Let us get together and put the very best ideas together, and i will promise you that youll find a very bipartisan vote for that and not one that slows it up by all means. And we can get this done in the next 48 hours. We just heard from House Speaker nancy pelosi, Nbcs Kelly Odonnell is at the white house, im joined by david jolly no longer affiliated with the gop, and capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt stuck with me. How wide is the capitalism between what republicans want and what we heard from House Speaker nancy pelosi . Frankly, craig, she sounded much more optimistic than i or our team was expecting her to sound considering some of the reporting that we had this morning and overnight about republican concerns about this bill. She seemed she doesnt usually come forward with that kind of blunt talk about how negotiations are going, but she was pretty straightforward in saying were going back and forth, we dont want them to move the goal posts, was the terminology she used. She talked about giving concessions to the administration. Kevin mccarthy i think also adds to that narrative. Many House Republicans were what we were watching, because there seemed to be some nerves there. If they were to unmask, vote against this legislation, that could have signaled a potential problem. But the cascade of news from the nba across the board, all these concerts, tom hanks, were reached a Tipping Point here, and you can feel the urgency of members on capitol hill to get things done. They feel real urgency to send help to americans who are facing the prospect of spending weeks not going to work because theyre worried about spreading the virus. You heard nancy pelosi talk about that later on in her News Conference about the capitol complex itself and the government itself and protecting members of depress. They are scheduled to go on recess next week, so that provides them an opportunity to get some of the same challenges that were all grappling with, how to telework, making sure theres enough laptops, who can work from home, how do we engage in these social distancing measures. Theyll have space to figure that out. Americans should be encouraged and calm that they are able to get something done here. As always, the wild card is the president of the United States and whether or not he is happy with this. In this particular case, i know the democrats ive talked to feel that he thinks theres such an imperative to do something because things could get potentially so bad that he would be willing to go along with this. Craig, the one other thing i want to add, dr. Fauci has become a trusted voice on this issue and i think well hear more about problems with testing, in particular James Langford was asked if President Trump should stop saying every american could get a test because thats not consistent with the reality of what people are experiencing. He added people should not say if you want a test, you can get a test right now. So clearly lawmakers are hearing some alarming things behind closed doors. Theres a report of a democrat who cant get a coronavirus test. Kasie, thank you. Do stand by for me just a moment if you can. Kelly odonnell at 1600 pennsylvania avenue, we know that the president is meeting with the Prime Minister of ireland. I believe that meeting is happening right now. We saw the speaker there wearing her green dress because shes also headed to meet the Prime Minister as well. Our Peter Alexander reporting that the president of the United States a short time ago when asked about the ongoing crisis, all he said was that the markets will be fine. What else are we hearing from this administration . At the moment the president is trying to project the business as usual approach. The annual st. Patricks day visit of the irish Prime Minister, he is here meeting in the oval office. The white house has not carried forward with the normal presenting of the shamrocks reception. So theyve cut back some of the planned events around this in terms of the st. Patricks day holiday, but still trying to project that its business as somewhat normal. The president did not respond to questions about the issue as you indicated, said the markets will be just fine. One of the issues Going Forward is where is the president s thinking right now on next steps after his oval office address, which he outlined some steps involving things like the Small Business administration, although details about how that will work hard to find. Talk about deferring tax payments, which could affect Small Businesses as they pay their taxes, keeping their money a bit longer. What are the particulars on that and who would be allowed to defer their april 15th deadline. And what other kinds of sweeping steps is the president ready to take that might be separate from the legislation on capitol hill and what is his mood about that at the moment. All of that to be determined. Now, there will be reporters in the olfactory office for at least a brief time with that oneonone meeting between the irish Prime Minister and the president. We may get more insight on the president s current thinking. Earlier we heard from Vice President mike pence who has been leading the task force on coronavirus. And he put some caution out about what peoples expectations should be about how the illness is spreading and how the cases of confirmed covid19, coronavirus, will likely go up significantly in number. Heres the Vice President. We know there will be thousands more cases of coronavirus in this thousands or millions . Well, ill leave to the experts to make the estimates of how many people may be infected. Were combatting community spread, but the action the president took yesterday, again, unprecedented action, suspending travel from europe for 30 days, is all because we know there will be more infections. Yes. So they are acknowledging more infections are coming. What we dont yet know is what specifics there will be on next steps. We expect there will be rapid developments. Well be following that and hope to get access to the president today about where he thinks the next step should be. Some say National Disasters are to be declared, questions about testing. We need more answers and thats what well be looking to find today. Kelly odonnell at the white house, thank you. We did get some notes here during that report. Looks like the president was asked about european leaders not being consulted before that decision to ban travel for 30 days. The president said we get along very well. He had to make a decision and that it takes a long time to make individual calls. When they raise taxes on us, they dont call us. That was what the president apparently just said there standing next to the Prime Minister of ireland. Let me also add to the conversation, politico Senior Writer jake sherman. Jake, weve also been reporting that public tours there are being stopped at the capitol. Senator Maria Cantwell of washington had a staffer die of the virus. Democrat from virginia said hes going to selfquarantine after coming in contact with someone who later tested positive. Whats the mood like on the hill right now . Its empty. Its very quiet. I mean, there are actually bizarrely still some public tours today, which you could argue about the propriety of that, but more and more people are closing their offices, are teleworking. A lot of reporters are planning as soon as the institution goes out of session to work from home as well. I want to bring up on the substance of this issue. If youre watching congress today, capitol hill today, you are getting no clarity from your political leaders who are right now saying completely opposite things. Kevin mccarthy went in front of reporters and said he needs 24 to 48 hours to negotiate a coronavirus bill. Nancy pelosi saying shes putting the bill on the floor today. Shes been talking with the administration and theres nothing that would keep her from putting the bill on the floor today. With the market precipitously dropping, it is doing nothing to kind of instill confidence that the institution has any sort of control here, and thats because the leaders are saying divergent things in backtoback press conferences. We dont know what the administration really thinks, so were flying blind as this virus continues to spiral. David jolly, lets talk about what happened last night. The president in what appeared to be a scripted address to the nation from the oval office, only his second during his administration. Did President Trump do anything to alleviate concerns about how this crisis is being managed so far . As a leader, no. This is a very unconvincing role for donald trump to be in. He simply has not led up to this moment intentionally, but there were some statements in there that i think are designed to address a Public Health risk. The devils in the details, as kelly mentioned, and those details when it comes to trump sometimes seem to fall apart. Loo look, greater restrictions on travel is a good response to a Public Health risk. It need to take care of workers is also. And i think thats the debate youre seeing on the hill right now. I actually think hill leaders are close in congressional speak. It doesnt look like it to the layperson, but i think they are close to a final resolution on a package. The Current Issue that is really going to break this down is around paid leave, craig. Its important to kind of understand why in this environment. The two tools to address, displaced workers, displaced income, first is unemployment benefits. You see at Times Congress will extend the length of time workers are eligible or perhaps they change the eligibility. Paid leave is a question of who bears the cost. Most times in crisis the government bears the cost. The reason youre seeing pushback from republicans is theyre saying, look, we dont want to put the burden of the cost on employers at the very time theyre seeing their revenue drop as well. So i think where the parties need to come around is to say how does the public sector, how does the government bear the cost of mandated paid leave . And i think they can get there if we maybe create a little bit different environment. The crisis might have to brew so many more for mccarthy and pelosi to be able to sit down and have that conversation. David jolly, whats striking about what you just said is deficits in this country have literally never been higher. The debt, literally never been hire. Why now would republicans suddenly in the midst of a legitimate Public Health crisis fully. Yes, why would they be concerned about costs now . Sure. Worse, why would they be willing to explode the deficits with more correspondent subsidies to airlines . Thats what nancy pelosi and democrats want to make sure happens. The point is the proposals change by the minute, so i dont want to say this is where we are right now, but the democratic proposal would put costs on employers. If youre an employer and your ploys cant come to work and your customers arent coming in the door but you still have to play repay your employees, youre putting that cost of, say, two weeks of paid leave on the employer. My proposal, craig, would be turn to what already exists, the federal Unemployment Insurance program. Theres actually a provision in there called disaster Unemployment Insurance that we use in times of natural disasters. They could put displaced federal employees using the Disaster Unemployment model. That would be a way and it would require corporation with states to absorb the additional cost. We would see a deficit, but this is a moment where the public sector, the government has to accept in because the private sector is beginning to fail. Thats an area where we could see consensus. But i do think much like the economic crisis of 15 years ago, it might have to get a little bit worse for democrats and republicans to abandon some of their sharper elbows when it comes to these ideological fights. I wrote something in the playbook this morning on sirius satellite radio. Quote, its in moments like this when society is at its weakest and most vulnerable that americans look to their government for answers. Its in moments like this when social norms, struc