white house on the coronavirus response. he's excited to be joined by vice president pence and members of the task force. you can watch the president's comments live on c-span. until then, here are they have been talking about a fourth stimulus package for little bit and trading ideas about what might be in such a package, even mitch mcconnell, who is typically one of nancy pelosi's antagonists said before they pass the third stimulus,

they will need a fourth one. since then, kevin mccarthy and mitch mcconnell have said, we want to see how this phase three, this third package they passed, see how it is going. right off the bat, we have been hearing from small businesses that almost $350 billion is not enough to keep them afloat. from restaurants to bookstores do anything like that, you will have difficulty making payroll and paying people's insurance. the speaker says they will need to double that amount in the next stimulus package. the speaker floated some ideas last week about whether or not they wanted to do the

infrastructure package. the president himself has said we should go big, we should spend up to $2 billion -- is one of those things that gets trotted out every once in a while. it is a signal that we are going to have a weird week. that was bandied about. it seems like the president wanted to do it. republicans in congress said let's focus on health care workers. the speaker sent out a letter over the weekend in which she said the next round will be focused on small businesses and health-care workers, in particular. it is still taking shape. -- both have said chambers have said they will not be back here until april 20. timehave a little bit of

to trade these things back and forth. call,a story on roll lindsay mcpherson, one of your colleagues -- the biggest leverage for a phase four stimulus. talk us through what governors and mayors are doing, the bottom up lobbying campaign. president and the his task force are doing these briefings every single day and talking about cdc guidelines, it seems like they are the ones who are directing most of the response. that is simply not true. mayors, governors, county executive's, these are the people who are erecting the responses, including -- are directing the responses, including the national guard. impromptu testing sites and hospitals. they are quickly running out of

money. a lot states and a lot of sadie's cannot run -- a lot of cities cannot run deficit spending like the federal government can. they will need help pretty quickly, particularly as they .ee first responders get sick big cities like new york have been at the epicenter of this and we have seen the kind of response andrew cuomo had to for the entire state. these are these two distinct regions, upstate and new york city. same thing with new jersey. these governors and these mayors who are dealing with quarantines and lockdowns and so forth, they are the ones who are going to

pressure congress and the white house the most. us from hisjoining home on capitol hill. with us when he can be. covering it for roll call. all.com is the website if you want to see their work. we found out last week that nancy pelosi wants a new committee to oversee the coronavirus response. on statean clyburn was of the union yesterday and he talked about the role that his select committee what have. here is what he had to say. >> my understanding is that this committee will be forward-looking. we will not be looking back on what the president may or may not have done that before this crisis hit. the crisis is with us. the american people are out of

work, millions of them out of work. whether or not the money is appropriated will go to support them and their families or if it will end up in the pockets of a few profiteers. that is what we are to do. i spent the weekend looking deeply into the committee and what has happened since march 1, 1941. it proved to be very successful. i am trying to base my work on this committee on the history with the work of that committee. host: what does it take to get a committee like that up and running? what has been the reaction since nancy pelosi unveiled this plan? guest: the reaction from the

leadership, one of the reasons nancy pelosi wanted james clyburn is that he is one of the people who commands a lot of mutual respect. republicans, particularly kevin mccarthy, have been skeptical for -- about the need of a select committee. he said this is about making sure that people spent this money wisely. it is not just taxpayer money expense. this could be the difference for -- between life and death for people. it is modeled after the truman committee. mccarthy and other republicans have said, i don't think this is necessary and it seems kind of redundant. there are some oversight including a panel

of inspector general's. -- generals. and then there is a congressional oversight commission that will need to be selected by the leaders in the house and senate. that does sound like there could be some redundancies. said that, theip date the president signed the legislation, he issued a signing statement that said he was going to feel free to ignore some of those oversight requirements, such as the inspector general sharing information with congress. this is a consistent conflict between administration and congress. it seems like what nancy pelosi and the democrats want is they want to be able to say, the

president does not even let the ink dried on the signature of the bill for saying he will ignore some of it. we want to make sure we can make sure this money is spent wisely and given to people who need it the most. i hesitate to say that it has gone into typical partisanship but that seems like a fairly partisan reaction. i would think eventually, this will get through. to set up aa vote committee. until at not be back least april 20 in the house and senate. eventually, it will get its way like with the stimulus spending. it seems like a long time ago. it was only last week or two weeks ago, not quite two weeks ago, that the house loaded -- the house voted. one of the members did not want to use unanimous consent to pass that third package. they will eventually get this, but they do need to vote on it,

but that does not mean some of the groundwork cannot be started, and i am thinking the speaker has plenty of ideas about how to start some of that. host: jason dick to take your phone calls via zoom this morning. that is how he is joining us, and you can maybe ask about some of the books on the crowded shelf behind them. you can in time zones, 202-748-8000. mountain or pacific time zones, 202-748-8001. donald from michigan, go ahead. caller: good morning, and god bless everyone on the front lines battling this covid-19 disease. thank you all. i would like to say to these republican callers, calling in donald trump has done a good job on this corona. you have your head in the sand.

he had three months back in january to let the american people know what was going on. he did nothing. one more thing i would like to say, call in symptoms that you are now central amount time. -- central time, mountain time. you need to get back to the republicans and democrats and independents line. one more quick thing. on donald trump's bills, it amazes me how republicans never see any tax breaks for the 1% that they did not get the passes, but we got legislation for the working poor and people trying to survive through the epidemic, they want debate, debate, debate. let's get this country back going and get rid of donald trump in 2020. god bless them america. host: that is donald in michigan. i will take the comment on the

phone lines. jason dick, what would you like to say? guest: the way the debate is taking place, with the last stimulus package, there were enough negotiations going on behind the scenes that that is where the debate was really happening, which is frequently done, but it also produced, you know, overwhelming margins of approval. 96% in the senate and in the house, they were able to use a voice vote to pass a, so it seems like -- vote to pass it, so it seems like times are top are these are difficult times we are going through -- so see like times are tough. these are difficult times we are going through. congress is moving quickly. this is an institution that has difficulty passing spending bill sometimes, and has for decades. so, to appropriate more than $2 trillion in a matter of weeks is

a really big deal. yet i -- yet there are things they will need to fix with the stimulus packages, but the fact they are full steam ahead in working on this, something that i have not seen in a long time, certainly, if you go back to 9/11, and some other responses, and even then, we're talking about the effect this pandemic it has been having that they're trying to address. host: this is john from iowa. good morning. guest: good morning. host: go ahead, john. you are on was jason dick. guest: i have two questions. the first one is, if president trump isn't going to make a federal mandate on this order, you know, to stay indoors, why wouldn't andrew cuomo, who is the governor of new york city, make it something in that situation where he could make

the hospital's a biohazard zone so people can reuse reusable ppe instead of using the stuff i'm throwing it away? -- stuff and throwing it away? why can't they be in those biohazard suits with changeable filters, and can save these doctors and nurses' lives so we don't have a shortfall of doctors and nurses after this pandemic? host: john, before jason dick jumps in, i wanted to let you know that what you are talking about is a topic we will be picking up in about 15 minutes. when it comes to state powers to enforce quarantine zones. we will be joined by scott burris from temple university specifically on that topic, but jason dick, if there is anything you want to jump in on or congressional angle? guest: i think the first version they see with people saying, why can't they do more for these quarantined zone?

i don't know emergency power things. as well as your next guest. one of the issues we are dealing with with hospitals is they are being overwhelmed by covid-19, but people are still having to come to the hospitals for other reasons. if you create these biohazard zones for hospitals, it might prevent people who have gotten into a car accident, or got a heart attack or something unrelated to coronavirus, like you may impede their ability to get there. it is why these two naval ships, one to new york, from los angeles have opened up because those hospital ships are designed to deal with people who are not infected with coronavirus. but it is difficult to stillness

-- difficult to stand this up as quickly as they are doing. host: when it comes to trying to keep people from gathering together, how close are we to remote voting in that building behind me? is one chamber closer to that happening than the other? guest: no. it doesn't seem like it. senate majority leader minutes -- mitch mcconnell and nancy pelosi both same really opposed -- both seemed very opposed. the speaker before the house mcgovern studyim the issue came up with several options that would allow them to vote. none of them included doing what we are doing right now, where people would zoom in or do a google hang out, and signal their vote at a clerk would record it. it seems like the speaker is really trying to avoid going into these remote voting things.

there are constitutional issues. mcconnell has an easier time dealing with the social distance issues with only 100 senators, but it is difficult. he could get people in and out of his chamber a lot faster and safer than 435 people in the house. but it doesn't seem like we are anywhere close, even though it is becoming essential way she where they may need to, and -- even though it is becoming a situation where they need to. this is the 21st century. we are dealing with an issue that we should have been prepared for. we are not, but that does not mean we cannot be prepared going forward. host: westport, massachusetts. this is greg. good morning. caller: how are you doing?

lot abouto push a what the democrats are doing in congress, why don't you tell the american people the reason why they are not there is because they are on a vacation-paid holiday? a taxpayer-paid holiday. that is why they are not there because they are on vacation again. host: jason dick, want to talk about what members are doing right now? guest: members have left washington. they are on an extended recess. i would not quibble with the -- i would quibble with the idea of this is a vacation when members are not in washington, they're dealing with constituents and issues that come up in their state as well. most members of congress, when they are not in washington, they are still working with local officials, working with constituents. i would respectfully disagree that it is a taxpayer-funded vacation. it is also a matter of where do you want members of congress in this sort of emergency? do you want them all in one

place at the capital, or at home where they can be more into -- in tune with the people they represent? there is an issue with dealing -- everybody is working remotely in washington. it is a densely populated place. members of congress are arguably more at risk of contracting the virus and spreading it, particularly if they keep their staff there. the white house is a little different, much smaller with fewer people who work in the white house than in the capital, which is why you see the president in his briefing room every day, but they are being careful with about who gets into the gates of the white house. they are doing temperature checks for every person who comes to work in that setting. there are fewer reporters even allowed into the briefing room because they need to respect social distance. we are in an incredibly unique

time, and i am the first one to sort of, you know, kinda be skeptical about congress when they say they are working hard on something, but in this case, to the evidence is, they are, and it is also important to point out, too, the democrats only control one chamber, the house. the republicans are in charge of the senate, but they are both out of town. caller's point, it was a decision by both parties. host: roll call is one of the news organizations that is usually in those briefings when everyone is allowed in the briefing room. in this new rotation, how often do you get your reporter in the room? guest: we are in there once a week or once every nine days, depending on the rotation and who else is showing up. we share a seat with the regional reporters.

they have their own pool, so it depends on where they are in the rotation. it is been more often because they have been doing a briefing every day now, including saturdays and sundays. we have been showing up more. we were there on thursday. our next showing his thursday or friday. tot: i know you have tried not only covering the story of coronavirus, but covering the coverage of the story of coronavirus. this being a different moment in journalism. can you talk through that a little bit? guest: one of the things we cover in the hall of the -- halls of congress is how the place runs, right? one of the ways the place runs is through this in a sergeant at arms in the house sergeant at arms and the chief administrative officers. you know, this is where we get our workspace. those offices are the one to help coordinate where the press can go, what the rules of

engagement with the press and members of congress are. and again, i went through with the white house particles are -- white house protocols for press coverage. it is different in congress, and i think that shows what the nature of the institution itself. there isn't a formalized system of keeping people away from the capital, or temperature checks or things like that. one of the things that we have been interested in and covering it is how we make sure people are safe? how do we make sure things are covered, but people are also not at risk of contracting the virus? and so, we have covered -- excuse me -- we have covered how the sergeant at arms and the chief administrative officer governs where we can go, and the interaction between members of the press and those institutions. it has been interesting, like the way we had been on capitol

hill and the way we have covered it is to minimize risk we put a reporters and ourselves in. we have started these informal pools. it is not so institutionalized in congress. people are cooperating in a way that they rarely do on capitol hill. you know the place well, too, john. and theyrunning around are scrambling and everybody is competing for a different piece of the pie. in this case, people are sharing information with their colleagues. one of my colleagues you mentioned earlier, linda mcpherson, she and another colleague were in the house chamber when the house was debating that their stimulus -- that third stimulus package. what they did was they came up with a spreadsheet of members who were present and in the chamber, or around, and they shared that with their

colleagues. that is normally -- that would host: not just roll call colleague? guest: not just roll call colleagues. this was heartening to see people are concerned about each other's safety and concerned about each other's ability to do their jobs in a really stressful situation. that is one of those stories -- there are a lot of stories going on, a lot of big stories going on right now. i think it is important to reflect on how we get this information, what are the risks, and what are the things we are gaining, too. host: two minutes left with jason from roll call. dena from st. louis, missouri and thanks for waiting. caller: hi. i wanted to talk about the after

action response to this whole thing. i think it is vitally important that we take advantage of this opportunity as americans to communicate with our congress people, representatives, and ourselves about how fragile our economy is the way it is set up. we have people who are considered to be central workers, working in grocery stores, who historically have been paid minimum wage or less with no health care, but the service-oriented economy that we developed has proven itself that -- proven itself to be fragile because what happens when the servers can't serve?

what happens when these people get laid off within 24 hours of a furlough and the congressional responses, oh, let's funnel money to debate on how much the truly working poor, and the less than people working even closer from paycheck-to-paycheck are going to survive for two weeks? people started panicking within a week of this, and our congressmen and elected officials, and those who we put in responsibility to help protect us, have the fairest concept of the struggle we are having. host: jason dick, the response coming just days after the new jobs' numbers, showing 700,000 americans -- less americans had a job last month in the day before, and that is only the

month before, and that is only the beginning of the impacts. the jobless rate climbing to 4.1% on friday. guest: this is one of those events that will shake us to the foundation, and the caller makes a good point. people who typically we may not have thought about that much previously -- the person checking out of the grocery store, or the person, you know, serving you food at a restaurant -- they are on the front lines of this, and it is very difficult to not think about the risk they are facing financially from a health perspective. we are still at the beginning of this, and you know, the public policy -- i guess will continue to be shaped for years to come in the fallout from this. the administration has said

people uninsured and treated at hospitals -- the hospitals will reimburse using medicare schedules, which for some people have said, what does that sound like? that sounds like medicare for all. that was is where non-starter in the presidential campaign recently, and now, it is becoming de facto policy for treating the uninsured. i mean, this is going to continue to shake out in ways that we will have difficulty contemplating at this point. our society is in for a lot of twists and turns. host: last call, linda brentwood, tennessee, you are on , with jason dick of roll call. caller: yes on this new stimulus package that nancy pelosi is going to put forward.

the hr 5383. that is nothing to do with the american citizens. it is called the new way forward act. host: what is your concern about it, linda, for some who are not estimator with the legislation? caller: my concern is that this packages for illegals. and the illegals in this country is just that, illegal. host: jason dick? do you want to follow up with that debate on capitol hill? guest: some of the emigration aspects, and i am not familiar with that specific piece of legislation the caller referred to, but for seasonal workers, who tend to agriculture and the food we are eating, farmers and agricultural aspects, they really do the, seasonal workers, and there is some pressure, particularly from big agriculture big messes and the chamber of commerce, to make sure that farms have the kind of workers to put food on the table.

host: the caller is in luck. according to congress.gov, hr 5383 is sponsored by a congressman who will be joining us by phone and about 45 minutes this morning. i will certainly follow up with the caller and ask the congressman about his new way forward act. jason dick of roll call newspaper, thank you so much for your time. stay safe. thank you for what you and your reporters do. live at the white house for the update from the white house coronavirus task force. we are just hearing that the briefing has been pushed back a bit until 5:45 p.m. eastern. we will have that live once a get underway here on