shutting down. >> roughly 1 ynr 4 americans ar being told to stay at home. >> talking about tightening the valve more. if the number doesn't slow down, close the valve.okñ we're closing the valve. >> schools, restaurants, businessesi] closing. airports empty. unemployment claims soaring. congress working on a plan to send checks to millions of families, but how much andjf ho soon? >> we need help now.w3 now. give us answers. >> new cases and deaths spiking. here atñi home -- >> this is one of the greatestx

emergencies our nation has faced inñiçó 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, i'm not 1 going to let it stop my from partying. >> president tz?fu changing hisú tone. >> we have it very well under control. >> it's something g+ haveok tremendous control over. >> but now -- >> if you're talking about the virus, that's not under control for any place in the world. >> the u.s. facing an invisible enemy with no end in sight. my guests this morá!mg, new york cityó0dayor 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, presidentialu 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, it's doubtful americans will remember where they were when they first heard the news about the coronavirus, but this crisis has also done what those couldn't 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] nation's second largest city, los angeles. other statesok are doing the sa. is it enough? are americans willing tow3 endu a full national shutdownñi 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 covid-19. last ñisunday, only 60 had died. here's thefáqe$ yesterday's "new york post." we're facing a category-5 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 category-3? >> thisñr is the most drastic california, connecticut, new we need to bend the curve in the state of california. >> ultimately, you can't have a

livelihood if you don't 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 don't think we'll 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, i'm not going to let it start me from partying. >> most of the people who are dying are older. i'm fine, then. >> that as new cdc data shows 48% of icu patients through mid-march 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 n-95 masks. >> we need those ventilators. >> this could happen in america where we can see something

coming and we can't 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 nervous enough about this blunt talk from dr. fauci. >> we're not there yet because otherwise people would never be calling up saying they can't get a test. >> to visibly coax the environment to weigh in. >> mr. vice president? >> i just can't 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 it's going to work out fine. >> we're going substantially down, not up. >> one day it's 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 you're a terrible reporter. that's 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 what's 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, it's 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. that's going to get worse. we're about two thirds or more of the cases in new york state. that's 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 don't get it. i don't 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 can't be blunt enough. if the president doesn't act, people will die who could have lived otherwise. >> what is it that you want -- >> folks who are members of families, and we can't 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 that's 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 they're 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, they're 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 they're 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 we're seeing from the white house. that's 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. they're 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 n-95 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 don't 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, i'm 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, it's not nearly enough. it's not fast enough. we're way behind the curve. but let's talk about, you know, we're trying to figure out what we can do to move forward. they are making progress. it's not fast enough. but on all of those things. on respirators, on ppes, on the masks, on the test tzs. we're ramping up. new york has about half of the aid of the rest of the country. they're focusing on the three states that are the worst right now. and new york is one of them. they're trying to push things out to all the states, but it's

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 didn't get done, i want to get things done. >> i understand that. that's 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 n-95 mask issue, or do you feel as if you still have to find different ways to acquire masks? >> i think it's 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. they're responding to almost all five of those requests. fema has to take the lead, but we can't wait. we're taking individual actions as well. it's not a perfect situation, but we're trying to ramp up and order things on the open market,

get some things produced here. it's 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. that's just where we are. >> i want to talk about a regional issue. i'm going to show some pictures to our audience. you can't 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 hasn't 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. we're going to be talking again, i believe, tomorrow. we're all taking actions and

trying to work together, but yeah, the social distancing is not being enforced and it's 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 self-quarantine for 14 days otherwise they're 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 10-month-old, a 5-year-old 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 it's 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. it's not blaming people for what happened in the past. it's 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. i'm not worried about blame. i'm worried about saving lives

right this minute and i don't 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, it's 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 that's 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 that's going so we don't overload the health care system and if people are just going to -- look, it's very disconcerting. people's lives are disrupted. it's 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 it's 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 can't stop it without them cooperating. it's going to be a while. we don't know how long or how bad it's going to be, but it's going to continue until we can get it stopped. we're going to keep fighting it 24 hours a day. >> it's not true that people everywhere are fighting with all they've got because our military is being sidelined and the white house is in denial. it's just not true, governor.

it's just not true. >> we have military all over our state doing all kinds of great things. >> you have national guard. you don't 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. let's be honest about it. >> i'm going to be speaking with the fema administrator in a few minutes. governor hogan, mayor de blasio. i know you're fighting the same fight here at the end of the day, let's get rid of the virus and hope we can get back, back on track here. thank you both. i know it's 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 there's going to be a meeting between the four leaders in congress in about the next couple hours. that tells me that maybe we're landing the plane here on phase three. what is the latest? and how quickly do you expect a deal? >> chuck, i think you're right. i think we're on short final, and we'll have this plane landed. it starts today with a very, very important procedural vote this afternoon which will really tell us if we're going to be able to go forward. i think we will. and i would like to share with you a quick summary of what's in the bill. and i think you'll see why it would be very hard, i think, to vote against it. i think in several categories, first, focus on take the guy who

wakes up tomorrow morning and he's got a family to take care of, and there's pennsylvania's 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. we're going to bump up unemployment benefits significantly. we're expanding eligibility for unemployment and sending direct checks to all middle and low-income workers, substantial amounts of money. that's focused directly on getting people through this period. the next category is the resources we're 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, it's essential people have a job to go back to when we get through this as soon as we possibly can.

so there's 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 they're spent on maintaining payroll, and a very, very large package we're 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. that's the direct payment situation. number one, is it going to be sustained if the national emergency goes into may? we know there's an april payment that is planned on. would there be a may payment if we're still in a national emergency? is that codified in this bill? >> so that is not codified in this bill, but let's keep in mind, first of all, we're going to make a tremendous amount of

resources available to companies to keep their workforce employed, because we're hoping this is a relatively brief period, and we want those folks to still be associated with their company, so they're called back to work rather than feel like they have lost their tie. that's number one. number two, there's very generous significant unemployment benefits. so we'll re-evaluate if we're several weeks from now and we think we need another round. it's not the most efficient way to do this, by the way, chuck, we're 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 people's hands. >> the issue of which industries to quote/unquote bail out. what would that look like, and how do you prevent -- i know you're 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 here's the way i think about this. the big credit facility we're standing up has two components. there's 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. that's going to be a short list, and it's 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 broad-based 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. it's 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 what's 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 it's been better

than other times. more recently, it's 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. i'm going to talk to the man who is tasked with managing this is tasked with managing this effort nationwide, fema's but we're 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 you're 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. we're connecting with people, we're offering them solutions. customers can do what they need to do

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with financial planning and advice for what you need today... and tomorrow. because when you're with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. e. welcome back. fema is now leading the government's 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 n-95 masks -- that is something he's hoping fema will solve. is the federal government now in charge of procuring n-95 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. we're ramping up production in commercial facilities, and what i'll 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, we're shipping today. we'll ship tomorrow. it's fluid. it's dynamic. we have -- we have hundreds of

requests from governors around the country for all the same kinds of things. what we're trying to do is we're 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 that's 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 don't have states hoarding? >> well, you know, i hope no one is hoarding, because we're 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 don't need a test, if you don't have symptoms, and you just want to make yourself feel better and get a test, you're really taking away from the ppe we need to go to hospitals. for critical actions. so if you don't need a test, don't do it. do your part. mitigation works. the president's 15 days actions, stay at home, social distancing, wash your hands. all those things work. and it's 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. what's the likelihood that we're going to have to continue these same guidelines for another few weeks? >> well, again, this is fluid and dynamic. i'll leave the medical analysis up to the experts. dr. fauci and team. they're looking at that every day. but again, we know, we look at south korea, we look at china. we know mitigation works. we know there's 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 you're only going to use it if they don't voluntarily pitch in? >> so i think it's an insurance policy. it's a lever if we have to throw that lever, we will. and it's pretty amazing.

you know, companies from around the country volunteering to do all sorts of different things to help americans. and so we haven't 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 it's been really great to see. >> are you confident you have the ventilators and n-95 masks that this country is going to need in the next six weeks? >> we're working to source from all different kinds of manufacturing. i know there's manufacturing lines coming up and running. again, these are finite, limited resources. will we ever have enough? i'm 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, we'll 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? >> i'll say we're ready every day for response. it's not just fema responding. it's all of government responding. whether it's dod or national guard helping me, all these resources exist. should we have another natural disaster over covid, it's 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 we're ready for covid-19 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

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♪ welcome back. the panel is here but not exactly here. nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker. former homeland security secretary jeh johnson. presidential historian doris kearns johnson, and david french. a columnist for "time" magazine. we look a little different this morning. i'm the only one here in our studio. all the rest of in remote

locations as we practice social distancing. jeh johnson, you're a former secretary of homeland security. fema is now playing point. the federal response, look, first it was cdc, then it was hhs. then it's the task force, now it's fema. where a lot of governors are happy. what did you hear from mr. gaynor that the public should focus on? >> well, chuck, you asked him, do you have the ability to prevent hoarding? and i was a little concerned 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 he's 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 morning's "new york times" for some. mr. trump's 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 be judged by how all of this plays out. it's a sad fact of american history that we often confront crises with early bungling and early bumbling. that's a pattern throughout american history. we're 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 that's creating even more confusion. >> jared kushner, his son-in-law, 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. he's been in the briefing room daily. he wants to look like he's 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 he's lashing out at reporters, for example, and when he's 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 we're 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 they're 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 didn't 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 shouldn't 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 i'm prepared for action and action now. if dwresz doesn't 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 don't 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 title-32 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 don't think there's 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 don't like to let it go. so as this crisis -- >> no government does. >> exactly, as this crisis, god willing, eases over time, there's 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, there's a compelling governmental interest in acting decisively. social distancing, enforcing 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 -- i'm sorry we don't have our normal interactive conversation, but we're 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. it's a reminder that behind these statistics are real people. our condolences go out to mornings were made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis. when considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz xr, a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis or active psoriatic arthritis for whom methotrexate did not work well enough. it can reduce pain, swelling, and significantly improve physical function. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections like tb; don't start xeljanz if you have an infection. taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra can increase risk of death. serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. as have tears in the stomach or intestines, serious allergic reactions, and changes in lab results. tell your doctor if you've been somewhere fungal infections are common, or if you've had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections.

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. welcome back. data download time. as students and parents around the country get used to being at home together for the foreseeable future, educators, administrator and educator companies are trying to adapt. 46 states and washington, d.c. have closed schools. that means more than 118,000 schools are just not open. impacting close to 54 million students nationwide, and those closures have come at a dizzying pace. the first state to close all schools was ohio. only ten days ago. of course, schools offer students a lot more than just the courses they take. they're aunch sources of health care, safety, and of course, food.

more than 11 million students in this country receive free or subsidized breakfast at school, and lunch for more than 22 million. and then there are big impacts on high school juniors and seniors who rely on a.p. exams to receive college credit, which lower the cost of their degree once they get to college. the college board tells us there are 3.4 million students worldwide who will take exams this year. this year, students will be able to take online exams at home. college board has already canceled the may s.a.t. and has not decided yet about the june test date. as with everything in our lives, this virus is having an unprecedented impact on our youngest americans. youngest americans. we likely won't know the the network has to be prepared to absorb whatever is going to come its way. we're always preparing. make sure that the network is working all the time. we are constantly looking at it, we're constantly monitoring. we take that responsibility very seriously. the most rewarding thing about the work we do is whenever we see a customer able to communicate back to their loved ones.

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the panel is back with us. 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 didn't eliminate that possibility, but he said it wouldn't be codified. what do you know about where we are right now? >> i think that's one of the sticking points, and that was, of course, the key phrase. right now, it's 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 there's 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 self-isolation of america can only continue for so long. if the coronavirus overwhelms america's social capacity, our government won't be in a position to choose between an economic crisis and a pandemic, it will have both. what he's 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 that's when it's a real challenge. >> yeah, this is the most disruptive crisis, really, since 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 we're 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, we'll be back at work, we'll 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 couldn't talk about the war. maybe we need virtual cocktail hours with our friends where we're 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 we're back to work, where we're productive again. we well get there. the same thing he said about world war ii. they're not going to get three shots at this. they have to do that now.

then we'll get back to life. we have to believe we're 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 we'll 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, we're people of action. i'm in nashville, and just days ago, we had this terrible tornado. and people swarmed out of their homes immediately to help friends and neighbors. that's what we do. and in this circumstance, we're 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 we're being told is accurate about the need to sacrifice, and where the government is asking for that trust in a very low-trust time in american history. and that's 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 they're talking, but this accelerates theg=z longer-term 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 let's jump on a call. i say, wait a minute, you're 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, there's going to be another bell curve after this. the virus will not disappear. there's 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. that's 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 can't work from home. the men and women helping to keep life as normal as possible for the rest of us. of course, we'll be back next week because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." e

♪ we're going to get hit, there's no doubt about it. the things that we're seeing in this country, the physical separation, at the same time as we're preventing influx of cases coming in, i think that's going to go a long way to preventing us from becoming an italy. >> dr. anthony fauci shining optimism on the skyrocketing number of coronavirus cases where new york is the epicenter. >> ramping up responses for medical supplies and makeshift