tv Politics Nation MSNBC March 28, 2020 2:00pm-3:00pm PDT
2:00 pm
good evening and welcome to "politics nation." tonight's lead, full crisis m e mode. the news of the last 24 hours from across the country reinforces the severe state of affairs that the nation is facing. the united states now has the most coronavirus cases in the world, with emerging concerns about hot spots in the midwest and the south. this as hospitals are depleted of protective gear for health workers and ventilators for patients. president trump has signed the biggest emergency relief package in american history, also announcing he is using a unique power that allows him to basically take over u.s. supply lines. all that while more states issue shutdown orders and more
2:01 pm
americans than ever before file for unemployment benefits. and it seems that putting aside the president's mixed message, the public is cooperating. a new "washington post"/abc news poll shows nine in ten americans are maintaining distance from others and also staying home as much as possible. eight in ten say they're washing their hands more often. so on today's show we ask what will the next phase of response be? how long will it last? and how bad will it get? and our unique question, will black america be left behind as the country plans its economic recovery for after the pandemic is over? we start in the state that some call the new ground zero, new york. joining me now is the junior senator from new york, democrat
2:02 pm
kirsten gillibrand. let me start right there. new york is ground zero. are you pleased with how new york is handling the crisis thus far? >> yes, i think our governors and mayors have been doing an outstanding job around the state. they are trying to help our hospitals be able to have overflow beds. we are turning the javits center into a field hospital. they are opening two additional field hospitals as well as having the "u.s. comfort" dock to take noncovid patients. >> you heard the president might call for a tristate quarter
2:03 pm
teen, new york, connecticut and new jersey. what would be your reaction to that? >> i don't think we should be taking any health advice from president trump. he's been wrong with this from the beginning. he continues to mislead the american public. i would wait for the health professionals to make those kinds of decisions and then we will absolutely abide by whatever is recommended. but i do believe new yorkers and those in the tristate area are understanding what it means to stay home, to shelter in place, to maintain social distancing and they are trying very hard to keep their families safe. and i think the governor has been doing everything he can to assure that people understand the urgency of this crisis and how serious it is. >> do you think there's some politics involved here because it seems that the -- in florida with a governor who is a republican, very friendly to the
2:04 pm
preside president, they have taken very slow steps. now all of a sudden he's banning people from new york coming if they come at all to florida, he's raised all kinds of precautions yet in the new york, connecticut and jersey area, there are democratic governors who have been asking for more equipment, more help from the president and sometimescritical. are we seeing politics even in the midst of all of this crisis? >> well, we can certainly hope not because the truth is this is a national crisis and it is a moment for leadership, not politics. and all of us have a role to play. every family that stays home, that only goes out for food and medicine and the things they need, they are stopping the coronavirus from spreading further. we all can make sure that we take our own responsibility of not spreading covid-19 to our neighbors, our friends and our family and we have to take that seriously. i think the president
2:05 pm
unfortunately has been irresponsible in this from the very beginning. he has not created the stockpile that he should have had in place in terms of tests, in terms of masks and ventilators. thank goodness now the defense production act has been activated. the military is rtrying to get the 9 million masks they have in reserve to communities. they've released about a million to date and they've released thousands of ventilators. they need to release all of them and get them to the hospitals that need them. we have hospitals across new york, queens, brooklyn that are really struggling. upstate new york hospitals are doing only a hundred tests a day because they don't have the equipment they need. one hospital in central new york was down to their last day of masks, but we had some real leadership shown by our
2:06 pm
chancellor and she asked fit to make more gowns and masks and they are able to deliver more this week. new yorkers are standing tall, they are doing what it takes and doing what's right. we're a very resilient state, a very strong state and new yorkers are showing what they're made of by protecting one another and by following the basic common sense rules of social distancing and staying home. >> now, you're in the u.s. senate. the senate passed the stimulus bill, some of us call a relief bill around the coronavirus. the hot spots now around the country we're beginning to see in the midwest and the south, what can they learn from what has been the path that new york and new jersey and others have had to endure? what should those in the midwest and the south try to do to get ahead of it so they do not have
2:07 pm
the same problems that new york has had that is now in the thick of it? >> the most important thing they can do is set up testing, universal testing, so that anyone who doesn't feel well can get tested. they should have drive-through testing. they should have testing at every hospital. one of the biggest struggles we had as a country is president trump did not get testing up and running. he kept it within the cdc for too long. he only had one place that would test, that was in atlanta. that wasn't good enough. he didn't allow individual labs to create tests. each one of those errors in judgment meant that testing was too slow and not readily rab available for states like new york. if we could have tested earlier with drive-through testing from the beginning, we could have had more successful effect of reducing the spread to bend the curve. >> are you saying if the
2:08 pm
president had acted earlier and the cdc had acted earlier, you do not believe that it would be as bad as it has become in areas like new york? >> yes, reverend, i'm certain of it. one of the biggest challenges that we have is if you only can test the very sick people, you're not limiting the spread. you're just diagnosing someone correctly and treating they correctly. but until you can get regularly available testing -- when they had a case in seattle where they can test and find anybody who had the flu, they found one kid who had it and closed that school. they protected that community and parents and grandparents from a full round of covid-19. what we should have is rapid testing, onsite testing, drive-through testing and get that up and running. we still need to do that in new york so we can reduce the spread and bend the curve so hospitals
2:09 pm
don't get so overwhelmed. >> we need to do whatever we need to do and do it quickly and efficiently. senators gillibrand of new york, thank you. >> thank you. >> let's go to the state of mississippi where the governor signed an executive order that effectively overrules cities with shuttered nonessential businesses and the coronavirus pandemic. joining me now, mayor of jackson, mississippi. mr. mayor, some cities in your state has shut down all but essential services and the governor has now signed an executive order overriding that. your reaction to that. >> well, this pandemic requires that we have a unified and uniform policy that addresses all of the states. our communities are too interconnected for us to be doing this in a piecemeal fashion. so that order did cause quite a
2:10 pm
bit of confusion. i had mayors all across the state calling me asking for my interpretation. i later spoke with the governor and we agreed that would serve as a minimal standard. it necessitates that we have a uniform policy and that we lead from the top instead of cities trying to find their way through this storm. >> but, mayor, you've been a pretty state forward person, when you send mixed messages when the governor is giving one order that's interpreted of overriding the mayor's, we're in the middle of the pandemic, we're in the middle of an emergency situation we've never seen before. what are the citizens in
2:11 pm
mississippi supposed to do, listen to the governor, listen to the mayor or interpret things that has not really been interpreted to them? >> you would hope we would be able to listen to the leadership of the state. in the event that is not a viable option, we're asking that they listen to their local officials because we know what people are experiencing. when i go to the grocery store on any given occasion, i hear from people. i know directly the people who are afraid, the people who are concerned and so it's demanding that we band together as mayors across the state to solve this issue. we can't act as if in some way the lord has carved mississippi out from the rest of the nation and we're not under the same threat that the rest of the world is under. so we're demanding, we're calling on the governor to take leadership just as we're calling on the president to take leadership and not give mixed messages and confusing messages. >> one of the things that people
2:12 pm
are saying is that if there ever was a time that we would be able to operate in a way we're not playing partisan politics it's now, but it seems like we seem to be hearing different things based on some, not all, but some that want to play politics in the middle of this. in your experience here as mayor of jackson, largest city in mississippi, are you hopeful that we will not get into a back and forward as it appears from those of us on the outside, the fwf w governor was doing with the mayors and deal with the fact that this virus was not asking anyone what party they're a member of or their race or religion, this virus is a threat to everybody. >> yes, absolutely, reverend. you know, this virus to my knowledge is apolitical. it doesn't share anyone's political views. so i am prayerful that we can
2:13 pm
unite and work to the but i pray with my hands and feet as well. so i'm going to continue to move, i'm going to continue to advise my constituents in their best interests so that we can create the best case scenario and that we can work in flattening this curve. >> now, i was very interested in how your governor, reeves, had said what he said about stopping women's right to choose, different elements like that, but he kept the gun stores open. i mean, how do you interpret that? >> i interpret that as politics as usual. instead of having a real sincere concern for what's taking place right now. >> so people can go buy guns but they can't do shopping for other basic things, including health needs if that's some of the situation that we're looking at. >> absolutely. i would think that if you had any reference to women's health
2:14 pm
care systems or institutions, maybe you would ask on them to be of assistance at this critical time instead of focusing on the normal political points that we see across party lines. and so this has not been the response that we need to see. it is still not too late for us to come together. just as we know that our friends in louisiana, new orleans specifically, have been under a horrible crisis, we know that mississippians joined in mardi gras as well. >> all right, thank you mayor lumumba for being with us tonight now let's go to my panel, david brock, the chairman of the democratic organization american bridge 2 1st century and susan del percio is a republican strategist and msnbc analyst.
2:15 pm
david, let me take from the last exchange i had with the mayor of jackson. politics in this are where clearly all of us would hope does not enter it and will not remain in small situations they have. there was an ad put out that the president and his team is fighting that it not be by an organization you were united states affiliated with, priorities usa, that really talks -- that shows the president making statements at the beginning that this was a hoax by the democrats, the coronavirus was a hoax, then that it will be gone, it was only a few people, it will disappear, and on and on until he finally got to where he's dealing with a national emergency. do you think it is appropriate and even constitutional for the president to be fighting for an ad that shows him saying things
2:16 pm
about this particular pandemic at different stages when obviously they're not misquoting him, they're using video of him and obviously the public has a right to all the information that is true and shows forthright what has transpired to where we are now because, as senator gillibrand just said on this show, that she feels some of that kind of hesitance to move forward and deal with the fact that we were in the situation in fact embellished the situation. >> yes. well, first of all, the ads only hang donald trump by his own words. they're truthful, the ads are truthful. the reason the trump campaign is trying to block them is they're trying to withhold the truth from the public. they have only contested one quote in these ads, interestingly. all the other quotes where he
2:17 pm
says, you know, where he downplays this for weeks, they haven't contested. and i think it's important, i understand the sensitivity around politicizing this but i think it important in this moment for media, for democrats and democratic groups just like mine to hold donald trump accountable to his own word. nothing gratuitous, nothing personal in this but facts are on the line here and lives are on the line. so i think this is going to be a political issue in the fall, there's no question the mishandling of it and the economic fallout will also be on the table. donald trump is coming into our living rools for an hour every night, often misinforming the public. so there has to be a vigorous response. this is the pot calling the kettle black. the donald trump super pac has put a number of false ads out there, flatly false. one doctoring audio of president obama to make it look like he's
2:18 pm
criticizing joe biden. so they play dirty. these democratic groups are up and unand only quoting the factual comments that donald trump has made. >> now, susans, the president has been accused of playing politics himself. i'm sure people will say don't be divisive. he has attacked sop of the governors, attacked governor inslee of washington saying he's a failed presidential candidate, he's ten while he was as president holding these daily briefings, which some have said he should be stepping back and letting the health experts do. i've even heard criticism this afternoon that his trip to see the battleship that he is headed to that turned into an almost
2:19 pm
campaign-style stop should stop. >> and the press briefings are also substituting for rallies for donald trump. he can't talk about policy or governance because he doesn't know how to. the only tool he has is politics and bashing people when they don't agree with him. and so that's what he's done. and, you know, his handling of this and just to go to the senator's point, him not being prepared. it's not that he was just not prepared, it was that he chose to wait because he thought he could talk his way out of this and it wasn't until that the stock market crashed on march 9th and then march 12th that he paid attention. yesterday we saw him signing that bill. he said, oh, just three weeks ago the economy was great. no, mr. president, it was -- >> and no democrats -- >> and that's another whole political issue and they didn't even observe social spacing if you look at that photo.
2:20 pm
and it was wrong not to have nancy pelosi there. but that's all this president knows. he is not capable of governing, he's not capable in a crisis. he's only capable of throwing names at people and strong arming them. >> everyone agrees that we need emergency help, people at home need to pay bills, they need money. but there is question to oversight to where corporations and big industry are getting the money. now we're being told that the white house can guide what the inspector general can or cannot tell the congress. how does that sit with you? >> that doesn't sit very well. there have to be these strong oversight mechanisms put in place. they were put in place and now
2:21 pm
the white house seems to be trying to hedge on that. the democrats did a great job in standing up for workers and for families, but this fund that's sitting out there is very troubling. i'm hopeful that what the congress did will stick but the administration clearly wants to weasel out of it. >> david brock and susan del percio, thank you both for being with us. coming up, is the congressional black caucus satisfied with the new coronavirus stimulus bill signed by the president yesterday? we'll ask the group's care woman, congresswoman karen bass of california next. want to brain better? unlike ordinary memory supplements neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory, focus, accuracy, learning,
2:22 pm
and concentration. try neuriva for 30 days and see the difference. (bobby) you're concerned that it's going to cost you money.ouble, (ben) to this day, i only paid what i had to pay for the device. when i go back, everything is covered. there's so much you're missing by not having hearing aids. (vo) we'll find you a hearing aid that fits your lifestyle and your budget at one of our 1,500 locations. call 1-800-miracle to start your 30-day risk-free trial and schedule your free hearing evaluation at your locally owned miracle ear today. the ups and downs of frequent mood swings can plummet you to extreme lows. (crying) lift you to intense highs. (muffled arguing) or, make you feel both at once. overwhelmed by bipolar i symptoms? ask about vraylar. some medications only treat the lows or the highs. vraylar effectively treats depression, acute manic and mixed episodes of bipolar i.
2:23 pm
full-spectrum relief of all symptoms. with just one pill, once a day. elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis have an increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor about unusual changes in behavior or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults. report fever, stiff muscles, or confusion, which may mean a life-threatening reaction, or uncontrollable muscle movements, may be permanent. side effects may not appear for several weeks. metabolic changes may occur. movement dysfunction, restlessness, sleepiness, stomach issues are common side effects. when bipolar i overwhelms, vraylar helps smooth the ups and downs.
2:25 pm
2:26 pm
are in the bill that relate to unemployment insurance and how it has expanded in so many ways. the bill was jujitsu. we just took their bill and turned it around. >> president trump signed that aforementioned relief bill into law yesterday with zero democrats in attendance, but since no one in that room seemed concerned about safety measures like social distancing, perhaps that was to the democrats' advantage. the new law mandates almost all american adults will receive a one-time payment of $1,200 with an additional $500 for each child. and those who have been laid off will receive monthly unemployment insurance payments with an additional $600 per week on top of what is normally provided by the states. both of these programs will give much-needed relief to black americans during this pandemic, but this is just the beginning.
2:27 pm
joining me now, democratic congresswoman karen bass of california. she's chair of the congressional black caucus. madam chairman, thank you, first of all, for being with us. >> thanks for having me on. >> what is the reaction to the bill by the congressional black caucus? certainly i know you were at the table fighting to make sure that what was the original proposed bill would seem to be corporate friendly turned as much as it has. what's the reaction to you now as the bill as it has now been signed after the fighting that speaker pelosi, you and others did. >> well, first of all, thanks for having me on. i think that the changes in the bill exactly as she described what was originally proposed, this is why it's great we have two senators from the congressional black caucus, senator harris and senator booker were over there fighting
2:28 pm
for all of our priorities. granted, there is much more to do, i am very happy that the congressional black caucus, many of our priorities were included in the bill, hundred dollfundin resources for prisons, child care. we definitely wanted to see mandatory testing, which was not provided. but we know we have much more to do. small businesses, miesnority business, development agency. so there's a lot of resources there. once the bill is passed, once the bill is signed, now we have to make sure our communities know what's there and then we have to help them access what's there. but at the same time we have to get ready for the next round. but when the next round happens and i know that it will, i don't know exactly how long it will be, but we need to be organized, we need to be organized nationally and we need to fight for our priorities in the same way that boeing and all of the
2:29 pm
other corporations do. we might not have billions of dollars, but we do have millions of people and we need to make sure our voices are heard. >> now, the statement made late today that the white house is downplaying the effect of these inspector general and congress having some kind of oversight over how the monies that will go to industry and corporations are and many of us remember in the '08 bailout, it seemed like the top was fine but those in the middle and the bottom did not get the same kind of recovery. are you concerned about the white house trying to play a different tune now about the role that you all put in this bill about an inspector general and congress examining all of the monies that will go to industries and major corporations? >> well, i'm concerned because the last three and a half year we've had a president that has no respect for the rule of law. you know it was a big fight that
2:30 pm
the democrats fought for and won was to even have the inspector general. you might have heard the president at one of his press conferences a few days ago where he said inspector general, there doesn't need to be any oversight, i can provide the oversight. one of the last fights over the bill was to make sure that the money didn't go to mar-a-lago and all of his other failing resorts and hotels. so of course i'm concerned about him intervening, but that's because in general he has shown us over the last three and a half years that he has no regard for the rule of law. >> isn't this an opportunity when we see the president's message, particularly to black americans, has been unemployment among blacks are lower than ever and now you have the unemployment rate for everybody going through the roof. are you concerned that as it goes through the roof, it still goes disproportionately for blacks and others of color because even in the good
2:31 pm
unemployment days, which was only a couple of weeks ago, we were still doubly unemployed to whites and we are in the areas that are most impacted by this pandemic in terms of the ones that work in the sanitation departments and other areas, don't you see this as an opportunity that they can rebuild the economy in an equal way and correct some of the imbalance that has historically been will? >> yes, but however, if that happens, it's going to happen because of grass roots pressure. it's certainly not going to happen from anything that the administration is concerned about. all he's interested in is peeling off 2% to 3% of the black male vote so he gets reelected. but i must say that any time you're dealing with a crisis like this, you know, in a way all of these bills are spaghetti on the wall in the sense that it's going to take as you while to even understand how this crisis is impacting our communities. and so one of the things that i think needs to happen now is that all of the historic activists in our community, the
2:32 pm
civil rights activists, the other grass roots activists, we need to come together and we need to assess what is happening on the ground in our communities so that the next time we pull a bill together, it's not just imagining how things are going to happen but it's actually real life stories. so i'm hoping that you'll join us and that you'll help through your show gather some of the anecdotal stories so that the next time we put a package together, we'll know that this part of the unemployment insurance didn't work, this part of giving the check out didn't work. i'm sure we're going to need another check to give to folks, but we need to make sure that the checks that are going out now actually hit the people in our community. maybe they didn't apply for taxes and don't realize they can actually apply for taxes and get their check. so we have a lot of work to do. >> and sign me up. i'm with that. you mentioned about those incarcerated. you raised that issue about the testing, and some of us also joined in. i even called president trump
2:33 pm
about it and talked to him about it, the tests of incarcerated, the testing of the homeless. and if they can't do it from a humanitarian point of view, it is bad for the health of everybody because homeless people sleep in the streets in beverly hills like they do in south central and can infect people. where do we go pushing forward on the testing of the homeless and the incarcerated if for no other reason than to protect the health of everybody? >> well, absolutely. and we certainly are going to be doing a lot of innovative things in california in regard to that. you know, in los angeles county on any given night, we have over 50,000 people that are sleeping outside. let me just talk about the incarcerated population for a minute. number one, there can obviously be no social distancing in a prison. people -- because all of our prisons are overcrowded. i think there needs to be
2:34 pm
mandatory testing, but i also think there needs to be the release of inmates. why would you incarcerate pregnant women right now? why would you incarcerate children that haven't been convicted of a violent crime? i can raise the question as to why you incarcerate children generally but right now thinking about this crisis. we need to be releasing people but they need to be tested. obviously if people are infected, they need to be treated and dealt with and not just released. but we do need to think about that. this is an opportunity to try to address some of the overcrowding and some of the unnecessary incarceration. >> all right. california congresswoman, chair of the congressional black caucus, karen bass, thank you for being with us. >> thanks for having me on. >> coming up, will black america be left behind as the country plans its economic recovery for after the coronavirus pandemic? we'll discuss it. be right back. the good news? our protection lasts all day.
2:35 pm
the bad news? so will this recital. depend® fit-flex underwear offers your best comfort and protection guaranteed. because, perfect or not, life's better when you're in it. be there with depend®. when they bundle home and auto with progressive. wow, that's... and now the progressive commercial halftime show, featuring smash mouth. ♪ hey now, you're an all star ♪ get your game on, go play thank you! goodnight! [ cheers and applause ]
2:36 pm
2:39 pm
i'm richard lui in new york with an update for you. this afternoon president trump said he's considering a 14-day quarantine in new york, new jersey and parts of connecticut because of the covid-19 outbreak. those three states account for more than half of the cases across the country. however, nbc's pete williams points out the president does not appear to have this kind of legal authority. constitutionally it's up to the states. meanwhile, the white house dispatched the navy hospital ship "comfort" to new york harbor. it will be critical as it holds over 1,000 hospital beds and is carrying 1,200 much-needed staff members. and more coronavirus tests are on the way and fast. a new test could give results in 15 minutes. other methods take days.
2:40 pm
the company is ramping up production. right now in the u.s., there are roughly 116,000 confirmed -- or rather 118,000 confirmed cases of covid-19 and nearly 2,000 people have died. globally confirmed cases are closing in on 700,000. the virus has killed over 30,000 people so far. more "politics nation" after the break. 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,
2:41 pm
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. don't let another morning go by without asking your doctor about xeljanz xr. better days are ahead. ♪ i know that there'll be better days ♪ we are all one jeep community and we can help. so we're offering payment assistance, 24/7 support and the option to shop at jeep.com. we're offering 0% financing for 84 months with no payments for 90 days. because better days are just down the road. ♪ better days jeep, helping you drive forward. and i...was...shocked. right away, called my mom, called my sisters.
2:42 pm
i'm from cameroon, congo, and...the bantu people. i had ivory coast, and ghana...togo. i was grateful... i just felt more connected... to who i am. greater details. richer stories. and now with health insights. get your dna kit at ancestry.com. my time is thin, but so is my lawn. it's been worn down to ugly, thin grass!
2:43 pm
now, there's scotts thick'r lawn. the 3-in-1 solution with a soil improver to strengthen roots, seed to fill in gaps and fertilizer to feed. the result - up to a 50% thicker lawn after just one application. ♪ ♪ now yard time, is our time. this is a scotts yard. download the scotts my lawn app for your personalized plan. like rock, reggaeton, alland techno.. get ready for the drop. wait for it. wait for it. -come on man hit me! wait for it. just do it already! ♪ one more time yeah.
2:44 pm
the coronavirus pandemic has the american economy on its knees, but things are even more dire for workers of color. not only are black and brown workers overrepresented in industries baring the brunt of layoff, such as food service, black and his panpanic workers overrepresented in high risks. 42% are postal processors, 27% of home health aides and 27% are bus drivers. while hispanics account for 18% of the population, 31% of all custodial workers are hispanic, as well 39% of food processing workers and 30% of garbage collectors. joining me now to discuss this
2:45 pm
pandemic's impact on workers of color, janel rossi, a reporter for nbc news and larry ivory, chairman of the national black chamber of commerce. j j janelle, it's clear that blacks and browns are in the most vulnerable position in terms of the work they do and that we are in the industries that are going to be impacted by the economics of this. how do we deal with this when we already come into this in a good economy before the pandemic hit, doubly unemployed and getting -- sometimes having the worst of difficulties in getting home loans, mortgages and small business loans? >> well, i think there is no question that many workers of color enter this situation in a much more vulnerable situation. i would add to your list that
2:46 pm
workers of color are more likely to be uninsured. in some of the lowest wage occupations in our country, only 10% of the workforce has health insurance. you have much higher rates of uninsurance among people of color. so there are real issues. what you can do about them, the individual, this is truly beyond the individual's control. i don't think anybody can question that. i think that obviously people are going to have to try to avail themselves of the unemployment insurance options that have been made available. there are some real challenges in terms of the relief package. for instance, you need to have a bank account in order to receive the relief funds that are supposed to be made available as quickly as possible. and, again, workers of color are overrepresented among those who do not have bank accounts. so there are some real challenges here. >> larry, wouith the black chamr
2:47 pm
of commerce, i'm sure you're concerned about what that will mean to black businesses and brown businesses, those that have small businesses that have had to struggle to even get bank loans, get financing, those that are homeowners that have had to deal with mortgage discrimination. what should we be pressuring as we deal with the first stage now of a stimulus bill and as congresswoman bass has said on this show there's more than likely going to be a second one. what should we be pressing the congress and industry to do to deal with those that have disproportionate impact in this pandemic because they had it even before that? >> absolutely. you know, i think dr. king said it best, the good things in life, the black man has a small portion of the bad things in life, we have a double porktion. when it comes to black businesses across the united states, it's clear to us we have
2:48 pm
some significant challenges. we can take a look at the industries that you're talking about, restaurants, owners, business owners, retail and all those areas. we're struggling. and black businesses need a lifeline, but we need to make sure, you know, just recently we were talking about the u.s. department of labor, they had suspended all affirmative action in terms of procurement and job placement. that's a big concern to us. we got to make sure as this economic stimulus money comes out and when we talk about the amount of money that they're talking about, reverend, $377 billion sounds like a lot of money but if you put that in perspective, that 90% of all businesses, approximately over 90% of all businesses are small businesses, that's not significant. there needs to be a much more significant investment in the small businesses and we need to make sure it gets in the hands of our people because what
2:49 pm
happens is we get the information late, there's time sensitive things dealing with how you get the money, and when you don't get the money in time, we can be left out. sometimes there's a pecking order based upon when you apply for the resources. if you're last on the list, even though you qualify, you still may miss the opportunity. so what we need to do is make sure that whatever stimulus package is out now, that the next stimulus package and we'll have to have another still lumu package, we're going to have make sure that businesses like the chamber and others are making sure we are participating and getting information to our members and making sure they have access to take full advantage of the opportunity that exists there. >> and we have to make sure that those opportunities are equal live distributed. there must be focus on this and there must be a coming together. it's an opportunity to heal but it won't happen without some real focus.
2:50 pm
j janell ross and larry rivalry, thank you both for being with me. up next, my final thoughts. managing lipids, like very high triglycerides, can be tough. you diet. exercise. but if you're also taking fish oil supplements you should know they are not fda approved... ...they may have saturated fat and may even raise bad cholesterol. to treat very high triglycerides, discover the science of prescription vascepa. proven in multiple clinical trials, vascepa, along with diet, is the only prescription epa treatment, approved by the fda to lower very high triglycerides
2:51 pm
by 33%, without raising bad cholesterol. look. it's clear, there's only one prescription epa vascepa. vascepa is not right for everyone. do not take vascepa if you are allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. tell your doctor if you are allergic to fish or shellfish, have liver problems or other medical conditions and about any medications you take, especially those that may affect blood clotting. 2.3% of patients reported joint pain. prescription power. proven to work. now with a new indication. ask your doctor about vascepa. now with a new indication. in the 2020 census guyisn't complicated.o counts everyone living in your home on april 1st counts. my aunt and uncle who live with us, count. my best friend who sleeps over every friday night, doesn't count. (laughs) my new baby sister, she counts. my mom's best friend, who's been living with us, she counts. the dog, mr. bebe, should count, but he doesn't. complete the census online, by phone, or by mail.
2:52 pm
shape your future. start here at 2020census.gov no, because on a sandwich,t no they ask you if you want cheese. but on a papadia, cheese is what's holding the whole operation together. get one now for just six bucks. better ingredients. better pizza. better than a sandwich. papa john's. in nearly 100 years serving the military community, we've seen you go through tough times and every time, you've shown us, you're much tougher your heart, courage and commitment has always inspired us and now it's no different so, we're here with financial strength, stability and experience you can depend on and the online tools you need because you have always set the highest standard and reaching that standard is what we're made for ♪ yourbut as you get older,thing. it naturally begins to change, and reaching that standard is what we're made for causing a lack of sharpness, or even trouble with recall. thankfully, the breakthrough in prevagen helps your brain
2:53 pm
and actually improves memory. the secret is an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. and sometimes, you can find yourself heading in a new direction. but when you're with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. . he marched through life with faith and purpose. at the forefront of the major civil rights events of our time from the montgomery bus boycott to protest against apartheid, he served as a tireless beacon for nonviolence and social justice.
2:54 pm
>> that was reverend joseph lowry, receiving the presidential medal of freedom from president barack obama in july of 2009. the so-called dean of the civil rights movement died peacefully last night surrounded by family at home. he was 98 years old. he was there as a founding member of the southern christian leadership conference with dr. martin luther king and walked step-by-step, shoulder to shoulder to dr. king and dr. abernathy and others for many decades. he even led that organization at one point for decades. there was no issue that he was not out front. and many he pioneers. he literally helped change
2:55 pm
america and change the direction this nation was going in. and he lived a full life of sacrifice as a minister, as one that believed in this country as to what it could and should be. he was an early supporter of president obama which is befitting that president obama gave him the highest citizen's award. as one that joined the movement as a preteenager, i had to know dr. lowry. he helped to cool some of us that were younger and more prone to making hot headed statements and teach us what was the ethical way of fighting injustice and fighting those institutional inequities he would say. and as i became one of those that he would invest in, i learned the wisdom of this man and honored where he even would come and do this show on several occasions. and would call me and say, al,
2:56 pm
do this or that. i was honored he had me do the eulogy at his wife's funeral in 2013. she herself a civil rights leader. it was in that spirit today we continued continued national action network to give prepackaged food in our partnership with the world central kitchen which chef andre in harlem today as we remembered reverend joseph lowry who taught us it's better to help to feed those that need it than to sit down at a five star restaurant and self indulge. joe lowry made his transition but before he did, he helped make this country go through a transformation that we will not let anyone turn back. that does it for me. may he rest in peace and power and know that we will continue to keep the banner up that he and dr. king and others have
2:57 pm
held so long. that does it for me. thanks for watching. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. eastern for more politics nation. we'll talk to california senator camilla harris and new york mayor bill diblasio after the break. my colleague richard lou picks up the coverage right now. u quit slow turkey. along with support, chantix is proven to help you quit. with chantix you can keep smoking at first and ease into quitting so when the day arrives, you'll be more ready to kiss cigarettes goodbye. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. stop chantix and get help right away if you have changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts or actions, seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking, or life-threatening allergic and skin reactions. decrease alcohol use. use caution driving or operating machinery. tell your doctor if you've had mental health problems. the most common side effect is nausea. talk to your doctor about chantix.
2:59 pm
126 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
MSNBC WestUploaded by TV Archive on
![](http://athena.archive.org/0.gif?kind=track_js&track_js_case=control&cache_bust=1123507515)