let me bring in acting secretary of labor under president obama, seth harris. seth currently teaching at cornell university's institute for public affairs. seth, as we dig into these numbers a little more that came out a few hours ago, the struggles of small businesses specifically, businesses that chris was just highlighting. what concerns you the most? >> i'm concerned that a lot of those small businesses may not survive this economic recession we're experiencing. i think there's some expectation that we're going to very, very quickly bounce back, and steph was talking about pent-up demand and people were going to come out and shop. we're seeing a lot of hesitance among customers to go into retail shops, restaurants, other small businesses just because they're worried about the health risk. in the latest jobs report you were talking about earlier in the show, we saw that almost 90% of workers believe themselves to be temporarily laid off. if that's true, then that's good news for the economy, and those people will bounce right back and get back into their old

seth harris is joining us.'s going on, he's the former acting labor secretary under president obama. he served during the depth of the financial crisis. he's joining us now once again. give us an accept sense of the what we're going through. have we ever seen 30 million plus americans lose their jobs, go on unemployment in only six weeks? >> no, wolf, we've never seen that before. we've not seen these kinds of numbers since the great depression. and even those unemployment claims numbers, i don't think, really capture what's happening with the labor market. i think the numbers are, in reality, much, much higher. and, but we've never seen it with this kind of speed, and we've certainly never seen it where the economy is essentially voluntarily shutting down. governors and mayors are ordering shutdowns. people are staying at home. businesses are shutting down, because they have to or because they choose to. and so we've never seen anything like this. it's a big question, and we have to be humble about this. we do

seth harris is joining us. he's a former acting labor secretary under president obama. he depth of the finance crisis. seth, give us a sense of the scale of what we're going through right now. have we ever seen, for example, 30 million plus americans lose their jobs, go on unemployment in only six weeks? >> no, wol rk, wolf, we've neve that before. we've not seen these kinds of news since the great depression. even those unemployment claims numbers i don't think really capture what's happening with the labor market. i think the numbers are in reality much, much higher. but we've never seen it with this kind of speed and we've certainly never seen it where the economy is essentially voluntarily shutting down. governors and mayors are ordering shutdowns, people are staying at home, businesses are shutting down because they have to or because they choose to. so we've never seen anything like this. so it's a big question and we have to be humble about this. we don't really know how we're going to get back and how quickly we're going to get back to where we were before the pa

former acting labor secretary seth harris, thanks for joining us.really appreciate it. >> thank you, wolf. >>> it's been 48 days since prime minister boris johnson locked down the united kingdom. today he announced the plan to ease the stay-at-home order. we're going to go to london. downing street, next. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." i know for every pizza i deliver that's a trip that family doesn't have to take out of their house. it relieves stress off of me to let me know i'm doing something good for the community, not just papa john's. only roomba uses 2 multi-surface rubber brushes to clean all your floors. and with patented dirt detect technology, roomba finds dirt throughout your home. if it's not from irobot, it's not a roomba. this...whole world ...of people. ...adventurous people... and survivors. it was interesting to think about their lives... their successes... and...their hardships. i think that's part of what i want my kids to know. they come from people who... were brave. and took risks. big risks. no pressure. [shor

joining me now is seth harris. he's a former acting labor secretary under president obama. t's great to have you with us. two separate issues. how can we go back to work safely now and what does work look like after this and forever? what do you make of the suggestion that maybe when this is all over going to the office, a physical office might just go away? >> well, i think it's very likely that we're going to see more remote work in the future. we've actually during this crisis doubled the number of people who have worked from home at least once and the number of employers who are offering remote work has increased dramatically. but we've also found limitations in remote work that i think will influence employers' behavior. it used to be they didn't want to allow remote work because they didn't feel they could successfully supervise people at home. they weren't sure that remote work involved work. but i think they've overcome that barrier now. but they worry about some of the nonmeeting interactions that are very important in the workplace, the hallway conversation, walkin

also with me is nbc political reporter monica alba and seth harris. you broke this story with some of your washington post colleagues. in terms of how the white house is handling the crisis, your team wrote, quote, the span of 34 days between march 29th when trump agreed to extend strict social distancing guidelines and this past week when he celebrated the reopening of some stake states as economic survival tells a story of desperation. walk us through what happened in those weeks. >> the desperation is the president amped up desire to focus on the economy and make the pivot we have seen him make to pay less attention to the public health crisis out there and more attention to the economic health crisis. that's because of his own political interest, his personal interest going into the election. he and his advisers have a firm belief he will only win a second term with a strong and rebounding economy. they are trying to make that happen. what we reported in this story for the first time is that one of his economists on the staff put together his own

joining me to discuss, seth harris. your latest reaction to these numbers?, it's -- the tragedy is spreading around the country, steph. and that 2.4 million only counts people who are in the state unemployment benefits system. there's also, as you know, that supplemental system called the pandemic unemployment assistance program which is for self-employed people, independent contractors, many million more americans have filed for benefits under that program so the number is significantly higher than the 38.8 million who have filed for benefits under the state program. the bottom line is that tens of millions of americans have suffered a major trauma in their lives. they've lost jobs, lost income, they're worried about their families and don't know what their future holds. so this is really a significant problem for our country. >> the president believes we're going to snap right back. people will get their jobs again. we'll have full economic recovery when we reopen and we started to do that. but without any major jobs program, major infrastructure program,

ben white, chief economic correspondent for politico and seth harris, former acting secretary of laborma. ben, where are we in this economic crisis because president trump says it's all about the economy. let's get back out there and get to work. >> well, where we are is in a really bad place, obviously. 36 million people in two months is unprecedented and horrific. i would say this one piece of slightly good news in all of this in that continuing claims are at 22.8 million. at least some of these people are already going back to work. so that's a good thing. overall, they are terrible numbers. terrible for the economy and we want to reopen this economy, but people don't feel safe. every poll i look at says 77% of the american public is not comfortable going back to work without testing. without tracing. you can't reopen an economy that way. you risk all sorts of new spikes and another shutdown of the economy. we blew the response to this virus and there's a chance we'll blow reopening process and put us in a deeper hole. that's what worries me right now. >> seth, if we reopen too quic

hard sell to play your dog in the sketch >> he got right on damn board. [ laughter ] >> seth: yeah. >> yes, i mean, harryhe was so game, and like, right away when he got to set, we were like, you need to get on all fours and i'm going to dangle this garbage in your mouth. [ laughter ] and he was like totally down and then, like truly the next scene, we were like, "put your head in the garbage can, pretend to be a dog smelling garbage, and put it in your mouth." and he was like, "okay!" [ laughter ] he is really, really great >> seth: that's all you can ask for from an "snl" host and now -- adam driver which i see -- third or fourth time, he's an old hand at it now. and he must be great to work with >> he's a pro. >> seth: yeah. >> it's going to be so fun >> seth: that's awesome. >> he goes hard. and he's a true actor. >> seth: he is really a true actor. >> yeah. >> seth: and it's really fun to watch, not that you're not all true actors, but it is really fun when - >> do you think you're a true actor? >> seth: no! [ laughter ] but that would be the funny thing about -- when you realize like there was time

also joining us is seth harris, former acting secretary of labor under president obama. i'm going to tell you, the way to make me obsessed with you is to tweet complex words that i have to look up. now i'm obsessed. i was like, oh, can we get her on the show? i'm going to read the tweet that sent me into a swoon literally. and i looked it up and read a -- i went into a deep worm hole. i feel like you tweeted most black people are clear that this utterly -- that this utterly absurd push to reopen the country is all about a gross necropolitical calculation, that it is black people dying disproportionately from covid. let's look at the disproportionate numbers in state after state after state after state. in washington, d.c., you're talking about 45% of the population, but 75% of the deaths. new york, 9 versus 19. louisiana, 33 versus 65. michigan, 14, 46. you can see it on the screen. i had friends last week when we were talking about georgia say to me, oh, that's why kemp is doing it because they're out of money, and they don't want to pay unemployment benefits. and voila

seth: sure. >> and then last wednesday, neil patrick harris and b.j. she said, "finally a decent show [ laughter ] finally decent." yeah >> seth: that's very nice. >> yeah, yeah. >> seth: i forgot, too, that's an especially bitter pill, 'cause you're a live show, so you see it - >> right when i get off the air. >> seth: yeah. >> as i'm walking out. >> seth: my parents are like 24 hours behind, so i've moved on by the time they criticize this one >> yes, right, exactly you're over whatever funk you -- your own personal demons you might be in. yes. how's my office, by the way? >> seth: what? >> how's my office >> seth: oh, yeah, i -- i have andy's old office. >> yeah. >> seth: he used to have -- it's beautiful. >> it's good that view. >> seth: yeah, good use of the rink yeah, watch the rink all the time did you ever -- sometimes when i'm having a bad day, i will watch tourists on the ice rink, because it's only a matter of like, 30 seconds before someone takes a total header [ laughter ] >> yes oh, yeah, yeah, yeah >> seth: and it's really just brings me

. >> seth: you are spending quarantine with your husband, your step-daughter, and you have a cat, a cat of note >> yes, her name is sojourn truth pressley harrisg feline face and, you know, we love her. she's great. >> seth: she's a large cat, yes? >> okay. now, watch it. this is a body positive household. okay [ laughter ] i know that i showed her to some of your producers. and there was a little bit of reaction she is fluffy. >> seth: okay, gotcha. >> she's got no problems body positive. okay >> seth: all right understood understood >> all right [ laughter ] >> seth: she is exactly the cat she is supposed to be. >> exactly exactly. we love her. >> seth: one of the things the squad is addressing, the progressive wing of the party is addressing -- i think, you know, in general everyone in the country should be addressing right now, is the racial disparity of how this pandemic is affecting this country. and that the inequality that was baked in before this is what is leading to that. how do you, one, address it now in the moment in the middle of a crisis, while at the same time trying to address the root causes of it to make sure it doesn't hap

laughter ] >> seth: it is funny because of course, i never watched -- i never watched anything -- well, also, here i guess would be the thing for me is, i have no -- i've never watched a harryhave kids and it will be really fun to do it with them but i think i might have the same thing there where as i'll be reading and i'll be like, "where is this thing i heard about. >> yeah, yeah. >> seth: because i know a little bit about it without having any sense what have it's like. >> yeah, so it was kind of crazy to watch those first ones and not see that stuff or even like jabba the hut is in it for like two seconds and i w confused [ laughter ] >> seth: you guys made a great observation about the names in "star wars." that the minute i heard you say it, i'm like, "of course." can you just point it out real quick? >> yeah, so the names in "star wars" are like really hard to keep track of because they could be anything from like gleeglorbleeblufrick to like ben. so, like - >> seth: yeah. >> they could be anything. they could be [ inaudible ] and they could be bla bla. like, it's just -- >> seth: that's true a lot of people just have numbers. they're just like, "you're just going t

seth rogen and cynthia nixon. they are slamming celebrities should donate money to small businesses destroyed in the riots. makes sense to me. those are the headlines, guys. griff: saw, harryem. i'm a big fan. not the best donation. jedediah: nothing like rewarding those who destroy. pete: exactly. wonderful. jedediah: police officers and their vehicles being targeted by rioters across the nation. a live report on violence overnight aimed at people trying to restore law and order. you ma. and the clock could be ticking towards bad breath, receding gums and possibly tooth loss. help turn back the clock on gingivitis with parodontax. leave bleeding gums behind. parodontax. >> go home, go home, go home. griff: violence erupting across the country overnight. rioters clashing with police in several major cities. todd piro joins us live with more on the out of control riots. todd, good morning. reporter: good morning to you as well. another troubling day and night of violence much of it targeting cops. first in new york city, in brooklyn an nypd vehicle set on fire as they threw bottles and rocks at police. rioters engaging in a tense standoff. another frightening incident. 27-y