Of league has the west rest of virginia. Our goal is to service the chief federal Law Enforcement official or our respective areas. That is bringing together our Law Enforcement partners and prosecuting any manner of criminal violation as well as defending the government on the civil side. Host as we look at the coronavirus, how has your job changed since the pandemic and what are your Biggest Challenges right now . Guest ive got an amazing team of about 350 employees across the Eastern District. That number grows exponentially when you include all of our Law Enforcement, investigative, and agency partners. Like much of the country we have moved to a telework model. Essential, but we are part of the National Security apparatus. We are still working. We have a skeleton staff in the office to ensure that every anything that cannot be done remotely, whether related to National Security, whether it involves a Public Safety arrest, we are still moving forward. It is a challenge under the circumstances, but as we have resolve oflt our employees, we are still moving forward. We made significant arrests yesterday involving a darknet drug distributor. We have gone out and made arrests in neighborhoods that were reeling from Violent Crimes and shootings. Beene covid front we have in lockstep with a lot of our partners in helping to get out the message to citizens as well as going after the fraudsters in real time. That is one of the things i am proud of that we have been able to do. Rather than wait for this pandemic to end, we are doing our best, working through it. Host phone numbers on the bottom of the screen for zachary terwilliger. We will take your calls in just a moment. Our guest was appointed u. S. Attorney just about two years ago. He started talking about some of your actions this week. What else can you tell us about crime rate trends during this coronavirus. . It was prior to covid19 pandemic. Those trends very. One of the things we started to see what anecdotal informationable to hear through my contacts as well as what i have read in the media. A real issue with Domestic Violence, which was something a lot of us were worried about. You have individuals under stress at home, not leaving the house. Reddy had a cycle of Domestic Violence going, this is going to exacerbate that. And Indianapolis Police officer lost her life responding to a Domestic Violence call. One of my big concerns was Child Exploitation. You have got a lot of people on the internet 24 7, and one of the things im worried about is an increase in Child Exploitation through child pornography. I think initially you saw a little bit of a decrease in Violent Crime, even in certain hotspots around the country. Now i have had the opportunity to talk to my colleagues yesterday, they are seeing a massive spike in some of those areas. Again, i think it is repeating that it is our men and women in Law Enforcement who are not given the option of staying at home. Debt of gratitude and appreciation for enforcing the rule of law. Guest,alls for our zachary terwilliger. There was a headline that usa today, crime rates plummet among the pandemic but not everyone is safer. Betsy, you are up first from austin, texas. Caller good morning. The boro a supporter of gan project. I would like to ask what the relationship is between the importance of Funding Global Health initiatives and National Security . Host something you could speak to . Guest sure. I must admit, that is not a project i am familiar with. I dont want to comment on the specifics. We are at a heightened vulnerability any time there is a pandemic like this, when it comes to National Security. The good news is, certainly in a post9 11 world have been focused on National Security. When you have more of our work being done in a particularly vulnerable way over the internet, you have got individuals spread very thin. We were not able to come together physically like we normally what to deal with some of these National Security threats. And, just things that were absolutely appropriate but for example, extending the date of our real id requirements. Which was absolutely the right call. Isn Something Like that going to impact National Security. I dont think we can underestimate our vulnerability. I do believe there is a causal relationship there. The fbi andnt that our intelligence apparatus are not only aware of that but are executing every day to keep americans safe. It is incumbent upon all of us to remain in a heightened sense of vigilance. Host this is on the line. Dennis is on the line. Caller i have Great Respect for the Law Enforcement community, doing your job. Could omment who that could apply. Part of the function of people on the front lines is to communicate information to the public. Whothe people who believe, compared the flu to the coronavirus, saying 70,000 deaths occurred for the flu, in the flu the mortality rate is. 1 . That means 70 Million People contracted the flu and one out of 1000 of them perished. People tollion contract coronavirus, the 1 . Ality rate is that is 10 times as many. So 700,000 people would die. That is going to be worse than that and it is important to communicate this because since there are no vaccines, 70 Million People would contract coronavirus, perhaps 150 million, so the deaths would go up to one million americans. I think it is important that we communicate that. Host thanks for calling, dennis. Guest i would prefer that to the very able folks at the Coronavirus Task force. One thing the caller did say that does resonate with me is the need for communication. Thissked me earlier how is impacted our mission . I do think communication from the top regularly we are seeing that obviously the white dose that is what we here. We have daily communication amongst the team to cry to create that to try to create that cohesion. And just doing the Public Service that you are doing at washington journal to allow people to talk and giving folks like me the opportunity to tell others what were doing is incredibly helpful. It demystifies some of what is going on. It lets folks know that Law Enforcement is still open for business. I do believe communication is incredibly important now, as many people are isolated. Benefits ofreat technology is that we can still reach one another, even if it is virtual. As United States attorney, i wanted to ask you about the personal health and safety of police and other Law Enforcement. Here is a headline talking about new york. With police sick, new yorkers are taking crowding into their own hands. We know that the situation in new york and attorney general william barr issued a memo that i wanted to read and get your reaction to. You should now consider the medical risks associated with individuals being remained that into federal custody. Even with the precautions we are taking, each time a new person is added to hl it presents at least some risk to the personnel who operate that facility and to the people incarcerated. It also presents risks to the individual being remanded. Tell us about your take on that. Guest that is one of the issues that is confronting us in the criminal justice arena. The word that comes to mind i have known attorney general bar i think, unflappable. Having somebody with that call is extremely i think a portion you didnt read was something that resonates with me and all of my colleagues in Law Enforcement. Need for this individualized determination. It has got to be an individualized assessment. What i mean is, we cant do two things. If we have individuals positive, introducing them back into the community is going to cause increased issues. As many have talked about, i think there was an oped this morning in the Washington Post to this effect. If you are going to release individuals from a confined setting back out into the public, we need to make sure we are not sending people out there, acting to the public who are positive unknowingly. Cant create, we an increased Public Safety risk. I hope everyone knows, when you are sent to prison or jail or qr in confinement, your health and wellbeing is our responsibility. However, if you are an individual who has been convicted of a Violent Crime or there has been probable cause established, we have to protect the public. We have already seen anecdotally, an increase in strongarm robberies as folks are dealing with the economic consequences of this. We have seen individuals going in and ripping off the that remain open. We have to be very smart and individualized. One of the things im proud to say is, we are looking at each case individually. Vulnerability of a particular inmate is absolutely something, based on this memo, that we take into effect, as is their criminal history, as is the offense for which they have been charged. At all thato look is being done, at least on my end by the u. S. Marshals service to mitigate that harm, both inside institutions and when folks are let out. Is, i thinkto that attending attorney general barr hit the nail on the head because he said, it has got to be individualized. That is what we have to focus on. Look at the individual factors and make a judgment. Host here is that editorial rate sitting ducks behind bars. The virus is raging through jails and prisons. Officials must act. Who doubt a balancing act will be required. No elected officials want to endanger their communities. By the same token, it is he responsible to do nothing as the wheree rages unchecked both prisoners and staff can do little to protect themselves. Dennis is on the line from port st. Lucie, florida. Good morning. Caller good morning. Just a couple of quick questions for you. People obviously on the streets, fewer vehicles on the streets, do you see any trends in crimes that maybe going down . The second is a comment. You mentioned earlier that Law Enforcement is out patrolling our streets and we love our Law Enforcement but you said their presence out in the community is not optional. Our presence in the community is not optional in many places around the country where laws have recently been passed or statutes or governors are basically saying, if you are out on the street, if you leave your home, you are liable to be arrested. Guest sure. As far as trends go, i want to be careful that what i am basing my comments on our anecdotal evidence, which i think is appropriate at this point. I do think you are, there are some benefits with this shutdown. There is a lot of narcotics trafficking that happens in handtohand settings. Folks on the Street Corners selling drugs. I think that has become more difficult, because as the caller mentioned, you will see individuals out on the Street Corner interacting with random members of the community. While that may have seemed commonplace a month ago, that has everybodys suspicions up. We will see a downturn and some of the lower level drug dealing. Obviously, we have seen with our borders not having the level of traffic across our borders that we typically have, i think that is obviously going to change. As i mentioned, it worries me and keeps me up right now is while crimes on the street to be going down, it is crimes going on within the home in terms of Domestic Violence, Child Exploitation, crimes occurring on the dark web, and frankly the fraud. The amount of money that our elected leaders are pushing out to save our country and economy, you know, it has the fraudsters on high alert as well. That is a big concern of mine. It will be interesting to see, as the weather gets warmer and our Violent Crime trends go up as school is out, i will be interested to see, i am hopeful that we dont see the normal seasonal increase in Violent Crime. As far as your point about elected officials and what that means for citizens, i can only give my own experience in the commonwealth of virginia, where we have a shelterinplace order issued by the governor. It was made clear that Virginia State police are not to pull people over and ask where they are going. I think the social distancing, to the extent that is the best way out of this i have to cede that grant to the exports experts when i am aware of his where social distancing has woken down completely. We saw that with the Cherry Blossom festival. They shut that down. We have seen that with some open markets. Personally of issues in the commonwealth of folks have gone around and been stopped to arrested for failing to social distance. What i see is lawenforcement out on the beat, making sure that the citizenry is reassured that they are out there taking all precautions. And also making sure that if social distancing is the chosen method, which it seems to be, making sure that that is being abided by. Host lets go to philadelphia. Well is calling for our guest. Caller good morning. I had a question. Yournk it would probably solution to the economical problem. Will take care of the crime issue that is going on. Is it possible for the federal government to become a major employer of all of the people that have been laid off . What they would have to do is look at everybodys w2 form and then send them out i guess it would be Something Like a payroll check where they would , andout the city, State Government taxes. Just to keep the economy moving. Is that possible . Host is that something you want to touch . Econ 101 let me say this, thank you for calling and in. I think those types of solutions are ones we need to consider. What i mean by that is, as far as the government becoming a major employer that is for others to discuss. Justi am referring to is, a brainstorming about ideas. I appreciate the suggestion and withthat youll follow up your elected leaders as well as others. About think is amazing the american citizenry is we are always tinkerers. Host you mentioned fraud earlier. Dojss more about the hoarding and Price Gouging Task force. Do you after someone . When do you go after someone . Guest it is multifaceted, the fraud right now. Everything from Economic Impact payments, things like that. When it comes to hoarding, one of the things the department has made clear is we are not going to allow individuals to do two things. One is couch these businesses. But two is to hoard them in a manner that is going to impact Public Safety. One of the things we are focused on right now is to make sure there are not warehouses full of equipment needed that people are sitting on. This is war. We need those materials to the front. If you are somebody who, prior to march 26 or late march, you know, stocked up on Hand Sanitizer, clubs, and toilet paper personally, you dont have to worry about someone knocking down your door. If you or someone attempting to profiteer off of this and is amassing quantities to extort hospitals and others, that is a problem. Today we are going to be sending out 18 letters in the Eastern District of virginia. Western district is going to do the same. Alerting them to equipment on our list and what we are looking out for. To please let us know immediately if they have salespeople who are charging s rates duringiou this time. We are focused on the Major Players who are not increasing costs due to the increasing supply chain. It is more expensive to move goods and there is a premium to be paid, but that is one of those things where you are seeking to increase your margin, not just pass along some of the cost of doing business, that is going to be a problem. Host you mention some of the Law Enforcement actions you have been undertaking during this crisis. Our prosecutions able to move forward effectively . Are judges Holding Trials . What is the status of that part of the process . Guest great question. This is pretty common across the country. Although i dont think it is happening at all in all 94 districts. We are still able to arrest people and make sure the rights are in tact. After one is arrested, you get a right to go to court. You get the right to a hearing. That is still ongoing, although youre using some technology in certain instances to limit the interaction amongst people gathering in a courtroom. As far as arrests, yes. As far as investigations, yes. Processs accused do rights are going, yes. What a moratorium has been placed on his trials. If you had a trial date set for march, it has been pushed off to make. It may bentinues, pushed off even further. We have a saying here in the rocket docket, justice delayed is justice denied. So, how are judges, i am very proud of the way they have been forward leaning and continuing to keep our business going while ensuring Public Safety. Bringthe trials which together witnesses, members of the public into a courtroom. Those largely have been put on hold. Although the recent numbers i saw were that virginia should experience its covid19 peak on april 22. I am working on a weekly basis with our judge and federal public defender to make sure, as soon as possible, we are getting the wheels of justice for the functioning again. Host we have a call from houston. You are a police official, correct . Point about the case by Case Assessment and assessing the risk to Public Safety and making at the center point of the decision is really important. Ant to point out that new that despite this challenge, police personnel, the men and women in blue and the Public Health community has done a phenomenal job. I wanted to tell you thank you on behalf of the Police Chiefs across the country. Host what is your biggest challenge in houston right now . Caller i think our biggest challenge is the fact that we still dont know the scope of this virus, how far it has spread. Our city, with 2. 4 Million People, we are still testing maybe 1000 people a day. Until we get more testing, i dont think we will be able to get our hands around this problem like we would like to. Host thank you. Mr. Terwilliger . Guest i appreciate him taking the time to call in with all he has going on. Illiquid organizations like the major city chiefs, major county meriffs, fop, etc. It gives hairs on the back of my neck when i think about what these men and women are doing everyday. An oped i wrote compared it to some of the feelings i had after 9 11. I was a College Student during 9 11, watching the men and women support one another in Lower Manhattan has they moved away from ground zero, watching the great men and women of the Arlington Police department respond to the pentagon. This is a pandemic, this is a war. It is probably the greatest external challenge we have faced in a very long time. One of my hopes is that as we look for Silver Linings, it can be a restoration of the respect and admiration that is due to Law Enforcement. Wear them thanks everyday. That is not to say there are not problems. There is a small minority of Police Officers, there are in any organization, that mistakes, that can make criminal acts. I am the first in line to hold them accountable. Selfless, brave individuals who have been unfairly aligned for too long. I really hope this is a time when america can come together in support of them, obviously along with our Health Care Workers and those on the front lines. When anw after 9 11 fdny hat became commonplace, i have so much respect for the men and women in blue. I hope the one of the Silver Linings can be at they are held in the regard they deserve. Host our guest has been sacrificial villager, u. S. Attorney zachary terwilliger, u. S. Attorney. Much appreciated, thank you for joining us. Guest thanks a lot for having me. Host we will take another short break. We have a halfhour left. We will take more of your phone calls on what you think congress should be doing. The senate met yesterday, could not advance further legislation of 250 billion. An impasse they are calling it in the news media. Is more needed from congress . If you live in the eastern time zone maccoll 202 7488000. Look forward to hearing more from you. We will also get updates from aboard the u. S. Naval ship mercy in california. And from adam smith at the House Armed Services committee. First we hear from the governor of indiana. He took time to praise the medical community of the hoosier state. Holcomb i think the more and more that i read and talk to and hear from folks all over the state of indiana, i try to share on a daily basis the good news. The only thing i think is more contagious than covid19, this coronavirus, is the level of hoosier generosity. And kindness. Underscored over this weekend. But it is underscored every single day that we all go through this together. I will very quickly read you one example of this, from a family to our Health Care Workers. This one is for the team at Johnson Memorial health in franklin, indiana. Theretfelt letter arrived , just express what i am attempting to. Their loved one had been treated there and he had passed away. They wrote these words. They said to the staff at Johnson Memorial health, it has been so difficult to find the right words to express our gratitude and love. You took care of our dad. Our fatherinlaw. Our grandpa, wally. From what we saw, he gave him the kind of love and compassion we would have, had we been able to be by his side. We love you for your kindness. Never in the many days wally was with you did we feel like an inconvenience. You answered our calls. You kept us informed and even put on your spacesuit so we could see our suite sweet wa llys face one last time. This disease is going to require a long fight. You are Strong Enough to keep fighting. Families like ours are the reason you need to keep fighting. We need you. Our wallys need you. Love you for your strength. Know, in the end of all of this, our family, like so many others will be forever grateful for you, regardless of the outcome. Washington journal continues. Host we will do some more phone calls. I want to ask you specifically about congress. The senate was in for a halfhour yesterday, did not advance legislation. We are not sure where things are headed on capitol hill or when regarding next base of eight or stimulus funding bills. We want to get your calls this morning. Over the in an impasse next step with age. A congressional effort to boost funding for Small Businesses by hundreds of billions of dollars hit an impasse as republicans and democrats rejected each others plans, leaving uncertain when more eight would be approved. Massive had passed a 2. 2 trillion dollars relief package less than two weeks ago, the depth of the economic downturn has brushed lawmakers back to the negotiating table. Thursday, republicans pushing for a quick boost to Small Businesses while democrats saw changes to such changes to widen that reach. Essentially, they rejected each others plans yesterday. Housee speaker of the says the house may not come back around april 20 as first thought. They may stay out for an indefinite. Unless something more dramatic happens. We have carol on the line first from pennsylvania. I am in a retirement facility. I am 75 years old. And itderstand medicine do understand the law. My niece is a lawyer, and they do understand politics. And i do vote. That thiso say lockdown that everybody is leadingg, it is everybody to stress. When you are stressed out, you take it upon yourself or your children, and then the first responders, they may lose their lives answering. That is what happens. He, the president , President Trump is gathering a lot of, you know, stimulus money. And there is food banks and there is charities. I am all for it. Of course i am for it. I give to charity. And i happenision to read my computer about Washington Post and what is going on. Government, ihe think the government is doing a darn good job. Tier doing the best they can. I think theyre going to win, i really do. Unfortunately, lives are lost, good people, caregivers and firefighters and first. Esponders and Police Officers unfortunately, deaths are happening because of this virus, this pandemic and they call it a pandemic because people are panicking. President trump a long time ago said that all of these clinics are set up and he said just because a person coughs or he rushes to ago, be checked out and he could use the word hypochondriac host thank you for calling. We have 20 minutes left. Bob is from amsterdam, ohio. Onler listen, mcconnell got the senate floor as a stunt, just to slam the democrats. He does it all the time. He should be voted out of office. That old man is grabbing money with both fists and trump is too. Trump is backing him up. Mnuchin is grabbing money and there is no oversight. They have 500 billion. If they wanted to they could help the Small Businesses with that. They dont have to be giving it to their friends for trump to use it in his campaign so he can be a big wheel down at maralago. Every day andre lies like crazy, then he puts on his doctors behind him and then they just more or less call him a liar to his face but he walks off the stage. He will get up the next day and change his mind about everything. The man is nothing but a liar. How can these republicans keep voting for a man that does nothing but lie . I cant understand it. I dont understand it. I dont know how anybody in the right mind could vote for donald trump. Host lets go to joanne. Caller good morning. I am ok but i am extremely stressed and worried. And about to go i have my mind. Daughter is an inmate at the womens correctional facility in goochland, virginia. It is a medical facility. Just last week our senator put it on the news and i got a letter and a copy of the memo that the institution had given to the inmates there. Theirave coronavirus in severee and she has heart problems and high blood pressure. So bad that he could not even be treated out here. My point is, she could not even get a doctors appointment to see her heart dr. She has two aneurysms that need to be repaired immediately. She cannot even get an appointment for the coronavirus. Now they have those cases in there and they are taking them out one and two i day. Host what is your message to congress then . Caller why dont they let out some of these nonviolent offenders if they are nonviolent offenders. Why if they let them out and let them go back and serve their sentence later or even let them do something out in the community when this is over to finish their sentence . Offenders, innt that particular institution it is like a death sentence to them. Are standingey there facing a firing squad, not knowing who is next. Host thank you for calling. We will get two more of your calls in a couple of minutes. Joining us now abort the usns mercy, captain john rowe truck genre truck. Tell us a little bit about the ship and what it is doing right now. The mercy is the 1000 bed hospital here in los angeles to ask to act as a release valve for local hospitals. Host you are not taking covid19 patients on the ship, is that correct . Guest that is correct. Host what is the process for getting patients on that ship . The hospital wants to send patients, they call the medical alert center. The referring physician speaks to one of our physicians and then we bring the patient. Host what is your take on this story . We have read that a member of the mercy crew has tested positive for coronavirus. What can you tell us about the story and your level of concern . Guest we are all concerned about coronavirus. Werethat crewmember, we able to get them off of the ship quickly. We did a contact investigation. Then we got those folks interviewed as well. To verify that they were not infected. The are quarantining off of ship for 14 days. Host what else do you do to keep the rest of the ship safe . Are whate fundamentals the cdc has put out. We encourage handwashing, we have Hand Sanitizer throughout the ship. Distancinge social to the maximum extent possible. Although im not wearing my mask this minute, we are all wearing cloth masks around other people. What is your biggest challenge in dealing with the operating of the ship . Guest honestly, i would not say that we have a challenge. We are ready to receive from the local hospitals here we have had a slow but steady full of patients. It has given us a chance to improve our process. We are ready and waiting. Host what kind of procedures are being done . Guest we have a wide range of Surgical Specialties available. So far the procedures have fallen under the realm of surgery. For instance, we removed and appendix. We removed a gallbladder. Some bone that was dying and needed to be removed for serious infection. Those sorts of things. Our medical specialists are providing both Critical Care and care on our medical ward. Host are you expect your numbers to rise in any significant way . Guest i think that is hard to predict. The is dependent on hospitals here in los angeles, the degree to which they increase their capacity. Receive, and i think we are ready to take in the number patients everyday. We are here to act as a hostile i partner for hospitals. Comfort, yourthe sister ship is in new york. See a situation where you will need to start doing that . Guest at this point that is not our mission. If that isties think a requirement they have, they will engage fema. Willma agrees, then they talk to the department of defense to find out if that is the right mechanism. Its how did the mercy get name . Give us a sense of the past missions of the vessel. Thet i want to say that name is seven explanatory. Selfexplanatory. A hospital ship in particular, was the power past sins have been called dealer security cooperation. That is when we travel to companies countries in the pacific rim, bringing patients aboard the ship to demonstrate what we feel like is the standard of care here in the United States with the idea being we are trying to improve the Health System capacity. Captain john rotrucks Commanding Officer of the usns mercy. Thanks for your time this morning and good luck. Guest thank you. On behalf of the women of the usns mercy. Host we will take a couple more of your calls. We have 12 minutes left. If you dont get in in these next 13 minutes, you can call tonight, washington journal primetime starts at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. Toron, what would you like say about congress at this point . Could, i will get to that. Address the to just caller from pennsylvania, the woman. The words that pandemic means panic. Of course, we know that it does not. Pandemic simply means it is an epidemic of a disease that is in a widespread area. Which is what we are seeing right now. It certainly does not mean panic and i wish people, this is part of the problem. , that dontthat know what the heck they are talking about. As far as congress goes, i want to see is oversight. I want to make sure that there is wording in anything that they pass that we will know where every single penny is going to go. Whether it is going to go into trump towers or into the next golf trip or whatever it is. Oing to be we need oversight obviously, the republicans right now dont want oversight. I say nancy, you keep strong, dont give them nothing. Thank you. Host weve gone to des moines, iowa. It is marked. Mark. Caller when it comes to the china syndrome, i am saddened about the hatred towards our president and congress, the republicans especially. To me it is a matter of jealousy. They are jealous of what the president has accomplished. I think he is doing a wonderful job and if he had not had all the heat on him from the democrats, he could have done a lot more. A caller a few calls back that was badmouthing the republicans obviously was not watching cspan. He would have seen that it was the democrats trying to get a bunch of extra things in on bills that held things up. It is sickening. We have it in my own family. I wont be going to easter because there is too Many Democrats there. I wish that everybody would take a deep breath, try to work through this thing together and quit being jealous of our president s accomplishments. He is not even taking a paycheck, he is donating it to charity. I dont understand the whole thing. Kay. Moving on to caller i appreciate everything everybody is doing. How about congress . What is the missing piece at this point . It should be next in their approach to the coronavirus . Caller i think that the coronavirus is taking over a lot of stuff, and i think congress is doing a wonderful job trying to help with it. Thank you. The Washington Post tells us from here but congress it is uncertain really stand off or go over the next round of funding. Senateth the house and out of session and lawmakers unwilling to return to washington because of health concerns, nothing can pass either chamber without bipartisan agreement that has the unanimous support of all lawmakers. Any one lawmaker has the ability to object and block any legislation from moving forward. Fromve allen on the line virginia. Good morning. Caller good morning, how are you all doing this morning . Why does the government want to snap 15 raise . To snap,f we give 15 we should give 15 to the people on social security, because they are living paychecktopaycheck. They are cutting pills in half. That, we are worried people on unemployment, when there paid double, we have people working every day, i can get chance on life of getting this thing, and we are not giving them nothing. I think they should get some from the government for what they are doing. That is my message. Thank you. Host thanks a lot, alan. We are going to talk now with congress and adam smith. Chairman of the House Armed Services committee. Good morning conquer morning, congressman. We lost the congressman. Will try to get him back in just a moment. If we could possibly do that. Usa today, frontpage, unemployment hits 17 million. The u. S. Economy continues to shed jobs and there is little sign the payroll losses will hes anytime soon. They are writing that about 6. 6 million americans filed unemployment for claims for the first time last week. The Labor Department said thursday, reflecting another surge in layoffs in an economy that has shut down in stomach churning ways. That is the story in usa today. Heres the front page of the york times. It is terrifying, aliens more out of work. Efforts by the u. S. To halt economic damage cannot keep up. They write that when the federal government began rushing trillions of dollars of assistance to americans, the hope was that some of the eight would allow businesses to keep workers on the payroll. And christian employees against job losses. So far, a Staggering Number of americans have lost their jobs amid this outbreak. This has continued to fall has retailers, restaurants, male salons, and other Companies Run out of cash and close up shop as their customers are forced to stay home. We do have a chairman smith back. Congressman adam smith from washington. We are glad we finally have you here. Tell us about how your strict is doing right now and washington at large. We are hearing some promising signs, at least from what we are reading. Guest from a Health Care Perspective, i think the signs are promising. Days went together, but it was a little more than two weeks ago when the covert outbreak was settling in and we were working to try to respond to it. I was talking with the Public Health professionals, the governor, we were desperately trying to get access hospital bed space here. Of weeks later, we dont need it. Definitelyead has slowed down, gotten under control. From a Health Care Perspective we are doing well. That is not to say there are not significant challenges, the Economic Impact of this is really starting to hit. All across the country, but here certainly. I think from a Public Policy standpoint we need to step up our efforts to figure out had this virus under control, get the widespread testing we need, to start figuring out who we can allowed to come back to work and hopefully at some point get kids back to school. Because people are really suffering from an economic standpoint. There are people cannot go weeks at a time without a paycheck. Host we have been asking viewers about what should be next for congress. If you had it your way, what with the next piece of legislation look like when it comes to aid and stimulus . Guest there are a lot of gaps to fill. There are two big steps that should be taken. Number one, you want to make sure people can continue to pay the basic bills like you know . At this point we are talking about being able to feed yourself, house yourself, and clothe yourself. Make sure you can take care of your family. Whether that is more checks, whether that is further and crucial to businesses. As this is that cant pay their bills and then the people they are paying to them cant pay their bills. We have to figure out some way to extend this out. The simplest way to think about it is, whether you are and individual or business, if you can pay your bill, the person who owns the building can pay their mortgage. We have got to figure out some way to pump cash, pump credit into the system so as many people as possible can stay afloat. Absent whatnly work we passed last time. And i think more important for the longterm, is building some sort of public can knowgime where we better who has the disease and get them back to work. Is template for this testing, tracing, and isolation. We have got to get to the point where we can test to see who has the disease, and also we contest to see who has immunity. Once you figure that out on a regular basis you can more safely people come back to work. There is some promise that Wearing Masks alps contain the spread. Lets make sure we get those things widespread. Certainly for our health care providers, but also people who have to work closely to each other. Once you get that widespread testing, you can figure out when you do have a case, and we need to be able to trace, who did that person come into contact with . And figured that out, test them. Then figure out who you have to isolate. We continue to have to isolate as many people as we are currently isolating. Basic lockdown or skill isolation. The Economic Impacts are going to be devastating. We have got to get that in place. To do that, we have got to produce the materials necessary for testing and we have got to develop the methods for being able to trace. Massivelythod increasing the production of testing equipment. Swabs has created a problem in terms of wrapping up testing. Weve got these machines that are coming out that can do tests on location. That is great, what we have to make hundreds of thousands of those. I believe we have the production capacity, but we have to commit to it. Notion really accept the that somehow the solution to this is, we just stay locked down for a year. That would certainly control the disease, but it would also create an economy not of us want to think about. Host you talk about production. One of the reasons we asked you to come on is, as chairman of Armed Services you said no one is better than the department of defense at mass production. What are you trying to say there . Say twom trying to things. The department of defense has a massive budget. They produce, certainly we all know about aircraft carriers and submarines and tanks. Therder to fully outfit military they produce massive amounts of medical here as well. Here as well. Depending on what the mission is. They work with manufacturers and distributors across the country, all across the world on every conceivable level. We wentexample is, when into the iraq war, nobody knew that ieds were a huge problem. We massproduced the emmerac which was a vehicle that was andr in an ied environment we massproduce a lot of other things. They responded quickly to a crisis. I would love to see the department involved in logistics of massproducing the testing capability we need. Basicin with, just for force protection for the military, if they want to know how to make sure that the Service Members safe from coronavirus while still being able to do their mission, they too need to know who has the disease and who doesnt. Then weve got the Defense Logistics Agency that knows how to move stuff around all over the world in an incredibly complicated way. That skill set is desperately needed right now at a national level. Ppeere slow upfront on the that was necessary and we were starting to figure out the supply chain on that in states like mine and california. We are getting a lot shipped in but others are still behind. The type of production increases we need here are on the scale of world war ii in terms of the Health Care Services we need. Its not on the scale in terms of planes and ships on those things. In production of testing equipment and ppe is absolutely on that scale. This isnt a specific example but imagine that i think we can produce 10,000 of these per month. In this crisis, you need to produce one million per month. Now, thats daunting but its also possible. Its doable if we commit the focus and resources to do it. This believe we have to do in order to win the war that we are currently fighting against this virus and the economic devastation thats coming with it. Absolute weat you have to do and what the United States of america has consistently proven is it may seem impossible now, but if we have to do it, we will figure out a way to get it done. I think they can play a key leadership role in making that happen. Host thank you for joining us. Chairman of the House Armed Services committee, we appreciate your time this morning. Callingo all of you for in and sending your questions and comments by social media as well. If you didnt get in this morning, you can watch us tonight at 8 00 p. M. For washington journal prime time. Until then, enjoy your day. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] coming up in about half an hour or so, new Jersey Governor Phil Murphy gives an up date on his days coronavirus responds with the latest numbers and policies to fight the pandemic. Live coverage begins at 10 30 a. M. Eastern on cspan. In the white house Coronavirus Task force with President Trump will brief reporters again today at 1 00 p. M. Eastern. We will take you there live when it begins. Tonight, special evening addition of washington journal on the federal response to the coronavirus crisis. Eastern on8 00 p. M. The medical communitys response to the pandemic and the u. S. Travel association will join us to talk about the virus effect on travel and tourism and florida congressman mary of diazbalart on his experience after contracting the coronavirus. Join the conversation, washington journal primetime at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Cspan has roundtheclock coverage of the federal response to the coronavirus for pandemic and its all available on demand at www. Cspan. Org coronavirus. Watch white house briefings, updates from governors and state officials, track the spread throughout the u. S. And the world with interactive maps. Watch ondemand any time unfiltered at www. Cspan. Org coronavirus. Not very good employment numbers this morning. Unemployment amid outbreak hits 17 million. Layoff spung economy into a hideous state, just below on this front page of u. S. Today, you can see a woman here in her car wearing a mask in hialeah, florida, collecting unemployment. The story says the economy continues