stand up to scrutiny. the ships are the comfort and the mercy. the comfort s going to pull into new york. the mercy s going to the west coast. the problem is nbc news reporting the comfort is undergoing maintenance on the east coast right now. no medical personnel are on board. a pentagon spokesman told the new york times it could be weeks before it s deployed. out west the mercy is also undergoing maintenance on the west coast. no word yet on its destination or schedule. both vessels, though, are a tiny fraction of the band width, the expertise, the muscle that the u.s. military could provide in this crisis if they are tasked to do so. back with us again tonight, retired u.s. army four-star general barry mccaffrey, decorated combat veteran of vietnam, former battlefield commander in the persian gulf. he has moved entire armies all around the world. general, tell us what d.o.d. could bring to this fight. a civilian audience may not know
do you consider to be at a wartime footing in terms of fighting this virus? i do. i m looking at it that way. i view it in a sense a wartime president. that s what we re fighting. the president invoking powers created at the start of the korean war giving him the authority to speed up production of badly needed medical supplies. he also wants to send navy hospital ships to new york and the west coast, but it may be days before they re ready to sail despite the president s comments. the president also signed a new measure into law making virus testing free and giving emergency paid leave to people who are sick or caring for someone infected. now the focus shifts to the massive trillion-dollar package the administration is seeking in an attempt to get checks sent direct three struggling americans. the treasury department will ask congress for a measure that would send half of that package that s $500 million to the american people in the form of direct payments in april and may. th
but here s the problem. even that statement may not stand up to scrutiny. the ships are the comfort and the mercy. the comfort s going to pull into new york. the mercy s going to the west coast. the problem is nbc news reporting the comfort is undergoing maintenance on the east coast right now. no medical personnel are on board. a pentagon spokesman told the new york times it could be weeks before it s deployed. out west the mercy is also undergoing maintenance on the west coast. no word yet on its destination or schedule. both vessels, though, are a tiny fraction of the band width, the expertise, the muscle that the u.s. military could provide in this crisis if they are tasked to do so. back with us again tonight, retired u.s. army four-star general barry mccaffrey, decorated combat veteran of vietnam, former battlefield commander in the persian gulf. he has moved entire armies all around the world.
massive u.s. navy hospital ships are being deployed to battle the coronavirus in the next week or so. but here s the problem. even that statement may not stand up to scrutiny. the ships are the comfort and the mercy. the comfort s going to pull into new york. the mercy s going to the west coast. the problem is nbc news reporting the comfort is undergoing maintenance on the east coast right now. no medical personnel are on board. a pentagon spokesman told the new york times it could be weeks before it s deployed. out west the mercy is also undergoing maintenance on the west coast. no word yet on its destination or schedule. both vessels, though, are a tiny fraction of the band width, the expertise, the muscle that the u.s. military could provide in this crisis if they are tasked to do so. back with us again tonight, retired u.s. army four-star general barry mccaffrey, decorated combat veteran of vietnam, former battlefield
now there are only over 100 so we have seen coastal communities decimated, disappear, all we are asking is that we get some of it back. when it comes down to this negotiation, what is your message to the french, for example? the french fishing minister said the other day that unless the status quo is maintained and access for french and other european fishermen is guaranteed in uk waters, on pretty much the basis it is today, if that s not the case, then not a kilo of british fish will be sold in france. what do you say to him? well, not a french boat will fish in uk waters or a kilo of french fish sold here. simple, tit for tat. that sounds like open economic war on the sea. so be it. deep sea fishing is a tough business. a couple of days after leaving peterhead, james sent me