Time zones. We begin as we always do with the numbers courtesy of Johns Hopkins university. Of 1. 4onfirmed cases million around the world. Here in the u. S. , more than 12,000 deaths. In new york city alone, an estimated 4000. As christians focus on the holy week and deal with coronavirus, we turn to Cardinal Timothy dolan. We thank you for being with us. Guest im grateful for the invitation. Thanks for asking me to join in. Thanks for all you are doing. Host i want to begin with what you told your parishioners on palm sunday, that we miss you very much, we will be making the best of this. I want to ask how you are dealing with it personally, but also the archdiocese of new york. Cardinal dolan it is tough days for everybody. It is tough as well for the church, steve. We are a People Church and we count on our flock. We count on the community. And they count on us. They want to be together. We are people of the sacraments, of community. This is very rough because people need their faith. But weve had to make those decisions. They were difficult ones to make. Tohave a moral imperative protect the health of the community and our own people. And the people are coming through. My priests have been remarkably innovative. They are live steaming everything. They are calling people, keeping in touch with them. This is a tough way, steve, to get ratings to go up, but the with st. We got patricks cathedral, they skyrocketed as people tune in. I think what we are dealing with, we are not used to admitting that we are not in charge. We are not used to admitting that we are not mission and omnipotent. And this has really been a sucker punch to us. I think what people are saying is, there better be somebody out there upon whom i can trust. And we give that person the name of the lord. More and more people are saying, i am rediscovering an interior strength deep down within. Ive got some pizzazz that i never knew i had before. Im finding strength in family and friends even though i might not be able to be with them. I still sense the warmth of their company. And im finding a reborn faith in god and gods providence. That is a good thing. We need it. In every tragedy, every adversity, the bible tells us god is whispering an invitation to trust. And i think that is going on big time. Steven are you talking to other religious leaders, and if so, what are you talking about in terms of reaching parishioners and dealing with this pandemic . Cardinal dolan last night i had an hour long livestream with rabbi Peter Rubenstein of the 92nd street y in manhattan. And earlier today i had a livestream with the American Jewish community. Again, a couple thousand people. Heres something that i think we need to talk about big time. , howpeople are saying terrible, adding to the trouble is that all this adversity and fear and sickness is happening in holy week in passover it couldnt come at a worse time. That is not what i hear from my jewish friends. That is not what i hear from my other christian colleagues. Thisare saying, to have crisis going on against the backdrop of passover and holy week, that is downright providential. The message of passover, which our jewish neighbors start tomorrow night, almighty god delivered his chosen people from despair, discouragement, oppression, and death in egypt. They passed over to the new life of promise and hope in israel. What is easter about . Youve got the horror, the darkness, the tremor of the earth, the death of love incarnate when good friday afternoon god delivers his only up toen son, raising him the glory of new life on easter sunday. What a great time for that message to come across. This againstall the backdrop of passover and easter, i dont think that is bad. I think the message and mystery of those two holy days are going to come through a lot. And, tell me if im talking too much dont you dare. That is also against the backdrop of what . Winter going into spring. So nature is telling us this. Weve got the death, the cold, the chill of nature during winter. It is passing over to spring. Rebirth. Life abundant. You put all that together, i think this is a mystical, spiritual moment. Steve let me ask you one financial question. You oversee 300 churches. The are not giving to collections. What kind of impact is this going to have . Cardinal dolan it is having a big impact. Thanks for bringing that up. Interested in the spiritual and in the health of my people. It is having an impact because people are saying, we need the sacraments. We want to get back with our parishioners. But yet, they are making the best of it. They know that jesus is with them. They know that the lord said, im not leaving you orphans. Jesus said, go to your room and pray tomorrow and im still with you. You are good and sensitive to bring up the worries we have about finances. Most parishes are like families. They live from paychecktopaycheck. The paycheck for a parish is the sunday collection. Now, you add that to the fact offeringshe free will to the church go down, the demands are going up. Where is one of the first places that people who are hungry, that people who are scared, that people who need some help, where is one of the first places they go . They go to their parish, their synagogue, their church. At the very time that resources are going down, demand is going up. But weve been through this before. I remember hurricane sandy, 9 11. People are resilient and more generous than ever. But weve had amazing people already who have come forward and said, we cant lose our catholic schools. They have given us huge gifts, thank god. We have people working with catholic charities. To get food to people in need. With got people working what we call arch care, which is our Health Care Ministry in the archdiocese. Folks are coming through and they wont let us down. Steve lets get to our viewers and listeners. Annemarie is on the phone from connecticut. Caller good evening. , what a all, cardinal beautiful way to explain what we are going through. Earth asrection of the we celebrate the resurrection of the lord. We know that god didnt send this. He did not send coronavirus, but he is using it incredibly to wake up and revive the church and to bring in the lost. And one more comment. That viceelieve president mike pence is anointed and chosen by god to head up this task force. Himself, he calls evangelical catholic. Easter. Cardinal dolan god bless you and thanks for calling in. You are our neighbor in connecticut. Thanks for bringing that up. You kind of verified what i said earlier. In every crisis, in every adversity, there is a renewal to trust. Thank you for reminding us that god didnt send this to us. Biblical toun believe that. Some people will say, why is god punishing us . God has told us he doesnt work that way and his son jesus has told us, my father doesnt work that way. I think hes crying as well. Remember two weeks ago at sunday mass, we had the reading of jesus raising lazarus from the dead. At theint, jesus cries tomb of lazarus. Saying, this isnt how my father wanted it. He didnt want death. He didnt want sickness. It entered the world through an abuse of free will and the power of the evil one. But god will always restore us. Why is gody, punishing us like this . Where is the invitation from the lord in this crisis . What is god trying to teach us . I appreciate your comments about Vice President pence. Ive had the honor of meeting him a couple times. I would agree that hes a man of deep faith. Steve mike from maryland, good evening. Caller how are you . Cardinal, congratulations. You are doing a wonderful job. Know, when will new york follow suit . Your cathedral of st. John the divine has done such a wonderful gesture. Theyve opened their church, turned it into a hospital. When can we see Something Like st. Patricks cathedral or other institutions in new york open to that purpose . Cardinal dolan thanks for bringing it up. You will allow me to brag a little. While st. Patricks cathedral couldnt be used for that, the Officials Say we might not to do that right in the middle of manhattan, and unfortunately there is no open spaces in st. Patricks cathedral as there is in st. John the divine. Are one of our high schools is being used as an extension of the hospital. They are using another one of our catholic high schools, which are not in session now, for a staging area for testing in the bronx. Weve got our eyes on one of the facilities for poor children in staten island. Imagine, ourght many Nursing Homes and Rehab Centers are being used for that as well. Fact, weoud of the have an acclaimed nursing facility here in new york run by and care of the archdiocese arch care has taken a whole wing of that to take care of our elder religious sisters. So many of our sisters who are now retired in their 90s, they are scared. And we welcome them to a whole wing of Mary Manning Walsh where they are tested and cared for. They have community, prayer, meals. It im very grateful to the episcopalians for opening st. John the divine. But im seeing it all over the place. Steve i realize there is no definitive answer, but do you have a sense how long the city, the churches will remain closed . Cardinal dolan i dont, steve. Everybody is asking, especially my priests. To be outvery nature there, embracing people, anointing people, giving them holy communion, hearing their confession, visiting their homes. And they cant do it. And then to welcome people to sunday mass, so they are more eager than anybody. I dont think it is going to happen for another three weeks or so if that. Back,may 1 we could be the church doors could be open people are always telling me this. Clear thatou are even though the church, the Church Building, even though the doors might be closed there, although most of our churches are open for prayer during the with proper precautions even though the Church Building might be under lockdown, the c is as alive as ever. You see that in the charity of our people, in the dynamism of catholic charities, and what our teachers are doing with our kids. Nobody can close the church. Nobody can close the church with a capital c. A lot of people have tried, but nobody can do that. Jesus told us, not even the gates of hell are going to prevail against the church. This is another version of them attempting, but it is not going to work in the long run. Steve from pennsylvania, you are next with Cardinal Timothy dolan. Caller hello, cardinal. With easter and passover and corner, a lot the of religious institutions are utilizing electronic platforms to deliver services. I just wanted to hear your thoughts about that platform. Cardinal dolan you bet. We are learning a lot. The church, the Catholic Church really counts on oneonone contact. We are quick learners, though. Church is crisis, the energetically using technology. My priests are telling me how every day they livestream mass. Even though the people might not be physically present, our priests still want mass every day and in our catholic belief, the power of the mass is universal. It is infinite. Heaven and earth are united. So they can be there spiritually. I know at st. Patricks cathedral, weve really gotten enthusiastic about it. Mass atalways had the 10 15 on sunday morning. Goes through our satellite radio channel. It is always picked up by catholic faith, catholictv in rockville. Now weve begun to livestream. Last sunday, close to 300,000 people livestreamed mass in st. Patricks cathedral. And, we had one of the local tv stations here in new york, they broadcasted live and they estimate that close to about 31 locations, in all those venues, close to a Million People united with us for mass. It is going to go on as well sunday morning at 10 00 a. M. And they are doing other things. For instance, during the day at st. Patricks, we take the blessed sacrament and we put it in the gold receptacle to put on the altar so that people can pray before the real presence of jesus. And they livestream that. That might seem a little confusing to some, but catholics know what a consolation it is to be able to pray in union with. Esus those are the kind of simple things we are trying to do. Pastors going out, sending messages to the people. Theres a lot going on. We are seeing good coming from that. That is why im grateful for the invitation tonight. Asking, can you go on radio, can you go on tv . Sure. My people are saying they need a lord the word of god, and knows im itching to be close to the people. Steve and we are glad to have you. Dorothy is on the phone from missouri with a question. Caller thank you for taking my call. I have been studying about this , a worldwide pestilence. Horsemenne of the four in revelations. Thatondering, do you think might be what this is, cardinal . Cardinal dolan let me try to answer that. First of all, im from missouri. What part of missouri . Steve shes off the phone, but Cardinal Dolan im from st. Louis. So i feel close to you. I miss home. Dorothy, we are always trying to figure out those signs that god revealed to us in the bible, especially that last book of the bible that we call the book of the apocalypse. Signs that hes told us are going to occur. And you are right, pestilence and plagues would be one of them. So weve always got to be attentive. What is he prompting us to do . What graces and mercy would he be giving us . The difficulty of concluding that it might be the final ones that he told us would one day come is that, that is a little tough to pin down. Ine has there been an era World History where there havent been the things that the lord forecast would be there at the end of times. Where would be the era when there hasnt been war, when there hasnt been some outbreak of plague, when there hasnt been hunger, when there hasnt been earthquakes and storms . Those are kind of constant. So i cant answer for the other faiths in the widespread christian family. I can tell you for what we catholics have concluded millennia ago is that it is kind of futile to try to determine when the lord is going to come at the end of times. We know he is. We dont know when it is going to be. Jesus, when his apostles said to him, when will the final times be, he said, i dont know. To tryinda frustrating to calculate when it is going to happen. The best thing we can do is be prepared for when it does. So the lord is always asking us to be ready, to be prepared for the end of time. Even if it comes tomorrow. Prepared, as the boy scouts say. In this moment, you are a student of history, where would you put this moment in our countrys history and in the World History . Cardinal dolan theres no denying that this is unique. This is extraordinary. Although i tell you this. I was talking to one of my pastors the other day and he said he had a great phone call with a 108yearold woman in his parish. Said, father, i remember the flu epidemic in 1919. We got through that. We will get through this. Kind of put it in perspective, the pastor told me. Where this is rather unique in the extent, in the unknown quality of it, when it is going to end, how it is going to be cured, where it is going to spread next, weve always had these times of turmoil and difficulty. And im glad you got john meacham. I have admiration for him. He would talk to you because hes written of national crises. If we couldelf anticipate a revival of religious faith in america. Because that has happened in times of turmoil in the past. My history would teach me that happened for instance after the second world war. We had the horrors of the war. We had the danger of nuclear annihilation. We had the threat of totalitarian communist hedge enemy and we were scared. And people for about 15 strong , you returned to church had the great preachers, billy graham, Norman Vincent peel, fulton sheen. You had Congress Even add one nation under god to the preamble of the constitution. I dont know if that will be the forms, but i think there might be a revival. Because that usually happens after trauma. John, who has written so eloquently about abraham lincoln, hes probably one of the most religious and spiritual president s weve ever had, and certainly made reference to the deity and quoted from scripture more than any other president in the midst of that national tragedy. , checkd even go back with john to see if im accurate, we could go back to what we called the great awakenings. One of them occurred about a decade prior to the revolutionary war. And american historians reckon that maybe at the great revival before the revolution, it was the first time that people looked around in the colonies and said, we are no longer colonists. We are americans. They gained an identity through the great awakening that was the advent to the revolutionary war. So these, all the time. I wouldnt doubt if we may have another one on the horizon. Steve we have one more question from michael. Caller hello. I have many questions, but i think ill ask that which is probably most pressing. Firstly, i understand that a lot of people are talking about these hard times and what have awareut do you or are you of just how far the inhumanity has gone in this country along the east coast and how people are affected steve to those people that have that uncertainty and that fear, what do you tell them . Cardinal dolan mike is onto something. Theres a lot of people that are just crushed. Theres a lot of people that feel alone. Theres a lot of people that are scared every time they cough. And what do i say to them . I dont have much personally. I plagiarize. Says, befrom jesus who not afraid. Fear is useless. What is needed is trust. Them, fear andto anxiety and worry, even from a human point of view, are counterproductive. It paralyzes us more. Intoed to turn that fear concern. Concern is positive. Fear is negative. Concern leads to fruitfulness and productivity. Fear is counterproductive. If we can transition to that and change that fear to concern and change that worry to trust, from a National Point of view, even if we are not religious, we are on the road to recovery. On a holy week for christians around the world and also passover, Cardinal Timothy dolan joining us from his home in new york city. Thank you for being with us. Cardinal dolan i appreciate the time spent. A more do it again under happy occasion and a blessed passover and easter to everybody. Steve up next, a conversation with john meacham, joining us from his home in tennessee. But first from todays News Conference in albany, Governor Andrew Cuomo on whether or not new yorkers may be turning the tide on this coronavirus pandemic. Hospitalizeder of the threeday average is down, which is good news. This is the threeday hospitalization rate. We tend to not look at any one day, but if you look at the threeday average, it is moving down, which is good news. We talked about the apex. Right now, we are projecting that we are reaching plateau in the total number of hospitalizations. You can see it starting to flatten. This is a projection. It still depends on what we do. What we do will affect those numbers. This is not an act of god that we are looking at. It is an act of what society actually does. Daily icu admissions is way down. The discharge rate is right about where it was. Is 5489 new yorkers have lost their lives to this virus. That is up from 4758. That is the largest single day increase. And we talk about numbers. Lost. S 731 people who we behind every one of those numbers is an individual, a family, a mother, a sister, a brother. Of pain again today for many new yorkers. They are in our thoughts and prayers. From todays Daily Briefing with Governor Andrew Cuomo. All these briefings are available on our website. Joining us from his home in tennessee is Pulitzer Prize winning author john meacham. We thank you for being with us. You heard that introduction from Cardinal Timothy dolan. John whenever you can have a prince of the church endorse you, i take it. Even as a protestant. Steve let me begin with a quote in your book. You say the good news is that we have come through such darkness before. What will the rest of this look like . , we will looking back on this as a moment where we came together as a country, as a multitudeed of rational beings united by the common objects of their love. I want to repeat that because it is a complicated thought, but it is the best definition of a nation ive come across. A multitude of rational beings, driven by reason, react to facts, united by the common objects of their love. We love enough to sacrifice one for another. Weve had a lot of conversations wartime, thiss is is like pearl harbor and september 11. Actually it is not. There is a National Feeling that is analogous, but this is something the closest thing i can think of as an analogy is, this is as if we were all english men and women in london in 1940 during the blitz or when hitlers was firing rockets at london. And weall combatants didnt choose to be a combatant. My hope for the country is that. E learn from this pain as dr. King used to say, theres a way to bring good out of people. Hopefully what we learned is that we are all vulnerable, we are all human, and we need to find ways to be rational, let our public life be shaped by reason and facts, not by ideology and superstition, not let this tribalism that has afflicted us for too long, where you find something happens and you dont think about it and figure out which Political Team might accord with your view something happens and you interpret it because you are already on a Political Team. The virus knows no partisanship. It is not paying attention to party registration. My hope is that this is a painful and tragic but ultimately redemptive wakeup call for us that what holds us together is larger, should be larger than what drives us apart. Discussn the book, you sacrifices that americans made. Certainly the sacrifices in world war ii. The long lines, the rationing. Im wondering, based on what youve seen and what we can expect, have americans stepped up . John i think so. You hate seeing people at the beach. You hate seeing the images that drive the governors crazy. But the past wasnt as perfect as we like to think either. Era is ae sins of our reflexiveness to nostalgia as if the past was always better. To some extent, that lets us off the hook. If the past is better, if they didnt have the problems we have, what do we have to learn . Quite the opposite. Ii,oning during world war the sacrifices of the depression. Actuallyhe depression is, besides the blitz, a fascinating analogy. Speaking in a parallel moment in 1933, a couple months in to the roosevelt administration, more than 25 of the country was out of work. The banks were closed. Fdr was turning from scratch in many ways on saving capitalism and democracy. Because of this cataclysmic event. That, wee got out of decided that we would not let fear govern us. Things, one of the most insightful things ive ever read was an observation by edmund burke, the angloirish statesman, who said no passion is as unreasoning as fear. Afraid, if youre fear you are on a precipice, you are not going to act rationally. And at our best, in the depression, largely during world war ii, many sacrifices during the cold war, americans have managed to reach out, as opposed to simply keep their hands in their pockets. Steve you have a new book. How many books have you written . John eight. Steve in the hope of glory, one review said, the book does not preach, but it does have the power to teach. What is the message . John that is nice. Was that a relative . [laughter] the origin of the book comes directly to the season we are in and what you are talking about with his eminence. It was holy week. We lived in new york. We were parishioners at st. Thomas fifth avenue. Beautiful episcopal church. Aboutrector asked me seven or eight years ago to do the three hour service on good friday where you preach on each of the last seven sentences that the church agreed jesus spoke from the cross. It is a debilitating thing to do. It is a longwinded task. In it is a way of focusing on what that moment meant. What did the passion need . Beginn christians will commemorating that on thursday ,vening with the last supper the arrest in the garden, the trial, the sentencing, the crucifixion, and the burial. Fascinating, im episcopalian. Entirelycated almost by the church. Alsoe to it naturally, but intellectually, which sounds grand. But i do approach it as a critic. I approach it with a sense of reason and balance. And as a historian. Trying to figure out what in the gospels makes sense. What in the gospels seems like history as opposed to theology. The gospels were written to convince. That was not an Associated Press report. There were not cspan cameras. Story fortelling the a particular purpose. And they admitted it. St. John said, this is written that ye might believe. What i tried to do in the book is look at the narrative in the and see where it stacks , howstorically, but also can it inform what we do now . Weve never improved on the sermon on the mount in terms of philosophy. Blessed are the meek. Messageundamentally the was about, do unto the least of these and youve done it unto me. Charityul message of based on leviticus. It is the story of israel. Echoes,he christian what happens on friday, good friday, is the most compelling and unimaginable sacrifice one could conceive of, the sacrifice of a father for a son. Whyit had to be that way, bad things happen, i dont know. More about the origin and destiny of life than it is about explaining the world we live in. Steve lets get to phone calls. Annie is first up in north carolina. Caller good evening. Be first. Hall how many times ive heard that from my mother. Shes going to be 90 years old in july. I cant believe im speaking to john meacham. Im used to seeing you on book tv. My mother raised eight children. My father was a civics teacher in a catholic school. Hes deceased now. 5,000 in, he made 1965 as a high school teacher. Do, which hasmake helped me my whole life. I just turned 65 about two weeks ago. In some ofhelped me this catastrophe we are in. Im just so grateful that my mother taught us. She was born in 1930. She was so poor, she and her older brother had to live with family in missouri. My mother is first generation american. With mya picture of me siblings and my grandfather is holding one of my siblings and hes 64 years old but he looks 84. Anyway, thank you so much. John thank you. That story is so quintessentially american. Andany lives in the 20s 30s. You had these networks. Really the beginning of modernity is more 1920 than almost anything else. The was the first year census found that more americans lived in urban areas than farms. It was the rise of radio. You had the postwar boom. You had waves of immigration. And almost immediately, the rise of the second klan and the reaction to that immigration. This was all after the 1918 pandemic where the incumbent party lost in 1920. There was a young guy, the Vice President ial nominee of the democratic party, franklin d roosevelt. But your story is wonderfully american and is all about people taking care of each other. It sounds sentimental. And things are sentimental until they are absolutely essential and relevant. That is what we are seeing now. Steve amy is next. Good evening. Caller thank you. I have a question about the urgent need to ramp up production of ppe for healthcare workers. We are in kentucky and our hospitals are desperately short of ppe, as our hospitals across the country. Dieealth care worker should for lack of ppe. Im just not sure why that is being ramped up. Historically speaking, we did this as a nation when we went to war. Your comment on what we can do to protect our health care workers. John Franklin Roosevelt built an air force out of nothing. I think the number was 50,000. He said he wanted 50,000 planes in a year and someone said, how did you come to that number . He said, i just made it up. There is a spirit that we can draw on. Hope that weve begun to clear up the supply chain issues. If we havent, and if these terrible stories continue, i think governors, mayors need to step up. Make as much noise as possible. One of the things we know about this administration is, the squeaky wheel gets a lot of grease. The best way to reach the president is to go on cable news. I hate to say that, but i think it is pretty true. So there are ways to do this, god willing. And we have the legislative means to do it. Sense, if you are on the front lines of this, if you are in these charitable hotspots and people who arent in them be careful. If we dont do the right thing, if we dont follow these guidelines, we could very well be one. This is an incredibly important moment. While it is difficult to reach out and help people in the way we traditionally do everybodys better angels tell them to get in a car and deliver meals. We had a tornado not long ago. Everybodys instinct was to go and help. In a way, the most important thing we can do is apply the political pressure to get the kind of equipment the caller mentioned, and to follow these guidelines, because the sooner we flatten this curve, the sooner we can see what the economic and cultural world is going to look like. Sent to letter that you president elect Ronald Reagan when you were a teenager, what did you write to him . John that has been slightly misreported. I suspect you have a similar story. In the fall of 1979, i was 10 years old. Minutes minutes interview with Ronald Reagan, who had Just Announced his challenge to carter. We thought 69 was really old. Now you would be the youngest major party candidate. I was just enraptured. I thought he was a fascinating figure. Id always been interested in politics and ragan nationalized that for me. I used to stuff envelopes for him. I got an invitation to the inauguration in 1981. And prevailed upon my grandmother to take me up there. I was standing there on the capital lawn. At that point i was done. So there is a direct line between that story an hour talking this evening. For joining us. Good evening. Caller how are you doing, john . John im in one piece, how about you . Caller im 30 years old and im not yet. Im happy that i have not caught this yet, the coronavirus. Ive got no symptoms from it. Im 30 years old and they say there are people that are young that have died from it. And theres young people out there and the death total has gone crazy, going up every day when do we think we can get back to normal life with sports, just in general, for people going back to work, doing what we had in front of us before this came to us with the coronavirus . This is never going to go away. The coronavirus is with us forever. Steve we will get a response. Thank you. John im basing this on the same information you have. Guidelines, ihese suspect they will be in place a little bit longer. I saw an interesting story. Major League Baseball is thinking about socially distancing by going out to phoenix. I dont know if this has developed more. And having all the teams sequestered there. And there are stadiums and they would play without fans. So that is the cultural side. The work side is important. From what i can tell, we are looking at early summer. And i think the critical thing, the thing to watch very closely is, when is the mass testing available, where you can find ,ut, if you are asymptomatic you can find out if it is safe to get on an airplane even though you are 30, im 50, im ok so far, but for all i know i am asymptomatic and i can give it to somebody. So we have to follow these guidelines and stay apart from each other physically, not emotionally, not culturally, because here we are talking, but it seems to me we are looking at the economy beginning to reopen early in the summer. I dont think theres any way to know exactly what the impact is. The Financial Guys i talked to say that basically in financial terms the Second Quarter is just gone. It is a big zero if not a negative number. Thirdquarter we begin to get back. The question has to be, to what extent can we be around each other without creating more of these devastating hotspots . Steve alan, you are next. Caller thank you, good evening. I want to be as brief as possible. I would like to say, if this man, donald trump, is reelected, we deserve everything we get. He is so profoundly unfit, morally, personality wise, educationally, to be president. This with my about dentist. I would like to ask mr. Meacham, who i enjoy immensely on television, if this is true. He told me that after the Founding Fathers wrote all the stuff, that Benjamin Franklin had a reservation about democracy and, basically said he was worried that the average person doesnt have the powers of discernment and intelligence to pick the right candidate. Voting, i only voted twice in the president ial mcgovern gotn trounced by nixon i said to myself, the wrong person is probably going to win most of the time. In the second time i voted was the trump reelection. ,ecause the things he said mexico is going to pay for the we are to take the oil from the middle east, it sounded to me like a mob boss. So i voted against him. And i just want to know how you feel about that. Steve thank you. Was the dentist right about Benjamin Franklin . John it was a consuming concern of the founders. I thought the question was going to be about the great story. Speaker pelosi made it famous during impeachment. Franklin leaves independence hall, the Pennsylvania State and a philadelphia woman said to him, what do we have, a republic or a monarchy . Madam,said, a republic, if you can keep it. This has been the drama of america since that moment. Since 1789 when George Washington became the first president. Can we make this work . This is really hard, what we have undertaken. It is a pluralistic, complicated, continent wide experiment in popular government, in federalism, in a way that most other countries have never even thought about attempting it at this scale. Parenthetically, i have a theory that, no wonder we are having so many problems. Theres this big debate about, were we found it in 1619 or 1776 . Isave a third nominee, which 1965. Today, didnt are come into being fully until the Voting Rights act, the civil rights act, and the immigration act of 1965. 20 million africanamericans were systematically excluded from the political life of the country. So as we become more demographically diverse, and they are rightly fully part of the experiment and the journey to a more perfect union, it makes historical sense that there would be these pressures. I am not an admirer of President Trump. I believe that the presidency has in no way changed him. The question is whether he has changed the presidency going forward. And we simply wont know that until his successor comes along. Steve among the books, the hope of glory, soul of america. Our final call is from new york. Marie, about a minute or two left with john meacham. Caller good evening. You spoke about it is so wonderful to speak to you. Withour book has to do faith. You talked before about common sense. Where is the common sense of the governors that are not closing down and the people still walk around and keeping the church is and all . I understand people want to go to church. I am catholic. But unfortunately, with this situation, the right thing to do is stay home and protect your loved ones and people that are with you. And i also was thinking about, for the two weeks that we are going to reach the apex line, why cant we have martial law . Bring the soldiers in and make sure everybody has to stay in. Because if everybody stays in, the chances of the highrisk spreading, and then they dont have to worry about the ventilators and things that nurses need more. I have a dear friend that was a nurse, negative, thank god, but shes going back in to take care of people. And that is what it is about. But i truly believe that the president is saying we are going to get through it unless we all truly work together, everybody, all the politicians, it is going to be a little more difficult. Steve thank you for the call. John the three most important words from the american founding our, we the people. It is in our hands. Im not a fan of sending troops into the streets. I dont think we are there yet. On the question of going to or ah, being a christian congregant of any faith, a religious value is not the right to be willfully stupid. , and now willfully stupid it works against the godgiven gift of reason to go put yourself in harms way. The lord is everywhere. I know this is difficult for sacramento folks. But the best thing that christians can do in holy week and our jewish friends can do for passover is celebrate the sacraments with their families, pray intently, but do so in private. And i promise you, if there is a lord out there listening, he will hear those prayers. Steve in light of this moment and this pandemic, the soul of america tonight is what . John the soul of america is troubled but hopeful. It is not all good. It is not all good and not all bad. It is a battle between our better angels and perennial instincts. Right now, the common foe is a clinical virus that respects no borders and respects no class or creed. What we need to do is we the people need to follow these instructions, try to stay healthy, support those who are helping the sick, pray for the dining, and hope for a better day. The two most recent books by our guest, jon meacham, the soul of america, and the hope for glory. A reminder, we are back tomorrow morning with another edition of the washington journal at 7 00 eastern time. 4 00 for you Pacific Coast folks. You can hear from us monday you can hear from us every day. Joining us, the chair of the Republican Senate committee. Thanks for being with us. First of all, you are in part of the epicenter. Louisiana is getting hit hard with coronavirus. What do you say in your district and across the state . In epicenter. Tragically next to the state of new york, i think we have the worst of any state in the country, and it has spread more rapidly here than anywhere in the world. At least that was the statistic a few days ago. It was a desperate time. We have a stayathome order as many jurisdictions do. That is going into the third week. All of your weeks run together in the middle of this, of course. The economy is really suffering. Another part of the life led lit lifeblood of the economy in the state of louisiana is the oil industry, and they are taking a onetwo punch, suffering with pandemic results, and because of the oil war, basically, what saudi arabia and russia have done to the prices and production and all of that, so we are really suffering in louisiana. It will take us a while to climb out of this hole, but by gods grace, we will. My wife and i have four children, ages 18 to nine, and, been arange way it has strange blessing to have everybody there under one roof. My oldest daughter had gone to college and she is back with us, and she is with us trying to weather the storm. We are taking it seriously. I asked my constituents to do that and i got to abide by it as well. My daily life consists of Conference Calls and troubleshooting for every industry in the state, effectively, and working with my colleagues in congress remotely, it is a sunup to sundown endeavor and late into the night. This has been probably the busiest work time for me in many, many years because theres just so many crises to address at the same time, but we are keeping our chin up and we are going to get through it. Your family used to seeing you around so often . Guest no, really this is the longest sustained period i have been able to be home in quite some time, so that part has been a blessing, but its hard to enjoy much of it because we know how much suffering is going on around us, and in our district, people are just really hurting. Im really grateful we got our relief package through the congress and the Paycheck Protection Program is going to help a lot of people. We are hearing Great Results from that, but theres just going to be a lot more to do and it will take a while for us to recover from the Health Effects of all this, of course, but in the economy as well. That is top of mind for everyone. Legislation,ack to the 2. 2 trillion dollar package of the president signed last month, what in your mind on the next priorities Congress Needs to address . You have to take the immediate things first. We have to get out of this crisis before we can address the longterm, and one of the things we spent a lot of time discussing today with colleagues is about the Paycheck Protection Program. It is expected that the initial funding that was placed there, 349 billion dollars, will run out in short order, probably in a week or less, so theres a lot of discussion about how that engine, so to speak, may be refueled. Is there a measure we could get bipartisan support for to target it just for that program because it is such a lifeline and has been so effective, without spending on a bunch of frivolous things that are completely unrelated to the virus, which has happened a little bit here in recent days. A lot of discussion about that, about trying to build a coalition to do that for the Small Business owners who are going to rely on this to bridge this terrible gap. Beyond that, it is difficult to plan. We dont even have a calendar yet when the house may be able to gather again in person. As you know and Everybody Knows by now, we have no mechanism to vote remotely, so that is a real challenge as you plan your legislative agenda and what happens next, but we are going to do our best to navigate around that. Your view on the idea of remote voting during a time of National Crisis . Inst my background is national law and i have always said im oldschool about these things. I understand the concerns people have about a pandoras box that may be open, but on the other hand, i hear the arguments as well. It makes sense to me that in unforeseen,are, completely uncharted territory that we are in, the circumstances, that it really would be helpful to have some means of doing the countrys business remotely. A pandemic is just a really strange scenario that perhaps the founders themselves may not have first seen a situation like this, so theres im sort of double minded on it. I know im not giving you a direct answer, but im one of the ones that is kind of in a leadership position and has to help navigate through this, and we are having some thoughtful deliberation and debate about that very issue. With we are talking congressman mike johnson. He is joining us on the phone from his district in louisiana. Final question on why your state, new orleans in particular, is such a hotspot. Many point to mardi gras. Was that the factor, or are there other variables . I think that was a big factor. It would be hard to dismiss that as a theory because so may people concentrated in such a small area and the timing was absolutely terrible. It was kind of a perfect storm and kind of a crescendo of the ,ardi gras celebration, parades and all of the events were late february, and that was the worst possible time. There will be a lot of armchair quarterbacking about this in the aftermath to determine if new orleans as a city was correct and the state in not calling that off, and i think there will be an lot of regret about it. It is unfortunate, but we have to deal with what we have now. It is spreading throughout the state. We have pockets in my corner of the state, the northwest portion and shreveport, louisiana, and it does seem to be tragically affecting lower income socioeconomic areas worse than others, and that is a real tragedy and something weve got to do something about. Mike johnson represents louisianas fourth congressional district, father of four. You and your family stay safe and healthy. We thank you for being with us. Guest thank you, my friend. We appreciate it. Host tomorrow morning, 7 00 eastern time, another chance for you to phone in. Tomorrow evening, our focus will be on treatment and vaccinations for covid19. Thanks for joining us on this tuesday. Reminder, all of our coverage on this topic can be found at cspan. Org coronavirus. Enjoy your evening. Stay healthy. Washington journal continues. Cspans washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up wednesday morning, a discussion on u. S. Border and immigration policy changes amid the coronavirus pandemic, and washington posts reporter talks about the lesion ship between dr. Anthony faucher and dr. Deborah birx who are working on the coronavirus response. And by policy partisan center economics policy director will be on to discuss washingtons response to address job losses during the pandemic. Watch cspans washington journal live at 7 00 eastern. Join the discussion. Tonight on cspan, President Trump and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force Update the federal governments response to the pandemic. After that, we will hear about the state response from governors of new york, maryland, massachusetts. President trump thank you very much. Today, we continue to send our love to the great people of new york and new jersey. Love to the great people of new york and new jersey. We support them fully. We we support them fully. We grieve alongside every family who has lost a precious love one. New yorkers are tough, strong, and brave, and they are being