Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, April 9, 2020

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

Michael Petrilli, Doug Kinney and MoCo Councilmember Hans Riemer joined WMAL on Thursday!

5am – A/B/C New CDC guidance says some essential workers exposed to coronavirus can return to work. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced new coronavirus guidance Wednesday saying some essential workers who have been exposed to COVID-19 but are not showing symptoms can return to work. Each worker would need to take his or her temperature twice a day for signs of a fever and wear a face mask at work and out in public to prevent the spread of the virus, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, said at Wednesday’s White House coronavirus briefing.  Redfield said the guidance was an effort to “really begin to get these critical workers back into the workforce so that we won’t have worker shortage in these critical industries,” including first responders, health care workers, food supply workers and more. The CDC’s announcement came after the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. surpassed the 400,000 mark Wednesday.

5am – D         SENATE VOTE TODAY:

• The Senate will vote Thursday on a proposed $250 billion Paycheck Protection Program to assist employees of small business but while Democrats back the measure, they seek another $250 billion in additional funds for hospitals and state and local governments. Texas Senate John Cornyn is accusing Democrats of blocking their proposal with demands for more money. President Trump says “we don’t have the time for partisan games.” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says direct deposits to Americans from the recently approved stimulus measure could begin next week.
• CHRIS BEDFORD: The Senate’s Plan To Save Small Businesses Is Already Failing, And Mnuchin Just Made It Worse. The details are out of Treasury now, and it looks like it isn’t going to work for a large number of small business owners after all. It isn’t going to work because the Senate’s formula allows far too little money to make up for a lost month and get through the following two or more while meeting the Senate’s demands. […] Here’s how it all plays out in real life. Imagine you own a restaurant with a gross revenue of $1.2 million a year, or $100,000 a month. This business employs eight people and has gross expenses of $1 million a year, or $85,000 a month. So in a normal year for your restaurant, you get to take home $200,000, minus taxes. A 20 percent profit, by the way, puts you above and beyond a lot of America’s small businesses, which will be dealing with tighter margins than the ones below. Your monthly expenses don’t include buying goods anymore, because the government shut you down for the pandemic, but they still include rent or interest on your mortgage, the real estate tax, building insurance, maintenance and utilities, coming to $15,000 a month in your case. Then you have, say, $30,000 a month in payroll before taxes, and none of this includes your own pay. Now you need a loan.
• WAPO: Pelosi urges GOP to ‘come to the table’ and continue talks on small-business funds. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held her ground Wednesday and refused to buckle to the Trump administration’s demand for swift congressional approval of $250 billion in additional funds for small businesses, urging Republicans to continue negotiations on more relief to minority-owned companies and others struggling to secure loans during the coronavirus pandemic. Pelosi’s remarks, in an interview with The Washington Post, left the request by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in jeopardy, with the speaker prepared to wait on action in the House until Republicans move closer to her position. She is calling for changes to the GOP proposal plus an additional $250 billion that would benefit hospitals and states as they seek to increase testing and buy supplies. Pelosi (D-Calif.) also expressed outrage about President Trump’s ousting of two inspectors general in the past week, a pattern that the president’s critics say is a direct assault on one of the pillars of good governance.
• CNN POLL: Federal Government Approval Drops, Trump Approval Goes Up… A majority of Americans — 55% — now say the federal government has done a poor job preventing the spread of coronavirus in the United States, up eight points in about a week, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS as the nationwide death toll from the virus rose above 12,000. […] The President’s overall approval rating stands at 44% approve to 51% disapprove, little changed from a 43% approve to 53% disapprove reading in each of the previous three CNN polls. On handling health care policy, his ratings stand at 42% approve to 52% disapprove, his best approval rating on that topic since 2017. But ratings of the federal government’s performance in preventing the virus’ spread are clearly worsening, with disapproval rising 12 points in a month.

5am – E         Steven Mnuchin: Coronavirus stimulus direct deposits begin next week. WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is telling House Democrats that direct deposits to Americans will begin next week under the coronavirus aid package. Mnuchin is also telling the lawmakers that $98 billion has been approved for small business retention under a program the Trump administration wants Congress to bolster with another $250 billion in a vote expected Thursday. The comments were made during a conference call with lawmakers briefed by Mnuchin, Vice President Mike Pence and the administration’s coronavirus task force, according to a person unauthorized to discuss the private call and granted anonymity.

6am – A/B/C Should schools consider keeping students in the same grade this fall?

• FROM MARYLAND GOVERNOR HOGAN’S WEBSITE: Rumor: The academic calendar year 2019-2020 will be repeated again next year. Here are the Facts: At this time, that decision has not yet been made by the Maryland State Department of Education.
• Washington Post Opinion piece: Schools should consider keeping kids in the same grade this fall. (By Michael J. Petrilli) — Michael J. Petrilli is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Education leaders nationwide are working 24/7 to set up distance-learning opportunities for their students for the rest of the school year. That includes navigating multiple logistical and regulatory hurdles, training millions of educators overnight in how to use online tools, and figuring out how to get digital devices and packets of printed material into children’s hands, among dozens of other pressing tasks… Most critical — and sensitive — is whether kids should be “socially promoted” to the next grade come fall. The answer for millions of elementary pupils who were already a year or two behind when the crisis struck should be no. That is especially true since the 2020-2021 school year is likely to be rocky as well. Even if some states and communities are prepared to return to a semblance of normalcy in September, localized outbreaks are likely to shutter schools again for weeks or months at a time. All of this time away from school is going to be particularly devastating for poor and working-class youngsters, many of whom are already below grade level. Their parents are often working the sorts of jobs that don’t have the option of being done virtually, and their homes are more likely to lack high-speed Internet and ample devices…. To be sure, holding back most students would present challenges. For one, schools would have two kindergarten cohorts, so principals would have to quickly staff up to find qualified teachers for the extra classrooms and extra funding to pay for them. (In future years, some of the “first-year” kindergarteners would move ahead, but others might benefit from additional time, especially if the school is again hit by long closures.) Principals would also need to find extra space for additional classrooms, though thanks to declining enrollment (caused by the ongoing baby bust), that shouldn’t be an insurmountable hurdle. None of this is ideal. It would have been far better if U.S. schools had embraced “personalized learning” long before the crisis hit — whereby kids move at their own pace, rather than in lockstep with their peers. But if there’s any silver lining, it’s that school closures create an unprecedented opportunity to give struggling students the gift of extra time. That will reap rewards in the years ahead.

6am – D/E/F  SHOULD MASKS BE REQUIRED BY LAW IN PUBLIC? 

• MONTGOMERY COUNTY COUNCILMEMBERS TO INTRODUCE LEGISLATION REQUIRING FACE COVERINGS IN PUBLIC SPACES. Montgomery County Councilmembers announced plans to introduce regulations for the Board of Heath which would require employees and customers of essential businesses to wear face coverings. Councilmembers Hans Riemer and Gabe Albornoz are the lead sponsors, and Council President Sidney Katz, Councilmembers Nancy Navarro and Evan Glass all cosponsored the legislation. The regulation would be implemented in two phases, according to a press release from the county council. On April 16, essential businesses such as grocery stores and hardware stores would be required to provide face coverings for employees who work on site. These employees would be required to wear the face coverings while interacting with customers or other workers.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – Michael Petrilli – president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution (MARY)

• Washington Post Opinion piece: Schools should consider keeping kids in the same grade this fall.

7am – B/C     REST IN PEACE, LINDA TRIPP: Linda Tripp, who secretly recorded 20 hours of her telephone conversations with Monica Lewinsky about the intern’s sexual relationship with former President Clinton has died at age 70. Tripp handed those recordings to special prosecutor Kenneth Starr, resulting in the 1998 Clinton impeachment, which later led to an acquittal in the Senate. Hearing about Tripp’s failing health, Lewinsky sent a Wednesday tweet saying, “(No) matter the past, upon hearing that Linda Tripp is very seriously ill, I hope for her recovery.”

7am – D         INTERVIEW – Doug Kinney – co-owns a marine parts factory, Sailing Specialty Partners, Inc, an 80,000-square-foot thermoforming plant in Hollywood, Maryland. The factory makes boat parts as well as medical, military and construction goods. He’s converting his factory to help make face shields. 

• Marine factory making 500,000 face shields for Maryland health care workers in coronavirus pandemic. Doug Kinney is used to making drastic changes to help companies survive. He’s hoping his latest business plan saves people’s lives too. The Annapolis man and his partner, Joe Callanan of Severna Park, have converted the marine parts factory they co-own in St. Mary’s County to produce face shields for medical workers treating coronavirus patients — 500,000 for starters. For 35 years, Kinney said he has been buying financially distressed manufacturing companies. Sailing Specialties Inc., an 80,000-square-foot thermoforming plant in Hollywood, was one of those purchases in 2017. The factory makes boat parts as well as medical, military and construction goods. After talking to the doctors in his family and watching the economy plummet, Kinney knew he had to make a change — not just for his company but for the community. So a few weeks ago, Kinney and Callanan retooled the factory to produce face shields.

7am – E         Donald Trump says he will ‘look at’ pardoning Tiger King’s Joe Exotic after Don Jr. said zoo-owner’s 22-year prison sentence for murder-for-hire was ‘aggressive’  (Daily Mail) — President Trump said he would look at pardoning Joe Exotic, the star of the Netflix series ‘Tiger King’ who is currently serving 22 years in prison for a murder-for-hire plot.  ‘I’ll take a look,’ Trump said Wednesday at the White House, telling reporters that he had not seen the show, which has been a ratings hit as Americans stay at home through the coronavirus crisis.  On Monday on SiriusXM, Donald Trump Jr. had called Exotic’s sentence ‘aggressive’ after watching the documentary series in two sittings.  ‘Now, I don’t even know exactly what he was charged with … I watched the show, but it was like, I don’t know exactly what he was guilty of or wasn’t,’ Trump Jr. said. ‘It doesn’t seem like he was totally innocent of anything. But when they’re saying, “We’re putting this guy away for 30 years,” I’m saying that seems sort of aggressive.’  When a reporter brought up his son’s comments, Trump commented, ‘Which son? It must be Don. I had a feeling it was Don,’ the president said.    The show follows three main zoo owners including Exotic and Carole Baskin, the woman who owns Tampa, Florida’s Big Cat Rescue.     It was Baskin that Exotic allegedly was plotting to kill.

8am – A          INTERVIEW – Montgomery County Councilmember Hans Riemer – an At-Large Member of the Montgomery County Council 

• Councilmember Hans Reimer has blasted the CDC for being late on suggesting folks wear masks. He is introducing a bill next week to issue a county health regulation that face coverings be worn when you leave your home to work or shop.
• Councilmembers to Introduce Regulation Requiring Face Coverings in Public Spaces to Help Stop the Spread of the Coronavirus. ROCKVILLE, MD, April 7, 2020– Councilmembers today announced their intention to introduce a new Board of Health regulation requiring employees and customers of essential businesses to wear face coverings when interacting with customers or coworkers. The regulation will be introduced and voted on at the Council’s virtual meeting on Tuesday, April 14. Councilmembers Hans Riemer and Gabe Albornoz are the lead sponsors, and Council President Sidney Katz, Councilmembers Nancy Navarro and Evan Glass are cosponsors. The regulation will take effect in two phases. Beginning April 16, 2020, essential businesses will be required to provide face coverings for employees who work outside of the employee’s residence, and employees will be required to wear masks when interacting with customers or coworkers.

8am – B/C     Bernie Sanders DROPS OUT of Democratic 2020 race leaving Joe Biden to go head-to-head with Trump in November – after making voters get in line in Wisconsin. The presidential campaign is over for Bernie Sanders but the campaign with soon-to-be Democratic nominee Joe Biden to defeat Donald Trump in November is just beginning. Sanders made the announcement from his home in Vermont, saying “I think you know the truth, and that is we are some 300 delegates behind Vice President Biden.”

• TRUMP: ‘A WEIRD DEAL’ BERNIE SANDERS DROPPING OUT, KEEPING HIS DELEGATES 
• Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: Wow, Bernie is unwilling to give up his delegates, and wants more of them! What’s that all about?
• ‘Thank You To Elizabeth Warren’: Trump Credits MA Senator With Tanking Bernie’s Campaign

8am – D/E     FORGET ABOUT SHAKING HANDS AFTER THIS PANDEMIC – DO YOU LIKE THIS IDEA?

• Fauci: Even when this is over, ‘forget about shaking hands…we don’t need to shake hands.’ WASHINGTON (SBG) —When it comes to the coronavirus pandemic, few people have been in the spotlight more than Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has been working around the clock to help shape American’s medical response to the disease, and directly consulting President Donald Trump. He spoke one-on-one with Scott Thuman, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Chief Political Correspondent, about the challenges, some hard truths and what Americans should expect moving forward. Among those truths: “We don’t need to shake hands.” Thuman asked: “Are you confident that we will ever get back to the normal we knew just three months ago?” Here was Fauci’s answer: “It depends on what you mean by normal. I think what we’re going to have embedded and imprinted in us forever is the realization that something as catastrophic as what the world is experiencing now can happen. And just, as a society, just forget about shaking hands. We don’t need to shake hands, we gotta break, we gotta break that custom. Because as a matter of fact, that is really one of the major ways that you can transmit a respiratory illness.”