Sunday School 5/3/20

Today's Sunday School gives the politicians a chance to talk with us about the coronavirus, reopening their states, and so on. This week, we'll have at least one Extra Credit post which will allow the medical professionals have a chance to chime in on things. There's probably enough for a second Extra Credit to handle the overflow from today - we'll see how it goes.

So, we've got five governors (yikes!) making virtual classroom visits - so let's get started withMississippi Republican Tate Reeves  and New Jersey Democrat Phil Murphy, who talked with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.

Mississippi was getting ready to lift its 'safer-at-home order on Friday, until they saw a spike in new cases. Turns out, Reeves said, the spike of nearly 400 cases that was reported Friday morning stemmed in part from a large number of tests "that came in from out-of-state private labs" and now they're back down to a more reasonable 110 new cases today. That explanation aside, though, Wallace noted that Mississippi still hasn't met the White House guidelines to begin the first phase of reopening.

Mississippi is different than other states, Reeves explained. He's talked with the Task Force, with Dr. Birx, and they agree that "sometimes the models are just different for different states." He said that the gating criteria from the Task Force don't really work for them, and that over the past 40 days or so, they've had pretty consistent case numbers without any spikes other than Friday's "data dump."

They did have some protests in very red Mississippi, but Reeves said most of them probably voted for him last year, and that they "were protesting for the 200,000 Mississippians that have lost their jobs in the last six weeks." And, he said, "I understand and I feel their pain, and we're doing everything in our power to get our state back open as soon as possible."

They also talked about a move by the Republican-controlled legislature, which wants to strip Reeves of his sole authority to spend $1B in federal aid the state received under the CARES Act. Reeves said it was "an absolute tragedy" that his own party was pulling a power grab

in the middle of an emergency. We have had long- standing, 40-year laws in Mississippi which recognized that in an emergency, you've got to have an executive. You've got to have someone that makes decisions and gets things done.

Reeves said he's still looking at whether a veto is in order, but said they "don't have time for committee meetings... we don't have time for politicians to cut deals." Instead, they need to get the money into people's pockets. Either way, he's "deeply disappointed" in them.

Gov. Murphy has different issues in NJ. The state is locked down, with parks and some golf courses (but not beaches) being allowed to open this weekend. Wallace wondered if Murphy will be in the position to reopen the state by Memorial Day. Murphy said "Listen, I'll be the happiest guy in New Jersey, if not America, if we are" but noted it's still too early to tell. He pointed to "very high" compliance with social distancing, and that's the kind of thing that they'll need to keep seeing to "get the best outcome" by Memorial Day. 

Wallace wondered about his state's protesters, and he said "I wished they'd do it virtually and not unsafely," noting they were out there without masks. But, he added. 

... -- we've got to make our decisions based on the science, the data, the facts. And they all suggest, as you -- as you rightfully point out, we're not out of this yet. Now the -- the fatalities, bless their souls, we have to point out are folks who were infected some number of weeks ago. So, in the here and now, hospitalizations are down, ventilator use is down, the positive curve -- testing curve is flattening. So those are all good signs. But we're not in the end zone yet.

As with Mississippi, Wallace noted that NJ hasn't meet the gating criteria, and that, as far as they can tell, no state has. He wondered whether Murphy thought his fellow govs were jumping the gun. Murphy said "my nose is pressed against the New Jersey glass, honestly," so he can't speak to what the other folks are basing their decision on, but he pointed out that his is the densest state in the densest area in the country, so they're making regional decisions and have to be "exceedingly careful."

As is required, I guess, he was glowingly complimentary about the president and getting assistance "in our hour of need" as far as supplies and PPE. Wallace wondered about the whole question of state aid, noting that Murphy had said "it's going to be Armageddon" if they don't get federal aid. Murphy was clear.

We need a big slug of federal, direct cash assistance. And it's not -- not just New Jersey and it's not just blue states... It clearly would be a huge win for the residents who are being served. It would be a huge win for those first- line responders and their families, working families. I think, frankly, it's a huge win for the president to be able to say, you know what, with this cash assistance, we were able to keep serving folks across the country in both red and blue states, and we kept folks employed at a time where we desperately need to keep folks employed.

We'll see if that's enough honey for the president to support the move.

Meanwhile, on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Martha Raddatz talked with Ohio's Republican gov Mike DeWine. He's taking a phased reopening approach, bringing manufacturing, construction and some offices up first, then restaurants and retail after that. Raddatz noted his data shows a few days of downward curve, and a million residents file for unemployment. She wanted to know how he's balancing the competing risks.

DeWine's approach is to do two things at once - be very careful, continuing social distance and face covering requirements, but also start getting things opened back up. He mentioned having business groups figure out what would work for them, having them participate in the discussions and develop best practices for their sectors.

So we’re balancing it. We’re going to keep our eye on the numbers. We’ve had a fairly flat -- really for about two weeks with hospitalizations and that we’re certainly going to continue to keep an eye on that.

All employees will be required to cover their faces, regardless of sector, but customers will not have that same requirement, even though the gov "high recommends" they wear some kind of face covering. That was one of the orders that was reversed; he said they were issuing them very quickly but listened when people expressed different opinions.

Raddatz noted some polling that "Democrats are more concerned about contracting the virus while Republicans respondents would be more likely to get out if and when the rules change. Republicans are twice as likely to eat a restaurant, work out at a gym, and get a haircut...three times as likely to attend a sporting event, and four times as likely to stay in a hotel." She wondered what DeWine thought about the partisan divide. 

He said he wasn't really sure, but noted, "I think generally Republicans are less inclined to have the government tell them what to do," noting that's his philosophy for the most part but "we're in a health crisis" and so now, it's basically up to "individual Ohioans" and how they react and whether they'll continue to practice social distancing and stuff.

Jake Tapper talked with Michigan Democrat Gretchen Whitmer on CNN's State of the Union, where the conversation started with the protests we've heard so much about. She said she knows folks - including her - are unhappy about the stay-at-home orders, but the medical experts have to be listened to, and "displays like the one that we saw at our capital is not representative of who we are in Michigan."

There were swastikas and Confederate Flags and nooses and people with assault rifles. And that's the very - that's a small group of people, when you think about the fact that this is a state of almost 10 million people, the vast majority of whom are doing the right thing. And that's why we have seen our curve get pushed down.

Lives have been saved, the said; folks have to "not listen to the partisan rhetoric or these political rallies, or tweets, for that matter. We have to keep doing the right thing, the next right thing."

Tapper asked about the president calling the protesters "very good people," similar to what he said in reference to the Charlottesville protests, and wondered about that. She said that some of the "outrageousness" that happened "depicted some of the worst racism and awful parts of our history" and made the point that, in a global pandemic, we can't just negotiate ourselves out of it. And,

Whether you agree with me or not, I'm working to protect your life if you live in the state of Michigan. I'm going to continue to do my job, regardless of what tweets come out or what polls come out or what people think that is -- makes sense.

Tapper asked whether Whitmer agreed with Jared Kushner's assessment on testing that "the biggest thing holding us back is not supplies or capacity. It's the states' ability to collect more samples." Whitmer said that wasn't true; she and her counterparts "have never been able to get to full capacity because we are missing things in the supply chain. And that's part of why I think so many of us on both sides of the aisle have really called on more of a national strategy on these fronts."

Tapper wrapped up the conversation asking some questions about Joe Biden. Whitmer has said that she believes Biden, but she also believed Christine Blasey Ford, who didn't have contemporaneous accounts of what happened, which Tara Reade, Biden's accuser, has. Whitmer, "as a survivor and as a feminist," said victims need to be able to tell their stories, but that the stories have to be vetted. She's paid attention to Biden's defense. she's read a lot about the allegation, and she believes Biden when he says it didn't happen. And, she added, 

I really resent the fact that, every time a case comes up, all of us survivors have to weigh in. It is reopening wounds. And it is -- take us at our word, ask us for our opinion, and let's move on.

She wasn't criticizing Tapper, she said, but was sharing "some of the simmering anger" that survivors have every time they have to chime in on something they weren't involved in. And she reiterated that she believes and supports Biden.  

And finally, we've got Republican Larry Hogan of Maryland, who also sat down with Tapper. Their conversation started with something Larry Kudlow, Trump's economic advisor, said about there being a pause, where folks are not really sure what's next in terms of future help to citizens, states or cities. Hogan said he wasn't sure what to make of that, noting that "the message seems to sort of change almost on a daily, sometimes several times a day. I think we're making progress" on getting a fourth stimulus package, to help the states and to help people who need it, and that all the divisiveness and partisanship can be put aside. Proving the point, Tapper brought up sanctuary cities and states, mistakenly saying that Baltimore was on such city. Hogan corrected him, and also said 

So, exactly what I'm talking about though, Jake. There are people, the Democrats are saying, we'll do it if we get this additional funding for these other things. The Republicans in the Senate are saying, we'll do it if we get these other liability issues for businesses. Now the White House is talking about sanctuary cities. And I think everybody ought to stop talking about all of those things and just focus on getting people the help that they need without bringing all these other, you know, outside political issues into the debate. It's no time for divisive politics. It's time to get something done.

They talked about Hogan having supplies under guard, supplies that were flown in via passenger jet from South Korea to Baltimore's airport instead of to Dulles for fear that the federal government might confiscate them. Hogan said it was done because he had heard from his colleagues that they had supplies intercepted or diverted by the feds and he didn't want that to happen here, but that he's "working together with the federal government" and FEMA is going a great job. "It's not a concern any longer but honestly it was an issue that we were looking at as we flew them in."

The last part we'll cover here relates to protesters, several of whom "trekked more than 150 miles" to protest on both sides of Maryland on Saturday, and also about comments made by one of Hogan's fellow Republicans, Congressman Andy Harris, who said at the protest

I didn't wake up in Communist China and I didn't wake up in North Korea this morning. And tomorrow morning I should be able to go to the church of my choice and worship the way I choose. 

Tapper gave Hogan a chance to respond both to the protests, and Harris's comments. Hogan supports people being able to protest, noting "a couple of dozen people did so yesterday" and they "have every right to do that," He also noted

Sadly, we had far more people die yesterday in Maryland than we had protesters. 

Congressman Harris, I'm not sure where he woke up yesterday morning but maybe he confused North Korea and South Korea. South Korea is doing a great job on testing and we just saved the lives of thousands of Marylanders by getting those half million tests from Korea..he's obviously got the right to say whatever crazy things he wants to say. But, you know, I don't really need to respond to them.

As they say on that TV game show, "good answer!"

I hope you all took advantage, to the fullest allowed or recommended by your local and state politicians, of this beautiful day.  Keep social distancing, keep washing your hands, keep covering your face, and we'll keep flattening the curve together.

Don't forget to get your extra credit this week- and I'll see you around the virtual campus.