In this special episode of CAFE Insider, “Extraordinary Times,” Preet and Anne are joined by Lisa Monaco, who was President Obama’s chief homeland security and counterterrorism advisor. Drawing on her experience battling pandemics, Lisa provides valuable perspective on the response to the crisis, and helps Preet and Anne break down all of the important issues, including:

— The administration’s preparedness for the outbreak, and the warnings about pandemics that the Obama national security team gave to incoming Trump officials in January 2017. 

— Challenges posed by testing and hospital capacity — and the impact of the 2018 decision to disband the National Security Council Directorate designed to coordinate pandemic response, an office that Lisa helped set up in the wake of the Ebola outbreak.

— The benefits and shortcomings of the recent economic relief bill negotiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. 

We hope you’re enjoying CAFE Insider. Email us at [email protected] with your suggestions and questions for Preet and Anne.

REFERENCES & SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

LIFE UNDER QUARANTINE

• Anne Milgram’s beach chair tweet, 3/17/20
• Video of penguins roaming free at aquariums, 3/15/20

WHITE HOUSE RESPONSE 

• Picture of President Obama hugging a nurse who survived Ebola, Time Magazine, 10/24/14
• Transcript of President Trump’s 3/13 coronavirus press conference, New York Times, 3/13/20
• “A chastened President Trump presents a newly sober tone,” Politico, 3/16/20
• “The Next Pandemic Will Be Arriving Shortly,” Lisa Monaco op-ed in Foreign Policy, 9/28/18
• “Before Trump’s inauguration, a warning: ‘The worst influenza pandemic since 1918,” Politico, 3/16/20
• “I ran the White House pandemic office. Trump closed it,” Washington Post, 3/13/20
• “Travel Restrictions Spread as Coronavirus Pandemic Widens,” NPR, 3/12/20
• “How U.S. Coronavirus testing stalled,” Washington Post, 3/16/20
• “First Human Trial for Coronavirus Vaccine Begins on Monday in US,” CNBC, 3/16/20
• “Why Outbreaks like Coronavirus Spread Exponentially, and How to ‘Flatten the Curve,’” Washington Post, 3/14/20

CONGRESSIONAL RESPONSE

• Families First Coronavirus Response Act Summary, 3/14/20
• “House passes $8.3b emergency coronavirus response bill,” New York Times, 3/4/20
• “There’s a Giant Hole in Pelosi’s Coronavirus Response Bill,” New York Times, 3/14/20
• “Senate poised to take up coronavirus package after House passes revised bill,” Politico, 3/16/20
• “Mitt Romney’s Coronavirus Response Plan: $1,000 to Each American Adult,” Vox, 3/16/20
• “We need real economic stimulus,” New York Times, 3/14/20
• “Will the Coronavirus Outbreak Turn Andrew Yang’s Dream into a Reality?” Time Magazine, 3/17/20

STATE RESPONSE

• “Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine response has become a national guide to the crisis,” Washington Post, 3/16/20
• “Gov. Cuomo to President Trump: Mobilize the Military to help Fight Coronavirus,” New York Times, 3/15/20
• “Here are the states that postponed their primaries due to coronavirus,” CNN, 3/17/20

IMPACT ON GENERAL ELECTION 

• Joyce Vance Twitter thread on the possibility of postponing the general election, 3/13/20
• Congressional Record Service report on the legality of postponing a general election, 2004