CAFE Insider

In this special episode of CAFE Insider, “Pandemic Ethics & Glimmers of Hope,” Preet and Anne are joined by Juliette Kayyem. 

Kayyem served as President Obama’s Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on her experience managing crises — including the H1N1 pandemic and the BP oil spill — she helps Preet and Anne break down all of the latest coronavirus developments and issues, including:

— The Trump administration’s delayed deployment of the Defense Production Act of 1950, what the action allows the government to do, and why it took so long. 

— The ethics around the government’s response to the pandemic, the adverse effects that social distancing will have on the economy, and the President’s apparent inclination to “re-open” the economy before the conclusion of the quarantine period recommended by public health experts. 

— The controversy surrounding the decisions of several United States Senators, most notably Senators Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler, to sell significant amounts of stock around the time of a classified Senate briefing warning about the impact of coronavirus — well before the government’s public position reflected those private warnings. 

— The threat the pandemic poses to jails and prisons, and the steps states like New Jersey are taking to address the challenges to the criminal justice system.

— How long we can expect to remain in quarantine, and what the process looks like to get back to “normal.” 

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

REFERENCES & SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

JULIETTE’S CRISIS MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE

• Juliette Kayyem’s biography
• “US Reaction to Swine Flu: Apt and Lucky,” New York Times, 1/1/10
• “BP Moves to Fix a Leak as Obama Warns of Damage,” New York Times, 5/2/10
• “New York’s Virus Count is Doubling Every Three Days,” New York Times, 3/24/20

DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT 

• Congressional Research Service Report on the Defense Production Act, 3/2/20
• “What’s in Trump’s Executive Order on the Defense Production Act?” Lawfare, 3/20/20
• “Trump’s excuses for not using the Defense Production Act are wrong — and dangerous,” Vox, 3/23/20
• “Trump will use Defense Production Act to secure thousands of test kits,” Politico, 3/24/20

ETHICS

• Trump tweet about allowing people to return to work, 3/24/20
• “A Plan to Get America Back to Work,” Thomas Friedman Op-Ed, New York Times, 3/22/20
• Clip: “Boris Johnson orders UK into lockdown to fight coronavirus pandemic,” CNN, 3/23/20 
• “Trump says coronavirus cure ‘cannot be worse than the problem itself,’” New York Times, 3/23/20
• “DeWine: ‘We Save our Economy First by Saving Lives,” ABC Cincinnati, 3/24/20
• “Rand Paul Worked in the Senate for Days after COVID-19 Test,” Time Magazine, 3/23/20

BAILOUT

• “Trump on GOP’s $500 billion slush fund: ‘I’ll be the oversight,’” New York Magazine, 3/23/20
• “Top Senate Democrat and Treasury Secretary say they are near a stimulus deal,” New York Times, 3/24/20

INSIDER TRADING 

• STOCK Act Summary, GovTrack, 4/4/12
• Sen. Burr’s 2012 radio interview on his opposition to the STOCK Act, 2/2/12
• “Burr and Loeffler selling stocks as the market tanks is the reason some people think Senators shouldn’t own stock,” Vox, 3/20/20
• “Sen. Richard Burr, who sold stock before pandemic, voted in 2012 against banning insider trading for Congress, Washington Post, 2/20/20
• “Trump deflects questions about profiting from the presidency by reverting to his businessman mythology,” Washington Post, 3/23/20

CRIMINAL JUSTICE 

• “New Jersey will release low level offenders from jail to prevent coronavirus spread,” CNN, 2/23/20
• “‘Trapped on Rikers’: Jails and prisons face coronavirus catastrophe as officials slowly authorize releases,” Washington Post, 3/23/20
• “DOJ seeks new emergency powers amid coronavirus pandemic,” Politico, 3/21/20

THE PROCESS BACK TO NORMALCY

• “The Crisis Could Last 18 Months. Be Prepared,” Juliette Kayyem Op-ed, The Atlantic, 3/21/20
• “When will the coronavirus pandemic end? What scientists can say about life returning to normal,” Boston Globe, 3/21/20

OLYMPICS

• “I.O.C and Japan Agree to Postpone Tokyo Olympics,” New York Times, 3/24/20

In this bonus from Stay Tuned, Rahm Emanuel discusses how he would respond to coronavirus if he were still mayor of Chicago, his experience at the Lyndon Baines Johnson library, his cursing, and more.

Thank you for being a member of the CAFE Insider community.

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

In this bonus from Stay Tuned, David Plouffe discusses the impact of coronavirus on campaigning, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the future of primaries, and more.

Thank you for being a member of the CAFE Insider community.

In this episode of CAFE Insider, “Virus Lockdown & SCOTUS Showdown,” Preet and Anne break down the latest high-profile legal and political news making the headlines, including: 

— The Supreme Court’s upcoming decision on the first abortion case to come before the Court since Trump’s appointment of two new conservative justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. The case, June Medical Services LLC v. Russo, could threaten the long-standing legal precedent established in Roe v. Wade. 

— District Court Judge Reggie Walton’s forceful criticism of Attorney General Bill Barr over his “misleading” handling of the Mueller report’s rollout — and what that means for the credibility of the Department of Justice under Barr’s leadership.

— The continued spread of COVID-19, and the challenges that the virus poses for governments and markets around the world — including the “emergency” steps that many state and local governments are taking to contain the outbreak. 

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

REFERENCES & SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

CORONAVIRUS 

• NY Gov. Cuomo Executive Order declaring state of emergency, 3/7/20
• NYCLU statement criticizing NY emergency powers bill, 3/4/20
• “Republicans who came in contact with Trump self-quarantine,” Politico, 3/9/20
• “Trump compared coronavirus to the flu. Here’s why that’s a bad thing,” MSNBC, 3/9/20
• “Dow sinks 2,000 points in worst day since 2008,” CNBC, 3/10/20
• “Energy industry faces reckoning after oil prices crash,” Wall Street Journal, 3/10/20
• “Coronavirus in NY: Cuomo declares state of emergency,” New York Times, 3/7/20

SUPREME COURT 

• June Medical Services v. Rebekah Gee (2019), 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision
• Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt (2016), Supreme Court decision
• June Medical Services Supreme Court oral arguments, 3/4/20
• “Justices give few hints on how they will rule in abortion law,” New York Times, 3/4/20
• “Schumer on Supreme Court remarks: ‘I should not have used those words,’” Axios, 3/5/20
• “Roberts rebukes Schumer,” Washington Post, 3/4/20
•  “The controversy over Chuck Schumer’s attacks on Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, explained,” Vox, 3/5/20
• “Chief Justice Roberts defends judicial independence after Trump attacks ‘Obama Judges,’” New York Times, 11/21/18

BARR/WALTON

• Judge Reggie Walton’s opinion in EPIC v. Department of Justice (2020), District Court for the District of Columbia 
• Harry Littman tweet on Walton’s opinion, 3/6/20
• “Judge calls Barr’s handling of Mueller report ‘distorted’ and ‘misleading,’” New York Times, 3/5/20
• “Meet the Chief Justice of America’s Secret Supreme Court,” Buzzfeed, 6/7/13

BIDEN/BURISMA

• “Republicans lean into Biden probe as he surges in Democratic primary,” Politico, 3/4/2020
• “Dems push to ‘fight back hard’ against Trump’s Ukraine attack,” Politico, 3/5/2020

ANNE LAUGHING CHALLENGE

• “New York Governor reveals state hand sanitizer amid price gouging,” New York 4, 3/9/20