Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar received some support from a fellow previous holder of the cabinet position.
"When it comes to pandemics, anything that you say in advance of a pandemic sounds alarmist and anything you've done after it starts is inadequate," former Utah Governor and former U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt told Cheddar Monday.
Leavitt, who warned the nation was unprepared for a pandemic when he took over in 2005 under President George W. Bush, said the current secretary, Alex Axar, "is closely following a well-established plan that was laid out years ago and was used by two administrations before this." Azar reportedly warned in early January the potential new outbreak was a big deal, but the Trump administration had downsized the pandemic preparedness team that was part of the National Security Council and did not follow the NSC pandemic playbook.
"Candidly, there are limits to what the federal government can do because most of the resources to actually fight an emergency like this belong to the states," he said. But, a pandemic puts everyone on the front line, creating "a uniquely local emergency" that requires each family, business, church, and school to have a plan.
From political leaders to people staying home, Leavitt said "every American needs to understand that they have a role" in curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus by making sure they aren't accidentally spreading the virus to strangers or loved ones.
"Right now, everything is affected, everyone is affected, and therefore there is a role for everyone," he said. Leavitt, who said a close friend had died yesterday due to coronavirus, said experiences like that are "causing all of us to become much more understanding of the severity of this."
Pandemics fundamentally change the shape of the world, Leavitt said. He said he has studied pandemics throughout history and thinks "we're going to see profound impact on [politics, economics, and sociology]."
"There are very few times in the history of a nation where everyone's heart sort of beats together for the same purpose. And we are uniting and doing remarkable things as a country" he said.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday Jan. 15, 2019.
When William Barr, President Trump's nominee for attorney general, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday for his confirmation hearing, his views on executive privilege will be under the microscope. "Mr. Barr has expressed some very broad views of executive authority and he's also expressed a very strong view that a president cannot be criminally charged," Jennifer Daskal, Associate Professor of Law at American University, told Cheddar on Monday.
Weak economic data from China and the ongoing government shutdown appeared to drag down the major U.S. indexes on Monday morning. SpaceX is slashing its workforce by 10 percent in an effort to become "leaner." Plus, we sit down with Emmy-award winning actor and producer Yeardley Smith who is most famous for voicing the iconic cartoon character, Lisa Simpson.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, Jan. 14, 2019.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) warned President Trump not to mess with emergency funding for California on Friday after the commander-in-chief threatened to cut off disaster-relief in the fire-ravaged state. In a tweet on Wednesday, Trump suggested that California itself was to blame for the wildfires that killed 86 people and destroyed thousands of homes last year, and said he was considering pulling its FEMA funds.
The housing market is slowing down ー and that's not necessarily a bad thing. So says Tendayi Kapfidze, chief economist for LendingTree, who told Cheddar Friday what to expect from the housing market this year.
Is it time for the federal government to hire its own chief information officer? Rep. Will Hurd (R-Tex.) thinks so. He told Cheddar Friday that the recent spate of major data breaches warrant a federal czar to help protect consumers and potentially even levy penalties on companies that don't do enough to safeguard users' information.
As the government shutdown approaches the milestone of becoming the longest in history, Transportation Security Agency employees are feeling the strain ー and soon, so will travelers, Joe Shuker, a TSA union representative, told Cheddar.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Jan. 11, 2019.
