The Takeout with Major Garrett

Physician and former senator Bill Frist joins Major for a special edition of The Takeout. Frist is currently advising Tennessee’s state government on its coronavirus response. Frist, a Republican, served as Senate Majority Leader from 2003 to 2007. In 2005, Frist warned that it was only a matter of time before a pandemic arrived in the US from Asia. And he said at the time the US was woefully unprepared.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you miss baseball as much as Major does, do we have a show for you. Hall of famer and all-around good guy Cal Ripken, Jr. joins Major to talk about the game, life, his new Twitter account, coronavirus and his charitable work. It's been nearly twenty five years since Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive games streak. Oh how time flies. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

*SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEW FEED TODAY! SEARCH 'DEBRIEFING THE BRIEFING' AND LEAVE A RATING/REVIEW*The president met with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and hosted an event focused on senior citizens and coronavirus. He took questions from reporters at both affairs.President Trump said he has evidence the virus originated in a Wuhan, China laboratory, but he declined to provide specifics. Operation Warp Speed, the administration's effort to expedite development of a vaccine for covid-19, is underway and today the president said he is in charge of the project. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump will travel to a Honeywell facility in Arizona. Will he wear a mask? Probably so, he said.Major's guest tonight is Governor Jared Polis, Democrat from Colorado. Polis said the Chinese bare significant responsibility for "minimizing the threat and the danger and not taking the early actions needed to counter it."China's behavior early was not that different from President Trump's, he added. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coronavirus quarantine got you down? Spend some time with Major and his guests, comedians Rhett & Link! Oh hey, Mythical Beasts. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you subscribe/listen to 'Debriefing the Briefing,' you may have heard a portion of this already. Here's the full, extended interview!Phase two of the Paycheck Protection Program stumbled out of the gate Monday with reports of technical glitches that delayed payments. The program allows small businesses to take out a forgivable loan to be used to keep employees on the payroll during the economic downturn caused by coronavirus. Jim Nussle, president and CEO of Credit Union National, is Major's guest tonight and explains what's working and what can be improved. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

*SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEW FEED TODAY! SEARCH 'DEBRIEFING THE BRIEFING' AND LEAVE A RATING/REVIEW*President Trump increased his estimate for COVID-19 fatalities to 60,000-70,000. Before today, he predicted 50-60k. All of these figures are below the initial projection of 100k. He expressed optimism about the road ahead, with stabilizing and declining curves across the nation. “There is a hunger for getting our country back and its happening and its happening faster than people would think.”He added, “We are doing very well. Very well.”The US death toll is now north of 55,000.Monday’s briefing was heavy on testing. Currently, the US has conducted 5.4 million tests. President Trump said the US will soon “much more than double” testing.Admiral Giroir said 8 million tests (or 2 million/week) would be completed in May. Vice President Pence explained testing problems early on resulted from insufficient lab capacity. Millions of tests produced could not be processed in the existing lab.  Pence admitted that there is a difference between having a test and processing a test. He credited partnerships with commercial labs for vastly expanding testing capacity.The president said he’d heard there was a glitch in the roll out of phase two of the Paycheck Protection Program. Major spoke with Jim Nussle, president and CEO of the Credit Union National Association.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

*SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEW FEED TODAY! SEARCH 'DEBRIEFING THE BRIEFING' AND LEAVE A RATING/REVIEW*The world is focused on the fight against COVID-19 and in the United States specifically, President Trump's response. But what about the 2020 presidential election? Is former Vice President Joe Biden close to picking a running mate? CBS News Political Correspondent Ed O'Keefe joins Major for a Campaign 2020 week-in-review.Welcome to our new weekend series, Debriefing the Campaign To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

*SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEW FEED TODAY! SEARCH 'DEBRIEFING THE BRIEFING' AND LEAVE A RATING/REVIEW*Our guest today is CBS News Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Tara Narula, who says there is no practical application of disinfectants on or inside the body to combat COVID-19. At the April 23rd briefing, President Trump suggested 'it would be interesting to check that.'In what was likely the shortest White House Coronavirus briefing to date, the President offered only brief opening remarks and took no questions. FDA Commissioner Hahn provided an update on testing approvals, and took one question, and VP Pence gave an overview of his call with Governors today.The only real news of the briefing came when President Trump said that the percent of tests that have come back positive has declined "very significantly" nationwide, and that 18 states now show a decline. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ray Washburne owns 25 restaurants in the Dallas area and, up until the virus hit, employed 2200 people. With stay-at-home orders in place and business at a near-stand still, Washburne furloughed 1800 of them. Major and Washburne explore the practical, financial, health and ethical considerations of getting back to business. Washburne has served as a fundraiser and appointee for President Trump and sits on his council to re-start the American economy. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

*SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEW FEED TODAY! SEARCH 'DEBRIEFING THE BRIEFING' AND LEAVE A RATING/REVIEW*CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jiang joins Major tonight.President Trump suggested coronavirus patients could be treated with bleach or alcohol injections or doctors could “hit the body” with UV rays.  His comments came after Bill Bryan, who leads DHS’s science and technology directorate, presented “emerging results” from a study that showed direct sunlight, heat and humidity, and certain disinfectants degraded the virus on surfaces and in the air.The president appealed to Dr. Deborah Birx who said she had not seen an effective heat or light treatment for patients.POTUS said such treatment would be a good thing to look at and he “just threw it out as a suggestion.” “I’m here to present talent…[and]…ideas,” the president declared after reminding reporters he is president.The president is open to extending mitigation protocol into the summer.  “Until we feel it's safe, we're going to be extending.” Recall the president initially said Easter could be a re-opening date.Mr. Trump also handed Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s potential primary challenger a gift. Repeatedly, the president said “I am not happy with Brian Kemp” after the governor committed to reopening spas and beauty parlors.POTUS said “we are very close to a vaccine” but declined to put a timeline on it. He also denied that he had stopped pushing hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus. POTUS had not mentioned it unprompted since April 13. He again denied having seen the VA study that showed adverse effects from the drug. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices