The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Trevor Interviews Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth
Episode Date: April 29, 2020Banks and big businesses exploit the Paycheck Protection Program, Michael Kosta presents a travelogue of his home, and Trevor interviews Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth. Learn more about your ad-cho...ices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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You're listening to Comedy Central.
When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.
This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.
Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.
But that's all about to change.
Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible.
I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes a second look on Apple
podcasts starting September 17th.
Well hello! Welcome to another episode of the Daily Social Distancing Show. I'm Trevor
Noah, as always. And today is officially day 43 of us staying inside the house
to try and prevent the spread of coronavirus. And here's a really cool quarantine tip of the day.
If you have Q-tips and a little bit of tape, you can give yourself a coronavirus test at home.
It's really easy, I think. Like, all you do is you tape them together and then, hold on a second, if you hold the one
end, okay, never mind, don't do that.
Anyway, on tonight's episode, the big problem with government's small business loans, Michael
Costa takes us on a magical journey through his apartment, and Mike Pence finds another
form of protection he doesn't agree with.
Welcome to your couch somewhere in
the world. This is the daily social distancing show with Trevor Noah.
You know every day we're bombarded with so much negative news about
coronavirus that we can forget that there is still some sunshine out there and all we need
to do is look. So let's kick off the show with our ray of sunshine.
All right, first up, there's some promising news in the search for a vaccine. Oxford University
has announced that thanks to a head start that they got from their years of research on
the MERS virus, their COVID-19 vaccine is already
showing positive results and could be available as early as September. And guys, can I tell you something?
I am so excited to get a vaccine. Like as soon as I get a vaccine, the first thing I'm going to do
is make plans with all of my friends that I have no intention of keeping.
We have to do something, man.
It's been too long. We gotta catch up.
Are we doing this thing or not?
Well, you know I'm always, I'm already in.
I've been in.
Ha ha ha! Okay, I'll see you there.
And then I send that last minute text saying I can't make it. I switch off my phone and I to thi. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. to the vaccine. to to the vaccine. to the vaccine. to to the vaccine. to the vaccine. to the vaccine. to to the vaccine. to to to to the vaccine. to to to to to to to to to to the vaccine. the vaccine. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. to. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. to. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. the vaccine. toe. the the the th the. toe. te. toe. te. toe. toe. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th the. th there's something you should know. So far, the vaccine has only worked on monkeys.
And honestly, I don't know how to feel about that.
Because it's our virus, but now we're testing it on them?
Like how would we feel if monkeys tested diseases on us, like they did with AIDS?
Here's something no one's thought of.
If we test the vaccine on monkeys, monkeys could become immune to coronavirus
before us. Yeah, then they get to get haircuts and go bowling. And the next thing you know,
planet of the apes. But anyway, congratulations to Oxford University on their potential
vaccine breakthrough. Oh, and congratulations to the University of Phoenix for their discovery
that you have to peel an orange before you eat it. Keep studying, guys. In other news, every day we have to deal
with the horrible consequences of this pandemic. It's taken away our freedom. It's taken
away our social lives. And now, it's even taken away people's pants.
CPS and UPS say initially the final leg of prescriptions journeys will be done by ground
carriers so people won't be getting their medication dropped out of the sky into their mailbox just yet, but the companies do say they will scale up the
program if it is successful, guys.
Very cool, we love it, Will, thank you.
Okay, if I wanted to get my news from a guy not wearing pants, I'll just go on the subway.
And you know what, props to the other anchors for playing it cool. Although it would have been great if when they came back to the studio,
one of those anchors was just like,
thank you so much for that, William.
I kind of expected that report to be a little longer.
But this just goes to show that people are getting too comfortable working from home.
Just because you're at home doesn't mean you're not at work people. I'm a little guilty of this myself, which I'm sure some of you noticed if you paid attention
to last night's show.
Donald Trump, you look like an idiot.
Have some self-respect.
All right, and finally, if you're sick of all the news being only about coronavirus and
wish we all had something else to talk about, well, good news.
Your wish just came true. If everything going on right now wasn't odd enough for you, take a look at this this this this this this tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, thi.. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, I's thi. And, thr. And, thr-a. And, tooi. And, tooi. And, toa. And, thi. And, thi. And, I'sa. And, thi. And a look at this. The Pentagon releasing these videos of what they are calling unidentified aerial phenomena.
They were filmed by some Navy pilots for the last two decades,
and the Pentagon says that these videos are being released now to,
quote, clear up any misconceptions after they were previously leaked,
but that the objects remain unidentified.
Okay, first of all, no. Second of all, hell no.
How's the Pentagon going to choose now?
To tell us that there might be aliens just flying around?
We got so much shit on our plate right now.
Corona virus is happening. I've got to watch the last dance.
Apparently I'm expected to wash both hands now.
And your thumbs.
And let's be honest, if aliens arrived now, that would totally suck. Because they'd land in the middle of Times Square and just be like,
We're here to share our technology and all the secrets.
Oh, I guess this planet is deserted.
Well, let's go home.
Ha ha! That monkey has a cool haircut.
Now, because the Pentagon has said there might be aliens.
Some people are trying to come up with the theoriesories as the theories as the theories as the theories as their their their their their their their their their their thory thory thoes thoes thoes thoes thoes, thoes, thoes, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thiolioliolomea, thiolomea, thi, thi, thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thumoomoomorrow, thumoomorrow, thumoomorrow, thumoomoomorrow, thumoomorrow, thumoomorrow, thumoomorrow, thumoomorrow, thumoomorrow, might be aliens, some people are trying to come up with theories as to why they might be here.
Some people think they want to kill us.
Some think they want to save us.
But we don't know. We don't know anything.
What if the aliens get here and they're just like,
greetings humans.
We do not need anything on this planet.
We just came back to fetch to fetch to fetch to fetch to fetch to fetch to fetch to fetch to fetch our pet dodo's. Your pet dodo's? Yes, the dodo's. Those were our pets, so
precious to us. Ah, can we give you chickens instead? Why would we want chickens?
Oh, we might have killed all the dodo's. Who would kill a dodo? Yeah, that we don't even know why.
We just, we just, we just killed them. I assume you've seen John Wick. So you know how this has to go.
All right, that's it for Ray of Sunshine. Let's jump into some headlines. Let's keep the headlines off with news out of Sweden.
It's the Canada of Europe.
And unlike most countries in the world, Sweden decided against a mandatory shutdown.
And instead, they just told their citizens to be responsible and keep their distance.
Now, it appears that there have been upsides and downsides to this approach.
On the downside, Sweden has experienced almost triple the deaths
of its neighboring countries who did impose lockdowns. But on the upside,
the Swedish ambassador has now said that Stockholm could achieve herd immunity by May.
Yeah, and herd immunity is when so many people have immunity
that the disease can't spread as easily anymore.
It's sort of like when so many of your friends have watched a bad TV show
that it spares you from having to feel the pain for yourself.
And if Sweden achieves herd
I'm really going to be happy for them.
Although I will be honest, it always makes me nervous to hear people refer to as a herd.
Because nothing good ever happens to a herd.
It's usually, get that herd into the slaughterhouse.
It's never, I have a bunch of Amazon gift cards for that herd.
So Sweden's plan is sure to set off a big philosophical debate.
Should countries get slammed by coronavirus quickly and then get it over with? Or should they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the the the the thease thease the. theat theat the. the. the. I thoes thoes. I thoes. I thoes. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I that the. I'm thean. I'm tean. I'm togean. tean. tean. tean. tean. today. teatea. today. today. tod over with? Or should they try to spread out the pain
over a longer period of time?
In other words, is it better to be punched once by Mike Tyson
or punched 5,000 times by Michael Sarah?
Either way, a guy with a funny voice is hitting you.
And look, I hope Sweden is right,
and every other country is wrong.
Because if they are right, then we can end the lockdown and finally get back to our normal lives.
You know, like going out to dinner with our friends and get... Ah, I forgot, oh, I have a thing
that night. Sorry, guys, I got to cancel. But let's move on. Because while Sweden is experimenting
with its unconventional strategy, we're learning more about President Trump's unconventional strategy
of completely ignoring the pandemic as it was brewing.
Breaking overnight, the Washington Post reports U.S. intelligence officials warned
President Trump about the coronavirus threat in at least 12 classified briefings back in
January and February. But the Post reports, the President, quote, failed to register the threat.
Yes. It's being reported that Trump ignored 12 coronavirus warnings in his daily intelligence
briefings.
And honestly, I'm not surprised.
I mean, if they gave him the information in a briefing, of course he's not going to get it.
Because if you really want the president to pay attention, you've got to make that information
kid-friendly.
Then it sinks in.
So what you're saying is, the sick duck got all the other duck he's sick, and now that
duck has to sit by itself.
I get it. Sad duck.
All right, and finally, because Trump has turned every press briefing into a Joe Biden campaign
ad, you could be forgiven for not remembering that Mike Pence, Vice President and Man
from the Crosswalk symbol is technically in charge of the coronavirus task team. And yesterday, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, tho, tho, tho, tho, thuui, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thui, thi, thi, thu, thu, thu, thui, thuuuu, thuuuu, thuuu, thu, thuu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thuui, thui, thui, thui, thui, thui, thui, thui, thui, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, thui, thui, thui from the crosswalk symbol is technically in charge of the coronavirus
task team.
And yesterday, when he was asked why America just got to the testing levels he promised all
the way back in early March, Pence had a pretty unconvincing answer.
Mr. Vice President, back in early March, you said we'd be at 4 million tests by
the following week.
We're just now got there in the last few days. So what have you learned about what went wrong, you know, a month and a half
or the last month and a half? I appreciate the question, but it represents a
misunderstanding on your part and and frankly a lot of people in the public's
part about the difference between having a test versus the ability to
actually process the test.
So when you said 4 million tests seven weeks ago,
you were just talking about tests being sent out, not actually being completed?
I'm a little confused.
John, I think they're precisely correct.
Ah, I see what Mike Pence is saying.
You're supposed to just have the tests, not use them, you know,
like a penis. Like, what kind of excuse is that? Mike Pence sounds like some kind of weird
shitty dad? I promised you kids that we could go to Disneyland, not go inside Disneyland.
Now wave to Goofy through the bars. Come on, wave at him, wave. Oh, and in other Mike Pence news, today, the vice president tour-p. to the vice-p………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… to to to to to to to to to to to to to to be, and, and to me, to to be, and, to be, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, to, to, to, to to, to to to th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and th. And, and th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thin, Mike, th. th. th. thin, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, thin, Mike, Mike, th th th thinks, Mike, Mike, today, the vice president toured the famous Mayo Clinic
to meet with coronavirus patients and doctors.
And it turns out, he didn't wear a mask.
Yes, at the Mayo Clinic, which is totally against the rules.
In fact, it seems like they told him to, and he said he didn't want to wear a mask.
So I guess he was just like, it's okay everybody. I don't believe in science.
And dude, come on, what are you doing? Where a mosque? We know you have one at home.
We know what you've got, Mike. All right, that's it for the headlines.
Let's get into the big story. Last month, Congress passed the Paycheck Protection Program,
which set aside $342 billion to help small businesses through the pandemic shutdown.
Now, before most small businesses could get any help, that money disappeared, faster than Rudy Giuliani in direct sunlight.
And because of this, Congress has had to come back with a second round of funding with $310 additional billion.
But when it came time to hand it out yesterday, things got off to another rocky start.
This morning, millions of small businesses are still waiting for relief.
As delays, technical glitches, and overwhelming demand caused the Small Business Administration's portal
to crash within minutes of relaunching the new loan funding program.
The SBA, revealing twice as many people tried to access the program on Monday than at any time during the first round of loans.
Many lenders reported not being able to file applications for clients because the computer system kept crashing.
God damn it, man. How come it seems like every time the government builds a website, it crashes immediately.
Like I've never had this problem with my website pickles
and socks dot com and don't tell me it's because nobody wants to see photos of
pickles wearing socks. It's adorable. I mean look at that. Look at that. He's not
supposed to be wearing that sock because he's a pickle. It's so funny.
Now look computer errors can be fixed.
They probably just need to turn it off and turn it back on again.
That never works.
But there's a bigger problem with the PPP.
It turns out that one reason small businesses haven't been able to get their money is
because all the big businesses have been snapping it up.
We've learned that in round one of the PPP, a whopping 870 million went to publicly
traded companies.
At least 75 companies that were helped are so big that they're publicly traded and some
had market values greater than $100 million.
Some of the nation's largest restaurant chains are facing backlash, Shake Shack returning
$10 million it received after public outcry.
The Los Angeles Lakers organization is the latest not-so-small business to return a government loan.
The team received more than $4.5 million in the first round of loans.
Lakers are one of the NBA's most profitable franchises worth more than $4 billion.
Yeah, it turns out the companies who are getting a lot of the small business loan money
are small in the same way that Joe Exotic is chill.
I'll tell you about Carol Baskin.
Let me tell you about, and how come I can't say the n-word.
Even the Los Angeles Lakers got some of that small business money.
And I don't care what anybody says.
The Lakers do not need $4 million, All right? The NICS need $4 million
to bribe their fans, to act like they don't see what's going on. Now, it is important to
remember that although what these big companies did was shitty, it wasn't illegal, right? They
saw a chance, a chance to get money, and they took it, which is what companies are always going to do. Companies, you know how we all say all thapapapapapapapapapap. You all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, you all, th, you all, th. tho, tho, tho, th. th. th. thi, thi, th. thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th, th. th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, to to to to that, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to that, that, that, that that? No, we don't. My question is, why didn't the government come up with regulations
to make sure that the money for small businesses
actually went to small businesses?
It's like if you put down a bowl of food for a small dog,
you have to get the big dog out of the room.
Everyone knows that. Right. If you just ask the big dog not to to to to to to to to to to to eat to eat to eat to eat to eat to eat to eat to eat to eat the dog to eat the dog the dog to eat the dog to eat the dog to eat the to eat the the to eat their their their the the their their to to their to to to to to to to to their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their thoomoomoomoomoomoombs. thoomorrow. thoomorrow. tooomorrow. tooomorrow. tooomorrow. tooomorrow. tooombs. tooombs. tooomorrow. tooomorrow. tooomorrow. their not to eat the food, the dog's gonna be like, Oh, yeah, I'll think about it, but I think better when I'm full.
So let me just eat some of the food and then I'll let you know.
So you see, instead of keeping the big dogs out, the Treasury Department
just left the whole thing up to the banks.
And then the banks, lawsuit alleging they prioritized bigger customers because those PPP loans
yielded bigger fees for the banks. The program allows banks to prioritize
existing customers, particularly those with large credit lines, over small
businesses or new applicants. Nearly 8,500 of JPMorgan's
private and commercial bank customers who applied were assisted by what some
called a concierge banking service.
If you have $25 million and you go to a large bank,
the way that they're gonna get your account
is with white glove service,
that your corner shop just is not going to have.
And that means that you don't wait on hold,
you don't go through a web portal that doesn't work.
You call tho up the phone and scutes you to the front of the line. Yeah, you can't leave the loan decisions
up to the banks. You can't let them take government's money and then decide
who it goes to. Because unlike a government, a bank is a business. It's always
going to take care of its top customers first. So big companies weren't
waiting in line to get loans. They had the their their their their their their their their their to their to to their to their their to their to theircala to theircala to theircala to to to to to theircala. to thoe. their. to to thoomorrow. to to thoomorrow. thoomorrow. You can't their. their. their. their. Yeah. Yeah. their. Yeah. Yeah. their. Yeah. their. their. Yeah. their. Yeah. their. their. their. Yeah. thoe. Yeah. tho. Yeah. the. Yeah. theck. theck. Yeah. I. I. I. I. too. I. I. I'm too. I'm te. I'm tea. I'm. I'm. I'm tea. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm tea. I'm. I'm. I'm to. I'm. loans. They had direct access to the cash.
It's the same way Ivanka has direct access to Trump,
while Eric has to call and set up an appointment.
By the way, Eric, they're always busy.
They will always be busy.
So, that's what went wrong with the first round of small business loans.
And hopefully, hopefully the Treasury Department's new rules for the second round of money will ensure that the loans go to the companies that actually need it the most. But there's another big
aspect of the story that a lot of people are overlooking. Many small businesses
in America are owned by women and black people. And you know what many black-owned
and women-owned businesses don't have pre-existing relationships with banks.
So if the banks didn't know you before coronavirus, you're definitely not going to be on their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their to be on their to be on their their their to be on their their their their their their their their their their their th. But. But th. But th. But th. But th. But th. But th. But th. But th. But th. But th. But th. But th. But th. But th. But th. But th. But th. But th. But their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their to be. But. But. But. But, their to be. But, their toeean. But, their their their their toean. But. But, their their their their the. But. But. But. banks. So if the banks didn't know you before coronavirus,
you're definitely not going to be on their radar now,
which is why experts fear that up to 90% of women
and minority-owned businesses could be shut out of the loan program.
Now, I don't know how you fix this program overnight.
But if you're a woman or a minority who owns a small business,
I suggest you start practicing
your jump shot because that might be the only way you get some of this government cash.
After this short break, Michael Costa will give us a grand tour of his apartment.
So stick around.
We'll be right back.
When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.
This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.
Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.
You're rolling?
But that's all about to change.
Like none of this stuff gets looked at.
That's what's incredible.
I'm Seth Done of CBS News.
Listen to 60 minutesutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome back to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
You know, just because we are stuck in our homes doesn't mean that we can't enjoy traveling.
We just have to redefine what traveling is, and that's exactly what Michael Costa did.
Hi, I'm Michael Costa. Before the coronavirus, I had convinced Trevor to allow me to host a travel show tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho to to the to to to to the to to to to the to to the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to to the to to to to to to to to to to to to allow me to host a travel show through the Italian wine region.
It was the perfect scheme to allow me to go balls deep into a sea of Merlo.
But then we all went to shit.
So now I'm stuck taking you on a journey through my apartment.
Welcome to...
To... you on a journey through my apartment. Welcome to to to Dixie Street apartment
for alarm code 79 78. Come on.
Shit! My apartment is a beautiful land of two bedrooms and one bathroom, world-renowned for its natural
light, its high ceilings, and its access to nearby parks, which I can no longer visit.
It was colonized in 2017, after I was evicted for my previous homeland, for, according
to my parents, being 36.
But despite their ageism, I have moved on, and now enjoy this apartment immensely, especially
its culinary delights.
Here, in the centrally located kitchen, there are over three cereals to choose from,
including oat brand for when locals here are feeling a little irregular.
When you're in the kitchen, sample the national drink of my apartment,
home-brewed cumbucha, which locals praise as not as disgusting as it looks. In the middle of this bustling marketplace is an ancient heating device.
A word of caution to visitors though.
Keep away unless you really know what you do.
Damn it!
Do it!
Who left this fucking dig off?
While you're here, be sure to visit the Michael Costa Museum of Art and Minor accomplishments. Located on a neoclassical IKEA dresser, it holds my many
prize treasures like this autograph Regis Philbin Christmas CD. And behold the
crown jewel of the collection a rare golden Emmy. Although relentless
critics like my wife point out that it's a regional Emmy, but that's
fine. She can tear down others so she feels better. Even though it looks in ways exactly
the same as a real Emmy, six pounds, twelve ounces, but whose county? Anyway, this apartment
is also home to a world-class wildlife preserve. Arrange your guided tour to take in these amazing animals,
like this exotic North American,
Havanese, Mini Schnauzer Rescue Mix.
Here we have the pipe room.
If you're a fan of pipes, you gotta check it out.
Anytime you get to the pipes, you go here.
I don't know what any of this stuff does.
Let's move on.
Here, we have a window where...
Why are those kids playing outside?
Hey, kids, it's a global pandemic.
Jesus Christ, anybody who forced the rules anymore?
What can I go outside?
What day is it?
Is there such thing as time?
Have I ever truly been alive?
Who am I?
Should I give myself to the seat?
Did I be?
Leastov?
What is it?
Do my dog?
I master? I master?
I master?
Well, I hope you enjoy the strange and wonderful land that is Michael Costa.
Join me next week as we'll be exploring the bizarre sights, sounds, and odors of my building's
hallway.
Until then, I'm Michael Costa.
Boni Villoges y'oge! Let's get a f-foo-foo'f'f'e' this.
Thanks for that, Costa.
When we come back, my guest will be Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, so stick around.
Defeat the Corona virus, the coronavirus, surgical gowns,
we have no contingency, you know, contingency plan.
Administrator convalescent plasma and sephefahide.
That's 1,870,000 million tests.
To use the Defense Protection Act and the Defense Production Act, hydroxy chloroquine and
hydroxy chloroquy.
Remdeser, Bois, I thank them for their unwaiving and unwavering devotion, men's pride and
the selflessness.
The bravery of our truck drivers transfusing it into six patients,
six patients very, very, very powerfully so sick patients.
I am confident that by counting and continue.
Take an action to disband and suspend.
The internet made it so big.
Show you some of the ladders, just the data to the highest level of activists.
I mean, if you take a look at pure no record, since 1917, which was the Spanish flu.
1917, the pandemic, like nobody's seen since 1917.
Opening up America and we had the word a gun.
I think we can add the word probably again.
When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.
This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.
Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.
But that's all about to change.
Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible.
I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17.
Welcome back to the Daily Social Distancing Show. Earlier today, I got the chance to speak to Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth,
who serves on a bipartisan task force on reopening the economy.
Check it out.
Senator Duckworth, thank you so much for taking the time to join us on the Daily Social
Distancing Show.
It's good to be on, from far.
Yeah, from very far. Let's talk about the interesting world that you are a part of, the tapapapapapapapapapapapape, that you are that you are thi, that you thi, thi, that th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, th, thi, that that that that that that that that thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. to to to to to th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, to, to, to, too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too too. too. too. too. too. too, too, too world that you are a part of right now. As a senator, you are part of some of the biggest decisions
that America needs to make during this crucial time.
You have to make those decisions by voting.
I'm confused right now as to whether
senators are coming back into session or not coming into session,
because it seems like there's a lot of contradictory information.
I, I, I, I, do you know what you're doing yet? We do not know what we're doing yet. I will
tell you that we can pass this legislation by unanimous consent. That's how we
pass the latest bill that just passed last week. As long as it's a bipartisan
compromise and we all agree on it, we can actually pass it with unanimous consent.
Nobody is objecting. It can actually pass without senators physically being in the room.
We are on calls all day negotiating.
I was on four Zoom calls already today, only one of which was a preschool class of my five-year-old.
But, you know, we're actively working every day, but the legislation doesn't actually
physically require us to be there unless somebody objects and says we want people to physically
cast a vote. Right. Is there any reason anyone would have to want people to physically cast a vote. Right. Is there any reason anyone would have to want people to physically cost a vote during the time? I mean it feels like
an unnecessary risk for so many senators and their staff to be coming to D.C. to
cost votes that they can be doing digitally in video form. Right, with the
votes can be done unanimously. So we have a couple of senators, you know that the senators from Virginia and Maryland can go on the floor. to to be. to be. to be. to be. to be. the the the the to be. the the. the the. the the. to be. to be. the the. to be. the the. the the. the the. to be. the the. to be. the the. to be. the their. the the to be. to be. the the the the the the their. their. their. their. their. their. It is is, their. It is, their. It is, their. It is, their. It is. It is. It is. It is. It is. It is. I I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. It is. I. I. I. I. I. I. It's is, the the the the the the th. I. I. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm the the the the the the the the but actually Mitch McConnell can present the vote by unanimous consent. No one is there, no one
objects and then it just passes, which is what happened with COVID 3.5. We don't
physically need to be there. It's really I think a dog and pony show that Mitch
McConnell's trying to put on by calling everybody back and the
case scenario. that's the best case scenario, he's trying to bring us all back to help pass unqualified judges who really stack the courts for this Trump administration. Let's talk a little bit about the
bill and its importance. You know, it's rare that we see bipartisan anything from America's
government these days. Why do you think everyone is behind this bill and what do you think the importance
the bill is? What do you hope it will achieve? Well there are several things that I wanted to achieve. First, we need to get money to the hospitals.
All these hospitals, these first responders, the folks on the front lines need the money to keep operating.
I talked yesterday to 38 hospitals in Illinois, rural hospitals, they're on the verge of collapse.
They need the money in order to keep operating and serving their communities.
We need to make sure that we get money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money their communities. We need to make sure that we get money into the system for our small businesses.
In Illinois, 95% of our employers are small businesses.
They're drowning.
And the last bill that we pass are many of the big banks
game the system and actually set money
to large corporations that didn't meet it.
In this version, we put guardrails around it,
and we set aside money, $70 billion that will go
to small businesses in particular in small banks.
Very important in communities like the south side of Chicago for minority-owned businesses
that desperately need this money just to survive.
And then third, we need to make sure that we are able to reopen the economy and keep,
there to be an economy for us to reopen as we move forward. So let's take care of the first responders.
Let's make sure there's testing.
Let's make sure there's money for our small businesses.
And that is something I think we can all agree on.
Yeah, it really feels like more than ever,
citizens need the protection that their government can afford them.
Because, you know, we're learning so many so many so many so many so many so many so many so many so many so many so many so many so many so many so many so many so many so many so many so many so many th so many so many th so many th so many things about how the coronavirus adversely affects communities. You are a senator representing Illinois. Chicago is one of the hardest-hit
cities in America. And what we've also learned in Chicago is just like in many
places in America, it is disproportionately affecting black and brown
communities where we're starting to see the adverse effects of the world
that they lived in beforehand being exacerbated by coronavirus.
Are there any laws or any legislation that anyone is proposing that will try and help those
people specifically?
Because it feels like a lot of laws get written almost with blinders on, but there comes
a point when people say, do we fix the problem or do we act like the problem isn't
affecting some in a different way to others? Well, you you you the the the their their their their th, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, th, th, th, thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, thr, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th.......... th... th.... th. th.... th. th.. th. th. th. th. th. the, the, thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. toe, toe. toe. toea. toea. Wea. Wea. Wea. Wea. Wea. Wea. toea. toea. Wea. toea. thr. thr. thea. in a different way to others. Well, you put your finger right on it, Trevor, and it's something I've been working on for a while now.
Last year, I started the environmental justice of caucus in the Senate because the black-and-brown
communities in and around Chicago, for example, are the ones that have disproportionate location
of polluting industries. It's where, you know, these black and my communities are the air the environment. We have have the their, their, their, their, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their, their, threat, their, their, their, their, their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, their, their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and th. And, is is is is is is th. And, is thi. And, is thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, threats. And, their, their, their their thea. And, their their th their their theaugh, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, these black American communities are where we put the industries or pollute the air the environment. We have skyrocketing rates of asthma among African American kids in Chicago.
If you go from the loop in Chicago and you go down 10 L stops, which is what we call a subway,
the life expectancy dropped 20 years in 10 stops. That's just absolutely unacceptable.
So we need to address these issues. With the COVID-19 right now.
African Americans, for example, are 15% of our population in Illinois,
but they're 43% of the cases of COVID-19,
not just because of where they live
and in the higher rates of illnesses that they have,
but it's lack of access to health care.
And it's the jobs that they're holding.
They're the janitors, they're the people working their really hard work that keeps our society going. So I'm working on several issues.
I've been working on environmental justice to make sure we clean up the environment in
our black and brown communities.
And we give them the same rates of protection that we do for our more affluent suburbs.
And then we also need to make sure that we protect those workers who are on the
front lines. We can't forget about the folks who are working, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, their, th, th, their, th, th, their, th, th, th, th, th, their, thi, tho, their, tho, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, and their, their, the environment, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, the environment, the environment, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is the environment, is their, is their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, theyy.e.s.i.i.i.i. We're their, their, their, their, their, their about the folks that are working the McDonald's drive-through right now. They need a living wage and we need to support them. We can't forget about the
janitor who's cleaning the hospitals right now, because they need to be protected as well.
Right. A group that definitely needs protection right now, not just for themselves, but for
the health of the economy in America, small businesses. You know, we've been talking about how this loan program was meant to invigorate small businesses
and to keep them afloat during the coronavirus shutdown.
But as you said, big businesses got the money because banks found a way to game the system.
Now I know the Treasury has put in some guidelines for this next round of funding, but
is there going to be any ramifications?
Are there going to be any ramifications?
Like, is anyone going to ask questions about where the money went who the money went to? Are
companies that didn't need the money going to be forced to give the money back?
How is that working? Well I am joining a group of senators in a letter requesting
exactly that. Where did the money go? How did those people get the money?
Was it just because they all have relationships with Wells Fargo and Chase? Or whether I went through small community banks? And then I want to break it down by industry
as well so that we know that the money is going out across the board to lots of different
industries so that it's not just one industry that's getting bulk with the money. And then in the 3.5 field we've actually put guidelines around it so that a lot of this money would th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. the. tho, we thr-wea, we know, we know, we know, we'll the. the. the. the. the, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we the money, we know, we the money, we the money, we know, we know, we'll thr-in, we'll thr-in, we'll thrown. thrown. thrown. thro. thro. thro. thr-in. thr-in. th. thro. thr-a. thr- through small community banks and credit unions and the
like to, those are more likely to lend to small businesses to mom and pop stores, that sort of
thing. And in this next bill, COVID-4 that we're negotiating, we're making sure that we double
down on that. And I want to go back and take a look and see how exactly the Department
administration distribute this money. Because I, you know, I just don't, I don't trust the Department of Treasury under the Trump administration very much, unfortunately.
I mean, I wish I could, but I just worried that they're not doing things where they're
favoring small businesses as opposed to large corporations.
Let's talk a little bit about the coronavirus itself.
We hear about task forces, we hear about teams that are working together. At one point I heard you were part of a team, but I haven't seen you as part of that team,
and again, forgive me, but I don't understand.
Are you part of the Corona Task Force that is deciding when to reopen the economy?
Yes, I am part of the task force.
to reoombue the same state that are on the task force. It was a surprise to me because I wasn't even asked.
I'm glad to be on it.
I'm going to be pushing hard to make sure that before we open the economy in any way,
we have enough testing, both for whether or not people are positive,
but also contact tracing and then we have to shut back down.
I think that would be worse for our economy than to move forward in a methodical way.
Our task force has only met once. We had had one phone call for an hour. 45 minutes of that
the hour was spent with President Trump boasting had we had conducted more tests in any other country and at other countries were calling us, asking for us to give them tests, all of which are not true.
And when asked how much, how many tests do we need for the country, the term administration
had no answers. On a separate call with Vice President Pence, we ask him the same thing. How many, this is a basic math problem. You need to know how many tasks, tasks, tasks, tasks, tasks, to to know, to to to know, to to to their, to their, their, their, thea, their, thea, thea, their, their, their, thea, thea, thea, tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi.a, thea, thea.augh, thea, thea, thea, thea, thea, thea, thea, thea, thea many tests we need to have. For example, Israel
tests their frontline health care workers every three days. You can do the basic math
and figure out how many tests you need. And they don't even know how many tests they have
or how they projected to have them. And so it's very frustrating working with
this administration. It's why I push so hard to use the Defense Production Act. And I'm actually writing new language right now
to include pandemic response in the Defense Production Act
for testing supplies and PPE as well.
Well, you know, changing gears for a moment
before I let you go, you were the senator
who made news for being the first senator
to bring their child to work with them.
And you know, it was inspiring and it was amazing because they, you were at work work, the the the their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thii, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, and, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, thi, toee.. toe. toe. toea, toea, toe. t tea. tea, te. te. they you were at work with your child and now once again you are at work with your
child but just both at home and now you're at school with your child. It's
been quite a journey for yourself and for your family being being the mother
of two young kids. What has the hardest part of homeschooling slash
spending the full day with them been? Well, the hardest part is really, I want to spend all my time with them.
And homeschooling, I think, is probably the hardest part.
I'm homeschooling my daughter every day.
And I had great respect for her teachers before
and our educators before.
But right now, I mean, I would kiss her teacher's feet. Because I am blown away by how hard our educators work and how th is, and how th is, and how th is, and how th is, and how th is, and how th is, and how thi is, and how, and how thi is, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I, and, and, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I, I, I, I, I, to, to, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I is, I is, I is, I is, I is, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi.. I'm, is, thi. I'm, thi. I'm, tho, tho, to, toge.a, too.a, is, tool.a, is, tool. I'm, tool. I'm, tomorrow, is, tomorrow, work and how tough it is. And so I'm trying to homeschool my daughter.
But let me say something, Trevor.
I have a job.
My job is paying me a salary.
I cannot imagine what it must be like.
You know, I can't imagine, because my dad was in his 50s when he lost his job,
but my family was on food stamps and we didn't have enough to eat. So there are a lot of families right now in this country that are hurting who need help. And that's what I'm focused on right now. And so
yeah, it's tough homeschooling my daughter but it's nowhere near as hard as
the janitor who's got to go show up to his clean up a hospital who doesn't
have the ability to homeschool her child and now you know her salary. their salary, thiii, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, it's tho, it's tho, it's thi, it's tho, it's to to to to to to to to to to to to to to tough, it's tough, it's to to tough, it, it, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's tough, it's tough, it's tough, it's tough, it's tough, it's tough, it's tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, So that's the family that I'm focused on. My family and I will be fine. I'm just worried about the working families out
there. Well Senator Duckworth, thank you so much for your time and good luck
with the homeschooling. Thank you. Thank you so much for that Senator
Duckworth. Stick around. The daily show will be right back after this. Well, that's our show for tonight. Before we go. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. the the. the the. the the. the the the the the the the. the the. the the. thean. the. thean. to to to to to to to for tonight. Before we go, the COVID pandemic has devastated communities
around the world. But remember, the International Medical Corps is helping those communities
rebuild and recover. And if you are able to, and you would like to help them in their global
outreach, please donate whatever you can. And if you'd like to support the response here, at home
in New York specifically, please donate to the NYC health care heroes who are providing care packages to our health care workers,
hospitals and temporary medical facilities.
Until tomorrow, stay safe out there, wash your hands, and don't forget,
lotion can also be used to moisterize the rest of your body.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Ears Edition.
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