Tom's guest for today's Newsmaker interview is the senior U.S. Senator from Maryland, Ben Cardin. First elected to the Senate in 2006, he’s the Ranking Member of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee. He is a longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Environment & Public Works committees. He also serves on the Senate Finance Committee.
Senator Cardin joins us to discuss a range of urgent topics facing Marylanders and the nation, starting with the response to the widening US outbreak of CoVID19, the new coronavirus disease that's now turned up in more than 20 states, including three new cases just reported in Montgomery County, Maryland...
Governor Larry Hogan has declared a state of emergency in Maryland and requested emergency funding to confront the new coronavirus. Worldwide, nearly 100,000 people have been infected. More than 3,200 have died from the disease. 12 Americans have perished, most from a nursing home in Washington State.
Yesterday, President Trump signed an $8.3 billion dollar package to fight the virus, including research to develop a vaccine.
The economic impact of the virus is severe. The US stock market continued its rocky week, plunging more than 700 points at the open this morning, as investors flee equities in favor of bonds, which caused the 10 year Treasury yield to plummet to near record lows. As of its close last night, stocks had lost $3.67 trillion dollars in value since their mid-February high.
Senator Cardin discusses the US response to the outbreak, the new dynamics in the Democrats' primary race for the 2020 presidential nomination, immigration policy, the environment and other issues. The Senator also addresses listener comments and questions. The conversation was livestreamed on the WYPR Facebook page, and you can watch the video here.
