THROUGH THE ORGANIZATION HE CREATED, COMMUNITY ORGANIZED
RELIEF EFFORT.
RELIEF EFFORT. SEAN, PU VERY MUCH FOR JOINING
US TONIGHT.
US TONIGHT. HOW DID YOU GET THIS UP AND
RUNNING SO QUICKLY AND HOW BIG
CAN YOU EXPAND IT TO BE?
>> WELL, FIRST THANKS FOR HAVING
ME ON, LAWRENCE.
GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN.
WELL, THE WAY WE WERE ABLE TO
MOBILIZE QUICKLY IS THAT I
HAPPENED TO HAVE AN EXISTING
INFRASTRUCTURE WITH THE
ORGANIZATION CORE.
ORGANIZATION CORE. AND SO AS SOON AS THIS CAME --
YOU KNOW, BECAME CLEAR THAT THIS
WAS A GAP, WE THOUGHT WE OWED IT
TO JUMP IN.
IT’S WHAT WE DO.
IT’S WHAT WE’RE COMMITTED TO
DOING AND HAVE COMMITTED TO
PEOPLE AND OUR DONORS TO DO.
SO IN THIS CASE THE REASON --
THE PRIMARY END FOR US WAS THAT
IN CALIFORNIA WE HAVE AN
EXTRAORDINARY LEADERSHIP FROM
GOVERNOR NEWSOM’S OFFICE TO
MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI’S OFFICE.
AND STARTING IN LOS ANGELES,
WHERE WE’RE ABLE TO CREATE WHAT
I THINK IS A FIRST OF THIS KIND
OF PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN AN NGO
AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE, MAYOR
GARCETTI’S OFFICE WITH THE LOS
ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT HAD
ALREADY BEEN DOING SITES.
BUT THIS TOOK PRINCIPAL HIGH
SKILL SET EMERGENCY RESPONDERS
OUT OF THE STATION AND OFF THE
STREETS.
STREETS. THE LANE THAT WE WORK IN CAN BE
QUICKLY TRAINED UP.
AND SO THE LOS ANGELES FIRE
DEPARTMENT TRAINED UP OUR
VOLUNTEERS AND US IN THE TESTING
PROCESS AND WE WERE ABLE TO
ABSORB THOSE SITES, INCREASINGLY
ABSORB THE SITES THAT THE
FIREFIGHTERS WERE MANNING SO
THAT THEY COULD GET BACK OUT AND
SERVE THE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA,
SERVE THE PEOPLE OF LOS ANGELES
AND ULTIMATELY CALIFORNIA.
AND NOW WE ARE MOVING AND
EXPANDING STATEWIDE IN
COLLABORATION WITH THE
GOVERNOR’S OFFICE, LEADERSHIP
AND COMMUNICATIONS IS EVERYTHING
AND SO I’M CONFIDENT THAT WE’LL
CONTINUE TO BE DELIBERATE AND
MOVE FORWARD AND ULTIMATELY HOPE
TO -- BY ULTIMATELY I’M TALKING
ABOUT WITHIN A COUPLE OF WEEKS
EXPAND THESE PROJECTS BOTH IN
CORE’S DIRECT IMPLEMENTATION BUT
ALSO BY PUTTING OUT A MANUAL OF
AT LEAST OUR LESSONS LEARNED
EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH LOCAL
GOVERNMENTS TO SEE THAT THAT
COULD BE REPLICATED BY OTHER
ORGANIZATIONS AT LARGE
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.
>> AND SEAN, WHAT ABOUT THE
SUPPLY OF TESTING THAT WE NEED
BOTH IN LOS ANGELES, BEYOND LOS
ANGELES, THE STATE OF
CALIFORNIA, AND THE COUNTRY?
>> WELL, I THINK WE SHOULD BE
TALKING ABOUT SUPPLIES AT LARGE.
THE PPE ISSUE IS -- WITHOUT PPE
YOU HAVE NO PROPER TESTING.
THIS IS ONE AREA IN TERMS OF THE
NATIONAL STRATEGY, THE FEDERAL
GUIDELINES THAT WE REALLY NEED
NOW, AND I THINK IF PRESIDENT
KENNEDY COULD SAY IN TEN YEARS
WE’LL GET A MAN ON THE MOON THAT
IT WOULD BE AN EXTRAORDINARY AND
DOABLE LEGACY FOR THE CURRENT
ADMINISTRATION TO REALLY, REALLY
PUT A HERCULEAN EFFORT INTO THE
DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT
INITIATIVES SO THAT ALL OF THESE
STOCKPILES IN TERMS OF IMMEDIATE
NEED COULD BE FULFILLED AND ALSO
SO THAT WE COULD END THE DAY
PREPARED FOR THE NEXT SUCH EVENT
IN THE WAY THAT WE WORK TODAY.
>> SEAN, IF WE CONTINUE GOING
THE WAY WE’RE GOING, WITH THE
PRESIDENT BASICALLY SAYING IT’S
UP TO THE GOVERNORS, THE
GOVERNORS DOING THEIR BEST, YOU
JUMPING IN, VOLUNTEERS LIKE YOU
JUMPING IN, HOW FAR AWAY ARE WE
TONIGHT FROM GETTING 300 MILLION
PEOPLE TESTED IN THIS COUNTRY?
>> WELL, THAT’S -- YOU KNOW, I
WOULD BE LYING IF I SAID THAT I
WAS PARTICULARLY OPTIMISTIC THAT
THAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.
THE OTHER THING IS, TO BE QUITE
FRANK, TESTING IS AS VALUABLE AS
THE ISOLATION OR QUARANTINE THAT
THE PERSON BEING TESTED OFFERS
BEFORE THEY GET THEIR RESULTS.
IF YOU HAVE CONTACT BETWEEN YOUR
TEST AND YOUR RESULTS, THEN YOUR
RESULTS ARE IN QUESTION.
THE VARIOUS TEST KITS -- THIS IS
PARTLY THE PROBLEM AND THAT IS
PARTLY A PROBLEM CERTAINLY OF
PIPELINE, BUT IT’S ALSO A
FUNCTION OF TOO MUCH INFORMATION
ABSORPTION WHERE THERE SEEMS TO
BE EVERY STORY IS ABOUT THE NEXT
TEST KIT AND SO ON AND SO FORTH.
AND SO THE BASIC INTEGRITY OF
THESE THINGS ARE NOT BEING
QUESTIONED.
QUESTIONED. WE HAVE AN ORGANIZATIONAL POLICY
WHICH IS SLOW IS SMOOTH, SMOOTH
IS FAST, AND BLOOD IS SLIPPERY.
AND WE’RE TRYING WITH ALL OF THE
ORGANIZATIONAL EFFORTS AND WITH
THE GREAT SUPPORT OF LOS ANGELES
FIRE AND MAYOR GARCETTI AND
GOVERNOR NEWSOM TO BE VERY, VERY