This came out of nowhere. You may not in fact be shocked when I tell you that. Lots of people predicted this from scientists to doctors to past presidents who even prepared for it to billionaire philanthropists who gave Ted talks and science fiction writers who wrote books a lot of people predicted a pandemic but the United States. And if we're being fair about a lot of countries including US still weren't ready the pandemic we're living through right. New is one of a number of scenarios that worry analysts and scientists. It's a low probability high consequence event that means it probably won't happen in any given year but over years and decades it gets far more likely and if we're not ready just like we weren't ready for this one. It can be devastating. So what exactly are the threats that we should be preparing for now as we deal with the pandemic what worries the giant intelligence apparatus to the south of US and other intelligence agencies around the world? I mean look. It's been a few months of nonstop virus anxiety so we figured we should maybe find you something new to worry about your welcome. I'm Jordan Heath Rawlings and this is the big story. Garrett graff is a writer with politico who put together a very interesting list hi Garrett I think for having me no problem we uh we. We realized that had been a while since we checked in with our neighbors to the south and a as soon as we did we say you guys are fretting about a lot of things but just first of all I mean. How are you guys doing these days? I think the mood in the nation is darkening. I think there is both a sense of. This is not going to be a short crisis. Either in terms of the public health aspect or the economic aspect and that the government is not rising to the occasion in the way that we are used to as Americans seeing our government rise to the occasion that Such as we have found bright lights and hope in leadership here it has been largely at the local level and at the state level and that the federal government still seems dramatically outclass by the scale of handle. That's unfolding right now. I mean I will tell you. There is a ton of discussion amongst our political leaders up here To simply ask the federal government to please keep the border closed because I think that the general populace is is. Frankly worried about you folks. Yeah and Vermont is Where I live is actually in very good shape in that. We are one of just three states right now. That is actually has Qisas moving in the right direction and We are beginning to reopen But you know when you look at all of the states surrounding us. They they are still in the midst of really terrifying outbreaks. And the reason. We're calling you today because we wanted to kind of get a sense of what's going on the states and what you guys are thinking about. And what comes next and you put together A very interesting and somewhat depressing piece for politico about something called the domestic threat assessment. So why don't you tell me I what is it? And how did you make it ashore? So an annual tradition in the United States for the last dozen or so years is that each winter the director of national intelligence here the person who oversees the seventeen different intelligence agencies that make up the US intelligence community issues what they call basically a collective worldwide threat assessment It's twenty or thirty page.