c-span has round-the-clock coverage of the federal response to the coronavirus for -- pandemic and it's all available on demand at www.c-span.org/ coronavirus. watch white house briefings, updates from governors and state officials, track the spread throughout the u.s. and the world with interactive maps. watch on-demand any time unfiltered at www.c-span.org/ coronavirus. >> not very good employment numbers this morning. unemployment amid outbreak hits 17 million. layoff spung economy into a hideous state, just below on this front page of u.s. "today," you can see a woman here in her car wearing a mask in hialeah, florida, collecting unemployment . the story says the economy continues to shed job that are

jaw-dropping pace and there is little sign that payroll losses will ease significantly any time soon amid the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. here is the front page of the "new york times" this morning. "it's terrifying" says the headline from one person who is being interviewed by "the times." millions more out of work. efforts by the u.s. to halt economic damage can't keep up. that's the "new york times." in terms of keeping up, congress as we mentioned did meet up yesterday but lawmakers hit an impasse of the next step. a congressional effort to boost funding for small businesses as republicans and democrats rejected each other's plans for the next trong of coronavirus leave. congress passed and president trump signed a massive $2.2 million relief package less than two weeks ago but the depth of

the downturn rushed lawmakers to he negotiating table -- >> we need to patch holes as we see them and keep moving forward together. everybody in the senate voted to send historic funding to hospitals and health care providers. everyone supports funding hospitals. i'm in favor of even more funding for hospitals and providers down the line. i've been talking to a number of them as i'm sure our colleagues have over the last couple of weeks. but certainly, we need to see the fixing, the existing funding

begin to work before we know what additional resources may be needed. i've been urging the secretary to push this money on the frontline as soon as possible. i'm glad tens of billions are going to go out tomorrow. there's only one part of the cares act that is already, already at risk of exhausting its funding right now. only one part of the cares act is at risk of exhausting its funding right now. the paycheck protection program. we're asking small business owners across america to place their faith in us. we're asking them to keep workers on payroll because congress, the treasury and s.p.a. will have their back. we must not fail them. my colleagues must not treat working americans as political hostages. this does not have to be nor should it be contentious. we don't have to divide along

the usual lines so soon after we came together for the country. divide democratic colleagues, please, please. do not block emergency aid you did not even oppose just because you want something more. do not block emergency aid you do not oppose just because you want something more. >> the majority did that p.p.e., the paycheck protection plan is running out of money. it has not. it has not been released but there are programs under cares act that have run out of money. he emergency disaster relief loan program which provides we've r businesses and

allowed businesses that have been affected by the coronavirus to file those claims, that has out of money. and i'll give you the numbers in a minute. and the grant programs that is included in case, up to $10,000 where a small business can get a grant from the small business administration is out of funds. they need money today in order to process applications. the s.b.a. doesn't need money today to process paycheck protection program. the paycheck protection program was negotiated in good faith but senator rubio, collin and myself, and we're very proud of that program. it's working very well. it's a good program. we strongly support it. it's bipartisan. but this unanimous consent request was not negotiated. there was no efforts made to follow the process that we could get this done so it won't get done. it's not going to be enacted and

the majority leader knows that. so what democrats are prepared to make clear and support every small business that's eligible to receive the paycheck protection plan, we're going to support their applications being received, processed and fully funded and we will put as much money as needed to make sure that every small business can participate that's eligible in hat program. host: from the floor of this is senate yesterday, "washington post" headline says senate continues to clash as competing proposals for more rescue funds fail from here, it is uncertain where the standoff will go with both the house and senate out of session now and lawmakers unwilling to return to washington en masse because of

health concerns, nothing can pass either chamber without bipartisan agreement that has the unanimous support of all lawmakers. any one lawmaker of either party has the ability to object and block any legislation from moving forward. to your calls now on whether you think more health is -- help is needed from congress at this point in the coronavirus pandemic. rob from boca raton, florida, you're up first. caller: thank you. thank you for c-span the work that you do. you know, mitch mcconnell there is bending the truth quite a bit and the republicans, they're blocking the emergency aid by not allowing proper oversight of our money but that's not what i called to say. i don't know why the republicans are against oversight. that's part of the problem. i trust them as far as i thousand them. so i want oversight of our money. that's our tax dollars. i never thought i would say that but medicare for all with

coronavirus. i'm not a medicare for all guy, you know. i'm not a tree hugger. i'm not one of those people but it's been floated out there that the idea that you have uninsured people that are coming down with this horrific illness and it suddenly made sense to me. medicare for all with the coronavirus. you know, they ought to bring back the cash for clunkers to try like they did 10 years ago to save the auto business. and my final thought. i'm not a hater, but this ridiculous president that we have who's put on the trump show and pretending to put on a serious news conference when he's really just doing these -- he's doing his campaign rallies but when we should be listening to doctors and he's out there spinning and lying and carrying on like a high school student

judge judy says that was her high schoolers, she used to say that when their lips are moving, they're lying. unfortunately, our adolescent president, same thing's true for him. thank you. host: heidi, good morning to you. what's the situation in the borough of brooklyn in the city at large there? caller: yes, hello. i hope everyone stays well. thank you for having me. i believe that more money should go to small business, individuals and localities on the most important thing is that we have oversight to make sure that these republicans don't give money to big business. we need public financing of elections so that the people can be heard and the people get what they need. we were not ready for this pandemic. it's scary that we have this government still in place. we need to vote the republicans out immediately. we need true government. thank you very much. host: all right. and michael is calling now.

let's go to south carolina. aiken, south carolina. michael, good morning. why don't you describe the conditions these days with the coronavirus and then you can answer our question. how about that? what's the latest news in south carolina? caller: well, it's -- we laid off from work and they passed this thing. they are going to pass another bill to help us out. well it passed $2.2 trillion bill about three weeks ago and when you get laid off, you have no waiting week. well, three weeks when you got a check. they send you a letter first first week saying oh, your h.r. t you approved for unemployment. weekend week, they send you a letter saying you will get $256. but what about that $600 extra

you're going to get? no, that's not in there. then the third week, no check. so why should they pass more aid for the american economy? they will send out nothing. i don't understand that. and then the people at the plant, the four people that are working there, the plant manager, the assistant plant manager, the supervisor and one other person, h.r. woman. and they getting a check just to stay open. i know they are. but it don't make no sense why are they going to pass more money if it ain't coming to us? host: michael, thanks for calling we go to norman. is more needed from congress and if so, what is it? caller: that's bottle, washington. host: yes, bottle. caller: i've been retired 17

years. i'm a retired educator and in both cases, we were supposed to get in 2008 a cost of living raise. this year, they were talking on a cost of living raise for us and then we hear the senate, the senate denying money to the state's legislatures to give money to them so that they can support the people they have on retirement. i'm really fed up with these people. i don't really know what's going to happen to no cost of living, i have improved my income only by the stock market. and then look what the stock market did in 2020 and look at what it did in 2008. host: norman, what's the state -- what's the specific message to congress then? caller: i want them to give funds to the state legislatures to support this state -- its state's citizens. host: ok. thank you for calling, norman.

taking your calls this morning and whether you think more is needed now from congress. this following a half an hour of session from the senate yesterday where they did not advance legislation on small business. some of the reaction from members of congress. sheldon says a political stunt comes from people are relying on people to get things -- congress s getting things done. emergency money for hospitals, states and food assistance. that's sheldon white house. here is liz cheney from wyoming. nancy pelosi and senate democrats are blocking small business relief. his is despicable. and nancy pelosi did an audio briefing for reporters yesterday. and here's what she had to say

about small business. >> on tuesday morning, secretary mnuchin called, that would be two days ago, secretary mnuchin alled and asked for a water of a trillion dollars in 48 hours. with no data. just a quarter of $1 trillion in 48 hours. peter mcconnell honored that request, i said honored, really, dishonored the needs that we have put a stunt on the floor of the senate to esting that $250 billion no data as to why we needed and the rest. when they are outstanding needs, we should have been doing and what we offered to do was to sit down and figure out what the numbers are that are needed most urgently. and so you may have seen this

morning that the stunt was performed by the leader knowing that it would fail and in good faith proposal to negotiate and address the immediate needs that we have put forth by the senator ben cardin, the ranking member on the small business committee and kristin holland. host: more about what the democrats are looking back on that "washington post" piece. democrats would proposal andy drirble -- additional $250 million. speaker most has not spoken with the secretary but reiterated his proposed $250 billion increase would never pass the house by unanimous consent. it is the basis for some

negotiation but it would never pass the house by unanimous consent. let's go to carlton. what about congress at this point? is more needed? aller: yes, sir. they need to give more money to the rural hospitals. that's what needed to be done. but the rural hospital, they are shutting down and laying off personnel. the rural hospitals need the ost to keep operating. that's my comment. you have a good weekend. host: thank you, charlton. shawn is here from lakeland, florida now. good morning, shawn. caller: yes, good morning. i want to talk about the forgotten demographic, the non-essential worker who is a non-custodial parents.

if you owe child support, you don't get a stimulus check. so if you're a non-essential worker that's on child support, you are getting charged every week. f you're in florida like i am, i mean, i am an essential worker, i'm working. but it's people that aren't working that are paying child support, that are trying to file unemployment. unemployment has at least a five-week backlog. so it's going to be six weeks before you even get a check. so in those six weeks that you're not getting anything, who knows how long you've been out of work? you could have been out of work three weeks ago. host: shawn, what kind of work do you? caller: i have two jobs and. i work at a food warehouse and at dollar store. host: what are conditions like the workplace? how are you protecting yourself and what's the level of concern that you have and your colleagues have right now? caller: it really depends on the person.

at the dollar store, i'm one of the people -- we had a couple of employees quit because of just their fear one of them had previous respiratory issues so she was like she didn't feel comfortable being around people like that. and then the other one had just had a baby. so she didn't want to get anything and take it home to the kids. and at the warehouse, they basically, they cut third shift completely out. urloughed a lot of people. they cut us back to four days a week. they cut the hours so much we're working four six's now whereas other people are working 10 and 12 hours a day, five, six days a week assignment cut back, but, i mean, think of all those people. because i know there were people who i was working with woo was paying child support who got furloughed. that was the whole thing. like how are they going to get a

check? and it's people they're trying to get a job. a couple of guys got pizza delivery jobs and stuff like that. but i mean, everybody's trying to get those jobs right now. there's so many people that's annoyed. so how is like they're -- unemployed. and this is the killer about the whole thing. they gave the kids $500. so if somebody owe back taxes, they get a check. if somebody owes student loans, they get a check. so it's like hold up. you could owe student loans, back tax, you could owe any amount of money to anybody. you could be on s.s.i. everybody gets a check except for the person who when they was working, they are already getting less of a check at a time when america was supposed to be what they were saying everybody is 60% or 4 a% of americans were $500 away emergency would break them.

ok. this is that $500 emergency. because i guarantee you $500 won't last nobody six weeks. host: all right, shawn, thanks for answering our question and telling us about your situation. one more call here. pat from win instead, connecticut and then we'll get to some more tweets and social media. pat, go ahead, please. caller: hi, good morning. i'm a health care worker and i'm on my fourth day of quarantine. d i'm dismayed to learn that there is a health care provider and first responder exemption paycheck ype of the protection program, anything like that and we are able to get a family leave if we were on sick or vacation time. but i would like someone to try and explain to me why the health care providers and essential workers have an exemption.

and that makes no sense to me for everyone touting the front lines, i hope it would be followed by please take care of yourself because if we need help, we're left hanging with no recourse. host: pat, thanks for calling. marlin where is congress should do what they voted to do. where are the checks? where is the small business aid? we also have mike in orlando. congress should mandate virus testing by everybody. by doing this, you can establish who is infected and re-establish opening the economy. congress is not doing anything and we will continue to take your comments by social media and text and calls. here's a couple of other handle

this friday morning. fed provides $600 billion business loan infusion. part of $2.2 trillion. that's in "u.s.a. today." "wall street journal" puts it this way. fed's new loans are broadest ever. the federal reserve is going further than ever unveiling programs to lend directly to state, cities and midsized business that is have seen revenues evaporate amid efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak. and the central bank would expand plans to backstop lending to large companies by supporting riskier bonds issued by corporations that have lost their investment grade status. the brookings institute. the fed chair spoke with folks there in a virtual type of event and here's what he had to say yesterday about the economy and where it might be headed. >> our emergency measures are

reserved for truly rare circumstances such as those we face today. when the economies well on its way back to recovery and private markets and institutions are once again able to perform their vital functions of channeling credit, will but these emergency tools away. none of us has the luxury of choosing their challenges. fate and history provide them for us. our job is to meet the tests we are presented. at the fed, we're doing all we can to help shepherd the economy through this zl time. when the spread of the virus is under control, businesses will reopen and people will come back to work. there is every reason to believe that the economic rebound when it comes can be robust. we enter this turbulent period on a strong economic footing and that should help support the recovery. in the meantime, we are using our tools to help build a bridge from the solid economic foundation on which we entered this crisis to a position of regained economic strength on the other side.

host: that was fed chair j. powell speaking with brookings. we go back to our discussion with congress. here's the headline. no deal on fresh coronavirus aid package. risk over side and shape of relief package threatens the small business fund. brenda from south carolina. thank you for joining us, brenda. caller: yes, my comment is basically a very disappointed in the republicans asking for more money and the shape that the country's in right now with the medical workers and the nurses and not having p.p.e. equipments to work with to help with the sick people. i don't understand why they're asking for more money and without oversight. it's almost like asking for money for small businesses and the american people who really need the help, they can't get it and the briefings that they have every day. i don't even watch it anymore. host: how come? caller: because the president gets up there and performs and acts and don't tell the truth.

so, -- in nevada.s good morning. it is more needed from congress at this point? caller: a couple of things. i get perturbed with mitch mcconnell saying that the democrats are playing politics. when they structure bills, they always seem to live out -- leave out incidentals that help the little guy. hospitals, emergency people, so on and so forth. he said that nancy pelosi is playing games. they are not playing games. they are trying to help the people that you decided to leave out. now, there should be more working together than what is really happening. there is still so much