washington journal on the federal response to the coronavirus crisis. join us at eight :00 p.m. eastern with dr. anthony fauci, the director of the national institute of allergies and infectious diseases and a member of the white house coronavirus task force and director of the infectious diseases division at the university of alabama at birmingham school of medicine on the national fight against the coronavirus and his own experience contracting and recovering from the disease. join the conversation about the coronavirus crisis on washington journal prime time monday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. states to closely watch was kansas, where the decision came down late yesterday from the supreme court. of the a recording public radio station in kansas city. court preserves a ban on large church services. shemocratic governor said

hold sweeping powers to shut down operations on the state, including large church services in the face of a public health crisis. the high court in kansas set up that panel of legislative leaders who lack the power to reverse the controversial limits on church and funeral services. she said the action was needed to respond to the spread of covid-19. that meant last night kelly's order banning church gatherings of 10 or more congregants remained in force. they write the ruling force justices to weigh in on an issue that tingles politics, religion, and debate about the powers granted to a governor when a daily pen to make strikes. tingles together politics, religion, and debate about the powers g in kentucky, this is the reporting in louisville. judge allows drive in service at louisville church. a federal judge reboot mayor

fischer's call for churches to forgo drive-in services, calling the move unconstitutional and overly broad. they write that, on holy thursday, and american mayor criminalized the celebration of in a temporary restraining order saturday. on fire christian church in louisville sued the city friday, arguing the mayor's direction on driving religious services violated constitutional rights and their religious liberty. should religious gatherings be exempt from state -- stay-at-home orders? that is our question this morning. (202) 748-8000 is the line for those of you in the eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 mountain pacific. the president talked about the issue in the daily briefing

friday. here is what he said. [video clip] >> though we will not be able to gather together with one another as we normally would on easter, we can use this sacred time to focus on prayer, reflection, and growing in our purse no relationship with god -- our personal relationship with god. i pray to god to give strength to the doctors, nurses, and health care workers to restore health to the sick and to renew the hope that president trump's remarks. your comments on facebook and twitter as well. a couple post on facebook. this from donna that says, no, you cannot worship from home. livestream if that is an option, but letting large gatherings of any kind is a public hazard. jeffrey says accommodations must be made. not everyone who wants to

worship with others has social media access. people who can keep safe, personal distance from others should not be forbidden from congregating. religious beliefs and practices are so precious. they deserve the highest respect and protection. this is because this deadly and contagious virus does not check whether or not you have been exempted from the stay-at-home order before infecting you. and bc on twitter, who says jesus would tell you that organized religion today is a sham and a scam to get your cash. god needs no money. only man does. god did not make covid-19, man did. god will not cure it. only man can. that is from some of our viewers and listeners. (202) 748-8000 for those of you in the eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 for those of you in the mountain and pacific. another story, the lead story this morning in "the new york

times," the headline says he could have seen what is coming, behind trump's failure on the virus. an examination reveals that the president was warned about the potential for the pandemic, but internal divisions, lack of planning and his faith in his own instincts led to a halting response. "any way you cut it, this will be bad," a senior advisor wrote on the night of january 28 in an email to a group of public health experts scattered around the government and universities. "the projected size and outbreak already seems hard to believe." a week after the first coronavirus case had been identified in the united states and six long weeks before the president finally took aggressive action to confront the danger the nation was facing, a pandemic now forecast to take tens of thousands of american lives, the doctor was urging the upper ranks of the nation's public health bureaucracy to wake up and prepare for the possibility of far more drastic action. he says, "you guys made fun of me screaming to close the

schools," he wrote to the group, which called itself "red dawn" an inside joke based on a movie. "now i am screaming close the colleges and universities." the times writes his was hardly a lone voice. throughout january, as mr. trump repeatedly played down the seriousness of the virus and focused on other issues an array , of figures inside his government identified the threat, sounded alarms, and made clear the need for aggressive action. nytimes.com is where you read that. up first, we will go to michael in new kensington, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. happy easter to everyone and passover. i think it is a tough call. i can see why they did it, but i am not a fan of the isolation.

i do not think there is a lot of proof that it works, the sheltering. but i guess it is something we have to live with. but i do think the churches -- i do not think they should have been exempt. i think faith plays such a large role in so many people's lives, and it should play a large role. when they started talking about this flu bug and all of the bad news coming around about it and everything else, they said there is one thing that is missing. and i said they will finally talk about faith. and they did not. they talked about immunity and this and that and the other thing -- i think immunities are a key role. in los angeles, the virus, the rise of the virus, was not as large as it was in other places, despite the fact that they have a lot of chinese there. that is their main port of entry, i think, california. thatf

entry, i think, california. and yet they did not have that large rise, and i think it is because of herd immunity. i wonder, if i keeping everyone away from this virus, if you do not actually make it easier to spread this virus in the end. if we get another wave of this virus, will anyone have any immunity at all? host: florence, kentucky. caller: how are you doing? for a number of years, i was on immunosuppressive therapy to fight crohn's disease. spleen removedmy complications, so i am very susceptible to this virus. a series of other things as well.

religious exemption -- i am sick and tired of hearing about religious exception. a church should be in the heart and not in the actual building. i do not need a building to go to church. but what you do, when you break these corn teaming rules, you threaten my life, and that is completely unacceptable. to me, that is no different than a drunk getting behind the wheel of a car and running into a school bus. your reckless behavior then threatens my life. it is no different with those who are anti-baxter -- anti-v axxers either. host: thank you. we started the program showing scenes of st. peter's square, the vatican -- the pope tweeted late last night that we understand the service at the vatican has already streamed. he tweeted several times yesterday evening. tonight, we acquire the fundamental right, the right to hope. it is a new and living hope that

comes from god. it is not mere optimism. it is a gift from heaven that week couldn't have earned on our own. our question this first hour asking you about religious gatherings. in many places, they have been banned. should they be exempt from stay-at-home orders? we hear next from houston, texas, don. caller: good morning. the word of us is where two or three are gathered in my name. i think the issue of church, religious gatherings, has been the issue in america and across the world. head.as come to a againstof the violence religious service right here in texas, where a guy killed over .0 members of a congregation

come to where we have to identify what is a gathering? what is the purpose of the gathering? is it for propaganda or true religious freedom? an age of live in technology. of --ve many ways television, for instance. so i do not think that the physical gathering during a pandemic is necessary. also -- itdemic spread across diseases. if we look at the pandemic of poverty, children's poverty, i do not see the religious sect taking that issue on the pandemic of children's poverty in america and the world. against thends

mandate of the right of all andzens to public health the pandemic of poverty, they are silent on that issue. but the issue of a pandemic of infectious disease, they are bold and bodacious, so i think they are hypocritical to their own doctrine. host: don in houston, texas. we are starting to see video from the vatican -- i'll not sure if this is live. -- i'm not sure if this is live. media video vatican we are seeing. our question for you -- should religious exact -- should religious gatherings be exempt from stay-at-home orders? our next call is josh from redding, california. caller: good morning. we have to look at is this -- in a rational way, in possible,bvious way

by allowing religion to override what the government does, by allowing religion to take over what they can and cannot do, who's to say when they stop? idea of for the religion being sacred, religion being special, and having good preference, but when does this special preference say we cannot just do whatever we feel like doing? if you are religious, keep doing what you do, but do not let your religion put others at risk. host: by the way, thank you. we have set a sideline for religious leaders, (202) 748-8002. tell us not just this sunday or this week how you are handling the closures during the coronavirus pandemic. a report in the "washington post," published before that state's supreme court in kansas

issue their ruling. their headline, "kansas court ways in state order barring state gatherings." they write about the pastor of st. luke's lutheran church in kansas city, kansas. he said his small church will continue to have in-person services this weekend, despite the health warnings, though the events will take ways in and outside space with handmade pews. his flock of about 25 will be wearing masks and use physical distancing during worship. his easter theme is about resurrection and the gift that the pandemic has given believers -- a chance to pause, reflect, and grow. "as christians, we are people of body and soul. the essence of our faith is spiritual, but physical presence is essential. in my opinion, there is no substituting the presence of a christian brother or sister, even six feet away. we gather in body and spirit, not just.

." several governors, including florida's governor, have classified religious services as "an essential business" in their states and have allowed such gatherings to continue despite stay-at-home orders statewide. but national religious organizations, including the catholic church, the church of latter-day saints, and jewish have suspendedps live worship in recent weeks. the governor of kansas, laura issuedbefore the court the ruling, was on cnn and said this about her executive order. [video clip] mywhen i originally issued first executive order, my stay-at-home order, we did exempt churches. everybody else was under this 10 , sociallyit distanced, and if it was enforced -- if there was enforcement, it would be a class a misdemeanor.

what happened was we saw what happened in kentucky and louisiana around church service. then we had four clusters here in the state of kansas and them that that have resulted from church gatherings. so i felt it important to make it clear that churches would be included in the limit of 10 with the social distancing. ton i did that, i had talked all of our faith leaders all across the state, all denominations. all of them were on board with that. after the legislative coordinating council revoked my executive order, i then -- again talk to faith leaders. they were still supportive. we took this to the supreme court not so much because we want to argue with the legislative coordinating council on criminalization or non-criminalization, but the fact is, the coordinating

council does not have the authority to revoke this order -- only the full legislator can -- legislature can do that. kansashis recording ruled yesterday on the governor's executive order, upholding that order of stay-at-home orders for applying to religious services there in the state of kansas. gail in new york. hi there. caller: hi. happy easter. host: happy easter to you, too. caller: thank you. last night, i watched services on tv from st. patrick's cathedral. i am a christian. but most religions, i think all religions, teach us that god wants us to be good to everybody and that our neighbor is very important. and the issue with public health, i think -- and i think god would want us to protect one

another. so i am glad they are not excluded. i do not think anybody should congregate if it is going to make people sick. so i do not think they should be exempt, churches or other -- synagogues or whatever. god is everywhere. host: what is that experience like? you mentioned watching the service, the streaming. have you been watching the regular sunday services there? caller: no, no. i am not a person that goes to church every day, but on holidays and holy days, i do that. what was it like? it was uplifting. it was not as good as being in a church, because it is important to be with other people. but it did the trick, you know? for oneime out to pray

another is a good thing to do. it is not like this is exempting from by exempting us going the church and being with other people, it is not saying to us we cannot pray to god or that we cannot be good to other people. i think that is the biggest message, especially on easter sunday. arizona.m phoenix, hi there. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am listening to these callers, and i am not sure what bible or what word of god you are reading. thatible that i read says they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. thatible that i read says he was roost through my transgressions, and by his strides, i was healed, 2000 years ago.

so for all these people, especially those governors and wants and sheriffs who to put an ad lib after the constitution, yesterday, there was a judge in the western district of kentucky who issued a temporary restraining order against louisville, saying that you do not get to tell churches that they are not essential. how do you tell a church they are not essential? and who are you to tell the church that they are not used by officials? and the free exercise clause religious police are at times not logical or compensable an alcohol and if store is essential, then you better believe a church is going to be essential. if a walmart or home depot, who

are not practicing social distancing when you walk into that store, if they are essential with over 100 or 200 people inside, you better believe a church is going to be essential. i encourage all of my christians, if you feel that your rights are being infringed, take yourself down to that federal courthouse and file your action against that governor or that sheriff or that mayor and get your rights back. out: and christian pointed the situation in louisville, the ruling of a federal judge in louisville on that. here is the mayor, greg fischer, after that ruling came out. among his tweets, i reluctantly but emphatically asked faith leaders to worship without holding in person or 99% ofn services -- the those houses of worship who have

chosen to adhere to that have made the responsible choice. we hear from rich next. caller: a lot of good comments. it seems the line should be which way to save lives, and it is where that now that we cannot go to church on easter, we miss it, where before, we took it pretty much for granted. i hate to say that we had to go through this to really appreciate it more. it could be one of the odd benefits of this. the other thing is we have been through other crises before. when polio was going around, we had no idea what was causing it, and years, they were trying to solve it. our thing happens, from one church school, they did a test to solve polio. it was the first time polio was tried on. saul tried it on his family first and then in this one area in pittsburgh. in one generation, we are solving it. we should get onto the and the -- we shouldases

go to the next one and the next one of the major diseases. host: next call. this is dusty. caller: i attend services every sunday. the building is not the church. the fellowship of people coming together to worship god in spirit and truth. aw can i go to work 50 hours week, how can i go to walmart to buy essential foods for my skull body, and then sa -- my physical body and then say my spiritual body does not matter? because when i am on my isthbed, people and bread not going to matter. the only thing i can depend on is the lord. we have a convocation of about 125 people. aref them, 35, 40,

attending. we tried to pack his social distancing. we do the things necessary to duty tried to keep people safe. but i cannot turn on the lord because the government tells me to turn on the lord. he is my refuge. i will continue to worship the lord in spirit and in truth. host: jim is next, st. john's, michigan. it says you are a religious leader. tell us about that. caller: i am an ordained minister. i've stood at the pulpit before. currently, i do not. my point of view is it does not really matter what the government tells us. we should look at what god tells us. he tells us to love everyone as we love ourselves.

way, can see that meaning that we should go risk our fellow parishioners, fellow believers, or even the unbelievers. why should we do that? that is not what he would do. he would not want to risk the life of anyone. wea religious community, need to say, hey, this is not ok. toneed to find another way get together -- in smaller groups, to do it online, to do it however. that is where i think it needs to be. it does not matter what government says. we should be doing the right thing. host: so on this easter sunday, what are you doing? and typically where would you be in church on an easter sunday morning? caller: i would be in church on an easter sunday morning.

morning,aster sunday myself and my wife are going to take a walk and meditate and just enjoy all the beauty that the lord has given us in the midst of all the problems. host: appreciate you calling in this morning. we go to kansas next and hear from oakland park, don. caller: hi. i am a secular humanist, but i think it is good to stand up for the first amendment. , getnk people can worship together at a building, and keep their social distance, and do what they got to do to keep safe. there are doctors and nurses who belong to these churches as well. they can advise them if they need advice. but the cdc guidelines are up everywhere on the internet.

there is a church in overland park that has 2000 members and just spent tens of millions of dollars on a huge sanctuary. it seems to me like they can squeeze in a number of people and even go beyond the six foot minimum distance, keeping them 10 feet, 12 feet apart. it does not seem to me that the governor needs to hold every meeting to 10. orderregardless of the from the supreme court last night, or what is your sense of the people in your neighborhood or your circle of friends and family, will they be attending an actual service or will they participate online somewhere? i know of, butat i have not asked some of them. my parents are pretty old, and injuringd be

themselves quite a bit to venture out and take a chance at all, but i have some atheist friends that kind of look about it -- it's darwin's deal, you know, if they're stupid enough -- i'm not that cold. i think there is a middle ground there somewhere. host: appreciate your call. we have half an hour left of your calls. should religious gatherings be exempt from stay-at-home orders? (202) 748-8000 the line for eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001, mountain and pacific. if you are a religious leader, particularly if you have made other plans for your congregation or denomination, (202) 748-8002. this is the "washington post," the online version of their front-page story. after u.s. surpasses italy for most confirmed coronavirus deaths, trump vows to bring our

country back. it writes that the u.s. passed italy for the most confirmed coronavirus debts. -- in a saturday night interview with fox news, trump shed little light on how he will decide when to reopen the country, saying the decision will be based on "a lot of facts and a lot of instinct." "post,"e, writes the pope francis presiding over an empty st. peter's basilica urged people to not yield to fear during the pandemic. looking at some of the latest statistics. as reported by johns hopkins university in the worldwide figures on the coronavirus pandemic, 1.7 million cases worldwide. total deaths worldwide 109,000,

almost 110,000. million.s., over half a with 20,608 deaths. they have a new column added in recent days, the total tested in the united states -- 2 million -- almost 2.7 million. again, the deaths in new york city up near 7000. shreveport, louisiana. welcome. caller: happy resurrection sunday, in the name of jesus. i am a christian, and i must say this one thing. god is everywhere. we must practice social distancing at this time. we are in a timeout pandemic. this is a serious crises. and god is in total control. i am a christian.

i believe in the name of jesus. i believe that jesus is our healer. god is everywhere. he is not just in the building you are in on sunday. he is everywhere. , pleasestand this understand this -- that we must obey that the law is saying to practice social distancing. god's ultimate law, do not misunderstand me. he does not want you not to obey the law that is set down in your country. he does not. if they are telling you to practice social distancing, please understand that is the best thing to do. what about saving lives? what about putting people's lives in jeopardy? do not put god in a box, because he is not in a box. god is everywhere. he is with you wherever you are.

host: sylvia next up in alexandria, virginia. caller: hi there. good morning. happy easter. i am a women's division buddhist leader. s.g.i.r they told us not to meet for at least until the month of april. we have not yet in march and will not meet in april. one of the things we do is we do chant, so we are not able to chant with each other, so that it hard, but what we are trying to do is chant more. chanting is like praying. and study the buddhist religion

more. and call each other. yesterday, we had a call and used zoom and called one another and had a little buddhist study meeting. host: how did that work out compared to being in person? caller: it is different. it is not the same. but it is encouraging. i think it made us all stop and realize that we are the ones that need to change what is going on. because we have to take responsibility, especially in the buddhist faith. whatever we are suffering, it is because of something in our lives that is what we believe. sometimes, that is hard to deal with, but that is ok. we just keep going and try to figure out, through prayer and things ares it that

the way they are at this time kate i know it is frustrating for people. you want to get together. but just like that lady before me was talking about, they believe that god is everywhere. your happiness is everywhere. it is how you deal with this. how we turn this poison into medicine for ourselves, which is what we need to do right now. is if the right thing for us to not be around one another until we can figure out how to change this disease that is going around, that is not a bad thing. because our philosophy in life, whatever it is, should give us wisdom, and that is what we need in our lives right now. wisdom to see how we can change this issue. host: appreciate your insight. some comments on social media. karen tweets religious

gatherings should be top of the list foreclosures. people close together, sitting side-by-side, greeting each other -- if there is communion service, even more exposure. on facebook, sarah as i believe there are ways you can have faith and keep safe. why can't the church service be online or at a big screen in a parking lot, people spread out? if pastors actually care about their parishioners, this would not even be a question. they would not have in person services when it risks everyone's health and lives. report, the rumback christ overcame death and the resurrection, we shall overcome the pandemic. i salute all the heroic health care professionals putting their lives on the line to defend us. there is political news from alaska. the headline at the "anchorage

daily news" -- biden beats sanders to win primary. joe biden won the alaskan primary days after their sanders suspended his campaign. we hear from jared next in oakland, new york -- brooklyn, new york. caller: good morning. happy passover. i believe there is that should be religious exemption. we have seen where police have overreacted to police playing in the streets by themselves. that said, i believe every synagogue and church should shut down completely. the fact is 99% are. as an orthodox jew, it is really hard for us not to pray three times a day, but all the rabbis have said shut down your

and stay-at-home. host: in addition to the online seders that have been happening, has your convocation done online praying together? caller: not online praying, but my rabbi has been given, every night before sabbath, been giving a speech. this is not something we regularly do, online stuff. our synagogues are shutting down, and that is what i think so them should do and are doing. host: thanks for your experience. we hear from susan next in california. caller: how are you? host: fine, thanks. caller: i believe that we should shut down, only because it is catching. otherwise, from what i've heard

the news, we have some overzealous authoritarian government overreaches. starbucks is open. walmart is open. home depot is open. dunkin' donuts is open. all your liquor stores are open. the government did not take any time in telling us to shut down our churches. r.o.k..tuary cities and they are letting prisoners out. you have to do some sense, and i cannot believe that that buddhist chants to a block of stone. was: the vice president interviewed friday by david brody, the chief white house correspondent for cbn who will join us in our next segment here

. he asked the vice president about religious practices during this time of the coronavirus pandemic. [video clip] >> even if you are not in a pew sunday, that ministry is still going on. to the extent that you are able to contribute to your local church, your local synagogue, ministry, we encourage you to do that, because those communities of faith are making such an immense difference. , iare so grateful that think, most communities of faith around the country have heated the president's coronavirus guidelines for america and avoided gatherings of more than 10. to those who would, as we go into this precious easter weekend -- you might think otherwise. i would remind our brothers in christ that, where two or more are gathered, there he is also. host: the vice president's interview with david brody.

david brody will be our guest in the next segment here on "washington journal." fromwing up that caller california, this is a tweet from pa. you can work, go to groceries, to the lumber yard, get the dog groomed at vet, dry family through a drive-through, you can vote, but you cannot stand six feet apart at a church? becky in pennsylvania. caller: good morning. happy easter. to all the people concerned about hardware stores being open, you have to consider the fact that they have life-sustaining equipment and things there. i have a neighbor whose house caught on fire, and if they couldn't get to the hardware store and shore up the house, their house would be open to the elements. a friend of mine had her ceiling cave in because of water damage. what is she supposed to do? not be able to get the stuff she needs from a hardware store? but as far as people going

anywhere, especially to churches, you are putting other people at risk. first of all, the people you meet. but let's talk about the health care workers and emergency responders. what if you are in a car accident on your way to church? you will add to that burden. i think i read or heard that 70% to 80% of car accidents, it is down that much -- why do we want to increase that for people going to church? stay-at-home, watch it on tv, listen to it on the radio, watch it live streaming, whatever. take care of it yourself at home. you do not need to be together in order to celebrate. host: what about those communities or individuals who do not have the ability to stream live, or at least effectively stream live, or participate in a religious gathering, as they would in person? caller: read the bible. i am sure, if they have been to church their whole life, they know the process. they should be able to have silent prayer.

there is all kinds of way you can pray and show your love, and you do not have to be in a social gathering to do that. host: here's rita in new jersey. caller: good morning and happy easter and passover to everyone. first of all, i truly believe that god, at this time, is bringing down the church for its hypocrisy, the mega churches and our country. we care more about going to church and worshiping, but we did not care anything about trump kicking out the kurdish overseas in ukraine. he told them to go pound the sand and go toward the oil fields. it broke my heart. i cried like a baby when i saw him leave all those homeless christians out there when jesus taught us, when he came back,

that the only thing we have to do is love god with all of our hearts, all our minds, and love our neighbor. the church has become hypocritical. it is a moneymaking machine. and let me tell you guys god is taking their money, and this is why we have this plague right now. you can go on any youtube and watch any minister in the world. i will watch adrian rogers. i want to hear a real minister this morning. , the popetch the pope john, that beautiful pope, who taught us about the lonely spirit. this is what we need today, instead of all this division and anger. god also taught us to respect authority. if they tell you not to gather, it is go'd wor -- god's word. it is in the bible.

host: to joe in arlington, virginia. caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: fine, thanks. caller: i was thinking this is more of an agile, flexible decision based on that geography and location. i represent the majority of muslims in america, black american muslims. ramadan is coming in about another two weeks or so. so as a consequence, i just have some few friends -- it is quite different than congregations doing easter in the church. of might need a minimum three people there, so you can have it in your home. so i had our service in my home last friday. and we are going to have it this friday, about three or four

people. host: would you typically -- during ramadan, would you typically try to go to your oral mosque for imam center wherever and pray with fellow members of that congregation? caller: yeah, most people will do that. but there is a lot of activity at home also. kind of like 5050, 50% at home, 50% at the mosque. a lot of people cook and do a lot of different things in their homes as well. of have an extreme amount activity at home during that time of ramadan as well. ready much and adaptive religion. host: how are your small gatherings working out? caller: pretty good. only three or four people. a lot of other muslims are praying and doing it from home.

it works out for us pretty well, because we are very adaptable people, and we do not need a physical building, per se, to do our obligor -- up with the tory prayers. host: the president tweeting yesterday, retreating pastor robert jeffers saying i will be watching, have a great easter. we go to ed in titusville, florida. caller: good morning. happy holidays. would simply say that we would render unto caesar what caesar data that includes the right to protect people international -- in an emergency. you need to respect the right of the people. host: joe's next in kent,

washington -- jill's next in kent, washington. caller: good morning. i do not believe religious gathering should be exempt. i do not believe it is god's intent to harm people. as someone said, it is hypocritical to think it is your in spite of the world being in the midst of a pandemic. into think it is ok to basically dig the graves of another -- and to think it is ok to basically dig the graves of another, you could be digging the grave of yourself. host: thank you. newsweek says americans eligible for the stimulus package have started seeing payments, the one-time payment from the

treasury, arrived in their accounts, looking to ease pressure from the economic downturn. ae chief executive officer of mobile banking startup said that a bunch of the first wave of payments from the cares are cap started to appear in their customers accounts. datat sopp said current's indicates around 40% of the deposits so far were for $1200. this is barbara in new york, city -- in new york city. how are you doing? caller: how are you? host: fine. caller: several people have brought up that churches should be exempt. exempt,r stores are staples is exempt, the banks are exempt, the stock exchange is still working, that i churches should be exempt -- then i think

churches should be exempt. solid rockpplaud church in ohio, holding service today. pastor tony spell in life tabernacle church in baton rouge. the core mission of the church is to comfort the afflicted. their job is to shepherd the flock in times when we are terrified, when we do not know where to turn or who to trust. host: what about arguments made from our caller, i think in pennsylvania, who said part of her issue is she is concerned the if people going to church service have some sort of accident or need assistance from emts or public officials, they would thereby put those folks in danger, potentially. what are your thoughts? would ithat difference make if a person was driving on the highway and had an accident

and they are already instant -- already symptomatically and emt would have to come to them on the highway? i am not sure what the issue is -- host: i guess her point is that if the order is to stay at home other than critical, essential religioust having a service in person potentially puts more people on the road. caller: when people go to the liquor store, they also get on the road, so i do not think that issue is really substantial. and all of these people who call up and talk about their health, how their health is compromised and they would be at risk, it is up to them to stay home. it is not up to them to tell other people that they cannot go to church. they should look after their health and stay home. host: you are at the epicenter in new york city. how are things going? noter: quite honestly, i do see any pandemic here in new york city. host: you do not see it in new

york city? caller: that is correct. i do not sick people. i do not see people lined up at the hospital. i just see a bunch of terrified people walking around in masks because of the fear mongering that the media does. host: what part of the city are you in? caller: manhattan. host: thanks for calling in. we will hear from sandra next in eastpointe, michigan. caller: hello. the first thing i wanted to say is, here in michigan, we were told not to go visit our unless we were one to be caregivers. that is how bad. and the wound -- the woman from new york who says she does not see illness, she is not in touch with reality. thinkto say, i, myself,

the pastors asking people to come to church are doing so more because they are more worried about getting money to pay the bills for the church than they are the people. because people are dying. this is a serious, dangerous thing. i watched the pope this morning. i felt very comforted by that. host: on twitter, we're @cspanwj. steve says i love attending worship, but during this crisis, surfaces are suspended. we cannot say we care about our fellow man and then risk infecting them. if you need a brick-and-mortar building for worship, you may want to reevaluate your spiritual life. this tweet says god may not be dead, but some of his celebrants. be fairly soon if they unwisely congregate today. bakersfield, --

i know what jesus would do this easter sunday stay home. may god protect us all, but use your god-given intelligence and get a coronavirus blood test as soon as possible. opinion piece from wade allen root. his headline -- mr. president, stop listening to the d.c. swamp and ivy league eggheads. he said i am one of your biggest supporters. praise you in speaking to my large and growing national audience on radio and tv and through my nationally syndicated newspaper column. my audience loves and supports you. we have your back. do you know who does not have your back? the ivy league eggheads, the washington, d.c. small deli politicians and bureaucrats. no one elect the dr. anthony found she elected dr. deborah birx, surgeon general room

adams, or hapless federal reserve chairman jerome powell i either. reason.good being lovedly about by the media. this is billy in florence, south carolina. caller: how are you doing? host: fine. caller: i just want to make sure that i think the woman from new york is on the money. the lady from michigan, i think she is kind of in that fear mongering part. here in south carolina, we have experienced little, if any. i think this year is just a bad -- in a bad flu season or pneumonia season, we do not close schools.

you should go to church. use your god-given sense. if you're sick, stay home. if you're healthy, like you normally would be, go to church. i would just like to ask everybody, have we cured flu? because flu numbers have dropped these last few months. i think they are getting mixed up in the count. i think we are getting -- with covid like symptoms in that number. host: thanks for your call. robert is next. caller: good morning. today, has gotten away from god. all the country has, absolutely. three weeks ago today, i lost my older son to cancer. right now, my faith is stronger in god than it has ever been. this country, people make fun of him -- look how he died. he did nothing wrong, and they

crucified him. tot is why they are trying do our president now, who is trying to help the people, but they are doing everything against him. the man cannot do anything right -- life andule over death. people cannot believe that, they are ruined. god says what he means and he does it. these people better wake up and get back to god, because this country will be destroyed. host: to rochester, new york, fred. caller: thanks for taking my call. i am all for everybody that wants to go to a congregation. i think it is something you should be able to do right now. but you are peeping -- but you are putting people's lives at risk. i pray. i love god.

but at this point, if you want to go to your congregation, go for it. you should have to take up a mandatory quarantine for 14 days with your congregation if you want to do so. that is my, this morning. i love c-span. i love what you guys are doing. thanks for your time. host: to texas, we hear from lisa. go ahead. caller: good morning. i believe that we should abide by the law's. people perish for the lack of knowledge. if experts are telling us not to get together, we should not. the people are the church. we are the church. where two or more are gathered in prayer, there he dwells. i think it is taking a risk that is not necessary, and a good shepherd should not try to lead

to congregation and maybe jeopardi host: let's start off this easter sunday with a simple question. are you better off this easter sunday then you work during last easter sunday? joe from marlborough new york says that if the pope in my local episcopal church can use zoom, why can't all of these churches do the same thing? says,om bill who religious gatherings should not be exempt. the coronavirus does not discriminate. america can this be turned into a red state blue state issue. a storyyork times with about nursing homes. residents are sitting ducks. 86ht that, overall war than hundred deaths in new york and connecticut have been contributed to covid-19 by saturday.

the total for new york, new jersey, and connecticut was over 10,000. an aging or frail population, chronic understaffing, shortage of protective gear, and constant physical contact between workers and residents has hastened its spread. nearlyite that in all 2000 residents of nursing homes have died in the out rake. -- the outbreak. let's hear from francesca. caller: thank you for taking my call. i agree with the lady from new york. i am here in arizona and we have not seen anybody sick. not one name has been on the news saying, babies are sick. you would think when babies are involved, their parents or something. as far as the religious gatherings being exempt, absolutely. i think people should still be

able to do what they want because we need more evidence. this is just hearsay. it is a competition between the states, i think. between how many people are stupid than the next. host: we will continue the conversation here in the next hour on washington journal. >> tonight at 9:00 eastern on afterwards. netflix director of inclusion michelle king with her book, "the fix." >> what is often in denial about the challenges women face at work. people assume most places are meritocracy's. that everybody is the same because everybody is treated in the same way. so if people don't have different experiences at work. with that logic we are not only denying difference, but we are denying inequality. >> watch afterwards with michelle king, tonight at 9:00 eastern on