maria: all right. i want to thank our great panel. have a great weekend, everybody. see you on sunday. "varney & company" begins right now. stu, take it away. stuart: thanks, maria. good morning to you. good morning, everyone. the back-to-work movement rolls on. six states start relaxing the rules today. arkansas, georgia, tennessee, wisconsin, texas and oklahoma. now, 3.4 million unemployment claims came in from those states in the last five weeks. a few of those people will be going back to work. now, in michigan, i'm going to call that the epicenter of draconian rules, the state legislature convenes today in a special session to consider reining in the power of governor whitmer and to review the rules

which prevent michiganders crossing the street to visit family members. no relaxation of the social distancing rules from president trump. he's considering extending the keep your distance regulations into the early summer. then there's this. antibody tests that show far more people have been through covid-19, three million in new york state, 20% of new york city's residents have had it. that means the fatality rate, the number of people who died from the virus, comes way, way down. interesting. quickly to the markets. not much movement at the open today. orders for durable goods in march down 14%, yeah, that's bad but it was expected. the dow is going to be up 193. i call that little movement. how the times change. we will be back to 23,500, big gain -- modest gain for the dow, nice gain for the s&p and for the nasdaq as well. look at oil, staying at low levels. we are looking at $17 a barrel. in the absence of demand, we are

still not driving very much, we are running out of places to store all that crude we are producing. oil is $17 a barrel. gas, $1.78. that is the national average. and wisconsin still the cheapest in the land. $1.19, the average here. let's begin with the president talking about the possibility of extending social distancing guidelines into the summer. roll tape. >> we may. we may go beyond that. we'll have to see where it is. i think people are going to know, you're going to know, i'm going to know, i think people are going to know just out of common sense. at some point we won't have to do that but until we feel it's safe, we are going to be extending. stuart: all right. no rush to relax the rules, extending maybe until the early summer. come on in, ashley. tell me more about those states that are loosening restrictions today. ashley: all right. let's start with arkansas. you mentioned them at the beginning of the show. arkansas today, restaurants,

retail outlets, salons, non-essential businesses allowed to reopen today, although with limited services. georgia, gyms reopening, barber shops, salons, tattoo parlors, you have been desperate to get a tattoo, you can do it in georgia today. what we want to do is talk about these states have a combined unemployment claims rate of nearly 3.5 million in just the past five weeks. if you look at those numbers, there is so much pent-up demand to get out of the house and back to work. that's georgia. wisconsin, 392,000 initial jobless claims in the last five weeks. they are allowing -- tennessee, i should say, reopening state parks today. wisconsin, if you want to go out and golf, it's probably freezing cold, but you can. curbside pickup also allowed in wisconsin. as you can see, close to 393,000 initial unemployment claims. texas starting to get back on

track. pickup at retail stores begin today, more than a million, 1.3 million unemployment claims in the last five weeks. take a look at oklahoma. barbers, salons, spas open, by appointment only. nearly a quarter of a million people filed for unemployment in oklahoma in the last five weeks. take a look at -- sorry, i'm going out of sorts here. oklahoma, as you can see. look, these are six states combined represent about 13% of the total unemployment claims that have been filed in the last five weeks. so it's a sign of progress being made, as you can see. some states, a lot more aggressive than others but at least we are starting to open the door. stuart: yeah. i want to know how many people open and go through that door. what will customer demand be like if you are opening up a couple businesses. you've got to see that. thanks, ashley. lauren simonetti is with us. let's turn to michigan. the governor there waking up this morning, i don't approve of this, i've got to tell you, protests outside the governor's home. i don't approve. lauren: yeah. the protesters are calling it

operation queen's castle because she's made them surrender their liberties during this pandemic. here was the trigger. she wants to extend the stay-at-home orders in michigan until may 15th. she has been criticized for having a patchy framework of orders. for instance, you can buy marijuana and a lotto ticket but you can't have a gardiner come to your house. there will be a special state legislative meeting today, perhaps curbing her powers or making adjustments to the orders. she will also hold a press conference later this morning updating the state's response to coronavirus but here's the issue. it's not a one size fits all policy. if you look at the entire state of michigan, there are 35,000 infections. in the county where detroit is, it's much worse, there's more than 15,000 infections. stuart: you're right, one size does not fit all. i think that's the bottom line here. lauren, thanks very much indeed.

look, what we're talking about here when we are talking about going back to work, it is a question of liberty versus risk. the risk of further infection. jonathan hoenig is with us. look, i know normally you are our market guy, but i think this is kind of a libertarian question. what it comes down to, liberty versus security. i'm pretty sure i know which side of the fence you're on. >> well, i mean, you can't have security without liberty, stuart. we talked about reopening the economy, starting the economy. what are we really talking about? we are talking about our lives. the economy is our lives, voluntary mutual beneficial decisions made by consenting adults so to that extent, liberty is required. we are material beings. we are not spirits. we exist in the material world. we can have no security without some form of an economy. you are starting to see and i think this is one of the reasons the market has responded favorably, you are starting to see governments around the country actually letting people take responsibility for themselves. now, many of these protesters

and many of these people i don't believe are taking responsibility, harassing a governor, for example, to me that's not a very rational decision. but businesses can find ways to serve customers and allow that freedom and liberty, that's the only thing that can give us security and truly get the economy back on track. stuart: repeat that, jonathan. i think you just said look, the market is up because it's anticipating and it likes these get back to work movements. say it again. >> i mean, there's no surprise why we have shocking unemployment numbers. it's not a surprise. when you force businesses to close and keep in mind, the economy is -- what is the economy? again, it's a series of interconnected relationships so forcing businesses to close has that follow-on effect. you are seeing some encouraging signs even in the market. yesterday i saw more new 52-week highs than 52-week lows. what worries me is not just the intervention when it comes to closing businesses and the quarantines, frankly, but the stimulus. the 2008 stimulus was the

biggest on record. that took ten years to recover. that's my fear. all we need for security is liberty but on both the financial side and literally on locking people in their homes side, this country is still going in very much the opposite direction. stuart: clearly you have your libertarian hat on this morning. that's just fine. stay there, please. more for you in a moment. i want to turn to gilead sciences. big splash on the market yesterday when it was reported that their virus drug had failed in tests in china. susan, come in, please. i think they have responded to that failed test. susan: yeah, because they said the findings were in conclusive and the study was terminated early because they couldn't find enough of those participants and this was actually posted by the w.h.o., a draft document that was posted and then reported on by the "stat" news and it says remdesivir staled failed in a t china. gilead said that is not true, we didn't get enough participants in this trial. in fact, they refer us back to the university of chicago trial that was recently successful.

in fact, nearly every participant was treated with remdesivir and actually either showed signs of i guess the symptoms being reduced or they went home healthy. so gilead today saying this is not the case. stuart: okay. reversal. got it. thank you very much. next case is congress. which has approved, after a long delay, more money for small businesses. edward lawrence, here's the obvious question. when will small businesses actually see the money? reporter: yeah, and follow me through this, stu. the timeline has shifted a little. you may need a flow chart here because the house didn't vote as quickly as we thought. the president will sign the bill into law in about two hours or so. now, that starts a clock where the office of budget and management or management and budget will deposit the funds into the account for the small business administration. that takes about a day and a half. sources close to this process tell me that right now, the sba is working on coming up with guidelines for banks. they hope to have them out later

this afternoon or tomorrow to the banks, so if you add all that together, the first loans will be processed through related to the second tranche on sunday. now, also, sources are telling me that you know, you see ruth's chris, shake shack have returned some of that money. you will start to see larger companies return the money sort of en masse almost. the treasury department changed the rules yesterday to say that companies had to certify they don't need this money or they need this money based on coronavirus and don't have access to any other money from somewhere else. back to you. stuart: that's a very important change there. thanks very much, edward. back to jonathan for one brief shining moment. here's my theory and i think it's yours. the bigger the stimulus, the longer the recovery. make that case. >> yeah. well, we know this from recent history, stuart. in 2001 and 2008, president bush and president obama both sent out stimulus checks. it didn't stop unemployment from rising. even going back to 2008, it was the longest recovery in history,

that was $800 billion worth of stimulus. we are now talking about $2 trillion plus worth of stimulus. you said it for years on fox business. it's no wonder why america has always been the most prosperous economy in the history of mankind. it's because we are the most free. let's put politics aside, let creative businesses get back to work safely for themselves, their employees and their customers. that's the only thing that can truly turn the engine of the economy, our lives, back on. stuart: jonathan hoenig on friday morning. can't live without it. jonathan, thank you very much indeed. good stuff. let's get to some individual stocks and companies that are making some news. we've got td bank. actually, i don't know what the news is but the stock is going nowhere. they are at $38.70. up four cents. how about that. however, american express, we did get their earnings earlier. revenue pretty much in line where executives expected it to be. even in the face of slowing spending, they have set aside $2.6 billion as a fail-safe if they get credit shocks coming down. market likes it, up $1.50.

take a look at verizon. they reported earlier today. not such great news. they lost 68,000 phone customers in the first quarter. they are saying it's possibly that bad debt reserves may have to be increased or at least brought in in the second quarter. the stock, though, only down 14 cents at $57. verizon's ceo, by the way, will be on the show today. he's in the 11:00 hour. i will ask him about those 68,000 dropped phone call people. check futures. nice gain. i said it was modest at the start of the show. we'll take 200 points up for the dow industrials and the s&p is up nearly 1%. we have a modest gain for the nasdaq, .6%. top white house economist, you know him, larry kudlow. he joins the show next hour. i want to ask him what does he think about pausing more government spending on the economy. does he like the idea of a pause? then we have texas senator ted

cruz also in the next hour. i want to know what he thinks about a pause in additional spending. i don't think he wants it. he's urging republicans to vote against it. the fda commissioner says a vaccine to fight the virus is likely a year away. the full story on that, next. (announcer) in this world where people are staying at home,

many of life's moments are being put on hold. at carvana, we understand that, for some, getting a car just can't wait. to help, we're giving our customers up to 90 days to make their first payment. shop online from the comfort of your couch, and get your car with touchless delivery to keep you safe. and for even greater peace of mind, all carvana cars come with a seven-day return policy. so, if you need to keep moving, we're here for you. at carvana-- the safer way to buy a car. to ewhether you'reting these uncaring for your. family at home or those at work, principal is by your side. we're working hard to answer your questions.

like helping you understand what the recently passed economic package can mean for you. we're more than a financial company. we're a "together we can get through anything" company. now, more than ever. yeah. this moving thing never gets any easier. well, xfinity makes moving super easy. i can transfer my internet and tv service in about a minute. wow, that is easy. almost as easy as having those guys help you move. we are those guys. that's you? the truck adds 10 pounds. in the arms. -okay... transfer your service online in a few easy steps. now that's simple, easy, awesome. transfer your service in minutes, making moving with xfinity a breeze. visit xfinity.com/moving today.

right now, we're looking at 12 months for the development of a vaccine but we're pushing very hard, everybody is. it's an all-of-america, all-of-government approach on this to try to get it going as quickly as possible. stuart: there you have it. fda commissioner stephen hahn there, vaccine at least a year away. doc siegel, come on into this, please. that's a long time. to me, a vaccine, a year is a long time. is that a realistic time frame?

>> yeah, stuart, because they have to do a lot of things at once. first of all, they've got to challenge animals with the virus to check on their responses on safety. the moderna vaccine is about to enter phase two trials. i will talk about that in a minute. inovio is starting clinical trials. johnson & johnson will start clinical trials on a large vaccine in the next couple months. uk, united kingdom, has a vaccine in the works that just started clinical trials. number of candidates around the world. phase one is safety. now comes phase two for the moderna vaccine. what does that mean? you give it to a lot more people. you give it to thousands of people and you look to see how effective it is, and you start to manufacture. you said on the show before why can't they speed the manufacturing process. clearly people are going to want to put billions of dollars into this and i would agree with you on that. i think that's one of the reasons this could be speeded up. get heavy money into this and

move a little faster. have to be sure it works, though. stuart: absolutely dead right there. a lot to go through here. a new study of antibodies says three million people in new york state have had the virus. 20% of new york city. okay. let's not discuss how this was measured, but those numbers bring the fatality rate way, way down. that's the key point here. >> stuart, that's what you and i have been talking about all along. this study out of new york looked at 1300 people in new york city and found that 21% of them have antibodies to the virus. that means that this death rate we have been talking about constantly is well low .5%. it means for most people, it's an extremely mild virus. you may have no symptoms at all, you may have very mild symptoms. this is very very good news. it doesn't change the fact, though, that those in high risk groups and elderly are at risk. but it shows you that it's going

to create its own immunity footprint at some point soon. stuart: it should bring down the anxiety level as well just a little bit. quickly, gilead. they are walking back what was described as a failure of their test in china, they are walking that back. the latest on gilead from you, please. >> well, susan talked about this a little while ago. here's what i want to say. she pointed out that the study was stopped in china because they didn't have enough participants. the key point from a medical point of view is remdesivir probably doesn't work late in the game, when someone is really ill, when they have the inflammation and blood clots going on already. i think it's promising earlier on. that's what the clinical trials here in the united states are looking at, around the country. how does it work when you give it early on. the jury is still out on that. i still think it's promising. stuart: excellent, doctor. three different subjects in three minutes. that was pretty good, doc. you're learning how to do this. doc siegel, thank you very much indeed on a friday morning. thank you, sir. all right. i've got news on amazon. there's always news on amazon. the stock is up 18 bucks.

what have you got today, susan? susan: an investigative report by the "wall street journal" saying that amazon is abusing its position as a marketplace but also taking that data from independent sellers and then making its own products and probably making it better and pricing it better as well. it looks like the "wall street journal" interviewed around 20 past employees and they say we were able to access this data, this is an open policy that a lot of people actually participated in. now, one example they gave, i don't know if we have that picture, but it is the trunk organizer that amazon basically copied off a third party seller. now, amazon first told us in a statement, saying that actually we don't allow this to happen as a company, if we can bring up also the statement as well, that we will look into this in an internal investigation. amazon says there are restrictions in terms of what types of data employees can actually access but the employees in this report say it was easy to get around those restrictions. don't forget, the european union

last year launched an investigation into amazon and the possible abuse of its position as a marketplace and also the seller of goods, and also the seller of its own goods and the amazon labeled goods they sell on the website. stuart: the stock is up 18 bucks premarket but look at it go, well above $2400 a share. thank you very much. how about google? big, i mean big budget cuts coming from them. they are cutting their marketing budget in half for the second half of this year. higher-ups have been told about a hiring freeze as well. that stock is down about ten bucks. that's only .7%. google is still at $1261 a share. as for netflix, we keep talking about them, they are the big winners. the virus streaming development. they just sealed an exclusive deal to stream the latest season of "pokemon." they start streaming that in june. no doubt a shot at disney plus. the stock at $428. netflix this morning. overall, big picture, here's where we are going to open up

this morning. up nearly 200 points for the dow, solid gain for the s&p and also for the nasdaq. we'll be right back. here's the thing about managing multiple clouds for your business. when you've got public clouds, and private clouds, and hybrid clouds-

things can get a bit cloudy for you. but now, there's the dell technologies cloud, powered by vmware. a single hub for a consistent operating experience across all your clouds. that should clear things up. i have always wanted to be a teacher. i've been teaching for over 20 years. with everything going on, we've had to alter our classroom settings. we have to transition into virtual learning. on the network, we can have teachers face-to-face with a student in live-time. they can raise their hand and ask questions. they can type questions. we just need to make sure that the education is continuing. (vo) at verizon, we're here and we're ready to keep students and teachers connected to the world. that's why verizon and "the new york times" are offering 14 million students free digital access to "times" journalism.

i came across sofi and it was the best decision of my life. i feel cared about as a member. we're getting a super competitive interest rate on our money. we're able to invest through the same exact platform. i really liked that they didn't have any hidden or extra fees. sofi has brought me peace of mind. truly thank you for helping me prepare for whatever the future has in store. stuart: all right. three and a half minutes to the opening of the market. we are going to be opening on the upside.

plenty of green on the screen right now. how about big tech companies? what are they doing premarket this thursday? a mixed bag. amazon is up, facebook is down, google is down, apple is up, netflix is at $427. look at apple, $276. ruth's chris, now, we know they got $20 million from the paycheck protection program. lauren, come on in, because what are they now going to do with that money? lauren: give it back. they are returning $20 million that they have received but not used. at least 150 public companies, not all big, but certainly public companies, have taken money from that small business program and they're not necessarily small businesses, and there is an onus now and a warning coming from the treasury department. secretary mnuchin saying repay that money in two weeks, by may 7th, or else. look, especially if you are a potbelly or shake shack, a customer-facing kind of company,

there could be severe backlash if you don't repay this money. i can tell you this. the president is expected to sign the new money today going to small businesses. it will include the newly $310 billion approved but also an additional amount of money from the money that is being returned. it's going into the pot from these bigger companies so it can be doled out to the smaller companies. stuart: so a correction has been made, because there was a public perception that the big guys get it, the little guys don't, and in some cases, that was true, but that is now going to be straightened out. when we hand out this next $300 billion plus, it will go, we believe, to the people who need it most. all right, lauren. thank you very much indeed. we've got 90 seconds to go before that market opens. this is a thursday morning. we are going to be opening above the 23,500 level. i like to remind everybody what was it, about four weeks ago,

maybe five weeks, the dow came down to 18,000. a few short weeks later, and we have rebounded to the tune of, what, 5,000 points. gone straight back up again. i have to believe that this rebound in the market is because we have seen how badly the economy is performing in this second quarter, and now we are looking at the reopening movement, getting back to work movement. six states, by the way, have opened up the rules and some of the people in those states will be getting back to work today. the market likes that. because it's looking to the other side, it's seeing the other side of the virus disaster on the economy and it thinks we are going to go up, up in the economy, up in the market. whether it's a v, a sharp down, sharp back up again, we have had that a little bit already certainly for the market, or is it a u, you come down and you putter around the bottom, then

gradually go up the other side. heaven forbid we have a w, straight down, straight up and then straight down again before you go back up on the other side. hear that bell? that means we are close. yeah, literally four seconds to go. we open up as of right now. here we go. we are off and running. it is the end of april and we are up 168 right from the start, 180 points up. not all the dow 30 have opened. those that have opened, i see most are in the green. one, intel, is in the red. at the moment we are up 171 points. we will bring that back to you in a second when we've got all the dow stocks open. now we are up, yep, 200 points up. there you go. .86%. the s&p 500, where is that? that is up .7%. solid gain. 19 points higher. s&p's at 2800. the nasdaq, where is that? i'm sure it's up and it is, .5%. in other words, the gains in technology are not quite as good

as the gains that we're seeing in some of the other stocks across the board. we're also going to show you intel, the chip maker, obviously. they pulled their forecast for the rest of the year. they just don't know how a potential global recession will affect their business. big drop for intel, down 3.7%. check vegas sands. good news from them. they are expecting the vegas strip to be up and running by august. pretty aggressive and hopeful. the stock is up only 30 cents on that. netflix, we have to cover netflix all the time. they are the streaming success in the virus era. they sealed that exclusive deal to stream the newest season of "pokemon." i believe that starts in june. american express earnings out earlier this morning. spending has indeed dropped on those charge cards. they set aside $2.6 billion to counteract the trend if it continues. that stock is up 1.8%.

the price of oil this morning, key to the markets, $17 per share. okay. there you have it. we have opened with oil at $17 a barrel, i should say dollars per barrel and the dow is up 140. >> joining us from the fox business network, stuart varney is joining us for a simulcast where you continue on your show on fox business and you join us here on the fox news channel. good morning to you. talk us through the markets this morning and this week and what we're seeing, this report on gilead sciences' treatment for covid-19 sent markets on a wild ride yesterday. stuart: let me start with the market overall. today, it's back to work, some back to work in six states. the market likes that because it perceives that the economy is getting back not to normal but rebounding on the other side of the virus. i think, sandra, that is what has propelled this market up in the last few weeks. looking to the other side, seeing some progress on the

economy, opening it up in six states today. as for gilead sciences, well, that kind of upset the market yesterday, when news came through of what they called a failed test in china. they have walked that failure back this morning saying that that test was just not a large enough group of people so they have walked it back. doc siegel told me just moments ago that to this remdesivir, the gilead sciences drug, is best used early in the treatment of the virus, not in the late stages, but in the early stages. so gilead sciences this morning at $77, ever so slightly lower after quite a drop yesterday. that's where we stand. >> because the confusion was whether or not that highly promising treatment failed, which was originally reported, and sent markets on the wild ride, or whether it was ultimately determined inconclusive because it had to end early. meanwhile, we've got another

round of stimulus, stuart. what is that doing for markets and optimism about the economy when we put this all behind us? stuart: i think it helps the market. if we've got another, what is it, $310 billion plus being pumped out there relatively quickly, the market likes that because it is the rescue. it's not a stimulus package. it's a rescue of the economy which is in the depths of despair right now. so the market likes that idea of rescuing the economy. however, they're looking also at another round of big spending. i don't know how much it's going to be but they are looking at another stimulus package or rescue package. that would be number five. there's a lot of balking at that now. lot of people saying wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, do we need this? is it going to go to the right places or is this just political spending to satisfy groups of voters? so the market is a little worried about another spending package but quite pleased about the one which we have just passed.

>> you know, but stuart, you are so good at bringing perspective. as we look at these markets now approaching 24,000, after we saw it fall well below the dow below 20,000 in the darkest days of all this, we have come a long way. i know you give your take every day on your show, stuart. what is your big take right now on the situation as we wrap another week? stuart: whoa, you want me to forecast the stock market? careful, sandra. >> no, no, no. i'm not asking you to forecast. i love when you step back big picture at the situation and give us your take, not your forecast. but your take as we are going to see another week. stuart: in my opinion, the conversation, so to speak, has changed. a couple of weeks ago, it was gloom and doom. it was real negative stuff. we were heading into a chronic recession or even a depression. that's shifted. we now have a much more positive tone in our conversation about

the economy and the market because as i was saying earlier, we are beginning to see the other side. we are beginning to get back to work, in some states, in varying degrees, we are beginning the opening up process. we are trying to do it safely but we are opening up. and the market likes that and i think it will be very good for the economy. so a shift in the conversation from negative to positive and i'm very much behind it. >> i like that, as we wrap a week. it's interesting to see what's happening down in georgia. we just had doug collins, the congressman from georgia, on, looking at the governor's decision to reopen there, the president advising against it. i mean, it is going to be really something to watch the states and the local community. final thoughts? stuart: what i'm looking for, especially in georgia, they have opened up gyms, amongst many other things. how many people are going to go? i want to see what the consumer reaction is to going back, with safety precautions, i want to see how many people will go back

and shop in those places, go back and work out in the gym, go to get their hair cut, go to the nail salon. how many will do that? because that's an assessment of the state of anxiety in america today. that's what i want to see. >> it's a great point. and how many of those places will put their own added restrictions just to keep the environment safe for their employees and for their customers. stuart, it is always good to catch up with you. i would never ask you to forecast the stock market, although it's fun to see where you think it's going. stuart, thank you. stuart: thank you very much, sandra. all good stuff. thank you. sandra smith on the fox news channel. all good stuff. all right. couple of stocks i want to check them out. boeing. this is the stock that i bought at $330 a share. i see it languishing at $130 a share as we speak. what's the problem now, lauren? lauren: bloomberg is reporting that their 787 dreamliner production could be cut perhaps in half with respective job cuts as a result. we will get details when boeing

reports their earnings next week. the new reality is a smaller flying public. will you need all these jets. one further thing quickly, the 737 max, grounded jet for over a year now, the "wall street journal" is reporting that that's not expected to get approval to fly until august at the earliest. stuart: i shouldn't have bought it. i just shouldn't have bought it. it was a long shot. oh, well. don't say anything. i made a mistake. all right. check the big board. we were up 200, now we are up just over 100 points. look at the ten-year treasury. that's an indicator. what's the yield, .61%, up today. look at the price of gold. that's been doing very well, gradually doing well. $1756 per ounce. and oil still, i believe, at $17 per barrel. here's what's still to come. the top white house economist, larry kudlow, he is on the show

again today. the sports world finally reunited during last night's nfl virtual draft. football legend joe theismann is on the show. i want him to react to his favorite moments of the big event. what were they to start with? apple, today they are out with that new and cheaper iphone. we've got a live demo for you. the stock is up. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪

tums ver(bell rings)la stick when heartburn hits fight back fast... ...with tums chewy bites... beat heartburn fast tums chewy bites economy have you worried about your finances in retirement? learn how senior homeowners are using home equity to improve their monthly cashflow and preserve their savings. most people thought the three "legs" of retirement pension, social security and savings... would be enough to get by but it's kinda like this three- legged stool... a little wobbly. but i think i might have a solution. the solution may be using your home's equity with a reverse mortgage loan from aag. use it to cover health care costs, medical costs, or to pay off large bills. or just have the money on hand when you need it. call now to receive your free information kit-

there's no obligation. call now what many people don't realize is your biggest asset might very well be your home, and using your home's equity with a reverse mortgage loan from aag could play a vital part in funding your retirement. not to mention, give you the cash to cover all those bills that seem to come out of nowhere. access your home equity to have cash on hand when you need it. act now while home values are high and interest rates are low. call today your home's equity could add a fourth leg to your retirement plan. much better. not a three-legged stool but a reverse mortgage chair... four legs... more stable. for the safety of aag customers, and to combat the spread of covid 19, temporary guidelines have been put in place, including exterior-only home appraisals.

if you're over 62, your home's equity can be a source for retirement security. find out if a reverse mortgage loan can give you the tax-free cash that can help. give aag a call call now to receive your free information kit. aag bringing stability to your retirement. and sometimes, you can find yourself heading in a new direction. but when you're with fidelity,

a partner who makes sure every step is clear, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. stuart: today, apple releases its cheaper iphone. what, it will be available for purchase, put it like that. susan, you've got one. show me what it does. susan: an iphone se, it's here. this is a smaller body, as you see, compared to my iphone 11 pro, much smaller and you get the return of the home button which is pretty handy in these times. face id doesn't help in opening the phone. cheaper model, $399, half the price of the iphone pro mac but just as powerful because you get the same chipset as you do in

the more expensive 11 pro max line. this is important because as we know, a lot of people are losing their jobs right now and also having their pay cut so this migration to cheaper phones might be the trend. also, it will help apple in lower cost countries like india and china, where they are losing sales to these domestic players that are coming out with cheaper handsets as well. don't forget, we have apple and their earnings on thursday, the 30th. we know it's going to be a pretty tough quarter for apple because they have said they probably won't make their sales in the first three months of this year but what's important obviously is the guidance, if we get any guidance and turn back to shareholders whether in the form of higher dividends which they have announced each and every year for the past five, six years, or more buy-backs. when you take stock out of the market, that increases the price of the stock. stu, i don't know about you, i prefer a bigger frame because i like reading on it and watching my movies and obviously it helps with my eyes but some people say you want to put this in your pocket, and i don't carry my

phone in my pocket, the instasm body may be better for you. stuart: i'm for the bigger screen. at my age, you want a bigger screen. you don't want to squint all the time. give me the big screen, kid. thank you. ray wong is with us. there you go. you've got a really good track record amongst the big technology companies. you follow them, you have been right about them. i think you made quite a few people quite a lot of money. i want to bring in two stocks which i know you like and i want you to talk about them real fast. first of all, teledoc and then moderna. bear in mind, everybody, ray has a background in public health as well as stock market analysis. tell me what -- first of all, teledoc on the screen now. what's so good about it? >> what's important is this trend towards telemedicine, telehealth. a lot of folks haven't been able to visit their hospitals, visit their doctors, and we have seen a huge surge in terms of visits on telemedicine and in terms of being able to treat folks and we are also going to see a huge rise in mental health cases.

that's probably one of the top cases that people are coming in for and being able to provide that to employees from work from home environments is going to pick up. we see that and they are one of the earliest pioneers in the space and one of the first listed in that space. stuart: moderna. >> same thing. i think one of the things we have to think about here is really the shift to what's happening on the health care side. health care is getting a lot of investment overall and what we're seeing is the dijtization of health care, digitization of patient care is picking up. they are in the cloud, data rich and we are seeing subscription business models pop up. those are the three things i look for in tech stocks in general and these also apply here on the health care side. stuart: all right. talk to me about zoom. i think they've got very good publicity when queen elizabeth held a zoom birthday party. i notice the stock is now $176. i know you like it. you think it can go much higher from here? >> i think so. this is the breakout stock.

this is their moment. even though they had the security issues, they quickly addressed those. i think everybody is zooming at the moment. the question is, will this continue in the next six to 12 months. i think the short answer is people are used to this as a communication tool not only just on the business side but also on the consumer side, and the reliability on the zoom end has been very very high. so i think people love that for communications. then of course, if you are trying to get work done, people are going to microsoft teams and other products and we also see a whole bunch of other companies that are competing against them. stuart: you got it. here's one that you have recommended for a long time, you have been right about it. that's netflix. king of the streaming during the virus era. okay, it's down today. but at $419, i know you like it, is there much room to go further than that above $418? >> this is the poster child for shelter at home. so this is -- the reason there's more room is because they have a better content library at this moment, the investment in

content is there. they will have content to about 2021. we are going to see international expansion pick up after this. it looked like they forward moved a lot of their acquisitions, doubled what they thought they would get to i think it was 17.7 million subscribers, they brought that all in for the last quarter but we will see the international growth pick up and also, more importantly, while they are competing with disney plus, they are also doing a better job in terms of retaining their customers than some of the others. stuart: ray, good stuff, all over again. ray wang, everybody. thank you very much indeed. appreciate you being here. >> happy friday. stuart: yes, sir. draftkings. did you know they are going public today? at a time like this? lauren, what do you make of this? lauren: well, yeah, sports betting company goes public at a time when there's no live sports to bet on? how's that for a headline? it actually happened and i can spin this positive for you. here's why. what the company did, this is not an ipo. they are publicly traded on the nasdaq today, trading around $20 a share, but what they did was

they merged with a blank check company called diamond eagle. by doing that, they got access to about $400 million of diamond eagle acquisitions funding so at a time when it's nearly impossible to raise money because we are dealing with a pandemic, draftkings goes public, gets access to capital and the ceo says when sports returns, there's going to be big pent-up demand to bet on them. go figure. stuart: well, that makes an interesting wager, so to speak. an interesting move. very interesting. good stuff. lauren, thank you. how about this. joe biden making a 2020 prediction. he thinks president trump is going to push back the election. what's that about? we will tell you. np materials, north america's only rare earth producer, just got a contract from the defense department. the company's co-chairman will join me next.

stuart: all right. lost much of the gain, fumbling along with a gain of 70 points for the dow and the nasdaq has turned negative. now, mp materials, now north america's only rare earth producer. this is important. mp has just been awarded a defense department contract. i believe this is aimed at

restoring domestic heavy rare earth production to the united states. jim litinsky is with us, co-chair of the company. welcome to the program. i take it that what you're really doing here is breaking china's hold on the supply of these rare earths. why don't you tell everybody what are rare earths used for? not many people know. i think we -- have we got an audio problem? >> i can hear you. stuart: okay. i will repeat the question so you can hear me real clearly. okay. you are about to break china's hold on the supply of rare earths, all good. what are rare earths used for? okay. i apologize, everyone. that's what happens in live tv. sometimes it doesn't work.

okay. let me cover the markets real fast for you. we've got the dow up 58 points. there you have it. i'm trying to work on james litinsky on mp materials. the market is up, not that much. i will call it a quarter of 1%. that's what we've got right now. we've got a mixed bag on big tech and the nasdaq composite has turned south. here's my analysis of where we are, not necessarily where we're going but certainly where we are. four and a half weeks ago we were down to 18,000 on the dow. today, we are at 23,500. that means we've had a rebound, a very nice rebound, and again, i told sandra smith on fox news earlier, again, in my opinion, that's because we are looking to the other side of this disastrous drop for the economy. we are looking to the other side. we are looking to recovery. all right. we are going to take a short break. before we get there, i will tell you what we've got coming up on the show because we've got a big show for you. we have still a big show. we have texas senator ted cruz.

we have the top white house guy, economist, that is, larry kudlow. football legend joe theismann. and steve hilton. yes, it is a big show. it's all waiting for you after this. it's a new day for veterans all across america. home values are up, and mortgage rates are at record lows. that's good news for veterans with va loans. that's me. by using your va streamline refi benefit, one call to newday usa can save you $2,000 a year. that's me. there's no income verification, no appraisal, and no out of pocket costs. that's me. put your va home loan benefits to good use. call my team at newday usa. so to breathe better i started once-daily anoro. ♪go your own way copd tries to say go this way i say i'll go my own way with anoro. ♪go your own way

once-daily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators that work together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. do not use anoro if you have asthma. anoro won't replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than once a day. tell your doctor if you a heart condition, high blood pressure, glaucoma, prostate, bladder or urinary problems. these may worsen with anoro. call your doctor if you have worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain while taking anoro. the most common side effects are sore throat, diarrhea and pain in the arms and legs. ask your doctor about once-daily anoro to start treating your copd. ♪go your own way save at anoro.com

many of life's moments in thare being put on hold. are staying at home, ♪go your own way at carvana, we understand that, for some, getting a car just can't wait. to help, we're giving our customers up to 90 days to make their first payment. shop online from the comfort of your couch, and get your car with touchless delivery to keep you safe. and for even greater peace of mind, all carvana cars come with a seven-day return policy. so, if you need to keep moving, we're here for you. at carvana-- the safer way to buy a car.

stuart: i think it is an important indicator coming up in just a few seconds that will be at 10:00 o'clock eastern time.

what we are going to get is the latest consumer sentiment indicator. this is important because it does not look to the past, and looks to the future, it looks to where we are going, it is the outlook for sentiment in the future, that's what makes it important. we know the economy is in a deep hole, we want to know how people feel about it coming out on the other side. we just past 10:00 o'clock eastern time, do we have the read on consumer sentiment. yes we do. >> 71.8 which is a little better than what we were expecting. we were expecting 68. bear this in mind march was 89.1 and we saw 18 points for a preliminary reading at the beginning of april which was the biggest loss ever in the history of the index, now coming in at 71.8. that is not great but it could've been worse and god knows when you're thinking about consumer sentiment in this environment you are thinking it would be right down at the bottom. 71.8 is the latest reading.

>> 71.8, a couple months ago you would not have dreamed of that would do. there are some changes in savings accounts coming from the federal reserve, what is changing edward lawrence. >> the federal reserve just announced right now that they are getting rid of, eliminating the six transaction per month limit on your savings account. that is effective immediately, amines banks will stop enforcing that, there will be no penalties for making withdrawals or transferring money back and forth, the idea behind this is you are holding more money in a savings account because it pays more interest. now you will not be limited to the six transactions and you can go back and forth, almost using as a checking account in the idea from the federal reserve will have greater access to that money. no more six limit transaction. per month on your savings account. >> that may be a minor change,

at some point to a whole lot of people. that is a fact. >> it is a big deal especially for get into trouble, you figured out how much you need to transfer back-and-forth, young things going back and forth all of a sudden you have a bill you did not expect, maybe a medical bill or some other bill and the money is not coming in, you have to get it from somewhere. this could be an important chance for people to have access to their money. stuart: thank you very much indeed. i have to tell you in a half an hour, roughly half our top white house larry kudlow will be with us on this program. now this. the media has no interest in the go back to work movement. they have no time for protest. the state home rules, they're all in for that. you can see this coming a mile up, the state loosens up, some businesses reopen, it started already in a dozen states and if there is the slightest uptick in new cases or deaths the media will pounce, see you move too

quickly, you cost lives. the media stews left in the left will use any loosening of the rules as a club to beat up on president trump. even though the president is askeconsidering social distancig rules into early summer, the political strategy has been set. accuse him of reckless policies and have the media search for evidence of the damage. it's your blood on your hands argument isn't it. don't expect the media or the left to pay any attention to the benefits of getting back to work. i would've thought that a paycheck is a good thing limiting the economic pain is surely a good thing but the media only sees risks to them more personal freedom and a paycheck are not worth it. there will never be a no risk situation so what, they have a weapon to hit the president and they will use it. here's another easy prediction, the media will be all in favor of tax increases to pay for the

virus spending that we've been doing tax business, tax the rich, never let a crisis go to waste, use it to promote the agenda which failed before the virus hit us. we are told to expect a new capitalism when this is over, really, what without be. socialism, centrally planned economy, government control of healthcare, green new deal, that's what the left wants, that's what the media is pushing as well. the goal, our collective goal should be open up, we cannot stay locked down. but the media did test this and they will not abandon that content right now. at least we know what to expect. you should keep your focus on the other side of this crisis, not the medias hindsight sniping. the second hour of "varney & company" is now beginning and we have tammy bruce with us ready to go. welcome back to the program, i think you are with me on this,

it is predictable, we know exactly what the media is going to do, right? >> we do, it is exactly what you noted, it is sad and pathetic. it does affect mood and it's against their own best interest, every sector of american society does better when businesses are moving forward, you mentioned of course consumer sentiment when the average american feels good about things but they completely lost any sense of normality when it comes to what were doing all the social distancing because were told to regularly care about our neighbor that this is about for the larger community not just for us and ironically this negative sniping, the need for there to be drama and victimhood condemns the community at large, the media is doing the opposite of what were all being told that we need to do and i think were doing it very well. >> i think you're right to use

that, it's victim ologies, the search for victims. if you can find a victim, go after it. another one for you, i'm in a play sound bite of a democrat in michigan who credited president trump for her virus recovery. listen to her on tape. >> had you not bough brought tho the forefront of the hq of being able to put this out here, i would not be here today to have this conversation with you. thank you for everything that you have done. >> she was praising hydrochloric when suggested by the president, she's praising the president and now she will be sentenced. >> isn't this horrible because we see historically that the voices of women, the voices especially of women of color have been silent, they are ignored, they are not noticed, their invisible, we see this historically and yet of course this is something in the american people need to see, the

democratic party because a woman of color happens to have an opinion or an experience that is inconvenient that does not mix a narrative, they are literally punishing her for having a mind of her own, the president has said that she should leave the party enjoying the republican. the fact of the matter is, she is already taken a stand for her own powerful individualism, that sends a message to all americans but we are better when we come together and recognize that it's an individual, someone like that woman who must feel comfortable speaking her mind but the american people must notice that even within their own party there is post to be the champion of all people who have been suppressed when they are the ones who now openly punish people for having a mind of their own, it is appalling and in november, the american people will make a point about what it

is that they want this country to become in that young woman is in her own fight right now about where she best fits speaking o. stuart: dgc joe biden suggested the president might push back the election, why would he do that. what is going on there. >> these are the same people who have been talking about how maybe they need to ever virtual convention. they have not wanted to have their own delegates of people in one place because i have a very big platform fight coming up, that something they don't want the american people to see. the fact of the matter is, we will be able to have an election, we will maybe have some rules surrounding it, it's going to work out well but right now every day is a fight for the new cycle to kinda frighten people into a friend frame of mind, this is all the democrats have to look suspiciously at the president. i think they will fail. stuart: tammy bruce, always good to see you on a friday morning. thank you. great to see you.

michigan's governor has extended the shutdown, what do we have on this. >> it is expected to be extended until may the 15th but in less than an hour she is expected to give a press conference updating the situation. think of the auto companies that are trying to get back to work to start to reopen their factories, michigan was expected to reopen on may 1. that is being pushed back, perhaps some businesses can open if they do so in the right way before then. we're expecting her to make an announcement, as you know so many protests in that state because her stay-at-home order is very patchy and very stringent. stuart: thank you lauren. look at the market because we have not turned a direction, a few minutes ago we were up 200 now we are down 17. gilead, that stock is pretty flat this morning, down 80 cents, it refuting a report that

had said the trial for the drug remdesivir failed, the company said it halted the trail because there were not enough participants. no real reaction on the stock this morning. johnson & johnson teaming up with emergent biosolutions to expand production of the virus vaccine when they get one. here is intel, the company reported disappointing guidance and expects weaker demand in the second half of the year, the stock is down 3%. oil, this week has been focused very much on oil because its lead the market, jack is with us, you have been speaking with the ceos of oil companies i am intrigued at the story about filling up oil tankers floating around on the ocean, that's what you were interviewing about wasn't it. >> yes everything except tankers

in energy is tanking right now, tankers are doing just fine because we had a collapse in demand, we can see that and look at the empty road and 40% of the oil goes to cars and trucks. so we have been slow to shut down production, that happen sometimes and there is a glut of texas crude in oklahoma where you have to receive these contracts. right now in a situation where the near-term price of oil when you look at trading is much lower than the price you get if you lock it in at the end of summer because people expect the economy to pick back up, when you're in that situation it becomes very profitable and just sit on it, do nothing with it. here is free cash will, it is up may be more than 50% right now on annualized rate because everybody wants to stick oil in the shifts and leave it there. stuart: is it possible that at the end of the month when the oil becomes due for delivery there will be nowhere to put it, nowhere to store it and will go back to a negative price of oil

all over again, that is possible isn't it? >> that is the question everyone wants to know, negative $37 like crude oil on monday was the weirdest thing i have ever seen in financial markets, people want to know if it will happen with the june contract, all i can tell you, every oil player in oklahoma is working to mciver's solution to get crude out of cushion and free up storage because of the happens again they want to be in a position to profit from it. we know we have this glut but having seen what happened on monday i just think a lot of people right now are looking to make the trade of the happens again. i asked the guy at j.p. morgan and he says it's possible but it is not his base case right now because he thinks people looking to profit from that scenario might prevent it from happening. >> the mciver solution. thank you so much. you can see more of jack on

"barron's roundtable" on friday 10:00 p.m. eastern right here on fox business. still to come, the ceo of verizon, i want to know will they send someone to my house if i need service, internet provider, i will ask him. also coming up top white house economist larry kudlow same business should not be held liable if their employees become infected with the virus, very interesting. get rid of liability. good stuff, larry kudlow is on the show, next texas senator ted cruz, i want to know what he's doing to protect our energy workers and he will tell us. more burning after this.

here's the thing about managing multiple clouds for your business. when you've got public clouds, and private clouds, and hybrid clouds- things can get a bit cloudy for you. but now, there's the dell technologies cloud, powered by vmware. a single hub for a consistent operating experience across all your clouds. that should clear things up.

stuart: the opening up process has begun, six states start to

open up a little today including texas by the way curbside pickup at stores will start and be allowed as of today, that is part of governor abbott's plan to reopen the state. look who is with us, the senator from texas, one of the two, the great ted cruz joins us now, great to have you on the show, thank you for coming on. >> good to be with you. stuart: or try to opening up doing safely at the same time, it's a balance, do you think texas has achieved the balance? >> i hope so, that is certainly what we are trying to do. we nationally have two catastrophes playing out simultaneously. we have the global health pandemic, the coronavirus pandemic which is serious and across the country we have taken extraordinary steps to flatten the curve and slow the spread of the disease. but we also have an economic catastrophe, we have 26 million people have lost their jobs, small businesses by the millions

on the verge of going bankrupt and i'm glad texas is moving forward with allowing businesses to open and allowing people to go back to work, we need to do so as fast as possible, consistent with the science, consistent with the medical professionals advice about how to slow and mitigate the spread of the virus. stuart: how do you feel about another stimulus or rescue package. i know it's been talked about for some republicans want to pause, no more of the spending. where do you stand on that. >> we have spent more than enough money, we cannot spend our way out of this. we have spent $3 trillion, we have spent 15% of her total national debt, enough is enough is enough. the focus -- i supported everyone of the bills that came through, i agree that we need emergency relief to help people to help people through the crisis as a short-term bridge loan but none of the spending

that we spent, there's a reason i don't call it a stimulus bill, it was not designed to fix the problem, it was simply relief to people who are hurting and hurting through no fault of their own, we need to give this money sometime but more fundamentally, we need to restart the economy and so what i am interested in we are expected to be back in session in two weeks when we come back it's not another really fun spending bill which seems to be what nancy pelosi wants to do but instead a recovery bill, a bill that is designed to help small businesses finally be opening their doors, finally seeing customers come back, putting in place policies to help small businesses grow and regenerate the jobs, 26 million people lost their jobs back to work. stuart: when do you think we can get back to economic growth, third quarter this year, fourth quarter this year, when can we get back.

>> it depends on how quickly we managed to control the spread of the virus. the process of reopening is going to very geography by geography, it's not going to b be -- it will depend upon the medical science. to new york city, what is happening in new york city has been horrific and heartbreaking for the entire country. nobody is suggesting that new yorkers should return to work tomorrow, the situation and facts on the ground do not make sense. but there's other parts of the country but thankfully have not had anywhere near the rate of infection in the rate of hospitalization and the rate of fatality. i think another parts of the country like texas we should be protecting those who are really vulnerable, we should protect the very elderly, we should protect those with very serious health conditions but that is the population the virus has proved particular damage for but for everyone else, young healthy

people they ought to be getting back to work driving the economy, moving towards economic growth. in all likelihood it won't be exactly the same as it was three months ago we may well be using ppe and masks and gloves and they have to redesign their guiding rooms to spread the tables out so you have social distancing, we can use reasonable common sense steps to slow the spread of the virus but just freezing our economy for weeks and weeks and months and months on end, that is going to cost human lives too, that will cost human lives from mental illness and depression and suicide and substance and alcohol abuse and we need to protect lives, we need to protect lives on both sides of the ledger, on the side of the disease also on the economic side and all of the devastating consequences of what is happening because of the government policies being put in place to fight the pandemic. stuart: let's get through to the other side. by the way what happened to the

full beard, a lot of people said that really suited you. what have you done. >> it's a same as it always has been, the here's a little bit longer, i have not had a haircut and a couple of months, the beard has been largely unchanged for about two years now. stuart: people like it by the way. thank you very much for joining us trade always appreciated. we have an executive shape up of at&t, the stock is up attraction, what do we have on the. >> randall stephenson the ceo of at&t is stepping down and retiring but will serve as executive chairman of the board until next year january 2021. stepping in as ceo, not a surprise the head of warner media, he was the one that drove at&t acquisition of directv and given the at&t purchase warner media back in 2016 for $108 billion, it's clearly signaled that production streaming was the future for this company in john is in

charge of vendor launching hbo max on july 27 and streaming content production is a future merge with it. stuart: did you say 108 billion. i forgot that. that is huge. thank you very much susan. at&t below $30 a share. still to come steve hilton on the show, he is in california where they are protesting the lockdown, and california there protesting the lockdown. he will talk to us about that, that is steve hilton. next larry kudlow, here come the lawsuits, can we expect any protection for companies, can we get protection from liability, i will ask him next. i've got some terrific news for veteran homeowners from newday usa. interest rates have dropped to record lows.

newday usa makes it so easy to refinance that one call can save you $2000 a year. newday's va streamline refi lets you refinance without having to verify your income, without getting your home appraised and without spending one dollar out of pocket to get it done. it is the quickest and easiest refi they've ever offered. one call can save you $2000 a year, every year.

soon, people will be walking back through your door.. soon, life will move forward. we'll welcome back old colleagues, get to know new ones some things may change, but we'll still be here, right here, so you can work on the business of getting your business back. at paycom, our focus will always be you and we'll see you soon. confident financial plans, calming financial plans, complete financial plans. they're all possible with a cfp® professional. find yours at letsmakeaplan.org.

i was overwhelmed. and i didn't know where to begin. ♪ i came across sofi and it was the best decision of my life. i feel cared about as a member. there's no extra costs for it or anything like that. it's all kinda like, through the app. we're getting a super competitive interest rate on our money. we're able to invest through the same exact platform. ♪ i really liked that they didn't have any hidden or extra fees. ♪

sofi has brought me peace of mind. truly thank you for helping me prepare for whatever the future has in store. it's all because sofi let us see light at the end of the tunnel. - so thank you. - thank you. ♪ will. >> when i see the disinfected in a minute and is there when we can do something like that, by injection inside or cleaning, you see kids from the lungs and does a tremendous number, be interesting to check. stuart: the makers of lysol have responded to what the president said, what are they saying. >> they are saying don't ingest

disinfectants, they say this is a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be used -- be administered into the human body through injecti injection, ingestion or any other route. excuse me. they're saying they're good for services, they're not saying when you insert them into your body. the white house is commenting in clarifying what the president said yesterday. the white house press secretary says this, president trump has repeatedly said that american should consult with medical doctors regarding coronavirus treatment, a point that he emphasized again during yesterday's briefing, leave it to the media to responsibly take president trump out of context and run with negative headlines. the president yesterday looked to docto dr. birx and say what u

put americans under uv light and if you inject this infected, can that help, the medical community responding in these companies responding today saying please do not do anything like that. stuart: please do not try this at home. thank you lauren. the market has just turned ever so slightly south, we have a two-point loss for the dow, three-point gain for the s&p, nine-point up for the nasdaq composite, i will call the dead flat, as we reported earlier, the ceo of at&t randall stephenson has stepped down, he is going to retire, the stock is up 17 cents, no reaction for the stock. wwe, the wrestling people, that stock is up, they reported that the number of digital viewers increased 25% in the last quarter, they are up 16% the gain, they have hired more than 1700 new employees to support

essential national security work, no real change for the stock, $376 a share down 21 cents. the wall street journal reported that jcpenney has posted bankruptcy, why am i not surprised, what you have on the. >> not exactly a shocker, apparently the company rout loog for bankruptcy funding which would provide enough money to continue to operate during court supervised bankruptcy, they're looking from 800 million to a billion dollars, no big surprise, pennies one of the most under dominant part department stores of last century, 118 years old, but like all of the department stores it has struggled certainly prior to the pandemic and the coronavirus. they are expected to file for bankruptcy officially in the coming weeks and they're not alone as we know, they fall for

vagrancy back in 2018 we heard from neiman marcus recently, it is a scenario that we knew would play out and certainly has been speeded up by the coronavirus. stuart: big in the last century, not big in the century of online selling and now the virus. 30 amazon workers have tested positive for the virus in a warehouse near new york city, what are the implications of that. >> it's not good for amazon and it's not employee base of amazon warehouse in new jersey apparently 30 employees of the business inside reporting have contracted covid-19 and they say it looks like unlimited -- on time paid off in april 30 expires, what does that mean, if you have coronavirus even after two weeks have passed, there are complaints of working conditions, 500 workers in the warehouse at once during the day

shift, what about social distancing, what about ppe, we see numerous walkouts of multiple amazon warehouse and fulfillment centers across the country because people are concerned that they are not given the right equipment, they're working really strict hourly shift and they don't feel they are being taken care of as many as 50 amazon facilities across the u.s. have employees that have tested positive for covid-19 according to numerous reports, amazon said they're trying to do all they can and as we mentioned, jeff bezos, the man who is delegated lower level lieutenant have stepped back into the fray because of covid-19. too also make sure the company does not lose its play and keep its image. stuart: i know with amazon $2400 a share, jeff bezos is worth $145 billion. they recount though is with us, white house top economist. welcome back to the program, very good to see you.

i just want to talk to you about liability. when we start going back to work, some people may come down with the virus when they get back to work and i see a lawsuit coming, holding the employer liable, is there anything that you can do about that, i don't think the flood of lawsuits will help us recover. >> that is correct, it will not help us recover and as i mentioned a few times earlier, we are pursuing some kind of liability safeguard program in these businesses are governed by state and city regulations, they are also federal laws. in the absence of gross negligence, if there is gross negligence a business or healthcare facility or provider, they will be guilty and they will pay fines and whatever not to go to jail, if you're just opening a business and you

conform to the guidelines and then one of your customers or your employees unfortunately comes down with the virus i don't think there should be a lawsuit, it's very hard to trace where in when these viruses might've taken hold. we cannot allow a flood of frivolous losses, i use the word frivolous, not the individuals may be hurt by the virus, and seeing frivolous by certain groups of attorneys who make a living on this that will absolutely stop businesses, they may have to close the businesses because businesses cannot afford or second of all the businesses are not open because of no protection. we have to really focus on this, this is a really important economic growth or economic recovery and economic confidence measure. stuart: we are looking at -- there has been an expectation of another big spending plan coming down the plaque, another rescue

plan, another relief plan, some republicans pause on that, where you stand on the next stimulus recovery relief plan. >> look let's get through this one first. that is the important thing, let's implement this, the ppp small business, it is better crafted than earlier just because the community developed and minority banks and public health companies are not going to be eligible. having said that stu, i don't want to get ahead of the curve but i want to say this, president trump has indicated a desire to go from what i call the rescue case, the liquidity in the cash to hopefully keep people afloat as much as possible, keep the payroll going, that is one. as we move into the reopening phase, my thought is we need to pursue economic growth policies, economic incentive policies so

it pays to work and start a business and take risk and develop animal spirit, already as you probably know the president has talked about a payroll tax holiday for the employee side, that can be very, very helpful, he has talked about an infrastructure bill, that can be very, very helpful, he is talked about restoring deduction for business meals and entertainment and stadiums, that can be very helpful, we also probably will look issues such as 100% expensing for the building of plant and equipment and so forth and help people relocate from asia, china back to the united states. we cannot just keep throwing money willy-nilly, we have to have an incentive oriented program, when that happens, i don't know, i don't want to get ahead of the story but i know the president wants growth, remember this was a very strong economy from lower tax rates of president trump enacted from

lower regulation from easing up on the regulation on energy and better trade deals, somewhere out there there is an export boom if we get a global recovery at some point in the future. you just can't keep throwing money at stuff, some places need the money, no question, we put enormous amounts, hundreds of billions in the hospital for example in medical equipment and testing, i'm not belittling that, i'm just saying we will need another of, we will need animal spirit to get going the second half of the year which is my best guess. >> there's a lot of animal spirits around here. in the first quarter of the year the market started a downtrend, the second quarter we really, really downtrend did severe recession at the very least in the past when you've been on the program you said the third quarter is going to be a transitional quarter and then we return to growth by the fourth quarter. are you changing that at all,

are you speeding up the recovery process or what. >> as the president talked yesterday, vice president pence, a lot of the states are filing for reopening as we come to the back end of april, may be a very positive transition month, i would say this i think the first quarter will be a slight negative, i think the second quarter will be a very deep virus cause contraction very deep contraction on the other hand i think the third quarter can show a positive growth in the fourth quarter even more positive growth, it is early, these models don't work because were up against the virus, were not up against normal business banking profits, those kinds of things, no question, terrible hardship written contraction in q2, i think as we reopen with all of the safety guidelines that are medical experts have suggested in the states moving forward carefully, i think we will see positive growth in the

third quarter. stuart: that will be a real u-shaped recovery, not quite av but certainly a you. >> it might be a v shaped you. you might not find on your computer. you know what i mean. upward movement. we will hold out on that, all i'm saying, health and safety first. stuart: the vice president talked about the extraordinary increase in test and good practices and i think were all working together pretty well. stuart: what you just did speed up the assessment of the recovery on the other side because we are going back to work, six states are getting some people back to work as of today more will follow, i'm reading between the lines and what you're saying, you speeded

up your prediction of the economy expanding. >> i like what i see, i like the fact that the states are exploring and investigating how they can reopen, that is right, i like what i see in terms of our guidelines, i like what i see in terms of the huge pickup in testing, i talked to so many ceos and so many industries along with the president and the vice president and governors and so forth, they're all working hard, maybe simple temperature test, we have to have confidence, people have to have confidence to go back to work. i cannot pinpoint that, this is impossible to model but yes you're getting in the morning, i'm always better about this time in the morning and i'm a little more optimistic, i know this is very difficult. i get that, we will get some brutal numbers, i get all of that, i was just doing some back

of the envelope stuff, trying to keep pace with the breathtaking congressional legislation, i think were close to 3 trillion in budget assistance, roughly plus 4 trillion in federal reserve lending and by the way the fed has expended its balance sheet by about 2 trillion so help me out, i have three plus four, that is seven plus two from the fed money supply, that is $9 trillion rescue package, that gives me some hope, i like what i see on the guidelines in the testing and i'm just saying if we can reopen in may, transition early june and so forth, yes, we will take a terrible terrible hardship contraction in the second quarter but we will come out of that, america has a strong underlying free enterprise incentive oriented economy. that is the story and i think americans will rise to the occasion. stuart: states like new york,

new jersey, connecticut, illinois in particular also to some degree california, they want help, they want a lot of money coming from the federal government to help them out with the state budget, whether they get that were not, i do not know but when it the repeal the state and local tax deduction, repeal the salt deal, that would help the states and that is really what they want, would you entertain repealing salt. >> we have not parsed through that, i would say if you're asking me personally, i thought salt was good tax reform policy, now however, i think that the income tax rates for the top five, six, 78% should have been lowered in the 2017 bill, i think that's what was lacking, among supply-side or, i believe it has to pay more to invest after taxes, i would like to see flattening of the income tax

rates in the broadening of the base, remember we took amt out, that helped, salt is good policy, what wasn't good policy is we did not get the top couple of income tax brackets down, that was a mistake but we will see, i don't want to get ahead of the curve, i don't want to suggest that were promulgating policies but since were having one of our fabulous high-minded intellectual discussions i thought i would put it on the table. >> i am really flattered. last one. i am about to interview democrat tim ryan who has a plan, it's a universal income plan $2000 a month for every adult in america and am about to interview can i get your input on the program.

>> i say i like to hear mr. ryan's plan i would like to hear the whole plan of what might be part of the plan. i don't want to pass judgment i don't want to pass judgment on anybody. that is the truth. we are trying to do bipartisan stuff done here and if he has a good plan so be it, he can call me and i would love to talk to him about any of these things and i mean that sincerely. stuart: you're a diplomat, you belong at the statehouse as well as the white house. >> you will comply me to the state department, as of today i am still here. stuart: i would be glad to hear. thank you, great stuff we will see you again i hope. i'm going to run a headline from market watch, he reads this. one, $1200 stimulus check will not cut it. give americans $2000 a month tax-free to fire up the economy. also on that headline joins us now congresswoman from ohio democrat tim ryan.

welcome to the show, good to see you again. >> thank you for having me. stuart: i don't know if you heard but i asked larry kudlow what he think about $2000 a month for all adults and he said i'm not going to pass judgment, i want to hear from the congressman himself. maybe you still watching. in my right in saying it will be $2000 a month tax-free, would that be on top of on employment benefits, food stamps and any other help from the government, is it on top of that. >> yes it would, it would be for at least six months, everybody who makes less than $130,000 a year as an individual and $260,000 as a couple, it's a shot in the arm that the average person needs and i appreciate mr. kudlow saying that, i will be on the phone with his office trying to give him an explanation of this, they've done in canada and if you want

to have a u-shaped recovery, you better have a bunch of people who have paid their bill, pay their mortgages, pay their auto loan, pay their credit card bills and have money in their pocket to go out and spend. >> andrew yang, presidential candidate had a similar plan, i don't know the amount of money but a universal income plan, he was going to finance or by taxing the big technology companies, how would you finance $2000 a month for adults. >> we would have to cross that bridge when we get there, i appreciate andrew yang supporting the bill and a lot of his supporters are pushing for this. i think he articulated extremely well the anxiety that the average americans are facing but clearly we are in deficit spending mode now, it is important to remember we were running trillion dollar a year deficits before this event started because of the tax cut that was not paid for and so now is not the time to say how are we going to pay for this but i

think we can explore all kind of options including big tech and other options for us to be able to pay for this but this is going to be for six month period or until we get to the economy back on stable footing. >> we heard from larry kudlow a total of $9 trillion will be pumped into the economy. i understand it's not all going into the pockets immediately of low-income people, and understand that. but 9 trillion going out? that is an enormous amount of money, 40% of gdp. don't you think we have enough going out there and now you want to add 2000 month for every adult, you're talking astronomical amount of money. >> we are talking about putting working-class people working poor into the front of the line for once. i appreciate what mr. kudlow was saying and try to be optimistic

but i felt like his comment was really disconnected from what i'm seeing on the ground here in ohio but the level of pain and the level of anxiety around the small businesses that are not getting the kind of money that they need, we've only addressed about 5% of the 32 million small businesses in the united states, this is going to be a struggle and it's going to take some time and i think sometimes painting too optimistic of a picture shows a level of disconnection from the administration to what's happening on the ground we have people that have not got their unemployment checks at all and the rent is come to in the credit card is come to, people are struggling in this bill of 2000 bucks goes right to the heart of the matter and you said he's a supply-side guy, i'm a demand, i think of people have money in their pocket, that's what makes the cot to be and takes care of communities in the

state and local thing, we have to make sure, we cannot be asking state and local government to go bankrupt and destroy the police that does not seemed like an appropriate reaction in the global pandemic. stuart: i would be in favor for helping with first responders, police, fire, bus drivers, i can do that but i am not in favor of handing out enormous gobs of cash to states which would then spend it on retired workers pension and that's what would happen. i am terribly sorry i am out of time, i should give you time to respond. i am serious, it was a good debate, i think we should have those debates. please come back and see us again soon. >> i'm happy to come back on. stuart: please, do that thank you very much indeed. check the market, it did not move during the larry kudlow interview or with congressman ryan, were up a fraction, 17-point up, eight for the s&p

and 27 for the nasdaq. one more check on draft king, it went public early this morning, it is a backdoor going public but they are out there, they have gone up five, 6% $18 a share. last night the nfl held round one of the virtual draft, tonight's round two, grady trimble has been following. what you have for me grady. >> i watched the first two hours and i thought it worked, everybody knew joe burrow was going to get picked first anyways but a lot of people watching for technical challenges and for the most part it went on smoothly, it went good and they had fans involve streaming in from there homes. they tried to incorporate all the usual elements in a very usual draft, there was minor snafu, john gruden's draft board with his selections was showing

in his shots, people said they look closely and could see some names. i also want to show you it wasn't about the glitz and glamour although it was not in vegas, jerry jones, his war room was on his 250 million-dollar yacht and you see him there, that is pretty incredible there is bill belichick that took things differently, he was alone inside his house and perhaps the brilliance of this man is a simplicity and people had several monitors and phones in front of them into big tv, bill belichick looks like he's in his dining room there, i would say everything went off without a hitch, round two starts tonight and they say the most important play is the next play so we'll see how things go tonight. stuart: it went well last night. thank you very much indeed. let's stay on the draft, joe is with us, he's a media kind of guy, he watches the media for us, do you think it is possible that this event last night was the most watched sport event in

history, is that possible? >> most watched sport event that did not have competition in history, absolutely. i should say i'm joining you, not quite jerry jones but wanted to say it is a thing. you will see viewership's, 12, 13 million, what is 12 or 15 million, that's the world series, that's a hungry people were for any kind of new sports happening even if it's a draft, you bought a draft king before, if you going to draft kings and want to bet on something, your options are literally soccer, ping-pong out of russia and darts, that is it. so last night the big buzz on social media that you could bet on the draft picks when you thought a player was going to go and that bought some buzz. i think what got us used to was seen in event without line stands, you can see that in the fall with many sports.

last year in nashville, 600,000 people went into the streets of the tennessee town of the in a full draft outdoorsman is being held in the place last year. last night as mentioned young roger to go over the screen. i think that the immediate future until we can get this thing figured out with a vaccine. >> it went well. for a moment i want to turn back to the whole, you started the media, let's talk about the media treating the president in this virus era. i want you to listen to what msnbc nicole wallace said about the pandemic and the president. roll the tape please. >> it took a colorblind, gender blind, state lines blind virus to sort of have all of the president from the first three years catch up. i wonder what do you think about whether or not their silverlining there and some of

the things that we talk about for three years maybe catching up with him. stuart: as silverlining because it hurts the president. go at it joe, your 30 seconds. >> not much to add to that, it is obvious. nicole wallace is an anchor, that is not an anchor, that is an opinion host and that's why so many people distrust the media because you have a title, you're either an anchor and delivering facts and asking questions were an entertaining host and have a diary episode. that's what nicole wallace just did, shared a thought into think that this could hurt the president and get him out of office, that's okay type of stuff that people shake their heads and say enough, that is horrible nearly 50000 people are dead, concentration on the facts and educate the public. stuart: all in 25 seconds, then you very much indeed. all good stuff. by the way, still to come on the show today, legendary quarterback joe theismann will tell us the top moment from the first round virtual in a full draft, also coming up the ceo of

verizon. i want to know when everybody working at home using more bandwidth, can they keep up or is it going to slow down for people. michigan has emerged the epicenter of the request, they want to make a living and discuss that in a moment. now more than ever, you need technology you can rely on. and people you can rely on. i'm a dell technologies advisor.

me too. me too. me too. and if you're a small business, we're with you. we are with you. we're with you. we want to help. so we'll be right here. at home. answering your calls. providing support. and standing by you every step of the way. bye bye.

stuart: michigan has emerged as

the epicenter of back-to-work protests. that's because michigan is the epicenter of draconian stay-at-home rules. it is accountability time. lawmakers in michigan are moving to limit the power of the governor who imposed those draconian rules. today in lansing a special session of the legislature has been scheduled. the detroit free press says governor whitmer's authority will be questioned and her rules reviewed. no wonder. since april 9th, michiganders have been told no, you can't visit a vacation home. what? all those remote cabins in the wood, you got to forget all of that? come on. and no, don't cross the street to visit relatives. in fact, don't visit relatives or friends anywhere. that's a huge imposition on personal freedom. the governor just extended or is probably going to extend those rules to may 15th. protesters assembled outside her house. sorry, in my opinion that's out of bounds.

you don't support personal freedom if you are an elected official -- in an elected official's private space. the point here is, though, that michigan residents want to work and they want their constitutional rights respected. and they are going to hold their elected officials accountable. they're going to do this. i think it was fascinating to see residents in the san diego area joining the personal freedom protests. this is california, remember. but when they close open air public spaces, that did it. no swimming, surfing, paddle boarding or kayaking? it seems so, again, draconian and hundreds of people gathered to protest. president trump is considering extending social distancing rules into the summer. he's all for reopening the economy with safeguards and social distance and adequate testing. there's nothing radical about that. same with most of the protests. they are not about chucking out all the rules and back to business as usual. it's about personal freedom.

you can't tell americans they can't visit relatives or their cabin in the woods and you can't tell americans you can't make a living. don't do it. the third hour of "varney & company" is about to begin. stuart: all right. we've got states beginning to open up. 4.4 million people filing jobless claims last week. today, states begin reopening i believe it's six states have started today, sending people back to work. come in, ashley. do you have the unemployment breakdown of the states that are reopening today? ashley: i certainly do. combined, those six states account for almost 3.5 million unemployment claims. let's start running down them. arkansas, 61,000 jobless claims in just the past five weeks. they are starting to reopen today. georgia, over a million unemployment claims filed. as you can see, we have texas,

1.3 million. tennessee, 383,000. oklahoma, quarter of a million unemployment claims. this represents, stuart, these six states that are loosening the rules represent about 13% of the total number of claims filed in just the last five weeks. so the need to get back to work is strong everywhere. we are finally seeing some progress in these six states. stuart: six states start today. thanks very much indeed. come in, jason katz, ubs managing director. good to see you again. in my opinion, this is just an opinion, the market and its nice rebound from the low of a month ago is because america is getting back to work. do you think that that is the main factor of getting this market up? >> it's certainly a huge contributing factor. as breathtaking as that four million job number is and the fact we are at 26 million some

odd people unemployed, that's transitory and we will get a lot of those jobs back predicated on getting back to work, but it has to be done, as you have been talking about all morning, in a thoughtful manner. each state has to have an articulated plan. each industry has to have a well-articulated plan. stuart: we've got to get there soon, one certainly hopes. jason, there's a lot of talk about another relief package. i think it will be number five. there's a lot of talk also that they are going to pause on that, don't go out there and chuck another trillion dollars in, at least not yet. do you think the market wants a fifth stimulus, a fifth relief package, or would they be more comfortable digesting what we've got? >> i mean, look, if you add up the fiscal monetary stimulus we are close to $9 trillion. i think what we want to do is start to incentivize businesses

and people and perhaps not throw as much money at this problem. we needed to do what we needed to do to stem the tide but there are consequences that were unintended as a result of that. so larry kudlow spoke about it earlier in your show. whether it's addressing salt at some point, whether it's allowing entertainment or sports again, something to motivate people to get back to work. not so much hand them money. stuart: you watched the larry kudlow interview. i just want to run a brief clip from it. listen to what he said about growing the economy once we reopen. roll that tape, please. >> the president has talked about a payroll tax holiday for the employees side. that could be very very helpful. he has talked about an infrastructure bill. that could be very very helpful. he's talked about restoring deductions for business meals and entertainment and stadiums. that could be very helpful. we are also probably going to look at issues such as 100%

expensing for the building of plants and equipment and so forth and maybe helping people relocate from china back to the united states. stuart: again, jason, you heard what he had to say. payroll tax holiday, infrastructure, more business deductions, 100% expensing, all of those, group them together, you think that would help the market and the economy as well? >> without equivocation. look, this shutdown has cost our economy over $25 billion a day. the stimulus has bought us time, thank goodness. but we need the mass testing, we need not only the well-articulated plan but we need contact tracing. obviously we need vaccines in the long run and therapies in the short run but what we need to stem the tide is to get back to work. now, i'm fortunate to be in an industry where i can do it from my living room here. other people are not so fortunate. we will do it in a way that there's social distancing and

that we can do it in a way that we can at least start to get the engine going. if we don't do that, the other side of this could be ugly in terms of suicides, in terms of alcoholism, in terms of longevity. people who are unemployed on balance die a year and a half earlier. so it's really important that we get back to work at the right pace. stuart: well said. jason katz, thanks very much for joining us from your lovely living room. put it like that. thank you. >> thanks, stuart. stuart: now, i want to play for the audience what larry kudlow said when i suggested we are going to have a u-shaped recovery. interesting stuff. watch this. that would be a real u-shaped recovery, not quite a v for the economy but certainly a u. >> it might be a kind of v-shaped u. stuart: okay. >> you may not find it on your computer. a kind of v-shaped u, you know

what i mean? upward movement. hold out on that. stuart: larry enjoyed the interview. we will find out later. i will check a couple stocks for you. how about big tech to start with? i think it's a mixed picture. yes, it is. apple is up. they got their new cheap iphone, it will be available for purchase today. they got that out there. they are up. amazon down about four bucks. facebook down $1.40. it's a mixed picture. no significant movement for the big techs. down on google $18. microsoft dead flat at $171. how about the price of gold? on pace to make gains for the third straight session. no, it's not. down about six bucks. well over $1700 an ounce. bitcoin, haven't checked that for a long, long time. where is it? $7,400. got that. how about at & t? the ceo randall stevenson retiring at the end of june. he will serve as the executive chair of the board until january of next year.

john stankey becomes the new ceo. no movement of the stock on that news. president just tweeted about him. great news. great news, he says. randall stevenson, the ceo of heavily indebted at & t which owns and presides over the fake news cnn is leaving. or was forced out. anyone who lets a garbage network do and say the things that cnn does should leave asap. hopefully replacement will be much better. that's how the president thinks about cnn. moving on. the hotel industry as we know just like airlines and cruises and all kinds of travel related industries, hotels have an extremely low occupancy rate at this moment. lauren, how low? lauren: 8 in 10 rooms are empty. 2.4 billion in weekly wages has been disintegrated.

1.6 million workers are out of work. the american hotel lodging association says the impact of covid-19 is nine times worse than 9/11. of course, they are appealing to the administration, asking for some changes and fixes. when you look at the ppp program, tailor-made more towards what they need because they don't think they can restore payroll as fast as they might need to. stuart: got that. thank you very much indeed. amazon is in the news. accused i believe of using third party data to their own benefit. straighten it out, susan. susan: this is a "wall street journal" investigative piece and if it's true, the fact that amazon is using its third party sellers' data on how to produce its own goods and slapping an amazon label on it, that puts amazon in unfair advantage, doesn't it? so this was a report in the "wall street journal." they quoted and interviewed 20 past employees and they say it was an open secret that employees were able to use some of this third party independent

seller data to better produce their own goods. for instance, they use an example of the trunk organizer. they looked at the data to better produce it, design it and price it effectively for the market. now, amazon says that look, we don't actually allow this in the workplace, if we can bring up maybe the amazon quote, because while we don't believe these claims are accurate, we take these allegations very seriously and have launched an internal investigation. amazon says that employees have restricted access to certain types of data. however, in this article, they say that you can get around some of these firewalls fairly easily and is common practice within amazon itself. don't forget amazon last year was facing a european union investigation of again, having this unfair advantage, being the marketplace for third party sellers but using that data to produce its own goods which are cheaper, better and then eventually you squeeze out the little guy. stuart: could be they've got a problem right there. all right. susan, thank you very much indeed. here's a headline for you.

the biden campaign has a new economic adviser. ashley, please don't tell me that it's bernie sanders or aoc. who is it? ashley: i would love to do that. no, it's not. it's larry summers. larry summers of course was treasury secretary under bill clinton, economic adviser for barack obama, and news of this may not go down so well with the progressives who felt that summers, who called for more deregulation on financial services back in the clinton era and also they say was too kind to banks back in 2009, that may not please the progressives, the very people that joe biden is trying to attract as he is the presumptive nominee for democrat presidential race. it will be interesting to see. the biden campaign says whoa, wait a minute, we have a host of economic policy advisers that we will get the opinions of and larry summers is just one of them. i have to say, that news did raise some eyebrows among those

who like liz warren or maybe bernie sanders. stuart: why am i not surprised at that. ashley, we have one more for you. there's a new fox news poll on florida. i guess this is, what, trump versus biden. i guess that's -- i don't know. who's winning? ashley: it is indeed and it has joe biden up by three points, 46-43. there is a three-point margin of error so you can say it's a very close race indeed. when you break it down, joe biden's biggest advantage is a 12-point lead among women. he's actually beating hillary clinton support in florida back in 2016. let's not forget donald trump won florida by just 1% in 2016. very tight in florida. if you believe in polls and as we know, they failed to predict brexit and failed to predict the 2016 result with donald trump. but there you have it. stuart: there you have it.

call me a skeptic on this particular one. that's just me. just me. okay. how about this one. a football prospect becomes an instant millionaire from the comfort of his couch. that guy right there. coming up, super bowl champ joe theismann gives us his biggest moments from the nfl's first ever virtual draft. joe's on the show. casinos on the strip in vegas could be up and running by the end of the summer. really? we will let you know exactly when and maybe you can bet on it. i don't know. if your internet goes down during the lockdown, will someone come and fix it in your home? that's an important question for people like me. i will ask verizon's ceo. you sending someone to my house? he joins us next. it is an understatement to say that i was extremely worried. i was overwhelmed. and i didn't know where to begin. ♪ i came across sofi and it was the best decision of my life. i feel cared about as a member.

there's no extra costs for it or anything like that. it's all kinda like, through the app. we're getting a super competitive interest rate on our money. we're able to invest through the same exact platform. ♪ i really liked that they didn't have any hidden or extra fees. ♪ sofi has brought me peace of mind. truly thank you for helping me prepare for whatever the future has in store. it's all because sofi let us see light at the end of the tunnel. - so thank you. - thank you. ♪ ♪

♪ it's more than just fast. it keeps all your devices running smoothly.

with built-in security that protects your kids... ...no matter what they're up to. it protects your info... ...and gives you 24/7 peace of mind... ...that if it's connected, it's protected. even that that pet-camera thingy. [ whines ] can your internet do that? xfinity xfi can because it's... ...simple, easy, awesome. [ barking ]

stuart: honda extending plant shutdowns for another week. no influence on the stock. it's actually up two cents. tesla, the ceo elon musk hints that he may get into the heating, ventilation and air conditioning industry. in an interview with joe rogan he said there's room to grow in that industry and that he can't say if he's working on products for it. not influencing the stock price of tesla. $709 is your quote, up three bucks. come in, susan. there's news on hydroxychloroquine from the fda. susan: serious warning coming from the fda this friday morning. they say they are advising consumers against taking chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat covid-19 and they don't want this to happen outside of a hospital, after serious poisoning and deaths that were reported as a result. the agency says it has become aware of reports of serious heart rhythm problems in patients with the virus who were treated with hydroxychloroquine

or chloroquine along with z-pack, azithromycin as well. they are hoping and are warning physicians against prescribing the drugs to treat the coronavirus outside of a hospital. don't forget, the fda has approved an emergency use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, but they are saying outside of a hospital, please don't do it on your own. stuart: i hear you. i think the media will jump on that because president trump did say at one point this might be useful. all right. verizon, check that stock, please. it's down 24 cents right now. we have with us today the ceo of verizon, hans vestberg. hans, great to have you with us again. we really appreciate it. here's my question. i'm told that these days in the era of the virus, every day is like mother's day as far as bandwidth. we are all using the internet just like it's mother's day every day. i'm hearing that there is some slowdown in the internet because of this. can you keep up?

>> first of all, thank you very much for having me. i think that we have been reporting since the pandemic broke out, enormous surge of use, 200% up on gaming, some 60% up on vpn. actually we have had 800 million calls a day which is twice the amount of mother's day every day. the internet has been keeping up very well. we have a lot of headroom still in the network because of increasing capacity, as well as much of the applications are used at other times than normal. normally people are using the mobile network for some. nowadays it's pretty much more in the morning. the network is keeping up really well. now we see very small changes in the network week to week since the beginning of the outbreak or pandemic. stuart: your financial report early this morning, you said you had lost 68,000 phone customers. what kind of phone customers?

look, i didn't read the report in full, i must confess. is it 68,000 land lines that went out or 68,000 of your wireless people transferred to another carrier? what happened? >> clearly [ inaudible ] historically but i would say up to the beginning of march, we had a very good stable business without new subscribers, then we decided to reduce our stores down to only having a third open, more important, only having by appointment and the reason was we put safe and health number one for our employees. that's why we are not disconnecting our customers, the small and medium, nor the residential customers for late payment and things like that. this is an unprecedented time so you need to manage all the stake holders and i think if i look at

the results, we have done it well. our earnings per share is up 5% year over year. so it's a good result in an environment that is unprecedented. stuart: what do you make of at & t's ceo, randall stephenson, stepping down? we had a vigorous trump tweet where he said almost good riddance. i know you are the ceo of a competing phone organization but do you have anything to say? >> no, i think that i was previously the ceo of erickson and i know randall, i worked with him. i think that change is coming in this industry. he has been there for a long time. stuart: but you are staying, i take it? you have no plans to move? you're staying? >> i'm a fair newcomer here. i have two years in my job. i see a great company. i will continue.

stuart: i'm a verizon customer and i want 5g. when am i going to get it from verizon? >> so we are actually on par, we are rolling that out. we are going to have nationwide during the year as well. we are not dropping that back. we are actually on plan with it. but of course, things can happen, but one thing that's important, 20 new 5g devices are out in the market, we are launching three of them and we think some will get more attention than others. so far we see good momentum in the whole supply chain or delivering on that. we think that during the year, we want to see a much more massive deployment and use of 5g. i think that you will have a 5g phone in your hand pretty soon. stuart: okay. hans, you and i both have european accents. i'm here to stay. are you?

>> yes, i'm speaking swedish but yes, i'm here to stay and of course, it's an exciting market when it comes to technology. of course in an unprecedented time like now. stuart: hans, it's an exciting country. i know it's exciting in technology. this is an exciting country. come on. there's nothing like america. that's just me. that's just me. >> yeah, i agree. stuart: had to drag it out of you there. hans vestberg, ceo of verizon, thanks for joining us, sir. we do appreciate it. thanks very much. >> thank you. stuart: social distancing, it doesn't mean you can't be social at all. coming up, we will speak to a wine maker. he's holding virtual tastings from california wine country. he's on the show. first, the nfl made history, first ever virtual draft. joe theismann joins us with his draft picks. what was the highlight of the virtual draft show? he's after the break.

with va mortgage rates suddenly dropping to near record lows, my team at newday usa is helping more veterans refinance than ever. the newday va streamline refi is the reason why. it lets you shortcut the loan process and refinance with no income verification, no appraisal, and no out of pocket costs. one call can save you $2000 every year. call my team at newday usa right now. jy4hoúm# there are times when our need to connect really matters. to keep customers and employees in the know. to keep business moving. comcast business is prepared for times like these. powered by the nation's largest gig-speed network. to help give you the speed, reliability, and security you need. tools to manage your business from any device, anywhere.

and a team of experts - here for you 24/7. we've always believed in the power of working together. that's why, when every connection counts... you can count on us. about medicare and 65, ysupplemental insurance. medicare is great, but it doesn't cover everything - only about 80% of your part b medicare costs, which means you may have to pay for the rest. that's where medicare supplement insurance comes in: to help pay for some of what medicare doesn't.

learn how an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by united healthcare insurance company might be the right choice for you. a free decision guide is a great place to start. call today to request yours. so what makes an aarp medicare supplement plan unique? well, these are the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp and that's because they meet aarp's high standards of quality and service. you're also getting the great features that any medicare supplement plan provides. for example, with any medicare supplement plan you may choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. you can even visit a specialist. with this type of plan, there are no networks or referrals needed. also, a medicare supplement plan goes with you when you travel anywhere in the u.s. a free decision guide will provide a breakdown of aarp medicare supplement plans,

and help you determine the plan that works best for your needs and budget. call today to request yours. let's recap. there are 3 key things you should keep in mind. one: if you're turning 65, you may be eligible for medicare - but it only covers about 80% of your medicare part b costs. a medicare supplement plan may help pay for some of the rest. two: this type of plan allows you to keep your doctor - as long as he or she accepts medicare patients. and three: these are the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. learn more about why you should choose an aarp medicare supplement plan. call today for a free guide. like millions of fans, i join you from my home for the first virtual nfl draft. this is different for us and it's different for you. oh, come on, guys. you can do better than that. let's go.

[ booing ] stuart: that was good. make fun of yourself. often when roger goodell is out in public, he's booed so he encouraged the booing on the virtual draft. then there was this. lsu quarterback joe burrow was picked first overall by the bengals and come on in, legendary quarterback, a viewer of this show, by the way, good stuff, joe theismann, in case you didn't recognize him. joe, you were watching last night, obviously. run us through what you thought were the top moments from the first round. >> well, first of all, i thought the tribute to all the health care workers and the people on the front line was terrific. i thought it was a great way to acknowledge what we are dealing with in society today, even though the nfl draft has gone on, we still understand and appreciate all those people that work very hard. the other thing was, too, the streets of las vegas were completely empty. the shot they had of vegas where the event was supposed to take place looked like a ghost town. i think that may wind up being a

little more busy in the not too distant future. then from the draft standpoint, i thought the green bay packers moving up four spots to go and get jordan love at utah state as heir apparent to aaron rodgers, who is only 36. aaron's got a good six, seven years left in him if we were to use the numbers of tom brady. those are some things that happened in the draft. the draft basically went the way everybody expected it to without a lot of deals, because there were unknown entities out there that nobody had a chance to really work out and look at. stuart: do you think it worked, joe? i mean, they have to do it virtually. i think it went off without any real serious technical hitch. i think it worked. that's my judgment. how about you? >> i agree with you. i think it worked very well. i think teams initially had the players early in the first round that they were looking at anyway, with very few exceptions. you saw the quarterbacks go

fairly early, three of them. then you saw the offensive linemen sprinkled in. the corners, the wide receivers sort of went next and then the corners. that's pretty much what everybody expected, as far as the teams needing players to fill a particular void right away. now today and tomorrow, the fun starts. how do you pick the next guys on your team. that's going to be the big question. stuart: you're right there. just listen to commissioner goodell say that he is prepared to play in september as planned, regular. watch this for a second. >> we've still got three and a half months before we kick off, so i think what we're going to do is obviously help be part of the solution, try to help get our economy back, our country back. stuart: you think it's going to make it, joe? the season starts as you're expected to start in september? maybe without fans in the stands, but it gets rolling. >> i really do, stuart. i'll tell you why. roger made a great point. it's three and a half months.

i mean, watching your show, watching the network, we don't know what's going to happen next week. we don't know if there's going to be a cure, a vaccine. the timeline for so many things has changed and is so fluid, the fact that there is three and a half months left, it's important to know that at least it's out there. i think it gives people some hope. basketball's gone, baseball's gone, hockey's gone, the wnba gone. all of the sports we're used to at this time are not there. people are really going through withdrawals right now. that's why i thought the draft was a great shot in the arm last night to give us a chance to be able to feel like there's something out there that we're used to and something that we can look forward to. stuart: you are a super bowl champ. can you imagine playing a super bowl with an empty stadium or very very limited number of people in the stadium? it wouldn't quite be the same, would it? >> no, absolutely not. as a matter of fact, in 1974, when i joined the redskins during the strike year, we

played in rfk stadium which seated 55,000 people in front of about 2,000 people. i know what it's like to play in front of an empty stadium and when you had a game like the super bowl at stake, it would be extremely difficult. it would almost be like a practice for players. i mean, you really ride the momentum and the enthusiasm of the fans, whether they are positive or negative towards you. but if it's not there, it's almost like it's a practice game. it's surreal. it just doesn't feel like you're doing something. stuart: i didn't realize that you went all the way back to 1974. i'm trying to do the math. that was what, 45, 46 years ago? forgive me for saying this, but you are holding up real well, joe. >> i appreciate it. thank you. i feel good. you know, if i didn't, my wife would be very upset. robin wants to make sure i stay if one piece for a long time. i try and work at it very hard. stuart: good man. joe theismann, thanks, as always, for being on the show. we really appreciate it. thank you, sir.

got it. on a related note, sort of, draftkings is a sports betting platform, nyou know that, they went public today. up 40 cents, 2.3%. draftkings. nascar begins to come back. that's interesting. north carolina, what's going on, ashley? ashley: the governor, roy cooper, has allowed the crews of the separate, you know, different crews of the different cars, allowing them to go back to the garage to work on their race cars. they have to maintain social distancing but this is a critical, critical move because it will give them time, they need this time to get the cars in shape and the governor is considering allowing on may 24th, the coca-cola 600 in charlotte to go ahead. there would be no spectators but he's seriously considering allowing that race to go ahead. so far, nascar is only ranked four of the 36 races it normally would have this season and those

nascar teams are so desperate to get back because they are getting absolutely zero revenue. stuart: exactly. zero revenue. you want to go back and get some revenue. that's a fact. thanks very much indeed. i can't believe this story but i hear -- you're smiling already. you know what i'm talking about here. the bookies are offering odds on meghan markle running for president. my dear lord. go ahead. lauren: in the next election, stranger things have happened. in the next election, the bookies are seeing interest in a presidential run in 2024 by meghan markle, prince harry's wife. she is now living in los angeles. it's still a long shot. chances are 1 in 100. if you place a $10 bet you can get $1,000. i don't know. we are four years away. we have television personality in the white house, we have had an actor in the white house. why not a former princess and actress as well? stuart: she's a duchess.

lauren: i'm sorry. i misspoke. stuart: she would be the only duchess to my knowledge who has ever run in an american presidential election or any other election in america for that matter. thanks very much indeed. interesting story. now this. a new problem for zoom that has nothing to do with security. it's called zoom fatigue. apparently it's exhausting america. we will explain for you. stay-at-home protests growing coast to coast. what does steve hilton think about that? because they are demonstrating right there in los angeles and elsewhere in california. he's next. i'm your mother in law. and i like to question your every move. like this left turn. it's the next one. you always drive this slow? how did you make someone i love?

that must be why you're always so late. i do not speed. and that's saving me cash with drivewise. my son, he did say that you were the safe option. and that's the nicest thing you ever said to me. so get allstate. stop bossing. where good drivers save 40% for avoiding mayhem, like me. this is my son's favorite color, you should try it. [mayhem] you always drive like an old lady? [tina] you're an old lady. many of life's moments in thare being put on hold. are staying at home, at carvana, we understand that, for some, getting a car just can't wait. to help, we're giving our customers up to 90 days to make their first payment. shop online from the comfort of your couch, and get your car with touchless delivery to keep you safe. and for even greater peace of mind, all carvana cars come with a seven-day return policy. so, if you need to keep moving, we're here for you. at carvana-- the safer way to buy a car.

this is ridiculous! >> it's safe to go back to work. >> this is the united states of america. we don't do this. we don't shut down. we work. stuart: protests there in california. we will get to that in a moment. first i want to bring in steve

hilton with what i think is blockbuster game-changing news. i know you have seen it. i will repeat it. a study shows in new york state, three million people have had the virus. in new york city, 20% of the people. look, to me, that's a game changer because it brings down the fatality rate. it is a game changer. right? >> it is, stuart. it comes on the back of other research that proves the same point. we saw it in the santa clara study last week in california. in los angeles, california, where it shows half a million people there have had it, roughly. and it's not just a game changer in terms of the fatality rate which shows us that it's much less deadly than previously thought. it should also be a game changer in how and when we open up, because what it tells you is that the virus is much more widespread than we knew before and therefore, the group-think

that the establishment are pushing for how to open up, we hear it everywhere. you can't open up until you have widespread testing and contact tracing. now, that strategy works if you've got a small number of people and you can follow each case and isolate them and so on. but these results show we have millions of americans who have the virus. the idea that you can test them all, trace their contacts, isolate everyone who has the virus, is totally ridiculous and that's why we've got to get rid of that group-think, open up everywhere as quickly as possible while doing a very important thing, protecting the vulnerable. it's still a very dangerous disease for very very vulnerable people. those are the ones we should be focused on. stuart: it should also reduce the anxiety level, shouldn't it? if millions of us have got it and most of us didn't know we've got it, it didn't hurt us, surely we have less anxiety 'about going back into society,

right? >> that is such a crucial point. you've got it, because even if the decision makers, governors and mayors, took the sensible advice that i think we are putting out there this morning which is that you can safely open up as long as you protect the vulnerable, the problem is people are being scared about this so much by the media and others that they won't want to go out there to go to work, to go shopping, to go out and about, because they think oh, if i catch coronavirus, it's terrible. it's only terrible for a very small group of people. for most people who have had it, they didn't even know they've got it. that's why putting out this information is so important for our chances of opening up as quickly as possible. stuart: steve, you are a california guy. you are in california. what's going on? californians are protesting the lockdown in california? what's going on? >> yes. what you are seeing here in california is community after community now really resisting

the state-wide shutdown. you are seeing it in counties, not all of them rural counties. certainly some of them are rural counties, but ventura county and others, san luis obispo saying we can't get on like this, it doesn't make sense. in our area, we have very few cases, we have very few people in the hospital. the hospitals are actually empty because we have shut down elective surgery, we have been waiting for this tsunami of coronavirus cases. it hasn't happened. can we please get back to work. so bit by bit, you are seeing the resistance build. i have to say, the early action by california, particularly in the bay area, it clearly did work in flattening the curve, but people are saying well, now we have done that, can we please get back to work? stuart: in california. how about that. steve, we will be watching your show sunday night on the fox news channel. good stuff. thank you, steve hilton. appreciate it. all right. >> thanks, stuart. stuart: now, ashley, come on in, please. you've got an update on the story we brought you, it's from connecticut, about a town using

drones? what's the update? ashley: yes. westport, connecticut, very high end town, they have decided to opt out of the drone program, a drone that could detect if someone had a fever or even cough, and they could detect it from up high. when the news of this came out, lot of people started to weigh in, criticizing organizations, protesting, saying this is a major, major violation of privacy. the drone is manufactured by dragonfly. a canadian company, who invited the police department to try the pilot program or in this case, no-pilot program. westport says we are not going to use it. stuart: did you know, ashley, that way back in the early 1970s, i got off a plane, arrived in america first time at night, went to westport, connecticut, woke up the next morning and i thought my goodness me, the streets are indeed paved with gold. i thought all of america was like that. ashley: very nice. stuart: nice place. thanks, ash. all right. next case, susan, zoom fatigue.

have we all got a case of that? susan: new phenomenon, feelings of tiredness, anxiousness or worry. because psychologically it's offputting from having to focus 15 people or more in a gallery at once and you are worrying how you look, how you speak and a number of things. it makes people feel anxious and worried on these video calls. despite that, though, we have zoom video hitting a record high today. nou w you know why, stu? because it hit 300 million, 300 million daily active users. that's up from 10 million at the end of december. the zoom fatigue doesn't seem to be fitting in with the numbers. stuart: seems like only last week you were telling us they hit 200 million. now it's 300 million. no wonder the stock is up. susan, thank you. oh, listen to this. netflix, one of the major players in the "tiger king" saga was on nancy grace's fox nation show. fill me in. what did the "tiger king" people

say? lauren: nancy grace on fox nation interviewed a juror who helped convict joe exotic, the main character in this show, of murder for hire. nancy grace asked this juror what was the strongest evidence you had against joe exotic. this is what she said. >> tell me what you thought was the strongest evidence? >> we could have convicted on both murder for hire counts based on one sentence that joe said which was the first guy that i hired to kill him ran away with my $3,000, now we're going to try this again. lauren: bam. stuart, that juror says if you watch the show, it actually paints joe exotic as lovable. she said that was absolutely not the case. the series right now on fox nation. stuart: it's running away with the ratings, that's for sure. thanks, lauren. now this.

nasa's hubble telescope marking 30 years in space as of today. it was launched into orbit around the space shuttle "discovery" april 24th, 1990. since then it showed us the birth of stars, the creation of black holes and the shrinking red spot on jupiter. just because you are cooped up at home doesn't mean you can't celebrate the end of the week. a california wine maker is now holding virtual tastings. we will tell you all how it works, after the break. tums versus mozzarella stick (bell rings) when heartburn hits fight back fast... ...with tums chewy bites...

beat heartburn fast tums chewy bites

the xfinity my account app puts you in control with digital tools to give you the help you need when you need it. get fast and easy answers with personalized help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. change your wifi password to a phrase that's easy to remember. even troubleshoot your services on your own. we're working to make things a little easier for everyone. download the xfinity my account app today.

stuart: i wonder if we can call this a breakthrough. new york's governor andrew cuomo in his daily news conference just said president trump is right to raise questions about whether the world health organization, w.h.o., responded properly to the virus. the governor and the president in sync on this one. no wine tastings at wineries. you got that, because you're locked down. you can't go. how about a virtual wine tasting? we have with us the wine maker chris bouchaine who conducts virtual wine tastings. take me through the process. what do i do to get into this? >> first of all, thanks for having me.

we have virtual wine tasting kits we can ship to your door, then we send you a code and on our virtual system, you pop up, we pop up, and we basically have happy hour together. stuart: that's interesting. so you get me to buy the wine, because you are shipping it to me, then you go through it, that's a very good idea. how successful have you been so far? >> oh, well, closing our doors has been difficult but the virtual tastings have been incredibly successful. and we find that people are ordering kits for family members, colleagues, friends, and doing the virtual happy hour so our system can handle multiple people at the same time, then we can share the california sunshine with a group. stuart: it looks great, by the way. i'm sitting in new york city where it's raining and about 40 degrees so i would love to be virtually wine tasting with you out there. >> well, i did not get into wine making for the paperwork. stuart: i bet you didn't. what wine are you selling? what's the name of it? i will give you a commercial. go ahead. >> okay. well, our vineyard is bouchaine

vineyard, and we have 100 acres here. we love to share it with people. stuart: i don't blame nu tyou ie slightest. you are doing a fine public service. chris kujani, thank you very much. >> when you loosen up your schedule, let me know if you would like to do a tasting. stuart: if you're not careful, just be careful about that. thank you. >> thank you for having us. stuart: all right, everybody. imagine looking outside your home and seeing this. ♪ stuart: that's fascinating. that's a group called concert from cars. we will explain what they are up to. it's very interesting. after this. i'm greg, i'm 68 years old.

i do motivational speaking in addition to the substitute teaching. i honestly feel that that's my calling-- to give back to younger people. i think most adults will start realizing that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to or they don't remember things as vividly as they once did. i've been taking prevagen for about three years now. people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

>> i really like that, that was a parade in new york city, that was last night. the producer said she heard a woman on a megaphone outside, she went to the window thought it was a protester but no everybody was taking out instruments from their cars, it is a group called concepts from

cars, they raise money for musicians who cannot play in theaters or concert videos and they ride around the city, they pop up in various places, take their instruments out, play a concert and of course keep 6 feet apart. i like that. and prompt concert. new york city neil it is yours. neil: not too shabby, very impressive, thank you very, very much. we are following up on what you are, looking at the stimulus around the coronavirus and many times proven on the virus itself, has a virus that is like a standoff right now, the dow down 29 and a half points, encouraging news before i give you the latest from the white house, new york statewide total coronavirus hospitalizations around 14200 on april 23 yesterday versus about 15021 a day earlier. you're noticing a trend where the hospitalizations