cover your mask and just hang in there and get tough. jillian: absolutely stay positive, do your part check on your friends family and neighbors. pete: hears to the doctors and nurses out there doing heavy lifting we love you and godless you. have have a great saturday everybody. neil: all right, they thought the number of cases or at least new cases would subside or the rate of increase would subside that is not the case as you're looking at all but an abandoned times square in new york and the new people wearing masks, hospitals crowded and a jobless situation that is getting worse, much much worse but the biggest of all of those stores is the number of cases in the united states that suddenly booming welcome ed: you're watching kanye west suit o live, i'm neil cavuto. let's get to it on these cases that startled a lot in the medical community right now we're looking at a situation in

the u.s. across-the-board, 32000 more cases over just the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to a little bit more than 278,000. further more the number of death s accelerated by more than 1,100 in just the last 24 hours to a little bit north of 7,150 individuals. now, we were hoping that there was going to be at least a decline in the rate of increase, but in one problematic country after another, including our own , that is not the case, and it is especially not the case both in new york city and new york state. if new york state were to carve out an individual country, it be the third worst hit on the planet in terms of cases, and accelerating when it comes to the number of deaths. let's get the latest on all of that from jackie behind rib following it all from the upper rest side in majority in hat an. jackie? reporter: well, neil nearly 40% of all the cases in the united states come from right here in

new york, 103,000 cases in this state as of yesterday, and the crush of patients is overwhelming hospitals as the navy hospital ship comfort sits largely unused in new york harbor. that ship was supposed to take non-covid patients to relieve the hospitals but they are waiting word to see if the change will be allowed meantime the pentagon reversed its policy and will allow temporary field hospitals to take in covid-19 patients opening 3,000 beds as the governor andrew cuomo announced his most aggressive measure yet to procure more badly-needed ventilators saying he will send the national guard to companies and private hospitals that aren't using them and seize them ultimately returning or paying for that equipment. people have been working to show healthcare workers their efforts are appreciated. yesterday hundreds of cars rolled through summerville, new jersey in a hero parade past the hospital to express their thanks and also as that nyu lan

gone a similar show of gratitude and the trump adminitration recommended people should wear masks outside you're seeing a lot more folks doing that this morning and it is recommended although it is not required. neil? neil: jackie thank you very very much to put this into perspective, before i go to my next guest just in the number of cases in the u.s. since monday have essentially doubled the death toll from the virus has more than doubled since just tuesday. this has been one of the things weighing on the stock market as well. i always like to remind people, investors are human beings and they get scared as much as anyone else that's why we had an awful week for the market. the third down week in the last four weeks, and again, all of the really is pegged to the progress or the fear or lack thereof on the advancement of these cases not only in this country but across the world. china looking like it's rounding the bend but just when you think for example, things are getting better in italy we get a startl ing death figure more in just a second. the other thing sort of just

stunning wall street was the employment report we got out on friday. now we were expecting a bad number. we were not expecting the number we ultimately got. jackie deangelis with more on that, and the job losses that are mounting pretty much everywhere in this country. jackie? reporter: good morning to you, neil that's right. the economy shed 701,000 jobs in march bringing the unemployment rate up to 4.4% from 3.5% in february. now, this number broke the 113 weeks of straight job creation that we've seen, that had that unemployment rate at a 50 year low and now as you said the estimates were higher, some were lower and they pretty much were all across the map but here is what we know. in the last two weeks the weekly claim showed nearly 10 million americans filed for unemployment benefits and that may not have been reflected in this number, so the april number, when it comes out, could potentially be a lot worse. now, here in times square, the

heart of new york city, you can hear a pin drop. nothing is open. when you remember that the consumer is about two-thirds of u.s. economic activity, you need people out and about spending money to keep this economy going. with people out out of work, they're not spending and you wonder how long this is going to go on before people do get out. now in 2008 and 2009 during the financial crisis of course the banking sector was hit the hardest but there is not one sector that isn't feeling the pain of the coronavirus crisis. furthermore, with all these employees working in different ways and out of the office, or not working at all, companies are exploring new efficiencies they've never had to before. you wonder when things go back to normal, if people are even going to have the jobs that they once did. now i'll leave you with this , a tweet from governor cuomo last night. he said how well we stay apart will directly impact the outcome

of this pandemic. social distancing saves lives. spread the word. hashtag, new yorktough, neil. neil: well they are tough, but this is tough to go through jackie thank you very very much. just so you know to put it into perspective nine out of 10 americans are affected by these stay at home provisions. florida was among the major states latest this week to do that. senator rick scott joins us right now, republican senator from the beautiful state of florida. senator thank you for taking the time. >> neil don't you just feel sorry for all of these families that are going through this? one they might be losing their jobs or don't know what's going to happen but number two they're scared to death if they test positive, so my heart goes out to everybody and it seems like we all know somebody that passed away, hands going to impact all of our families so my heart goes out to everybody. neil: do you also look at this , the economic impact i guess it was one of the reasons why

governor desantis held off as long as he could on the stay at home measures but now you have them infect and policing the beaches to make sure people don't gather in groups of 10 or more that this could get worse, a lot worse. >> oh, neil i was on the phone with a lot of businesses yesterday, and people are just scared to death. here is the positive. we, as a country now, we are taking drastic action and we see what's going on in new york now. we see that people are dying. we see the growth in the cases so my experience in talking to people all over florida are people are taking this very seriously now. they are staying home if they can and they are getting tested if they can. it's frustrating right now. we still have enough testing sites up. we can get the results quickly. so the testing process around my state and i think around the country still has a lot of work to do, because people want to quarantine if they know they are positive but people are waiting 10 days as much as 10 days to get a result.

we have to get this fixed, so there's a lot of people scared what's going on right now but i'm optimistic that we're going to figure this out. look, neil our health care system is a great healthcare system. they are going to figure out how to treat patients. when they do that's going to alleviate a lot of concern people have. neil: you know, senator, your colleague, marco rubio had looked at the economic impact of this and said nothing of folks who were scared to your point. he said we've got unemployed pissed off people. they can't get benefits and when they get them they're not going to be enough. right now, these are the folks who are looking to this crisis. right now, charlie crist, who was hurt by a bad economy, republicans he said might be in the same position right now. do you worry about that? >> well, i mean, look i'm worried about people. this is not about politics. this is about how do you help

every family. most i've went through, look i went through hurricanes, i went through mass shootings, i went through the zika crisis, there's always going to be a crisis, and what's going to happen is people are going to come together and they always do. families do it, communities do it, churches are involved, government can be helpful. we'll get through this and i think the key is going to be if we all understand that we cannot get infected. every person says to themselves i am going to not get infected and then this will stop and that's what's going to happen and thank god we have healthcare workers and people are stocking our groceries and things like that because they're the ones making sure we could all survive while we figure out how to treat these patients. neil: all right, senator scott, hopefully, this doesn't go on forever, so we'll see what >> we'll figure this out. neil: i have no doubt. i have no doubt but thank you,

senator very very much. the senator touched on every measure you could take to protect yourself. the latest seems to be coming advice from the cdc echoed by no less than the president of the united states yesterday to go ahead and wear masks and then it might be a good idea. the read on that for dr. harvey feinberg, the national academy of science of engineering and medicine, doctor always good to have you and back to help us out with this. we touched on this mask issue yesterday, but now, it's a high recommendation, not an order, from the cdc, from the government itself. do you think it's advisable to wear a mask? >> neil, i have to say you're cutting a little in-n-out on this connection, i apologize. i'm not sure that i heard everything that you were just saying, but i would just like to say this. at the same time that our

economy is going into the freezer, the epidemic is going into boil. it's like a big pot on the stove with the flame turned way up. if we do nothing more, it's going to be a boil. it already is in new york. it's going to go across the country. this idea of physical distancing that we're putting into place now finally all around the country, and washing our hands frequently, that turns down the flame a little bit. gets it down to like a simmer, but we're going to have to be more aggressive and more conservative and more effective if we're going to get the flame all the way off and softer epidemic. neil: doctor i know it's very tough to hear but we heard about the recommendations for the mask was apparently you can get this through talking and even breathing so the more you cover your mouth or nose or both the better off you will be do you think that is a

recommendation that people should heed? >> every little bit is going to help, neil. the physical distancing is very important because most of our droplets which are spread from person-to-person, don't go very very many feet away from us so that's the idea of the physical distancing. it is true that there could be a tinier spray that goes a little further which is especially important in a closed room, but covering our mouths is actually not a way to protect ourselves with these home made face masks. why they are important though is that it would potentially reduce the amount of spray or distribution from us to others. in this case, this virus can be asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic in many many people so i feel perfectly well and i'm going about my business and i'm already infected and i'm capable of spreading, so when i cover my

mouth and nose, with a face mask , i'm reducing my infectiousness to others. if we all do that, we protect one another all at the same time , so it's an added measure. it's one more thing at the margin that we can do to reduce the rate of spread. every little bit helps. neil: all right, dr. fineberg, thank you very very much. it was good having you back and putting perspective on all of this again, to the doctor's point the government is now recommending that you wear face masks, they aren't ordering it but they say it's your call it be a wise call to heed. now, we have the story coming up of a cruise that set sail about a month ago for south america, and on and on it went. a virus that came aboard the cruise ship, infected at least a dozen passengers, and now, it's sort of stuck at sea. someone on that ship who wants to get off that ship, after this

with coronavirus spreading, people at higher risk must take extra precautions. you are at higher risk if you are over 65, or if you have an underlying medical condition. please visit coronavirus.gov for more information.

neil: all right, we're just learning that new york governor cuomo is going to have a precedent in about 45 minutes, he'll update what's happening there, there's been an alarming increases in cases in new york. 10,000 new cases in the latest period bringing the number of those who are testing positive for the virus north of 103,000. we are also learning about that princess cruise ship that's been on the water now for the better part of a month, it left early march for south america and busy itinerary and it ended in the coronavirus cases that totaled about a dozen. we are told that it is now confirmed that it will be arriving at port miami later this morning for the guests and now, we aren't sure all 1,000- plus guests will be

relieved and let off the ship. we do know that this is welcome news to those on the ship, because they've been in this ping pong battle between those and neighboring communities including these various ports in florida who don't want them, fearful that they could spread the virus in those communities and others who say it's the right thing to do to allow those not affected by this to disembark. this is all probably very good news of my next guest on that ship, a passenger who i'm sure if i'm right, ken, you want to get off, right? >> yeah, that be great, neil. the sooner we can get off the better. neil: now, are you on board with family? your spouse? can you tell us what's going on? >> sure, my wife jill schlesinger here with me. we're traveling with some friends from kentucky, and of course we met lots of other friends on the cruise who we've been trying to support each other over the last couple of weeks, but as far as my family,

it's just my wife and i. neil: all right and you're not infected right? but you are aware of the other dozen passengers who have tested positive for covid-19? >> yes, they told us that there's been a number of symptoms of illness and when we stopped in barbados a few nights ago to pick-up supplies apparently they picked up tests and they tested those showing influenza symptoms and came back and told us 12 out of 13 tests came back positive and for everyone else, they're not testing or at least they haven't tested everyone. they asked folks if you have the covid symptoms, respiratory distress and shortness of breath and that kind of thing to let them know and from what i heard from some friends of ours who were in touch with the medical office a couple of days ago just to let them know they had a little cough they are saying we're so busy unless you're in really really bad shape we can't even come up and take your

temperature. so, in answer to your question, i sure hope we don't have the virus, but no one knows for sure, of course. neil: have they told you at this point, ken, how they will let people off the ship you and your wife included? >> the only information we got this morning is they're asking everyone to put their luggage out now, so we're scrambling a little bit because we got that note like two minutes before i went on air with you but they need to disinfect everyone's luggage. they told us folks who are most ill and need to be hospitalized will be taken off first, probably, florida residents will be after that, probably, and princess says that they are making travel arrangements for everyone else to get home. they didn't say whether it was charter flights or commercial air but they basically said it could take another day or two, and we don't know if they will get us more information.

they just delivered to our rooms some health questionnaires that we're all supposed to fill out and everyone will undergo some kind of at least screen before they are allowed to leave the ship and they said they expect most people will be allowed to leave the ship and will proceed to home, and that any that are showing symptoms that aren't ill enough to be hospitalized will have to remain on the ship until the ship's doctors clear them. neil: all right ken we wish you well and we hope you and your wife get off that ship. its been a memorable cruise i'm sure it was wonderful at the beginning. let's say memorable in the end but be safe and be well and my best to you and your wife. thank you very much, neil. neil: thank in there, can you imagine and this is playing out on multiple ships across florida including the two other ships that we'll update you on as well , because that's a

separate drama that has developed in and around the ports of florida. in the meantime that rescue package is out for small businesses they are getting the money. it's haphazard though but they are getting that money. from the guy who provided the big tax cuts for americans, after this.

neil: all right, we're still a few hours away from another white house task force briefing. we're also about half hour away from a briefing on the new york state governor andrew cuomo, as cases accelerate at a fairly rapid rate both in some of these key states especially in new york now new jersey as well. we'll update you on that in a second as well as nationally. let's get the read from the white house and what's in-store today for the president and this task force briefing later on this afternoon from our

mark meredith at the white house mark? reporter: neil, good morning to you. the white house says it's monitoring significant outbreaks outside of new york including major american cities like new orleans, chicago, boston, these are all cities dealing with the outbreak. the administration encouraging people to keep those social distancing guidelines in place, but also going a step further on friday encouraging people to use those cloth face coverings that's different than the n-95 masks those are still needed by hospitals, by first responders by doctors. the president talked about this last night. president trump: the cdc is advising the use of non-medical cloth face covering as an additional voluntary public health measure, so it's voluntary. you don't have to do it but they suggest it for a period of time, but this is voluntary. i don't think i'm going to be doing it. reporter: the administration says so far 1.4 million americans have been tested for the coronavirus. the government is forcing companies like 3m and gm to

produce more medical equipment under the defense production act there's been some complaints there won't be enough supplies and the president blasted minnesota-based 3m thursday accusing the company of exporting critical supplies out of the u.s. while he's criticizing them he's also praising some companies including blue cross blue shield , cigna,humana, anthem, and also the federal government reimbursing now hospitals for treating the uninsured. we are expecting another update from the president, and his virus task force team at 3:30 today and he's expected to face several questions but also, the decision friday night, to fire the intelligence community inspector general michael atkin son, this announcement catching some people off god and the president will be facing a number of questions if there at the task force briefing we don't have an idea who is at the briefing until it starts just a few moments from then. neil? neil: mark meredith thank you very much my friend, good job as always. we are also getting more details on that stimulus measure that

provides relief to small businesses. it's gargantuan, of the $2.2 trillion stimulus bill about 360 million to 385 million set aside to help small businesses, bank of america said that 85,000 small businesses have already added for upwards of close to $23 billion in loans now the thing with those loans is they become grants, if those businesses hang on to their workers. let's get the read on all of this from the house ways and means committee ranking member kevin brady who joins us now. congressman, how do you think this process is going? it's a herculean task and confusing. how do you think it's going? >> yeah, i think one is remarkable, that they got this program set up in less than a week, when the white house announced it be ready for friday , i frankly didn't think that would happen. they've done that. there's a huge demand for it. they are still more adjustments

to be made both on the technical side and making sure that it's hitting those we want. i think those to second mnuchin 's credit he's hearing those adjustments, making them and i imagine over the weekend will continue to do so, so the demand is huge. i was on a call with our texas community banks yesterday, as they were laying out how we can make this smoother, reach more of these small businesses, but clearly, demand is high. this may be i think the key way we keep this economy in a position to rebound as we get a really start to lockdown on this virus. neil: as we deal with the virus, congressman, i'd like to get your take on the need for still more stimulus. the democrats even the president has hinted that maybe infrastructure measure maybe wanted as high as $2 trillion. how do you feel about that? >> yeah, i don't think we need a fourth package. we may well need a 3.1 approach

here. let's keep our eye on the ball here, on both the health challenge and the economic challenge. for example, the demand yesterday by our small businesses has raised the question i think there's perhaps a misconception the money will run out. well in especially with businesses that don't have long- lending relationships, maybe in minority communities or underserved communities we got to make sure the money is going to be, they know the money is going to be there for them and make it very clear with the president that more money is needed to help small businesses ride this out we'll make sure it does. i think those types of adjustments focus on the economy , what's working in this new package and what we learn more about the virus, i think that's the smarter way to go. neil: you know, congressman many of your democratic colleagues want to revisit the $10,000

limitation on taxes. now this really applies to high tax states, the blue states as they're typically called so that's not too surprising but there are many in those states who feel that that provision really cost them and they want it addressed. to you? >> yeah, i understand that, although it effected about 1-2% of all americans including in those high tax states actually saw a tax increase. i understand that, but its got nothing to do with the coronavirus. neither does the green new deal or windmills, or early voting , so i think we got to set all of that aside and keep laser focused on the economy. the other point i would make and you're so as toot on these issues we saw really brutal numbers yesterday. we're going to see more harsh numbers here over the next few weeks, but we ought to be, so every day we learn more about this virus and every day i think we get smarter about how we

contain it and address it, and seem to be treating it. i think businesses ought to be coming up with a strategy on how they can reopen responsibly through april not that it'll happen exactly this month but we ought to be preparing as a country locally at the state level to be able to reopen key parts of the economy through this month. neil: all right, we shall see through this month. that's the goal. that's something the president has talked about. thank you, congressman very very much. that goal to get kind of back to where we were or to start unwinding these at-home provisions that is a goal that many have echoed. is it doable? we're on that after this.

neil: all right, welcome back everybody. i'm neil cavuto. we have the favorite guest this past week had to be the vol ucia county sheriff might chitwood, he was win a lot of praise because the sheriff was personally delivering pizzas to residents. that would kind of frighten me a little bit, he's a familiar guy in the town so if you see the sheriff come by with a pizza you're wondering oh, my god what did i do? he caught me speeding and now he's coming to ticket me with a big box. anyway that's not the case just

doing this out of the goodness of his heart and to help local businesses so i'm very happy to have him back sheriff how you doing? >> pretty good neil how you doing this morning? neil: i'm doing very well, sir. now you have a not so friendly task now with the statewide lockdown, or close to a lockdown, where the governor is urging residents to stay in their homes don't go out unless you really have to. you have to be the enforcer here so you go from pizza guy to enforcer. how are you going to do that? >> yeah, tonight is going to be an interesting night for us, neil. there should have been in our county, i think the catfish festival which draws thousands and thousands of people, while the formal part of that event was canceled, the block parties are still scheduled to rage on tonight, so as i'm in my office now we're setting up for this afternoon, expecting to get ready and we're trying to put the word out. we want to educate but at the same tech ebb if you want to push us to the edge of the envelope we'll have to start

making arrests. neil: so how do you do that? i mean, if a lot of large family were to gather at someone's home and in excess of 10 people, but all you hear are neighbor neighbors hearing the noise they call you up and you have to check it out? >> exactly. we would respond to a noise complaint, and then we would assess the situation and then we be guided from there. the problem and the governor is doing a fantastic job, on the news every night and i absolutely agree with everything he's been doing but some of the orders to be quite frank are really hard to enforce. there's no teeth into these order, and on the flip side of it you don't want to create a riot, at the same token because you're going into neighborhoods that this has been a way of life forever, so there's a balancing act there and it's difficult. neil: how did it go yesterday in volusia county and the beaches and closures how did people respond to that, how did you respond to that? >> i was kind of surprised

because i'm not included in any of those conversations because we have a separate entity that pleases the beach. i was surprised that we went through a complete and total lockdown. i would have assumed that they would have allowed biking and walking and surfings a and swimming, you just couldn't throw out your beach blanket and bring 50 of your closest friends but that changed overnight to where you can use the beach for exercise, for biking, walking, jogging, and that's allowed there's just no beach chairs or parking. they really have limited access. neil: so sheriff what do you think? the goal is to start unwinding from these stay-at-home measures and the rest that's the rule of thumb, i think 41 states including yours, at the end of the month. how realistic do you think that is? >> well i think if you look at governor desantis's order it's a

pretty broad stay-at-home order. there's a lot of latitude for businesses to remain working construction companies are allowed to remain open, pet stores are allowed to remain open, auto body shops and get your oil changed so there is some latitude there that as we come out of this certain parts of the economy are already going to be at work. >> now when you look at this and what you've learned from this , people get very restless even when they go out and are allowed to take a walk or what have you but do you worry about the crime that could follow? its been very low in new york post the lockdown measures its gone down dramatically 22% in the new york metropolitan area, but do you worry about the longer this drags on the more other things could

happen. >> absolutely and right now we're seeing lows in every category. last week we saw a bump in domestic violence and that concerns me greatly because as this progresses you're going to see more and more domestic violence but the problem is behind the scenes the abuser in a situation like this has complete control of his family. there is no outlet. it's not like they can go to work or school or report it. they are kind of trapped in that house with the abuser who may have lost his job, is abusing alcohol and drugs. that's the scary part i think for all of us in law enforcement. neil: sheriff, i wish you well in the meantime you're doing a lot of good work including that pizza thing. but hang in there. this too shall pass. >> thank, neil. god bless you and your family. neil: right back at you my friend. that's the guy putting a lot on the lines right now delivering pizzas. i'm sorry it would still scare me if i see the sheriff pop-up at my house and said oh, my god

he caught me. we have a lot more going on here including the latest. these are feel-good stories of dogs helping those in need and the trainer who made it happen. wayfair has way more ways to renovate your home,

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nice. way more top brands in sinks and faucets. way more ways to rule your renovation. nice! on any budget, with free shipping. wayfair. way more than furniture. neil: all right, think about all of the virus stuff is going to the dogs but in this case we are but it is a good thing, the owner of "sunny", a golden retriever i'm told, beautiful dog, but somehow, she has added to train this remarkable animal to help folks in need. talk about timely and talk about doing something so selfless, for those in need in her own community. her own neighbor, karen joins me right now along with sunny. karen how are you doing? >> i'm fine, thank you. neil: tell me how all this started and what sunny is doing.

>> well, i'm also somewhat disabled and i needed help around the house, so i started training him to bring things to me and that was at about age 2, and then he just did so well at that, then my neighbor next door has some serious health issues, so i decided to give him, go over and get the list from her and bring it to me and then i would go and get her groceries for her, and sure enough on the first time, he went over there and got the grocery list and then i went to the grocery store and got her groceries and he carried back each bag to her. neil: are you kidding me? this sounds like an incredibly smart dog. >> he is an incredibly smart dog. he does so many things. he gets the mail. he picked up my prescription for me.

he can drag out the garbage. if he can't pick it up, he will drag it and nothing is ever punctured so he's very gentle. if i need my things he runs and gets it, so there's just endless possibilities with this dog, endless. neil: and what got you, you knew about your neighbor situation, very similar to yours, now, are people hearing about this in the neighborhood saying hey this dork is dog is remarkable, maybe sunny can help me. >> all over every news channel, i had some people i wasn't expecting that just walked by and they witnessed sunny going to get some gloves and a mask from renee and everybody was just oh, my god there is that dog, and at the pharmacy the same thing. everybody knew who he was so the pharmacist just dropped the bag on the floor and i stood

about 10 feet away and picked it up, brought it to me. neil: so the pharmacy lets the dog in? >> yes. neil: obviously they know you and they drop the bag. sunny takes it and sunny hasn't gotten in any pills or anything >> no, he hasn't. no. everything he picks up is never punctured he's very gentle with everything. neil: how old is sunny? >> sunny will be six years old april 6. neil: all right okay. well, you're doing a world of good and so is sunny. i love to hear these kind of stories, because there's something very very special about dogs. >> well me too that's what it's all about in these times to make somebody smile and bring a little bit of joy and if you're feeling down go to sundance's website on facebook and see all of the different things that he does do and it's definitely going to put a smile on your

face. definitely. he brings a smile to my face every day. neil: yeah, i can see why. that's good to hear. dogs are remarkable. >> we wanted to do our part. neil: you are, young lady i appreciate that and sunny as well. very nice. we need those kind of stories, karen thank you, sunny thank you i don't know a golden retriever for thank you, i think it's just thank you. but all right, isn't that great? dogs are remarkable right? i love mine because they worship me when i am home. i just love animals that worship me, anyway, the fact of the matter is we need to hear these kind of stories so if you've got them want to share them let us know. we'd like to tell them. we have a lot more coming up including a presser coming up from governor cuomo in new york, and also preparing to hear later on for the president his healthcare task force a little

after 3:00 p.m., i think 3:30 p.m. from the white house, more on these cases, the jump in cases that have happened and an unexpected firing in the white house in the middle of this late last night. we're on top of all of that. stay with us. provides you with an unbeatable hold and strong seal against food infiltrations. fixodent. and forget it. for ralphie's appointment. who's his groomer? carrie. full groom for sure what? i just booked ralphie's appointment online. that work? wait you what? it's that easy! download the app or book online at petsmart.com

neil: all right, a disturbing inspector general report out on the department of veteran affairs that it is ill-equipped and not doing well handling this coronavirus situation, and in fact, some of the terms that came to mind, dr. david choken with us the former va secretary by my money the best va secretary we've ever had, secretary thank you for taking the time. obviously this is an overwhelming situation for the va. i get that, but this report is d amming in that it says most va facilities are just unprepared for this. it make sense i get it but it

seems to be a huge disturbance whether intentional or not to our veterans. what's going on? >> well, clearly, the va prepares hard for these types of emergency situations and i think what this is showing is that despite the preparation that you do, nobody in this country was prepared for this type of pandemic and that includes the va. the report showed after a inspection of 237 facilities around the country, just approximately about 10 days ago, that the va had a severe shortage of staff, it had shortages of supplies of drugs that hadn't done preparation with its community partner hospitals to make sure that it had plans in place if it needed to help them or them to get the va help so this was really a wakeup inspection to say that we have to do much more to make sure that we are

prepared. neil: but apparently they're not even when it comes to testing and again i get that all of a sudden there's a need nationally , globally for these various virus test kits but they are in short supply but particularly in short supply for veterans at a va facility. that's a hard thing to correct like overnight. what do you do? >> well, the va is a very large organization and what it needs to begin to do and i think they are doing this now, they're moving around staff, they're moving around the equipment and supplies they have from parts of the country that don't have as great of demand to those centers where they're really under great struggle right now like in new york, new jersey, and particularly new orleans, so they have the ability to move resources where they're necessary because it is a big national system, and the men and women who work in the va are very dedicated to this mission and are working hard to do that but they're

struggling and the area they struggle the most is with staffing and having enough staff that can respond to this type of national crisis. neil: you know, doctor, the president ordered the veterans affairs to postpone all debt collections and extend deadlines for benefits applications and the rest. is that a step in the right direction as you see it? >> it is, it is. i'm glad to see that. many of our veterans rely solely upon the support that they get from the department of veteran affairs and this is an important step to help support them. neil: all right doctor always good having you thank you very much for taking the time. dr. david shurkin, the former va secretary. we are going to hear from governor cuomo in new york right after the break and get an update on the number of cases and why they're accelerating there pretty much everywhere. stay with us.

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>> all right. just a couple minutes away now from hearing from the governor of new york, andrew cuomo. he's run into some serious problems in the escalating cases in his state. we're going to detail that very, very shortly, but it's a big worry, which might explain why nationally, the c.d.c. is looking at other precautions we can take to avoid the spread of this virus, among them looking at fast masks for people. not an order, but a very strong suggestion. steve harrigan with that and more on what the c.d.c. is looking at. >> exactly right, neil, c.d.c. is requesting that americans all wear masks when they go outside their homes, cloth masks or facial covering. president trump made clear that this was strictly voluntary.

>> 10,482 cases. neil: governor cuomo is speaking right now. we're going to dip into this for a little while, i stress a little while here because a lot more to cover here, let's listen. >> number of new case, 10,841, new high, total hospitalizations 15,000 currently hospitalized 4,000icu patients, 10,000 patients discharged, right. that's the good news. the number of deaths all time increase up to 3565. most impacted states, you see new york at the top again, new jersey has a serious problem in new jersey and a growing

problem. then michigan, then california, then massachusetts. total number of hospitalized is down a blip, but we believe that's not statistically meaningful. you have the number of icu cases are up. the number of intubations are up. the number of discharges are also up and this is interesting, two-thirds of the people who have been hospitalized have been discharged. okay? two-thirds of the people who have been hospitalized have been discharged. that's what we've been saying all along. most people won't be hospitalized. people who are hospitalized will come in, be treated and leave. that's two-thirds. one-third of that number has a

serious condition which will require continued hospitalization. we're tracking the growth of the number of infections by hospital and we can see just where the numbers are increasing. we've been talking about hitting the apex. the apex is the point where the number of infections on the daily basis is at the high point and that is the ultimate challenge for the health care system. can we handle that number of cases at the high point of the curve? i call it the battle of the mountaintop because that's what it's going to be, that's going to be the number one point of engagement of the enemy. by the numbers we're not yet at the apex. we're getting closer, depending whose model you look at they'll

say four, five, six, seven days, some people go out 14 days, but our reading of the projections is we're somewhere in the seven-day range, four, five, six, seven, eight day range. nobody can give you a specific number which makes it very frustrating to plan when they can't give you a specific number or a specific date. but we're in that range. so we're not yet at the apex, part of me would like to be at the apex and just let's do it. but there's part of it that says it's good we're not at the apex because we're not yet ready for the apex either. we're not yet ready for the high point. we're still working on the capacity of the system. the more time we have to improve the capacity of the system, the better. and the capacity of the health care system beds, staff, equipment, we're going to be

doing a conference call with all of the hospitals today to coordinate equipment deployment. watching the spread of the rate of infections is interesting. this chart is what we've been talking about, but you can see it here. the upstate number is the top b bar. the rest of new york has been fairly constant, 4%, 5%, 4%, 5%. westchester rockland, 8%, 6%, 6%, 7%, 7, 7, 7. long island is the area that is growing and you see long island goes from 16% to 17% to 18% to 19 to 20, to 22%.

new york city is actually dropping as the number of cases in new york city -- in long island increases as a percentage of cases within the state. for us, this is about tracking the virus, tracking the spread of the virus and then deploying as the numbers suggest. in terms of beds, the 2500 bed facility at javits is going to make a major difference. that has to work. the white house agreed to make that a covid positive facility. remember, originally the javits center, which is a state convention senator. we worked with the federal government. they constructed 2500 bed facility. it was supposed to be non-covid. i spoke to the president and

transferred that -- with his invention -- to a covid facility. the federal government will staff that and the federal government will equip that. that is a big deal because that 2500 bed facility will relieve a lot of pressure on the down state system. that's a significant number of beds and that facility now has to make that transition quickly and that's what we're focused on, it's going to be very staff insensitive. very equipment intensive, but the theory there is to best we can, relieve the entire hospital system down state by bringing those covid patients to javits and from the intake to the treatment, and it's going to be very difficult to run that large a facility.

but if that works and if that works well, that changes the numbers dramatically. so that's a top focus for us. i spoke to the white house today on planning the logistical operation to get that up and get that running asap. and that's the top operational priority. in terms of staffing, we have 85,000 volunteers, 22,000 out of state volunteers. how amazing is that? 85,000 volunteers. almost signing an executive order medical students slated to graduate to begin practicing, we need doctors, we need nurses so we're going to expedite that. on ventilators, remember, we ordered 17,000 ventilators. to give you an idea of how many 17,000 is, the federal stockpile was about 10,000 ventilators for

the nation. we ordered 17,000 just for the state of new york. and when we ordered the ventilators, we were paying for the ventilators. so trust me, you know, the situation, financial situation of the state, we were not looking to spend a penny that we didn't have to spend. and we placed that order for the ventilators and we were paying for that order. that order never came through and this goes back to the china situation. we had signed documents, we placed the order, governor baker talks about this in massachusetts, but then you get a call that says, we can't fill that order because you had all that demand going in. so what do we do? we find what equipment we have. we use it the best we can.

if you ask hospitals today what equipment-- what ventilators do you have that are unused and available that they don't need in the short-term and take 20% of that number of available ventilators, that's 500 ventilators. 500 ventilators is a significant number now. china is remarkably the repository for all of these orders, ventilators, ppe, it all goes back to china which long-term we have to figure out why we wound up in this situation where we don't have the manufacturing capacity in this country and supply chain issues, i understand the cost of manufacturing, but this is a public health reason as we've learned the hard way, why we

need the capacity in this country to do this. but anyway, it all comes back to china so new york has been shopping in china. we're not really china experts here. international relations is not what we do on a daily basis. i've been to china before when i was hud secretary, did a trade mission with china so i have a basic understanding, but we went to the asia society to help us navigate china. i asked the white house to help us navigate china. i spoke to the ambassador and we got really good news today that the chinese government is going to facilitate a donation of 1,000 ventilators that will come into jfk today. and i want to thank joe sy and

clara sy and jack ma from aliba alibaba, but i'm not stating a preference, for their donation and that's going to be very helpful and i want to thank ambassador wang very much for his help in making this happen because this is a big deal and it's going to make a significant difference for us. also, the state of oregon contacted us and is going to send 140 ventilators, which is-- i tell you, just astonishing and unexpected and i want to thank governor brown and i want to thank all the people in the state of oregon for their thoughtfulness. again, this was unsolicited. but the 140 ventilators will make a difference and i was thinking about it on behalf of

new york and what it means for oregon. first, it was a kind gesture. i know governor brown and she is a kind person, but it's also smart from the point of view of oregon. why? because we're all in the same battle here and the battle is stopping the spread of the virus, right? look at what they did in china. it was in the wuhan province. first order of business was contain the virus in wuhan. why? because you want to contain the enemy. that's always the first step. oregon, we're dealing with it now. we don't stop the spread in new york. it continues. and if you look at the

projections, it could get to oregon, that could have a significant problem towards may. our problem is now. so, it's also smart from oregon's self-interest. they see the fire spreading. stop the fire where it is before it gets to my home. that was the wuhan province. somebody sent me a great quote from fdr, who had such a beautiful way of taking complicated issues and communicating it in common sense language and fdr was dealing with trying to get the lend lease program approved and accepted by the public. why would this country help another country fight its war and that was the lend lease program. and his point was, it's a common enemy and we want to contain the

enemy, and that other country's fight is actually our fight. and if we don't stop the spread, then it's going to burn down our own country, but this is how he does it, right? because the concept is right, but how does he explain that? suppose my neighbor's home catching fair and i have a length of garden hose 4 or 500 feet away? if he can take my garden hose and connect it with his hydrant, i may help him put out his fire. now, what do i do? i don't say to him before that operation, neighbor, my garden hose cost me $15. you have to pay me $15 for it. what is the transaction that goes on? i don't want the $15 i want my garden hose back after the fire is over. all right. if it goes through the fire all right, intact, without any

damage to it, he gives it back to me and thanks me very much for the use of it. but suppose it gets smashed up, holes in it during the fire? we don't have to do too much r formalty about it, i was glad to lend you the hose, i can't use it anymore, it's all smashed up. he said how many feet of it were. ? i tell him there were 150 feet of it. he says, all right. i will replace it. now, if i get a nice garden hose back, i am in pretty good shape. state of oregon has lent us 140 ventilators. it was kind, it was smart, stops the virus here, it better for the state of oregon, it's better than the nation. their curve comes after ours. we will return the 140

ventilators, there's never been a discussion, but frankly, i know new yorkers and i know new yorkers generosity and we will return it double-fold because that's who we are and that's what we believe. so stop the fire in new york, kind, generous, also smart. personal opinion, look, i want this all to be over. it's only gone on for 30 days since our first case. it feels like an entire lifetime. i think we all feel the same. this stresses this country, this state, in a way that nothing else has, frankly, in my lifetime. it stresses us on every level. the economy is stressed, the social fabric is stressed. the social systems is stressed. transportation is stressed.

it's right across the board, but the most difficult level is the human level. it is for me, anyway. and it's every day and it's everywhere. my brother catches the virus, that is stressful. my mother's worried about my brother and she's concerned. we have a birthday party yesterday for stephanie, was standing around the cake. everybody's six feet from each other in this bizarre-- it's supposed to be just a fun, usual celebration of a birthday. my daughters' cousin has a tragedy and that's just emotionally very painful. they can't hug each other and hold each other and they can't even grieve together through the

cyber chats. i mean, this is so emotionally taxing, but you can't even begin to-- you can't even quantify the effect on society and the effect on individuals. and the burden that we're dealing with. so, yes, i want it over. if there was anything i could do to accelerate getting it over, i would. some ways, i want to get to that apex, i want to get to the other side of that apex and let's just slide down that mountain. on the other hand, we have to be ready for the fight and we have to handle that fight. and that's where we are. so what do we do? you have to get through it. you have to get through it. there is no simple answer here.

you're not going to wish this away. you have to get through it. and you have to get through it intelligently. saving as many lives as you can, and that's hard work and that's perseverance, and that's mutualalty and that's community and finding your better self and that's finding your inner strength and dealing with the situation that is almost unmanageable on every level. because you are out of control. and this is a painful disorienting experience, but we find our best selves, our stronge strongest selves. this day will end and we will get through it and we will get to the other side of the mountain and we will be the better for it, but we have to do what we have to do between now and then. and that's just what we're doing

here. questions, comments. >> previously said that 2500 were committed and-- >> we received some, about 2500, but you know, we'd ordered 17 and when i say ordered 17, it wasn't -- we had paper work. we had contracts and then they just never appeared. >> governor on the issue of data, you're now reporting 3500 deaths in the state of new york. new york city is reporting about 1800. can we now assume that more than a thousand people have died outside of new york city or is there some discrepancy in the data? >> no, you can-- that's the statewide versus the city-wide you're looking at. >> more than a thousand people have died outside of the city. >> what kind of numbers-- let me go back and double-check, we keep it hospital by hospital basis and we can break that down and give awe regional breakdown. neil: we're continuing to

monitor governor cuomo and separately streaming on our fox site. and interesting, the state of oregon has given the state 140 respirators and the governor says returned to oregon when its apex. and what's interesting, the governor got assurances that 2500 beds they're opening up at the jacob javits convention center will be for covid patients. you might recall. there was some controversy around the usns comfort taking care of non-covid patients to avoid overcrowding at hospitals. because of this phenomenon they're not getting any patients there. few of the 1,000 beds have been filled and there's been a pursuit on the part of some new york city and state lawmakers to

open those beds up to covid patients. not much news on that front. but that at least the 2500 beds at the javits center will be opened up to covid patients. one other things, the governor was acknowledging the numbers are getting worse, not getting better. the number of cases overnight increased about 10,000 in new york to a little north of 113,000 cases, about 3500 deaths so to put that in perspective, new york accounts for about 40%, roughly, of all the cases in the country, and about 40% of all the deaths in the country. he's trying to get a handle on that with ventilators and social distancing rules, feel he will be well on his way to do that. now, they are addressing the social distancing issue and other issues to mitigate the spread of this by even offering as the c.d.c. did, this idea of people wearing face masks.

now, before we were hearing from the governor, steve hergan was spelling that out at atlanta c.d.c., the wisdom and thinking behind that and whether people will follow that because steve h h herrigan, it's not an order, but a recommendation. >> a recommendation that people when they go outside, some kind of mask or clothing to cover their mouths and that was almost immediately under cut by the president who said it was voluntary and he himself would not wear a mask and the briefing, important points of information coming out of there. you mentioned the ventilators from oregon, 140 on loan to new york and also, 1,000 arriving today from china. other bits of good news, too, as far as the volunteers go, about 85,000 volunteers, medical workers coming, many of them from out of state, more than 20,000 out of state, just to volunteer and help in new york,

but along with those two bright spots, brutal news, too, about the numbers. death rate of now 3500 people in the state of new york, that has doubled in just the past three days. friday was their absolute worst day as far as death rate goes and governor cuomo says the apex is not here yet. he says it's good it's not here yet because they're not ready for it and here is the governor. >> our reading of projection, we're somewhere in the seven-day range 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 day range. nobody can give you a specific number, which makes it very frustrating to plan when they can't give you a specific number or specific date, but we're in that range. >> so perhaps, as much as a week away and we've seen those death toll numbers double in three days in new york.

china had a national day of mourning today, 10 a.m., all the leadership was out, all major cities, they paused for three minutes of reflection, flags at half staff. sirens blowing and people expressing their grief today in china. neil, back to you. neil: steve, i don't know if you can still hear me. one of the interesting things about the so-called apex in five to seven days. i didn't get the feeling that the governor was comfortable unwinding this at the end of the month because of the apex or cases are slowing. what is the read on that and the authorities and c.d.c., others looking at as far as unwinding some of these mitigation rules? >> i think you're right that especially in new york, the governor appears to want to err on the side of caution to keep regulations in place, strict

regulations and beef up his supplies. he actually says he's happy they're not reaching the apex yet, but it's frightening to see the increase in numbers. when you have, you know, doubling in three days, it's 3,500 if that were to continue for six or seven days, the numbers get frightening quickly, neil. neil: all right. steve, great reporting as issue. thank you, very, very much. following the recommendations at. c.d.c. and recommendations to wear face masks. steve points out, it's a strong recommendation, it's not an order. the president himself said last night he would not opt to wear a mask. with us now the former the attorney general of the united states, jeff sessions, running for his 0 old senate seat in alabama and kind enough to join us right now. attorney general, thank you for coming. >> thank you, neil. great to be with you. neil: let me ask you how you feel -- same here, sir. how do you feel about requiring

versus urging people to wear masks? what would you tell those in alabama about that? >> i think whenever possible people should wear masks. i would support that for sure. if somebody's out in their yard and not close to anyone, i don't think they have to wear the mask. and i guess it's somewhat an individual decision, but there is no doubt that you do expel droplets and even the most basic cloth mask can help make a person less contain-- contagious and less likely to spread the virus. neil: are you optimistic, senator, we could get to a point -- by the end of this month we could start easing back some of the stay at home and shelter in place measures, 41 states, including alabama have now? >> i absolutely hope we can do that. it's so important we do not need to prolong this economic

catastrophe, really, any longer than we have to. if the $2 trillion is one of the-- the largest expenditure of money in american history, all of that's borrowed so we do need to see and take every smart effort to be as effective, producttively for our economy as we possibly can, and prolonged unnecessary delays are really, have great potential for harm. neil: now, you are in a runoff with the former football coach for the republican nomination for the senate. do you think that summer runoff election should be delayed? >> well, it has been delayed. it was delayed a good bit now to july 14th, and it is dtdz, but there are ways to communicate with the people of alabama. you can't travel and have rallies and events like we've

done in the past, but social media, on the communication, conference calls, television, radio talk shows have been effective for me and have done a lot of that, so those are the things that you have to do. we can't just stop what we're doing, we have an important senate race to be decided this summer as to who will represent-- >> there are people who have wanted to push that back, senator, even beyond july 14th. as you know, democratic national convention itself was pushed back from mid july to mid august. do you think it is wise now to do what the national party did, the national democratic party, i know it's different here, that conference has been pushed back at least twice. >> i think with regard to alabama we really need to get this election done, i think it's one of the latest elections you can have and carry out a

november election in a proper way. i think that's where we're heading. the secretary of state says that people can vote absentee if they're fearful of their health and i believe that we can conduct this election and expect it will be conducted july 14th. >> one of the things you've attaching yourself closely to the president, apparently his campaign demanded that you stop it, and saying that, you are dilutional in doing so. have you stopped either referencing in your mailings or anything having to do with the president and your attachment to him? >> well, i said i was supporting him, that i was his top most prominent national supporter, the first one to-- in the senate to announce that support. i continue to support his immigration policies, his trade policy. i support his leadership on the virus, i think he's doing a

great job as president and no lawyer from washington can say that i can't say i support the president. i will also say that i don't think there's anybody in alabama that doesn't know we had a disagreement. i did what i thought was right and i thought was responsible and required of me. and i would just say this, washington's been wrong before. i intend to take my case to the people of alabama under the constitution, they decide who their senator is. i believe i'm best qualified to help them. i have a record of advancing their values, our principles with integrity and vigor and that's what i'll be doing when i take my case to the people of alabama. neil: well, as you know, sir, the president is supporting coach tupperville here, were you murt when he announced that? >> look, the president is free

to make his own decisions, we had a disagreement. i believe the people of alabama understand me, they understand that we like the president, i do, and we want him to be successful, want him to continue to be a great, great president. i'll be a big supporter of his and we've got to talk about big issues like china and how this happened, and neil. i really do believe that this is an opportunity for america, particularly what i learned as attorney general of the united states, that we need to stand up now to identify and point out china's failure to tell the world about this pandemic. one study in england said 95% of the infections would not have occurred had this been reported three weeks earlier. so this is a colossal disastrous failure and we need to know as we deal with china in all kinds of areas that they don't tell the truth, they're seeking competitive advantage, unfair advantage, and if we do the

right thing, we bet on america, we stand up to this, and i have a plan for it. first, we need an investigation, we need to investigate how they have covered this up and the extent of the damage. we need to identify medicines and how we've become dependent on china for that and stop it. we've got to make sure that-- >> wait a minute, senator, are you saying that the chinese-- are you saying that the chinese lied? because the president has not gone that far. he's concerned about the china virus, how it started there, he's not taken the step that you have, that the chinese were deliberately misleading on the early numbers, you have. >> i think he said repeatedly he's not happy with what he was told from china. he's tried to maintain a personal relationship with the leader of china which i certainly think is appropriate, but what we as a nation need to

do is help the president be more effective. he's been the first one to challenge china. he's had improvements in our agricultural exports to china, he's used tariffs, he needs to be supported in that and continue this through a period of years and stand up to the abuses. neil: senator, if you're right about this, if you're right about this and many agree with you, sir, that the chinese did kind of snooker us on this and maybe they snookered us on trade or trust to agree to anything is misplaced. do you feel the chinese are saying about this now pandemic or even commitment and promises they've made on trade should be looked at cautiously? >> yes. it's time for us to reset our relationship. we can have a good relationship with china in the years to come, but it cannot be founded upon

lies and deceit and unfair trade agreements with actions by china. we've got to stand up to them. if they don't let us sell in their markets, we need to reduce their ability to sell in our markets. if they steal our intellectual property, we need to prosecute them. we've gone from zero prosecutions of chinese entities to after my time as attorney general, they are there are now 50 cases with over a thousand investigations ongoing about illegal activity from china. we've got to end this and get on a healthy relationship. it will be the best thing for our peace and prosperity in the future about what-- the idea that we actually have-- and let them wiggle off the hook and deny that they suppressed these doctors, suppress revealing to the world of the dangers of this pam pandemic as it was spreading, it's one of the greatest coverups in the

history of the world. it is a colossal disaster and they have got to be held to account. the world needs to know it. they don't need to get the denying, denying, denying as they've done in the past. we need to hold them to account and establish it. it will be good for the people of china to see that the leadership, the communist party did not get away with it. neil: you know, finally, sir, i know you've been asked this many, many time in this now fractious relationship you have with the president. to this day, he blames your recusal for the unwinding of this investigation that he called a witch hunt, but that he claims it all started with you and he has never forgotten or clearly forgiven you for that. do you think he ever will? >> well, we had a disagreement over my decision that i felt i was obligated to do to recuse myself. otherwise, we've had a harmonious partnership on the

great issues of our time and i would intend to continue to advance that harmonious relationsh relationship. neil: would you have any regrets now? you had to do it all over again, would you? >> you never regret doing what you believe is the right thing, neil. i was convinced i had to do that. i was required to do that on my faith and my commitment to law is such that i would never fail to do my daughter under those circumstances. i did what i felt i had to do. neil: all right. senator, very good, we'll see what happens with the virus and the china thing you're taking to them. very good the, jeff sessions the attorney general of the united states. we put out calls to the incumbent senator in alabama and we have yet to hear back from him, but we've called all key

entities in that alabama race. in the meantime, other updates we get for you, concerns what's happening on workers who fear they're going to be fired or laid off or benefits cut. so far, the situation at the palo alto network, the ceo right now, right now no layoffs. he's personally foregoing salary and joining us right now. thank you for joining us. you're sticking to this, it's hard to stick to, not just the salary sacrifice you're making, but the no layoff pledge. the longer that drags on, that could be tough, couldn't it? >> yes, good morning, neil. neil: good morning. >> it's important at this point, i know there's a lot of conversation and debate why this is happening and what's happening and how did we do. we're focused on when we get out of this, we want to get out strong and in our small way, we have 8,000 employees, i want to make sure that our employees feel the security and the support from the company not

only our employees, hourly wage workers and communities that we operate in, if we all can do our part in supporting people around us and what we can control. i think we are going to come out of this in a much better way, for humanity and solidarity not just to focus on profits. neil: no, i'm very impressed, sir. one thing i think about, let's say these sheltering provisions we've been raising with all sorts of guests, medical and political and like ourselves, a business. if they go beyond the end of the month, is it fair to say all bets are off and even this kind of commitment, as generous as it is, it's going to be hard to keep or harder? >> look, i do agree that it gets harder as time passes and we don't believe this is going to be a short turn around. we think we're in it for a bit of a long haul. this is all about consumer confidence, we've taken down a global economy going on all

cylinders for a long time and shut everything down. this thing doesn't ramp up as quickly as everyone believes. we've taken that into count. we've gone through the various possibilities that could unfold. so far we're going to train our people-- take our existing people and have them do other things. this is a time to show solidarity. we're working on everything to support our customers remotely. it's hard to take an 8,000 person and have them focus, it gives them a sense of purpose and solidarity. neil: let me talk about coming out of this. there's been talk that we come out like a v or a u, but is there a possibility that a lot of americans will be leery to returning to business as usual, theaters, restaurants, packed

stadium, might change their behavior? even their buying behavior. we come out of this, no doubt. but we don't come out of this as fast as maybe people hope. >> i think you're right. this is about-- excuse me, this is about consumer confidence and -- and many have said it's about testing, it's about having a vaccine. until there's a vaccinvaccine, empty bed if i'm hospitalized, i'm not going to be comfortable going back to business as usual. i think there will be a new norm, all of us will get comfortable working from home. i think a large part will be working from home. i think we'll have social distancing, online activity, only go outside when we need to. and travel will be different, travel for essential reasons. until we get to a point that

health care is as easy as it used to be four weeks ago. neil: that's a very good point. very nice having you. i know you have a very crowded schedule, so we appreciate you taking the time to chat with us. he's the palo alto ceo -- networks ceo. and texas was one of the latest to go that way, the state's governor how things are going after this. hot! hot!

no no no no no, there's no space there! maybe over here? oven mitts! oven mitts! everything's stuck in the drawers! i'm sorry! oh, jeez. hi. kelly clarkson. try wayfair! oh, ok. it's going to help you, with all of... this! yeah, here you go. thank you! oh, i like that one! [ laugh ] that's a lot of storage! perfect. you're welcome! i love it. how did you do all this? wayfair! speaking of dinner, what're we eating, guys? >> you've probably gotten used to it, about 93% of americans, 93% of all americans are shelt r sheltering at home. sticking to the provision if you don't have to go out, just do

whatever you can at home. and texas state, governor gregg abbott, how is it going with staying at home or urging people to try to stay at home? >> you know, i am so impressed with our fellow texans. i have the opportunity to look at images across the entire state of texas and everyone is doing a terrific job to make sure they reduce the spread of the virus in texas. people are beginning to understand the best way we can slow the spread and actually avoid death is by this stay at home standard, going out only for essential services, such as going to a grocery store. as a result, we're able to hold down our numbers, understanding we're about two weeks behind the trajectory in states like new york, but far better positioned in some states, even though we've increased testing like overnight we increased testing

20% over the prior day, even though we're increasing testing, less than 10% of the people being tested test positive for covid-19. our deaths unfortunately has risen to 105, but compared to other states that's a pretty low number. neil: do you think that the litmus test for lifting the provisions the end of the month should be a decline in increasing cases, or decline period, forget the increase, that they shouldn't be increasing at all? >> those are several factor. i want to add in some additional factors. one thing we want to see and everybody hears about, slowing the spread and getting over the hump of the maximum number of cases and showing that the number of new cases is declining, showing that the number of deaths is declining, but neil, there's something else that we need to be watchful for that i was talking to dr. fauci

today. over the course of the month of april we will be able to dramatically increase the capacity to test those in the united states those who may show signs of immunity. the more we can show increase in the percentage of people who show immunity in the united states, i think it will show we have the ability at a minimum to get those people back to work, as well as use other strategies to get people back to work and to continue to unleash our economy in the united states. neil: do you think texans should wear masks, governor? >> well, remember what was said with regard to the usage of masks. what was said, masks is a secondary strategy. the primary strategy that everybody needs to be following right now is the distancing strategy, the stay at home strategy. if you're staying at home, you don't need to wear a mask. if you want to implement the best strategy to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, people just need to stay home

unless they're engaged in essential services and even if they do that, if they follow the appropriate distancing strategies, they don't need to wear a mask as suggested. the only people who may want to do that, especially those who do have covid-19, they want to prevent spreading that to others and then other people who may be in close contact with other people may want to consider doing so. neil: got it. governor abbott, be well, be safe, your state as well. good seeing you again. >> thank you, neil. neil: all right. governor. in the meantime, how is the president doing in this crisis? presidents are rarely tested to this degree, but those who have learned a thing or two along the way. what doris kearnes goodwin is noting now that this president is dealing with now after this. awesome internet.

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>> all right. she didn't do this on purpose, but her latest book, "leadership in turbulent times", she looks at abraham lincoln, teddy roosevelt, lbj, crisis during their presidency. now we have a big one facing this president, of course, the coronavirus. he didn't start it, but how he's dealing with it could very well define his presidency, to say nothing of what's going on with the economy and pretty much the world. doris kearnes goodwin, kind enough to join us right now. good to see you, my friend. >> you, too, neil. neil: let's get a sense of where we stand on it. the president has had daily briefings, brings out the big guns on the task force, and they're an impressive bunch. now of course he's martialing

all forces. and how do you think he's doing? >> i think the most important thing in a moment like this, this has to be a national dealership that's provided. when i think back to the situation that franklin roosevelt was in before he became president, he was the governor of new york. the states were not given the federal relief they needed because there was a feeling that government should not be interfering with private business or local charities. so he set up the first state-run comprehensive relief program, unemployment and public jobs for people and that's what really catapulted him to the presidency. so i think the most important thing about a president right now is to use every national resource he can in order to mobilize the country, to help the states. and it's beginning to happen, but i think it still has to happen more. i still think there may need to be more use of that defense

production act to get as many supplies as we can, more use of the persuasion power of the president to make the governors who haven't yet gotten to that. presidents have enormous persuasive power and he's got a lot of relationships with these governors and when i think about it, at one point, abraham lincoln said immense power, telling the congressmen, you've got to get that 13th amendment passed and i intend to use it. he's got the power and he has to use it more and more to get the national direction, and he's the one and that's what the presidents are there for. these are their moments. neil: it's always a tough balancing act. i know you and i have gotten into this, you don't want to alarm people and get them scared. i know the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, but by the same token you don't want to give them false hope, and the president was criticized for that early on, i think that's water under the proverbial

bridge here, but how do you think he's balancing that now with the hope of getting back in gear the end of this month after maybe we consider unwinding some of these stay at home provisions and all that. how do you think the approach he's taking now is going? >> i think the most important thing, you're balancing the fine line between telling the brutal facts, which the medical community is doing day after day in these briefings, but there's a desire on the part of the people to hear a vision of what it might be like when it's over. it's a question not setting that timetable so quickly that it has to be changed other and over again, but i think in some ways and this is the most important thing, this is where fdr can help how to communicate. i know earlier on, in your program, governor cuomo quoted fdr talking about if your neighbor's house is on fire you're going to lend your hose

so your house is saved. and what's incredible, december of 1940. we're not even near to pearl harbor. there's a great isolationist mood in the country and fdr is having the country not just mobilize our weapons, but to know that europe's war is our war, too, and follows up with the great arsenal of democracy speech saying we're already producing-- they started producing in april, may of 1940. so by december, we were already doing great with production, we could then lend more of our weapons abroad and a lot of people didn't want to have lend lease happen, divided down the middle. by the time it came up in may, it was 60% overwhelmingly supported and he said that's what the president can do, educate. presidents have to talk in those terms just as he did. neighborly terms. people said when he said lend your hose, you could picture that in your neighborhood.

and he used one symbol words and we want an inclusive society which no one is left out. and he spent works working on the fireside chats and only delivered them every couple of months and explaining why there's a rationing system and all of these things. it's communication and you can really learn from these characters in the past. neil: no, i hear you. i've heard that. anyway, if it were me and my neighbor asking, i'd charge him top dollar. that's just me, doris. >> no you wouldn't. [laughter]. neil: kidding, kidding. >> i know. neil: doris where do you see-- >> well, i guess we have to believe at some point the economy will come back. the economy is not just the economy, it's the work, and i know the president spoke of infrastructure. it may be like during the depression, government had to

provide jobs for people not just relief. neil: the way to do it. >> and people going to work every day, it may well be we'll be in that kind of situation afterwards. that's the next phase after hopefully this public health one is done. neil: doris kearnes goodwin. ♪ >> more than 278,000 coronavirus cases now confirmed across the united states. the numbers updating as you can see by the minute. right about 7500 deaths. and now a worry about a new round of hot spots that could emerge in states including texas, florida, and also close eye being kept on this hour on michigan. noon eastern here. welcome to america's news headquarter. we're both looking at the capital, jus