>> we are very close to the peak. >> this is a fast moving outbreak. we have to take it day by day. rob: a glimmer of hope as hot spots appear to plateau, data suggesting we could be turning a corner soon. >> when leading experts say the united states could finally reopen. rob: a battle on capitol hill holds up assistance as millions of americans are struggling to make ends meet. >> we're live in washington with the latest standoff over much-needed relief. rob: this 93-year-old might be social distancing but she is sending her neighbors a very clear message. >> "fox & friends" first starts

right now. ♪ >> good morning, you are watching "fox & friends first" on this monday morning. i'm carley shimkus. rob: i'm rob schmitt. thanks for getting up early with us today. the u.s. nearing the peak, the fda making that declaration as new york, the pandemic epicenter of the world, does report a drop in new cases. >> todd piro us live as the white house hopes to reopen the economy next month. todd, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, carley. good morning to you, rob. with so many of those prepeak hospitalizations sadly becoming deaths, the numbers are truly staggering even if they're well below the initial worst case scenario. nearly half a million people infected throughout the done aty with 22,000 dead, new york

seeing almost 10,000 of those deaths alone. >> you're also seeing a recurrence of the terrible news, which is the number of lives lost. somebody asked the question once, can you ever get numb to these -- seeing these numbers? unfortunately, no. every one is a face and a name and a family. >> reporter: but amid the satness, another day of increasing hope. new york reporting daily icu admissions and intubations using a three-day average are down, the various models showing we are at or close to the peak especially along the coast, the middle of the country peaking a few weeks from now. los angeles county launching large-scale antibody testing, 900 people at six drive-through locations over the weekend, one of many efforts to learn more about how to potentially make us immune to the virus, all this leading some experts to say the country could reopen by may or

june. >> when you look at the admissions, the hospitalizations, the intensive care and the need to intubate, that not only has flattened, it's starting to turn the corner, it's cautious optimism that we are seeing the decrease and if you look at the patterns of the curves in other countries, once you turn that corner, hopefully we'll see a very sharp decline and then you can start thinking about how we can keep it that way. >> reporter: close to 42,000 people have recovered from the virus in the u.s. so far. rob and carley back to you. >> the conversation is definitely turning to how we reopen. we'll be talking about that more coming up later on. thanks, todd. rob: florida stepping up their pandemic safety measure an emergency order going into place mandating osceola county residents to wear masks in public. those without a mask could face fines, even potentially jail time.

the only exceptions are for those with certain medical conditions a and kids under 2 years old. >> today new jersey begins the shutdown in newark, the initiative be still mondays requests all businesses except emergency services to close every monday for the next month, that includes grocery stores and pharmacies, it comes as new jersey transit begins its mask mandate and cuts capacity by half beginning tonight. americans are receiving their first stimulus checks to help alleviate economic pain caused by the covid-19 pandemic. rob: people who don't have direct deposit info on file will be getting a check by u.s. mail. president trump claiming that america is winning the war against covid-19 as he makes history declaring a major disaster in all 50 states. >> griff jenkins is live in washington as pressure is building for congress to pass

the next wave of relief for americans. griff. >> carley and rob, good morning. pressure is on for congress to act and they're out of session at least for another week. the administration says more than 660,000 loans worth $160 billion has gone out the door but warning that if more money isn't added quickly that initial $350 billion will soon dry up. congressional leaders don't want to see that happen but they're at odds over how to add funding. speaker pelosi says the house will vote on new legislation by the end of the month. minority leader schumer says he hopes for a bipartisan agreement as soon as this week but senate democrats blocked the move last week to add $250 billion to the program, calling for a more worker focused bill. leader mcconnell and mccarthy issued a statement saying democrats reject the threat for job funding. this will not be congress' last word on covid-19 but this

crucial program needs funding now. american workers cannot be used as political hostages. this as the president declares a disaster in all 50 states as you mentioned, and the president is calling on governors to step up, saying governors, get your states testing programs and apparatus perfected, be ready. big things are happening. no excuses. the federal government is here to help. we are testing more than any country in the world, also gear up with face masks. but maryland's republican governor, larry hogan, who is chairman of the national governors' association, says more aid is needed for the states. >> i know there's people in washington that are working very hard as partners to try to help the states but i think the state that we have everything we need is not accurate, everyone has tremendous needs on personal protective equipment, everybody's fighting to to find these things. >> reporter: governor hogan is spearheading an effort for

$500 billion to be added directly to the states. maryland certainly one of those hot spots. carley, rob. >> griff, thanks so much. rob: cardinal timothy dolan comparing our lives today to what happened on easter during holiday mass. >> could the empty tomb of easter be a metaphor for our world and our lives? could it be a whispered invitation from the risen one? rob: dolan is new york's archbishop, that service inside an empty st. pa trick's cathedral. joel osteen joined with star power, maria carey and tyler perry as well. new hampshire getting a cargo plane full of supplies with help from the inventer of the segue.

>> dean kayeman said he secured the 6.6 million masks, 50,000 face shields and 24,000 cover alls from china and worked with the ceo from fed ex to bring it state side. rob: new ham new hampshire'sr said it will be distributed throughout the state based on need. >> meantime, overnight a deadly round of more than 30 tornadoes ripped through several southern states, more than half a million people out of power. alabama, louisiana and mississippi declaring states of emergency. >> there it is, right there. rob: you can see one of them there. the storms killing at least eight people including a mississippi deputy and also his wife. in alabama a woman was rescued after getting trapped in a car. >> hundreds of homes are

destroyed in louisiana. janice dean joins us live as georgia is now getting hit with a dangerous track moving north. janice, this is happening at the absolute worst possible time. give us the latest. >> so we've had over 50 reports of tornadoes, unfortunately. if there's any good news, there's been a lot of warning. we were warning folks wednesday, thursday, friday. of course, that doesn't take the impact away from what we're dealing with, with several tornado warn storms and watches in effect for parts of the southeast, including florida and georgia, up towards south carolina. clemson university right now under a tornado warned storm with a debris signature. so we are seeing a tornado on the ground in south carolina, over heavily populated areas. these watches, some of them, especially in south and north carolina, they're going to be up until 11:00 a.m. we're not done yet as we had

destructive catastrophic storms through portions of louisiana and mississippi and there's your severe threat today. stretching from georgia up towards the mid-atlantic. we're going to see the possibility for winds in excess of 70 miles per hour across portions of the mid-atlantic and up towards the northeast. the storms will start to weaken. however, we do have volatile next several hours across the areas that i mentioned, georgia in towards the carolinas, then up towards the mid-atlantic and the northeast. the storms will exit by this evening but it has been a very destructive, in some cases a catastrophic last 24 hours for some folks over parts of the south and as i mentioned, look at these wind gusts that are moving across the mid-atlantic and the northeast, 50, 60, 70 miles per hour. so that's going to cause potentially some very destructive power outage as well as the potential for some damage across homes as well. so once the system is over with

later on this evening, we will have a quieter forecast but unfortunately the damage is done in a lot of these areas and we are seeing catastrophic destruction. >> people are isolated, they're out of work. this is absolutely not the best time for a weather event where people's homes are getting destroyed. janice, thanks so much. rob: 11 minutes after the hour. the hospital giving its first dose of new plasma treatment to a covid-19 patient. so how exactly does this work? dr. debbie joins us next with what this means for a possible cure. >> and you can walk your dog but just don't kiss them. the new advice for pet owners during the pandemic.

carley: a new weapon in the fight against covid-19. doctors in several states now using convalescent plasma

therapy to help patients recover from infection. rob: what is plasma therapy and how can it help coronavirus patients. joining us now is dr. debbie. thank you for coming back to the show. we appreciate it. tell us what exactly this is. >> this is the idea of taking antibodies which are a protein in patients who have recovered, the protein traveling in the blood. it fights the virus. it needs to be somebody who has coronavirus in the first place and then defeated it. that's how they produce the antibodies. if you take those and put those into patients who are actively fighting the virus, the sickest patients, there's evidence that it can help them defeat the virus and recover also. they're basically borrowing that person's immunity, the recovered person's immunity. carley: do you think this will work as a possible treatment to fight covid-19? >> i'm optimistic. we still need more information but jama, one of our well respected medical journals, they published a study that shows that of five people, it's a

small number, five people who got the therapy earlier, all of them seemed to do better and some did dramatically better very quickly. so that's very promising. now, how can we base it on five patients? there's always a learning curve with everything. even though people used the therapy for a long time in the sars outbreak they used it, in the spanish flu, even almost 100 years ago, there wasn't a lot of data collected back then. now for people to get access to it was very difficult because they didn't know first of all how to find the donors, how to find a blood bank that does this, is there a hospital that can offer this to patients and how do you know that someone has definitely recovered and if someone might be able to benefit from it. there were a lot of variables. a lot of progress has happened. it started where in new york it was only occurring at the new york blood center. now the red cross, which is national, is also involved. not only is this happening in new jersey where one of the donors is a doctor, donor is a

person who offering the antibodies, but other states like louisiana, texas, arkansas, all of these places are putting programs in place where they can be able to now try to offer it to patients. and it's being studied as a federal trial. for many reasons, i think that this is very promising. rob: we've got a lot of different things that show promise. that's the good news. there is other good news as far as this crisis goes that might be getting overlooked including in new york where it seems like we're turning a bit of a corner here in the spot spot, right? >> yes. so the number of deaths is going up which is always alarming but there's a lag between when a person got infected and when they might get hospitalized or suffer severe complications. so it looks like at least the rate at which people are getting hospitalized is coming down, which what that means is that the social distancing, all of these things that people are doing that are so difficult, it's working. it seems to be working. so i think that's very promising

in itself and also i think as we were talking about the learning curve, there's a lot of things happening. you know, if you're hit with a challenge you're not always ready for it. i think healthcare workers when they're treating people who are extremely sick, their focus is on treating the sick, not necessarily on data entry and as much analysis. so we didn't have as much data as we might be able to get over the next few weeks, i think, as hopefully this flattening of the curve continues. carley: dr. debbie, do you think we reached the apex? >> well, every state is operating a little differently so it's hard to know. i'm hoping that in new york that this will be the apex and at least if things can improve in new york, the rest of the country can learn from that. already, even with the convalescent plasma, other states are getting ahead of the curve on that and putting plans in place. so i think that's a good sign as well. rob: dr. debbie, thank you so much. we appreciate your time. >> thank you. rob: 18 minutes after the hour. nearly 17 million people have filed for unemployment in the

last three weeks. that is a massive number. but there is much needed relief that is on the way for people as well as small businesses. carley: our next guest was one of the first to get a loan from the government's paycheck protection program and she says it saved her stores. ♪ road-trip companion. it's kind of my quiet, alone time. audible is a routine for me. it's like a fun night school for adults. i could easily be seduced into locking myself into a place where i do nothing but listen to books. i never was interested in historical fiction before, but i'm obsessed with it now. there are a lot of like, classic and big titles that i feel like i missed out

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carley: a somber procession to honor a new york police detective who died from complications from coronavirus.

detective william sellden was a 25 year member of the force. he leaves behind a wife, daughter and son who was also a member of the police department. the nypd mourning the loss of its 20th member to the coronavirus. traffic enforcement agent william hayes was an army veteran. he had been with the department for nearly 31 years. the department along with the entire city has been hit hard by covid-19. on saturday, more than 6700 uniformed members were out sick, that is 18% of the workforce. rob. rob: small business affected by coronavirus are finally seeing relief as the federal government disburses $350 billion worth of loans. biddie and bows coffee shops in north carolina were one of the first to receive a loan from the paycheck protection program, helping the company's door to stay open. joining us now is the

co-founder, amy wright. thank you for getting up early today and talking to us. we appreciate it. tell us when you got the check and what it meant for you guys. >> well, we, as you said, are a chain of coffee shops located in north carolina, georgia, south carolina and annapolis. we primarily employ people with intellectual and development disabilities. and so when we had to close our doors three weeks ago, it was a very hard decision. it was very tough because these employees most of them had never had a job before but we know it was the right decision to make. so we were very excited to get the ppp loan and get our employees back on the payroll. rob: it's a beautiful story, what you guys do, the inspiration behind it is incredible too. and what was the pain like, when you had to tell some of these people they couldn't come into work, what was that moment like? it must have been so hard. >> it was really tough.

most of them had never had jobs before, so the disappointment, the fear, wonder whack the future looked -- wondering what the future looked like. the plan was always to reopen and bring employees back on the payroll. but it was a tough decision and we had to place a lot of hope. rob: absolutely. and the government has come through for you guys. you're one of the first to get some of this money to come in. how long can this loan carry you and obviously it's a forgiveable loan, you don't have to pay it back if you spend it the right way, correct? >> that's correct. we couldn't have done this without the help of the bank which is headquartered in wilmington, north carolina. this loan will sustain us for eight weeks. we are also operating an online business during this time so our employees are back to work, working from home, writing hand-written notes with every order that we ship, so they're very excited and we're very grateful. rob: it sounds like you guys didn't run into any problems. it doesn't sound like you're with a big bank, more of a community bank.

you didn't have any issues with that, with getting the money cleared? >> livo bank was a dream to work with. they reached out to to us. they wanted to see us get our employees back to work. so we did not have any issues and we are just thrilled that the loan did come through and the money's in the bank. rob: you advise anybody out there that's thinking about doing the same thing you did, that it's a good idea to make that application, right? >> absolutely. rob: that's fantastic. what a great story, what a great program you guys have and those coffee shops, when i'm in the neighborhood i will certainly be stopping by. thank you so much for your time. hope you guys make it through this thing. >> thank you. rob: over to you. carley: i second that. the time is now 26 minutes after the hour. food banks are running on empty as demand skyrockets during the pandemic. our next guest says there is a crisis unfolding right now and she'll tell us how you can help, next. rob: and police cracking down on a church holding a crowded easter service. why the pastor is vowing to defy

any quarantine order. ♪ [♪]

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and now receive 25% off your purchase at olay.com brand power. helping you buy better. rob: welcome back. a fox news alert. the chinese government accused of suppressing potentially vital coronavirus research. rob: trey yingst is -- carley: trey yingst is live in tel aviv to break it down. >> reporter: reports indicate the chinese government is limiting the public's ability to publish research conducted about the coronavirus as the information war between china and the united states rages on, two top chinese universities reportedly released information on their websites detailing that academic papers about the coronavirus must undergo a new vetting process. the information has since been removed. the true number of chinese coronavirus cases cannot be known as the government likely concealed evidence of deaths and new sicknesses. this according to reports and evidence uncovered by international bodies.

global criticism surrounding china's handling of the virus outbreak comes as the world health organization is under new pressure to answer questions about what they knew and when. the u.s. death toll from covid-19 reached 22,000 people over the weekend and president trump is once again blaming the world health organization for their lack of action. the president pledged last week that he would be making an announcement regarding the u.s. funding of the who, this as the who responded yesterday to ongoing controversy and about the outbreak. take a listen. >> we're not so sure it will come in waves in the way that influenza does. we think it's going to be a virus that stalks the human race for a long time to come and there will be small outbreaks that will emerge sporadically and will break through our defenses. >> reporter: the developments come as president trump fired off a series of tweets over the weekend about his frustration regarding a report in the new york times reporting that he failed to act when warned about

the seriousness of covid-19. president trump was more critical this weekend of the american media than he was of the chinese government. he also tweeted that he was working hard to expose corruption and dishonesty in the media. he did not tweet that he was working to expose corruption and dishonesty in the chinese government. rob. carley. carley: that's a lot, trey. rob: nearly 600 sailors on the uss theodore roosevelt testing positive for coronavirus, the navy evacuating more than 80% of the ship in guam. at least one of the sailors now in the hospital. the ship's former captain relieved of his command after a letter that leaked blasting the government's response to the ship's outbreak. acting navy secretary thomas mobly also resigned amid the fallout of the story. georgia leaders urging the state to suspend its anti-mass law amid the covid-19 outbreak. it was adopted decades ago to combat the ku klux klan. a person could face up to a year in jail and $1,000 fine,

exceptions include halloween costumes, sports or gas masks in emergencies. the governor is asking the public to follow cdc guidelines as the law is reviewed. carley: a man under arrest for threatening to kill his mother, begins coughing on mothers, telling them he hopes they get coronavirus. watch. >> i literally did -- >> [coughing] carley: that suspect has reportedly -- had reportedly threatened his mother with a butter knife. he's charged with aggravated assault. yikes. a pastor is vowing to defy a quarantine order after holding easter service at his church. kentucky state police recording license plate numbers at maryville baptist church in louisville.

police ordered the owner to self-quarantine for two weeks. someone put nails in the parking lot before people arrived. the reverend said, send him the bill. >> i just tell you something, if you get a ticket, if you get a ticket for being in church this morning, bring it to me. my lawyer said he'll take care of it. all right? it's garbage, it's just garbage. carley.carley: the governor sao one will face criminal charges but it's not clear how police will enforce the quarantine order. rob: long lines like this are seen throughout the country as americans line up for miles outside food banks. carley: and in new york, the epicenter of the u.s. outbreak, keeping up with demand is growing more and more difficult. rob: that's right. new york city's mission society board member gene shafaroff says the big apple needs assistance now. she joins us with more on how at

home can help. how bad is the situation in how dire is it? >> it's very bad. that's because with so many millions of americans across the country out of work, they need money, they need food, they need shelter, they need water, and they need medicine and they don't have the funds to get all of this. so how can we help? by giving money to food pantries and the food pantries are in desperate need of funding. they're in desperate need of volunteers. and then they're also in desperate need of anything that anyone can do to help them and if you want to bring canned food to these shelters, that's okay too. but the best thing is to write a check or to go on their website and give a donation. it could be $10, $20, $25, whatever you can afford and if you can afford $1,000 or much more, then you should do that. carley: that's right. to really drive the point home as to how big of a crisis this

is, we have some numbers. an estimated $1.4 billion will be needed over the next six months to provide enough food, an estimated additional 17.1 million people are experiencing food and security and nearly 60% decrease of volunteers and that, jean, is really the big problem is that more and more people need food right now but you are seeing fewer donations and volunteers. so is that the experience that you're seeing happening and why we're seeing such long lines at food banks across the country? >> well, first off, the numbers at the food banks have not doubled, tripled, quadrupled but in some cases they're eight times or 10 times increased and the food -- the amount of food that we needed a month ago or two months ago, it has to be

maybe 10 times as great. so funding naturally has to get bigger and so donations are -- some people are donating less, some are donating a little more. but overall, the money is down and volunteers, a lot of volunteers actually those that are in their 70s and 60s and even younger, a lot of them are staying home for fear of contracting coronavirus. and then in other cases, some of the shelters don't even want volunteers because they themselves are afraid of the volunteers carrying the disease, the virus. rob: it can be a double whammy, right now, as we look at unemployment claims over the last few weeks, almost 17 million, obviously the economy has really taken this big hit so you have a lot of people with much more need, a lot of jobless people. when the economy takes a turn like this, most people kind of hold onto their money and so donations go down at the same time. it becomes a double whammy,

doesn't it? >> it does. however, there are generous people out there and we have to invoke them and get them to give. but really most of the money comes from the smaller donations. so if we get those that have jobs now to donate small amounts and they can do it through going online and using pay pal or a credit card and you'll feel give after you give. when you give, you get. carley: for those that can give even a little bit, anything helps. that is sound advice and a good reminder. jean, thanks so much for coming on, we appreciate it. >> thank you. carley: take a look at this, a 93-year-old woman is going viral for this photo, holding up a can of coors light and a sign reading, i need more beer. rob: that's just priceless. carley: love her. rob: the pennsylvania woman said she's doing her part to

help flatten the curve. she's staying inside but is running out of supplies, like beer. people are sending her beer after a relative snapped a photo and posted it online. i suspect this woman will be getting beer. carley: it looks like she wrote the sign herself. she has a good sense of humor. rob: boris johnson, prime minister of the u.k., out of the hospital and on the mend. >> i've seen the personal courage, not just of the doctors and nurses, but of everyone who kept coming to work, kept putting themselves in harm's way. rob: one of the most high profile cases we've seen, his moving message for the healthcare workers he said saved his life. carley: businesses big and small giving a much needed boost to the front line, the products companies across the nation are pumping out to help save lives. just when you thought you were done painting...

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any package any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again! carley: good morning. welcome back. british prime minister boris johnson out of the hospital and on the mend after covid-19 treatment. johnson leaving after a week-long hospital stay including three days in the icu. he admits his fight could have gone either way and thanked doctors for cabbing his -- saving his life. >> i've seen the personal courage, not just of the doctors, the nurses, but of everyone. it is thanks to that courage, that devotion, that duty and that love that our nhs has been

unbeatable. carley: he's definitely sounding strong but it is not yet clear when he will return to work. joe biden is laying out his plan to reopen the u.s. economy. in a new york times op ed, the former vice president outlined the need to continue social distancing. he also calls for using the full powers of the defense production act and established widespread testing, biden writing in part, this isn't rocket science, it's about investment and execution. the white house has to get it right. biden also says the trump administration failed to plan for the crisis. rob: dallas mavericks owner mark cuban believes despite the negative impact the coronavirus has had on the u.s. economy, it will result in world changing innovation and possibly his own run at the presidency. listen to what he told chris wallace on fox news sunday. >> i never would have considered it prior to a month ago but now things are changing rapidly and dramatically. i'm not saying no, but it's not something that i'm actively

pursuing. i'm just keeping the door open. rob: cuban went on to say you never know what could happen between now and november. as doctors, nurses and med techs race to save lives, the business community is doing its part to support the front lines. fox news national correspondent phil coating shows how companies -- keating shows us how companies are stepping up. >> reporter: in florida, for the past 50 years, faulkner, inc. has been all about plastics, it's a family owned business making customized plastic sheets, rods, tubes, you name it. but now working there's are cueing their plastics know-how and equipment to make face shields which are going out to hospitals, doctors, nurses and first responders. and the owner says he's now running three shifts around the clock as business has tripled. >> balancing the fact that we are providing essential equipment with the fact that we have an obligation to keep people safe, so doubling down

and finding our own masks and hand sanitizers and washing protocols and six foot distance workstations, that's been a challenge too. >> reporter: across the country, in more than 600 distillers have moved from bottling booze to bottling high alcohol content hand sanitizer. this jacksonville plant has already distributed about 150,000 bottles of the jim germ killers and they're donating them to cops, firefighters and hospitals.