and natural disasters around the world. and that's it for today, have a great week and we will see you next fox news sunday. ♪ ♪ arthel: fox news alert, new evidence that the coronavirus infection rate is slowing a bit in hard-hit parts of the country, still the harsh reality is there, more than 742,000 current confirmed cases in the united states, 40,000 americans have died from the virus so far, but there are some encouraging signs with the number of new deaths falling every day for the past 3 days. welcome to brand-new hour of america's news headquarters, i'm arthel neville. eric: thank you for joining us this afternoon, i'm eric sean. the trump administration and congressional leaders say they are close to a deal on more relief funding for small

business loans and that certainly will be welcome. the initial 350 billion-dollar fund ran out last week because of such high command, but treasury secretary steven mnuchin says the next package topping more than $400 billion would boost spending for hospitals and fund more coronavirus testing that is sorely needed and while the president is eager to restart the economy completely, some lawmakers warning that businesses should prepare for a new normal. >> the new normal may require businesses to have higher overhead expenses and lower labor costs. we need to adapt to that reality and we need to adapt very quickly. gyms, another part of our economy that needs higher overhead expenses and lower actual number of employees. we will have to do that at the same time that we are balancing why we should reduce the unemployment benefits in the care's act. eric: restaurants may have to space out tables.

steve harrigan, live in atlanta, center of disease control with the very latest. steve: single day death total across the u.s. 1,891. that marks a decrease of 51% from the day before. it also marks 2 consecutive days where the single death rate total for the u.s. has declined. in the meantime the cdc getting increased scrutiny over handling initially of the construction of testing kits and the weeks of delay that took for those testing kits to get out. the fda says the cdc violated its own protocols in manufacturing those tests. here is dr. fauci. >> it was a problem that was a technical problem from within that was corrected and it was an issue of embracing the way we have now and should have. the private sector who clearly has the capability of making and providing tests at the level that we will need them for any

of the things that i've just spoken about. steve: investigation of how the cdc handled the testing by the department of health and human services, they will likely look at some very basic questions, why the tests were flawed, were there sloppy procedures or connal nation. second, why the test that didn't work or sent out across the country to public health labs and finally, why did it take the cdc1 month to change course and have those test manufactured correctly by the private sector. eric, back to you. eric: yeah, unlike some other countries who -- we are way behind on those tests, arthel. arthel: eric the white house and democrats saying both sides are close to a deal on small business relief. that agreement would replenish the funds for the payment protection program which ran out last week due to overwhelming demand. chad live in alexandria, virginia with more.

chad. >> chad: arthel, negotiations are continuing behind the scenes as they try to get a pact. republicans want $251 billion for small businesses to replenish the loan program there. politically it's hard for democrats to hold out much longer. chuck schumer the senate minority leader and democrats, they want other things in this next piece of legislation. >> we propose 3 basic things, money to go into both manufacturing and supply chains to bolster them quickly. we propose that we make free testing far more widespread. people avoid testing because they can't afford it, that's not good for the country and third we support contact tracing. >> the senate could clear the measure through a process called unanimous consent so long as no senator present of the chamber objects. the house may need dozens of

members back to vote, though, treasury secretary steve mnuchin has negotiated with house speaker nancy pelosi and schumer for a couple of days now. republicans are skeptical because of the democratic request. >> mnuchin and schumer and pelosi are working on a deal. every republican will want to scrutinize that because we know that when schumer and pelosi are involved, we know they slow down the care's act because they wanted their wish list included. >> now, this is just a bridge bill, phase 3.5, if you will, phase 4 to respond to coronavirus, that's up in the air. testing more money for sate and local governments, infrastructure, that phase 4 bill is probably weeks off, no decisions on that piece of legislation right now because members of congress want to see if the other very expensive bills pay off in the end. arthel. arthel: chad, i was watching fox news sunday a bit ago and i saw speaker pelosi saying this is

not about pork, their request is about people. chad, thank you so much. eric: vice president mike pence will lead meeting expected about an hour from now, within the hour and they'll be a briefing for the rest of us, the public, while that's scheduled to take place after that. 5:00 p.m. eastern which is just 2 hours from now, the daily briefing from the white house briefing room which we will cover live right here on fox news channel and arthel mentioned house speaker nancy pelosi, she's weighing in on the trump administration response and ability to protect the country from the virus. he was on fox fox news sunday ir interview with chris wallace, she gave president trump and the administration the grade of, --. >> proceed with policies that were not evidence-based and to blame others, anybody,

governors, leaders take responsibility. so i said he's a weak leader. eric: mark meredith live at the white house with more on what the speaker said and the reaction there. hi, mark. mark: hi, eric, as you mentioned house speaker nancy pelosi says the trump administration is fail to go provide enough tests for governors as well as really americans nationwide. the administration and the speaker have not had a good relationship in the past and certainly doesn't seem like things are getting any better. the president has certainly gone after the speaker a lot on twitter and on camera and now she's firing right back. >> leaders take responsibility, so i said he's a weak leader, he doesn't take responsibility. he places blame on others and that might have been okay for before, but we cannot continue down a path. mark: vice president mike pence, he's pushing back, he says testing is a joint responsibility of both the federal and state governments. he told fox's chris wallace

today, 150,000 tests are being conducted daily and that he believes that number will only go up in the weeks ahead. >> now we have cleared 4 million overall but at 150,000 tests a day, we think we can double the number by working with governors to activate all of the laboratories in their states around the country that can do coronavirus testing. that would put us at roughly 300,000. mark: president trump tweeting similar comments saying today, just like i was right on ventilators, our country is king of ventilators. other countries are calling for help, we will. we will be with you all of the way. the president on twitter. the administration is also rushing as chad mentioned to make sure that more money is available for testing from 25 billion is what the number we are hearing and as we were talking about congress certainly trying to get that squared away as fast as possible including whether or not this would make a big difference and governors deciding to open sooner rather

than later. >> it would be make sure to have ample supply of testing, technology, money distributed to the states. this is an unprecedented federal investment across the board. everybody wants lots of testing. i think we are up to capacity of a million a week which is very good and we are going to do a lot more. mark: we should be getting an update in 5:00 o'clock hour from the president during the press briefing we would get a better idea of what the governors can expect to hear. they are expected to speak with the administration on monday, eric. eric: yeah, mark, a few hours ago governor cuomo and new york announced testing plan for antibodies but he and others say the fed needs to step up and do more. there's a bill from patty murray of washington state on that. we will see what happens later. thank you, arthel. arthel: yeah, eric, and in the same briefing you just referenced new york governor andrew cuomo expressed some optimism saying the

hospitalization rate in the state is down and indications that new york is on a decent but the governor also warned that this is not the time to relax as authorities step up social distancing especially with the weather getting warmer. >> this virus has been ahead of us every step of the way. we have been playing catch-up from day one in this situation, so it is no time to relax and this is only half time. arthel: aishah hasine live in new york, aishah, no disputing, it's a gorgeous day in new york but we still have to stay inside and practice social distancing if we have to go out. aishah: we do, exactly, arthel, unfortunately just in the last 30 minutes i've seen people not doing that and that is definitely something that mayor bill de blasio talked about earlier today. he's asking new yorkers to report any one that is not following those social

distancing rules. in the meantime governor cuomo as eric mentioned has announced that new york state will start performing thousands of antibody tests starting this week to be able to tell who in new york state has the virus in their system already and what -- when it comes to diagnostic test, that's the test to tell if you're currently sick. new york state is now working in coordination with the white house to get the supplies of the private labs in the state to be able to make the test kits to do those diagnostic tests. now, new york is past its plateau but governor cuomo is warning that we are not out of the woods just yet. let's take a look at the numbers of deaths now. new york still leading the country for daily deaths and for, of course, the number of total deaths now at more than 17,000 and listen to this, almost 20% of that number comes from nursing homes and adult

care facilities which cuomo says is now his number one concern. new jersey follows with more than 4,000 and michigan with more than 2,000. now more help is arriving as early as today. the mayor announcing that 1400 volunteer healthcare workers from around the nation and more than 500 military personnel are headed to dozens of hospitals and nursing homes in new york city meanwhile the mayor pushing back on a new call from the city council to close the subway system. an mit report recently suggested that the subway is somehow connected to the spread of this virus. the latest numbers a day ago show 68 public transit workers have now died from covid-19, nearly 2500 have tested positive. de blasio says he understand the concern but he will not be shutting down the subway any time soon, calling on the mta to do a better job of limiting the number of people that are riding on a subway car.

listen. >> i have trouble understanding any proposal unless we can prove that there's another way for people to get around that actually works, the people that we need to most. if they can't get to where we need them, that poses a threat to everyone. aishah: meantime, of course, talking about social distancing. the governor also of new york coordinating with the other north eastern states to ensure that the same things are staying open, the same things are staying close. as of right now state parks remain close but marinas are open, arthel. arthel: yeah, aishah, the situation is real and not everybody can afford to hop in a taxi or take a ride share so they do have to get to work so hopefully they can work that out because we have to be safe. all right, thank you so much. be careful. eric: down south states not only facing the coronavirus threat but also another round of severe weather there. storm moving across the southern

part of the nation and expect today slam into the communities that have been hardest hit by the similar storms that occurred over easter. forecasters are warning residents down south to brace yourself for possible tornadoes, getting used to that, christina coleman tracking this from los angeles. christina: eric, millions of people are bracing for a second round of severe storms from east texas to south carolina and again, this is just one week after deadly storms swept through the south killing at least 36 people and unleashing more than 100 tornadoes. tornado watch has been issued for parts of louisiana and mississippi until 7:00 p.m. central time. the national weather service predicts severe thunderstorms and tornadoes for late today and overnight hours and parts of the south. large hail and winds could threaten millions in texas today. this storm hit trinity, texas yesterday morning, that's an hour of houston, texas,

golf-size hail pounded the area. two of most substantial tornadoes from last week's deadly storm were the the powerful em4 that touched down in mississippi, ef4 tornado was 2 miles wide and the ef twister hit louisiana. and that severe weather killed at least 10 people in the greater chattanooga area. the potentially strong winds throughout the south today and tomorrow can turn up debris left from last week in storm and all this presenting additional challenges for recovery, relief and hunger organizations trying to help those storm victims and those who have been struggling just to get by during this coronavirus pandemic. eric. eric: a lot on their plate, christina, thank you.

arthel: eric, thank you, today marks 25 years since some of the worst domestic terrorism history. truck bomb ripped through a federal building in oklahoma city. the attacks in america's heartland killing 168 people including 19 children. for nearly a quarter of a century people have been gathering at the site which is now memorial to the victims, but today no crowds, all in-person events were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. the victims were honored with a video tribute featuring former president bill clinton and oklahoma senator james lankford. eric: who can forget that day? well, they are the very first people that often come in contact with coronavirus patients. the paramedic who arrive when the ambulance comes, but now they are adjusting to a new way of life on the front lines of this pandemic. we will take a look straight

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workload and increase risk of exposure to coronavirus. jessica joined bronze paramedic with a look at front lines. >> i don't think that anyone was prepared for this. paramedic elizabeth bonita says the suffering and pain is at a level she's never seen before. >> so many deaths out there and so many moric people that are suffering, the suffering has increased. >> the single mother of two started her 16-hour shift at the fdny station 3 in the castle hill section of the bronx. the first thing she does is disinfect her ambulance which is shared amongst other paramedic. >> most of them are corona positive and most of them are suspected covid positive. >> bonita and her partner have been making 5 calls per day.

>> i'm emotionally drained and physically drained and definitely mentally drained. he doesn't stop her, she keeps responding to calls not knowing what to expect. she puts on her personal protective equipment and goes inside this home, a few minutes later she comes back out with her oxygen tank and empty gurney and in tears. >> this is is when it's hard. yeah. young kids, youngest boy is 3 and you can't do nothing. >> tomorrow she will be back at it saving lives is what she does. >> taking care of others is my calling. it has to be because i'm taking

care -- arthel: jessica formoso reporting and for more on this let's bring in frank wagner, national representative for the international association of emt's and paramedic, we thank you up front. in your words, frank, set the emotional scene first with repetition, you know, sometimes we become and if anything they might haunt you, is it getting easier or is there still fury on the front lines? >> frank: it hasn't gotten easier yet. the call volume is up 200, 300%. you have to assume that everyone has it. you go to a facility or nursing home, you to take extra precaution in addition to what we are normally doing. the call volume is just there in

sheer numbers. 200, 300% more than normal. arthel: and when you discuss the nuts and bolts of it, personal protective equipment, gowns, masks, personnel, do you have everything that you need? >> right now we do, but the numbers are dwindling. i just don't understand why we don't have a six-month or a year-supply stockpile for an emergency like this. we are conserving, rationing the equipment. everyone does have equipment but it's not what we should have and once again we got caught with our pants down. arthel: when you say we got caught with our pants down, what do you mean? system wide or hospitals in particular or states in particular, what do you mean? >> the entire country, from your rural to urban areas. you know, we weren't prepared for this. everyone didn't think it was going to be this bad.

it is bad, you know, hopefully we are almost to the worst part and gets better from here on end but i keep saying that every week. tomorrow will be better, tomorrow it's going to be better. hopefully in the next week or two we will be better but there's no reason why -- >> arthel: we are hearing this and i hear how frustrating this has to be for you and that's an understatement but we do hear reports, you know, in some of the daily briefings that you have what you need. you've got the masks and you have the gowns, what are you talking about? >> well, you have to remember the ppe we are using, this is single use ppe, it's not designed to be reused. if we use ppe3 months ago, they want to fire us or the healthcare workers if you went into one room with a mask on and left the room and treated another patient with the same set of gloves or masks or gown,

they'd be fired. granted i know times are tough. you have to do what you do to get by, but none of this equipment was designed to be single use ppe. it's designed -- single use, disposable, not sterilized, not reused. n-95s were not designed to be reused. arthel: we shouldn't ask you to get by because you're saving lives, you are on the front lines. let me move on. emt's, paramedic, you're trained to save lives, heroic efforts across the board but in some cases end of life, it's inevitable regardless of your efforts, but now you're seeing so many people, frank, succumbing to coronavirus at extraordinary rates. how are you personally and your fellow paramedic coping with the psychological force of all of

this? >> frank: we spend time with each other and talk to each other. we have a counselor on site at a lot of locations. i can't speak for everybody. we have a counselor on site and we can talk to him whenever we want privately and try to grab a bite together, do what we have to do and still maintain social distancing while this is all happening but, yeah, it's -- a couple of doa's per shift like every couple of hours and they just keep coming and it's the same thing and, you know, you have the patients' families are getting upset because they can't go to the hospital with them and they can't go to the hospital that they want to go to. it's frustrating for everybody and i feel for family members as well. i had one of my friend's grandfather passed and no one was allowed to be bedside and funeral arrangements aren't your normal status quo. arthel: frank wagner, we thank you for your hard work, we thank you for your emotional fortitude

and we wish you well and please stay safe, thank you so much. >> frank: thank you. arthel: eric. eric: frank, arthel, frank mentioned rural areas. next hour we will focus on rural areas of our nation. dr. smith epidemiologist of penn state will be here with that. star says he may never walk again after suffering complications of coronavirus after doctors learn how the virus attacks the body and how it can damage organs, what you need to know from doctor next uh... do you mind...being a mo-tour? -what could be better than being a mo-tour?

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an apartment complex. it happened last night in san marcos which is about 45 miles northeast of san antonio. officers responded to a call about a man who hit his wife and was threatening other members of the family. police say the suspect opened fire on the officers with the rifle as soon as they entered the apartment. 31-year-old officer justin putman was killed and 2 others injured. the officers are in critical but stable condition. police believe the suspected shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. ♪ ♪ eric: the life of tony award nominated actor nick cordero says he had to have his right leg amputated after suffering from complications of the coronavirus. cordero has been nominated and been in numerous broadway productions over the past few years. this comes, of course, as

doctors are now learning that the virus may have a bigger impact on the heart, the kid -- kidneys and other organs than previously known. doctor, good to see you, you talk about amputation of the limb. you wouldn't expect that in the virus, didn't seem to just attack the lungs but does attack the heart. >> it does attack the heart and we found out that it's causing a lot of blood clotting. we are finding blood clotting in the veins, legs, that's a source of death for some patients now and in this case this is an arterial blood clots and we are seeing blood clots in tinny

vessels and that may be responsible for some some of the organ damage in the heart, in the in the kidneys as well. eric: do viruses usually do this? when you think about the flu, the horror stories about covid go beyond any type of virus that are common place that the public generally knows about? >> this is unusual and any type of infection you can have something called vic, blood clots, but this seems to be more related to the virus or the body's immune response to the virus and we first started learning a lot more about the blood clots in the veins from the italian doctors who are seeing it frequently. now we are trying to deal with how much blood thinning medicine should we put people on if they come into the hospital. there's a blood test called a d-dimer, if we get the blood test done as people come into

the hospital it can help predict who will do badly. in fact, there was an autopsy study tone in china that says 70% of the people who died from covid had significant blood clotting. eric: wow, that is even more frightening than we had heard in the past. can you explain, doctor, what an ace tube cellular receptor is because there's studies that deal with that, what is it and how does coronavirus -- attaches to that and cause an even more damage? >> that's very interesting, it's called the ace tube receptor on converting enzyme to receptor, very important receptor because we have a whole class of blood pressure medicine that is target the receptor and virus uses the receptor to get into cells and start replicating and that's helpful because we can use it as a target now and the american

heart association we told our patients and if we are taking the types of medications don't stop. we are not sure it helps, we are actually studying them as potential treatment because it can compete because it can compete the receptor with the virus. these receptors alter in the lungs, in the heart and kidneys and it's possible that the virus is getting into the receptor and getting into all of the organs as well and recently found out that they're also in the lining to have nasal passages. it's all coming together, but, again, it's real-time learning, realtime research but very important receptor if you're on any of the high blood pressure medicines or medications to treat high blood pressure, stay on them and drug companies are -- are quickly researching this and hoping to use it as a tool. eric: finally, besides that what

other advice do you have especially you're a cardiologist. how can we best protect ourselves and take care of ourselves? >> you heard from first responders. they are overwhelmed. they are stressed. they are doing an amazing job and really it's our -- it's our job to take care of ourselves, right, we talked about that before. if you're going to be home really take care of yourself, exercise, get a good night sleep, practice stress reduction, try to eat healthy but the american college of cardiology just came out this past week echoing what we said last week that many patients with heart disease or patients with heart attacks are staying home and not actually responding to their heart -- to the heart symptoms. really if you're having symptoms that you think may be related to your heart, call your doctor. if you think you're having a heart attack please call 9-1-1,

don't delay, we are in the emergency room to take care of you in a safe way and we are seeing a huge reduction in the amount of heart attacks coming into the hospitals because we fear that people are staying home with them, don't be afraid to call us. use this time to become a first responder, learn how to save a life, know how to do hands only cpr. go to hands-conditional.org, takes less than a minute to learn, more than 70% of cardiac arrests happen in the home and now more than 95%. if your loved one drops or somebody with you drops, know what to do. yeah, we are learning a lot more about this virus. the effects of blood clots on the heart, on the the kidneys a- and just on the blood vessels in general, so please take care of yourself. we are here to help you and we are researching this realtime. eric: absolutely and we thank you and thank your colleagues,

of course, who are doing such hard work. i want to point out once more handsonly.com where you can learn cpr. >> .org. eric: handsonly.org where we can learn cpr. hopefully maybe you be able to save a loved one, dr. holy anderson. >> thank you, eric. eric: of course. arthel. arthel: wow, eric, i mean, i thought that dr. anderson's comments were so rich with so much -- a couple of things that struck me how she -- it's ironic that if you're on medication for high blood pressure that could be used to ward off covid-19 but that's one of the preexisting conditions that could make you more susceptible. also it struck me that let's say you have or had coronavirus, covid-19 and you don't have any of the pulmonary symptoms, asin

-- asymptomatic, call your doctor, amazing, fascinating the virus is incynical and insidious. wow. eric: far destructive than anyone had imagine. arthel: unbelievable, eric, thank you very much. we will continue our coronavirus coverage in just a moment but right now we have to take a quick break. don't go anywhere because eric and i are here until like an another hour or so. of glucerna

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♪ >> the number is down because we brought the number down. god did not do that, faith did not do that, destiny did not do that.

a lot of pain and suffering did that. arthel: after several days of decline and coronavirus deaths hospitalization and infections, new york governor andrew cuomo not discounting the sacrifice by each and every new yorker that helped flatten the curve and here is dr. fauci's take saying, quote, i think faith means different things to different people. people with the strong foundation in faith, i think it's very, very important when you go through serious really terrible ordeals that the country is going through i think faith helps people through this. let's bring in fox news religion contributor. john, good to talk to you. governor cuomo does not hide his faith. he's a devout catholic. he's clearly saying god is not going to conquer coronavirus. he credits a lot of pain and suffering and he says we need divine help. arthel: i subscribe to this, i

work like it's all up to me and i pray like it's all up to god. jonathan, how will our faith lead us on. >> yeah, that's good. you know, in response to what governor cuomo said in that recording that we just played, i think his intention -- whenever we judge inintention it's good to air in the hide of, i will do what i want and leave it up to god, that's being outrageous. we are really saying that good -- i'm not going to use what you already given to me, like the god-giving gift of reason to get out of this situation, so i think that was his intention. i don't like he said it because he said the numbers -- >> arthel: in fairness we are not going to analyze the 12

seconds of governor's cuomo's comments pretending he doesn't have faith, forget god and it's all about science, he has not said that, let's keep in mind for this discussion, right? >> yeah, absolutely, we should analyze what he actually said and what he said was the numbers have come down, that's not because it was an act of god, god did not do that and i would say his intention was probably right. his intention was say let's use science and let's do it the right way but at the same time i would never say the numbers came down and had nothing to do with god. it's a core belief of judeo-christian theology that god does interfere in human affairs. that's what miracles are. wait the numbers have come down probably because we did our part but also let's not discount the possibility of god doing a miracle in our lives. arthel: yeah, i think -- i think you and governor cuomo have the same sentiment. you share the same sentiment,

hey, listen, guys, we have to make sure that we keep social distancing, et cetera, et cetera, to make sure that we do our part. >> absolutely. arthel: let's move on, jonathan, usually in times of panic, tragedy, mass human sufferings, pandemics or god whatever higher voice uses to tell us something. what's the lesson that mankind can take away from this? >> it's a great point, arthel. somebody just wrote on my facebook before i was going on and said, god, colon, don't blame me for this, and then says but now that i have your attention i've got a few things to say. so it's usually in our suffering that god does call our attention and when everything is going perfectly, it's very easy to think that we are just totally completely able to do whatever we want and we don't need anybody, we certainly don't need god, but when it's times of suffering in pandemic or in

relationships, in sickness, that's when we say, i need to find the answers not only to this suffering of mine but also the big answer to life. what does this all mean? what is life after death? and i think this is a great wake-up call. arthel: well said, jonathan morris, thank you very much. god bless you. >> tell eric, i said hello too. [laughter] eric: hi, jonathan. arthel: hello. eric: hey, arthel, always wonderful to see our dear friend jonathan morris. thank you for your insights and your thoughts as always. coming up speaking of faith, parts of the middle east including israel. we know what they are doing over there starting to lift restrictions because of the coronavirus, well, some countries in the region are seeing a surge in cases. we will have an update from jerusalem straight ahead.

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♪ ♪ eric: businesses in the little east are starting to reopen even though there's still a surge of coronavirus cases there. a handful of eastern orthodox priests holding easter services

this sunday in jerusalem. meantime countries outside of israel are working to build hospital facilities and try and get their workforces back on the job. trey yngst live in jerusalem with the very latest on the region. hey, trey. trey: eric, good afternoon, mixture of positive and negative updates when it comes to spread of covid-19 across the middle east. striking images from turkey. the country is struggling with a rise in new cases as fresh video shows a thousand bed hospital being built on the grounds of an airport in istanbul. the president issued lockdown and restrictions on who can go outside. anyone under 20 and over 65 is ordered to stay indoors. turkey's health minister announced over the weekend the total number of positive covid-19 results rose to 85,000. one area of concern is the vast amount of syrian refugees in the country, many of whom are uniquely vulnerable amid the

pandemic. turkey has overtaken iran for the more numbers of cases in the middle east. iranians are opening some parts of the country though a thousand new cases are coming in each day. the iranian economy remains under heavy economic international sanctions and reports do say like many parts of the middle east shop owners are turning to the internet to boost sales. looking at china, they are reporting just 16 new cases as of yesterday. the international community going to continue looking there to see what exactly is happening on the ground. eric. eric: yeah, trey, yesterday the president said don't believe the numbers from china and iran especially. we will see if, indeed, those hold out, people say it's much worse in tehran than they've been saying in china, arthel. arthel: all right, we are back in a moment, eric, thank you. i do not speed. and that's saving me cash with drivewise.

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eric: well, in about an hour we expect to hear from the white house coronavirus task forbes their daily bereaving to the -- briefing to the american people. democratic leaders are trying to get close to a deal on a new relief funding bill. house speaker nancy pelosi slammed the administration earlier today, she said e that the president deserves an f grade, that he did not prepare the country properly and has responsibility for this crisis. hello, everyone, welcome to a brand new hour of "america's news headquarters," i'm eric shawn. arthel: hello, eric, and hello,

everyone, i'm arthel neville. so the president might join the briefing, and if he does attend, he is expected to hit back against that criticism you just mentioned from speaker pelosi. you know, eric, this is all coming as coronavirus cases in the u.s. topped 740,000, and the pandemic just surpassing 40,000 american deaths. president trump saying his task force is is looking at the safest ways to reopen the country. >> as we enter the next stage of our battle, we are continuing our relentless effort to destroy the virus. since we released the guidelines to open up america again -- and this was two days ago -- a number of states, led by both democrat and republican governors, have announced concrete steps to begin a safe, gradual and phased opening. arthel: let's go to mark meredith, he is live at the white house with the latest. hi, mark.

>> reporter: hi, arthel. testing capabilities are improving every day. the vice president saying 150,000 tests are being conducted every day. but america's governorses say they need more testing, and they need it sooner rather than later. we heard if the vice president earlier today who said more testing will be happening as soon as it can happen. the states to be able to get those resources they need. >> at president trump's direction, we're going to continue to fully partner with governors around the country and health officials in increasing and scaling the amount of testing. and we have every confidence that we can have a sufficient amount of testing to be able to reopen america. >> reporter: but some governors are pushing back, including republican governor larry hogan of maryland, says the states are already doing all they can. he had this to say in response to complaints they're not using local labs already in their backyard. >> the administration, i think, is trying to ramp up testing. they are doing some things with respect to private labs, but to

try to push this off to say that the governors have plenty of testing and they should just get to work on testing, somehow we aren't doing our job is just absolutely false. >> reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi says the testing situation is unacceptable. she and president trump, they are criticizing each other over the government's response. speaker pelosi told fox's chris wallace the administration is failing the american people when it comes to testing. >> leaders take responsibility. he's a weak leader, he doesn't take responsibility. he places blame on others. and that might have been okay for before, but we cannot continue down a path -- >> reporter: the president called pelosi dumb today on twitter, we'll be looking to see if he goes any further during that press briefing expected to happen at 5:00. we also expect the president will have a chance to update america's governors tomorrow about the response effort. eric, arthel? arthel: debate is one thing, name calling during a pandemic?

mark meredith from the white house, thank you. eric? eric: well, there could be some good niewps on capitol hill. a days-long stalemate over that small business relief fund, we're told, is being close to resolved. democratic leaders have spent much of this weekend in talks with officials from the administration. speaker nancy pelosi saying she is pleased with with the progress they've made. so does this mean small businesses will get the money that they need chad pergram louvre with details -- live with details about what could be a tentative deal that a lot of small business owners around the country will be waiting for. >> reporter: well, they seem to be getting close to a pact here. they're hoping to maybe vote sometime this week. the cupboard is basically bare for small businesses, and that's why it's believed that the congress, the house and senate have to vote this week on some new bill. that deadline tends to focus the mind right now. they want $251 billion for small businesses. democrats, though, are still pushing for access to capital

for underserved areas and hospital help. listen to the treasury secretary, steve my mnuchin. >> we're making a lot of progress, as i just said. i'm hopeful we'll conclude a bipartisan deal today. it'll go to the senate tomorrow and the house on tuesday, and the president can sign it on wednesday, and we'll open up the program again. we're very focused on money for the ppp. that's really been our first priority. >> if they can nail down the details, the senate and house would prospectively okay these measures with a skeleton crew on hand. senators could approve by unanimous consent meaning no one in the chamber objects, but house speaker nancy pelosi is looking at a special provision where a small group of lawmakers could come to washington and be authorized via unique rules to cast ballots on behalf of their colleagues. >> for the options that we can give members. constitutionally, security wise

and technologically. they were saying proxy voting is probably something that passes muster on those scores in terms of just for this purpose. so that is, i'm taking their recommendation. >> reporter: now, you might remember about three weekes ago when they passed the last bill, thomas massie, the republican congressman from kentucky, he came back and required the house to have a quorum. that's a rule in the house and also in the constitution, so they need probably 216 members there at least spread out around the house chamber. keep in mind that this next bill, this interim will, is just 3.5, phase 3.5. phase 4 is something that's already in negotiation off stage. that would probably entail assistance to states, and treasury secretary steve mnuchin says that will probably be in the next bull. eric? eric: yeah, and what happened this week certainly would be a well-needed shot in the arm. chad, thank you. arthel? arthel: well, eric, thank you. and, again, we are awaiting on

the white house coronavirus task force briefing. we're not sure if president trump will attend, but either way we are going to bring you that briefing when it begins. meanwhile, new york governor andrew cuomo expressing optimism today, saying the hospitalization rate in the state is down. and all indications are new york is in a descent, but he stresses now is not the time to relax. this comes as the fda approves the state's antibody test with the governor saying the plan is to test thousands beginning this week. let's go louvre to new york city with more -- live to new york city with more. >> hi there, arthel. that's right, those tests start this week, and right now the governor says they can do about 2,000 of these antibody tests per day. but when you consider the millions of people who are part of the state's work force, he says that the federal government really has to coordinate with new york and the rest of the states in the northeast to get

this up to scale as quickly as possible. listen to what he said earlier. >> that will tell us for the first time what percent of the population actually has had the coronavirus. and is now thiess short term immune to the virus. this will be the first true snapshot of what we're really dealing with. >> reporter: now that is a large part of cuomo's plan to reopen the state which still leads the country in coronavirus deaths. new york has now more than 17,000 deaths, almost 20% of that is from nursing homes and adult care facilities which is the governor's number one concern now. the governor also just signed an executive order to allow funeral directors who are either retired or from out of state to be able to be licensed immediately in new york. new jersey follows in deaths and michigan rounding out the top three with more than 2300 deaths there. more help is arriving as early as today.

mayor de blasio announcing 1400 volunteer health care workers from around the country and more than 500 military personnel are headed to new york city right now. meanwhile, also pushing back on a new call for city down is sill members to close the subway system. an mit report suggesting that the subway is connected to the spread of the virus here in new york city. the latest numbers a day ago show 68 public transit workers have now died from covid-19, but de blasio says he understands the concerns, but he will not be shutting down the subway system right now, calling on the mta instead to do a better job of limiting the number of people on on a subway car at a time. cuomo, again also coordinating with the other states here in the northeast on what stays closed, what stays open like state parks, marinas and beaches, right now marinas have reopened in new york state, but

some theme parks that are close9ed in some of the other states. and also the nypd stepping up enforcement of social distancing guidelines asking new yorkers to report anyone that is violating that. violaters could face up to $1,000 in fines. arthel? arthel: thank you very much for that report. eric? eric: well, arthel, some parts of the country getting ready for phase one to start to reopen their economies. but, you know, across the country in washington state some construction companies in small towns there, they are ignoring the stay at home orders. believe it or not, continuing to work in defiance of the statewide ban. dan springer live in woodenville, washington, with more on this. hi, dan. >> reporter: hi, eric. washington one of only five states in the country that has forced home building and other commercial projects to shut down. it has halted a lot of construction like the house that you see behind me.

it's led to massive layoffs, nearly 70,000 new unemployment claims from people in the construction industry, second only to manufacturing in the state. an industry group says it's costing workers $23 million per day, and the running tally in wage lost so far is $503 million. but almost two week ago, the city of linden said, enough. it sent a letter to construction companies telling them to call the city before shutting down a project writing, quote: until that conversation has taken place,, it is the city's policy that work continue uninterrupted. >> they want to work. they don't want to take government money. they just want to get out and work, do their jobs, do it in a safe way. we also have a housing crisis in this state. >> reporter: city officials are limiting the number of workers on job sites and requiring social distancing and more hand washing stations. they say it's less risky than going to a grocery store. and the letter has had a big impact. in this city of 300,000 people,

we talked to a small business owner who can now pay his mortgage. the democratic governor has not seen the letter from linden, but he defended his order. >> i've talked to any number of constructioning workers who don't want the get infected, go home and infect their families either. so they're interested in getting this number driven down too. >> reporter: but governor inslee did not shut down work on roads, light rail and college dormitories. critics say it is inconsistent and unfair. republican lawmakers are pushing inslee to ease back on some of his restrictions before the golf's order expires on may 4th, which he has said -- the governor, that is -- that he will probably extend that order. eric: with these protesters who have been wanting the government open have been talking about. thank you. arthel?

arthel: coronavirus cases surging in rural communities. some counties now seeing a higher infection rate, what the heartland can expect in coming weeks. in nearly 100 years serving the military community, we've seen you go through tough times and every time, you've shown us, you're much tougher your heart, courage and commitment has always inspired us and now it's no different so, we're here with financial strength, stability and experience you can depend on and the online tools you need because you have always set the highest standard and reaching that standard is what we're made for ♪

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♪ eric: well, it's not just the big cities, coronavirus is also spreading through the heartland and out west. rural counties and areas now feeling it. logan valley county in montana, for example, has only three cases but at a rate comparable to chicago. a county in south dakota with more than 1100 infections. blaine county in idaho, 475 cases there, 5 deaths so far. it even outranks hard-hit new orleans by 25%. and per capita, 20 times more than los angeles and a higher infection rate than new york city. all of that according to cdc figures and information from local health offices compiled by usa facts. so is the heartland prepared. professor cara smith is an epidemiologist, professor at kent state university of public health. she has been abiding by the ohio

stay at home order there. so, doctor, professor, how will this impact rural areas? what are you concerned about, and are they prepared? >> right. so let's start with the last one. i don't think we are prepared. rural areas are a little bit different in that they don't have, by and large, the expertise that a lot of these urban areas have. in many places they may lack epidemiologists at all. they might not have people who are skilled in contact tracing and responding to these types of outbreaks. and most importantly, a lot of rural hospitals are closed over the last decade, is places where individuals can be treated are lacking in a lot of these areas. and then, of course, the equipment that goes with them, ventilators and people that are skilled in using those, are often lacking in some of these rural areas. so it really is, i think, kind of a ticking time bomb for a a lot of these places that maybe

haven't seen a whole lot of cases yet, but may be seeing them as some of these epidemics pick up in some of the rural counties. eric: so what do you do if you're out on your farm or your ranch somewhere and your nearest neighbor is 10, 20 mile away? do you think chances are you pretty well -- you're pretty well protected, but how do you protect yourself? >> right. just do what everyone else is doing, works on your social distancing, get everything you need in one fell swoop as much as possible, use hand hygiene, wear masks to protect not only yourself, but more importantly to protect ohs that you may -- other that you may spread the infection to. just try to do those things as much as possible. eric: the stat, which is a medical journal, terrific one, did a compilation of some of the counties. let me just give you some examples, it ranks the counties around the country those that have a high level to a low

level. florida, for example, it says these are the counties in florida, some of them, dixie, polk, st. lucie, taylor, even palm beach/miami-dade, that's a big city, they rank very low in fighting covid. texas, brewster, hidalgo, gillespie, gray, eastland, very low. missouri, the heartland, st. claire, shannon, woodward, stoddard, wayne, this is just a sampling of some. and if you want to see your county, how it ranks, go to stat. doctor, you're an expert on this, how does it spread? you can understand in the city, in the new york city subway or something, but how does it spread e so easily out where people are much further, widespread apart? >> well, you still have contact with people, you still have lots of extended family who are going to visit each other. and often timeses in a lot of these places you have limited number of large industries that people are working on.

so, for example, in south dakota what we've seen there is that about half of the cases in the entire state are associated with work at a smithfield meat if processing plant -- meat processing plant. so that has emphasized transmission within that processing facility leading to a large number of cases in employees there, and then those employees go home and infect their families as well. so those are the types of really explosive rates we can see in these rural areas, and ohio recently as well just in the last two days, we sent them resultses from testing at a correctional facility in marion county, ohio, which is mostly rural as well. it's home to the marion correctional facility, and right now marion county leads the state in cases of identified coronavirus infections that, than where cleveland and

columbus isment a small county population wise, but because you have a lot of people that are working or living in that facility, spread can be very dramatic and very quick. so that's e what we're seeing in some of these rural places, is once we get it into these big facilities, that can act as an amplifier, then you see a lot of spread over a very short period of time. eric: well, yeah, we saw what happened in the smithfield meat processing plant out in south dakota, and you just talk about, you're right, people can leave -- not just the inmates, but the folks that work there can potentially leave and bring it back. and finally, let's show you the peaks because we're told in some areas it's on the down slope. here are some of the peaks. this coming week, this is the prediction that these are the statements that will have a peak; texas, the new mexico, arizona, oklahoma, missouri, kansas, minnesota, kentucky, massachusetts, connecticut. they are peaking in deaths this coming week, and two weeks from

now, man, oh, man, florida, georgia, there's south dakota, iowa, wyoming, nebraska. there's the list, two weeks. so doctor, finally, there's still two weeks to go at least for some rural areas. what's your advice? that just means at the highest, that still means there's still cases. what's your best advice as an epidemiologist on what we should do. >> yeah. don't think it's over, because that's, again, the statewide average, but we know a lot of these rural counties are probably behind that, ask we don't have a lot of testing in those places. so we really, really don't know what is necessarily going on in all of those places. so just because we're maybe past the peak in a week or two in some of these locations, it doesn't mean it's over. it just means that we have managed to maybe hit the peak case number, but there will still be cases that are going on for weeks to months depend on what happens with lockdown, with

relaxing of social distancing. don't think this virus gone, it definitely is not. and in some of those areas, i think it's going to be peaking much later than the state as a whole. eric: wow. definitely words to the wise. professor tara smith at kent state, thank you so much for your advice and insight on the rural areas. people sometimes, in all this media coverage, can forget about them. but we will stay on that here on the fox news channel. thank you so much. >> thank you. arthel: indeed, we will,ing eric. well, listen, a week after severe weather devastated parts of the south, more violent storms are expected in the area today and tomorrow. a tornado watch now in effect in parts of louisiana and mississippi. christina coleman is tracking all of this from our west coast bureau, and here she is with more. hi, christina. >> reporter: hi, arthel. right now millions of people are bracing for a second round of severe storms from east texas to south carolina, and, again, this

is just one week after deadly storms swept through the south, killing at least 36 people and unleashing more than 100 tornadoes. a tornado watch has been issued for parts of louisiana and mississippi until 7 p.m. central time. the national weather service predicts severe thunderstorms and tornadoes for late today, into the overnight hours in parts of the south. large hail and wind could threaten millions in texas today. this storm hit trinity, texas, yesterday morning. that's about an hour north of houston in east texas. residents were warned to take cover, ask two of the most substantial tornadoes from last week's deadly storms were the powerful ef4 tornado that touched down in mississippi. that was more than 2 miles wide, and the ef3 twister that ripped through homes in monroe, louisiana. chattanooga, tennessee, was also hit hard by an ef3 tornado with winds estimated at 145 miles an hour as storms swept through.

the severe weather there killed at least 10 people in the greater chattanooga area and damaged more than 150 structures. so it really was a tough situation for people already struggling to get by during the coronavirus pandemic, especially if they lost a loved one or a home during last weekend's deadly storms. arthel? arthel: i mean, just the last thing anybody can take at this point. we wish all of those residents well. christina coleman, thank you very much. erin? eric: well, arthel, you know, health experts say that a critical part of reopening the american economy happens to be testing and that washington has been failing on providing a national test in a national scale for all the states around the country. some governors, in fact, have been pointing to the food and drug administration claiming they're not doing enough. well, ahead we'll hear from a former fda commissioner on what the agency can and should do and president lessons that we are, sadly, learning from the

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♪ ♪ >> we've been watching the spread of the virus from the new york city area, and there have been little outbursts on long island and upstate new york, and we've been jumping on those outbursts. but overall, we have controlled it. arthel: okay, so that was the wrong sound bite. we were supposed to show you sound from former president george w. bush at the time he was warning of the nexten pandemic, and that was back in 2005 when we were in the middle of the bird flu outbreak. is so now, as many states call for extensive testing amid the covid-19 crisis, i have a guest standing by about that very thing saying that the avian flu was only a dress rehearsal and that we need new technologies to fight today the's pandemic.

before we get to the doctor, guys, i want to play that sound from president bush. >> i'm not predicting an outbreak, i'm just suggesting to you that we better be thinking about, and we are. we're more than thinking about it, we're trying to put plans in police station, and one of -- plans in place, and one of the plans was if we need to take some significant action, how best to do so. and i think the president ought to have all options on the table to understand what the consequences are, but all assets on the table, not options, assets on the table to be able to deal with something this senate. arthel: president george w. bush. thank you, sir. well, listen, right now i'm joined by dr. andrew everybodien bach, former commissioner of the fda, now president at american health initiatives. so, doc, where do you stand on reopening our country? how do we do it, when do we do it, are we prepared, and what is the fda doing to help get us

there? >> well, arthel, thank you very much for having me on the show. pleasure to join you and eric and your viewers. as you just indicated, when we were facing a pandemic of avian influenza, president bush put in place an emergency response plan that encompassed both detection, mitigation and elimination. and the fda is a critically important partner in that entire spectrum. so what we're seeing at the present time is the fda's work and initiatives really being able to wow us to detect this virus. we've been talking about the need for these tests and getting them out there. this is a virus that we've never seen before, and so the idea of being able to develop a test is quite complicated. but the fda's already issued over 50 emergency use authorizations to enable laboratories, researchers to very quickly be able to study

and investigate and come up with these precise steps. the importance is not just to have a test. the fda must also be assured that that test is accurate. if we were to have too many false positives or negatives, that would create even greater problems. but the truth is, we're in the midst of detection and mitigation, but that's not the ultimate solution to this problem. arthel: are you optimistic that we're going to get the amount of testing needed and relatively quickly online? obviously, you can't sacrifice the process because you need to have testing that's effective. >> well, i think the testing is moving along quite rapidly. i think it's forming two different compartments, one being can we detect the virus, the other testing can we determine people who are immune to the virus. but what we need to move on to if we're ultimately going to

solve this public health problem, open our country back up and restore our economy is we need a therapy. we need to move to the phase that president bush outlined which was elimination. and that's where the fda has really played a critical role but almost behind the scenes. it has been working extensively with the private sector and has launched its therapeutics acceleration initiative so that we can rapidly ramp up our scientific and development infrastructure. what happened after avian influenza and over the past 20 years is this country invested billions of dollars in our biomedical research enterprise. we've seen incredible progress in our ability to understand the genetic and molecular events like cancer and alzheimer's and heart disease. and now we need to come together and focus all of that on

conquering this virus. and the fda is critical to being able to make sure that the progress that comes out of that research and development is immediately able to be transferred into the treatment for patients. arthel: i want to play some sound from ohio governor mike dewine. he was on "meet the press" today. let's listen. >> i could probably double, maybe even triple testing in ohio virtually overnight if the fda would prioritize companies. they're putting a slightly different formula together for the extraction reagent kit. and it's, if the fda would do that, we'd have a shortage, worldwide shortage of some of the materials that go into this, so we really need help. anybody in the fda's watching, this would really -- [laughter] take our, take our capacity up literally overnight.

arthel: so you see that governor dewine is not to -- he doesn't feel like the fda is really helping out. so i'm going to let you respond to that, but before you do, let me is can one other question is so you can cover it all at one time. tell us, what's the takeaway from this pandemic? on what levels were we least prepared? maybe you can dip that point, tell -- skip that point, tell us what we can do for the next national epidemic, sir. >> well, first, with regards to the testing, it's absolutely clear we need to accelerate, but acceleration is not just the fda's opportunity, it's for all of us to come together. we have to be able to get the raw materials that these laboratories need. that's a supply chain issue. we need to be able to test them and be able to assure their scientific credibility. that is the fda's responsibility. and so it's a public/private partnership to put all the pieces together. what we've learned and what

we're learning is that this virus or is going to require us to martial all of our resources. and most importantly, to find a therapy. whether it's to be able to find a vaccine, and there the fda is upside taking enormous opportunities -- undertaking enormous opportunities to drive and accelerate vaccine development. there are the over 20 in development as we speak with 3 of them already being tested in humans, and they're building on the scientific progress we've made. we no longer, as we did back in the avian influenza era, have to worry about making a vaccine in an egg. we can now do it in a test tube with cell technologies. and we're also exploring different parts of the virus to make very unique, new vaccines that could be even more effective. we have to be able to develop antivirals, and most importantly we need to be able to acquire the data that's being generated

as all of these experimental trials are underway to pull that altogether so that the fda can acquire, ago redate, analyze that -- aggregate, analyze that data, act upon it and get a solution to the american people that will not just contain the virus, but will eliminate this virus. arthel: promise me yes or no, are you optimistic we can do that? >> i am optimistic because i believe in this country and its ingenuity, its creativity. once we see a challenge and focus on it, and and every day i am amazed at the number of people who are coming forward, small biotechnology companies coming from the pharmaceutical industry who now want to work together where one company may have a particular -- arthel: yes. >> -- vaccine in development, at another company may have the capacity to scale that up so that we could treat not tens or hundreds of patients, but

millions of patients. i'm optimistic because this nation can respond the challenge. arthel: america, together we can do it. doctor, thank you so much. former fda commissioner under president george w. bush. thank you, sir. >> thank you for having me. eric: thank you, doctor. and amen to that. well, it was one of the first coronavirus hot spots in new york state, now suffolk county on long island is seeing a decline in cases. county executive steve valone will join us on what he's learned and the advice the rest of the nation could learn from you have folk county.

♪ ♪ eric: one of the hardest hit places in the nation is suffolk if county, you know, the county encompasses everything from suburban neighborhoods, to farms and wineries and those expansive

hatchton beachfront mansions. -- hampton. and there have been over 26,000 confirmed cases there with over 700 deaths so far. but they do say there's some good news in the county. hospitalizations have fallen in the last three days though they still remain high. how has the county been able to begin to now turn the tide? joining us is the county executive of suffolk county, new york, steve baa loan. frankly, for you guys, it's been hell. a lot of the attention was on new york city, but it's beginning to tick down slowly. the plateau e is high. how do you see it shaping up? >> yeah. we've been a few days of maybe up to even two weeks behind new york city, but we're very much still in the heat of the battle against the covid-19 virus on long island. although we are seeing some positive signs, and it looks like we may be turning the tide. the hospitalizations, as you mentioned, have come down over the last two days, but i would

caution people they are still at an extraordinarily high level. we have 1500 covid-19 positive patients in our hospitals, and to put that in per spect ifoff, before -- perspective, before this crisis began our hospital system had 2300 beds to take care of every kind of illness in our county. so today fully two-thirds of those beds are occupied just by covid-19 patients. more than 2,000 people now have died from covid-19 on long island, that's a number we never could have have imagined happening here. eric: yeah. there are two counties i want to point out, nassau, which is nearer to new york city, and then yours, suffolk, with montauk point. what are your thoughts when you see those protests, people someplace out in the country? of course they want to open up the government, open up the economy, everyone want that.

but they're not wearing masks, not social distancing, and i've seen that in suffolk county, people thinking, well, it's not going to affect me. >> well, our message is while we have seen progress, there's been absolute devastation here. the number of lives that have been lost, the number of people -- the economic devastation that this virus has wrought. and if i could deliver a message to the rest of the country, it would be when this does hit you, it comes quick, or it's hard, it gets intense very quickly, and you have to be prepared. and for us now as we continue to make progress, we need to stay the course, continue practicing the social distancing measures, continue to get that ppe in. the president made a commitment to you have folk county which has been -- to suffolk county which has been a shot in the arm here, and now the focus shifts somewhat to thinking about that economic recovery because there really has been incredible devastation to families and to small businesses and the

government as well. eric: how will you do that, and what is your advice to the rest of the country for those areas that haven't will be been hit as hard as you have yet? hopefully, they won't be. and also in terms of opening up the economy slowly, you got a lot of tourists. you have those beautiful, wonderful beaches, for example, in suffolk county. what type of plans do you have? >> well, we have to get to a transition, and what i've told people is you're moving not back to where we were six weeks ago, but it'll be a new normal. but we have to make that transition so so that we can get our economy moving again. and for us the key is to be able to access some of the great programs that the president was able to put into action in the relief bill, the cares act. for example, the municipal liquidity facility that was created. you know, that is something that would allow counties like suffolk that have really been decimated to do short-term borrowing, to pay for the police

and the health care workers that are fighting the virus while at the same time providing property tax relief for homeowners who desperately need it now. we don't have access to it, and that's why i'm actually sending a letter to the secretary of the treasury, steve mnuchin, who knows suffolk county. the president nose suffolk county -- knows suffolk county well, and we're asking to get that access so we can get our economy moving here on long island which is critical to the state and the country as a whole. eric: yeah. mr. mnuchining and the president have spent a lot of time there, certainly, new yorkers know it. we thank you, and we thank you for the work that you're doing. you've been the tip of the spear. hopefully, or the rest of the country won't go through what you are going through, but it will end at some point. >> thank you, eric. eric: steve bellone joining us, thank you. and we will be right back.

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♪ ♪ arthel: schools forced to shut down across the country, and that may become permanent for some colleges in vermont. jacqui heinrich is following the story in new york city. >> reporter: arthel, it's a

sign of what's to come for other cash-strapped institutions and a glimpse into the possible impact on cities and towns across america where schools are the primary economic driver. the vote would permanently close three campuses, vermont state college because of covid-19. chancellor jeff spaulding said the schools were already in financial trouble from declining enrollment, revenues and competition, but it prompted a refund of nearly $5 million to students for room and board. critics say the ripple effect would be devastating, eliminating a huge employer in the region, shutting off the engine that keeps small businesses afloat, and it will hurt the state's ability to attract students from in and out of state. vermont is likely the tip of the iceberg. according to one study, 60% of colleges missed their enrollment goals last fall. problems are most likely for small liberal arts schools, religious institutions and rural schools with low enrollment. and many of these schools are in

small towns across america which would be economicically crush9. >> i think pennsylvania will come into the eye of the storm. we've already seen the state of washington, one of its institutions decomplain financial exigency. so i think vermont is maybe the most dramatic example of this, but it's something that's going to be felt across the country for public institutions in rural areas, and i think every single state legislature will probably get involved. >> reporter: a vote was set for tomorrow, but it's been delayed for a week because of massive pushback over the possible impact this decision will have. arthel? arthel: jacqui heinrich reporting in new york city, thank you. and we're back after this break. ♪ ♪ key. so chantix can help you quit slow turkey. along with support, chantix is proven to help you quit. with chantix you can keep smoking at first and ease into quitting so when the day arrives, you'll be more ready to kiss cigarettes goodbye.

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♪ ♪ eric: well, it was a birthday party to remember for a 6-year-old girl. just watch. [background sounds] [laughter] eric: man, oh, manages look at that. that's a birthday party. that's emily, she just moved to florida from minnesota, but because of the stay at home order, she couldn't have a party, and she got the next best thing. ing it could be even better than that. her family reaches out to local police in a video, and they delivered this gift, patrol cars and their sirens blaring. boy, is she excited, arthel. how about that?

[laughter] arthel: happy birthday, emily. that is awesome. thanks so much to all of you for watching. "the fox report" with jon scott is up next. see you, eric. eric: take care. jon: we are awaiting a briefing from the white house coronavirus task force as president trump defends his response to the pandemic and his growing calls for expanded testing. good evening. i'm jon scott, and this is a special two hour edition of "the fox report." ♪ ♪ jon: the briefing scheduled to begin later this hour, and we will bring it to you live as soon as it happens. meanwhile, the latest numbers show nearly four million americans have been tested for coronavirus are, more than 700,000 were positive. roughly 40,000 people have died. tonight's briefing comes as several states prepare to take their first steps forward reopening under guidelines the white house issued last week. so