>> ed: you know where i want to go! i didn't mean to interrupt. shout out your mom. i know she's watching. she loves coffee cake, and so do i. if you heard me talking about that and said bmw bakery in northern new jersey has the best coffee cake. when this is over i'm going to check it out and send one to your mom, i promise. >> sandra: you are into this coffee cake business! all right, we'll talk more about it on monday. >> ed: happy anniversary! >> sandra: thank you so much. "outnumbered" starts right now. fox news alert, the month of may kicking off with new questions on the coronavirus response, as at least 2 21 states are looseng stay-at-home restrictions todayg texas, which is allowing stores and restaurants to reopen at 25% capacity. but dr. anthony found she is cautioning leaders around the country not to move too quickly on reopening. >> if you follow the guidelines, there is a continuity that is

safe, that is prudent, and is careful. the current certain that i have is that there are some states, some cities or what have you, who are looking at that and kind of leapfrogging over the first checkpoint. obviously you could get away with that, but you are making a really significant risk. >> melissa: meantime, at least a dozen protests are set for today against stay-at-home orders, still in place across the country, including rallies in front of the white house and a new york city hole. this is "outnumbered," and i'm melissa francis. here today is jessica tarlov, fox news contributor dr. nicole saphier, new york city physician and fox news contributor. we also have martha maccallum, inc. or an executive editor of "the story," and bret baier, fox news chief political analyst and anchor an executive editor of "special report." he is "outnumbered," and this sunday he and martha will host a fox news virtual town hall, i'm very jealous. with president trump,

"america together: returning to work." be sure to catch it sunday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. i know i won't miss it. bret, let me kick it off with you. what do you think as today really marks the beginning of different policies in different spots, some cities still on lock down? of course, that makes sense, because different cities in different places are in different phases of this outbreak. you know, it's kind of hard to watch your neighbor out there in another state going about their business and even going to a restaurant, which i would probably kill to do right now. [laughter] you don't get to do the same thing. what are your thoughts? >> bret: first of all, you mentioned the town hall on sunday. if anybody has a question and they want to send in a video, please do so. if you've lost your job, if you are out of business and you are concerned about reopening, do so through any of the fox social media sites. we will get those and we are compiling some great ones.

i think each state is making a decision, ideally according to the medical experts, by those guidelines set out at the beginning of this rollout, that you had certain standards. there are some states that are seeing some slide-off on the numbers, and they are not really hitting the phases to open. but they are doing in any way, at least in a minuscule way, in the some staggered way. and that is the battle -- >> jessica: i can't hear anything. >> bret: we are facing health crisis and an economic crisis. >> melissa: yeah. obviously we are trying to work with jessica's technology, they are. you could hear for a second. i'm going to go to martha. martha, i heard a lot of good points on the economic front. i know this is going to be one of the very big things you're talking about on sunday. there have been a number of restaurant owners or business owners, who have said they accepted that ppp money to keep

people on the payroll, which made sense given the amount of money and that they were going to be closed for a specific period of time. once the time was extended, it changed if they could reopen. it changed the economic picture for them. if they don't keep those people on the payroll and they don't follow the rules, it's not a grant anymore, it's a loan. in essence, they went into debt thinking they were going to be able to reopen at some point. they are not. in other words, they are in a worse place because they have to keep up with the rules of the loan as it was given. but, you know, through no fault of their own, the government in their area hasn't kept up with when they were going to be able to reopen. that's hard to reconcile, because both sides are right and have good and fair points. >> martha: yeah, it's a great point. and i think that most of these businesses felt from the beginning that they could make it through six weeks, maybe they can make it through eight weeks, but there is an end to how long

businesses can hang on. they continue to pay their employees. so they start to make different choices about those employees, and about what they can handle if they open, and as you say, the parameters changed on what they are allowed to do and not do with that money. so i think a lot of these issues, just from the early questions we had seen coming in for the president, small businesses, as we all know, are the backbone of this entire country. many of those business owners are struggling. some of them just haven't gotten the money that they had applied for. they see other people in similar businesses who have gotten it, they're trying to figure out what they are doing wrong. and others have received it, and know they are dealing with the struggle of opening up. one of the things i just want to point out in terms of how many of these states are starting to reopen, that i find really interesting -- i talked to the governor of oklahoma last night. the government was able to shut things down, but once they open up these individual businesses or allow them to open up,

melissa, that's when it's going to become more hands off. i said, "so, with the mechanism of people don't follow the guidelines are putting out on social distancing and having a hand sanitizer at the door?" basically, there aren't any. so this is sort of and ask. "please abide by these guidelines." but nobody's enforcing it at that point. it's going to be very interesting to see where customers feel safe going back and where they don't. i think that market force is going to be very powerful in terms of who survives and who doesn't. >> melissa: you know, that is such a great point. dr. saphier, i will come to you, because new yorkers have gotten restless. i don't know if you've seen this. i've seen this, and some of our other colleagues at fox, where you see people going into their business and they are taking down the plywood and getting ready to reopen. and our own david asman asked a business that he passed, "hey, are you reopening? did you ask the city?"

and they say, "no, we are preparing ourselves because we need to." and they say, police stop by or checked in on them or whatever. to martha's point, once people start reopening, there isn't really a mechanism. i don't think you have a police force willing to go in and say, "wait a second, i'm going to measure between these people and make sure you're following the ordinance." as a doctor, what do you tell viewers out there? >> dr. saphier: you know, i think it would really behoove them, these business owners, to get in right now and start coming up with what they're going to do. they may open their doors, but a lot of people at this point are scared. they've been in their house for a long time. what are they going to do to ensure the safety of their patrons so they can actually get customers again? i hate to live in a state where we do have to have governmental monitors coming in and measuring between chairs. i would just hope that these employers or these business owners are actually doing things safely, and to make sure that they don't get us into a situation that we were in just a

couple weeks ago, where we had such vastly increasing cases. my only concern, my main concern right now with reopening some of the states is, although metro areas like new york city, we are over the hump in the sense that we've had over 14 days of declining cases, which is what we've been waiting for. but gauging for a phase one for the white house blueprint. but there are nonmetro rural areas all throughout the country that are actually still seeing increasing cases, especially in midwest factory areas. so it would really behoove those governors to come up with what their plan is. if they want their state to open and they don't want the increasing restlessness and the protests going on, they need to step in and say how they're going to keep those factory workers safe. because we don't want to have that interruption of the food supply line during a pandemic. >> melissa: yeah. speaking of protesters, and in the meantime, lawmakers in michigan's republican-controlled state legislature reportedly planning to take the state's

governor, gretchen whitmer, to court after she extended her state's coronavirus emergency declaration for another month by executive order just last night. just hours before it was set to expire. this, after hundreds of protesters gathered at the state capitol yesterday, and after the republican led state legislature refused to extend her declaration. gretchen whitmer saying, "by refusing to extend the emergency and disaster declaration, republican lawmakers are putting their heads in the sand and putting more lives and livelihoods at risk, and i'm not going to let that happen." president trump weighing in with his tweet, "the governor of michigan should give a little and put out the fire. these are very good people, but they are angry, and they want their lives back again safely. to see them, talk to them, make a deal." bret, it does feel at this point she is playing with fire, especially when we've been through a couple extensions in this country, when you have to keep these rules in place.

on a state level, all over, i feel like we've been given morning. it is not right as it's about to expire. you are given warning, maybe a week in advance or more. "hey, we're going to push this out." to do it like this and do it by executive order, against a lot of other politicians' wishes and their state, the very least, what do you think? >> bret: i agree. the hope is that lawmakers, state legislators, state lawmakers, and the governor of the states, can negotiate. can deal, can say what's the best for the community based on the numbers we are seeing, and reach some consensus. that's not the case in michigan. governor witmer feels like she has the emergency declaration ue emergency order, to do what she's doing by executive order. that is seeing significant pushback. this is going to happen as you go more and more further and

further down, and the economic impact gets really heavy for some people who are not getting the benefits of the ppp program, or the $1200 that they received has run out. i mean, rents are due, bills are due, this is a big, big deal. again, the health crisis versus the economic crisis. >> melissa: yes. and, martha, if you like the conversation has really shifted in the same way that you guys are focusing on sunday night on the economic question. that is where a lot of the focus has gone. it seems like we know, from a health perspective, who is the most vulnerable. lots of people have suggested, "why don't we go from protecting the healthy to protecting the vulnerable? keeping them inside? full scope of their people who clearly feel like the risk to them financially is bigger than the risk to their own health, and they want to get back out and get started, and they feel

like america is a country where that right is protected. what do you think? >> martha: i think it's interesting. there's this feeling that it's either all one or the other. either you're going to open up or stay complete shutdown, which is how governor whitmer wants to go about this. i think the president's words here are interesting. he says, "give a little. they are good people and they are angry. i think you have to as a leader anywhere in this country. you have to sort of understand you have a lot of people out there who would like to see things start open back up. i think if she gave a little, as the president suggests, she might be able to get a lot. the everything that i think is very interesting is that this is one crisis. it's an enormous one. we've lost more than 60,000 in this country, which is just mind-boggling when you stop and think about it, over the courset weeks maybe. you have to give the other health considerations out there

some equal balance, as well. this is one health issue, but there is a myriad of others that come from this economic shutdown. we hear that for more and more doctors and political analysts, as we look across the country. you have to be someone who can find some balance in this, in order to find the way forward. >> melissa: yeah. jessica, i think you are finally able -- we've got the gremlins out of the system, and i want to bring you into join the conversation. you know, martha was just talking about finding the balance. that is something that we haven't done recently in this country. everything has been very black-and-white, it's been two sides against each other. that makes this maybe more of a challenge. but it is an opportunity to kind of meet in the middle, and one of the things our own governor, governor cuomo, said just a few minutes ago when he was having his press conference, step one is to have a plan. he is asking schools, businesses, sit down, or write it out, think, be ready, have a

plan for how you can reopen slowly and safely, and that is something that everybody can kind of do. maybe to alleviate the anxiety. how are we going to attack this as a family, as a school, as a business, as a restaurant? what is a plan that makes sense and fits within the guidelines? >> jessica: i think that's critical for everything, whether you have one of the largest outbreaks were the largest as we did in new york. she states that haven't been affected as much, whether that's because of decisions that state and local government have taken there or that they just got lucky, without having real concentration in population. i think balance is key to this, but we also have to keep in mind that there's about 10% approval across this country, people that are protesting. those are gun wielding protesters that stormed the castle, as it were, they are. not socially distanced, breaking every single rule. frankly, it was a frightening scene if you seen the pictures of the video footage of it. those governors that are putting

into place these stringent restrictions have sky-high approval. they are in the 70s in some cases. gretchen whitmer i think is in the low 60s. i think there's a disconnect between amplifying these stories of civil unrest or people saying, "we absolutely can't live like this, his authoritarianism and fascism." the reality is that americans, over 80%, or in favor of these orders if they protect us in the near term in the long term. that second wave which dr. saphier referenced in the beginning of the segment, where you couldn't see me but i was listening in part to it, is going to be critical in ensuring that we don't lose 10,000 more americans in the fall when it comes back. so, have a plan, make that available to everybody. but i don't think gretchen whitmer is in the wrong, here. >> melissa: okay. joe biden breaking his silence on a former staffer's sexual assault allegations against him. what he said, whether it's enough to put the questions to rest, and what it could mean for

his white house campaign. that's next. ♪ >> i don't know what is motivating her. i don't know what's behind any of it. but it is irrelevant. it never happened. it never happened period.

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>> no, it is not true. i am saying unequivocally, it never, never happened. it didn't. it never happened. >> melissa: joe biden earlier today denying he sexually assaulted former staffer, tara reade. this was the first time the presumptive democratic presidential nominee has addressed the allegation publicly, amid mounting pressure from his own party to do so.

biden this morning also called on the national archives to release any record of a complaint that reade claims she filed after the alleged assault. when asked if he would release additional senate record stored at the university of delaware, or proof a search of tara reade's name within those documents, biden insisted that would be necessary. >> a record like this can only be in one place. it wouldn't be at the university of delaware. my archives do not contain personal files. i archives contain -- i say "personal," personnel files. they don't contain personnel files. public records. my speeches, my papers, my position papers. if that document existed, it would be stored in the national archives where documents from the office she claims to have filed a complaint with our stored. >> melissa: martha, that was a dodge on, "will you open up those records at the university

of delaware?" he left himself open there. what are your thoughts on that? >> martha: well, i think in most cases along these lines there is an urge on the part of most politicians to protect documents, to not want people to have the opportunity to kind of go through them and see everything that's there. of course for him it would be a lot better if he were able to say, "absolutely, open up all you want, search tara reade, you won't find anything there." the unique thing about this story, even though it so many years ago, is what tara reade has on her side of the equation is she now has several people who substantiate the story that she told. going all the way back to the time let it happen. if what linda lacrosse, lorraine sanchez, who both say that she told them this story in the eary '90s. and you've got her brother, and you also have her saying that she told her mother about it, which there was no witness to substantiate because her mother has passed away, and then you

have this "larry king" tape that surfaces where the mother is heard saying, "my daughter had problems with a very prominent senator." this all becomes more and more difficult. it's his word against hers at this point. do i think it's going to continue to be problematic? i think democratic's are circling the wagons around him. i think that's pretty clear. whether or not i will make them change their opinion about whether or not he should be the nominee in the end, it doesn't look like the ground is breaking on that front. >> melissa: bret, one of the things, as she says, democrats circle the wagons. the way in which they are doing that, it seems to be coming back to bite them. i have heard democrats say, "well, i've known him forever. i just don't believe it. this is not the man i know." one thing we learned in the #metoo time was you think you know someone and maybe you don't. that's not the smartest way, necessarily, to go out and defend someone.

i don't know, it seems like they are falling into a couple of very key traps here. >> bret: listen, when you look at this story, it started out -- we don't know the specifics other than the fact that tara reade had more dots on the chronological timeline then, let's say, christine blasey ford did in the allegations against brett kavanaugh. we look back to that, because it's the last high-profile case in front of the national public, and it also signals the comments that were made by democrats and the coverage that was given back then. that is really where the hypocrisy lies in the most recent example. as to martha's point, the specifics here, and what we are going to get to the truth, we will likely hear from tara reads not clear she's going to speak out this weekend. then people are going to make a determination. i think it is a little rich for

white house aides to be out saying that biden should be opening up the university of delaware records. obviously the president and all of the calls for him to release his taxes, or everything else, that has been alleged over these, you know, several years. >> melissa: exactly true, and jessica, i would say when they heard either eric swalwell, who was on this network earlier, saying, "well, maybe. but look at president trump." the problem with that is that joe biden is running -- i mean, his own words, "to restore the soul of america." he is running as president trump's moral superior, which by his own words and his own slogan puts him in a position where he does need to hold himself to a higher standard, as do his supporters, rather than just pivoting to president trump, if he's really going to be elected to restore

the soul of america as he has said. >> jessica: i don't think he just pivoting to put this on president trump. i think joe biden made a clear case today that he stands by the fact that we need to believe women and hear from them. not believe all women unequivocally, but that tara reade certainly had a right to come forward. he says, "i had no idea what her intentions were in doing this but she should certainly be considered by the media and given full time for that." the comparison with president trump is actually relevant at this point, because joe biden will be running against president trump. i really appreciate what bret just said, about the hypocrisy coming out of the white house, vis-a-vis the president not releasing his tax returns, not releasing the dozens of women who have accused him of sexual assault from their ndas. if we size business records we would know a lot more about what happened on the set of "the apprentice" and what else he might be hiding there. i personally think it wouldn't hurt to the biden campaign to lead us into the university of

delaware records, just to do a search for the name tara reade. if something comes up nefarious, we have a right to know that before we go and vote in november. if her name comes up, if she was a staffer in the office, all the better. but i don't want to be having a conversation about the kavanaugh standard versus the biden standard. it's the trump standard versus the biden standard. what democrats wanted in the brett kavanaugh hearings was to hear from dr. ford and have a full fbi investigation. we were denied that. we should have heard from mark judge. we even heard from lindsey graham and donald trump, that they thought dr. ford was credible. and she made a compelling case. and then they rushed that investigation. >> bret: but, jessica, you acknowledge the hypocrisy between what was said back then and what is said now. >> jessica: i acknowledge that some people would come off as hypocritical at this moment, saying, "i 100% believe dr. ford story, that she was recounting from being a 15-year-old," for something that happens as an adult. they are also not comparable.

if you told me that joe biden sexually assaulted someone when he was in high school, i would have a much easier time believing that, then someone who had been in public life for decades, someone that people trusted and loved, after what happened with his wife, a child dying, his remarriage to dr. jill biden, they are one of the most effusively affectionate and loving couples in the public eye for decades now. and you want to tell me that that person digitally penetrated a staffer in a hallway? it's very different than saying someone did something in high school. at the end of the day, it came down to brett kavanaugh's temperament. that when he completely lost it during those hearings and went after the clintons and become so airy and -- >> bret: but if the calendar for brett kavanaugh's high school is relevant to that, are at the university delaware documents relevant now? >> jessica: i lead with that. i think we should do a search with that, for tara reade's name through the university of delaware records. and i thought that they were very smart to bring that up, and

clearly they caught joe biden back footed on that front. we want as much sunlight on this as possible. when i'm saying is that joe biden will be on the ballot in november against donald trump, a man credibly accused of sexual assault of dozens of women, who is keeping them under nda player os. his response to it was not a measured interview like joe biden gave. he came out and called those women liars. he called them a lot worse than that. >> melissa: but when you compare, jessica -- you see how when you compare who is the worst villain on the sexual assault front, that joe biden loses that credibility where he is trying to be -- this is black-and-white, "i'm restoring the soul of america," on and on about president trump. to say that they are here, but it's like this, it just kind of undermines his whole argument for presidency. >> jessica: up until this point, we have never heard that joe biden has done anything but maybe hug someone a little too tight. >> melissa: i'm going to save you from falling into that trap.

i'm going to save you from falling into that trap, because you don't know who's going to come forward tomorrow. let's just leave it there and move on. the u.s. reportedly looking at ways to punish china for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as president trump sounds off on beijing's response to the initial outbreak in wuhan. ♪ hold my pouch. trust us. us kids are ready to take things into our own hands. don't think so? hold my pouch. the coronavirus continues to affect us all, and we are here, actively supporting you and your community.

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>> have you snt gives you a high degree of confidence that the wuhan institute of virology was the origin of this virus? >> yes, i have. i have. and i think the world health organization should be ashamed of themselves, because they are like the public relations agency for china. >> melissa: president trump yesterday saying he has seen evidence suggesting the coronavirus emerged from a lab in wuhan, china, where the pandemic began. this, a senior u.s. officials are reportedly looking into ways

to hold china accountable for its handling of the virus. according to "the washington post," the president and white house aides have discussed stripping china of its sovereign immunity, which would open the door for the u.s. government or covid-19 victims and their families to sue china for damages. some administration officials have also reportedly discussed having the u.s. cancel part of its debt obligations to china. my thought, that is a very dangerous financial thing to do, this idea that comes down to us not paying our debt. but it begs the question, when we talk about making them pay for what has happened, other than seizing assets in the united states that are assets of the communist party, i guess, it's really hard to hold them responsible. >> martha: well, it is. i think one of the big headlines out of this, as we sort of hoped to get past the worst of the worst as a medical crisis in this country, is the question

that is forced about a reevaluation of our relationship with china. we are adversaries in almost every way. you look at the expansion in the south china sea, those activities have been ongoing and even more aggressive in the wake of this virus. you look at the cover-up that has come from china in terms of the transparency, the human to human transmission, all of this. these are very, very serious, egregious issues that we have to deal with on a nation to nation basis. obviously, the president has wanted to continue this trade deal, and the benefits that might accrue from it for the u.s. economy. but, at some point, that question is going to be tested, as well. whether or not it is time to push for something that we might want to call china independence, or independence from china, the way that we pushed for energy independence in this country for decades from the middle east. that was something that we ended up achieving through fracking and other innovative energy sources. this question about whether or not we need to push away and cut the ties, i think that something you are going to hear more and

more. i think the polls show we already see people in this country responding to that in a positive way, and i think that's something we are going to want to hear more from the president on on sunday night. >> melissa: yeah. bret, you had a lot of very early reporting on this. you are way ahead on the story. you talk to senator marco rubio last night. here's what he said. >> i have no doubt in my mind that the entire world, irrespective of what they are saying publicly, are going to be reevaluating their relationship with china. i think they will be consequent this. diplomatically, economically, and beyond. >> melissa: bret, what are your thoughts? >> bret: well, a couple of things. one, thank you. two weeks ago fox had the story pretty much like this, high confidence that was pointing toward that lab. inconclusive, but 100% confident that china covered up the beginning parts of this coronavirus. that investigation is continui continuing, but what tells you a lot is that china is not

allowing the w.h.o., the world health organization, to go in and examine the origins of the virus. the w.h.o., many people say, has been in the pocket of china. and yet is now unable, according to china, to come in and examine. that tells you a lot about where china is, and there is likely going to be consequences. >> melissa: dr. saphier, what is your take on that point, about nobody really at this point being able to go in and collect the data we need, including the w.h.o.? >> dr. saphier: well, the w.h.o. and u.s. intelligence has told us they have confidence now that this is a naturally occurring virus, that it wasn't genetically modified. whether this occurred in nature as some spillover or a mishap at the wuhan institute of virology, we still don't know. as long as china is depending on funding from us, specifically nih grants and others through the w.h.o., as well, we need to be able to get in there and actually see what occurred. it's not just the united states calling for a further

transparency. you have the world health organization and even australia saying they need to allow people to come and investigate a little bit more, but they are not. in terms of future relationships with them, if we want to have collaborative effort through nih and w.h.o., they need to have more transparency or else president trump is in the right when he says he's going to remove that funding. >> melissa: all right, we have to scoot. jessica, will you go first in the next segment. a familiar face popping up in the michael flynn case. what newly released documents show former fbi agent peter instructed at a key moment. we'll be right back. ♪

>> melissa: another bombshell in the michael flynn case, files and sealed yesterday show in early january 2017 the fbi's washington office indicated it was closing the investigation into the then national security advisor, referred to as

"cross fire razor," due to a lack of "derogatory information." the same day, former fbi agent peter strzok texted an unidentified person, "hey, don't close razor. close with the fateful white house interview took place nearly three weeks later. this revelation on the heels of notes showing top fbi officials discussing whether their goal was to catch flynn and allied. strzok would later be removed from robert mueller's rush or probe the discovery of text messages critical of president trump. jessica, what you make of this? >> jessica: and make of it that the president is really excited he can talk about something besides the coronavirus this week. i have yet to read salient commentary from former fbi officials and doj officials who said the official there out those notes was acting out-of-bounds or wasn't doing something that is perfectly normal in the course of note keeping. the fundamental issue here is that no one made mike flynn lie.

he did that all on his own. lying about his conversations with then ambassador to russia, and then we also had his dubious dealings with turkey to consider, here. they were only a couple things president obama's team warned the incoming trump team about, and one of them was mike flynn. i find it extremely suspicious that there is going to now be this campaign to pardon someone who admittedly lied to the vice president and to the fbi officials, that the president floated yesterday he might even consider bringing him back. i think that's a tremendous mistake, and it seems a bit of a nothing burger. >> melissa: martha? >> martha: well, one of the big questions here, the fbi's handling of this case. i think everybody watches this has to ask yourself, "why is this the first time or getting a look at this document?" the reason is attorney general bill barr decided to push this for a reevaluation, to take a second look at this. he, of course, had seen these

documents. members of congress had seen these documents, as well, and wondered why they had never seen the light of day. when you do get a look at this and see what was being said by peter strzok and others about keeping this going, despite the fact that, through all of the best efforts, they couldn't find any derogatory information. the washington field office included that flynn was "no longer a viable candidate as part of the larger crossfire hurricane umbrella." with her other violations to work he did for turkey were for russia? yes, i think that has been fairly clear throughout the course of this. but they wanted him to flip on president trump. that's what they wanted. they hoped that if they could find something he had done, that he would do that. they dangled the possibility of prosecuting his son. so this is a complicated case, but there are big questions about whether or not the fbi handled this correctly. i think we'll see a lot more of this and more documents to come. >> melissa: bret? >> bret: well, i think jessica

is right in one sense. michael flynn was fired for lying to vice president pence. at least that's what we were told. one tip, don't lie to the fbi. however, if this is how the fbi operates in every stance, we've got big problems. because this appeared to be, by those handwritten notes, a set up. that they were going for a cri crime. they were specifically going in without telling the white house counsel, or anyone. in fact, flynn was advised not to have a lawyer. that is not the kind of thing that usually happens, and the admonition that you are in trouble if you lie was left out. not like anybody should not know that, but it was really fishy. period. >> melissa: yeah. all right, tens of millions losing their jobs amid coronavirus shutdowns, now president trump set to answer

your questions on reopening the economy in a virtual town hall with bret and martha that they will host this weekend. they are here, obviously, to give us the details. don't go away, we'll do that next. ♪ adversity came to town and said, "show me what you're made of." so we showed it our people, sourcing and distributing more fresh food than anyone... our drivers helping grocers restock their shelves. how we're helping restaurants open pop-up markets. and encouraging all americans to take out to give back.

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>> melissa: just don't -- the start of the month bringing new anxiety for americans with bills due, as more than 30 million people have applied for jobless benefits in just the last six weeks. now president trump will answer your questions, when bret and martha host a virtual town hall with the commander-in-chief this sunday night on fox news. "america together: returning to work," starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern. submit your video questions by emailing those videos to townhall@foxnews.com. bret, you said before, you are teasing us, that the questions that have come so far are good. what are some of the topics you're hearing there? >> bret: they are great. everybody has their own look at this. different states obviously handling it differently. but businesses, employees, wondering not only when but

specifics about how, and how this ppp program is going to work. what happens in specific situations. there are great questions from all across the country. it's going to be different than our last town hall with the president in scranton, pennsylvania, when people were all around asking issues. we are going to have virtual questions. it'll be fantastic, it will be on the lincoln memorial in the national mall. quite a sight to see. >> melissa: martha, we see in election after election, this is the big issue. your family's finances, your business, the american dream. looking at a most recent gallup poll, the president's approval rating right now at 49%. even 8% of democrats, as i looked down at it, approve of him. so much of their opinion of him depends on how finances are going. so, i imagine that's one of the big things are going to talk about on sunday night. go ahead.

>> martha: absolutely. i think from the questions that they are getting, and they are great, all of these issues are interlinked. the questions of a vaccine, the question of treatment, which you heard some good news on it, about remdesivir here this week. this all goes into provide that economic confidence that you know so well, melissa, is such a guide for an economy that has to recover. you have to give people a level of confidence, that they can run their business. how are you going to carry out -- let's say you run something that is athletic, or you do something that is a restaurant, were people have to interact. what is not going to look like, how do you get people a confidence level and operating with the accommodation of these treatments and also a way to open up? we have to get the country back up and running. there is no amount of stimulus that you can possibly pump into the united states of america that will replace the best benefit to all of us, which is to get companies back up and running. so, these are just very basic to every family across the country,

as they look at the selection, you're right, they will evaluate president trump. is he doing the best job, or are they going to consider an alternative in the present of nominee, joe biden? we are six months out. bret and i covered this in scranton. it seems like a different world. everybody was shaking hands, we had people in front of us. i sincerely hope the next time we do this we will have people in the audience with us, as well. but we are grateful for the questions and we hope they will keep them coming on video for now. >> melissa: bret, real quick. this is my jam. i'm very jealous and i'm working on a question in the video i'm going to send to you. how do you paint the questions? i'm sure that's what everyone wants to know. >> bret: we want to get a cross-section of how america looks, where america is around the country, different places, different states, different scenarios. i think you're getting there. we want to get some more from all over the country. please send them in. we have some great one so far. obviously we will follow up with the present various aspects on

different issues. >> melissa: okay. all right, no pressure to pick me. >> martha: melissa from new york! [laughter] >> melissa: thank you so much to bret and martha and everyone on the virtual couch. we'll definitely be watching you on sunday night. we are back here at noon eastern. i'm back in just a minute with "outnumbered overtime." ♪ ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ does that mean they have to grow apart from their friends, or from the things they love to do? with right at home, it doesn't. right at home's professional team thoughtfully selects caregivers to help with personal care, housekeeping, meals - and most of all,

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♪ >> melissa: former vice president joe biden speaking out for the first time about the sexual assault allegations that have riled his campaign, riddled his campaign. this is "outnumbered overtime." i'm melissa francis in today for harris faulkner. the 2020 democrat breaking his silence this morning, on former staffer tara reade's claim that he sexually assaulted her in 1993. biden saying that, while women should be heard when they come forward, reade's accusation is not true. >> it is not true. i am saying unequivocally, it