>> sandra: fox news alert, president trump reportedly telling governors the white house will step in as needed to assist with reopening plans as all 50 states get ready to ease or at least left some coronavirus restrictions by this weekend. good morning everyone, i'm sandra smith. >> ed: a very pleasant good morning, i am ed henry. business is getting a green light just-in-time for memorial day weekend. massachusetts and connecticut beginning phase one of their plan, the final two states to open back up. president trump touting doc cooperation with the state saying the process is moving quickly things to increase testing. >> president trump: we've made a lot of governors look very

good, that i can tell you. we were able to get them testi testing, and including filling up their stockpiles, which really they should have had do done. we've made a lot of governors feel very good and that's frankly good because it's good for our country. >> sandra: chief correspondent john roberts joining us now from the north line on this tuesday morning. >> for weeks now the president and white house officials have been saying that the federal government will lay out guidelines for the states to follow in terms of reopening, and yesterday in a situation room teleconference with the nation's governors the president again reiterating that idea saying the reopening's will be left to the governors to implement as they see fit. but the government's stance

ready to assist if necessary. >> each state has given us a plan for what they believe they need for protecting purposes. we've been able to sit down, and to ensure that we have enough testing for the federal government to come in with the huge audible to help the states. >> at the same time they sided with demonstrators who are protesting. adding to further stagnation of the economy, and also states that will open too quickly and potentially ignite a resurgence of the coronavirus infections. and then the subject, after a couple white house staffers tested positive, the president revealed yesterday that he had begun taking hydroxychloroquine

a couple of weeks ago. >> president trump: i'm taking it. a couple of weeks ago i started taking it. i think it's good, i've heard a lot of good stories. and if it's not good i will tell you, right? i'm not going to get hurt by it. >> there is some information that hydroxychloroquine might be effective in preventing infection and there are anecdotal stories that it may be helpful in treating coronavirus disease but there's also evidence that it can cause deadly heart arrhythmias. but the president is under constant supervision. >> let me emphasize strongly that any use of hydroxychloroquine has to be in consultation with your doctor and you have to have a prescription, that's the way it must be done. >> hydroxychloroquine has been used all over the world for some

60 years, actually a little more than 60 years. people also to get to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, and it has been pretty safe. let's not known is if a person has active coronavirus disease and particularly if they are also taking the antibiotic azithromycin, does hydroxychloroquine work a little differently? there's other evidence that suggests it might be helpful as well. under constant medical supervision it's likely pretty safe for him. >> sandra: that revelation is still making waves this morning. john roberts live at the white house. >> ed: fox news alert, senator lindsey graham seeking broad authority to subpoena former obama officials. this after attorney general william barr said he did not envision a criminal probe into former president obama or former

vice president joe biden. live in washington this morning attorney general joe barr says he does not expect the u.s. attorney to lead the approach of the president's predecessor or presumptive 2020 opponent. >> as president obama and vice president biden, whatever their level of involvement based on the information i have today, i don't expect mr. durham's work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man. >> president trump says he is by his attorney general, and president support kayleigh mcenany had this to say. >> there are still lots of

questions that need to be answered, namely the fact that the department of justice and that's remarkable. >> chairman lindsey graham, that's on subpoena authorization related to all aspects across the hurricane in phis abuse during the obama administration. that includes testimony from top obama officials like former fbi director james comey, former dni james clapper, former cia director john brennan, former deputy director andrew mccabe and former acting attorney general sally gates. among others we reached out, and so far no one is talking. >> we will watch it. thank you. >> let's bring in senator john

cotton. senator, good morning to you and thanks so much for being here. first of that, lindsey graham announcing that -- do you support his move to do so? >> yes they do. they need to get exactly to the obama administration, the campaign during the transition to spy on the trump campaign and it would appear to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, a hallmark of our republic going back more than 200 years. just last week we learned that almost 40 obama administration officials had unmasked the name of general mike flynn. some of them may have had legitimate reasons to do so, many of whom operate undercover but, the white house chief of staff and the secretary of the treasury, even vice president biden himself. when you pile that on to the

abuses getting electronic wiretaps on some trump campaign advisors we need to get to the bottom of what's happening. >> he's not saying the probe will lead to criminal investigations of either joe biden or barack obama. the president was saying he was very surprised by that. >> president trump: i'm surprised because obama knew everything was happening. i don't think obama knows where he is in a lot of ways. i thought that frankly they were very good. that's president obama. as far as biden is concerned, that i can't tell you, only he knows what he knows. i think obama and biden knew about it and they were participants. >> are you equally surprised by that, senator? >> like the president we have great confidence, and he knows

details of the criminal investigation that i don't. and in that the likelihood of either president or biden, that's been released but vice president and joe biden are well aware of what the fbi was doing. if the acting attorney general told the house intelligence committee that she learned about the unmasking of mike flynn's phone calls from president obama himself. that's why it's so important that we get to the bottom of what was going on in the final days of the obama administration, even if there is not a violation of law and there appears to be gross abuses of power. >> meanwhile i want to turn your focus to the coronavirus and your strong words on china in a brand-new opinion piece published -- a list of "wall street journal" piece.

tom cotton, with the attack pl plan, on the world health organization's cushy relationship with china, not with the ccp lobbying. furiously against it. on possibly defunding the world health organization permanently?

>> they've done that as far back as december to make this pandemic inevitable. if they been frank with the world and listen to at time when these scientists, researchers and doctors were saying, this might have been a local health emergency and who i am. we have to commend and highlight what the taiwanese did early on to try to stop that. they've probably been the best country in the world in terms of controlling the virus. that we ought to always stand with taiwan. the only dr. missy on chinese soil. a >> sandra: he points out some of the rest that many critics are pointing to as well as this possibly backfiring. he talks about decoupling economically which causes disruption for america. as for china, beijing's leaders creates a bright red line and ultimately of course pulled a confrontation can lead to hot water. how do you lead to that. >> theory are democratic and

republican alike. they are enshrined in federal law that we will not tolerate an armed reunification of taiwan with the chinese communist mainland. second in terms of economic decoupling, i think most americans are now realizing that it is crazy that we allow critical industries like pharmaceutical and medical equipment, telecommunications and semiconductors to be dominated by china. that we need to have those critical industry is primarily located here in the united states or on friendly allies territories, not in our main geopolitical rivals. >> sandra: senator tom cotton, we got a lot more coming up on this work for you. thanks for your coverage. >> ed: in about an hour the senate will hold its very first oversight hearing on the initial $2 trillion pandemic relief bi

bill. they will be testifying it's likely to move markets and we will have some of that for you live as soon as we begin short shortly. plus the a trump administration laying out a brand-new plan some states like new york are handling outbreak on that long-term care facilities. seema verma joins us, next. >> i understand with the most aggressive standard in the nation, but i also know that it is necessary. ♪ fifty years ago, humpback whales were nearly extinct. they rebounded because a decision was made to protect them. making the right decisions today for your long-term financial future can protect you and your family, and preserve your legacy.

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>> sandra: emergency crews surveying damage as they touched down in central ohio, video showing a barn losing its roof and flying into neighbor's yards. there are no reports thankfully of injuries. >> we knew going into this that are most vulnerable and our seniors and particularly those in the assisted living facilities with a very senior facilities and nursing homes, i believe that those families owe answers and we cannot dismiss their concerns.

>> ed: that is at least a phonic slamming her state's handling of outbreaks at nursing homes as the trump administration lays out a brand-new plan to begin relaxing some restrictions to get these going again, and many of which were hard-hit by the coronavir coronavirus. >> what do you think went wrong. we saw thousands of deaths yesterday. >> one of the things of the trump administration did early on was we called for the nation's inspectors to try to identify where there were issues. one of the issues we saw in nursing homes as we have issues with isolated patients. when someone is showing symptoms of infectious disease or any type of respiratory illness, it's important to isolate those patients and make sure they are not infecting other patients as well.

we've seen some problems with just not adhering to long-standing infection control practices. >> ed: and in new york that was deadly because we saw the governor here, andrew cuomo, there was a policy basically assenting seniors who have been battling covid back into these nursing homes. i want to get the governor a chance to defend those nursing practices and give you a chance to react. >> we have over 600 nursing homes. we had one of the best nursing home systems in the country for a long period of time. if you know, you can always have people that say, you should do more. now we are doing more and they are complaining that we are doing more than any other state. you can't have it both ways. >> ed: it's governor is now saying he doesn't think anyone should be prosecuted over coronavirus deaths in nursing homes here in new york state, do you agree with that? >> i think it's important to understand what's going on in nursing homes and that's why the president has called and is

developing the coronavirus commission on safety and quality in nursing homes. we want to go back and take a look at what are those best practices and what are the challenges so we can ensure that nursing home residents are safe and that they have the best quality of life. >> ed: but if you are saying that you got these best practices, clearly some of those best practices were not being followed in march and april is all these senior citizens tragically were dying. why didn't the administration -- the governor is getting criticism in new york and rightly so, he will face scrutiny. but why wasn't the administration pushing harder for these best practices back in march and april? >> the trump administration who acted very quickly and from the very beginning we issued guidelines about not allowing visitors and because we know that that could potentially spread the virus. we have put out a number of infection control guidelines and requirements for nursing homes and we have also implemented a new transparency requirement so that patients and their families have a better understanding of

what's going on. we've also called from the nation's inspectors to go out to the nursing homes to make sure they were adhering to the guidelines. if we continue every day working with nursing homes, and they've been having conversations with governors and we've seen some great leadership across the country. and those are testing a nursing home residents across the board. we have seen some great examples of leadership across the country, in terms of efforts, keeping residents safe. >> ed: i want to look at what's new, all residents and staff should wear masks and all staff should have adequate ppe. there has not been a new case for 28 days. talk a little bit about the importance of some of those and how you plan to implement them

to make sure we do not see more outbreaks among our seniors. >> it's important to know, this has been a very important time for nursing home residents, and we are making sure that state and local officials were acting with extreme caution. we are calling for a baseline of testing for not only the nursing home residents and also staff as well. and as well as in the county, it's important and we expect to see visitors in phase three. >> least expect all americans to be safe at this particular time.

we appreciate you coming on today to lay out these new guidelines, we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> sandra: as democrats take steps towards a virtual convention republicans are forging ahead towards an in person or event. we will take a closer look at that. plus senators will be grilling top trump officials on how trillions of dollars and relief funds have been spent so far. >> i certainly hope that they are not keeping their states closed but some of these haven't been data-driven. i mention some of these before and that's why some of the state governors aren't following the data. look, this isn't my first rodeo...

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senators there are facing constituents and homes and basically saying i'm out of a job, i don't have any cash flow. so the senators will be particularly tough in terms of what they are hearing from their constituents because i would say secretary mnuchin will take much of the heat this morning and that is because of something that you and i have spoken about quite a bit on this program and that is the paycheck protection program, the ppp. one of the structural issues with that plan is a fact that if a company, let's say i'm a nail salon and i borrow money from the government, i have to send 75% of that money out to my employees within an eight week period. so i'm living off of cash flow and i'm sending 75% of the loan out the window to employees and i have to do this for within an eight week period. all the while, i have no cash flow. at the end of the day, congress

is probably going to change those rules. the secretary will say, this hasn't worked for everybody so maybe we do hallucinate out. earlier this morning i spoke with larry kudlow and he said the president agrees he will move that eight week period, 224 weeks. and that's the start of trading, sandra. >> sandra: very interesting after what we saw yesterday and the possibility of a vaccine coming sooner than later. then you have the dow down. mark cuban as you know has been out there a lot doing a lot of press and a lot of interviews talking about his ideas for bringing back the u.s. economy through all this. he tweeted this out, about a federal jobs program, going against his free market yet. he wrote this, we need to consider an interim spending program.

every household could get a $1,000 check every two weeks for the next month that must be spent within the ten days of receipt or it expires. how is that going over? >> we just talked about that on "mornings with maria." this is going to be an expensive planet but i don't know that you want to send a check every two weeks because that will make it even more expensive. nancy pelosi had a plan for $3 trillion and that's dead on arrival. senator kennedy said it's a data's louisiana fried chicken. so you have to look at where the money needs to go and there is a feeling that states need aid and the small banks need aid. remember when you are a yoga studio or restaurant, you are banking with the community banks and those are the banks that need the money in order for the lending to go out. i would point out that the nature of the business is worth looking out.

walmart, one of the largest companies in the world reported earnings today. you know what did really well for walmart? online sales. economy is up 74% in the first quarter. that trend will continue and the things we are doing in the shutdown will only accelerate the digital economy when we get out of this. >> sandra: here's mark cuban talking about his plan. >> by stimulating consumer demand, businesses will be able to stay in business, effectively sending it to the consumers to simulate the demand that we need. people aren't confident in their jobs, they don't spend money enough. businesses can stay open. >> sandra: he's making the case in that interview and talking about the economy returning even bigger in the next five years if we were to implement something like that. before we let you go, when we

see the hearing on capitol hill about how these funds have been allocated and how it's all working out, just generally, as we see the economies reopen and how things are working this morning? >> i think we will know a lot more in the next couple of wee weeks. you are talking about $10 trillion and you have to believe that's going to work. but the structure of the ppp plan needs to change because of the rigidness of it. maybe the employees will feel fine but the small business that you just gave money to me very well not make it because they are in the middle of the shutdown. one thing mark cuban is spot on, we need confidence to return. it doesn't matter how many businesses come back, you need to have the behavior that we had before this thing and that is the willingness to go out to restaurants and spend money and credit places. that's why we need the confidence back. >> you look at how much has changed over the past few months, and even mark cuban in

that interview saying if you would have told me i would have been having this discussion are pitching this idea four months ago i would have said you are crazy. we will be watching that. maria, thank you and great to see you as always. >> ed: the august nominating convention will not be entirely online while democrats have suggested there will be some significant virtual elements to their's. so what will this summer's conventions really look like? the man with the answers, peter doocy live in arlington with details. >> good morning. the republican convention is still three long months away and republican leaders think that is plenty of time till at the medical advisors they have hired come up with a plan that has at least a partially in person convention in charlotte. the g.o.p. chairwoman ronna mcdaniel told reporters last night it's quite a ways away and there's ample time for us to adjust if necessary, but we will not be holding a virtual

convention and, people planning big conventions are at the mercy of public health officials and individual states. and that's the state where the governor a democrat. they want out-of-towners opening up theicheckbooks. >> it will be absolutely critical. when you're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars from having delegates and guests and alternates a credentialed media and everyone else that would come to charlotte. >> democrats are hoping to have their convention at least partially in person in milwaukee, but the party has already started the process of letting members vote to potentially let delegates dial

in digitally if the worries persist in three months about making the trip to wisconsin to nominate joe biden officially. ed? >> ed: peter doocy, thank you. >> sandra: lawmakers in washington looking to punish china. can a new bill at american families and businesses hold beijing accountable? ble members so they can pay for things like groceries before they worry about their insurance or credit card bills. discover all the ways we're helping members today. and my side super soft? yes. with the sleep number 360 smart bed, on sale now, you can both adjust your comfort with your sleep number setting. can it help me fall asleep faster? yes. by gently warming your feet. but can it help keep me asleep? absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. so, you can really promise better sleep? not promise. prove. during the memorial day sale, save $1,000 on the sleep number 360 special edition smart bed, now only $1,799.

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>> hydroxychloroquine? >> president trump: i started thinkintaking it. i've taken it for about a week and a half now and i'm still here. >> ed: president trump revealing right there he's taking hydroxychloroquine after the fda warned that the drug has been linked to serious heart problems. dr. marc siegel is of course a fox news contributor and professor of medicine at nyu langone medical center. as a doctor if a patient comes to you and says i've heard good stories about something, it is not good enough to recommend that they then take a drug and then move forward with specific treatment? >> excellent question. no. as a matter of fact i'm treating a lot of covid-19 patients and the question of hydroxychloroquine comes up a lot. there was a big study in france out that looked very good at, a study in china not so good but

there's two big studies going on right now. the nih is studying 2,000 patients and they are looking to see if mild cases should be treated with this. then henry ford hospital in detroit is looking at 3,000 health care workers who have just been exposed to it the way the president has. what i do if i'm talking to a patient is i have exactly that discussion. here are the risks, here at the benefits, do you have a risk of a heart arrhythmia and i have an impression of him that he's not personal, it pushed around. a doctor makes this decision, not a patient. patients should not be roaming around looking for this drug, they should be talking to their physician if they have a

question. >> ed: let's quote from that letter. here's a letter written by sean connolly. he and i and i had for and against the use, and we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed risk. they decided there was potential benefits. what's your recommendation this morning let's talk about potential benefits and what they should and should not do. >> they should know the background of this drug. this drug in the laboratory did show some activity against covid-19, decrease the spread of it and how fast it replicates and the inflammatory response that we are so worried about with covid-19 went down. it looks like it has activity. the question was when, how early in the game would you use it and will it work with people?

that's what's being studied right now. people watching this or hearing that the president is taking it should not come to the conclusion that they should be taking it, they should be talking to their doctor. if they thought they had any exposure or they thought they might have my adult symptoms. they are getting better at testing people, knowing who actually has it or who's at risk. but no, you don't want to take this, you want to talk to your doctor. >> ed: is good advice as always from dr. siegel. modernity, one of the many vaccine trials it's going forward, there was a lot of optimism in the last 24 hours, "the new york times" putting it this way. my dharna coronavirus vaccine trial shows promising early results. the company set a test and eat healthy volunteers found the experiment so vaccine was safe and provoked a strong immune response. it's on an accelerated timetable to begin larger human trials. it's a big picture, what are your thoughts about how optimistic we should be? but specifically what caught my eye, i'm not a doctor but you are.

that said this is a test of just eight healthy volunteers. so is this something that we should be optimistic about? >> i'm very exciting about it because in kaiser permanente and seattle to give it to 45 patients. but all three groups got different doses and all three groups, a total of 45 patients showed him and immune response. not 90% but 100%. it's too soon to say that they will work across the board. what it is is a genetic materi material, and it makes a protein that then causes the antibodies we need to. now they will give it to 600. it was given safely which is the most important point. if everyone out there worries,

is it safe? it was given safely and well tolerated. if they give an immune response to 600 patients in phase two trials than we are talking. we are guardedly optimistic but this was a very robust response. >> ed: and quickly that timetable terms of getting to phase two is weeks or months or how quickly? >> we will be in phase two in the next couple weeks. if you will see phase two in june. in september you will see if phase two really works. and you could see this vaccine or one like it. you could see that in january or early next year, early 2021 if all goes well. >> ed: and dr. marc siegel, thank you. >> sandra: thank you. up the fbi is saying a saudi aviation student who opened fire at a naval base killing three

sailors had ties to al qaeda. as new questions are now raised on how the pentagon screens foreign military training is. plus states using restrictions and getting people back to work again despite the fears that it may be too soon in some areas. what are the rest of the benefits? our panelists are here to weigh in life are coming next. >> so often we are describing this as a conflict between health versus the economy. i see this as health versus health. there are serious consequences from being locked down. call us, email us, visit us online. we're here to help support you when you need us. take care, and be well. to learn more, call one eight four four cosentyx

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>> sandra: the justice department saying that a saudi aviation student that killed three airmen at a naval base had ties to al qaeda al qaeda.

authorities recovered two locked iphones which showed that he had been in contact with the number of operatives for years. >> the funds contained information previously unknown to us that definitively established this. he had significant ties to al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. not only before the attack but before he even arrived in the united states. >> sandra: let's bring in fox news terror and middle east analyst willie ferris. first of all of the remarkable press conference that happened yesterday, what was your biggest takeaway that you had heard there? >> it was a very important announcement made that was almost unexpected, but they were able and have information from a cell phone and they were able to determine that the officer had ties to al qaeda.

at the bigger question that we are all concerned about, how many are there and that's something the government has to address. >> so how does this change things, about how we will in the future screen these individuals in these trainees coming in? >> is a difficult news. i don't want to call the bad news but difficult news is that this radicalization happens with our allies so we have seen that, but also could have happened. the issue is what kind of do we need to establish? the issue is how can we do it jointly with saudis, egyptians,

arabs or even other nations? >> as far as al qaeda still being a threat, he hears fbi director ray on that yesterday. >> al qaeda's offshoots including a qap remain intent on attacking us wherever they can including here in the u.s. if they can find a way to do it. they could also illustrate just how dangerous one operative can be. >> sandra: what's interesting is how this will be handled in the future when you heard christopher wray and bill barr making the case that apple stalled of the investigation by refusing to unlock those iphones that obviously held a wealth of information. we now in l. he said we responded in our that

was an excuse to weaken encryption and other security measures that protect millions of users in our national security. all these practices apply equally to our operations in every country in the world. so what we heard at that press conference was quite a different story yesterday to the point where they had to deploy many of our own workers within the fbi to open those phones and ultimately find all of this out. >> you know that's a good point. and that's this issue and another issue that we are aware of. but here's the problem. getting information from the cell phone is after the act, after the terrorist act. the question is are we monitoring those cell phones and calls before? and many are doing the job. the second question, what are we doing with that information, do

we have the capacity of understanding when there is a message coming? because the status of the phone calls made before he did the action here in florida. >> ed: you heard from apple, facebook and others that undermining that security could put us all at harm so we will see that debate continued. googood, good to see you. >> ed: a fox news alert, some breaking to elements in the michael flynn unmasking case. republican senator lindsey graham is taking broad authority for subpoenas against former obama officials. who could be under scrutiny?ge we will talk to bret baier, that's next. can save money by refinancing. there's no income verification, no appraisal, and no out of pocket costs

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>> sandra: fox news alert on this tuesday morning, a critical hearing about to begin as congress prepares the first major report card on federal efforts to save the u.s. economy. welcome to a brand-new hour of america's newsroom. >> ed: good to see you, i met henry. a test today is the senate gets a report card and the $2.2 trillion carriers act. the fed chair facing questions about america's response to the economic shock caused by this pandemic. bret baier is standing by with some analysis but we begin with our congressional correspondent chad pergram. he is live on capitol hill. >> we were here a week ago today

hearing on the health of the nation. steven mnuchin and also jerome powell testifying, there are big questions about that massive $2.2 trillion bill that they approved in march to deal with coronavirus. here is the senate minority leader chuck schumer. >> mr. min they had to push andh to have a hearing we asked for three weeks ago and it should have happened two weeks ago. because a country is calling out for action. >> he will testify that we expect economic conditions to improve in third and fourth quarters but there are questions about business interruption policies which aren't covering coronavirus claims and altering loan guidelines. jerome powell says that all the money spent represents an investment in their individual and collective health as a society and we should do everything we can to do and provide relief to those who are

suffering for the public good. the white house economic advisor larry kudlow she say says theree to do. >> if we can bring our companies and supply chains back home, we want to help the restaurants and really all of the stores, protecting them on the covid-19 liability side. >> president trump we have just learned in the past 10 minutes is coming to capitol hill this afternoon to lunch with republican senators. vice president pence did a pregame meeting this morning with steven mnuchin and also the senate majority leader which mcconnell and the minority leader kevin mccarthy about the next steps. now as for the hearing, here are some of the questions. why hasn't some of this money going out the door? why are the airlines not getting some of the $46 billion and when will they need to reload the p ppp. why are deceased persons receiving direct payments.

>> ed: all important questions to be raised. thanks so much for being here. give us an idea of what we are about to see unfold on capitol hill, we've been referring to it as a report card of sorts on how this money has been spent and how it's boosting the american economy. jay powell has made the case that we potentially won't see a full economic recovery in this country until we have a vaccine. if that's the case, are more federal funds needed? >> argument is yes and i think that's a consensus on capitol hill, mitch mcconnell told me last week that there will be a phase four but it won't be the democrats $3 trillion package of that nancy pelosi passed on friday. that said, they are meeting him

about that next step. today's questioning will be about the last steps and what has happened. there's a lot that hasn't gone out the door yet as far as treasury and at the fed lending programs. there are up to, if you talk about leveraging loans, at four and a half trillion dollars. at some of those programs haven't even been touched yet. and i think you will have lawmakers asking why. as far as the ppp program for small businesses, $115 billion of the next tranche has gone out. they have a cap of 310 billion and there is a lot of money still there that has yet to go out the door and i think we will be talking about the stipulations that are surrounding the ppp program. >> absolutely. we've been showing a live picture, we will dip in live in just a couple of moments. in the meantime that negative news that chad pergram had there, we're just learning that

the president of the united states is headed up to lunch for the senate republicans and we did not know about that earlier. later today, this huddle about next steps. what are your thoughts, we for this posture from the democrats, let's let the money in the system work its way before we start spending trillions more. nancy pelosi obviously has a much different approach. >> she does and she's been out on different shows showing that republicans are pushing for a pause and showing why that is not the way to go now. i think that this move by the president to go to the senate lunch which, obviously in this environment is not normal because they've got to be very careful about what's happening on capitol hill. but it is the visual of the president listening about the next steps and going forward while nancy pelosi is saying we've already passed hours. that bill is as a president said dead on arrival, with republicans, but i think they

will talk about next steps. one thing steven mnuchin will be asked about is the ppp program and whether they should adjust it. 75% of these loans will have to be spent on payroll. they may tweak it down to 50/50 so people can pay for other things like rent or supplies or whatever their business needs. >> sandra: jay powell heading into this has talked about the level of transparency that's needed as we come out of this too effectively can indicate to the american people how this money is being spent, because it is a lot and a lot is needed and a lot of americans continue to struggle. on this tuesday morning as we continue to see more states loosen restrictions and reopen their economies, getting people back to work and swinging the doors open, how are things going? we continue to look for feedback coming from some of these individual cities and states.

>> ed: it's slowly but they are going. the reason there's a push to reopen and i know you talked about mark cuban earlier, there is a need for demand. you have to have the demand kick in for a lot of these businesses to really thrive, to get back on their feet. you can only stimulus so much before it is about the customer and getting them in the door or online. eventuallwalmart is up 74%, onle shopping, but as far as the small businesses around the country, it's tough sledding right now. >> we will get back to the economy once the secretary or fed chair starts. a big story you've been covering every night at 6:00 p.m. eastern has been the unmasking of general flynn, and sort of what comes next.

and we have lindsey graham planning some hearings as early as the summer into the fall. and the john durham report will be very interesting to look at and i think it's about a month away according to senator grassley. and it lindsey graham wants to start this process of hearings and having subpoena power to call these people up. there are going to be democrats who say this is a fishing expedition. the biggest factor is that john durham and u.s. attorney report that comes in after months and months of looking into this. >> we had senator tom cotton on at the top of the 9:00 hour this

morning, responding to lindsey graham, calling up a vote. that's possible subpoenas after current officials and that's how the senate responded to that. the final days in the campaign of 2016, and it would appear to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, a hallmark of our republic going back more than 200 years. >> sandra: i wonder what that tells us about what's going forward and what to expect, and we also asked him about president trump appearing to be surprised when bill barr suggested that there would not be criminal investigation following the durham probe of obama or biden. >> i think this means that we are at the beginning of this process with the committee work. and that means it will take longer.

i think a lot of people are looking at this that's the biggest piece of this puzzle that we will have yet to see. they have enabled graham to get a head of steam pushing for the subpoenas and the investigation. >> eugene robinson suggested he was going to backfire on this president. and these investigations are being what about the truth and whether or not the law was broken.

>> that's what we heard about the collusion that it was definitive and they are adam schiff statements on various cable outlets. for years, more than two years. and i think that now there are other pieces of this puzzle that are coming out and republicans like lindsey graham and others say it's time to dig in and get that out. >> sandra: all right we will see you at 6:00 p.m. eastern time, thanks for joining us this morning. >> ed: in the meantime, a push in washington to make china pay for the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. brand-new legislation would allow americans and businesses affected by the virus to file lawsuits against an president trump was to blame. >> china should be held responsible for what they've done. they've hurt the world very

badly. they should be held responsible. >> ed: eric shawn is lined with details, good morning eric. >> that's exactly the point of this legislation because it could be the largest negligence lawsuit in world history, suing china for trillions of dollars for causing the coronavirus. the chinese government would be liable in civil courts and penalize beijing for alleged negligence in covering up of the virus when it first emerged in wuhan. the bill is a brainchild of missouri republican senator josh hawley, the former attorney general of that state. senator hawley told us that the u.s. must get china to pay for the devastating damage it has caused. >> throughout the pandemic, they have lied about the facts, both

the virus itself and also what's going on in china. the chinese government was responsible. they are responsible for the pandemic in the world and that's why we should be on the hook. >> legal experts say that suing china will not be easy and we will have more on that later on in our coverage. breaking news, back to you. >> ed: in the meantime we see a fox news alert, steven mnuchin is testifying. >> i look forward to testifying in person going forward in a safe way with proper social distancing according to medical guidelines. i want to begin by acknowledging the unprecedented challenges the american people are experiencing due to the covid-19 pandemic. this disease is impacting families and communities across the nation. through no fault of their own,

the american people are also enduring economic challenges. i'm inspired by our nation's medical professionals and first responders on the front lines taking care of our fellow citizens. thanks to their efforts and unwavering commitment to their community as i am confident that our nation will emerge from this pandemic stronger than ever before. president trump and the entire administration are provided to committing necessary relief to help people get through this time. the treasury department is working hard to implement the cares act. we appreciate congress working with us to enact the statute which is the single largest economic relief effort in the history of our country. we also appreciate the feedback we have received from members of congress on both sides of the aisle as we implement a number of the critical programs established by the cares act. we have worked closely with the small business administration on

the paycheck protection program to ensure processing of over 4 million loans and over $500 billion to keep tens of billions of hardworking americans on the payroll. we are proud that nearly 400 institutions and many small banks and nonbanks are participating in this program. we've issued more than 140 million economic impact payments, to provide direct relief to millions of americans. the typical family of four received approximately $3400. we've distributed about $150 billion to states, local and tribal governments through the coronavirus relief fund for essential services. we have also approved a nearly 25 billion in payroll support to the airline industry to protect this critical sector of our economy. turning to the central focus of

the hearing today, the cares act also provided authority for 454 billion and support for the federal reserve lending facilities to provide liquidity to the system. since march 17th i have approved the following facilities. the commercial paper funding facility and the primary dealer credit facility, the money market fund facility and the term asset-backed facilities, loan facilities and the primary market corporate credit facility and the secondary corporate credit facility. the main street business lending program and the municipal liquidity facility and the ppp lending facility. we have committed approximately 200 billion in credit support under the cares act. we have the remaining money to create or expand these programs as needed and we continue to monitor a variety of economic sectors closely and are prepared to support these programs with the federal reserve as we need to move forward.

we are sympathetic to the hardworking americans in business and it during tremendous during covid-19. we've had to take unprecedented steps to shut down significant parts of our economy in the interest of public health. as a result in the second quarter of last year we are continuing to see large unemployment and other negative indicators. it's important to realize, the large number represents real people. it's so important to be bringing people back to work in a safe way. as we listen to medical experts we are interested in the progress being made to, antiviral therapies and testing. working closely with the governors we are beginning to open the economy in a way that minimizes risk to workers and customers. we expect economic conditions to improve in the third and fourth quarter and into next year. i want to conclude by thanking the hardworking people at the treasury, the federal reserve and throughout the

administration. under the leadership of president trump i'm proud to have worked with all of you on a bipartisan basis to get relief into the hands of hardworking americans and businesses as quickly as possible. in these programs are making a major positive impact on people's lives. our country will emerge from this pandemic stronger than ever. thank you for the opportunity to discuss these efforts today and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you, secretary mnuchin. chairman? >> chairman, thank you for the opportunity to testify today for the forc first quarterly hearinn the cares act. the health care workers have been the first responders, and showing courage and determination and earning everlasting gratitude. so have the legions of other essential workers who put

themselves at risk every day on our behalf. to help slow the spread of the virus. the economy has been effectively closed since mid-march. while we are all affected, the sacrifices we are all making and as policymakers we should continue to do what we can to help cushion the blow. the scope and speed of this downturn, we are seeing a severe decline in economic activity, and already the job gains from the last decade have been reversed.

it will more than 20 million people have loss of jobs in recent fed research have showed that what others have also found have been the last ones that were hardest hit. they we are committed to using our full range of tools to support the economy in this challenging time. our reaction so far fall into four categories. first, outright purchases of treasuries and mortgage securities to restore functionality in these critical markets. second, liquidity and funding measures including discount window measures, spending swap lines with central banks and several treasury backed facilities to support smooth, money market function. third with additional treasury backing, facilities more directly support the flow of credits to households, businesses and state and local governments.

so far we have created 11, support liquidity funding in the flow of credit. all of this has been proven with the secretary and all of it is supported by funding of the cares act. at the fed, we are committed to transparency particularly in deploying our emergency powers. public faith in our operations depend on that transparency. thank you and i will be happy to answer your questions. >> sandra: okay. you've been listening to the federal reserve chairman jay powell they are saying "as a society we should do everything we can to provide relief to those who are suffering for the public good. and before that you heard from the secretary of the treasury steven mnuchin saying the unprecedented challenge of the american people at this time,

the numbers are still bad. he said unemployment is so high but things will get better. the administration is committed to providing necessary relief to help people get through this time. that hearing will continue on capitol hill and they will look at the cares act and how the money allocated to it is being spent and what impact it's having on the economy. we will monitor that hearing for news and bring it to you as we get it. >> the pensacola attack was actually the brutal combination of years of planning and preparation by a long time a qap associate. the new evidence shows that al stonum ronnihe had radicalized s far back as 2015. >> ed>> ed: christopher wray speaking about the man who opened fire at a naval air station last year. the shooter was a training from

saudi arabia who had extensive ties to al qaeda. officials accused apple as well of stalling the investigation by refusing to unlock this shooter's iphone. joining us now is oklahoma senator james lankford. we suspected at the time last december that this wasn't a terror attack, but there was a terror attack in florida that killed at least three american sailors? >> right. the challenge that we have here is that there is a lot of time lost. if you have al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, a qap which is working with the saudi citizen in the united states to train for and prepare for, we need to know that immediately so we can obviously respond and try to be able to wrap up those individuals that are in yemen

and waiting on apple to help us be able to cooperate. the fbi was able to crack the phone on it but it would've been helpful to reach out and get to those folks faster. >> ed: at the attorney general responded to this yesterday. >> we asked apple for assistance in the president asked apple for assistance. unfortunately apple will not help us unlock the phones. if technology companies like apple are willing to oblige the demands of an authoritarian regime they certainly have no excuse for failing to cooperate with rule of law nations that respect civil liberties and privacy rights. >> ed: quickly i want to give apple's response so that you can weigh in. apple said we provided every piece of information available to us including icloud backups, account information and transactional data, for multiple accounts.

the false claims made about our company are an excuse to weaken encryption and other security measures that protect millions of users and our national security. your response to apple? >> we need that to stay exceptionally strong and what they wanted from the fbi was apple's face face communications and even with the reaction of course by the president, apple was not engaging in that. they want to be able to help the united states and this is not about weakening encryption, we need strong encryption but we need apple to be able to be engaged so we can get to terrorists faster. >> ed: economic damage from this pandemic, and there is a

high and that's what we are trying to do to deal with it. that's a potential for another stimulus plan on the table and a lot of talk about improving the ppp program. they are actually getting the money. what's your biggest lesson learned so far russian mark >> the paycheck protection program has been exceptionally helpful. and that's how difficult that has been. i'm grateful we are able to put the paycheck protection program in or we would have 80 million people waiting in line. they still have a hundred billion dollars left in it so demand is starting to slow down. my state and oklahoma, we have a

lot of restaurants and hotels and, hopefully we are through the worst of this. >> hopefully we certainly appreciate your time. as noted, that hearing is still ongoing. that's the lead member of the senate banking committee, and the fed chairman jerome powell as well. we want to dip in now is questioning is going on. >> essential workers are often the lowest paid workers. the custodians and the security people, they prepare our food and put their lives on the line and they are still worried about paying the bills. >> mr. senator, i want to thank

all the essential workers. >> thinking is great. is it fair that our economy pays the essential workers so little? >> some people are paid less than others. >> my question is, is that fair? >> again mr. senator i don't know which specific workers you are referring to. >> i will try -- is it fair that those workers who are exposing themselves to this virus, we call them is essential by all of our definitions. is that fair? >> those workers are in basically the service sector. that's what's unusual about this. and they are definitely the most

affected so i would say that all of our efforts are to do what we can create conditions. >> some of the things you could both do is to support pandemic for these workers and we continue to celebrate that. we helped millions of workers make this country work. am i right that you are not requiring companies to keep their workers unveiling the payroll? >> mr. senator, i'm following the exact letter and spirit of the law and others on the bipartisan basis, in some of these facilities there are specific requirements and i assure you that the chair and i are absolutely enforcing those

requirements, as required in both the literal and spirit of the negotiations. >> those are nice sounding wor words, and the administration is making sure that they will help these workers directly. it's not safe to reopen the economy until we have worker protections in place that will control the spread of covid. things like contact tracing and equipment, questions of the president has failed to lead to a far country. keeping some businesses close can cause permanent economic damage. how many workers will die if we send people back to work without the protections they need? >> mr. senator, we don't intend to send anyone back to work without protections and, i

assure you, i couldn't be more proud of the medical advice. >> so many would trap half a percent, there is no national program to provide worker safety. the president said it reopen slaughterhouses. how many workers should give their lives their lives to an increase the gdp by a thousand points? >> no workers should give their lives and your characterization is unfair. >> i'm not going to let you make

a political speech about what a great job we hear from the president and his news conferences, but the president did have still not lead an effort to scale up testing, he played state after state, state against state and he played hospital against hospital and your comments notwithstanding, those that chair powell said, and, congress needs to think about more than just the national debt right now. it's less costly to help people than to pay for our failure in the future, is that right mr. chairman? >> and if you would answer quickly. >> while that is what i said, i said it could be. this is a question for congress to weigh. we may need to do more and congress may as well.

>> the administration thinks we should put more workers at risk to the stock market. we haven't come up with the basic plan for how to protect workers when they go back to work when president trump and later mcconnell can give away trillions and tax breaks to billionaires. and, we keep workers safe in spite of some of the comments. >> i think i would disagree with that characterization as well but let's move on. >> mr. chairman, thanks for joining us this way. i just want to follow-up on this discussion about additional spending and remind everybody that while we authorize something on the scale of $3 trillion to round things up

off, of direct spending and lending, then complement that with another roughly $3 trillion. i could be $6 trillion and that's like 30% of our entire economic output. more than half of it has not yet been spent or lent. we actually let some of the stuff go to work and, under fans, the consequences that we have already done. i think it was mischaracterized and in fact it was much more nuanced than that and it acknowledged among other things a potential cost of new spending. the comments you made at the peterson institute, do you still stand by that comment?

>> i do. would you like me to expand on that? >> i think we covered it, so i appreciate that. let me move on to follow-up on something the secretary said about reopening. i think it's worth remembering why we shut down the economy in the first place, it was a very specific reason and that was to prevent this virus from spreading so rapidly and so many people would get sick so quickly that we would overwhelm our obstacles. certainly not in pennsylvania and i know now in most of the country, i think it's essential that we begin the process carefully, thoughtfully and safely. the longer we continue the shutdown. they will go back to a lockdown in the shutdown.

>> that's absolutely the case. we are conscious of the health issues and want to do this in the balanced and safe way. >> for either of you on this one, we want to talk about the main street programs. first, give us your best estimate of how we can expect. i don't see it's a day or two into june. it would it be possible to characterize main street is in a

class by itself really. it's not the bond market. these are small and medium-size companies and they we live in a world of bank lending which is a world of negotiating documents and that we are trying to enter that world and make loans to qualified buyers. we set up a big operation at the federal reserve bank of austin and higher service providers and we will be ready to face off against it. it's a very diverse, small medium and large companies. it's very complex undertaking and they've been working around the clock for weeks to get it ready for this month. >> that's one of the terms and one of the conditions of these facilities, and does business

develop met companies and others, but the lender is going to be required to keep some of the wrists on their own. but i'm wondering what kind of reaction you've gotten from lenders and potential borrowers, what kind of are you anticipating. you know, there are three facilities and we've had a lot of outreach to borrowers and lenders and everybody, they will probably attract different levels of demand. we are getting a good deal of interest in inquiry, and we will continually be prepared to adapt as we have shown the uptick is not what we would hope. and we would pay her to go after that. and we would address the needs of the area.

>> senator reed? >> chairman, thank you for your great leadership. this is our response to covid but also to our economy. they contributed 8.5%, and that we all know they are facing dire circumstances. 10% budget losses this year and 25% next year. how likely will it be for us to have robust recovery if our estates do not receive additional and flexible physical relief, not a loan for the fed, how robust can i recovery be at this, if this key sector is out of play?

about 13% of the workforces and in state and local government. that means the balanced budget provisions and that means that when revenue comes down sharply, that can mean job cuts and service cuts. these are all important things to consider going forward. >> i want to make a comment, and that is i do believe that with the coronavirus relief fund that we passed, we do have the flexibility to provide support for the states when it comes to lost revenue. this lost revenue was not anticipated in their budgets and second, it's directly related to

the covid virus. i would urge you to relook as you have done with ppp, look back again and reconsider the ability to use flexibility in this coronavirus relief fund. let me refer back to chairman powell. we know their employment is going to be something that will be with us for a while. it's about 15%, i seen as high as 20 or 25%. yet our unemployment insurance program will end at a certain time. do you think it's important for us to have the confidence or give the confidence for people that they can still -- the economy is still in disarray

that's not just a test for unemployment compensation. >> that really falls to you, we try not to get into too many specifics. i will say, they lose their skills and lose contact with the job markets. with the amount of solvency and things like that, should the expansion start later or take longer to get going, those are appropriate things to look to.

it seems to me that that's what we will do again. unless we have a physical program that provides resources to keep people in their homes, when they can't pay their rent, when they miss their mortgage payments, that will put pressure on the mortgage community and you and the fed and the treasury will rush the help. wall street will get the help and main street will be left behind. if there were thousands and thousands of people without homes. i would just ask whether you would consider this physical response to the core problem. people can't pay their rent and can't pay the mortgage, that was probably the best response

rather than -- >> i think you are right. of course in this case there has been some significant forbearance on that. and that's something to continue to consider. >> thank you, senator scott. >> thank you. a really important time in our country and there is no doubt that a global pandemic has shocked the world and frankly shuttered a lot of businesses. because of the paycheck protection program, i think the two tranches of the paycheck protection program have saved from my understanding somewhere

around 50 million jobs. about 20 million jobs but with that said, west virginia, and very often, small and minority businesses are the lifeblood in those small and rural communities. frankly we have the minority business develop and agency which has done a really good job of helping deploy some of the resources from the triple p into those underserved communities. my question is, how can we -- we use some other mechanism to get more of those resources in our rural communities or frankly in our inner city communities were perhaps the paycheck protection

program has been more intimidating for small businesses, like barbershops and beauty salons and, that was necessary. that 1099 which means that they are trying to get in the cycle. that actually provides the marketing, we understand the program of the triple p. mr. secretary? >> thank you because we appreciate the work you've done with us on this issue already and we will continue to work with you and others. that's the average loan size has calmed down considerably.

that has not been corrected. i also couldn't be more pleased with how we've been able to get sole proprietors and others into the the program. fortunately right now we still have a significant amount of money left, but we are very much willing to consider the bipartisan request of reserving money for cdf is at the end and making sure that the underserved communities are properly served in this program. thank you. >> let me just say, you have done a fabulous job under intense pressure and that recognizes the valuable service. we have been very receptive and responsive and that says a lot under the current conditions. so thank you very much. chairman powell, i heard you

talk about forbearance very quickly there and this is an issue that continues to grow in importance, whether it's a small business, the residential market or the commercial market. what continues to grow its commercial mortgage-backed securities and there are a number of shopping centers in south carolina and frankly throughout the country where having spoken to some of the folks who owned it though centers, like 20 and they are looking at the mortgage market whether it's the same concern. i'm not sure what the answers are, what should we expect? what should we anticipate for the fed and the treasury as it it relates to more liquidity in that market. i don't know that there is a

silver bullet and i don't see a panacea about what you both suggest that i should tell my constituents on this really important issue? >> it is an important market, and as you know we've supported rsc mbs market with open market purchases. in addition, they are eligible. that's the tool we have, not every problem can be successfully addressed but, where it can be, we are willing to take a hard look. >> quickly please? >> i would just add it working the fh fa, and working with the

fed, when we continue to do this. >> i may be over my time, i can't see the clock so i assume i have five more minutes left. >> i've been trying to tap, i'm not sure everyone is hearing the taps. >> they are facing unprecedent unprecedented. that leads t to a devil's cocktl of devastating layoffs, dangerous cuts to public safety, and any one of those ingredients alone are threatening to making the economic crisis even worse. the view bureau of labor statistics has just reported

that state and local governments laid off nearly 1 million workers in the month of april. that's almost 1 million firefighters, police officers, teachers, and do you agree that our economy will get worse with state and local governments that are forced to lay off even more firefighters, police officers, teachers and emergency health personnel? >> let me tell you, that was due to the effects of the pandemic and that's really -- >> i appreciate that.

that's not my question. if the states and counties and municipalities on the past, just from an economic situation, that will make the economic recovery even worse. that's evidence of a global financial crisis in the years afterward where state and local -- >> one of the tools we have to alleviate this, they can set the stage for a strong recovery. the federal reserve and local governments, for the local lending facility but frankly i don't think it's enough. in a letter that we sent to you

and secretary mnuchin last week we called on another facility, one that would purchase immediate bonds. they continue to finance key public services and invest in infrastructure and other areas to jump-start our economy and get americas back to work. will you commit to work on that proposal that the senator sent to you? >> i will say, what we are trying to do, we are taking a look. >> additional fiscal support could be costly, but worth it if they have economic damage.

i agree the hit to our states, the projection is released by moody's that reveals every state in the nation is already or will soon face extreme budget shortfalls. and that's the entire state budget. that's facing a 40% shock. they introduce the smart act which is a bipartisan three republicans and three democrats. the colleagues for mississippi and louisiana, and that's for

school experience in recovery. that facility, those questions were for elected officials. i know the secretary has been receptive, and you will be receptive as well to allowing community development and financial institutions with minority development institutions that get greater access to the programs these funds can reach underserved areas of our country.

>> ed: a >> sandra: okay you have been listening to a questioning of our lawmakers on capitol hill this morning. steven mnuchin, and jay powell with the federal reserve chairman taking questions on the implementation of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus, stimulus package. we will bring that to you as we got it. >> fox news alert, for the white house, or president trump is about to speak at the top of the hour about supporting our nation's farmers and ranchers as well a as a food supply chain. we will bring it to you live as soon as it happens, coming up. nature made, the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand vby refinancing your va loan atl today's incredibly low rates the #1 pharmacist recommended at newday usa.

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and savings up to $500 on adjustable sets. >> ed: fox news alert at the white house where president trump is about to deliver remarks about the crisis facing farmers, ranchers and food providers all over the country. i'm ed henry, good morning sandra. >> sandra: good morning everyone, i'm sandra smith. a live look now at the white house for the president is set to begin speaking. the government is planning to buy tens of billions of dollars worth of dairy, meat and produce from our nations farmers. and billions more to get food items to communities that need them the most. chief white house correspondent john roberts is live on all of that this morning. >> good morning to you.

in just a few minutes a president in the roosevelt room meeting with farmers and ranchers to talk about food production, and as you mentioned at the top potential interruptions and the hope of not having interruptions, the president will announce billions of dollars in assistance to the producers of corn, cotton, soybean, specialty crops, beef, dairy, pork and more. also more food distribution getting crops that would otherwise go to waste outside of food banks and charities. and individual families from the u.s. department of agriculture. on the coronavirus the president surprised the nation announcing out of the blue that since a couple of white house staffers tested positive coronavirus that he has been taking the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to prevent contracting coronavirus disease even though the jury is still out as to whether it's

effective as a preventative. >> president trump: i'm taking it. hydroxychloroquine. a couple of weeks ago i started taking it. because i think it's good, i've heard a lot of stories. and if it's not good i will tell you right. it's been around for 40 years. >> it's actually been around for 65 years on the president was a big proponent of hydroxychloroquine early on in this crisis. that points to an analysis of data from the veteran affairs administration that suggested there was no benefit from using hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin in combination to treat coronavirus. and that, in fact, patients died. but a va official told me that drug combination was used as a last result in patients who were gravely ill in their last hours as described by unofficial. many of them had so-called

comorbidities and underlying conditions that led to their decline. the study was not done by the veteran's affairs of administration and was not subject to either clinical or peer review. the president started taking hydroxychloroquine after consulting with his doctor which the press secretary said all americans should keep in mind. listen here. >> let me emphasize strongly that any use of hydroxychloroquine has to be in consultation with your doctor and you have to have a prescription, that's the way it must be done. >> to this very day the veterans affairs administration is a big user of hydroxychloroquine. they prescribed some 42,000 doses per day to veterans who are suffering from conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. they've been using it since the drug was approved back in 1955. the president does not have coronavirus and all indications are that his underlying health conditions are very strong. so it was probably a decision that was made between the

president and his doctor. dr. sloan, or dr. conley, sorry. to say look. you are not at risk really but let's take this to see if it works. sandra? >> sandra: we await the president's remarks in the roosevelt room. john roberts, thank you. >> ed: as we wait for the president, joining us is tom bevan. he is trying to grab the megaphone at the white house in the middle of the presidential campaign here. he's got his treasury secretary testifying on capitol hill about the economic pain that americans are feeling and you had sherard brown from ohio, a key democrat. framing a question, how many workers have to die in order to prop up the stock market and the gdp. you can see that treasury secretary pushing back there and saying this is pretty unfair to

frame it that way. it gives you an idea of what the president is facing as he tries to get the country reopened. >> it does. this is now, the battleground is over the public health crisis and of trump's handling of it and the economic product like a crisis that is going on that we see unfolding day in and day out. trump is cooked clearly on the side of pushing to get this economy reopened. meanwhile the leading democrats nancy pelosi, joe biden and a lot of these state governors have lined up on the other side of the public stopping the spread of the virus and keeping these lockdowns in place. that's now the political landscape and we are seeing the trump administration fighting it on all fronts. >> ed: the president said he believes that some of those blue state governors that you mention to, whether it's california or new york or other places, kind of slow walking with some of this.

your thoughts? >> it's certainly true that it has become political. and trump's exchange with governor whitmer has gotten very contentious in many ways and that is political. whether these governors are doing this despite trump because they are ultimately responsible for not only the number of deaths in their state but also the economic destruction that takes place in their states. there is no question that you see now republicans are much more on the side of reopening places like parks and beaches and schools and restaurants, and who got it more right when the time comes? >> the previous presidency is kind of a rose garden strategy, the point being he is using the

megaphone of the presidency to talk about what he is doing. and help ease some of the economic pain. you have joe biden, your thoughts on some of these battleground polls that you've seen? cnn suggests the president, and they've been gaining ground at some of these key states. >> it's fascinating and unprecedented. we are conducting a campaign in the middle of the pandemic and they are trying to figure out how to do that effectively. trump's handling of the coronavirus is about 42%, certainly lower than some of these governors. his overall approval rating, that's the highest it's ever been. a lot of crosscurrents

between -- certainly among republicans and democrats in terms of the president's handling of the economy, and, they are talking about assistance to farmers and that can be very positive. people have got them the food that they need. these comments are invite a lot of criticism. a couple of weeks back it was the comments about clorox, and they have taken the lead on something and that seems to help them. not just help him around the country but help him political politically. in other times not so much. >> and they wil will he will stn

a rake and it will cause him some setbacks. i do think this is a very important issue because the administration wants to see, they very much want to support farmers and they don't want to see farmers hurt and they want to see a disruption and breaking of the food supply chain. obviously through the farmers, that's key to the reelection campaign. >> ed: that was assigned some months ago, the government was rushing eight to them. a lot to digest and we certainly appreciate you coming on today. tom bevan, thank you. >> sandra: fox news alert, any moment as you just heard we will

be hearing for from the president. plus, calling for business to reopen, now son just got the green light. we will tell you which ones and what rules they will have to follow. and at restaurant pleading for more federal help. and what restaurant owners will be needing to stay in business. >> the things that represent the cultural fabric of the cities and of our towns and the things that i believe is a country we need to fight to keep. here's huge news for veterans with va loans.

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>> said today i sign an executive order that loosen in some restrictions. please be smart. let's take the step. the whole states watching to make sure we get this right. if we get this right and we will take the next step. >> ed: retailers in allowing some stores to open up if they adopt certain safety measures. mike tobin is live in our midwest news bureau to deal with all of that. >> good morning ad.

some parts are still struggling with the lockdown, one struggling and rebellious business owner got some support from the texas salon owner who is now widely recognized after defying the lockdown order in the lone star state. shelley luther questioned why marijuana and liquor sales were deemed essential by the state but not grooming. his license was suspended and he encouraged others to push back. >> we have been strong and one of the things i want to emphasize today is michigan. all of you business owners, you beauticians and barbers, massage therapists, open up your shops. >> on friday, the northern reaches of the state and the entire upper peninsula where the outbreaks have been small, this

is a positive step that we have requested for over a month. the wine is now assembling a kick contingent of law enforcement and health inspectors to police the bars. >> most of the bars are doing a decent job, but there were some outliers. individuals could now be cited for social distancing guidelin guidelines. >> if we could make one change, if we could extend the time. >> so how much time are you on? >> about 30 weeks.

>> what's more important, that or deductibility? >> yes. deductibility is amazing but it's almost like we need to build the house first. >> members of the restaurant industry speaking with the president. and, we can get the restaurants back up and running today. we saw you there at the tail end of the clip talking to the president. what was the case that you are making for president trump, to get your restaurants back up and running again. >> thank you for having me. really pushing for two things.

i think that's independent, and the independent restaurant coalition, we represent 500,000 for independent restaurants across america and i'm talking about everything from your local pizza place to your local diner to the fanciest restaurant in town and everything in between. we also represent the 11 million people that work in those restaurants. last month alone more than 1 out of 4 people that filed for unemployment were restaurant workers and we are in a really tough spot and we need support to get back on track. we are asking for two things. >> sandra: go ahead, i want you to lay that out but i kind of wanted to -- because that's where you got into it with the president. we are needed to allocate and spend those funds. so what are you asking for specifically?

>> we are asking for two things, we are asking for 24 weeks to spend the money, not eight weeks. restaurants are different with a lot of businesses that are participating, and we don't have the ability to hire everyone back. and that is for sure what is being forgiven and it's not a good thing for restaurants. this is a bridge and we are unable to get past the point of only 50%. >> ed: what was the president's response to that? >> you know he seemed to extort nearly receptive. he looked at secretary mnuchin and said that seems like an easy fix. our hope is that they follow

through on that and that they do it quickly. there are restaurants all over the country that are already into that eight week. >> ppp was a available to small businesses across america, but the reality is, many are affected by this letter a because we are predicated entirely on social gatherings and b because most of our members, the independent restaurants across america don't have access to capital. what we are looking for is a specific fund of money that is available just to restaurants. the ppp is like the first half of the bridge, and we need funds put into other grants or some

sort of grant program so we can build the second half of that bridge. it's not dissimilar to what the airlines have gotten, and they employed all 11 million of those people again and go back to the role that they played and being one of the really important parts culturally. >> after we were just hearing on capitol hill, secretary mnuchin and the federal reserve chair jay powell, reminding members of congress that many restaurants and small businesses to no fault of their own, they were doing fine before this happened but had to shut down for the greater good of the american people and we need to get them help. and by our heart goes out to all those restaurant workers.

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>> sandra: fox news alert, we are awaiting president trump's remarks alive from the roosevelt room at the white house. he is expected to begin speaking any moment now on the coronavirus impact on our nation's farmers and food supp supply. that's supporting our nation's farmers and ranchers and at the very important food supply chain. the president sonny perdue obviously you can see and, things are running a little bit delayed and we will go to the president as soon he walks into the room. we will take his words live. >> people have put their lives

and livelihoods on hold making enormous sacrifice to not just protect their own health and loved ones but also their neighbors in the broader community. while we are all affected the burden has followed most heavily on those most least able to bear it. >> ed: there is jerome powell testifying before sent powell as congress takes a look at how the $2 trillion carriers act is helping with the economy dealing with the fall. our congressional correspondent chad pergram is live on capitol hill with some details. >> this is a first report card on the $2.2 trillion bill that both houses of congress passed back and marched to deal with coronavirus. how much money has gone out the door and why all $500 billion allocated for state and local governments, why that hasn't been spent here. there were sharp questions and steven mnuchin the treasury secretary indicates however that he sees economic growth on the horizon.

>> we see large unemployment and other negative indicators. it's important to realize that the large number represents real people. and, he argued that the trump administration lacked an adequate plan to send workers back to their job safely. brown asked mnuchin frankly how many americans may die by reopening the economy? >> the chairman and i are absolutely enforcing those requirements. that was nice sounding words but the administration is willing to send people to work without regard for their safety and the administration is unwilling to make sure these trillions of dollars in taxpayer money.

you might recall that the federal reserve chairman jerome powell indicated he thought that more money might be necessary and it's time to talk about next steps over lunch. >> we will be watching that. >> sandra: lawmakers in washington looking to make china pay for its initial handling of the covid-19 outbreak and recently drafted legislation to allow americans to sue beijing for damages suffered during the pandemic. eric shawn is live with more details on all that. >> it could be the largest negligence lawsuit in history. suing china for trillions of dollars for causing the coronavirus. a new senate bill would let americans do that. so the regime and the communist chinese party itself, and, that

first emerged in wuhan. josh hawley is a former attorney general of the new missouri said, u.s. citizens who have come down with coronavirus and have been economically hurt by it. >> anyone damaged by this pandemic can go to an american court and you would have the ability to attach chinese acce access.

in china, it's easy. that puts foreign governments largely office limits. a $104 million verdict against afghanistan and iraq, and they objected to it and it was overturned. issues between nations and that's a important to diplomacy. >> the chinese government did not respond to our request for a comment on this bill but just yesterday the u.s. supreme court ruled that sudan can be sued for print punitive damage and that includes u.s. victims that can

sue for justice. >> sandra: fox news alert. at the white house, ivanka trump there at the door on the right and, we expect the president of the united states would be coming in. and as if on cue president trump walks into the room and it is about to head to the podium. >> president trump: good to see you. thank you very much. i'm farmers doing good? everything good? thank you president trump. thank you very much you all. we are here to announce dramatic action to the nation's farmers ranchers and growers as we work to a sickly rope in america and it's happening very fast. much faster and much, much better numbers than anyone would have thought. i want to begin by expressing our profound gratitude for everyone here today, for farmers and producers across the country who have kept our nation fed and

nourished as we have battled the invisible entering me. it is an invisible enemy but it's tough and we are going to win and win very big. we can never forget all of the people who have been left behind, that have died for some reason that should have never happened. should have never happened. you know that and i know that. and the people that cause a problem, they know that, too. you remind us once again that the american farmers, the backbone of our country and, they are a great friend of mine and i appreciate all the support and i know they appreciate our support. we are glad to be joined by secretary sonny perdue along with ivanka, who has been working closely with sonny to deliver this vital assistance for farmers and needy families. i'm also grateful to the president of the american farm bureau federations, zippy do all, thank you very much.

the president of the national cattlemen's beef association marty smith. marty, thank you. and several of our great agricultural producers, nice to meet all of you, it's really good to meet each of you. zippy, are you doing okay? you got my condolences i hope? zippy was married to a great woman and for purposes of the record, you still are and you always will be. right? she was a great person. from day one, my administration has been determined to protect our nation's incredible farmers. we enacted historic tax cuts and helped family farms stay in the family. what we did is, we passed as you know on the tax cuts, death tax, and even businesses, i you don't

have to lose your farm. we eliminated that horrible death tax and most of the kids, many of the kids lost the farm, and they ended up losing the farms. and hopefully that's not the only reason. we eliminated crushing washington regulations and kept our promise on ethanol and replaced and negotiated a badly broken trade deal, to finally give you a fair and level playing field. in china unfairly targeted our firm's we provided $28 million in direct assistance and, you know that happened. they paid for it, you know we have this misconception and would like to say this as much as possible. china devalued their currency in order to pay it, we didn't pay it. what we did as we went to sonny, and we had $12,000,000,000.02

years ago and had 16 billion last year. this year we you will be hearing about what we are doing because it's very substantial. through the paycheck protection program we've approved billions of dollars in relief to farmers as part of our unprecedented coronavirus relief effort. so the paycheck has been a fantastic success as you know. in normal times roughly 40% of fresh vegetables and about 40% of beef grown and raised in the united states is distributed to restaurants and other commercial food establishments. but as you know, the virus supports many of our nations restaurants to temporarily close and that has taken a major toll on our farmers and growers some of whom we are dealing directly with. they sometimes will deal directly with your farmer, no middlemen, no nothing.

just directly. and it's a big business. for this reason my administration is sweeping a new initiative. we are providing $19 billion to support our nation's agricultural producers and maintain the health of our critical food supply chains and provide food assistance to american families. $19 billion. no other president has done this, zippy. i'll tell you, you could go back to abraham lincoln, there is no president that has treated the farmers like trump. i don't know. i hear we are doing well with the farmers but i can't imagine where it would be but these are great people. we are announcing $16 billion direct payments to farmers and ranchers so 16 billion is going directly to the farmers and ranchers. that's authorized by the cares

act and the commodity credit corporation charter act, and they compensate farmers for losses related to the global pandemic caused by china. we will be providing trillions of dollars for corn, cotton, soybean and specialty crop farmers, cattle ranches and just about every category. i think we have just about every category and if not we will add them. dairy producers, pork producers and more. i read yesterday where we take some cattle in from other countries because we have trade deals. i think you should look at terminating those deals. all right? we have trade deals where we actually taken cattle and we have a lot of cattle in this country. i think you should look at the possibility of terminating those trade deals. now if a country has been a great ally and a great friend,

you have to do that but there are some countries that are sending us cattle, for many years, and i think we should look at terminating. we are very self-sufficient and we are becoming more and more self-sufficient, probably one of the reasons i got elected. sign-ups will begin on may 26th through your local farm service agency offices and you have to go sign up to pick it up to get the money and will start issuing payments within one week of receiving your application. so that's a lot of money. you're talking about a total of 16 billion plus 3 billion and you know, we bought last week, and it's already in distribution, $3 billion and it's already in distribution. i see they are handing it out, i see where they couldn't get food, they are having a hard time and we have these incredible ranchers and farmers that have so much food. and i said it, let's spend that

money and give it to our farmers and our ranchers and it has worked out really well. and they've already got it in supply, they've been handing it out today, a couple of days ago actually it's been fantastic. in addition this important initiative also includes a new farmers to families food box program which ivanka and secretary perdue helped to launch on friday. through this effort the department of agricultural work, and we have a lot of great distribution companies, i got to meet some of them, which have also been hit very hard to purchase from the american farmer and to deliver from the food banks and charities that serve needy families. already we have allocated $1.2 billion and funding through 198 contracts with distribution companies many of which have been impacted by this horrible

plague. here today are a few of the farmers and ranchers who can tell us why this program has been so essential and successful. scott sank is a producer that's been badly impacted by the virus and he says this initiative will provide a bridge that will help them move forward and we have been helping them and a lot of other ways, too. this was a great help. scott, please come forward. thank you scott. >> my name is scott sank and i'm a producer in southwest virginia, near blacksburg. we have a catering business and we do farm to table along with raising livestock, produce and custom hey. we were able to benefit from the paycheck protection program and now this bridge will also help us get into the new growing season. talking to farmers all across the country, farmer farming is

something that's unexpected and we deal with that, we have to pave it at any time. but with something like this, something that's expected with supply chain producers and consumers, that's why having a program like this is very beneficial. >> president trump: and you love that business, you wouldn't trade it for anything. what is it with farmers, they have some bad years where they wouldn't trade it for anything. and then they start making money and they go out and buy bigger tractors. maybe they will slow it up a little bit next time, right? but you guys are great. robert mills raises both crops and livestock and he believes this program will help countless farm families get by, more than get by, as we begin to reopen our economy. it's ope opening up really fast. robert, thank you. >> thank you mr. president. i'm robert mills jr. and i'm a

first-generation farmer from the south side of virginia. reraise tobacco, beef cattle, poultry, hay, small grain and industrial help for cbd. we are a diverse operation and we are diverse because we always expect the unexpected and we want to make sure that we can stay in business. and we didn't expect this. i will tell the american people that you're farmers and your ranchers right here are working each and every day to make sure that those grocery store shelves stay full and it's administrations like president trump's administration and the programs he's had in place. this is not a rescue program but it will help these farm families be able to make wise decisions in the weeks and months and years ahead and it's also there to let them know that this country as they are supporting them because this country relies on what these farmers and ranchers go do every day. i want to thank president trump

and the administration and all those who work hard to make sure that these farm families stay there and stay whole and that the american people will never have to worry about running out of food. thank you, mr. president. >> president trump: thank you very much. i love that accent. is that original? they like trump there. the farmers were targeted by china, when we started negotiating tough with china. what i did is we have taken in tens of billions of dollars and sonny was aware of this because he had taken in billions of dollars. what do you think is the impact and he said $12 million. and i said okay, we will take $12 billion out of our tariff

money which is many billions more than that that china paid, never paid us $0.10 before that. with trump, we took out of tens of billions of dollars and we will give it to the farmers and they distributed that money. otherwise these farmers wouldn't have been in business. so we took 12 million and give it to the farmers and we said thank you ray much to china. thank you very much, china. then the next year i said, what's the number? we determined it was $16 billion that the farmers were targeted, 16 billion by china. so i took 16 billion out of the tariffs which were many, many billions, tens of billions more than that and we gave it to the farmers. and this year the same thing, it's been pretty amazing. and the farmers are doing fine. one of them said i do better this way. but you know what? they don't want to do better this way, they want to level the

playing field. we took care of our farmers and ranchers. thank you robert, that was great and we appreciate it. david hickman is a vegetable grower who runs dublin farms in virginia. his potatoes will be among the protists distributed to local food banks, david please come up and say a few words. >> thank you, mr. president. i'm david hickman with dublin farms in virginia. we are a fifth-generation operation, pretty express market, potatoes, redskins, yellows and white. this program will help tremendously with the movement of potatoes this summer. for us we have six distributors who are our current customers who are doing the food box program so our potatoes will be in some of these food boxes. we submitted bids for a 5-pound bags to go directly to the fed

banks, yellow and white potatoes. so that will certainly impact the virginia potato business. >> president trump: so what other bags do you have? >> we have a packing operation and we packed 5-pound bags, 10-pound bags, 50-pound bags and 2,000-pound bags that go to other packers. but a lot of our business goes into the terminal markets also. that's dependent on restaurant business so we are anxious to see our restaurants get back up. and that's primary for the food business. >> regionally it's a big business and in our area called the eastern shore. >> president trump: how does that compare with idaho? >> we are very, very small compared to the idaho production but we took a niche between florida and north carolina's spring production. >> president trump: is it a

very similar product or different? >> no. the idaho potatoes are like the russet long potato, we grow red skin potatoes and yellow and potatoes. >> president trump: could you grow and idaho potato? >> we do but it's a different market. our potatoes are shipped right from the field to the store where in idaho they store them through the winter. we also grow green beans for fresh market which is largely dependent on the restaurant. and also corn and beans. i've been innate all my life, and on my home farm there has been potatoes planted there since 1887 which is sort of unusual in the country, different parts of that farm has been potatoes. we appreciate what you're doing for us. >> president trump: thank you very much, i appreciate it. great job. he gave me a little education on potatoes, i wonder if the media

enjoyed that. i don't think so, but that's okay. be careful, we are going after virginia with your crazy governor. they want to take a second amendment away, you know that, right? you have no one regarding her potatoes. as each of you have demonstrated, a healthy economy is maintaining a healthy society and working together we can shield the needy, deliver world-class health care and vanquish the virus. and i have to say the job you do is so powerful and so important. the american farmers are very critical to the success of that nation. what i would like to do is before i finish i would like to ask zippy to come up and say a couple of words because he is at the forefront of what we do. zippy duvall, come on up. >> thank you mr. president. i remember for years and several

months ago i won the election to be president of the american farm bureau and candidate trump called me and he says, i'm going to be a friend to the farmers. mr. president, i'm here to tell you today, thank you. i represent all farmers across the country. and i also farm, that's a beef cattle operation and we grow chicken, and we just stood behind it, and you made the comment with the group behind the white house, you may not be

able to make money from the markets, live we live in the land of plenty. that makes it a national security issue. and we see some empty shells and we all know realize food train n is. and we wouldn't be able to produce that. that we've touched over 50 million people with that hashtag.

you wouldn't think congress, that's helping the people that feed the american people. we look forward to continue to work with you. we appreciate it. >> president trump: that's true. four and a half years ago, i called zippy. i got good support right from the beginning but with come through. she was a great woman, thank you very much. so just to conclude, and i'm proud to stand right by their side. they had some interruptions with

which you know about and we were able to take a very bold action. that action caused them to do what they had to do and they are in good shape and very shortly they will be an absolutely perfect shape. people were worried about that. the action we took was a very important action, larry kudlow, wasn't it? i would like to ask secretary perdue to say a few words followed by ivanka and marty smith, if i could. >> mr. president i remember very clearly calling me just a few weeks ago when you read about the effects of the pandemic on american agriculture. and you said i want you to use all of the available resources at your disposal just as you have done before. i don't know how mr. president but you instinctively know that american

agriculture farmers and ranchers have been the bedrock of our american economy since the founding of our nation and they still are. we talked about the food supply chain. you know that instinctively but i want to tell you i've never in my lifetime seen another president recognize that value among the folks standing here and they represent farmers and ranchers all across the country. we are very appreciative at the usda that we don't have to push the rock up the hill. it usually when it comes to president trump the rock is coming down the hill and we don't have to catch it. we appreciate that very much. the program that we are announcing today will be a benefit, the $16 million of direct payments to farmers of all sizes and really all production there will be very helpful. a real lifeline but certainly the program that ivanka and i, and that's also a lifeline.

both dairy producers and meet producers, and, not really a lifeline for them as well. the food supply chain which begins with these producers representing farmers and i'm honored to be part of it, and you understand just in your heart how valuable our american agriculture sector is and i think you. >> this is an incredible exciting day you can hear through the day. that's a special place at all if you have in the heart of this

president, farmers and ranchers feed america and, that's over the course of the last several months. that $16 million and this farmers that's an amazing initiative, the secretary saw that those were the most vulnerable in long lines at food banks trying to get food and yet there was this unbelievable fresh american produce that was going to waste. so think about that supply chain and ensuring that those who are vulnerable and those who are in need get access to boxes like these, 20-25 pounds of meat, milk, all forms of dairy and of course great fresh produce is incredibly virtuous. it's a great cycle and help small distributors and small

farmers who prioritized in the bids and of course it helps those in need of. we are excited about this program. the boxes themselves will also be going to a mission in d.c. we hope that these boxes will play a big role in feeding those who needed across the country. so thank you and thank you secretary for the hard work of your team and in standing up this program so rapidly. we think it will be extraordinarily successful for our small farmers and of course those in need. thank you. >> thank you, mr. president. you have invited unprecedented leadership to the united states and to the world throughout the crisis and with that you have shown so much concern and support for american agricultu agriculture, on behalf of the

national cattlemen's beef association and the rest of agriculture, we will say thank you. i am not marty and i'm a rancher from florida and serving this year as president of the national cattlemen's beef association. your executive order a few weeks ago directed for the factors and we are starting to see the impact of that. we are getting beef and pork back online and getting products back on the shelf. america's farmers and ranchers continue to work around the clock to feed the public and all of our nation and feed a large part of the world. what you've done with that and what you have done with this current program enables us to stay in business and we continue to do that. we think your administration working with secretary perdue has been a great way for us to all move forward. even more importantly, i want to thank you and your family. it's all about our families and family operation and your family is just as dedicated to this.

ivanka, we thank you for the support you've just shown to us. it's so meaningful. together we get through this and we do beat this and we keep the highest quality, safest and most sustainable protein sources on the plate of americans all through this and we thank you. speak to thank you. okay, any questions really qui quick? >> the aide directed towards cattlemen and chicken farmers and workers who have had to euthanize their flocks already because of the pandemic? >> do you want to answer that question? >> this particular direct payment is not directly for that. there will be a help coming through rcs over the euthanasia and disposal coming that way. so there will certainly