>> thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> announcer: this is "nightline." tonight, reopening america. protesters pushing back against stay-at-home orders. hoping to get back to work and restart the economy. >> the state economically is destroyed, we're going to ruin an awful lot of lives. >> inside the battle over shutdowns and social distancing. plus, studying abroad in denmark. schools restarting class, salons resuming business. what lessons the u.s. can learn to get back on track. and all smiles. 40 workers sacrificing 28 days from home, finally punching out after the fight of their lives. "nightline" will be right back.

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is so irresistible, you'll wanna eat them anywhere, so don't resist! pop 'em outside, or on the go, or on the way home! pop my 100% all-white-meat classic or spicy popcorn chicken combo for just $5.99. good evening. thank you for joining us. tonight as we battle the deadly coronavirus and face yet another week of maintaining our new social order, we all yearn for the same thing, reopening our country and getting back to business. but as we're seeing across the country, there's a heated debate over just how and when.

as our country's streets lay deserted and quiet in the midst of our global pandemic, the sounds of american protesters have gone largely silent. until now. [ honking ] >> our new normal. we will sacrifice our freedoms for our safety. >> reporter: this morning in harrisburg, pennsylvania hundreds of protesters defied the state's stay-at-home order and lined the streets in front of the state capitol. >> give me liberty or give me death! >> reporter: to voice their frustrations around their state's lockdown. >> i don't think it's a good thing for our economy or our country to shut down businesses. because in the end who's going to pay for it? >> reporter: for the past few days this sentiment has moved throughout the country in small pockets. >> we had a really smoking economy. >> reporter: many of the protests organized by conservative groups. but for some their reasons go beyond politics. >> we want to go back to work. >> reporter: from wisconsin to

colorado to maryland. at the same time the death toll climbing, now topping 42,000, including some of the youngest victims we've seen. like 5-year-old skyler herbert. making this a difficult and heated debate about how and when to reopen america. >> unless we get the virus under control, the real recovery economically is not going to happen. so what you do if you jump the gun and go into a situation where you have a big spike, you're going to set yourself back. >> reporter: on friday the president tweeted some states needed to be, quote, liberated. today he said he's working with state governors to figure out how to repope responsibly. >> it's critical to continue the medical war while reopening the economy in a safe and responsible fashion. >> people i think have forgotten that the original plan was not to get rid of coronavirus and not to stop any fatalities or hospitalizations but to lower the peak. and it seems many places have

begun to lower that peak. >> reporter: on the streets of harrisburg some protesters say they need relief now. >> as a small business owner i want to stand up for my employees and our way of life to be able to earn a living. >> reporter: aaron riddle says the governor's order has forced him to lay off 30 of his employees. >> he's closed construction business. he's one of five states that deem construction non-essential, non-life sustaining. so i had to lay off my employees. we have no work. >> we're exercising our first amendment by saying we think this is unfair and americans need to get back to work. >> reopening the state shouldn't be a political issue. we voted in a governor and we want to work with that governor. >> reporter: matthew belles organized this rally on facebook. >> we feel the governor has really kept us in the dark and we haven't had a voice yet to know exactly how and why the decisions are made to put this lockdown in place and what measures we're going to take to reopen the state.

we're not subjects. we're citizens. we're free people. we need to know exactly what's happening with our government. >> reporter: protester diana schafer agrees. >> let's start opening p.a. safely. we're ready to get back to work. >> reporter: over a month out of work as a photographer and her pay as a part-time teacher's aide on pause, the single mother of two is starting to feel the effects of not being able to work. >> normally at this time i would be slammed with senior pictures. that is a huge seller in the spring and also weddings start becoming prevalent. and instead i just have a bunch of free time and frustration. >> reporter: she says her views have been met with harsh criticism. >> i was getting comments like you're part of the problem, you're going to kill everybody, things like that. just really off the wall -- i actually thought i would get more support and i did not. at least not at first. until i realized there was a lot of people that felt the same way that i did but they just didn't

have the courage to speak out about it. >> reporter: but she believes it's worth it. >> i'm not sure if it will make a difference with the governor's decision to reopen things. but at least he knows we have a voice and we're not going to back down. >> reporter: pennsylvania governor tom wolf reacted to the protests by saying he will ease some restrictions on may 8th and allow limited construction to resume in the state as long as social distancing protocols are in place. >> we have to figure out how to open up the workforce in a strategic and safe way. that may mean that we're masked. we may have to space out individual work stations. so those are the type of workplace infection control measures that will be necessary in order to make sure that we decrease the number of cases that we see. >> reporter: some governors are slowly reopening their states now. in georgia governor brian kemp declared gyms, barbershops, bowling alleys can reopen on

friday. texas will reopen some businesses on friday as well. >> i think we're going to see red states respond differently than blue states. it's that balance of making sure that we can treat people that are sick in our hospitals while also understanding that we have to open up our economy at some point. >> certain states are going to be ready before others, and not just states but even within the states there may be certain towns or cities that have less cases than others. so those towns or cities could open up before other places within that state. >> reporter: one of the first places in our country to kick off this kind of protest was lansing, michigan. dubbed "operation gridlock," more than 3,000 protesters took to their cars last wednesday to oppose the governor of michigan's stay-at-home order. >> it's time for our state to be opened up. we're tired of not being able to buy the things that we need, go to the hairdressers, get our hair done. it's time to open up.

>> reporter: the protest was organized by a group called the michigan conservative coalition. >> my name is marian sheridan. >> reporter: marian sheridan is the group's co-founder. >> it was a great avenue for people to express their frustration with our governor and her heavy-handed policies. >> reporter: michigan governor gretchen whitmer has imposed some of the strictest stay-at-home orders in the nation. >> you are also not allowed to gather in groups of more than three or more people. i think that she just went too far. wayne, oakland and mccomb counties have 85% of the corona cases in our state. so we have 80 other counties who have very few or none even corona cases. yet they're all being held under the same standard. >> reporter: is there any thought, though, that because this virus can spread so quickly that those counties that don't have it currently, thank god, but it could very easily move there if they don't, if there

isn't one standard for the entire state? >> well, i think that people are very smart now. we learned we need to wash our hands, keep our social distancing. it means common sense. and we really feel the governor is a little bit more interested in politics because she's a possible pick for the vice presidential candidacy. >> reporter: really? you don't think that her motivation is a love for your great state, to keep her citizens safe? no? >> well, i just think that a great leader unites people and a great leader doesn't criticize the federal government. you need to unite people and give people hope. and in michigan she has failed to do that. >> reporter: but the purpose of the lansing rally seemed to shift. some protesters took to the steps of the state capitol armed with assault rifles. what was the point of bringing weapons to the state capitol? what does that have to do with covid-19? what does that have to do with the economy? >> i think it just has to do with a show of constitutional

rights. our message was also consistently stay in your cars, stay safe. i'm not going to claim any responsibility for the people on the lawn because we didn't encourage that. >> reporter: michigan is the third hardest-hit state in the country. to date over 30,000 have tested positive. more than 2,300 have died. but sheridan says some attention must now be turned to getting michigan's economy back up and running. >> if the state economically is destroyed, we're going to ruin an awful lot of lives. >> reporter: dr. fauci has said that unless we get the virus under control economic recovery isn't going to happen. >> well, i agree with him. and you know, i do see in michigan it's starting to become under control. so why are we under these same stringent guidelines put out by the governor? >> reporter: less than 600 miles away diana shaffer is wondering the same way. >> so our numbers have been

going down, and things are starting to be on the upswing. so i don't see why pennsylvania wouldn't be considered one of the states to start may 1st. >> reporter: until then she hopes people will see that although her view is different people will respect it. >> there has to be a middle ground here where we all understand each other and know that we're in the same battle, but we can't be spewing hate back and forth. up next, back in business in denmark. but when can we say the same in the u.s.?

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launching a large-scale antibody testing program, a step toward reopening the u.s., hoping to join the ranks of denmark, now cautiously restarting after life on lockdown. here's abc's james longman. >> reporter: back to school. these danish students are back in class after weeks in lockdown. all laughs. although it's not exactly back to normal. >> does anyone like being back at school? >> yes! >> reporter: this country is one of the first in europe to begin opening up. for weeks it was on lockdown. more than 300 people died. >> a month ago we acted quickly and we closed down rapidly. and health care in denmark is free to all citizens. which helped us getting the virus under control. and that was the key to flatten the curve. >> reporter: the continent slowly crawling back to life. germany, italy, and spain among other countries easing restrictions.

but nowhere more so than denmark. today on the streets of copenhagen locals breathing in freedom on an unseasonably warm day. one-on-one businesses like hairdressers and beauty salons are open. >> so i'll bet you're fully blocked. >> yes, i am. >> reporter: for tom his face mask is now as essential as his shears. what other measures do you have to take? >> we're using all this alcohol to cleaning all the stuff, cleaning the seats and everything. and cleaning around here. and towels, throwing them out. only used once. >> reporter: only elementary schools have been open. classrooms often split in two to avoid crowding. 12-year-old liv is enjoying a whole desk to herself. but it's not easy. is it hard to keep the rules of social distancing at school? >> very much. i've missed my friends and it's hard not to hug my friends very much because i just missed my friends so much. >> reporter: social distancing still in place. and yes, hand washing.

>> at the beginning they were quite good at keeping themselves apart but we must remember these are children. they are magnets. they want to be together. we must remember this is not an event, this is here for a long time. and we've got to continue this. >> reporter: denmark has been able to do this because they moved fast to lock down. but they're cautious of a second wave. >> no one has tried this before. so we are moving on very cautious and moving on step by step and making sure that those small steps that we are taking, they are grounded in what our experts are telling us. >> reporter: one step at a time for this country. and a glimpse of hope to others, cautiously looking to take their first steps. >> our thanks to james. we've just seen steps to recovery in denmark. this as america struggles to contain a rise in covid-19 cases. some states seeing better success rates than others. earlier today i spoke to connecticut governor ned lamont. >> governor, thank you so much

for joining us. first question, across the country including in connecticut tonight there have been protests by people who are pushing for the economy to reopen. what do you say to those people who want the economy open now? >> you're rushing things. it'll make it worse for the long term. we've got a plan to reopen the economy carefully. and we're following actually the lead of the pence covid counsel down in washington, d.c. in terms of how we open this up on a strategic basis that keeps people safe. >> you mentioned what's being said out of washington. how do you square what you see as the path forward with how the president sees the path forward? >> he's made clear he wants the economy open as quickly as possible. >> yep. leaving that aside, the covid council, they've got a phased way that we get the economies open again, starting with retail and essential and then non-essential, do that on a safe basis, use masks wherever

possible if you're in close contact, say, a barber or nail salon, fever testing for the big manufacturing like we have in connecticut with pratt & whitney and electric boat. i think there's a thoughtful way we are going to give people back to work, and i've got to give people a sense of direction. we're going to get it done and get it done safely. >> at this point do you have a ballpark idea, an aspirational date when you think you could reopen connecticut for people going back to work? >> i think we can start reopening connecticut may 20th. but then it's going to phase in over a period of time. the governors are leading on this, which is how i think it should be. but we also need good guidance from the federal government. guidance in terms of testing protocols, help in terms of purchasing things. there the federal government can be really helpful. >> how do you assure them that we're considering health and the economy with equal intensity? >> nobody wants to get this economy open again more than i do. i know what it's meaning to small business. i know what it's doing to our budgets. i understand that. but a false start, getting people back too soon and then

having a second wave of this, that would be a body blow to the economy we couldn't handle. >> and governor, final question. these demonstrations we've seen over the weekend and this evening have ratcheted up for many people in this country the tension that exists because of covid-19 and people's concerns about getting the economy going. what would you say specifically to them, not just to the people of your state but to the country? >> as dr. albert ko, who's leading our way out of this, said the other day, before you protest why don't you take a walk through one of our icu units? why don't you see the agony these folks are going through? on a ventilator, desperate to -- it's like a one-ton person sitting on your chest. this is like a new thing we've never had to deal with before. we're going to do it, we're going to get it done, get on the back side of this, we'll get the economy moving again, you'll have your job, but it won't work if we don't do it safely. >> governor, to you, your family, your great state, godspeed. thank you, sir. >> thanks, byron. and next, capping off a

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no payments for three months. plus, we'll cover your payments for up to two additional months. this is help when you need it. i do motivational speakingld. in addition to the substitute teaching. i honestly feel that that's my calling-- to give back to younger people. i think most adults will start realizing that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to or they don't remember things as vividly as they once did. i've been taking prevagen for about three years now. people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. and healthcare troops weand first responders are. on the front line fighting it every day. let's join the fight, by staying home. staying home is not a retreat, it's the most brave and aggressive weapon we have against this enemy.

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and finally tonight, making a difference. >> whoo! >> for more than 40 workers, creating life-saving equipment in delaware county, pennsylvania, this bittersweet moment, clocking out after working nearly a month's worth of 12-hour rotations, making material needed to create n95 masks, hospital gowns and sanitary wipes. all agreeing to leave their families, supporting them every step of their way as they step up in the fight against covid-19. the workers will also be rewarded a pay raise. that's

>> from his house! >> jimmy: hi. i'm jimmy kimmel. i'm jimmy kimmel. i try to say my name twice out loud every day now so i don't forget it. which is especially important on what might be the most forgetful day of the year. it's 4/20. not only is it 4/20, it's 4/20/20. this day is so stoned, it's repeating itself. between 4/20 and all the bread people are making, this country has never been more baked than we are today. unfortunately, health experts say smoking pot during the virus crisis is not a good idea. it can irritate the lungs and make you more susceptible to illness. and also, you might eat all the food you hoarded. do we even need marijuana anymore? i mean, everybody's sitting on the couch watching netflix and wondering what day it is already. later on, we will be joined by the santa claus of 4/20, mr. snoop dogg. assuming he can get his computer open. you know, on saturday night i was part of a special that aired all over the world. it was called "one world: together at home." i co-hosted with jimmy fallon and stephen colbert. it raised $128 million for covid-19 relief. there were some great musical performances from