before i call the police. this is "nightline." >> tonight, the open and shut case. states gambling on getting back to business in the middle of a pandemic. steps toward normalcy in texas. >> if anything our parents caught us, we're not quitters. >> and in georgia, the rewards and risks of opening. >> we have to take this risk. >> as small business owners in new york fear an end to the lockdown. >> i don't think we should open before we really feel it's safe to open. >> balancing fear for their leechs with t lives with the struggle to sustain their business. >> he built a coffee shop into a world brand, howard schultz,

with a plan to get america back on track. reading the economic tea leaves. "nightline" will be right back. michael vasquez! come over here.

i've heard such good things about you, your company. well, i wouldn't have done any of it without you. without this place. this is for you. michael, you didn't have to... and, we're going to need some help with the rest. you've worked so hard to achieve so much. perhaps it's time to partner with someone who knows you and your business well enough to understand what your wealth is really for. good evening. thanks for joining us. america passing a grim milestone

tonight. more than 50,000 people have died from coronavirus. but another crisis unfolding as 26 million face unemployment. as small business openers in texas are tentatively opening up shop and in georgia, full speed ahead. the battle between survival and sustenance as store owners dread what's ahead. >> it is april 24th. and we are here at the store. customers are pulling in. >> it's reopening day in texas. >> i have some orders that came through online last night. >> across the state, many stores back in business, but it's not quite business as usual. hally davenport's business isen. iream c outside. customers reserve spots online. so 10:30, 10:35, 10:40, we place the packages on the ice cream cart. >> an hour north of austin,

pecan plaza is welcoming back customers as well. >> we're so excited about seeing our customers. we're so excited about seeing our friends. and we want everyone to stay safe. >> hey, emily. >> reporter: amy thomas and her husband lloyd own the strip mall, she also owns zooty's. >> i believe we have 3 cents in it right now. who would ever think this would be happening? if anything our parents taught us, we're not quitters. >> reporter: today marks the beginning of a new phase for some parts of the country. >> ares in a strip mall in the heart of texas, bell county which only had three confirmed deaths related to covid-19. we also visited a neighborhood in brookland. kings county, new york suffered 3,000 deaths many they are still

very much shuttered. yet these business owners are grappling with the virus and the crushing burden of staying closed. >> i know my bubble and i hear sirens every night. i have 18 years of freepiends i made and relationships i've built through the store, and i think being closed is totally appropriate right now. so i agree with being closed. i don't agree with having to go out of business because of it. >> reporter: but today all eyes are on the state of georgia where governor relaxed restrictions even further, allowing non-essential businesses like bowling alleys, gyms and salons to open their doors, something both the mayor of atlanta and the president oppose. >> i say you make your own decision. i told him that. i said you're not under guidelines, but i'm letting you make your own decision, but i want people to be safe. and i want the people in georgia to be safe. >> reporter: sanctuary salon has

been closed nearly a month, but today they're fully booked for three weeks. >> when the governor was announcing, before he finished getting it out of his mouth, our phones were blowing up. texts, calls, they all want back in. >> reporter: now that they're back open they're taking every possible precaution. >> we'll be doing temperature checks, prescreening them the day before when we confirm their appointment. >> reporter: the mayor of atlanta says the decision to let these businesses open is a deadly gamble. >> what i believe is there are some who are willing to sacrifice lives for the sake of the economy, and that's unacceptable to me. >> reporter: the covid-19 pandemic is both a public health emergency and an economic disaster. more than 26 million people have filed for upemployme filed foreunemployment in the last five weeks. it has been overwhelmed. today the president signing an additional relief package with

$310 billion becoming available next week. >> great for small businesses. great for the workers. >> reporter: hally applied for the paycheck protection program weeks ago. >> our application was in review. the funds ran out, and now we stay in a place of really relying on those funds to be restored. so we are fingers crossed for the ppp. >> reporter: even though hally's store is partially open, the loss of income has been devastating. >> now that 75% of our sales have dropped it's extremely hard many. >> reporter: even small businesses that are allowed to reopen today are in dire financial straits. >> the month of february, we had $20,000 in sales. the month of march i had less than a thousand. >> reporter: what role do strip malls like yours play across the country in terms of the economy, employment. >> my opinion? >> reporter: mm-hm. >> we're the backbone of the

united states. because we are small business. that is what i think the united states is all about. >> reporter: but in states still on lockdown, many business owners with little to do anxiously await the future. in hip brooklyn, zuzu's petals is usual blooming with business, but now these benches are empty. >> we've been closed since march22nd. >> reporter: she's been open since the early '70s. >> my store is named after a little girl in the movie "it's a wonderful life." >> reporter: like jimmy stewart's character in the movie, fonda has overcome numerous financial challenges. >> our first major problem was in probably 1987 when the real estate market fell apart. 9/11 was a challenge. hurricane sandy also was a big blow to the business. but nothing in my experience

measures up to this. >> reporter: she applied for two federal loans as part of the $2 trillion bailout package but has only received enough to get her through one more week. >> no matter what they give, it will not be sufficient. >> reporter: how do you know that? >> i know that because it's based on payroll as opposed to lost business income. all of the bills that i have now, my rinse, ent, my utilitiey may be deferred but they're accumulating. >> now i'm on union street. >> reporter: sara opened her business six years ago, the stylist's four and a half-star-rated business was doing so well that three years ago she took out a second loan to expand. >> my usually blustling salon ad saturday is empty. >> reporter: she paid off $84,000 worth of debt before having to shut down. now she's on the brink. >> thinking of adding more debt

is not something i'd like to do at all. too much work. we need a more flexible loan. our employees can stay on unemployment longer than we might be able to survive longer, be able to use the loan towards things we actually need. we might be able to pivot our business somehow. >> so this is a kit that my clients can ask for. >> reporter: trying to make ends meet, sara has gotten creative. mixing hair dyes and selling at-home root rescue kits. customers can pick them up contact free. >> thanks, jen. >> reporter: and then learn how-to with her youtube video. these sales aren't nearly enough to keep the salon running, but she's hoping things will improve just enough through the power of community activism. both she and fonda are part of a group called "we built this brooklyn", cultivated by diana

cane. >> 90% of the businesses in n n york employ fewer people. we'll all be a mess if we don't figure this out. >> reporter: diana's shop has been successful for 18 years. >> hello, beautiful store. >> reporter: but like sara and fonda, her days are now filled with anxiety. if you can't make rent, what happens? >> if i can't make rent, i will close. that's that's what happens. i will close, i will liquidate. >> reporter: you saw some of the big corporations getting ppp what was your reaction? >> fury and disbelief. it would translate into 1,000 $10,000 grants for stores like mine that would make the difference between life and death for our businesses. it's appalling. i could go down after 18 years because i'm closed for two months. that's not okay.

>> reporter: you've been in business for 49 years. could this pandemic wipe you out? >> no. it's my life. it sustains me. it brings me joy. it has allowed me to be an independent woman. it's allowed me to support myself. >> reporter: now, one of their main focuses, negotiating lower rents with landlords so that both sides can survive. >> it's not just a question of forgiving the rent or putting it off or taking half and then expecting the rest later. the economic environment is going to be totally changed. >> reporter: for the owners of pecan plaza, they're working with their tenants to find solutions. do you feel like there is this false dichotomy between saving lives or saving jobs? >> i feel like you have to be cautious. they need to find a vaccine for this. let's hope they do, but, in the

meantime, businesses cannot shut down. there are people in businesses that they cannot work at home. they, they're not getting paid. >> reporter: as for their own business, the couple is doubling down on optimism, true to their entrepreneurial spirit. do you feel like you can recoup what you've lost? >> absolutely. absolutely. >> check with us in a few years. >> i tell you what, you check back with me in a few months. >> reporter: okay. and coming up next for us, former starbucks ceo, howard schultz, building an economic bridge to help small businesses survive through the pandemic. because you didn't have another dvt. not today. one blood clot puts you at risk of having another, chose keep proteed. isven to treat and reduce the risk of dvt at risk of having another, or pe blood clots from happening again. almost 98% of people did not have another dvt or pe.

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starbucks, once a local coffee shop now an iconic with rebecca vjarvis, his plan o support struggling businesses in the wake of covid-19. >> reporter: as businesses across the country debate whether to reopen, it will likely be weeks before you can enjoy a cup of coffee inside your local starbucks. the company keeping seating areas at its cafes closed until may 3rd and reviewing next steps on a case by case basis. >> there's so many businesses here that deserve to be saved. there are so many small businesses that perform a unique service in so many different

ways that need to survive. >> reporter: howard schultz, who built the brand from a few coffee shops to a worldwide chain says it will take at least $1 trillion in a program along the lines of what the united states did after world war ii to save those small businesses. so you say that small business needs a marshall plan. what do you mean by that? >> well, right now there are 30 million small businesses in america, employing almost 60 million people. they are facing a desperate, catastrophic situation. ppp one and ppp two is well-intended, but it is a short-term band-aid on a much more severe problem. >> reporter: that's the government's paycheck protection program or ppp, supplying loans to help small businesses. you say there needs to be a third round, specifically for businesses like independent restaurants that would be a

trillion dollars? >> the money is going to run out in seven to eight weeks after the small businesses or restaurants who got ppp and most of them did not, pay the people for the next seven, eight weeks. the real problem is the inability of small businesses and/or independent restaurants to manage and navigate through a post covid opening, and what's going to happen, and this is the big, big issue, that i estimate, and this could be conservative, that at least 30% of america's small businesses and independent restaurants will permanently close as a result of not having an economic bridge to a vaccine. >> reporter: 30%. >> yes, so now you're talking about millions of small businesses, millions of people who are going to become unemployed. congress must understand that the appropriation on ppp one and ppp two is just not enough. and so, in the next three months, there must be an

understanding. we are in an emergency situation and these businesses are not going to go away. without spending that kind of money, the economic of damage to the country and level of unemployment is going to be much, much greater than the investment that needs to be made to keep these businesses whole. we're calling them businesses. these are people, hard-working entrepreneurs. families, who have put their life savings and their entire life in these businesses, and they're going to be wiped out to no fault of their own. >> reporter: so let's go back to 1987. if you were given the green light back then to open those 11 locations that you were told you have to do it with 25% of the space for customers, would you? >> i'd be hard-pressed to say yes. i don't think we would have survived. many of these small bilusinesse are the starbucks of tomorrow. >> reporter: now he and his wife

sherry, providing money to workers in the seattle area who've lost their jobs due to the pandemic. >> we have distributed over 7,000 checks already. so many people who received the $500, and this was so heartwarming, gave back $5, $25, $50 back to the fund for other people. this is an opportunity where we all can make a difference. >> reporter: where do you think it lands five years from now, ten years from now, howard. what does the economy look like? >> this is a time for truth and transparency from government officials and to do everything we can to balance the need for the government to reopen and at the same time protect the integrity and health of citizens. but we need the kind of leadership that literally is walking in the shoes of the american people. we must lift up those who unfortunately find themselves left behind. our thanks to rebecca.

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and finally tonight, an expression of profound gratitude. 44-year-old marine veteran, alex melo leaving the hospital, beating covid-19 and giving his heartfelt thanks to the hospital team who cared for him. >> i want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the work you have done. >> a marine and health care workers all heeding the call of duty. of course we salute them all. good night, america, have a safe weekend. ♪ ba, da, ba, ba, da, ba, ba, da,ba ♪ ♪ jimmy kimmel live ♪ this is ridiculous. from his house! >> jimmy: hello and welcome to my home. and you'll let me be your online

pilates instructor, too. this is our son billy's third birthday, and we are very grateful to the doctors and the nurses, respiratory therapists, everyone who worked to save his life three years ago this week from cedar sinai hospital and children's hospital here in l.a. billy is donating 1,000 n95 masks. the only mask he knows about is a spiderman mask. he is non-stop with spiderman, all day and night. billy's obsessed with two things, spiderman and the word diarrhea, and i'm going to surprise him with one of those tonight. speaking of spiderman, the comic book world is in mourning because comic-con has been

canceled. the good news is if you still want to pack into a building with a bunch of people wearing masks, you can go to any trader joe's. canceling comic-con was the right call. the only thing worse than getting the coronavirus would be getting it because a guy dressed like loki sneezed on your nachos. a city worker in tampa made a discovery over the weekend. like most places, public parks in tampa are shut down, but a park warden discovered a man working out at a park downtown, and that man turned out to be tom brady, the new quarterback for the buccaneers, and this is the best part, she kicked him out. and look, i know we need to be safe and high-profile people need to encourage responsible behavior, but i feel this would have been one of the few times it would have been appropriate to say, do you know who i am? i'm tom f-ing brady. you should