frustrated and fed up. protesters across this country demanding their states reopen.

>> plus, a picture perfect weekend as people came out of quarantine. the risk it all poses, though, with the first wave of covid still not over. >> video diary. what it's like to fly from one city to the other in the midst of a pandemic. >> plus, american hero. a farmer who instead of letting his crops go to waste, is using them to feed hungry americans. you'll hear from him. >> a very good morning to all of you. thanks for joining us. we're going to head out west and give you a live look at the santa monica pier in california. a sky-high birds eye view. that thing dead center is the ferris wheel, lit 24 hours a day among the broad landscape of the california basin. in orange county, governor gavin newsom has a so-called hard closure in effect on all beaches after huge crowds turned out last weekend.

the stay-at-home order remains indefinitely. as of this morning, 1.1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus across the country, more than 66,000 people have died. and starting tomorrow, more than two dozen states home to roughly 146 million people will be open for business. arizona, indiana, kansas, nebraska, are among those set to ease the stay-at-home orders while implementing some new restrictions. in flofrida, stores and restaurants will be open in 25% capacity. to missouri, all businesses can reopen as long as they follow social distancing. the governor has also given the green light for concerts to begin again in that state. though we have to question social distancing there. here in new york city, 1,000 police officers were dispatched this weekend to enforce social distancing as the warm weather draws crowds of people outside. the nypd has made about 60 arrests related to social distancing since the

stay-at-home policy began in march. new york, of course, the epicenter of the crisis in the u.s. starting tomorrow, all costco shoppers and employees will have to wear face coverings in the stores. they're the largest u.s. retailer to enact this store. most costco warehouses will return to their normal hours tomorrow. >> on knlcapitol hill, senatorse set to return to washington this week. they decline ed white house's office to provide them with rapid result tests. >> let's go to monica alba joining us from the white house as usual with more on this story. okay, there offer was made, monica. why did congress decline this offer from the administration? >> good morning, alex. that's right. after a little bit of concern with these 100 senators, some of them who are in the more elderly portion of the population, set to return to washington, d.c.

tomorrow, but the capitol physician says he simply doesn't have enough tests to test everybody, so they instead made a request to the white house that was honored rather quickly with alex azar saying they would be happy to give 1,000 rapid tests, those abbott testing mechanisms that give a result in a matter of minutes for hill use, but in a very rare joint statement, and we should note, bipartisan statement from house speaker nancy pelosi and majority leader mitch mcconnell, they essentially said thanks but no thanks. i want to read you a part. they said congress is grateful for the administration's generous offer to deploy rapid covid testing capabilities to the hill, but we respectfully decline at this time. our country's testing capabilities continue to scale up nationwide, and congress wants to keep directing resources to the frontline facilities where they can do the most good the most quickly. as tersing continues to be an issue nationwide, the leaders on capitol hill are saying we don't want special treatment.

we'll just test senators who may be exhibiting symptoms. we don't need to take away frame others who may need that testing. here at the white house, the press secretary did take questions on this from reporters and said it was up to them, it wasn't for the white house to make. take a look at how she framed this yesterday. >> what happened is the attending physician was out there saying that the testing didn't exist, but we had no inquiry in advance outside of the headlines coming out that that was even a request. the moment we learned from the media this was a request and something that had been discussed by the attending physician, we immediately acted and said we would provide those tests. >> so you see there the white house saying that they will leave it up to the them, but the president weighed in and went a step further, tweeting overnight that there is no reason to turn it down, in his words, this generous offer, except for politics. he took a swipe at speaker nancy pelosi saying we have plenty of testing. maybe you need a new doctor over

there, and in his words, crazy nancy, that nickname he has used for the house speaker, will use it as an excuse not to show up to work, but we should note, speaker pelosi has been on the hill and working in recent weeks and this was, again, bipartisan statement that also comes from mitch mcconnell. you see there the president didn't take a swipe at him, but what also is of concern here, especially for the physician on the hill, is that washington, d.c. hasn't yet met its peak in cases, they believe, so there is some question about these elderly senators returning and what could happen in the weeks to come. the house won't be back until later this month, alex. >> i want to confirm, there's no guarantee all 100 senators as they get back to work tomorrow will have been tested for covid-19. >> that's exactly right. they're going to be able to test those who have symptoms. as of now, not anyone who is asymptomatic. >> thank you for that. >> new today from new york, a new challenge from mother

nature. warm temperatures, hundreds of new yorkers streaming into parks, including central park, and following a safe distance behind, 1,000 nypd officers on their bikes, also horseback, to try to enforce social distancing rules. let's go to corey cough fn joining me now from times square. with a good morning to you, police say they're trying to not hand out summonses. they'll hand out masks. they think they'll be more important. >> trying to get the message out that they're not trying to get anybody in trouble, not trying to ruin your good time. they understand you're probably getting cabin fever. you want to enjoy the sunshine, but do so responsibly and make sure you're social distancing not just from neighbors and fans but try to sit as far away from people you see sitting in parks. take a listen to what they said yesterday as far as their whole

strategy when it comes to making sure to enforce social distancing. >> we're going to be assigned in all five boroughs to the various parks throughout the city. today, we're driving around the parks telling people to put the masks on. not looking to write summanonse unless we have to. our main priority is just to keep people safe and make sure the mask is on. most people i spoke to understand what we have to do. it's semperaa temporary thing a everybody is looking to get back to normal, but they want to be outside, so they'll sacrifice, wear the mask, and do what we have to do for now. >> yeah, that is the risk that state leadership says they will be willing to take, a calculated risk to allow people to get outside their homes and get exercise and stretch their weary legs from this rainy spring we have been having here. of course, city streets, many of them across the five boroughs,

seven miles, will be closed to allow for people to walk in the streets and for bikes as well. this comes as the mta is closing down from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. buses, and subway trains to be disinfected and offer free rides for essential workers overnight. all this coming as new jersey is seeing its highest number of deaths. they're slowly starting to reopen some beaches and parks and golf courses, but they have to be very careful with their death numbers starting to tip up. >> yeah, just making note here. 78 and sunny today in new york. buckle up, everybody. we're going to have a lot of people outdoors. >> pennsylvania is getting a head start on its plans to reopen parts of the state. golf courses are included in the list of businesses that can now restart operations ahead of governor wolf's regional reopening plan going into effect next week. mara barrett is joining us from a golf course just outside of philadelphia. gorgeous greens there. but what are you seeing? are people starting to tee up?

because we heard the reservations went through the roof. >> absolutely, alex. you heard the same here. they just started off the day teeing off at 7:00 a.m. we saw the first set of golfers about ten minutes ago. the next set should be coming in a couple minutes because they're spacing out the tee times 10 to 15 minutes to allow for social distancing. the putting green behind me is empty because any congregation areas like that are closed just like the clubhouse. governor wolf recommended a long list of guidelines that the golf courses are following. they're not renting golf clubs or push carts. not allowing for rakes or people moving the pins out of the holes because they want to minimize touching if possible. this is just the first step as he's opened golf courses, marinas, and private camp grounds because he wants people to focus on their mental hethd. some golfers who expressed excitement about being out, the executive director told me

yesterday, they saw about 95% full of their bookings full. they're looking ahead to a very busy day here, and he said he thinks this might be a turning point for philadelphia when it comes to other businesses reopening. take a listen. >> people are just thankful. we have hadn't anybody not show up with a smile. everybody is very excited to get out of the house, to, you know, for the first time, really see a light at the end of the tunnel. so i think this marks for people in philadelphia that we're going to turn the corner and we're able to do this safely. >> it's just the start ahead of the regional reopening that will start next friday, and that's only in the northcentral and northwest portions of the state. the governor was asked what he would do if it's found at places like this, if the virus continues spreading, and he said he might have to rein in closures. pennsylvania has said they don't

have a specific plan or funding for additional contact tracing or testing that will have to be adequate in order for more regions to reopen outside of the normal health department's jurisdiction exactly. >> so there's definitely a lot to keep on eye on. thank you. >> joining me now, dr. earnest wong, chief of emergency medical, and holly philips, internist in private practice here. dr. wang, what do you make of cities that will start lifting restrictions tomorrow. is it your assessment it is too soon? >> it's a good time to start talking about it. it's been about 40 days and it's probably the time to make a calculated opening if you have the processes in place to make sure you can test and contact trace and isolate. so in our state, we have regions

and counties that have differing levels of covid-19, so those that are less affected can probably, if they put these in place, can probably slowly reopen. >> but doctor, isn't that a big if, sir? because proper testing, maura barrett, my colleague just proceeding you, said they don't have contact tracing. they're not able to be certain who's been in touch with who. again, we don't have everybody being tested. we don't even have every single senator guaranteed they'll be testing for the reasons that were outlined at the top of the show, so does it concern you there may be a backslide, if you will, and that people will pay the price? >> yes, that's why i said if. and so it's a big if, and what i'm concerned about is that people will go out and even with

social distancing measures, we will see a spike. i'm concerned about that. >> okay. dr. philips, the report that we just had out of new york city, we have had very nice weather this weekend. 78 degrees coming today. it's going to be beautiful. certainly, a lot of new yorkers have headed outside into the parks. does it weorry you to see the pictures. do you think people are doing enough to maintain social distancing? >> sure, i think we certainly have a unique view into this, sitting in the middle of the hot zone of this pandemic. what concerns me, i think, about some of the reopenings in states is there's this dichotomy. on one hand, we continue to see an increase in deaths and illnesses. more than 1,000 people died from coronavirus related complications just yesterday. but there are guidelines in place for a safe reopening. one of those guidelines includes seeing a decline in infections over the course of 14 days.

it seems that few if any states have met those criterion. and certainly, in a place that's the center, the epicenter of the virus, like new york city, we would want to stay very, very vigilant. now, we have seen people out wearing masks, trying to stay six feet apart, but part of the reason that made new york city and new york state really the epicenter of the virus is the density of the population. you can try to stay six feet away, but if you're on an elevator trying to get out of your building, well, the elevator itself may only be four feet wide. i think that does create challenges. that having been said, there may be states where we can start to reopen sooner, more safely, and others where we need to take a very, very prudent and slow approach. >> dr. wang, i'm sure you have become familiar with that university of minnesota study suggesting coronavirus cases

could surge in the fall, that the virus could last up to two years. when there's talk about a second wave, do you have concerns that it could be even more severe than what we have experienced this first round? >> yes, absolutely. you know, there's probably going to be a second wave. we have to anticipate it. and the second wave, you know, you'll have to see what it's going to be, but you're going to mix in, in the fall, you're going to mix in flu, seasonal flu, other respiratory viruses, and now you're going to throw covid in the mix. it's going to be a challenge in terms of diagnostics and a surge capacity. so i am concerned about that. >> and dr. philips, dr. fauci was speaking with my colleague, savannah guthrie, on "today," saying it is possible hundreds of millions of doses of a coronavirus vaccine could be ready by january. in your mind, is that feasible, and are there concerns about

moving too quickly to develop a vaccine? >> certainly, there are very many concerns about moving too quickly because we have to make sure, number one, that the vaccine is safe, first and foremost, that we're not causing healthy people illness by giving them a vaccine. and number two, we need to make sure that the vaccine is effective. usually, when we talk about the development of vaccines, we're talking in terms of years, not month. now, there are many, many approaches we're taking to developing this coronavirus vaccine that could shorten that course. but still, we have to get through phase one, two, and three. human trials, which puts us at closer to a year if not 18 months. and then we have to actually develop the vaccine. generally, getting a vaccine on the market, putting it out there, making enough doses could take six months or more. hopefully, some of those things can be expedited without putting the public at risk.

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i spoke to all the hospitals and asked them to take additional information from people who are walking into the hospitals. to try to find out where these infections are coming from. are they frontline workers? or are they people who are staying home? are these infections that are being spread in the home? or are they frontline workers, which means they're getting up every day, getting on public transit, going to work, and maybe they're getting it on public transit, maybe they're getting it at the workplace. >> new york governor andrew cuomo there discussing the data he's now asking hospitals to direct as the state tries to get more information to better

battle kroebs. this as nearly 313,000 cases in the empire state. joining me is new york lieutenant governor kathy hochul. among the things the governor was asking is if frontline workers may be getting sick as they commute to work. how much did this factor into the governor shutting down new york city subways overnight which goes into effect overnight this week? >> that was a significant factor to make sure we're doing everything we can to protect our frontline workers. we put them in danger every day. we're asking them to go into the line of fire. if we can't protect them during their commute, that's something wrong with our system. the governor grabbed us and said we're going to do something dramatic. we have never had to shut down the new york city subway system and we'll do it on a limited basis during hours we have determined there's the lowest level of ridership.

overall ridership is down about 90%, but this is all about protecting the people, primarily women, two thirds of minimum wage workers still out there in the food service areas are women. 76% of frontline workers in the hospitals and health care are women. they're leaving their kids. they deserve to have us protect them and make sure the subways are sterilized every day. unprecedented, but as the governor said, these are unprecedented times and we need to take these steps to make sure they don't get sick because they take care of everyone else. >> i was stunned by an article i read backed up their statistics you offered about the affect on women with regard to the coronavirus. i'm curious about your focus because i know you're leading the effort to reopen the economy in the western part of new york. where does that may 15th target date factor into this? >> what we have done is determined that upstate new york and downstate as much as they want to be one state for every

purpose, we talk about that united one state concept, in this case, the impact has been so much harder on downstate, and we did not want to hold back the reopening of upstate in areas where the numbers are down. what we have come up with, 12 steps that need to be met. that includes a 14-day decline in the number of new cases and hospitalizations. how we can do the contact tracing, how much testing is out there. there's a lot that goes into that formula. i'm monitoring the western side of new york, which is really a microcosm of the state. larger area, buffalo, new york, density populated areas, but also rural. that's what we're trying to do, figure out how to slowly reopen parts of the economy by the may 15th deadline and say yes, we can do this with these precautions in place. it hinges on whether new yorkers are going to continue to make sure that they keep social distancing, that they wear their mask, and they're smart about it, because the last thing governor cuomo and i want to do is say, okay, we opened too

soon. now we have to shut it down. we can't let that happen so we'll be driven by the numbers primarily on what is happening on the ground. i'm able to report from that based in buffalo these days and keep an eye on all of upstate and making sure we get it right. >> being that you said buffalo is something of a microcosm of new york, certainly for new york city, bars and restaurants are a huge part of the businesses and community here. socially speaking. do you have any guesstimate as to when bars and restaurants are going to get back up and running, and what do you think of the other states that are implementing a 25% start to a partial reopening now in bars and restaurants? is that an idea that's amenable to you? >> every state is so different. new york state was hardest hit than any place in the nation and more than most parts on the planet. that's whey we have to be smart about this and also recognize as the governor did six weeks ago this requires an effort that involves our surrounding

counties and surrounding states. you look at new jersey and connecticut, new york city, that's one metropolitan area for all intents and purposes. that's a different dynamic than we have upstate where you're not close to other regions like that. there's no way of knowing right now, as much as i would love to tell the restaurant owners and people starving for something other than a home cooked meal, we just don't know. we're driven by the numbers. that's why governor cuomo's spreads have been brilliantly successful in driving down the numbers. we're still seeing 900 people under hospitals every day, but it's so much better than it had been. gives credit to the governor for executing a strategy, but for new yorkers for following it. that's what's been so astounding about this whole response we had, is that this would not have worked if new yorkers did not believe in our governor and his daily messaging, and i think he's now set the bar of what the

expectation is from elected officials. you need to communicate directly with your public, earn their trust, and they'll follow you. >> 100% agree with you on that. very proud to have the governor leading the state as well as you, lieutenant governor kathy hochul, thank you so much for your time. >> the search for a paper trail. the latest on the sexual assault claim against former vice president biden. but first, we'll give you the view from the cockpit of a navy blue angel. the blue angels and the air force's thunderbirds flew over atlanta, oklahoma city, baltimore, and washington, d.c. on saturday, they were celebrating first responders. are you loving this as much as i am? it's fascinating. it's exciting. for some of you, it might be a lilt scary, but bring it on. very cool, nonetheless. if you listen for just a moment, it's just like you're there. it's best we stay apart for a bit, but you're not alone. we're automatically refunding our customers a portion of their personal auto premiums. learn more at libertymutual.com/covid-19.

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let's get to the facts now

at the bottom of the hour. new coronavirus deaths nearly doubled in italy yesterday after several days of declining, the number of new cases there has remained steady, though. this is the last day italians will have to spend in full lockdown which has been the longest in europe. >> back here in the u.s., protesters crowded the nevada state capital yesterday to protest the governor's extensions of the state's stay-home order. some retail businesses are open with restrictions, but residents are ordered to stay home until may 15th. demonstrators say the state has already been closed too long. >> delta, united airlines, and jetblue will require passengers to wear masks starting tomorrow. masks are required throughout all stages of the flight and one will by provided for flyers who don't have one. >> heading out west to california. a caravan of about 100 cars drove from san jose to salinas to deliver supplies and

gratitude to the farm workers there. items include dry and canned food, masks as well. organizers just wanted to say thank you for harvesting and stocking crops that stock our grocery shelves. >> let's check out "the washington post" front page which marks a somber milestone. the headline, april was death and hope and cruel. marking 58,760 deaths in april alone, surpassing the total number killed in vietnam over 15 years. in the dallas morning news, a no poll shows texans worried of reopening. many said they'll not fly until after july. many are not ready for malls and crowds either. on the front page of the atlanta journal constitution, shortcomings have put senior homes at risk. and the chicago tribune looks at the two sides of contact tracing and pays a grand tribute to

medical workers on the front lines with the headline exhausted, scared, and committed, which sums up what we have been seeing around the country. >> new reaction from tara reade, who alleges joe biden sxualy assaulted her 27 years ago. she's now telling nbc news she's not sure what wording she might have used in the paper complaint she says she filed with a senate personnel office in 1993. she has said that complaint was regarding sexual harassment, not sexual assault. let's go to ali vitali who has been closely following the story. what more can you tell us about the details here? >> good morning, alex. we knew tara reade said she filed that complaint in 1993 and it was regarding sexual harassment she said she experienced but not sexual assault. yesterday, in a text message with me, she got a little more specific about what that complaint might say. i want to read you a piece of that text message. she told me, i filed a complaint

re sexual harassment and retaliation, but i'm not sure what explicit words on the intake form until we all see it again. of course, we'll get to if we'll see it again in a moment, but she also talked to the associated press. she said i talked about sexual harassment, retaliation. the main word i used, and i know i didn't use sexual harassment, she said i used uncomfortable, and i remember retaliation. and there's been some confusion about tara reade getting more specific in terms of trying to remember what language and wording she may have used on this complaint because the associated press when they wrote up that story initially had a headline that's different from the one that's there now. the initial headline was -- the initial headline was harassment assault absent in biden complaint. as soon as the story was tweeted on social media, reade responded calling it false. then the headline changed later to reade saying i didn't use

sexual harassment, end quote, in biden complaint. all this coming as we heard the former vice president responding again, this time in an interview with reverend al sharpton, unequivocally denying the allegation. >> i'm saying unequivocally, it never happened, period. believing a woman means taking a woman's claims seriously when she steps forward and then vetting it, looking into it. that's true in this case as well. >> and alex, as i said, there's a lot of confusion about where this complaint may be if it still exists. the former vice president on friday in an exclusive interview with nbc said he urged the national archives to release that record because it's personnel related. the national archive said those papers if they existed would be under the control of the senate. biden wrote to the senate saying they should find and locate the papers and anything related to

the complaint if it exists, and then there's the other side of this, because there's a trove of documents from biden's time serving in public office, including his time in the senate, those are at the university of delaware, and those remain sealed. the university of delaware telling us they will toib to remain seals until after biden leaves public life. >> all the details and specifics so important in the reporting of this story. doing a great job, thank you for that. >> overseas now, and the coronavirus impact on travel with advisories and international restrictions in place. what is it like for passengers who are flying at this time? joining me now from berlin, carl knousman, with a long distance hello to you, i understand you recently took a flight from berlin to munich. tell us what that was like. >> yeah, i did. a long-distance good morning to you from a very empty, very quiet airport in berlin. i mean, you hear these dire statistics about air travel, down 90% in many cases. it's hard to grasp really until

you actually step onto a plane. as you mentioned, that's exactly what i did recently. take a look. i have been reporting this week between berlin and munich, and to do that, i had to fly. as you can see, i'm one of the few people that's still doing that. here is what it's like to fly during a pandemic. this is munich airport. this is normally one of europe's top ten busiest airports. it is deserted. behind me is the departures board. there are seven flights listed. and if you take a look, we have one to doha, one to rome. there's only two international flights leaving. the rest are all going within germany. globally, air travel is down about two thirds compared to this time last year. in germany, it's down 90%. in the united states, it's a bit different. down around 40%.

but the thing is there's very few people on those planes. only around 1 in 10 seats are filled. in terms of safety measures, once you're on the plane, face masks not required for passengers or for personnel. i'm actually surprised how many people are on this flight. i wasn't expecting this many. i would say 40 or 50. you can get enough distance to the person next to you, but it's not one and a half meters or six feet, which is the usual requirement to the person in front of you. that makes me a little bit nervous. well, just landed. i have to say that was not the flight i was expecting. besides people being spaced out, it was almost like a regular flight. there was drink service, food

service. it did not seem when we were in the sky that the same things were happening on the ground. when you're in the airport, you can tell things are not normal. when were rr you're in the sky,l feels pretty much like it always does. back on the ground and immediately back to reality. i was just handed a piece of paper by three police officers telling me that if i'm arriving from a country that is not germany, i am required to self-quarantine for 14 days. we saw the way that 9/11 changed the way that we fly. it's very likely that the coronavirus will do something similar. we're going to see new health restrictions, new safety measures, but the future of flying is still very much up in the air. >> already part of that future beginning to shape up, as you touched on earlier. face masks now being announced as a requirement on many airlines. and really face masks could just

be the first step. many aviation experts say that we will likely see some sort of health screenings before you get onboard, and once you're on the plane, that dreaded middle seat could be soon a thing of the past. alex. >> that was a great report on how things are and how they may be in the future. thank you so much. >> the reopening of america in the middle of a pandemic. i'm going to talk with congressman marc veasey about the situation in his home state where covid cases are spiking as some businesses are reopening their doors. doors. uh uh, no way come on, no no n-n-n-no-no only discover has no annual fee on any card. in this time of crisis we run with them, toward those in need. we are 7,000 doctors, nurses, pharmacists and therapists supporting their efforts on the ground

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it is back to business in parts of texas. social distancing and other safety rules are in place, and shops, restaurants and movie theaters are now allowed to open at 25% capacity. joining me now, congressman marc veasey, democrat representing dallas-ft. worth. we have seen pictures from some of the larger franchises. how about the small businesses there in dallas? how are they doing? are they coming back as well? >> there are some small businesses that are definitely opening. i know some of them personally that are reopening. i think that it's going to be a while before the public here feels completely safe to go back to certain restaurants, to go back to retail shopping, and really do anything other than run essential errands.

>> yeah, totally makes sense. how about those local mom and pop stores? were they able to tap into the relief packages that passed in congress? do you know what more needs to be done for them? >> you know, alex, i do the business where i work at a different place once a month. i probably have worked at about 60 different jobs since 2014. and it's great. it gives me sort of a bird's eye view on how the small businesses and even large businesses are ran. and there's a vegan soul food place in west dallas called the munchies, and they did receive some relief money. they just let me know the other day. but there aren't enough businesses that have received the money. the last package we passed, we committed about $60 billion to smaller lending institutions like credit institutions and community banks that serve

businesses like the munchies and people who don't necessarily have relationships with their bankers. so they too could tap into more of this money. i think we will have another go round, that we need to look at even peag more innovative on how to make sure these smaller businesses get this muchy. the response to ruth's chris and potbelly's and other chains receiving the money was not received well. you can't blame the american public and their reaction. >> absolutely, and a lot of the larger companies voluntary gave the money back. but hey, by the way, props to you for getting out in the community and going and spending a day every month and working. nats a really wonderful way to get in there and figure out exactly what is going on in your community. >> absolutely. >> let me talk to you about d.c. when do you think you and your colleagues will be returning back to work. i know the president has tweeted about congress declining the tests in the senate. is it safe for lawmakers to

return? do you even know how many tests are available for congress? >> no, i don't think that it's safe to return. i do think we will return soon. i mean, look, i'm in reality about this virus. this is a highly contagious virus. and any time that you are near people unnecessarily, there's a risk you can contract it. and spread it to others. of course, members of congress are concerned about their own health, but when they leave d.c. and go back to their homes, particularly people with young children or people that are senior citizens, they're concerned about whether or not they may have contracted it when we're in that close of quarters and doing things like sharing microphones. so we know that the people's work needs to be done, and i expect we will be back soon. but i know that our leadership is going to continue to work with the house physicians office and tyke mo make sure we're tak the necessary teps to make sure

people are safe as possible upon returning. >> amen to that, congressman marc veasey, good to talk with you. >> how does one look at all the lines at food banks across this country and do nothing? one florida farmer couldn't do it, and he did something about it. he's going to join me next. it, and he did something about it. he's joining me next. and he didt it he's joining me next won't be a new thing. and it won't be their first experience with social distancing. overcoming challenges is what defines the military community. usaa has been standing with them, for nearly a hundred years. and we'll be here to serve for a hundred more. so chantix can help you quit slow turkey. along with support, chantix is proven to help you quit. with chantix you can keep smoking at first and ease into quitting so when the day arrives, you'll be more ready to kiss cigarettes goodbye.

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breakdowns in supply chains amid coronavirus are forcing many farmers to throw out surplus produce while demand at food banks soars. when a florida farmer invited volunteers from a hunger relief organization to have their pick of produce that would otherwise go to waste. joining me now is that farmer, hank scott, who owns long and scott farms in mt. dora, florida. hank, big welcome to you. look, you basically did what the government could not, connected the supply to the demand. how'd you get that going? >> well, actually, we've been doing for about 25 years with the, not only society st. andrew, but also the second harvest food bank here in orlando. >> well, that's great.

so, you have the system up in place. give me perspective here, though, hank. how much of the produce might you have otherwise thrown away, have it go to waste, had it not been for these volunteers who were able to help you distribute it to food banks? >> well, we've probably lost over 3 or 4 million pounds that we couldn't either sell or get to the food banks. but i would suggest we've gotten at least 500,000 or maybe even better, to food banks over all this mess. >> that has got to hurt, when you have to roll over and destroy that kind of produce. what does that feel like when you do it? i've got to tell you, watching it hurts. >> it definitely hurts. it hurts our business. we've got 23 families that depend on this business, and it worries you when you're worried about staying in business because of this. but it also makes you feel good at the same time that you can, you know, get some of it to needy people. and like i said, we've been

doing it for years. and glad to do it when we can, but it costs money also to donate. >> yeah. i know that the usda's new aid package is supposed to at least in part, hank, help relieve farmers of their surplus. have you heard anything from them? >> yeah, we've done a little bit of it, not hardly any, not enough to take care of all the surplus that we've got, but we have done a little bit through freshpoint. they actually got back to the food banks, which was good. but they say this other program's not going to break until the 15th of this month, and then they're supposed to be buying some more for, i guess it's the farmer-to-family box program. >> yeah. hank, as you look forward to the next season, are you going to be planting crops as normal, the same amounts? are you scaling back? do you have an idea on that? >> well, i will plant normal, providing we can afford to do it. that's going to be the big thing, losing so much money. but hopefully, we'll figure out a way to get back in it.

and yeah, we plan on planting, because we do have ongoing customers that depend on us. >> well, hank scott, they depend on you and we applaud you here at msnbc. well done there with long and scott farms, doing your part to help the food banks. thank you. thank you for watching everyone, "msnbc live." i'm alex witt. i'll be back at noon. coming up on "velshi," mark cuban talks about the big companies with big loans meant for small businesses, at 9:00 a.m. with big loans meant for small businesses, at 9:00 a.m. ght i had my moderate to severe ulcerative colitis... ...under control. turns out, it was controlling me. seemed like my symptoms were... ...taking over our time together. think he'll make it? so i talked to my doctor and learned humira can help get and keep uc... ... under control when other medications haven't worked well enough. "dad!" "hey!" and it helps people achieve control that lasts. so you can experience few or no symptoms. humira can... ...lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened,...

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