joining us right now to talk more about that is barry sternlicht he's the chairman and ceo of starwoods also the chairman and ceo of sh hotels and resorts barry, which side of this debate do you come down on? >> you know, i was on your show about a month ago, march 13th, the beginning of the crisis. i said it was going to be world war iii for three months we're five weeks into that it's look being like world war iii but, you know, i said i was the optimist i was the opposite of mohamed el erian. i said this was a flu. it's obviously a flu and we can see the pattern around the world. it goes away i said rates are really low. tax cut for consumers and businesses, it will help the economy. you've had a crash in oil, commodity prices also a tax cut gasoline prices are, what, $1.81. stimulus kevin o'leary mentioned 13% of gdp here almost 19% in japan. we are over stimulating the economy so that will get us going again. then medical breakthroughs was another big positive for me. if you are an optimist, you'll say we'll have a vaccine whether it's 12 months, 15 months, 18 months what's the sl

joining me now is starwood capital group chairman and ceo, barry sternlicht.pe you're safe and strong. thanks for joining me. >> thanks, maria. good to be with you this morning. it's been a long time. maria: it has. and i want to ask you about your expectations for a recovery. you've got your hands in so many businesses and have a great vantage point in understanding how things might change. what are your exec stations for a recover -- expectations for a recovery and a reopening. >> it's all about the pace of the reopening and i'm glad we're getting on with it, frankly. i think i've been quoted as saying we should open the economy, i really believe first we should take care of the people who are most at risk, elderly and people with preconditions. they should use their judgment and stay home. but the rest of the nation has to get on with this. you kind of know that next year at some point we'll probably have a vaccine so the question is how do we get from here to there and minimize the damage to the lives of so many people that are unemployed and their familie