abc's kimberly brooks is here with that story. kimberly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, kenneth. yeah, that's right. a lot of mixed feelings on this decision. state officials are calling it an unnecessary risk, but the school says its reasons are justified. colleges across the country have been telling students to close up shop. but this morning a different decision by the faith-based liberty university in lynchburg, virginia. with spring break now over, it's re-opening its doors in the middle of this deadly outbreak. the school now welcoming thousands of students back to campus. the school's president, jerry falwell jr., says there was no other choice. >> we have about 750 international students who have no alternative. they couldn't go back to their countries, and we have a lot of students who really had nowhere else to go but their dorm rooms. we've taken all the precautionary measures. >> reporter: one student tweeting, so proud to call liberty u my home. the unnecessary rage against liberty's administration in handli

kimberly brooks joins us now with the details. >> yes. stressed out. but fortunately we are seeing companies saying that they want to help and they are putting their money where their mouth is. while doctors are on the frontlines working hard to save lives major companies are working to save their anxious customers from the side-effects of covid-19. mounting bills and no way to pay for them. thousands of workers already laid off. >> a complete shutdown of business activity and it looks like it will go on for a month, two, three, four. it will be pretty severe. >> but the burden is now being lifted on everything from mortgages to utilities and internet service. giants like at&t and verizon are waiving late fees and promising no disconnections. credit cards, the average american has four of them. apple and barclays are now allowing customers to skip a monthly payment and others like citi and capital one are extending deadlines, waiving fees and in some cases increasing credit lines, but you have to call. check in on the car payments. there

abc 7 news anchor kimberly brooks says administrators had no other choice. >> reporter: colleges across the country have been telling students to close up shop, but this morning a different decision by the faith-based liberty university in lynchburg, virginia. with spring break now over, it's reopening its doors in the middle of this deadly outbreak. the school now welcoming thousands of students back to campus. the school's president jerry fowell jr. said there was no other choice. >> 750 international students who have no alternative. they couldn't go back to their countries and we have students that have no where else to go but their dorm rooms. we have taken all the precautionary measures. >> reporter: one student tweeting so proud to called liberty u my home. the unnecessary rage against liberty's administration in handling covid-19 is unjustified. but lynchburg's mayor feels otherwise. slamming the school's decision. >> i believe it was a reckless decision to decide to allow all students back on campus. we would have preferred that it be closed. >> reporter: still, falwell says he

. >> abc's kimberly brooks has the new details. good morning, kimberly. >> reporter: good morning, mona and kenneth. yeah, in this time of crisis state officials are frustrated. they're trying to make people understand that what you do versus what you don't do is literally a matter of life and death. this weekend crowded beaches in california. an ocean full of boat parties in miami. large gatherings in central park in new york. otherwise normal except for the global covid-19 pandemic, where americans have already been ordered to stay six feet apart. these scenes showing people are not practicing what the government is preaching. >> i was in these parks. you would not -- you would not know that anything was going on. this is just a mistake and it has to stop now. i am not kidding. >> reporter: new york's governor one of many officials infuriated at the lack of social distancing. >> generally, we think it's spread through close contact, short distances. coughing on one another. sharing the same drinks. touching the same surfaces. we h

. >> cnbc's kimberly brooks is here to show us who's getting involved. good morning, kimberly. >> good morning, mona and good morning, kenneth. many people right now feel like they have no control over their income, but fortunately many companies as you said are trying to help. while doctors are on the front lines working hard to save lives, major companies are working to save their anxious customers from the economic side effects of covid-19. mounting bills and no clear way to pay for them. thousands of workers already laid off. >> this is a complete shutdown of business activity in many parts of the country, and it looks like it's going to go on for a month, two, three, or four. the economy's struggling. we're in recession. it's going to be pretty severe. >> reporter: but the burden is now being lifted on everything from mortgages to utilities and internet service. giants like at&t and verizon are waiving late fees and promising no disconnections. and what about those credit cards? experian says the average american has four of them. companies like appl

two foodies started an, oh, so delicious account and our kimberly brooks has more. i think we're all cooking a lot more now but if you're like me, you only have three to five recipes on repeat so i really needed some inspiration and started following this incredible duo from the west coast, like two millennial martha stewarts. they go by the name the modern proper. take a look. ♪ >> hi, i'm natalie. >> i'm holly and the co-founder of the modern proper. >> reporter: natalie and holly are two friends from vancouver, washington sharing their passion for food with over 218,000 follows. >> you deserve to eat well. rei modern homemaker sinking up mouthwatering recipes from their kitchen to yours. >> how do we decide what recipe to feature? one, it has to be delicious, two, anybody can make it and, three, it has to be delicious. whether you're looking for vegan, meat-based, dairy-free, whole 30, gluten free, something there for everyone. >> reporter: they believe there's power in gathering around a table and hope to inspire new and seasoned chefs to break bread. >> the reas

abc's kimberly brooks joins us now with details. >> reporter: good morning, kenneth and mona. mixed feelings on this decision. state officials are calling it an unnecessary risk, but the school says its reasons are justified. colleges across the country have been telling students to close up shop, but this morning a different decision by the faith-based liberty university in lynchburg, virginia. with spring break now over, it's reopening its doors in the middle of the deadly outbreak. the school now welcoming thousands of students back to campus. the school's president, jerry falwell jr., says there was no other choice. >> we have about 750 international students who have no alternative. they couldn't go back to their countries. and we have a lot of students who really have nowhere else to go but their dorm rooms. we've taken all the precautionary measures. >> reporter: one student tweeting, so proud to call liberty u my home, the unnecessary rage against liberty's administration in handling covid-19 is unjustified. but lynchburg's mayor feels otherwise, slamming the school's

abc's kimberly brooks joins us with the latest on that. good morning. >> good morning.tention to the orders. and in this time of crisis, state officials are frustrated, trying to make people understand that what you do versus what you don't do is literally a matter of life and death. this weekend, crowded beaches in california. an ocean full of boat parties in miami. large gatherings in central park in new york. otherwise normal, except for the global covid-19 pandemic, where americans have already been ordered to stay six feet apart. these scenes showing people are not practicing what the government is preaching. >> i was in these parks. you would not -- you would not know that anything was going on. this is just a mistake. and it has to stop now. i am not kidding. >> reporter: new york's governor one of many officials infuriated at the lack of social distancing. >> generally, we think it's spread through close contact, short distance, coughing on one another, sharing the same drink, touching the same surfaces. we have to take it seriously. social distancing is key. >>