. >> nebraska governor pete riddick -- pete ricketts took questions at an event hosted in lincoln. the governor talked about stay-at-home workers, and state workers. good evening. in deniz kellog. thank you for joining us. joined live by governor pete ricketts, the labor commissioner, and our colleagues from the university of nebraska health center. we have made this available to c-span and other broadcasters across the state. this is a special edition of "speaking in nebraska." you can join by calling us. you can also send us an email and you can contact us on twitter and facebook as well. we will begin, governor ricketts. gov. ricketts: i always get to go first. dennis: exactly. as the one leaving this effort, how do you think that nebraska is doing in this flat -- in this fight? -- gov. ricketts: we have 10-person limit. this is a layered approach to how we slowed down the spread of the virus in the state. it's a lot of things that add up over time. i'm going to steal dr. lawler's metaphor with cheese. one sliced is not stop a lot. this is what all of these measures do. last thr

it happens to be run by a major donor to nebraska governor pete ricketts. that mall as we reported last night had announced it was going to reopen its stores this week. we're reopening america, reopening the economy. drive on out. we're right on interstate 80. come shopping at a mall in nebraska. come hell or high water. why not? today that mall announced that maybe they're not going to do that. they are walking back their plan to open up this week. in south dakota, where more than 760 employees from one pork processing plant in sioux falls are now confirmed to have coronavirus, the governor in south dakota says she's not even planning to try to get testing for the other people who work at that same plant. 760-plus cases among people who work at that plant, not to mention all of the dozens of cases that have been found among their family members already. but they're not planning on testing the other people who work at the plant? and there's still no stay-at-home order in south dakota because everything's fine. the state is planning on holding a big car raci

pete ricketts, the governor of nebraska. taking the step-by-step, very cautious approach. right, did the president -- was he being sarcastic? or was he being real? he says today, comments he made about disinfectants, of course, that was the fake media, so we went back to the tapes. look, this isn't my first rodeo... and let me tell you something, i wouldn't be here if i thought reverse mortgages took advantage of any american senior, or worse, that it was some way to take your home. it's just a loan designed for older homeowners, and, it's helped over a million americans. a reverse mortgage loan isn't some kind of trick to take your home. it's a loan, like any other. big difference is how you pay it back. find out how reverse mortgages really work with aag's free, no-obligation reverse mortgage guide. eliminate monthly mortgage payments, pay bills, medical costs, and more. call now and get your free info kit. other mortgages are paid each month, but with a reverse mortgage, you can pay whatever you can, when it works for you, or, you can wait, and pay it off in one lump su

nebraska republican governor pete ricketts has issued a similar warning. i what is planning to allow some restaurants, bars, shops, and gems to reopen at have capacity beginning friday. and nebraska will begin loosening restrictions next week. many of the affected workers are employees of giant meatpacking plants that have become the largest coronavirus hotspots in the country. scores of workers at smithfield plant in nebraska walked up the job wednesday in an unsanctioned work stoppage after midfield reversed the decision to close and clean the facility. and a norma's jps pork plant has reopened even though they fit employee has died from covid 19. the plant reopened even though jps managers have not testeded l of its employees for the disease as they had promised. here in new york, transit officials are teaming up with the nypd to force unhoused people from the subway system. under a new policy, people will not be allowed to remain in a subway station for more than an hour, and will be removed from trains that reach the end of a subway line. on tuesday,

. >> earlier today, nebraska governor pete ricketts briefed reporters on his state's response to the coronavirus. he announced a special task force to oversee and communicate with businesses on plans to reopen the state. his took place in lincoln. governor rickets: all right, folks. thank you very much for joining us here today to talk about what the state is doing to slow the spread of coronavirus here in nebraska. we're starting at a different time, 12:15, because we have a meeting this afternoon. and we're also going to make this an abbreviated briefing because i have to get out that to that meeting. so we're going to go from 12:15 to roughly 12:45. we're going to try to move this along at a pretty good clip. six rules to stay home. this is day 18 of 21 to stay home, stay healthy, stay connected. our rules are, stay home. no nonessential trips outside the household. we want people to work. work from home if you can and if you're going to the workplace, practice all those good social, physical distancing guidelines we talked about like six feet distance between people and so forth.

. >> next, nebraska governor pete ricketts briefs reporters on how his state is responding to the coronavirus crisis. he says his state is social distancing but not considering a stay-at-home order at this time. an hour.oln, this is >> how are you doing? i am doing well. we have our hand sanitizer.

also, nebraska's governor pete ricketts explains his plan for easing restrictions in his state, he'sis live, coming up next. we're working hard to answer your questions. like helping you understand what the recently passed economic package can mean for you. we're more than a financial company. we're a "together we can get through anything" company. now, more than ever. mortgage rates have dropped to all time lows. by refinancing now, you can save $2000 a year. and newday's va streamline refi shortcuts the process. veterans can refinance with no income verification, no appraisal, and no out of pocket costs. one call could save you $2000 a year. >> bill: the governor of nebraska has stopped short of issuing a formal stay-at-home order. it is encouraging strict social distancing which includes staying home for 21 days to flatten the curve. they are on day 11. thank you for your time. what do you see in nebraska to america i've got 15,700 who have tested. 1474 have tested positive and the number of deaths that your state are 28. what are you feeling in nebraska when you consider the heal

and a major campaign donor to nebraska governor pete ricketts is back on his idea that he is going to open up the gigantic nebraska crossing mall on interstate 80 just outside omaha by the end of this week. sure, nebraska just went from 2,000 cases on thursday to 3,000 on sunday, and they've got 1,000 cases-plus in one pretty small city associated with a meatpacking plant that the governor wants to reopen. why not get everybody breathing in each other's faces as quickly as possible? when trump labor secretary eugene scalia decided that he would not make the health guidelines for meatpacking plants mandatory, i don't know if he thought that might mean that these outbreaks would stay inside the plants and not turn into big outbreaks in the communities where those workers live. but what we're seeing where we have big outbreaks in meat processing plants all over the country is that they're turning into big community outbreaks in all of those places. we're seeing that everywhere now. for example, there's a very worrying situation tonight in logansport, indiana. the county there, cass count

and a major campaign donor to nebraska governor pete ricketts is back on his idea he will open up the gigantic nebraska crossing mall interstate 80 just outside of omaha later this week. they went from 1,000 to 3,000 and a 1,000 cases in one small city associated with a meat packing plant that the governor wants to get reopened, why not get everybody breathing in each other's faces as quickly as possible? >> when the labor secretary scalia said he would not make the health guidelines for meat packing plants mandatory, i don't know if that would mean that these outbreaks would stay inside the plants, and not turn into big outbreaks in the communities where those workers live, but what we're seeing, where we have big outbreaks in meat packaging plants, meat processing plants all over the country, is that they're turning -- in logansport, indiana, the county there, cass county, indiana, this morning, announced a new public health emergency in their county. because of a really big spike in cases there centered on a local tyson meat processing plant. this is their total cases in cass count

and nebraska governor pete ricketts says he plans to lift the ban on elective surgeries beginning mayanwhile, "the washington post" reporting kentucky saw its highest spike in coronavirus cases as of yet. the governor announced on sunday the state had seen 253 new cases with an additional four deaths. he said the state would not lift any restrictions until there is a downward projection of reported cases for at least two weeks. this is coming after protesters took to the streets last week to call for the state to lift restrictions there. let's get into some of this. joining me now once again, health care ed for for bloomberg drew armstrong. drew, good to talk to you again. let's talk about the gap in testing amid all this that we got into in a little bit in the first half hour, but i want to expand upon here because as you hear, the president saying over and over again we are testing more than anybody else in the entire world. but if you're looking at per capita in this country, we just aren't where we need to be when it comes to testing and we're not testing more than everybody else

governor pete ricketts, a republican governor in nebraska is doing the same thing to working people in his state as well. but this is what's emerging as republican party policy, or maybe strategy, now that we've got over 60,000 americans dead. "the new york times" today reporting on a quote network of conservative leader, donors and organizations that has launched a legal onslaught against state and local restrictions intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus. the times further reporting that these conservative groups mounting this effort have become quote emboldened in recent days, by ever-more-explicit signs that the u.s. attorney general william barr and the justice department may take their side. to help them. legally dismantle public health efforts to slow the virus. and to limit the death toll. doing this because, because, well, this is what they're doing, because that's how the administration and the republican party and the conservative media are going to want to go down in history here? 60,000 americans dead. yes. sounds like a good start. what else can we do? i mean it's

grand island's mayor and the local health director have been asking nebraska's governor, pete rickettsr a stay-at-home order, but he has refused. the local health director has warned that the health care system around grand island is very close to being swamped. she said two days ago, quote, we are going into a rather dark couple of weeks. joining us now is that health director, teresa anderson, is the health department director for nebraska's central district, the central district is right in the middle of that state, about a two-hour drive away from omaha. ms. anderson, thank you so much for making time for us tonight. i know you have a lot to deal with and it's a very busy time. >> thank you, rachel, for having me. >> first, let me just ask first, if i characterized things accurately as far as you know and if there is any other important developments that we should know about in terms of this, what appears to be a pretty sizable outbreak in and around grand island. >> the outbreak is associated to some degree with the meatpacking industry but there are a lot of factors that go into

. >> earlier today, nebraska governor pete ricketts briefed reporters on his state's response to the coronavirus. he announced a special task force to oversee and communicate with businesses on plans to reopen the state. his took place in lincoln. governor rickets: all right, folks. thank you very much for joining us here today to talk about what the state is doing to slow the spread of coronavirus here in nebraska. we're starting at a different time, 12:15, because we have a meeting this afternoon. and we're also going to make this an abbreviated briefing because i have to get out that to that meeting. so we're going to go from 12:15 to roughly 12:45. we're going to try to move this along at a pretty good clip. six rules to stay home. this is day 18

. >> next, nebraska governor pete ricketts briefs reporters on how his state is responding to the coronavirus crisis. he says his state is social distancing but not considering a stay-at-home order at this time. an hour.oln, this is >> how are you doing? i am doing well. we have our hand sanitizer. the department of corrections is here. thank you for joining this afternoon. joined today by kathy from the grocery association and mark from banking and finance. we will be talking here in a little bit. first of all, i just want to remind people as i always do, folks, this is really, really important, the social distancing. we have talked about this in the past. if you are out enjoying the weather, it is a great day today. keep thatyou have to six feet distance. do not gather in groups of more than 10 people. one thing that is incredibly you are anif employer and somebody shows up , sendk for you who is ill them home. some people are taking the temperatures of people before they come to work. to be sure way people are following the guidelines. it is allergy season right now. but if there is shortn

but governor pete ricketts is not listening to the nebraska hospital association. he's got no plans to stop the opening of that big shopping center. open it all back up. the real truth of what's going on in america's coronavirus outbreak is not something that you are going to find by listening to whatever is said into the podium at the white house daily briefings. the real truth of what's going on in america's coronavirus epidemic isn't just on the coasts and in the places that we know are the hardest hit already like new york and new jersey. the real truth of what's happening in our country where we've got 30,000 americans dead already, the real truth of it is right in the middle of our heartland now too. some of the biggest worries we've got right now are right in the center of the country, and they're also in those little noticed, low-profile nursing homes and care facilities and rest homes that are in every city and every suburb and every little town in the country that are used to getting no attention. well, it's all of our business now because that's where th

both she and the mayor of grand island have asked the republican governor of nebraska, pete ricketts, to please issue a stay-at-home order to try to help slow down the spread of the virus, to reduce the number of deaths. but the governor has said no, not only is he not doing it statewide, but, no, they can't do it locally. nebraska is one of the only states in the country now without any kind of stay-at-home order anywhere in the state. and now on top of that, this week the nebraska crossing mall in gretna nebraska, just outside omaha, they're planning to reopen their doors as of this week, as of this friday morning. the owner of the mall says he wants to give the retailers in his mall the opportunity to test out best practices for how they'll ultimately open all their stores nationwide. he wants nebraska crossing open first. it's right on the interstate too so people can come from all over. what this means is that in lieu of a statewide stay-at-home order, this one mall owner in nebraska is setting his own experimental health care policy for that whole part of nebraska and honestly a

in nebraska, governor pete ricketts is in the process of green lighting nonessential businesses so they can operate. but not ies ties in necessarily- not necessarily as usual. >> the hairstylists will have to wear a mask, the tattoo artist, so is the person being served, the customer. >> we've found a safe way to allow low-risk construction that is under way to resume. >> reporter: even governor jay inslee of hard-hit washington state put a crack in the stay-at-home order, but -- >> the day of reopening the whole economy is certainly not today. it would be way too dangerous, and all of our data shows that if we did this today, this virus would return with a vengeance. >> reporter: and an overwhelming majority of americans agree. according to a variety of new opinion polls. the cbs news poll found 70% of americans believe the country's top priority should be slowing the spread of covid-19 by staying at home. 30% say working and the economy are more important. [ honks ] that as get back to work demonstrators continue to steal headlines this week. but they haven't convinced a majority in t

joining us now, nebraska republican governor pete ric ricketts. thank you for talking with us today. i'd like to start by asking you, you were very one of the few governors who decided not to impose a state-wide stay at home order. how is that decision working out for you in your state? >> so far, i think the approach we've taken in nebraska has been right for nebraska. we haven't put a formal order in place, we have asked people to stay home this month, we put six rules in place around stay at home, don't have unessential trips, work, but work from home if you can and socially distance if you're going into the workplace. if you're shopping, shop once a week by yourself, don't take the family, help kids, help seniors, exercise in an appropriate way. these six rules are the things we used to really help to be able to follow guidelines, socially distance and that's what's helping us to be able to slow the spread of the virus in our state. kristin: since you bring up shopping, i would like to ask you a question about a shopping mall, an outlet mall t