usda has had its hands full. our services crowd has been amazing. in a 24 hour session, our ams with its purchasing program and delivery logistics program to our food bank network has been amazing. i'm really proud. having done all that with remote situations we cannot come together but we have been scraping all the time. i feel more tired when i go home now having been on skype all day long. anyway, the team has been amazing. i'm really proud of the group. i am proud of all of these workers from the farmers to the processors to the logistics and truckers who deliver this food, the grocery store, stockers, check out to make sure we've got a consistent supply. the most efficient, specific eight it -- sophisticated food chain in the world has been noble enough to continue to supply our people with a confidence that we can have food , and that helps to fulfill that motto of feeding everyone. did we do every thing perfectly? i am not saying that. we worked as hard as we could to mix sure people who needed our food mostly were able to get that. thank you

the floor lessen constant communication with usda. also with osha and with the cdc on getting some additional guidance on how to deal with the situation as local health authorities and state health authorities took a different approach as things begin to come up in their communities. and in addition to some of the challenges with covid-19 in the workforce and the plants, there is a lot of absenteeism due to fear. and processing and the harvesting of animals in the processing is still a very labor-intensive activity. ... ... and the ability to keep people. while the top priority for our companies was always at the safety and has been the safety of the workforce and continues to be, a slowing of the lines in the slowing of processing and the closure, as we have seen it rolling across the country in different geographic areas, with something that began to produce the kind of backup as zippy noted in agriculture of our livestock and that has become critical, critical problem a couple of weeks ago. it is something that the white house, usd

critics of the usda's program say there's no money set aside to protect farm workers. many can't apply for unemployment or get access to health care if they get sick. why? because about 50% of employees on u.s. farms, according to the u.s. department of agriculture, are undocumented immigrants. >> next on "matter of fact." >> we have just never invested enough in these systems. >> no income and you're waiting behind tens of thousands of people to file a claim. why is it so hard to get unemployment in america? plus, what does it take to ensure a peaceful transfer of power after an election? and how in the world did nasa come up with the name for a new space craft? ♪ wild thing, ♪ you make my heart sing ♪ but i wanna know for ♪ sure yeah we all wanna know, honey... so... blue. blue means boy. blue means boy! it's a boy! if you ride, you get it. geico motorcycle. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. until i found out what itst it actually was.ed me.ycle. dust mite droppings! eeeeeww! dead skin cells! gross! so now, i grab my swiffer sweeper and heavy-du

were able to move on the first charge $350 billion in eight days and that is pretty significant but usda is the ability to get money. the problem that i've been focused on specifically is malnutrition for children and the inability to get access to food. there are so many people, so many kids the only time they get a square meal is at school and if so now when you have kids not at school, the numbers and again some of them were tested in my district only 20% of the kids on the free and reduced lunch are actually able to access food through that school district and they have the herculean effort to still continue to provide that. something we were working on here in texas. it's basically food stamps and so what it says is if you have a kid on free and reduced lunch, we will put more money in texas it is called the lone star card, to go to the grocery store to buy food because that is what the system is designed forher, that's why we've seen an impact on food banks. they need more people so why can't we hire some of the folks that are in the restaurant business and we keep the economy goin

other retailers may be accepted into the program by contacting the usda. this will help families get access to nutritious food without having to leave their homes. for families with small children or members who have underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk, this will help keep them even safer. senators markk warner in tim kaine for their work to make this project happen. yesterday we received the first monthly unemployment report that really shows the impact this pandemic is having on our employment in virginia. as you know, we have enjoyed a low 2.8% unemployment rate prior to covid-19. for april however, our unemployment rate rose to 10.6%. this is expected, as we have approximately 720,000 people in virginia who have filed for unemployment, including 44,000 new claims this past week. there have been reports that i virginiansividual are having trouble getting unemployment benefits must so i am pleased to announce we are opening a new call center with 315 additional employees to help handle those requests. this is a season when virginia

and basically, she took the usda giving a long-winded answer she took the usda figures for nutritionfor a lyfamily of four she figured out average housing prices et cetera et cetera she came up with this number. that formula has been unchanged now for what with 60t years. problem is, the time housing was very cheap and food is very expensive. now you have the opposite, food is cheap and housing is expensive. but if you've made any changes to the poverty line it would immediately put millions of people into poverty, no politician was to do that they don't a change that sue have these things where the criteria keep going so to hunt a% of the poverty line will why don't we move the poverty line why don't we make it fluid by regions, by metropolitan regions and things like that. think the problem is it so politically difficult for people to come up with a comprehensive and up-to-date formula for exact determining who is in poverty and where there's just not enough political will to do that nobody wants to touch it. >> with the war in vietnam, these young men who were out in the appellati

and basically, she took the usda, i'm giving a long-winded answer here, she took the usda figures fornutrition for a family of four, she figured out the average housing prices et cetera et cetera, she came up with his number. formula has basically been unchanged now for what are yet 60 years? and the problem is, at the time housing was very cheap and food is very expensive. now, you have the opposite. food is cheap housing is expensive. but if you made any changes to the poverty line, it would immediately put millions of people, technically in the poverty, no politician wants to do that. so they don't want to change that. she had these things with the criteria keep going so 250% of the poverty line, why don't you just move the poverty line? why don't we just make a fluid by regions, by metropolitan regions or things like that. so i think, the problem it's is so politically difficult for people to come up with a comprehensive and up-to-date formula for exact determining exactly who is in poverty and where, there's just not the political will to do that, nobody wants to touch it. the wa

the usda data cook obtained through a search of public records show farms are actually collecting millionss way over the cap. they do it by exploiting permissive eligibility rules that the administration adopted from congress's farm bills. those rules allow big farms to collect maximum payments on behalf of not just the farmer, but many others. >> cousins, uncles, aunts. >> reporter: so let's say i have a cousin who is a farmer and i'm a reporter in new york. i sit here. i don't do any farming, but i'm a cousin. >> that's right. >> reporter: i can get money? >> you can get money. maybe you have to make a phone call a couple of times a year. >> reporter: but i don't have to even go there? >> you don't have to live on the farm or visit the farm. these payments aren't just going to farmers who are there uon a >> reporter: many farms today have investors. call them absentee owners who also collect bailout money. when we checked, we found hundreds of recipients living in big cities, including new york city, miami, san francisco. among them, a banker, an architect, a composer, a classical musici

states like my own, have programs equal to the usda programs, have to be equal to it, but they're not allowed to sell over state lines until they get the cis done, and only three states have completed that. we should be able to solve. those two things would allow long-term fixes for the packing house operations. something that we've complained a lot about, we should solve them because it's become more obvious. the issues about energy continue to rise for us. we as a nation are finally energy independent, finally. but we choose to buy energy from places we want to buy energy because we can produce it ourselves. but we cannot go backwards to a time period when we're dependent on the middle east again because of what's happened with covid-19. we've got to pay attention to this. there are common sense solutions i understand full well and some folks don't like fossil fuels. i get it. but the same folks fly on planes and driving cars and trucks, and like buying clothes and paint. and the disposal things like ppe, guess what they're made of? petroleum. and trying to get away from petroleum,

program. 27 states including my own have state inspection programs that equal to the usda program. they have to be equal to it but they're still not allowed to sell over state lines until they get the c.i.s. program and only three states have been able to complete that. this should be logical. we should be able to solve this. those two things would allow long-term fixes for the packinghouse operations, something that we've complained about for a long time. we should solve in this moment because it's become even more obvious. the issues about energy continue to rise for us. we as a nation are finally energy independent. finally. we choose to buy energy from places we want to buy energy because we can produce it ourselves. but we cannot go backwards to a time period when we're dependent on the middle east again because of what's happened in covid-19. we've got to be able to pay attention to this. there are commonsense solutions that i understand full well. there are some folks that don't like fossil fuels. i get it, but those same folks fly on planes and we drive cars and trucks and

the first is going to be ordered tonight and we're excited that the government stepped up and the usdadid a great job of getting this program up and running in a very short period of time. >> liz: okay, so tonight. that's big news for you, i'm sure you have been really really anxious to get that kind of news so much of your business has been with restaurants and larger venues. that business is all shutdown. tell me if you're starting to see any signs of life from the restaurants you used to supply with raspberries and blueberries and blackberries. >> yeah, i think you see a lot of people in the foodservice business that are getting quite creative in terms of what their business model looks like so we have seen part of the business come back. we are probably at about 65% now but we were down to 15% for several weeks and so all of that business had to get shifted into retail grocery which was very very difficult. >> liz: let's talk about one thing when it comes to social distancing that you have an advantage of or you have always said that it is just a two-touch system meaning actual tou

, the new program that usda has brought forward to bring vegetables and fruits and milk and meat.,000 showed up. so the problem we are seeing everywhere is it doesn't matter how much we prepare, the numbers keep increasing. i just came back from new york, from newark, from elizabeth, from bronx, from harlem. and everywhere it doesn't matter how much we prepare for, the lines are always two or three times bigger. so we need everything. we need to make sure that feeding america, the food banks have enough money to cover all the need. we need to make sure there's enough money in the snaps and we come up with creative ways to use the snaps. why can't elderly use it to have food delivered to their home? why we we can't use snaps in local restaurants? we need to be increasing the amount of deliveries we do through the school lunch program. at the end of the day ngos like what we're doing is covering the blind spots of the system. but in order to make sure this is not a humanitarian crisis we need to have a response to covers 360 all the possible ways we can be delivering food to people

is a usda inspector that is in the plant for the entire process.er that's from slaughter to packaging, whatever is happening in that facility, there is an inspector there. in some cases, they may be u.s. alsospectors that are employees of state health or agricultural departments. but it is meeting our federal .aws around meat inspection we are seeing more and more states reopen fully after the coronavirus pandemic. should people be concerned about the safety of dining out or even the safety of their grocery items? come back to to ,omething i mentioned earlier the part that is most important in this pandemic is limiting exposure around other people. as we go through relaxed restrictions, we have to think andt ways to do that protect ourselves and protect employees. if someone is in a high-risk group, a vulnerable population is what the cdc has talked about, individuals who are elderly or compromised and have under law -- and have underlying health issues, being around other people whether it's in a grocery store or restaurant or a pharmacy or at the

nunnally to feed the nation but serve their communities across americark why we continue working with usda to give vital assistance to farmers and ranchers and them through this pandemic just as they support us every single day. with that would like to yield the floor to my colleague from west virginia. >> mr. president i like toat think my friend from north dakota. it's great to hear stories from his great state to see how they are helping each other and coming to each other's benefit and is somebody who represents a state but not in those dimensions to see how that community has stepped up not just for his state but the rest of the country and we are very grateful for that. we have seen so many people across the country stepping in. i describe my state of west orginia as one great big small town we always help each other in times of need if we know them or 2 not the floods of 2016 were a good example of that and following the west virginia spirit no question it has helped during difficult times mike what we are facing right now. every day each of us when i'm no exception here how someone

this applies to fannie mae, freddie mac, fha, va, and usda loans. federally backed loans. lots of you send your money to a private company but your loan might still be federally backed. it's easy to find out. call whoever you send your mortgage to and ask them if uncle sam owns your loan. if they say yes the door is open to forbearance help. a new website all about covid. nbcbayarea.com/responds. >>> a follow-up now and some good news for surrounding former oakland a's manager art howe. he's been released from the hospital after he had a bout with coronavirus. the 73-year-old howe spent five days in the intensive care unit. he will now be home quarantined at least a week. he started managing the a's in 1996 through the moneyball years taking them to the postseason three times. >>> well, sports fans probably noticed something a little different this weekend. they actually had live sports to watch on television. >> green flag. nascar is back. >> nascar restarting its engines at yesterday's real heroes 400 in south carolina. kevin harvick won. fans not allowed in the stands,

according to the usda, 14 states plus the district of columbia allow people on assistance to order groceries online. >> they have to get their groceries from the grocery store, which is exposing them to covid-19. >> eight more states have been approved to roll out online grocery axis but it will not include illinois. a dozen other pastors are forming chicago delivers. in a matter of days, they raise $300,000 to provide gift cards and help for those in need to place online orders. >> we want to make sure people are approved. >> the first round of packages expanded access to snap to those affected by the virus but many are afraid to leave their homes to buy food. >> there is a lot of fear on the phone. when people share stories, you cannot help but feel. >> carter hopes they will turn those cries into comfort for those in need. >>> a study found screen time with some games may actually benefit kids during the pandemic. research published earlier this year in the american journal of sociology found that despite the growing times spent on screens, kids these days are just as socially adept as th

and make sure that usda buys from as many farmers the product that they are putting out. of a sudden, that food may be used by restaurants, by little ngos like us, by food banks that right now are running out of food, by organizations of collect ties of faith, is many ways we can be putting that food that america produces. we need to keep reinvesting in what we were doing before all this crisis began. what we need to do is don't stop the system. so we can make sure that every american in need of food can have a plate of food for their families. >> so it allows -- so the simple explanation is that the food act, the former stafford act, allows governors to take up the space in the markets to create the demand for the farmers to deliver the produce to the restaurants to make the food and feed the communities. >> you translate my english perfectly, but this is only one segment. we need to make sure that congress, the white house supports extra to support the food banks. we need to make sure that we increase enough to make sure that the families have enough money through these

. >>> according to the usda, in the last week, pork production has plummeted 22% in the united states. beef production has dropped 9%. and since this time last year, pork production is off 34.5% with beef production tumbling 35.2%. according to the centers for disease control, 115 processing facilities in 19 states reported covid-19 cases as of last friday with more than 4900 cases and 20 deaths. >>> redwood city based impossible foods is working to fill the void. the company's ceo says the interruption is an opportunity for people to give their products a try. >> when they try it i think they'll be blown away by how delicious it is. and i actually think many of them are never going to want to go back to the old-school meat from slaughterhouses. >> he says his company enjoyed record sales last month in grocery stores and through food delivery services. the total should grow even more with today's announcement of an expansion into 1700 stores in the kroger supermarket chain. >> the post office along with some bay area landlords are warning residents about an increase in mail theft, esp

other elements, including now as we are seeing more and more usda playing a role, food supply security. you want experts leading the response but don't want them doing it by themselves. you bring the whole team together. one of the things i was recognizing in the obama administration, we had crafted executive orders. the tendency to think of fema as only dealing with earthquakes and fires, homeland security act has given fema the responsibility to plan and coordinate any major crisis at the direction of the president. because this is fema's mission, it might be worthwhile to look at how to block this so we don't just have a stafford act declaration but bringing the tools fema can so hopefully next time they are brought in earlier, not after things are not working. coordinate support for federal agency and then use tools, interagency relationships in all of the things we do responding to large complex events to support the lead agency, in the crisis. rep. demings: thank you. rep. payne: thank you, representative demings. fema has yet to activate most of its individual assistance program

that's why we continue working with the usda, department of agriculture, to give a final assistance to our farmers and ranchers. we remain committed to supporting them through this pandemic in the merit of other challenges they face just as they support us every single day. with that, mr. president, i would like to yield the floor to my esteemed colleague from west virginia. >> mr. president? >> the senator from west virginia. >> thank you, mr. president. i would like to thank my friend from north dakota. it's great to hear stories from his great state and see how they're helping each other, coming to each other's benefit and really as somebody represents a state u.s. agriculture are not in the dimensions that senator hoeven does it's wonderful to see how the act community has stepped up not just for his date but for the rest of the country and we are very, very grateful for that. we seen so many people across this country stepping in and so many major ways. i i often describe my state of west virginia as one big small-town year we always help each other in times of need whether we kno

i've been monitoring the progress and i will continue urging the usda to issue the payment as soon as possible. agricultural producers can take advantage of the paycheck protection program that provides forgivable loans to businesses including self-employed producers to help them cover payroll costs during thisp difficult time. 75% must be used for the workers salaries and benefits including salaries of self-employed workers while the remaining amount can be used for other qualifying extensions like mortgage interest rent and utilities. they can now take advantage of the small business tadministration's economic disaster loan program thanks to legislation congress passed two geeks ago. i continue to monitor the cattle market. they've taken a dramatic hit on the crisis they are getting for their cattle. the meatpackers are seeing record profit. considering they control more than 80% of the supply in the united states. with the packers and software division to look into the volatility in the market and secretary perdue. and other anti-competitive activities. in the surrounding state and

the program began before the pandemic, spearheaded by baylor university and the usda, feeding about four thousand rural kids a year. now, they are shipping meals to hungry families in 38 states. >> right now, the program is or wwe thegoher latest delivery! >> animal crackers. >> this program has been a blessing for our family. it's been a game-changer. >> reporter: if all this food sounds pretty good to you, all you have to do is contact your local school district and tell them you want to be part of the "meals to you" program. and everybody in this warehouse has been temperature checked and they're all wearing ppe for their own safety. david? >> just an incredible effort there in houston. will, thank you. >>> tonight, top republican senator richard burr has now stepped aside from his post heading the intelligence committee, after the fbi served a warrant. they now have his cell phone, over stock market trades, as this was all beginning to unfold. here's pierre thomas. >> reporter: with the fbi intensifying its investigation into possible insider trading, richard burr today stepping asid

i think we are on track and we need to unify the program working out of the usda. in concert those programs can do someme significant good. >> i believe that is right and i think all of us believe we can't continue to delay muchd longer. they've moved forward in good faith here but at some point we might decide there have to be more parameters on those things have to occur. on the other topic of access but no affordability, what you talk a little bit about what we might do to help people get access to this effort that could be telemedicine and for most that are in elementary and secondary school or even college or the last several months could we be doing more to help people be part of that process? >> i truly believe so. the program that was mentioned, senator markey encouraged filling in some of the gaps on the educational side. we need a rollout of broadband services but also include fiber ecand wireless and in many cases the wireless connection may be the fastest opportunity to connect especially in those areas that are not connected that i can't say enough we

i have been monitoring the progress of this relief, and i will continue urging the usda to issue these payments as soon as possible. agricultural producers can also take advantage of the paycheck protection program included in the cares act. this program provides forgivable loans to small businesses, including self-employed producers to help them cover payroll costs during this difficult time. 75% of the loans must be used for worker salaries and benefits, including the salaries of self-employed workers, while the remaining amount can be used for other qualifying expenses like mortgage, interest, rent and utilities. the loan can be forgiven completely as long as borrowers follow the requirement that at least 75% of the loan be used to cover worker salaries and benefits and the remainder is spent on other qualifying expenses. and as of this week, farmers and ranchers can now take advantage of the small business administration's economic injury disaster loan program, thanks to legislation congress passed two weeks ago. mr. president, i'm continuing to monitor the cattle market. livestock

certainly filling the motto at usda by doing right for everyone. >> california avocado direct was withdrawn and companies with little experience with food chains are getting funds. >>> there is a huge rally on wall street as the floor the new york stock exchange reopened to brokers for the first time in two months. pam cook is here with today's dollars and cents. >> good morning. optimism certainly helping the sentiment on wall street. they are based in maryland and mark is based in new jersey asking a nonprofit scientific research group about developing a vaccine. all of that is helping out once again. the opening bell rang and governor cuomo was there to ring the bell today as brokers were welcomed back. the s&p 500 crossed a 3000 for the first time since the shelter in place orders went into effect. taking a look at the dow jones it is that more than 600 points now. 25,000 crossing that level. back above 3000 for the first time in a few months. the nasdaq up 1 1/4% up to 94 the nasdaq up 1 1/4% up to 9439. there is new hope today for potential coronavirus vaccines. scientist from the u.s

is ok at things that usda doing. how do we coordinate that with what the fcc is doing. nice thing is, i think you're seeing more critical conversations there but then how west y loop in, if virginia has their own initiative, how do they become part of that? how do we make sure, for that under ardof, that if anybody has gotten west irginia money, that that not get them kicked out of eligibility? we've got to make sure we have a coordinated approach and that's really where i think congress ill take a very key role in making sure that all of these key agencies are talking, and coordinating where those dollars go so we can use them best. i was r thick, when talking to one of our main providers several years ago, i to , what sit really going take? and he says, shelley, it's going to take time and money. well, we're talking about money here. let's talk about time lines. mean, i hen we see, i think this covid, one of the lessons learned is this connectivity issue. it's just been incredible, the telehealth expansions, and the it.people like they like to have the telehealth appo

i look at things that usda is doing and how do we coordinate that, you know, through our u.s.with what the fcc is doing s? i think you're seeing critical conversations but how do they loop in if west virginia has their own initiative, how do they become part of that? how do we make sure that under ardof if anybody got west virginia money that that not get them kicked out of eligibility? i think we have to make sure we have a coordinated approach. i think congress will take a very key role in making sure all of the key agencies are talking, sharing information, sharing challenge processes and coordinate wrg tho coordinating where those dollars go so we can use them best. >> another thing when talking to one of the main providers several years ago, i said what is it really going to take? and he says well, shelly, its going to take time and money. >> yeah. >> well, we're talking about money here. let's talk about time lines. i mean when we see what -- i mean i think this covid-19, one of the lessons learned is this connectivity issue. it's just been incredible the telehealth expa

. >> one of the largest processors in merchandise is purdue farms it says usda has to inspect the plant. employees are getting temperatures checked, wearing masks and social distances senate democrats sent a letter to the white house calling for new safety standards at plants they said workers lives would be in jeopardy. back do you. >> such an important part of the system we appreciate those workers who can show up and try to keep it going. tune in to closing bell. they will be talking with the cfo of tyson don't miss that important interview. tyler. >>> coming up, j crew, the first retail victim of covid-19. the details of its bankruptcy deal and who could be next every financial plan needs a cfp® professional -- confident financial plans, calming financial plans, complete financial plans. they're all possible with a cfp® professional. find yours at letsmakeaplan.org. >>> welcome back j. crew, the first manl retailer to declare bankruptcy during this global pandemic court? >> hey, tyler. so j. crew is just one of the names on many retail watcher's br bankruptcy warning list well befor

. >> i week and a half -- >> reporter: in mid april, the usda announced a $19 billion food assistances. in washington, griff jenkins fox news. >>> governor gavin newsom announced new ways that counties can ease restrictions, but bay area health officials say not so fast. the governor said some industries can reopen with modifications beginning tomorrow, but some counties say they are not ready to make any changes just yet. i am julie haener working from home tonight. >> the governor says phase two of california's plan to reopen will make changes to the retail manufacturing and logidustry. curbside pickup is a lot of stores but people will have to maintain social distancing, and some people will be able to get back to work, but workplaces will have to make places making sure employees have sanitation materials. here's a closer look at the states plan. >> reporter: it turns out that phases is turning out to be stages within the phases, the governor is very slowly moving from essential businesses to more low-risk ones as long as your county allows it, stage to allow for consumers to go t

. >> reporter: in mid april usda announced a $19 billion food assistance program.ngton, chris jenkins, fox news. >>> governor gavin newsom says stage ii is a go allowing some businesses to reopen with modifications. now it is up to individual counties to decide how to proceed. >> we look forward to working with local partners to pull them in and have them help move forward. >> it is announcement we have been expecting. >>> cautious optimism this evening. here in the bay area six counties say they are ready to relax restrictions. meanwhile across the country, new numbers show nearly 40.2 americans filed unemployment. that will number to 33 million. the total number of claims here is more than 4 million during the a week since the shelter-in- place order began. >> governor newsom confirm the state is facing one of the

u.s., fda, the usda also. they're postponing in-person inspections. this is dangerous about what is happening with the food factories. they used to have 900 inspections by the government a month. now plummeted to nine or eight. your reaction to that? >> that is interesting, liz. i was having trouble hearing some of the specifics what you're saying, with regard to the food supply chain, the united states of america has safe, reliable, low-cost food source in the country because we protect the entire supply chain, however, back to my previous point about this federalism around states rights, i think it does demonstrate a vulnerability, this covid-19. it is actually illustrated lots of vulnerabilities in various supply chains, including pharmaceuticals, food, energy, oil, and gas but i do think this is an area where we should have a long look back after all of this. the talk about appropriateness of consolidation of things like, like food supply, meat supply, for example, maybe empower states more, use interstate commerce the way it was, initially though

this applies to fannie mae, freddie mac, fha, va, and usda loans. federally backed loans.s of you send your money to a private company but your loan might still be federally backed. it's easy to find out. call whoever you send your mortgage to and ask them if uncle sam owns your loan. if they say yes the door is open to forbearance help. the federal government set up a website. we posted a link on our website, nbcbayarea.com/responds. >>> thanks, chris. 6:25. more parts of new york state are reopening today. like california rolling out in phases. governor cuomo saying that the state is meeting a daily target of conducting 40,000 tests. now he showed how easy it is to take that test by being tested live on television. meantime hundreds of protesters descended on new york state capitol in albany demanding an immediate reopening of the entire state. >>> people in los angeles apparently taking full advantage of the free testing that that city is now offering. according to data from the mayor's office los angeles is getting about 75,000 tests every week for people at drive-thro

having the cdc and usda to help us assess what's going on, not just in the meat-packing plants but alsothere something unique in the community and the way it's interacting with the packing plant, what's going on that's causing our numbers to surge right now? i'm grateful they are here to do the assessment and we'll take the results and recommendations that they have and we look forward to partnering with them. we are so grateful for the leadership both from the state and the federal government to provide us the resources to help us to strategize and work on the problem. >> martha: everybody is concerned about the folks in these plants and obviously we appreciate they take their role so seriously and they want to work and we hope there's a good partnership to make sure they can do that safely, thank you very much, mayor ginger nelson from amarillo joining us tonig tonight. also this evening, our investigation into what is happening in our country's nursing homes continues. we are going to speak with an attorney who has spent his career defending these families. then i'll be joined by sen

the usda gave limited guidance of what would be safe for those workers. "facilities should consider the appropriate role of testing in workplace contact tracing of covid-19 positive workers in a work site and assessment." dr. fauci, as we think about how we move forward, we all want to open up the economy, what guidance would you give us in a situation like this here in minnesota? >> well, i can give you my common sense guidance, this is not the area of my expertise. it is more in others. it would seem that if you want to keep things like packing plants opened, you have to provide the optimum degree of protection and the ability allowing them to go to work safely and if and when individuals get infected, immediately to get them out to give them the proper care. when you call them to perform essential services, you have to make sure they are well-taken care of and protected. that's not an official proclamation, that's just me speaking as a human being. >> thank you, dr. fauci, you speak as a human being but you also speak as chief of the epidemiologist tha

. >> more americans find themselves without a paycheck, the usda's bending $3 billion to buy food directlyfamily farms and being donated from food banks across the country. >> farmers say it's a win-win. putting this out is a great move. >> the trump administration is announced a travel ban on brazil which is a hotspot for the virus. >>> today, santa clara county announced six new testing sites and expanding testing to people without systems. the free testing will be in neighborhoods where officials have seen an increase in cases including milpitas, morgan hill, mountain view and east san jose. that brings the number of testing sites to 46. the santa clara county wants anyone who may have been exposed to the virus, those at high risk and front-line workers to get tested. >> by being tested you are performing a community service to provide information to yourself so that you don't put others at risk. >>> santa clara county now has 2600 covid-19 cases. a testing is free to the public. to find out the testing site closest to you you can visit the santa clara county testing website or call 211

beef prices hit the highest levels recorded according to the usda., an already struggling industry facing challenges. one is leaving brisket off the menu because it's too expensive. much to the disappoint of his customers. at a burger bar in virginia, he can only last one more week with the price of ground beef before he increases prices for his customers. he said that every time he sees a light at the end of the tunnel, it seems to go out. >>> i'm paula newton in ottawa. canadian prime minister justin trudeau says stronger measures may be needed at the border. as states reopen, canada need to show extreme caution given the level of outbreak in the united states. right now by mutual agreement, the border is closed to nonessential traffic until may 21st. both countries are deciding whether to lift the restrictions. if they do, there could be temperature checks and medical history checks for those coming into canada. >>> i'm erica hill in new york where the broadway league announced theaters in the city will remain closed through at least september 6th

obviously the usda has clearly not done enough. can you talk a little about it? at that end, too, you're seeing a lot of suffering. >> well, i just can't believe where we are. we've been talking about this, joy, for five or six weeks, going back to my first appearance on your show. >> yep. >> we predicted this. i'm not sure which is worse -- the cult of secrecy that's been built up between the government, osha, the weakening of the cdc guidelines and big food, companies like tyson and jbs, or the cult of laziness and stupidity that congresswoman porter was referring to and that dr. zeke was referring to. it's absolutely galling to me. we could have been using the defense production act six weeks, seven weeks ago. we could have been enrolling fema to be out and distributing the food that we know is perishable. look, chickens lay eggs on a regular cycle. cows need to be mixed on a regular cycle -- milked on a regular cycle. vegetables grow on a regular and predictable cycle on farms that have been doing this, many of which for generations as the weather warms up an

the usda's ad marketing service and i will partner with national, regional, and local suppliers, and the government will purchase up to $3 billion in produce, dairy, and meat products, and then suppliers will package that to meet the need of those families across america through the food box program. a tremendous announcement today, given the fact that we are now getting a real idea of food desert conditions in the sum of our biggest urban areas, and some of the hardest-hits of covid-19, as well, across the country. what those issues are. places like detroit, here in new york, areas where they don't have access to markets and grocery stores immediately on every corner the way they do in other parts of the country. getting food supply to them. some areas have set up free food lines, but this hits it in a package program with fresh produce. we'll be following to see how this goes. the president was also asked about covid-19 with regard to the meat-packing plants. i want to bring everybody on the virtual couch in on that point. you're watching "outnumbered." i'm harris faulkner. here to

the usda which oversees the lab says the series of tests were conduct conducted over several weeks after they positively identified the virus that causes covid-19 in winston's oral swab. the weak detection from the original sample may be the result of contamination after members of the family caring for the pug tested positive. >>> a popular napa winery is suing governor newsom and the state public health officer. the suit which was filed takes issue with the wineries only being able to reopen in phase two if they serve sit-down meals. in a statement to our media partner "mercury news" it is a double standard. if meals are safe, so are tasti tastings. >>> some north bay wineries are using virtual vineyard tours to help wineries. jeffrey curly reached out to small producers and found that many of them did not utilize technology like this. you can use a virtually explore a vineyard. >> see the stacking of the bottles. so, it's really -- there's some special stories that we're able to share through this virtual experience that you might not get. >> curly titled this project ne. ou he'surnt

. >>> the usda's farmers-to-families food box program receiving early positive reviews.gram gives billions in aid to help struggling farmers nationwide. five companies tell cnn the program helped save their business by allowing them to keep their workers. farmers affected by covid-19 can start applying for federal funds next week. >>> meatpacking plants remain the focal point for containing the spread, and a virus-stricken naval ship is ready to return to sea. cnn has reporters from coast to coast. >> reporter: i'm dianne gallagher in atlanta. on tuesday, president trump praised meatpacking plants, saying they are, quote, very clean now, and that there are fewer and fewer problems. but the workers inside those plants, well, they're still getting sick at alarming rates, and outbreaks across the country continue. in nebraska this week, health officials said that 25%, a quarter of all the cases in the state are meatpacking plant workers. it said that just over 2,600 have tested positive for covid-19. the last time we got an update from nebraska back on may 7th, that number

the usda reports beef and pork production is down 35% compared to this time last year. some meat processing plants are starting to open back up, but industry experts say production will be significantly lower. they say we should expect higher prices at the supermarket. the cost of ground beef for hamburgers could rise more than 60% in the coming days. friend, we don't have to worry. >> can i register a complaint. >> okay, what? so i went to this place and got the impossible burger the other day and i am eating it and it's not the impossible burger. >> maybe it was just really good. how do you know it really wasn't? >> because i know. that was like trying to sell elwood's illegally blonde last year's dress at this year's prices. i know my impossible burger. >> at what point did you realize? first bite. >> when i took a bite and i saw the invisible corn. that is not an impossible burger. don't try to trick me and pay that high price. >> i got one this weekend and it was good. it was worth every penny. >> i see all of you. >> it wasn't meat. just a veggie burger. >> it was