Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Stephanie Ruhle 20200507

Consumers that arent spending and a country that doesnt know when it can safely reopen. An Unemployment Rate likely to be what we havent seen since the great depression. The fact that dozens of states are reopening is good news for many of those workers, but being open, just open, isnt enough. Businesses, they need customers. And with 1 in 4 americans that do have a job, taking some sort of pay cut, those consumers might not be willing to spend. Fewer customers means fewer businesses can survive. That means fewer jobs for those americans who really need to get back to work. Weve got reporters spread across this country coast to coast looking at every angle of this. Lets take you to south florida where the front page of the sun sentinel says the region will be reopening soon but will reopening be enough for the more than 1 million floridians who have filed for unemployment and all of those who dont have jobs but arent even eligible. Kerry sanders is in oakland park. Youve been talking to people there who were basically fine two months ago. And the last two months have slipped them to a place theyve never been to. 72 of floridians have a good reason to be angry at the unemployment system here in the state. As you noted, more than a million, 1. 6 million unemployed in the state applying for benefits. Thats close to 13 of the workforce here. The problem is they go into the system, go through the computers because offices like this are closed, keeping social distancing. They get into the system and it turns out to be a maze. In some cases, people say that dead end is a nightmare. In one case, a woman i spoke to started this 55 days ago. Kelly johnson could be considered a lucky one because she did get one unemployment direct deposit but then nothing more. She is among the millionplus who have lost jobs in florida who say the system is not only broken but they cannot get answers. Calls go to busy signals and those who get through say the person on the other end cant answer the question or, worse, hangs up. Kelly johnson calls it pending purgatory. An email, a letter sent or something to say hey, youre pending. Were waiting on this. Even if i could get on the website and find out what was going on, that would be great. At least i would know, okay, its going to take a week. I would be able to plan things. Its like im in the dark. I have no idea whats going on, which i dont understand why it is still so bad. This is two months into this. Kelly johnson is a single mother with five children at home. She has or did have a job at a restaurant, but because the state closed down, she was furloughed. And adding to all of this complication and the pain is that her Mortgage Company who she contacted about getting forgiveness told her we cant give you forgiveness right now. Youve got to come up with the money somehow. So what is she doing . She is not sure. Shes reached out to family members. Shes looking for help. She just knows that bills are going unpaid as each day goes by. She is actually feeding her kids rice and beans, rice and beans, rice and beans, and shes part of a Facebook Group thats been created in florida trying to navigate the broken system. And among the things that, at least one person told her who got through on the phone line, they were told to dial 211 which leads them to a phone number in the state of florida that advises them where food banks are. And kelly, along with so many i spoke to said, thats not what the unemployment system is supposed to tell you. Its supposed to tell you where you can get your money. They arent getting their federal gmoney, 600 and theyr not getting the state money depending where they were on the spectrum of income to begin with. Its a nightmare for these folks who are just, quite frankly, angry. For darn good reason. Kerry, thank you. Lets head to california which is obviously the technology epicenter of the world. But its technology thats been the biggest fail, the biggest obstacle preventing millions of those unemployed californians from getting the help. The same kind of help the people in florida are needing. Where is the break down . In a place Silicon Valley calls home, youd think theyd have this sorted out. Yeah, and they dont. The really big issue here in california, we lead in terms of the number of unemployment claims. Over 300,000 alone filed here, according to the labor department. Now, yes, ive talked to the labor secretary and she acknowledges the irony of being having Silicon Valley here and not being able to get all of these claims through. They say theyre processing as quickly as possible, but you also have layoffs going on at some of the Top Tech Companies like lyft and uber. As the other Tech Companies try to weigh in and fix these systems, what im hearing from executives inside the company is that it takes time to do this. Because theres such a surge on the system right now. Theres such a need. They cant just take these legacy decadesold systems and set them aside and set something up in time. That takes a lot of time and a lot of money, right . What they are doing is they are standing up new products inside existing systems in georgia, in new york, all across the country where you have this great need and those applications simply arent going through fast enough. You have artificial intelligence. Chat bots. New application forms. Even the most basic technology theyre trying to institute at the same time as theyre trying to fly this plane and keep it from crashing. But, steph, as these Companies Like google and microsoft try to step in, the real fundamental issue here is the state and federal funding. There isnt enough to update these systems properly. And then youll have a downward cascading effect on issues like getting money and getting food to other parts of the population. Not just unemployment. So this is a very dire disaster that were starting to see unfold. Those in state unemployment offices are telling me, look, we hope this will count for something and momentum will change in our favor so we can get these systems fixed for the future. But right now theyre very much struggling, even though they are working as hard and as fast as they can, steph. Jo, thank you. Lets head to georgia, one of the first states to reopen. Heres the thing. As the number of cases and deaths are creeping up there, the front page of atlantas top newspaper says experts are trying to figure out how high the numbers will go, and my colleague Allison Barber isnt at a hospital. Shes outside the lenox square mall in atlanta which just reopened this week. Theres a huge disconnect in that state. Hospitals are desperately trying to keep more people from dying while stores like that are trying to figure out how to get shoppers in. Stephanie, its unbelievably complicated. The governor of georgia lifted the stayathome orders for the majority of residents a few days ago. Some businesses feel like they are ready to open. They say they are taking the necessary precautions installing plexiglas at checkout counters, requiring their employees to wear face masks and encouraging customers to do the same. Some are trying to shift the focus of their business, of their brick and Mortar Stores to be more of a curbside only pickup, order from the phone or order online situation. Other businesses, though, weve spoken to, they say they feel with the restrictions lifting around them, even if they feel its not the right choice right now but its not safe enough to start reopening retail stores, they feel like, as restrictions lift around them, they have no choice but to reopen. One employee i spoke to last week who works at a retail store inside of this mall told me she felt like she was being forced to choose between her income and her health. Simon properties started to reopen malls on friday. So far, theyve opened around 60 malls and outlets in 12 states. By the end of the month, they say they expect to open around 82 additional locations. Stephanie . Heres the thing, though. With malls opening up, how much pressure does that put on the individual stores . If im a retailer, i might not feel like its safe to open. I cant protect my customers or my employees, but if the mall is open, doesnt that put the pressure on me that im going to have to pay my rent no matter what . Yeah, and, look, Business Owner after Business Owner we have spoken to in the last few days have said that they feel this is an incredibly difficult decision they have to make. They say that they are worried about paying their bills. But not just paying rent. They say theyre also worried about paying their employees. They have concerns about opening. They say theyre worried about their safety and the health of their employees as well as their customers. But one Business Owner explained it to me this way. At some point as things start to reopen, its not just about them paying their rent. Its also about their employees being able to pay their bills. And they say theyre worried if they dont open back up, bring them back in, their employees cant collect unemployment. And to quote one of them, they said that stimulus check only goes so far when you have two, three children you need to feed. Stephanie . We should not have to decide between our lives and our livelihoods. This has obviously been a difficult time across the country and across industries. One industry hit particularly hard, the Retail Industry. But a handful of the largest retailers have been able to keep their employees on board. Have even hired waves of temporary employees while their customers are coming in. Im talking about the biggest retailer in this country, walmart. Im joined by the president and ceo of walmart i believe we actually just lost his signal so were going were actually going to go to a commercial break because were having a bit of an audio problem and well be back in just a few as we see, we just got him back. Walmart. They Service Customers and tv anchors all day long. John, thank you. We had a bit of an audio issue. Help us out. Youre the biggest employer in this country. Employers are trying to figure out how do they bring their associates back. What are your associates telling you theyre most concerned about . What do they need . The last couple of months [ inaudible ] its going to take all of you know what, im afraid weve just lost our audio signal again so lets take a quick commercial break and well be back in just two. Weve got a lot to cover today. 33 Million People are searching for a job right now. Heres what doesnt make sense. The stock market pointing in the green. Mark cuban joins me next on this huge disconnect. Cuban says in order to get through this, we need good oldfashioned leadership in the federal government. We dont have it. The top democrat in the Senate Chuck Schumer is here to respond, while our special coverage continues. First, stories from the front lines. As Business Owners fear for their futures. I dont feel like i can judge anyone because i havent stood in their shoes. I know these big businesses make a ton of money. More than ill ever make, thats for sure. But im sure theyre hurting as well. And i just hope that theres a way that the government can find a way to go ahead and increase the funding for Small Business loans. Were all in this together, and were all going to get out of this together. 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Shop online from the comfort of your couch, and get your car with touchless delivery to keep you safe. And for even Greater Peace of mind, all carvana cars come with a sevenday return policy. So, if you need to keep moving, were here for you. At carvana the safer way to buy a car. Daddy, i found you good job. Now im gonna stay here and you go hide. Watch your favorites from anywhere in the house with the Xfinity Stream app. Free with your xfinity service. Now any room can be a tv room. Stream live tv, on demand shows and movies, even your dvr recordings. Download the Xfinity Stream app today to stream the entertainment you love. Welcome back to our special reopening america coverage. Im stephanie ruhle. Im now joined by president and ceo of walmart u. S. John, hopefully were not having any technical difficulties. You are the biggest employer in the country. What are your associates telling you theyre most concerned about . Well, stephanie, our team has done an amazing job the last couple of months taking care of customers and essential services, and weve been open. Weve been open for the last couple of months. Weve taken a number of measures to change the way we operate. Everything from metering in the store to limiting the hours the stores are opening. And what our people are saying, and i think youll hear this from businesses all over, its going to take all of us. Its going to take employers, employees doing the things we need to keep people socially distanced and providing the right equipment. We also need customers to do their part. Im the customer when i go out, and it can be convenient to just stay in line and stay spaced out. But its important to make sure everyone is in the best position so our employees and customers stay safe as we move to the next phase of this recovery in the pandemic. Is Customer Behavior surrounding this pandemic different in different places in the country . I think it is. And i think it has a lot to do with the experience that people have had in markets. Markets that have been heavily affected by the pandemic and families affected, and other parts of the country that have had far fewer cases. And i think it depends on the experience that youve had somewhere near you and some parts of the country there have been stayathome orders and those still exist. Other areas there are states that didnt have stayathome orders. Its whats happened to you most locally. As the biggest employer, this pandemic is everywhere, you have had employees get sick. But youve also got the resources and infrastructure to address all of this. If you are a mom and pop, if you are a Small Business right now, looking to reopen, do you think you could take on all these new Safety Measures . Well, as a Small Business or large business, there are some very practical things each of us can do. First, we meter people in the stores during the day, its as simple as putting an x on the sidewalk with tape and its six feet apart and asking people to stand spaced out. We count the number of people come in. Weve got a number of people per thousand square feet in the stores. Those are easy things to do. Directional aisle markers so customers are moving down the aisle in the same direction. Real practical things to do. Plexiglas shields between our associates serving customers. Its an inexpensive way to make sure people stay safe. There are a number of things any business can do without adding a lot of complexity or cost to the business. Do you think the Retail Industry will change forever . We know large parts of the industry were suffering before. But now were doing curbside pickup, more and more people are doing online shopping. When we go back, are we going back . Well, i think the customer definitely has changed certainly in the short term. There will be a couple of phases to this recovery. Well be opening with the pandemic. Well have protective measures in place and there will be visual reminders that things are different and people are shopping at the curb more, and they are using contactfree checkout like in our stores, walmart pay, you can use without contact. That behavior has changed. And then well move on, hopefully sooner than later, where theres a vaccine and we get to a full recovery and there will probably be some kind of new normal that well have to learn about once we get there. But these events do tend to change things significantly. Can you take us into the American Consumer . You have been open through this pandemic. Help us understand what is the consumer buying . What did they need a month ago, today and where are they going tomorrow . There have definitely been some big shifts. Early on, we saw overthecounter pharmaceuticals. Midmarch, a big run on food. Many people saw our food business was shopped heavily throughout the country. Over the last couple of four to five weeks its shifted from those kind of categories to the things we do when we stay at home. So people have been buying more board games and puzzles, small exercise things like yoga and weight equipments have done well. As the weather has improved, our bicycle business has changed. And some categories that have been softer like auto care. People arent driving as much. The cars are parked. So we can really see this change in Consumer Behavior throughout the entire thing right up until this week. Do you think were going to be booming again . Do you think demand will be back in a huge way Third Quarter of this year . Youve got a unique perspective. Everyone elses numbers are warped because, through no fault of their own, they shut down. Youve lived through this. It would be hard to forecast what it will be like the rest of the year. I think there are a lot of moving pieces here. The job market that well be watching. Many people are starting to come back to work. This will affect different segments. Food service will ease their way back in. Some other parts of the economy may be more impacted. So this will be something that well have to watch closely. But as far as the consumer, there will definitely be some changes. I think people who have learned to use pickup as an option for Grocery Shopping are enjoying that. Theyll probably stay with channels like that in the future. John, thank you so much. Thank you for bearing with me with technical difficulties and thank you for joining me this morning. You bet. Lets bring in the top democrat in the senate, Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer from the great state of new york. Senator, thank you for joining us. Thank you. Hope youre healthy, stephanie. Thank you. Were now up to 33 million americans. Yes. Filing for unemployment in the last six weeks. At the same time, many of your republican colleagues are saying they want to pump the brakes on more aid and they want to allow the funds youve already given out to get through the door. What do you say to that . I say that is so wrong. We have a huge crisis here. We havent had as many people unemployed since the great depression. Stores, businesses are closing all the time. More people are being laid off. People are being have trouble in every way economically. We need big, bold action, and Speaker Pelosi and i are working very closely together on putting together a very strong plan which you will hear shortly. The people like mcconnell and mccarthy and even trump who say lets wait and do nothing, well, they remind me of the old herbert hoovers. We had the great depression. He said lets wait it out. It got worse and worse. We need franklin rooseveltiantype action. Look, stephanie, after all, we put 4 trillion through the Federal Reserve and the treasury so larger corporations could have a Lending Facility so those Financial Markets and instruments would not crash. Weve got to have the same focus even a stronger focus on the people at the, you know, the working people. The average people who are suffering as well and need the same kind of big, bold, tough action. We certainly need more oversight on the corporate side but we need action to help average folks. Weve done some in the house and senate. We have to do a lot more. But, sir, with all due respect, before we get new money, dont we have to get c. A. R. E. S. Act one straight . You spent nearly 3 trillion to date. You called the new expanded Unemployment Benefits unemployment on steroids. And theres millions of people in this country who are eligible for that money and the Computer Systems dont even work. Well, and we put in one of the problems here is this administration has not really executed these laws. You know, as you know, its civics one, Congress Makes the laws, the administration executes them. We put a billion dollars in to upgrade Computer Systems and to add more people to the unemployment offices. My state of new york is doing that. Theyre taking state workers, adding them, and the list the waiting time for unemployment is much lower. Weve made it a lot easier that people can attest to how much they made. Weve added many new people, gig workers, parttime workers, freelancers to the list. And so the states that are doing this right, its really working well. We need more federal help to those states that arent doing it right. And that means the administration has got to do more. The sba administrator needs real backing and bolstering. We also need guidelines to make sure the sba money goes to the unbanked. The people who are not getting the help rather than the big boys. Some of that was exposed. I, in fact, went on the floor yesterday with ben carden and said lets have a complete list of who is getting the loans and who is not getting the loans. Our republican friends, who as you said, dont want to do anything, blocked it. But senator, its the media who is exposing it. And its congress who set the rules. And congress has been complaining for the last two weeks about the big boys taking the money they shouldnt, but they didnt take the money illegally. They took the money that they were allowed to take. Does Congress Need to, a, change the rules and then, b, force the sba and the treasury to make this information public . There is no rational reason why every tax i. D. For every business and company that took that money to not be known by the american people. Thats our money. Youre 100 right, and thats what i said. We went to the floor yesterday and asked that all of it be made public. Ben carden and i and the republicans blocked it. We also, in covid35, just for what youre saying, the very problems, the administration was supposed to put out guidance and say give it to the small people, not the big boys. That was part of our legislation. They didnt put out the guidance. But what we did in covid 35 is wall off 125 billion that cannot go to the wellbanked and has to go to the smaller businesses, the moms and pops, the butchers, bakers and candlestick makers. That money is beginning to flow to them because we made a correction when the administration didnt direct the first money as we had intended. We walled it off. Thats what we should have done. Youre 100 right. Were staying vigilant in doing everything we can. Mcconnell just wanted to give another 250 billion to be given out the same way the First Tranche was given. We changed it and now its going to get much better. But then in terms of real oversight that you can work on, what are you doing . What can you tell us about where great point. Where money is going. Okay. We are trying to do oversight. We asked leader mcconnell to bring in, you know, we dont control things in the senate. They do. But we asked him to bring in mnuchin. We asked him to about the first question you asked. Wheres the money going . We asked him to bring in powell. We asked him to bring in fauci. We asked him to bring in birx. And this administration is refusing to let any of them testify. The house had fauci ready to testify. The administration pulled it back. Now meadows is saying that he is not going to let anyone come before the Congress Without his okay. That is wrong. You know, this administration, stephanie, has hidden from the truth over and over. The president has hidden from the truth. He thinks he could have made it go away by just saying its a hoax or when it gets to be spring it wont happen. And he doesnt let his people come tell the truth. You know what that does . That prolongs the crisis. Until we get a handle on how were going to deal with the health issue, on how were going to really deal with these deep Economic Issues as shown by todays numbers, were not going to accomplish what we want to accomplish, which is getting america back to work again. The truth matters, and this you cannot hide from the truth. Donald trump is actually hurting himself when he ignores the truth because hes prolonging the economic crisis and that hurts him as well as hurting america and tens of millions as youve seen the numbers of working people. Then why did the senate go back to washington this week. A pandemic should not be political. This whole country is hurting and these oversight hearings that youre talking about, we expected. But instead the only thing im reading about is the president s appointees getting confirmed and judges. You will have to ask Mitch Mcconnell that. As you know, stephanie, he controls the senate. I went on the floor of the senate. The first day we got back and said lets do the hear,s youre talking about. No. What does he do instead . He has a crony judge friend of his, hard right, who, by the way, said he wants to repeal the aca, take away health care from people at a time when many people need health care. The administration backed that up yesterday when they said theyre still going to court to get rid of the Affordable Care act. Thats absurd. So we are pushing hard for oversight and both the administration, when trump says hes not going to let the top people testify, and leader mcconnell is stopping that from happening. Were going to keep pushing until we get it. Ginch thven that, how can ane look to reopen and put people back to work if it could get repealed even further and were telling our labor force, not people who get to sit in their home offices, to go back to work while theyre putting themselves at health risk while we dont have schools open so theres no one to care for our children. How can we possibly allow any state to reopen . Our most Vulnerable People are the ones who could get hurt physically and economically. The governors are doing their best but its very hard to get back to work in a good way unless we have real testing. This administration is way behind in the testing, has messed this up from the getgo. We put 75 billion into this new bill. 25 billion into the bill we just passed to come up with a National Plan on testing and use the defense production act to mobilize the plants that make the tests and the supply chains that give them the materials they need. Thats what must be done. Every country that has had success, south korea, germany, finland, australia, new zealand, singapore, hong kong, have had a testing and a Contact Tracing regime in place. If we had the level of south koreas testing, we could deal with this crisis and get to work a lot more quickly. I asked the mayor of new rochelle, the first town quarantined, what do you need . He said testing. If i could test everybody, i could tell the people who had the virus to stay at home. I could tell everyone else go to your work or office places. It wont spread. We still dont have adequate testing, but we need federal leadership. The governors are doing their best under very trying circumstances. But without testing, its going to be very hard to get to work. And again, donald trump seems to say, you know, he said two mo h months, ago, everyone who needs a test can get a test. Not so. Not even close. Then senator, do you need to do what you can do and require businesses to have testing . Because you dont control the defense production act. The president does. Yesterday the president s spokesperson said its nonsensical for everyone to get tested. While at the same time, youve got Meat Processing plants with hundreds of people getting covid19 and theyre not being tested. What you can do, sir, is change the rules and regulations and require businesses to do this. You can require businesses to do it, stephanie, but if there arent enough tests, they wont get them. Right now businesses, governors, mayors are scrambling for these tests. They call up companies. They try to make their own deals. Theyre competing on price. We are short of the number of tests being manufactured. And you mentioned, correctly so, the dpa, the defense production act, should be used. He used it for the meat plants so why isnt he using it for the number one thing we need, testing . But if you want every business in this country to reopen, what do you do if you are a tiny business, right . If those businesses need to protect their employees, we can say that to a big Meat Processing plant but you have Small Businesses that say, if i have got to carry this liability, i cant possibly afford to reopen. How do you square that . What we called for in our covid 35 legislation is the dpa to manufacture the tests and then gave 11 billion to the states to administer the tests and do Contact Tracing on behalf of the Small Businesses. You cant put the burden on small Business Owners. The cdc, the federal agency, the center for Disease Control was supposed to issue guidelines on how stores, little restaurants, Little Stores could reopen safely. They pulled them back today. You need you cannot do this as the governors have said without as the Business Leaders have said without some federal leadership from the administration. Were not getting it. I hope we do. I want to work with trump to get this done for the good of america, but they dont seem to be listening. You saw the stories yesterday in tthe wall street journal and the New York Times how the testing plans are a mess over there. We can give them the money. We can order them to have a plan. But we cant force them to do it right. Theyve got to do it right themselves. Well, the only way were going to get through it is if we get through this together. Senator, thank you so much. Were going to leave it there. Thank you, stephanie. Joining us now, Dallas Mavericks owner mark cuban. Mark, im so glad youre with us. You are demanding, calling for more leadership. Ive got to start with this disconnect. 33 million americans have now gone on unemployment in the last six weeks. 1 in 4 who do have jobs have just taken a pay cut. And the market is up over 200 in the last two minutes. What is going on here . You know, people feel like they believe in americas future, which is a good thing, but with all the liquidity thats gone into the system, theres money to invest. And where else are you going to invest it other than the u. S. Stock market . And thats just not for american investors, but also globally. People around the world are putting their money in the u. S. Stock market because its the safest place historically. Youve been outspoken about how we have to solve this american crisis since the beginning. Give us a status update. Where are you now . The problems just keep on getting worse. Listening to senator schumer, theres so much blame game going on. Its not my fault. Its your fault. Its not your fault, its my fault. And what everyone is truly missing is the nature of business is changing right before our eyes. Everybody is trying to go back to the way it used to be done. America 1. 0. Those days are gone. So when we talk about just funding Small Businesses, thats not enough if they dont know what to do with the money or how to adapt. Right now we need to be agile. Were talking about government programs, we need to create consumer demand. I didnt hear a word from senator schumer or leader mcconnell or the product or anybody about how are we going to increase consumer demand. Now in the past, we might have talked about getting more money for businesses, letting them hire more but if the demand isnt there because so many people lost their jobs so quickly, then all of that money is going to be burned on expenses and then theyre going to be in the same position in 8, 10 weeks, whatever it may be. So we need a jobs program now. We need a federal jobs program now. Senator schumer talked about tracing and tracking and testing. Those shouldnt be state level jobs or Community Level jobs because you need to aggregate all that information. These need to be federal jobs. We hire millions of people to do the tracking and tracing and testing thats involved. We have people behind the scenes accumulating all the data, managing the data, labeling the data so that we can get the best information and learn from it because it doesnt seem like were learning about whats happening in front of our eyes. And my fear is in 50 years when historians look back at this, theyll look back and say the world was changing and america ignored those changes. Well, then i guess im still not learning. I go back to my first question. If the problems have only gotten worse and the federal government is failing us, why is it that so many investors are pouring in to the markets saying were going to be great in a few months . I dont see it. I dont think theyre saying well be great in a few months but theyre trusting the fact well be great in five years. Where else would you put your money . You know, putting it in the bank as Interest Rates decline, maybe theres going to be inflation. Thats a concern. So there just arent any choices. Thats why the money is going into the stock market. And that said, i mean, ive gone mostly to cash, and i still think that the stock market will decline, but im not making any predictions. Thats just me and my personal approach. The United States economy is based on consumer spending. Do you see consumers getting back out there . When you actually listen to earnings calls, corporate american ceos, were hearing them talk about waves of bankruptcies, empty airplanes and consumers not in a position to spend. Thats the problem. Thats what i was referring to earlier. Thats why we need a federal jobs program. If people dont have confidence theyll be able to keep their jobs, theyll not spend money. People that dont have confidence theyll be able to get a job, theyre not going to spend the money theyre getting as part of the stimulus program. We need a federal jobs program, period, end of story, starting now. Thats the only way this is going to work. All right then. Mark, thank you so much, always, for sharing your insights and expertise. Hopefully those government leaders are watching. Restaurant owners in more than a dozen states are welcoming customers back right now. But what does reopening actually look like . Two restauranteurs facing two very different fates join us next in the future of dining out. First, more stories from the front lines. One Restaurant Owner in South Carolina opened up but didnt quite open to what theyre used to. We were told to put all the people on unemployment. Thats a joke. Half my people still cant get paid from the state. Weve done everything on our end. But its not working. Another dvt. Not today. One blood clot puts you at risk of having another, so we chose xarelto®, to help keep you protected. Xarelto®, is proven to treat and reduce the risk of dvt or pe blood clots from happening again. Almost 98 of people did not have another dvt or pe. Dont stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of blood clots. While taking, a spinal injection increases the risk of blood clots, which may cause paralysis the inability to move. You may bruise more easily or take longer for bleeding to stop. 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To help, were giving our customers up to 90 days to make their first payment. Shop online from the comfort of your couch, and get your car with touchless delivery to keep you safe. And for even Greater Peace of mind, all carvana cars come with a sevenday return policy. So, if you need to keep moving, were here for you. At carvana the safer way to buy a car. Soon, people will be walking back through your door. Soon, life will move forward. Well welcome back old colleagues, get to know new ones some things may change, but well still be here, right here, so you can work on the business of getting your business back. At paycom, our focus will always be you and well see you soon. Were going to do a takeout model. Im going to be in the kitchen cooking because i dont have a staff. And my wife might come down and help me out a little bit. So to just stop everything on a dime and then have to restart it is not going to be any easy feat. Everybodys fingers crossed we dont screw this up. That we all behave like were supposed to. Follow the rules ahead of us because we think thats the fastest path forward to a return to our local economy. As of today, 15 states have reopened their restaurants and another four are making plans to open up this month. Those reopenings bringing a new wave of fear and anxiety for Restaurant Owners across the country. You think it would be a good thing. The toll this pandemic has taken on the industry cannot be overstated. A survey by the National Restaurant Association Found in april, restaurant sales were down by 78 on average with the industry on track to lose 50 billion in just one month. Our next guest has felt this directly. Shake shack founder danny meyer has been one of the most wellknown names in restaurants. He just joined the Governors Task force to reopen new york after he saw his own businesses take a massive hit. In february, gabrielle stallman had eight thriving restaurants in new york city. Now just two months later, hes at risk of losing absolutely everything. The two men join me now. Danny, restaurants are starting to reopen in some states. Youre on the task force to reopen new york. What does it look like . Its no surprise that revenue is down 78 . We asked our restaurants to close. But reopening at 25 or 50 capacity, can that do anything . Can restaurants stay alive . Not for full service restaurants, it wont. For fast, casual, fine casual, Quick Service restaurants where dining in the restaurant is takeout and delivery are also just fine, those are going to be the first to come back, but a lot of them have already pivoted to Curbside Service and delivery. For fullservice restaurants, the kind that we have come to love because we welcome you and know your name and, you know, the bartender and they know your favorite drink, those are going to be the ones slowest to return and frankly its because its tough to get people to feel safe coming to work without testing. And its also, therefore, tough to even ask any restaurant to make a living at anything less than 85 capacity, which we all know is not a safe way to go right now. Gabriel, thats your business in a nutshell. Cool, cozy restaurants in new york citys west village that has the highest rents in the whole city. Your largest restaurant seats 45 people total. What are you going to do . Stephanie, thank you for having me on. I appreciate you giving a platform to this conversation. What were going to do is, you know, have a strong will and live and try our hardest to survive. But the reality is, it is impossible to operate a restaurant with 25 or 50 seating capacity. As you have noted, some of the states that have allowed restaurants to reopen are starting with 25 seating capacity. Its an impossibility with a 45seat restaurant or even a 100seat restaurant if i only have 25 or 50 of my seats. How can i possibly pay 100 of our neighbor . 100 of our insurance . How can we pay 100 of our rent . In a normal year, when its the best of years and we have 100 occupancy and people are comfortable waiting 45 minutes to sit at a table and people are comfortable being two deep at the bar in the best years we operate on singledigit profit margins. With 25 occupancy, if i have a 45seat restaurant and im only around 11 or 12 seats, normally i have five cooks in the kitchen and five people in the dining room. I cant hire five cooks and five waiters if i only have 12 seats. I dont need five waiters for 12 seats. And the other thing that needs a lot of attention is half of our industry lives and survives on tips. If there are no seats, how are they making enough tips . If they dont make enough tips, then its my obligation under the threw subsidize that. What revenue am i subsidizing that with because whatever seats we have are not going to be as sufficient as possible because its not going to be a full restaurant until people are safe coming back in. Then what does ppp do for you . You got your first loan, but given what youve just laid out, it sounds like you might have to send it back. There are a lot of flaws and problems with the ppp program. And im happy to go into it. But i think part of a larger conversation is, we keep talking as though everyone that needs a loan or grant has gotten one. And thats definitively not the case. If we keep only approaching the problem about who has the loan, what about everybody who didnt get funded or didnt get a grant . We need a solution that protects everybody. As far as directly talking and addressing about the ppp, you know, there are very simple changes that can be made. Simply starting with allow the time clock with which to use it to begin once we open the doors. For so many of us, the time will expire before we even get to open. Other things that can be done instead of making it a short eightweek window, give us 16 weeks to use the window. If im capable of stretching that funds further and longer, isnt that good on me . Why tell me to use all of the money rapidly and quickly . It would benefit me to stretch it out over time. It would benefit me to use it once im actually open. Spending the money on labor, which 75 of it needs to be used when im not allowed to open isnt benefiting my business. Theres lots of easy changes for money thats already out there that i think can be done with the ppp which change the date of origin, allow us more time to use it but i think it speaks to a bigger problem, which is we need as a real solution, we need a stimulus and a bailout package that specifically targets our industry. We look at over history, in present time and in past, the airlines recently got a very specifically targeted bailout. This was something that the airlines needed. In 08 and 09 we looked at the Housing Market and how we do a bailout for the Housing Market. Before we bail out the automative industry how do we do that . Throughout history in the past and present we recognize Industries Need specific programs. But when you look at our industry, we employ more people than the automotive and Airline Industry combined. We generate more revenue an the automoti Automotive Industry combined. The same package for the same tech salon and los angeles lakers. Im a huge nba plan we applied for the ppp loan and the l. A. Lakers and me are in the same boat but the airlines are observed separately . This is absurd. Its mental. Danny, what do you think . I think first of all, im glad im back with you. I love listening to gabe and you. I think that the Restaurant Industry has structural issues even before the pandemic occurred, and there were lots and lots of fine dining and fullservice restaurants hanging on by a thread even before and i think what we should be thinking about is a unified, coordinated approach to restaurants. I think gabe is absolutely right about that. One of the things i know does not work in our industry is the wage and labor model. The fact that cooked are not allowed to share, the fact that waiters are paid a sub minimum wage hourly rate is completely wrong. I think its time for our industry to make some massive changes so when he are back in business we can thrive and most importantly employees want to work in our industry. Theres no reason whatsoever to believe that restaurants are going to survive and the communities are going to have their cherished places for mothers day to graduations and birthdays if people dont want to work in the industry because they cant afford to live and if restauranteurs cannot stay in business. Its a number of things that government could do in a coordinated way to make all of those things much, much stronger for the future. Well, i promise, i dont want to cook on mothers day. I know were out of time but gabe, one more question about another flaw in this system. You could lose everything, more than just your businesses. Could you explain quickly . Absolutely. One of the great fears and anxieties that i lived with in addition to the fact that nine of my restaurants are closed is this fact of personal liability that we all as Business Owners and commercial tenants in this city. In order to have a commercial lease at any of my restaurants i was required to sign a personal guaranty. These personal guaranties are giving strict definitions how one can get out of their business. They have a good guy clause, if you want to get out of your lease you need to give a three to sixmonth notice. During that time period you need to pay the entirety of your rent and if you pay and obligate that rent payment and predict youre going to close that far in advance. Your landlord gets that rent, your landlord gets to keep your security deposit, and then you are released. Now the problem is, thats under normal conditions, those seem bullish. Right now, these are not normal circumstances, and to sit there and face the fear that if im not able to get my business reopened that the failure of my business is not enough, that you can come after me personally. That doesnt make sense. If i get reopened and i cannot sustain, let the failure of my business be enough. Dont come after me personally. Im resilient. I have fortitude. I have perseverance. Im ready to open up my restaurant. I just need some support. I want somebody to stand by me and say gabe, we want you to survive, and were here to help you survive with rent and payroll and whatever, and if you can make it work, great, but if you cant, im not going to come after your home. Im not going to come after your personal, because the failure of the business this time, its not due to your fault. I need protection from personal liability. Its insane. Gabe, we 100 want you to survive. Unfortunately we have to leave it there. Gabe, danny, thank you. Next our own harry smith will take us to main street usa where if we dont take serious action today, it could be gone forever. How about no no uh uh, no way come on, no no nnnnono only discover has no annual fee on any card. Heres the thing about managing for your business. S when youve got public clouds, and private clouds, and hybrid clouds things can get a bit cloudy for you. But now, theres the Dell Technologies cloud, powered by vmware. A single hub for a consistent operating experience across all your clouds. That should clear things up. Right now, there are over a million Walmart Associates doing their best to keep our nation going. Because despite everything thats changed, one thing hasnt and thats our devotion to you and our communities. Our priority will always be to keep you and our associates safe, while making sure you can still get the essentials you need. We have been talking all morning about how Small Business is integral to america, how its part of the heartbeat of america. Harry smith takes us to main street usa where if we dont take action now, we could lose it forever. Take a look. Walk down the main street of any small town and you wonder how they do t the Small Businesses and mom and pop businesses make ends meet but even survive and thrive in a world of Big Box Stores and ecommerce. Its personal, of course. You know the face of the person inside, and you their name. Strangers come to shop and end up as friends. He or she always says they can get it for you. If they cant, they tell you who can. Those Small Businesses are where your kids get their first jobs and the same establishments who sponsor everything from the Little League team to the school play. Were an honor Family Owned Company that we want to help our community. Lots of times those same people run the food drives, donate goods to the Charity Auction and serve on the school board. Day one we serve our community and 200, to 300 more peels per day for the local hospitals. Reporter it requires a certain mindset and drive to strike out on your own, to be your own boss, to believe in yourself enough to make it, come hell or high water. Well, the proverbial water is rising, and continues to rise every day their businesses are shuttered. If we dont have tenants, then we cant pay our mortgage. Ask how many got bailout money from the government. Ask how many spent hours and days trying. We have lost basically 90 of our revenue if not more. Im not getting paid at all. Reporter and ask how many sleepless nights theyve had since the shutdown started. Sorry. Reporter these shops and Small Businesses are often the ties that bind us as communities and while the romance of owning