Talk to the county executive steve malone about the plans he has to reopen the beaches out there, and also, youll meet a very creative local Business Owner who has managed to turn his restaurant into a drivein movie theatre of all things so all thats coming up busy hour ahead first though fox Business Team coverage of our top stories here on a friday with blake burman reporting from the white house but we start with lauren watching the markets for us here is to wrap up the week. Lauren . Lauren hey, connell very quiet session, ahead of a long Holiday Weekend stocks actually traded in the narrowest range in three months and in the end i thought the dow was going to go positive but it fell about nine point, s p up 7, nasdac up 39. The sectors that led the weeks rally, energy, material, financial, they led todays retreat and you can see that if you take a look at the laggards on the Dow Jones Industrial average today, chevron, caterpillar, boeing. Investors weighing opposing forces connell hopes for a Coronavirus Vaccine and states reopening, against chinas move to impose new National Security laws on hong kong that would cramp its autonomy that is adding to already high end u. S. China tensions as you can see here steep losses for chinese stocks that list here in the u. S. , andluckin coffee down 30 and oil fell for the first time in seven days closing at 3,347 but for the week it is up almost 13 as all 50 states have started to reopen their economies. Look at this major averages for the week up at least 3 the nasdac up almost 4 , and the russel 2,000 a measure of the small cap stocks, to show you how this rally has truly broadened, the russel 2,000 is up almost 8 on the week, connell back to you. Connell lauren thank you. Now, as you mentioned all 50 states have started to ease up to some degree on these pandemic restrictions that had been in place, and President Trump is actually now calling on churches to reopen since they are essential and can start to reopen this weekend. That and more, live from the north lawn of the white house today with blake burman, hey, blake. Reporter connell it was really a demand from President Trump earlier this afternoon here at the white house for governors all across the country to allow for places of worship to open up this weekend, saying that they are essential services, and with that, the cdc followed up with new guidance. Dr. Deborah birx saying churches synagogues and mosques should wait a week if they are in an area with a high covid19 infection rate but the president left with this general threat for governors. Watch. President trump the governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now. For this weekend, if they dont do it i will override the governors. In america we need more prayer, not less. Reporter after that during a presentation in the Briefing Room dr. Birx made the case in the overwhelming majority of states and major cities cases are declining. This was her message as many ponder their memorial day weekend plans. So please, as you go out this weekend, understand you can go out. You can be outside. You can play golf, you can play tennis and go to the beaches if you stay six feet apart, but remember that that is your space and thats the space that you need to protect and insure that youre social distanced for others. Reporter connell and melissa dr. Birx did the asymptomatic spread is still a very big concern. Back to you. Connell already blake burman for us. Melissa . Melissa here now is steve forbes, forbes media chairman. Let me ask you first of all about this move by the president do you think that local municipalities are going to follow it because of course, it is the mayor and the governor who is the last word in a city like mine. I think most will. I think youre going to see more and more stark contrast between states that are moving with deliberate speed to open up and those who are lagging. Heard about vermont today is about as a rural space as you can find, theyre still acting like its new york in march. So i think youre going to see pressure from other states to open up and i think people are recognizing that if you practice what physical distancing and the like, you can go out. There are always risks out there but people have had enough. This has lasted far longer than anyone anticipated. This lockdown. Melissa yeah speaking of having enough, theres already this talk about what happens if it comes back and if there needs to be another lockdown, the president has said we will not do this again, but if there are embers or even a fire well put them out but not shutdown the economy again. Do you think he can hold tough on that, how much pressure will there be if there is another wave. Oh, i dont think theres going to be another National Lockdown again. I think we know enough now. Its among the elderly, Nursing Homes and the like, people with conditions like diabetes who are especially vulnerable so you can take a much more nuanced approach. You dont need to shut everything down. Weve learned a lot since then. You see a state like florida which was expected to be a hot zone. They did sensible things. Theyre doing very nicely, thank you in contrast to what happened in new york and the Nursing Homes, so we know a lot more. Not going to happen again on a general basis. Itll be much more laserlike on the real problem, not nationwide focus. Melissa so what does it mean for the economy as were reopening right now. How many businesses do you think are going to be gone on a percentage basis if you had to guess and how do we handle this recovery . Well this is the thing and this is where the Government Treasury Department especially hasnt been nearly aggressive enough in getting those funds out to smaller businesses, having a lot of arbitrary regulations with the Treasury Department should remove, but in the fall, a lot of businesses are going to face that question. Do they open up or are they just going to throw in the towel and thats where i think the faster we open up the better and one of the things i think youll see criticized in the next few week, why these arbitrary rules about 25 capacity, 42. 9 capacity. They are just picking numbers out of the air. They should restaurants and others should be allowed within the safe limits. Physical distancing, they should be allowed to make their own decisions. 75 as long as you have a safe environment, none of these crazy things they are just picking numbers out of the air. Open up. Lets do it. Melissa yeah, not only that, i mean, it is so much easier to see things in hindsight, but if i look out in my neighborhood for example, the government picking winners and losers they allowed stores like target to stay open saying they were essential, they sold, you know, tons of stuff that these other Little Stores mom and pop stores werent able to do, so the toy store down the block, the florist, all kinds of things that you can get in both whole foods or target who were allowed to stay open the big box retailer but it was the little guy who sold hardware, who sold, you know, all kinds of things like that who now has been shut all this time, and in my neighborhood is opening even though they havent been told they are able to at some point they just have to say lets do it. They have masks on they are doing it safely but what do you think about the way that government intentionally or inadvertently has favored these big chains over mom and pop stores . Well initially when this thing was brand new horrible thing coming along, you could understand they made instant decisions, but as the weeks went by should it become very clear what made sense and what didnt make sense , and discriminating against Small Businesses, then saying oh, you can only open 25 , the only way these businesses survive is with revenue and the only way you get revenue is by ending these arbitrary lockdowns that weve seen in new jersey and elsewhere open it up. Well learn. Were learning as we go, but we also know the real consequences in terms of physical health and Financial Health by these general orders of lock everything down, in certain states like new york and new jersey have been lagging, states like florida, colorado with a democrat governor who started businesses before he became and went into politics therefore knew no revenue you dont survive, so i think a practical approach is in order. Let every business open that wants to as long as it practices Safety Measures which we all know what they are now. Melissa steve forbes, youre fantastic, thank you appreciate it. Connell . Connell well were getting ready, melissa for the memorial day weekend and the beaches on long island are open should help those local businesses out a little bit. In fact weve seen some people Walking Around enjoying the afternoon along the Long Island Sound where we are here in bayville, so well continue from here, earlier today, we were out eiten Suffolk County as the waves crashed in from the atlantic ocean, we spoke to the county executive steve malone about the longawaited reopening and what a lot of people have been waiting for. Were definitely ready to get things rolling. Were a beach town too, so you get everything open, everyone hanging out outside, so definitely for our town, for sure. People around here really want to get out and they really want to go outside and spend money and be with their family. Every Financial Plan needs a cfp® professional confident Financial Plans, calming Financial Plans, complete Financial Plans. Theyre all possible with a cfp® professional. Find yours at letsmakeaplan. Org. Theyre all possible with a cfp® professional. There are times when our need to connect really matters. To keep customers and employees in the know. To keep business moving. Comcast business is prepared for times like these. Powered by the nations largest gigspeed network. To help give you the speed, reliability, and security you need. Tools to manage your business from any device, anywhere. And a team of experts here for you 24 7. Weve always believed in the power of working together. Thats why, when every connection counts. You can count on us. Connell live look at the beach in bayville and the battle over reopening is playing out in realtime on the beaches of long island, most are only allowing local residents, a move that seems aimed at keeping people from driving out from new york city where the mayor bill deblasio decided to keep the beaches closed. Im asking what you would say to a new yorker whose thinking do you know what . Im going to go to the island because city beaches are closed. Matt, look, first of all, i do believe that people make their own choices and i respect that, but here is what id say. I think were in a moment of history where less is more. Its just smart to keep it simple. Im not encouraging people to do a lot of traveling. Connell earlier today we caught up with the Suffolk County executive steve malone at a place called Smith Point County Park and thats a beach that will be open this weekend. Were excited to have people be able to come back to the beach and i feel very strongly when i announced we were going to reopen on memorial day but people are going to come. Kids are home from school and its unrealistic to think they arent coming to the beach. Lets have them come with safety protocols in place to do this the right way. Connell what does that look like . Do some people have to wear makes or what type of safety protocol is in place . Were trying to create as much normalcy as possible so when people are on the beach in their groups you dont need a Face Covering and when youre in the water you can socially distance, but when youre on the boardwalk, when youre in the restroom, or in the concession area, around other people thats when you have the Face Covering on. Connell i see the signs all over the place stay six feet apart, which is what were doing and were not wearing a mask but when you get closer to people it make sense what about the back and forth this week which speaks to reopening about jurisdictions in terms of which beach is open and which is closed mayor mayor deblasio keeping the city beaches closed. Weve tried to do things on a regional basis and were opening together and it hasnt always been possible, municipalities have to make their own decisions and i have to do whats right for the people of Suffolk County while theres reduced capacity its 50 under the state order and there are municipalities we need to make sure residents have access. Connell but people from the city cant come out and go to the beach. Not at this point. They are able to go to their beach, thats a decision the city has made but this is a temporary order that just makes common sense that the people paying for these beaches, that staff them up with extra staff this weekend to keep them safe they will be able to have access to them. Connell where are we in Suffolk County which did get hit hard by this virus, so did Nassau County well over 30,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, where are we now in the reopening process . You talked to local businesses, for example, a lot. Is there frustration building, do people want you to move faster . How are things going . People feel ready to reopen, and ill tell you memorial day weekend is always the unofficial start to summer and in this Global Pandemic what it feels like now is that memorial weekend is the unofficial start to reopening our economy and if we can do this we can do this safely. I think itll be a real shot in the arm and show people we are on the road to recovery. Connell because people have been hard obviously economically what worries you more the economic damage thats been done or that you open up too soon and theres a second wave maybe the coronavirus . I think there has to be a balance. Everything about this , theres no black and white decisions here. Everything is about competing risks, and we know the damage this has caused economically. We need to reopen but i believe we can do that safely and reopening memorial day weekend, the beaches is an indication that we are getting to the point that we can do this safely and we can be on the road to recovery. Connell most of the decisionmaking process was in albany with the governor or has some of that been passed to the local level, whats the relationship between you and the Governor Office, as to what types of decisions youll make on the reopening . Weve been working very closely with the Governor Office with a regional control room that communicates with the municipalities so theres been a back and fourth there and weve communicated that look we think that with the contact tracing, the testing in place, were ready to move towards reopening. Connell what are you worried most about . I think its fair to say mistakes made on the other end as well. Nursing homes, for example, in this state what would you say a lot of people on long island have lost parents or grandparents in Nursing Homes, people that were covidpositive were allowed to be admitted or readmitted to Nursing Homes what would you say about that . Its a tragic situation, we dealt with Nursing Homes every day when we were here and communicated with them and they were really working to put safety protocols in place, segregating staff, isolating patients, but this virus was attacking the most vulnerable and thats what Nursing Homes are people with underlying medical conditions and the elderly. Connell people that had the virus shouldnt be allowed right . The problem is were also managing the Hospital System. The biggest concern was the Hospital System was being overwhelmed. It was strained and stressed to the max, unlike anything weve ever seen so again, very difficult. No black and white decisions in dealing with this virus. There will be Lessons Learned but were still working towards connell well now i hear about churches for example, where its a push to open up churches even if its with 10 worshipers or whatever the case may be. That has to be a concern. I think thats an important thing and again, its about how do you do it . Can you reopen safely and i believe if we can start to reopen beaches safely really is an indicator we can do other things other aspects of our life and get them transitioning back to some sense of normalcy. Connell as we come back here live and talk again about the beaches which are open on long island for the long weekend its definitely not business as usual in bayville for example , this deck were on im suspecting would normally be packed with people getting ready to have an early dinner or happy hour but now you have the bar manager mike murphy joining us live being forced to make adjustments, its only the two of us and were standing 10 feet apart so what are you doing differently this year . Well well take off premise only. Unfortunately i cant even let them sit on the beach and enjoy it because then i would serve them. Its very hard right now for us to actually serve the food and drinks and have the people actually leave the property. Lets face it you cant social distance here. Where can you. Connell i was asking the Suffolk County executive this question about whats the level of frustration you feel, do you think the lockdown has done what its supposed to do, are you saying to yourself all right lets get back at it.