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