the move comes as trump receives continued criticism for suggesting that americans could ingest household disinfectants to kill the virus. republicans are also increasingly worried that his remarks may have an effect on the senate come november. for his part, trump tweeted yesterday that the briefings and news conferences, which are meant to update the public are, quote, not worth the time and effort. a sentiment i'm sure some of you watching right now share. it all comes as the white house is reportedly looking to replace the health and human services secretary, alex azar. there was no coronavirus task force briefing yesterday and there isn't one scheduled for today, either. but that doesn't mean our white house team has the day or even the morning off. joining me now from the white house, nbc news political reporter, monica alba. good morning, monica. does anyone actually have enough sway over trump to dissuade him from doing these briefings? >> likely not, ali. as we've seen over the last 48 hours, though. it seems as if some of the advice presented to the present by his closest aides and allies has to say the least struck a chord with him and he is potentially reconsidering these daily briefings. yesterday is the first example, because since the day after easter sunday, there have been daily updates and we've seen sometimes these briefings go into multiple-hour events. but yesterday, as you mentioned, there was no briefing. there isn't one scheduled for today. there's a chance, of course, that they will resume tomorrow. but what's notable is that the task force has had nearly 50 briefings, 40 of which the president has participated in. and we actually added up the hours, and it's more than 65 hours, wroughly that the president has spent or his task force has briefed members of the press and the american public on this issue. when he says it's not worth the time and effort. the way he's spending his time in the last two months clearly suggests otherwise. but aides and allies for weeks, even before the controversial comments about disinfectants on thursday have urged him to take a step back and potentially re-evaluate how useful it is to come to the podium every day and give medical moousings instead letting sometimes his top doctors speak. and last week we saw that dr. fauci was actually only here for one briefing of seven. we have seen dr. deborah birx more consistently at these briefings as of late, but someone who hasn't been there in the last few weeks is the head of hhs, secretary alex azar, who is now rumored to be replaced. the white house is denying that, but what's notable is he used to lead the task force. originally, he was set to chair it before the president asked vice president mike pence to come in and take the lead. so we have seen a shift there. and of course, secretary azar has also been at the center of a lot of questions of the timeline of what could have potentially been done sooner in the handling of the pandemic, ali. >> monica, thank you for your reporting. monica alba at the white house for us this morning. meanwhile, the world has reached another unfortunate milestone. more than 200,000 people have lost their lives from covid-19. and almost 3 million have been infected. chinese officials say there are no remaining hospitalizations in wuhan, where the outbreak is believed to have begun. here in the united states, those numbers continue to climb. however, some states are determined to reopen, citing the economic situation. in california, residents are -- have swarmed to reopen beaches to try to beat a mini heat wave, despite a statewide stay-at-home order. >> i just don't think we have to -- we have to live in a hole, a cave, the whole time. we've got to -- we have to get out. i think little by little, we have to move on. i mean, it's a terrible situation, but you just have to take logical risks, be safe, and look at -- you know, make yoeur own decision on it. >> joining me now is the president and ceo of international rescue committee, david miliband. he's a former member of parliament and secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs with the british government. he has a new piece in politico with sheryl sandberg called, "a second covid crisis is coming." also with me, the director for the national center for disaster preparedness at columbia university, dr. irwin redlener, he's an msnbc public health analyst. his latest in the daily beast the covid-19 death undercount is scarier than you think. gentlemen, thank you for joining me this morning. irwin, i want to follow on the conversation i was having with monica at the white house. there are lots of people, particularly a lot of people who watch this show, who will say that the president turned a corner or went too far or overstepped a long time ago on a lot of other issues, but there's definitely a sense and a sense even amongst his advisers and members of the republican party that what he did on thursday with respect to sunlight and disinfectants was, in fact, the kind of thing that makes us think that he shouldn't be giving anymore briefings. >> sure, good morning, ali, and certainly, that was a turning point. that differentiated him from everything else and everything else was also loaded with mistakes, misstatements, lack of transparency, et cetera. but we had a big reveal on thursday when he talked about this kind of whacky modalities for treatment, including, you know, insertion into the human body of uv lights and the ingestion or insertion of cleaning products, basically, which are extremely dangerous. so, yeah, we have a president who has, i guess he originally thought he was doing himself a favor by being so public on this issue of covid. it turns out he knows very little about it.depending on his top medical advisers and what he did was reveal himself as really completely ignorant when it comes to this issue, but he's doing it. the problem is, he's not just a person who's making this preposterous claims, he's the president of the united states with the most powerful bully pulpit that there is. and i think this whole idea of being public, so public has backfired on him and probably backfired politically as well as how people understand his base of knowledge and the recommendations he's make, ali. >> david, i have to ask you, this is not your normal work, but it was your normal work. you were an elected official, you were a cabinet secretary, so you understand that not all elected officials are experts on a topic. i don't expect donald trump to be an expert on infectious diseases, none of us are -- well, irwin is, but the rest of us are not. but there's something different from not being able to lead in a situation, even if you're not a subject matter expert. >> i think that the heart of effective political leadership is being clear about what you don't know as well as about what you do know. it's striking to me that around the world, the countries that have dealt with this crisis the best are those with leaders who have been clear where there's uncertainty, as well as clear where there is certainty. who have guided their populations with real grit on the facts, and have shown a degree of unity and built a degree of unity, because this disease only gets beaten by an alliance of business, government, scientists, and the population as a whole. as someone who's obviously british, but lives and works in america and is honored to do so, it is obviously troubling that the united states is not at the forefront of dealing with this disease, and that countries like germany, south korea, have been able to show how democratic societies can mobilize the trust of their people in an open and transparent way. >> david, i want to ask you something else. in the middle of all of this thing, the president and his -- one of his chief policy advisers, stevphen miller, who s very, very hawkish on immigration in america, sort of imposed an executive order, eliminating the awarding of green cards to a lot of americans. sort of slowing down immigration, something this president has wanted to do for a long time. you, orienn the other hand, are looking for the doctors in america who are refugees, to go and help in other hot spots in the world. tell me about this. >> well, the big debate about immigration is obviously something that can come for another time. but in the narrow confines of covid, what the president did this week in terms of cracking down on immigration is at best the diverse from the fight against covid and at worst neglect to critical resource. as you say, the international rescue committee has launched a website, refugees.rescue.org, because we believe there's about 16,000 refugees and immigrants in america with international qualifications, international medical qualifications, as doctors and as nurses, who are not currently practicing. that website has been up for an hour, a week or so, 500 people have already volunteered for it. these are people who have may helped american forces in afghanistan and come here under the special immigrant visa program or immigrants and refugees who have come here over the last few years and want to put something back into the country that have welcomed them. i think this is the kind of initiative that could actually mobilize and unify the country, and certainly the reaction so far is that there's a real untapped resource there. >> irwin, i want to ask you about your article with sean hanson, in which you say the death count is scarier than you think. you write that the underreporting of covid-19 deaths, especially at the early part of the outbreak, is going to harm our ability to understand the scope of this infection. >> yeah, you know, ali, so the problem is that we don't know how many people actually have died from this disease. and we have different criteria for how we determine that. is it just people who have been positively identified with the test? and that's the case in many states? and the problem is, we weren't doing testing. there are many anecdotal incidents of people who died from now looking back on it, most certainly had covid. and i think it's very possible that we'll see 25 to 30% more fatalities than have been reported. we don't actually know the answer to how many people have died and still don't. >> gentlemen, thanks to both of you for kicking us off this morning. david miliband and director of the national center for disaster preparedness at columbia university, dr. irwin redlener. when the pandemic started to hit the united states start, thousands of american students abroad had a difficult choice to make. catch the earliest flight home or stay and help fight the crisis? >> my thoughts were never to go home, even if i had the option, i wouldn't, especially knowing that i wanted to be able to help here. ally knowing that i wanted to be able to help here you're in this alone. we're automatically refunding our customers a portion of their personal auto premiums. we're also offering flexible payment options for those who've been financially affected by the crisis. we look forward to returning to something that feels a little closer to life as we knew it, but until then you can see how we're here to help at libertymutual.com/covid-19. [ piano playing ] ♪we ain't stoppin' believe me♪ ♪go straight till the morning look like we♪ ♪won't wait,♪ ♪we're taking everything we wanted♪ ♪we can do it ♪all strength, no sweat a $10 million dollar fundls at&t has created to support distance learning tools, curriculum and resources to help educators and families keep school in session because the key to keeping kids learning, is keeping kids connected. when your v-neck looks more like a u-neck... that's when you know, it's half-washed. downy helps prevent stretching by conditioning fibers, so clothes look newer, longer. downy and it's done. so we're working 24/7 toected maintain a reliable network, to meet your growing internet needs. we're helping customers who are experiencing financial difficulties stay connected. we're increasing internet speeds for low income families in our internet essentials program. and delivering self-install kits to your door. nos comprometemos a mantenerte conectado. we're committed to keeping you connected. for more information on how you can stay connected, visit xfinity.com/prepare. spain has been one of the nation's hardest hit by the coronavirus. the country has seen the second-most numbers confirmed cases of coronavirus with nearly 224,000, second only to the united states. more than 23,000 people have died and 98,000 people have recovered from the disease. but contagion levels have dropped significantly from a high of over 21% a month ago. and today, signs of hope as the country begins the process of lifting its nearly two-month home confinement rules, allowing children 14 and under to take walks in areas near their homes while accompanied by a parent. joining me now is nbc's wilhelm marks in madrid, spain with a story about how an american medical student studying abroad spent her time during the pandemic. hello, wilhelm? >> reporter: hey, ali. thanks for having me on here. really interestingly here, over the past six to seven weeks, spain has had incredibly stringent restrictions on people's movements in response to those quite horrific fatality numbers. last night, we heard from pedro sanchez, the prime minister, that next weekend, adults will be allowed out to exercise for the first time. they've really only been allowed to leave the house at the moment for food, medicine, or go to work, but it was that morning a lot of parents got their first moment of relief. a lot of kids had a huge amount of excitement leaving their home for the first time. they were allowed out for an hour within one kilometer, roughly three quarters of a mile from their home. we spent time with a few families chrng really enjthis m enjoying their chance to get out and ride their scooter. and we had the chance to talk to american of students who decided to stay here in spain. they had that very difficult decision to return home or remain in a foreign country. and one person we met who decided rather to return home, she decided to stay here in spain to help those most in need. >> i love madrid. my dad calls me the spaniard. i take my siestas, he's like, oh, the spaniard's sleeping again, go wake her up. >> reporter: stacy is from cincinnati but spent the last seven years living in the capital of spain. she's en route to work at a nearby nursing home. >> today is a day we get to release people from quarantine. >> reporter: she'll spend her afternoon, evening, and some of her night treating elderly patients with covid-19. with 14,000 dead, ice rinks used as morgues, and exhibition centers transformed into furniture homes, coronavirus has hit madrid virus harder than most. one of her patients has succumbed to the disease. >> they were laying in these beds, i don't want to say half dead, but it was definitely scary. the other part of me clicked into action, what do i need to do? how do i help? >> reporter: stacy works as hard as any doctor, but she's actually a volunteer and still studies every morning. the lone american in a med school class of 270 spaniards. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: ahead of the lockdown here last month, her parents begged her back to ohio. she insisted on staying in spain and serving in the only way she knew how. >> my thoughts never were to go home. even if i had the option, i wouldn't, especially knowing that i wanted to be able to help here. this is my passion, this is my career. i wouldn't run from it, ever. >> reporter: caring for others so far from home has taught her more about medicine than any classroom ever could. and clearly, a very selfless individual, but the other american students we talked to over the course of this week, they all had very valid reasons for deciding to stay here, often taken in consultation with their parents. one had to stay and look at their cat and another didn't want to take the virus back to their pharmacist mother in kentucky. but all said they would like clarity about when things will return to normal and as students, when they can start building their future lives. >> wilhelm, thanks very much for your reporting, as always. nbc's wilhelm marks in madrid. well, this pandemic is forcing so many teenagers to miss out on major milestones, canceled graduation, prom, sports, things like that, here's a letter from jennifer cot in mesa, arizona. she writes, my daughter, jaden, is a senior in high school. she was born days after 9/11 and is now graduating in the middle of a pandemic. they are telling her that her graduation will be virtual. she attends the largest school district in arizona. the schools in arizona are trying their best to be creative for them. every friday night at 2020 military time, they light up the football fields for them for 20 minutes and 20 seconds. here's her senior picture. it's haunting and an eye-opening example of what this generation has dealt with. thanks for sharing, jennifer. i want to hear more of your stories. send us your pictures, your videos, and how you are coping in this pandemic to mystory@velshi.com. it's important to hold on to hope in take place liimes like hope is useful unless it's paired with action. my next guest has a five-step plan for the fight we're in now. jim yong kim joins me next. m yot the way it works best for you. even the big stuff. you get a delivery experience you can always count on. you get your perfect find at a price to match on your schedule. you get free two day shipping on things that make your home feel like you! wayfair. way more than furniture. there will be parties and family gatherings. there will be parades and sporting events and concerts. to help our communities when they come back together, respond to the 2020 census now. spend a few minutes online today to impact the next 10 years of healthcare, infrastructure and education. go to 2020census.gov and respond today to make america's tomorrow brighter. it's time to shape our future. wthey fell in love with itssing girresistible scent. looks like their dog michelangelo did too. new gain ultra flings with two times oxi boost and febreze. hold on one second... sure. okay... okay! safe drivers save 40%!!! guys! guys! check it out. safe drivers save 40%!!! safe drivers save 40%! safe drivers save 40%!!! that's safe drivers save 40%. it is, that's safe drivers save 40%. - he's right there. - it's him! he's here. he's right here. - hi! - hi. hey! - that's totally him. - it's him! that's totally the guy. safe drivers do save 40%. click or call for a quote today. they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/try and never go to the post office again! well, of all of the things i'm most surprised about the federal government response, the unwillingness to get involved in test prioritization is the most amazing. you know, other countries who wrote their pandemic plans, the idea of getting the pcr capacity up and making sure it was going to the right people with quick results, that was sort of their day one thing. it's kind of insane that we're not prioritizing the testing capacity. >> welcome back. that was part of my discussion with bill gates about the covid-19 pandemic. and in the battle of science versus economic and politics, gates is among many experts imploring the white house to take a more science-based approach. my next guest says that a five-step approach steeped in science is the only way in which we will go on the offensive to a point we can resume some semblance of normalcy. joining me now is the former president of the world bank, former president of dartmouth university. former head of harvard's department of global health and social medicine, jim yong kim, who also happens to be a medical doctor. his new piece in "the new yorker" is entitled, it's not too late to go on offense against the coronavirus. it's important to him, whether it's been tuberculosis in the '90s, aids in the 2000s or cholera and ebola, he's been fighting pandemics most of his adult life. you write in "the new yorker," if we're going to turn the page in a serious way, there's a five-element arsenal to fight against covid. social distancing, testing, and treatment. after wuhan began using these weapons simultaneously, the transmission rate dropped to the point where any single case led to one more, once that happens , an epidemic dies. what are we doing wrong here in the u.s.? >> you know, there's nothing magical about it. any public health person will tell you, this is the standard public health approach. we've been doing it for years. you know, go back 150 years. john snow, he traced back a cholera epidemic to a single water pump, took the handle off the water pump, the cholera epidemic went away. this is much more complicated. but we gave up too early, ali. we were just dumbfounded in listening to public health officials around the country. as soon as there was community transmission anywhere, they said, oh, it's too late for containment, it's too late for the aggressive strategy, all we can do is mitigation, which in this case was just the social distancing. now, the social distancing has been effective. in the places where it's been implemented well, it's been effective. but just the last segment you did on spain clearly, you can tell that spain's social distancing was much more strict than anything we have here in the united states and so the key is you've got to just go back and say, this is the most time-tested strategy we know. we've got to do all of these five elements at the same time. and when you do that, that's when the numbers are going to drop. there have been some very optimistic projections that the number of deaths, the number of cases are going to start dropping at the end of april. if you look at all the data coming in from around the world, china, korea, italy, spain, australia, new zealand, the common elements are that the countries who got after this early, who put all of those five elements in place, australia and new zealand, have done that. those rates are going down. in other places that have just done the social distancing, which is what we did, you see a flattening of the curve, but don't see it going down. >> what's the resistance? is it just a supply issue? why do we constantly hear at the white house briefings that we're testing everybody, anybody who needs a test can get a test? we're testing all the number of people that we have. we've tested 1.5% of our population. 150,000 to 2,000,000 a day. and the top estimates that i've heard is we need to be testing 500,000 to a million people a day. this is america in 2020, jim. what's the problem? >> so in massachusetts, you know, we -- the conclusion that i came up to in terms of what we could do was that we wanted to put that five-step process in place in at least one state. and so i spoke with an old friend of mine, governor charlie baker of massachusetts, and told them, it's time to go on offense, and we can do it because the brogue institute, a very industrially savvy research institute said they could do 20,000 to 30,000 tests in a single day. so the minute i heard that, i thought, okay, now that's enough testing for us to be able to test as many people as we need to test, and then go after -- trace their contacts, you know, either isolate or quarantine them in some way that will effectively stop the transmission of the virus and get us going. you know, ali, i have to be honest. i'm not sure what's going on with the testing. and you know, 500,000 to a million, i think we're going to need more than that. i think we'll need 20,000 to 30,000 tests a day in massachusetts to get this right. it's difficult, but, boy, in the united states, we've done things that are so much more difficult. i think there's been a sense of, well, you know, there's not going to be enough resources, public health has far too often worked from the sense of scarcity. now it's time for public health fis officials, people who have experience with the pandemic to step up and say, we'll do whatever it takes. if you spend $1 trillion, $2 trillion, which is necessary on these bailout programs, spend 500 million, a trillion on the public health response. you and i have talked about financial health crises for a long time. we've got to spend whatever we need to tackle the public health crisis. >> you may have read this bill gates paper he put out last week about the pandemic. one of the things that caught my attention is the economic side of it. he talks about these pcr testing machines and he said, quote, there will be a temptation for companies to buy these machines for their employees or customers. these companies will be able to bid very high prices, well above what the public health system would bid. that worries me as we get to more testing machines, is it possible that the private sector could take them and public health could suffer? >> that would be a tragedy, ali. and this is why we need strong leadership. we -- you know, this is not about individuals protecting themselves. in talking with good friends of mine, you know, we fought sars together, fought hrv, mtdb, this is not going to be over until it's over everywhere, because this thing -- the covid virus transmits so easily. and so, you know, everything has to go into a coordinated, and right now, we're starting state by state, but there has to be a national strategy to stop this virus. and you know, having individual companies buy these machines, that would be tragic and, frankly one ethical. >> in the mid-2000s, you led the world health organization's hiv/aids department. with the pandemic back in the spotlight in a major way, now president trump is holding u.s. funding over a host of accusations at the same time that governor andrew cuomo said that the world health organization was doing litttoo little, too late in fighting the disease. let's set aside president trump's extremes. >> you've been to our meetings at the world bank group and the imf. multi-lateralism is difficult. you've got 194 member states in the world health organization. we had 185 shareholders at the world bank group. and finding the way to say the important things while also making sure that you keep everyone involved and happy, to an extent, it's an extremely difficult task. but i have to tell you, if we got rid of the world health organization, we would have to quickly reinvent it, because it plays functions that no other organization can play. so they're the ones who have all the information on what's happening with the pandemic all over the world. and i continue to refer to the world health organization, talk to experts there, because they're the ones who are actually seeing what the virus is doing everywhere in the world. look, i'm a big supporter of multi-lateralism. i think multi-lateralism is critical. and getting rid of these institutions doesn't help, because then the task is going to be in front of us. so now what do we do. you have to invent something else that's going to look a lot like the world health organization. >> jim, a pleasure to talk to you again. thank you for joining us. jim yong kim is for former president of the world health organization's hiv/aids department, former president of dartmouth and a medical doctor. thank you so much for joining s us, jim. georgia is one of the several states saying it's time to reopen. why frontline workers strongly disagree. that's next on velshi. s strongly disagree that's next on velshi. my choir. i'm a work in progress. so much goes... into who i am. hiv medicine is one part of it. prescription dovato is for adults who are starting hiv-1 treatment and who aren't resistant to either of the medicines dolutegravir or lamivudine. dovato has 2... medicines in... 1 pill to help you reach and then stay undetectable. so your hiv can be controlled with fewer medicines... while taking dovato. you can take dovato anytime of day,... with food... or without. don't take dovato if you're allergic to any of its... ingredients or if you take dofetilide. if you have hepatitis b, it can change during treatment with dovato and become harder to treat. your hepatitis b may get worse or become life-threatening... if you stop taking dovato. so do not stop dovato... without talking to your doctor. serious side effects can occur, including allergic reactions,... liver problems, and liver failure. life-threatening side effects include lactic acid buildup and severe liver problems. if you have a rash and other symptoms of an allergic reaction,... stop taking dovato and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have kidney or liver problems,... including hepatitis b or c. one of the ingredients in dovato may harm your... unborn baby. your doctor may prescribe a different medicine... than dovato. your doctor should do a pregnancy test... before starting... dovato. use effective birth control... while taking dovato. the most common side effects are headache, diarrhea, nausea, trouble sleeping, and tiredness. so much goes into who i am... and hope to be. ask your doctor if starting hiv treatment with dovato is right for you. ask your doctor if starting hiv treatment with dovato i have always wanted to be a teacher. i've been teaching for over 20 years. with everything going on, we've had to alter our classroom settings. we have to transition into virtual learning. on the network, we can have teachers face-to-face with a student in live-time. they can raise their hand and ask questions. they can type questions. we just need to make sure that the education is continuing. (vo) at verizon, we're here and we're ready to keep students and teachers connected to the world. that's why verizon and "the new york times" are offering 14 million students free digital access to "times" journalism. your bank can be virtually any place you are. you can deposit checks from here. and you can see your transactions and check your balance from here. and pay bills from here. because your bank isn't just one place. it's virtually any place you are. just download and use the chase mobile app. visit chase.com/mobile. i know that every time that i suit up, there is a chance that that's the last time. 300 miles an hour, thats where i feel normal. i might be crazy but i'm not stupid. having an annuity tells me that i'm protected. during turbulent times, consider protected lifetime income from an annuity as part of your retirement plan. this can help you cover your essential monthly expenses. learn more at protectedincome.org . in these challenging times, we need each other more than ever. we may be apart, but we're not alone. use aarp community connections to find or create a mutual aid group near you. stay connected and help those in need. more than a dozen states have started to lift their lockdown measures, even as the number of coronavirus cases continues to increase nationwide. in georgia, governor brian kemp has allowed places like hair and nail salons, tattoo studios, and gyms to open back up. here's what atlanta mayor keisha lance bottoms had to say yesterday with my colleague joy reid. >> the reason that we do have beds open in our city is because we have been very aggressive in shutting things down. and i've said this the past couple of days, joy, simply because we have capacity doesn't mean that we should work to fill those beds up. we cannot sacrifice people's lives and enter into the public health experiment for the sake of the economy. >> nbc's sam brock is in atlanta this morning. sam, what's the reaction on the ground from residents and small businesspeople about these reopenings? >> reporter: ali, good morning. there's two tracks of conversations that we're having right now, one with the people who are going back to these businesses, like spas and salons and gyms, who tell me they're comfortable with it, provided that the proper precautions are being taken. the other conversation, ali, is with the protesters, some of the frontline workers who are out there on friday, driving by the governor's mansion and honking. they tell me, if they're going to go back to their work in a restaurant, it is an extremely evaluated risk. they are not comfortable with that. they're worried about what they're going to potentially be taking home to their family members. there's a very sort of divergent set of understanding about how this would work. i was inside of a gym, yesterday, and watched, ali, as there was a requirement for everyone who goes inside. they've got to wipe it downs one they start, once they're done. 6 feet of spacing, of course. i was also inside of a spa. the owner there tells me their customers and employees all have to be wearing masks and gloves on. there's no linens being used, to waiting around in the reception areas. these are the sorts of precautions and measures that are being taken. i know you were talking with your last guests, ali, about the fact that testing needs to be ramped up here in georgia, according to the covid tracking project from the atlantic magazine, they're looking at somewhere around the bottom ten of states in the united states, when it comes to per capita testing. in texas, where they opened up some retiail capacities, they ranked 48th out of 50. the big question becomes, if you're going to be reopening these economies, can you do it at a time where objectively the amount of testing isn't where it should be -- needs to be, i should say? >> that is the question that almost every one of our public health experts continues to raise, sam. thanks very much, sam brock joining us from atlanta. i want to turn now to a small business owner who's caught in the middle of georgia's debate to reopen. joining me now is tara vialazo who co-owns a tattoo studio with her husband. they've put off new appointments until june, but with restrictions lifting in her state, she's worried this is going to cause a second wave of coronavirus cases. thanks for joining us. how are you doing? >> we're doing well, we're safe and we're at home, so that is the most important thing. we're just very concerned with the whole decision to reopen the state. >> yeah, look, a tattoo studio is definitely the definition of intimate. jr. you're up close to people, you're touching them, they're touching you, there's needles. this definitely falls into the category of a client has to feel really safe and the practitioner has to feel really safe, and clearly you're not there yet. >> no. it's not possible to feel safe when you do not have the means to feel safe. i feel that a false sense of security is given to people saying that you can wear medical masks and you can choose to do this and you can choose to do that, but the fact is, is we all need n95 masks to be able to wear and for our clients to be able to wear, so that way we can be safe. but the dilemma with that is the health care system doesn't have what they need. so it's not ethical for us to even be encouraged to open or choose to open when they don't have what they need. until they have a surplus, we're not going to be able to acquire the supplies. in addition to that, all the supplies, you know, i keep getting emails and it's profiteering and people are trying to charge us ten times as much as what these necessary supplies were pre-pandemic. and now amid the pandemic, we need more and we're all small businesses and now we have to come up with more money to buy these supplies once they are available to us. >> so there are various options for you, whether there are employees who go on unemployment or whether you take ppp money to keep people going. did you apply for one of those paycheck protection loans? >> i certainly did? i have spent the last month researching anytime of grant and all of the sba grants i have applied for everything, i got an email for my bank on monday saying that my application was received and would be submitted. but bank of america has yet to follow up with that and i have not heard of one person in our industry, let alone any small business owner, who has yet to receive any of the ppp. i have also applied for unemployment for myself and my staff and i haven't received a penny from the state of georgia since then and it's been about five weeks now. >> there's something interesting about the c.a.r.e.s act that it qualified 1099 employees, contractors, as employees who qualify for unemployment. unemployment, generally speaking, comes from the state. and you think that might have been a motivation for governor kemp to want to reopen now, because all of these extra workers, like people who work for you, who are contractors, would actually be eligible for money from the state? >> yes, it seems like it's no coincidence that all of the industries that are encouraged to open, massage parlors, spas,s th 's th aestheticians, hairstylists all have one thing in common. the general population of those workers are all contractors. it so feels like we're being unfairly attacked and thrown out to the wolves to be the test for the entire state, which is scary because we still haven't had a decline in new cases or deaths and my biggest fear is that -- well, my biggest, you know, concern, and i think this is exactly what's going to happen, is that this is just going to cause us to close down again. and i feel like they're just putting money and our lives and our safety, you know, in jeopardy for the sake of money. because if we're not working, we're not creating payroll taxes and income taxes, so go ahead and throw us in. and it's just unfair. and so many people in our fields don't realize they can still collect unemployment, because it's not being made available to them. >> tara, i've got to tell you, you are making a hard decision. and i think it's the right decision and i thank you for it, in the interest of public safety, but you speak for small businesses, whose income is all from the work that they do. you are without income now. you and your husband and your employees are without income now and having to make a decision in the public interest that is definitely counter to your personal economic interest. and i just, i want to tell you that i feel for what you're going through and i feel for how difficult the decision is for a small business person to not take income when there's a possibility of doing so. tara viavazo is the owner of mystic owl tattoo studio. thank you for joining us. i want to take a moment now to remember one of the thousands of americans who we lost to coronavirus. 66-year-old mary jones is one of eight siblings raised in milwaukee, but she found a home in decatur, georgia, where she moved with her three sons in 1994. she earned her bachelor's degree in accounting from clayton state university and worked as a deputy clerk at the dekalb county courthouse. her grandchildren knew her as grandmary. wherever they visited, mary made sure they all went to the new piney grove baptist church on sunday morning. mary's son, lamar, recalls how his mom made everyone laugh at cookouts, saying that family gatherings aren't going to be as fun without her. out her. when you shop with wayfair, you spend less and get way more. so you can bring your vision to life and save in more ways than one. for small prices, you can build big dreams, spend less, get way more. shop everything home at wayfair.com but when allergies and congestion strike, take allegra-d... a non-drowsy antihistamine plus a powerful decongestant. so you can always say "yes" to putting your true colors on display. say "yes" to allegra-d. i do motivational speakingld. to putting your true colors on display. in addition to the substitute teaching. i honestly feel that that's my calling-- to give back to younger people. i think most adults will start realizing that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to or they don't remember things as vividly as they once did. i've been taking prevagen for about three years now. people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. it means being there for each other. that's why state farm is announcing the good neighbor relief program we know our customers are driving less, which means fewer accidents. so state farm is returning $2 billion dollars to auto policyholders for the period ending may 31st. and we'll continue making real time decisions to best serve you - our customers. because now, more than ever, being a good neighbor means everything. like a good neighbor, state farm is there. being a good neighbor means everything. ♪ ♪all strength ♪we ain't stoppin' believe me♪ ♪go straight till the morning look like we♪ ♪won't wait♪ ♪we're taking everything we wanted♪ ♪we can do it ♪all strength, no sweat dekalb. there are lots of different scenarios and that's the beauty is that people are really becoming creative and saying we have done it this way forever. we need to think outside the box and have a paradigm shift. >> one of the groups feeling the hardest hit in the pandemic are farmers who are still recovering from president trump's trade war with china in 2019. farm debt hit a record high as family-owned farms filed 595 bankruptcies, the highest number in eight years. the chief economist at the american farm bureau association calls it this catastrophic and a battle the fight on all fronts right now. farmers saw the products go to waste, dairy owners dumping thousands of gallons of milk, fruits and vegetables plowed, chickens euthanized. while farmers are set to receive $16 billion, the agriculture industry is expecting to lose $21.5 billion in revenue, the beef industry anticipating the biggest hit at $13.6 billion. and that's not including losses from farmers that plant soy and corn. two of the three biggest crops in the world. they are expecting to lose $50 per acre in revenue. joining me now is president of the wisconsin soybean association, the owner of mellonthon farms, tony. thank you for joining us. you and i have talked many, many times over the last year, year and a half and none of it's good. we're talking because there's a trade war, soybeans which have been one of america's biggest exports to china have seen massive collapse. you received government aid because of that. you didn't want it but now this has happened and give me the effect on farmers with whom you talk. >> right. so soybean prices essentially have gone down to where they were in the darkest days of the trade wars with china and leek you said we've been hit. that $50 an acre is very, very relevant. that's very real number. and one thing i want to make certain that everyone knows is that the american farmer was already on our heels and unlike other businesses and other industries that were seeing record prices and record stock prices, we were already had record high bankruptcies so this is making matters from -- going from bad to worse. >> talk to me, by the way, what are you sitting in right now? >> so i am sitting in our sprayer right now an you can see our grain bins in the background so right now we are out planting our crops, corn and soybeans and behind that we are spraying crop protection products to keep our crops healthy and reduce weed pressures. >> can we take a look? can you flip your camera around to show us some of your fields? >> sure. this is our field here at the home farm. i'll circle back. and there you can see our grain bin set-up. >> tony, you're asking -- you're one of eight wisconsin agricultural group asking for $50 million in relief for the state's farmers. tell me what you expect. will that do it or is that emergency aid? >> that is emergency aid. that by no means will replace what we have lost. the soybean farmer in wisconsin more than likely has lost $100 million ourselves and dairy farmers and corn farmers have been hit the same or even worse than soybean farmers. >> tell me what the effect is on farms. we just discussed bankruptcies but that seems abstract to people giving the big numbers. there are two kind of farms in america. industrial, owned by con glo conglomerates but that pushes down the margins on independent farmers. many of whom don't -- they're like little businesses, right? they don't have that kind of cash flow and when you have money you end up buying sprayers like you're sitting in or equipment. >> right. so all of the farmers i know are the family farmers and mar jns are tight. they're negative right now. that really just pushes us to the point where the smaller farmers are liquidating whether it's a forced bankruptcy or just realizing this is not sustainable business model and it's going the route of bigger farms and, you know, that's just the route it's going right now. >> tony, one of these days you and i will talk and you will tell me how great things are going in the industry but we appreciate that while they're not you keep on letting our viewers understand particularly people like me used to getting the food from the store and do not fully understand the supply chain and what you and the people who work for you are doing. tony melenthin, president of the wisconsin soybean association. thank you again for joining me, sir. right now we as a nation are pulling through because of the selfless commitment of our essential worker who is are also helping us prepare for what the new normal may look like. check out some of these examples. the dating app bumble created when's created a rescue program for women-owned small businesses with grants for businesses in dire need of a lifeline. more than four dozen workers at a pennsylvania factory volunteered to work and live at the factory for 28 days in order to produce raw materials for personal protection equipment like masks. they produced 40 million pounds of material which adds up to 500 million n95 masks and a manufacturer based in italy developed a product to help travelers social distance after the coronavirus. the design of glass safe gives passengers an isolated space in an effort to minimize interactions and hope to be the solution of mass future outbreaks. all right. still ahead, what if everything we're doing to develop green energy is not enough to save the plan sunset that's the question of michael moore asks in the new documentary and will join me in the next hour to talk about. i just love hitting the open road and telling people that liberty mutual customizes your insurance, so you only pay for what you need! [squawks] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ which is why when it comes to his dentures only new poligrip cushion and comfort will do. the first and only formula with adaptagrip cushioning technology. choose new poligrip cushion and comfort. tide cleaners is offeringe free laundry services you. to the family of frontline responders. visit hope.tidecleaners.com to learn more. at&t knows you have a lot of things on your mind. staying connected shouldn't be one of them. that's why we're offering contactless delivery and set-up on all devices. and for those experiencing financial hardship due to this crisis, we'll work with you to keep your service up and running. hi! because at at&t, we're always committed to keeping you connected. and i don't count the wrinkles. but what i do count on is boost high protein. and now, introducing new boost women... with key nutrients to help support thyroid, bone, hair and skin health. all with great taste. new, boost women. designed just for you. 900 coronavirus relatted deaths in georgia as the governor allows some businesses to reopen. experts say they're a month too early. 6%, the drop expected in carbon emissions because of coronavirus shutdowns. but what happens when the world gets back to

Related Keywords

New York , United States , Georgia , Australia , Texas , Atlanta , Madrid , Spain , China , Whitehouse , District Of Columbia , California , Wisconsin , Grove Baptist Church , Arizona , Decatur , New Zealand , Massachusetts , Italy , Pennsylvania , Ohio , South Korea , Wuhan , Hubei , New Yorker , Spaniards , Americans , America , Chinese , Spaniard , American , Alex Azar , Ali Monica , Monica Alba , Liberty , Ali David , Michael Moore , David Miliband , Sheryl Sandberg , Mary Jones , Jim Yong Kim , Sam Brock , Andrew Cuomo ,