- "The 700 Club."

Open for business sooner than predicted.

President Trump now sayingAmerican's social lockdown

will last weeks, not months.

Meanwhile, coronavirusinfections are surging

at unprecedented rates in New York State.

The big question is congressany closer to delivering

a relief package?

George Thomas has the latest.

- With millions of peoplefacing the prospects

of losing their jobs, anda once booming economy

showing signs of deep recession,

the President says he wantsthe country open for business

sooner than predictedeven as the coronavirus

continues to spread and hospitals brace

for a wave of virus related deaths.

- America will again andsoon be open for business,

very soon, a lot soonerthan three or four months

that somebody was suggesting.

- [George] The TreasuryDepartment set to release

new jobless claims on Thursday.

Experts predicting the numberscould be in the millions

as more states order allnon-essential businesses closed

and one out of four Americansforced to stay home.

The President tweeting,"We cannot let the cure

"be worse than the problem itself."

Adding that he's going toreevaluate federal guidelines

on social distancing next week.

- We can't shut in the economy.

The economic cost toindividuals is just too great.

- [George] On Capital Hill, gridlock,

as lawmakers try to come to an agreement

on a near $2 trillion aid package.

- You know what the American people

are thinking right now, Mr. President?

They're thinking thatthis country was founded

by geniuses but is beingrun by a bunch of idiots.

- [George] Democrats saythe plan leans too heavily

in favor of corporate bailouts.

The GOP accusing Democrats of trying

to embed a Liberal agenda.

Senator James Langford of Oklahoma pushing

a charitable giving amendmentto the coronavirus aid bill,

that would allow non-profit organizations

to play an even stronger role in helping

our nation's vulnerableindividuals and families

during this crisis.

- The not-for-profits arethe bedrock social safety net

of our society.

The way we're set up as a culture

is families take care of families.

There are not-for-profits,churches, and entities

that are run in communities,

and then governmentcomes in with assistance

where needed at that point.

- [George] Congressionalleaders at The White House

say they're close to adeal, and could vote today.

The Federal Reserve doing its part,

agreeing to buy backgovernment and corporate debt

to keep the economy going.

Meanwhile, the number ofcoronavirus cases exploding

in the US by 15 times

since last week'sguidelines were released.

New York now the epicenter,

with more than 20,000confirmed cases of covid-19,

and worries the city couldrun out of ventilators

and masks, and other critical supplies

to care for the flood of patients.

- We're short on PPE that a lot of folks

are short on around thecountry, masks, face shields.

- [George] The state'sgovernor ordering all hospitals

to increase capacity by 50%.

- This is going to get muchworse before it gets better.

- [George] More than 46,000 Americans

have been infected with the virus,

593 people have died so far,

125 of those in New York City alone.

Alongside those troubling numbers,

the economic impact is alsostarting to take effect.

Heather Sells reportshow coronavirus policies

are affecting smallbusinesses in Virginia.

- [Heather] Like most of the country,

here in Southeastern Virginia,the streets are quiet,

and businesses are strugglingto keep their doors open.

Sweeping new orders from the governor

are closing many non-essentialbusinesses for now,

and restricting restaurantsto take-out only.

At the Cutlass Grillrestaurant in Chesapeake,

owner Shawn Dawkins oversaw 47 employees

just a few weeks ago.

Now he is working theline after declining sales

forced him to cut a third of his staff.

- The staff is tough, and the hours,

because you know, everyonehas, they have their families

that they have to support,

so that was a difficult decision,

but just for the business to survive,

it's something that I had to do.

- [Heather] While his diningroom no longer bustles,

take-out orders andfist-bumping are steady.

A few miles down the road, J.B. Anderson

is working with half hisstaff at Taxus Street Coffee,

a neighborhood popup business.

Drinks are strictly to-go these days.

- It's a good sense ofnormality in their day,

that they look forward to it

even though they're home, quarantined,

or just sort of on relieve right no.

- [[Heather] Donna McCartneywns a gluten-free tea room

that's now curbside pick-up.

McCartney says hercustomers all still crave,

and are ordering her specialty food.

- I'm actually almostbusier than I was before.

- [Heather] All threerealize their hardship

will likely get worsebefore it gets better.

This week's jobless claims report

is expected to be historic.

Consumer spending for restaurants,entertainment, and retail

is already down dramatically.

Analysts say it will continue to decline.

It's why the FederalReserve announced Monday

that it will begin to lendto small and large businesses

to help them weather the crisis.

Ultimately, small businesses are depending

on their local communities for support

that has become essential.

- I think supporting local business

will not just be like ahipster trend right now,

I think it will besomething that will sustain

small communities, and rural communities

around the nation right now.

- [Heather] Reportingin Chesapeake, Virginia,

Heather Sells, CBN News.

- Well medical reporter, Lorie Johnson,

will be with us in just a moment.

But first, Stephen Moore is aformer Trump economic advisor,

and author of "Trumpanomics."

And Steve, could you tellus what the package is

that the Republicans are proposing?

It's a couple trillion dollars,but how is it composed?

- So hi, Pat.

I hope everyone outthere is staying healthy,

and thanks for having me on again.

You know, this aid package,

it's too bad we even needthis aid package, you know?

When we were talking a month ago,

the economy was flying so high,

we had the lowestunemployment rate in 50 years,

and high growth, and here we are now

in the midst of this crisis.

And you know, President Trumpsaid it very well, I think,

the other night when he said

that he is a war time president.

He is a war time president,and the way he put it

is we're fighting a waragainst an invisible enemy,

and that enemy is this virus.

The congress is now movingforward with this aid package.

And by the way, Pat, it's 1400 pages long,

and getting longer every day.

I do support providingsome short-term relief

for workers, because afterall, it's the government

that shut down the businessesby government order

so it's appropriate to providethe aid that people need

in the short term to get through this.

And then, of course, businesses,

we have 26 million smallbusinesses in this country, Pat,

26 million, those are thebackbone of the American economy,

those men and women who we just heard from

on your package, who willmake the economy work.

They are struggling mightily.

Many of them have no revenuesnow for three or four weeks.

Revenues, for a business, arethe oxygen that keep it alive,

so there is a packagethat would provide loans.

I wanna be very clear about this, Pat,

this is not a bailout,it is not a big giveaway,

it's a loan program so that businesses

that are healthy businesses can get a loan

from the government to getthrough this next six months.

They will repay that money,and we need that, Pat,

because we want these businesses

to be able to hit the ground running

as soon as we'vestabilized the coronavirus.

But I've gotta say one otherthing about this package.

It just disgusts me thatNancy Pelosi and the Democrats

are trying to turn thisin to a Christmas tree,

and they're putting all ofthese completely absurd items

in to that, they're puttingin these global warming,

climate change things, they want bailouts

for union pension plans,they want permanent leave.

Those are things thatmaybe need to be debated,

but we gotta get this aid out yesterday.

It's a scandal that it's taken so long

to get this money to the businesses

and the workers that need it.

- Well I understand they wannainclude Planned Parenthood

in any bailout, PlannedParenthood'll be qualified

to receive large amountsof government money,

and the Republicans say no way.

Is that a sticking point?

- There's so many stickingpoints, and you know,

it's hard for me to even keep up with it,

'cause the bill keepschanging all the time.

I mean, how hard is it to get this done?

You don't need 1400 pages.

You know, you need maybe100 pages that defines

how you're gonna give the aid,

but there ar ea lot of peopleout there that are struggling,

you know, this is a serioussituation right now.

I mean, we have about three,or four, or five million people

who have already signed upfor unemployment insurance,

the numbers could go updramatically, obviously,

as the next couple of weeks roll on.

It breaks my heart, Pat.

I'm on the board of a small company,

we have about 40 employees,we're just getting going,

and we had to, in the last couple days,

lay those workers off.

It's a terrible thing tohave to lay off workers,

and it's happening throughout the economy.

And that's why, I think themost important thing, Pat,

is what Donald Trump said last night

in his press conference, where he said,

We are going to have a planto get the American economy

up and running in the next few weeks.

That has to happen, wecan't go eight, 10, 12 weeks

without this great American engine

of our economy not operating.

I mean, there will be tens ofmillions of employed people,

there will be millionsof business bankruptcies,

people will lose their life savings.

We need to get the economyup and running again.

Obviously, we need to veryprudent steps on the health side

to make sure people are safe,

but the idea that we're gonnakeep this economy closed

for three months, that would be dire.

And I say bravo to Donald Trump

to starting to take movesto reopen the economy.

- Well the total dimension of the package,

are we talking about two trillion,

one trillion and threequarters, or three trillion?

How much money are wetalking about overall.

- Well I don't know if to laugh or to cry,

because every day, it seemslike the price tag of this

goes up, Pat.

And you know, I've gotta say something,

that look, this aid packagehas some needed provisions

for people, you know, thethousand dollars per household

and so on, I think it's now $1200.

That'll provide some short-term relief,

and that's necessary for people,

especially at the lowerincome rungs of the ladder,

and working class peoplewho don't have a lot

of savings to draw on, so that's fine.

And then they're gonna dothe aid to the businesses,

and by the way, the Federal Reserve bank,

yesterday announced theywill put new liquidity

in the economy, but Pat,it's very simple here.

If our businesses are not operating,

and we're not producinggoods and services,

it doesn't matter how much moneythe Federal Reserve prints,

and it doesn't matter how much money

the congress appropriates.

If there's not goods and services to buy,

we're gonna run out of things.

And so that's why I thinkDonald Trump is so right

to have a plan to get the economy open,

especially in areas,you know, I mean look,

New York is a special case, NewYork City is a real problem,

San Francisco is a problem.

There are some areas in the country

where we have some realsevere outbreaks of the virus,

but other parts of theeconomy need to be reopened

in a smart way, and we have to really,

you know, we can't taketrillions of dollars of losses,

and incidentally, once thecoronavirus is stabilized,

and on a decline, I do believe,

I wanna sound optimistichere, cause I am optimistic,

I think the economywill boom right back to,

it's gonna take you know,six months to a year,

but we're gonna get back on toa very healthy pace of growth

as we had right beforethe coronavirus hit.

- Well, Steve, I appreciateso much you being with us,

and ladies and gentleman,I echo what he has said.

We can't make this in to a Christmas tree

for all these special interests.

It's got to be a packageof getting our economy.

For example, the airlines aretalking about shutting down.

We have to have those planes flying.

Well the airlines are lookingat $500 billion or more,

they need to get going.

So these are loans, we loan 'em the money,

or we take preferred stock.

There are a number of ways you can do it.

It's been suggested thatwe have forgivable loans,

and the loans are given to businesses

to keep people employed,and if they do it,

then after two years,that loan is forgiven,

which is a good way of doing it.

But whatever it is,it's gotta be done now,

and this political going backand forth has got to stop.

The country is in direneed, and you can imagine

a man's life savings is being taken away,

these small businesses.

For example, the hotelsare in desperate need.

The biggest hotel in NewYork, the Hilton in New York,

the biggest hotel in thewhole city has shut down

because several of theemployees had coronavirus.

Well what's going to happento those hotel companies?

They need some help.

And what about those restaurants?

Dan has got 10, or 20, or 30 employees,

and he had no customers.

I mean, there's a desperate move,

and I think it's timewe stop fiddling around

with this thing and get on with it,

and I believe the senator fromLouisiana was exactly right.

Geniuses put our constitution together,

and now it's being run by idiots.

I mean, we can't have that.

- It's really shocking.

I mean, I just stand back and go,

what are Pelosi, and Schumer,

and others who are followingtheir lead, thinking?

I mean, this is not a timefor politics as usual.

One bill should be being passed

that addresses one seriousissue, maybe in multiple ways,

nothing attached toit, just pass the bill.

I mean how hard is that?(Pat laughs)

- All right, thank you,madame speaker. (laughs)

- [Terry] Really.

- Well CBN medical reporter,Lorie Johnson is here

for more on the latest.

And Lorie, there's some thought

that maybe we've gone overboard,

we've contained this terrible plague.

What's the risk of lifting thesocial restrictions too soon?

- Pat, the primary risk isthat the healthcare system,

particularly thehospitals, will not be able

to handle the number of patients.

We know that the United States of America

has hands-down the besthealthcare in the world,

we have the smartest doctors,

the most technologicallyadvanced equipment

like the wonderful ventilatorsthat breathe for us,

and now, these wonderful drugsthat are showing such promise

and are showing that they're so effective,

but these resources could run out

if too many patients flood the hospitals,

and that's why yesterday,

the White House coronavirus task force

said, okay folks, everybodystay in their homes

for at least one more week,and then when it comes time

for us to ventureoutside, it's going to be

on a very targeted basis,

only certain people, in certain places.

- And did New York have these problems

because of the crowding of the city?

- Probably, those people arecrammed in their like sardines,

but I love New York.

I was supposed to be in NewYork right now on vacation.

But we know that there are 28,000 people

in one square mile of New York City,

and so New York state is theepicenter of the country.

In New York state, they have60% of all coronavirus cases

in the country, but then New York City,

the greater New York metro area,

one out of a thousandpeople has coronavirus,

that's five times higherthan the rest of the country,

and then in New York Cityproper, it's one out of 700.

And so Deborah Birx,

who's on the White Housecoronavirus task force,

said that she thinks thatthis has been circulating

in New York City fora number of weeks now,

and so that's why the navyship, the USNS Comfort,

is going to be docking in New York Harbor,

and why the Javits Convention Center,

that giant convention centeron the west side of Manhattan

is being converted in toa hospital as we speak.

So we really need to prayfor New York right now,

but they're tough, lookat how they handled 911.

- Well one last question.

What about this new testthat takes 45 minutes?

Is there personal, I mean,

is there tests you can do for yourself?

- Yes, and yes.

Oh this is so exciting.

Moving forward, you know,there's an old saying

that says you can't managesomething you don't measure,

and so testing is the verymost fundamental thing

moving forward, we need toknow who has this virus,

and who doesn't.

And so now, the market isbeing flooded with tests,

and as of Monday, this coming Monday,

there will be these rapid results tests,

where the results are goingto be available in 45 minutes,

and then on the backburner right now,

the FDA still has to approve it,

but some companies have already made tests

that they can mail to people's homes,

and people can stick the swabup their nose themselves,

put it in a container, and send it away,

and then you can get results in the mail,

which is fantastic as faras the number of people

who can be tested, but also,

that last test saves those PPEs,

the personal protective equipment,

because you can do it at home,

so we don't need to waste all the gloves

and the protective equipmentof healthcare workers

administering these tests.

- Thanks, Lorie.

- My pleasure.- Ladies and gentlemen,

I know that you're afraid.

I want to share with you something.

Every day, we to take heart,

and in the 91st Psalm,there are seven high wounds

where God says, because hehas set his love upon me,

therefore I will.

Today is Psalm 91:15.

Here is your verse for the day.

He will call on me, and I will answer him.

So don't fear, 'cause the Lordis going to look after you.

But if you have a problem,you're out of work,

you're losing money, whatever,

God say, he will call uponme, and I will answer him.

Say it again.

I will call upon himand he will answer me.

God will answer you, regardlessof the circumstances.

Well in other news, travel restrictions

are straining airline passengers,

and leaving airportslooking like ghost towns.

Efrem Graham has more on that.

- Pat, lockdowns are affectingtravelers around the world.

16 members of a West Virginia church

have been stuck in Honduras for 10 days.

The Honduran government closed all borders

including the airports.

The team from Morgantown Church of Christ

tried contacting the USEmbassy and the airlines

with little success.

Team members say they'vebeen told several times

a plane is coming in for them,

only to have their hopes dashed.

The group is safe with plenty of food

in their missions compound,

but still don't knowwhen they will get home.

The pandemic is shutting downair travel across the globe.

CBN contributor, ChuckHolton, flew home recently,

and filed this reportfrom those empty airports.

- Well if you're gonnapractice social distancing,

here at the airport might bethe best place to be right now,

because as you can see,this place is a ghost town.

There are a few flights still leaving

from here in Reno, Nevada where I am,

but there are very fewpeople on those flights,

and many of them are being canceled.

Also, as you can see,

the stores and shops inside the airport,

mostly are closed.

That's just because there'snobody here to buy anything.

So those employees who are still here

to keep the airportrunning are very grateful,

the ones that I've talked to,

that they can still come to work,

but that may not last very much longer.

- [Announcer] Of course,if you just came through

the security checkpoint, pleasedouble check your pockets,

you might be missing a pair of keys.

- My quick flight over theSierra Mountains left on time,

but with very few people on board,

and as we descended in to San Francisco,

it was clear that normally busy freeways

are now almost devoid of traffic.

The airlines are losingtens of millions of dollars

every day as this shutdown continues.

For example, I justlanded in San Francisco,

an the aircraft I was on had 76 seats,

but only nine passengers,and five of those

were United employees thatwere repositioning aircraft,

or trying to get home beforethey had more shutdowns.

The real question ishow long can this go on?

Because if it doesn'thave a near end date,

it may be the deathnail for some airlines.

All right, so I made it backto Panama within about 24 hours

of them shutting down thisairport for the next 30 days,

and there are obviously a lot of people

trying to get in, and tryingto get out before that happens.

This is definitelyunprecedented in Panama,

as far as I know, it'snever happened before.

I don't even think theairport was closed for 30 days

during the invasion of Panama.

As the number of confirmed cases

of the coronavirus risesabove 250 in this country,

Panama is hoping to contain the outbreak

by declaring a nationwideshutdown for the next 30 days.

Chuck Holton, CBN News,in quarantine in Panama.

- Unprecedented indeed, Pat.

- What an incredible thing.

Well you've seen it firsthand.

Our reporters are there togive you what's happening.

Now an alarming development politically.

- [Terry] Absolutely.