Labor Sec. Scalia says he expects to see large unemployment claim filings amid coronavirus crisis

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Labor Sec. Scalia says he expects to see large unemployment claim filings amid coronavirus crisis

Congress aiming to add $250 billion to small business loan program; U.S. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia weighs in.

This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto,” April 8, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: All right, thank you very much, Bill Hemmer.

The deaths are rising, the cases are rising, but the hospitalizations, well, they're not rising not nearly as dramatically. And that seems to be the story of the day, and a big reason why stocks were up.

We are following the COVID-19 cases that are attracting the world's attention, on the same day we're learning New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, and Illinois just reported their highest daily death tolls from COVID-19.

What happens next? And why were markets soaring? Because they think this is as close as you get to an apex. And they're encouraged by reports they got out of no less than the New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, that the number of hospitalizations, which is an active, recent number, is telling us that maybe the caseload could be about to decline, or at least the rate of increase could start to decline, even in the face of deaths, which are, sadly, a lagging indicator, are rising.

We want to get the very latest on all of this from David Lee Miller in Manhattan with the very, very latest on those numbers and what they could portend -- David lee.

DAVID LEE MILLER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Neil, another day, another record for the number of deaths caused by the coronavirus here in New York state.

On Tuesday, 779 New Yorkers lost their life to the virus. Over the past few days, fatalities have been steadily increasing. Governor Andrew Cuomo said the trend wasn't bad news, but terrible news. He said the mortality rate is likely to get worse before it improves, because it reflects the number of the people admitted weeks ago to the hospital who are only now succumbing to the virus.

On a positive note, as you mentioned, he said hospital admissions were down, thanks to social distancing and the shutting down of all nonessential services in the state.

He urged New Yorkers not to get complacent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): We have to remain diligent, we have to remain disciplined going forward. But there's no doubt that we are now bending the curve. And there's no doubt that we can't stop doing what we're doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILLER: According to preliminary statistics, the virus has caused a disproportionate number of fatalities among Hispanic and black New Yorkers.

The mayor blamed economic inequality and access to health care. More people might be dying from the virus than first thought. The head of the National Guard said specially assigned troops are now removing 150 bodies a day from New York homes, New York City homes.

Officials say, usually, it is 25 bodies on a daily basis that must be removed. Millions of gloves, masks and other personal protection equipment have been delivered to hospitals in the city, but the mayor is asking the federal government to fill a shortfall of surgical gowns.

The NYPD, which has been very hard-hit by the virus, slowly recovering; 276 members who tested positive are now back on the job. And more than 1,300 firefighters, EMTs and paramedics who tested positive and were thought to be exposed to the virus, they have also now returned to work.

And, lastly, the show must go on, but not now or any time soon. Broadway theaters now saying, Neil, that they are going to extend the suspension of all performances until June 7 -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, David Lee, thank you very, very much.

We also heard from the New Jersey governor, Murphy, that he is pushing back New Jersey's primary until July from June. We're getting more indications that, if these are tea leaves we are supposed to read, maybe that April 30 deadline for people to unwind these lockdown provisions that are in place for so much of the country might be pushed back a little bit more.

There's no way to tell.

But Kristin Fisher at the White House right now, ahead of the White House task force briefing, where we might get some details on all of that -- Kristin.

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Neil, one of the main things that we're waiting for -- and it could very well be announced at this briefing -- are changes to the CDC's guidelines for self-isolation.

The administration really wants to make it easier for people who work in critical industries to return to work even after they have been exposed to somebody who has the coronavirus, provided that that person doesn't have any more symptoms.

So, Dr. Birx, she was making the rounds on some TV networks earlier today explaining why this expected change to those CDC guidelines is so important.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: If you don't want many more body bugs, then you refrain from politicizing it.

My short message is, please quarantine politicizing COVID. The unity of your country will be very important to defeat this dangerous virus. Without unity, we assure you even any country that may have a better system will be in trouble and more crisis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: All right, well, that wasn't Dr. Birx. That was the director of the World Health Organization responding to President Trump's news that he is considering freezing all funding from the United States to the World Health Organization.

President Trump made that announcement during the briefing yesterday. And he said that part of the reason he's considering it is because he believes that the World Health Organization is simply too China-centric.

He's also upset with the fact that -- very similar to the concerns that he had with NATO, he's upset that the U.S. spends the lion's share, spends so much more money than any other country, gives that to the World Health Organization.

So expect that to be a big focus at tonight's briefing. And then the other thing we're looking at tonight, Neil, is, what is President Trump's plan to restart the economy? Last night, President Trump said that he's really zeroing in on two options.

The first is to just open up the economy all at once. He described it as a big bang. The other option, of course, is to open it up more, bit by bit, section by section, as President Trump called it.

And Dr. Fauci, he actually said this morning that he was at the White House very late last night discussing that entire range of options. So, Neil, expect a heavy focus on that during the briefing today as well.

CAVUTO: You know, Kristin, I -- we're told at a meeting that Dr. Fauci was at, that it was namely medical people who were discussing this, and not some of the economic advisers.

Do we know anything about that and what that might say about what would go into the president's thinking here in terms of reopening?  FISHER: Well, President Trump says that obviously the focus has been on the medical side.

But as we saw President Trump tweet today, he said that there is a flattening of the curve. Dr. Fauci has said that he's seen these glimmers of hope, that he's expecting a turnaround in the coming weeks, provided we stick to these social distancing and self-isolating guidelines.

So, to answer your question, right now, the economic team here at the White House, they're really focused on implementing phase three of this coronavirus relief plan and talking about phase four. But there are definitely big-picture talks behind the scenes happening about what the big overall plan is to reopen the economy -- Neil.

CAVUTO: I'm sure there are.

Great reporting, as usual, Kristin, thank you very much, Kristin Fisher at the White House.

She will be about at the health task force briefing at the top of the next hour.

So, when is a good time to consider unwinding some of these lockdown provisions here? A nation waits.

Let's get the read from Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, the Columbia University Center for Infection and Immunity director.

Doctor, the fact that the president, we're told, in one report, a Bloomberg report, was meeting with only top medical personnel on this issue seems to at least telegraph that their opinion will dominate.

In other words, what they think is in the best medical interest of the country is the way we will go, not necessarily the money or the economy crowd. What do you make of that?

DR. W. IAN LIPKIN, DIRECTOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR INFECTION AND IMMUNITY: I agree.

I think that, although I'm very encouraged, we cannot look at the case numbers and the death rates day to day. We have to look at larger trends.

And if we see, for example, that over a period of two to four weeks, there is a consistent either flattening or improvement, then I'd be very encouraged, and this is something that I would consider.

I don't think we're there yet.

CAVUTO: So let me ask you, Doctor, what would you look at?

Now, I know some of the more popular things to look at is the decline at least in the rate of increase in both cases and deaths. Then we hear from the New York governor today that, although deaths hit a daily record in the state, hospitalizations have been trending down, or at least the rate of increase in hospitalizations.

Which all matter to you?

LIPKIN: As I say, that's very encouraging. But the death rate typically follows by several days the decline in hospitalizations, so that if this trend is real, then, for the next two weeks, we will see a consistent drop in hospitalizations, and we will begin to see a drop in the death rates as well.

Some of us think that we really need to see four to six weeks of this sort of consistent control before we would recommend relaxing these sorts of things.

Now, before the break, you had a colleague of mine and a friend, Arturo Casadevall, who was talking about plasma therapy. This, I think, is something that's very interesting as well.

CAVUTO: Right.

LIPKIN: Columbia is investing in this too.

We think that this may actually be very, very helpful in reducing morbidity and mortality. And, of course, everybody's trying to find drugs that may be useful.

CAVUTO: Right.

LIPKIN: The vaccine is the way out. That's the definitive route out of this conundrum we're in. And that is many months away.

Again, we're trying to find ways to accelerate that, so that we can bring vaccines into the clinic more rapidly. And I think we're going to do something unprecedented there.

CAVUTO: All right, well, hope springs eternal on that, Doctor. Thank you, and also for all your hard work on the front lines making sense of this and beating this. It's much appreciated, as well as you're taking the time to talk to us.

LIPKIN: Keep the faith.

CAVUTO: All right.

Thank you very much, Doctor.

I do want to take your attention to the corner of Wall and Broad, because whatever they were hearing today, it's the optimist that won out, or at least the belief, whether it's hospitalizations that are slowing or deaths that might be hitting an apex, macabre as that sounds.

They like to hear at least that this is the worst of it, or potentially the worst of it, that and the fact that Italy could be considering easing up on its own lockdown, that Germany is easing up, and also increasing the number of diagnoses of those who might have the virus to about one out of every 100 Germans.

Right now, we're aiming for a ratio in this country that is closer to one out of every 300 getting that coronavirus test. But, again, the numbers are what matter and moving in the right direction. That's why we were up about 779 points, as well as very, very strong demand for that small business stimulus that is a very popular feature in the overall stimulus plan, north of $2.2 trillion, in fact, so popular that they're thinking of adding another 250 billion bucks to it to help small, medium-sized businesses right now in a world of hurt.

The gains today were across the board. And the S&P 500 for those, who like to keep track of technical developments, moved out of bear market territory with its gains today. All the major averages are still down, at least the premier ones, the Dow and the S&P, about 20 percent from highs.

But the fact of the matter is, they have cut those losses in half. Remember, it was only a few weeks ago where the Dow was at around 18000. And now, of course, we're looking in the 23000 and north neck of the woods.

So we're watching that.

We're also watching what's happening in the World Health Organization, a nasty battle between the head of that organization and no less than the president of the United States, concerned that the World Health Organization was doing the bidding of China and hiding some numbers and actually masking the severity of what was going on in China.

The president is looking at the money we give the WHO, and so is Lindsey Graham.

He's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): Imagine that you come up with a program that gives away free money. Of course it's going to be in high demand.

They sold out as soon as they got the paperwork in place to issue this. They're going to sell out of the next $250 billion. As long as the government gives away money, there -- there's going to be no lack of demand for that.

What the government needs to do is allow people to go back to work.

CAVUTO: Did any of them, including the president, ever get back to you? Have you talked to him, specifically the president, since all this?

MASSIE: You know, I called the president back. He wasn't able to take my call. I left a message. I said, no hard feelings. Let's move on. I want to work together.

But I think he misunderstood what I was trying to do now. Now, my colleagues, including Nancy Pelosi, understood what I was trying to do. I was trying to bring some accountability to Congress.

And that's what they hate you for in Washington, D.C., is when you commit candor, which is what I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right, Representative Tom Massie might call it candor, but his actions last time, almost stopping or certainly delaying the last stimulus package, didn't win him any support at the White House.

The president said he was grandstanding, that maybe he should be primaried. Others on both sides of the aisle had even nastier things to say. But he said he's sticking to his guns now, that this is just more spending on top of more spending, talking about $250 billion, in addition to this small business loan commitment that is really called the Paycheck Protection Program.

Lindsey Graham joins me right now in South Carolina, what he makes of what Massie is trying to do.

Senator, good to have you.

What do you think? He's saying, enough already, cool it.

(LAUGHTER)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Who, Massie?

CAVUTO: Yes.

GRAHAM: Is that who you're talking about? Is that your question? What do I think of him?

CAVUTO: Yes, I am.

GRAHAM: Is that your question?

Yes. Well, I wouldn't...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Well, he doesn't want any more money being spent. He says, enough. He says, enough.

GRAHAM: Well -- yes, I get it. He never wants to give a dime to Israel.

So, we can spend a lot of time talking about him, but I'd rather not.

Let me tell you why I think this is a good program, the small business loan, but it's got a major problem.

Back here at home, I have heard a lot of criticism and concern about the program. The goal is to keep the employer-employee relationship intact. So, what do you do? You go to a bank, if you can find one. You borrow up to two-and-a-half times your payroll, as of what existed February the 15th.

You pay your employees; 75 percent of the money has to go to pay the payroll. And that keeps the company intact, so, when the economy opens up, you're good to go. Count me in for that.

But here's what's not working. The banks are hard to access here in South Carolina. You have to have a preexisting relationship. So there's not enough banks. It's too bureaucratic. But we can fix that.

The big problem with this program is, the unemployment program is competing with a loan program. Here's what happens. If you own a restaurant in South Carolina, you pay employees $17 an hour. Well, here's -- here's your dilemma. You're paying them $17 an hour to stay on your payroll.

The South -- the South Carolina unemployment system is paying them $23 to leave your payroll. So, we got very generous unemployment benefits that exceed people's wages, and it's hard for the small business to keep their employees on the payroll, because the state of South Carolina is offering them $23 not to be on your payroll.

If we don't fix that, we're never going to get this right.

CAVUTO: You know, I wonder on -- when you call it stimulus and generous measures for those out of work, if you caught today, Senator, that Governor Cuomo of New York wants to add to the unemployment checks that people are getting in New York by another $600, on top of the $600 that they're getting through the federal government.

So, he says that the federal government will reimburse him, but what do you think of that?

GRAHAM: Here's what I think.

I believe that this is an entrepreneurial nation, and people like to work, but they're going to make the decision best for their family. My goal is, if you get laid off and you can't go to work, no fault of your own, and nobody will offer you a job, that we make you whole, that if you were making $15 an hour, that's $600 a week, I want you to be made whole.

The maximum unemployment benefit per week in South Carolina is $326. I'm willing to make up the difference, but what we have done is, we have added $600 on top of $326. So now you're making $23 an hour.

So the problem is, if you're Walmart and Amazon -- Neil, you know this better than I do -- and you're trying to plus up your work force, the state of South Carolina -- Texas is $28 an hour. We have made it hard for people to find new workers, because you're paying people more not to work.

I'm for making people whole, but I'm not paying them more not to work than they were making at their job.

CAVUTO: All right.

While I have you, Senator, there's a big kerfuffle between the World Health Organization and the president. And the president is concerned about what the WHO...

(LAUGHTER)

GRAHAM: Yes.

CAVUTO: ... knew and when it knew it.

GRAHAM: Yes. Yes.

CAVUTO: And I'm wondering whether, as he has talked about maybe taking funding away from them because they were hiding figures on China -- that's the allegation -- and the severity of the growth of the virus in China, what are your thoughts on this?

GRAHAM: Yes.

Well, the Congress appropriates money. We have got money in the pipeline for the WHO. We need an effective WHO.

But I'm not going to fund the WHO any longer as long as the current director is in place. He must resign.

I'm going to be Dr. No when it comes to funding the WHO. It is the account that I'm in charge of. I just signed a letter today with 60 members of Congress, Republican and Democrats, complaining about the WHO.

They said on January the 10th it's OK to travel to China, when they should have known better. On January the 14th, they said there was no evidence of human transmission of the virus within China. They should have known better.

In 2015, they completely botched the Ebola virus problem in West Africa.

So, the current regime is not a good investment. No more money for the WHO until they get new leadership and reform the way they do business.

CAVUTO: All right, Senator, we will see what they say and what they do, because they're fighting fire with fire.

We will have an update on that a little bit later.

Senator Lindsey Graham, thank you very, very much.

We had a chance to hear what the senator thought about this $250 billion small business relief effort that's been added on to the $360 billion effort.

The read on all of that as well from the labor secretary of the United States. Eugene Scalia will be joining us shortly as well.

You are watching "Your World."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)  CAVUTO: All right, in Oregon, the school year has already ended, the governor just speaking to the press, Kate Brown saying that they are stopping it now, there won't be any returning to classes.

I don't know whether they will just complete what they have online, as been the case in so many states across the country. I believe there are three other states now that have already committed to going ahead and stopping classes, effective immediately -- not stopping classes, but the school year itself.

As far as going back to the physical schools themselves, that ain't going to happen, Oregon the latest to say that ain't going to happen.

All right, in the meantime, we all want to know who is exposed to the coronavirus and maybe check their temps or know their whereabouts, even those who survived, but a national surveillance system to keep track of them? Be careful what you wish for.

That is one of the ideas that Jared Kushner came up with at the White House.

Our own Judge Andrew Napolitano not quite enthusiastic.

I think your point was, Judge, you can understand the concern. You're worried about the slippery slope, right?

ANDREW NAPOLITANO, FOX NEWS SENIOR JUDICIAL ANALYST: I am.

I mean, you remember, right after 9/11, when President Bush asked for temporary authority for five years to engage in mass warrantless surveillance of everybody in the United States, the stated purpose was to find terrorists or potential terrorists among us.

It was called the Patriot Act. Well, it's still here after 18 years, even though it was only supposed to be around for five. I mean, stated differently, when you give this kind of power to the government, now we're talking about surveillance of people based upon their medical needs, it is ripe for abuse, and it is so intrusive.

It's hard to believe that the courts would permit this without a warrant. And a warrant requires suspicion, probable cause about the person you're surveilling.

What I understand Jared Kushner and his team want is for the federal government to be aware of when people go to hospitals and health care facilities and for what purpose, so that the federal government can push resources and assets to those facilities.

I mean, this is the same federal government that can't stop robo-calls. Do we really want them to do that? We're not talking about now. We're not talking about the president's leadership now. We're talking about when this virus is over with as a permanent means for the federal micromanagement of health care.

I don't think it's constitutional. I don't think it will work. I don't think it'll get through Congress.

CAVUTO: Wouldn't you want to know, though, Judge -- your constitutional argument notwithstanding -- of where coronavirus cases, individuals are, especially given some late statistics that show a good number of them, by far not even a plurality or majority, get it again, are susceptible to it again, or -- or those who do just fine?

You want to have a database of available plasma, and that's from these individuals that would be wise to sort of keep track of. You say?

NAPOLITANO: So when the government feels the need to interfere with a fundamental liberty -- here, privacy -- it is required to do so by the least intrusive means.

It would be far less intrusive for a hospital to give the government numbers. There's no problem with the government understanding that. Local government needs to know if, for example, a city block or a certain neighborhood -- take a Manhattan here, for example -- has become a hot spot, to warn people to stay away from there.

But for the government to be involved on a permanent basis in pushing resources to hospitals, rather than allowing the free market and the informed decisions of health care professionals make that choice, I think it's micromanagement, the type of which the president himself has spoken against, when he opposed the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare.

CAVUTO: All right, Judge, you argue your point very, very well.

Judge Andrew Napolitano, whether you agree or disagree, it's always a reasoned argument with him. All right.

In the meantime here, we told you about how the economy is sort of eroding right now, given the ongoing concern about the coronavirus and all these businesses shut down. We know, in the last two weeks, 10 million Americans have filed for first-time unemployment benefits.

We're going to get the next employment claims filed tomorrow. And they could dwarf all of those.

The labor secretary of the United States on that -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, we're hearing Boris Johnson is doing well, his third day in intensive care in a London hospital.

What we're not clear on is when he will be released. We know he's had some oxygen. We know he's not had to rely on a ventilator. And we know he's in good spirits.

More after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: You know, tomorrow, we're going to get another jobless claims report.

These come out every week. That is the number of Americans who file first- time unemployment benefits. In the latest week, you might recall, it moved over 6.5 million Americans, before that, about 3.3 million Americans. Two weeks running now, we have seen more than 10 million Americans apply for these benefits.

Tomorrow's numbers could be even more staggering.

To be fair, the labor secretary of the United States has warned that they will indeed be that way, but, eventually, we will turn this thing around.

Eugene Scalia is the labor secretary of the United States of America, took the time to join us now. And we appreciate that.

Secretary, good to see you.

EUGENE SCALIA, U.S. SECRETARY OF LABOR: It's good to be with you, Neil.

CAVUTO: What are you anticipating? Another big number. So, all of that's been sort of baked into the economic pie.

When do you think these -- these claims slow?

SCALIA: Well, I think we can expect, Neil, to continue to see large unemployment claim filings.

As you say, we saw really unprecedented numbers over the last couple of weeks. But we're seeing that because we're taking unprecedented action. It's a little hard to compare these numbers to numbers we have seen in the past, because this is a purposeful pause on the economy.

In terms of when we turn the corner, obviously, that depends in part on just beating the virus, and -- which we need to do first, need to get this under control. And I think that's going to be when we're positioned to reopen.

Fortunately, we have programs in place, and I think they're moving along very rapidly, to help the millions of Americans who are experiencing this unemployment right now.

CAVUTO: You know, Secretary, I know it's very hard to gauge, so I can certainly sympathize with that.

But I am wondering what you think, with the program, the SBA program, the Small Business Administration program, that's proven very, very popular, so popular, I guess, both you and Republicans and a lot of Democrats want to - - want to muster another $250 billion to protect folks and all that.

How much would that mitigate the claims filings that we have been seeing and hang on to jobs? In other words, because it does provide incentives for businesses who take this money, as a loan at first, to have it all forgiven and then seen as a grant, if they keep those workers.

SCALIA: Yes, great question.

And I am very enthusiastic -- enthusiastic about that program, Neil, as labor secretary. To me, it's really one of the best things going right now for workers, because, as you know, it's a loan to these businesses, but the loans are largely forgivable if they keep workers on payroll.

The reason that I like that is, not only is it getting money to workers who may not be able to come to the job right now, but it's keeping the connection between employer and employee, so that when we are ready to get back to work, the workers are there.

We have reasons to expect -- I think every reason to expect that this can be a shorter slowdown than we have seen when we have had a slowdown that's resulted from just problems in the underlying economy.

And so I think, if we have kept the worker with the company, we will be able to get back even more quickly. So, I'm a big fan of that program.

CAVUTO: Do you worry that we might not get back quickly, that even when shelter-in-place orders are lifted, or gradually lifted, I guess, Secretary, that Americans might be leery of returning to crowded places or restaurants?

Jon Taffer, of all people, the "Bar Rescue" host, was telling me not too long ago he thinks Americans are going to be very skittish, certainly about traveling, getting on crowded planes, certainly going on cruises, that this V-shaped recovery that you hope for might be more like a -- I guess an L?

I don't know. What do you think?

SCALIA: I'm more optimistic than that, Neil.

I think, first of all, we have got to remember what a strong economic position we were coming into this. The jobs reports we were putting out as recently as five weeks ago were some of the best that you and I have ever seen.

So we come in -- we came in from a very strong economic position. I think, if we can keep brief the period of time that we need to pause the economy, we stand a better chance than we have in other circumstances of getting going quickly.

And don't get me wrong. I think the social distancing, that discipline is just crucial right now to help keep that period brief. And I understand there's going to be anxiety of some types as we reboot.

I think, on the other hand, a lot of people are going to be thrilled to get back out into society again, and they will understand that maybe some more precautions are needed than in the past.

But I remain optimistic.

CAVUTO: All right.

Yes, I wouldn't -- I don't know about you, sir. I wouldn't need much incentive to get back into a restaurant, crowded or otherwise. So we will see what happens.

Very good having you, sir. Thank you very, very much.

SCALIA: Always a pleasure, Neil. Thank you.

CAVUTO: All right, the labor secretary of the United States, Scalia.

I told you a little bit about Oregon essentially saying right now, school's out. That's it. There won't be any returning classes. They still have to do their assignments online, what have you.

But Oregon now joins 13 -- it wasn't three -- 13 other states that have essentially said, that's it, wrap it up.

More after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID DIRECTOR: We're starting to see some glimmers of hope, because the deaths generally lag by a couple of weeks behind what's fueling the outbreak, namely, the number of new cases and the number of hospitalizations.

So, at the same time as we're seeing an increase in death, like, typically, what we're seeing now from New York over the last few days there's been a stabilization and a decrease in the hospitalizations, admissions to intensive care, and the requirements for intubations.

That means that, as we get further on beyond this week, we should start to see the beginning of a turnaround.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right, what he's saying there is, there is some hope for hope.

In other words, there is some light at the end of that proverbial tunnel, a line that I'm sure all of you are tired of hearing, but I simply cannot come up with a better line. But I'm going to work at it.

Brigadier General W. Scott Lynn us right now, the 807th Medical Command deputy commander.

You talk about a guy who has his hands full, but he handles it with grace.

General, let me first get your take on something Dr. Fauci had said, that we might -- I don't want to put words in his mouth -- be seeing the worst of it. He didn't say that it's all going away, but that the trend, particularly when it comes to hospitalizations, look good.

From your vantage point, in looking at what you're providing to New Yorkers and elsewhere to address this and the cases that have soared, that has got to be welcome news.

BRIG. GEN. W. SCOTT LYNN, U.S. ARMY: Yes, Neil, I'm always happy to hear welcome news.

But, right now, we're focused on providing capability to local medical system here in New York City. And, yes, we're ready to provide that capability as they need it. So, while good news is always welcome news, we're prepared for anything.

CAVUTO: How are you doing on the amount of beds that are now being utilized, whether we're talking about the USNS Comfort that is now being provided for COVID-19 patients, these tents, become tent cities, that have been set up in places like Central Park and elsewhere, the Javits Center?

Obviously, a lot more beds are being made available and a lot more experts and medical personnel. Can you update me on that?

LYNN: Well, Neil, two points on the beds.

The first is that we're an integrated system. DOD, working through Northcom and Army North, we have got a -- the Javits Center is part -- one component of that system, and the Comfort is another component of that system.

And the comprehensive system together provides the capability that responds to the -- whatever requirements we're responding to from the national, state and local officials.

So, we're here to respond to New York City's needs. And we do that through a lot of different mechanisms.

CAVUTO: All right, now, you have a little bit more than 100 patients at the Javits Center.

I mean, how do you keep track of who goes in, how it's decided, who goes in, and some of these other facilities that have been expanded to address this patient load?

LYNN: So, once again, Neil, there, there's a system where a bunch of the different entities at the Javits Center all work together to go out to the local hospitals and to assess their needs, to take patients on, to alleviate their burden.

And we work through different protocols to do that and to do it in the most efficient manner we can. One of our big imperatives right now is to make that as transparent and seamless and easy for the referring hospitals as we can.

For instance, one of our initiatives today that we implemented is that, when a transferring physician calls the Javits Center, they will immediately be speaking to another physician to facilitate a physician-to- physician transfer.

So, we're trying to lean forward and make it as easy as possible for those hospitals to transfer their patients to the Javits Center.

CAVUTO: And you're doing a very good job at it, General, and I know with very, very little sleep.

I want to thank you and your men and women making all this possible.

The Brigadier General W. Scott Lynn, the 807th Medical Command deputy commander, he's watching all this stuff and moving constantly changing pieces, not an easy job.

Thank you, General, very, very much.

All right, for those of you who were looking at other news developments today, we did have one in the political arena. Bernie Sanders formally suspends his presidential campaign.

But, you know, when I heard his remarks and caught some of his plans, it's not really over, over, over.

I will explain -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)  (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): While we are winning the ideological battle, and while we are winning the support of so many young people and working people throughout the country, I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful.

And so, today, I am announcing the suspension of my campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right, you might have caught him saying, "I have concluded that this Democratic campaign will not be successful."

That doesn't mean he will not be still technically competing in primaries that remain right now and scooping up some delegates in the meantime.

When all said and done, Joe Biden is still shy of the 1,991 delegates he will need to become the Democratic nominee, although he is comfortably ahead of Bernie Sanders, as the senator had earlier said in his remarks today backing out of the race, by some 300 delegates or so.

So, I began to wonder, well, what would that mean, to still compete, acquire some delegates, already a force at the convention, delayed now until August?

But who better to sort of get a gauge of where this is going than our Karl Rove.

Karl, what do you think got? He quit the race, but he's still kind of part of the race. What do you think?

KARL ROVE, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Yes, I think that's right.

He sent out a seven-page letter to his supporters. And, as you say, he said he's won the ideological battle. And he says he's also won the generational battle, in that young people support him. And, as you said, he said, I cannot win, but I'm going to stay on the ballots.

He's pretty clear about it in his letter. He says to his supporters: "While the campaign is coming to an end, our movement is not. We should still work to assemble as many delegates as possible at the Democratic Convention, where we will be able to exert significant influences over the party platform and other functions," by which I mean -- which I take to mean the vice presidential selection.

And he says: "We will continue to fight to elect strong progressives at every level of government. I ran because I wanted to accelerate and institutionalize the progressive change that we're all building together."

In other words, he ran in order to change the Democratic Party from a center-left party into a socialist party, Democratic socialist party. And he's in this -- he says very clearly in his statement he's leading a movement, and the movement is going to continue.

CAVUTO: I'm wondering how active a campaigner he will be on behalf of Joe Biden? What do you think?

ROVE: Well, I think that's a good question. And we don't know.

I suspect there will be two Bernie Sanders. There will be the Bernie Sanders who says, I'm doing what's necessary to show that I'm supporting Joe Biden in his effort to remove Donald Trump from office.

But there's also going to be the Bernie Sanders who says, what can I do to bring about the change inside the Democratic Party that I want?

There's a big group on the left called the Indivisible. And it's been a big supporter of Bernie and of Elizabeth Warren in this. They too put out a statement at the time of Bernie's withdrawal and said: "Supporters of Warren and Sanders are looking to Joe Biden now to have the kind of conversation we need to have to inspire the broadest coalition."

In other words, you better come to us, get us enthused. And the only way to get us enthused is by doing the things that we want to see put into the party platform, Medicare for all, free college, Green New Deal, open borders, you name it.

The Indivisible is behind those ideas. And they're going to be pressuring Biden to accept them. And my suspicion is, Bernie is going to be playing an inside game and an outside game. The inside game is, I want you to keep pressuring him. And the outside game is, I'm supporting Joe Biden for president, after he is the nominee of the Democratic Party in Milwaukee.

CAVUTO: All right, Karl Rove, good catching up with you, my friend. Be well.

Karl Rove on all of that.

We are getting word the health care briefing, the task force briefing, has been pushed back a little bit, closer at 5:30 Eastern time here in Washington.

So, we will get an update on that and what the administration is going to spell out as far as other coronavirus measures that are being taken, including when to unwind lockdown -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)  CAVUTO: All right, forget about New York.

Ahead of the president's health care task force briefing, focus on some of the states that are seeing a sudden surge in cases, Colorado among them.

Alicia Acuna in Denver with the latest.

What's going on, Alicia?

ALICIA ACUNA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Neil.

Well, the state of Colorado is going to get 100 ventilators. The president made the announcement this morning, tweeting: "We will be immediately sending 100 ventilators to Colorado, at the request of Senator Gardner."

He is referring there to Republican Cory Gardner. The White House COVID-19 task force has identified Colorado as one of a handful of states on the upside of the curve and about to experience a surge in cases.

Last week, Colorado Governor Jared Polis was critical after he says FEMA bought up 500 ventilators that the state was set to purchase. In his update today, Polis was asked about any politics that he saw in the president's tweet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JARED POLIS (D-CO): Well, you're not really going to get my read on it, because I'm not here to do political analysis.

I'm here to celebrate any ventilators that arrive in our state. And, of course, we're grateful for 100 ventilators.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACUNA: Right now, 1,154 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Colorado, and 190 people have died from the virus.

That's an increase of 11 over the last 24 hours. The total number of cases to hit the state of Colorado, Neil, is 5,429, and bracing for a potential surge -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Wow. All right. Hang in there.

Thank you, Alicia, very, very much.

We look at all sorts of numbers on the rising cases here, folks, and all of that, at those who try to look at this and try to help folks out, and then the economic impact.

There's an interesting story coming to us via MarketWatch. It says that Costco sales jumped by more than $1.5 billion as the coronavirus started spreading in March.

Now, we have seen similar anecdotal evidence from retailers like Walmart, what have you, that even with practicing distancing and gaps between people shopping at the stores, and actually enforcing that in the latest week, their business is off the charts.

And a lot of the help they're providing and the products they're providing, especially a lot of the emergency buying, and you saw the panic buying of everything from milk and eggs to hand sanitizers, all the way to toilet paper, which, of course, has been an international conundrum, but some really do see their business boom accordingly.

There is a sense in the markets, and with the gain today, on top of the gains we saw two days ago -- remember, we lost heady gains yesterday, but the S&P 500, for its part, is now out of bear market territory. The Dow and NASDAQ have come back appreciably.

And it is important to point out that that Dow, now at about 23433, was about 5,000 points lower than that little more than two weeks ago.

It is far from solace for investors who were looking at a close to Dow 30000 in February, but it is a reminder how volatile the markets are, even now.

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