Larry Kudlow provides latest details on plans to support American workers amid coronavirus outbreak

close

Video

Larry Kudlow provides latest details on plans to support American workers amid coronavirus outbreak

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow joins Sean Hannity on 'Hannity.'

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," March 20, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: And welcome to HANNITY.

This Friday night, a lot of breaking news has become on air, 9:00 on the East, 6:00 on the West Coast. We have so much ground to cover.

In just moments, we will bring you the very latest updates on coronavirus, the pandemic, facts without fear, very important.

Also, first, I have to address something tonight before we really get into the heart of the show. I know a lot of Americans, you are worried. You are fearful. I just went to the store. I talked to many of you.

I know everyone is adjusting. Everyone is adapting. The unknown is always scary, uncertainty is scary.

Despite the smears from the media mob, this program, my radio program, we've taken this virus seriously from day one. Now, I first interviewed Dr. Fauci right here on this show on January 27th.

Again, early, February 10th. I have a timeline with all of my coverage and accompanying audio and video. Look at it, hannity.com, expressing the seriousness and the concern and also my faith, belief, interest in our medical professionals, irrefutable truth of the seriousness of our reporting.

And yes, I rightly will continue to criticize the mob in the media and those Democrats that are weaponizing and politicizing this virus as the next Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, impeach, impeach.

Remember, the first known case in the U.S. was January 21st. I was talking about it with Dr. Fauci on that show January 27th. The travel ban was enacted in record time. Unprecedented. That was January 31st, 10 days after the first case in the U.S.

Democrats, yes, they were in the middle of impeachment. Biden calling the travel ban that day when the president implemented it. Hysterical xenophobia, fearmongering, and he's sticking by it. And as usual, they are hurting the country because of their pathological psychosis and hatred of Donald Trump.

Well, we digress. Bigger issues tonight. Our message has never changed. Look, you want to solve any problem in life, the worst thing you can do is get panicked. We all need to stay calm, strategic, smart, act rationally, based our decisions on facts.

That's why we had Dr. Anthony Fauci on this program. Let's go back in January. Remember, the first known case in our country is January 21st.

January 27th, Fauci was on, and we had him again on in early February. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: What if it is worse? Is this a moment where maybe countries put politics aside, a little bit of pride aside, and do we have U.S. officials, should U.S. professionals such as yourself get involved and help them out in this to try to contain this?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I would like to see our CDC, yes. I'd like to see us get there and look at the data firsthand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. Facts without fear has always been this program's number one priority surrounding COVID-19 and the outbreak.

Now, the fact is we as a country and a world were living, -- right now, you are watching history unfold. This is a transformational time for the country and the world.

America leading the way. We are now rewriting the book in terms of how to deal with pandemics. I wish we never had them, but we do.

A paradigm shift is unfolding right before our very eyes. It is real, it is dramatic, and I can tell you that future lives, incalculable, hundreds of thousands will be saved. I guarantee you, with a history is also been done because of the things that are changing today, what we are all doing today.

Going forward, I will tell you this, travel bans will be immediate, they will be fast, and no one who enacts them. I doubt they are going to be called racist, hysterical, and xenophobic -- game-changing.

Drive up testing. That is the future. It is unfolding before our eyes. Public/private partnerships. Telemedicine, face timing doctors, 24/7 on- call, that is the future unfolding before your very eyes.

Public-private partnerships, that is the future. Amazing how great American business and corporations have stepped up. Eliminating outdated FDA rules when necessary. That too will be our future. What's happening now will forever change how this country and the world will deal with pandemics.

Now, a brand-new poll, ABC News, 55 percent of Americans do approve of the president's handling of this crisis. By the way, in spite of a corrupt media that hates him every second, minute, hour of every day, same with the Democratic so-called leaders.

Under the president's leadership, now even some Democrats, some Republicans, American business leaders, our hospitals, our pharmaceutical industries, everybody is working together. You see the best in America I moments like this.

All hands on deck. This is moving at the speed of light, we've never seen this before, and it is amazing to see the goodness, the greatness of so many American people, so many of our corporations, companies, they show the best of us.

The adults in the room are separating facts from partisan politics. Example: Andrew Cuomo, he's the governor of the great state of New York. By the way, more cases than any other state.

Another state hit hard is California. Gavin Newsom and many others have been and are working hand-in-hand with President Trump, praising each other for working together to battle the virus. They all stressed the need for calm, for cooperation.

Governor Cuomo, I disagree on politics, taxes, fracking, almost everything. He was on my radio program 40 minutes today praising the president, for example, on the travel ban. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): I think you'll see more travel ban, health related travel ban's as we go forward. When you say rewriting the book, I think that's going to be one of the lessons we learn. We saw the disease progressing in China. You know now somebody's going to get on the plane and land at -- in New York or in California. It's just a matter of time. What the travel ban's can do for you, from a disease prevention point of view is it buys you time.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HANNITY: That one decision, that travel ban, called up by the quarantine, that one decision was a game-changer in terms of what we would otherwise be facing today. He's right. It bought us a lot of time.

And in times of uncertainty, truth is very important. That's why Governor Cuomo recently had some very pointed criticisms, rightly also, from his perspective, from the media mob, irresponsible questions, a responsible reporting, not looking for facts and to help, looking, gotcha. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: If you look at what other places call shelter in place, it's what we are doing now.

REPORTER: Not exactly, though.

CUOMO: Words matter at this point. Words matter. Quarantine. Lockdown. These words are scary words, and nobody is talking about those things.

REPORTER: Who isn't talking about those things?

CUOM: Well, shelter in place is a scary term.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: It's exasperating.

Now, in addition to calling out the mob, Governor Cuomo touched on something very important that we need to discuss tonight. That is the psychology of fear in the psychology of uncertainty. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CUOMO: There is a fear component here, Sean, that I don't know that in many ways started and is more contagious than the virus itself. People are truly frightened. It's also psychologically really difficult to deal with. You are in your house alone, or you're in your house with your family and the kids, and you're locked up.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HANNITY: Fear, more contagious than the virus itself or the president has been trying to remind people, we're going to get through this, everybody stay calm. The governor's right, the president is right.

And, by the way, I know a lot of people are worried tonight about your future and everything is being addressed. Watch the daily press conferences. You learn a lot from them.

But it's in times like these, we need to look backwards and learn from history. For example, the advice from FDR during the Great Depression, claiming we have nothing to fear but fear itself.

The great Winston Churchill walked the streets of London in the middle of the daily Nazi bombings in London. Listen at how he rallied a nation.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

WINSTON CHURCHILL, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. You ask, what is our aim? I can only say one word: victory. Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terror. Victory however long and hard the road may be. For without victory, there is no survival.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HANNITY: He walked out every day during the bombing of Britain, amongst the people of Great Britain, their very lives hanging in the balance. Amazing, FDR, amazing.

Let's not lose perspective tonight. We are the land of the free, the home of the brave. These are not just words. They define who we are as Americans. Think about this, we beat back Nazism, fascism, communism, imperial Japan, more recently, radical Islamism and 9/11.

We survived the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean war, the threat of nuclear holocaust during the Cold War, many, many pandemics, a depression, you name it, H1N1, 2009, that killed over a half a million people worldwide. You may not remember this, this is 2009 and ‘10, 60.8 million Americans contracted H1N1, and in one year, there are almost 13,000 Americans died.

Tonight, we cannot live in a state of fear. At the end of the day, we are going to beat this virus. We have a ton of reasons to be extra hopeful tonight. Clinical trials for a vaccine are now going on.

This is beyond record-breaking and dramatic accomplishments, all thanks to our medical researchers, our scientists, our doctors, nurses, and all of those medical professionals on the front line. It used to take years to break down and discover the sequence of a virus, years and years. They did it in less than two months.

Treatments now are already being used. First stage trial is now happening. The announcement yesterday, this anti-malaria drug called chloroquine, it's an antiviral drug, there's another one called remdesivir, along with the transfer of plasma.

Here you have patients that have fully recovered from the virus, and they have the antibodies, you remove the plasma and you give it to people that are really sick. Early indications are it is having a dramatic health effect to help people recover.

How amazing is our auto industry in this country? Offering now to make ventilators. The reading, we might be short of ventilators, the call the president and the White House, we'll make them for you. We'll be able to do that.

These are great Americans. How impressive. That includes Ford, and GM and Tesla. All these major companies have stepped up. We may now have coronavirus test kits available very shortly.

Look at Walmart and Amazon. You know what they just announced? They are hiring thousands and thousands of new workers. The grocery stores, the big chains, spoken with the president, they have promised to be restocking those shelves as fast as is humanly possible, and I know because I was at the store tonight.

The only thing that wasn't there was toilet paper. What is it about toilet paper? I don't get it. It wasn't there tonight. It's fine.

But you know what I'm saying. As a country, I understand fear and uncertainty. We've got to have perspective, were going to get through this. We have the best medical researchers, science, doctors, medical professionals in the world.

So we need to take a moment to set the record straight. No matter what the word police -- now that is the big thing, the media mob calling COVID-19, the Chinese or the Wuhan coronavirus. It is not wrong, it is not an accurate and it certainly is not racist.

The disease originated in China. That is just a fact. The disease first rapidly spread in China. That's a fact. They lied to you. They lied to the world.

As a British study pointed out this week, 95 percent of this could've been prevented had they been honest. The disease is now a worldwide pandemic because of China. That is a fact.

Look at your screen, let me prove my point. The last time I checked, the media mob had no problem calling any of those diseases by their geographical location. What are we going to change the name of the Spanish flu now and German measles now?

It's pretty normal to identify disease by geographic location. According to the mob, Democrats, and coincidentally the communist party of China -- that is not racist, out-of-bounds.

Failed presidential candidate, racism expert Elizabeth Warren, better known as Pocahontas, even blurted out the word in Chinese in a Twitter post. Fake news CNN reported, quote, the term China virus is both inaccurate and considered stigmatizing. Yes, they said the travel ban was stigmatizing. That was dumb too.

Day after day, night after night for weeks you have the mob, fake news CNN, state run conspiracy TV MSDNC, others have been using COVID-19 just to bludgeon and smear the president. It's the next Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, impeach, impeach. For them, it's repulsive, that's who they are.

"The New York Times," what did they say? The Trump virus. If you're feeling awful, you know who to blame. "L.A. Times," CNN, "The Washington Post," Trump's Katrina. Really? Other people say Trump's Chernobyl.

MSDNC conspiracy TV, saying Trump is guilty of negligent homicide and that the children of Trump supporters are a threat to your children.

Now, more than ever, their nonstop hysteria, their anti-Trump rage, their rampant dishonesty, it's disgusting to watch and there helping nobody. Except they think themselves, they satisfy the need -- scratch, the itch they have to bludgeon Trump.

Now, this doesn't stop during the president's daily COVID-19 press conferences which are filled with one stupid, insulting, politically charged gotcha question after another. You know what? The president had it today, and he's fed up with it, because they're not telling the truth and they're still using it to try to bludgeon him, politically.

And the president, well, fed up with that behavior. Here's what went down. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is it possible that your impulse to put a positive spin on things may be giving Americans a false sense of hope?

TRUMP: No, I don't think so. No, I don't think so.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Americans are scared, though. Nearly 200,000 dead, millions, as you witness, who are scared right now. What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?

TRUMP: I say that you are a terrible reporter, that's what I say. I think that is a very nasty question, and I think it's a very bad signal that you're putting out to the American people.

The American people are looking for answers and they're looking for hope. And you're doing sensationalism, and the same with NBC and con-cast. I don't call it -- I don't call it Comcast, I call it con-cast. Let me just, who do you work, let me tell you something, that is really bad reporting. You ought to get back to reporting instead of sensationalism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: He's right. How about reporting instead of the gotcha questions, to the American people. What has he already done? Anyone in the media, will they admit the travel ban, wow, ten days after the first case in America was a great idea. Not hysterical, not xenophobic, not racist.

In many cases, as it turns out, they are echoing Chinese propaganda. Look at the tweet, Chinese state TV reading, yes, it's racist. He's doing it so people are talking about that instead of his lies and incompetence while they are blaming Americans for the virus and blaming our armed forces, which is a lie. It's pretty familiar, right, pretty sad when it becomes hard to tell the difference between Chinese propaganda and fake news.

Now, today, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, he had some strong and right, truthful comments for China's constant stream of lying. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: I want to talk about the disinformation that people are seeing on Twitter and around the world. Some of it coming from governments, some of it coming from other individuals. I just urge everyone, if you're seeing information, information that suggests somehow this virus emanated from the United States army, this information about lockdowns sort of taking place, every American, indeed people all around the world, should ensure that where they turn to for information is a reliable source. We've certainly seen it come from places like China and Russia and Iran, and there are coordinated efforts to disparage what America is doing and our activity, to do all the things that President Trump has set in motion here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Many lawmakers are calling for action against China's communist dictatorship.

Here with more is Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn.

Senator, I know your state is recovering from those horrible tornadoes. Our prayers are with the people of Nashville and outside of Nashville.

SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN): Yes, we are. Thank you.

HANNITY: All right. Let's deal with this one particular issue, because people are losing perspective. The reporter could have discussed the president's travel ban. He could have discussed these new drive-up testing sites that we're trying to get up as fast as possible.

He could have discussed FDA regulations turning around.

BLACKBURN: That's right, yes.

HANNITY: The hopeful medical treatments that were announced yesterday.

But no, they would rather --

BLACKBURN: Right.

HANNITY: -- just focus on -- well, if you tell the people that they won't be so fearful. Maybe they'll know the truth.

BLACKBURN: I have to tell you, to listen to these reporters and to see them take some of this propaganda that is coming out of China and repackage it, so they think it's more acceptable to an American audience. And then once there is a glimmer of hope and good news for people that have been diagnosed and it's a positive diagnosis, and there is something there that might work, and then they want to say, oh, no, oh, no, we can't let anybody think this might work.

You can always bet on hope or you can bet on fear. Donald Trump is an optimist. He has done a phenomenal job as our president, as our commander in chief in leading through this. Yes, indeed, it is a war footing.

And, Sean, he is right to say here are some things that are making a difference. We think this might be something that will give some hope, and will bring relief to people that are suffering.

HANNITY: Are we going to get the relief to workers through no fault of their own out of work, to small businesses who need the help?

BLACKBURN: Right.

HANNITY: Are we going to give it to the big businesses that need the help? And are we going to do it in a way where we don't waste the rest of our money?

BLACKBURN: We certainly are. I think what we have to focus on is we want this recession that we are being forced into to be a "V", and then we want to come out of it very quickly. We have come down quickly. We have to bridge people over to the other side and go up very quickly.

HANNITY: Bingo.

BLACKBURN: And that is the focus we do not wanted to be a "U". We do not wanted to be an "L". We want to come out of this as quickly as possible and we are working together to make that happen. I really appreciate the president and the vice president and their leadership.

HANNITY: All right. Senator, thank you for that update. We appreciate it.

Now, several senators on Capitol Hill, they have a lot of questions to answer after selling off stocks before the market took a hit due to coronavirus after they were in closed-door meetings with the coronavirus.

Optics are atrocious. Now, if they do not have good explanations, the voters and others will do their jobs. Now they are people, we have to be fair, we never rush to judgment on the show, there are people who have blind trust. They have no idea where the monies being invested, others that manage money.

But if they did use that we didn't have, the American people, that only they had access to, they will be held responsible, Democrats and Republicans alike. Dianne Feinstein, Republicans, all of them. The optics are atrocious, but unlike the mob, we are going to be consistent here. We're going to wait -- we believe in innocence before guilt.

We don't rush to judgment. It's served us well on this program. We will stick with our model. It looks like hell.

Joining us from Washington to explain what is going on with that dire station and where we stand with the latest on the next phase of the stimulus relief package, our own Chad Pergram is with us -- Chad.

CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Sean.

Well, there's a lot of questions for these four senators. What did they know and when did they know it? They all deny wrongdoing, all four.

Richard Burr, the chair of the intelligence committee, Dianne Feinstein, Democrat from California, Kelly Loeffler from Georgia, Republican, and also, Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma.

Now, there is something called the STOCK Act, the Stock Trading On Congressional Knowledge Act. It was passed in 2012, amended in 2013, and basically it says, if you get information in closed-door hearings or briefings, you can't use that to trade securities. Now, Richard Burr has already referred himself to the Ethics Committee to try to clear this up. Again, they denied wrongdoing.

But the STOCK Act says is if you spent more than $1,000 on a securities trade, you have to report that within 45 days.

Now, the other big story here is negotiations are continuing as we speak on the phase three coronavirus piece of legislation. They don't have an agreement yet. The Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin has spoken multiple times today with Democratic Leader in the Senate Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Mitch McConnell wants to get an agreement tonight and put that into legislative form tomorrow.

Chuck Schumer said about an hour and half ago, he thinks that's going to be tough because it is such a big bill. If they're able to get an agreement they could have a procedural vote early Sunday, may be as early as 1:00 in the morning, then move it through the Senate sometime on Monday, and then it's out of the House of Representatives -- Sean.

HANNITY: All right. Chad, thank you.

Joining us now to explain the administration and what they're doing to help these American families that need help, small businesses that need help, the director of the National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, is with us.

Larry, I know that the White House is saying we're going to get checks out to workers in two weeks. That is really important. It's through no fault of their own. Small businesses, very important. These big industries, very important.

We rebuilt Europe. We can now help the American people and do it in a way that will create an economic environment to quickly start growing again. How do you best do that?

LARRY KUDLOW, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Well, that's the hope. And we made a lot of progress today and actually the talks are going on, I stepped out to do your show. Thanks for having me on.

Very importantly, you know, after the sick leave legislation to help hourly workers and their families, we have now embarked on a large package. Senator McConnell talked to all of us, Democrats and Republicans, this morning. He wants it quick, as was just reported. He wants a bill, something that looks like a bill this evening.

I've been sitting in on the tax subcommittee, if you will, run by Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley and Ron Wyden as the minority.

And I want to say this, Senator Wyden said to me this evening as I read off a sheet of numbers and topics, he said, I am willing to agree with this package. That's not a final signoff but he said I'm willing to agree. And that kind of characterized most of the talks that I saw today in the other subgroups.

Importantly, Sean, if I can get two quick ones out here -- emergency assistance to individuals and families, probably $3,400 for a family of four -- husband, wife, two kids -- $3,400 per family. There might be a second tranche later, but that's the beginning.

Huge emphasis on small businesses, with loan guarantees and plenty of assistance money and write-offs of expenses to cover this rocky period. A payroll tax holiday for businesses. And let's not forget, too, the size of this package that we're looking at is minimally $1.4 trillion, $1.4 trillion programmatically.

But we can leverage up to help certain sectors, and that would get us to over $2 trillion.

Sean, to fight the virus on the ground economically, to fight the virus --

HANNITY: Real quick, Larry.

KUDLOW: -- we're looking at something like 10 percent of GDP for a fiscal assistance program. That is big stuff, and it looks to me like we might be able to get it.

HANNITY: We rebuilt Europe. Let's take care of American families, workers. They can pay their rent, mortgages, car payment and make sure they send their kids to college as planned. Now it's time to help rebuild America and help Americans.

Thank you, Larry.

KUDLOW: By the way, Sean. One last --

HANNITY: I'm out of time. I'm on a hard break.

More of the media's shameful, atrocious, repulsive coverage, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. Tonight, we must heed the words of great leaders leading America, leading the world through tough times. Look at FDR in the midst of the depression. I know my father, he was, well, born in 1925. This is 1933. His first inaugural address. Father, his mom died, my grandmother died from complications of his childbirth. He grew up in the depression, had next to nothing, fought in World War II and a really hard life.

But these were the words added an important moment in American history that we can live by today. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: The media mob not heeding those words. Instead, they have been parroting even Chinese propaganda. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM FRIEDMAN, THE NEW YORK TIMES: This is not the time for a U.S.-China cold war. I can't think of anything more reckless.

SUSAN RICE, FORMER OBAMA NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: China is not behaving well in trying to blame this on the United States. But the flip side of it is, we are not behaving well when we talk about, as the president does every day, the Chinese virus, the Wuhan flu, and all of these racist descriptions.

JEREMY BASH, NBC NEWS: We all know what's going on here. This is race baiting, this is a form of xenophobia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's nakedly racist, and obviously racist and blatantly racist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Heilemann is a dope, has been for years. Why he's even on TV is beyond me.

All right. Here with reaction, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, and former White House press secretary and Fox News contributor, Sarah Sanders.

Sarah, I'll start with you.

While we're doing it, I'm going to scroll through the names of all these other diseases, pandemics, whatever that are actually based on the geographic region. This is not the first time, this happens often.

SARAH CARTER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Certainly. Look, Sean, let's be real clear. China is an adversary. They are not a friend. They lie, they cheat, they steal from Americans daily.

They didn't contain this virus when they could've done a lot more and they weren't transparent and forthcoming about the impact, the effects, any of the research with any of the global health community, and they certainly need to be held accountable for not working not only with the United States but everybody. This could've been a much better situation, not just for us but across the globe.

It started in China and they could've done a lot more, just sharing information and being upfront and transparent and they have not done that. Let's not forget that. At the end of the day, the president has been exactly right. He has to do what's best for the United States. I think one of the smartest moves he made was banning travel from China early on.

He proved that he was right. His critics attacked him for that at the time. He's never going to please so many of these people who just do not like him. It is sad that they would rather see America fail, and right now, Americans are dying and they are not focused on the cure and what the president is doing and what the administration is trying to do, providing relief for families and businesses that are struggling during this time.

All of the regulations they have gotten rid of so that the health community can do what they do best. Instead, they are taking apart, parsing his words and trying to create problems that don't exist.

We have enough problems dealing with the virus. Let's praise the president for some of the good things, and focus on how we can come together as a country instead of looking for more ways to divide us.

HANNITY: You know, Sean Spicer, you know, the Trump virus, if you're feeling awful, "The New York Times" said you know who to blame.

This week, "New York Times," president of governors, you're on your own. He said, no, if you can do it faster, go right ahead, feel -- you know, you do that, but we have your back. They kind of forgot those words. Trump's Katrina, Trump's Chernobyl. I mean, never ending.

Nobody -- Andrew Cuomo today, I can't believe these words are flying out of my mouth -- understood that that travel ban decision, ten days after the first case arrived in the U.S., crucial. You know how -- it would be exponentially worse.

Now, we've got new rules, drive up testing. Now, were getting rid of FDA regulations. We are rewriting the books as we go in this moment to help not only Americans, we will do what we always do. We will come to the rescue of the world and save the world again, as we've done many times before.

SEAN SPICER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Yes, look, I think Sarah is absolutely right. And to what you said, this is something that has been problematic since the president announced his campaign, which is no matter what he does, it's never going to be good enough.

So, you know, he shut down travel from China. Well, that wasn't good enough until it was. He talked about getting out in front of this, quarantining people, restricting other things, making -- putting the FDA in charge, convening the coronavirus task force, putting the vice president in charge. Everyone criticized him at the time, now there is high praise for Mike Pence's leadership on this, following the president's direction, bringing all these people together, cutting through the red tape, getting it done.

It's never good enough with this president and that's the problem. The lack of respect that they show him is evident every day in that briefing room. And the questions that they ask in some ways, it's not the tough questions. He can take the tough questions. It's the lack of decorum and respect that he deserves to be shown and frankly in some cases, the credit he deserves for making sure that we contain this virus and protect the American people.

HANNITY: And this is the whole thing, Sarah. It's like, if they would just say that travel ban was a good idea, drive up testing was a good idea, getting rid of FDA regulations is a good idea -- again, all groundbreaking. We had many pandemics. Joe Biden saying it is xenophobic hysteria and fearmongering and he still says he wouldn't have implemented it.

Wow. You know, are you leaving -- are you that old, Joe? That you can't think anew? Because these things are transformative and it's saving lives down the line.

SANDERS: Absolutely. The president is doing exactly what he needs to do, which is why you see Democratic governors praise him for offering aid and giving them the tools and the resources that they need to make decisions and make them quickly. At the end of the day, I think the most important thing that we can focus on is the fact that the American people are resilient.

And at no time when we've faced tough adversity have we not risen to the challenge, and I have no doubt that we will once again prevail. When we come together, work together, that is when America is out at the very best, and I think we are seeing that come through day in and day out, just watching people come together, and were going to see that more.

HANNITY: Thank you both. Appreciate it.

I know, I experienced this myself, January 27th, I had Anthony Fauci on. Covered it January 28th. This is before the travel ban.

I have a whole timeline of how serious I've taken this, and because I call out the media mob that is trying to turn this into a political weapon against the president, I say, oh, this is the next Russia hoax, meaning their way of turning -- Hannity called the fire was a hoax. Now, I didn't. And I have all the proof on hannity.com.

They lie with abandon. It's disgusting.

Bill Hemmer breaks down the latest facts, figures worldwide and in the states on corona.

Also, are we close to a medical breakthrough? A lot of positive indications we will -- we are on the way to that. We're doing this in record time. Treatments seem promising. You and your family need to know about them. We'll break that down as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Right now, as testing ramps up all across the nation, cities are ordered to shelter in place. Every American's life is being impacted by the virus outbreak. Here to break down the latest facts without fear, figures without fear, is our own Bill Hemmer.

BILL HEMMER, FOX NEWS HOST: How are you, Sean?

HANNITY: How are you, too? You've been doing great on these numbers, and we expect they're going to rise --

HEMMER: Yes.

HANNITY: -- dramatically for the next few weeks. Then we hope for leveling off, right?

HEMMER: Yes, more testing in New York and other parts of the country.

Sean, I want to show you three moments in time. You see this graphic behind me? We made this today around 2:00 this afternoon. U.S. cases in yellow, New York cases in blue. U.S. with over 14,000, of which half were in New York, at 7,000.

I'll show a second moment in time, Sean. This is Monday in New York alone. Cases were at 1,300, the death rate, the number of deaths were ten on Monday of this week to begin the week. Now, the death rate over on the U.S. is about 1.4 percent. We want to keep that down, keep pushing it down.

This is what happens. Watch the cases in New York on Tuesday, they jump 1,000. On Wednesday, they jump 1,700, and late last night, we're up over 7,000 cases. That is just New York.

Now, I want to move to the third moment in time here, Sean, over on this screen over here. As of 9:13 p.m. East Coast Time, we're at 19,000 cases in the U.S. And again, it's the testing in New York, testing in various places. The more we get that, the more likely we are going to see this number rise.

As you go to the weekend, Sean, I want you to think about two things here. This yellow line is the number -- we've been looking at this week now, seven days straight. This yellow line is all the cases outside of China.

You see where it's going? It takes a slight jog at the end there. I can't say whether that's going to last, but eventually at some point that is where it's going to go. We need to get that yellow line moving to the right. So keep an eye on that.

And also this here -- worldwide cases around the world, 272,000. This is what I think is something to hang your hat on is he going to the weekend. The recovery number is about 88,000. Six hours ago, that number was at 81,000.

That means that certain parts of the world are getting further away from those, and that's reflected in this total recovery number. Recovery means two negative tests in a row and that is when you make the green mark here. So, we're going to cheer for that over the weekend, Sean, and we'll see how this all works out into Saturday and Sunday, and certainly into next week.

HANNITY: It's amazing, because we do lose tens of thousands Americans of a year to the flu. The last pandemic worldwide, estimates of well over half a million. That's H1N1. And I wish we never had any of them, and I'm hoping that these new measures that haver now --

HEMMER: No doubt.

HANNITY: We're rewriting the books.

HEMMER: No doubt.

HANNITY: Our hope and prayer is that we are now able to save lives now and into the future as well, I think the books will change dramatically for all future pandemics.

You've been doing great informing the American people, facts without fear. Bill Hemmer, thank you.

HEMMER: Thank you. Have a good weekend.

HANNITY: You too.

HEMMER: Here to explain all this, again, facts without fear, former White House physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson, former FDA commissioner, Dr. Andrew Von Eschenbach is with us.

And thank you both.

And, Ronny, let me start with you because a lot of this -- I stand by, Ronny, of what I'm saying here. We're rewriting the books here. We've never responded this way. Travel ban, 10 days after the first identification of one case in the States. Then, of course, this public, private partnership, drive up testing. Now, the FDA issues.

This is all transformative and new.

DR. RONNY JACKSON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN: Absolutely, Sean. This is -- this is -- the president is rewriting the book on this. He's cleared the plain field now. You know, he's opened it up for American innovation for the private sector genius and that's -- we're going to reach some benefits of this when it's all over and done with, and as you said, the numbers are going up at the death rate in mortality rate is going down.

But there are lots of people who are working on medications and vaccines, and the president has made it where they can do this expeditiously and we're going to get some good stuff and we're going to get it really soon. We got a couple of good drugs in the hopper right now and I think we're going to get some good news pretty soon.

HANNITY: Let's talk about these treatments that were mentioned. You are a former FDA commissioner, Andrew. Let's talk about these, for example. I've been told, what do you call it, chloro -- I have to remember, hydrochloric -- whatever.

But I didn't know about it until three days ago when I first read it, then the FDA rules changed, I know a lot about it, then it seems that coupled with azithromycin is showing incredible results, as is the plasma of those people that had corona, had the antibodies fully recovered, antibodies now being transferred, ivs being sent into the veins of people who are very sick.

ANDREW VON ESCHENBACH, MD, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: Yes. Well, Sean, first of all, thank you very much for sharing this with your audience. You're absolutely correct in the comments he made earlier that we as a nation have made a huge investment over decades in our biomedical infrastructure. We have fueled amazing research that has led us from not just observing manifestations of disease but now fully understanding genetic, molecular, and cellular mechanisms. We are capitalizing on that knowledge to attack this crisis, and use that knowledge to deal with it.

HANNITY: Chloroquine --

VON ESCHENBACH: And chloroquine is one of those things.

HANNITY: Yes, let me ask you both --

VON ESCHENBACH: And chloroquine is one of those opportunities.

HANNITY: All right, on a scale of one to 10, how hopeful --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: I got to run but how helpful or both of you on a scale of 1 to 10? Exit question, how hopeful are you that this is going to make a difference and work?

Ronny, first.

JACKSON: Sean, I'm at 10 and I don't know if it's going to be these drugs but something is going to come out of this. There's a lot of stuff out there right now.

HANNITY: OK.

JACKSON: And it may be something we haven't heard yet, but I'm a 10.

HANNITY: Andrew, I got to go. One to 10?

VON ESCHENBACH: It's same thing. It's a portfolio. There are vaccines, there are antibodies, there are cell therapies, there's a host of antivirals. Where attacking this problems at all fronts, we will conquer it.

HANNITY: Thank you both. You guys are amazing. Appreciate all the medical community.

Biden still taking cheap shots of President Trump over corona. Yes, he wouldn't allow a travel ban. His answer is who knows, it's incomprehensible. Dan, Geraldo, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: America in the grips of a national coronavirus emergency. Quid pro quo Joe came out of hiding today, spreading lies and propaganda. On a call today with reporters, he blamed Trump, saying he's behind the curve.

He's the guy against the travel ban.

For reaction, Dan Bongino, and Geraldo.

That one decision, Geraldo, that travel ban, to Andrew Cuomo's credit, he said, yes, bought us a lot of time. Is that the future? Is drive up testing the future? Is FDA approval the future -- quick approval? A public-private partnerships the future? Because we're rewriting the books, in my mind.

GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT-AT-LARGE: You know, Joe Biden and I were both born during World War II. You mentioned FDR a lot during this program. FDR was the commander in chief.

Can you imagine the commander in chief being treated by the political opposition or the press with such utter disrespect? I think it is absolutely appalling.

Let the enemy in World War III, this wretched coronavirus, be defeated and when the war is over there will be plenty of time to second-guess the president, how he performed under fire. But the president is subjecting himself to these hour and a half Wild West press conferences. You know, with gotcha.

Let the president come on the stage, set the stage, introduced the panels of scientists, leave, and let the scientists field the questions. Believe me, the questions directed at the scientists will be tinged with a lot less contempt than is directed right now with the president.

HANNITY: Dan?

DAN BONGINO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Sean, I'm going to show you in the next 20 seconds what a fraud Joe Biden is. So, Joe Biden said President Trump was behind the curve in his response, right? You just said it, we have the quote.

Joe Biden's plan to respond to this was plagiarized 100 percent from Donald Trump. Quick, Joe Biden says we should get private labs and testing. Trump already did it, waiving Obama era regulations to do so. Two, small business relief. Trump is already all over it. Small Business Administration belief is coming.

Joe Biden wants to waive co-pays. Sorry, Joe, you missed the ball. President Trump is already involved, he missed that one too, Joe.

And, finally, Joe Biden hilariously says, hey, we need to accelerate a vaccine. Did he hear Dr. Fauci the other day say this is the quickest they've ever moved on a vaccine under Trump?

Joe Biden is a fraud, he missed the ball on this one. He's playing dirty, cheap politics and he plagiarized Donald Trump's plan word for word.

HANNITY: And "American Spectator" has all the lies he's told in the process.

You guys are both amazing, stay safe.

More "Hannity" right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: We're living through a transformative and historic times. I will guarantee you, travel bans will be the future. I will guarantee you that lifting FDA regulations, that will be the future. I guarantee, drive up testing will be the future. I guarantee you, the books are being rewritten.

But we will overcome it. We've overcome a lot as a country. We are the land of the free, home of the brave.

Keep your family safe, we'll always tell you the truth. Let not your heart be troubled. Laura is next.

See you Monday.

Content and Programming Copyright 2020 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2020 ASC Services II Media, LLC. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.