This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto," April 23, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I don't know, Bill. I still think that's going to be weird.
Anyway, you are looking live at the House of Representatives right now. They are taking up a separate measure to get a Select Committee on the Coronavirus going.
After that is cleared and out of the way, on to that $485 billion stimulus measure that dramatically beefs up funding for the Paycheck Protection Program and hospitals health, care workers, et al.
But there are some things to get through first.
In the meantime, we are also focusing on some developments that have everything to do with the virus itself. Later on in the show some disappointment over a drug that had looked very promising, conflicting reports as to whether it measures up.
Then, all the new states that are now dealing with, well, slowly unwinding stay-at-home provisions. Busy show.
Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto, and this is "Your World."
And a world where at least six states are already talking about, by tomorrow, beginning the great unwind. We stress beginning, because it's not coming without some controversy, especially in a couple of states, and especially most in Georgia.
That state's lieutenant governor is coming up.
First Jonathan Serrie with what we're looking at right now -- Jonathan.
JONATHAN SERRIE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Neil.
Despite President Trump's concerns, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is moving forward with plans to reopen some nonessential businesses over the next few days.
His executive order allows bowling alleys, tattoo parlors, massage therapists and hair salons to resume service on Friday, followed by dine-in restaurants and movie theaters on Monday. Although Georgia has seen a flattening of the curve in new coronavirus cases, it has yet to meet White House guidelines for states to achieve 14 days of sustained declines before moving to the next phase of reopening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I told the governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, that I disagree strongly with his decision to open certain facilities which are in violation of the phase one guidelines.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERRIE: Shortly after last night's White House press briefing, Governor Kemp tweeted his appreciation of President Trump's -- quote -- "bold leadership."
But he went on to explain: "Our next measured step is driven by data and guided by state public health officials. We will continue with this approach to protect the lives and livelihoods of all Georgians."
And, Neil, Governor Kemp's executive order spells out in great detail safety protocols that these businesses need to follow. Just speaking about them in broad terms, they include social distancing on the premises and also more stringent cleaning and sanitation requirements -- Neil.
CAVUTO: All right, Jonathan, thank you very much.
So, let's get to read on what ultimately will happen in the Peach State.
Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan joins us right now.
Governor, thank you for taking the time.
Are you on board with the governor with this?
LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN (R-GA): Well, first of all, I think a great place to start is to thank President Trump for his strong leadership through this crisis.
I know that 11 million Georgians are in a better position because of the amount of federal resources that have flowed here, and also, from an economic recovery standpoint, the number of resources from stimulus and PPP, so, grateful for the president's leadership.
We're one of those fortunate states that we have seen the curve flatten here. We continue to see incredible metrics that show up that, on a daily basis, show us that the curve has flattened, and we continue to see stronger data.
A number of things give us those -- those data points. One of those, I think, is an important resource to look at is the available health care resources. Our hospital beds and hospital systems and the equipment necessary to combat this continue to show great strength all across our great state.
CAVUTO: All right, so you agree with what the governor is doing?
DUNCAN: Well, look, we're -- we're working hard, like every other state is, to try to understand what the new normal looks like.
And I think it's important to recognize the details matter in our approach here in Georgia. It alluded to in the report right before you came to me was the long list of rules and regulations that we're going to require just a few handful of businesses here starting tomorrow.
And then, once again, we will start again next week, but very, very small, incremental steps to start this process.
Neil, for me, I pitched myself as a businessman when I ran for this office. And so, two weeks ago, I started cold-calling businesses all over the state, big CEOs, small businesses, and getting their take on this, and trying to understand.
And what I realized was, no two businesses are going to get out of this the same and no two industries. But it's unbelievable to hear the innovation that's coming forward, because, if you think about this, from an economic standpoint, we have standard recessionary pressures, lack of liquidity, unemployment, access to capital.
But now we have a throttle on the consumer like we have never seen before because of the health crisis coming in and out.
So, I can assure you, here in Georgia, we're going to continue to take small, incremental steps forward to make sure the health and well-being of all 11 million Georgians are at the highest level.
CAVUTO: All right. I assume that just means, Governor, that you agree with what Governor Kemp wants to do.
As you know, the president was concerned that the governor was moving too fast, ultimately left it up to him, as he will do with other states and their governors in how -- how they move.
But it does come at a time -- you talk about the flattening curve that might be getting a little flatter than it was, but the fact of the matter is, you have 21,500 cases in your state, 872 deaths, and the arc is not quite complete.
So, I guess the question that comes up is, what's the rush?
DUNCAN: Well, I think we need to continue to take the small, incremental steps that we talked about, making sure that the details do matter in this, and making sure that we pay close attention.
Think about some of these small business owners. You know, an overwhelming majority of these small businesses are not going to be able to open their doors right away. It's going to take time to spool up. It's going to take time to go find those servers. It's going to take time to find the labor to be able to clean and sterilize and to be able to follow the 20-step process and the additional rules and regulations.
Look, this is -- this is a process for all of us, understanding the new normal.
A great, great conversation I had was with a gentleman by the name of Joe Rogers. And he's the CEO of Waffle House. And what Joe told me was, he said: "Geoff, just gave me the list of rules and regs. I don't care how hard it is. I promise you, we will be great at it, because our livelihoods depend on it."
And Joe wasn't talking about his livelihood. He was talking about the tens of thousands of people that work for him, the mom that's trying to put food on the table, the couple that's trying to pay a mortgage.
CAVUTO: No, no, you know, Governor, I understand all those pressures.
DUNCAN: Those are important opportunities.
CAVUTO: And you know them far better than I in your state.
But Dr. Anthony Fauci, who I'm sure you have put great trust in, as you do the president, when both of those guys are on the same page that the governor is moving too soon, and that this could potentially be a problem, do you share any of those concerns?
DUNCAN: Well, I think we're all going to continue to pay close attention to the data.
We will continue to look for any needs to make adjustments as we move forward. I know Governor Kemp continues to rely on a great relationship with the White House. And Vice President Pence has done an amazing job leading that Coronavirus Task Force.
CAVUTO: All right.
DUNCAN: Certainly, we're going to continue to look for opportunities to put Georgians in the best possible position to travel through this crisis.
And you know what? Our -- this too will pass, right? Everybody continues to say that, but I'm proud to be a Georgian. I'm proud to be an American, and we will get through this.
CAVUTO: All right, Governor, thank you very, very much, the lieutenant governor of the beautiful state of Georgia, Geoff Duncan.
CAVUTO: All right, in the meantime, some of the economic issues the lieutenant governor alluded to were alive and well and reminded today with a surge of 4.4 million Americans added to the jobless benefit line that is now at around 25 million.
That means essentially all the jobs that were gained from the financial meltdown onward have now been wiped out. So there does seem to be a growing concern here that people should get back to work, but how do you do that? How do you make that happen?
It's those economic pressures that are very much alive and well and seen in trading on Wall Street.
Jackie DeAngelis.
Hey, Jackie.
JACKIE DEANGELIS, FOX BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Neil.
These are staggering numbers, weekly jobless claims adding to the grim unemployment picture in the country right now; 4.4 million people filed for benefits in the week ended April 18. That was last Friday.
And provided, when you look at this, you see from March 15 to today, about 26.5 million Americans have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic. You think about the fact that 22.8 million were created in the past decade, and you get a sense of this dramatic loss here.
Now, UBS is saying, when all is said and done, that figure will be close to 50 million. The Department of Labor's latest report has the unemployment rate at 4.4 percent. It's up from that 50-year low.
It's hard to tell how high that rate is going to go because of the coronavirus and how long this goes on. Now, this didn't necessarily take the wind out of the markets' sales, although we were much higher before the close there.
The drop in weekly claims that we saw from the week before could be interpreted a little bit as a positive sign. But then there was this news from Gilead Sciences, The F.T. reporting that the drug that everyone was so excited about for treatment of the virus may not be as effective as previously thought or hope.
I will note, Neil, I have had this conversation with you before, and when we reported this last week, we did discuss the fact and the danger in being too hopeful about trial results. They're not conclusive, and, of course, they're a trial, and that's why you have to wait and see.
The company never commented on it. But the market wasn't happy about that today, Neil.
CAVUTO: All right, Jackie, thank you very, very much.
And to Jackie's point about trials, this could also be a move by people who short a stock, anticipating that it will go down, if they can force an issue, and then focus on in this case the fact that this was a study of patients in China, even though Gilead is a California concern.
So it's hard to know the subterfuge going on here and the intrigue. The fact of the matter was that that disappointed a lot of folks.
It does tell you that it's not so much a stimulus around the virus is going to move these markets. It's progress on the virus itself.
All right, when we come back, a look at, in the meantime, live on the House floor, where they're getting this measure done to vote on a select committee that's going to be in charge of the coronavirus.
But we're also getting ready to see how the business breakdown, that $484 billion measure, which, by and large, is supposed to beef up protection for the Paycheck Protection Program, gets the help it needs, and only to the people who need it, like small businesses.
Liz Cheney is watching that very, very closely. And she's going to make damn sure that money goes to that purpose, and only that purpose -- after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAVUTO: California Governor Newsom has just passed along some disturbing news out of the Golden State.
In the last 24 hours, apparently, it proved to be the deadliest day of the coronavirus outbreak, with 115 fatalities. I mention this. We were just looking at the House floor. There's no need to do that.
But the whole idea was that they're trying to address this with a Coronavirus Select Committee to look into this, in situations like California.
Then, a little bit later on, they're going to get into that $484 billion measure.
But the reason why I mentioned the California cases and these unexpected bumps along the way is, just when you look like the trend is your friend, you can have these unexpected bumps, something that Dr. Anthony Fauci has expressed and others have said about states that might be looking to sort of unwind some of these stay-at-home provisions.
California is a unique and different case, and was largely out of this, and dramatically improving, because it and states like Washington were in the front wave of all of this. But it does bear repeating that these numbers can change and suddenly surprise you, in this case, to the bad side.
We will keep an eye on that.
Also keeping an eye on this big vote that's coming up.
Again, two things you're watching right now on the House floor. The first is to get this select committee going that we will be dealing with the coronavirus.
The second later on, after that is settled, on the half-trillion dollar measure, roughly, to beef up support for small business that takes up the lion's share of that dough, separately, money for hospitals and health care workers.
But Congresswoman Liz Cheney very, very concerned we don't repeat some of the problems we had, where larger companies and those that weren't companies at all, like the Harvard endowment fund, and Shake Shack, which is not exactly a small concern, were able to get funds through this. She wants to avoid that and make sure that it's very, very clear, this is for small business folks.
The congresswoman joins me right now.
Good to see you.
REP. LIZ CHENEY (D-WY): Hey, Neil. Good to be with you. Thank you for having me.
CAVUTO: Are you convinced, Congresswoman, that this has been tightened a little bit, that we can avoid some of these companies that heretofore shouldn't have gotten this money, because they're a little too big, don't do it again?
CHENEY: Yes, look, I mean, we actually have now eight different oversight entities, if you include the standing committees, if you include the oversight entities that we approved in the last round in the CARES Act.
And we do have to make sure that the businesses and the entities, Harvard University, that shouldn't have this money don't -- don't get it. I think that's very important.
But I think that there is a really solid set of institutions and committees already in place to do that. This vote that's going on right now on the House floor is not that.
This is a ninth oversight body established by Speaker Pelosi very much focused on partisanship, focused on trying to find ways to attack the president, attack the administration, at a moment, Neil, when we need to be coming together as a nation, we need to be looking at the threat from China, we need to be defeating this virus, we need to be looking at ways we can safely get the economy open again.
This isn't a time when we should be playing partisan games. The Democrats blocked this money for small businesses now for -- ever since April 7, when we first asked for it. That kind of thing just has to stop.
So, I think you will see most Republicans, potentially all Republicans, voting against this Pelosi committee. And we need to get to -- down to the work of, let's get the country moving again. But we have to do it in a way that is safe, and we got to defeat the virus.
CAVUTO: You know, I was just mentioning, Congresswoman, we had this case a sudden and unexpected spike in deaths in California.
And the trend prior to this was actually quite favorable. And, sadly, I know that deaths are lagging indicator. Hospitalizations and all have been improving dramatically in that state and most other states, but not all states.
So, I'm wondering, given what you have seen going on in Georgia, and that it will partly reopen tomorrow, is the California situation a reminder that you have got to be really careful with this.
CHENEY: Yes, there's no question, Neil.
We need to listen to people like Dr. Fauci, people like Dr. Birx. We have got to make sure that -- this virus is absolutely deadly. And many of the things that we thought we knew about it in terms of who was safe, who couldn't be affected by it, just not true.
And so we can defeat it, we will defeat it. It's going to take increased testing. It's going to take increased work on things like therapeutics, things like vaccines. But we have got to make sure that we have got a focus on the safety piece of this as well.
I know people want the economy to get open again, but we can't ignore the fact that the virus is still out there. We have to be safe about it. We have to do it the right way, and we need to listen to the public health professionals.
CAVUTO: All right, but, nevertheless, a lot of people are getting nervous, with now five straight weeks of record unemployment claims. We're at more than 26 million Americans file for jobless benefits. It could go significantly higher.
Are you worried right now that, even when we are slowly getting back to work, that it's going to be a slow haul here, that it won't be a V-shaped recovery, that fewer people going back into restaurants and theaters, almost by edict, for distance reasons, that it inevitably will be a slower recovery?
CHENEY: I do think that that's the case, Neil.
I think that we have to be realistic about it. And I think also, though, we have to remember who's at fault. And the people who are at fault here are the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese government.
I mean, when you look at what they have done, what they have unleashed on the world, hundreds of thousands of deaths, the economy globally here in the United States completely shut down, they lied about this. They caused this virus to be exported.
And, by that, I mean that, at a time they knew they had human-to-human contact and human-to-human transmission in Wuhan, they stopped letting people from Wuhan travel to the rest of China, but they let them travel around the world.
So, they exported this virus to the world. They lied about it. They disappeared the physicians who tried to warn the world about it. And they have also threatened to blackmail us.
You have had Chinese state-owned media saying that they will stop the export of medicines that we need right now in the middle of the fight against COVID.
That cannot happen. And that needs to be a wakeup call for people all across this country. We cannot be vulnerable to the Chinese government like this. We cannot allow ourselves to be blackmailed.
We need to take very specific and clear action to move our supply chains out of China. We need to make sure that we are defended and protected. And the United States needs to lead the world and lead the free nations of the world in making clear that we will not let the Chinese Communist Party determine the kind of future we're all going to live in.
They will be held accountable. They must be held accountable. And the United States needs to lead that effort.
CAVUTO: Congresswoman Cheney, very good seeing you again. Thank you. Continued good health. Be safe.
CHENEY: Thank you, Neil. Good to be with you.
You too.
CAVUTO: Congresswoman Liz Cheney.
Same here.
By the way, you have probably heard that the mayor of Las Vegas wants to reopen her city, but she's had a devil of a time getting it done. She's furious. And now the chips have really hit the fan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, this is going to be interesting, how that NFL draft will go virtually, because that's how it's all going to go down, with cameras and setups all over the country, and all of it at people's individual places and homes.
So, how does that get done? And what kind of interest will there be as it kicks off tonight 8:00 p.m. Eastern time?
Grady Trimble in Chicago with more on that.
Hey, Grady.
GRADY TRIMBLE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil.
This was supposed to be the most grandiose draft in NFL history. The league even had plans for a floating red carpet in the water in front of the Bellagio. But the best-laid plans often go awry.
And now we're kind of getting the opposite. What we're seeing instead is NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's basement. That's where he will be announcing the picks from this evening. He gave a tour on Twitter -- you see it there -- of what he calls his man cave.
And the broadcast will include players in 58 different remote locations, their homes across the country. The decision-makers for each team will also be at home. They will be spread out, relying on technology. That's John Lynch, 49ers' general manager. That's his setup.
You see several computers, several phones. And because of that, a sports marketing exec I talked to says you can expect some technical difficulties, but fans, he hopes, will be able to look past that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the sad thing, and I think what's -- what's hurting this country right now is, they -- we don't have sports.
Hopefully, the draft, the NFL draft, will be the tipping point to start to bring our country back online and back to live activities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TRIMBLE: A lot of Americans craving live sports right now.
And because of that, many people are expecting this to be the most viewed and most bet-on draft of all time.
Here are some of the unusual things you can bet on for this draft: Who will be the number one overall pick? Who will that person hug first? Who will the number one -- whether the draft will get hacked, which is certainly a concern, and how many dogs will be shown, because it'll be taking place in people's houses.
And Disney says it's seen unprecedented demand for ads this year in the draft, which is interesting and possibly good news, Neil, because a lot of companies have stopped advertising because of the coronavirus, trying to save money.
So it all kicks off at 8:00 tonight. I will be watching.
CAVUTO: Yes, I didn't know about the betting possibilities there. Grady, thank you very, very much.
Well, you know, all of this was supposed to go down in Las Vegas, but, right now, Sin City is all but shut down.
And that doesn't suit Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, who joins me right now.
Mayor, good to have you.
CAROLYN GOODMAN, MAYOR OF LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: Hi, Neil.
CAVUTO: You want Las Vegas open, like, now.
GOODMAN: Yes.
CAVUTO: The governor has said, as you know, we will do this when we're ready, when the time is right.
GOODMAN: Right.
CAVUTO: Do you think the time is right, right now?
GOODMAN: You know, I really had hoped the time would be right, right from the beginning, would give us a chance to show you that we can do it.
But, of course, he's the most senior executive, and we do exactly what he has orchestrated us to do.
CAVUTO: All right.
So, let's say you had your wish to go ahead and reopen the city. What would you do to keep it safer? I mean, some of these states, for example, that are reopening, they're still honoring distancing rules and the like.
I don't know how you could do that in some of these casinos that get pretty crowded, but what would you advise?
GOODMAN: Well, what I was asking actually for was a plan from the governor, because we know, from everything Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx have talked about, that this is a recurring situation.
We're now seeing that, as you have just spoken about, in San Francisco. And we don't see an end to it. So, do we just wait and wait and wait and wait, until it's really too late, or is there a way we can start?
And the first thing would be those measures that were originally suggested, 50 percent capacity and then six-feet distance separation, or masking everybody in addition to that.
But my hope had been from day one, when the edict first came down, was, please, let's work and get a plan, so we know when we can at least get started back, bringing people back to our city, having people enjoy the restaurants.
And, of course, you know the draft was to be here, because you said so, with the floating red carpet. We were so excited about it. And, of course, our sports books are closed, except for what's going on online.
And it's an exciting night, but it's a challenge. It's the first of many nights that this may happen.
But the most important thing was, if you can't get started, but there's no timeline that Dr. Fauci has given us as time certain that we will be able to open. Meanwhile, the growing numbers of unemployed is just exponentially growing.
And that's the greatest fear. So, so many people don't have a roof over their heads.
CAVUTO: But you have also had, Mayor, a number of people sickened, and -- but -- I know. And many people have been sickened, and at least nine have died.
I guess the question I'm asking, is now the time to consider it, or should you wait until this arc improves a little bit?
GOODMAN: My hope would be soon.
But, again, the governor is in charge of this. And he's looking to his experts to advise him when it could happen.
I would love to see a starting line as soon as he can give that to us. I know our small businesses, our hotels, every part of our industry has been in planning, looking at ways, depending upon the restrictions, but to keep our people continuously safe and healthy.
CAVUTO: All right, Mayor, we will see what happens. Thank you very, very much again.
Again, Sin City, all to the mayor's point, shut down right now. The governor will ultimately make that shot and call those shots. And, right now, he has said that now is not the time, not quite ready.
We will follow this very, very closely.
Also following a comeback in oil prices today. Over the last two days, they have rebounded about 50 percent -- why the former energy secretary the United States says we're not quite out of the woods.
Rick Perry is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAVUTO: Hey, Ruth's Chris Steak House, give it back.
The Treasury has already told the steak house chain that got some of that small business money loan, look, hand it back. You're not a small business, this as it's trying to make sure it never happens again. But will it?
After this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK PERRY, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF ENERGY: Our capacity is full. The Saudis are flooding this market with cheap oil.
And I'm telling you, we're on the verge of a massive collapse of an industry that we have worked awfully hard over the course the last three or four years to build up to the number one oil- and gas-producing country in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: All right, when you think of that -- that was the former energy secretary of the United States saying nearly a month ago, we are on the verge of a major collapse.
Now, a lot of people sort of snipped and pooh-poohed what he was saying. Turns out that he was right by a factor of like 1,000, because oil prices later did collapse.
They have rebounded the last couple of days, but the price of oil right now is at levels we really could not have even fathomed, even after this upbeat sort of pricing, little more than, well, a few weeks ago.
The former Energy Secretary Rick Perry with us right now.
Secretary, you got this right. And you had feared the flooding and all of that. And then now we have the added coronavirus stifling economic activity around the world. What do you see for prices now?
PERRY: Well, I don't think you're going to see a lot of change in prices any time until demand goes up.
I mean, this is the classic catch-22, if you will. This isn't about the Russians being able to cut supply enough. It's not about the Saudis being able to (AUDIO GAP). It's not enough for Americans to shut in.
We have got to have demand up. That's the key. I mean, it's that simple too, Neil.
And I hope certainly these governors across the country understand. I get it. I was a governor once. I'm not saying I faced this, but we had Ebola. We had some pretty serious things with hurricanes and what have you.
And leadership requires making tough decisions. And I think getting this economy back, do it smart, do it wise -- I mean, I heard the mayor of Las Vegas. And I think she's correct, in the sense of, we have got to get people thinking about that the future is going to be OK, that, this summer, where are you going to go?
Let's start planning that trip to go. And, number one, low oil prices make for affordable energy costs. And that's obviously going to allow this economy to come back in a -- in a quicker period of time.
But we have got to get the demand up. You have got to get this economy back open. That's the real key here.
Now, there are some things that we can do around the edges, from the standpoint of, let's get completely out of the box from time to time and talk about, is American fossil fuels, is the energy industry in America so important that we need to make sure that it doesn't fail and doesn't come back?
Conservation Reserve Program (AUDIO GAP). I grew up on a farm. So, back in the '70s and the '80s, there was a Conservation Reserve Program in the agricultural side of things, where the government actually paid these farmers, they reimbursed these farmers a lot of their costs to keep this farmland in reserve to not overproduce.
Maybe...
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: Well, are you saying -- are you saying, then -- Secretary, are you saying -- are you saying that the government has to do more?
The president hinted, checked with his present energy secretary, look at ways we could help out.
I thought that was maybe get -- buy a little more of this oil from them, put it into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. I don't know how much room is left in that, but stuff like that.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: Does the industry need a bailout? Does it need a bailout?
PERRY: Listen, does the national security of America deserve the support of this country?
I would suggest, yes, sir. Whether it's the building of warplanes or whether it's supporting our soldiers, if you -- if you don't have an energy industry, Neil, to support the military complex out there, then you know who's going to -- you know who is going to control that.
And it may be countries that don't necessarily have our interests in mind. So...
CAVUTO: No, I understand where you're coming from, Governor. I understand where you're coming from.
But I have heard the same from airline industry CEOs, from hospitality CEOs, from hospital CEOs, all of whom can make a justifiable claim that they need money from Uncle Sam. But there's really no money there, right?
PERRY: I -- I don't disagree that all of those are very important.
But the point is, what's the most important natural resource in this country? I will suggest to you, as an individual who has served in this country, that if you don't have the fuel -- think about why we won World War II.
It was because we had a -- the natural resources to be able to deliver the fuel to be able to win the war. If you don't have that going forward, if we allow ourselves to get in a position of where the oil and gas industry fails, and we have to rely upon Russia and Saudi Arabia, and maybe a few other countries, that's not a good future.
So, let's have this conversation.
CAVUTO: All right.
PERRY: Should we be allowing all of this foreign oil to come into the United States, when our supply is overflowing right now, when our capacity...
CAVUTO: All right.
PERRY: Should we say to those countries out...
CAVUTO: Secretary, thank you very, very much. You raise a number of very good points. I hear you.
I'm being rudely -- when I interrupt you, but that hard break is coming.
But we will watch that, what you say about the oil industry, how much help it needs. That will probably be a pointed debate and maybe a subject in the health care task force briefing later on next hour.
Stay with us. You are watching "Your World."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAVUTO: You probably heard, for the fifth straight week, unemployment claims continued to rocket.
We're now at a total of about 26.5 million Americans who have filed for jobless benefits. It could get a lot worse than that.
It might explain a Gallup poll that shows one out of four American workers fear for their own job right now in this environment. That probably will come up in the task force briefing today.
John Roberts at the White House with more.
Hey, John.
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: There's no question, Neil, that the 4.4 million new unemployment insurance claims this week are going to come up at the White House coronavirus briefing.
Also expect questions on what a phase four stimulus package will look like. A lot of members of Congress are talking about what that should be. They want money for the states. The president, though, on the other hand, wants a huge infrastructure investment, tax relief for restaurants, entertainment and sports venues, and a payroll tax cut for employees. So there's going to be a lot friction over that.
Governors certainly are anxious to get their states open back up. A lot of debate, though, whether or not it's too soon. Yesterday, the president revealing that, while he was leaving enough to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who you see there on the screen, to do what he thinks is right in terms of getting Georgia back to work, the president believes and told Brian Kemp, it's a bad idea to do it right now.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They can wait a little bit longer, just a little bit, not much, because safety has to predominate. We have to have that.
So I told the governor, very simply, that I disagree with this decision, but he has to do what he thinks is right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: There will also be likely more questions at the coronavirus briefing about why the nation's top vaccine expert, Dr. Rick Bright, was suddenly demoted from his position as the head of BARDA -- that's the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority at HHS -- and sent over to a lesser position at the NIH.
Bright claims it was retaliation for opposing the widespread use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus. The president saying yesterday: I have never heard of the guy.
Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I never heard of him. You just mentioned a name. I never heard of him. When did this happen?
QUESTION: This happened today.
TRUMP: Well, I never heard of him.
If the guy says he was pushed out of a job, maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. You would have to hear the other side. I don't know who he is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: At the end of March, Dr. Bright tweeted out a story about he had - - how he had asked for and received emergency use authorization for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine from the FDA.
Sources familiar with it, though, tell me that that was a compromise between the administration's position, which wanted expanded access to chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine with limited physician oversight, and what Dr. Bright and his team wanted, which were tightly controlled clinical trials, randomized as well.
Dr. Bright, I'm also told, Neil, was very concerned about the quality of a lot of the hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine that was coming in from the Indian subcontinent, Pakistan and India, which is why he was opposed to what the White House was doing.
I am told that he was told to put in that application to the FDA. And now he's been moved out of there and over to the NIH,where he's going to be working on diagnostics -- Neil.
CAVUTO: Interesting.
John Roberts, thank you very, very much, my friend, John Roberts at the White House.
By the way, the House had recessed for a little while here. It has gone ahead and approved a resolution to start a Select Committee on the Coronavirus. You heard Liz Cheney here a little while ago saying, it's a waste of time and political theater.
But it is what it is. And in the Democratic-dominated House, it's a new committee now in charge of coronavirus.
Steny Hoyer on that and much more -- after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAVUTO: All right, as we were saying, we have the House majority leader, Steny Hoyer, with us right now.
The House has just approved a Select Committee on Coronavirus. It's going to take up a little later on tonight this $484 billion spending measure to help small business, the hospital system, health care workers, and the like.
Very good to have you, Congressman. Thank you for taking the time.
REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD): You bet, Neil. Thank you.
CAVUTO: What is this committee going to do?
HOYER: The oversight committee? We will do oversight.
That's what the Congress is responsible to do...
CAVUTO: Yes.
HOYER: ... and while we have an administrative committee that will be doing that as well.
Frankly, when the president of the United States says, I'm going to be the oversight, and he fires inspector generals to get his own people doing the oversight, that's not oversight. That's the administration overlooking itself.
And we believe that, properly, the Congress ought to have some oversight of this extraordinary amount of dollars that we have put on the table to make sure they're spent as they were intended to be spent, and that there are no waste, fraud, and abuse.
And, frankly, you and I both know, Neil, you put this much money on the table, there's some folks out there who don't need it or deserve it or wasn't intended to who are going to try to get a piece of that pie.
And we need to make sure that, to the extent we can, we ensure the effective expenditure of this money for the purposes for which it was passed.
CAVUTO: So, it's not a tool, as Republicans fear, to go after the president, maybe get committee investigations on what he knew and when, and what everyone did from the very beginning?
How -- could you allay them of their fears on that?
HOYER: We don't need -- we need a special committee to do that. We can do that through the regular committees.
What this was intended to do was to give enough focus and responsibility to a group of very talented people that I think the speaker and McCarthy will appoint, and Republican and Democrats participating.
But it'll be in a very focused way on coronavirus. There are a lot of other things that the other committees need to do. And this is a huge job, in and of itself.
So, the answer your question, this is not a partisan committee. If it finds wrongdoing, if it finds things are being done that we don't think should have been done, then, yes, I expect the Republicans and the president to claim that it was a partisan effort.
But you recall, in Benghazi, when we lost four people -- we have lost 44,000 people in the United States to this virus at this point in time -- they had eight different committees, all Republican-headed, and every one of them reached the same conclusion.
That was a partisan effort.
CAVUTO: All right.
So, let me switch gears, if you don't mind.
HOYER: Sure.
CAVUTO: You have already talked to your colleagues about changing their vacation plans. You missed a lot of weeks, as did most Americans, sheltered in their homes.
So, you have talked about having them look at, in future months here, about weeks that they think can work. Can you update me on that?
HOYER: Sure.
Neil, first of all, let me reject out of hand and emphatically that any members are on vacation. Very frankly, the speaker and I were -- excuse me -- Mr. McCarthy and I were talking, and he said he was on more phone calls, working harder than he worked when he was here in Washington.
I think that's accurate of every member. They're talking to their hospitals. They're talking to their local officials. They're talking to their governors. They're talking to their businesses. They're talking to their banks.
I mean, members are working round the clock to try to help their constituents and help us get back to work, but, if we can't get back to work, at least to prop up those and give some sustenance to those who have lost their jobs.
CAVUTO: All right.
HOYER: And, very frankly, people who are working at home, we encourage telework in the federal government. That's one of our policies.
CAVUTO: Yes.
HOYER: Those people don't think they're home not working.
CAVUTO: All right.
HOYER: They just think they're working through technology, not through being personally present in a particular place.
CAVUTO: No.
HOYER: So...
CAVUTO: All right.
HOYER: ... I want to reject that premise.
CAVUTO: No, I can attest to that.
HOYER: Yes.
CAVUTO: So, Steny Hoyer, understood. We will see what happens with their schedule now in the weeks and the months to come.
Thank you for taking the time. I know you have to get the voting and then ultimately onto this relief package.
It looks like it's a slam dunk there, before it gets to the president's desk and is signed off on, half-a-trillion dollars to help businesses, to help hospitals, to help health care workers.
It's a lot of money, but it hopefully will do the trick -- again, they hope.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, very close to a few hundred billion bucks more of small business loans coming small businesses' way, but nothing bigger than small business.
The latest indication of those who got the money who have to return the money, Ruth's Chris Steak House, told right now by the Treasury, repay what we gave you.
You might recall a Harvard endowment fund opted to give money back that a lot of folks say it really didn't need and shouldn't have been part of. You remember Shake Shack, when they got $10 million off the same program?
What they're trying to avoid are instances like that, where bigger players, some very, very big, are getting dough that really should go to the small guys. That's what they're trying to do. We will see.
Here comes "The Five."
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