This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto," May 8, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's going to come back blazing.
I think next year has a chance to be one of the best years economically we have ever had, because there's tremendous pent-up demand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: And the market seems to agree with the president of the United States.
Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto, and this is "Your World."
It was the worst jobs report we have seen since the Great Depression, yet one of the best stock market gains and weeks we have seen, well, in quite a few weeks.
The disconnect on a report that showed more than 20 million Americans lost their jobs, and the unemployment rate itself shot up to 14.7 percent.
The thinking at the Corner of Wall and Broad seems to be something like this: Well, it can't possibly get worse. So they are not looking at data through the rear-view mirror. They are looking hopefully at some data to come right in front of them.
So, that's the dilemma right now for these markets. And when it comes to how investors are going to play this, much depends on an economic revival that is going to start, now that half the states in this country have begun to reopen, albeit in phases, albeit very, very tentatively, in some cases, very cautiously, where it doesn't even look like they're opening up at all.
But they are. And that's the one thing that, for the economy, that Grady Trimble is following very, very closely, especially when it comes to this report -- Grady.
GRADY TRIMBLE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Neil nearly a decade of job gains erased in a single month.
This is the worst jobs report since the government started tracking this data in 1948. As you said, 20.5 million Americans lost their jobs in the month of April, the unemployment rate increasing by 10.3 percentage points from March to April, soaring to 14.7 percent the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression.
The leisure and hospitality industry, of course, hit the hardest. Employment in that sector fell by 47 percent, the vast majority of those cuts in bars and restaurants forced to close amid this pandemic.
To help that industry and others, top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow saying on FOX Business today, the president is weighing several ideas for the next round of rescue legislation, although he did note formal talks have paused.
Among the possibilities, a payroll tax cut, something we have heard the president talk about a lot lately, as well as infrastructure spending and tax incentives for tourism, travel and restaurants.
Kudlow also floated the idea of making the cost of safety improvements for businesses tax-deductible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KUDLOW, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: We're going to retool many cases, whether it's large factories or small restaurants. They're going to have to retool for COVID-19 safety.
And I think all that should be fully deductible immediately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TRIMBLE: Kudlow adding that the worst could still be to come.
If there's one positive we can glean from the worst jobs report in U.S. history, it's that 18.1 million Americans, or about 78 percent, say they're temporarily laid off and expect to get their jobs back.
And, of course, as we cover job losses, we're also covering the gradual reopening of America. Apple announcing that it'll reopen some retail locations in a handful of states, Idaho, South Carolina, Alabama, and Alaska.
Of course, there will be social distancing measures in place, as well as other guidelines, like temperature checks and mask requirements -- Neil.
CAVUTO: Grady, thank you very, very much, my friend, Grady in Chicago.
All right, so you have the White House and dealing right now with these economic numbers that still don't look too hot, but, again, that rear-view mirror look, and looking in present day what's going on, a second case of the virus a little close to home. I mean really close.
Kristin Fisher on all of that.
Hey, Kristin.
KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil.
Well, the White House's top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, calls this April jobs report heartbreaking and full of hardship. But President Trump is really quick to point out that this was not a surprise. We knew it was coming, even if this is the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression, and it's still a shock to the system.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) TRUMP: It's fully expected. There's no surprise. Everybody knows that. Somebody said, oh, look at this. Well, even the Democrats aren't blaming me for that.
But what I can do is, I will bring it back.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
FISHER: Well, President Trump told 19 Republican members of Congress at a White House meeting today that he's confident he can do that, but that he's in no rush to pass another monster economic relief package.
In fact, Kudlow said today that formal negotiations over a phase four stimulus package will not resume likely until late May, early June.
But Democratic leadership say that the country needs it now.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed the administration today for essentially pressing the pause button -- quote -- "Republicans who choose inaction in the face of these historic economic and health crises will be taking the same misguided path as Herbert Hoover."
Now, for the second day in a row, someone who works inside the West Wing has tested positive for the coronavirus. Yesterday, it was one of the president's valets. And, today, it was a senior member of the vice president's staff.
And President Trump essentially outed her at that meeting about an hour ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Wonderful young woman, Katie. She tested very good for a long period of time, and then all of a sudden, today, she tested positive.
She hasn't come into contact with me. She spent some time with the vice president. It's, I believe, the press person, right? It's a press person. So she tested positive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FISHER: Now, Katie Miller is the vice president's press secretary. She's also married to Stephen Miller, who is one of President Trump's senior advisers and speechwriters.
The vice president, of course, had a trip to Iowa today. That flight, Air Force Two, was delayed taking off because of this news. Staffers who had been in contact with her had to get off be tested, but all of them have tested positive -- excuse me -- have tested negative for the coronavirus, Neil.
CAVUTO: I'm curious, Kristin. Do they test the president and the vice president every day? Is that now standard procedure?
FISHER: Every day. That is now standard procedure.
It went into effect a few days ago. And the press secretary and the president said that they are now being tested every single day.
But you will notice, during that meeting with -- they were socially distanced, all those Republican members of Congress. They were sitting several feet apart, but you will notice that nobody in that meeting was wearing a mask, despite this news that two people in the West Wing have tested positive for the coronavirus.
CAVUTO: I did notice the White House photographer. That was it, right? The photographer was wearing a mask, but no one else was.
Kristin, thank you. Great report, as always.
FISHER: Yes, but you will notice...
CAVUTO: Yes, go ahead.
FISHER: I was just going to say that you will notice that today, during the briefing with the press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, that was the first time that we really saw every single member of the White House press corps that was in the Briefing Room wearing a mask today.
CAVUTO: Yes, but not Kayleigh, right? Kayleigh McEnany wasn't.
FISHER: True.
CAVUTO: Yes. All right, wild.
All right, thank you, Kristin, very, very much.
All right, I want to go to Mark Cuban on all these fast-moving developments, Internet sensation, getting very, very rich during those go- go days, the Mavericks owner.
You know, Mark, when you look at this, we weren't talking that long ago about the spate of economic numbers that would -- would come out when the economy is stopped and people are sheltered in place, businesses are sheltered in place. Things are going to tumble.
Well, they're tumbling. The president seems to be saying that this is -- this is as bad as it gets. Is this as bad as it gets?
MARK CUBAN, OWNER, DALLAS MAVERICKS: I don't know.
On one hand, he's right, because, just working from a law of small numbers, when things start to turn the corner, the increase percentages are going to be enormous. So, it's going to look really good from that perspective.
But what the actual economy is going to do and GDP and employment and gross sales in growth, in absolute numbers, I don't know.
CAVUTO: So, let me get your sense of Americans slowly trickling back to work, businesses getting back to trying to open up. We heard about Apple. We heard about Simon Property, the big mall developer, very, very big in South Carolina and Georgia, Atlanta's Lenox Square, what have you.
So, bit by bit, we're seeing this expand across the country, which would seem to indicate, in future numbers, they're going to be up from the basement levels. Do you agree with that?
CUBAN: It depends on consumers and how much they spend.
We can open up all we want, but if people don't spend money, they're just going to close right back down. So, again, it really depends.
This whole -- the resurgence -- any resurgence is going to come from consumer demand. That's the uncertainty right now.
CAVUTO: Yes.
CUBAN: Are people confident they're going to get their jobs back?
What was it? Eighteen million people thought these are just temporary layoffs. If they're confident that's the case, are they going to start spending money? That's what we don't know. If we have great consumer demand, things start to go back up. If we don't, things stay flat or could get worse.
CAVUTO: Yes, that's a good point.
I mean, one out of five Americans don't think they will be getting their jobs back. That number has deteriorated somewhat.
But let me get your sense of that, because even allowing for a comeback in the economy, just if you're going by distancing rules and spacing people out, not everyone is going to get back, at least not right away, whether they're -- it's a weak business or not, right?
CUBAN: Yes.
CAVUTO: I mean, those rules alone will limit how many return to work, won't they?
CUBAN: I hired a company to do a survey in Dallas and to go through over 1,000 companies once the city was able to open up.
Only 30 percent -- 36 percent of companies actually did open up. And so, as we go forward, we will survey them again to see what kind of business they're doing and what percentage more open up or what percent close because they didn't do enough business.
But with only 36 percent opening up, that's your indication right there.
CAVUTO: Do you look at the market at all, the way things are going right now, Mark? I mean, obviously, they have been climbing a lot. They're -- all the major averages are up 30 percent-plus from their lows, despite all of these numbers.
The Nasdaq's positive on the year, the Dow a little more than 5,000 points from its old highs. Is this getting too much, or is this about right?
CUBAN: I think it's too much, but I understand why.
I mean, look at Boeing. We thought Boeing was going to need a bailout. We thought other companies were going to need bailouts. But there's so much liquidity, it was easy for companies to raise money. And so that created one level of confidence.
Then just the rush of liquidity from the Fed created a second level of confidence, and then, third, globally, where else would you put your money? And that's just not American investors, but international investors. They're going to put their money here in our markets.
And so I think that's why the market is up. But, over time, the market is going to have to reflect what's actually happening. And you were -- what you said earlier is right. It looks forward.
But when we catch up, it'll be interesting to see what happens.
CAVUTO: I think it tends to follow whatever progress is made on the virus itself, Mark, not so much the stimulus, and there's certainly a lot of it, to deal with the virus. What do you think?
CUBAN: I -- I'm not quite sure.
I know that's kind of the talk every day: Well, we made this progress, or this vaccine is happening or there's this therapy.
CAVUTO: Right.
CUBAN: And -- but, still, even when you look forward, if you look at what businesses are actually doing, they're adjusting. They're changing. They're adapting. They're agile.
And so the way business is going to be done in 2021 is not the same as it was done in February of 2020. And I don't think that the market is taking that into consideration.
And then part two due to that, there's, again, just the uncertainty in terms of jobs and consumer demand. I mean, even if we start to have therapies and vaccines, does that -- does that mean everybody is going to start spending their money?
Sixty-six percent of our GDP is consumer demand. And I just don't see that all of a sudden just exploding. And I don't see people looking to go into debt to buy more things, like we have historically.
CAVUTO: Mark Cuban, thank you very much.
I noticed something about a shark tank behind you, brilliantly placed.
CUBAN: Yes.
CAVUTO: Is that some sort of a new aquarium, or...
CUBAN: I'm always -- I'm a sales guy.
CAVUTO: Yes.
CUBAN: I'm an entrepreneur. I'm always selling.
(LAUGHTER)
CUBAN: I would never come out and say, Friday night on ABC.
(CROSSTALK)
CUBAN: That wouldn't be the right thing to do.
CAVUTO: Oh, no, no, no, not -- not you, not you.
CUBAN: Never.
CAVUTO: Curses, Cuban! Foiled again.
(LAUGHTER)
CAVUTO: All right, Mark Cuban on all of that.
CUBAN: Thanks, Neil.
CAVUTO: It must be some aquarium, Andrew, right, or something like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, absolutely, yes.
CAVUTO: All right, thank you very much.
He does have a good sense of humor.
All right, I want you to take a look at what's going on in Ohio right now. You're looking live at Cleveland.
That state's governor has quickly emerged as a favorite in this country. He doesn't get a lot of the press some of the big state governors do, not that Ohio is anything that, but he has handled this brilliantly every step of the way.
And his cautious response to sort of unwind is getting international attention. Meet him next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The people want to come back. You see what's going on at statehouses all over the country. They want to come back.
I think some people don't want it really to come back, for political reasons, which is sick. But the people, the real people, the people that want this country to be great and great again, we can say, they want to get back.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CAVUTO: All right, well, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, he wants his economy to come back.
But in not one of his press conferences, not one exchange with reporters, not one back-and-forth with anyone does he ever point a finger at the other party, does he ever blame anyone, ever.
And yet he has emerged, in these very politically heated times, to become one of the nation's favorite governors in handling a crisis, not only because he was among the very first to say, you know what, we have got to do some sheltering here.
He was way ahead of that curve, way out of the distancing curve, way ahead of reminding businesses and individuals alike, we're going to have to be making some painful moves here that are in your personal health interests, even though they might not be in your economic interests.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine with us right now, as he begins slowly unwinding his beautiful state.
Governor, very good to have you back. How are you?
GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): Great to be back. I'm good.
It's a beautiful day in Cedarville, Ohio right now. So, it's good. Beautiful day.
CAVUTO: Beautiful.
How is the -- how is the unwinding process going? I mean, you have been very, very clear about doing this in stages, checking things along the way, seeing that you don't have any spikes or problems. How is that process going, Governor?
DEWINE: Well, we have laid out, I think, a good plan. It's a fairly aggressive plan.
Next Tuesday, we open up all retail. That -- a week from today, we open up restaurants to do -- they can serve out -- outside, outdoors. And then, a week from that, they can go inside.
What we did is we put a working group of businessmen, women in each sector. For example, in the restaurant area, we had people who run restaurants, big ones, small ones, little diners, and had them come up with the best practices, working with the local health people.
So, the interesting thing is, there really wasn't much dispute on these -- on these panels that we put together. The health people were pretty much in sync with the businesspeople and vice versa.
What we wanted to do is to come up with best practices, here's how you do it, so when you open your restaurant back up, people will have some confidence, if they go there, everything is being done to protect you.
Did the same -- did the same thing with all kinds of retail. We did the same thing with manufacturing. So, it's -- and, also, we will be able to get a haircut in about a week.
(LAUGHTER)
DEWINE: But, again, getting people who understand the best practices, something that actually works, because this economy will not come back -- and I think it was said on your show a minute ago -- it's not going to come back just because you lift orders.
It's going to come back because people start having confidence that they can, in fact, if they're careful, go out and do things and buy things. And that's really what it's -- what it's all about.
And we're trying to come back in a way and open things up in a way that people can have some confidence that it's been thought through and, if they go to a restaurant, certain norms are going to be practiced there.
CAVUTO: You know, every state encounter protests.
You, in trying to be cautious and protect people's health, you're hearing it from those who say, come on, Governor, speed it up, let's get this going.
How do you address them?
DEWINE: Well, I tell them we believe in the First Amendment.
And they -- some of them have taken after my health director. And I have been real plain, the buck stops with me. I make the decisions. And come protest me. Don't -- don't protest at the house of my health director. That's not really the thing to do.
You have every right to do it, but why don't you just come after the guy who makes the decisions?
But we have had -- Neil, we have had people who -- a lot of people I know think I'm going too slow. A lot of people think I'm going too fast. We're just trying to get this right in a way that we can -- we can come back, protect people.
And we also want to continue to warn people. If you're over 65, you're 70 years of age, if you have hypertension, if you have asthma, if you have different kinds of medical problems, you just need to be a lot more careful. And you just need to watch out, because the virus is just -- it's still here.
It's not going away. Just because it's somewhere and it looks great outside doesn't mean that virus is any more lethal than it has been in the past.
CAVUTO: Yes.
DEWINE: So, trying to do two things at once in Ohio, trying to move -- start the economy back up, but also try to keep people safe.
CAVUTO: Real quickly, Governor, I noticed you don't seem to be a fan of the mask thing, though, that it might be overdoing it? Did I get that right?
DEWINE: Well, actually, I am.
Well, actually, I am a fan. In fact, our -- it's interesting.
CAVUTO: OK.
DEWINE: Our working group came back and said -- what they said is that every employee should wear a mask.
So, all our -- all our orders are, if you work, whatever the business, in - - you wear a mask. Now, what we did is, we pulled back on the mask. What you're talking about, in the original order, we said...
CAVUTO: All right.
DEWINE: ... look, if you're going into a retail business, you need to wear a mask.
It was clear to me that that was just a bridge too far for people. They were -- didn't want the government...
CAVUTO: Got it.
DEWINE: ... the government telling them, you have got to do that.
And -- but we still encourage people to do that, because we're not through this.
CAVUTO: OK.
DEWINE: And the virus is out there. And this gives the added protection.
CAVUTO: All right, Governor, I'm glad I got that straight.
Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio.
We will have more right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAVUTO: All right, bit by bit, they are coming back.
Honda now the latest to say it will gradually, gradually resume production at its US and Canadian auto plants starting on May 11. This follows on the heels of big companies like Apple saying it's going to resume opening some stores, presumably in states that are reopening.
But this is getting to be a trend now, where more and more companies are looking at expanding and getting back to business, Ford and GM among them as well, in bits and starts here -- fits and starts, I should say.
So we're following that.
We're also following the reaction right now to the General Flynn case- dropped news from yesterday.
We're already hearing from the likes of Senator Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris of California right now saying that maybe it's time for Attorney General Bill Barr to resign.
Chris Swecker joins us now, the former FBI assistant director.
Chris, what they're saying is, he put his heavy hand on the scale of justice, and he's got to go. What do you think of that?
CHRIS SWECKER, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: No, I think this was a perfectly legitimate exercise of his prosecutive discretion as the attorney general of the United States, the highest law enforcement official in the land.
And I think he's probably trying to create a deterrent for this kind of conduct on the part of Jim Comey and Andy McCabe and Peter Strzok and all the players in the Comey inner circle that were actually running this investigation.
CAVUTO: Does he call the shots anyway on these kinds of matters, Chris?
I mean, if the investigative staff recommends this, could he obviously overstep them and say, all right, no, no, no, this would be too disruptive? Or where does his role come in anyway?
SWECKER: He could. He's a director -- he was the director of the FBI.
But he also answers to the attorney general. He has a direct report to the attorney general. The attorney general rates his performance, for example - - or the deputy attorney general does.
CAVUTO: Right.
SWECKER: So, he can be -- in this type of case, the investigation of a presidential appointee, he would have to confer with the Department of Justice. So, they could overrule him. Certainly, he can overrule the case agents.
But I would submit to you, Neil, this is -- I have never seen this in 24 years or 40 years in the business, 24 in the FBI. I have been a prosecutor. I have never seen the lead, or the director of the FBI actually step in and call shots, individual shots, in an investigation like this.
CAVUTO: No one seems to care about that.
They do care about whether Attorney General Barr himself intervened in this case personally, when it -- that does not look like it was the case. Maybe to your point regarding the former FBI director, he had to, but it looks like this was a pretty consensus recommendation.
SWECKER: Yes, he had -- he had another U.S. attorney from Missouri looking into the facts of this case. He's got a lot of information to work with.
I mean, there are issues of entrapment. There are issues of withholding exculpatory information from General Flynn. There's just fundamental fairness and due process that come into play.
So he has every right to step in and deter this kind of conduct. They may not ever be punished, because most -- they're all out of the FBI. They have -- they have left in disgrace, but they have left this trail behind them of all of this mess that's got to be cleaned up.
And I think A.G. Barr, it's not first time he's been A.G. He's got the judgment, the experience, the knowledge to then step in and do what's right.
CAVUTO: And for this entrapment feeling, now other legal experts have said, no, no, no, this is just standard procedure. I don't recall such procedure in the past. Do you?
SWECKER: No.
I mean, I reviewed all -- I headed the undercover review board for the FBI, where all the issues of entrapment come up. And there's two elements to it. You have to have a lack of predisposition -- predisposition and the government cannot generate the conduct.
In other words, the government -- the government induces the conduct, then it is entrapment. And I think there are very legitimate issues here. And, as a matter of law, it's really hard to show entrapment at a trial. Judges usually to make that ruling. Juries don't.
But in this case, I think there's a booming case of misconduct on the pretext interview, conducting this type of interview without a supporting investigation. This was a counterintelligence investigation. They were trying to hammer it into a criminal -- a criminal investigation, which it wasn't.
So, there are a lot of things wrong with this. And I think the A.G.'s action was absolutely warranted. I think it took a lot of courage.
CAVUTO: Chris Swecker, thank you very much, my friend. I do appreciate it very, very much.
We were speaking of the attorney general's actions today. Did the president of the United States just represent a big pivot here when it came to China and how he is handling China going forward?
Why some are looking at that and saying, it could be actually very encouraging development. We will explore it right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAVUTO: Every resident of California is going to get a mail-in ballot for the November election, every single one. That's over 20 million people.
Get ready. This could start to be a trend.
You're watching FOX News. More after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAVUTO: All right, a little treat for those in Little Rock, Arkansas, moments ago, Air Force planes flying over Little Rock's hospital to salute health care workers.
This has been a trend across the country, of course, with the Blue Angels and others honoring health care workers in big cities like New York and Philadelphia, obviously, in Trenton, over on the West Coast, Colorado and Los Angeles. This continued a trend for Little Rock to enjoy the same kind of thing, maybe not as many planes, but impressive just the same.
I'm sure this next fellow appreciated it, of course, Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton with us right now.
Senator, that was a nice treat for your -- for your state, huh?
SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): It sure was, Neil.
Our great doctors and nurses in Central Arkansas and all around the state are working so hard during these trying times to keep our people safe and deliver the health care they need.
So, we're grateful for it, just like Americans all across the country are grateful for what our armed services are doing to honor their service.
CAVUTO: Senator, how do you feel things are going right now with these investigations into China, what it knew and when?
The reason why I mention it, sir, is that I -- I sensed a slight pivot in the president's view of this situation. It could be in the greater context of the trade talks that might resume, but he did seem to dial things back in comments he made about China on this very issue earlier today.
I want you to react to this, the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's horrible, what's happened. It should have been stopped. It should have been stopped where it came from, which was China.
It could have been stopped easily and quickly. And, for some reason, they were unable to do it. I think they tried, but I -- it got away from them, I guess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: It got away from them, that maybe that wasn't deliberate.
What did you think of that?
COTTON: Well, Neil, where -- whatever the origins of this virus -- and, right now, I think the best circumstantial evidence points to those labs in Wuhan.
But whatever the origins of it, it's clear to me that, once China realized how deadly this virus could be to some people and how contagious this virus was, that they made the conscious decision to let it get outside of their borders.
They didn't stop international air travel. They pressured countries not to impose travel restrictions. They pressured the WHO to oppose travel restrictions as well, even when they knew, as far back as early December, that this virus was highly contagious and very deadly.
So, whatever the origins of this virus may ultimately be, even if it was an accident or a mistake, the Chinese Communist Party is culpable for turning what could have been a local public health challenge in Wuhan into the worst global pandemic in a century.
CAVUTO: So, when you hear what they have said about the virus -- and many suspect -- I believe you're in that camp that you just didn't trust what they were saying -- how can we trust any of the trade promises they made, and they will -- they will deliver on those?
You have your doubts? You have your worries?
COTTON: I don't think we can, Neil.
And I would invoke Ronald Reagan's maxim in dealing with the communist Soviet Union, trust, but verify. They made commitments in the phase one trade deal signed a few months ago. We need to carefully monitor those commitments.
And that's one reason why the president refused to lift tariffs as a part of that deal, or to promise not to impose new tariffs, because that was the main impetus for trying to -- coming to the table in the first place and beginning to stop some of its worst trade practices.
But I do not think we can take the words of the Chinese Communist Party, any more than we could have taken the words of the Soviet communists in the 1980s.
CAVUTO: Are you worried?
You know, obviously, we have gone into a lot more debt, Senator, trillions more debt, that will require issuance of bonds, Treasury notes and the sort of thing to pay for that, and that the Chinese will be the ones buying a lot of that.
It's -- it's weird, isn't it?
COTTON: Well, it is a little weird.
But, ultimately, the United States Treasury is the most creditworthy borrower in the whole world. And United States Treasuries trade very routinely all day long every day all around the world.
So, whether China buys that debt or not, I am confident that the United States Treasury will remain the most creditworthy borrower in the world.
We have gone into a lot more debt over the last six or seven weeks, I would point out, simply to make sure that our workers in our families and our businesses can survive the peak of this most terrible crisis.
Hopefully, that won't be the case going forward. We will begin to get people back to work, back into their normal routines, the economy will get back on its feet, and we can begin to get some -- back to something like normal sooner, rather than later.
CAVUTO: Senator Cotton, thank you very much.
Good health to you, your family, and your constituents. I appreciate it, sir.
COTTON: Thank you, Neil.
CAVUTO: All right, Senator Cotton.
All right, it wasn't that long ago that Queen Elizabeth addressed her nation the coronavirus to sort of buck them up and let her know that -- and let the whole country know, we are with you and we're going to support you.
She just addressed again, 75 years since the end of the big war, a big speech touching a lot of hearts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUEEN ELIZABETH II, UNITED KINGDOM: Whether it be the men and women called up to serve, families separated from each other, or people asked to take up new roles and skills to support the war effort, all had a part to play.
At the start, the outlook seemed bleak, the end distant, the outcome uncertain. But we kept faith that the cause was right. And this belief, as my father noted in his broadcast, carried us through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: She knew and knows much of what she speaks, Queen Elizabeth, who was playing such a central role 75 years ago, helping lead her country out of one of the most awful wars England and the world had seen, doing so again today to remind Brits how far they have come and how much they have learned, knee-deep in yet another crisis, a more biological one.
The read now from Benjamin Hall in London.
Hey, Benjamin.
BENJAMIN HALL, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi, Neil.
And it was a strange commemoration today. These streets were supposed to be teeming with hundreds of thousands of people commemorating the millions who died and celebrating that great victory.
But, because of coronavirus, the time we live in, this whole part of London was eerily quiet; 75 years ago saw one of the biggest parties the world has seen during, after one of the worst, biggest wars the world has seen.
Although the battle in the Pacific was still raging for a few more months, millions had celebrated across the U.S., as the U.K. Well, today, in a more muted way, that has been remembered and continued here.
Across the U.K., there have been remembrance ceremonies, all at the correct social distance, Prince Charles observing a two-minute silence in Scotland, laying a wreath on behalf of the queen. Boris Johnson doing the same in London, as well as in Parliament.
There were flybys across the country. And as the day went on, the mood turn from remembering the dead to celebrating the victory. Concerts and street parties, again, at the correct social distance, were allowed by police. And people, by the government, were encouraged to celebrate.
Victory in Europe came when the Nazis surrendered, after six long years of brutal war, one that cost millions of lives, including over a quarter-of-a- million U.S. soldiers.
And, in fact, it was the U.S. decision to enter the war that turned the tide. Today is about remembering the millions who lost their lives. It's about celebrating that victory against the Nazis. But it is also important, now more than ever, to remember how countries came together back then to defeat a common foe and how they came out of that and built a bigger, better, brighter future.
That has to be something that resonates today as well -- Neil.
CAVUTO: Benjamin, thank you very, very much, my friend, Benjamin Hall in London.
By the way, as Ben was speaking there, we're getting some news out of California from Governor Newsom that 70 percent of California's economy is now back open, he stresses, with modifications, that phase two is coming together, subsequent phases in future weeks, Newsom signing an executive order that will call for all Californians, if they wish, to vote by mail for the November election.
And a lot of them will, 20.6 million of them.
Stay with us.
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JOSEPH BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He irresponsibly downplayed and delayed action on the virus to protect the Dow Jones average, a choice that has so far cost tens of thousands of Americans' lives and millions of jobs.
And make no mistake, it doesn't matter how much the market rebounds. As long as there are millions of unemployed, struggling people to get by, we won't be anywhere near bouncing back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: All right, that did not take long for the former vice president to seize on today's jobless report and others to say that the economy is tanking, and this president is more concerned about that than anything else.
Karl Rove with us right now.
Karl, it isn't startling to see the opposition party leader here, assuming he's the nominee, go after this president in this weak economic time, but, if it is as short-lived as some hope -- I don't know if it's going to be a V-shaped recovery, but it's going to be a recovery -- it does remind folks that this whole presidential response to this virus is going to be the issue this year, isn't it?
KARL ROVE, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: It is.
And, look, Bill Safire, the famed New York Times columnist, once penned a speech in which he wrote the phrase for Vice President Spiro Agnew nattering nabobs of negativism.
(LAUGHTER)
ROVE: And the problem for Joe Biden in all of this is that this speech sounded like a nattering nabob of negativism.
Only, this one was leading with his chin. He didn't prepare. Donald Trump didn't prepare, he said, this from the guy whose administration did not refill -- refill the National Strategic Stockpile of N95 masks. He tried to suggest that the last three years were worse than the previous eight economically.
He tried to say that this president is focused on the stock market, when about every third word we hear from the president is jobs, jobs, jobs. He said he delayed action. Yet this is the same Democratic candidate who criticized President Trump's early decision to ban travel from China as xenophobic, racist and fearmongering.
And then he used the word corruption, which, if I was the father of Hunter Biden, Mr. Ukrainian energy expert and Mr. China private equity billionaire, I think I'd be a little bit concerned about using that word.
Now today the campaign is attacking the PPP program. The Biden campaign is attacking the very popular and apparently very successful PPP program as a giveaway to big businesses, when the vast majority of its funds and a huge majority of its loans have gone in sums of $150,000 or less to small businesspeople.
Other than that, a great spot.
CAVUTO: All right, I'm going to put you down as a -- well, I'm going to put you down as a maybe on Joe Biden.
(LAUGHTER)
CAVUTO: So, let me, Karl, get your take on the distinction he drew with the stock market.
I found that interesting, maybe because I follow the market so closely, but they're the ones tearing back, even if the economy is not. And I'm wondering, that distance between the two -- and we all know why -- the markets are looking forward and hoping that things turn around, and these numbers are rear-view mirror numbers.
But if the economy then begins to catch up, as you would assume it does in fits and starts, as more states open up, even that argument is going to be a tough one, right?
ROVE: Yes. Yes.
Look, the thing -- the intangible that we don't know -- and Biden's stuck on one side of this and trying to take advantage of it -- is, look, the economy tanked because of a virus. And I'm not certain that people are going to hold the president responsible for the economy tanking.
But they aren't going to judge, how well is he doing it helping the recovery -- the economy recover? And so Biden's trying to be -- basically set himself up so that he can criticize a slow-growing economy and say, I would have done better.
I think the problem with that is twofold. One is, we all don't know how the economy is going to do. And the faster it recovers, the more difficult it is to make that argument. And, second of all, back to a point that I made earlier, he's essentially saying, trust me, the eight years that we had under Obama-Biden were better than the three years that you have had under Trump.
And I'm not certain that a lot of Americans believe that. We have seen it in the polling data, where the president has a clear lead on who is the person better able to bring the economy back. So, I understand why he's trying to do it.
I thought -- I think, if I were on his team, I would -- I would be encouraging him to be thinking a little bit more artfully about how to do it, and not to lead with the chin, as they did with all of these things built into the president's -- to the vice president speech and built into this advertising.
CAVUTO: But do you worry that maybe a lot of folks are living in the here and now?
Now, I don't know. I mean, here and now, and that could change. This is the worst of it, some of these numbers that were fully telegraphed, and people were prepared for this, maybe moving past this. But if it's a slow recovery, and people are concerned or, God forbid, there are a spike in cases -- so many variables, to your point, that we don't know.
But at what point in the year does that become the snapshot of which people vote? It isn't necessarily in November, because, by that definition, we knew with George Bush Sr. the economy was already coming, technically, out of that recession, but it wasn't felt that way.
So your thoughts on that?
ROVE: Well, typically, it would start to -- opinions about the economy would tend to start to gel among the independents.
I mean, look, the partisans make up their minds early. But the people who settle the election, the independents or swing voters, they tend to make them up, their minds up, about those things late. But it would typically be August or September.
This year, who knows? It may be that people are sort of up in the air, as they were, frankly, in 1980. You may remember, Jimmy Carter, despite all the economic difficulties in the country, led until shortly after the first and only debate. Carter only agreed to one debate.
CAVUTO: That's right. That's right.
ROVE: People had questions about -- about Ronald Reagan.
And they -- and after that debate, they sort of concluded he's up to the job and had an optimistic and upbeat view of America's future. We may see a late decision on this one, colored by the views on the economy, as well as people sort of saying, I got to make a decision.
CAVUTO: OK, Karl Rove, thank you, my friend. Good health, to your family, all your friends there.
Appreciate it, Karl Rove, bestselling author, of course, key aide to President George W. Bush.
All right, we're following, speaking of Texas, Dallas, Texas right now, the salon owner reaction. She's become a rock star. A lot of people say, run for office or something.
Anyway, we're back there -- after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): I wanted to make sure that, across the board, when it came to all of these executive orders, whether it be the state or the local county executive orders, in response to this pandemic, that business owners should not be put behind bars because of the lack of compliance.
There are other compliance measures that can be used, but jail time is the wrong solution for this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: So, you can cut your hair now in Texas, which is about the closest state to me where I can get my hair cut. So, I will look at that option here.
(LAUGHTER)
CAVUTO: By the way, we are going to have Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves joining us tomorrow -- I don't know if they have haircut and barbershops open there -- also Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw.
"Cavuto Live" tomorrow, Saturday, we will see you then.
Here comes "The Five."
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