Gutfeld on the media's prison of two ideas

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Gutfeld on the media's prison of two ideas

Amid the coronavirus crisis, the media believe you either shut down the economy indefinitely or you want people to die.

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," March 25, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: We're going to get jobless claims (ph) the first probably a real short economic reflection that this has had an impact, up to four 4 million Americans who could announce they're applying for jobless benefits. Here is The Five.

DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Dana Perino, along with Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Juan Williams, and Katie Pavlich. It is 5:00 in New York City, and this is The Five. Breaking news out of Washington, at any moment, there will be a White House Coronavirus task force briefing. Those have been very hopeful to getting all of us information.

And we will take you there live as soon as it happens. But meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Mitchell McConnell and Chuck Schumer say there is a deal in place to vote on a $2 trillion economic stimulus package. But it looks like there are still issues to iron out. Some Republican lawmakers are warning the bill has a serious error that will encourage employers to actually lay people off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We cannot encourage people to make more money in unemployment than they do in employment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On unemployment, you would be making $24.07 an hour in South Carolina. There are a lot of jobs in South Carolina that did not pay $24.07. This bill pays you more not to work then if you were working.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: So those senators say they are working on an amendment to fix that issue. And Bernie Sanders, remember him? He's tweeting this. Unless Republican senators drop their objections to the Coronavirus legislation, I am prepared to put a hold on this bill until stronger conditions are imposed on the $500 billion corporate welfare fund.

Now, after negotiations got delayed over Democrat's so-called wish list, some of their demands have still made it into the bill, including $25 million for the Kennedy Center, Democrats also insisting on a provision that would prevent President Trump's businesses from receiving any government assistance money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Democrats did secure a provision to block Trump's family businesses from receiving loan money under the program. And that is something that I've been discussing and I'm very concerned about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have written a very strong provision, not just for Trump, but certainly for him. But for any powerful official, a cabinet, senator, or Congressman, if they own a business or their family owns a business, they should not get these loans. The people in office should not write legislation that benefits them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: All right. Katie, I wanted to go to your first because there is lot here, right? First of all, let's just put President Trump aside. But if there is a company that is actually connected somehow to members of Congress, are those workers that work for them any less important than other people across the country? This bill is big. It is fast. And it's actually going to be pretty controversial.

KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEWS HOST: Yeah, Dana. To answer your question, this narrative that President Trump was somehow pushing this aid bill because he wanted to personally benefit from it as if there are not hundreds of workers who work at Trump properties all across the country who are also suffering. Now, the president agreed to not have any of this bill touch any of his properties.

But if we are going to go through every single member of Congress who may have some kind of business tie to a corporation, there are going to be a lot of people who don't qualify for this who are working for companies that are tied to those lawmakers. Now, to the question of this massive error that's written in the bill, the Senate bill, the Senate version that Lindsey Graham and Ben Sasse senators warned about today.

This is what happens when we have a $2 trillion, 1400-page piece of legislation that is written in haste, understandably, because we are in an emergency. But there will be unintended consequences of what is being pushed forward here. And maybe some thing's that aren't being completely thought through, and again, understandably, because we are trying to get this pushed forward so people can get some help.

But then again, you go back to the timeline of when this all started on Sunday. This could have been done on the Senate side. And Nancy Pelosi has now wasted about four days grappling over trying to get this far left wish list into the bill. A lot of it was taken out. The stuff about elections was taken out, thankfully.

The greenhouse gas emissions with the airlines was taken out and other things. But now, we are on day five tomorrow. And she still hasn't decided when they're going to take it out for a vote in the House. And now, we're seeing these hold-ups in the Senate. So this was a done deal earlier in the week. They've caught some errors.

And yes, there will be unintended consequences for things that have not been completely thought through in terms of the numbers here.

PERINO: Juan, this will be the biggest bill of this type. I'm just wondering if you have a historical perspective about -- members Congress, you know, finally coming together, but, you know, being frustrated with each other on the backend because it's not going to be perfect.

JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS HOST: No. And I think you're making a really important point that there are going to be critics out there -- I mean, gosh, how many critics, you know, there were critics about TARP back in 08, 09, where people said why are we bailing out, you know, Wall Street? Why not Main Street? And then on the other side, there are people who said we did not do enough to save some of the larger corporations that could've sped up the speed of the recovery.

Remember, a lot of people saying, gee, this recovery is taking a very long time. And then you had people on the left saying, well, if we put more money in, if we had done that sufficient spending, it could have been faster. And I think that is why -- to pick up on Katie's point. It really does not matter to me if this bill is signed today or tomorrow.

What matters is that we get it as right as we possibly can. Now, I have a different perspective. Katie is saying, hey, you know what? You don't want to -- and remember these senators. You don't want to discourage people from working. And I think that is absolutely on target. It's just that to my mind, there is a bigger issue, which is American families.

I just want to make sure that given what is going on, that the American family of the working class, and I say that I mean middle-class, working- class, poor people, that they are able to survive. When you think about it, the $1200 payment to families, these people are going to be facing rent on April 1st. And you've got to pay for utilities. And you have got all sorts of things to pay for.

I don't know that that is enough to really sustain people, especially if we're going it over several months. I just want to make sure that, you know, given the $500 billion is going to these huge corporations, that there is accountability, transparency. I want that. But I want families protected.

PERINO: I think that that's -- a lot of that's in the bill. Greg, I do want to get your take on that, because Bernie Sanders saying that he's going to hold this up because corporations might actually get some benefit here in order to keep people employed. Like, who does he think is paying these people in the first place?

GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS HOST: In order for people to keep that thought on their head, they have to pretend that corporations are run by some kind of inanimate object. Corporations are made up of people. The peoples have families. Families consist of children. People need the money so they can continue to living, and of course, pay their rent. I disagree.

You don't have to get this bill to be perfect. We don't have the luxury of perfection right now. We have to get something through that will help people. And, you know, when you see people in disasters who take advantage of those earthquakes or floods, they are called looters. And if fiends who are sneaking stuff into this relief package are trying to slow it down, they are looters too.

Because they are hurting a relief package that is there for millions and millions of people. And government is not helping by wasting our time. I mean, what do these people do for a living? We have -- for the past two weeks we have sacrificed our freedoms so we can beat this virus. And they can't even stop acting like politicians with a metaphorical gun to their heads, i.e., a virus in an emergency situation. They can't even change their goddamn behavior. It is absolutely disgusting.

PERINO: And Jesse, I got to say. If I were the Kennedy Center at this point, I would say we don't want the money, because it is going to become the symbol of that bridge to nowhere we were talking about last night. It is still in the bill.

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: There is money in here for congressional salaries, Dana. There is money in here for NPR, millions. There is money in here for illegal aliens, open border, Green New Deal, all sorts of social justice regulations, it's crazy. On the other hand, you have a $500 trillion boatload of dough going to god knows who in corporate America with no strings attached.

Here's a string. If we're going to give you $500 trillion, maybe build some plants in America instead of China. Is that so hard? I'm a TV guy. I mean, these are professional politicians. And they are coming out at the last second like they have nothing to do with the legislation. It's like a restaurant owner complaining what is on the menu. Dude, you can change the menu.

What is Bernie Sanders doing? It is 3:30. Can you wait until the market closes, Bernie? Like, where have you been all weekend? You could have changed this with Chuck and with Mitchell McConnell. These things are really bad. And to Juan's point, $1200 is the median rent payment in America. So half of the country is going to take all the Trump bucks, pay the rent, and have nothing left.

So it has to be more focused on hospitals and small business and average American families. Because if you give $500 trillion to big corporations, you're going to just see corporate raiders go on buying sprees to start snapping up all these little small and midsize companies. It's going to change everything. But to Greg's final point, these people aren't very smart.

It's going to be an ugly mess, but it is our ugly mess. It's all we have got, and it's going to juice the market big time. And if it hurts --

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: Trump is going to pay a big price.

GUTFELD: Dana --

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: Excuse me, sorry. I just want to apologize for swearing in the -- a few minutes ago. I lost my cool.

WATTERS: I didn't even hear it.

PERINO: You know what --

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: I took your name in vain, Jesse.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: -- commercial break. All right, we have a lot going on. Everyone is very stressed, but we are going to keep going here. We are still awaiting that White House task force meeting. That's going to happen pretty soon. We will take it to you. But up next, Greg, on what some of the media are saying about President Trump wanting to reopen the economy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: The media's favorite way to report a story is from their prism of two ideas, where they are lifers. And that two ideas sell you are either pro-immigration or a xenophobic bigot. You either love this planet or embrace evil big oil. You're either for peace or you want war. Their latest, you either shut down the economy indefinitely, or you want people to die.

That preposterous filter makes it easy for them to slam the other side. It absolves them of nuance, intelligence, and thoughtfulness, which are completely missing here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a fan of money first, mortality second. The greatest generation, they're going to be sacrificed, for what? Fear that Trump's efforts to be president will be hurt?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is going too fast, causing confusion, and quite possibly, endangering lives in the process.

NANCY PELOSI, HOUSE SPEAKER: Stay in, and for the president to make light of that as if it's like, so what, some people will die, but the economy will grow, no.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president who is eager to try to get the economy back on track, because he sees it as what (ph) to his chances of being re- elected.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president is putting human life at risk. It is literally immoral.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Literally. Who is she? Now, do they really believe Trump is putting the economy before human life? No, it is just a game these idiots play to keep busy. Fact is, solutions to problems aren't either/or, but this and that. The solution here will be flexible and ever-changing, depending on the risks as we identify them.

So it may be that we return to work in phases, young and healthy first, perhaps depending on region and type of business. There are lots of factors and also reasons for guarded optimism. It is why Fauci and Trump work well together. Fauci is the cautious. Trump is the generator of hope, understanding that people create deadlines even if those deadlines change.

The press forgets that when it's bad cop-good cop, both cops want the same outcome. What would the media prefer Trump to say? It doesn't matter at all since they are often wrong. But a smart person can stand back and see the whole field. The media just stares at one patch of the ground and screams at the ants. You know, Dana, I think that, like, Trump understands that people need a measure of certainty.

And the certainty comes in a date, even though the date is going to change. The idea that you can see light at the end of the tunnel is a way that you could be optimistic and get through the next week or two weeks. People -- smart people understand this.

PERINO: Yeah, so permission to make an analogy?

GUTFELD: What?

PERINO: OK, so I have -- permission granted?

GUTFELD: Oh, I didn't hear you.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: Sean had doing his hands in my ear. Sorry.

PERINO: Sean. OK, so my analogy is this, if you have ever worked out with a trainer --

GUTFELD: Yes.

PERINO: Let's say they tell you you're going to do 15 squats, three sets of 15, and you finish that. And then they say all right, one more set of 15, right?

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: You -- but you know what? You do it because it is good for you.

GUTFELD: Yes.

PERINO: And you get through it. And so I sort of think about this, like, can I make it to Easter? Can I make it to Easter? Yes, I can make it to Easter. Now, if at that point they say, you know what? We got to do one more week.

GUTFELD: Yeah.

PERINO: OK. I can do one more week. It is good for me. And I think that -- to your point, this will be done thoughtfully. There is nothing rash going on, except for maybe throwing $25 million to the Kennedy Center.

GUTFELD: Yes. Juan, is it fair to say that, like, the president take -- would choose an economy over the death of its citizens?

WILLIAMS: Well, I hope not. I mean, I just don't think that what we should be saying about President Trump or anybody. I mean, we have got to understand it. But to my mind, you know, this is what I was trying to say yesterday. I think there is a disconnect even if you try to look at the president as an optimistic cheerleader for all of us.

There is a disconnect between what he is saying and what we are hearing from the scientists and from the doctors, including Dr. Fauci, with regard to one week of realistically expect to lift this. Because if we rush this, Greg, and say let's get back to work by Easter, then we could incur a second wave of this kind of Coronavirus outbreak and get that, you know, the famous curb could, you know, spike again.

And we don't want that, because that is not good for the economy. And it's certainly not good for people who are at high risk. You know, grandma and granddad, even me.

GUTFELD: Yes.

WILLIAMS: So we want to keep me alive.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: I want to --

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: -- just the president. Thank you. Thank you. But I just think that, you know, to say -- to blame the president, I think it's to say, Mr. President, please pay attention. There is nobody in our society that we should be writing off. But we -- even if you are just thinking about the economy, keep in mind what the doctors and scientists are saying.

We need to be able to rely on you as a trustworthy source. And right now, people are not so much interested in the kind of cheerleading, as they want to know exactly what we are up against. But what we are being required to do that will help.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: But Jesse, it seems that the public do trust President Trump on this. And the optimism is valuable when it is paired to, say, the sober analysis of the expert, Fauci. That is why they are together, the good cop- bad cop.

WATTERS: I know Juan hates polls, but the polls say the public trusts Trump over the media. Don't mean to rub it in. That's just a fact, Juan. Someone just sent me a great line. Are you guys ready for this?

GUTFELD: Yes.

WATTERS: If you tell people that if you have to stay inside for seven days straight in order to save the 2020 football season, the entire south would be locked in their room right now. Do it for football. Do it for football, all right? So that is how you have got it across the people. And I agree with Greg. It is a false dichotomy.

You're not saying let's open up business in order to pay Wall Street bonuses. That's not what you are doing. You are not trying to say let's kill grandma so Wall Street fat cats could get rich. That's now what they're saying. They're saying we're going to look at the science, the data, and the models, not the models that Juan likes, the models with the graphs.

And that's going to determine if Easter is the right date or if we have to extend another week like Dana's trainer mixer. That doesn't mean you are killing people so we get a higher GDP. That just means you are working smart. You're working safely, because a lot of Americans, outside of New York, feel like I'll take my chance with the Coronavirus.

But I'm not going to take my chance with a great depression, you know? And a lot of people that get Coronavirus don't die. That is not saying it's not a threat. That's not saying it's not a risk. But people see risks in other measures. And that is what you are trying to balance.

GUTFELD: Katie, last word. What do you think?

PAVLICH: Right.

WILLIAMS: Hey, Greg, before you go --

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: Wait. Let me just get Katie in, Juan.

WILLIAMS: Oh, go right ahead, Katie.

PAVLICH: -- prediction on the media narrative here. So when he does start opening up the economy incrementally, he's not just going to open up everything right away. They're going to complain about the border to Mexico not being opened up fast enough, for example. They're going to that the Chinese should be able to fly back and forth and that the Europeans should also be able to fly back and forth if he doesn't open up those things fast enough.

But the stimulus bill that they were trying to get done in D.C., right now as we speak, will buy them time so that the medical experts have more time to convince the public and to ask them, as they have been doing, to follow the guidelines so we can get out of this thing. And then President Trump will be able to make some economic moves.

There are places in the country that will not -- you know -- there will be longer implications for this, like New York, like California, but the idea that Democrats don't like this and the media don't like it either, because President Trump is speaking to the workers that they are supposed to be in charge of that they are supposed to be in control of politically.

President Trump has always spoken to the workers. He's always had a populist message. And that is the same today, and that's why they are having a visceral reaction to this, and that's exactly who he is talking to.

GUTFELD: All right.

WILLIAMS: Well, can I say I hope that he is looking out for workers and their families. But I just wanted to make a quick point about --

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: -- and even about the Green New Deal that you guys keep harping on. You know, there are a lot of people going back to the 08, where you saw people say we got to save America's arts and cultures because there are millions of jobs related to arts and culture, like sports. And there are millions of jobs in renewable energy.

WATTERS: Juan, there's a lot more jobs in restaurants, in hospitality, than at the Kennedy Center.

WILLIAMS: I -- there are jobs there, too. But I'm saying --

WATTERS: But $25 million for the Kennedy Center?

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: All right. You know what? I see Juan's point. But I -- for one, I'm not going to miss performance art, OK? If that doesn't come back, I will live. All right, the White House Coronavirus task force briefing set to start at any moment, next up on The Five. You want me to read this? DOJ' warning that people who try spreading the virus on purpose could face terrorism charges.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: White House Coronavirus task force getting ready to hold a briefing soon. And we will take you there once it starts. But now, more dumb behavior from young people during this pandemic. Kentucky's governor is ripping 20-somethings who actually went to a Coronavirus party. One person ended up testing positive afterwards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a positive case today from someone who attended a Coronavirus party. Anyone who goes to something like this may think that they are indestructible. But it is someone else's loved one that they are going to hurt. And don't be so callous as to intentionally go to something and expose yourself to something that can kill other people. We ought to be much better than that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: And the Justice Department is warning people who try to spread the virus on purpose could be facing terrorism charges. And there are already some examples. A Missouri man was charged after he licked items at his local Walmart to mock virus fears. And a New Jersey a man who coughed on a grocery store employee is set to face terroristic threat charges. Gutfeld, go into the mind of these sick puppies and tell us why would anybody cough at a grocery store or anything like that now.

GUTFELD: If you get into their mind, there's a lot of space to relax, believe me. You know, in every crisis, there are people who do good, people who do bad and just plain jackasses, and the majority of Americans have to do the right thing in order to make up for the idiots.

But I still maintain that these idiots are still not as bad as our politicians, or misinformed media, or the bureaucrats whose red tape are killing people. Here's just a terrible thing. If you have symptoms of the coronavirus and you go to your doctor, he's not going to give you any drugs until you take the test because you have to take the test first and then you got to wait five days in which you can get sicker, you could spread the virus, or you can die.

Instead, if we just pushed all the red tape out of the way and let the doctors doctor, the moment you go in and you got that dry cough, they can give you that drug because right now, those doctors are giving that drug to their patients off-label, and they've got it for their families, and we don't know how to get it because we have to take the test and we have to wait five days. So the bureaucracy, the politicians, the red tape, 10 times worse than these idiots that do this for the TikTok.

WATTERS: Just lock them all up then right, Gutfeld?

GUTFELD: Yes, that too.

WATTERS: That's right. So now Katie, they're threatening to slap people with terrorism charges if they do some of these wacky stunts in public. Maybe it just takes one charge on one person and make everybody else freeze.

PAVLICH: Yes. I mean, there are usually consequences for things like this. And it seems like law enforcement is trying to let those people know that there will be consequences for their actions. I think that dictionary.com added the word covidiots in reference to those who are going to Coronavirus parties and I think that's right next to Darwinism in the dictionary.

These people are examples of how not to behave during a crisis like this. They clearly just want attention. There are a number of other things you can do, especially in the digital age, to get attention that do not involve putting other people in harm's way, making people feel scared. And so you know, these people will suffer consequences whether it's getting coronavirus or whether it's going to jail for a couple of days, even though they're letting prisoners out so their chances of doing that are pretty low.

WATTERS: That's right. Juan, like I said, to save football seasons, stay inside, right?

WILLIAMS: Anything, Jesse, anything. We'll do anything we can. I'm already feeling like my NBA season is not coming back.

WATTERS: That's true.

WILLIAMS: But I will say, I think that this is beyond stupid, it's beyond idiotic or what did Katie say, covidiot or the new word that they got there.

WATTERS: Don't be a covidiot.

PAVLICH: Covidiot.

WILLIAMS: Covidiot -- there we go. I think this is criminal. I think this is criminal. This -- what this reminds me of is the kind of laws they put in to punish people who had like intentionally spread AIDS. That if you go about this without, you know, in terms of interacting with people without telling them, I have AIDS and you do this, even if it wasn't intentional about, you know, spreading it, it's a criminal act.

And for people to spit on food, lick food, or caught in someone's face because they're angry at them in the checkout aisle, to me, that's beyond stupidity. You are complicit in a criminal act and you should be punished.

WATTERS: Bioterrorism, maybe. That's what we could charge them with. All right, Dana, these kids, I guess, that went to this coronavirus party, this is after all over the news we talked about the spring break scandal. So not only did they not listen to that, now they're going a week later to coronavirus parties. These people are -- they need to get their head checked.

PERINO: Well, you know, there was -- it's interesting. There was a neurologist that wrote in The Wall Street Journal today, an opinion piece in which he said he thinks that younger first responders in their 20s and early 30s, that we should intentionally expose them to coronavirus so that they could maybe build up a herd mentality -- or what's it called?

WATTERS: Immunity?

PERINO: Herd immunity. Herd mentality is also something else that happens. And I asked a firefighter about that today and he said, I'm assuming that this guy isn't worried about his wife and children and other people. And, you know, I understand that when you're young, you do think that you're indestructible or you think that you know, my grandma said that maybe if I get this, then I'll never get it again.

Let's just all try to do the right thing for each other, staying inside. It's not the hardest hardship that people have ever had to go through. Although I didn't notice in the commercial break, I've watched -- I've walked 419 steps today. That's it.

GUTFELD: Wow.

PERINO: And I am going to have to -- I'm going to have to do something. I'm going to have to walk up and down the stairs. The peloton is not enough.

WATTERS: Oh, wow, all right. Well, go take Jasper for a walk and we'll see you tomorrow. We're still waiting for the Whitehouse Coronavirus Task Force press briefing. But up next, New York City is at the epicenter of this outbreak here in America, but there are some positive signs that couldn't be good for the rest of the country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: Welcome back to THE FIVE. The White House Coronavirus Task Force's press briefing is going to begin at any moment. That's coming up very soon. Meanwhile, New York City, it's the epicenter of Coronavirus outbreak here in the United States. In response, the White House is issuing a warning for people to self-quarantine for 14 days, if they recently traveled to the Big Apple. Here's New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo on the growing COVID-19 crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): We still have the trajectory going up. We have not turned the trajectory nor have we hit the apex. Remember what that line is going to do. It's going to go up. It's going to reach a high point. It's going to tip. It's going to go back down. We're still on the way up the mountain.

The current projection is that could be in 21 days. So ramp up the hospital capacity to make -- to be able to handle that apex volume.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: There is something -- there are some positives coming out of New York that could be good for the rest of the country too. The governor saying hospitalization rates for people infected are now slowing. And clinical trials for possible COVID-19 treatments are beginning in New York State.

Jesse, I wanted to come to you and say that I saw some numbers that indicate like 90-plus percent of Americans say they are doing social distancing. And the reason I wanted to bring this to your attention is I didn't believe it, Jesse. I think people say they're doing it but it's pretty hard to do social distancing. So I thought I'd ask you. Do you think it's true that most -- 90 percent of us really successfully keeping our distance from each other?

WATTERS: Could people be lying to pollsters, Juan? Is that what you're asking me? Perhaps. You know, they're lying about a lot.

WILLIAMS: I don't know. Maybe they're lying to themselves.

WATTERS: Yes. Maybe your social distancing --

WILLIAMS: Yes. They could be lying to themselves.

WATTERS: Maybe your social distancing is a little different than mine. But if that's a number that's true, then that's a great number, but we still have to work on the other 10 percent. We're getting a lot of attention, obviously at in New York because it's the hotspot right now. It's also the epicenter of the media and the financial capital.

So, you see New York getting a lot of attention, and then you also see Seattle, and San Francisco, and Los Angeles, getting a lot of attention. The rest of the country I think, was a little slow on the uptake to get the whole social distancing deal, but they are getting it and I think that's a positive.

I just heard that My Pillow is manufacturing about a million masks. SpaceX is manufacturing hand sanitizer. G.M. and Ford are starting to get in the game. So, you know, ships are on the way to New York, They're on the way to the harbor outside of Los Angeles.

And you're seeing people hiring in places like Amazon, 7-Eleven, Dollar General. And those are some bright spots that people need to kind of focus on. Don't always focus on the negative. Focus on the bright spots. That's going to help us pull out of this thing.

WILLIAMS: That's pretty good advice. And Katie, what about this quarantine for people who've been in New York recently? I think you've been in New York recently. I know I have. Do you think people -- and here's what I noticed is a lot of wealthy people, wealthy people who are going out to like Long Island or going up to Connecticut, they're being told you must self-quarantine. Do you think that message is getting through?

PAVLICH: Well, I have been so quarantining and self-distancing. So even though you're calling me out right now, I can tell you, I've been doing the right thing, Juan, except for a little bit of walking outside with my dog, of course. And it's easy to do social distancing when you have a dog.

But I want to focus on the data here. The testing issue has come a long -- a long way. And that's really important because the more testing we have, the more data we have, and usually in politics as you know, if you're explaining you're losing, but in this case, the White House Task Force has been able to explain every day and communicate what this means.

And the more data we have on the number of people who have it, who aren't going to the hospital, who are not being put in intensive care, will make people feel better, and have a better understanding about what is going on and what their risk level is. And then in turn, will enable the president to make some decisions about how to move forward with opening up some of these economic opportunities as we go down the road to that date of April 12th.

But in terms of New York, sorry, New Yorkers. If you traveled around the country, I guess you've got to self-quarantine for 14 days. Don't go to a coronavirus party.

WILLIAMS: Oh, my gosh. Greg -- hey, Greg, what do you think about the reports that we're getting, some progress with regard to vaccines and ways that we can develop antibodies? I think realistically, it's about a year away, but this is good news, wouldn't you say?

GUTFELD: Yes, absolutely. In fact, when we factor in all these grim scenarios, we don't factor in human ingenuity and the fact that there are drug treatments available. Now I know that a lot of people say oh, wait, but it's not this -- hydroxychloroquine is not, plus the antibiotics, plus I believe zinc. That's not you know, legal, but actually, your doctors can prescribe off label and they will.

If you ask them and you have symptoms, any good doctor -- I won't say who. But anyway, the problem -- the problem with saying that the whole city is going to be like somehow cordoned off is like to Katie's point, we don't have the data. We don't have the common denominator, that denominator of infection rate. So we don't really know what the fatality rate is yet.

We don't -- we probably -- it could be that everybody gets it, and 99.99 percent is fine. But we don't know that because we have to test everybody. Dr. Siegel says that if we could do a serology -- is that serology test? But you just test everybody, then you know what the denominator is, and then you can see how -- you know, how super dangerous or semi-dangerous or not dangerous at all this virus can be. But we don't have that yet.

And that is why we must treat it with the worst-case scenario, because you don't want to -- it's better to overreact and be wrong than to under-react and be dead. Did I make sense?

WILLIAMS: Well, that's interesting. So, Dana, I think what you're hearing from the doctors is that they have to do a lot of tests on any potential vaccine because of potential side effects. You don't want people to get hurt and lose trust in the, you know, in the idea that the scientists are trying to cure them.

PERINO: But I think that we should -- we should support our scientists from all around the world and the ones here in America that are putting things like -- we are able to use things like artificial intelligence. We were able to communicate so quickly. Think about back in -- when they had the Spanish Flu in 1919, they couldn't actually, you know, talk to each other on a zoom conference call. Like, we are going to be able to do this more quickly than in the past and that's amazing.

The other thing is, to the governor's point, when he said that we are starting to flatten the curve, right? Well, we should be proud of ourselves because of social distancing for doing the things that we're -- that they asked us to do, we are flattening the curve, so that the hospitals are going to be able to hopefully have an easier time dealing with it.

Now, there's a problem coming and that is the number of ICU beds. We've seen this. We know that it's coming and they're trying to fix it. But because we are doing what the government asked us to do, and the public health officials, to put ourselves in our homes, to only walk 419 steps in almost, you know, 24 hours, those things are, are doing what they were intended to do. So that's why we should keep doing it even though it's frustrating. We can do this because it's working. You see the results.

PAVLICH: Yes, do it for this season, as Jesse said.

WILLIAMS: Katie, you're up.

PAVLICH: All right, thanks, Juan. Well, we're still awaiting a Coronavirus Task Force briefing. While we wait for that, let's get to some lighter stories. It's now time for the "FASTEST SEVEN." First up, Joe Biden has been attacking President Trump saying that he needs to stop talking and start listening to the medical experts. Apparently, Biden hasn't been listening to those experts either. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have not talked to any individual. Excuse me.

JAKE TAPPER, HOST, CNN: You know, you're supposed to cough into your elbow. I don't know, sir. I learned that actually covering your White House --

BIDEN: You know, actually, that's true. But fortunately, I'm alone in my home, but that's OK.

TAPPER: All right.

BIDEN: I agree. You're right.

TAPPER: You should just -- it's kind of old school to do it with your hand than do it with your elbow like you're supposed to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAVLICH: So, Jesse, so Biden answers this question and is told this after he's asked if he's been tested for coronavirus and he says, I don't have any of the symptoms, and then he coughs right into his hand.

WATTERS: His excuse was the best. And I've made so many excuses in my life. I know when someone is just firing off a lie. And so yes, like, if there hadn't been someone else in the house, Biden is lying, would have been, oh, then I would have coughed here. Come on, Joe. You got caught and you got caught by CNN. That's even worse.

PAVLICH: Juan, based on the rules that we've all been told, don't you think that he should follow them even inside of his home on national television?

WILLIAMS: Yes, he could model it. But I think this is like we're just picking on him. I guess we're having fun with him. But I mean, it's, you know, the thing is about if you're doing something like that in public, if you're moving around, I don't think that if you're in your basement, just by yourself, I just -- I mean, to me, this is like, OK. But I understand the point, which is, he's a model. He's likely nominee. And yes, so be a model.

WATTERS: Yes. Don't be a covidiot, Biden.

PAVLICH: Covidiot. Dana, your thoughts on Biden coughing into his hand and not his elbow.

PERINO: Well, I think that Biden did finally something today that I thought was smart. He told Bernie Sanders like enough of this. Because Bernie Sanders said today, if there's a debate in April, I'm going to be there. And Biden was like, I've had enough. Like, we're not doing that, so I thought that was good.

But I also think that Joe Biden, he can't compete with the president right now. He should have tried to compete with the President. We are in the middle of a national crisis. I truly believe that if Joe Biden spent the next three weeks not on television and working behind the scenes to build up an organization that he is going to need if he's actually going to try to run against President Trump. I think that he should just take a back seat for now.

PAVLICH: Yes. Greg, can Biden really run for president from his house?

GUTFELD: I don't know. He just doesn't seem like a leader to me. I don't think he ever was a leader. He's just a go along to be along. Him being the nominee is scarier than his cough. And by the way, do you honestly believe he was actually alone? He's sitting there, there's no aides in that room. There's no -- there's nobody setting up the camera. There's -- like, he just happens to do this all by himself.

So he just lied straight to Jake's face who by the way, Jake should have his own hygiene hour because I just liked how strict and disappointed he was. He should have an hour where he grades people's behavior because that look on his face just made me wither.

PAVLICH: I think it's great. All right, next up, not some great news. Prince Charles sending shockwaves through Britain after testing positive for coronavirus. The heir to the British throne is now self-isolating after displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health according to a spokesman.

You know, Dana, the Queen has gone into isolation in light of this pandemic. Prince Charles now tested positive besides he feels good. A scary thing for the world and for the royal family.

PAVLICH: Well, the leader of Morocco also has tested positive and apparently, he and Prince Charles were all at dinner together. So you could just imagine if you know how this virus is transmitted, then there's probably a lot more people there that had it. I do -- I did wonder if Meghan Markel and Harry were rethinking their decision to leave the U.K. They might want to go back.

PAVLICH: Well, now they're -- I think in Canada. I'm not sure if they can make that decision. Jesse, your thoughts?

WATTERS: You expect me to say something mean about the royal family and I won't do it.

PAVLICH: No, I don't. No, I did not. That's not true.

WATTERS: I feel sorry -- I feel sorry for the man. He's in an advanced stage of his life and I hope he gets betters.

PAVLICH: Of course.

WATTERS: That's what I'm -- this is a positive hour for me.

GUTFELD: Hey, well, I won't -- I won't follow Jesse. I don't care if somebody famous gets this one bit. They aren't any more valuable than your family or friends.

WATTERS: You do care.

GUTFELD: No, and let's be honest.

WATTERS: You do. You were talking about Tom Hanks in the green room for a week.

GUTFELD: You're lying. Jesse, let's be honest. I don't think -- I don't think Prince Charles is going to be worried about getting medication. He's a prince. In fact, he'll get his pills as every celebrity or anybody who's famous will get their pills before our viewers. And that should piss off our viewers that there is a class system here that people can cut in front of the line.

Look at the NBA. Look at all the athletes. Look at the people suddenly finding out that they have the coronavirus. How are they able to find out and nobody else was? It's because the rich and famous do have different rules than the rest of the people. Your relatives, unless you know somebody famous, are screwed. So that's my opinion on the prince.

PAVLICH: All right, Juan, you want to follow up on that, on the prince. Do you have any opinion following on Greg's opinion?

WILLIAMS: Well, you know, I think -- well, first of all, I think he's like 71 and Camilla, his wife is like 72 so they're in the danger zone. That's the red zone for coronavirus. I will say, I think that, you know, given the rate of testing there as opposed to here, it looks like they're doing a little better.

But you're right, Greg. I think if you have money and connections, you're more likely to get the test. And you know, that's aggravating to people. And hopefully, now we see that the U.S. is catching up on the testing, according to Dr. Birx, and so I'm optimistic that we're going to get even on that front.

But it's still, even if you're talking about medical treatment, who gets treated first and who's going to get attention first, it's always going to be people with means and connections.

PAVLICH: Yes. You know, Dana, on that issue, it's been really interesting to watch the private sector, donate money, whether it's individuals or companies getting behind some kind of --

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So nice to be with you. America continues to gain ground in the war against the virus. I want to thank the American people for answering the call, following our guidelines, and making the sacrifices required to overcome this terrible threat more aggressively. We commit to social distancing. It's so important. Social distancing, such an important phrase, and we do it right now.

The more lives we can save and the sooner we can eventually get people back to work, back to school, and back to normal, and there are large sections of country probably can go back much sooner than other sections, and we're obviously looking at that also. People are asking, is that an alternative? I say, absolutely, it is an alternative.

I have now approved major disaster declarations for New York, California, Washington, Iowa, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. That has great significance, as you know, and legal significance. We're in a constant grouping and like I can say this, we have a large grouping of people that does nothing but communicate with the various officials, including -- we've been spending a lot of time with New York officials because that really is by far the hottest spot.

They've got a number of very tough weeks ahead of them. The governor is doing a very good job. I spoke to the governor, Governor Cuomo last night and this morning, and he mentioned that -- in his remarks that he's using the -- that we are using, and I think he feels because he understands negotiation, he thinks we're using very appropriately the Defense Production Act. And we are we're using it where needed. It's a great point of leverage. It's a great negotiating tool.

But I've really -- I will tell you, there's tremendous spirit from people and tremendous spirit with respect to these companies. And I don't have to use it very much at all. They want to do it. As you know, General Motors is involved, Ford is involved, 3M is involved, others are involved, and they're all working very hard to produce product, different -- all different products.

We had very little product when we came. We built it up and we've we give it away as fast as we can to the different states. We're also as you know, building numerous hospitals and medical centers throughout certain areas in New York. It's at the convention center, the Javits Convention Center. We're doing four hospitals and we're doing throughout the state for medical centers. They're somewhat different.

I want you to know that I'm doing everything in my power to help the city pull through this challenge. I'm working very hard in New York. It's really, by far, our biggest problem. Maybe it will be, maybe won't be. But there's a lot of good capable people working on it with us. And our teams are working very well with the state representatives.

We're also doing some very large testing throughout the country. I told you yesterday that in South Korea, this is not a knock in any way because I just spoke with President Moon, we had a very good conversation about numerous other things, but they've done a very good job in testing. But we now are doing more testing than anybody by far. We do more in eight days than they do in eight weeks and we go up on a daily basis exponentially, so it's really good.

By the way, while I'm on it, I also spoke with Prime Minister Abe 0f Japan last night and I congratulated him on a wise choice. I think it's going to be a fantastic Olympics 2021. I think it's going to be a fantastic Olympics. It was the absolute right decision to delay it for a full year and now have a full beautiful Olympics. It's going to be very important because it's probably the first time maybe ever or certainly in a long time that it was on an odd year. So we don't even year, they tell me, but he's going to have a fantastic success.

And now that I've even more time, he didn't need any more time. Everything was perfectly ready. What a job they've done. But Japan, I want to congratulate Japan, the IOC, and Prime Minister Abe on a great decision. I think it's going to be a fantastic Olympics. I told him, I'll be there. I'll be there.

As we fight to protect American lives, we're also protecting American livelihoods. Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are very close to passing an emergency relief bill for American workers, families and businesses, this legislation in addition to the two bills I signed this month that includes as you know, sick leave and we have all sorts of things in for the workers, for families.

But we have a tremendous paid sick leave provision for workers at no cost at all to the employers. And it's a big thing, no cost to the employers. We want to get everybody back working. Together, this $2.2 trillion legislative package is bigger than anything I believe ever passed in Congress.

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