Trump administration may reopen some businesses late this week

Yahoo Finance's Rick Newman joined Myles Udland to discuss what the Trump administration's latest moves have been amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Video Transcript

MYLES UDLAND: For a little bit more on, I guess, the administration's response. But also, let's just focus on the President here, because there's a lot of parts to the administration's response that-- some parts, I think, make the average citizen feel OK. Other parts are a little bit more questionable.

And I think what really grabbed headlines in the last 24 hours is Trump's tweet from last night that after the 15-day period is over, which by my math, dates to a week from tomorrow, he might start, I don't know, ordering people to go back to work. He clearly is antsy about what is happening right now, this shutdown, the market, decline the economic freeze, because the results are not happening right now, and Trump wants something to happen right now.

RICK NEWMAN: And he's not the only one. Lloyd Blankfein, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, and also Gary Cohn, Trump's former National Economic Council Director, have also suggested without any specifics that maybe there comes a point at which you're curtailing so much economic activity that that's doing more harm than the good you're doing by closing everything down and trying to keep people safe.

So let's think this through for a second. So the problem we're having here in New York, where you and I are, Myles, and in other cities like this, the number-one problem is that the health care system is getting overwhelmed. So there are just not going to be enough beds for all the people who get sick. And so that is why the mayor, the governor, and many local officials are saying, that's why we have the stay-at-home order here in New York, same in California and other places.

So at the federal level, there's some kind of guidance that says no, don't listen to your mayor, don't listen to your governor, go on out, even if nothing's open. Just go on out and see if you can find a movie or something like that. I mean, there's no chance it's going to work. It would be far more chaotic than what we have now. And if Trump thinks that he would actually get agreement from mayors and governors to do this, he can't, because mayors and governors cannot simply say, I don't care if the health care system gets overwhelmed.

It is worth pointing out that there is a solution here. The solution is more testing everywhere. We need a test for every person in America. And we might need more than one test for every person in America. That's how you can actually figure out, what part of the population do we need to worry about? What part of the population can safely move around? We'll get there at some place, but that is the answer. And I think Trump's idea for just lifting his guidelines on March 31-- Mike, I calculate the data same as you. I think that's a non-starter.

MYLES UDLAND: Well, and I think, Rick, it is-- look, it's one of the things that we've talked about so much during the Trump presidency, which is-- and I don't think it quite applies. We've always said, he ends up being right for the wrong reasons. But I think here, it speaks to more of a-- his anxiety is relatable. I mean, I feel it. This is week two of working from home, and it's probably going to end up being week 11 by the time we can see the other side of this. It's really daunting to think about that counting up and looking out towards some future.

On the other hand, you know, all politicians are loath to say I will be patient and allow the time to play out. But that really seems to be, from the health care professionals, the only option that we have right now.

RICK NEWMAN: I'm going to remember this date, because you said that President Trump's anxiety was relatable to you, Myles. I guess it is. We all want to get back to normal for our own reasons. Of course, what's the number one thing on President Trump's mind? This is obviously wrecking his re-election odds.

So he probably has in mind-- and you're seeing some of the guesstimates that are coming from the Wall Street firms-- maybe if we can really get a handle on this thing, there will be some kind of recovery by the second half of the year. Maybe that's when we'll see stocks going up. We'll get consumers spending money again. That is actually starting to look optimistic, I mean, when you see what's happening in Italy and France and so on.

So, sure, he wants to do it. But the way to do it is, tell us about the testing. Get the testing out there, and get all the medical equipment out there. I mean, that is the way-- that is the best way to address this problem. I was going to say, solve the problem. I'm not sure you do solve it. I think you can perhaps contain it. I mean, that's what we're trying to do here. Tests, medical equipment, as much of it where it's needed.

MYLES UDLAND: All right. Rick Newman with the latest on the goings-on in the White House.