RUSH: Now, President Trump, it says here, "is looking into reopening parts of the U.S. economy, according to Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary. Mnuchin said yesterday that Trump's looking into reopening parts of the economy."

He was being interviewed by Maria Bartiromo on the Fox Business Network. Question: "Do you think this shutdown's gonna go longer than eight weeks?" Mnuchin said, "Maria, I hope not. I hope we get back to the point... Everything I hear from the medical professionals and many places, we're close. We're close to the worst point. They're beginning to peak, and I think then things are gonna get better.

"And I know the president's very much looking at how we can reopen parts of the economy. There are parts of the country like New York where obviously it's very, very concerning. Other parts of the country where it's not. So he's meeting with the task force, medical professionals and getting posted on this every day."

Meanwhile, Larry Kudlow, the top Trump economic adviser, told Politico yesterday "he believes the economy may reopen 'in the next four to eight weeks.' ... The president has repeatedly expressed his desire to reopen the U.S. economy, but has largely followed the advice of his medical advisers who have advocated for a prolonged shutdown."

Dr. Fauci yesterday at the briefing said "the country will be in 'good shape' for reopening schools ... in the fall. 'Bottom line is, no absolute prediction, but I think we're going to be in good shape,' Fauci said ... when asked whether he thinks schools will be able to start on time next school year." Meanwhile, Ezekiel Emanuel ("Zeke" for short), the brother of Rahm Emanuel and the brother of Ari Emanuel, was on MSNBC.

He said (summarized), "What? This is crazy! We can't go back to normal until there's a vaccine. You better get used to this." He said 18 months, year and a half. "You'd better get used to it, you better get ready, you better get prepared, 'cause we ain't doing jack anything for 18 months. We can't end this until we get a vaccine," he said. "We will not be able to return to normalcy 'til we find a vaccine or effective medication."

We don't have a vaccine for HIV yet. That goes back to the eighties. Do you know that? We get treatments for it. We don't have a vaccine. "I know that's dreadful news to hear. How are people supposed to find work if this goes on in some form for a year and a half? Is all that economic pain worth trying to stop COVID-19? The truth is we have no choice," said Dr. Zeke.

"If we prematurely end that physical distancing and the other measures keeping it at bay, deaths could skyrocket into the hundreds of thousands if not a million. We cannot return to normal until there's a vaccine." Ladies and gentlemen, I'm just gonna tell you: It's a virus. The odds that there's going to be a vaccine... Well, it's not automatic that there's going to ever be a vaccine for this.

We don't have a vaccine for the flu. Do you realize that? We have shots, but even people who get flu shots get the flu. There isn't something you can take out there that's gonna stop you from getting the flu, at least not... Am I wrong about this? Is... (interruption) Is there a flu vaccine, Mr. Snerdley? (interruption) Ah, ah. Some strains. What is the flu vaccine, a flu shot? (interruption)

Okay. And are there people who get flu shots who then get the flu? (interruption) Well, then there's no vaccine. We have a vaccine against polio. You take it; you won't get it. We have a vaccine again smallpox. You take it; you won't get it. We don't have a vaccine for the flu. We don't have a vaccine for HIV. We don't... (interruption) Okay. We got Tamiflu. It's a prescribed medicine.

I've taken it. It supposedly.... It reduces the length of time you're on the flu, but it doesn't get rid of it. We don't have... The idea that there's automatically gonna be a vaccine anytime, 18 months, 12-months? It's a virus. Most vi -- how long did it take to get a polio vaccine? How long did it take to get a smallpox vaccine? And now you realize because of illegal immigration, open borders, there are people coming into the country reintroducing smallpox into the Southern California community?

Which is putting a strain on the vaccine. It's a new strain. But there's no guarantee there's ever gonna be a vaccine, and yet here's Dr. Emanuel and he's falling along with Dr. Fauci. "Well, we can't... We can't really return to normal until we -- 'til we get a vaccine!" And there are other people saying, "We're never gonna go back to normal. What are you talking about? We're never gonna..." There are people saying you may have to wear a mask every day if you go outside for the rest of your life!

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: We start on the phones in Somerset, New Jersey, with David. Welcome, sir. Glad you called. Nice to have you with us.

CALLER: Thanks, Rush. I'm a big fan. Been listening for so many years. Thanks for taking my call.

RUSH: You bet, sir.

CALLER: So I wondered if you saw the briefing yesterday and after Trump finished they finally got to Dr. Birx. She spoke a lot about how -- in my opinion, she seemed kind of excited that this is the first time that they've been able to insert the medical professionals into our economy and basically shut us down so they can do all the testing and all the other things they want to do.

But my question is, well, who's gonna decide what's the next disease that they're gonna get to shut us all down for? It's the first time, she said, that they've been able to do this, and so I'm concerned. Like, so what are they gonna do next winter when some other disease comes along, they're gonna say, "Oh, gotta shut us down again, we set a precedent." I'm nervous about that.

RUSH: Well, I don't blame you. I watched the briefing yesterday, but I was not doing well at the time, so I don't remember that about Dr. Birx expressing glee. I'm not denying it, don't misunderstand. I totally trust you if she said -- I'm not surprised. I addressed this yesterday. This is one of the problems I've got with all of this. I understand these medical people. I know where they're coming from. They seem to have no empathy for the pain this is causing. They're focused totally on the medical aspect and their glee with being able to finally shut things down and stop the spread of this bug, which they haven't done, they haven't stopped the spread of the bug. There are people still getting it. I understand why you'd be troubled by it.

You know, the Chinese economy never shut down. The Chinese stock market never crashed. But everybody else's around the world did. They didn't get this disease in Beijing. They didn't get it in Shanghai. You know something else, folks, that's strange? I remembered yesterday, remembered last night, I saw videotape of the ChiCom leader for life. His name is Xi Jinping. He was walking the streets of Wuhan. And he was waving up to people in their homes. And he was acting like an elected leader out amongst his constituents trying to comfort them.

He doesn't give a rat's rear end. He's not elected. He's a dictator. He is a communist dictator. So he put on a show for American Media, for American audiences. "Oh, look at ChiCom guy. He's walking through Wuhan. He's waving up at the people. He's assuring the people." The thing I noticed, he's in Wuhan. Wuhan is ground zero for this. He's wearing a simple little blue surgical mask. Are you telling me that the leader of the Chinese Communist Party is gonna go walking through Wuhan, the ground zero for this soup wearing just a mask? This guy should have been decked out in a hazmat suit.

So why wasn't he? (interruption) Well, okay. Maybe it wasn't Wuhan. Maybe it was a planned community outside in Beijing suburbia. No. Maybe the ChiCom leader knew he was safe. Remember we also saw this clown on videotape some months ago in what it looked like a hotel ballroom with a bunch of his communist minions standing behind him, and they all had blue masks on. And he was talking to coronavirus patients in Wuhan who were on TV. He was talking to a TV screen. He was not in a room with any actual patients, and he was wearing a mask talking to a TV screen.

Now, I don't know, but I don't think TVs spread the virus. It was the most amazing thing. Wearing a blue mask and all of his communist subordinates wearing a blue mask out there talking to a single patient on a television screen. And we were told that it was in Wuhan. By the way, the CDC calls their flu shots vaccines. Well, look. If it's a vaccine, then you're not gonna get it. And 60,000 people still -- people who take the flu shots, they get it sometimes. Maybe they don't die from it. I don't know. I haven't seen the stats on that.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: "Trump Says He'd Like Economy To Reopen 'With A Big Bang' But Acknowledges It May Be Limited." Now, this a story from The Hill yesterday. "President Trump said Tuesday night he'd like to see the entire U.S. economy reopen with a "big bang," but acknowledged it will be difficult to manage as certain parts of the country grapple with outbreaks."

I'm looking the audio sound bite roster just to see what I've got here. Yeah. Okay. He was on with Hannity last night, said, "I'd love to open with a big bang, one beautiful country and just open. We're looking at two concepts. We're looking at the concept where you open up sections and we're also looking at the concept where you open up everything."

And then it says here, "The decision will largely be out of Trump's hands. Governors nationwide will determine when restrictions in their states that have shuttered nonessential businesses and banned gatherings of more than a few people will be lifted."

Meanwhile, the ChiComs have lifted and ended the 10-week lockdown of Wuhan. But you have to show that you're healthy. You have to show you haven't been in contact with anybody who has the virus if you want to leave Wuhan. They ought not be allowing anybody to leave Wuhan. And once you do leave Wuhan, your new destination may require to you self-quarantine for 14 days and be tested twice.

Well, guess what? When the ChiComs lifted the 10-week lockdown of Wuhan, 65,000 people fled the scene. Where did they go? We don't know where they went. They left the city by train, left the city by plane, highways, bridges, tunnels also opened allowing thousands more to exit by car and bus. Meanwhile, Norway, Denmark, the Czech Republic, and Austria are gonna relax coronavirus lockdown restrictions in the coming days.

For instance, the schools are set to reopen in Denmark on April 15th, a week from today. Norway will do so five days later. Even Austria, which shares a border with Italy, is gonna reopen on April 14th, and the Czech Republic is looking to reopen more stores starting this Thursday. Even Italy is lifting some of its restrictions. Some Italian businesses could reopen in mid-April, according to Bloomberg News.

Let me get some phone calls in before the break in the first hour. We'll start with Ken in Portland, Oregon. You know, Oregon is a fascinating place because the virus, compared to elsewhere in the country, is not even there, statistically. Hi, Ken. Great to have you with us. How you doing?

CALLER: Mega dittos, Rush. Great to be able to talk with you today. In Oregon, of the 765 people that have tested positive for COVID-19 under the age of 60, only one person has died. After this current safe distancing phase is complete on May 1st, why can't we shift to a policy in which the stay-at-home approach is lifted for everyone except those that self-identify as having underlying conditions?

RUSH: Well, you know, if I had to wild-guess answer I would say that no state wants to be alone and first.

CALLER: Understood. I just think, you know, we're already quarantining ourselves, we're sensitive to our parents, people that are having underlying conditions, we're already doing it. I think that would continue and we could still open up the economy because young people recover so easily from it. And I think even if we continue forward with our current restrictions, we're still gonna be self-quarantining anyways. So why not open it up, still being sensitive to those with underlying conditions, and they'll be self-quarantined, we'll be very careful about how we approach them. I'm just thinking it's too complicated. They're making it too complicated.

RUSH: Well, you mentioned self-quarantining. You think people are still gonna be doing that? I want you to listen to something with me here, Ken. Grab audio sound bite number 23. We have here a sound bite from just this afternoon from CNN. John King speaking with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Infectious Disease, Epidemiology Professor...

What a title. Let me run that by you again. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Infectious Disease, Epidemiology Professor Emily Gurley about the coronavirus epidemic and reopening the economy, and this is what John King of CNN said...

KING: We asked this question in our new poll: "Would you feel comfortable returning to routine if social distancing ends at the end of the month, on April 30th?" Thirty-seven percent of Americans said, yes. They would feel comfortable. Six in 10 Americans said, no! They would not feel comfortable! The president himself, ambitiously saying we need to get the country open as soon as possible. You think that would be a tragic mistake?

GURLEY: I think we have to go with what the evidence says. Until we have something better in place nationally to track infections and stop the spread, we've gotta stick with what works even though it's a huge sacrifice.

RUSH: Did you hear this? In their poll, 60% don't feel comfortable reopening on April 30th. So even if things were opened in certain places, like you say, people arestill gonna self-quarantine. Sixty percent, according to CNN, don't feel comfortable reopening on April 30th. Would you go out, if they lift things? What would you do, Ken?

CALLER: I would go out. I'd be... I'd still practice safe distancing. I'd be careful about being in too packed of a crowd, but I would continue on. And I'm really more concerned about the economy and all the people that are being impacted by the economy. I --

RUSH: Have...? Let me ask you. You know, this babe here, Emily Gurley... It took me two lines to read the title. None of these people seem concerned about the economy, which is people and their livelihoods. The empathy for that doesn't seem... I know they've got one job and that's their health expertise and so forth. But it just continues to frustrate me.

CALLER: Rush, thanks a lot for bringing up this aspect of the equation, the economy and all the people that are being impacted. Thanks for leading that discussion.

RUSH: People are being ruined!

CALLER: I know it.

RUSH: People are being destroyed. People are being ruined.

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