But first, we thought it was very important to begin the show, all of you, speaking directly to businessmen and women, what they are really going through. They are trying to fight tooth and nail to reopen and regain their livelihoods from these lockdownloving governors. George verdis and Nick Mirabella are the owners of the brick and mirror beauty bar in parsippany, new jersey. After two months of complying with democrat Governor Phil Murphys lockdown orders, these two men finally had enough. They are defying the governor and reopening on june 1, and its not just about their own livelihoods, but about the wellbeing of their staff, of course it is, they desperately want to get back to work. Thank you both for being here tonight, also with me is frank mendoza, who has run a restaurant in boston with his brothers for 25 years, and he is one of many Restaurant Owners in massachusetts who are beyond frustrated that their lifes work is being destroyed. And its happening right before their very eyes. I know so many restaurateurs in the washington, d. C. , area were telling me the same thing, and thank you both for being here yonight, also with me is frank mendoza, who has run a restaurant in boston with his brothers for 25 years, and he is one of many Restaurant Owners in massachusetts who are beyond frustrated that their lifes work is being destroyed. And its happening right before their very eyes. I know so many restaurateurs in the washington, d. C. , area were telling me the same thing, and the governors actions are prolonging the suffering. Frank was thrust into the National Spotlight after President Trump tweeted out a clip of him saying he would take the coronavirus over losing his business. Pr frank, thanks for coming on. Last but not least is ew bitter, who runs a hotel in vermont wit his brothers, his business survives on a tourismbased model being absolutely destroyed by vermonts onerous travel restrictions on people coming into the state from outofstate. L that the lifeblood of the state hospitality industry, of course. Thank you for being with us tonight,du ew. Great to see all of you. We are also going to bring in some Financial Experts to answer your questions and just moments, and i know a lot of you want to know what were going to look like on the other side of this, but first, i want to get to your stories, because they are frankly the story of so many millions of americans across the country, and my first question is do you, george and nick, we will start with you, george, what was the final straw and made you decide, come hell or high water, you were going to open up and go back to work in defiance of the governors order of . So, what happened is, he gave us a 15 day mark, march 18th or 19th, and told us, g basically, listen, we have to shut down because of covid19, which we agreed, its obviously killing people and i totally agree, and then, you know, after that, he made another executive order for 30 days, and then another for 30 days, and i h turned to my business partner, i said, you know what, enough is enough. We take in the proper cautions, we have to open up. We tried to reach out to him many times come hes never returned our calls, doesnt want to speak with us, and if you like what he is doing, not only hair salons and barbershops and gyms, but every small business, its an absolute, you know, a abuse of power, in my opinion. Laura and nick, what do m you say to the people who respond, these types of entreaties, by saying, well, you guys you guys are just not thinking of Public Safety. One life lost is one life to many, if you can save a life by staying close,ng thats better r everyone. What do you say, nick, to that . We are actually licensed tor be doing what were doing, just because you get covid19 doesnt mean you die, just because you go in a building like walmart or home depot doesnt mean catch covid19. An just because you enter my salon and we take every precautionary measure to prevent the spread of covid19 doesnt mean youre going to y get covid19. We are taking the proper steps, so just walking into the building doesnt mean you get it. Laura its almost like nobody dies of anything else of these days other than covid19. People are still dying of other diseases, and they aref all awfl and they are all terrible, but we are only focused on the issue at hand, which i guess is understandable, but there are other issues that are coming into play, even dr. Fauci, frank, today, said, if we prolong a shutdown longer than is absolutely necessary, could do irreparable harm, and i think a lot of people were really happy to hear dr. Fauci say that, because for the longest time, of course, he was just looking at one aspect of this, which is the virus itself, and that is his job, but frank, you recently applied for a license to expand your outdoor seating, and what happened, the city of boston responded with a questionnaire . And you could see it ask whether or not you are a minority or an immigrant . Like, what . What does that have to do with running your business, frank . I dont know, laura, i was actually really confused when i looked, and they asked us if you are an immigrant, minority, im not sure the rest of it. I am an immigrant, though, i came here, but i was actually shocked they asked that. I did fill out the questionnaire, for the outside seating, and i am an immigrant, so laura its a curious addon question, when the focus is supposed to be, just Public Health and safety, im not sure what that has to do with it, but frank, were you surprised on the president retweeted your clip . I was surprised. I was surprised that thent only republicans hes the only republican that actually did that, i have a republican governor that didnt do it, but he did. Yeah, it was nice, it was nice of him to do it. Laura what is your chance of survival if you dont open up soon . You understand, this neighborhood is a lot of we will survive because we are very hard workers. Me and my brother, we gave our life to this place, so the chances of me closing are, you know, i wont let it happen, yod know. Laura god bless you. Thats the spirit we want. There are some people, though, they are afraid. Some people are telling me they can make it to the summer, and then the fall, without having events and, you know, basketball, hockey, stuff like that, outside of the Boston Garden or td garden, its a ghost town, a lot of sports bars depend on the sports and the events. Laura got to open up. I got to get to ew and vermont, still under strict lockdown, ew, but heres what the covid situation looks like in your state. 954 total cases, only three people are currently hospitalized. 827 have recovered, 54 have died. What is your governors excuse for strangling the economy, ew . Well, its interesting you bring that up, if you go back and read the actual executive orders, the premise for those executive orders was to prevent the overall the overwhelming end overwhelming and devastatio of our health care system. Health care system in the state has never been more underwhelmed in its history. Those numbers reflect, at thee executive level, that theyve done such an excellent job in their selfaggrandizement. E keep in mind, we are the least densely populated state in the country, and look out west, wyoming, south dakota, montana, you might also look at them and say they have done a remarkable job, but they dont have the same lockdown measures, and they obviously have benefited by the low density of that state. Laura well, anyone who has ever been to vermont, it is a beautiful place, incredibly gorgeous, skiing, i remember in college it was kind of a real im a regular old ski town, but its gotten very fancy, and during the summer, as well, but you depend on tourism. You know, tourism, i dont see how a lot of Small Businesses survive. I just dont see it. But gentlemen, i want to continue this conversation on reopening the country and getting people back to work, but first, lets bring in our Financial Gurus to dispense advice from steve forbes, editorinchief of forbes media, and chris hogan, radio talk show host, author, and personal finance expert. Chris, youve been listening to the stories tonightt from our Business Owners, new jersey, massachusetts, vermont, kind of focused on that part of the country, for no good reason, but those are places still subject to these pretty draconian lockdown orders. What do you do when you are in a situation like this . Is it civil disobedience . Onis that lawsuits . Order, just pray, at this point . Well, laura, what you see with all three of these Business Owners are people that are fighting to survive. These Business Owners are very serious about their business. These arent hobbies. This is how they are serving their customers, this is how they are providing for their families, so they need the opportunity to be able to push forward, and the road to recovery doesnt happen sitting and hiding, its about us moving forward, clearly, and being aware, taking precautions. As the gentleman said come up north, they are doing everything they can to keep people safe when they come in, we need that right to be able to move forward in s this country. Laura steve forbes, you got the sense today from the president that he is just about done with these draconian lockdown orders. He sees the real hunger in the American People to get back to work safely. I love franks story, the immigrant story, hard worker, reminds me of my mom stories about her parents, and just that ethic of i want to get out there and work. I dont want to sit at home and watch netflix and wait for a check. I want to be out t there workin and that is the story of america, and what about all of these immigrant businesses now, steve . Where did they go . I must restrict giving people confidence to get back in . That is why the pressure, whether it is civil disobedience or going after your representatives one, the like, petitioning, has got to be done. We already know, we seen it in florida, georgia, colorado, which has a democrat governor, but he used to do business as before, he knows no revenue, you dontin survive, so we have to keep this opening going with speed, we know it can be done safely, weve seen it in actual practice, and the other two things, by the way, the federal government can do, is provide Liability Protection when these businesses open, they dont get harassed by lawsuits, frivolous lawsuits. The other thing they can do is suspend the payroll tax, so when you hire somebody, you pay them, you know, the cost of labor is less, they earn more, winwin all around. One other thing, laura, im surprised the federal government hasnt done is the Treasury Department has kept ridiculous restrictions on getting loans from the ppp program, 75 of your money has to go for payroll. The fact of the matter is, for a lot of businesses, utilities, rent, are the biggest expenses. Treasury i can throw out those dumb rules right now. I dont know why they dont do it. So, all of the d above. You pray, you fight, you get out there, and you pressure, and the demonstrations work. New jersey wouldnt have gone as far as it did, which is almost nowhere, if people hadnt gone out and i started to do these demonstrations. Weve seen it in other parts of the country, too. Laura and our Business Owners, guys, have some specific questions for our economic money gurus, so im going to open it up now. Nick, lets go to you first, nick. What is your question . So, a lot of Business Owners have iras and 401 k s, and we are not getting the funding we need. The ppp money is supposed to last for eight weeks, and where ten weeks, longer . Two months, three months . Mrepoll from the 401 k s or iras, what kind of penalties, if they will be waived, and are we going to be taxed for that . Laura chris, why dont you handle that . With the cares act, they lifted the 10 penalty on that, but you are still going to be liable for the taxes over a two year period, so pulling money out of there right now, there is nothing in place to shield you at all. You would still have to pay the taxes over a two year period of time, so guys, i know, as you look at your business and are thinking, okay, we are ready to open, we are trying to do what is ever necessary, i just want to caution you, as you do that, essentially you are pulling from the future to take care of the present, so you want to be very mindful. I tell people that are two reasons to touch Retirement Funds preventive foreclosure or to prevent a personall bankruptcy. So be mindful of that as you walk this path. Laura lets go to frank now. Frank, of course, in the restaurant business. Frank, you have a question about capacity. Yeah, i wanted to know, how im supposed to pay 100 of my bills with only 25 of the occupancy that the government is telling me im supposed to do, with 6 feet separation. Well, first of all, we know 3 feet is good rather than 6 feet, and second, this micromanaging, nitpicking 25 , 32. 3 , its ridiculous, they are arbitrary numbers, and you should make the judgment and let people judge if they think a place is safe and unsafe, and we now know, we, the elderly, are more vulnerable, if youe, have certain conditions, you are more vulnerable. Trustly the people, the information is out there, postil information, provide the masks, though im sure youre finding ways to allow us to eat and have the masks nearby, but these arbitrary numbers are just nonsense. They should be gotten rid of. Use your judgment, and the people will make the decision, is of the safe or unsafe . Youve got to have revenue. Laura i think the idea of measuring seats, and i saw something yesterday, guys, its really 18 feet. I kid you not, there was a video on one of our cable competitors, well,8 through the 18 feet. Next week, it will be a mile, and you can still get covid. Ew hold on, chris, weve got to get ew in, and hes not going to get his question. Ew, i want you to speak up, your skype was a little low last time. You have a question, go ahead, my friend. Sure, if states are required to provide compensation h for the benefit of everyone f else, in this case, Public Safety is what we have been told, why is that not happening . Laura who wants to take that, of the gurus . Chris, why dont you take it . I dont know, to be honest with you. On the government side, theres a lot of trying to figure this out on the move. Weve never seen anything from a pandemic situation. Weve seen tough times, 9 11, y2k, the Great Recession up 07 and 09. All of these governors are operating autonomously, they can make some decisions. I dont know. If im you, im putting pressure on my state reps, going to have meetings to find out, what are they doing to help . Right now, what theyve done is given you a lot of restrictions and prevented you from providing for your family. Laura all right, gentlemen let me just jump in there, because i will say this, say this. Hold on, i will say this. Creative lawyers can come up with good causes of action, and you are on the right track, ew, with talking about a taking. You are taking peoples livelihood, you must compensate them on the other side, and i think you are thinking the right way. All you ceos, Small Businesses, mediumsized, get together and put pressure, legislatively, through lawsuits and so forth, and you are going to be in good stead. All of you, great to see you, keep up the good fight. And coming up, dissension in the ranks as democrats and blue states are calling out their governors over continued lockdowns. Pete hegseth is here. Hes been hearing from people all over the country, and he feels the same, next. Laura democrat leaders and congressmen, state governors embracing their new identity as a lockdown party, but how is that sitting with the rankandfile inpa their party . Well, in pennsylvania, democrat state lawmakers are souring onat governor tom wolfs ridiculous, draconian lockdown measures. One philly area state rep saying her constituents have not yet seen evidence that your administration recognizes and sympathizes with the added physical, emotional, and financial suffering they are facing. But its not just in p. A. , across lake erie, michigans governor witless whitmer is facing mass demonstration against her lockdown orders, and the sheriff of genesee countye and the mayor of detroit, both democrats, are also challengings her ruthless power grab. And in new jersey, the president of the state senate, this is democrat steve sweeney, hes railing against Governor Phil Murphy for taking too long to reopen businesses. Now, reopening is no longer a red versus blue issue, its a matter of survival. Its the people versus control freaks, liberty versus lockdown, and i like to say. Earlier this week, fox friends hostoc pete hegseth travel to belmar, new jersey, where he visited a gym that reopened with support from everyone in the community,t right and left. Sadly, since petes visit, the gym has been harassed, almost daily, by state officials and forced to close back down. Pete hegseth, fox Friends Weekend host, and author of the fabulous new book. This isnt republican versus democrat, youve seen it firsthand. Tell us what your thoughts are, as we continue to see a deprivation of liberty across the country. I did see it on monday and ive stayed in touch with those gym owners all week long and their lawyers, and i love that this is the revolt of the gym owners, the revolt of the salon owners, the barbershops, restaurants, tattoo parlors, sometimes the revolt comes from the most unlikeliest of places. This is how the elites look at it, they just own a gym or a hair salon, no, these are hardworking entrepreneurs who understand their rights, and they are standing up for the rest of us. You are right, this is not left versus right, this is liberty versus lockdown, as you said. This is common sense. I get a chance to go across the country with fox friends all the time, and the death of common sense wisdom in this country is with the elites reject. They dont respect people enough to let them make their own risk calculation, and people are starting to say its time to open up across the board, i dont care where you live, and that is a reflection of the fact we should respect people enough, that is what free people do, laura. Laura t Governor Desantis of florida has really led the way, pete, and having a very