Biden signs executive orders targeting fossil fuel industry

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Biden signs executive orders targeting fossil fuel industry

FOX News White House correspondent Peter Doocy joins 'Special Report' with the latest from Washington.

This is a rush transcript from "Special Report" January 27, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR (on camera): Greg, Jesse thinks that Husky is a
Poodle.

All right, next up, President Biden takes another huge shot at the energy
sector in the name of climate change. Critics say it's a job killer.

The Homeland Security Department issues a national terrorism bulletin,
warning of more anti-government violence similar to the capital riot.

Plus, the big money Wall Street game of chicken over video game retailer
GameStop. This is SPECIAL REPORT.

Good evening. Welcome to Washington, I'm Bret Baier.

On the same day his administration said up to 90,000 people may die of
coronavirus in the next four weeks, President Biden is concentrating on
what he calls the climate crisis tonight. The president saying the nation
cannot wait any longer to address it. The Biden administration insisting it
can folk on -- focus on both crises at once.

The President has signed more sweeping executive orders today to cut oil,
gas and coal emissions and double energy production from offshore wind
turbines.

The energy industry and Republican lawmakers have characterized the
approach as either pie in the sky or a big job killer during an economic
downturn.

White House Correspondent Peter Doocy starts us off tonight live from the
North Lawn. Good evening, Peter.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Good evening,
Bret. President Biden says today is climate day at the White House, which
he says also means it is jobs day. But that doesn't mean the plans he's
putting in motion now, let everyone in this country keep the job they have
right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The first order I'm signing is
tackling the climate crisis at home and abroad.

DOOCY (voice over): President Biden is doing that by banning new oil and
gas leasing on federal lands and ordering federal agencies to go green. The
administration claims anyone who loses an energy industry job because of
this can be retrained to do something else.

JOHN KERRY, SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL CLIMATE ENVOY: Coal plants have been
closing over the last 20 years. So, what President Biden wants to do is
make sure those folks have better choices, that they have alternatives,
that they can be the people who go to work to make the solar panels.

DOOCY: And close to home.

GINA MCCARTHY, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL CLIMATE ADVISER: We're not going to ask
people to go from the middle of Ohio or Pennsylvania and ship out to the
coast to have solar jobs. You know, solar jobs will be everywhere.

DOOCY: On Capitol Hill today, lawmakers heard testimony from Biden's pick
to be Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, NOMINEE FOR SECRETARY OF ENERGY: Having been the
governor of Michigan when the automotive industry was on its knees, I
understand what it's like to look into the eyes of men and women who have
lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

DOOCY: To preemptively fight climate change, FEMA may soon redirect $10
billion to build sea walls and elevate homes in flood prone areas according
to The New York Times.

MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Listen, when most people get up
this morning, or have -- when they got up this morning, they didn't look at
it and say that their number one priority was climate. They probably looked
at it as the virus, we need to keep the priority where it is.

DOOCY: But the White House tells Fox, FEMA can handle COVID-19 and climate
change with this "Getting the COVID-19 pandemic under control is a top
priority for the president and this administration. While we are looking
for opportunities to help communities become more resilient to floods and
fires that does not and will not involve limiting our ability to fight this
pandemic. Any reporting to the contrary is simply misinformed."

The White House COVID-19 response team is trying to accelerate vaccine
distribution, but supplies remain tight.

ANDY SLAVITT, SENIOR ADVISER, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE TEAM: Now, we
do not keep a stockpile of a large number of vaccines. We keep a two to
three-day supply as a practice, just to account for variation in
manufacturing production. That's it, the rest moves out to states.

DOOCY: President Biden sees COVID-19 and climate change as matters of life
and death.

BIDEN: It's not just the pandemic that keeps the people inside, it's poor
air quality. Multiple studies have shown that air pollution is associated
with an increased risk of death from COVID-19.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY (on camera): But the White House knows that executive orders only
affecting people in this country aren't going to fix climate change.

John Kerry the climates are admitted today that because 90 percent of the
world's emissions come from other countries, the United States could get
down to zero emissions tomorrow and the problem still isn't solved, Bret.

BAIER: Peter Doocy live in the North Lawn. Peter, thanks. More on this with
the panel.

Chicago public school students are getting more time away from the
classroom. Teachers have ditched plans to report to class this week over
concerns about coronavirus safety.

Correspondent Garrett Tenney has the latest tonight from Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARRETT TENNEY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The standoff
continues over Chicago public schools thousands of students are expected to
attend in person classes on Monday for the first time in 11 months. But
teachers' union is defying the district's orders, threatening not to show
up and to go on strike.

They say the school district safety plan doesn't go far enough. The union
is demanding that teachers be vaccinated before in person learning resumes.

Ahead of the next round of negotiations, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is asking
teachers to speak up and force the union to change its tone.

LORI LIGHTFOOT (D), MAYOR OF CHICAGO: We need you to work with us. We need
to talk to your leadership because we can't get there unless we get there
together.

TENNEY: Across the country, parents, teachers and school leaders are
pushing back on union efforts to keep students at home.

In Bellevue Washington, the teachers' union reversed course this week to
allow some in person learning after a growing number of its own members
spoke out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We felt that we were in the middle that the kids were
just caught in the crossfire, that families didn't have a voice.

TENNEY: In Loudoun County, Virginia after more than 6,000 school employees
received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, frustrated parents are
demanding the school board set a date for reopening against the wishes of
the union.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're a bunch of cowards hiding behind our children as
an excuse for keeping schools closed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am not asking you to remove any distance learning
options. But for those children where distance learning is failing them and
want to go back, let them go back to a learning environment where they can
thrive.

TENNEY: Today, Dr. Anthony Fauci again reiterated that study after study
has found that schools do not pose a high risk for transmitting the virus
and can reopen safely when safety protocols are followed.

But last night, President Biden's Chief of Staff suggested teachers' unions
are right to refuse returning to the classroom until they've been
vaccinated and until Congress approves Biden's $130 billion plan to help
schools reopen.

RON KLAIN, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I don't think unions are overruling
studies. I think what you're seeing is schools that haven't made the
investments to keep the students safe. And we as a country should make the
investments to make it safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TENNEY: Mayor Lightfoot isn't saying how the city will respond next week if
the teachers union goes on strike for the second time in two years. But
outside legal -- outside legal groups are already preparing to take legal
action on behalf of parents if schools close down, Bret.

BAIER: Garrett Tenney in Chicago. Garrett, thanks.

It was a down day on Wall Street today, which accelerated after the Federal
Reserve announced it would keep its low interest rate policies in place
even well after the economy has sustained a recovery from the pandemic.

The Dow had its worst day since October, losing 634. The S&P 500 dropped
99, the NASDAQ pledged 355.

There is a big money tug of war happening on Wall Street right now. It
involves investors who are waging some of their fortunes large and small on
the fortunes of a few select stocks.

Fox Business Correspondent Lauren Simonetti joins us tonight with the
amazing story of GameStop. Good evening, Lauren.

LAUREN SIMONETTI, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It truly
is amazing, Bret. And one of the reasons for the selloff we store -- we saw
today is market manipulation by amateur traders often stuck at home because
of the pandemic using online chat rooms like Reddit and popular apps like
Robinhood to take on the big institutional players like the hedge funds and
cause some of them to unwind their positions. It's really a David versus
Goliath matchup. And right now, David is winning.

So, GameStop that's the most heavily shorted name out there but it's not
the only target of this Reddit crowd which also includes Express,
BlackBerry, AMC Theaters. The retail traders are encouraging one another to
buy, buy, buy, forcing hedge funds to scramble to cover their short
positions. What that does is push up the price and the value of some
stocks. In ways, Bret, that defy logic.

GameStop shares up 13,000 percent from their 52-week low and stakeholder
Ryan Cohen who made a $76 million investment in GameStop which is a
struggling mall retailer. He made that investment last year, his stake now
worth $3.1 billion. Gains like that are becoming a headache for regulators.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Secretary Yellen and others are
monitoring the situation. It's a good reminder though, that the stock
market isn't the only measure of the health of our economic -- of our
economy. It doesn't reflect how working in middle class families are doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMONETTI (voice over): But it's emboldening the retail traders who might
be left holding the bag here. And that's why the top securities regulator
in Massachusetts is calling for a cooling off period saying "I really think
at this point, it calls upon the regulators, in this case, the New York
Stock Exchange to consider simply suspending it for a month and stop
trading it. These small and unsophisticated investors are probably going to
get hurt by this."

But Bret, will regulators allow them to get hurt? As experts debate if
indeed this is creating a bubble situation, how much risk does it pose to
the broader markets?

BAIER: That's a fair question. But there's also people out there obviously
that ask, is it fair to intervene in a market? You know, a market is a
market, or change the rules of the game when the little guy is making
money?

SIMONETTI: Yes, and I'm not sure there's a good answer to this one. But
what regulators have to do is make sure there is not systemic risk caused
by this.

So, let's say this speculative activity causes a big hedge fund to unwind,
that would be a major problem. And conversely, what to do if and when the
retail trader who doesn't have a license gets burned in the process.

BAIER: It's a fascinating story. Lauren, we appreciate it, thanks.

According to intelligence officials monitoring threats, there is apparently
a real possibility that the violence in and around the nation's Capitol is
not over, that's what they're saying. Lucas Tomlinson is at the Pentagon
tonight with details. Good evening, Lucas.

LUCAS TOMLINSON, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Good evening,
Bret. The Department of Homeland Security is warning a potentially more
attacks in the United States following the riot at the U.S. Capitol three
weeks ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOMLINSON (voice over): The Bulletin says "Information suggests that some
ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise
of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other
perceived grievances fueled by false narratives could continue to mobilize
to incite or commit violence."

Officials tell Fox News the new warning is centered around the historic
inauguration date of March 4th, when presidents used to be sworn in before
1937.

The fresh warning comes after the FBI and Secret Service requested National
Guard troops stay in D.C. until the end of March.

In a letter, the acting Army Secretary 12 House Republicans led by
Congressman Mike Waltz are demanding an explanation "The National Guard
should be used as an option of absolute last resort."

Head of the new DHS warning Senator Tom Cotton called these sending
deployments in overreaction.

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): I'm on the Senate Intelligence Committee, I've
consulted with Senate leadership. I don't -- I'm not aware of threat
reporting that suggests we need 7,000 troops and razor wire around the
Capitol.

TOMLINSON: In an interview with The Washington Post ahead of the D.C.
National Guards, the Pentagon restricted his authority to respond to those
January 6th riots, something Major General Walker did not mention at his
press conference Monday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOMLINSON (on camera): And DHS also says it has no information about any
specific credible threats. The new warning expires at the end of April,
Bret.

BAIER: Lucas Tomlinson at the Pentagon. Lucas, thanks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've done things wrong
in my life. I will admit, not purposely but I've done things wrong. But
this is what the end result is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: President Trump after his last impeachment trial in the Senate
holding up the Washington Post saying Trump acquitted.

Let's get some perspective tonight from historian Jay Winik about the
upcoming Senate trial and the current environment in Washington. Jay,
thanks for being here.

JAY WINIK, HISTORIAN: Greg, great to be here.

BAIER: What's your take of this senate trial as we begin, not next week,
the following week, how this is going to unfold?

WINIK: You know, I'm a little uncomfortable with the trial. You know, being
rough and tumble in American politics is nothing new. It's been like that
since the founders started the country.

But having said that, I think there's something that feels a little bit
vindictive, a little bit harsh in all this. And that's not really the
American way.

If you think of Richard Nixon, he was pardoned, and most historians now
agree. That was the right thing to do. And with Donald Trump, if you think
of where he is now, he's in Florida. He's a private citizen. He's been
disgraced before the world. He's under a cloud of personal disgrace. And
despite these legions of supporters, he is in many ways a man alone.

I think the Democrats would have been well just to let it be. And I feel
that a trial will only deepen the divides in the American public, rather
than healing. And we need right now is healing.

BAIER: That's interesting. I mean, some Democrats say it's just a matter of
principle. Some Republicans have joined them but clearly, it does not look
like they're going to get anywhere near the 17 senators that they'll need
to convict, at least right now as we look at it.

I want to play a soundbite from Joe Biden's inauguration speech and get you
to react.

WINIK: Go ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal
that we're all are created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism,
nativism, fear, demonization had long torn us apart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: A number of people lauded that speech, what was your take?
WINIK: You know, my feeling about the speech is that it was a solid speech.
I don't think it was the best speech of the last 20 or 30 years. It
certainly didn't approach anything like Abraham Lincoln's monumental first
inaugural or let alone his second inaugural. Of course, was in where he
talked about with charity for all. It was nothing like FDRs, we have
nothing to fear but fear itself speech. Let alone, Ronald Reagan's
government is not the answer.

Having said that, I think -- I think Biden did a couple of things well. I
think he spoke about unity which is laudable. It had a folksy quality to
it, and it was commendably optimistic. But having said that, there is
something about this speech I thought a little weirdly flattening. Almost
like poetry but without the poetry.

You know, presidents used to hang around -- used to huddle around the radio
to listen to FDR because they felt that he was a friend. Where the
(INAUDIBLE) he was a member of the family.

And I get the sense that probably many Democrats feel that way about Joe
Biden now. But to Democrats, that's the harder question. So, I suspect that
this elusive -- this quest for the elusive unity may prove to be a
(INAUDIBLE) in the end after all.

BAIER: Well, one of the biggest questions about unity is coming up. And
that is whether they try to get rid of the filibuster in the Senate, and
there's a lot of history there, you know it well.

WINIK: Right. Well, I feel very strongly about this question of the
filibuster. If you think of the halls of the Senate, in -- and then once
walk such great names as Stephen Douglas, as Charles Sumner, as Henry Clay.
And these are some of the great giants of American -- of American
governance.

And we see that debate is part of the DNA of American -- of the American
fabric. We should not be circumscribing debate; we should be encouraging
it.

BAIER: Jay Winik, historian, we thank you very much for being here.

WINIK: Thanks for having me, Bret.

BAIER: Still to come, a new secretary of state has major challenges waiting
for him with China and Iran. And up next, the report card on the
coronavirus response. Which states are passing, which are failing?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today is the shot. Hopefully, that would have happened
earlier. But now, we're just moving forward.

BILL DE BLASIO, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: We're just stuck right
now because we don't have supplies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Cancel culture has struck San Francisco public schools. The board
has voted six to one to remove the names of historical figures such as
George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson from the schools.

Supporters of the move say Washington and Jefferson were both slave owners.
And Lincoln who ended slavery, allegedly oppressed indigenous people.

The list also now includes California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein.
The elementary school bearing her name will be renamed over allegations she
replaced the damaged Confederate flag outside of city hall when she was the
city's mayor in 1986.

Current mayor, London Breed, rebukes the plan last October as offensive.
And said the board should be focused on re-opening schools instead of
renaming them.

California taxpayers have shelled out at least $11 billion, and perhaps, as
much as $30 billion in fraudulent unemployment claims since the pandemic
began. Auditors say the state's unemployment system has -- was targeted by
inmates and cybercriminals who filed bogus claims and then pocketed the
cash. One even claimed to be Senator Dianne Feinstein.

The woman who oversaw that system, State Labor Secretary Julie Su partially
blames the Trump administration and is now heading to Washington to take
the number two spot in President Biden's labor department.

As we told you earlier, the Biden administration is projecting as many as
90,000 Americans will die from the coronavirus in the next four weeks.
Officials say they are examining additional ways of speeding vaccine
production.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo says he will have a plan for the city's
restaurants by the end of the week. There's been tremendous controversy
over whether the restaurant should be open during the pandemic in New York.

There are increasing concerns in California about a new strain of the
coronavirus there. Media reports say multiple cases have been reported
across the State of California.

Tonight, a report card on the coronavirus pandemic. While some states are
experiencing big drops in infection rates and deaths, others are still
struggling. Correspond Gillian Turner takes a look.

GILLIAN TURNER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Last week,
California's Governor Gavin Newsom announced residents would not receive
the 50 million vaccine doses they've been counting on. Long lines of
driving vaccination sites are the new normal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED SCHUMMER, RESIDENT, CALIFORNIA: They're not even able to fulfill all
their first line recipients that are eligible now, you know. And you go,
what's going on?

TURNER: California's use just 40 percent of the 5.3 million doses allocated
by the federal government. It's among the five slowest states to vaccinate
according to the CDC.

The California is just one state of many that had been heralded as
effectively managing the pandemic. Maryland is another.

GOV. LARRY HOGAN (R-MD): The demand for vaccines. We'll continue to far
exceed the supply that will be available to us.

TURNER: Government figures show wealthy and highly educated Maryland is
well below average among states in getting shots into arms.

Neighboring West Virginia though, poorer and less educated overall is a
champion among states. It's now the first to provide vaccinations to every
nursing home resident.

CDC figures show several New England states and the Dakotas are among those
with the highest reported death rates. Yet, North Dakota has one of the
highest vaccination rates, having used 85 percent of its available doses.
But other mostly rural states with fewer hospitals have managed to keep
death rate relatively low. Including Utah, Kentucky, and Maine.

Florida, even with its large senior population has managed to keep death
rates in the middle of the pack among states, it ranks 26th. But challenges
remain. 75-year-old Nancy Smythe spends three to four hours a day trying to
score a vaccine appointment in Naples.

NANCY SMYTHE, RESIDENT, NAPLES, FLORIDA: It seems hopeless.

TURNER: At retirement haven, The Villages, a vaccination site closed
suddenly last weekend, leaving seniors racing for shots at drive-up sites
and supermarkets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We spent at least an hour on the phone, the two of us
just dialing, dialing, dialing until we finally got through to get the
first dose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TURNER (on camera): Asked at The World Economic Forum about the biggest
COVID challenge in the U.S. right now, Dr. Fauci said earlier this week
that mixed messaging has cost the nation dearly. He also said states have
responded inconsistently to the pandemic's challenges. Exactly what we're
talking about tonight, Bret.

BAIER: Gillian, thank you.

TURNER: You bet.

BAIER: Up next, the nation's new top diplomat starts to work with plenty of
challenges on his plate. We'll take you to the state department.

First, legendary actress and comedian Cloris Leachman has died. Leachman
won an Oscar for her role in The Last Picture Show. She was also the noisy
neighbor, Phyllis on the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Her publicist says Leachman died in her sleep of natural causes at her home
in California. Cloris Leachman was 94.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: A Census Bureau official says the numbers used for dividing
congressional seats among the states will not be ready until the end of
April. The deadline for turning in the apportionment numbers has been a
moving target since the pandemic upended the Census Bureau's once-a-decade
headcount.

The figures were supposed to be turned in at the end of last year, but the
Census Bureau requested until the end of April after the virus outbreak
caused the Bureau to suspend operations.

The country's new top diplomat is vowing to rebuild the ranks of foreign
service and rely on its expertise. But Secretary of State Tony Blinken is
inheriting a bundle of policy challenges on his first day at the new job.
State Department correspondent Rich Edson looks at some of them tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE:  I am honored to be your secretary. Now
let's get to work.

RICH EDSON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  That work involves a long list of
questions of how the United States will navigate the world under the Biden
administration, and confront China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea. At a
press conference on his first full day at State Department headquarters,
Secretary Antony Blinken says the administration is still evaluating much
of its approach.

BLINKEN:  We are reviewing a number of steps taken late in the last
administration.

EDSON:  As part of what the officials call a routine review, the State
Department has suspended some foreign arms sales, including weapons to
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Blinken also stressed that China
is committing genocide against its Uyghur population. He says the U.S. and
Chinese governments have a competitive and cooperative measure, and can
work together on issues like climate change, as Republicans pressure
Blinken to maintain the last administration's aggressive policies towards
China's government.

MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) SENATE MAJORITY LEADER:  We need Secretary Blinken
to keep clarifying the China threat and hold Beijing accountable for its
unacceptable repression in places like Tibet and Hong Kong, and hostility
towards Taiwan.

EDSON:  They are also major challenges in the Middle East. This week the
Pentagon dispatched another B-52 bomber over the Persian Gulf in a
demonstration to deter Iranian aggression. The bomber departed yesterday
from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

EDSON (on camera):  This week Iran's government demanded the United States
return to complying with the 2015 nuclear agreement. Secretary Blinken says
Iran must do so before the United States would consider reentering the
deal. The secretary acknowledged that would take some time. Bret?

BAIER:  Rich Edson at the State Department, Rich, thank you.

Up next, the panel on President Joe Biden's energy and climate change
actions. First, here's what some of our FOX affiliates around the country
are covering tonight. FOX 2 in Detroit as one of six men charged in an
alleged plot to snatch Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer pleads guilty to
a kidnapping conspiracy. Ty Garbin appeared in federal court in Grand
Rapids a few hours after prosecutors filed a plea agreement loaded with
details about that operation and his pledge to cooperate with
investigators.

FOX 2 in San Francisco as Oakland International Airport becomes the first
in the U.S. to sell COVID test kits in vending machines. Customers take the
test on their own, then return saliva samples via FedEx. They will receive
results on a mobile phone app. Test kits range from $130 to $150.

And this is a live look at New Orleans from FOX 8, our affiliate down
there. One of the big stories there tonight, thousands of houses are being
decorated as floats after the coronavirus outbreak canceled the elaborate
parades during the carnival season around Mardi Gras. So the so-called
house float movement started almost as soon as a New Orleans spokesman
announced last November that the parades were off. They still have the
spirit down there.

That's tonight's live look outside the beltway from SPECIAL REPORT. We'll
be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  When I think of climate
change, I think of answers to it, I think of jobs. A key plank of our build
back better recovery plan is building a modern, resilient climate
infrastructure and clean energy future that will create millions of good
paying union jobs.

SEN. STEVE DAINES, (R-MT) SENATE ENERGY COMMITTEE:  It's 11,000 jobs that
are cut with one stroke of the pen of President Biden. It looks like
President Biden is working on make America unemployed again kind of
strategy, thinking more about Saudi Arabian workers than Montana workers
and U.S. workers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  Nineteen executive orders now, and actions, you've got 24 executive
orders total over the last eight days, two of them today on climate change
to deal with the Interior Secretary pausing entering new oil and gas leases
on public lands or offshore waters, and review all existing fossil fuel
development, directs federal agencies to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies,
and environmental justice, it's described, directs federal agencies to
develop programs, policies, and activities to address the disproportionate
health, environmental, economic, and climate impacts of disadvantaged
communities.

The Keystone XL pipeline, which we know was one that got eliminated as far
as the construction from October, the total number of American union
workers constructing Keystone XL will exceed $8,900,000,000 in gross wages.
In total, Keystone XL is expected to employ more than 11,000 Americans in
this year, creating $1.6 billion in gross wages. That obviously not the
case now.

Let's bring in our panel, Byron York, chief political correspondent for the
"Washington Examiner," Mara Liasson, national political correspondent for
National Public Radio, and Ben Domenech, publisher of "The Federalist."

These are executive actions, executive order, Ben, but they are having
significant impacts in these different communities especially.

BEN DOMENECH, "THE FEDERALIST":  Absolutely they are. And I spoke today
with some senior officials from the Trump administration and on Capitol
Hill who were engaged on this. They view this as being very ill thought in
terms of the approach. You can talk what you want to, as John Kerry did
today, about wanting to address climate change, but there is nothing in
this that is about science or technology. Instead, it seems more like a
recipe to just kill one of the most thriving areas of the American economy
over the past decade, which is of course the arena of natural gas.

Going to all these different workers and just saying they are going to need
to learn the code or learn to make solar panels is really not a solution.
And there is another area of this that I think speaks to what is going to
be an ongoing dynamic with the Biden administration, which is they talk a
good game when it comes to satisfying what progressives want to hear from
them. But then when it comes to actually implementing the policy, they are
not willing to go quite that far. So you already saw a carve out within
this four tribal lands, for instance, something that is going to be a big
issue going forward. And I think that that is going to continue to be an
issue for the Biden administration as they try to satisfy their left flank
while still speaking to the more corporatist supporters that they have.

BAIER:  You mentioned John Kerry, former secretary of state, now climate
advisor, climate czar, if you want to call him, talking about, asked a
question about the thousands of jobs that are being lost.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL CLIMATE ENVOY:  You look at the
consequences of black lung for a minor, for instance, and measure that
against the fastest growing job in the United States before COVID was solar
power technician. The same people can do those jobs -- 75 percent, 70
percent of all the electricity that has come online in the United States in
the last few years came from renewables. Coal plants have been closing over
the last 20 years. So what President Biden wants to do is make sure those
folks have better choices, that they have alternatives, that they can be
the people who go to work to make the solar panels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  They can make the solar panels, Mara. How do you think that flies
in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, those different states?

MARA LIASSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: 
That is going to be the big question. Joe Biden repeated again today tha
the wasn't against fracking. He wasn't going to stop that. He cares about
Pennsylvania, not just because he's from there. It's a really important
electoral state. And this is going to be a big test.

I think it is kind of unrealistic to say that every coal miner can learn to
code. I think it's less unrealistic to say coal miners can learn to work
and create solar panels. So the big question is, because there is going to
disruption, as John Kerry says, coal jobs are already disappearing. Donald
Trump did not reverse the decline of the coal industry during his four
years in office.

So will there be a big push to pour resources into these communities that
are going through these dislocations as we move to an economy that is not
dependent on fossil fuels over time? That is going to be a big test for
Biden. The difference is between now and when Obama tried to do these
things, he's got the auto industry, he has Wall Street, he has a lot of
industry. The Chamber of Commerce had nice things to say about this plan.
So things could be different now.

BAIER:  Yes, time does change that. Byron, elections do have consequences,
but there are concerns. Here is a back and forth with Senator John Barrasso
and the incoming energy secretary, if she gets confirmed, Jennifer
Granholm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO, (R-WY):  I'm just curious how a long-term ban
consistent with the president's goal of unifying the country and putting
Americans back to work and helping our economies grow, how is that all
consistent?

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, ENERGY SECRETARY NOMINEE: I know that part of what Joe
Biden has put together is a sort of SWAT team inside of the federal
government to focus on communities that have powered in America, and to
make sure that we don't leave those workers behind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  Byron, thoughts?

BRYON YORK, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER":  Well,
when the president took office, he said he is facing four consecutive or
simultaneous crises. There is COVID, and then there is the related economic
crisis because of COVID. There's the climate crisis, and then the racial
equity crisis. I think most Americans would agree that the first two are
the most urgent right now.

So I think today, being climate day at the White House, was a little bit
happy talk for the Democratic base that wants to see the president doing
this sort of thing. The whole green jobs talk that Secretary Kerry gave was
very reminiscent from the first days of the Obama administration when they
had a hired Van Jones to be the green jobs czar. That whole thing didn't
work out all that well.

So I think the new president has clearly taken real actions like the
Keystone pipeline, he's actually gotten back in with the Paris agreement,
so there is some real action. But a lot of this is actually talk to make
the Democratic base feel like the president is acting on their issue.

BAIER:  Yes, as we have said many times, the biggest things happen through
legislation in Congress. And with such slim majorities, Ben, there is
concern about how this would get packaged. Would they try to use
reconciliation on something for climate change, somehow saying it is a
budget item? There is a lot of possibilities here.

DOMENECH:  Again, this is a situation where I think, to Byron's point, they
want to send a message without necessarily doing the things that are going
to have as much immediate ramifications and actual results. Again, if we
are going to have solutions on climate, it is going to be about science and
about technology. It's not going to be about nuking the American natural
gas industry. And it's not going to be something that I think has these
kinds of carve outs and trying to give people leeway one way or the other.

Even this approach that was originally favored would have much more
extended timeline. Instead, they just have a year-long pause. It is
basically the equivalent of the Obamacare message, if you like your plan,
you can keep it. If you like your current drilling plan, you are supposed
to be able to keep it. But we have heard that before from Joe Biden
himself, and I don't think that the industry has a lot of faith in that
going forward.

BAIER:  Panel, stand by. Up next, looking at how individual states are
dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA PERALES, CHICAGO TEACHER:  The reality is that we have the privilege
to be able to work from home. We have been teaching effectively since
March, almost one year, from the safety of our homes.

MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT, (D) CHICAGO:  The CTU union's leadership has made it
clear that despite the data and science confirming the safety of in-person
learning in the schools, they have determined that pre-k and cluster
teachers should not report tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  A Chicago teacher and the Chicago mayor saying they are not going
back to school this week. The CTU is the union, the teachers' union there.
And teachers' unions around the country are making those decisions.

We are back with our panel. Mara, this seems like constant issue not just
in one section of the country but all sections where parents are dealing
with this and teachers unions and teachers are dealing with the safety
issues.

LIASSON:  Yes, there is no single thing that symbolizes returning to normal
or getting past the pandemic then sending your kid back to school. I can't
think of anything else. And parents want to go back, kids want to go back.
You have to figure out how to do it safely. Joe Biden says he has asked
Congress for money to ventilate schools, clean schools, social distance
schools, things that are going to make teachers feel safe.

But we don't have any evidence that there has been community spread in
schools. Schools seem to be relatively safe, but they have got to open with
certain protection. So that is the name of the game. When schools open,
people are going to feel like we are getting back to normal.

BAIER:  White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain was on another network, asked
about this, and said the teachers unions have a right to be concerned
because there's not enough money. That was his answer, Byron.

YORK:  And Klain acted like schools shouldn't reopen until Congress passes
the relief bill and money can flow. It took an awfully long time to pass a
COVID relief bill last year. And so it is just extraordinary. And this
situation appears to be getting worse. Not only do you have the situation
in Chicago, but you have this extraordinary situation in San Francisco
where the school board spent hours and hours debating taking the names of
historical figures off of schools, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,
Abraham Lincoln, taking those off of the school, making a plan to implement
it when they do not have a plan to even reopen the schools. So you have a
school district spending hours on the name of a closed down school.

BAIER:  Even the San Francisco mayor saying they should spend more time on
reopening rather than renaming. Ben, what about the vaccine distribution
and the outlook for how that is going to move to these different states?

DOMENECH:  Look, I think that we can obviously see that there has been
problems in the way that these states have gone about approaching vaccine
distribution. The differences in the methods that they have used and the
way that they've prioritized different populations, I think, can obviously
be criticized.

But in this current dynamic, what you were talking about with these public
sector unions and the school experience, my daughter is far too young to be
going to a public educational institution, but if she was old enough, I
would be tearing my hair out at the insanity of the approach that has been
used here. We know from evidence around the world, as Mara said, that this
can be done safely. It can be done responsibly. And it can get us back to
normal, not just in terms of our living experiences but in terms of the
economy as well. That can be done. It is very much possible.

Instead, we have these teachers' union who have completely politicized the
scenario, essentially demanding ransom dollars, that they get more and more
money thrown their way in order to reopen and to establish normalcy again.
I just can't imagine a worse example of the kind of way that these schools
need to be able to serve their communities.

BAIER:  A number of private schools are doing it around the country as well
tonight. Panel, standby.

When we come back, a look at tomorrow's headlines tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER:  Finally tonight, a look at tomorrow's headlines, at least what the
panel thinks they will be. Mara, first to you.

LIASSON:  I think there will be a headline somewhere that says Joe Biden's
approval rating in the mid-50s hitting an achievement that Trump never
reached. We don't know how long this will last. I think presidential
honeymoons are things of the past, but so far he is having one.

BAIER:  Byron?

YORK:  My headline is "GameStop overtakes Amazon as world's richest
company."

(LAUGHTER)

YORK:  I want to be clear that it's a joke.

LIASSON:  That's good.

YORK:  At least I think it's a joke.

BAIER:  That's such a crazy story. All right, Ben?

DOMENECH:  Joe Biden responds to serious questions from reporter with your
mom joke.

(LAUGHTER)

YORK:  He has responded to questions from Zeke Miller, Bo Erickson, and now
FOX's own Peter Doocy by being dismissive. It's clearly going to be a
dynamic and this administration.

BAIER:  All right, thank you panel, those were some good ones.

Thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. That's it for this SPECIAL
REPORT, fair, balanced, and unafraid. FOX NEWS PRIMETIME hosted by Maria
Bartiromo this week starts right now.

END

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