'Special Report' on Biden's economic policies, NYC reversing defund police precinct

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Fox News Washington correspondent Rich Edson has the details on 'Special Report'

This is a rush transcript from "Special Report" May 18, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BAIER: The House minority leader talking about the economy under the Biden
administration. President Biden touting what he says is the recovery.

We are back with the panel, Ben, Katie, and Jonathan. Katie, your thoughts
first of where we are as we are getting ready for a lot of negotiations and
a lot of big things.

KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, President Joe Biden today and
throughout his presidency and on the campaign trail touted the idea that he
was for the working class. But that F-150 Lightning that he got into today
cost a minimum of $70,000 to purchase and buy. And who drives F-150s? The
working class, the middle class, people who need to get back and forth to
work, people who do hard jobs that require manual labor.

So this idea now that the federal government is going to try and mandate or
coerce private companies to not just sell these vehicles but for people to
buy them is going to be very difficult considering the front end cost of
that. You add in then this inflation on regular everyday goods, whether
it's building supplies, food, or other necessary items on top of the gas
shortage that we just saw, I'm not sure it's going to be an easy sell for
the president when he is up on Capitol Hill trying to get Democrats who
represent working class districts in tough elections for 2022, especially
in the House, to get on board with this plan.

BAIER: Speaking of Democrats, you had the Senate Majority Leader, Chuck
Schumer, touting the need to repeal the state and local tax that effects a
lot of blue states, including his own in New York. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D-NY) SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I am strongly for the
SALT repeal, the cap be removed, and will do everything I can to get it
done.

It was a dagger into the heart of blue states.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (D-VT): It sends a terrible, terrible message. So
ultimately what you have got to do, and in fairness to Schumer and Pelosi,
it is hard when you have tiny margins. But you have got to make it clear
which side you are on. And you can't be on the side of the wealthy and the
powerful if you are going to really fight for working families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Well, Jonathan, you are crucial to both panels tonight with that
interview with Bernie Sanders on Sunday, where he's saying it's just not
going to fly.

JONATHAN SWAN, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "AXIOS": Yes, and it's not
really a close call when you analyze this -- what the effects of the repeal
of the state and local tax deduction would be. They disproportionately
benefit wealthy residents of blue states. This was politically one of the
smartest things the Trump administration did because it not only gave them
billions and billions of dollars of revenue, it put these blue state
Democrats in really difficult positions, particularly in the northeast, and
also you have in California.

And you have progressives, real progressives, like Bernie Sanders and
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who have come out against the SALT. And so it's
really created an intraparty dispute. And, look, Biden did not put the SALT
repeal into his plan, but there's a real push on Capitol Hill from Schumer,
Pelosi, and a bunch of members from some of these blue states that are
affected who are going to try to put this in the infrastructure bill. It
puts them in a really tough position because their whole positioning is we
are for the working class. It's impossible when you just look at where the
money of that repeal goes to make that argument for the state and local
tax.

BAIER: Yes, Ben?

BEN DOMENECH, PUBLISHER, "THE FEDERALIST": The working class has been hit
enormously hard by this pandemic to a degree that we didn't see for the
middle and upper classes in America. Their schools were closed so they
couldn't go to work. They didn't have the ability to fall back on working
from home to the same degree as wealthier Americans did. And I think in the
early days of this Biden economy, we are seeing an approach that,
unfortunately, is going to lead to increasing problems for the working
class in America.

You're juicing the economy to a great degree. You are seeing inflationary
rises in prices for goods that you have to buy, that you need in order to
live and work. And I think that while there are a lot of Americans who are
insulated from this, this is not the kind of thing that you can survive in
the long term if you are a working class American. I think that Bernie
Sanders understands that. And while we disagree on terms of the economic
direction that we ought to take as a country, I think he is a lot closer to
the reality on this than, frankly, President Biden is.

BAIER: Katie, when it comes to Republicans, there is a lot of focus on
looking backwards at the last election and the split in the Republican
Party about how to look about that and how to talk about it and January
6th. But do you think the Republicans are singing from the same sheet of
music when it comes to the economy and fighting the Biden administration on
that?

PAVLICH: Absolutely. The majority of Republicans want to move forward.
That's why they eliminated Liz Cheney from the leadership. They want to
move past January 6th and they want to combat the left and President Joe
Biden's policies with a united front.


BAIER: Panel, thanks so much. Two panels, thank you.

When we come back, a bipartisan effort to help and honor America's finest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Those who say Congress cannot get anything done because of
partisanship may be interested in this story. It involves members of both
parties working together to honor and provide for the troops. Here is Lucas
Tomlinson.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

LUCAS TOMLINSON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Since 2003, Operation Gratitude
has delivered over 3 million care packages to deployed forces.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We honor you, sir. We try to do all we can to bring
joy.

TOMLINSON: Janice (ph) Chance (ph) who lost her son in Afghanistan joined
a group of bipartisan lawmakers at the D.C. Armory to show their gratitude.

REP. MIKE WALTZ, (R-FL): From the political standpoint, I think this is
important for Americans to see. We have got Republicans, Democrats, no
matter whether we're getting past impeachment, January 6th, you name the
contentious issue, we're willing to set that aside and focus on our men and
women downrange.

REP. SETH MOULTON, (D-MA): I'm a proud veteran and proud member of
Congress here to help serve our troops. Our troops are fighting overseas
every single day today in the longest war in American history, and a lot of
Americans have forgotten about them. We haven't.

REP. AUGUST PFLUGER, (R-TX): Regardless of what side of the aisle we may
fall on, we are all Americans first.

REP. VAN TAYLOR, (R-TX): The For Country Caucus is a bipartisan caucus,
approximately half Republican, half Democrat, and we are all bound by our
service to our country in uniform. And we come from all branches and parts
of the country, and we're here to serve.

TOMLINSON: It took over 100 years for a World War I memorial to open in
the nation's capital. It took roughly 60 years for a World War II memorial.
But for one Gold Star mom and many lawmakers, a memorial is needed in D.C.
to honor the thousands killed in combat since the 9/11 attacks.

Let's get it done. Let's get this memorial up so when people drive past
they will know that memorial is because someone died for my freedom.

TOMLINSON: For a few hours on Capitol Hill, both sides of the aisle came
together.

In Washington, Lucas Tomlinson, FOX News.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BAIER: We need more of that, bipartisan action.

Tomorrow on SPECIAL REPORT, President Biden's commission on U.S. Supreme
Court expansion holds its first meeting, so is it destined for failure or
does it have a chance?

Finally tonight, I am excited to reveal the cover of my new book coming out
in October. It is not a three-day series, but it is about a critical but
largely overlooked moment in history, and a consequential but often
misunderstood leader. The title is "To Rescue the Republic, Ulysses S.
Grant, The Fragile Union, and The Crisis of 1876." In his final weeks in
office, President Grant faced this crisis that threatened to undo, really,
his life's work, that contested presidential election of 1876. "To Rescue
the Republic" now available for preorder wherever you order books. Thanks,
coming in October.

Thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. That is it for this SPECIAL
REPORT, fair, balanced, and unafraid. FOX NEWS PRIMETIME hosted by Will
Cain starts in 15 seconds. I'm giving you a little bank here because I know
you have a great show.

WILL CAIN, FOX NEWS HOST: I'd love to use that time to ask you, do I have
to go purchase that wonderful new book by Bret Baier, or will one magically
appear in my office?

BAIER: One is coming your way, Will. One is coming your way.

CAIN: I'm so excited. The perks of this job. Thank you, Bret.

(LAUGHTER)

BAIER: See you, buddy.

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