Federal judge says New York officials were wrong to limit worship services while condoning protests

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Federal judge says New York officials were wrong to limit worship services while condoning protests

Judge Gary Sharpe issues an injunction holding that New York state's coronavirus lockdown policies illegally discriminated against worshippers; reaction from civil rights lawyer Harmeet Dhillon.

This is a rush transcript from "Tucker Carlson Tonight," June 26, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BRIAN KILMEADE, GUEST HOST: Hi, everybody and welcome to a live "Tucker Carlson Tonight." I'm Brian Kilmeade. I will be filling in for Tucker this evening.

Top story. Coronavirus cases are hitting new highs in several Sunbelt States. Dr. Marc Siegel will be here in just about a minute to break down what this all means and whether we should prepare for renewed lockdowns. Hold your breath.

But first, if leaders try to call for new lockdowns, they are going to have a really hard time getting people to follow them because they've completely revealed their total and their own hypocrisy.

Now yesterday for example, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser begged the public to spend July 4th inside and away from others.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER, D-DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Large gatherings are still a high risk activity. So, if you're outdoors, that's still a high risk activity. So we want to urge people to properly social distance and to avoid public transportation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: Okay, but Bowser had the complete opposite message just a few weeks ago when she personally participated in a massive Black Lives Matter protest that may have spread the virus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: The Mayor of Washington D.C., Muriel Bowser and where was she today? She was out on the streets of her city. You see her in the green shirt marching in unison with the demonstrators in the area she has now officially designated as Black Lives Matter Plaza and that's only steps away from the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: How could that have been? That's the perfect social distance, I believe we've been told to have. None of this is a surprise. Top Democratic lawmakers have consistently treated the lockdowns as rules for other people to follow.

Remember when Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot explained to her special right to get a haircut?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT, D-CHICAGO: I'm the public face of this city. I'm on national media, and I'm out in the public eye. And, you know, I'm a person who -- I take my personal hygiene very seriously.

As I said, I felt like I needed to have a haircut. I'm not able to do that myself and so I got a haircut.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: Every step of the way, coronavirus health has taken a backseat to politics. CNN spent months condemning Americans who wanted to see friends or hold worship services, but then was ecstatic over mass protests a month ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: America's major cities are filled with people demanding this country become more fair, more just.

And please, show me where it says that protests are supposed to be polite and peaceful? Because I think can show you that outraged citizens are the ones who have made America what she is and led to any major milestones.

They're here to yell, criticize, blame, and shame.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: So don't -- do not get it twisted and think that oh, this is some -- something that has not -- never happened before, and that this is so terrible and where are we and these savages and all of that? This is how this country was started.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: Exactly. We were started by wrecking Rodeo Drive. Everybody knows that. On this show, in April, Tucker confronted New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy on his state's draconian anti-religion rules. Remember?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, HOST: Large gatherings are banned. But liquor stores are deemed an essential service.

You have closed church services and synagogue services and arrested people for attempting to attend them. Did anyone say that maybe practicing your faith might be important to someone's mental health?

GOV. PHIL MURPHY, D-N.J.: Listen, I think we've had a very good -- good common ground with faith leaders of literally every faith who understand this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: Yes, everyone understood, we can drink instead of going to church. Fortunately, the tide is finally turning.

Today, Federal Judge Gary Sharpe issued an injunction in favor of two Catholic priests, three Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn holding that New York State's lockdown policies illegally discriminated against worshippers.

Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio openly condoned protests in New York City, not too into the religious thing. De Blasio who even joined the Black Lives Matter march on June 4th without wearing a face mask -- boy is he tall. Meanwhile, they continue to suppress ordinary religious worships and all services.

Thanks to the judge's ruling, religious groups have to be subject only to the same restrictions other organizations and businesses are, and the state is barred from restricting outdoor gatherings of any kind as long as participants adhere to social distancing guidelines.

Get this, actually a fair ruling. Harmeet Dhillon is a professional attorney. She's a civil rights lawyer. All right, Harmeet, I think you found justice in that ruling. Am I right?

HARMEET DHILLON, CIVIL RIGHTS LAWYER: Absolutely. And I want to give kudos to Chris Farrar and the Thomas More Society. They're the lawyers who got that ruling today. You know, they've been side by side with us in some other cases as well.

I've sued the governor of Virginia, of New Jersey, of California, of Hawaii on similar issues, and unfortunately, it's been hard to get judges to see it the right way. But I guess the hypocrisy had reached the level of outrage in New York that this judge saw it correctly. And kudos to him for finally recognizing what many judges before him should have recognized.

CARLSON: Harmeet, we went like sheep. We never went through a pandemic before. We looked it up in our history books to find out how to handle it. We never really knew why we were go able to go to a liquor store or a Target, but we couldn't go to Dick's Sporting Goods.

We just said okay, I guess that's it, businesses will suffer and the big businesses won't, but that's not going to happen this time. Correct?

DHILLON: Well, I mean, some of us didn't say that. I went to court in the first month, and I've been doing it regularly, and so have many of my clients and the fact that you can go to the marijuana store and the alcohol store, and many other kinds of stores from day one, because those stores have good lobbyists and connections with the governor, and you could not go to church, you could not protest. That's another case that we are suing in California, and you could not do so many other activities, get married, go to a funeral.

These are life and death activities for many Americans. And governors just trashed those Civil Rights with no consideration other than political, and I think it has turned out to be politically expedient for many of these governors to hype up this drama over COVID, which is a serious illness, but frankly, they're not taking seriously when it comes to protests that they like.

Ad governors are going to begin to get rebuked in the court because of that, as our Attorney General for defending these indefensible policies.

KILMEADE: So you feel good about this ruling. Are you surprised it came from Albany against Albany?

DHILLON: No, I'm not surprised. You know, the thing about Federal judges is each Federal judge is a life-tenured judge, and it is one by one and they make their own decisions.

And so, you know, this judge was brave. There have been many other judges, by the way appointed by Republicans who, for one reason or the other decided that they couldn't confront the governors.

I think the Governor of New Jersey is equally egregious. Certainly, the Governor of California is even worse. He's egged on these protests, and he has massively violated rights and he has barred protest against himself.

To date, that has been the position of the Governor and he has gotten away with it and Federal judge after Federal judge, I think I filed 15 lawsuits, and it's been an uphill battle.

But hopefully, the tide is turning now. This is a great joy for the three Orthodox Jewish plaintiffs and the two Catholic priests who stepped forward to assert not only their own rights, but of course, the rights of all of their parishioners.

You know, Brian, people have been arrested in America for driving their cars into a church parking lot and parking there and listening to worship and listening to prayer. That's outrageous, and it's unconstitutional.

And one day, hopefully, the Courts of Appeals in this country will step forward and make that the rule. You know, Governor -- sorry -- Chief Justice Roberts gave us a pretty bad concurring opinion on this freedom of religion.

But I think where the balance is so egregious, like you had in New York, I think this decision will be upheld if it is appealed to the Second Circuit.

KILMEADE: And lastly, I know this is not your specialty, but just your gut feeling in all your years of experience, what's the motivation with the double standard? What's behind it?

DHILLON: Oh, I think that's easy. It is that it is politically expedient for governors to shut down everything and make people dependent on the government. That's blue state governors.

But where they got tripped up is that they've treated COVID like a switch, they can turn on and off. They turned it off for Black Lives Matters protests and what they're doing is endangering lives, Brian, because if citizens don't take the warnings of health officials seriously and if they're not proportional, then they will not take them serious.

It'll be the boy who cried wolf problem. They will not take them seriously when they need to. That's the risk that these governors have created.

So they need to back off, check themselves and really focus on protecting people who are vulnerable, making rules that we can all follow and stopping the interference with our First Amendment, equal protection and other constitutional rights.

KILMEADE: You know, earlier today, the press conference and the Coronavirus Taskforce had a presser after that to talk about how they are countering the rising cases in Texas and Florida. That's why this segment is so important.

We know what just happened in the spring and we've got to find out what our rights are now that it is heating up again, pun intended, in the summer.

Now, when it comes to a political agenda, I don't think anything was as transparent as the outrage seen on others. Even this when we saw people partying especially in Florida during spring break, but yet we saluted and not in on manys in other networks, when they were destroying things -- literally destroying Fifth Avenue and destroying Rodeo Drive, ransacking Minneapolis.

Not one person, not one anchor said, you know, I'm really worried about the virus on top of that. It was, wow, look at that outrage.

I don't think the political agenda has ever been more transparent. Final thought on this.

DHILLON: No, you're absolutely right. They have mocked states like Florida without really drilling into the details. They're the ones who made a mockery of science and a mockery of the law. It's time to stop and it's time for Americans to assert their rights in a respectful and appropriate way while staying safe -- Brian.

KILMEADE: It's so good to have a court case go in my view the right direction, and of course your view. Great way to start the show. Harmeet, great job. Have a fantastic weekend.

DHILLON: Thank you, Brian.

KILMEADE: Big story today as we mentioned at the top of the show. The breakdown of the latest coronavirus numbers and it's not good.

We turn to medical contributor, Dr. Marc Siegel. Dr. Siegel, here we are. The states that we were saluting are now finding themselves in trouble. States like North Carolina, states like Texas, states like Florida and they've already taken some action.

Could you talk about what you gleaned from the Coronavirus Taskforce today?

DR. MARC SIEGEL, FOX NEWS MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Brian, we've been looking at this since February when Tucker sent me out to Nebraska. And at that time, we figured out that there was a lot of community spread that no one was reporting.

So the Centers for Disease Control today saying that there's 10 times more COVID-19 out there than we ever realized, is in keeping with what we thought back then.

But here's what that means. That means a lot of asymptomatic spread. So I think Dr. Fauci, today was right to talk about pool testing where you actually look at a person who has it and everyone around them gets tested. That's the way we can track this and help to prevent spread. So that's very, very important.

Now, I've been following a lot of COVID-19 cases in my practice. I want to talk about one single case because we've had some -- a lot of problems as you say, 10 states are pausing their reopening. We took a close look at Texas last night, but Governor Abbott of Texas has done something very good today.

He is closing down the bars. He is limiting the restaurants to 50 percent of capacity. Florida closing down the bars. Maine is talking about doing the same thing.

But I had a patient in Florida, Brian, who was in one of these bars. And you know what happened? He was shouting, and he wasn't wearing a mask and he wasn't socially distancing. And somehow he spread it to someone else in the bar, who then ended up spreading it to someone who is in a higher risk group who ended up in the hospital. Now, thank God, Brian, that patient is doing fine.

The biggest problem with COVID-19 right now in these emerging hotspots is not death, because we're not seeing a rise in the death rate. That's very low. But we're seeing a rise in the hospitalization rate and that gums up the hospitals so that elective procedures can't be done.

And, Brian, we call them elective, but they're not really. A lot of them are semi-urgent. Heart procedures that we need. A hernia that's causing tremendous pain. Cancer, we need to get the cancer out before it is spread. These are the things we worry about.

So Governor Abbott of Texas was put in a position to have to do that to some of the hospitals. But I have a message to my friend/patient in the bars down there in Florida, you spread this unwittingly to the hospitals.

My message is, I would rather you don't share a drink. I would rather have the capacity to operate on a patient who needs it. Let's save lives. Not share drinks -- Brian.

KILMEADE: And lastly, Dr. Siegel, real quick. The survival rate is getting better. I think now if you get it, it used to be a six percent death rate. Now, it's down to a five percent. Does that tell you perhaps the virus is getting weaker or the people that are getting it younger?

SIEGEL: Both of those is true. I think the virus may be getting weaker. I think we're seeing it in younger people. I think we're diagnosing it earlier and I think we're offering treatments like never before. All is great. But we have to keep it so that our hospitals are not overwhelmed so we can also do our surgeries and procedures -- Brian.

KILMEADE: Yes, we'll keep an eye on Houston. That's the biggest concern right now. Dr. Siegel, always great. Have a great weekend.

SIEGEL: Thank you, Brian.

KILMEADE: You've got it. Meanwhile, straight ahead this. Despite the rise in cases, U.S. airlines are fighting to get back to normal ahead of the July 4th weekend.

We're going to tell you how they're trying to accommodate travelers while containing the virus. Can they do that? That story just ahead.

And the Trump administration has promised new steps to protect statues from being destroyed by violent mobs. That story next. Keep your fingers crossed it's going to work.

Plus, New York is returning to anarchy it suffered from decades ago. But Mayor de Blasio has got bigger priorities, like painting the street outside Trump Tower. That's just ahead as our live special continues. So happy he is our mayor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KILMEADE: All right, violent mobs have been defacing, damaging and destroying statues all around the country with virtual impunity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): What began in other states is now happening in Colorado.

At the entrance to Druid Hill Park, George Washington draped in red paint.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Protesters toppled statues and vandalized the Music Concourse Area, Friday night.

Videos posted to social media show the moment Francis Scott Key was dragged to the ground. Protesters knocked down the statue of former President and Civil War General, Ulysses S. Grant and the statue of Junipero Serra.

One man climbs onto the pedestal of the statue and dumps a bucket of red paint on the head of Christopher Columbus. The other man spray paints the word genocide below his feet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: Is this doing anything to defeat racism? Helping the memory of George Floyd?

In a recent interview, BET founder, Robert Johnson, billionaire expressed his doubts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT JOHNSON, FOUNDER, BET: ... while having fun that they can go out and pull down a statue and have the mistaken assumption that black people are sitting around cheering for them saying, oh my God, look at these white people. They're doing something so important to us. They're taking down a statue of a Civil War General who fought for the South.

You know, black people, in my opinion black people laugh at while people who do this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: Now tonight, the Trump administration has announced new efforts to halt the mob violence. The D.O.J. is launching a task force targeting, quote, "anti-government extremists."

While the Executive Order signed today is meant to enforce existing laws against destroying public monuments, the Trump administration also promises to cut off certain Federal funds for city, states and law enforcement bodies that refuse to protect statues and those monuments who we saw being ripped down.

David Marcus is a correspondent at The Federalist and joins us now.

David, the big story tonight is supposed to be the takedown of the Lincoln Emancipation statue with a slave. His name is Archer Alexander and he is now -- he was then free. He was modeled in for that and he is supposed to be a guy according to the man who designed it, depicting a muscular man, fist clenched, in part breaking his own chains under the guiding arm of Abraham Lincoln.

For some reason, people were offended by that; not in 1876, but in 2020. What do you expect to happen tonight?

DAVID MARCUS, CORRESPONDENT, THE FEDERALIST: I think that the statute is going to be fine because thankfully, both the Trump administration and law enforcement are now doing their job as they should have been doing for the last several weeks as these statues fell.

But listen, this is very important. This is not new in history. We saw this in Russia. We saw this in China. We saw this in Venezuela.

First, they topple the statues, then they start killing people, and then they take your rights away and the people who will tell you that that's an exaggeration are the very same people who three years ago, told us nobody would ever go after Thomas Jefferson or George Washington. They mocked President Trump for even suggesting it.

And today, you and I are having a serious conversation about the potential removal of a statue of Abraham Lincoln. It's insane, Brian.

KILMEADE: I am watching video and have for the last four days of Ulysses S. Grant being dragged down, perhaps, because his wife's family had slaves. He also won the Civil War and was a very -- he was an incredible President in terms of trying to do the best he can to enforce reconstruction in post- Civil War America.

We also watched things like Francis Scott Key be ripped down, the guy who wrote the National Anthem, who was a lawyer at the time, who represented people like Sam Houston.

We watched as Lincoln and Washington were tore down in Portland, and out west, and these people are not only showing how angry they are, they're also showing how ignorant they are. They never took a Social Studies or History class. They have no idea what they're doing. There's no rhyme or reason. There's no mission statement. It's anti-American statement.

MARCUS: Well, unfortunately, they did take History and Social Studies classes, but over the past 20 years, those classes have stopped being really about teaching history, and have become about teaching the kind of cultural Marxism, where the United States is the most evil force in the world.

And so you have this whole generation of people who were taught that. I mean, that's where the problem lies. I have a 10-year-old son, and I don't want him to learn that, but those chickens are coming home to roost.

KILMEADE: David, what are you doing this weekend in New York City to help the Teddy Roosevelt statue stay at the Museum of Natural History?

MARCUS: Well, on Sunday at noon, I'm going to be there with some other prominent conservative figures from the New York area, as well as I hope some Democrats because I don't think most of the Democratic Party is on board with this.

I don't know where Joe Biden stands on it, because he won't say anything. But I imagine that they aren't, and we're going to go there at noon, and we're just going to make our voices known to the city and to the museum and send them the message that this is not what the people of New York want. There's no reason to believe that it is.

This is a bunch of woke stirs in the institutional world who are trying to shove this down everybody's throats, so we're going to go out, you know, I'm not a protest organizer. I don't even have a man bun or anything but, you know, we're going to do the best we can to, to make our presence felt there.

KILMEADE: Yes, get this, Teddy Roosevelt, the President on a horse with an American-Indian and African-American standing dignified behind him. I never saw it as a problem. I went there in second grade, went there recently in the last few years. Now, it's a problem. We're rewriting history.

Hey, go out and support David Marcus, and "The Federalist." David, thanks so much.

MARCUS: Thanks, Brian.

KILMEADE: All right. Meanwhile, straight ahead, after nearly three decades on the force, NYPD Precinct Commander, his name is Richard Brea, he just quit. He's over in the Bronx. The reason? Instead of supporting police, leaders are now placating rioters with measures like to disbanding a plainclothes anti-crime unit, 600 strong. Police are also being held back as fireworks attacks are ravaging the city.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

KILMEADE: One of those who recent fireworks attacks by the way injured a three-year-old boy. That is what's shown in yesterday's New York Post cover. Have you seen that? Bill de Blasio has bigger concerns though. He's just announced he will be Black Lives Matter on a street outside Trump Tower.

Seth Barron is an Editor at City Journal. He joins us now. Hey, Seth, what about those priorities from the mayor?

SETH BARRON, EDITOR, CITY JOURNAL: Well, the Mayor has always got his priorities straight, Brian, as you well know. Sure, painting Black Lives Matter in front of Trump Tower, look, things like that, taking down statues, all of that is easy. Keeping neighborhoods safe, fixing the schools, that sort of thing is hard.

So you know, people like de Blasio are always going to take the easy way out. That's what we've been saying.

KILMEADE: Someone should tell them that Donald Trump doesn't work there now. He is in Washington.

Number two is, Seth, murders are up 48 percent. Shootings are up 86 percent. He disbanded the anti-crime unit. His bail laws make it almost impossible to hold anyone in jail. His Commissioner is beside himself. Key precinct commanders are quitting. This is a crisis he made.

BARRON: Yes. This is all his doing. The Commander of the 46th Precinct in the Bronx, Richard Brea, he apparently just had it.

I mean, shootings in his precinct are up 600 percent over last year, for the last 28 days. There's been dozens of shootings, crime, and with the disbanding of the anti-crime unit, I mean, those are the guys who go and take guns off the street. And now there's no direction.

Apparently, I've heard reports that they wanted to have him go and take a knee at the next precinct community meeting and he was like, I'm not doing it. This isn't what I'm here for. We're not being allowed to do our jobs.

The Commissioner even has said that the Criminal Justice System is imploding in New York. It's really looking pretty bad, Brian.

KILMEADE: When the Commissioner says that, and he would have control with that, to a degree, it's getting scary.

And by the way, the Black Lives Matter group, just in case you want to know what they're about. The quote from one of their leaders, "If the U.S. doesn't give us what we want, then we will burn down the system and replace it." Good. Continue to paint that in the street. What the heck is going on? He can't get out soon enough. Seth Barron, thanks so much.

Meanwhile, straight ahead, Democrats don't just want to win back the Senate this fall, they want to make sure they never lose it again. One part of that strategy, make Washington, D.C. a state. That story next as our live special continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KILMEADE: Hey, welcome back to tonight's live special. Now, if the Democrats retake control Washington this November, one big item on the agenda will be adding a 51st state to America.

House Democrats today approved a Bill that would admit the District of Columbia as a full state with two senators and a House Representative.

Now the Constitution clearly specifies that the U.S. Capital Region will be part of no state, which is why D.C. exists in the first place.

But according to Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the only reason D.C. isn't a state is, say it with me -- racism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MAXINE WATERS, D-CALIF.: More than 46 percent of the 700,000 residents are black. Make no mistake, race underlies every argument against D.C. statehood and denying its citizens of equal participation and representation is a racial, democratic and economic injustice we cannot tolerate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: All right, D.C.'s Mayor Bowser, believe it or not agrees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOWSER: Let's fight back against the cries that we are too liberal or we're too black or there are too many Democrats. Who we elect is our business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: No one cries that way. Charlie Hurt is the opinion editor of The Washington Times and author of the book, "Still winning." Charlie, how did this become a priority?

CHARLIE HURT, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK CONTRIBUTOR: It's amazing because you would think that if Maxine Waters and Democrats in the House actually cared about their constituents, as much as they say they do, they might work with Senator Tim Scott and Senate Republicans on trying to find some real meaningful police reforms that have, you know, become such an important issue over the last couple of weeks, and there's a lot of room for negotiation to come up with some real progress.

But this is proof that they really don't care about their constituents. And it's kind of amazing. You know, obviously you're a historian, Brian, you know all of this. The whole reason that the District of Columbia, it was not part of a state is because the founders rightly understood that they did not want any state to have the incredible power of being both a state and the seat of the Federal government.

But what Maxine Waters and Democrats in the House want to do is, they want to suddenly make one of these states, both of those things, which not only makes that particular state incredibly powerful, it also strengthens the Federal government, and I'm thinking right now, when I look around Washington, D.C., I don't think all of our problems are that Washington isn't strong enough.

It might be, maybe, I don't know, the opposite. But the real thing that kills me here is that the other reason that the founders didn't want to do that is because not only do you make that one state that has the Federal government -- as the seat the Federal government in that state, not only do you incredibly empower that one state, you necessarily diminish the power of all the other states.

So Maxine Waters is literally pushing for something to disenfranchise, to decrease the power of her own constituents. So who is she working for? Her constituents or for her party? It sounds like she's working for her party.

KILMEADE: Charlie, But you know what we're getting over the last few weeks, we're getting a full understanding what the country will look like if the Democrats get control of the Senate and get control of the White House, because they are quickly going to make -- get rid of the 60 vote rule and make it 51. And this thing is going to pass.

And there's going to be a lot of other things that are going to pass. There's going to be a lot of things that are going to be commonplace and that's the destruction of America's past and the destruction of America's law enforcement community.

HURT: No, if you're -- if a voter out there is happy with the idea that the Federal government can have increased -- more and more and more power, more and more influence over the smallest minutiae in our daily lives, then you should vote for democrats because I can tell you that what Democrats want to do is vest as much power as they can in the Federal government, so that they --

It really does go back -- it goes back to money and it goes back to power, kind of like everything does around here. And I can't -- I don't know of a single example in recent political times that is a more clear example of that.

Maxine Waters is putting her constituents behind her loyalty to her party and aggregating more power to her. That is what Democrats in Washington today stand for.

KILMEADE: And as usual, not a day goes by without calling somebody a racist, and today, it is everybody who didn't vote to make D.C. a state, which just goes against this thing called oh, wait, the Constitution.

Thanks Charlie. Have a great weekend.

HURT: You too.

KILMEADE: Straight ahead, millions of Americans will be trying to fly next week, many for the first time since the virus lockdown began a few months ago. How airlines are planning to keep fights going while containing the virus. How can they do that? That story next as TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Fox News Alert now. The European Union has just announced plans to bar U.S. travelers -- that's you -- from entering due to continued coronavirus risks. You know it's rising in 36 states here.

How can ailing airlines make up for this shortfall now? Well, with the Fourth of July holidays coming, several airlines are planning to fill up just like they did before, max out flights.

Carly Shimkus is a reporter with Fox News Headlines 24/7. Carly, also takes planes so you're perfect to do this story, Carly. What's up?

CARLY SHIMKUS, REPORTER, FOX NEWS HEADLINES 24/7: Thank you so much, Brian, and happy to do a good evening. You're right, with the holiday just around the corner, many Americans are considering travel for the first time.

But different airlines are working under different rules, and don't assume the middle seat is going to be free, especially if you're flying United. The company is already filling planes to capacity. American Airlines announcing today that it too will be filling middle seats starting July 1st.

Now both airlines say they are notifying passengers booked on full flights to allow travelers to either switch or cancel.

Now JetBlue and Alaska Airlines have similar policies, blocking all middle seats until July 31st.

Delta Airlines is actually doing the opposite of its largest competitors. The company has promised to keep middle seats free through September 30th, and they also plan to cap seating around 50 to 60 percent on most flights, and are adding more flights to ensure a roomy experience for all.

Now Southwest Airlines announcing it would match part of that plan by at least blocking middle seats through the end of September.

Meantime, major airlines are requiring passengers and crew members to wear masks during the boarding process, and throughout the flight, and many are passing out hand sanitizer and water bottles to avoid in-flight drink service.

Now despite a recent increase in cases and states across the country, the T.S.A. announced on Thursday that it screened the highest number of passengers since mid-March. Still, overall air travel is down almost 80 percent from this time last year -- Brian.

KILMEADE: All right. I'm going to say what Tucker always says for reporters. Thank you for that, Carly.

SHIMKUS: Thank you for that, Brian.

KILMEADE: Appreciate it. All right, have a great weekend. Good job.

Meanwhile, thousands of American small businesses were devastated by the coronavirus lockdowns. Now officials are considering a second wave of lockdowns. Would that do anything besides finish off any businesses that were still alive?

Josiah Boling is a co-owner of Hive Fitness in North Carolina. Meanwhile, he recently sued the State's Governor for the right to do business, have the right to fail or succeed. Josiah, thanks so much for joining us. How desperate are things for you?

JOSIAH BOLING, CO-OWNER, HIVE FITNESS-NORTH CAROLINA: They're pretty desperate right now, you know. The Governor shut us down March 17th or March 18th. Our business had just opened in January of this year, January 18th.

So for any new business to shut down after two months of operation is pretty difficult to say the least. Furthermore, the Governor has continued to move back our opening day, first announcing that we'd be a part of Phase 1, and then to our surprise that came and went. And then at Phase 2, the same thing, announced that we were going to be in Phase 2, and then at the last second ripped us out of Phase 2 and put us in Phase 3.

But yet, he allowed vape shops to open and allowed the state-owned ABC to continue to operate and sell liquor to citizens of North Carolina, when it's well known that liquor causes many health complications. Yet fitness is one of the few things that actually you can do to improve your health. So it's pretty dire right now.

There's been multiple businesses including one of the best yoga studios in our city shut down just this week. I talked to the lady last night who was shutting down her business near mine. She was a gym owner.

And so these people are getting really, really desperate. There are stories of people even attempting suicide that are gym owners here in the surrounding counties. So there's many desperate families right now trying to seek, you know, a way to get back to work.

KILMEADE: Josiah, I looked at it this morning because New York is in the same situation. They are plucked out of all phases. They went from two to zero. Right now, they are in hyperspace, like you.

Thirty eight states have opened up gyms. I was in Florida working out in the gym, they have sessions. They clean in between. They bring in the second sessions. They've cut down capacity.

By definition, health club members and owners are disciplined. That's why they're in health clubs. If you want to fight this virus, people think wash your hands or wear a mask. How about workout and stay healthy. Be around healthy people and be responsible.

I mean everything that you do in your industry does helps us beat this virus.

BOLING: Yes, yes. We've kind of said that from the very beginning, it is that health is one of the only things that you can do to fight this virus naturally. And we feel like that we're just being precluded, I guess, just over politics.

So we really don't understand what the Governor's reasons are. And even some people, one of the representatives from our state had said to one of my colleagues recently, well, why don't you just come over to my house and workout and lift some heavy things in my yard?

Well, have you ever heard of heatstroke, lady? It's 90-plus degrees here almost every day in the Carolinas here in the summer. And it's not appropriate just to say just come outside and workout.

So we want to get back to operating our facilities. You know, as our Constitution allows us to. It says very clearly in our North Carolina Constitution that our rights are inalienable, the right to enjoy the fruits of our own labor. That means that we don't need a Governor to take our rights. We don't need a Governor to give our rights. Our rights were given to us by God.

KILMEADE: Well, keep fighting and I hope you're working out with everyone, with all your members this week. Josiah, thanks so much for your time. Best of luck.

BOLING: Thank you. Appreciate it.

KILMEADE: You've got it. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate can't agree on much, but it does agree on this. The Pentagon should tell Americans what it knows about UFOs. What can we learn from that disclosure? That's next. Our live special continues.

UFOs unmasked, next. Don't tell me you're going to switch off, you're not.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KILMEADE: Welcome back to tonight's special. How much does the U.S. government actually know about UFO sightings? We may finally be able to find out, I'm not kidding.

This week, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to require The Pentagon should produce a UFO Report as part of the latest Defense Authorization Bill.

Luis Elizondo is a former Military Intelligence official, and currently works with To The Stars Academy and the History. And he joins us now. Luis, if the Senate gets what they want, what will they get?

LUIS ELIZONDO, FORMER MILITARY INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL: Well, thanks, Brian, for having me. I think this is a historical moment in our country, for many reasons. I think it's fair to say this is certainly a non-partisan issue.

You have -- thanks to the courage of Senator Marco Rubio, but others before him such as Harry Reid, Ted Stevens and anyway, I think if the Senate is successful in getting what they want, they're going to get actual hard data as to the capabilities of these incursions into our airspace and the airspace of where we have combat vehicles and controlled if you will, think of a combat theater where we have aircraft operating.

Hopefully, we can get a better understanding of what's going on here. These things seem to appear and operate without impunity, both here in the United States and overseas where our brave men and women are in uniform, and hopefully we'll be able to finally piece it together.

KILMEADE: Luis, how do you know?

ELIZONDO: Well, because I was part of a program for about 10 years back in The Pentagon called AATIP. I ran that program with several colleagues of mine, and it was an interagency organization very much like this taskforce that you are seeing right now, that's being proposed in this Bill.

KILMEADE: What's the most intriguing thing that we will get from it if the Senate Intelligence Committee gets what you know?

ELIZONDO: Well, I think you're going to get -- hopefully, you're going to get an unclassified report and for the first time, average Americans are going to get a chance to see the very same data that has been locked away and if you will in classified briefings and whatnot, and hopefully see the light of day for once.

KILMEADE: Now, I consider myself an average American. Can you tell me what it says since you were part of the unit?

ELIZONDO: Well, unfortunately, I am not employed by the U.S. government anymore, and I am still bound by my nondisclosure agreements, my NDAs, I still have a security clearance. So that's really a conversation that the U.S. government is going to have to have, the Executive Branch with the Legislative Branch, and then finally decide what they think is appropriate for the American people.

I think what I can say is that that data is very compelling, and when you look at these vehicles and what they're able to do, you very quickly realize that this is probably not something in our own inventory.

KILMEADE: Luis Elizondo, thanks so much. Can't wait for it. We'll have you back.

ELIZONDO: Yes, sure. Thanks.

KILMEADE: I'll ask Tucker to have you back. Thank you. Meanwhile, that's it for our show tonight.

Tucker will be back on Monday, but be sure to check out Season 5 of my series, "What Made America Great." It debuts Sunday at 10 o'clock, but it's going to be here right on the Fox News featuring an inside look at the White House, 230 years young.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: When we talk about secret to the White House, you're about to bring us to one of them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am, yes.

KILMEADE: That very few people get to see. It's not on the tour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not.

KILMEADE: Through here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

KILMEADE: Where are we now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you are underneath that north part of -- that first place where we started this tour and looking north or south here, we're actually seeing the burn marks of the fire from 1814.

KILMEADE: So when you look at these burn marks, and you know how many times this can be revamped, and you know, money is no object, why do you think those burn marks are still here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's important to leave a visual representation behind. It's a reminder that this country has gone through hard times before and we got through it. And we're going to go on to bigger and better things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: It's really cool. I was fascinated. I hope you will be, too and it ends with an interview with the President of the United States about what being in the Oval Office in that building and living there means to him.

It'll be on Fox Nation streaming right after, but it's going to be live with you at 10 o'clock and then one o'clock in the morning Eastern Time. And I hope you enjoy it. And I know what the President feels like. It's a very special place obviously for him.

Meanwhile, thanks so much for watching. Jason Chaffetz has taken a shower, put in in a brand-new suit. He's is filling for Sean Hannity tonight. Listen to him and his theme music and his great hair.

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