Georgia governor says he'd back Trump in 2024

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Georgia governor says he'd back Trump in 2024

Brian Kemp says former president is 'not going away' and commits to backing GOP nominee next election on 'Your World'

This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto" March 3, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY:  The sausage-making machine
sometimes spits out a different package -- almost always spits out a
different package than what is proposed initially.

These are negotiations primarily through Democrats in Congress with each
other. But he's a part of -- he rolls up his sleeves. He gets involved in
them too. And he's confident that this is a package, with all of the
components included, that -- and he's hopeful that Democrats of all
political backgrounds can get behind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR:  All right, finally, something I can relate
to, sausage, and what it's like to make it, whether it's hot or sweet or
Italian or otherwise.

The fact of the matter is, they're going to actually go through that making
process and for the nation to see later tonight.

Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto, and this is YOUR WORLD.

Food for thought. This is some pricey sausage, my friends. And how pricey
it gets really is in that label, the $1.9 trillion price tag for this.
We're going to be getting into this spending fight right now that divides
even some moderate Democrats, who will not go along with certain features,
or at least so they are threatening, and some overtures on the part of the
president of the United States to satisfy them.

Chad Pergram on what could be, shall we say, an interesting evening.

Hey, Chad.

CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT:  Good afternoon, Neil.

Well, the question is whether Democrats can stick together and pass this
$1.9 trillion coronavirus bill. There's an effort to court the votes of
moderate Democrats and maybe even a Republican or two. But members of the
GOP oppose the bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY):  It is a wildly out-of-proportion response to
where the country is at the moment. The vaccines are going out. The
economies are opening up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERGRAM:  But Majority Leader Chuck Schumer accused the GOP of opposing the
measure for no good reason.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY):  It doesn't matter what's in the bill.
Everything my colleagues oppose is -- quote -- "a liberal wish list."
That's what many of them call it.

Well, let me tell you, this bill is not a liberal wish list. This is an
American wish list.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERGRAM:  Here's what Democrats have done to sweeten the bill for
moderates; $1,400 stimulus checks will only go to those earning less than
$80,000 a year. Stripped from the bill, as we reported first on this
program yesterday, is the Seaway International Bridge between New York and
Canada. And the Silicon Valley Railroad is also gone.

Now, the Senate may likely stretch out this process. GOP Whip John Thune
says Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson is threatening to make the Senate clerk
read the entire bill out loud before debate even begins.

Now, that means a final vote may not happen until late Friday, if not over
the weekend, and then the bill must return to the House of Representatives
to sync up -- Neil.

CAVUTO:  So, Chad, the money they supposedly save by tightening some of the
restrictions around who gets the stimulus checks, what have you, does that
money then come out of the total cost? Is it reallocated somewhere else?
What?

PERGRAM:  Dick Durbin, the Democratic whip, he said they were trying to be
very careful to make sure that they don't change many contours of the bill,
because, as I say, it has to go back to the House. And if they make a lot
of changes, then the House might not be in alignment there. That could
really stretch this out, say, if they have to go to a conference committee,
and just not play ping-pong, where they bounce the bill back and forth.

We have to see the bill text. We still don't actually have the Senate bill
text yet. We're waiting for a score from the Congressional Budget Office
and also from the Joint Committee on Taxation.

CAVUTO:  All right, Chad Pergram, thank you very, very much.

So, $1.9, $2 trillion, whatever you want to say, is it too much? For even
some of the moderate Democrats, it appears to be. Whether that would cancel
their votes, hard to say.

Austan Goolsbee with us right now, the former economic adviser under
President Barack Obama,

Austan, very good to see you.

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, FORMER CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS:  Hey, Neil.

CAVUTO:  This issue with the cost of all of this, at almost $2 trillion,
all $2 trillion right now, is it really necessary to go this big?

GOOLSBEE:  I usually think of these things as, what's the money being used
for? I don't think of this as stimulus. I think of it as a relief package.

And we saw last summer that the wait-and-see approach, let's wait and see
if we need more, is the wrong thing to do in a pandemic. If you're going to
have major states get rid of their mask mandates before everybody's got a
vaccine, if we're going to get these new variants coming here that are less
-- less protected against from the vaccine, you could easily have a ramp-up
like the Swamp Thing coming out of the grave, and then we would regret not
doing it.

So, I think, as an insurance policy, you want to go big, and you want to go
early, rather than waiting and going smaller.

CAVUTO:  I could see your point for COVID-related issues exclusively.

What I don't see, though, Austan, leaving aside the $350 billion for state
and local governments that's kind of open-ended -- we don't know where and
how that will be distributed -- but the $86 billion to rescue certain
pension funds, $129 billion for elementary and secondary schools that must
be spent in 2022, so next year, $35 billion to defray Obamacare premiums,
$15 billion federal Medicaid matches of states.

And on and on, it could go. Where you could maybe a side or a tangent
argument, as we do in money for transit agencies maybe to get them up to
snuff for crowds that will be returning to work, but some of it seems a
stretch. And that's about half the package right there.

(CROSSTALK)

GOOLSBEE:  Well, no, leave aside the factual matter of how much are things
that you don't -- that you don't like.

I disagree with you a bit on the question of, should we should only spend
money...

CAVUTO:  I'm not saying that I don't like. They aren't directly COVID-
related.

GOOLSBEE:  Aren't directly COVID-related.

CAVUTO:  I'm not saying that I don't like, but isn't directly COVID-
related.

GOOLSBEE:  Should we spend money on things that are not directly health- or
COVID-related?

I think, once you acknowledge that this is a relief bill, that you're
trying to prevent permanent damage, and so people don't get evicted from
their homes because of a national shock that had nothing to do with them, I
think that opens the door to something broader than just direct health
spending. I think it's important.

And that's why this bill and the broad contours of the bill are extremely
popular with the American people of both parties. Majority of Republicans
say that they like the contours of the bill.

CAVUTO:  I don't know -- I don't know, Austan, if those Americans are aware
of all the details in this, or you start looking under the hood.

I readily agree with you that we have to do something to address these
direct COVID-related matters. I just wonder -- for example, in the aid to
states, when so many of them are running and getting in more revenues than
they thought, that they're not considering hiking taxes, as they're not at
least this year in New Jersey and in Connecticut and other states that are
surprisingly awash in money they didn't think they would have.

And I'm hearing all these businesses that are expanding and planning to
continue to expand, because they're seeing an unexpected boon in activity
on the part of consumers, shoppers.

GOOLSBEE:  Maybe. I...

CAVUTO:  I'm wondering if we're into overkill mode here.

GOOLSBEE:  I know you say that, but the actual unemployment rate, if you
listen to the Fed chair, he believes that it's close to 10 percent.

It's not a good economy. It's a good economy at the top of the income
distribution. People who can work from home in knowledge work occupations
with good salaries, they have never had a recession. But in the part of the
economy that is not that, it's a very tough job market.

And if you look at the states, the states that are running surpluses, it's
because they laid off more than a million workers.

CAVUTO:  Do you argue that it's better than it was at its worst? Do you
think it's better than it was when it was at its worst?

GOOLSBEE:  I hope so, yes.

CAVUTO:  Do you think -- we already know, statistically, we're off our
worst unemployment numbers and all.

GOOLSBEE:  Yes.

CAVUTO:  So, what I'm saying is, I know you're saying, as insurance, spend
$2 trillion to make sure. That's a very pricey insurance package,
especially when you consider a trillion dollars that has yet to be spent
from old packages.

GOOLSBEE:  Well, you say that, but this is -- this is one of those where,
as long as this thing goes, it requires relief spending.

And so this logic that you're applying was the same logic after the CARES
Act last March and April. We came into the summer and the virus resurged.
And Mitch McConnell and the Republicans said, no, no, let's -- we already
passed one thing. Let's see if that works before we pass anything else.

And, meanwhile, the economy stalled out precisely because they did that.
So, I think there is a danger to...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO:  Do you think, as an insurance -- just to understand -- I see where
you're going. But think, as an insurance policy, go big.

Many agree with you, Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, by
the way, Donald Trump, go big or just go home, when he was president.

You don't think we're going too big here?

GOOLSBEE:  I don't think it's too big.

I -- truth be told, I kind of like that we would tailor the money so that
it would not go to high-income people, where I don't think that's who needs
it. I think you want to steer the checks and the spending to where it's
needed, to the people who've been hardest hit, and where it's going to
prevent permanent damage.

CAVUTO:  Actually, that's a small part of it, though, right?

GOOLSBEE:  That's more expensive than you think.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO:  That money to people is a small part, right? Yes.

OK. All right.

GOOLSBEE:  That's more expensive than you think.

CAVUTO:  Austan Goolsbee, thank you very, very much.

All right, we shall see.

Brian Kemp is with us right now, the governor of Georgia.

Governor, what do you think of some of the points that Austan pointed out,
that there might be certain things in here you can argue over, but, in the
scheme of things -- and this is echoing a line I heard from President Trump
when he was urging Mitch McConnell to go big, and Mitch McConnell resisted.
Now they're going big.

What do you think?

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA):  Well, I think a lot of people, like you said,
Neil, they just don't know.

I mean, there's a lot of Georgians. We have been sounding the alarm down
here, and a lot of other governors have as well, about this package, that
it's going to benefit New Yorkers and Californians inproportionately --
disproportionately more than hardworking Georgians.

Unlike what President Trump did, where he treated all the states equitably,
this bill treats the cities across the country equitably, but then punishes
states that have low unemployment rates because they have been winning
economically, and gives a win to states who are losing economically, which,
to me, is ridiculous.

It needs to be changed and be fair and equitable. I mean, you can certainly
argue about the size of the package. I'm kind of in your camp. I think it
needs to be more targeted. If you look at Georgia, to really contradict a
lot of what your last guest said, we have had construction workers here
working the whole time through the pandemic.

I mean, building is booming in our state. Our forestry industry, our lumber
mills are running wide open. So, a lot of those jobs that he's talking
about, we never lost. Now, we do have sectors that are tied to industries
like Delta Airlines, convention center business, service, and hospitality,
because tourism is down in certain sectors, even though it's up in others.

To me, it seems like you should be targeting and helping those Americans
and those Georgians, vs. spending a lot of things on non-COVID relief.

CAVUTO:  Governor, I'm curious if you have any thoughts on what's happened
in Texas right now. The state will almost fully reopen, I think totally, in
fact, next week. Mississippi is looking to also ease restrictions
significantly back to almost pre-pandemic days.

What are you going to do in response, or continue doing what you're doing?

KEMP:  Well, the good news is, Neil, we don't have to do a whole lot,
because we never -- never closed most parts of our economy in Georgia.
We're seeing that with our revenues. We never had a statewide mask mandate.
We have trusted people to do the right thing, and to be part of the
solution and not part of the problem.

When you look at our manufacturing sector, I.T., fintech, health care,
construction, as I mentioned, forestry, our ag economy is coming back -- we
had a huge year at our seaport. You know, we have had all of that open the
whole time, working with the private sector, plowing through, working with
our public health people to figure out ways that we can work. Our
restaurants have been back open.

We got a few limitations on the small sector businesses. We're kind of
looking at that now, as we get to reaching herd immunity, continue to get
more vaccine supply. So, I'm glad the great state of Texas is joining us.

CAVUTO:  OK.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO:  While I have you, Governor, there's been a back-and-forth, as you
know, between Mitch McConnell and the president. I know you did not attend
CPAC, but this notion the president said it was Mitch McConnell who lost
the Senate.

Mitch McConnell pointed out that a lot of the things that happened,
particularly in Georgia, the president added to by talking about the
reliability of the vote in Georgia. I have not had a chance, sir, to speak
to you since all of that.

What do you make of it?

KEMP:  Well, I think people got distracted in the run-off. I warned about
that many times, Neil.

If you look at November 3, I mean, look, I was disappointed like everyone
else that supported President Trump. I worked very hard for him. His
policies, we're still benefiting from the day economically here. He did
tremendous things with COVID to help our state, him and the vice president
both.

This vaccine, project Warp Speed -- or Operation Warp Speed is a direct
result of that. I think the president should get a lot of credit for that.
And he, quite honestly, has not.

But I think, during the run-off, people were just distracted. A lot of
Republicans stayed home. The Democrats were very motivated. And we lost the
Senate. I think what we can learn from that, if you look back on November
the 3rd, the things that we had been campaigning on -- all politics is
local.

Our General Assembly had very good nights in Georgia. We held strong
majorities. And I think it just -- it's a good lesson. We have got to
refocus.

CAVUTO:  All right.

KEMP:  We have got to focus on the ground game.

Obviously, there's some issues with some of the elections procedures here.
We have heard that from a lot of people that are upset. And we're working
with the General Assembly to address that.

CAVUTO:  Real quickly, Donald Trump is the '24 nominee for Republicans,
would you support him?

KEMP:  Absolutely. I'm going to support the nominee.

As I said, again, I worked very hard for the president.

CAVUTO:  All right.

KEMP:  And I think his ideas (AUDIO GAP) will be part of our party for a
long time in the future.

And Republicans, we need to have a big tent. I mean, there's a lot of great
ideas out there. We're not always going to get along. But I think the
president deserves a lot of credit. And he's not going away.

CAVUTO:  Fair enough, Brian Kemp, Georgia governor.

Very good seeing you, Governor. Thank you very, very much.

KEMP:  Thanks, Neil.

CAVUTO:  All right.

All right, another governor under a lot more pressure right now, New York's
Governor Andrew Cuomo.

He's not resigning. He is not leaving. He is apologizing a lot. But is he
apologizing for something that's very different than the actual offense?

After this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY):  I'm not going to resign. I work for the people
of the state of New York. They elected me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO:  I apologized several days ago. I apologize today. I will apologize
tomorrow. I will apologize the day after.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO:  All right, apology not accepted. A number of women who have heard
or at least accused the governor of going a lot more further in his remarks
than just touching and kissing women are now saying that this is not going
to settle any of this, as there's a move certainly in Albany, the state
capital of New York, to go after the governor, already taking away his
powers to handle the COVID-19 crisis, or moving quickly to do so, some
calling for impeachment, if not outright resignation.

So, did this settle anything today?

Bryan Llenas with more from Brooklyn, New York.

Hey, Bryan.

BRYAN LLENAS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Hey, Neil.

Well, yes, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo having his first on-camera COVID-
19 briefing in nearly two weeks. He was contrite and, seemingly, he choked
up as he addressed the sexual harassment allegations for the first time
that have been lodged against him by three women.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO:  I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable. It was
unintentional. And I truly and deeply apologize for it.

I feel awful about it. And, frankly, I am embarrassed by it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LLENAS:  Two of his former aides, now accusers, Charlotte Bennett and
Lindsey Boylan, are bashing that press conference.

Boylan accuses Cuomo of unwanted kissing and touching. And Cuomo said today
he never inappropriately touched anybody, while Boylan tweeted: "How can
New Yorkers trust you, New York Governor Cuomo, to lead our state if you
don't know when you have been inappropriate with your own staff?"

While Bennett, who accuses him of making inappropriate sexual remarks,
released a statement through her attorney, reading in part -- quote -- "The
governor's press conference was full of falsehoods and inaccurate
information. And New Yorkers deserve better."

She went on to write: "The governor repeatedly said he had no idea he made
anyone uncomfortable. My client, Charlotte Bennett, reported his sexually
harassing behavior immediately to his chief of staff and chief counsel."

And despite 21 state lawmakers now -- at least 21 -- calling on Cuomo to
resign, today, the governor said he will not. And he asked New Yorkers to
be patient.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO:  I'm not going to resign. I ask the people of this state to wait for
the facts from the attorney general's report before forming an opinion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LLENAS:  The attorney general, Letitia James, is overseeing an independent
investigation. An independent law firm will then release the findings of
that investigation in a public report.

Interesting to note, Neil, the -- under state law ,the governor will be
receiving -- he is entitled to receive weekly updates on that
investigation, and he will be signing checks paying for that investigation.

Ultimately, it's also important to note here, interestingly, he started off
the press conference saying that his lawyers told him not to speak today,
and he did anyway -- Neil.

CAVUTO:  Bryan Llenas, thank you very much.

To Jim Trusty right now, the former DOJ prosecutor.

What do you think, Jim? Where is this going?

JAMES TRUSTY, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR:  Well, his lawyers are right that
he needs to shut up.

There is really nothing a prosecutor or a plaintiff's attorney likes more
than a defendant who keeps running his mouth. And if you're looking at what
he's doing, he's living in this bubble of his own creation, where all he's
doing is thinking about the next step.

But what he's doing is kind of slowing down time, obsessing and changing
his story. It started off with, everyone should have their own opinions, as
if this wasn't a matter of fact, but it was a matter of opinion.

Then it became, well, people misinterpreted me. And now today, we have this
kind of semi-tearful, well, at least I didn't touch anybody. I mean, I
don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Maybe he's going to show up
with a Dr. Seuss book under his hand if somebody doesn't stop him.

He needs to really step away from the microphone, let somebody else do the
talking. He's basically already mostly created a Title VII hostile
workplace scene by saying the things he's already said about the women that
he mistreated under his under his rule at the statehouse.

So, I think he's really making some fundamental mistakes. And it also just
comes with the territory, Neil. A lot of guys and women that have reached
very high-powered positions, executive positions that are used to politics
or a lot of wheeling and dealing, they think they can talk their way out of
everything, and that, if they just have one more opportunity to go up to
the microphone, they're finally going to clear it up.

But, really, what they're doing is eroding their own credibility. So, he
still has the specter of a potential false statement or obstruction probe
from EDNY, from Eastern District of New York. He's got this Title VII
hostile environment thing flaming up in front of him with his own help.

And he's gotten an attorney general who I think will at least end up having
a report that's politically hurtful. Even if it's not smoking gun proof
beyond a reasonable doubt for like a criminal case, I can't imagine it's
going to be entirely dismissive of these reports that continue to trickle
in about how he treats various women.

CAVUTO:  You know, Jim, you said at the outset here, maybe talking too
much, because what he did say was that he's a kisser and a hugger and he
means no arm, his dad was the same way.

But all three of these women who have made claims against him say it goes
way beyond that to things he said and allegedly he has said, everything
from strip poker -- we all know some of the charges that are made.

Now, if it turns out that what they said was correct in regard to what he
said, then he's laid a trap, inexplicably, for himself, hasn't he?

TRUSTY:  Yes, I mean, look, the words part of this -- and, remember, this
is always an individualized kind of assessment, where you have to just
listen and decide credibility of things that weren't immediately reported.

That's an uphill battle for a plaintiff's attorney or a prosecutor. But,
sometimes, the words have a ring of truth or ring of credibility to them.
And that can be a real concern for this governor.

I go back to one of the women who said he kept harping on her prior sexual
assault. And, to me, that's just a -- just a horrific concept, that he's
kind of hitting on this woman by whatever, and getting -- somehow trying to
get her trust or trying to get her talking about something that makes her
vulnerable.

I mean, there's really no good explanation for an employer delving into
that kind of detail with this woman. So he is definitely hurting himself on
the civil side. The criminal side is not generally going to be taking into
account for kind of creepiness, for bad phrasing or for words. It really is
going to rely on physical contact.

And that's got to be provable and within a statute of limitations. So I'm
not really holding my breath for a criminal case to come out of the
mistreatment of these women.

But, again, the political damage, his moral standing, and civil liability
are all certainly on the hook.

CAVUTO:  What's the bigger threat, quickly, the nursing home investigation
or looking into these three women's allegations?

TRUSTY:  Well, politically, it seems like it's the women, which is fine,
although it's kind of an ironic ending, that what got started here in this
country was focusing on him for the nursing home deaths, really tragic,
horrific consequences.

So it's kind of a bitter pill that that might not be what drives him out of
office at some point. But I think he still has liability for the process,
for deceiving federal prosecutors. That's his biggest concern in terms of
any sort of criminal liability, and I'm not sure where that's going to go.

CAVUTO:  All right, Jim Trusty, thank you very much, as always.

Just a reminder, we put out calls to the governor. They're not returned,
but he is always welcome to come on and talk about this.

In the meantime, following the first lady and education secretary of the
United States, touring schools, letting teachers know that they're
important, letting students know that they're important, but who's more
important?

Why some are saying the message is, teachers are, and why the president of
the United States and efforts on the vaccine front could be bearing that
out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO:  All right, the congressman who's very worried, more like very
upset, about what Joe Biden could be doing at the border.

Here's the thing, though. He's not a Republican. He's a Democrat. And he's
from Texas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO:  All right, the first lady, Jill Biden, and the education secretary
of the United States looking at a reopened school in Waterford,
Pennsylvania.

The first lady in particular has been very focused on getting schools
reopened, says her husband is as well.

Kaylee McGhee joins us right now from The Washington Examiner.

We do get two different vibes on this, though, Kaylee, since, at this
point, much hinges on teachers, who have been arguing, will we feel safe to
go back? Hence, the president's push to get them the vaccine, maybe move
them to the front line. He's not saying that, but maybe get them sooner,
rather than later, vaccinated to expedite that.

What -- your thoughts?

KAYLEE MCGHEE, THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:  Well, this is a direct gift to the
teachers unions, which is kind of unnecessary, because in many parts of the
country, teachers are already eligible for the vaccine, and many of them
have already been vaccinated, and they're still not going back to school.

So the point is not that teachers need to be vaccinated. Of course, they
should, because they should be considered essential workers. But they
should only be prioritized if they're actually going to go back, do their
jobs, return to the classroom, and start educating students in person
again.

CAVUTO:  So, where does this go? Even if you're, with a wink and a nod,
saying, all right, teachers are essential personnel, they should be
included in that group, I know, in the case of New Jersey, they're not
putting them in the front of the line. They will just have to follow the
regular order.

But it's different strokes for different folks in different states. I get
that. So, what is our policy on this? And what does the -- let's say, more
to the point, teachers unions, what do they want?

MCGHEE:  The teachers unions want whatever the teachers unions want. They
are not willing to do what Biden says, what the Democratic Party says, what
any of the Democratic-led city officials say.

They are completely on their own schedule. And they have made it very clear
that they do not want to go back to in person instruction until next year,
maybe 2022, maybe 2023. At this point, who knows?

They have kept shifting the goalposts so far back that no one can get a
good read on this situation. And, quite frankly, the Democrats are letting
them do it. Biden has refused to come out against the teachers unions at
this point, even though they have made it clear they don't care what he
says.

And now he's continuing to try to bribe them with prioritizing them for
vaccines, giving them additional school funding, even though they haven't
even spent all the school funding they received from the last coronavirus
relief package. It's just...

CAVUTO:  Well, not just a little -- not just a little school funding, I
mean, 100 -- in this stimulus package, $129 billion for elementary and
secondary schools. Most of that is going to be spent next year.

So, leaving aside just the sheer dollar figure, the fact that so much of it
is going to spend next year makes me think, are we going to delay another
school year as well?

MCGHEE:  Well, honestly, parents should expect that at this point.

There is no reason to expect that your students are going back to school,
depending on which city you live in. But in areas like Los Angeles even
around here, in Washington, D.C., there is very little reason to expect
that your students are going back to school anytime soon, because these
city officials are allowing the teachers unions to dictate their own
policies.

And it's clearly political. These teachers unions do not care about the
education of your students. They care about their political agenda, and
they care about squeezing out as much as they can from the cities. I mean,
over in Los Angeles, you had basically a list of demands delivered to city
officials.

And on that list was, you need to provide universal health care not just
for teachers, but for every citizen in Los Angeles. You need to support
Medicare for all. You need to support all of these different things that
have nothing to do with K-12 education. And that's what parents need to
understand moving forward.

CAVUTO:  All right. All right.

For their part, teachers unions have told us, this is all about keeping the
kids safe as well, have a safe environment. We reach out to various union
members, don't hear back.

Kaylee McGhee, Washington Examiner, thank you very, very much.

In the meantime here, we told you a little bit about everything going on,
on the border, and now possible migrants who get into the country, a lot of
them saddled with COVID-19, not a good combination of events.

It's not just Republicans concerned about this. Democratic Congressman
Henry Cuellar is as well. We go to Texas -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO:  All right, it's all about the Internet.

The latest confirmation of that, Disney now announcing it's going to be
closing 20 percent of its Disney Stores in part of a shift to focus on e-
commerce. A number of big retailers have been sort of readjusting their
priorities, focusing more on their e-commerce business, ordering things
online, as is Amazon and Walmart and Target, Disney a big name in that
front, now saying that one out of five of its Disney Stores, at least 60 of
them, will be shuttered in this process.

We will keep you posted on new developments.

Also keeping you posted, in the meantime, what's happening at our border.

Showing you right now Eagle Pass, Texas. This is a live drone shot there
that gives you an idea of some of the ability that is there to be had for
anyone who wants to get over into the United States, and fairly easily.

Henry Cuellar joins us right now, the Democratic Texas congressman, on
these latest developments that include 108 migrants released into Texas
that had tested positive for COVID-19.

Congressman, it comes in waves. These are some pretty scary waves. What do
you make of this?

REP. HENRY CUELLAR (D-TX):  You know, you're absolutely right. I think you
got it on the spot. They do come in waves.

In 2019, May of 2019, we had a high mark of 144 people that were detained
in that one month. That was a crisis under President Trump. It went down.
And then it started coming up again about a year ago. So, like you said,
they do come in waves.

The only thing is, this first three months, four months of the new fiscal
year have had higher numbers than we have seen in the past. And that
concerns me that we might surpass the numbers of a high 144 per month that
we had under President Trump in May of 2019.

CAVUTO:  Would you urge President Biden to slow down?

CUELLAR:  Yes, absolutely.

In fact, I have told the folks that I have talked to at the White House,
let's be cautious. In my opinion, what the White House needs to do is, they
cannot only listen to the immigration activists, advocates. They also need
to listen to the communities on the border that I represent, the mayors,
the judges, the NGOs down there.

And with that, he can come up with a balanced approach. Otherwise, who's
carrying the burden of all this, everything we're seeing down there at the
border? It's not the people who live 1,500 miles away. Those are the people
that live in my community right at the -- at the border.

CAVUTO:  You know, speaking of your fine state, Congressman, Governor
Abbott has just essentially taken away, and will by next week at this time,
all restrictions, COVID-related restrictions, including the mask mandate
for all of Texas.

Now, Joe Biden had a chance to respond to this, and saying that: "The last
thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that, in the meantime, everything is
fine. Take off these masks. Forget it."

What did you think of the Neanderthal thinking remark, as a Texan and for
the people you represent?

CUELLAR:  Well, I mean, I respectfully disagree with our governor,
respectfully disagree with the governor.

We have seen our numbers go down for the first time in a while. And I think
we need to carry on the masks. We can open up for business, which I want to
see. But I think we need to...

CAVUTO:  But is that Neanderthal thinking? Do you think the president chose
the right term there to refer to that as Neanderthal?

CUELLAR:  Well, I gave you my answer.

I respectfully disagree with the governor.

CAVUTO:  Not with the president?

CUELLAR:  Again, the president is right on keeping the masks, but I would
have used very different terms.

CAVUTO:  All right, Congressman, thank you very, very much.

Congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas.

We have a lot more coming up, including this idea of inheriting a mess. Is
it me, or every president, when he comes into office, immediately starts
blaming the mess he inherited? But it was something Joe Biden said
yesterday about a very different mess that doesn't appear to be that much
of a mess.

The mess over, well, masses -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  We inherited a
financial crisis unlike any that we have seen in our time.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  I inherited a mess.
It's a mess at home and abroad.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  The prior administration had
contracted for not nearly enough vaccine to cover adults in America. We're
making progress from the mess we inherited.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO:  All right, we get kind of used to this every four years, where an
incoming president sort of says he got a mess from his predecessor, in the
case of Barack Obama and the financial meltdown, the worse that any
president has had to -- dealt with, forgetting maybe that FDR and the Great
Depression was a tad bit more difficult, or Donald Trump when he came into
office after Barack Obama had inherited a mess, when, in fact, we were well
off our meltdown lows and the markets and the economy were doing pretty
well.

Or now this president referring to the mess he inherited on the vaccine
front, when, in fact, Operation Warp Speed has made available not one, not
two, but three vaccines that, because of Operation Warp Speed, now means
that, well, every American adult will be free to get such a vaccine by the
end of May.

So, the politics notwithstanding, the reality of looking at this latest
criticism of the prior administration and whether that was a mess, isolated
to just this issue of vaccine. I don't want you to weigh in on what you
think of a president or not, left to right.

I think the good doctor that who joins me now could care less on that
front.

His name is Dr. Bob Lahita at the St. Joseph University Hospital, chairman
of medicine.

And, Doctor, what I remember about you when we were talking about Operation
Warp Speed back in the day is that...

DR. BOB LAHITA, ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL:  Yes.

CAVUTO:  ... it was an ambitious undertaking, but you were confident it
could deliver the goods on the vaccines. You had hoped that that generous
timeline would be realized. It was realized in triplicate, wasn't it?

LAHITA:  It was unbelievable, Neil.

I respect all of our presidents. But I have to say we have to give credit
where credit is due. And to have a vaccine developed in 10 months, instead
of 10 years, is an absolute miracle. And, I mean, from a medical
standpoint, if anything about scientific development, that is amazing.

Now, I have to give credit to President Biden as well for enhancing the
distribution and continuing to mitigate these infections and realize that
these infections are still very dangerous. It is still too hot out there to
take our masks off and not wash our hands and not social distance. So, I
give credit to both of these guys.

And I know that, when they inherit the Oval Office, they say, well, the
previous guy left me a big mess. Well, nobody expected a pandemic. And I
think, under the circumstances, both of them are doing magnificent jobs --
Neil.

CAVUTO:  Well-played. You could also go and be a secretary of state,
Doctor.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO:  Touche to you.

This Operation Warp Speed and what it did, it is amazing here, but I find
that, when I remember the race and it was going on, and a lot of people
were saying, all right, the president was just teasing us -- that is,
Donald Trump -- that it couldn't be done.

The fact that it was done and that it was done so quickly and so many
vaccines are now getting out, are you confident that that end-of-May goal
that every American adult will have access or will have had access will be
reached?

LAHITA:  I do -- I am extremely confident.

I was surprised when we had the vaccine by mid-December for Christmas. But
I am also confident that we are all going to have the opportunity, not that
anybody is -- not that everybody is going to afford themselves of the
vaccine.

I'm hearing rumblings out there of something like 30 to 40 percent of
people don't want to have the vaccine. And I think that's crazy. But,
frankly, I think it'll be available to all of those who wanted by May, the
end of May, and we will hopefully achieve herd immunity soon thereafter.

So, Neil, I think this is extremely promising. And as I said before to you,
I think we have a big light at the end of the tunnel now.

CAVUTO:  Thank you, Doctor, very much, or should I say Secretary of State
Bob Lahita?

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO:  But, all kidding aside, Doctor, thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO:  You're a fair and very balanced shooter when it comes to this.

When we come back, the confidence in states now to open up a lot sooner
than expected. You heard about Texas. Have you heard about what's going on
in Mississippi? The state's senator after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION:  Message to Texas and Mississippi? Texas and Mississippi?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  I think it's a big mistake.

Look, I hope everybody has realized by now these masks make a difference.
We are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this
disease.

And the last thing, the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that, in
the meantime, everything's fine, take off your mask, forget it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO:  All right, the president talking about the Neanderthal thinking
behind the Mississippi governor and the Texas governor easing,
dramatically, restrictions, to the point in Texas where they won't pretty
much have any come next week at this time.

Roger Wicker is the Republican Mississippi senator.

Senator, what did you think of what the president had to say about what
your governor wants to do, ease restrictions to the point that we're almost
back to pre-pandemic levels?

SEN. ROGER WICKER (R-MS):  Well, I'm perfectly all right with what the
governor of Mississippi has done.

He's left it up to local governments. And that's a conservative principle.
Take it away from the folks at the capital city and leave it up to
individuals, cities and locations. So, I'm perfectly fine with that.

I'm also -- I understand Joe Biden. He likes the one-liner, the -- he likes
to pop off at the mouth.

I'm a lot more concerned with this $1.9 trillion, this massive mistake he's
about to make for the economy. And so I'm actually focusing on that and
trying to make the case that this is the wrong thing to do, with an
expanding economy, and with the disease ending, and herd immunity coming
midyear.

That's more my beef with Joe Biden.

CAVUTO:  In other words, that almost $2 trillion is too much. There is a
lot of non-COVID relief in that. You're right.

WICKER:  Absolutely, like a -- like...

CAVUTO:  It looks to me -- and you can update me, Senator -- that not a
single Republican senator, including yourself, will vote for this, right?
So it's going to go along party lines, right?

WICKER:  Not only that, but we're going to fight it and try to point out
that, for one thing, we have a trillion dollars left over from the five
bipartisan bills we passed last year.

Let's get that spent and allocated. But, also, more than half of this money
that he proposes to spend this week will not even be spent until the year
2022. It's a massive waste. It's going to overheat the economy. Interest
rates are going to skyrocket.

And Larry Summers was an adviser to two Democratic presidents. He points
out this is going to overheat the economy. It's absolutely the worst thing
to do. And we're going to spend the next two days and nights, I guess,
trying to point out to people who are willing to tune in and listen that
this is -- this is not only something that's not going to help COVID, but
it is going to hurt the economy, hurt American people, and pick favorites
among families.

CAVUTO:  All right, Senator Roger Wicker, thank you very, very much.

The Mississippi senator responding to these latest developments, not only
easing restrictions dramatically in the state of Mississippi, leaving it up
to people to respond to that, even though a number of big retailers and the
like have already indicated they're going to require masks in stores in
both states just to be safe.

That will do it here.

Here comes "THE FIVE."

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