'Your World' on expectations from the Biden-Putin summit

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Biden needs to come back home and unite this country, not divide us overseas

Montana Sen. Steve Danes scolds Biden for Trump attack in Brussels on 'Your World'

This is a rush transcript from "Your World," June 15, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SANDRA SMITH, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Martha, thank you.

We're live in Geneva, Switzerland, ahead of President Biden's summit with Vladimir Putin there tomorrow. But, today, the focus is on China, which is facing increasing pressure to cooperate with world leaders, look into the origins of COVID, as the death toll from the illness tops 600,000 in this country today.

The European Union today joining with the G7 in calling for a transparent, evidence-based inquiry. We're going to be speaking with Virginia Republican Congressman Rob Wittman in moments. He is sponsoring a bill today that would sanction certain Chinese officials until China complies.

Welcome, everyone. I'm Sandra Smith, in for Neil Cavuto. And this is "Your World."

First to Rich Edson. He is live in Geneva, where U.S. and European officials are pressuring China for answers.

But the big question, Rich, is, will they get any?

RICH EDSON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: That's a good question, Sandra.

And this began this week with the Group of 7 meeting, the G7, coming out with it statement pushing on the World Health Organization to push into this investigation and try to find out how COVID-19 began.

That followed on today with the European Union and the United States with this statement coming out earlier today -- quote -- "We call for progress on a transparent, evidence-based and expert-led WHO-convened phase two study on the origins of COVID-19 that is free from interference. And we commit to working together toward development and the use of a swift and independent means for investigating such outbreaks in the future."

Now, China's government is largely refusing that. They do not want an independent examination into the origins of the virus in China, they have said, to determine whether this came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology or whether this came from nature. In fact, China's government has essentially said, go look at U.S. government bio labs instead.

And so, with all of that, there are some Republican congressional leaders who are calling for another inquiry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): The WHO did a terrible job the first time. There needs to be investigation, but I have been advocating for a congressional investigation in the Senate.

The whole world has a self-interest in making sure that China behaves, but the only way we will get them to behave is with ostracism by the whole world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EDSON: So, the Biden administration also calling for another investigation.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on this trip with President Biden. He called the World Health Organization's first investigation earlier this year highly deficient and that there needs to be accountability for China, though it is still unclear how exactly the administration plans on pushing that accountability or if American allies will join the U.S. if and when it does.

All right, the administration now looking right now in the intelligence community investigation. They're the ones looking into the origins, with a report due by the end of August -- Sandra.

SMITH: OK. As night falls there in Geneva, Rich, thank you for your reporting there.

Our next guest is co-sponsoring legislation that would sanction, meanwhile, top Chinese officials until China allows a full investigation into the origins of the pandemic.

With us now is Virginia Republican Congressman Rob Wittman. He is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and joins us now.

Sir, thank you so much for being here.

So, it is your plan to sanction these top Chinese officials until they allow an investigation into that Wuhan lab. How confident are you that that would result in answers, considering there's questions about whether or not there's enough evidence to really come to a conclusion here?

REP. ROB WITTMAN (R-VA): Well, Sandra, there needs to be an open, transparent and independent evaluation of what happened there at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

And the Chinese have not been willing to do that. I think we need to hold them accountable if they're not willing to do that. I believe the world needs to know. And the only way that we make that happen is to be aggressive, to be direct in what we expect out of China.

And what we know is the information that is out there, if they're willing to divulge it. Again, I want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make sure that we are holding our national security at the highest level. That is to make sure we hold China accountable and to make sure that this never happens again.

SMITH: So, we can obviously see that you and other Republicans are leaning in hard on this issue and acting very aggressively towards China on it.

WITTMAN: Yes.

SMITH: How confident are you, though, that the Biden administration plans to be just as aggressive?

WITTMAN: Well, we don't see that by the Democrats here in Congress.

We see Democrat chairmen that are saying they're not going to hold hearings on this, which I think is absolutely unacceptable.

SMITH: What is their reasoning? Why?

WITTMAN: Well, they say that it takes away accountability from President Trump.

They're making this about politics. This should be about holding China accountable. Shouldn't we want to get to the truth? They don't seem to want to get to the truth. They seem to want to make this about partisan politics.

This is clearly about national security. It's about holding China accountable. It's about making sure this never happens again. Over 600,000 people in the United States have died from this virus. We need to know how this happened, why it happened, hold people accountable, make sure it never happens again.

SMITH: Why do you think it's only coming to this now? I mean, you obviously heard and saw that interview that just aired here on this network with Dr. Redfield and others who were raising red flags so early on, to the point where some were receiving, in his case, death threats from scientists not to speak out on this.

We have heard from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said any suggestions about this originating from a lab where pooh-poohed. It wasn't politically correct, in some cases, to bring this up within the State Department walls.

So what is going on here, as the American people -- you are clearly saying with this announcement today, the American people want to know more. So why didn't we want to know more earlier on?

WITTMAN: Well, I think this was all couched in politics.

I think early on, because it came from Republicans, because it was suggested by President Trump, that the media said, no, this is conspiracy theory. We heard them go after Tom Cotton, saying that this is a marginal thought here. And they actually made fun of many of us who said there's something to this.

I'm a biologist by training. I worked in the lab through the years. I said, why aren't we asking these significant questions that must be answered? And the press was unwilling to ask those questions.

SMITH: Yes.

WITTMAN: Many media outlets have said -- said this was crazy conspiracy theories.

We see now that that is not the case.

SMITH: Many of those in the media have had to walk back those comments...

WITTMAN: Yes.

SMITH: ... as this theory that it did leak from a Wuhan lab has obviously grown in popularity, gained steam over time.

So, as these leaders, these global leaders do meet now, what are you hearing is the urgency on the part of global leaders -- because, obviously, this is a global pandemic that we're talking about -- to push for answers, and ultimately hold China accountable?

WITTMAN: I think more leaders around the world are beginning to see the full picture. They're seeing information that has come from intelligence agencies. They're hearing experts on health and viruses from around the world talk about the higher likelihood of this being an escape from the lab, rather than a natural transference from animals to man.

Those are world-renowned experts that are starting to call into question these issues. I think countries around the world are saying, China needs to be held accountable. They need to be transparent. They need to be open and have an independent investigation about truly what happened there at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

SMITH: G7 leaders also called last week for a timely, transparent, expert- led study conducted in China on the virus' origin.

You are leading that charge, a couple of Republicans that are pressing for more answers and for the American people to learn more through the World Deserves to Know Act.

Sir, I appreciate your time this afternoon.

WITTMAN: Thank you so much, Sandra.

SMITH: Thank you.

Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, commemorating the anniversary of DACA. But while she honors those dreamers, border officials say they're still dealing with a nightmare on the ground. The startling discovery from Border Patrol -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: In Washington now, Vice President Kamala Harris meeting with dreamers to mark the ninth anniversary of DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

But it's at our Southern border that the nightmare is happening.

Bill Melugin is in La Joya, Texas, on the latest discovery from Customs and Border Protection.

Bill, I know you have got a busy scene playing out behind you, but, first, tell us about that.

BILL MELUGIN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sandra, we're in the Rio Grande Valley here, and this is by far the busiest section of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Border Patrol here completely overwhelmed, overstretched and undermanned. And just to highlight that point for you, just as we're getting ready to go live, this large group of migrants just pop out of the brush right behind us here. There are no Border Patrol units here. So they're just sitting down waiting to be apprehended.

Some of them look to be in a lot of stress from the heat. It's very hot out here. It's incredibly humid, but, again, Border Patrol units, there's no one here right now to apprehend these folks. And that just kind of tells part of the story there, that they are so stretched thin, we have a group right here just waiting to be captured.

But talking about that stash house, take a look at this video that we shot yesterday. This is exclusive video. We were tipped off to. This was a human smuggling stash house that was busted in Alton, Texas, yesterday, about 20 minutes away from where we are right now.

It appeared to be an old auto garage. More than 100 migrants being kept there by those human smugglers in some pretty horrible conditions, completely crammed on top of each other in that heat, with no air conditioning.

What happens is, these human smugglers will bring them across the border, leave them at the stash house, and hold them there until they're ready to move them elsewhere, deeper into the United States. And actually spray- painted on the wall of that stash house were the letters CDG. Law enforcement sources tell me that stands for Cartel del Golfo, the Gulf Cartel.

That's the Mexican drug cartel that runs this area on the opposite side of the border in Mexico. They're big into human trafficking and drug trafficking. And they are profiting greatly from this crisis.

More activity. Take a look at this video we shot here from right where we're standing this morning. This is La Joya, Texas. Like clockwork, every single day, every single morning, large group of migrants just come out of the brush and walk down the road and give themselves up to Border Patrol.

I cannot stress to you how often this happens like clockwork, every single day. These are mostly those family units, those people who are not trying to run away. But we see this every single morning out here.

And as we finish up back out here live, taking a look at this again, still no Border Patrol units here. And it's not Border Patrol's fault. They're doing everything they can. They're completely overwhelmed. They can't be everywhere at once.

We saw one unit drive by and just leave them there, which suggests potentially they got other action the border that's more important right now. So, despite what the administration says that the border is closed or it's under control or the messaging that migrants shouldn't come right now, that messaging isn't getting through. And the border, as you can see, is not closed.

We will send it back to you.

SMITH: Well, thank you for your reporting from there, and those live pictures. Wow.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection saying situations like that one are becoming much more common. In the case of the stash house, that's a big concern for agents on the ground there.

National Border Patrol Council president Brandon Judd joins us now.

Sir, thank you so much for being here.

Texas, over 100 undocumented immigrants, according to officials. Those U.S. -- in the U.S. illegally were nationals of Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Ecuador, Nicaragua.

Your reaction to that, and how much more of this is going on right now?

BRANDON JUDD, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL: This is happening everywhere.

But what's what's unfortunate is, we're getting examples like this on a very regular basis, if not a weekly basis, on a very regular basis. And from there, from these houses, they're going to put these people into semi- trailers that also do not have air conditioning. And they're going to be even more crammed in there.

We have had semi-trailers that have killed people that we found. And this crisis continues, and there's no solutions coming from the White House. Instead, Vice President Harris is meeting with dreamers, instead of meeting with the law enforcement that have to deal with this on a daily basis. We're getting overwhelmed. And if the White House doesn't step in, the numbers are going to continue to rise, and we're going to continue to see people put in inhumane conditions, and they're going to suffer.

SMITH: Brandon, we will put those live pictures back up that Bill was just showing us of those groups that just continue to pour in.

I mean, just at first glance, when I saw that, I quickly noticed that there was a lot of children mixed in there. I mean, I'm seeing some kids that look like they could be 2 or 3 years old on the left-hand side of the screen, kids of various ages there making this dangerous journey.

Optics is part of leading, there is no doubt. And all of this is happening while Kamala Harris, the vice president, who has been assigned in charge of this crisis by President Biden, she is currently talking about the 10th anniversary of DACA in Washington. She has not paid a visit to the border. I believe it's 83 days and counting that she's been in charge of this crisis.

I mean, the sheer optics of the numbers of migrants pouring in, the story of the stash house, while she's in Washington, and has no plans to visit the border, what is your reaction to that?

JUDD: It's disgusting to know that the person that is in charge of the border isn't even going to the border to see exactly what is going on.

But the fact remains, she can't. She can't come to the border, because, if she does, she's going to be expected to fix the problem. And then there is no political will to fix the problem.

All you have to do is look at the interviews that she's given. When she says that she's an advocate for undocumented aliens in this country, that is clearly inviting these people to come across the border, if they know that the vice president is going to advocate for them?

Then she says, don't come because I believe you're going to be sent back. What president or vice president says, I believe something is going to happen? They have to know exactly what the consequences are going to be. Yet she doesn't.

She continues to say these things. And then their actions add to this problem.

SMITH: OK, a bit of news here. I just want to get your reaction before we let you go, Brandon. This is just out of a meeting today with the U.S. homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas.

The Mexico finance minister, so Mexico saying that it's going to work with the U.S. to modernize Mexican customs. Apparently, it was said on Twitter that my Mayorkas and Arturo Herrera, the two agreed to work together to modern modernized Mexican customs offices.

What does that mean to you?

JUDD: It -- right now, at this exact point, it doesn't mean anything, because, to modernize their agency, it's going to take years to get that done.

So this crisis is going to continue while they're trying to modernize customs. Yes, it might work five years down the road. But right now, in the immediacy, it does absolutely nothing for us.

SMITH: Real quick, do you want Kamala Harris -- would it help to have her or the president or both of them visit the border?

JUDD: Yes, I absolutely want them to come. I want them to see exactly what's going on firsthand.

That happened with Vice President Pence when he went to the border. He saw exactly what happened and then they implemented policies to fix the problems. They're not -- this administration isn't doing that.

SMITH: Brandon Judd, I really appreciate your time. We will obviously catch up with you again soon. Thank you.

JUDD: Thank you, Sandra.

SMITH: Our best to you.

Got a shot? More companies saying, prove it. But can they legally do it? We will debate that one.

And what we learned today about those recent price spikes that could mean sticker shock is here to stay for some time. We report, you might want to hide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: The clock is ticking to the face-to-face meeting between President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

What does Montana Senator Steve Daines want to hear? He will join us next.

We're back in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: Now you will be able to see those smiles at the Happiest Place on Earth, starting today, Disney lifting its mask mandates for vaccinated guests at its two flagship parks in California and Florida.

If you don't have a shot, you will still need to mask up on the ride and other indoor attractions. Disney also saying that it will not require its employees to show proof of vaccination.

But not all companies are taking the same path as the Mouse House. Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley pushing workers to prove their vaccination status. Goldman using an internal online portal for proof.

But how far can companies legally go with this?

Let's get the read from attorney Katie Cherkasky.

Katie, thanks for joining us.

Everybody's got big questions about this, because so many folks who have been working from home, they're getting called back into the workplace. They're concerned about whether or not they need to be vaccinated and show proof of that.

I believe that they're also concerned about the others around them being vaccinated, because unless you wear a pin on your shoulder that says you are, you just really don't know.

So what can companies do to ensure that people are safe?

KATIE CHERKASKY, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, private employers really have very broad discretion to mandate vaccines.

I think that there's a very common misconception that HIPAA requires employers to not ask these questions. But that's just not true, because most employers are not regulated by HIPAA. That's only for very specific health plans and health care clearinghouses.

So a normal employer can ask the question, and they can mandate that as a condition of employment, except for in cases of religious exemptions or disability exemptions, which always existed.

SMITH: There's -- it's a matter of whether or not you have to show your medical records to your employer.

And I'm sure you can tell us all day long about the restrictions there are for doing that. And, certainly, there's medical reasons and, in some cases, religious reasons why people decide not to do. This is going to be -- my guess -- an incredibly difficult path to navigate for these companies who have never been here before.

CHERKASKY: I think that's absolutely true. And I think it's difficult for employers to make the right decision, because, on the one hand, you don't want an outbreak of some sort.

But on the other, you don't want to have litigation, even if it doesn't end up going in employees' favor, but you don't want to have to deal with that, on top of disgruntled employees and the morale that might come along with forcing people to do something that they feel is a personal choice.

So it seems that a lot of companies are not mandating, even though, legally, I think they have a lot of basis to do that. And they probably could get away with it. But they're not doing that because of those downsides, I believe, at this point.

SMITH: I think it's going to be really interesting if companies do decide to mandate that how many people who haven't been vaccinated will go do so, or if we're going to see lawsuits as a result, people who just don't want to show their medical status.

But all of this is incredibly important for getting people back to work, because, in some cases, when we talk about nine million job openings in this country, we are told the reason for that, in some cases, is people don't feel safe returning to the workplace.

So a lot of these companies have an obligation to show their staff, show their employees that they're creating a safe work environment.

I go to my last question, and that is this. We all are taught what's right, H.R., what is politically correct, what you can and can't say in the workplace. I wonder what it's going to be like if people decide to ask, are you vaccinated, or -- after we all got vaccinated, it seemed like we were all sharing that with each other. But is it going to be OK to ask someone if they have been?

CHERKASKY: Well, you could certainly ask somebody that.

I mean, obviously, the social awkwardness is one thing to navigate. But there was, in fact, a lawsuit was filed out of Texas, and the federal judge in that case actually dismissed it, saying that the employer could mandate the vaccines even for people that chose not to do so for non-religious or non-disability purposes.

So it looks like, on the legal side, they're going to be able to do so. But the question is really, do the employers want to do that? Is that good for business? And that's the bigger question.

SMITH: These are big questions that all these corporations are going to have to figure out, some of them on the fly.

Katie, appreciate it. Thank you.

CHERKASKY: Thank you.

SMITH: All right, we will have more on this growing tension over returning to in person work later in the show, including a warning that a top CEO is giving his employees, but first to California cashing in on some serious coin from taxpayers across the country, thanks to the return of pork barrel spending in Washington.

FOX's Hillary Vaughn is on Capitol Hill with the very latest on all of that.

Hello, Hillary.

HILLARY VAUGHN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Sandra.

Well, when it comes to pork spending in the House highway bill, California walked away with the prized pig. Lawmakers set aside $5.7 billion in earmarks. And the Golden State gets more of them in this bill than any other state. If passed, California will receive over $900 million in federal taxpayer cash to fund different projects in California's congressional districts.

Some of that money fueling Democrats' green energy dreams, $31 million going to clean energy projects alone in the state, including $4 million for electric vehicle charging stations and $19 million to put electric buses on the road.

But there are some projects included that may make some do a double-take, including over $6 million for a suicide safety net to be installed at San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, $6.5 million for a bike trail in Menlo Park. That's where Facebook is headquartered -- $3 million for a bike trail through Napa's Wine Country, and another $3 million for new toilets and lights at a San Francisco Bay Area Metro station.

California, though, does have the extra cash to pay for this stuff if they wanted to. They have a $76 billion surplus. But instead of dipping into their stash of cash, American taxpayers will be picking up the tab for these things, Sandra, that really only a few Californians even will actually get to benefit from -- Sandra.

SMITH: Hillary Vaughn live on Capitol Hill for us.

Hillary, thank you.

From killer to worthy adversary. Ahead of the high-stakes meeting, why is Biden's tune on Putin changing?

Republican Senator Steve Daines on that -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: President Biden in Switzerland ahead of his high-stakes meeting with Vladimir Putin.

To FOX News White House correspondent Peter Doocy. He is live on the ground there in Geneva on preparations ahead of this highly anticipated summit.

Hello, Peter.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sandra, good evening from Switzerland.

That is right. President Biden is here in Geneva going over his notes ahead of what we are told will be four or five hours of talks with President Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Are you ready for tomorrow?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm always ready.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: As the president flew from Belgium to Switzerland, we got some more details aboard Air Force One on what is on the to do-list here.

They are the world's two biggest nuclear power, so an administration official says arms control will come up. And so will ransomware attacks launched within Russia that squeezed American meat and fuel supplies this spring.

Interference in U.S. elections is something Biden has long complained about. He points to the U.S. intel community's assessment that Russia was involved, which Putin claims isn't true. President Biden also says he wants to talk to Putin about that political rival Alexei Navalny, who is in a Russian prison for political reasons,

Russian officials have publicly said they don't want to talk about that. U.S. officials have shot back Russia doesn't get to decide what Biden brings up.

Back at home in the States, though, critics are concerned about the president's approach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): I'm less concerned how Joe Biden stumbles and bumbles his way through describing Vladimir Putin than I am concerned about how Joe Biden behaves towards Vladimir Putin.

And for the last four months, he has been pathetically weak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: Axios is reporting now that some former Trump White House officials who were involved in the Trump-Putin summit have been advising and briefing President Biden ahead of his meeting tomorrow.

The president has been sequestered away from cameras and away from public events here in Geneva ever since he touched down this afternoon -- Sandra.

SMITH: Doocy live on the ground there in Geneva for us. Looking forward to your continuing coverage from there. Peter, thank you.

So, what is our next guest hoping to see out of this meeting?

Montana Republican Senator Steve Daines joins us now.

Senator, welcome. Thanks for being here.

So, what is behind, do you believe, President Biden sort of reversing his killer tough guy rhetoric on Putin to now calling him a tough and worthy adversary?

SEN. STEVE DAINES (R-MT): Well, you can't make it up, Sandra.

He's -- he's showing weakness towards Russia,and he's being tough on America. President Biden needs to go in with a position of strength. Remember President Reagan? It was peace through strength. We need that out of President Biden.

But, unfortunately, rather being tough on Russia, what are we seeing? We're seeing these huge cyberattacks that are going on in America that are crippling our infrastructure. We're seeing President Biden green-lighting a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. At the same time, he killed the Keystone XL pipeline.

Here's what I like to see happen. He should move that meeting from Geneva, move it to the Southern border. Bring Putin to the Southern border. We could talk about American energy. We also talk about the out-of-control border crisis we have got right now going on in our own country.

SMITH: Talk about the balance, though, between that tough talk that you are wishing and hoping for from President Biden, and going too tough, to where there's concern about retaliation from Russia.

DAINES: Well, listen, bullies understand one thing. And that's strength.

If you go into a meeting with a bully with weakness, guess what? The bully comes out on top. We need President Biden to come in and put a America first agenda forward. We need to hold him accountable. These cyberattacks, these ransomware attacks are a very serious threat to our country, our economic security, our entire national security.

We need a forceful president confronting Putin about what's going on here with Russia attacking our country. And we need a president right now who will stand up for America and help our country, instead of being weak towards Russia.

SMITH: And going to some of the words that he used to describe Vladimir Putin, President Biden called him bright, tough, as he has found, he says, as they say, obviously, that he's a worthy adversary now.

You should have seen the headlines that resulted. Biden lavished praise on Putin. If Trump had done this, the media would have had a fit.

Mollie Hemingway chimed in, Biden with a huge walk-back from his first comments on Putin. Ted Cruz ripped into Biden for his praise of Putin. Took down the media along the way too, did he.

But is there a double standard, do you believe, with the way the media is treating this upcoming summit and sit-down meeting with Vladimir Putin, the way they're treating it with Biden vs. the way they did with Donald Trump?

DAINES: Well, go back and look at the clips from the Main Street media from when Trump met Putin in Helsinki...

SMITH: Yes.

DAINES: ... compared to the meeting that's going to happen in Geneva. It's -- the contrast is absolutely black and white.

And so they're providing this Biden honeymoon here with Putin. And Trump came in to meet with Putin with strength. Biden's going in to meet with Putin with weakness.

And I tell you what. That doesn't end very well for our country. You have got to confront Russia head on. He needs to come in, right in, go strong here, confronting Putin about these cyberattacks. They all originate from Russia.

SMITH: Senator, real quick before I let you go, it did seem that President Biden broke with the norm yesterday, decided to rip into Republicans during this overseas press conference.

There was a lot of focus on the opposing party. Why do you believe he chose to do that, finally?

DAINES: Well, I tell you what.

We talked about -- remember, when President Trump made a few comments, they all went crazy about that. And here's the bottom line, is that President Biden is dividing this country. He's creating division here, where he is driving inflation up. He's driving gas prices up, killing pipelines, an out-of-control Southern border, proposing to raise taxes to cripple our economy, cripple the American people.

He needs to come back home here and unite this country, instead of launching bombs, figuratively speaking here, from Europe back at his own country. That's wrong.

We need a president that will unite this country, not divide us.

SMITH: All right, well, we await the big meeting happening tomorrow.

Senator Daines from Montana, appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

All right, Putin is frequently referred to as a killer. So, just how accurate is that label?

FOX News correspondent Steve Harrigan takes a look.

STEVE HARRIGAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Sandra, 20 years ago, Russians were really shocked by Putin's tough talk when he talked about rubbing out Chechen fighters, even in outhouses.

Now, 20 years later, they are concerned that some of that violence could extend to Putin's political opponents at home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIGAN (voice-over): Before political activist Alexei Navalny was poisoned and imprisoned, former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov was shot outside the Kremlin walls.

Journalist Anna Politkovskaya was gunned down in the stairwell of her apartment. There was no evidence tied to the regime, but no doubt about the message to surviving colleagues.

IRINA BOROGAN, RUSSIAN JOURNALIST: I was shocked. I was scared. I was depressed. And everybody did, because she was so prominent and so important that we believe that nobody -- nobody there to -- touch her.

HARRIGAN: Calling the president of Russia a killer is debated by Russia analysts, both as a matter of fact and as a tactic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Putin is willing to use murder as a weapon, but we don't need to say that when we're characterizing in public. We need to react to that and to establish strong policies to making sure that such ruthlessness does not hurt American interests.

HARRIGAN: Other suggests a change in context could help Americans get a sense of Putin's soul.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The best way to understand Mr. Putin and how the Kremlin works is, in the United States, we don't think of criminal organized crime as part of the government. But, in Russia, it is almost the exact same thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIGAN: That analogy would posit Putin as the boss of 145 million Russians with a nuclear arsenal -- Sandra

SMITH: Steve Harrigan, thank you.

All right, coming up: If you can go out to eat, you can come back to work. Morgan Stanley's CEO reportedly saying it. How will workers respond to it?

But, first, more sticker shock from store shelves. You might have a cow over our next story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: Wholesale prices up nearly 7 percent from a year ago, and those costs are hitting consumers in the stores. It's another sign inflation is heating up as we head into summer.

FOX Business' Lydia Hu who is on a dairy farm in Easton, Pennsylvania, where local farmers are dealing with these higher prices firsthand.

Love it, Lydia. How's it going in there?

LYDIA HU, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Sandra. You're checking in just in time, because the cows are actually getting milked right now. It happens two times a day, every day, rain or shine, whether it's a holiday or not. That never changes.

But what has changed in the past year is how much we're paying for a gallon of milk at the grocery store. It's gone up, driven by the price for gasoline and labor shortages. Right now, it's about $3.50 on average across the country, up from $3.21, and now more than the average price for a gallon of gas.

The experts tell me that it's probably going to get worse before it gets better. And it's not just milk at the stores. It's also the price of bacon. That's up 13 percent over last year. Citrus fruits, those are up 9 percent or more.

I'm here at the Klein Farms in Eastern Pennsylvania. They tell me they have been doing this for nearly 90 years. They have no plans on getting out of the business anytime soon. But they also tell me just because the prices are going up doesn't mean that they are getting paid more. It's all because the cost of business is going up -- Sandra.

SMITH: Really great reporting firsthand there from a dairy farm.

Lydia Hu, thank you.

So, the question becomes, are these higher prices here to stay?

FOX Business host Charlie Payne -- Charles Payne joins us now. You can catch him weekdays 2:00 p.m. "Making Money."

I mean, it really is important, right, Charles to go see how these farmers are dealing with this, in that case, the dairy farm there. Are these here to stay? Because it seems like the Federal Reserve, the Biden administration, they seem to think that it's not going to stick around.

CHARLES PAYNE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Yes.

SMITH: But what are you seeing?

PAYNE: Well, the Biden administration hope they don't stick around, because a lot of people will be pointing fingers at that $1.9 trillion COVID relief.

The Federal Reserve also doesn't think it is. There's a major debate on this, Sandra, whether it's transitory, which means sort of temporary.

Ten minutes ago, La-Z-Boy just reported their earnings. Let me tell you what they just said: "Short term, the company expects a temporary negative impact to our profit margins because, due to a dramatic material price increase, which will only be offset by previously announced price actions," which means they have already announced they're going to raise their prices because the price...

SMITH: Yes.

PAYNE: ... it will cost that they take, that they need to make their furniture has gone up, in their words, dramatically.

So, this is -- this rolls down the hill to everyone watching this show. It's a major question. I think some parts of it will be longer-term, like wages. And I'm just hoping other things, like commodity prices, beef, milk and things like that, start to pull back.

We have seen lumber, we have seen still come down dramatically in the last month. Let's hope the rest do as well.

SMITH: Really important. Producer prices rising at the fastest pace since at least 2009. Obviously, what we have seen happen, a lot of folks stayed home. Savings were built. There is pent-up demand.

People are heading out to restaurants. They're vaccinated. They're shopping. They're buying things again. So, obviously, the big bet is whether or not this is transitory or not. It appears investors are not panicking, at least for now.

I mean, the Dow did fall about 94 points today, but stocks are still near record highs. So why isn't the U.S. stock market worried about these higher prices, Charles?

PAYNE: Sometimes, you got to be careful -- you know this -- with these averages. A few stocks can be up big, and it can mask the under -- all -- overall, internally, the market is very jittery.

There have been more losers than winners of late. And there's a lot of anxiety about this. But don't forget, you just heard La-Z-Boy say that they have been able to pass these costs on. These companies have pricing power. Yesterday, a major firm said, we think Chipotle is a buy, even though they're paying $16 an hour, they're paying for pet insurance, they're paying for all kinds of things to lure workers.

They can pass those costs on. So that's another reason for now you see the market up, but how long can they probably pass these prices on? It won't be for forever. And that's why everybody hopes that maybe we can just tap the brakes a little bit.

SMITH: And, sometimes, you don't know they're getting passed along to you. I always call it sneaky inflation, where they shrink the amount of goods that are in...

PAYNE: Streak-flation.

SMITH: Yes, that's right.

(LAUGHTER)

SMITH: And you just don't even realize, because they don't raise the price. They just put less Cheerios in the box or whatever it is, cereal in general.

Charles, we will watch you, 2:00 p.m., "Making Money With Charles Payne," 2:00 p.m. weekdays on FOX Business.

PAYNE: OK.

SMITH: Thank you, Charles.

PAYNE: See you, Sandra.

SMITH: Well, if you can go to a restaurant in New York City, you can come into the office. That is what Morgan Stanley's CEO is telling its employees. And it could come with a price if they aren't there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES GORMAN, CEO, MORGAN STANLEY: If you can go to a restaurant in New York City, you can come into the office, and we want you in the office.

If you want to get paid New York rates, you work in New York. Labor Day, I will be very disappointed if people haven't found their way into the office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: That was Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman giving a message to his New York employees: Be back in the office full-time by Labor Day.

He also says, if they want to get paid New York rates, they need to actually be in New York.

So, is this the way companies should handle their return-to-work plans?

Joining us, Independent Women's Forum Patrice Lee Onwuka, The New York Post's Kelly Jane Torrance, and Democratic strategist Laura Fink.

Patrice, I will start with you first.

I mean, obviously, he wants people back in the office. Isn't there -- doesn't he have a point? If you're going out to restaurants, you're grocery shopping, you're back out again, well, shouldn't you get back to the office?

PATRICE LEE ONWUKA, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S FORUM: Well, I think it's a fair point.

I mean, a lot of the concerns about health are receding, and especially for parents. Children should hopefully all be back in school full-time this fall. So maybe some of those concerns that kept workers at home are eroding.

But I have got to say, this is a big deal. It's going to have a rippling effect in New York, with the competitors, the customers. Any businesses that deal with Morgan Stanley may start to follow suit. So this can be a really -- a really big deal.

SMITH: Well, I can tell you, New York City needs them to return. It would be a good thing for the city to see them back, all those workers.

But to go on, Kelly, to his other words, if you want to get paid New York rates, you work in New York. And it's a fair point. If you're going to continue to accept the salary that you had pre-pandemic, and you're living somewhere else, perhaps in a more rural area, or you went to Florida or whatever it may be, then maybe a company shouldn't have to continue to pay you those New York rates.

What say you?

KELLY JANE TORRANCE, NEW YORK POST: Yes, I think I think he has a point there, Sandra.

But there's a reason, I think, that a lot of people haven't come back to New York yet. And that is crime. I can walk to the restaurant down the street from me. I'm not taking the subway right now, honestly, because I don't feel safe. A lot of crimes, including felony assaults, are still up, despite ridership being down.

And polls show that only about a quarter of New Yorkers right now feel safe on the subways. Before the epidemic, that was 65 percent. So it's a bigger issue than just, hey, get back to work. There's a lot of work I think the city's leaders need to do to get New Yorkers back to work.

SMITH: I think, Laura, that's a fair point, because we're not just talking about the risks of COVID getting back into the workplace.

Certainly, in cases like New York City and some other hard-hit cities as far as crime, workers could be hesitant to go back for that reason, too.

LAURA FINK, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Let's look at the data -- $4.1 billion, that's the amount of increase in revenue year over year that Morgan Stanley made. They could be sharing that wealth with their workers.

Instead, they're threatening to cut salaries, when these workers have been increasingly productive, and have provided them and increased their bottom line. Instead of attracting them back to work with the carrot, he comes in hard with the stick.

That's pretty typical of sort of top-down banking culture, and different than what we have seen in other tech companies, like Twitter and Salesforce. Look, 50 percent of workers want to do some kind of telework. Now, either companies are going to be responsive to that, or they're going to incentivize them to come into the office with rewards, or they're going to face talent and retention problems.

That's -- workers have increased power.

SMITH: Right.

FINK: And I think that's a good thing.

SMITH: So, let me dig into that last point with you, Patrice, because Citigroup just down the street from Morgan Stanley is saying, we are going to continue to offer a hybrid model.

Some of these banks are deciding to give their workers an option to work some days in the office, some days from home. So isn't that going to become a major recruiting point with some of these big corporations, if they're going to offer a hybrid model?

ONWUKA: Well, I think so.

I mean, to Laura's point, when we do look at polling, 86 percent of workers who worked remotely say they want to continue to do so. But only 25 percent want to do it full-time. So, it's an incentive for new employees and to retain current employees.

But it is also an incentive to draw those people who are in other far-flung cities and locations that a lot of these companies couldn't necessarily bring to the city, but now can do so through a hybrid model. So I absolutely do think you will see more of this.

SMITH: All right, Kelly, so wrap this for us, as a New Yorker yourself.

He says: "Labor Day, I will be very disappointed people haven't found their way into the office."

Do you think people are going to listen to this message and get themselves back?

TORRANCE: I think a lot of people want to go back. I'm going back once in a while. I'm not in every day. I'm going in once a while.

But the thing is, I have missed my co-workers. I missed that collaboration. So, until everyone is going back, and we're going to see that same kind of teamwork, throwing ideas off each other, I think it's going to be harder to get people in. You have got to get some kind of first wave that brings in the second and third wave.

SMITH: And, Laura, to your point, while productivity has been up in many cases for these big corporations, there's questions over whether or not that lasts, because if you have a workplace environment that originates outside of the office, will the productivity remain high in some of those cases?

All really good points across the board.

Thanks for joining us, ladies.

TORRANCE: Thank you.

ONWUKA: Thank you.

FINK: Thank you.

SMITH: I liked our ladies panel.

It's good to have all of you.

All right, that's it for me today. You can catch me tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. on "America Reports" with John Roberts. He will continue to be live from Geneva, as we await the big summit, the meeting with Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden.

Thanks for joining us.

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