'Special Report' All-Star Panel on Title 42, Disney vs. Florida

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Brit Hume: This signals how unserious they are stemming migrant flow at border

'Special Report' panel weigh in on the Biden administration planning to lift COVID limitations on asylum claims at southern border.

This is a rush transcript of "Special Report with Bret Baier" on March 30, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BAIER: All right, Title 42 is the rule that allows the Border Patrol to relocate, kick out illegal immigrants coming across the border without going through the asylum process. They can do it based on COVID-19. That's called Title 42. It's going to come to an end. And it's likely going to be announced at the end of this week and go into effect in May.

If you look at the numbers along the southern border, it's astronomical. The total encounters there now up to 838,000 and growing as March's numbers are expected to be, surpass 1 million. This is just for this year, over the past six months.

So with that, let's bring in our panel, FOX News senior political analyst Brit Hume, Katie Pavlich, news editor at Townhall.com, and Juan Williams is a FOX News analyst. Brit, this is a big issue. We have been focused on the Ukraine war, and obviously it's a massive story there. But what's happening on our southern border is also a massive story.

BRIT HUME, FOX NEWS SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It certainly is. And the numbers, as you point out, Bret, are truly impressive. They are massive. And this COVID-19 restriction that was being used by the administration at the border to at least stem part of the tide of the influx of these illegal immigrants could easily be renewed. You've got Dr. Fauci out there talking about people having a fourth shot, talking about the possibility we may need soon or sometime in the near future to reimpose restrictions of the kind that we previously had. So as far as this administration's health experts are concerned, the COVID-19 pandemic is nowhere near over.

So the reasons for lifting these restrictions, it seems to me are -- the fact that they are planning to do it, I would say, is a sign of how unserious this administration is about stemming the flow of migrants into the country. Notice that everything you hear about this is all about how -- about how our administration is bracing for a huge influx, new influx. You never hear anything about what they are doing to stop it.

BAIER: Right. Juan, what about that? This is one of the issues that politically people say is high for them if you look at poll numbers, especially those border states. The immigration issue, and then you look at crime, and then you look at inflation. What about this issue, though?

JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I'm not sure I would link all those issues. But just in terms of the immigration issue that you and Brit Hume were just discussing, I think it's very important that they come to some conclusion about the asylum policy. Now, he can try, the president can try to deal with that as an executive order, but I think that's going to just cause even more of a sort of conflagration of anger attitude and opinions.

I think that Congress would be wise to say you know what, we need to get together and stop the partisanship act on this, because there is a law that grants asylum to people who make their way to the border, and that's the law that the -- the enforcement people, ICE, have to deal with at the border. But we, I mean the political class in Washington, it seems to me, is not giving good direction to the people at the border or to those who are seeking asylum, and that's why you are continuing to see this torrent that is apparently growing and may grow stronger if, in fact, we see COVID lessen. It's an irony because you would think COVID lessening is good news, but maybe not such good news in terms of the immigration issue.

BAIER: Katie?

KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: The White House is throwing their hands up and saying basically this is a CDC issue and we are bracing to van influx of people. We are not talking about a slight increase. There are estimates of 18,000 illegal immigrants coming across the border every single day.

And the truth is that President Biden could do something about this. He could embrace the remain in Mexico policy which helps with these asylum claims. He could call on Congress to review these asylum laws which are heavily abused by people crossing the border and making false claims that jam up the court system.

The other thing is that this is a serious national security and public safety problem that we have on our hands, not to mention the number of people crossing, getting away from countries all over the world. It's not just the northern triangle countries that they are dealing with here. Every single day, Border Patrol is reporting violent criminals with serious records coming across the border. And so there are solutions to this problem politically for the White House as well. Jeh Johnson, the former DHS secretary, saying this is unsustainable. Henry Cuellar, who is a Democrat congressman from Texas. And you are seeing these districts on the border flipping to Republican as a result of them not dealing with this crisis. So there is a number of issues here that do not benefit them and definitely don't benefit the country.

BAIER: Obviously, the COVID funding a big issue on Capitol Hill, also debate about this fourth dose, as you mentioned, Brit.

But I want to turn to the reporting of "The Washington Post" today on this Hunter Biden laptop. "The Washington Post," "Inside Hunter Biden's multimillion-dollar deals with a Chinese energy company. Over the course of 14 months," this is "The Post," "a Chinese energy conglomerate and its executives paid $4.8 million to entities controlled by Hunter Biden and his uncle according to government records, court documents, and newly glossed bank statements. "The Post" did not find evidence that Joe Biden personally benefited from or knew details about the transactions, but the new documents illustrate the ways in which the family profited from the relationships built over Joe Biden's decades in public service."

It is quite something, Brit, to see "The Washington Post," to see "The New York Times," to see other news organizations touch this even though it was something they couldn't touch in October of 2020.

HUME: Well, it was something they said they couldn't touch, and they said they couldn't touch because it was not verified. Of course, news organizations pick up stories that some other news organizations have reported. They don't necessarily claim them as their own, but they report that the other news organization has said this. But when "The New York Post" reported on Hunter Biden's laptop and its contents, everybody said oh, we can't touch that, we can't touch that.

Now the "New York Times" and "The Washington Post" have discovered there is a lot to this story and there always was a lot to this story. I guess we should say better late than never to those news organizations, because they have big staffs and they can delve into a story like this. So let's hope they do more.

BAIER: Juan, I will say, you were one of the people citing the 50 plus intel saying this is Russian disinformation at the time. Not to pick on you what you were saying at the time, but a lot of people were saying that and disregarded the story that's now coming to fruition.

WILLIAMS: Well, I just think that you know, just like the "New York Times" went after Hillary on her emails, now you see "The Washington Post" picking up on this story belatedly. But the reality was, the context at the time was, given what had happened in the 2016 election, and given that a lot of this was coming from Rudy Giuliani, who was then, of course, working for President Trump, and "The New York Post" wouldn't share the basis for which they were writing this story with other news organizations, there were lots of questions about it, questions about whether or not this was another attempt to influence an American presidential election by the Russians.

I think now it's pretty clear that this was a legitimate report, and that, secondly, that Hunter Biden is a continuing drug-addled embarrassment to this president. I don't think the president was involved, according to the reporting, but I think it's pretty clear that Hunter Biden just goes about things in such a way, the president says he is his son, he is going to love him. But it comes at a price for the president.

BAIER: We can go down this road a lot. And I want to do it quickly, Katie, but the president has called him the smartest guy he knows. There is also reporting about the big guy and how much he gets paid. There's all kinds of reporting from the "New York Post" and our reporting that happened in October. But I will give you the final word here quickly.

PAVLICH: This is a story that has been going on for a long time. In 2013 Hunter Biden hitched a ride on Air Force 2 during a trip taken by Vice President Joe Biden to China while Hunter Biden just happened to be setting up a private equity firm with money in China connected to the Chinese Communist Party. "The Washington Post" story is one of many. I think there is big questions about the timing now about why it is coming out now in multiple news organizations, this information that was verified before the election.

BAIER: One reason could be that there are indictments coming. That's possible. We don't know that for a fact.

Up next, how executives at Disney are reacting to Florida's new law banning gender identification instruction to young children.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Executives and employees at Disney are leading a fight against Florida's new law banning the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation to young school children. What's the fallout from that? Correspondent David Lee Miller takes a look at that tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DAVID LEE MILLER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Disney is embroiled in more controversy after leaked video after a companywide meeting posted on Twitter. A top executive at the company says more of all future Disney characters will be either members of the LGBTQ community or racial minorities.

Entertainment President Karey Burke, who described herself as a mother of both a transgender child and pansexual child, defined by the gay advocacy group GLAAD as an attraction to all gender identities, told employees on Monday the company needs to be more inclusive.

KAREY BURKE, DISNEY ENTERTAINMENT PRESIDENT: We have many, many, many LGBTQIA characters in our stories, and yet we don't have enough leads and narratives in which gay characters just get to be characters and not have to be about gay stories.

MILLER: The same day as the companywide meeting, Disney issued a statement calling for the repeal of a new Florida law prohibiting teachers from offering instruction on sexual orientation for students in kindergarten through third grade. A week ago, Disney employees staged a walkout, criticizing the company for not doing more to oppose the law. Other anonymous employees posted a public letter calling on the company to not get involved in politics.

Video of Monday's meeting, obtained and posted by journalist Christopher Rufo, includes the company's executive producer for TV animation expressing surprise and gratitude for Disney's progressive policies.

LATOYA RAVENEAU, DISNEY EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Our leadership over there has been so welcoming to like, my like not at all secret gay agenda.

MILLER: According to Disney's manager for diversity and inclusion, changes at theme parks are also underway.

VIVIAN WARE, DISNEY DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION MANAGER: We brought the fireworks back to the Magic Kingdom. We no longer say, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls." We say "Dreamers of all ages.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

MILLER (on camera): Disney's critics accuse the company of hypocrisy for offering cruises to countries such as Antigua and Dominica where homosexuality is illege. We have reached out to Disney and have not heard back. Bret?

BAIER: David Lee Miller in New York. David Lee, thank you.

We're back with the panel. Katie, what are your thoughts on this?

PAVLICH: I would think that Disney would have looked at what Coca Cola did to eliminate the all-star game from Atlanta and maybe take a second thought about getting involved in legislation they don't understand. Parental rights are at the top of mind for a number of states and parents across the country, and I think Disney would do well to remember who their true customer base is.

BAIER: "New York Post" says that employees penned an unsigned open letter arguing Disney has embraced what they describe as a progressive orthodoxy that has created an environment of fear for employees who do not back left leaning causes. The letter emerged as Disney's top brass scrambled to appease employees who staged walkouts earlier this week. It's a balancing act, Juan, but it's one that is catching -- it's raising a lot of eyebrows with parents.

WILLIAMS: I think, look, for conservatives, I think, and for Governor DeSantis down in Florida, I think they have to be very careful with this one, because Disney is not exactly a radical left woke corporation. This is something that was triggered by the legislation, and then the company and some of its employees responded. But I don't think Americans are going to stop watching Disney movies or going to Disney because of this kind of culture war antagonism coming from the right.

BAIER: But I don't know, Brit, if you look at inside the law it says kindergarten through third grade to not talk about sexual orientation or gender identity as a topic. That's what the law says.

HUME: And I think the law -- it sounds as if the people at Disney who brought out that statement about getting the law repealed probably don't really know what's in it. They know what they have heard about it. They know that its opponents have, quite successfully, I may say, labeled it the "don't say gay" bill.

But one reaction to that is apparently to say no more "ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls," you wonder what the average American thinking about taking his kids to Disneyworld or Disneyland or some other Disney undertaking thinks of that. Is that what they want to associate themselves with? It seems ridiculous to most people, I think. And I don't think this helps the Disney corporation's bottom line at all.

BAIER: Juan, does Snow White get to the prince? Does Minnie and Mickey, are they gender neutral? What happens here?

WILLIAMS: I think that Disney continues to appeal to dreamers. It doesn't offend me that somebody calls me a dreamer as opposed to Mr. Williams. I just think you can pitch it anyway you want. But I think Disney and what it sells to the American people remains a vital part of our culture, and I just don't think anybody is going to say I'm not going there because they are going to say welcome dreamers. That seems silly to me.

BAIER: Katie?

PAVLICH: Disney is walking into a P.R. crisis here that they may not want, especially given that the FBI has done a number of stings at Disney that have not revealed a number of employees there to be good stewards of children. Parental rights, again, are winning elections in places that Republicans haven't been able to win across the country, and corporations should take note about what parents want with their children.

BAIER: Panel, as always, thank you.

And finally tonight, a SPECIAL REPORT salute. The Los Angeles Fire Department was on the scene to rescue a German shepherd mix named Scooby who was stuck in the L.A. River for two hours. Firefighters also brought two people to safety during that entire dramatic ordeal.

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(SINGING)

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BAIER: It's a new tradition in Charlotte. After technical difficulties cut one singer's performance short a few weeks, Charlotte F.C. fans are now singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" together at every game before the soccer game starts instead of listening to one singer perform. And I'll tell you what, you listen to that live, it gives you goosebumps. Keep the tradition going.

Tomorrow on SPECIAL REPORT Chef Jose Andres talks to us from Ukraine about his efforts to address hunger in that region. Friday, don't forget our exclusive interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Don't want to miss that.

Thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. That's it for this SPECIAL REPORT, fair, balanced, and still unafraid. "JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME" starts now. Jesse, I like that singing without the whole thing. Just get the stadium in there.

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