'Your World' on infrastructure deal prospects, border crisis, Israel-Gaza conflict

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Rep. Nancy Mace pushes Pelosi to lift House floor mask mandate

South Carolina Republican slams Pelosi's mask requirement: 'she's virtue signaling'

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

SANDRA SMITH, FOX NEWS HOST: President Biden continuing his spending push today, this time at a Ford electric car facility in Dearborn, Michigan.

As White House officials and Senate Republicans prepared to meet on Capitol Hill, they are trying to hammer out a compromise on infrastructure, all this as members of the Squad and other progressives are urging the White House to go big and go fast.

Coming up, we will speak to Republican Senator Mike Braun, a member of the Appropriations Committee.

Hello. And welcome, everyone. I'm Sandra Smith, in for Neil Cavuto, and this is YOUR WORLD.

And we are all over it with Mark Meredith in Dearborn, Michigan, on that spending pitch and Chad Pergram on Capitol Hill, where Republicans are pushing back.

We begin with Mark.

Hello, Mark.

MARK MEREDITH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Sandra.

Earlier today, President Biden had a chance to see firsthand how Ford is changing its assembly plants to deal with electric cars. Now the president wants to spend billions of tax dollars to ensure that Americans are incentivized, that electric vehicles are the future.

Just a little while ago, the president even had a chance to hop into the driver's seat of Ford's latest electric vehicle. This is going to be the F- 150 Lightning. It's going to be unveiled tomorrow, but the White House certainly seeing this as a chance to convince Congress that now's the time to spend billions of dollars within the American Jobs Plan on electric vehicles, including $100 million to spend on rebates to convince people to get into this, also to get money to get 500,000 charging stations online by the year 2030.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The future of the auto industry is electric. There's no turning back.

And, as Rory says, the American auto industry is at a crossroads. The real question is whether we will lead or we will fall behind in the race of the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MEREDITH: Today, Senate Republicans, a handful of them are expected to sit down with the transportation and commerce secretary to negotiate further on an infrastructure deal.

Republicans, though, have been pushing back against efforts they say have been spending too much money. Democrats, though, they are now saying that they don't want the White House to back down on their priorities list.

Democrats writing today: "While bipartisan support is welcome, the pursuit of Republican votes cannot come at the expense of limiting the scope of popular investments."

So, the president has made it clear that he's willing to work with Senate Republicans. He had them over at the White House. Now he's sending his Cabinet secretaries to speak with them. But now we're also seeing this pushback from Democrats that say they don't want to see the White House leave their priorities behind.

We will see if there's any middle ground. But it's -- we're told these negotiations are going to go on long past today -- Sandra.

SMITH: Mark Meredith, thank you.

Now to the Capitol, where White House officials, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, will be meeting this hour with Senate Republicans, trying to hammer out a deal on a slimmed-down infrastructure package.

To Chad Pergram on Capitol Hill with the very latest.

Hi, Chad.

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

Well, GOP senators huddle in about 25 minutes here at the Capitol with the secretary of transportation, Pete Buttigieg, and the secretary of commerce, Gina Raimondo. The senators talked last week with President Biden.

Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said the president asked them to make a counteroffer. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is deferring to Capito. She's the lead GOP member on the Committee on Public Works.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): I have asked Senator Capito to be our leader on that. And she's produced a bill of around $600 billion that she thinks makes sense.

I'm comfortable with where she's taking us so far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERGRAM: Now, again, the problem here is that Democrats realize they can't use special Senate rules to avoid a filibuster to pass a multitrillion- dollar infrastructure bill.

With only 50 senators, Democrats need GOP help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We have a lot of policy work to do, some of which can happen through reconciliation, but a lot of it can't.

So, it's clearly preferred to do this on a bipartisan basis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERGRAM: Now, FOX is told part of the GOP counteroffer is extending the length of the plan. But this needs a little more work right now -- Sandra.

SMITH: We will have more on that in just a moment.

Chad Pergram, thank you.

So, can an infrastructure deal be struck?

With me now, Indiana Republican Senator Mike Braun, member of the Budget Committee.

Senator, you're the person to ask here. What can get done on a bipartisan basis? We saw the president making his push today.

SEN. MIKE BRAUN (R-IN): So, if you look at the last example of it, on the COVID relief bill, did the same song and dance over at the White House.

Not one Republican idea was incorporated into it. And we ended up spending I think it was $1.9 trillion there. Infrastructure is going to be arguably more popular than that. That came at a time when we could see COVID was kind of ebbing a bit. And since then, it has proven to be the case.

Here, everyone loves infrastructure. But when you hear, let's go big, let's go fast, does that sound like it would end up being done efficiently, maybe giving time for markets to adapt to it?

I know the Big Three have said that they want to be all electric by 2030. Got to talk about the grid. If you move that quickly, you may not even be able to have the electricity that could do it, let alone all the stations you need to build.

When you start trying to allocate resources at the trillions of dollars -- and this is $2.5 trillion. And even if you reduce roads and bridges to $600 to $800 billion, I mean, these numbers they are throwing around, the whole relief package back in '08 or '09 was that amount -- you get inefficiencies, you get mistakes.

I'm one that believes we need to move into the future. It scares me when I start to see government trying to orchestrate it all. That's never worked. That's been proven in many other places.

When you have a central command economy, you start getting real sloppy, you waste money. And we're borrowing every penny of this, to boot.

SMITH: So, Senator, the -- I have so much to get you there.

But, listening to that, I don't think the American people hear a Republican senator opposed to electric vehicles. You just want private companies to get more involved than the government seems to want to be at this point.

You referenced the Squad push him to go big, go fast. It's almost like you should say go bigger, because President Biden went big, and they're pushing him bigger on this plan. How much do you think that President Biden is willing to give in to their calls?

BRAUN: It's gotten to be such a hot political environment, when I see some of the other things they want to do with stuff that for sure is going to require breaching the filibuster, like the voting rights bill, H.R.1, S.1. That will be the first test of the filibuster, in my mind.

A lot of this other stuff, you can kind of wangle through reconciliation. But we are borrowing every bit of it. And I'm a Republican. I started the Climate Caucus. The Republican Party can't be the party of no, where we don't want to engage on it.

But you still can't throw all the principles away of what's made this place so inefficient in the first place and be honest with the American public. You talk about taxes, revenue, that wouldn't even put a small dent in our normal structural deficits we run annually.

And now the $2 trillion we passed, the $4 trillion looming, this is like government gone wild, in my opinion. And you will get sloppy results as a result.

SMITH: Interesting. That seems to be the fear of a lot of Republicans.

But to go back to your point, though, about the electric vehicle push that you saw the president make today, you're not opposed to this. What role does government play in looking forward into the future? I mean, what level of involvement do you want to see? Where can you find compromise?

BRAUN: I have been here just about two-and-a-half years, and so many individuals, businesses come here for the federal government to lead.

It'd be different if we had been knocking it out of the park with any of the stuff we have been doing through the federal government, but we have evolved into where we tolerate borrowing from our kids and grandkids.

Any business, any other entity could not do that. So, I think it's dishonest when you're asking government to be this big, broaching the ideas, maybe putting a little applied research...

SMITH: Yes.

BRAUN: ... basic research into stuff.

Don't try to run the show through government. Other countries have tried it, and they have gone bankrupt or changed their system, when you get too much, especially through the federal side of government.

SMITH: Yes, it's an important point. We hear a lot of criticism about the size of these plans, but, also, you're questioning the efficiency of them.

If the government is in charge of these programs, what do we end up with?

We appreciate the time tonight. Thank you, Senator.

BRAUN: You bet. My pleasure.

SMITH: Unsustainable, that is what the Democratic Del Rio ,Texas, mayor told us about the border surge that he is seeing. He told us yesterday.

So, where does former acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf stand on all of this? He will join us live next.

And masks off on the House floor? Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace is pushing Pelosi to do just that. And she's here to talk to us about it -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: We're live on the Southern border.

FOX News getting an exclusive helicopter ride over the Rio Grande Valley, where crossings have been surging.

To FOX News correspondent Alex Hogan with a bird's-eye view of this border battle.

Hi, Alex.

ALEX HOGAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Sandra.

You can probably hear some of the helicopters here. And we actually had the opportunity to go up in one of them along with the Texas Department of Public Safety. And right when we stepped in, the calls to help other agencies came almost immediately.

Among them, we arrived at the Rio Grande River, and, there, our pilots spotted a white truck, with some of them being able to smuggle or attempt to smuggle drugs to the water. They were then diverted as they saw our helicopter. Again, this is just one of the scenes that we're seeing along the border.

But that's just one of the stories. In the Rio -- the Del Rio alone, agents have stopped people from 70 countries this year, some attempting to flee, others immediately turning themselves in, hoping to find safety there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOGAN: The Texas department of public safety will use infrared lights and high-tech cameras that can zoom in up to six miles away for areas like this dense brush, where people who are trying to hide will easily be able to flee if it weren't for this technology.

But it's some of these open fields where families trying to cross, knowing that they will be out in the open, and it will be make it easier to find Border Patrol to surrender.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOGAN: Texas' Operation Lone Star is doubling manpower along the border. In the last two months, aerial assists have doubled. They have gone up to 1,000 assists just in Del Rio and the Rio Grande Valley.

Now, something that we're seeing here is more stash houses, according to law enforcement, they're saying it's a very intricate system of multiple people, part of this organization bringing either narcotics or individuals from point to point, again, another reason why these helicopters and all of these departments working together is so important right now -- Sandra.

SMITH: Alex Hogan, great reporting from the border for us.

Thank you.

The Democratic mayor of Del Rio, Texas, meanwhile, telling us yesterday about how he's been dealing with this border surge firsthand.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNO LOZANO (D), MAYOR OF DEL RIO, TEXAS: Why are taxpayers continuing to have to fund all of these issues, when it's a policy that really needs to be evaluated and reassessed really? And this cannot be sustained. This is unsustainable. It's affecting my community firsthand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Powerful interview yesterday.

I want to bring in former acting DHS Secretary and Heritage Foundation visiting fellow Chad Wolf.

And, by the way, we do want to mention that we did reach out to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. He did not get back to us. We have not heard back yet, I should say.

Chad, great to see you. Thanks for being here.

Unsustainable, you just heard from that Democratic mayor of a border town. He described to us in detail what they have been dealing with, the resources that are getting sucked up and how this is unsustainable. So, when is the Biden administration going to hear this and act?

CHAD WOLF, FORMER ACTING U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Well, it's a great question. And the mayor is exactly right.

The communities along that border are the ones that are having to bear the cost of this crisis and the unprecedented migrant flows that we are seeing today. And so it's on their public safety, it's on their law enforcement, it's on their social services at the end of the day. And it's -- the Biden administration needs to understand that they need to enforce the rule of law on that border.

They need to take border security seriously, and they need to take immigration enforcement seriously, because, if they don't, we're going to continue to have these numbers month after month after month. And it's very concerning, what law enforcement what those communities are having to deal with today.

SMITH: Yes. And I'm sure you're aware, Mr. Secretary, of the letter that these three top Trump era Department of Homeland Security officials have penned to President Biden, calling on him to dismiss Mayorkas over his handling of the Southern border and the crisis there.

They're accusing him of reckless abandonment of securing the border. They go on, and they do not mince words. They want action. They want something. When do things hit rock bottom, and we do finally see them step in and enact some sort of change and actually handle this crisis?

WOLF: Well, frankly, I don't know how it could get much worse.

We are in an unprecedented crisis on that Southwest border. And I will just say that I have significant policy concerns with secretary of DHS at the moment. I think the policies that they're pursuing are dangerous to the country and make us less secure than we have at the end of the day.

But I think we need to remember, whether the secretary is there or not, these are policies being pushed from the Biden White House. And so, if one secretary leaves, they're just going to put another one in that's going to pursue the same policies.

So that's what's most concerning. And I think that's where a lot of the focus needs to be, is on the White House, asking them to reevaluate their policies that are driving this crisis at the end of the day.

SMITH: I go back to the powerful firsthand account that that mayor gave us yesterday. He was telling us about one of these migrants who just walked onto his property.

And as -- you heard about his kids were just playing, and he had to step in. The migrant was so injured, though, from the journey, that he ended up getting some Tylenol and helping him -- helping him back on his journey again, and trying to make sure that he didn't -- this wasn't a migrant that died right there on his property.

But the resources, I mean, what are these small towns going to do? I mean, if it's unsustainable, how much can they -- how much longer can they hang on and deal with this crisis themselves?

WOLF: Well, they will certainly do everything that they can, because, at the end of the day, these are their communities. And so they want to protect them and make sure that they continue to thrive.

But the federal government has a fundamental responsibility here in making sure that those communities are safe and securing that border. And what we have seen time and time again is that the Biden administration is not interested in border security and immigration enforcement.

It's the law of the land. They need to uphold that rule of law, so that we send a signal to these cartels and to these smugglers and others that sending people in the hundreds and thousands across the border is no longer acceptable, they will be returned, they will be removed from the United States.

And until we do that, again, we're going to continue to see these numbers and the stories like you have mentioned.

SMITH: Yes.

Real quickly, what's your message to those on the far left who vowed immigration reform? They vowed to address the problems that they were identifying at the border under the Trump administration, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others.

What is your message to them?

WOLF: Well, as you can imagine, they have been noticeably absent from the crisis that we see over the last several months. But whether we can get immigration legislation passed in Congress, I think it's going to be a tough battle.

But, at the end of the day, this is a self-imposed crisis, self-inflicted. The Biden administration has all the tools that it needs administratively and through the executive branch to solve this crisis at the end of the day.

They first need to do that. They first need to restore law and order to the border. And then I think we can have a larger conversation about immigration reform in a variety of different other areas.

SMITH: Chad Wolf, the former acting DHS secretary, appreciate your time this afternoon, sir. Thank you.

WOLF: Thank you.

SMITH: Meanwhile, the fighting continues between Israel and Hamas, both sides showing no signs of backing down. Now America's top general is speaking up -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: Soaring prices hitting home, literally. We will explain.

And will fliers soon have to weigh in, then pay up before taking off?

We are back in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: That death toll climbing, as the airstrikes between Israel and Hamas continues.

Greg Palkot is in Jerusalem with the very latest.

Hi, Greg.

GREG PALKOT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Sandra.

That's right. Talk of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is beginning to heat up. But the fighting is in no way cooling down, as we found out today. Now, rockets from Gaza of the militant group Hamas once again raining down on Southern and Central Israel today. Most of them were knocked out by Israel's Iron Dome defense system.

But a few got through, leaving casualties and damage. After a brief pauses more than to allow much needed aid to get into battered Gaza, Israeli airstrikes once again picked up the targets, militant strongholds and their vast network of tunnels.

And that's not the only way that Israel is waging war. Take a look of what we saw today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALKOT: You're looking at another front in the battle between Israel and Hamas. We are on board an Israeli naval patrol vote, just a couple miles behind us, the Gaza Strip.

The mission of these crew members is to stop infiltration by militants on the high seas. In the last couple of days, they have been very busy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PALKOT: For example, Israeli forces said, Monday, they destroyed a Hamas mini-submarine capable of carrying explosives, armed amphibious incursions, attacks on infrastructure and shipping, and offshore strikes on Gaza itself on the agenda of these sailors.

Now, Sandra, let's get back to that cease-fire talk. It's desperately needed on all sides. One report said that Hamas was willing to stop Thursday morning if Israel would stop. No confirmation of that.

And another report says Israel is willing to halt actions in two or three days, when it's satisfied it's done the job. No confirmation of that either. And the bombs continue to fall -- back to you.

SMITH: Greg Palkot, thank you.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley warning that the fighting could spread beyond Gaza if both sides don't de-escalate.

Hudson Institute senior fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs is here to discuss that now.

Rebeccah, good to see you. Thanks for being here.

So how do you de-escalate the situation, knowing what we're hearing from both sides right now?

REBECCAH HEINRICHS, THE HUDSON INSTITUTE: Right.

And General Milley is exactly right. This has -- runs the risk of spilling over to a larger regional conflict, which is why the previous administration's approach towards the region was to push back Iran. Iran is the country that's fueling and funding Hamas, this militant organization in among the Palestinian people.

And the previous administration supported Israel, which the Biden administration is kind of doing this both sides thing, which can perpetuate the conflict. So, Israel is not going to stop counterattacking Hamas until Hamas ceases attacking Israel.

And so that is the first step that needs to happen. And I don't think Israel -- nor do I blame them -- is going to stop unless they're satisfied that they have destroyed the targets that continue to be launched against their own people.

SMITH: Well, you have seen the Biden administration throwing its support behind Israel, but getting criticism from members of the president's own party in doing so.

So, what is your message to the White House on what the White House can do and President Biden can do to step in, knowing the situation as it stands today, to de-escalate the situation, knowing that the fighting continues, Rebeccah?

HEINRICHS: President Biden needs to take a very clear, unequivocal stance in defense of Israel.

Israel is our number one ally in the region. It's a stable democracy. Arabs have full participation inside of Israel. All of this talk from Alexandria Cortez and the rest of the so-called Squad calling Israel an apartheid state is appalling.

President Biden should denounce that. Speaker Pelosi should clearly denounce that. This is not the time to play politics. So, they need to marginalize -- marginalize those voices that are radical and anti-Semitic, because it's fueling the flames.

So, right now, the Biden administration needs to be clear in defending Israel, without -- without pause and without hesitation.

SMITH: Go to Milley's warning now about, if this doesn't end soon, and this doesn't de-escalate soon, that this could spread. Dig into that warning, and just what could happen if this doesn't come to an end soon?

HEINRICHS: Well, if you look at the Abraham Accords that was accomplished during the Trump administration, those were achieved because the Trump administration clearly defended Israel as the strong horse in the region, the strong Democratic ally of the United States, and then worked with our Arab states, who agreed that Iran was the greatest destabilizer in the region.

And so if you -- if you kind of get squishy on that, and if the Biden administration goes soft on Israel and continues to reach out to Iran -- again, Iran is funding Hamas -- then you have all these other Arab states that start to lose confidence in the dynamics in the region.

And they have got their own constituencies that see the region. If they if they see that the Palestinians now have some oxygen, some credibility within the United States' Congress or the White House, then that again destabilizes things. And so you can see larger destabilization throughout the Middle East.

And so you have really got to tamp this down, got to get this under control, and get back to the paradigm that was working over the last four years.

SMITH: Knowing this is so early on in President Biden's presidency, how did we get here so fast in this conflict?

HEINRICHS: Isn't it amazing?

This administration said that they were going to -- quote, unquote -- "get back to supporting allies," bring back -- quote, unquote -- "American leadership" on the world stage.

And then here they are completely overturning the great progress made because of American leadership, because the United States did support our allies and partners who shared interests. And so it was the Biden administration going back to what they thought was the right way to go, which is reaching out to Iran and going back to this failed Iran deal that didn't stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon.

It just flushed Iran with cash, which they turned around, didn't help their own people, instead funded these proxy states. That's how we got here so fast.

SMITH: Rebeccah, thank you.

HEINRICHS: Thank you.

SMITH: All right, Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, calling on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to follow the science on the House floor -- why Congresswoman Nancy Mace says it is time to unmask.

And want to get on that next airplane flight? Well, get on the scale. Will that fly with travelers? We will report. You might decide or deride.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: Democratic lawmakers urging Americans to follow the science for over a year. So, why are those same leaders slow to do it now?

South Carolina Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace is calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to lift the mask mandate in the House of Representatives. She joins us now.

And, by the way, we did reach out to Speaker Pelosi. We have not yet heard back.

Well, hello, Congresswoman. Good to have you here.

So, what is the rule right now? You have to wear the mask on the House floor unless you're not -- unless you're speaking, correct?

REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): Correct.

We are required -- even though 75 percent of Congress that we know about is already vaccinated, we're still required to wear the mask inside the chamber, except for when we're speaking.

And everyone says follow the science. But the science obviously isn't following the politics of Nancy Pelosi. And she's just using us. I don't even know why anymore. But it's just -- it's insanity. We have the -- we're the one place in the country where, if you're going to have herd immunity, we have got it. And we should be leading our country in showing people how to safely move forward with COVID-19 for those who are vaccinated.

SMITH: Have House members being given any sort of reason for this, considering the CDC's brand-new guidance on masks that, if you're vaccinated, you can drop the mask?

MACE: None whatsoever.

And, in fact, we heard Dr. Fauci today say that the reason that they decided to tell people to wear masks inside, even though you were vaccinated, was more about optics than it was about science.

And Nancy Pelosi is following that same rule of thumb. I think she's virtue signaling. I mean, look at the joint session that we had with President Biden. And you had a Nancy Pelosi standing behind him. Everybody's double- vaxxed, double-masked, and six feet apart.

And this is not -- this is not leadership right now during COVID-19. We need to show people not to be afraid, that vaccinating is safe, and that people should get it done, so they can go back to work, go back to school and go back to being a free country again.

SMITH: Well, interestingly, Democratic leadership, Congresswoman, is shifting blame to Republicans for the mask mandate that is still in place.

Take a listen to the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PETE AGUILAR (D-CA): Guidelines are also very clear that workplaces can decide their own unique characteristics, based on their conditions.

And I think we would agree that the House floor is a unique condition, especially with Republicans admitting that only 75 percent of their members are vaccinated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Your reaction to that, Congresswoman?

MACE: Well, quite frankly, we have a real opportunity to lead our country and show them how it's done.

And the 75 percent figure doesn't even take into account the number of people who've already had COVID-19 and may have some level of immunity right now. You can take precautions. If you want to wear a mask, then so be it. Every Democrat that wants to wear a mask or Republican should be able to wear a mask.

But for those who, like myself, I had a really severe case of COVID-19. I have been vaccinated. I had two vaccinations. I should be able to have the choice on wearing that mask or not. That's a choice that it should be. And it's just simply not right now.

SMITH: Yes, interestingly enough, we saw the president touring that Ford facility today in Dearborn, Michigan, still wearing his mask and distancing, although that could have been a rule within that facility. We don't know.

But, in many cases, he's still wearing it, the vice president still wearing it, as you just said, Nancy Pelosi still wearing it.

Meanwhile, we know lawmakers are huddling with the president, trying to hash out some sort of deal. We obviously know your party is criticizing this administration for pushing these massive spending plans.

And, as I was speaking to Senator Braun top of the hour, he was saying how, in so many cases, he doesn't see any Republican proposals -- proposals in these spending plans.

Congressman, you have always been good about finding common ground. So can your party come to some sort of bipartisan solution with President Biden?

MACE: Well, it's not for lack of trying.

I know that a number of Republicans have met with the Biden administration on multiple occasions now, trying to find a way to make a deal on this infrastructure package. The problem is, we're just so far apart. And this infrastructure proposal initially was so bad, the administration had to rename it to the American Jobs Plan.

And so, right now, the number is too big. And only 6 percent of it that they're talking about, only 6 percent of that package would actually go to roads and bridges, 1 percent to airports, less than 1 percent to our waterways and ports. That's not infrastructure.

When you're spending $100 billion on school lunches, rather than traditional infrastructure, no one's going to be able to agree on that. It needs to be a much smaller package. And it needs to be singularly focused on traditional infrastructure to find a bipartisan way forward, in my opinion.

SMITH: All right, Congresswoman Nancy Mace, thanks for joining us.

And give us an update on what happens with the House floor mask mandate. We will see if anything changes. Thank you.

MACE: Thank you.

SMITH: All right.

Your baggage, by the way, might not be the only thing airlines ask to weigh in before your next flight -- why you could be asked to step on a scale before stepping on the plane.

We will explain next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: Your ticket and I.D. might not be the only things airlines ask to see before a flight.

A new report suggests airline passengers could be asked to step on the scale or share their weight before boarding a plane to comply with FAA guidance.

While the directive is aimed at flight safety, should it have passengers concerned?

Joining us now, FOX News legal analyst Mercedes Colwin.

And, by the way, we did reach out to the FAA for comment, and they said this: "Operators are evaluating their programs to comply with this guidance. While weighing customers at the gate is an option, most operators will likely rely on updated methods for estimating passenger weights."

All right, Mercedes, as if flying and traveling isn't stressful enough, OK, now step on the scale. I can't imagine people are going to be big fans of this.

(LAUGHTER)

SMITH: Is it going to happen, you think?

MERCEDES COLWIN, FOX NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: Sandra, say it isn't so.

Isn't this so crazy?

(LAUGHTER)

COLWIN: That was the first thing that came to mind. I'm like, say it isn't so. It's hard enough to put yourself on a scale on a daily basis.

Add that to the travel? Just as you said, it's complicated enough. But it's so interesting, because looking at what the FAA is trying to do, the tables that they rely on, the tables that estimate how much fuel, and depending on the number of passengers on the plane, is so outdated, that they're concerned that they're not figuring out how much fuel is actually needed to accommodate the number of passengers.

And you know from traveling, you're squeezed into seats that are like this big.

SMITH: Yes.

COLWIN: And I remember the days when seats were a little bigger than that.

But, yes, they're literally -- that's what their fear is. And there have been planes that have actually had hard landings, where the tail hits the ground.

SMITH: So, yes.

COLWIN: So, there's a little -- it's obviously very frightening, probably a little more frightening than stepping on the scale.

SMITH: I flew in and out of Baton Rouge enough times going into Louisiana, where you're on these little planes, that they had to like, somebody move forward, somebody move back to even out the weight on a plane.

(LAUGHTER)

COLWIN: Exactly.

SMITH: It's interesting to see, though, that the FAA says this is a real possibility, but interesting that you could also then just decide to tell them your weight.

I'm thinking about all the places we go where you're asked your weight. And who ever tells the truth?

(LAUGHTER)

COLWIN: Can I just give an aspirational weight?

SMITH: Sure.

COLWIN: Because that's what I'm going to do.

If I'm going to be asked for my weight, I'm going to give them my aspirational weight.

(LAUGHTER)

SMITH: Yes.

COLWIN: Might be a few pounds lighter.

SMITH: No, but this is an interesting topic and the day of, we're coming out of this pandemic, where weight obviously led to concerns at who was more susceptible or vulnerable to the virus.

And it really highlights sort of a growing problem in America, right, that obesity...

COLWIN: Yes.

SMITH: ... is a major health issue that this country continues to face.

And you could possibly make the case that it was a bit ignored during the crisis to attack that obesity crisis.

COLWIN: Gosh, that's so true, Sandra.

I actually looked it up, because I was I was very curious. It's actually 20 percent higher. Obesity rates are about 20 percent higher. That's what's being reported.

SMITH: Yes.

COLWIN: That's incredible that it's gone up that much.

So I'm hoping that, well, now that warmer -- warmer weather, we're out doing a little more, being a lot more active, getting back to a routine, certainly by the fall, so, hopefully, things will shave off those extra pounds.

(LAUGHTER)

COLWIN: That's at least my aspiration.

SMITH: Oh, my goodness. I'm just trying to picture the big old scale sitting there, not for your luggage, but for yourself to get on when you head to the airport.

COLWIN: Exactly.

(LAUGHTER)

SMITH: I don't know. We will see.

Mercedes, good to have you. Thank you.

All right, well, boost...

COLWIN: Great to be on. Thank you.

SMITH: Yes, you too.

Boosting jobs by hiking taxes, the White House saying it. Are job creators buying it? We will debate that one next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SMITH: Home not so sweet home. New construction in April dropping, as cost for raw materials like lumber keep rising, just the latest example of price spikes hitting the U.S. economy.

To FOX Business Network's Jeff Flock in Chicago with the very latest.

Hello, Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK CORRESPONDENT: You are right, Sandra.

At the scene of a -- well, it's a single family home under construction, and single families hit the worst. It's all about the cost, as you report, of those two-by-fours -- or I guess they're two-by-sixes in the wall over there, those costs up big time.

And take a look at the numbers on single family starts in April. Just a little over a million for an annual rate. That was up -- that was down 13 percent in April, and the future not looking a whole lot brighter. Permits, which is, of course, an indication of future construction, they were about a million or so annual rate. And that was down about 4 percent as well.

This, by the way, is what a building permit looks like in the city of Chicago. The problem is not getting the permits. The problem is actually getting construction going because of the costs. A lot of builders have put that off. And, consequently, here's another figure for you.

The numbers of homes that have gotten a permit, but have not started construction up almost 50 percent last month, about 131,000 of those out there, and so places like this sometimes even halting construction because the lumber just costs too much, double the cost in some cases of the wood that makes these houses.

Not pretty for the new home construction field -- Sandra.

SMITH: And that is a huge story, Jeff Flock on that live from Chicago for us.

Jeff, thank you.

Meantime, from price spikes to tax hikes, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen today making the case that a hike in the corporate tax rate will actually make American companies more competitive.

Is that how it works?

Let's have a fair and balanced debate with Gary Kaltbaum, Kristal Knight, and Hal Lambert.

Welcome to all of you. I was looking forward to this panel and this healthy debate, because Gary, I'm confused.

How does raising the corporate tax rate, which was lowered significantly under the Trump administration, how does that make us more competitive on a global scale?

GARY KALTBAUM, FOX BUSINESS CONTRIBUTOR: A, it doesn't.

And, B, methinks Ms. Yellen is contradicting herself. Think about this. She is trying to convince other countries, some of them socialist countries, to raise their taxes. Why? Because, if they don't raise the taxes, and we do, we will lose our competitiveness.

So, on one hand, she says, oh, we will gain competitiveness. But she's actually saying we won't. So I don't know what book -- what economics 101 book she was reading. But she needs to start thinking the opposite, because taking money out of corporations hands after a pandemic or in the midst of one just crazy at this point in time.

SMITH: Really interesting.

Hal, can you explain it?

HAL LAMBERT, GOP STRATEGIST: Oh, absolutely. She's just incorrect.

Everybody knows that, when you tax something, you get less of it. When you tax corporations, you're going to get less income to the corporations, which means they have less money to pay employees, less money for capital to expand.

Look, there was a legislative analyst's office did a study for the sugary drink tax in California just a couple of years ago. And the two benefits that they found from taxing sugary drinks, one was, you get revenue for California. And, two, you would get less sugary drinks sold, because -- and it increased the health of Californians because of the tax.

So, they know -- the Democrats know this. When you tax something, you get less of it. Janet Yellen knows it. You're going to get -- have less money for corporations, which is bad for employees.

SMITH: Kristal, we know that it was lowered to 21 percent from 35 percent under President Trump. Joe Biden wants to raise the rate back up to 28 percent.

Combined total tax rate for many of these corporations, it's going to be highest in the world in many cases. Does that make us more competitive?

KRISTAL KNIGHT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, it may not make us more competitive.

But, actually, what the tax hike is meant to do is to curb profit shifting that's going to tax havens. What we really should be discussing is Biden's infrastructure plan and how the buy-American proposal would actually incentivize manufacturers to hire more Americans to create products sold right here at home, instead of shifting them overseas, which is what many corporations are doing right now.

SMITH: Many of President Biden's critics pointing out that it seems that he took a page from the Trump playbook with that buy-American slogan.

Gary, I want to ask you about this and switch gears.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont. Have you seen this? He's saying his states now going to pay $1,000 bonuses to the first 10,000 long-term unemployed workers who land a job. All of this coming as lots of businesses that we're hearing from say those extended federal unemployment benefits are keeping potential workers at home.

So, Gary, look what Connecticut is having to do to get people through the door, apply for jobs, and hopefully get a job and get off of this government assistance.

KALTBAUM: First, we have actual businesses having to compete with government using tax dollars being handed out the people that decide to stay home.

And now you have to have a state compete with the federals on how much money is being put out by you taking another benefit to replace the first benefit. What Connecticut should do is like 20 other governors have done and get rid of that benefit

I can promise you, in those states, employment is going to pick up in a big way. And all these restaurants and service industries that are dying for employees right now will start getting them again. Simple rule. Connecticut, don't give that another thing. Just get people back to work.

SMITH: Well, Kristal, we know a lot of people needed help during the pandemic and help was certainly there.

But at this point, to Gary's point, 22 states have now decided, governors of those states, have ended the federal extended unemployment benefits, because businesses were complaining they just couldn't get anybody to come back to work.

KNIGHT: Well, the government, the federal government needs to raise the minimum wage; $7.25 is -- it just doesn't work. That math doesn't add up.

When people are thinking about going back to minimum wage jobs, and a single parent is thinking about putting their kid in childcare, how can they compete with unemployment and just sitting at home and making money that way, while watching their kids are doing whatever it is that they need to do?

And so the math doesn't add up. Companies need to raise the pay that they're paying workers. And the federal government needs to raise the minimum wage.

SMITH: All right, let me give Hal 20 seconds to respond to that.

LAMBERT: Well, it's just an example of more micromanagement by the government. They need to get out of the way. They need to stop competing with private businesses.

The governor -- it makes no sense. He's saying, if you have been unemployed for eight to 12 weeks, you can apply for it. So, if you have been unemployed for six weeks, what are you going to do? You're going to sit there and stay unemployed until the eight weeks comes, and then you're going to go look for a job.

And if you leave the job -- you're getting paid up front. If you leave the job, what are they going to do, go back and get the money from you? They're not going to be able to do that.

So, this is just another basically gimmick, quite frankly, that's not going to work.

SMITH: It feels like we're turning a corner. The CDC is updating guidance. We want people to get back to work. We want this economy to thrive.

Thank you to all three of you for the debate. Appreciate it.

KNIGHT: Thanks for having me.

SMITH: All right.

So, that will do it for us here. Thank you so much for tuning in and watching.

Remember, you can catch me, along with John Roberts, each and every weekday 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Monday through Friday on "America Reports."

We'd love to see you back tomorrow.

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