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Two regulators from the FDA resign over push for COVID-19 booster shot

Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marty Makary gives his take on the COVID-19 booster vaccine on 'Your World.'

This is a rush transcript of "Your World with Neil Cavuto" on September 1, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT ZELLER, CO-FOUNDER, NO ONE LEFT BEHIND:  We have three videos that we have seen that we have already sent to Amnesty International of mass executions that have taken place, extrajudicial mass executions.

If the Taliban wanted to be the legitimate government of Afghanistan, they would have registered themselves as a political party. They would have put forward candidates in the next election, and they would have tried to have won through democratic means. They're violent thugs who took over in an armed coup. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR:  All right, don't blame an Afghan war veteran who has serious doubts about negotiating with the Taliban. He's dealt with them himself. He says it's a waste of time and even a dangerous thought in our heads.

Yet our top defense officials were talking about just the possibility we could do that, from the defense secretary to the chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The argument goes something like this, better to talk to them, because the alternative to them in Afghanistan is ISIS-K. But is it really that simple?

We have got Jennifer Griffin at the Pentagon and Jacqui Heinrich monitoring these developments as well at the White House. 

But, Jennifer, first to you at the Pentagon.

The idea of entering into discussions with the Taliban might have seemed unthinkable 20 years ago, but, given everything that's transpired, not so much now. What are you hearing on this? 

JENNIFER GRIFFIN, FOX NEWS NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT:  Well, Neil, I think it's really important to point out that the Taliban were legitimized in March 2020, when the Trump administration signed a peace agreement, a so-called peace agreement, with the Taliban, which had certain conditions that they had to meet.

But they were elevated. Their Mullah Baradar was released. We pressured Pakistan to release him from a prison in Pakistan so that we could negotiate with them. So that legitimization process started in March of 2020. 

Now, today, here at the Pentagon, it was the first time the press had the chance to question Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and General Mark Milley since the war was declared over. They took just three questions. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE:  Now, we have just concluded the largest air evacuation of civilians in American history. It was heroic. It was historic. And I hope that all Americans will unite to thank our service members for their courage and their compassion. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN:  Asked about lessons learned and the fact that 13 U.S. service members were killed in the final days, here's what they said. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF:  This is tough stuff. 

War is hard. It's vicious. It's brutal. It's unforgiving. I'm going to contain my pain and anger and continue to execute my mission. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN:  With most of the intelligence networks that the U.S. relied on rolled up in recent days as part of the hasty evacuation, Milley and Austin were asked whether they might work with the Taliban to go after ISIS. 

Here's what they said about partnering in the future with the Taliban. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILLEY:  This is a ruthless group from the past, and whether or not they change remains to be seen. 

And as far as our dealings with them at that airfield or in the past year or so, in war, you do what you must in order to reduce risk to mission and force, not what you necessarily want to do.

QUESTION:  Any possibility of coordination against ISIS-K with them, do you think?

MILLEY:  It's possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

GRIFFIN:  A stunning admission as a result of the new reality on the ground in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AUSTIN:  I will always be proud of the part that we played in this war. 

But we shouldn't expect Afghan war veterans to agree any more than any other group of Americans. I have heard strong views from many sides in recent days. And that's vital. That's democracy. That's America. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN:  It's no secret, Neil, that the military and the Pentagon did not recommend to the president to go to zero troops in Afghanistan. 

They tried to convince the last two presidents not to go to zero troops. 

Now they are left to deal with the consequences. And now they're going to possibly have to rely on the Taliban to help them go after ISIS -- Neil. 

CAVUTO:  Part of that, though, Jennifer, I think, at face value, is relying on the Taliban to help us get these other Americans out who want to get out, these thousands of Afghans. 

I don't know if that's a layup, though. What are you hearing? 

GRIFFIN:  No, it's not a layup. 

Already, we're hearing about extrajudicial killings, vicious, vicious killings, where, if the Taliban find that you have any thing on your cell phone that suggests that you have been in touch with Americans in recent days, they are calling those phone numbers and executing those people on the roads as they try to get to safety in Mazar-e-Sharif and elsewhere. 

So, those guarantees from the Taliban probably not worth the paper they're written on. Most of them aren't written on paper because the Taliban, for the most part, are illiterate. This is an impossible situation. The reality has dramatically changed.

The intelligence networks have -- are already starting to dry up because the U.S. -- the CIA had to close their bases there. The U.S. military is now out. And they are now reliant, hoping that the enemy of their enemy, ISIS-K, which is the Taliban, that they can perhaps use the Taliban to fight against ISIS-K, so that an Islamic State, a caliphate, if you will, that we saw -- like we saw in Syria, does not evolve in the coming months and years.

CAVUTO:  Jennifer Griffin.

Thank you very much, Jennifer.

Now to the White House and some growing indications that the president knew more than he was publicly saying about the inability of the former Afghan government to control what was going on and avoid a near certain immediate collapse. 

The very latest from Jacqui Heinrich at the White House -- Jacqui. 

JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Hey. Good afternoon, Neil. 

Well, President Biden has maintained that nobody predicted just how quickly the Afghan government would collapse, nobody predicted how quickly the Taliban would take over. 

But, according to a new report from Reuters, President Biden appeared to acknowledge -- or, rather, acknowledged, according to this report, that it appeared the Taliban takeover was imminent, telling the Afghan president: 

"I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban. And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture."

I asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki about this just a few moments ago in the briefing. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEINRICH:  Was the president in any way pushing a false narrative in that call with the Afghan president?

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY:  I think it's pretty clear. Again, I'm not going to go into details of a private conversation. 

But what we saw over the course of the last few months is a collapse in leadership. And that was happening even before Ghani left the country. What the president has conveyed repeatedly, privately and publicly, is, you need to stand up and lead your country. And that's something he said at a press conference in July in a public forum as well. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEINRICH:  According to the Reuters report, President Biden suggested that Ghani projects strength in a press conference with prominent political figures and put -- quote -- "a warrior" in front of the effort. 

He also appeared to have faith in the Afghan military strength. He touted their U.S. funding and training in that call. But Ghani also, according to this report, told President Biden his government was facing a full-scale invasion composed of Taliban with full Pakistani planning and logistical support from 10,000 to 15,000, international terrorists. 

The Pakistani government, by the way, refutes that piece of the Reuters reporting, but yesterday, in his remarks, President Biden again projected that the Taliban takeover was a surprise. He took a swipe at the Afghan government for how quickly it fell, saying that the president fled amid corruption and malfeasance. 

So the White House position this is that this call, this transcript does not reflect anything other than what we have seen, which is that the Afghan government needed to stand up for themselves. And they refute that him, President Biden, saying that they need to put up a tougher image is any sort of indication he was pushing a false narrative -- Neil. 

CAVUTO:  All right, got it.

Jacqui, thank you very much, Jacqui Heinrich.

To Lieutenant Colonel Bob Maginnis right now. 

Bob, what do you think of all this, particularly what the administration knew, and when it knew it, and specifically about what looked like a government in Afghanistan that was falling apart quite literally as he was on the phone with the president? 

LT. COL. BOB MAGINNIS (RET.), U.S. ARMY:  Yes, my concern, Neil, is that we have put faith in the Taliban. 

And, obviously, based on the just reported information, they're not following up on that. President Biden put faith in 350,000 Afghan security forces. They failed. He put faith in Ghani. He failed. One thing after another.

I was struck yesterday when I was listening to the president, Neil, that he quoted, interestingly, from President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Gettysburg Address. And what the president quoted was that they gave their last full measure of devotion, making reference to those 2, 461 Americans who lost their lives in Afghanistan. 

What President Biden failed to do is to complete the sentence. The balance of that sentence says that we were here highly resolved that these dead shall not have died in vain. 

I'm afraid, Neil, that we have had a lot of people that feel that way today. 

CAVUTO:  I'm just wondering too, moving forward with the Taliban, first this overture on the part of the Taliban, you have this pricey embassy here, $800 million embassy, you might as well use it. We would welcome that. 

And then that the president's top people talking about the possibility that some sort of dialogue could be coming with all of that history. Now, our argument is, we can't control what's happening right now, but we can control where it goes right now. 

But inherent in that is some element of trust of the Taliban. And that isn't there. 

MAGINNIS:  No, well, one-third of the world's known and recognized terrorist organizations are in Central Asia. They're going to collect themselves in Afghanistan, after all, which is the center of Islamic, I suppose, terror in the world. 

Not only that, but we have already seen the foreign minister, Wang Yi of China, courting the Taliban leadership. The Chinese have been very helpful behind the scenes. The Russians are doing much the same in the northern Stans. 

And so we have a series of complex issues. Yes, Mr. Biden, promises to keep America safe. But I wonder, following the course that he's taken, are we going to be safe? Are we going to really exercise in our national interests and promise the American people the security that he is obligated to as he took the oath of office?

It's not clear, based upon the recent record and his discussions and his promises. 

CAVUTO:  Colonel Bob Maginnis, thank you, Colonel. Great seeing you again. 

So much we don't know. I should add a footnote to this. One of the key Taliban heads of this multitiered government -- and it isn't formed yet -- wants to make overtures to world central banks, that they think that they're a good investment, and that they are trying to curry favor with the world financial community. 

Obviously, that is the leverage the administration talks about to curry favor from us and help us get people out of the country. But you posit that against attacks right now since we have left and stories, horrific stories, of even worse than that, and you wonder who really is in charge and what sentiment is real?

We are on top of that, on top of all these Afghan nationals who are making their arrival across the globe, most of them here in the United States. 

They're seeking asylum, but could some in those crowds be seeking something else?

After this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

CAVUTO:  You know, we still don't know all the details on all the thousands of Afghan nationals who are making their way to our country. 

We know the overwhelming, overwhelming majority are seeking asylum and are safe and deserve to find a new life here in the United States. But some could slip through the cracks. And that has gotten the government's attention to look into exactly who is getting through and who is not.

Griff Jenkins at the State Department with more on that -- Griff. 

GRIFF JENKINS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Good afternoon, Neil. 

They're trying to make sure no one sneaks through the cracks. Now, State Department spokesman Ned Price just completed his press briefing at the podium here. He says 31, 107 people arrived between August 17 and August 31 and broke it down, saying 14 percent were U.S. citizens, 9 percent were LPRs, or your legal permanent residents of the U.S., and 77 percent were Afghan nationals, many of whom he says will be Special Immigrant Visa applicant holders.

Now, the dual mission is clear at the State Department. They have both the emergency of evacuating stranded Americans and Afghan allies, along with the resettlement of tens of thousands of these people at risk that are coming here.

Now, I pressed Ned Price about one specific incident, Neil, that is an American citizen who says his parents, his sister and grandmother could not get out amid the chaos and that the State Department has not communicated a plan for them to get out, just saying that it could be days before they get out. 

Here was Price's response. Listen. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NED PRICE, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN:  They will receive specific, tailored messages from us as we develop and start to operationalize these plans. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JENKINS:  Price also would not say whether any American citizen has gotten out since the last flight on August 30. 

Now, as for the continued evacuation, obviously, we know that the airport is closed. There's no agreement for anyone to set it up. The Turkish and Qatari officials have been discussing ways to possibly get it back open. 

But, right now, it's not open. That means overland routes are the only possible means really at this point.

And that's through the Taliban-controlled, ISIS-infested territory with Iran to the West and Pakistan to the east. So it is made, obviously, clearly more difficult.

As for that concern, Victoria -- Undersecretary Victoria Nuland speaking about a range of agencies, from DHS, CBP, TSA, FBI, all looking to make sure that elements from ISIS or other individuals wanting to do harm to the U.S. could possibly slip through the cracks and exploit the system -- Neil.

CAVUTO:  All right, thank you for that very much, Griff.

So, should we be worried about this, as s Griff pointed out, especially at a time when the vast, overwhelming majority are seeking asylum and deserve that asylum? But, again, the Taliban was responsible for the initial checkpoint through that perimeter around the airport in Kabul, right, and then handed over to U.S. soldiers on the other side.

So they were in charge of that process, the sort of let go period. 

Let's go to Dan Hoffman, a former CIA station chief. We have also got Christian Whiton, the former State Department official. 

Gentlemen, welcome to you both.

Dan, if I can begin with you on our vetting process.

Obviously, to get over 112,000, 115,000 here, just Afghan nationals, that's a Herculean task. So, in the rush, do you think questionable characters got through? 

DAN HOFFMAN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR:  There's a risk.

There's a far greater risk that questionable characters got through who might seek to do us harm. Look, viewers will recall that there have been incidents of green-on-blue attacks, where Afghan soldiers attacked their U.S. counterparts. 

There's also the potential for our enemies, ISIS or Al Qaeda, to try to infiltrate someone into the refugee process. We have relied in the past and certainly all over the world on our local partners. In the case of Afghanistan, we would have relied on the Afghan NDS, their intelligence service, to tell us whether there's derogatory information on Afghan citizens seeking asylum or applying for SIVs. 

We don't have that capability anymore. And we're not in Afghanistan to proceed with this process. It was extraordinarily rushed. The evacuation was chaotic and haphazard. And this could be a casualty of that process. 

CAVUTO:  You know, Christian, it comes on the same day we learned, over the last 24 hours, at least, in a Washington Post story that the president, in talking to the former Afghan president, had expressed concern about how the government looked fighting the Taliban, not well, and that it seemed to telegraph the problems that were to come. 

So now you begin to wonder about how the Taliban-led government would facilitate this process of getting more out of the country, including Americans. How do you think that's going to go? 

CHRISTIAN WHITON, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY SPECIAL ENVOY:  Well, it will be very awkward, to be very -- there's just no process in place.

The idea that the Taliban is going to facilitate the flow of its own citizens out, that would be tremendously embarrassing for any country. 

That's why, for example, the wall was built in Berlin when it became too embarrassing for the Soviet Union and its East German satellite that its population was basically melting away into West Germany. 

And the idea that you even have a government in Kabul that is constituted to the degree that you can make this decision seems outlandish. I mean, look at any other post-revolutionary or post-victory situation, when you have a power like the Taliban come into force.

Look at Vietnam in 1975. Look at the Soviet Union. There was a civil war that went on for years. That probably won't happen in Afghanistan, because the Taliban has so much of our own munitions and materiel. But it's going to be some time.

And the State Department and other agencies are actually pretty bad about exfiltrating Americans. Maybe they could pull a couple of high-value people out, defectors, things like that, but not in assessing and moving large numbers of people. 

CAVUTO:  All right, we shall see. So much that has to transpire, getting them all here, and then getting them through, but now we have a better understanding why some of those flights, gentlemen, to your point, take up to 10 hours to empty, to make sure everyone on board is who they say they are. 

We have got a lot more coming up here. 

There's going to be a press event here in North Carolina on this school shooting that occurred earlier today. It's left at least one student injured. 

But here's the problem. The suspect is still at large -- after this. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO:  Do you really need a booster shot? Well, some top officials over at the FDA have had enough of the administration push to make sure you get them. 

So, who should get them, and when? And why is there such a dust-up over this?

After this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

CAVUTO:  There has been another school shooting, this one in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. 

One student was injured in the shooting on, but the suspect is that large. 

Officials are expected to update us on maybe where that suspect is and whether anyone else was hurt in all of this. 

Let's get the latest from Phil Keating, who is following it closely. 

Phil, what can you tell us? 

PHIL KEATING, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Hey, Neil.

Still no arrest now about four hours after the initial shooting at the high school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. That is the 1, 500-student high school named Mount Tabor. Law enforcement officers there confirm one student was, in fact, shot injured, not killed, and that no other students were wounded. 

And the manhunt remains as of right now, looking for where and who this shooter is. There was a second incident also nearby after the shooting described by the sheriff's department as a -- quote -- "disturbance." That happened near the Harris Teeter supermarket, which happens to be where all of the evacuated Mount Tabor students were taken to meet up with their parents. 

According to the sheriff's department, no additional shots were fired, nor anyone hurt. Still unclear is whether these two scenes are related or just happenstance. 

According to "The Winston-Salem Journal," witnesses say, just after noon, somebody shot multiple times at the high school, injuring one student. No one else was hurt. And all the kids who were inside the school are safe and have now been emptied out from the high school. 

The Forsyth County Sheriff's Department is planning on a 4:30 on-camera update on this in just a few minutes from now. North Carolina's governor put out this statement -- quote -- "For the second time this week, we have seen a shooting at a North Carolina school. Our prayers are with the victims, their families, and all of the students of Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem."

That other shooting happened three days ago in Wilmington, North Carolina, inside a hallway of a high school there. A brawl was under way when suddenly somebody in the crowd fired off three rounds. One student was injured, and law enforcement did arrest the alleged shooter, also a student, also a minor, who is now charged with first-degree attempted murder. 

The governor reiterating what most everybody there in Winston Salem are thinking today:  We have got to keep guns off of school grounds -- Neil. 

CAVUTO:  All right, Phil, we're eagerly awaiting that press conference at any minute now.

In the meantime, looking at the path of Ida, really dumping a lot of rain along the East Coast and right up through the Northeast, in fact, significant rain, but nothing like what they have been dealing with in Louisiana.

Robert Ray has the latest on the damage and the toll in Jefferson Parish -- Robert.

ROBERT RAY, FOX NEWS MULTIMEDIA JOURNALIST:  Neil, good afternoon.

Very close to Louis Armstrong International airport and downtown New Orleans here. You can see behind me, the downed power lines, a scene we see all over metro New Orleans and even the surrounding bayous and swamps, of all the marshes and these small fishing villages. 

That's the issue right now, Neil. The storm has gone. Three days later, here we are, hot temperatures and just less than a million people still out of power here in the great state of Louisiana, picking up the rubble, trying to figure out exactly what the path is forward, when there's no running water and no power. 

The gas -- gasoline lines are just tremendous. Some of the gas stations getting generators going, so that people can come, the lines going on for blocks. Disaster relief teams coming through. In fact, about 15 cars just came through about 10 minutes ago that are going to go into these neighborhoods and try to help people, pass out water, do what they can, buzz saw some of the trees that came down on the homes.

But almost 72 hours since Ida came through here with those category-force winds, and there's not a whole lot people can do when the power is not on. 

And there's no word too exactly when power will be restored. We have heard up to one, potentially three weeks in certain spots, the devastation just massive. 

I have been driving around the area pretty much all day, Neil. And it's just one town to the next. It's the same story. It's just aluminum siding everywhere from roofs, power lines down, and people just trying to get a grasp of their emotions and go through the physical elements of this heat, and having really no water and no food right now. 

Everybody's just trying to do their best, as Ida certainly put a whipping on the Big Easy and the state of Louisiana, Neil. 

CAVUTO:  All right, Robert, thank you very much. And welcome aboard. 

You can join Robert and all his colleagues. And they are the brainiacs of brainiacs, of meteorologists when FOX Weather kicks off later this fall. 

In the meantime, we are following a bunch of developments from this storm, including the push-up in prices it's had on a lot of things like gasoline and a host of other items. 

Now, it's causing long gas lines in that neck of the woods. But that's how it starts. So, for those of you think, well, how does that hurricane and the bad weather and problems there affect me, take a look at your next stop at the gas station -- after this. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

CAVUTO:  It takes a while to recover from a hurricane. And don't drivers in and around Louisiana know it right now. 

A lot of gas stations were damaged. A lot of refineries were damaged. A lot of them have yet to open up. And so, for some facilities, if you wanted some gas, you were waiting a while. And it could be a situation that gets worse down the road. 

Phil Flynn, the Price Futures Group, the star of FOX Business on all matters inflation, with us right now. 

Phil, that's the big worry, right? I mean, obviously, when you restrict supply, and demand even just stays the same, you're going to have higher prices. So what are we looking at? 

PHIL FLYNN, FOX BUSINESS CONTRIBUTOR:  I think higher prices.

Right now, Neil, gasoline prices across the nation are only creeping higher. I'm fearful, if things don't get better down in the Gulf of Mexico here pretty quickly, they could start leaping. 

Just take, for example, today, we got a report from the Department of Energy that showed that U.S. overall product demand for oil, gasoline and diesel hit an all-time high last week of over 22 million barrels a day. So we really rely on the supply that's coming in from the Gulf of Mexico. 

The problem is, right now, because of where this hurricane hit in Port Fourchon, that's the landing space where they work out to bring on offshore production. Because of that, on -- offshore production is coming out a lot more slowly than it normally would be in the aftermath of a storm. 

Right now, we still have 1.455 million barrels of oil production shut in the Gulf of Mexico. That's 79 percent of that production. And the problem is, is that the helicopters usually leave from the area that was most affected from the storm, but because of the damage to the helipads, they can't get out to those Gulf platforms as quickly and do what they need to bring them back online. 

The longer that takes, it's going to mean higher prices at the pump, not just in Louisiana. I'm afraid it's going to creep across the entire nation. 

CAVUTO:  You know what is kind of weird about this, and maybe you can explain it to me, is how Vladimir Putin is loving this. He's part of those so-called OPEC Plus countries. And he wields a great deal of clout. So what do you think he's going to do? 

FLYNN:  I think, right now, he's going to continue doing what he's done the last couple of weeks, send oil to the United States in record numbers. 

That's exactly what is happening right now. For the last two weeks or two months, Russia has been in -- or exporting oil to the United States, because the United States has pulled back from producing oil because of more restrictions. So Russia is becoming a major player. 

Today, Russia was also a major player in the OPEC Plus cartel. They met today. They decided to follow through on their commitment today to raise oil production by 400,000 barrels a day. And Russia kind of threatened the other members and reminded them, hey, guys, if you don't comply, we have the ability to produce above our quota as well.

So, in other words, keep in line and we will play the game. Now, the sad part about this is, if you look at the demand numbers in the United States, the amount oil that OPEC is going to give us, 400,000 barrels a day, is probably not going to be enough at the end of the year, because it's still a supply deficit. We're still consuming more in the world than they're producing. 

That means higher prices as well. 

CAVUTO:  You know what's weird hearing about this, Phil, is we're begging OPEC and, I guess, by extension, these OPEC Plus countries to produce more oil, when we were producing more than enough to make us energy-independent. 

And now we're not. It just seems weird. 

FLYNN:  It does. 

And it's another misguided energy policy by the United States and by the Biden administration. They want to get off fossil fuel so quickly, and they want to tell U.S. producers stop producing. Well, guess what? The United States just used a record amount of oil. And where do you think we're going to get it if we don't produce it? 

We're going to get it from somewhere else. And right now, that place is Russia.

CAVUTO:  And I have always thought, maybe naive or thick-skulled though I might be, that why can't we be all in on all that energy? You don't have to compromise one for the other, still push the oil that we have plenty and all these other things you want to do as well.

But it's either/or, which is always fatal for consumers.

FLYNN:  I agree with you. I absolutely agree with you, Neil. 

And you know what? The United States was doing that before the government got involved. And we were making great strides. We were the leader in electric cars. We were the leader in that technology. 

CAVUTO:  Yes. 

FLYNN:  We need it all. And, hopefully, we will get it. 

CAVUTO:  Thank you, my friend. You have been uncanny on this and following the trends. And I hate to admit it, but you have been right too. So it's scary. 

Phil, thank you very much for spelling it all out, Phil Flynn. 

All right, we're waiting on this North Carolina presser on this school shooting today, one injured, the suspect still at large. 

Also following what's gotten to be a bit of a food fight within the Food and Drug Administration over the president's push for a booster shot, a third shot. Some are saying, we're scaring people. We don't need to do that. But others are going so far as resigning because they think it's stupid and dangerous. 

What's going on here? We will give it a shot -- after this. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO:  All right, this press conference had started. We're not getting too many new details right now, but from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, more details on this student injured in the shooting, no one else, and the suspect presumably still at large. 

Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS) 

CATRINA THOMPSON, WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA, POLICE CHIEF:  -- the school, to the school, and entered the school to begin looking for the suspect and potential additional victims. 

One student was located with a gunshot wound. Medical responders began lifesaving measures and the injured student was transported to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries.

An intensive search of the school began for the suspect, who was identified to law enforcement. Law enforcement had been advised that the suspect had exited the school property. 

At this point, no known threat to Mount Tabor School exists, although the suspect has not been apprehended. 

Law enforcement officials are working to confirm the identity of the suspect, who is believed to also be a student of Mount Tabor High School. 

This investigation is in its preliminary stages, and additional information will be released at a later time. 

Law enforcement officials are working to reunite students with their families. For the safety of all students, a number of schools across our city also went into lockdown. At this time, those schools are no longer on lockdown. 

Our prayers and thoughts go out to the family of our deceased student, our Mount Tabor family and our Winston-Salem/Forsyth County family. 

I want to take this time to thank our law enforcement, local, state and federal law enforcement partners and our first responders. It's important to mention that we have law enforcement partners and first responders from most of our neighboring states -- I'm sorry -- most of our neighboring cities and counties.

In my haste to provide you this information, I failed to call upon our mayor. So, I'm going to ask, Mayor Joines, please forgive me, and please step to the podium. 

ALLEN JOINES, MAYOR OF WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA:  Chief, you never have to apologize for giving out the facts. 

Certainly, this is a sad day for the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools. 

But, moreover, it's a sad day for the city of Winston-Salem and the county of Forsyth, as we experienced something we see on TV across the country. 

But we have been so fortunate here we have not had to experience that. 

But, today, we are facing it head on with the death of a student from Mount Tabor High School. 

On behalf of all the citizens, I thank the police department, the Highway Patrol, the Sheriff's Department, who has taken the lead in this, as well as other partners, for coming together quickly to secure the school and to work on resolving the issue. 

Our citizens offer our condolences and our thoughts and prayers to the family of the student who passed away today. We know it's going to be difficult for them going forward.

But, again, we're so sad that this happened in our city. We're thankful for the work of our law enforcement going forward. 

Chief, thank you. 

THOMPSON:  Thank you, Mayor. 

At this time, I'm going to call upon Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough Jr., as it was

-- it is Sheriff Kimbrough and his staff at the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office that has taken the lead on this case.

CAVUTO:  All right, sadly, passing along some news confirmed by Catrina Thompson, the Winston-Salem, North Carolina, police chief, as well as the mayor in Winston-Salem, that that student who was injured in a shooting earlier today has indeed died, and the suspect is still at large. 

We know very little about this incident and whether that individual was targeted or the shooter went to the school. So much, we don't know. This much, we do. That student has died. No one else was injured or hurt, we understand. 

But, again, the assailant is still on the loose. We will keep you posted if there are any other developments on that. 

Some other news we're also following right now is this push for booster shots that you have heard a great deal about, especially from the president, advocating that those who had compromised immune systems, the elderly might want to sign up for this. 

But Politico is reporting that there's some at the FDA who don't like the strong-arming and the pressure. Some have, in fact, quit based on the notion that we're getting a little ahead of ourselves on all of this, that it might not be necessary, that booster shots themselves might be a premature antidote here. 

Dr. Marty Makary joins us right now on all of this, the bestselling author of "Unaccountable."

You know, Doctor, the push for getting a third shot is based on the notion that it's like an insurance shot for those who need it, the vulnerable. Is it? Do you recommend it? 

DR. MARTY MAKARY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR:  Well, I think we have confused two things, the concept of a booster with the concept of a dose in people who never mounted a good immune response, like those immunosuppressed and very older people.

The data are not out showing that people, the regular everyday American public, needs a booster. There's no evidence right now that the vaccinated immunity is waning in preventing hospitalizations and deaths, which are the key outcomes. 

We know that it's waning against common cold symptoms. But for the White House to announce before the FDA or CDC has formally evaluated it that they're going to have a booster plan that's going to recommend that people on September 20 take boosters, this is a bit of an insult to the FDA and its authority. 

And that's why Marion Gruber and Phil Krause, two respected high-level FDA officials, left. That is, in my opinion, very clear right now. And I think they feel cut out, as Politico has suggested. 

CAVUTO:  You know, what surprised me in all this, Doctor, was the fact that they weren't consulted, that the FDA, either no one talked to them, the president certainly, and that their opinion was not part of weighing this idea for a booster shot. 

Now, to be fair, such talk has been out there across the globe, do you need follow-up shots and all of that, but on that general issue of whether you need something like this, is that something the world, this country has to consider? 

MAKARY:  You know, I think most physicians right now in the United States are telling their patients that they'd like to see more data. And if the data clearly shows that you're at increased risk of hospitalizations and deaths and severe illness, then I think the recommendation for booster is going to be clear.

Right now, some of us are also concerned about the global equity issue. 

Right now, the United States has thrown out 15 million vaccine doses. We need those vaccines to be overseas, where variants emerge. And if you look at the pattern at the FDA, increasingly, they have been cutting out sort of opposition. 

They never convened their experts when they looked at vaccine approval for those 12 to 15 years of age. And for them to be told, hey, we want Americans to get this by September 20, go to work, that's the concern right now. 

CAVUTO:  Doctor, it comes at a time when we're getting a lot of kind of scary warnings and recommendations from health authorities.

The CDC recommends against Labor Day travel for unvaccinated Americans. You have the World Health Organization on the same day monitoring this new Delta variant Mu -- I hope I'm pronouncing it -- Mu. 

So that scared folks. The European Union, working in concert with member countries, advising against non-pressing travel on the part of Americans, only essential travel there. On Canada and ourselves, we're going back and forth as to whether we can visit each other's countries because of all of this.

Calm me down, Doctor. I mean, is all of this anxiety necessary?

MAKARY:  You know, I hear over and over again from many people in the United States that they're just confused at this point. 

They want to know what is the real data behind a booster? What if they had COVID? Do they really need two doses? Or is one adequate? And what's the benefit of one vs. none? And do the healthy kids really have a risk of dying, and what is that risk? And what should the ideal interval be between the two doses? 

Ironically, if we would have had a three-month interval between doses, we would have gotten strong protection as a booster might deliver. And I think these countries overseas right now are telling most of their citizens, if you're immune, we need to get back to normal. 

And it's ironic that we have got restrictions from countries with very low levels of infection into the United States. We're telling Americans you can't go to those areas with lower rates of infection. I'm not concerned about mu. Delta is very efficient in its transmission. It's very fit, as we say in virology. And it's going to be very difficult for it to compete, just as Lambda got outperformed by the Delta variant. 

CAVUTO:  Got it. 

Doctor, thank you very much. I apologize, jostling things around with all this breaking news, Dr. Marty Makary following all these developments. 

Let's go to Bob Cusack right now, The Hill editor in chief. 

It's been a crazy week in terms of internal strife, first on Afghanistan and the administration, who was saying what and whether they are all on the same page, and now the FDA potentially fighting with the administration over the need for booster shots. All of this comes as the president's handling of Afghanistan, that's disapproved. The one thing he had in his corner was the handling of the virus and the vaccination going on. 

But he's under enormous pressure right now, isn't he? 

BOB CUSACK, THE HILL: Oh, yes, Neil. 

I mean, it's been a bad stretch for the president. August was a terrible month for him politically. It was it was a bad month, obviously, for the United States and a deadly one for U.S. troops. 

So going into the fall, it doesn't look much better, because we're going to have the 9/11 anniversary. So this Afghanistan storyline is going to continue. 

CAVUTO:  Right. 

CUSACK:  And then you have got Democratic infighting on how to pass a massive $3.5 trillion bill. It's going to be another tough month, I think, for the president. 

CAVUTO:  You know, I don't want to conflate stories, but there is a key parallel between this FDA booster shot story and the president's handling of Afghanistan and communication with generals and those on the front line, a lack of communication, or at least not getting a sense of where things really stand. 

And I'm wondering if this is revealing more of the Biden leadership style. 

He's very, very keen on getting our troops out. I get that. He is very, very keen on keeping people safe with the vaccine, even pushing a booster shot that even the FDA said might not be necessary right now, but that he goes his way or the highway.

CUSACK:  Yes.

CAVUTO:  What do you think of that?

CUSACK:  Yes, Neil, I think that's a very good point, because the president very much so wanted to get troops out of Afghanistan. 

He has repeatedly said that his advisers, yesterday even repeated, that all of them, all of them were in support of this hasty withdrawal. That is counter to reporting from a number of sources, reliable sources. And I think that raises the question of, does Biden's advisers, do they have the power and the authority to really challenge the president, and say, maybe you need to rethink that?

Because, on this one, no one was fired, Neil, because Biden clearly made the decision by himself. And there were differences of opinion, period. 

CAVUTO:  You do wonder, too, about where the presidency goes here, whether he's wounded pushing for some of the things that he really, really wants, just as the Iran hostage crisis wounded Jimmy Carter.

And those comparisons keep coming up. I don't know if they're necessarily germane now, but this idea that it weakens in negotiating this $3.5 trillion spending package, to say nothing abroad on issues he cares about, like climate change and even a global corporate minimum tax, that he is a sort of compromised leader now. 

What do you make of that?

CUSACK:  Well, the one thing he has in his corner is this bipartisan infrastructure bill. This looks like it is going to be signed into law.

So that is going to be a big bipartisan win, really the first bipartisan legislative win that he has had. However, those other--

CAVUTO:  But the bigger one, the bigger one is in doubt, right?

CUSACK:  The bigger one, the bigger one is in doubt. I don't think they're going to get $3.5 trillion.

They will probably get something. But it's going to be -- Nancy Pelosi who wants to pass that bill by the end of September. That is just not going to happen. This could go all the way past Halloween into Christmas, because why? It's going to be so difficult to get the votes because the moderates are very wary of spending that amount of money.

And business lobbies are going to be rallying against it. They already are. 

CAVUTO:  All right, thank you very much, my friend, Bob Cusack, following all these developments.

CUSACK:  Thanks, Neil. 

CAVUTO:  And to echo pretty much what Bob was just saying, Republicans are pushing right now to adjust the NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act. 

It's a sweeping defense bill that really sort of stipulates where your spending priority is with the military. And Republicans want to add some things that will limit exactly what the president wants to do and favor more what they want to do. And it's only just begun.

That will do it here. 

Now "The Five." 

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