Alveda King: Georgia voting law is not voter suppression

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Alveda King: Georgia voting law is not voter suppression

Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece say she disagrees with her family's position on the latest voting law on 'Your World'

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

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Thank you, Martha, very, very much.

Well, by now, you have all seen this video. Now meet the border agent who released it. She is here and only here.

All of that while we're in the middle of the rush to get fans in the stands and some fannies back in airline seats, specifically the middle seat. We are live at Yankee Stadium in New York and Chicago's Wrigley Field this opening day, as baseball returns, and so too fliers.

Delta and United Airlines taking steps to get more people in the air, citing pent-up demand for summer travel. We're on top of both.

Very glad to have you, everybody, I'm Neil Cavuto, and this is "Your World."

We have got Anita Vogel here looking in on a lot of developments, but we should also be telling you that some of the activity that you have seen, particularly progress that we have seen on the economic front, having nothing to do with infrastructure, had markets soaring today. We will get to that in a second.

Let's first go to Aishah Hasnie on opening day and how they're getting prepared for it across the country. She's at Yankee Stadium in New York.

We will also be hearing from Garrett Tenney in Chicago with the latest on how things are going their.

First to Aishah.

AISHAH HASNIE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Neil.

Such a great, beautiful day to be out here. The sun is out. The rain has stopped. And fans are so excited. Good news for you, this game was sold out. It doesn't mean the stadium was packed. And that, of course, is because of all those COVID restrictions. The Yankees had to limit capacity down to just 20 percent, which is just under 11,000 people.

Let me just show you, if you can pan over to the left, here are some fans enjoying the beautiful day, taking some pictures out with the family. It is a great day for baseball to be back. Now, there is a new normal, though, as you mentioned, a lot of different safety precautions that fans had to go through to get inside the stadium.

They had to provide a negative COVID test or proof of vaccination, get their temperature checked. And, of course, they have to be wearing those masks. Now, none of it mattered to these fans, who are just ready for some live-action baseball.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just kind of can't stay in the house anymore. We are baseball fans or Yankee fans, and we need to really get out of the house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It definitely feels like the beginning of the end. It feels like back to normal. As soon as we get you know people out from the dugouts and running out onto the field, I think that it'll be -- it'll be a good feeling, like we're getting close.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HASNIE: Of course, it is opening day across the country. The average capacity of ballparks today is about 28 percent. The Texas Rangers, though, want to note this here, whose home opener is next week, are the only team opening at 100 percent capacity, President Biden calling that a mistake earlier.

And, Neil, by the way, just a quick update on the Washington Nationals. They have now had to postpone their season opener tonight against the New York Mets because of COVID issues. So, baseball is back, but COVID still a reality -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Incredible. On day one, no less.

Aishah, thank you. That was a fun report.

Let's go to Chicago right now, where we're not talking baseball, but we are talking fliers, more of them, in fact a lot more than we have seen.

We're nowhere back to the full demand that was there in the airline industry before the pandemic, but some moves the airlines are taking seem to indicate they're getting ready for it.

Garrett Tenney at O'Hare International Airport.

Hey, Garrett.

GARRETT TENNEY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil.

Not there quite yet, but we are making progress. You know, over the past year, folks have been dreaming about traveling. And as the vaccine rates are going up, they're feeling more comfortable leaving the home and getting on a plane.

Over this last week, on average, TSA screened more than a million passengers a day. Compare that to a year ago, when the average was just 171,000. Now, that is still a far cry from pre-pandemic numbers, but it is an encouraging sign for the airline industry, which has been hammered over the last year.

United Airlines' CEO says he is finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT KIRBY, CEO, UNITED AIRLINES: Leisure demand has almost entirely recovered. It tells you something about the pent-up desire for travel, the pent-up desire to remake those connections. So, there's huge chunks of our business that are still almost at zero, but it's really nice to see that recovery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TENNEY: So far, the lucrative business travel has not come back. So, airlines are trying to capitalize on the demand for that leisure travel by adding routes to areas away from big city lockdowns, such as Montana, Alaska, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Another good sign the industry is moving towards some sense of normalcy, Delta Air Lines announced it will stop blocking off the middle seat on its planes starting May 1, making it the last U.S. airline to bring those seats back.

And, today, Frontier Airlines became the latest American airline to go public, raising $570 million in an initial public offering, according to its parents company.

So, lots of good news for the industry, but a full recovery is still a long way off. Analysts are saying that could take until sometime next year to get back to those numbers we saw just a couple of years ago -- Neil.

CAVUTO: You know, Garrett, I'm just worried about that middle seat coming back again. I'd get squished there. You would be fine, but I'm just worried about that, you know?

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: But keep me posted on the middle seat thing.

TENNEY: Yes, that extra leg room has been nice.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: All right. Oh, yes. OK, thank you, my friend, Garrett Tenney, following that in Chicago.

Let's go to my friend Dr. Bob Lahita on all of this, the St. Joseph health director.

Doctor, obviously, we're trying to get back to normal, whatever that is these days. The CDC is being extra cautious, as you know, saying go slow, go slow. What do you think?

DR. BOB LAHITA, ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: I think they're right. The CDC is saying go slow.

But every day, we hear something that's really great, Neil. Like, today, we heard that if you're vaccinated, the data show that you don't transmit the virus to anybody. So, people who are vaccinated essentially can stay together without wearing their masks, if they're in small groups.

That's what the CDC is beginning to indicate. However, many of us are still wearing masks and still social distancing, because the numbers have flattened out, but we're still seeing an increased number of cases in the emergency room and in the hospital. There's about a 10 percent increase all of a sudden and a 3 percent increase in deaths. So, we're not out of the woods yet.

And we really have to, if we can, mitigate. But my nurses and I speak to each other -- we're all vaccinated -- without wearing the mask when we're in our offices, but not in the clinic.

CAVUTO: You know, Doctor, I think the efficacy rate for a lot of these vaccines is in the 90, 91, 92, 93 percent area. That seems to be the case for Pfizer.

But when so much of the population is being vaccinated, let's say 100 million Americans vaccinated, that would mean that nine or 10 million of them are not seeing the benefit of that. Are they in danger in any way? What should we make of that?

LAHITA: Well, Neil, that's a very good question, because there's about -- if you're saying 90 percent, so that means 10 percent of the people that are vaccinated can get the infection.

However, we have not really paid much attention to what's called cellular immunity. We don't measure that. We just measure the antibodies to the virus. And we look at people who are and who are not infected in the placebo group vs. the test group.

I suspect that the percentages of protection are far greater than 90 percent, something like probably 98 percent or even 100 percent, as we're seeing in young people, simply because cellular immunity, which is different than humoral immunity, is very, very strong and robust in most of us.

CAVUTO: All right, that's very encouraging, Doctor, as you always are, and while always being cautious about things, which is wise as well.

Dr. Lahita, thank you very, very much.

LAHITA: Thank you, Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, in the meantime, we're back on infrastructure and whether it will muster any Republican votes. That seems to be the focus, but it might have a devil of a time getting all the Democratic votes.

We're going to talk to the majority whip, Clyburn, about that and what he makes of that push and where it stands.

Also, the border agent who released this video that is now going viral, smugglers dropping kids over a 14-foot barrier -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, the president pushing his case for that $2.25 trillion infrastructure package.

Peter Doocy at the White House with how he's going about it.

Hey, Peter.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Neil, we were in Pittsburgh with the president yesterday. He spoke very colorfully about the dangers of something like a bridge collapse happening.

But bridge and road funding are only a fraction of what this administration sees as infrastructure priorities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: Only 5 percent of the spending in this package goes towards roads and bridges, and I'm curious why that number is so low in something that is being sold as an infrastructure package.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're actually selling it as a once-in-a-century or once-in-a-generation investment in partly our infrastructure, but partly industries of the future, American workers in the work force.

And there are areas like broadband, which maybe is not a physical bridge, but one-third of the country doesn't have access to broadband. So, that impacts workers, workers who have been working from home, kids who are trying to learn at home, parts of the country where they can't have jobs where they're working remotely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: So, now the White House is trying to pressure Republicans by daring them to vote against a package that both sides admit does make some necessary fixes to aging infrastructure.

But Republicans are not keen on the way this package gets paid for, much higher corporate taxes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): Somebody on his staff has convinced him that he can be the next FDR, because this is a massive expansion paid for, at least in part, by huge tax increases.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: The White House is arguing that, because big corporations benefit the most from the existing infrastructure, they should pay the most for the upgrades.

But it's worth pointing out this White House plan would involve a lot of projects being scheduled over the next eight years. But The Washington Post crunched the numbers. And with a corporate tax increase, it's not possible to get the $2.3 trillion they want for 15 years -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Thank you, Peter, very much.

Peter Doocy on all of that.

James Clyburn with us right now. The South Carolina Democratic congressman is the House majority whip, a key player in making sure this gets delivered for the president.

Congressman, always good to see you.

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Thank you very much for having me.

CAVUTO: What do you think the odds for getting it passed in the House?

CLYBURN: Well, I think we're going to pass the bill in the House. And I think we should pass it in the House.

I want to mention very strongly, I wish people would take a look at infrastructure in a broad sense. I remember, when the Internet first came online. We referred to it as the information highway.

Well, let's start treating the information highway the same way we treat the international -- or interstate highway. And this is as much infrastructure as anything else. We have got schools that need to be built. That is infrastructure, affordable housing that needs to be built. That is infrastructure.

We have got to get our kids online learning. We have to get the health care delivery system, telehealth, telemedicine. All of that requires broadband. And if we cannot see the importance of having broadband in the 21st century, then you have got a problem with having electricity in the 20th century.

CAVUTO: I can see, sir, keeping it focused on infrastructure, even in the broad sense you do about the Internet. I get that.

But when I hear about spending better than $400 billion to care for the elderly and the disabled, however meritorious that might be, also looking at tuition-free community college, also looking down the road at universal pre-K, what the heck does this have to do with any of that?

CLYBURN: It has to do with educating our children.

It has to do with taking care of the elderly. I don't understand. We aren't Eskimos. We aren't going to be carrying our elderly people out...

CAVUTO: But is that infrastructure? Is that infrastructure? That's what I'm saying. And does it blur the line, so that you're losing support you might otherwise get, if you kept it just focused on that?

CLYBURN: Neil, it says the American Jobs Plan, the American Jobs Plan.

This is all about jobs. It's not just about building buildings. I heard someone in your setup talk about Biden being the next FDR. I hope not. I hope not. I hope that Biden will be Biden, and that Biden will do for the highway system what Eisenhower did.

That's what I want to see, not Franklin Roosevelt...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Well, I think what they were referring to, Congressman -- I think that what they were referring to is just how much he is spending, that this package alone is 9 percent-plus of the GDP, almost double what FDR's was.

If you even take LBJ's Great Society program, it's more than that. And that might be perfectly valid in this day and age. But there are a lot of taxes, as you know, that go with this, that are going to affect more than just companies, right, more than just the rich. There are going to be Social Security surtaxes for the well-to-do.

There are going to be surcharges and global taxes and the like. How is that going to be enticing, let alone to Republicans who are balking at this, but even some of your moderate colleagues?

You lose three or four of them, Congressman, this thing's dead, right?

CLYBURN: Well, that's true.

But I don't think we are going to lose four -- three or four of them. The fact of the matter is, I talk to CEOs all the time. It might be a surprise to you, but I was down in Augusta a couple weekends ago talking with -- you know, I played a little golf. But I talked a lot with some CEOs.

Every one of them were talking to me about their 21 percent tax rate, corporate rate. They didn't want that. They are pleased with it going to 28. Why did it go down to 29?

You just had a guy sitting in the White House who was doing crazy stuff. And what happened? We ruined the affordable housing market when we dropped the rate down to 21. Get it back up to 28. Most CEOs that I talk to tell me that is about the sweet spot.

So, that's all Joe Biden is doing. He...

CAVUTO: All right, it might very well be.

But I talk to a lot of CEOs, and I hear those in the Chamber of Commerce, Congressman, who are not too keen on the 28 percent thing. They're also not keen on raising the capital gains rate, the surtaxes that many of them will have to spend if you implement a global tax.

There is a limit to that. Having said, though, there is a fear here that the more you raise taxes and some of the things you're doing to get this will slow the economy down. It won't help it. It will slow it. What do you say to that?

CLYBURN: I say you're probably right, if we got too high. Find the sweet spot. If you get too low, you ruin the economy. You get too high, you ruin the economy. Find the sweet spot.

That's what us golfers do. We look for the sweet spot.

CAVUTO: But there are lot of sweet spots here, right? There's a lot of sweet spots.

There is an estate tax that's going to be $220 billion over 10 years. There's a global minimum tax that could raise $550 billion over 10 years. There is maybe, maybe this Social Security surtax on the well-to-do -- I don't know what defines well-to-do -- that's going to be yield about $730 billion over 10 years.

That's a lot of sweet spots. That's a lot of taxes, right?

CLYBURN: Well, and Joe Biden left some out. I asked him to take a strong look at a transaction tax.

I would love to see a one-tenth of 1 percent transaction tax. It would raise $1.6 billion. So I would love to see him put that in there.

CAVUTO: So, if you had your way, you would like to see more -- if you had your way, you would like to see more of those types of taxes in this thing, right?

CLYBURN: I would like to see different kinds of taxes.

I'm not going to argue with him about his. But I still feel very strongly that the one-tenth of 1 percent transaction tax would raise $1.6 trillion - - billion. And all of that money gets back up to Wall Street, all of it. When you're building highways, when you're doing broadband, when you're developing these communities, it all gets right back up to Wall Street.

So, I have never been able to understand why people who make so much money off the investments of people's expenditures keep trying to keep people from getting the money to spend. When they spend the money, it gets right back up to them. So, let's not put people in the poor house. Let's not keep them...

CAVUTO: Well, those people -- those people -- the investors are going to pay that transaction tax, right?

It's about a trillion over 10 years. You're right. But the investors pay that. Brokerage houses don't pay that. They're going to pay it. Average investors will pay it.

(CROSSTALK)

CLYBURN: Yes.

Look -- look, I get -- when I get my report on what is happening to my 401(k), I didn't ask for all those transactions to take place. Who is doing it?

We aren't -- I didn't ask for it. I just get a statement saying, these transactions took place. And so all I'm saying is, take one-tenth of 1 percent of all of those transactions and let's put it out there to growing the company -- country.

They're going to benefit from it. If we mess around and let this economy fail, let this country go under...

CAVUTO: Your 401(k), I imagine -- your 401(k) I imagine, has done pretty well, right?

You're a smart guy. I'm sure, if you just mirror the market, you're doing very, very well. Are you worried that could be hurt by this?

CLYBURN: I'm not worried that could be hurt.

What I'm worried about is the children not getting their education that they need.

CAVUTO: Got it.

CLYBURN: I'm worried about communities not getting the safe water to drink that they need.

I'm worried about the elderly not having telehealth. That's what I'm worried about. I don't mind a bit of the transaction that I make go to help pay for that.

CAVUTO: All right, James Clyburn, fair enough. Good seeing you again, the House majority whip, key player in all of this.

Actually, to even think about it, he's the reason why Joe Biden is in the White House at all, the man who made that possible.

All right, so we will see how that all sorts out.

In the meantime, the video that's obviously been seen around the world right now, shocking video, at that, at the border of kids being dropped off quite literally on a border fence.

The agent who was responsible for that and released the video -- up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, you have seen this video. It is scary, little kids being dumped, dropped at a border fence.

I want you to meet the border agent who released it and wants to share a story about it -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, let her rip. That's exactly what Texas Governor Abbott has been doing, criticizing the administration and, more to the point, Kamala Harris, for not coming down to the border and seeing for themselves exactly what's happening.

William La Jeunesse joins us now out of L.A. with more -- William.

WILLIAM LA JEUNESSE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Neil, these smugglers we're doing what they were paid to do by the parents, which is get their children into the United States, now, in this case, dropping this 3- and 5- year-old girl from a 14-foot fence.

The two smugglers will then later run away, leaving CBP to find and release the children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE MCCRAW, DIRECTOR, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: And they don't care. They will throw a 2-year -- a 6-month-old baby into the water. They just don't care. I mean, they will stash, they will starve, they will beat, they will rape, and they will abandon these children.

PSAKI: I think any of us who saw the video were incredibly alarmed by the steps of smugglers -- ones that we have been quite familiar with, that we've spoken out about our concerns about.

As Secretary Mayorkas said, the inhumane way smugglers abuse children while profiting off parents' desperation is criminal and morally reprehensible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LA JEUNESSE: Last month, smugglers also dumped a mother and baby off a raft into the Rio Grande to be rescued and be revived by this Texas Ranger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURTIS WOODARD, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: The baby is in her arm and the water's going over the baby. So, I got above her, kind of fell in, grabbed the baby, held the baby like a football, and helped the woman onto a tree branch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LA JEUNESSE: Central American parents also see children crammed into foil blankets, but many have concluded the reward outweighs the risk, as President Biden has promised not to return them home.

Today, Governor Abbott blamed Biden for creating a disaster, as police increasingly discover houses and trucks filled with migrants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): The Department of Public Safety made more than 21 arrests per day of criminal arrests. And they made more than 571 referrals of illegal immigrants per day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LA JEUNESSE: So, last night, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for reparations for some migrant families -- Neil.

CAVUTO: William La Jeunesse, thank you very, very much.

I want to introduce to you now to Gloria Chavez. She is the Border Patrol El Paso sector chief, the agent who released that video. She wanted people to see it. Other agents wanted you to see it as well. She was kind enough to join us and does so right now.

Thank you very much.

That's really tough to watch. Were those two girls all right?

GLORIA CHAVEZ, BORDER PATROL EL PASO SECTOR CHIEF: So, the two girls, they're sisters. One is 5 years old. The other one is 3 years old.

They're both doing fine. I visited with them at our central processing center the day after, the morning after. And they are just so resilient. Children in general are so resilient.

But I was really horrified and appalled and worried when I first saw the images come through from my staff, when I saw those that first child drop to the ground. And then not see her move for a few seconds, I honestly thought...

CAVUTO: Yes.

CHAVEZ: ... this child just probably hit her head and is unconscious. And then I see the second child. And, immediately, agents, obviously, within a few minutes responded to that area to rescue them.

But, I tell you, the next day, when I visited with these little girls they are so loving and so talkative. Some of them were asking the names of all the agents that were there around them. And they even said they were a little hungry, so I helped them peel a banana and open a juice box, and just talk to them.

Children are just so resilient. And I'm so grateful that they're not severely injured or even broken limbs or anything like that.

CAVUTO: Can you explain, then, Chief, how it works?

Now, the fellow dropping them. These are these infamous smugglers you hear so much about. How do they operate? What happens?

CHAVEZ: So, they are.

These smugglers, this is -- they're a commodity. So, human life, human beings are a commodity to these ruthless smugglers. We know their tactics. I mean, I have been doing this over 25 years now. And we know exactly the tactics of these people. And for them, it's just a profit.

So, for us, we had not seen that type of tactic in the outskirts of the El Paso region, like in the New Mexico area. That terrain is desolate. That terrain is very rocky and mountainous. So, when we see an image like that, that raises my alert and my worry that they may continue to try these tactics further out in the desert area, like Lordsburg. New Mexico, or Fort Hancock, Texas, where it's not urban.

It's very remote. It's very rural. And the logistics and the challenges that exist for Border Patrol agents to get to those locations are quite high. So, I worry when I see images like this and the tactics that smugglers are using really hurting these children.

This is a very vulnerable population. Everyone is an agreement that these children, we need to protect them. We need to keep them safe. We need to keep them healthy and fed and clean. That's our number one priority.

But when we see images like this, I tell you I am appalled. I committed myself to working with law enforcement on the south side and Mexico. I want this guy. I want us to identify him and I want us to prosecute him. And we're working very closely with the government of Mexico to do just.

CAVUTO: Chief, these smugglers, who pays them? Obviously, for these girls to be dropped over a fence, someone has paid them to get them over that fence. Who?

CHAVEZ: Of course.

So, we all know that the terrain on the south of the border, like on the Mexican side, is pretty much run by cartels.

CAVUTO: Right.

CHAVEZ: And no one gets through those areas or those regions without coordinating with a certain type of cartel or criminal organization managing that area.

So, a lot of these human smugglers pay a fine, pay a fee to move people through certain areas or regions of the border. So, in this case, they paid someone. It's a very coordinated effort. It comes -- these children are from...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: But is it their family or others connected to those kids, Chief? I mean, you it isn't always as simple as the parents doing it or others, but large throngs of kids are a draw, apparently, to these guys, to get them over the fence. So who is paying them?

CHAVEZ: So, this is -- this starts at the beginning, right, at the point of origin.

The children start getting exploited or right at the door of their villages or their towns where they're being recruited, and smugglers convincing the families to allow them to take these children with them. These girls were from Ecuador.

CAVUTO: Wow.

CHAVEZ: They don't get to Mexico just by walking or taking a ride. This is a coordinated effort all the way up to our border, right up to smugglers operating in that area, and then paying.

Either the families pay a fee or relatives pay a fee. In this case, we are now in connection. As you saw in that video, there is a third item that is thrown over that barrier. And that was a bag.

In that bag...

CAVUTO: Right. I saw that.

CHAVEZ: Yes, in that bag, there was a phone. There was a phone number and their passports.

And we were able, through the intelligence and the agents working this case already, they were able to make contact with a mother who resides in New York. So, that connection has been made. And we continue with the investigation, because, like I told you, Neil, we want to get this -- these guys, so that they don't do this to another unaccompanied minor on that border.

CAVUTO: You know, Gloria, your compassion really shows through, 20-plus years of doing this. This bugs you. This really affects you, and it shows. You care. You want to see a solution to this.

You're remarkable. I don't know how you do it day in and day out and your colleagues. But what you see and what you're trying to get to the bottom of is something I don't think a lot of people appreciate or see in the numbers that we're seeing.

I want to thank you for that, Chief. I think I speak for an entire nation when I say that. Thank you very much.

CHAVEZ: Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

CAVUTO: We will have more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): That further secures our absentee ballots by mail by requiring a photo I.D. requirement, which the vast majority of Georgians support.

It also is adding days of early voting on the weekend. So, we're actually expanding the right to vote in Georgia. Now, you're not hearing that from the other side. But that's what the truth is.

The people really need to look at who's trying to restrict things is the Democrats in Washington, not Republicans that continue to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right, Georgia Governor Kemp explaining that law that has gotten a lot of controversy and a lot of overstating by no less than the president of the United States.

That earned four Pinocchios from The Washington Post that say the Jim Crow analogies and some of the other things the president said about it were totally wrong and misleading, if not outright lying.

Lydia Hu following all of these developments, as corporations begin to get skittish about this new Georgia voting law -- Lydia.

LYDIA HU, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil.

We're seeing more corporations joining the long list of companies today that are condemning the new Georgia law. The most recent is Apple. This is after that new law passed along party lines just last week.

And now we also know today that Major League Baseball is reportedly exploring options to move its All-Star baseball game possibly away from Atlanta this summer.

Now, all of this got started when a group of Black business executives, Merck CEO Ken Frazier and former American Express CEO Ken Chenault, started calling on corporate leaders to speak out against these new voting laws in Georgia, saying that the law will disproportionately hurt voters of color.

Now, as you just mentioned some of the claims, let's just review a couple of them, because they're making a lot of buzz. And let's set the record straight here. Democrats say the law will end voting hours early. But that's not true. The fact is that voting on Election Day will run from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., which is the same as current polling hours.

And as for early voting, the new law requires that polls stay open from 9:00 to 5:00 at a minimum. Local officials are free to keep them open longer if they want to. Now, that time frame is established to replace a previous vague requirement that said early voting had to happen during normal business hours.

Now, there's also a claim that water is prohibited, but actually polling workers are free to set up self-service water stations for voters.

Now, yesterday, a number of companies issued statements expressing support for voting rights generally and condemning the new Georgia law. Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said it is wrong. And Delta CEO Ed Bastian called it unacceptable.

Now, meanwhile, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is punching back, as you just heard. He's defending this law, saying that it expands access to early voting and makes the process more secure.

But all of this public debate comes as Republicans have proposed more than 250 bills in 43 states that address voting, and as Washington Democrats propose a bill that would make voter registration automatic nationwide, and would expand early and mail-in voting. All of those measures, Republicans say, would benefit the Democrats -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, great reporting, Lydia. Thank you very, very much.

Lydia Hu following all of that.

I want to go to what Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King Jr, Alveda King, of course, her dad.

I'm hearing all of this, and I'm hearing even within your own extended family, Alveda, support to rally against this law, this voting law. But you're not joining them. Why not?

DR. ALVEDA KING, NIECE OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: Neil, I'm not going to join an effort that would say you don't need any regulations, you don't need any controls. And that is just not reasonable.

It's not protecting our right to vote. It's not protecting the voters. Now, voter suppression has occurred through the ages on both sides of the aisle. We know this has happened. But this is not an effort for voter suppression. This is simply trying to regulate it and get a handle on what even happened on the last election, because we had so many dead people voting, people voting twice, people mailing in and then showing up and voting. So many things were happening.

We have got to pull it in a little bit.

CAVUTO: You know, Alveda, your cousin Bernice King, the daughter of the Reverend Martin Luther King, was among those saying that this disrespected of their father's tireless work.

That included Al Vivian, the son of Rev. Cordy Tindell, C.T. Vivian, John- Miles Lewis, the son of Representative John Lewis, the late representative.

So they see something here that doesn't add up. And while they're not saying it's Jim Crow-ish, they seem to be saying it's close. What do you say?

KING: I'm 12 years older than Bernice. And, of course, I marched for our voters rights and fought for our voters rights. And I'm 70 years old. I have been voting for a very long time.

Without appropriate regulations, you do not have the fair voting process. So, I understand Bernice's points. And voters have been suppressed, especially in and prior to the '70s. That did happen.

But right now, we have got some very serious voting irregularities that also have to be addressed. And I noticed that Bernice is not addressing that. I just celebrated her birthday with her a few days ago. We never really fight. We don't hate each other or anything like that. But we don't always agree.

So, we're going to have to have fairness and good regulations. You can't throw out the baby with the bathwater. You just can't do that.

CAVUTO: You mentioned Bernice again.

And I want to add that she doesn't want to go so far as boycotting the state, although I seem to think she's open to we got in various businesses. I don't know if there's a big difference, especially when it comes to big events that those big businesses are behind them. You would hurt the state either way.

But how do you feel about that, targeting businesses that might be endorsing this, allowing this, not doing anything about this, as if they have to, and the state itself?

KING: Well, we have to watch it. It sounds a little bit like the cancel culture. You don't agree with me, and so I'm not going to work with you.

And (AUDIO GAP) did support by boycotting, but he also supported my dad, Reverend A.D. King, as well sitting down at the table and working through these issues together.

My granddaddy, Martin Luther King Sr., said that laughter was a city too busy to hate. And so we can discuss, negotiate and fix this. So we're not really at the same place with the voter issue at this time.

However, the cancel culture will say to you, if I don't like you and don't agree with you, out you go. And I do caution everybody not to get into that position. We need to learn to live together and work together as brothers and sisters. And that way, we will not perish as fools, Neil.

CAVUTO: Do you ever wonder though, Alveda, that all of this push for this legislation was based on something that, to a lot of us, has been proven to be incorrect, if not a lie, that there was widespread voter fraud in Georgia, to the point that it turned the election and robbed Donald Trump of a win.

Do you believe that?

KING: Well, President Trump did a good job. You know I'm his fan and I agree with many of the things that he's done.

Now, he's moving ahead, continuing to serve the country. He still loves America, and so do I. But I don't think that we are retaliating against what may or may not have happened with the last election. It's time for an overhaul of the election, period, whoever the president happens to be.

And so we can cry voter fraud when we're not winning. And both sides do that, of course, as well. And then, when we are winning, if we committed fraud, we don't admit it. And a lot of times, I have seen voter fraud in Georgia myself. I was elected twice as a state legislator.

CAVUTO: That's right.

KING: And then, when I was ready to run again, I wouldn't vote the way they wanted me to, so they gerrymandered my district and cut it up, and I ran for Congress. I don't know if you know my history there.

CAVUTO: I do.

KING: So, there are all kinds of shenanigans in Georgia with voting, Neil. I will promise you that's true across the aisles.

CAVUTO: All right, did it influence the election in 2020, you think, the fraud that they talk about?

KING: I actually believe it did, because there's so many people who would say to me, I'm voting for President Trump, don't tell anybody, shh, shh.

And I believe more people actually voted for President Trump than we actually saw here in Georgia. I'm very convinced that is true. And then my god-daughter, Angela Stanton-King, ran for office. And one of the larger polls where her vote was, they had some kind of water problem that didn't really exist, and they shut the polls down. And something happened to the votes.

Now, all that really did happen. So, as I say, though, please hear me. These kinds of shenanigans go on in every election. And I agree that we need to get a handle on it and start having people have our votes protected. The votes just need to be fair.

CAVUTO: And you think these changes, Alveda, are a step in that direction? You think the changes the governor signed off on are going to make any of the controversies in the last election less so?

KING: I believe this is an effort. I don't know if it's going to solve the whole problem. I don't think so.

However, something needs to be done. It may be even a little bit too little, too late. That's possible. You have to look at it that way as well.

And with the Democrats being so successful in their efforts, then they are going to be a little bit quiet. Now, if it had flipped the other way, they'd be screaming, hollering, yelling, because you remember, because you remember, the prior election, prior to 2016, they had a total fit. They didn't believe it.

It was just a -- and they say, hey, that will never happen again. And they got very, very busy to make sure it didn't, didn't they?

CAVUTO: All right, always stirring that pot, Alveda.

Thank you very, very much. Always good seeing you.

KING: Thank you, Neil.

CAVUTO: Good luck at the next family reunion. See how that goes.

I want video, young lady.

KING: Thank you. I love my family.

Oh, you got it.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Alveda King, the niece of...

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Thank you very much.

In the meantime here, you heard James Clyburn, the big Democratic power player in the House, talk about the fact that everything that's in this infrastructure package has to do with infrastructure. And, furthermore, he would like to see added taxes in that, that could raise still more money.

I wonder what Andy Biggs, the Arizona Republican, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, in fact, the chairman, what does he make of that?

After this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLYBURN: It says the American Jobs Plan, the American Jobs Plan.

This is all about jobs. It's not just about building buildings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right, that was from my conversation with House Majority Whip James Clyburn a little earlier talking about whether all of this is infrastructure-related.

I mean, just a passing view of this has a lot of -- that does not sound like infrastructure. He insists everything sort of comes back to that, and that this does have to do with infrastructure and jobs and all of that wrapped together.

Count my next guest not quite smitten with that idea. Andy Biggs is the Arizona Republican, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, who has whisked off a letter right now to let the president know, others know, wait a minute, what you got here isn't that. It's not infrastructure.

Actually, your argument, Congressman, is that a very small part of it is for infrastructure. Is that -- is that right?

REP. ANDY BIGGS (R-AZ): Yes, Neil, I think, when most Americans think of transportation infrastructure, you're not thinking of greener school lunches. You're not thinking of basically racial equity and justice and destruction of freeways, $20 billion to take down freeways that are considered racist.

You're thinking of building streets, improving streets. You're thinking of repairing bridges, the things that move people and freight around this country. That's kind of what you think of when you think of transportation.

CAVUTO: You know, there are a lot of taxes in this. And Mitch McConnell has said, at least when it comes to the Senate, he cannot imagine any Republican support. He might have been speaking even broadly in the House.

Is it your sense, Congressman, that, as this package stands now, that it would -- it could not garner any Republican support?

BIGGS: I would be surprised if you saw anybody kind of support this.

It's -- Neil, it's just too -- too much and -- spending and not enough dealing with the issues of transportation infrastructure that we actually have. So, yes, I'd be surprised.

CAVUTO: Now, I understand the Republicans not liking a lot of the tax hikes that go with this, the corporate rate up to 28 percent, the global rate here that could effectively add another 20 percent to that.

I mean, we could go on and on about that. Would you be open to any other type of funding to support infrastructure, albeit not maybe at these levels, at $2.25 trillion, but what would you be open to?

BIGGS: Well, I think what this is doing, Neil, is, it's actually presenting to us an opportunity to look at the way that Congress actually budgets and appropriates.

The whole system's broken, and we're funding stuff that the federal government has no business funding. So, maybe -- maybe certain federal transportation projects are what we should be funding. Well, if we're going to do that, then let's find a way to pay for it.

And maybe we -- the best way to do that is eliminate some of the bad federal spending that we're doing, rather than increasing taxes, which actually will suppress the economy, has the chance to actually cause us to lose jobs, considering the additional pressures.

CAVUTO: But where would you -- where would you take the bad spending from? Democrats have charged Republicans as wanting to just sort of take away from the Affordable Care Act for something like this.

What would you -- what would you do?

BIGGS: Well, what I would do is, I'd say this is time to get in and have a line-by-line budget look and say, why are we even doing this program? Is that better for the states?

You know, Neil ...

CAVUTO: We have argued that for decades, though, right?

BIGGS: Yes.

CAVUTO: I mean, you're right. Your heart is in the right place. I mean, but both parties under multiple presidents have said that. They never get anywhere with that.

Would you be open to excise fees, a gas tax, a mileage tax, anything like that, that would at least fund part of this?

BIGGS: Not until we have had the deep dive.

I mean, look, when people got to Congress 15 years ago, they were told, we will balance the budget in five years. And then it was -- then it was in 10 years. And last I heard, they were talking 15 or 20 years.

It's never going to get balanced if you say, well, we're going to support transportation funding to the level of X, Y, Z, and we're going to -- we're going to cause these taxes to go up. We're not looking at user fees. We're not looking at excise fees.

How about looking at the totality of what we're spending and saying, maybe we shouldn't be in this area, maybe this is not where the federal government should be?

And this notion that you can -- you can throw $2 trillion it and then have people like AOC said, let's throw another $8 trillion top of that, that's where you start getting some dangerous business.

And don't forget, Neil, the reason that so many businesses were coming back, the reason the economies were so solid in some aspects was three things. Number one, we were energy-independent before the COVID. We were also -- we'd reduced our business taxes and we had reduced regulation (AUDIO GAP) come back to the country.

Now, I wonder, if you raise these taxes, are you going to push jobs out of the country? So, when they say it's a jobs act, it's going to be only government jobs. And that's the infrastructure they're trying to set up.

CAVUTO: All right, Chairman, Congressman, thank you very, very much. We will see where this goes. It's still early on in the process, as you said.

Congressman Biggs, thank you very, very much.

Again, if investors were worried about any of this eventually coming to gouge them, they had a funny way of showing it, all the major averages advancing on optimism that, at the very least, it's going to stimulate things. Well, it will do that, right?

Here comes "The Five."
 

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