'Biden created new border crisis': Mark Morgan

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'Biden created new border crisis': Mark Morgan

Former CBP chief says immigrants are 'trafficked' and kept in 'COVID petri dishes'

This is a rush transcript from "The Story with Martha MacCallum," March 5, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS HOST: My mudroom too. Good to see you, guys.
Good afternoon, everybody, I'm Martha McCallum.

Breaking out on THE STORY this afternoon on this Friday, brand-new reaction
from the White House when pressed on the crisis at the southern border, as
holding facilities filled to capacity with children force the
administration to begin exploring other facilities for the extra children,
potentially now a military base in Virginia is under consideration. A
report from the White House with Kristin Fisher and I'll speak with Mark
Morgan, former acting U.S. border commissioner. He has a lot to say on the
brand-new developments today.

But first, new information this afternoon as two scandals continued to
escalate around the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, seen by then adoring
celebrity and hometown cheering section as the hero of the pandemic. He
reportedly had staff who were actively changing numbers on how many New
York State nursing home residents were dying, as in quote, they, the
governor's most senior aides, rewrote the report to take it down -- to take
it out.

It being the already 9,000 nursing home residents who were dead. Their
report was released on July the 6th. Four days later, Cuomo said that he
was writing a book about his leadership during the darkest days of the
virus. We will dig into the curious timing of that, as well as the accuser
who now calls him quote, a textbook harasser and groomer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLOTTE BENNETT, ANDREW CUOMO ACCUSER: I was terrified. I was shaking. I
thought any moment something can happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: More on that story to come with Leo Terrell. But we begin today
with democratic New York State Assemblyman, Ron Kim. He is chair of the
state's aging committee, and he has been blowing the whistle on this
nursing home scandal since day one. He lost his uncle in one of these
facilities.

Assemblyman Kim, good to have you back on the program. Thanks for being
here.

RON KIM, MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY: Thank you for having me
back, Martha.

MACCALLUM: So, I remember you saying to me that when Letitia James, the
Attorney General of New York, said that she was digging into these numbers,
that she thought there was something wrong there, that you shed a tear
because you were so relieved. You had been yelling from the mountaintops
about this story. And finally, somebody was listening. Did you ever think
that you would see what you're seeing now which are investigative pieces by
the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times finding that his aides were
actively also colluding in covering up these numbers?

KIM: Well, Martha, a few of us knew that was the case. Even when the report
came out last year, we were calling it out that this is not an accurate
report, a self-auditing that as much the numbers, it was not an accurate
report. So, yes, I do feel -- we're finally -- we are finally telling the
truth that we are getting to the truth. And I hope that we can continue to
investigate because this is completely unacceptable and we need to move
forward the state in the right direction as soon as possible.

MACCALLUM: So, I know that there is a vote that is under consideration
right now to remove the emergency powers regarding COVID from the
governor's abilities. There's also now that concern that there might be
criminal investigations into this or there could be potential criminal
charges. I just want to remind everyone, a while back, we had John Daukus,
former DOJ Civil Rights Division, analyzing this case, and here's what he
said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN DAUKAS, FORMER ACTING U.S. ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: There are
federal criminal offenses for obstruction of justice, for providing false
data to the government, and for concealing data from the government, and
conspiring to block a federal investigation. And all of those statutes are
things that I presume the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Department of
Justice are looking into at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: So, do you have any indication of where this goes next in terms
of potential criminal charges, or from the state government perspective,
the stripping of those powers?

KIM: Yes. So, the governor and the governor's top advisors pushed the state
health officials to suppress life and death information about nursing
fatalities. It was a coordinated criminal conspiracy to suppress data that
we the lawmakers desperately needed to legislate and offer better policies
and solutions to help people -- to help save people's lives.

The changes that Cuomo's aides made to that report, prove that they had the
fuller accounting of their nursing home deaths, including the COVID
positive nursing and patients who died in hospitals as early as last summer
of 2020.

So, yes, Martha, we need a thorough investigation, we need -- we need to
pursue charges, if this is all true, if they've committed an obstruction of
justice and suppression of data that we could have used to save people's
lives.

MACCALLUM: Where is your sense, from your perspective, where you sit in
this government, the New York government, of whether or not he's under real
pressure? He said he won't resign over the other issue that he's grappling
with the sexual harassment allegations, but what is your sense of how
strong a position he has right now in the government?

KIM: Martha, Andrew Cuomo doesn't have the self-dignity to resign, he must
be impeached. The emergency powers that we're voting on today, it's a good
step in the right direction. I wish we could have done more. But now, we
must be bold, because it's not about the governor, it's not about anyone
else except protecting the integrity and sanctity of our legislative bodies
so we can be a co-equal government in protecting the people of New York.
So, I believe, not just me, more people are calling for his resignation.
But if he doesn't resign, there will soon turn into an impeachment process.

MACCALLUM: Assemblyman Kim, thank you very much. We'll speak with you as
this develops. Good to have you here, sir.

KIM: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: Matter of fact, Fox News Senior meteorologist, Janice Dean, she
lost her mother-in-law and her father-in-law to COVID. Mickey and Dee
Newman both died in a New York nursing home last year, last month would
have been their 60th wedding anniversary.

Janice has a new book out this week titled "Make Your Own Sunshine" which
she has tried to do even during the dark days of covering this story and
her own family experience as she continued to cover it.

So, Janice, good to have you here.

JANICE DEAN, FOX NEWS SENIOR METEOROLOGIST: Thank you, my friend.

MACCALLUM: So, I want to put up this on the screen. This is from Cuomo's
spokesperson in -- on January 13th, calling you out for being you were an
early whistleblower on all of this. And he said about you, "Last I checked,
she's not a credible source on anything, except maybe the weather."

What would you say to that now, having come as far as you have, and having
pushed this story out into the open to the point that you have?

DEAN: Well, I love Ron Kim, by the way. Ron Kim has been by my side from
the very beginning. It's not about politics, right? I know he's a
democratic lawmaker. But this has affected his family personally and he has
been one of the loudest people in the room. So, I adore him, I adore his
family, and he really is trying to see this through and maybe try for an
impeachment with this governor.

But to your point, I've been bullied by this governor and his
administration from really the beginning. They call this a death cult. They
told my sister-in-law to get a life. They, as you said, quoted, rich as a
party, his top -- I call them spokes troll, because he's on Twitter all the
time, who said I wasn't credible about anything except the weather.

Well, I think today speaks volumes. I think the fact that there is a
federal investigation, an FBI investigation, and hopefully the DOJ
investigation continues into this governor. I truly think what he's done is
criminal.

MACCALLUM: Janice, thank you very much. Good to have you here as always on
this story and you continue to make your own sunshine. I encourage
everybody to take a look at the bright side of your story as well. Good to
have you here, Janice. Thank you.

DEAN: Love you, my friend. Thank you.

MACCALLUM: You too.

So, this was then-candidate Joe Biden on the campaign trail, telling
migrants that they should come to America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're a nation that says, if you
want to flee and you're fleeing oppression, you should come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Now, his White House is holding thousands of children in
container housing at the border and seeking new places to put the overflow.
Mark Morgan, former acting border chief under President Trump joins us with
his thoughts next, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Big challenges for the White House. The current ICE official
reportedly revealing that he expects migrants will head to the border in
numbers that we haven't seen in 20 years. The surge now has Biden officials
eyeing a Virginia Military Base as, quote, a temporary influx care
facility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We don't take our advice or counsel
from former President Trump on immigration policy, which was not only
inhumane, but ineffective over the last four years. We're going to try our
own path forward and that includes treating children with humanity and
respect and ensuring they're safe when they cross our borders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: In moments, former acting border chief under President Trump
Mark Morgan, but first, to correspondent Kristin Fisher, who was inside the
briefing room today asking some of those questions. Hi, Kristin.

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Martha. Well, given the
current surge at the border, I asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki
if there was any discussion within the White House about potentially
reversing its policy of allowing all unaccompanied children into the United
States and she said definitively no. So, that really begs the question, is
there a cap? Is there a limit to how many unaccompanied minors that the
Biden administration is going to allow in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FISHER: So, I guess is the plan then to take in and safely and humanely
find a home for an unlimited number of unaccompanied children?

PSAKI: I think this issue requires us taking a step back as human beings
and as mothers of which I am one. All we were talking about here is
ensuring that they are treated safely. They are not trafficked, they are
not sent back on a unsafe journey.

So, she didn't really answer the question. And right now, the Department of
Homeland Security is projecting that 117,000 of these unaccompanied minors
will cross the border by May, according to internal documents reviewed by
Axios. So, the Biden administration is now trying to create more bed space,
in part, by possibly opening up some military facilities, as you alluded
to, Martha.

They're also looking at releasing them more quickly, perhaps to relatives
in the United States. And the New York Times says they're transforming
immigration facilities into, quote, Ellis Island-style rapid processing
hubs. And on top of all that, you've got leaders down in these border
states like Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and even companies like Greyhound
buses, asking the federal government to do more -- to make sure that anyone
who enters the U.S. on the southern border is getting a COVID test. Here's
Texas Senator John Cornyn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): They have absolutely no plan. They underestimated
this. They had no plan to deal with it, and this is in the face of a -- of
a pandemic. There's no regimen for testing migrants as they are released
into the United States. So, this is a -- this is a humanitarian crisis and
we've seen it before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: So, the White House continues to say this is a challenge, but not a
crisis. But to give you an idea of just how seriously they are taking it,
Martha, there is now a team of the President's top advisors, either already
close to the border or preparing to go to the border sometime soon to get
an assessment of what the situation is like on the ground firsthand.
Martha.

MACCALLUM: And I would imagine that those people are going to try to answer
the two absolutely right point on questions that you asked, Kristin, are
you going to change your gears here? And is there a cap? Is there a limit?
Thank you very much, Kristin. Good to see you today.

FISHER: Thanks, Martha.

MACCALLUM: Let's bring in Mark Morgan, former U.S. Customs and Border
Protection acting commissioner and a Heritage Foundation visiting fellow.
Mark, good to have you with us today.

I'd like to start by -- you know, I heard Senator Cornyn just say that
there was no plan on the Biden administration's part. But if you go back to
the campaign, it appears that there was a plan and it was articulated
directly by then-candidate Biden. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I think people should have to get line, but if people are coming
because they're actually seeking asylum, they should have a chance to make
their case. I would, in fact, make sure that there is -- we immediately
surge to the border, all those people who are seeking asylum, they deserve
to be heard. That's who we are. We're a nation says if you want to flee,
and you're fleeing oppression, you should come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: You should come, said Joe Biden. And, you know, he -- you wonder
why we're seeing what we're seeing. He said, I think we should see a surge
to the border. And that's exactly what we're seeing, Mark, exactly what he
asked for during the campaign.

MARK MORGAN, FORMER U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION ACTING
COMMISSIONER:
Martha, that's exactly right, and that was their plan. Their plan was to
dismantle and remove every single effective policy or authority that had
the Trump name attached to it, Martha, that was effective, and they've done
just that. We're shipping in a new era where the government, the United
States is an active participant in encouraging, incentivizing, and
facilitating the illegal. This is the part we stopped -- we're not talking
about illegal entry into the United States, that's what we're talking
about, Martha.

And right now, what they've created at the border of the facilities,
besides the hypocrisy, they were immoral under Trump, and they're OK now,
is the way they're using them. Your correspondent said it just right,
they're actually creating reception centers to -- for illegal entry right
now along our borders.

MACCALLUM: Yes. So, you know, we're watching as the building of these
facilities, which happened -- some of these facilities under the Trump
administration. You heard Jen Psaki, the press secretary say, you know,
we're handling this humanely. She said, I'm a mom. We don't want them to
make the dangerous trip back, right?

But all I can think when I hear that is, what about the dangerous trip on
the way? I was just watching Casey Stegall's report, they talked about
bodies being found in the rivers, bodies being found in the brush along
that border, very dangerous journey that is already being undertaken
because of this call to surge to the border.

MORGAN: Martha, you're absolutely correct. Everything down with respect to
immigration coming out of the press secretary's mouth is a spin and quite
frankly just a blatant lie. The dangerous part is the journey. And right
now, Martha, in the middle of the global pandemic, they're traveling
through hotspots in Mexico, they're traveling in groups, which I call
active mobile petri dishes. When they get to the border, they're kept in
overcrowded, unsanitary stash houses, again, COVID petri dishes. We know
independent studies up to 30 percent are abused along the journey. And once
they're smuggled in, they're often trafficked. I mean, it's incredulous
that she's talking about their cruelty after they get here.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I'm just looking at the T-shirts, Biden, please let us in.
And I'm thinking about the deals that were made with Guatemala, Honduras,
saying, you know what, apply for asylum, but apply for it from your home
country, let it be processed. And I've been to that border, there are entry
points that were built to allow people to come in and to have an orderly
process and that is out the window from what we're seeing right now.

Mark Morgan, thank you very much. Good to see you here today.

MORGAN: You bet.

MACCALLUM: So, two high school seniors navigating the emotional stress of
an entire year out of school, come to THE STORY today to share their story
and their personal struggles, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: The Wall Street Journal editorial board coming down hard on the
perpetual lockdown mentality, even as vaccines are now in heavy rotation
and case numbers are plummeting, and more states like Arizona, Connecticut,
and today West Virginia, go closer to 100 percent reopen status.

The Journal says, quote, vaccines were supposed to enable Americans to more
or less get back to their pre-COVID lives, but liberals they write and
their public health friends don't seem to want the pandemic to end ever.
They go on to point out the mental health toll that the lockdowns have
wrought.

And here's what we have learned about the impact on teenagers. Overdoses up
119 percent in this country, anxiety up 94 percent, depression up 84
percent. Those numbers from April 2020 compared to the year before,
according to an organization that analyzes insurance claims. So that side
of the story from two high school seniors, they're also football players,
athletes, Trey Goughnour from Clark County, Nevada, and Nicolas Guynn from
Fresno, California.

Trey and Nicholas, thank you so much for being here. You sent us some
really thoughtful notes beforehand. And I thank you for sharing some of
your feelings with us that way as well. Trey, you said that you feel -- the
feeling that you described as just numb, you know, not having feelings of
happiness. Can you describe that for me?

TREY GOUGHNOUR, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR FOOTBALL PLAYER: Yes. When it comes to
the state of numbness that I was describing, so many of us, we just didn't
really feel happy. We didn't get excited for anything, because the lives
that we've been, like, in place of, it's just been so redundant. So, we're
just so numb and nothing is exciting and nothing is happy.

MACCALLUM: So, Trey, you say that you've developed some -- your study
skills that are not what you want them to be just feeling a sense of
wanting to sleep longer or procrastinate. Tell me about that.

GOUGHNOUR: Yes, not at all. So, for online school, the big like main, like,
notorious thing that it has been this year is everything is due at like
midnight. So, with everything being due at midnight, everyone's
procrastinating. And for me as senior, I'm going into college next year,
and that's going to be my life for like four years. So, I'm -- this year,
I'm supposed to be creating the best habits for myself possible, but I've
just been creating the worst habits for myself possible. And I know I'm not
the only one either.

MACCALLUM: Yes. No, I'm sure you're not alone at all. And that's the point
of doing this. And I appreciate you guys talking because I want other kids
out there to know that they're not alone in the way that they're feeling.

Nicholas, you say that you even haven't been in school for an entire year,
home since basically this time last year. And you said that your mom has
noticed that she thinks that you seem down. Tell me about that.

NICOLAS GUYNN, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR FOOTBALL PLAYER: Right. So, when I first
started coming home and everything was kind of fresh, we were all told,
hey, you're going to have an extra week off of school, we're going to move
up the spring break, you're going to have a full week off, and then we're
going to get back into it, back to normal. Everything is going to go just
as we planned.

But as the dates kept getting pushed back to when we were going to go back
and eventually summer came, my mom just started asking me, hey, you seem
really down, are you okay? And she just was constantly checking in on me,
but I felt normal. And that's when it hit me that my new normal was what
used to be when I was sad and when I was really down, that was normal for
me now.

MACCALLUM: So, what do you do about that? How do you try to lift yourself
out of that and what is the impact -- do your friends feel -- have similar
feelings, Nicholas?

GUYNN: Well, I hang out with a lot of athletes and we've all just used
going out and working out, always doing our sports whenever we would feel
down. We would use that to try to push us a little bit further during our
workouts, during our practices. But with sports being at first taken away
and now so delayed, it's been almost a full year of nothing when we
couldn't get out and do what we love to do.

MACCALLUM: You know, Trey, before we go, you said that you just -- you try
to keep yourself busy, you try to work out alone, but you feel like you're
-- I thought this was an interesting phrase. You said you feel like you're
rehearsing for something that's never going to happen.

GOUGHNOUR: Yes. Yes, they just -- they have taken all hope away from us.
And especially from my county, they were saying that, like, oh, we're going
to get to play in August. Oh, we're going to get to play in March, and they
just kept taking away that hope from us.

So, I've been staying ready. I've been working out this entire year. And,
yes, like I said earlier, it's like rehearsing for a concert that's just
never going to happen and it's made me feel really numb and really sad.

MACCALLUM: Well, I know that you guys are going to be resilient and you're
going to feel better. I try to be optimistic about this crazy year that
we've all been living through. And I look forward to hearing how you guys
are doing three months from now. I hope you'll come back, and I hope -- I
hope you're feeling better, and I hope you're back at it. Thank you so much
for coming in today. We appreciate it.

GUYNN: Definitely.

GOUGHNOUR: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: You bet. All right. So, coming up -- thanks to them. Nice young
men.

All right. So, we've got a graphic interview that we're going to show you
some with a young woman who says that Governor Cuomo was lonely and wanted
to have sex with her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENNETT: He also explained that he was fine with anyone over 22.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Constitutional attorney Leo Terrell with a prediction about
where this case is heading, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLOTTE BENNETT, FORMER CUOMO AIDE: He is a textbook abuser. He lets his
temper and his anger rule the office. But he was very sweet to me for a
year in the hopes that maybe one day when he came on to me, I would think
we were friends or that it was appropriate or that it was OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Charlotte Bennett in an interview with Norah O'Donnell on CBS
last night describing Governor Cuomo. She says she believed that he wanted
to sleep with her and that she was "terrified" to be alone in the room with
him. She just wanted to get out of there. The governor denies any
inappropriate behavior. Bennett is one of three women accusing the New York
leader of sexual harassment.

Let's bring in Constitutional and Civil Rights Attorney Leo Terrell and
Jessica Tarlov, Head of Research at Bustle Digital Group. Both are Fox News
Contributors. Great to have both of you with us today.

Leo, as you listen to Ms. Bennett, do you think that there is a crime here,
a prosecutable crime here?

LEO TERRELL, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I think from a civil side, she has a
classic, in my opinion, a perfect civil rights case on sexual harassment.
Martha, let me be very clear. Governor Cuomo is not an assistant manager in
a restaurant. He's a governor of one of the most powerful states in the
country. And that woman on that interview was credible, tremendously
credible. She's already made a statement.

And the standard is very simple. A reasonable person would be intimidated
by the tremendous amount of influence that Governor Cuomo has. So I'm
telling you, from a civil standpoint, she has a powerful civil rights
lawsuit for sexual harassment, no question about it.

MACCALLUM: It's also fairly recent, and she documented it with text
messages right after the event, explaining what he said. So she has some
documentation here, which will be helpful to her case, no doubt as well.

Jessica, I'm interested in what you think about the fact that she's being
represented by Debra Katz, who is a well-known attorney along these lines.
She represented Christine Blasey Ford. She also has a PR firm that is
putting out statements on her behalf, that seems to be the way that these
things work now. So that sort of tells us that there is an effort out there
to go after this governor, Andrew Cuomo. Do you think that politically he
survives this?

JESSICA TARLOV, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, he has two controversies laying
at his feet right now. There's been some explosive reporting in the nursing
home scandal from as recently as last night in the New York Times in the
Wall Street Journal. So he has that fire going on. And now, there's the
need to fire on the other side of things.

Hiring someone like Debra Katz is certainly sending a message that they
want this to go big. They want it to be a big PR story. And they want to
make sure that they're putting as many people in positions of power on the
spot to say how they feel about this. Now, it has been consistent --

MACCALLUM: But who's they, Jessica?

TARLOV: Oh, well, the accuser and Debra Katz's firm, that they want to make
this as much of a public ordeal as possible and, frankly, absolutely every
right to it. I agree with Leo that it sounds like this young woman's story
is credible, and having listened to Governor Cuomo his press conference a
few days ago, though he did get to the almost crying part of it. It did
sound like he wasn't denying necessarily a lot of the situations that are
textbook sexual harassment.

He's an incredibly powerful person. You could argue the most powerful state
in the country, maybe California ahead of that. And it would make anyone
feel intimidated, let alone someone with that tremendous of an age gap and
in terms of her role as well.

MACCALLUM: Leo, you're shaking your head on the number of the points being
made here. What are you thinking?

TERRELL: Yes. I'm hurt and I'm bothered by Jessica gave a nice speech as a
press secretary. Let's be clear about it. Let's forget the politics. This
is war. This governor did something wrong and the Democrats have tape on
their mouth. The White House, Joe Biden, on the first day, Martha and
Jessica, said I'm going to fire anyone who intimidates who harassed. Kamala
Harris has said nothing about this, but she was front and center on the
Cavanaugh.

Let's just forget politics. This is wrong. The White House is wrong for not
speaking out. Kamala Harris is not wrong. And every woman regardless of
party affiliation, this is wrong. And say it, let's say it loud and clear.
This is absolutely wrong, period.

MACCALLUM: Jessica?

TARLOV: I'm with you, Leo. If these allegations turn out to be true, they
are 100% wrong. But there is no tape on the mouse of the White House. Nancy
Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, they have all been supportive of Letitia James'
independent investigation into Governor Cuomo's actions. And if we're so
into saying things are wrong, will you say Donald Trump? No, Leo, don't own
me. And I appreciate the compliment that I sounded like a press secretary.

TERRELL: Going for Trump, how did he get in here?

TARLOV: No. How did he get in here? Because if it's wrong, because if it's
wrong, then it's wrong for a man who has over a dozen allegations of sexual
harassment.

TERRELL: Can I mentioned a gut named Brett Kavanaugh? Brett Kavanaugh? I am
going give you this because the Democrats were like pariah with Brett
Kavanaugh. So come on, Jessica, Brett Kavanaugh. They went after him with
no evidence.

TARLOV: No, no. Listen --

MACCALLUM: We going to go. Leo, thank you. Jessica, thanks.

I would say that, you know, any of these things are concerned, I feel like
you know, there's always sort of a -- it gets laid out and everyone in the
public forum, including us as well, makes their sort of judgment about
whether or not a person is guilty. And we have said many times on this show
that everybody deserves due process. And he deserves to have his side of
the story told, as these women deserve to have their side of the story
told, and we will see where this goes. But there's no doubt that there's a
ton of heat on the governor of New York and on a lot of fronts, as you
pointed out.

Thank you, Leo. Good to see you, as always, Jessica Tarlov. Good to see you
as always. Thank you both.

TERRELL: Thank you.

TARLOV: Thank you, Martha.

MACCALLUM: OK. So moments ago, President Biden is speaking to individuals
who the White House says will benefit from the largest bailout plan in
American history. Now, at the same time, you've got some economists who are
wondering if this is going to lead to an economic downer, also known as
inflation. Andy Puzder, Charlie Kirk, Austan Goolsbee, all debate this
right after this. So stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: So, moments ago President Biden meeting with individuals who
will benefit from receiving relief checks as part of this $1.9 trillion
American Rescue Plan, enormous rescue plan. Even as more states say that
they are fully reopened. Fox Business Senior Washington Correspondent Blake
Burham is live at the White House covering this forum for us. Hi, Blake.

BLAKE BURHAM: FOX BUSINESS SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hi there,
Martha. Good afternoon to you. Republicans here in Washington say today's
jobs report proves their point that while some measures, targeted measures
are needed going forward, a $1.9 trillion relief plan is not listen here,
for example, to the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell from earlier
today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Our country is already
set for a roaring recovery. We are already on track to bounce back from
this crisis. That's not because of this bill, it's because of our work last
year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURHAM: But over here at the White House, they note that at this rate full
employment would not be reached for another two years. President Biden
making the case this afternoon that another 1.9 trillion is needed for
health and economic reasons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: The rescue plan is absolutely
essential for turning this around, getting kids back to school safely,
getting a lifeline in small business and getting the upper hand on COVID-
19.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURHAM: When you look across the country right now, Martha, the national
unemployment rate stands at 6.2%. But look at the map here, you can see
that that change as region by region, because in places that have had fewer
reopening restrictions, like in parts of the South, parts of the Midwest,
the unemployment rate, they're much lower than in places like in the
Northeast and parts out West that have had tighter reopening policies.
Martha.

MACCALLUM: That's an interesting chart. Thank you very much, Blake.

Let's bring in Andy Puzder, former CKE Restaurants CEO and Author of "It's
Time to Let America Work Again," you know, where he's coming from. Charlie
Kirk is here as well, Founder and President of Turning Point USA and Author
of the "MAGA Doctrine" and Austan Goolsbee, former Chief Economist for
President Obama and University of Chicago Professor gentlemen, great to
have all of you here.

Austan, I want to start with you. So when you listen to that, and you see
that chart, you see that the places that have been more open have better
functioning economies right now. And you also think about the fact that
yesterday, President Biden said, you know, we have to pass this 1.9
trillion, because that's going to give us the momentum that we need to do
the rest of our agenda.

So the question really, is this money necessary? Or is this when necessary
for the rest of the Biden White House agenda?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, FORMER CHIEF ECONOMIST UNDER OBAMA: Well, I'm just a
policy guy, I don't know about the political momentum. I know that there
are more than 10 million people that lost their jobs in this crisis that
are still out of work. And we have not gotten back to the employment
levels, even close to where we were before the crisis began. So we need the
money. I think it's very important.

MACCALLUM: So, do you think if businesses are allowed to reopen, that a lot
of them will be able to go back to work?

GOOLSBEE: I think some will be able to go back to work. But even with the
jobs numbers today, we're going to be years. It's not two years to full
employment, we got more than 10 million people that we have to fill the
hole. It could be three, four, five years, even at the rate of the job
creation we saw today before we'd be back to where we were before this
started. We definitely need more money. That's why 70% of the country,
including a majority of Republicans, support the bill.

MACCALLUM: Yes. We've been through Great Depression. We've been through the
2008 financial fall, Andy Puzder. This bill, the size and the enormity of
this bill, I think people have become numb to it. I mean, we're talking
about $4 trillion that we're taking on here. And the question is, do we
still need it? Or are we on the way out of this thing? And is it going to
be good or bad for the economy?

ANDY PUZDER, FORMER CEO, CKE RESTAURANTS: We clearly don't need it. We're
clearly on our way out of this thing. It's got huge risks of inflation.
Larry Summers, a liberal economist and Phil Gramm, a conservative, when
they agree on something, you probably should listen. And they both agree
that this is going to create so much demand that it's going to overheat the
economy. We're going to have significant problems.

But, look, states like California and New York and Illinois, they need to
open up. That's what's going to bring the economy back to full speed. As
you noted, in the states that have opened, I'm in Tennessee, but take
Tennessee, Florida, Texas, Mississippi, these states actually have very
good unemployment rates, comparable to what they had pre-recession.

But you can't, the economy can't come back if we don't let it open up and
you've got to get these governors to let it open up. I think I want to get
a little bit -- I'm not a politician either, but I can tell you that
President Biden was very open when the pandemic hit that he viewed it as an
opportunity to transform America. And I don't think they want to let go of
this pandemic until they've done everything they can to transform America,
unfortunately in the wrong direction.

MACCALLUM: Charlie, we saw a poll today that I thought was very
encouraging. Gallup poll, 60% of Americans perceive that the coronavirus
situation in the United States is getting better. I think that is the
overall feeling of the country. So, what should the message be from the
White House about how to get back on our feet?

CHARLIE KIRK, FOUNDER, TURNING POINT USA: Yes. And I'm so glad that, you
know, things are getting better largely because of our state based system,
by the way. If it was just a centralized system, it wouldn't be that way.
States like Florida have shown that you could safely reopen, have opened
schools, have opened businesses and manage this virus.

This stimulus would be a disaster for our country. We would see some form
of inflation. We haven't even spent all the money from the last stimulus
package in December. December, the best stimulus is reopening the country
fully, completely and totally. And in this package is included a bailout
for some of these states essentially subsidizing and incentivizing their
broken pension plans and penalizing states like Tennessee and Florida, that
have 0% income taxes in a balance their budgets.

Also, not all this money will be spent immediately. Some of this won't be
spent all the way till 2023. Essentially, this is the Democrats doing what
Rahm Emanuel used to call not letting a crisis go to waste, something
Austan knows very, very well. Getting the biggest possible thing spent at
once in the midst of a crisis and getting a lot of different Democrat
wishlist items done, bailouts, blue state favors, you name it. I think the
stimulus should be defeated. I don't think it will.

MACCALLUM: Charlie, Andy and Austan, thank you very much. Great to hear
from you all today.

PUZDER: Thank you, Martha.

MACCALLUM: So who would have thought when Meghan and Harry walked down the
aisle that it would come to this? Her reported bullying of staffers is now
being investigated by Buckingham Palace, her actions being investigated by
the palace, and a Battle Royale is underway with Oprah egging on the
Duchess as she vents her anger at the firm. Oh my, we'll be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: I don't know how they could expect that
after all of this time, we would still just be silent if there is an active
role that the firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Wronged royal staffers lining up to speak their minds about the
treatment that they say they got from the Duchess of Sussex also known as
Meghan Markle, at least 10 of them according to the Mirror Newspaper in the
UK.

The Times of London reports, Markle left personal assistants "in tears and
shaking with fear," and that two of them quit. She calls the accusations a
calculated smear campaign, and it does appear that the knives are out on
both sides. All very good promo for Oprah Winfrey, her interview with them
airs on Sunday. Here is the Duchess talking about the royal family and
calling out the firm as the family is known from within.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARKLE: It don't know how they could expect that after all of this time, we
would still just be silent if there is an active role that the firm is
playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Oh boy. Let's bring in Carley Shimkus, Fox News Headlines 24/7.
Carley, you know, I mean this is like -- this isn't -- even Oprah kind of
looks like, really? What it really that bad living in the palace? Tell me.

CARLEY SHIMKUS, REPORTER, FOX NEWS HEADLINES 24/7: This thing keeps on
getting uglier and uglier. Now, Meghan Markle clearly feels like the victim
of an oppressive royal family. That clip that you just played is the key
clip. Because in it, she essentially accuses the royal family of spreading
lies about her, not the media. That comment was directed at the family
members themselves.

So I think you fall on one or two sides. Either you say thank God, this
poor girl got out of a toxic situation. Or you think that she is the toxic
one and say, OK, enough with the drama, the woe-is-me attitude. There are
plenty of people that would kill to be in your shoes.

Regardless of who's right, who's wrong in this situation, Prince Harry did
have to choose between his wife and his family. He chose his wife and I
think there's going to be bad blood there that may never actually heal.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I mean, she -- I think she was 36 when they got married.
You know, a grown woman clearly knew what she was getting herself into and
the responsibilities that come along with it. It's not about you, it's
about representing your country and all of that. It didn't seem to go down
that way with her.

Piers Morgan said we're going to see two hours of victimhood and how awful
Meghan Markle was treated by everybody here. It would appear from this very
damaging report that it may be the other way around. And I would just point
out, Carley, that the queen didn't have to force this investigation. You
know, she could have just start to let this whole thing lying, but they're
not. They are investigating the claims against her, and him by the way.

SHIMKUS: Yes. No. Yes, that is true. And also, I want to point out that
this interview is going to be aired as Prince Philip sits in the hospital
recovering from heart surgery. Queen Elizabeth is a much beloved figure
around the world and I think some of what Meghan Markle is going to say is
going to rub people the wrong way.

However, you are right. They are not taking this lying down. Very
interesting timing regarding this bullying report and what it came out a
few days before this Oprah interview, and the fact that Buckingham Palace
said that they're launching an HR investigation into Meghan Markle is very
telling. I think they do want to discredit her a bit before this interview
comes down. That is a stronger statement than they released even regarding
the sexual abuse allegations against Prince Andrew and that comparison has
been made.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I mean, all you hear from Meghan and Harry is how, you
know, how much they want to stop bullying and they want to bring more
kindness to the world. So obviously, this is not a good look as they head
into this interview. And it doesn't seem like there's any love loss for
this couple back at home. So thanks, Carley. You look well in that dress by
the way, look beautiful.

SHIMKUS: Thanks, Martha. Thank you.

MACCALLUM: That's "The Story" on this Friday, March 5, 2021. But as always,
"The Story" goes on so we'll see you right back here on Monday. Have a
great weekend, everybody, glad to see you know,. Neil Cavuto starts right
now. Bye-bye.

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