Congressman Kevin Brady speaks out against Biden's new tax plan

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Congressman Kevin Brady speaks out against Biden's new tax plan

Texas Republican discusses how the President's new tax plan could affect the economy

This is a rush transcript from "Special Report," May 4, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think by the end of the
summer we will be in a very different position than we are now.

By July the 4th, there is a good chance you, your families and friends,
will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and
have a cookout or a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day.

It's not like July 4th the door is closed. It's just I picked July 4th to
try to get to a place where we get back closer to normal.

We're going to be vaccinating people into next fall. This is not going to -
- something all of a sudden July 4th we are just going to declare it's
over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Messaging about COVID and where we are. The president today saying
we are stepping up vaccination, access to vaccines, a number of different
ways, and even the FDA considers making the vaccines go to kids 12 years
old and older.

Meantime, the messaging about masks does raise some eyebrows. You had the
Bidens visit former President Carter and Rosalynn Carter in Georgia without
masks inside, and then as they are walking out of the house, they put on
their masks outside, and even though the CDC guidelines said you didn't
have to do that, they are all vaccinated.

So what about all of this? We'll start there, bring in our panel, Harold
Ford Jr., former Tennessee Congressman, CEO of Empowerment and Inclusion
Capital, Morgan Ortagus, former State Department spokesperson, and Ben
Domenech, publisher of "The Federalist." Ben, where are we now, and what do
you think this all means?

BEN DOMENECH, PUBLISHER, "THE FEDERALIST": We are in the total upside
down, Bret, where all of these different political theater elements are
coming together where they are clashing with the experience of the average
American person. One of the reasons I think that you saw the ratings, for
instance, for the NFLS drafts first round, for the Kentucky Derby be as
good as they were compared to Joe Biden's speech is that one of them looked
like a post-apocalyptic wasteland where the Congress had been wiped out by
something terrible, and the flipside was, frankly, something that
approached normalcy, which is what people actually want to see and want to
experience.

When the president is talking about, oh, maybe you will be able to go out
and have that July 4th party, guess what? People aren't waiting to hear his
permission in order to do so. They are going to do so anyway. And that's
something that I think really don't appreciate when it comes to the power
of Washington. Washington really is under the impression that they can
dictate all of these things. But the reality for the American people is
they're going to live the way that they want, the way according to what
they perceive in their communities. And for most people, that is a return
to normalcy, something that is fueled by these vaccines, and we should all
encourage as being a good thing for America.

BAIER: Yes. The other thing we learned, Harold, this week was this
communication between teachers' union and the CDC about how they are going
to phrase things about reopening school, the AFT, the American Federation
of Teachers. Jen Psaki answered a question about that, is it influencing
the CDC's decision? Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's actually longstanding best
practice for the CDC to engage with organizations and groups that have
going to be impacted by guidance and recommendations issued by the agency.
It doesn't mean they are taking everything they want or even a percentage
of what they want. But it's important to understand the implementation
components.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: But Jen Psaki also said that the CDC director was speaking in her
personal capacity when she said there was very little chance that they
could transmit the disease even if they didn't have a vaccine, and they
should reopen schools. So that school issue is really a big one, Harold.

HAROLD FORD JR., FORMER TENNESSEE REPRESENTATIVE: Look, there's no doubt.
And I think -- again, thanks for having me on tonight. I think you have got
to think about this in the context of a year. We continually and constantly
learn new things about this virus. I listened to the lead-in with then vice
president Biden, now President Biden, talk about how he had one date, then
another date, he said things during the campaign, he said things as
president. That's because vaccination rates are changing.

One of the things that could really help us reach the normalcy that I think
Ben aspires to and we all want is if everyone got vaccinated. Some of the
most alarming news coming now is that vaccination rates are slowing for
some odd, bizarre reason. What is clear if you are vaccinated you have less
than a 0.1 percent chance of getting the virus. That's what we all should
be aiming for.

New York City where I live, 80 percent of the students, even though the
schools are open, are not back in school. They are learning remotely. So
they're in school but they're learning remotely. We know the damage that's
having on kids. I think one of the things the administration should begin
talking about more and maybe working with Congress on is some summer school
programs for kids around the country, some summer enrichment programs for
kids where we might be able to put them in schools or put them in settings
where this learning can take place, because without a doubt it's had a
negative impacts on kids.

But I don't know the alternative. Do we want to put them in school and risk
serious sickness or death? I don't think that's what we wanted, certainly
not what I wanted. And I think I speak on behalf of good Republicans and
Democrats and Americans alike, we didn't want what we had to go through,
but a lot of this we had to go through.

DOMENECH: You know there is not a serious risk for that. You know there is
not a serious risk for that. That's the reason --

FORD: Ben, I'm not a doctor and neither are you. Neither are you.

DOMENECH: No, but a year ago countries around the world started going back
to school. And you and I both know it is minority students who are being
hit hardest by this. They are being set back in their entire lifetime by
this. It is a desperate situation, and the teachers' unions are standing in
the way. Why won't Joe Biden move them?

BAIER: All right, Morgan, weigh in.

MORGAN ORTAGUS, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: I think that what we
have done to our children in this country by not allowing them to go to
school is really going to be a stain on our history. And once again, it is
the children of under privileged income, single parent homes, people who --
let's just be frank, it's people who can't afford to send their kids to
private school, these kids are getting left behind.

Everybody who has children in private school, their kids have been in
school for, gosh, almost a year at this point. Why can't the CDC and other
health officials call the private schools and find out how they did it
without vaccinating the children? And that's what I think makes so many
parents angry whenever they see that public school kids are falling behind
yet again.

Also, when you look at what is happening on the vaccination side, we talked
about this a few weeks ago on your show, it's once again the communication
from the Biden administration where there's so many mixed signals -- should
you wear a mask, should you not wear a mask after you are vaccinated. And I
think what's happened is the CDC and other health state agencies around the
country, it's become so politicized that I really worry that the American
people are losing faith in these federal and state health agencies. They
would rather go to the CVS or Walgreens, for example, to get a vaccine than
a state agency because they trust those private sector institutions more
than the public sector institutions that have been politicized, because
they have not followed the science as it relates to school openings.

BAIER: This is breakneck turn, but I do want to get this in, because it's
an interesting thing. This is former secretary of state, at the time
secretary of state, Mike Pompeo about Al-Qaeda in Iran. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Al-Qaeda has a new home base.
It is the Islamic Republic of Iran. Bin Laden's wicked creation is poised
to gain strength and capabilities. We ignore this Iran-Al-Qaeda nexus at
our own peril. We need to acknowledge it, we must confront it, indeed we
must defeat it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: And now, Ben, a DIA report says that Iran-based Al-Qaeda leaders
are being hidden in there overseeing the Al-Qaeda network. Came true?

DOMENECH: This is the level of irresponsibility that I think we have to
expect at this point from the Biden administration, which is so dedicated
to repeating the mistakes of the Obama administration when it came to
trying to find a way to a peaceful relationship with Iran. That is a
dangerous path to go down.

BAIER: I want to talk about this more. Panel, thanks.

When we come back, tomorrow's headlines tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Finally tonight, a look at tomorrow's headlines tonight with the
panel. All right, Ben?

DOMENECH: Liz Cheney declare as global war on the GOP as she seeks to
recruit Democrat support for her reelection. I think that she has clearly
shown she is on the path out from Republican leadership and needs Democrat
support to get back to the Congress.

BAIER: That will be fascinating. We're following that, obviously I asked
Congressman Brady about all of that. Harold?

FORD: Hot mics, McCarthy and Cheney, the GOP family, like all-American
families, could use a little conflict resolution from time to time.

(LAUGHTER)

BAIER: All right, Morgan?

ORTAGUS: Well, since it's May 4th I have you one for all of the "Star
Wars" geeks. It looks like Darth Vader can even fall victim to cancel
culture. So Darth Vader regrets his problematic actions and statements in
the past.

(LAUGHTER)

BAIER: There you go. Excellent. May the 4th be with you. I saw that on
Twitter a lot. Thank you, panel.

Tomorrow on SPECIAL REPORT, I will interview former defense secretary and
former CIA director Robert Gates about a host of issues around the world
and a new book.

Thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. That's it for the "SPECIAL
REPORT," fair, balanced, and still unafraid. "FOX NEWS PRIMETIME" hosted by
Pete Hegseth this week starts right now. Hey, Pete.
 

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