Sen. Moran: COVID relief must help Americans, not bail out states

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Sen. Moran: COVID relief must help Americans, not bail out states

Kansas Republican tells 'Your World' why he opposes Biden plan to 'broadly assist' state governments

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

GERRY BAKER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR:  You're looking live at the White House,
where, in just one hour from now. 10 Republican senators will be meeting
with President Joe Biden on COVID relief, this as Democrats are still
aiming to push a bill through without GOP support.

The meeting is seen as a key test for Biden's pledge for national unity.
Republican Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas will be in that meeting. And he's
here with us in a moment, but first to another storm.

Here we see pictures of New York City and Boston, as a massive winter storm
is wreaking havoc across the East Coast, with blizzard-like conditions.
States of emergency have now been declared in parts of New York and New
Jersey.

Welcome, everyone. I'm Gerry Baker. I'm in for Neil Cavuto, and this is
YOUR WORLD.

We have got FOX News team coverage right now with Aishah Hasnie in the
thick of it in New York City out there in the snow, meteorologist Adam
Klotz on whether or not we have seen the worst of it.

And so we begin with Aishah.

AISHAH HASNIE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Hi, Gerry. Good afternoon to you.

The snow is relentless. That would be the word I would use to describe it.
Here in Times Square, take a look around. I will show you what I'm talking
about. The snow on the ground doesn't really look like it's been touched,
right? It's been plowed at least two or three times today right in front of
us, and the snow just right back on top of it again, sometimes two to three
inches an hour.

It's really incredible to see the plows and the shoveling cannot keep up.
The city is bracing for 18 to 24 inches of snow, this, as you said, the
city and much of the state now under a state of emergency. We have got in
person classes that were canceled today. They're canceled for tomorrow as
well.

Outdoor dining has been canceled. And those COVID-19 vaccine appointments
at 20 different city-run sites, they have been canceled for today and
tomorrow. The PATH train, which connects New Jersey to Manhattan, is now
suspended. And those aboveground subway lines, they have been shut down.

So, basically, the message tonight is, if you're not home yet, you may have
to find somewhere to hunker down here in the city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY):  Bottom line is, this is a serious situation.
It's nothing to be trifled with. Yes, we have had snowstorms before. Yes,
we have been through it before. But this is a dangerous, life-threatening
situation.

And, again, expect major closures, so you're not surprised.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HASNIE:  Air travel is a big mess, too. Take a look, flights at L.A.
Guardia all suspended; 83 percent of flights at JFK have been canceled, and
those last remaining flights at Newark expected to be canceled as well.

Gerry, the last time New York City saw this much snow dumped on us was back
in 2016. Folks out here, though, trying to enjoy it. We have seen some
snowball fights, but, otherwise, you got to stay at home to stay off the
roads -- Gerry.

BAKER:  Thanks, Aishah, just what New York City needs after lockdowns and
COVID and problems with getting the vaccines out. Thanks very much, Aishah.

Well, the first winter storm bring blizzard-like conditions to the
Northeast, as folks are trying to dig out. So, how long is this one going
to last, and where is it headed next?

FOX News meteorologist Adam Klotz keeping track of it all from the FOX
Weather Center -- Adam.

ADAM KLOTZ, FOX NEWS METEOROLOGIST:  Hey, Gerry, you know what? We're only
about halfway through this storm system as it continues to drop some of
that very heavy snow, across portions of New England. Here's what we're
currently looking at on our satellite and radar, still large area here
where you have winter storm watches and warnings, including D.C., up to
Philadelphia, New York and Boston, all major metropolitan areas where this
system is far from over.

Currently, we're looking at fairly widespread light snow to heavy snow.
Those darker purple bands within that, that is where that snow gets really
heavy, winds also going to be an issue.

Now, consistently, throughout the day, we have seen winds getting up to
around 30 mile-an-hour gusts right on the shore. But there are some winds
out at sea, 50 miles an hour. As this system gets a little bit closer to
shore, we could see these winds intensify. And that's going to cause
drifting and blowing and just more problems with this snow system.

As far as where it's headed next, this is taking you into later this
evening. And you see that snow continuing to fall across portions of New
England, stretching down to New York and perhaps still Philadelphia at this
point.

By early tomorrow morning, you're beginning to see this lighten up just a
little bit. And by the time we get later in the day, this system does begin
to clear off. Still some lingering snow showers, but the real brunt of this
is going to be happening today into really through the overnight hours.

Now, so far, on the top end, we have seen areas getting up to close to 20
inches of snow, but this is, again, not over yet. This is additional
snowfall, so not totals, but additional. You get some of those darker
grays, those blues, that's getting up to another 12 to 18 inches of snow on
top of what we have already seen.

So, how much is it going to be when it's all said and done? I think fairly
widespread, Gerry, 18 to 24 inches inland. Here in New York City, we're
going to be 14 to 20 inches. We're already getting close to that. There's
still plenty of more snow on the way. And, of course, we will be here
watching it -- back out to you.

BAKER:  Thanks, Adam.

Stay home. Another reason, I suppose, in this winter to stay home. Thanks
very much for that.

Well, now to another storm, this one a fiscal one brewing on Capitol Hill.
President Biden is set to meet with 10 Republicans shortly. They are
proposing a $680 billion COVID relief package. Now, that's much smaller
than the $1.9 trillion that the president wants, this as Democrats say they
are prepared to go it alone with their plan.

We're going to be speaking to one of those senators who's attending that
meeting in a moment, Senator Moran of Kansas.

But first a Kristin Fisher at the White House with the very latest --
Kristin.

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Well, President Joe Biden is
really wrestling with going big or going bipartisan, as he attempts to pass
this monster $1.9 trillion stimulus package.

Now, the White House says it is not necessarily an either/or. But the plan
that these 10 moderate Republican senators put forward is less than a third
of what President Biden is asking for. These Republicans want $160 billion
for vaccines and testing, which is on par with what the president wants,
but the two sides split on stimulus checks. Republicans are asking for
$1,000. The president wants $1,400.

They also split on the amount of enhanced unemployment insurance. And then
there's perhaps the biggest sticking point, funding for state and local
governments. And these Republicans have set aside zero funding for it.

So, these two sides are still very far apart. But the fact that this
meeting is even happening is very significant, because President Biden has
now invited Republican lawmakers to the White House before Democrats.

Listen to how the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, described this
meeting earlier today, which is now, this meeting, just about an hour away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY:  It's an exchange of ideas and an
opportunity to do that.

What this meeting is not is a forum for the president to make or accept an
offer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER:  And she also said that the president's top concerns remain speed,
getting this through Congress quickly, getting the help to the American
people as fast as possible, and that this package is too small, not too
big.

So, like I said, still a ways to go for these two sides to be able to come
together and truly reach some sort of bipartisan compromise -- Gerry.

BAKER:  Thanks, Kristin.

Well, Kansas Republican Senator Jerry Moran will be among those lawmakers
meeting with the president shortly. He joins me now.

Senator, thank you for being here.

SEN. JERRY MORAN (R-KS):  Gerry, my pleasure. Thank you.

BAKER:  So, Senator, your proposal with your Republican colleagues is, as
we just heard from Kristin there, a third -- really just about a third of
the proposal that the president and the one that the Democrats support.

What are you going to be telling the president this afternoon in an effort
to maybe persuade him to come closer to your number?

MORAN:  Well, I'm going to do everything I can to encourage the president
to do something that is much more targeted and much less expensive than the
$1.9 trillion package that the White House has proposed.

We have been able to do that in a bipartisan way. I'm a pretty darn
conservative Republican. And to spend this amount of money, I want to make
sure it's going toward the relief of Americans who are suffering as a
consequence of COVID-19.

And there's lots of things in this bill that are beyond that scope. And so
we have -- we have been successful the last four phases of Republicans and
Democrats working together to find common ground. Not everyone gets what
they want.

The president talks about a speedy opportunity to provide relief for
Americans. And I think we want that. And this is the fastest way to get it
accomplished. Reconciliation or other procedural means not only destroys
the bipartisanship that the president has promised. It reduces the time
frame -- it increases the time frame in which -- that we're able to
accomplish what the American people need.

My view is, Mr. President, let's focus on vaccines. I think it's the most
important thing. More shots in more arms is the best thing that can happen
for our country's well-being, both from a health perspective and from an
economic point of view.

But I also want to make sure we get kids back in a classroom, that small
businesses get some assistance, and Americans who need the most help get
help from this package. And we can do that in this -- in this effort
together.

BAKER:  Senator, the biggest difference, I think, between your proposal and
the president's is aid for states. In particular, the Democrats are very
keen on hundreds of billions of dollars in aid for states.

You don't really -- you have very, very small amount for that and a
relatively small amount for education that you mentioned, too. Is there a -
- is there any room for movement there? Would you be prepared to go a
little further towards what the Democrats want, or are you really dead set
against that kind of assistance?

MORAN:  Well, what I would say is that I do not want Kansans or other
Americans to pay for the mistakes, the fiscal irresponsibility of other
states over a long period of time unrelated to COVID.

And so I'm willing to be helpful to local units of government in
particular, states to some degree, but I think we can do that by focusing
the assistance, whatever assistance that might be, on the actual functions
of government that have been harmed by COVID-19, not just something that
broadly helps states and local units of government, but something that
helps their taxpayers get through the challenges, the expenses of
responding to the health care needs and the economic circumstances of
Kansans.

BAKER:  The president's come out of the blocks since Inauguration Day with
a pretty aggressive progressive agenda, signing a bunch of executive
orders, presidential declarations on immigration, energy, on the
environment, on some of these other things, too.

It doesn't sound like this administration is in much of a mood to
compromise right now, despite his plea for unity. What will you say to him
about that?

MORAN:  Well, I would indicate to the president that if we can't find
common ground on this issue, COVID-19 response, it really sets the stage
for the inability to find common ground on many other things.

COVID-19 has brought Congress and presidents together on four phases of
relief. It's been done in a bipartisan way. There is a sense of interest on
the part of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate to get something done
in this regard. This is the greatest opportunity we have to do that.

And while I am opposed to a number of the president's executive orders, I'm
certainly willing to work with him to get a more conservative, targeted
response to COVID-19, and get it done quickly, to benefit Americans.

BAKER:  Senator Moran, good luck there at the White House. We will be back
trying to find out what you found out.

Thanks very much for joining us.

MORAN:  Thank you very much, Gerry.

BAKER:  Thank you.

Well, after bidding up the likes of GameStop, day traders are now bidding
up silver prices to put the squeeze on the big guys on Wall Street. And,
right now, at least, the little guys appear to be winning. So, what does
all this mean for the average investor?

And, later, if Chicago teachers start striking, as they have threatened,
meet the parent who says she will be suing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKER:  Remember GameStop? Yes, that was so last week, because, at least
for now, those Reddit-fueled day traders are turning their eyes and their
wallets to driving up silver prices.

This is coming with Robinhood still putting some trading limits on certain
stocks.

So, to FOX Business Network's Lauren Simonetti with the latest.

LAUREN SIMONETTI, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  The saga continues, Gerry.

So, some stocks that were part of the Reddit army's short squeeze did close
lower today, as Robinhood -- that's the free trading app making a lot of
this possible -- slapped limits on eight popular names last night. Then,
this afternoon, they rolled back some of those restrictions.

For instance, it raised the limit on GameStop to 20 shares. Not much relief
for that stock, which closed down 30 percent, or the app. Robinhood has
become controversial since it moved to handcuff retail traders.

And its CEO answered to that with Tesla CEO, Elon Musk.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, CEO, TESLA MOTORS:  Did you sell your clients down the river? Or
did you have no choice? And if you had no choice, that's understandable.
But then we got to find out why you had no choice. And who are these people
that are saying you have no choice?

VLADIMIR TENEV, CEO, ROBINHOOD:  I think that's fair. We have to comply
with these requirements. Financial institutions have requirements.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMONETTI:  And those include paying the clearinghouse $3 billion to back
up the trades. So, if Robinhood restricts buying, it can lower the amount
of capital it has to post.

Look, this might have dented its reputation, but certainly not its
popularity. And, today, Robinhood raised another $2.4 billion from
shareholders, giving it firepower to ride out this frenzy. So we will see
where they tack next -- Gerry.

BAKER:  Thanks, Lauren.

So, what might Washington do to respond to all of this? Lawmakers on both
sides of the aisle told Neil that they're watching closely.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ROGER MARSHALL (R-KS):  How many people would watch the Super Bowl if
we changed the rules at halftime? And that's what I feel like a lot of
investors feel like it, that everyone deserves equal opportunity to make
money on Wall Street.

We got to be careful here, not overreact. But let's take a dive and see,
why did they pull the rug out from under us?

SEN. BEN CARDIN (D-MD):  I just urge people to recognize that you shouldn't
play games with your with your with your finances, you should get the best
advice you can.

We need transparency. And you need to make informed decisions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAKER:  Other senators, like Democrat Elizabeth Warren, they have been
demanding an SEC investigation.

Well, let's get the read from market watcher Scott Martin and Wall Street
veteran Ted Weisberg.

Thanks, gentlemen, for joining me.

SCOTT MARTIN, FOX BUSINESS CONTRIBUTOR:  Hey, Gerry.

BAKER:  So, Scott, let me start with you, if I may.

What's the story here? There's a lot of criticism of Robinhood, that
they're in the pocket of Wall Street, that they were on the side of the big
guys against the little guys, and that's why they have limited trading,
still have limits on trading.

They say, no, no, no, they had to place some additional capital with the
clearinghouse. As you heard, senators are weighing in from all sides.
What's your sense of the reality here? Is this Wall Street coming together
to protect itself, or is this -- was this just such a big dislocation that
they had really had no choice?

MARTIN:  It was both.

I mean, Wall Street is doing its best to protect itself and its interest,
as it always does, Gerry. I think Robinhood, to their fault, was not
prepared for this. So, with respect to how much money they have had to put
up to the exchanges and, say, some of their prime brokers and some of the
clearinghouses, you're right.

I mean, that's money that they probably didn't expect to have to put up.

But the one thing I will say what's going on now that's interesting, as you
mentioned GameStop being so last week, and now this week being silver, is
that there are different players involved in this game, to use a word now,
than there were last week, in the sense of maybe it started with the retail
investor and Reddit message boards.

Now I'm starting to see quite a few more institutions and money managers
now getting involved in this game, if you will. So, it's changed its color
over the last few days.

BAKER:  Yes, Ted, is this -- so, we saw -- as Todd (sic) just said, we have
seen them now into -- the vigilantes have moved on from GameStop and those
equities, those maybe underpriced, they would argue, equities onto
commodity markets today, with silver, pushing up silver prices.

Is this, do you think now, a new financial reality, reality that financial
markets have to deal with, this band of a significant number of individual
investors who can come together and can really, really move -- move asset
prices in this way?

TED WEISBERG, PRESIDENT, SEAPORT SECURITIES CORPORATION:  Well, yes, Gerry,
this is a huge topic, and that doesn't reduce itself to a few sound bites,
unfortunately.

BAKER:  Gives us a sound bite. I'm sorry.

(LAUGHTER)

WEISBERG:  But that's OK.

But, first of all, it -- Wall Street is always risky. And we get these kind
of markets. Usually, they get frothy, a lot of folks say, at the end of big
bull moves. This is not unusual. I have been in the business 50-plus years.
I have seen this kind of action over and over again.

But what's different this time is that the government, the SEC and
Congress, changed the ground rules about 15 or 16 years ago. They took away
the tick rule. We went to decimals and then to pennies. A lot -- and
fragmented markets.

A lot of things have changed over 15 years. The -- these seeds were planted
quite a long time ago. And now we're seeing the end results. I -- it's
interesting to see senators or congressmen saying, well, we have to look at
this.

They created this monster when they changed the entire market structure.
And I get it's a case of unintended consequences of, maybe 15 or 10 years
ago, they didn't think they would see this. But what we're seeing is just
investor interest, which is personified.

I don't think, quite frankly, there's anything wrong with it. This is the
market structure. People take a chance. Obviously, it's risky. It's a big
boys game, and you need to put on your big boy pants, but it's just --
these are the markets.

BAKER:  Well, Ted, as you rightly said, this doesn't lend itself to a short
sound bite. But you gave us a very good summation there.

We have to cut it off there and have a longer conversation sometime.

Ted and Scott, thanks for -- Ted and Todd (sic), thanks very much for
joining us.

We're looking live here now at Dorchester, Nebraska. That's just one of
many towns losing jobs after President Biden's decision to lose the
Keystone pipeline.

So, is it time that this green push was placed on ice? Lawrence Jones is
next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKER:  You're looking live at a snowy and icy Chicago, where there could
be a teachers strike coming soon. We will have a parent who's ready to take
them to court.

And Lawrence Jones is sounding a warning on the White House push to go
green.

We're back in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JIM JUSTICE (R-WV):  If you want civilization to advance today, we
need clean energy. And I'm all for it.

But we just have to have a strategy, rather than a knee-jerk. And that's
what we have going on right now. And it's -- it's going to backfire. It's
really going to hurt us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAKER:  There's West Virginia Republican Governor Jim Justice telling Neil
this weekend that the Biden climate agenda is going to hurt his state.

We're already seeing what it's doing to jobs, with the cancellation of the
Keystone XL pipeline.

FOX News; Alicia Acuna is in Dorchester, Nebraska, with a closer look at
that -- Alicia.

ALICIA ACUNA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Hi, Gerry.

We want to show you something here, because it really exemplifies how
things came to a screeching halt. This is something that is just up the
block here from where we're standing. It's a field filled with pipes
intended for the Keystone XL. Now they're just laying there.

The impact on businesses in this village of 600 was immediate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA VEPROVSKY, OWNER, EAST SIDE BAR AND GRILL:  We had pipeline crews here
during the COVID. It did help us because we serve meals to them, a lot of
takeout. Got to meet a lot of nice people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACUNA:  Down the road, in Crete, Nebraska, folks are also frustrated,
especially when the Biden administration suggested pipeline workers get
jobs in solar.

Truck driver Chris Olson fears his diesel costs will go up, but doubts
anyone in Washington cares.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS OLSON, TRUCK DRIVER:  It's flyover country. That's what they call us.
We don't -- it's like we don't even exist. That's pretty much the -- what
they think of us out here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACUNA:  Work was under way on the Keystone XL set to run from Alberta
through Montana and the Midwest, bringing economic boost to towns along the
way.

But, Gerry, there are folks who are relieved by this shutdown. There were
farmers, ranchers, Native American tribes that had fought this for quite
some time -- Gerry.

BAKER:  Thanks, Alicia.

Well, Wyoming Republican Senator John Barrasso is among those slamming
President Biden's climate orders, saying that they will take a sledgehammer
to Western state economies.

So, let's bring in FOX News analyst Lawrence Jones.

Lawrence, thanks for joining us.

LAWRENCE JONES, FOX NEWS ANALYST:  Hey there, Gerry.

BAKER:  So, you heard last week President Biden and certainly John Kerry,
the climate czar, saying, well, no need to worry about all these jobs,
they're going to get rid of these jobs, but all these people who work in
fossil fuels and coal mines and the oil industry and natural gas, they can
all get great jobs in making solar panels.

It sounds a little bit optimistic, to be -- to put it mildly.

JONES:  I mean, some people will say optimistic. Others will say naive.

I mean, are they going to go down there and help them find a job? I'm just
a guy from Texas, right? And we depend on oil and gas. This was a campaign
promise. And I know throughout the past election, we spent a lot talking
about personality.

This should have been the center of the campaign, almost, because there's
policies, and you can feel all day, but there's real-world consequences for
those actions. We're not just talking about jobs. We're talking about
energy prices going up.

The fact is that cheap energy affects Americans as well. So, you got the
job proponent of this. And then, also, you have the fact that it's going to
cause the poor to have to pay more for their energy. And this is not just
the first step from the Biden -- in 30 for 30 plan, there's a moratorium on
federal gas and oil leases.

That means we're going to be importing a lot of that energy from other
countries. Now, they don't have the same environmental standards that we
have. So you would say, is this defeating the purpose, not only from a
fiscal standpoint, a real world standpoint, but also, if you really are
against the way the climate is going, why would you start importing from
other countries that have worse standards?

BAKER:  Right. And that is exactly as you say. I mean, the U.S. has become
energy self-sufficient for the first time in a long time in the last decade
or so.

And no one thinks -- I think not even the optimists or the naive people in
the administration think that we're going to get quickly to energy self-
sufficiency from wind and solar. So this does seem to -- as you say, it's
also the fossil fuel, especially natural gas, is so plentiful here, that
it's so cheap, that we are going to push up costs, we are going to make
ourselves more dependent on foreign supply.

It just seems that, at least for the short -- and I agree. The president
won the election. It was part of his agenda. But in the short term, when
the economy is still adjusting after the COVID crisis, when there is so
much uncertainty in the economy, he just seems to be pressing ahead with a
plan that maybe is going to do more damage in the short term than actually
will benefit in the longer term.

JONES:  Gerry, you say after the COVID crisis.

I mean, we're still in it.

BAKER:  Sure.

JONES:  And just from a strategic standpoint, look, I understand that he
won, and I understand this is part of the policy.

But just from a strategic standpoint, do you think it's the best time to do
this, when businesses are shut, people are still experiencing this
pandemic, right? People are suffering right now. You want to go through
this right now? This is your first agenda item. These are the executive
orders that you want to go -- this is why -- and I say this for every
president -- going through Congress should be a priority, because these are
the people that represent the people.

And because he's decided to go around that process, I don't think he
realizes the impact that it's going to have on American citizens. But I
think, when election comes around again -- we're already in election time,
even though he's just been elected -- he will feel it.

BAKER:  Yes, it doesn't exactly seem like a way to bring the country
together in the way that he promised to do in his inaugural address.

Lawrence Jones, thanks very much, indeed, for joining us.

JONES:  Thanks, Gerry.

BAKER:  Well, to Chicago now, where teachers are on the verge of striking.

Meet the parent who's on the verge of suing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CENTER FOR
INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH:  We still want to get two doses in everyone.

But I think, right now, in advance of this surge, we need to get as many
one doses in as many people over 65 as we possibly can to reduce the
serious illness and deaths that are going to occur over the weeks ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAKER:  That's a top epidemiologist who was an adviser to the Biden
transition team.

He's urging people to get at least one shot now, as variants threaten to
send COVID cases spiking.

The CDC director said today, not so fast. It's planning to stick with the
two-shot regime that was approved for Pfizer and Moderna.

So, what's the right plan of action here?

Johns Hopkins University physician and FOX News contributor Dr. Marty
Makary joins me now.

Doctor, thanks so much, indeed, for joining me.

DR. MARTY MAKARY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR:  Good to be with you.

BAKER:  So, this is something that's seems to make sense. There is a high
level of protection from one shot that we know. It's been done, by the way,
I know, in the U.K. For example, my father had his shot and is waiting for
a second one for some time.

There does seem to be a high level of protection. So, this seems to be
commonsense, right? Why would the CDC -- why is the official guidance still
to hold to -- to go with to make sure everybody gets two shots before the
wider population can get the vaccine?

MAKARY:  Well, I think we're seeing different opinions within the Biden
team. We're seeing the old guard medical establishment -- that's
represented by the CDC, the career staff, the people who issued the
recommendations, the FDA career staff -- when they approved it, they
approved it with this very strict recommendation that it needs to be given
us two doses.

But I agree, Gerry, it is a terrible idea to be holding back vaccines right
now in order to reserve a second dose. It's a terrible policy; 38 percent
of the vaccines are sitting around at the state level right now. And the
states are arguing they're in part reserving some for the second dose; 80
to 90 percent efficacy with the first dose.

If we look at the data, the medical establishment has been oddly dismissive
of this data and from other vaccines. The longer you wait, the longer the
gap between the first and second doses, in general, with HPV and other
vaccines, you get stronger immunity.

And that's why the U.K. is saying, try to wait out until closer to 12 weeks
until you get your second dose.

BAKER:  So, would this require, though -- I think the vaccine, the original
vaccines, when they received the approval, or emergency approval from the
FDA, they did -- it was under the understanding that it will be a two-shot
regime.

If this were to change, if there were, as you say, after this debate within
the administration, would that require a second round of approval by the
FDA? And, if so, could it be done very quickly?

MAKARY:  It should not require that, no.

And I think what we need to do is, we need to recognize that we're in a
wartime situation. We have got to leave some of these old peacetime
frameworks. We have got to recognize we don't need to be paternal. We can
share the data and let people make their own decisions.

If you look closely at the data, no one has ever died from missing or
delaying their second dose. That immune protection in the short-term is
probably 91 percent in that Pfizer study. The data didn't come out until
after the authorization.

And once we look at it, it's clear the first dose is very effective. As
long as we're supply-constrained, we will save more lives by maximizing the
first dose and then making around on the second dose.

BAKER:  And, as you say, very quickly, if you -- Doctor, the numbers at
clear. You could presumably double the number of people who can get at
least one dose of this very quickly if you made this move, right?

MAKARY:  Exactly.

We need to let go with this paternal mentality that patients come to us and
we scold them, and you have to do this and have to -- let's present the
data and let's like, let, let people make their own decision.

BAKER:  Doctor, thanks very much, indeed, for joining me.

MAKARY:  Thank you, Gerry.

BAKER:  Well, to Chicago now, where teachers are threatening to go on
strike.

Meet the parent who's already lawyering up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKER:  Is the standoff between Chicago Public Schools and the teachers
union about to reach a breaking point?

FOX News correspondent Mike Tobin on whether or not a strike could be
nearing -- Mike.

MIKE TOBIN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Well, Gerry, one thing I can tell you
is that tens of thousands of parents in Chicago who so badly want their
sons and daughters in the classroom are just going to have to wait a while
longer.

Until when? Unfortunately, that is not clear. But in person instruction for
kindergarten through eighth grade students was expected to resume today.
But the schools sat empty all day, as the city and teachers union have not
reached an agreement on safety protocols.

In fact, Chicago's Mayor Lori Lightfoot said city representatives sat on a
Zoom call, and the teachers union just stood them up yesterday. So,
notifications were sent out to parents that, after almost a year, there
will still be no class today.

The Chicago school crisis came up at the White House press briefing, Jen
Psaki dodged the issue, saying the president respects Mayor Lightfoot and
supports teachers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PSAKI:  He trust the mayor and the unions to work this out. They're both
prioritizing the right things, which is ensuring the health and safety of
the kids and teachers and working to make sure that children in Chicago are
getting the education they deserve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOBIN:  Now, parents, some of whom have put their careers on hold, have
grown impatient.

One parent told our John Roberts, when parents speak up on the subject,
they are subject to cancel culture.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH SACHEN, MOTHER:  There is social media backlash from the public and
union representatives When parents speak out and we're mislabeled, and our
voices are squashed, and we're bullied, our businesses and places of work
are contacted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOBIN:  Now, the CEO of Chicago Public Schools promised yesterday, if
teachers didn't show up today, there would be cutoff from that technology.
It's called Google Suites, the technology that the teachers use for the
remote teaching.

It's not clear if that happened. In fact, any moves the city or the
teachers made today have not been public. Nothing is clear right now --
Gerry.

BAKER:  Thanks, Mike.

Well, one of those Chicago parents who definitely isn't being silenced is
Ammie Kessem. She's threatening to sue the teachers union. Ammie's also a
Republican committee member of the city's 41st Ward.

And she joins me now with her attorney, Daniel Suhr.

Thanks, both, for joining me.

By the way, we -- I should say, we did call Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the
Chicago Teachers Union, but we haven't yet heard back from them.

So, Ammie, let me start with you first.

Your children -- you have children, obviously, who should be in school. How
long have they been -- may I just ask, how long have they been out of --
have they been out of the classroom?

AMMIE KESSEM, MOTHER:  They have been out of the classroom for almost a
year now.

BAKER:  And that's -- I mean, how are they managing?

I mean, I have got a -- I have got a daughter who's still in high school. I
know how difficult this is. It's just not giving them the kind of education
that they need.

KESSEM:  Yes.

They're having a really hard time with us. I mean, just two weeks ago, we
were -- we had our hopes up. They had their hopes up. We had gotten their
school supplies. And it's like they're on a roller-coaster ride right now.
One day, they're being told, OK, tomorrow, you're going to school, yay.

And then it's whipped right out from -- out from underneath them, late at
night, getting an e-mail saying, no, sorry, no school tomorrow. And it's
just -- it's really hard on them.

BAKER:  What do you think you can achieve with this lawsuit? Is this
something -- you -- I mean, obviously, your aim is to get the teachers back
in the classroom. But what happens? I mean, how does this work? How do you
get them to go back?

KESSEM:  You know, it's sad that it had to come to this, to where we had to
get attorneys to step in.

And, luckily, we had the Liberty Justice Center that was willing to
represent us pro bono. So, thank goodness that we have them for that.

BAKER:  Daniel, if I may ask you, so, what's the basis of the lawsuit? It's
a breach of contract, is it, by the teachers? So, there's an assumed
contract between teachers and parents?

How -- what's the legal argument here?

DANIEL SUHR, ATTORNEY:  Yes, Gerry, our message to the teachers union today
is very clear. If you go on strike, we will see you in court. Parents are
fed up.

This is illegal under Illinois law. It's also a violation of the contract
that the teachers union agreed to two years ago. Parents just aren't going
to stand for it.

BAKER:  And it's striking. I was looking at the some of the arguments the
teachers unions have been using.

They have been saying, for example, that they are -- they need to be
vaccinated, they need to be one of the -- further up in line for the
vaccine because they're essential workers.

Yet, of course, essential workers have been working for the last -- for the
last year, and teachers obviously have been working. They have been -- and
many of them are working for them.

And, by the way, we should say, we know, of course, many, many teachers,
most teachers do want to work. They are working. They work very hard.

But it does seem to be something. What is it about -- Daniel, if I may ask
you, what is the teachers union argument for saying that it's unsafe to go
back in the classroom? The science is very weak. Their legal case doesn't
seem very strong. What's their argument?

SUHR:  Yes, Gerry, the teachers union here really doesn't have a leg to
stand on.

We're not asking them to rush into burning buildings. We're asking them to
go to work to teach kids who are wearing masks and who are socially
distanced.

I think what's so frustrating here for parents is, they look across other
communities in Chicagoland, across Illinois, across the country. They see
it's possible to go back to school safely. Chicago Public Schools should be
doing the same thing.

BAKER:  Ammie, finally, if I may ask you, what do the teachers at your
kids' school make of this? I mean, what do they think about being sued by
one of their students' parents?

KESSEM:  Honestly, I don't know. I don't really have a good relationship
with them, because I haven't met them in person yet.

We're subjected to short minute -- 10-minute Zoom meetings. That's fast.

But the bottom line is, I'm an essential worker. I have to be to work.
People rely on me every day to patrol the streets, pandemic or no pandemic.
I have to be there and do my job. And we're relying on them to do theirs.
So they need to get these kids back into the classrooms as soon as
possible.

BAKER:  Yes, very good luck to you. We will be following that closely over
the next few days.

Thanks very much, Ammie and Daniel.

KESSEM:  Thank you.

SUHR:  Thank you, Gerry.

BAKER:  Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle want to look out for the
little guy in the whole GameStop, and now we should add silver currency --
silver commodity market story.

Well, we will be talking to one of those so-called big guys on what he
thinks should happen. You might be surprised.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKER:  Robinhood has been continuing to ease trading restrictions today,
raising its trading limit on GameStop shares.

This is all part of the ongoing drama, which, for the last week or so, or
longer than that, actually, has been pitting Wall Street bigwigs against
online day traders.

Well, I want to get the read from one of those bigwigs, if I may call him
that, co-founder of Avenue Capital Group and co-owner of the Milwaukee
Bucks, Marc Lasry.

Marc, thanks for joining me.

MARC LASRY, CO-OWNER, MILWAUKEE BUCKS:  My pleasure. How you doing?

BAKER:  Good, thanks.

So, what's your take, Marc? It's been -- you have read all the -- you have
been in the markets for a while and you have seen all this stuff in the
last week about how this is the little guy taking on the big guy on Wall
Street, bringing them down, this is the -- all part of the populist
revolution, it's all a big change, and the hedge fund guys are all
terrified and fighting back.

Give us your take. How do you see what's been going on?

LASRY:  I think it's a little simpler.

I mean, people have made it much more complicated than it is. And at the
end of the day, really, all that happened is, I think a number of Wall
Street firms had shorted the stock.

If you think about it, what WallStreetBets and sort of Reddit did is say,
hey, on GameStop, there's more than 100 percent short interest, which means
that more than the amount of shares are outstanding, a number of people on
Wall Street had shorted those.

Well, all you need to do is start buying those stock -- that stock, and, as
the price moves up, it forces people to cover their positions, and that's -
- and especially when I think Melvin and a couple of funds are levered
anywhere between five to 10 times when they put on this trade.

So, the stock, I think, went from sort of $15. Then, a week later, it's
$39. And then, like two or three days later, it's $300, and then it went
all the way up to $483. In a situation like that, look, I think it was
fine. I think, if day traders are going to end up buying the stock, there's
no problem with that.

They're going to pick -- they're going to pick companies where the short
interest is over 100 percent. If you have enough people buying, the price
of that stock will move up. I mean, today, the stock was down $100.

And the reason for is, the short interest is dropping. So, it's much harder
to end up forcing people to buy in. That's really what ended up happening.

BAKER:  What about this argument about manipulation, that some people say,
look, if you're an institution, if you're a dealer or a trader, you can't
manipulate, you can't collude to manipulate a price up, but if you're these
day traders, you can come together on a social media site, WallStreetBets,
and you can do that?

LASRY:  Right.

BAKER:  And people are calling for an investigation. You saw Elizabeth
Warren over the weekend saying the SEC has got to look into this.

Is this -- was the -- do you think there was manipulation? Or do you think
this was just -- I mean, does it count as manipulation when day traders do
this?

LASRY:  I would say to you, if -- let's put it this way.

If five people on Wall Street had done that, it would have been a
violation, and you would have been -- you would have had a massive
investigation.

BAKER:  Right.

LASRY:  So, now the tide is on the other side, and the question -- yes, I
think it was wrong.

But, look, I think it's a -- people are going to have to figure that out.
But Wall Street professionals are not allowed to do that. So, that's sort
of how I look at it.

BAKER:  And there's wider calls for regulation here, that the -- there's
been question marks about what exactly Robinhood was doing when it limited
trading, although they say -- and they seem to be very clear about this --
that they had to -- they were obviously having some capital and liquidity
issues because the volatility was so much and the volume was so much.

But people are calling for a full-scale -- a thorough review of regulation,
Washington needs to get involved in this.

What's your view, as a participant in these markets? There is regulation,
as you know. I mean, do the markets -- are the other markets working OK, or
do we need -- do we need more government intervention?

LASRY:  Oh, look, I think the market is working fine.

Really, what happened with Robinhood is, if somebody bought 100 shares, and
if you think about it, 100 shares at $300, that's $30,000, right?

What Robinhood was worried about was that -- and they knew that the price
was going to go down -- that, as sort of the short interest starts going
away, then, if all of a sudden, the stock price -- like what happened
today, it drops 100 points. Well, that means that now that stock is worth
$20,000.

What happens if that person doesn't pony up the money? Robinhood is the one
that's on the hook.

BAKER:  Got to -- I got...

LASRY:  So, I think all Robinhood was doing was trying to protect
themselves.

BAKER:  Marc, I got to wrap you up there.

Good luck to those Milwaukee Bucks. I know -- I know that is your other big
interest.

LASRY:  Thank you.

BAKER:  Thanks very much, indeed, Marc Lasry, for joining me.

Well, that White House meeting between President Biden and 10 Republican
senators on COVID relief is about to get under way.

Senator Todd Young is one of them. He will be Neil's guest tomorrow at 4:00
p.m.

"THE FIVE" starts right now.

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