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Texas sheriff calls on Kamala Harris to visit southern border

Jackson County, Texas Sheriff AJ Louderback joins 'Your World' to discuss the 'crisis' on the U.S.-Mexico border

This is a rush transcript from "Your World," April 5, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: You are looking live right now Globe Life Field. The Toronto Blue Jays are taking on the Texas Rangers there.

And in this particular stadium in Arlington, Texas, they can fill it to capacity, 40,000-plus strong. And, apparently, they already have, the game but minutes away.

What's at stake at a time when the economy is coming back, in fact, soaring back, and has a lot of people at the corner of Wall and Broad and elsewhere saying, you know what, it's a good time to go post-pandemic.

Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto. And this is YOUR WORLD.

First to the developments right now in Texas, because they are going to be playing sans the governor of Texas, who has opted not to throw out the first pitch here. We're going to get into details of that in just a second.

But, in the meantime, to Grady Trimble on play ball -- Grady.

GRADY TRIMBLE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil. They say they do things bigger in Texas. And that is certainly the case about opening day today.

You can see just minutes away from first pitch, and a ton of fans still waiting to get into this brand-new Globe Life Field. And if this is a sellout or anywhere close to it, 40,000 fans would be the largest sporting events since the pandemic started.

For perspective, let me show you some other crowds at major sporting events since the pandemic began. You have got the Super Bowl. That only had about 25,000 people in it. It's also going to be a bigger event than the World Series, which was hosted here, the Daytona 500, and the NCAA final, which takes place tonight for basketball.

It's also drawn a lot of criticism from as high up as the president himself. President Joe Biden says that this is a mistake, having 100 percent capacity here, that it's not responsible. But the Rangers fired back, saying that they can do this and they can do it safely. They have rules in place, like mask requirements unless you're eating or drinking.

You have got to keep social distance at concession lines. And this is a retractable roof, so, essentially, fans who are watching are enjoying the game outside. And the fans that we talk to say they are just excited baseball is back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not afraid. Sometimes, it's nice to get out and about. We got masks. We will what do we got to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's fantastic as far as I'm concerned. I'm ready to breathe a little fresh air. I know I will be sitting in a mask, but at least at some point I will have it off at least to eat a hot dog.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TRIMBLE: Governor Greg Abbott was expected to throw out the first pitch today, but just a few hours before the game, he said he declined to do that, sending a letter to the Rangers telling them that he was not going to do that because of the MLB's decision to pull the All-Star Game out of Georgia over the election law that recently passed there.

Here's what he added in that letter to the Rangers: "I will not participate in an event held by the MLB. And the state will not seek to host the All- Star Game or any other MLB special events."

We don't know exactly who's throwing out the first pitch. I guess we will find out in a few minutes. But he was going to be joined by front-line workers. So, presumably, one of them will step up to the mound instead.

I talked to fans about that issue as well. And they didn't seem too bothered by it, Neil. They're happy to pack a stadium right now. And, as we said, baseball is back, and they're happy to witness it -- Neil.

CAVUTO: I can definitely see that.

Grady, it's good to see you, Grady Trimble in Arlington, Texas, the start there of the baseball season, their home opener.

Doug Eldridge is back with us, the sports agent extraordinaire, DLE Agency founder.

Doug, I do want to get into the governor's tit-for-tat with Major League Baseball itself, but the fact that baseball is back and games resumed over the weekend, and, of course, in this particular case, to a packed stadium - - they are 100 percent capacity -- they're OK with that -- baseball badly needs the fans back, doesn't it?

DOUG ELDRIDGE, DLE AGENCY: Yes, sir.

Baseball -- of the major four sports in the United States, football, baseball, basketball, and hockey, none is as dependent on fans in the stadium as baseball. It's certainly America's pastime, traditionally the oldest sport in our country.

And, in so many ways, those traditions and old-world ways of enjoying sports really persisted with baseball. They took a 70 percent hit in revenue during 2020, the COVID year, by virtue of essentially having no fans in the stands for the course of the season. They were uniquely impacted in that regard.

So, I think, for the Rangers and hopefully for other teams across the league, this is going to be the first in a positive string of dominoes.

CAVUTO: By the way, we're learning that the first pitch at the Rangers game is going to be a teacher named Audrey Simmons. So, a teacher gets to throw out the first pitch. So I guess she beat you to it, Doug.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Let me get your sense of, it's always a reminder this virus is still with us, right?

Nationals games were delayed because of a virus within the team. And this spreads. This cancels other games as well. Where do you see this season going?

ELDRIDGE: Well, that's a great question, because, when we saw the start of last season, it was largely defined by fits and starts, which is to say there was an outbreak here, which has that butterfly effect, which spread across the division, eventually the league.

But you referenced -- Neil, to go back for a second, when we look at the bigger picture of how the season is going to go to President Biden's interview -- he sat down with Sage Steele, who's fantastic, on ESPN and was talking about why he doesn't think that the Rangers should open at full capacity, and that you should -- I believe it sound bite was, listen to Fauci and the scientists.

The problem for a lot of sports fans, which in this case is a synonym for voters, is that the science hasn't been calling balls and strikes, which, pun aside, is meant to say call it objectively and consistently. It's largely felt inconsistent and subjective.

So, for many Texas Rangers fans, this is a breath of fresh air. On March 1, the seven-day average in Texas was 7,693. On April 1, it was a 53 percent drop. March 10 was when Governor Abbott issued that mandate. So, in the context -- I mention all these numbers for a reason -- in the context of science, much like the back of a baseball card, where you studied the statistics, it actually makes sense, at least based on how the trend line is going, that Texas would try and implement this.

It's an outdoor stadium. They're going to be wearing masks, but for eating and drinking, and that gentleman had the sound bite about the hot dog. I was certainly jealous of that guy. Maybe you were too.

But we're all hungry, no pun intended, for this sense of normalcy. And sports has always provided that for us as an American populace. So, obviously, we're hoping for the best, but I have to believe that the Rangers and other teams across the league are prepared for the worst, in the event that this tends to go sideways on them.

CAVUTO: Then we have got this controversy, Doug, the Georgia new voting law that's already prompted Major League Baseball to move the All-Star Game from there.

And I'm wondering now, with Governor Abbott refusing to throw out the first pitch, as he was originally scheduled to do, and now a number of groups forming to boycott Major League Baseball for its boycott of Georgia, where is this whole going?

ELDRIDGE: And that's a great question, sir, because I don't think this is a unique one-off in terms of how this is being treated.

Sure, you could go back to the 2017 NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte with the transgender bathroom bill. The NBA pulled All-Star Game from North Carolina, obviously, now, the MLB All-Star Game, the 2021.

But your question really hedges on, where is this going, right? In a couple of days, we start the Masters in earnest, Thursday, right, with Sunday being the most -- typically, the most viewed day. There's already a #boycottTheMasters campaign being put into place to try and essentially move The Masters, right, uproot them from Augusta National in the state of Georgia itself and move them elsewhere, right?

We're already starting to see a growing trend and national sentiment towards possibly boycotting the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics because of China's record on human rights. So, this is really not a one-off.

But I think what affects so many American fans is that they don't want the inconsistent application of equality, meaning, if we're going to protest the goose, let's protest the gander. And I think that's where you see Americans pushing back and saying, heck, yes, I'm going to go to the game. I will wear my mask as I'm required. I will stand for the anthem. I will thank my ushers. I will pay my tab when I leave the parking lot.

I might get a Coca-Cola and a hot dog and a pendant for my boy. I think Americans are hungry, literally and figuratively, for a return of normalcy. And I believe sports is going to provide that.

CAVUTO: Yes, if they have will call to pick up their tickets, I think they have to show an I.D. But that's a whole 'nother argument we can have another time.

ELDRIDGE: There it is. Yes, sir.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Doug Eldridge, very good seeing you again, my friend.

ELDRIDGE: Thank you, Neil.

CAVUTO: So, how safe will it be that packed stadium today?

Let's go to Dr. Amesh Adalja, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security senior scholar.

Always enjoy having the good doctor with us.

What do you think, Doctor? A lot of people, they're going to be crowded in there. They're going to be wearing masks, a good many of them, at least, that our reporter talked to. How safe do you think it is in there?

DR. AMESH ADALJA, INFECTIOUS DISEASES SOCIETY OF AMERICA: I think it's going to be hard to keep transmission to zero during a situation where there are 40,000 people present, and we know that most of those 40,000 are not going to be vaccinated.

So, I do suspect that the masks are going to help. Having the outdoor air is going to help. But I think, with a couple -- with 1,000 or so cases occurring daily or more than 1,000 in Texas, it's likely that they're going to be people there that have the virus and that are going to transmit the virus.

Hopefully, though, it's going to be something that can be kept to a minimum, that it's not going to overwhelm contact tracers, and that it's something that won't derail the good trend that we have seen in Texas over time with the number of cases, hospitalizations looking good.

And I think this is something that you just have to be very careful when you have a mass gathering like this, because of all the chains of transmission that could get set off if something went wrong.

CAVUTO: Do you think what could experience what some countries in Europe are experiencing, where there are borderline lockdowns in Italy and France, and they're really cracking down on restrictions that will be extended in Britain, even though a lot of the vaccination progress, in particular in that country, is very promising?

But could any of that hit here?

ADALJA: I don't think so.

And that's because we have really done a good job when it comes to vaccinating high risk individuals, nursing home residents, and people who have conditions that live in that community, because that's what we really wanted this vaccine to do, was remove the ability of the virus to cause serious illness, hospitalization and death.

And, remember, flattening the curve was about preserving hospital capacity. And hospitals, by and large, across the country are in a much better place than they were just a couple of months ago in December and January.

So, I don't think that we're going to see that. And the solution that we have at hand and many countries don't is to continue to vaccinate. We're putting four million doses into people's arms every day. If we continue that pace, I think we will stay ahead of this and not have anything like what's going on in Europe.

CAVUTO: Dr. Fauci recently said he doesn't think the government will eventually be requiring these so-called vaccine passports.

Where are you on this, Doctor? Because I know, in Britain, they're not even calling them that. They're just calling them proof that you have had the vaccine cards or something like that.

ADALJA: I don't think that...

CAVUTO: Is it semantics? Is it important? How would you describe how people get to know that you have been vaccinated and you can enter a hotel, you could enter an event, you can get on a plane? What do you think?

ADALJA: I think that it's not going to be the government that does this. It's going to be private businesses that want to have higher capacity or to decrease restrictions on people who are vaccinated, because, if you're vaccinated, the virus treats you differently, so why shouldn't people treat you differently?

So, I think that this is something that companies may try to do to increase capacity.

International travel, I think, is a different issue. I think there are going to be countries that will want to know that you're vaccinated. And if you're not, you're going to have to go through a quarantine or going to have to have a test.

But I think it's important to remember that this is also going to be something that's temporary, until we get everybody that wants to be vaccinated. I think you will start to see some of this fade away as cases come down. And I think it's not that big of a deal if a place wants to go to 100 percent capacity with just vaccinated people.

We have seen sports do that in certain areas where they have a vaccinated section, where they can be a little bit laxer with everything. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think companies and businesses can set the terms of their -- of entry for their customers.

And if they want to treat vaccinated people differently, I think that's OK.

CAVUTO: So, it's those private enterprises' call, not the government's?

ADALJA: Yes, I think that the government shouldn't stand in the way of this.

So, what's going on in Florida, where Governor DeSantis by executive order is saying, you can't do this, even if you're a private business, I think that's really usurping the business owners' decision-making to say, yes, we want to have people that are vaccinated in here, and we're going to look, and you don't have to come in. You're not forced to come into the store.

CAVUTO: All right, got it. We will follow it.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, very good seeing you again. Be well, my friend.

All right, in the meantime here, we are following other developments, like what's going on at the border. And we do know that the vice president of the United States is in California today. She will end up her day, I believe, in Los Angeles, which, last time I checked, is less than a two- hour drive from the border -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, Vice President Kamala Harris is in California today. And she will end up the day in Los Angeles, if you think about it, what, about 160 miles or so from the Mexican border. I don't know what that's in her itinerary.

But I do know that Peter Doocy is following these fast-moving administration developments from the White House.

Hey, Peter.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, Neil, we're tracking the vice president's movements from here on the North Lawn.

We just heard from her, and she's not talking about immigration. She is talking instead about infrastructure. And it doesn't sound like she is that concerned about these Republicans who are coming forward to say they're not going to support this infrastructure spending package unless the White House strips everything out of it that does not have to do with crumbling bridges and roads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The American Jobs Plan is about saying, let us -- 100 percent of our lead systems and lead pipes, let's upgrade them. Why? Because drinking lead will kill our children, literally.

And so we have to acknowledge the public health issue, but also, again, say the opportunity in upgrading these systems and fixing and repairing the system to create jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: Vice President Harris has been in California since Friday, first to celebrate the Easter holiday and now this trip to sell the infrastructure proposal. And that remains the focus, instead of immigration affecting parts of that state at HHS-run overflow shelters for migrant kids or the border, where 171,000 migrants were apprehended last month, up from about 100,000 the month before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: The Washington Post is reporting that some of these people are carrying drugs. Has the administration maybe reached out to Mexico to try to stop the flow of drugs or help stop the flow of drugs into American communities?

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That's always a part of our diplomatic conversations, certainly through the State Department and other entities within the government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: We do not know of any plans for Vice President Harris to visit the border or to visit any of the Northern Triangle countries in South America that she is tasked with talking to about root causes of migration this trip -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Peter Doocy, thank you very, very much.

So, we have got Texas Sheriff of Jackson County A.J. Louderback with us.

Sheriff, always good to have you.

Do you think she -- she will be in the neighborhood, but two hours north, I grant you, but she will be relatively close. But it doesn't look like she's going to be going to the border. What do you think of that?

A.J. LOUDERBACK, JACKSON COUNTY, TEXAS, SHERIFF: Well, sad.

Yes, should she go to the border and address this national crisis that the president's signature is on? The answer is, hell, yes, she should. We have got a real problem here. We have got abject fear with our citizens. We have got a situation here in Texas, in the U.S. that sheriffs are concerned all across this nation, law enforcement, serious concerns about the well-being of our citizens in these counties and these cities.

CAVUTO: Where is this going, Sheriff? I mean, the crowds that grow, we're told anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 a week, if we maintain this piece -- this pace, there's no way you could physically keep up with that.

I know they're marshaled out to various -- particularly the migrant minors, to various facilities all around the country. But, pretty soon, I suspect we're going to run out of facilities.

LOUDERBACK: Well, certainly, we don't have the beds for what's going on.

The policies, where's it going? It's a great question. The policies need to -- need to stop. We need to go back to the table. We have got to go back and have a conversation about this.

When you have an urgency of your policies that outstrip your capabilities and endanger your citizens here in the United States, then that leadership has to come up. You have got to admit, sometimes, that look, in our urgency, in our haste to put something together, be a welcoming nation, that's all fine and good.

But you need to have local and state and federal conversations about how you're going to do that without endangering Texans and Americans here. Those conversations haven't started. So, we're still out here struggling with that. You have a citizenry that's struggling with this whole thing.

This is a catastrophic crisis that needs to stop.

CAVUTO: I'm just wondering as well, then, Sheriff, what do you do about reports of the caravans emanating from Guatemala, again, points further south, where those who are coming in are not from Mexico? They're not even from South America. Some have been picked up from Africa or what have you.

What is really going on?

LOUDERBACK: Well, it's incentivize magnets.

I mean, the incentives that come here, with a zero border, and coming here with the promise of benefits here is a magnet you have got to turn off. Listen, we have got to balance that this the safety and security of our nation. We have -- it's a national border with Mexico.

I mean, this is a DHS issue, the Department of Homeland Security. The most basic, fundamental situation that we have in here is to take care of your border and your people. You can be as welcoming as you want. And we are a welcoming country. That's a million a year on legal immigration under, an orderly standardized process that works very, very well, as we have seen the last two years.

This is, in so many ways, indicative of an administration that had not thought this out to the betterment of the American people.

CAVUTO: These migrant minors, eventually, their cases will be adjudicated in the United States, not in Mexico. And then the question becomes, how and when are they reunited with their families?

Because it would seem that their families or family members would come here. The plan does not seem to be to bring them back there.

LOUDERBACK: Well, the plan, to me, clearly -- and I have been down this path for some time now -- the plan clearly is to bring everyone possible into the United States, into the interior of the United States, and then -- and then be released.

And one of sheriffs' concerns around the nation is the accountability. I mean, nobody knows exactly where anyone's going. The NGOs are saying that that's private information. So we don't know who's come into our counties until they show up in buses. We don't know what state is receiving who.

We don't know who's actually coming into the country here, some of them with no travel documents whatsoever and a promise to appear, which ICE had to -- CBP had to stop here a number of weeks ago, simply because of the amount of people that the surge caused and the policy change.

So, I mean, these are all massive concerns to the American public.

CAVUTO: Yes, I'm sure to you. Not only you're running out of room. At the rate we're going, Sheriff, you're running out of buses.

LOUDERBACK: Well, it's...

CAVUTO: Thanks for all your hard work, sir.

LOUDERBACK: Yes. Thanks, Neil. Appreciate it.

CAVUTO: No, I appreciate you.

Sheriff, thank you. Keep us posted on these developments.

In the meantime, Joe Biden said that these tax increases that Republicans are complaining about aren't going to do any harm to the economy. But it's something his Treasury secretary suggested today that indicates they're more anxious than they're saying.

I will explain -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, a variety of cruise lines, including a region right now, are asking the CDC to go ahead and let them hit the waters as soon as July.

Will they? The read from the CDC and what it does -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Are you afraid that a higher tax will drive corporations to...

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Not at all.

QUESTION: ... other countries, though?

BIDEN: Not at all. Look, the tax...

QUESTION: Why not?

BIDEN: Because there's no evidence of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right, no evidence, the president says, that any of those expected tax hikes on corporate rates from 21 to 28 percent are going to ding the economy that he says is improving, and they will more than absorb that.

But you might ask yourself a question, then why is his Treasury secretary coming up with a global tax plan that would make it very hard for not only companies to hide or move elsewhere, but for any country that picks up on this trend to challenge the United States and try to get the better of that rate?

Let's get the read right now from Edward Lawrence following it all from Washington.

Hey, Edward.

EDWARD LAWRENCE, FOX BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil. Yes.

And some of those Democratic senators also might question the competitiveness. Now, one of those swing votes in the Senate, Senator Joe Manchin, says the Democrats do not have the votes to pass the American Rescue Plan as it stands.

The issue rests with that corporate tax rate going up to 28 percent in the plan. It's important to hear Senator Manchin's words with a local radio affiliate in West Virginia. Listen,

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): There are six or seven other Democrats who feel very strongly about this. We have to be competitive. And we're not going to throw caution to the wind.

So, we have to have our Republican friends work with us too. And that's why we have a bipartisan committee.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: And the senator says that he would support a 25 percent corporate tax rate, which he says is about the average around the world.

Now, Manchin hinted that the bill could be broken up into three different parts, adding that the final bill will not look like what it looks like now on the paper.

This comes as the Biden administration started conversations with lawmakers on Capitol Hill about raising that corporate tax rate to pay for the American Jobs Plan. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen making that outreach, as she is addressing the opening session for the World Bank, making the opening case to raise global corporate tax rates to a minimum level.

Now, she told the group that the U.S. can afford all this spending.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: I do believe we have the fiscal space to act boldly. I think it's important in mitigating the suffering of the pandemic and the long-term adverse consequences to U.S. potential output if we fail to do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: Yes, to pay for some of that, keeping corporations here paying that higher rate.

And the G12 has set a goal of July to come up with a possible corporate tax framework. On the political side, however, an administration, a Treasury official tells me that they do not expect all of the G20 countries to sign onto something like this -- back to you.

CAVUTO: And why would they, Edward, right? I mean, they would have an advantage right now and take full advantage of that, right?

LAWRENCE: Right.

Just look at the states. I mean, states are offering Amazon -- Virginia offered them huge tax incentives to move their second headquarters there. New York did the same, although AOC ran them out of town. But New York was offering tax rebates and rebates to bring Amazon in.

It's no difference on a global scale.

CAVUTO: Yes, follow the money, or follow the least taxes, I guess. All right, thank you, my friend, very, very much.

Let's go to Scott Hodge, the Tax Foundation president. They had an interesting study, I think it was last week, that took a look at combined rates in this country, talking what corporations are paying, not only the federal level, but what they pay in many, many states.

And that combined rate, now, many countries don't have that -- there are regional taxes in some countries, not all, that go on top of those country rates, but even allowing for that, it would put the U.S. in the unenviable position of having the highest combined corporate rates on the planet.

Scott, that is not a good economic prescription for us. Spell it out.

SCOTT HODGE, PRESIDENT, TAX FOUNDATION: Well, not at all, Neil.

In fact, economists at the OECD in Paris determined that the corporate income tax is the most harmful tax for economic growth. So, to say that raising taxes, as Biden is proposing, on corporations is going to have no economic consequences is just plain false, and especially as we see other countries such as France, which is lowering their corporate tax rate to 25 percent -- they don't have a state level rate.

Sweden is cutting their corporate tax rate to 20 percent. Other countries are trying to be more competitive and attract jobs, wages and investment to their countries through lower corporate taxes.

And, meanwhile, we're talking about going the other direction. And, as you say, if you combine the federal rate of 28 percent, which he's proposing, with the average of the state rates, we're looking at having the highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world again.

CAVUTO: We could even get sidetracked here to take a look at individual rates that will likely go up to what they were, the highest rate would be 39.6 percent.

But there are a lot of ancillary and Social Security Medicare surtaxes and the like that could lift that up still higher, even tucked into this plan to go green, a lot more green from that crowd.

But what I find interesting, Scott, it won't only be from that crowd. It's going to spread wide and far. And I don't think a lot of people realize that.

HODGE: No.

In fact, other studies have shown that the U.S. has one of the most progressive income tax systems on the individual side, that the wealthy in our country pay a higher share of the tax burden than do the wealthy in any other country. The poor in the United States have the lowest tax burden compared to the poor in other countries.

And that's because we do so much through things like the Earned Income Tax Credit, the child credit and other things, in which we're essentially -- the IRS has become an extension of the welfare state, expanding a lot of benefits through the tax code that other countries simply don't do.

CAVUTO: Scott, real quickly, a lot of companies knew this day was coming. They knew their rate would go up to 28 percent. They planned for it accordingly.

Their stocks have been moving up through this whole back-and-forth. Is it - - is it because they're prepared for it, and we're overstating the case, or they don't think it's ever going to come to fruition?

HODGE: Well, there may be a lot of wishful thinking that, somewhere, as Congress starts debating this, that the rate will settle in much lower than 28 percent.

I think a lot of companies are hoping it'll settle in around 25 percent. And they think that they can live with that. The problem is that there are a lot of other tax increases in the Biden plan that would affect the tax base, which would expand and actually raise their effective tax rates beyond what that statutory rate is.

So, they could get -- they could live with a 25 percent rate, but they may not be able to live with the changes that are happening -- or being proposed to the international tax rules that will dramatically increase their international tax liability.

CAVUTO: All right, we will watch it very closely, Scott Hodge, Tax Foundation president.

Some intriguing -- or, actually, eyebrow-raising numbers that he has put together on just where we compare with the rest of the world. And this is a list you do not want to be on top of.

All right.

When we come back here, taking a look at the United Airlines, it's the latest company right now to come out against the election law that's taking effect in Georgia. It's getting to be a very long list -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Found it completely discouraging to find a bunch of corporate CEOs getting in the middle of politics.

My advice to the corporate CEOs of America is to stay out of politics. Don't pick sides in these big fights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: ALL right, well, apparently, the United Airlines CEO did not hear that, or either ignored that. It's the latest company right now to come out against Georgia's new election law that has created a buzz saw of controversy.

Steve Harrigan with the latest now from Atlanta.

Hey, Steve.

STEVE HARRIGAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Neil, United's statement doesn't mention Georgia specifically. But it does say that there's been zero evidence of any widespread voter fraud.

It also says that any attempt to limit Americans from voting is wrong, so weighing in without mentioning Georgia by name. We have already seen Delta and Coca-Cola CEOs weigh in hard here in Georgia, criticizing Georgia's voting law, which they say restricts access to the ballot box.

And that has drawn a lot of pushback from Republicans. Also, this story, as it gets bigger and bigger here in Georgia, we may see it spread soon beyond Georgia's boundaries, Texas now facing a similar law, it's passed the state Senate, which would limit extended early voting hours, once again, the same arguments.

Republicans say this is about voting integrity. Democrats say this is about voter suppression, and, again, the big corporations weighing in, in Texas, including American Airlines, who say we oppose this bill, this bill is wrong.

So, obviously, the CEOs not paying much attention to Mitch McConnell -- Neil, back to you.

CAVUTO: Steve Harrigan, thank you very, very much.

Well, had it with all this furor over the vaccine passport push? You know, there's an app for that -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, what if I told you the real villain in this whole "Godzilla vs. Kong" movie isn't Godzilla and it's not Kong?

It's this guy named Walter Simmons from the movie. He's a billionaire who runs a company called Apex Cybernetics. The name even sounds evil, Apex Cybernetics.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Anyway, I don't want to give away the movie. And it was fun. I watched it with my teenage son. He enjoyed it, said I was stressing too much on the anti-business theme, as he usually does, just eat your popcorn, dad, and leave it at that.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: But my point is. This is not the first movie that has characterize the villain as a businessman or a rich guy.

Again, I don't want to give away what's going on here, but these two are fine. Godzilla, Kong, they're fine, all right? It's what this evil billionaire is crafting that's not fine.

But I have seen it again and again.

And so has Mike Gunzelman, even though he's much younger than me. The Internet radio host, we just call him Gunz, kind enough to join me now.

Well, obviously, it's a popular movie. I take nothing away from that, Gunz.

MIKE GUNZELMAN, INTERNET RADIO HOST: Yes.

CAVUTO: And $48 million in a pandemic world, $9 million the very first night. So, big popcorn movies are back.

Your thoughts on whether this one deserves to be back?

GUNZELMAN: Well, it's a tale as old as time though, Neil, as you were kind of saying.

The fact is that the rich...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Wait. You got that from a movie.

GUNZELMAN: The greedy, the corrupt, the haves vs. the have-nots.

CAVUTO: Right. Right. Right. Right.

GUNZELMAN: And Hollywood loves telling the story across all aspects of media.

So, you go back to like the 1940s, all-time classic film, "It's a Wonderful Life." And you have Mr. Potter. He was the evil banker.

CAVUTO: Absolutely.

GUNZELMAN: To then to stories with like Lex Luthor, who is like the power- mad businessman in "Superman," but also even animation.

Mr. Burns from the Simpsons is the evil nuclear power plant boss. And the story continues on and on and on. And the one thing all these villains have in common, Neil, is money. They're rich. They're wealthy. And that allows them, in Hollywood's eyes, to be able to manipulate and to be able to continue on their power hold, their power grasp against the have-nots.

And Hollywood loves this, and it's not going to end any time, Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, well, you're right. It isn't ending anytime soon.

But some of them get creative. I mean, what, five of the Bond films, five of the Bond films had industrialist, evil kind of nemesis characters, right? And I think, in just some of them. This Elliot Carver in "Tomorrow Never Dies," he was a British media baron. I'm thinking to myself, British media? Wait a...

(LAUGHTER)

GUNZELMAN: Right.

CAVUTO: So I'm just saying, Gunz, why do we always do this? Why do we play to that?

And I know there are good examples, like "Iron Man," and what he's trying to do to help the world. Batman, he said that his superpower was that he was rich. I get it.

But they're rare. They're the exception.

GUNZELMAN: Right.

CAVUTO: And, by the way, they're a little offbeat themselves.

My point is, why do we always do this? This is why I think people are perfectly happy having corporations pay higher taxes, because, otherwise, they would spend the money to destroy the world. Your thoughts?

(LAUGHTER)

GUNZELMAN: Well said, for sure, right there.

Well, I feel that Hollywood loves perpetuating this class warfare, that this us vs. them mentality, that, if you are wealthy, if you have been able to get to a certain level, well, there's no way that you did that by nice and clean...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: You must want to blow up the planet, right.

GUNZELMAN: You must have done it -- you must be corrupt.

CAVUTO: Right.

GUNZELMAN: You must have had to step over people, cutthroat world, cutthroat industry.

And I think that they're playing on the local town-type vibes, that, if two people got arrested for the same crime, one person, average Joe, one person with a lot of money, which person's going to jail? Which person's going to get in trouble? The average Joe.

CAVUTO: But, see, Gunz, that's the problem.

You're a young, impressionable lad.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: And you hear this. You grow up with movies like this, and you assume business is bad.

Now, I'm lecturing my teenage son on this. And he says, well, it sounds true to me, and, essentially looking at me, well, what do you know about business anyway? And I said, hello?

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: But I -- then I moved on. Then I moved on.

GUNZELMAN: Yes.

CAVUTO: But my point is, I see this again and again. It plays in a loop where every business is bad. There's so many villains. You obviously -- Lex Luthor with Superman and "Monsters, Inc.," this...

GUNZELMAN: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Remember, what was the character's name, Henry Waternoose?

GUNZELMAN: Right.

CAVUTO: I will kidnap 1,000 children before I let the first company die.

Really? Really? This is something that's being taught to our kids. This is what happened to you, Gunz.

(CROSSTALK)

GUNZELMAN: That's why I am who I am.

But I must say, Neil, in recent years, when I started realizing getting involved in stocks and stuff, especially the last year, I love money.

CAVUTO: Right.

GUNZELMAN: If somebody gave me money, I will be the best businessman and boss in the world.

(LAUGHTER)

GUNZELMAN: I love money. Show me the money, baby. I will be one of the nice guys. I won't be the -- I will be the nice guy.

But you're right. it is a story ...

CAVUTO: But you see what I'm saying, though?

You're actually a very smart guy. You're very witty. You know what's going on around you and all. You don't look at companies as automatically evil.

GUNZELMAN: Right.

CAVUTO: Some are very bad. And some will get between, let's say, a 50-foot ape and a lizard. But some are not all.

And I'm just saying that this is why people overwhelmingly support higher corporate taxes, even if it means the company they're working for pays higher corporate taxes. That's how entrenched this anti-business, anti- wealth view is.

GUNZELMAN: Yes.

CAVUTO: I'm not an apologist for this crowd. I'm just saying, how about being a little fair and balanced with this crowd?

GUNZELMAN: Well, you're asking a lot from Hollywood to be able to do that, right? Do as I say, not as I do.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: It's too late for me. It's too late for me, Gunz.

GUNZELMAN: I'm the next generation. I promise you I will make it better.

CAVUTO: I want you to make this right.

If you had to do a movie portraying business, how would it be portrayed in the Mike Gunzelman movie?

GUNZELMAN: Well, the narrative has been -- it's been indoctrinated into our brains growing up, especially for millennials and Gen-Zers and more, that big business, they're out to get you, that they're evil, that they're corrupt, and that they are not looking out for you.

Now, personally, I would still -- I would say, well, look at the opportunity they have been able to do and the good that they have been able to bring. And, sure, it might sound good in Hollywood that, oh, yes, they're all evil, but bottom line is, they're not all evil.

And if we have learned anything in the past year, especially during this COVID time...

CAVUTO: But you're paying them. You're paying them. And you're subsidizing this by going to these movies.

GUNZELMAN: If we have learned anything, it's that I'm more scared of the politician than the companies these days.

CAVUTO: Oh, I see.

GUNZELMAN: The politician, I feel like a Cuomo or a de Blasio, they just want that power.

CAVUTO: Oh, sure.

GUNZELMAN: They're restricting me more than a company is.

So, that's...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Yes, they can raise taxes. You're right. They can raise taxes. And they are.

GUNZELMAN: Yes. I'm more worried about them than Hollywood.

CAVUTO: Thank you, my friend, very, very much.

GUNZELMAN: Thank you.

CAVUTO: All right, fair enough, fair enough.

And don't even get me started in the fact that most of them have a British accent. I don't know why that is the case. You never hear a villain who has a Brooklyn accent, say, hey, I am going to blow up the world, eh?

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: You don't hear it. I'm telling you.

America, watch this, but know what's happening to you.

We will have more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, so you had with all this whole the vaccine passport thing? Well, there is an app for that. And I meant it. There literally is.

And Sarah Lomas has it. She's the REVIV president and CEO. It's a health passport app, if you will in Las Vegas that kind of gets to the bottom of, all right, you have COVID-19 or don't you?

Sarah, very, very nice you to take the time.

Explain how this works.

SARAH LOMAS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, REVIV: Hi. How are you? Very nice to be here today.

Very simply, in fact. HELIIX is an application that will allow events to take place for individuals to arrive into the city of Las Vegas. If we imagine the show, and you want to go into that show, knowing that the people in there are either vaccinated or COVID-negative, then, as a -- REVIV is a medical company first and foremost.

So, we will test the individual with rapid antigen, upload those results to HELIIX, which will then deliver the passport technology to allow entry into the event. And it's really that simple, testing and technology and bringing those two things together.

CAVUTO: So, how quickly do you get those results?

LOMAS: Twenty minutes.

So, using rapid antigen...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: All right, so you get that, and then you would be -- if people were leery about you entering a casino or any other property, they'd be less leery.

Good for you, safe for you, and good for where you're going, right?

LOMAS: Yes, yes, exactly.

I mean, we're seeing just such a vast range here in Las Vegas -- well, all over the world, actually. But Las Vegas is fighting and fighting back hard for the opening of mass events and the opening of shows and conventions.

That's why I'm here this week, so that we can really deploy HELIIX to allow those conventions to take place safely and to kind of avoid all the discussions around vaccination and discriminating against somebody that doesn't want to be vaccinated or doesn't want to share those vaccination results.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: So, this isn't about a vaccination. It's just whether you have COVID or not, right?

So it doesn't get into that whole argument, right?

LOMAS: It can be everything that it wants to be.

It's a platform. It's a platform that allows the individual first and foremost to be in control. If they want to sign a HIPAA and allow the vaccinations to be uploaded, then they can do so.

If not, and they do want to attend a convention that's COVID-secure and has a geolocator for track-and-trace, then they can only enter that with a green passport. And to enable that green passport, they will have to be tested and ensure that they are COVID-negative before entering into the event, whether that is a convention, whether that is a show.

Whoever wants to...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: All right.

I think it's a -- no, I think it's a great idea. And it removes a lot of these other things that the government is trying to force down your throat. We will watch it closely.

Sarah Lomas is the REVIV president and CEO.

I think that's something that -- for which there could be some more support, certainly more support than the vaccine passport thing.

Here's "THE FIVE."

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

END

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