What's the economic fallout of potential Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine?

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What's the economic fallout of potential Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine?

Real Clear Politics reporter Philip Wegmann reacts on 'Your World'

This is a rush transcript from “Your World With Cavuto” November 9, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto, and this is YOUR WORLD.

And what in the world to make of changed dynamics? A week ago, it's a 

nation all focused on election eve, now delighting in the prospect of a 

potential cure or a remedy for the pandemic that has gripped the world. 

The latest on the fallout from all of this for the markets and why they 

acted the way they did with Susan Li

Hey, Susan.

SUSAN LI, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Neil, best day on Wall Street in seven 

months, brand-new record highs. 

And, as you mentioned Pfizer's announcement A vaccine could be approved 

before year-end with 90 percent efficacy means the U.S. economy could 

reopen sooner than expected, and we could get back to traveling like we 

used to, airlines recovering on the optimism. U.S. airlines laid off more 

than 30,000 last month, while losing billions of dollars.

Same for cruise lines. Norwegian warning earlier this year that it may 

struggle to survive. Hotels and casinos getting some relief as well. 2020 

is set to be the worst year on record for hotel occupancy. COVID is roughly 

nine times worse than 9/11 for the travel industry, according to one 

analysis.

So, as money goes back into travel names, money is coming out of lockdown 

winners, those that did well as people worked in schools from home. So, 

think of Peloton, Zoom, which is now in our everyday language, DocuSign, 

Netflix, and Shopify.

Stock markets coming off the best election week since 1932. And Wall Street 

believe that a lightly divided government will mean less regulation and 

lower taxes. 

Now, in nearly a century, divided and unified governments have resulted in 

similar gains for the S&P 500. But what is the best type of divided 

government for Wall Street? Well, history tells us that a Democrat in the 

White House, with a Democrat Senate and Republican-controlled House has 

actually outperformed in nearly a century.

Second best is the GOP controlling both the White House and the Senate, 

with a Democratic-led House. So, interesting that this year, Neil, that 

we're likely looking at a Democrat in the White House and control of the 

House, while Republicans will likely have control the Senate.

And that's the first time in nearly a century that that scenario is playing 

out. Isn't that interesting, Neil? 

CAVUTO:  Yes. Combine that with the vaccine news, and it was a nice one-two 

punch up.

LI:  Yes. 

CAVUTO:  Thank you very much, Susan, as always, Susan Li of FOX Business 

Network fame, which, if you don't get, you should demand.

Of course, you do get it, and so you don't have to demand it. 

Blake Burman with us right now and the president about what he made of his 

coronavirus news here and the vaccine potential, because, in the middle of 

that, someone lost their job today -- Blake.

(LAUGHTER)

BLAKE BURMAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  A busy Monday we got over here, 

Neil.

Actually, there was a Coronavirus Task Force meeting in the White House 

within the past hour or so. Of course, that comes on the heels of this 

great news from Pfizer today about its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, by and 

large, effective, potentially close to the finish line here of the clinical 

trial. 

This was how President Trump reacted as he took to Twitter earlier this 

morning, writing the following, at one point saying -- quote -- "Stock 

market up big. Vaccine coming soon. Report 90 percent effective. Such great 

news."

Here was the health and human services secretary, Alex Azar, on what could 

potentially come next. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX AZAR, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY:  Yes, so Pfizer will 

have to now pull together their data and submit it to the FDA, where it 

will undergo an independent review process there. And so it, of course, has 

to be authorized by the FDA. 

So you should be thinking in the several-week-time period both for the 

submission and then review by FDA of the data. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURMAN:  Azar is one of the leaders of Operation Warp Speed. So too was the 

now former head of the Pentagon, Mark Esper. 

President Trump announcing today that he has fired the former defense 

secretary. This had been widely speculated that it could happen after the 

election. In what essentially amounted to an exit interview with "The 

Military Times," Esper said late last week that he was not going to resign. 

And he pushed back on the idea that he might have been a yes-man to the 

president. This, of course, Neil, begs the question of who might be next.

By the way, also in the president's Cabinet, we continue to monitor the 

health now of the housing and urban development secretary, Dr. Ben Carson, 

as his office today confirmed that the doctor has COVID-19, a spokesperson 

for Dr. Carson saying that he is in -- quote, unquote -- "good spirits."

Just 4:05 here on the East Coast on a Monday afternoon, Neil. 

(LAUGHTER)

BURMAN:  We will see where the rest of the week takes us over here at the 

White House -- back to you.

CAVUTO:  When it rains, it pours.

BURMAN:  Yes. 

CAVUTO:  Blake, has the administration responded to the timing of this 

Pfizer-BioNTech announcement on this potential vaccine? 

I'm just imagining, if it had come out last week at this time, would have 

had a very different impact. But you never know. 

BURMAN:  Right. 

CAVUTO:  But, I mean, have they talked about that? The company's CEO, 

Pfizer's CEO, said, no, it's not anything to do with the politics or the 

timing of the election or any of that.

BURMAN:  Right.

CAVUTO:  But their thoughts?

BURMAN:  I mean, I can tell you, Neil, this morning, I personally reached 

out to the White House to ask for any sort of reaction to what we learned 

from Pfizer. 

That was first thing this morning. I have not heard back from the White 

House on this. The Pfizer CEO said, of course, that they may know or, on 

the flip side, may not know whether this thing -- whether the COVID-19 

vaccine candidate was safe by October.

Of course, then there -- or effective by October. Then, of course, there's 

the safety issue of it, which is the next part of it.

CAVUTO:  Right. 

BURMAN:  But, no, we haven't exactly heard from the White House.

But the Pfizer did -- CEO did say they may know or they may not know -- 

Neil. 

CAVUTO:  Yes, that's another line like, it is what it is. 

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO:  All right, Blake Burman, thank you very much, my friend. 

BURMAN:  You got it.

CAVUTO:  Busy day for Blake on this Monday after the election. 

Ted Weisberg is with us right now of Seaport Securities, Kathryn Rooney 

Vera of Bulltick Capital Markets. 

Welcome to both of you, guys. 

You know, Kathryn, we could go back and forth on when -- the timing of this 

vaccine news, but, obviously, it was deemed to be very promising news for 

the markets. I noticed airline stocks were soaring today on the notion that 

maybe this will get people flying sooner than thought.

Was it an overreaction? By day's end, I mean, many of those gains, 

impressive though they were, were halved. What do you make of that? 

KATHRYN ROONEY VERA, BULLTICK CAPITAL MARKETS HOLDINGS:  Well, the much-

anticipated, Neil, rotation into value stocks and small cap value certainly 

came to the fore today. Technology underperformed and those value stocks 

really outperformed.

So, the market, I think, got ahead of itself. The fact is that we have a 

promising vaccine, but it's not widely distributed. And, Neil, I think the 

biggest push to the upside for the markets is that the assumption that the 

Senate will remain in Republican hands, serving as a speed bump, if not a 

full stop sign, to corporate tax hikes. 

And I think that is also potentially a mistake. We have the Georgia run-off 

January 25. And can you imagine, Neil, the amount of cash that's going to 

be thrown into this race, the repercussions of which -- the repercussions 

of which are enormous. 

I mean, if the Republicans lose those two Georgia seats, then it's de facto 

Democratic controls. And we're back to the drawing board, Neil, talking -- 

us analysts and economists talking about the negative impact that a 7 

percentage point increase in the corporate tax rate would have on corporate 

earnings and the S&P 500. 

CAVUTO:  All right, just to elaborate on that, Joe Biden has proposed to 

hike corporate taxes from 21 percent to 28 percent, splitting the 

difference from where they were last time, when the president lowered it 

from 35 percent to 21 percent. 

Having said that, Ted Weisberg, though, I am curious. The markets breathe a 

sigh of relief that the Senate would still be in Republican hands. As you 

know, Kathryn pointed out there's a possibility that these twin Senate 

elections, run-offs that are scheduled for January 5 could tip Democrat. 

They both have to tip Democrat for that to happen. 

But your thoughts if they do, if that happens. What then?

TED WEISBERG, PRESIDENT, SEAPORT SECURITIES CORPORATION:  Well, I think, in 

fact, if that does happen, it's going to be a big negative for the market. 

I mean, we have discussed that possible scenario prior to the presidential 

election, if, in fact, the Democrats were able to sweep the Senate and, of 

course, maintain the House. So I would agree that that potentially is a 

game-changer, at least as far as the markets are concerned. 

But the good news, Neil, is that we have another two months to live before 

we have to worry about that. 

(LAUGHTER)

WEISBERG:  And we will know the answer to that soon enough.

Meanwhile, today obviously was a fabulous day. And it was great news from 

Pfizer, but the president and his administration has been telegraphing the 

prospect of a vaccine, not for weeks, but for months. It's a timing issue. 

But, clearly, today's news was good news. 

And you saw, as your previous guests pointed out, a complete reversal in 

sentiment, I mean, a strong market. It's unfortunate that we had to give 

back a lot of the gains. But we still had a very healthy -- a healthy, 

positive day. 

And it's all those sectors that were out of favor, all of a sudden, they're 

in favor. And the sectors that had been in favor are out of favor. Just 

look at the Nasdaq being down today. What a difference a day makes.

It's too bad we can't trade with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. 

CAVUTO:  I thought that's what you did. I thought that's all you did. You 

had that.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO:  I thank you, Ted. I thank you, Kathryn, very, very much. 

So, let's get a doctor's read of all of this of the significance of this 

vaccine news, if it ultimately pans out.

Dr. Bob Lahita back with us, St. Joseph University Hospital, the chairman 

of medicine, New York Medical College professor of medicine, much, much 

more. 

Doctor, let's say this pans out, and hope matches the reality, and the 

reality matches the hope. How quickly would that be able to get into folks' 

hands? 

DR. BOB LAHITA, ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL:  It'll be able -- hi, Neil. 

First of all, good to see you again. 

CAVUTO:  Same here.

LAHITA:  It's going to get into people's hands. 

Remember, this is -- this is warp speed, as the previous administration, or 

the current administration, said. Ten months to get a vaccine like this is 

absolutely amazing, really amazing. And right now, we're looking at an 

authorization, an emergency use authorization, which will be available, I 

presume, by next week. 

They're saying the third week of November. And that's really very exciting 

news. By the end of 2020, we're going to hear Pfizer -- Pfizer having 50 

million doses, 50 million doses. And, by 2021, when it's going to be 

available to everybody, the public, there's going to be 1.3 billion doses 

in 2021. 

They're already ramping up to produce these, Neil. Now, this has...

CAVUTO:  So, Doctor, what -- how does it go? How does it go in terms of 

distributing this to the people?

There's a certain order. Could you explain how that would go, likely? 

LAHITA:  Yes.

Likely, I'm told it will go to those vulnerable people first, which are the 

elderly and those with comorbidities who are at extreme risk of dying from 

the disease. After that, it's going to go to health care workers, nurses, 

doctors, EMTs, paramedics, police officers, firemen, after that, 

conductors, bus operators, et cetera, people who are vital to the workings 

of our society. 

And that's the way it's going to go. And it's extremely exciting, because I 

can now see more than the light at the end of the tunnel. I can see the end 

of the tunnel with bright lights. Very, very exciting. 

And, Neil, this is the...

CAVUTO:  So, people get cavalier with this sort of stuff, though, Doctor, 

right? 

LAHITA:  Yes. 

CAVUTO:  I mean, a lot of them are going to say, well, I guess I can 

dispense with the whole mask thing. I guess I can...

LAHITA:  No.

CAVUTO:  ... eat to my heart's content as late as I want, if my restaurants 

or bars are open in my state. And in states like New Jersey and 

Connecticut, that was just pulled back.

So, people can get a little cocky prematurely. What do you tell them? 

LAHITA:  Yes, I tell them to keep mitigating, keep wearing the mask, and 

keep the social distancing, and wash your hands. Behave as though 

everything is radioactive that you come into contact with. Don't let your 

guard down. 

Remember, this is an emergency use authorization. And this is after two 

injections. These injections are one and then 21 days later, another one. 

And then the measured data right now, seven days after, and now they're 

going to do 14 days after, and it's 90 percent effective.

But we don't want to let people's guards down, because we're still going to 

have 100,000 people a day infected from now until the vaccine is released, 

which could be March or April. So, let's not get cocky, let's not get crazy 

and start dropping our masks and socializing and screaming and yelling and 

going to bars and having -- sharing beers with all of our friends.

That, we don't want to see -- Neil. 

CAVUTO:  All right, very good advice. 

Dr. Bob Lahita, always good catching up with you, my friend, and stepping 

back and looking at the big calm picture...

LAHITA:  Thanks.

CAVUTO:  ... which you do very, very well.

Well, speaking of the virus, I should say that Joe Biden announced his 

Coronavirus Task Force today. Some of the members were what you would 

expect, a former surgeon general under Barack Obama, a former FDA 

commissioner, also under the former administration, and then a fellow who 

was a whistle-blower on Donald Trump, who resigned after he said that 

warnings of the pandemic were not heeded by the administration. 

We're going to look into that and the fallout from who Joe Biden is talking 

to -- after this. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

CAVUTO:  Well, he said he would do it, and now president-elect Joe Biden 

has, announcing his own COVID-19 task force. And it's a rather eclectic 

bunch. 

Jacqui Heinrich has more from Wilmington. 

Hey, Jacqui. 

JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Hey, Neil. 

The president-elect has cheered on that good news coming from -- coming 

about the Pfizer vaccine, but also today, during that briefing, urged 

people to take seriously mask wearing and social distancing, saying that we 

have got a long winter ahead of us. 

He's trying to strike the everybody's president tone, saying that these 

actions shouldn't be seen through a political lens or as an effort to 

restrict people, but it's steps that people need to take to bring cases 

down because widespread vaccine distribution is still far off. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT:  The expectation is the FDA will run a 

process of rigorous reviews and approvals. And the process results must 

also be grounded in science and fully transparent.

At the same time, it's clear that this vaccine, even if approved, will not 

be widely available for many months yet to come. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEINRICH:  But the General Services Administration certifies Biden's win. 

And there's little he can do to put plans in motion until that happens, 

meaning the more than $9 million in federal funding set aside to aid his 

transition is off-limits until then.

Part of that money goes toward training and doing background checks for 

Cabinet appointees and also physical space at federal agencies. Yesterday, 

the Biden transition team urged the GSA to get on it, telling us: 

"America's national security and economic interests depend on the federal 

government signaling clearly and swiftly that the United States government 

will respect the will of the American people and engage in a smooth and 

peaceful transition of power."

Now, with the possibility that the Republicans continue to control the 

Senate, many of those positions he plans to appoint won't take -- might 

take a long time. And so there's work to be done, because a lot of those 

health care agency heads that he would have to appoint can't wait too long 

past January 20 to get those people in place. 

So, there's work behind the scenes getting all of that rolling now, Neil. 

CAVUTO:  Yes, to put it mildly. 

Jacqui, thank you very, very much, Jacqui on all of that.

When we were exploring a little bit of who's on this august panel right now 

to help the president-elect, Vivek Murthy, you might remember that name, 

the top doctor in the country, the former surgeon general under Barack 

Obama, then David Kessler, the former FDA commissioner.

But one that stuck out, at least in our minds, when we saw it was Rick 

Bright. You might not remember him, per se, but he was the Trump whistle-

blower who had resigned after he said that his consistent warnings about 

the pandemic were being ignored by the administration, all part of this 

panel of advisers helping the president-elect deal and get organized for 

taking over how we deal with this virus in January.

Let's get to read from Phil Wegmann, the RealClearPolitics maestro.

You know, Phil, looking at that, and who's on this panel, particularly Rick 

Bright, what did you make of it and the signal that Biden might be sending 

here?

PHILIP WEGMANN, REALCLEARPOLITICS:  It's telling that this is one of the 

first actions from president-elect Biden.

He made tackling the coronavirus a top priority. He talked about it every 

day on the campaign trail and argued that he was going to be listening to 

the science and the best people on this. 

So, he moved quickly to put together a group of folks who certainly have 

the academic pedigree and certainly bring a little bit of political 

controversy with them. 

The message that he's telegraphing right here is that he is focused on 

getting the correct personnel, even if it is going in a different direction 

than his predecessor. 

CAVUTO:  I'm just wondering, because both candidates, particularly Kamala 

Harris, in her debate with Mike Pence, had talked about, if this was a 

vaccine being touted by Donald Trump, she wouldn't take it, if it was a 

vaccine being touted maybe by Anthony Fauci, she would, or notable medical 

experts. 

Now, this was one that was announced by the heads of Pfizer and BioNTech, 

just saying that it looks promising, but without getting ahead of their 

skis. 

So, no criticism of the source of this, but this could become a political 

football, can it not?

WEGMANN:  Yes, everything in 2020 is political. 

And Senator Harris certainly caught some criticism because of her concern 

that maybe politics would encourage some pharmaceutical companies to cut 

corners. We can have that debate, and maybe it will become a topic of 

conversation very soon. 

But I think that something that we can't miss here is that, while this 

pandemic started in China, and certainly was exacerbated by the communist 

government there, it's encouraging that it was an American company and 

American allies who brought about the vaccine that hopefully will begin to 

be the end of this.

I think that, love him or hate him, Joe Biden is correct when he says that 

there's nothing that the American people can't do when they work together. 

And, again, love him or hate him, President Trump hopefully put together 

the infrastructure that's going to be able to push this vaccine out to the 

entire country. 

CAVUTO:  Yes, Operation Warp Speed had a lot to do that. That was a 

president from creation. But we leave the political back-and-forth aside 

for the time being, until I ask you this question. 

If we had gotten this news a week ago, what impact would it have had? 

(LAUGHTER)

WEGMANN:  That's the counterfactual question on the mind of everyone at the 

White House.

Everyone there is seeing this as bittersweet news.

CAVUTO:  I just want to stick you in a corner here on this one, yes.

WEGMANN:  And they appreciate it. And they hope that it comes to the 

American public soon, from the conversations I'm having with them. 

CAVUTO:  Obviously, it would have -- to hear many people say, it would have 

been a game-changer, at least would have eased a lot of people's concerns, 

had they heard it. 

It's interesting, when we look at markets and what they do, and I know 

you're too sophisticated to get caught up in them. 

But I am wondering whether the markets were saying this is the cure for the 

stymied sort of American spirit, that what -- left unshackled now by the 

fears of the virus, the economy under this new president, if he -- if all 

these legal efforts on the part of the Trump administration fail, is going 

to be good, that whether you want to credit or -- the president for 

Operation Warp Speed, which may be sped up the timetable for a potential 

cure for this thing, or at least a vaccine, it could unleash a lot of good 

things, a good economy, company earnings that could soar, airlines that 

have been floundering that now could see more filled seats. 

What do you think of the fallout from this, if everything goes clocked 

according to hopes? What do you think it's going to be? 

WEGMANN:  Well, I think that what we're seeing in the market is obviously 

optimism about this vaccine. 

I mean, come on, how could that not be the message that we're seeing in 

these tea leaves? People want to be done with lockdowns and the pandemic. 

CAVUTO:  Right. 

WEGMANN:  At the same time, I think the market might be reacting to the 

possibility of divided government, where Republicans control the Senate and 

Democrats have the White House, the idea being that if there is a bit of 

gridlock, things remain the same, and there are not big, sudden changes 

that would disrupt things.

That's good for planning if you're in business.

CAVUTO:  All right, don't start raiding my market turf, young man. 

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO:  I mean, but you're exactly right. That's exactly the sentiment 

that's building, Phil Wegmann of RealClearPolitics fame. 

And he's right about that. 

The other thing that Phil was right about, talking about the idea of the 

Republicans hanging onto the Senate, but it does really depend on these 

twin run-off elections that happen in Georgia on January 5. 

Republicans can only afford to lose one. They lose both, well, you have got 

Democrats running the Senate. What happens?

After this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

CAVUTO:  All right, a big day for news, and waiting to hear from RNC 

officials about that count every single vote, the focus certainly on 

Pennsylvania, but a few other states could come up as well. 

When they start speaking, we will be taking you there.

Stay with us. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

CAVUTO:  All right, Georgia has two Senate races. And they're going to go 

to two run-offs on January 5. 

They're crucial to seeing whether Republicans can hang on to the Republican 

control they enjoy right now. Split government, of course, we mentioned was 

good for Wall Street. We will see if it helps the Peach State one way or 

the other. Republicans can only afford to lose one of these races. They're 

optimistic they can avoid that altogether and win them both.

Jonathan Serrie right now with more on how things are going in Atlanta. 

Hey, Jonathan. 

JONATHAN SERRIE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Hi there, Neil. 

Well, a lot of news coming out this afternoon of the Georgia secretary of 

state's office. I will break it down for you. 

First item is, they held a news conference this afternoon, said that, so 

far, they have found no major issues with voting irregularity. But they do 

understand why Republicans are challenging some of the vote counts. 

Take a listen. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABRIEL STERLING, GEORGIA VOTING SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION MANAGER:  And when 

you're this close, and the emotions run this high, it's understandable. 

And the president, to a strong degree, has a responsibility to those 70 

million people or so who voted for him to say, I'm going to go through all 

the legal means to make sure your vote is defended. We understand that. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERRIE:  In addition to the presidential race, both of Georgia's U.S. 

senate seats are in play.

Democrat Raphael Warnock is challenging Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, 

who was appointed to fill the seat of Senator Johnny Isakson when he 

retired for health reasons last year. And Democrat Jon Ossoff is 

challenging Republican incumbent David Perdue. 

These Georgia races could affect the balance of power in Washington. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY):  Now we take Georgia, and then we can change 

the world. 

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  I'm sorry. Can you repeat that, Mr. Schumer?

SCHUMER:  Now we take Georgia, and then we can change America. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERRIE:  And, this afternoon, Senators Perdue and Loeffler, both of them 

Republicans, issued a joint statement calling for the resignation of 

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. 

Raffensperger is a fellow Republican and a fellow Trump supporter. But both 

of Georgia's Republican senators are alleging that there are failures in 

the election process and that the buck should stop with the Republican 

secretary of state.

Well, minutes ago, Raffensperger issued a response, saying -- quote -- "If 

I was Senator Perdue, I'd be irritated I was in a run-off. And both 

senators and I are all unhappy with the potential outcome of our president. 

But I am the duly elected secretary of state. One of my duties involves 

helping to run elections for all Georgia voters."

And he goes on in that statement to say that he is not resigning and that 

he will continue on in his duties as Georgia's top elections official -- 

Neil.

CAVUTO:  How could it be the secretary of state's fault that it was a close 

election in Georgia? How would that fall on him? 

SERRIE:  And that's what he's arguing, that the senators and the Republican 

base may not like the outcome of this election, may not like that Georgia 

may be turning blue, at least in this election cycle, but, as the person in 

charge of monitoring elections of managing elections for the state, that he 

has to be fair to all Georgia voters.

The Republican base may not like the outcome, but he doesn't have the 

ability to control the outcome. He's basically saying, don't blame the 

messenger. I only report -- if I'm doing my job correctly, I'm only 

reporting the results. 

CAVUTO:  So, if he monitored a landslide, that's OK for the president or 

for these senators. But if he is monitoring a close race, it's all on him. 

That just seems a little specious. But we shall see. 

All right, Jonathan Serrie.

SERRIE:  He's in a tough position because there are...

CAVUTO:  Yes.

SERRIE:  Yes.

Yes, I was just going to say...

CAVUTO:  No, I see what you mean. I just want them to be clear.

Go ahead.

SERRIE:  ... there are so many conspiracy theories out there, and there's 

political pressure to legitimize those theories. But he has to follow the 

facts. 

CAVUTO:  Yes. 

All right, thank you very much, my friend, Jonathan Serrie, on all of those 

developments here. 

In the meantime, one of the things we're following about what might happen 

under a President Biden is how quickly he can move, whether it's a 

Republican Senate or not. 

There are these things called executive orders. It is rather routine, as it 

was for this president, to issue them to undo what his predecessor was 

doing, who also issued a lot of executive orders to undo what his 

predecessor was doing. 

But exactly what executive orders and what would they overturn?

After this. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

CAVUTO:  All right, Joe Biden leaving a meeting with transition team 

members in Wilmington, Delaware, this ahead of news that Republicans are 

planning to outline their legal strategy to protest what was going on in 

states like Pennsylvania. It's only a couple of minutes away.

Want to sneak it, if I can, my buddy Charlie Gasparino with some signals he 

is hearing from team Biden how they might go in, I guess with a lot of 

executive orders, huh? 

CHARLIE GASPARINO, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT:  Right

And I think you're going to see them mostly on trade. And that's where the 

president has a lot of power on executive orders. As you know, you can't 

cut taxes by executive order. But on trade, and particularly some 

regulations involving fracking -- that came up during the campaign -- you 

can -- you can send some edicts out on environmental issues and on trade 

policy that could be pretty substantial.

The trade policy, I think, could be a net benefit for the American worker, 

in this sense, that we would stop the trade wars with our European allies. 

It would be less of a tit-for-tat tariffs with the European Union. 

It'll be -- it's unclear how far Biden will go in stopping those tariffs -- 

that tariff war with China. We should point out that China -- engaging 

China in a tariff war or in at least being sort of antagonistic with them 

on trade, given their poor record in the past of stealing intellectual 

property and creating a one-sided trade system, is a bipartisan issue. 

So, it's -- I wonder if he's going totally reverse what President Trump 

did.

CAVUTO:  So, in an executive order -- I don't mean to rush you buddy.

But an executive order on that, an executive order to reverse the climate 

change thing, right?

GASPARINO:  That's what it seems. 

That's where he's got his power, Neil. He doesn't have his power on taxes. 

And that's where...

CAVUTO:  All right.

GASPARINO:  And, as you know, if the Republicans pick up one of those 

Georgia seats -- a lot of hedge fund guys I know that are studying it say 

they will get at least one and maybe two -- then the broader Biden economic 

agenda is just not going to happen. 

CAVUTO:  All right, thank you, Charlie, very much. Sorry to interrupt you 

here. 

All it would take is one seat right now to just keep it still Republican. 

They lose both seats, it goes Democrat.

Kayleigh McEnany right now spelling out the Republican National Committee's 

plan to fight what's been going on in some states, notably Pennsylvania 

with the vote count.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY:  ... one a party in America 

that opposes verifying signatures, citizenship, residency, eligibility.

There is only one party in America trying to keep observers out of the 

count room. And that party, my friends, is the Democrat Party. 

You don't take these positions because you want an honest election. You 

don't oppose an audit of the vote because you want an accurate count. You 

don't oppose our efforts at sunlight and transparency because you have 

nothing to hide. 

You take these positions, because you are welcoming fraud, and you are 

welcoming illegal voting. Our position is clear. We want to protect the 

franchise of the American people. We want an honest, accurate, lawful 

count. 

We want maximum sunlight. We want maximum transparency. We want every legal 

vote to be counted. And we want every illegal vote...

CAVUTO:  Whoa, whoa, whoa.

I just think we have to be very clear. She's charging that the other side 

is welcoming fraud and welcoming illegal voting. Unless she has more 

details to back that up, I can't in good countenance continue showing you 

this. 

I want to make sure that maybe they do have something to back that up. But 

that's an explosive charge to make, that the other side is effectively 

rigging and cheating. 

If she does bring proof of that, of course, we will take you back. So far, 

she has started saying right at the outset welcoming fraud, welcoming 

illegal voting. 

Not so fast. 

We will have more after this. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO:  All right, team Trump still supporting its case that the facts 

don't back up what's going on right now in the recount or the count of 

votes, that this is something that Democrats were deliberately strategizing 

to fix the election in their favor.

Even Republicans such as Chris Christie and Roy Blunt among those saying, 

be careful, let's not make that leap. 

Nevertheless, Grady Trimble on how the RNC and others within the Trump 

campaign now are pushing this case going forward -- Grady.

GRADY TRIMBLE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Well, Neil, I think it's important 

to start coming out of that press conference there to note that the 

Republican commissioner with the Philadelphia commission, who's in charge 

of this vote count, he has said that there is no cheating going on here. 

And he even received death threats, He told "60 Minutes," because he's 

involved in this election. So, we're waiting for this lawsuit from the 

Trump campaign to be filed in Pennsylvania. And we do want to see the 

details of that, because we're hoping that there might be some evidence 

about these claims that they're making.

Over the weekend, though, they did lay out some of their claims, primarily 

here in Philadelphia and in Pittsburgh. In Philly, they say poll watchers 

weren't allowed close enough to observe votes being counted. 

But officials here again say, nobody was denied access. And I have talked 

to Republican poll watchers, two of them who tell me they were given the 

same access everybody else in the room was.

Also want to talk about Allegheny County, where the claim there is that 

Republican observers specifically were barred from watching the count for a 

full 24 hours, and they alleged that a deceased woman there voted by mail. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREY LEWANDOWSKI, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER:  And when you go to 

the secretary of state's Web site today, it says that she voted in this 

election, effective November 2, 2020, a full nine days after Ms. Ondick of 

Allegheny County passed away. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TRIMBLE:  Important to note that, if you go to the secretary of state's Web 

site, which we did, and put that woman's name in, it says that her vote or 

her ballot was recorded. It doesn't say whether it ended up in the final 

tally.

We asked Allegheny election officials about that. And we also asked the 

secretary of state about that, but we did not get a response. 

In response to the poll workers, specifically Republican poll workers being 

barred from the counting room, here's what Allegheny elections officials 

had to say about that: "At no point were canvassing operations conducted 

without observers having the opportunity to see the process and the 

counting."

And, finally today, 11 attorneys general, Republicans in various states, 

are asking the Supreme Court not to count the mail-in votes in Pennsylvania 

that were received after Election Day. As you know, as of right now, votes 

received on the 4th, the 5th, and the 6th of November, as long as they were 

in by 8:00 p.m. and postmarked before the election or on Election Day, they 

would be counted, attorneys general for 11 states asking for those to be 

thrown out. 

So, again, Neil, we await that lawsuit. We look forward to examining that 

evidence that they say they have -- Neil. 

CAVUTO:  All right, Grady. 

And, as you pointed out, and as Roy Blunt and other Republicans have 

pointed out here, the president's lawyers must present facts, and then it's 

time for the facts to speak for themselves. 

If dead people did indeed vote in this election, it would not be the first 

time that's happened. For the Trump folks, you apparently are going to need 

tens of thousands of corpses having done so. So far, we haven't heard.

We will have more after this. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

CAVUTO:  It seems like 20 years all over again. 

Welcome back, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto. 

And taking a look at Republicans vs. Democrats' view of letting the count 

go on, if you are hearing Republicans correctly. And Democrats know it's 

just forestalling the inevitable. Their roles were reversed in the Bush-

Gore hanging chad controversies then that dragged on for the better part of 

a month. 

See if you notice a pattern that has now completely reversed itself now vs. 

then. Take a look. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FMR. SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (I-CT):  If the votes were accurately counted in 

Florida, we will win Florida and therefore the election. 

MATT SCHLAPP, CHAIRMAN, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION:  The way we resolve 

division, even when you don't get your way in an election, is to count 

every legal ballot. 

FMR. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD):  And there is overwhelming support for your effort 

to ensure that we have a fair and full count. 

There's a recognition, of course, that we have got a lot of work to do to 

obtain that count. 

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA):  What we need in the presidential race is to 

make sure every legal vote is counted, every recount is completed, and 

every legal challenge should be heard. 

DAVID BOIES, ATTORNEY, AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR EQUAL RIGHTS:  The rules of 

the game have been first that the people elect the electors, and they do so 

by a majority of their votes. 

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX):  The media does not get to select our president. The 

American people get to elect our president. 

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  I have won three 

counts. And I think it's time to get some finality to the process.

BIDEN:  The people of this nation have spoken. 

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) 

BIDEN:  They have delivered us a clear victory, a convincing victory. 

JAMES BAKER, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE:  This is what happens when, 

for the first time in modern history, a candidate resorts to lawsuits to 

try to overturn the outcome of an election for president.

It is very sad. 

SCHUMER:  So, I say to Donald Trump, you lost. No more games. Go home. Go 

home to Florida. Stop delaying. Stop making up lies about the election. 

FMR. SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (D-PA):  Enough is enough. And with the people of 

Florida having spoken, Governor Bush having retained this lead, it seems 

that this is a time that America ought to be able to move forward. 

JIM KENNEY (D), MAYOR OF PHILADELPHIA:  I think what the president needs to 

do is, frankly, put his big boy pants on. He needs to acknowledge the fact 

that he lost, and he needs to congratulate the winner. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO:  All right, each side convinced that it is right. 

We just wait for the proof that indicates the charges they're making are 

fair, the rush on the part of Democrats to go ahead and acknowledge that 

Joe Biden is the president of the United States, which, technically, he is, 

and the Trump folks have a case to argue that the count is so close in some 

of these states, it should proceed uninterrupted. 

Let's get the read on all of this from Steven Mulroy, election law 

attorney, University of Memphis School of Law professor, and author of 

"Rethinking U.S. Election Law: Unskewing the System."

Steven, very good to have you.

You can see this through the prism of your party and your politics, I get 

that. But, invariably, you do need to have proof either someone fixing an 

election or rigging it or making it fraudulent. What do you think then and 

now the arguments that are being made? 

STEVEN MULROY, UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS:  Well, there is one similarity 

between Bush v. Gore and 2020, is that one particular legal theory that the 

Republicans advanced in 2020, and only three justices signed on to back 

then, is now potentially being revived by opinions from Justice Alito and 

Justice Kavanaugh.

And that has to do with the extension of the absentee ballot receipt 

deadline by the state Supreme Court in Pennsylvania. 

CAVUTO:  Right. 

MULROY:  The argument is that that usurps the power of the state 

legislature under the Constitution and is invalid. 

Of course, the issue is that even if the court were to accept that theory, 

how many votes are affected, and would it be enough to change Biden's 

36,000-vote lead in Pennsylvania? And, even if it did, what about the other 

states that are also separately bringing Biden up above 270 Electoral 

College votes? 

CAVUTO:  All right.

Now, obviously, you have made an important distinction here that, back 20 

years ago, it was involving one state a couple of key counties. Here, it's 

up to half-a-dozen states, and that they'd all have to go complete reversal 

for the Trump forces to have any chance. 

But it's the fraudulent part that kind of worries me, because I need -- and 

I think most people, rational people would say, well, if you have got proof 

of that, let's show it up front.

I have no doubt that dead people voted in this election, as they have in 

every election, at least that I can remember, but in the numbers that would 

change or swap the results, what do you think of that? 

MULROY:  Well, right

So, I think you make an important distinction. The American people are 

probably less concerned about some obscure constitutional theory about 

whether the deadline was properly extended because of the pandemic or not. 

But if there was actual indications of straight-up fraud, then I think 

that's the kind of thing that people would be concerned about. But you, I 

think, Neil, correctly point out that you need to show a number of 

fraudulent votes that are large enough to undo the lead that Biden has, not 

only in Pennsylvania, but in a couple of other states as well. 

And that seems like it would be a tall order. 

CAVUTO:  Do you think, Steve, that, in the few seconds we have, that this 

could disrupt the system or make people who did not vote for Joe Biden 

question its authenticity, and that it could do maybe more harm than good?

MULROY:  I think the more you hear that kind of loose talk, the more it 

undermines public confidence in the integrity of our electoral system, and 

that could have potentially bad consequences down the road. 

CAVUTO:  All right, Steven, I'd love to get you back. I apologize for the 

truncated time, with all these developments.

Steven Mulroy, the election law attorney.

We're not judging one's claims over the other. We're just asking for proof. 

If you have something to prove an outlandish charge, or something that, on 

the surface, seems outlandish, by all means, share it with us, and we will 

share it with the world. 

We're waiting.

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