White House declines to comment on GameStop controversy

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White House declines to comment on GameStop controversy

FOX News White House correspondent Kristin Fisher has the details on 'Special Report'

This is a rush transcript from "Special Report" January 29, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Good evening, welcome to Washington. I'm Bret
Baier.

Breaking tonight, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says he is not to blame
for an alarming number of COVID deaths at nursing homes during the
pandemic. The report as we told you yesterday by the state attorney general
says Cuomo's figures were underreported by as much as 50 percent.

Correspondent Bryan Llenas leads us off tonight with Cuomo on defense. Good
evening, Bryan.

BRYAN LLENAS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Bret, good evening. New York Governor
Andrew Cuomo said it's a tragedy that thousands of people died of COVID-19
in the state's nursing homes, but he did not take any personal
responsibility. He said no one was to blame, but in the same Bret, blame
the Trump administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): Everyone did the best they could. The State
Department of Health followed federal guidance. So, if you think there was
a mistake, then go talk to the federal government. It's not about pointing
fingers of blame. It's that this became a political football.

LLENAS (voice-over): At issue is the March 25th order from the Department
of Health requiring nursing homes to admit COVID-19 infected patients just
released from hospitals. Grieving families believe this order helps spread
the virus that killed their loved ones.

On Thursday, an investigative report by New York's Attorney General
confirmed the order "May have put residents at increased risk of harm in
some facilities."

Cuomo said the state order was simply following federal guidance. But
Admiral Brett Giroir, former Assistant Secretary of Health says that's not
true.

ADM. BRETT GIROIR, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES:
In no way was this federal government guidance that is just absolutely
wrong, and he can't shift the blame, he has to own this one.

LLENAS: Cuomo said it was the nursing homes' responsibility to alert the
state if they could not properly care for COVID patients. But overwhelmed
nursing homes say they were left to fend for themselves.

STEPHEN HANSE, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NEW YORK STATE HEALTH FACILITIES
ASSOCIATION: New York State and policymakers did not prioritize nursing
homes with equal priority as they did hospitals.

LLENAS: New York's Department of Health now says the actual COVID-19 death
toll among nursing home residents is nearly 13,000. 4,000 more than what
was being reported. The state had not been including nursing home residents
who later died at hospitals.

New York now has the most long-term care facility deaths nationwide. Still,
the governor says there's nothing he could have done differently.

CUOMO: What could have been done differently? What could have been done
differently? It's still happening today.

LLENAS: Daniel Arbeeny's 89-year-old father, Norman, died in a Brooklyn
nursing home.

DANIEL ARBEENY, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK RESIDENT: Own it, say his sorry and
start reaching out to those who lost so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LLENAS: And Daniel said watching Governor Cuomo today speak and not even
acknowledge that he made some mistakes or say I'm sorry was like reliving
the pain of losing his father, Bret.

BAIER: Bryan Llenas in New York. Bryan, thanks. Panel on that in just a
minute.

Wall Street will take the weekend to recover from enormously hectic week
after another big surge for GameStop stock today. It shot up more than 70
percent in early trading after Robinhood reversed its decision to stop
handling the stock.

The market tumbled today, the Dow dropping 621, the S&P 500 fell 73, the
NASDAQ lost 266. For the week, the Dow was off two percentage points, the
S&P 500 dropped 1-1/10, the NASDAQ was up 1-1/2.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is also trying to ease some fears
pledging to protect investors. But how does that exactly work? And what did
they say about the people who fear that big Wall Street is really the one
being protected?

Kristina Partsinevelos of Fox Business joins us from New York. Good
evening, Kristina.

KRISTINA PARTSINEVELOS, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK CORRESPONDENT: Good evening.
You have this tug of war that continues between Wall Street and retail
traders. We know the story, GameStop the company right behind me is at the
center of it. Why? because big Wall Street hedge funds bet the stock price
would fall. Retail investors rally together online and push the stock up,
Wall Street lost billions.

But you have Robinhood, the trading app, that a lot of these trader's use.
They put restrictions on a lot of these volatile stocks yesterday. Today,
they did ease some of those restrictions, but users were furious, listen
in.
 
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE PORTNOY, FOUNDER, BARSTOOL SPORTS: To intentionally crater the stock
at the expense of all of your customers, well, that's criminal in my mind,
that's flat out criminal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PARTSINEVELOS (voice-over): You have at least two separate class action
complaints against Robinhood. You also have Texas, as well as New York, the
attorney generals that are looking into this in a probe if there's any
market manipulation.

And it's not just the trading apps, it's also social media coming into play
with this. With many social media platforms banning some of these stock
trading groups. Facebook vaguely tells us they closed down one of these
stock trading groups because it violated their community standards.

And I'd also like to point out too, the SEC did put out a statement saying
they are closely reviewing the actions taken by the regulated entities that
may disadvantage investors.

PARTSINEVELOS: We have everyone looking into this, GameStop share price
still climbed 67 percent, just today alone.

And interestingly enough, Robinhood did put a post online today, and they
are searching for someone based in D.C. that has senior professional
experience on Capitol Hill and experienced a focus on regulatory and
legislative affairs. Interesting timing, Bret.

BAIER: That may be a big job. Kristina, thank you.

The Biden administration is taking a hands-off approach to the Wall Street
turmoil, at least publicly. So far, the president met with his economic
team today.

White House Correspondent Kristin Fisher is here to tell us live from the
North Lawn about all that. Good evening, Kristin.

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Bret. For the third
day in a row, the White House is declining to weigh in on this story that
has consumed both Wall Street and mainstream, even though, President Biden
met with his economic team this morning.

And shortly before, I asked the White House press secretary if there were
any chance that the GameStop controversy was going to come up during that
meeting and if not, why not?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, the focus of the meeting is
about the recovery plan, about the status of the economic recovery, about
obviously the data that we saw yesterday. I'm sure they'll cover a range of
topics during that meeting. But that's not the focus.

FISHER: Big story.

PSAKI: I know it's a big story, but it doesn't -- you know, obviously the -
- our focus and our big story is getting the American people back to work.

FISHER (voice-over): So, the White House is focused like a laser on getting
a COVID relief deal through Congress. During this meeting in the Oval
Office with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, President Biden called for
quick action on his $1.9 trillion plan.

He says the risk is not doing too much, the risk is not doing enough. And
while his preference is to get bipartisan support, the president made it
very clear that the priority is simply getting it passed.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I support passing COVID relief
with support from Republicans if we can get it, but the COVID relief has to
pass. There's no ifs, ands or buts. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: So, there you have it, President Biden carrying on his
predecessor's tradition of chopper talk by Marine One.

As for next week, we can expect more executive actions in orders on
Tuesday, this time on immigration, including a task force to reunite
families that were separated at the border during the Trump administration,
Bret.

BAIER: Kristin Fisher live on the North Lawn. Kristin, thank you.

President Biden is trying to drum up support for his almost $2 trillion
COVID aid package as you heard there. Most Republicans and some Democrats
are having a tough time swallowing the price tag.

Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich tells us what that means tonight from Capitol
Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As President Biden is
working the phones to sell his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan, Vice
President Kamala Harris is making their case in the media, local media in
the home states of two Democratic senators who helped kill a viable but
partisan path to pass the bill without Republican support.

Harris hold one paper in Senator Kyrsten Sinema's home state of Arizona, if
we don't pass this bill, I'm going to be very candid with you. We know more
people are going to die.

And in Senator Joe Manchin's home of West Virginia, the vice president also
dial-up multiple news outlets after Manchin joined Republicans saying the
bill needs reworking. Especially over stimulus payments to high income
Americans, urging his party to work with the GOP.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): Let's do that first showing that we can start out
the new Congress bipartisan.

HEINRICH: Progressives are growing impatient, attacking members of both
parties for wasting time with bipartisan talks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do these so-called moderates have in common? Three
millionaires, who think hardworking Americans don't need major support
during these difficult times. Tell President Biden, don't give in.

HEINRICH: But Republicans including one who got a phone call from the
president don't see the urgency. Senator Rob Portman telling Fox it was
only several weeks ago that we passed a $900 billion package for COVID
relief on a bipartisan basis. It has yet to be implemented. And if we had
to get it done yesterday, why didn't they consult with us?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is edging closer to yet another tool, budget
reconciliation which Presidents Obama and Trump both use to pass Obamacare
and tax cuts.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA): We want it to be bipartisan, always. But we
can't surrender if they're not going to be doing that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEINRICH: While moderates want to pare things down, progressives want even
more. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal is pushing for a $3-4 trillion
coronavirus relief package and Ilhan Omar called for recurring monthly
$2,000 checks, Bret.

BAIER: Jacqui Heinrich live on Capitol Hill. Jacqui, thanks. Regulators in
the European Union have authorized the AstraZeneca vaccine for use there.
The E.U. has taken criticism for not moving fast enough to get its people
inoculated.

Here in the U.S., there is also encouraging word from another drug maker
about its single dose vaccine. Correspondent Jonathan Serrie tells us
tonight from Atlanta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN SERRIE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Today, Johnson & Johnson announced
its experimental vaccine. It's 66 percent effective in blocking moderate to
severe COVID-19 and had an 85 percent success rate in blocking the most
serious symptoms of the disease.

Although, less effective than current vaccines, Johnson & Johnson's
candidate can be stored at higher temperatures and requires only one shot,
producing protection against the severest forms of the disease within seven
to 10 days.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS
DISEASES: In fact, in the study, including in the South African isolate,
there were essentially no hospitalizations or deaths in the vaccine group,
whereas in the placebo group, there were.

SERRIE: Federal health officials are concerned about a highly transmissible
strain first detected in South Africa that has now been confirmed in two
patients in South Carolina.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIRECTOR, CDC: These cases were identified in
different parts of the state and not believed to be epidemiologically
linked. They each did not have any travel history.

SERRIE: Which most likely means the variant has already been spreading in
the community. Current vaccines still protect against the South African
strain although not as well. Researchers are working on a vaccine boost in
case new mutations develop resistance to the current shots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERRIE: Federal health officials say the faster Americans get vaccinated,
the less time the coronavirus will have for further mutations.

In the meantime, they are urging everyone to mask up, Bret.

BAIER: Jonathan, thank you.

One of the major issues surrounding the pandemic continues to be whether
students and teachers should be back in the classroom in-person.

Tonight, Chief Correspondent Jonathan Hunt takes a closer look from Santa
Monica, California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PSAKI: The president wants to not only reopen schools; he wants the schools
to stay open.

JONATHAN HUNT, FOX NEWS CHIEF CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Few parents or
teachers argue with that goal for reopening schools. But there is intense
disagreement over how it can be achieved. Children may be less susceptible
to COVID-19.

WALENSKY: The children not only have decreased rates of symptoms but have
decreased rates of transmissibility.

HUNT: But many teachers worry about returning to the classroom before they
are vaccinated.

In California, that's left Governor Gavin Newsom frustrated and saying on a
call with the Association of California School Administrators "If we wait
for the perfect, we might as well just pack it up and just be honest with
folks that we're not going to open for in-person instruction this school
year."

But in a letter to Newsom, the California Teachers Association warned
against shortcuts to reopen. And said, "The virus is in charge right now
and it does not own a calendar. We cannot just pick an artificial calendar
date and expect to flip a switch on reopening every school for in-person
instruction."

Teachers in Massachusetts are concerned that the state plans to vaccinate
people over 65 before many essential workers, including K to 12 teachers.

MERRIE NAJIMY, PRESIDENT, MASSACHUSETTS TEACHER ASSOCIATION: The governor
pays lip service to getting students back in school, but his decision today
is delaying a safe return by weeks if not months.

HUNT: And in Chicago, a showdown looms Monday with the public schools chief
insisting in-person classes will resume then for tens of thousands of
students, even as many teachers say they simply won't show up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, the hopes and fears over school reopening seemed to hang as does
so much else on the availability of vaccines. Job number one for President
Biden, Bret.

BAIER: Jonathan, thank you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: The State Department of Health followed federal guidance. So, if you
think there was a mistake, then go talk to the federal government.

I understand, maybe the instinct to blame or to find some relief for the
pain that you're feeling? Why COVID? Why did God do this? I don't know.

GIROIR: The one place you don't send infected patients back to is nursing
homes. There were numerous other choices that were better. In fact, every
choice would have been better than that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: For patient's families that press conference by New York Governor
Andrew Cuomo, they said was very painful. Many news organizations wrote it
up differently. The New York Post wrote deadly lies scathing A.G. report
says nursing home COVID deaths massively underreported. Team Cuomo has
failed on both the transparency and action fronts from the pandemic start,
repeatedly opting instead for various whitewashes.

Chris Cillizza with CNN also had kind of a scathing assessment of the New
York governor's performance, or at least semi-scathing.

Let's bring in our panel. Jeff Mason, White House correspondent for
Reuters. Kimberley Strassel, a member of the editorial board at The Wall
Street Journal. And Byron York, chief political correspondent of the
Washington Examiner.

Panel, we'll start there. Kimberley, listen, those families who have been
fighting this battle to kind of say this happened despite the New York
authorities saying it didn't, feel vindicated, but then, listen to the
press conference and not so much.

KIMBERLEY STRASSEL, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, it was a remarkable press
conference. It was really something to hear Andrew Cuomo say, oh well, no
one's really to blame. And then turn around and blame it on the federal
government. Turn around and blame it on the nursing homes themselves.

And by the way, his point about federal guidance doesn't even make any
intellectual sense. If that was the guidance that gone out, you would have
seen this happening across the country instead it was a New York problem.

So, they have a reason to be very angry, especially because it is a
democratic attorney general who put out this report in a democratic state.
He can't claim this is his opponents going after him.

BAIER: Right. Jeff, there is an instinct, I think, among some when
President Trump was in office that it was all focused-on President Trump.
And there was a lot of laudatory coverage of the governor that seems to
have a second look now.

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS: It does and his reaction or
mis performance today was a contrast with what many people -- I think, he
watched Governor Cuomo in the early days of the -- of the pandemic saw. And
it was unusual, I think, to see that, and certainly underscores the fact
that mistakes have been made with regard to this pandemic and treatment of
the virus on a, shall we say, bipartisan basis.

BAIER: Yes, and I mentioned Chris Cillizza, Byron, and I was kind of
tongue-in-cheek, saying he was scathing. Here's a part of it. He says, "If
Donald Trump was seen as the public face of the failed government response
to the coronavirus pandemic, Andrew Cuomo was seen by some as the opposite.
Well, it turns out that all the hype obscured a troubling reality." Seems
like there is a -- this realization that is hitting.

BYRON YORK, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, this is a stunning reality.
Remember, in March of last year when president say -- President Trump said
he didn't feel any responsibility -- take any responsibility for this,
there was an uproar. And basically, Andrew Cuomo who's said the same thing,
and as Kim pointed out, this is a democratic attorney general's report.

The attorney general race in New York State was basically a race to see who
could be the most anti-Trump. And Letitia James, the current attorney
general won that race. So, it's very -- it's very unlikely that she'd be
doing anything to support the Trump administration.

And one last thing, what's striking in all this is that Cuomo keeps a high
approval rating in New York State. A new Siena poll asked specifically for
job approval of Cuomo's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, 63 percent
approval among Democrats 79 approval. It's really difficult for some of us
to understand.

BAIER: This story gets a lot of passion from viewers and obviously the
families involved. The other thing that really gets a lot of viewer e-mail,
Kimberley, is the question of schools, and the going back, not going back,
what exactly is happening. Dr. Anthony Fauci talking about the going back
to school battle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAUCI: The president is taking very seriously the issue both from the
student standpoint and from the teacher standpoint. And he really wants to
and believes that the schools need to reopen in the next 100 days,
essentially, all the K-8 schools within 100 days. That's the goal.

That may not happen because there may be mitigating circumstances. But what
he really wants to do is everything within his power to help get to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: I guess there's a sense that the White House chief of staff Ron
Klain saying the teachers unions have a point because there's not enough
money to deal with all of this in public schools, they're trying to hang it
on the COVID bill right now. But obviously, a number of private schools
around the country are doing it.

STRASSEL: Well, not just private schools, public schools. My kids have been
in schools since August. They all go in -- for in school not remote
learning, but in-person learning, and there haven't been any issues. And
that's what parents are seeing across the country at this point.

And I think there's being this moment of realization which is that there
are districts that have been making this work from the start. And then, the
places and they're really beginning to stand out that aren't refusing to go
back to school a day after day are all big cities that are controlled by
teachers' unions.

We've already spent $50 billion out there on schools, Bret, and a lot of
schools are making it work. A lot of parents are beginning to say why not
hours and really 100 days? Because at that point, you might as well not
even open school this year.

BAIER: Yes. Jeff, I have 15 seconds. A little different covering the Biden
administration.

MASON: It is different, yes, on many levels. What I would say just quickly
though about education is President Biden wants the schools to be open. And
that is -- that is a similarity between him and President Trump. He just
sees it as something that requires some money, and that's why they're
pushing really hard for this coronavirus relief package.

BAIER: And how they get that is really a big question. Panel, we'll see a
little bit later in the show.

Up next, our "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO" segment with new developments in the
murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl.

And later, what has four legs, a really sensitive nose, and can help detect
coronavirus?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good girl. Good girl. Yes, (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Senior FBI official say it appears the pipe bombs discovered in
Washington on the day of the Capitol riot were placed during the evening
before the protest. The Bureau says the bombs were found at the
headquarters of the Republican National Committee and at the offices of the
Democratic National Committee. Officials are offering a $100,000 reward for
any information leading to a conviction.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met today with National Guard troops
protecting Washington the past couple of weeks. Pentagon spokesman John
Kirby says there about 7,000 troops still in the capital region right now.
Kirby says the numbers will go down over the next month.

In tonight's "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO" segment, the murder of American
journalist Daniel Pearl. Yesterday, a Pakistani court ordered the release
of four man who had been convicted of that crime. That sparked outrage here
in the U.S.

Correspondent Benjamin Hall has the story for us tonight from London.

BENJAMIN HALL, FOX NEWS FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The
murder of Daniel Pearl shocks the world. The brutal execution of an
innocent American reporter in the aftermath of 9/11.

Pearl was South Asian bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal when
abducted in Pakistan in January 2002. Days later, the first pictures were
released, a gun to his head and the demand of the Pakistani terrorists in
Guantanamo be released.

They accused Pearl of being a CIA spy and threatened to execute him.
President Bush look to ally Pakistan for assistance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are deeply concerned
and as -- is the Pakistani government. And we will continue to do
everything we can to rescue them.

HALL: Pearl's French wife Mariane who was seven-month pregnant made a
direct plea to the kidnappers.

MARIANE PEARL, WIFE, DANIEL PEARL: And Danny is my life. So, I need -- I
need some indication of exactly precisely what I should do. You know,
regarding what they want.

HALL: Secretary of State Colin Powell made it clear the U.S. would not
negotiate with terrorists. While Pakistani President Musharraf raised
hopes.

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, FORMER PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN: I am reasonably sure he is
alive.

HALL: But despite all of the pleas, days later, Pearl was beheaded. And a
video of the brutal execution released on the Internet. Six months on, a
Pakistani court convicted Omar Sheikh, a British-born Pakistani of
kidnapping, terrorism, and murder. And he was sentenced to death. Three
others were given life in prison.

But on Thursday, the country's Supreme Court ordered their release, and
cleared them of wrongdoing, saying only that it would explain its reasoning
at a later date.

The White House has called the decision an outrage.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're committed to securing justice
for Daniel Pearl's family and holding terrorist accountable for their
heinous crimes.

HALL: Daniel Pearl was 38. His senseless death only deepened U.S. resolve
to fight terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HALL: For the moment, Sheikh is still in detention in Pakistan. And the
U.S. government is looking at legal options to bring him to America to face
trial, hoping to secure justice for Daniel Pearl and his family. Bret?

BAIER: Benjamin Hall at London. Benjamin, thank you.

Up next, there could be a storm cloud ahead for President Biden's big solar
initiative. We'll explain. First, here is what some of our Fox affiliates
around the country are covering tonight.

Fox 11 in Los Angeles says a rare Southern California downpour leads to
flooding and mud slides in the region. Dozens of car crashes littered
slippery roads last night. Small mudslides were reported in some parts of
Orange County, south of Los Angeles, Thursday evening.

KFOX 14 in El Paso has 11 soldiers at Fort Bliss, in just an unknown
substance during a field train -- training exercise, the military is saying
the soldiers fell ill after consuming a substance which was required
outside of authorized food supply distributions. Two of the soldiers are
listed in critical condition tonight.

And this is a live look at New York from our affiliate Fox 5, one of the
big stories there tonight. A plan for Mayor Bill de Blasio to give
bicyclists their own lanes on the Brooklyn and Queensboro bridges.

Right now, cyclists share the lane with pedestrians. The mayor announced
the plan during his final State of the City speech last night.

That's tonight's live look "OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY" from SPECIAL REPORT. We'll
be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: A former FBI lawyer has been sentenced to probation for altering a
document the Justice Department used during its surveillance of an aide to
President Trump for the Russia investigation. At his hearing today, Kevin
Clinesmith apologized for doctoring the email about Carter Page's
relationship with the CIA. Meantime, many lawmakers and others are
wondering where the accountability will be in the Durham probe of the
Russia collusion investigation.

We are taking a closer look tonight at President Biden's energy policy,
specifically his call to accelerate the use of solar power. Correspondent
Mark Meredith reports the proposal brings with it some serious potential
problems.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not time for small
measures. We need to be bold.

MARK MEREDITH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: President Biden wants America to
embrace solar technology, but he admits converting the country's existing
energy infrastructure won't be easy.

BIDEN: We need solar energy cost competitive with traditional energy.

MEREDITH: Last year the Biden campaign set a goal to install 500 million
solar panels within five years. China currently dominates the solar
manufacturing industry. The president of the Solar Energy Industries
Association says the U.S. can catch up under the right circumstances.

ABIGAIL ROSS HOPPER, SOLAR ENERGY INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION: We have been
talking with the new administration about proposals to help build up
domestic manufacturing, things like tax credits, things like strengthen by
American.

MEREDITH: Competition in the solar industry is expected to remain fierce.
China's president said this week his country is committed to supplying the
world's renewable energy needs.

XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT, (through translator): We believe that when
the interests of the entire humanity are at stake, China must step forward,
take action, and get the job done.

MEREDITH: The U.S. solar industry hopes Americans will see increasing
domestic solar production as a national security benefit. For the White
House, it's also about new jobs through its climate agenda. Critics see it
as an insult.

SEN. TOM COTTON, (R-AR): Telling this people, well, you can go get a job in
solar power, computer code, something that's better for you to do anyway.
Nothing could be more condescending.

MEREDITH: Solar advocates insist there are opportunities for those willing
to work.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's already 250,000 Americans working in the solar
stomach industry, 30,000 of them in manufacturing jobs. And we can grow
that.

MEREDITH: Domestic panel production is booming, and experts say more growth
is expected in the years to come.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

MEREDITH: The administration says it's focused on more than just solar
energy. It's also focused on wind technology with the goal to double the
nation's wind output by 2030. Bret?

BAIER: Mark Meredith in the White House briefing room. Mark, thank you.

The annual March for Life held today, with some major adjustments because
of the coronavirus pandemic, as everything has. The speakers were all
virtual. They included athlete Tim Tebow and Cissie Graham Lynch, the
daughter of the late Reverend Billy Graham.

Up next, the effort to screen basketball fans for the coronavirus goes to
the dogs. And later, this week's "Notable Quotables."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's my little buddy, and she's going to sit here with
me while you finish up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uninstall Robinhood. Get it off your phone.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It sounds like a magical creature a
little bit to me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: There's something new tonight in the effort to diagnose and screen
people for the coronavirus, especially people going to events. This
particular device is able to sniff out evidence of the bug by to detecting
a molecular scent. It's relatively cheap, requires no software or
electricity. It has four legs. Correspondent Phil Keating shows us tonight
from Miami.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

PHIL KEATING, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Cute, cuddly, and super well-trained,
these dogs are special. Call them COVID canines. The Miami Heat is the
first NBA team to utilize these sensitive sniffers who can detect if a
person is COVID positive. It turns out, there is a molecular difference in
smell from someone's sweat.

MATTHEW JAFARIAN, MIAMI HEAT BUSINESS STRATEGY VP: When a dog's signals on
a person, it's a really simple process. They simply sit down next to them,
which gestures to the handler that, hey, you should check this person out.
We then remove that person from the line and their entire group, and we
send them on their way and give them a full refund.

KEATING: For the Heat, the dogs are another layer of public safety and
confidence, along with mask wearing and spectators spaced far apart. And
for the first time in 10 months, 1,500 fans watched and cheered inside the
arena. And as schools move to get back to full in-person learning, Florida
International University is also using coronavirus trained canines. Thiers
are trained with contaminated masks, so they smell the molecular difference
in a person's breath if they are COVID positive. These dogs sniff around
classrooms, desks, and auditoriums, alerting when a major disinfectant job
is need.

DEETTA MILLS, FLORIDA INTERVIEW UNIVERSITY: This is another way our four-
legged friends want to please us. And they are so good at it because of
their ability to smell different odors and distinguish different odors at
very minute levels, that it's another tool in the toolbox to try to help
stop the spread of this virus.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

KEATING: And the Heat he is getting a lot of phone calls as well as a lot
of interest from other NBA teams, casinos, cruise lines, Major League
Soccer, as well as airlines. Bret?

BAIER: Pretty cool. Phil, thank you.

Up next, the panel rejoins me for the Friday lightning round. First, Beyond
Our Borders tonight. Iran says it will not accept U.S. demands that it
reverse its acceleration of its nuclear program before Washington lifts
sanctions. Iran's foreign minister saying the demand is not practical and
will not happen.

China, meantime, says it will no longer recognize the British national
overseas passport as a valid travel documents or form of identification.
That decision comes amid a bitter feud with London over a plan to allow
millions of Hong Kong residents a route to residency and eventual
citizenship.

And Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a bill extending the last
remaining nuclear arms control treaty between his country and the U.S. The
new START agreement expires in one week. The extension is for five years.
Critics say the U.S. didn't get anything for the signing. We'll see.

Just some of the other stories Beyond Our Borders tonight. We'll be right
back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLAD TENEV, ROBINHOOD CEO: I know how Clorox and Lysol felt at the
beginning of the pandemic when they couldn't provide enough hand sanitizer
and wipes to shoppers. And these are unprecedented times, and everyone is
trying to do the best they can to navigate them. That is doubly true for
Robinhood.

DAVE PORTNOY, BARSTOOL SPORTS FOUNDER: The day trader, the retail trader,
they're never going back. So he willingly blew up his company today. He
knew that was going to happen. Why? Who was in the back end? Who was
pulling the strings? Who was making the decisions? We have to find out. And
by the way, it's not enough just to be like, oh, we're going to slap you on
the wrist and give you a fine. Somebody has to go to jail for this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: What a week on Wall Street. But the story about GameStop and other
stocks, the squeeze was on the big Wall Street investors. I think we've all
explained that over the last couple of days. These two stocks, GameStop and
AMC up 67 and 53 percent. The Dow taking a wild ride today, and who knows
what next week holds in this current environment.

We're back with the panel. Kimberley, this is quite something to watch, and
at the evolution of the story and how Wall Street kind of defends itself in
this moment.

KIMBERLEY STRASSEL, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Yes, it's also really fascinating
because it's unprecedented. And you have both sides claiming manipulation.
You have these hedge funds saying these small investors banded together to
incorrectly drive up the price. You have the retail investors saying that
Robinhood incorrectly stopped them at the behest of hedge funds. And it's
going to take a while to sort this out, so over to the SEC.

BAIER: But Jeff, it seems like the Biden administration is taking a
Heisman, a stiff arm away from this issue broadly.

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS: Yes. And you asked me
earlier how it's different at the White House. This is one of the examples.
President Trump, and perhaps a President Trump spokesperson would have
engaged on that. But that was unusual during the Trump years, that he would
talk about the dollar, that he would talk about the stock market. Most
presidents and people who represent them keep that kind of a thing at an
arm's length and refer to the treasury secretary, who also most likely
won't say anything either. That's what Jen Psaki has done all week, the
White House press secretary, and that is on some level a return to normalcy
politically.

BAIER: Yes. Another thing that's different is the executive orders and
executive actions. Take a look at these numbers. This is just in the first
10 days, 25 executive orders. This doesn't include the executive actions
which actually add up to more than that. And you see the recent
predecessors in the first 10 days. A lot of criticism on Capitol Hill about
this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON JOHNSON, (R-WI): He doesn't need this on it. He's using his pen and
phone, I guess. He's just flooding the zone. And he's just satisfying every
desire of the radical left wing of his party.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY, (R-MO): It's just an attempt to basically govern the
country by executive fiat. It's breathtaking what he is trying to do on
substance. It's breathtaking that he's trying to do it without any
democratic debate or legislation.

SEN. TOM COTTON, (R-AR): He's gone way too far in some of these executive
orders. He preached unity last Wednesday from the inaugural platform. But
why don't we go ask some of those 11,000 blue-collar workers on the
Keystone pipeline if they think it was unifying to cancel their jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: So Byron, that's three Republican senators. Bu this is "The New York
Times" this week, "Ease up on the executive actions, Joe. President Biden
is right to not let his agenda be held hostage, but legislating through
Congress is a better path." Thoughts?

BRYON YORK, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": In the
past, a president would resort to executive action when he couldn't get his
policy preference through Congress. And now President Biden is just doing
it all immediately, certainly satisfying a lot of the Democratic base that
was very hungry to overturn everything Donald Trump did.

We've only seen one real pushback from the courts so far, and that was the
president's executive action halting almost all deportations. A court in
Texas, a single judge said no, you can't do it, and put an end to that.

The question is, will Republicans across the country start challenging
these executive actions the way that so many Democrats did to so many of
President Trump's executive actions.

BAIER: And the other question is, if you're preaching unity and you're
trying to court Republicans, whether this is the right move to try to do
that right off the bat. Let's go to Winners and Losers. Kimberley, first
winner then loser?

STRASSEL: My winners this week are actually two, Senators Joe Manchin and
Kyrsten Sinema, for very bravely, in my mind, saying that they would not
vote to kill the legislative filibuster. If you do believe in
bipartisanship, which they say they do, that is the way to go ahead.

My loser, the San Francisco school board, which cannot manage to educate
its kids, but did have time this week to vote to strip 44 schools of their
names, such as Washington, Jefferson, and even Dianne Feinstein.

BAIER: Jeff, winner and loser?

MASON: My winner is one that I don't think anyone is going to disagree with
-- Champ and Major, President Biden's two dogs now in pretty fancy digs at
the White House. So it sounds like a pretty nice place, especially for some
rescue dogs, which is pretty cool.

On the losers' side, I went with the South African variant of the virus,
which I also don't think anyone would disagree with. That's just a loser
for everyone.

BAIER: Yes. Byron, winner and loser, quickly?

YORK: Apropos our earlier discussion, my winner is anybody who bought
GameStop stock at $5 a share. That's what it was last year, and now it's
$325. The trick is, when to get out. You don't want to be the last one at
that party.

And my loser is Washington, D.C., and everybody who visits it after the
Capitol police floated the idea of making permanent the huge fence and
razor wire around the capitol. A lot of bipartisan opposition.

BAIER: To your winner -- I have a winner -- 10-year-old San Antonio boy
Jaydyn Carr. His mother got him $60 in GameStop stock for a gift. It turned
into $3,200. He was on the Charles Payne show this morning. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the time, I didn't know what it was, but I didn't
know it was deeply. So I just kept it like, as an achievement. It was a
gift for Kwanzaa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: It was a gift, and he says he's going to use it on college. Very
cool. Panel, thank you.

When we come back, "Notable Quotables."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Finally tonight, it is Friday. That means "Notable Quotables."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The markets just naturally has to shake off all of
this irrational exuberance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uninstall Robinhood. Get it off your phone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don't want you to win because they want to save
their yachts, their mansions, and everything else they have.

SEN. RAND PAUL, (R-KY): Impeaching a former president, a private citizen,
is the antithesis of unity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to take a stand and have a fine line about
what is acceptable for a president to do or not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's my little buddy and she's going to sit here with
me while you finish up.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Sounds like a magical creature.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, what did you talk to Vladimir Putin
about?

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the one that had to look these people in the eye and
tell them they didn't have a job anymore.

JOHN KERRY, SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL CLIMATE ENVOY: The fastest growing job in
the United States before COVID was solar power technician. The same people
can do those jobs.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO, (D) NEW YORK: Incompetent government kills people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want to call it a win. I just want to call it
maybe some justice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a great disappointment, and for now remote
learning for all students will continue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People like me and a line of other people out there who
will gladly take your seat and figure it out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A disruption of a strike to these vulnerable children
is traumatizing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need a break from my mom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, does that not make you smile?

END

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