How the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has 'thrown an accelerant' on Russia, China, Iran
Retired U.S. Army Lt Col. Bob Maginnis reacts to the one-year anniversary of the U.S. military's withdrawal from Afghanistan on 'Your World.'
This is a rush transcript from "Your World," August 15, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
CHARLES PAYNE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: After the signing, the selling.
President Joe Biden said to put pen to paper tomorrow and put that massive spending bill into law. After that, the administration is planning a cross- country victory tour. Democrats insisting that this bill will help bring prices down. But with most Americans finding it tough to pay their bills right now, will it be a tough sell?
Hello, everyone. I'm Charles Payne, in for Neil Cavuto. And this is "Your World."
We begin with Jacqui Heinrich in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, where President Biden is currently vacationing -- Jacqui.
JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Charles.
We have just learned President Biden is going to take a break from his vacation to return to the White House tomorrow and sign that massive tax, health care and climate bill. There will also be a big celebration at the White House on September 6, and then there will be a huge nationwide victory tour.
We got a copy of a memo that some White House officials circulated. They write: "Between Sunday and the end of August, Cabinet members will travel to 23 states on over 35 trips touting the Inflation Reduction Act and the administration's accomplishments."
Some of that travel, Biden will take part in. Polls show inflation is still voters' top concern. And the White House named this bill the Inflation Reduction Act to try to show he's doing something about it, even though experts agree it's not going to impact overall inflation for at least a year or more.
Cabinet officials have been making the case that this bill will immediately help, because people can spend money on things like solar panels and electric heat pumps in order to save money on their taxes. But Biden has been quick to point out in the past when inflation was getting worse that he has very little control over things like energy costs, a major driver of inflation, because of Russia's war in Ukraine impacting the global oil supply.
And Biden's Strategic Oil Reserve sales are set to end in October. There's also this new round of European sanctions set to take effect in December that will also drive prices up.
Still, the White House has been using this recent dip in gas prices to claim that the economy is heading in the right direction and make the case that it is a good time to spend billions on this bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATE BEDINGFIELD, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: We have seen gas prices drop below $4 a gallon on average this time -- this week, I should say, for the first time since March. That's over $1 a gallon less that people are paying at the pump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEINRICH: Of course, gas prices are still nearly double what they were when the president took office, and that the White House has pointed to inflation not getting any worse, at least from the month of June to the month of July.
Overall, inflation does remain at 40-year highs, 8.5 percent -- Charles.
PAYNE: All right, Jacqui, thank you very much.
Well, you just heard it, folks. The White House continues to brag about gas prices falling, even though it's still a heck of a lot higher since President Biden's inauguration. So what are drivers saying? What do they -- are they in the mood to celebrate?
We happened to ask a few. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's still expensive. Like, my mom remembers when it used to cost less. And now it was close to $5 roughly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely feeling the pain because I haven't seen this number in a long time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm excited that it is falling, but, as far as relief, it is a relief, but it can be lower.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want that $2.50, $2.50 gas back. That's what I really want to see again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAYNE: Well, that's what drivers think.
Here to tell us what you think, should think, we have got economist Steve Moore, Democratic strategist Sarah Norman.
All right, Steve, I liked the last guy. He's like, when are we going to get that $2.50 back? But, really, it's amazing that we're now set -- I remember, back in the day, we used to celebrate mediocrity, right? We're celebrating sort of mediocrity. Inflation is not 9 percent. It's 8.5 percent. Gasoline is not four bucks. It's three bucks.
Is it going to be enough to change the tide of the elections?
STEPHEN MOORE, FORMER DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Well, I doubt it.
There's no question that we have an inflation rate still, even with the improvement that we saw in July, that's basically the highest that we have had since the late 1970s. And you talk about the gasoline price, which has come down, thank God, from its all-time high of over $5 a gallon.
But you're exactly right. You're still paying somewhere between $1.50 and $2 a gallon more from when Trump left office. But the other thing that you guys have been talking a lot about FOX which is so true is that, as the gas prices have come down, that's improvement, but look at what's happening with the food prices, Charles.
PAYNE: Yes.
MOORE: Grocery prices, which are the other essential thing that people have to buy, are much, much higher than they were even a few months ago
So, when you add it all up, you're talking about extra costs for families that I think are going to make it really difficult for Biden to sell this as an Inflation Reduction Act. Americans aren't buying it.
PAYNE: Sarah, one thing that is intriguing is that, this morning, we had two disastrous economic data points, homebuilder data and manufacturing data from New York.
MOORE: Yes.
PAYNE: And that might be also reason why gas prices have gone down.
But the timing is probably pretty good to say, hey, this is because of me, right? President Biden can take a victory lap here, but it might be a dangerous victory lap or premature.
SARAH NORMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: You know, obviously, Biden can only control some of the factors that go into gas prices.
But, clearly, what he's doing is helping. I mean, he's released millions of barrels of oil from our national reserve, worked to increase production domestically. He called on Congress to suspend the gas tax, and he's making an impact.
But it's important to understand the price of gas is primarily based on the worldwide market's price of oil, which is just another example of why it's so dangerous in America relies on oil, on oil-rich countries.
And because oil is bought and sold on the global market, increasing production in the U.S. doesn't help our gas prices any more than increasing production somewhere else.
PAYNE: Wait a minute. Come on now, Sarah. You mean to tell me all the proven reserves we have in this country, if we didn't produce more, and we build a couple more refineries, we couldn't get down to $1 a gallon for the next 10 years, maybe 20, and then get to your green utopia?
NORMAN: You know, I was thinking that you would ask that. And, frankly, I find that fundamentally misleading.
I mean, last month, America produced 12 million barrels of oil per day, higher than the average under any previous president. And we're on track to double...
(CROSSTALK)
NORMAN: Here's my point.
The U.S. has already doubled its production over the next 50 years. The idea that we can just drill our way out of this problem is silly, and everyone knows it.
PAYNE: Yes.
NORMAN: But here's another good thing.
Renewable energy, however, is built here by American workers with high- paying high-tech jobs.
PAYNE: It's not built here.
(CROSSTALK)
PAYNE: Golly.
Steve...
MOORE: Hey, Charles, can I...
PAYNE: Yes.
But just, for the record, it's not built here. None of the raw materials are here. All of the production takes place outside of this country. The only part we play in the chain of E.V.s is we buy them. That is it.
(CROSSTALK)
PAYNE: The world's got to build 50 more lithium -- 50 more copper mines. We got to do lithium, I mean, the stuff we have to do to just destroy the planet, strip-mine the planet, it's amazing and so crazy.
But, Steve, I want to get back. I don't want to get too far off, because this is nuts.
(CROSSTALK)
PAYNE: This is nuts to suggest that we're E.V.s for tomorrow, but we're not ready to drill for oil tomorrow.
MOORE: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
PAYNE: Here's the thing. The White House is planning this massive blitz, Steve.
I want to -- because they're going to talk about this. And the media is going to go along with it, and they're going to read all the numbers off the prompter.
MOORE: Yes.
PAYNE: And it's going to feel like things are great.
But I want to ask you about this whole prematureness of it, because it's remember transient last year, when everyone in the White House said this thing was transient? First, it was a high-class problem. Then it was transient. Then it was Russia. This is a mistake I think they're making.
MOORE: Yes, so we would be -- we have a new able to study that just came out for the Committee to Unleash Prosperity that finds that if we were just continuing with the Trump policies, that we would actually be producing about three million more barrels a day.
If we were producing three million more barrels a day, that would be $300 million a day the United States would be producing, and we wouldn't have to be importing it from countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia.
The other fact is, look, today -- let's deal with the reality. Today, we get 70 percent of our energy from oil, gas and coal. And we get 7 percent of our energy from windmills and solar power. If windmills and solar power are so effective, why is that we have to keep giving them billions and billions and tens of billions and hundreds of billions of dollars?
PAYNE: Yes.
MOORE: It's all this taxpayer money that's going to -- into a form of energy that produces 6 or 7 percent of our energy.
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: And you're right, Charles, by the way. One other quick thing. One other quick thing.
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: You're right about the solar panels the windmills are not built in the United States. They are built in China.
We're playing right into the hands of the Chinese.
PAYNE: And the raw materials come from Indonesia.
MOORE: Exactly.
PAYNE: By the way...
(CROSSTALK)
PAYNE: ... and the dirty water in the Congo. They come from places in the Third World that are being just ripped off by Western nations.
And, Sarah, why are we paying people who make a lot of money even more money to buy E.V.s? Why are we giving college grads who make $300,000 $7,500 to buy E.V.s?
NORMAN: I would love to answer, if you give me a chance to speak.
But I think you guys are leaving a huge piece of data out. Of the 10 percent of oil happening in the U.S., that 10 percent occurs on federal land, the oil and the gas industry have over 9,000 permits to drill right now. Over, though, half of those permits aren't even being used, because companies don't have the capacity to fully exploit them.
(CROSSTALK)
PAYNE: I thought you were answer my question, not bring that one up.
That was the original. That was the rebuttal 2021. You're using old rebuttals.
NORMAN: It's still true.
(CROSSTALK)
PAYNE: All right.
Hey, I do have something, though, that I want to both of you one, particularly Steve.
So, apparently, dozens of states, maybe I think 16, are issuing their own form of stimulus checks. And, by the way, they're not only blue states. Steve, I mean, it's more free money. You can say it's for the poor. It's for this. But they keep putting it under the guise of fighting inflation.
Aren't they making the same mistake that the White House is making?
MOORE: Yes, they are.
We have to stop paying people not to work. I'm for workers getting paid as much as they possibly can or producing things. But giving people free money is causing big problems, not just for our economy, but for small businesses, Charles, that can't get workers back on the job.
Just ask any small business man or woman. They say they're having a tough time competing with Uncle Sam.
PAYNE: Sarah?
NORMAN: You know what I like about this, is that the states are deciding for themselves.
PAYNE: States' rights.
NORMAN: And, yes, people are still hurting.
MOORE: OK.
NORMAN: Yes. Yes, but people are still hurting.
MOORE: With federal money.
NORMAN: And, on one hand, I think we pay taxes so that during bad times, we have a safety net. So, if not now, when would we tap into those tax funds?
But, you're right, short term, this will impact inflation. Long term, this is the right call. We need people to be able to make it through the pandemic.
PAYNE: So, do you think, Sarah, that this bill and all the other things that are associated with it will really be timely in the sense that we can really get to this climate utopia that obviously you would like us to get to?
Wouldn't it be smart, smarter to get there by using all the source -- all the resources we are, by the way, blessed to have as a nation?
NORMAN: So, again, there's over 9,000 permits for oil drilling right now in the U.S., and only half of them are being used, because it's more profitable for companies to not. It's not because the government is limiting it.
PAYNE: All right, let's leave it there.
Steve, Sarah, thank you both very much.
Coming up, we have got the latest on those Mar-a-Lago -- on the Mar-a-Lago raid, rather, and new details could mean -- what they could actually mean for former President Donald J. Trump and DOJ.
And one year after the fall of Kabul, the Taliban celebrating, proof we should be worrying.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAYNE: More fallout from that FBI raid on former President Donald Trump's home at Mar-a-Lago.
FOX's Steve Harrigan has the latest from Palm Beach, Florida -- Steve.
STEVE HARRIGAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Charles, former President Trump going on the offensive, saying he wants those documents that were taken from Mar-a-Lago returned. He says they are protected by attorney-client privilege.
He also said that the raid by the FBI was politically motivated, the former president writing on TRUTH Social: "America has never suffered this kind of abuse in law enforcement. For the FBI to raid the home of the 45th president of the United States or any president, for that matter, is totally unheard of and unthinkable. This break-in was a sneak attack on democracy."
The Biden White House saying there was no politics involved. The decision was made, they say, by the Department of Justice. They also say a filter team has been set up, that they will check through any documents for attorney-client privilege before those documents do go to investigators.
But a number of Republican officials, current and former, are calling for more transparency, especially in regards to the affidavit that launched all of this activity. They want more information about that affidavit because they say they fear this investigation will turn out to be open-ended.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDY MCCARTHY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: What I thought they were up to here was basically trying to do a fishing expedition to see if they could find information that's relevant to the Capitol riot that might help them make a case arising out of January 6. And looking at the warrant, I think that's exactly what it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIGAN: It is expected that the investigation into these documents could take months -- Charles, back to you.
PAYNE: Thank you very much, Steve.
The read on all of this now from former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Tom Dupree.
And, Tom, we have had more time to take a look at it. We all sort of understand things a little bit more, particularly as laymen. But there's still a lot of confusion here. And you just heard Steve mention it could take months perhaps until we get to some sort of satisfactory conclusion.
What are they going to be doing between now and then? What's the process?
TOM DUPREE, FORMER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Well, the process involves looking at a heck of a lot of documents.
And the reports we're getting today, Charles, that the agents, the FBI agents who went into Mar-a-Lago may have taken attorney-client privileged documents is going to draw this process out even more. The Justice Department is going to have to put into effect what's known as a taint team or a filter team.
The idea here is that you don't want prosecutors who might be involved in prosecuting a case looking at attorney-client privileged documents, so the Justice Department is going to have to create an entirely separate team of lawyers to review the documents they seize from Mar-a-Lago before we can move ahead with this.
PAYNE: That brings us back to the comments, and I think you just heard a sound bite before we introduced you, where some are saying this was something of a fishing expedition.
The warrant has specific items and specific locations. But, of course, they gathered everything they could get their hands on, essentially. Is that -- does that worry you at all?
DUPREE: It always worries me, Charles. Any time people are executing a warrant, you need to make sure that the FBI agents adhere to the limitations in the warrant.
The whole purpose, the whole idea of the Fourth Amendment and the warrant requirement is to prevent federal agents from going in your house and seizing anything within their sight, anything they can get their hands on, basically boxing up all of your personal possessions and taking them away.
That's why the judge says, OK, you can go into Mar-a-Lago, but you have to confine yourself to searching for these particular documents or these particular categories of evidence. And what we're hearing with every day is that this search seems to have been broader and broader and broader than we first anticipated.
PAYNE: So who intervenes now? Who's in charge? Is there a certain -- is there a -- I'm trying to see, is there like an independent body?
You sort of referenced it with respect to the attorney-client privilege documents that might have been scooped up with this. But is there some other entity out there that the public can look to that says they're overseeing this process?
DUPREE: Well...
PAYNE: And the reason I ask you that, Tom, is so much faith has been lost in the DOJ and the FBI in this process itself. Is there a way to sort of bring back some of that credibility?
DUPREE: Well, ultimately, any of these disputes could go before a judge.
If the Justice Department and the Trump lawyers are tussling over whether particular documents are protected, that ultimately may get elevated to a federal judge, who has to make the call. I'm hopeful it won't get to that point. I mean, I'm hopeful that if this DOJ taint team comes in, they do a fair, honest, independent assessment, and if there are in fact privileged documents that they took out of Mar-a-Lago, they have no business reviewing.
Those needs to go back to the president. So I'm hopeful that the ordinary process will work. But if it doesn't, Charles, to your point, ultimately, a federal judge may have to come in and sort it all out.
PAYNE: Tom Dupree, thank you very much. Appreciate it.
DUPREE: Thanks, Charles.
PAYNE: Meantime, folks, FOX News confirming former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani is now the target of a criminal probe. The probe is looking into election interference in Georgia back in 2020 and the Trump team's actions following the president's -- former president's election loss.
Giuliani is set to appear before a special grand jury Wednesday, this after a judge ordered him to comply with a subpoena.
And to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. While they're celebrating, someone here says, let's not lose focus on where a top Al Qaeda leader was hiding.
And you hear a lot about how Texas is turning attention to the open border with buses and about Arizona now using shipping containers. We will explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAYNE: The Taliban celebrating its takeover of Afghanistan over there, leaders in Iran reacting to the Salman Rushdie attack here.
Plus, Arizona says it's not waiting for the White House to step up its seal at the border.
We're back in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAYNE: The Taliban parading through the streets of Kabul today to mark a one-year anniversary since regaining control of Afghanistan.
FOX News' Trey Yingst is there the details -- Trey.
TREY YINGST, FOX NEWS FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: Charles, good afternoon.
Taliban fighters took a victory lap today, piling into pickup trucks and driving through the capital.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YINGST: Right now, the Taliban is parading through the streets of Kabul.
They're marking one year since the takeover of Afghanistan. You can see these fighters here celebrating. Many civilians, though, remain in hiding, uncertain about what comes next for their country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YINGST: Many civilians do remain in the capital in the shadows. They are afraid to come out in public because it has been so difficult to survive under these conditions, especially for American allies who worked with U.S. troops during the war.
Here's a look at what life is like under Taliban control.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YINGST (voice-over): Eleven-month-old Robani struggles to breathe, as his mother looks on. The young Afghan is one of more than one million children under 5 who are acutely malnourished in the Taliban-controlled country.
"It makes me very sad when I see him in this condition," 35-year-old Fatima explains. "I have lost three other children. This is the fourth one."
A year into Taliban rule, Afghanistan's economy has collapsed. The United Nations now estimates 97 percent of Afghans are at risk of falling below the poverty line. The Taliban's controversial and archaic governance style has increased international isolation, putting at risk billions of dollars worth of aid that acts as a humanitarian lifeline for this country.
A strict interpretation of Islam is guiding life under Taliban control, making it impossible for a separation between mosque and state. Right now in Afghanistan, listening to music is outlawed. Women must be covered when in public. And the majority of teenage girls are banned from participating in secondary education.
The Taliban claims this is equality.
(on camera): Are women free in Afghanistan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course.
YINGST: Women can't go out in public alone at night. They can't serve in senior government roles. They have to be covered when they go into the streets of Kabul. How can you describe this as free?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The laws of the country regulate how people conduct themselves when in the public. That does not in any shape, way or form mean that someone is free or is not free.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
YINGST: We also pressed Taliban fighters on these topics, and they were adamant this society will remain under Islamic law -- Charles.
PAYNE: Trey Yingst in Kabul, thank you very much.
So, after all the blood and treasure loss in Afghanistan, where are we now in this fight against terror?
I want to bring you a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Bob Maginnis to discuss.
Watching that, and then listening to all of the rights that have been taken back, one million children under 5 malnourished, women covered when they go out, teenage girls can't have a public education, there are a lot of families watching this and saying, gosh, you know, why did we do it? Why did we lose so many people? What did we do it for?
LT. COL. BOB MAGINNIS (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Yes, Charles, no doubt, we're worse off because of what happened a year ago today and for the subsequent two weeks.
It was a strategic error, in my estimation. The Taliban is back where it was 21 years ago. And, in fact, I would argue we have thrown an accelerant on our adversaries, Russia, China, Iran, and others.
So, yes, the optics are bad, not only from that day a year ago, but also for what you just laid out. They're starving to death, and the Taliban has clamped down on women and clamped down on any dissent. I mean, it's a very tragic situation that we didn't have to leave as we did. We could have left a token force, and they would have been far better off today than they were -- than we are today.
PAYNE: Yes. Instead, we just left a lot of weapons without the force.
MAGINNIS: Yes.
PAYNE: Colonel Maginnis, the Biden administration pointing to the drone strike that killed top Al Qaeda leader Zawahiri as proof that the U.S. can keep terrorism in check from afar. But what about the fact that he was actually living and hiding in plain sight in Afghanistan in the first place at the time of the strike?
MAGINNIS: Yes, with the interior minister, at least the house that was associated with him, that demonstrates clearly that the Taliban is back in bed with Al Qaeda.
Now, it's good that Zawahiri is dead, but the idea that we can conduct an over-the-horizon strategy against terrorists that are in Kabul and elsewhere is ludicrous. The fact is that you have to have people on the ground that can identify the target and the exact location, and so that we can go after them.
And we don't have nearly the capability today because of abandoning that particular place. And keep in mind also that Al Qaeda is not dead.
PAYNE: Yes.
MAGINNIS: It is still prospering in Pakistan and elsewhere. And perhaps some have even come in our open Southern border.
PAYNE: Before I let you go, we're going to run that now iconic video of the Afghanis chasing that U.S. transport plane, some clinging, even falling to the deaths.
In addition to all the Americans young treasures that we lost, the lives, did we also let down these people who bought into the notion that there could be an American-style democracy if we had stayed longer?
MAGINNIS: No doubt.
We had been working for 20 years on nation-building there and fueled that economy; 75 percent of the economy of Afghanistan was basically foreign grants, and a lot of that came from the United States. That's all gone, and the hope is gone in most of those people.
Fortunately, we were able to get out over 100,000 people, but those left behind have little hope of a prosperous future.
PAYNE: Yes.
Colonel Maginnis, always appreciate our conversations. Thank you very much.
MAGINNIS: Thanks, Charles.
PAYNE: Meantime, an update on Salman Rushdie's condition, as the Iranian government says the violent attack against the author is his own fault.
FOX News' Bryan Llenas is in New York with more -- Bryan.
BRYAN LLENAS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Charles, Iran's Foreign Ministry says they had no involvement in the attack on author Salman Rushdie, but in the same breath justified the assault.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NASSER KANAANI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): Salman Rushdie exposed himself to popular anger and fury through insulting the sacred of Islam and trespassing red lines of over 1.5 billion Muslims and also red lines of followers of all divine religions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LLENAS: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a statement reading in part: "Iranian state institutions have incited violence against Rushdie for generations, and state-affiliated media recently gloated about the attempt of his life. This is despicable."
Now, Rushdie has lived under the weight of death threats from Iran's regime since he published the book "The Satanic Verses" in 1988, which some Muslims consider blasphemous. Prosecutors say Rushdie was stabbed 10 times on stage at a literary event in New York on Friday. Henry Reese was on stage with Rushdie and wounded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY REESE, MODERATOR: As readers, we can -- we should all go out and buy a book, buy a book by Salman Rushdie this week and read it. We should go to public programs in the arts. And those programs should begin with a reminder of the importance of creative expression.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LLENAS: The suspect, 24-year-old Hadi Matar, pleaded not guilty to second- degree attempted murder and assault charges.
His social media reportedly shows he's sympathetic to Shia extremism and Iran. Matar's mother tells The Daily Mail her son changed a lot after a recent trip to visit his father in Lebanon. He was more religious and introverted, she says.
Rushdie is said to be on the road to recovery, Charles. The 75-year-old was taken off the ventilator and is speaking, but remains in critical condition -- Charles.
PAYNE: Well, that's great news.
Bryan, thank you very much.
To the open borders. You have seen Texas busing migrants north. Now see what Arizona is doing to take matters into its own hands.
And, as President Biden gets signing, an independent group says the middle class better be bracing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAYNE: To the border surge migrants flooding into Normandy, Texas, a similar scene in Eagle Pass, Texas, where 500 migrants crossed into the state illegally in a single hour, this as Arizona has started to fill the gaps in the border wall with shipping containers.
FOX's Bill Melugin is in the thick of it all in Eagle Pass, Texas -- Bill.
BILL MELUGIN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Charles, good afternoon to you.
The activity here really shot through the roof over the weekend. Just in the last 24 hours alone, we have had more than 2,000 illegal crossings in the Del Rio Sector here. That's one single sector in one day on the Southern border.
And take a look at this video we shot this morning. It has been raining and storming all day long, and it hasn't slowed anything down. This was a group of 200 that crossed this morning in that wind, in that rain. Doesn't matter. Predominantly all adults, a lot of adult men, predominantly from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, which is typically what we have been seeing out here in Eagle Pass.
But take a look at what we saw yesterday. Look at this drone video. Believe it or not, we saw more than 500 people cross in a one-hour span. That includes this group of 300 that you're looking at, once again, almost all of them, adults, single adults. They're coming from all over the world, Central and South America, some from Asian countries, some from African countries as well.
You will see many of them are dressed very well and they have got their smartphones with them as they wait for Border Patrol. You will see some of them even almost got onto a local highway walking out to that road before they were stopped by Texas DPS troopers.
Then take a look at the third piece of video here. These were two other groups we saw yesterday as well totaling more than 200 migrants, once again predominantly single adults. We are no longer seeing a bunch of little kids or those family units like we saw last summer.
There have now been 401,000 illegal crossings just here in the Del Rio Sector since October 1. Elsewhere along the border -- Charles, you mentioned this off the top -- take a look at these photos. This is in Yuma, Arizona, where Governor Doug Ducey there just announced that Arizona is starting to stack up shipping containers to fill gaps in the federal border wall out there.
They're taking two of these shipping containers, stacking them up.And they're putting concertina wire, razor wire, on the top of the shipping containers. He just announced they were doing this with an executive order on Friday, saying: "The Biden administration has shown a dereliction of duty to secure the border. Arizona cannot wait any longer."
So they're starting to fill gaps in the Yuma border wall by taking that strategy you see right there.
And back out here live, that means we now have the state of Texas building its own state-funded border wall, and we now have the state of Arizona using state-owned shipping containers to plug gaps in the federal border wall. Both states have now said the Biden administration has shown no interest in securing the Southern border, so they got to do it themselves - - we will send it back to you.
PAYNE: One way or the other bill. Bill, brilliant ingenuity, though. Thank you.
I want to go now to New York City, where another migrant bus arrived earlier today.
Nate Foy has been covering that part of the story for us -- Nate.
NATE FOY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Charles. Yes, good afternoon.
A bus just after 7:00 a.m. this morning with 52 migrants on it arrived here in New York City, and, just like Bill showed you at the border right now, the vast majority of them single adult men.
Now, again, we saw an official in the mayor's office here in New York City greet these migrants and say again that they're arriving sick, hungry, tired, thirsty. But we also spoke with the Texas official in charge of these buses. And he says that should not be the case. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIM KIDD, TEXAS DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CHIEF: Food and water is placed on these buses, enough for more than 50 people for more than a four- day trip in case they run into any weather. And, frankly, every time the buses come back, we see leftover food and water on these buses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOY: Now, Charles, we also have an exclusive look today inside these buses.
Chief Kidd, who you just heard from, says each and every buses inspected by Texas DPS before each and every trip. He also has this to say about the idea that migrants are being held against their will.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIDD: Absolutely not true. The migrants that have been released by the federal authorities to the nongovernmental agencies here voluntarily get on these buses that are bound for New York and for Washington, D.C.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOY: Now, here's that group of 52 that arrived in New York City this morning.
An official in the mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs calls Governor Abbott -- quote -- "morally corrupt." And Mayor Adams himself continues to insist that migrants are agreeing to board buses under duress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC ADAMS (D), MAYOR OF NEW YORK: That any of us, after 45 hours traveling, being -- the Texas governor being disingenuous about what was the destination, what was happening, any adult or child, those are horrific conditions to place human beings under.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOY: Also today, Charles, the New York Post is reporting that the city plans to convert a hotel right near Times Square into an intake center and a shelter for as many as 600 migrant families.
We will send it back to you.
PAYNE: All right, Nate, thank you very much.
Now, my next guest says there's a need -- there needs to be a national response to this border crisis.
With me now, the city of Rio Grande Mayor Joel Riel -- Villarreal.
I'm sorry, sir.
Mayor...
JOEL VILLARREAL, MAYOR OF RIO GRANDE CITY, TEXAS: It's all right.
PAYNE: ... we keep hearing from border mayors over and over again from both political parties.
And what I find interesting about the pushback we have seen, whether it's the mayor of Washington, D.C., and certainly the mayor of New York City, is that they champion for people to come into our country illegally. But as soon as they step into their city or towns, it's the end of the world.
I mean, they see now firsthand that this is a tough situation for everyone involved, isn't it?
VILLARREAL: Hey, listen, not a single mayor or governor in America should have to deal with this national issue on their own.
The fact is, we do need or require a national coordinated response that better addresses the flow of migrants while their claims of protection are pending. Unfortunately, our broken immigration system is really what is at full display here for the rest of the world to bear witness that the United States of America, the greatest country in the world, lacks the political will to address immigration reform.
And, instead, what do we have? Democrats and Republicans engaging in asinine political mudslinging. And what we really need is a comprehensive immigration reform to address these issues.
Keep in mind, we have been dealing with this for decades, and it's not going to end.
PAYNE: Right.
VILLARREAL: People the world over still believe in the American dream, and they're going to continue to come.
Now, again, it is something that we must address as a country, instead of this infighting, which, by the way, the infighting or this fighting between Democrats and Republicans really does absolutely zero.
PAYNE: Right.
VILLARREAL: What it does, on the contrary...
PAYNE: Mayor...
VILLARREAL: ... it is counterproductive to addressing immigration and border security, which, by the way, are not mutually exclusive concepts. They can coexist.
But, again, no mayor or governor should have to deal with this on their own. And we do need a coordinated national response to address these influxes.
PAYNE: Mayor, I don't have a lot of time, so I want to give you an opportunity. It's less than a minute, if you can.
What would you suggest? If you were invited to the White House today to sit down, and everybody was sitting in the room, what would you put on the table?
VILLARREAL: First of all, put our differences aside, Democrats, Republicans. We need to deal with this as Americans.
Now, we have to -- if we're going to allow these individuals to be in our country, which, again, that's a different topic altogether, depending on which political area you're coming from. But at this point is, we need a response. Either incentivize states, incentivize municipalities.
We need to address their needs. At the end of the day, how are they going to feed for themselves? How are they going to fend for themselves? We cannot allow -- because, again, we have extremes. We cannot do catch and release. But, again, there are legitimate concerns for national security, or we cannot have family separations at the border.
PAYNE: All right.
VILLARREAL: Common ground.
PAYNE: All right.
VILLARREAL: So, incentivize municipalities, provide the moneys, because, at the end of the day, I don't have the financial resources to be able to sustain this -- the number of -- or influx of immigrants coming through.
So we need to make sure that the funding is available and have this coordinated effort to address it.
PAYNE: Yes.
VILLARREAL: If not, we're going to continue to have the same issues and keep talking about this for the next 15, 20, 30 years, which is so unfortunate, by the way.
PAYNE: Yes.
No, it's really tough. Even in New York City, where -- this famous hotel that they will be housing some migrants in, on any average summer night, 19,000 people are homeless in New York City. So, again, you have got these already existing issues, and now we have new ones.
Mayor Villarreal, thank you very much. Appreciate it.
VILLARREAL: Thank you. Appreciate your time.
PAYNE: To primary eve in Wyoming. When it comes to one particular Republican race, find out what both parties are trying.
And independent watchdog says the IRS audits are coming for the middle class ahead of tomorrow's signing. Is the White House worrying?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAYNE: All eyes on Wyoming ahead of tomorrow's Republican primary, incumbent Liz Cheney fighting to keep her House seat.
FOX News' Rich Edson is in Teton Village, Wyoming, on what we should expect -- Rich.
RICH EDSON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good afternoon, Charles.
Liz Cheney is also fighting senior Republicans. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is here campaigning for his opponent, Trump-backed Harriet Hageman. He's also holding a fund-raising event here.
We spoke with Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader of the House Republicans, and he says that Hageman is going to be Cheney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I think Harriet is going to win rather large on two main factors.
I think it's going to be a referendum on the January 6 Committee and the Democrats not focusing on the real issues that America cares most about and the issues here in Wyoming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
EDSON: McCarthy also told us Republicans will win the House in November, and that he will be speaker in January.
Cheney's supporters say they're proud of her work on the January 6 Committee. She's called former President Trump and falsehoods about the 2020 election a domestic threat to the United States. Hageman has refused interview requests or to provide a campaign schedule, though she has argued that Cheney is too focused on January 6 and the former president.
Trump is also focused on Cheney. One Republican member says the president asked Republicans here to campaign against Cheney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PAT FALLON (R-TX): I met with President Trump this -- earlier in the week.
And he's just fabulous and in great spirits. And he's always the fighter for the American people. And he had suggested to the eight, nine members of Congress that were at the table: "Could somebody go out and help Harriet?"
And I said: "Mr. President, right here. I will go."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
EDSON: In regards to Congresswoman Cheney, McCarthy says that the Republican House Conference welcomes those who agree with limited government.
We asked, doesn't Cheney do that? He says, Cheney is too focused on the former president, on one individual.
We ran that by former -- the congresswoman, what the former president had to say -- or what McCarthy had to say. And Cheney told us that McCarthy's word salad was difficult to understand -- Charles, back to you.
PAYNE: Rich, thank you very much.
Folks, this just in. The Justice Department says that it is against unsealing the Trump search affidavit, despite growing calls by some of the Republican Party for them to do just that. In the filing, the department states -- quote -- "The fact that this investigation implicates highly classified materials further underscores the need to protect the integrity of the investigation and exacerbates the potential for harm if information is disclosed to the public prematurely or improperly."
We will have more right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAYNE: President Biden set to sign this spending bill tomorrow, the CBO warning, though, the middle class may take a hit.
With me now, former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin.
All right, Douglas, you have had plenty of time to go over it. And you know all the tricks of the trade.
(LAUGHTER)
PAYNE: Where are we with this thing?
DOUGLAS HOLTZ-EAKIN, FORMER CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE DIRECTOR: Well, certainly, on the IRS enforcement, the notion that somehow the middle class will be exempt is just not true.
The CBO thinks up to $20 billion could come from those making under $400,000.
PAYNE: Of course, you talk about these audits, and we look at last year, over half were on families making $75,000 or less. You don't hire an additional 87,000 to go after just 700 billionaires.
HOLTZ-EAKIN: No, there's no chance that it's going to be that disciplined and focused.
The IRS, A, has a real management problem. So getting them to focus is going to be a challenge. And, B, historically, it goes where it's easiest to pick up the money. And that's people getting Earned Income Tax Credits and small business owners. It's not going to be focused on the wealthy.
PAYNE: So, let's talk about impact then to the economy.
I think we're still feeling the impacts of that $1.9 trillion last year. But money keeps trickling out. You got states who took their COVID money -- I will use air quotes -- and now they're distributing it as aid as well. So it's still a lot of money gushing into this economy.
HOLTZ-EAKIN: There's tons of money gushing into this economy.
And while we were focused on the IRA getting passed, they passed the $300 billion CHIPS and Science Act and an up-to-$600 billion veterans spending bill. So this Congress continues to spend, trillion dollars in deficit- financed spending. We know what that does.
PAYNE: Yes.
It's amazing, though. They keep telling us that, the more spending they do, the less inflation we will have. But this free money, it's killing us.
Doug, sorry we didn't have more time for you. I always appreciate talking to you and your wisdom. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
HOLTZ-EAKIN: My pleasure.
PAYNE: I want to say thank you to home as well for allowing me into your home.
But guess what? Neil is back tomorrow. Yay.
But you can catch me tomorrow, "Making Money," and make sure you do. It's on every weekday, FOX Business, at 2:00 p.m. It's a tough time for the market, but it's been a hell of a rally. Did anyone tell you? Yes, it's been pretty good. Check me out tomorrow.
But, right now, "THE FIVE" starts next.
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