NIH Director: The data is so compelling that COVID vaccines are safe and effective
Dr. Francis Collins reacts to Pfizer announcing the COVID-19 vaccine is effective in younger children on 'Your World'
This is a rush transcript from "Your World" September 20, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SANDRA SMITH, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Martha, thank you.
We are live in North Port, Florida, where the FBI has been searching the parents' home of Brian Laundrie. He remains missing at this hour, this after a body believed to be Gabby Petito was discovered over the weekend in Wyoming. An autopsy is scheduled to be conducted tomorrow.
We are following this developing story for you very closely. We will have a live update coming up.
But first to Wall Street and stocks rocked, the Dow selling off more than more -- or more than 600 points, as it settles here in the final seconds of trading, as worries about China, inflation keep investors on edge.
Welcome, everyone. I'm Sandra Smith, in for Neil Cavuto, and this is "Your World."
A downturn in China's housing market sparking worries over there, as inflation remains a huge concern right here, as Democrats continue to push for massive new spending plans, the Dow diving on the news today, down nearly 1,000 points midday, coming back in the final minutes of trading, finishing off down 614 points.
We have got FOX team coverage with FOX Business' Lauren Simonetti on what is driving all the selling and Chad Pergram on the spending that's got inflation fears spiking.
We begin with Lauren.
Lauren, what was it all about today for market?
LAUREN SIMONETTI, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the impetus to sell, not the reason, but the impetus came from China, Sandra.
They have a major property developer called Evergrande. And they have debt due that they cannot pay. Some are calling this China's Lehman Brothers moments, the bankruptcy that served as the catalyst for the financial crisis. But the White House isn't worried, at least not yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Let me first note that this is a company based in China whose activities are overwhelmingly centered in China.
That being said, we always are monitoring global markets, obviously, from the Department of Treasury primarily, including the assessment of any risk to the U.S. economy, and stand prepared to respond appropriately if needed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMONETTI: The final numbers still settling on Wall Street, and the Dow down 1.7 percent, or 614 points. It had been down 943 at the low, the S&P 500 also down 1.7 percent.
Bigger reverberations in those big tech companies, the Nasdaq falling 2.2 percent. Look, investors want to know, how bad does this get and how long does the selling last? Morgan Stanley, they see a 20 percent slide if the economy decelerates and earnings get squeezed as a result.
Remember, China just one risk factor. You have to add in the debt ceiling debate, a Federal Reserve meeting and the calendar. LPL Financial says September the worst month of the year for the S&P 500. And there are more 1 percent or larger swings in the month of October, more than any other month.
It's not just stocks that are pulling back today, oil, aluminum, copper down sharply on worries that China and global demand dry up. And, look, that could be welcome news for Americans, paying higher prices for everything. This is a FOX News poll. It shows 82 percent of voters are concerned about inflation.
That's more than COVID-19 or Afghanistan. So the question now -- and we saw some buying into the close -- do the buyers come back tomorrow? Do they buy this dip? And what does the Fed do with all of this? Do they keep the punchbowl flowing? Do they do nothing when they meet? When do they start to announce their taper, Sandra?
SMITH: These are all big questions.
We will take it up with our money panel in just a moment.
Lauren, great to see you. Thank you.
SIMONETTI: You too.
SMITH: Today's sell-off coming as Democrats continue pushing for massive spending plans, $3.5 trillion the table.
And our Chad Pergram reports from Capitol Hill we could all be paying for this somehow -- Chad.
CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Sandra.
Well, congressional Democrats want to avoid a plunge in the markets tied to a government shutdown and a collision with the debt ceiling. So within the hour, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, announced they will link government funding to a suspension of the debt limit until December of 2022.
The House could vote on the bill as early as tomorrow, but the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, is balking. He says Democrats control the entire government and the GOP won't assist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Senate Republicans would support a clean continuing resolution that includes appropriate disaster relief and targeted Afghan assistance. We will not support legislation that raises the debt limit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERGRAM: McConnell says Democrats should hook a debt limit suspension onto the big social spending bill. It's exempt from filibusters. Otherwise, the GOP is threatening to filibuster a suspension of the debt limit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY): Asked if Republicans would block an extension of the debt limit, Leader McConnell amazingly and cravenly said that Republicans are united in opposition to raising the debt ceiling. Shame.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERGRAM: Pelosi and Schumer say -- quote -- "A reckless Republican-forced default could plunge the country into a recession."
It takes 60 votes to overcome a Senate filibuster. That's why GOP votes are necessary. The secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, says the U.S. would face an historic financial crisis if there's a confrontation over the debt ceiling -- Sandra.
SMITH: Chad Pergram on the Hill for us. Chad, thank you.
So are we looking at the perfect storm for stocks?
With us now, market watchers Gary Kaltbaum, Danielle DiMartino Booth, and Lee Munson.
Great to have all three of you.
Gary, you're a measured guy. How worried should we be about the current stock market sell-off, especially today, when we saw markets down about six -- 950 points on the Dow at one point?
GARY KALTBAUM, FOX BUSINESS CONTRIBUTOR: The big worry, Sandra, is the combination of a slowing economy and prices going up. They call it stagflation.
And if we get that in a serious fashion, markets are going to take a dive. That hurts profits. It hurts consumer. There is no worse scenario to come. And then you have a market where nothing has gone wrong. We continue to go higher off of the Fed and valuations are in the trees.
So you have one heck of a combination here right now. I'm hoping cooler heads prevail. But you saw what happened today. I'd say the good news is the last half-hour saw a good bump of 300 Dow points. So maybe they're trying to put a line in the sand for this second.
But, overall, I'm worried. And just remember this sort of topping out months ago with the average stock. They finally got the bigger stocks in the last week. And you saw it in droves today.
SMITH: Well, Lee, there's one thing I told our friend Stuart Varney early this morning when markets were opening. This will for sure test the buy- the-dip crowd that has been hanging on, clinging to this stock market rally for months now.
We will see if they stick around for that. But, Lee, there is one thing many can agree on. And that is, inflation is rearing its ugly head. It continues to be a big problem for the average American. Look at this FOX News poll. It shows that, today, concerns about inflation and rising prices is the top concern among registered voters.
It rates above the pandemic, Afghanistan and unemployment. And that's surely a concern as we head into a midterm election year.
LEE MUNSON, PORTFOLIO WEALTH ADVISORS: Well, it is the only thing that my clients can agree on.
I have -- I have progressive clients to very conservative clients. They all agree that inflation is the number one issue. Everything I'm doing on the portfolios, at this point, is all about trying to deal with inflation in the way I manage people's money.
They're not calling in and asking me about how Delta is going to change the stock market, the Delta variant. They're asking me, what is going to be inflation's root effect on their money, on their portfolio? It is 100, it is 1000 percent their focus.
The COVID, the problems in D.C., I would even say that China right now is not the most critical factor going through your average baby boomer. It's trying to live off their portfolio or people trying to get to retirement right now. It's the single biggest threat that we have.
And it's the only thing that's on my mind right now.
SMITH: Danielle, the single biggest threat, we have inflation, Lee says.
At the same time, Democrats are talking about spending trillions more. And what does that do to an economic system that's already in jeopardy? I mean, here we are. We're going to see what happens next, Janet Yellen says we could have an economic catastrophe if we don't raise the debt ceiling.
We can't pay the bills we already have.
DANIELLE DIMARTINO BOOTH, FORMER FEDERAL RESERVE ADVISER: That's exactly right.
And I think that a lot of Americans at this point have associated the runaway stimulus spending that we have seen over the past 18 months, rightly so, with the increase that we have seen in inflation, at exactly the same time, as Gary brought up earlier, that economic growth is slowing.
You have to go back to your textbooks from the 1970s to even get a glimpse of what stagflation feels like. But it is miserable for your average us household. And there's going to be a contagion effect, if you will, if we start to see a lot of the air come out of the overvalued stock market.
That's also going to affect consumption in America. And that's two-thirds of the U.S. economy. So this inflation in the face of slowing growth, even as we're talking about trillions upon trillions of more dollars of stimulus spending, it really is the -- to use a cliche, the worst storm, the worst confluence of events.
And we have also come through a weekend where we had many different fed type of scandals hitting the wires and the contagion effect of Chinese bonds crashing. So there are a lot of things right now that are pressing on investors.
SMITH: Gary, but I know you're an optimistic guy. And you can make the case the liquidity freight train, it is still full steam ahead right now, when you got all this easy money environment still with the Federal Reserve. We will see if that changes this week.
But, Gary, can you kind of make sense for this? Lee said China's not the top concern, but it was certainly big news today. Make sense of what happened in China, why it's such a big deal here at home. If one of China's largest lenders, the Evergrande Group, if they're having a hard time with their own debt -- they face billions of dollars in debt there -- a lot of people saw that one coming.
But there's this word contagion that was being used today. And there's concern that if China is so overleveraged and facing such a hard time, that they see a banking crisis, that there could be contagion and ripple effects across the globe, including here at home. Explain.
KALTBAUM: The word exposure comes to mind.
The market was hitting all the financial stocks today because of the worry. Who owns a lot of this paper? And if China's having all this problem, while the economy has been OK, who else has problems? Just remember something, Sandra.
The amount of leverage and debt in our system, corporate junk bonds, government, is gargantuan. It is massive. And it's off of these low interest rates that have been manipulated down by central banks.
What if that changes? So, look, I'm a big believer, at the end of the day, something's got to give. You just can't be piling on more and more debt. And you brought up the spending bill here. My worry is not just the inflation, but taking $3 trillion, $4 trillion out of the economy and putting it in government's hands, and think something good is going to come from it?
So there's a lot of worries going forward. And the markets will eventually speak loud and clear. I'm not so sure we're there yet, but certainly today was a wakeup call.
SMITH: So we will see what the Fed does this week. And you have got -- Joe Manchin's trying to get in the way of all that spending. We will see where that goes.
A lot of uncertainty. Markets don't like that, for sure.
Gary, Danielle and Lee, thanks for joining us. Appreciate your time. Thank you.
DIMARTINO BOOTH: Thank you.
SMITH: And a live look at the Southern border now at this hour, shocking images, as thousands of migrants remain packed under a bridge there in Del Rio, Texas.
And as that crisis keeps ramping up, Texas residents are speaking out. We will talk to one of them next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We have reiterated that our borders are not open and people should not make the dangerous journey.
If you come to the United States illegally, you will be returned. Your journey will not succeed, and you will be endangering your life and your family's lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Well, that was Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas doubling down on the message that the border is closed in his visit earlier today, this as over 12,000 refugees still remain packed under that bridge in Del Rio, Texas.
FOX News' Bill Melugin is there on the ground. He's got more at this hour.
Hi, Bill.
BILL MELUGIN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Sandra. Good afternoon to you. It is 102 degrees out here. It's cooking. And the conditions at this camp are just horrible.
Law enforcement out here on the record saying it reminds them of what a Third World refugee camp would look like. And that's certainly what it looks like to us here. It's hard to believe this is the United States border right here. Hard to believe this is Texas, but you can see well over 10,000 migrants still living underneath this bridge right now, trying to use it for shade.
They have put together plants and sticks, basically whatever they can find to create some temporary shelter, to get out of the sun. But Border Patrol has been taking busloads of them out, and it looks like they're barely making a dent.
Take a look at the second angle from our other camera here, so you can get really a true perspective of just how big this camp has gotten. It was a climax of 15,000 on Saturday. It has dropped a little bit in the 48 hours since then.
But, again, Border Patrol has a Herculean task of trying to get all these people processed and out of here. Take another look from our FOX drone overhead to again get just another look at the sheer size and scope of this migrant camp. The federal government has started fast-tracking repatriation flights to get these migrants back to their home countries.
But for the most part, that is only applying to single adult men. A lot of the family units are going to be able to be released into the U.S. with notice to appear in court documents and be released.
Here is why this is so crowded down here. Take a look at this remarkable video we shot on Saturday. We got exclusive access to a vote on the Rio Grande stunning video. We were watching hour after hour hundreds of migrants crossing the Rio Grande illegally from Mexico arriving on the shoreline in the United States, hundreds gathering there.
They bathed in the river, they changed their clothes, then they walked a dirt path right here to the International Bridge. It eventually got plugged up, when Texas DPS troopers surged the area and were able to get it put to a stop.
So what happened? Take a look at this last piece of video here. The next day, on Sunday, yesterday, they just found another part of the river to try to cross. But, this time, Border Patrol on horseback was there waiting for them, and they used those horses to try to physically push those migrants back into the river to make sure they couldn't cross in the area.
Now, earlier today, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, he was out here. He took a tour of the camp. He saw what the conditions were like. And he still maintained that the border is closed. That's what he said to the public. And I can tell you that the border agents we talk to just shake their head when they hear that, because they say, if this is a closed border, we don't want to know what an open border looks like.
We will send it back to you.
SMITH: Bill Melugin reporting down there in Del Rio, Texas.
Bill, thank you.
Meantime, some Texas owners fed up with the situation at the border are not allowing the state -- are now allowing the state to build fencing on their properties.
Our next guest is one of them, Del Rio, Texas, resident Bill Whaley.
We do want to mention that we did call DHS Secretary Mayorkas and have not yet heard back.
Bill, welcome. And thanks for being here.
What is the impact of this migrant surge on your property?
BILL WHALEY, RESIDENT OF DEL RIO, TEXAS: Well, glad to be here.
For starters, the property belongs to my son. And he purchased it about six years ago. And the impact that we're having is, with the cut fences, the livestock getting out on the road.
SMITH: Yes.
So we're showing pictures of this property, your son's property, that you are using. And you're allowing now some of this fencing to go up. Do you believe this to be a solution to the problem, or do you think this will just stem some of the problems you're already having?
WHALEY: Well, I think it'll be a deterrent, but it's not a solution.
We did have a fence that was approximately -- a border fence, a real fence, that was being built, that's approximately two miles upriver from us. The International Bridge is right at about three miles downriver -- excuse me.
And that fence was a deterrent. What we have here is a chain-link fence. And before they even finished building the fence -- there's a photo there I think you all have of where they have already cut the fence...
SMITH: Yes.
WHALEY: ... to smuggle illegal drugs and human resources.
SMITH: It's a reality too many property owners there in these border towns are too often facing.
We heard from Secretary Mayorkas. He spoke earlier today. He toured these areas. He saw the migrant surge. He gave that press briefing in which he said our border is closed. He tried to tell those migrants not to make the dangerous journey.
But what do you think when you hear that, when you hear Secretary Mayorkas say that this border is closed, but we see images like this on our screen of clearly thousands of migrants that continue to pour over our borders?
WHALEY: Well, earlier today, I was down at the port of entry.
And it's -- by far, the images are true there. They stand. They speak for themselves. I had -- then I went over to check on the cows. And I took some photos of the fence. And at that time, I saw some more migrants waiting for their ride from the Border Patrol, as they have already crossed the river, and they were sitting with the DPS waiting for their ride.
This is far from closed. In fact, it's a lot worse. A lot of things that you don't see is -- everybody showing what's down at the port of entry.
SMITH: Yes.
WHALEY: But the smuggling that goes on. And now that all the attentions focused at the port of entry, and being shorthanded, the Border Patrol is, it's making it a lot easier for the smugglers to carry on what they have been carrying on for years.
SMITH: Yes.
Yes, and making life very difficult for folks like you. Our best to you and your family, your son, whose property that is. Our best to you as you make your way through this.
Thank you, sir.
WHALEY: Yes, ma'am. Thank you.
SMITH: Thank you.
The FBI today searching the home of Brian Laundrie in Florida, as officials say a body found in Wyoming is likely Gabby Petito. What those agents are now looking for -- after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SMITH: A body believed to be Gabby Petito's has been found.
But the search for answers continues -- where officials are focusing that investigation now and why.
We are back in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SMITH: To the Gabby Petito investigation.
The FBI carried out a warrant at the home of Brian Laundrie earlier today, after calling off the search for him at the Carlton Nature Reserve. We are also getting brand-new details about the 911 call involved.
Charles Watson is outside the home in North Port, Florida, with more.
Hi, Charles.
CHARLES WATSON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Sandra.
Things have slowed down quite a bit outside of the Laundrie home. We actually saw a lot of the FBI agents who were here helping to execute that search warrant leave with what appeared to be boxes of evidence. A short time ago, we saw multiple agents loading items from the family's garage into a white van and other vehicles that were later driven away.
And for a while, Sandra, things were pretty quiet out here, until about an hour-and-a-half ago, when we saw multiple agents come out of the Laundrie home and really set their focus on the silver Mustang that was parked in the family's driveway. Two tow trucks then came and loaded up the Mustang and took it away to the North Port Police Station.
That Mustang is pretty significant, Sandra, because that is the car Brian Laundrie's parents told investigators he drove to the Carlton Reserve on Tuesday with, the last time Brian was seen or drove from -- or heard from, rather.
Now, according to the North Port Police Department, Brian's parents told officers they went to the Carlton Reserve a day or so after they lost contact with their son. They apparently located the abandoned Mustang and eventually drove it back to the Laundrie home, before reporting him missing last Friday.
Meantime, we're hearing newly obtained audio of a 911 call that offers a new perspective of the tumultuous incident between Brian and Gabby in Utah that led police to separate the two for a night.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What were they doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We drove by and the gentleman was slapping the girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was slapping her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. And then we stopped. They ran up and down the sidewalk. He proceeded to hit her, hopped in the car, and they drove off.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
WATSON: And this FBI raid certainly took a lot of people by surprise.
This morning, we saw multiple agents swarm the home and announce a search warrant before going in and bring the Laundries out of the house and placing them inside a van. And just moments ago, we saw the last of the FBI agents move out.
They have been really tight-lipped, Sandra, about who's in charge of this investigation, whether it's the FBI or the North Port Police Department or some other agency. We don't know right now, but we will certainly be pressing them for answers -- back to you, Sandra.
SMITH: Absolutely, Charles Watson, outside the family home there in North Port, Florida. Thank you, Charles.
So, at this stage, what are investigators really focusing on in this case?
Former FBI agent Maureen O'Connell joins us now.
Maureen, welcome. Thank you.
I'm jotting down notes as Charles was reporting there, because it is tough to keep track of all the details and what -- all the changes in this story, with now Brian nowhere to be found, but there's no search for him at this hour? This is a very confusing story. Take us through just the latest developments that we have today and where this all goes next.
MAUREEN O'CONNELL, FORMER FBI AGENT: There are so many moving parts. This case will actually go down in the analogues of one of the most confusing cases ever.
But the FBI -- my understanding is at this point that the attorney for Brian Laundrie is going to hold a press conference tomorrow morning. With regard to the FBI being in the house, they're looking for any of the ways that the Laundrie parents communicated with their son.
There's three things that had to take place throughout this entire thing. And that was communications, Brian needed money and he needed cover. And it looks as if his parents gave him all three of those things without giving any of those benefits to the parents of Gabby, which is shocking.
SMITH: All right, we saw the tow trucks show up. That was about an hour- and-a-half ago this afternoon.
They pulled up to the house. They removed that Mustang that Brian was last seen -- as Charles just pointed out very significantly, that Brian was last seen driving to the Carlton Reserve.
What will they do with that Mustang? And could this lead to answers, especially to Brian's whereabouts?
O'CONNELL: Well, they're actually -- I'm not sure that they have determined that Brian did, in fact, drive that car to the reserve.
It would seem likely to me that maybe one of his parents gave him a ride while he was in the backseat or who knows what. I honestly don't believe anything we're told. I think that his car being there or his parents calling the police four days later to tell them that he went there for a hike is more likely a red herring than not.
Every move that Brian and his parents have made have been an attempt to buy time to give him what he needs to get out of the way or get out of the hands of law enforcement or the clutches of the powers that be.
SMITH: It is just absolutely mind-boggling how he got away to begin with, with the police surrounding the house, the feds there, how this is even possibly the case.
We know the autopsy report will be out tomorrow to determine and confirm whether that is indeed Gabby's body that was found there in the reserve.
Thank you so much for joining us.
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: Yes, real quick?
O'CONNELL: Oh, you -- yes, I was just going to say that all the clothes that Gabby had throughout that trip were well-documented in her vlog.
Also, she had a number of tattoos. So I think that they were -- they're more than confident, unfortunately.
SMITH: Yes. Yes, unfortunately.
Thank you so much.
O'CONNELL: Thank you.
SMITH: President Biden, meanwhile, heading to New York City and ready to face a potentially hostile crowd at the United Nations tomorrow and facing major backlash over his handling in Afghanistan.
And some major COVID travel restrictions could be flying away pretty soon. What it means for your holiday travel plans -- that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SMITH: Get ready for a tense U.N. General Assembly meeting tomorrow, with President Biden trying to calm some of our allies.
Let's get to Eric Shawn at the U.N. with a preview of the big day.
Hi, Eric.
ERIC SHAWN, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Sandra.
President Biden prides himself on knowing many world leaders personally, but he's got some making up to do, that after France pulled its ambassador and the secretary-general of the United Nations is warning of a possible new cold war with China.
The president will address the General Assembly tomorrow, stepping up to that familiar green podium in the General Assembly cavernous chamber. He will stress ending the coronavirus pandemic, dealing with climate change and promoting human rights and democracy around the globe.
But it is the spat with France over the U.S. selling nuclear submarines to Australia as a way to fend off China that scuttled Paris' deal and has caused tensions here. That has put Washington and Paris at odds. French President Emmanuel Macron is not coming, but President Biden will be meeting here with the Australian prime minister on this.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki today tried to put the best face on this rift.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PSAKI: What I expect the president will do on that call is reaffirm our commitment to working with one of our oldest and closest partners on a range of challenges that the global community is facing.
And he, of course, will discuss recent developments and our ongoing work together on a range of issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHAWN: And one of those issues also will be Afghanistan, a major one here, with the prospect that the Taliban could actually join the U.N.
You know the Taliban is not recognized by the world body. It is still under sanctions. But the diplomats here hope that a bid for membership at the United Nations could perhaps help modify some of the Taliban's more hard- line policies.
Meanwhile, there's a controversy over COVID, the U.N. defying New York City's rules that all participants have to be vaccinated for COVID because the city considers this an indoor event.
So the U.N. is going on the honorary system after Russia said that it's discriminatory to ask people. So the city has set up a van to give COVID shots and COVID tests to any diplomat or world leader who wants one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: I see myself as being part of what we are hoping everyone takes the leadership to do. And that is do everything possible to mitigate against getting the COVID -- getting COVID, so that this event does not become a super spreader event.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHAWN: And no matter what the president says in his speech tomorrow morning, the last word for the morning session at least will be left to Chinese President Xi Jinping. He will be speaking to the group on videotape.
So we will see if he has any olive branches to the United States and the world body -- Sandra, back to you.
SMITH: All the flags flying there in the breeze there at the United Nations here in New York City.
Eric Shawn, thank you.
Former State Department official Christian Whiton joining us now.
Christian, seems like President Biden has a lot of work to do. How does he soothe concerns with our allies out there with so many problems?
CHRISTIAN WHITON, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY SPECIAL ENVOY: Yes, it's going to be difficult to impossible to do that.
I know the White House seems to think that they can find some compilation of words that will undo the disasters of recent weeks, but people can see what's happened in the real world, particularly in Afghanistan. And I think that continues to be seen as the most important and, unfortunately, consequential collapse of U.S. power.
The rift with France, I wish the White House would just push back. France is being entirely unreasonable. They have a corporatist foreign policy. This really has exposed that they are irrelevant to the contest with China, as is NATO, that our Pacific allies are more important.
But instead of clear talk about China and about other threats we face, like from Iran or from Islamic terrorists, you're going to see, frankly, a bunch of happy talk about a rules-based international order, which is sort of, I would argue, a liberal construct that doesn't exist, and a bunch of verbiage about human rights.
It's a hard sell when we just killed seven children in Afghanistan. And climate change.
SMITH: You dug into a lot there.
Obviously, the relationship with our allies in the wake of that botched withdrawal from Afghanistan will be front and center. I thought it was interesting today too, when Jen Psaki in the White House Briefing Room was pressed on soothing over relations with France, that the president's going to have a call, we are told, with Emmanuel Macron in the coming days over France fuming about that Australian submarine deal.
That obviously angered France. Could he soothe things over perhaps with a message at the U.N. tomorrow?
WHITON: Well, Biden has prioritized relations with old Europe.
Actually, I mean, you will recall the priority and his first foreign trip was to the G7 summit in the United Kingdom. So I'm sure he will try. I don't know if the French are willing to be consoled about this. They ought to be. It's a pretty bad look for them too.
I mean, they didn't pull their ambassador from China when China cracked down on human rights in Hong Kong. They didn't pull their ambassador to Iran when Iran brutally crushed protesters there.
SMITH: Yes.
WHITON: So France is really sort of out of on a ledge.
SMITH: I hear that from you, that Afghanistan certainly will be the focus and soothing allies concerns over that withdrawal.
Christian, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.
WHITON: All right, thank you, Sandra.
SMITH: Did the price for the American dream just go on sale?
We report. Will you buy?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SMITH: Timber. After reaching record highs, lumber prices falling, and that has homebuilders ready to start hammering.
To FOX Business' Madison Alworth at a lumber yard in New Jersey with the very latest from there.
Hi, Madison.
MADISON ALWORTH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey there.
Yes, so we are seeing lumber prices finally go down after record highs early this year. Inventory is so hot that it's flying off the shelves. Lumber yards like this one here in Madison, New Jersey, are barely keeping up with that demand because it is so high.
And because that demand is high, thanks to these lower prices, we are seeing the price creep up again, right? So things settled out in August. But this past month, we have seen an increase of 39 percent.
But even with that increase, this is the best price that we have seen in a while. And we spoke to the owner of this lumberyard. He says, if you want to start a project, you better buy now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRYAN JAEGER, OWNER, JAEGER LUMBER: Now's a great time to start. Now's a great time to get your material on the ground. I don't see it going lower again. Again, we are back into a high volume period of time. It's the season.
So, get an order, get it on the ground. And they know they want to get closed in before the winter months.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALWORTH: So, what are we talking about here?
Well, back in May, when we hit a high, you were looking at a price of over $16,000. Today, that price is down to around $600, so a huge difference, which is why we're getting this recommendation that if you do have that project to get going -- we have heard it from the lumberyard here, contractors saying all the same thing, that, if you want to start a project, do it now, because, if prices move, they're only going to go up, Sandra.
SMITH: Thank you to you, Madison, reporting there from a lumberyard in New Jersey.
And welcome. I understand it's your first day reporting on the FOX Business Network, so a big welcome to you.
ALWORTH: Thank you.
SMITH: OK.
Let's get the read from Rogers Healy, real estate executive and CEO of the Rogers Healy Companies.
Thank you for being here.
ROGERS HEALY, CEO, ROGERS HEALY COMPANIES: Of course.
SMITH: As the adage goes, nothing cures high prices like high prices. And that certainly happened with lumber, right?
They were so high for so long there, and it became a major person problem for homebuilders, anybody buying lumber, for that matter, that people couldn't afford it. They stopped buying. The prices have come down.
So, we will see how long this lasts. But what is the effect on the housing market?
HEALY: Sure.
It's a long-term effect. And I think that, not to contradict what you're saying or disagree, people still did transact. And that could have been somebody buying land at an all-time high, buying a starter home for their all-time high. Millennials, they're our biggest buyers. Some of them gave their notice for their lease, and they had to go buy something.
So I think the long-term effect is that we have literally a new entry level price point of homes forever. And an appraiser works off sold prices per square foot. And when our price per square foot is -- it increases, that changes things forever.
So I think, even with lumber prices decreasing, the demand is still there. And I think we're going to see a new market from here on out.
SMITH: Brian, what does that mean for the average first-time homebuyer or first time homebuilder in this case?
HEALY: You said Brian. I want to make sure you're talking to me.
So, if the question is for me...
SMITH: Sorry about that.
HEALY: Yes. That's OK.
It means going and resetting reality. And I think it's what we have been seeing now for a year-and-a-half. Last year at this time, it was the spring market and the summer market all in one. Now people are lining out the door to go buy a starter home, where a starter home now is over $400,000.
And when that starter home demographic is mostly millennials, they're going to have to go time their move based on what is available, not necessarily what is affordable. So I think it's going to just be the new normal, even if you're in Middle America, if you're on the coast, if you're in DFW, where we are today.
So I think it's just kind of taking a step back and realizing what's a good deal now is probably going to be an even better deal 12 months down the road on paper.
SMITH: It is fascinating to watch that supply chain.
Rogers Healy on that story for us, on lumber and new homes.
We will be watching that market, for sure. Thanks so much.
HEALY: Thank you.
SMITH: Pfizer announcing that its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective in younger children. What that could mean for younger students now that the school year is under way.
NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins will be our guest and join us live next.
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SMITH: As the school year gets under way, Pfizer announcing that a smaller dose of its COVID vaccine is safe and effective for children ages 5 to 11. Pfizer now plans to seek approval from the FDA.
Is getting younger children vaccinated the key to keeping schools open?
Let's ask NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins.
Dr. Collins, I feel like every parent out there is just so grateful for their children. If they're back in school full-time right now, they're happy about it.
So, now knowing that Pfizer says 5 to 11 years old, school-aged children, that they think this vaccine is going to be ready for them with FDA approval, would you support a mandate for that age group for the vaccine?
DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Well, first of all, let's just say this is really good news.
It's still a press release. Pfizer has to now submit their data to FDA for close scrutiny to be sure safety and efficacy is just what they say. But what they said today looks really good. This one-third dose of the vaccine gives an antibody response that's equivalent to what you see in 16-to-25- year-olds.
So we're on the right track. And the side effects seem to be quite reasonable. So -- but let's be clear. FDA will still have to review this. They will have to have an advisory committee that will have a public meeting. These are kids. We want all the data out there for people to be seen.
And then, of course, the dose will be a two-dose regimen. And it will be three weeks apart, followed by two more weeks, to make sure that it's fully taken. So, kids in the 5-to-11 age group aren't going to be fully immunized right away. This is going to take a little time, so all the more reason why we got to be careful now about kids in school.
As far as a mandate, well, we haven't done that for older kids yet either, so this is going to be up to parents. But I sure hope that parents, seeing the data and having the chance when FDA has a public meeting, will say, yes, this is something I want for my kid to keep them from getting sick and keep our schools in the place they need to be.
Kids need to be in school.
SMITH: Absolutely.
COLLINS: This is one more way to make sure that happens.
SMITH: Absolutely. A lot of lost learning already, and a lot of catchup has to be done.
But we see what happened with teachers. They want to get their vaccines. They're still wearing masks. I have had so many people, as a result of this story, ask me, well, OK, hold on. If they have got the vaccine ready and eventually have an approval ready for these school-aged kids 5 to 11, are they going to have them get vaccinated and still make them wear the mask in the classroom?
COLLINS: Well, it depends on whether the rest of us do what we need to do to drive this terrible Delta surge away, which means getting the rest of the people who still aren't vaccinated, like some of the parents of these kids, to roll up their sleeves, and get the 12-to-17-year-olds, who can be vaccinated now, only about half of which have been.
And they're in school too. So we got some work to do. And it's not just going to be enough to vaccinate the little kids. Let's take care of the older kids and the adults.
The data is so compelling that these vaccines are safe and effective. It just boggles my mind that we still have 75 million people in the U.S. who have not rolled up their sleeve.
SMITH: Real quickly, I'm sure you understand the concern, being that there are decisions that are being made, you can make the case, without science backing it, such as the FDA panel voting that COVID boosters are not needed.
But we already have the administration that is pushing that, the booster shots. So it's tough to keep track of it all. We just want it to be based on science, right?
COLLINS: We do.
And, Sandra, I want to tell you, it is. I'm a scientist. I'm a doctor. I am not a politician. What you're seeing right now is exactly what you would want. The science is guiding the decisions.
SMITH: OK.
COLLINS: The science is changing week after week. We're going to keep changing the recommendations.
SMITH: OK.
COLLINS: But you can trust the fact that the people who are looking at this are looking at it from the perspective as, what does the science tell us, plus nothing?
SMITH: Well, we want our kids back in school, we want them safe, and we want them healthy.
We appreciate your time. Francis Collins, thank you.
And thank you for joining us. That is it for us. Neil will be back here tomorrow.
I will see you at 1:00 tomorrow. And, don't forget, you can catch me on "America Reports" 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Eastern time with John Roberts.
"The Five" starts right now.
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