Bret Baier: 'there may be legal challenges for Biden mandating vaccines for federal workers'
'Special Report' anchor reacts to Biden's recent vaccine mandate for federal workers on 'Your World'
This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto," September 9, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Well, Joe Biden, I think, is going to say no more being Mr. Nice Guy.
We are learning now that, when he speaks to the country in about an hour to deal with these spikes in cases of COVID that we have had in this country, that he will require all federal workers be vaccinated.
But in a startling development here, we're getting word as well that OSHA might be recruited to mandate vaccinations or at least testing for businesses as well, all of this at a time the case spike continues and pretty much among the nonvaccinated.
It's 99.9 percent those who have not been vaccinated who are responsible for these cases. And it's a point the president expects to pound again and again in about an hour.
Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto and this is "Your World."
First to Peter Doocy on what we will hear out of the president and the argument he will make to get tough now -- Peter.
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Neil, the White House thinks they have given four million federal workers enough nudging to go and get vaccinated.
So now, if these federal workers do not get the shot, they could lose their jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: Disciplinary action could include termination, correct?
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Correct.
PSAKI: Correct.
QUESTION: OK.
PSAKI: Hopefully, it doesn't come to that. Our role is, of course, to convey to federal employees the safety, the effectiveness, the availability of vaccines, which are readily available.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOOCY: Next hour, a six-point plan from the president.
Among the main points, vaccine mandate -- vaccine requirements for feds and businesses with 100-plus workers, boosters starting in 11 days, and testing for students and teachers, plus extending mask mandates for interstate travel with double the fines for rule breakers.
Some of these points very alarming to some Republicans, like Congressman Jeff Duncan, who tweeted this a little while ago: "A vaccine mandate veers into medical privacy and infringes on Americans' liberties. That decision is not up to POTUS or Dr. Fauci. A forced vaccine should never be a condition for employment. And this is nothing short of tyranny. It cannot be tolerated."
It has now been more than two months since President Biden's Independence Day remarks that were also intended to declare independence from the virus. But now here we are, after Labor Day, taking yet another crack at COVID -- Neil.
CAVUTO: All right. Peter, thank you very much, Peter Doocy on all that.
Bret Baier with us right now, anchor of "Special Report."
Bret, this is a big leap here. You can understand the president's thinking here: I have tried to be nice and recommend and urge people to get vaccinated, but we're stuck at these numbers that won't move.
He's taking a bit of a leap. And, obviously, it's going to get a pretty feisty reaction. How does this play out?
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Well, I think so.
And as the numbers continue to rise with the Delta variant, Neil, I think the administration is stepping up and stepping into this at some points controversy about mandating vaccines on the federal worker level, but also mandating vaccines with businesses with 100 people or more or saying that they have to take a test every week, it's one or the other, done through the Labor Department, through OSHA.
And when you start going down that road, it opens up a lot of doors. And you're right. I think there is going to be pushback. Who's paying for it? Is the employee, the employer? Who -- how is this monitored? What's the fallout if you don't do it?
There are a lot of questions to this that he's going to open the door to today.
CAVUTO: You think about it, Bret, there are more and more companies now that are demanding their employees be vaccinated or have proof of that before returning to work, and even pushing back in person return to work until that's happened.
So it's a groundswell of sort of private industry pushing in that direction. But it takes on a whole 'nother tone when it's the government all but ordering it.
BAIER: Yes, 100 percent.
And you can imagine, in some places, there may be legal challenges to some of this for people who really feel compelled to force that pushback.
Tonight, Neil, we have got the secretary of education, Cardona, and the surgeon general, Dr. Murthy, on the show tonight on "Special Report" taking viewers' questions from around the contrary.
And one of them is going to be obviously getting back to school and the mandates that some school districts are doing. But the follow-up to the president's announcement, I think, is going to be interesting to see what the reaction is.
CAVUTO: Yes, I look forward to that.
I wanted to send in one of my own video questions to that disguised, Bret.
(LAUGHTER)
CAVUTO: But I guess your people caught me.
BAIER: I can get you in.
CAVUTO: But -- yes, all right. Thanks. I look forward to it, really, Bret. That should be very, very interesting.
Bret Baier, "Special Report," exploring this with two top administration officials on how we go forward from this.
Meanwhile, it comes at a time where much of the world's attention is pretty much focused on what's going on in Afghanistan and the plane that finally left today. We were, in fact, complimenting the Taliban for making that happen.
Let's go to Greg Palkot in London on where things stand right now.
Hey, Greg.
GREG PALKOT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil. That's right, safe in Doha, Qatar, tonight, some 200 new evacuees from Afghanistan, included in that group, some Americans.
It was the first international passenger flight out of Kabul Airport since the chaos of the evacuation, the U.S. military departure, the Taliban takeover. It's thought something like 100 Americans, however, still remain in the country, and thousands of others are at risk there, like special visa holders, including former U.S. military translators, including in the Northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif, where the Taliban have been blocking charter flights.
So listen to the back-and-forth between our own Peter Doocy and White House spokesperson Jen Psaki today, seemingly pleased with the cooperation between the U.S. and the Taliban. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOOCY: The Taliban is businesslike and professional.
Their interior minister has an FBI wanted poster. He's got a $10 million bounty on his head. That's -- what is the business?
PSAKI: We are here to celebrate the return of American citizens who wanted to leave Afghanistan, of legal permanent residents, of Afghans who fought by our side to Qatar successfully on a Qatari Airlines flight.
And in order to get those people out, we had to work with some members of the Taliban to press them and to work in a businesslike manner to get them out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PALKOT: Businesslike, Neil.
Well, the Taliban could have been really showing what their business is all about on the streets of Kabul this week, foot soldiers seen wielding rubber truncheon against women at a small protest in the city. The few women seen scrambling away for their lives, and ugly scenes of beatings reportedly evident in images of the bodies of journalists who were there covering the protests, freedom of speech, free media supposedly part of the Taliban lexicon.
One final note, Neil. Today, we did have a chance to talk that translator, former U.S. military translator we have been in touch with over the past couple of months. The idea of returning to Kabul Airport and once again trying to get a flight out, let me give you a couple quotes: "I'm really afraid. I will have to take my life in my hands. That Taliban will have to decide kill me or let me go."
Very life-and-death stuff still in Afghanistan right now -- Neil.
CAVUTO: Absolutely. Greg, thank you for that.
Greg Palkot following those developments.
To Ambassador Nathan Sales, the former State Department counterterrorism expert.
Ambassador, as best I can understand -- and many people relieved to see at least this flight today leave with 200 on board. We don't know the exact breakdown between Americans and Afghan nationals, but it did take off. And the administration was commending the Taliban's businesslike handling of that.
What did you think?
NATHAN SALES, FORMER COUNTERTERRORISM COORDINATOR: Well, it's a good start, Neil, I think.
There are still far too many Americans left behind enemy lines. One American left behind is too many. So, today's a good start. But I have to say we should not be praising the Taliban as businesslike and professional. They're not businesslike and professional. They're terrorists.
And sometimes you have to deal with them. But that doesn't mean you need to praise them publicly. I think this administration has said nicer things about the Taliban than they have about the Afghan army. That tells you something's going badly wrong at 1600 Pennsylvania.
CAVUTO: Why do you think they did let this jet out?
I mean, if you think about it, our secretary of state was complaining about them prior to this, that they had not been cooperative in this measure, then, lo and behold, this happens. Is it a signal that they will respond to U.S. pressure or even quasi-stern remarks? Or is this just a one-off?
SALES: I think we have to assume that the Taliban is not doing this out of the goodness of their heart. They're doing this because they're hoping to extract concessions.
And so I think one of the things we really need to hear from the White House is, what was the price that we had to pay in order to induce the Taliban to allow these people to escape? I think we need to be very clear. The safe return of Americans home is non-negotiable.
We're not going to trade away diplomatic recognition or sanctions relief to get our people home. We're going to get them home period and full stop.
CAVUTO: Yes, but if you think what they think is, well, if this is so important to you, well, then why, Mr. President, did you just exit the country and leave us hanging and assume that we were going to finish the job you said you were going to do?
SALES: Well, that's the real problem, Neil. We never should have put ourselves in a position where American citizens could be used by the Taliban as pawns or as leverage to extract concessions from the United States.
I think the White House should have followed through on President Biden's promise when he said we're not leaving until every American gets home. The minute we broke that promise, we gave the Taliban enormous leverage and enormous power over us, because they are basically able to hold our citizens in a hostage-like situation, in the hopes of extracting some kind of concessions from us.
CAVUTO: All right, Ambassador, thank you very much, Nathan Sales.
He's been helping us immensely just figure out the craziness in that country.
We have been looking at Afghanistan a lot of late, particularly going back some 20 years ago, when that was going to be our target to weed out the terrorists who caused this horrific event we now just call 9/11.
And over that time, we have seen how much of an impact it's had not only on all the lives lost, the human capital lost that day, but on capitalism itself. It would be about a week after the attacks before any of the markets could open. And it was ugly.
And at the time, some were wondering that it was only going to get worse. We look back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: The market is mildly to the upside, but I stress mildly.
An interesting tug of war is going to develop here, John, and I think it could be a defining moment for the markets this week, not the fact that they're open. That, in and of itself, is a testament to these guys and their courage and just getting things back to normal, but more to the point, how we handle these relief or rescue packages, whatever you want to call it, more for the airline industry right now, but then fears that others could also come hat in hand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, yesterday, we were probably a little confused, getting mixed signals from the White House and Speaker Nancy Pelosi as to whether that $3.5 trillion spending plan, the so-called human infrastructure package, would be fully paid for.
The speaker seemed to indicate that maybe half of it would, maybe it all will, but she really couldn't say at the moment. What we do know is Democrats working hard right now to come up with other ways to pay for it, not lessening the amount of spending, but the amount of taxing to pay for that spending.
Hillary Vaughn has been looking into it.
And, Hillary, I guess they have come up with a lot of creative ways to get more money.
HILLARY VAUGHN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Over two dozen creative ways, Neil.
We have learned that over two dozen tax hikes are on the table being considered as possible pay-fors for this $3.5 trillion reconciliation package. We caught up with Senator mark Warner earlier today. He sits on the Senate Finance Committee. He said the size of the package, though, the final price tag, may ultimately come down to how much money they're able to find to pay for it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): These are very aggressive timelines. And if you're talking about the whole way we raise revenues in this country, getting it right is really, really important.
And there are -- I do think even if we get to that top-line number, there's -- there are so many programs on the wish list, I don't see how you do them all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUGHN: Finance Committee meeting today to go over which proposals should make the cut, but Republicans on the committee did not get the invite.
Still, some of the ideas being considered, raising the top income tax rate to 39.6 percent, raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent, hiking taxes on capital gains, a new point 0.1 percent tax on every stock trade on Wall Street, also a possible yearly tax on any gains that people would make from their investments, even if you aren't selling your asset and are holding on to it, also ramping up IRS enforcement to catch tax cheaters, pushing for a global minimum tax to level the playing field for the international tax code.
And, also, another idea is a new tax to incentivize corporations to limit how much their CEOs make. But, Neil, there was a lot of internal disagreement among Democrats about how big this final package will be.
The $3.5 trillion number is considered a ceiling for many people, including House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, who said that there is wiggle room to move that number down. But you have progressives, like Senator Bernie Sanders, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who say, no, that was already a bargain, they feel like they're getting gypped.
And then, of course, what we have been talking about this week especially, whether or not it truly will be completely paid for, Speaker Pelosi indicated she would be happy with half of it being paid for, but the White House says they want it completely paid for.
And Senator Mark Warner today telling me he wants it fully paid for as well -- Neil.
CAVUTO: What impressed me about you chasing down Senator Mark Warner, he's significantly taller than you. And he was practically jogging, and you were keeping up with him every step of the way.
(LAUGHTER)
CAVUTO: If that were me, I would have said, all right, I will get to you another day. Holy cow.
Great job, Hillary. Very well.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: It was like, holy -- how did she do that?
All right, we have Kenny Polcari with us right now, Kace Capital Advisors managing partner, good read of the markets, all things financial.
Kenny, half paid for, fully paid for, what do you think?
KENNY POLCARI, KACE CAPITAL ADVISORS: Oh, God, I think it's going to be a long haul.
I think it's going to be very difficult to pay for this whole $3.5 trillion package at all. I think they're going to have a very difficult time trying to do that. And then I think some of these taxes that they're talking about trying to institute I think are going to be are -- going to be very tough to swallow for certainly Manchin, for Sinema.
And certainly none of the Republicans are going to go for those kinds of taxes that they're talking about. So there's going to be -- I don't think this is going to happen nearly as fast.
But if it appears as if they're making headway and that these taxes potentially are going to start to go through, some of these exorbitant taxes, then, yes, do I think it's going to affect the market? I certainly think it's going to affect the market at some point, right?
And then the market will stabilize and find kind of its sweet spot. But if it get -- if we get the sense that they are going to succeed in imposing all these taxes, yes, then I think everything takes a hit.
CAVUTO: Yes, right.
I mean, they're already bracing themselves, that is, the market, the financial types, most who are looking at what Democrats are coming up with, that the top rate is going to go back up to 39.6 percent. Corporate taxes are going to go up. We just don't know by how much.
But some of this other stuff, like taxes on assets and daily trades and profit gains and going after companies whose CEO is making more than the ratio of the less paid workers, all that goes through, then you have got another game entirely, right?
POLCARI: Listen, and who was it that was talking about taxing -- taxing overfunded IRAs or 401(k)s or all these guys that have got all this money in there, that they want to start taxing overfunding, right?
I think that's going to be -- I think that's going to be a nightmare if they even go there. But, look, trying to tax people on assets, like on capital gains, when you don't actually take the gain, right? You own -- I own my Apple stock.
CAVUTO: Right.
POLCARI: I have owned it for years. Every year, they want to tax me on the value of my Apple stock has gone up, even though I haven't realized the gain, right? I think that's going to be another issue in terms of -- in terms of very difficult to pass.
CAVUTO: It's going to be a big issue.
POLCARI: It's going to be a huge issue.
CAVUTO: And, by the way, a lot of people who make a lot than $400,000 are in that camp, that they have been sitting on some of this stuff. And now, all of a sudden, they're going to be taxed every year.
POLCARI: Right.
CAVUTO: Kenny, thank you very, very much. I appreciate it, Kenny Polcari following all of that development.
POLCARI: You're very welcome. It was my pleasure.
CAVUTO: All right, same here, sir.
By the way, this spending, a lot of people say it's going to be very inflationary, and the more it keeps going, it's going to keep hiking prices up. But we're already seeing it. And you have seen it certainly at the grocery store. But is that what's responsible for a real surge in meat prices? Because the administration is going after those guys, having nothing to do with of this spending.
All of that and looking back at the attacks that we can't forget. You know, 20 years ago this very day was a Sunday, the last day before everything would hit the fan only two days later. But what was interesting about the attacks that did follow is the stories of the people who might have survived themselves, but couldn't forget those who did not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: Usama bin Laden, took out his number two.
So, the folks who did all this horror, who killed your son, so many of your friends and co-workers, life can return to normal. What do you say?
JOHN DUFFY, FORMER CEO, KEEFE, BRUYETTE & WOODS: I think it's normal, the further removed you are from the events of 9/11, to want to go back and assume everything's normal, and that we don't have to worry about these things.
But I think I will always be worried about them, because I know I won't forget.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: The president's got a beef with, well, the beef industry and way beyond.
Why are all of those prices rocketing? It has nothing to do with supply and demand or government spending. He says something else is afoot. What?
After this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: Meat prices, well, rocketing, because meat players are price- fixing?
Let's go to Jeff Flock. He's been looking into this all day at Alsip, Illinois, where it's not quite that simple.
What are you finding out, Jeff?
JEFF FLOCK, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK CORRESPONDENT: Inside the dry age locker here at Whittingham Meats, this is four generations of beef purveyors.
That's strip steaks, by the way, about to be cut up. That's a beef tenderloin. That's a prime rib.
The administration, Rich Winningham, says big beef. The processors, the four biggest processors, JBS, Cargill, Tyson and National Beef, are responsible for colluding and profiteering.
Do you agree?
RICHARD WHITTINGHAM, R. WHITTINGHAM AND SONS: I disagree. I would blame more on the establishment.
FLOCK: Establishment. What do you mean by the establishment?
WHITTINGHAM: Our local politicians. yes.
FLOCK: You blame it on inflation?
WHITTINGHAM: Well, definitely inflation. And COVID had a lot to do with it. And the recovery from COVID has a lot to do with it as well.
FLOCK: You think the processors being unfairly targeted?
WHITTINGHAM: Oh, definitely.
I mean, I don't know what they're doing in their business. I worry about my business. But with the shortage of help and an issue with farmers and that, it all trickles down on everybody.
FLOCK: As we perhaps give you an inside look, Neil, at what a dry age locker looks like. I put up the quote from the administration.
They say that the meat processors are generating record profits now during the pandemic, and it comes at the expense of consumers, farmers and ranchers.
I take it you're not making any additional profit at the moment.
WHITTINGHAM: I am not making additional profit on this, no, no.
FLOCK: Inflation, we talked about it.
When FOX News asked folks what they're most concerned about, most worried about these days, they don't say health care, they don't say crime, they don't say any of the things that we might think. They are most concerned right now with the rising price of any -- everything, and everything includes what's right behind you, which is -- what is that, by the way?
WHITTINGHAM: That's a short loin for porterhouse T-bone steaks.
FLOCK: How high can these things go?
WHITTINGHAM: Oh, these have gone, especially the prime has doubled, the price since -- what it usually is right now.
FLOCK: Where do we go from here?
WHITTINGHAM: We don't know. We don't know. I wish I knew. If I knew that, I wouldn't be talking to you. I'd be in Bora Bora.
(LAUGHTER)
FLOCK: Well, you hear it from the horse's mouth?
Perhaps that's not the appropriate thing to say here in a beef meat locker. I leave you with the strip steaks, Neil, which I don't doubt you would like to have a bite from, sir.
CAVUTO: Jeff, they called the wrong guy out on this story, a thin, fit guy. Please. I mean, I should be there.
You're in my version of heaven. But whatever. We will let you get by on this one.
Jeff, thank you very, very much.
So it's a real deal, right? I mean, something's going on with these prices, not just in meat and poultry. And you have heard on and on and on, and milk and all. It goes on and on and on.
So this isn't just a one area thing.
To Frances Newton Stacy, Optimal Capital director of strategy.
What is going on, Frances?
I mean, do you suspect, as the president does, of this price-fixing going on? Because, whenever I hear that, I say, well, there's a lot of price- fixing going on across a lot of staples right now. what do you think?
FRANCES NEWTON STACY, OPTIMAL CAPITAL: No, I don't really think it's price-fixing.
I think, look, we have put trillions and trillions and trillions of dollars into the economy for COVID. We had a lot of growth coming off of the low, but these things all exist in ratios. And if you have the money supply growing a lot faster than commerce, and now commerce is sort of slowing a little bit because of the Delta variant, you have an exacerbation in that ratio.
And that just means more money attributed to the goods and services. And that's going to drive prices much higher. That's what we're seeing. Now there's a debate about it being transitory. And the reason that there's a debate about it being transitory, and there's a big debate about whether or not to start tapering, or to raise rates or do something about this, is because it's all very mechanical.
But there's a huge lag effect to any one of these things. So if you start tapering tomorrow, and you don't really see the effects until three or six months down the road, and, whoops, something occurred with the Delta variant or something else occurred--
CAVUTO: Right.
NEWTON STACY: That's where I think the Fed is hesitant and erring on the cautious side.
CAVUTO: You're talking about the Federal Reserve, whether it hikes rates or does something else to slow this down. It doesn't look like it is.
In the meantime, then we as consumers have to decide, all right, I'm not going to get the pricey T-bone. I might move to chicken or I might move to something else. But we're not at that stage yet because Americans are still paying these higher prices.
I have always argued that inflation stops when we stopped doing that. And we're nowhere near doing that.
NEWTON STACY: That's so true.
And the thing is, is that the stock market as at all-time highs or very near. And so people can sort of afford and can absorb these things as these prices are being pushed on to the consumer, as you know, our reporter found out, right?
CAVUTO: Right.
NEWTON STACY: And so what happens is, when the stock market gets vulnerable, or other things get vulnerable, job benefits are going away or jobs get vulnerable to the Delta variant, then you might see that problem.
And yes, of course, if there's no demand, what happens? They have to lower prices to try and keep demand alive. But this is going to continue onward, as we continue to put more money in circulation. The Fed is buying $120 billion of assets per month.
CAVUTO: Right.
NEWTON STACY: And, of course, we're talking about this $3.5 trillion bill that might be going through reconciliation.
So, if that occurs, this will continue to put pressure on pricing. However, these things are slowing. And so you have to be really careful, because of that lag effect, not to slow them too quickly.
CAVUTO: Right.
NEWTON STACY: And if these things slow and COVID takes hold again, you might have a transitory situation.
CAVUTO: Well, then all bets are off. Then all bets are off.
Frances, thank you very, very much for that.
with Frances wrapping up there, we were thinking, 20 years ago, we had far more pressing and urgent matters on our mind. Of course, we were still a couple of days away from the attacks. But once they happened, it changed our perspective on everything.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: Whoever committed this heinous act today, if the gist was not only to cause tremendous physical damage, and obviously a tremendous loss of life, they have also cut the financial capital of the world to the core.
No indication as yet how far or extensive the damage was or how people we have routinely had on this network and on my show over the past five years of this network and many years before that are even alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: When you look back at what is now downtown New York, and a bustling downtown New York by what used to be the World Trade Center, that didn't seem possible after it was devastated and destroyed.
People were leaving and promising they would never come back. Just to build the Freedom Tower that would replace those two towers took years, the arguments back and forth as to whether that part of New York would ever entice renters or buyers or hotels or visitors. All that's changed. It is now a vibrant part of Manhattan. It's no longer an afterthought for those who visit the city right now, and, these days, increasingly, the reason why they are coming to the city.
Lydia Hu knows why. She's in New York City taking a look at a very, very different downtown New York -- Lydia.
LYDIA HU, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Neil.
That's exactly right. When we look back to Lower Manhattan before the attacks of September 11, 2001, this area really wasn't economically diverse. People largely came here just to work.
Well, after the attacks -- and there were talks about rebuilding this Ground Zero area and Lower Manhattan -- developer Larry Silverstein said he wanted to create an area that brought both businesses and residential properties here, so people both lived and worked here and had a reason to remember the lives of lost and the sacrifices made here every day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning. Martin Busch Jewelers.
HU (voice-over): Martin Busch Jewelers has operated in Manhattan for 67 years. The store was seven blocks from the World Trade Center during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
EVA BUSCH, MARTIN BUSCH JEWELERS: My mother and my father were working that morning. And they had a staff of four at the time. They had to evacuate following the towers falling.
HU: The devastating aftermath crippled the city's economy; 1, 800 small businesses were dislocated, disrupted or destroyed. More than 83,000 city jobs were lost.
LARRY SILVERSTEIN, SILVERSTEIN PROPERTIES: Something that I said to myself early, very early on, we have a sacred obligation as New Yorkers to rebuild this place.
HU: Six weeks before the September 11 attacks, developer Larry Silverstein signed a $3.2 billion 99-year lease on the World Trade Center. After 9/11, Silverstein invested tens of billions of dollars to transform the one-time smoldering disaster zone into a place of sacred remembrance, complete with a memorial and museum to honor lives lost.
AMY WEINSTEIN, CURATOR, 9/11 MEMORIAL & MUSEUM: We're standing on the national 9/11 Memorial. It's called Reflecting Absence. The name and the architecture of the plaza really suggests what's missing. The people are missing and the buildings that were once here.
HU: Gone, but never forgotten, the area also revitalized with residences, offices and restaurants intended to breathe new life into Lower Manhattan.
SILVERSTEIN: I hope they see this as an opportunity to revive the exquisite nature of what brought this country together to begin with. It's for New Yorkers and Americans to come together once again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HU: And now, Neil, 20 years later, you can see One World Trade Center standing just behind me.
Near me are the memorial and the museum. Also, there's the Oculus, which is a major transit hub bringing people to this revitalized area once again -- Neil.
CAVUTO: And it is revitalized, and then some. It is stunning.
Lydia, thank you very, very much.
There were those who died on 9/11, but countless others who died way after 9/11, including young Travis Manion, who was so affected by the 9/11 attacks that he signed up to fight. And he went to Iraq. And he never came back.
And his sister has never forgotten that or him, but she's done an amazing amount of good.
Ryan Manion joins us right now, heads the Travis Manion Foundation, the president. Well, they call her a Gold Star sister. I think you will just call her a Gold Star human being.
Ryan, very good to have you.
RYAN MANION, PRESIDENT, TRAVIS MANION FOUNDATION: Thanks so much for having me, Neil.
CAVUTO: Tell us a little bit about your brother.
MANION: My brother was incredible.
He was a 1st lieutenant in the Marine Corps who asked himself why he had to go to Iraq. And like many of our men and women who serve, they felt a calling, a calling to defend and protect and serve this country. And he represents this generation of men and women post-9/11 that have served and sacrificed.
And I feel incredibly grateful that I had him in my life, and incredibly grateful for what he represents.
CAVUTO: Well, the enormous amount of good you have done in his name and in his memory, it got me thinking.
On the day of the attacks themselves, what was he doing and what was he telling you?
MANION: On the day of -- so, on September 11, 2001, my brother was a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy. My dad was a Reservist in the Marine Corps, and I was a high -- or a college student who woke up and went to my English class that morning, and my English professor said, pull out a piece of paper and write down what's happening right now, your feelings.
And I will never forget, on that paper, I wrote that my deepest fears were that what was happening was going to lead us into war. And what if something happened to my brother or my dad, who, my dad being in the military, my brother I knew would be serving in the military?
And the last line of that paper, I wrote, I don't know how I would live with myself if something ever happened to them. And six years later, my worst fears were realized, when Travis gave his life in Iraq.
CAVUTO: You know, so many follow what your brother followed and answered to a whole different power and so selfless.
Do you look back at that day and then I guess see it against what's going on in Afghanistan today and wonder, wow, everything has gone full circle?
MANION: You know, it's hard right now to know that we're just days away from the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and to see what's happening in Afghanistan.
And for it to end so badly, it's not a good feeling. I'm not going to lie. Veterans, Gold Star families, they don't feel good about all of this.
But I think it's even more important now that we come together and we highlight and recognize these incredible men and women that, no matter what, no matter what our leadership decides, no matter what our -- what course of action they decide, these men and women raise their right hand and continue that mission.
And, so, so important for us 20 years later to continue to honor that sacrifice, but also to recognize and make sure that our next generation understands the incredible, incredible assets we have with the men and women who serve our country.
CAVUTO: Ryan, that is beautifully put and a great tribute to your brother, who no doubt is hearing all of this and loving all of this and loving you and what you have done in his memory.
Ryan, thank you very, very much.
MANION: Thank you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, we're about 10 minutes away from the president of the United States over making vaccines mandatory for federal workers and nudging others to do the same.
But in Los Angeles County right now, in the Unified School District there, they're taking it to the next level and seeing if it can be mandatory for students and kids over age 12, crucial vote on that today.
William La Jeunesse in Los Angeles with more -- William.
WILLIAM LA JEUNESSE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Neil, the board is expected to approve that mandate, L.A. Unified, 600,000 students, to mandate this vaccine for students ages 12 and up.
The board, a head count suggests they have the votes to do it. Question is, when does it take effect? Maybe not until January and full FDA approval.
Today, parents get their first chance to tell the board what they think.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAGGIE PULLEY, LOS ANGELES PARENT: It's a decision for each family. Right now, I don't feel compelled at this point, to get the vaccine for my daughter. And I don't think that it should be forced upon parents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LA JEUNESSE: Well, the CDC recommends the vaccine for kids 12 and up, and many districts already require it for athletes and after-school programs.
Most experts say the benefit of the vaccine outweighs the risk. But some believe only one dose, not two, like an adult, are necessary. The superintendent supports the idea of a vaccine now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGAN REILLY, LOS ANGELES INTERIM SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: What I'm really most intent on is keeping our kids in school, but also reassuring parents and keeping it the safest environment possible. Vaccines are the way to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LA JEUNESSE: So, in L.A. County, 48 percent of kids aged 12 to 15 are already vaccinated. Some students see it as just another requirement to attend school.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STACY RUBIO, STUDENT: I guess I'm used -- I'm not used to, but my whole childhood, there have been, like, vaccines and stuff like that. So I'm not -- it doesn't, like, bother me or anything. I'm not afraid of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LA JEUNESSE: No surprise, the White House supports this mandate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PSAKI: It's always going to be up to local school districts and states and localities to make those determinations. But we certainly do think that mandates and places and communities where they have put mandates in place is a positive step.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LA JEUNESSE: Well, Neil, as you know, California considers itself a progressive trendsetter.
Malibu, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica are considering the same mandate as well -- Neil.
CAVUTO: Thank you, William, very much.
William La Jeunesse in Los Angeles.
When we at FOX find out what the vote is on that, of course, we will pass it along to you.
But all of this at the same time the president of the United States is going to sort of toughen up when it comes to vaccinations in this country, and particularly try to budge those who have not gotten vaccinated. In the federal work force, if that's the case, he has some power here and he can force the issue. He plans to do that.
As for everybody else, not so fast -- after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, I don't know what the opening line the president plans to use at the White House when he addresses the nation shortly on addressing these COVID spikes once and for all.
I'm not going to be Mr. Nice Guy. That might be one line that comes to mind here. He is trying to force the issue, certainly for federal workers, that they better be vaccinated, and even utilizing the resources of OSHA to compel businesses to do the same.
Dr. Amesh Adalja joins us right now of Johns Hopkins University.
Doctor, what do you think of this approach?
DR. AMESH ADALJA, INFECTIOUS DISEASES SOCIETY OF AMERICA: I think it's something that's needed, because, right now, we're in a pandemic of the unvaccinated.
And I do think that using the levers of the federal government, including the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to get vaccination levels up is the only way that we put this pandemic behind us.
This is an issue of work force resiliency, workplace safety, patient safety when it comes to hospitals. And it's the only way that we see this pandemic starting to be in our rearview mirror, because we are in a pandemic of the unvaccinated. That's who's in the hospitals right now. That's who's dying.
And I think we have to really put the blame squarely where it lies, on the unvaccinated.
CAVUTO: Doctor, the numbers are pretty glaring. I try not to play politics with this thing, but they are what they are; 99.9 percent of these cases are among those who have not been vaccinated; 99.91 percent of the deaths are among those who have not been vaccinated.
So, if they are not responding to those numbers, what do you think they will respond to?
ADALJA: The only thing they seem to want to respond to is when their employers require it as a condition of employment.
And I think that's what the president is doing. That's what many employers have already done, because, to me, it's mind-boggling. These vaccines are some of the most effective that we have ever developed in terms of preventing serious disease, hospitalization and death.
You can just use your eyes. You don't need medical training to see how effective these vaccines have been. I worked in the hospital yesterday, inundated with patients that are not vaccinated. This is something that's not sustainable.
These people are putting their own community hospitals into crisis. And I think this has to stop. It's not -- it's not something that we can really play games with anymore. This has gone on for way too long.
CAVUTO: So, Doctor, when you hear someone say, it's my choice, Doc, don't start having this down my throat, what do you say?
ADALJA: I would say that you're -- it's -- you don't have a right to a job. Your employer can decide what the conditions of employment they have.
And then also remember that, when you get infected, then you come to the hospital and you take up a bed, you take up a ventilator, you take up oxygen. That's -- even though it is your choice, the fact is, that choice is going to have repercussions because that hospital in your community is going to have to take care of you, because we're not able to refuse.
So I think it really is important to remember that there are consequences to these actions. And I think that people forget that they're going to maybe need health care needs. And there's going to be doctors like me, nurses that are going to take care of you. So it doesn't just impact you.
CAVUTO: That's very well said.
Doctor, thank you very much, Dr. Amesh Adalja.
And we always go back and forth on this and the wisdom of having anyone forcibly get vaccinated.
But, to the doctor's point, when those ICU beds are filled, they're filled for those who might need heart operations or other treatments that are put off because of this. And that is growing. And that's exponentially what has gotten out of control. And in countries like Bulgaria, where they have only a 20 percent vaccination rate, and yet the highest infection rate in Europe, it's undeniable. When you're not vaccinated, you are a bullseye.
Let's see how this goes and whether the president makes that case or others.
That will do it here.
Here's "The Five."
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