'Your World with Neil Cavuto' on defunding police, crowded airports ahead of holiday
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto," May 27, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Thank you, Martha very much.
Well, 90 days to find out how it all started, how this COVID nightmare for the world really began. That's what the administration wants to do to get to the origins of that, and whether indeed it was started in a Wuhan lap.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Here's the problem, though, indications that China will not be cooperating and, in fact, blames President Trump for -- I should say, President Biden for politicizing all of this, and that it was not the China virus, much as his predecessor had said.
That might be the back-and-forth and some of the resistance to getting anything done on how this all started.
Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto, and this is "Your World," and a world full of questions as to how it all began, the administration now committed to finding out hopefully in the next three months. That might be easier said than done.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Peter Doocy at the White House with more -- Peter.
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Neil, good afternoon.
For the first time, we are hearing an official and nonpolitical explanation that there may have been a Chinese cover-up of COVID origins, and it is coming to us from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Once this virus started appearing, there seems to have been a fair amount of activity or cover-up, or a lack of transparency might be the best to put it. And all of that is disturbing.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DOOCY: Today, the director of national intelligence said they don't know for sure, but experts believe COVID either came through a lab accident or a natural transfer, sick animal to human, except the expert whose State Department investigation was recently shut down by the Biden administration says there is no proof COVID came naturally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID ASHER, FORMER COVID-19 ORIGINS INVESTIGATOR: We were finding that, despite the claims of our scientific community, including the National Institutes of Health and Dr. Fauci's NIAID organization, that there was almost no evidence that supported the natural zoonotic evolution or source of COVID-19.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOOCY: The president still isn't convinced. He's giving intel agencies 90 more days to get to the bottom of it.
But some critics are skeptical that 90 days means anything if China doesn't start cooperating.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): It's not time to kick the can down the road and ask the intelligence community to look for 90 more days what they have already been looking for, for 18 months.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DOOCY: And the president said today he will release whatever U.S. spy agencies bring to him in this report publicly. That's 90 days from yesterday, so late August -- Neil.
CAVUTO: All right, thank you very much, Peter Doocy.
Now to Jackie DeAngelis following what has been sort of an about-face by Facebook on this whole matter -- Jackie, can you explain?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}JACKIE DEANGELIS, FOX BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Neil.
That's right,
I would call it an about-face exactly on banning posts that suggested that
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}COVID-19 might have come from a lab. In a statement to FOX News, a Facebook company spokesperson said this -- quote -- "In light of ongoing investigations into the origin of COVID-19, and in the consultation with public health experts, we will no longer remove the claim that COVID-19 is manmade from our apps."
Now, the statement is interesting because it admits that they were doing it with no explanation, no apology, just that they would stop. But critics are asking if the damage has been done, if people have been impacted by those messages, in the same way they might have been impacted when Facebook banned the New York Post article on Hunter Biden and the laptop, that story, before the election.
And I have another example of this. It's YouTube. We have got a mom in Georgia who posted video where she told her kids' school board why she was against the mask mandate for her children. YouTube blocked the video, stating that it violated the site's community guidelines, as well as its medical policy information.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Well, we asked for a little more information, Neil. And a YouTube spokesperson said -- quote -- "In accordance with our policies, we remove this video for including the claim that children are not affected by COVID- 19."
We also asked them about posts that are -- were regarding a Wuhan lab leak.
They essentially said that they wouldn't ban those posts just on the topic itself, unless, of course, they triggered some other policy like harassment or potentially hate -- Neil.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CAVUTO: All right, Jackie, thank you very, very much.
Jackie DeAngelis on all of this.
So, we have already told you that the Chinese think this is just a political stunt. They're not going to be helping in any way. So, will that make getting anything resolved on this or getting any sort of closure on this that much more difficult?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Let's go to Dan Hoffman, the former CIA station chief, FOX News contributor.
Dan, very good to see you back.
What do you make of where this goes now?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DAN HOFFMAN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, the intelligence community, as Senator Cotton rightly noted, has been collecting on this very challenging requirement since we first learned about the Wuhan virus back in December of 2019.
And so the intelligence community is collecting raw intelligence, signals intelligence, human intelligence where possible, and then marrying that up with open source information. We have a consulate in Wuhan, a State Department, consulate, with State Department diplomats who have been out meeting with people, and so there's some collection there that may be of some value as well.
And then the intelligence community will produce analysis, as President Biden said, in the next 90 days, with some degree of confidence about where the virus originated.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But the intelligence community does not do certainty. We might get to near certainty. But, at the end of the day, there will be some analysis with a level of low, medium or high confidence.
CAVUTO: You know, I was thinking, Dan, China's had a fractious relationship as things kick off with this president, just as it did with the prior president. I'm not talking about trade deals that the president -
- Donald Trump was very rough in their face on that.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But, of course, his saying right from the beginnings it's the China virus.
This might validate all of that. And this president, his successor, has indicated that we should know in 90 days. Will we?
HOFFMAN: Yes, again, I think we may know a little bit more in 90 days.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Stay tuned.
But, look, I think there's a greater bipartisan consensus on the threat that China poses -- and that's one of the legacies of the previous administration -- than arguably on any other foreign policy challenge we face. And that's a good thing, because challenge -- China is the greatest strategic challenge we face.
They're stealing our intellectual property and mounting espionage against us on an industrial scale, threatening Taiwan, militarizing the South China Sea, and trampling on human rights at home and abroad.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}So, there's no question that we have to be gravely concerned about China.
And, really, there's no oversight in China, there's no freedom of the press, there's no rule of law. So expecting that China and the WHO would be able to collaborate on determining what actually happened, that's like inviting a criminal to help you solve a crime that you know they committed in the first place.
CAVUTO: You know what was interesting, though, Dan?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Before, President Biden was relying on insights and expert scientific and rationale from the World Health Organization. This time, he isn't depending on the WHO. He's really -- this involves U.S. entities investigating this.
I would imagine that that's a big slap in the face to the World Health Organization.
HOFFMAN: It is.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And it's a really important distinction that you highlight. China's a closed society. And they're not about to open up details about their weapons of mass destruction, which is really what this is, to the World Health Organization.
So, we have to rely on our own clandestine and other collection to determine what really happened. And President Biden is right. And this is some of the challenges we face with the WHO. It doesn't mean that the WHO is entirely useless. But, in this case, trying to uncover the details about this virus -- and, again, knowing that three of the researchers at the Wuhan Virology Institute became ill in November of 2019, that's a little more than just circumstantial evidence that maybe that this -- that this virus might have originated in a lab, rather than outside of a wet market.
CAVUTO: All right, Dan Hoffman, thank you very much, the former CIA station chief, FOX News contributor.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}If any of you had a chance to read his column reflecting on the loss of his wife on what would have been their third anniversary, I urge you to read that. It puts all of this in perspective, what's important going into Memorial Weekend and what we remember.
In the meantime, here what we remember right now about inflation. It's been a long time since we have had it, right, but it's back again, nothing like it was in the 1970s yet. But you will notice it when you rev up that barbecue this weekend.
And doesn't our own Edward Lawrence know it -- Edward.
EDWARD LAWRENCE, FOX BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You really will, Neil.
And I have got my apron here. And you know what? There's nothing, nothing in my wallet because of this. And I will tell you a little bit more about it coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, only in Washington can they say something that's around a trillion dollars is too cheap and too paltry, but that's the kind of attack lines that we have heard from Democrats on the $928 billion infrastructure plan that Republicans announced today.
It is less than the $1.7 trillion plan that President Biden has out on the table, and the back-and-forth continues.
Jacqui Heinrich with more on where this stands on Capitol Hill.
Hey, Jacqui.
JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil.
Yes, in addition to the $928 billion proposal, Senate Republicans made clear to the White House an additional $125 billion is also on the table for research and development, the last White House offer proposed shuffling that funding into another bill, but the GOP said that they can move it back in, which would allow them to bring up their top-line dollar amount without going into any of the other social programs they really don't want to fund as part of infrastructure.
So the big package could max out at $1.05 trillion. But the sticking point is how they're going to pay for all of this. Republicans doubled down on calls to use unspent COVID money, pushing back on the White House claim that there's simply not $700 billion in leftover funds that could be repurposed.
Republicans highlighted spending set for years 2022 to 2031, like $117 billion for schools, when they just got $67 billion in December, and also enhanced federal unemployment, with some 20 states saying they won't even be accepting it anymore.
But the White House says they're concerned repurposing COVID money would jeopardize pending aid to small businesses and also restaurants and rural hospitals.
President Biden on his way to Cleveland said that he's excited to meet with the Senate Republicans next week. But, on the ground, he took a bit of a jab. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had no problem passing a $2 trillion tax plan that went to the top 1 percent that wasn't paid for at all.
Every time I talked about tax cuts for working-class people, it's: Oh, my God, what are we going to do?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEINRICH: Now, this is all unfolding before the White House unveils a reported $6 trillion budget proposal for 2022 tomorrow. It would bring total spending to $8.2 trillion by 2031, with deficits running above $1.3 trillion for the next decade, according to reports.
Today, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that economic recovery is going to be pretty bumpy, with high inflation expected at least through the end of this year.
Now, in the meantime, a second infrastructure plan is quickly taking shape.
And I have learned that the White House and also Cabinet secretaries have already met with bipartisan, bicameral lawmakers on this. They plan to meet again next week. It's a signal that the White House thinks that they might not have 50 Democratic votes to pass infrastructure along party lines without cooperating with Republicans.
But this plan, the second plan, does include some items the administration really wants, like capping abandoned oil wells and environmental cleanup, just a few things that were outlined in the Green New Deal. So, we will see where that second thing goes -- Neil.
CAVUTO: Yes, that's a very good point, Jacqui.
I mean, everyone seems to think it's a given that, if Democrats go their own way, they will have the votes. They just might not.
HEINRICH: Right.
CAVUTO: Great reporting. Thank you, Jacqui, in Washington.
Charles Payne with us right now, the "Making Money" host, bestselling author.
You know, I know it's less than a trillion dollars. It's chump change that the Republicans are talking about. The $6 trillion budget that the president will formally unveil tomorrow, it's about in the range of what spending experts thought it would be.
It's as if these numbers don't matter, Charles. I know they matter to you.
CHARLES PAYNE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Yes.
And they matter to everybody watching, Neil. People just -- I mean, I think some people are blown away. Maybe a few experts are waiting for it. But that $6 trillion is sticker shock, considering the amount. It's the most we have ever spent. It's perhaps the largest year-over-year increase ever.
And I think the point has been made that we have spent this kind of money in the past, or we have had emergency spending like this in the past, but it was emergency. It was short-term, whether it was World War II, whether it was right after the Great Recession or to sort of help with the COVID shutdowns.
This is something entirely different. And it comes with a lot of deficits.
It comes with more taxes. It comes with things that even the Biden administration, Neil, admits that we're going to have really mediocre GDP growth under this plan.
It's not an economic plan. It's a social justice plan. And it's extraordinarily dangerous, because it takes us off the rails of what made us amazing to begin with. We just got to wake up and look and say, wow, we're the greatest country in the world. Yes, but it took something to get us here.
And I don't think we want to deviate too far from that formula.
CAVUTO: You know, you talk about the greatest country in the world.
One of the selling pitches the president has used, Charles, as you know, is, we're not the greatest when it comes to infrastructure. We're not doing anything like the Chinese are on fast rail and speed rail and all of that sort of stuff, and the fast Internet, all the rest, and that we have got to make up for that time, and that this is an investment.
If I had a dime every time I heard it's an investment, well, I would have a lot of dimes, but what did you make of this?
(LAUGHTER)
PAYNE: You would almost be able to pay for this thing.
You know what? It's a smart pitch on his part. Think about it. We all kind of grew up. Some people are old enough to remember Buck Rogers. Not me, but I have read about it.
(LAUGHTER)
PAYNE: But whether it's Buck Rogers and "Star Wars" or whatever, thinking we'd have a futuristic world, right, and all of these things are sort of ordained.
And they sound sexy. And then you say, well, China's already got them.
Well, what the heck is going on?
But I want people to think about this. China has used this sort of approach. It's also known as modern monetary theory. And they have spent trillions, trillions and trillions of dollars to artificially prop up their economy. They have printed it and it created it out of thin air.
They have 50 cities that are called ghost cities. Essentially, nobody lives there. They paid people a lot of money to build them. This high-speed rail, which, by the way, is not in President Biden's plan, OK? It's an extension of Amtrak. But the high-speed rail loses billions of dollars a year, and it sits at $1.1 trillion in debt.
Again, it sounds sexy, and they have got it and we don't. Let's go out and get it. So, these are modern-day Potemkin villages. They look great on the outside, but they're really -- honestly, they're albatrosses.
We don't need to be trying to catch up with China on high-speed rail. And we could fix what we have maybe, make it more efficient. So, I understand it's a good selling point, particularly for people who don't delve into the numbers. The ride may be fantastic, but the cost, I don't think we can afford it.
CAVUTO: Yes. Well, man, oh, man, you sound like my dad: Neil, we are not going to pay for that.
(LAUGHTER)
CAVUTO: All right, fine.
I know where you're coming from.
PAYNE: Yes.
CAVUTO: All right, thank you very much, my friend, Charles Payne on all of that.
Man, he rails against this sort of stuff on his 2:00 p.m. show on FOX Business, which, if you don't get, you got to demand.
And, man, oh, man, speaking of my dad and all, he always loved the big long weekends, where he could have barbecues and all the rest. But I think he'd be raising his eyebrows right now looking at just the expense of all of that, because inflation is back, my friends, and it is coming to a grill near you.
Edward Lawrence in Maryland with more on that.
Hey, Edward.
LAWRENCE: Hey, Neil. So, I remind you of your dad is what you're saying?
No, it's sticker shock. I mean, there's a lot of prices that are going up here.
CAVUTO: Right.
LAWRENCE: Look, I went to the store yesterday here. And I had bought these three meats, two steak meats and grilled burgers here, as well as sliced cheese. This is $70 worth of food right here, and it won't even feed your family, as well as relatives.
The price of inflation has gone up 4.2 percent overall. In fact, if you went to go buy a grill, then you would have noticed that the price of the grill has gone up at Lowe's or Home Depot.
Look at some of this other sticker shock. If you were to buy a USDA choice steak, it's up 8.6 percent. Hot dogs are up 8.2 percent. American processed cheese, which you need processed cheese on your burger, is up 3 percent. A big one for some people, wine, is up 10.9 percent.
And you have to grill it. Charcoal is more expensive. Propane is up 17.2 percent. So, all of this is going to cost us more this Memorial Day weekend if you're grilling.
I went to the expert, Stan Hays. He's a barbecue grand champion, as well as the co-founder of Operation Barbecue. They bring meals in disasters to first aid workers. This is what he says about grilling on a budget. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STAN HAYS, CO-FOUNDER, OPERATION BBQ RELIEF: As we see the prices rise, and we see the shortages, where you cannot get that volume of meat, we have
-- again, we pivot into different areas, where we may not be cooking all the same protein for the meals that we need to provide.
So we look for those alternatives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: And so, for me, I'm an old-fashioned barbecuer. I like the charcoal. I got the burger here.
I use a little mesquite inside it, and it adds a little flavor up into the burger. But it is. It's costing you a lot more -- back to you, Neil.
CAVUTO: You're not going to expense us for all this, are you?
(LAUGHTER)
CAVUTO: I mean, that would be tacky. You're not doing that.
(LAUGHTER)
LAWRENCE: I can bill you.
CAVUTO: I think you are. I think you are.
LAWRENCE: No, I'm going to eat this.
(LAUGHTER)
LAWRENCE: I'm going to eat this.
CAVUTO: I understand.
LAWRENCE: So I'm keeping it.
CAVUTO: All right. All right, Edward, you are entitled, my friend.
Thank you. Great job on all of that.
Well, how would you like to start an airline in an environment like this, especially when, only 14 months ago, you were expecting to make a debut?
And then, of course, well, we know what happened.
That has not stopped David Neeleman, the guy behind JetBlue and so many other successful start-ups. He saw this day coming. And man, oh, man, is that demand coming just as he said it would -- after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: I want to show you something.
These are not images coming from airports before COVID. They're coming from airports now. When you're ready to fly, you're going to have company.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, I want to introduce you to something when you're flying out this weekend, people, lots of people.
The airports are already crowded. They're expected to get really, really crowded.
And doesn't Jonathan Hunt know it right now at LAX with the latest -- Jonathan.
JONATHAN HUNT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil, let's call it the great escape.
There is a lot of pent-up demand for travel after a year of COVID and quarantine, and an awful lot of Americans are planning to celebrate Memorial Day by getting out of town. Airports across the country, including here at LAX, are already seeing a surge. And a predicted 2.5 million Americans will take a flight somewhere for the holiday.
That's a 577 percent increase on last year, when we were pretty much all locked down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRISHONDA JOHNSON, TRAVELER: I'm ready to go. This is my first travel. And I'm so ready and excited to get out of here.
SABRINA GARCE, TRAVELER: It's kind of our first big thing that we're doing after COVID. And we're all vaccinated. And we're ready to get back out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Now, it's also worth noting that, perhaps because of ongoing mask mandates, perhaps because the ever cost-conscious airlines for the most part still haven't restored full food and drink service, so flying still isn't much fun, the number of Memorial Day fliers will still be down by three-quarters-of-a-million from 2019.
Similar story on the roads, Neil, 34.4 million expected to take a road trip for the holiday weekend. That's up from 22.6 million last year,but down from the 37.6 million who hit the road in 2019.
And road trippers will find gas more expensive than it has been since 2014.
Flyers here at LAX and everywhere else are also going to find fares creeping back up, Neil. So, while we are free to fly around the country once again, corporate America is also free to charge us pretty much what they want for the privilege of doing so -- Neil.
CAVUTO: Well, I feel better already.
Thank you, my friend, for putting us in just the right travel mood.
HUNT: You're welcome.
(LAUGHTER)
CAVUTO: Jonathan Hunt on all of that.
I want to introduce you to a fellow who is an iconic symbol in the airline industry.
David Neeleman has founded no fewer than five airlines, of course, most famous for JetBlue. He was going to announce a year ago, about 14 months ago, I believe David, Breeze Airways. Then the COVID hit. And it's a little delayed, but it's out, and it's new.
How are things looking for you?
DAVID NEELEMAN, FOUNDER AND CEO, BREEZE AIRWAYS: Hey, great, Neil. Great to see you again. It's been too long since I have been on with you.
But, no, things are looking good. As the report just said, there's a lot of pent-up demand. People are looking forward to getting out and seeing new things, tasting new cuisines, seeing new places, visiting old friends, seeing family.
So, no, things are -- things are really looking up in the business, especially on the leisure side of the business.
CAVUTO: Now, this new airline of yours, Breeze Airways, it really targets middle or smaller markets, and not necessarily the ones your namesake, JetBlue, was going after.
So, could you explain your niche here?
NEELEMAN: Sure.
So, we took a look at a lot of markets. And this trend has been happening for several years now. The big airlines have been pulling out of the smaller and medium-sized markets or on point-to-point basis, and it kind of forced those people that live in cities like Huntsville and like Hartford and Charleston and other cities where we fly, Oklahoma City, to go through hubs.
So, you got on a plane, you got to go connect in a hub somewhere. And so what we -- we built an airline that we can say, OK, we're going to go point to point. We're going to send you direct, nonstop. And so we're saying we will get you there twice as fast for about half as much money.
So, it's a really -- people talk a lot about fares, but it's also about convenience. If you can get down to a place in an hour-and-a-half that took you three-and-a-half, four hours to get to, then you're going to do it more often, especially if you pay a lot less money.
CAVUTO: You obviously have five successful airlines. Of course, Azur, of course, very successful -- Azul, I should say, for Brazil.
NEELEMAN: Absolutely.
CAVUTO: But you have a good feeling of what makes them tick and work.
And I'm just curious. Now, with a lot of people returning to the skies, and a lot of masks are going to be mandatory on planes, a lot of people get in foul moods. We have heard some famous incidents and fights on planes involving everything from kids to older couples who are being thrown off planes, I assume once they land.
But my point is, it's not fun for a lot of people. So, what do you tell them?
NEELEMAN: Well, it's not.
But I think the overriding desire to get away and fly somewhere and have a mask on for an hour, that's an inconvenience, but then you can be in a different place. Beats driving 14 hours to get there.
I'm hopeful that, since the CDC has said, OK, now we can go inside if we have been vaccinated, we can go outside, we can lose our masks -- they made the exception for airports and for public transportation.
So, following the science -- obviously, we want to follow the science -- if a vaccinated person can travel, can be outside, can be next to people, there's no reason they shouldn't be able to travel with a mask.
So, hopefully, as they're revisiting that those restrictions will be lessened as we go forward.
CAVUTO: David, I'm just curious.
And it's good to see people back flying, the business back and actually booming right now.
But you always wonder whether it's, since it's been such a long period, more than a year now, where airlines haven't had to deal with this, airports haven't had to deal with something like this, that there are going to just be a lot of delays, it's just going to come with it, and that people maybe in the beginning here should get used to that.
Is that -- is that true?
NEELEMAN: I don't think so.
I think we had -- we certainly had some delays before COVID. But, for Hartford Airport, where I just landed, is still down 35, 40 percent. It's got a ways to come to get back. There was a little line at the security checkpoint, which I was happy to see. And never have I have been happier to see a line at a security checkpoint.
(LAUGHTER)
NEELEMAN: But this industry is very adapt -- can really adapt. And they can -- they will adapt quickly.
And the travel experience will get better and better, particularly when the mask mandates can be lessened. That -- it will just be like old times again.
And I have advocated for a long time, if you -- if vaccines are readily available, and everyone can get one if they want one, then we should just go back to normal life, because we shouldn't be wearing masks for someone who chooses not to get a vaccine for whatever reason.
It's time to get back there. And I think we're moving in that direction.
And I'm pleased to see it.
CAVUTO: Yes, you raise a very good point.
David Neeleman, best of luck with this Breeze Airways, the founder and CEO.
He's been flying around on all these maiden voyages, air -- Hartford right now, everywhere, to test it out, so the big cheese on the lines there and dealing with everything you and I are dealing with.
But, again, he's had an uncanny record, five successful airline launches in an industry where we're told that's virtually impossible.
All right, so we have got a lot more coming up, including what has been an about-face on the part of cities and states that were eager to cut down police funding. Now they're reversing that. And you know why? Because of the crime that came once they did -- after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: We have got an update now, two suspects in custody in the killing of a military doctor and his wife in Virginia.
She was a retired military nurse. Fairfax County police have said that they have these people in custody in the killing of Dr. Edward McDaniel, 55 years old, Brenda McDaniel, 63. They were searching for a 20-year-old who said that -- would be a primary suspect and considered armed and dangerous.
They got his whereabouts from a community tip. That's pretty much all we know, but two suspects in custody, the killing of this military couple right outside of their home.
A lot of details, we're yet to get here, but it kind of gripped -- got the nation's attention, given who they were.
Ted Williams, former D.C. police detective, FOX News contributor.
Ted, a lot we still don't know, but the fact that there are a couple of suspects here, what do you make of it?
TED WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I'm Neil, we got information on that -- on this killing or these killings this morning.
And what we were told is that they were looking for one suspect. There was apparently a burglary at that home in recent days here. The couple are both military retired. Dr. McDaniel and his wife were found and shot and killed in the front of their home.
They were looking for this one suspect. Dr. McDaniel's and his wife's son was at home, is our understanding, at the time of this, of these killings.
I'm happy you have given me information that I didn't even know, and that is that they now have a second person in custody.
I was aware that they have one person in custody.
CAVUTO: You know, I also am learning, Ted, that police believe relatives of the victims knew the shooter or shooters, not necessarily that the victims did.
But what do you make of that?
WILLIAMS: Well, that is scary.
That shows off, from a homicide perspective, that there was some association. And I think that the relatives of the McDaniels were able to give the authorities information right away that also led to the automobile that the one suspect was alleged to have been driving, for them to put a lookout for that automobile.
CAVUTO: You know, all of this happens with the backdrop of a rise in crime nationally, as you know. I'm not relating it to this incident.
But I -- this was the original reason why you on, Ted, to talk about a reversal in plans on the part in many of these communities, where they were planning to cut police funding, and now reversed that, because we have seen a serious spike in crime.
What do you make of that?
WILLIAMS: Well, Neil, I think it was a pipe dream for politicians all over this country who overcompensated perhaps for the death of George Floyd.
Yes, that was a terrible situation. And law enforcement officers that are wrong should have been punished. And, as we know, one has been convicted.
But as a result of the Floyd killing, law enforcement officers -- I mean, politicians, should I say, all over this country decided to defund police departments. And when you defund the police department, you're taking funds away from the citizens. And guess who was winning, Neil? The criminals.
They are saying, yes, defund, defund. And what happened, unfortunately, is that they started seeing that there was a lot of killings out here, and a lot of crime. Crime went up. And as a result of that, they're now trying to reverse.
That is what should have happened all along, Neil. And I got to tell you, it is happening significantly. Crime is up in the Black community. And I'm sick and tired of seeing these young Black kids killed as a result of crime, and nobody says anything or give a damn.
Yes, we know who George Floyd is, but if I ask you who Anah Allen (ph) is, who Jaslyn Adams is, you couldn't tell me. And you couldn't tell me because we don't amplify them like we amplify someone who shoots and kills or by -- or is killed by police officers.
It is very troubling as to where we are right now, Neil, in this country.
And I don't know if it's too late, but morale is so low on these police department, that the good men and women are leaving the departments. And we need those men and women now more than ever.
CAVUTO: Yes, indeed. There's been a big decline over the past year just the number of police officers, even those seeking to go to police academies and the rest. So, you ring a kind of true, tragic point on all of this.
Ted Williams, thank you very, very much, and also responding to these latest developments in the killing of this military couple. We will keep you posted on that.
They are planning a press conference later today at about 6:00 p.m. Eastern to update us on that, two suspects in custody.
We will have more after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, we are launching our call to action for businesses to invest in the Northern Triangle. And that is one of the specific reasons that I have asked these business leaders to join us today.
And so this focus includes digital inclusion, everything from digital inclusion to work force development.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: All right, now the vice president making it very clear that solving the problem will -- indeed, investing in the Northern Triangle of Central America, generally including the countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, the idea being that the more economic and targeted aid to these countries they get, the less we will have a problem of people flooding the border.
The jury's still out on that. But, of course, it comes on the heels of the homeland security secretary announcing that the border is closed.
That might be news to Bill Melugin, who is in Rio Grande Valley, where it appears to be anything but -- Bill.
BILL MELUGIN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Neil, good afternoon to you.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas yesterday basically tripled down by what you just said. He claimed once again the border here is closed. And I can tell you, from what we're seeing on the ground down here, that's just not the case.
We had a lot of runners out here this morning. These are folks who do not want to get caught. They're not giving themselves up. They come across, and their hope is they can just disappear into the United States.
And we will show you some of that video right now. Take a look at this exclusive video from our FOX drone team shot early this morning in La Joya.
This was one of several groups we have witnessed making a rush on the U.S.
border. They come across. They spread out, and they go taking off into the brush, again, not turning themselves in like we have seen with those family units.
Most of the people you're looking at right now are single adults. Most of them are men. Most of them know, if they get caught, they're going to get sent back. So, they're actively trying to get away.
Overwhelmed Border Patrol, they do what they can to try to chase them down.
But, as you can see in the video, sometimes, it's just one truck going after him. They're overmatched. They're stretched thin. They need more resources down here.
Take a look at this video we shot this morning as well in Granjeno here -- yes, Granjeno -- excuse me -- here in Texas. This was another group of migrants that came across illegally. They actually used a makeshift ladder to climb the border levee wall.
They got about four miles inland, kind of going through residential areas, fields, bushes, hiding from Border Patrol, actively trying to get away.
Border Patrol was able to find them, track them, get them out of the brush, arrest them, again, mostly single adults, mostly guys again.
These ones were from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. Now, earlier today, Texas Governor Greg Abbott held a press conference. He's putting all the blame squarely on the Biden administration, saying it's their policies that are causing this major surge. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): And so the border security policies changed overnight under the Biden administration.
One was the elimination of the remain in Mexico policy. Another was the elimination of the Title 42 policy. Another was the clear message sent that they were not going to continue to build the wall or build the fence. And the other was the clear message that they were going to be welcoming in everybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MELUGIN: And, Neil, we mentioned earlier that some of those illegal immigrants came across by climbing the wall using a makeshift ladder. Take a look. They left it behind, and we picked it up.
Basically, they make it out of PVC pipe and rope. They got a little O-ring right here. And what we're being told is, they put a pull through this, a long pole through the hole. They lift it up over the border levee wall, and they clip it on, it gets hooked on, and then they're able to climb right on up.
So that's how this group at least got across earlier this morning. And, again, they got four miles inland before they got caught.
We will send it back to you.
CAVUTO: Incredible.
Bill Melugin, thank you very, very much in the Rio Grande Valley, where, obviously, that border is not closed down or locked down, not even remotely so.
The fallout from this from the guy who is the Border Patrol union V.P. and said this would happen and still is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, well, Homeland Security might be saying the border is closed.
As you were learning from Bill Melugin over at the Rio Grande Valley, anything but right now, and that people are still streaming into this country. It's a big area there. And a lot of people get through. And you're looking at some of the video that Bill took to show they are still doing so.
Art Del Cueto is too classy to say, I told you so. But the fact of the matter is, the Border Patrol union V.P. did tell us that this would be what's happening. It's continuing to happen.
And I'm just wondering here, where is Homeland Security, Art, getting the notion that the border is shut?
ART DEL CUETO, VICE PRESIDENT, BORDER PATROL UNION: Well, I think they're getting the notion because they haven't even decided to come down here and see what actually is going on.
I can tell you, hearing the story earlier on the runners that you see, we call them got-aways. And those are the individuals that just did get away.
In Tucson, Tucson sector itself, it leads the entire country when it comes to these got-aways.
In President Trump's first year in office, you had got-aways. It was right around 101,000 got-aways for the entire year. Right now, we're halfway through the year, and we're at over 200,000 got-aways nationwide.
CAVUTO: That's incredible.
So, Art, when you hear from the vice president, who is giving the task of getting to the bottom of this, and she announces aid for the Northern Triangle of countries, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, that that targets the source of this, what do you think of that?
DEL CUETO: Not only is it a slap in the face to the very -- to all the men and women that are out there protecting our nation's borders. But I think that's a slap in the face to the American public.
We're seeing these numbers go up because of this administration. They have given hope to a lot of individuals to turn over their children to drug smuggling organizations, human smuggling organizations, and sex traffickers.
And that is what's happening. That's why you're seeing so many groups coming across right now. It is a direct result of what this administration has been doing. And now to do it this way, instead of actually coming down here and seeing what the agents on the ground need, is not only just a slap in the face to them. It's a slap in the face for every single American in this country.
CAVUTO: Art, was it easier for you guys when these type of cases were adjudicated in Mexico and not in the United States?
DEL CUETO: No, definitely.
Not only was it just easier. Let's just put that aside. Let's look at it from a legal standpoint. When you're seeing individuals that are seeing that, realistically, the number and percentage of the cases that are true asylum cases is less than 10 percent, and then you're seeing these groups come across, what's happening now is, you have drug smuggling organizations, people smuggling organizations that are using this to their benefit.
They will bring in big groups of unaccompanied children. That way, agents can get preoccupied with that. All the while, they're crossing these individuals that we call got-aways. And, as I said, we're twice as many as President Trump's first year in office. And we're not even half -- we're about halfway through the year now.
CAVUTO: So, when you hear, Art, that the administration, others have been saying, well, that trend is down, what was a spike has slowed considerably, you know these numbers far better than I.
Has it slowed from the height we were seeing a little more than six weeks ago?
DEL CUETO: It's -- the numbers are still up.
This is the problem. This is where -- and it's a great question. But this is where the problem is. There's no actual way to determine the got-away numbers. Those are pretty much counting footprints in the sand at times.
And from looking at what was happening a year ago, where you were having
300 got-aways nationwide a day, now you're having 1,000 got-aways a day.
The numbers are not slowing down, and something needs to be done.
And, frankly, if people are going to sit in high-level positions and just pretty much say, nothing's going on and tell the American public that nothing's going on, somebody needs to call these individuals out on the carpet.
The agency doesn't do enough about talking about the got-away numbers. And those are as important, if not more so, than the apprehension numbers, because those are your criminals that are taking that extra step not to come into the -- not to be caught coming into the United States.
CAVUTO: Art, thank you very, very much, Art Del Cueto, the Border Patrol union V.P. And, sadly, he's been proven prescient and accurate on all this stuff.
And, as for the border, and that it's closed down, apparently, it's still open like a sieve.
"The Five" is now.
Copy: Content and Programming Copyright 2021 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2021 VIQ Media Transcription, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of VIQ Media Transcription, Inc. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.