stuart: may i remind you to send in your "friday feedback." you can email us at varneyviewers@foxbusiness.com. very special edition, tomorrow. because susan is not with us. she is off for the week. it will be just ashley and i, the british edition. neil, it is yours. neil: stuart, thank you very, very much. we're following a couple of developments you were sort of teasing, stuart. we'll hear the president outline plans to tighten gun restrictions shortly at the white house. i first off want to thank my mutual friend david asman filling in my absence yesterday. david is an amazing hard worker. i value job security so i'm back here today. a couple things we're following the president's announcement, can he do this by executive order? there are at least six of them. we're watching what happens afterwards. whether he takes any questions.

whether he is flexible on the corporate tax thing. joe manchin, big democratic senator could be a swing vote, he doesn't want a corporate tax rate as high as 28%. maybe 25%. so the president hinted that he, he can be flexible on this. how flexible, anyone's guess. blake burman at white house with all the latest developments. reporter: let's stick with the live pictures from the rose guarden just on the other side of the white house where i'm standing right now. the president in the rose garden. beautiful day as he is about to outline executive actions he will instruct essentially the justice department to take over the upcoming months just to tick through them. he will ask the justice department within 30 days to issue a proposed rule to stop the proliferation of ghost guns. he will have the justice department issue within 60 days, whether the mark device marketed

as stablizing piece, turns into a pistol, whether it is with the national firearms act. red flag legislation for states. the president is going to announce his intention to nominate david chapman to be the atf director. chipman, from the giffords institute. we'll see if the president takes question at the end of this. certainly one of the things he could be asked is the news that dropped last night from one of the most influential democrats in washington, senator joe manchin. manchin wrote an op-ed he will no longer support budget reconciliation. why is that important? because budget reconciliation is go at it alone strategy that democrats used to pass the $1.9 trillion american rescue plan. democrats potentially had been hoping to use to pass the $2.25 trillion american jobs plan. here is what manchin said in that op-ed, righting in part, we should be alarmed how the budget reconciliation process is being

used by both parties to stifle debate around the major issues facing our country today. i simply do not believe budget reconciliation should replace regular order in the senate. as we know, neil, the president is making hiking the corporate tax rate a staple of his potential jobs package, raising it from 21 to 28% but the president suggested yesterday that he could potentially include that in negotiations and come off of that 28% number. this is a number that business and industry has been looking at, has been targeting. in the case at least of the national association of manufacturers, does not like because the manufacturers come out this morning they believe if the corporate rate and other tax measures are put into effect the way the administration wants it would mean a loss of a million jobs, they believe over the course of two years. and a loss of $119 billion in gdp over the next decade.

here is what the manufacturers leader jay timmons said in a statement this morning, quote, if we undo reforms, meaning tax reform, all of that will be put at significant risk. manufacturing workers will lose out of jobs, growth and raises. we should be building on the progress, not rolling it back. in any event, neil, we keep our eyes peeled to the rose garden. see what the president says about potential gun measures and what he might say if asked about his jobs plan. neil? neil: thank you, my friend, very much, blake burman at the white house. we want to bring you up to date how the some of the gun manufacturer stocks and weapons makers are doing. can we take a peek at that, bell belinda. these are six executive orders. executive orders can be undone as quickly as they are done by another administration. there is a limit how far they can go. let's get the read on all of

this, bill simon, former wal-mart ceo and president. bill, of course walmart had briefly not during your stewardship, had stopped selling guns and ammunition. now i believe they're back in stores now. where do you think this goes on the retail side? in other words, could this impact those who want to get legally-available and legally-okay firearms or ammunition at say walmart stores? >> yeah. hey, neil. by the way, how are you? walmart for a long time now has not sold handguns. that went away quite a while ago. they recently stopped selling the modern sporting rifles, the ar type weapons and certain ammunition but they to my knowledge they never stopped selling hunting rifles and shotguns for sportsmen. i think the legal channels, the retail channels where guns are

sold are probably the ones that, if you're going to have guns be legal, you want them sold because they're well-documented. all the big retailers like walmart and academy sports and dicks follow the rules that sell guns and license them, do the background checks rather than some of these channels where you don't really know where the gun is. if we're going to have those sales you probably want them to go through those retail outlets. neil: when some of the more questionable weapons, the ones that ignite controversy, when walmart stops selling those, didn't give up on all firearms, those available for hunting, i get that, what was the fall out among your customers? do they fear or have reason to fear that walmart might be pushed into stopping all such sales? >> well, of course i can't speak for walmart anymore but the customers, certain customers reacted badly to that and others reacted well to it. like many very controversial

issues in the country, neil, we're split down the mid gill. trying to find consensus is very, very difficult, particularly on these issues. neil: bill, let me pick your brain on the corporate tax hike that is coming. looked like the president is on his way to get the corporate rate back up to 28%. he would not have any republican support on that but it seemed like he had democrat support until joe manchin came along, say i would prefer a lower rate, more like 25%. your thoughts? >> well i think lower is better. you heard the report from the manufacturers association. that lowering of the rate created the opportunity for companies to continue to invest and so that's been, that's been really important i think but what is more important, neil, you know this well, business needs certainty in order to operate. if the rate is 21, it is 28, it

is 25. it sort of freezes business in place without knowing where we're going to be or what the tax rate is going to be, makes it very difficult to make long-term capital decisions. so whatever they're going to do they need to decide. it is nice to hear the word compromise out of the president's mouth. he said that several times. he hasn't done it yet. he hasn't compromised on anything yet. maybe with senator manchin's op-ed this morning he will have to. neil: you know you probably heard jamie dimon chase, he season economic boom happening next couple years. the whole debate over infrastructure and taxes not withstanding that will continue for a while. consumer is strong, retail activity is picking up, what do you think of that? >> i agree with him. i read that piece and i think it is exactly right. the consumer, surprisingly, shockingly, through all the covid that we just went through really terrible last 12 months

has remained resilient. i think as soon as we start coming out of this, we're starting to, you're going to see activity, economic activity, rebound in jobs and a rebound in the consumer. i think the infrastructure spending, the piece of it that is infrastructure is really critical. i think it is critical to where we go as a country. it is also critical to creating some really good jobs. i mean i'm optimistic for the next couple years. neil: fingers crossed. bill, great seeing you again. be well. bill simon, former walmart u.s. ceo and president. go to kevin stick, the oklahoma governor, republican. get reaction to some of these developments, including if i could, what the president is addressing now, governor, to limit the sale what he calls dangerous firearms and those have nothing to do with hunting, any of the rest. we don't know all of his plans, oklahoma is among those states with very active and very, have

happy hunters. will they be happy, are you happy with some of the plans that the president's outlining? >> you know we're going to defend oklahoma, we're going to defend our right to bear arms in the state of oklahoma. we think it's a total overreach by the federal government. it is very clear in our constitution and the first bill i signed when i became governor was a constitutional carry in the state of oklahoma and as long as i'm governor we will fight back against that federal overreach. it is disappointing what is happening in d.c., the partisanship the president is displaying. neil: you know, governor, we do know one thing he wants to take away are these so-called ghost guns, those retrofitted into something more dangerous and something that don't need to be. what do you think of that? >> well, you know i think they try to limit, they try to go after the manufacturer of bullets, of clips. they are just trying to go any

way they can to limit our rights as americans and you know, our way of life in oklahoma is something that i'm going to protect. and so there is a lot of schemes going on and their ultimate goal is try to influence power and try to take rights away from citizens. in oklahoma we believe in freedoms and personal responsibility. that is what i'm going to stand up as governor. neil: you know, governor, if i could switch gears a little bit the president also seemed to show a little more flexibility than people thought in hike in corporation taxes from 28%, that has been widely trumpeted maybe something closer to 25%. not that republicans told him that would be a good idea, but joe manchin, a democrat, said it would be a good idea. where do you see this all ending up? >> i don't know if it was his idea or joe manchin hey, if you get my vote we'll do something

more reasonable at 25%. we obviously support the lower the better. actually in oklahoma we're looking at a tax reform package. we have a $1.6 billion surplus because our economy has been fully reopened since last june and so we're actually going to return taxes back to the taxpayer and when the feds are increasing taxes we think that is great for low-taxed states like oklahoma and our friends in florida and texas and tennessee. you're seeing it. you're seeing people vote and move, move their companies to states like oklahoma. neil: you know, on energy, and oklahoma is certainly very big on that, that is a very big concern of yours, especially with the new push for green energy on the part of the president, gm is announcing today fancy, shmancy 100,000-dollar plus, hummer suv, electric suv at that, i haven't

had a part of chance in the past to talk to you about this, governor, push for this new technology? every automaker seems to be in on it, expanding lines that would feature it. as a matter of fact, volvo, ford, indicating it might be the only type of vehicle they sell in a few years. what do you think of all of this? >> we believe in all of the above approach around let the economy and let consumers demand that but what people need to realize when they plug in their electric vehicle or cell phone where is the electricity generated? it is generated by clean burning natural gas that is produced in oklahoma. it is also produced by wind energy but during this, the last huge ice storm and arctic freeze that we had across the midwest you saw turbines frozen. you saw zero production from solar. and really it was natural gas, it was coal, that bailed us out. and so we have to have and all

of the above approach. so electric vehicles are great. oklahoma actually has more charging stations per capita than any other state in the country. so we are all for that but people need to realize when they plug their cell phone in, when they plug in their electric vehicle, that actually gets generated by clean burning natural gas produced here in oklahoma. neil: governor, thank you for taking the time, sir. it was very good seeing you again. governor kevin stitt, republican governor, beautiful state of oklahoma. up next getting an update on the virus. we've gotten new indications right now brazil seems to be going from bad to worse. record number of deaths in that country just reported. cases accelerating at the highest rate we've seen throughout the pandemic. and it is not alone. india's right behind them. what the heck is going on over there and should we worry about it over here?

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♪. neil: we are doing swimmingly when it comes to the covid cases in this country that are declining, even though we've seen an uptick in some cases in the last couple of days or so. having said all of that, though, quite the opposite story we're getting in key countries abroad, including as i mentioned earlier, brazil. right now the highest death count ever been reported in that country since the start of the pandemic itself. in europe where it is fits and starts getting things reopened. although britain is noticing some improvements here. still talking about britain, the so-called uk covid variant there, apparently the dominant strain in the united states, not the vaccines available can't deal with it, we're told. it's a worry, nevertheless. jonathan serrie in atlanta with more on that? reporter: hey, neil. vaccine rollout is moving along. the problem is this uk variant is so highly contagious. now that it is the most dominant strain here in the u.s., federal

health officials believe that is part of the reason why we're beginning to see an uptick in not only new case numbers but also hospitalizations. take a listen. >> across the country we're hearing reports of clusters of cases associated with day-care centers and youth sports. hospitals are seeing more and more younger adults, those in their 30s and 40s admitted with severe disease. reporter: the cdc recommends communities with high transmission rates postpone large events and refrain from youth sports that cannot be held outdoors with participants at least six feet apart but ultimately mass vaccination what will end this pandemic. to meet the goal of having a vaccine site within five miles of every american, the federal government is expanding vaccine access to the nation's 1400 community health centers. >> many community health centers are located in underserved communities, serve patients predominantly either uninsured

or underinsured. reporter: about 110 million americans have received at least one dose of the covid-19 vaccine. that is more than one in every three american adults. neil? neil: jonathan, thank you very, very much. let's get the read from a doctor, a board certified family physician. doctor, always great to have you on. thanks for for taking the time. can i talk to you about what is going on abroad, getting your thoughts on it? germany indicating tighter lockdown measures are necessary. italy and france can't get out of their own way on this issue. england things are looking up. it has been a bumpy ride. vaccination rollout is bumpy. what is happening? >> neil, the reality of the situation we can't attack the pandemic as a one-size-fits-all problem, what is going on in the united states, from state to

state, county to county, all of that is going to require a little bit of a different approach. for example, we're seeing cases spike in michigan, yet other cases we're seeing historic lows throughout this pandemic. in brazil we're seeing hospitalizations skyrocket. excess mortality happening. what will work in one area will not always work in another but as jonathan said so correctly earlier vaccines will be the source of getting out of this pandemic. the way we approach this, a, making sure we have adequate supply, adequate manufacturing and adequate location sites so everyone can get vaccinated. neil, this isn't a problem only here in the united states. this is a worldwide problem. we need to make sure that we have vaccine equity across the globe. because what happens in brazil, what happens in the uk, what happens in india, will ultimately affect us here in new york city in the united states. in fact i just did a project with unicef trying to explain and break down some misinformation and facts about

the covid-19 vaccinations so that we can get more people on board, because combating vaccine hesitancy is one of the major goals that we need to address. neil: i'm just wondering, doctor, whether we should be worried about that here. more we get vaccinated, we get more quicker to herd immunity. others say we don't need 70, 80% to get herd immunity. where are you on this and how crucial is it to get to that? >> it is absolutely crucial. the more vaccines we get the better. initially there was a lot of critique how the united states were vaccinating people that we were not vaccinating enough. when you look at per capita we weren't leading the way. i urge people not to look at per capita not as a main driver of success of a vaccination program. why? the rate limiting step is supply. we have a population of over 320 million people. it is not fair to compare the

united states to a country like israel who has a population of around nine million. the supply is what is the bottleneck. the fact we've given over 170 million shots here in the u.s. is something that should be celebrated. it is something we should think all health care workers, all volunteers, all nurses who have been going above and beyond to dedicate their time to get volks vaccinated. you brought up number, is it 70%, 80%? we don't have a crystal ball. reality we need many people vaccinated as quickly as possible. that means expanding vaccine access to the community health sites. neil, importantly, getting primary care doctors involved like myself. there is a lot of folks who come in to see us for other health care issues, meantime could be getting vaccinated by us. who trust our ad vyings when it advice whether it comes to vaccine information. when we get primary care doctors on the front line involved here i think we'll see greater success with numbers.

neil: will we be wearing masks next year, doctor? >> again, we don't have a crystal ball, neil, here. i do not support the notion once the pandemic is over we should continue wearing masks. i will explain why that is my opinion. our immune system deserves to be challenged. getting sick is not always a bad thing when it comes to upper respiratory infections. there is plenty of evidence behind the hygiene theory in medicine, if you constantly keep everything clean for our children, you keep allergens away from them you actually develop more disease. however during a pandemic this rule does not apply. right now we need to do all the safety measures laid out by the cdc, doing our best to follow limitations in gatherings, dog our best to follow the masks guidelines. doing our best to make sure we get the vaccine when we're on line and our group is available to get it. ultimately we need this pandemic to end, so we can return book to

a sense of normalcy. and get back of taking care of our health in other ways, neil. if this obesity epidemic has gotten worse throughout covid-19 time and i'm looking forward to getting back to seeing my patients without masks own. i'm looking forward to shaking their hands. in order for that to happen we need everyone or at least as many people to get vaccinated as possible. neil: yeah. you had to mention the obesity thing in the end, didn't you doctor? always great seeing you, my friend. >> thank you so much, neil. neil: you've been ahead of this curve. reminding all of us we have to take care of the total picture. not just address what is going on with the virus. it is not obesity as much as calorically challenged. that might be a good way to put it. president of the united states is laying out guidelines, executive orders, six ever them that call for tackling so-called ghost guns. neil: makeshift weapons different from the weapons they were originated to be.

put a guy who oversees tobacco and firearms who is a noted gun, shall we say concerned doubter. the read from the attorney general of the united states. he is weighing in on all of this as well, about the legality of the president's six-prong push, executive orders and read from george p. bush, the texas land commissioner, how a big hunting state like texas is going to react. he is next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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reconfigured, so-called ghost guns to be anything what they were originally intended to be. that is something he wants to rein in. gun enthusiasts, hunters, who feel the president is going too far, worry this could be a step to far bigger, more onerous restrictions. let's get the read from george p. bush, the texas land commissioners. kind enough to join us now. commissioner, good to see you. you were entertaining a run for attorney general in the lone star state but texas as you know better than most, gun enthusiast state, a hunting state an probably is looking at some of this with some worry and some trepidation. how about you? >> absolutely. you know in our state we have a proud tradition of responsible gun ownership. we have a bill looking at what other states have done in terms of passing a constitutional carry. i myself and my chl, concealed

hand gun license owner here in texas. that is a tradition we'll keep alive and well here in texas. this issue needs to be dealt with in terms of crisis among the human condition. it is not necessarily gun owners creating this problem. it is folks facing mental health challenges. folks committing suicide. perhaps we need to do a better job at the community level to make investment of resources to mitigate the violence we're seeing that might be used with guns, but actually caused by a troubling human condition. neil: so, commissioner, when the president wants to band the type of weapons that want to go beyond those that might be useful for hunters, like the so-called ghost guns that are rhett very fitted, how do you feel about that? >> i'm comfortable with existing federal guidelines as they are. i believe states can better manage gun policy, than say the

federal government particularly through executive order. maybe we can work through congress to come up with solutions. let states like texas design our own policy, we know how to manage our economy, our way of life, how we can manage the situation in our state. so, you know, i haven't had a chance to personally review the executive orders myself this morning as they become breaking news but i will share this is not going to be welcome in our state. neil: you have been critical of the stance the administration has taken on traditional fossil fuels industry. what is your biggest worry in the president's green pushing right now? >> so, even though the state of texas has less than 2% of its state geography controlled by the feds the biden order on the hydraulic fracturing, who are sown tall drilling ban on federal leases could jeopardize of 120,000 jobs in our state, of

400,000 directly employed by the oil and gas industry. that is one where my agency is intervening in a case in pending in the state of wyoming. states like colorado, wyoming, rely on federal leases to generate revenue for public schools. they talk about the endangered species act which could jeopardize production in our state which generates 44% of the nation's oil but right now the, hydraulic ban and horizontal drilling ban on federal leases is the most problematic. neil: you know, commissioner, while i have you, your uncle, george w. bush, the former president, has been quite complimentary of joe biden in his first couple months saying he is off to a good start. your dad, jed bush, has commended some of the tone that has come out of the biden

white house. by and large your larger family has been very quiet on donald trump. you have not. you supported him ultimately when he was nominee in 2016 and in his re-election in 2020 but you stand out in your family for that. so i, the obviously question is, what are family dinner conversations like? >> [laughter]. sometimes awkward. sometimes awkward. but they understand that i'm my own man with my own vision for my state here in texas and my own ideas and i couldn't reconcile supporting the opponents whether it be in 16, 20, or the ideas they're now presenting a. a lot of constituents say they didn't sign up for what we're seeing out of the white house and he is basically become the beholden to the extreme in his party, eastern though he kind of campaigned as a unifier. i disagree with my dad and my uncle on that front but i think we take the energy honestly

right now, at least when i talk with the grassroots of what president trump created, looking out for the blue-collar worker. being skeptical of our trade agreements. taking on china on the national security front, securing the border, particularly here in texas. that is what they want to hear. neil: i can see all of that. i get that part, george. i get the policies and the positions of donald trump took, very different than they be the personality of the man but he had a lot of awful things to say about your dad. low energy and on and on. your father was famous for saying of the january 6th, capitol hill violence that the president provoked that disgusting event at the capitol. what do you think of that? >> well, politics is sometimes tough. it's a full contact sport as they say, and you know during rough primaries where my grandfather who ran for president several times or my uncle they will tell you that they were the target but they also delivered it and so that

happens in presidential politics. i just know that in terms of what we do at the land office we can capture some of that energy, some of those ideas and use it for good in our state because we need it more than ever. neil: bottom line, you don't take any of this personally or, the remarks that donald trump made against your dad personally or the extended bush family, you don't take any of that personally? >> i think you would have a very short career in politics if you take any of this personally. this is, the true war is about ideas and what's at stake for our country in the nexentry. i'm a father of a 7-year-old and a 5-year-old. that is why i first entered public service was i wanted them to be able to inherit a country a state, better condition than the one i have currently had a chance to enjoy with my beautiful wife. that is what i want to continue fighting for in the coming nears neil: you know, commissioner, your uncle, george w. bush, had

said of republican party stands and what is populism, what's not, i hope i'm quoting correctly here, the history in the united states has shown these pop upist movements begin fritter over time. so i'm optimistic about democracy. i think what he is saying, i don't want to put words in your uncle's mouth, that the trumpism, whatever you want to call it represents a blip on the historical timeline what do you think of that? >> well it is really hard to say. that would require my to be able to predict the future which i can't do but what i can do talk to you about 2022 and a lot of constituents really tired already of the border surge we're seeing because our communities on the border have been absorbing this surge for generations. they want a more proactive d.c. as it relates to that issue. they want a d.c. that steps back to allow states create their own policies such as the tradition here in the state of texas and

the grassroots is fired up more than ever. even though things didn't worry out at the top of the ticket during the election cycle in 2020, i can tell you a good night for conservatives in state of texas. we maintained most of our majorities in the statehouse, state senate. we have work to do in our judicial races. all of the statewides are held by republicans. part of the reason i'm looking at another office we have to put the best team on the field here in texas. the democrats will come at us with everything they possibly can whether good candidates or additional financial resources. neil: i don't know the family dynamics, george, who am i to judge, i do know you stand out in your family for variety of reasons. you're a very popular commissioner. that is a very important post in your state. i know you're entertaining a run for attorney general. others said you set your sights on maybe becoming a governor or becoming president of the united states. what about that?

>> well, right now i'm focused on the legislative session, the here and the now and there is going to be plenty of time after legislative session to make announcement and talk with the grassroots of our party. you know what i have learned, neil -- neil: you're clear, clearly interested in running for attorney general, that is a given, right? >> i'm taking a very serious look at it. i think that the charges that have been levied against the incumbent are very serious and need to be taken seriously. neil: so for president, down the road and that bush family still has a viable offer, down the road, whatever you say about the politics, positions of your dad and your uncle and your grandfather, this is a family well-steeped in, in republican politics. in fact the disparaging note is establishment republican politics. are you the establishment or are they?

>> i'm actually constitutional conservative. i'm a unique bridge actually in this party that can bring together the clans if you will. i have demonstrated track record of doing that here in the state with being the largest vote-getter in 2014 and then in 2018 when i got elected number two behind the governor. what i love about texas, we really are our country in a nutshell, very diverse, rural, urban, suburban interest with a wide, diverse population. i have a message that sells, resonates amongst conservatives and among new texans. we have almost 200 people moving here to the capital city every day on a net basis, half of whom are from california. the rush is on to texas and you need kind of a broad message that appeals to folks that are sixth generation, relatives in the battle of the alamo and a message that appeals to people that just moved here from l.a. neil: you're right. it is definitely going on.

you're right right about that. commissioner, thank you very much, good catching up with you. let us know if there are food fights in your house. doesn't sound that is happening. george p. bush, texas commissioner. we have the dow holding its own right now. we're waiting details of the president's overall plan on a these executives action to rein in gun sales, or dangerous gun sales he likes to insist, but wiggle room on taxes that could be the decider for the markets today. i will explain after this. if you wake up thinking about the market and want to make the right moves fast... get decision tech from fidelity. [ cellphone vibrates ] you'll get proactive alerts for market events before they happen... and insights on every buy and sell decision. with zero-commission online u.s. stock and etf trades. for smarter trading decisions,

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[announcer] durán catches leonard with a big left. ♪♪ you can spend your life in boxing or any other business, but one day, you're gonna take a hit you didn't see coming. and it won't matter what hit you. what matters is you're down. and there's nothing down there with you

but the choice that will define you. do you stay down? or. do you find, somewhere deep inside of you, the resilience to get up. ♪♪ [announcer] and this fight is a long way from over, leonard is coming back. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪. reporter: welcome back to "coast to coast." i'm edward lawrence talking in atlanta talking about georgia law. they want law i makers to listen to one other. some like the law. some doesn't leak the waa. they should allow people all the

way up to the polling site door, not 150 feet away. they hope the national attention will push people to change the law. >> people listen to respond, not listen to actually understand. i'm not saying that one side or the other is going to be completely happy with everything that is done but a think a lot more listening can be done. reporter: others agree with the law it actually expands voting by adding 17 days of early voting, including both weekend days. yesterday we were at manuel's tavern that almost went under after 65 years of business during the pandemic. the community rallied to save the tavern. overall the law is not bad but reaction to the law has been disappointing. >> we're manuel's tavern. so much happened in that little tavern between all the different groups that wanted to get stuff done. they all got together, over a beer, made it happen. we're standing right next to it. and nobody es in there. nobody wants to talk to each

other anymore. that is totally frustrating. reporter: state leaders calling for a boycott of big companies here are postponing that boycott as they are meeting with the companies. we'll be right back with more communication with you.

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♪. neil: all right. out of this world. cathie woods newly launched exchange traded fund focus on state exploration and companies involved in this off to a torrid start. $536.2 billion in its first days of trading. we've never seen anything like this. among exchange traded funds or any investment vehicle here. let's go to the ark client portfolio manager. that is a lot of excitement around this and you got to wonder here, whether it scares you too? it is nice to know that investors are that hot on what you're hot on. man, oh, man, that's pressure. >> great to go see you, neil. well, space exploration has been around before the internet, right? and so this industry has been around for a long time. at ark we're focused on

investing in disruptive technologies. we don't get caught up in the hype or promise of a technology when investing in them. we conduct original research to, not only understand the technology but also focus on some of cost to clients associated with these technologies and that helps us identify when we're hitting a tipping point in the cost structure which will release a tremendous amount of demand for that technology that becomes attractive to us. we think we've hit the tipping point when it comes to the aerospace industry. neil: it is very clear you have some elect tick technology. -- eclectic technologies. trimble does and mix of boeing, lockheed, others, shows beneficiaries from space exploration but is that, the mechanics behind it? anyone having anything to do

with this or just clear beneficiaries in our eye, like those that pursue mars, those that might go as part of a moon project? >> we're investing anything above-ground. this also includes drones. a lot of the names you see in the portfolio are a little more related to the drone space. we think this is going, this could be a, we think a 275 billion-dollar industry in terms of annual revenues in about five years from now. so this is a massive opportunity and it also includes some of the aerospace beneficiaries you mentioned, enabling technologies. so we've seen advancements in robotics, artificial intelligence, 3d printing, all these technologies are really benefiting, and enabling the kind of the aerospace industry this is everything above-ground and certainly in space as well

as we start to think about reusable rockets and then, even the cost decline associated with the satellites that we're launching into space. they're getting smaller, more cost efficient. we can launch more of these. this really fits into the theme of connecting the globe in terms of the internet. that has many benefits to several other companies that are also included in our portfolio. neil: yeah. i was surprised to see deere in that list. it started making sense when i started to hear the reasons for that. sounds fascinating. thank you very, very much. we will keep an eye on this. we would love to have you back on the strategy going forward. he is the arcx portfolio manager. >> thank you. neil: we have the dow doing okay. the s&p 500, and doing more than okay today. what is behind all of this? after this. at edward jones, our 19,000 financial advisors

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♪♪ ♪ neil: all right. we're getting indications out of the federal reserve that they're optimistic that this economic boom will continue. they see no reason to change things or alter policy, more evidence of it has to be continuing evidence of it. so jerome powell, the fed chairman, telling an imf group that we would have to see a string of strong jobs report.

better than 917,000 jobs added to the economy, he seems to be saying more of that stuff whether we alter our policy. no change in policy and no change to what has been a loose interest rate policy for the better part of a year now. so let's get the read on all of that in just a second, but the read on what's going on in new york because there are headwinds, and these might be the headwinds to which jerome powell is referring, cities and states looking at small business closure, some facing much higher taxes. new york comes to mind. lydia hu with the latest on that. >> reporter: hi, neil. we have information from a new report from facebook. this is -- they say new york leads the country for having the most small businesses closed during the pandemic. new york tied with pennsylvania which shows about 31% of small businesses shuttered. this is according to facebook's

first-ever state of small business report, more than 35,000 small businesses affected by covid in february. the report shows nearly a quarter of small businesses surveyed globally reported a closure, 22% across the united states which means new york has a higher average of small business closures at 31% than the across the country and around the world. now, another finding, small businesses of new york also reduced staff size more than any other state. 38% shrank their size. here's reaction from the business council of new york state. >> upwards of 20 state thes are looking for ways -- states are looking for ways to reduce taxes because of the stimulus money they've received. new york is going the opposite direction and trying to increase spending permanently, and this just doesn't make sense given

the state of our economy right now. >> reporter: so what the ceo's alluding to there is the new tax plan unveiled by governor cuomo just recently, a plan to hike taxes on big businesses, including the corporate franchise tax from 6.5 to 7.25%. and this also comes as the state rolls out a $2.1 billion program that's offering payments to undocumented immigrants who lost work during the pandemic and are not eligible for unemployment, state or federal benefits. this fund will offer a one-time payment of up to $a $a 15,600 to undocumented workers. it was passed by the democrats in the legislature but now, of course, republicans are criticizing this measure saying it just goes too far. but what we also a heard from the council for business in new york state is that, you know, it's hard to be a small business moving forward with the combination of the taxes and the support for undocumented workers, it's not surprising to

them that so many small businesses are closing. they're just worried about the future for them. neil: all right. ya, thank you very much. this is -- lydia, thank you very much. before any of this was announced, to lydia's point. let's get the read from liz peek, the report is interesting given its timing because it's before tax hikes on the very rich there, the very rich can also get out of the state. i'm just wondering where this goes. what do you think? >> neil, i don't see how anyone can be surprised by this news. new york is the 49th worst state for doing business in the country, and the reason is because between incredibly onerous labor laws, high taxes, high cost of living, businesses really struggle to you can seed in our state which is -- to

succeed in our state which is not what we want. add to that the fact that over 100,000 people left new york city last year because of covid, because of high taxes, etc. you have a dwindling customer base for a lot of these businesses, and i'd say the third thing is i think de blasio, mayor de blasio and governor cuomo horrifically mismanaged our economy during this period of time, issuing ridiculous regulations like now you can open at 30% instead of 25%. as though that made any difference. but it all cost these businesses money. and it also meant that they were obliged to always comply with regulations that were being thrown at them often times days before they took i tech. effect. i'm not surprised by this. i'm sickened by it because it means tens of thousands of workers out of work, and this is a terrible thing to have happened to our city. neil: you know, dan, it's

interesting, a lot of times when states do raise taxes while some do leave, it's the not nearly the exodus that those against those increases had foretold. why is that? >> well, i think, neil, times have changed here, and people's ability to move based upon technology and be able to take their jobs with them is going to be a game-changer. so i'm not so sure people are going to just accept what's happening with these taxes, let's say, on successful people. now, here's america's accountant talking to you, neil. what i'm saying is this: tax what you want less of. so if you want less rich and less successful people, tax them. you want less corporations and less business? tax them. because that's exactly what's going to happen.

new york received over $16 billion of aid from the federal government. they did not have this huge gap in their budget any longer. there is no need to increase spending and increase taxes. i think they're ultimately shooting themselves in the foot here. neil: you know, kristin, you also have to wonder -- i wonder what your thoughts on this, on whether joe biden might be sensing this not because republicans are saying this or gifted accountants or market watchers like dan and liz are saying this, but because joe manchin is saying this, a pivotal vote who says 28% is too much for a corporate tax rate. 25% might be better. and the president's entertaining that. what do you think? >> yeah, i think there's a discussion that needs to be had about making our tax, the tax rate more equitable, and i think that senator manchin and other

senators like senator sinema are open to those discussions, and the president certainly seems to be. the one thing in new york that i'm paying attention to, you know, the governor has said that, you know, ultimately when, when the federal government passes the s.a.l.t. deduction, that it will be a net tax decrease in the state, and that is a mighty big assumption. i think that there is no guarantee that the federal government's going to act on that. that would certainly help small business owners in new york. it doesn't necessarily help anybody in florida, texas or other states. so, you know, to make that assumption, i think, is probably not the right things to do. but the president seems to be really open to making sure that we are not hoping small businesses, large companies, large employers going forward. neil: well, you know, you never know. even in florida they do have high real estate taxes. but leaving that aside, liz, i'm curious to know where it is that

they go. at a given, i think taxes are going up. i don't know how much, but they're going to go up. might not be 28%, they might negotiate on the top rate, and they might doing something like throwing in the state and lock tax deduction capped at 10,000. i don't know. but if the markets are worried about any of this, they're not showing it. why is that in. >> yeah, it's a good question. i think the markets are not sure that biden will get his big, hefty tax increase on corporations through. there's been a lot of resistance to that. even america's ceos, who are not wont to speak out about much of anything these days, are talking the people about how it makes our companies anti-- less competitive with our overseas competitors. but i agree, neil, we're not seeing much response from the market. maybe that's just because the economic momentum right now is

extraordinary. this economy is going to boom this year whether or not taxes go up on corporations. but i would also say yields have come down a little bit lately. and i've been kind of wondering why that is. neil: yeah. >> is it because people are beginning to factor in, yes, we're going to have a great 2021. beyond this year, though, is it possible that these tax hikes are going to have some impact. i think we need to step back and, again, look at what's going on in new york city because it's a template for other states. and i just have to say, again, i am sickened by what's happened, what's happening because of all these closures to our lowest income residents. we're supposed to be concerned about income inequality. i am concerned about that. who gets hurt when all these little businesses go under? it's the people who work there. and i think, honestly, i just can't believe that mayor de blasio and andrew cuomo has been so indifferent to the plight of workers in new york.

and that's who's suffering here. neil: the big question, dan, is whether they all return to work in the city, and there's very little evidence that all of them do. maybe ad good chunk of them do. what is your forecast for cities like new york? >> i think cities like new york, neil, are really in trouble because of the migration of workers. and as i mentioned before, people's ability to work remotely. and i think that's here to stay. now, i know some companies are kind of trying to buck that trend and say, no, we're going to bring our workers back, and we're going to limit the amount of days they can work remotely. companies, i don't think, are going to do that across the board, neil, because there is going to be a battle for talent. and in order to stay competitive, you need to be able to put a package together that is going to draw the best talent that you possibly can. and i think people are getting used to their new life and a

work/life balance, and they're going to want to be able to work remotely. and when you factor that in, is there a reason to be in a place like new york city with the high taxes, high crime, vacant stores, all those things? the attraction to be in the large cities just isn't there anymore. and it's going to change the face of big cities across the country. neil: real quickly, kristin, what are your thoughts on how the administration's handling all these pressures here? the states want more, he was very generous with the state aid in the stimulus package, and yet a number of them are still raising taxes regardless. i'm wondering whether that boomerangs on him. >> yeah, i mean, i think that this is -- you got really narrow margins in the house and senate, so when you're talking about federal aid and passing stuff through the house and senate, they did the large covid package, and going forward he's going to have to negotiate with not just members of the republican party, but members of his own party. and i think he knows that.

so, you know, we're looking now at this infrastructure package, and everything's connected up here. so, you know, i think that there's a chance that could be split into multiple pieces of legislation, some he could work with republicans on, but he's certainly going to have to do things in a bipartisan manner is if you're going to have sustainable change particularly with regard to our tax system. neil: kristin, final word. of dan, want to thank you. liz, thank you very much. we're keeping track of the major markets, technology stocks coming back with a vengeance, amazon, tesla and apple. but for now all right with that. and a lot of this has to do with the president hinting, hinting that he is open on lowering that tax hike for corporations from 28%, maybe a little lower, 25%. still early, but the markets seem to be -- particularly technology stocks -- pouncing on that, among other things.

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elsewhere, what ultimately becomes of them? hillary vaughn exploring that, joins us from reagan international airport. hillary. >> reporter: hi, neil. well, the biden administration's policy of catch and release is now going airborne. i talked with someoned today from dhs who tells me migrants here illegally leaving their custody are allowed to fly. they essentially have the federal government's blessing to book a flight to stay with family members or a sponsor that is out of state. but they say the government is not picking up the tab for this. spotted last week at the mcallen, texas, airport, adult migrants -- some with children -- boarding united airlines flights if from mcallen to houston and then from houston to newark, new jersey. many of them held signs that say that they do not speak english. some of them don't have a proper id either, and the tsa tells me that they do make an exception for special circumstances like

this telling me, quote: in or coordination with its dhs counterparts, tsa has identified accessible alternate identification for use in special circumstances at the checkpoint and maintains alternate methods for verifying identification. but immigration reform advocates tell us that that is a major national security loophole. >> under the biden administration, there is this zero chance that dhs will ever find any of these people. quite frankly, even if they all stayed in one place, but, you know, they're not staying in one place, and, you know, they have relatives all over. >> reporter: dhs tells me that anyone leaving their custody has been deemed not a threat and that 100% of these people have passed a covid test. but, neil, it's unclear how airlines are handling this. i reached out to united airlines to see if they were even aware that these migrants are being put on their planes. they have been completely

silent. but the question, neil, is this: international travelers coming to airports across the country trying to get access to the u.s. have to show proof of a negative covid test, even american citizens coming back from abroad have to do the same thing. but it's unclear if these migrants who ultimately came from another country had to show anyone at the airport or notify the airlines that they, indeed, do have a negative covid test. neil? neil: what id are they showing when they board those planes? do we know? >> reporter: sorry, what was the question? neil: i'm sorry. what id are they showingsome forget about covid, but what id are they showing to board those planes? >> reporter: it's either a paper from dhs indicating that they are have decided who they are -- we didn't really get clarity on what type of paperwork is ultimately handed over from dhs to the tsa to show this identity, but many of them

don't have passports, many of them, of course, don't have united states driver's license. that's what you normally show to get on the plane. but -- [laughter] these people are given these manila envelopes in those photos we showed you, they don't speak english, they need help figuring out what plane to catch. and it's also not clear trying to get answers about this story, what happens after they get to newark, new jersey. do people assume that they are meeting up with these family members? how do they navigate getting around if they don't speak english and they don't have anyone escorting them, showing them the way, translating on their behalf. a lot of unanswered questions still about this story. neil: amazing. great reporting, as always, hillary. thank you very much. hillary vaughn at reagan international airport. start this with gillian melcher, "wall street journal" editorial page writer. we booked her under different circumstances, but she's always a pro at this because i do want to pick your brain on this.

that's a double standard right there, the way domestic u.s. flyers are treated and the way that some of these migrants are treated. maybe for the perfectly valid reasons, but that double standard is another reason why any type of immigration reform lacks the kind of bipartisan support the president says he wants. >> yeah. i think it's really unfortunate. you see both political parties choosing to have immigration as an issue rather than look for a solution. and here, i mean, i do think it is a better solution for people to reunite with their families than to stay in government facilities. if you look at what happened in 2019, the overcrowding in i.c.e. facilities was actually to the point where it was getting quite dangerous. we're starting to see that same trajectory with unaccompanied children who are held in hhs resettlement custody, can customs and border protection custody. i'm really concerned about it as

the summer goes on. neil: yeah. i don't know what the answer is, jillian, i just know it will reinforce and reharden positions on the part of republicans who say that the administration doesn't even consult with them on this issue. and now we're hearing increasing talk maybe because it's gotten clearance from the parliamentarian in the united states senate to go ahead and address this matter with reconciliation. in other words, a simple majority where you don't need a supermajority of votes here. i'm wondering it might be the president's way and only his way. >> yeah, i really think congress needs to fix this. it's kind of crazy when you start reporting on immigration, you realize how disfunctional this system is. so if you look at the asylum system alone, it's really easy for economic migrants to game the system. we've got backlogs that stretch a year or two if not longer. that comes at the expense of people who are genuinely fleeing

persecution. and then if you look at the current situation under covid, right now if you're a single adult and sneak across the border, you will be sent back to mexico. but if you're a family traveling with really young kids, there's no legal way right now for you to seek asylum. all the incentives are for you to pay coyotes to do this the most dangerous way possible. we're not even giving a legal pathway right now, and i think we're creating the incidents that make it really easy for, to put parents in a difficult situation, for the most vulnerable migrants to do this in the most dangerous way possible. and i think we're starting to see the consequences of that. if you look at border agents, border security, all of those things are extraordinarily strained. new numbers just came out that showed a huge surge in immigration in march compared to february which is about double january. this is headed in a really dangerous direction, and i think

it's going to get worse as the summer goes on which is migration season. neil: well, it's not getting better, to your point. jillian, thank you very much. , "wall street journal" editorial page writer there. i want to pass along some comments from new jersey's governor phil murphy saying things are not rapidly getting better in the garden state here. while he expects eventually coronavirus cases will decline, it's not going to happen anytime soon, and the pattern of the outbreak, quoting the governor, could impact the state's decision on reopening orders. he expects to she see covid cases between late april and late may, also said that new jersey's public mask mandate will likely remain in effect at least through memorial day, at least. we'll is have more after this. ty autonomous vehicle is almost at the finish line what a ride! i invested in invesco qqq a fund that invests in the innovators of the nasdaq-100

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neil: all right, how do schools, universities, handle the covid going forward? forgetting about this year, we're almost to the end of that, but next season. the read we're getting from dickenson state university in north dakota is they will not require proof of vaccination for students, but if you want to be exempt from a mask mandate, they will ask for proof. the university's president joins us right now, steven easton. thank you very much for taking the time. can you explain the distinction here? you're not going to demand proof of vaccines, but for wearing a mask or not wearing a mask, you will? just explain that. >> yeah, yeah. thanks for having me, neil. yes, that is our policy. throughout this academic year we have had a requirement of mask use, but we prefer to have individual decision making, and so we have a little bit of a codicil to that at the end of

the school year. what we're telling our students, our faculty and staff, if you want to be relieved of the mask mandate individually, go get the vaccine and then wait the appropriate period, and then the you are no longer subject to that requirement. so it's an attempt to put some incentive behind people getting vaccines. it's a very powerful tool against this, against this pandemic. but it doesn't take all individual decision making out. and that's, you know, we're in north dakota, we're a pretty independent crew out here in north dakota, and we like the individual decision making aspect of this, of this policy we've come up with. neil: how do you address, though, how kids are with covid? do they have to start the school year offering proof that they're testing negative for the virus or what? >> well, so for this school year we have had face-to-face classes

with the exception of the short period between thanksgiving and the christmas break. other than that, we did have face-to-face classes. we did not require negative -- we did not require testing, but we definitely were encouraging testing. through the fall we had some numbers, some spikes, that's what led to our decision to shut down for that short period of time. but now the numbers are much better on our campus. since the first of the year, we haven't had more than three positive cases at any point since january, and we're down to, well, it's usually zero or one. so we've had some great progress. and now we have this, and now we have this tool that we can use, the vaccine, and we're a little ahead of schedule of other states. in north dakota our students as of last monday became eligible for the vaccine. and so we're trying to put this

moteoff, this additional motivation to get the vaccine. but, no, we are not, we are not requiring the vaccine, and we're not requiring negative tests. it's all a balancing. and i think that's the important thing as we try to figure out what the best way to deal with the covid situation is. yes, there are health concerns. they are significant health concerns. there are also educational concerns, there are freedom concerns, and we try to balance it all out, and we get to a point where it can be criticized, our decision, from either direction. but we think it's a reasonable one. neil: all right. we'll watch it very, very closely. you have a beautiful campus. i was just taking a look online, and it looks stunning. steven easton, trying to find that proper balance, as he said, between ordering you to do something and you acting like an adult and doing something. there's a concept there. jacqui heinrich joins us right

now in washington, d.c. on the concept of defining infrastructure for just infrastructure. republicans making the point they're open to it but, mr. president, it better be just infrastructure. but that's the problem, right, jacqui? finding that right balance. >> reporter: yeah. you could i call it a war of words. see what i did there. the gop had real field day with a tweet from senator kim stint gillibrand -- di stint gillibrand which is president biden's definition is a step beyond what even some economists recognize as the deaf the in addition of the world. they're calling that violent to the english language. gillibrand tweeted paid leave is infrastructure, childcare is infrastructure, care giving is infrastructure. mitch mcconnell jokes we're all -- joked we're all infrastructure now stating the plan should be dubbed the trojan horse for tax hikes. they wrote: remember the last bill democrats rammed through congress was sold as covid

relief until it passed and it suddenly became the greatest anti-poverty initiative since lbj or something, and their voting rights bill is a partisan takeover of our entire electoral system. some of the items republicans are saying have no place in the infrastructure bill include $400 billion for home-based area, $35 billion to study climate change, $35 billion to prepare for future pandemics, also investing in manufacturing and job training initiatives that critics say should really be in a jobs bill, not an infrastructure bill. but to the democrats, these things really are all tied together. >> and now is the time for us to have a big, transformative system that is, again, in the keeping with our founders and leaders throughout our country -- history, and that is something that is entrepreneurial. >> reporter: speaker nancy pelosi hearkened back to big generational investments under eisenhower and roosevelt saying

that this investment will promote jobs, security, the health of the nation, all of those things, in a new way. neil? neil: jacqui heinrich, thank you very much. meanwhile, following other developments including what's behind major league baseball's decision to pull out of atlanta for the all-star game. were all the owners in on it? charlie gasparino has some fascinating reporting to prove, no. just one guyment after this. ♪ ♪ ♪♪ you can spend your life in boxing or any other business, but one day, you're gonna take a hit you didn't see coming. and it won't matter what hit you. what matters is you're down. and there's nothing down there with you but the choice that will define you. do you stay down? or. do you find, somewhere deep inside of you,

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♪ neil: all right, welcome back, everyone. you know, a lot of people are still scratching their heads what prompted major league baseball to move so swiftly over that georgia voting law to take the all-star game out of atlanta. charlie gasparino with more. hey, charlie. >> hey, neil. i guess you could say it's a confluence of factors that forced rob manfred, the baseball

commissioner, feels forced him to move the all-star game out of atlanta that was scheduled to be played in july. just work with me here, and i'll tell you what i'm hearing from the mlb side, and i'm also going to give you a statement from saves city abrams, maybe the most -- stacy abrams, maybe the second most powerful person in georgia on this issue. here's what i understand, mlb moved the all-star game out of atlanta after commissioner manfred believed it would be turned into a political event. this is sources close to mr. manfred. political activists such as stacey abrams, lebron james -- the basketball icon who also has a voting rights organization -- are said to have been putting pressure on the league to support various voting right measures. i mean, manfred basically believed if he held the all-star game following this pressure from these activists in atlanta, the game would have been turned into what was supposed to be a celebration of baseball, of hank

aaron, the late, great slugger from atlanta they were supposed to be celebrating into something very political given the ask that taste is city abrams, lebron james were putting on the league. they want the league to support these very political voting rights measures including getting rid of the georgia voting law. what i understand commissioner manfred made the decision without the owners weighing in and voting. he did talk the people beforehand, but from what i understand, he spoke with players, owners, obviously, stacey abrams' organization weighed in with the league, same with lebron james. but his decision was made by himself, from what i understand. the reason why is he wanted to protect the league from political fallout. we do have a statement from stacey abrams' spokesman, she said she never spoke with manfred personally, but she did speak with the league, and here's what she said. in a single one-on-one conversation with the mlb's

senior adviser, she urged the league to keep the all-star game in georgia, she didn't want them to boycott, and to speak out against the law when they do. again, i can tell you that manfred believes that the pressure from her and others was so great that that entire manner would have been -- baseball would have been much more political than it is today, neil. back to you. neil: well, now they've got the reaction to the reaction. so whether they like it or not -- >> that's a whole other story. the fans, from what i understand from the feedback i'm getting, are going nuts. remember, the fans, major league baseball fans are generally more conservative, or republican, older. this is not sitting well with the fan base, and manfred is going to get some heat from them as well. neil: all right. charlie gasparino, we shall see. now to jackie deangelis in this post-pandemic world, we hear how you adjust to that but how voting changes with all of that. what are we looking at here?

>> reporter: hi, neil. as a nation we did adjust to this global pandemic. it was a national crisis to get new the 2020 election. we did it successfully, we did it together. but some of the changes that were made were not meant to be these permanent changes. the states have some legitimate reasons to clarify what their voting rules will be going forward, at least that's the argument coming from the right. now, before 2020 five states actually conducted their elections by mail. every registered voter received a ballot at their registration address. if you wanted to vote in person, you could, but you got that ballot in the mail no matter what, colorado, hawaii, oregon, utah and washington state. because of the pandemic, four more states and washington, d.c. opted to send out ballots ahead of the election automatically to registered voters, and that included the state of new jersey, neil, as well where my family was, and everybody got the ballots in the mail and thought it was very strange. but that's a total of nine states bumping up to mail-in voting. because of the pandemic, 35

states allowed voters to cite coronavirus as a valid reason to cast an absentee ballotment you can see them here on the a map, but the bottom line is there was substantially more mail-in voting which we know could be subject to fraud. it's interesting that there were six states that said, you know, you need another reason other than covid-19 to request an absentee ballot, and those states included texas. texas is one of the ones that is trying to hone in and clarify its law right now. so what we're seeing in this debate with georgia, in the debate with texas, what the administration is calling jim crow 2.0 is that some states want to insure that pandemic rules don't necessarily apply indefinitely to voting in a post-pandemic world. and it's a basic principle, but as you know, we've been discussing it a lot, it's causing lots of outrage. neil: to put it mildly. thank you very much for that, jackie. we're following that. we're also following the

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neil: and if it is the latest electrim hummer suv, it is also expenseoff. grady trimble in michigan with more on a debut that is, well, a bit of a jolt. sir. [laughter] >> reporter: hey, neil. and when this suv hits the road, it'll be one of the first large electric suvs to do so. with a pricing tag of $105,000, you would expect it to have all the bells and whistles, and this one certainly does. a range of 300 miles on a single charge, hands-free driving technology, 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and a really unique feature that i have just learned about called crab walk, that's what general motors is calling it anyway, and that's when all four tires move in the same direction diagonally. the vehicle can essentially move

sideways. one of the issues plaguing the auto industry and many industries right now is a semiconductor shorage. i asked the head of -- shortage. i asked the head of gmc whether that's going to impact the rollout of the hummer everything v. listen. >> clearly, it's having an impact across the whole industry. many industries, in fact. we're navigating through that. we do see that improving in the second half of the year, but as far as hummer's concerned, we'll be making our first deliveries at the end of this year. >> reporter: and fox has confirmed that the ceos of ford and intel will be meeting with president biden on that topic, the semiconductor shortage. by the way, you might have seen this one already, neil. this is the hummer everything v pickup truck -- ev pickup truck. also has a print big price tag too. neil: and people are buying them. all right. grady, thank you very much. lauren -- is here right now.

what do you make of all this? >> well, actually, i was pretty impressed with the hummer suv and the sut which is the sport utility truck. and before this hummer was coming back with the name of the pickup truck. i think they've done a great job. one of the things they made that was unique is the fact that it has that crab crawl, and that's something you're not going to get with any other brand. i know tesla's always saying we've got this, they don't have that. no one has the crab crawl, and i think that's going to be one of the hooks for people that want to go offed road, because that is an issue for those offroaders, not the average person. but it's also going to help gm's stock, and i think that's a big par of it. unique technologies, they've got super cruise on it, and, yeah, it is a bit pricey, but there's a lot of competition in this area. but the biggest problem is not the competition the, and it's not the chips. it's getting people to buy these vehicles. the fact is, it's hard to get people to transition from an internal combustion ebb engine.

neil: you know, many are though, and honestly there must be something to it with so many of the major a automakers from volvo to bmw and others have announced plans to rapidly expand their lines. i think in the case of volvo, in a few years wants to be only electric. but are we rushing too fast here? are there any worries that you have about this. >> >> oh, i have a lot of worries. matter of fact, every time i hear a manufacturer say we're going all electric, i'm thinking, okay. when volvo first said we're going all electric, yes, they're planning on it, but in the meantime we're doing hybrid and offering a luxury line which is really a neat vehicle. you can get the xc-40 reaverage all-electric -- recharge. but why are they offering them? not because people want them. it's about 2% of the sales here in the united states and a little bit more than that in certain countries in europe. and the reason is because the government is saying if you don't increase your corporate

average fuel economy, if you don't comply with electric vehicles, we're going to start taxing you. and that's what the epa is doing. in the past they were buying their carbon credits from tesla which is where he made all his money in order to expand his brand. and you're seeing tax credits being offered, but can you give people enough money to make them buy something they don't want? that we're going to find out. so far it hasn't been that high of a take rate. now you've got every regular brand offering an welcome trick car, sure, there'll be an increase on the road, sure, it'll be an increase in sales. but bottom line, if you're not making a profit, why are they doing it? you can't take a loss and make it up in volume, it's just impossible. neil: i also wonder too about compatibility issues, you know, charging stations that might be fine for tesla vehicles, not fine for volvo, ford or, for all

i know, gm issues. i remember the same time when the battle between vhs and beta tapes, you know, competing standards. [laughter] and i'm wondering whether we have the same when it comes to charging these wantlies in cars. >> we do, actually, and i do remember vhs and beta. but i do remember the fact that we have tesla has their own charging stations and nothing can charge there but a tesla. but all of the rest of the charging stations tesla can charge and sock everyone else, so it's a limitation. the society of automotive engineers prefers to have standardization for convenience of people, for convenience of the infrastructure. so at some point we're going to have to figure out does the government mandate that that's one type of outlet to plug into, that would be nice. but the still, if you're looking at the big thing for consumers is charge time and distance. you can get 300 miles maximum right now. a fuel cell based, remember, battery based on what you're

buying and, remember, more distance, the more cost. and then you've got the charging time. and even if it's super fast, the fastest charging there is, people can charge -- can fill up a gas tank in seven minutes whether it be gas or diesel, but i've got to wait hours and then the wait in line for the next pimp in front of me -- person in front of me to move their vehicle? that is never going to fly across america when half of america doesn't have charging stations. fine on the coastings not in in the middle of the country. neil: i know lauren fix. can you put me to the front of the line. [laughter] lauren fix, thank you very much. all right. the fallout from all of that, we'll have more after this. ♪ ♪ into this chip i invested in invesco qqq a fund that invests in the innovators of the nasdaq 100 like you become an agent of innovation with invesco qqq

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neil: all right. here's charles. hey, charles. charles: hey, neil, thank you very much. good afternoon, everyone. i'm charles payne. this is "making money." breaking right now the s&p inching to new record highs. more money flocking back to the growth names. a lot of things are gnawing at this market. for weeks it was inflation. now the bigger threat is higher taxes promised by the biden administration and higher covid hospitalization. navigating these markets is not easy but i have some of the best to help us. my owed to american exceptionalism. meanwhile president biden releasing major gun control measures after promising $100 billion more in ev rebat