state. which was the last state to be ratified? >> hawaii. stuart: correct. well done, susan li. good charity. got 10 seconds to go, i will tell you this is a rally. the dow is up 180. nasdaq is up 190. how about that? ashley webster in for neil. what are you doing? ashley: thank you for the trivia for "varney & company." maybe i didn't want to know but for the next cocktail party. stu, we appreciate it. all about delaware. welcome to "coast to coast." i'm ashley webster in today for neil cavuto. we have busy two hours ahead as always. the markets start the week at least in the green. the dow up over is 80 points. our top store, crypto cush

currency making a comeback after a wild weekend selloff. the question is the air coming out of the digital currency bubble? we will discuss coming up. then companies battling worker shortages. we talked a lot about this and why one new york city restaurant owner calling this is the biggest staffing crisis in 30 years. and also zeroing in on the origins of covid-19. why a new report from the "wall street journal" is raising new questions about the start of the coronavirus. where did it begin? but first, let us begin with bitcoin. prices rebounding slightly today after seeing its value essentially slashed in half over the weekend with a selloff. so the question is, is the cryptocurrency bubble about to burst? does anyone really know? let's bring in capitalist pig hedge fund manager jonathan hoenig. he is a man in the know. jonathan, look, is it time to throw on the life vests and jump

over board with crypto? >> we talk about volatility, ashley, it is great to see you, but we talk about volatility in bitcoin for a long time. what we're really seeing now is a straight up bear market and you can't underestimate the importance of that. as you said the stock market is up today and bitcoin is rebounding today. bitcoin is almost become the tail that wags the dog. it is very important even as a predictive indicator to risk writ large. the thing with crypto reminds me of being the dot-com of our era. there is a technology there. just as dot-com was a technology, there is a blockchain technology there but what we might see blockchain survives but bitcoin goes down. there are thousands of cryptocurrencies. seems like a couple dozen are born every day. bitcoin has a real axe to hoe here getting back to the highs

of $66,000 a coin. ashley: the treasury department set its sights and we have the u.s. government overall, we have the chinese, also tightening their grip, is that the biggest threat to what is supposed to be a decentralized digital currency? >> when you think about what the use of bitcoin now in terms of actual transfer of payments it is often times at least recently, illicit use. the ransom paid over the pipeline recently was used over cryptocurrency. no question government crack down will play a big importance. simply overvaluation will play a big importance. as i said there is a technology there but the fact that there is so much public interest, i mean profiled on "saturday night live," et cetera, the fact that people like elon musk are having such an outside influence right now, it smells like if you will we're in the more 7th or 8th inning rather than the first when it comes to investing in something like bitcoin.

ashley: do you have any investment in this space, jonathan? >> i tell you, i own, exactly one bitcoin, ashley i enjoyed for the whole ride. it is certainly been the best investment. where people, i ever had in the last certainly recently but where people always go wrong, isn't they make a bad investment but they double down on the way down. i'm not a hater of people really sold on the bitcoin idea but whether it is pets.com or bitcoin or anything else people really hurt themselves if you will by doubling down on the way down. so far at least recently we've seen down and down prices when it comes to crypto as a group writ large. ashley: right. comparing it to the dot-com makes me nervous right off the bat but, jonathan, stay right there, because we're going to shift beers in inflation which i will get your thoughts on. meat eaters getting hit the hardest apparently as grocery bills as we know are soaring. jackie deangelis live in the newsroom with all the details on the meet at thisser prices.

jackie. >> you didn't do that. ashley: i'm sorry. >> listen the price hike they can't come at a worse time. memorial day is around the corner. people are vaccinated. they want to enjoy the summer more than ever this year but if you were grilling you were noticing meat prices are skyrocketing. red meat up 65% from the prepandemic price. chicken up 59%. fruit, milk, prices seeing north increases of 50%. toilet paper up 57%. this is all a product of inflation. it is this little nasty thing that the fed says it watches but doesn't consider food and energy when it calculates its inflation rate. what is the deal with inflation? it happens when central banks print money. essentially there is more money in circulation the value of each dollar goes down. you need more dollars to buy things. it is being exacerbated by the pandemic. think about this the government makes it better for workers to

stay home than go to work with covid benefits? that creates a labor shortage. companies pay more for labor and raw materials. the cost of production goes up. they pass that on to you. that is what you're seeing at the store. finally look at gas prices here. that is another whopper. the national average $3.04, up from 1.96 a year ago. that is increase from 55%. not to mention if you fill up the suv to go somewhere you will feel it there too. ashley: oh, you certainly are. convenient they don't include food and energy prices because they are absolutely killing all of us. jackie, thank you very much. back to jonathan hoenig. jonathan look, inflation fears still very much on investors minds but the fed says don't worry about it, it will tamp down later in the year. do you buy that? >> the fed must be shopping as jackie said, great report,

shopping somewhere else and rest of us are shopping. not just meat are going up, ashley as you said, everything from corn, rice, lump before. the price of a new house increased something like $20,000 in the last year because of rising prices, because of inflation. it is really easy to blame greedy businessman. but as jackie alluded to, 20% of all the circulating u.s. dollars have been printed in just the last year. we know there is no such thing as a free up are, that is exactly what we're seeing. the thing with inflation, ashley, it is a tax that really hurts the poor more than anyone else. they are the ones most impacted by 20 or 30% more for example in food costs. this is a terrible little development. it is caused by governments, not the private sector. ashley: how much pressure, quickly, jonathan will the fed be fund we continue to see these prices go up for them to raise rates? what would that do to the markets. >> what is interesting, stu, the last couple days we saw rates come down. there is no clearplay book how this ends in the market.

we could have theoretically, this isn't a bold prediction, something like japan with ultralow rates for decades. also a very stagnant economy. we're in uncharted territory when it comes to the economy, money printing, stimulus and the rest. investors in my opinion, should keep their guard up. that we know. ashley: how do you do that very quickly, jonathan? we have about 30 seconds. traditionally the old school would buy gold as a hedge against inflation. what's your play? >> commodities i think as an asset class, more than anything, ash, we talk about diversification, look, tesla, in my opinion, tesla, microsoft, cisco and the qqqs that is not diversification because they're all correlated. they all tend to move in the same direction. true diversification is between asset class and with straight up savings, money in the bank. sleep at night type of asset. that is something you can always count on especially when times are good because you know that doesn't last forever. ashley: it doesn't. we could all use more sleep.

that is for sure. jonathan hoenig great stuff as always, jonathan. >> thank you. ashley: now, thank you. story we've been on top of for sometime now. businesses from coast to coast struggling to find employees. vic joins us now. he owns five restaurants in new york and new jersey and he says he has never seen anything like this. vic, thanks for being here. tell us what you've been going through just to get workers through the door. >> ashley, thank you for having me. i've been in business for 30 years, in the restaurant business and i have never seen something quite like this. the federal government is giving people money basically to stay home. they're getting $960, around, $660 plus the 300-dollar bonus to stay home. plus the first $10,400 is not taxable. in our business, we deal with that you know, 50 to 60, 70,000-dollar type employee, and

if you have a choice and federal government is paying you, why not just stay home? i think they need to cut that $300, the additional $300 or focus it. there has to be some other thought because i have never seen anything quite like this. ashley: vic, how many workers short are you and have you tried offering incentives like other businesses, cash rewards, that kind of stuff? >> so we own five restaurants, three in new jersey and two in staten island, one in manhattan. one of our restaurants in staten island we cannot get open because we cannot hire enough employees. we need 50 employees to open. we can't hire any. we've been on every website, culinary agents, craigslist, et cetera, et cetera. i need approximately between new york and new jersey 100 employees. recently we hired five or six. it is really, it's really

unbelievable and politicians don't understand what small businesses are going through. they never, they never owned a business a lot of them. they're lifelong politicians. we need somebody that understands business to get into the act, to help small businesses to, get people back to work. i pray, get people back to work. ashley: well, i hear you because we've heard it so often but there are a number of states, i think 21 and counting who have put in new laws that essentially cut off this extra money that is supposed to run through labor day. and they believe that will get workers back up, out of the house and actually find, looking for work but until that happens i don't see how you can actually fight against free money, vic? >> i feel the same way. we tried signing bonuses, if you work 60 days we give you a bonus. nothing really has worked.

i mean just look at it. $960 tax-free. i have to pay someone 1200 bucks to equal that. who is coming back to work? none of our employees. secondly they have the restaurant revitalization fund t was open at first for minorities, women, i believe veterans for the first three weeks. surely those people need the money too but don't leave out the rest of the restaurant industry. myself, my colleagues. restaurants were decimated. we need the money. they have to replenish that fund. ashley: have you reached out to politicians, either statewide or local and what kind of response have you had? >> you know i'm in the restaurant business, so a lot of the local politicians come to our restaurants. we speak to them often. you know, i think it is kind of a trickle down from the top and you know, people just, people have to fight back. they have to understand that america, the greatest country in the world, was bit on the free

enterprise system where people worked hard. they earned a living and they moved up. this is not the american way. you have to work in america. we're not a handout country. i mean really, what is going on is absolutely, it is impossible to hire employees. anybody looking for work in the restaurant industry we'll train you. come see us. i really need help. ashley: well, we hear your pain, vic. unfortunately a lot of these people making these type of decisions never had to run a business by themselves ever in a lifetime. they don't really understand the work ethic, living the american dream. we wish you the very best. we hope we can check back in with you, hopefully you have better news in the coming weeks and months. >> thank you for having me. ashley: thank you. by the way if you needed more incentive to visit florida right now the governor announcing a sales tax holiday is coming this

summer. how great is that? the chief financial officer of the sunshine state will be here to explain and explain how it actually works after this. ♪. in business, it's never just another day. it's the big sale, or the big presentation. the day where everything goes right. or the one where nothing does. with comcast business you get the network that can deliver gig speeds

to the most businesses and advanced cybersecurity to protect every device on it— all backed by a dedicated team, 24/7. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities. (vo) ideas exist inside you, electrify you. they grow from our imagination, but they can't be held back. they want to be set free. to make the world more responsible, and even more incredible. ideas start the future, just like that. with voltaren arthritis pain gel, my husband's got his moves back. an alternative to pills, voltaren is the first full prescription strength gel, for powerful arthritis pain relief. voltaren. the joy of movement.

>> to celebrate other economic and recreational freedom we enjoy here in the sunshine state, this tax package will include the first of ever freedom week, sales tax holiday on outdoor recreational purchases as well as tickets for events, museums, the arts and more. ashley: florida governor ron desantis touting florida's freedom, introducing a new sales tax holiday. i think there were three separate elements to that. bring in florida chief financial officer jimmy petronis is here. jimmy, thanks for joining us. you have a seven-day sales tax holiday. exactly on what? >> so look, we look at it as an opportunity to get back and enjoy what is so great about being done with covid.

the state of florida, whether these tickets, whether it be outdoor camping apparel or equipment, to news, you name it, those items that enjoy the great outdoors, family and friends, concert tickets, attraction, attraction tickets you name it. ashley: sounds wonderful. we also, i understand, extenting the back to school tax break, that right? >> we do. actually for a full 10 days this year and again, moms and dads, you putting their kids in schools, the supply, everything we included laptops, we became more dependent on our laptops, last year, 2020 than ever before. it is reality we're in now as families changed because learning has changed. work has changed. we even extended it to include laptops. i appreciate the legislature pulling this off. at the end of the day it means good things for florida

families. ashley: as florida's chief financial officer, jimmy, we exodus out of high-taxed blue states and many heading to texas and of course florida, have you seen a huge uptick in population and what does that mean for the state's finances? >> we're seeing a up tick of 900 people a day that move to the state of florida. you think of the beauty of this is, if you have got a couple, let's just talk about the empty nesters from new york, or empty nesters from new jersey, those states are financial train wrecks. they're upside down. they then decide to leave the tax hell that those states are in and move to the state of florida. ultimately they're going to bring their investments, their retirement, wealth, and they're going to move to the state of florida. then they will move to a state with lower taxes but then they will be empty nesters. they will not put kids in our schools. ultimately that provides, it's a

win, win. provides more money to our schools though they're not using services and they're coming in. they're a stable couple. they're a couple that they have done their hard work and enjoying life. now they look to retire in the beautiful sunshine state where we let them keep their money. ashley: yes, that is critical right there. you know what? we were speaking to a restaurant owner, has three restaurants in new jersey, two in new york. and he is over 100 workers short. he can't find workers. is that a problem in the state of florida as well? >> it is in every state. as you have seen states pivoting and how they deal with the unemployment benefits. unemployment benefits is not working with the needs of the labor market right now. so the state of florida will start to see a change starting next week on the 31st. where a lot of those provisions that helped people during the times, when they were tough, those provisions will then

sunset. they will no longer be in place. we will increase the bar what it takes to be eligible for the unemployment benefits. ultimately those folks that don't meet eligibility will have to go back into the workforce, what at the end of the day we need to get our state back moving forward. we need to do exactly what ron desantis has done, lead, get our state back operational. ashley: exactly right. jimmy petronis, chief financial officer of florida, thanks for taking time to chat with us this afternoon. >> thanks so much, ashley. great place to stay and save money from outside the state of florida. take your vacation, you know? ashley: you don't have to convince me. >> remember to come back. come back to save money florida. this is a win-win for her too. ashley: it certainly is, for everybody. jimmy, thank you so much. much appreciated. >> thanks, ashley. ashley: thank you. coming up previously undisclosed

intelligence just out on the possible origins of covid. we'll tell you all about it after the break.

these are the people who work on the front lines. they need a network that's built right. that's why we created verizon frontline. the advanced network and technology for first responders. built on america's most reliable network. built for real interoperability. and built for 5g. it's america's #1 network in public safety. verizon frontline. built right for first responders.

♪. ashley: virgin galactic shares soaring today, up nearly 20% after the company completed its first spaceflight since february of 2019. the company's spacecraft named unity, was carried up to an altitude of 44,000 feet by a carrier aircraft t was released and traveled about 293,000 feet before coming back down. by the way, the plays fight is the company's third to date. that stock though up 19% or

thereabouts. senate republicans meantime calling the white house' trimmed down infrastructure proposal a nonstarter after the president lowered the price tag to $1.7 trillion. hillary vaughn is live on capitol hill. so the question, hillary, is why are republicans turning their noses up? reporter: because they don't like what is included in the package and that includes things they say have nothing to do with infrastructure but just this afternoon white house press secretary jen psaki said the ball is in republicans court to come back with a counteroffer but the time is ticking because president biden marked memorial day as a deadline to try to get a deal done. but the latest offer on the table is stalling talks and senate republicans are hinting that white house staff are to blame for derailing progress saying this after friday's meeting, quote, based on today's meeting the group seems further apart after two meetings with white house staff than they were after one meeting with president

biden. the white house in its counteroffer did agree to cut over half a trillion dollars from the price tag but that is not the problem for senate republicans negotiating the deal. it is not the cost but what the white house says counts as infrastructure like child care. >> the democratic definition seems to include social programs that have never been considered part of core infrastructure. i think we're still pretty far apart but this is the test. reporter: the white house agreed to take out some extras, things for manufacturing and r&d but they will not budge on what they're calling the care economy saying this in their memo because the president is taking off the table for purposes of negotiations a significantgoer for investment you argue is not infrastructure he believes fairness dictate that you consider investments in areas he believes are vital. that impasse is prompting pessimism from progressives

bernie sanders saying they need to go around republicans to pass it. >> i like bipartisan but i don't think we have a seriousness for republican leadership to address major crises, if they're not coming forward we go it alone. reporter: another turn i don't have, tax increases, big business should very to shoulder tax because major corporations take advantage of infrastructure more than anyone else does. ashley. ashley: that is very true. hillary, thank you very much. now to this issue, growing questions over the origins of coronavirus. "the wall street journal" now reporting that 3:00 researchers at the wuhan institute of virology were hospitalized back in november of 2019 with similar symptoms to covid-19 and dr. fauci is also now saying that he is not convinced that coronavirus developed naturally. again flip-flopping. let's bring in "wall street journal" editorial

board member bill mcgurn. bill, it feels like the evidence is becoming harder and harder to deny. what say you? >> yeah. absolutely. you were referring to a "wall street journal" news story reporting on this. we had known before that some members of this lab in wuhan had got sick but the news report from the journal is much more specific. about thee people where they're from. just the odds of all these coincidences happening seems to diminish. a lot of people, every time we find out something we have more questions rather than more resolution. ashley: so how do we get a final answer on this, and will we? we sternly can't rely on the world health organization because we know how much they are influenced by beijing. they pretty much can do only what beijing will allow them to do it feels? >> right. i mean we're supposed to follow the science i'm all for that. but it is very hard to follow

the science. we can't trust china. we know china doesn't tell the truth about some things. they diminish things. we don't know what is going on. worse than that china's influence at w.h.o. means we really can't trust the w.h.o. either. it will take a lot more time and china is going to need to be more transparent and less opaque. it is just that, to give them credibility is very hard to do and alas they have kind of poisoned an international organization we should be able to trust. ashley: well to your point then, we have to rely on the, i guess the truth of beijing and the credibility of w.h.o. and those two things i think are shot. so is there a very good chance we'll never know how this thing actually began? >> i think there is a good chance we won't get a conclusive answer but i do think as we've seen in the last few months two factors, one is, we're learning a lot more of the little details

that come out that tell a story and also with donald trump gone now the scientists seem willing to look where the case leads. i mean so many people just took the opposite position because president trump took one position. so he is no longer a factor. and now just becoming harder and harder to deny these little bits of evidence that suggest the china cover story really doesn't hold up. ashley: then of course i mentioned in your introduction that dr. fauci now believes perhaps it wasn't naturally developed. there was maybe something more sinister behind this, and managed to escape. this is the same doctor who said, don't worry about wearing a mask, wear one mask, wear two masks. kids don't need to be vaccinated. now they need to be vaccinated, the list goes on and on. very quickly it, has become evident that dr. fauci does not have any hard and fast credibility when it comes to

these issues, do you agree? >> i agree. i think it is not just dr. fauci. it's a whole political establishment and some, some of the doctors and so forth. look, in my view there is nothing wrong at the beginning of a disease to not know all its causes, its origins and so forth. to come up with suggestions this is the way we should deal with it. when we learn more we'll revise. instead they handed down these things on masks, on social distancing and so forth as sacred decrease that couldn't be questioned at all without questioning science. and we know, think of all the people that spent all the money on clorox wipes, wiping surfaces we found out it is airborne disease and people are not getting it. nothing wrong in the beginning with doing that. there is no modesty about the limit what is they know. that has really been missing. instead, these things were treated as clubs to beat other people that may have had their

doubts about it. and now of course things are coming out that refute the findings. so i think it is nothing wrong with not getting everybody right in the beginning but not the way they try to shove it down people's throats and just say this is sacred, how dare you question it, which of course is the exact opposite approach of science. ashley: exactly. then they will flim flip-flop on that issue in the end anyway. bill mcgurn, thanks for being with us. appreciate it. good stuff. all right, coming up a swing and a jab? ballparks across the country getting into the vaccine game. we'll take you to the home of the chicago white sox. for more on that story right after this. ♪.

don't like surprises? [ watch vibrates ] proactive notifications from fidelity keep you tuned in all day long. so when something happens that could affect your portfolio, you can act quickly. that's decision tech, only from fidelity. [typing sounds] [music fades in] [voice of female]kly. my husband ben and i opened ben's chili bowl the very same year that we were married. that's 1958. [voice of male] the chili bowl really has never closed in our history. when the pandemic hit, we had to pivot. and it's been really helpful to keep people updated on google. we wouldn't be here without our wonderful customers. we're really thankful for all of them. [female voices soulfully singing “come on in”]

with quality that's guaranteed for life, bath fitter doesn't just fit your bath, it fits your high standards. why have over two million people welcomed bath fitter into their homes? it just fits. call now or visit bathfitter.com

to book your free consultation.

trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' high, you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ breeze drifting on by you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ it's a new dawn... ♪ if you've been taking copd sitting down, it's time to make a stand. start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. take a stand and start a new day with trelegy. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy.

and save at trelegy.com. ♪. ashley: welcome back, everybody. sports stadiums now stepping up to the plate so to speak in the vaccination game. the white sox stadium in chicago now offering vaccinations, why not, catch a game get a shot, starting today. grady trimble is there with the latest. hey, grady. reporter: actually, ash, starting friday you will be able to get a vaccination at two vaccine sites inside of guaranteed rate field where the white sox play. that again starting when the orioles are here taking on the white sox. if you do get your vaccine here you will also get a 25-dollar credit to use for food and beverages around the stadium. which means after getting your vacs you can get some peanuts and crackser jack. this is not the only ballpark getting in on the vaccination game. several across the country are

as well. the mets and yankees are as well. they give you a future game ticket very mucher if you get it there. the nationals did this past weekend at their games at their home ballpark. this directly benefits the stadiums where these ball teams play, the more people vaccinated the more people can go to the games. it comes as the cdc says about the 61% of adults in the united states have gotten at least one shot. and several states are trying to bump up that number even more. they're doing lotteries. you heard it first with ohio coming up with this lottery idea. since then several other states have followed suit from maryland to new york to oregon you can win anywhere from 40,000 and a million dollars. and then businesses are getting in on this too, offering incentives to people to get the vaccine. united airlines just announced today they're giving away 30 pairs of tickets to people who

upload their vaccine cards into the app. those tickets to anywhere in the country. and for two people on any class on the plane. they're also giving five people the opportunity to fly anywhere they want to for a year. so a lot of incentives right now to get vaccinated, ashley. one of the reasons that they're encouraging people to do that is so we get life back to normal. things will look a little bit more normal in the stadium today. at guaranteed rate field where they will be at 60% capacity. not quite full but slowly getting there here in chicago. ashley: that is pretty good. a lot better than 20, 25%. that is great stuff, grady. free airline tickets, free baseball tickets a million bucks? why wouldn't you not get your shot. now this story, attorney generals across the country pressuring education secretary miguel cardona, stop priority

for federal funding for schools that teach the 1619 project, and critical race theory. both very controversial. jacqui heinrich has details from d.c. jackie. reporter: good afternoon to you, ashley. 20 states attorneys general signed on to the letter to education secretary miguel cardona saying taxpayer money cannot be used for projects that characterize the u.s. as irredeemably racist or aszion blame and bias to certain groups because of their race. in response to a proposal that would prioritize federal funds for schools that teach the 1619 project and critical race theory which centers around the premise that the country's found something rooted in racism, systemic racism affects people of color are treated. critics call it a woke revolution, indoctrine nating american children to believe they're inherently racist. they say promoting view of american history does not support a required statute.

the critical race theory and 1619 project, identifying students as oppressors based on race. it runs afoul of bodies crime nation provisions to stop the separatist teaching and guidance attempt to integrate schools through teachers and students. >> the problem is that kids don't need to learn more about critical race theory or about 1619. they need to learn more about basic american history. what the separation of powers is. how the constitutional structure is so unique in human history. a republic was brought here. if we can keep it. it was not a oligarchy, dictatorship a religious institution. reporter: just spoke with indiana's attorney general. he says that the department of education has not responded to this letter yet but he says it is time for states to start looking at legal options.

ashley? >> very good. jackie, so much, appreciate that. controversial story for sure. all right, coming up stunning new images you will only see on fox. dozens of migrants rushing across the southern border right there as the biden administration continues to insist the border is closed. apparently not. we'll be right back. ♪. that building you're trying to sell, - you should ten-x it. - ten-x it? ten-x is the world's largest online commercial real estate exchange. you can close with more certainty. and twice as fast. if i could, i'd ten-x everything. like a coffee run... or fedora shopping.

talk to your broker. ten-x does the same thing, - but with buildings. - so no more waiting. sfx: ding! see how easy...? don't just sell it. ten-x it. in business, it's never just another day. it's the big sale, or the big presentation. the day where everything goes right. or the one where nothing does. with comcast business you get the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses and advanced cybersecurity to protect every device on it— all backed by a dedicated team, 24/7. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities.

we know how much you count on us... ...and that's why we're here 24/7... ...and on the road maintaining a fast and reliable network. we're always working to ensure the internet meets your needs... ...by making access easier for all... ...with comcast lift zones and our internet essentials program. we're invested in making our apps easy... ...to give you personalized assistance around the clock. and we're committed to keeping our team and customers safe by working from home... ...and using precautions in store. see what we're up to at xfinity.com/commitment

>> americans need to wake up to this crisis. the border issue is not on the rio grande valley. it goes you will at way up to new york or minnesota, chicago, places across the country and what the border crisis is doing that biden has opened up, it is enriching the cartels who profit of moving fentanyl and other drugs into the united states. ashley: a warning from texas governor greg abbott that the border crisis is fueling the drug epidemic. and this as our fox drone captured exclusive new video from the border showing around 40 migrants right there, running across a road into the u.s. and away from u.s. border patrol agents near lajya texas.

bill hugin from the rio grande valley in texas. reporter: ashley, this video is remarkable t really shows what our border agents are having to deal with day in, day out in the rio grande valley sector. they're overwhelmed. the video shows it, exclusive from the fox drone crew shot yesterday morning. dozens of migrants running through an open field crossing into the united states, trying to get away from border patrol. not turning themselves in like we've seen with other groups. two of the men are handcuffed together already, suggesting they might have gotten away from custody previously. look at the pickup truck of border patrol trying to desperately to chase the group of migrants down. they're not stopping. they continue going. some running through an open field. some try jumping over a stream and pond. one man gets stuck.

a border patrol agent chases after them. he is completely outnumbered. some end up climbing over a fence. but our cameras saw border agents caught up with part of the group. they sat them down. 15 were in custody a chunk of the group got away. senator john kennedy blasted the biden administration for repeating from the administration that the border is closed. take a listen. >> the department of homeland security has announced the border is closed. they lie like they breathe. i don't mean to be ugly but they lie like they breathe. reporter: it happened again this morning. look at this video our crew shot here in la jolla, a group of migrants running from border patrol crossing into the united states. they ran into a brush area. border patrol saw them. they brought a helicopter in. they personned part of the group down, though appeared some of

them did get away. border patrol was able to pull two men out of brush, taking both men into custody and taking them away. this is ongoing picture of the security concerns undown here. you have groups of migrants come across the border, give themselves up. at the same time groups like what you saw will make a run on the border elsewhere while border patrol resources are busy on the family units. we'll send it back to you. ashley: thank you, bill. remarkable, remarkable video showing what these border patrol agents are going through on a day-to-day basis. bill, thank you very much. let's get reaction from former acting dhs secretary chad wolf on this. chad, thank you for joining us. listen, joe biden initially blamed the trump administration at the same time, rolling back all the immigration rules that the trump administration put in. that's false. he calls this is a normal, seasonal norm i think is the term he gave. that is false as well. and now he says the border is closed. clearly it is not. this administration refuses it

appears to accept the reality of what is going on our southern border. >> well, i believe that's right. the reality is the crisis occurring today is self-imposed, self-inflicted crisis by the biden administration. the policies they pursued over the last four months. we gave them a secure border going back to 2019 and 2020. we put a number of policies in place that made that border secure so images you showed, the cartels and smugglers would be apprehended or returned back to mexico or home countries rather rapidly within hours. today that is a different message being sent. individuals captured, particularly ones that give themselves up, claim asylum will stay here in the u.s., for months and even years before they see a court date. those are two very different messages. two very different policies being pursued. it is also a security issue. as those pictures showed, what we know is that the cartels push

large numbers of migrants across the border to tie up border patrol resources while they then smuggle drugs and other contraband on other parts of the border. it is very dangerous and security issue that the border patrol is overwhelmed at moment with. ashley: they certainly are. chad, what should the biden administration be doing right now? >> well there is a number of things they can do. they can reinstitute what we called the migrant protection protocols we give folks ability to apply for asylum, they wait in mexico or outside of the united states for the immigration court date. it not only speeds up the process and takes out fraud and abuse. when we instituted that program we saw many, many individuals starting to leave the program. they had no intention of waiting in mexico for their immigration court date. they had no desire to wait for that court date. they simply wanted to be inside of the united states again for months and years to come. they can also reinstitute construction of the border wall

system. they can do a number of things we had in place on january the 19th, keeping this border safe and secure, keeping law enforcement, men and women of border patrol safe for covid. they have torn all of those down. they have not replaced them with anything resembling enforcement of our immigration laws. ashley: what i find really strange, chad, there were predictions of this when he made his campaign promises, joe biden, what he was going to do, predictions for this surge were you know, they came out months ago. so why has this caught the administration so much by surprise? i don't understand. >> well it is not only that, we briefed the incoming biden administration during the transition period. so into december, certainly into january. we gave them all the information that they needed that border patrol would be overwhelmed. that hhs facilities would be overwhelmed. they would have large numbers

that were seen today of both minors and family units. they knew exactly what was being predicted if they chose these policies. but i think the answer to your question is, this is what they intend. in is the type of policies that they intend to do, to draw these individual in, to bring them into the united states and right now they are simply trying to process these individuals as fast as humanly possible. instead of addressing the illegal behavior, the illegal activity that is occurring at that border, all they're trying to do is facilitate the process, to get the folks moving through facilities quicker. ashley: i shake my head in despair. chad wolf, thanks so much for joining us, chad. we do appreciate it. >> thank you. ashley: coming up crypto currencies edging higher after wild swings over the weekend but is the crypto air coming out of the bubble?fi we'll discuss it when we come back. a fund that invests in the innovators of the nasdaq-100

like you become an agent of innovation with invesco qqq if you have risk factors like hea ... ♪ vascepa, when added to your statin,... ...is clinically proven to provide 25% lower risk from heart attack and stroke. vascepa is clearly different. first and only fda approved. celebrate less risk. even for those with family history. ♪ don't take vascepa if you are... ...or become allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. serious side effects may occur like heart rhythm problems and bleeding. heart rhythm problems may occur in more people... ...with persistent cardiovascular risk or who have had them in the past. tell your doctor if you experience an irregular heartbeat or other heart rhythm problems. possible side effects include muscle and joint pain. celebrate less risk. added cardio protection.

talk to your doctor about adding protection with vascepa. i really hope that this vaccine can get me one step closer to him. to a huge wedding. to give high fives to our patients. to hug my students. with every vaccine, cvs is working to bring you one step closer to a better tomorrow.

discomfort back there? instead of using aloe, with every vaccine, cvs is working to bring you or baby wipes, or powders, try the cooling, soothing relief or preparation h. because your derriere deserves expert care. preparation h. get comfortable with it. ♪ ♪ with cutting-edge tech, world-class interiors, and peerless design... their only competition is each other. the incomparable mercedes-benz suvs. extraordinary runs in the family.

lease the glb 250 suv for just $429 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. ashley: welcome back, everybody to "coast to coast" i'm ashley webster in today for neil cavuto , a jam packed hour of news for you, straight ahead, starting in washington, president biden's pitch to essentially soak the rich running into some resistance, experts warning the president's latest plan will hurt middle class homeowners. we'll tell you why.

plus, electric car company fiske r is working on an electric car for the pope right there. i'll talk to the company's ceo himself, plus, the coronavirus ladd leak theory gaining steam as the wall street journal reports wuhan lab workers were hospitalized in late 2019 with covid symptoms, are we any closer to finding out the origin s of covid-19? we'll bring you the very latest. but first, let's get into crypto its been a wild ride recently for bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. so the question is, could the air be coming out of the crypto bubble or are they going to continue this wild ride while moving higher. susan li, the expert in this field, is here to break it all down for us, susan. what do you got? >> so, $600 billion being wiped out of the cryptocurrency space over the past week. now what goes up has to come down, and you saw that yesterday on sunday, with bitcoin closely breaching 30,000, the lowest

level that we seen since january this year, ethererum was sub- $2,000 and even dogecoin fell to $0.26 and now the problem is that there are fears over government regulation whether it's here in the sucks, we heard from the federal reserve official or over in china, and there were concerns maybe they were doubling down on their crackdown when it comes to crypto trading and crypto mining now, we should point out that maybe a shakeout isn't a bad thing for the markets. you heard mark cuban weighing in on this and he's saying that this is the great unwind when it comes to cryptocurrency and that's because cryptocurrency has been traders borrowing ether and using the e ther borrowing stable coin and using that asset as their margin pairings on to other assets so it's margin-upon- margin and when that unwinds especially when the prices comes down in a hurry that cascades very quickly. we also heard from barry silber, a very influential crypto trader and he says lots of crypto traders just became long term

investors, and this is healthy. a lot of people believe that, because at the end of the day, if it's a speculators being shaken out of this market that are being forced to sell with prices coming down quickly, it's a long term holder that will stay in the game which is usually a good thing for asset classes. now, the wall street journal says if you're going to point to be person that's really been impacting driving cryptocurrency over the past 12 months, i don't have to tell you who it is they say it's elon musk and he really took the air out of the cryptocurrency markets with his tweet saying he's not going to accept bitcoin for his tesla cars because of environmental concerns and that's when you saw the down slide in bitcoin at 36 5,000 then, now we're trieding at about $37,000; however, i would say that day in day out we watch for what elon musk tweets and says about bitcoin or dogecoin, which has become his favorite crypto of choice. he had this to say. this was an interesting trash talk back and forth with the co- founder and founder of ethererum which is the second largest cryptocurrency in the world and he says doge is

better than the dollar and also in another tweet, fiat versus crypto, he says he would choose crypto over that so we'll see but it's a social media world. ashley: it certainly is, and one tweet can make a big difference. susan li, thank you so much, susan appreciate it. so, the air is coming out of crypto, spacs, nft's as all of that good news for stocks, do money to back into the markets in that fashion, reaction now from etf president shawn o'hara and danielle, let me begin with you. i mean, it makes me nervous that one person, elon musk, has a good day or a bad day and he tweets something about a cryptocurrency, it can have a huge impact. yes, we know it's volatile, but i don't know if i like an investment that is so reliant on one persons or a couple of people's tweets, what say you?

>> you know, i think that that is very problematic, and the wall street journal actually had a very good story that came out yesterday, that said, you know, in the past investors looked up to individuals such as peter lynch during the 1980s because he was able to choose investments that went up on fundamental based on their fundamentals. we have elon musk who, you know, as far as i can tell, one person is just swinging around an asset class, agreed to be $2 trillion in size just because of the personality cult that's followed him, the backlash has been equally severe, again on social media, but it does go to show you that there is a lack of fundamentals driving a lot of the upside that we saw up to $65,000 in bitcoin, and again, if one person can legitimize it, the question is, can that same person delegitimize it and other companies say, you know, if bitcoin is not good for tesla, maybe i'm qcfo and i say maybe

it's not good for my company either and you start to get away from this that the market has really grabbed on to these last few months. ashley: and one of the big attractions of the crypto crowd is the lack of government intervention, decentralized system, but we've heard from treasury and other u.s. officials and now china, they're all wanting to tighten the restrictions to try and fight back against the money launderers and the scam artists. what's your thought on this particular investment space is it good to see a sell-off, create a more solid long term investment base if you like? >> yeah, hi, ashley. thanks for having me on. ashley: hi. >> i do own a little crypto. it's not a big part of what my overall portfolio is. i think the same bad actor is driving crypto is driving stock prices and that's the central banks around the world printing money. it makes fixed income un attractive so we have to find some place to put our money and that's driving the stock market

inner and in hopes of a recovery and i review the crypto places as supply and demand. there will be more money going into cryptos especially as they become more legitimate, especially as institutions come in, if we ever get an etf in the united states a lot of money will flow into that as well so i think you sort of have to be like a long term investor with this and you have to be willing to stomach some of the excessive volatility that goes with crypto in the short run. so i think we're living through that right now, but it seems to have bottomed and is moving the right direction, but over the long run, it's being viewed, i think, as a way to counteract the potential damaging effect of all these dollars oral this fiat currency that's been printed around the world, and at the end of the day, if that's what you're worried about you might be willing to accept a little regulation or a little interference from the regulators in order to get what you really want which is something that will be more stable or go up in value as opposed to watching your dollars go down in value. ashley: interesting.

all right, i'll get your thoughts on this. we're going to talk about democrat michigan governor gretchen whitmer apologizing for apparently violating her own social distancing guidelines at a bar. a new-deleted photo of course it is, posted on social media, reportedly showing the governor sitting with about a dozen people at several tables pushed together. whitmer says she and everyone she was with was vaccinated, but admitted, she "made a mistake" watch this. >> an honest mistake and i have apologized for it. i think that we have specifically not gone forward and penalized businesses that are trying to do the right thing it's those that have put people 's safety at risk that are the most concerning. ashley: all right, shawn, i'll go to you first on this. another example i think gavin newsom of course but there have been others of do as i say, not

as i do, right? >> yeah, i mean, it's rules for they but not for me and these leaders are undermining what could be the progress long term here. i think the general public is getting weary of this and we're getting weary of the lockdowns we're getting weary of wearing the masks especially as more and more of us get vaccinated, and so it's now time for them to stop making these mistakes, stop stubbing their toes with these horrible events and get more consistent with the message. if you're vaccinated, somebody should come out and say there's probably no real reason why you should continue to wear your mask, much like rand paul, when he was in that testimony the other day with dr. fauci. i think the general public would like to see more of that and less of you have to continue to act the way we have because we say so, but then watch these leaders violate their own rules which they say they are good for society. ashley: you know, i just can't fathom it, danielle. you know, these politicians, whitmer in particular, whose been very strict on covid rules

and keeping businesses shutdown, goes out and does something like this , knowing in this era of social media, someone somewhere is going to take a picture. they tried to quickly delete it but it was too late. not only is it frustrating but for us, in the public, it is just galling, is it not? >> well, there is a certain amount of hypocrisy going on here, from what i understand, the one group arrived and then more arrived and more arrived and they were all vaccinated but again, michigan was one of the hardest-hit states, most recently we saw case counts and fatalities rise in michigan. that's why there were more onerous regulations, and you know, i've studied journalism in my life, i have a degree in it. if you're a public figure, then you're always going to be, even pre-social media you're always going to be open for criticism and for scrutiny and we all know from my teenagers all the way to the governor of michigan we all know that somebody somewhere is

always apt to be taking a photograph and it can go viral at any minute so she was able to count around the table and she should have stepped back and said i need to be a group of six as my own regulations require. ashley: but she didn't it raise it, danielle, good stuff, thank you. getting into this issue now, vaccination or termination. the health systems joining a growing list of companies that mandate their employees get vaccinated. lydia hu is in plainsboro township, new jersey for us. lidia, what other companies are now requiring the jab? >> hi there, ashley. some of the other companies on this list include recognizable names like delta. you know, the ceo of university of pennsylvania health systems said the system needed to take the lead and set an example when it comes to mandating their employees to get the vaccine. here is a look at the list we've compiled for you that includes at least also broad way production hamilton, all of

their employees must get the shot, houston methodist hospital requiring all 26,000 of their employees and other health systems as all employees at the supervisor level or higher have to get the vaccine with the expectation it will expand to all employees here shortly. now, lawyers say that these types of mandates are very likely to be enforceable, especially in a healthcare system but one lawyer tells me that even if companies are not mandating the vaccine, they can still ask whether an employee has gotten the shot. watch this. >> in either case the employer has the right to request proof. even if the employer doesn't require the vaccine, but they want to monitor whose been vaccinated and who hasn't even there an employer can ask, have you been vaccinated. reporter: now any type of mandate for a vaccine must allow an exception for a religious or a health reason, but it really is a balancing act here for

companies, because even if they are on firm legal ground, they're not insulated from being sued. they could still be sued from groups of people that have concerns about privacy and over reach or discrimination in how these policies are carried out, so that's why you see some experts are saying yeah, mandates might be legally permissible but the better approach is to encourage these vaccinations with small incentive programs or education campaigns, but what this really means for employees that work at a company that is issuing a mandate is that if they don't comply, they could be denied access to their work space and ultimately they could be terminated, ashley. ashley: all right, interesting stuff. lidia, thank you very much. i also want to thank danielle and shawn for their discussions earlier. i rudely forgot to do that and i want to makeup for that. thank you, all. this is an interesting story. the pope is going electric. fisker ceo shows off plans for

the new pope-mobile. oh, yes, after this. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

these are the people who work on the front lines. they need a network that's built right. that's why we created verizon frontline. the advanced network and technology for first responders. built on america's most reliable network. built for real interoperability. and built for 5g. it's america's #1 network in public safety. verizon frontline. built right for first responders.

♪ ♪ look, if your wireless carrier was a guy you'd leave him tomorrow. not very flexible. not great at saving. you deserve better... xfinity mobile. now they have unlimited for just $30 a month... $30. and they're number one in customer satisfaction. his number... delete it. i'm deleting it. so, break free from the big three. xfinity internet customers, switch to xfinity mobile and get unlimited with 5g included for $30 on the nations fastest, most reliable network. look...if your wireless carrier was a guy, you'd leave him tomorrow. not very flexible. not great at saving. you deserve better - xfinity mobile. now, they have unlimited for just $30 a month. $30 dollars. and they're number 1 in customer satisfaction. his number? delete it. deleting it. so break free from the big three. xfinity internet customers, take the savings challenge at xfinitymobile.com/mysavings or visit an xfinity store to learn how our switch squad makes it easy

to switch and save hundreds. ashley: electric car maker fisker going a different route than elon musk and tesla. it says it will not accept or invest in bitcoin, and guess what? ceo henrick fisker himself is to talk about it. good morning to you, henrick. why no cryptocurrency? what was the reasoning behind that? >> well you know, we have an internal esg team and they looked into it in detail, and as it turns out, specifically bitcoin right now is using, you know, giant warehouses which use a ton of electricity to mine bitcoin and as we also know, more than 60% of that work is done in china, was mainly power ed by coal, and actually, the amount of electricity used every year is on the same level of argentina as a country, so

it's clearly not a sustainable currency; however, that said, if there's another digital currency in the future we're totally open to it but its got to be sustainable. ashley: very good. i understand. let's talk about your vehicle, the suv, the ocean, coming out i believe next year. will probably go up against tesla's model y. my question to you is why is it better than the tesla? >> well first of all, we have put a lot of effort on sustainability that goes beyond making electric. we actually have a giant solar roof which helps get clean power to the vehicle we're using, a lot of sustainable and recycled materials inside the vehicle. for example, all the cars are made of recycled plastic bottles from the ocean and then finally, we also, it's going to have some really new technology that nobody else has ever seen before , i think it's going to be state-of-the-art, unbelievable feature, i saw a lot of new technology as well as a battery

with extreme high efficiency that will give our top of the range vehicle a class- leading range up to about 350-mile range, and that is at least currently class-leading so i think there are quite a lot of features and on top of that it starts at $37, 500 and i think there is no other suv out there that starts at that price with the type of things that we offer ashley: that's very reasonable, and i also noted you're offering a lease, which is also, you know , that could be an attractive option for potential people who want to try it out. i also have to ask you, switch ing gears here, so to speak, fisker working on an electric pope-mobile, how on earth did that all come about? well you know, we had a mutual acquaintace and a friend of mine , which is working with the vatican on children's education as well as sustainability and he told me that the pope was very much into sustainability, and he thought he be very interested in

driving the world's most sustainable car, so he setup the meeting, and we met in the vatican and it was an amazing experience. i explained the vehicle, he seemed very excited about it and we're going to deliver the vehicle next year. in october it's going to be based on the fisker ocean the way you can buy it but of course it will have a few special features in it which is going to be unique to this vehicle for the pope. ashley: and the advertising doesn't hurt either, right? >> its been quite good. we've seen a little up-tick in the reservations, but you know, i think that it's really something where i felt that if anybody can promote sustainability and get all over the world is the pope, and i think that's probably one of the things that really felt was the main thing here is to get the word out that you can actually buy and drive a sustainable vehicle. ashley: very quickly, henrik. i wanted to ask you about this. do you have any concerns about how companies like ford and vw are essentially flooding

the market with ev's. does that worry you at all? >> no, not really. i think that we have a very unique segment with our vehicle. we are coming with some new technology, and you no one of the unique things is that we're able to introduce our technology less than two years before production, so if you buy an electric vehicle today, usually that technology is already four or five years old, so when you buy a fisker, you will have the newest technology available, because of our quick development process, and i think we have a lot to offer, and you will see that in november at the los angeles auto show when we show the final production. ashley: can't wait for that, very attractive design by the way. terrific stuff. henrik fisker, ceo and founder of fisker. thank you so much for coming on and best of luck for the future. >> thank you. ashley: thank you very much. all right, coming up, joe concha , always entertaining on his thoughts and he talks about why democrats remain fully focused on forming a january 6

commission. why, but they also refused to investigate the origins of the pandemic. joe will get into that, after this. >> ♪ and i will be, i will be for you, i will wait for you ♪ (vo) while you may not be running an architectural firm, tending hives of honeybees, and mentoring a teenager — your life is just as unique. your raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your passions, and the way you help others. so you can live your life. that's life well planned.

in business, it's never just another day. it's the big sale, or the big presentation. the day where everything goes right. or the one where nothing does. with comcast business you get the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses and advanced cybersecurity to protect every device on it— all backed by a dedicated team, 24/7. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities.

i knew about the tremors. but when i started seeing things, i didn't know what was happening. so i kept it in. he started believing things that weren't true. i knew something was wrong, but i didn't say a word. during the course of their disease around 50% of people with parkinson's may experience hallucinations or delusions. but now, doctors are prescribing nuplazid. the only fda approved medicine proven to significantly reduce hallucinations and delusions related to parkinson's. don't take nuplazid if you are allergic to its ingredients. nuplazid can increase the risk of death in elderly people with dementia related psychosis.

and is not for treating symptoms unrelated to parkinson's disease. nuplazid can cause changes in heart rhythm and should not be taken if you have certain abnormal heart rhythms or take other drugs that are known to cause changes in heart rhythm. tell your doctor about any changes in medicines you're taking. the most common side effects are swelling of the arms and legs and confusion. we spoke up and it made all the difference. ask your healthcare provider about nuplazid. ♪ when i was young ♪ no-no-no-no-no please please no. ♪ i never needed anyone. ♪ front desk. yes, hello... i'm so... please hold. ♪ those days are done. ♪ i got you. ♪ all by yourself. ♪ go with us and find millions of flexible options. all in our app. expedia. it matters who you travel with. ♪ ♪ we made usaa insurance for veterans like martin. when a hailstorm hit,

he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa >> at what point does president biden say we don't want to wait for the w. h. o. we don't know what they're doing this needs to be an american-led effort to get to the bottom of what happened. >> well first of all we need access to the underlying data and information in order to have that investigation. >> but he talks all the time about how he's known president xi for a long time, so why can't he just call? >> and we need them, i think you're misunderstanding how this process actually works. an international investigation led by the world health organization is something that

we've actually been pressing for for several months. ashley: all right, that was white house press secretary right there, getting pressed by fox's peter doocy on why the u.s. has not taken more of a lead in finding out the origins of covid-19. well this , of course, after a new report says at least three workers at the wuhan lab became sick as early as november of 2019. our fox news correspondent rich edson live at the state department with the very latest on this issue. rich? reporter: good afternoon, ashley and part of that report says those three researchers were so sick, that they needed to go to the hospital in november of 2019 that's according to the wall street journal, and this is on top of information that the state department released back in january that revealed that the u.s. government, according to that report, to believe that several researchers at that lab had become sick in the autumn of 2019. there's also a former state department official telling fox

news that the u.s. had learned from contacts in other governments that scientists in the wuhan lab were researching coronavirus had fallen ill around that time. china's government disputes that though there are growing calls among international scientists to at least investigate whether covid-19 began in a lab. >> are you still confident that it developed naturally? >> no, actually, no i'm not convinced about that. i think that we should continue to investigate what went on in china, until we find out to the best of our ability exactly what happened. reporter: earlier this year, the world health organization team visited china. its report claimed the virus most likely spread from bats to another animal and then humans. they noted the lab leak was extremely unlikely, though scientists say china's government is withholding records and biological samples and the w. h. o. director general even says that scientists should continue to

study whether the virus leaked from a lab. the state department has called for another investigation, though it is still unclear how the biden administration could compel it. back to you, ashley. ashley: yeah, good point. all right, rich, thank you very much. let's get reaction now from hill media columnist and fox news contributor joe concha. joe, what do you make of all of this? >> i look at the president's words and that of the press secretary in jen psaki where they say we've been pressing for this for sometime. can anybody point to a speech that the president made in his first 115 days wherever we're at right now that talks about the urgency of getting to the bottom of where this coronavirus came from that's killed nearly 550,000 americans. i would think that be a major priority, and look, i'm old enough to remember senator tom cotton talking about as early as february of 2020 how he believed that this came from a lab that being covid, and he was labeled as a conspiracy theorist

i have the headlines for you in case we forgot. tom cotton keeps repeating coronavirus conspiracy theory that has already been debunked declared the washington post. why coronavirus conspiracy theories flourish and why it matters explained the new york times so that 58 6,000, thanks for correcting me on that. so, that's where we're at at this point, where we need to get to the bottom of this and the question is, ashley, why was the u.s. media so embracing of what the chinese were saying in terms of where this came from? so we're believing a foreign adversary over say a u.s. senator is called a conspiracy theorist and will these folks apologize because we still don't know exactly where it came from but more and more evidence is going in that direction. i would think the u.s. media be a little bit more interested now in digging into this , but it doesn't seem to be at the top of the priority list. let's put it that way ashley. ashley: i know and then joe, you have jen psaki there saying well , we're waiting for the world health organization to lead a worldwide investigation. how much credibility does the w. h. o. have?

>> after a year and i guess 15 months now in this pandemic, not very much, right? and that's all organizations involved with coronavirus. the cdc was pulling somewhere in the 80s in terms of favorability according to 538 last year at this time. now, only 52% of americans have a great deal of confidence in the cdc so whether it's the cdc, whether it's the w. h. o., whatever acronym you want to throw out no one has done a good job in terms of communication and understanding exactly what happened and what's going to happen next. ashley: all right, we'll put that to bed for now, another subject for you, joe. netflix ceo reed hastings apparently donating $3 million to fight california governor gavin newsom's recall. are you shocked or perhaps you're not surprised. >> well, when we look at big tech big media entertainment, almost all large donations go towards the democrat over the republican and it could be 3 million in this case because it's a valid initiative and not

a campaign contribution but look , netflix, no surprise. this is the same company last year green-lighted a series called "cuties" which sexualized 11-year-old girls. this is the same company that gave a multiyear contract to the obamas so it's the classic swamp , right? the powerful from entity x whether it's big tech entertainment, you pick the industry, then gives money to the powerful to keep them in power so they also have power and that's something that it's going to continue, unfortunately because that's just the way the playing field is right now, ashley. ashley: it doesn't make sense though, does it, joe, because here is a governor who of course has been caught violating his own covid restrictions. you have a state that is hemorrhaging people who can't stand the regulation, the shutdown mentality, the sky high taxes, and yet, here is a person, you know, running a very very successful streaming company who says yup, i'm going to give $3 million to the guy that's behind all of this. it makes no sense. >> more than 63,000 covid deaths in california that's the

highest in the country, and it's more than new york, which has 52000, both of those states have democratic governors, it should be pointed out but yeah, i mean, this is how california is run, because you have all these companies that are based there, or like to donate to politicians there and that's why newsom stays in power and why you have leaders like pelosi and wallwell and only feinstein on the senate side and it's a primarily blue state but more republicans are winning so perhaps people are getting fed up in terms of performance that we're seeing from california's leaders, ashley. ashley: one more, joe, very quickly want to get a three-for- one special here. we've been talking a lot about the border. we have exclusive video of, i mean, just, you know, huge crowds of migrants running across the border on to the road , into the united states, and yet the administration continues to say the border is closed, and nothing to see here, folks, just walk along. it is absolutely, i just cannot

get my head around it that this administration is doing nothing while we show proof everyday that it's chaos on the border. >> yeah, the biden administration says that it is under control. the president himself, says that things are getting under control yet in april, we saw the highest numbers we've seen in 20 years, so pictures tell the story here, but the biden administration, as i started in the beginning, it's not about words. it's about deeds, and the vice president, it was put in charge of this situation, more than 60 days ago, has yet to hold a press conference about this and don't tell me that vice presidents don't told press conferences because mike pence held one every day, at a very difficult time taking very difficult questions just last year, kamala harris, however, believes she's above all that including our media, ashley. ashley: it's just, you know, [laughter] at some point someone has to say do you know what? you're right. it's a mess down there. we're going to have to do something why don't we try a,b, or c, but we just continue to get stonewalled by an

administration who, if anything, continues to blame the trump adminitration for creating the chaos, which is absolutely ridiculous anyway, it's part of our wacky world that we live in, joe concha and as always, you always have some very measured responses to all of this and we appreciate it, joe. >> thank, ashley. good to see you. ashley: good to see you too. all right, and a nice wave it was almost royal. new york city seeing another weekend of gun violence, nothing funny there, 27 people were shot over the weekend alone. that is absolutely dreadful. fox news correspondent is here now, with all of the horrible details. reporter: hey, ashley. good afternoon to you. you know, last summer, new york city defunded the police, and this summer, it appears all eyes are on limiting what police officers can do and some experts are warning, the timing couldn't be worse for this. take a look at these numbers, ashley. just horrifying here.

this weekend, 22 shootings across the city injured at least 27 people, including a manhattan federal prosecutor. she was hit by a stray bullet in the face while eating out at a t hai restaurant on friday. shootings year-to-date in the city are up 81% but to give you some context, ashley it's not just shootings. new york city's overall crime index for april was 30% higher than last april. in fact, shootings, murders and burglaries are even worse now than they were in april of 2019. now, even with all of this in mind, new york attorney general leticia james is pushing the police accountability act. that is sweeping legislation, that would limit police officers discretion, and their ability to use excessive or deadly force, while making it much easier to prosecute those officers who do. >> this is yet another example of the scorched earth warfare against law enforcement the rule of law. what will happen now is offices

will be further paralyzed, more reactive than proactive, there will be hesitant and they will be fearful. reporter: and ashley, the police union has also spoken out about this , and they say bottom line, new yorkers are going to be the ones that get hurt the most. ashley? ashley: yeah, they certainly are it just makes no sense at all. thank you so much appreciate it for that sobering update i guess we'll call it from new york city all right, coming up new signs that president biden's tax plan will make home buying, guess what, a lot more expensive. we're going to bring you the details after the break. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ there's interest you accrue,

and interests you pursue. plans for the long term, and plans for a long weekend. assets you allocate, and ones you hold tight. at thrivent, we believe money is a tool, not a goal. and with the right guidance, you can get the financial clarity you need, and live a life rich in meaning, and gratitude. to learn more, text thrive to 444555, or visit thrivent.com. [typing sounds] [music fades in] [voice of female] my husband ben and i opened ben's chili bowl

the very same year that we were married. that's 1958. [voice of male] the chili bowl really has never closed in our history. when the pandemic hit, we had to pivot. and it's been really helpful to keep people updated on google. we wouldn't be here without our wonderful customers. we're really thankful for all of them. [female voices soulfully singing “come on in”] municipal bonds don't usually get the media coverage the stock market does. in fact, most people don't find them all that exciting. but, if you're looking for the potential for consistent income that's federally tax-free, now is an excellent time to consider municipal bonds from hennion & walsh. if you have at least 10,000 dollars to invest, call and talk with one of our bond specialists at 1-800-763-2763. we'll send you our exclusive bond guide, free. with details about how bonds can be an important part of your portfolio. hennion & walsh has specialized

in fixed income and growth solutions for 30 years, and offers high-quality municipal bonds from across the country. they provide the potential for regular income...are federally tax-free... and have historically low risk. call today to request your free bond guide. 1-800-763-2763. that's 1-800-763-2763 trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' high you know how i feel ♪ ♪ breeze drifting on by you know how i feel ♪ [man: coughing] ♪ it's a new dawn, it's a new day... ♪ no matter how you got copd it's time to make a stand. ♪ ...and i'm feelin' good ♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups.

trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. it's time to start a new day. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. and save at trelegy.com. [ crowd cheering ] [ engine revving ] [ race light countdown ] ♪♪ ♪♪ when you save money with allstate you feel like you're winning. safe drivers save 40% saving is easy when you're in good hands. allstate. click or call for a quote today.

>> here it is. biggest moment of the legendary career, phil defeats! ashley: watch that all day, yesterday. fantastic stuff. phil mickelson making history as the oldest golfer to win a pga major and if you watched it, you saw crowds racing to the 18th hole behind mickelson as he approached to witness the historic feet. no social distancing, no masks, mickelson himself called it a little unnerving, but certainly, the latest sign of things returning to normal in the sports world, really a remarkable performance and achievement by phil mickelson, great stuff. meanwhile president biden, yeah, he says it's time for corporations and the richest americans to pay their fair share of taxes. that's a familiar theme, but there are new signs that his tax planning could make home buying a lot more expensive for the middle class.

that's not good news. edward lawrence is live in washington d.c. with the very latest on this story. reporter: yeah, ashley. there's a ton of pushback on the tax changes and the americans families plan so just take your pick and today as you said i was digging deeper into the impact on real estate. president biden wants to eliminate the 1031 exchanges and that's where property can be transferred and capital gains tax can be deferred now he wants to increase the capital gains tax to 39.6% that's before any state add-on. he also wants to eliminate the stepped-up and basis on inherited property, so right now , that allows relatives to pass on in some cases a lifetime investment to help their kid succeed. so the president, joe biden, says that this is all targeted, as you said at the wealthiest of americans so they pay their fair share however chris whalen says this would impact a farm, for example, that's been in a family for generations, the capital gains when the parents die could force a sale, or if someone has

a 10-unit apartment building in a small town and everything the family has goes into that building, to pass it on could be too much in taxes for their heir s. >> our whole priority when it comes to real estate and income and equality are wrong. we should be helping people live better and instead we're going to subsidize the status quo and attack the economy the worst which is single family home, small businesses, farms, you know, that sort of thing. reporter: and in fact, a recent letter to the treasury secretary targeted the proposed exchange of property changes that they want to make, 31 groups signed on to that letter including the american farm bureau federation, mortgage bankers association, even the national association of black hotel owner s, operators and developers they want the administration to take another look at the impact of the tax changes on real estate and the long term inflation that it could bring because the cost of those taxes be passed on in any sales price

increasing the cost of the land to the next folks. back to you. ashley: yeah, it's always the middle class or the wealthy always get smacked for more but it's the middle class too that always end up apparently seeming to take a hit as well. edward thank you, good stuff. coming up, texas could soon become the biggest state to ban critical race theory in schools. we'll have more details on that, right after the break. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ that building you're trying to buy, - you should ten-x it. - ten-x it? ten-x is the world's largest online

commercial real estate exchange. you see it. you want it. you ten-x it. it's that fast. if i could, i'd ten-x everything. like... uh... these salads. or these sandwiches... ten-x does the same thing, but with buildings. sweet. oh no, he wasn't... oh, actually... that looks pretty good. see it. want it. ten-x it. yum!

in business, it's never just another day. it's the big sale, or the big presentation. the day where everything goes right. or the one where nothing does. with comcast business you get the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses and advanced cybersecurity to protect every device on it— all backed by a dedicated team, 24/7. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities. look...if your wireless carrier was a guy, you'd leave him tomorrow. not very flexible. not great at saving. you deserve better - xfinity mobile.

now, they have unlimited for just $30 a month. $30 dollars. and they're number 1 in customer satisfaction. his number? delete it. deleting it. so break free from the big three. xfinity internet customers, take the savings challenge at xfinitymobile.com/mysavings or visit an xfinity store to learn how our switch squad makes it easy to switch and save hundreds. wanna help kids get their homework done? well, an internet connection's a good start. but kids also need computers. and sometimes the hardest thing about homework is finding a place to do it.

so why not hook community centers up with wifi? for kids like us, and all the amazing things we're gonna learn. over the next 10 years, comcast is committing $1 billion to reach 50 million low-income americans with the tools and resources they need to be ready for anything. i hope you're ready. 'cause we are. ashley: texas could soon become the biggest state to ban critical race theory in schools. the state senate there passing a bill that would make the controversial curriculum illegal. meantime, joining me now, is jason rantz, host of the jason r antz show on ktth in seattle, jason great to see you. you're reporting critical race theory already mandated in the state of washington and has already begun, right? >> absolutely, so governor jay

insley just signed into law a trio of bills basically saying that crt training sessions have to be a part of every single public school staff member, and of course, the end result of this is to get in front of the kids ultimately, but once you take a look at what's going on in districts all across the state of washington, frankly all across the country, you're already seeing a lot of this training, just for example, the highline public school district just south of seattle and i'm intentionally focusing a lot of what i've been doing on things outside of seattle to tell you that it's spreading this nonsense. they are teaching the staff members only white people can be racist, slavery was never truly abolished, race is a social construct created to advance white supremacy, and even if you were to get defensive, when called a racist, you're in fact racist because that is an example of why supremacy culture in action. so this is not nearly teaching kids about topics that the they shouldn't learn about, certainly

the historical aspect of race relations in this country i think are incredibly important to learn, but they are infusing into all of this opinions, and analysis and an ideology behind it and that's where, i think, a lot of people rightly are concerned. ashley: they're rightly concerned, what about the parent s? aren't they outraged and how is this already being implemented? wasn't there any resource for angry parents to pushback at all? >> so look at what's going on across the country and look at this training itself. if you get defensive, you are a white supremacist so how many parents are going to be willing to speak up at a time where this entire country is having these conversations claiming that any kind of pushback is in and of itself the reason why they've got the anti-racism training to begin with. no one wants to be called a racist. what they are hoping for is their kids get really good information, the basics, when they're going to school. now a lot of them have spoken up and we've seen across the

country parents who have said yeah, enough is enough. we're not allowing this garbage, this toxic ideology in front of our kids anymore, and they are seeing some wins and of course in texas, oklahoma, florida, there are states pushing back, but again, it is daunting to get in front of a school board that tells you effectively, you're a racist for being here and complaining. ashley: right. yeah, i mean, you're immediately feeling guilty just for speaking out against it. what are your, you have a radio show. what are the callers saying? do you have anyone for this , do you have lively debate? i can't imagine but do you? >> here is the thing. so the people i talked to generally speaking are against it but every time i talk about this issue, whether it's on fox business or fox news, i immediately get hit up on twitter, via e-mail, with a lot of teachers who are leaking a lot of this information. this highline public school story that i have available right now, it was all leaked by teachers who are uncomfortable with the direction. there are going to be and this is good news some teacher

whose are basically going to say yeah i'm not going to put this in front of these kids. this is the wrong thin to do they are too emotionally or vulnerable at this point however that's not enough. the parents who, during covid, the one upside in learning from home, parents got to hear what was being taught to their kids in ways that they didn't before, so they need to speak up. it can't be just a bunch of people going on the radio or tv complaining about it. this really has to be a grassroots effort coming from the parents. ashley: but jason, the teachers do that they and they refuse to take the training couldn't be risk being fired? >> oh, they have to do the training. there's no doubt about it but they can choose how they are going to implement it in the classroom and there are obviously very fair teachers out there who understand how toxic this stuff is. unfortunately, it certainly feels like there's more folks on the other side who are willing to sacrifice objectivity and indoctrinate these kids and i do think it's a little bit of a

nefarious plot in the sense that you're in front of children, molding their minds and if you want societal change you indoctrinate early and these kids grow up to be ceo's and doctors and lawyers and politicians and they see those societal implementations and that's the biggest problem. ashley: well, i think it's outrageous and disgusting, bottom line, jason rantz, radio host, in seattle, fight the good fight, jason thanks for joining us today. we do appreciate it on the crt. yeah, it's very disturbing, thank you, jason. we have a quick news alert for you here. president biden ramping up his spending spree, we are told, even further. the administration plans to double funding to $1 billion. why? to help communities prepare for extreme weather events. that is where that money is going. biden, apparently is making a stop at fema headquarters for a briefing on the upcoming hurricane season. our outlook, which by the way, begins next week.

we'll be right back. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ . .

in business, it's never just another day. it's the big sale, or the big presentation. the day where everything goes right. or the one where nothing does.

with comcast business you get the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses and advanced cybersecurity to protect every device on it— all backed by a dedicated team, 24/7. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities.

i'm searching for info on options trading, and look, it feels like i'm just wasting time. that's why td ameritrade designed a first-of-its-kind, personalized education center. oh. their award-winning content is tailored to fit your investing goals and interests. and it learns with you, so as you become smarter, so do its recommendations. so it's like my streaming service. well except now you're binge learning. see how you can become a smarter investor with a personalized education from td ameritrade. visit tdameritrade.com/learn ♪

♪. ashley: peloton shares paring losses. down 1% after the company announces it plans to build the first u.s. factory. the company says peloton out put park is scheduled to open in 2023 this item. the state department with a major update to its travel advisory. just moments ago raising advisory level for japan and sri lanka to do not travel. the olympic games scheduled to be held in tokyo in two months. that might be tough we shall see. my time is up. neil will be back tomorrow. hand it over to my good friend, charles payne. charles: thank you, ashley. good afternoon, everyone, i'm charles payne. this is "making money." starting the week off with a good increase. we may have seen or hit an inneck shun point for the stock market last week so we've got new attitudes, new adjustments, a whole lot of new questions,