the biden administration's repeatedly denied that there's a crisis at the border despite the commander in chief requesting backup. >> john: texas governor greg abbott will join us live for an exclusive interview later in the show to talk about what he is seeing in his state. >> sandra: in just a moment we will be speaking about joe biden's policies pushing the district he represents to the breaking point. >> john: greg, what's the latest from where you are? >> reporter: we're here at the point of entry at brownsville where anyone can walk up, claim asylum if they have evidence of a credible fear. but let's go up in the sky to the fox drone team and show you over these ports of entries where some 25,000 asylum seekers are waiting for clearance. that's not the problem, officials say. it's the crossings illegally between the ports of entry. you see the rgc sector, they had 1500 apprehensions just in the last 24 hours. the numbers sandra mentioned about the unaccompanied children, fox news confirming in the last two weeks the numbers tripled the number of children, 3250, of which 1360 have been held for longer than 72 hours, as permitted by law. the border patrol catches the kids and hands them to hhs. earlier mark morgan said this is all about the message that the biden administration is sending south of the border. listen. >> their message, the biden administration has to be crystal clear. their message is, our borders are open. come on in. when you do, we are going to release you to the united states and not deport you so you can remain you here forever. to tell the cartels and migrants, please, don't come yet? it's a joke. >> reporter: gonna be very interesting to see what governor abbott has to say in mission texas, still part of that rgb sector which has been hit the hardest among any sector along the 2,000 mile u.s./mexico border. >> john: that area is one of the busiest places for people to cross. right there. griff jenkins, thank you very much. sandra? >> sandra: fox news alert now. to capitol hill where house democrats are putting the finishing touches on president biden's massive $1.9 trillion covid relief bill. already some members of the president's own party are complaining about it. chad pilgrim on the hill for us. chad, what are you hearing? >> reporter: this bill will pass the house of representatives tomorrow. they are going to put this on the floor probably tomorrow morning then a vote in the afternoon. there was some concern from liberal democrats they might not be for this bill, but saturday afternoon, after this move through the senate, the progressive caucus put out a statement indicating they would back this bill and democratic leaders are not concerned. listen. >> this is the most progressive bill passed by the congress in at least a quarter century. i don't think there's any anxiety as it relates to moving forward. >> don't expect help from republicans. all senate republicans expect the same in the house wednesday. >> i would have supported certain portions of it, especially giving americans relief, helping small businesses open those that were actually affected by covid-19. but this goes way beyond compare. >> reporter: just because democrats are on board doesn't mean there isn't problems ahead. keep in mind they're going to pass a gun bill in the house of representatives probably tomorrow. they passed a voting rights bill last week. those bills have to go to the united states senate and keep in mind they need 60 votes. they will not get 60 votes to move those pieces of legislation. >> john: sandra, let's bring in tony gonzalez. he represents the district covering the largest stretch at the border with mexico in texas, the 23rd congressional district from el paso almost all the way to laredo. congressman, we do know the secretary of homeland security has again activated the, quote, volunteer force that was first activated in 2019 to assist customs and border patrol. when it was last activated by the trump organization, we were in the depths of an extreme crisis at the border. are we back there again? >> john, the border crisis is worse than people realize. my district is over 800 miles of border. i am on the border every single week. this is what i'm seeing. our border patrol agents are doing a fantastic job securing our border. oftentimes, they're fathers, they're mothers, they're happy to deal with these migrant children and it's crushing their morale. they're going to get the job done. i was just at an unaccompanied minor facility and it was busting at the scene. within days it was over capacity. lot of it has to do with the administration not being active on the border. >> john: right. this facility is something we reported on a week ago. this is the same facility that came under a lot of criticism when it was used during the trump administration, yet we don't hear the same criticism being echoed by the biden administration. why? >> they are in their ivory tower and they refuse to come down to the border and talk to anybody. we are all in the same boat. they refuse to have a conversation. that worries me because they're leading from washington and they're not down on the ground talking to the people who see it every day. the ranchers, the farmer, the sheriff. this is a crisis and the biden administration is absent. >> john: people on the ground there in texas who see this first hand see that it's a crisis, yet the main stream media is not there yet. today's headline of the new york times, biden faces challenge for surges at the border but go on to write the number of children has tripled to 3250 according to federal immigration documents obtained by the new york times and many are being held in jail like facilities. that number is 30% higher than it was during the trump administration when the coverage was filled with outrage. i went back and looked at some of the coverage. words like horror were being used. concentration camps. yet we're not seeing that now. i don't understand what the difference is, other than change in administration. >> it's certainly not a challenge. the border is on fire. the new administration their whole plan is we're going to do everything opposite of what the trump administration did. they didn't have a plan. that is the wrong approach. they have to get back to listening to those that live on the border. democrats, republicans are alike and have a conversation that starts by getting away from some of this open border, returning to some of the policies that ensure we had a secure border. protecting our citizens. >> john: congressman tony gonzales, thank you very much for joining us. appreciate it. >> thank you, john. >> john: sandra, there are some people who believe the goal of the biden administration is not to keep people from crossing the border. it's to process people as quickly as possible then release them into the united states. >> sandra: and these numbers, this is fox news reporting this, apprehensions are expected to be up to around 100,000 this week. that's up from 78,000 in january. still you have the biden administration, when asked about this, not committing to even using the word crisis at our border. certainly there's a challenging situation there. we're going to have a lot more coming up. >> john: on that point, joe biden was visiting a hardware store in washington, d.c. a reporter shouted a question to him, do we have a crisis on the border? he ignored the question. >> sandra: no formal news conference either. >> i do want to thank people who are with us here today. they include the director of the texas department of public safety, steve mccraw, general north, the general in charge of the national guard in the state of texas, as well as the national president for the border patrol council. i thank them for being here. also especially for our state team members for their leadership and the texas operation lone star. let me begin by making one.very clear. there is a crisis on the texas border right now with the overwhelming number of people coming across the border. this crisis as a result of president biden's open border policy. it invites illegal immigration and is creating a humanitarian crisis in texas that will grow increasingly worst by the day. and getting information in my meeting with the border patrol, i learned these things. that is, one of the reasons for this crisis that has led to a dramatic change is the change in policy. there was a policy that people who had come across the border illegally would be returned. there was also the remain in mexico policy. with the elimination of those policies, that led to a dramatic increase in the number of people coming across the border. second, the border patrol told me that they did inform the biden administration and let them know that this influx was coming. it' not as if the biden administration didn't know about it. but it is clear they are completely unprepared for what is going on at the border now, and they will be even more unprepared for what will be happening in the coming months. what the border patrol told me, and this is part of the cartel strategy. because of the volume of people coming across the border, the border patrol that makes the arrests has had to engage quite literally, in baby-sitting. while they are doing baby-sitting, that provides an opportunity for the cartels to be able to bring other people across the border illegally. >> sandra: that was texas governor greg abbott. not only are we tpaeugs a crisis at our southern border, but the biden administration should have seen this coming. he said the biden administration is completely unprepared to deal with it, talking about the challenges the border patrol has as we see this surge not only in migrants, but migrant. the governor will be joining us fresh off this health copper ride. he just took a tour of one of the busiest sections of the border. >> john: you heard what he said about the border patrol being reduced to baby-sitters. that is the same thing we heard in 2014 and again in 2019 which is why the trump administration under took the policy changes that it did to stop people from coming across the border. those policies were reversed by the biden administration. now we're right back to where we were six years ago. >> sandra: more from the border coming up. to new york, where governor cuomo faces criticism over an order his administration put into place almost a year ago. it requires that homes for people with developmental disability accept covid patients. also gives the homes permission to accept people without testing them for the virus. this is still in effect today. brian llenas doing some important reporting on this. he's live from brooklyn. what do we know? >> reporter: sandra, good afternoon. fox news reports just as andrew cuomo's administration handled nursing homes on april 10th they issued a similar directive to residential facilities that help developmentally disabled people, requiring them to admit covid-19 positive hospital patients. 552 developally disabled people have died state wide. now senate republicans are saying they believe the true numbers are worse. >> all the day that we've seen from this administration has been false. they've hid nursing home data. we have tremendous concerns that the same exact thing is happening here. developmentally disabled individuals are clearly some of the most vulnerable of our population. we have a heightened job to protect them especially in the middle of a pandemic. >> reporter: now, "the new york times" is also reporting crown publishing has stopped promoting cuomo's leadership book entitled american crisis pending the on going investigation into whether his administration covered up nursing home death data. new this hour, six new york democratic state lawmakers are now demanding that cuomo turn over all documents and correspondents related to that book deal. they believe there is suspicious timing between the cover-up of the data and that book deal. sandra? >> sandra: bryan, thank you. obviously, this is just a story where something new is added. lawmakers pushing for him to be resigned or impeached. it is an credible situation in new york. >> john: we have got the chairman of the new york republican committee coming up in just a little while here on the program so make sure you stay tuned for that. fox news alert at the moment. queen elizabeth's response next. >> sandra: plus minnesota businesses bracing for another round of riots in the wake of the police officer who killed george floyd. how business owners are taking matters into their own hands. i suffered with psoriasis for so long. i felt gross. people were afraid i was contagious. i was covered from head to toe. i was afraid to show my skin. after i started cosentyx i wasn't covered anymore. four years clear. five years now. i just look and feel better. see me. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine, or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. five years is just crazy. see me. learn more at cosentyx.com. here's huge news for veteran homeowners. introducing refiplus from newday usa. refiplus lets you refinance at record low rates to save money every month plus you could get an average of $50,000 cash. that's money for security today and money for retirement tomorrow. refiplus, it's only for veterans and it's only from newday usa. t-mobile is the leader in 5g. we also believe in putting people first by treating them right. so we're upping the benefits without upping the price. introducing magenta max. now with unlimited premium data that can't slow down based on how much smartphone data you use. plus get netflix on us, and taxes and fees included! you won't find this with the other guys. in fact, you'll pay more and get less. right now, pay zero costs to switch! and bring your phone -- we'll pay it off! only at t-mobile. so you want to make the best burger ever? 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(ding)... you got paid! that means... best burger ever. intuit quickbooks helps small businesses be more successful with payments, payroll, banking and live bookkeeping. if these beautiful idaho potato recipes are just side dishes, then i'm not a real idaho potato farmer. genuine idaho potatoes not just a side dish anymore. always look for the grown in idaho seal. >> sandra: buckingham palace releasing its first statement after the bombshell interview from prince harry and meghan markle. she said, quote, we are saddened to learn how challenging the last few years have been. the issues of race are concerning. while some recollections may vary, they will be addressed by the family privately. harry, meghan and archie will always be much loved family members. course, that obviously hit the palace very hard, john, when the interview did come out. that is the first statement that we've seen from the royal family. it was highly anticipated. just got it. >> john: yeah. clearly, this has landed like a bombshell on windsor castle and buckingham palace. house of windsor i guess is going to try to say in a round about way, not often we hear messages from the queen. clearly there's some soul searching to do. >> sandra: sounds like they're going to deal with it. >> john: we'll see how they deal with it. it is the royal family. they may just deal with it privately and we'll never know. a fox news alert. jury selection under way with derek chauvin, accused of killing george floyd. it had been put on hold yesterday. demonstrators rally outside the court demanding justice for floyd. matt flinn live in minneapolis for us. >> reporter: john, today's jury selection is proceeding minute by minute. we are awaiting the decision from the appellate court on whether the jury selection and this entire trial is going to be delayed. it's all over that lingering third degree murder charge for derek chauvin. the judge says he's going to keep going until he is told to stop by the appellate court. during the jury selection so far, at least three jurors have been dismissed. the prosecution raised an issue that two of those identified as hispanic. the judge said they were not dismissed for race, but cause. one woman had trouble with the english language. one juror that has been seated is described as a caucasian male. he is a logical person and is a chemist. he thinks favorable of minneapolis police but also thinks favorable of black lives matter. in court the defense argued the minneapolis police chief who is expected to testify acted with a bias when he recommended the four police officers be fired. >> i made a decision within about 12 hours to terminate four minneapolis police officers. three of whom he specifically states in that statement appeared to be acting consistently with training. so a decision to terminate someone based on an absence of evidence is probative of the chief's bias. >> reporter: the prosecution said the chief's decision to fire those officers was based on what he saw and plenty of evidence. >> john: matt, thank you very much. minneapolis, twin cities there, are waiting on tender hooks to see what's going to happen. >> sandra: now one juror seated. we'll see what happens next, as this fox news alert happened, santa clarita council members will be considering george gascon during tonight's meeting. several city officials say the actions risk the safety of general public. one of the directives they find move troubling is dropping cash bail and limiting sentence enhancements for some charges. >> john: lot of public officials running into problems. policy and politics play a major role at the southern border. how democrats are handling the crisis now compared to a couple years ago when president trump was in office. >> sandra: a warning for union teachers in one major u.s. city. why they're being said to keep their vacation photos private. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. thank you! hey, hey, no, no limu, no limu! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ are you managing your diabetes... ...using fingersticks? with the new freestyle libre 2 system, a continuous glucose monitor, you can check your glucose with a painless, one-second scan. and now with optional alarms, you can choose to be notified if you go too high or too low. and for those who qualify, the freestyle libre 2 system is now covered by medicare. ask your doctor for a prescription. you can do it without fingersticks. learn more at freestyle libre 2 dot u.s. ♪♪ (engines roaring) whoo-hoo! cal, you came in hot! shake 'n' bake? shake and bake! 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are leading the fight. the union saying teachers will not go back until every teacher and staff is vaccinated yet they still want to go on vacation where the vast majority don't have the shot. the double standard is obvious. the union telling them to share this warning with its member. quote, friendly reminder if you are planning trips to spring break, please keep that off to social media. it's hard to argue that this is unsafe if parents see vacation photos and international travel. >> we are fighting for our rights to go back to school because science says that it's safe and the ucla won't let us. >> reporter: the union said it's not responsible for them. critics say it's hypocritical. you say you can't teach students because of covid but you go on vacation. >> sandra: thank you. this has happened over the course of covid where areas where the schools are shut down and the teachers said they don't want to return because they say they can't do so safely. some have been caught on facebook or instagram showing pictures of them clearly out and about, some even on vacation. >> john: someone responded to that post by the teachers association by saying what about just not going on spring break and setting an example? >> sandra: fair enough. >> john: president biden set to give a primetime address thursday evening at 8 p.m., but it has been 48 days since he took office and still no formal news conference. his press secretary has said it could happen soon. >> he has done about 40 q&a's since he took office. but in terms of a formal press conference, which i understand there's a big focus on, yes, we will have one before the end of month. >> will we see him regularly? >> i don't know that you will see him more than 40 times a month. >> john: let's bring in our fox contributors. mo, let's start with you. last time a president went this long was more than 100 years ago. i don't even think they went this long. this white house promised transparency. president biden engaged in an awful lot of policy moves that probably need some examination. today he ignored a shouted question about whether there was a crisis at the border. what happened to the transparency? >> there's lots of ways to show transparency. jen psaki was asked when the president would do one and she said by the end of the month. so i think we should expect one. he's been taking from reporters in other formats, other venues. look, i believe the president should be in front of the media as often as possible. the media believes that, too. the media was critical of president trump when they felt like they didn't have access to him and they are pretty critical of president biden. but, what is nice to see is levels of transparency going up in other ways. we're back to the daily white house briefing. that's a good thing, a representative of the government there taking questions every day. we're getting far more regular covid task force briefings for the media. that's a good thing. so their increase in transparency and taking tough questions from the media and it looks like the president will be joining in that effort the next couple weeks. >> john: having white house press briefings is one thing. always better to hear from the president himself. i remember when the trump white house cancelled the press briefings in favor of two and three times day in access of president trump, they were still being criticized. >> yeah. you remember that very well. president trump was out there all the time talking to the press. he was answering questions in all sorts of different formats on a daily basis, plus the tweets, good or bad, but there was a lot of access to president trump. the american people deserve to hear from president biden directly. fine that jen psaki is briefing every day. but there are some controversial policies being implemented by this president, by his administration, and we deserve to hear the press ask him and press him specifically with follow-ups on some of those issues on i would say areas of hypocrisy, double standards, broken promises, that sort of thing. the longer that it goes, it seems like he's ducking an extended period of questions, certainly in a formal press conference setting, the more you'll star to see viral clips of him taking on new life. this week he seemed to for get the name of his defense secretary, perhaps the name of the pentagon. when you don't hear from the president himself, he's not opening himself up to lots of questions from the media when in a more controlled event, he makes little mistakes or flubs like that, of course people are going to assign more attention to it, more weight to it. that's a decision, frankly, a strategic decision the white house is making. i think they need to change course. >> john: let's look at the border crisis. the president ignored a shouted question about whether it's a crisis at the border, despite the department of home land security secretary calling up the volunteer force of dhs to assist the border patrol because of overwhelming numbers coming across the border. 3250 children in detention, that's 30% more than the trump administration, when his critics and the media were losing their minds over a, quote, crisis. >> well, yeah. we've seen the numbers steadily increasing over the past year. the numbers started increasing in april of 2020, long before joe biden became the democratic nominee. there's been a steady increase ever since then. >> john: it's gone way up now. >> yeah. i think there are a lot of factors for that, just continued economic devastation because of the pandemic. you mentioned secretary maorca bringing up the dhs. it was to separate families. this administration isn't doing that. they're figuring out how to deal with the influx of migrants in a way that's humane, particularly as it comes to children. >> john: guy, final last thought from you. >> it is, of course, a crisis. we've seen the number of unaccompanied minors apprehended at the border triple over the last two weeks. there are internal documents that suggest it could get much worse. they're projecting it get much worse in april and may. numbers have exploded since president biden came into office. for them to bury their head in the sand and pretend like their own policies haven't caused this and not use the word crisis, that's denial of reality. >> john: this is going to continue to be a headline. guy, mo, thanks. >> sandra: minneapolis business owners o reviewing the possibility of riots. 13 biden campaign staffers advertised their donations to a group that helped arrested protesters pay bail during last year's violence. kim, thanks for joining us. kim, this is sandra, can you hear me? >> hi, sandra. how are you? >> sandra: i'm well. thanks for joining us. how are you preparing for this potential unrest? >> we've been preparing for months, actually. we have been preparing by shoring things up in our businesses with new fencing and cameras and things like that. we're prepared, but we're hoping for the best, of course. we're preparing for the worst. we don't think that will be today, of course. >> sandra: something we know about small businesses is you all stick together. i know you're trying to do that with some of the businesses that went through that last summer. there have been major changes since last summer. one is the decrease of police force there. we've been reading about it and reporting on it. january to november 2020, kym, 161 officers down, 40 departures, 121 on leave. we heard the reports, slow response to 911 calls. major problems for your city. how are you banning together with other small businesses right now? >> right after the spring we had last year, myself and a group of business owners for about a 20 block radius here on lake street, we all kind of put together a neighborhood watch. but just for our businesses. so we've created a call. when there is trouble or signs of times that we think we need to patrol our neighborhood, that we need to take care of ourselves, we have a call tree that we go out and call all of the local businesses and make them alert to what's happening and them to protect their businesses. >> sandra: the pictures on the screen are very personal to you. you provided these pictures because this is the damage and the scene around various businesses surrounding your shop there and how you were directly affected by this. to continue on what you were just saying, kym, do you feel now if you need to call the police, if you need to call emergency 911, that your shop would be responded to? >> i do feel so, yes. i do think they would respond. it certainly is a different environment than we're used to, of course, before this all started, you have a tkoub in your mind. but from what i understand, i do think that the police would respond and would respond quickly. although there has been a very bad uptick of this crime here. especially concerning. >> sandra: kym, it seems like we are having a tough time with your shot. we really appreciate you joining us. this is all under way. one juror has been selected. business owners doing their best to prepare for the unknown. just don't know what is about to happen in that city. as a business owner, you have to prepare for anything, right, john? she and her surrounding businesses are certainly doing this. >> john: reminds me of the william lozano trial in miami when everybody was standing by waiting to see what would happen if he was acquitted. we know what happened after he was acquitted. hopefully, we won see a repeat there in minneapolis. >> sandra: thank you. >> john: new york lawmakers applying new pressure to governor cuomo. what they now want to know about his book deal in the wake of that nursing home scandal. stay with us. people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible with rybelsus®. ♪ you are my sunshine ♪ ♪ my only sunshine... ♪ rybelsus® works differently than any other diabetes 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or be impeached. 33 are calling for peachment, 43 calling for him to resign tp i appreciate your time this afternoon, sir. i'll ask you in a second about where democrats stand on this push. as far as the need for the governor to go, where do you stand? >> well, thank you for having me, sandra. i have made it clear from the beginning this governor does not have the integrity to resign. he has no shame. very early on after the nursing home cover-up was revealed called for this governor's impeachment. the fbi is involved. we know a cover-up has taken place. now we need to find out exactly how much the governor stood to profit from this book deal that has been distasteful from day one. these democratic leaders have said, well, some of them want the process to play out, the investigation to play out. there's enough information on this nursing home cover-up that this impeachment should go on immediately. >> sandra: i want to ask you about the allegation you just made about the relationship with the publisher. now we know that lawmakers are pressing the governor to release all evidence of his book contract deal in the wake of these new revelations on the nursing home scandal. specifically, they want to know about the timing of that deal. they believe all communications between the cuomo administration and the book publisher are of vital public interest and must be released. do you join that call? >> i absolutely join that call. there's a lot of similarity between the timeline of when the cover-up emerged last summer and it was the same time the governor inked his deal for the book contract. so he wanted, he need the narrative that he was the leading governmental leader in the country on covid-19 and he knew that the data from new york's nursing home deaths would blow a giant hole in that narrative. that is why his administration decided to cover up. little did we know at the time that he stood to make millions off of this. everyone has said from the outset how distasteful it was to write a book and for the governor to profit on the coffins of 15,000 dead new york seniors. we still lead the country in covid deaths, nursing home deaths and the amount of jobs killed in this country. this team did not provide world class leadership, though he claims he did. this book has been disgusting from day one. he needs to come clear. he's hid behind new york state ethics laws that he doesn't have to disclose it until may 15th. that needs to happen this week. >> sandra: we appreciate your time this afternoon. thank you for joining us. john, i'll put it back up on the screen. this is number of new york state lawmakers looking for him to be impeached or resigned. the calls have grown to 76. question now is how many longer can cuomo last? >> john: straight ahead bucking ham palace finally responding to harry and meghan's interview. what she is saying about racist remarks in the house of windsor coming up next. i'll be observing your safe-driving abilities. play your 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race are concerning. while some recollections may vary, those allegations are taken seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. the queen also said the family was saddened to learn how challenging the last few years have been for the sussexes and they will always love their grandson an archie. they must address the tkhraeupl one member of the royal family had, as meghan said, had several conversations about archie's skin color. that is something that caused this rupture with protocol. >> john: it was an interview that landed with a very heavy thud there in the house of windsor. ryan chilcote. if the queen says we're going to handle this privately, is this the last we'll ever hear of it, or there be strategic leaks on both sides as they try to get their stories out? >> sandra: you can help but for the best for the family to handle this privately. it's the royal family. lot of it is made public. it was certainly not a good interview. the numbers from the border pointing to a crisis but the situation on the ground can be hard to put into words. griff jenkins is getting a first hand look what is happening at the texas/mexico border. plus texas governor greg abbott is all fired up now and he will join us in moments after completing a helicopter tour of one of the busiest sections of the border. check out this lineup coming up in a bran new hour. how great is it that we get to tell everybody how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? i mean it... uh-oh, sorry... oh... what? i'm an emu! no, buddy! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ ok everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. whoo-hoo! great tasting ensure with 9 grams of protein, 27 vitamins and minerals, and nutrients to support immune health. here's huge news for veteran homeowners who need cash. and nutrients to refiplus from newday usa. record low mortgage rates have fallen again, while 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have endured. we met a migrant here named rosie from honduras who's been in this camp. it's now shut. listen to how long she's been waiting. watch. >> we're just waiting for the call for us to go to court. >> reporter: how long has she been waiting? >> since september 2019. yes, we've been told when we will be able to cross. from what i hear, yes. there are more opportunities from what i hear. >> reporter: when she said that, john, it reminded me of when i traveled to honduras where the caravans began. traveled through guatemala, through mexico, to just up the way there. i can't tell you how difficult of a challenge that is. earlier this morning we did get get in to a migrant shelter where we talked to an organizer, javier garcia, who told us how worried she is about the numbers that may be coming. >> they're coming, coming, coming. it's almost at the top. full capacity. >> reporter: at that point you have to turn people away? >> everybody comes. >> reporter: now, john, let me just, bear with me and understand the context for why the officials are so worried about that 100,000 number for february that may come out this week very soon. that is because in 2019 at the height of the crisis, the highest month was may. most traffic in 2019. 132,856. february of 2019, it was 66,833. we wouldn't hit 100,000 for four months in 2019. now you're talking about hitting it in just february? that puts us on a projection for numbers we have not seen and certainly this administration. these guys are not ready to handle this search this early in the year. >> john: that woman you talked to said she's from honduras which counts as one of the most dangerous cities in all of the northern triangle countries. she's been there for awhile. presumably, there are a lot more people from that city and other areas in the northern triangle are just itching for chance to try to make it across. >> reporter: that's exactly right. based on the lessons of 2019 at the border border said, hey, we got to do something coming from that northern triangle. honduras, guatemala, el salvador. we have no idea what's happening there. we heard from the biden administration that that twhaeupbt to insepbivize people to stay. the situation has been made worse because of covid. >> sandra: we're waiting on the governor there. he is about to join us after a helicopter tour press conference he held last hour. we'll speak to greg abbott in just a moment. we are getting into out of the press conference. jen psaki not calling it a crisis. as far as working to implement covid recommendation threats, your last point there, about how this is incredibly challenging as it is. but add covid to the picture. what the biden administration will have to do to further implement safety restrictions because of these folks coming in. >> reporter: here the challenge, sandra. i have talked to border patrol people. they are catching and releasing them as fast as they can. they had over 1500 there yesterday. in terms of the rbg sector, that sector has nine stations. i happen to know, this isn't public, that they are currently holding about 2700 people in those facilities. across the entire sector, they have the capacity for 700 under covid rules. what are they doing? they're releasing them because they have to. they don't have anywhere to put them. they're way over capacity. that's strange that the city of browningville, we have been reporting the positive cases, as they try to test them. this is, by all accounts, to be fair and objective. >> sandra: griff jenkins, thank you. joining us live from the border of texas, governor greg abbott, who just finished a health copper tour. we really appreciate you joining us, governor. thanks for being here. >> my pleasure. thank you. >> sandra: i know you've heard directly from the administration. they're reluctant to call this a crisis. the dhs skur said this is a challenge, not a crisis. jen psaki was asked how the white house is defining this issue. she said she's not going to put new labels on it from here or from the podium. you're there. you just took a health copper tour. what do you call it? >> well, also in addition to the health copper tour, i also had the opportunity to meet with border patrol agents who are on the ground here, who are dealing with this every seufpbgle day. let me just give you the numbers that prove it is a crisis. if you look at where the rio grande valley region. number of people who were apprehended last year was about 90,000. just the first 2 1/2 months of this year alone, far more than that, about 108,000. also that's just this year. among the people who have come across the border, border patrol agents have been dealing with include 800 criminal aliens have been apprehended. they are people who were previously arrested in the united states, deported back to some other country from which they came and now came back across the border and were arrested. included in those, 76 sex offenders and 62 gang members including ms gang members. this is not only a numerical crisis, it is a very dangerous situation. sandra, i must emphasize this point. this is just the beginning. month of march is when it begins to increase. the influx will continue to grow because the signal has been sent to central america, to other countries across the world, that people can come across the board r under the biden administration. we are going to see a flood of people continue to come as well as caravans coming. >> sandra: how could this white house see it so differently? are they wrong? do they have misinformation or are they just not being honest about it? >> the border patrol told me they advised the information about exactly what was happening and what was going to happen. they, being the white house, did not respond to it. they did not elevate it. another example of that is that the biden administration continues to basically refuse to even admit the involvement and the necessity of ice being involved in the process. it is ice that is involved in that detention process. it is ice that has their detention facilities overrun. it is ice that needs to expand those facilities because of the people coming across the border illegally. >> john: governor abbott, good to talk to you. during the trump administration, i was speaking with a former trump administration official. they said they put in place measures that would stop a surge from coming across the border, but that the biden administration has completely dismantled that apparatus. as we saw in 2014 and 2019 where it was governor perry back in 2014 and now you in 2019 had to deploy the texas highway patrol ahrofpbg the iro grande there. you've had to implement operation lone star to try to cut down on human trafficking and drug trafficking. how much of a burden has this put on state resources to deal with this new influx of people? >> it's a serious burden that i will explain. i want to first address your first sentence. it is the policy shift from the biden administration. two things happen. what i'm telling you is what border patrol told me today. these two policy changes is what has led to this influx. one is the elimination of the remain in mexico protocol. that is what has suddenly allowed so many people to come back in. the other is a policy of, if people do come across the border they will be returned from whatever country they came from. those are things are what is leading to this massive increase. going back to your last question. what the state of texas is doing. i have to applaud the texas state legislature for doing this. every session that i have been governor, the state has provided $800 million out of the state's budget to pay for these law enforcement officers, texas department of public safety, the national guard, as well as added boats, added helicopters, added drones, cameras so we can track what's going on. boots on the ground. texas is doing what the federal government should be doing. immigration is a federal responsibility because of the biden administration is not doing it, the state of texas has to step up and use every tool that we can to try to help secure the border. >> john: governor, stand by for a second. we want to get the latest from the white house and then get you to react to that. here's peter. >> reporter: john and sandra and governor abbott, president trump did not respond to a question today from a reporter who asked is there a crisis at the border? he doesn't have anything else on his public schedule. if we don't hear from him, it will be one week since he's said anything going on at the border. administration senior adviser is hinting that the federal government may soon make room for an unlimited number of campaigned children. >> do you believe there is a limit in to how many of these unaccompanied minors we are place? >> what are they fleeing from? tornados, gangs? >> reporter: but that type of talk is seen by critics with experience at the border as an invitation into the country. >> these people are gonna come because we've told them we're going to soft on enforcement, soft at the border. >> reporter: there was a delegation of white house officials who went down to the border over the weekend. we just found out from the press secretary jen psaki, these officials still have not yet briefed president biden about what they saw and what they recommend what they do. >> john: that's really surprising. governor, what do you think about that? the task force went down there has not briefed the president,and the fact jen psaki called this a hear breaking situation at the border, but it would be a completely self-inflicted wound. >> it is a self-inflicted wound because going back to what the border patrol officers told me themselves, they informed the biden administration about this all along. the biden administration has known what was going to happen if they refused to continue to implement the policies that were previously in place. you've seen from the sheer numbers alone that we already have more people who have been apprehended this year alone than all of last year. let me tell you something else that you need to know. the question i asked border patrol and what the answer is. i asked them, of all these unaccompanied minors coming across the border, what percentage of them are being brought to the border with the assistance of drug cartels in mexico? the answer 100%. these children aren't just getting here. the drug cartels make money off the kids who come here, and then they do something else. once they get kids across the border and border patrol agents have to deal with those kids, that's when the drug cartels bring in the more dangerous criminals who get paid more, pay more to the cartels including the very dangerous drugs coming across the border including people from very dangerous countries. so the cartels know exactly what they're doing. called flooding the zone. preoccupy the border patrol. that's when they can wreck the havoc. go ahead, sandra. >> sandra: we've got these brand new pictures just in to us now of your chopper ride as you got a first hand look. you've obviously been describing what you are seeing there. when we talk about the situation of children coming to the border, jen saying there are more children coming to the border than this country has capacity to deal with. jen psaki also pointed at the trump administration's mishandling of those children, suggesting they're doing something different. here's jen psaki. >> we're not ripping children from the arms of their parents. that's what the trump administration did. we don't think that's a moral step. we are not sending kids back. to that you say what, governor? >> the children coming as unaccompanied minors, they're not being ripped from the arms of the parents. they're all alone. they've been brought here, basically trafficked here by drug cartels. who knows what may have happened to those kids along the way. every child is let in, for the most, the cartels, to go through that and subject themselves to the horrors they go through. far better thing for those kids, for the families, as they continue to policies and make sure the border is not going to be open. >> john: governor, it would seem unlikely that the biden administration is going to say, oops, we made a mistake, let's reimplement the trump administration policy. what needs to happen in order for this to no longer be a crisis? there are some people who believe the game plan of this administration is to let everybody in and just release them into the country. process, turn those camps into processing centers and get them into the country as soon as possible. >> ire there will be massive indifference on the part of the administration or this really is their strategy. that is they really want to have the flood gates open and have millions upon millions of people. remember, this is a low number of months of the year. people coming across the border will increase dramatically. we are on scale to have maybe up to 1 million people cross our border, the texas border this year. this is going to turn into a total disaster if the biden administration does not step up and implement stronger measures. >> sandra: real quickly, when it comes to confirming these numbers, i go back to this briefing that just happened in the white house as we look at this incredible situation at the border. confirm the numbers that we are seeing at the border. she refused to do so. that is so important that we know exactly what's happening. she said that's dhs. does that shock you? >> it does. i'm gonna tell you because i was in a meeting with members of border patrol. i want to make sure i had the information right. i wrote down the numbers. they're right here. what the numbers show is last year in the rio grande valley region they apprehended about 90,000 people. this year in the first 2 1/2 months they've apprehended 108,000. that's just raw data. the numbers tell the story about how massive of a challenge this is. but also, this is just the beginning. the challenge will escalate more unless and until the biden administration does more to respond. >> sandra: those are numbers from border patrol? >> those numbers were provided to me by the border patrol. >> sandra: governor, you have faced a lot of criticism for lifting that mask mandate in your state. you have a lot on your plate including the crisis at the border, but also covid on multiple fronts you continue to fight this virus. that lifting of the mask mandate, you received a lot of backlash for that. where do you stand on that based on the the decision you got to that? >> there's a lot of praise for it. i'll tell you why. if you look at the important numbers in the state of texas. if you look at what we were instructed to do from the beginning, the goal was couple weeks to slow the spread. the purpose of slowing the spread was to relieve hospitalization so the hospitals would not be overrun. we've had been defining those numbers. yesterday's numbers had the lowest hospitalations in four months. lowest positivity rate since september. lowest number of deaths in awhile. there has to come a time when you can begin to return to normalcy. also according to cdc based standard, there have been well over 6 million texans who testified positive for covid-19 and have been able to fight off thedy see. when you add up the number of people that have been vaccinated. texas is second in the nation in vaccinations. we're vaccinating a million people every week. you're seeing these declining, not just in texas, in every state across the states because the vaccines are getting into bodies and people are becoming immuned from getting the disease. the fact we have so many texans vaccinated, and have recovered. the last thing, sandra, is this. after a year of going through covid, texans know the safe practices to heed. they don't need government to tell them what to do. we strongly do encourage everybody to wear a mask when you go out. it's just no longer do you need government telling you to do what you've mastered over the past 12 months. >> sandra: more to get to you. we want to get to another report and bring you back in in just a moment. >> reporter: alaska, arizona, florida, georgia, idaho, iowa, mississippi, missouri, montana, south carolina, north dakota. 15 states so far. in terms of states where mask mandates expired or were lifted, north dakota january 18th. cases are down and no new deaths reported. iowa, february 7. cases are down and one death has been reported. montana february 12, cases are down and deaths dropped from four one month ago to zero in yesterday's report. mississippi, march 3rd just last week. texas tomorrow, alabama april 9 and utah april 10. while texas and mississippi have gotten a great deal of attention, they are not alone. soon more states are on the way to lifting those mandates. sandra, john. >> sandra: mike, thanks. governor, let's just look at this mask data. we're wondering who you can tell this terms of lifting the mass mandate. businesses opening at 100% goes into effect tomorrow. three of the four coronavirus medical advisers you had, including bush 43's fda commissioner said they weren't consulted about this. then you have some businesses saying things like, this the the next urban oasis. putting us in the firing line where you are going to be fighting people who are celebrating in the streets saying people may get angry at them if they decide they want them to wear a mask going into their business. christine ha, parer in at a restaurant in houston said this leaves us up to my team to enforce this. they're saying the state mask mandate gave them cover, cover which has been removed. on those two front, on who you consulted with over this mask mandate and the concerns these people have. >> part of thing dr. mcfarland was on, that's something that had expired last year. currently, there are two doctors. there's the state department of state health services, dr. hellerstat. my deputy chief of staff, as well as dr. zerwatz who is the biden chancellor. he's been in constant communication with dr. hellerstat about what data was that we were looking at, the analysis of why we were considering the opening we did implement and what the safety protocols were, as well as the additional guardrails that were in place in the event, the unlikely event, that hospitalizations were to increase again. what that would do is let local counties and local communities to make decisions if hospitalizations in their region rose above 15% which we don't think that will happen. look at the important to understand that before covid and then after covid, businesses always make the decision about what is right for their business. there are different standards that different businesses apply. some require a coat and tie. some require shoes. some don't. businesses always have the opportunities to make the decision that's best for them. the most important thing we can do is to allow all businesses to have that choice. they have a choice to be open or not be open. but it is time to ensure that every business does have the opportunity to be open and we wanted to make sure every business did have that opportunity. >> sandra: the teachers union said you need to quit obeying your political impulses and listen to the health expert. you said you have been, whether it's school closures and reopenings, businesses reopenings. lifting the mask mandates. there's a lot happening in your state. if you could just broadly characterize how is this going for you? you talk about that return to normal. your state obviously wants to see that done safely. where do things stand? >> things are looking very good. the most important thing is, we look at the data. if you look at the data, the number of hospitalizations, hospitalizations have had a great downtrend, perfect downtrend. importantly, if you would look at a map of every state in the united states, you would see that same downtrend. there's a reason for it. that's because of the vaccinations that have been deployed across the entire country. with regard to vaccination, the numbers look very very good. texas ranked number two in the united states in the total number of vaccines. we are now doing more than 1 million vaccines per week. we now have most importantly, this was a hugely important factor in our decision making process. maybe the most important health metric that we could look at. you might know that the overwhelming majority of the population that either hospitalized or loses their life to covid, they're 65 and older. we wanted to wait until we got to a point where half of the people in that age group will haved that access to that vaccine. we are well on our way and having inoculated many people younger than that who may have co-morbidities or chronic health conditions. there's a reason why we are seeing a reduced number of hospitalizations in texas as well as other states. that is because medicine is beginning to work. the thing we needed all along was access to vaccines. when we opened up the state, the on thing we could rely upon were people following best safe practices. there was only one thing that was going to ensure an end to covid. that was going to be access to vaccines, as well as access to other health care treatments that have been created during the treatment of covid. those drugs, the medications, as well as the vaccines. the other treatments we are providing, as well as the different ways in which we know how to treat people leads to fewer hospitalizations. remember the goal all along was to minimize hopizations. we have been able to achieve that goal. >> john: we'll be watching tomorrow, governor, when this all goes into effect. praying that we keep going forward and not backward. >> thank you. god bless texas. i know we're going in the right direction. >> sandra: governor, thank for your time this afternoon. >> thank you all. take care. good to see you. >> john: bret baier is joining us. he is clearly frustrated. >> yeah, john and sandra, good afternoon. just after jen psaki, the white house press secretary giving that briefing in which she said that these kids are arriving fleeing two hurricanes at the end of last year. there were big named storms in 2019, 2018 that hit mexico and latin america and yet those numbers were not that large on the border. the governor pointed out, it is the president who has kind of welcomed this influx and is now having to deal with it. i think it's major challenge and people are starting to realize how big a challenge it is. >> john: you see these people lining up saying biden let us in. unless those people own a t-shirt shop, they're either being given to them, which i would suspect, or they're buying them, which i would not suspect. you heard the governor say this is a manufactured crisis because the biden administration eliminated programs that the trump administration put into place. >> they're using those words self-inflicted crisis gives you a sense on where republicans are. this is a really powerful issue not just for border states but for states that deal with an influx. there's not a process. these kids, a lot of them, they're arriving here with these coyotes, the traffickers who bring either for money or they have dealt with the family and they bring them to get them to the u.s. it's very rare these families are all one unit arriving on the border. then you have unaccompanied minors in big numbers that have to be put somewhere. >> john: i spent a lot of time down there along the border in 2014. seeing very similar things than we saw back then with the number of unaccompanied alien children as they're called by border protection certainly are increasing. still seeing a lot of single adults coming across as well. switch topics here, if you would. the latest on governor cuomo. now his book publisher, crown publishing, is pulling all promotion on his book that he wrote on the coronavirus crisis. it seems as though the circle is tieingening around governor quo know. you have about 100 state lawmakers calling for his impeachment or for him to step down. >> either calling for resignation or starting this political impeachment process. the interesting thing about this whole thing is the nursing home situation and the deaths in those nursing homes as a direct result of covid patients being put back in was largely not covered until recently by mainstream media. is not part of the questioning that you are seeing some of these politicians deal with. they're getting bombarded with questions on the sexual harassment cases, but not about the covid cases. >> john: always good to see you. see you tone at 6 p.m. we'll be right back. when you buy this plant at walmart, they can buy more plants from metrolina greenhouses so abe and art can grow more plants. so they can hire vilma... and wendy... and me. 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take that. yeeeeeah! 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar drink, play, and win big in the powered by protein challenge! >> john: drivers feeling pain at the pump as rising prices may have americans using their stimulus checks to fill up their tank. it could reach $3 as early as april. jeff flock from fox business highland indiana. i was in glenn echo, on the outskirts of washington, d.c. yesterday. premium gas was $4.29 a gallon at this one station. >> it's gonna get worse before it gets better. you can always tell when gas prices are on the rison the indiana/illinois border. we're in indiana. you see tags with illinois tags coming across. you said $2.77 yesterday. $2.79 is now the national average. it was $2.46 just a month ago. we're rising a penny a day. doesn't take long for it to get up there. according to our gas buddy, i' just going to continue. >> looks like a steady rise will con perhaps unabated for the next couple months. really, the on thing that could stop it is a slowdown in the recovery, aka slowdown in demand or uptick in supply. >> reporter: you mentioned d.c. already over $4. several states already up there. you expect california and hawaii. all washington, nevada, pennsylvania already over $3. as i said, gonna get worse before it gets better. john? >> john: it was one of those stations they jacked up the price of gas because they don't want to sell gas. apparently they make most of their money on fixing cars. the price going up quickly. sandra, do you fill up your car very often? >> sandra: i do. i notice the rising prices of gasoline. one of those things that you look at the local knew papers across the country. it's becoming a bigger and bigger headline. people feel that in their pocket book, right, jeff? people in chicago, they love their cars and trucks. >> john: as you know, gas tax in chicago, for example, tremendously high. one of the highest in the nation. that's the reason people come across the border to indiana. it's hard to save money anywhere in the country. >> sandra: all right. we're going to have a debate after the break over who's to blame for this? why is this happening now? we haven't seen it in years. thanks to jeff flock, we will debate those rising prices next. we'll be right back. wanderers . the journey is why they ride. when the road is all you need, there is no destination. uh, i-i'm actually just going to get an iced coffee. well, she may have a destination this one time, but usually -- no, i-i usually have a destination. yeah, but most of the time, her destination is freedom. nope, just the coffee shop. announcer: no matter why you ride, progressive has you covered with protection starting at $79 a year. voiceover: 'cause she's a biker... please don't follow me in. is now a good time for a flare-up? enough, crohn's! for adults with moderate to severe crohn's or ulcerative colitis... stelara® can provide relief and is the only approved medication to reduce inflammation on and below the 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direct reflection of an improving u.s. economy. is that the case? >> he is right that as we open up, that's gonna drive up demand and increase the price of all kinds of fuel and energy. here's the issue. we need more u.s. production to come back online as we recover to help meet that demand and keep prices low. the problem is we've got policies in washington that are severely discriminating. new drilling, new leases. you have the drilling and leases on public land. you have a secretary coming in that has made it clear that she would love to get rid of all drilling on public land. partly an opec move that reduced supply that would become more dependent on. that's the story now. the story of the future will be u.s. production come back? the question is, will people want to invest when the biden administration is performing the crackdown that it's performing. >> sandra: you've got this massive stimulus bill. that's been put through. you've got to wonder, is all this money intended to line the pockets of the american people, get it to struggling americans. then the cost of goods is going up, doesn't that when inflation starts to rear its ugly head and that stimulus won't have the intended effect? >> at first, you're suggesting we not send checks to the american people in the midst of a economic economic downturn. >> sandra: nope. i'm wondering as the price of goods goes up at the same time, does have the impact that it's supposed to have? >> inflation rate is 2.1%. the amount that the higher prices are subtracting off of the stimulus check is extremely small. >> sandra: it seems austin was taken by surprise that people are talking about inflation being a possibility considering the am of money that's being put in the system. isn't that a reality? >> it is. if you look at where treasury yields have gone, there's a fear that the combination of massive amounts of government help, massive amounts of debt cash, plus a supply chain that continues to be restricted. we were seeing that already with regulations coming online. businesses are asking themselves, do i want to ramp up production? inflation could be a real issue. it's not taking a huge bite. where does it go next year or the next two years? >> sandra: everybody cares what the price of gas is at the pump. we appreciate you being here. thank you. >> john: coming up next a look at how the coronavirus has affected the life of people right here. i felt awful because of my psoriasis. i was covered from head to toe with it. it really hurt. then i started cosentyx. okay, thanks... that was four years ago. how are you? see me. cosentyx works fast to give you clear skin that can last. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms 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so more students can be ready for anything. i'm trying to do some homework here. >> john: over the past year the coronavirus pandemic has affected millions of americans in different way. douglas kennedy has more. >> i have today declared the coronavirus presents a public health emergency in the united states. >> date was january 31, 2020, health and human secretary alex azar warned covid was coming. over the next weeks and months, unemployment would soar. >> here is where we stand. historic job losses pile up by the millions. markets would tumble. >> stocks still sinking. >> americans would abandon their streets and their cities. >> schools restaurants and buildings shut down. >> it would completely transform by requirements to stay indoors. >> every person in the state of missouri shall avoid eating or drinking at restaurants, bars or food courts. >> and mandates to wear masks. >> we're advising new yorkers to wear a face covering. >> you would see a navy ship on medical stand by in the new york harbor and a cruise ship that could find no harbor for a month. in early march the first a school shutdown. >> i'm asking all of our school districts to immediately begin contingency planning for potential school closures. >> all right. >> by april, 50 million american would be learning over the internet or not at all. shutdowns and restrictions that led to angry demonstrations in north carolina and minnesota. armed protests in michigan. >> lock her up! >> nonetheless, the virus would march on, leaving us alone to mark our grim milestone. april 1st, 200,000 cases, 6,000 deaths. april 8th, 1 million cases, more than 60,000 gone. in all cases would climb to 6 million with losses approaching 200,000. not even the news of president trump contracting the virus himself could slow the fall surge. cases recently reaching over 29 million and deaths over 500,000. far exceeding any other country in the world. but americans are resilient and there are countless examples of socially distanced togetherness and inspiration that brought light to dark days. it brought cheering healthcare workers, food banks inundated with volunteers. despite delays and cancellations, major league sports including baseball, basketball, football, returned, with new stadium rules and an old face claiming victory. tom brady crushing the kansas city chiefs. elected officials also stepped up passing the theories that bipartisan stimulus bills protecting american workers and saving many small businesses. at the same time, our national scientists and researchers producing vaccines that a year ago, no one thought possible. a new testament to american ingenuity that led to a sigh of relief. when sandra lindsey became the first to receive the life saving shot. >> i hope this marks the beginning to the end of the very painful time in our history. >> john: quite a year. douglas kennedy reporting. thanks for joining us. i'm john roberts. >> sandra: thank you for that. great to be with you. thanks 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