calamity." fox news confirms 565 unaccompanied children are flooding in to the united states every day. president biden is now telling the report number of migrants trying to cross to stay home. >> do you have to say quite clearly don't come. >> yes. i can say quite clearly don't come. we're in the process of getting it set up. don't leave your town or city or community. >> he said that after saying there on the campaign trail. >> i think people should have to get in line. if people are coming because they're seeking asylum, they should have a chance to make their case. >> i would in fact make sure that there is -- we immediately surge to the border those people seeking asylum. they deserve to be heard. that's who we are. we're a nation that says if you're fleeing oppression, you should come. >> and the ice directeder and victor davis hanson. first griff jenkins. he's live in mexico. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. we're at the port of entry. any moment, we're awaiting a group of 30 to 50 migrants that have remained in mexico under the policy. with the new administration, they'll be allowed to cross that bridge. one of those migrants that has been waiting a year and eight months, a gentleman in the middle here. selling newspapers. he's a cuban migrant that came here. he's been waiting for a year and eight months. i asked him, trace and had to be translated from spanish, i asked about that stay-at-home message. here's what he said. >> was he told that he would get in? >> we understand that mpp is priority for biden's government. i trust the government of the united states to accept me and my family. >> it is when these migrants are getting in under the new administration that is causing the surge. that's why they're coming, whether it be unaccompanied children, families or single adults. we were in the processing center with migrants that were expelled on the same bridge. we saw families, we saw children with run any noses, coughing. they crossed illegally and expelled under title 42. at the bottom line here, trace, is that the numbers that you mentioned and i want to show the number of unaccompanied children, 565 unaccompanied minors per day up from 313 in february. blows out of the water the average in the year 2019 when we called it a crisis and saw it as a crisis. that was 208 a day. the officials here that run the ports, runs the migrant population, enrique venezuela says the shelters at full. they're at capacity. they hope the migrants hear the message not to come because he's out of resources and overwhelmed on what to do here. trace? >> more than double the numbers of 2019 to 2021. griff jenkins. now we bring in ron batello. you heard griff jenkins there. these people are under the impression that joe biden wants them to come up there. he said he wants them to come. now he's saying they should not come and he also said in the interview with abc that he's surprised. he did not anticipate the surge. how can you ask them to come and not think they will? >> correct. at least a mix signal going on if not an actual signal that says we're going soft on the border. removing the migrant protection protocols and letting those folks comes in to the u.s. to awith wait their asylum puts them in the same category for the people in the pipeline now. the unaccompanied children are treated under the law that they will be released in the united states. that's been happening since 2008 when the law was reformed. in 2014 through the court contests. they have to be treated under the law and released in the country to their parents hopefully or some kind of foster situation. i'll remind everyone in 2014 when this was a big problem and it was smallner 2014 than it is today, 94% of those kids are still in the united states. so there's an incentive for them to send their children to the border, bring their children to the border or come as kids alone. this is the situation that we're in. it was predictable. now everybody is playing catch-up. i feel terrible for the dhs work force and their families. yet again, they're going to go through another surge. agents and officers, folks in ice, they have to pick up the pieces here. >> i want to pick up on a point you just touched on. there are about 2014, 2019, most of those unaccompanied minors are still in the united states. former acting dhs secretary chat wolf said the following about who is talking to who on both sides of the border. listen to this. >> they listen to other illegals who have gotten in to the country that call them and tell them that they're here, they're staying in the u.s., they're not being deported or removed. that is how they vote. that's what they're listening to. >> they're listening to it. president biden now says we just need a little time to set up the system. three months ago the system was largely in place, ron. >> the system was there. we didn't need as many shelters nor unaccompanied children because they were using title 42 to remove them and repatriate them to mexico or another country. they didn't need the shelter space that they need now. what i heard, there's 500 plus kids coming every night. i saw reports that hhs releases. bringing the children to their families or reuniting them, they're going out 140 a day. if you have 500 coming every night and getting 140 out of the shelters, you need a lot more shelter space. you need to augment the border patrol locations so that they can socially distance, they can do their dangerous work in the proper setting. these people have to be brought in to the system in order nor the law to be operationized. there's no choice with children. that i have to be treated in this way. >> former acting ice director, ron batello. good to join us. thank you. >> thank you. >> also with us, victor david hanson who says biden's border policy is unhumane. thanks for coming on. you have to go back. when i read a lot of these never trumpers are saying, trump's border policies were working. what are your thoughts on what is happening at the southern border? >> well, i've never seen anything like it. it's entirely self-created, trace. after three acrimonyious years, trip trip had public support, he rebuilt or built a 400-mile wall plus and a system where refugees, if they had claims of entry into the united states would file in their own countries. when biden came into power, he threw it all away. i have never seen a situation where the presidents of mexico in a sarcastic fashion gives him a comment and calls him the migrant president. we had the president of el salvador saying we don't want this. it's all being driven by the united states. we have never had a government that said, you know, we're not saying don't come, i.e. you can come illegally and break our laws in the time of a pandemic but we don't want you to come now because it's embarrassing. this is very new. >> you have the dhs secretary -- oh i apologize -- that he expects the number of crossings that could reach the highest level in two decades. he went on to say that people should not come. then he said yet. so right now they want things to slow down because they have no idea what to do down there. there's no solution. there's no remedy. but as soon as they think they can figure this out, the signal is, you know, there's a time that you will be able to come. >> i think, trace, they're entirely bewildered. they thought this was a talking point to their left wing base and nobody would take them seriously. they could traipse into the united states and they did. now they can't even use the word crisis or trying to blame donald trump in some, you know, melodramatic fashion that doesn't make sense. here in california, governor newsome facing a recall election, what is his first public statement? it's all an alt right effort of people afraid of the browning of california. so the left is desperate to find some excuse for this self-inflicted catastrophe. polls show 70% of americans don't want this to happen. >> we have reported that, you know, these cartels and the smugglers are actively marketing the biden program. the governor of texas, greg abbott, he asked an important question during his news conference. i'm not going to play it. i want to paraphrase. he says america needs to know how these young children and who is helping them come across the border, we need to know if they were forced, did they carry contraband. these are things america needs to know. is that a fair assessment in your estimation? >> absolutely. this is passed off from the biden administration, the most inhumane thing in the world. parents are deliberately sending their children over here to serve as conduits for their own later entry, which is inhumane. the idea that cartels and smugglers are piggybacking on this is even worse. that's why you're getting this push back from governments south of the border that are saying to the united states, wait a minute. we had an agreement. things were calm, this is not in your interest and surely not in our interest either. that is a new phenomenon. we've never seen that happen. governments south of the border objecting to what we're encouraging. >> if i can quickly put these numbers up. you talked about them. we talked about them. today 565 unaccompanied minors today. that's the average. last month it was 313. back in 2014 or 2019 when they called it a crisis, it was less than half of that. victor davis hanson, great to have you on board. thank you, sir. >> thank you for having me. >> meantime, the white house briefing is underway. so far the issue of the border has not yet come up. florida senator marco rubio out with a blistering statement blaming the biden administration for creating a crisis there. he will join us. a shocking plot twist. a massage parlor shooting that left eight people dead. why the officials believe the suspect may have been triggered by sex addiction. former homicide detective ted williams is next on that. so you're a small business, or a big one. you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back? 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>> trace: thanks, steve. breaking news at the white house. jen psaki giving a press briefing now on the surge of unaccompanied minors. let's listen. >> to prepare what has been an unprepared and dismantled system. it's going to take some time. our policy is that we're going to continue to make sure that we're working through our laws and the border is not open. but we also as you know have changed our policy to approach it in a more humane way and keep kids safe that requires putting in place more effective and efficient processing at the border. it will take time. we're working through it. every day new steps and new improvements to make the system more efficient and effective. >> is there a limit or cap to the number of unaccompanied minors allowed into the u.s.? >> a limit or a cap? should we send some kids that are 10 back at a certain point? is that -- >> i'm not setting the policy here. i'm asking you what the biden administration policy is. is there a limit to the number of children that will be allowed in. the numbers we're hearing now, 565 on average every day. i'm curious, what the end game is here. how many ultimately will be allowed in. >> i think where we are is we're focused on some of the very specific numbers. so when we came in to office, there existed 13,000 permanent beds in hhs, the shelter facilities during the last administration. thousands of these beds, approximately half were taken off line due to covid. staff was taken off line. this was sufficient for the prior administration. this is how we got here. they were expelling children. in addition to families and single adults. we decided as you know that we will be more humane about how we approach this. there was an operational capacity built. the prior administration did not consider there were mitigation efforts like masking and preventlation, cohorting and other measures that would contain the spread of covid. there's revised cdc guidance, which means there's greater capacity where we can expedite children. expedite getting children in to them. we're taking steps to ensure that when kids come to the border, we look and see if they have a phone number to call the family member and get them to the family members as quick as possible. these are the steps that we're taking at this point in time. our policy continues to be, we're not going to send a 10-year-old back across the border. that was the policy of the last administration. go ahead. >> and your commitment is to the young children under 17 or 17 and under stay. is the u.s. government incentivizing parents to send their children across the border alone because that is their best chance to enter and stay in the united states? >> certainly you heard the president say in this interview that he conducted that he is encouraging people not to come. now is not the time to come. this is not a safe journey for people to take of any age. he believes as he talked about last night that no parent is looking and making a bet whether their kid can make it, this is a difficult and treacherous journey. most of these kids are fleeing very challenging circumstances. his view is that there's a number of steps that we need to take and steps he hope he can work with democrats and republicans on. that's his goal. >> how is that message being communicated by the u.s. government to those thousands perhaps tens of thousands already in the midst of this dangerous journey that they're making to the border right now and not receiving that message? >> the thousands of children or thousands of families -- >> children, families, adults. all of them. >> we convey with every official that speaks -- secretary mayorkas, you've heard roberta jacobson and officials speaking with countries, working in partnership with them, speaking through channels in the region that now is not the time to come. the border is not open, this is a treacherous journey. the vast majority of people will be send back on their journey. >> it seems maybe it's a mixed message. initially alejandro mayorkas said don't come now, right? then we heard from the president saying don't come, the u.s. is in the process so in your home country you can apply for asylum. >> yeah. >> how do you -- it appears to be mixed message or a mixed message which is don't come now, others don't come at all. >> i think this is no doubt a complicated circumstance. what we're trying to do is address this and effective and humane manner. that requires putting in place additional policies and measures. you referenced one of them, which is reinstituting the cam program, which would allow kids to apply from their home country that is an option -- >> how long would that take? >> we're hoping that can happen soon. i don't have act exact time line. we would like that back in place. it was a program in place and ended in 2017. so that's an example. we want to build beyond that so we can have programs where it ensures that kids are not taking this difficult journey, that they have other choices and other options. and this will take more time. we're going to keep seeing the cycles. this is not the first cycle. 2014, 2018. the numbers have been increasing since april 2020 of last year. unless we work together, democrats and republicans to address the root causes. the president worked with now senator lindsey graham as an example on a bill to get more funding to address the route causes in these countries. if we don't take the steps now, we'll keep being on these circles year after year. >> last question. we talked about the topic of the governor of new york, andrew cuomo. my question is why did president biden feel the need to weigh-in, to say the claims of these women were confirmed the governor would likely be prosecuted? >> the president respects law enforcement and the justice system as we state from here and he's stated. he was asked a specific question about what should happen and if the investigation confirms the claims of the women. he answered that question. >> so in the past, previous democratic administrations said we're not going to weigh-in or put our finger in -- >> he didn't say this would happen. obviously the process will play out. there's an ongoing investigation that should be swift, thorough and obviously it will determine what the outcome is here. he certainly respects that. >> okay. thank you. >> go ahead. >> a couple questions. so on the atlanta shooting, do you see some need for the white house and the administration to perhaps appoint a point person to address anti-asia violence even though the shooting wasn't linked, it's a concern the president has raised? >> first, i would say that it's important to note that, you know, the president as we put out a few updates today, just to reiterate, he's briefed overnight. he talked to the attorney general and the fbi director this morning and we're continuing to monitor the situation as you touched on local and federal law enforcement are still determine ago motive. they had their own press conference this morning. that doesn't change the fact that this news was horrific and broadly speaking there has been -- >> trace: we're having difficulties -- jen psaki there on the podium. the white house clearly struggling to come up with a consensus or a plan to figure out what is happening at the border. the one hand they're saying joe biden do not come to the border now because we're trying to put a system in place. on the other hand, jen psaki saying if unaccompanied minors come, they'll be allowed in because it's inhumane to send them back. critics saying the reason they're sending the unaccompanied minors is because they're well aware the children will be let in. meantime you have 4,000 at the border being held against the law, longer than the 72 hours, which is the limit to hold these children. they're being held for 120 hours and beyond. meantime, as we listen to the white house, we're monitoring a press conference from new york governor andrew cuomo underway right now. so far nothing on the harassment allegations or impeachment investigation against him. andy mccarthy as we monitor the breaking news is next. here's exciting news for veteran homeowners who need cash. refiplus from newday usa. it lets you refinance at today's record low rates plus get cash. with mortgage rates low and home values high refiplus can help you lower your rate plus turn your home equity into an average of $50,000. money for security today. money for retirement tomorrow. refiplus from newday usa. 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 pill to lower blood sugar in all 3 of these ways... increases insulin... decreases sugar... and slows food. the majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7. people taking rybelsus® lost up to 8 pounds. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking rybelsus® with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration which may worsen kidney problems. wake up to what's possible with rybelsus®. ♪ please don't take my sunshine away ♪ you may pay as little as $10 per prescription. ask your healthcare provider about rybelsus® today. ♪ ♪ 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 >> trace: breaking right now, governor cuomo holding a phone briefing. the case for impeachment gets hotter. the state assembly said a law firm will lead the investigation. one of the attorneys was on special counsel robert mueller's team that probed russian interference in 2016 and secured the conviction of paul manafort. with us now, andy mccarthy, former federal prosecutor. he's also a fox news contributor. good to see you. president biden said last night on abc, if the allegations are true, that andrew cuomo, sexual harassment allegations, should resign and could likely be prosecuted. is he right and two, why do you think the president is weighing in open think now? >> i think, trey, the first question, the easiest question to answer, the last batch of allegations that were made, particularly the very last one by the anonymous staffer in the new york state executive branch that says that there was a grope, where he went in under the blouse, that actually does cross in to sexual assault. what i'd say, what i interpreted the president saying, if stuff like that was proved, which would be criminal, you'd expect there's criminal prosecution. i'd say the same thing about the nursing home stuff. if it turns out that they gave false statements to the justice department about the number of nursing home deaths, you can see about three different ways that that could be a federal crime. so i think that's all he's saying. if these allegations have been made approved out, he could have criminal exposure. >> trace: you write this in an op-ed. inertia is the most powerful forces in politics. the evidence against cuomo is mounting but he has two things going in his favor. first, he has capable counsel that will be able to mount strong arguments that impeachment standards in new york law are very uncertain and after a decade in power, he has appointed many of the judges that might be called upon to rule on such claims. so you think he can wait this out in essence. >> i do. i'm not saying that that is a good thing. i'm just -- after observing politics as we both have for all of these years, what i would say is the democrats i think want to be in a position where they can say they called for him to resign but they didn't push for him to be impeach. impeachment has a lot of stuff in it in new york law. >> trace: stand by if you would. cuomo is facing allegations about sexual harassment right now. let's listen. >> and i'm going to respect the review. i went comment on issues that are subject to the review. okay? next question, operator. >> governor, i know that you don't want to talk about the specifics of the probe but i wonder what your reaction was to president biden saying you could face prosecution. secondly, what is your reaction to the sienna poll where people said they didn't want you to resign? >> i don't think that's what president biden said, marsha. his words will speak for itself. i don't think he said the way you paraphrased it. on the siena poll, that's what i'm hearing from new yorkers. they want me to do a job. they're concerned about covid, concerned about vaccining, concerned about reopening. and they believe in due process that allegations are not guilt. so figure out the facts before you make a conclusion. that's also common sense. next question, operator. >> trace: answering questions, saying he's not going to answer questions about the sexual harassment allegations. let's bring back in andrew mccarthy. he said he was asked about what president biden said last night. he said i think you're paraphrasing him incorrectly. let's do it correctly. we have the sound bite and then we'll get your thoughts. let's play this. >> the investigation confirms the claims of the women, should he resign? >> yes. i think he probably will be prosecuted, too. a woman should be presumed for telling the truth and should not be scapegoated and victimized by coming forward, number 1. there should be an investigation to determine whether what she says is true. >> trace: so it was what the reporter asked. that's how it was said last night. so governor cuomo got that wrong a little bit. seems like he's got some barriers now. he said i'm not going to talk about anything under investigation right now. >> yeah, classic, trace. once they start the investigation, everybody clams up. he doesn't have to clam up. he's choosing to clam up. he would like you to think the investigation means he can't speak. that's not so. >> trace: thanks, andy. sorry for the brief time. we'll get back to that news conference if he starts talking in some capacity about the allegations against him. the stage set for the first high level meaning between the u.s. and china. we'll talk to one of the most regimes ardent critics in congress, senator marco rubio that is slamming the humanitarian calamity at the border as the situation caused entirely by president biden's words and actions. the senator is next. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ excuse me ma'am, did you know that liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? 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>> trace, good afternoon. just ahead of that first meeting, the state department hits two dozen chinese diplomats and officials with sanctions over china's erosion of democracy and freedom in hong kong. secretary of state anthony blinken is in seoul meeting south korean officials and tomorrow in alaska. there's continuing animosity between the two governments. china's foreign ministry calls the latest sanctions on chinese officials vicious. u.s. officials say they need to address china's problematic behavior. >> china is using coercion and aggression to systematically erode autonomy in hong kong, abuse human rights and assert maritime claims in the south china sea that violate international law. >> senior administration officials say the u.s. is coming to these discussions tomorrow with an increasingly strong hand because of coordinate with american allies across the word. like secretary blinken's trip. the senior administration official says tomorrow is a way to begin a conversation with the chinese counter parts and a way for the two governments to compare the long list of grievances that they have with one another. trace? >> trace: rich edson live in d.c. thank you. joining me is the ranking member of the senate foreign relations committee, senator marco rubio. thanks for coming on. the poll, i'm not sure you saw it, in a year, the number of americans that believe china is enemy number 1 has doubled. how significant is that to you? >> i think it means the message has gotten through that we face a tremendous challenge with the chinese on every level. er that challenging us industrially, economically, militarily. it's the most serious challenge the country has faced since the second world war. we don't want it to be a shooting war. should never be with. but it is a geo political and economic competition, a serious one. one that if we lose, we'll lose in a world dominated by a repressed regime. >> trace: i want to play this sound bite from jake sullivan. listen, sir. >> we have spoken a lot about our fundamental strategy of establishing a position of strength in the early going. after the work of the past 50 days, secretary blinken and i will enter the meeting from a position of strength, this summit is a big deal for the president and for the country and we're looking forward to the work ahead. >> trace: talked a couple times there, senator, about a position of strength. a lot of people are worried the biden administration is so eager to cut deals like climate change and other things that they will ignore much of the bad behavior. what do you think? >> i think that's something that they're watching. the chinese will do a couple things. it's a strategy that they always do. they try to divide american political figures. they'll treat the national security adviser tough on him and be nicer to the secretary state. they did that in the previous administration as well. it's a strategy that they use. they'll try to lure us in to a short-term agreement. re-visit the trade deal. let you do more things if you -- in exchange and we'll buy more of your products if you left the tariffs. what they'll try to do is lure us into a deal that we think is so important that we can't have china walk from it. then they'll start insisting on us to stop talking about hong kong. stop talking about taiwan and the muslims in labor camps. stop talking about these things. that's my fears that they'll get lured into that situation. i hope it doesn't happen. it's bad for our country. >> trace: i want to switch topics. the southern border is a mess by all accounts. what do you think of what is happening down there and the way the biden administration is handling this thing that they will not call a crisis? >> they created it. not just the president but the entire democratic party, the people running for the president, the stuff about getting rid of ice, kids in cages and all that. they created a perception that that's what that side is for. if people show up, they'll be treated differently. you is say whatever you want now. these are desperate people living dangerous conditions and central america and from 50 something countries all over the world coming across the border. they're not watching the press conferences online or listening to these things. they're being told by trafficking networks, there's a new president, he's not like the other president. if you show up at the border, they'll let you in. if you showed up with kids, they'll let you in faster. you have an incentive for people to do it. it was foreseeable and predictable and created irresponsible things that they said for 2 1/2 years when the previous trump administration was trying to address these things. >> trace: moments ago, jen psaki, the press secretary, giving contradictory statements saying we don't want people to come but if unaccompanied minors come, which these people as you just noted in the south american states know that they're going to be let in, they will be let in. we've got 4,000. they're being kept longer than the 72 hours that they should babying kept. what is the answer on that -- on the focus of unaccompanied minors? >> i think the answer obviously is the answer that it was before. you can't release the kid in the country because somebody claims an aunt or uncle. that's why they're held. every time someone comes into the u.s., they get in, they call. for every person that calls, it encourages more people to call and do the same thing. we'll see this escalate. they can deny it. it's a reality that they have to con front created by them. >> i want to play these sound bites, senator. they both seem to be not exactly accurate. listen. >> this administration has a border policy. i congratulate you for it. it's not a policy of putting children in cages which we had to suffer for year after year on the trump administration. there's no children in cages. >> congresswoman, the border is secure and the border is not open. we are expelling under the cdc's public health authority in light of the pandemic single individuals who arrive at the border. >> the dhs secretary saying the border is secure. the border is not open. we're down there on the ground reporting on this and the people that are covering this, the border patrol says it's wide open. >> yeah, look, the bottom line is doesn't matter what he says. it's patters what people coming think. if people coming think if arrive, we're going to be released. come back when asylum is up. they won't show up for that. people know that. i'm not trying to demonize these people. they're desperate. we have compassion for them. there's nothing compassionate about luring people with this journey by taking a position you're not enforcing. as far as kids -- the kids are in facilities like in the previous administration, longer than 72 hours because you have to. you have no choice but to do so. even if you wanted to release them, who do you release them to in many cases. that's what they a tacked the trump administration on and now where are all the protesters showing up outside the centers? >> they're in the same facilities. thanks, senator rubio. >> thank you. >> moments ago, the white house briefing wrapped up with a focus on how they plan to allocate billions of dollars to gets schools up and running. breaking details on the timeline that they just issued and lawrence jones when we come back. important news for veteran homeowners. introducing refiplus from newday usa. refiplus lets you refinance at today's all-time low interest rates plus get cash. with home values climbing, now is the smartest time ever to turn your home's increased value into an average of $50,000 cash. refiplus. it's new, it's only for veterans, and it's only from newday usa. 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(deborah) when i finally had miracle-ear and i could hear for the first time, i started crying. i could hear everything. new miracle-earmini. so small and comfortable that no one will see them, but you'll notice the difference. call today to start your 30-day risk-free trial at your local miracle-ear. >> trace: moments ago, the white house detailed plans to open schools. education secretary miguel cardonas saying this. >> this spring we want our students back in school quickly as possible. >> trace: joining me right now, lawrence jones. the catch phrase now from the officials says quickly as possible, safely as possible. i want to play this sound bite from majority leader chuck schumer and get your response. >> now let me turn my attention to schools. one of the most enduring images of the covid-19 pandemic will be the empty classroom. we need to get our schools to reopen as quickly and as safely as possible. now, my republican colleagues made a lot of noise about reopening our schools. they don't want to dedicate any resources to getting it done. we need money to do this. >> trace: the whole thing when the science fit his narrative. that was phone. but now you need money. >> yeah, they take their science guide from the teacher's union. the bottom line is to open the schools safely is to open it right now. there doesn't need to be a plan. open up right now. the science says it's okay. we've seen across the country that even when we give them the funding, to get the shots, the funding to get new air filters, they still don't want to open the schools. this is a matter of the teacher's union not wanting to get back into the classroom. they want to reimagine education. in the process of them reimagining education, we're seeing health of our kids go into shambles. the mental health of our kids go into shambles. the abuse of our kids happening in a larger number across the country. what really hasn't been discussed is that these kids are going to be six and eight years behind when it's all said and done. >> but what i want to know is, do they really think that they -- that we don't know there's hundreds of private schools across the country that have already reopened and have had few cases? no spreading events of covid-19. we have the proof. we have the evidence. yet we keep hearing from the teacher's unions, it's not safe. >> i think this is the time where finally the teacher's unions overplayed their hand. i've been talking about school choice competitive schools and parents being able to decide what is best for their child. some people got that message. if it didn't pact you that much, you don't hear. the unions are running the democratic party. despite these kids suffering, it's finally getting a lot of americans to wake up. >> trace: i have about 30 sec left. now the cdc is talking about three feet of separation might do the trick. that would alleviate a lot of these teacher's unions would go crazy if the cdc said go forward. >> yeah, as you know, they're not going to like this. again, we're following the science right now. the teacher's union don't care about the science. they take about vacation. i don't want to disparage all teachers. there's a lot that want to get back. but these bureaucrats, the people behind the scenes with the money and all, they don't want to be back in the classroom. they're putting their pocketbook over the kids. >> trace: lawrence jones, great to see you. >> thanks. >> trace: that is "the story" of wednesday, march 17, 2021. as always, "the story" continues. i'm trace gallagher. see you back here tomorrow at 3:00. "your world," charles payne in for neil cavuto. have a great one. >> we're live in washington where president biden is doubling down on his tax hike pledge. democrats threaten to blow up the filibuster to pass more pricey legislation. is it a dangerous combination for all taxpayers? welcome. i'm charles payne in for neil cavuto. this is "your world." we're going to get reaction to all of this from iowa republican senator church grassley in just a moment. first, jacqui heinrich on capitol hill where this fight is headed. jacqui? >> hi, charles. jerome powell didn't face questions about the looming tax hikes. democrats are weighing a host of options to address the ske