massive social spending plan that they're trying to piece together here as polls show that americans are trending toward less government, not more. katie pavlich and will cane will weigh-in. first, the story we've been watching as it started to break 1 1/2 hours ago. it is continuing to unfold in florida. the fbi now confirmed that items of interest were found in connection to the brian laundrie man hunt. cadaver dogs called to the scene. this is a live camera in north port, florida. his parents, mom and dad are at their own behest or law enforcement this morning went to a specific area in a park near their house. they have returned. they're inside their home as we wait for more word from the fbi, which we're told we could hear at any time. so let's go first to laura ingle who is in gabby petito's hometown where everybody is watching and waiting for confirmation or new development. hi, laura. >> you've got that right. a senior law enforcement official telling fox news what appears to be human remains were discovered where the cadaver dogs are working. that has everybody on high alert. all of this happening during and in the area where they've been searching for brian laundrie. you mentioned video of the coroner's van. the parent of gabby petito here in her hometown are standing by to hear if the person of interest in their daughter's disappearance has been found. the fbi tweeting an update saying this. the items of interest were located at the carlton reserve in connection with the search for brian laundrie. fbi evidence response team is processing that scene. the fbi in tampa could provide an update as early as 4:00 p.m. eastern on the fast-moving developments. we've seen the van from the sarasota medical examiner's office and lee county present also after searching at the carlton reserve where investigators have been searching for brian laundrie and search teams and drones. this is the same area where brian laundrie's parents said he went for a hike and reported him missing after he didn't return home to their residence for several days. a fox news digit reporting, chris and roberta laundrie were seen at the park with a search team member that said they might have found something. if there's human remains that were recovered and they are brian laundrie that is terrible news for the family of brian laundrie against the family of gabby petito. we talked with gabby's family. they said they wanted him alive to ask questions and if he's responsible, held accountable. martha? >> martha: thank you, laura. we'll go back as news merits this afternoon. let's bring in mark eiglarsh watching this with us, former prosecutor and mercedes colwin, fox news contributor. mark, let's start with what happened this morning, which is that brian laundrie's parents either decided on their own or were asked to go to this section of the park. this is the same area that is adjacent to the same area where they had told law enforcement that that's probably where their son went. what do you make of what happened earlier this morning? >> well, either they were told directly to go there because they knew that there was something going on -- look, this is the beginning of the end. i knew this day was coming. he knew what he had done. he knew that it would not lead to an acquittal. we learned recently what was done to sweet gabby and how he took her life allegedly. that was not something that he would say is some accident, something that might have happened by some innocent way. when we heard it was strangulation, i knew that my initial suspicions that he would kill himself were on. >> martha: mercedes, we're waiting for word and we understand that we could hear from the fbi at any point in the next hour or two. the remains, we don't know what condition they're in, how difficult to identify what they are. they did find items belonging to brian nearby. what is your take on what's going on right now? >> you're exactly right. there's this other variable, the fact that it's at a preserve. a lot of animals in that area, depends on what the condition of the body was, if in fact it is brian laundrie. when he died, if he killed himself. i'm with mark. i think everyone early on thought that this is the acts of a desperate individual who did something horrible to young gabby petito. so it's not a surprise to any of us this is the outcome but this won't end here. there's a lot of questions that need to be answered. we might not know the specifics of what took place when gabby petito was murdered but one thing for sure, it's virtually certain that brian laundrie spoke to someone, spoke to his family, maybe friends. if any of those individuals in his inner circle had anything to do with him escaping from law enforcement, they will have individual charges against those individuals and it's going to be a lot of focus on what the parents knew, when he returned on september 1, and gabby petito's van without gabby petito. >> martha: it's a great point, mercedes. you look at the events of today. you think about the fact that this area where they decided to go this morning was off limits. it was closed until yesterday. so that would indicate that at some point they're thinking, you know, we've looked, we searched and the search is over and lo and behold, 24 hours later they find this body and the items and the parents go there to that spot. mark, does that strike you as odd? >> no. only on cheesy law dramas on television do police find everything they're looking for. they're humans. they're doing everything that they can working diligently to find whatever they can to help solve the case. it's not uncommon to miss certain items if they missed it. this is a huge area. you don't just find something because it happens to be there. you have to look hard. i know they're doing their best. i agree with mercedes. i have to echo what she said. if these parents mislead law enforcement, they should be subjected to criminal prosecution. >> martha: that is a huge question here. a lot of buzz around what may have been coming for these parents, what they knew, who they spoke to, what brian may have told them. we know they took the camping trip together, which we broke here when we spoke to the neighbors across the street. the three of them went somewhere in the days after he came home that is the next chapter here as we wait for any information that they may be coming -- we know what it looks like. we don't have any confirmation yet that this is the body of brian laundrie. we'll see what the fbi says. thanks, mercedes and mark. grad to have you here. i know you'll watch this with us. thank you both. >> yeah. >> martha: we're going to stay on this breaking story. we'll continue to show you the scene from there as it unfolds. also right now, president biden's drop in the polls, very big drop in the polls among independent voters. these are the voters that put him over the top. we're heading in to the 12 months before the mid-terms. so all of this is incredibly relevant as we look at what might happen. katie pavlich and will cane weigh-in on that. senator rand paul joins me on the heated battle between chicago police officers and the mayor of their city, lori lightfoot, over her demand that they get vaccinated or lose their job. that has left chicagoans with fewer officers on the street today. if ever going to use your va home loan benefit to get cash, now is the time. because interest rates are near record lows and home values are at record highs. the newday 100 va cash out loan lets you borrow 100% of your home's values and you can take out $ 50,000 or more. pay down high rate credit cards, improve your home, or just give your family the security of having cash in the bank. >> tech: when you get a chip in your windshield... trust safelite. this couple was headed to the farmers market... when they got a chip. they drove to safelite for a same-day repair. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech: that's service the way you need it. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ before you go there, or there... start here. walgreens makes it easy to stay protected wherever you go. schedule your free flu shot and covid-19 vaccine today. >> martha: a lot of talk on capitol hill. joe manchin is responding to reports that came out a short time ago that was consider leaving the democrat party. senator rand paul is standing by. we'll get his reaction to that and talk about what's going on with the vaccines and mandates and chicago police. let's bring in chad pergram who fills us in on the reaction that senator manchin had to that. good afternoon, chad. >> good afternoon, martha. joe manchin denies the story. he says he doesn't control rumors. when asked about the report, he called it bull crap. that's not the word he used. manchin has been asked about changing parties before. >> it's a party, switching the party, whether you have a d or r by your name changes who you are as a person, you're in the wrong profession. you can put me anywhere you want. having the d or an r by my name or changing, i have never considered that. >> it's a 50/50 senate. manchin would flip senate control. the senate changed hands mid stream the last time there was a 50/50 senate. that was in 2001. late vermont senator jim jeffers left the gop and became an effort bus he caucused with the democrats. that shifted control of the senate to the democrats. it's possible manchin could become an independent and still associate with the democrats. right now the democrats have two independents that caucus with them, bernie sanders and angus king. >> martha: thanks, chad. a lot of talk about that. we want to get you to weigh-in and the reaction from senator manchin. there you have it. chad pergram, thanks very much. in washington, jen psaki getting a little bit testy when she was pressed on vaccine mandates for police officers and whether or not that would put public safety at risk. watch. >> in the point of a vaccine mandate is to make it safer but a vaccine mandate means tons of police and military may walk off the job, at the end of the day does it make people safer? >> where are tons and police of military walking off the job? >> martha: so where is that happen something a lot of discussion about it happening in a lot of places. in chicago, you have 24 officers that are on unpaid leave after refusing to submit their vaccination status in to the website where they were asked to do that. the city is putting contingency plans in place to deal with what they see as a potentially bigger shortage that might be coming as the illinois fraternal order of police insist that officers from elsewhere in the state may have to be called in to fill in the gaps in the city of chicago, which has had a huge crime problem. "we cannot force any law enforcement officer to volunteer for lightfoot duty just as no one should be able to force any officer to be injected with chemicals against their will" they write. similar situations are playing out in other places across the country. new york city is about to bump up on the mandate. we bring in senator rand paul, who is also a physician, a doctor. senator good to have you with us today. >> thanks for having me. >> martha: i'd like to start by playing this sound bite by lori lightfoot around her directive to the officers that find themselves in this situation. watch this. >> if you ignore a directive of your supervisor or worse, a direct order that is lawfully given, you'll destroy your career. that will follow you forever. over what? going to a website, clicking yes or no? if no, saying you'll sign up for testing? really? that's worth it? >> martha: what do you say, senator? >> i say what a disservice to our brave american and women of the police department, the fire department, the first responders, doctors, nurses. they took care of us. they showed up every day for work in the middle of a pandemic that could have killed them. many of them lost their lives. the way they're being treated now is you're going to be like yesterday's trash. we don't care whether you had the disease, we don't care about your liberty or you at all. it's like these are the people that protect us daily. i'm around the police. i see them protecting me, the lives they save in kentucky and around the world. to treat them with disrespect. they put their lives on the line protecting violence and protecting their lives on the line when there was no vaccine, when the treatment was primitive and people were dying. they showed up at work every day. now she, who has -- knows nothing about the dangers that they incur will fire them? it's awful. i think all of the essential workers should be exempt from any mandate for the service that they have given to their country. >> martha: here's an example. this is chicago police sergeant rick nygrow. here's what he said. >> you're willing to get fired for this? >> yes, i am. i hope i don't, obviously. i believe in doing the right thing. >> you're going to tell me what i'm going to put in my body? that's my choice. the respect is you're going to terminate me? >> martha: one more voice here, senator. this is the chicago superintendent, david brown. he wants his officers to get vaccinated. watch. >> i know the bravery and courage it takes to do this job in the most difficult time to be a cobb. we have to do anything we can to save their lives. if it takes this mandate, if it takes going through a counselling session, a no-pay status, going to internal affairs for a direct order, if that's what it takes, i'm willing to do it. >> martha: can you understand where he's coming from? >> no. because i think any mandate that ignores the science is arbitrary and capricious and should not be honored. for example, many policemen and firemen were out there, caught covid naturally. 100 million americans have had covid naturally and have developed anti-bodies and an immunity to it. studies say that their immunity is as good or better than vaccinated immunity. the bottom line, all of the arguments fall. they say the unvaccinated are making us less safe. it turns out that if you're vaccinated, you can carry it also. so there's no perfect safety that anybody can find. the ultimate personal choice, the most personal choice of all is what you inject in your body. i'm not against the vaccine. if you're at high risk, get vaccinated but you should have a choice. it's a free country. >> martha: any thoughts on the joe manchin story, suggests that he might be considering switching parties? he shot them down. >> we have an extra chair. we're a big party. he would have a place. he's a pro energy senator, pro coal, pro fossil fuels. he's unaccepted in the democratic caucus. they hate everything that his state produces. we welcome home. i don't think it would happen, but i promise you, he has a seat at the table and a big important voice in our caucus if he comes over. >> martha: thanks, senator rand paul. good to see you. more new polls today that show the economy is as it usually is, the top concern for voters in this country. that as the white house calls the break down at our parts a tread mill drama. businesses across the country say those containers floating around hold more than tread mills. they hold the materials that they desperately need to make their products, manufacture the things that they make all over the country. now you have governor desantis saying we have capacity in florida. send them our way. we have a big exclusive for you. a scoop with lay lahood that tells us, what is the job of pete buttigieg and what could he do to alleviate the pressure in that capacity? when we come back. >> we're here. we have capacity. we have to make sure people can go christmas shopping as 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southern california. they're stocked with everything pretty much. things that people need to manufacture, diapers, appliances, pet food, building materials, groceries. you name it. everything is on those hundreds of ships that have thousands of containers collectively all over them. they're trying to get to the dock. they've been there for weeks. shelves are getting more and more empty in stores. companies are waiting for the things that they need to fill orders that they said they would fill. prices are going up because there's a tightening of the supplies and a demand for the few things out there. the president said he would fix it. he talked about it last week. the fix is, i guess, underway. tear trying to get 24/7 operations going there. william la jeunesse is reporting live near the port of los angeles. hi, william. >> martha, the president said the ports were going 24/7. they haven't. we're here. there's 157 ships off of the coast of southern california. 57 are in port. 100 are off show waiting for a berth to open up. prepandemic, average number of ships here, 17 total. average wait, zero. the time to take from shanghai to a store shelf in the u.s. has gone from 40 days to 80. time is money. the ports want to add that 3:00 to 7:00 a.m. shift. the long shoremen say they're ready. the ports couldn't. the trucks said they couldn't. the warehouses say they couldn't because they didn't have the labor to unload the trucks. >> we have three shifts, first, second and third. they choose not to work the third because there's no one that comes to pick up the cargo on the third shift. the other side of the supply chain, there's no place to take the container. >> so all of these costs are going up, a container from china was $3,000 last year. $16 now to the west coast. $20,000 to the east. air cargo up $3,000 to $5,000 for 500 pounds. so shippers are looking for alternatives, right? oakland is own but seattle vancouver are full. houston savannah up double digits. air is faster and reliable but it's expensive. airbus is converting passenger jets to handle cargo because of demand. >> you know, record volumes and demand. really worker shortages and problems throughout the chain. >> so economists say inflation is a hidden tax. not anymore. i think every consumer can see it. back to you. >> martha: when you put up the shipping situation, the delays, the trucking prices, all of that is what is driving -- one of the factors driving prices higher. a great way to explain it, william. thanks very much. i'm joined by ray lahood that served as transportation secretary for five years under president obama. he's co-chair of building america's future educational fund. great to have you here today. >> thank you, martha. good to be with you. >> martha: i want to start by listening to the man that now has your former position. pete buttigieg, the former mayor of south bend is now our transportation secretary. here's what he said on "the view" when he was asked about what he could do about this. >> there's no easy fix. there's no magic wand. as long as the pandemic continues, we'll see disruptions. if covid shuts down a port in china or a shoe factory in vietnam in september, you'll notice that at the mall in december or january. that's why the biggest thing we have to do as a country is put the pandemic behind us. >> martha: what do you think of that answer? you have held the job, you held it for five years. if you were facing this, what kind of things could the transportation secretary do? >> well, martha, what is being done is the president has appointed john vacari who was my deputy secretary. john was the secretary of transportation in maryland, developed the baltimore port. he knows a lot about ports, knows a lot about shipping. john -- i've had a conversation with john. here's what i think is going to happen. the same crisis that we had over not enough ventilators, not enough masks, the crisis over providing the kind of equipment and supplies to those that were taking care of covid patients, the solution there was having the president implement the national defense act. that gives you the opportunity, flexibility and authority to use our military, to use the national guard, to use the private sector to really work with the transportation sector and to really step up with more production of trucks. more training for truck drivers. i think he's put together a very good plan. very soon you'll see the national defense act utilized. you'll see national guards around these ports get called up to begin to drive trucks and deliver these goods. you'll see private sector step up with more equipment. look, this is america. we'll solve this. it's very frustrating now. but there's a good team in place now of experienced people that know how to solve this. >> martha: i think everybody hopes you're right, sir. it's been going on for months. so i think that people are frustrated that the kind of moves that you talk about have not already been enacted by an administration that is pushing for more government. this is a role where they could be showing a lot of leadership and taking charge here. ray lahood, thank you. >> thank you, martha. >> martha: we'll mark your words and see if it happens in a few days. thanks very much. >> thank you. >> martha: in the meantime, there's the man himself. the president of the united states has arrived in scranton, pennsylvania. i'm sorry. he's at joint base andrews. about to board the plane and then he will be in short order because they can do things quickly land in scranton, pennsylvania. he's got a lot on his plate. he's trying to pull the progressives and the moderates in the meetings with the white house as they try to salvage what is said to be at this point between 1.7, 1.9 trillion is what he's hoping they can get an agreement on. one of the things that nobody is focused on so what would that mean? what would be spent? what kind of dollars would go where under that particular scenario? we hear about the topline dollars but not about exactly how the economy will change, which the president said it would. katie pavlich and will cane will weigh-in on that as the president begins to head up to air force one. katie pavlich and will cane coming up. people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible with rybelsus®. ♪ you are my sunshine ♪ ♪ my only sunshine... ♪ rybelsus® is a pill that lowers blood sugar in three ways. increases insulin when you need it... decreases sugar... and slows food. the majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. 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. 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campaigning today in charlottesville. mike emanuel has more. >> there was an unusual moment when terry mcauliffe cut off an interview. he walked off suggesting there's other issues virginia voters care about. >> healthcare, covid and education, jobs. we're over. that's it. thank you. >> i gave you extra time. you could have asked better questions. you should have asked questions the viewers care about. >> we did. >> both mcauliffe and youngkin were offered 20 minutes each with wjbl a from washington d.c. that broadcasts to much of northern virginia. mcauliffe said he agreed to ten minutes. youngkin was asked earlier about the walk-off on "fox and friends." >> here's terry mcauliffe. he yells at sheriffs, won't answer questions. he's losing it. he knows the race is slip against way. >> youngkin was asked questions about former president trump, abortion and vaccine mandates. her answered them all. martha? >> martha: we're watching, mike. thanks very much. so the president as we said on the road this hour. the poll numbers not so great and slipping. so democrats are scrambling to get a number on this human infrastructure bill. what is really in this thing or even the smaller version of it, which is enormous. katie pavlich and will cane join us in just a moment to talk about it. stay with us. so i only pay for what i need. how about a throwback? you got it. ♪ liberty, liberty - liberty, liberty ♪ uh, i'll settle for something i can dance to. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ ♪ ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ serena: it's my 3:10 no-exit-in-sight migraine medicine. it's ubrelvy. for anytime, anywhere migraine strikes, without worrying if it's too late, or where i am. one dose can quickly stop my migraine in its tracks within two hours. unlike older medicines, ubrelvy is a pill that directly blocks cgrp protein, believed to be a cause of migraine. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. most common side effects were nausea and tiredness. serena: ask about ubrelvy. the anytime, anywhere migraine medicine. >> martha: a lot happening this hour. president biden on air force one just leaving joint base andrews headed to scranton. he's trying to drum up interest and support for the human infrastructure bill. he's said that that bill would transform the united states economy. the trip comes as his numbers are sliding, notably among independents, which is a key voting block as you look ahead to the mid-terms. he's got a favorablety rating among independents of 28%. that is down four points in the last two weeks. so independents say along with covid, immigration is a big issue for them. the second most urgent facing the country today. katie pavlich and will cane are here with me. first, we look at how the numbers are playing out at the border. the highest in 25 years. hi, mike. >> hi, martha. yeah, dhs sources confirms there was 1.7 million border apprehensions for 2021. that breaks a record which stood since 1986. one thing we can say by watching the flow of migrants across the border is it's not slowing down at all. they started showing up here at the border just about sun down last night. the first group found a gap where construction on the border wall is incomplete. they went around that. they were from nicaragua and honduras. the babies that they carried were covered head to toe in bug bites. the father with a 10-month-old told us a story of walking, hitching rides for 20 days. they didn't know if they could make it. they're hopeful for a better life. >> in mexico city, they boarded a trailer that had no ventilation. people were passing out. they couldn't breathe. they were in it for two hours. that was what got them worried about their daughter's safety. >> we both suffered hunger, thirst, threats, danger. we've all suffered staying in warehouses to make it here where everybody is free. >> a source for border protection says the families will stay. the unaccompanied minors will stay. the new stats only count the migrants that made contact with the authorities. they don't count the runners that make it their project to slip through the authorities undetected. their numbers are in the hundreds of thousands. >> mike tobin, thanks. let's bring in katie pavlich and will cane host of the will cane podcast. great to see you both. thanks for being here. let's look at the big picture first of these independent numbers. because these are the people that elected president biden. these are the folks that live in the suburbs and places in pennsylvania like philadelphia, wisconsin, all across the board, katie. they're expressing that they're dissatisfied with what they have seen the past nine months. >> this is not what they voted for. president biden said he's a moderate. and now krysten sinema and joe manchin are the moderates holding up joe biden's agenda. that implies he's on the side of far left progressives pushing forward this $3.5 trillion bill that they're trying to get down to 2 trillion. the democrats have the smallest majority in years and yet they're pushing through this as if they have a mandate with a large majority for a far left agenda, not a moderate agenda. when joe biden was campaigning, he said look, i'm going back to the norms, going to get everything in order. you're seeing chaos everywhere. you're seeing it on the border and a messed message about covid-19. they're allowing hundreds of thousands in without testing them and different standards for americans, whether it's kids going to school or people coming in to the communities in the dark of the night being flown in. so independents voted for a moderate. joe biden is doing the opposite. >> martha: you look back at the last presidential election. you know, it's clear that the sentiment that elected joe biden were people that wanted to go back to normal. you know, that's what we heard from voters. that they wanted to just take a step back from the trump years and all of that. what do these numbers tell us about how they feel about what they actually got when they did that? >> i think it tells us somewhat of a short term thing and a longer term lesson. the short term lesson is, you pointed out, the numbers have plummeted another four points. if this were a boxing match, joe biden had been jabbed for nine months. he's been suffering jab, jab on afghanistan, immigration crisis, on inflation. an a host of issues. the last two weeks, we're seening the vaccine mandate, the shipping crisis. while afghanistan can feel far away, your pocketbook is next to your hand. he's taking money out of people's pocketbook. that's what you've seen the last two weeks. the longer term real quickly, the election, katie is right. people voted -- this is the truth of the matter. people voted in 2020 as a thumbs up or thumbs down affirmation or rejection of donald trump. that's it. what you're seeing is they get the ideas in response to that vote. they're getting critical race theory. they're getting immigration open borders and say to themselves, wow, i wish i would have voted on something more than a personality contest. >> martha: that's why this virginia race is so interesting and how the independent voters will go. so president biden is just handed in pennsylvania. he was asked a question about this hypersonic missile test that china reportedly did. he's not commented on this yet. we talk about it here. here's what he said. let's watch. >> are you concerned about chinese hypersonic missiles? >> yes. >> martha: okay. he's concerned. katie? >> i'm glad he's concerned. he's the commander-in-chief and it's his job to protect the nation from foreign threats. look at the state department twitter feed today. they're tweeting about pronouns. tweeting about pronounces. there's americans left in afghanistan and china has a supersonic missile which all the experts we talk to say is a game changener terms of our nuclear capability and our ability for first strike. so the president has not been available to the american people. he's hiding on big issues. he comes out and makes announcements and walks away literally from the american people and the questions that they have about his leadership. it goes back to this idea that he was supposed to be the guy who had 40 years of experience in washington. he was supposed to be experienced and have the charisma and ability to dig in deep and understand hu these things work and understand the world because he had all of these relationships. >> martha: he said he has more ties with anybody in china. would you expect a more forceful response to that question about what china is doing and how we're clearly behind the 8 ball? our intelligence folks said we're supposed that they sent that around the globe? >> no. i expected him to say come on, man and reject the question. i want an action. not an answer. i don't want to see yes. i want to see policy and posture. china is not just a competitor but a threat to the united states. trust me china is presenting themselves as a threat. we have to read it. >> martha: we want to dominate the united states and dominate them militarily, economically and every other way. we have to accept that's the way the game is right now. it's an adversary. we have to talk about it in those terms. >> we're in a cold war with china. in america and the military front. >> martha: thanks, katie and will. see you later. thanks. jonathan turley will come up on a new effort underway to defend parents from what some see as intimidation from the department of justice if they speak out at the school board meeting. homeowners. t newsn newday's refi rate is the lowest in their history. two and a quarter percent. just 2.48 apr. one call can save you thousands every year. and it's easy. there's no money out of pocket and no upfront fees. and while some banks are raising their rates, newday is holding the line for veterans. lock in your rate. >> tech: when you get a chip in your windshield... trust safelite. this couple was headed to the farmers market... when they got a chip. they drove to safelite for a same-day repair. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech: that's service the way you need it. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ ♪♪ we believe everyone deserves to live better. and just being sustainable isn't enough. our future depends on regeneration. that's why we're working to not only protect our planet, but restore, renew, and replenish it. so we can all live better tomorrow. ♪♪ >> martha: more on the justice department's crackdown against violence against school board members. 17 state attorneys general asking president biden and merrick garland to top taking action that intimidates parents. they said "your recent action chills voices during local school board meetings as characterizing them as unlawful and threatening." let's bring in jonathan turley. good to have you with us today. how do you read what is going on here? >> well, this is really overkill by a considerable margin. recently one of the top justice officials was asked in congress whether the examples given by the school boards even comes close to domestic terrorism. she said no. well, okay. why did the administration go out of its way to tell parents that they're sending these officials around the country to prepare for possible domestic terrorism or federal crimes that might be charged? in the first amendment area, we have a term called the chilling effect. it's one of the great threats to free speech. when the government does something that doesn't necessarily arrest lots of people but creates this chilling effect on people where they're not going to be as likely to speak out. this chilling effect is perfectly glacial. if you're saying we're going to look at what people are saying in these board meetings as possible domestic terrorism. what is really bothersome about this whole context is this sort of age of rage element. you know, we just had the mayor of chicago refer to police officers who were reducing to get vaccinated as insurrectionists. now parents speaking at meetings and some have gotten out of control but they're being portrayed as possible domestic terrorists. it's all over the top. >> martha: so if you're the attorney general, if you're merrick garland and asked to look into this, wouldn't you hesitate to go that route if you didn't have specific examples that merited some sort of coordination, some sort of potential effort to hurt these school board members or to truly threaten them. wouldn't you want that evidence? >> yeah, what general garland should have said, we have seen no evidence of domestic terrorism. so to use the patriot act is unfounded. he could say any types of threats made against school board members can be addressed on the local level and if there's any intrastate elements, the department of justice will get involved. there's ample laws protecting school board members from outbursts. >> martha: if anybody is being threatened, they should be put in place. if it crosses border, it's a different issue. the evidence is not there at this point. thanks, jonathan. jonathan turley. >> thanks, martha. >> martha: that's "the story" for this wednesday. tonight bret baier anchors live from the port of los angeles where over 100 container ships behind him as we continue to tell the story. coming up on "your world," the fbi update on what they have uncovered in the man hunt for brian laundrie. see you back here tomorrow at 3:00. >> welcome. i'm charles payne in for neil cavuto. this is "your world." by now most of you know that neil cavuto has tested positive for covid-19. in fact, so many of you have reached out to me to wish him luck. i want everybody to know that he's feeling fine. he's a fighter and we look forward to getting him back in his chair as soon as possible. now this. a senior law enforcement official telling fox "what appears to be human remains have been found" inhe