‘Your World’ on gas prices, unemployment, mask mandates

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Ohio joins list of states dropping extra pandemic unemployment benefits

Gov. Mike DeWine explains his decision to end the $300 per week payments on 'Your World'

This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto," May 14, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

CHARLES PAYNE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Getting away for the weekend? You're still getting hit with surging gas prices, long lines, and, at least for now, no end in sight.

Hello, everyone. I'm Charles Payne, in for Neil Cavuto, and this is "Your World."

And just because the Colonial Pipeline is back up and running doesn't mean drivers are still -- aren't still reeling. In fact, here's the latest, reports of panic buying continuing as gas stations along the Southeast scramble for more fuel, the nation's capital feeling the pinch, nearly 90 percent of gas stations reporting outages.

And those prices are still climbing folks, up again overnight, $3.04 for a regular gallon of gas, and that's got drivers fuming.

And doesn't Steve Harrigan know it? He's at a gas station in Atlanta with the very latest in Georgia -- Steve.

STEVE HARRIGAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Charles, the pipeline is now fully functioning, but it really has made a dent in the problems in Georgia and elsewhere, especially across the Southeast.

In Georgia, as of this afternoon, roughly 50 percent of gas stations still had no fuel. That situation was worse in North Carolina, and, as you mentioned, worse still in Washington, D.C.

The White House has come out to say they expect problems largely to be solved within a matter of days. But when you do talk to drivers here at the pumps, there's a real mix of anger and confusion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the gas tank, and I pulled right in.

HARRIGAN: You have been looking around all morning?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did. I have been, yes, and all day yesterday.

HARRIGAN: Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

HARRIGAN: That's a lot of your time being spent...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It has been. I agree. It's kind of ridiculous, isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think having our infrastructure completely be unprotected from cybersecurity is ridiculous. And we're decades behind most other countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIGAN: That woman was looking for gasoline for two days. She saw a tanker pull in here and followed it right in.

Price average across the nation now $3.04. That's up more than 10 cents in the past week -- Charles, back to you.

PAYNE: Steve, thank you very much.

And sticker shock across the board now sending shockwaves across America. In fact, a new report today showing consumer sentiment is dropping. The main reason, prices are spiking. So should Americans start to worry even more?

I want to get the read from Scott Shellady.

Scott, just how concerned are you?

SCOTT SHELLADY, AG OPTIMUS: Well, I see what everybody else sees, right, the stimulus checks, the amount of money that the government's been throwing at this problem over the pandemic.

And it looks to be it could be up $6 trillion pretty quickly. But there's another part of me that really -- and I wrestle with this a lot, because it's like the world is your restaurant, Charles, and you just got able to reopen. Today is your first day you can reopen; 6:00, you open your doors. You have 150 seats. They fill up immediately. And then everybody orders at once.

Now, that is going to be a difficult thing for the kitchen to handle, right? The demand on everything that you serve, chicken, steak, vegetables, is all going to be scarce. Now, imagine that with everything else.

Just because Hertz doesn't want to keep a lot of cars around during the pandemic and have them sit there and lose money, they get rid of those cars. Now you want a car...

PAYNE: Right.

SHELLADY: ... well, they got to go find some. So that looks like there could be some inflation just because of short-term demand.

But I'm saying this. It's just part of reopening a $28 trillion economy, because nobody in their lives, nobody on this Earth has seen what it's like to shut down a $28 trillion economy. So, no economist out there knows what it's like to start one up.

And I just think a lot of the stuff is in the wrong places. And it's going to take a little bit of time until we get these things, the supply chains fed and watered, and doing the things that they're doing on a timely basis.

And that could take up to a year.

PAYNE: Well, here's the concern, though, with that, Scott.

We had the Michigan consumer sentiment number come in today, and it was down, in fact, their lowest number in three months. And it kind of -- it really should have been much better. You have got record household balance sheets, all this money that's been gushing into the economy.

And the main reason, expectations for inflation, 4.6 percent over the next year; 43 percent of respondents see 5 percent inflation over the next year. When people feel that, I mean, let's be honest. The Federal Reserve, for all the work they do, their main job is to work on psychology, and they want the psychology of the average American consumer not to believe there's inflation out there.

This could skew and change everything about the recovery, couldn't it?

SHELLADY: Yes, it could. And you're right that they have some messaging that they need to get doing.

And they have been very bad about messaging forever, OK? But, just remember, the Fed has never opened up a $28 trillion economy before. People that have bought new houses and finally were lucky enough to get one, they can't put any furniture in them, because it's 10 weeks out, 12 weeks out.

I have friends traveling down to the Southeast. They're not sure that they can get an Uber from the airport to where they're staying because of the gas shortages.

I mean, there are so many things out there that we're going to see the knock-on effects from this reopening. I mean, it's not like we invent a new technology and all sudden we have all this new demand. We're just reopening. I can't stand this idea of the American Rescue Plan. It's -- that's hogwash.

It's the American reopening plan. And there's going to be some really big- time growing pains that go along with that, because I get it. I see where you can have inflation with the amount of money the government is spending and the amount of money that's awash in the system.

But a lot of the problems we're having out there are short-term demand, low-supply problems that will sort themselves over time. And I guess that's what you get, that word -- and I hate the word of transitory, but I just want to see what the world looks like on the other side of this demand, when things level out a little bit.

PAYNE: Yes.

SHELLADY: Because we're going to have spent $10 trillion we didn't have, right? We're going to go back to our GDP at what, 2.5 percent, if we're lucky, under this guy.

And number three is, we're going to face a wall of new taxes. So what's the world going to look like next spring?

PAYNE: Yes. Yes.

The pendulum is going to be pretty wild. You're absolutely right, when the money dries up, and people have gotten accustomed to it, and then you add taxes to it.

SHELLADY: Yes.

PAYNE: But at least we have your calming voice, Scott. So, thank you very much, my friend. Have a great weekend.

SHELLADY: All righty.

PAYNE: Folks, now I want you to take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We don't see in the data unemployment benefits as a major driver in bumpy, bumpy jobs numbers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAYNE: Well, try telling that to all the states that are ditching those extended benefits right in the middle of a labor squeeze, including Ohio, where we're glad to have that state's governor with us.

Mike DeWine joins us now to discuss.

Governor, thanks so much.

You have joined now. I think the count is 19 states. You're going to drop the unemployment benefits, among other things. And I was reading some headlines from the Ohio media. And they seem pretty shocked, because you're going to lift all the COVID health -- health orders effective June -- in June sometime.

What made you come to this decision?

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): Well, two different decisions you just referenced.

As far as the unemployment, we just kept hearing from employers that they could not find work. And it seemed to us that one of the reasons is that the government has this additional $300 in there. And this made sense early on. At first, it was $600. Then it was down to $300. We had people who were hurting. They needed the -- needed the money.

People could not -- did not have the vaccine. It was not available. But we're well into this now. We're coming out of this.

PAYNE: Right.

DEWINE: And we need to come out economically very, very strong.

And people have the ability now to get the vaccine. And we set the date 40- some days, I think, ahead, and said, look, you can go get the vaccine, and we will move forward.

PAYNE: Now, the most recent data I have for your state in terms of unemployment benefits for -- with dependent, would be $647. You top that with 300 bucks, and the weekly income of 940, you can see where someone sitting there logically would say, I'm making the same amount of money, but without the hassle that comes along with having to go to work.

So, it's not an indictment on people, is it?

DEWINE: No.

PAYNE: I mean, the media is suggesting that these red state governors are heartless, how dare they, that this is a billion dollars they have taken from people who desperately need it. You must hear this yourself.

DEWINE: Well, look, it's not the people's fault.

I mean, people are making an economic decision. It's a rational decision. And, in some cases, they're better off still economically staying at home. So, why shouldn't they stay at home?

We're just at a different point now. We're well into this. As I said, we're coming out of it. Ohio's coming out very strong. Our unemployment is low compared to the national average. We have plenty of vaccine now, plenty of opportunity for people. If they're concerned about their safety and about going back, they can get the vaccine.

So, yes, we just felt it was time to move ahead.

PAYNE: Of course, to that point, of the 19 states, all but three have a lower unemployment rate than the national. Yours is 4.7. The country is 6.1.

What's the next move in terms of trying to help people out to get them out of the house, get them back to work? Because we know that each single day, it's tough on small businesses, and it's also tough on folks who sit at home, because their -- their appeal as employee -- employees doesn't get better.

DEWINE: Well, we have plenty of jobs out there. We have a lot of jobs out there.

They can go up to OhioMeansJobs, and over half the jobs are better than $50,000-a-year jobs. There's a lot of opportunities out there for people, whatever -- whatever skill set they have.

We have also put a real emphasis, since I became governor, in upscaling people's skill sets. I mean, what we believe is that everybody needs to live up to their God-given potential. And what we should stand for, all of us should stand for is just opportunity...

PAYNE: Right.

DEWINE: ... and giving people the opportunity and then giving them the ability to get the tools that they need to move forward. So, that's what we're focused on.

PAYNE: OK, so, in the beginning, we talked about the introduction.

Two things here. Let's talk now about the mask -- the mask mandate. You're ditching that. And you're also -- you have got this lottery to try to help -- or get more folks vaccinated. Tell us about this.

DEWINE: Well, the most important thing we can do now to move our economy forward and to protect human life and to get back to normal is to get more people vaccinated.

We're not going to make anybody get vaccinated. We have got, in Ohio, about 42, 43 percent of the total population that has now been vaccinated. We have also got a group that doesn't -- is never going to get vaccinated.

But my wife and I have been traveling around. We have been to 40-some sites where people are being vaccinated, and really just talking to people and understand. And it's clear that there are some people out there who are just kind of ambivalent about it, it's not a high priority, but they will get it.

And so I felt that, if we put forward this -- it's not technically a lottery under Ohio law. It's going to be -- we're calling it a drawing. But we're going to do it for five straight weeks, and people -- anybody who has been vaccinated, anybody who has been vaccinated will be eligible to win a million dollars. And we will do that five separate times.

We're also doing scholarships for those who are 17 and younger who've been vaccinated, and they can get a full scholarship to one of Ohio's great state colleges, and we will pay room, board, tuition, the whole thing.

So, it's a lot of fun. We're already starting to see people walk into vaccination sites and mention the fact that: Hey, I'm here to -- I'm here to win the money.

PAYNE: Right.

Well, a million dollars is certainly appealing, for sure.

Governor DeWine, thank you very much. Always appreciate when you're on.

DEWINE: Good to be with you. Thank you.

PAYNE: So, if the CDC says it's OK to take off the mask, why are some states still not taking part? And why now?

Peter Doocy presses Jen Psaki for answers next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Did somebody at the Biden administration or in the Biden administration update this guidance for political reasons?

PSAKI: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): What's been self-evident to a lot of people for a very long time now -- CDC has finally caught up with it -- that a naked face is probably OK to be able to walk around, to be able to talk to people after you have been vaccinated.

And so I think a lot of people are sick of it already. A lot of people have already set it aside that had been vaccinated. And CDC just finally put their stamp.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAYNE: Oklahoma Republican Senator James Lankford telling me yesterday the updated mask guidance has been long overdue.

To Peter Doocy on the biggest question, why now?

DOOCY: And, Charles, this afternoon, we had our first White House press briefing since Biden took over where almost nobody in the Briefing Room wore a mask because of that updated CDC guidance that came in the middle of a week where White House officials had been dealing with a lot of bad news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: did somebody at the Biden administration or in the Biden administration update this guidance for political reasons?

PSAKI: No.

And vaccinated people are less likely to transmit the virus. That's how they came to the decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: The president had been targeting the Fourth of July is the time when the White House would support small groups of fully vaccinated people gathering to mark their independence from the virus.

So, that timeline was moved way up. After all, less than 60 percent of American adults have had at least one dose of the vaccine. So, some experts are starting to scratch their heads as to the timing, including the former coordinator of the Trump White House's Operation Warp Speed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. BRETT GIROIR, FORMER U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: And there was no scientific knowledge manifestation that happened yesterday. In fact, when you look at the CDC Web site, and they say, what's the science behind it, it goes back to an April 2 Web site. So there was nothing new.

I think somebody just had to have the political will and say, this is the right thing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: None of the president's events on his schedule are open to the public today.

But he was spotted very briefly taking a photo with an outgoing staffer outside and somebody shouted out to him to ask how he's enjoying or if he is enjoying his first day without a mask at work. And he said, "Yes" -- Charles.

PAYNE: Peter, thank you very much.

So, if the CDC says it's OK, why are some states like New York still keeping their mask mandates?

Let's ask a business owner what to make of it.

Il Bacco restaurant manager Tina Maria Oppedisano is with us.

And we do also, by the way, want to mention we did call New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Have not heard back from him yet.

Tina Maria, just your thoughts on, it seems like the green light, except not in certain places, and certainly not in New York yet?

TINA MARIA OPPEDISANO, MANAGER, IL BACCO: Hi. Good afternoon.

Yes, I mean, the mask mandate, it's very confusing. The CDC states no masks with a vaccination. The biggest thing is, how do you tell in a public place, especially a restaurant, who's vaccinated and who's not?

Then you have Cuomo that he's saying the mask mandate still stands. We were the first state to enact mask mandates back in April of 2020. And it's just looking like, unfortunately, we're going to be last.

PAYNE: Also, it just feels like the restaurant industry in New York and California in particular, I don't know why, but there's been such a heavy- handed, ham-fisted approach to restaurants with respect to capacity, when you could open.

You guys spent so much money building these outdoor places to be able to have six feet, people six feet apart. I mean, you have survived through all of that. But what do you make of just the way the industry itself seems like it's been treated more harshly than other industries?

OPPEDISANO: It has -- the industry, like you said, California and New York City, has definitely been treated unfairly.

we have been kind of battling with discrimination against the five boroughs and Westchester and Suffolk and Nassau County. We are blessed to still be open.

What I consider this is, we're definitely in a rehabilitation phase right now. It has been hard. Unemployment, we're at 11 percent. Thank God, in my restaurants, at Il Bacco and Trattoria 35, we are keeping all of our staff. But everything has changed, especially, like you said, the capacity, being that we're still just at 75 percent. Our bars only just opened last week, whereas everywhere else in New York has been open this entire time.

PAYNE: I know the industry has pressed hard with the governor.

Any indication, any chance that they will take now guidance from the CDC? All along, we were told, at least initially, all decisions would be based on science. That's shifted big time a long time ago. I think transmissions in New York state were acknowledged to be something like 1.4 percent from restaurants.

And that was employee to employee, very, very rare for a customer to employee. So, any chance that the governor will hear your plea a lot faster than he has with capacity?

OPPEDISANO: I really hope so.

I think there's -- listen, there's clearly a lot of scandal going on. There's lots of news going on. I don't think it's a coincidence to say that he's going through all these things, and then all of the sudden he's lifting restrictions.

What do I know? I'm a restaurant girl, right? I just want us to be open. And I want to -- everyone to push forward, and I want businesses to prosper and our economy to be up again.

PAYNE: Right. Right.

OPPEDISANO: But it is interesting that this is happening out of nowhere.

And I hope he does listen, and I hope he does see that at this point, between the decrease of the infection rates and between the vaccine being so available right now, wearing a mask and moving forward, it should be your own personal choice. And people should be able to move forward at this point.

PAYNE: Yes, I agree with.

Tina Maria, congratulations for making it through what could be just...

OPPEDISANO: Thank you.

PAYNE: ... probably had to be hell for you and your business.

OPPEDISANO: Yes, difficult times.

PAYNE: And good luck with everything. Thank you so much.

OPPEDISANO: Thank you so much. Thank you. Have a good afternoon.

PAYNE: Well, those tensions in the Middle East, folks, still escalating, with Israel's military now considering a ground operation. So, where's this heading?

And Alaska becoming the latest state to nix those extra jobless benefits. Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy is here.

And later, forget about appeasing the far left, Karl Rove telling me earlier this week the White House is the far left. Is he right or is he wrong? And what does it mean for taxpayers?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: Drivers running on empty, desperate for gas. Well, we have got the guy helping them find it.

Then Alaska's governor on ending those extra jobless benefits.

And should something Karl Rove told me have taxpayers bracing?

We will be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: To the Israel-Gaza border, where Israel is calling up 9,000 reserve troops ahead of a possible ground action.

FOX News foreign correspondent Trey Yingst is there with the very latest -- Trey.

TREY YINGST, FOX NEWS FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: Charles, good afternoon.

At this hour, the Israelis are shelling the Gaza Strip, as fighting intensifies. We also know the Israeli air force striking a number of Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets at this hour. Rocket fire throughout the day has been sporadic, but it all comes after a major Israeli offensive last night that included ground and air fire.

Off in the distance now, there are still explosions happening inside Gaza, the Israeli air force continuing their bombing campaign there. The destruction, though, across the Gaza Strip devastating to many of the communities there. Some parts are completely leveled, as you can see in this video, leaving thousands of people homeless.

The Palestinian death toll is now more than 120 total people, though that number is expected to rise. On the Israeli side, artillery units will continue their work tonight, sirens blaring throughout the day, as the IDF says more than 2,000 rockets have been fired into Israel since this all began.

You mentioned the idea of a possible ground operation. Troops here today are preparing. And they're getting things together. Take a look at what it was like just one field over from where we're at right now earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YINGST (voice-over): Israel is slowly, but surely preparing for the possibility of a ground operation into Gaza. The Israeli Defense Forces are moving personnel and equipment to the border, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following a security assessment today, said Hamas will continue to pay a heavy price for rocket fire into Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YINGST: The tension between Israel and Gaza is now spreading to other parts of the region. At least 10 people were killed in the West Bank today.

And there were also protests on the Jordanian and Lebanese border -- Charles.

PAYNE: Trey, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, the Colonial Pipeline is back online, so why is filling up still a pain in the gas?

Well, we have got the guy tracking all of those outages.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: The Colonial Pipeline is back up, but gas prices remain steep while supply catches up.

So, how long will this crisis last? And what can drivers expect this weekend?

GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis, Patrick De Haan, joins us now with an update.

So, Patrick, what are you seeing right now?

PATRICK DE HAAN, HEAD OF PETROLEUM ANALYSIS, GASBUDDY: Well, Charles, so far, we are starting to see some improvement, finally, but not everywhere.

I think D.C. is still an area that is creeping up in terms of outages. But, overall, at a peak, the U.S. was seeing about 16,200 stations without fuel of cuts. Of course, most of those were in the Southeast. As of 3:00 p.m. Central time, now we are down to about 14,100. So we're seeing improvement.

But, of course, it's not going to happen overnight.

PAYNE: In the meantime, we -- you have to expect demand to pick up. It was already picking up, the whole reopening and now with the mask mandates.

How would that conspire to make this last even longer, this crisis?

DE HAAN: Yes, full steam ahead.

The more that demand rebounds or continues to increase, the longer it's going to take for stations to replenish, the less breathing room they have to do so. And, like you said, going into a weekend, motorists are probably not going to see much progress made on those outages this weekend, maybe a little bit here and there, as America gets out for the weekend.

Expect more improvement, though, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Those outages should start to come down. But keep in mind this is something that it's going to be pretty slow-moving. Motorists in some of these harder-hit areas like North Carolina could continue to see outages ahead of Memorial Day weekend.

PAYNE: And, of course, we know how consumer is, consumer behavior. We saw it last year with toilet paper and other things like that.

We got the summer driving season coming up. You have got fear of inflation, prices going up. One of the key elements here has been hoarding. Could that continue?

DE HAAN: Oh, absolutely.

The more you see it, the more it happens, a self-fulfilling prophecy. And a great example of where we have seen, Charles, is actually in Southern Florida, an area that is served not by the Colonial Pipeline, but by barge.

Miami has gone from zero percent of outages just two days ago. It continues to shoot up at 44 percent. This is really indicative of the problem the mind-set poses to this whole situation, in that, you see a line, you start to develop FOMO of gasoline, and then it feeds itself.

PAYNE: Patrick, even before the Colonial news, I was concerned about gasoline prices.

Obviously, we have seen crude oil up. It was up another 2 percent. West Texas Intermediate, from a technical point of view, it's ready to break out. I mean, it could really go much higher, obviously, as the world comes back online.

Where could we see prices toward the end of the year or toward the peak of the summer driving season? Could they be substantially higher than where they are now?

DE HAAN: The million-dollar question you just asked.

I think they could be higher. I wouldn't necessarily say substantially. Of course, it's everyone's own definition of the word. But I definitely agree that, as the economy continues to steam forward the rest of this year, depending on how hot demand gets this summer, I think we could see another 20 to 30 cent increase towards the end of the year.

Of course, there's a lot of caveats, but, as you mentioned, the biggest one, COVID-19, not so much here in the U.S., but now globally. Improvement globally is really going to drive up oil consumption and oil prices.

So, a lot of wild cards at work here. If COVID rears its ugly head yet again, obviously, prices could sag a little bit. But you look at the U.S. being landlocked this summer, many Americans can't really get out of the country very easily to foreign destinations.

PAYNE: Yes.

DE HAAN: That's going to mean it's a very -- potentially very hot summer for demand.

PAYNE: It's going to be a hot staycation type of summer and maybe higher prices.

Patrick, you're the best. Thanks, man. Appreciate it.

DE HAAN: Thanks, Charles.

PAYNE: So, from gas lines to guidelines, the CDC easing up on those mask requirements for fully vaccinated Americans, but different rules for travelers are keeping the cruise industry from smooth sailing.

Why Alaska's Governor Mike Dunleavy says it's time to rock the boat. He's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: The CDC dropping most mask and distancing requirements for fully vaccinated people, but keeping the mandate in place for planes, trains and cruise ships, even if you got the shot.

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy joins me now. His state's tourism has taking a hit -- has taken a hit from the CDC's restrictions.

Governor, thanks for joining us.

I know there was a vote in the Senate yesterday shepherded in by Senator Lisa Murkowski. And now I think you're looking to the House. But explain just what kind of an economic hit you have taken in your state because of this.

GOV. MIKE DUNLEAVY (R-AK): Charles, it's been brutal.

Alaska has a seasonal cruise ship season. It runs from May until September. And, last year, it was totally wiped out. This year -- and even if we get things going here very shortly, we won't see our first cruise ship probably until August.

So, that's a shortened season, but probably about $3 billion in economic loss last year and going into this year. And if there's no tourist season or no cruise ship season this year, it's going to be devastating for the state of Alaska.

We don't have the diversified economy that other states have. So, this is a -- this is a huge economic driver for Alaska.

PAYNE: And, again, I mentioned Susan -- Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan. They got this through the Senate. I think this bill, this emergency bill for Alaska tourism, it goes to the House now.

DUNLEAVY: Yes, that's my understanding.

And our Congressman Don Young is there, and I'm sure he is going to do his best to get this passed as well.

PAYNE: Right. He's the dean of the House.

DUNLEAVY: Yes.

PAYNE: You know, we don't think of Alaska that much. A lot of people don't, at least, unless you're a cruiser, right? The cruisers know all the routes, but we kind of just associate this industry with Florida.

And, when you're talking about $3 billion, what do you make of just the way this whole thing has been handled with respect to your -- to that industry anyway?

DUNLEAVY: Quite honestly, I think it's been handled poorly.

And I will tell you why. When this pandemic hit Alaska last year -- and, by the way, we have some of the best numbers in the country in terms of how we managed the virus. About 345 people have passed away. That's the second lowest next to Vermont. And our vaccination rate is one of the highest.

When this pandemic hit last year, we worked with our major industries, oil, gas, and fishing. They're multibillion-dollar industries that have workers coming in out of the state of Alaska. We worked with them. We worked with them on protocols.

And we had a very successful year. We want to do the same thing with the cruise ship industry. And we had hoped that the CDC would let us work with the cruise ship industry, because I think we could have done the same thing we did with those other industries, had a safe cruise season, brought economic activity to Alaska.

But, again, it's been drawn out. And, quite frankly, what I say to people now is, if you really believe in the vaccine, then there's no need for masks. If you don't believe in the vaccines, then maybe that's why you're wearing masks.

And so I guess the long story short is, with us, the state of Alaska, working with private industry, we can make things work and keep people safe.

PAYNE: Let me switch gears here. I want to ask about breaking news right before we went on this show, your state now planning to end those federal extended jobless benefits next month.

What brought you to this decision?

DUNLEAVY: So, we have been examining the employment situation for the state of Alaska.

And, like other states, what we're finding is that our employers are having a harder and harder time finding workers. And so, if you have job openings, the purpose of these benefits was to help underwrite those that couldn't find a job. There's a lot of jobs now in Alaska.

There's a lot of opportunity for people to go back to work. So, this just is fitting, and it's timely. This will take place 30 days from now in mid- June. And so it'll give people plenty of time to look for work. And our Department of Labor is ready to stand up and help folks broker the employer with the employee.

So, it's about time.

PAYNE: Governor, you mentioned the oil industry.

We know it's really huge for your state. Any sense that maybe the Colonial Pipeline situation and the ensuing drag on our economy -- we're talking multiple states that are now suffering -- could maybe sway the administration to pump the brakes, no pun intended, on their war with fossil fuels?

I'm not thinking they're going to start building pipelines. But I think a clear message has been put out there. If we want to drive our economy, we need fossil fuels. And we can't -- we can't even have a day of a hiccup, let alone dismantle it overnight.

DUNLEAVY: So, you asked if there's any hope, Charles.

I am not optimistic, because this is not a policy driven by economics. This is not a policy coming out of Washington driven by opportunity. It's a policy to socially engineer the country. We know that.

Now, don't get me wrong. I think there's plenty of space, plenty of room for renewables. The technology is getting better. The cost is coming down. It makes sense.

PAYNE: Sure.

DUNLEAVY: But it makes sense to do both, not eliminate one and just pursue a renewable policy only.

So, for Alaska, which is an oil and gas state, we're a mining state, you really need to do both. And I'm not optimistic.

We're going to keep working this. We have had some projects put on hold because of -- the lease sales up in ANWR have been put on hold by this administration. But we're going to keep fighting it. We need to keep fighting it.

PAYNE: You certainly do, Governor.

Thank you very much, and good luck with everything you're working on.

DUNLEAVY: Thank you, Charles.

PAYNE: Well, folks, may is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and we're celebrating achievements in the community all month long.

And, today, we're highlighting California lawmaker Young Kim, one of the first Korean American women elected to Congress.

FOX Business correspondents Susan Li is more -- is here, and she has more - - Susan.

SUSAN LI, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Charles.

So, our first profile to celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month, she's an exciting up-and-coming politician, Congresswoman Young Kim, a new face in the Republican Party, but her history is an all-too-familiar tale for those chasing the American dream.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. YOUNG KIM (R-CA): Hi. I'm Young Kim. I represent California's 39th congressional District.

LI (voice-over): One of the first Korean American women in Congress and one of two Republicans who unseated incumbent Democrats from California.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now we'd like to recognize a new member of the House, Representative Young Kim.

LI: The first time that's happened in 27 years.

KIM: My story hopefully will be an inspiration to other immigrants, other young women and girls especially.

LI: Kim was born in war-torn South Korea, before immigrating to the United States in the 1970s. After earning a degree at USC, Young Kim went to work in finance, and later started her own clothing retail business.

The chance at politics for Young Kim started when she met longtime Congressman Ed Royce. She spent more than 20 years as Royce's director of Asian affairs, only running for a seat herself in California's State Assembly in 2014, then for the U.S. Congress in 2018. She lost that race, but finally won her seat last year.

Representative Michael McCaul says he knew Kim was meant to run for public office and a great representative for the GOP.

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): She's a great diplomat on behalf of the Republican Party. She is our star quarterback.

LI: Young Kim is up for reelection next year. And she has every intention to keep her seat.

KIM: I'm here, sitting down, and my butt is going to be glued to this chair for a long time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LI: She's got a lot of personality and a lot of energy, since she sits on three congressional committees while raising four kids.

I asked her if she sleeps. And she says she wished that there were 26 hours in a day.

Now, next week, we will be looking at the achievements and the trails blazed by former Transportation Labor Secretary Elaine Chao -- Charles.

PAYNE: Susan, great stuff. Thank you so much.

By the way, we have some breaking news for you, folks, this just end it, Virginia Democratic Governor Ralph Northam just ending that state's mask mandate to align with CDC guidance.

Well, Karl Rove telling me there's a push for socialist policies, and it's just not coming from Senator Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who he says is supporting this agenda and what it could mean for your wallet.

We report, you might want to hide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL ROVE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: It may be that the economists and the economic advisers inside this White House are of a distinctly more left- wing view.

I don't think they're doing this just because they want to placate the left. I think they're increasingly doing this because this is what they want to achieve.

The White House is not doing this simply because they think it gains them points with AOC and Bernie. They're doing this because they want to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAYNE: Karl Rove telling me that he thinks the White House genuinely supports far left policies, and it's not just to appease the progressive lawmakers like Senator Sanders or Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

So, if that's the case, are taxpayers in trouble?

Joining me now. FOX Nation host Kat Timpf, RealClearPolitics' Phil Wegmann, and Geltrude and Company founder Dan Geltrude.

Kat, let me ask you.

I mean, you do wonder why this White House has been so much more progressive than they promised on the campaign trail.

KATHERINE TIMPF, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Right.

And even when you do have AOC herself saying openly, oh, look, I thought he was just going to be moderate, but I'm thrilled with how he's doing, as she has said, that's a pretty clear sign.

And when you look at all these policies, all of this spending, if you're not concerned about this, only one of two things could be true. Either you're not paying attention, or you're not paying taxes, because everybody else has to be concerned when you see, for example, the nearly $2 trillion that was spent in that Rescue Plan that was supposed to jump-start the economy.

Well, it didn't do that. And it wasn't even just neutral. It's actively been hurting the economy, what with paying people more to sit at home than to go to work. A lot of those jobs may never come back.

PAYNE: Phil?

PHILIP WEGMANN, REALCLEARPOLITICS: Well, I will leave it to Karl Rove and others to determine what Joe Biden is in terms of ideology.

But it's clear -- and Kat is right about this -- the one thing that Joe Biden is not is a moderate. It's clear that he's more progressive than Barack Obama on a number of different issues. He sees himself as something of a second FDR.

And despite what his chief of staff, Ronald Klain, says, this is a president who believes in big government and thinks that he can make big, transformational changes. We will see if he can get that through Congress. And we will also see if they can keep inflation at bay, because that's something that would create a speed bump for a lot of the spending.

(CROSSTALK)

PAYNE: But, Phil, let me jump in there for a moment, though. He didn't run...

TIMPF: Right.

PAYNE: The characteristics you just rolled out, yes, he made the nod to the New Deal and then the Great Society, but he also ran as someone who reaches across the aisle, someone who can do things with the other party, someone who's willing to compromise.

And we haven't seen that at all. So it's sort of bewildering. And a lot of people are frustrated, because they said, OK, we believe you're going to come in and focus on unity, and it's been the exact opposite.

WEGMANN: Yes, we're going to see whether or not these meetings between Senate Republicans and Joe Biden in the Oval Office are just photo-ops, or if the administration is actually willing to sit down and compromise.

A number of congressional Republicans who I have spoken to, they express that frustration. But, yes, there's no doubt about it. Joe Biden, he campaigned as a moderate. That's what got him through the primary. And now that he is president, he's willing to go big, because he wants to change things, and change things very quickly.

PAYNE: Right.

Dan, let's talk about the money. You're the CPA/market expert extraordinaire. Listen, I just got to believe it's going to be devastating, 2022. We already see where Senator Manchin has said, golly, you're going too far with the taxes you want to put on corporations. But where do you see all of it going?

DANIEL GELTRUDE, GELTRUDE & COMPANY: I see the biggest impact here, Charles, happening with small businesses.

I really believe, right now, with what Joe Biden's plans are, it's absolutely an assault on small businesses. And small businesses employ half the people in this country. And just look at what's happening. They raise the unemployment and extend and extend unemployment benefits, so that small businesses can't find people to work.

So, what happens? It forces them, in effect, to have to raise the minimum wage with what they can't afford. Yes, Amazon can.

PAYNE: Right.

GELTRUDE: Small businesses can't.

And that's really what concerns me the most. Small businesses are the heart and soul of the economy of this country. And they're going to be in a lot of trouble in 2022, Charles.

PAYNE: I'm definitely worried about the economic side of it, Kat, but also the messaging, because to get all of these sorts of things through, you have to portray certain Americans as nefarious, as users, as leeches.

TIMPF: Yes.

PAYNE: And this is what really hurts me. Like, we're -- this is a country where you pull yourself up by the bootstraps, and you make it and you're generally celebrated.

But now it's like, who wants to be demonized just to get some of these things passed?

TIMPF: Yes.

And that absolutely does concern me. There is this narrative that if you are somebody who believes in small government, as I do, and you're someone who says, hey, maybe the government isn't the answer to this problem, that you -- that automatically means you don't care about the problem.

Those do not logically equate with each other. You can believe that the government is not the best way to solve it, or doesn't have the right to solve it, or is not the most effective, which we have seen time and time again. I mean, we have got eighth graders out here building better Web sites for vaccine distribution than governments are, and I'm sure for a fraction of the cost.

So, I really, really would -- it's disgusting that people equate those two things, because it's just simply not the case.

PAYNE: So, Phil, you cover this beat.

Can he get all of this stuff through, even with reconciliation?

WEGMANN: We're going to find out.

I think that Joe Biden knows that, with 2022 coming up, historically, midterm elections, they favor the party that's not in the White House. Also, Republicans control the state legislatures, which are going to be doing a lot of the redistricting. So it's certainly possible that he wakes up at the end of 2022, and he doesn't have a majority in the House or perhaps the Senate as well.

There's certainly a sense of urgency. They want to move as much through as they can right now. And, look, Joe Biden, to sort of close the circle here...

PAYNE: Right.

WEGMANN: ... he was very straightforward when he said, trickle down -- trickle down economics doesn't work.

That's what he believes. And I think that's going to be reflected in his economic policy.

PAYNE: All right.

And, Dan, of course, I know you're going to be busy on Monday, the new Tax Day.

Thank you all very much. Really appreciate it.

Meanwhile, folks, just now, President Joe Biden revoking that 2019 proclamation by former President Donald Trump suspending entry of immigrants who would financially burden the nation's health care system.

Now, in a new proclamation released by the White House, Biden says the suspension -- quote -- "does not advance the interests of the United States."

Well, that's going to do it for me here.

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