‘Your World’ on Musk-Twitter deal’s last-minute price negotiations

This is a rush transcript of « Your World with Neil Cavuto » on October 6, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Is Venezuela one of those alternatives?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There’s a lot of alternatives. We haven’t made up our mind yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Well, everything is on the table, including Venezuela, that from the president of the United States, as the White House scrambles to find oil to replace OPEC’s production cut.

Will you be paying for it at the pump? We are all over it with Peter Doocy on what the White House is saying now, Hillary Vaughn on high gas prices Americans are facing now, and Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi on how many in his party are going to be handling it now.

Welcome, everybody. I’m Neil Cavuto on a very, very busy news day on the oil front, the gas front, and then the sell-off on Wall Street, because all are rapidly rising. And that is an affront to you. But how long does it last? We will get to that.

First to Peter at the White House with more — Peter.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Neil, good afternoon.

Now some Biden officials who met with Saudi counterparts about energy last month are expressing some surprise, saying they did not see these production cuts coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: You did not think there would be this big of a cut?

AMOS HOCHSTEIN, SPECIAL ENVOY AND COORDINATOR FOR INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AFFAIRS, BUREAU OF ENERGY RESOURCES: No, I did not. I did not walk away with that understanding. But that was two weeks — that’s two weeks ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: That was two weeks ago. And the president seemed to confirm a Wall Street Journal report today that the U.S. may cut some sanctions on Venezuela’s Maduro, a potential source of oil, if Maduro just irons out some political issues of his own, like talking to his own political rivals about a fair 2024 election in Venezuela.

That is a big if, though, because we’re told by the National Security Council here at the White House: « There are no plans to change our sanctions policy without constructive steps from the Maduro regime. Our sanctions policy on Venezuela remains unchanged. We will continue to implement and enforce our Venezuela sanctions. As we have previously made clear, we will review our sanctions policies in response to constructive steps by the Maduro regime to restore democracy in Venezuela and alleviate the suffering of the Venezuelan people. »

President Biden is suggesting that he’s going to rethink his relationship now with the Saudis, although the president says he’s got no second thoughts about visiting the kingdom in person.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: No, The trip was not essentially for oil. The trip was about the Middle East and about Israel and rationalization of positions. But it is a disappointment. And it says that there are problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: And it’s a very big day here at the White House.

Within the last hour or so, we got word that President Biden is issuing a pardon via executive order and the powers of the presidency for everybody convicted of a simple marijuana offense. We are told that estimates out to about 6,500 people, but he’s also asking governors to do the same with state level offenses.

That’s a big one — Neil.

CAVUTO: Does that mean that those serving some jail time now for such offenses would and should be let go? And does that mean that those who’ve been charged with such crimes would have them dropped?

DOOCY: Yes, as we understand it, he’s got the attorney general working on that, because he can’t just wave a magic wand and say 6,500 people are out. You have to have something with your name on it. And he is ordering the people that would write that order to do it — Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, Peter, thank you very, very much.

Peter Doocy on that.

Want to go to Hillary Vaughn right now on the fallout from these higher gas prices that are resulting now, that OPEC could be cutting off supply by about two million barrels a day. You try to make up for that somewhere. We’re told that Venezuela is not one of the options being explored. Others are saying we’re getting different vibes on that.

But, Hillary Vaughn on Capitol Hill, I’m wondering, Democrats must be getting concerned about this, because gas prices had been declining. And they have been rising.

HILLARY VAUGHN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, some Democrats are worried, Neil, that, as gas prices go up, their chances of keeping the majorities in Congress are going down.

But other Democrats do not think that gas prices are the only issue on voters’ minds this midterm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CORI BUSH (D-MO): You know, I have seen it play out both ways. The president has made strides to help bring costs down, but also using the Defense Production Act to be able to help with inflation and to bring costs down.

And we have a lot more work to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUGHN: Some vulnerable Democrats fighting to keep their seats like Senator Maggie Hassan from New Hampshire says part of her pitch to voters is to keep doing what she has been doing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS HAYES, MSNBC HOST: How do you tell a voter who says the cost of living is too high, inflation is too high, I have seen my real wage power decline that you can do something or have done something about it?

SEN. MAGGIE HASSAN (D-NH): Well, first of all, I will keep pushing for this suspension of a gas tax. I will keep pushing to make sure we get funding to support people who are trying to afford their heating bills here in New Hampshire this year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUGHN: But Republicans are calling Democrats’ bluff, saying the high prices should be no surprise for Democrats that have prioritized climate and demonized fossil fuels.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): And it’s not even that they are worried about $4 or $5 gallon of gas in its own right. They want that to happen. Remember, Joe Biden promised to eliminate fossil fuels during the campaign. They want you to pay that much for your traditional gasoline-powered car because they don’t want you driving it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUGHN: And, Neil, progressives are hoping that President Biden makes good on that promise to move away from fossil fuels.

In fact, six progressive Democratic senators wrote a letter to the president yesterday asking for him to declare a climate emergency — Neil.

CAVUTO: Hillary Vaughn, thank you for that.

Want to go to Democratic Illinois Congressman Raja Krisatho — moorthi, I should say, on this.

Congressman, always good to have you.

I did want to pick your brain, sir, on the gas prices now going back up. The administration was taking a bow when they were going down. Do you think the administration should bear responsibility now that they’re going up?

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): I think that the most recent increase in gas prices is partly due to this production cut in Saudi Arabia, but it’s also due to a dramatic decline in refining capacity.

And so I have asked the administration — I asked yesterday again for the third time to invoke the Defense Production Act to make sure that we can stand up adequate refining capacity to refine as much crude oil as possible into gasoline, increasing gas supplies, and reducing prices at the pump, Neil.

CAVUTO: Now, we’re running at about a refining capacity about 94 percent. It’s in and out of all-time highs. I guess we could boost it a couple of more percent. The industry comes back and says, we just need more areas to go to, and a lot of them are being closed off.

What do you say?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: So, two things.

One, our refining capacity is down by one million barrels per day. And, in October, unfortunately, because of weather-related events, as well as a couple of fires in different places, our refining capacity is going down temporarily.

But going to your point, I think that, with the Inflation Reduction Act, there are going to be more opportunities to drill in public lands. In fact, there are more incentives for an all-of-the-above strategy, which we drastically need. We have got to stabilize energy prices.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: But we’re not doing all of the above, right? We’re not, right, sir?

I mean, the problem is Germany is, even looking at nuclear and coal. France is looking more these days at coal, Italy, the United Kingdom, but we’re not.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, today, we’re actually drilling 11.3 million barrels per day of oil and gas, compared to roughly 11 million barrels per day under the Trump administration.

So we’re going at full tilt on oil and gas.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Well, the average in the Trump administration you allude to, sir, is an average of his four years in office and doesn’t include COVID.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Correct.

CAVUTO: Take that out, you’re well below those levels.

I get what you’re saying. But do you think that the industry has a point to make that, if they’re going to invest and expand, they need a long-term commitment on the part of this administration, which has made it very, very clear it’s not too keen on this?

I just go back and talk to everyone who is in the administration and what they have said about this, including John Kerry, the climate envoy, who has said that: « Energy security worry is driving a lot of thoughts that now we need more drilling of gas, we need more drilling of oil, we need more coal. No, we don’t. We absolutely don’t. And we have to prevent a false narrative from entering into this. »

It echoes comments by national climate adviser Gina McCarthy, who had said essentially the same, that it is lazy to assume that it’s all about energy production or traditional energy production.

If I’m an oil guy, Congressman, I’m hearing that, I’m saying, all right, well, there’s a short shelf life on a big expense I’m about to make, I might not make it.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, I think that, for instance, with regard to this refining capacity issue, because that’s the most immediate issue we have, I think that the federal government should perhaps say, look, if you increase the refining capacity, and we will help you with financial incentives, we will perhaps buy that oil that’s produced from that refining — additional refining capacity for a period of time to replenish our Strategic Petroleum Reserves.

We have to be really practical-minded at this point. And we have to be bipartisan on this. I also think…

CAVUTO: But you’re emptying out those reserves, right?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yes, sir.

CAVUTO: I know with the best of intentions and trying to bring down gas prices.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yes.

CAVUTO: But there’s only so much you can empty it, right?

And I’m just wondering if that is meant to sort of alleviate some of these concerns going forward. Again, I’m reminded of Gina McCarthy saying, « Let me answer your question very directly, » referring to the president’s views on this. « President Biden remains absolutely committed to not moving forward with additional drilling on public lands. »

Now, do you agree with that, that we should not be looking at additional drilling on any public lands anywhere? Because that’s a lot of land. That’s a lot of oil.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: That would be at odds with the Inflation Reduction Act, which we just got signed into law.

There will be additional drilling on public lands, just as there will be additional renewables on public lands, Neil.

But I just want to say that…

CAVUTO: Well, actually, it’s just a fraction of the available lands that are ready, right? Isn’t that the issue, that it’s not nearly enough.

And you talk about the energy availability from that. It’s being litigated right now by environmental groups. A quarter of that land that you are opening up is now being fought by environmentalist groups that could keep this hanging out for years.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I respectfully disagree with anybody who says that we should go against what the Inflation Reduction Act says.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: I’m sorry, sir. I don’t mean to just be rude here, but I don’t know what the Inflation Reduction Act says to the legality of someone filing a lawsuit against an industry and a quarter of leases that are up for grabs, including those provided under this new agreement.

If you’re being litigated against, if you’re being sued for trying to act on that, the industry’s hands are tied, no matter what the access, right?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: And so the this new law will take precedence, Neil.

And so this new law basically says, if there are going to be any additional permitting for renewables, there must be additional permitting for oil and gas drilling, in addition to the other subsidies and incentives in place for additional oil — I’m sorry — energy production.

CAVUTO: Do you fear this is coming too little too late, though?

You know, if it works out the way you say, I’m sure many people look at that, all right, we are following what Europe is doing and expanding an all in-energy approach. The fear I see raised by many in the industry, sir, though, is that they’re making big multibillion-dollar financial bets on something they think the administration wants dead, gone, finis within years.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, one of the things that I do share concerns with the industry about is just the red tape and some of the permitting reform issues.

This, by the way, affects renewables just as it affects everything else. And so I have found…

CAVUTO: Well, I think it’s fair to say the government, your administration — the administration, you and your party favor renewables and wind and solar. I get that. That’s your right.

But you do not share the same view of fossil fuels. You just don’t, and then that now you can’t make up what OPEC has taken off the market, right?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, I think that — what I was just about to say, Neil, is that a lot of the same kind of bureaucratic measures that people complain about from, for instance, some of these oil-producing entities are now shared by people on the renewables side.

CAVUTO: Right.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: This — Ralph Norman, a Republican from South Carolina, and I formed something called the Bipartisan Solar Caucus.

And that was one of the things we basically targeted immediately starting in the Trump administration through now, which is we have got to reduce the red tape for the production of energy. We have got to produce more energy and stabilize our energy markets right now.

CAVUTO: So, when I hear you talking about boosting refining capacity, and we’re running at 94.2 percent of refining capacity as things stand now, I’m doing the math backwards, Congressman, that’s not going to cut it. That’s not going to make up for the lost oil we have, right?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: So, we are running at 94 percent of the available refining capacity right now.

What I’m saying, Neil, is that the ceiling used to be a lot higher, and it actually went down because of various…

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: And you’re open to making it higher. You’re open to making it higher.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

CAVUTO: You’re convinced that this act will do this. All right, then we will have to see.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: A hundred percent.

CAVUTO: Congressman, got it. All right, Congressman, thank you very much, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi on this.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you, Neil.

CAVUTO: Again, and how this sorts out at the corner of Wall and Broad, anyone’s guess. We do know that oil prices moved up today. Gas prices moved up today.

And when that happened, stock prices moved down. They did today, the Dow surrendering about 346 points, convinced that whatever brief break we’re getting on energy prices is very brief.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BRESCIA (R), MAYOR OF VILLAGE OF MONTGOMERY, NEW YORK: It was very alarming to say the least. It was one of the largest planes that has ever come in to Orange County Airport. And we’re not accustomed to that.

And it really set off a panic in our local community, the town and the Village of Montgomery. New York state might be a sanctuary city — state, rather, but we’re not a sanctuary village, nor do we support that. And the town isn’t either. And it really put up a lot of panic in the local community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: All right, Martha’s Vineyard, it is not, but to hear the mayor and, next to him, the police chief of Montgomery Village in New York, a quiet New York town in Upstate New York, it seemed certainly odd, clandestine, even, as we got word that two migrant flights had touched down at the Orange County Airport in Montgomery.

They were coming from El Paso, Texas. But this wasn’t from the governor of Texas. This was President Biden coordinated with the ICE, and these guys had no idea it was coming. So we get a lot of these types of incidents, which run at 10 times the number of planes and buses that go from Texas via, well, at least the governor of Texas, or in the case of those that were flown to Martha’s Vineyard, the governor of Florida.

They’re doing a fraction of the numbers we see here, but they don’t elicit half the rage that those do.

With us now is Hector Garza, the National Border Patrol Council vice president.

Hector, to hear both these gentlemen tell it, this kind of mimics what we have seen over the past year-and-a-half, about a year and four months or so, where migrants are flown all over the country, oftentimes in the middle of the night. In this case, it was very much in the middle of the night, the town leaders unaware, residents unaware, and they had to scramble.

I’m just wondering why that doesn’t get the coverage that a plane to Martha’s Vineyard would or countless buses to New York’s Port Authority.

HECTOR GARZA, VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL: Well, the secret migrant flights have been happening since the Biden administration took office.

This is something that they have been secretly doing in the middle of the night. And one of the problems is that they’re flying migrants all over the Northern United States, and they don’t coordinate with the local communities.

And these local communities will end up getting affected and impacted by having busloads and flights full of migrant people that have been released from the border. We know that the nongovernmental organizations, the NGOs, they work hand in hand with the Biden administration to be able to continue these releases of people into these communities.

Now, again, why doesn’t it get any attention? Because it’s not Governor Abbott. It’s not the governor from Arizona. But, obviously, these towns are concerned. And they should be getting the attention that they deserve.

CAVUTO: Yes, that’s all I’m saying. I don’t care a lickety-split about politics here. I’m just saying, if you’re going to be consistent, be consistent, be fair and balanced. If you hate the idea of people being secretly bused or flown at a Texas to your neck of the woods, focus on all of that going on.

Conversely, if you don’t have a problem with one transport, then you can’t decide to pick and choose your transports. But it is what it is. And it’s going to accelerate, given these numbers. And I would imagine that there are going to be a lot more communities surprise or getting a ring-ding in the middle of the night from some official telling them they’re here.

GARZA: Well, and it’s going to continue to happen.

One of the reasons that Governor Abbott has been very vocal about this issue on the border and the border security crisis that we’re facing is because it’s a real problem, and he’s exposing it to the media. And what the Biden administration likes to do, in coordination with CBP and U.S. Border Patrol management, is that they want to keep this hidden away from the American public.

They want to make sure that this is done in secret and that people don’t find out about it. One of the reasons why some of these activities are known is because of the National Border Patrol Council exposing what’s actually happening in the United States and what’s actually happening on the border.

One of the reasons we’re very, very grateful to Governor Abbott is because he is exposing all these flights, and he is exposing the border security mess that we have right now along the border.

CAVUTO: What I think is going to be an interesting note here is that there’s very little notice given when this happens, and yet it’s happening at 10 times the rate some of these more publicized buses and planes, courtesy of Governor Abbott.

But they’re happening in these record numbers. So back to the core of the argument is how to deal with the surge, period, no matter who is taking those taken at the border to these other locales. It’s the numbers that are staggering, and they’re not going down.

GARZA: You know what, Neil? As long as President Biden and the Department of Homeland Security continue on their open borders message, this mess on the border will not be solved.

Just last week in the Laredo sector, where I patrol the border, we had about 200 family units that came across the border in plain daylight without any concern to violating our immigration laws. Now, they could very easily have gone to the port of entry, but they decided to go through the – – between the ports of entry to disrupt Border Patrol operations.

And when that happens is that now, as Border Patrol agents, we’re not able to do our job of securing the border and actually stopping the narcotics that are coming across. So it’s a big mess. And as long as the Biden administration continues with their open borders agenda, there’s no solution for this.

CAVUTO: All right, Hector, thank you for that, Hector Garza.

All we want to do here, folks, on this show, we try on all my shows, just be consistent. And you can’t have selective rage. If you don’t like buses and planes showing up in your town in the middle of the night, then you don’t like it no matter who’s doing it. So it’s one thing to be enraged at a Republican governor, quite another then not to at a Democratic president.

Same migrants going on the same planes and the same buses at the same time in the middle of the night, no one knowing at all. We’ll keep on top of that.

Also keeping on top of the crime wave that’s gripping the country. And our Gianno Caldwell wanted to get to the bottom of it. He made the mistake of going to Washington, D.C., to get answers, though.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIANNO CALDWELL, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: I just want to talk about the crime crisis.

You’re a leader. I would think you would have a reaction to what’s going on in the country. No reaction?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: Well, he wasn’t getting any answers to his brother’s murder in Chicago, so Gianno Caldwell decided to go to the nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., Can you say crickets?

The fallout from the encounters — after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: It’s one thing to look at what’s going on at the border and say, what problem at the border?

It’s quite another, certainly for Gianno Caldwell, when you talk about the rampant crime going on in American cities, including in Chicago, where his brother was killed, and say the same response or hear it. What crime?

Gianno Caldwell decided to find out for himself how Washington is dealing with this. He was a little disappointed. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALDWELL: I just want to talk about the crime crisis.

You’re a leader. I would think you would have a reaction to what’s going on in the country. No reaction?

I’m here in the nation’s capital talking to members of Congress on both sides of the aisle about the crime crisis in America and what do they plan to do about it?

On the first day, if Republicans are victorious in November and you become the speaker of the House, what will the Commitment to America do for crime on day one?

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): Well, on the first day, you’re going to see that no longer will the voice of Washington back here, where the Democrats control, say defund the police. It’ll be the opposite.

REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY): Our Commitment to America is our road map for an economy that is strong, a nation that is safe, a future that’s built upon freedom, and a government that’s accountable.

MCCARTHY: What we will do, we will put a score to every single prosecutor from Portland to Philadelphia. They get federal money. We will actually sit there and have the debate, do they deserve the federal money if they’re not upholding the law?

CALDWELL: A lot of the crime that’s perpetrated, the majority of it is black-on-black. What do you think we can do about that as a community?

REP. BURGESS OWENS (R-UT): The most important thing is, how do we deal with this long term? We have to get our kids educated. Black young men who can not read and write, they’re going to be driven by emotion. They’re going to be years later, like we’re at now, crime is their only way out. They see nothing wrong with it.

SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): I think it’s a misconception. Everybody think it’s really just happening in the urban areas. It’s happening everywhere.

Just a week or so ago, I had a friend of mine beat up and robbed in a parking lot in broad daylight.

CALDWELL: We have spoken to some Republicans. Now we’re going to talk to some Democrats, hopefully.

REP. JERROLD NADLER (D-NY): Let me state clearly and unequivocally that black lives matter.

NADLER: I’m a rush right now.

CALDWELL: Oh, you’re in a rush. We just want to talk about the crisis that is impacting our country with crime across the nation.

NADLER: I can’t do it now.

CALDWELL: Congressman Nadler, can we set up a meeting with your office and have a discussion?

NADLER: Maybe. I’m going to be pretty busy.

CALDWELL: Going to be busy?

NADLER: Today, yes.

CALDWELL: OK. Tomorrow, does that work? Who should we reach out to in your office, Congressman? We just want to talk about the crime crisis in America.

REP. DANNY DAVIS (D-IL): The ease with which people acquire guns is still a big factor.

LORI LIGHTFOOT (D), MAYOR OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Crime is not out of control in our city.

CALDWELL: Is Mayor Lori Lightfoot doing a good job?

DAVIS: I think she’s doing a good job. And I think she will be reelected as mayor the city of Chicago.

CALDWELL: That’s frightening to me, but Kim Foxx, you think she’s also doing a good job?

DAVIS: Oh, unequivocally and without a doubt.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: Violence is bad, reprehensible, should be condemned. But it is not the overwhelming picture in New York.

CALDWELL: Senator, any reaction to the crime crisis in America?

SCHUMER: Thank you.

CALDWELL: Crime is up, sir. There’s a crisis. You have any reaction?

You’re a leader. I would think you would have a reaction to what’s going on in the country.

REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY (D-MA): Yes, I support the defund movement.

CALDWELL: Any reaction to the rise in violent crime across the country, which is impacting students?

PRESSLEY: Well, I mean, our work on student debt cancellation is a direct response to what I would consider to be policy violence.

CALDWELL: You mentioned policy violence. I just wanted to follow up on that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She got your question.

CALDWELL: She got my — yes, I know the policy violence. I just wanted to know, do you feel that the police should still be defunded?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shoot me a note.

CALDWELL: Shoot you a note? We will set it up.

REP. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-MI): We need to completely dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CALDWELL: Any reaction to rising crime in America?

You supported the defund the police movement. It led to a rise in crime. Do you have any reaction? Any reaction? No reaction?

It impacts your citizens.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAVUTO: Wow. Note to self, remind me never to get on the wrong side of Gianno Caldwell.

He wanted answers.

Gianno, I don’t think you got them, did you?

CALDWELL: No, I didn’t get them.

And, earlier, you said I was a little disappointed. I think that’s a huge understatement, Neil.

CAVUTO: Absolutely.

CALDWELL: These people are elected to represent their citizens in particular districts. We got Chuck Schumer, who’s the president of the Senate, who refuses to answer questions on what’s every — on what’s on everyone’s mind.

We look at what happened in 2020, a murder rate increase nationally by 29 percent. You look at the FBI report that just came out, it was saying that what happened in 2020 and 2021 was fairly consistent. Then you realize that 40 percent of police departments weren’t included, including New York and Los Angeles, into that FBI report.

Things are much worse than we could ever imagine, Neil, and the citizens of this country are paying a price for those who said they wanted to defund the police, for those who said that police weren’t needed in our communities. And we’re seeing the exact opposite here today, Neil.

CAVUTO: You know what’s so wild about it? Those — and we have heard it from Mayor Lori Lightfoot herself in Chicago, where, tragically, your younger brother Christian was killed, but that it’s fine there, that this is an exaggeration.

She was lecturing the CEO of McDonald’s not too long ago for making a big deal about crime. Right now, Tyson’s is moving out of the city because of crime. And yet it’s not a problem, or it’s an exaggerated problem. What did you think of that?

CALDWELL: Well, I think, first and foremost, either Lori Lightfoot is gaslighting or attempting to gaslight, or she’s just so inept that she doesn’t understand that this is a real issue.

My concern, especially after tragic shootings and murders of so many people, including my baby brother Christian, who was murdered on June 24, is Chicago is going to end up looking like Detroit. Businesses are going to leave. They’re going to go somewhere else. They’re going to go to Miami. They’re going to go to other places where people actually feel safe and want to live and work.

And then what happens to the city? It becomes a destitute city. Then you’re really in trouble, because Detroit still hasn’t recovered from things that we have seen back in the ’60s. That is a problem, Neil. And we need our leaders to wake the hell up.

That’s what they need to do. They need to wake up and recognize that this is an issue that’s impacting everyone. This isn’t a Republican issue. It’s not a Democrat issue. It’s a humanity issue. And they need to start listening.

I’m out for justice Neil, for those — my little brother and those that are like him, innocent victims of this crime crisis in America. And I will not stop. That’s why I went to D.C. I wanted to do it. It was a burning sensation in my heart that I needed to get out there and talk to these elected officials who are running the country.

And I was extraordinarily disappointed. But the fight does not stop. We’re going to continue on. And we’re going to continue to strive for answers and solutions to the violence across our country, Neil.

CAVUTO: Gianno, I’m sure they all know you’re very recognizable face. And your brother is an international story and what you have been dealing with.

So I found it doubly insulting for them to dismiss or wave you off after what you have been through and the passion you bring to this. And I’m thinking to myself, if they can treat someone who has experienced this sort of loss and was looking for answers, my gosh, how are they going to be just talking to anyone about this, if they talk about it at all?

CALDWELL: Well, and that’s the point, Neil. They’re not looking to talk about it.

We look at the polling data, 77 percent of Americans believe that crime is a major issue for them. When you talk about the Latino community, this is the number two issue in their book. When you’re thinking about this just generally speaking, when it comes to the election, and the midterms are around the corner, Republicans have a big edge on the crime crisis in America, because people want them to fix it.

So Democrats, of course, don’t want to talk about it. But the problem is, they exacerbated it talking about, oh, we got to defund the police, and we don’t really need them for anything, but yet they have security and they pay them hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, if not more, to protect them.

Why don’t we, as American citizens, deserve that same protection? Why is it that people on the South Side of Chicago fear leaving their homes? We got kids who don’t even want to go to school because they don’t know if they’re going to be murdered. This is a serious issue.

Chicago is a world-class city with Third World problems. We need to make changes across this country and we need them now. I will not stop, Neil, and I guarantee you that, until we see something significant happen in this country.

CAVUTO: Well, if your piece hit home on any issue, it was that the problem with not even acknowledging a problem only guarantees it’s going to be a much bigger problem.

CALDWELL: Yes.

CAVUTO: Gianno, hang in there. Man, I can’t believe it.

CALDWELL: Absolutely.

CAVUTO: We will have more after this.

CALDWELL: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, the rescuing goes on right now in Florida.

Let’s go to Nate Foy in Fort Myers with the latest there.

Hey, Nate.

NATE FOY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil.

Yes, the search for survivors continues today, especially just down San Carlos Boulevard over the Matanzas Pass Bridge into Fort Myers Beach. I’m going to show you that momentarily.

But, first, I want to give you a look at what we’re seeing right now. You can see this shack. They were just demolishing that. They stopped briefly. It looks like crews are going to work on that again. But I want you to take a look at FPL workers with Florida Power & Light trying to work on these power lines that were disrupted by it looks about an 80-foot boat that was displaced from the water during Hurricane Ian.

But, again, the real devastation, even worse than we’re seeing here, is down that road over the bridge into Fort Myers Beach. Take a look at this video this morning. We were embedded with the Florida Task Force 2 rescue crews. This is a first-of-its-kind mission. They took the boats out, and they explored the waters around Fort Myers Beach, looking through debris, and trying to access the areas that they can’t with cars, looking for survivors, unfortunately, also looking for bodies.

But we found one man whose home is still standing. And he plans to stay in Fort Myers Beach until it’s all the way back. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID BAUER, FORT MYERS BEACH RESIDENT: Water came up about 12-and-a-half feet. And it came but six inches from going into the house.

The inside of the house is fine. Downstairs is gone. This here, where my lumber is sitting, was the house over there called Lazy Days. I actually saved his little plaque from the side of the building that’s sitting, right where he normally sits and has a cocktail at the end of the day.

I think, all in all, we’re going to be OK. But there’s a lot of people that passed. And there’s a lot of people that lost everything, so…

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOY: And, Neil, that man told me he personally knows multiple people who passed away during the hurricane.

But a much better story here, you see this video of the Pine Island Bridge. This island was completely cut off from the mainland during the storm. But after just three days of construction, the state and Lee County have worked together, and they now have a functioning bridge, so residents there can at least somewhat move on with their lives.

Back out here live, also some progress with power outages. Right now, only about 200,000 people in Florida are without power. We will send it back to you, Neil.

CAVUTO: Nate Foy, thank you for that.

In the meantime, keeping track of North Korea and all those missiles it’s been launching. It’s been busy. And Japan is getting anxious.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right. We’re getting more word right now on the U.S. carrying out an airstrike in Syria overnight.

Jennifer Griffin has more on this at the Pentagon.

Jennifer, what can you tell us?

JENNIFER GRIFFIN, FOX NEWS NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Neil, a lot going on right now here at the Pentagon.

We have just learned of a second U.S. airstrike in Syria in the past few hours. The latest strike involved in airstrike at 6:23 p.m. local Syria time, killing one of the top five ISIS leaders and the deputy of ISIS in Syria.

An official who was responsible for prisoner affairs as well was killed. This airstrike came hours after a daring raid conducted by U.S. special operators near Qamishli targeting another ISIS leader responsible for smuggling weapons and fighters. All three are dead tonight.

The latest North Korean missile launches have now been accompanied with bomber jets being flown near the border with South Korea. North Korea flew 12 warplanes near the border with South Korea earlier today, something it has not done before, which prompted the South to scramble 30 military planes in response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOON HONG-SIK, SOUTH KOREAN DEFENSE MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): As we have said before, North Korea continues to launch missiles one after another and make provocations as part of North Korea’s own development of ballistic missiles and its defense plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: The U.S. has not carried out military exercises with South Korea in five years, after President Trump halted those exercises during a summit with Kim Jong-un.

This week’s exercises were new because they involved not just South Korea, but also Japan. To U.S. warships belonging to the USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group carried out trilateral ballistic missile defense exercises with South Korean and Japanese warships in the Sea of Japan today.

The USS Chancellorsville provided air defense. All of this follows live- fire exercises between the U.S. and South Korea and air drills between the U.S., Japan and South Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: We will not stay silent as the DPRK works to undermine the global nonproliferation regime and threaten the international community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: … at the U.N. Security Council blamed the U.S. for the North Korean missile tests.

Meanwhile, Russia continues to hint at the possibility of using nuclear weapons if threatened in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. PATRICK RYDER, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: This nuclear saber- rattling is reckless and irresponsible. We do not have any information that would cause us to change our strategic deterrence posture, and we don’t assess that President Putin has made a decision to use nuclear weapons at this time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: North Korea has now launched over 35 ballistic missiles this year alone and looks like it’s preparing to carry out another nuclear test.

No U.S. forces were injured in the Syrian airstrike or raid, and no civilians were assessed to be killed, according to CENTCOM, adding, CENTCOM forces used 1,000 hours of intelligence collection over the two targets before striking — Neil.

CAVUTO: Jennifer, thank you for that.

When we come back, the latest on the world’s richest man trying to pick up the world’s most controversial company. Remember we said it’s a done deal? It’s not yet — after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, it’s not a done deal yet.

Ever since the world’s richest man decided to pull a 180 and say, after all, I will buy Twitter and hopefully put this all to rest, well, it’s not put to rest and it’s not done.

Charlie Gasparino, what’s going on now?

CHARLIE GASPARINO, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Neil, there’s so many moving parts to this thing, it’s hard to describe.

I mean, he needs bank financing in a time that banks are more reluctant to lend money, particularly on highly leveraged deals. He need other investors. It’s unclear whether Larry Ellison or Marc Andreessen, his Silicon Valley buddies, would — are going to put up the couple million that they wanted.

His own stock, Tesla, has declined 30 percent over the past six months since he first bid. So there’s a lot of stuff here. My guess and the guess out there — and we will see exactly what’s going on — is that he’s literally trying to — I mean, they don’t buy at face value what he’s saying, that he has the offer ready, and they are saying no.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Who is they? The Twitter people are saying that?

GASPARINO: Yes, Twitter. Yes. Well, when I talk to lawyers and people that — in the know, investment bankers, they just don’t believe it’s that simple, that there’s some other wrinkle here that they don’t know about.

CAVUTO: So, he has financing, we should say, from these banks, and these others, that some have pulled.

GASPARINO: We think. We think. We think.

CAVUTO: But now we got to wonder, if it doesn’t pan out, he has obviously a lot of other money. Could he use that? Or would he use that?

GASPARINO: Well, that’s the problem. We think he has financing. We don’t know.

CAVUTO: Right.

GASPARINO: And, again, the financing market is a lot different.

Banks lend this money, it’s on their balance sheet, and they try to sell it. They generally don’t do it if they can’t sell it. And the selling market on these leveraged loans is very difficult. So, it’s all up in the air. So I don’t think you could take at face value what he’s putting out there.

I think my — still my view is he wants to get the purchase price down. It’s — he doesn’t want to pay $44 billion or $54.20 a share. And that’s what you’re seeing here. You’re seeing a dance here at the last minute. And it’s fascinating. It’s also kind of frustrating to cover, because it’s like stuff that kind of leaks out there.

Every now and then, you look at his Twitter page, he says something crazy.

CAVUTO: But the judge involved in this, right, she’s a pretty tough judge when it comes to those who propose a deal backing out of a deal.

GASPARINO: Oh, yes.

CAVUTO: So she could say, well, regardless of who is financing or whatever, you have agreed to this price, these terms, you got to do it, right? So, what happens?

GASPARINO: Yes, they could do that.

But it depends on what that document that he signed said. There is something called a material adverse clause in there, where it says, if something material happens, that you can’t do it, well, guess what? You can back out with paying your — paying a billion dollars or so.

That material adverse clause could be the banks not doing the financing at $44 billion. We don’t know.

CAVUTO: But wouldn’t the judge, Charlie, say, who cares how you get the money? You have got to get the money.

GASPARINO: Right.

CAVUTO: This is the deal, and it’s still on and you got to do it.

GASPARINO: Possibly.

CAVUTO: Who would be the balking party here?

GASPARINO: By the way, possibly, Neil.

CAVUTO: Possibly, I grant you, right.

GASPARINO: We don’t — I don’t know exactly what’s in that contract.

CAVUTO: What do you think happens? You that this deal will be consummated, or is it off? Because I can’t see many other bidders for Twitter out there.

GASPARINO: Well, there’s no other buyer.

CAVUTO: Right.

GASPARINO: And that’s the problem that Twitter has.

If he drops out, and they — all’s they get is a billion dollars out of him out of a breakup fee, who’s going to buy it? I mean, the stock goes down to $20 a share. And so maybe they negotiate them down a little bit and avoid some of this. I mean, the stock is already off a little bit.

It’s — listen, it’s a great story. If you’re a shareholder, you got to be biting your nails. I can’t tell you where this thing will go, because we’re dealing with a guy that is like — dealing with Elon Musk is like nailing Jell-O to a wall. I mean, it’s just — it’s just another level.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Yes. OK.

GASPARINO: I mean, he prevaricates. He fabricates. He says X, he means Y. It really — he really is an amazing guy, brilliant.

CAVUTO: As are you. As are you.

GASPARINO: As are you.

CAVUTO: Well, keep us posted, my friend.

Charlie Gasparino following all of that.

Worries about deals, worries about higher prices, worry about higher energy costs combined to wallop the Dow today, down 346 points. We will see tomorrow when they get the employment report. That’s a whole ‘nother story.

Here’s « The Five. »

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