the white house put an unofficial gag order on border agents. >> mask for the but not for me, john kerry lying maskless, his explanation as "fox and friends first" continues right now. >> another story we are covering this morning, talk about hypocrisy and it was a few minutes, he had his mask off, we will hear his explanation coming up later, regardless not a good look. >> not to mention he's the climate czar and yet he jets around the world, takes these private jets everywhere, it is hypocrisy and you wonder why you have to do face-to-face meetings to cut down on carbon emissions. he has answered and we will tell you what he says coming up. >> good morning, you are watching "fox and friends first" on thursday morning. let's get right to this extreme weather alert because millions of americans are on high alert bracing for potential tornadoes across the southeast. at least 21 reported touchdown slammed the deep south, stores leaving a trail of destruction in alabama and mississippi. benjamin: in severe storms in arkansas, fears lightning across the mississippi tennessee sky and listen to this from the university of alabama. >> actually every word. >> wow. >> janice steen is tracking the dangerous line of storms. what lies ahead? >> another day of it and this line of storms moving into heavily populated neighborhoods across the southeast and mid-atlantic. that is my concern. i want people to be aware we could have another day of dangerous potentially deadly weather including tornadoes. over 2 dozen reports of tornadoes across portions of the south and the gulf coast with a tornado watch toward the florida panhandle and alabama into georgia and more of these watches and warnings throughout the day especially as the daytime heat sets in, even into the overnight which can be dangerous as people don't see the storms coming, we could have a tornado warned storm south of montgomery in the pink shaded area, that is a tornado on the ground on doppler radar. this will be an ongoing situation throughout the day and the risk continues in parts of the mid-atlantic, the area you see shaded in red, moderate risk but high-risk for tornado activity through this evening, that hatched area is the main concern, these are heavily populated cities. that is a bigger concern because it affecting more people, people need to be on guard for this, heavy rainfall and behind is the potential for snow in the northeast and the mid-atlantic, that is something we are continuing with the system. know what to do if there's watch or warning your area. we will keep you up to date. benjamin: in a few hours congress is set to take up two immigration reform bills, the biden administration refuses to call the border situation a crisis. jillian: another busy day. >> i had a chance to ask jen psaki if you are going to the border means there's a disaster and she didn't answer, they are refusing to call it a crisis. a senior cvp official telling fox news the president understand it is a crisis which is why he told migrants don't come over. >> border patrol resources are overwhelmed and we cannot secure the border based on the threat coming at us and when we pull agents into the process off of the line we call it a crisis. benjamin: cvp and border patrol have 13,000 unaccompanied children in custody. as of yesterday, first stop for them or any migrant is a border patrol processing facility. those are not built for kids. new york times says some are jail like and that is why they are scribing out locations for shelters run by age age is to send them but it is tough to tell what conditions are like because the administration the promise transparency on day one is now letting media, that is respectful of privacy inside. >> why we nancy images in the facility. >> since there are photos why not release those? >> happy to invite them to the briefing room and talk about this. >> if you want to grant access to the press could you tell dhs to do it? >> we support transparency. >> matching people on the terrorist watchlist apprehended at the border recently, reports that fentanyl and other drugs are flooding across the board with the cartels, tracking these migrants, that is what we know about, raising questions that we don't know about. benjamin: i wondered, the wider point about accessibility to the press and the white house how transparent are you finding it? what was it like with this white house? >> we get a lot of soundbites from jen psaki and administration officials but there are a lot of answers like yesterday, not just fox asking about access to these facilities to see where the migrants are being held and where the unaccompanied children are, they keep sending us to other agencies but ultimately as joe biden said in an interview earlier this week the buck stops with him so questions will keep going. jillian: glad to have you here, good to see you and keep up the good work. newly released 911 calls revealed terrifying moments during the deadly attack in atlanta spots. benjamin: the suspects parents were the ones who turned him in to police. carley shimkus joins us with more as the suspect is expected to be in court today. >> reporter: overnight vigils were held in cities across the country for the victims in that deadly shooting rampage. the attack unfolding at 3 atlanta massage parlors leaving eight debt and another perfect injured, putting the asian american community on edge. police releasing the 911 call made by one woman hiding in the back of a spot as the shooting spree unfolded. >> what is he wearing? >> i don't know, please come, okay? >> reporter: robert long told them he carried out the attack, want to illuminate temptation. charged with 8 counts of murder and one count of assault, making the quick arrest after his parents alerted authorities say they believe their son is responsible for me and police were able to track his cell phone. they were carrying out similar violence tied to the porn industry. not clear shootings will be canceling. and it was 3000 incidents. and donald trump is partly to blame. >> calling covid the wuhan virus or other things led to perception of the asian american community that were inaccurate, unfair. >> yesterday's shootings were another tragic reminder we have far more work to do. and root out the pervasive patterns of hatred and violence in society, police are stepping up patrols in asian neighborhoods across the country. benjamin: running around with the gun, thanks. >> fox news alert, the body of a missing illinois college student found in a field. alexander mcwilliams is considered armed and dangerous, faces first-degree murder charges for the death of michelle meredith who was shot and killed over the weekend two days after being reported missing. benjamin: kamala harris flip-flopped on filibuster reforms telling fox news the vp's views align with the president who supports a move to a talking filibuster. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell blasts chuck schumer over efforts to abolish the move. >> reporter: turning the senate into a speedway as opposed to a place where things are pause and thought over. >> reform would require support from all 50 senators who caucus with the democrats and prince william is apparently deeply distressed they are sharing private conversations with others. entertainment tonight reports after the opera interview gayle king admitted prince harry spoke about underproductive conversations with his brother and prince charles was william is not happy with megan markel name dropping his wife. may have cried before the wedding. this story just keeps going. it is a rift in the family. you don't want to those conversations spread around the world. that phone call is made, it will not help them? >> they need to do this in private. it is just my opinion. 11 minutes after the are. the head of homeland security and the hot seat. >> i'm not spending any time on the language that we use. jillian: alejandro mayorkas refusing to call it a crisis. carlos jimenez was at the hearing. >> it is caught on camera. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ hey limu! 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a big percentage of people getting through, we see them but there's no way to stop them because we don't have an of customs and border protection agents. benjamin: you only need one terrorist to come across to carry out an attack. that's all the time we've got this morning but thank you for coming on, appreciate it. the time is 20 minutes after the hour. president biden's climate beard maskless on a flight, john kerry's explanation next. guy fieri! ya know, if you wanna make that sandwich the real deal, ya gotta focus on the bread layers. king's hawaiian sliced bread makes everything better! ♪ (angelic choir) ♪ and here's mine! it all starts with an invitation... ...to experience lexus. the invitation to lexus sales event. get 0% apr financing on the 2021 rx 350. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. for nearly a decade, get 0% apr financing on the 2021 rx 350. comcast has been helping students get ready. we've connected 4 million low-income students to low- cost, high-speed xfinity internet. we're working with hundreds of school districts across the country to sponsor free internet and laptops. and parents are seeing an impact. and now we're turning 1,000 community centers into lift zones - wifi enabled safe spaces to study. so more students can be ready for anything. i'm trying to do some homework here. jillian: the biden administration's top national security advisors will meet for the first time chinese diplomats in alaska. it comes on the heels of new sanctions from china and hong kong officials. sean: good morning. >> reporter: american or chinese officials will meet today in alaska for the first time during the biden administration. us secretary of state anthony blinken along with lloyd austen are wrapping up a trip to japan and south korea where they discussed threats from china and us allies, blinken will be joined by national security adviser jake sullivan. at an all-time low, officials characterize this is one of meeting. the us state department announced new sanctions against 2 dozen chinese officials are human rights abuses in hong kong. the biden administration began to revoke chinese telecom permits to the summit today where chinese actions are expected to be discussed. >> china moving forward in aggression to systematically -- autonomy in hong kong, democracy and taiwan, human -- abuse human rights agenda into bed, and violate international law. >> despite much criticism from republicans in washington the president biden might not be so tough on china the new administration has taken a hard-line approach with officials in beijing. benjamin: nursing homes emerge as a flashpoint in the race for new jersey governor. >> scared and alone, that is how 8000 seniors and veterans died in nursing homes during this pandemic, they died is governor murphy order nursing homes to take in covid 19 patients. jillian: the democrat blaming phil murphy for nursing home deaths joins us next. still your best friend. and now your co-pilot. still a father. but now a friend. still an electric car. just more electrifying. still a night out. but everything fits in. still hard work. just a little easier. still a legend. just more legendary. chevrolet. making life's journey, just better. so you want to make the best burger ever? 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(announcer) find out more at aerotrainer.com. that's aerotrainer.com. . thousands without power. benjamin: and asinus tracking the storms. what is the latest? >> janice: we have watches and warnings in effect, tornado warned storm for parts of alabama. there is our watch meaning conditions are favorable for tornadoes and the warning means we've spotted doppler radar indicated tornadoes on the ground southwest of troy, alabama. that is the tornado warned storm right there. outside the tornado watch, we can get the storms outside of where we are warning people and that is white is a good idea to have somewhere you can get your watches or warnings, noaa weather radio is a great thing to have, have extra batteries. you are severe threat tonight will affect heavily populated areas across the southeast in the mid-atlantic with this area meaning a high risk of tornadoes for parts of willington towards north of charleston. the carolinas towards virginia need to be on alert. here are your preparations. we hope you have these in advance of the storm but in case folks are wondering you need to know where to get your watches and warnings, warnings mean you need to seek shelter immediately, basement, sellers are the safest, stay away from windows and flying debris potential and your noaa weather radio is the best things to have and have your batteries. there is your forecast, the big stories the southeast and mid-atlantic, snow behind the system across the plane states and even potential for snow tomorrow behind the system for the mid-atlantic and the northeast. the bottom line is if you are in an area you can see potential whether be prepared ahead of it. been and jillian back to you. benjamin: nursing homes, in the race for new jersey governor, gop candidate looking to unseat governor phil murphy laying the blame for the state's nursing home deaths squarely on the democrat's feet. >> scared and alone, that is how 8000 seniors died in nursing homes during this pandemic because governor murphy order nursing homes to taken covid 19 patients. the pandemic isn't easy. >> new jersey gubernatorial candidate leading the probe into nursing homes, thank you very time. how do you get to the bottom of this to get answers and how long will that take and will you get to the bottom of it? >> we submitted a number of requests, the cuomo administration, according to phil murphy they were in lockstep in the early months of the pandemic. we want to hear conversations that took place in the administration how to handle the nursing home environment for covid 19 patients. the regulation came out from one of the conversations that took place between administration and nursing home operators. you realize people will die and was was deafening was the silence. benjamin: the staff here, the number of long-term facilities, was 8000, in new jersey, per capita in the us, the highest nursing home deaths, the attorney general refused to take action. can you explain that? >> it is an election year, new jersey leads the nation in nursing home deaths and the nursing homes that are owned and operated by the state where veterans resided and continued to reside are the ones with the greatest number of deaths. we want to continue to probe, we would like the democratic majority with investigation of hearings. they have done that in the past in situations where people didn't die. this time a great many people died and they can't have investigational hearings. jillian: i want to get to something a minute and a half ago, and administrative the warned governor murphy, resulting seniors, let's pull this up on the screen that reads, quote, you understand by asking us to take covid patients by demanding we take covid patients patients will die in nursing homes that wouldn't have otherwise died had we screened them out. that is disturbing and disturbing for a lot of families that are left without loved ones or answers. >> the governor granted the nursing homes to legal immunity. they forced this decision upon them, put