This is a rush transcript from “Special Report," September 3, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: They should have. Thanks, Jesse. Good evening, welcome to Washington. I'm Bret Baier.
Breaking tonight, you are looking at a live picture, I think of Air Force One. There you go. The president getting ready to get off there. The President heading to Pennsylvania for a campaign event in Latrobe.
President Trump taking heat tonight though over a suggestion that voters who use mail-in ballots show up the polls on Election Day as well to make sure their vote is counted. Critics saying he was asking voters to vote twice in North Carolina. The White House is saying that wasn't the point at all.
The president also in another verbal war with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo over defunding violent cities. Cuomo in a very pointed interview is suggesting the president would not be safe in New York City.
Joe Biden left his home in Delaware today to travel to the current center of racial strife in the country Kenosha, Wisconsin on what the Biden campaign called a listening event.
We have Fox team coverage tonight. Peter Doocy is in Wisconsin where Biden met with members of the community after meeting and talking to Jacob Blake and members of his family. We begin though with Chief White House correspondent John Roberts. Good evening, John.
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Bret, good evening to you. We've got some bad weather in the area too, so we'll see if the president has to wait for just a few minutes before taking off for Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
But as you know, for the last few weeks, the president has been hammering Democratic leaders in cities across America for failing to keep the peace. Now, he is trying to incentivize them to do it using the power of the almighty dollar.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: President Trump again trying to change the focus of the election to law and order. Threatening to withhold federal funding to cities like Portland, Seattle, Washington D.C. and New York City, unless they do more to combat lawlessness.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is a dereliction of duty and if the states will not act in their police power and secure their streets, this president will use every lawful mechanism available to him to try to supplement their failures.
ROBERTS: Whether it is lawful is an open question. The Supreme Court ruled in 1987 that the federal government can withhold certain funds from states but that was after Congress authorized the withholding, that won't happen in this case. But just the idea reigniting the long running feud between the president and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): He can't come back to New York, he can't. He's going to walk down the street in New York? Forget bodyguards, he better have an army if he thinks he's going to walk down the street in New York.
ROBERTS: Cuomo insisted that while the president wants to make the election about law and order, it should be about what Cuomo called President Trump's negligence in response to coronavirus.
The president firing back on that front tweeting, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York has the worst record on death in China Virus. 11,000 people alone died in nursing homes because of his incompetence.
That a reference to Cuomo allowing elderly coronavirus patients to go back into nursing homes where others became infected.
President Trump also under fire today for suggesting at this North Carolina event, people who vote by mail should also go to the polls on Election Day.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you get the unsolicited ballots, send it in and then go, make sure it counted. And if it doesn't tabulate your vote, you just vote. And then if they tabulated very late which they shouldn't be doing, they'll see you voted and so it won't count.
ROBERTS: Critics immediately pounced on the president, claiming he was urging people to vote twice. In a series of tweets, the president clarified what he meant, saying; go to your polling place to see whether or not your mail-in vote has been tabulated. If it has, you will not be able to vote and the mail-in system worked properly. If it has not been counted, vote.
The Press Secretary today insisting the president simply wants to make sure every vote is counted.
MCENANY: So, what Democrats want you to do is say, trust us but don't verify. Don't verify that your vote's been counted. This president is trying to enfranchise Americans which is exactly what he's been saying. He wants every American to have a vote.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Mail-in voting, law and order, jobs in the energy industry will all be front and center tonight as the president heads to Latrobe, Pennsylvania. That's in Westmoreland County which the president won by 31 points back in 2016, so he is definitely solidly on friendly territory. Latrobe of course famous for Rolling Rock beer and is the birthplace of Arnold Palmer, Bret.
BAIER: You bet. John Roberts live in the North Lawn. John, thanks.
Joe Biden made a point of condemning rioters, praising law enforcement and promising to overhaul policing while he was in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Correspondent Peter Doocy shows us tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly two months till Election Day, Joe Biden visited the city reeling from the effects of riots Kenosha, Wisconsin. Biden wore a mask and paced around a Kenosha church where pews were filled with religious leaders, law enforcement officers and activists all affected by the recent unrest down the street.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am not pessimistic. I'm optimistic about the opportunity if we seize it.
DOOCY: He heard about how even businesses that weren't burned have been harmed.
BARB DEBERGE, DEBERGE'S FRAMING AND GALLERY: They did break our windows, get into our store, they looted.
DOOCY: Before motorcading to Kenosha, Biden met with Jacob Blake's family for more than one hour in a Milwaukee airplane hangar. The family's lawyer says, "It was very obvious that Vice President Biden cared as he extended to Jacob Jr. a sense of humanity, treating him as a person worthy of consideration in prayer"
And Jacob Blake's uncle tells Fox, he's heard from relatives in that meeting pleased with what the Democratic nominee brought up.
JUSTIN BLAKE, UNCLE OF JACOB BLAKE JR.: Before my brother Jacob could get out of his (INAUDIBLE) something about reform, Vice President Biden had already said it.
DOOCY: The slogan for Biden's economic plan is build back better. And he's continuing to build a bench of prominent Republican backers.
Michigan's former Republican Governor Rick Snyder explains he'll vote for Biden over Trump because "As a proud nerd, I had to deal with bullies over many years. It is tragedy watching our world suffer from one".
During an interview with American Urban Radio's April Ryan, former President Bill Clinton is now amusing things are now so acrimonious between the candidates that if Trump loses, he may not leave.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, he probably won't even come to Biden's inauguration. He'll be stacking sandbag around the White House.
DOOCY: Biden's focus today was on healing in a different way than he's used to because of the pandemic.
BIDEN: Am I violating social distancing here walking up? I guess I am. Sorry.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOOCY: And we have new details this evening, Joe Biden spoke on the phone for 15 minutes with Jacob Blake who remains in a nearby hospital after being shot seven times in the back by a Kenosha police officer. The family says that Blake is paralyzed. Biden says Blake told him he's never going to give up trying to walk again, Bret.
BAIER: Peter Doocy in Kenosha tonight. Peter, thanks.
Facebook says it will restrict new political ads in the week before the election and remove posts that convey misinformation about voting and COVID-19. It will also attach links to official results to post from candidates and campaigns that declare premature victories.
Facebook saying it is taking more steps to encourage voting, minimized misinformation and reduce the likelihood of post-election civil unrest.
Also breaking tonight, Dr. Anthony Fauci says it is unlikely a coronavirus vaccine will be ready by the end of October even though others are saying the vaccine could get approval by November. That may have been one of the factors for a big slide in the markets today. Another possible factor, the deficit and debt numbers from the CBO. The Dow plunging 808 points today the S&P 500 lost 126, the NASDAQ hemorrhage 598.
We have Fox team coverage on this, Connell McShane in New York looks at what happened and why. But first up, correspondent Jonathan Serrie in Atlanta with the latest on the coronavirus and hopes for a vaccine. Good evening, Jonathan.
JONATHAN SERRIE, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening to you, Bret. Today, the Pentagon announced five U.S. military sites have been selected for a phase three clinical trials of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. That as Operation Warp Speed ramps up to find a permanent solution to this ongoing pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SERRIE: With three potential vaccines in phase three clinical trials, federal health officials are already instructing states to facilitate the opening of vaccine distribution centers.
CDC Director Robert Redfield urging the nation's governors to consider waiving requirements that would prevent these facilities from becoming fully operational by November 1, 2020, that's two days before the presidential election. But the White House is pushing back against assertions the timing is political.
MCENANY: This president wants to break through regulatory barriers to get a vaccine as safely as to the American people as quickly as possible because lives are at stake, but he will not in any way sacrifice safety.
SERRIE: Dr. Moncef Slaoui who leads Operation Warp Speed tells NPR it's possible but unlikely a vaccine will be ready this fall. Dr. Anthony Fauci also downplays expectations of an instant fix.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I believe that by the time we get to the end of this calendar year, that we will feel comfortable that we do have a safe and effective vaccine.
SERRIE: Dr. Fauci says the rate of new cases in the U.S. around 40,000 per day is too high and needs to come down to 10,000 or less to avoid a tough flu season in fall.
The World Health Organization is recommending corticosteroids to treat severe cases of COVID-19 after multiple studies show the drugs reduced fatalities in hospitalized patients.
And actor Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson announced he and his family are recovering from coronavirus infections they picked up at a small get together with close friends.
DWAYNE "THE ROCK" JOHNSON, ACTOR: These are people who we still love and trust. And they are devastated, by the way, that they were the ones who picked it up. They have no idea where they picked it up, they're devastated that it -- that it led to them infecting our family.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SERRIE: 26 of the 32 NFL teams have announced they'll begin this year's football season without fans in the stadiums. And USA Today reports that Penn State's athletic director says, roughly one third of Big Ten athletes testing positive for coronavirus are also showing signs of myocarditis and inflammation of the heart muscle, Bret.
BAIER: Jonathan Serrie in Atlanta. Jonathan, thanks.
Let's get some analysis of what's happening on Wall Street. Connell McShane of the Fox Business Network joins us from New York. Tough day, Connell.
CONNELL MCSHANE, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK HOST: It was a very tough day, Bret. You know, you mentioned a moment ago the comments made by Dr. Fauci on vaccine timing may have alerted some on Wall Street that the assumptions they were making about a coronavirus vaccine were overly optimistic.
But I got to say, more than anything else as we talk to investors today, they say the stock market was due for a day like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN HOENIG, MANAGER, CAPITALISTPIG HEDGE FUND: We have forgotten what a selloff looks like and so far, going back, this is a pretty mild selloff.
I mean, a three percent down on the Dow, it takes us back to basically we're at the end of last month.
HEATHER ZUMARRAGA, PRESIDENT, ZUMA GLOBAL: I hope it sells off more and the reason I'm saying that is because I have been waiting since the end of March to get back in the market.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCSHANE: Yes, you missed quite a rally if you missed out on the tech stocks which have been up so much but really took it on the chin today. It was the worst day for the NASDAQ since June 11th.
And if you take a look at some of the individual names there, Apple is a stock that had shot straight up over the past months, pretty much straight down today. Apple closing lower by eight percent.
Then there's Tesla which a lot of people have been following stock went up about a thousand percent over the past year from one August to another. Those gains had only been accelerating in recent weeks but not today. Tesla down on the day by about nine percent.
So, now, the hard part for investors, what comes next? Is this just a one day event or maybe the start of some sort of a rotation in the market away from those highflying technology stocks?
Tomorrow morning, we do get a new report that's expected to show 1.4 million jobs were added around the country last month as the economy recovered from the virus lockdowns.
The unemployment rate forecast to fall back in to the single digits at 9.8 percent. So that'll be one of the indicators investors will watch trying to determine the market's next move, Bret.
BAIER: All right, Connell, thank you.
Republicans are calling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a hypocrite over her trip to a closed -- to the public San Francisco hair salon Monday. Her allies are saying this is all much ado about nothing. But plenty of people are still weighing in especially after the speaker called it all a set up.
Senior correspondent Claudia Cowan and has the latest tonight from San Francisco.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): So, I take responsibility for falling for a set up. This salon owes me an apology.
CLAUDIA COWAN, FOX NEWS CHANNEL SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: The blow out blow up took several twists today with Speaker Nancy Pelosi's freelance hairstylist supporting her claim that the video leak of her wash and dry Monday was a set up. And the White House slamming the speaker for getting her hair done in defiance of San Francisco lockdown orders that have kept salons closed for months.
MCENANY: Apparently, the rules do not apply to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She wants small businesses to stay shut down but only re-opened for her convenience.
Do as I say, not as I do.
COWAN: She also blasted Pelosi for holding up more than a trillion dollars in relief for struggling businesses like eSalon where Pelosi was reportedly a frequent client.
Owner Erica Kious says, she released the video because she feels small businesses have been abandoned by elected officials like Nancy Pelosi who has repeatedly lectured others on the importance of wearing masks and staying home.
ERICA KIOUS, OWNER, ESALON: I just thought about, you know, my staff and people not being able to work and make money and provide for their families. And if she's in there comfortably without a mask and feeling safe, then why are we shut down?
COWAN: But the stylist scene following Pelosi says Kious has been encouraging indoor appointments and knew full well about Pelosi.
In a statement, Jonathan DeNardo says given a "Review of her political leanings, it appears Ms. Kious is furthering a setup of Speaker Pelosi for her own vein aspirations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COWAN: So, a lot of finger pointing but late today, a show of support from other business owners, smocks and blow dryers in hand who held a rally in front of Nancy Pelosi's house calling the speaker a hypocrite. And demanding an end to restrictions that are forced thousands of San Francisco businesses to close including now that hair salon, Bret.
BAIER: Claudia Cowan in San Francisco. Claudia, thanks.
Up next, how a new body camera video tells a different story in Washington, D.C., over a shooting, we'll have that live report.
First, here is what some of our Fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight. Fox 45 in Baltimore, as a Postal Service audit, reveals about 68,000 pieces of political mail were delayed for five days, upon arriving at a city mail processing facility, ahead of Maryland's June primary.
The report says, campaign materials from a candidate sat unprocessed for nearly a week before management discovered it.
Fox 40 in Jackson, Mississippi, as the state commission selects the final design proposal to replace Mississippi's current flag. The legislature voted to retire the current flag earlier this summer because of its inclusion of the confederate battle emblem.
Voters will decide in November whether to approve the new flag which features a magnolia blossoms surrounded by stars and the phrase, "In God We Trust."
And this is a live look at Indianapolis from Fox 59, our affiliate there. One of the big stories there tonight. The NCAA will furlough its entire Indianapolis-based staff of about 600 employees for three to eight weeks in a cost-saving move.
The organization took a massive financial hit when it canceled the men's college basketball tournament in March because of COVID-19.
That's tonight's live look "OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY" from SPECIAL REPORT. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: Portland is working on two consecutive nights without the declaration of a riot or unlawful assembly. The troubles there persist and across the country, including here in Washington, D.C.
Here's correspondent Matt Finn, but a warning here, his report contained some video you may find disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT FINN, FOX NEWS CHANNEL NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Police in Washington, D.C. released this body camera video today showing the tense moments leading up to when an officer shot and killed an 18-year-old black man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't move -- don't move, don't move.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, hey, I got it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the one that he was holding
FINN: Police say officers encountered Deon Kay after responding to reports of a man with a gun. The police slow down the video to a still picture showing Kay, holding a handgun seconds before he was shot.
PETER NEWSHAM, CHIEF, METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: We believe that the subject had a gun at the time.
FINN: After the shooting, protesters demonstrated outside of a D.C. police precinct and the mayor's house.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr addressed the ongoing arrest across the country. Saying, in Minneapolis, George Floyd was subdued and not armed. But in Kenosha, Jacob Blake was armed and committing a felony.
WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: The narrative that the police are on some epidemic of shooting unarmed black men is simply a false narrative.
The fact to the matter is it's very rare for an unarmed African-American to be shot by a white police officer. And there were 10 cases last year. Six of them, the suspect was attacking the police officer physically.
FINN: In Portland, the 98th night of unrest, Wednesday, as demonstrators intentionally blocked the street the police cars used to get in and out of the precinct for critical calls.
Police, say for several hours they warned people to clear the street. And had objects thrown at them. Three people were arrested.
And a neighbor of Portland's mayor is now speaking out after the mayor made plans to move out of his condominium following this Monday night riot.
BOB GARSHA, NEIGHBOR: The peer presents that's going to bring the demonstrations and the looting. Then, I think it's best that he does leave.
FINN: In Green Bay, Wisconsin, police say, this 23-year-old man dropped into the fetal position and cried when busted by officers with a flamethrower on a way to a Black Lives Matter march Saturday night. A criminal complaint, says he's a violent Antifa member.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FINN: And here in Portland, police have yet to release any information about any suspects in the shooting death of a man last Saturday who is in town and participated in a pro-President Trump rally. Bret.
BAIER: Matt Finn live in Portland. Matt, thanks.
And fortunately, we have additional images tonight. You might find upsetting, concerning the death of a black man in police custody. This incident happened earlier this year in Rochester, New York. And it is now sparking outrage there and leading to government action tonight.
Senior correspondent Laura Ingle picks up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE PRUDE, BROTHER OF DANIEL PRUDE: I placed a phone call for my brother to get help. Not for my brother to get lynched.
LAURA INGLE, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Joe Prude, the brother of 41- year-old Daniel Prude, lashing out against police in Rochester, New York, after body camera video released this week, shows how officers handled his call for help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground. Put your hands behind your back -- behind your back. Don't move.
INGLE: Prude, says his brother was experiencing a mental health episode, March 23rd, which led him to run naked and agitated into the streets. The recording show police interacting with Prude, who is unarmed, yelling, and spitting.
After Prude threatens violence, they put him in handcuffs, plays a so- called spit hood over his head, put a knee on his back, and allegedly pushed his head into the pavement until he stops moving.
DANIEL PRUDE, DIED OF ASPHYXIATION AFTER OFFICERS PLACED HOOD ON HIM: Give me the gun. I'm going to sue your -- give me the gun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop, calm down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you good, man?
INGLE: Prude was taken away unconscious in an ambulance and died seven days later. Though he had traces of PCP in his system, the Monroe County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide caused by complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint.
The police chief in Rochester ordered an internal and criminal investigation the day the arrest took place, before eventually turning the case over to New York Attorney General Letitia James, who began an investigation in April.
Now, with the video made public, protesters are taking to the streets of Rochester, demanding justice.
Today, Rochester city council members sent a letter to the mayor requesting that the officers involved be placed on administrative leave effective immediately until the criminal investigation is complete.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
INGLE: And the mayor of Rochester just held a news conference announcing the seven officers involved have been suspended with pay today. Saying, "Daniel Prude was failed by the police department, our mental health care system, and he was failed by me." Bret.
BAIER: Laura, thank you. The pandemic is pushing snowbirds who used to go south for the winter to make the move permanently. That is leading to a big surge for the real estate market in Florida.
Correspondent Phil Keating takes a look tonight from Miami shores.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL KEATING, FOX NEWS CHANNEL NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Joe Bongiovi, his wife, and son just moved a thousand miles relocating from New York to Melbourne, Florida, leaving the big city and the Mets in the past.
With the pandemic, the Bongiovis were working from home and learning from home, so, they figured it was high time to leave the northeast for the Sunshine State.
JOE BONGIOVI, RESIDENT, MELBOURNE, FLORIDA: It was a combination of the lockdown with COVID, combination of the crime in the city. The way they're running the city, the way the governor is running the state. You know, taxes are going to be very, very high.
KEATING: They are not alone. Apartment vacancies in New York City are higher than they've been in a decade and rents are 10 percent lower. According to https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__realtor.com&d=DwICAg&c=cnx1hdOQtepEQkpermZGwQ&r=tgDLkJy54PfJyWJwul3dKe54qGxqO7b7d5vjo7RcZds&m=8bjmQrpUlsctumEACBc4jooEgLNBsmEe9zoRpKcCqUM&s=b5rFzodYHvOtgfRx_j-80RpBAZ10U9uhxpjeALvR2ZM&e= , Miami is the top market for people on the northeast who are looking to move. After that, Bridgeport, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Tampa, and Orlando also in demand.
JORGE GUERRA JR., REAL STATE AGENT: Let me take a tour here.
KEATING: For real estate agents like Jorge Guerra Jr., times are really good right now.
GUERRA: Kitchen.
KEATING: This three-bedroom two-bath house is priced at about $650,000. He says his real estate company has seen an increase of online activity for people who are fed up with densely packed big cities and looking for a single-family house with a yard, and amenities that you can drive or walk to, as well as Florida's no state income tax.
GUERRA: I think the big apple has become the big orange. And people are taking notice of all the benefits here in South Florida. From the beaches to the lifestyle, to the cost of living, a tax haven.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEATING: Another big motivator, low interest rates. But a recent Florida Atlantic University economic study found that South Florida real estate is about 20 percent overpriced right now. So, as always, buyer beware. Bret.
BAIER: Location, location, location. Phil, thanks.
President Trump's press secretary says the administration is "deeply troubled" by Germany's contention. It has proof Russian government critic Alexei Navalny was poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is brushing off these allegations. Russian authorities say they have not received any evidence from Germany to back up their conclusion. Navalny is in stable condition now. But doctors expect a long recovery and have not ruled out long-term effects of the poison to his health.
Up next, the panel on what is being interpreted by some, as the president suggestion, his supporters vote twice, and what the White House is saying. Plus, later, we'll look back at the life of Tom Terrific.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're looters and rioters, and then you here the Democrats, they never say anything about them. Even Biden in his speech, he never mentioning the words "law and order," never mentioned the word "police."
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's a lot of folks who thought that president made great strides with his law and order strides, that boy, after his convention, he really, really made and roads. He hasn't. Not at all. I am being serious. This should give you a little bit of confidence in the American people. They ain't buying it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Joe Biden in Kenosha, Wisconsin, today. The family of Jacob Blake through attorney Ben Crumb said Vice President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, "today had a very engaging 90-minute in-person meeting with the Blake family. The family was grateful for the meeting. It was very impressed that the Biden's were so engaged and willing to really listen. They talked about the changing and disparate treatment of minorities and police interactions, the impact of selecting Kamala Harris as a black woman as a running mate, and Vice President Biden's plans for change. It was very clear that Vice President Biden cared as he extended Jacob Jr. a sense of humanity, treating him as a person worthy of consideration and prayer," talking directly to Jacob Blake by phone.
Let's bring in our panel, Charles Lane, opinion writer for "The Washington Post," Kimberley Strassel, a member of the editorial board at "The Wall Street Journal," Jonah Goldberg, editor in chief of "The Dispatch." Kimberley, your thoughts on the former vice president's trip to Kenosha today, and perhaps the contrast to the president's trip yesterday.
KIMBERLEY STRASSEL, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Well, to me, first of all, it is notable that he is in Wisconsin and that he's addressing these issues, because those are two things that the campaign weren't willing to do a couple of weeks ago when they had a virtual convention and they didn't really want to talk about this subject. So when you change strategy it means that you are worried in some way.
Despite Joe Biden saying that he doesn't think that the president is making inroads on the law and order thing, the fact that he's out there doing it suggests that Democrats are worried. And we'll see where that goes, but I think it's something that he's going to have to address, because people keep watching TV, and there's no longer any more denying that this is becoming a huge problem in cities and suburban communities across the country.
BAIER: The Trump campaign's response, also a written statement saying "Joe Biden made a political trip today, his first visit to Wisconsin after months of saying he could not travel because of the science of coronavirus. What changed was political science as he knows he is in a serious decline in the polls. To top it off, people participating in his church meeting in Kenosha were handed scripts to read from during the public comment period, proving again that Biden's handlers don't trust him in uncontrolled situations. Nevertheless, Americans didn't hear any denunciation of Antifa or any other leftwing agitators who have rioted in American cities from coast to coast. He said nothing about Wisconsin Governor Evers' acceptance of federal assistance from President Trump to quell the riots, and did not explain that he opposed calling in the National Guard to protect Americans from violence leftwing rioters. Joe Biden made this aboveground excursion from his basement for purely political reasons and it shows." We thought we'd read both statements. Chuck, your thoughts.
CHARLES LANE, OPINION WRITER, "WASHINGTON POST": That was certainly a political statement. The president -- not been emphatic in denouncing right-wing people as a way to kind of - extenuate --
But look, this is I think an effort by Joe Biden to get back -- which was as a peacemaker. Remember, the image he -- that time, Charlottesville, the terrible violence, he thought that was the worst it could be. It wasn't. That terrible conflict between right and left, where ultimately some of the people on the liberal side, one of them was killed by a rightwing person driving a car. And so, I think this is, in his view, the strength of his campaign. He is viewed as somebody who is more peaceful, more unifying, more stabilizing, at least that's how he got into this thing. I think this is him taking an opportunity to get back to the way he started it.
BAIER: Jonah, clearly the law and order issue seems to be playing in different communities. The president is on his way to Pennsylvania. There has been a shift there. But the polls are pretty much the same place that they have been overall if you look at all the key battleground states.
JONAH GOLDBERG, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I agree with both Kim and Chuck in different aspects of this. On the one, the Trump campaign statement, of course Joe Biden is in Wisconsin for political purposes. He's running for president in the United States. He is not going to travel anywhere that isn't for a political purpose right now. And neither, frankly, is Donald Trump. So I don't think that lands too hard.
But where I think Kim is right is that the law and order message has some purpose. And not as much as the Trump campaign thinks it does, but the simple fact is that it was -- that Joe Biden was a little slow in anticipating that this was something that he would have to respond to. And I actually think his statements have been pretty good on this stuff. He's condemning violence. He is not using the language that the Trump campaign wants him to use, nor is Donald Trump using the language that the Biden campaign says he should use.
And so I think ultimately where we are is this has been one of the most stable races in modern memory. Joe Biden's lead has been remarkably stable, Donald Trump's base has been remarkably stable, and I really think at this point the only thing that we can plan on really shaking the numbers in a significant way are the debates, because the conventions didn't do it.
BAIER: The other news today that seemed to be a part of the market slide, perhaps, was the vaccine talk and whether there is going to be a vaccine at the end of November or end of October, beginning of November, here is the White House and Tony Fauci, Kimberley.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Dr. Fauci said there is no pressure that I have seen at all to move quickly. This president wants to break through regulatory barriers to get a vaccine to the American people as quickly as possible because lives are at stake.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If there is the kind of thing that people are concerned about, it will become public sooner or later. So I think that we can have some confidence and have faith in what the FDA is saying. They are saying very explicitly that they are going to be making the decision based on the scientific data, and we hope that that's going to be the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: And so he's being asked about the -- would there be political considerations in getting a vaccine out before Election Day, Kimberley.
STRASSEL: So this comes from this theory that you have been hearing increasingly on the left that there is political pressure to rush the vaccine and therefore it will not be safe. That doesn't take into account the realities of the fact that the vaccines have already been through safety trials. You're looking at questions of efficacy at this point and how good they are.
And is there political pressure to get this out? Yes, mostly because they are still dealing with a pandemic and it's having a terrible consequence on the economic and personal lives of millions of Americans. Would it be politically good for the White House to also have it out sooner rather than later? Yes. But as Dr. Fauci has said, and no one has provided any evidence otherwise, this seems to be being driven so far very much on the scientific merits.
BAIER: Up next, Nancy Pelosi's Salon-gate -- yes, we're going to wrap that up here, but they're still talking about it. And Governor Andrew Cuomo's warning to President Trump that got a lot of eyebrow-raising today.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO, (D) NEW YORK: He can't come back to New York. He can't. He is going to walked down the street in New York? Forget bodyguards, he better have an army if he thinks he is going to walk down the street in New York. No, New Yorkers don't want anything to do with him. And he knows that.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I guess that is the case when you have more than 1,000 shootings before Labor Day, when there is a 277 percent increase in shootings in a one-month period over the year prior. It's very rare you hear a Democrat governor nakedly admit to failure, and that's what Governor Cuomo has just done for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: Some swinging there in that interview with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. And the president taking to Twitter, pushing back. "Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York has the worst record on death and China Virus, 11,000 people alone died in nursing homes because of his incompetence."
What about this, 60 days from Election Day? We're back with our panel. Jonah, it just seemed like playground stuff, but it was pretty amazing what was being said.
GOLDBERG: It kind of makes me nostalgic for the New York City I grew up in in the 70 is an 80s, because this is the kind of bric-a-brac stuff you would see back them, often including someone named Cuomo and Donald Trump. I think Cuomo shouldn't have said it. I think if someone -- and when people said something even remotely similar under Barack Obama it was immediately interpreted as an outrage and racist, and all of the rest. Cuomo should know better.
Also, the White House is right, Cuomo has a terrible record in fighting COVID. I also think it doesn't matter very much one way or the other. No one is going to remember the controversy in 48 hours.
BAIER: Yes. It is interesting, though, Kimberley, to see how Cuomo has changed his tune and whether that has to do with the questions about the nursing home and what he did and all of that or not. Here he is praising the president, and then coronavirus from Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO, (D) NEW YORK: I think the president was 100 percent sincere in saying that he wanted to work together in partnership, in a spirit of cooperation. I can tell you the actions he has taken evidence that. His team has been on it.
The best thing he did for New York City was leave. COVID ambushed New York due to Trump's negligence. He is the cause of COVID in New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: Kimberley?
STARR: Yes, it really underscores the degree to which Democrats have been using the virus as a political tool in this campaign. And it's kind of disturbing, because Cuomo wasn't alone in making that praise back in the day. You saw similar remarks from Gavin Newsom, similar remarks from governors around the country saying that the one job the federal government had to do was get them equipment and support, and that they did this.
Now the argument is that somehow Trump didn't do what he was supposed to do. He is somehow singularly responsible for the deaths of everyone at the hands of a virus. It's a bit crazy, but it is also, as you said, a very different shift, and not one that is very believable as a result.
BAIER: All right, finally, Chuck, I thought that this was going to be a one-day story, but then there was a press conference with the House Speaker, and this is about the salon that she calls a set up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) HOUSE SPEAKER: When they said we are able to accommodate people one person at a time, and that we can set up that time, I trusted that. As it turns out, it was a set up.
ERICA KIOUS, SALON OWNER: The apartment was already booked, so there's no way I could've set that up. And I have had a camera system in there for five years. I didn't go in there and turn cameras on as soon as she walked in to set her up. So that's absolutely false.
PELOSI: This salon owes me an apology for setting up.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Nancy Pelosi, you ought to apologize to the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: OK, so day two of this story, but for people who look at it, Chuck, they say it's a bigger issue about what people are saying they have to do in these various cities and what the speaker has said, and what she is doing.
LANE: It's no coincidence this is coming up at a hair salon, which actually have been, of all the small businesses in America, the hardest hit by this. If you remember there was a big controversy over this in Texas not long ago, a woman who insisted on opening her salon and was, I believe, prosecuted or fined for that. It's a sensitive issue.
And I think that Nancy Pelosi should probably take a slightly different tone. She is being extremely indignant and defiant. Maybe she ought to show a little love to the hair salons and express some concern about their predicament. I don't think she was set up. On the other hand, I also don't think she went in there knowing that she was doing something wrong. It's just one of those incredible things.
BAIER: Jonah, for these two issues, very quickly, Governor Cuomo and House Speaker Pelosi, 60 days from an election, the Democratic Party has to be saying, come on.
GOLDBERG: No, I think that is exactly right. It is a huge distraction from message discipline. And -- Chuck is totally right. Nancy Pelosi has the wrong tone here. She has made this a two-day story.
BAIER: All right, guys, got to run. Thank you.
Up next, remembering a baseball legend.
Meantime, supporters waiting for President Trump to land in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. The president giving remarks at the top of the hour. You'll see some of that here on FOX.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: One of the greatest baseball players of all time is being remembered tonight. Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver died earlier this week. Chad Pergram has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS PRODUCER: His name was Tom Seaver, but he was known as Tom Terrific. Seaver personified the nickname, winning three Cy Young awards, amassing 3,600 strike outs, and 311 wins. When Seaver pitched, he famously dragged his right knee across the mound. Opposing teams know dirt on Seaver's knee meant trouble. Catcher Johnny Bench said that Seaver could outthink headers.
JIM GRAY, SPORTSCASTER: He was always three, four, five batters ahead, three, four, or five pitches ahead.
PERGRAM: The cerebral Seaver studied dentistry in college and was equally conversant in literature and wine. The expansion New York Mets played second fiddle in the Big Apple to the New York Yankees, but that changed when Seaver arrived in queens in 1967.
GRAY: You could say there would be no New York Mets had it not been for the exploits and the achievement of Tom Seaver. He put the Mets on the map.
PERGRAM: Seaver led the "Miracle Mets" to the first World Series title in 1969. Seaver guided another underdog team to the World Series in 1973.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In 69 we were at top going to the end. You have to be able to maintain -- you have to maintain desire over a long period of time.
PERGRAM: The Mets fell short that year. Seaver soon feuded with Mets management, and New York sports writer Dick Young, over pay. The Mets unloaded Seaver in 1977 to the Big Red Machine, the reigning world Champions. Seaver entered the Hall of Fame in 1992 with a near unanimous vote, outpacing legends like Ty Cobb and Hank Aaron. In retirement, Seaver ran a vineyard in Napa, an emblem of a stitched baseball emblazoned on the bottle corks. He left public life last year suffering from dementia.
A fierce competitor, Seaver once said there are two places in this league, first place and no place. Tom Seaver was 75.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BAIER: Chad, thanks. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: You are looking live at Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and Air Force One has just landed. We just saw it go by. It will pull up right behind that podium there where the president will hold this event. You can see these supporters waiting for this event in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state.
Finally, tonight, disturbing the peace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: A noise complaint in Bakersfield, California, turned into an impromptu jam session after the responding police officer to that complaint joined a group of teenagers in the city park. The officer rocked the base alongside the teenager playing the electric guitar before sending the group home for the night. There you go.
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