This is a rush transcript from “Special Report," August 20, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Hi, Jesse. I want to point out that it was Martha not Dana with the dog choice. All right, thank you.
WATERS: Thank you.
BAIER: Good evening, I'm Bret Baier. Coming to you live tonight from Wilmington, Delaware. They already started the music here. Home of the Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and tonight, the center of the political universe.
Breaking tonight in about four hours, the longtime senator from the second smallest state in the nation and former vice president will accept his party's nomination in the Chase Center behind me.
As I said, they're getting the music ready. He's accepting it for the biggest job in the world potentially.
We have Fox team coverage tonight. John Roberts at the White House with the president's version of counter programming, a trip to a spot just outside Biden's birthplace of Scranton, Pennsylvania with a pointed political punch there.
But we begin with correspondent Peter Doocy here in Wilmington tonight. Got a rare glimpse of the Democratic nominee today. Good evening, Peter.
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Bret. And this is about to become the first ever Democratic Convention drive-in. Sources tell us that preps are being made right now for more than 100 small groups to watch Biden accept the nomination from their cars. And ahead of tonight's historic acceptance speech, we caught up with the former V.P.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOOCY: Joe Biden wasn't expected to leave the house until tonight, but the campaign says at the last minute, he decided to do another walk through.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Vice President, how are you feeling today?
DOOCY: Last night, Kamala Harris was the only one applauding at the end of her remarks in a room filled mostly with reporters. And Trump campaign officials quickly pointed out, several of the supporters appearing via Zoom were duplicates.
Trump supporters are trying to own the air in Delaware with a biplane and a banner that says Joe Biden is losing it, vote Trump 2020. And shortly after nightfall, Biden will speak.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tonight's culminating theme is America's promise.
DOOCY: Last night's theme seemed to be mostly about Trump.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't.
DOOCY: Barack Obama and Kamala Harris both made direct appeals to young people moved by recent protests about police reform.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESUMPTIVE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There is no vaccine for racism. We've got to do the work for George Floyd, for Breonna Taylor.
DOOCY: And Hillary Clinton made a direct appeal to help Biden and Harris win the electoral college.
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: And don't forget, Joe and Kamala can win by three million votes and still lose, take it from me.
DOOCY: We expect tonight's convention program to focus on the family. Delegates will hear from Biden's daughter Ashley and his son Hunter who Biden vigorously defended amid questions about possible conflicts of interest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many times have you ever spoken to your son about his overseas business dealings?
BIDEN: I've never spoken to my son about his overseas business.
DOOCY: Tonight also brings remarks from former rivals Michael Bloomberg, Andrew Yang, Corey Booker and Pete Buttigieg was preemptively attacking the president.
PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Since when do you preemptively call into question the legitimacy of an election that you say by definition won't be legitimate unless you win? We understand, that's not just an attack on the Democratic Party, that's an attack on America.
DOOCY: It's been a bruising primary season for Biden who a year ago was realistic about how hard it is to win the nomination.
BIDEN: Could I die happily not having heard, hail to the Chief, play for me? Yes, I could, that's not why I'm running.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOOCY: And an official who is organizing things here just told us that the cars for the drive-in are about to start rolling through. You can see that there is a big movie screen set up back there outside the Chase Center where Biden is going to accept the nomination inside later on tonight.
And since we did see him out here, we expect to see him again at some point on a stage of the big American flag and a whole lot of headlights, Bret.
BAIER: Who knew that the parking lot could be this exciting? Peter Doocy just down the way. Thanks, Peter.
The message tonight from President Trump, Joe Biden is your worst nightmare. The president delivering that message not far from where Biden was born.
Chief White House correspondent John Roberts has that part of the story tonight from the North Lawn. Good evening, John.
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Bret, good evening to you. As a preemptive strike by President Trump today in attempt to define Joe Biden before Biden gets an opportunity to make his grand appeal to voters there at the Chase Center. The portrait of the president painted of the former vice president unrelentingly negative.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've secured our borders, brought back our manufacturing jobs.
ROBERTS: Near Joe Biden's hometown of Scranton, President Trump highlighting his accomplishments accusing Joe Biden of betraying Pennsylvania voters.
TRUMP: He spent the last half century in Washington selling out our country and ripping off our jobs.
ROBERTS: The president citing Biden support for NAFTA, China's entry into the WTO, the TPP, Paris climate accord and the Green New Deal, which President Trump claimed would cost Pennsylvania's energy industry 600,000 jobs.
TRUMP: In Biden's policy manifesto written was socialist Bernie Sanders, Biden pledges to quickly outlaw American oil. He's going to outlaw American oil. Coal, American coal, he's going to outlaw it.
ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE) has been no mention of the violence in cities across America at the Democratic Convention. President Trump was only too happy to bring it up today, appealing to so-called security moms who helped propel George W. Bush to re-election in 2004.
TRUMP: If you want a vision of your life under Biden presidency, think of the smoldering ruins in Minneapolis, the violent anarchy of Portland, the blood-stained sidewalks of Chicago and imagine the mayhem coming to your town.
ROBERTS: The Biden campaign drawing a sharp contrast between the president's attacks and their candidate's message.
SYMONE SANDERS, BIDEN CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: Donald Trump doing what he always does, talking about himself, lobbing attacks. We will see Vice President Biden tonight talking about the American people, talking about his vision for the future.
ROBERTS: Before heading to Pennsylvania, President Trump meeting with the Iraqi prime minister in the Oval Office, promising that all U.S. forces will soon be coming home from Iraq.
TRUMP: We're getting out, we'll be leaving shortly.
ROBERTS: The president also responding today to a federal judge refusing to block a subpoena for the president's financial records by the Manhattan district attorney. The president filing for an emergency stay today.
TRUMP: So, we'll probably end up back in the Supreme Court but this is just a continuation of the most hideous witch hunt in the history of our country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And President Trump again today railing against the prospect of massive unsolicited mail-in voting again, potentially calling into question the results of the November 3rd election. The president repeating his oft stated mantra that the only way Joe Biden can beat him is with a rigged election, Bret.
BAIER: John Roberts live in the North Lawn. John, thanks.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is in deep legal trouble tonight. He and three others are accused of swindling donors in a fundraising scheme centered on the effort to build a southern border wall.
Correspondent David Lee Miller has details from New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID LEE MILLER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Former Trump campaign manager and adviser Steve Bannon pleaded not guilty to charges he stole money donated to help build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Bannon and three co-defendants were arrested this morning and indicted for conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Bannon was taken into custody on a yacht off the coast of Connecticut.
According to the indictment, an online crowdfunding campaign called We Build The Wall, raised more than $25 million. Some of which Bannon and his co-conspirators put in their own pockets.
Quote, the defendants each received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor funds from We Build The Wall, which they used to pay for a variety of personal expenses, including among other things, travel, hotels, consumer goods, and personal credit card debts.
President Trump was quick to say, he never thought the fundraising effort was a good idea.
TRUMP: I know nothing about the project other than I didn't like -- when I read about it, I didn't like it. I said this is for government, this isn't for private people and it sounded to me like showboating.
MILLER: A year ago on Fox, Bannon talked about the success of the We Build The Wall campaign.
STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: We have stopped the incursions 100 percent since we built the wall. I'm down here in Arizona. This private group as We Build The Wall that the triple amputee hero Brian Kolfage, the Air Force veteran has found --
MILLER: Kolfage has also been indicted, accused of stealing more than $350,000 in donations. Authorities say, as part of the scheme, the man used fake invoices and accounts. Fearing they were under investigation, they allegedly used encrypted software.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MILLER: Bannon is the seventh person associated with President Trump to either be accused of a crime or a convictive. He faces a maximum of 20 years behind bars for each of the two counts. Bail was set at $5 million bond. He has to surrender his passport. His next court date will be August 31st, Bret.
BAIER: David Lee Miller, thank you.
A former FBI lawyer pleaded guilty Wednesday to altering a document related to the secret surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser during the Russia investigation.
Kevin Clinesmith is the first current or former official to be charged in the special Justice Department review of the investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump 2016 presidential campaign.
Clinesmith admitted he doctored an e-mail used by the FBI as it sought FISA court approval to eavesdrop on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
The sentencing guideline calls for zero to six months in prison but the punishment is ultimately up to the judge.
Let's get back to politics, get some perspective on Joe Biden, the Democratic Convention presidential race. Joining us now pollster Frank Luntz. Frank, good to see you.
You know, this is obviously a race the Democrats say about Donald Trump, the current president. What about this convention, how it's shaping up and what Joe Biden needs to do tonight?
FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER: There are two conventions that I use as a standard for what works and what doesn't. Back in 1984, Walter Mondale accepted the nomination then told voters that he was going to raise their taxes, he's very candid about that.
In the 2004 Democratic Convention, John Kerry made the case for why George W. Bush should not be president, he failed to make the case for himself.
What the Democrats have done so far is to attack (AUDIO GAP) and they've talked about Joe Biden's character. What they have not done in the first three nights of what Joe Biden has to do tonight, to talk about the issues, the substance, what (INAUDIBLE) is he going to bring, what policies is he going to promote. Whether or not he's a centrist or a socialist as Republicans like to accuses him of being.
We do not know where Joe Biden stands. And tonight is the best opportunity. Unedited, unfiltered for him to explain to people where he really stands and if he doesn't do that (INAUDIBLE), Bret, this convention will not be a success.
BAIER: You know, Frank, some people point to Ronald Reagan and the message of optimism. Do you think after this convention has really focused on Donald Trump and the negative aspects of how he's handled things? Do you think Biden takes this opportunity to lift up in the speech?
LUNTZ: I guess is he does because that's the kind of person that he is. He is one of the more positive, one of the more inspirational candidates on the Democratic side. And while he is not, it's not beneath them to criticize and to attack. I think that that's what the other speakers particularly Barack Obama did over the last three nights.
But at a certain point, you still have to express specifics and particularly when he wants to change the regulatory environment or he wants to change taxes. He's challenging the current president on foreign policy.
He has to say explicitly what he would do differently because in the end voters know Donald Trump but they still don't know Joe Biden specifically.
BAIER: And Donald Trump laid the predicate there in Pennsylvania today before this speech. Frank Luntz, pollster, thank you so much. We'll have you back.
Up next, Sean Hannity on Joe Biden, the Democratic Convention, the presidential race and his new book, we'll have them on. As we head to break and throughout the show, we'll bounce around Wilmington. Now, a look at the Wilmington Train Station Joe Biden used so much, they named it after him.
Here in downtown Wilmington is the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station named for the former vice president in 2011. The DNC actually had a video about Biden's time on the Amtrak trains 30 years back and forth from Wilmington to Washington and back.
He actually launched his presidential campaign June 9th 1987 at this railroad station. That campaign was doomed though, it only lasted 3.5 months. Biden was accused of exaggerating his resume and plagiarizing campaign speeches.
The campaign said, he had to drop out because it was overrun by the exaggerated shadow of his past mistakes. Almost 33 years later, Biden gets another shot at it tonight.
SPECIAL REPORT continues after this with more on the race to the White House.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: I talked yesterday with Sean Hannity about the DNC convention, the state of the race, the John Durham investigation, and the new Senate Intel report.
Besides hosting his own program, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, everybody knows that, weeknights. Sean is also the author of a new book, Live Free or Die: America and the World on the Brink.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BAIER: Congrats on the book.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Thank you, Bret. Thank you, then, also, thank you for having me. I wish I had that view. We need that view.
BAIER: Here you go, it's a pretty good view. You had the attorney general on last week and he told you this.
WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: If people cross the line, if people involved in that activity, violated the criminal law, they will be charged. And John Durham is an independent man, highly experienced, and his investigation is pursuing a pace. There was some delayed because of COVID, but I'm satisfied with the progress. And I've said, there are going to be developments, significant developments before the election.
BAIER: We've now seen a plea agreement, a plea deal with one person -- former FBI person that dealt with the Carter Page situation. Do you think there's going to be a big development here of -- on October surprise that affects the election with this Durham report?
HANNITY: Well, the attorney general was very clear that he is not on the election timetables, it's not about the election, you know, we've gotten little crumbs. Remember, at one point, the attorney general said, this is not about a report, this is a criminal investigation.
He also used the words that the president of United States was spied on. And we now know all this to be true, we know that they used an unverifiable -- New York Times even calls it Russian disinformation dossier. Hillary bought and paid for that dossier in spite of numerous warnings going back as early as August of 2016.
We know that in January of 2017, the sub source for Christopher Steele was very clear with the FBI. And that was -- yes, this was bar talk, that none of this was true. In other words, the whole thing was debunked that early, and then, they continued with what I call, premeditated, premeditated fraud on the FISA court, and I do believe the evidence is overwhelming.
BAIER: And you've been talking about it since the beginning. And this new Senate Intelligence Committee report goes down that road on the dossier and Christopher Steele, it calls the dossier unjustified credence that the FBI gave it. It goes through all of this that the FBI was in error using the dossier for the surveillance.
But it also, Sean, in this thousand-page document, says about Paul Manafort that he was in contact with a Russian intelligence officer and shared information with them, and they called that a grave counterintelligence threat.
Angus King wrapping up, and this is a bipartisan report, said, "The Russians were doing things to disrupt American democracy and help the Trump campaign and the Trump campaign was doing things to amplify and utilize what the Russians were supplying."
HANNITY: They all said there was no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion. So, a little bit of a curveball, I'm not sure I buy it, it's likely Russian disinformation from the beginning. And listen, we have a nefarious hostile actor in Vladimir Putin. Nobody disagrees with that, it's a hostile regime to the United States.
I think China probably is even a bigger threat this election cycle and we've got to definitely create better defenses to preserve the integrity of our voting system in this country.
What this was all about against the president is so much bigger. Without the dossier, they don't get the FISA application. Rudy and Carter Page's lie for four years and spying on a presidential candidate transition team and deep into the presidency. And time will tell if we have equal justice under the law, equal application of our laws.
BAIER: You've called the broad thing a hoax and that clearly some media have gone over their skis and how they've reported this, a lot of them. But Russia was very active and there were some things that the Trump administration did or didn't do that raised a lot of eyebrows.
HANNITY: None of that came up in the House Intelligence Committee hearings. I don't think they spent the time and did the deep dive that was necessary into how this, this whole system was corrupted.
BAIER: As you look ahead, you're in the middle of the Democratic convention, you look ahead to what the GOP has in front of them. A big challenge, how do you think this is going to go?
HANNITY: I don't think it'll be a big challenge to make it less boring than the Democratic convention or dull. Look, it's interesting to watch this because this not getting into really any specific depth as to where they want to take the country. This will be the biggest choice election in our lifetime.
Well, safety and security is on the ballot. Taxes are on the ballot. Judges are on the ballot. And one other issue it was asked about John McCain in 2008, does Joe Biden have the strength, the stamina, the mental alertness, the mental acuity, what I believe is, by far, the toughest job in the world, and that is to lead the free world.
BAIER: The book is Live Free or Die: America and the World on the Brink. Sean, as always. Thanks, we'll see you tonight at 9:00.
HANNITY: Thanks, Bret. Thank you, sir. Appreciate you having me on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BAIER: Up next, what exactly is QAnon? What is (INAUDIBLE) people so upset about? (INAUDIBLE) "BEYOND OUR BORDERS" tonight, Israeli (INAUDIBLE) dozens of protesters outside -- here in downtown Wilmington at the Tubman-Garrett Riverfront.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: Sorry about the audio there, a little technical difficulty. "BREAKING TONIGHT", President Trump is coming under considerable criticism for his comments about a movement called QAnon.
Tonight, we look at it, what the FBI is saying about it, what it is why so many people are so concerned about it. Here is correspondent Gillian Turner.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GILLIAN TURNER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: QAnon is gaining followers and notoriety as its conspiracy theories spread across the web, now, reaching the White House.
TRUMP: I've heard these are people that love our country, and they just don't like seeing it. So, I don't know really anything about it other than they do supposedly like me.
TURNER: This week, Facebook removed nearly 800 groups associated with QAnon, after an internal investigation uncovered thousands of groups and pages with millions of members and followers.
QAnon began in 2017 when an anonymous man claiming to be a government intelligence operative called Q clearance patriot introduced himself online. He quickly gained followers who christened themselves QAnon.
Their animating belief, President Trump has been ordained by God to lead America in a battle against deep state operatives embedded in the U.S. government. Those government officials, Q claims, are plotting to remove or even kill President Trump.
They're also moonlighting as pedophiles, Satan worshipers, and sex traffickers, and using coronavirus as a bioweapon.
The FBI calls the group, violent domestic extremists. Some lawmakers agree.
REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): That's what happens with all these theories, and they can be dangerous while they're in vogue.
TURNER: That danger became real in 2016 with the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory. That alleged Democrats were running a child trafficking ring through a D.C. pizza joint.
In that incident, a man fired an AR-15 rifle inside the restaurant, claiming he was investigating the theory. Then, members began popping up a Trump rallies. Now, they're making inroads into Congress.
President Trump recently congratulated Marjorie Taylor Greene, who clinched Georgia's primary as the first candidate to openly embrace the group. But she denies being a full-fledged member.
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R), CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE, GEORGIA: No, I don't. I think that's been the media's characterization of me.
TURNER: Republican strategists say QAnon's devotion to President Trump is toxic.
KARL ROVE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: This is a group of nuts and kooks, and he ought to disavow them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TURNER: QAnon has grown so fast, it's now become a talking point in the 2020 race. The Biden campaign's put out a statement accusing President Trump of legitimizing a group that poses a domestic terrorism threat. Bret.
BAIER: Gillian, thank you.
Stocks were up today. The Dow gained 47, the S&P 500 finished ahead 11, the Nasdaq rose 118 today to finish at its 35th record close of the year.
An appeals court is allowing ride hailing giants Uber and Lyft to continue treating their drivers as independent contractors in California while an appeal works its way through the court. Both companies had threatened to shut down if a ruling went into effect Friday morning that would have forced them to treat all of their drivers as employees. That ruling called for drivers to be guaranteed benefits such as overtime, sick leave, and expense reimbursement.
Teachers in two of the country's largest school districts are threatening walkouts tonight over concerns about the coronavirus and returning to classes. Correspondent Jonathan Serrie has details in Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN SERRIE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Teachers in Detroit voted to authorize a strike to prevent schools from reopening and keep all classes online.
BENJAMIN ROYAL, DETROIT TEACHER: That is the only safe option we have. That is the only option to protect our lives and our students' lives and the lives of everybody in the city.
SERRIE: New York, teachers are banned from striking, but union threats of sick-outs and legal action prompted the mayor to promise extensive cleaning, testing and protective gear.
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY), NEW YORK CITY: And here is a pledge, putting this out today, back to school pledge. And it's a detailed list of all of the things that are being done in every single school to get our schools ready.
SERRIE: New guidance from the Trump administration declares teachers critical infrastructure workers. A few school districts in Georgia and Tennessee and considering exempting teachers from quarantine requirements as long as they show no symptoms. Although infected children are at low risk for serious illness, new research in the "Journal of Pediatrics" shows many carry higher levels of coronavirus than hospitalized adults. Authors say the study reveals that children may be a potential source of contagion in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in spite of milder diseases or lack of symptoms.
GOV. ROY COOPER (D-NC): We want learning to be productive, but we also want it to be safe.
SERRIE: Today, North Carolina State University announced it's moving all undergraduate courses online starting Monday. The state's governor is urging other campuses to enforce safety rules as students return from communities with diverse levels of infection. The University of Connecticut evicted several students from campus housing after they appeared in videos of a crowded dorm party.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SERRIE: And the pandemic is likely to complicate flu season. New CDC guidelines today say vaccination campaigns may need to start early to accommodate stay-at-home orders and social distancing. Bret?
BAIER: Jonathan, thanks.
Dr. Anthony Fauci is resting tonight after surgery to remove a growth from his vocal cord that was causing his notably raspy voice. The government's top infectious disease expert underwent outpatient surgery for the polyp. His office says the doctor will rest his voice for a few days.
When we come back, protesters in Portland renew their streets battle with federal forces. And as we had to break, another trip around Wilmington. In April of last year, Joe Biden made his first campaign stop at a Wilmington pizzeria. Here's what the owner had to say about that day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: Johnny's Pizza in Wilmington, Delaware, there's a lot of restaurants who know Joe Biden. He's been here forever. And this place he came to on the day that he announced for president this time. The owner said, pretty good day.
GIANNI ESPOSITO, PIZZERIA OWNER: He used to come here when he was a senator, and then he came and sat right there, and then he announced he was running for president.
BAIER: And a lot of media, a lot of coverage even back in Italy, where you're from.
ESPOSITO: Yes, believe it or not, I had some of my family here. They were all watching the Italian news when it got announced.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: SPECIAL REPORT continues after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: President Trump says the U.S. is looking into the suspected poisoning of a Russian opposition leader. Alexei Navalny is said to be comatose in a Siberian hospital. Alexei Navalny is a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin.
The United Kingdom, France, and Germany say they cannot support the U.S. move to restore United Nations sanctions on Iran. We talked about that last night with the secretary of state. The allies say the action is incompatible with efforts to support the Iran nuclear deal. The U.S. is attempting to restore the penalties through the so-called snapback provisions in the original agreement.
The Pentagon says five American-made drones have been approved for purchase by the federal government starting in September. This is intended to offer agencies a more secure option following a ban on the use of Chinese made drones.
Tonight, we're hearing from the truck driver who was brutally beaten over the weekend by demonstrators in Portland. Meanwhile, protesters are renewing their battles with federal agents. Correspondent Dan Springer has the latest tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SPRINGER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Tonight, Portland police are wondering where the next attack will be. Last night it was back at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office, with dozens of federal officers inside. Portland police declared a riot after protesters started a fire, broke several windows, and threw softball sized rocks at officers.
MIKE REESE, MULTNOMAH COUNTY, OREGON, SHERIFF: We should all be condemning the violence that's occurring.
SPRINGER: Increasingly, there are calls for citizens to rise up and say no more. Police Chief Chuck Lovell wrote "The solution is in a critical mass of community and partners coming together to denounce this criminal activity and call it out."
For the first time since his brutal beating over the weekend, Adam Haner is speaking out, saying he stopped to help a transgender woman who was beaten and robbed, but then her assailants turned on him on his girlfriend.
ADAM HANER, VICTIM: I'm just trying to make sure she gets in the car and I get in the car and we both get out of there. And by the end of it, I'm wrecked and unconscious on the side of the road, and she's trying to figure out what happened to me.
SPRINGER: Haner says he was called a racist during the attack. Police are still looking for their main suspect, Marquise Love, who reportedly posted on social media while in hiding, defending his actions and asking for money.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SPRINGER: Marquise Love has an extensive arrest record with seven different bookings. Twice he was charged with domestic assault. But the district attorney dropped the both of the cases for lack of evidence, a problem Portland officials don't seem to have in this case. Bret?
BAIER: Dan Springer, thanks.
Next up, Joe Biden's big night here in Wilmington, Delaware, we'll talk about it with the panel when we come back.
First, here's what some of our FOX affiliates around the country are covering tonight. FOX 32 in Chicago where police post a video of a boy being shot in the leg. It's the latest edition to a rapidly expanding collection of images the police department is making public in the hopes of solving shootings and recent incidents of looting. That boy remains hospitalized tonight.
FOX 2 in Detroit as the state of Michigan reaches an agreement with residents of Flint that include $600 million in settlement money after a years-long lawsuit over the Flint water crisis. The state attorney general's office is the majority of the money will go towards settling claims filed on behalf of children.
And this is a live look at San Francisco and FOX 2, the big story there tonight, wildfires raging through northern California threatening thousands of homes, blackening the skies near San Francisco as crews struggle to surround them despite steep terrain, blistering heat out there. Fire officials say hundreds of thousands of acres and more than 100 buildings have already burned. At least 8,000 people ordered to evacuate Wednesday night.
That's tonight's live look outside the beltway from SPECIAL REPORT. We're outside the beltway as well. They're still jamming here in the parking lot. As we had to break, another Wilmington site named after Joe Biden with a childhood story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: There are a number of things named for Joseph R. Biden Jr. This is the aquatic center downtown Wilmington. It's closed today because of COVID- 19. Joe Biden was the lifeguard here in the summer of 1962. He was 19 years old. He was the only white lifeguard to work here. When this place was dedicated to him in June of 2017, he spent a long time talking about a big elaborate story of getting in a fight with a black gang leader named Corn Pop.
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Corn Pop was a bad dude, and he ran a bunch of bad boys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: Highly doubtful Corn Pop will make the speech tonight. SPECIAL REPORT continues after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In 75 days were going to win this state, we are going to win four more years.
If you want a vision of your life under a Biden presidency, think of the smoldering ruins in Minneapolis, the violent anarchy of Portland, the bloodstained sidewalks of Chicago, and imagine the mayhem coming to your town.
I'll be back to Pennsylvania, that I promise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Vice President, how are you feeling today?
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: A rare sight of the Democratic nominee here in the parking lot. We'll try this microphone now, now that the music is piping. Right now, you've got Joe Biden's big night, but there's a lot of people leading up to that tonight, speaking as a Democratic Convention at the Chase Center behind me tonight, including former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, other opponents, Cory Booker, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang. But the big night is Joe Biden of course.
Let's bring in our panel, FOX News senior political analyst Brit Hume, Mara Liasson, national political correspondent of National Public Radio, former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr., who is currently chairman of RX Saver, and Byron York, chief political correspondent for the "Washington Examiner." Mara, what about this night, the importance, and what do you think Joe Biden has to do here?
MARA LIASSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: I think that Joe Biden has to lay out a vision for the future. He's been on the public scene for 44 years but nobody really knows him. We've heard a lot at this convention about how he's a decent man, he's caring and empathetic. But I think that the elections are won by the candidate with the more compelling vision of the future. And he's going to lay out, I think, how he's not just the restoration candidate, he doesn't just want to go back to the good old Obama days, but that he has a plan to make people's lives more safe and more prosperous.
BAIER: Brit, the former president, Obama, other speakers so far have been very pointed about Donald Trump. A lot of people in the Democratic Party think this is a referendum on Donald Trump. Is that what you think the speech tonight is going to be?
BRIT HUME, FOX NEWS SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I would think it may not be, Bret. I think that the most powerful speech of boosting Biden was made by his wife who never mentioned Donald Trump's name. And it seems to me that Donald Trump has been thoroughly pummeled by a whole range of speakers at this convention, and that Joe Biden may wish to appear to be above all that, to be a comforting figure, to be a person of reassurance to get people to say, yes, after four years of utter turbulence and turmoil, this is the kind of person who can put things back on a more even keel.
And the other thing is that doing that way would play to a Biden strength. He's an extraordinarily nice man, and people may feel soothed by him. And I were advising Biden, and it's certainly not my place to do that, but if I were, I would encourage him to make a positive speech about him and himself showing what people like about him.
BAIER: The president was very near Biden's birthplace, Scranton, Pennsylvania, very pointed today on substantive issues, but talking about Joe Biden's speech, Harold, this is what he said.
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TRUMP: He's going to make a speech tonight. It's going to be very interesting to see how he does. And I hope he does well. I'll be honest, I do, I hope he does well. I really hope he does well. But I also want him to tell the truth. He's got to tell the truth about things, and he's going to do a lot better if he does, but hopefully not well enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: Harold, what about that and what about the president's efforts to be someplace every day in the middle of this convention?
HAROLD FORD JR. (D) FORMER TENNESSEE REPRESENTATIVE: First, thanks for having me on. I think the president realizes a lot of what has already been said by Mara and by Brit, that it is likely that Joe Biden is going to lay out his vision. He's going to be positive. He's going to explain to everyday Americans who've been affected by the political, economic, and racial unrest over the last several months in particular, but really the unrest and tumult over the last three years, how things will be different.
I think President Trump realizes that Vice President Biden have an advantage or a differentiator from the opponent he faced a few years ago who seemed to be -- who suffered from some likability challenges. I like and liked Hillary Clinton then and like her now, but it appears in some of the data that a lot of voters didn't. Joe Biden doesn't have that challenges.
There's no doubt the last several nights have been a clear referendum on the effort to make this a referendum on Donald Trump. But without a doubt, in order to win the presidency, the Democratic nominee or whoever is challenging an incumbent has to lay out an affirmative, positive vision for the country. And tonight we'll be the biggest speech of Joe Biden's life, and I have every expectation he'll rise to the moment.
BAIER: He will, definitely be -- he doesn't have a history of great public speaking extemporaneously, but obviously he will be scripted tonight delivering this message. Byron, as you look at the polls, nationally the average is about 7.5, 7.8, the battleground states are getting tighter. There was one poll today, Minnesota poll of likely voters. This was conducted by a group, a GOP firm, Trafalgar Group, which it had Biden at 46.9, Donald Trump at 46.5 percent by the Trafalgar Group. This is going to be a tight election, Byron.
BRYON YORK, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": It is, and it's going to interesting to see. We know that a number of Democrats have been basically happy with some of the limits that coronavirus has placed on the campaigning, keeping Biden in his basement, because he has been doing so well in the polls without moving out and without campaigning, without making the gaffes that all cabinets, maybe especially Joe Biden, do make on the campaign trail. So it's going to interesting to see if, after the convention with the traditional start of the campaign, what the Biden campaign actually looks about.
And one more thing about tonight. We'll learn tonight whether the Democrats will go their entire convention without mentioning some of the violence that has been racking a number of cities in our country, not just Portland -- Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, many others. And we have not heard very much at all about that. I don't know if we would from Joe Biden either.
BAIER: Mara, this on a day when one of the president's former senior advisors, Steve Bannon, arrested, indicted in this scheme. I think this is the seventh former official, Trump official who has been facing legal problems one way or another.
LIASSON: Yes, I don't think that you're going to hear about that from Joe Biden, but I would be very surprised if you don't hear the list of former top campaign aides to Donald Trump or administration who have been arrested or indicted. I think you're going to hear that from other speakers tonight at the convention.
BAIER: Brit, final word?
HUME: I was just thinking about this, that it seems to me that it might be well for Joe Biden to come out of his basement. And given the fact that he gets tangled up in all kinds of minor controversies, it might be well for Donald Trump, at least for a period of time, to enter his basement.
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BAIER: Harold, he is going to -- Biden is -- take some Q&A with David Muir at ABC. We hope, and we've invited him here, he's going to do more of that.
FORD: He should. He should come to you, he should come to Chris Wallace, he should come to others and take the serious questions. Look, it was funny what Brit just said, but I think that the country is looking forward to these two candidates going head-to-head. I look forward to the debates. And again, tonight will be the first time for the vice president to lay out what he's going to do and how he plans to do it.
BAIER: All right, panel, we will see full coverage tonight, 10:00 p.m. here. We continue all the way through. Thank you very much.
When we come back come, some good news. And as we had to break, a look at one of the other more unique sites in Wilmington honoring Joe Biden.
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BAIER: Here in downtown Wilmington at the Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park just across from the train station, and they just put up a new birdhouse. This is not just any birdhouse. Take a look at this thing. This is by artist Tom Burke. He's been working on it for years. On the one side is the train station, the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Train Station we showed you earlier. The birds can feed in there. And then on the other side is the White House, obviously for a former vice president's time, but Joe Biden would like to get back there.
SPECIAL REPORT continues after this.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: Finally, tonight, some silver linings. During their fight against a major wildfire in California, some Los Angeles County firefighters putting everything aside to save an American flag. The crew managed to salvage the flag on a property that was destroyed by the blaze.
Miriam Schreiber is a holocaust survivor who escaped Nazi occupied Poland and eventually emigrated to the U.S. After the war, Schreiber always longed to return to school, but she never had the chance. This week, she received an honorary degree from the New England Jewish Academy in West Hartford, fulfilling her lifelong dream of receiving a diploma. Congratulations. That's good news.
Thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. That is it for this SPECIAL REPORT, fair, balanced, and unafraid.
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