CDC director contradicts Trump on coronavirus guidance, vaccine timing
RealClearPolitics' Tom Bevan, RX Saver Chairman Harold Ford Jr. and Washington Examiner's Byron York weigh in on CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield contradicting President Trump's coronavirus guidance.
This is a rush transcript from “Special Report" September 16, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I made statements like
that, I had no idea that we could produce as well as we're producing. But
only because of what I've done with the FDA and other things can we come up
with numbers like that. We're lucky that we don't have to, because that was
considered fast.
If this were an administration from the past, and I think I can say far
beyond Obama, it was other administrations also. You wouldn't have a
vaccine for 2-1/2, three years, and we're going to have a vaccine within,
at most, a couple of months. OK?
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Mr.
President, if I could ask you about coronavirus relief. Do you support the
Problem Solvers Caucus proposal that was put forward? Are you comfortable
with the $500 billion for the states?
TRUMP: Something like that, yes. I like the larger amount, I've said that.
You know, some of the Republicans disagree, but I think I can convince them
to go along with it because I like the larger number. I want to see people
get money, I want to see -- it wasn't their fault that this happened, it
was China's fault. You know? People say, well, maybe you shouldn't say
that, that's not nice. It was China's fault.
So, I'd like to see the larger number, yes. I would like to see it. There's
some things that I disagree with, but I'm sure they can be negotiating.
Now, I heard Nancy Pelosi said she doesn't want to leave until we have an
agreement. She's come a long way, that's great. If she said that, she's
come a long way.
I agree with her, we should have an agreement, people should be helped, and
they should be helped as rapidly as possible. And I think it's going to
happen; I think it's very important.
So, the Problem Solvers came up with, it's a group of people in Congress as
you know, you know them all, I know them all, they're very good people, I
guess you'd consider them dead center. But in many cases, they're not,
they're left, they're right, but they came up with this idea and I think
they're well on their way to suggesting some pretty good things. Yes, I
agree with a lot of it.
ROBERTS: In terms of things that you don't agree, are you comfortable with
the $500 billion?
TRUMP: I think the things I don't agree, we can probably negotiate. But I
think we've made some progress over the last week and I think it was
positive that they came out with that report.
ROBERTS: Would you endorse that proposal?
TRUMP: Well, not that proposal, but we're getting closer. We're getting
closer. I do like a lot of money getting sent to people that really were --
really were hurt unnecessarily by China because they could have stopped it.
They stopped it from going into their country, they could have stopped it
from coming to our country and from going to Europe and from going to the
rest of the world, 188 different countries from all over the world. Please?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, the director of the CDC also testified
today that a mask, in his estimation is guaranteed to protect the American
public more from the coronavirus than a vaccine. You have, as detailed,
poured a lot of resources into vaccine development. Why not devote your
energy --
TRUMP: And to masks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But why not devote your energy now to a campaign to have
all Americans wear a mask, something that, if more effective than a
vaccine, would also help schools and the economy?
TRUMP: OK. Number one, it's not more effective, by any means, than a
vaccine. And I called him about that, those were the two things that I
discussed with him.
And I believe that if you ask him, he would probably say that he didn't
understand the question because I said to him, I asked him those two
questions, the one question which we covered, and the mask question. And I
was inaccurately covered because I was on with George last night, George
Stephanopoulos, and I enjoyed it, I think people enjoyed it, I got -- you
know, a lot of people said very good things about the show.
I hope they did well, but they said a lot of good things about the show.
But they always cut my sentences off, you know they cut it off on masks and
masks have problems too. When I talked about the masks have to be handled
very gently, very carefully. I see that in restaurants that people with
masks and they're playing around with their mask and they haven't -- their
fingers are in their mask and then they're serving with plates. I mean, I
think there's a lot of problems with masks.
Now, vaccine is much more effective than the masks. And if we get the
vaccine, we have added to the fact that our numbers are going way down. You
know, you see the numbers, I'm just reading your statistics that are from
wherever they get them, but they're very highly qualified statistics. But
no, the mask is not as important as the vaccine. The mask perhaps helps.
Don't forget, a lot of people didn't like the concept of masks, initially.
Dr. Fauci didn't like them and a lot of people didn't. And I'm not knocking
anybody because I understand both sides of the argument, but when I called
up Robert today, I said to him, what's with the mask? He said, I think I
answered that question incorrectly. I think maybe he had misunderstood it.
I mean, you know, he had two questions. Maybe he misunderstood both of
them.
But the answer to the one, is it's going to be a much faster distribution
than he said. Maybe he's not aware of the distribution process. It's not
really his thing as much as it would be, let's say, mine. But the
distribution is going to be much faster.
As far as the mask is concerned, I hope that the vaccine is going to be a
lot more beneficial than the masks. Because people have used the masks, but
when I looked at that chart that we put up, if you look, you know, we were
right, if you do the good job, they had I guess 240,000. But if you do the
good -- if it worked out well.
Now, look, one death is too much. One death is too much, should have never
happened. But the lower level was at that 240,000, between a hundred and
something and 240,000. As far as the mask is concerned, he made a mistake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the masks, I mean, perhaps they are part of the role
for the decrease in cases, because they are effective, as you just said.
So, I know you've worn --
TRUMP: No, they may be effective. And I wear them when I'm in a hospital or
what I'm in a setting with a lot-
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, my question is, why not wear them more often, or
have the White House staff wear them more often, to set an example for the
country?
TRUMP: Well, I'm tested, and I'm sometimes surprised when I see somebody
sitting and like with Joe, Joe feels very safe in a mask. I don't know,
maybe he doesn't want to expose his face. I don't know what's going on.
He'll be way away from people, nowhere near people. There'll be nobody with
him. He doesn't draw any crowds. So have circles, his big circles, they'll
be way far away.
There's no reason for him to have masks on. We get tested. I'm tested. I
have people tested. When people come into the Oval Office, it's like a big
deal. No matter who they are, the heads of countries, they all get tested.
So, I'm in sort of a different position. And maybe if I wasn't in that
position, I'd be wearing it more. But I've worn masks. And especially, I
like to wear them when I'm in a hospital. Not for me so much as for other
people, OK? Thanks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, Mr. President, can I just talk to you
about --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a few questions, Mr. President. One for Dr.
Atlas. Dr. Atlas, you mentioned minorities would be the first focus of the
distribution. How would that exactly work in practice, when it's being
distributed specifically to minorities? And secondly, for you Mr. --
TRUMP: Well, he didn't say minorities, he said minorities and senior
citizens, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure. But can you talk us through a bit more on the
focus on distributing to minorities and how that would work?
And then for you, Mr. President, you mentioned the drop in the poverty
rate. Specifically, we noticed at just the news that the poverty rate for
African-Americans hit historic lows, that the household wealth increased
historically for African-Americans. What was driving that increase in
wealth for African-Americans?
And now at 2020 with the coronavirus and unemployment spiking, what would
be your plan for the second term to improve lives for African-Americans?
TRUMP: Well, I'll go first, because your question -- I appreciate your
question. And yes, we've had a tremendous drop in poverty for all people in
our nation, but in particular for African-Americans. And that statistic
came in, and it's because the African-American community, the Black
community, has had the lowest, the best employment numbers that we've ever
had, both employment and unemployment, depending on how you want to define
it. But we've had the best employment numbers we've ever had.
Now, we had the greatest employment in the country ever, almost 160 million
people. We've never been close to that number, but we were just six months
ago.
And yes, the -- I'm very proud of the numbers. African-Americans, Hispanic-
Americans, they had the best numbers they've ever had by far, both
employment and unemployment, depending on definition.
Thank you very much for that question. Scott, do you want to answer that?
SCOTT ATLAS, ADVISOR ON THE WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE: Yes. So,
what I -- to clarify, said that the first prioritization is the high-risk
people and frontline healthcare workers.
But just to reiterate what I said, there are 51,000 outlets for
distribution, for vaccination. And there's over 14,000 federally qualified
health centers that are particularly targeted to minority and low-income
areas. So, that's a focus.
I want to point out two other things. We're also prioritizing testing
historically black colleges and universities. And we're in the process of
getting that finalized because we know that there's high -- you know,
higher morbidity within certain ethnic groups.
And the last thing I would say is, it's particularly heinous and egregious
abuse of the media to instill fear into people about taking a vaccine
because there was no shortcut here. Everything is safe, everything is
effective.
And for people who have particularly an influence on minority communities
to instill fear and doubt, is a particularly -- you know, outrageous abuse
of public policy and of leadership. These are people that have higher
risks.
And so, I implore everyone who's in a high-risk category that when we get a
safe, effective vaccine, they should take the vaccine.
TRUMP: I will say, this is a phenomena that only happened when they
realized that we may very well have the vaccine prior to a certain very
important date, namely, November 3rd.
Once they heard that, the Democrats started, just to show you how bad the
intention is, they started knocking the vaccine. Had nothing to do with the
vaccine. It was totally made up. It's all disinformation, just like they
put an ad in about football, just like they put with respect to me. I'm the
one that got football back, and I was always against them going out.
It was ridiculous, that Big Ten. And now, hopefully, PAC-10 goes back. And
I say that just like even worse, they put out a totally fake ad, totally
made up stories. It was a made-up story by a third rate magazine, where the
head guy I guess, the head person, I have no idea who he is, I don't know
him, but he's friends with Obama and Clinton, so they made up this horrible
story, and then they did ads.
Well, they made up this story too. This story is very simple. They started
knocking the vaccine, as soon as they heard that this actually may come out
prior to election. Now it may or may not, but it'll be within a matter of
weeks. It'll be within a matter of weeks from November. It's ready to go,
and it's ready to for massive distribution to everybody, with a focus again
on seniors.
And I will say also, the historically black colleges and universities we
are doing at my suggestion, because they have had a difficult problem
there. We are doing more testing there and finer testing. We have our great
apparatus there.
But when you look at what we've done on testing in terms of the technology
and the amount, it's been really amazing. In fact, I think we're going to
crack a hundred million tests very soon in the very near future. We're
going to be cracking a hundred million tests.
Now, what that does do is it shows up more cases. So if we didn't test, we
wouldn't have cases. You would have no cases. Other countries, they don't
test, they don't have cases. And then they say, oh, the United States.
Well, but we're proud of it, because it shows where there may be a problem,
and it helps people. But we're doing tremendous testing at the historically
black colleges and universities. And that was a suggestion I made, and I
think it's a good -- I think it's a good suggestion. Yes, please, go ahead.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The core of Vice President Biden's argument is that you
don't trust the scientists. You don't listen to them. And here up on the
podium today, you're twice contradicting the director of your own CDC on
the science who testified before Congress today.
TRUMP: No, he's contradicting himself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why should the American people --
TRUMP: I think he misunderstood the questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he was testifying --
TRUMP: You know what I think? I think he misunderstood, I told you. I don't
have to go through this. I think he misunderstood the questions. But I'm
telling you, here's the bottom line, distribution is going to be very
rapid. He may not know that. Maybe he's not aware of that. And maybe he's
not dealing with the military, et cetera, like I do.
Distribution is going to be very rapid, and the vaccine's going to be very
powerful. It's going to solve a tremendous problem. It's going to be very
powerful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How can the American people trust you on the pandemic
when you're contradicting the head of the CDC in your own administration?
TRUMP: Because of the great job we've done. Because of the great things
we've done in other fields also. Because of the fact that we created
ventilators, we built ventilators by the thousands, and now we're supplying
to the world. Because of all of the incredible work we've done for
governors who are on every call saying, this is incredible. This is great.
This is great. Sometimes they're not quite as friendly at a news conference
when you have people covering it.
But we have done a phenomenal job on COVID-19, as they like to call it, I
call it other things. But we have done a phenomenal job. I get calls from
other people in other countries, they can't believe the job we've done. And
then they'll say, is there any way that you could get us ventilators? I
say, how many do you need? 1,000 ventilators. I said we'll be able to take
care of it.
We're making thousands of ventilators, very complex, very expensive, very
difficult thing to make. We're making thousands a month.
The cupboard was bare when I got here, and I will tell you, our
distribution is going to be very rapid, and very -- it's going to be all-
encompassing. We are going to have a focus on certain groups that have
problems, senior citizens, etcetera, but it's a very powerful -- it's going
to be a very powerful distribution. It's going to cover everybody, and it's
going to cover them rapidly.
I don't know whether or not the doctor knows that, how much he covers, but
I called him. Because I said, why did you say that long? He wasn't that
aware of it. And the other one was the mask.
The vaccine is going to have tremendous power. It's going to be extremely
strong. It's going to be extremely successful. We're not going to have a
problem.
And the mask may help, and I hope it helps, and I think it probably does.
But again, the mask is a mixed bag. There are some people, professionals,
Scott, you would know a lot of them, but there are some people that don't
like the mask because of the touchiness and the touching, and then you're
touching everything else. They have -- they feel that masks have problems.
So anyway, go ahead, in the back, please.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, do you have confidence in Dr. Redfield?
TRUMP: Yes, I do. I do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you just said he didn't give the answers well.
(INAUDIBLE) questions.
TRUMP: He sort of I think maybe misunderstood a question. But we're beyond
that now. We're really in final stages of vaccines. We're getting ready to
go phase one on distribution. And I think it might come out even sooner
than you think.
I think the vaccine is going to be even better than people thought
originally. I think people are going to be really surprised at the success
of the vaccine. I think it's going to be a tremendous success.
And we're fighting a very powerful party with a poor candidate in my
opinion. But we're fighting a very, very powerful party, and they are
partners with the media. And because they're working together very closely.
And they only started hitting on the vaccine.
When they hit on the vaccine, they only hit on it when they realized that,
wow, this is amazing, they may have it even before the election. All of a
sudden, they didn't like the vaccine so much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One other thing (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: In the back, please --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much, Mr. President. Were you inform
about positive coronavirus cases in the White House today?
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I cannot hear you, I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you inform about coronavirus cases, positive
cases in the White House today?
TRUMP: About today?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On your staff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On your staff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Positive cases, today, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TRUMP: Say it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On your staff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On your staff, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are reports of White House staff members testing
positive --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Oh, I see. About staff? You mean, (INAUDIBLE)?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TRUMP: I heard about it this morning at a very small level. Yes, I heard
about it this --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many people?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many?
TRUMP: I don't know. We can have a report to you if you feel it's
necessary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were they (INAUDIBLE).
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: But it say small -- it's last night I heard about it for the first
time, and it's a small number of cases. Maybe it's not even cases. Do you
know -- do you have any idea if there's --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes, We're not going to confirm the identities of
the --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Yes, that's OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. But this did not affect the events, and press was
not around. The --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: And it's not anybody that was near me. From what I heard, a very
small number. I think you can probably give the number out later on when
you find out what it might be. One person?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One person.
TRUMP: It was one person, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) in Philadelphia?
TRUMP: It was one person. That's (INAUDIBLE). So, not too much, not a
person that I was associated with. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank
you. Thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are you waiting --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: President Trump in the White House.
Good evening, welcome to Washington. I'm Bret Baier. We have just watched a
news conference from the president at the White House briefing room.
President Trump says a coronas -- coronavirus vaccine could be approved by
October, perhaps, mid-October he said. He also said an earlier statement by
the CDC director that it could take several more months before it's
available to the general population is "not correct". And that Dr. Robert
Redfield was confused about that and about a statement about masks, as well
that he made up on Capitol Hill.
Chief White House correspondent John Roberts has the highlights tonight
from the briefing room. John, it seems like that phone call with the CDC
director was quite something.
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I
mean, there's no question about it. Obviously, as you saw for the last
hour, the vaccine and the promise of it and when it might be available and
for whom it might be available was a big topic of conversation.
But one of the other things that President Trump addressed right at the top
were complaints among Republicans to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who tried
to do whatever they can to cast doubt on any coronavirus vaccine that is
approved before the election.
Listen to President Trump here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm calling on Biden to stop promoting his anti-vaccine theories.
Because all they are doing is hurting the importance of what we're doing.
And I know that if they were in this position, they'd be saying how
wonderful it is. They recklessly endangering lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And as you pointed out at the top Bret, the timing of a vaccine,
when it would be released, and who it would be available for, also a topic
of apparent disagreement within the administration itself. Watch here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: On Capitol Hill today, the CDC director said a COVID vaccine will
likely soon be available, but not for everyone.
DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION:
That I think there will be vaccine that initially be available sometime
between November and December, but very limited supply and will have to be
prioritized.
ROBERTS: Dr. Robert Redfield predicting it won't be widely available to the
general public until next summer. The press secretary tried to make the
best of that data point.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We do believe that it will
be widely available by the end of the year. It's why we partnered with
Sanofi, GSK, Pfizer, and now, Johnson and Johnson, with a billion-dollar
contracts to manufacture 100 million doses. So, we still feel that we're on
the right timeline.
ROBERTS: Masks, to prevent the spread of coronavirus also a big issue today
after President Trump told a town hall in Philadelphia this about masks.
TRUMP: A lot of people don't want to wear a mask. There are a lot of people
think the masks are not good. But you have --
(CROSSTALK)
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, CHIEF ANCHOR, ABC NEWS: Who are those people?
TRUMP: Well, I'll tell you who those people are. Waiters, they are playing
with the masks, and so the mask is over, and they're touching it, and put -
- and then they're touching the plate.
ROBERTS: The CDC director telling Congress today, masks are indeed good.
REDFIELD: We have clear scientific evidence they work, and they are our
best defense. I might even go so far to say that this face mask is more
guaranteed to protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine.
ROBERTS: It was left to the press secretary to reconcile the competing
points of view.
MCENANY: Mask wearing is good, it's recommended. The president has
continually recommended it from this podium, but he was just pointing out
some of the unintended consequences if not used appropriately.
ROBERTS: At the town hall, President Trump also insisting that while he was
trying to avoid creating a panic with his public statements, behind the
scenes, he was doing anything but playing down the threat from coronavirus.
TRUMP: I didn't downplay. It, I actually, in many ways, I up-played it in
terms of action. My action was very strong.
(CROSSTALK)
JONI POWELL, RESIDENT, PITTSBURGH: Did you not admit to it yourself?
ROBERTS: He again drew comparisons to Winston Churchill, who in World War
II, urged Brits to be calm while bombs rained down on London. But another
statement about the potential for so-called herd immunity helping the virus
go away, drew another clarification from the White House today.
MCENANY: Herd immunity has never been a strategy here at the White House.
The president last night was noting, herd immunity is over a period of
time. A country, a society can reach herd community. It's a fact.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And I'm taking down my mask, Bret, because there is nobody within
six feet of me right now. But you saw the president, also say that he
believed that Dr. Redfield was mistaken in what he told Congress today that
the plan is to have up to 700 million doses of the vaccine available for
everyone in the United States who wants a vaccine by the end of the first
quarter.
That would put it at the end of March. The president, said he called Dr.
Redfield to talk about it, asking, what was that you were trying to say
there in Congress? Bret?
BAIER: OK, we'll find out more about that call, I'm sure in coming days.
John Roberts, live at the White House. John, thanks.
Joe Biden, says President Trump refuses to take responsibility for or
action against the coronavirus, and that he still does not have a plan.
That was Biden's talking point today. He's talking about his own plan for a
vaccine.
Correspondent Peter Doocy has that story tonight from Wilmington, Delaware.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump blames Joe Biden
for a lot, not delivering on a mask mandate, not being tougher on rioters.
Now, Joe Biden, says, wait --
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am not the president. He is the
president.
DOOCY: Today, the Democratic nominee offer a sobering warning about COVID-
19.
BIDEN: We're heading into a very dangerous autumn.
DOOCY: Biden's promised, if elected, he'll verify that any COVID vaccine
promoted by the Trump administration is safe, then, work on distributing it
to first responders and frontline workers, then, the general population on
day one.
BIDEN: I trust vaccines, I trust scientists, but I don't trust Donald
Trump. At this moment, the American people can't either.
DOOCY: Today, Biden delivered remarks and fielded questions from a list of
five reporters put together by the campaign. In less than two weeks, Biden
and Trump will share a stage at the first presidential debate.
BIDEN: I have begun preparing, yes. I've been -- I've been mainly -- I
haven't been doing mock debates very much, but I've been just making sure
that I understand all that he has said and hasn't said.
DOOCY: As recent polls show Biden under-performing with Hispanic voters in
places like Florida, he is trying new things and almost dancing.
BIDEN: I just have one thing to say. Hang on, here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. There you go. Dance a little bit, Joe. Come
on.
BIDEN: I tell you what.
DOOCY: That's a hit performed by the artist who introduced Biden. The Trump
campaign put their own translation on it and added video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Despacito.
TEXT
Very slowly. I want to slowly breathe on your neck. Let me whisper in your
ear.
DOOCY: Biden and Harris are now regularly tested for COVID-19 since they
are regularly on the campaign trail. But it's unclear what would happen if
either of them falls ill between now and Election Day.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The plan is not to
get it. Anymore?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for --
HARRIS: I am serious.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOOCY: Biden also said, if he wins, his lawyers believe he would have the
legal authority to implement a national mask mandate. So, perhaps it's
fitting today "Saturday Night Live" announced the actor playing Joe Biden
this season will be Jim Carrey, star of The Mask. Bret?
BAIER: Well done. Peter Doocy live in Wilmington. Peter, thanks.
"BREAKING TONIGHT", what is now a downgraded Tropical Storm Sally is
battering parts of the Gulf Coast tonight with massive amounts of rain.
Causing flash flooding, forcing mass evacuations down there, and stranding
entire families. It's the slowness of its progress that's really causing
the major problems.
Correspondent -- chief correspondent Jonathan Hunt is in Mobile, Alabama
right now. Good evening, Jonathan.
JONATHAN HUNT, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Bret.
The full extent of the disaster Hurricane Sally has wrought on the Gulf
Coast is still unfolding tonight. But what is clear is that the warnings of
catastrophic, historic, and life-threatening flooding were no exaggeration.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUNT: Hurricane Sally howled ashore in the early hours of Wednesday morning
near Gulf Shores, Alabama. Bringing with it winds of 105 miles per hour.
Winds that extended miles along both the Alabama and Florida Panhandle
coastlines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty windy, it will blow you over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There it goes.
HUNT: The storm tore trees from the ground, tossed the boats from their
moorings, ripped windows walls, and roofing from buildings, and left
hundreds of thousands of people in the dark without power.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything is underwater. It's crazy.
HUNT: And the wind was not even the worst of Sally. Rain fell in sheets
hours before the eye of the storm arrived, and hours after it began to move
inland.
Pensacola, Florida is among the communities hardest hit by flooding.
Several feet of water covered downtown streets, dozens of people have
already been rescued from their flooded homes, and officials expect to many
more rescues to come, and entire communities to have to evacuate with the
waters likely to continue rising for several days.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Protecting life is the number one priority. The
life comes first and your safety comes first.
HUNT: White House officials said the president is ready to take any action
needed, as Mr. Trump issued emergency declarations for parts of Florida,
Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
MCENANY: And we are coordinating with the states right now. We have a
significant footprint in Louisiana because of Hurricane Laura. So, we are
well postured, we're leaning into it to make sure that we meet all the
needs of all three of those states.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNT: In Pensacola tonight, officials announced there will be a dusk to
dawn curfew for the next three nights. That will extend to the rest of
Escambia County too, and police will patrol to prevent looting.
And back here in Mobile, a curfew will go in place from 7:00 p.m. local
time tonight. Bret.
BAIER: Jonathan Hunt, live in Mobile. Jonathan, thanks.
Up next, President Trump said last night his healthcare plan is ready to
go. We'll take a look where is it.
First, here is what some of our Fox affiliates around the country are
covering tonight. Fox 5 in New York, with word that Rochester police
commanders urged city officials to hold off on publicly releasing body
camera footage of Daniel Prude's suffocation death.
Newly released e-mails showed that commanders feared violent blowback if
that video came out during nationwide protest over the killing -- police
killing of George Floyd.
And this is a live look at Greensboro, North Carolina from our affiliate
Fox 8. One of the big stories there tonight, hundreds of mail-in ballots
had been rejected and sent back to voters across North Carolina.
Residents can fix errors and submit those ballots again. The most common
error, by the way, is the witness form on the envelope being filled out
incorrectly.
That's tonight's live look "OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY" from SPECIAL REPORT. We'll
be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: Arizona Republican Congressman Andy Biggs plans to hold a special
order on the House floor today to allow several colleagues to address this
summer's rioting and the sources of its funding.
Meantime, "Axios" reports the rioting following the George Floyd death will
be the most expensive such event in recent history for the insurance
industry. The current estimate is up to $2 billion of payouts.
Also, the "Minneapolis Star Tribune" reports the city council there is
pressing the police chief for a plan to address crime in their wards. The
council president says her constituents tell her officers say they are not
enforcing the laws and that bloodshed will continue unless more police are
hired. Just for context here, this is the same Minneapolis city council
that two months ago led an effort to defund and dismantle the police
department and replace it with a community-based system of public safety.
Authorities in southern Virginia are hunting for a gunman who shot a police
car three times. ABC News tonight reporting and the officer driving the
vehicle was, fortunately, unhurt.
The president has said for several months that a new healthcare promise was
coming, was weeks away, was coming very soon. At the town hall last night,
the president said it's now ready. Correspondent Kevin Corke reports on a
long-awaited healthcare policy and if it, in fact, will be rolled out
before election day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN CORKE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: He's said it before in March.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a much different
plan.
CORKE: And July.
TRUMP: Within two weeks, a full and complete healthcare plan.
CORKE: And in August.
TRUMP: We are going to be introducing a tremendous healthcare plan
sometime prior, hopefully prior to the end of the month.
CORKE: Repeatedly President Trump has promised to unveil a new healthcare
plan. In fact, he did so again during last night's townhall on ABC.
TRUMP: We're going to be doing a healthcare plan very strongly, and
protect people with preexisting conditions.
I have it already. I have it already.
CORKE: If it's ready, that would appear to be news to several top
healthcare officials in the administration, many of whom said today in
testimony on Capitol Hill that they were unaware of any specifics involving
a plan principally to replace the Affordable Care Act. Said Admiral Brett
Giroir, "I don't know what that is." Added Dr. Robert Kadlec, "Not in my
portfolio," and Dr. Robert Redfield said "Not in my lane, but I'm not aware
of one."
But over at the White House today Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said
multiple stakeholders were working on the plan, including the Domestic
Policy Council.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Elements of it that have
already come out, like the telemedicine plan, the drug importation EO.
There's more that will be forthcoming.
CORKE: White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows says the new plan be rolled
out before the November 3rd election. He blamed the delay, at least in
part, on gridlock on Capitol Hill.
MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: It's more of an executive action
with a legislative component that is more visionary.
CORKE: A vision shrouded in secrecy and deception, argued Democrats. Joe
Biden's deputy campaign manager saying "After eight months of letting the
worst public health crisis in 100 years spiral out of control, that not
only does he not have a plan -- he doesn't have a clue."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CORKE: And that is typical Washington left and right.
Meanwhile, Bret, the Justice Department is backing a case brought by the
state attorneys general that the Supreme Court will hear in November. It
alleges that the legislation's individual mandate provision was made
unconstitutional when its penalty was set to zero dollars under the
president's 2017 tax overhaul. Bret?
BAIER: Kevin, thank you. We'll continue to ask questions about that.
On the markets today, the Dow gained 37, the S&P lost 16, the Nasdaq fell
140.
Up next, the co-chairs of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus on their
efforts to try to get more coronavirus relief passed through Congress to
Americans.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I like the larger
amount. I've said that. Some of the Republicans disagree, but I think I can
convince them to go along with that, because I like the larger number. I
want to see people get money. It wasn't their fault that this happened. It
was China's fault.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: President Trump a few moments ago talking about the Problem Solvers
Caucus bill, or proposal, I should say, a bipartisan group pushing for this
new coronavirus relief package. They're called Problem Solvers, there's
Democrats and Republicans.
Joining us tonight, the leaders of that group, Democrat Josh Gottheimer of
New Jersey, and Republican Tom Reed of New York. Thank you both for being
here.
Congressman Gottheimer, first to you. The White House is saying that Nancy
Pelosi is not moving off of this bigger figure that the House passed early
on and that the negotiations seem stalled on that front. Do you think that
your bill can move the ball?
REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER, (D-NJ) PROBLEM SOLVERS CAUCUS: Well, I think you
heard the speaker say just today that she and Senator Schumer are eager to
get back to the table, and that we're not leaving town until we get
something done. So I think both sides now appear to be eager to get
something done. There have been issues where they've been stuck now for
months. The American people want results. And our framework is just to
provide to try to help get past some of the hurdles with Democrats and
Republicans where they've been stuck and get folks back to the table and
get something done. So I'm optimistic.
BAIER: But Congressman Gottheimer, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not been a
proponent of your plan. She says it's not good enough.
GOTTHEIMER: I think if you actually look what's in our plan, all the
priorities that the Democrats and all of us have been pushing are in the
plan. And it's a shorter timeframe to get us through the inauguration, and
both sides, I think, no one has said they love everything. That's kind of
how a deal gets sone. But the key is just to get folks back to the table.
We all hear back home, as you might imagine, I know Tom the same way, is
from families to small businesses to our local governments, they are just
dying for help here because the crisis affected jobs and affected the
economy. They just want us to get something done, and it's unconscionable
for us to go home without a deal.
BAIER: Let me put up on the screen what you have in this bill and as it's
proposed. It's roughly $1.53 trillion, this blueprint. The state and local
on the list here $500 billion, that's really the sticking point for many
Republicans and the White House. Here is Chief of Staff Mark Meadows
talking about your bill and where the sticking point is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Even in the Problem Solvers
Caucus initiative, it was some $500 billion. But there was a caveat there
that was based on real revenue losses. And that caveat gives me hope that
if we're willing to look at real facts and real losses that hopefully we
can get to something that actually makes sense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: So Congressman Reed, what about that caveat? Can you tie it to
cities and states that are not in a financial position that they were
before COVID?
REP. TOM REED, (R-NY) PROBLEM SOLVERS CAUCUS: Absolutely. That's what
brought people together on this issue, Republicans and Democrats. And this
has been a sticking point, state and local. But it is clear that state and
local governments have been impacted by the COVID-19 situation. And if you
have the revenue loss Based on documented actual revenue loss, not
projected, not multiyear projections, but actual revenue loss, you can find
bipartisan agreement.
And then the other component of state and local expenses that brought
people together in our conversations, Democrat and Republicans, was actual
expenses. It was more like a FEMA situation, more like a natural disaster
where you had past and future COVID-19 related actual expenses, where you
had receipts and you turned those into the federal government. Then we
stand with our local community, we stand with our states communities to say
we can reimburse those expenses. That type of good governance, these are
American taxpayer dollars that we need to be accountable to. That type of
common sense type of approach brought people together on this issue.
BAIER: Common sense usually goes out the window weeks before an election.
It just happens, because both sides want to stay ground and make the other
side look bad. Congressman Gottheimer, can you assure the American public
that something is going to get done before November 3rd?
GOTTHEIMER: I feel that we are now, we're really following now, and the
negotiation are going to, I'm really confident, get going again. I think
what everyone is hearing back home, which I think is affecting what's
happening here, is that folks need help. And our small businesses need
help, our schools need help, we need more testing. So all these pieces are
coming together. It's, again, not going to be everything everybody wants,
but the bottom line is it's going to really help. We have got to get
through the inauguration here, and that's the key where you saw Democrats
and Republicans came together. And I'm optimistic, because we have to get
something done.
BAIER: Congressman Reed, there was some suggestion on the Democratic side
that they might get a better deal after the election. President Trump is
saying he would call people to the Oval Office if a deal is imminent. Do
you think one can get done before Election Day?
REED: It needs to get done. Why would you put the people through that,
because you want to wait for an election result? This has been four months
of gridlock. You should not put the American people in the middle of this
political race. That is why the Problem Solvers Caucus is filled with
members that want to put country first, the American people first. And I
tell you, the silent majority of America believes the way we do. Stop
playing politics with American lives. We're in a crisis, we're in a
pandemic, we're in an emergency. It's time to lead. Kudos to the Problem
Solvers Caucus members like Dean Phillips, like Abigail Spanberger, like
Dusty Johnson and Anthony Gonzalez that led this charge out of the Problem
Solvers Caucus with Josh and I to say enough is enough. It's time to put
the American people first.
BAIER: It is a good name. The chairman of the Problem Solvers Caucus, we
just all hope that you can solve the problem.
GOTTHEIMER: We're going to get it done.
BAIER: Thank you, gentlemen.
GOTTHEIMER: Thank you.
BAIER: When we come back, the panel on the president and Joe Biden arguing
over a coronavirus vaccine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION:
I think there will be a vaccine that will initially be available sometime
between November and December, but very limited supply and will have to be
prioritized. If you're asking me when is it going to be generally available
to the American public, I think we are probably looking at late second
quarter, third quarter 2021.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think he made a
mistake when he said that. It's just incorrect information.
Really to the general public immediately. When we go, we go.
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I trust vaccines. I trust
scientists. But I don't trust Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: Joe Biden today, the CDC director up on Capitol Hill, and the
president, you heard him here at that White House press briefing just a
short time ago, obviously a disparity there.
Let's bring in our panel, Byron York, chief political correspondent for the
"Washington Examiner, former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr., who is
currently the chairman of RX Saver, and Tom Bevan, Real Clear Politics co-
founder and president.
Tom, I think it might have been an interesting phone call from the
president to the CDC director about his testimony up on Capitol Hill. What
do you make of that and where the political fallout is on that?
TOM BEVAN, REAL CLEAR POLITICS CO-FOUNDER: Well, it's never good to not be
on the same page as the boss. And so I think he probably got a talking to.
Trump tried to clean that up and straighten it out. I don't think it's a
big deal overall. But I think Trump definitely wants everybody in the
administration to be singing from the same sheet of music, especially on
the distribution plan, that when this vaccine comes, and whether it comes
before the election or after the election, that it is going to be
distributed rapidly across the country, prioritized, but also out to the
general public as fast as humanly possible.
And so I am not sure there is going to be much political fallout from this.
But, again, we are talking can the coronavirus. That's an issue that has
been a bit of a sticking point for Donald Trump vis-a-vis the way the
public feels he's been handling this.
BAIER: Harold, one would think the CDC director was in the loop on the
vaccination deployment. There was also this disparity about masks. Take a
listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION:
I might even go so far as to say that this facemask is more guaranteed to
protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Number, it's not more
effective by any means than any vaccine. And I called him about that. I
believe that if you ask him, he would probably say that he didn't
understand the question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: OK, and just 10 minutes ago we heard from the CDC director on
Twitter. And he says "The best defense we currently have against the virus
are the important mitigation efforts of wearing a mask, washing your hands,
social distancing, and being careful about crowds. I 100 percent believe in
the importance of vaccines and the importance of in particularly of a
COVID-19 vaccine. COVID-19 vaccine is the thing that will get Americans
back to normal everyday life." Thoughts, Harold?
HAROLD FORD JR. (D) FORMER TENNESSEE REPRESENTATIVE: So thanks for having
me. I think a couple things. When it comes to medicine and science, I'm
probably like most Americans going to listen to the CDC chief. In that
statement he put out there, he didn't say he didn't hear the question
correctly nor did he renounce his answer. He just reiterated the points he
made during the panel there.
I think the more the president sows confusion around what we should be
doing, it makes it harder for me like me who in many ways are rooting for
him, his administration, his team, and our amazing health private sector to
find a vaccine. Those who have doubts about whether there's efficacy
challenges or safety challenges or concerns only have those doubts raised
when they hear this kind of back and forth between the CDC chief and the
president.
Perhaps the most encouraging thing I've heard today is what just happened
on your show. It's not your question, but to watch the Problem Solvers
Caucus, you would wish that every member of Congress is a member of that
caucus. But to say that they might be close to finding a bipartisan
proposal that might be acceptable to both parties and both sides of the
legislative branch, that may be the most encouraging thing I've heard
today.
BAIER: All right, Byron?
BRYON YORK, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": Well,
look, the president and his top officials should be on the same page about
this. And the first thing they should saying is this is really fast. Go
back to April and people were talking about a year-and-a-half for a
vaccine. We are talking late 2021. Now they are talking about having it in
a month or two, only in very limited supplies, and only for frontline
medical workers. That is still particularly good.
It doesn't do the president any good to be overpromising in this case. It's
much better to be realistic about it, and if it comes faster thought, it's
must faster than was predicted earlier.
BAIER: Tom, to Harold's point, we just had that interview, the Problem
Solvers Caucus. That bill was literally poo-pooed by Nancy Pelosi, said
that's not going to work for her. But the White House and Mark Meadows
saying maybe there is a chance we can get something around here. Do you
think this is going to get across the finish line?
BEVAN: Before the election, I'm a cynic when it comes to this stuff. I
doubt it because I don't know the Democrats -- they are very reticent to
give the president a win on this. But I think it's a good proposal. And by
the way, you can trace it all the way back to the Democrats here in the
state of Illinois who initially back in April asked for $41 billion
including $10 billion to bail out our unfunded pension liabilities, which
sent Republicans into a panic about the government bailing out all these
cities and states around the country that have been horribly mismanaged
above and beyond the pandemic.
BAIER: All right, gentlemen, they'll be much more to talk about in coming
days. Thanks a lot.
When we come back, tributes to heroes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: Finally tonight, some powerful tributes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is for you being a great member of this community,
OK? I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: After saving a mother and her three children from a burning vehicle
in Connecticut, 18-year-old Justin Gavin was honored by law enforcement
there for his heroism. One week ago, Gavin ran to the scene of an accident,
pulled four people from that blaze, and authorities decided to recognize
him for it today. Good job.
And wearing his Marine hat with the American flag, Sam Jones waved to
family and friends celebrating his 100th birthday. First responders, fellow
Marines, and others honored the World War II veteran with a touching
tribute in Carmel, Indiana. Mr. Jones, thank you for your service to the
country.
And thank you for inviting us into your home tonight. That's it for this
SPECIAL REPORT, fair, balanced, and unafraid. "The Story" hosted by Martha
MacCallum starts right now.
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