This is a rush transcript from “Your World with Neil Cavuto," August 27, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome, everybody.
We are taking a look at some amazing crosscurrents in developments right now that concern a hurricane where we have dodged a bullet, even though a very destructive bullet, at that.
We're also looking at the fallout of the debate controversy. Does Joe Biden want to debate or not? He says he does. Nancy Pelosi isn't so sure it's a good idea. The back-and-forth on what the president saying about all that ahead of his big night.
But, first and foremost, the hurricane and what is going to be involved behind a big old cleanup.
Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto, and this is "Your World."
First to Jeff Flock in a very devastated Lake Charles, Louisiana -- Jeff.
JEFF FLOCK, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK CORRESPONDENT: I will start with a positive.
And that, Neil, is that four people dead in Louisiana as a result of this. That's a small number for a Cat 4 hurricane. The negative, of course, is that cleanup that you mentioned. Look at this.
Anywhere you look, if I just shut up and walk this camera around the city, you would see just how difficult the situation is here, power down everywhere. I don't know where -- we haven't seen anybody that has power. And this is a good-sized city. It took a direct hit.
And then damage everywhere. If you look across -- that's McNeese State University. What's in there? It looks like bricks everywhere. That's actually the roof this facility. That's what the roofing material looks like. It's styrofoam and then cement up on top.
Businesses. Look at this. This is just one of the dozens -- well, hundreds of businesses damaged and closed right now. Cleanup just now starting. I suspect, tomorrow, Neil, we will start to get into that.
Hey, Tomas (ph), come on down, if you can, as I said, just showing you this in real time. This just happened within the last 12 hours, obviously. The cleanup here is starting, but it is going to take a very long time.
Maybe you see a lot of glass, a lot of power lines, a lot of trees, a lot of mess. As I said, Cat 4 storm, 150 mile-an-hour winds, I guess you should expect this sort of thing. Good news is lack of loss of life. Bad news is huge, huge damage -- Neil.
CAVUTO: It's just incredible. It's like a war zone.
FLOCK: Isn't it?
CAVUTO: Jeff Flock, thank you very much, my friend, Jeff Flock reporting, Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Bryan Llenas right now, Holly Beach, Louisiana, also assessing substantial damage right now.
How's it looking?
BRYAN LLENAS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Neil, good afternoon.
Behind me, you will see an R.V. that was pushed over by the winds. Hurricane Laura came in right here in the Gulf of Mexico just 100 yards to my left. It brought a nine-foot storm surge and over 100-mile-an-hour winds.
This is Holly Beach, the Cajun Riviera. And here's a drone look. Our FOX News drone will give you an aerial view of some of the damage we are seeing along the coast. It is substantial.
If you walk over here, you can see we have homes that have actually survived this on the stilts. That's the good news, but we have, well, lots of twisted metal. We have other foundations that have not survived, including those with R.V.s. There are lots of downed power lines here and some flooding.
We -- those homes did survive on that -- 15-foot pylons. They were able to survive this storm surge, which they think was about nine feet. We spoke to somebody who said that, during Hurricane Rita, nothing was left standing. So, in that sense, they feel relieved that they at least have some of these homes on their pylons.
You can see behind me over here as well and on our drone footage, in some cases, it looks as though a tornado ripped right through here, this R.V. completely demolished, this vehicle completely gone as well.
You see lots of debris all over the place. This is Holly Beach. Just 400 or 500 people call this home. This is the Cajun Riviera. This was just seven miles west of where Hurricane Laura made landfall. We got the brunt of that eye here in this location.
But, again, the devastation, you can see. It was really a lot of the winds here. And if you look at those homes with the pylons there, just the windows are intact in many of those homes. The water did not reach all the way to the top.
So, in that sense, I believe some of the residents here are going to feel relieved from that, but devastation here. You see me on a satellite phone, lack of signal here, because of all the downed power lines. And there are R.V.s and homes that are completely obliterated.
But, again, during Hurricane Rita in 2005, nothing was left standing here, and this is the situation we are dealing with here in Holly Beach, seven miles west of where Hurricane Laura made that landfall as a Category 4 storm -- Neil.
CAVUTO: Bryan Llenas, thank you very much, my friend.
I want to go to talk to Todd Terrell right now, United Cajun Navy president. These are the folks who come in and rescue, most of them volunteers, anyone and everyone they can, especially those who opted to stay in their homes.
Remember, about 500,000 were called to evacuate the area. Not everyone did. And now it's up to folks like Todd to sort out who's who, where they are, what do they need?
He joins us.
Todd, thank you for taking the time.
How are things looking?
TODD TERRELL, PRESIDENT, UNITED CAJUN NAVY: It's looking pretty rough.
We do a lot of these storms all over the country. And to have one once again in our backyard, it's pretty devastating.
CAVUTO: I heard reports of some who were very reluctant to leave, Todd. I could understand, especially in this COVID-19 world, they didn't want to be in shelters, and then the risk that would have.
So they were battening down the hatches and sort of just trying to ride it out. Do you know how many are in that kind of predicament now, without power, without easy access to and from their homes?
TERRELL: It's a pretty good bit of them.
Unfortunately, with the way cell phone service is right now, it's sporadic. As you all said, we are pretty fortunate that we have satellite phones and all as well, so we have pretty good communication. We actually had 13 individuals that we rescued today that stayed.
And how -- we don't know how they even survived. But, as far as that goes, there's still a lot of people that are just disoriented just kind of looking around there. They're shocked that this even happened to their homes, because they were elderly, and it's never happened to them before.
CAVUTO: It could have been much worse. It's hard to imagine that, Todd, as we look at some of these aerial images coming in that just show total devastation.
But the loss of life, while you never want to see it, down to a few, when, in similar storms like this in the past, it's been in the hundreds. What do you think that people followed up on the threat, responded to the threat, heeded the warnings? Some obviously stayed in their homes, but they were taking this seriously, weren't they?
TERRELL: Yes, they very -- they were.
We were kind of surprised that they as many people took it seriously as they did, especially with the coronavirus issue going on.
CAVUTO: Right.
TERRELL: We were kind of concerned that more people were going to stay home, worried about it, but it really appears that the majority of the people took the warning and got out.
CAVUTO: All right, well, best of luck, Todd, with everything you're doing.
I mean, you're doing yeoman's work trying to get to these people, help these people. All started as a volunteer army that's now like a flotilla. We will follow it closely. Be well, be safe.
Todd Terrell, that United Cajun Navy, he's the president. And that's what they do. They commit themselves to going into the dangerous areas others are trying to escape from.
We will keep -- be monitoring that.
We're also monitoring the White House right now. The president, of course, will address the nation tonight, as he accepts the Republican nomination from the South Lawn of the White House. Just across the street, they will be having fireworks after all of that.
We're also separately learning -- and this was largely expected, it's been well-telegraphed -- we got into this on FOX Business -- that the administration is announcing or will announce formally a deal with Abbott Laboratories for rapid COVID-19 tests that take as little as five minutes and could be had for not much more in dollars, like about five bucks.
The $750 million that the government will be committing here to buy 150 million rapid COVID-19 tests continues the speedy effort to get tests done, and get them done quickly.
We will have more after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're getting a very serious blow here. Oh!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One-hundred-fifty-mile-per-hour winds.
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): There's going to be some significant damage to homes and some buildings.
FLOCK: The damage is just everywhere.
GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D-LA): Today, it's about saving lives and. The search-and-rescue is ongoing right now.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was very big. It was very powerful, but it passed quickly. We will probably be going on Saturday or Sunday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: All right, that's an important development here.
The president will indeed be visiting Texas at Louisiana this weekend. We don't know the -- quite the details just yet.
John Roberts at the White House does, keeping track of that, of course, on the big night the president will formally accept his party's nomination from that house behind him -- John.
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
And we when we saw the hurricane hitting last night just as Mike Pence was delivering his speech, the vice president gave a nod to the men and women who live in the area who are going to be in harm's way.
And I was wondering, is the president going to have a speech tonight or might he postpone it? Well, the president at FEMA headquarters a short time ago saying that he was actually considering postponing it until Monday night, but he's going to go ahead with it tonight and then visit the region in the next few days. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: But now it turned out we got a little bit lucky. It was very big, it was very powerful, but it passed quickly. And so everything's on scale. We will probably be going on Saturday or Sunday.
And we will be heading to Texas and Louisiana and maybe an additional stop. So that will either be on Saturday, a little bit in the afternoon, or Sunday. And we will be ready.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And just after the president gave that -- those remarks at the FEMA headquarters, of course, Kamala Harris came out and ripped the president for his coronavirus response.
In kind of a prebuttal to what Senator Harris was going to say, the president said this about how his administration has handled the pandemic. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: What we did initially was -- was a very, very important thing. Otherwise, you would have millions of people dead.
We have vaccine...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Millions of people dead, but we have got vaccines, we got treatments on the way, the president said, defending his response to the coronavirus pandemic.
One of the things that the president is going to do tonight is to draw a very sharp contrast with Joe Biden over the issue of addressing the violence that has consumed many cities across America.
The president pointed to a dramatic reduction in Kenosha, Wisconsin, yesterday, with the addition of a number of National Guard members, the president saying that he's prepared to send the National Guard to anybody who wants to, but that some people in some states -- I think this was a nod to Ted Williams (sic) in the city of Portland, Oregon -- don't want to do that for political reasons.
Here's what the president said on that front.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: A great example has been going on for 90 days, and we could put it out in one hour. All they have to do is ask us to come and we will be there with the National Guard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The speech tonight is going to be a combination of criticism of Joe Biden and then listing his accomplishments in the past three-and-a-half years, and what his agenda would be for a second term, should he be fortunate enough to win on November the 3rd -- Neil.
CAVUTO: All right, John Roberts, thank you very, very much.
Mick Mulvaney is with us right now, the former acting White House chief of staff.
Mick, always good to have you.
This venue, the president is using the White House as a backdrop, Democrats are still saying, kind of tacky, kind of against the Hatch Act; you're politicizing the White House, the people's house.
What do you say to that?
MICK MULVANEY, FORMER ACTING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: It's -- that's much ado about nothing.
My guess is that this has been run through just about every single lawyer in the White House, probably lawyers over at the Department of Justice, the Office of Special Counsel. They wouldn't be doing it, Neil, if it wasn't 100 percent legal.
I have been through this analysis before with the president. When we do campaign-related things, there are certain places we can do them on the property, in the residence, for example. Sometimes, we go off-property, we don't do it in the West Wing.
So, again, I think it's just -- it's a distraction, trying to draw away from the substance of what you're going to see tonight.
CAVUTO: If Barack Obama had done this back when he was running for reelection in 2012, and you were a feisty, fiery congressman, what would you have done?
MULVANEY: Sure.
I guess my first reaction probably would have been, oh, my goodness, that's not -- that's not right. And then, if someone had sat me down and say, but it's legal, I would have shut up, because, every now and then, you have to admit that you are wrong.
But, yes, we probably would have raised the issue. But if someone sat down and said, look, this is -- this is the law, you move on to the next issue. Believe me, there were plenty of things to challenge the Obama administration about, other than where the president was giving a particular speech at any time.
So, your point is well-made. And it is politics, there's no question, but, sometimes, you just have to admit that you lost that battle, and it's time to move on to the next one.
CAVUTO: All right, because it's also in the context of the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. I know he said he was speaking on behalf of just a person, a human being, a patriot, but he was the secretary of state. He was addressing a convention, and very much in a political role.
Did that have a little bit of weirdness to you?
MULVANEY: Well, Neil, it doesn't.
And I hate to be coming to the defense of the administration all the time, but I think they're probably right. Here's why I say that.
I was in the Cabinet, as Mike Pompeo is. I participated in political activities after-hours, because you're not a federal employee 24 hours a day. At least, the rules don't apply to you 24 hours a day.
When I was the chief of staff, I had a Secret Service detail. I would go out 8:00 at night, give a speech at a political event. There's certain things you still can't do. You can't ask for money, et cetera. So you follow the rules.
But just because the Secret Service is there...
CAVUTO: But there is a difference between a chief of staff and a secretary of state, right? I mean, there's a little bit of difference there, right?
MULVANEY: Well, I was -- well, OK, but I was the director of the Office of Management Budget, which was a Senate-confirmed position in the Cabinet.
CAVUTO: Sure.
MULVANEY: So, no, there's not that much difference between those two things.
CAVUTO: OK.
Hearken back to your days running OMB, the Office of Management Budget. And right now, we're told that talks are kind of resuming, I don't know where they went, with Mark Meadows, your successor, and right now Nancy Pelosi. I don't if more were involved.
Can you confirm that, that they are now talking about a stimulus deal?
MULVANEY: No, I have seen the same reports that you have.
I haven't talked to Mark this week. I talk to Mark fairly regularly, but I haven't talked to him this week. Obviously, there's a lot going on, with a hurricane and the riots in Wisconsin and the prep for the big speech tonight.
CAVUTO: Yes.
MULVANEY: So -- but I think -- I think the White House is in the right situation here.
I think Nancy Pelosi overplayed her hand. She thought the president would fold in those negotiations earlier in the summer. I think part of the reason you're seeing her raise this U.S. Postal Service issue is to draw attention away from the fact that she -- she messed up on stimulus.
I think the White House holds all the cards. I think they won the negotiation. The president could do certain things by executive order, not everything, obviously. But he can show that he was the one trying to get something done, when Nancy was in the way.
The way I can say that is, that is the same thing that President Obama did to us back in 2011, 2013 on things like government shutdowns and the debt ceiling. So, the shoe is on the other foot.
I think the White House is probably in the driver's seat here. They should be looking maybe at doing some small things, things they can do on their selves, but I think they're right not to be throwing trillions of dollars at this -- at the stimulus right now.
CAVUTO: It's always in the eye of the beholder, I know, but the president, through his executive actions, orders, whatever you want to call them, wanted to take over the process because nothing was getting done. I get that. I understand that.
But I'm amazed, Mick. I talked to a number of CEOs on FOX Business, which, Mick, if you don't get, you should demand. Anyway, they were telling me to a man or woman, look, I'm feeling leery of acting on this and taking payroll taxes out, giving them to workers, when it's just the president's executive order, it doesn't have the stamp of Congress. I have very little cover, and this might be temporary, and I have to give the dough back.
And that's why they're not acting on it. What do you make of that?
MULVANEY: An excellent point. I have talked to some CEOs. I have heard that same criticism.
Here's one way out of the box. The president is in the position to make the federal government do it. The federal government is probably the largest employer in the country. He could make the federal agencies do what he's saying and give the workers those taxes (AUDIO GAP) be withheld.
That would give the private sector a lot more cover. Similarly -- and we have not talked much about this, Neil -- he could make the federal government go back to work. Washington, D.C., is a ghost town right now, because all of these agencies are just not sending folks back to work.
The president has the ability, the administration has the ability to make the administration follow those rules. And that would give the private sector the cover they need to do what they need to, to get more money in the workers' pocket.
So, the opportunity is there. The criticism is fair. The criticism is right. But there's a way out of it, if the federal government would lead the way.
CAVUTO: All right, and if they strike a deal in the meantime here. We shall see, because the two sides are, to your point, Mick, at least talking.
Mick Mulvaney, the former chief of staff, OMB director, much, much more.
We have much more coming on, including the debate, by the way, ahead of the president's big address to the country tonight from the South Lawn of the White House, about debates. We thought they were a given. Then Nancy Pelosi raised the idea, you know, if I were Joe Biden, I wouldn't bother.
Then Joe Biden answered that -- after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, Joe Biden likes to say he warned the president early on about the dangers of COVID-19.
Karl Rove has been looking into it. He didn't. We have the proof -- after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, to debate or not to debate.
It seemed to be a foregone conclusion that the debates were on, four of them, three presidential ones, one vice presidential one, for this fall between Joe Biden and, of course, the president. And the vice presidential candidates, we thought they would have won.
Then along comes Nancy Pelosi, saying, Joe, I don't think it's a good idea. Don't bother trying it. And then the president -- or the guy wants to be president responding to that today. The back-and-forth was amazing. It will make your head spin.
Hillary Vaughn on top of it all with the great debate-gate, I think -- Hillary.
HILLARY VAUGHN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Neil.
Well, the first big event for both party nominees will, of course, be the first presidential debate. But now some top Democrats are saying their Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, should not show up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I myself just -- don't tell anybody who told you this. Especially don't tell Joe Biden. I don't think that there should be any debates.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUGHN: ... he is not bowing out, but says he has had people tell him he shouldn't debate Trump unless there are live fact-checkers present.
But, for now, he says he's fine doing that himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to debate him.
Now, I know for certain that they're going -- I'm going to try -- I'm going to be a fact-checker on the floor while I'm debating him, lying, lying, lying, lying one after another.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUGHN: The Trump campaign is worried that Pelosi's advice is ominous foreshadowing that Biden might bail or phone it in, saying this in a statement -- quote -- "We are also concerned that his handlers will ultimately decide to keep him in his basement and avoid debates entirely, or suggest holding them remotely via Skype, where Biden could rely on nearby handlers, a teleprompter, or notes."
The president has said he wants more debates. But, so far, the Biden campaign has only agreed to three, the first one on September 29 in Ohio -- Neil.
CAVUTO: All right, Hillary Vaughn, thank you very much.
Burt Folsom with us now, great historian, good keeper of the facts and debates and the history.
We're kind of used to it, of a certain age, that, Burt, we accept debates. They weren't always the case. In 1960, it was precedent-breaking between JFK, Richard Nixon, but Richard Nixon maybe learned something from that experience, because, in '68 and '72, he opted not to debate his opponents. Didn't hurt him either time. He won both times.
But I'm wondering how real of an impact it would have, with Americans getting used to these things, if we didn't have them.
BURT FOLSOM, HISTORIAN: Well, that's a good question, Neil.
As you pointed out, 1960, between Nixon and Kennedy were the first presidential debates. And the reason we had them was not because of the issues that Pelosi and President Trump are dealing with now, issues of character. It's issues of politics.
Both Kennedy and Nixon felt they had something to gain if they did a debate. Nixon was experienced, two-term vice president. And he thought he would win. Kennedy wanted to appear statesmanlike, that he belonged on the stage.
And so both of them had reason to debate. And they did it. But, as you point out, Nixon did not do so in 1968 or '72. Neither did Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
CAVUTO: Right.
FOLSOM: In both cases, in '64 with Johnson, in '72 With Nixon, they had huge leads.
Because Johnson had a huge lead over Goldwater and Nixon had a huge lead over McGovern, they did not feel they needed to debate, and they refused to do it.
CAVUTO: And what I'm wondering, when Nancy Pelosi signaled, if I had my way, I would tell Joe, don't debate, was she seizing on his poll lead as a reason we don't want to do anything to screw this up?
Was she ceding any fears that Democrats have that Biden, in an unscripted debate format, might not be as smooth or fast on his feet, and might suffer in the polls as a result? Normally, it's the leader that sort of rolls the dice and says, I don't need this. But polls can be fleeting. But who stands to lose more if we don't have debates?
FOLSOM: Well, it depends.
Biden has had a big lead. Thus, the Democrats have felt the need to employ the Lyndon Johnson strategy, or the Nixon strategy in 1970, avoid the debates, because you have a big lead. But that big lead has been shrinking this week with the Republican Convention.
As Trump narrows the margin, I think Joe Biden will feel he has to debate or, in fact, he will lose credibility. Gerald Ford debated Carter in 1976. That was the renewal of the presidential debates, again, because both felt they had something to gain.
CAVUTO: Right.
FOLSOM: Carter needed the stature of appearing before a president in a debate. Ford was behind in the polls and wanted to win the debate and catch up.
Thus, their self-interest was such that they had debates. They renewed the debates. Whether we will have debates with Biden and Trump, I think, depend on the politics and who has -- if Biden has a lead or not.
CAVUTO: Yes.
FOLSOM: If Biden doesn't have a lead, he certainly will need to debate to recapture some of...
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: Yes, they will rethink it.
And the irony, in the '76, under Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, it was Gerald Ford, the incumbent president, who made the big mistake, saying Poland wasn't under communist rule. And we know what happened.
But you could fast-forward four years later, when Jimmy Carter decided, with little more than a week before the election, to go ahead and have a debate with Ronald Reagan. He thought he could crush him like a bug. The polls were oddly enough still tight at the time, with no hint of the blowout to come.
But Ronald Reagan comported himself very, very well, and the rest is history. So, things can change, right?
FOLSOM: That's right. You are right, Neil.
The debates can be important.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: So what happens now? Whose style then stands to benefit in this environment? You always remind me, the substance matters, but sometimes style and approach and being quick on your feet, that can matter more.
FOLSOM: It can.
Mayor -- or Governor Dukakis in 1968 (sic) did poorly because he answered the question on the death penalty very poorly when Bernard Shaw asked him if his wife were raped and murdered, would he still favor the death penalty?
And he was so calm and casual answering it, people felt you needed to show a certain amount of emotion if those bad things happen to your wife. So, style counted against Dukakis and helped Bush win the debate and the election.
CAVUTO: Very interesting.
I read that in history books, I was too young to remember myself.
(LAUGHTER)
CAVUTO: But, no, you're right.
You can be pleasantly surprised or unpleasantly surprised, depending on your point of view.
Burt Folsom, always good having my friend, Hillsdale College brainiac, distinguished fellow, great historian, great keeper of the debate facts, so many more political facts.
Thank you, my friend.
We have a lot more coming up, including called Karl Rove. He writes some great columns in The Wall Street Journal, but this one particularly riveted me, the debate over who knew what and was warning and appreciating the magnitude of the virus and when.
Everyone points fingers at the president for botching it. No one seems to go back in time and look at what Joe Biden was saying, because it looks like he botched it too -- after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Trump still doesn't have a plan. He still doesn't have a plan.
Joe Biden released his first plan in March.
And here's what you have to understand about the nature of a pandemic. It's relentless. You can't stop it with a tweet. You can't create a distraction, and hope it'll go away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: And if my friend and colleague Karl Rove is right, you can't reinvent history and say that you were any different in the early days of the virus itself.
Karl has a great column in today's Wall Street Journal. They're always appointment reading, but this one in particular fascinated me, because he took a look at the timeline early on, and how everybody was responding to the coronavirus back then, and takes issue with the vice president saying he was on top of it, ahead of it, warning the president.
I will cut to the chase and let Karl cut to the chase.
But, Karl. It's very good to have you. Thanks.
KARL ROVE, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Thanks, Neil. I appreciate it.
CAVUTO: All right.
ROVE: Yes. It's..
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: One of the things I -- you just went into detail to find out, wait a minute, we're recreating history here.
If you're going to fault the president on what he knew and didn't know and how he handled things or didn't handle things, Joe Biden shares some blame for that, right?
ROVE: Oh, absolutely.
Look, I tried to chart, what was Joe Biden thinking during January, February and March? And what I found was that he was thinking this was not going to be a big deal. In fact, his first explanation of what he would do is on January 27.
He writes an op-ed in USA Today. And he says: This could be a pandemic. And I have got -- I have got four things that I suggest we need to do, three of them involving passing legislation in 2021, after he took office next January. He would pass three bills.
And then he would reauthorize a federal appropriation for hospitals treating pandemic patients, which was coming up In may to be renewed, which Congress renews routinely. So he had no idea.
And then I looked at what his people were saying, and it got worse. He's surrounded by advisers like Ron Klain and Zeke Emanuel and Lisa Monaco, who were advising him, will all become members of his health advisory committee, and they're saying bizarre things are.
This isn't going to be a pandemic. Travel bans don't work.
That the first American dies of COVID in Kirkland, Washington, Zeke Emanuel is on a program -- I think it was NPR -- and says, don't go out and buy a mask because it won't work. And they were dismissive that it was going to get serious.
One of them says all, oh, this -- the likelihood of this being serious is very low. Emanuel says, as it get warms up, it's going to move to the Southern Hemisphere, just like the flu does, this is not going to be that serious.
So the idea that some -- I mean, think about this. In January, February and March, several words never crossed the lips of the former vice president of the United States, masks, social distancing. Never crossed it. Lockdowns, never crossed his mind.
He is in mid -- on March 9 has a rally as late as that. As late as early April, he's talking about the utility of voting in-person, as opposed to doing a mail-in ballot.
So the idea that he is somehow on top of this is baloney. And he knows it, because he now -- you will notice in his address, he said, just like I have been saying since March, and then he had a couple of other quotes where he suggested that was even earlier that he had laid out a plan of action.
A dead giveaway was, he went on the Joy Reid show, first interview. This was about three weeks ago. She says to him now, assume you get elected president. What would you do next January? And he lists six things, all of which were already being done by the administration. He said, I would invoke the Defense Production Act. Already done.
I'd appoint somebody to be in charge of speeding up vaccines and their distribution. That happened in May. I mean, it's just -- it is a remarkable rewriting of history. And the media goes along with this because it's easier to do so than to say, really, what about this statement that you made in January? What about this statements you made in March?
CAVUTO: Well, I just -- to your point -- yes, to your point, Karl, you got to be very fair and balanced, as I like to try to call balls and strikes on each side here.
And I do remember the president as well was hopeful that the warmer weather, the virus would go away, or...
ROVE: Right, absolutely.
CAVUTO: ... or at least get more under control.
But what's interesting about Joe Biden, of course, he criticized the president at the time, when the president issued that travel ban to China, I believe, on January 31, to your point, and called it, to your remembrance here, hysterical xenophobia and fear-mongering.
Nancy Pelosi and others were advocating everyone visit Chinatown out in San Francisco. This is going way too far. You're welcome here, but nothing about that now.
ROVE: Yes. Yes.
No, and same with the European travel ban. He -- both he and Lisa Monaco double-teamed Trump on the European travel ban, saying it's not going to -- that's problematic. Ron Klain says he's worried about the effect on tourism of the China travel ban and dismisses it.
So, yes, look, it's just -- everybody -- one thing I learned with when thinking about this with -- in the Bush era with SARS and so forth was, you don't -- you never know exactly how this is going to proceed.
And the idea that somehow or another Joe Biden had a magic plan that, if we'd only followed it -- he made statements recently that 56,000 people -- and then he later said 30-some-odd-thousand people would not have died had Trump followed his advice.
Well, there was no advice that he gave that if, only one week earlier, he had acted, people would not have died. Well, you weren't giving the advice that was needed. You weren't giving the advice that was necessary, because you were just in the dark, like everybody else.
CAVUTO: Well, I think the lesson I think we can all learn from this is, before you start throwing out criticism or getting to the origins of something and what someone missed, maybe everybody get on the same page what we can do now.
We can have commissions and investigations into all of this, but I don't think it does anyone good pointing fingers, when you could be guilty of the same thing yourself.
I know it's a campaign year, but I think we got to get both sides out, you know?
ROVE: Yes, that's a good point. Excellent point.
CAVUTO: Well, it's a very good article. It does give you a very fair and balanced look about who knew what, who was saying what back then.
We're all sort of virus experts, to Karl's point, right now. But before the media and anyone else was pontificating about this, Karl actually did his homework, went back in time, traced the remarks, who was saying what. And they don't sound so Herculean in retrospect.
(CROSSTALK)
ROVE: Well, thank God for -- thank God for very smart interns, is all I have got to say.
(LAUGHTER)
ROVE: But, yes, we spent a lot of time a lot of time online sifting through lots of articles.
CAVUTO: Amazing.
ROVE: And even then missed some.
My editor at The Wall Street Journal, a young guy named L.A. Kauffman (ph), really smart young guy, pointed out an article that I missed that had a had a great quote by Biden claiming credit for having visionary expectations of what needed to be done long before he did.
CAVUTO: Yes, you got to be tough on both sides.
If it makes you wince going after the president, but it doesn't going after Biden, why don't you just go after both? Study, study, study.
Karl, thank you very, very much.
(CROSSTALK)
ROVE: Thank you, Neil. Great to be on with you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, we have got confirmation the president will be visiting the Gulf Coast region.
I don't know if it will include both Louisiana and Texas. But he plans to be there this weekend to see the fallout from Hurricane Laura, which battered the area as a Category 4 storm, before settling down, now a tropical storm north of Arkansas, as we speak, but not without a lot of damage, a lot of flooding, and just a big old mess.
Adrian Perkins is the Shreveport, Louisiana, mayor, joins us right now via Skype.
Mayor, how are things looking there now?
ADRIAN PERKINS, MAYOR OF SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA: So, the bulk of the storm has passed. And we were blessed today.
We didn't have any reports of any injuries or loss of life. But we do have about 40,000 Shreveporters and people within our parish that don't have electricity. So, we're working overtime to try to restore electricity in our area and try to return to some sense of normalcy after Hurricane Laura passes.
CAVUTO: Well, a lot of residents must have heeded your warnings, Mayor, that of your governor and others, who said, don't fool around with this thing, it's serious, it's a bad storm.
Many evacuated. Others hunkered down. Do you know where a lot of them are now?
I know I was talking to some FEMA types earlier in the day, who were saying, part of the problem after a storm like this, without any power or ways to communicate, cell service down, is finding who's who and where they are?
PERKINS: Yes, we do.
And I'm grateful for our residents as well, because they did take heed. And we didn't have any calls where people went into water or did anything that was irresponsible today. So, a big part of our story is the citizens here by adhering to our guidance.
Right now, we have 211 lines that are open. And we have our EOC and Homeland Security Center that are receiving calls from residents that don't have power and need supplies. So, we have a good accountability of our residents.
A lot of them who possibly live in low -- low-lying areas that might be experiencing flooding, they're utilizing FEMA vouchers. And some of them are in our hotels here. So, as of now, everybody's still safe that we're accountable of.
CAVUTO: Mayor, obviously, the president has offered whatever help you need. He's going to be getting down to the region himself.
What are some of the biggest things you need right now?
PERKINS: Yes.
Well, you're absolutely right. And, I mean, they already sent two teams from FEMA out of Colorado and Ohio down here. They granted us a state of emergency, which we desperately needed. That allows me to put my police officers and my firemen out during these times of emergency and allow them -- to be able to pay them overtime, so that we can get reimbursed.
So, yes, this has been a very collaborative effort from the federal government, state government and local entities as well. So, we're grateful for that. And we're going to use -- utilize the resources as best as possible, so we can maintain safety even post-storm.
CAVUTO: All right, Mayor, I know you have your work cut out for you.
I know you have probably had very little sleep.
(LAUGHTER)
CAVUTO: But we appreciate it very, very much.
Adrian Perkins is the mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana.
Again, we are learning, and the president does plan to visit the area, the Gulf Coast region, this weekend. So, we will keep you posted on that.
Also keeping you posted on the president getting ready for his big speech to the nation tonight at the South Lawn of the White House. There will be fireworks, everything else.
No doubt he will be addressing some of the issues that came up with that storm and the federal government and its full capacity to try to help anyone and everyone out.
And I have a feeling law and order issues will come up, something that, sure, enough did come up when Kamala Harris was speaking to the press earlier today.
We will have more on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right. Kamala Harris had a chance earlier today to address some of the problems she sees coming out of the Democratic Convention here.
The fact of the matter is, though, that all of this is coming at a time Democrats might be getting concerned about a law and order issue and other issues that seem to be sticking for Republicans.
Jackie DeAngelis on what's going on, on that front -- Jackie.
Oh, I'm sorry.
JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Neil.
CAVUTO: Oh, I'm sorry. It's Jacqui Heinrich.
Jacqui, I apologize. I did not mean to do that to you. Go ahead.
(LAUGHTER)
HEINRICH: That's all right, Neil. That's all right. There are two Jacquis. It's understandable.
Democrats, Neil, are strongly refuting Republicans' claims that people won't be safe in Joe Biden's America, this as President Trump tries to paint himself as the law and order president. You saw Biden give two surprise live TV network interviews today.
Senator Kamala Harris just delivered remarks about a half-mile from the White House. Harris focused on justice. She began by addressing the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. She clearly stated support for the people taking to the streets in protest, but didn't outright condemn violence that ensued after, instead saying people must not confuse peaceful protest with acts of looting and violence, including the Wisconsin shooter now accused of murder.
She then repeated past criticism of the administration's handling of the pandemic and economic crisis, contrasting the Democrats' national strategy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The Republican Convention is designed for one purpose, to soothe Donald Trump's ego.
And it's not supposed to be about him. It's supposed to be about the health and the safety and the well-being of the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEINRICH: Biden very clearly condemned the violence in Kenosha, accusing Republicans of using the unrest for political gain, calling out White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, who earlier today said -- quote -- "The more chaos and violence, the better it is for the very clear choice on who's best for public safety and law and order."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: These guys are rooting for violence. That's what it's all about.
To prove that you should be scared of Joe Biden, they're pointing to what's happening in Donald Trump's America?
It takes everybody's eye off the ball. You want to talk about safety, look at the biggest safety issue in the nation, COVID.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEINRICH: Biden said he would consider visiting Kenosha, Neil.
CAVUTO: You know, Jacqui, I'm curious, why wasn't it Joe Biden making this statement to the press today, but his running mate?
HEINRICH: Biden got out, and he did a couple of interviews that nobody knew about in advance.
I think that what's really going to matter in this election is, there are just a few states that are going to make the difference? Wisconsin is one of them. That's where this violence is unfolding.
And Republicans are pushing this message that Biden is soft on public safety. He's really trying to counter that message. And it has to come from him. He is the top of the ticket.
CAVUTO: Right.
HEINRICH: Harris was giving her view of what justice looks like. And that is powerful coming from a prosecutor and former attorney general -- Neil.
CAVUTO: All right, got it.
Jacqui Heinrich, again, my apologies. Great coverage, as always, my friend, Jacqui Heinrich on all of that.
Well, speaking of all things politics and the fallout from the final night of the convention, we will be covering it live on FOX Business tonight, as the president gets ready to address the nation from the South Lawn.
There will be fireworks. There will be a lot of give-and-take. There will be market reaction. There will be everything on FOX Business beginning at 8:00 p.m. tonight right through as -- well, as long as it takes.
Here comes "The Five."
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