Labor Sec. Scalia: US in a much better economic place than predicted

This is a rush transcript from “Your World with Neil Cavuto," August 7, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Thank you, John, very much.

Well, you have reported Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is OK. A little more than 24 hours ago, a lot of worry, because he was testing positive for the coronavirus, a little more than a few hours later finding out that the test was negative. He doesn't have it.

But how does that happen? We will ask the governor himself, our special guest, coming up later in the show.

We're also following fast-moving developments on Capitol Hill, where that stimulus measure now looks to be in doubt, and the White House might take matters into its own hands.

They're separated now by as little as, what, $1.5 half trillion. So what's the worry?

Kristin Fisher at the White House, Susan Li at the backdrop that has made Republicans a little bit more stiff in their resistance to this, a stunningly, surprisingly good employment report.

But first to the White House and where they go from here -- Kristin.

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Neil, there wasn't a lot of hope heading into this final day of meetings after nearly two weeks of daily meetings, and still not a lot of process.

On the way in, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi again laid out her terms. And Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, as he was about to walk in, said it was a nonstarter. So, again, not a huge surprise when both sides walked out and said they did not have a deal.

Here is what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had to say about it:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY): It was a disappointing meeting. They rejected it. They said they couldn't go much above their existing $1 trillion.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I said come back when you're ready to give a higher number.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: So, essentially, what you have happening is, the Democratic leadership saying that the White House is not willing to spend enough money in this phase four stimulus package in the middle of the pandemic, while the White House says that Democrats are simply trying to spend too much money, about $2 trillion.

Here's what the top two negotiators for President Trump, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and the Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, when -- said when they walked out moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: What they want is a $2.5 trillion blank check. And I can just tell you, the president has encouraged us not only to negotiate and, as the secretary indicated, to come back and negotiate in good faith.

But, at this point, I'm extremely disappointed that we came up here today just to hear the same thing repeated over and over again, which is the same thing that we have heard repeated for the last two weeks.

STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: The chief and I will recommend to the president, based upon our lack of activity today, to move forward with some executive orders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: So, those executive orders, acting unilaterally, that is the next step here, Neil.

You have the Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, just saying that he is going to be recommending to President Trump that he take action unilaterally, executive action, on federal unemployment benefits, rental foreclosures, and student loans.

Earlier today, you also had the White House's top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, saying that President Trump will also likely sign off on some kind of executive order suspending payroll tax collection. Larry Kudlow says that that legal drafting is complete.

So it sounds like it is really only a matter of time before President Trump acts on this unilaterally. But in terms of timing, Neil, it's still likely a day or two away. But, bottom line, President Trump can do a lot, but he can only do so much, when you're talking about trillions of dollars, the trillions of dollars that both sides essentially say are needed to help this economy, the U.S. economy, in the middle of this devastating pandemic.

CAVUTO: Kristin, thank you very much, Kristin Fisher.

Here's what might have given the Republicans a little resolve and a little bit of backbone, a surprisingly strong employment report for the month of July, thereby negating the need to go super generous on another stimulus package, or at least that was the thinking.

Susan Li on the report that maybe had them doing a little bit of posturing.

SUSAN LI, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

CAVUTO: Susan.

LI: So, Neil, a third straight month of hiring. So, July was not a blowout, but it was good enough to show ongoing recovery and weak enough to ensure continued Federal Reserve support, 1.8 million new jobs, more than anticipated, jobless rate going down to 10.2 percent, wages going up from June, leisure and hospitality leading the way, accounting for close to one- third of the new jobs in the month, virtually all the jobs in restaurants and bars.

Government employment also rising, most in education, retail trade, with half the job gains in clothing stores. Health services made of virtually all the jobs in professional and business services, while manufacturing was a bit disappointing, only a 10th the new jobs expected.

Long-term unemployment was also a weak spot. Those jobless 15 to 26 weeks went up by 4.5 million in the month, with 13 million fewer jobs in the U.S. than what we saw in February, before coronavirus hit.

Improvements in July, yes, but still a long way to go. The U.S. economy has restored only around half of the jobs lost to the coronavirus pandemic -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, Susan, thank you very much, Susan Li.

Well, all of this is a trend that is benefiting the president of the United States in his reelection bid here, because the overwhelming batch of economic numbers we have been getting have been steady and sure, an improvement from where we were.

But is this improvement resonating a bit too late? Remember George H.W. Bush? The irony was, he was elected because the -- well, unelected because, well, things didn't look like they were getting better.

We learned later that they were. People just didn't feel it. Will people feel this?

John Bussey of The Wall Street Journal, the associate editor, with us now.

John, different times, different presidents, different environments, to put it mildly, but this idea that this pickup in activity stymied by the slow, staggered opening in some states, could come too little, too late for the president to benefit, what do you think?

JOHN BUSSEY, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Well, all of your questions are the right ones.

And Susan's numbers are pretty profound. As much as we like to think that recovering 1.8 million jobs from the jobs that were lost in July alone is a good number -- and it is -- it's good when the recovery is going up -- you're still less than half of the jobs that were lost have been recovered, so less than half.

And you still have a fraction of the millions not only replaced, but you have got 13 million jobs less now than you had in February. So, even if you're thinking, well, it's a recovery going into the election, and that would be something the president could surf off of, it's a recovery from such a deep hole that we're not even halfway there yet.

And the electorate is feeling that gap between where we need to be and where the president would like the economy to be and where we, in fact, are.

CAVUTO: Do you think people are more upbeat or more optimistic about their economic position than maybe we're led to believe?

In other words, when you look at mortgage refinancing, and what's happening in the housing arena, and the comeback in some sectors, not all, to be -- to put it mildly, that there is an underlying sense of consumer optimism that might not have been charted before.

Now, it's anyone's guess whether it registers in a significant way by Election Day, but your thoughts?

BUSSEY: Yes.

Well, certainly, off of the very grim bottom that we saw in the spring, people are probably feeling a little bit better, in that even though the opening in these states have been helter-skelter, and some have had to retrench and close back down to some degree, the trajectory has been upwards.

People are moving around more. There's more economic activity. If you look at the polls, though, Neil, the vast majority of people feel the economy -- or the country is headed in the wrong direction, that it's not succeeding the way that they wish that it that it was.

So, confidence, I think, is going to return in a substantial way once people feel safe to go back to work, safe to send their kids to school. I don't think we're there yet, not with what's happening in the South and the Midwest with the virus, maybe in the Northeast, but, even there, you're still seeing cases regularly bubbling through the numbers in places like New York, which has done very well in getting the caseload down.

I don't think that that confidence has returned yet, even though you do see more economic activity, which, in and of itself, is good. And some of those places where they are able to safely sends their kids back to school, you might see job growth pick up even further, as parents go back to work.

CAVUTO: Very good point. Didn't even think of that.

John Bussey, thank you very, very much.

Again, with the 10.2 percent unemployment rate, that might seem very, very high. And we had been down as low with a record level of 3.6 percent unemployment. But we were at, at the height of this, at almost 15 percent.

So there's a very good shot, economists are telling me, that we get below 10 percent, certainly in the next few months, certainly in time for Election Day. It's amazing how that Election Day keeps coming up.

We're on top of that, and on top of a turnaround for the governor of Ohio. The whole nation was fretting when it got word that the governor who was probably more ahead of this virus than any other governor in the country might have succumbed to a bad diagnosis, that he had it. Now it turns out he doesn't. What happened?

He's here. He's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, this is an illustration of the comeback in the Big Apple and, by greater extent, the entire Empire State.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo saying, as he sees it right now, all school systems across the state, it's OK for them to open, at least to him. That doesn't mean that they automatically will. It's one thing for the governor to say things look good and another thing for those school districts and municipalities to go ahead and, well, open them up.

Alex Hogan in New York City with much more.

Alex, what does this mean?

ALEX HOGAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Neil, this big announcement coming out today, and all school districts officially can reopen come this fall.

But that doesn't mean that they all will. Or how they will, well, that's a different matter. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo saying that all 749 school districts must submit a proposal of what works best for them.

They will need to address contact tracing, testing, ventilation, as well as how to even the playing field for kids of different socioeconomic backgrounds learning virtually from home.

All plans need approval by the New York Board of Health. And if infection rates climb, schools will lock up once more. Districts across the nation taking their own approach. Of the country's largest 25 districts, 19 will go virtual to keep kids safe.

In Mississippi, more than 100 students are quarantined after in-person class resumed last week. And here in the nation's largest school district, they have been working on a plan for the last five months that would be part virtual and part in-class.

Of course, the governor announcing today just how important it is for the parents to get a voice and be able to express how they feel about this decision for their families -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, Alex, thank you very, very much.

So, again, if that were to happen, New York would be the first to say and indicate statewide everything is OK. Again, the devil is in the details. And whether mayors, municipalities and superintendents scattered throughout the state say, we're going to do things a mixture of individual class, in- person sessions, and virtual, but it's a good -- it's a good start.

And it is indeed a good start to hear some good news for the governor of Ohio.

Last -- yesterday, at this time, as a matter of fact, we were distressed to learn, of course, that the governor tested positive for the coronavirus. Then, lo and behold, we discovered, a follow-up test, he tested negative. I hope that's the accurate one.

The governor now joins me.

Governor, good to have you.

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): Good to be back. Thank you.

CAVUTO: Boy, you had us a little scared, Governor.

What happened here? How did it go testing positive, and then, a little later, testing negative?

DEWINE: Well, actually, that's a great question. It certainly scared me.

I went to Cleveland, drove to Cleveland to meet the president. And, of course, when you go meet the president, you get a test. And they do a quick test. So, they did what's called an antigen test. And they came back very quickly and said, you're positive. And I said, I'm very, very surprised by that.

Of course, I couldn't see the president. So, I called Ohio State and asked them what we should be doing. And they said, well, let's do another test.

So, we went down, and my wife and I and several of the people who are around me all the time got tests yesterday. And then, last night, it came back as negative. They re-ran it again, and that came back as negative. We're going to take another test tomorrow. And we hope it comes back as negative as well.

I mean, I think one of the things that I want people to understand in Ohio is that we have had about 1.3 million tests so far. Very, very, very few of these are the antigen tests. These are relatively new tests. My understanding is that they actually test the protein that is on the coronavirus itself.

And they're just not as reliable. They're very quick. But I'm told they're only about 70 percent reliable. So, they have a place, but what I don't want people in Ohio or anyplace else to think is that these tests are not accurate.

The test that I got is -- at Ohio State is the same test that we have seen time and time again in Ohio. And I'm told by the best scientists we can find that they're 99-point-whatever percent accurate, but that these antigen tests do have a tendency to have false positives, usually false negatives.

And they say it's unusual have a false positive, but, sometimes, they have a false positive.

So, look, it was...

CAVUTO: Well, I hope you're right on this.

DEWINE: Yes, well, we hope so too.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: I don't want to scare you, Governor, but what makes you think that -- what makes you think that this one, the negative read, is accurate? I hope it is, don't get me wrong.

DEWINE: Well, no, it's because it's the type test -- it's...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: But if a separate test was wrong in the beginning, you know?

DEWINE: Yes.

Very different type test, though. And these are just different tests. And we just did a news conference here in Ohio, where I had Dr. Peter Mohler up there answering the questions to the Ohio media. And he just explained the difference between these two type tests.

And one is a gold standard test that most people get, frankly. The only reason that I guess the White House wanted us to take this quick test yesterday was because it was a quick test. I don't think it's the same test that is offered when someone goes and sees the president at the White House. I think that's -- that is a different test, is my understanding.

CAVUTO: Right.

DEWINE: So, we are where we are. And -- yes.

CAVUTO: But, Governor, what confuses me, what -- you mentioned you don't want a false positive, and I get that. But a lot of people get a combination of tests, a variety of them, and they enter into the number of cases that are reported in this country.

Could it be possible that we might have a false high count on cases, because people are unaware sometimes of the tests that they're taking, just that they found out, oh, my gosh, I just tested positive for the virus?

Could that be possible in your state and, indeed, in the country?

DEWINE: Well, I think anything's possible. I don't think it's likely to be a very big percentage, just from talking to the doctors and the scientists.

I mean, one thing we do in Ohio is, we -- if it's a case, then only one individual can be a case. So, when we report cases, it is only one individual.

Tests, if you just report tests, yes, that would be if someone got three tests, then it shows up as three -- three separate times.

But, as far as the accuracy, the test -- the type test that I got at Ohio State yesterday is the test that most Ohioans get. It's the test that we think better than 90 -- at least better than 90 percent of Ohioans have gotten, the 1.3 million.

So, those are very, very, very accurate, highly accurate.

The antigen test that was the quick test that was done early on that day in Cleveland was not as accurate. There are some quick tests, I'm told, that they're much more accurate than that particular test.

CAVUTO: But to most people, Governor, just they take one test, whatever it is, they find out, oh, my God, I tested positive. Then they immediately go to seek treatment and handling this.

Do you think a good many have done that, and that might, might -- I know...

DEWINE: Yes.

CAVUTO: ... what you were mentioning about the percentages -- be giving us a false sense of alarm here?

DEWINE: Well, I think one thing we have to be very careful of is, these antigen tests are relatively new tests. They have not been deployed very widespread.

I know they certainly have not been deployed very widespread in Ohio. And this is an example of how we will have to be very careful with how we use them. There may be a place to use them. But we have seen that -- obviously, that this one did not work, and it gave us a false -- a false read.

CAVUTO: All right.

Well, I'm glad you're OK.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: When I heard that you first, before the press got wind of this, that you called your seven children, and you wanted to talk to your grandchildren, I thought to myself, just calling all those people is going to take hours.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: I'm glad everything worked out.

Thank you very, very much.

DEWINE: I got them called -- I got them called quick.

Thanks, Neil.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Governor, thank you. Continued good health.

DEWINE: Thank you.

CAVUTO: Governor Mike DeWine.

That's good news. We don't hear a lot of that these days, with the virus and the back-and-forth on testing and all of that.

So, we will see how that all sorts out in Ohio, where they are continuing their reopening, and one of the states that has made great progress now in reopenings, although they have dealt with some spikes of their own.

Speaking of spikes, how about a spike in criticism for the former Vice President Joe Biden for some impolitic, if not intemperate remarks?

He's trying to dial them back, but is it too late?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: No sooner has he splashed down, Bob Behnken, the commander of that SpaceX nation, is teeing up more missions, not for himself, but for SpaceX and private enterprise, as we reconquer the heavens.

He's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What you all know, but most people don't know, unlike the African-American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community, with incredibly different attitudes about different things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: Well, Joe Biden has been trying to dial those comments back, but the controversy around it once again renewed criticism that, when he does come out of his home and pops up to make some comments, invariably, he runs into a buzz saw of controversy because of something he just said.

Peter Doocy in Wilmington, Delaware, with the latest -- Peter.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Neil, we're outside an event center in Wilmington, Delaware, where amid the veepstakes and amid Democratic officials trying to figure out where Joe Biden is going to give his convention address in Delaware, he made an unannounced stop a little while, again, at the place right behind us.

We are still waiting for the campaign to explain to us exactly what he was doing here. But it does come as the campaign officials have spent part of the day cleaning up this comment that Biden made that African-Americans are not as diverse as Latinos.

So, he tweeted this to walk it back: "Throughout my career, I have witnessed the diversity of thought, background and sentiment within the African-American community. It's this diversity that makes our workplaces, communities and country a better place."

But the Trump campaign believes this is part of a pattern, and three months after criticizing Biden for claiming that African-Americans who may vote Trump -- quote -- "ain't black," the president thinks he's heard enough, tweeting this: "After yesterday's statement, sleepy Joe Biden is no longer worthy of the black vote."

So, again, Biden did make a rare trip away from his Delaware -- his Wilmington, Delaware, home. He was inside the building behind us for two hours and 20 minutes. So, whatever he was doing, there was a lot of it -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, Peter Doocy, thank you very, very much.

To Gianno Caldwell.

What do you think of this, Gianno? I mean, are you offended by the remarks you heard from Joe Biden?

GIANNO CALDWELL, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: Without question, Neil.

And I have come to think of Joe Biden as Mr. Burns, who, of course, was the long-running character in "The Simpsons" -- "Simpsons" -- "Simpsons" -- forgive me -- of course, a nefarious individual who seemingly wanted to dominate the world and take over.

And we see from Joe Biden rhetoric that continues to imply that he -- as some have called President Trump, he could be considered racist, especially under what the left narrative has been.

If you make comments like this, if you continue to make comments like this, like Joe Biden calling a reporter, saying, hey, because you're black, you could be considered a junkie, in other words.

I continue to hear these kind of comments from Joe Biden, I look at the policy in which he's put forth over decades, and I can only come to one conclusion. Joe Biden is not the great white hope that a lot of individuals hope that he can be, the guy who they feel should be the one to beat President Trump and set aside any racial overtones.

This is the guy who, in my view, is black America's worst nightmare. Why? Because he's proven it with policy over decade after decade, in addition to the fact that he still believes some of the things in which he said over the past decades.

This is not an individual who should be running for president. He should be retired right now. And Democrats have resurrected him and made him a hope that he certainly isn't for a lot of African-Americans.

CAVUTO: Well, I believe, in this day and age, I mean, we should be tough on both candidates.

CALDWELL: Absolutely.

CAVUTO: If Donald Trump has said that, I mean, the media would be relentless. It would be every broadcast throughout the broadcast. They wouldn't stop.

CALDWELL: And rightfully so, rightfully so.

CAVUTO: This barely got much of a mention. It was a flub. It was an old man moment, and maybe so.

But what was he getting at that you think was a mistake or you think at least the media would be fair in pursuing a little more than it has?

CALDWELL: Well, you know what's interesting, though? The rhetoric in which he used, I think, is something that is universally accepted within the Democratic Party more often than not.

They feel as though black folks are monolithic thinkers, people who cannot think for themselves. And given the opportunity, you be like Gianno Caldwell, and write a bestselling book called "Taken for Granted: How Conservatism Can Win Back the Americans That Liberalism Failed," I'm being very honest, you're considered being a sellout, an Uncle Tom...

CAVUTO: Yes.

CALDWELL: ... any negative name you can think of, because they want to bring people back in line.

They don't want anybody thinking outside of whatever the Democratic mantra is. And the truth be told, Democratic policies has impoverished African- American community. It has criminally aligned African-Americans, about the '94 crime bill, or the '86 crack laws, which Joe Biden was the architect for.

So, when we think about these challenges which of a lot of African- Americans have faced in this country...

CAVUTO: But do you think he was equally offending -- was he equally offending Latinos, then, Gianno, by saying, well, for some reason, they're far more diversified, they're less monolithic?

Wasn't that a slap, like, well, go figure that one?

CALDWELL: Well, and here's the reason why.

We have been talking about this up into the run-up to the 2016 election and beyond then. The Democratic Party wants to lock in the Latino vote, just like they have the African-American vote. If they get these two major voting blocs, you don't need to campaign for anything else. You don't need the vote for the farmer.

You don't need the blue-collar vote. You don't need any of that.

CAVUTO: Yes.

CALDWELL: You get these two voting blocs, you're in power forever. And that's what they want to do.

You keep in mind, in 2016, Donald Trump won more of the Latino vote than anyone thought was possible. Remember, they said he was going to get close to zero percent. And that wasn't the case. I think he got over 30 percent, maybe a little bit more than that.

This is a fight for America's soul in the 2020 election -- 2020 election. And we have to fight.

CAVUTO: All right, thank you very much, my friend.

CALDWELL: I'm referring to conservatives, of course.

CAVUTO: And you are right. If you're going to go after the president for comments that he has made, you certainly should go after the guy who wants to be president. Be fair. Be balanced. Be tough on all.

CALDWELL: Absolutely.

CAVUTO: Gianno, thank you.

And squeezing in the name of that book, I had no idea you had written one.

All right. Now, in the meantime -- kidding. It's a great book, and he is a great guy.

In the meantime, yet more violence going on in Portland. They had 70 nights of this. And the mayor assured the world, we have got this under control -- apparently, not so.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED WHEELER (D), MAYOR OF PORTLAND, OREGON: Two hundred to 300 people went to East Precinct intent on violence.

When you commit arson with an accelerant, in an attempt to burn down a building that is occupied by people that you have intentionally trapped inside, you are not demonstrating. You are attempting to commit murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL: All right, that was a seminal moment, when the mayor of Portland, Oregon, said, enough already. Protesters are hurting their cause by potentially hurting folks.

It's a point that Matthew Whitaker readily agrees with, the former acting attorney general of the United States.

Matthew Whitaker, very good to have you.

You know, 70 straight nights of problems like this, and the mayor had hoped, by sort of taking out federal agents and the like, and handling it with his own local forces, that that could get it under control. But now it seems like it's way out of control. What do you do?

MATTHEW WHITAKER, FORMER ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: It does. And it's good to be with you today, Neil.

What I see happening in Portland is really a concerted effort by -- they said there were hundreds of people that attacked this police precinct Thursday, where they attempted to trap about 20 police officers and civilian support staff in the building, light it on fire, and I guess try to try to -- try to kill these folks that were in the building.

Now, this is obviously not acceptable. But I think it points to a bigger challenge. And that is, it was clear that the federal agents defending the courthouse were not the provocation. The provocation obviously is a small, but appears to be well-organized group that moves from public building to public building, trying to sow chaos, anarchy and burn these things down.

And it's just -- it can't -- we can't stand for it. The American people don't want this. They want law and order, which protects their freedoms and liberties.

CAVUTO: Well, if the mayor can't control it -- and I know he was trying to appeal to the protesters, apparently, that they weren't big fans of the president, that their activities are only going to make campaign ads for the president. He might be right about that.

But his point was, you got to stop, and they're not stopping. You got to cool it. And they're not cooling it. So, wouldn't that compel the president to have to intervene because they can't get it under control?

WHITAKER: Well, obviously, since it has been going on for 70 nights, really since Memorial Day, when George Floyd was killed by the Minneapolis police, I think there needs to be a plus-up in forces.

And, obviously, the alleged provocation of the officers defending the federal courthouse in Portland, we need to make sure that, if assets are needed, if the Portland police cannot bring this to an end, and return downtown Portland to a calm setting, then I think, ultimately, the federal assets are going to have to be brought in to support the Portland police, who should continue to be at the front line.

CAVUTO: All right.

WHITAKER: And, at the same time, I mean, even the liberal mayor had to declare that this was a riot, so that they could use tear gas to disperse them.

CAVUTO: It's amazing.

Matt Whitaker, thank you very, very much.

We're going to see if there's a 71st night of this, the follow-up from that, and the implications for the rest of the country and in Portland.

Tomorrow, live, we will be joining you at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time, a look at Portland, the 71st day after -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, is it me, or is SpaceX launching a rocket like every other day right now?

This was a launching of 57 more Starlink satellites, all packed in that rocket, part of a plan on the part of Elon Musk to have satellites circling the Earth that could make the Internet accessible for everyone on Earth, and speedy Internet, at that, no matter where you live on this beautiful planet, the same planet that the SpaceX astronauts returned to after better than 60 days at the International Space Station.

And for Commander Bob Behnken, it was a great celebration, our first water landing return since 1975. He was but a child then, a hero now.

I caught up with him earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB BEHNKEN, NASA ASTRONAUT: We really had a good regime on board the International Space Station of exercise.

And the commander up there, Chris Cassidy, set a good example for us. And so we just did our workouts. And we just follow the schedule that's put in front of us, and just try to be there on time for whatever's in front of us, whether it's a space walk, or it's a splashdown, or it's an interview like this.

CAVUTO: Yes.

I'm curious. That splashdown was getting a lot of attention, because it's the first time we have done something like this since 1975. How was that? You guys were the first to experience it in a generation. I mean, how was it?

BEHNKEN: Well, for both of us, Doug and myself, we were really thinking that that might be the -- one of the more challenging parts of the mission, the splashdown, and then riding the little -- the little boat that was our spaceship just a few moments earlier in the open ocean.

But it turned out, with the weather that we ended up with, things were relatively smooth. And, really, we were -- we were in there and just trying to think through, what could we do in here to keep accomplishing the test points of the mission?

So he made a lot of phone calls and talked to a lot of people around the country to just let them know how we were doing. It's like, hey, we're on a boat in the ocean. Is somebody coming? Just to joke with them a little bit.

(LAUGHTER)

BEHNKEN: But it was smooth, just like they told us it was going to be, based on the weather forecast, which made it very pleasant, from our perspective.

CAVUTO: No, it was remarkable.

And now, of course, you're seeing they're already making plans, because of your successful mission, for the follow-up one a next month. I believe that's going to have four astronauts, including a Japanese astronaut.

And the pace picks up from there. How do you think this is all going?

BEHNKEN: You know, I think things, from a SpaceX and NASA perspective, are going really well.

But we do need to give the engineering teams time to really pore over that vehicle and make sure there's not anything else that we can learn from it that might change the upcoming mission just a little bit or require a little bit of a modification or otherwise.

The team will pore over that vehicle, and, in just a few short weeks, they will be ready for the next flight. Whether changes are required or not, I have confidence that they're going to be ready to go pretty quick here.

CAVUTO: Yes.

Now, one of the things they're looking into, Bob -- and you can maybe update me on this -- is that they were worried about fumes or that there was a gas presence. You know this far better than I. But that was an initial concern.

Can you update me on what happened, what they found, what they were worried about?

BEHNKEN: You know, when a vehicle comes back from space, the propellants that we have used, they kind of come out of thrusters and ports that are all over the vehicle.

And they do need to make some tests to make sure that none of that propellant, whether it's residuals that were burned or unused propellant, is kind of leaking around.

And I think that we couldn't tell from inside the vehicle, but a lot of ships, little boats seemed to get pretty close to the capsule, based on some of the pictures that I have seen. And they don't have the luxury of all that sniffer equipment to make sure it's safe to do so, like the SpaceX vehicle did, and so the ship that ended up bringing us aboard.

And so I think that we didn't have anything out of the ordinary, but they were just extremely careful to make sure that the people who were going to get close to the capsule itself were doing so in a safe manner. And that's just something we need to do whenever a spaceship comes back.

So, we didn't have any leaks, but they were just making sure that they tested it in all the ways that you could to make sure that it truly was safe for those folks that were going to put their hands on the vehicle.

CAVUTO: I think, between this 60-plus-day mission and your two shuttle missions, you have clocked about, what, 93 days in space.

And, already, I'm sure you have seen some of these other aggressive plans for still more trips to the space station, maybe a trip to the moon, down the road, with all these unmanned mission to Mars, who knows, a manned mission to Mars. They keep talking about that.

Are you game for any, all of the above?

BEHNKEN: You know, I'm really the game for the missions that are in front of NASA.

It does take time to be prepared for these missions. I started working with the commercial crew program as kind of an assigned crew member who knew they were going to fly on one of the commercial vehicles, either Boeing or SpaceX, about five years ago.

These projects are strategic in nature and take some time. And so, for a human flight to Mars, I might be a little bit too old, having just turned 50 in low-Earth orbit, to be ready to jump onto a Mars mission.

But one of the more short-term missions, I'd be happy to jump in there and perform another test flight for somebody, given the opportunity.

But, at the same time, there are other astronauts that we really need to make sure they have opportunities as well. And while we would all like to fly all the missions ourselves, you really do need a diverse crowd of folks getting some opportunities, so that we can share the experience, and don't build Bob-mobiles, we build astronaut transportation vehicles that a lot of people can be comfortable in, not just what Bob would like.

CAVUTO: Let me ask you about that, though, because all of this occurs at a time when other nations are beefing up their own space initiatives.

China, of course, has been going like crazy, wants to build stations on the moon. It's explored the far side of the moon, the United Arab Emirates, Iran.

Russia, of course, has been beefing up its own presence here and abroad, I mean, way outside this Earth-moon trajectory to far-flung planets. It is getting crowded. And some don't always come with peaceful intentions.

Do you worry about that, that there are those who are exploring and those who might be doing something else?

BEHNKEN: You know, as we go forward and continue this endeavor, which is human spaceflight or space exploration, I think that it's really important to kind of maintain the edge or maintain some position at the forefront of space exploration or the kind of work that we do.

And so I would worry if our nation wasn't among the mix or kind of leading the charge of building new vehicles.

I think, when we choose to not do those things,and allow other countries to continue to pursue them, that's when we get set back, both in space, but kind of across the board technologically.

And so I'm just proud to have been a part of building a new spacecraft, getting it into low-Earth orbit, and being a part of returning America to launching again from the Florida coast, and then coming home safely.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAVUTO: All right, the SpaceX commander of the recent Dragon mission, another one slated a little more than four weeks from now.

Speaking of out of this world, an out-of-this-world surprising employment report. See what I did there? The jobs gain that has some saying this economy could be rocketing back. See what I did there?

The labor secretary of the United States on that -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, we were expecting more jobs added to the economy last month, but it wasn't supposed to be like this, better than 1.7 million more added to the economy, vs. the roughly 1.4 million expected.

And even though that 10.2 percent unemployment rate seems high, considering, before all this, we were at around 3.6 percent, but, keep in mind, it has gotten as high as close to 15 percent.

So, the comeback is on, and, to hear many on Wall Street buoyed by this development, so is a speedy recovery that could soon have that unemployment rate within single digits, according to Larry Kudlow at the White House.

Right now, the labor secretary of the United States on all of this, Eugene Scalia.

Secretary, good to have you back.

This is a surprisingly strong report. I'm wondering if you think that is indeed possible that, within the next few months, this rate could be under 10 percent?

EUGENE SCALIA, U.S. SECRETARY OF LABOR: Oh, I do. I do, Neil.

It's good -- good to be with you.

CAVUTO: Same here.

SCALIA: And, yes, nearly 1.8 million jobs added, it's the third highest number of jobs added ever. The other two were, of course, the months just before that. We added 7.5 in May and June combined.

And now we have added another nearly 1.8, so a very strong showing. And it's brought us just on the verge of 10 percent unemployment. I had gotten questions just a couple months ago, when would we get to 10 percent? A lot of people thought it would be next year sometime. I thought we could do it by the end of this year. It turns out we're getting there even sooner.

So, it's a very encouraging report, a strong report. And something else important to note, it came at a time when three of our largest states were having to put some restrictions in place, because they were seeing increase in cases of the virus.

That's California, Texas, and Florida...

CAVUTO: Right.

SCALIA: ... were starting to close up just a little bit right at the time that we were doing our surveys.

CAVUTO: No, you're right. It could have been, obviously, much more, the jobs gains, than when this survey was done.

But I do want to get your thoughts on whether it's strong enough, or at least the trend is positive enough, that we don't need a multitrillion- dollar stimulus package. I know Republicans have been pushing for something closer to a trillion dollars. Nancy Pelosi says, the lowest I go is around $2.5 trillion.

Where are you on this?

SCALIA: Well, where I am is that we are in a much better place economically, in our jobs markets and elsewhere, than a lot of people were projecting two or three months ago.

By one measure, we're about 12 million jobs ahead of what consensus forecasts had been. There were a lot of forecasts that say, last month or the month before, we'd be at 20 percent unemployment. We're at half that.

Having said that, the president is committed...

CAVUTO: Yes, it is -- it is remarkable, yes.

Let me ask you, if you don't mind my switching...

SCALIA: The president is committed...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: I want to say this. I want to talk a little bit about the Supreme Court, if you will indulge me.

Of course, everyone knows your dad, Antonin Scalia, of course, an outstanding Supreme Court justice. The vice president briefly commented on John Roberts, that he's been -- paraphrasing here -- a disappointment to conservatives.

I know you don't like to weigh in on the court and all, but do you think that was proper? Or do you actually agree with that, that he has surprised many on the right for not being, I don't know, like -- like your dad was?

SCALIA: Well, let me -- let me complete the thought I was trying to complete there, Neil, and then answer your question, at least in part.

CAVUTO: You have 30 seconds. Complete it.

SCALIA: I was just going to say that the president...

(LAUGHTER)

SCALIA: The president is committed to both growing the economy and supporting those who do remain unemployed.

As to the Supreme Court...

CAVUTO: OK.

SCALIA: ... there's a long and I think respected tradition of presidents, vice presidents expressing their views on the court. There's nothing improper about that.

And I don't think the chief justice would think it was wrong for the vice president to express his views about what the court is doing.

CAVUTO: Do you share that view, Secretary? I'm just curious.

SCALIA: There were some, I think, very good decisions by the court this past term, and there were -- there were certainly some decisions that were -- were a disappointment.

CAVUTO: All right.

SCALIA: But, Neil, I don't feel right commenting on the particular justices, in part because nobody would care if it weren't that my dad was once one. So, I will leave it at that.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Well, like your dad, you're very skillful answering a tricky question.

So, very good seeing you again, Secretary. Congratulations on this number. Hope -- hope that trend does continue, Eugene Scalia, the labor secretary of the United States.

We're going to be looking at the impact of those numbers and how they will fare on the impact on those stimulus talks. To the secretary's point, with numbers like that, do you really need to go really big on stimulus?

We'll explore that tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. We'll see you then.

"The Five" now.

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