President Trump weighs executive action to avoid US airline layoffs amid COVID stimulus stalemate

This is a rush transcript from “Your World with Neil Cavuto," August 26, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: All right, those crazy markets and crazy weather. We're following both. Bill, thank you very, very much.

You're looking live right now at Galveston, Texas. We are also keeping a very, very close eye on Lafayette, Louisiana. Both are targets of Hurricane Laura, now a Category 3 storm, packing winds in excess of 130 miles an hour. And they could climb as the evening ensues.

We have got the latest coming from Governor John Bel Edwards of Louisiana, who will be joining us later this hour.

First to Jeff Flock in Port Arthur, Texas, what they're looking at and what they're worried about. It goes way beyond that region -- sir.

JEFF FLOCK, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK CORRESPONDENT: You said it, Neil, I'll tell you.

And they better start to get out -- if they're going to get out, they better get out now, or never, because, well, we just had the first squall come through, that first finger of the outer bands. Not terrible, but I will tell you, overnight, it's going to be terrible.

Behind me, perhaps you see, that's the Phillips 66 Refinery. This hurricane is targeting the very heart of U.S. oil refining capabilities. I don't another way to say it, about 80 percent of that refining capability now shut down, including this Phillips 66 Refinery here just outside Lake Charles, Indiana -- I should say, Louisiana.

As for the evacuations, obviously, the people are the big story. We have pictures of the latest evacuations from Port Arthur, buses, a number of buses, because, you know, with the COVID outbreak, you can't put too many people on a bus. You can't put too many people in a shelter.

And so that's another challenge right now, people filling up, people sandbagging, people evacuating. But it's all coming to a head right now.

Latest report from the Hurricane Center, 145-mile-an-hour winds possible before this makes landfall. And then, when it does, well, we will see what happens. We are hearing that there could be unsurvivable storm surge.

What does that mean? I think you know we have all been through storm surge. It's like a -- it's like a hurricane in slow motion. It's like a flood in slow -- in fast motion. But what will that mean along the coast remains to be seen? Overnight, we will find out. We will see you tomorrow, we hope -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Jeff, real quickly, I know hundreds of thousands between Texas and Louisiana have been told to evacuate.

But some people are reluctant. They think of going into shelters, if they had to do that in the COVID-19 world, they don't want to do that. What are you hearing?

FLOCK: Yes, a lot of people don't want to go. They have got a real choice to make.

Do I expose myself potentially to the virus, or do I expose myself to potential drowning or some other means of death with regard to the hurricane? So that's a big problem.

And also, down here, it's not easy to go to a shelter. We had a shelter in Port Arthur during Harvey, where they went to the shelter. The shelter flooded. People were climbing up from the basketball court into the stands to get away from the floodwaters at the shelter. It's not an easy thing.

They don't have a lot of options down here. We will see, Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, be safe.

Jeff Flock, thank you very much in Port Arthur, Texas.

Want to go to Louisiana. That's where you will find our Jonathan Serrie. He's in Westlake, Louisiana.

Jonathan, what's the latest from there?

JONATHAN SERRIE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Actually, I'm in Lafayette, Louisiana, right now.

And throughout the state, the coastal parts of Louisiana, forecasters say, in some areas, the storm surge may be as tall as a two-story building, as this very powerful hurricane comes ashore somewhere near the Texas- Louisiana state line as a powerful Category 4 hurricane sometime overnight. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D-LA):  You're going to hear ranges of storm surge that we haven't heard in Louisiana since Hurricane Audrey in 1957. You're going to hear the word unsurvivable to describe the storm surge that we are expecting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERRIE: For the first time in years, the state is activating the entire Louisiana National Guard to assist with search-and-rescue operations and clearing roads.

Officials say portions of Interstate 10 are at risk of flooding. So they're urging residents in low-lying areas to evacuate now in the daylight, while roads are still passable.

And, Neil, you're talking about evacuations in this state. They're trying to work with hotels to get them to house evacuees in individual rooms, so that you avoid these congregate settings and the traditional shelters, hopefully thwarting the spread of COVID-19 -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Jonathan, thank you very much, Jonathan Serrie on all of that.

We will be talking momentarily with John Bel Edwards, the Louisiana governor, who was telling his residents: I'm not kidding here. If you're in this low-lying area that this hurricane is approaching, you got to get out, and you got to get out now.

We have got the latest how many have taken advantage of that or afraid of that.

In the meantime, to Adam Klotz on how bad this could get.

What are you hearing, Adam?

ADAM KLOTZ, FOX NEWS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Neil, it's as bad as advertised at this point, winds at 140 miles an hour, a Category 4 storm.

And I do think we're only a couple hours away of starting to see some of the effects really along the coastline. Winds are going to be picking up within the next couple of hours, as we're really getting closer there to what ultimately will be a landfall probably early tomorrow morning, outer bands of rain beginning to batter some of the coastline.

Everything there highlighted in that big red box, that is a tornado watch. The ingredients are there to spin up a few tornadoes as this system works its way onshore.

I do think the winds from the storm will be the worst. Here it is in motion. And, again, by 8:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m., you're getting some of the really strong winds, the heavy rain moving in, likely going to make landfall. And, again, landfall is the eyewall, not until early on Thursday morning.

But it will have fallen apart well before then as far as the conditions go, getting really rough, maybe by 6:00 p.m. getting some of those extreme tropical-force winds, getting to hurricane-force winds by 10:00 p.m., and then only continuing to intensify.

And the story has been, the conversation has been this whole time, with all those winds of up to 120, 130 miles an hour, it's going to bring a wall of water with it. We still have areas indicating maybe 15 to 20 feet of storm surge, and even much more widespread, getting up to eight to 12 feet.

Neil, as I get ready to toss this back to you, that is the big concern. And I do want to leave you with the path. I know we're really focused on landfall right now, but this is going to be strong enough that I think folks are going to be losing power as it moves north probably as far as Tennessee.

So, this is going to be problem for several days -- Neil.

CAVUTO: Yes, it looks like that. I can't believe the arc of the storm and where it could go.

Adam, thank you very, very much.

Well, Governor Abbott of Texas was among those saying, these warnings, don't take them very lightly. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): It doesn't do you any good to save your property if you're going to lose your life. Property can be replaced. Your life cannot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAVUTO: Chief Nim Kidd is with us right now, the head of Texas Emergency.

And, Chief, thank you for taking the time. I know you're a pretty busy fellow, so we appreciate it.

What's the latest that you have? And what's the latest warnings you are giving residents?

NIM KIDD, TEXAS DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CHIEF: So, thank you, Neil. Thanks for having us.

And Governor Abbott's been very strong on this from the very beginning. We started trying to put warnings and evacuations out over the last weekend.

We have over 300 buses lined up at Ford Park in Beaumont right now that are still ready to do evacuations. But we're going to start moving them out to get away of those tropical-storm-force winds that would be hazardous to them.

Our search-and-rescue teams will stay in the area. We know that we're going to have a period coming up here for the next 12 to 14 hours that will be very important for life safety.

And as all your previous reporters have said, we do believe this will be a deadly storm. We want to minimize the loss of life. If you can evacuate now, while it is still safe, we highly encourage you to do so.

CAVUTO: Now, a lot of people, as we have been saying, Chief, in Louisiana, certainly in Texas, are leery of leaving their homes, even with this coming danger, because, A, they don't know where to go.

They don't want to go to shelters. We know you have been coordinating, as they have in Louisiana, with officials, hotels, motels that maybe can open up their hotels to limited populations, and limited to each room.

What's going on by you?

KIDD: Yes, my message would be to those families that have been living in the same household, that will get in the same car and drive to San Antonio or Austin or the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, there's a hotel room there waiting for you. We just opened up another 1,000 hotel rooms in San Antonio.

And the city of Austin is opening their convention center for us as a congregate shelter, but only to the point that we can get people out of any of the weather and get them back into hotels.

We have plenty of personal protective equipment. We have plenty of hand sanitizer. And it is a much safer place to stay in a hotel or in one of our congregate settings than in the path of this deadly storm.

CAVUTO: It looks like, from the tracking, Chief -- you know far more about us than do I -- that the rains and the floods could hang for a while. So, this could be the longer duration than is typically the case.

KIDD: Neil, and I agree.

And, listen, about the tracking, a lot of times we find people focus on the middle of that cone of uncertainty. The truth of the matter is, anywhere between 60 and 80 miles outside of that cone, you're still going to have major impacts.

So, our request and our plea is for those that still can evacuate and have the time to get out before road conditions deteriorate, there's no need to stay around. We have plenty of safe places for our community to go.

CAVUTO: All right, Chief, Nim Kidd, thank you very, very much.

I know you're not getting much sleep these days, but thank you for all your hard work in keeping us posted on the latest developments.

KIDD: Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: As the chief said, the better part of valor is driving out of town right now, and don't hang around to see what happens.

In the meantime, very, very quickly, we do have the Louisiana governor coming up for us.

I would be remiss if I mentioned, in the all -- in the middle of all of this, we had a couple of more records on Wall Street today, but we did. So, this wall of worry and everything else you hear associated with the markets did not stop both the Dow and the S&P from hitting records -- I'm sorry -- the S&P and Nasdaq.

The Dow is not there yet, even with an 83-point gain, but, you know, it's less than 4 percent away itself.

All right, we're following up on what could happen in Kenosha, Wisconsin, tonight. They're expecting more demonstrations. They turned very violent, very deadly last night. Two people were killed.

Now what they're planning to do to limit that danger by bringing in the National Guard, fully 500 of them -- more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, they are worried in Kenosha, Wisconsin, of a third night of potential violence.

It got really violent and very deadly last night. Two people were killed, another shot. That person is expected to survive. But it is that antsy, so antsy that the governor has called in and requested at least 500 National Guardsmen to come in and sort of mitigate things. We will see how that goes.

But Grady Trimble with the very latest from Kenosha, Wisconsin, right now.

Grady, how's it looking there?

GRADY TRIMBLE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Neil, it's calm right now, but this is where the shooting happened last night at that -- this used car lot.

And, earlier today, a 17-year-old named Kyle Rittenhouse was arrested about 20 miles from here in Antioch, Illinois. He was for some reason here last night. And now he's expected to be charged with first-degree murder because of the shooting last night.

We have some video of the shooting. And we know that last night there were civilians here who were armed with long guns on the streets of Kenosha. The police chief had no comment on whether they're part of an organized militia, which had been suggested on social media.

Tonight, there are concerns that violence could continue for a fourth night, the curfew now set an hour earlier at 7:00 p.m. And police are hoping to disperse any protesters who show up in daylight to avoid what happened last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL MISKINIS, KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, POLICE CHIEF: Persons were shot. Everybody involved was out after the curfew. I'm not going to make a great deal of it.

But the point is, the curfew is in place to protect. Had persons not been involved in violation of that, perhaps the situation that unfolded would not have happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TRIMBLE: County officials here and the business owners I have talked to have been calling for a larger, more visible National Guard presence.

And they will be getting that. This afternoon, Governor Tony Evers authorizing hundreds more National Guardsmen. President Trump tweeting today: "I will be sending federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to restore law and order."

That federal law enforcement includes U.S. Marshals, as well as the FBI.

The press conference with the police chief this afternoon was the first time he has spoken since the shooting of Jacob Blake by his department's officers on Sunday. He said that is still under investigation by the State Department of Justice.

Beyond that, he did not have much to say about the specifics of the shooting, Neil, that sparked all of this unrest.

CAVUTO: Grady Trimble, thank you very much, my friend.

Grady is in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

With us right now is Ken Cuccinelli, the acting deputy DHS secretary.

Secretary, thank you for taking the time.

We understand, as the governor has indicated there, that he will accept the president's offer of troop help, National Guard troop help, about 500 soldiers' strong. That's a big number to deal with a big crisis.

Do you think it will be enough?

KEN CUCCINELLI, ACTING DEPUTY SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Yes.

And he -- to the governor's credit, he hasn't hesitated, like -- or stalled, like we have seen in Oregon. He moved his National Guard option. I think he needed more, more quickly, and he has realized that. He and the president, of course, have talked.

Both of them want peace on the streets of these communities, regardless of position, president or governor or what have you. And so it's good to see cooperation to try to address this.

It would be nice if it had happened a little faster to try to avoid some of the tragedy of yesterday. We have had enough tragedy here. And now we need to bring peace. And the way to do that is responsible, overwhelming law enforcement presence. And that's where we're headed.

CAVUTO: He did -- right. I believe he did want to go with Wisconsin Guardsmen at first. This is expanded. Can he build on that? Can he request still more if it gets out of hand?

CUCCINELLI: Yes, yes, absolutely.

And that was made clear, I know, by the president today, in terms of the support on the federal side. And Wisconsin has a goodly number of their own Guardsmen, thousands, really, so far have deployed a couple of hundred.

We're -- and you have seen much bigger numbers now, as -- with today's discussions. And you also have heard, as I heard the report on the way in to my conversation, DOJ officers will be advanced as well.

So, there's full engagement across the U.S. government, and in cooperation -- and that is so important. It is so important to have that cooperation with state and local officials to help bring this all down to a peaceful level, let the investigations, plural, state and federal, proceed on the shooting that was a catalyst for this particular violence.

But quell the violence itself and keep everybody safe. That's the goal for the president. And it sounds like it is for Governor Evers as well.

CAVUTO: It also, Secretary, sounds like the timing maybe could be problematic for a March on Washington that had already been planned for Friday to sort of celebrate the anniversary of the famous Martin Luther King March on Washington back in the summer of 1963.

Are you concerned about that?

CUCCINELLI: Not so much about the timing.

If -- and, frankly, if -- no matter how many people came to Washington, if they were emulating Dr. Martin Luther King, we're all going to be fine. He is literally the preeminent nonviolent protester in American history.

(LAUGHTER)

CUCCINELLI: So -- and effective as well.

So, if that's the role model, all of us will be fine. All the protesters, there will be -- won't be as much need for law enforcement. And people can be heard. They can state their grievances or their positions, peacefully petition their government, and do that peacefully.

Again, that's the Dr. Martin Luther King model that we're hoping for in Washington, as we move in that direction in a couple of days. But we're planning for that and keeping our eyes on it. And there will be a -- there will be a federal presence there as well, because it's the District. And we will be prepared for any violence that may occur, regrettably.

CAVUTO: All right. Hopefully, that doesn't happen.

But, Ken Cuccinelli, the acting deputy DHS secretary, thank you very much for coming by, Secretary.

CUCCINELLI: Let's hope not.

CAVUTO: Much appreciated.

No, I hear you on that.

By the way, we are getting comments from Joe Biden condemning the burning down of communities and violence in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting.

And this is coming from Kamala Harris, who is speaking on the same subject, his running mate, saying: "What happened in Wisconsin, Joe Biden and I spoke to Blake's family," Jacob Blake's family, the black man who was shot, "and what happened there is so tragic. It represents two systems of justice in America. And we need to fight for that idea that all people should be treated equally, which is still not happening," but condemning the violence in the wake of that, much as Blake's own mother indicated yesterday.

Stay with us. You're watching "Your World."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, well, the governor of Louisiana warned his residents. Now are they going to listen to him? If you're in the path of this hurricane, get out of its way.

John Bel Edwards on why he means what he says -- coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: Is there a convention going on?

Well, apparently, there is, and it's a big one. This is the third night. And this one will feature the vice president of the United States and a host of other party luminaries.

I want to go to John Roberts right now in Fort McHenry, Baltimore, on what we can expect.

Hey, John.

JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil, good evening to you, or good afternoon to you.

We have been here so long, it might be tomorrow. We don't yet know.

Here in Fort McHenry, which is very symbolic, because tonight's theme is "Land of Heroes." And, of course, we know, back in 1814, a lot of heroes defended this fort from a British bombardment that lasted 27 hours. And at the end of it all, the flag was still there.

So, heavy in symbolism tonight. The president has got a little bit of good news going into this from a six-day battleground poll that includes Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona conducted by CNBC.

The president still down to Joe Biden, but things are getting better for him. First of all, Michigan and Wisconsin, Biden is up six in Michigan, up five in Wisconsin. The story gets a little bit better in Florida and Pennsylvania. Biden is up three in both of those states. Arizona, he's up two. North Carolina, he is up one.

But the good news for President Trump is, those numbers are tightening. And in this particular poll, his overall approval rating has jumped two points from 46 percent now to 48 percent.

Now, remember, Neil, this is post-convention for the Biden campaign, but President Trump has yet to give his big convention speech. That will be tomorrow night, of course, from the White House. And candidates traditionally get a bump in the polls because of that.

In the penultimate night tonight, Vice President Mike Pence will be the featured speaker. Again, "Land of Heroes" will be a big tribute to our military, as well as law enforcement. And this will be another big night for outreach for women as well.

The second lady, Karen Pence, will be speaking, Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, Kellyanne Conway, who will be leaving the White House at the end of the month, as well as Lara Trump.

So, expecting a big night tonight and a big push toward women voters again this evening, as we saw with Melania Trump last night, all here at Fort McHenry. It's a beautiful place, Neil. You should be here.

CAVUTO: Yes, it is a beautiful place.

John "I don't get any sleep" Roberts in the middle of all of that.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: So, we're monitoring that as well on FOX Business.

Just a reminder, 8:00 p.m. tonight, we will be picking up as well on the importance of this, and right through the major speeches, also gauging world market reaction. Don't dismiss it. The markets are following our presidential contest much more closely, some say even more closely than average Americans. We will see about that. But that's coming up tonight.

Much ado in the Democratic Party about how many Republicans are for Joe Biden, including my next guest, a former candidate herself for the president of the United States, Carly Fiorina.

But if you think she was just going to give a big hug to Democrats, she did so, but with a warning: Do not minimize or dismiss or insult Trump voters.

Carly Fiorina with us right now, former head of Hewlett-Packard, the former presidential candidate.

Carly, very good to have you.

CARLY FIORINA, FORMER HEWLETT-PACKARD CEO: Great to be with you, Neil.

CAVUTO: You were very clear in your message: "I think Democrats are going to make a very serious mistake" -- same here. I apologize, but: "They're going to make a very serious mistake if they dismiss and diminish the intelligence of the character of Trump voters."

But many of them have done that. And it's ticking a lot of those voters off, and even those who aren't yet Trump voters, but now might be because of that. What do you think?

FIORINA: Well, I clearly agree. It's why I said it.

And I think Democrats need to be very careful.

Look, let me be very clear. I voted for President Trump in 2016. He has lost my support because I think he has failed to lead when the country needed leadership. I am therefore voting for Joe Biden. It is a binary choice, our presidential elections. But I'm not a Democrat.

And I think that one of the key reasons that I'm voting for Joe Biden is because I think we need collaboration and problem-solving. I think we need people from different political points of view. One of your earlier guests talked about self-respect,

I think we need to respect those who are different from ourselves and work together to solve problems. Joe Biden has a history of reaching across the aisle. I think Donald Trump has demonstrated, at least in my eyes, that he's not a problem-solver or a collaborator.

Nevertheless, Democrats have perfected the art of identity politics. They have perfected the art of diminishing and dismissing anyone who disagrees with them.

I can remember being on the campaign trail as a presidential candidate, and Democrat women's organizations calling me offensive to women because I am pro-life.

All of those things turn voters off. But they also poison the politics in our country. And they make it much more difficult to actually tackle problems, like limiting abortion, like advancing racial justice and equality under the law.

CAVUTO: But I know your financial views. I know your fiscal conservative views. I certainly know your views on abortion. You're pro-life, as you said.

Do you ever hear, all right, she hates Donald Trump so much, she's throwing all those other values aside for the Democratic candidate, when she doesn't agree a lick with the Democratic candidate?

FIORINA: Yes, well, so, first of all, I don't hate Donald Trump, not at all. This isn't personal.

But I think we have to remember that our highest duty as citizens is not to a political party. And it's not to a person, even if that person is a president. Our highest duty is to make the decisions we think will advance problem-solving best in this country.

You spoke about fiscal conservatism. I don't see anything fiscally conservative about this president or his administration.

As another example, I have long said that the Republican Party needs to support small business. But the Republican Party has, in fact, supported mostly big business.

And this latest bailout has been a tremendous bailout. Companies needed assistance because of the pandemic. But it is the big companies that got most of the assistance and the wealthy that got most of the assistance. And it is small businesses who are getting crushed.

Washington, D.C., decided to dispense all the money, instead of doing the fiscally conservative thing, and distributing the money to states in block grants, so that those states could actually put the money where it was needed most.

So, there are many things, unfortunately, about the Trump administration that I do not think are conservative, not fiscally, and not in many other ways as well.

CAVUTO: All right, Carly, thank you very much, Carly Fiorina on all of that.

We will see exactly how Republicans and Democrats respond to some of the warnings she gave there.

By the way, we're just getting news -- this is coming via ESPN -- that the Milwaukee Bucks are boycotting their NBA playoff game with the Orlando Magic, in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

They did not announce what -- they would reschedule that game. But it is not going to happen tonight.

We will have more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right back to Galveston, Texas, and our Casey Stegall, and how residents there are getting ready for this storm, and I mean superstorm, at that -- Casey.

CASEY STEGALL, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Neil, it's going to be a bad one.

We're awaiting an update from the National Hurricane Center on the very latest.

Here on Galveston island, the evacuations are mandatory. A growing number of counties across Texas and over in neighboring Louisiana have been added to the mandatory list, as opposed to voluntary.

Of course, as with always, when we're talking about these storms, a number of people say that, even if they are mandatory, they're going to stay where they are and try to protect their property.

But we have seen bus after bus after bus loaded up with people and moved out of here. Priority was given earlier in the week to nursing home residents and also assisted care living residents, that those people were moved first.

And then anyone nonessential working here or living here on Galveston have been told to get out. There is a curfew that goes into effect at about 8:00 tonight. Members of the Texas National Guard have been mobilized, about 70 or so of those, while, over in neighboring Louisiana, the entire National Guard has been activated.

The storm expected to make landfall about 100 miles to the east of where we are, right along the Texas-Louisiana border. Galveston is where we are, again, 100 miles or so to the west of that spot, but Beaumont and Port Arthur, Lake Charles, Louisiana, all cities under the gun right now.

This storm is only increasing in size and strength, again, another update soon from the National Hurricane Center.

Neil, we will keep you posted.

CAVUTO: All right, Casey Stegall in Texas.

Louisiana, they're taking the same precautions, ramping it up a bit here, as a number of people are scared to leave the coast, but the governor making clear: You have no choice. This is about living, rather than dying.

John Bel Edwards is the governor of that fine state. He's been a busy guy, to put it mildly.

Governor, thank you for taking the time.

GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D-LA): Thank you, Neil.

CAVUTO: How do things look?

EDWARDS: Well, things are very, very serious.

We have got a storm that's a Category 4. It's going to make landfall just after midnight. It continues to grow in size and intensity. And, quite frankly, the storm surge is going to be a huge threat to life.

And, in fact, the National Weather Service took the unprecedented step of saying the storm surge is going to be unsurvivable.

So, down in Cameron Parish, where we expect to be ground zero, there's been a parish-wide mandatory evacuation in place since yesterday. We expect most of that parish to look just like the rest of the Gulf of Mexico for a couple of days, and then on into Calcasieu Parish, where we have Lake Charles.

There are evacuations that continue. We did have to stop running our buses, because the tropical-storm-force winds have reached as far north as I-10. And so we were encouraging people, if they can continue to get out safely, to do that, but, within a couple of hours, it's just not going to be possible to move anymore, because the weather is degrading that fast.

So, we have got a very serious storm on our hands, one that, I will tell you, we need everybody paying close attention to, following the directions of local elected officials.

But this is a big one, perhaps the strongest storm to hit Southwest Louisiana since Hurricane Audrey in 1957.

CAVUTO: You know, Governor, there have been a number of residents who are very leery to evacuate their homes, because, A, they didn't know where to go. They were leery of going to shelters that might be set up.

I know you have tried to help them out with offering alternatives. But can you update me on that?

EDWARDS: Well, we have had tens of thousands of people who have evacuated.

Now, that's not necessarily with the state's help, because most people have their own transportation. They go find a hotel or a motel room on their own, or they go to a relative's house somewhere east or northeast of the Southwest Louisiana area.

We have actually helped move about 1,500 or so right now into -- directly into hotel rooms and motel rooms. The challenging thing about this storm -- first of all, this storm would be challenging under the best of circumstances.

But when you have to prepare for a hurricane like this in a COVID environment, it makes it much more difficult. When you start transporting people, you can't fill the buses like we -- like we would want to. We can't do the congregate sheltering in our mass shelter facilities because those are not the safest environments. They're conducive to the spread of the virus.

So, our first effort is to put people in hotels and motel rooms. We're doing that all across the state of Louisiana, principally in Baton Rouge and New Orleans and points east of Southwest Louisiana, where the storm is going to strike.

And then I will tell you, we are certain that, at this time tomorrow, we will be doing search-and-rescue for a large number of individuals, many of whom are going to need to require sheltering after that for some period of time before they can go home.

And then we may have to open our mass shelters for some period of time just to kind of process them in, until we can get them into a hotel or motel room. But this is a very difficult environment in which to respond to any major disaster, much less one like Laura is shaping up to be.

CAVUTO: All right, we will watch it closely. Our prayers and thoughts are certainly with you and your fine residents.

EDWARDS: Thank you, Neil.

CAVUTO: Governor, hang in there. Thank you again.

EDWARDS: Thank you.

CAVUTO: All right, Governor Edwards of Louisiana.

All right, we're also following the political storm right now, and some comments from Carly Fiorina here just moments ago, a Republican-turned-Joe Biden backer, who did have a warning for Democrats, A, don't get cocky, and do not insult Trump voters.

Joe Lieberman on that -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: Joe Biden is speaking out against the shooting of Jacob Blake, but at the same time warning about needless violence and saying that the way these protests are going is not necessarily the way to do it, that it is not protest when you bring those communities down.

Peter Doocy has been traveling with the campaign with Kamala Harris right now, has the latest from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware -- Peter.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: And, Neil, this was the first solo virtual event for Senator Harris since joining the Biden ticket.

And she talked today about trying to get involved with the response to what's going on in Kenosha.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Joe Biden and I earlier today spoke with Jacob Blake's family and his mother, his father, his sister.

And what happened there is so tragic and still represents the two systems of justice in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: Biden also responding to the Kenosha riots this afternoon, approving of protesters, but condemning violent agitators.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, as I said after George Floyd's murder, protesting brutality is a right and absolutely necessary, but burning down communities is not protest.

It's needless violence, violence that endangers lives, violence that guts businesses and shutters businesses that serve the community. That's wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: And Biden's message came via Twitter this afternoon.

As best we can tell, he has not left the house today, and he does not have any events on the books for the rest of the week yet -- Neil.

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

Want to go to Joe Lieberman on all lists, of course, the former vice presidential candidate with Al Gore back in 2000.

Senator, always good to have you.

It looked like the former vice president was trying to have it both ways, to condemn, obviously, the shooting of another black man, but to recognize well after that condemnation the need for cooler heads to prevail and stop the violence.

Do you think he is responding to attacks from Republicans at their convention that law and order is not important to Democrats?

FMR. SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (I-CT): Yes, well, I don't know why Joe Biden made the statement he did, but it's the right statement.

And, in a way -- just to pick up the words you used, Neil, both ways are the right way here. In other words, of course people have a right to peacefully protest what they think is an injustice.

But no matter how unjust that act may seem, nobody has a right to commit crimes as part of the protest, particularly against the police that represent all...

CAVUTO: But they don't -- Senator, they don't say that enough. I mean, it's only lately that they have been even acknowledging that as an added issue.

And I'm wondering if they lost that opportunity last week, obviously, before this latest tragic shooting, but I'm wondering if they're getting concerned, look, we look tone-deaf here.

LIEBERMAN: Well, I don't know, because I'm not inside the campaign.

But whatever -- I think what he said today, what Joe Biden said today is the right way to go. And I hope he continues to say that, so he leaves no doubt that he supports peaceful protests, but he's as opposed to violent actions, criminal actions of any kind, and he supports the police, not every act that every police woman or man carries out.

But the police are representing us. And if we turn on them, we're creating a lawless society, and then all of us suffer.

So, I thought the victim's family in Kenosha yesterday really were quite eloquent on that point, that they thought he...

CAVUTO: Yes.

LIEBERMAN: ... who was shot by the police, would be the last one to one violence to be committed in support of him.

And I always feel that, usually, those are -- I don't know for a fact, and, probably, I shouldn't say this -- but a lot of the violence is committed by people who are troublemakers jumping onto a peaceful protest to -- just to...

CAVUTO: Right.

LIEBERMAN: ... I don't know, hit the government, hit the police.

And you have got to weed them out and arrest them. And it's just not acceptable.

CAVUTO: Well, to make it a cause, to your point.

LIEBERMAN: Yes.

CAVUTO: Just a few minutes ago, senator, I had Carly Fiorina here, the former Republican presidential candidate, who's backing Joe Biden. She's still a Republican. She says she's just preferring him over the president.

But she did have a warning for Democrats to cool it on, like, a deplorables redo, questioning the intelligence or whether those voters are racist, and that that will only create more problems.

What do you think of that warning?

LIEBERMAN: I think Carly Fiorina is right on, on that warning.

I think it's -- look, part of what's happened in our politics is that we don't just disagree between each other. The parties don't just criticize each other on policies. They treat each other as if they were enemy nations, instead of fellow Americans who happen to be in a different political party.

And part of that is not to -- the way in which people don't just disagree, but they demean the other side. That's not only wrong. It not only disrupts and divides our politics, but, in the end, it's probably a losing political strategy.

So, Carly Fiorina is absolutely great in giving that advice.

CAVUTO: Joe Lieberman, you never went down that well, that deep hole.

Thank you very much. Good seeing you.

LIEBERMAN: Thank you. You too.

CAVUTO: Joe Lieberman, the former vice presidential candidate.

All right, be well and be safe, my friend.

I want to show you La Guardia International Airport right now.

The reason why I am showing it is, despite a pickup in air travel that we're seeing, a number of airlines are preparing flyers for the worse, for example, indications of big layoffs that could be coming at all the major carriers, in the tens of thousands, if they don't get aid, and they don't get it soon.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, we understand that the president is weighing some sort of help for the nation's major airlines. They're in a world of hurt right now, 19,000 jobs in peril at American, 2,000 at Delta. And time's running out.

Sara Nelson is the Association of Flight Attendants president, joins us now via Skype.

Sara, very good to have you back.

Is it that bad, in other words, that they need, the airlines, you guys need the help like now?

SARA NELSON, PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS: Well, this is terrible. And we have been forecasting this for a long time.

In March, when we pass the CARES Act, and we put the aviation Payroll Support Program in place, the PSP, what that did was, it required the airlines to keep everyone on the job, connected to their health care, their other benefits, and the money could only go to paying workers' salaries and benefits.

It also required that the airlines would continue to serve all of our small communities and all of our cities that they were serving before, making sure that Americans still have that connectivity that they count on through the airline industry.

It cut out stock buybacks and dividends and capped executive bonuses as well. But, at the time, we thought we'd be in recovery mode at this point. And we're still in the middle of the crisis.

So what we're staring down right now -- and people are getting furlough notices right now that they're going to be out of work October 1. Airlines have to plan, so that you can't wait until the end of September to get this in place. And we need relief in place now. We need Congress to act now.

CAVUTO: And if you don't?

NELSON: And, if we don't, we're going to have mass layoffs five weeks before the elections. We're going to lose -- we're going to lose service to some of our smaller communities, like Dubuque, Iowa, Huntington, West Virginia.

These are cities that flight attendants and pilots and other aviation workers also commute from to go to work in a major city like Chicago or in Dallas. And so they won't be able to get to work either. And those cities will be cut off from that service.

We're looking at a whole world of hurt for aviation workers and also for the rest of the country. Also, for every one job that is out there right now, five Americans are looking for work.

So, when people ask me, how does this compare to the crisis after 9/11, it doesn't compare at all. We had other places to go, to retail, to restaurants, to real estate. We did a lot of other things.

And, right now, Americans have nowhere else to go. Without that $600 plus- up, we're going to lose another five million jobs. Without the money to our states and locals, we're going to lose 5.3 million jobs.

CAVUTO: All right.

NELSON: So, we have got a real problem here. And we have got to have Congress act now.

CAVUTO: All right, we will see what happens.

Sara Nelson, thank you very much of the Flight Attendants, the president there.

Again, airlines are free after October 1, if they don't get that, to go ahead and start laying off thousands. They say they will unless they get that help.

That will do it here.

We will be at FBN at 8:00 p.m., right through the end of the conventions, continue to give you the best and the market response to all of this.

Here's "THE FIVE."

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