Trump threatens to hold up coronavirus relief for Michigan

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Trump threatens to hold up coronavirus relief for Michigan

This is a rush transcript from "Special Report," May 20, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Greg took my line. Thanks, Jesse. Good evening, I'm Bret Baier. Breaking tonight, mixed messages about the reopening of America. A new survey indicates more than eight in 10 Americans are worried that fewer regulations will mean more infections.

Meanwhile, the process President Trump calls a transition to greatness rolls on with considerable support on the ground. But there could be a hang-up on the next round of congressional assistance.

Chief White House correspondent John Roberts, starts us off tonight from the North Lawn. Good evening, John.

JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Bret, good evening, to you. Just a few minutes ago, President Trump, revealing that he will go off of his dosing of hydroxychloroquine on Friday. That would mark 14-day since the last case of coronavirus was identified in the West Wing. There have been no new ones since then.

And while the president's feud with the state government of Michigan continues, he just completed a much more constructive dialogue with a bipartisan duo of governors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much.

ROBERTS: In the Cabinet Room today, President Trump meeting with the governors of Arkansas and Kansas, both states in the early stages of reopening.

TRUMP: The states are opening up, some rapidly, safely, and we look forward to that. And I think we're going to get back, we're going to have some very good numbers, I project. I think that we will have a great transition period.

ROBERTS: The tensions over re-openings on display in Florida today. Welcoming Vice President Mike Pence, Governor Ron DeSantis going off on the media.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): You got a lot of people in your profession who waxed poetically for weeks and weeks about how Florida was going to be just like New York. Wait two weeks. Well, hell, we're eight weeks away from that, and it hasn't happened.

ROBERTS: With all 50 states now in some degree of rebooting, a new Associated Press poll finds 83 percent of respondents worried that reopening will lead to new infections in their areas.

But support for continued restrictions is slipping. 69 percent of respondents now supporting a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people down from 82 percent last month.

But as states open up more overseas travel lanes may soon close. Vice President Mike Pence, saying new travel bans may be imposed.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're watching very carefully what's taking place in South America, including in Brazil. We saw in recent days, it was a significant spike in cases and president's made it clear that we were considering additional travel restrictions.

ROBERTS: President Trump today again lashing out at the government of Michigan. This time, tweeting that the secretary of state had mailed out absentee ballots to 7.7 million people, claiming this was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue secretary of state.

After Jocelyn Benson's office, said it was mailing ballot applications and not actual ballots, the president revised his tweet. But continued to insist it was illegal. To which Benson replied, poppycock.

JOCELYN BENSON, SECRETARY OF STATE, MICHIGAN: The CARES Act funding enabled us and my colleagues, Republican and Democrat in other states to mail applications to voters to request to vote by mail. So, we're grateful for that federal partnership.

ROBERTS: The threat to withhold funding comes as Michigan is dealing with another crisis, extensive flooding from two dams that collapsed. President Trump would not say what funds might be withheld, nor what he thought was illegal. Though it's clear he opposes mass mailing ballots.

TRUMP: Mail-in ballots are very dangerous as tremendous fraud involved and tremendous illegality.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Established case law in Michigan has found that it is illegal for the secretary of state or local clerks to send out unsolicited absentee ballot applications. Though it's possible that Benson could claim because she's mailed them to all 7.7 million registered voters in the State of Michigan, there could not be any hint of bias.

This is one of those cases, Bret that could well be decided with a trip to the courts.

BAIER: John Roberts, live in the North Lawn. John, thanks. We'll follow that.

We are learning additional details tonight about an e-mail from former Obama administration official Susan Rice, concerning Russia and the incoming national security advisor Lt. General Michael Flynn.

Supporters of the president are painting it as more proof of abuses in the Russia probe. Correspondent Gillian Turner has the latest tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: Now arrives the hour of action.

GILLIAN TURNER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: 15 minutes into his presidency as Donald Trump was addressing the nation, the outgoing National Security Advisor Susan Rice documented an Oval Office meeting in which President Obama, James Comey, and other officials discussed General Michael Flynn.

Now, Rice is pushing back against allegations the national security team improperly handled concerns they had about President Trump's incoming NSA. In a statement to Fox News, a spokesperson for Ambassador Rice, says that she was directed to write that January 20th, 2017 e-mail.

As has been previously documented by Rice's attorney, she wrote this memorandum in response to a request from White House Counsel. Rice's spokesperson insists the Obama team had legitimate counterintelligence concerns about Flynn's communications with Russia, including the number of interactions he had with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

In her e-mail, Rice writes, "President Obama said he wants to be sure that as we engage with the incoming team, were mindful to ascertain if there's any reason that we cannot share information fully."

But Rice's spokesperson insists those concerns didn't impact their efforts to share information with Flynn. "Ambassador Rice briefed Michael Flynn for over 12 hours, and led the NSC in preparing and delivering to him over 100 separate briefing memos."

Yesterday, acting Intel Chief Ric Grinell declassified Rice's top-secret e- mail. Prompting key Republicans to question why it was classified in the first place.

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): The first thought when I -- when I read that declassified e-mail was why in the world was that ever classified?

TURNER: Multiple sources familiar with classification practices tell Fox News, Rice's e-mail was top-secret because it revealed that Russian Ambassador Kislyak was under U.S. surveillance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER: The big question now is why White House Counsel's Office directed Ambassador Rice to document that Oval Office meeting? And sources that are familiar with White House Counsel Office operations in this administration and previous administrations tell us that type of request is certainly unusual but it is not, Bret, unprecedented. Bret.

BAIER: Gillian, thank you.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is adamantly denying that he recommended firing the state department's independent watchdog in retaliation for investigations into Pompeo's conduct.

State Department correspondent rich Edson has been looking to this, has the latest tonight. Good evening, Rich.

RICH EDSON, FOX NEWS CHANNEL WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good evening, Bret. And Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denies trying to derail investigations by having President Trump fire the State Department Inspector General Steve Linick. And said, Pompeo, says he should have tried to push Linick out even earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: There are claims that this was for a retaliation for some investigation that the inspector general's office here was engaged in. It's patently false. I have no sense of what investigations were taking place inside the inspector general's office.

EDSON: Now, Pompeo acknowledges one exception. Earlier this year, he says he responded to Linick's questions in writing about one investigation. And inquiry into whether the Trump administration broke the law last year, selling weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

This morning, the secretary targeted one of the Democrats criticizing him, Senator Bob Menendez.

POMPEO: I don't get my ethics guidance from a man who was criminally prosecuted a case number 15-155 in New Jersey federal district court. A man for whom his Senate colleagues, bipartisan, said basically that he was taking bribes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EDSON: In response, Menendez says, "Secretary Pompeo now faces an investigation into both this improper firing and into his attempt to cover up his inappropriate and possibly illegal actions. The fact that Secretary Pompeo is now trying diversion tactics by attempting to smear me is as predictable as it is shameful."

EDSON: Now, Pompeo refuses to give details specifically as to why he recommended President Trump fire Linick. He says the state department will share that information eventually with the appropriate people. Bret.

BAIER: Rich Edson, live at the State Department. Rich, thank you.

Breaking tonight, the U.S. Supreme Court is rejecting efforts by House Democrats to gain access to materials from the Robert Mueller grand jury, looking into Russian election interference.

Justices had told the parties to brief the court by June 1st about whether the full case should be heard on the merits.

As we told you earlier, a large majority of people surveyed in the new poll are worried that the easing of coronavirus restrictions will lead to more cases of COVID-19. Nevertheless, reopenings are happening all over the country. Correspondent Jonathan Serrie has a wrap-up tonight from Atlanta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much. We appreciate your business.

JONATHAN SERRIE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: All 50 states have at least partially reopened their economies, including Kentucky where a non- essential retail resumed today with social distancing.

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): We can take the advice from public health and we can make it a part of our everyday life.

SERRIE: New York will allow small Memorial Day ceremonies of up to 10 people, and a two-week pilot program will let screen visitors with protective gear, visit loved ones hospitalized with COVID-19.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): What is going to happen is a consequence of our choices and a consequence of our action. A new CDC analysis shows two symptomatic people who attended gatherings at a church in rural Arkansas back in March, infected 35 of the 92 attendees. Three of them died, and the church outbreak was linked to at least 26 cases and one death out in the community.

But the Justice Department, says restrictions on houses of worship must be even-handed. Pointing out in a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom that his state restricts worshipers more than workers supporting the entertainment industry.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): As it relates to congregants coming back into the pews, we're a few weeks away but we are working overtime when leaders in the community to come up with those guidelines.

SERRIE: Shut down orders continued to spark protests in Michigan, where salon owners and barbers offered free haircuts to protesters at the state capitol. The Georgia Department of Public Health tweeted an apology for a processing error that showed a false decrease in cases over the weekend.

And Florida's governor dismissed reports that the scientist who developed that state's coronavirus dashboard was fired for refusing to manipulate data.

DESANTIS: Our dashboard has been recognized nationally, Dr. Birx has praised it multiple times. It's a heck of a tool.

SERRIE: the European Journal of Epidemiology published a modeling study, suggesting 50 days of strict lockdowns followed by 30 days of more relaxed social distancing could reduce the average number of people a person with COVID-19 infects to just 0.5.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERRIE: And Bret, researchers say that this may allow people and economies to breathe at regular intervals, potentially making the solution more sustainable. Bret.

BAIER: Jonathan Serrie in Atlanta. Jonathan, thank you.

Tonight, legislators are calling for independent investigations into nursing home policies in New York and New Jersey. Critics say actions by the Democrat governor's in both states may have cost many people their lives. Correspondent Bryan LLenas has the story tonight from Queens.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYAN LLENAS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Of the about 28,000 COVID-19 nursing home deaths nationwide, more than 10,000 were in New Jersey and New York.

ROB ORTT, MEMBER, NEW YORK STATE SENATE: There's no question the number of deaths that we have seen in New York could have and I believe should have been lower. This isn't -- this is a direct result of the policies that Governor Cuomo put in place early on.

LLENAS: New York legislators are renewing a bipartisan call to launch an independent investigation into whether or not Governor Andrew Cuomo's policy forcing the state's long-term care facilities to accept COVID-19 patients led to needless deaths of vulnerable elderly people. The March policy was rescinded this month.

RICHARD GOTTFRIED, MEMBER, NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY: The attorney general ought to do what is sometimes done, which is appoint an outside counsel. And that should be well funded.

LLENAS: Today, Governor Cuomo deflected blame to President Trump.

CUOMO: It's because the state followed President Trump's CDC guidance. The CDC guidance said a nursing home cannot discriminate against COVID patient. Because at that time the issue was hospital capacity.

LLENAS: In New Jersey, 15 Republican state senators calling for a Senate Select Committee to be formed to investigate Governor Phil Murphy who instituted a similar directive, writing, "It's unfathomable that the administration would prevent patients entering long term care centers from being tested at the same time the governor was calling for broad statewide testing." New Jersey is now requiring testing at its facilities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LLENAS: The Government Accountability Office released a report today highlighting that nursing homes had major problems before the pandemic, finding infection control deficiencies in 82 percent of nursing homes nationwide. Bret.

BAIER: Bryan, thank you.

Now, look at the market stocks were up today. The Dow gained 369 today. The S&P 500 closed at its highest mark since early March, finishing ahead 49. The NASDAQ surged 191.

Tonight, we look at how the coronavirus pandemic is placing a new and not necessarily welcome spotlight on colleges and universities. Critics were already complaining the costs were way out of control. But with many campuses idle and classes being held remotely, are fundamental changes inevitable?

Correspondent Doug McKelway, reports this evening on potentially bursting the higher education bubble.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AURORA TORRES, MOTHER OF CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENT: She's been doing her virtual orientation. So, she's missing that out on that part.

DOUG MCKELWAY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Aurora Torres is just one parent in the 500,000 student California State University system, whose child won't be headed to campus in the fall.

TORRES: She's missing out, I guess, first day of school, you know, driving into college, she's not getting that part.

MCKELWAY: For other schools, including Notre Dame, South Carolina, Creighton, and Purdue, it's full steam ahead for the fall semester.

MITCH DANIELS, PRESIDENT, PURDUE UNIVERSITY: We're going to change our calendar. We're going to change the way we teach, feed, and house people.

MCKELWAY: Others are hedging their bets.

MARK SCHLISSEL, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: We're planning on two tracks. One track is another fully remote semester, alternatively, we're planning for what I've called a public health informed in-person semester.

MCKELWAY: For some colleges, it's going to be a war of survival. It could not have come at a worse time.

GLENN REYNOLDS, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE COLLEGE OF LAW: we already had a trend towards students showing more and more resistance to high prices and often poor quality and higher education.

MCKELWAY: Reynolds wrote the book, The Higher Education Bubble eight years ago. The pandemic may cause the bubble to burst. Some believe it's time for such a correction.

MIKE ROWE, AMERICAN TELEVISION HOST: When you tell an entire generation that the best path for the most people is a four-year degree, what you're doing in the same breath is telling everybody who doesn't go that way that they are of lower education.

MCKELWAY: Distance learning may worsen colleges' play. The Zoom classes could be a gateway towards cheaper higher education for students. But, they closed-off room and board, a vital revenue for schools.

REYNOLDS: For most places, they are the difference between being in the black and being in the red.

MCKELWAY: Adding to the pain, the threat of lawsuits from students claiming online learning is not the campus experience they were promised.

KAREN CONTI, LEGAL ANALYST, WGN RADIO: The bargain was that they paid tuition and the school is going to give them the college experience.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKELWAY: One law firm is seeking plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit against potentially every college in the United States including this one, for failure to repay losses due to COVID-19. Bret.

BAIER: Doug McKelway outside G.W. Doug, thanks.

Up next, the U.S. returns to the business of putting its astronauts in space. We'll talk with Vice President Pence about that.

First, here is what some of our Fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight.

Fox 2 in Detroit with more on the floods in Michigan as Governor Gretchen Whitmer declares a state of emergency after flash flooding breaks through two dams and forces the evacuation of about 10,000 people in the central part of Michigan.

She says that downtown Midland could end up under nine feet of water. A city official says no one has been hurt or killed in the flooding, fortunately, so far.

Fox Carolina and Greenville as NASCAR stages its second major event in four days at Darlington Raceway. The Toyota 500 follows Sunday's the Real Heroes 400 race won by Kevin Harvick.

Fox 5 in New York as Johnson and Johnson is ending sales of its iconic talc-based Johnson's baby powder in the U.S. and Canada. Demand has dwindled amid thousands of lawsuits claiming it has caused cancer.

And this is a live look at Long Beach, California from Fox 11, our affiliate out there. One of the big stories there tonight, the coroner's office identifies the body that washed ashore overnight in Venice Beach as former pro-wrestling star Shad Gaspard.

The 39-year-old was lost at sea following the rescue of his son from a strong rip current Sunday afternoon.

That's tonight's a live look "OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY" from SPECIAL REPORT. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: The Federal Aviation Administration is out loaning -- outlining steps to change how it approves new passenger planes. Congressional lawmakers say they will still push ahead with legislation to reform the current system that lets aircraft makers play a key role in the certification process.

The FAA has been under pressure after failing to catch problems with new flight control technology on the Boeing 737 MAX. Design problems have been blamed for two crashes that killed 346 people.

One week from today, NASA will attempt to put its astronauts in space from a launch on U.S. soil. It will be the first such effort in nearly a decade. And it comes after yesterday's surprise resignation of a major NASA official.

Tonight, correspondent Kristin Fisher talks with Vice President Mike Pence, who chairs the National Space Council and runs point on space efforts for the president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, arriving today at the Kennedy Space Center, one week before they are set to become the first to launch into space from U.S. soil in nearly a decade.

ROBERT BEHNKEN, ASTRONAUT, NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION: Just excited to be back in the great State of Florida.

FISHER: Vice President Mike Pence spoke to the two astronauts during a meeting of the National Space Council before speaking to us on the eve of this momentous launch.

Some people watching this are going to be wondering, why are we talking about space when there is a deadly pandemic here on earth? How do you answer that?

PENCE: When that rocket goes off next week, it will remind the American people that even in the midst of the most challenging times, America still moves forward. The NASA family did that. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, they stayed on mission.

FISHER: The Demo-2 mission will send Hurley and Behnken to the International Space Station on SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, ending the U.S.'s reliance on Russian Soyuz rockets, and taking one giant leap towards the administration's goal of securing American dominance in space.

PENCE: For the last 10 years, we've had to hitch a ride on Russian rockets to get to the International Space Station. I think every American knew it was just wrong.

FISHER: But just last week, NASA agreed to pay the Russian Space Agency more than $90 million.

Why pay for one more seat on a Soyuz?

PENCE: Well, I think it's a very good question and I'll be asking that of the leadership at NASA.

FISHER: NASA is encouraging people to watch next week's launch from home due to COVID-19. But the Brevard County sheriff, says the Space Coast is open for business.

What is your message for Americans who want to watch?

PENCE: Now might not be the time to travel to Florida to see a launch, but I expect the residents in the area will know how to social distance. Wherever you're watching it from, it's going to be a great, great source of inspiration for every American.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FISHER: And just one week before this big launch, NASA's head of human spaceflight has resigned. But NASA officials tell me that it had nothing to do with this mission. Bret.

BAIER: Kristin, thank you.

Astronomers say they are seeing the birth of a planet for the first time. Scientists are using a telescope in Chile to observe a huge disk of dense gas and dust surrounding a newly formed star about 520 light-years from Earth.

Astronomers believe the object is a large gas planet about as far away from its star, as Neptune is from Mars.

Up next, what Joe Biden says he will not do if elected president?

First, "BEYOND OUR BORDERS" tonight. A powerful cyclone tears into eastern India and Bangladesh, destroying mud houses and embankments, whipping up a storm surge along the coast. Millions of people there have been moved out of its path. At least, seven people so far have been killed.

Gunmen killed 14 people in two separate attacks in Afghanistan today. Officials also said the Taliban targeted pro-government checkpoints in the northeast, killing nine militiamen.

The U.S. envoy to the region has begun another round of talks with the Taliban to press them to start negotiating with the newly reconciled Afghan political leadership.

An Israeli court is ordering Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appear for the opening of his criminal trial in Jerusalem Sunday. Netanyahu's attorneys have argued his presence is not essential for the arraignment.

The prime minister faces charges of fraud breach of trust and accepting bribes. He denies any wrongdoing.

A new research suggests, Antarctica is going green -- sort of. The British study says algae blooms assisted by warming temperatures there are becoming so prolific, they are even visible from space.

Just some of the other stories "BEYOND OUR BORDERS" tonight. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: In tonight's Democracy 2020 report, Joe Biden is widening his lead over President Trump in the latest national polling. This comes as the presumed Democratic nominee continues his virtual campaign from home focusing on the president and virtually ignoring an allegation of sexual assault from a former Senate staff member. Correspondent Peter Doocy has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Joe Biden is trying to beat Trump by promising to do the opposite of Trump. Exhibit A, Biden says he wouldn't have fired a State Department Inspector General.

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Inspector Generals were designed to make government honest, to keep it honest. It's a gigantic government.

DOOCY: But what about the time Barack Obama fired the inspector general at AmeriCorps?

BIDEN: I don't recall that, but I tell you what, I don't ever remember the president deciding that somebody being investigated was inappropriate.

DOOCY: The election is in less than six months, and President Trump, fearing fraud, doesn't want states making it too easy to vote by mail, calling out Michigan's Democratic secretary of state for mailing millions of ballot applications and accusing her of doing it illegally. She responded "Every Michigan registered voter has a right to vote by mail. I have the authority and responsibility to make sure that they know how to exercise this right -- just like my GOP colleagues are doing in Georgia, Iowa, Nebraska, and West Virginia."

There is no data supporting that voting by mail favors Republicans or Democrats, so the Biden campaign doesn't mind.

SYMONE SANDERS, SENIOR ADVISER, JOE BIDEN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: I think mail-in voting is an advantage for voters.

DOOCY: Biden has an advantage the way the Trump team sees things.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: We get a total of less than an hour of Joe Biden a week. That's great for Joe Biden, but there will be a campaign. There will be debates.

DOOCY: And Biden has built on his lead over Trump in a new Quinnipiac poll, now up 11 points nationally. So he's not in a hurry to hit the road.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that the vice president will leave Delaware before August?

SANDERS: We're going to do it when it's safe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOOCY: Biden is apparently staying very busy at home, though. He says he hasn't watched any of the interviews with the woman accusing him of sexual assault, Tara Reade, because he hasn't had an opportunity. Bret?

BAIER: Peter, thank you.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been a lightning rod in her first congressional term. Now the New Yorker is facing a formidable fellow Democrat, former Republican, in a primary challenge that could keep her from winning a second term. Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich shows us to matchup this evening.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: The Queens Chamber of Commerce estimated nearly half of the neighborhood's 6,000 restaurants may not survive the coronavirus pandemic, and one woman vying for the district's congressional seat is reminding voters the incumbent, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, led the charge against what could have been a major job maker.

MICHELLE CARUSO-CABRERA, (D) NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: When she threw 25,000 jobs out I thought, wow, she has no idea how important jobs are.

HEINRICH: Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, a former news anchor, is challenging the firebrand democratic socialist in the June primary, billing herself as a business-friendly centrist.

CARUSO-CABRERA: We Democrats made clear in the primaries what we wanted. We don't want the far left. If we wanted the far left, Bernie would have won.

HEINRICH: MCC, as she calls herself, criticizes AOC for voting against the April coronavirus relief bill, saying she's out of touch with her constituents.

CARUSO-CABRERA: At the height of the crisis AOC stated in her luxury apartment in D.C. with a Whole Foods in the lobby. She didn't come home even though people were dying.

HEINRICH: Although MCC's critics point out she once called herself a Whole Foods Republican and was registered to the party. She advocated for small government and fiscal conservatism in her 2010 book, which includes a forward bite Trump economic advisor Larry Kudlow, and she only moved to Queens last year, previously living in a Manhattan Trump building.

REP. ALEXANDRA OCASIO-CORTEZ, (D-NY): This woman probably couldn't even find Sunnyside on a map until she decided to challenge me for the sake of challenging me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEINRICH: Caruso-Cabrera's campaign is getting the backing of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce which has poured millions into electing Republicans. For that MCC says she will never turn her back on business people. Bret?

BAIER: Jacqui, thank you.

President Trump touts the economic recovery so far, also we learn more about that Susan Rice email. The panel joins me with news of the day after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS, (R) FLORIDA: Wait two weeks, Florida is going to be next, just like Italy. Wait two weeks. Hell, we are eight weeks away from that, and it hasn't happened. We have a lower death rate than the Acela Corridor, D.C., everyone up there. We have a lower death rate than the Midwest, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio. But even in our region, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida has the lower death rate.

We've succeeded, and I think that people just don't want to recognize it because it challenges their narrative, it challenges their assumption. So they've got to try to find a boogieman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Republican, opened up and got a lot of grief for it, a lot of criticism, and now pushing back against the media, saying his numbers are better than anybody up north, and doing pretty well as the state of Florida opens up.

Let's bring in our panel as states open up all around the country, Charles Hurt, opinion editor for "The Washington Times," Susan Ferrechio, Chief Congressional Correspondent for the "Washington Examiner," and Jonathan Swan, national political reporter for "Axios." Charlie, Governor DeSantis a little fired up there.

CHARLES HURT, OPINION EDITOR, "WASHINGTON TIMES": He sure was, and he has a right to be. When you go back and you listen to what all of the dire predictions that we heard about Florida going back several months now. But throughout this entire thing, we have seen -- I feel like the media more than anybody, more than any politician, has come up with egg on their face considering the politicized nature with which they have covered this, the way they cover an awful lot of things. But nothing as stark as the way they have covered Ron DeSantis and his decisions down in Florida, which have turned out to be actually pretty smart.

BAIER: Jonathan, even still, recent polls suggest that some eight in ten people polled, they're worried about states opening up and worried about this thing possibly spiking again. How do you reconcile the two of those things?

JONATHAN SWAN, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "AXIOS": I think you reconcile them by the fact that more than 91,000 Americans have died from this virus, which -- forget China. We all know the numbers can't be taken at face value out of China, but that's a vastly worse than South Korea, Japan, Germany, pick a serious industrialized country. So it's terrible.

But in saying all of that, it hasn't been uniform across the country. Most of that death, much of that death, I should say, has happened in New York City. And what I find interesting in the polling --

BAIER: And New Jersey.

SWAN: And New Jersey. But New York City in particular, New York state, is Governor Cuomo remains remarkably popular among his constituents when the death outcome in his state has been just eye-popping. That's the thing that I find really tough to explain. He's obviously been very vocal, public, with this press conferences, but I wonder when that is going to match up against the outcome in New York.

BAIER: And the nursing home deaths is staggering in New York, and the decisions about nursing homes in New York, he really hasn't been pressed about fully. We welcome him to come on SPECIAL REPORT. We've invited numerous times, and we hope he does.

Susan, here is the question about the next phase of funding from Capitol Hill. Take a listen to this back and forth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY, (R-LA): We've already spent $150 billion in the CARES Act. The states have it. We know they are going to have shortfalls. We may not be able to pass another bill. I think it's less than $50 percent chance of passing another bill.

CHUCK SCHUMER, (D) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Many of my colleagues on the other side have said that more relief just isn't necessary. The Republican leader rejected legislation from the House of Representatives before the bill was even drafted. A kneejerk partisan response at a time when we should be working together to help our suffering constituents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Susan, you cover the hill. We try to keep track of where we are. It does not seem like negotiations are getting started anytime soon.

SUSAN FERRECHIO, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": Well, they could start in the coming weeks, and I think there have been preliminary talks. I think there is some agreement by giving the states more money, and that's because the states are just -- their coffers have run dry. They are not getting the tax revenue they need and they are facing catastrophic budget shortfalls. I think that's possible.

And there's also a desire on each side to get some things they want. For example, the president wants a payroll tax cut, maybe capital gains relief, other measures that would be incentives for businesses to get going again and get the economy going again. And so as they say in Washington here, if there is a will, there's a way. There is some will to do this. It won't be what Nancy Pelosi put forward, that's a $3 trillion marker she put down, but she may get a little bit of that because there may be negotiations eventually.

I think this really does, as Republicans have said, need to play out for a couple of weeks to see with the need is. I am not sure -- my sense is that Republicans are not entirely sure what they need yet, what the needs are. That is going to drive a lot of this. So when Senator Kennedy says less than 50 percent, I think it all depends. Maybe right now that is the case, but as we move forward and you see the needs developing and you watch the economy and see what may be needed there, it will really motivate Republicans to get to the table and try to work out a deal with Democrats.

BAIER: I just want to take a few seconds on this Susan Rice email. This is back from 2017 she was asked about that final effort on inauguration day to kind of say they were following the book. Take a listen, and reaction from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: During the transition, after President Trump had been elected, that he and the people around him may have been caught up in surveillance of foreign individuals and that their identities may have been disclosed. Do you know anything about this?

SUSAN RICE, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I know nothing about this.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: What were people doing? What was Susan Rice doing writing an email 15 minutes after President Trump was inaugurated. Susan Rice's emails suggest that Director Comey didn't see any evidence, quote, thus far. Thus far? It suggests that we're just going to just keep digging. We'll just keep digging until we find evidence. This is a disgrace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: We learned today, Charlie, that Susan Rice said that she wrote that email at the request of the White House Counsel, the Obama White House Counsel. What do you make of all this?

HURT: So from the beginning that email has been kind of strange. It seemed like a cover your rear end kind of email that she wrote after the fact. Now that we're learning that she was pressured to do this by the White House Counsel suggests that that cover your rear effort was broader than just one person. Certainly, Susan Rice is somebody that the administration sent out repeatedly to push a line for the administration that turned out not to be true. We saw that with the Benghazi situation, and of course, we saw that in the aftermath of all of this. And it raises real questions about just how broad that effort was within the Obama administration to not only cover up what they were doing, but also to go after General Flynn in the first place.

BAIER: Next up, we have an election going on. We'll give you the latest on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you pledge right now that you will not fire any inspectors general if you were president?

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes. The idea, inspectors generals were designed to make a government honest, to keep it honest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Present Obama fired the AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin who was reportedly investigating one of his political supporters. In retrospect, was that a mistake?

BIDEN: I don't recall that, but I tell you what, I don't ever remember the president deciding that somebody being investigated was inappropriate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, taking some questions from his Delaware home. This as the Real Clear Politics average of polls nationally has Biden up roughly about 5.6 points. This is national polls, recent polls, the average of them. And if you look at battleground states, again, this is the average of polls, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Florida, Wisconsin, North Carolina, where you see Donald Trump with a lead. There are other polls, including a CNN poll that showed Donald Trump with a bigger lead in some of those battlegrounds. Again, these are the average of recent polls.

We're back with the panel. Jonathan, where do you put the race right now, and what are the key factors for you watching this?

SWAN: It's very close. Biden is obviously ahead substantially nationally, but it's close in the swing states. And right now the Trump campaign is starting to define Biden. So I think right now is a very difficult moment in time to sort of freeze things, because you have a one in a century pandemic. You have Great Depression levels of unemployment. You have -- President Trump hasn't actually started to really go after Biden, his campaign hasn't really started to nuke him yet. The last couple of weeks they have just started.

So I think now is actually a peculiarly awful time to try and draw larger conclusions about this race. I think we will know much more in September, October, particularly whether the economy has gotten back on a decent trajectory, and also whether there has been a second wave of the virus and what the severity of that second wave is.

BAIER: Jonathan, we have got to fill a show, OK. We're going to talk about it. No, I'm kidding.

(LAUGHTER)

BAIER: Susan, to Jonathan's point, the Trump campaign just starting to spend some money on ads and other things on defining Joe Biden. One of the things that they are talking about a lot is his bloopers. Here's a little quick sample.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My name is Joe Biden. I'm a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate.

Corn Pop was a bad dude.

I'm not going nuts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He would be the oldest president in American history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: So Susan, we are probably just seeing the beginning of all of this. Your sense of where we are?

FERRECHIO: That's a powerful ad, and it's a powerful message. It's saying the president is out there working. He is doing the job competently, at least in the view of Republicans. And Joe Biden is someone who looks like he cannot handle the job. That's a very powerful message to send to voters right now when America is facing this pandemic and depression era unemployment, an economy that has just crashed to the ground. So that's a great strategy for the president to use on Biden.

But again, as Jonathan was saying, we are nowhere near October yet. It's so uncertain. Once Biden gets out of the basement and is out of their campaigning, everything is going to change. It could look worse for him if he's not able to recover, or he could actually start looking better if he gets some of his mojo back and looks better on the campaign trail.

BAIER: Yes. Charlie, I've got 30 seconds. Do you think we will have debates where this becomes a major issue, the debates?

HURT: I think without a doubt we will. And look, time and exposure are not Joe Biden's friend. You see Donald Trump go out there and give these hour- and-a-half long rallies, and he says a lot of things that are unpredictable and unexpected, but he doesn't ruin himself. And I think that the more time that Joe Biden, the more exposure Joe Biden gets, the more treacherous it gets for him. so I think that we are going to see a dramatic closing in these polls as we get closer to Election Day.

BAIER: And we will follow it closer to Election Day as well. Panel, as always, thank you.

When we come back, the brighter side of things. Some good news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Finally tonight, the brighter side of things, a few things to make you smile. We missed it last night. We'll bring it to you tonight.

Leilani Williams-LeMonier, a paramedic from Uniontown, Ohio, surprised her kids, when she returned home after fighting on the front lines of the health care crisis for six weeks. She had been helping with the COVID-19 response in New York City, working 12-hour shifts for 42 days. Leilani, thank you for all you did.

Today, the Blue Angels performed a surprise flyover in Annapolis to honor the Naval Academy's class of 2020. Check this out. Graduates stood six feet apart from one another, threw their hats into the air at the exact moment the planes passed overhead. That will give you goosebumps. Congratulations to the graduates. That's awesome.

Thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. That's it for the SPECIAL REPORT, fair balanced and unafraid. "THE STORY" hosted by Martha MacCallum starts right now.

Martha, have you seen the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds under these flyovers?

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