This is a rush transcript from “Special Report," August 25, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Only on Fridays, Jesse. Starring into space, that's good. Good evening, welcome to Washington. I'm Bret Baier.
Breaking tonight, the second night of the Republican National Convention, another night of surprises, more of that in a moment.
Plus, an interview with the House Minority Leader but first, officials are bracing for a third night of unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the shooting of a black man by police. The attorney for the family of Jacob Blake is demanding the officers arrest and prosecution. During emotional press conference just about an hour ago, Attorney Ben Crump said Blake may never walk again. The incident has sparked frustration and outrage not only there in Kenosha but across the country. Even as the investigation continues into exactly what happened there. Senior correspondent Mike Tobin is in Kenosha again tonight. Good evening, Mike. MIKE TOBIN, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Bret. In that emotional news conference, the mother of Jacob Blake says while she is praying for the healing of her son, she has been praying for the healing of this nation while calling for a civil suit ahead of the legal team says Jacob Blake is a victim of deliberate indifference.
Meanwhile, Kenosha parts of it still smoldering, braces for another night of violence. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOBIN: Escalating tension with police in riot gear. Violent demonstrators throwing bottles and setting off fireworks. Rubber bullets shredding an umbrella used for cover by protesters.
On the second night of violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which ignited Sunday after police shot Jacob Blake who witnesses say appear to be unarmed. JACOB BLAKE SR., FATHER OF JACOB BLAKE: They shot my son seven times, seven times, like he didn't matter. TOBIN: The family of Blake represented by prominent Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump. They say the 29-year old is currently paralyzed from the waist down. ATTY. BEN CRUMP, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: It is going to take a miracle for Jacob Blake Jr. to ever walk again. TOBIN: Blake's three young sons inside the car at the time. Newly shared cellphone video showing a few more moments of confrontation before police shot Blake. What you will not see is police body cam video, despite having the budget, body cameras were not purchased. Monday night bringing a barrage of smashed car windows, fires and looting. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm without a job now. My job is to clean this up and figure out what I'm going to do now. TOBIN: Kenosha not alone, protests about Blake shooting spreading to other cities including Minneapolis, the side of George Floyd's death which touched off widespread riots earlier this summer. And in San Diego, police headquarters blocked, several officers punched. (END VIDEOTAPE)
TOBIN: Wisconsin National Guardsmen were on the scene last night, still Kenosha burns. The Wisconsin governor Tony Evers says more guardsmen will be on duty tonight.
And Fox News has learned the U.S. Department of Justice has joined the investigation into Blake shooting, Bret. BAIER: Mike Tobin live in Kenosha. Head back for breaking news. Mike, thanks. The theme for night two of the Republican Convention is the land of opportunity. The various speakers will take the opportunity to continue the portrayal of Democrats as a threat to the fabric of America. And Joe Biden specifically in the words of Donald Trump Jr. last night, quote, the Loch Ness monster of the swamp. Democrats of course are fighting back, characterizing tonight's speech by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as the politicization of diplomacy and also portraying the first night of the RNC as an alternative reality.
Chief White House correspondent John Roberts has that story live from the North Lawn, John.
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Bret, good evening to you. So far, the two battling campaigns have been going at each other over style and substance. Well, you can add the issues of setting and secretary to that makes tonight. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: First Lady Melania Trump will speak tonight from her newly redesigned rose garden. A sales pitch to women voters on giving her husband a second term and some highlights from her first 3-1/2 years. STEPHANIE GRISHAM, MELANIA TRUMP CHIEF OF STAFF: It's very uplifting, it's very positive. It reflects on her time as First Lady and some of her favorite moments. And there's a couple moments in there that I think will be really key. And then it's really, really forward-looking. ROBERTS: The setting of the White House is controversial, but according to the government Office of Special Counsel, absolutely legal. Those staff have to adhere to strict guidelines to avoid violations of the Hatch Act, prohibiting political activities while on duty. GRISHAM: White House Counsel has been very, very strict with us. They've sent out many, many one pagers and e-mails explaining what can and can't be done. Everybody needs to do things on their own time. You cannot use government equipment, all of those things.
ROBERTS: While the White House setting has raised eyebrows, the Secretary of State's participation has drawn fire. Mike Pompeo will speak to the convention from Israel tonight. REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): The image is something that's going to say, look at us, we're hearing Israel making a speech to the Republican National Convention. Violating our values in terms of the bipartisanship in our support for Israel. Violating in many ways of what he told his own employees that they are not allowed. ROBERTS: A State Department official responding that Secretary Pompeo will address the convention in his personal capacity. No State Department resources will be used. Staff are not involved in preparing the remarks or in the arrangements for Secretary Pompeo's appearance. Tonight's convention is expected to continue the law and order theme of last night. Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi in Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron among the speakers. Whereas the Democratic Convention completely ignored the violence consuming American cities, Republicans are happily putting it front and center. NIKKI HALEY, FORMER GOVERNOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA: It's so tragic to see so much of the Democratic Party turning a blind eye towards riots and rage.
REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): Nightmares are becoming real. Cops killed; children shot.
DONALD TRUMP JR., OLDEST SON OF DONALD TRUMP: Defunding the police is not an option. Everything starts with safety and security.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: There will also be a big focus on immigration tonight, one of President Trump's two surprise appearances this evening at the convention will be at a naturalization ceremony where he will watch people from several countries become American citizens. That action will also highlighted announcement that the president made earlier today that he intends to nominate the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf to be the full time secretary.
Wolf has been dealing of course with the illegal immigration in addition to all of that violence that has been going on in cities across America, Bret. BAIER: John Roberts live in the North Lawn. John, thanks.
The opposition to President Trump is flooding the media zone tonight. Some former Republican presidential aides warning against reelecting the president. Politico reports, the group says the president has weaponized the executive branch and will be unleashed if he gets a second term.
Former FBI Director James Comey meantime, writing in The Washington Post, quote, if Trump style justice becomes our tradition, nobody is safe.
Well, Joe Biden is sticking close to home during the GOP convention week. His running mate is making online appearances and his party is quickly and aggressively responding to Republican attacks.
Correspondent Peter Doocy has tonight's Democracy 2020 report from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Joe Biden is laying low at the beach. Kamala Harris is attending virtual meetings in D.C. So, their surrogates are the lead critics of the Republican convention. GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): Last night was grim and spiteful and fear inducing. And while I do think that there are a lot of things to be concerned about, they'll emanate from the policies coming out of the White House right now. DOOCY: Democrats are also dismissive of the diversity on display at the RNC with the Biden campaign spokeswoman saying, congratulations to the Trump campaign on finding the small handful of Latino voters still supporting him after a disastrous four years for the Latino community.
But the Trump campaign manager argues, the convention program is proof a lot has changed in four years. BILL STEPIEN, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I'm a white guy who owns a pickup truck. I like college football and I drink beer, right. I was -- I was the bates of the election in 2016.
This time around, this week, last night, tonight in the remaining days of the convention, you're going to see an expanded base of support for the president. DOOCY: Even though Joe Biden doesn't have any events on the books this week, his campaign is trying to steer the national conversation back to COVID-19. BILL RUSSO, BIDEN CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN: We heard a lot last night about how cancel culture is going to ruin your life, but very little about how Donald Trump's mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis might end it. Like it tragically has for almost 180,000 Americans. DOOCY: Election Day keeps getting closer, so questions about voting by mail keep getting louder. And Biden is getting some advice from the last election's popular vote winner. HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances because I think this is going to drag out and eventually, I do believe he will win if we don't give up an inch. (END VIDEOTAPE)
DOOCY: The only thing we know for sure that Joe Biden did today is go for a bike ride for more than an hour. And just like the last time that we saw him two wheels down here, he was wearing a mask. But today, there was a big difference because this time, unlike last time, he was wearing a helmet, Bret. BAIER: All right, Peter, thank you.
The U.S. disrupted what the director of National Security Agency calls a concerted effort to undermine the midterm elections in 2018.
However, the statement does not say where, which foreign country was involved. That's according to Axios and https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__ForeignAffairs.com&d=DwICAg&c=cnx1hdOQtepEQkpermZGwQ&r=tgDLkJy54PfJyWJwul3dKe54qGxqO7b7d5vjo7RcZds&m=SiHjUYcrNQ_9sPQudTOskNkl6hGV81mxmptSj9Zagwk&s=NjkE9tCaHBWkbIcmHNErCwwOCkEcsjYOpr9HyOQ4mlA&e= .
The NSA chief and the head of the U.S. Cyber Command say lessons learned from that experience are being used to try to prevent foreign interference in this fall's election. Firefighters held by weather and reinforcements are hoping to continue progress toward extinguishing the California wildfires that have killed at least seven people and ravaged the San Francisco Bay Area and wine country. Fire officials reports significant progress since the weather has turned favorable.
Major fires were ignited more than a week ago during an usual siege of thousands of lightning strikes. Over 1,200 homes and other buildings had been burned.
Meantime, on the other side of the country, hundreds of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate Texas and Louisiana coasts ahead of hurricane Laura. Forecasters expect the storm to grow to a major Category 3 hurricane over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico before hitting the U.S. Coastline late Wednesday or early Thursday.
Correspondent Leland Vittert is on Holly Beach, Louisiana tonight. Good evening, Leland.
LELAND VITTERT, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Bret, good evening to you. The sheriff's office here tells me that in 36 hours, in area roughly the size of Rhode Island is going to be under water. How much water? Enough to reach the bottom of these homes that are on stilts here.
The major threat from Laura is not from wind but the combination of storm surge and rain that will cause massive flooding and possibly submerge whole towns.
More than 500,000 people are under mandatory evacuations from Galveston in the west, back east through much of Louisiana. People have until tomorrow morning to board up, pack up and move out.
Those hunkering down or told to have 72 hours' worth of supplies for them and their families. The coronavirus makes public shelters a complicated alternative.
Port Arthur, Texas is home to America's largest oil refinery and protected by levees which were no match for hurricane Harvey's massive range in 2017. The town is now under a mandatory evacuation. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every time I hear about a storm, is something and I pray and ask God, Lord, please don't let it flood. Please, please because - - oh, Lord, I love everything. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VITTERT: The National Guard is now helping with sandbag efforts and getting ready to rescue those caught in the flood waters. Once the storm passes, there are roughly 40 miles of bayou from here to safe ground. And for those who choose to stay, after the storm passes, help could be hours Bret, if not days away. BAIER: Leland Vittert live on Holly Beach, Louisiana. Leland, thanks.
Let's turn back to politics in the Republican Convention. Kevin McCarthy is the California's top GOP lawmakers, he's also the House Minority Leader, he joins us tonight. Mr. Leader, thanks for being here. REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): Thanks for having me back. BAIER: You know, Democrats portraying last night had a lot of things to say today. The biggest was it's an alternative reality that Republicans are living in. Your response to that. MCCARTHY: I think last night was wonderful. I think it exemplified that it's OK to be excited about America.
When you sit there and look at Mossimo, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, how powerful. It didn't matter what party you were in; you were proud as an American, you were excited for what this nation been able to achieve, an uplifting spirit. Something that you did not see in the four nights of the Democrat Convention. BAIER: The other thing that a lot of Democrats are having a problem with is tonight's one of tonight's speakers and that's Secretary Pompeo from Israel, take a listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): For him to do this, I think, further shows that this administration wanting to politicize the state of Israel and use it as a political wedge as opposed to a rallying cry for us to come together and continue our traditions of bipartisan support for the state of Israel. It's to me, it's reckless. PELOSI: As secretary himself, I'll cautioned employees at the State Department that they should not be engaged in any partisan activities because they work for the State Department, and now he's doing just that. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BAIER: Your response. MCCARTHY: I have to laugh at Speaker Pelosi, because Mike Pompeo is doing this on his own time, no government fund is being spent.
But you know what we're spending government money on? We're spending government money on 68 Democrats who refused to show up to the emergency session that we had last Saturday but you never heard one word from Speaker Pelosi. The Secretary Pompeo, this is on his own time. He is working just as the job that he always does. So at any given moment, if you would have asked Mike Pompeo to do a video on his own, he would be somewhere in the world.
And I think that is good that we can hear about, the work that he is doing only bringing our allies stronger together in this administration just continuing to keep their promise.
BAIER: Speaker Pelosi this week said, the president is a domestic enemy in the constitution. Saying, you, the GOP on Capitol Hill, fall under domestic enemy, and that it's shameful enemy of the state.
How are you going to negotiate with Speaker Pelosi in that environment and is there any backlash for not getting something across the finish line as far as that negotiation goes?
MCCARTHY: That's a great question. You know, last time they called us the deplorables. Now, Speaker Pelosi is saying we're an enemy. If you want to know why there is no agreement yet when it comes to a new COVID bill, you heard directly from her.
Remember, every time we tried to move legislation from the very first CARES Act when she came in to hold it up. Or when we needed more money for the small business employees, she stood in front of her refrigerator and said no to the nation. She's doing that exact same thing now. She always puts politics before people and that's what's wrong. We need people who can work together and that's exactly what you saw last night.
From a Democrat state rep from Georgia, standing up, saying he's supporting the president, and getting criticized, and they want him to resign. From every walk of life, would -- it was right to try that saved somebody's life with a drug because what this president has done.
That's why I think, at the end of the day when people see the four days of the Republican convention, and four days of the Democratic convention, it'll be very clear that we have a big contrast in an agenda.
After the Democrat convention, there's only three things I know. They hate President Trump, they want to raise your taxes, and they want to defund the police.
We love America and an idea that we think this is an exceptional country. A more perfect union that can take a life of a Tim Scott. That can go from Cotton to Congress in one generation -- I mean, in one lifetime. That's amazing or Nikki Haley.
These are the stories of America and what bring people to a party of Lincoln. And which sits and folds that the next four years will even be better than the four before.
BAIER: You are correct that we've heard a lot of policy jammed into even just the first night of the RNC, and there was criticism that the DNC didn't have a lot of specifics in policy.
However, there was also not a Republican platform. New York Magazine writes it this way. "Why would the party, and its candidates running for office at every level, define themselves so thoroughly with a president who has never even briefly held the support of half the country? It's probably because Trump is so deeply and historically unpopular that his party has embraced him so tightly."
As far as lack of a platform, that's what the New York Magazine is writing. Why is there not a platform?
MCCARTHY: But -- well, that -- well, that -- and first, that's just not true. And if they want to be put that equation, Bill Clinton, how much did he -- did he, who win by 43 percent or something?
If you sit and look at a platform, yes, because we're sitting in the middle of COVID, because I'm the chair of the convention as well, we were just down in Charlotte. We just agreed to the platform that we had before because you couldn't bring everybody together.
But you know another contrast between the Republican and Democrat convention? Our nominees actually showed up to the location to accept the vote that went forward. That's a different place.
I know Joe Biden, still, has not left his house, inside there except for a bike ride. You cannot run a nation; you cannot run the most powerful nation in the world by staying home and not going out and talking to the American public. You cannot win an election without telling people what you're going to do for the next four years.
And you know last night, we were able to show that the President Trump kept his promises. Be it build the wall, be it make the military stronger, build the biggest economy we ever had, criminal justice reform. Victory after victory after victory, and we'll lay out that the next four years will even be better.
BAIER: We'll have complete coverage tonight. Last thing, does President Trump protesting mail-in voting, especially for states that haven't done it before? Does that hurt you in the efforts to get some members elected?
I mean, there's some Republicans who were independents that obviously choose to mail-in votes in some of those states, and you need to win those seats.
MCCARTHY: Well, I think people should mail in their vote. What President Trump is saying, he wants to make sure that the vote is collected, because a mail-in vote is different than an absentee vote. A mail-in vote is where they mail to everybody who is just whatever on the list. The elections department does not clean that up. We found that in L.A., they had more than a million people that no longer there. So, you want to make sure that the absentee vote.
So, when you get your ballot, make sure you mail it in, but do something more. Follow it, trace it. Make sure it's counted. If it's not, go to the polls.
BAIER: Mr. Leader, we appreciate your time.
MCCARTHY: Thank you so much.
BAIER: Up next, is Jerry Falwell Jr. staying or leaving from one of the country's most famous religious universities amid scandal? We'll bring you that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: Following up on a story we brought you last night, turmoil at one of the nation's most notable Christian universities. Liberty president, Jerry Falwell Jr. embroiled in scandal, at first, agreed to resign, and then, changed his mind. And has now, changed it back.
Correspondent Kristin Fisher, tells us where things stand tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: One day after the first day of school at Liberty University, Jerry Falwell Jr. is officially out as president it was a confusing final few hours. The university's board, says it accepted his resignation on Tuesday after agreeing yesterday to immediately resign, then, reversing course.
The board added, "The University's heartfelt prayers are with him and his family as he steps away from his life's work."
Falwell had already been on an indefinite leave of absence after posting a picture of himself with his arm around his wife's assistant, and with both of their pants unbuttoned.
Then, Monday, Reuters dropped this bomb of a report, a young man claiming he'd had a seven-year-long sexual relationship with the evangelical power couple.
Giancarlo Granda, says he would have sex with Becki Falwell while Jerry Falwell Jr. watched. And Granda allegedly taped some of their conversations, which he then shared with Reuters.
BECKI FALWELL, WIFE OF JERRY FALWELL JR.: Gian's been very busy lately.
JERRY FALWELL JR., FORMER PRESIDENT OF LIBERTY UNIVERSITY: Yes, yes.
B. FALWELL: His new thing is like telling me every time he hooks up with people, like I don't have feelings or something.
J. FALWELL JR.: You're going to make her jealous, Gian.
FISHER: Falwell is placing the blame squarely on his wife. Telling the Washington Examiner that "Becki had an inappropriate personal relationship with this person, something in which I was not involved."
The revelations mark a stunning turn for a couple that's been at the forefront of the American-Christian conservative movement, and ascendant in Republican circles.
J. FALWELL JR.: Please welcome back to Liberty University, Mr. Donald Trump.
FISHER: Even hosting then-candidate Trump at the university's convocation in 2016.
J. FALWELL JR.: Becki has often commented to me that it is inconceivable to her how or why anyone would run for a national office in the current political climate, the loss of privacy, the security risks, the scrutiny.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FISHER: That same kind of scrutiny now bearing down on Falwell, himself. He was a big speaker at the Republican National Convention in 2016, but not this year. Bret.
BAIER: Kristin, thanks. Stocks mixed today. The Dow loss 60, the S&P 500 was up 12 to a new record close again. The NASDAQ gained 87 for another record finish.
Up next, the government pulls back on pronouncements of a historic breakthrough in treating the coronavirus. We'll explain.
First, here is what some of our Fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight. Fox 29 in Philadelphia, as Democratic Governor Tom Wolf, asked lawmakers there to send him a bill to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.
Wolf is also outlining how he thinks the state should spend with the $1.3- billion left in federal coronavirus release -- relief funds during what remains of the lawmaker's two-year session.
Fox 2 in Detroit, as a young woman who was pronounced dead after emergency crews from the Southfield Fire Department, found her unresponsive is discovered to still be breathing at a Detroit funeral home.
A lawyer hired by the woman's family, says she opened her eyes as she was about to be embalmed. The woman is in critical condition now at a hospital there.
And this is a live look at Dallas from Fox 4, our affiliate out there. The big story there tonight. American Airlines cutting more than 40,000 jobs including 19,000 through furloughs and layoffs. The moves will take place in October.
American executives said the furloughs can only be avoided if the federal government gives the airlines another $25 billion to help them cover labor costs for six more months.
That's tonight's live look "OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY" from SPECIAL REPORT. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: The head the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, is apologizing for overstating the life-saving benefits of treating COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma. President Trump has hailed it as a major develop. Correspondent David Lee Miller has a wrap up of today's coronavirus news.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID LEE MILLER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn has issued a clarification on the effectiveness of a treatment for COVID-19 patients that President Trump has called a historic breakthrough. On Sunday, the president and Hahn touted the FDA's emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma, Hahn repeating the president's claim that at least 35 out of 100 patients would recover if treated with the therapy.
STEPHEN HAHN, FDA COMMISSIONER: I was a cancer doctor before I became FDA commissioner, and a 35 percent improvement in survival show a clinical benefit.
MILLER: Some scientists said the claim was not backed up by the data. Hahn is now trying to clarify his statement, saying the criticism was entirely justified.
HAHN: I personally could have done a better job and should have done a better job at that press conference explaining what the data show regarding convalescent plasma. And I can assure the American people that this decision was made based upon sound science and data.
MILLER: Travelers to New York arriving at LaGuardia or JFK Airport might soon be asked to take a COVID test when they land. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the plan, but how the program will be implemented remains unclear. In Florida, where the virus infection rate is declining, 13,000 social distanced fans will be allowed in the stadium when the Miami Dolphins host the Buffalo Bills for their home opener.
On the Tuscaloosa campus of the University of Alabama, more than 500 students, teachers, and staff have been infected with the virus since classes resumed last week.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MILLER: And here in New York City, despite threats of a job action by the teachers' union, in classroom instruction is set to get underway on the first day of school next month. Mayor Bill de Blasio said today so-called ventilation action teams will inspecting each school building to make sure there is proper air flow. Also in the works, at least until the weather gets cold, the possibility of teaching kids outdoor. Bret?
BAIER: David Lee, thanks.
Schools across the country are revising lesson plans tonight in response to the summer's racial violence and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. Not everyone thinks that is a good idea. Correspondent Gillian Turner shows us this evening.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GILLIAN TURNER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: As millions of American students return to school either in person or virtually, many may find educators aren't just adjusting their lessons due to the pandemic but are also overhauling curricula to bring it in line with the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement. The founder of one D.C. charter school says it's time to make lessons racially inclusive.
MASHEA ASHTON, DIGITAL PIONEERS ACADEMY FOUNDER: What we find is there's not enough recognition of the tremendous role that African-Americans have had in creating the United States.
TURNER: Teachers say it's time to update history books in particular.
LAPORTIA BANKS, GEORGIA PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER: We demand they mandate black history and ethnic studies from K through 12.
TURNER: The latest school demographics show America's teachers aren't especially diverse. About 79 percent nationwide are white. This is why many educators now insist updating education materials is the only way to ensure the kids are getting a full picture.
BRITTANY O'NEAL, GEORGIA PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER: These demands will create equity that is needed in our education system.
TURNER: But some educators urge caution.
JUSTIN GOLDSTEIN, MINNESOTA PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER: If you start forcing things into curriculum, social justice, it could do a lot more harm than go, especially if the teacher isn't equipped to teach such a thing. My principle fear is that we are just going to push this agenda on you and it's not going to be not long-lasting, not permanent.
TURNER: Others, though, insist changing attitudes must begin in the classroom with the stories teachers choose to tell, like that of a pioneering NASA mathematician.
ASHTON: A clear example for us as the first computer science middle school in Washington, D.C., is all of the figures in hidden figures. Literally Katherine Johnson was a coder. She was a computer scientist.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TURNER: One big challenge educators talk about is cost. They worry how schools can afford to overhaul academics during a global pandemic when school budget are already strained to the max. Bret?
BAIER: Gillian, thank you.
Iran says it's done making adjustments to the 2015 nuclear deal. We'll explain next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: The president of the United Nations Security Council says it is not in position to take further action on the U.S. bid to restore U.N. sanctions on Iran. This comes as Iran says it will not accept any additional demands on its nuclear program beyond the terms of the 2015 nuclear agreement. Correspondent Benjamin Hall has details tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BENJAMIN HALL, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Iran will not renegotiate the nuclear deal, and will allow no new access to sensitive nuclear sites. Speaking during a visit by the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran's nuclear chief was steadfast.
ALI AKBAR SALEHI, IRAN ATOMIC ENERGY DEPARTMENT (through translator): The Islamic Republic won't give in to demands outside its commitment.
HALL: Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has added that if the U.S. wants an agreement it must first return to the nuclear deal. But since President Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 agreement, Iran has already breached key limits on its nuclear activity. Now Secretary Pompeo is touring the Middle East, unifying Arab nations and Israel against Iran, with the recent peace deal with the UAE hailed as Hispanic. Last week Iran also unveiled new cruise missiles as the U.S. announced it was restoring U.N. sanctions to stop Iran from buying and selling advanced weapons. Secretary Pompeo urging other countries to follow suit.
MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: And to publicly account for the fact that Iran is on the cusp on October 18th of having access to those weapons, and the money that will come from their sale of those weapons that will be used to inflict real harm.
HALL: Vice President Biden has made it clear that he would rejoin the Iran deal. But President Trump's first U.N. ambassador sees this as a grave mistake.
NIKKI HALEY, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Obama and Biden let Iran get away with murder and literally sent them a plane full of crash. President Trump did the right thing and ripped up the Iran nuclear deal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HALL: Other signatories of the Iran deal are still sticking by it, but whoever wins in November will have the final say. Bret?
BAIER: Benjamin, thank you.
Up next, the panel on the Republican Convention and the Democrats' response.
Frist, Beyond our Borders tonight. A wave of attacks across Afghanistan leaves at least 17 people dead, scores more wounded today. Officials say the violence including a truck bombing in the country's north, targeting a commando base for Afghan forces. The Taliban is claiming responsibility for that attack.
The Kremlin is denying allegations that Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was the victim of an intentional poisoning orchestrated by authorities. It says there are no grounds for a criminal investigation so far since it has not been fully established what caused the politician to fall into a coma. Secretary of State Pompeo says the U.S. supports the call for an investigation and stands ready to assist. Navalny is being treated at a German hospital.
KFC, formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is dropping the iconic "finger licking good" slogan outside the U.S. in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The company says it will reinstate the 64-years-old motto when the time is right.
Just some of the other stories Beyond our Borders tonight. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN MCCARTHY, (R-CA) HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: The last time they called us the deplorables. Now Speaker Pelosi is saying we are an enemy. She always puts politics before people. And that's what's wrong. We need people who can work together. And that's exactly what you saw last night, from a Democrat state rep from Georgia standing up saying he's supporting the president and getting criticized and they want him to resign.
At the end of the day when people see the four days of the Republican Convention and four days of the Democratic Convention, it will be very clear that we have a big contrast in an agenda.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: That agenda continuing tonight on night number two of the Republican Convention. Some big speakers tonight, including the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and of course the biggest speaker from the Rose Garden we believe, if the weather holds, the first lady of the United States, Melania Trump.
Let's bring in our panel to discuss all of this, FOX News senior political analyst Brit Hume, Charles Hurt, opinion editor for "The Washington Times," Julie Pace is the Washington Bureau Chief for the Associated Press, and Bill McGurn, columnist -- he's not actually. There he is -- columnist for "The Wall Street Journal." He was very colorful there for a second.
Let's start with you, Brit. What about this night and bouncing off the first night?
BRIT HUME, FOX NEWS SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's not entirely clear to me that this particular line of speakers will pack the same wallop for Republicans that last night's did. I think the Republicans feel that they had a great night last night and the speakers delivered in the way that they hoped they would.
With all the controversy surrounding Mike Pompeo appearing from Israel where he is over there on official business brought a lot of criticism that it crosses the line of State Department business into politics. I'm not sure it does, but it does leave a question mark hanging over his speech tonight.
And Melania Trump, I think, to Republicans is an extremely gracious and very, very attractive first lady, but she is hampered, of course, as anyone would be by having a foreign accent. And of course, there has been all this flap about the Rose Garden that may overhang this as well. But it remains to be seen, but last night will be hard for them to top, I think.
BAIER: Yes. Last night, Charlie, there was a focus on Donald Trump and the African-American community, the black community. You had Herschel Walker with a very personal relationship kind of story, 37 years a relationship. Here's Tim Scott and a state legislator from Georgia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TIM SCOTT, (R-SC): In 1994 Biden led the charge on a crime bill that put millions of black Americans behind bars. Joe Biden said if a black man didn't vote for him, he wasn't truly black. Joe Biden said black people are a monolithic community. It was Joe Biden who said poor kids can be just as smart as white kids.
VERNON JONES, (D) GEORGIA STATE HOUSE: The Democratic Party does not want black people to leave their mental plantation. I have news for Joe Biden -- we are a free people with free minds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: Charlie, making an explicit go at the black community as far as votes. Take a look back at 2016. Hillary Clinton gets 89 percent of the black vote against Donald Trump. Our latest polls about job performance among black voters, approve 15 percent, disapprove 82 percent. And then asked about the choice of voting today, Joe Biden gets 78 percent, Donald Trump at that eight percent number. Are they looking to move that number?
CHARLES HURT, OPINION EDITOR, "WASHINGTON TIMES": I think absolutely. And of course, Herschel Walker's testimony, I thought, was one of the most powerful testimonies of the night. But also think about it coming off of last week. I feel like the bar was set kind of low. The Democratic Convention last week I thought was one of the gloomiest, most depressing affairs that I have seen in politics in a long time. I found myself drifting back and looking at the 2008 Democratic Convention again and some of those speeches. And that was very uplifting. Barack Obama, President Obama back then, or then Senator Obama, ran a very, very positive convention and it was hard not to get caught up in it. What we saw last week was very different.
What we saw last night with the Republican Convention with Herschel Walker and Senator Scott and Maximo Alvarez was a very positive and uplifting message. It was talking about how great America is, which is, it seems to me, like a baseline that all politicians probably ought to start their campaigns with. But in that regard, I thought it was very, very successful, and it certainly appealed to the people who already liked President Trump and invigorated them. We'll see whether or not it reached beyond that group of people.
BAIER: Julie, it was chockfull of policy. Each one of the speeches had some element of policy that the administration has done, some of them front and center, others that we haven't really talked about a lot. And there will be a couple surprises tonight at the White House.
JULIE PACE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Yes. Certainly what Republicans are trying to do is draw a contrast to the Democratic Convention which did not focus centrally on policy. It was much more about a national moment and certainly about trying to draw a sharp contrast personally with President Trump. And so Republicans came into this week really eager to try to put policy at the forefront. I do think that is something you will see certainly more tonight. I think that is partially why you have Mike Pompeo who is stepping into a controversial role here but trying to really put forward a message on this administration's foreign policy, trying to show action in the Middle East, certainly around Israel. And some of the moves we've seen lately, I think they really want to showcase this America First policy.
BAIER: Bill, we've heard a lot of Democrats respond that this was alternative reality. They thought it was dark last night. But one Democrat, the last candidate on the presidential ticket, piped in for advice to Joe Biden. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances because I think this is going to drag out, and eventually I do believe he will win if we don't give an inch and if we are as focused and relentless as the other side is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: That makes me tired thinking about not conceding and months of battles, and something else. Bill, your thoughts on that?
BILL MCGURN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think it's because Mrs. Clinton hasn't yet conceded in 2016. So I'm not sure that that helps President Biden -- Vice President Biden.
I think that Conventions have two purposes, right. One is to rally your crowd, to preach to your choir, because if you don't preach to them, they start wandering off to other congregations. So a lot of it is to generate enthusiasm.
But the other important part is to make an appeal to swing voters who might not have been paying close attention, or actually as the voters in the Trump and Biden camps might find this hard to believe, but there are a lot of people that still can't decide between the two, and you want to highlight those differences.
We watch these things, all of us on the panel, in a very different way from most Americans. I'm sitting there on the sofa watching it and then switching from channel to channel looking for different commentaries, reading instant tweeted reactions. I don't think that's how most people do it.
And so a lot of it is the impression they get. And I thought the first night was good because I agree with Charlie. I think the Democratic Convention was very dark. It didn't sound -- it just did not sound upbeat about the United States, whereas I think last night the Republicans that they had, Nikki Haley did I think an excellent job talking about it, and explicitly had to say America is not racist, even acknowledging the problems she had as an Indian-American in America. And I thought it was very powerful.
BAIER: Brit, very quickly, this is about creating storylines and weaving these speeches. The message is, essentially, it's a job interview, does he deserve to have the job again.
HUME: It is, indeed. But this message of an optimistic view of America and an admiring attitude toward the country has been very important to Republicans in the past. I remember going back as far as 1988 when the Democrats had a sour view of the state of America and an optimistic message in the campaign and about the American flag and all the rest of it. It became part of the Republican campaign which ended up being a successful campaign. Democrats have to be careful not to appear to be in any sense anti-American.
BAIER: Panel, thank you very much. We'll see you tonight.
Some final thoughts when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: The White House is getting ready. It is kind of steamy, though, a little swampy here in Washington, and thunderstorms are on the way. So we'll see how the weather affects everything.
Thank you for inviting us into your home tonight. That's it for this "Special Report," fair, balanced, and unafraid.
"The Story" hosted by Martha starts right now. And either way, if it rains or not, we'll be here at 10p.m.
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