White House hopeful about progress of coronavirus stimulus talks

close

Video

White House hopeful about progress of coronavirus stimulus talks

Congress considering bipartisan $908B relief proposal; Kristin Fisher reports from the White House

This is a rush transcript from “Special Report” December 4, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS HOST: Good evening and welcome to Washington. I'm
John Roberts in for Bret Baier.

Breaking tonight, more grim news about the coronavirus pandemic. U.S.
deaths from the outbreak eclipsed 3,100 on Thursday, obliterating the
single day record set last spring. Dr. Anthony Fauci warning January is
going to be terrible.

For the first time, the Centers for Disease Control is urging everyone to
wear masks any place that is not their home. California experiencing one of
the most severe outbreaks and is responding with some of the most severe
restrictions including a three-week stay at home order.

All of this as at this hour, the Trump campaign wraps up its election
fight. The judge makes a ruling in one critical case. We have Fox team
coverage Kristin Fisher at the White House, Peter Doocy with the Biden
transition, Chad Pergram on Capitol Hill in the progress of a coronavirus
relief bill. Jackie DeAngelis is in New York with how the pandemic is
crushing small business. The national correspondent William La Jeunesse
starts us off tonight from Los Angeles, William.

WILLIAM LA JEUNESSE, FOX NEWS NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, every
state is doing something but not as aggressive as California. Now, once
imposed, this order bans leisure travel basically pays -- says that
individuals that they should stay home through the holidays through
Christmas, and likely New Years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More money coming out than it's coming in. We feel like
we're paying for other people's consequences because we already take our
precaution.

LA JEUNESSE (voice-over): Fair or not, state-imposed orders are closing
businesses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have essentially had their business closed for half
this year, if not more. It's going to be very, very, very tough to get back
on your feet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are losing their jobs. So, and losing jobs
means losing money. Losing money means maybe losing your home.

LA JEUNESSE: Emergency responders are also at a breaking point.

STEPHEN LOVE, PRESIDENT AND CEO, DALLAS-FORT WORTH HOSPITAL: There are some
that can expand bed capacity. There are others that really can't because
they don't have the staff.

LA JEUNESSE: Cases hit new highs in 27 states with nearly 3,000 Americans
dying from the virus yesterday alone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which means that we start making very very difficult
decisions with regard to triage of who's the sickest and who's the most
likely to benefit from our limited resources.

LA JEUNESSE: Delaware now requires wearing a mask inside your home if
someone visits from outside. California wants people to stay home
altogether.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop gathering with people outside of your household to
do what you can to keep most of your activities outside.

LA JEUNESSE: The California order kicks in when ICU bed capacity falls
below 15 percent in any region. For three weeks, no restaurant eating
indoors or out, no playgrounds, hotels, theaters, haircuts or gyms.

MAYOR KEVIN FAULCONER (R-CA), SAN DIEGO: We get new executive orders with
really with no science behind it. And that's why you see this growing anger
and frustration. It's not just California, this restaurant owner in
Michigan interrupted a local reporters' live shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As an American and as I watched my American people
crumble down here at the ground level, I'm upset.

LA JEUNESSE: So appears who's Governor Newsom when he got this question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know you've acknowledged that you've lost some moral
authority because of the crunch laundry situation. Do you believe that the
damage done to your credibility is fable?

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (R-CA): I'm doing my job, I'll continue to do my job.
That's what I have to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LA JEUNESSE: And today, the CDC recommended for the first time, universal
mask use. That means indoors and out, except at home, John.

ROBERTS: William La Jeunesse for us tonight in Los Angeles. William,
thanks.

The November jobs report is pointing toward a downturn in the economy.
Employers added just 245,000 jobs. That is the fewest since April, and the
fifth straight monthly slowdown, the small business sector particularly
hard hit by the pandemic. Let's find out why and what's being done. Fox
News Business correspondent or Fox Business correspondent Jackie DeAngelis
in New York for us tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKIE DEANGELIS, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Small
businesses and restaurants, America's backbone are on the ropes because of
the coronavirus pandemic. Limited foot traffic and lock downs translate
into 164,000 businesses having to close at one point since the beginning of
the pandemic, with 60 percent having to close permanently according to
Yelp.

Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker, a Democrat has been referencing a study
from the CDC from September that suggested adults who tested positive for
COVID-19 were twice as likely to have reported dining at a restaurant as
those who tested negative. The crux of it, that coronavirus transmission
has a higher likelihood to spread indoors where people are in closer
contact.

Critics of lockdowns, however, are saying that the U.S. is living with
tight restrictions and even so, the virus hasn't been contained.

SPIRO ROUMPAS, RESTAURANT OWNER: We still adhere to the social distancing,
the six feet apart. We've done everything that the higher ups have asked us
to do. But when they said we had to close inside again, we just couldn't --
we couldn't do that.

DEANGELIS: The economic damage that could result net losses from $3.2 to
$4.8 trillion in U.S. real GDP according to a new USC study. Some big
businesses are also calling out what they see as hypocrisy.

ROBERT UNANUE, CEO, GOYA FOODS: It's the disingenuous for these CEOs, these
governors to close down the states, put people out of work while they enjoy
a fixed salary without any repercussions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEANGELIS: But as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are on the rise
and deaths hit a new one day record this week, public health and the
country's economic viability remain at stake, John.

ROBERTS: Jackie DeAngelis for us tonight. Jackie, thanks so much.

Despite fears of an economic slowdown, all three major stock indexes hit
new record closes today. The Dow gained 249 that finish well above 30,000.
The S&P 500 was up 32. The NASDAQ jumped 87.

For the week, the Dow was up about a percentage point, the S&P 500 gained
1-2/3, the NASDAQ finished ahead more than two.

There appears to be movement tonight toward a new coronavirus relief bill
in Congress. Congressional correspondent Chad Pergram tells us where things
stand right now and of course, they could always change. Hi, Chad.

CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, John.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sounded as optimistic as ever that they could
assemble a coronavirus package. The speaker said Congress "must get it
done". She added, there was now momentum.

In the late summer, the speaker dismissed a scaled back bipartisan
coronavirus plan and pushed her more expensive bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): It's not perfect, perfect is 3.4 trillion.
Remember, we've come down one trillion and we met -- and said we'd meet
them in the middle. So, this is not about perfect doing any of the good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERGRAM: Fox press Pelosi about why she changed her position.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: That is a total game changer, a new president and a vaccine. This
is has simplicity. It's what we've had in our bills. It's for a shorter
period of time, but that's OK now, because we have a new president.

PERGRAM: Now, Pelosi wants to attach a possible coronavirus package onto a
mega bill to avoid a government shutdown. A week from today, the Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell agrees he's hoping to a compromise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERGRAM: A Senate Republicans want liability protections. Many Democrats
and some Republicans want money for state and local governments. And
lawmakers are considering extending unemployment benefits but it's unclear
which items could wind up in the final plan after all the wrangling, John.

ROBERTS: We still don't have a coronavirus relief bill, but we did get a
landmark vote in the House today on cannabis.

PERGRAM: That's right, weed. For the first time, the House voted to
decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. It's been banned since the
1970s. The vote 228 to 164, five Republicans voted yes, six Democrats voted
no.

Now, supporters of the bill say the federal government lags behind states
when it comes to loosening restrictions on cannabis. The bill won't go
anywhere in the Senate, but the legislation serves as a signal to
president-elect Biden from liberals, John.

ROBERTS: Chad Pergram for us across the street in Capitol Hill. Chad,
thanks so much.

The administration is focusing on a possible relief bill while the Trump
campaign is also keeping up its fight over the election results.
Correspondent Kristin Fisher has that part of the story from the White
House tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KUDLOW, DIRECTOR, UNITED STATES NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: I would
say it has a somewhat more optimistic tone.

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That is how the White
House's top economic adviser is describing this latest round of stimulus
negotiations.

But while Larry Kudlow is cautiously optimistic, he also noted that his
boss remains critical of a key component of the new bipartisan proposal
funding for state and local governments.

KUDLOW: He doesn't want to deal with mismanaged states and localities. But
I do want to comment on it because I will leave that to the negotiations.

FISHER: With Congress trying to come together to pass some kind of economic
relief, Vice President Mike Pence is promising a different kind of relief.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Just a week and a half
away from what will be the likely approval of the first coronavirus vaccine
for the American people.

FISHER: During a meeting at the CDC's headquarters in Atlanta, the vice
president discussed the promise of the upcoming vaccine distribution, even
as the number of daily deaths hits new highs.

PENCE: We're in a challenging time in the course of this pandemic, but
we're also in a season of hope.

FISHER: President Trump also has Georgia on his mind, but for a different
reason. He's upset about this surveillance video from a poll site in Fulton
County. His legal team claims that shows poll workers pulling suitcases
full of ballots from under a table and counting them after Republican
observers had left the building.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

FISHER: But a Republican election official in Georgia counters that the
video was watched in its entirety hours by Georgia Secretary of State
investigators, and that it shows normal ballot processing.

The video was discussed extensively at a meeting of the Fulton County Board
of Elections Friday morning. The county's election director described it
as:

RICHARD BARRON, DIRECTOR, FULTON COUNTY ELECTIONS: -- normal. I mean,
that's their normal operation.

FISHER: And the results were certified.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The eyes have it, this election is certified.

FISHER: The president's allies are also fighting to reverse the certified
results in Arizona. The state's Republican chairwoman leading the lawsuit,
he's already planning next steps after the hearing and did today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is likely to go to appeal, so don't be
disheartened today if you hear that this case was -- is over at this level.
We are going higher; we are continuing to fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: Now, moments ago, President Trump thanked Republican legislative
leaders in Arizona who today called for an audit of election software and
equipment in that critical Maricopa County.

And in addition to Arizona, we're also waiting for a judge in Nevada to
rule on a Trump campaign's request to overturn the certified results in
that state. And just moments ago, a judge in Nevada denied that request
from the Trump campaign.

And one more thing, John, we just found out about an hour ago that the
Trump campaign has filed yet another lawsuit in Georgia, so the fight
certainly continues in that state as well, John.

ROBERTS: And the president off to Valdosta tomorrow to campaign for
Senators Perdue and Loeffler. We'll be watching that closely. Kristin
Fisher, thanks so much.

The biotech pharmaceutical industry is filing a lawsuit against the Trump
administration over new rules to lower drug prices. The Biotechnology
Innovation Organization's lawsuit will seek to block implementation of the
administration's so called most favored nations drug pricing policy.

The Supreme Court is agreeing to review President Trump's efforts to revive
the Medicaid work requirement program. Oral arguments will be held sometime
next year.

President-elect Joe Biden is calling the November jobs report "dire" and
says Congress and President Trump must provide immediate relief for
families and businesses, but Biden says whatever comes is just a down
payment.

Correspondent Peter Doocy reporting from Wilmington, Delaware tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president-elect knows
he will inherit an economy affected by the pandemic.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: The folks out there
aren't looking for a handout, they just need help.

DOOCY: He's pleased a bipartisan group of senators is reaching across the
aisle on a $900 billion stimulus proposal.

BIDEN: If we act now -- now, I mean, now, we can begin to regain momentum.

DOOCY: But he won't reveal what he's been telling elected officials.

BIDEN: Well, it would be kind of stupid for me to tell you what I did,
wouldn't it? It'd be kind of hard to do it again.

DOOCY: Transition officials say many cabinet announcements are coming soon.

JEN PSAKI, BIDEN TRANSITION SPOKESWOMAN: Hope you have your coffee and your
spinach or whatever keeps you going, because it will be busy between now
and Christmas.

DOOCY: It'll be busy at the House Oversight Committee too. Republicans
there want to know why California's Secretary of State Alex Padilla who
could be appointed to fill the vacant Kamala Harris Senate seat soon gave a
$35 million contract to a Biden linked firm SKDK Knickerbocker to make
voter contacts.

REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): If he is in fact the person that Governor Newsom
selects to replace Kamala Harris in the Senate, then he's going to have to
answer this probably before the Senate Ethics Committee. So, we might as
well answer these questions now. This is clearly improper use of taxpayer
dollars.

DOOCY: The transition team is still getting up to speed on Operation Warp
Speed.

BIDEN: There is no detailed plan, we've seen anyway. As to how you get the
vaccine out of a container into an injection syringe into somebody's arm.

DOOCY: Fox News asked the president-elect what happens next.

(INAUDIBLE) vaccine should be mandatory?

BIDEN: No, I don't think it should be mandatory. I wouldn't demand it to be
mandatory, but I would do everything in my power. It's like I don't think
masks have to be made mandatory nationwide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: Biden would not commit to picking a person of color as his Secretary
of Defense or Attorney General but says his cabinet will be the most
diverse ever and he's shrugging off complaints about a lack of diversity in
the picks so far from civil rights groups saying it's those groups job to
push leaders for more diversity, John.

ROBERTS: He also gave up on his campaign pledge of a national masked
mandate pretty quickly too. Peter Doocy, thanks so much.

Some serious star power involved to Georgia this weekend, a little more
than one month ahead of the crucial Senate runoffs there that will
determine the balance of power in the chamber. Former President Obama held
a virtual rally today, Vice President Pence came in person, President
Trump, as we mentioned, will be in the state tomorrow.

And in Atlanta for us tonight, correspondent Steve Harrigan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PENCE: I'm here because I stand with President Donald Trump. And I'm here
because we stand with Senator David Perdue and Senator Kelly Loeffler.

STEVE HARRIGAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're bringing out
the big guns in the battle to control the U.S. Senate. Vice President Pence
campaign Friday in Savannah for Republican senators David Perdue and Kelly
Loeffler.

PENCE: I know we've all got our doubts about the last election. And I
actually hear some people saying, just don't vote.

AMERICAN CROWD: No!

PENCE: My fellow Americans, if you don't vote they win.

HARRIGAN: Georgia's Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who is called hapless
by President Trump was not on hand. According to a spokesperson, the
governor had a family emergency.

Meanwhile, President Obama held a virtual rally for the two Democrats, Jon
Ossoff and Rafael Warnock.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The special election
in Georgia is going to determine, ultimately, the course of the Biden
presidency, and whether Joe Biden and Kamala Harris can deliver
legislatively all the commitments they've made.

HARRIGAN: Some Trump supporters not satisfied with the election process in
Georgia are urging Republicans to not vote in the runoff elections,
something Governor Kemp warned is a big mistake.

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): It's going to give the radicals everything they
want. I mean, this is literally the firewalls. I think we have to pull
together and figure out what we've got to do to assure people that their
votes are going to count.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIGAN: The president will be in Georgia tomorrow for a rally for the
Republicans. John.

ROBERTS: All right, Steve Harrigan for us in Atlanta tonight. Steve, thank
you so much, we'll be watching that closely tomorrow.

Please join us Sunday night as well for the debate between Senator Kelly
Loeffler and Democrat Rafael Warnock. Martha MacCallum anchors our coverage
starting at 6:45 Eastern.

Still ahead, big companies are taking the task of what some see as
hypocrisy on social issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know what ultimately the plans are for us that
are stuck here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS (voice-over): Plus, remember when cruise passengers were trapped
for days, even weeks aboard ship as coronavirus spread. Coming up, where
the industry has come from those early days of the pandemic and where it
goes from here.

And later, we're kicking off the weekend with a look at some of the week's
biggest highlights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): President, we weren't exactly party animals in
our 20s.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry I took that trip.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: President Trump is ordering the withdrawal of most American troops
from Somalia. The U.S. has about 700 troops in the African nation, they are
focused on helping local forces defeat the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab
insurgency. The move is part of the president's overall effort to draw down
forces overseas before he leaves office.

The U.S. is accusing China tonight of forcing huge numbers of ethnic
Uighurs into factory and farm jobs against their will. The Trump
administration is taking new steps to pressure Beijing over the issue.

State Department correspondent Rich Edson has details for us tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICH EDSON, FOX NEWS WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A bill designed
to fight widespread slave labor in China, and congressional aides say
American companies are lobbying against it.

REP. JENNIFER WEXTON (D-VA): A lot of these companies just want to have it
both ways. Maybe it's time for them to rethink some of their supply chains.

EDSON: Reports claim, companies like Nike and Apple are lobbying against
the Uighur Forced Labor Prevention Act. Apple denies the charge, saying it
wants the bill to become law and investigates its supply chains.

Nike says the company has engaged with Congress on the bill and monitor
supply chains for forced labor.

U.S. officials say China has forced more than 1 million Uighurs in
Xinjiang, China into camps, pushing many into forced labor across the
country.

Senator Marco Rubio tells Fox News, "Far too many in corporate America will
lecture us about right and wrong, but promptly forget about those values
when they operate abroad. We're witnessing one of the worst ongoing
tragedies of our time play out in Xinjiang at the hands of the Chinese
Communist Party, and many in corporate America are silent."

Many in Congress point to the controversy over the National Basketball
Association. Its biggest stars with lucrative apparel deals and their
refusal to criticize forced labor in China, while jumping on other
responsibility campaigns.

This week, the Trump administration announced the U.S. is banning cotton
imports from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

KEN CUCCINELLI, ACTING DEPUTY SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY:
These are modern-day slaves. As Americans, we won't participate in this
abuse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EDSON: The Australian Strategic Policy Institute says Uighurs are working
in factories under conditions that strongly suggest forced labor, and
they're supplying more than 80 well-known global brands in technology,
clothing, and autos. John?

ROBERTS: Rich Edson with the update tonight. Rich, thanks.

Up next, how cruising came to a halt during the pandemic and how it is
hoping to recover?

First, here is what some of our Fox affiliates around the country are
covering tonight. Fox 32 in Chicago as a retired fire department lieutenant
is killed when he exchanges gunfire with carjackers as he's walks to his
vehicle from a popcorn shop.

Police say Dwain Williams was confronted by four carjackers who got out of
a dark sedan. He was shot once in the abdomen during an exchange of
gunfire.

Fox 5 in New York as a fugitive who shot a state trooper in Massachusetts
two weeks ago is killed during a shootout with the U.S. marshals. 35-year-
old Andre Sterling was also wanted on drug charges in Wyoming, two marshals
were wounded in the exchange.

And this is a live look at Detroit from Fox 2, one of the big stories there
tonight. Customs and Border Protection announces it seized nearly 500
pounds of marijuana as it came into Detroit on Monday. Authorities say the
shipment was listed as peat moss, but an x-ray scan revealed it was pot
moss.

And that's tonight's live look "OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY" from SPECIAL REPORT.
We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: In tonight's "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO" segment, a look at the cruise
industry, it has been devastated by the coronavirus. This evening,
correspondent Phil Keating on whether and when the business can set sail
once again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL KEATING, FOX NEWS NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before
coronavirus was deep in the American psyche, there was the Diamond Princess
anchored in Japan. The passengers on the ship stuck in quarantine in their
cabins after COVID-19 spread on board.

Frankly, I have to tell you now we're becoming quite afraid.

KEATING: Nearly 700 passengers ended up with the virus. Not long after
that, Holland America's Zaandam and Rotterdam ships finally made their way
to Florida's Port Everglades. The Zaandam ship full of quarantining
passengers and crew after both ships being denied porting in several
countries since the disease had spread through the ships.

The Centers for Disease Control quickly realized cruise ships were
effectively Petri dishes for the deadly virus and issued a no-sail order
for all ships.

ERIC GARVEY, CEO, BAUGHER HOTEL GROUP: On a typical Saturday, yes, it would
be full.

KEATING: Eric Garvey, CEO of the group that owns Cape Canaveral's Radisson
Hotel says for the rest of 2020 it's just been terrible for business. Staff
layoffs, losses of millions of dollars, the freezing of a shuttle bus
fleet, all because Port Canaveral and its busy cruise ship business simply
sunk.

GARVEY: Probably about 50 percent of our hotel occupancy is related to the
cruise activity at the port here in Port Canaveral, and that's gone,
because it's been a complete shutdown.

KEATING: For the cruise lines themselves, they've lost an estimate at $35
billion. The CDC dropped its no sail order on Halloween but is requiring
strict terms for any ship to sail again. They'll first have to cruise with
volunteer passengers to ensure new COVID conscious protocols work, like
testing, lab results, social spacing, mask requirements, and plans for
quarantining and disembarking any person who tests positive. The Barbados
based Sea Dream One attempted a cruise three weeks ago, which by all
accounts backfired after seven passengers and two crew quickly came down
with the virus, resulting in the rest of the ship on lockdown in their
cabins for the second half of the trip.

STEWART CHIRON, "THE CRUISE GUY": The cruise industry is not ready to move
forward. Right now, there's a lot of, with the CDC changing from a no sail
order to the new conditions of travel, they put a lot of onerous conditions
on the cruise industry.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

KEATING: And the cruise lines keep perching further into next year when
they might start sailing again. Miami-based industry leaders Royal
Caribbean, Norwegian, and Carnival, have all declared no cruising again
until at least March. John?

JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Things likely, Phil, not to change much
until we get a vaccine out for everybody.

Up next, the panel on the coronavirus crackdown and warnings that things
are only going to get worse. First, beyond our borders tonight, Israeli
police say they arrested a Jewish man on criminal charges after he poured
out a flammable liquid inside a church near Jerusalem's old city. The
policy did not provide further details about the motive, but past attacks
on churches in the holy land have been blamed on Jewish extremists.

Japanese space agency officials say a probe carrying samples from a distant
asteroid is on its intended trajectory as it approaches the earth. The
vessel left of the asteroid after 180 million miles away at one year ago.
On Saturday, a capsule will separate from the probe is scheduled to land in
a remote area of Australia on Sunday.

Just some of the other stories beyond our borders tonight. We'll be right
back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Breaking tonight, a federal district judge in Brooklyn is
restoring the DACA program that the Trump administration had attempted to
dismantle. The judge ordered the Homeland Security Department to begin
accepting first-time applicants to the program starting on Monday. The
administration can appeal to a federal appeals court, or go straight to the
Supreme Court for temporary relief from the enforcement of the judge's
order.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: We are, maybe, Bob, just a week-and-a-half
away from what will be the likely approval of the first coronavirus vaccine
for the American people.

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT-ELECT: I think that my taking the vaccine and
people seeing me take that vaccine is going to give some confidence. It is
going to take some effort to rebuild confidence in science because it has
been so diminished in this administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: We are just now hopefully days away from the first doses of a
coronavirus vaccine being distributed. Let's bring in our panel now, former
Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr., Kimberley Strassel, a member of the
editorial board at "The Wall Street Journal," and Steve Hayes, the editor
of "The Dispatch."

Harold, let's start out with you. You heard Vice President Biden there
saying that he would be among the first to take the vaccine in order to
restore confidence. Officials at the FDA believe there is a problem with
confidence in the vaccine, which is why they want to take the full amount
of time until December the 10th for the approval. Do you believe that there
has been a crisis of confidence created around the vaccine?

HAROLD FORD JR. (D) FORMER TENNESSEE REPRESENTATIVE: First, thanks for
having me on. I think the politicization of the vaccine, the politicization
of wearing masks, the politicization of everything around, unfortunately,
this virus has been abhorrent. We'll all have to deal with that at some
point. I'm sorry here. We'll have to deal with that at some point.

I'll tell you, I appreciate him saying what he said. I think it will
reassure communities, particularly communities of colors and others who
have expressed some concerns about this. I think it didn't help during the
campaign when the back and forth between the vice president elect and the
president himself, and it's my hope that we can make it that far. Hospitals
are strained. I hope that both the former president, or soon-to-be former
president, and president-elect can rally around a message that urges all of
us not to shut down, but to be smart about how we behave between now and
when the vaccine comes.

ROBERTS: We'll give you a second, Harold Ford, to put your Facetime and do
not disturb, and we'll go to Kimberley for a moment. Let's talk about the
economic side of this, Kimberley. More COVID lockdowns appear to be on
their way, particularly in California. There are also the collateral
problems as outlined in the "British Journal of Psychiatry" associated with
these lockdowns. We were in a recovery. Is that threatened now if we go
back into more severe coronavirus lockdowns?

KIMBERLEY STRASSEL, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Yes, it absolutely is. And look, I
think a lot of Americans rounded out of that spring lockdown and took from
it that officials understood the incredible damage that such lockdowns
cause, not just, as you were saying, psychological damage, the damage to
kids which are going to take years for them to recover from, from an
educational perspective, but economically.

And it would be one thing if these officials could say, hey, look, we can
prove to you that these lockdowns do stop the spread. It will reduce the
situation, it will make it better. But we've been having versions of these
targeted, even the one in the spring did not produce the result, obviously.
We're dealing with this again.

And so I think this is a time for officials to rethink. They've got to be
smarter about this. Yes, implore people to do the right thing, yes gear up
on extra hospital capacity if you need to, but economic lockdowns, we know
they are causing as much if not more damage than the virus itself.

ROBERTS: Steve, to you for the politics of the lockdown. California
Governor Gavin Newsom said if ICU capacity falls between 15 percent in one
of the five regions of California that he's identified, they will go into
lockdown. The mayor of San Diego has said this is arbitrary. It's not based
on science. I got a chance to talk to the surgeon general about that today.
Let's listen here to Newsom and then to Dr. Jerome Adams, and I'll get
right back to you on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM, (D-CA): We are announcing and introducing a regional
stay-at-home order in the state of California.

ROBERTS: Are some these political leaders just having kneejerk reactions
here, or are they using hard science, Dr. Adams?

DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: We're building the plane as we're
flying it. The American people are forcing the hands of some of these
leaders because we didn't take public health measures early on. That's why
you see these leaders really throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what
sticks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Steve, is Gavin Newsom throwing a lot of spaghetti, and not
spaghetti from the French Laundry?

(LAUGHTER)

STEVE HAYES, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I think that's part of the problem. What
we see here is this basic failure of leadership across the board from
leaders of both political parties. You have people like Gavin Newsom who've
adopted this do as I say not as I do approach to this this. It's a news
story in a hypocrisy pop, but it really does undermine the advice that
people are giving. People hear somebody say something like that, and it's
obviously not just Gavin Newsom. We've now seen this repeatedly. They say,
well, why should I do what you're telling me to do when you're not doing
what you're telling me to do? And it's a fair question.

I also think you've seen public health officials who given advice, warned
of the dire consequences of not taking the basic precautions to avoid
contracting the virus, and then carved up politically exceptions. There's a
reason people are spectacle of hearing from them. And then I think, third,
you have too many Republicans led by the president who have not taken
seriously a lot of the precautions. You were in the briefing room when the
president mocked reporters for wearing masks and doing the kind of basic
things that you would want people to do.

I think the way to avoid the situation that we're facing now was to have
taken those basic precautions before. We didn't do that, and now we're
stuck in this ironic situation where we're looking ahead and we can see the
vaccine. We know it's coming. There's the proverbial light at the end of
the tunnel, but we have this tough stretch to get through in between.

ROBERTS: Right. Harold Ford, we've got a minute left here. I wanted to ask
you about the potential for a coronavirus relief bill. Nancy Pelosi saying
today that she's willing to come down off of her $2.1 trillion figure to
maybe $908 billion because we now have a vaccine and we have a new
president. We didn't know we were going to get a new president, but we
definitely knew that a new vaccine was coming. So I am not quite sure that
I buy the entire reason for her shift here.

FORD: Politics, politics, politics. We have a new president, the
Congressional majority has shrunk in both places regardless what happens in
Georgia, the Senate runoffs, you're going to see that. I hope that the
Congress can just treat middle class and main street Americans and poor
Americans like they do rich people. When rich people have problems in this
country, rich businesses, rich industries, we let them combine, we to
provide them with more relief. Let's treat everyday Americans. Let's pass
the $900 billion one and then come back in January and February and do even
more.

ROBERTS: Panel, stay with us, because up next we'll tackle the Georgia
Senate runoffs. That's a big deal. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: And we are back with our panel to talk about the upcoming Senate
runoff races in the state of Georgia scheduled for January the 5th. It's
going to be a high-powered weekend with Barack Obama phoning in a virtual
campaign rally. President Trump will be down there. Mike Pence was there
today. And at the same time, attorneys Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, both
Republicans, have said that the Republican should stay away from voting
until they fix the system, prompting Laura Ingraham to say this on THE
ANGLE last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: People running around saying don't vote on
January 5th because that would be perpetuating a corrupt process. When I
heard that the other day I almost fell out of my chair. I'm like, you all
almost don't deserve to win if you're that stupid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Kimberley Strassel, what do you think of that? Do you share that
sentiment or not?

STRASSEL: Pretty much. If you want to win, you actually have to go vote.
It's not going to happen miraculously. You saw Mike Pence trying to walk
that back today when he was down in Georgia, saying, look, you've got to go
vote. And hopefully, that is what the president's message is, too. I know
he's very fixated on the presidential results. There's a lot of anger over
the recounting and the canvassing, but it's very much in his benefit to go
down there and urge people to help Republicans keep the Senate, if for
nothing else than to protect his legacy.

Think about what a Democratic Senate can do if you are Republican. You can
potentially pass the Supreme Court in erase all those Trump judicial picks.
You can with 51 votes in the Senate walk back those tax cuts that he gave.
You can use the Congressional Review Act with 51 votes, Democrats, to get
rid of all the regulation he did over the past year. So he's got a self-
interest in getting them out to vote, not to mention one to the party that
he has led for the last four years.

ROBERTS: I was talking to one person, Steve, involved with campaigns today
who said Republicans seem to be coming up with ways to screw it up, talking
about Georgia, saying if we lose the seats, it will be an epically self-
inflicted wound.

HAYES: Yes, there's no doubt about it. I think if you're a Georgia voter
and you've been hearing from the president and his top spokesman, his
lawyers, his legal team that everything is fixed, it's hopelessly fixed,
that the election was stolen, it's totally reasonable to say why would I go
and vote again? These elections are fixed.

The reality is, and I think this is where the problem, Republicans have
gotten themselves in trouble, the election wasn't stolen. The people who
are telling you that the election was stolen are lying to you. Sidney
Powell and Lin Wood, their conspiracy theories have gotten so absurd, it's
hard to know even how to knock them down because you can't push off of any
evidence they're providing, because it's one of absurdity after another
after another.

The president's biggest supporters, including some in the media, have been
perpetrating this myth that the election was stolen. The election hasn't
been stolen, wasn't stolen. And it's reasonable, and I think they could
reap what they've sown here. It's reasonable for people who believe those
lies to say, screw it, it's not worth going back and voting.

ROBERTS: That would be bad for Republicans, no question about that.

Harold Ford Jr., we heard Kimberley list off some of the things that a win
or loss in Georgia might affect, but how would Joe Biden's agenda in the
first two years, at least, potentially be affected depending on what the
outcome of Georgia is?

FORD: Here's something to think about. If the two Democrats win there, it's
a 50-50 Senate, which would make Kamala Harris's vote the deciding vote.
Remember, that would probably empower the moderates in the House and the
Senate, both the Democrat and Republican. The Joe Manchins, the Mark
Warners, the one who are behind in instigating this $900 billion
compromise. Those are the two votes that would be probably most important
and most sought after.

There's no doubt there would be some reversals of things that President
Trump put in place, but he lost the election. That shouldn't be a surprise
to Kimberley, Steve, John, or me. This is what elections are about. That
election was not stolen in Georgia. Joe Biden has turned a corner. Maybe
it's just Joe Biden. We'll have to see, and in the next month we'll be able
to tell if Democrats, who if they stay on message and stay disciplined and
talk about the COVID vaccine, economic relief, and getting main street
revised and bring a renaissance of new jobs and new investments to cities
and communities rural and urban alike in Georgia, it could be a message
that Democrats could take nationally.

ROBERTS: So Kimberley, the president is going down there tomorrow to
Valdosta, which is deep in the heart of conservative Georgia. What does he
need to do tomorrow? Should he go down there and talk about how he was
wronged and how the election was stolen? Or should he talk about other
things?

STRASSEL: I can only assume that he will not be able to get away without
talking about that in some way, shape, or form. It seems to be very much on
his mind.

But the way that you actually win this election is, yes, you bring that up,
that's fine. You point out that this is going through the system. But then
you talk about the candidates themselves. You talk about Perdue. You talk
about Loeffler. You talk about their opponents, in particular the case of
Raphael Warnock, someone that is very much out of step with mainstream
Georgia voters. And then you talk about the potential consequences in the
Senate, because, you know, I appreciate Harold talking about how the
moderates would be empowered. I think that there's some truth to that. But
I think it's also true that you have not necessarily seen those moderates
stand tall whenever the progressive aspect of their party has come after
them, whether it be on Kavanaugh or anything else. So I think that some of
those --

ROBERTS: Let me jump in, if I could, and give Steve the last 20 seconds
here of what you think the president needs to do and doesn't need to stay
away from complaining too much about November 3rd.

HAYES: I don't think he will. I think Kimberley is right. Of course, it
would be better for those two Senate candidates, the president would talk
about their candidacies and their races and what it means. I don't think
the president will do it but he spent the last 30 days complaining and
perpetrating myths about what's happened to him.

ROBERTS: I'm sure it will be difficult for him to resist. Panel, thanks so
much.

When we come back, "Notable Quotables."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Finally tonight, "Notable Quotables."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But I went from leading
by a lot to losing by a little.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did it right. We did it right. This was a secure
election.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know what I saw, and I signed something say that if
I'm wrong I can go to prison. Did you?

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM, (D) CALIFORNIA: We are announcing and introducing a
regional stay-at-home order in the state of California.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm tired of people telling us what to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said everybody has to go out and just try to make a
living.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: IŸ_Tm sorry I took that trip. It was a lapse in
judgment.

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT-ELECT: Times are tough, but I want to know you
that help is on the way.

TRUMP: So you had the longest streak in the history of Notre Dame at number
one. What you think about that, Lindsey? It sounds like you in the Senate.

(LAUGHTER)

MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I'm going to miss our
regular dinners, even with our weeknight scheduling, and official one drink
limit. Like I said, Mr. President, we weren't exactly party animals in our
20s either.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just urge our leaders on both sides of the aisle to
put down their swords. Once and for all, get the package done, and make it
a good Christmas for everybody.

TRUMP: Three, two, one.

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: That is a pretty sight.

Next -- this weekend, rather, on FOX News Sunday, Chris Wallace will speak
with the Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar as we are one
week away from an FDA advisory panel considering the first coronavirus
vaccine. Check your local listings for air times.

And thanks for watching SPECIAL REPORT. I'm John Roberts in Washington.
Bret Baier will be back in this chair again on Monday.

END

Content and Programming Copyright 2020 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2020 ASC Services II Media, LLC.  All materials
herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be
reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast
without the prior written permission of ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may
not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of
the content.