Will Kamala Harris' flip-flops come back to hurt her in debate?

This is a rush transcript from “Special Report" October 7, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL ANCHOR: Welcome to the Vivint Smart Home 
Arena, the home of the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. This is a special two-
hour preview of tonight's vice presidential debate.

Good evening, I'm Bret Baier.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS CHANNEL ANCHOR: Good evening everybody, I'm 
Martha MacCallum.

Breaking tonight, we are 26 days away from this presidential election. 
Tonight, we're giving you a first look at some brand new Fox polls on the 
election, the coronavirus, and the economy.

BAIER: The big one, the head-to-head. Joe Biden up 10 points, doubling his 
lead from last month.

MACCALLUM: President Trump is shifting gears on yesterday's decision to 
stop negotiations on a pre-election virus stimulus package and late this 
afternoon, the director of National Intelligence said that he has provided 
almost a thousand pages of documents to the U.S. attorney investigating the 
origins of the Trump collusion probe. 

We've got Fox team coverage for you Gillian Turner on the developments in 
the Durham probe. Peter Doocy here in Salt Lake City looks at how tonight's 
debate will be different from any other.

BAIER: And we begin with chief White House correspondent John Roberts 
starting us off with the latest on the president's health. Good evening, 
John.

JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Bret, 
Martha, good evening to you. We should point out that the president just 
tweeted out a new video moments ago in which he called him contracting 
coronavirus code "A blessing from God" a blessing in disguise because he 
discovered this new Regeneron drug, a polyclonal antibody which the 
president promised he will get approved quickly and make available free of 
charge.

Now, to tonight's debate, Vice President Mike Pence is needing to have a 
big night tonight because a new Fox News poll out finds, more voters think 
that Joe Biden won the first presidential debate last Tuesday than 
President Trump. 44 percent of people saying, they thought Biden won it, 
compared to 29 percent for President Trump. The president no doubt will be 
watching tonight's debate as he got back to work for the first time in the 
West Wing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: The Marines stationed in front of the West Wing indicating 
President Trump was back in the Oval Office today for the first time since 
returning from Walter Reed. The president receiving a briefing on the 
hurricane and coronavirus relief. 

In a statement, the White House physician saying, the president has been 
fever-free for more than four days, symptom-free for over 24 hours. 

Dr. Sean Conley saying, President Trump now has detectable levels of 
antibodies. Suggesting his immune system is responding to the infection 
through Regeneron which makes the antibody cocktail he was given on Friday 
said, the antibodies could be from their drug.

MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: He's doing really well. We 
actually spent some time together yesterday working very hard from the 
residence and I can tell you that he's fully engaged and feeling great.

ROBERTS: The White House response to coronavirus will be a major topic at 
tonight's vice presidential debate. Mike Pence has been the president's 
point person leading the Coronavirus Task Force.

Our new Fox News poll finds, coronavirus tied with the economy is voter's 
top issue. 68 percent of people who say coronavirus is their top issue 
indicate they'll vote for Biden, compared to 29 percent for President 
Trump.

Tonight, Mike Pence expected to contrast how the White House responded in 
the early days of the pandemic with what Democrats were saying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, 
they all wanted to keep our borders open between China, the epicenter of a 
viral outbreak. They couldn't help themselves but go to the P.C. response 
of well, it's racist and xenophobic to literally shut down travel from the 
epicenter of a deadly viral outbreak.

ROBERTS: Terrorism and ISIS also expected to be a factor tonight. Among the 
vice president's guests, the parents of Kayla Mueller, a humanitarian 
worker who was captured, tortured, and killed by ISIS. Two men believed to 
be involved in Mueller's death, the so-called ISIS Beatles we're today 
brought to the United States to face justice.

After pulling the plug on negotiations for a comprehensive coronavirus 
relief bill, President Trump today urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to do 
it in pieces, tweeting, if I am sent a standalone bill for stimulus checks 
$1,200, they will go out to our great people immediately. I am ready to 
sign right now. Are you listening, Nancy? 

The House Speaker was in fact listening and said this.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): He's just again rebounding from a terrible 
mistake that he made yesterday and the Republicans in Congress were going 
down the drain with him on that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: The president also suggesting today the money that was unspent 
from the first coronavirus relief bill could be reallocated toward Paycheck 
Protection, enhanced unemployment insurance benefits, even support for the 
airlines but that that would take legislation to do Nancy Pelosi last month 
was unwilling to even entertain the so-called skinny bill for coronavirus 
relief. So, it's unclear whether or not she would support a proposal like 
that.

Again Bret, the big news out of this video that the president just tweeted, 
calling his infection with coronavirus a blessing from God because he 
discovered this new drug from Regeneron which he said made him feel good 
almost instantaneously, Bret.

BAIER: I will see that video momentarily here on Fox. John Roberts, live at 
the North Lawn. John, thanks.

MACCALLUM: So, stocks did rally today on the hopes of another COVID 
stimulus bill. Dow picked up 531 points on the best days it had since July. 
S&P was up 58, NASDAQ finished ahead by 210.

BAIER: Heading into tonight's debate, Senator Harris has higher approval 
numbers than Vice President Pence. Our new Fox poll has Harris at 53 
percent favorable, 40 percent unfave. Pence's numbers 47, 48 respectively.

MACCALLUM: So, this is going to be debate unlike any other from a physical 
standpoint because of the coronavirus but that does not mean that the 
stakes are not extremely high here. Correspondent Peter Doocy live in Salt 
Lake City for us with a look ahead tonight. Hi, Peter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Tonight's debate in Salt Lake 
City will be contact-free.

SYMONE SANDERS, BIDEN CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: We don't expect them to have 
any interaction except for the words that they hear on the debate stage.

DOOCY: Harris, the former prosecutor knows Democrats have sky-high 
expectations for her showdown with Mike Pence. Telling donors last month, 
let me just say something. He's a good debater. So, I'm so concerned, like 
I can only disappoint. 

Pence has had tonight circled on his calendar since August.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Joe Biden and the 
Democratic Party have been overtaken by the radical left. And look, we'll 
talk about that. I'm looking forward to that debate more than I can tell 
you.

DOOCY: Democrats hope Harris hones in on Pence's record (INAUDIBLE) 
responding to COVID-19.

PELOSI: It should be about health care in terms of Mike Pence being the 
head of the task force to -- on the coronavirus, really? What level of 
success does he have to offer?

DOOCY: Republicans plan to pin Harris as having a radical record.

STEVE CORTES, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: She was to the left of 
Elizabeth Warren and even Bernie Sanders. So you have a stark contrast 
here, you have a wide chasm ideologically between these two folks.

DOOCY: Significant steps have been taken to protect Pence and Harris from 
COVID-19, but it's not clear if this set up will be enough to make Joe 
Biden comfortable in the same room with Donald Trump next week.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I figured he still has COVID, 
we shouldn't have a debate.

DOOCY: He's been pledging to follow the advice of experts all week.

BIDEN: And I'm going to continue to listen to the -- to the scientist. But 
I'm looking to have an opportunity to do a town hall meeting if that 
occurs.

DOOCY: The Trump campaign's final scouting report on Kamala Harris is in, 
straight from the stand-in who played her in mock debates with Pence.

PAM BONDI, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN ADVISER: I know Kamala, she's smart, she's 
articulate, she is very tough, she's a -- she's a great debater. 
Prosecutor's debate, that's what she do every day in a courtroom.

DOOCY: The Biden team has been studying tape too.

KATE BEDINGFIELD, BIDEN DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER: We know Mike Pence is a 
very good debater. He's a very skilled debater and he gets a lot of credit 
because he speaks in complete sentences, unlike Donald Trump.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOOCY: Masks are mandatory for everybody that's going to be in this room 
except the debaters and the moderator.

And tonight, the New York Times is quoting an epidemiologist talking about 
the plexiglass on stage saying that it is "Only going to be effective if 
the Vice President or Kamala Harris are spitting at each other" but it's 
still there as the debate organizers borrow the kind of barrier that you 
might see if you're checking out at the grocery store, Bret, Martha.

MACCALLUM: Peter, thank you very much.

BAIER: We have major developments tonight in the investigation into the 
origins of the Trump-Russia collusion probe. The director of National 
Intelligence is promising full cooperation and is backing that up tonight. 
Correspondent Gillian Turner tells us how. Good evening, Gillian.

GILLIAN TURNER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening to you both, 
Bret and Martha. So, breaking tonight, the director of National 
Intelligence, that's John Ratcliffe announcing his offices provided nearly 
a thousand pages of documentation to the Department of Justice to help with 
their ongoing investigation into the origins of the 2016 Russia probe.

Now, Ratcliffe says all these documents were provided in response to John 
Durham. He is the U.S. attorney that's leading the Trump administration's 
counter probe. 

And tonight, in a statement, Ratcliffe says, the O.D. and I look forward to 
supporting the DOJ and further declassifications consistent with their 
investigation.

As you can see, tensions tonight between the Obama administration and Trump 
administration intelligence communities is ratcheting up fast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER: Newly released documents from operation Crossfire Hurricane are 
guiding a political firestorm in Washington. Former CIA Director John 
Brennan is taking aim at Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, 
after he transmitted tranche of documents including Brennan's handwritten 
notes to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.

JOHN BRENNAN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: He -- it is appalling, his selective 
declassification of information that clearly is designed to advance the 
political interests of Donald Trump. 

These were my notes from the 2016 period when I briefed President Obama and 
the rest of the next security council team about what the Russians were up 
to and I was giving examples of the type of access that the U.S. 
intelligence community had to Russian information.

TURNER: Former Intel chiefs then begin duking it out on Twitter. Former 
Acting DNI Ric Grenell tweeting. Proof, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden 
directed their administration to use the powers of government to attack 
Donald Trump's campaign and then transition.

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden replying, you're a quote expletive, 
really.

Grenell then responding, I see you don't like to be exposed and so you 
resort to name-calling.

President Trump tweeted he wants to see more. I have fully authorized the 
total declassification of any and all documents pertaining to the single 
greatest political crime in American history, the Russia-hoax. Likewise, 
the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal.

That authorization, in fact, came nearly a year and a half ago when he gave 
the Attorney General permission to declassify any documents relating to 
Crossfire Hurricane.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER: As this political drama unfolds, allies of President Trump over on 
Capitol Hill who are themselves leading their own inquiry into the origins 
of the Russia probe are ratcheting up pressure on the FBI Director 
Christopher Wray and the CIA Director Gina Haspel, accusing them both of 
blocking the release of more documentation in this probe, Bret and Martha.

BAIER: Gillian, thank you. We will discuss that Twitter feud more with 
former acting DNI Chief Richard Grenell in just a bit. But first, let's 
bring in the White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Thank you very much 
for the time.

We want to talk about that last story with you but first, about the 
president. We're going to see this Twitter video in just a bit. He's 
obviously projecting that he's doing well, you expect him to be out on the 
trail soon?

MEADOWS: Well, I do. He's actually has been in the Oval Office mostly 
afternoon. That video was taped just a few hours ago on the South Lawn and 
he's -- he keeps telling everyone but he's telling me privately, these 
feels better than he did 20 years ago. And so, we're just very very 
thankful to the doctors to the American people for their well wishes. And I 
am for hopefully this groundbreaking drug that has made such a difference 
in the president's recovery and so, he's put in a full day. He's still in 
the Oval Office. I just left there to come out and be with you and your 
viewers.

MACCALLUM: So, Mark Meadows can you give us a sense of what a person has to 
do to go into the Oval Office to speak with him? I understand that you were 
in there today. There's a lot of blowback for him being back in the Oval 
Office and around people since he still has the virus. So, did you wear 
full PPE when you went in there?

MEADOWS: I did, you may see some lines from my mask that I had on earlier. 
We've got N95 mask, we've got goggles, we got full PPE. 

And we're keeping the access there into the Oval very limited but it may be 
limited in terms of direct contact with personnel and people that support 
him but it's not limited in terms of the amount of phone calls and the 
amount of work that he's getting done because he's been constantly on the 
phone with Secretary Mnuchin, leader McConnell, leader McCarthy as it 
relates to the stimulus and where we are and how we can best make sure that 
the American people can get help.

BAIER: You know, I want to ask you about the stimulus but first, you know, 
there's a lot of talk about when he first contracted the virus. And there 
are a lot of things we still don't know.

We're listening to the physicians and all the statements they put out, but 
we don't know when his last negative test was, will we?

MEADOWS: Well, we don't normally get into the testing protocol for the 
president. Obviously, the doctor has already spoken about that, that it was 
a positive test on last Thursday evening when he was confirmed to have the 
coronavirus. And obviously, the doctor here -- the White House doctor 
kicked into gear with making sure that he was protected and had the medical 
treatment there was proper.

I can tell you that from our standpoint, I think the doctor put out today -
- you know, that there were no antibodies with the amount of review that 
was done that particular night which would indicate that we caught it very, 
very early.

And so, we're just very thankful that he is where he is at, and we're 
looking forward to hopefully having not only a healthy president but a 
healthy America.

As we advance the prospects of some of these therapeutics that are coming 
down the pike, I can tell you, two of them were put in for emergency use 
authorization today. The president has been very clear. He wants to make 
sure that those get approved as quickly and as safely as possible.

But then, they are given free to everyone so that the American people can 
have the same kind of treatment that he just received at Walter Reed.

MACCALLUM: I know everybody wants to make sure that those treatments are 
widely available, and I think there's a plan to get that underway. I just 
want to go back around on this one more time, because it was put out today 
that the gold star families that were at the event at the White House on 
September 27, have been told that they may have been exposed to coronavirus 
when they were there.

So, that's why it's so important to know when his case was active, and the 
places that he went during that time. And also, all the other people at the 
White House who have since been -- since been seen as positive. So, can you 
answer that?

MEADOWS: You know -- you know, when you look at that, when you do contact 
tracing, what you do is you go back, according to CDC, 48 hours prior to 
either symptoms or a positive test. And we've done all of that. And that's 
to try to make sure that we can mitigate the risk of anybody that has come 
in contact with it.

The good news about the actual incubation period is that we know that

generally, that incubation period is about five to seven days. It can be

longer, that's why we tell people to quarantine between 10 and 14 days.

But part of that contact tracing, we've done all the contact tracing to go

back to make sure that anybody that would -- was at risk has been

contacted. And I met with the CDC and our own medical White House staff,

actually, yesterday, to verify that not only has that been done but indeed

making sure that it -- that it has been accomplished.

BAIER: There's a lot of questions about the ending of the negotiations on

the next stimulus on coronavirus. The president sending out that tweet

before the markets closed. The Dow took a major drop.

MEADOWS: Right.

BAIER: Then, you had the House Speaker come out and say this about that

decision. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: I wouldn't go anywhere near the White House. It's one of the most

dangerous places in the country. I said yesterday to my colleagues, I said,

there are those who say that a steroids have an impact on people's

thinking. I don't know, but there are those health care providers who say

that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Went on to say that may have been the steroids that made him end the

negotiations. What's the truth behind ending those stimulus negotiations,

and then, tweeting out that these singular deals are still possible?

MEADOWS: Well, anybody who's negotiated with Nancy Pelosi more than a month

will realize that cutting off a deal has nothing to do with steroids. It

has more to do with the person that looks in the mirror when she gets up in

the morning.

And so, I can tell you that as we look at this, we believe that we have a

number of things that we agree upon, a broad base of support to get a deal.

But yet, she was continuing to stick at her 2.2 to 2.4, depending on how

you calculate it, trillion-dollar deal.

And when Secretary Mnuchin had not only offered 1.6 but was willing to go

to 1.7 trillion, she'd rather have zero than that kind of number.

Now, I can tell you that maybe, perhaps, the best way to do it is take all

the things that we agree upon, start building those back, and passing those

out. Leader McConnell, I know, is willing to look at, you know, a separate

bill for airlines, and PPP. If we can -- we can look at some of those and

start to add to it.

But at the same time, if -- you know, if she thinks that she can come back

with something that's closer to where Secretary Mnuchin has come up to, I'm

sure the president is more than willing to look at, at a counter-proposal.

But to date, she hasn't really been doing that. Over the last several

weeks, she's been having a lot of conversations and it's been Secretary

Mnuchin that's been giving, not Speaker Pelosi.

MACCALLUM: Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, thank you as always. Good to have

you here tonight, sir.

MEADOWS: Great to be with you both. Thank you.

BAIER: We just received that new Twitter video message from President

Trump. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hi, perhaps you recognize me,

it's your favorite president. And I'm standing in front of the Oval Office

at the White House, which is always an exciting place to be.

I got back a day ago from Walter Reed Medical Center. I spent four days

there and didn't have to. I could have stayed at the White House, but the

doctors said, because you're president, let's do it. I said, fine. You tell

me what to do and I'm going to listen. These are great professionals.

They've done a fantastic job.

And by the way, not only at Walter Reed, all over the country, we have the

greatest doctors in the world, we have the greatest nurses, the greatest

first responders, law enforcement, by the way, incredible, firefighters,

everybody. They're just great. We have great people. This is a great

country.

But I spent four days there and I went in and I wasn't feeling so hot, and

within a very short period of time, they gave me Regeneron. It's called,

Regeneron, and other things too, but I think this was the key. But they

gave me Regeneron, and it was like, unbelievable. I felt good immediately.

I felt as good three days ago as I do now.

So, I just want to say, we have Regeneron. We have a very similar drug from

Eli Lilly and they're coming out and we're trying to get them on an

emergency basis. We've authorized it. I've authorized it.

And if you're in the hospital and you're feeling really bad, I think we're

going to work it so that you get them and you're going to get them free.

And especially, if you're a senior, we're going to get you in there quick.

We have hundreds of thousands of doses that are just about ready.

I have emergency use authorization, all set, and we got to get it signed

now, and you're going to get better. You're going to get better, really

fast. This is things that nobody even thought of a few months ago.

The job that the scientists, the labs, everybody has done is incredible.

Then, addition to that, you have various other drugs that help a lot. But

these -- I view these, I know they call them therapeutic, but to me, it

wasn't therapeutic, it just made me better. I call that a cure. So, I want

to get these things done.

So, we have to get them done. We have to get them approved, and I want to

get them to the hospitals where people are feeling badly. That's much more

important to me than the vaccine.

But, on the vaccines, we have many companies that are in final stages for

the vaccines, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer, all great companies, but

many of them. And we're going to have a great vaccine very, very shortly. I

think we should have it before the election. But frankly, the politics gets

involved and that's OK. They want to play their games; it's going to be

right after the election. But we did it. Nobody else -- nobody else would

have been able to do it.

The FDA has acted as quickly as they've ever acted in history. There's

never been a time and no president has ever pushed him like I pushed them

either, to be honest with you. But the FDA is approving things in a matter

of weeks that used to take a matter of years.

So, we have these drugs, Eli Lilly, and the others that are so good. But

they are, in my opinion, remember this, they're going to say that they're

therapeutic. And I guess they are therapeutic.

Some people don't know how to define therapeutic. I view it different. It's

a cure for me, I walked in, I didn't feel good. A short 24 hours later, I

was feeling great, I want to get out of the hospital. And that's what I

want for everybody. I want everybody to be given the same treatment as your

president because I feel great. I feel like perfect.

So, I think this was a blessing from God that I caught it. This was a

blessing in disguise. I caught it, I heard about this drug. I said, Let me

take it. It was my suggestion. I said, let me take it, and it was

incredible the way it worked. Incredible.

And I think, if I didn't catch it, we'd be looking at that like a number of

other drugs, but it really did a fantastic job.

I want to get for you what I got, and I'm going to make it free. You're not

going to pay for it. It wasn't your fault that this happened. It was

China's fault, and China is going to pay a big price, what they've done to

this country. China is going to pay a big price, what they've done to the

world. This was China's fault and just remember that.

So, we're going to get you the drug. It's going to be free. We're going to

get it into the hospitals as soon as you can, as soon as we can. And you'll

see some amazing things happen because we have -- our military is doing the

distribution. It's called logistics, and they deliver, hundreds of

thousands of troops in a matter of days. This is easy stuff for them.

Our generals are all ready, we're waiting for the emergency use

authorization, and the drug companies have just made a lot of it. So,

hopefully, this is going to be not just a therapeutic, it's going to be

much more than a therapeutic. You're going to get better; you're going to

get better fast just like I did.

So, again, a blessing in disguise. Good luck.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BAIER: President Trump, and --

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: So, looks like he's feeling quite well and is back, right?

BAIER: Outside the Rose Garden there on the South Lawn, saying that he

wants to get Regeneron, this -- not approved by the FDA yet, but on its way

-- available for everyone who has COVID. And saying, he feels obviously

like a million bucks.

MACCALLUM: So, that drug is the monoclonal antibody drug which is a

synthetic version of the antibody that you get if you have coronavirus, and

then, your body responds to it and builds that antibody.

He says he requested it from the doctors. As you say, even though it wasn't

approved by the FDA, they want to make it free for everybody. He also says

that China will pay a big price for what has happened with the coronavirus

in this country.

BAIER: So, expect that -- the focus on that, this tape, what he said, to

come in tonight to the debate.

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: Absolutely.

BAIER: Obviously, Senator Harris wants to focus on COVID-19. Vice President

Pence, being the head of that task force is going to talk about what they

have done, what they're doing, but we'll probably put the focus elsewhere

as well.

MACCALLUM: Yes. He says the military is preparing to distribute this. And

that, as I said, everybody in the country who needed it, would get it for

free. So, that's sort of his pitch before the big debate tonight, putting

himself out there on all of that.

So, coming up next, we're going to speak with the former Acting Director of

National Intelligence Richard Grenell, about these thousand documents that

have been released from the DNI.

BAIER: A little bit later, we'll talk to Senator Chris Coons. But first,

we'll set the stage and look a little different side than the first

presidential debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Here in the debate hall for the vice presidential debate, they're

getting ready, you can see the difference. The plexiglass in between the

candidates and these three desks. Vice President Pence will be stage left,

Senator Harris on stage right, and then, Susan Page, the moderator in the

middle.

There are additional precautions in this hall. Obviously, the tests, the

masks. Over my shoulder here, the photographer is surrounded by plexiglass,

that's new. So, they're being extra careful with COVID-19 ahead of this big

debate Wednesday night. Our show continues after this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR:  All right, we are back in Salt Lake

City, and we want to bring in the former U.S. Ambassador to Germany and the

former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell. Ric, good

to have you with us tonight.

The news this evening is about these 1,000 documents that John Ratcliffe,

the Director of National Intelligence now, has released to the Durham

investigation. And it's getting a ton of attention. John Brennan is pushing

back in saying that the quotes that were released from him about this

effort to get Hillary's campaign to loop the Trump campaign into this

Russian conspiracy theory, John Brennan says there is nothing to that. They

were just letting the president know what they were picking up on Russian

intel. What do you say do all that?

RIC GRENELL, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE:  Well, if

John Brennan is so certain, why doesn't he come down on the side of

transparency? Look, we've had a lot of people, Susan Rice, James Comey,

Brennan, a whole bunch of people scrambling, doing everything they can to

not have transparency. Transparency isn't political, Martha. Transparency

is supposed to be our friend.

I will give you that it is very unique to have transparency in Washington,

though. Washington types want to hold the information. That is what they

have done. What John Brennan needs to understand is that the information

from career intelligence officials from the very beginning was pushed aside

and classified away because it didn't fit the narrative that the Obama

administration, the Obama/Biden administration, Susan Rice, James Comey,

and Brennan, all of them, what they wanted to spoon-feed to the American

people. This is just the facts.

Anyone who wants to disagree with this should come down on the side of

transparency and say let's look at all of the documents, see how this

started, see what kind of individuals were briefed, what kind of career

intelligence official statements we were dealing with that were pushed

aside.

Let's have a full, transparent look at the situation. I think that after so

many years of hearing Washington politicians and the insiders spoon-feed

the American people miss information, we need to go back to the beginning

and be transparent. What are you afraid of?

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR:  Speaking of transparency, you were acting

DNI, you released some documents. This DNI is doing the same, following the

president's orders to declassify documents. But Ric, there is a lot of

frustration, not just Democrats who are blowing this off and saying it's 28

days before an election, but also Republicans up on the Hill who said the

FBI and CIA have been slow walking things. They don't know where the Durham

report is. And again, you're 28 days from the election. There is a lot of

frustration here.

GRENELL:  I take the point, but let's remove the 28 days, because the most

important part of this is not the election. The most important part is

making sure that our government, our U.S. government, the greatest country

in the whole world, does not weaponize the power that they have,

individuals weaponize it against their political enemies.

I have spent 11 years at the State Department. When these types of things

happen, we condemn them. We call out opposition parties in other countries

who try to do things like this. This was not a peaceful transition of

power. They went after candidate Trump. They went after newly elected

Donald Trump, the president-elect, his entire team. It's pretty clear.

I go back to the fact that there is a lot of foot dragging from Washington,

D.C., types. It's not a Republican versus Democrat issue. This is a

Washington versus the rest of America issue. We have got to clean up

Washington.

I think what you saw from President Trump just now on the COVID issue is

the classic President Trump that we hired. Here is somebody who doesn't

talk about filing some sort of piece of legislation or cosponsoring a bill,

which is what Joe Biden talks about what he did when asked about his

accomplishments.

This is President Trump saying, you know what, I experienced this drug. It

was amazing. I'm going to get it through the FDA and I'm going to make sure

everybody gets it for free who has COVID. That's an amazing outsider

perspective. He is a man of action. He is not a man of cosigning pieces of

legislation.

MACCALLUM:  There's obviously a big war of words going on between prior

heads of the CIA and the DNI. And here is Michael Hayden, the former CIA

director, talking about transparency and trust and truth, which you just

talked about, but here's his version.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL HAYDEN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR:  Truth is really important, but

especially intelligence. President Trump doesn't care about facts.

President Trump doesn't care about the truth. He doesn't listen to his

experts. If Trump gets another turn, I think many alliances will be gone,

and America will be alone. And that's a real, real problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM:  He came after you and called you pretty nasty name, Ric. What

do you have to say to the former CIA director?

GRENELL:  Look, I'm not going to get into the name calling. I think that's

silly. We're the greatest country in the world, and we can have policy

disagreements, but let's talk about actual facts and policy discussions.

Here is a man who attacked me with really shameless words, all because I

was trying to be transparent to share information. So he can talk about

facts, and he can talk about wanting to see facts, but his whole tirade

against me was because I was calling for more transparency.

So again, I go back to the fact, this is the Washington game of pretending

that you know something on public television, and then when you go into the

bowels of the House where you're under oath in front of lawyers, you say

something completely different, which is what Susan Rice and Samantha Power

and the whole team did.

So I think we can settle this. Practical people outside of Washington, they

just view this as all Washington talk. And what they would say is, let's

just see the transcripts. Let's go back to the facts and look at it. The

American people are smart enough to know when they see something, they can

come to their own conclusion. But that is just not the way Washington

works. They like to spoon-feed the American people.

BAIER:  We've heard from the Trump campaign, a lot of pushback on polls.

The polls that have come out since the first debate, Ric, have seen Joe

Biden increasing his lead not just nationally but also in some of these key

battleground states. Considering that, understanding the skepticism from

the Trump campaign about polls, what does Vice President Pence have to do

tonight, quickly if you could?

GRENELL:  Look, I think Vice President Pence just has to talk about the

facts. Kamala Harris is one of the most radical senators that we have ever

seen come around. She is the queen of the cancel culture. She has said that

she compared immigration officials, ICE officials, to the KKK. This is

somebody who is a real radical. And what Vice President Pence just needs to

do is just ask her a question and demand an answer, and the American people

will see just how radical she is.

BAIER:  Ric Grenell, we appreciate your time outside the debate hall. Thank

you.

MACCALLUM:  Thanks, Ric.

So here are some of other headlines tonight. Wisconsin health officials are

opening a field hospital at the state fairgrounds near Milwaukee as the

surge in COVID-19 cases threatens to overwhelm hospitals there. A new FOX

News poll finds 73 percent of those surveyed believe that the coronavirus

is only somewhat or not at all under control.

BAIER:  Hurricane Delta has made landfall south of Cancun along the

northeastern coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. It is expected to move

into the Gulf of Mexico and grow considerably stronger. Residents along the

coast are preparing for the hurricane to hit the area Friday.

MACCALLUM:  And the Justice Department has unsealed charged against two

Islamic State militants from Britain, accusing them of carrying out a

gruesome campaign of torture, beheadings, and other acts of violence

against western hostages they had captured in Syria, including four

Americans.

BAIER:  Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin released from

prison after posting a $1 million bond. Chauvin had been jailed in

segregation at the state's maximum security prison awaiting next spring's

trial in the death of George Floyd. He is charged with third-degree murder

and manslaughter.

MACCALLUM:  And the South Carolina Senate appears to be tightening. The

Cook Political Report is now rating this race a toss-up. Incumbent Lindsey

Graham had at one point been considered a heavy favorite against challenger

Jaime Harrison.

BAIER:  These Senate races are interesting to watch.

MACCALLUM:  Very.

BAIER:  Our latest FOX News poll shows likely voters who say they will mail

in their ballots break significantly for the Democratic ticket. Our survey

finds 68 to 27 a lead for Biden-Harris ticket among those voters. In person

voters go for the Trump-Pence ticket by a nine-point spread.

MACCALLUM:  With just four weeks to go until Election Day, some states have

issues with ballots and the voting process. Senior correspondent Eric Shawn

joins us tonight from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC SHAWN, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT:  People are not only voting now

for president, more than 5 million ballots reported so far. But in some

places, they are already counting their votes. In Maryland, the numbers are

being tallied up, but like other states, cannot be released until after the

polls close on Election Day. Some states are going to court to move up the

counting process. Election officials say that would give him a jump start

to get the election results sooner.

At least 17 states now start counting at some point before November 3rd.

But some other states, like the key battleground Pennsylvania, want to get

a head start too.

KATHY BOOCKVAR, (D) PENNSYLVANIA SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH:  We need

the legislature to pass a law that allows counties to start pre-canvassing

the mail in absentee ballots sooner. That's our main need from the

legislature right now.

SHAWN:  In New Jersey, where this year's election is taking place

predominantly by mail, a federal judge found in favor of the state to start

counting 10 days before Election Day, handing the Trump campaign a defeat

in court. This comes as a garden state mail carrier has been arrested for

allegedly discarding mail in dumpsters, including 99 general election

ballots being mailed to the voters in West Orange, New Jersey. Officials

say the nearly 2,000 piece of mail were recovered and put back into the

system.

Ohio started mailing 2 million absentee ballots, double the 2016 number. In

Franklin County, some voters received absentee ballots meant for others in

different towns. Officials blame the mix up on a high speed scanner.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SHAWN:  And as for that New Jersey mail carrier, well, he happens to be the

second one accused of wrongdoing after a West Virginia mailman pled guilty

to mail and election fraud in July. He allegedly altered eight absentee

ballots by changing party registration from Democrat to Republican on some,

though tonight there is no apparent evidence that the New Jersey mailman's

case is directly connected at all to the election. Bret and Martha, back to

you.

BAIER:  Eric, thank you.

MACCALLUM:  So let's hear from one of the members of the Joe Biden team,

Senator Chris Coons in Delaware. Senator, good to have you with us this

evening. Thanks for being here. What are you looking for tonight --

SEN. CHRISTOPHER COONS, (D-DE), SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE:  Great

to be on with you, Martha. Thank you.

MACCALLUM:  It's great to have you with us as always. Thank you, Senator.

So the last debate was pretty raucous. What do you expect tonight?

COONS:  Well, I expect that it will be a little more orderly. I was in

Cleveland, and I've never seen anything like that. Frankly, tonight I think

that we'll see Vice President Pence, who, by the way, spent five years as a

radio and television commentator, as a talk show host, delivering a more

measured defense of the Trump administration record. And we'll see my

colleague, Senator Kamala Harris of California, explaining and advocating

how a Biden/Harris administration will have a plan to bring our country

together to get us through this pandemic and to build back better on our

economy.

I do think Vice President Pence, who is the chair of the Coronavirus Task

Force, will have a hard time answering questions about how successful that

task force has been when the president and first lady and 18 members of the

senior team in the White House have recently, sadly, been infected.

BAIER:  Senator, thank you for being here. I want to talk more about what

you think about tonight and the back and forth, but I understand you met

with Judge Amy Coney Barrett today. Tell us about that and where you are on

that process. Our new polling suggests that people OK in the polls to say

go ahead and confirm her.

COONS:  Bret, we didn't meet in person. We spoke by phone, which is just

another reminder of how the pandemic has upended so much. We are just now

27 days from a presidential election where more than half the states are

already voting. There is no precedent for the Senate considering a nominee

for the Supreme Court this close to an election where voting has already

started.

I talked with Judge Barrett about some of her writings, some of her

opinions, some law review articles, and I asked her questions about

judicial philosophy, about how being a former clerk and a follower of

Justice Scalia's view of textualism and originalism, how that would

actually impact real Americans live. I spoke earlier today a Delawarean,

Carrie (ph) from Middletown, who owns a small business, and she and her

daughter have preexisting conditions. She is anxious about the future of

the Affordable Care Act. As you know that's on the docket for the Supreme

Court a week after the election. And I asked Judge Barrett whether she

stood by previous comments she has made criticizing Chief Justice Roberts

for upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. If the

court strikes down the ACA, that will take away protections from half of

all Americans, and that is something that Judge Barrett wouldn't speak to

specifically, but I really do think is on the docket and on the ballot.

MACCALLUM:  So was they anything that set off alarm bells for you? You when

I have discussed the ACA before and have different this case is that's

before the court now then the one was that was an overall look at it with

Justice Roberts. But in terms of the other things that you said were

alarming, what were those?

COONS:  Judge Barrett wouldn't make any specific comments about

severability and how she would apply that in this case, but what I was also

pressing her on was her view of precedent, whether or not the court should

overturn long settled cases that we have come to rely on, that are critical

in areas like voting rights or labor rights or reproductive rights or LGBQT

rights. She wouldn't make any specific commitments, but I did press her

view, repeatedly stating, that we should be willing to overturn long

settled cases. So look, bluntly, my question --

BAIER:  Senator, you know that -- you know that judges don't answer these

questions in this kind of preconfirmation hearing back and forth. They just

don't.

One of the things, the questions -- don't mean to interrupt you here, but

one of the questions that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris haven't answered is

whether they would increase the number of Supreme Court justices on the

court, or whether they would be for killing the filibuster. Why don't the

candidates who are running as opposed to Judge Barrett answer those

important questions about changes to our government?

COONS:  Well, Bret, the questions I did ask of Judge Barrett that are

appropriate are about her judicial philosophy, whether she is someone who

believes in a living Constitution or in originalism, and what that would

mean for the real lives of daily middle America in terms of things like

health care.

But the questions you raise are ones where, if you heard former vice

president Biden's remarks in Gettysburg yesterday, where he talked about

bringing the country together, about trying to restore bipartisanship, it

seems clear to me that what Joe Biden, given his record, given his

platform, and given his view of our country, what he would prefer to do if

possible is what I hope to do in the Senate if reelected and if we are in

the majority. And that's to work across the aisle to deliver real solutions

to the problems in front of us.

If our democracy works, we won't need to take more extreme measures and

change the rules of the Senate. But if we're not able to get partners who

will work with us to solve issues right in front of us, like prescription

drug prices or the opioid crisis, like getting out of this pandemic or

building back better after this recession that's, frankly, largely been

caused by President Trump's mishandling of this pandemic, if we don't have

good partners for this, then there may be other changes on the horizon. But

that's not something we need to consider yet. My hope is we'll be able to

work together in the interests of bringing this country together after this

election.

MACCALLUM:  Senator, thank you. Those hearings for Amy Coney Barrett began

on October the 12th, and we will check back in with you then. Thank you

very much, Senator.

BAIER:  Thanks, Senator.

Up next, the panel previews tonight's debate.

MACCALLUM:  But first, a closer look at the Utah State Capitol Building

right here in Salt Lake City.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM:  We are here in beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah, right in front

of the state's capital as we get ready for a very big night tonight, the

vice presidential debate between Senator Harris and Vice President Pence as

Democracy 2020 rolls on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE BEDINGFIELD, DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER AND COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR,

BIDEN

FOR PRESIDENT:  We have every expectation that Mike Pence is going to be

compelling on the debate stage tonight, but Senator Harris is going to make

the case for a different vision for this country, a different direction,

and for competent, competent, capable leadership.

MERCEDES SCHLAPP, TRUMP-PENCE CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER:  Vice President Mike

Pence is ready. He is prepared to prosecute the case against the California

radical extremist of Kamala Harris. And we know that he is going to talk

about and ask the tough questions on Kamala.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  The prebattle for the vice presidential debate tonight. In the

meantime, we just heard from the Democratic nominee Joe Biden in response

to President Trump's statement in the Rose Garden that he thinks it's a

gift that God gave him that he got COVID so that he can help others. Here

is Joe Biden just moments ago responding.

MACCALLUM:  It's coming.

BAIER:  We think so.

(LAUGHTER)

MACCALLUM:  It's coming.

BAIER:  OK, it's coming. It's not there yet.

Let's bring in our panel -- we'll get it for you momentarily -- Mo

Elleithee, executive director of the Georgetown Institute of Politics,

pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson, and Tom Bevan, Real Clear Politics co-

founder and president. Let's see. There was a little delay. Now the

gremlins are allowing us to play this soundbite. Here we go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE:  I've got to think before I speak on

this one. I think it's a tragedy that the president deals with COVID like

it is something not to worry about when already 210,000 people have died. I

think it's a travesty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER:  He starts off by saying I need to think before I speak on this one,

and you can hear the rest. Maybe they didn't want us to hear it because it

didn't sound great, but we finally played it. Mo, your thoughts on this and

what the president said earlier.

MO ELLEITHEE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GEORGETOWN INSTITUTE OF POLITICS:  Look,

this is the issue. COVID is the issue in this campaign. It is the number

one issue on the minds of the voters. The president had an opportunity to

turn around his sliding numbers on it, and he didn't seize the opportunity.

To come out and say it was a gift because it would help him help people,

but at the same time be there saying don't worry about it, don't be afraid

of it, downplaying the virus and exposing people around him while he is

still potentially contagious, the two just don't match. And that, to me,

the president's numbers have not moved. He dramatically needs to change the

dynamics of this race if he's going to turn the race around. The clock is

ticking. And he's not doing anything to help his case right now.

MACCALLUM:  Kristen, do you agree with the president's approach to his

hospitalization and being diagnosed with COVID?

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, POLLSTER:  The president has had poor numbers on

COVID-19 handling in polls going back months. Voters initially gave him the

benefit of the doubt but were let down by his handling of this virus, and

that has led to him having really tough standing in the polls as the

narrative has shifted back from being able to talk about the economy to

being really focused on COVID.

This virus does not care what your campaign strategy is. It does not care

what your messaging strategy is. You can't just turn the page and pretend

like the virus has gone away, that it's no big deal, when it is something

that is still dramatically disrupting Americans' lives. This was a moment

where President Trump could have said, look, I have now seen this face to

face. It has come to my front door, and said, here is what I'm going to do

besides just wait for a vaccine to help us get through that. But we haven't

heard that from the president, and that is why I think this is a missed

opportunity for him.

BAIER:  Tom, sorry, but quickly, what are your thoughts?

(LAUGHTER)

TOM BEVAN, REAL CLEAR POLITICS CO-FOUNDER:  I'll just say for the debate,

Mike Pence has to be sharp tonight. He's got to do three things. He's got

to defend the Trump administration's record, right, and he has got to press

Kamala Harris, and he's got to do it by being aggressive yet respectful.

BAIER:  You were aggressive, yet respectful, and we made the commercial.

Thank you. Sorry for the short talk there. When we come back, hour two of

our special debate preview. 

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