creative. roll with it, to try to enjoy it. it makes it seem quote, unquote normal. i'm excited. yanks and nationals tonight. giants and dodgers. thanks for watching, everybody. "lou dobbs tonight" starts right now. ♪. lou: good evening, everybody, president trump is scheduled to speak this hour from the white house briefing room. president trump is expected to tell us how his administration will reopen this country's schools in time for the new school year. we'll be bringing the president's remarks as soon as he takes the podium. as we await the president democratic leadership in america's largest cities continue to allow lawless rioters to sow chaos and destruction as law-abiding and frightened citizens are forced to remain in their homes. police in portland, oregon, declared a riot last night during what is, the 56th

straight night of unrest in the city. arsonists starting several fires around the federal courthouse, despite federal law enforcement officers presence. rioters threw flares, fireworks, molotov cocktails at the law enforcement officers. the left-wing mob injured at least three federal officers, protecting the federal courthouse. one of them burned by unidentified chemical. portland's radical testimony mayor, ted wheeler, showed up at the riot. apparently he thought he would receive something of a hero's welcome because he has made this violence possible. he was there to support the mob who then turned on him, jeering and mocking wheeler. the mayor, thinking he was safe, taking part in a listening session with members of antifa and black lives matter, near that federal courthouse. the lawless activists tearing his city apart. made it clear they don't like

him either. [booing] [shouting] lou: loud calls for wheeler's resignation. demanding wheeler even withdraw more money from the police department's federal officers in portland later using flash-bang grenades and tear gas on the mayor as he watches the anarchists try to burn down the federal courthouse. instead of chastising the destructive and malicious acts of the mob, the mayor chose instead to try to blame president trump and the federal law enforcement officers there to protect the courthouse. [inaudible conversations] demanding that they leave. we demand that the federal

authorities -- [inaudible] lou: you have to wonder what his level of training for the job that he has. the radical dems' high level of contempt and animosity for any kind of governmental authority and all citizens is playing out across the country. the city council in minneapolis unanimously voted to get rid of that city's police department public information officer. the city council effectively muzzled the department that they're trying to get rid of. a judge in seattle also ruled seattle's city council may go ahead with their plan to take away riot gear from the city's police department. apparently, under the assumption this won't be any more rioting. what else could be the explanation? the city of chicago where president trump has already deployed federal agents is bracing for another night of protests and demonstrations and, yes, violence.

radical dem mayor lori lightfoot only asking for more trouble by asking chicago residents to snitch on those federal officers, whatever that means. >> i am calling on all chicagoans that if you see something that doesn't look right, please, don't hesitate to report it. and if we see any steps out of line, particularly with dhs or border patrol, we're not going to hesitate to take the president to court and stop any unconstitutional action. lou: my guess is she'll get a lot of phone calls from people who don't think it looks right for dozens and dozens of her citizens to be gunned down every weekend, for children to be murdered in the streets. perhaps she'll get a few calls about that. congresswoman maxine waters also proving to be a, well, a tool for the radical dems. she says it's been suggested

that this is a trial run of the president of the united states who may be organizing to not accept what happens when we have the election if he's not elected. he going to pull occupant -- is is he going to pull out his military, is he going to engage us? [laughter] oh, man. the left is a beautiful, beautiful bunch. the congresswoman failing to acknowledge that her own party's organization and support over the past four years to try to overthrow and subvert the president of the united states is very clearly at the forefront of most americans' minds. a new poll finds 55% of americans say federal law enforcement should be used to stop the rising violence in these high crime democrat-led cities. 55%. the radical left's politics of chaos and division and personal destruction is nothing more than a tool to try to silence those

who disagree with them. and what are the consequences of the efforts of the radical dems to try to overthrow authority in this country at every level? their politics of personal destruction. a new poll from the cato institute provides some of the answers. 62% of all americans in the cato poll say the current political climate prevents them from sharing their opinions. 77% of conservatives and staunch conservatives say they are prevented from speaking their political beliefs. the only group that apparently feels safe, according to this poll, are the furthest to the left. 58% of so-called staunch liberals or what some would call extreme left said they don't belief they are prevented from sharing their political opinions, and i would suggest to you they're probably right. the left's political intoll the answer is also -- intolerance is

also costing people their jobs. high school baseball coach justin kucera fired by the walled lake school district in michigan. he says it's because of his support for president trump's plan to reopen school toes. in a tweet he wrote that read: donald trump our president. what a thing to say. ken deleo is a police sergeant and high school football coach in portland, oregon, or he was. he was fired as coach after an unidentified group put pressure on the cool to remove him because of -- on the school put pressure to remove him because of some incident during his time on the police force. we contacted officials from both schools, we have yet to receive a response. the fbi says china's consulate in san francisco is harboring a fugitive, a chinese researcher who lied on his visa application about being part of the people's lib raying army. -- liberation

army. the justice department says he is one of four chinese researchers who were recently charged with visa fraud about their involvement and being enrolled in the people's liberation army. all four have been in the united states on f-1 or j-1 visas to work at the university of california in san francisco and uc-davis, stanford university and indiana university. meanwhile, the chinese communist party says it will close a u.s. consulate in china in retaliation for shutting down the chinese consulate in houston. but the head of the chinese consulate in houston defiantly telling "politico" that that consulate will remain open until further notice despite the order by the u.s. government to shut it down by saturday. turning to wall street, stocks today finished lower. the dow down 353 points, the s&p lost 40, the nasdaq down 245.

volume on the big board, 4.3 billion shares. equities under pressure as a result of for the first time in four months a higher level of jobless claims for benefits. a reminder to listen to my reports three times a day coast to coast on the salem radio network. up next, president trump is set to hold a news conference in the white house briefing room at any moment. we'll take you there live. also chinese propaganda making it clear who the chinese communist party wants to win the presidency. this looks like, well, it's something other than russian meddling, that's for sure. [laughter] china wants to try it out. congressman matt gaetz here to take that up and much more. and i'd like to remind you about my new book, "the trump century: how our president changed the course of history forever." please preorder your copy or

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lou: breaking news now, a former democratic congressman accused of bribing an election judge in order to tough the ballots -- stuff the ballots for democrat candidates in philadelphia. court documents say michael meyers paid thousands of dollars to have fake votes in the voting machines between 2014 and 2016. meyers represented the philadelphia area in congress for four years. that is until about four years ago, he was expelled and imprisoned for taking bribes during the famous undercover fbi sting known as abscam. the scandal didn't apparently teach him anything. also breaking tonight, chinese state television blaming populism for the spread of the china virus. can -- china global television network airing this video. the title, can covid-19 beat

populism? a straightforward attack on president trump's candidacy for reelection. it claims the china virus is, quote, another straw on the camel's back against populist heeders like president trump. leaders like president trump. how's that for meddling? and how is it for interfering in u.s. domestic politics? well, joining us tonight, one of the president's strongest defenders of both the president, obviously, and his populist movement. he is congressman matt gaetz, member of the house judiciary committee, armed services committees. his new book is called "firebrand: dispatches from the front lines of the maga revolution." it's available for preorder now, and we are delighted to have its distinguished author, that is, congressman matt gaetz. matt, great to have you with usment you've just been in a meeting, i understand, with john ratcliffe, the director of

national intelligence. is there anything you can share with us, with the audience? >> breaking news, lou. well, john ratcliffe in the last few hours has just declassified the memo that describes the august 17th briefing the fbi gave president trump back in the 2016 election. now, the fbi has been telling us that this was a defensive briefing, but the evidence that we have today proves that this was a setup of the president and of michael flynn. here's how. you'll remember that at the end of july in 2016 the fbi opened the trump-russia investigation. on august 8th, peter strzok and lisa page were saying, no, we'll stop him. on august 15th, the insurance policy. and then august 17th is the first defensive briefing that the trump campaign gets. who does the fbi send? peter strzok, kevin klein smith, the lawyer who changed evidence before the fisa court, and joe pientka who shouldn't have been

there in the first place. they were trying to ensnare michael flynn, and on the documented today they are labeling that meeting as a part of the crossfire razor investigation which was the flynn investigation. they should have been this to protect the president from russian interference. instead, they were there to frame the president and try to put pressure on michael flynn. this is what we've been talking about for years now, even more evidence that it's the case. lou: well, congratulations to john ratcliffe for declassifying the documents and pushing this information into the public arena. because we are -- everyone is anticipating that there will be charges against those who conspired to overthrow this president. this is outrageous. this is of a historic level that it boggles the mind to think that academia or scholars are not involved in this at all. there is not a word of protest from those professional academic

historians who should be all over this. but -- >> well, and think about biden. lou: -- they are as quiet as church mice. >> remember, this was during the obama/biden administration, and it was joe biden himself who was trying to manufacture some basis to go after general flynn. so the reason this is important is that it didn't just occur during the trump administration. this defensive briefing was part of the plan to try to delegitimize president trump, to try to go after his allies even back during the obama/bind administration. obama/biden administration. lou: it is, without question, we now know this was a full-on effort by the obama era intelligence people. not just the national security division of the fbi and its top officials of that agency and the justice department. this was a widespread effort under the auspices of the obama white house. without question. i want to turn to what's going on right now, and that is it

looks like, according to the polls, that president trump is a lot more popular than most of these polls are detecting. who would have ever suspected that there was something called the silent majority? we look at the cato institute poll that shows 55% of americans are afraid to express their political viewpoints. but almost 80% of conservatives and republicans are afraid to express their views because of the violence of the left expect extraordinary campaign by the left to silence that majority out there. it's incredible. >> president trump is leading the most powerful political movement certainly in my lifetime, and the left's strategy is to try the demoralize us and demean us and to stop us from expressing our patriotism and love of our president and our country. and while it's no surprise that folks on the left are going after the president, i am deeply disappointed that liz cheney,

the chair of the house republican caucus, is also working against president trump. i think republicans deserve a house conference chair who will stand with our president and won't oppose him on everything from germany to afghanistan, to syria, to the coronavirus. even liz cheney picking up the hashtags of nancy pelosi and using them to chide our president. it's one of the reasons why i've asked for her to step awe side so that in this runup to the election we have leaders and conference chairs who will campaign with the president and help reelect him so we can save this great country. lou: you know, you republicans on capitol hill are a courageous bunch. i have to admire your sportsmanship. you will, you find ways to put leaders who are in opposition to nearly everything the republican party stands for. you've made one of them speaker of the house back in 2018. you've got cheney now. how does this happen with you republicans? >> hey, rinos are almost ex--

rhinos are almost exe in africa, but they seem to roam free in political times. liz cheney has been working against president trump for some time behind the scenes, but now she's actively chiding the president. and i think that republicans in our conference who support the president need to ten up for him -- step up for him and need to insure that liz cheney does not have the motto of republicanism as she attacks our leader. lou: a sage counsel as usual from yo, congressman matt gaetz. great to have you here. we'd like to hear your thoughts. share your comments. follow me on twitter @loudobbs like me on facebook, follow me on ins gam @loudobbstonight. up next, joe biden's latest blunder. we don't number them, there are too many. tonight -- [laughter] what he said about the difference between the people of south korea and china. charlie hurt, tammy bruce -- haven't seen them in too long --

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lou: i'm delighted to tell you that tammy bruce, washington times columnist, fox business contributor, host of fox nation's get tammy bruce, is with us as is charlie hurt, fox business contributor, great to have you both here. and as i say this, you're not going to believe it, the president walking out. say something quickly, tammy. ooh, it's too late, sorry. >> thank you. lou: the president of the united states. >> uniting the country in our fight against the china virus, i've reminded people of the importance of masks when you can't socially distance in particular. a strong message has been sent out to young people to stop going to crowded bars and other crowded places. yesterday we made the amazing announcement for our plans to protect nursing home residents who are working very hard on that, we're doing very well all

over the country. and also about contracting with pfizer. we made a big, big, beautiful contract with pfizer. we think they're very close, but we have a lot of companies that are very close to producing a vaccine. and i wanted to come out again today to share some additional news with you. this afternoon my political team came to me and laid out our plans for the convention in jacksonville, florida. it's a mace -- place i love. i love that state. the drawings look absolutely beautiful. i never thought we could have something look so good so fast with everything going on, and everything was going well, a tremendous list of speakers. thousands of people wanting to be there, and, i mean, in some cases desperately be there. they wanted to attend. people making travel arrangements all over the country, they wanted to be there. the pageantry, the signs, the excitement were really, really

top of the line, but i looked at my team and i said the timing for this event is not right. it's just not right with what's happened recently, the flare-up in florida, to have a big convention, it's not the right time. it's really something that, for me, i have to protect the american people. that's what i've always done, that's what i always will do, that's what i'm about. they said, sir, we can make this work very easily. we have great enthusiasm, incredible enthusiasm. even the polls say that's the most enthusiasm they've seen. with we can do this safely and we can do it responsibly. i said there's nothing more important in our country than keeping our people safe. whether that's from the china virus or the radical left mob that you see in portland where i want to thank homeland security and others in law enforcement for doing a fantastic job over

the last few days. they went in, people were out of control for 51 days, a long time, and homeland security and other law enforcement with us went in, and they've done a great job protecting our property, federal courthouse and other property. and most importantly, protecting our people. or the senseless violence that you see in chicago or new york or detroit, a lot of other cities where so many people are shot and so many people are killed. and people elected me to help and to protect. so i told my team it's time to cancel the jacksonville, florida, component of the gop convention. we'll be starting in north carolina for the monday as has always been planned. we were never taking that off. that's remaining as it is. the delegates are going to get together. that's where they do their nomination. so the delegates are going to

north carolina, and they'll be doing the nomination. and we're going to do some other things with, tele-allies and online the week that we're discussing which will be really good. i think we're going to do it well, and i'll still do a convention speech in a different form, but we won't do a big, crowded convention per se. it's just not the right time for that. i care deeply about the people of florida and everywhere else, frankly, in this country and even in the world. i would be coming into the state, and i don't want to do anything to upset it. they'll be doing very well very shortly. they've put some maps up of the country behind me, and you'll see that the area we're talking about is a hot spot. we'll also see a lot of the country is, has no problem whatsoever. most of the country, actually. so i'm always going to take care of you so that that's the way

we're going to do it. i've spoken to governor desantis and informed other political leaders. i want to thank the yak -- jacksonville community and its great mayor. he's a great guy, really great guy. they wanted it so badly. and all of the other political representatives in jacksonville and in florida and just very special people, a very special group, and they were there for us 100%. today i want to provide an update on the actions we're taking to support the safe reopening of america's schools. parents around the world who have had their children home for the last few months have a greater appreciation for the fact that teachers are essential workers, that they're essential to our children's future. our goal is to protect our teachers and students from the china virus while insuring that families with high risk factors can continue to participate if

home. -- from home. very important. the american academy of pediatrics has released guidance recommending that schools reopen. it said, quote: lengthy time away from school and associated interruption of supportive services often results in a social isolation making it difficult for schools to identify and address important learning deficits as well as child and adolescent physical and sexual abuse, substance abuse, depression and suicidal ideation. this in turn places children and adolescents at considerable risk of morbidity and of, in some cases, mortality. beyond the educational impact and social impact of school closures, there has been a substantial impact on food security and physical activity for children and for families. so that's very important.

and there's a highway, it goes both ways. the national education association recently stated despite the momentous efforts of educators during the pandemic, online learning has never been an effective replacement for in-person learning and support. being at the school, being on the campus is very, very important. one study estimates that due to school closure withs last spring, the average student will begin this school year roughly 35% behind in reading compared to the typical year and more than 50 percent behind in math. that's a big statement. according to mckenzie and company, learning loss will probably be greatest among low income black and hispanic students, they're the ones that are hit the hardest. i we -- we don't want that happening. 30 million american students rely on schools for free and reduced meals.

over 70% of the students who receive mental health services do so through their schools. according to hhs, one in five reports allegedly having to do with child abuse, they have neglect -- and these are neglect and neglected cases -- are submitted by education personnel. so people in the education world on the premises had been the ones that report neglect and other problems when they see the children. they know if they've been neglected, if they've been hurt or harmed in any way whether it's at home or someplace else. they see this at school. you don't get to see that if you're not going to school. it's a big thing. fortunately, the data shows the children are lower risk from the china virus very substantially. when children do contract the virus, they often have only very mild symptoms or none at all. and medical complications are

are exceedingly rare. those that do face complications often have underlying medical conditions. 99% of all china virus hospitalizations are adults, and 99.96% of all fatalities are adults. that means that children are a tiny percentage, less than 1% and even a small percentage of 1%. in a typical year, the flu results in more deaths of those under 18 in the united states than have been lost thus far to the coronavirus. many different names. many, many different names. the life of every child is sacred and must be protected. our sole focus is the health and well-being of america's children. i have a very, very special person who loves children who's, i think, one of the greatest athletes of all time.

a lot of people say the greatest pitcher of all time. known as a relief pitcher, could have been whatever he wanted, some people -- he is e the greatest relear of all time, substantially more saves than anybody else. in fact, he got the presidential medical of freedom recently, and he, i'm reading off these e stats. i knew he was the best, i knew he was great, but i didn't know it was almost double anybody else. but he's a man who loves children, has children, loves children, works hard with children. we're going to go outside and be with some little leaguers. mariano rivera. you know he's the sandman, right? my wife said, darling, why do they call him the sandman? i said, you know, they play the song, he just puts the batters to sleep. and that's exactly what happened. so having mariano here is a great honor, thank you very much. he's talking about children in schools, and there's nobody that's done more than you have. thank you very much, mariano. fantastic man.

given these considerations, we believe many school districts can now reopen safely provided they implement mitigation measures and health protocols to protect families, protect teachers and to protect students. and we do have to protect the teachers and the families also. we have to remember that. all families should be empowered to make the decision that is right for their own circumstance. this is especially important if a child has underlying health conditions or lives with a parent or grandparent who's at higher risk. in cities or states that are current hot spots, and you'll see that in the map behind me, districts may need to delay reopening for a few weeks. that's possible. that'll be up to governors. the decision should be made based on the data and the facts on the ground in each community. but every district should be actively making preparations to open. again, the children obviously

have a very strong immune system, maybe even as strong as yours. they seem to be able to fight it off and not have a problem. so it's pretty amazing actually. great, great credit. our strategy to safely reopen schools mirrors our approach nationwide. as we race toward the completion of a vaccine and therapeutics, the responsible path is to shelter those at highest risk while allowing those at lower risk, much lower in the case of young children, to reare assume work at school -- resume work at school as long as everyone practices vigilant hygiene and social distancing. we want that. a permanent shutdown was never the strategy which would ultimately lead to greater mortality ander reverse bl harms --er reverse bl harms. we don't want to do that. at the same time, we have to get our economy going. we had tremendous numbers issued

yesterday. housing prices, pricing of housing up 21%. the highest in history. it's the highest number in history. real estate housing. went up 21%. today the cdc will provide additional guidance for how schools can reopen safely. i hope that local leaders put the full health and well-being of their students first and make the right decision for children, parents, teachers and not make political decisions. this isn't is about politics, this is about something very, very important. this is not about politics. i even think it's bad politics if you do the wrong decision, very bad politics. we're asking congress to provide $105 billion to schools as part of the next coronavirus relief bill. this funding will support mitigation measures such as smaller class sizes, more teachers and teacher aides, repurposing spaces to practice social distancing and,

crucially, mask wearing. this money is in addition to the $30 billion we secured for schools and universities earlier this year. that money we have some is distributed and some is not distributed. if schools are not reopened, the funding should go to parents to send their child to public/private, charter, religious or home school of their choice. the keyword being choice. if the school is closed, the money should follow the student so the parents and families are in control of their own decisions. so we'd like the money to go to the parents of the student. this way they can make the decision that's best for them. we cannot indefinitely stop 50 million american children from going to school, harming their mental, physical and emotional development. reopening our schools is also critical to insuring that parents can go to work and provide for their families.

the council of economic advisers estimates that 5.6 million parents will be unable to return to work if schools do not reopen this year. it's a tremendous problem. it's a tremendous problem. schools have to open safely. they have to open. more than a dozen european countries as well as south korea, taiwan and many others have already reopened schools x cases have have not risen. we can achieve the same goal if we unite with together, follow the best medical practices and apply common sense. we'll continue to support states and cities in the current hot spots in the south, southwest and west. the governors, i know them all, they're all very, very capable, they're doing a very good job, they're working so hard. you wouldn't even believe it. we have nearly 30,000 federal personnel deployed in the states that need assistance. we're helping with doctors and

nurses, medical personnel of all kinds. as a ppe update, we're in close communication with governors in states. we have supplies, everything they could possibly need. we're very strong on supplies. you remember i used to say the cupboards were bare? now the cupboards are the opposite. due to our efforts to increase the stockpiles, the vast majority of states have 60 days' worth of supplies on hand, and most importantly, they have ventilators because the ventilators are very, very hard to come by at least in the past. now we're making thousands of ventilators a month and supplying them, in many cases, to other countries. for states who are making requests, we are rapidly delivering. in the last 24 the hours, fema has deployed more than 1.5 million masks upon request, 1.7 million gowns and 600,000 --

well, let me change that. we've created about 600,000 different supplies. we have 600 ventilators to arizona, north carolina, pennsylvania, colorado, idaho and washington. if i think the number is 900. we're -- 600. we're going to check that, and we'll give it to you in a little while. but we've got a stockpile of thousands of ventilators. i think we've sent out about 600 just recently. the united states is has now conducted more than 51 million tests which is more than any other country in the world by far. roughly half of the tests are either the rapid point of care test which, frankly, solves a lot of problem in delay, 5-15 minutes instead of waiting for service both ways, in both directions and then at the lab. but roughly half of them now, which is a tremendous increase, are 5-a 15 minute tests or tests

done in a hospital where you get the results back in less than a day. in some cases immediately. we're continuing to surge testing to current hot spots such as miami and phoenix to detect those with the virus and take steps to stop from spreading it further. this is a copy of the map, and this is -- you have it right behind me. that's really very much indicating where the problems are. you see from that it's in great shape, lots of it. the northeast has become very clean. the country is in very good shape other than if you look south and west, some problems. it'll all work out. on therapies we've worked with florida to insure that over 40,000 vials of remdesivir are arriving this week. that's a lot. that's really a lot are. they're working around the clock

to make it. it's had a tremendous impact. we've also shipped thousands of vials to arizona, california and texas over the past two weeks. arizona's doing very well. it's heading down. numbers are heading down very quickly. the governor's done a great job. they've all done a great job. they've all done a great job. working hard. we'll continue to monitor the areas rising and with respect to cases, and we ask all americans to exercise vigilance, practice social distancing, wear a mask. do whatever is necessary so we get rid of this horrible situation, this horrible disease that was sent to us by china. should not have been sent, they should have stopped it, they could have stopped it, they didn't, and the entire world has gotten infected, and a lot of countries are going through a lot right now. this morning i spoke with president putin of russia, and they're going through a very hard time with this in moscow in particular. i spoke to crown prince of saudi

arabia. they're doing well, but they're going through a lot. everybody's going through a lot. yesterday i spoke to the heads of four different countries. all four are going through a lot, they're going through a hard time. this could have been stopped. it could have been stopped quickly and easily, but for some reason it wasn't. and we'll figure out what that reason was. so with that, if you have any questions, please. >> on the convention, were you simply not convince ised you could keep people safe at the convention? >> i just felt it was wrong, steve, to have people going to what turned out to be a hot pot. you know, when we chose it, it was not at all hot. and all of a sudden it happened quickly. it happens quickly. it goes away and it goes away quickly. the key is we want it to go away without a lot of death, without a lot of problems, and we're learning so much about the disease. that's why we're very cognizant of nursing homes.

we're watching them very carefully and people over a certain age. and especially people over a serb age with diabetes -- certain age with diabetes or heart disease in particular, but with a problem. so we didn't want to take any chances. we had a lot of people. we have delegates who want to be there. we're going to do a fairly reasonably quick meeting in north carolina. the nomination will be produced. and then we'll announce what we're doing, how we're doing it, whether it's something that's done online, i guess you could call it online. so there could be nothing like our last convention, unfortunately. that was a great convention. we had a great place, as you know. we had a great time. great time in cleveland. but it's a different world, and it had been for a little while. we want to get the world back to what it was, and i think we'll is have that including great job numbers, including so many things that are happening so positive. i have to say the stock market

is close to records. the nasdaq, it is a record. it's sheriff exceeded its -- sheriff exceeded its highest numbers. but we want to get our country back to what it was. >> will your acceptance speech be from the white house? are you worried -- >> we haven't said that, steve. we'll probably announce that -- >> you afraid this might dampen enthusiasm for you? >> we've done a great job. we've built the greatest economy in the world. nobody close. not china, nobody. we saved millions of lives, we had the best numbers for african-americans, hispanic-americans, asian-americans, every group you want to name. young people without a diploma, young people with a high school diploma, with a college diploma, anything you want to name, we had the best numbers. women doing incredibly, never been a time like that. and we had to turn it because of because of what china did.

we had to turn it off. and then all of a sudden now we purpose turn it back on -- now we turn it back on. china, speaking about china, the trade deal means less to me now than it did when i made it. when i made it, it was a great deal but they're setting records, yesterday was a record corn day. they purchased more corn than any order ever. and that went on for two or three days. soybeans and all. but it just means much less to me. can you understand that? just means much less to me. please, go ahead. >> what was the one thing, if there was one thing that changed your mind about the convention? and did florida officials ask you to cancel it? >> no, they didn't. we're dealing with them, but they didn't. i would just say safety. just safety. you know, i could see the media saying, oh, this is very unsafe. i don't want to be in that position. it's safety. not because of the media, but that's what they would say. and if we'll have a very nice something, we'll figure it out.

it'll be, it'll be online in some form. maybe it'll be something even a little bit different. we have time. you know, we're talking about the end of august. but i think it'll be something that will be exciting, but there can be nothing like having 25,000 people. we had a tremendous thing planned, a tremendous convention planned in north carolina. and it would have been very good, but a much smaller version in florida. but then we saw what was happening -- pretty dugly we saw that the virus was coming up that coast. >> [inaudible] acknowledgment of the severity of the situation in florida? >> no. i think it's going to come and go. it will. i mean, you take a look at some of these locations were heavily infected. i mean, to a point where deborah and i were talking that, you know, when you look at what happened in new york and what happened in new jersey and other places, and now you're looking and it's gone. hope it stays gone.

i think it will, but we had to be, we have to be vigilant. we have to be careful. and we also have to set an example. i think setting the example is very important. it's hard for us to say we're going to have a lot of people packed in a room and then other people shouldn't do it. don't forget we're talking about schools, and we want them to be vigilant, and we're saying open, and then we're saying here you have a big room, but i also -- if you notice, i said where bars are crowded, other things are crowded, well, there's nothing more crowded than a convention. i mean, you've seen them. and even though you try and keep people away from each other, there's just not that kind of a thing. they probably can't do that. it just doesn't work for them. it's very hard. so i think we're setting an example by doing it, it's very important. yeah, john. >> mr. president, if i could come back to school openings. you talked about money that congress is looking at to help schools that want to reopen. a school wants to reopen but is concerned about testing, would you consider directing some of that money toward testing for

either a school district or even individual schools? if that's what it took to open the schools? >> yeah, i think so. i mean, a lot of people feel differently about testing. we talk about it a lot. when we have 50 million tests police -- plus, and, you know, we broke the 50 million test mark. second in the world is india which has 1.4 billion people, and they had 12 million tests. and other countries that are very big had 2 million tests, and some countries essentially only test if you're sick and walk into a hospital, a doctor's office or if you're literally really sick. they essentially don't do tests unless you're sick she. and i understand that too. so, yeah, they feel that's what they want. that would be fine. >> -- congress to pay for testing? >> i would if they want. again, we've done 50 million tests. there's nobody even close in the whole world. you look at our mortality rate,

our death rate, you look at different statistics. we're doing very well, but one death is too many. this should never have happened. this should never have been allowed to happen from china. >> also mitch mcconnell's office just put out a statement a moment ago about the phase four relief act saying, quote: it's tailored precisely for this phase of the crisis is. it does not include your payroll tax cut -- >> yeah, i'd like to see a payroll tax cut. i think it's great for the workers. the democrats would never have gone for it. they're not big in the workers, and based on that, i told the republicans last night who have been working very hard on this, i that's -- they want what's rir the cup. but i said i think a payroll tax will be good, but you're not going to get it from the democrats. we need their vote, you know. we have a majority but it's not enough. you still need democrat votes. so i'd like to see it. i think it'd be very good for

the worker. but i guess we have to go on to the next thing. a payroll tax cut would have been very good and maybe something happens. please. >> [inaudible] spoke about making an example, jacksonville, but i just wonder if people are going to take away the lesson you're pushing too hard, too fast? it seems like the numbers for a while in jacksonville have been going up, but you have a problem now -- [inaudible] major league baseball season,. [inaudible] pushing too fast. >> well, baseball, as an example, we were discussing it a little while ago. you're going to be in an empty stadium. randy levine's a great friend of mine from the yankees, and he asked me to throw out the first pitch. i think i'm doing that at august 15th -- on august 15th, and i say how's the crowd going to be, you know? you don't have a crowd. there's no such thing. it's going to be interesting,

mariano. he's not used to that. he walks in, the place goes crazy. i think you'd be just as good without the crowd, you were just born with it, you know? some people are born with it. i don't know, this is only for the baseball players, but i've never seen a pusher with so many throws where so many bats are broken. parents, great parents when you get right down to it. how do you do that in great parents. yeah, just to finish, i think that we have to all set examples. i think major league baseball is setting an example by playing to empty stadiums, and so are other sports. you see that. now, they'll allow a certain number in. i see golf is now, soon, will be allowing people to come in in percentages. and all of a sudden we want to get back to normal. the key e is to get back to normal because nobody wants to see this. but i think it's really good that baseball's opening. it looks like football's opening. it looks like sports are opening. we have -- it's a tremendous

thing psychologically for our country, and we're all, we're going to see right now some beautiful young little leaguers outside with a great future ahead of them. they're already practicing on the front lawn of the white house, and we're going to go out and say hello to them, and it'll be really great. okay, how about one more. yeah, please, go ahead. >> president trump -- [inaudible] earlier today reported that one thing -- holding up the coronavirus bill is the white house asking it include language regarding the fbi building in downtown washington d.c. is that true? >> i don't know that they're putting it in this bill, but i know they want to have a new fbi building. this one is very old, and it's really was never built to a very high standard, as you probably have heard, and it's got a lot of danger involved, panels falling off the outside and pieces of concrete falling off the building. and they want to build it at the site that they have it. they had options very far away

from washington, and i said to 'em, frankly, you have to be near the justice department. there's nothing better than the site they have now, but they were looking at sites in maryland and virginia and different places. but they would have been too far away. so i am, i have been encouraging them to build with it, and if -- you have a choice. you can renovate the existing building, but it's not a good building, or you could take it down and build a great building for the fbi for a hundred years and have it be incredible even with tracks on top, you know, because fbi people like to work out a lot. and you could have literally quarter mile tracks on top. it's a very big site, very wide site. so i think the best idea would be to build a new building and they you have it for a long time. remember -- renovation can never be add --ed add goods add a new . thank you all very much. thank you very much.

lou: president trump wrapping up his news conference from the white house briefing room. more than four million case of the china virus in this country. 144,000 americans have died. president trump is canceling the jacksonville portion of the republican convention. north carolina remains the role in nominating the president. we want to turn to charlie hurt, "washington times" opinion editor. great to have you with us. your thoughts about the president's comments and where we are? >> i think it is probably a smart thing that the president has gotten back to doing these press conferences. i think shortened verses versions of them a lot wiser than previous ones. i personally really enjoyed the longer ones but you know these are unprecedented times. i think what we saw there was a president who is not

politicizing this issue but trying to tackle this issue. there are a lot of politicians in washington doing something very differently. they are trying to politicizing this issue. i think they will meet with great retribution from voters in november, if that is what voters believe they're up to. lou: the president sending federal law enforcement officers into portland, chicago, al albuquerque. mayor lori lightfoot would not allow terroristic forces of federal government in the city. we understand she just agreed to have federal law enforcement as murders are running wildly beyond anything conscionable, even by chicago standards. your reaction? >> it is truly astonishing, lou. there is no issue that democrats in washington and at the helm of a lot of these issues, there is no issue they will not poe little size for their own --

politicize for their own political benefit. it is terrifying shocking and destroying the country. i look around washington, whatever your political views are, president trump i think is doing everything he can without politicizing these issues, trying to get a hold of these, the riots and mayhem and trying to get a stranglehold on the worst pandemic we've seen in 100 years. lou: all of this confronting a president for the first time. no one, no president has ever seen this many critical crises assail his presidency. charlie hurt, always good to have you with us. thanks so much. appreciate it. that's it for us tonight. we thank you for being with us. my new book is "the trump century," how our president changed the course of history forever. it's available for preorder now at thetrumpcentury.com. we encourage you to take that

opportunity to upset a liberal and go to amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com. tomorrow congressman jim banks, tom fitton, pastor robert jeffress. thanks for being with us. good night from sussex. elizabeth: we got breaking news. the president just wrapping up a press conference at the white house moments ago, yes, some schools may have to reopen later due to the covid-19 pandemic. also noting that the jacksonville, florida, republican convention, they're going to dial back on that. safety first there. president also revealing he has been invited to there out the furs punch at a yank cost baseball guam in august. tonight we have top border official mark morgan on two major federal operations now underwaa to stop violence spiraling out of control in u.s. cities and to stop rioting but joe biden now claims the trump administration is attacking peaceful protesters a