i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching. and remember, you can't take it with you. s, everybody. "lou dobbs tonight" starts right now. ♪ ♪ lou: good evening, everybody. a big hearing on capitol hill today as the senate judiciary committee continued its investigation into the origins of obamagame. committee chairman lindsey graham called sally yates to testify before the committee today. yates is another smug member of the deep state. she carried on with her best efforts at playing cute and clever at times and all the while doing what she could to shield her cohorts in the obama justice department. senator graham blessed the hearing and all in attendance with a shower of parliamentary planetter and senatorial excess

in language while seeming to try to help yates whenever he could. the senator promised to dig into the political corruption of the intelligence agencies and their efforts to subvert and to overthrow president trump. yates' answers were predictable as she tried to deflect any responsibility for her role in obamagate. yates blamed the fbi entirely for obamagate. here's what she had to say about former fbi director james comey sending agents peter doc and joe pientka to question former national security adviser general michael flynn in january of 2017. >> when you heard about the interview, you got upset, didn't you? >> i was upset that that wasn't coordinated. they acted unilaterally, yes, i was. >> okay. did comey go rogue? >> you could use that term, yes.

lou: yates also confirmed that the logan act was brought up in a now-infamous oval office meeting on january 5th of 2017. but she said she remembers only comey talking about it and not former vice president joe biden. it just so happens others say that the former vice president is the one who brought up the idea of the logan act as a way to go after general flynn. yates made it clear she doesn't like president trump, and she did her best to assume a pretentious mantel of superiority over the president of the united states. senator john kennedy drew this response if yates. from yates. >> you don't like donald trump, do you? >> i don't like, i don't respect the manner in which he has carried out the presidency. lou: well, tsk, tsk, tsk. in another exchange, yates claimed she wases aware of the

origins of the fraudulent steele dossier. she nonetheless signed off on the fisa warrant to spy on former trump campaign aide carter page. >> if i had known that it would take incorrect information, i certainly wouldn't have. >> thank you. and do you agree with me it did contain incorrect information? >> i know that now based on the hour -- horowitz -- >> that's all i'm trying to say. lou: a trying witness, at best. yates spewed more lies saying that general flynn was trying to neuter, as she put it, president obama's sanctions against russia. recently-released transcripts show that was a lie. one senator, josh hawley, didn't buy anything yates was selling. he called out her selective amnesia. he demanded a house clearing at the fbi and the doj. >> i seem to detect a pattern here. there's -- ms. yates says she has no idea what her deputy

doing as he facilitates contact between political party research and the fbi, now idea these applications materially misrepresented a federal court. nobody appears to know anything in this government, and yet somehow a federal court was deliberately and systematically misled so severe hi that they now say they can't trump anything the fbi e did. if this doesn't call for a cleaning of house, i don't know what it is. i just know that bruce ohr is still on the payroll. lou: and bries other on -- bruce ohr on the payroll, by the way, is the least of the offenses off the obama era fbi. president trump tweeted this, quote: big news, the political crime of the century e is up folding. obama/biden illegally spied on the trump campaign both before and after the election. treason.

with an exclamation point. president trump today also railed against the radical dems' latest efforts to subvert his presidency. here's what he said just moments ago during his meeting with the governor of arizona about voter fraud. >> this mail-in voting where they mail undiscriminately millions and millions of ballots to people, you're never going to know who won the election. you can't have that. i don't believe the post office could be set up. they were given no notice. you're talking about millions of votes. no, it's a catastrophe waiting to happen. we can't have that. you'll never know who the winner is. but the winner's going to be me. lou: the same radical dems pushing mail-in voter fraud are also turning a blind eye e to the systemic violence raging in many of their cities. that's right, systemic violence. senator ted cruz held a hearing in washington about the role of antifa and other left-wing groups in that nationwide spike

in violence that has seized the democrat-led cities of this country. cruz sparring at one point with radical dem mazie hirono before she got all huffy and walked out of the hearing. >> so i hope this is the end of this hearing, mr. chairman, and that we don't have to listen to any more of your rhetorical speeches. thank you very much, i'm leaving. >> well, i appreciate the, as always, kind and uplifting words of senator hirono, and i would also note throughout her remarks, she still not say a negative word about antifa, nor has any democrat here. lou: while dems in washington ignore antifa, they've been creating chaos and causing destruction in portland for now 69 straight nights. police in the city of portland declared a riot there last night

after a portland police association building was broken into and set awe afire. three people -- aafire. three people were arrested and sent to jail. their charges are pending, the outcome far from certain. joining us tonight is congressman andy biggs, member of the house judiciary committee, chairman of the house freedom caucus. congressman, it's great to have you with us. your take, if you will, on sally yates, she who remembers as various senators acknowledged only what seems to be convenient. >> well, that's it. she's going the protect herself and, actually, i think she's trying to protect president obama, former president obama. she was at that meeting in january, and she said biden was not the guy, she said somebody else, comey brought up the logan act. all of this stuff is so convenient, and now, oh, yeah, now i wouldn't sign e that fisa application to spy on carter page. the reason she wouldn't sign it

now is because she's been caught. she signed this application to spy on the trump campaign and on the trump administration. and she was, she was basically trying to be a thorn in the trump campaign's side and prevent them from taking office. and she went after flynn. these things that she was doing -- and now she's there, oh, i don't quite remember that or i don't remember that, that is what we see all the time when people get put on the spot for something they've done wrong. and that's where sally yates is, in my opinion, having learned and seen what she said today. lou: i have to say i think it was very kind of senator graham to try to put the best possible interpretation of her remarks and her role. did you have a particular reaction to that yourself? >> well, i mean, there's decorum

and then there's just allowing some things to go kind of be swept under the rug. i felt like sally yates should be put on the spot. she was the deputy assistant attorney general. she was the one who signed these documents. he was there from the get go -- she was there from the get go with obama and with biden. with comey. [audio difficulty] going on. and i just felt like she should have been pressed harder by some members, perhaps by the chairman himself. but certainly, i thought ted cruz and judge josh hawley were getting after her pretty good, and they needed to because he needs to come clean, and she didn't come clean all the wayed today, in my opinion. lou: well, it's very clear that he does not want to discuss a number of things, and she shielded only the justice department and blamed the fbi which is a highly improbable inversion of a relationship

between an agency and a department, don't you think? >> and the reality is that's -- she threw comey under the bus, which is where he should have been a long time ago because there's a guy who should have some criminal charges against him. but for her to basically say, oh, it's all the fbi e, they're the ones. we don't have to verify what they say. she had some duties that she abrogated on the fisa applications. but more overworks what she was was -- moreover, what she was doing in the trump administration she was later praised by andrew weissmann because of what she was doing. but to go after general flynn, she was in on that, she knew about it, and you -- she's got to own that stuff, but she's trying not to own it. lou: yeah. well, she's trying not to and, by the way, the committee chair

was helping her divest herself of any responsibility. congressman andy biggs, we thank you very much for being with us. appreciate it. on wall street today another rally. stocks finishing higher. the dow climbing 373 points, the s&p up 21. the nasdaq gained 57, its 31st record close this year. volume on the big board, 4.6 billion shares. crude oil climbing up to $42.15 a barrel. a reminder to listen to my reports three times a day coast to coast on the salem radio network. up next, china joe goes on a bizarre rant after being challenged about his mental state. >> how do you take it, a cognitive -- >> no, i haven't taken the test. why the hell would i take a test? the come on, man, that's like saying before you got on this

program, you take a test where you're taking cocaine or not? what do you think, huh? >> [inaudible] >> i'm so forward looking to have an opportunity to sit with the president or stand with the president in debates. i am, i am very willing to let the american public judge my physical and mental -- my physical as well as my mental fitness. ♪ ♪ lou: and so it goes. we take that up with sebastian gorka. also china's upset that a member of the trump administration is actually headed to taiwan, leading a full delegation, and he's chosen an interesting way to travel. gordon chang joining us with that and more. and my new book, "the trump century: how our president changed the course of history forever," please preorder your copy or copies now. you can do so at thetrumpcentury.com, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and you can give the left wing of this country fits as you do it.

we'll be right back. ♪

♪ ♪ we've always put safety first. ♪ ♪ and we always will. ♪ ♪ for people. ♪ ♪ for the future. ♪ ♪ and there has never been a summer when it's mattered more. wherever you go, summer safely. get 0% apr financing for up to five years on select models and exclusive lease offers.

we love our new home. there's so much space. we have a guestroom now. but, we have aunts. you're slouching again, ted. expired, expired... expired. thanks, aunt bonnie. it's a lot of house. i hope you can keep it clean. at least geico makes bundling our home and car insurance easy. which helps us save a lot of money oh, teddy. did you get my friend request? uh, i'll have to check. (doorbell ringing) aunt joni's here! for bundling made easy, go to geico.com. hello?

lou: breaking news now, at least one american was killed in that massive explosion in the port of

beirut. [background sounds] lou: an extraordinary explosion. the blast from almost 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, felt more than 150 miles away, killing more than 100 people. 300,000 people have lost their homes. thousands were injured in the blast. beirut's government says the losses at the port explosion amount to more than $10 billion. it is still unclear at this hour who is responsible for the explosion, exactly what happened and why. also breaking tonight, health and human services secretary alex azar is going to taiwan. he is the first american cabinet member to visit taiwan in six years, leading a delegation.

secretary azar saying that he's going to support the democratic government and its response to the china virus pandemic. taiwan foreign ministry saying the chinese planes have been flying -- aircraft have been flying into their air space almost every day and being met by taiwan. saudi arabia getting some help from china to expand its nuclear program. "the wall street journal" reporting that the two nations have built a facility to extract uranium yellow cake from uranium other ore in a small, remote part of northwest saudi arabia. and there are reports that russia is helping the saudis as well. joining us tonight to take all of this up is gordon chang. he's a columnist, author, senior fellow at the gatestone institute and, first of all, gordon, it's good to see you. let's start with this explosion in beirut. do you have any sense of what the intelligence agencies

believe happened? >> we don't know, lou, as you reported. this could very well just been negligence. i think the beirut government has been talking about the failure to store this correctly. but as you point out, we're going to find out, but it's going to take only time. take some time. lou: and let's turn quickly to taiwan and secretary azar's delegation that he's leading to taiwan to both offer support to the taiwan government, democratic government i might add, and to, actually, poke a finger in the eye of the people's republic of china, ill think as well. >> well, yes. you know, we talk about covid-19, coronavirus, china virus, well, taiwan told the world health organization on december 31st that this virus was human-to-human transmissable. but we know that the w.h.o. and china conspired to keep that out

of the public narrative. it actually propagated china's false assurances that it was not human-to-human transmissable. and if taiwan's statement had been known, 24r-8d have been many fewer infections and death. so i think it's important to establish that linkage between the health authorities there and the health authoritys here. authorities here. lou: i think, as you know, president trump was on this broadcast last night. i think it's pretty clear that this complex, ever more complicated relationship between the united states and can china getting more difficult for this administration, for the united states. we know that xi jinping was aware that it was transmissable, that it was highly contagious, that it was a deadly disease and that the w.h.o., we learned later, was carrying the chinese water, supporting an absolutely

false narrative and lying to the worldment not just the united states -- to the world, not just the united states. so irrespective of what we do learn about the origins and whether or not china created this virus in their laboratories, is really beside the point. they're responsible for the death of over 150,000 americans, as many soon as700,000 the people around the world. what more do we want to play at? this isn't fbi time, this is national security, national sovereignty to be redressed. your thoughts. >> well, absolutely, lou. because xi jinping knew for at least five weeks and maybe even as much as five months that this was human-to-human transmissable, but he has basically said, no, this is not contagious. and that led health authorities around the world to not take

precautions other side they would have adopted, and at the same time pressured countries not to impose travel restrictions and quarantine it is on arrivals from china. president trump on january 31 imposed those travel restrictions and quarantines, and he took a lot of heat from beijing, and he took a lot of heat from domestic critics. but he did absolutely the right thing because if he didn't do that, this would have been much, much worse in the u.s. lou: absolutely. and even anthony the fauci, the man of many -- anthony fauci, the man of many opinions and many of them conflicting, acknowledges this president is responsible for saving, well, millions if millions of american lives, without questions, in putting that travel ban into effect. for sop reason the national -- some reason the national left-wing media seems to forget that fact. i want to turn to saudi arabia and china's role in helping saudi arabia move ahead with its nuclear ambitions. there were also reports that the russians are also helping the

saudis in that regard. what should be the united states' level of concern and response? >> we should be extremely concerned because it's clear that saudi arabia wants more than just the ability to enrich uranium. it really wants the full cycle and also i think it wants nuclear weapons. because there's no other explanation that fits the facts. saudi arabia has a lot of energy. why it would want to spend a lot of money to be able to take uranium ore and put it into yellow cake and to develop other parts of the cycle, it just doesn't make economic sense. and we know that china has been the world's master proliferater of nuclear weapons since the 1970s, so you put these two facts together, and we've got to be extremely, extremely worried about what's going on here. lou: well, we also, we have reason to be concerned about almost everything china is doing, also russia in the middle east. and escaping the attention of the national left-wing media, it

seems almost daily, is the fact that russian mercenaries have taken control of the largest refineries in libya. putin is expanding his probes into the middle east, trying to expand his influence in the region. and so far without response from europe, from the gulf states or from the united states. >> yes. you know, and the one thing that president trump has tried to do is he's developed cooperative relations with countries in the gulf and tried to to be as strong relations with saudi arabia as possible because he realizes that despite the can khashoggi murder, the u.s. has very important interests with riyadh, and those go back decades. it's really, i think, responsible foreign policy. but he's taken a lot of heat from critics in this country, and to his great credit, he's persisted in this course of action. lou: gordon chang, as always,

good to have you with us. thanks so much. we'd like to have your thoughts on all of this. please share your comments and follow me on twitter @loudobbs like me on facebook, follow me on instagram @loudobbstonight. up next, president trump moments away from holding a news conference at the white house. we'll be taking you there to the briefing room live when he moves toward the podium. president trump taking legal action against one tate's plan -- one state's plan for universal mail-in ballots. sebastian gorka with us right after these quick messages. stay with us, we'll be right back. as a caricature artist, i appreciate what makes each person unique. that's why i like liberty mutual. they get that no two people are alike and customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. almost done. what do you think? i don't see it.

only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

-my grandma. -my cousin. my great-great grandmother. she was all of 4'11" but very tenacious. a very independent woman. driven, passionate. embodied grit, perseverance. she marched. -she wrote. -she demanded. she was proud to pass on a legacy of civic mindedness to her descendants. i'm very proud to carry on her story. all: her story -find their stories. -make them count. at ancestry.

lou: president trump and the republican national committee suing the state of nevada for planning to mail ballots to all registered voters. president trump says nevada isn't ready to stop massive voter fraud in november.

>> even if nevada wanted to do it well, they wouldn't is have enough time. i'm sure the post office doesn't have enough time. the millions of ballots all of a sudden coming out of nowhere? you know, voting starts in a very short period of time. to in florida they've done a good job, in arizona they've done a good job, but they've been doing this thing and refining it for years. lou: well, china joe biden using the china virus pandemic as an excuse to stay hidden away at home at his nominating convention. biden today announcing he won't be going to the democrat national convention to be held in milwaukee. milwaukee e is problematic to begin with, but now he will accept his party's nomination not in milwaukee. he's chosen to deliver a speech in delaware. biden's decision follows this extraordinary exchange with a cbs reporter about cognitive testing.

>> please clarify specifically, have you taken a cognitive -- >> no, i haven't taken a test. why in the hell would i take a test? come on, man. that's like saying, you know, before you got on this program, did you take a test for taking cocaine or not? what do you think, huh? >> what do you say to president trump who brags about his test and makes your mental state an issue for voters? [laughter] >> well, if he can't figure out the difference between an elephant and a lion, i don't know what the hell he's talking about. did you watch that -- look, come on, man. i know you're trying to goad me, but i mean, i'm so forward looking to have an opportunity to sit with the president or stand with the president in debates. this is going to be plenty of time. and by the way, as i joke with -- i shouldn't say it. i'm going to say something i probably shouldn't say. anyway, i am, i am very willing to let the american public judge

my physical and mental -- my physical as well as my mental fitness. lou: well, from there e there yu are. joining us now, sebastian gorka, author, former strategist to president trump. seb, might as well just go there as quickly as we can. what is wrong with him? >> it's, it's stunning. i mean, after the -- lou: you're scaring me, seb. you're scaring me. [laughter] >> look, when he said if you ain't voting for me, you ain't black, could it get worse? to call your black host a junkie and then not have the capacity to say the word mental fitness? and now he's not going to go to the convention that the is allegedly nominating him? this is a man, lou, that they want to give the nuclear codes to. the democrat party thinks should

be the commander in chief. he's in hiding, he clearlies has mental cog any etive issues -- cognitive issues. he's talking about the difference between an elephant and a giraffe, i mean, this is the man who doesn't know the difference between his wife and his for. this should scare people. forget about politics, the idea that this man could be in charge of america's defenses should frighten all reasonable americans. lou: could you possibly explain to me, just take a shot at it, how in the world the democratic party or any democrat in the country -- first of all, just on the issue of joe biden -- could accept a presidential nominee who, first of all, does not get the nomination in the city of his party's convention, who does not in any way want to debate, it appears, and in every

public -- almost every public appearance -- doesn't seem to be particularly, what's the expression, with it? your thoughts. >> i'll raise an issue that a publisher who i don't have the authority to give his name raised to me yesterday in a hong hong -- in a long discussion. he said have you noticed any e of these stages events when he comes out of his bunker, joe biden leaves very early. he never takes questions and never speaks after 6 p.m. what's that about? this is a person who has to debate a president of the united states, who has to have the toughest job in the world? you're asking me how did we come to this punitive nominee?in in ory.i is n.tabltblenn.azie lstaz, knee- - g. wheasasheastas mtan m mtag. g. a a cionu oiofn t ohef of n/intoy, andy,y,idenen ow hollo hwollool that jhausha the t t vesse vlessel all t aha extrm of theof s tquad of knapp

i pelosi, defunefunun t t policl th to-antifa -- pro-antifa blm party that has become an extremist party. it should disturb all americans that this man could have a position beyond welcome county dogcatcher, let alone the president of the united states. lou: and we've got just about a minute but, seb, i'm not sure this country is color blind anymore, and i wonder about hispanics' concern about the fact that this nominee is -- has reduced his vice president possibilities down to two black women. your thoughts about why, why not hispanic. >> i think martin luther king is spinning in his grave. the democratic pear's picking --

party's picking their vice presidential nominee based on their skin color. that should horrify everybody who believes in the message that we are based upon our character, not our skin color. lou: yeah. all americans should be concerned. seb, thank you so much. sebastian gorka. we'll be right back with much more, stay with us.

lou: breaking news, the radical dems, the left-wing radical mob close to having their demands met at least in the city of seattle. the city counsel members will vote monday to defund the police department by 50%, eliminate a hundred department jobs. here is seattle police chief carmen best. >> purpose of council to do these large scale changes in 2020 with no tactical plan for community safety. and i believe wholeheartedlies that is completely reck -- wholeheartedly that is completely reckless. lou: she's very constrained. for her part. seattle mayor jenny durkan allowed an autonomous zone for weeks and weeks. he opposed defunding the police department by 50%, but she's still calling for a $20 million cut and doing nothing about any

of this, certainly not leading. president trump today called black lives matter a marxist organization. the president also pushed back against professional athletes who choose to kneel in support of black lives matter. >> we gotta stand up for our flag. we have to stand up for our cup. we have to stand up for our anthem x. a lot of people agree with me. hey, if i'm wrong, i'm going to lose an election, okay? and that's okay with me. but i will always stand for our country and our flag. that's what we're all about. lou: and joining us tonight to take up the issue of race in this country and the politics involved is bob woodson, former civil rights activist. he headed the national urban league department of criminal justice for five years. he's the founder of thed woodson center which helps residents in low income neighborhoods, and it is great to have you with us tonight. leapt -- bob, let's turn to just, first of all, black lives matter. the president called it a marxist organization.

i do too. it is, its manifesto is marxist in tone and in letter. what -- how would you describe black lives matter? >> as a marxist organization who are breeding terrorists, and they're a making their intentions quite obvious now. if you look at a what's happened in eugene, oregon, where the mob tried to go onto campus to tear down a cross because they said the christian cross is a symbol of white supremacy. in portland, oregon, they just last night rioted, burned american flag and dumped a bunch of bibles on the flames. so they're making their intentions quite obvious. they've abandoned all preespecially the -- pretension of seeking justice for black americans in response to george

floyd. so they've abandoned that. and it was very interesting, something small but significant happened. a group of black black lives matters moms came on the scene and poured water on those flames. and that was highly symbolic -- lou: god bless 'em. >> yeah. black america waking up to they're being used. the very fact that black lives matter is hostile to the nuke hard family. they -- nuclear family. they say it's hostile to it. they're also against free enterprise system. and they're also against christian faith. it was faith and family and free enterprise system that caused blacks to thrive in the face of racism and slavery. we built towns, we built hotels. and for black lives matter to say that our christian faith and the nuclear family are racist, how can any self-respecting

black pastor fly a black lives matter flag on their church? and it's obvious that they're using, the using of the black community. lou: you were part of the civil rights movement in this country. an important part of it. could you are -- you have imagined in the '60s as all of the tumult grasped this country that all see a black organization -- see a black organization, an african-american organization whose symbolism would be to kneel, to kneel as they sought equality, as they sought civil rights, to kneel? what on earth? i'd just like to hear what you think when you see it. >> well, when i see it, when i think about my father fought in

the first world war and was injured in germany, when i think about all of the wars that this, that blacks participated and fought in, every war, to black lives matter saying that somehow this sacrifice was for naught, that somehow they were fighting for a criminal organization called america in -- america? i think black lives matter's actions fly in defiance of everything that black america has stood for. we have not had one black ever found guilty of treason even though we had the struggles. because america is defined not by its birth defect of slavery, but by the promise that it held out. the tuskegee airmen, the black panthers, the triple nickels, the paratroopers, the montauk marines. there's a rich tradition of blacks serving this country. and i think black lives matter

isty riding us in ways that the civil rights movement tried to bring us together. they're putting black against white, straight against gay. lou: right. >> hispanic against blacks. they are dividing us, and they are really trying to use the moral authority of the black struggle as the bludgeon to tear apart civic institutions in this country. but, lou, i'm telling you, there's a move afoot in the black community to change that. and one hopeful sign occurred in the last election, gubernatorial election in florida, 2018, when desantis, the republican, ran on a platform of school choice. he won by only 20 -- 32,000 votes. 100,000 of those are low income black parents who split their ticket and voted for him. so desantis got elected because of the vote of blacks, lower income blacks.

now, they -- lou: and that's -- >> -- [inaudible] and obama to campaign for desantis in support of gillam, and yet the black community's responsible for this man. that's e a hopeful sign that black americans are waking up and withdrawing the moral authority that has been assumed by black lives matter. lou: bob, thank you. the president of the united states. >> i'd like the begin by providing an update on my administration's actions to protect american workers as we battle the china virus. since the virus escaped china, my administration has enacted three $3 trillion in economic relief. it's been very, very successful, and you saw that by the numbers that were issued yesterday and the day before as to used car sales and auto e production. they've been incredible numbers, actually. shockingly are incredible.

we've been negotiating in good faith with democrat leaders in the house to extend relief payments. we're negotiating right now as we speak, and we'll see how that works out. but if democrat leaders put partisan demands aside, we would reach an agreement very quickly. it would happen very quickly. in the meantime, my administration's exploring executive actions to provide protections against eviction. eviction's a big problem. very unfair to a lot of people. it wasn't their fault that this virus came from a faraway land. as well as additional relief to those who are unemployed as a result of the virus. very importantly, i'm also looking at a term-limited suspension of the payroll tax, something that has great support from many, many sides, especially some of our top economist and some people that

we have great respect for. so we're looking at a suspension of the payroll tax. the democrats are primarily interested in a $1 trillion bailout of the poorly-run states. we have some states and cities, you know them all, we don't have to go through names, but they've been very poorly run other the years, and we can't go along with the bailout money. we're not going to go along with that, especially since it's not covid-related. earlier today i met with a great governor, arizona governor doug ducey. he's really done a fantastic job, beyond even the covid situation which you've been reading about as it pertains to arizona. a state that is a model for applying a science-based approach to the decreasing cases and hospitalizations without implementing a punishing lockdown. arizona's record in reducing the spread of the virus while maintaining hospital capacity

and allowing society to continue functioning and functioning very nicely, very successfully is an example that shows how our path forward can work in other states. arizona has a record, a record really to be proud of. it's reduced the number of daily new cases by over 7 a -- 75%, cut the positivity rate in half and reduced e.r. visited by two-thirds, all the while keeping the economy functioning and functioning really well. when cases surged in june, the vice president and dr. birx visited arizona to consult with the governor. they had long consultations with governor ducey and his staff, and the vice president has been in constant contact ever since. my administration's also collaborating with the state and local are officials across the south and midwest to provide

similar guidance. we had a great relationship with the representatives in arizona, and it's been such a successful endeavor. the federal government has supplied or delivered more than 400 million pieces of personal protective equipment to arizona along with nearly 70,000 vials of remdesivir. we provided over 1 -- excuse me, we provided over $18 billion in economic support to arizona including more than $8.6 billion to support over 80,000 small businesses. so we really have been helping arizona, and it's gotten tremendous results. our goal is to protect the most vulnerable, increase recovery rates. you know that. that's something so important. and prevent hospital overcrowding, all the while avoiding the kind of stringent lockdowns that would inflict

substantial suffering in the phase and this phase of the battle. we have the tools, resources and knowledge to implement a targeted approach as we race to deliver a vaccine. and we are really working very hard on the vaccine, and we're doing, i think they're doing a fantastic job. i've been meeting with officials of some of the greatest companies in the world. meeting with scientists, and they're getting, they're getting very close. if not there, they're getting very close. they're testing. any proper analysis of infection control measures must take into account the short-term and long-term. public health harms including death caused by a far-reaching shutdown. when you shut down, you have many, many things that happen from suicides to depression, to drinking, alcohol problems, to drug problems, to problems with marriages, problems with marriages. you have people confined to their house, their apartment for

long periods of time, it causes a lot of problems with that also. instead, arizona's adopted the following measures: the governor advised residents to aggressively social distance when possible and maintain strict hygiene, encouraged mask use in crowded public spaces especially when social distancing is not possible. the governor also exercised his discretion to restrict capacity at indoor locations to limit the possibility of super-spreading. it's a big thing. my administration's surged treatments, we got them a lot of treatments and therapies to the state including nearly 70,000 vials of remdesivir, enough to treat over 11,000 patients. and it's been very successful, i might add. my administration also delivered ppe and point of care testing to over 100 arizona nursing homes. in total, the federal government

has provided massive amounts of masks and equipments and downs and you know some of -- and gowns and you know some of those numbers. arizona was a very big beneficiary, and they very much received -- very much appreciated it. more than 1,000 national guard and medical personnel are also been deployed in arizona, and they've really helped. they've been terrific and i want to thank them. they have been brave and brilliant, combination of both. we also support our tribal communities. the tribal communities were hit very, very hard. governor ducey and i personally delivered rapid testing systems to the navajo e nation which has been really, really in originally bad shape and now getting better and very, very quickly. the navajo nation now has one of the highest levels of testing per capita anywhere in the world. really worked very hard on the tribal areas, and in particular

in this case the navajo nation. they've done incredibly well. overall, arizona has conducted over 1.1 million tests, more than the entire nations of japan, mexico and switzerland. arizona's per capita testing is higher than germany, south korea, france and canada. and tribal governments in arizona have received nearly $1.3 billion from the coronavirus relief fund. meanwhile, outdoor dining, limited indoor dining and most of the other businesses in arizona have remained open and very vibrant. they're doing incredibly well. this is an approach, and it's an approach that's been incredibly successful, or arizona's been able to protect high-risk populations and quickly bring its outbreak under control without the need to impose overly punitive measures. thanks to advances in treating the virus, the fatality rate across all age groups in arizona is very low.

arizona's scientific and data-driven strategy also preserved hospital capacity, insuring that those who need care were able to receive it and receive it immediately, very quickly. at the peak approximately 15% of beds remained available statewide. that was at their peak. with roughly 20% of all occupied beds going to patients hospital aized with the virus. hospitalized with the virus. they kept other things going. they kept other forms of operations going. they kept elective surgery going. they did a really amazing job. today only 6% of the current hospitalizations in the state are related to. arizona is also demonstrated success in protecting the state's african-american population. only 5% of patients hospitalized were african-americans. african-americans represent 2% of all deaths from the virus. it has worked to contain its

outbreak, arizona has been formulating a plan to get children safely back to school as soon as possible. we want our schools open all over the country. we want our schools open. arizona worked very hard on this and they're doing very well. the department of education is providing arizona schools with $625 million. they're working very hard and that is conjunction with cares funding. my administration is actively working with other states in the same way we worked with arizona in recent weeks. members the coronavirus task force have visited over 15 states to encourage them to follow our path forward including tennessee, kentucky, virginia, indiana and ohio and i will be going to ohio tomorrow. i look forward to it very much. it is a great place and a great state with an excellent governor and we look forward to being there tomorrow. next week dr. birx will be visiting iowa, nebraska, kansas,

missouri, oklahoma and arkansas. also i believe they're trying to get in west virginia a great place a great state. i'm sure that will happen because we would like it to happen. they would like to see her so we'll try very hard to get the doctor to west virginia in addition to those states to deliver aggressive, tailored, targeted guidance. the strategy we're taking to these states will protect those at highest risk allowing others at lower risk to safely resume work and school. if we do this successfully it, can be really something incredible because we're talking about a lot of states. we're talking about many, many states. it is really great to see also that florida, we're coming down. it is coming down in pretty substantially in many locations. even miami is starting to come down. miami was hit very hard. california likewise, texas likewise coming down and really starting to be a substantial amount of reduction.

it recognizes that prolonged lockdowns impose a wide range of serious public health threats including higher levels of suicide, drug overdoses and other significant health harms resulting from the depression that we talked about. socializelation, economic hardship. it is tough for those people that are put in a lockdown position for too long. really has been a very tough and harmful situation for many people. the fact is that these harms are not measured daily, it makes them really a very serious threat because people don't know exactly what they are. lou: the president wrapping up his news conference on the latest on the china virus pandemic. that's it for us tonight. my new book, "the trump century," how our president changed the course of history forever, is available for preorder now. trumpcentury.com, amazon.com and

barnesandnoble.com. tomorrow our guests include ken cuccinelli, sara carter and michael pillsbury. we hope you will be with us. thank you for being with us tonight. good night from sussex. maria: good thursday morning, everybody, good morning to you. i'm maria bartiromo, it is august 6th, 6:00 a.m. on the east coast. stimulus showdown, white house putting pressure on democrats to reach a compromise. president trump once again considering taking executive action. we will have the latest from washington as the clock ticks toward recess at the end to have week. the trump campaign pushing for debate to take place before early voting begin. this as joe biden sounds off on reporter asking him if he's a junky. twitter suspending the account. the war on wealth, berni