jonathan from the chicago blackhawks? [inaudible] [closing bell rings] liz: a great name with a billion dollars under management. a big win for the s&p and the nasdaq. the dow closes up 363 points. that will do it for "the claman countdown." melissa: kicking off the week with fresh records on wall street. the s&p 500 and the nasdaq soaring to new all-time highs on vaccine hopes. it is the second consecutive record close for the s&p. the third for the nasdaq. check out apple. the tech giant, here we go, closing over $500 for the first time ever. apple closing at a record high for the fifth straight day. what a way to start the week. i'm melissa francis and this is "after the bell." connell: i'm connell mcshane reporting live today from charlotte, north carolina. we're coming to you from the home of the charlotte knights,

the city's minor league baseball team. we'll have more on the location later in the hour. the big story on the city, president trump was also here in charlotte addressing the republican national convention after officially securing the delegate meeting to be formally nominated for a second term. president trump: i want to thank the people of north carolina, to be honest with you, i felt an obligation to be here. you have a governor in a total shutdown mood. i guarranty on november 4th. it will all open up. you know these democrats governors they love shutdown until after the election is over because they want to make sure numbers look as bad as possible. reporter: president moved on from the convention center to other parts of north carolina. this hour he is headed to south carolina before flying back to washington where there will be more convention action this evening. this state might very well be a must-win for mr. trump if he wants to serve 4:00 more years

at the white house. last time he did secure victory here, defeating hillary clinton by a little over 3 1/2 percentage points. if you look at it in this cycle, the polls show the president trailing by a little bit. the most recent polls, his challenger joe biden in north carolina. now that said, we did find plenty of support for president trump in our own travels around the state. have you decided between trump and biden? >> yeah. trump. connell: tell me why? >> why? connell: yeah. >> biden has been in there for 40 years and he hadn't really done much of anything. connell: who are you for? >> for biden. connell: tell us why? >> because i don't want trump. >> honestly i'm disheart inned by both candidates. letterser of two evils. >> a trait republican ticket. >> he lowered taxes and eliminated payroll tax for the rest of the year to support people. more money in people's pockets means better economy.

means they will be spending more money in the hand to spend. straight up economic. >> i think people are afraid to say i'm a trump sister or i'm for joe biden. i think there is bad and good on both sides. connell: much more to come from here in north carolina throughout the show. we're going to take a close look at a very important senate race being contested here. that is just a few minutes away. melissa. melissa: all right. looking forward to that, thank you so much, connell. our own blake burman is live at the white house monitoring what to expect from the first night of the republican national convention. blake. reporter: melissa, president trump will speak here at the white house thursday evening but republicans clearly coming into focus as the republican national convention is underway. among the keynote speakers later this evening the president's son, donald trump, jr. the former u.n. ambassador nikki haley. senator from south carolina tim scott.

in charlotte this afternoon, republicans as you heard from connell officially nominated the president to the top of their ticket and the president contended that the election will be fraudulent due to mail-in voting. watch. president trump: this is the greatest scam in the history of politics i think and i'm talking about beyond our nation but what it means is they're trying to steal the election from the republicans. that is what it means in a very, very nice way, i will tell you they are trying to steal the election. reporter: back here in the washington, the head of the postal service louis dejoy testified in a contentious hearing before the house oversight committee. dejoy testified in front of the senate that the postal service will be able to hand dealt election. he was asked today about mail sorting machines being removed. >> what is the harm, if the machines don't do anything what is the harm to do it until election day and -- >> in washington makes plenty of

sense. to me it makes none. >> you haven't explained why. >> because they're not needed. that's why. >> but if it will restore people's faith in a democracy and aa polarized election. >> get the billion, around i will put the machines in. reporter: melissa, set all that aside for a second. tiktok today filed a lawsuit against president trump and the commerce secretary wilbur ross for the president's executive order that could potentially lead to a ban of that video-sharing app. the u.s. government through the department of justice not commenting on that lawsuit. melissa, back to you. melissa: meantime i won't let my kids have it. blake, thank you for that. while president trump is in north carolina touting the economy the democrats are holding on to the funding fight over the postal service. here is dan henninger from the "wall street journal." he is also a fox news contributor. so, dan, what do you think of that split screen? you have beloved congress who the whole public is just

inspired by, has so much confidence in, they're bogged down talking about the post office which i'm sure will finally get fixed after all this time. on the other side of the screen you have the president doing the rnc. here are some of the topics, monday "land of promise." tuesday "land of opportunity," wednesday "land of heroes," thursday, "land of greatness." how do you think these things stack up, and what does it look like from home? >> well, from home it looks like a catfight as usual but we're having an election and what determines the outcomes of elections, melissa? the basically it is who gets the most votes and i think that is what is going on here especially with the post office and especially with the democrats. we're in a pandemic. a lot of people are not going to be voting in person. so the big goal for both parties is voter turnout one way or another. and i think the democrats, watching that convention last week made clear to me, anyway,

that they have a, they think they have a problem with turnout. their coalition is based in large part and convention made this clear with all the appeals, their coalition is based in large part on voting by black americans an young people, millenials. but those are two groups that his tore cliff and often turn out at below average numbers, college students and black americans. so i think what they're trying to do is induce them to vote one way or another using the mail and, it is a big problem for them especially with young people. college students, who basically don't even know what the mail is. forever stamp like what's that? so i think that the democrats are flogging the post office issue to get people to actually go out to vote by mail. otherwise they could lose to the trump base which i think is much more willing to turn out and show up in person on election

day. melissa: you know, that is such an interesting way to look at it because yes, of course my kids think stamps are stickers. they're not used to get anything of value in the mail. the only thing that comes are catalogs and junk mail but at the beginning of the dnc, it seemed like it was about trying to appeal to the middle ground, to the independent voters the way they minimize sanders and aoc, they brought out republicans to say, this is really about centrists politics. by the end it seemed to be what unites us all, we all hate donald trump. it is that hatred of trump that should energize you to vote where on the republican national convention, trump every night, it is the love of trump should get you to vote. maybe it is about each side getting basically the most people out in general, how do you think vote by mail thing ends up then? it is very critical. we know new jersey is flooding the zone, sending ballots out

everywhere. i mean, do we end up having a lot of votes not counted or go on for weeks? >> yeah. i really think we're heading toward as crack-up. i do not agree with president trump the democrats intend to steal the election this way, nor do i agree with the democrats that trump is somehow trying to destroy the post office. i do think it is true though, because of the pandemic, because of the reliance on the mail, because of the fact that so many states allow people to mail-in ballots within a week of election day, we really are heading toward as situation on november 3rd where we probably will not know the outcome or the results in at least six or seven of the key states. i think both democrats and republicans trump team are setting up to litigate the out comes by blaming the other. that is large part with the democrats teeing up postmaster

louis dejoy, they will blame him somehow damaged the election outcome. i really don't expect to know the evening of november 3rd or the next morning who is president because i do think this mail problem is going to create, something of a crises for a while after the election. melissa: so the reason why id is that on a show that is about money because we're seeing a lot of confidence in the market today. that is why we see some records on wall street. that kind of uncertainty would definitely be bad for the market and, you know, would make it difficult to go forward until we knew the outcome. how would you brace yourself for that financially, dan? >> well, i think i would sit tight. would i keep my powder dry. i have agree with previous commentary on fox business that a biden win is going to be bad for the economy and bad for the markets. i don't see how it can be otherwise. he seems to be leading in the

polls so far. and, perhaps the, you know the markets are expecting the race to tighten at the end, but i don't think they're anticipating the possibility of significantly mitigation going forward over the results of those elections because of delays in the mail. you remember the florida and hanging chads back during the biden-gore years, the bush-gore years and, man, that was a mess for weeks and weeks. melissa: yeah. no, it was really painful. here in new york we waited six weeks just to find out who our local representative was going to be on the democratic side from the primary. that was a teeny, tiny race with just the dems deciding who was going to run against the republicans. so on national level, i can't imagine. dan, thank you for that. we will buckle up for sure. connell, over to you. connell: talk more about the rally, melissa we saw on wall street as we bring lauren simonetti to talk about the

record highs. lauren? lauren: after that conversation, we should say enjoy it while it lasts. the catalyst was the trump administration fast tracking of covid-19 treatments. you have nasdaq three record closes in a row. the s&p 500 back-to-back, new records. look at this, the first close ever above the 3400 level. the dow is within 1300 points. that's it. of its february high. as the fda authorized using blood plasma from recovered patients to treat very sick covid patients plus "the financial times" report that the trump administration is considering emergency use authorization for astrazeneca's vaccine by election day. you have that medical news. data indicating the recent surge in infections is starting to level off. it boosted travel stocks, boeing, number one by far on the dow along with apple. then you have carnival, american, united airlines, they all led the s&p 500 with really sizable gains. with the hope of a vaccine

travel comes back. domestic flying is still down 70% from last year. then you have the story, this is so creative, american airlines clinched epa approval for its texas operations to use this new surface cleaner to kill coronavirus germs on its planes. so they're trying to convince us, look it is very safe to fly. we'll see if it works. connell? connell: we will, thank you, lauren. lauren simonetti on the markets and more, coverage from battleground north carolina continues at this hour. a lot more to come. the president has been here on the stump making his pitch in person to voters in this key -- melissa, the first state to start voting through the mail. they start here early next month. melissa: that is exciting. plus an outdoor learning plan in in new york city. how mayor bill de blasio's latest move weeks before schools set to open in manhattan. is it enough time to get a plan

in place. tons of time. back-to-back storms threatening the gulf coast. residents bracing for a double hit. we're on the ground in new orleans where things stand. we'll be right back meet jim. for jim, comfort is king. which is why when it comes to his dentures only poligrip cushion and comfort will do. the first and only formula with adaptagrip cushioning technology. choose poligrip cushion and comfort.

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♪. >> this is a party vocal who they are going to vote for, and a party into the being vocal. you look at the boss, polls leading one way. there is large silent group that are not going to share. connell: so north carolina is actually the first state in the entire country to start voting. anyone can vote absentee here. you have to request the ballot. it all starts on september 4th. which was pretty soon. we spoke to voters on thoughts on different ways they can vote? >> i think voting by mail is fine if you have the processes in place to do it correctly. >> probably will put on my mask to vote in person. >> i think voting by mail is definitely a good idea. i don't know why some people are opposing it. >> i don't have any reason not to vote in person. connell: in addition to the presidential race, many of those folks that you are looking at there will be voting in a very important senate race in this state. a lot of investors will look at

senator thom tillis fighting for his political life. currently polling below his democratic opponent. they're looking at it. this is one of the race that could help decide who controls the senate next year. i spoke with a republican senator last year. we talked about the election in detail. >> today i'm here with business, meeting with businesses across the state who benefited from the paycheck protection program. it is important we hear their voices because we've got more work to do. today is success story. keeping people on the payroll. keeping business moving. i will guarranty you the president would want me here talking with these businesses that we've still got to place as a priority and all the people they employ. connell: i want to talk about the ppp, which is something at fox business we've been focused on in the last few months. i notice you're underperforming president trump in the polls here in north carolina, head-to-head with your opponent, versus how he is doing head-to-head with his opponent, coupled with that with no speaking slot at the convention? does that hurt your chances on

re-election? were you disappointed not being selected. >> not at all. we show the sharp contrast between mee and my opponent. my opponent criticized paycheck protection program while his own company was in the process of that. my opponent has history of raising taxes. i lowered taxes at the height of a recession. he raised taxes. that contrast does well for us. that is why we will win in november. connell: are you in step with the die-hard trump supporters? >> we have strong support. i was on phone call with number of grassroots organization. we'll win the day. we'll work hard to get the president reelected. we'll get reelected and to hold the majority in the senate. connell: paycheck protection program, you mentioned that, money helped businesses like this, helped them keep on the payroll, so they didn't get laid off. the money has been gone for businesses. congress recesses without

additional stimulus being provided how did that happen? >> chuck schumer and nancy pelosi don't want to get anything done and follow up issues with regard to the cares act we have a proposal for pave check extension simplifying forgiveness of 120 businesses got it in north carolina and millions across the country. providing more funding for health care, more funding for education, more funding for vaccine, accelerating the vaccine approval. that is on the table. i for one hope we come back as early as next week and vote on that provision to see, really show chuck schumer, my opponent call cunningham and nancy pelosi for what they are. i don't believe they want to provide relief right now because they think it's a political win in november. and that's a shame. connell: do you think businesses like this would be in a lot of trouble if they don't get citiesal money quite soon? we could see more layoffs? >> we absolutely have to provide additional resources for businesses. some businesses were first into

the crisis. they will be last out. transportation, motor coaches, lodging. a lot of dine-in restaurants. those are businesses that desperately need the follow-up to the cares act. that is why i'm prepared to go up to d.c. to vote for it immediately. connell: let me ask about the postal service which is another issue we've been covering a lot lately, with the postmaster general. home in north carolina. he supported republicans financially over the years including yourself. with that established do you support additional funding for the postal service? where do you stand for that? >> i'm absolutely certain in the cares bill we will have the funding. post master general he believes to fund operations. he is focusing on efficiencies and making the post office better. the post office has had problems. louis dejoy was selected among 200 people in nationwide search. unanimously approved by a bipartisan board of congressionally appointed board members of the uspp. he knows what to do to get done.

he knows how to get every vote counted that goes by mail. connell: do you have money ready or need additional money. >> they have a 10 billion-dollar short fall, minimally the post office needs that to shore up operations and potentially have additional loan from the treasury which can be done. connell: finally senator, as i said you're in a very, very close race for re-election. how is voting going to go in this state? north carolina is actually the first state in the nation to begin voting, doing sew if people want to do it by mail on the 4th of september. are you confident in that process? are you encouraging people to vote by mail? would you want them to do it in person? >> no, i absolutely hope, a week ago sunday i requested my absentee ballots. i will vote by absentee, i have done it in the past. the president voted by absentee in florida. it's a trustworthy system. connell: later in the show i will be speaking with a business owner here in charlotte who relied on those ppp loans we

were talking about with the senator amid the pandemic, but now hoping for additional help so his company can avoid layoffs in the fall. melissa? melissa: all right. thank you for that. in california officials working to battle out of control fires, warning looters are making the effort even more difficult. that's perfect. at least eight people were arrested or cited around the lightning complex fire in the santa cruz mountains according to the county sheriff who says 100 of his officers are patrolling the evacuation zone and will arrest trespassers. what a shame. ♪ ace. 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?

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outdoor space available in nearby parks and closed off streets but kind of a tight timeline with schools starting in just a few weeks. fox business host kennedy joins us now to sort through this chaos. as you know, in new york, they shut down a lot of streets for schools, so that the schools that don't have yards, the kids can go out into the street and play. so it is not like this is a brand new idea. does it strike you that they're putting their noggin to work pretty close to the opening date here? >> yes. i am also one of those parents who has new york city public schoolchildren and i have no idea when they're going to start or what it is going to look like. i have attended all the virtual town halls and the q and as. it is sad, because the principals of the schools are hamstrung because the mayor and schools chancellor have no idea what they're doing. now september is a lovely month in new york city, arguably the nicest month of the year but the weather turns bad pretty

quickly. so outdoor space is great in places like california, texas, arizona. it is a little bit more challenging in the northeast where the inclement weather comes in fast and furious. all of sudden it is fall and there is rain. it's a nice idea in theory. it would have been great if they thought about that maybe in june and did a little advance planning. so far we're told maybe our kids will start september 10th. maybe. that's fun. melissa: yeah. so this story reminds me that the thing that we all have in common, i think this would be maybe a great unifying theme at the rnc, whether you talk to a large business owner, a small business owner, somebody trying to run a school or anything else, is that government is the problem and not the solution right now. in the fact they keep changing the rules, changing their mind. they seem to have no idea what it is like to try and run a business or organize anything because they change their mind

seemingly hours before something supposed to happen and there is no way for businesses to respond in enough time or schools. i mean wouldn't that be a great theme, kennedy, coming up this week at the rnc, like what we've really learned here, regulation, government, your local political leaders, they just gum up the works when they try to get involved. your thoughts? >> if you look at every aspect of every massive governmental institution. they are bogged down and we need degrees of flexibility here. small business owners are the best example of this flexible army and they have to be in order to survive. i see a lot of businesses offering take-out and delivery, just trying to survive, in places like new york city, they're told one thing. it is not a slight modification. it's a total 180. they're forced to essentially

shut down again and we're hearing the same thing with schools. so you're dealing with these inflexible behemoths. they're making your life difficult. it is impossible for you to make enough money to support your family, why on earth would you want more of that? why is more government the solution or prescription to this myriad of ills? melissa: yeah. i don't know, i hope that they make that point very clearly at the convention because i think that the president, one of his really big things he said is, i'm one of the ones that got regulation out of the way. and when you talk to voters on the ground, one thing they remember about him, like him, hate him, think his personality, demeanor, love it, hate it, he has gotten a lot of the burden some regulation out of the way. i know one of our schools was planning on opening. they came out with a two local rule if there is two positive tests they have to close for a week. wait a second, how can we possibly open under that

circumstance? it is also confusing. the big question, kennedy, do you think things get back to normal after the election and the insanity stops or, i don't know, are we doomed for quite some time? what are your thoughts on it if we ever get back to normal, that is what people on the street ask me all the time? i figure you know. >> there is so much politicization right now, you're absolutely right, no one is going to allow anything to happen if it is going to help the other side. that is an awful place to be. so essentially individual voters, they're held hostage to the two parties. hopefully after election, the election states, municipal governments say to businesses, that is fine, here are basic guidelines. just be smart, if you want to open up, make sure you're not putting workers and customers at risk. but if you're telling people there will be a long term continued lockdown, they're going to lose their minds.

they will continue having protests and house parties and big parties at lake of the ozarks which looks fun, catching covid, not fun. melissa: yeah. yeah. excellent. you summed it up perfectly. kennedy, thank you for coming on today. we appreciate your time. >> good to see you, thank you. melissa: so, one-two punch. a pair of tropical storm barreling towards the gulf coast. we're on the ground in new orleans and we'll have much more from north carolina as well. connell? connell: yes, we will, melissa. small bests here are fighting back. we have a guy who runs a business here in charlotte talking about the state of play at the local economy and how his company is faring in the pandemic. >> i am a trump supporter. i think the convention next week in charlotte will maybe turn the tide back a little more towards trump. i think it will be a very close election but, i will put my money on trump

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♪. melissa: residents are fleeing coastal areas in louisiana as the state braces for rare back-to-back storm strikes. tropical storm marco closing in on louisiana just as a second storm, laura, is barreling towards the gulf coast, gaining strength with the potential to become a hurricane. fox news' bryan llenas is live in new orleans with more.

bryan. reporter: melissa, yeah, good afternoon, we're at lake pan pontchartrain, south of downtown new orleans. this is as bad as it has gotten all day. that is good news for new orleans. tropical storm marco weakening significantly overnight from a category 1 hurricane. it is expected to weaken even further into a tropical depression as it makes landfall along the southern southeast portion of louisiana. it brought a lot of heavy rain to the florida panhandle today, though. all eyes go towards tropical storm laura. laura is expected, forecasted to be a major hurricane, perhaps. it is going to be a category 2. 105 miles-an-hour. expected to hit wednesday night between texas and louisiana on that border. it could strengthen to a category 3. here is the governor of louisiana today, felt at least temporarily thankful that the forcast has changed given

responders as well as people, more time to prepare for laura. >> the good news is, we're not going to have two hurricanes and we're not going to have that short window of time, 12 to 18 hours to try to do search-and-rescue and so forth ahead of laura. the other good news we have more time to focus on laura before it has any major impacts on our state. reporter: tropical storm laura already killing 13 people in the dominican republic and haiti. people, melissa, are preparing for the storm amid a pandemic which has a whole set of complications, including the fact, everything takes more time. melissa. melissa: no doubt. bryan, thank you for that. connell? connell: we have to watch the storms very, very closely. the trips making to key swing states, meantime, give us a chance to check in with small business leaders in the area. to see how they're coping with the pandemic. when we interviewed senator tillis, earlier in the show.

he was visiting a local manufacturing company, run by one of his supporters. we decided to speak with that man. art is had his name, engineering consultants t was not about politics but focused on the ppp loans. they helped his company which has 13 employees to get you there the last five months, potentially through the end of this year. us through the last five months say, for your business, what's it been like? >> it is a tumultuous interesting time, we've been in business since 19681. in north carolina for 60 years. we have never seen anything like this. with covid and economic impact. it is something we take the high road on, be very aggressive defining who we are. certainly was greatly helped by the ppp loan. connell: so you took the ppp loan. the timing of that is something

i think we've started to look at where you get to a certain point, you've been able to keep your employees on. here we are in late august. >> yep. connell: hasn't been renewed by the congress. you start to think how much longer can we keep going? where is your country? >> without the ppp we would have let people go or certainly furloughed them. we were able to keep staff on, to better set ourselves up for the future. that is what we're doing, leaning forward. additional assistance is needed but we're in a solid spot. connell: like for what? end of the year? >> end of the year. i think we can get through three or four months. as things go through the roller-coaster ride of uncertainty. we don't know what it looks like. more funding, available cash to keep the employees on board, keep the expenses in check, the greater probability we'll get through and be able to delay this out for longer period of time. connell: the thing to push it out, right?

what is your best guess on where we are in all of this? are you anywhere close to getting back to normal? volume, while you're supporting the manufacturing industry much slower than they usually would be? >> we've seen some surges. april, may, arguably our two slowest months where june and july things picked back up. we're seeing in this month a little bit of a lag. people were seeing euphoria. energy that came from the initial ppp lending. that is starting to wane off. people are tightening their belt as little bit because of uncertainty in the future. connell: does it have anything to do with a spike in number of virus cases or basically a financial concern? where are we in the process? >> primarily financial issues. manufacturing ramped back up based on demand. they're taking all the necessary precautions to keep employees safe. that is absolutely critical there is a economy that needs to be supported. economy in south carolina

ramping up to meet needs. that is where esa comes in to help produce what they do. >> you talked about jobs. you didn't have to let anybody go. >> we didn't have to let anybody go. we were seeing the light at end of the tunnel based on our economic situation. business dropped 20%. we were about to have tough conversations. literally sunday afternoon i got the ppp and we were fortune. connell: bailed you out. we talked about kept you going. your best guess what 2021 looks like? is it possible to have any visibility for a business and to plan for the future? are you doing day by day right now? >> we're planning for the future. control what we can. huge comment from senator tillis and helping us get the ppp loan pushed through and impact benefit of small companies like us. if senator tillis reelected we see a far more optimistic future for a company like esa. connell: thanks, art pugh, for

the company esu, as our coverages continues here in north carolina. we'll talk with dan, who is the chief operating officer of the charlotte knights. they are are our hosts for the show. a beautiful stadium you're looking live at. normally they would be packing this time of year for games. with the pandemic. no minor league baseball games. they're forced to shake things up. we're live from charlotte. let me grab a pen and some paper. know what? i'm gonna switch now. just need my desk... my chair... and my phone. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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plus, free premium delivery when you add a base. ends monday. to learn more, go to sleepnumber.com. ♪. connell: i'll tell you this is a great location as we're back here in charlotte where to broadcast from but i'm sure the charlotte knights would much rather be set to host a aaa baseball game. white socks farm team rest of baseball shut down because of covid-19. dan is the chief operating officer. thanks for having us in your stadium. >> you're welcome. connell: i'm sure that is true you much rather be hosting games. you got creative. you had a few events? >> they shut us down back in the march, beginning of our college season. of course the united states were canceled as well. we have to be creative. we have nothing to do. we have to keep our staff, i have 2/3 of my full-time staff

the other are laid off. we have 25% or less with restriction of north carolina law. what we've done create 25 pods, or 10 pods of 25 people. the 10,000 seat stadium can sit up to 250 people. connell: you showed a movie. >> we showed a movie. we had dance real, batting practices are and anything we can do with the guidelines. connell: it is tough for major league baseball. they called it off completely in the minors. have you started thinking ahead to next year, what you have to do to get ready? are you making changes? do you rely on a vaccine or do you just don't know yet? >> we don't know. so many things have to be factored. we're looking percentage capacity. it will be a different normal for us. it will not be something we're used to. we have to adapt. hopefully we learn from the

other sports teams dealing with it this fall. come next spring, let's hope we have capacity to do it. connell: this is a tough business or can be, minor league baseball. people usually do it for the love, right? then, how do you make money in this environment going forward? it is a good thing here, you have a great stadium. it is relatively new. from what i understand you do well as a big city and you fill it. but minor league baseball in general seems like a tough outlook for the country coming through the pandemic. >> we have a lot of challenges, let's be very clear about that. this is a social business. we're putting people 22 inches next to each other. we're sitting in seats. baseball is about entertainment. not necessarily a game all the time. especially minor league baseball. we have to figure out ways to be creative. make sure it is safe for all the patrons when they come in. just follow the guidelines of the cdc and hope this thing gets out of here with a vaccine. connell: speaking of guidelines, i meant to ask you, republican national convention being held at the convention center. they were supposed to be in a bigger place. did they talk to you guys?

>> absolutely. there would be a event tonight. connell: in the normal setting. >> in normal setting. connell: they never thought about doing something outside. >> in was a lot of movement back to florida from north carolina w he were a sweet 16 venue, as well. we lost knights baseball and acc baseball championship. a lot of people feeling page much worse through us. connell: did you go you there loan process as a lot of business. >> we did. we. connell: kept people on. >> yes. connell: do the parent, white socks help you? >> we're independently owned. we own this building. unlike many buildings owned by the city or county. we own it. we have debt service responsibilities as well. connell: going to be all right? >> we're going to be okay. we'll get through this. connell: it is a great stadium. this team has been around the city for a long time but the stadium is new. we hope to see you when the games are playing. >> hope you do.

connell: connell: minor league aaa affiliate in charlotte. melissa. >> we'll bring the whole showdown to go to a game. i love it. a south korean diplomat suggesting that kim jong-un is in a coma. this is according to new reports that say his younger sister, kim jeong is poised to take over earlier this year. the elder kim's brief disappearance from public view led to similar rumors that his sister was taking over. time will tell. we'll be right back on your interests or what's trending. get real-time insights in your customized view of the market. it's smarter trading technology for smarter trading decisions. fidelity.

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the training process, but i think the worst thing for our country is defund the police. >> i feel like the right is still right and the left is still left. i was looking for somebody in the middle -- connell: like the middle doesn't exist anymore. >> no. [laughter] >> i want a third candidate, to be honest with you. connell: why haven't you pulled the trigger? you're leaning towards biden, what's holding you back? >> well, because i don't want -- i think he's pretty old to be running, i don't think he's really healthy, and i think kamala's too extreme left for me. connell: all right. as we're back here in north carolina, we talked a lot last week about joe biden targeting voters in key swing states. that first woman you heard from talking about violence in the cities speaks to how president trump might do the same this week. he spoke about it at the convention center here in charlotte. we expect speakers tonight and the rest of the nights this week to address it. now, melissa, as we wrap up our

coverage here in charlotte and we're heading to georgia and then to florida, i'll say one thing about north carolina, we talked about vote by mail earlier. speaking to trump campaign officials, when they say they're concerned about that process, this seems to be one of the states that they're referring to. it's a new rule here in north carolina that requires only one witness or one person to vouch for an absentee ballot rather than two. the trump campaign i says they're watching this state very, very closely even though they won it last time around. melissa: you know, it's interesting, because dan henninger said at the beginning of the show that it seems like both sides are laying i out their case to litigate the election after the fact when it comes to that. if you look at everybody's comments through that lens, it makes a lot of sense. i mean, although lots of regular people are just very concerned whether they plan to go in in and vote in person because they don't trust it any other way, or they're concerned about the

exposure and not wanting to be exposed to other people, and they're looking for some other way to do it. i would say i already ordered my absentee ballot, so i'm good to go, connell. connell: there you go. see you from georgia and florida later in the week. "lou dobbs tonight" starts right now. thanks for joining us. ♪ ♪ lou: good evening, everybody. delegates at the republican national convention today unanimously and officially nominating president trump and vice president mike pence to lead them to another victory in november. the republicans' nomination announced after an in-person roll call vote in charlotte, north carolina, a move already upstaging the radical dems' dull, lackluster, even occasionally lifeless virtual roll call last week for china joe biden. both president trump and vice president pence made their own surprise in-person appearances in charlotte to thank all