>> all right, you're looking at the intread ip on the west side of manhattan. rnc program in 30 minutes. we'll have the post-game show for night one tomorrow morning. see you then. >> sandra: fox news alert. very busy morning here in "america's newsroom." louisiana bracing for back-to-back hits from two major storms. tropical storm marco is set to hit the gulf coast hours from now. with laura right behind it expected the make landfall later this week. meanwhile president trump set to depart the white house one hour from now heading to charlotte. we have it all covered for you. we begin in charlotte. the republican national convention kicking off today. president trump preparing to officially accept his party's nomination for reelection as president of the united states.

good morning, everyone. i'm sandra smith. hello, trace. >> trace: good morning. a busy schedule on tap. ronna mcdaniel will gavel in the convention at the bottom of the hour as we gear up for the roll call of the states when the president is officially nominated. tonight's speakers include south carolina senator tim scott, former u.n. ambassador nikki haley and donald trump junior and mark a patricia mccloskey. the st. louis couple who held guns as protestors marred outside their home this summer. president trump is hitting democrats on their convention last week. >> a lot of the commentary on the democratic convention was it was very negative. very much attacking trump. >> president trump: it was dark, i agree. >> what do we see from your party next week? >> president trump: i think we'll see something uplifting and positive. that's what i would like it to be. i think you have to defend

yourself by talking about some of the lies. it is what he didn't say. didn't talk about law enforcement, didn't talk about what is happening in all these democrat-run cities like chicago, new york, portland and many other. >> sandra: we have team fox coverage. bret baier and martha maccallum are standing by with analysis but mark meredith is live in charlotte. how are festivities kicking off today? >> good morning. the festivities are few and far between. this is nothing like what we saw in cleveland four years ago. for one, there are no crowds. no chaos, not much happening at the convention center outside. it's inside where that party business is going to be happening later on this morning as delegates are working to renominate president trump and vice president pence. 300 delegates come in from all over the country for the great honor today. it is a different convention that anyone expected when they started planning this two years ago. the chairwoman of the rnc says it was important for them to

hold their main party business on the ground in the battleground state of north carolina. >> we'll have more live elements but we're really going to talk about the president and real people and how his policies have made lives better for real people in the united states. >> the theme of this week will be honoring the great american story. there will also be a different theme within that every single night including today, the land of promise. it wraps up thursday with the president's renomination acceptance speech with land of greatness. we've some protests on the ground in charlotte over the weekend but no reports of anything major overnight. security around this convention center is tight. that's what feels like cleveland if four years ago where we had the barricades up. secret service everywhere. there is still nothing on the president's schedule that indicates he would come here. strong indications he would stop by but not on his official schedule yet. we're waiting to see how it may out with the delegates this

afternoon after they wrap up convention business. the coronavirus is a big factor. our temperatures checked not too long ago. delegates have been screened. a lot of focus on health this time around. >> sandra: so much is different this year. let's bring in special report anchor bret baier and martha maccallum. good morning to both of you. i'll start with you first. there will be a lot of differences the way this looks because of the nature of the pandemic. also a lot of talk about how different this week will look versus last week when we all saw the dnc almost all virtual. >> i think you'll see a few more live events including the beginning of this convention and the roll call. they are in a room. they say they're covid safe. they've all taken a test before they got there and another test when they checked into the hotel. you can't get into the hall unless you are wearing a mask. you will see that the seats are six feet apart. there will be a live element to

this. that's a different environment. you'll have each state standing up and essentially giving the delegates that they voted for to president trump's renomination. i think you are going to see more live events and it will be structured differently. the question is how different and what the message is going to be at the end of the day. >> sandra: some of the differences will be each of the microphones after the delegates speak will have to be wiped down, martha. there are going to be all of those details and safety measures that will have to be implemented because of the pandemic but the president is heading into this, martha, trailing in some key states in won back in 2016. i'll put the real poll particular averages. florida, ohio, wisconsin. what is the president's -- what does his message have to be this week especially after watching the tone that democrats took last week to talk to those voters? to bring them back around? >> obviously the president has

to win in the places he won last time and also expand some of that electoral picture going forward. looking at places like pennsylvania that will be extremely important in the endgame on november 3. so he needs to rally his base. we talk about that so much. the truth of the matter is they want to try to bring out more voters this time around and they'll make an appeal president trump did better with black voters than his predecessors than mitt romney and john mccain. a small sliver of the vote but want to try to expand it. to that end you'll hear from alice johnson who benefited from the president's prison reform program and also tonight you'll hear from tim scott who will make a very forceful defense of the president's policies and when you look at the name that we also just saw there, nikki haley. one of the areas that the president has to do well in is these suburban areas. he hasn't typically done as well with the women in those

areas. nikki haley is the person to watch in terms of who can make the most forceful, positive comments about the president. those women will be listening. i think she has a broad audience with that part of the population, with women in the suburbs. a big thing to watch tonight. >> sandra: we'll hear from the president and vice president later on today probably in the noon eastern time hour. meantime a new interview with joe biden and he was pressed about whether or not he can actually win by continuing to campaign from home. watch this. >> can you win a presidential election from home? >> we will. we're going to follow the science. i have left my basement but on the meantime 500 million people have watched what i've done out of my basement and guess what? people are listening. >> sandra: there will be a stark contrast drawn from the president, who is about to get

on air force one and make his way to charlotte and speak live every night as many of the speakers are compared to what we saw last week. will that hurt joe biden? >> that's a great question. i think that the democrats have decided that they are going to handle it this way and that this is sending a message. they want that message out there. the president is saying he is going to be safe in each one of these venues. however, he wants to be out and about. and in fact after this convention night after night you'll see him. he will go around the country with policy speeches. there is coverage about the fact there is not a party platform but the campaign itself put out this agenda for the second term in which it says fighting for you and it is a list of things the president wants to get done, 10 million jobs in 10 months, eradicate covid-19 and reliance on china. it's a platform and you see some here. healthcare, defend our police

and illegal immigration. protect american workers. he lays this out in a form that is not a party platform but that's what he is running on. i think you'll hear those themes throughout this week of what a second term would look like. >> sandra: i wanted to ask you, martha, the big news that kellyanne conway will be departing the white house for now. someone we've all gotten to know through the years both before and during her time working with the president in the white house. she put out a statement as to her reasoning why i'll be transitioning from the white house at the end of this month. we disagree about plenty but united what matters most, the kids. as millions of parents nationwide know kids doing school from home requires attention and vigilance that is unusual at these times. less drama, more mama. responding to a lot of news out there about one of her teenage children. kellyanne conway leaving for

now. perhaps she will make a return. big news in the middle of the convention which where she'll be speaking. >> this has to be very difficult for any family to go through that and i think everyone shares in sort of the sympathy with understanding how difficult these family situations can be and when it's played out on such a broad public level it cannot be easy. i think the important thing to point out is that kellyanne conway has made a decision based on what is best for her family at this time and also that she has been really the person who has been by the president's side since the very beginning. we've seen so many people come and go from this white house and this administration but she has been a staunch ally and a counselor to the president at the very highest level and also was the first woman to lead a successful presidential campaign. something that she is very proud of. she says she will take a break and that she will reveal her future plans at a later time. i think it is interesting her husband is pulling back from his political activities as

well and that the two of them appear to have decided it is time to focus on their family, which i think everybody can understand, sandra. >> sandra: final thoughts, bret? >> i think we'll be in for an interesting week. a rollercoaster. it will be different. the president will be a big factor and it wrap up on the south lawn right behind us. >> sandra: we look forward to you joining us throughout the morning. much more on all of this coming up. trump 2020 campaign secretary hogan gidley will weigh in at 10:00 a.m. and steve scalise joins us live at 10:20 ahead of his appearance at the rnc later today. >> trace: two major storms taking aim at the gulf coast. marco is expected to make landfall in louisiana today and laura expected to gain strength when it arrives 36 to 48 hours later. >> keep in mind that this storm

laura, could be stronger than we previously thought. don't let your guard down. we're looking at a one-two punch. laura is the second one we'll see. come in around the mouth of the river and make a really hard left turn or westward turn and head to the coast for a while. so we're going to get basically a right hook from marco and a left hook from laura. >> trace: we're live in new york. what are they expecting down there? >> trace, good morning. we're on the popular lakefront near downtown new orleans. the wind gusts are pushing water up against the steps. a 2 to 3 foot storm surge on the lake and southeastern louisiana some 3 to 5 inches of rain. the reality is, this tropical storm marco is much weaker than initially anticipated. downgrading overnight from a category one storm and also

slowed down, which means we won't be really seeing the effects until later today into tomorrow. the bigger concern is the fact that we've got two of these tropical systems affecting the same region within 48 hours. tropical storm laura expected to strengthen into a category 2 hurricane or maybe category 3 hitting western louisiana and texas on wednesday. that's the forecast as of now. this causing louisiana's governor john bel edwards to warn people to be prepared to hunker down for three days because of this unprecedented back-to-back one-two punch. >> the window of time within which we may be able to operate and maneuver between the two storms may be as little as 12 to 18 hours. and so that's going to make things very difficult from a search and rescue standpoint and very difficult from the stant poind of restoring electricity.

>> major concerns on multiplying conditions with back-to-back storms and storm surge. all of that we'll keep an eye on and people are stressed out with covid-19 and these back-to-back storms. >> trace: then comes the wind and water. brian lenis live for us. >> sandra: chairwoman ronna mcdaniel will gavel the republican national convention in moments. former president obama comparing joe biden to bernie sanders. why it is fueling concerns that progressives are pushing biden too far left and with the death toll surpassing 176,000 in the u.s. president trump announcing emergency authorization of what he calls a breakthrough coronavirus treatment. >> president trump: this is a powerful therapy that transfuses very, very strong antibodies from the blood of

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what we control. we know what kind of shape we're in. come on. look, i think it's a legitimate question to ask anybody over 70 years old whether or not they're fit and whether they're ready. but i just -- only thing i can say to the american people it is legitimate question to ask anybody, watch me. >> sandra: democratic nominee responding to questions about his mental fitness during his first sight down interview with kamala harris. he left the door open for a possible second term. peter doocy is live from delaware for us this morning. hey, peter. >> sandra, good morning. joe biden is starting to explain how he would pay for his ambitious new agenda with new taxes. >> i will raise taxes for anybody making over $400,000. let me tell you why i'm going to do it. its about time they start paying their fair share.

the very wealthy should pay fair share and corporations should pay a fair share. corporations are making close to a trillion dollars pay no tax at all. i'm not punishing anybody. this is about everybody paying their fair share. >> to that end barack obama said in an interview with the atlantic from a 40,000 foot view he thinks joe biden and bernie sanders aren't that different when it comes to what they're trying to accomplish. joe biden was spotted attending mass near his beach house in delaware yesterday but with the exception of that abc news interview no public events since his acceptance speech in wilmington and parking lot viewing of fireworks that followed the remarks. when he was at that event the reporters who were inside were made to prove two different negative covid tests. joe biden did not adhere to his own campaign's regulation about those covid tests according to his own campaign.

>> have you been tested? >> he has not been tested. however, we have put the strictest protocols in place and moving forward should he need to be tested he certainly would be. he has not been tested yet. >> joe biden also pledged that if he is elected this year he would run for a second term. if he won both he would be 86 at the end of the second one. sandra. >> sandra: okay, peter doocy, thank you. >> trace: to continue this conversation about joe biden let's bring in buy -- byron york. president obama said from 40,000 feet joe biden and bernie sanders' goals are not that different and went on to say this in the interview with "the new yorker". what i think the moment has done is to change some of those calculations, not because necessarily joe has changed but because circumstances have

changed. what circumstances would force joe biden to kind of move left toward bernie sanders' realm of the party? >> well, the short version is that the democratic party has moved left and everybody knows that. all of the candidates for president in the democratic party had to deal with that. and you know, after the primary campaign ended, biden and sanders put together something called the biden/sanders unity task force. it came up with a report. a lot of the policy recommendations were a lot closer to bernie sanders than to joe biden or certainly the joe biden who was elected in 2008 with barack obama. now actually this morning new column by robert samuelson in the "washington post" that said if inacted biden's policies would be the largest growth of government since 1965 when congress created medicare and

medicaid, $2 trillion for stimulus. $2 trillion for climate change. $1.5 trillion for healthcare. an enormous agenda. >> trace: you consider that last week you had joe kasich saying no, he is moderate and bernie sanders saying he has come to the progressive side. as you and a lot of other critics have just said, not many conservative democrats left because the party has swung that way. >> yeah. if you look, there are groups who rate the performance of members of congress. they come up with a few representative votes and see how each member votes on them. there are conservative groups that give lawmakers a conservative grade and liberal groups that give lawmakers a liberal grade. in the past 20 years the number of lawmakers who have a 95 or

100% scale on right or left. the number of people in the middle has really shrunk. so what we're seeing in the presidential campaign is a reflection of what we've seen in congress for a long time. >> trace: byron york, good to talk to you, sir. thank you. >> sandra: president trump about to take on joe biden as the gop convention comes to order moments from now. fox business anchor maria bartiromo will join us next on that. plus protestors violence in wisconsin after police shoot a black man several times as he was getting into his car. >> the police using their brute force, manipulation tactics, their bigotry. they use every tactic in the book. this is the tipping point right here.

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>> sandra: fox news alert now from charlotte, north carolina, live look at the stage there where the republican national convention is about to be underway. rnc chairwoman ronna mcdaniel set to gavel into the convention any moment now. expected around half past the hour gearing up for the roll call of the states and president trump's official nomination starting next hour. of course, things will look a lot different than conventions past. rnc took a lot of precautions

heading into this to do the physical portion of this and get the delegates in the room. coronavirus tests were mailed to each delegate before arriving at the convention. they were tested again we're told upon arrival. and, of course, masks are mandatory and the event will be socially distanced. >> trace: fascinating. you look at the picture and this is the exact opposite of what we saw last week. they're trying right off the get go to gin it up. you can hear people talking in the background and that's what the gop wants. they want to energize this convention because they believe the democratic national convention didn't have any of that and of course what you'll see is the roll call of the states. you have the very pomp and circumstance thing. it is protocol. they do it alphabetically and the states get a chance to go up and speak and earlier each time somebody speaks they have to go off and clean up the microphone in the age of coronavirus and they keep going until the president gets all the delegates he needs.

alphabetical order until they get to the state that will push them over the top and put that state in. every state gets a chance to go up there and give a little bit of a speech and motivation, nod to the president there. all formalities, all very much what the gop wants to happen in the early going of this convention, sandra. >> sandra: 336 delegates representing 50 states, 5 territories and washington, d.c. will be gathering in the ballroom at the charlotte convention center officially to renominate president donald trump. of course, you point out all the differences that we'll see because of the pandemic but also differences that we'll see from how the dnc looked and felt last week as well. a lot more in-person obviously. the president expected to speak every night from the convention, four nights and well oh he see and hear from him a short time from now during roll call. let's bring in maria bartiromo from saturday morning futures

on fox business channel. amazing to look on at this and see how the rnc will get this done and what it will look and sound like a few moments from now. >> yeah, sandra. i think the theme is going to be positive. they've got a different theme every night for the next four nights and what they are trying to do is exude what is great about america. whether it's the ability to start small and create your own wealth, create your own businesses. a lot to say on the economy. that will be one of the big themes. of course, the president has said he wants to make sure that this is a lot of positive commentary. things that we can talk about and feel good about about america. that is one of the things that he is going to be moving through the four days. he did release his economic plans and his agenda for a potential second term and as part of that agenda that we just received today, he is talking about creating 10 million jobs in 10 months.

not a crazy thought given the fact we've already seen job creation in the millions in just the last couple of months. there is a fair amount of bounceback we should see in the coming months into 2021. that's one of the things. he is also talking about rule of law and bringing law and order back to some of the cities in our country that, of course, are undergoing massive crime, shootings up and destruction of property. >> sandra: expect to hear a lot more of that coming up. that's one of his points. fighting for you message and agenda for a second term. talking about defending and fully funding law enforcement, cutting prescription drug prices, bringing back a million manufacturing jobs, as you mentioned, creating 10 million new jobs in 10 months and also talking about a vaccine by the end of 2020. meanwhile, expect to hear from the president about china. here is the president in a brand-new interview with steve hilton.

listen. >> president trump: china owns joe biden. his son got a billion half dollars, with no experience, no brain power, no anything. not only ukraine, he got hundreds of thousands of dollars a month from ukraine and the $3 million up front payment and then with china, he walks out with a billion and a half dollars to manage? millions of dollars a year in fees. it is ridiculous. >> sandra: what will his messaging be during this convention coming to china? he is trying to draw a stark contrast between where he stands and where joe biden stands on china. >> and i think there is a sharp contrast, sandra. one of the most important messages that he will be trying to communicate this week is the reliance on china that this country has. in the middle of the pandemic months ago many americans learned for the first time that 70% of the active ingredients in our prescription drugs are made in china. then there was that one moment when the global times,

state-run media of china, put out a tweet saying well, maybe if the president of america continues to poke china on tariffs, maybe we won't be sending those active ingredients in our antibiotics to america. so that reliance on china for some of the things that are so important to the american citizens like ibuprofen, prescription drugs. they're made in china. the president has made a big force to move the supply chains back to america. the cornerstone research told me she counts more than 100 companies that have moved supply chains from china to america. that's going to be one of the prevailing themes to ensure america does not rely on any foreign party to produce something that the incredibly important like our prescription drugs. that will be one thing as it relates to china. the other thing, of course, is the constant behavior we've

seen by the communist party. intellectual property theft even when the president was doing the negotiating for a phase one deal, the chinese communist party refused to agree to stop stealing i.t. i have a list of ten and 20 companies that have all settled with chinese companies because of just that. the theft of intellectual property. between the intellect toou all property left and the uighurs and the chinese communist party just trying to bully its neighbors and invading india, overreaching in hong kong. these are some of the things i suspect the president will highlight this week. >> sandra: the chairwoman of the rnc, ronna mcdaniel, taking to the stage. >> hello! this convention will come to order! [cheering and applause]

delegates, welcome to the 2020 republican national convention! [cheering and applause] offering today's invitation please welcome the delegate from vermont, jay shepard. >> thank you, ronna. my name is jay and i'm a republican. [cheering and applause] i am also a catholic donald trump republican. >> the rnc is officially underway in charlotte, north carolina and maria, we'll see in a short time from now a limited number of party delegates. they will be holding live in-person roll call to formally renominate the president. maria, while this is all going

on, there is a big lineup this morning including the president and the vice president who will both be speaking. while this is all going on you were just talking about what the president is promising for his reelection campaign, adding 10 million jobs, bringing the manufacturing jobs back, a vaccine for the coronavirus. right now eight minutes into trading you have the s&p 500 and nasdaq rallying to brand-new record highs. the dow up 175 points. just wanted to point that out there as there seems to be optimism that continues to ripple through the u.s. stock markets and more records yet again this morning as the rnc is now underway in charlotte. >> i will say that. this market wouldn't be trading this week if there wasn't a belief that president trump will get reelected. some of the policies coming out of the biden campaign will slow

economic growth. joe biden says he doesn't want to raise everybody's taxes just the highest earners. having said that it's difficult to understand how he will pay for some of these programs that he says he is endorsing like a climate deal costing $2 trillion. i have the unity task force report in front of me which is the biden/sanders unity task force recommendations. there you have bernie sanders recommending lots of free stuff like free college. again a high, expensive ticket. you will have to raise taxes much more in order to pay for a lot of these sky high deals. >> sandra: just reading from joe biden's recent interview on taxes he said i will raise taxes on anybody making over $400,000. time for people to pay their fair shares. corporations should pay their fair share. we'll hear the president take all of that as the week goes on. maria, thank you.

>> trace: we'll keep our eye on the rnc. trump designates teachers as essential workers as more schools open. new reaction from the president of the american federation of teachers next. are you still at risk for a heart attack or stroke?

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>> trace: the trump administration has designated teachers as essential workers in an effort to encourage more

schools to reopen for in person classes this fall. teachers will be able to stay in classrooms even if they were exposed to the virus. randy weingarten is president of the american federation of teachers. randy, always good to see you. thank you for joining us this morning. you believe that this designation of teachers as essential workers would lead to bullying, maybe coerceing into the classroom. i want you to listen to vice president mike pence and what he says it will be and get your response on the other side. >> what we've done is add teachers to homeland security's list of essential workers. and there is no mandate in that, maria. what that is, when you are declared an essential worker, it means that you are going to be prioritized for things like ppe and support. >> trace: if there is no mandate, wouldn't this maybe open the door for teachers to get maybe some support and some of the personal protective equipment they need? >> look, you know, i didn't

comment on this first of all thank you for having me on and i really appreciate that fox reached out and had us on for our vantage point here because we do represent millions of people including over a million teachers. at first i didn't respond because i remember the essential worker provision actually is about trying to get more ppe and other things for people. however, you know, teachers should have been essential from the beginning and they have provided an essential service in remote learning and in grab and gos and in rec centers from the beginning of this crisis. this is the issue and i've seen it play out already in south carolina, in tennessee, and florida. it is not that getting ppe. in fact, fema has rejected 186 of the 189 districts who have

asked fema to provide ppe. the issue is the -- the issue is that as dr. westfield said that even when you are in class and there is a covid outbreak, if you don't have symptoms, you are not going to be able to get the leave that you need. it will be a huge disincentive because it feels very coercive. doctors and nurses, when there was a covid outbreak, they were told to go home. this is being used in florida, in south carolina, in tennessee to try to coerce, to try to threaten and bully. in fact, the secretary of education in florida says if teachers don't go to work they will be fired. >> trace: doesn't the american federation of teachers this should have been done at the get-go.

is there a solution? if the administration is coming to your side, is there a solution that you are seeking now? >> yes. >> trace: what is the solution? >> that solution is we need number one, you have to actually tackle the virus to really reopen the economy. that's what europe has done and we really believe we have to have to tackle the virus and make sure that we are really doing what we can to contain and prevent transmission. number two, you have to have the resources for testing, tracing and isolation. you have to be transparent about this so that everybody can trust the information. and number three, the president should be actually negotiating with nancy pelosi and chuck schumer the kind of resources that are needed to do even what is needed right now. >> trace: and vice versa. they should also be negotiating on their behalf.

a lot of breaking news. thank you for joining us. we really appreciate it. >> sandra: a live look at the republican national convention in charlotte. ronna mcdaniel is speaking on the stage there. we're about one hour away from the roll call of the states when party delegates with normally renominate the president and vice president. we'll have that for you live and the gulf coast bracing for impact now as two back-to-back storms take aim. when the first storm is expected to hit. ta-da! did you know liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? given my unique lifestyle, that'd be perfect! let me grab a pen and some paper. know what? i'm gonna switch now. just need my desk... my chair... and my phone.

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>> trace: in wisconsin hundreds marched on police headquarters in kenosha after police shot a black man yesterday happened after police responded to a domestic call.

the incident caught on camera. some viewers may find this video disturbing, a warning. the man is seen as officers followed him to his car and fired several rounds as he tried to get in. mike tobin is live in chicago. what are police telling you? >> the investigating agency is now the wisconsin department of justice division of criminal investigation. that agency says it may take 30 days before the public gets answers. the kenosha daily news quotes eyewitnesses saying jacob blake was breaking up a fight to which police were responding. at 5:00 last night. police got a call about a domestic disturbance. at some point their interest became blake. he walked from the passenger vehicle to the driver's side. reports say blake had been tased but continued walking. as blake goes head first into the driver's side of the

vehicle one officer is pulling on his shirt to keep him out of the car and several shots are heard. the video made the rounds on social media. what followed was riot,, cars and dumpsters were set on fire. the county courthouse and administrative buildings are still closed. while the division of criminal investigation are still trying to determine if -- the governor of wisconsin quoted we do know for certain is that he is not the first black man or person to have been shot, injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement. prominent civil rights attorney benjamin crump represents the family saying jacob blake had three children in the back of the vehicle when he was shot by police. a retweet on trump's page says blake, life flighted, is out of surgery and recovering in the icu. according to a report in the racine county eye blake has had

runins with police before. in 2015 according to the report he bran dished a weapon and resisted arrest and had a canine turned on him. >> sandra: fox news alert now from the rnc as we await the roll call of states where delegates will vote to nominate president donald trump for reelection. brand-new reaction from the trump campaign when hogan gidley joins us next. to fix the economy we have to get control over the virus.

i'm releasing a plan to save lives in the months ahead. we need to increase federal support for testing, doubling the number of drive-thru testing sites. we absolutely need a clear message from the very top of our federal government that everyone needs to wear a mask in public. every single frontline worker should have the personal protective equipment that they need to be safe. we need to support schools and childcare programs so parents, if and when they can return to work, are confident that their children will be safe and cared for. and finally, we need to protect the populations most at risk: our seniors, vulnerable populations with pre-existing conditions. we need real plans, real guidelines, with uniform nationwide standards. it's a simple proposition folks, we're all in this together. we gotta fight this together. we'll emerge from this stronger because we did it together. i'm joe biden and i approve this message.

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>> sandra: big day ahead and brand-new hour. the republican national convention getting underway moments ago in charlotte, north carolina launching the final sprint to election day as president trump seeks a second term. two named storms heading for the gulf coast at this hour. marco approaching louisiana, landfall expected midday today. laura heading for the same area later this week. most likely a hurricane. and the postmaster general facing another round of questions about mail delivery on capitol hill. this time testifying before the house oversight and reform committee. that all is expected to be underway just moments from now. meanwhile, fox news alert. the republican national convention is now underway in charlotte, north carolina, as president trump gets ready to lay out his vision of american greatness and his plans for the future. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom." good monday morning. i'm sandra smith.

>> trace: i'm trace gallagher. we're minutes away from the official renomination of president trump at the north carolina convention center. hundreds of socially distanced delegates are there to cast votes in person for the ceremonial roll call of the states. president trump making an appearance today to deliver a message of american greatness at the start of the four-day event. >> sandra: hogan gidley will join us in a moment. we begin with martha maccallum and bret baier. to you first, martha. the president is promising to counter the message of joe biden last week with a positive vision of american greatness. set up for us what we might be seeing and hearing from the president and the vice president a bit later on today. >> i think they'll try to strike a balance about having a positive, hopeful message. leading up to that there was emotional, a lot of sadness and bemoaning the handling of covid from the dnc and all of that during the course of the first

several days of the democratic convention. one of the things i was told to expect in this convention is a very forceful defense of the handling of covid-19 saying we're not going to run away from that issue. you will hear it front and center and how it was handled operation warp speed, the vaccines, fda backing the use of plasma as a treatment for people suffering from covid. so i think you will hear a very forceful defense. when you are an incumbent you have a record of four years in office to talk about and you are going to see a lot of pushback. i think it is worth noting these events will be as public and live in person as they possibly can be. so the choice very different from what we saw at the dnc where there was a reverence for we'll be safe, we are going to follow the science, and we'll keep this super quiet and very socially distanced. you will see a different version of their way of doing this safely begin rolling out

today. >> sandra: as we watched ronna mcdaniel kick things off. she was on the network last week on what we might see and hear and the tone the party will take. the president's convention is going to be about real people. she went on to say i'm a real mom. i don't play one on tv. the president will talk about real families and real people. sort of a preview of what we might see and hear. >> she also said there won't be hollywood stars introducing taped pieces. you're looking at the logistics of a convention. the democrats did this, too, just not on camera. this is in the room again socially distanced. they have masks and tests. but what they are trying to do is say yes, we're a divided nation, yes, we have problems, but we are still a great nation. every day has a theme. today's theme is land of heroes. tomorrow land of promise. land of opportunity, and then finally land of greatness when

the president speaks on the south lawn of the white house. so expect a lot of uplifting talk about what is good about america. but also i think the contrast with what they believe are the democrats' plans and what that would mean for america as it stands today. >> trace: i'm so used to seeing cardboard cut-outs at every live event. then actual people speaking. fascinating to me. joe biden spent the whole dnc in wilmington, president trump is getting out and about wanting to go all over the country ginning up more energy. michael goodwin of the "new york post" wrote although biden leads in most polls the momentum can be able -- if trump can win back disaffected supporters. his fourth of july speech at mount rushmore is a good model.

now he needs an act two. what is an act two for his speech this week and the overall convention? >> the president has had a rough week on a number of fronts with steve bannon and other issues. one of the things that's difficult when you have an incumbent president, you have a very small number according to most of the polls we've seen, probably less than 10% of persuadeable voters out there. so you want the show essentially to be big enough that it gets a lot of attention and i think president trump has never made any bones about the fact that he thinks he is his own best spokesperson. so it is no surprise you will see him every single day. all these moments are the presidential surprises will be newanceed in terms of what part of his agenda they represent. i think you will see him with different individuals who sort of tell a story. it is not going to be him standing there and making a statement every time he comes out for these presidential surprises.

it will be well orchestrated. this is a person who was on the apprentice for many years. he has a tv-focused way of looking at things. it is my understanding he has been working with a very tight group orchestrating this whole thing and very hands on in terms of what he wants to see to try to reach those voters who may be undecided that they should go along with another four years. >> trace: when you look at what he is campaigning on, bret. you look at the list of things he is talking about adding 10 million jobs and other things. does there seem in your assessment to be the big item that really drew people in like the border in 2016? do you see that in this list of things the president wants to accomplish in the second term? >> well, he is laying out this agenda and it has to do with bouncing back, eradicating covid-19 and bringing back jobs. you can see the house minority leader kevin mccarthy, one of the president's earliest supporters speaking to the

convention. i think that you will hear a lot about china and fighting back on china. that's a big issue in his list of agenda items. but also education, school choice. things that republicans have talked about broadly for a long time but the president says it's time to move forward with these things. there is a lot of criticism about no platform. i mentioned that earlier. but ronna mcdaniel just explained that they've got delegates that they didn't want to fight over the platform there. that's how they are explaining it. this agenda by the president he has put out that's what they are following. >> trace: bret and martha, thank you. >> sandra: as you can see house minority leader kevin mccarthy has taken the stage. joining us now is hogan gidley, the campaign national press secretary. big day for your campaign and for your party. here is the "wall street journal" talking about an opening for your party this morning. trump's second term opening. democrats focused on character

at their convention but ignored an agenda for workers. how do you seize on that opening and what is the president's message? >> listen, the democrats were quite frankly bad at aligning anything they wanted to do in the future, much less a reason to vote for joe biden. it was a lot about what they didn't say during their convention. they didn't talk about the radical left agenda that they've embraced now. with green new deals and defunding the police and raising taxes by $4 trillion. they also talk about how america was inherently evil and we're basically the cause of the world's problems. you will see a marked difference with what we're talking about at our convention. we still believe that america is a beacon of hope and strength across the planet. the president who took us to record-setting highs on every level, not just the trade deals for the american worker that you just mentioned that finally protected the american middle

class and did something for the folks getting their hands dirty every single day instead of the trade deals of joe biden that kicked the american worker in the teeth but the peace deals the president negotiated across the globe. a powerful message we have. we are looking forward to the future but focus heavily on how amazing this country is and how amazing her people are. you'll see a lot of that today with this being the land of greatness, the land of heroes, and it should be really exciting. >> sandra: your campaign has been talking about game-changing moments we'll see during this convention and comparing this week to last week. we're already seeing the live nature of what you have put together here but what will some of those game changing moments be? >> it's shocking that this president, who knows about performance and knows about production and had a number one show on another network for more than a decade understands how to connect with people at home. even though we're in this time

of covid you can't campaign in a conventional sense, but we'll bring the message directly to the american people. i don't want to get too far ahead of the surprises we'll have today. there will be surprises each and every day. strong moments for sure. the president will be engaged every single time. something that's new. we'll keep viewers hopefully on the edge of their seats watching this and also reminding people just why to elect donald trump. just how successful the first four years were and how successful the next four will be. we have to continue to move in that direction because the american people deserve a leader that stands up in the face of death and destruction that came from another country and china, a leader that looks out for them and their interests. this is a vast difference here. their convention on the democrat side was about hollywood. ours is about the heartland. you'll see that every day. >> sandra: that being said the latest real clear politics averaging in states like

arizona, florida, pennsylvania, ohio, wisconsin do show the president trailing joe biden some of those key states the president won back in 2016. you will have a big audience today, this week, hogan. how do you reach out to those voters that might be on the fence or moved away from the president in recent months? >> it's about taking a message directly to the american people without the filter of the mainstream media. that's where this president is at his best. the media know it, the democrats know it and they hate the fact that last week during their convention he went to minnesota, wisconsin, arizona and iowa. also went to pennsylvania. talking to the people and reminding them just how successful we became in such a short amount of time. let's not forget joe biden has been in elected office for half of a century with 50 years of experience in elected office. experience in failure. they had nothing to lean on last week. we'll talk about all the successes in the first three years of this administration and we -- look, we talked about polls on this show many times

and whether we believe them or not. the fact is we're in a good position right now and this week will put a strong exclamation point on the last four years of successes for this president. >> sandra: we've been showing the in-person roll calling taking place all morning. it was important to you, your campaign and party. why was there such a press for this in-person convention as much as you can? there are so many things that had to take place. i know you sent out testing kits to the delegates before they arrived. tested again when they arrived. social distance and wipe down the microphone. why was it so important to have the live nature of this convention this week, hogan? >> it is important. we need the country to understand this president wants to begin to reopen. we have to do that for the economy and for our children and we have to do that for the livelihoods of all americans. it can be done responsibly and so we wanted people to show up. listen, people are enthusiastic and excited about this president because of what

they've experienced in the last four years. they can't wait to get out and vote for him. you can't get joe biden supporters to click on a link to watch him. so we're excited that they are excited and they'll be there in person to show their absolute support for this president. look, democrats will tell you, you can't line up to vote. you can sure line up and get a $9 starbucks. you can't line up to vote but you can stand shoulder to shoerld and beat an innocent american within an inch of his life. you can get shoulder to shoulder and smash in store fronts and steal merchandise. that's their message. they're happy with the chaos, lawlessness and rules only apply to those who support this president. that's ridiculous and we'll prove to the world you can get together socially if you do all the things to follow the guidelines that we'll start with day one of this convention. >> sandra: hogan gidley. you are setting up your party's big week as we can see. the events are underway in charlotte. appreciate your time this morning. thank you. >> thanks so much.

>> trace: meantime breaking news on capitol hill. the postmaster general louis dejoy is back before the house. he was before the senate on friday. now the house oversight reform committee is questioning him about the postal services's readiness to conduct mail-in and deliver and make sure the ballots are ready for election day. as he said carolyn maloney the chair is now giving her opening statement. he is expected, the postmaster general, to say the same today as he said on friday. he believes that the postal service is ready to conduct mail-in voting thoroughly and fairly and when news breaks out of that hearing, we will bring you there. >> sandra: we will. major mystery in north korea, unverified reports kim jong-un is in a coma or dead. who could be in control of that? as we wait for the roll call of president trump's nomination

we'll be joined by steve scalise with an insider view of key speakers and scenes from the republican national convention. our coverage continues. veterans who refi now can save three thousand dollars a year. with newday's va streamline refi, there's no income verification, no appraisal and no out of pocket costs. one call can save you $3000 a year. $3000! that's a big deal.

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>> sandra: president trump is on his way the charlotte, north carolina a bit later on

awaiting his departure from the white house to make an appearance on the first day of the republican national convention. steve call -- scalise is one of today's speakers. the democrats weren't enthusiastic about joe biden so they just went after president trump. he can make that case now. draw a contrast from what we saw last week for the dnc and what we're about to see at the republican national convention. good morning. >> good morning, sandra. what you will see this week is really the president talking about and all of us talking about the great things that president trump has already done in 47 months in office. and what we're going to do to get us out of the covid crisis. who better to rebuild this great economy than president trump who already built the greatest economy in the history of our country. he has done it before. he will do it again. then you heard joe biden last week and all of husband surrogates talk about 47 years

in office. a lot of -- they mentioned donald trump and their platform more than they mentioned jobs or racial equality or any of those things. it tells you they are fixated against president trump. they aren't talking about what they'll do for families. president trump has fought for the hard working men and women of this country. the forgotten men and women who voted four years ago who are going to show up and reelect him this time have a lot that they can be proud of and knowing what he has done to fight and deliver on his promises. making promises and delivering on promises is very important and that's what president trump has done. joe biden has 47 years. look at all the things he talked about doing last week. he hasn't done any of those in 47 years. so again donald trump in 47 months has done a lot more than joe biden's 47 years and a lot more to go. the best is yet to come. >> sandra: you're one of the speakers. how are you catering your message to those that have -- may have moved away from president trump, may have lost

enthusiasm for the president but voted for him in 2016. you see him trailing in some of the recent polls in some of those key states that trump won. how do you cater your message? >> sandra, i'm glad momentum is starting to go back our way as people realize the match-up. now that biden has picked his vice president everybody knows it's trump and pence versus biden and harris and the vision for the country is important. what i want to do tonight is go behind the scenes and share with people what kind of person donald trump is and how he fights for people. how much he cares about people. that's a side of the president that the media really doesn't show a lot. when you are in meetings with the president, he is very informed about what we're talking about at that moment but he really is most concerned about how we are going to help families get back into the middle class. we were losing our middle class under eight years of joe biden as vice president. literally our middle class had evaporated. president trump worked hard to rebuild it.

we were already starting to bring jobs back from other countries including china. there is a lot more work to development he has proven he can deliver for those hard working men and women and they need somebody that will fight for them today and that's donald trump. >> sandra: that's really interesting to hear you say that. there was a lot of talk last week about joe biden's character and his party talking up his character and attacks on president trump's character. >> that's all they have is attacking the president. four years nancy pelosi wasted these last two years just focusing on trying to attack the president. the impeachment hoax, all these other hoaxes. just saturday the post office hoax. they have enough money today to go through the middle of next year and run a full election yet she wants the try to create a political issue. donald trump cares about people. i get to see that. when he is in meetings he is trying to figure out how we can make government work better for those men and women that washington had left behind for

so long. and it's a compelling story. you read the democrat party platform, they mention donald trump more than they mention jobs, more than they mention what is happening in our city. the cities being burned down. they are open to defunding the police. joe biden says he wants to reallocate money away from police. and then tries to think he can tell you that's not defunding them. we know how to do basic math. if you take away money, reallocate money away from somebody you're defunding them. donald trump stands with our men and women in law enforcement. big contrasts in this election. who better to rebuild the economy we know we can have once we get out of covid. president trump is working night and day right now to get a vaccine approved. operation warp speed that doesn't get enough credit is the president's laser focus on getting red tape out of the way at agencies like fda to get a vaccine so scientists can be empowered to do what they're doing right now, stage three of testing on multiple drugs that

could be a vaccine approved by the fda in maybe a matter of weeks. that's revolutionary. that's donald trump's leadership. >> sandra: 30 seconds left. how important is this week going to be for your party for the president considering we're going to have both conventions behind us as of next week and it will be a sprint to november. >> i think this week is really important to lay the foundation for the true contest in this election between president trump, his leadership and vision for the next four years based oh than a solid foundation of delivering over the last four years versus joe biden who in 47 years in government -- name a thing that joe biden talked about last week that he has done in his 47 years in political office. results matter. people have seen president trump deliver for them already and showing that contrast, laying it out this week and ultimately the three debates will be critically important. joe biden committed to three debates. he better be there for all

three with donald trump. he has been in politics almost 50 years. he should be able to do this really well. the two of them going head-to-head laying out their vision will be what the country wants to see and donald trump has a great case to make and why he will get reelected. >> sandra: we saw joe biden's team and supporters make the case for him and the presidency last week. we'll see you and the other speakers today make the case for president trump's second term. congressman, appreciate your time this morning. thank you. >> trace: a live look now at the charlotte convention center. people up there washing down the mic again. protocol after every speaker. ronna mcdaniel just walked off and a break right now. after the break they will begin the roll call of states, right? to pledge their delegates to president trump. it is a thinned down convention, 336 delegates being brought in from all 50 states, dc and u.s. territories. they for all intents and

purposes are the proxies for the 2500 delegates they will commit their votes to the president and when that roll call begins, we will take you there live next. ♪ ♪ [ engines revving ] ♪

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>> sandra: fox news alert now. postmaster general louis dejoy back on capitol hill this morning facing questions from the house oversight committee on mail-in voting and cost-cutting moves at the u.s. postal service. he testified before a senate panel friday. the day before the house passed a bill to stop changes at the post office and give it an extra $25 billion. chad pergram is live following this for us. how will today's hearing differ from what we saw and heard on friday? >> it's different in the sense that the postmaster general louis dejoy is here in person. the friday hearing was a virtual hearing. robert duncan. the head of the postal board of

governors will testify virtually. a lot of questions of how they picked dejoy. something to watch for. this hearing is probably going to be more contentious. democrats were not impressed with what they heard at the friday hearing including alexandria ocasio-cortez, the democrat from the bronx. >> his testimony was completely insufficient and i'm glad we are getting a second stab on it on monday because his answers just do not line up. they simply do not line up with what postal service workers are saying on the ground. >> the questions democrats have. how was dejoy picked for the job? that's why they want to hear if duncan. efforts to impact the election by making operational changes and is dejoysticking to his word about no changes until after the election? >> nancy pelosi said they were out of money. when you look at their bank

account they have $14 billion. they can fund it all the way to august of next year. in our cares bill we also gave them another $10 billion through the treasury if they need anything. it was a made-up problem that wasn't there. >> there are concerns about election officials tossing out mail-in ballots and if it could sway the election. they invalidated -- on the bill saturday afternoon 26 republicans who joined democrats voting for that bill. most were moderate republicans or those from battleground districts and also those from rural districts where the mail is very important. >> sandra: keep us posted on the breaking news from that hearing room as it comes in. thank you. >> trace: the gulf coast bracing for not one but two tropical storms. the first set to hit today. forecasters say tropical storm marco should make landfall in louisiana within hours. tropical storm laura is right behind south of cuba right now

and could become a powerful hurricane when it reaches the gulf coast this week. here is louisiana governor on the unusual one-two punch. >> the window of time within which we may be able to operate and maneuver between the two storms may be as low as 12 hours. it will make things very difficult from a search and rescue standpoint. you can anticipate if your electricity goes out -- i've never known us to have a hurricane without electricity going out for a number of people, that it could be out longer than would be normal. >> trace: let's bring in meteorologist janice dean. when the gulf coast is threatened with a one-two punch our eyes are open. >> a right and left hook into louisiana right now. marco is weakening. that's the good news. we aren't going to have a hurricane barreling into louisiana today. that could change in the next couple of days. look at this. that's incredible to see two

named storms moving into louisiana or the texas coastline in the next couple of days. so marco 50 mile-per-hour sustained winds. new update at 11:00. the storm has been weakening. showers and thunderstorms from louisiana, mississippi, alabama and panhandle. tropical storm warnings are in effect for louisiana and mississippi. heavy rainfall. some storm surge. the potential for weak tornadoes and we think landfall later on today into the overnight tonight. it actually could hug the coastline. good news is it is going to weaken. not the same story for laura, which is right behind this one. the problem is with laura is the conditions are going to become favorable for strengthening. we could actually see a rapid strengthening storm over the next couple of days. there is marco. let's look at the latest track

from laura. south of cuba, moves into the gulf of mexico in the next 24 hours. not a whole lot of land interaction and actually it is really held together quite well over the mountain ouster ain of cuba. here is the track as we mentioned. category two storm. it could be a category three. major hurricane as we get into wednesday and thursday. potentially makes a landfall somewhere between louisiana and texas. the exact point of landfall and the intensity and the timing is still yet to be determined. this is the rainfall from marco. not a whole lot of rainfall but that will set the stage for the potential flooding rainfall from laura as we get into wednesday, thursday and friday especially now for louisiana. as we go further out in time we have a better idea where the track is and where the center will come onshore. certainly not only heavy rainfall but we could be dealing with feet of storm

surge as well. tropical models, marco skirting the coast of louisiana into texas today and tomorrow and then laura as we get into wednesday and thursday, there is the official track in red from the national hurricane center. we still have some time to go and still have some discrepancy with some computer models. want to make mention we're in the hurricane list and we haven't reached peak season. so watching laura and marco and nana behind that one off the coast of africa. trace and sandra, we get a new advisory at 11:00 a.m. and bring you the latest for both of those storms. really incredible, historic storms no less. back to you. >> trace: you talk about a category two possibility of laura. you remember back a few years and katrina hit as a category two. >> 15 years. >> trace: we always watch the storms as we go toward the gulf coast. back to you as the news breaks.

>> sandra: a live look at capitol hill. awaiting the postmaster general louis dejoy's opening statement before the house committee. the difference this week he is before a house committee this time. last week he was called in by a senate committee on friday. lawmakers asking dejoy questions and to provide testimony about policy changes that he made at the postal service that may or may not have resulted in delayed mail delivery. the postmaster general is expected to defend his case on that. last week saying he did not speak to the president specifically about any of those changes and committing to no more policy changes before election day. so he is about to give his opening statement, trace. we'll be listening to that. >> trace: it is notable the postmaster general has look all the cuts have stopped. we won't cut anything and keep these things going. in his testimony last week he again and again reiterated the fact that, you know, none of these cuts that have been

implemented had produced a slowing of the mail. in fact, he testified it was doing just the opposite. they were kind of streamlining things and he was seeing a pickup in the mail. still those cuts have been put on hold and the postmaster general will testify today that the u.s. postal service is ready and willing when these mail-in ballots are processed. he said the big problem with all of this is there needs to be change in state laws because you have 26 states around the country that are allowed to send out ballots just a couple of days before the election and that is a problem for the u.s. postal service to actually get the ballots processed and turned around and counted on election day or by election day. a bit of a pickle for the u.s. postal service. >> sandra: he was scheduled to speak before the house-led committee this morning but then when that was called for, then the senate committee said well, we would like him to come over

here and tell his story first. what we heard on friday. he told that senate committee that he would commit to delivering ballots within 1 to 3 days as they have been in past elections and he noted that he himself has voted by mail. he didn't speak directly to the ripple effects of certain delays such as delayed prescriptions which he was asked about multiple times by some lawmakers but said he regretted the outcomes, trace. we do expect to have further questioning on some of those matters by the postmaster general this morning. >> trace: the democrats tried in a big way to link the postmaster general louis dejoy with the president because he had donated big sums of money to the president. louis dejoy, started his own business and that business became a multi-million dollar business. he sold it for some $600 million several years ago. he is very wealthy. he donates to a lot of campaigns and donated to mitt romney's campaign. romney said he donated to the

president and me, you could say he has donated to both sides. but it is notable, sandra, that the president doesn't appoint the postmaster general and louis dejoy was saying a few times last week that he hasn't spoken with the president. he has never gone over policy. the president has never contacted him at all about how to proceed with anything to do with the postal service. >> sandra: he said i spoke with the president when he congratulated me on the new role. he did talk about the slowness in the mail blaming the pandemic and the agency itself for the long waits and he said we're working feverishly to get the system running and hiring more workers. we all feel bad about the dip in our service level so we'll hear him in his own words just moments from now. >> trace: they're introducing him right now and in the introduction you have to stick in a few points you need to audience to get with. as far as the timing goes, the

senators last week got seven minutes each. those seven minutes lingered into 10 minutes. i'm unclear how long the house members will get. we'll listen right now to a little bit of this and we'll get back. >> sadly in this day and age an industry leader with a passion for service can be persecuted in the court of public opinion for his political affiliation. as the circus unfolds today louis dejoy is an industry leading businessman and most importantly a man with a good heart doing his best to serve his country. mr. dejoy i want to commend you for being here today. many of your accusers didn't extend the same courtesy. unlike the senator from delaware let's hope they at least know how to mute themselves. thank you, madam chair, i yield back. >> thank you. our second witness is robert duncan who is the chairman of the postal services board of governors. he was appointed to the board of governors by president donald trump in august of 2018 and his term expires in

december of 2025. please stand and raise your right hand. do you swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but truth, so help you god? >> i do. >> without objection your written statements will be part of the record. with that, mr. dejoy, you are now recognized for your testimony. >> good morning chairwoman, ranking member and members of the committee. i am proud to be with you today on behalf of the 630,000 dedicated women and men of the united states postal service. on june 15th i became america's 75th postmaster general. since that time for a variety of reasons, there has been a

great deal of attention to the postal service by our elected officials, the media, and the american people. i want to begin by assuring this committee and the american public that the postal service is fully capable and committed to delivering the nation's ballots securely and on time. this sacred duty is my number one priority between now and election day. to be clear, we will do everything we can to handle and deliver election mail in a manner consistent with the proven processes and procedures that we have relied upon for years. nevertheless, i encourage all americans who choose to vote by mail to request their ballots early and to vote early as a common sense best practice. as part of this conversation, there are many inaccuracies about my actions that i wish to

again correct. first, i did not direct the removal of blue collection boxes or the removal of mail processing equipment. second, i did not direct the cutback on hours at any of our post offices. and finally, i did not direct the elimination or any cutback in overtime. i did, however, suspend these practices to remove any misperceptions about our commitment to delivering the nation's election mail. any further assertions by the media or elected officials is furthering a false narrative to the american people. let me describe the two actions i have taken in 70 days since my appointment. i came to the postal service with decades of experience in solving large and complex logistical problems. i plan to use this experience to help lead the operating change required for the postal service to glow and embark on a path of sustainability. on the day of my swearing in,

the postal service inspector general issued an astonishing report about the delays in postal transport paition and the costs associated with our weaknesses in this fundamental operating principle. upon review i directed the postal service operations team to develop and execute on a plan to improve our adherence to the transportation schedule of our over 40,000 trips a day. we have accomplished this goal. as our on time departures are approaching 98% and wasteful extra trips down by over 70%. while we've had temporary service decline which should not have happened, we're fixing this. in fact, last week service improved across all major mail and package categories and i'm laser focused on improving service for the american public. the second of two changes i made as postmaster general was installing a new organizational

reporting structure to better align talent and resources, to instill greater accountability for performance and to focus the organization on service and growth. these two changes creating a new on-time transportation network and designing an engaged functional organizational structure will be the catalyst for significant improvements in cost, performance and growth that i planned for this vital american institution. madam chairwoman, the women and men of the postal service have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to our mission of service throughout the covid-19 pandemic. in every community in america we continue to work to keep our employees and customers safe as we fulfill our essential role in delivering the medications, benefit checks and financial statements the public depends upon. since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a public outpouring of support for our postal employees as they perform their essential service throughout the nation.

this is a well-deserved testament to their dedication. chairwoman maloney, ranking member comer i hope we can agree the financial state of the postal service is unacceptable and needs to be fixed. i look forward to working with you and this committee and our stakeholders to restore the financial health of the united states postal service and to improve the way we serve the american public. this concludes my remarks and i welcome any questions that you and the committee may have. thank you. >> thank you very much for your testimony and we will now recognize chairman duncan. you are now recognized for your testimony and he will be appearing remote. chairman duncan, you are now recognized. >> thank you. chairwoman maloney, ranking member comer and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to speak today. my name is mike duncan. for the past two years i have had the honor of serving as the chairman of the united states postal board of governors.

throughout my life, i've looked for ways to help and strengthen and support institutions that are important to american communities. that's why i spent five years -- >> sandra: you have been listening to the house hearing on capitol hill with louis dejoy. he again saying the post office is ready to handle election mail. confirming again i did not direct the removal of mailboxes or sorting machines or cuts to hours. his testimony will continue. we'll be monitoring that and we'll take a quick back and we'll be right back.

we can't just take from nature... so we collaborate ♪ ocean spray works with nature every day to farm in a sustainable way >> sandra: a little bit of return to normal. we're about to see an in-person roll call in charlotte with 336

delegates stepping up to the microphones to make their case. let's bring in fox news anchors bret baier and martha maccallum. things looked so different last week. now we'll see the delegates step up to the microphone and we'll be reminded of the covid era. they will have the wipe down the microphones in between speakers but wear their masks, take them off when they speak but we'll see it in person. >> 336 delegates there. it is a smaller group because of the concerns about covid-19 and you are right, there are strict protocols in place. they have to be wearing masks. they don't wear it them while talking and they put it back on. you'll see the speeches from each state. the nomination process and they will say from the great state of whatever, whatever and the home of whoever, whoever and give their delegates. 1276 delegates needed for the nomination. we should point out the nomination of vice president

pence happened by actlymation. former wisconsin governor scott walker came up, gave a speech and delegates voted to renominate mike pence. for all the stories in washington said nikki haley would be the surprise vp pick, that's over officially now. >> we expect that after nebraska they'll take a pause and we expect that it will be florida that puts president trump over that number. obviously a big, important state in the electoral college. watch for that moment. i remember four years ago when president trump's nomination reached the level of delegates that needed to confirm that nomination, his family they took the cameras to new york. the family all came down on the floor. it was a very exciting moment and one that i think in the beginning of the process no one ever managed they would see. those are the kind of moments we don't see this time around, sandra. one other thing i would mention, this is something that

the dnc did. i think most people felt like they did it well. they were creative. took a trip around the united states. went to each state. the delegates with the back drop of the golden gate bridge and farms in kansas. we'll see how they pull this off and whether or not they can engender some excitement and enthusiasm around it. >> trace: you talk about the 336 delegates and i'm reading through the health list they have for the people. it is interesting. they are tested on site. you can see when they pan away at the camera angles that, you know, people don't appear to be wearing masks. appear to be close together. what they'll do is in 14 and 21 days the rnc will do their version of contact tracing. they'll contact the 336 delegates in 14 and 21 days to see if they suffer any symptoms. it is interesting to see how they're going about this whole -- it is novel going about the whole safety aspect of this

convention. >> even their tags have a blue tooth element to them to make it easier for contact tracing and putting that foot forward. they're also getting together in this room. much like you've seen with the nhl, you know, doing a bubble. this is the rnc's bubble. they test on the way in. they test while they're there and obviously covid is going to be a key part to this election. it is impossible to not be the dominant factor, whether the country can get over this hump and where we are in november. not only with covid and fighting covid but also the economy surrounding it. >> trace: the rnc bubble is a great analogy. people will feel it from you tomorrow. the thing, martha, you talk about i was reading through along with the health manuals the president's fighting four agenda. if you read down, there are things like a little bit of

drain the swamp. things like defund police but overall it doesn't really look to be an ideological wish list as much just kind of a to do list. >> one of the things i would look at very closely there is the china policy and a very sort of beginning of a more specific plan to give tax relief to companies that bring their manufacturing back from china. so the president touched on this in his interview with steve hilton and i think you'll hear quite a bit about this. china is our number one adversary. we need to potentially look towards a decoupling of our economies over time. the other thing is school choice. a lot of people in the country would like to have the tax dollars allocated from their taxes toward education be portable and used at public charter schools or religious schools of their choice. nothing has highlighted this

more than the covid environment. school choice is something that i think spans across all different economic backgrounds and minorities and all groups across america are interested in this concept. that's also something i think is meaty that you'll hear when we get rolling with some of these speeches and moments. >> sandra: you look at ronna mcdaniel, she took to the stage a short time ago to kick things off. gaveled in. we're about to see that in-person roll call vote happening. didn't see it at the dnc. they will be distanced and step up to the microphones and make their case to reelect president donald trump for a second term. 336 delegates representing 50 states. we'll see 5 territories and washington, d.c. they're in the ballroom at the charlotte convention center where things have kicked off for these four-day republican convention as we're about to

begin a new hour. we'll look for that roll call to begin. we're told in just a few moments from now. bret and martha will stay with us. trace as well as we begin a brand-new hour. >> sandra: 11:00 a.m. on the east coast. welcome back to "america's newsroom" as we watch opening day at the rnc. the roll call of states set to begin in just moments. that's as president trump gets ready to break with tradition and speak every day of this convention. right now he is in the air and landing in charlotte soon. welcome back to "america's newsroom," i'm sandra smith. >> trace: good morning, i'm trace gallagher. roll call kicking off soon. unlike at the democratic convention last week, the republicans are doing it live in person. one of many things republicans promise will be different from the dnc. here is hogan gidley trump 2020

press secretary. >> the democrats, were quite frankly, bad at aligning anything they wanted to do in the future much less a reason to vote for joe biden. it was a lot about what they didn't say during their convention. they didn't talk about the radical left agenda. they also talked about how america was inherently evil and basically the cause of the world's problems. you will see a marked difference with what we're talking about at our convention. we still believe that america is a beacon of hope. >> sandra: martha maccallum is anchor of the story and bret baier anchor on fox news channel. we'll see you a lot today as we see the prime time coverage of the rnc. the great american story as you heard details from hogan, bret. we're about to see this in-person roll call of the states and we all look forward to seeing what exactly that looks like. this kicks off the big four days.

>> we may want to dip in. they're not going to -- it won't be fancy as far as pictures go. delegates standing up in front of the rnc2020 sign. each one will give a speech as you see reaction from ronna mcdaniel there and so it is going to look a lot different. we have to listen in to each state as they make a presentation and this is how it is going to go all the way through the 50 states and territories. and then florida as martha mentioned before will put the president over the top. we expect to hear from vice president pence and president trump here in charlotte at this event. >> trace: it's interesting, bret. i was looking back. in 2016 the republicans went first and the democrats went second and i'm wondering if there is an advantage in your estimation to that. you know how some teams are always willing to take the ball first. they want the ball first regardless of what happens and some don't.

is there a strategy? is there an advantage to going first or going last? >> it's tough in this covid environment to say where the advantage is. obviously the democrats got through it as was mentioned. a lot of it was on tape but it was smooth. it didn't have big problems. no big battle inside the democratic party over the platform because they got to control the message. this is going to -- the republicans say be different, more live. they'll have their own surprises. so there is a bar to get over. the republicans say they would rather be second but tough to stay who gets the advantage. >> sandra: all this coming off a brand-new interview where joe biden sat down with kamala harris, first sit-down since she was formally accepted her nomination. the president is going to accept -- give his formal acceptance speech from the white house as we know now bret. there was a lot of speculation over the venue that he would

choose because this year is unlike any other. and so much has been up in the air. so the republicans have had a chance to see how things went for the democrats last week and make any changes that they can to improve upon how they can deliver this to their supporters. >> i don't think we'll know, sandra, -- we'll listen for a second. >> secretary of the convention, vickie drummond. >> thank you, madam chair. we will now begin the roll call of the states. first up, alabama.

alabama 50 delegates. 50 president donald trump. >> i'm representative andrew, chairman of the delegation from the yellow hammer state. the state with the highest approval rating in the country for donald trump. home of the crimson tide, the auburn tigers and trump-endorsed coach tommy tuberville who we plan to send to washington, d.c. this november to take back our senate seat from our caretaker democrat center. the ship building of mobile and the white sandy beaches of the gulf coast. from the rockets and defense industry at huntsville to the auto manufacturing of montgomery and tuscaloosa this state strongly supports our president and his policy. alabama's motto is we dare defend our rights. this president has defended our borders, defended our religious liberty. cut our taxes and repealed the

obamacare individual mandate. today it is my honor to announce that alabama has unanimously cast its votes for president donald trump. [cheering and applause] >> pursuant to the announcement and rules and procedures of this convention alabama casts 50 votes donald trump. alaska, 29 delegates with the following band for president donald trump 26. >> madam chairman, madam secretary, alaska, the largest state in our union, known as the great land has more rivers, lakes, streams, coastline, glaciers, volcanoes, mountains, islands and wildlife than the entire lower 48 states combined.

alaska's abundant natural resources are responsibly developed and harvested, preserving the pristine land and waters of the last frontier. alaska is a land of promise, peoples, prosperity, personal responsibility, individual freedoms, and opportunities to keep alaska great and to keep america great, the alaska republican delegation proudly casts its 29 votes to nominate president donald j. trump. [cheering and applause] >> sandra: roll call continues there in charlotte. meanwhile vice president mike pence just landed and he'll be speaking shortly. the president is still en route on air force one. we haven't gotten word he landed yet. he is expected to address the delegates today before speaking tonight. joining us again martha maccallum and bret baier.

what we've seen so far as the live nature of the roll call vote. we'll see and hear from the president and vice president shortly as well. >> yes, that will be different. that will be a live speech to these delegates. the -- it's a different look here but it is delegates as in a traditional way for convention standing up. you can see them socially distanced there six feet apart and the placards from each state. visually it is a different look but it is -- they're trying to get the live excitement of the moment and by the president and vice president being there, accepting the nomination in person, i think that's similar to what they are trying to get to. >> sandra: martha, we had steve scalise on the program elier this morning and one of the speakers today as well. he was talking about the middle class and what we saw under an

obama/biden presidency and what we'll see from a second term with the president. watch. >> we're losing our middle class under eight years of joe biden as vice president. literally our middle class had evaporated. president trump worked hard to rebuild it. we were already starting to bring jobs back from other countries, including china. and clearly there is a lot more work to do. there are very big contrasts in this election. who better to rebuild the economy we know we can have once we get out of covid? >> sandra: safe to say we can expect talk of china from the president as he begins this convention and also talk about how to bring the economy back to where it was pre-pandemic? >> absolutely. i think in that vein you'll hear about moving manufacturing back to the united states as i mentioned before. the other thing i think you will hear for the middle class is about the tax cuts. yesterday joe biden said that he would not reimplement tax

cuts for people under $400,000. that will be one of the things that will be discussed as well here. nobody wants to see their taxes go up will be the argument the trump team will make. one of the biggest things we heard last week was the president wasn't fit to be president. that he didn't care enough to read the documents, all of that stuff. so steve scalise will be one of those people who you will hear talk about his own personal interactions with the president and how the president is in meetings and all of that. the argument that was said last week at the democrat convention is untrue and you'll hear that point brought home many times over the course of the next four days. >> trace: i'm looking at the corner at well and broad. the whole plasma therapy and the possibility of an earlier vaccine. on the flip side you have the "wall street journal" and they write this in the editorial board says voters disapprove of mr. trump's handling of the

virus and the election impact will depend on the course of the disease. the convention can explain what his administration has done on testing, ppe, and therapeutic and vaccine development. do you expect the president to go heavy on coronavirus or touch on it and move on? >> i think convention will in a firm defense of this administration what it has done and what it is doing. whether the president spends time -- a lot of time on it we'll have to wait and see. i do think it's a key part, if you ask anybody what's important to them figuring out how to get back to normalcy is top on the list post covid. and if you look at the things the administration has done and the things that democrats propose to do, there is not a lot of disparity about what is being done or going to be done as far as the plan ahead. that point will be made at this

convention a lot. >> trace: we've heard from a lot of different pundits saying look, a lot of this is coming down to you see the bottom of your screen, the dow up 268 points. a lot of it comes as you push toward october and getting to november toward the health of the economy. right now the markets are doing really well. unemployment numbers not as encouraging as we thought they would be. the markets are doing well and a lot of people say if the virus is waning and the markets are increasing and getting health year it bo*eds very well for the president. >> one of the things we've all learned covering this president and especially covering the last year if you go back to the impeachment process, the story we felt at any given moment was going to be really the big deciding factor story in this election has changed. so we sit here at the end of august, the election isn't until the first days of november. so i expect that you will see a lot happen between now and then with treatments, with possible

vaccines, with the nature of this virus the more we learn about it changing over time. we hope it will be getting better. i think everybody on both sides hope it will get better. we'll see if that's the case. with the market. it has gone up like crazy. a lot of people wonder why given the underlying economic situation. one of the economic themes that i think you'll hear a lot of over the next few days is how to help those businesses, how to help workers, what is sort of the republican version of finding a way to make a difference with these companies, giving them incentives to hire people back? a lot of that will be a new frame on conservatism and the economy that you will hear quite a bit about in the coming days, trace. >> sandra: live roll call continues in charlotte, north carolina as the republican national convention is underway. day one and moving alphabetically through the states as you can see. now on colorado as we await the vice president and the

president. they are expected there shortly. joe biden meanwhile firing back at president trump and other critics over the attacks on the nominee's mental fitness. hundreds of wildfires in california. why officials are worrying the situation could get worse. then there is this. that video appears to show wisconsin police officers shooting a black man several times in the back sparking violent protests in wisconsin over the weekend. a live report straight ahead. ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> sandra: a live look at charlotte. as you can see the delegate from the district of columbia is now speaking. making her case for another term for president donald trump. roll call is underway. we expect the president and vice president shortly as they move through in alphabetical order. we'll stay on that. >> trace: on capitol hill breaking news over there. the postmaster general louis dejoy is now testifying before the house oversight committee. he testified before the senate on friday. now before the house and we were told earlier by congresswoman ocasio-cortez that she did not like dejoy's

answers during his senate visit and plans to grill him on some of those answers. let's listen in here for a minute and see where we are. >> 700 to 800 extra trips a day and we have thousands of truck trips that run late. it wasn't a flat directive. it was work to our plan. that was my directive. come up with a plan to work through our plan. the management team put the plan together and executed on the plan and everything else i had nothing to do with. there was a longstanding plan on collection boxes and sorting machines and postal hours that was way -- that was ongoing, really in the areas that were taking care of that. >> so another quick question. is the pony express still available today? >> i've been here 70 days sir. i haven't seen that yet, no.

i think it's gone. >> technology changes and -- a new idea. [inaudible] >> i'm sorry? >> the transition where you are trying to make changes. doesn't always go smoothly, does it? >> the gentleman's time is expired. >> transitions don't always go smoothly. you should have a recovery process. our recovery process is taking too long. this should have been resolved in a few days and it is not. so the impact -- there are a lot of things that are impacting our service. this is one of them on the front end. and we should have cleared it up quicker and i think we have the focus on it now and it will

recover quite rapidly going forward. >> thank you. >> trace: interesting unlike friday where louis dejoy were not in person. now he is in person and some of the members of the committee are virtual having some technical problems there. we'll listen in as the testimony continues there and bring you any breaking news out of that. >> sandra: the first day of the republican national convention gets underway in charlotte the biden/harris is hosting a town hall for young voters in north carolina this afternoon. we're live in delaware with peter doocy. what are democrats hoping to accomplish with that event? >> they're starting to explain. joe biden has pitched more than $6 trillion in new government spending and starting to explain where that money would come from and where it wouldn't. >> i will raise taxes for

anybody making over $400,000. let me tell you why i'm going to do it. it is about time they start paying a fair share of the responsibility we have. the very wealthy should pay fair share. corporations should pay a fair share. the fact is corporations are making close to a trillion dollars and pay no tax at all. i'm not punishing anybody. this is about everybody paying their fair share. >> barack obama is now quoted in the new yorker as saying this, if you look at joe biden's goals and bernie sanders' goals they're not that different. from a 40,000 foot level they want to make sure everybody has healthcare. everybody has a job with the living wage and every child gets a good education. kamala harris is brushing off questions about her past attacks on biden's records calling them a distraction. their last event was wilmington thursday night. reporters in the room had to prove two negative covid-19

tests to attend in person. the candidates apparently didn't. >> have you been tested? >> he has not been tested. however, we have put the strictest protocols in place and moving forward should he need to be tested he certainly would be. but he has not been tested yet. >> and we were told this morning to expect something from senator harris at some point this week. biden does not have any public events on his schedule for now for the rest of the week. trace. >> sandra: i'll take it from there. peter doocy thank you in delaware for us. joe biden hitting back at president trump over attacks on his mental fitness. watch this. >> look, i think oats a legitimate question to ask anybody over 70 years old whether or not they're fit and whether they're ready. but i just -- only thing i can say to the american people it is a legitimate question to ask anybody. watch me. >> sandra: let's bring in fox news politics editor chris stirewalt. what do you think of the moment

that he fired right back about age? >> the horse whisperer is a little creepy but i think he had the right idea which i'm doing a good job. he got good reviews. he did a good job in his convention speech and all that stuff. you know, the truth for the republicans, the truth for president trump, they don't want an election that's based on the question of which human, which person would you rather be president, joe biden is better liked. joe biden scores better on that front. that's why the republicans are trying to move it to policies, not personalities, not people. i think that's a big part of their job this week. >> sandra: i want to ask you about jeff flake now joining two dozen former gopers to launch republicans for biden. obviously this is happening as the convention begins. here is the foxnews.com headline. jeff flake joins over two dozen members of congress to launch republicans for biden. this is from that story citing

a biden campaign official, i'll read it to you. the former members of congress are supporting joe biden because they know what is at stake in this election and trump's failures as president have superseded partisanship. what do you think, chris? >> you know, poor jeff flake. this guy has had long incredibly anguishing journey out of the republican party starting while he was in the senate. it has been -- his misery has been not only evident but he has gone to great pains to let the world know all about it. i don't think anybody is going to change their vote for president based on what jeff flake said or john kasich or any of the dissident republicans who have come out. it doesn't mean that republicans should ignore what is happening here. this week the republicans have to demonstrate that they are a party that includes these kinds of folks. suburban republicans, traditional small government, conservative republicans who do respond on messages like taxes

and courts and other traditional bread and butter republican issues. they have to show they're more than just a person but a party. they have to -- we have to hear loudly from those other traditional republicans there is more to the party than trump if they want to keep those voters attached. >> sandra: you and i usually get to spend some time together during election years with these conventions. not the case. we're remotely. could you hang on and join me as we watch a little of the roll call happening now? they're on indiana. we'll listen to a bit. stay with us and we'll get your reaction. >> to keep america great again by unanimously supporting donald j. trump for president of the united states of america. [applause] >> pursuant to the announcement of the delegation and the rules and regulation of this convention, indiana casts 58 votes president trump. [applause]

iowa, 40 delegates with the following delegates. 40 for president trump. >> thank you, madam secretary. mr. president, first of all, on behalf of all iowan, our deepest sympathy to you and the first family on the loss of your brother, robert. may his memory be' tern all. iowa experienced a devastating storm but iowans are resilient. we thank you and our representatives for the swift, decisive and continued action which was done in record speed. mr. president, i'm a ceo and entrepreneur. on election night in 2016, i had 400 employees. today we have almost 4,000. thanks to -- [applause] thanks to your explosive

economic policies. in short, sir, you are crushing it. with that said, the most enthusiastic state chairman in all the gop, jeff kaufman and i are honored to report that on behalf of our widely popular governor, tim reynolds, senator grassley, senator joni ernst, our 40 delegates and amazing congressional ticket, that the great state of iowa full send unanimously all of our votes to renominate you to lead our country, america under god, for four more years. mr. president and mr. vice president, you are rehired. >> sandra: a live roll call continues in charlotte.

as that happens over the weekend the trump campaign released the 49-point wish list for the president's second term. there was criticism they hadn't very clearly laid things out or whether or not there was even a solid agenda pushing create 10 million new jobs in 10 months. bringing back manufacturing jobs. i'm sure we'll hear more of that from the president and he will be addressing the delegates a short time from now as well as the vice president, chris. >> right, and look, you have to put some paper out there and they did. the democrats did. it's -- conventions are not about policy. conventions are about unity. they are about attitude and they are about your sales pitch. people know better than to pay too much attention to specific policy initiatives from any politician because that all changes once you get going. and wish list is a good word for a lot of what's on there. have a vaccine in 2020.

okay. wouldn't we all like that? the hard work for trump is to do two things. on the one hand, he has to really take it to joe biden. he really has got to really grind them down. go after the democrats hard core and say that biden is too risky to be president. but at the same time talk about those traditional, as i said, bread and butter republican policy initiatives to try to get the band back together again and deal with some of that soft support from traditional republican groups in the suburbs. >> sandra: we had hogan gidley on talking about the live nature of this convention compared to a lot of the taped speeches we saw last week. you have the live roll call vote. how do you think it's going so far for the republicans from what we've seen so far? >> i think it's fine. i don't anybody anywhere in the world whose vote is up for grabs could care less whether it was in person or virtual or

anything. i think that's a lot of -- republicans have to be careful, who cares if it's live or memorex. it doesn't matter to people at home. they care that the production values are good and looks good. that's what the republicans ought to focus on is looking good. >> sandra: the vice president -- you looking good, chris. the vice president landed and expected to address the delegates shortly. the president hasn't landed just yet. great to talk to you this morning, chris. >> trace: as the rnc roll call continues in charlotte, vice president mike pence is there and president trump also set to visit. our coverage continues ahead but first back-to-back storms slamming the gulf coast with tropical storm marco up first. the next one right on its heels could be a monster. the forecast. refinancings by at today's record low mortgage rates.

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and we'll replace your windshield with safe, no-contact service. >> tech: schedule at safelite.com. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ when their growing family meant growing expenses, our agents helped make saving on insurance easy usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa >> sandra: top headlines at the bottom of the hour. the republican national convention kicking off in charlotte with delegates formally nominating president trump for reelection. the president will speak each night during the convention. >> trace: democrats are asking the postmaster general about delays and what it means for mail-in ballots. >> sandra: tropical storm marco taking aim. the national hurricane center

has put out the latest storm track. janice deep has an update from the weather center. good morning. >> good morning. marco is weakening. that's the good news. we should have a landfall of the storm later on late this afternoon into tonight. it is a weakening storm. we aren't expecting it to gain strength as it makes landfall. we'll see the potential for very heavy rain, some storm surge as well as tropical storm force winds for parts of mississippi as well as louisiana. and then the main event is going to come after this. this is like a pre-game with marco. there is the latest track as of 11:00 a.m. moving onshore towards louisiana tonight and pushing towards texas by tuesday and wednesday. there is the forecast radar. again we're going to expect heavy rain, storm surge. the potential from tornadoes as well. the showers and thunderstorms will stretch back through parts of alabama, georgia, and the

florida panhandle. our next named storm is laura. the difference between that and marco, we have warm water ahead of the storm. more water to travel through and the upper level winds are going to be conducive for strengthening. we could see rapid intensification of the storm over the next couple of days before it makes impact. anywhere from louisiana towards the texas border. so 60 mile-per-hour sustained winds is expected interacting with cuba. once it gets into the gulf of mexico we think it will strengthen and we could deal with our first major hurricane of the season. i wouldn't put it past this storm. there is nothing in the way the tear it apart once it gets to the gulf of mexico. the water is way above average like bath water. forecast precipitation with marco we could see couple of

inches of rainfall around new orleans and back into texas, then comes laura. the trending models are showing it moving a little more towards the west. i think as we get into the 5:00 p.m. hour and we get the new advisory we might be dealing with more of a cone that moves toward texas. just watch for that. louisiana you are still in the bull's-eye. texas, i need you the pay attention. forecast models are trending towards the west. forecast models now we expect landfall of marco today into the overnight as a weakening tropical storm. still going to see some impacts but laura is more dangerous and more warm water ahead of it. upper level winds will get more favorable for strengthening. we could see rapid intensification which means it strengthens in a very short period of time. want to make mention we are getting into peak season.

we're already into the l named storms and the national hurricane center does indeed think we'll get into -- well into the season and perhaps even reach the greek alphabet. something we've only done once back in 2005. that was the year of katrina 15 years ago. we'll have to watch this laura as we get through the next couple of days. i'm very concerned. keep an eye on that one as we will as well. >> sandra: watching marco and laura. >> trace: team fox coverage continues. bryan lenis is live in new orleans with more. >> we're at lake bringing up waves. we haven't had rain here yet because tropical storm marco has slowed. we won't be seeing effects of that storm until later today. but look, i think governor john bel edwards of louisiana is expected to speak in less than an hour and he will probably

from what he has done already continue to warn people to pay attention, do not think that this was just nothing. that's because of the impending hurricane laura that is forecasted to come up towards the texas/louisiana border. he already warned people to prepare for up to three days. frankly the storms will be hitting within 12 to 18 hours of one another and he thinks people should be prepared now. here is the national weather service expert who talked about how unprecedented this back-to-back hit is. >> there is a very narrow window between these two systems and i can't even really put words real clearly about how remarkably odd that is to have two systems like that so close to each other impacting the same state within such a short period of time. >> we await tropical storm

marco as all eyes continue on laura. >> trace: live in new orleans, bryan, thank you. >> sandra: live roll call continues in chart local with mississippi the latest. >> the first heart and lung transplants in the world took place, the state where the rockets that will propel man to mars and beyond are perfected at the space center and the state that this november will overwhelmingly vote to reelect our president and return cindy hyde-smith to the senate proudly casts 40 votes to nominate donald j. trump for president. >> pursuant to the rules and procedures of this convention mississippi casts 40 votes president trump. missouri, 54 delegates with the following delegates.

54 president trump. >> madam secretary, beautiful missouri, home of mighty, historic rivers, fertile plains and rolling hills, where agriculture is our number one industry. the gateway of the west, the cave state, the home of the pony express and the sante fe trail and the home of the reigning super bowl champs the kansas city chiefs and the home of the 2019 stanley cup champs, the st. louis blues. with our two outstanding united states senator roy blunt and josh hawley and our outstanding governor mike parson, beautiful missouri is proud to cast its 54 votes for president donald

j. trump. [applause] >> pursuant to the announcement of this delegation and the rules and procedures of this convention, missouri casts 54 votes, president trump. montana. 27 delegates with the following delegates, 27 president trump. >> madam secretary, my name is don. i come from the great state of montana. it has often been called the big sky country, the treasure state, and the last best place. but currently we are aaffectionately calling it trumtana. [applause] we're the home of the tribes, the american indian tribes, the

agriculture, timber, beef, oil, and coal. recreational activities and culture, the rocky mountains, rolling hills, and streams, lakes and great rivers. huck el berries and sapphires, grizzlies and bobcats, military veterans, cowboys, farmers and workers of recreation and industry, we fish, we hunt, we boat, and we have at least five guns in every home. [applause] and we love the second amendment. and we love you, president trump. [applause] montana affectionately and enthusiastically gives its 27 votes to to president donald j.

trump. god bless america. [applause] >> pursuant to the announcement of the delegation and rules and procedures of this convention, montana casts 27 votes president trump. nebraska, 36 delegates with the following delegates, 36 president trump. >> madam secretary, great to be with you today. i'm dan welch chairman of the nebraska republican party. the cornhusker state. the big red state and home to some of the greatest people in the world. i'm joined by some of those people. national committee man and woman. i'm also with delegates. fellow delegates. on behalf of them, great

nebraska republicans, our great governor, and my little republicans at home 3 and 4 years old we are doing this for them and their future. i cast 36 votes for the current and next president of the united states of america, donald j. trump. >> madam secretary, madam secretary, the chair calls for a temporary suspension of the role call. the chair recognizes governor scott walker from the state of wisconsin. [applause] >> thank you, madam chair. it was my honor to nominate our friend, mike pence, to serve as vice president of these united states for four more years. while joe biden has outsourced his agenda to the radical left, including senator harris, whose voting record according to "newsweek" is actually more liberal than bernie sanders,

that's right, joe biden's running mate is actually to the left of a self-identified socialist. meanwhile, mike pence, a successful governor from america's heartland is the perfect partner for our president as they take on the washington establishment. an establishment that joe biden has been a part of for nearly 50 years. it makes joe biden a creature of the swamp. mike pence is helping donald trump drain that swamp and we need them there for four more years. [cheering and applause] mike pence is respected by governors and mayors and medical professionals all across this nation because of his leadership of the white house task force in coronavirus. mike pence helped the people of indiana see their tax relief as governor and now as vice president he has helped our president, donald trump, pass one of the largest tax cuts in

american history. a tax cut that helps nearly every taxpayer in this country, a tax cut that joe biden wants to repeal. mike pence believes in the sanctity of life. he always has and he always will. and he is a big reason why this administration is more pro-life than any in the history of this country. [applause] mike pence believes that every child, no matter where they come from or what they look like, every child deserves access to an excellent education, be it at a traditional public school, a charter school, a private school with a voucher or scholarship or a tax credit or even a homeschool environment. he understands that he trusts parents the make the right choice for their children. and mike pence believes in public safety. he have will defend our constitutional right to protect

ourselves, our families, and our property. and he supports public safety when it comes to not what joe biden supporters often talk about defunding the police, but rather defending the police. mike pence will always stand with the good and decent men and women of law enforcement who protect us every single day. [applause] and mike pence understands the service and the sacrifice of our military. he understands the pride and the prayers of our military families because he is a part of one. you see, america deserves an outstanding vice president like mike pence. and it's up to all of us to insure that he is just that for the next four years. let me take a moment to -- >> sandra: you're watching governor scott walker from the state of wisconsin. they took a brief suspension of the live roll call vote not looking like it ordinarily does at the conventions. they're trying to give the live

nature of all the delegates stepping up to make their case. they take 60 seconds to do so for the reelection of donald trump. needed to win 1,276 delegates. he is at 1259 now. he is about to surpass that number. we're expecting to hear from vice president mike pence addressing the delegates. the president is set to arrive a short time from now and will personally address the delegates. this is that moment. usually a photogenic moment on the convention floor in typical times where you see each of the states come forward and announce how many delegates they'll give to their candidate in this case, donald trump. we're awaiting that moment to happen. they are taking a brief suspension of the roll call right now to hear from governor walker. a lot of this convention, while it is not what we typically see, it is also changing by the moment. we continue to get updated guidance on where they are

going. there is a live look at the room. social distance the delegates are. typically with the signs of the states in front of them but they are distanced and wearing masks and they are stepping up to those microphones after they are cleaned, of course, trace, in different times. but this is really something to see play out how they have managed to do this in realtime. this is live and each of those delegates taking a minute to step up and make their case for the reelection of donald trump. >> trace: it is important to note it is largely symbolic. we know president trump is the nominee of his party but it is big symbolism for the gop. this is the way they wanted to kick it off. they'll go out of order. you saw nebraska, nebraska offered its 36 delegates at stake. the next state would not be florida but florida will be next because of the bounty of delegates florida has to offer. they'll go out of alphabetical order. they will come in from florida and put the president over the

numbers big time. a bold statement from the gop saying he needed 1276 and look what he has here after florida and that's kind of part of the perception of that whole thing. you talk about the health factor of this. you are reading through the 42 pages of health guidelines they have for these 336 delegates who are in essence -- let's go and listen in. >> sandra: vice president mike pence will be taking to the stage. we got word that president trump has landed there in charlotte. he will take the stage a short time from now but first the vice president in charlotte addressing the delegates as he walks onto the stage there. he is expected to talk about american greatness as you heard from the trump campaign. hogan gidley joining us early. here is the vice president. [cheering and applause]

>> hello, charlotte. madam chairman, the republican delegates from all across america, it is a joy to be with you at the 2020 republican national convention here in north carolina. [cheering and applause] i want to thank you all for that warm welcome. but i also want to thank a great friend of mine who was a great leader in the state of wisconsin and is one of the great conservative voices in our party today. would you join me in thanking governor scott walker for those wonderful and gracious words. [applause] it's deeply humbly for me to come today. i heard there was a unanimous

vote a little bit earlier. [applause] and i'll have more to say about that at fort mchenry on wednesday night. but let me just say a moment like this in my life, i just can't help but think of those ancient words who am i and who is my family that you've brought us this far and i want to thank you for the honor of this day. [applause] [cheering and applause]

but i heard you are all down here in charlotte doing some business, the beginning of a great week for the republican national convention, but i have to be honest with you. i'm here for one reason and one reason only, and that is not just the republican party, but america needs four more years of president donald trump in the white house! [cheering and applause] [chanting four more years] ] it was four years ago that all of you gathered here made it possible for america to have a fresh start. you knew we could be strong again. you knew we could be prosperous

again, you knew we could have a president who put america first again and in 2016 you elected president donald trump to the white house. [cheering and applause] and think of all we've done. we revived this economy through cutting taxes, rolling back regulations, unleashing american energy and fighting for free and fair trade. and after years of budget cuts, this president rebuilt our military. we restored the arsenal of democracy and we're once again giving our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and space force the resources that they need to defend this nation every day. [applause] we've stood up for the rule of law and for our most cherished liberties. this president has seen with your support more than 200 men and women confirmed to our federal courts at every level

and they are all conservatives who will uphold the god given liberties enshrined in our constitution like the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech and the second amendment right to keep and bear arms. [cheering and applause] and i couldn't be more proud to be vice president to a president who stands without apology for the sanctity of human life. [cheering and applause] but today is about four more years. this week we will take our case to the american people and we certainly heard the democrats' case last week. it's remarkable to think. you understand when you listen carefully to their agenda beyond the platitudes and the

attitude, you hear an agenda that joe biden and the democratic party have been overtaken by the radical left. their agenda is higher taxes, socialized medicine, open borders, abortion on demand, and cutting funding to the men and women who serve in law enforcement at every level. we're going to take our case to the american people. it's a case of lower taxes, free market economics, secure borders, right to life, and we are going to make it clear that this president, this vice president, and this party will always stand with the men and women who serve on the thin blue line of law enforcement. we are going to back the blue. [cheering and applause]

>> i don't have to tell you here at the republican national convention the choice in the selection has never been clearer. of and the stakes have never been higher. and we will be taking our case to the american people this week but it is you and the millions of americans involved in our party in every state and territory of this nation carrying that message to the phone lines into the front door steps of the american people. it's the reason why i wanted to be here today, and it's the reason why i got a good feeling you might just see a friend of mine at the republican national convention today. because we wanted to say thank you. we wanted to say thank you for all the work