>> we'll recap the final day of the rnc. set your dvr even if you watch the show, you'll watch it back. >> sandra: we begin with a fox news alert and two big stories this morning. right now hurricane laura hammering the gulf coast as a cat 3 storm. we're on the ground in louisiana and texas as the hurricane pushes inland. the rnc entering its fourth and final day. president trump set to accept his party's nomination tonight. white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany took the stage last night. she joins us this morning to talk about that and more in moments. hurricane laura slamming into the gulf coast in the middle of the night as a category 4 storm

lashing the louisiana and texas coast with 150 mile-an-hour winds. good morning, everyone. i'm sandra smith. >> trace: good morning, everyone, i'm trace gallagher. right now laura is a category 2 hurricane winds still reaching 100 miles per hour. >> sandra: a trail of destruction. blowing off roofs and windows and snapping trees. hundreds of thousands left without power. the national hurricane center said there was an unsurvivable storm surge with waters rising up to 20 feet. governor greg abbott updates the situation in his state. >> some regions of texas still getting whipped around by heavy winds and rain and tornadoes. so many people in the northern stretching of east texas need to still be vigilant. the good news is this, that is the early reports show that we have no loss of life, which was

the primary goal. >> sandra: we have fox team coverage. janice dean is tracking the storm from the fox weather center and have jeff flock standing by in lake charles, louisiana. we begin the charles watson live in port artur texas, what did you experience last night? >> we saw a lot of heavy wind. winds of up to 90 miles per hour. it is a surprise that port arthur didn't sauce tain a lot of damage. you can see the twins bending and our hotel sounded like a sledgehammer with backing into it for hours on end. looking at this building here there was some concern whether this building that's under the construction would make it through the night. so far what we can see some of the construction materials ripped off and some portions of the roof but that seems to be the extent at this point. now, there is was a mandatory

evacuation. we heard the mayor of port arthur urging people to get out of here. governor greg abbott sending in two c-130s in a last chance effort to evacuate people from port arthur. those folks bl able to get out. there are a half million people without power and it will take a while for crews to safely restore power. folks will have to rely on the hurricane kits a little longer. right now a wait and see situation. sandra. >> sandra: charles, thank you for the update. trace. >> trace: let's bring in senior meteorologist janice dean tracking the storm for us and joins us now, janice. >> we will get a new advisory in the next hour or so. category 2 storm. strong category 4 when it made

landfall 1:00 a.m. central time. cameron, louisiana was where the center came onshore, the lowest pressure point where we indicate landfall. still a dangerous storm moving north of lake charles. a wind gust of 133 miles per hour. to feel that wind power so far inland is very impressive. this actually ties for the strongest storm to ever hit louisiana. so that's quite impressive. category 2 storm. 96 is the threshold, 96 miles per hour for a cat 2. they'll probably downgrade it in the next advisory because it doesn't have a water source anymore. wind gusts over 80 miles an hour. baton rouge. tropical storm force winds will be felt across a widespread area of the mississippi river valley even in towards the southeast. tornadoes. we have a tornado watch, new one in effect for the next

several hours for parts of louisiana including new orleans, mississippi and arkansas. i haven't seen a lot of tornadoes with this but still precautions you'll need to know if there is a watch or warning in your area. we'll see that risk throughout the afternoon into the evening as the storm moves northward it will start to accelerate quickly. we'll still be dealing with the remnants well into the weekend across portions of the mid atlantic and northeast. we could see hundreds of thousands of people without power just from some of the power lines down and the trees down as the storm continues to move northward. so let's take a look at the track. we'll get a new update in the next hour. we think it will quickly weaken to a cat 1 and then a tropical storm and extra tropical storm as we get in towards the mid atlantic and northeast. very impressive that we'll still be dealing with tropical characteristics for several days. flooding, that is going to be the biggest concern as we go through the next couple of days.

flash flood watches and warnings from cameron, louisiana, all the way toward poplar bluff and indiana. the storm pulls north and eastward. we could get in excess of 2, 4, 6 inches of rainfall in the center of the storm. gulf of mexico moisture working its way in but certainly have seen some reports of over a foot of rain. just to leave you with this, we're not really even into peak season and we have a wave that just came off the coast of africa that might get our next named storm, trace and sandra. >> trace: surprised. i was looking at the whole thing. charles watson in port arthur there. doesn't seem like a lot of damage in port arthur because it was on the clean side of the storm and came across cameron and would you anticipate seeing more damage in those areas where the storm came in and maybe just to the right of

cameron? >> certainly. it is always the northeast quad rant of the storm that gets the worst of the storm surge and rains and winds. i will mention that a lot of reporters can't even get into the areas that have been completely annihilated. i think we'll see a coastline completely changed from this storm. >> trace: janice dean, thank you for the update. >> sandra: for more on this let's bring in white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany. great to have you here this morning. we saw you late in the evening last night at the rnc. you've seen the damage that has been done so far from hurricane laura. we know it's still a dangerous storm. has the president been in contact with the governors of those two states, louisiana and texas this morning? >> yes, he has. when i was walking out here he was on the phone with governor abbott. he spoke with john bel edwards late in the evening.

the president is monitoring it closely. he is going the fema today. he has done it before and do the same as we hold texas and louisiana close to our hearts this morning. >> sandra: what's the understanding of the preparedness of fema. we are told fema is handling unprecedented emergency demands with the wildfires in california and now the hurricanes and all of it happening in the middle of a pandemic. is fema prepared? >> sandra: fema is up to the task. they're very impressive. they have handled multiple things at once before and they'll do it again today. they're ready, equipped and be there for both states as they handle hurricane laura and wildfires as well. >> sandra: we have the fema director coming up in the next block. stay tuned. the president's big night is tonight. we'll see him formally accept his party's nomination. this is the moment. what is his message? >> he will lay out a vision and

a choice for americans as to which america they want to live in. what they want their country to look like. i think most importantly what this president is going to do is lay out what he has done over the last four years. this will be a grand speech surveying what he has done for the american people. a lot of times he achieves something and you don't hear about it again like the wall. we had the media demanding to know where the wall was for two years. he achieved the wall and broke through barriers, creates a structure that protects drugs coming into the country and you don't hear about it. economic achievement. it will be a grand speech and at the end americans will walk away, know what their choice is and know a lot of things they don't often here across the broader media. >> sandra: last night was the big night for vice president mike pence. he took to the stage and decided in his moment to tear into joe biden's record calling him a trojan horse for the radical left and also tore into

the former vice president over his record on not speaking out against the violence that we're seeing happen in streets and cities across america. listen. >> last week joe biden didn't say one word about the violence and chaos engulfing cities across this country. so let me be clear, the violence must stop whether in minneapolis, portland, or kenosha. too many heroes have died defending our freedom to see americans strike each other down. >> sandra: while the biden campaign has responded as you know joe biden has now spoken out against that violence, but in a statement from biden's campaign manager they say instead of a roadmap to defeat this virus and rebuild our economy so it works for the middle class vice president pence offered up only scare

tactics and gas lateing in an attempt to further divide us. how do you respond to that? >> first we talk about covid and the economy every day at the white house with the president's briefing. it is a real travesty that it took the democrats this long to mention the violence in our street. it was ignored when they had the biggest platform it was ignored. there are little babies that have died in their beds because of gun violence. the democrats have been silent while we've taken action. when you have the media aiding and abetting democrats. cnn changing it to protests. cnn saying fiery but not violent protests. the media and democrats are aiding and abetting the violence in the street. this president said we won't let it spill into our neighborhoods like what we saw in portland. >> sandra: you took to the

stage last night as did a number of gop women. we also saw from kellyanne conway, lara trump and others. you chose your moment to share this message. listen. >> i want my daughter to grow up in president donald j. trump's america. he picks the toughest fights and tackles the most complex problems. he has stood by me and he will stand up for you. president trump will keep america safe. president trump will keep america prosperous. president trump will keep america america. >> sandra: you are being praised this morning for sharing an incredibly moving and personal message. you also talked about a phone call that you had with the president after you had your time in the hospital after your surgery. you talked about that. you heard those personal stories from kellyanne as well as lara and others as well.

why was it important for you, for these gop women, to take to the stage and share personal testimonials on the president? >> because we know who this man is. this president loves the american people. it meant the world to me as i was recovering from removing my breast tissue this president who i only met once or twice took the time to call me and out of nowhere before he came down to the oval office yesterday called me and said share the story powerfully and emotionally. i want women to know that they're cared for and protected and your story will give them hope. that's who this president is. the same way he cared about me he cares about the american people. i see it in the oval office every day and see the phone calls he makes and letters he writes to children and their parents who have died in the streets and victims of violence. i know who this man is. those other women who spoke last night know what this man is and we'll share it with the many a can people who think will validate that in november. >> sandra: the president's big moment tonight. the fourth day of the rnc.

the theme today is land of greatness. great to have you here this morning. thank you so much. >> trace: hurricane laura hitting texas and louisiana overnight as the storm now moves inland and fema teams are in place to help out. we'll talk to fema administrator peter gainor about the agency's response to the hurricane plus more protests in kenosha, wisconsin, after two people are killed in a deadly shooting the night before. what we're learning about the suspect who is now charged with homicide. >> we lost two great people. i hate that he is gone. that young man stood in front of me and guarded me from tear gas and everything. i don't like it. if your dry eye symptoms keep coming back, inflammation in your eye might be to blame. looks like a great day for achy, burning eyes

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the eye of the storm roaring through lake charles with 150 mile-an-hour winds. jeff flock is live in lake charles. what are you seeing right now? >> it was a bad one, trace. you can tell it was a bad one. this was an auto zone here. the damage is everywhere, businesses, homes, schools, maybe you see the roof came off this thing. i'm fascinated as you are by hurricanes having been in a number of them. the roof of this auto zone comes flying off into the backyard of this home over there. just incredible. 150 mile-an-hour winds and tomas, come here quickly if you can. it's everywhere. there is nothing almost that's not damaged in some way. roofs off of homes, businesses just up and down here between here and cameron small beach town louisiana right on the gulf. that's where it came ashore and then all the way up here

through lake charles and then as you know it is still going. leave you with a picture of the residentialall areas here. almost every house either roof damage, trees down, wide swath. cat 4 storm, that's a real one, trace. >> trace: it is amazing, jeff. you look at the pictures there in where you are in lake charles and look at port arthur where charles watson is almost no damage. 50 miles away and wow, what a difference. jeff flock live for us in lake charles. thank you for the lookaround, we appreciate it. >> sandra: let's bring in pete gainor, fema administrator. what can you tell us as the update and the federal response to the storm we've seen so far? >> the sun is just coming up in louisiana and texas and we will start doing damage assessments. we do this together with our local and state partners, locally executed, state managed and federally supported. we'll get out there this morning. take us a little bit to see the

extent of the damage so we expect to see wind damage to structures and buildings. i think we are fortunate less surge than we thought, which is a good thing. we still have to get out and put our eyes on it to get a full assessment of what the damage looks like this morning. >> sandra: do you feel at this point that you have the resources you need to respond to the damage? >> we do. and we've been staged for many days now. so whether it's texas, louisiana, mississippi, arkansas, we have not only fema resources but our great supporters, great partners like dod, national guard, american red cross and many others coast guard out there ready to do what they do best, save lives, minimize the suffering and then again start that recovery soon we can. >> sandra: i ask you that in the context of a pandemic. that has changed a lot of the way that you've had to respond to this hurricane and this could happen again. so what have been the challenges as far as evacuating

people, using shelters in some cases in texas. we talked to governor abbott putting people into hotels. how has this posed additional challenges? >> so even in a non-covid hurricane there are many challenges. and then covid response just adds a level of difficulty to that. we've been working on this for a while now and we put out guidance specifically for this scenario back in may and reviewing it with local, states and tribes and territories to make sure they adapt their plans, hurricane plans to these kind of situations. so just to pick out a couple of things, you know, transportation will take more time to transport people because you need more space and vehicles. you need more shelter space because you don't want to pack people into gyms. we have allowed states to use hotel. put people into hotel rooms and that's what locals and states

are doing today. >> sandra: we just spoke to the white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany who confirmed the president has been in touch with the governors of the states affected this morning. what has your communication been with president trump in response to the storm? >> i just got off the phone with the chief of staff to give them an update. i've been in contact with the entire team for days now making sure that we're ready to go. i briefed the president two days ago in the oval office and again we'll continue to give them updates as we get more information. so for me it's normal business with the president and his support team. again, updates as we get them we provide that to the president and the team. >> sandra: pete, we'll let you get back to work. a lot of work to do. appreciate you giving us an update this morning. thank you. >> thanks. have a good day. >> trace: mike pence formally accepting the nomination for vp. we'll talk to karl rove next

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accepting his party's presidential nomination. his acceptance speech will be at the white house. >> trace: weekly jobless numbers. just one million americans filed for claims. families across the u.s. are still hurting from the fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic. >> who do you trust to rebuild this economy? a career politician who presided over the lowest economic recovery since the great depression? or a proven leader who created the greatest economy in the world. the choice is clear. >> sandra: that was mike pence accepting the republican nomination for vice president last night speaking from baltimore's fort mchenry. the vp promoting the trump -- former deputy chief of staff karl rove is here. give us your take on last night first. >> i thought it was a very

effective speech. there is always a limitation to the number two on the ticket giving a speech. we typically pay more attention to the number one than the number two. happened at the democratic convention. kamala harris's speech was so so. this one was effective gave a defense on coronavirus virus by the administration and went after biden and contrasted the views of the trump-pence administration with biden's views on law and order and also on the economy and china. i thought it was a very effective speech. >> sandra: here we go into night four, the final night of the rnc. the president is set to deliver his big speech from the white house. all of this looking and sounding and feeling a whole lot different than any other presidential convention year. so how would you characterize it so far? >> well, you're right. it is different. both conventions are tremendously different than

what we've been used to in large part because they're all virtual. even if you have a crowd at fort mchenry or you have a crowd in the rose garden, it is not the same as a convention. one of the things that drew us to the conventions was not simply just the speeches, but all the backstage drama. remember 2016 we were doing cutaways and interviewing delegates from states. bernie people from vermont angry at hillary clinton and we were to hillary clinton people. this is the part and parcel of our conventions is the internal gossip. fights over the platform. disagreements about the direction of the ticket. interesting people who pop up as delegates. they all drew our attention. viewership has been larger in the past. my suspicion is part of the reason the viewership is down this year even though voters are more enthusiastic of voting and attention to the election are higher than they have been. one of it is, it's routine,

it's been devoid of drama. we don't get the gossip and all the back and forth that happens when you put 50,000 people into the city of milwaukee for the democratic national convention or 50,000 people in the city of charlotte for the republican convention. >> sandra: when you watched the dnc last week you saw a lot of talk about the president's covid response and they detailed what they see as a failed response to the coronavirus pandemic. you take this all on in a new piece in the "wall street journal" titled the left covid memory hole. you start off by writing this. last week's democratic convention said -- the president bungled the pandemic and mr. biden would have handled it better. whatever you think of the first three, the last is a fabrication. why did you feel necessary to write this piece? >> i thought it was rewriting history so i went back and looked. what was joe biden saying in

january, february, and march up to the moment that we've shut down the country. it is amazing to me. remember, he not only opposes the ban on travelers from china but he also opposes the ban on travelers from europe saying this doesn't matter, the disease isn't going to respect borders. this won't help. his advisors, the people like zeke emmanuel on his advisory committee. zeke on the day we had our first death from coronavirus in the united states says on television don't go out and run out and get a mask it's not going to help. continually others who were advising biden during this period of january, february through mid-march are saying it won't be a major -- the likelihood of a major pandemic is small. as it warms up it will go to

the southern hemisphere. the odds of this being a significant incident are small. even biden himself who writes on january 27th an op-ed in the usa today that says we have to prepare for this do you know what he proposes? he proposes passing three laws in 2021. he says when i'm inaugurated we'll do this and do this and that and then this year, the only thing he says they need to do now is they need to reauthorize a bill that provides support for hospitals who are treating pandemic patients and that routinely gets reauthorized. so he didn't have any idea what was coming on and doesn't talk about masks or social distancing, doesn't talk about lockdowns at all during this period of time. he didn't know what was coming, either. >> sandra: you point out in your piece the "washington post" responded to joe biden's initial statements that op-ed on the pandemic the "washington post" described it as more of an attack on president trump

than a detailed plan of action. the piece is in the "wall street journal" this morning. karl rove, great to chat with you this morning. >> thank you. >> trace: hurricane laura battering the gulf coast overnight and into this morning. the storm made landfall with surge and winds up to 50 miles per hour. casey stiegel is live in galveston, texas. >> now that the sun is up we're starting to get a better sense of the damage done already. although right here on the island of galveston it was largely spared. the sun is shining and evacuation orders have been lifted. no flooding to speak of and also the houston metro area. to the east it's a much different story. it's lake charles louisiana and cameron, louisiana which took a direct hit. those powerful winds and heavy lanes lashed the coast after

1:00 a.m. central time when laura made landfall. downtown lake charles extensive damage done to the civic center and the capital one tower. one of the tallest buildings downtown. right now we understand that boats and other equipment being launched to begin search, rescue and possible recovery. >> the national guard has approximately 222 high water vehicles and 65 boats manned and staged in southern louisiana being able to provide search and rescue support as needed and they have 19 aircraft prepared to support hurricane laura search and rescue. >> remember, the entire louisiana national guard was activated. more than 3,000 troops. we're also getting reports this morning the golden nugget hotel and casino in lake charles sustained damage. part of the roof ripping off

and peeling away. right now energy companies across the whole region reporting almost 445,000 people without power. a number that is growing. the bulk of those in louisiana. >> trace: going to be a long few days. casey, thank you. >> sandra: the nba postponing three playoff games after the milwaukee bucks refused the play yesterday. the boycott in response to the police shooting of jacob blake in kenosha, wisconsin. >> despite the overwhelming plea for change there has been no action. our focus today cannot be on basketball. when we represent milwaukee and wisconsin we are expected the play at a high level. give maximum effort and hold each other accountable. in this moment we're demanding the same from lawmakers and law enforcement. >> sandra: the bucks opponent the orlando magic did take the court and players returned to their locker room before tip-off. support is pouring in from

around the league. lebron james saying we demand change. other leagues followed suit. the wnba and mlb postponed games and soccer games were also postponed. >> trace: joe biden says burning down communities is not protests. the latest on hurricane laura and where she is headed next. more fox live team coverage from the gulf coast coming up. ♪ ♪ [ engines revving ] ♪ ♪

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needless violence. violence that shutters businesses that serve the community. that's wrong. let's unite and heal. do justice, end the violence, and end systemic racism in this country now. >> trace: joe biden commenting on the unrest in kenosha, wisconsin. until now the former vice president has been relatively silent on the riots and looting across the country. a complete contrast to president trump. joining us now robert wolf, ceo of 32 advisors and former economic advisor to president obama and fox news contributor. good to see you. joe biden as you noted right there is talking about the violence finally or as the "new york post" corporate cousin put on the front page they call it the war zone in wisconsin. and the columnist for the post michael goodwin goes on to write that it's too late for biden quoting here, dems made what i believe to be a historic error in failing to say a single word, a single word about the national urban crisis during their convention last

week. they said nothing about the violence and the tent cities of homeless popping up everywhere yet embrace the black lives matter movement frequently criticize the police and romance protestors as a new wave of selfless heroes. your thoughts on that, robert? >> i don't know michael goodwin. i can't say i've read him before. i saw the piece today that you guys sent me. it's garbage because joe biden has made comments at the democratic party during the george floyd situation that destruction of violence, shuttering communities and businesses as you mentioned is not how we should be protesting. it is important to be peaceful but demonstrate our rights. one it's not accurate. two, the democratic convention was about their platform. and just like the republican convention didn't mention anyone who was murdered by police, i think that they had a platform, the democrats and republicans didn't have a

platform. a very different type of convention. >> trace: they did have a platform and stuck to it. you have democrats and liberal media outlets saying the violence needs to stop and needs to be talked about but not framing as it needs to stop because of the destruction and the death that is being caused. they are framing it in a way saying now, robert, it is showing up in the polls and the concern is that it will affect the biden campaign and he needs to start talking about it. some critics say well, if you do that, you come across as being reactionary to every poll that comes down the line. >> trace, once again i would respectfully disagree because joe biden has been very clear. he is not for defunding the police. he is for giving police more money to handle these type of situations without the violence and without the communities being destructed. number two, we've been talking about it all along. we just may not be talking

about it how this president is talking about it and we may not agree with sending national guard into peaceful protests. but we're also equally glad that he is working with wisconsin governor on this type of situation. so we have to find the right balance. it is not an either/or. >> trace: our reporter on the ground in delaware moving on says there are no plans for joe biden to go out and have any meet and greets today or this week for that matter. some democrats are pushing back on that. we have a democratic strategist saying has anyone heard anything from biden this week? are we just going to let them say whatever, speaking about republicans, and go unanswered? i don't mean on twitter. then you have another democratic fundraiser saying they've gone silent. they've gone silent. amazing week last week but this week nothing. i don't understand why we have to cede ground to trump.

he needs to get out and looks like he is campaigning. >> that's an interesting way. president trump trolled the dnc convention with, you know, daily different routines. this -- vice president biden decides he doesn't need to troll the rnc. sunday night he was on national tv with abc, he gave a great interview. from an advertisement perspective i think we've outspent the republican party 2 for 1 in the month of august. our messaging is out. there is a different way we look at it versus the republican party and we'll have to see what happens in the next 70 days. i do agree that -- sorry. >> trace: that joe biden needs to get out of the basement? it has been months. i have to go, robert. we're talking about months where joe biden has really not been out there and now democrats are saying you know, it's time.

>> i would definitely disagree on how we think the reopening should happen and how we should handle covid. he hasn't just been in his basement. at the convention he wasn't in his basement, you know that. >> trace: robert wolf. good to see you. >> sandra: hurricane laura plowing through the gulf coast overnight leaving hundreds of thousands there without power and stranded from their homes. we'll ask a texas emergency operations chief how his area was hit by that storm. how they are responding this morning next. >> it is pretty bad, man. i'm glad we got out of there. guys! guys! safe drivers save 40%!!! safe drivers save 40%! safe drivers save 40%!!! that's safe drivers save 40%. it is, that's safe drivers save 40%. - he's right there. - it's him! safe drivers do save 40%. click or call for a quote today. in a highly capable lexus suv. at the golden opportunity sales event. gets zero percent financing

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>> trace: destructive winds and heavy rain from hurricane laura slamming texas.

thousands are without power and flooding a major issue. what's the scene like this morning? let's bring the county judge and emergency operations chief in orange county, texas. judge, we've seen some of the pictures around your area. it's bad but not as bad as a lot of people expected. tens of thousands in orange county and hundreds of thousands across the state without power. what's the status of getting people up and running? >> well, the first light this morning we sent out our crews to go out and do damage assessment and so that we can track where there are number one, homes with damage, roadways blocked and also electrical damage. our local energy company here, they had people on stand by ready to go and have crews out this morning. we're making those reports and citizens are a making reports. they're getting the lines fixed as soon as possible to get people back with electricity so that when they come home they have power. >> trace: a lot of people in

southeastern texas were told if you decide to stay behind you are on your own. rescue crews can't get out there from 7:00 last night until about 9:00 this morning. i want to play a couple of sound bites of people who decided to stay in their homes and then get your response. >> i'm going to stick around. i live back here on the strand and seeing the projection of where it is headed i'm not too much wore eefd about it. >> got my house boarded up and everything is boarded up. other than that i think i'll be all right hopefully. i'm praying i'll be all right. >> trace: any word of anybody in distress? have you sent teams out or is it too early? >> we've had no calls for that. >> trace: good. >> we were expecting a much different storm. it is amazing what 10, 15 miles difference it made in that storm going east of us especially when it came to storm surge. we were spared that. that was one of our biggest

concerns on the coast. but we've had some serious issues with that in the past but we were spared that so we were focusing primarily on what we knew would be tree and roof and home damage and as they're assessing that now. we definitely dodged a bullet with this and glad for it. we hate it for our neighbors to the east of us. we know they took the brunt of it and we'll do all we can to help with some resources that direction as soon as we get our area cleared. >> trace: amazing what just a few miles can do in a hurricane. back in 2005 hurricane rita, judge, the evacuation process was a disaster. you had hundreds of people who died in that. how did it go this time? i know interstate 10 was shut down for flooding and you had the pandemic to deal with. how was the evacuation process? >> our process, we -- there are six local counties we work together and have been doing that on several events now. i think by coordinating that

way and coordinating evacuation efforts with a staged effort we're controlling it better. harris county, houston area, when they don't evacuate, four million people at the same time we are that restricts us when they evacuate that we have to go north and south. if they're not evacuating we get to go east and west as well. people were able to move around freely. we didn't have any of the traffic issues we saw during the hurricane rita. we didn't have any of that. >> trace: thank you for your time. >> sandra: good stuff. hurricane laura slamming louisiana and texas. the storm downgraded to a cat 2. forecasters warning it is still dangerous.

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>> sandra: we're watching two big stories, hurricane laura making landfall. category 4 storm overnight slamming the gulf coast for hours with winds, rain and threatening storm surge. it has weakened to a category 2 but packing a serious bunch. the republican national convention wrapping tonight. president trump set to deliver his acceptance speech from the white house. we'll speak to ronna mcdaniel, rnc chairwoman, in just moments. hurricane laura roaring ashore oversouthwestern louisiana near

the texas border. that was the scene overnight as laura slammed into the gulf coast as a category 4 hurricane. the sustained winds of 150 miles an hour becoming one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the region. welcome to a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom," busy morning here. i'm sandra smith. >> trace: good morning to you. i'm trace gallagher. the massive storm now a cat 2 but still extremely dangerous as it moves deeper inland bringing ferocious wind, torrential rain and life threatening storm surge along with widespread power failures. president trump approving federal aid on sunday allowing fema to get a jump on relief efforts. we got an update earlier on "america's newsroom." >> we expect to see wind damage to structures and buildings, less surge than we thought

which is a good thing. we have to put our eyes on it to get a full assessment of what the damage looks like this morning. >> trace: janice dean is moving the fast-moving storm going north and then turning east. we begin with jonathan serrie live in lafayette, louisiana, 45 miles from the coast. jonathan. >> and even far inland the storm is causing a flood risk. right now i'm standing on the banks of the vermillion river which is swollen from all the rainfall that we experienced overnight and more of it this morning. also we're getting some sad news confirmed by the governor and emergency managers, the first storm-related fatality from laura out of vernon parish, a 14-year-old girl who died after a tree fell on her home. if there is any good news in all this, the governor says that the storm surge so far has been about half of what was projected on the coast. nevertheless, he warns that the

threat is not yet over. overnight a motorist shot video in vinton, a small town along interstate 10 directly north of cameron parish, a community of 6500 people where hurricane laura made landfall around 1:00 a.m. central time with maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour. cameron parish authorities who relocated to surrounding communities for safety reasons estimate that about 150 residents chose to stay behind ignoring mandatory evacuation orders. as the center of the storm passed lake charles 30 miles inland the airport recorded a sustained wind of 98 miles per hour and gusts up to 132 miles per hour. louisiana state police have received numerous reports of roof damage in the area, trees down, damaging winds are expected to extend as far north as shreve port where local

officials are urging people to stay indoors. >> if you decided to see if you can do donuts in the middle of the road because there is a rot of water that's stupid. we don't want to respond to that. we won't be in a good mood when we get there. >> for the first time since hurricane isaac in 2012 the governor activated the entire louisiana national guard to help with clearing roads and search and rescue operations. overnight more than 350,000 customers lost power throughout the state of louisiana. trace, back to you. >> trace: jonathan serrie live in lafayette, louisiana. thank you. >> sandra: let's bring in major general dianne holland from the army corps of engineers. general, good morning. thank you for being here. you had a chance to assess the damage from this storm so far. what can you tell us? >> good morning, sandra. thanks for having me on your program. we haven't had the opportunity

yet to assess. of course, the storm is still passing over but we do expect a lot of work ahead of us. right now i'm standing in new orleans, a couple hundred miles from where the eye of the storm passed over and you can see the strong winds that we're experiencing here. but we expect that tomorrow -- later today and early tomorrow we'll be able to get out to southwestern louisiana and begin our assessments and begin our response. >> sandra: what kind of emergency response do you believe will be needed at this point? >> well, i represent the corps of engineers and so we'll support the state of louisiana and fema as they determine. so there are a couple of things we'll do automatically. there were a couple of navigation and shipping channels that were shut down out of -- for the safety of people and our shipping industry. as soon as we can get out there we'll begin the surveys and then any dredging operations in

order to reopen those channels. additionally we do expect that we will support with temporary power mission as the public utilities get in there and repair whatever damage has been done. and then finally, we could have a temporary roofing mission. it all depends on what the assessment brings and what support the state of louisiana requires. but if i could just real quick comment on effective response is -- we're more effective in our response when we have great partnerships and i'm just really happy to report that the partnership with the state of louisiana, the governor has been a wonderful partner in including us in all of his meetings, in all of his updates in the last week to 10 days and that has allowed the corps of engineers to be best pot toured to respond. we also have that relationship with fema and so we all stand ready and postured to get in there and help the people of louisiana as soon as possible. >> sandra: that's great to hear

the coordination effort is huge when it comes to these storms. we spoke to the white house a bit earlier. the president has been in communication with fema, with the governors. he has a meeting at fema headquarters later this afternoon. i'm sure you'll continue to get updates and eventually be able to assess the damage and the overall situation, general. a lot of these storms are managing expectations. when you see what has happened on the ground there in port arthur as we show on our screen right now, in galveston and lake charles, lafayette, other places. you are standing in new orleans, understood. how has this storm -- how is this storm as far as expectations were concerned? is it not as bad, worse, or in line with expectations? >> so that's a great question, sandra. i think you are absolutely right, it is hard to tell until we can get in there and see. one of the positive -- a couple of positive things that have occurred. first of all, marco -- you

remember tropical storm marco, that was not as bad as had originally been projected. louisiana was expecting a double punch this week from two tropical storm. marco wasn't as bad as expected. we're heartened to see the storm surge was not quite as bad as the worst case scenario. i think as high as 11 or 12 feet in vermillion and cameron parishes. so that's positive news. but there is no doubt that there is going to be flooding and we know there is going to be wind damage. it just remains to be seen. i would liken this to my experience in the response to hurricane michael in the panhandle in 2018. similar wind speeds and the endurance. as michael passed through the panhandle and entered the state of georgia at a category 3, that was something that had not been seen in history. similarly, hurricane laura has

just gone from a category 2. it is starting to dip down to a category 1 even after all these hours. so inland is experiencing a lot of impact from a hurricane that normally doesn't happen. so we're going to be looking at a broad swath of the region as far as damages go and we'll just have to be very flexible in our response. >> sandra: as you've been speaking we're showing live pictures from lake charles, louisiana, some of the damage and destruction there. downed power lines. so many are already without power. and we just hope for the best case scenario as you and your teams get out to assess the overall damage from this storm. general, thank you for your time. you have a huge job to do. thank you for what you're doing. >> thank you so much for having me on your program. >> trace: the general broke the news. you can see at the bottom of the screen. hurricane laura is category 1, 85 miles per hour winds.

millions of people still in the path of the hurricane as it makes its way inland. janice dean tracking the storm for us in the extreme weather center. janice. >> more population now being affected as the storm made its way inland, cameron, louisiana has a population of 400 people. from what i hear everyone did evacuate. so there wasn't a big population where the storm came ashore. now we're getting into heavily populated areas with a cat 1 hurricane, it will cause quite a bit of damage. we were talking about rita 15 years ago. a similar season, very active and a very similar path. the only difference rita was a cat 3 and laura was a cat 4, 150 mile-per-hour sustained winds. it is down to a category 1 storm. it will move north and accelerate as it gets to the mid atlantic and we'll get a piece of her in the northeast this weekend. we had landfall overnight 1:00

a.m. 150 mile-per-hour sustained winds. one of the strongest storms we've ever seen hitting the gulf coast. lake charles 134 miles per hour 30 miles inland is very impressive. alexandria 86 miles per hour. 95, 100 mile-per-hour winds gets across central louisiana. still packing a punch here. alexandria still reporting hurricane-force winds for hours now and you can see the core of the strongest winds. some of the outer bands stretching across portions of mississippi in towards alabama and then we have the threat for tornadoes as we go throughout the day today. a new tornado watch has been posted for parts of louisiana and mississippi up towards arkansas. arkansas, you are going to get quite a punch as well this afternoon with not only the heavy winds but we'll see potentially 5 to 10 inches of rainfall. there is your tornado threat through tonight. typically see the tornado threat right at the center of the storm.

it will move northward and the mississippi, tennessee, ohio valley, mid atlantic and northeast are also going to feel the impacts of this storm. so still a category 1 hurricane. drops to a tropical storm, then a depression and extra tropical low. we still could have wind gusts in excess of 20, 30, 40 miles per hour as he moves closer to the east coast. the flooding threat is the number one killer when it comes to these land falling hurricanes. it's the water. you have to be sure you are on higher ground when the floodwaters come in and know what to do if there is a watch or warning. 4 to 6 inches present sip in addition to that they've already seen and totals getting close to a foot of rainfall and just to let you know and make sure you are not off your guard here but we have the potential for more hurricanes in the next couple of weeks we haven't even reached peak season. this is very reminiscent of 15

years ago, the year of katrina and rita. we'll continue to monitor it for you. >> trace: rita happened one month after katrina. it cast a cat 5. a total different scenario trying to deal with rita after katrina. thank you so much. >> sandra: shifting now to our big story this morning. vice president mike pence taking center stage at the republican national convention last night. focusing on law and order. will his message resonate? plus women making the case for president trump with powerful personal stories. will this help close the gender gap in the polls? rnc chair ronna mcdaniel is our guest and join us live next. an emotional show of support for the president from kayleigh mcenany. >> during one of my most difficult times, i expected to have the support of my family. but i had more support than i knew. it was president trump calling

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>> let me be clear, the

violence must stop, whether in minneapolis, portland, or kenosha, we will always stand with those who stand on the thin blue line and we're not going to defund the police, not now, not ever. >> trace: vice president mike pence saying the trump administration will always have the back of those who keep us safe. the biden campaign responding saying quote instead of a roadmap to defeat this virus and rebuild our economy so that it works for the middle class, vice president pence only offered off debunked scare tactics and gas lighting in an attempt to further divide us. kristin fisher live at the white house as we await the president's acceptance speech tonight. kristin. >> trace, we just learned that president trump is going to be going to fema's headquarters later today for an update on the hurricane but the storm is not going to stop the final night of the republican national convention nor will it stop president trump from delivering his acceptance speech tonight on the south lawn of the white house.

just a few moments ago we got a preview of what he will say >> he is going to be laying out a vision and a real choice for americans as to which america they want to live in. what they want their country to look like. i think most importantly, what this president is going to do is lay out what he has done over the last four years. this will be a grand speech surveying what he has done for the american people. >> in addition to spelling out what he has done, the president also needs to lay out what he will do in a second term. last night vice president mike pence went all in on seizing the law and order mantel saying the violence must stop. >> the hard truth is you won't be safe in joe biden's america. under president trump, we will

always stand with those who stand on the thin blue line and we're not going to defund the police not now, not ever. [applause] >> just hours before president trump is set to step up to the big stage a group of bush 43 alumni released a letter this morning saying we must step out, get out of our comfort zone and vote for joe biden. it is time for us to have initiative in our communities and networks to stand up for character, integrity, decency and leadership. that's quite the split screen heading into tonight. trace, i have to tell you i was out on the south lawn. it is quite a production out there. they've really pulled together a pretty impressive stage in just a few short days, trace. >> trace: big final night. kristin fisher, thank you. >> sandra: many polls may show president trump lagging with women voters but last night several republican women made the case for him and for

another four years. sharing personal stories about how the president either helped them at work or showed kindness when it really counted. one of the most emotional moments came from white house press secretary. >> as i came out of anesthesia, one of the first calls i received was from ivanka trump. as i recovered my phone rang again, it was president trump calling to check on me. i was blown away. here was the leader of the free world caring about my circumstance. >> sandra: joining us now is rnc chair ronna mcdaniel. she joined us earlier. a powerful message. you couldn't help stop, pause, watch, take it in and see how much her interaction with the president meant to her. she chose to share that along with other republican women on the stage last night, personal

testimonials on the president. why was it important for your party to make this case? >> well, i think as many of the women who work with the president day in and day out -- i'm one of them -- we really want to show the american people the president trump we see. i was saying the other day i've been in many rooms with president trump where the men are clamoring to get attention and speaking over each other and he will say ronna, what do you think? and to me that is what women's equality is about. i'm not a prop as an rnc chair. i'm a valued member of the team as is kayleigh mcenany, as is lara trump and kellyanne conway, the first woman to run a successful presidential campaign. conservative women aren't given their fair due but president trump values women and he put us there because we were the best people for the job, not because we're women. >> sandra: i'll put up the

latest fox news polling on the gender gap and ask you if part of your strategy to narrow that gap by delivering those messages. joe biden leads in the latest poll your choice of president if voting today, female voters, 51% go joe biden to 39% donald trump. do you think those messages will help your party narrow that gap? >> i do. and i know it personally when i talk to my girlfriends and i talk about the respect i've received from president trump. i've been here almost four years as rnc chair. only the second woman in history and he tapped me to take on this role. that speaks volumes about how much he values women and our voice in this administration. i don't think those stories get told enough. the other thing is president trump is talking about law and order. as we're seeing what is happening in kenosha and democrat leaders standing down as violence is spreading across our country and being silent,

president trump is standing up and saying yes, peaceful protests are okay but when they go into rioting, looting and destroying communities, we cannot have that. that really resonates with suburban women like myself. >> sandra: many are making the case it's why joe biden now is speaking out about that. you mentioned kellyanne conway. she made her case last night. listen. >> for decades he has elevated women to senior positions in business and in government. he confides in us and respects our opinions and insists we're on equal footing with the men. president trump helped me shatter a barrier in the world of politics by empowering me to manage his campaign to its successful conclusion. >> sandra: you hear these very powerful messages by strong women in your party and you wonder why is the president having a hard time making this case to other women when you see that poll?

what are the president's biggest challenges with the female voters? >> i do think it's incredibly helpful to have this convention and allow these narratives to get out in first person from the people who have lived it. kellyanne, i loved her line last night. he picked me out from plain sight. she has been in washington for years and never been given that opportunity. i don't think there is many men in our party who would have picked me to run the republican national committee. so having this rnc convention, having these narratives out. but then we'll continue that as we knock doors across the country and share these stories. >> sandra: what is the challenge, though? why are you seeing that gap? you know the female vote will be crucial in this election in november. why is he struggling with the female vote? >> i think female vote is dialing in right now. i think as they hear him talk about getting back to school, school choice, economy. we're the whole voter. you will start seeing them come more and more our way. my hope is president trump is put over the top by women in

november. >> sandra: all right. ronna mcdaniel. we'll see more of you as the days go on. appreciate it. thank you. >> trace: national guard troops helping to keep the piece last night in kenosha. an arrest on the tuesday night protests. the severity of damage across louisiana from hurricane laura. senator john kennedy joins us as rescue and relief efforts get underway.

>> trace: widespread devastation across louisiana this morning. the governor activating the entire louisiana national guard to assist with search and rescue and the danger continues. what are you seeing there in texas? >> good morning. we're the first crew to have made it here to holly beach where the hurricane made landfall. the storm surge coming up here but the good news is that many of the houses on stilts have survived the storm surge. those stilts are 15 feet up. we see downed power lines, debris everywhere. turned over trailer on one side. we have not seen anyone come out of their homes, which we think is good news.

people may have left when they were told to leave. a coast guard helicopter flew just about 15 minutes ago right over this area looking for people or just kind of surveying the damage. these are the first live pictures out of holly beach as we make our way deeper into cameron parrish where hurricane laura made landfall overnight. the damage here substantial but the homes are still up on their stilts and downed power lines, very little signal, and we'll bring you more as we make our way through, trace. >> trace: we'll get back to you. you are live on the ground in holly beach, louisiana. >> sandra: let's bring in louisiana senator john kennedy. good morning to you. thank you for being here. so tough to look at some of these pictures coming out of your state. some hard hit areas as the storm moves north now. >> well, sandra, you know louisiana. i'm not going to bubble wrap it. we took it full in the face.

we still are. this is a huge storm. katrina was 400 miles wide th. is 500 miles wide. it is heading north. we had one death. i hope that's all we have. we have search and rescue out. the surge wasn't as bad as we thought but the wind was as reported. based on past experience we'll have billions of dollars of damage. the toughest part is yet to come. you know, when the adrenaline stops and the cameras go away and you get a little rest, you kind of get up and just look at it and go man, you know, how do we rebuild here? and you just do it by getting up in the morning and putting one foot down and taking another step.

failure is not getting knocked down, failure is not standing back up and we'll stand back up. louisianaians are tough as a pine knot and we'll be back. >> sandra: they're proud people. we're showing pictures now of some of these gas stations. some of them completely wiped out. some suffering a lot of damage and some of the residents there standing holding an american flag. we know how tough the residents of your state are. you reference the one death. a 14-year-old girl a tree fell on her family home and killed her. the governor just making that announcement a short time ago. we spoke to the army corps of engineers at the top of this hour, they are in new orleans. we talked to the major general. she had not -- they have not had a chance to fully assess the damage yet but they will in the coming hours and days. we talked to the fema director at the top of the 9:00 eastern time hour. he believes that they have all

the resources to effectively respond to the damage that we've seen so far. the president is going to be meeting at fema headquarters later today. what do you need to see as a response to what you have seen so far in the state of louisiana, senator? >> we've received everything we need so far, sandra. the white house has been great. i talked to a number of cabinet officials yesterday. the storm still hasn't left louisiana. it has just moved inland. and it is going to head up to arkansas. we'll need some assistance rebuilding. i know that. it will be a while before we can assess the damage. my biggest worry right now is loss of life. we have a lot of search and rescue missions going on. i do want to thank the american people for their concern and

for all the emails and texts and tweets and, you know, and thoughts and prayers. i know some people make fun of us praying. >> sandra: while you're speaking we're showing live pictures of lake charles and gives us a sense of how hard hit it is there. the governor saying wind was the biggest factor with this particular hurricane. water damage versus wind damage. we're looking at a strip mall and we saw a church a second ago. windows blown off, roofs off. a lot of destruction there, senator. i don't think you can see it at the same time but these are live pictures that are just coming into us now. >> you've seen this kind of damage. you spent time in louisiana. it looks like you've been bombed. i haven't been over yet. i live in the southeast part of the state. i'm headed over probably sometimes today. it looks like you've been

bombed and people are in shock. and -- but your first concern can't be property, it has to be life. this thing is still inland. it is not over yet. it is in central louisiana headed north and it will hit arkansas. so safety is still our major concern, you know. most important things in life aren't things, they're people. >> sandra: senator, having lived through these storms, you and i both, you know that there are people who decide to ride them out. they decide to stay in their homes and don't seek shelter or move north. what can you tell us about the percentage of residents that did and were able to evacuate the area before the storm hit? >> i think we got most people out. i talked to the governor yesterday morning. we had buses for those who couldn't drive. we put people up in hotel rooms. there were some people who

stayed in holly beach. i don't know how many. i talked to the sheriff down there. he was going door-to-door and begging people to leave. i think some people stayed. i hope they're okay. but look, it's -- i know the instinct is always to stay and protect your property but the best thing to do is when one of these things come is just run like hell. i've been through them too many times. i hope most of our people ran like hell. but i know some stayed behind and why we have search and rescue going on right now. >> sandra: we'll continue to get an update on that situation on the ground. just getting an idea how hard hit lake charles is. as you mentioned the storm continues to move north. senator, thank you. our best to the people in your state. >> trace: picking up what the senator was just saying hurricane laura traveling inland after battering the gulf coast overnight. we'll speak to a member of the cajun navy on the group's response to the storm straight

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"politico" quotes, the worry is that especially among suburban swing voters the more upheaval and violence they witness the more there is sympathy for peaceful black live matters protestors will wane. it frightens a few people when it shows up in the poll. >> in june there was a lot of sympathy for the peaceful protestors. the video of george floyd was horrifying. but after the protests themselves had died down you still had a number of cities, chicago, portland, seattle, that were seeing violence, destruction. it felt totally disconnected from the original goals of those protests and you saw numbers in key swing states like wisconsin begin to fade for the black lives movement overall. it went from being viewed quite favorably to less favorably. i think there is real concern among democrats this time around that a resurgence of violent protests may, in fact,

no longer -- this may cause the movement itself to be too connected to what is not viewed very popularly not just by republicans but also by voters in the center. >> trace: we talk about battleground states around the country. wisconsin is a key swing state. you think back 2016 president trump won wisconsin by 23,000 votes. it is a key state, right? people say wisconsin really helped put him in the white house. former long time mayor of madison, wisconsin, paul sogland says there is a significant number of undecided voters who are not ideological and can moviesly from republican to democrats and back again. they are in effect the people who decide elections and they are very distraught about both the horrendous carnage created by police officers in mur dearing african-americans and the safety of their communities.

they're upset by the george floyd incident but the carnage and violence has to come to an end. >> what makes this current moment a little bit different than what we saw back in june. kenosha, wisconsin is not a big city like chicago or new york. suburban voters back during the summer may have turned on the tv and seend images that were distressing and disturbing but seemed like perhaps they were happening in a community far away. it could not come to a community like theirs. when you see the videos of protestors in a small suburban city that may be hitting people a little bit differently than the protests they saw in the big cities this summer. >> trace: you have some critics say it's about time joe biden came out and addressed the violence. some democrats saying this was the precise time for him to do that and he nailed it. steve benjamin the mayor of columbia, south carolina. thank you, vice president joe

biden for a heart felt challenge that america is facing as we try to reimagine safer communities where justice is real for all. only together can we turn the pain and passion into real progress. one of the few, a lot of democrats said joe biden, a lot of people in liberal media said joe biden needs to start talking about the violence. now that he is talking about it some say it's the right time. >> his statement was good. it is an important time for him to be saying it. and frankly, i think the reason why it's so important is you are likely to hear republicans hit this message during their convention tonight talking about donald trump as someone who is going to say i'm the law and order president. one thing democrats can say is look, donald trump is the president. he is president right now and you are still seeing this unrest. democrats need to demonstrate why voting for them would turn the temperature down. why would a joe biden presidency lead to less violence? democrats do have to answer that question.

>> trace: it is a good question to pose. always good to see you. thank you. >> thanks, trace. >> sandra: fox news alert. hurricane laura unleashing its fury on the gulf coast pushing deeper over land. the latest on where the storm is headed next and the damage so far. i'm happy to give you the tour, i love doing it.

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>> trace: hurricane laura has weakened to a category one storm after slamming into the louisiana coast earlier this morning as a category 4. emergency officials trying to get a sense of the damage done. joining us on the phone is the founder of the united cajun navy. you do yeoman's work and we appreciate that.

as you speak we'll try to play images and pictures we're getting in. brand-new stuff from the southeastern part of louisiana. i want to know, todd, are you getting any reports of people stuck or in distress? we lost him. it's important to note as we look at the pictures where this thing came ashore as a category 4. look at that power pole and it gives you an explanation of why you have hundreds of thousands of people in louisiana and texas who have lost their power and as this thing came ashore in cameron, louisiana, which is a small town of about 400 we had bryan lenis earlier in holly beach next door to cameron and you saw the widespread damage there. the fox affiliate wvue giving some of the images to us. it gives you an idea of one, the clouds up in the sky and there is still remnants of this

left behind and two, how some of the damage is hit and miss. you have some areas obliterated. let's bring in todd terrell from the cajun navy. anybody stuck or in distress? what are you hearing on the ground? >> we're starting to get some reports. there were elderly people in the areas survived some of the previous storms. so in their mind they thought they could probably make it this time. you know, we are still getting reports of people missing. we're not 100% sure if there is anything on a worst case scenario. there are reports starting to come in and it is pretty dramatic right now. >> trace: you say you need things like water and gasoline and generators, volunteers, trucks and trailors. we covered hurricane harvey down there when you guys were working that thing, todd. i know that people showed up in droves to help out their neighbors from across the states. are you expecting the same response for hurricane laura?

>> it is already great, yes. good thing about it is we were already on top of things with the covid crisis as far as taking in supplies and food. right now in baton rouge is where our main staging area is on the east side. we also have a staging location in houston. in baton rouge now we're fortunate to be associated with a couple of businesses that are letting us use their area for staging. right now the main thing we need is like water and snack food mainly. that will change as the days go on. right now it is just the bare minimum basics. >> trace: it's interesting. these are live pictures from our fox affiliate down there along the louisiana coastline. some of the power lines being down. what is -- what is shore one? give us an idea of what you do today, what is priority one when the storm goes away? >> right now we have guys that have boats. there is not a big need for the boats at the moment now. that is changing a little bit in the lake charles area with the river coming up. right now our main thing is

stabilizing supplies because this area is decimated. not a lot of places for people to stay if volunteers come in and the covid crisis. our number one priority is the safety of our volunteers. once the storm gets out coordinating with the other officials. the main thing right now besides that is supplies. supplies are very, very short. >> trace: appreciate your work very much. we're short on time and have to go. we'll get back with you as the news breaks. >> sandra: supplies are needed. continuing live coverage of hurricane laura as it now pushes inland with tornado watches now in effect. thousands of homes left in the dark for what could be weeks. we're on the ground in texas and louisiana with updates. join us for a brand-new hour coming up.

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trust aag for the best reverse mortgage solutions. call now so you can... retire better >> sandra: a monster on the move after roaring ashore on the gulf coast. we just got the latest advisory on hurricane laura. right now a category 1. though the storm is weakening, experts still warning the danger from this killer is not over. welcome back to "america's newsroom" on this thursday morning. i'm sandra smith. >> trace: good morning, everyone. i'm trace gallagher. laura making landfall in cameron parish, louisiana pounding the reason for hours now and causing catastrophic damage. the 150 mile-per-hour winds flattening homes, blowing out windows snapping trees and power lines and leaving hundreds of thousands in the dark. the national hurricane center had warned of a life-threatening storm surge and fema is now on the scene.

here is white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany earlier. >> this president is monitoring this closely. he will be going to fema today. he knows how to respond to hurricanes. he has done it before. he will do the same again with hurricane laura as we hold texas and louisiana close to our hearts this morning. >> trace: team fox coverage with janice dean live in the fox weather center. charles watson in port arthur but we begin from lake charles, louisiana and our affiliate there. >> trace, right now we're seeing reports of a potential chemical fire at a factory here in lake charles. we're working on getting more information about that. what we can tell you now there is clearly a huge plume of gray smoke billowing behind this. it looks like a huge plume of smoke is traveling over i10 who

are trying to survey their homes and damage. this is one of the main commercial drags here in lake charles. you can see all the damage. a lot of the store signs have been ripped to shreds. one of the stores over there the store front has been pulled away from the actual store. dillard's over there. there is extensive water damage inside that department store. so right now it's pretty tricky to drive around lake charles. you can see there are power lines down. it is like this on most of the streets that we've driven through so far this morning. when it comes to the extent of the damage, right now it is just hard to get a grasp of it because it's really difficult to move around. here is what we can tell you with our own eyes. we were expecting a ton -- potentially catastrophic storm surge here. at least in the parts of the city we've been able to travel through this morning that we haven't seen. what we have seen is a lot of wind damage.

for about an hour span early this morning there were consistent gusts of wind reaching and surpassing 100 miles per hour. now, trace, when you walk around this city all over the place you will find shingles from people's roofs. they're scattered all across lake charles. >> trace: if you could go back to that fire. i want to clarify there. the fire is because of the hurricane. do you have any idea what's burning? and where is the smoke burning towards at this point? this kevin, as you talk, we're looking at live pictures of this from wvue. >> as of right now, trace, we don't know. we're still trying to get more information. we just noticed this huge plume of smoke pop up here a few minutes ago. a very fast-moving situation. very hard to get ahold of people right now just given the difficulties with communication. most people here don't have cell service right now. based on what we're experiencing if you had at&t

you had cell service. it is not easy to get information. that plume of smoke now is something we're keeping an eye on. that really could be impacting travel in this region. if in fact it is going over i10. >> trace: we're live on the ground in lake charles. kevin, thank you so much. >> sandra: we'll continue to monitor that situation and bring you any news from it as it comes in. as daylight reveals the scope -- parts of texas are flooded. charles watson is live in port arthur texas with an update from there this morning. charles, what are you seeing? >> sandra, 122,000 people in texas remain without power. laura didn't hit as hard as it expected bit it caused major flooding. the department of public safety says it has five helicopters

and one plane it will put in the air to survey damage. governor abbott and senator cornyn will do the same. folks are relieved laura didn't hit harder. >> i was shocked. it is surprising we just got a few trees down. from the way that thing was coming through here you would have sworn it would be a lot worse. we were blessed. >> the wind was wicked throughout the night. check out this building over here. you can see portions of the construction material and portions of the roof blew off but it is still standing nonetheless. there was some concern from folks here if it was -- that about whether it would be able to survive through the storm. so far there are no reported deaths in the state of texas. sandra. >> sandra: okay, charles watson on the ground there in port arthur, texas, with the scope of the damage there.

charles, thank you. we'll get an update a short time from now. trace. >> trace: senior meteorologist janice dean is tracking the storm's path. the man who lives in port arthur sums it up. some people were blessed. didn't get much. other people like in lake charles and cameron not so blessed. >> it is going to take some time to see the scope of the damage. i think people wake up and think they're going to see the catastrophic damage we were predicting. i believe it happened but it will be hard to get into some of these areas and that fire that's burning in lake charles is concerning as well. let's take a look at the latest advisory 11:00 a.m. 75 mile-per-hour sustained winds. a category 1 hurricane barely hanging on. finally weakening. earlier today at 1:00 a.m. today we had landfall at 150 mile-per-hour sustained winds. tied the record for the

strongest storm to hit louisiana in their history. 134 miles per hour wind gusts in lake charles 35 miles inland. cameron, louisiana, 127 miles per hour. alexandria i've seen hurricane force wind for many hours in that area. that's dangerous. then the tornado threat. tornado watch in effect for louisiana, mississippi, arkansas. an earlier report of tornado north and east of baton rouge. not a lot of reports but be prepared if there is a watch or warning in your area. typically with the landfalling hurricanes the tornadoes may be weak and could cause structural damage. tornado threat through this evening will be ongoing as the storm goes north. some of the wind gusts. tropical storm force winds. look at alexandria 79 miles per hour. i've been reporting hurricane force winds in alexandria now

for at least three hours. so the damage there is going to be quite incredible unfortunately. we're looking at the path as it goes up towards arkansas and then illinois and indiana and kentucky. all the way out to the mid-atlantic and northeast on the weekend. we'll get a piece of this as well. it might not be fully tropical in nature but the remnants of laura. take a look at the wind field. so the hurricane-force winds in orange but in the yellow those are tropical storm-force winds moving all the way into kentucky and tennessee. that's incredible. so that's going to be a problem for downed trees and power lines. heavy rain will be ongoing today and tomorrow for parts of the tennessee, mississippi and ohio river valley. flash flooding in effect where some areas have gotten upwards of 10 inches of rainfall. 2, 4, 6 inches of rain depending where you are on the map here as the center continues to move north and westward and then i will tell

you that we do have a wave that's coming off the coast of africa and we have not reached peak season yet. that's september 11th when we hit tropical activity. but it has been very impressive. nana will be the next named storm. i know a lot of people are maybe they dodged a bullet. you have to understand our reporters can't get into those areas that got really hard hit. >> trace: it is a very good point. quickly i want to ask you, any reports of tornado activity at all around lake charles over the past several hours? >> i haven't seen any reports recently. that's not to say that it hasn't happened. i can check the storm reports. i will get back to you. the good news is i haven't seen a lot of tornado reports but some of these wind gusts when you talk about wind gusts in excess of 80 or 90 miles per hour it will take down some power lines and trees. >> trace: sandra. >> sandra: okay. as we continue to watch this hurricane move further north back to these live pictures.

this is out of southwest louisiana. lake charles. we just started getting images near some refineries there. a lot of various news outlets are reporting on this. nothing has been confirmed other than large plumes of smoke developing the past few minutes. it is near refineries, we're told. the smoke is flowing over i-10 there. various reports on the ground from local news outlets are reporting it's a large chemical leak and could be a very extremely dangerous situation for residents on the ground there. we are now getting an update that hazmat crews are en route to the scene there. but we're still waiting on further details as to what exactly caused this and where exactly this is happening. but those are the live pictures that we have right now. any updates that we get on this situation we'll bring to you.

meanwhile, retired u.s. army lieutenant general russell honor led rescue and recovery efforts after hurricane katrina in 2005 he will join me. as we take in some of those pictures we're seeing those plumes of smoke develop in the hours that followed lake charles seeing a lot of destruction from the storm. the governor saying a lot of the destruction is due to wind, not water at this point in time. that storm is now moving further north, sir. your thoughts this morning as we wait to see the overall damage from this storm. >> i'm very familiar with that area. i also responded to hurricane rita, which preceded and a lot of lessons were learned from rita and the people responded a lot better this time inside the parishes based on lessons from rita and based on the federal

government investment in those parishes to make them more resilient to have evacuation plans and to resource and train people how to do that. so it saved a lot of lives. that being said there was a lot of people that did not evacuate particularly around the lake charles area because they are under covid condition and some people just didn't want to leave their homes and they are surrounded by chemical plants. so worst case scenarios may be playing out. we even see a barge, a boat that is used for gambling broke away and got stuck under the i-10 bridge. i just got a picture of that. it is a mess on the ground there but it is probably going to get worse before it gets better today because this storm broke lake charles. infrastructure, lights out, no running water, no gas probably operating. it has broken that city and the

federal government working with the state is going to have to find a new way to recover lake charles because look, we're not recovered the houses in harvey. we have not recovered the houses in puerto rico. we have not recovered the houses in virgin islands. that's been three years ago. lake charles can't wait that long. nor should these other places be waiting that long. the president found a way to give the governors money. they've spent billions of dollars since the covid but we still do home recovery the same old way we did it 30 years ago. that needs to change because a lot of these people need to get back in their homes. where will the kids go to school? >> sandra: i'm waiting on some updates on the situation we're seeing develop on the ground in lake charles. listening to you right now, sir, you are saying that more resources are needed for the people on the ground there for previous storms and now what is hitting those areas as i understand that from you.

we know that the president is meeting with fema at the headquarters this afternoon. that was just provided to us a short time ago. we know there is a coordinated response. we spoke to the army corps of engineers last hour. at this point the damage still needs to be assessed. we don't know just how badly hit some of these areas are. final thoughts from you this morning. >> well, yes that's correct. it will be worse as you go further north. people live in less secure homes. many of them live in mobile homes. as you go from that area north of lake charles all the way up toward fort poke, a lot of people live in mobile homes. from my sense and the information i got many of them didn't get to evacuate. this is going to get worse before it gets better. there is a good team on the ground. the governor knows what he is doing and has great national guard and get all the help he needs from the federal government. this phase of this will be very

efficient. it is recovery getting people back in their homes is what we still have a problem with fema and hud. >> sandra: louisiana state police. emergency service units are responding to that hazmat scene. they are describing it. talking about the live pictures we've seen coming out of lake charles. there you have it. at this time they are responding. we're closing i-10 eastbound and westbound for precautionary measures. as soon as we get more information, the police say, they'll bring that to us. that's the update for now. sir, thank you for your time this morning. >> good luck to those people first responders on the ground. >> trace: the best of luck to them. much more on hurricane laura coming up and the danger it still poses. as we get a clearer picture of the devastation we'll talk live to the red cross about their relief efforts on the ground. those pictures coming to us from lake charles plus the president getting ready to accept the gop nomination at the convention tonight. what does he need to say to make the case for his

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>> sandra: gearing up now for the main event at the rnc this week when president trump formally accepts the nomination for the presidency. he makes his case for reelection as he closes out this unconventional convention with a speech delivered from the white house. kristin fisher is on the north lawn with more as we anticipate that big moment tonight. kristin, good morning. >> good morning, sandra. well, the stage is set and it is worth remembering what it took to get here. remember, president trump was supposed to be speaking tonight in charlotte, north carolina, then jacksonville, florida. then we didn't really know where it was going to be. then they finally settled having it here at the white house in the middle of the pandemic. with that said, there will be a live audience tonight, an invitation was sent to the majority of republican lawmakers to be here in person when the president speaks. there is also expected to be a big fireworks display across the street at the washington monument. at the same time the barricades

are backed up around the white house with protests planned to disrupt the president's speech tonight. really a fitting back drop for a president whose main them is expected to be that he is the law and order president. he stands with the blue line and is against the violence that has been breaking out in cities from portland to kenosha. jared kushner gave us a preview earlier this morning what we can expect when the president speaks tonight. >> he is going to explain in is a serious election with serious consequences and explain what the consequences would be of making a change at this point. he will make a very strong case for what having president trump back for for more years with republican house and senate could bring to this country. >> other speakers tonight include senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. house minority leader kevin mckargt ear and ivanka trump who will introduce her father tonight. president trump will head to fema headquarters to get an update on the hurricane.

hurricanes have significantly disrupted conventions in the past either postponing them or curtailing them but the trump campaign says that this hurricane is not going to disrupt the final night of the republican national convention. sandra. >> sandra: kristin fisher live at the white house for us. thank you. >> trace: the president's speech comes against the back drop of a series of crisis, the devastation from hurricane laura, violence raging in cities across the u.s. coronavirus pandemic and the economic downturn. so how should he address all of this? dana perino is the anchor of the daily briefing and co-host of "the five". always great to see you. i wanted to get your take on this because it's fascinating. we are are sitting covering the news and bouncing back and forth from lake charles, louisiana, to the violence around the country, coronavirus pandemic. the president is trying to coble together a speech to include all of that. is it a tight rope or a big

opportunity? >> a huge opportunity. i think most people could figure out that president trump will be able to do . that he is very comfortable having several balls in the air at once. he is not shy about bringing in the politics into the middle of it. so i think also that you see that because the federal, state and local officials worked well to get people evacuated plus you have the fact the storm surge might not have been as bad as initially thought they can deal with that. the president is doing things rather than just saying things. he will get a fema briefing today. the people down there in that area feel like there is good coordination. he can touch on it but he will go to the bigger picture. >> trace: a lot of people thought there might be an august surprise and the president might pop up in lake charles, louisiana, something like that. >> no, i've been holding my tongue because i've been thinking for a while that he should do a change-up.

i think if the president were to go tonight on a secret trip, pop up in lordstown, ohio, a town that many people say he saved. he campaigned there. he said i want to make america great again and bring back jobs here and he could go there tonight and i did this and if you give me another four years. i don't care about the trappings of the white house, i care about you. that would be something he could have pulled off as well. i think tonight with fireworks and all that it will be a good show. >> trace: interesting because trump -- the president billed himself as the law and order president for a few months. joe biden is coming out talking about violence now. vice president mike pence capitalized on that last night. i want you to watch this and get your response. >> the american people know we don't have to choose between supporting law enforcement and standing with our african-american neighbors to improve the quality of their

lives. education, jobs, and safety. and from the first days of this administration, we've done both. >> trace: it seems like law and order is a subject that helps the president. >> absolutely. i think so. what the vice president said there i think you can probably get 80% of americans to agree with that sentence if they didn't know who was saying it. that would be different. i am shocked that the democrats only now seem to be waking up to the fact that violence is a problem. and it would be one thing if the incidents happened in their local media markets and you never heard about it. now because of 24/7 news cycle that isn't new, it is everywhere all the time and there is concern. there is concern for the people being victimized. concerned for black americans feeling they can't trust the police. concern from the business owners being looted. building back the communities and how long it takes and how much money it costs. talking about this is important but not a one-sided

conversation. the democrats absolutely have to do something. ways to get out of wilmington safely and do it safely. the president is on the road and they need to meet him there. >> trace: it will be a big speech and we're eagerly awaiting it tonight. danna perrino, nice to see you. >> sandra: fox news alert. police in kenosha, wisconsin say the fourth night of protests were mostly peaceful. they started taking to the streets sunday. days of violence followed. two people were shot and killed during protests tuesday night. authorities have arrested 17-year-old kyle rittenhouse in illinois charged with homicide. new video shows he was allowed to leave the scene. >> pro athletes boycotting games in the response to the shooting of jacob blake. p milwaukee bucks refused to

take the flow. some other big games also called off and this morning white house advisor jared kushner says he will reach out to lebron james. christina coleman following it for us in los angeles. christina. >> trace, nba board of governors who will discuss boycotting games. most teams want to continue playing. the l.a. clippers and lakers voted to boycott the last few games of the nba season. three games were postponed yesterday after the milwaukee bucks refused to play game five if protest of the shooting of jacob blake in kenosha. james in major league baseball and major league soccer and some tennis matches have been postponed. the lakers released this statement saying in part quote 80% of nba players are black

men. we cannot love them for the joy and entertainment that they bring to the world yet sit in silence and fail to use our resources to amplify the voices when they demand justice and equality america has promised us all. doc rivers got emotional over the blake shooting. >> watching the republican convention and this fear by -- all you hear donald trump and all of them talking about fear. we're the ones getting killed. we're the ones getting shot. it's amazing. why do we keep loving this country and our country does not love us back. >> despite frustration among athletes not everyone is a fan of the boycott. clay davis tweeted the nba has zero control over the justice system nor should they. there is no logic to this decision not to play and no tangible result.

the nba can provide. some democrats are weighing in too. bernie sanders said he supports players striking for racial justice and joe biden tweeted that these players are using their platform for good. at this point it's unclear when the postponed games will be rescheduled. >> trace: christina coleman live in l.a. thank you. >> sandra: back to the latest developments in southwest louisiana. search and rescue crews are underway after hurricane laura plowed through the area there as one person has been confirmed killed. a 14-year-old girl after a tree fell on her family home. all of this as a fire burns at a chemical plant there. a live look over i-10. fox team coverage from the gulf coast next.

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>> trace: top headlines bottom of the hour. president trump set to accept his party's nomination for reelection. >> sandra: the fire that tore through a u.s. navy ship for four days may not have been an accident. they are talking to a sailor about expecting arson. >> trace: hurricane laura's devastation. it snapped trees and power lines and damaged many homes. jeff flock in lake charles, louisiana with more. >> the scope is pretty wide ranging. we showed you some businesses

last hour. i want to show you the homes and apartments that -- houses and apartments that have been damaged. look at the tree came right down on this woman. the woman is in the lower apartment upstairs that is destroyed. was somebody watching over you? >> yes, sir. >> i was in lost bluff staying with a friend of mine last night and heard all this commotion. i was here years ago when i was 4 or 5 with hurricane audrey. last night it was really, really bad. this morning i was like well, i guess i better go see about my apartment and she said no, why don't you just stay awhile. i said no, i need to get home. the first one on the bottom there. >> that tree went four or five feet the other way. >> i would have been gone. my storm door is still intact, everything is still where it was. a little bit of water on the

floor i guess from the floor leaking in. my tv is still on the stand, dry. my recliners are dry. my dogs beds are wet but hey, that's all right. good shape. yes, sir. >> good to talk to you. i'm so glad somebody is watching over this young lady. >> thank you. >> that's a good thing. but this is what nature has wrought, trace. >> trace: some damage down there. good to see you, jeff. thank you very much for that. we appreciate it. >> sandra: thanks to jeff flock on the ground there. unbelievable pictures coming from that area. the american red cross is on the ground helping those impacted by people affected. we have a spokesman from the red cross. thank you for joining us. i assume you probably couldn't see those pictures that were coming in from our reporter jeff flock on the ground in lake charles. there is some absolute devastation in some of these

areas. just looking at this structure there just trees just snapped like twigs all over. what have you been able to assess on the part of the red cross as far as damage so far? >> so what i can say is really what i've been seeing all night in alexandria, louisiana. i'm an hour and a half away from the lake charles area we have had significant impacts from the storm starting around 1:00 a.m. and really continuing through this time frame the wind is still howling outside. i can see property damage to buildings around me. there are trees down. we've been without power since about 4:00 this morning as well. and there have been very heavy rains and street flooding as well. >> sandra: i'm looking directly at the nola website and the hurricane center. it is remarkable to see it called the worst hurricane, the most powerful hurricane to hit louisiana in 150 years as we've been reporting, major cat 4

hurricane when it made landfall, stephanie. as far as search and rescue crews that are underway, we know a 14-year-old girl was confirmed killed by the governor of louisiana when a tree fell on her home. what is the plan right now as far as the red cross is concerned to go out and contribute and help? >> the red cross is primarily focusing on assuring residents have a safe place to be. the state has been managing our shelters in the overnight hours and between texas and louisiana we had over 10,000 people seeking refuge just last night. the red cross has been supporting the state efforts by providing things like cots and comfort kits, blankets and ppe including masks. we've had more than 800 volunteers mobilized and on the ground for several days across the entire coast to make sure that we can adequately respond to whatever the need may be as we watch this storm develop over the last several days.

as time continues forward, we will continue to coordinate with our partners to assure we can support those sheltering needs and provide comfort, care, and hope to those residents that have been impacted across those states. >> sandra: you have a huge and very important job to do to help those people that are greatly affected by this. we appreciate that. these live pictures lake charles, louisiana, where wind did a lot of damage there. 400,000 people in louisiana right now without power and this storm is not over. it is moving inland as you heard from senator kennedy earlier. warning residents in the shreve port area it is coming there now. we're watching the storm's path and getting a first look in some area of the absolute destruction like here in lake charles, louisiana. we'll take a quick break and be right back.

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>> trace: house democrats outraged for secretary of state mike pompeo delivering address from jerusalem. a "washington post" op-ed is pushing back. spare me the outrage. look at what obama and biden have done. marc thiessen is the writer of the article. a former george w. bush speech writer. good to see you. i want to play part of this op-ed on the screen. former secretary of state john kerry can actively undermine us us foreign policy and obama and biden can attack trump from foreign soil but it is an outrage for mike pompeo to laud the diplomatic the achievements of the president he serbs and diplomats he leads. spare us the outrage. it is different when they do it than what we do it? >> where were all the critics in august 2016 when joe biden went as sitting vice president went to the nato summit in

latvia and told leaders to ignore donald trump and doesn't know what article 5 is and ignore him. when barack obama in may of 2016 went to japan and gave a press conference where he said that he excoriated donald trump for his ignorance in world affairs and said he didn't know what was necessary to keep america safe, secure and prosperous. the "washington post" writing about that said that obama had quote obliterated the political convention that partisan ship stops at the wants edge. obama and biden can attack trump from foreign soil but pompeo can't give a speech and he didn't attack anybody? didn't even mention joe biden's name. >> zbl* the house democrats are going after him. castro says the following. the trump administration and secretary pompeo have shown a gross disregard of basic ethics but blatant willness to

violate federal law for political gain? >> what law? no law violated at all. the reality is mike pompeo gave a speech where all he did was say positive things about donald trump. lay out the achievements. obama-biden administration and talked how president trump delivered on his promise to move the u.s. embassy to jerusalem, the nation's capital. he didn't mention that obama and biden promised to do that but failed to deliver. he didn't take a shot at them. then you have by the way put this in context. a week before john kerry the former secretary of state for the obama administration delivered a blisteringly partisan attack on donald trump saying that he was a laughingstock and all the rest of it. and john kerry, by the way, if you want a serious breach of diplomatic protocol has met at least three times with the foreign minister of iran to talk about the iran nuclear deal that trump withdrew from.

according to mike pompeo their knowledge of those conversations is that he told them wait out the trump administration. john kerry can undermine us us foreign policy as a former secretary of state but mike pompeo can't praise president trump' achievements? it's absurd. >> sandra: a situation we've been telling you about. a fire that broke out in lake charles, louisiana, hard hit by hurricane laura. that is a look at i-10 which has been shut down as the plumes of smoke emerged about an hour ago. the governor is confirming it is a chemical fire in the west lake sulfur area telling residents that he they are advised to shelter in place until further notice. close doors and windows. follow the instructions of local officials. also john bel edwards, the governor said if you're in the

west lake area, shelter in place, close your windows and doors and turn off air conditioning units. there is a chemical fire. stay inside and wait for additional direction from local officials. this is a developing story. we'll bring the details to you when we return. i had saved up some money and then found the home of my dreams. but my home of my dreams needed some work sofi was the first lender that even offered a personal loan. i didn't even know that was an option. the personal loan let us renovate our single family house into a multi-unit home. and i get to live in this beautiful house with this beautiful kitchen and it's all thanks to sofi.

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>> we were told to look at joe biden as the model of integrity. but when you look at his 47-year career in politics, the people who benefited are his family members, not the american people. we all know about joe's son, hunter biden. he was paid millions to do nothing. he only had one qualification that mattered. he was the son of the man in

charge of distributing u.s. aid to ukraine. >> sandra: that was pam bondi in her speech during the republican national convention painting the biden family as corrupt. pam, good morning, thank you for being here. why did you use your moment on that stage to go after the bidens? >> well sandra, we thought it was very important because after watching the democrat national convention, they time and time again of course went after our president but time and time again they kept saying that i'm paraphrasing joe biden will restore -- joe biden is ethical and honest. the american people deserve to know what happened when he was vice president and that's just when he was vice president. we can call him sweetheart deals. it is more than that, that his son received and family members. hunter biden had zero experience -- zero in the

industry of energy, in ukraine. he didn't speak ukrainian. and he goes on this board just days after his dad is announced as being point person to the ukraine. now, let's talk about his salary, sandra. he was making more than tightians of industries make on major boards. goldman sachs, major, major boards in this country. he was making more than these people with no experience at all. none in the ukraine. >> sandra: this is a tactic we have heard from you and the republican camp. often during the impeachment trial of course. >> it is facts. >> sandra: both bidens denied they ever discussed these dealings while joe biden. >> i would like to talk about that. >> sandra: point to the claims that haven't been proven and they responded to your speech, pam, by repriseing the old

response during the impeachment trial and what they put out there. here on planet earth conspiracy theory that bonde said has been refuted. the ap calls it incorrect and "washington post" fact checker calls it a fountain of falsehoods. why is this a strategy that you think is going to work on the republican stage? do you think this changes any minds or wins over any voters to continue this? >> i sure do. by the way i guess you missed the opinion in the "wall street journal" talking about it and how it had to be done and how solid it was. what we said at the convention about biden. how can it be conspiracy theory when they say oh, he never talked to his father about this. well, three days before he went on that board devin archer also on that board went into the white house. we have the records to back it up and met with joe biden. three days later hunter goes on the board. but they keep it quiet until

this corrupt oligarch who ran the company -- ran the company is being investigated by the british authorities. then they announce hunter's involvement in it. >> sandra: i'm running out of time. we have had so much hurricane coverage. i appreciate you coming on. we heard your speech the other night and wanted to ask about the strategy overall as we have heard you on it before and heard you on it again on that stage and appreciate you coming on to talk about it. thanks. >> thanks. >> sandra: we'll take a quick break and we'll be right back.

>> trace: sandra, great to see you on this incredibly busy news day. >> sandra: a lot of news. the coverage continues right here on the fox news channel. thanks for joining us. "outnumbered" starts now. >> melissa: fox news alert, president trump and vice president pence are set to be briefed at fema headquarters at one: 15. that's the next hour, on hurricane laura. in louisiana, major damage to buildings in the lake charles area where wind speeds were reported at a whopping 132 miles per hour overnight. in texas, massive flooding along coastal areas where several counties were under mandatory evacuation orders. entire blocks of homes waterlogged as search and rescue efforts continue thi