FEMA deputy associate administrator: The local and state officials have your best interest in mind
David Bibo on how Floridians can best prepare for the impact of Hurricane Dorian.
This is a rush transcript from "Your World," August 29, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
NEIL CAVUTO, ANCHOR: You are looking live at the Rose Garden, President Trump set to make remarks about the establishment of a U.S. Space Command. We will get into it.
Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto.
John Roberts is at the White House on what we can expect minutes from now - - John.
JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Neil, good afternoon to you.
This is a ceremony to actually launch the Space Command. This is short of a space force, which the president ultimately wants, which has to be approved by Congress. But General John Raymond, a four-star who's currently in charge of the U.S. Air Force's Space Command, will be taking the reins here.
The mission is war fighting in space. Yes, this is the next frontier, where this the Space Command will be looking at monitoring missile launches, satellite surveillance, Space Command, a lot of other tests.
Here's how Vice President Mike Pence described it in a speech at the Udvar- Hazy Smithsonian Air and Space Museum out of Dulles Airport back on the 20th of August. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As the president has said, we all recognize -- it's been, frankly, true for decades -- in his words, space is the war fighting domain. The United States Space Force will ensure that our nation is prepared to defend our people, to defend our interests and defend our values in the vast expanse of space and here on the Earth, with the technologies that will support our common defense from the vast reaches of outer space.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The Space Command at least temporarily will be held at the Peterson Air Force Base -- housed, rather, at the Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.
It will be moving sometime after that. The president signed the executive order creating the Space Command back in December. And, today, he is standing it up.
And we also understand, Neil, that he's likely to make some comments about something else during the ceremony as well. We do not know if that's about the hurricane, potentially his trip to Poland, or whether it's James Comey. So stay tuned. We will have it all for you here from the Rose Garden -- Neil.
CAVUTO: You always do, my friend. Thank you very much, John Roberts.
Now, when the president speaks, of course, we will take you back to the Rose Garden live.
Dorian is for real. After taking a swipe at the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, it's now setting its sights on Florida, forecasters tracking quite closely, that it could be a Category 4 hurricane by the time it makes landfall, possibly in Florida, possibly on Labor Day.
The storm is already packing 85-mile-an-hour winds, could be again if it gets to be a 4, at least 130-mile-per-hour winds. Now there are the worries about torrential rains and dangerous storm conditions.
Meteorologist Rick Reichmuth following it all very closely.
What are we looking at, Rick?
RICK REICHMUTH, CHIEF METEOROLOGIST: All right, how about possibly a Category 4? I'm just going to add that one in on that.
Yes, I mean, the official forecast is a Category 4 right now. I will tell you, I keep on saying it. Our ability to forecast intensity of hurricanes is not that great. The best guess at this point is a Category 4.
A lot of our model guidance is doing that. There are still some things that could disrupt it a little bit, one of which could be slowing down a lot right before it makes landfall. And if it does that, it could weaken a little bit right just offshore.
So that can be changed. That wouldn't really change anything about what actually happens on shore. So let's try to not focus too much on those categories.
This is a storm, last couple images of our visible satellite before the sun goes down, and we start to lose it. But you can see the storm has been getting kind of better organized all day. The pressure has continued to drop.
That said, wind speeds, the sustained wind speeds have not gone up at all with it. Once it's going through, kind of has two eyes at this point, once that consolidates, we will probably see it strengthen again.
All right, our model guidance, it looks like it's getting into better agreement here across Central Coast. That said, I want to show you this. The two models we always talk about that we really use and rely on a lot in this kind of forecasting, earlier today, they got pretty close into alignment. And that makes us to start to have more confidence in the forecast.
Now the latest run of this European model comes in. And here's Monday afternoon. It had both of them before, right, making landfall sometime Monday. Take a look at this. This one now slows it way down. The European model doesn't bring it somewhere close to the shore until Wednesday or so.
And that model, I got to tell you, it hangs out in Florida for about four to five days. We can't watch any one single model run. But I just got to tell, there's still plenty of uncertainty around it.
At this point, we will go with what the official forecast for the National Hurricane Center does, brings it to a Cat 4 storm somewhere offshore. And then it certainly slows down its forward movement. That's why we think the rainfall totals are going to be really extreme here across really a lot Florida, definitely all along the coastline.
So a lot of time to continue to watch it and a lot of tweaks we're still going to continue to make -- Neil.
CAVUTO: All right, thank you very much, Rick.
In the meantime, this storm could be wreaking havoc on travel plans. In fact, it already is. No matter where you live, you could be hit, the way the travel system works today.
FOX's Christina Coleman has more on that.
Hey, Christina.
CHRISTINA COLEMAN, CORRESPONDENT; Hi Neil.
Well, Hurricane Dorian could wash out plans for thousands of travelers over the holiday weekend. Some flights could be delayed or canceled as the hurricane barrels toward the Eastern Seaboard.
American Airlines is waiving change fees for flights in 13 locations in Florida scheduled through September 3, as well as some locations in the Caribbean. Delta is allowing cancellations and also waving the change fee for certain spots in the Caribbean.
Southwest, Spirit, Frontier, United and JetBlue are also waiving change fees. And if you plan on spending your Labor Day weekend on a cruise, you might want to check for any last-minute changes to your trip. This hurricane has cruise lines scrambling to modify their itineraries to stay out of the storm's path, some of them shutting down operations at private islands.
Royal Caribbean and Disney cruise lines have already changed some of the stops their ships will make. And speaking of Disney, Dorian might crash the opening weekend as Star Wars Galaxy's Edge in Orlando. If a hurricane warning is issued for Orlando, the resort will allow cancellations.
And, lastly, if you're thinking of buying travel insurance right now, it's probably too late. Some require that you buy coverage 24 hours prior to the storm being named, while some need you to buy even sooner -- Neil.
CAVUTO: Yes, a little late for that, I guess. All right, thank you very, very much.
Now, how is FEMA preparing for all of this and the massive potential hit to come?
With me now, the FEMA deputy administrator, David Bibo.
Administrator, what are we looking at here?
DAVID BIBO, FEMA DEPUTY ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR: Well, what we know now, Neil, is that Dorian is potentially a life-threatening storm if the forecast holds, and that folks from the Carolinas down through extreme Southern Florida need to be paying attention to this storm, and need to be taking action now to prepare themselves and their families if Dorian comes to where they live.
CAVUTO: So we talk about people who get a little frightened and all of a sudden they want to get out of Dodge or get out of the area right now. How is FEMA advising folks?
BIBO: Well, so evacuations throughout the potential area of impact are things that local and state officials will advise people on.
And that's why it's so important for folks to be paying attention to those warnings, downloading the FEMA app. You can put your zip code in. You can get alerts for where you live. And, really, the local and state officials have your best interests in mind.
They will have the latest forecast information from the National Hurricane Center. And, most importantly, they will know what that forecast means for their local community. And they're in the best position to advise people on how to protect themselves and their families.
CAVUTO: You know, we always hear back and forth, David, FEMA has to deal with a lot and is always pressed on its budget and all of this, and then funds that were allocated are reallocated elsewhere.
Are you guys financially ready for whatever could happen?
BIBO: So, FEMA's disaster relief fund is in a strong position to support the ongoing recoveries we have and to support the response mission that we have got under way for Dorian.
We were able to deploy what we needed to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to be ready to meet the needs that could have emerged there and thankfully didn't. We are not going to be shy about deploying resources into the area of impact for Dorian. And we're already beginning to move people, equipment and supplies into the affected area.
CAVUTO: You know, when you talk about getting into the affected area, I mean, a lot depends too on not only the path of the storm, obviously, but its speed.
And some storms make up for whatever they lack in power, but by just hanging around, and then just rains that pound and pound and pound. I'm curious which is more of a worry from FEMA's point of view.
BIBO: Well, a lot of uncertainty remains in this forecast, as your meteorologist led into the segment with.
It's why it's so important for people to not wonder if they're in the cone or out of the cone. They really should take steps now to get themselves ready for whatever may come.
Ask questions like, how will I take care of my family if I'm without power for a few days? Do I have enough food and water if transportation is cut off or if grocery stores are not open for a few days? Are the storm drains clear? Does the generator have fuel?
Questions like that can really get people ready to weather the storm itself and then to be OK for a few days after, as the situation stabilizes.
CAVUTO: Wise words, sir. Thank you very much.
I know you're going to be a slightly busy guy in the next few days. Be well. Be safe. Thank you, David Bibo, the FEMA deputy associate administrator.
My next guest is actually flying through Hurricane Dorian.
On the phone right now is the hurricane hunter Richard Henning. He's with NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
How's it looking, quite literally, Richard?
RICHARD HENNING, NOAA: OK, Neil.
We are approaching the storm from the northwest. We are about 120 miles from the center. And we have been dropping a pattern of instruments we call dropsondes in the path that the storm is going to take from its present position toward the Florida coast, sampling the environment.
And what we're noticing is, is that the atmosphere in the path towards Florida is a lot more moist than what we were seeing down in the Caribbean.
Why that is significant is that Dorian struggled to organize down there because dry air being sucked into a hurricane really inhibits the formation of the storm.
We're starting to get out of that dry air now. And that's not good news for Florida. We also see less and less wind shear. That's another thing that hurts the development of hurricanes.
So, as that shear decreases, the air gets more moist around the storm. You're going over the very warm waters of the Atlantic north of the Bahamas.
The forecast intensification that everybody is talking about, right now, we don't see anything in our data that contradicts that. The idea of it becoming a major hurricane prior to landfall looks more and more likely.
CAVUTO: And it's got ample room to become a major one, right? Nothing -- no land really in its way for the time being, just warm ocean waters, right?
HENNING: Yes, exactly.
One of the things that also is a big consideration in hurricanes is land. A lot of times, these hurricanes are coming towards the United States through the Dominican Republic and Cuba. And those islands tend to tear up hurricanes on the way, whereas this has absolutely nothing to tear it up on the way.
It's nothing but open water. And, again, that water is very warm. We're talking water temperatures of about 86 degrees. So that is plenty warm to develop a Category 3, Category 4 hurricane.
CAVUTO: All right, we're watching it closely, obviously not quite as closely as you, brave man.
Richard, thank you very, very much, Richard Henning, quite literally in the middle of all of this.
When we get any updates on this or the severity of the storm or how it's progressing, we will, of course, pass that along.
In the meantime, we're also keeping an eye on the Rose Garden outside the Oval Office, the West Wing of the White House, where the president is going to be detailing, we are told, a Space Force arrangement, where he's going to describe what we're going to do here, back into space, but in a defensive posture, quite literally a defensive posture.
We will explore that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, the controversy over Comey.
The former FBI Director James Comey violating FBI policies by sharing official memos. That's according to the Department of Justice watchdog.
Catherine Herridge has much more on this story.
Catherine, what did we learn?
CATHERINE HERRIDGE, CHIEF INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Neil. Good afternoon.
In the long-awaited 83-page report, the Justice Department's internal watchdog concluded that former FBI Director James Comey violated its own agency's policies and employment agreement in his handling of memos documenting private conversations with the president.
It reads in part -- quote -- "We have previously faulted Comey for acting unilaterally and inconsistent with department policy. What wasn't permitted was the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive investigative information obtained during the course of FBI employment in order to achieve a personally desired outcome."
That was the appointment of a special counsel.
The inspector general found that there were seven memos documenting in part these private conversations with the president. They said they were not personal memos, as Comey told Congress, but they were in fact government records, and he had no authorization to remove them.
And his characterization otherwise was simply not supported by the law. And to give the contents of a memo to The New York Times to kick-start the special counsel investigation, the report found Comey used a Colombia Law School professor, Daniel Richman, as an intermediary.
Earlier on Fox, the former acting attorney general weighed in, saying that he felt it pointed to a culture at the FBI that was overseen and created by Comey where leaking was tolerated.
What's the bottom line for folks at home is that this is not the major report that we have been waiting for, which is the FISA investigation that looks into alleged surveillance abuses and the targeting of the Trump campaign.
This is a separate report that looks at the handling of the memos that kick-started the special counsel investigation, and the actions of the former FBI director.
You cannot underscore this enough. An FBI director, it's not every day that they're investigated by the inspector general. And they're, of course, held to a very high standard, because they set the tone for the 35,000 employees at the bureau, and he is considered the nation's chief law enforcement investigator -- Neil.
CAVUTO: All right, Catherine Herridge, thank you very, very much.
HERRIDGE: You're welcome.
CAVUTO: Well, James Comey, for his part, claims he's vindicated after the inspector general's report. Is he?
Let's get the read from House Judiciary Committee member Arizona Republican Congressman Andy Biggs.
What do you think, Congressman? He says he's vindicated.
REP. ANDY BIGGS, R-ARIZ.: Well, I think that we have rarely seen somebody so delusional and self-serving as James Comey in public life in America.
I mean, he's just been scolded and caught twice by the inspector general and called out for misconduct. And he's -- he's demanding an apology. I - - I rarely see somebody like that.
And I think he -- the inspector general is correct. He set a horrible example for the 35,000 folks in the FBI, but, moreover, he's kind of damaged the reputation of the leadership of the FBI.
And that's -- that's really to his detriment. And I just -- at some point, he's going to have to just kind of move away out of the limelight and graciously leave the national scene.
CAVUTO: Well, obviously, he has a different interpretation of this, in that has not been punished for anything...
BIGGS: Yes.
CAVUTO: ... and the Justice Department has not recommended punishment for this. So he gets a pass.
BIGGS: Well, he might get a pass in some respects on this, but his reputation is shot to pieces.
But there's another report that's going to come out from the inspector general in a few weeks. And I wouldn't say James Comey is out of the woods. I don't think this is the last we have heard of James Comey, regrettably.
But we're going to hear more about him, but...
CAVUTO: It's the same inspector general, Horowitz, right? So that report coming -- and that one has been like waiting for Godot.
BIGGS: Yes.
CAVUTO: I mean, it's been a long time in coming.
(LAUGHTER)
BIGGS: Yes.
CAVUTO: But do you know, will that just cover how the report precipitated? What will that do?
BIGGS: That's supposed to be addressing FISA applications...
CAVUTO: Right.
BIGGS: ... and the initiation of the investigation.
So that should include Mr. Comey, since he reviewed FISA -- FISA warrant applications. So, you know...
CAVUTO: Would the attorney general's office right now, Congressman, be aware of at least the broad outlines of that report?
You make the assumption -- I make the assumption, not you, that the two have to be close together here. Maybe not. What do you think?
BIGGS: I don't think he's -- I don't think the A.G. knows.
He might have some broad idea of what's going to be in there. But I'm not sure that it's any more specific than what we have, because I think the inspector general's operating totally independently on this.
CAVUTO: Do you think all of this is canceling out? By that, I mean -- I'm asking probably more a political question -- Democrats, of course, still pushing impeachment and what have you.
Republicans, this was what led to this investigation, James Comey's role early on in this investigation. There's enough embarrassment on both sides to say, cease, desist, move on.
What do you think?
BIGGS: Oh, Neil, I wish -- I wish we could cease and desist and move on. But it's not going to happen, I'm afraid.
I sit on the committee with a -- with a chairman who's insistent on impeachment. And this is related directly to his ambitions for impeachment.
So, I think we're in for more mud fest for the foreseeable -- foreseeable future, actually.
CAVUTO: What does that mean?
BIGGS: It means we're going to be having more hearings. We might even get to have Mr. Comey come back in. Who knows.
But there's going to be more hearings, rehashing the Mueller investigation that the Democrats were upset that it didn't kind of say what they wanted.
I -- and I think they're going to try to find a way to impeach this president. That's really been the motivation for at least the last six, seven months.
CAVUTO: So, all this embarrassment on Comey notwithstanding, nothing changes?
BIGGS: Right. I agree with that. That's correct.
CAVUTO: OK.
Congressman, thank you very much.
Here comes the president right now in the Rose Garden here announcing this space initiative.
Let's listen.
(APPLAUSE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. It's a great honor.
What a beautiful day in the Rose Garden. Please sit. Thank you.
To ensure that all resources of the federal government are focused on the arriving storm, I have decided to send our vice president, Mike Pence, to Poland this weekend, in my place. It's something very important for me to be here. The storm looks like it could be a very, very big one indeed. And Mike will be going.
I've just spoken to President Duda of Poland, and expressed to him my warmest wishes and the wishes of the American people. Our highest priority is the safety and security of the people in the path of the hurricane. And I will be rescheduling my trip to Poland in the near future.
We're gathered here in the Rose Garden to establish the United States Space Command. It's a big deal. As the newest combatant command, SPACECOM will defend America's vital interests in space -- the next war fighting domain. And I think that's pretty obvious to everybody. It's all about space.
We're joined by Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark Esper, Acting Director of National Intelligence Joe Maguire, Acting Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, Acting Secretary of the Air Force Matt Donovan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford, and Congressman Mike Turner.
We're especially grateful to welcome the new leader of SPACECOM, General Jay Raymond, a highly respected man within the military, joined this afternoon by his wife Mollie -- thank you. Thank you, Mollie. Congratulations, Mollie.
It's great.
Their wonderful family and several of their friends.
General Raymond, congratulations. So important. I know he's going to do a fantastic job. Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: The United States combatant commands were developed to join branches of our armed forces in common cause across diverse fields of battle.
Each of the United States military's combatant commands has an area of responsibility, from CENTCOM, which oversees our mission in the Middle East, to our most recent, CYBERCOM, which we established just last year to protect Americans from the most advanced cyber threats and also to create very, very severe and powerful offensive threats, should we need them. The dangers to our country constantly evolve, and so must we.
Now, those who wish to harm the United States to -- seek to challenge us in the ultimate high ground of space. It's going to be a whole different ball game.
Our adversaries are weaponizing Earth's orbits with new technology targeting American satellites that are critical to both battlefield operations and our way of life at home. Our freedom to operate in space is also essential to detecting and destroying any missile launched against the United States.
So, just as we have recognized land, air, sea, and cyber as vital war fighting domains, we will now treat space as an independent region overseen by a new unified geographic combatant command. The establishment of the 11th Combatant Command is a landmark moment. This is a landmark day -- one that recognizes the centrality of space to America's national security and defense.
Under General Raymond's leadership, SPACECOM will boldly deter aggression and outpace America's rivals, by far.
For 35 years, General Raymond has led and commanded space operations at every level in the U.S. Air Force. Mollie, I hope you're very proud of him. I will bet you are. I am, too.
He's a warrior who has integrated space capabilities to make our military even stronger and to pave the way for a new era of national defense. He's respected by everybody sitting in front of us -- everybody in the military and everybody that knows him.
SPACECOM will soon be followed, very importantly, by the establishment of the United States Space Force as the sixth branch of the United States Armed Forces. And that's really something, when you think about it. The Space Force will organize, train, and equip warriors to support SPACECOM's mission.
With today's action, we open another great chapter in the extraordinary history of the United States military. SPACECOM will ensure that America's dominance in space is never questioned and never threatened, because we know the best way to prevent conflict is to prepare for victory.
From our nation's first days, America's military blazed the trails and crossed the frontiers that secured our nation's future. No adversary on Earth will ever match the awesome courage, skill, and might of American Armed Forces.
Today, we salute the heroic men and women who will serve in SPACECOM and keep America's horizons forever bright and forever free.
We have budgets, since we came into the administration, since the election of 2016 -- since January 20th, of 2017, we have done things with the military that few people would have thought possible, budgets of $700 billion, $716 billion, and now $738 billion.
Nobody would have thought that that was possible, but we had them approved by Republicans and Democrats. And that money is now building the most advanced equipment anywhere one Earth -- equipment that nobody even could have conceived of, even two years ago. It's very necessary. And hopefully we'll never have to use it.
I would now like to ask Secretary Esper to sign documents formally establishing the United States Space Command.
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
CAVUTO: All right, you are watching the president of the United States right now.
He's launching his long-promised Space Force. It will act as an adjunct to some of the armed services. This will actually be sort of like a sixth branch of military issues, a military focus on space, because the Russians and the Chinese are doing just that.
One of the things that has raised a lot of concerns among space enthusiasts is that there will be a militarization of space. But, as a number of analysts have told me, that's already going on with what the Russians are planning and what the Chinese are building, even to the extent of the moon.
So we're following that very much here.
So, we will monitor all these developments and continue to monitor what's happening on the South Lawn and the Rose Garden.
In the meantime, I do want to take a quick peek at the corner Wall and Broad and what happened today. We had a little bit of calm in the trade storm today. That had the Dow up a little bit, on hope that maybe trade talks ensue, and the Chinese aren't going to retaliate for tariffs that go into effect this weekend, so all good to on that front.
The latest on that, the latest on Dorian, and the attorney general of the state of Florida on how she's dealing with it -- after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, here comes Dorian to Florida, but guess what else is coming to Florida? The gougers.
Happens every storm, every time. The attorney general of that state says, not this time and not under her watch.
She's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: You know, as if preparing for a Category 4 hurricane -- and that's what Dorian could be when it hits Florida come, I think, around Monday -- all the gougers that come out of the woodwork to sort of stick it to Floridians who are trying to get out and trying to get everything, from gas to water to key supplies, but not if Florida's attorney general, Ashley Moody, has anything to do with it.
She joins me right now.
Thank you, Attorney General. Good to have you.
ASHLEY MOODY, R-FLA., STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL: Absolutely. Thanks for the invitation.
CAVUTO: So how do you police this sort of thing? It seems to always happen.
MOODY: Of course.
It's a trying time. Floridians are nervous. They're scared. Obviously, what they're trying to do is to protect their property and their family, make sure they have the right supplies. And any time there is a tense situation like that, people are ready to take advantage.
And so we have done everything possible to prepare for this, to make sure that we can stop people that are trying to price-gouge and take advantage of Floridians.
CAVUTO: So how do you do that?
MOODY: Well, I can tell you, we in Florida have a lot of experience dealing these situations, unfortunately.
Part of the problem -- when there is chaos and people are trying to get gas and supplies and commodities to prepare, part of the problem is, we have to have the information so that we can follow up and stop it in real time.
In Florida, not only have we activated a hot line, 1-866-9-NO-SCAM, we have also developed an app that can be downloaded to Apple and Android devices. And that allows us to get the information we need.
Floridians can take pictures of prices. They can put in narratives of their communications with sellers. And it allows us to make contacts with those organizations or businesses or individuals right away to put an end to that behavior.
CAVUTO: Now, we're told that this generally doesn't apply because of just the P.R. risk to the large retailers, Home Depot, the Lowe's and others, who -- the big box stores who provide a lot of this stuff folks need, I guess during a hurricane, General.
So is this more the local merchant or someone who might be trying to seize on a crisis?
MOODY: Well, let me say, first and foremost, our office is prepare.
If any business or individual that's selling these essential commodities has questions about price-gouging and what might apply, we're open and willing to discuss that and try and advise them on what would be considered price-gouging to lead them.
A lot of these individuals and businesses want to, in good faith, provide these essential commodities for Floridians as they're preparing for this storm. It's the bad actors that take advantage of a really horrible situation that we're after.
And when Floridians help provide the information to us, we can in real time put an end to that behavior. I can tell you we have already gotten calls regarding price-gouging. We have investigators in the field.
We have made contacts with merchants. And we have already stopped some of this behavior. But we do it with the help of Floridians who are providing us this information.
CAVUTO: All right, we look forward to that, and -- not the gouging, but making sure that it doesn't happen.
Attorney General, thank you very much, Ashley Moody, the attorney general of the beautiful state of Florida.
Meanwhile, the Comey report is out, and James Comey is just delighted with the findings that no one is looking to punish him and no one is saying, well, boo about what happens next to him.
That is all except former Whitewater prosecutor Robert Ray on what happens down -- after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, James Comey says he essentially was exonerated.
But the DOJ inspector general concluding that the former FBI director violated policy. The Justice Department, though, deciding not to prosecute him.
This is with releasing a lot of this stuff that a lot of folks said he shouldn't have.
Let's get the read on this from former Whitewater special prosecutor Robert Ray.
So he claims exonerated, essentially. What do you think?
ROBERT RAY, FORMER INDEPENDENT COUNSEL: Depends on what -- how you view this, right?
I mean, in the one sense, I think the biggest concern everyone had is that there might have been disclosure of classified information. So he's now said, essentially, I'm exonerated, because no one found that I leaked classified information to anyone.
CAVUTO: Wasn't that classified?
RAY: Well, in a -- I think they were -- he was careful enough to make sure that didn't happen and it didn't go beyond his lawyers.
But that doesn't change the fact that the inspector general has found that this material shouldn't have been released to anyone outside of government without prior authorization, which is what he didn't do.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: He's not going to be punished. No one is going to be doing anything.
RAY: Right.
It's not the first time that the inspector general has tagged him for not following the rules. And it's a pattern of conduct. We -- I have said, I think to you on other occasions, that being a Boy Scout is fine and playing God is fine. The trouble with that, though, is that that justifies an awful lot of conduct and permits one probably too readily to ignore departmental policies and procedures that you're bound to follow.
And this isn't the first occasion. And there's going to continue now to be further investigation. We still haven't seen the end of this, right?
He was investigated by the inspector general with regard to the Hillary Clinton investigation and tagged there.
CAVUTO: Right.
RAY: He was investigated with regard to the unauthorized disclosure of what he claimed were personal memos. Nobody believes that, because they were, in fact, government documents and tagged there.
And the third shoe to drop, of course, is going to be the review of the FISA court applications and the origination of the Trump-Russia investigation.
CAVUTO: And that's by the same inspector general, right, Horowitz?
RAY: Correct. Yes.
CAVUTO: So what do you make -- that was expected to come a while ago. This wasn't expected to come first. What are we to make of that?
RAY: No.
I -- well, what I make of it is what we had seen most recently during the course of the summer, and that is that they have gotten recently access to other people to talk to in connection with the conclusion of that now third and final investigation.
And if past practices is any guide, he's going to get tagged in that one as well. So there's another shoe to drop.
CAVUTO: But could there be a possibility that, if he is tagged for something on that one, that the Justice Department intervenes that, around this, we will punish you? You know what I mean?
RAY: Maybe.
CAVUTO: Yes.
RAY: I mean, the real question there -- we have discussed this all along - - is, who knew what inside the Justice Department and who authorized a limited disclosure to the FISA court in gaining applications and authorization to intercept conversations involving the Trump campaign?
And that -- that one is serious. I mean, that's not just talking about memos that shouldn't have been released to the press. That's talking about using the full arm of the federal government to go to a court to seek authorization to do something where your conduct is going to be measured by, did those folks know all that should have been known about the origins and derivation of that Steele dossier?
And did they intentionally withhold pertinent material information from the court? If that happened, and people in higher-ups knew about it, yes, Neil, I think there will be consequences in that one. That one's significant to warrant the bringing of criminal charges, if that -- such knowledge exists.
CAVUTO: As you were mentioning during the break, both sides are suspicious of him, you know?
RAY: Well, that seemed to be the bottom line. I mean, his reputation clearly has taken a hit as the result of what's happened here.
And it's now been in the context of at least two administrations. I mean, there was no love loss either with the...
CAVUTO: I remember.
RAY: ... with the Bush -- during the George W. Bush years. It's now happened during the Obama administration, and then finally the Trump administration. So there you go.
CAVUTO: All right.
All right, Robert Ray, good seeing you. Thanks for clarifying all of that.
RAY: Nice to be with you. Nice to be with you.
CAVUTO: The former Whitewater special prosecutor, Robert Ray.
All right, Dorian, Category 4, we're told, by the time it hits Florida on Monday. They could be wrong. What we don't know now is how various cities across the state are preparing for that.
We will get the read from West Palm Beach. That city's mayor, Keith James, is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, as you have heard, there's this hurricane called Dorian that is setting its sights right now on the Sunshine State, among other states.
To West Palm Beach, Florida, Mayor Keith James on how his particular city is preparing.
Mayor, good to have you.
KEITH JAMES, MAYOR OF WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: Thank you for having me.
CAVUTO: How are things looking where you are and the preparation for this? You got to be ready for all contingencies. What do you think?
JAMES: Well, listen, we are closely monitoring the storm. The projection models are still all over the map.
But we are -- as I have been telling my citizens in my releases, we are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. Our primary concern is making sure that the residents stay safe.
And so we're trying to basically encourage them to do everything they can now to prepare for the storm. You know, I have been through a few of these before. And while the storm itself is bad with a lot of rain and wind, it's really life after the storm, the period of five to seven days where you may not have power.
There may be lights down. It may not be -- it may not be safe to drive. So, we really are trying to get them to prepare as best as possible for life after the storm as well.
CAVUTO: What do you do, Mayor, when -- if it comes to this, where you have to tell people to clear out and they don't?
I always wonder how mayors, governors handle that sort of thing?
JAMES: Well, listen, we try to encourage people. We have got a system where folks can find out what the evacuation zone where -- they're in.
Even this far out, we're telling people, find out your evacuation zone, learn and stay close to the radio, to the TV to find out if there's an evacuation order.
If people don't heed the evacuation order, there's not much we can do, because we can't risk the lives of first-responders to try to save someone who didn't heed the evacuation order. We have got to -- that's one reason for having the evacuation order, is to move people out of very unstable, unsafe places.
If they refuse to do that, then they're on their own.
CAVUTO: You know what's interesting, too? And you're dealing with it head on, Mayor, is this -- it's a holiday weekend, the Labor Day weekend coming up.
There are a lot of people heading to Florida and a lot of people who might, in a couple of days, be getting the heck out of Florida. How do you deal with that and road closures and putting people in the reverse lanes to open up all lanes, all of that stuff?
JAMES: Well, listen, if have any -- if we do have an evacuation, and we most likely will, we will certainly do what's necessary to make sure that that evacuation proceeds as smoothly as possible.
I know, at the state level, they are removing any tolls on the turnpike to enable people to get out. There may be instances where we have, as you said, two-lane roads or four-lanes roads become all moving one way out from, away from the danger.
So we -- if there's an evacuation, we're going to do everything under our power to ensure that it proceeds smoothly.
CAVUTO: Now, Mayor, this occurs at a time when a lot of people worry that -- you know, about gouging. We had your state's attorney general on a moment ago. I don't know how prevalent that is in West Palm, but there's always a fear of that.
And how do you deal with it in your locale?
JAMES: Well, I mean, listen, there's an app. And I know the state attorney general has been on the top of it.
I heard a story today where, yesterday, somebody went by a gas station, and it was only $2.24. And when they drove -- and they claimed that they didn't have regular gas. And a few hours later, they came by the same station. They had regular gas, but it had gone up like 50 or 60 cents a gallon.
So, they took a picture and they're going to turn that in.
CAVUTO: Wow.
JAMES: Yes, we just hope that people will appeal to their most honest instincts.
One thing I have learned about these storms, and particularly life after the storm, is, that's when most people really try to be their best neighbors and best citizens and really reach out to their fellow man.
CAVUTO: I hope you're right.
Mayor, good luck with all of this, Keith James.
We will have a lot more after this, including the latest on what the president's been saying.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
QUESTION: I know you were critical of FOX yesterday. You came out...
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: Yes.
QUESTION: ... and you tweeted: "Fox News heavily promoting the Democrats through the DNC communications director spewing out whatever she wanted."
TRUMP: Absolutely. Absolutely.
QUESTION: So you were very upset.
TRUMP: No, I'm not happy with -- I'm not happy with Fox.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: All right, well, I think the president watches Fox.
I also think he is getting sick of Fox, which is weird because I think he gets pretty fair coverage at FOX, but the president making clear to fact- check him is to be all but dead to him and his legion of supporters, who let me know in no uncertain terms I am either with him totally, or I am a never-Trumper fully.
There are no grays, no middle ground. You're either all in or you're just out, loyal on everything or not to be trusted on anything, which could explain the president himself this week bashing FOX News yet again, urging his supporters to stop watching the channel, to quote tweet: "FOX isn't working for us anymore."
Well, first of all, Mr. President, we don't work for you. I don't work for you. My job is to cover you, not fawn over you or rip you, just report on you, to call balls and strikes on you.
My job, Mr. President, our job here is to keep the score. It's not settle scores -- now, in my case, to report the economic numbers when they're good and when they're bad, when the markets are soaring and when they're tumbling, when trade talks look like they're coming together and when they look like they're falling apart.
It is called being fair and balanced, Mr. President.
Yet it is fair to say you're not a fan when that balance includes stuff you don't like to hear or facts you don't like to have questioned.
You're only human. I get that. Who likes to be corrected? But you are the president. It comes with the job, just like checking what you say and do comes with my job.
After all, I'm not the one who said tariffs are a wonderful thing. You are.
Just like I'm not the one who said Mexico would pay for the wall. You did.
Just like I'm not the one who claimed that Russia didn't meddle in the 2016 election. You did.
Now, I'm sorry you don't like these facts being brought up, but they are not fake because I did. What would be fake is if I never did, if I ignored all the times you said you loved your old Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, until you didn't, had no plans to dump your homeland security secretary, until you did, called Chinese President Xi Jinping an enemy just last week and a great leader this week.
Sometimes, you don't even wait that long. Last week, you expressed an appetite for background checks, before arguing just hours later our background checks are already strong.
These aren't fake items. They're real items, and you really said them, just like you never paid to silence a porn star, until it turns out you did, never ordered your former White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Bob Mueller, until we learn you tried.
Fake is when it's wrong, Mr. President, not when it's unpleasant, just like it isn't and wasn't fake when you said the "Access Hollywood" tape wasn't real, when it was, or that you inherited a depression from Barack Obama, when you didn't, or that you ripped quantitative easing when he was president, but are furious the Federal Reserve isn't doing the same for you now that you're president.
You're entitled to your point of view, Mr. President, but you're not entitled to your own set of facts.
Now, we can argue over whether you ever wanted to buy Greenland or disrupt hurricanes with nuclear weapons, but where seeds are planted, doubts are sown. You're right to say the media isn't fair to you, that they're more inclined to report the bad than anything good about you.
So it is no surprise you're frustrated that more aren't in line with you and that everyone at FOX might not be in lockstep with you. You might even think that those who are work for you.
They don't. I don't.
Hard as it is to fathom, Mr. President, just because you're the leader of the free world doesn't entitle you to a free pass, unfortunately, just a free press.
Good night.
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