year? just saying. >> if you don't succeed tear it down? >> she's torn a lot of things down. >> there you go. >> back to vegas, we are on, after the baby. thanks for watching. and when you can't catch us, dvr us, you play it over and over and over. "america reports" now. >> john: harris thank you so much. brand-new bombshells about hunter biden from a whistleblower potentially making ties between the president and son's business affairs even tighter. new documents indicate president biden was aware of his son's business dealings even suggesting the president may have been involved in some of them himself. >> sandra: iowa senator chuck grassley has been investigating hunter for years and says the fbi has evidence to potentially charge him with crimes. senator grassley's take on the new stunning claims when he joins us life coming up. >> john: begin "america reports" at the white house where

president biden is set to lay out his plan to once again bring down sky high cost of gasoline at the pump. once again, by tapping into the nation's emergency oil reserves, even as it brings the needle even closer to e. i'm john roberts in washington, happy wednesday, sandra. >> sandra: and that's a visual for you, starting to look like that, right? the president will announce that release of 15 million more barrels of oil, rounds out the 180 million draw down the president committed to earlier this year. >> john: the releases have brought the supply to the lowest level since ronald reagan was president. likely bring down gas prices for a brief period of time, but critics say biden is using the emergency stockpile to play politics. midterm elections now just 20 days away. former vice president mike pence will join us to discuss what all of this means for the elections. >> sandra: looking forward to that. begin with fox team coverage.

marc thiessen ready to sounds out, and one way inflation threatens to drain the joy out of the upcoming holiday season. >> john: jacqui heinrich is live on the north lawn. and what happens from here? >> hey, john. today's release is the last portion of the 180 million barrels that the president began selling about six months ago. what's concerning to the president's critics is his willingness to keep on dipping into the country's emergency stockpile, now sitting around a 40-year low and right now there is really no indication just how low the president and the white house is willing to go. >> we have over 400 million barrels, that's a lot of barrels, and we are going to use them if we need to. we want the industry to increase production right now so that their barrels, private sector barrels can come into the market. >> the white house is planning to buy back what they have

already sold when prices fell back to between 67 and $72 a barrel, but keep in mind congressional democrats blocked a plan by former president trump to replenish reserves when oil was at around $24 a barrel. so that being said, this plan is going to cost a lot more than it once would have, and moreover, the white house claims they have very little control over prices because of external factors like russia's war in ukraine. right now officials are deciding whether the u.s. should stop selling refined products overseas to keep more stable prices at home. american petroleum institute warned that would cause a net loss in gdp, choke off energy supplies to u.s. allies overseas at a time of greatest need. the white house is keeping a tight lid on everything. >> can you today rule out an export ban that would send oil overseas? >> i am not going to get ahead of this president.

i'm not going to be -- >> the president address that specifically? >> i'm not going to lay out or preview what the president is going to address. >> republicans, though, say this is a self-inflicted problem. >> joe biden should look in the mirror if he wants to figure out the reason for high gas prices. remember, in the campaign, he promised to end fossil fuels in america. that's why we have an energy crisis in america. >> we'll hear the full detail from the president when he gives remarks a little while from now, john. >> john: looking forward to that, jacqui. we'll have the president for you as soon as he takes the podium. sandra. >> sandra: we have not made it to halloween yet but did see my first christmas wreath this morning. already some people are fearing what christmas will look like for those who cannot afford to get into the christmas spirit. struggling families are cutting back on the basic, cutting out the extras, and that leaves no spot on the list for luxury items like fancy christmas cookies or bread at hanukkah.

they are warning they have to pass higher costs on to their customers. madison alworth is live at a bakery. >> owner tells me all ingredients have gone up and labor in costs, one ingredient in particular really sending operation costs skyrocketing. butter is the one ingredient key to bakers. it's up 32% in price year over year. you know, when you compare it to food inflation, up 13%, you can see how dramatic that is. butter is actually the number one food item that has seen the biggest cost increase. why are we seeing that? lower milk production on u.s. dairy farms and labor and fuel shortages at processing plants. they have weighed on butter output for months. the amount of butter at storage

facility, lowest level since 2017. all of this means sullivan street bakery where we are today, has had to increase prices on average 30% on all items. this is ahead of the holiday baking season. they are worried there might be more increases once we hit that time period. in particular, they have a special christmas bake, pantone, which requires a lot of butter, what makes it so delicious and the owner tells me increases for the price on top of what they have already done. take a listen. >> we make this holiday bread called pantone, it's a very popular, very in right now, obviously have to raise. we do not know exactly what we are going to charge for them this year, but have to raise them about 15 to 20% over what they were last year because, you know, i don't have a choice. >> so what that means is they have not settled on a price, sandra, but are looking at maybe $60 per loaf.

this is the big bakers experiencing this. also seeing it for home bakers. butter, we said that impacts everyone, and when you break apart the butter number, look at margarine, actually increased 44%. and that has long been a staple in family's homes if you are trying to save money. when you lack look at an increase of 44% -- >> and the wages are up for the folks behind you working so hard, but inflation is decreasing their buying power. it is just a huge problem all around and we are watching them hard at work behind you, madison. thank you. all right, john. >> john: our friends anna and john see send us a pantone every year, and thank you this year in advance. marc thiessen, former white house speech writer, fox news contributor. start with gas prices. strategic petroleum reserve, biden announced, the timing, how

could it be seen as anything but political. >> of course, a month before the election. >> john: 20 days. >> releasing gas from the strategic petroleum reserve. gas price -- he's trying to halt it before it gets to the 4, $5 range. but no steps to decrease gas prices in the long-term. the least number of acres leased on any president since world war ii, so all political. the danger, the fact is, democrats like high gas prices, they don't like them before election because it hurts them but they want us to, they think they are going to push us into ev and the new climate agenda, they want to raise the price of gas like the price of cigarettes to stop us from smoking. >> john: you mentioned gas prices have gone up again, since trended back down, ron klain noted in a lengthy tweet, again just to recap where we are after

four weeks of gas price increase we are in the second week of declining and trending down. back below 3.50 in 16 states, dropped $0.10 or more the past week in 13 states. raises the question, marc, if gas prices are trending back down, why do you need to release oil from the strategic reserve? >> exactly, they want to take credit when the prices are going down but not when they go up. so basically what he's saying, transitory gas prices. >> john: you can always blame putin. abortion is a big topic, oil today and yesterday abortion. what he said he would do if democrats retain control of congress. >> here is the promise i make to you and the american people. the first bill that i will send to the congress will be to codify roe v. wade.

and when congress passes it i'll sign it in january. >> john: put up the "new york times" poll about what independent women voters are thinking. in september, favoring the democrats by 14%, maybe on the strength of their argument about the dobbs decision and abortion, but now look at this, the gop favored by 18 points, 32-point swing and biden is still on the abortion issue because clearing independent women are thinking about the economy. >> yeah, here is the reality. he says the first thing i will do as president is send a bill to congress to not codify roe v. wade, but wipe out abortion laws, radical abortion policy and most people saying you should do something about inflation or gas prices or food prices or housing prices or the crime wave or the border crisis. not the first priorities of the american people. he's telling the people i'm out of touch with your priorities. >> sandra: sound bite from

stacey abrams, she took the economy and abortion and mashed them together. >> having children is why you are worried about your price for gas. it's why you are concerned about how much food cost. for women, this is not reproductive issue. >> the answer is abortion, if you kill your baby you don't have to drive it to school and feed it. perfect solution for the democrats. >> sandra: sandra, and those are the arguments. 20 days left, gas prices, abortion, the economy, is it inflation? >> sandra: indeed. a lot more on that coming up. just want to get this in here, didn't have time on the screen because just came out from the potus account. white house tweeted out a chart saying right now, i'll read this part, right now refiners and retailers are making record profits at the expense of the vast majority of americans. it's unacceptable. posting a price chart of oil

versus gasoline prices in this country. and john, that shows this white house's goal and strategy to continue to demonize the fossil fuel industry and blame them for the policies that led to these high energy prices. that's really something. it just came out from the potus account a few moments ago. >> john: many people might consider them to be a convenient foil. more with mike pence ahead as well. >> sandra: and the head of an oil company, we'll ask him about the upcoming winter heating season, and the vice president will be joining us shortly. >> john: looking forward to all of that. >> sandra: could a vaccine mandate be coming for our children in school? a cdc panel is set to vote on the potential rule change, but medical experts are split whether or not that is a good idea. >> john: new bombshells in the hunter biden investigation suggest the president knew about his son's shady dealings and may have even been involved. iowa republican chuck grassley

has been on the case for years. he joins us to talk about that, and how the investigation could change if the gop takes back congress. >> this is going to be a priority for republicans, especially republicans on the house oversight committee. we have been probing for months. the more that comes out, the worst it sounds. the reason we are investigating hunter biden, we believe he's a national security threat. are no upfront costs for appraisal or termite inspections. no upfront costs at all to get the cash you need. veterans get more at newday. breakthrough heartburn... means your heartburn treatment is broken. try zegerid otc. it contains the leading medicine to treat frequent heartburn, uniquely designed for absorption. get all day, all night relief with zegerid otc. i brought in ensure max protein with 30 grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. uhh - here, i'll take that woo hoo ensure max protein,

with 30 grams of protein, 1 gram of sugar and now in two new flavors (♪ ♪) research shows that people remember ads with young people having a good time. so to help you remember that liberty mutual customizes your home insurance, here's a pool party. look what i brought! liberty mutual! they customize your home insurance... so you only pay for what you need! ♪young people having a good time with insurance.♪ ♪young people.♪ ♪good times.♪ ♪insurance!♪

only pay for what you need. ♪liberty liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ realtor.com. there's so many houses for sale. where do we even start? ♪ the house whisperer! that's right. i was raised in houses grew up in one. now i help people find theirs. your perfect house told me you can find it on the realtor.com app. these filters narrow it down to the listings just right for us. also, this house wants you to know all the missing socks, they're behind the dryer. realtor.com. to each their home. think he's posting about all that ancient roman coinage? no, he's seizing the moment with merrill. moving his money into his investment account in real time and that's... how you collect coins. your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company.

we can't wait any longer. climate change is here. already threatening san francisco's wastewater treatment plant at ocean beach. risking overflow sewage to dump right into the ocean. there's a solid climate plan in place, but changes to the great highway required by prop i would cost san francisco taxpayers $80 million to draft a new climate plan and put the entire west side and ocean beach at risk of contamination. protect our beach, ocean and essential infrastructure. reject prop i before it's too late.

there's a reason comcast business powers more businesses than any other provider. actually, there's a few... comcast business offers the fastest, reliable network... the protection of security edge... and the most reliable 5g network. want me to keep going? i can... whether your business is starting or growing, you need comcast business. technology solutions that put you ahead get started with fast speeds and advanced security together for $69.99 a month for 12 months. plus find out how to get up to a $650 prepaid card with a qualifying bundle. >> john: a federal jury acquitting danchenko on all four counts of lying to the fbi. he was a key informant for the steele dossier. the verdict is a setback for special counsel john durham who is investigating the origins of the russian probe. >> sandra: potentially game

changing claims from the new whistleblower documents in the hunter biden probe. they indicate the president was aware of his son's business dealings overseas and may have been involved in some of them. our next guest has been investigating hunter biden since 2019 and says the fbi has enough evidence to act. iowa senator chuck grassley joins us now, ranking member of the senate judiciary committee. appreciate your time today. >> thank you for having us. >> sandra: what can you tell us you know when it comes to hard evidence of these business dealings? >> ok, well, first of all, the letter that i sent this week, justice department, fbi know that my investigative staff have seen the documents and the information they have on possible criminal activity. now there's not much i can say about what's in those documents but i can say i know that there's reasons, legitimate

allegations of potential things that need to be investigated so our question to the department and fbi is are you aware of it, and are you following up on the investigation, and the public and the congress has a right to know, and things don't look very good in the documents that we have seen. >> john: senator, let me read an excerpt from the letter you sent. says the documents in the fbi possession include specific details with respect to conversations by nongovernment individuals relevant to potential criminal conduct by hunter biden. these documents also indicate joe biden was aware of hunter biden's business arrangements and may have been involved in some of them. unclear whether the fbi followed normal investigative procedure or shut down investigative activity based on improper disinformation claims in advance of the 2020 election. we just went through the danchenko trial where the fbi was on trial as much as he was.

do you believe this is evidence of malfeasance on the part of the fbi? >> i think we had evidence in one other hunter biden situation where the political bias in special investigator by the name of thibault, timothy thibault, he opened up an investigation based on fuzzy information about trump, so they investigated that, and we had evidence of criminality that should have, possible criminality that should have been followed up and he stopped that investigation. so the fact that there's political bias in that instance and plenty of other instances that we know about, it raises the questions that we have raised in this letter. so my answer to your question is yes. >> senator, what can americans expect from the senate if your party is able to regain control in november as far as these investigations are concerned, how will the nature of them change if republicans get control?

>> well, the extent to which we have a democratic control of congress, and chairman of committee set the agenda for that committee. i haven't gotten a lot of cooperation from democrats on this investigation that i'm doing, and you probably know senator johnson is helping me in some of these investigations. he's going to be chairman of the subcommittee on investigation of homeland security, i'm going to be chairman of the judiciary committee, and we'll be in a more powerful position to pursue these. the only thing i have to tell your listeners is that congress investigates we don't prosecute, and we have had plenty of evidence of unequal prosecution, depending on what political party you are in, within this justice department. so that seems to be the bigger concern when we provide ample information like i think these documents show, are we going to be able to guarantee that

there's going to be prosecution if there's criminal conduct? >> john: senator, you and i were talking, by rules, you have two more years as judiciary chairman, should the republicans take control. in order to do that you have to win your seat and the latest polling in the des moines register shows you have a tight race with your challenger, 46 to 43%. you've been there 40 years, you usually win in a landslide, what's going on? >> i don't know, i don't know what's going on but i know this. in order to get re-elected in iowa, you have to work hard, convince the people they should vote for you and i'm going to tell people listening just like i tell iowans, if you are interested in helping me, go to grassleyworks.com and if you want to keep the investigations going, like senator johnson, i have to have some help to get re-elected and i would appreciate the help. >> sandra: a quick follow-up to that, the same question i ask democrats, inflation is the top

concern for voters. what is your pitch to voters, how do you bring prices down, especially gas? >> first of all, we ought to do everything we can in the congress to get the president to reverse his energy policies. particularly on the price of diesel because diesel is used in trucks and everything is delivered by trucks, half of the 8.2% is related to diesel. so just reverse your policies. now, we can pass laws to do that, will the president sign them, probably not. because he believes in electric cars and wants to put 46,000 iowans that work in ethanol plants out of a job. and opec bill, because opec is a

monopoly, i guess you would say, and they ought to be subject to our antitrust laws. another thing is to make sure that we get adequate information out about how the administration is driving up food prices. >> john: senator, always good to spend time with you. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> john: moving on, your child may soon need the covid-19 vaccine just to go to school. it would be part of their mandatory vaccine regiment. centers for disease control independent advisers are set for a vote that could add the covid shot to the list of routine vaccines for kids, despite only emergency approval in children under 12. it's setting off a fire storm among parents. jonathan has the latest for us from atlanta, home of the centers for disease control, and jonathan, what is driving this? >> yeah, right now all of us, we all get covid shots for free,

it's federally funded but the concern is what happens to poor and uninsured children once the federal funds for this program run out. so if the cdc adds covid shots to its immunization schedule, these kids would qualify for coverage under a federally funded program called vaccines for children. but it would also give states the option to require the shots for school. that's already getting pushback from florida surgeon general who tweeted regardless of what cdc votes tomorrow on whether covid-19 vaccines, nothing changes in florida. for generations americans have been accustomed to mandatory school vaccines such as measels and polio, but states make other things optional, such as human papilloma virus and seasonal flu. a leading vaccine expert predicts the latter for covid shots.

>> my personal expectation is there will not be a rush to mandate the vaccine, if for no other reason it's rather controversial at least in some quarters. >> the discussion of vaccine schedules comes as public health officials warn of a possible winter surge in covid cases, driven by multiple omicron variants arriving at the same time. they do the targeting boosters that came out and are currently available for free for all of us offer substantial protection but so far, john, demand for these boosters has been relatively low. back to you. >> john: more with dr. nicole saphier in our next hour. should the cdc be mandating covid vaccines for children in order for them to go to school, and there appears to be little data on the boosters for kids. >> sandra: she always offers great perspective as a doctor and as a parent, john, we look forward to talking with her.

parents will have big questions over why, when it only has the emergency approval, why do this now? if it's so necessary, why not wait for the full approval for those 12 and under. >> john: looking forward to what she's got to say. >> sandra: the battle for congress meeting up as election day approaches, and voters appear laser focused on the economy before they head to the polls. is that good for republican candidates trying to win their races? former vice president mike pence has been busy on the campaign trail. he will stop here to weigh in on the gop chances and what the party's message should be. >> plus, the fentanyl crisis only getting worse in rural america with police units struggling to slow the spread of dangerous pills. how some local governments are taking action to find the dealers in their communities. >> what the cartels have done is they have taken fentanyl, they have produced, mass produced

counterfeit pills that look like other pills and people don't know what they're taking. station alone are taking a big chunk out of our paychecks. fortunately, you've earned the valuable va home loan benefit. the newday 100 va loan lets you borrow up to 100% of your home's value, not just 80%. and with home values near record highs, that could mean a lot of money. let newday turn your home's equity into cash. ♪ ♪ mercedes-benz is turning electric... completely on its head. bringing legendary design... and state-of-the-art technology... to a fully-electric suv.

enough. families are hurting. you have heard me say it before but i get it. i come from a family if the price of gasoline went up at the gas station we felt it. gas prices hit almost every family in this country, and they squeeze their family budgets. the price of gas goes up, other expenses get cut. that's why i have been doing everything in my power to reduce gas prices since putin's

invasion of ukraine caused the prices to spike and rattle international oil markets, excuse me. i focus how we can protect american families from the spike and give folks a little bit of breathing room as my dad would say. today announcing three critical steps to reduce gas prices at the pump. first, the department of energy will release another 15 million barrels from the strategic petroleum reserve, extending our previously announced release through the month of december. independent analysis, excuse me, analysts have confirmed that draw downs from the reserve so far have played a big role in bringing down oil prices, bringing them down, so we are going to continue the responsible use the national asset. the strategic petroleum reserve is more than half full, about 400 million barrels of oil.

that's more than enough for any emergency draw down. with my announcement today, we are going to continue to stabilize markets and decrease prices at a time when the actions of other countries have caused some volatility and i've told my team behind me here to be prepared to look further, look for further releases in the months ahead if needed. we are calling it a ready and release plan. this allows us to move quickly to prevent oil price spikes and respond to international events. secondly, we need to responsibly increase american oil production without delaying or deferring our transition to clean energy. let me -- let's debunk some myths here. my administration has not stopped or slowed u.s. oil production, quite the opposite. we are producing 12 million barrels of oil per day, and by the end of this year we will be producing 1 million barrels a

day more than the day on which i took office. in fact, we are on track for record oil production in 2023. and today the united states is the largest producer of oil and petroleum products in the world. we export more than we import and herd from oil companies that they are worried investing in additional oil production today will -- in the case the demand goes down in the future and they are not going to be able to sell their oil product at a competitive price later. we have a solution for that. today i'm announcing a plan to refill the strategic petroleum oil reserve in the years ahead at a profit for taxpayers. the united states government is going to purchase oil to refill the strategic petroleum reserve when prices fall to $70 a barrel. that means oil companies can invest to ramp up production now with confidence they'll be able

to sell their oil to us at that price in the future, $70. refining and refilling the reserve at $70 a barrel is a good price for companies. and it's a good price for the taxpayers. and it's critical to our national security to put in context, since march, the average price of oil has been more than $90 a barrel. the highest since 2014. by selling from the strategic petroleum reserve at the higher price of $90 earlier this year, and then refilling it in the future at a lower price around $70, will actually make money for the taxpayers. lower the price of gas and help bolster production, all while totally consistent with my commitment to accelerate the transition to clean energy. so my message to oil companies is this. you are sitting on record profits. the and we are giving you more certainty so you can act now to

increase oil production now. the third thing i'm doing is i'm calling oil companies to past the savings on to consumers. consider this. in the second quarter of this year profits at six of the largest publicly traded oil companies were more than $70 billion. that's $70 billion in just one quarter, 90 days. 70 billion. so far american oil companies are using that windfall, the windfall of profits to buy back their own stock, passing that money on to their shareholders, not to consumers. in fact, in the first half of the year those same companies spent $20 billion buying back their own stock and most importantly, buying back a buyback -- most significant buyback in the last -- almost a decade. that's great if you own a lot of stock in the oil company or if

you are an executive at an oil company. puts a lot of money in your pocket. that is how you get paid. but it's not the case for the vast majority of americans, paying at the pump. here is another thing. when the cost of oil comes down, we should see the price at the gas station, at the pump come down as well. that's how it's supposed to work. but that's not what's happening. in the past two weeks the price of oil has fallen $4 a barrel. and thanks in large part to the steps we have taken this year, the price of oil has fallen nearly $40 a barrel since mid june. that's a 30% drop in the price of a barrel of oil. but guess what, gas prices have not fallen that much. and it's not right. gas prices at the pump should be lower, in fact, if retailers and refiners were earning the average profit they have made over the last 17 years,

americans would be paying at least $0.60 less per gallon for every gallon they buy. say that again. $0.60 less for every gallon they buy. that makes a big difference in a family. my message to the american energy companies is this. you should not be using your profits to buy back stock or for dividends, not now. not while a war is raging. you should be using these record breaking profits to increase production and refining. invest in america. for the american people. bring down the price you charge at the pump to reflect what you pay for the product. still make a significant profit. the shareholders will do very good, and fair price at the pump as well. one more thing i want to mention today. our country needs to pass permanent reform to accelerate

the development of clean energy. right now the process of getting clean energy products approved is too cumbersome and too time consuming. so i'm asking the congress, pass a permitting bill to speed up the approval of all kinds of energy production from winds to solar to clean hydrogen. because we need to get this moving now, quickly, now. it would take, you know, this -- if we do this, it would take clean energy investments i signed into law and put them into action. in fact, one independent analysis has already estimated that the $369 billion we are making in federal investment that will generate, just that, will generate $1.7 trillion in total public and private investments in the years ahead. you can increase oil and gas

production now while still moving full speed ahead to accelerate our transition to clean energy. that way, that way we can lower energy costs for american families, enhance our national security at a very difficult moment. let me close at this. i know it's been a rough 4, 5 years for the country. for a lot of families, things are still tough. but choices made by other countries are affecting the price of gas here at home. that's why i've been acting so aggressively. without the steps we have taken over the past several months to ramp up production and lower prices and get relief to consumers, gas prices would be higher than they are today, and we'll keep doing everything we can to keep it going to ensure that our energy independence and security is available and to lower gas prices here at home, and to give folks a little bit of breathing room. we just have to remember who we

are. we are the united states of america, for god sake. there's not a single thing we can't do when we put our minds to it and strengthen our economy now and build at the same time. totally in our capacity, totally in our capacity. gas prices are coming down, we are going to do everything we can to make sure they continue to come down, and companies act responsibly so it's reflected at the pump. thank you all, may god bless you, and may god protect our troops. thank you. >> mr. president -- >> i don't hear, can you speak louder? >> what is your response to republicans who say you are only doing this spr release to help democrats in the midterms? >> where have they been the last four months? that's my response. >> is it politically motivated, sir? >> no, it's not. look, it makes sense. i've been doing this for how long now? it's not politically motivated

at all. it's motivated to make sure that i continue to push on what i've been pushing on. and that is making sure there's enough oil that's being pumped by the companies so that we have the ability to be able to produce enough gas that we need here at home, oil we need here at home, and the same time, keep moving in the direction of providing for alternative energy. that's what i've been doing. now, the problem is these guys were asleep, i don't know where they have been, and they seem -- the price at the pump should reflect what the price of a barrel of oil costs, and it's not going down consistently. >> mr. president -- [inaudible] >> martial law in parts of ukraine. what does that say where his thinking is on the war in ukraine right now? >> i think vladimir putin finds

himself in an incredibly difficult position and what it reflects to me is it seems his only tool available to him is to br brutalize individual citizens in ukraine to try to intimidate them into capitulating. they are not going to do that. thank you. >> sir -- >> d20 -- >> sir, do you want to ban the export of u.s. petroleum products? >> sandra: hanging on for a beat to see if he took any more questions from the press there. real quickly, the american petroleum institute in washington has issued a response to the president's speech, hearing his demonization yet again of the oil and gas industry saying they are sitting on record profits. this is the ceo saying increasing energy demand and constraint supply, faulty policy decisions have driven fuel

prices higher, a time when american energy can be a stabilizing force at home and abroad, we urge caution and continuing to rely on short-term efforts, tapping the spr, no substitute for sound long-term policies that enable american energy leadership. i know we have the vice president waiting. but john, important to point out, sitting on record profits, this is the president's policies leading to that. new taxes on the corporations, trying to do this ahead of that. and comments about them sitting on the record profits at a time when they were told not to invest in fossil fuels. so the president actually identified how his own policies are serving to continue to raise energy prices in this country. >> john: no question there's a lot to unpack here, let's bring in the former vice president of the united states, mike pence. your administration released oil from the strategic petroleum reserve once, that was in september of 2019. in response to attacks on saudi oil facilities. you wanted to refill the

strategic petroleum reserve at $24 a barrel but democrats in the senate would not let you do it. your reaction what the president said. >> strategic petroleum exists for national security and the idea of using the strategic petroleum reserve to respond to their failed energy policies is against american interests. we have depleted the strategic petroleum reserve by some 50%, and the 15 million barrels will only worsen that at a time we have war in eastern ukraine, provocations from north korea and even from china across the taiwan strait, it does not make any sense. what struck me the most what president biden said was the fact that he said it's been a tough 4 or 5 years. tough 4 or 5 years, under the trump-pence administration we achieved energy independence. we became a net exporter of

energy the first time in 70 years, but unleashing american energy, approving the keystone and dakota pipeline, opening up the alaska national wildlife region. i was in new mexico a week ago, incredible area of innovation, but i heard not only did they shut down the pipelines, they shut down alaska, but only approved in new mexico, john, about 500 acres in the last two years for oil development, that's two wells. once again what your viewers saw and americans saw, president biden blaming rising gasoline prices on the war in ukraine. but look, most americans know gasoline prices have gone up 50% before the first shot was fired. gasoline prices are high at the pump today not because of the war in ukraine but because of joe biden's war on energy and i think the reason in 20 days you

are going to see the american people take back the house, take back the senate, take back statehouses around the country, they know better, and the pathway to american independence is unleash american energies and we'll have majorities to drive the policy and hope to force them back to common sense. >> sandra: good to see you, sandra here. there are many in your party, sir, who have warned amid this energy crisis that this does indeed weaken our status on the world stage. do you believe that to be the case? >> well, there's so much that the biden administration has done to weaken america at home and abroad. the disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan squandered american credibility. i continue to grieve over that disgrace by this administration. but there's no question that by pulling back on the extraordinary progress that we made in the trump-pence administration, achieving

american energy independence, you know, one of the words i didn't hear president biden say a moment ago was natural gas. we are the saudi arabia of natural gas. what the tension in europe today is as putin continues to threaten cutting off natural gas to europe as the winter approaches, and yet this administration through excessive regulation has literally been shutting down development. you don't need to go any further than the heartland of america, talk to people in oklahoma, north dakota, south dakota, tell you the reality on the ground and that's why the group that i founded, we have been running ads in congressional districts around the country, just demanding that democrats in congress unleash american energy. it's the pathway forward, not literally dipping the ladle one more time to the strategic petroleum reserve one more time as the election approaches. but i hope americans come to

their senses the next 20 days but i think they have another thing coming on november 8th, and you are going to have pro american energy majorities in the house and senate, pro american energy governors i think in record numbers, and my hope is that president biden then will relent and understand that we just got to unleash the strengths of this nation, particularly in such an uncertain time in the world. >> john: politics in a second, but another foreign policy issue and that is ukraine. the house minority leader mccarthy wants to be the next speaker of the house, take the gavel, american will no longer have a blank check in ukraine. >> understood we need to be the leader of the free world, and the arsenal of democracy. and in the days of ronald reagan we understood the value of confronting the russians and communism in the world, not by

necessarily fighting directly but making sure the people fighting the communists, whether in our hemisphere or around the world had the resources they need. this is a fight, heritage association here in washington i came to town to talk about an agenda for the new congress coming forward but i believe rededicating our commitment to a strong national defense, which has been significantly weakened by this administration. it's not being widely reported outside of fox, but this administration while they have broken the bank on domestic spending, 1.8 trillion in the first few months in office that ignited the inflation that is besetting families, they have been flat lining military spending in this country and now more than ever we need to support our troops at home and abroad, but today i called on, i called on the congress and the new majorities to continue to provide military support to ukraine. and sanctions to bear and continue to provide humanitarian

support. we saw it firsthand. my wife and i went into ukraine in march, we saw long lines of women of every age, children of every age, people dragging their eeshthly possessions behind them. we have to make it clear putin will pay for this unconscionable war of aggression and we need to support the people of ukraine as they fight for their defense. >> john: to put a point on it, should the amount of support we give to ukraine in the future continue as it is now. >> i think, look, i'm always in favor of accountability and understanding where the dollars are going. but i think it's absolutely essential we send a deafening message for people fighting for freedom in ukraine and allies in europe we will fight for those for freedom, continue to support ukraine's fight for freedom until putin with draws or peace ensues. that's -- we have to stand there because i'll tell you, i've stood toe to toe with vladimir

putin, i've looked him in the eye. the only thing he understands, john, is power, and standing with the people of ukraine courageously fighting for their freedom, that's what the arsenal of democracy and what america needs to do. >> sandra: we have seen you on the campaign trial, obviously 20 days out from a serious election for this country, it could be a game changer for many reasons and seen your party focusing on inflation, which seems to be top of the list for voters. you've mentioned the border. obviously crime is up there as well. we also saw the months leading up to this election what was once predicted to be a red wave for your party, that potential margin of victory did shrink for a while, now more in republicans favor as we get closer. is the party getting the messaging straight? what should the message be 20 days to go. >> i've been to 32 states and

the party is focused where the american people are focussed. not on joe biden's pledge to codify roe v. wade as the first act, but to stand for values and focus where americans are hurting and inflation at a 40-year high, gasoline prices at a record level at the pump, a crime wave besetting our cities, and a crisis at our border the likes of which this country has never seen. you know, i've been down to the border many times in arizona in the last year and when you have the guys wearing the green uniforms look you in the eye, sandra, and say we have lost operational control of the border. the cartels control our southern border. that should cause as much alarm as those images that people see day in and day out of thousands of people streaming across the border. look, under the trump-pence administration we reduced illegal immigration at our

southern border by 90%. and this administration has been pursuing policies that resulted in an open border. i was just in guatemala not terribly long ago, i met with the elected leadership in guatemala. i challenged them to do more to stem the wave of migration coming to america but what i heard over and over again from them is that the messages coming out of the biden administration are the problem. literally from day one when they unwound our remain in mexico policy, they stopped the construction of the border wall, all of those messages have created this avalanche of illegal immigration. and i think it's one of the reasons why you are going to see strong republican wins in districts across to country because it is inflation, it is gas prices, it is crime, but the american people know we can secure the southern border if we put back into place the policies working under the trump-pence

administration. >> john: you have been campaigning for a lot, 32 states, and interesting to see, and in arizona, blake, refused to accept the results of the 2020 election. at the same time, also campaigning for congressman david valdeo, voted to impeach president trump. how do you bridge those two things, between election deniers and people who breach president trump? >> i'm a christian, conservative and republican in that order. i'm a proud republican. and john, the primaries are over. i mean, these -- >> john: the great swing toward the middle? >> they all ran in the primaries and carried the message and standing in the gap at a time conservative leadership is needed more than ever before. later this week, headed to kansas and oklahoma. >> john: are you the great moderating influence among the

candidates? >> i'm a conservative, you and sandra have known me a long time. i don't know i've ever been called a moderate. but the candidates i'm standing with, all of them, the ones you mentioned and everyone else are committed to a strong defense, less taxes, less government, unleashing american energy, sanctity of human life, border security, standing up to china, all of the things we did in our administration i'm proud to stand with them. >> sandra: you are obviously identifying some major differences in your own party. how would you characterize the state of the republican party today? >> i got asked that last night, i was at waford college in south carolina, and a young person said how are you going to bridge the divide and unite the party, and four answers to bring the republican party together. joe, kamala, chuck and nancy. the failed policies of this administration, failed policies

of liberals on capitol hill is uniting the republican party as never before. i think we are 20 days away from an historic victory for conservative values, for republican candidates, and that's going to be step one. we win back the congress, we win statehouses across the country. two years from now, win back america. >> john: 30 seconds left, i have a sense how you are going to answer but no question you have your eye set on 2024. when will you make the decision to pull the trigger? >> all of our focus for our family and team is entirely as you suggest on making sure we win strong majorities in the house and the senate. after that, i've got a book coming out, travel the country and after the first of the wel take some time to pray and discern where we will serve next. >> sandra: open announcement to come back here when you have an announcement to make. >> i will. >> john: new at 2:00, a shake-up as we end the closing stretch

before voters decide who controls congress. shifting in the republican favor. tom barrett is making moves to unseat a vulnerable democrat in michigan. he'll join us to talk about that race. and general jack keane, dr. saphier, and more as "america reports" rolls on. we all need cash in the bank to stay ahead. well here's great news for veterans who own a home. home values have climbed to near all-time highs, too. that means the cash you need is right there in your home. newday can unlock it with the newday 100 va cash out loan. it lets you borrow up to 100% of your home's value. not just part of it like some other loans. pay down high-rate credit card debt, consolidate your second mortgage and car loans, and have the security of cash in the bank. the va has granted newday automatic authority. when banks so “no” to a veteran, newday can say “yes.”

(bridget vo) with thyroid eye disease... i hid from the camera. and i wanted to hide from the world. for years, i thought my t.e.d was beyond help... ...but then i asked my doctor about tepezza. (vo) tepezza is the only medicine that treats t.e.d. at the source not just the symptoms. in a clinical study, more than 8 out of 10 patients taking tepezza had less eye bulging. tepezza is an infusion. patients taking tepezza may have infusion reactions. tell your doctor right away if you experience high blood pressure, fast heartbeat, shortness of breath or muscle pain. before getting tepezza, tell your doctor if you have diabetes, ibd, or are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant. tepezza may raise blood sugar even if you don't have diabetes. and may worsen ibd such as crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. (bridget) now, i'm ready to be seen again.

(vo) visit mytepezza.com to find a t.e.d. eye specialist and to see bridget's before and after photos.

think he's posting about all that ancient roman coinage? no, he's seizing the moment with merrill. moving his money into his investment account in real time and that's... how you collect coins. your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company. >> sandra: all new at 2:00, a major vote at the cdc that could mean your children cannot attend school unless they get the covid vaccine. the same vaccine that only has emergency authorization at this point for children under the age of 12. and that has a lot of parents outraged. welcome back as "america reports" rolls into a second hour here. first one flew by, i'm sandra smith in new york. hey, john. >> john: john roberts in washington. a growing number of doctors sounding the alarm ahead o