it's worse, i'm sure pat sajak got his raises. >> i read they wanted to avoid the "jeopardy" saga. >> pat already sorely missed. now here is "america reports." >> sandra: all right, here we go, kicking off a brand-new hour. president biden has taken to the podium in chicago remarks on economic agenda, a talking bidenomics, a new word they are pushing to tout the white house policies. >> sandra, bret baier in for john roberts. >> he put it on the cord for me, dick, you are the best, man. and when i have questions about anything at all, beyond the

judiciary, can i call him for advice. and representative danny davis, danny, you've been a good friend for a long time. [applause] he's always there, and elected officials and members of congress, thank you, thank you for the welcome and welcoming me to chicago. first quarter of the 20th century poet carl sandberg describes chicago as a city of big shoulders. a city of big shoulders. he was describing the big shoulders of the working class american town who were building this city. same time, building the middle class. i'm here in chicago today for the first quarter of the 21st century to talk about the economic vision of the country. economy that grows the economy from the middle out and bottom up instead of the top down. everybody does well.

when that happens, everybody does well. [applause] ladder up, and the wealthy do well, we all do well. this vision is a fundamental break of the economic theory that has failed america's middle class for decades now. it's called trickle down economics. fundamental economics, trickle down. the idea was -- it's believed that we should cut taxes for the wealthy and big corporations, and i know something about big corporations, more corporations in delaware incorporated than every other state in the union combined. i want them to do well but i'm tired of waiting for the trickle down. it doesn't come very quickly. not much trickle down on my dad's kitchen table growing up and it's a belief we should shrink public investment and infrastructure and public education, shrink it. let good jobs get shipped overseas and we have a tax policy that encourages them to go overseas to save money. we should let big corporations amass more power while making it

harder to join a union. i meant when i said when i said i'm going to be the most pro union president in american history and make no apologies for it. [applause] my predecessor, if my mom were here, god bless his soul, enacted the latest iteration of the fail to fail theory. tax cuts to the wealthy, and estimated cost was t$2 trillion $2 trillion and now the republicans are at it again. trickle down approach failed the middle class. it failed america. it blew up the deficit, increased inequity and weakened our infrastructure. it stripped the dignity, pride and hope out of communities, one after another, particularly

through the midwest, western pennsylvania, and heading west. people working as hard as ever couldn't get ahead because it's harder to buy a home, pay for college education, start a business, retire with dignity. first time in a generation path to the middle class seemed out of reach and i don't think it's hyperbole, i think it's a fact. no matter whether you are a democrat, republican or independent. i knew we could not go back to the same failed policies when i ran, i was determined to change the economic direction of this country. to move from trickle down economics to what every1 on wall street journal and financial times began to call bidenomics. i did not come up with the name, i really didn't. i now claim it, but they used it first. i was asked by a press person this morning on the helicopter in washington, when i asked you about bidenomics, you didn't know what it was.

i didn't realize the wall street journal did, but a plan i'm happy to call bidenomics. and guess what -- bidenomics is working. when i took office the pandemic was raging, and our economy was reeling. supply chains were broken, millions unemployed, hundreds of thousands of small business on the verge of closing after so many had already closed. literally, hundreds of thousands on the verge of closing. today u.s. has the highest economic growth rate leading the world economies since the pandemic. the highest in the world. [applause] as dick said, with his help we created 13.4 million new jobs. more jobs in two years than any president has ever made in four, in two. and folks, it's no accident. that's bidenomics in action. it's about building an economy from the middle out and the

bottom up, not the top down. and there are three fundamental changes we decided to make with help and congress to do it. first, making smart investments in america. second, educating and empowering american workers to grow the middle class and third, promoting competition, to lower cost to help small businesses. here is what i mean by all this. under trickle down economics, it did not matter whether you made things as long as you helped the company's bottom line. even if it meant seeing jobs and industries go overseas for cheaper labor. supply chains and key products moved overseas like china and much of asia. entire towns and communities from where i live, all the way through the midwest, were shut down, hollowed out. literally hollowed out. all over the country parents have to say, many of you elected officials heard people tell you this, had to say to their

children. honey, i lost my job. i can't live here anymore, we've got to move. trickle down also meant slashing public investment on things that helped drive long-term growth and helped america lead the world in innovation. we used to invest 2% of our gross domestic product in research and development. by the time i came to office that was down to .7%. we used to be number one in the world in research and development. that's what we were known for. now we rank number nine in the world. china decades ago was number eight in the world. now it's number two in the world. and other nations are closing in fast. used to have the best infrastructure in the world, roads, bridges, etc. then fell to the 13th best investment in infrastructure. 2 to 13. how can you have the best economy in the world without the

best infrastructure in the world? how do you get product from one place to another? i was out at pittsburgh recently, the city of bridges, bridges collapsing all over the nation, you've seen it on television, railroad bridges collapsing. bidenomics, we are turning this around, we are supporting targeted investments, we are strengthening america's economic security, our national security, energy security, and our climate security. i designed and we signed a bipartisan infrastructure law, it's already announced, i heard some of the speakers before touting some of it. it's already announced, 35,000 projects across the country. think of it this way. nearly a century ago franklin roosevelt's rural electrification act. brought electricity to millions of americans in rural america. 70 years ago dwight eisenhower launched the interstate highway system, the largest infrastructure project to date in history.

that's what the bipartisan infrastructure law does. before our kids and grandkids, only bigger. just last week announced afford and high speed internet to end a decade -- unafford and and inaccessible internet to every home in america, every small business in america. and to no one's surprise -- [applause] -- to no one's supplies, it's bringing along some converts. people strenuously opposed voting against it when we had this going on. this was gonna bankrupt america. well, there's a guy named tubberville, from alabama, strongly opposed the legislation, now hailing its passage. what he said "it's great to see alabama receive critical funds to boost ongoing broadband efforts." [laughter]

we are replacing every single lead pipe in this country and putting our children's health back directly. 400,000 schools, 10 million homes. fixing crumbling bridges, upgrading our power grid, and airports, and dick, talked about how important that is for the great lakes as well. last week we opened i-95 back where i live and you go up the east coast, it's one of the most important links in the entire east coast. guess what, less than -- a guy driving a truck hit -- anyway, knocked down a whole bridge, the whole four lanes of the highway. i went up there, i said we are going to get this number one project to get done. within one week of my being there, two weeks of it happening, tanker trucks crashed and caused this overpass that

has 150,000 vehicles travel on it every day, and 14,000 trucks. it's critical to our economy. we did it with union workers, we closed all the loopholes -- [applause] -- we used all american products. all american materials. we used federal infrastructure projects, made in america. made in america, not a slogan, it's actually happening. you know, when roosevelt passed legislation in the 30s about unions being able to be engaged, everybody thought they legalized unions, encourage unions. a little provision there, very few presidents paid attention to. it said buy american. that meant that if a president was given money by the congress to build, say, new decadent aircraft carrier, whatever it was, he or she was supposed to use 100% american labor and 100% american products.

it hardly happened. exception down to 30%. i change all that. we are making targeted investments to promote production of semiconductors, batteries, lelectric cars, trickle down theory, private investment -- give me a break. we went to see corporations that said are you more or less likely to invest if the government invests. overwhelmingly, had it backwards, no, more likely to invest if the public invests. industries we invented started to move overseas, like s semiconductors. america invented them, whether the cell phone function, refrigerators work, on and on,

to sophisticated weapons system -- without that computer chip we got a real problem. but over time we went from producing 40% of those world chips down to 10%. not anymore. biden economics means the industry of the future will grow right here at home, at home. i mean it. not a joke. [applause] under bidenomics already had over $490 billion in private investment commitments. 490 billion. from u.s. companies and companies around the world coming to the united states of america. global partners. america's investments in clean emergency technology reduce carbon emissions, continue to lower the cost of wind, you talked about the wind farm you are talking about. it's already cheaper. wind and solar are significantly

cheaper than coal and oil. you are in the going to see anybody building a new coal fired plant in america, it's too expensive, it doesn't work anymore. solar power is not just here, but around the world and we used to be the center of building these solar panels. we are coming back and doing it again. america is going to lead again. [applause] >> look, it's a win for the united states and a win for the world. builds on my decision to rejoin the paris climate agreement on the first day i came to office. first day. [applause] by the way, my predecessor talked a lot about increasing manufacturing, remember infrastructure week, infrastructure week became infrastructure week, week, week, week, week, never happened. we got infrastructure decade done right off the bat.

[applause] but in reality, construction of manufacturing facilities on u.s. soil grow 2% on my predecessor's watch, 2%. my watch, nearly 100% in two years, 100%. all the members of congress here, i'm -- in west virginia, a steel mill closed 2001 or 2002, that range. had thousands of good paying jobs, they were lost. but today with the help of the inflation reduction act, a plant is being built, building iron air batteries, help restore energy and being built on the same exact site. bringing back 750 good paying jobs. bringing back a sense of pride and hope for the future for all the people of warington and

surrounding areas. i believe everybody american willing to work hard should be able to say where they grew up and stay where they grew up. that's bidenomics. my dad, he would say, joey, he was a well written guy, never got to go to college and hard working gentlemen. and dinner, and we had conversation and incidentally ate. my dad would say remember, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. and give you my word, he would say, a job is a lot more than a paycheck, joey, it's about your dignity, it's about pride, it's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say honey, it's going to be ok. literal sense, thinking about that. about your dignity, how you are treated, and being able to make a living you can tell your kids it's going to be ok. a second big part of bidenomics, empowering american workers.

when i took office, unemployment was over 6%. the american rescue plan we provided relief and support directly to working class families. our economy came roaring back, unemployment dipped below 4% by the end of my first year in office. now it's been below 4% for the longest stretch in 50 years of american history. and i must admit i concentrated on, but we have seen with the help of jesse jackson's legacy and other people here, we have seen record low unemployment for african americans, record low unemployment for african americans and hispanic workers with disabilities. lowest unemployment rate in 70 years for american women and you make up half the economy and probably two-thirds of the -- no, really, think about it. [applause] pause for a second when i was

trying to get -- name me a time you thought any democrat would get the endorsenent within a week of every single environment group out there, afl-cio, the women's groups -- here is the deal. when i sat with the afl-cio and the ibw when i ran last time, here is the deal, i'm going to be the most pro american -- most pro union president in history, but you've got to employ more women, you've got to attract more african americans and minorities, they have. it's begun to change in every industry -- anyway, i go to these sites for their training -- by the way, the other thing i've told labor guys, you've got to brag a little bit more about what you do. you realize to get a license to be electrician in this town, you have to go to four years of

college. you have to go through apprenticeship that takes you four years to five, depending. or you can't get a job. you get paid a little bit, but you can't get your license to be an electrician, a labor electrician until that happens. look, pay for low wage workers is growing at the fastest pace in over two decades. full employment means workers, especially low wage workers, have more bargaining power to demand good pay, to secure good jobs. and this is the thing that inconsistent people think we are moving in the right direction. job satisfaction, based on every poll is at a 36-year high. more people are satisfied with their jobs than any time in 36 years. and the shame of working age americans in the workforce, share of them, a share of them is the highest it's been in 20 years. remember what they were saying, biden policy and working, he's just paying people not to work. people on the sidelines.

well, guess what, every single day in four years, before i took office, you may remember i took a lot of criticism republican charging me encouraging people to stay home, not work. they were wrong. the evidence is clear, americans are back to work who have been on the sidelines and they want to come back. and we are going to continue this progress and make sure every american has a training and education to participate in this new economy. increased pell grants, historic black communities, and more apprenticeship and technology program than any previous administration in american history. because of this new economy we don't need everyone to have a four-year degree. it's great if you get one but you don't need it anymore. back to high school, and people can learn working with their

hands. they don't have them very much any more around the country. my wife teaches at a community college full-time still. any country that outcompetes us -- outeducate us, we are not going to let that happen. we are investing significantly in education. i'm determined to keep fighting for universal pre-k and community college. and also fighting to make -- [applause] -- also fighting to make childcare more affordable. we know one benefit is that it opens up significant opportunities for parents to go back and join the workforce. we are also making it easier to empower workers by making it easier to join a union. i promised to be the most pro union president in history, our union workers, takes 4 to 5

years in the apprenticeship, it's like going to college. they'll do the right job on time, long-term costs for business is less. addressing a four-year decline in unionization by supporting project labor agreements, prevailing wage laws, that's the reason america support for unions is higher than it's been in 60 years, 60 years. [applause] by the way, i met with the business roundtable and others, they said why am i so pro union, because it helps you. it really does. think about it. total cost of a major project goes down when you have the best workers in the world doing it. not a joke. it's true. lasts longer, you don't have to worry about what that socket is going to work. look, young people are organizing new companies and industries. you know, i've indicated to labor leaders, they must expand their ranks, i said more women, more minorities, that's what

they have to do. third part of biden economics is promoting competition. when companies have to compete on level playing field, they have to work harder to attract customers and recruit and retrain workers. some of you business people in here know that well. but under the trickle down economic theory three-quarters of u.s. industries grew more consecrated -- excuse me, consecrated -- i'm thinking i didn't go to mass. [laughter] they were moving to diminish competition. well, that may have been things -- made things easier for big corporations. for everybody else made it harder, more expensive. harder for small businesses to compete. stifled integration, reduced wages for workers, and it made our supply chains more vulnerable. so folks, that's been the

republican plan, good for big business, bad for everybody else. not even that good for big business anymore. when i came to office with a very different plan, a limited power to the expense of consumers. cops are back on the enforcing antitrust laws. my administration is cracking down on what we used to call noncompete agreements, still call them that. these prevent 30 million americans from security guards to retail workers from walking across the street to the same kind of business and getting a higher pay. getting five bucks more a week, or ten bucks more a week. noncompete agreements, it's one thing dealing with trade secrets, another thing doing the same flipping a hamburger and you get $0.05 more by walking across the street to a different place. also promoted or supporting small businesses. vice president harris has prioritized providing support and capital for small business

owners, including for rural minorities and women, entrepreneurs, including through a brand-new program that's already helping deliver billions of dollars in growth capital to small businesses in every state. we have seen a record 10.5 million applications, folks looking to start a small business just in the last two years. 10.5. every one of those applications is an application of hope, hope. competition also means lowering costs for consumers, bringing down inflation is one of my top priorities. today inflation is less than half of what it was a year ago. and inflation caused by russia and by the war in ukraine and by what was going on. but we knew we had to do more. there is more than one way to bring down costs. another expression my dad used to use for real, he would say joey, he said, at the end of the month, the question is, after you pay all your bills do you

have a little left for breathing room. just a little left for breathing room. all your bills paid, do you have anything left. well, inflation eats into that, obviously, but guess what. bringing down the cost of medication goes a long way to giving you a little more. that's why through the inflation reduction act we finally gave medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices like the v.a. does now. trying to get this done, dick and i, for decades in the senate. this time we finally beat big pharma for the first time. you know -- [applause] -- you know, same drug made by the same american company sold in chicago is more expensive than that same drug sold in toronto, great britain, france, germany, any city you can name, for real.

now seniors on medicare are paying as much as four -- paying $400 a month for insulin last year are now paying $35 a month. [applause] guess what, you know how much it cost to make that insulin? 10, t-e-n dollars, package it, maybe 12 total. and the guy who invented insulin did not even ask for a patent, he wanted everybody to have access to it. we are just finishing the first round of negotiated drug prices and save the taxpayers this year $160 billion. [applause] that's like a tax cut. lowers the cost of prescription drugs and lowers the federal deficit as well. we are expanding healthcare coverage for more americans building on barack obama's affordable care act. proud to strengthen that act.

saving the average families $800 a year on their healthcare premiums. we are also fighting junk fees. most people don't think of it. they can add up to $100 -- hundreds of dollars a month for families. like the extra fee when you say i want my child to sit next to me when i take him to see grandpop on the west coast. it's not listed now. they are listing it now. hotel resort fees, you don't realize, you are not told -- you know that ad on television, mine is $200, his is 180. guess what, most overdraft fees for banks, and banks made $7.7 billion a year on overdraft fees. you overdraft -- you get a penalty. it's one of the leading bank presidents, god love him, he's passed away, but he had a yacht, the name of the yacht was overdraft. [laughter]

>> swear to god. guess what, there are no more overdraft fees. folks -- [applause] >> doing all this, reducing the deficit at the same time. just in my first two year in office, my team and i have reduced the deficit by $1.7 trillion, more than any president has, just in two years. the budget agreement i negotiated without having to give away anything of consequence reduced the deficit by another trillion dollars. you know, reversing 40 years of republican trickle down economics that helped few but hurt the middle class is going to take some time. what we are in a place where some big pieces and we are moving in the direction where we can get some more done and people see it. what i'm doing, i knew i would have to do this, all those major

legislations be passed, people go that's great but it takes time to get it out in the field, takes time for them to see it. and i'm not here to declare victory on the economy, i'm here to say we have a plan that's turning things around incredibly quickly. we have more work to do. for example, anyone here think the federal tax system is fair, raise your hand. no matter how much money you make. we are going to make it fair by eliminating loopholes or cryptotraders, big oil got $30 billion tax break. get billionaires to pay a little bit, at least the minimum tax. when we began, 750 before the people, 750 billionaires, now there are 1,000. you know how much their average tax is, federal tax, 8% taxes. no billionaire should pay lower tax rate than a school teacher,

a firefighter or cop. this is -- [applause] -- i'm not talking about the old, old days of 70% tax, i'm talking about a fair shot. if they just paid the top tax rate that exists now, 30%, we would raise billions and billions of dollars. lowering the deficit. allowing us to pay for so much more we have to do. that's the next phase of this fight. making the tax code fair for everyone, making the wealthy and super wealthy and big corporations begin to pay their fair share, without raising taxes at all on the middle class. i made a commitment when i got elected, no one in america making under $400,000 would ever have to pay a single penny more in federal taxes as long as i'm president. and i've kept that promise. $400,000 is a lot of money where i come from.

let me close with this. i came -- when i came to office i had a fundamental decision to make. we are going to continue trickle down economic as a policy, it's failed time and again, and grew in equality. saw jobs go overseas. it saw -- you've seen it out here, towns hollowed out. i ran on the promise i was going to end this. and that i would begin to build an economy from the middle out and bottom up. we are not going to continue down the trickle down path. this is the moment we make or break and move away from an economy that has existed in a fundamentally different direction. the simple truth about trickle down economics. it did not represent the best of american capitalism let alone america, and represented a moment where we walked away and how many this country, from how this country was built, how this city was built.

bidenomics is about the future. restore the american dream. because it worked before. it's rooted in what we have worked best at in this country, investing in america, investing in americans, because when we invest in our people we strengthen the middle class, we see the economy grow, benefits all americans. that's the american dream. 40 years of trickle down limited that dream for those, except for those at the top. too many for too long have simply suggested it's only available if you have a four-year college degree. you can work at a -- or work at a tech center. these new factories opening, fabs opening for semiconductors, without a college degree you make 120, $130,000 a degree working at those fab, 120,000 a

year. i believe every american willing to work hard should be able to get a job no matter where they are. and the heartland, small towns, every part of this country, raise their kids on a good paycheck and keep their roots where they grew up. that's bidenomics. i think the economic philosophy will not restore the american dream we have now, that philosophy, but new and will, and will helpless en the division by bringing us back together. it makes us hard to demagogue something when it's working, although they do it all the time. i've long said, and i mean this, i was on tibetan plateau with xi jinping, i traveled 17,000 miles with him, i have spoken with him more than any other head of state, it started when i was vice president and president hu was the president and he was the vice president -- we knew he was going to be successor. it was inappropriate for barak

to spend that time there, but i spent a lot of time, he and i and simultaneous interpreter 68 times, 68 hours, 68 times, more than 68 hours. by the way, i turned in all my notes. [laughter] but -- that's the god's truth. he asked me, on the tibetan plateau, and he said can you define america for me. i said yes, in one word, and i meant it. possibilities. possibilities. we are a land of possibilities. i told him, i said never been a good bet to bet against america, never. and i can honestly -- [applause] -- i can honestly say i've never been more optimistic about america's future, i swear to god, never more optimistic. just remember who we are. we are the united states of america. there is nothing -- nothing

beyond our capacity if we work together. so god bless you all and may god protect our troops. thank you, thank you, thank you. ♪♪ >> all right, you've been listening to president biden there on the ground in chicago with his big speech on bidenomics and touting his economic policies, says they are working and are popular. hello, welcome, sandra smith in new york and it is great to have you here today, bret. >> good afternoon, bret baier in for john roberts. this is, of course, "america reports." sandra, interesting to hear the president talk about bidenomics and politically what that means. he is now really taking a bit of a risk here right now if you look at the polls, only about one in three americans say biden's handling the economy effectively, turned another way, seven in ten think it's going

poorly, yet he's putting his name on it, despite what is happening going forward. >> sandra: he is selling it, and some polling you cited, inflation, those that say they are concerned about those current high prices, 90% of respondents, those that say they are concerned about being able to pay their everyday bills, 64% of respondents. those that are concerned about the future of the country, those that are concerned, 88%. so, bret, this clearly points out the disconnect between the economic policies that this administration pushes and says is working and are popular with the american public, versus how people really feel. >> yeah, let's go to the white house, get jacqui heinrich live on the north lawn with reaction to this speech. clearly one that the white house spent some time on. >> yeah, bret. what we didn't hear, though, was any kind of a policy change, if the white house is banking on

turning around attitudes about the economy you would think they might consider that. and also think they would roll out the messaging plan with the president's knowledge but apparently he didn't have a hand in the revamp, he learned about bidenomics in the wall street journal two weeks ago and a term the press first used. they believe that voters just don't see the impact yet of all of their investments, and they say that impact is coming with their investments in manufacturing and chips, and the like. but of course, critics say that americans have already felt the impact of bidenomics. you had kevin mccarthy talking about inflation not coming down, no new industry, really, coming to the u.s., no new trade poll tis and that kind of thing, and the president today was asked can you say if the country has

already made it through the worst of inflation, he did not answer that question but said we are in a good place, all the economists pretty much have reached consensus we are not going to reach a recession, of course anything can happen, and when we have seen them make absolute statements like that in the past it does not always work out. so they are banking on rehighlighting the investments that they have made, trying to repitch them to the american people with some new branding, hoping that that catches on to turn around attitudes heading into 2024. as you mentioned, bret, 90% of americans in the last fox news poll were extremely or very concerned about inflation. 48% saying the president's policies have hurt their families. so there is the chance that bidenomics, as a moniker, could backfire, bret. >> jacqui heinrich live on the north lawn, jacqui, thank you. sandra, the other thing to point out, he talked about deficit reduction and $1.7 trillion from

the national deficit, but doesn't point out, obviously, that majority is from the end of emergency spending from covid. so, there were things in there you had to fact check along the way. >> sandra: and we will continue 20 do just that. doug holtz-eakin, former director of the congressional budget office and robert wolf, former economic adviser to president biden and fox news contributor. bidenomics, building the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, robert wolf, by making "smart investments in america, educating and empowering american workers to grow the middle class," said he did not come up with the name, if i could play off this sound, gillian turner put the question to the president earlier today. listen. >> sir, you said you didn't know what the hell bidenomics is. can you tell us what it is?

>> sure, first time i heard it used was by you guys in the press. let's get it straight. first time used in the wall street journal, ok. i don't go around beating my chest bidenomics, the press started calling it. i like it, it's fine. >> of course i called gerry baker, and what was your intention of the use of the word, massive overreach and government spending on green initiatives and beyond and taking taxpayer money to push their own agenda to and stifle others, basically picking winners and losers and not allowing the free market to work. that was the term of the bi bidenomics. >> this morning i spoke to a family from arkansas and telling me how important the high speed internet process is going to be

to him. it's going to improve his education with his kids that he was missing during covid, it's going to bring new job opportunities for him that a lot of the people in rural america are not seeing. so, one, there's a lot of great things here. we have increased 800,000 manufacturing jobs, we have infrastructure, which you and i have been talking about for a very long time. i represented the obama administration talking in front of the senate, infrastructure is one of the fastest growing multipliers of gdp and wages, and over 35,000 projects ready to go, not just highways, but next generation gps, national electric grids, we are talking about e.v. battery plants. a lot of great things going on and now we have to execute. i don't think he was spiking the football, i was saying -- >> sandra: now we have to execute? i think he was touting what he says is already working under this administration and by the way, i knew -- >> labor is working, inflation

is coming down, these are new legislative victories that were in the middle of starting. >> sandra: doug, get you in here. because a recent survey showed that 57% of americans say they are living paycheck to paycheck in the country right now, consumer prices, you have seen the cold hard data out there. consumer prices up 15% under this president. inflation rate up 4% year over year. mounting credit card debt, up 30% under this president. existing home sales are plummeting, down 34%, new home sales 15%, is the american public going to buy what we just heard? >> so far we are not. one in three americans approve the handling of the economy. he inherited an economy growing at 6.3%, it's now growing at 1.3. inherited 1.4% inflation rate, hit 40 years highs and still like 5.2% for food, energy and shelter what people spend their money on. and the only people who have

prospered are the favored classes he highlighted in his speech. they get the government program that he designed to make sure they got their money. if you went out and tried to earn your money, you had a tough couple of years. now new programs talking about the hopes and dreams, that would be great. any time they try to defend them, numbers don't add up. and bret baier said fact checking the speech, this earned the president a bottomless pinocchio from the "washington post." we lost 20 million jobs in a month that happened in april of 2020. so nothing about the legislative record that suggests a guarantee of success in the future and nothing about what's happened so far to make you very optimistic. >> sandra: and not just a disconnect with the american public, you know a strong disconnect with the leaders of these major u.s. corporations, robert. this is latest conference board

survey shows ceo optimism is down, and it is way down. 93% of ceos are still reporting that they are preparing for a recession, a u.s. recession over the next 12 to 18 months. more than half are still reporting general economic conditions that are worse than they were six months ago. yet the president is still saying this about a recession, listen. >> i've been hearing every month it's going to be a recession next month. consensus is two-thirds of the economists and the major leaguers think we are not going to have a recession. i don't think we will either, but i'll tell you one thing. in addition to the price going to -- recession constitutes, we are bringing down prices across the board, that's what i'll be talking about today. >> robert, there is a major disconnect happening out there. is the president listening? >> no, i think the president is right. there is no recession. we have had incredible strong

data, and yes, there is some ceos that think we are slowing down and going through recession, an equal amount starting to grow. and so i would -- look at retail sales, look at recent housing, look at unemployment, look at the labor market, and i just need to respond to douglas. i have a lot of respect for him. but yes, we saw millions of jobs lost in 2008, took a democratic president to grow that by over 10 million job gains. we saw a million -- 10 million jobs lost during the last president, another republican, took a democratic president to flip that. voters have the right to choose. they chose democrats after every one of these down cycles. see what happens in 2024. i think bidenomics will have wind at their back. >> my question for you, bob -- 40 years of -- 40 years of trickle down economics. how do you feel having your eight years labelled trickle

down economics. he was vice president, why weren't they different? >> i was a reagan democrat. i was a fan of reaganomics, taxes were 70%, they moved to 50%. trickle down economics has not worked in decades but different than the 80s. >> the rhetoric is incoherent because the policies are incoherent. >> i disagree. >> sandra: a couple more facts, housing, look at housing. existing home sales are plunging, down 34% under this presidency, new home sales down 15%. taking a major hit, robert, i don't have to explain this to you, interest rates have to go so high to tackle the inflation that the american public blames on government spending under this president. i don't have to tell you that i know that, i'll finish off with this. crude oil prices, crude prices up 27% under this presidency,

heating oil, this is killing people in the northeast, it's up 47%, robert. these commodity prices, food prices, feeder cattle up 77%. this is what people are feeling, so the question is, how the administration can go on not acknowledging that. quick final. >> absolutely, inflation -- inflation hits people each and every day. i have been saying all along inflation has a long tail but it's coming down. i'm not saying we actually should carry a trophy around, but we are in the right trajectory and of course we have to get wages better than inflation. >> sandra: ok, well, we are just questioning things like the economic policies under this president are very popular, we heard from his deputy press secretary in the briefing room yesterday council of economic advisers says families are doing better than before the pandemic. we appreciate the debate. thanks to both of you.

>> for more on this, marc thiessen, i want to start with the economy before we turn topics. to sandra's point, the wall street journal when they talked about biden economics, or bidenomics was not a positive term, and in this speech and you are a former speech writer, the president is trying to switch it around. >> next thing he's going to tell us it's morning in america again, give me a break. i would not be embracing the term if i was him and he's telling lies. says 90% of the jobs created under his watch are jobs that were recovering from the artificial job cuts of the pandemic that were shut down by government. the deficit, it's all because the end of deficit spending. so the problem with it is, if you are, from a presidential speech writer, americans are not feeling it.

the polls show 34% approve of biden's economic policies. 30% say the economy is in good shape. when you say things that are contrary to the lived experience of americans, they just shut you out. they say this guy is out of touch and he already looks out of touch for a number of reasons, including age and infirmity, and saying no, man, if things are good, it's a communications problem. i just need to explain it to you better and explains it with lies, then people just say this guy, this cat doesn't get it. >> hunter biden investigation, tonight on special report i have the irs whistleblower, gary shapley on and lay out a long interview, go into a lot of details. one of the big things that has raised eyebrows in washington is the whatsapp message from allegedly hunter biden, part of the transcript here, in which he says i'm sitting here with my father and we would like to understand this is to the china energy official, like to

understand why the commitment was made has not been fulfilled yet. today going to the helicopter president biden was asked whether he was sitting with his son hunter when he gave the whatsapp message. >> how involved were you in your son's chinese shakedown text message. were you involved? >> no, i wasn't -- >> where you? >> no. >> he got upset there, and play this clip from the irs whistleblower about this message. >> this whatsapp message, obviously raised the most eyebrows in washington because it seems to go directly to this. do you know if there was an effort to authenticate that or to make sure that that had been followed? >> we requested to take various investigative steps and they were not supported. it's consistent with the ongoing theme of not allowing us to pursue or ask questions about

president biden, the big guy. >> irs supervisor overseeing that investigation. your thoughts on all of this. >> yeah, i mean, they requested, if the gps location data to subpoena to get that to see if they could put hunter biden and his father together in the same place on that day and it was turned down. so when merrick garland says nobody was interfering with the investigation it's a lie. on top of that, we need to remember who henry is, he is -- before that email, that whatsapp message had been sent, had already wired $5 million to hunter biden from an account from a business he shared with the daughter of the former minister of state security in china. the man who was in charge of both foreign and international espionage for the chinese communist regime. he later became the head of the chinese national police and oversaw, and the daughter-in-law of the head of the chinese party

propaganda department. this is who hunter biden was going into business with. it's not just a corruption problem, it's not just nepotism, it could be a foreign intelligence problem because of the people hunter biden was doing business with and he's sitting there and we have the photographic evidence on the laptop he was at the delaware house on the day that message was sent, if joe biden was sitting in a room with him dealing with this guy, then that's -- that's a huge, huge national security story for our country, not just corruption or even justice department interference story as well. >> all right. we are going to follow all of this, and again, the irs whistleblower on tonight. marc thiessen as always, thank you, sandra. >> sandra: thinking about the location in which he was delivering that economic speech in chicago, and how many stories we have been telling and showing and covering about not just chicago, but illinois and the struggles they have had from crime and beyond, and the

economic situation there. they paid a serious economic price for all of that. you've got many of those businesses fleeing the office vacancy rates are way up in the city of chicago. the loop area has cleared out, companies like citadel have had to leave, boeing and others, a fleeing of businesses and residents and interesting location, obviously, as we approach the 2024 presidential election and the dnc for the speech today. >> definitely. touting unions and he does that a lot of different stops, but if you point at the businesses leaving some of these states, including illinois, it's a long list. >> sandra: and taxes going up for many that remain there. bret, thank you so much, and on to this. we are getting the first look at the cover -- recovered debris from the titan submersible more than one week after the coast guard says it imploded 13,000 feet underwater close to the wreck of the titanic, killing

all five crew members on board. pieces off the horizon arctic ship on to dry land at a pier in canada. and that is our first look at those pictures. bret. >> and new at 2:00, as tensions continue to rise with china, republican 2024 candidates are all flexing their muscles when it comes to how they would handle that, trying to separate themselves from the pack. former secretary of state mike pompeo will be here, and who he thinks is up to the task. plus, ben, sean duffy, dagen mcdowell and mercedes, all of that and much more in the next hour of "america reports."

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>> sandra: the president pushing his plan for big government spending and redefining it's all as bidenomics. >> when i took office the

pandemic was raging and economy ras reeling. today the u.s. has the highest growth rate, it's no accident. that's bidenomics in action. >> sandra: he is in bright blue chicago. americans say the policies are not so friendly to them. >> bret: 18% of americans say economy is in good shape, inflation from the supermarket to the housing market, not hard to see why. >> sandra: what will it take for the americans to buy what the president is selling. welcome back as a second hour of "america reports" is underway. sandra smith in new york. good to have you here today, bret. >> bret: good afternoon, bret baier in for john roberts. lots more reaction, talk to an atlanta tavern owner who lives through the disconnect between the president and the main street every day and his thoughts on what he just heard. and we'll hear from dagen and sean, but new at 2:00, developments on a story