rick: thank you! will: i think it's fair to the say -- [inaudible conversations] joey: good job, rick. rick: i can't wait until next year. will: go bowling.com, download the free bowling coupon today. rachel: kevin -- [inaudible] ♪ >> i'm here today to announce the appointment of david weiss as a special counsel. on tuesday of this week, mr. weiss advised me that in his judgment his investigation had that reach a stage at which he could, should continue his work as a special counsel, and heed asked to be so appointed. upon considering his request as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, i have concluded that it is in the public interest to

appoint him as special counsel. charles: a special counsel named in the hunter biden case, but it's the same prosecutor, david weiss, who was already heading it up, and that has republicans calling it a cover-up. we're going to get the latest from lucas tomlinson on what the white house is saying. former acting attorney general matthew whitaker on what weiss is now doing, and gop presidential candidate tim scott on how voters are responding. plus, the death toll now at 80 in maui, and the word the attorney general this hawaii will be lawn a. ing a probe into the official response to those catastrophic wildfires. welcome, everyone. i'm charles payne in for neil cavuto, and this is "cavuto live." we bin at the white house where president biden so far is staying quiet on the special counsel appointment in his son's case. lucas tomlinson is there though. >> reporter: charles, it was just a few weeks ago in that delaware courtroom where hunter biden and his family thought his legal issues would soon be behind him. that's not what happened, of

course. the issue was immunity. hunter biden's legal team thought this by pleading guilty he would cop to that guilty charge and all his legal troubles would be behind him. that's not what happened. the prosecutor, david weiss, said this does not give you immunity, the whole plea deal fell apart, and now if the special counsel has been named. here's more from the attorney general. >> i have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel. mr. weiss has the authority he needs if to conduct a thorough investigation and to continue to take the steps he deems appropriate independently. based only on the facts and the law. >> reporter: as you mentioned, charles, the special counsel, david weiss, has been investigating hunter biden for five years now and negotiating what many republicans call that, quote, sweetheart plea deal. president biden left the house yesterday after work for the beach, he did not take any questions before boarding marine one. president biden has long maintained his son hunter did nothing wrong.

he also insisted he never spoke to his son about his overseas business dealings. but after the testimony from those the two irs whistleblowers and that unsubstantiated fbi informant document alleging he and the president pocketed $5 million, some speculate it will be joe biden on trial in addition to his son after that plea deal fell aa part. here's some sound from your panel yesterday, charles, with john yoo and some others. >> it almost comes two years too late because as we get more information from the hill, it looks more and more like president joe biden is at least a witness if not more in an ongoing federal investigation. >> reporter: now, the justice department is not commenting on whether president biden would be part of this future investigation, charles. charles: lucas, thank you very much. meanwhile, top republicans slamming david weiss being named as special counsel. alexandria hoff is tracking the gop reaction down in washington. alexandria. >> reporter: hi, charles. some republicans don't like the idea of a special counsel at all.

house oversight committee chair james comer has long felt that the move would take away investigative power from the committee as it continues to probe the biden family. here's the congressman last night. >> i don't think we need any more evidence to show that the department of justice has tried to obstruct the our investigation. i think merrick garland made that argument for us today. >> reporter: house speaker kevin marc car think state concern mccarthy said, quote, this action cannot be used to obstruct congressional investigation or whitewash the biden family corruption. if weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn't get approved, how can he be trusted as a special counsel? some republicans are not against the appointment of a special counsel which could indicate that a case against the president's son could go to trial. for senator chuck grassley, it's weiss that is cause for concern. >> i was one of those that sent a letter saying we should have a special counsel. on the other hand, i have some question about weiss doing it. >> reporter: well, that's because there's been so much back and forth.

whistleblower gary shapley testified in may that david weiss wanted potential counsel status because he felt limited in his powers to fully investigate and charge hunter biden. weiss then denied that to be true. here's one of shapley's attorneys. >> to use that very same person to go ahead and elevate them to special counsel status when he has been claiming to congress all along that he didn't need it seems like an odd choice. >> reporter: critics also argue appointing a sitting u.s. attorney goes against doj regulations which state that a special counsel should come from the outside the justice department. charles? charles: thank you very much. so what is the impact of the special counsel appointment on hunter biden in this probe? former acting u.s. attorney general matthew whitaker joins me now. the initial reaction was, okay, this was all done to sort of create, delay this -- to run the clock out, to postpone think sort of real sort of -- any sort of real sort of conclusion until after the election.

we already, you heard some of these sound bites coming into it. what are your thoughts on that can and the ability to do that as the world is watching? >> yeah. well, good morning, charles, and greetings from iowa. you know, my thoughts are that the special counsel regulation is set up so that there is the a, if there's a systemic conflict of interest that no one at the department of justice can handle a case, for example, by an investigation of a president or their family, then a special counsel is necessary and appropriate. and so, you know, the question is why now, what has happened, what has changed. and i think what has changed is that the congress and representative comer and chairman jordan and others have found evidence. there is a lot of smoke surrounding this case, and now they can't sweep this under the rug. remember, this is on the heels of that sweetheart plea deal -- charles: right. >> i said at the time that i would have laughed that that out of my office if if i was, when i was u.s. attorney because it's

inappropriate, charles. there's so many things that are stacking up that i think merrick garland was, his hand was forced here, but ultimately, it just delays this case even more, and it's been going on for five years now. charles: the sweetheart deal centered around a couple of specifics. does elevating this to special counsel status now expand the scope of what is being investigated or will be investigated? because there's so many unanswered questions that, by the way, would not have been answered in that sweetheart deal. >> no, they wouldn't have. and remember, the government stood in court and said that, one, this deal has never been done before with any other defendant and also that, you know, charles, the most serious crimes have already lapsed, the statute of limitation has run. and, you know, the foreign corrupt practices act which gets to the bribery issue here on the firing of the ukrainian are prosecutor, you know, that happened in 20 # 15, 2016 time frame. so that's, you know, eight or nine years old as well. for me, what it does is it

stonewalls congress' investigation and allows the department of justice to hide a lot of evidence behind this special counsel. charles: that gets me back to the original question, and we already see where speaker mccarthy has spoke out about this, issued a are release on this. will the house be able to continues -- continue to investigate this to the degree they were on the verge of bringing in the bookkeeper who might have been able to tie or might be able to tie in the joint account between president trump -- biden and his son? if will they still be able to do that, or -- because everyone's a little frustrate here that, you know, maybe this was a brilliant move on the part of the biden doj to just move this out of the limelight and make it a non-issue, at least with respect to the election. >> yeah. and not only should they continue, they must. in fact, they need to press even harder. they need to start actually getting the people at the front line of this including the

bookkeeper, including members of the family that benefited from this, these transactions, charles. i think, you know, there's a lot more here. congress has done a good job uncovering much of what this scheme was. however, there's still more there's still people that know, and they should come to congress, and this special counsel shouldn't interfere with that. charles: statute 600.3, this special counsel should not be employed by by the u.s. government, you know? that the in and of itself would supposedly, at least on paper, preclude weiss from taking this role. hen, you know, you further add in the fact that, listen, he's been the person at this for five years and was ready to is accept a really awful, awful deal on behalf of the american public. shouldn't republicans take the bait and start fighting that, or is that just one of these things that, you know, will play into derailing all of this? you know, i think the public should know it seems like this

is an illegal move in and of itself. >> yeah. remember, this was a regulation that was implemented by the department of justice. it gives the attorney general a lot of discretion. but you're right, typically a special counsel is appointed from outside the the president of justice because the conflict applies to everyone in the death of justice. i'm -- in the department of justice. i'm sure they're thinking that putting weiss in here probably since he was a trump appointee, that somehow fixes that flaw. but there's a potential here that merrick garland did this, put in this flaw in to trip up the investigation and to lit gate about that issue and to fight about that issue instead of actually the facts and the slowness and the delay that this investigation has been going. charles: right. anchoring tv shows, i get that a hot, you know? someone will bring up something that's not true, and they know the audience won't say, hey, get 'em, get 'em, charlie, they'll go on social media, why'd you let so and so get away with that. because if you focused on that that, they get away with not

answering the more critical issues. so that's why i wonder if this is some sort of a trap. people should know the rules have already been violated, and obviously, you know, the idea -- when i heard the words david weiss trip off of merrick garland's lips, i was, like, huh? wait a minute. it doesn't make sense to me. >> yeah, i think that's intention withal. you know, we're going to have te keys to this car is joe biden. he knows what happened, and he needs to be honest with the american people. but right now the white house is stonewalling, the department of justice is stonewalling, and, you know, it looks like there's really not an adversarial system because the department of justice and hunter biden's team are really on the same side, and that's evidenced by that plea agreement they tried to get through a court and thankfully the judge stood up and said this doesn't smell right. charles: what do you think -- some things, you've already mentioned a few things have passed the statute of limitations. >> yeah. charles: what exactly are we looking at here?

is what are the valid, potential smoking guns that weiss should be looking for? >> well, he's got to be looking at the foreign corrupt practices act which gets into the bribery issue. he's probably most likely hooking at the foreign agent registration act which, you know, clearly based on all the evidence publicly available has been, there's a prima facie case to be made. and then we have all the tax charges and the gun charges. but, you know, this case for hunter biden is a lot more serious than it was even a couple weeks ago when he thought he had a sweetheart plea deal. but joe biden, obviously, is what should be investigated and what needs to be investigated. charles: will weiss have the ability to segway this from a hunter biden if it leads to president biden in does he have the authority to do that? >> yeah. since 2001 when the special counsel regulation was put in place by the department of justice, you've seen these special counsels get very far afield, ask for expanded scwurs and expanded authority --

jurisdiction and expanded authority to go after whatever they turn up. there could be a chance where this investigation does expand broadly to apply to not only joe biden, but the entire biden family including his brother james. charles: matthew whitaker, really appreciate that. there was a lot we didn't understand, and you cleared a lot of it up, we appreciate it. leading candidates for the top office embroiled in all in this legal drama, we'll speak with republican presidential candidate tim scott on that later in this hour. but first, is the national guard the answer to the crime surge in our nation's capital? plus, the desperate scenes in maui after the state's deadliest natural disaster ever. rescuers still working to get people off the island while residents are wondering if anything will be left when they return home. finish. >> there's nothing left. [background sounds] >> we are going to need help -- >> we've got to come together just piece by piece and put it back.

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charles: harrowing stories pouring in the from survivors of the maui wildfires. rescue and recovery efforts still underway as we are learning now that the death toll is at 80 and expected to keep riding. we're going to talk to a rescuer on the ground in the moment, but first to fox weather's max gorden in maui. max. >> reporter: hey there, charles. so much heartbreak here on the island of maui. right now we are on one of two main roads into the town of lahaina that was destroyed by one of these wildfires. you can see cars parked here, people sleeping in their cars waiting to get into this town, wait oring for the -- waiting for the curfew to end at 6 a.m. people who have already gotten into the fire zone say they're devastate by that they've seen. take a listen. >> it's kind of sad to see everybody going without things. we want to help as much as we can, but we have just as much as everybody else, and it sucks.

because we can't do nothing about it. >> our streets are gone. the whole town is gone. our life is gone. >> reporter: home after home in lahaina, gone. one estimate from the property data aggregator core logic puts the estimate of destroyed homes at more than 3,000. the rising death toll now at 80 people as rescue crews search for more victims. thousands of people have now left the island, and around 1400 are currently staying at emergency shelters here. it's unclear how these fires started, but when it did ignite, the island was ripe for an inferno. combined with 70-80 mile-per-hour gusts caused in parts by passing hurricane dora created a challenging battle for the firefighters. residents in lahaina say they were given little warning and that the island's emergency sirens didn't go off, many escaping with just their lives. some in that high that jumping into the water to save themselves as this town was

razed by fire. the governor just announced a new relief program to rehouse the thousands who now have no home to return to. >> this means we will be able to get people into hotel rooms, airbnbs and so on so that they are safe. look out for your neighbors, love them. that's what we will be defined by in the future. aloha. >> reporter: power and cell service is now returning to the western side of maui, but now a new challenge for residents, the water now undrinkable many some areas because it's been tainted by the wildfires. charles, back to you. charles: max, thank you very much. rescuers descending on maui to help residents and tourists get off the ravaged island. brian stern and his rescue i team are on the ground in gnaw by right now. brian, thank you very much. just your initial reaction. your team is there, you rescued -- you've rescued folks in ukraine, afghanistan, i sue. can. tell me how this looks when you

arrived, because it seems like something even your team has never witnessed before. >> yeah. the damage is total, to use the -- the only word to, accurate word is total. the whole town, northwest corner doesn't exist anymore. so we've seen a lot of war, and that's kind of what it looks like. this looks like, you know, the front lines of mariupol where all the buildings -- [audio difficulty] project dynamo, this is our first wildfire that we've ever supported, so that part of it is a little new for us. charles: yeah. i mean, the before and after pictures reminded me of aleppo which is a major city that's been annihilate ared, empty buildings just a shelf themselves, looks like bombs have gone off. i read up to 1,000 or more people are still missing. your primary mission, is it to rescue? are you looking for those folks? >> no, we're trying to, but it's

very difficult. what i'd ask people to do is -- there's no communication on the island, that part of the island, so it's very difficult to figure out who's missing or who just hasn't been heard from. what we would ask people to do is if you have family and friends that are missing, go to our web site, project dynamo.org, and register them. if you give us their address, it makes it so much easier to go looking. that's where people can go to help us, project dynamo.org, you can help us that way as well. but it is a real problem, and these people are on a clock. it's been a few days already, the weather is nice, but it's still hot, and especially the elderly people and the infirm who have been trapped in their homes if they're still even alive definitely going to run out of time shortly. charles: we just heard even the water now is an issue there. even the you're not missing, i mean, just there's, you know, water that, drinkable water. your team, how large is it? where are you focused?

and how do you evacuate folks from an area like that? there's, i mean, where do you land a a helicopter somewhere do you pull in an emergency vehicle? how are you going about actually executing this? >> so far we've been doing air operations. we partner with -- [inaudible] a small helicopter company here on the island that is absolutely phenomenal. they're the real up sung heroes from our perspective. they've been great. and maui i brewing company as well has been helping us out with spries and doing -- supplies and doing supply drops as well. we've been doing air ops mostly. we want to pivot to ground operations this morning. just yesterday the roads opened and then they closed again, so we've been using air primarily, but we'll be using trucks and that kind of thing hopefully today. charles: brian, you're an army and a navy vet, and you've done this around the world. you've helped so many people, it's just amazing that you done this. could someone watching this just, but they're not part of the organization but someone

watching this maybe in hawaii, say we want to come help, could they just come and help even though they may not have that specific training? >> in situations like this, i get asked this question a lot. in situations like this, there's no such thing as too many resources. charles: okay. >> it can be a little overwhelming for the firemen and stuff, extra people, but it's a good thing. charles: we've got a hard break. god bless you, man. we'll talk to you again real soon. >> thank you. project dynamo.org. charles: we got ya. finish all right, folks, we'll be right back. on business unlim, i get 5g, truly unlimited data, and unlimited hotspot data. so, no matter what, i'm running this kitchen. (vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon. sleep more deeply. and wake up rejuvenated. purple mattress's exclusive gelflex grid draws away heat, relieves pressure, and instantly adapts. sleep better, live purple. visit purple.com or a mattress store near you.

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>> i have spoken with the d.c. national guard, and while i have to have more conversations with the chief of police expect mayor and my colleagues, we have a

long way to get there. we just know that police alone is not getting it done. enough is enough. charles: a washington, d.c. council member saying police not enough to stop violent crime in the nation's ap capital. he wants the national guard to step in. is that the answer to out of control crime? well, my next guest is out of more than $20,000 after several robberies and his bar, including one this week, adam is the owner of the pursuit wine bar and kitchen, and he joins me now. adam, to hear a local council member say the national guard is needed, to me, speaks volumes. is he right? >> oh, he is right. i mean, it's terrifying to hear a council member finally say that. i mean, as a business owner and as a citizen, you start wondering what's going on in my district. charles: yeah. and for so long, unfortunately,

politicians in many cities including yours have given out this sort of feeling that anti-police feeling, let's be with quite frank about it, you know? for a while there was talk about even defunding the police, and now the prosecutors won't put people in jail. it feels like they have created the perfect storm for runaway crime. in fact, you can almost say they're seducing folks who may not have a job or otherwise into committing crimes knowing that they can get away with it. as someone who's worked hard to build this business -- by the way, i've gone to your web site, your bar is beautiful, it's amazing, it's stunning. >> thank you, charles. charles: i mean, how does it feel that someone, you want the american dream and that these politicians are looking the other way? >> i mean, charles, i don't know where to start. i'm a third generation washingtonian, and watching my city fall to pieces at the hands of these folks who offer nothing but platitudes, it's heartbreaking. we've worked hard to keep this business afloat and having five

break-ins, i mean, the criminals these days are so brazen, there is no recourse for the actions they take, right? you said it perfectly, right in they think they have free rein of the city and, honestly, the way the mayor and the council members operate, they're pointing fingers so much, they don't have time to pay attention to what's happening to their city. and staying afloat is getting harder and harder for us. if you have customers out there the that are weighing should i weigh my personal safety, the trade-off between personal safety and going out for a night on the town, that's a hard decision to make. and customers shouldn't have to be making that decision. and unfortunately, that's where we've gotten. and i'm hearing the national guard needs to to come in. i mean, this is not the first time. and let's be honest, d.c. did defund the police. in 2020 during those riots, the mayor stood by on top of a building and watched defund the prison get painted onto one of our historic landmarks, and she stood by and encouraged it. now, what does that tell us to

the people today that are sitting there there watching this crime play out and and having a mayor that doesn't support the are police? what are we left with? charles: what are you telling your employees? you mentioned the consumer who has to weigh risking, you know, whether or not to get hurt for a night out on the town, what about employees? how can you get someone who will work in an environment where they're sitting ducks? >> you know, charles, i'll tell you this, i was at the bar with one night, and we had a drive-by shooting. and all of us had to hit the deck. i never thought in my entire life i'd be having to experience an incident. what do you say the to the employees after that, right? i don't want to make promises i can't keep, but at the same time, you know, you've got to do something to help them. i mean, their mental health, their well-being, they're concerned, right? i mean, there is -- there aren't words for it, right in and all we can say is we're here for the community, we're here as a team, and is we're going to get through this. but when the mayor and the council members routinely say,

well, this is the community's issue, they need to figure out how to solve this, you're left scratching your head. are we alone in this? is the city to be run by its citizens or do we have leadership in place that's going to make this thing back to what i remember it used to be? charles: adam, wonderful looking place. the menu is fantastic. i hope people see this and come and do business with you, and i hope that it can be safe in your city. thank you very much. i'm a small business other than as well. i know what you're going through. stay safe, stay strong. thank you. >> thank you, sir. appreciate it. charles: coming up, 2024 candidate senator tim scott what he thinks about the hunter biden probe now being, the special counsel. but first, president biden just admitting inflation reduction act didn't do too much about reducing inflation. is that because, well, americans just haven't been buying it? >> they keep saying inflation is under control, it's not. >> are you kidding many me? [laughter] they're sky high. >> i don't think they're getting

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>> the prices are really high right now. >> they're sky high. >> i'm, like, an eternal optimist, so i think things are getting better. >> used to buy brand names, now you buy generic. >> we drive less, we eat out less. >> prejudice vegetables, fruits d fresh vegetable, i don't see them going down, so i don't think they're getting better.

>> everything has gone up. keep saying inflation is under control, it's not. charles: americans feeling the pinch, so is that why president biden regrets the inflation reduction act, the name in the president reportedly saying that at a private fundraiser a say, quote, i wish i hadn't called it that. it has less to do with reducing inflation than it does providing alternatives that generate economic growth. so is he right in the government just reported this week consumer prices are on the rise yet again, consumer and producer prices, that's probably why 7 in 10 americans disapprove of president biden's handling of inflation. steve moore probably thinking that, saying, hey, i told you so. he joins me now along with dem jacket -- democratic strategist crystal knight. steve, you said the inflation reduction act was going to throw kerosene on a raging fire of inflation. so that's happening now. president biden trying to change the message, but it doesn't help the average american, does it? >> sure doesn't.

and the bottom line here, charles, is simple. since biden came into office, prices are up by 15%, and wages and salaries to workers are up 12%. so the math isn't complicated here. that means the average worker has -- family, has lost somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,000 in purchasing power. now, yes, inflation has come down. it was 9.2% last summer. by the way, it was 1 # #.5% when trump left office, but it's 3.2% now. one other quick thing, when i talk to people on the street just like you were at fox and ask them about inflation, they don't believe inflation's only 3.2% because if you look at what's happened to food prices, gas prices, rent, the kinds of things, charles, you have to buy each week and month, those are up by closer to 10%. charles: yeah. and then some of the numbers like, for instance, airline fares down 8%, no one believes that. crystal, president biden trying to pivot here. you know, one thing that has always amazed me with this

administration is that they focus service so much on public relations, the messaging aspect of it, more than anything else, ask they always kind of rush out what they think is going to work. maybe they, maybe they got too cute for their own good with this one. >> well, i agree in some part that the administration has to do some message testing to see what is sticking with voters before they put out a broad message across the country. but, you know, the economy is stronger. inflation is down, which is what your guest just stated. now, the cost of goods and services while it is up, i agree that, you know, wages are up -- charles: but i just want to clarify one thing. inflation is down from a 40-year high. core inflation at 4.7%, the last time it was at this level before going up was in 1991. there are generations of americans who have never dealt with this kind of inflationary painful. >> sure. charles: a family of four with a

dad working can't pay all of their bills. mom has to work as well. so, listen, you can tell me what the numbers are, you can tell me what you've practiced to say here, but -- [laughter] we started this off by giving it to americans straight, right? >> right. charles: what do you say to americans who are telling president biden, we don't think you're doing great on the economy? >> well, listen, i think giving it to americans straight is we're in a tough place economically. we're talking about the economy. i think it's important that we do talk about facts, we do talk about what the numbers actually say versus what people are feeling when they go to the grocery store or to the pump. that's manager the administration -- something the administration has to work on which is why i start out by saying testing what actually works with the american public. but we cannot dispute what the economy numbers are, and the many economy is showing that it is stronger. and that is something that we also have to tell the truth about. charles: you know, steve, on that note, the economy, quote-unquote, stronger, the bottom line right now is that

president biden put trillions of dollars into an economy that did not need it. just as some sort of modern monetary test of free money, and what we got out of it was inflation, once in a generation i nation. so nominally, they can i say, hey, the economy is super duper strong, but the fact of the matter is people who go into the store with $100 now go in with 2200 and come out with fewer bags -- 200. >> crystal's right, there are signs of positives in the economy, no question about it. we have a strong job market right now for workers, that's a good thing. the stock market, as you know, charles, you cover this every day, has been on a tear. but i still think the fundamental problem is that for middle income, working class americans, things aren't better with, they are worse. and what's really frustrating to me as an economist -- and, look, i'm biased, i worked for trump -- the economy was teed up for a ferocious recovery when biden came into office. remember, covid had come to an

end, charles, and we were ready -- we should be booming right now, and we aren't because of just one example, why aren't we producing more oil and gas? why are aren't we producing more energy here? why aren't we doing something about controlling the border? why aren't we doing manager about bringing prices down by doing something about the biggest budget deficit we've ever had in the history of this country, charles? those are all contributing to these economic problems. charles: all right. crystal, steve, thank you both very much. meanwhile, folks, attorney general merrick garland saying newly-appointed special counsel david weiss will have full control over the hunter biden probe. what 2024 gop candidate, tim scott, we've got him up next. want to find out what he thinks about that and a whole lot more. he's next. from finish

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♪ ♪ charles: looking live at the iowa state fair where gop 2024 candidate nikki haley is currently stumping at fairside chat. this is with iowa e governor kim reynolds. she and other 2024 hopefuls commenting on this news about the special counsel appoint in the hunter biden probe. i want to go to alexis mcadams who's listening to what they're saying in des moines. alexis. >> reporter: hey, charles. yeah, a lot of reaction has been pouring in since that announcement came out yesterday because this is the center of the political universe is here

at the iowa state fair in des moines. we checked in with some gop presidential hopefuls weighing in on what they think about that special counsel. take a listen. >> i don't trust it. i don't think the american people trust it. one, whatting took so long? two, is it hunter biden or is it the baden family? and three, did they do this as a distraction to take away from all the pay to play stuff that's coming out there? look, it's another reason why the department of justice has serious issues and needs to be cleaned out along with our intention issues, but i think it's also another reason why congress needs to keep their foot on the gas. keep asking questions because there's more questions than answers. >> reporter: and along with that big news, charles, the iowa state fair is drawing large crowds, probably the largest crowd since this all kicked off just in the past couple of days here in des moines as those two front-runners for the gop presidential nomination are going to be on the ground, former president donald trump and florida governor ron desantis at the fair today. people are waiting and looking around trying to figure out exactly where the former

president is going to be as well as the above of florida. iowan withs expect to see the two front-runners compete to get voters attention as they flip those pork chops, eat some fried food and shake a lot of hands. you can see here at those fairside chats, candidates sitting down with iowa governor kim reynolds, but trump's going to skip that event, instead opting to walk around with florida republicans who endorsed him over desantis though others, including desantis, ramaswamy and haley, all sitting down for those fairside chats talking about policy and trying to connect with voters on the ground in the first in the nation caucus state. >> authenticity, telling the truth. that's what i've been doing this whole campaign. i think this campaign is going to quickly get to a place where there are two relevant candidates, donald trump and myself, and i think that'll be a real choice for voters to face. right now my entire strategy has been to speak the truth, speak it in an unconstrain thed way without apology. >> reporter: and vivek

ramaswamy, i just talked to him, charles, in a one-on-one, he feels right at home at the fair. he said he's not your average politician, and that's what this is all about, shaking hands, meeting people and talking on that one-on-one level. we're going to check in later with florida governor ron desantis, we'll tell you what he thinks about the special counsel as well as everything at the state fair. charles: sounds like a lot of fun. thanks, alexis. let's get reaction to the appointment of special counsel to the hunter biden probe from gop 2024 candidate tim scott. senator scott, thanks so much. so i've read -- >> morning. charles: -- your posts on twitter where you said can't be trusted, decision raises further questions about the independence of biden's doj. >> well, charles, what we know for sure is that david weiss cannot be trusted. kid gloves is a treatment that that hunter biden's received from this department of justice, appointing david as the special counsel is like keeping the concept of the doj protecting democrats while hunting republicans.

i can't think of a more forceful sign that nothing has changed, and that's bad for america, it's bad for justice and,ly, it's it's bad for everyday americans who can the question, can i trust the doj. the answer is emphatically, no. we have to fire joe biden so that i, as the next president, will fire merrick garland and restore confidence and integrity to the the president of justice. -- to the department of justice. charles: we know for a fact that the pendulum in public opinion has swung, right in not long ago a lot of folks in the mainstream media blew this off, oh, you know, right-wing conspiracy. now they're admitting something is there, right? there's smoke there, there's fire there, and and maybe this was done to head off the fact that the house has been so successful in changing the narrative. the question for you though swirling around, is there enough out there now for a probe? not an impeachment of president biden, but at least an official probe into his role in in this? >> the answer is, yes.

the cookie crumbs lead right back to the biden family, not just to hunter or biden. we need to gather all the facts, all the information so that justice can be served before the american people. the one thing i have confidence in is kevin mccarthy and the house's ability to do their job and to bring all that information that's been hidden since as early as 2019 to light. that's what the american people want to see, is the truth. we are losing confidence in the institutions of power in this this country because there are two standards, one for the elite and one for the rest of us. that won't hold. we cannot allow that to happen. thank god for house majority in the hands of the republican party that are looking forward to presenting the truth. not a biased approach, but just the simple facts so the american people can make their own decision do and come to the same conclusion that the rest of everyday americans are coming. two-tiered justice system cannot

last. charles: absolutely. that's antithetical to what we've been, the e has nos of america. you talk about losing faith in the justice system. americans have lost a lot of faith in the economy. you talk extensively about president biden's war on the middle class. we just had a an on. i want to bring out a couple things pertinent. more people is have more credit card tet than savings. 36% of americans say that. two years ago it was 21%. three tranches of consumer credit, over a trillion dollars, three tranches, credit card, auto loans and student loans, and therein again says are going higher. -- delinquencies are going higher. it feels like we're sitting on borrowed time, sir. what is your plan to counter this if you're elected? >> charles, two things. number one, president biden has are led us down the wrong trail. $10,000 of lost spending power because of president biden's inflation, because he printed trillions of dollars solving a problem that had been involved before he took office -- solved before he took office.

the thing i would do as president of the united states, the first thing i would do, is stop spending money we do not have, buying things we cannot afford, impressing a world that is not impressed. the second thing i would do is enact my made in america agenda creating 10 million new jobs, seeing our economy grow at 5% and restoring confidence in our economy for the people who work in the economy, the everyday american who deserves a raise. 52 consecutive paychecks losing spending power. s that is devastating. i will restore confidence in our economy by trust thing the american people -- trusting the american people with their money which means reducing taxes, not increasing taxes. it means focusing on the working class families in our nation like the single mother that raised me. she needs her resources. you cannot take 40% increases in gas, 20% in energy, 20% in food

and medicine. we can do better for the working class americans. western start that right here -- we should start that right here, right now with my administration. charles: changing the name of the inflation reduction act doesn't change the consequences of it which are crushing -- >> absolutely not. charles: -- people like your mom. a couple days ago president biden floated an emergency budget request out there, and as i look at this request, to me, it speaks volumes about priorities. volumings. out of the $40 billion, $4 billion would be allot to the southern border. just $4 billion. this is a topic that you have been extraordinarily passionate about. $4 billion to stem this problem. >> it's -- charles, it's devastating. i was in yuma just a week ago, yuma, arizona, on the border with people working night and day trying to keep our nation safe. and the president continues to diss the issue. of he certainly has not been to that border because if he had been there, he would spend

billions more. for $10 billion we can complete the wall. for $5 billion we could have the surveillance technology to save 70,000 american lives who have lost their lives because of fentanyl coming across the border. we should crush crush the cartels, take the 87,000 irs agents, don't hire them. charles: right. >> double the border patrol agents with those resources. let's get serious about protecting america starting at our southern border. we should all be exorcised about the crisis on our border because with every county this america is a border county because of the number of lives lost to fentanyl. charles: senator scott, two more parts to this. i only have two minutes or less. there's $24 billion to go to ukraine. many polls are shifting, the appetite to keep sending hundred to ukraine despite the fact that everyone, obviously, is rooting for them to defeat this russian

invasion. it's been unaccountable, we don't understand what's happening, we don't know where it's going. that is a major issue. also $12 billion for the federal disaster relief. obviously, we look at the disaster in maui, we don't think that's enough. i'm going to put on my conspiracy hat for a moment because this week president biden had to push back against progressives and some liberals in his party. i'm not -- on not calling climate -- declaring it a national emergency. which in many ways could actually help him usurp the constitution. those kind of thing ins don't get a lot of our time -- air time, but we're all, like, breaking news, the constitution is thrown out the window because of climate disaster. are you paying close attention to these things that aring happening on the ground like that many. >> here's the first thing we need to go -- know about the climate. number one, america has cut our carbon footprint in half in the last 20 years. our competitors whether it's in africa, india or china, they're seeing theirs continue to go up, and they have no expectation for reducing their carbon footprint.

why would we destroy american jobs and seven them to those three -- send them to those three locations at the expense of american workers and the climate? it's absolutely ridiculous. number two, we need accountability for the american people on every penny spent. not only this in ukraine, but throughout the government. we have this year, charles, a 40% overspending based on $7 trillion of penning -- spending and a $5 trillion revenue source. of. charles: yeah. >> the can you imagine doing that in your household? no no american can tan to watch this -- can stand to watch this government spend 40% more than we're taking in and then declare a climate more than when our border -- emergency when our border is literally costing the lives of 70,000 americans this year. charles: senator scott, thank you very, very much.

much luck to you. hope to speak with you again very soon. thank you. >> look forward to it, charles. charles: absolutely. we'll go back to our other major story, following the rescue and recovery efforts in maui. at least 80 people are dead, but more than 1,000 are missing. we're going to be speaking with one maui resident about what he saw before and his harrowing escape. he'll share that with us coming up. can't stop adding stuff to your cart? get the bank of america customized cash rewards card, choose the online shopping category and earn 3% cash back. oh, oh, oh...i'll be the judge of that. oh, that's nice... oh!! searchable, verified reviews. that's better than the ham, and i've never said that. booking.com booking.yeah (fan #1) there ya go! that's what i'm talkin' about! (josh allen) is this your plan to watch the game today? (hero fan) uh, yea. i have to watch my neighbors' nfl sunday ticket. (josh allen) it's not your best plan. but you know what is?

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the question is why now? what has happened? what has change? i think what has changed is that the congress and representative comber and chairman jordan and others have found evidence. there is a lot of smoke surrounding this case, and now they can't sweep this under the rug. >> attorney general garland getting blasted for appointing david weiss the guy who made the sweetheart deal with the biden deal to now be a special counsel in hunter bide