to move forward. why what you just laid out is different, there's a reason it's different because they make the decision. i'm going to keep going. oh, ok. all right. we got to go. we have to go, sorry, guys. >> catch you next time. >> trace: there you have, karine jean-pierre walking off, that's the end of the press briefing, jacqui heinrich was talking with her asking about mask mandates, goes back to some schools in maryland and virginia implementing smaller mask mandates for certain classes and you can see the bigger push coming across the country with the whole mask mandate thing and the administration there saying they did this great job with covid and the evidence does not point in that direction, but that was the end of the thing and we move on, gillian. >> gillian: interestingly it appears that the white house is now pivoted to allowing states and local jurisdictions to make decisions about mandates at large, and jacqui pressed karine

about the mask mandates in place at the moment and karine jean-pierre said yes, the way this process is supposed to work. it's a different message out of the white house which is tightly controlling some of the mandates through cdc recommendations throughout the pandemic. >> trace: indeed. >> gillian: take a look at this, any moment now, mitch mcconnell will face reporters, it is expected to be mcconnell's health, obviously, after two freeze-ups over the last few weeks. welcome back, i'm gillian turner in washington. good to be with you, trace. >> trace: gillian, good to be with you. i'm trace gallagher in los angeles. sandra and john have the day off. breaking news in the hunter biden probe, david weiss and hunter's attorneys have until the end of the day to provide an

update on the battle over a diversion agreement that was aimed to keep hunter out of prison. special council weiss says the agreement fell through when the plea deal collapsed in july. hunter biden's team is arguing the opposite. david spunt has the latest, he's live in washington. david, good afternoon. >> hi, trace, good afternoon, we heard the white house press secretary ignore questions about hunter biden and not answer them from the podium, which we see often. hunter biden's plea deal collapsed on july 26th in a very public way in open court. technically the final piece to fall is an outstanding diversion agreement and a federal judge is waiting for updates. original terms, hunter was expected to avoid jail time for lying on a federal gun form in what's known as a diversion agreement. last month his attorney abbe lowell went to the judge and said it was binding and valid as both sides signed it. the defendant intended to abide

by the terms, his team wrote. special counsel weiss's team wrote first the government did not reneg as the defendant assert, and it's not in effect. what's not clear is it what the judge will ultimately say as both sides could be not further apart on this issue. she dismissed the tax portion of the case, which was expected because special counsel weiss indicated he plans to refile charges in california where hunter biden lives or perhaps in washington, d.c. we are waiting, we are watching to see what this filing says today and what hunter biden's immediate future is from a legal standpoint. trace. >> trace: back to you as the news breaks. david spunt live in d.c. >> gillian: a story we brought you at the top of the show now,

awaiting the weekly senator leadership press conference where minority leader mitch mcconnell is expected to face questions about his recent health scare. colleagues on both sides of the aisle are insisting he is capable of continuing in the job. listen. >> he seems very much the old mitch mcconnell that a lot of us are used to and used to battling. >> we may expect mitch mcconnell will check out for 20 seconds a day but the other 86,300 seconds a day he does a good job. >> i heard him on the floor a little while ago, sounds good to me, i'm all good with mitch. >> sandra: john kennedy, sir, louisiana senator, i understand you came out of the weekly policy lunch and we are led to believe from our reporters on the ground there that the senator did address his health. are you able to tell us, or paraphrase for us what he said? >> sure. first all of the press here on

capitol hill is wanting to talk about this week is senator mcconnell. they are wetting their collective pants with the might at being able to talk about it because it keeps them from having to talk about president biden, i mean, the polls clearly show whether you agree or disagree about 60% of the american people think president biden cannot finish a sentence without taking a map. the press up here does not want to talk about that. now, with respect to senator mcconnell, all republican senators just had lunch. senator mcconnell talked about his health history, he explained he's no stranger to health problems starting with polio as a child. he's had two of these, he said, and only two of these brain freeze moments. he said he's been checked out by every specialist in washington

and all over hell and half of georgia and they have all given him a clean bill of health, and that he feels fine, and i take him at his word. regardless of what we all think the truth is, and what i've tried to explain to my friends in the press, the only person in the milky way who can make mitch mcconnell step down is mitch mcconnell. and i know him pretty well. and knowing him as i do i think the odds of him stepping down, let me put it this way, it will happen when you see donkeys fly. >> gillian: sir, as you mentioned president biden himself has faced questions, criticism about his fitness for office based on his age, his physical health, his mental health. a lot of folks in the press are pointing out now that by covering what's happened to senator mcconnell over the last few weeks with these two very

public freeze-ups, this issue has become bipartisan concern now. do you agree with folks on both sides of the aisle who are calling for generational change in the senate? >> well, the press on capitol hill has not treated this as a bipartisan issue. they hardly ever talk about president biden. they would have a lot more credibility if members of the press would go to every democrat in the senate and ask them what they think about president biden's capabilities to serve and then come talk to us about mcconnell. the american people clearly have concerns about president biden. i mean, he talks like he's from outer space sometimes and that's a legitimate issue but it's never covered on capitol hill. this week it's been all mcconnell, all the time. and i know mcconnell, i know him well, and mark my words, when

the world ends and hell freezes over, there will be three things left. chuck grassley, mitch mcconnell, and cockroaches. you may not like that, you may like that, but that's the way i see it factually. >> gillian: will senator mcconnell remain the majority leader if your party takes it in the next election cycle? >> probably, yeah. a year and a half away, two years away, there may or may not be others that run against him. the topic this week has been should mcconnell resign, and a, mcconnell is not gonna resign, that's not gonna happen in your or my natural lifetime, whether you like it or not, and number two, mcconnell says the doctor is telling me he's fit to sefrn and i believe him. >> i want to make sure i ask you about the recent surge in covid cases, sir, before i let you go.

the cdc is reporting over the last week, hospitalizations resulting from confirmed covid cases have ticked up 15%. we are seeing some schools now, public elementary schools institute mask mandates. how concerning are the covid cases and then the renewed mask mandates to you? >> well, covid -- nobody has said covid is over. it's no longer a worldwide pandemic, it's more an endemic disease, but look, i hate to say this gillian, but the cdc and the leadership at that time did more to undermine the institution of public health in america than anything i can think of in the last 100 years. i mean, they just -- nobody believes what the cdc says anymore, and that's really a shame. when dr. fauci said there's no way that the virus could have

come out of wuhan lab and it was discovered that he had actually funded gain of control research there and tried to cover it up, that just destroyed their credibility. and nobody believes them anymore, and those who do believe them sort of go well, you know, i guess they're right. they are just not convinced. my feeling about the mask is that if you want to wear a mask, wear it. if you don't want to wear a mask, don't wear it. but if president biden tries to mandate mask wearing, i think he needs to call a press conference, throw away the teleprompter, come armed with the science and explain to the american people but i don't think they will believe him because the polls tell me most americans right now don't trust, they don't trust president biden to make hamburger helper, and i wish i didn't have to say that, but he's brought this on himself. >> gillian: and public trust and confidence, senator, in all the

government institutions across all three branches of government is pretty much lower now than it's ever been in history. we are hoping, sir, we will hear from senator mcconnell himself coming up in just a moment. thanks so much for taking time with us. we appreciate it. >> you bet, you bet. >> gillian: trace, a lot of old arguments about covid resurging in the wake of the 15% hospitalization surge that we saw over the course of the last week. the senator there laying out the conservative argument, the majority conservative argument over the last three years, which is that the cdc got a lot of things wrong that created a whole lot of heartache, a whole lot of illness for millions of americans. >> trace: and they did get a lot of things wrong and the confusion and the skepticism really builds when you have dr. anthony fauci saying listen, here is the whole concept on this. asked about mask mandates and he said he does not believe the evidence now points to being helpful to the public at large,

being helpful to ease the pandemic, but on an individual basis he thinks that kn95 mask might be helpful. so that kind of brings in to the whole concept here, we are going to show, look at the live pictures, talking about senator mitch mcconnell, so live pictures of him coming out there we will bring that, but back to dr. fauci and brings up the concepts of well, they might be helpful on an individual basis if you have a kn95 mask. it might be somewhat helpful. as the pandemic overall to the public at large, the evidence does not point in that direction and that was a big statement made by dr. anthony fauci revered by many on the left in the country as kind of the epitomy of the medical, you know, decision maker for this -- for the covid pandemic. i'm having trouble seeing, is that mitch mcconnell, is he back in the back of there, gillian, i can't -- >> gillian: i can't tell if he's

emerging from the policy lunch but once we see him closer to the podium we'll take the viewers there immediately. and i asked the senator about mitch mcconnell's health, said he did address health concerns in the lunch and insisted he is okay to serve out, certainly the rest of his term at the very least, but then i pressed the senator whether senator mcconnell is going to remain the leader should the republicans retake the senate in the next election cycle and did not hesitate, he said yes, absolutely. he then caveated that with well, it's about a year and a half away, two years away, but he seemed very confident that mcconnell would remain as leader. he does not have a divided caucus at the moment, so that was interesting as well. >> trace: yeah, and we are looking live at capitol hill, they are waiting for mitch mcconnell to come out and bring you news. meantime, police in pennsylvania are set to give an update on the frantic search for a convicted

murderer who escaped prison a week ago. are they inching closer to capturing danelo cavalcante. >> gillian: plus the migrant crisis is sparking increasing concern in deep blue states. could the anger possibly derail president biden's bid for a second term? special report anchor bret baier will join us next to discuss. >> little did we know 15,000 migrants ago that we would be at 110,000, you know. we would have thought the national government would have resolved this issue. veteran homeowners. do you know what's taking a big bite out of family budgets? car loans. car loans used to have lower rates and took just a few years to pay off. now rates can be 12 to 15% and take five years or more to pay off. get a newday 100 va cash out loan at lower mortgage rates to pay off those high rate car loans. own your car and have no more monthly car payments.

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reporters. meantime, a california judge is issuing an order blocking parental notification in chino

valley schools if a student identifies as transgender. judge arguing some parents pose a clear and present danger. >> gillian: from coast to coast, residents and officials in deep blue cities now are struggling to accommodate what they say are overwhelming numbers of migrants who are arriving daily from border towns. moments from now, former democrat turned independent kirsten sinema is going to lead a hearing on capitol hill. her staff says she plans to blasts president biden sending more money to blue states rather than border states like arizona. now some in the press are taking note, axios writes it has sparked political disaster for president biden. fox team coverage beginning right now. bret baier is standing by whether biden's border policies may come back to haunt him on

the 2024 trail. first to congressional correspondent aishah hasnie. what are democrats on the hill saying this afternoon? >> aishah: number two democrat, dick durbin told me he admits the border crisis is going to be a political challenge in 2024 for democrats but he tried to shield the president for taking any blame. >> should this be a political problem in 2024 for democrats? >> it's a political challenge and i see it at home. this is a serious issue that we have to take seriously. innocent people are being hurt. >> is the white house doing enough, the administration doing enough? >> let's step back and be honest about this. 30 years since we discussed immigration and we are going to blame this president for the problems, god sake, let's blame ourselves for the problem. >> aishah: not sure if senator sinema would agree with that. she and five senate democrats are pretty upset the white house gave away $134 million to new

york state while arizona got half that amount to deal with the migrant surge. the cash flow and complaints come as new york's governor kathy hochul publicly blaming president biden for this and protests are breaking out across blue states. not only shaping up to be a big policy issue for the white house, the border could grind the government to a halt as some house and senate republicans say they will not vote for a short-term spending bill unless it addresses the border. >> the problems at the border are getting worse, not better. any supplemental needs to address border security. >> would you vote no if it doesn't? >> yeah, totally, 100%. >> aishah: and congressman chip roy telling me he does not want the federal government to shut down but not afraid of it either as long as border security is a part of the short-term funding bill. >> trace: bret baier, anchor and

executive editor, news out of fulton county, georgia, the judge has decided in the case of mr. chesebro he will have to stay. so they are not going to separate the trials for the time being. it's a big deal considering that, you know, you've got fani willis who wants to try all 18 of these people together with the former president and it seems like that would be a monumental task and that a lot of people are saying different charges, this may have to be broken up at some point. >> bret: trace, good afternoon. the judge making the two decisions with chesebro and powell not to severe from the main case. that raises the question how you are going to try it and how you are going to do it by march with all of these people involved. a lot of legal experts believed as you just said they would break it up into packs, depending on different parts of

the case as they have laid it out, as fani willis has laid it out in this case, but the ruling suggests right now at least all of these defendants are together, still. >> trace: what do you think about the television aspect of this and all being televised. goes back to something like the johnny depp and amber herd thing where it started out slow, but because it was televised every day it got some eyeballs and became a thing. >> bret: i think it does affect things, trace. i think it's a different dynamic than just reading about it. i do think if you look at polls that republicans, even republicans who were not in favor of the former president politically, maybe some independents, have come to the thought process according to polls that this is looking political and that it feels political in the way that it's bunched up and also where the trial dates are in the middle of the 2024 campaign season. i do think hearing things on television inside the courtroom

changes the dynamic a bit. remember the former president is not there in person, that takes some of the wind out of their sails. >> trace: it does indeed. moving down to the border thing, we have been down there, for two years every single day, nobody was really covering it. you had some outlets that would dip in and out, nobody covering it, now the crisis in new york city and massachusetts and illinois, there's a lot more coverage. is this a legitimate big time political issue going into 2024? >> bret: it's huge, it's really huge and it affects obviously not just the border states, but now increasingly blue states dealing with the migrant crisis and speaking out against the administration, against the president of the same party. a lot of people say it was directly due to governor abbott from texas, governor desantis from florida moving some migrants up to those places, those are small numbers in comparison to what the places

are dealing with and take those numbers and compare with el paso, texas, inundated with the overflow across the border it's a big, big issue and one that democrats realize is a political punch. you have the age issue, the border issue, and while democrats say largely the abortion issue is going to stand in their favor, i think these two issues are going to be a big deal. >> trace: and in 2022, for republicans, crime was a big issue and now you have a lot of -- you can see the nuances of republicans using the border and crime. you bring up this venezuelan migrant who was arrested six times in two months committing 14 crimes and continued to get out, and the roosevelt hotel in new york having 41 people arrested over the course of the summer, so there is these two issues kind of being tied together in the minds of many voters. >> bret: i think it comes down to how you feel. as a family, how do you feel?

you feel like economically you are safe, that inflation is not, you know, hitting you down. that's not the feeling you get according to people who are talking to pollsters. you feel safe in your community, increasingly crime is becoming a big issue to your point and do you feel like the government is dealing with the issues that you care about. on the issue of the border, clearly no matter who you ask is not the case. >> trace: bret, stand by if you will, bryan for more on the breaking news. what do you know? >> look, i think judge scott mcafee was very clear he was not only skeptical, he said it was unrealistic for the trial of all 19 defendants to take place in one trial in october, on october 23rd. he said it was unrealistic in part because we have multiple different things happening here. for instance, just choosing a jury would -- could take months because you have attorneys for each one of these co-defendants filing motions and it takes a

long time just for two attorneys, prosecution and a defense to agree on picking the jury. imagine when you have a room of 19. the timing here on the case is this. prosecutors said it would take four months to try all 19 co-defendants together, that does not include jury selection, 150 witnesses, the state says they will intend to call in this case, and you know, they have to do all of that together. now, in terms of some of the things they have to really consider here, they have to take not only the pretrial motions some of these defendants may put but also have this other consideration of -- you have the former white house chief of staff, mark meadows and others who are looking to move their case into federal court. so the judge said here there is a real risk here of double jeopardy. what happens if we start a trial on october 23rd with all 19 defendants and 11th district court decides you know what, some of these charges, for some

of these defendants don't belong in the state. they belong in federal court. now we risk double jeopardy. so judge scott mcafee was incredibly skeptical about d.a. fani willis' motion to try all defendants on october 23rd of this year, and cited all the reasons including the fact four months is optimistic to say the least, considering that you are going to have lots of pretrial motions, and lots of disagreement here on a variety of different issues, particularly on choosing a jury. that jury selection is going to be intense, to say the least, trace. so, yes. we have the decision here on the two court -- the judge ultimately decided that powell and chesebro will be severed in their own case and the 17 others is to be decided, trace. >> trace: bryan live from new

york, thank you. gillian. >> gillian: thank you, trace. south carolina county clerk is under fire after attorneys for alex murdaugh accused her of tampering with the jury. the defense is now demanding a retrial. what are the odds they are going to get one? >> trace: we are awaiting a major update in the case of an escaped murderer outside of philadelphia. we are expected to hear from authorities where the search stands now into day seven. speak with chris swecker on what steps that police need to take to catch the fugitive. >> i can't believe we haven't caught him yet. >> the neighbor across the street had a hard time, people were turning around in the driveway, she's freaking out and i understand. it's hard for all of us in this area.

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>> trace: police have arrested the man they believe sexual assaulted a student near the university of wisconsin madison campus which has put the college town on edge. mike tobin is live in chicago with more on this. mike. >> as you mentioned, trace, police in madison have arrested a suspect in the brutal attack and sexual assault from over the weekend. according to police, brandon thompson, 26 years old from madison. we are expecting an update from madison police in a little over an hour and expect they will say the suspect is charged with first-degree sexual assault, reckless injury and strangulation. the incident happened sunday morning around 2:30 a.m., the victim was walking by herself. she was attacked, sexual assaulted and beaten to the point her injuries were described as life-threatening. initially police said the victim did not know her attacker, that her assault was a crime of opportunity and especially while attacker was at large it sent fear through the student population. >> hard being on your own the first time and then something like this happens directly like where you live and you just

don't feel really safe anymore. >> it's horrible, and having something like that happen was just like heartbreaking and terrifying. >> i've noticed a bit more of a police presence or there would be cars or just like undercover cops you can tell that are around. >> madison police made the investigation a top priority. investigators were called in over the holiday weekend. physical evidence was gathered from the scene and investigators solicited any help they could get from the public. now we have a positive development from a tragic case, word a suspect is in custody. small comfort at least for the students at the university of wisconsin in madison that police think they got the attacker off the street. trace. >> trace: thank you. gillian. >> a lot of neighbors are on edge. >> he's been able to elude the police this long, it's crazy and to be in this same area this long. >> i put a couple new bolts on two doors, i keep the car

locked. >> we are being extra cautious in terms of where we are going to go, no walks in parks or the volunteering in the local parks. so playing it cautious. >> gillian: pennsylvania authorities are expected to give an update next hour on escaped inmate danelo cavalcante. he's been spotted five times on the run. police are expanding the search after the fugitive was caught on a camera at a botanical garden. chris, they have his escape on video, caught five times on security camera footage, he was caught by somebody as he broke into their home. how is it to reiterate that that man's comment a moment ago he has evaded police for so long? >> yeah, in a pretty relatively small area. i mean, the first job that law enforcement has right now is to protect the public.

i mean, they want to capture him but job one is to contain him and keep him in a certain perimeter. seems like he's been sliding in and out of that perimeter almost at will, and i think, i don't know whether it's a function of not enough resources on the scene, or just strategic mishaps, but they are doing their job in terms of protecting the public. there is one couple who are very lucky, he made it inside their house and decided to steal supplies and leave. but as he gets more desperate, i always worry in these situations about, you know, home break-ins, home invasions, car, you know, carjackings and that sort of thing, as they get more and more desperate. >> gillian: the authorities have expanded the search area south. do you read that to be an ominous sign or a promising sign? >> well, i think it's a necessity. it's ominous because they obviously don't have any idea where he is.

and look, i don't want to second guess the search team but you would think they would be monitoring those cameras realtime. any camera that's in the area probably ought to be on full-time realtime monitoring because there probably aren't that many. so in this case, you know, he was captured on camera and what i think is a pretty relatively populated area. it's a gardens area, and it's, you know, it's known and almost a likely place for someone like him to come try to either slip through or hide in, so you would think that would be covered as well. but, you know, i know how the situations go. agencies tend to slip away, attention spans get a little less and less as time goes on, and man power becomes a problem. >> gillian: and in this case the fbi is working with border patrol, there is a whole lot of government agencies involved. they also, authorities are saying his movements reveal that

he is "feeling the pressure" of the manhunt. what does that mean, and do you agree his movements show that? >> yeah, he is feeling pressure because he is moving, and he's not just sitting in one place. the cameras captured that, the break-in captured that. but you know, i would think the better strategy is to make him hunker down and keep him from moving around and hurting the general public. that home invasion could have gone very badly. so, you know, i don't want to second guess a strategy on the scene, but you know, i've been involved in many of these types of manhunts and you want to keep a solid perimeter, tell everyone in the house to button down their house, their cars, don't answer the door, call 911 if there is any spottings, but you want him to sit still as you tighten your perimeter and in this case as he moves around, you know, you are almost inviting him to come in contact

with the general public because that could happen just as well as running into a law enforcement officer. >> gillian: and hence we see he has managed to so far terrorize thousands of residents, entire school districts have been shut down. let's hope for better news at the 3:00 p.m. hour during the presser. >> trace: convicted killer alex murdaugh wants a brand-new trial. the question is, will he get it? mark will talk to us next. cards is now over 22%. if you want to save hundreds of dollars a month, pay off the balances on your high rate cards and other debt with a lower rate va home loan from newday usa. and get the financial peace of mind every veteran deserves. no one takes care of veterans like newday usa.

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led them to a shocking win, and after the big win leonard asked for an extension on an assignment due at midnight, hoping it would earn him some brownie points. no such luck, though. >> professor taylor, if you are seeing this, please let me turn in my homework late, it's due tonight. may already be 12. >> riley, great game, but you know, wesley williams and the other linemen in the class, they said they prepared ahead and did it ahead of time so why didn't the quarterback? so no way, man. no extension. >> gillian: ouch. duke is ranked 21 in the nation. the team was ranked before monday night's win. trace, what do you think? should he have gotten an extension? you would have given him one, right no, just kidding. >> trace: i would have but no, he should not have gotten an extension. if the linemen can do the assignment, the quarterback can do the assignment.

i'm an old college quarterback, no breaks, you got what you got, that's the deal. >> gillian: if you could do it, they should do it, too. >> trace: if you are a duke, you should finish it on time. alex murdaugh is looking for a new trial. saying the clerk rebecca hill -- she maintains accusations are untrue. is it enough to be granted a retrial? mark, thanks for coming on. very much appreciate this. i want to play this sound bite, this is murdaugh's defense attorney jim griffin, kind of laid it out and i'll get your response on the other side. >> it was a direction on how you should receive alec murdaugh's testimony. look at him, don't be fooled by him. that subject matter is absolutely material, the core of our defense, and something that we had no chance to defend

against. we do have information that we have submitted from one juror he does acknowledge that she talked to him about evidence, about autopsy photos and don't be upset about them. that should not be happening. >> you had two independent jurors give their testimony independently and seemed to be -- seemed to be on the same page. >> well, they not only seem to be on the same page, looks like they both got the same lawyer as well, i saw an interview he did yesterday. the problem with this is as a practical matter, you've got a clerk who and judges tend to kind of protect their court staff and rightfully so and i would imagine you are not going to get much relief at the trial court level. it's a whale of an issue but it may have to be decided on appeal only because it's going to be a very strong judge who is going to lay out his clerk if in fact

the clerk did something untoward. and i caution if in fact the clerk did that. >> trace: mark, stand by, sorry, mitch mcconnell is speaking. let's listen. >> government -- september 30th, we have to have as close as we can to a regular order process on appropriations. senator collins and senator murray have done a spectacular job of at least getting bills out of committee, which had not happened in the senate in five years, so that's a step in the right direction. and then there's the supplemental, and as all of you know i think maintaining our support for ukraine is extremely important. number one, virtually all the money that we are allocating for ukraine is being spent in the united states to replenish our industrial capacity. secondly, we haven't lost

anybody, not a single american has been lost. third, i think it's important to remember that we have a country here fighting for their independence, degrading the military of one of our biggest rivals. so i know there's a difference of opinion in my party on this and i think the president has i think been too slow to keep the commitments that he's made publicly but at least he's supporting the effort. i think he could have done it more skillfully but he is supporting the effort, and i intend to continue to support it and i hope the majority of my colleagues feel the same way. >> let me just pick up on the first point the leader made, that is if you look at -- before we broke for the august break, the last bill we processed,

national defense authorization act, we had a robust amendment process, we considered 33 amendments on the floor, the armed services committee team got lots of other amendments included in the bill that were adopted without having votes. but nevertheless, it was a process that was open and transparent in which individual members who don't serve on the senate armed services committee had an opportunity to get -- have their voices heard and get votes on amendments that were important to them and their states. now we are looking at the appropriations process. as the leader pointed out we have not had normal appropriations process for a long time around here, but we have 12 bills, all 12 bills reported out of the senate appropriations committee. the key now is to get those bills moving across the floor, and i'm hopeful that will start happening next week and when it does there will also be an open robust amendment process in which members who don't serve on the senate appropriations committee have an opportunity to make their voices heard and get

amendments important to them and the people they represent. i talk a lot around here about regular order and the reason i do that is because i think bills when they move through regular order is a more transparent process, it is more accountable to the people in this country, and i hope that we can have a regular order process as we begin to deal with appropriation bills so we don't end up like we did last year. at the end of the year, with everything piled up in this big train wreck of one big appropriations bill that's a take it or leave it proposition. the way it's supposed to work, do them in regular order through the process that allows for open debate on the floor and that's what our conference is going to insist on in the appropriations process this year. >> joe biden's recent statements on the economy reveal a president completely out of touch with the pain and the suffering that he's causing the

american people. you want to describe bidenomics in one word, it would be failure. economy is the number one issue facing our country, all of us travelling the states, i've been all around wyoming over the break, talking with folks, people are fed up. they are fed up with record high prices. record high interest rates, if you want to borrow money, and record high debt. and they are tired, tired of having to work so very hard just to try to keep up with the prices that go up. hit between the eyes when they go to the store, fill up with groceries, buy gas, people are mad. people are mad because they see the country heading in the wrong direction and don't see us getting back on track. people also do not believe that joe biden is up to the task. only one in three americans think that president biden and the democrats are actually doing a good job on the economy and the case in point is this past labor day weekend, gasoline

prices hovering about $4 a gallon. that's up over $2 a gallon from where we were two years ago. and back to school shopping, it has become very, very expensive and very stressful for american families. whether it's putting food in the lunch box, supplies in the backpack -- >> you have senator john barrasso, and john thune, and they talk about appropriations and funding for ukraine and gas prices. i'm not sure everybody, gillian, is paying attention to the subject matter here, i think they are paying attention to the condition of the minority leader mitch mcconnell and how he appears to be speaking and that is the focus here and now waiting for the question and answer period and a lot of the questions already directed toward leader mccarthy, i'm sorry, leader mcconnell.

>> gillian: and we know they will ask the senator about his health, he did not bring it up in his remarks just now, so leaving that ball in the media's court when it comes to addressing the element in the room. >> trace: bring back bret baier for the conversation and the same thing, bret, some important topics talked about here but everybody's focus is on mitch mcconnell how he looks, how he's speaking, does he seem to be ok, a cavalcade of senators come through and say he appears fine to me. >> bret: yeah, trace, gillian, we don't take the gop conference lunch wall to wall, other than the senate minority leader and how he's doing. so, are there important topics, yes, why are there so many reporters in that space, because of what happened and the reaction to it and i think that there is this sense that there is more to the health issues. you saw rand paul, senator from kentucky, fellow kentucky

senator saying there may be more here and others raising questions. so, i think in the q & a section here it will be interesting to see how mcconnell fields that. they are, it's important to note, coming up to a very, very interesting time dealing with this fiscal cliff and another showdown that's going to include battles between senate gop and house gop about how to get through without defunding the government or else causing a government shutdown. >> gillian: bret, do you have a sense of why the senator's team has been reluctant to address the concerns head on? we have heard very precious little from the senator himself, if anything. the team has really stuck to putting out statements from the capitol hill physician. what do you think is behind that? >> bret: well, listen, it's a club up there, they are protecting their own, there has always been this thought process of not talking about another senator's health, but it's right

there front and center, and people are talking about it. it's not just senator mcconnell but also senator feinstein, democrat from california, i mean, frankly it's senator fetterman from pennsylvania and concerns about his health. so, listen, it's about saying he's going to be ok and the sign-off from the physicians but i think there are real questions about the forward leadership and you are going to hear some of thin the q & a i bet in the next couple minutes. >> trace: some sounds quickly, the president talking about, joking about not wearing a mask, watch, your response. >> explain to the press i've been tested again today, i'm clear across the board, but they keep telling me because this has to be ten days or something, i got to keep wearing it. don't tell them i don't have it on when i walked in. >> trace: and a little controversy during the medal of honor ceremony yesterday, putting the medal around the recipient's neck and talking to

him and less than a foot away, and appeared to be contact between him and his wife who does have covid. so you know see this kind of steam rolling a bit again. >> bret: i think we as a country will deal it differently. i don't buy into the fact that mask mandates are going to be able to stick with the population, no matter where their ideology is. we have all been through this together, as a country, and i don't think that the health policy as it was dealt with before is going to be anything like we deal with it now. the president, listen, he puts on the mask, and then he takes it off, he didn't wear it for the back end of that ceremony, the medal of honor ceremony and walked out before the ceremony was over. a lot of questions happening, not only on capitol hill but at the white house. >> gillian: something that was in the headlines all evening yesterday, bret, was the fact the president seemed to i

impromptu depart, and not waiting for the guests to be seated as is traditional. karine jean-pierre said well the president left early because he wanted to protect the other people around him, he wanted to reduce the risk of getting other people sick, i think she said the risk of transmission, but the president doesn't have covid. what do you make of that kind of inelegant side bar? >> bret: they are trying to find an answer for some of the things the president says and does that don't make any sense, it didn't make any sense, he didn't wait for the prayer, the ceremony to finish, he just walked off. he was not wearing a mask to protect anybody, that does not jive. a number of things do not jive from the white house podium we have seen from different administration's. this one is agregious when the border is secure and there's no problem there either. >> trace: yeah, and look at the bottom right hand of the screen,

waiting as you can see, bret, stalling with you, filling time because we are trying to get to mitch mcconnell. >> bret: thanks, trace. >> gillian: nobody better to fill time with, i'll say that. >> trace: you kind of look at this and waiting for mitch mcconnell to step back before the microphones and take some reporter's questions there. is it important for mitch mcconnell to answer questions? is it important for him, bret, to tell the world, to show the world, look, i appear to be fine, the doctors have given me a clean bill of health and let's move on and settle some of the problems this country is facing. >> bret: yeah, i think it is, and i think you are going to see him deal with some of these questions. those are two big moments, those freezing moments, and they are caught on video in front of everybody, and everybody can see it, everybody has questions about it. more importantly, it's a message to his own colleagues who, you know, listen, at his best, senator mcconnell knows more ways to get around the rules of the senate and the rules of

congress than anybody has forgotten. they -- he just knows so much about the intricacies and in this instance, when you are facing this fiscal cliff and the battles ahead, his colleagues need to know that he's going to be in top form. they seem to be agreeing to that but there is some skepticism up there. >> gillian: when he was coming out of that closed-door presser, bret, before he came to the mics, he was asked about mcconnell off camera, excuse me, senator kennedy, i'm not laying this out well for you. senator kennedy coming out of the lunch was asked about mcconnell. he said he might be sick but he still managed to raise $49 million, which is kinds of the political quiet part out loud, right, the american people voters are not so much with how much money senators are raising for the party. >> bret: he is a big fundraiser and big part of the republican

party. the question is whether he's going to be a big part of leadership into this fall and beyond. we'll take it live, we'll let viewers decide how they think he does right here on fox. >> trace: bret, you are a good sport. i'm sure martha will call your number again. i'm trace gallagher, see you back here tonight fox news at night. >> gillian: i'm gillian turner. >> martha: very true. we have bret on speed dial. good afternoon, everybody. i'm martha maccallum. great to have you with us today. any moment, officials will give an update on the intense man hunt that is underway for an escapee in prison six days ago. he's paralyzing parts of philadelphia where schools have been closed wa