the stock market continues on its tear. why the trillions in wealth that the president boasts about creating since the election means nothing to most americans. >> and eight years since the great recession, why are president trump and fellow republicans hell bent on kill the one agency protecting american consumers from the worst behavior in the financial industry? i'm ali velshi. >> and i'm stephanie ruehl. the president says the bull market is proof americans are making gains in this economy.

once upon a time a gain in the market may have been a gain for all of us, but not anymore. >> we're going to get to the market in just a moment but something that will continue to affect america's economic growth prospects is immigration, and that's where we want to start this show. this week president trump endorsed the r.a.i.s.e. act which would make sweeping changes to u.s. immigration policy. >> this competitive application process will favor applicants who can speak english, financially support themselves, and their families, and demonstrate skills that will contribute to our economy. >> now this bill changes the way immigrants would get vetted during the application process to a merit-based approach, something many economists endorse. they use it in canada where i come from, but it would also cut the number of legal immigrants into the country by half from 1 million a year currently to 500,000 a year, that's something most economists think is a bad idea. stephanie, the white house is

selling this as an idea of using skill-based immigration while pushing this interesting narrative that low skilled immigrants steal americans jobs and keep wages lower. on thursday night he made a speech at a rally, the president, in west virginia, where he touted this immigration plan as a way to save american jobs and raise american wages. >> and this is what confuses me. i challenge the president, i want to know, what industry is it specifically? where is it that americans want to have jobs and they can't, because those jobs have been ripped away, stolen from immigrants? that's a question i can't seem to get answered. >> we know for instance there are challenges in getting involved people into high-end jobs likening nearing, computer programming, and things like that, and that's what american companies are liking about a merit-based system. they're saying in a merit-based system or a points-based system you assign points to people who have the skills necessary that you're looking for in your economy, but what that doesn't

address is fruit pickers, agricultural worker, people who work in the back of kitchens or deliver food. those are industries american companies said they find it difficult to hire american workers. >> if the story is one about immigrants and giving americans jobs, you can talk to ceos of fortune 500 companies that are saying i need immigrants, they have a skill set that i can't find enough americans or to your point, if you find people in agricultural industry, the hotel, the service industry, they also need it. >> right. >> it's so confusing to me while we have this business focused administration, this is not a pro-business move. >> but if you were to do comprehensive immigration reform, the idea of a merit-based system is not terrible. one thing that canada, australia, america, western europe all face is we got very low birth rates so reducing the sheer number of immigrants most people don't think is the answer. >> i want to talk about the stock market. the dow jones is closed. remember just 30 stocks but closed above the 22,000 mark for the first time this week.

it is just the latest in an eight-year bull run. of course president trump is taking major credit for the market's good fortune. >> i just want to state that as you probably have noticed, the stock market hit an all-time record high today, over 22,000. we've picked up substantially now more than $4 trillion in net worth in terms of our country, our stocks, our companies. >> the president likes to link market's good fortune with american's goodare tufortune. let me tell you why he's wrong. president trump loves to tout the stock market gains as proof his presidency is jumpstarting the economy. for most americans success is divorced from main street for no other reason they're not in the market. only 52% of u.s. adults invested in stocks in 2016, a sharp drop from the peak of 65% in 2007, by

far the largest share participate passively in the market through their 401(k)s, i.r.a.s and other retirement savings accounts. study authored from the national bureau of economic research showed most stock holdings are held by the rich. the top 20% of households by wealth owned 92% of stocks back in 2013 while 80% of all americans put together own the remaining 8%. when the president logs a whopping 20% gain in the dow since his election, that is mostly helping america's wealthy, not the wider american public. now, the president and others will argue the wealth effect from the market can trickle down and lift all boats for the rest of us in the form of increased economic activity and job creation and to be sure, more than 1.5 million jobs have been added since president trump was elected in november, helping make the president's case, yet overall, economic growth has averaged just 1.9% in the first

six months of this year while wages have only ticked up by 2.5% a year, figures that only hamper his case. the truth is, linking the stock market to the wider economy is just meaningless to most americans. that is because the market is a good gauge of how u.s. companies are doing but now how the rest of us are. ali, i just have to say it again, less than 15% of all american households own individual stocks. this has led to the rise of president trump, so many forgotten americans said great i'm glad the stocks are doing well, i'm not. now he's boasting that same argument, and those people are still left out. >> people are mad at president obama when he used to talk about that, it was in his state of the union in january of 2016 where he made a similar point. he got criticism that's good for people who own stocks if the stock market is up that's terrific it's not necessarily good for everyone. point you made in there, put up a chart of the s&p 500. this has been the bottom of that, the left-hand side is the

recession in 2009. take a look at that chart. but for a few little blips here and there, that line has been kind of straight up all the way. now you can see right at the end of 2016, a little uncertainty, and then a little upturn for donald trump, but if you're a statistician, or a mathematician or someone with a ruler, i think it's fair to say this market's been going up since 2009, was probably going to be going up with or without donald trump. >> and this market, the jobs number, janet yellen leaving rates so low, these were all points that president trump attacked on the campaign trail saying with rates so low you're punishing savers. those same savers are punished with rates this low, except now the president likes them that low. >> that is a much bigger influence on the price of stocks. as rates go up there are alternatives other things to invest in. the stock market is not nearly as attractive as it ends up being. what the first six months of a bunch of presidencies looked like, last five.

george bush 4 is in his first six months 20% gain, clinton a 3.4%, george bush 43%. negative 10.3%. obama took over after the recession, a low point, 22.6% in his first six months. donald trump is number three of the last five presidents. so again it's not that he's wrong. it's not that the market's not up. it's not that's not a guide thing. i just don't understand why he acts like it's the first time this happened. it's not the first and he's not the best at it. >> i want to make one other point in terms of trickle-down economics and the wealth effect, the majority in your i.r.a. or 401(k). it's not like you go out and spend. more when you get a raise is when you buy a new dishwasher, think about buying a car or new home. seeing your retirement account gives you security, doesn't necessarily help the economy. >> yesterday was jobs day, we got the jobs numbers out for the month of july.

take a quick look at this. donald trump likes to talk about the unemployment rate and how low it is. the unemployment rate which i don't love to talk about all the time but the president does, i'll bring this up, it reached its peak around 2009. that was the recession. take a look at that line. again, you don't have to be a statistician or mathematician. you just have to have a ruler to plot that chart and notice that unemployment has been going down since 2009. not that it's bad that it's going down under donald trump. it it's been going down. >> health care premiums are going up. >> we tried to talk health care this week but the president had to tweet if obamacare is hurting people why shouldn't it hurt the insurance companies? he's talking about cross sharing reducti reductions, csrs, the government pays to insurers to get them to reduce out-of-pocket cost force low income americans. insurers can't be sure they'll get the payments made by the government every month then they will raise premiums. one great example of this is arizona, a state the president loves to single out as an

example of obamacare's death spiral. blue cross/blue shield, the insurer there says it wasn't planning to raise premiums this year, except because the cost sharing reductions are in jeopardy. it's ready to raise premiums now by as high as 16%. back to his tweet, hurting the insurance companies in this case only hurts people who have to pay for their policies. >> csr cuts raise premiums and the entire argument the president made on the campaign trail about repeal and replace, we'll repeal and replace and lower your premiums. this does the opposite. >> this is the dangerous part. if the premiums go up because the insurance companies are going out that's not got to do with obamacare anymore. that's donald trump. most people say keep the premiums in, most economists say keep the csrs in. we have to take a break. next, is america the highest taxed nation in the world? president trump said it. we're going to fact check him.

and it was the biggest recession since the great depression, fueled in part by predatory lenders targeting u.s. consumers. so why is the one agency protecting americans from the worst behavior of the financial industry now in the cross-hairs? we'll have that next. [radio alarm] ♪ julie is living with metastatic breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread

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i remember seeing that the first time, why is it he bring that up? >> maybe not random. maybe super strategic. that was former trump campaign manager corey li lewandowski against the consumer financial protection bureau, they protect you and me. >> it was created in the wake of the financial crisis. one of my favorite. >> you're a nerd. >> i am a nerd. why does the agency find itself in the cross-hairs of president trump and his administration? i like the agency. it protects against bad things that happen. >> you have a favorite agency. >> i do. let's look at what the consumer financial protection bureau does. >> how did they get mvp? >> the consumer financial protection bureau or cfpb for short is the brainchild of elizabeth warren. now a senator for massachusetts she was still a harvard professor and a consumer

advocate when the financial crisis hit. >> you write a new set of rules that ultimately are written to benefit families across the country, to buy some prosperity, some opportunity. >> in response, she called for the creation of a federal watchdog to protect consumers from the worst abuses of the financial industry, and to that end she found an ally in president obama. >> these reforms have already made our financial system safer and more resilient. >> reporter: in 2010, congress passed the dodd-frank wall street reform and consumer protection act, despite heavy republican opposition. the law created the cfpb which is the express mission of guaranteeing that lenders play by the rules and consumers understand the terms they sign when they take on credit card debt, home loans, and student financial aid. president obama tapped warren to be the agency's first director, but she was blocked by republicans and strong lobbying from the financial industry.

instead, richard corudray has taken the mantle at cfpb. to date the bureau secured $12 billion in relief for an estimated 29 million consumers. it's imposed nearly $600 million in civil penalties on financial institutions, including a $100 million fine slapped on wells fargo when bank employees were caught opening 1.5 million fraudulent accounts in their customers names. >> the regulator, running the banks. we'll do a major hair-cut on dodd-frank. >> the cfpb is a frequent target of republicans. they claim the agency unfairly punishes lenders with complicated rules that just hurt businesses and consumers alike. >> now while i may have a favorite agency, one can always agree that regular flation can

regulation can be improved on an ongoing basis. >> the cfpb has its flaws. we want smarter, better regulation. >> i'm why you are sure favorite government agency has its flaws. the problem is there should be replacement. republicans should come in and say here's what we'd like done with it. here are the fixes. the fixes they are proposing all have to do with weakening the cfpb. for instance it doesn't report to the president. it's funded by the federal reserve, independent of the executive branch. the government wants that to change. i don't know if i want that to change. i think it's a better idea that it's independent. >> you're talking about who is funding them. i'd like to talk about who is funding corey lewandows ki, the president wanted to drain the swamp and want nod lobbyist. corey lewandowski a client named community choice financial, a payday lender, an industry leader who has fought the cfpb, one of the main reasons the cfpb

was created was to police that type of predatory business. lo and behold according to "the times" mr. lewandowski is paid by them. >> here is why it's important. chuck todd asked why he brought this up and then this is what happened. >> i have to ask this considering that you brought this up. do you have any business interests here? do you have a client that wants to see this happen? >> no. no. i have no clients whatsoever. >> hmm. >> no, no clients whatsoever. how about community choice financial? >> okay and that payday lending, and i understand that the payday lending industry says that they exist for a reason, for people who can't get loans through traditional banks, and that's a whole separate conversation for another day. >> there's a graveyard of good americans who would disagree. >> right. that is one of those areas that deserves the attention of a regulatory body. i'm not saying they have to be regulated as much as some people would like but they definitely need to be looked at, and that's what the cfpb exists to do,

which is why it is one of my cafferty federal agencies. next week we'll discuss -- >> i'm citing the "new york times" on that, if we're wrong and you'd like to discuss it further we're here. >> next weekhere. and next week we'll talk about stephanie's favorite. a fact chex on president trump and taxes. do americans pay more than everybody else? we have the answer. >> and why are we offer breaks to foxconn. i'll talk to you about that next. shawn evans: it's 6 am. 40 million americans are waking up to a gillette shave. and at our factory in boston, 1,200 workers are starting their day building on over a hundred years of heritage, craftsmanship and innovation. today we're bringing you america's number one shave at lower prices every day. putting money back in the pockets of millions of americans. as one of those workers, i'm proud to bring you gillette quality for less, because nobody can beat the men and women of gillette. gillette - the best a man can get.

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20,000 actually people lined up on wednesday to be interviewed on the spot and store the warehouse for a siltsds.

according to amazon, thousands did actually walk away with brand-new jobs. this is a shift in reality, this is a shift from individual stores, and all of those lost workers now walking themselves into the would chipper on the way to a monopoly. we've actually lost many, many more, tens of thousand of retail than in coal. >> isn't it amazing he -- he kept on talking about the chinese manufacture foxconn.

they've made plans to go to wisconsin, but take that announcement with a grain of salt. they had already promised a facility in pennsylvania, 50,000 jobs. for your later, there's nothing. no nothing. in harrisburg. problem number two is for wisconsin to get this practice for a tocchet, in the way of $3 billion state credit per year. $19 thousands per year. we offer up subsidies for people to create jobs, thinking that will benefit the society and the economy. they're usually in the doctor 19,000 the thinks about foxconn -- >> human rights violator. the ceo back in 2012 said i have

over a million animals, and i need a zoo keeper. >> there are sue sides there, working conditions are terrible obviously, but this is a country that -- a company that, by the way, is moving to make its stuff with robots. all right. time to fact check the president. he told "wall street journal" -- not his taxes. that's not his favorite topic. >> that's right, other people's taxes. he said the highest by size. 39.1%, that's the marginal income tax rate. the u.s. has the highest tax rate on paper, compared to other g-20 companies, but factor in the tax breaks, and the effective rate is actually just 18.6%. measured that way, the u.s. is fourth on the list after argentina, gentleman presidenten and britain. >> and if the president is talking about individual tax

rates, he's still wrong. even the highest personal tax bracket of 39.6, ten other countries in the g-20 are still higher. that does it for us. >> catch us both together every week today i 11:00 appear eastern. >> signing off, "vels "velshi & ruhle." with safe driver and paperless billing. but the prize at the top is worth every last breath. here we go. [ grunts ] got 'em. ahh. wait a minute. whole wheat waffles? [ crying ] why! my bladder leakage was making me feel like i couldn't spend time with my grandson. now depend fit-flex has their fastest absorbing material inside, so it keeps me dry and protected. go to depend.com - get a coupon and try them for yourself.

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